A Wizard’s Secret
chapter-223

Merlin had just entered Darkness Void and immediately, Dark Mist and Dark Light Realm in his Awareness became very active. It was almost as if there was an infinite amount of Darkness Element swarming him, even quicker than the Darkness-type elemental crystal stones he had.

Merlin was still trying to make sense of everything. What did Wizard Leo plan to do with the "rich" Darkness Element, and how far would a Great Wizard like him go? How powerful would he become? Merlin knew nothing at all.

However, the enormous Runic Magic Circle in the Dark Magic Region and Darkness Void in Abyss Fort proved that Merlin had never imagined the Great Wizards were truly this powerful.

Other than the Darkness Element that swarmed around Merlin, he also felt the light around him began to fade. It was almost as if the space around him had collapsed. He was completely immersed in this strange space.

"What… What's happening? Has the space collapsed? This is not possible. Surely the Great Wizards could not make this happen. Could it be an illusion?"

Merlin realized immediately that he was in Darkness Void. Once he had entered it, he was under a powerful illusion and could not free himself from it.

It could be very dangerous once one was under an illusion. Many Spell Casters were caught under illusions and were unable to escape.

Merlin was in no rush. He had already acquired Wizard Leo's Clarity Stone. If he took out the stone, it would immediately destroy the illusion. However, Merlin did not want to destroy it just yet. Instead, he shut his eyes tightly and carefully tried to familiarize himself with the illusion.

The vicinity of the space had collapsed very quickly. In the blink of an eye, there was only a small piece of land left. Merlin looked around and inspected everything he saw with his Mind Power but nothing was wrong – it felt truly real.

Merlin could not help but be impressed at such a realistic illusion. "Such a realistic illusion must be from the hard work of the Great Wizards. It has been many years, and this illusion is still incredibly powerful. It's amazing!"

Merlin gently reached his arm out into the collapsed space around him. Then, he felt a sharp pain in his arm as he glared at his arm that was extended and noticed it had completely disappeared.

The pain felt so real, and even if Merlin knew that it was an illusion, he could not help but feel a little fearful.

"Shua!"

Merlin did not hesitate any longer and took out the Clarity Stone. Immediately, the Clarity Stone gave off a strange scent as it revived Merlin's mind. In an instant, the surrounding illusion disappeared and Merlin stood in a cold and dry cave.

"It was just an illusion!"

Merlin looked at the Clarity Stone in his hand and did not worry about falling into another illusion as long as he possessed it.

Merlin sat in the corner of the cave and began to initiate the Matrix.

"Matrix, export the cultivation method of Darkness Heart!"

Merlin had already stored the cultivation method of Darkness Heart so it would be easier to retrieve it whenever he was ready to cultivate it.

Soon, Merlin had the cultivation method of Darkness Heart in his Awareness.

"Darkness Heart can greatly increase the strength of Darkness-type spells, and it also increases resistance to many Darkness-type spells. It can also be combined with a Fourth-level or higher Darkness-type spell to increase its strength where the combined spell would possess incredible power!"

This was just a brief introduction of Darkness Heart and was just as Wizard Leo had described. Darkness Heart was a Supportive Pandora Demon Ability, and its true ability would only slowly be exposed once Merlin began to construct a Fourth-level spell.

Merlin read further where the next section contained an in-depth description of Darkness Heart. "Darkness Heart can be divided into three types. The first type can slightly increase the power of Darkness-type spells. Once it's combined with a Fourth-level spell, it'll double the power of Fourth-level or higher Darkness-type spells.

"The second type can greatly enhance the power of Darkness-type spells, especially once it's combined with a Fourth-level spell. The power of Fourth-level or higher Darkness-type spells can be increased by three-fold!

"The third type of Darkness Heart is the ultimate form of Darkness Heart. It can also greatly enhance the power of Darkness-type spells. Once combined with a Fourth- spell, it can increase the power of Fourth-level or higher Darkness-type spell by tenfold!"

Merlin could not help but gasp in shock. The difference between each type of Darkness Heart was huge, and it could be combined with a Fourth-level spell to enhance the power of spells.

The first and weakest type of Darkness Heart could double the power of Fourth-level spells once it was combined with a Fourth-level spell. The pure form of Darkness Heart would not increase the power of Merlin's Dark Mist and Dark Light Realm by much. However, if he waited to combine it with a Fourth-level spell, he could greatly enhance the power of Fourth-level Darkness-type spells. This was the main role of Darkness Heart.

"How impressive. Most Enhancing casting tools can enhance the power of spells but even the weakest type of Darkness Heart can increase the power of Fourth-level spells! If the second and third types of Darkness Heart can further increase the power of spells, it would make Enhancing casting tools worthless!"

Merlin's mind raced with thoughts. Darkness Heart could not show great significance to Zero-level, First-level, Second-level or Third-level spells, but once it was combined with a Fourth-level spell, its true abilities would be shown. The enhanced Fourth-level Darkness-type spells could even be more powerful than most Sixth-level spells.

It was unsurprising that Abyss Fort was once so powerful that it even became one of the largest spell casters' organizations. With a Supportive form of Pandora Demon Ability, who knew how much the entirety of Abyss Fort could be enhanced.

However, there was no Clarity Stone in Abyss Fort now, and therefore there was no way for a large amount of Spell Casters to fully cultivate Darkness Heart.

The Clarity Stone was essential in cultivating Darkness Heart. Once Merlin had read through the cultivation methods of Darkness Heart, he was instantly cheered up.

In order to cultivate Darkness Heart, one would need to master a mysterious symbol, and just as Merlin had done with Glacial Finger and Fiery Collapse, he etched the mysterious symbol onto his body.

Once the mysterious symbol was inscribed, it would create a strange Darkness-type force that would plunge the Spell Caster into an endless illusion.

Therefore, one would be able to rely on his own strength to destroy the illusion in order to master the mysterious symbol. Once this was done and a Spell Caster was no longer influenced by the strange Darkness-type force, Darkness Heart could be fully cultivated.

Merlin was clear with the cultivation methods of Darkness Heart, so he etched the mysterious symbols and broke through the illusion, successfully cultivating Darkness Heart. If he had failed, he would be lost in the endless illusion forever, and this was no different from death.

Each type of Darkness Heart corresponded to three mysterious symbols, and each illusion would be different. Symbols of the second and third type of Darkness Heart would surely create illusions that were much stronger than the first.

Therefore, those who were not as capable would not choose the second or third type of Darkness Heart as they would go with the first type.

"Rely on your own strength to break the illusion… The Clarity Stone and Darkness Void are used to slowly experience the illusion. Once in Darkness Void, you don't even have to fall into the illusion. There isn't much difficulty in cultivating Darkness Heart."

Merlin whispered as he finally realized the importance of the Clarity Stone and Darkness Void. Darkness Void allowed a Spell Caster to fully experience the types of illusions.

However, once lost and there was no way out, one would not be able to achieve the intended result. This was when the Clarity Stone was used to free the Spell Caster from the illusion. He would then go out to accumulate more experience and continue to cultivate it once more.

This would allow the Spell Caster to become more familiar with the illusion and when the time came to cultivate Darkness Heart, he would not be terrified of the illusion.

Merlin analyzed the roles of Darkness Void and the Clarity Stone and determined that he was no longer in a rush to cultivate Darkness Heart. Instead, he carefully began to experience the illusion in Darkness Void.

Merlin put away the Clarity Stone and his surroundings began to change into a deep abyss. He was surrounded by pitch-black darkness and Merlin was now halfway up a mountain. It looked very dangerous.

Merlin knew it was just an illusion but as he peered into the abyss beneath him, he could not help but feel terrified.

Merlin fell into the abyss and immediately took out the Clarity Stone and regained his consciousness. This time, he could not rely on his own strength to overcome the illusion.

"Sometimes, I know everything is fake but in the depths of my subconscious, I can't help but be terrified of the impressive and surreal illusion!"

Merlin whispered but he was still determined to continue to experience the illusion.

Once, twice, thrice… Merlin was unsure how many times he had attempted the illusion. Each time, Merlin was fully immersed in different horrible scenes.

He had tried various ideas such as screaming, staying silent, casting spells, shifting his Mind Power and more. However, it was to no avail as he still could not rely on his own strength to break through the illusion.

"How can I break through the illusion? It isn't through Magic Power or even Mind Power. Any external force has no effect on the illusion."

Merlin thought hard about ways to break through the illusion. He could not think of any possible ways and hence decided to try and cultivate Darkness Heart but failed.

For the first time, Merlin realized that to become a powerful Spell Caster, it was not enough to rely on the Matrix. What he lacked was more than just a spell. In fact, what he needed was a strong faith that a true Spell Caster would have!

"Faith, yes, what I lack is faith. I could still become a great Spell Caster with the Matrix as long as I have faith…"

Merlin's eyes lit up as he finally found a way to break through the illusion.