Return of the last survivor - Chapter 119
In his previous life, Merlin had never tried to perceive and understand the laws of other existences, only trying to understand the laws of nature on Earth that he was familiar with.
This had not affected much of his personality, and therefore, not only did he, but also most of the survivors from his previous life did not know about this side effect of learning other existences’ laws.
Merlin looked at Dulir, who flinched before sighing and nodding.
“Right. It was their fault. Let’s get moving.”
Dulir looked at the few handful of guards remaining behind him and whispered to them something after which one of them ran away at full speed while the remaining two stayed by Dulir’s side, who continued walking.
However, Merlin, while following Dulir from a little distance, spoke once more,
“I hope that fellow does not intend on returning with more reinforcements to kill me. I wouldn’t mind more evolution points, but a second time will not be considered a mistake, but deliberate action on your part. And even if the people who come over are stronger than me, I will just leave this plane. And the next time I return, I will kill everyone, including that f*cking monster of a dragon above the surface.”
Dulir flinched once more, but did not stop moving and just nodded. He had also felt the change in Merlin’s behaviour as time went by. This fellow was becoming increasingly aggressive and short-tempered compared to when he had first met him. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind.
‘Is this guy, who has already perceived the laws of the dragon, comprehending the laws while fighting?’
Such a terrifying thought passed through his mind. However, it was the only thing that made sense. Personality changes like this could only occur due to the effects from perceiving the laws of a living existence. However, it would be a gradual change as one slowly masters the law over time.
According to the texts passed down by the dwarves, laws were the ‘code’ that made up creation. There were multiple steps involved in the process, starting off with perceiving laws. In this stage, one would feel the laws of a certain aspect of creation. It was similar to someone holding a book in their hand which is completely empty, and trying to find words in those completely blank pages. This was the most unusual step in the process which could be done in an instant, or might never even happen.
The stage that follows perceiving was the comprehension. Once you found a word within the blank book, one needed to understand the word. Each word within the book had its very own ‘code’ and comprehension was basically breaking down the word to find the codes. This process was usually fixed for each word or law. It usually took years to understand any law and find the code within. This is also the process which causes the changes in personality, as the personality of the law tries to invade your own personality. However, due to the long time it took to complete this step, such changes were not easy to notice, and many times they would be overpowered by the original personality of the user.
‘However, this young one was ‘comprehending’ and finding the code within the law by simply fighting? And without even realising what he was doing? What kind of nonsense is this?’
Dulir was shocked, frustrated, infuriated, and a little jealous of the young creature that called himself ‘Merlin’. He himself after all the countless years had never even comprehended a single law. He had seen dragons multiple times, and had almost lost his life to them multiple time. However, not once had he even been able to begin the first step of the process, nor had anyone in his entire civilisation.
The only option their entire civilisation on this plane had was to wait for the next mana burst, survive the onslaught of the dragons, and then use the system to learn laws as a Tier 5.
Dulir, his three students, the remaining guards, Merlin, and Cortana, who was now within the dragon puppet Merlin had created from earth, all made their way through the now large tunnel which reminded Merlin of an unkept tunnel through a mountain back on Earth.
Soon, another group of people arrived. However, they did not draw their weapons. The guard who had run away from the group could be seen within the new set of guards. However, they seemed more calm and organised. Merlin inwardly sighed as he too realised something.
‘My calmness has disappeared.’
The calmness and collectedness he had gained after nearly 10 years of continuous meditation in that Tsundere plane had completely vanished, and was rapidly being replaced by an invasive anger. Realising this, Merin immediately moved.
‘Cortana, take care of my body again.’
With that short statement, Merlin sat down on the ground and began to circulate his meditation law set.
*Plop*
The sudden movement and sound from behind caused Dulir and his guards, who had calmed down after seeing more guards, to flinch and turn around, only to see Merlin sitting on the ground cross-legged, while a rather life-like miniature dragon made of dry clay was staring at them as though it was guarding Merlin.
Dulir looked over at Merlin, ignoring the dragon, and observed for some time before sighing.
‘So he was even able to realise what was happening to him? What kind of talent do you need to understand things that their dwarven race had taken countless millennia to realise? Is this even at the level of talent anymore? This Merlin is not just a genius. He is an abnormality…’