Merlin had a dream. He dreamed that he had become a lynx, recently weaned, learning survival and hunting in the forest under the guidance of a large lynx.
But a group of human hunters suddenly appeared and shot the large lynx. He tried desperately to run away, playing dead, hissing, but in the end, he still couldn't escape. He was locked in a small iron cage, brought to human society, and sold to a man.
Since then, he was starved for three days, fed six times, and whipped at the slightest provocation. Struggling, hissing, being tamed. But one night, after a sudden explosion, a human cub suddenly broke in front of him.
Not long after.
He was brutally beaten unconscious.
"Merlin? What's wrong with you?"
Yol looked at Merlin, whose body had been trembling since just now, but had calmed down. Seeing him sweating and bowing his head motionless, she touched his shoulder gently with worry:
"Are you uncomfortable anywhere?"
Hearing the gentle call in his ear, Merlin's eyelids trembled and slowly opened a slit. A fierce light burst out from his pupils, but soon, the look in Merlin's eyes returned to clarity.
"Merlin..." Yol called worriedly again. Merlin reached out to stop her, then pinched the center of his brow with his right hand, the unfamiliar memories of the lynx echoing constantly in his mind.
"I'm fine. I accidentally fell asleep just now and had a nightmare."
His voice was a bit hoarse as Merlin replied to her. Yol was stunned for a moment, then rose gracefully and knelt behind Merlin. Her thumbs supported Merlin's jaw, and her fingers gently massaged Merlin's temples.
Merlin felt a little uncomfortable immediately and wanted to break free.
"Don't move." Her voice was soft but allowed no refusal. Yol said grumpily.
But at the same time, her movements became gentler.
Lami followed suit, half-kneeling up. Her left hand pulled his right sleeve, her right hand grasped the cuff, gently wiping the sweat from Merlin's forehead. Lami saw Merlin rolling his eyes at her and mimicked with a grin:
"Don't move, Lami is taking care of Merlin-niichan!"
Helplessness appeared in Merlin's eyes. At this time, Yol sat kneeling on the ground, and Merlin was naturally brought into her arms. Instantly, Merlin rested his head on a soft place.
Yol looked at Merlin in her arms, a gentle smile appearing at the corner of her mouth. massaging gently, with her chin resting on the top of Merlin's head, she asked softly:
"Feel better now?"
This damn tenderness!
Merlin felt helpless in his heart. This feeling was very familiar to him, "It seems like when I had headaches as a child, you used to rub me like this."
Yol's movements paused, then she nodded gently. Feeling the touch of her chin pressing on the top of his head, Merlin sighed:
"Time flies so fast."
"By the way, Merlin, you have the ability to manipulate Calamity, so your headache syndrome should have been cured, right?"
Yol's eyes were full of expectation.
Merlin gave an "Mmh" and said softly:
"It's already cured. This time it's not the headache syndrome, but other reasons. Don't worry, my body is fine."
Hearing this, Yol also relaxed and couldn't help exhaling. Feeling the warm touch from the top of his head, Merlin closed his eyes slowly again.
After wiping the sweat, Lami sat hugging her calves beside Merlin, her chin resting lightly on her knees, tilting her head and staring unblinkingly at Merlin's face:
"His eyelashes are so long, longer than mine, and his skin is so good!"
Yol rolled her eyes at Lami reproachfully.
"Go, go, hurry up and take a nap. Rest well at noon; you still have to practice swordsmanship in the afternoon!"
Lami grinned upon hearing this, puffed out her cheeks at Yol, and shook her head like a rattle-drum: "No! I have a lot of energy now. It's all Merlin-niichan's fault for taking away all my fatigue!"
Merlin's eyelids trembled, and he scolded with a smile:
"Okay, you heartless little thing. Then from now on, I'll wait until you get home at night to help you. I'll let you experience the soreness in your body more during the day!"
Lami let out an "Uh," her face stiffening instantly, looking at Merlin in surprise:
"So you weren't asleep? Merlin-niichan, how can you eavesdrop on us?"
Merlin couldn't be bothered to pay attention to her, relaxing his body and leaning on Yol. Yol sighed at this moment:
"Sigh! You two! Really leave me speechless!"
Closing his eyes, even so, the Equipment Slot still appeared in his field of vision. At this moment,
Merlin felt a little excited in his heart.
Looking at the Equipment [Lynx], the Synchro Value on it had reached [25%].
And the screen of the Equipment Slot changed at this moment:
Name: [Laplace Merlin]
Skill Specialization: [Entry-Level Lynx Body Tempering Arts, Entry-Level Blade Technique, Entry-Level Lynx Visualization]
Special Expertise: [Lightning Reflexes]
Could it be that only when the Synchro Value with the equipment reaches 25% is there a probability of obtaining the special expertise of that creature?
Looking at his first special expertise that had just appeared on the Equipment Slot:
[Lightning Reflexes]: You were born to stand at the top of the food chain. Your body possesses a keen sensory system and an efficient neural conduction mechanism. You can react quickly and master yourself with precise coordination.
Looking at this expertise of his, even though Merlin wasn't making any movements right now, he could still clearly perceive that he had become different from before.
Although equipping the [Lynx] would give him various biological characteristics possessed by the lynx, Merlin knew that was only temporary. Once unequipped, that boost would naturally be lost.
But now, a sense of fullness from the inside out wandered in his body.
It was no longer the somewhat estranged, dreamlike feeling from before, but a real, clearer feeling of possession.
It was a metamorphosis of talent.
At this moment, while carefully experiencing the changes in his body, he looked again at the other two skill specializations he had obtained one after another in the past few days through arduous cultivation.
[Entry-Level Blade Technique]: Life experiences from your previous life allow you to distinguish between weapons like dao (single-edged blades) and jian (double-edged swords). You are a beginner in blade techniques. You will no longer attack enemies with a blade like a layman swinging a fire stick. In this field, you have already entered the gate.
[Entry-Level Lynx Visualization]: Benefiting from the legacy of your previous life, plus the synchronization experience with the [Lynx], you have mastered how to visualize in your consciousness. You use visualization to comprehend the existence of the creature lynx to temper your spiritual will.
A few days ago, after learning basic swordsmanship, during a tireless exercise, the swordsmanship specialization appeared in the Equipment Slot. And because of his own understanding, the entry-level swordsmanship naturally transformed into blade technique.
Merlin didn't think much about this.
And the Lynx Visualization in the Equipment Slot was the same. After that time a week ago, he naturally succeeded in learning it.
At this moment, looking at the four specializations in the Equipment Slot, joy emerged in Merlin's heart:
The feeling of being able to become stronger is really good.
This feeling was addictive.
With his arduous cultivation, every time he broke through the physical and mental limits, after absorbing the accumulated Calamity in his body each time, he could detect that the next limit breakthrough became harder to reach.
This all proved...
That he was really becoming stronger.
Moreover, sparring with Yol was the best way to verify.
From being smashed away by her sword at the beginning, to later only having sore arms, and now, relying on physical agility and force unloading, he could already suppress her.
Merlin believed even more that with the "Lightning Reflexes" he now possessed, he could definitely "toy with" her in battle.
Hmm?
At this time, Merlin, who was thinking in his heart, was suddenly stunned. Toy with? Why toy with? Why would I toy with her?
He felt something was wrong in his heart.
Soon, Merlin realized it was the "playful" nature of the feline lynx.
Was it because of visualizing the lynx? The beastly influence brought by visualizing this creature?
Or synchronization with the lynx? Potential risks brought by the increasing Synchro Value?
This subtle negative influence on the spirit made the joy in Merlin's heart fade slightly, inevitably making him somewhat unhappy.
Externally, Merlin's brows began to furrow slightly at this moment.
At this time, Lami looked at Merlin, tilted her head, reached out and gently stroked Merlin's brow. Yol was puzzled:
"Lami, what's wrong with him?"
Lami stared at Merlin's brow and said directly: "His brows are furrowed. Did Merlin-niichan think of something unhappy again?"
Yol pursed her lips and was about to move, but Merlin opened his eyes and raised his hand to hold Lami's right hand, which was chubby.
Merlin sat up at this time, shook his head and said:
"I'm fine, I'm okay. Just thought of some things about cultivation. Don't worry."
Yol spoke in confusion: "Then why not go ask Teacher Fiore's two children?"
During this week, since Fiore hadn't appeared, Yol didn't suggest looking for him but mentioned his pair of children whom Fiore praised endlessly.
Merlin shook his head, "Asking them is useless. Presumably, they can't help me solve this kind of cultivation problem either."
"Oh? Is that so?"
However, just then, a teasing voice full of interest suddenly appeared from the door outside the indoor training ground.
Hearing this somewhat brisk laughter at this moment, Merlin turned his head to look. Two tall figures appeared at the door.
"Hmph hmph! This Junior Brother Merlin, Senior Brother can't pretend not to have heard those words!"
The speaker was the purple-haired young man of the two. The smile on his face was somewhat cynical, but there was no malice on him.
"Why don't you tell me first and see if I can solve it for you? All these remarks shouldn't be made too early. Maybe Senior Brother can really solve it for you?"
Saying such words, Fulvio took off his shoes and walked over with his sister Teresa beside him.
Merlin stood up at this time, narrowing his eyes to examine him. As he approached, the sharp yet soft aura tempered through thousands of hardships on his body rushed over instantly.
Arriving in front of Merlin, Fulvio extended his right hand to Merlin and smiled:
"Let's get to know each other. I'm Fulvio, your Eldest Senior Brother. And you?
"Merlin? Or the criminal wanted by four countries, Laplace Merlin?"