In the tales of heroes, not all are truly heroes.
There are other elements too.
Anyway, Ian quite approved of his way of winning. He remembered hearing that history is written by victors, and the future generations only need to know that even Merlin couldn't beat him.
Isn't this a sort of truth?
Merlin himself admitted he couldn't handle Ian, yet Ian breached Merlin's mental defenses. Who's strong and who's weak is already obvious to any discerning eyes.
"Wisdom is humanity's greatest wealth!" Ian still remembers the teachings left to posterity by Lady Ravenclaw. In this battle, he just had a bit more wisdom assisting him compared to Merlin.
The little wizard sighed with emotion.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"×&%￥#@,§№☆2113^&%!$#&%￥..." Merlin's curses continued endlessly. He was submerged in the lake of an oasis, continuously stuffing some antidote into his mouth, and pouring numerous bottles, seemingly magic potions for cleansing viruses, into the lake.
"The undefeated one in the end is surely me."
Ian descended beside the oasis lake, picked a fruit from a nearby tree, and after taking a bite, his facial expression gradually twisted.
"Want some? It's quite delicious."
Ian began to promote to Merlin.
However.
This trick wouldn't deceive even a little girl like Aurora, so how could it fool a Great Mage like Merlin? The man in the lake continued to spout vulgar language.
"Can't accept losing?"
Ian tossed away the sour fruit in his hand.
"If you can't accept losing, I also accept a best two out of three system." Now that he's in an enlightened state, he had plenty of clever ideas to put into practice.
This made the little wizard eager to try. Never mind three more battles, he could even fight for three more days and nights. The difference in magic power between a Legendary Wizard and an Ordinary Wizard was no longer just about quantity.
There's also quality.
Though ordinary wizards never truly run out of magic, their magic control is still affected by magic activity, whereas a Legendary Wizard's magic is almost inexhaustible.
The activity of magic still exists.
However, the rate of self-restoration far exceeds the speed of release. Of course, Ian isn't sure if this applies to all legends, or if he's a special case.
Despite not knowing much about wizards of this tier, Ian could still catch a glimpse of some details about the Legendary Tier unknown to ordinary people from his personal panel.
Name: Ian Prince
Profession: Bloodline Mage
Magic Power: Level 11
Rank: Celestial Legend
Skills: [Wisdom Enlightenment (This skill cannot be upgraded)]
[Patronus Charm (Level 4) 741/800]
...
Ian's Patronus Charm is also about to reach the point of unlocking Extraordinary Traits, which is why Patronus Charm belongs to White Magic. If it were Dark Arts, he would have long reached Level 7 or 8.
Of course.
The most noteworthy piece of information isn't the level of the magic, but instead, ever since Ian became a Legendary Wizard, a new entry called [Rank] appeared on his personal panel.
To Ian's mind, if there's a term like [Celestial Legend], then there must be other classifications among legends. Whether this is related to the way to become a legend is yet to be figured out.
Originally, he planned to seek guidance from Merlin, but looking at the current situation, even if Merlin gives him a lecture he might not fully trust it, so he can only endure a few days and return to the Misty Illusion Realm to consult his teacher.
Hmm.
Initiated by himself, only to enlighten his own teacher—Ian now more or less understands, perhaps back then when Morgan found him in the Misty Illusion Realm, it wasn't just because he was special as a living person within it.
As for the specifics.
He has to wait a few days to verify with Morgan.
"If you can't accept losing, let's continue." Ian wonders whether mastering magical power is part of Merlin's Legendary Traits, and he wants to experience more of Merlin's peculiar magic.
Seeing is learning.
Learning is mastering.
Mastering means... future authoritative magic journals. If he could make Merlin use some Dark Arts, Ian believes he could successfully learn during Merlin's casting process.
The little wizard's calculations were clever.
However.
Merlin didn't buy it.
"Fight whoever you want! Don't involve me! I don't want to touch your Underworld magic ever again! This shouldn't even be called Dark Arts!"
Who knows how many times Merlin cast cleansing spells on himself, but he still seemed to perceive an odor, soaking in the lake until he nearly scrubbed off a layer of skin.
No wonder Merlin hesitated.
Human corpse stench might not be lethal, but its persistence suffices. He added a little bit, which was easy to do once his Transformation Technique reached Level 8.
"Then let me show you my other Dark Arts."
Ian blinked.
Began inciting.
Yet Merlin wasn't moved one bit, glaring at Ian with indignation, "From whom did you learn magic? Who in their right mind would research plague as a direction for Transformation Technique!?"
He naturally realized how terrifying Ian's brand of magic was. In fact, he wasn't sure whether he had been infected by the so-called millennium virus Ian mentioned.
Perhaps as a Master of Magic Potions, he can disregard all earthly poisons, but that only applies to known ones; who knows what situation a virus from a thousand years in the future presents.