"You must first learn your powers; you are quite weak right now," Merlin said calmly. His eyes roamed over me critically. Then he clapped his hands together and smiled. "But I, the great Merlin, will teach you! There's no need to worry!"
"Okay, I will trust you." I looked at Merlin with expectation. You didn't get to take lessons from a legendary wizard every day. 'Technically, I should be considered a legend too...'
After all, I possessed the body of King Arthur, who was known as a fictional king, which actually made me one of the most legendary kings that ever existed.
Before I could think further, Merlin interrupted my thoughts and called out to me with a childish but beautiful voice, "Do you remember your fight against Cerberus?"
I nodded in agreement. I had certainly beaten Cerberus badly. A smile involuntarily crept onto my lips. Merlin continued calmly. "Do you remember the special attack you used against Cerberus? The Sword Art?"
"Yes," I said quietly. I had no idea what that was. I had only executed that attack based on the memories that appeared in my mind. Even now, I still didn't understand what it was.
"Good," Merlin said. "Sword Art is a personal ability that every swordsman possesses after a certain mastery."
"What do you mean?"
Merlin smiled at my confusion. "Every sword user has a level. This is the system used in modern times."
He then looked at Erika. "Erika, bring me that book."
"Okay," Erika said, then pulled a book from the shelves. It looked modern and clean. The title read "Basic Information on Sword Art."
After Erika opened the book, Merlin turned to page 12 and then handed it to me.
I took the book and looked. It listed 12 cultivation stages. My eyes lit up as I examined it. Meanwhile, Merlin continued, "Every sword user acquires sword techniques with each spirit awakening. Each Sword Art is different from the others; they are unique."
"There are also 12 stages. In order, they are: Sword Apprentice, Sword Student, Sword Warrior, Sword Instructor, Sword Master, Sword Knight, Sword Lord, Sword Prince, Sword King, Holy Sword King, Sword Saint, Sword God."
Merlin then looked at me calmly. "When you use Sword Art, you use Spiritual Energy, which represents the power of your soul. For example, a Sword Apprentice has a Spiritual power that averages between 5,000 and 10,000.
Once sufficiently developed, by breaking your limit, the Spiritual energy worth 10,000 can exceed 10,000, becoming a Sword Student, and the limit of Spiritual energy rises to 20,000."
"Also, with each elevation, the Sword Art improves, and the bond with the sword strengthens."
As I listened to Merlin, my brow furrowed. What was my level then? Even if I had the body of King Arthur, it wasn't my soul, which meant my Spiritual energy must be low, right?
"As for you," Merlin said, resting his hand on his chin. My gaze turned to him. "At your peak, you were a Peak-Sword Saint. Now, however, your Spiritual power has fallen to the level of a Low-Sword Student..."
I wasn't surprised by this at all. As I said, I wasn't King Arthur, just an ordinary man. What surprised me was that I even had Spiritual energy.
But how could my Spiritual energy be? It was strange for my soul to possess an abundance of Spiritual energy from nothing.
"But don't worry, with Excalibur, you can easily surpass the Sword Warrior stage."
"Does Excalibur have a special property? For Spiritual energy?"
"Yes," this time it was Vivian who answered. Her eyes sparkled with admiration and pride as she looked at my sword. "This sword was created entirely for a Sword Master. It provides a 1/10 savings when using Spiritual energy and can cut through anything, including Spiritual Energy."
"Additionally," Vivian pulled her gaze from the sword and looked at me. "Excalibur can perform very powerful attacks by storing Spiritual energy within it."
As I held the hilt of Excalibur, my eyes shone. Still, I had a question. If Excalibur could store Spiritual energy, why wasn't I feeling it?
"Won't Excalibur exhaust me?"
"No, Excalibur's Spiritual energy can only be drawn by the user's will," Vivian said.
Then Merlin stepped forward and looked at me. "But don't worry, I will fully charge it with Spiritual energy for you in one go."
I nodded and di I gave Excalibur. The strange writings on it didn't shine as brightly as before, but they still faintly revealed themselves.
I extended my sword to Merlin, who took it. Then I watched closely as he squinted his eyes slightly. Merlin gently stroked the sharp edges of the sword with his finger, then gripped it firmly.
I felt a blue energy emanating from Merlin's hands, which suddenly burst and enveloped Excalibur. My eyes widened in awe at the magical scene; it truly looked magnificent.
"You must have been hungry for a long time, huh?" Merlin smiled playfully. The blue energy flowing from Merlin's hand suddenly accelerated, starting to fill Excalibur.
Winds blew through the room, knocking some papers to the ground. As Merlin's Spiritual energy filled the entire room, after 30 seconds, the blue energy surrounding Merlin's hands stopped, ceasing to inject into Excalibur.
Merlin held the hilt of Excalibur and adjusted it so that the tip pointed toward the ceiling, causing the sword to shine as if showing satisfaction.
Then, as Merlin extended the sword to me, I took it. When I held the sword, I felt as if something was swirling inside me.
With concern, I looked at Merlin. "Merlin, I feel like something is swirling inside me. Is this normal??"
Merlin waved his hand dismissively, smiling at me. "Before, Excalibur couldn't find enough Spiritual energy to form a bond with you. Now that it's full, the bond between you two is being repaired."
I nodded, trying to ignore the sensation that was swirling in my spirit. Then, with a motion, I returned Excalibur to the sheath that Vivian had given me.
"Good, now let's continue." Merlin cleared his throat and continued. "For example, you are a Peak-Sword Warrior. When you reach your limit, your Spiritual Energy will stop increasing. The only way to break the limit is to inject spirit particles from the universe into your soul..."
"Spirit particles?"
"Spirit particles are the souls of living beings like dead plants and trees that do not need to go to Hell or Heaven. These souls remain in the world because they cannot go to Heaven or Hell, and over time, they break down and disperse. We call this a Spirit particle."
My mind immediately went to human souls. Could human souls be used to break this so-called limit? My eyes drifted down thoughtfully. "What about human souls? Can their souls be absorbed? Even if they aren't spirit particles."
Vivian looked at me, her eyes narrowed. "That is a very dangerous thing. If you attempt to absorb a human's soul, your end will be like Vortigern's. Never try to absorb the souls of beings like Dragons, Humans, or Elves. Otherwise, you won't just absorb their souls, but also their emotions, love, and thoughts."
I would never do that. I didn't want to long for unknown people or go insane from excessive thoughts just for more power.
But my curiosity was drawn to Vortigern. Had Vortigern absorbed human souls? It was indeed a thought worth pondering.
"Was Vortigern damaging human souls?" Vivian, who heard the question, shook her head in affirmation. "Vortigern has devoured the souls of humans, fairies, and even the White Dragon for more power throughout his life."
Vivian spoke calmly. Though her voice was serene, I could tell from the way she pressed her lips together that she was angry. Then Vivian continued, "He poisoned the White Dragon with a stealthy attack and absorbed its soul. Now he seeks to consume stronger people to regain his power."
"Do you think Vortigern will come after my soul?"
"He probably hates you enough to want to destroy your soul," Merlin said with a laugh. "Vortigern is just as he always was..."
Then Merlin clapped his hands and looked at me. "But for now, don't worry about that; you're safe here."
As I thought about Vortigern and Morgana possibly searching for me, I felt a bit of sweat forming. My enemies were nearly all the greatest villains of the Arthurian myth.
Besides, with a decade of time, they must have regained their old powers in a short time. Meanwhile, I didn't even know what the modern world was like.
Still, I trusted Merlin. Well, somewhat. Despite some childish behavior so far, he was still the legendary court wizard Merlin. This was not a simple matter.
If I was going to fight Morgana and Vortigern, I needed to become stronger...
"Merlin, help me get even stronger," I said seriously. I looked at Merlin. He laughed. "I was wondering when you would ask me! Alright! I haven't warmed up in a long time."
"Unfortunately, you'll do that tomorrow," Vivian interjected, looking sternly at Merlin. Merlin immediately looked at Vivian with a bewildered expression, as if to protest. "What! Why!?"
A twitch appeared on Vivian's forehead as she looked coldly at Merlin. "You will replant the flowers you destroyed yesterday."
Merlin relaxed and looked at Vivian. "Is that all? I can handle that in 2 minutes and be back."
"No magic, Merlin. If I wanted, I could easily do that myself."
"But that's cheating!" Merlin said. He then looked at Vivian with an expression of injustice. "How can a wizard proudly call himself a Wizard without using magic?!"
"If you don't replant my flowers by tomorrow, I'll put you back in your mother's cunt, Merlin."
"Oh..." My lips parted in surprise; I truly hadn't expected such a harsh response. Apparently, Merlin was affected as well.
"Come on, can't you be a little softer?"
"If you stay here any longer I will cut off your penis, Merlin. Don't test my patience."
There were no words for that. That was really harsh!
"Grandma, please watch your words," Erika sighed and then shot a stern look at Vivian. Vivian smiled slightly and covered her lips with her fingers. "Sorry, darling, I couldn't help myself for a moment."
Vivian smiled sweetly. She then looked at Merlin. "After all, Merlin is a perfect son of bitch. I can't help myself."
"Oo! See, I did it again," Vivian laughed and looked at Erika. Yet she couldn't stop herself from glancing at Merlin out of the corner of her eye.
"Anyway, I'm not staying here any longer!" Merlin's expression fell as he turned to us one last time while leaving. "If you want to kill me by exhausting me, I'll do it. Adios!"
Then Merlin left through the door and went to the left.
"The garden is on the other side, Merlin!" Vivian shouted in an angry but amused tone. Merlin immediately turned back and shot a hard look at Vivian.
Then he sighed and headed toward the outer door.
After Merlin left, Vivian turned to me. "It's been a long time since we've been together again. It's a strange but satisfying feeling."
Though I had no memories of Vivian, I nodded, not wanting to hurt her feelings. Thank goodness they thought I had amnesia.
Although deceiving them made me feel bad, I had to do it. If they thought I was a demon possessing King Arthur's body, things would be worse.
I could only pray that they wouldn't discover the truth..."