Steel and Mana

Chapter 166 – Merlin & Merlin

"Again...?" Merlin asked himself, sighing, remembering going to sleep but then waking up in one of his very real and very detailed dreams. Or, as he already realized, in his old memories.

This time around, he was determined to meet his old self and settle his uncertainty for good, no matter what. Looking around the underground library, he already knew his way around it, looking at the usual places, searching for the Emperor of Magic.

"Where did I go?" He mumbled after checking the restricted section, the study room, and the main research lab, all empty, with no sign of his old self anywhere. "Wait... was this always here?" He asked out loud when he noticed an unfamiliar hallway sneaking forward amongst two empty bookshelves.

Walking closer, he could feel the heat rushing forth from within, and with his experience, he could already tell its source for sure wasn't natural but magical. Taking a deep breath, reinforcing his mind that this was all but a memory, he began walking, disappearing within the new corridor, taking one step after another even when he heard the bookshelves closing the route behind him.

Although there were no torches or candles around him, the stone corridor never turned dark. Its soft, orange hue radiated from it and got brighter and brighter the closer he got to the end.

"What... is that...?" He stuttered, entering a vast chamber littered with magical formations, all of them active, spinning, suppressing an apocalyptic fire burning in the middle, surrounding a human skull, floating above a melting pedestal.

"It is the skull of the last leader of the Vasa Sect." Answered his own voice, but with a bit more maturity in it. Of course, it was the Emperor of Magic, Merlin VIII, who stood next to him, appearing from nowhere. "It is angry because I achieved one thing he could not."

"Reincarnation?"

"Immortality." He nodded with a smile, raising one hand and moving his fingers as if counting. When finished, Merlin's same adaptive formation appeared behind his back, strengthening all the others present and further suppressing the flames surrounding the skull.

"Is he... still alive?"

"I wouldn't call it something like that as a living thing." The Emperor chuckled, "They tried to become gods and got pretty close to it before everyone united to bring them down. They went with what the beasts were doing, fusing magic into their bodies. I won't lie; I was tempted to follow their ways for a very long time. But that skull…? No, that is halfway between living and dead. A sorry existence."

"Ah...!" Merlin flinched, raising his shirt and looking at his body after understanding something about his words. Still, it was clean and pristine, making his previous self chuckle, knowing what he was looking for.

"It gave me great power, allowing me to use trivial spells by thought without needing formations or CC because it was in me all along..." Merlin VIII sighed with a nostalgic smile, rolling up his sleeve and showing his scarred tattoos all over his forearm. "But then I was struck by a new idea!"

"Live, die... repeat." He mumbled, making himself laugh.

"Following the Vasas' way would limit me to a chosen school of magic; where is the fun in that? Especially when my inherent ability is compatible with ALL MAGIC?! No. I won't go down their route; I will forge my own. I will experience life over and over again and learn all that is to magic. Discover the deepest secrets and catalog everything from men to beasts. That will be my way!"

"Every life is a new experience..." Merlin mumbled, remembering his own thoughts from an ancient time.

"And every experience is important. You don't have to worry; you are you, and yet, still me. You are my first reincarnation but not the last. One day, these halls will be filled with us, and we will share our experiences and our discoveries and work together to discover the world and its laws here and beyond! We will discover the land where the Gods live!"

Merlin couldn't help but smile at his old self, suddenly understanding everything. He was right... every experience matters. The Emperor of Magic didn't reincarnate as everyone else would think when hearing the word. He wilfully let death take him while also preserving all his mind and knowledge, creating something unique not just in this world but in many others as well: he managed to create a reincarnation cycle within himself.

Every time one of his life ended, their afterlife would start here, within his own memories, in its own world, while a new Merlin would one day be reborn. He would have his own life and experiences, armed with all the knowledge from his previous incarnations, without their personalities influencing him too much or straight overtaking him. He was letting himself gain the experiences of a new, different life every time he was reborn.

"Every life is unique..."

He mumbled once more, understanding his own thoughts. He knew that when one day his time came, and he died, he would have ample time to discuss all he had learned with his old self. He waited patiently until the third Merlin appeared... then the fourth... fifth...

"Mhhm...!" Merlin moaned, waking up in his bed, feeling refreshed, smiling and stretching, hearing the snow slowly melting in the bright sunlight. "Oh...? Spring has arrived? Hehe! I can't wait to see what surprises the new year will bring! Ahahaha!"

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"I think our talk with Merlin had a great effect!" Sasha exclaimed happily after putting the kids to sleep while I was coming out of the bathroom, wiping my body down after a long day.

"I noticed it, too; he was full of energy, bouncing around like a hamster on coffee. I think we are back to seeing him pulling all-nighters and rambling on and on and on!"

"With that energy, he could impregnate Elena." Yuri added, appearing from behind me, only wearing a towel around her waist.

"Speaking of Elena," Luna spoke up, lying in bed, reading a book, and looking at us from behind its edges. "When will she move to Avalon? The constant traveling, back and forth, is not the best way to keep a relationship going. They only meet, what? Once a month?"

"Not our thing to butt into!" I repeated myself, "She can come if she wants, but even then, how Merlin is, he would be working just as much and not lay around, reading books in the lap of his girlfriend."

"Heeey!" She protested with a pout, making Yuri giggle, hugging me from behind.

"Instead of the little boyo, let's talk about the Boobie Queen! She is already primed and ready, close to exploding from all those repressed sexual urges bubbling under her silky-smooth skin! When will you bring her into the bedroom?" I couldn't help but twitch my lips when hearing her whisper into my ear and feeling the multiple eyeballs lock onto me, waiting for my answer.

"Look... It is one thing that you say it is okay for me to woo her, but what if she doesn't feel the same?"

"Geez, where are your balls?" Yuri grunted, reaching down into my towel, "Okay, they are still here, intact. So? What's the problem? Are they tired? Should I massage them more?"

"Maybe." I shot back, trying to swat her hand away without success. "If it happens, it happens; if it does not, it won't! Simple as that."

"Heh, coward."

"Okay, that is enough!" Sasha interrupted, chasing Yuri off of me, "Leon is right; this needs two parties' consent! If Mikan is interested, we welcome her into the family; if she isn't, then that is it!"

"Yeeees, Boss!" She moaned, jumping on the bed and snuggling up to Luna, beginning to molest her instead, which she tried to resist but instead ended up giggling and moaning, giving into her.

"Stop that!" Sasha grunted, throwing a pillow at them. "Change rooms if you are in the mood!"

"I worry what the kids will grow up to be," I agreed, shaking my head. "When they mature more, they will get their own room. Until then, be a bit more considerate of the situation!"

"Oh, I am consi-momsi!" Yuri giggled, "I'm gonna consi Luna's momsi and derate all over it!"

"That... had no meaning at all." I rolled my eyes, ignoring her rambling yet watching the two girls fool around, unable to take my eyes away...

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As the weather began warming up and the snow melted, the Lion could finally rest, and we could begin a proper overview of its internals. This meant dismantling the whole thing, fixing and maintaining anything that looked broken or strained beyond the limit. We used the knowledge gained from it to further improve Yuri's machine, which began slowly taking form. For the first time, Father showed great interest in it, and in the end, I had to leave him to Sasha, teaching him while working because I had received an important letter straight from the Duke.

It was thicker than any before it, detailing everything that happened in the meeting down south while also giving me insight into what the new Empress, Mirian Ishillia, was planning. While the Duke was worried, reading his and his son's words, I was less so. Instead, I was thinking that it was a great opportunity. I intended to capitalize on opening the borders to the west through the Atuvian League, so it was time to sit down with my Mother and ask her to help me make plans to spread our merchants way out into distant parts of the world.

With how much Mirian was focusing on raising Milan's prestige and us being 'under' Kustov's grasp, we could be first in line to send merchants out with their own. With the Empress's blessing, we wouldn't be stopped and could operate freely, doing profitable exchanges abroad and bringing home resources I was sorely lacking. It was a golden opportunity that I was going to grasp and throw every merchant we have at it.

As for what we would sell, that would depend on the first few expeditions. We had to see what the other kingdoms and lands far away from us lacked and had in abundance. Then, we would be able to tailor our exports accordingly. While we were discussing that, another piece of news arrived from my uncle's border region.

"Well... it happened."

"What?" Mom asked, looking at me while raising the cup of tea that Luna had just brought us.

"The first clash with refugees. Three dead, a dozen injured, and Pion says they will return soon and won't be peaceful at all."

"What will you do?" Luna asked, looking a bit nervous while I was rubbing my chin.

"Continue expanding our industry, convert more of our builders and simple workers into factory workers. They have fewer and fewer jobs as we stop building roads, and the city is already finished, so they need a new career. As for the borders? I will send a few tractors, turn the earth over, and build obstructions to stop them from flooding Elliot's lands. I know it is impossible to catch everybody, but inner security is his problem to solve!"

"The other nobles won't be happy." Mom warned me, wearing a slight smile on his face. "Although... there are some barons around Elliot whose families I never liked, so... Don't mind their opinions!"

"I won't. It will be their fault if they are stupid enough to try to force us to do something. I won't hesitate to ask Duke Kustov for support; let's see who has the better sugar daddy at an arm's reach!"

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Down south, right below Elliot's Duchy of Wheat, laid a region called Black Lands, ruled by a family of barons wearing the Tobrok name for four centuries. Their county had multiple spots where black rocks could be collected, minerals that burned very well. Of course, Leon would know them as coal. The Black Lands were one of the many regions littered around the Empire, inside a depression on the continental landmass, way below sea level. It was most likely the remnants of ancient lakes or even an inland sea. Whatever the reason was, the Tobrok family ruled over a coal-rich land yet was still one of the poorest barons within the Empire, only slightly above Elliot's family.

The reason was simple: coal was sparsely used. It was the resource for heating, used by the poor and ordinary people because of its smell, the ample smoke it generated, and not to mention, dirtying everything it touched. The nobles looked down upon it, thinking it was only suitable for use in the blacksmiths' workshop, which, in turn, also ended up settling its price so low that it was barely profitable.

Those workshops that relied on it were usually under the Empire's supervision, and buying coal in bulk was either part of the taxes the regions had to pay every year or Ishillia simply bought it at a low price to satisfy their own needs.

"This is getting out of hand..." Vash Tobrok, the family's leader, grunted, sitting in his cold, stone castle, wearing thick fur clothes, looking out of the narrow window, glad that spring was coming along nicely. Even though he had ample coal, he was not willing to burn it to heat up his home. That was... not what nobles would do. "Damned foreigners!"

His anger was coming from a single source, the hundreds of arriving caravans rampaging through his territory, setting up vagrant camps, increasing the number of lootings and bandit activity, even sacking one of his coal mines and chasing away guards and workers alike. He knew that this would only get worse as the weather cleared, and because of it, he devised a plan: sending all of them to Elliot. His land was fertile and full of food, something that was an enticing treasure for the refugees. The only issue he found was that they were being kept out by force!

"Damned wheat guzzlers..." He grunted, scratching his balding, old, wrinkled head under his puffy hat. "I must be careful, but a little force should do it. That young whelp shouldn't have a big army… They never had it. Mhm, I will push them through and make it his problem! Yes... that will work... He can feed them anyway!"

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