AI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
Chapter 23 Merlin
Familiar feeling and the still dazzling light that made him unable to see anything. After everything calmed down, Ethan immediately scanned his surroundings, his right hand already on the hilt of his sword.
There was no heavy encirclement – this was the first time. Remembering the previous two transmigrations, each time he opened his eyes he was surrounded by a crowd. In the Diablo world, a group of Rogues even had their bows drawn and arrows nocked, ready to shoot him full of holes if anything seemed off, leaving him with a huge 'shadow'.
The landing spot chosen by this transmigration magic array seemed quite unreliable every time – but thinking about it from another perspective, being thrown into a safe zone every time seemed quite reliable too.
"No need to be nervous, mage from another plane."
Just as he relaxed a little, a voice came from behind him.
Startled, Ethan immediately turned around and looked at the ordinary, steep mountain wall. The voice came from that direction, yet there wasn't a soul in sight.
"This is... an illusion?"
Concentrating his mental power to enhance his senses, Ethan detected a subtle sense of disharmony. He was currently unable to project his mental power outwards, which would allow him to detect more things. For now, he could only sense that something was wrong. Finding out exactly what was wrong required other additional means.
However, the other party didn't seem to intend to hide themselves. As a wave-like ripple spread out, a section of the originally steep, bare mountain wall actually disappeared, revealing a not-so-narrow passage.
At the same time, a white-bearded old man dressed like a stereotypical mage, leaning on a long staff, walked out with a golden-haired youth.
"Hello, guest from another world."
The old mage's speech was slow, and his gentle voice seemed to indicate he had no ill intentions, merely showing his warm hospitality – if not for the prerequisite that he was releasing boundless, ocean-like magical energy waves without concealment.
"Please don't misunderstand. As a mage yourself, you should know that sometimes this is necessary for a proper conversation."
The old mage quickly withdrew his terrifying magical energy fluctuations, still speaking in that amiable tone.
"Furthermore, in order to break through the blockade of that massive energy and communicate with you immediately just now, I exerted a little too much force."
Only then did Ethan realize that he could hear the other party's words not because he could understand the language, but because the other party had used mental power to communicate with him.
"What the heck!"
Although he knew he was still weak, being linked by powerful mages as if they were strolling through their backyard every time was very annoying – it seemed he needed to create something to prevent these mages from linking to his mind without even a greeting.
"Alright, young man, it's understandable that you're upset about this, but I hope you can give me a chance to compensate you."
The old mage in front of him seemed to be a good person with excellent moral character, apologizing immediately and even offering compensation.
"For example, how about I make you an amulet that can defend against mental attacks?"
Ethan was stunned: "You can read my mind?"
"Oh, no! I just figured that's what you'd want most right now." The old mage displayed his wisdom without reservation, and a hint of sharpness appeared in his previously kind and benevolent eyes.
Ethan thought for a moment and decided not to dwell on the compensation for now. The old mage's words made it sound as if creating such an amulet was a simple matter, showing his great confidence in his ability to create magical equipment. And currently, Ethan wasn't in urgent need of such a defensive item – in fact, as his mental power increased, as long as he didn't encounter an existence that completely overwhelmed him, the other party wouldn't be able to casually succeed in a mental invasion.
As for someone who could successfully invade without him even noticing, that would prove the difference in their strength was astonishingly vast. The other party could erase him from this world with a wave of their hand, so having such an amulet would be meaningless if the other party was hostile.
"Then, how should I address you?"
Seeing Ethan indicate his willingness to communicate, the old mage nodded happily: "My name is Merlin. You can just call me by my name."
"Merlin..."
Ethan frowned. It wasn't that he didn't know who Merlin was. Someone named Merlin, who was also a powerful mage, his identity was obvious. He was just wondering in his mind, which Merlin was this? As a famous legendary mage in the West, he appeared in quite a few works, and even more works mentioned this esteemed mage indirectly, even if he didn't appear directly.
"Not a white-haired delinquent... that rules out one possibility."
"The long staff in his hand doesn't look like a metal mechanical product either, that rules out another one."
Scratching his head, he realized there were countless works he knew of, and ruling them out one by one was simply impossible.
And his reaction made the Merlin opposite him very curious.
"Young man, have you heard of my name, or have you seen me in other planes?"
Ethan was a little surprised by Merlin's question, but quickly figured it out – from the beginning, Merlin had revealed the fact that he was from another plane, which showed that this great mage had a certain understanding of the concept of the multiverse, perhaps even more than he did.
"Wait..." Ethan suddenly thought of a possibility: "My teleportation array sending me here, that wasn't your doing, was it?"
Merlin was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile: "I didn't expect you to figure it out so quickly. I wasn't deliberately hiding it. In fact, even if you hadn't noticed, I would have mentioned this later."
Ethan's face darkened. The last time he was caught red-handed by the Ancient One was also because when he transmigrated into the Marvel Universe, he was intercepted by the Sorcerer Supreme who protected Earth from invasions from other planes. He knew then that some powerful existences could interfere with his teleportation.
He didn't expect to encounter another one so soon. In that case, he wouldn't dare use the magic array for plane transmigration in the future. Who knew if he would run into someone who would just kill him without saying a word?
"Or, I can teach you how to better control that massive energy so it doesn't stand out like the moon in the dark night sky, preventing other mages from detecting you the next time you teleport?"
Merlin quickly proposed a condition that Ethan couldn't refuse, and this was exactly the problem he urgently wanted to solve.
"I do indeed want to solve this problem." Ethan nodded, admitting this point, but he didn't want to be led by the nose by Merlin like this: "So, what is it you want, having specifically brought me here? Esteemed Mage Merlin."
Merlin had specifically intercepted him and changed the teleportation location to be in front of him, so he definitely had intentions. If at first he had suspected this famous mage was a plane guardian like the Ancient One, that idea was dismissed by Ethan when he repeatedly offered benefits.
"This guy has intentions towards me."
He couldn't figure out what was worth plotting against him in the eyes of this legendary super powerful being. The only thing noteworthy was his ability to travel between planes, right? However, his previous words revealed that Merlin didn't seem very interested in this ability – otherwise, why would he offer to help Ethan better control spatiotemporal energy?
"Let's talk somewhere else. Are we going to stand here all the time?"
"We should indeed move somewhere else."
"Then, please follow me, young man."
Merlin greeted him, turned back first, and Ethan followed him into the small path hidden by magic. As he passed the spot that had looked like a mountain wall just moments before, Ethan felt himself passing through a very powerful wall of magical energy. The feeling was similar to walking through a water curtain, but instead of being soaked and dishevelled by the magical energy, there were even some benefits: the mental energy he had consumed during the transmigration seemed to have recovered a little.
The path wasn't long. After walking for only a moment, the originally narrow passage suddenly opened up, and under Merlin's guidance, Ethan arrived in a very beautiful valley.
All sorts of flowers, plants, and trees filled every inch of space in the valley, and countless blooming flowers filled the valley with their fragrance. His spirit trembled again, and Ethan immediately noticed the extraordinary nature of these flowers and plants.
"A paradise on Earth!"
Merlin seemed to be deliberately waiting for this praise.
"This is my residence."
The only man-made structure in the valley was a house that looked very ordinary. From the outside, it appeared to be a very common three-story building. But when Ethan stepped inside, the immense space made him realize that this little house was definitely not as simple as its exterior suggested.
The few people didn't stop and, led by Merlin, walked into a room – this was a reception room, and Ethan also saw some fruit already placed on the table.
"Please have a seat!"
Merlin sat down first, and only after Ethan sat down opposite him did he continue speaking.
"Originally, I intended to communicate with you for a while before telling you my purpose, but it seems you don't like this method, so there's no need for me to continue concealing it." Merlin was about to speak to the golden-haired youth beside him when he suddenly seemed to remember something: "Oh, apologies, I might have to be a little presumptuous before that."
Merlin tapped his forehead with his finger: "There won't be any side effects, you'll just feel a bit of swelling and numbness in your head, or a slight headache."
Before he finished speaking, the finger that had touched his forehead slowly pointed towards Ethan. A stream of light first flowed from Merlin's forehead to his finger, and with the old mage's movement, it shot into Ethan's head with a whoosh.
His body stiffened. Ethan, who had just been about to stand up, stopped himself abruptly. He had already realized what magic Merlin had just used – he had 'packaged' a part of the language knowledge in his mind and 'transmitted' it to Ethan, allowing him to master another foreign language in the shortest possible time.
"Hello, my name is Arthur." At Merlin's signal, the golden-haired youth stood up and formally introduced himself using the language Ethan had just 'learned'.