Max sat at the wooden table in Merlin's house, his head resting in his hands. The room was quiet. Outside, the setting sun shined through the small window, but the light did not lift the mood between them.
"I can't do this anymore," Max muttered.
Merlin sat across him. He watched in silence. He had seen this look before—one of despair, of helplessness. Max had fought hard, and the destruction of the town had broken something inside him. It wasn't just physical exhaustion, but his mission, the quest he was on was a big burden.
"You've done well so far," Merlin said. "But this is only the beginning."
Max lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. "The beginning? You call that beginning?" He pointed somewhere in the distance as if he were pointing back toward the town they had left in ruins. "We're supposed to save people. How is any of this saving anyone?"
Merlin remained silent.
Max pushed himself up from the table and walked around the room. "I don't get it. If it's so bad, why don't you and the other old heroes just stop the Demon Lord like you did last time? You beat him once already, right? So why not do it again?"
Merlin leaned back in his chair, he folded his arms across his chest. "Max… it is not that simple."
"What do you mean, "not that simple"?" Max asked, his voice rising. "You're the most powerful mage in the world. If anyone can stop this, it's you and the old heroes, what's left of them."
Merlin looked away for a moment, staring into the fire. It looked as if he was far beyond the present, somewhere distant. "When the Demon Lord is summoned," Merlin began, "the old summoned heroes die."
Max froze in place. "What?"
"We weren't born here. We were summoned, just like you. When we fought the Demon Lord and defeated him, we were given a choice: to stay in this world or return to the one we came from. Most of us stayed. But the truth is, once the Demon Lord rises again, our time is over. We can't fight him again."
Max stared at Merlin, he couldn't believe what he heard just now. "So… you're saying that you and the others… you're all on borrowed time?"
Merlin nodded slowly. "That's right, so are you and your friends. When the Demon Lord appears, my generation will die, and there won't be anything we can do to stop it. That's why it is up to you now. You're part of the new generation of heroes. This fight isn't ours anymore."
Max threw himself into a chair. "That's… insane. Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"I didn't want to burden you with it before you were ready," Merlin replied. "But now, with everything that's happened, you need to know the truth."
Max sat in silence for a long time, staring at the floor. His hands trembled slightly as he slowly realized the burden of his quest. "So you stayed here after you beat the Demon Lord… Why?"
"Because… going back wasn't an option for me."
"What do you mean?"
Merlin took a deep breath. "Back in my world, things weren't good. My father… he was a drunk. And when he wasn't drinking, he was angry. At me, at my mother, at the world. Every night, he'd come home smelling like alcohol, and if I was unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I'd get the burn of it."
"I didn't know…"
"How could you? I never talked about it." Merlin gave a bitter laugh. "My mother tried to keep the peace, but it didn't matter. Eventually, she left him, and me. I hated that life. I hated being powerless. When I was summoned here, I didn't have to go back. I could be something more, something better."
"So you chose to stay," Max said.
Merlin nodded. "I stayed because this world gave me a chance to be free from all of that. Here, I became someone important. Someone with power. But even with all of that, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss home sometimes."
Max looked at Merlin, seeing the older, bald, mage vulnerable, something he wasn't used to seeing.
"I get it," Max said after a long pause. "But if you miss home so much, why didn't you ever try to go back?"
"Because this is my home now. I've built a life here. I love this world, with all its chaos and danger. It gave me a purpose, something my old life never did."
Merlin placed a hand on Max's shoulder. "I know you're scared. I know you feel like giving up. But you're stronger than you think. You've made it this far, and you'll keep going. Not because you have to, but because you choose to."
"I don't know if I'm ready for all this, but… I'll keep going. I'll try."
"Come out, let me teach you the ultimate spell—the one I used to obliterate the plague-infested town. It might help you at some point."
Max still couldn't wrap his head around the sheer power of that spell, and a part of him was a bit nervous about what could go wrong.
"Alright," Merlin said, standing a few steps away, holding a chunk of dirt in his hand as a visual aid. "The spell is called Calamitas. It is powerful, yes, but it doesn't actually require an insane amount of mana. What's important is precision. You need to understand the structure of the spell, break it down into small pieces, and focus. I'll only teach you the basics, just a tiny fraction of it."
Max nodded, although most of Merlin's words were going in one ear and out the other. "Got it. Tiny bit of destruction. No big deal."
"Don't get cocky. Even the smallest fragment can cause massive damage if you're not careful."
"Yeah, yeah. I've got this," Max said, cracking his knuckles. He was already imagining himself mastering the ultimate spell and showing off to Snickers once he saw him. He missed Snickers.
"Alright, focus. I'll teach you just the first step." He raised his hand, making a few hand movements in the air as a trail of shimmering light formed symbols around his fingers. "You start with these runes—simple but critical. It's all about the control."
Max squinted, trying to memorize the symbols Merlin was creating. They looked easy enough. "Okay, I think I've got it."
"Do NOT try to improvise," Merlin warned him. "Just follow what I do exactly. This is only a small piece of the full spell."
"Got it, old man. Just a tiny boom."
He raised his hand, attempting to recreate the symbols, but his hand movements were… less than perfect. A couple of symbols appeared in his mind, then they disappeared. Frustrated, Max tried to focus. "Come on… focus."
Then, in his usual style of "winging it," he started drawing symbols on the fly. Some resembled what Merlin had shown him, others were pure improvisation. Before he knew it, the air around his hand began crackling with energy.
Merlin, who had been focusing on his own demonstration, suddenly felt a shift in the air. He turned, his eyes widening in horror. "Max… NO! What are you doing?!"
But it was too late.
"I think I've got it! Wait… why's it getting stronger?" His eyes moved up to the sky as dark clouds began moving above him. "Uh… is this supposed to happen?"
Merlin's face was pale as he tried to break the spell. "That's not a fraction! That's the WHOLE SPELL, you idiot!"
Max looked down at his glowing hands, panicking. "Oh no… no, no no! How do I stop it?!"
"Stop it?? I would stop it if there was a way! You've gone past it—RUN!" Merlin shouted, turning and sprinting toward the forest.
"Maybe if I just—" Max added a new symbol trying to stop it, and then.
BOOOOM!!!!
A deafening blast rocked the entire mountain. The ground shook, and in the blink of an eye, the mountain, the trees, Merlin's house—everything—was gone. The air was filled with dust, and the once majestic mountain range was reduced to rubble. There was nothing left but a massive crater, miles wide, with Max standing dead center, his hands still glowing.
"Uh… I think I overdid it."
The entire mountain range had vanished. The forest was flattened. There wasn't a trace of Merlin's house—no stones, no wood, nothing. Even the sky looked clearer as if the explosion had blown away the clouds.
"Merlin?" Max called, his voice shaky. "Merlin?!"
"Oh god… oh no… I killed him. I killed Merlin. The mountain's gone… the house… everything… I'm a monster."
He stumbled over a rock, his eyes wide with panic. "I wiped out an entire ecosystem! Trees… birds… squirrels! They're all gone! I AM NATURE'S ENEMY!"
He began laughing hysterically, clearly losing it. "I destroyed a mountain! Do you know how hard it is to destroy a mountain?! That wasn't even the plan! I was supposed to just learn a little spell, and now—POOF—mountain? What mountain?!"
Max dropped to his knees, his hands shaking as he tried to grasp the enormity of what he had just done. "I'm going to die. Merlin's going to kill me. If he's alive… I mean, he's probably dust now… but if he's somehow alive, I'm dead!"
"Max… you… absolute… moron…" came a familiar voice.
Max looked around and saw Merlin stumbling toward him from a distant edge of the crater, covered in dust, his clothes torn.
"Merlin?!" Max gasped. "You're alive!"
"Barely."
"So… I guess I learned the spell, huh?"
"YOU LEARNED NOTHING, YOU NITWIT! You just obliterated everything within a ten-mile radius!"
"Yeah, but… you have to admit… it was impressive."
Merlin took a deep breath. "Impressive? IMPRESSIVE? Do you know how long it took me to build that house?"
"Uh… a long time?"
"Centuries, Max. CENTURIES!" Merlin shouted, throwing his hands up in frustration. "It was an ancient wizard's house filled with irreplaceable magical relics and artifacts! And now… thanks to you, it's GONE!"
"Well… on the bright side, at least we know the spell works?"
"Get in the crater, Max. Dig. You're rebuilding my house. Brick by brick."
Max gulped. "Can I… at least have a shovel?"
"You can have a spell to turn you into a shovel."
"Well… no use stalling," he muttered. He cast a quick glance at Merlin, who was still fuming, dusting off his scorched robes. For a moment, Max's vision flickered, and Merlin's health bar popped up in the corner of his HUD.
"Wait… what the…" Max squinted in disbelief. Merlin's HP bar was almost completely empty, just a sliver of red left.
"Merlin, uh… you okay? You don't look so good," Max said, cautiously stepping toward him.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm a wizard of untold power. This is nothing but a scratch."
"Uh… you've only got, like, 1 HP left…"
"I'm fine!" Merlin snapped. "Now stop gawking and start digging."
Max jumped into the crater. As he landed, his hand began to burn, and a small tremor shook the ground, and something odd moved beneath the rubble. "Huh? What the heck? Not now!" He kicked at a pile of rocks, and something wriggled.
Max leaned closer, poking it with a stick. "Is that…alive?" Suddenly, the pile exploded as a massive worm-like creature shot out, flinging rocks everywhere. Max screamed and stumbled back, falling on his ass. "What in the world?"
The creature wriggled around, but Max could see that the creature was also low on HP because of his spell just moments ago. The worm burrowed itself back into the ground, leaving a weird, gooey trail behind. Max's hand stopped burning. "Okay… great. Monster worms. Because that's what I needed today."
Out of nowhere, a tiny plop sound echoed in the quiet air.
"Plop?" Max muttered, confused.
He looked up just in time to see a small bird casually flying away from the scene, leaving behind an unpleasant gift—a fresh splatter of bird droppings—headed straight for Merlin.
Max's eyes widened in slow-motion horror. "No. No, no, no, NO!"
But before Max could shout a warning, the bird poop landed right on Merlin's head with a splat.
Merlin froze, his eye twitching. "Did that bird just…"
His HP bar, already hanging by a thread, blinked out entirely.
1 HP—reduced to 0.
Merlin's face went pale, his eyes rolling back in his head. "You've… got… to be kidding…" he muttered.
And then, with a soft "thud," Merlin dropped dead on the spot. His body shimmered briefly before vanishing into the air.
Max stared in stunned silence, mouth agape. "Oh… no way…"
Suddenly, a loud DING echoed in Max's ears and a barrage of notifications filled his vision.
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
The leveling notifications kept coming, rapidly shooting his experience through the roof. Max watched in absolute terror as his level skyrocketed.
Max: Mage - Level 100
Max stood frozen as his HUD displayed his new stats. Every number had ballooned to absurd levels. HP, mana, strength, intelligence—it was all maxed out.
"W-What just happened?" Max whispered, panic creeping into his voice.
He quickly checked his stats screen. His Vigor had shot up to a ridiculous 9999, his Mana pool was astronomical, and every attribute was now maxed at 9999. Even his minor spells looked like they could melt mountains now.
"I didn't ask for this! I didn't want to be overpowered! I was doing fine being a weakling!"
"No, no, no!" Max shouted, pacing frantically around the crater. "Merlin's dead! I just hit max level, and Merlin's gone! What am I supposed to do now?!"
You left me, old man! What am I supposed to do with all this power? Blow up another mountain? Blow up the planet?!"
He had enough power to destroy anything in his path, and he had zero clue how to control it. Worse yet, Merlin wasn't around to help him anymore.
"Oh god… this is bad. This is really bad… What am I gonna tell everyone? They're going to think I'm some kind of god now. And all I did was screw up a lesson!"
Merlin was gone because of some bird poop.
"Maybe… I'll just lay low for a while," Max muttered to himself. "Stay out of trouble. Yeah… maybe no one will notice I'm level 100… Or that I've killed the strongest mage in the world… Will they kill me if they find out?"
But deep down, he knew that with this much power, trouble was bound to find him, whether he liked it or not.