D.I.O

al was the man’s ability to move about in any direction freely.
If a user who specialized in speed were to acquire such a free-moving skill, then they would undoubtedly have the upper hand when dealing with their opponents. 

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“Wow, it seems there are all kinds of things that can be done in this world.”

As Merlin mumbled to himself, he started incorporating his internal force, which had reached max level, into his external Golden Core.

“Hmm, it seems my magic power is also full.”

/Your Enchant skill has reached rank 7!/

/You have acquired the title, ‘Beginner Enchanter!’/

/You have acquired the special skill, ‘Imbuing Spell!’/

With 20 tetra of magic power at his disposal, Merlin utilized 17 tetra to create and circulate his magic power system, allowing him to use his magic power.
Merlin only had 20 tetra of magic power, and since he used enchantment on an external object, imbuing it with his magic power, Merlin had to ensure he maintained the magic power within the object.
So, he had to create small magic systems within the objects.
This type of magic system creation required a considerable level of skill. 

“Hmm, the only magic spell I know is Ice Arrow.
I should learn some other spells.”

Merlin fetched the magic book from his inventory and started reading it as he walked around the village. Although the streets were filled with people, Merlin didn’t have any problems navigating his way through the crowd while reading.
This was because his senses had been greatly heightened after reaching Level 7 in his Golden Pill Immortal Technique.
He wouldn’t bump into anyone even if he had his head down in his book.

“Hey, Hanma.
You’re not going to head over to the conversion area?”

“I don’t have enough experience points, man.
Let’s go there together after completing the Siege quest.”

“I guess we can do that.
We have two hours left.”

“Right.
I need to gain some experience points and finally trade this dumb hammer.
I’m bumping into everything while carrying it around.
It’s so frustrating, and it’s getting on my nerves.”

The speaker, Hanma, was shirtless and had rippling muscles.
He looked to be in his twenties, and on his shoulders lay a hammer much larger than he was.
Hanma was having a conversation with the man apparently named Adol, who was covered in silverish cloth armor. 

Adol frowned. “Huh? If it’s cumbersome, why don’t you just store it in the bank?”

“Even though it’s cumbersome, it’s still pretty useful.”

Adol looked surprised when he heard this. “It’s useful? It doesn’t even have any magic properties, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s hefty and sturdy.
One shot from this, and any enemy will lose their marbles.”

Merlin was interested in these two.
He could feel their powerful aura, and he could tell instinctively that they were strong.
Moreover, the person named Hanma was carrying such an overwhelmingly large and heavy item.

‘Hmm, they look formidable.’

Thinking thus far, Merlin tried using the appraise function on the oversized hammer.

/Your appraisal has failed! The user has set his items to be ‘Undisclosed!’/

“Ah, I guess I can’t appraise another user’s items without their consent.”

The effects that an item had and its value were considered private and part of the owner’s privacy.
Obviously, people wouldn’t feel good if their things could be appraised by others at will. And so, the default setting for items was ‘Undisclosed.’ A user had to manually change this to ‘Disclose’ to allow others to appraise their belongings.

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“Anyway, let’s go and finish up the Siege quest.
How much time did you say we had left?”

“Two hours.”

“Ugh.
Didn’t you say two hours a moment ago?”

Seeing Hanma complain and huff, Adol snorted.

“To be specific, it was two hours and ten minutes a while ago.
Right now, we have two hours and five minutes remaining.
I understand you’re excited with anticipation but try to be a bit more patient.”

“Hmph.”

As the two continued to converse, they naturally blended into the crowd.
Merlin thought of following them, but he had soon lost interest in the two, so he continued walking ahead.

“Oh, I almost forgot.
I need to feed our little Younghwi (Bright Spirit) some food.”

Younghwi was the name Merlin had given the Wicalein Ring spirit. At first, he’d considered the name Shining for the spirit because it emanated a glowing light, but he felt the name Shining was too distant and impersonal, so he decided on Younghwi.

“Let’s see.
My internal energy level is at… eight points?”

Merlin was surprised at how little internal energy he had. While he didn’t possess a high internal energy ceiling, eight points meant that he only had four years of internal energy.

“What’s going on? I feel like half an hour has already passed since I last fed Younghwi, no?”

Despite Merlin’s surprise, it should have been obvious. Although his internal energy recovery rate had drastically increased once he reached Level 7 in his Golden Pill Immortal Technique, the technique was specialized in outputting large amounts of internal energy within a short period of time. It wasn’t ideal for regular and constant internal energy recovery. Furthermore, in the world of DIO, all users had physical bodies, so it was absurd to think that one’s body could operate like a machine without getting tired or exhausted.
Merlin had pushed his body to its limits, so his exhaustion was catching up to him.

As an example, let’s say a track and field athlete starts running.
After running ten kilometers, the athlete reaches his limit.
He can’t run any longer even if he wanted to. Yet, what would happen if that athlete rested for an hour? Even though he had reached his limit earlier, after an hour of rest, he’d be able to run again.
This was because he recovered his physical strength.
If he pushed himself, he might be able to run another ten kilometers.

“Am I tired?”

Although it was possible for this athlete to run ten kilometers after an hour break and run another ten kilometers after another hour break, and then another, he would hit his limit and no longer be able to run.
While he could recover his physical strength in an hour, his muscles and bones would need a greater amount of recovery time. 

In Merlin’s case, his internal energy recovery rate at his peak condition was 16 points a minute.
In terms of internal energy years, that would be eight years a minute.
Since his maximum amount of internal energy was 20 years, technically, if he used up all his internal energy, he’d be able to fully recover in less than three minutes. 

However, under the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, when an individual constantly recovered their internal energy, which was like gathering and circulating qi in other techniques, the internal energy recovery rate would decrease.
Since Merlin had been feeding Younghwi whenever he had the chance, his internal energy recovery rate had fallen all the way down to 0.3 points per minute.

“I guess I’ll need to hold off on expending any internal energy for the time being.
Should I just practice some magic?”

As he talked to himself, Merlin refocused on the magic book in his hands.
It was the Seven Jewel’s introductory book.
Merlin read the first few lines of the school of study’s description.

“There are seven stages within the Seven Jewel school of study.
Technically, if one includes the Unknown stage and Zero Shining stage, there are nine levels in total.”

Once a practitioner in the Seven Jewels passed the initial stage, the magic circle on the practitioner’s body, which contained one’s magic power, would glow in a jade color.
This represented that the practitioner reached the first stage. In the second stage, a practitioner’s magic circle would glow in an amethyst color. The third stage was represented by an emerald-green color.
Once a practitioner reached the fourth and fifth stages, the magic circle would transform into a magic core.
In some ways, the Seven Jewels magic development was similar to Merlin’s Golden Pill Immortal Technique.

“Flame.”

Merlin murmured a chant.
Soon, the magic power residing in his magic circle on the back of his hand drew a line to his palm.
The movement of his magic power followed the image Merlin had created in his mind.

However, the flame went out as soon as it lit up.