Night Ranger

Because the Dead Area was a map that was released in a later expansion, it hadn’t been completely explored by the time Marvin transmigrated.

As for the Secret Garden, many player guilds explored it and gathered enough information, but because of the special nature of the instance, Marvin himself hadn’t personally experienced it. He had obtained some secondhand information, but it was difficult to say whether it was all accurate.

From what he remembered, the origin of the Secret Garden was related to a Wizard’s school of magic from an ancient era.

That school of magic was called the Mikenshi school. Mikenshi Wizards were focused on cultivating Magic Medicines, and in their golden age, their organization’s branches covered every corner of the Dead Area. Of course, much had changed over time in the Dead Area.

At that time, the Mikenshi school’s status in the Dead Area was comparable to the South Wizard Alliance’s in Feinan Continent, occupying at least half of the territory.

They were expert Herbalists and focused on cultivating Magic Medicines, and thus, under the suggestion of a Mikenshi Wizard, they opened a unique space, a place very suitable for cultivating them.

Originally, it was a very ordinary medicine garden, but as the Mikenshi school constantly grew over the years, more and more Magic Medicines filled the garden.

These Magic Medicines grew crazily and wantonly, and although the Mikenshi Wizards set layers of barriers around the garden, their dense aura still attracted a powerful existence.

It was a frightening monster that had been lingering between Feinan and the Astral Sea. He drooled at the aura leaking out and took advantage of a Mikenshi caster that was experimenting with summoning to hijack the spatial tear.

That monster swallowed many Mikenshi Wizards. Although he was eventually sealed by a powerful Wizard, the Mikenshi school still suffered a huge blow and wasn’t able to recover. Monsters began to appear on the Dead Area Continent from different spatial tears, which made the Mikenshi very unstable. They half-closed the Secret Garden, only leaving some Wizards behind to defend it.

For many years, the Mikenshi school continued being attacked by various enemies and gradually weakened.

That was a story that was far too old. Marvin’s information suggested that at some point, the constantly weakening Mikenshi school had to keep retreating because it was unable to withstand a particularly formidable enemy. They eventually took a stand and fought a decisive battle outside the Secret Garden, ultimately suffering a crushing defeat.

The remaining Mikenshi Wizards released that first monster, intending to go for mutual destruction.

And they succeeded. The enemy and the monster both perished.

But they were also defeated, as all the Mikenshi Wizards had been wiped out in the battle. Only a Wizard Apprentice remained from these cultivators of Magic Medicines, left behind the barrier of the Secret Garden, completely at a loss.

That apprentice felt constant anxiety, afraid that another enemy would come. But in the end, none did, and he buried all the dead lifeforms in the Secret Garden.

In fact, many Magic Medicines had their own wisdom. Despite it being superficial, they were still lifeforms.

In the garden, a seemingly ordinary Magic Medicine kept trying to tempt the last Mikenshi Wizard.

It promised him great power.

The apprentice was bewitched and he approached that Magic Medicine. In the end, the latter swallowed the apprentice, even consuming his soul!

That Magic Medicine gained control over the Secret Garden after swallowing the apprentice’s soul. It grew unsatisfied with the current situation and decided to study the knowledge left behind by the Mikenshi school. For humans, it was only knowledge of how to cultivate and control Magic Medicines, but for the Magic Medicine, it was a way to understand and improve itself.

The Magic Medicine kept growing stronger and stronger as it studied, and it swallowed most of the other Magic Medicines in the Secret Garden before ultimately becoming a Magic Medicine King.

It gave itself a name, Eric. It was that pitiful Wizard Apprentice’s name.

...

To this day, Magic Medicine King Eric remained in control of the garden. It had very frightening strength, and moreover, it was almost invincible in its home, the Secret Garden.

Most importantly, this guy was very crafty. Regardless of what happened, it would never rashly appear in person. Most of those who saw his appearance had already lost their souls. In fact, only the players who cleared the instance learnt that Magic Medicine King Eric was the one who had deliberately let out the alluring aura that attracted the monster from the Astral Sea.

Eric was very good at illusions and disguising itself. When the Secret Garden was opened, it often took the appearance of an ordinary tree or a small flower, coldly watching as the greedy humans and other lifeforms looked at the Secret Garden’s rare Magic Medicines.

However, many of these Magic Medicines were illusions. Almost all the Magic Medicines in the Secret Garden ended up in Eric’s belly. The remaining Magic Medicines either had indestructible seals set up by the Mikenshi Wizards or were frightening enough that Eric didn’t dare to provoke them.

Thus, each time the Secret Garden was opened, it appeared to be a gift from the ancient Wizards to their descendants, while in fact, it was Eric’s plot.

It opened the door, luring powerhouses in just to eat its fill.

Over the years, no one was able to see through Eric’s plot because it understood how to act. It wouldn’t provoke those who were really powerful, letting them freely depart. But it was very proficient at creating Illusions, with skill comparable to a Master Illusionist’s, reaching the realm of the fake becoming real. Those people were confused, thinking they knew the truth about the Secret Garden, but they didn’t.

That was only the "truth" that Eric wanted people to know.

Every time the Secret Garden opened, it was because it was Eric’s mealtime. Of course, the Secret Garden really did have some powerful Magic Medicines waiting for people to pick them, but they were rare.

The Great Elven King’s injury was caused by Divine Fire, and the strong effect was brought out through the fusion of three potent Divine Powers.

There was only one Magic Medicine that could counteract the effect of the Divine Fire, called [Underworld River Water]. And in the information left behind by the Mikenshi Wizards, there was a list of Magic Medicines that had been cultivated, which included the [Underworld River Water].

Marvin was sure that Ivan must have seen it before deciding to break into the Secret Garden.

He didn’t know whether there would still be any Underworld River Water in the Secret Garden, but since that place was opening, he wouldn’t mind taking a trip inside.

Although it would be good for Marvin to get his hands on the Underworld River Water, Magic Medicine King Eric was his real target.

But that guy was very crafty, so even though he knew a bit about the Secret Garden, he still had to be cautious.

...

While moving through the Secret Garden, adventurers not only had to worry about Magic Medicine King Eric’s traps, but also needed to guard against each other.

After all, the ancient Magic Medicines were very precious. With the draw of such benefits, even many powerhouses were unable to control themselves.

Furthermore, the Magic Medicine King took part in it with its great skill at playing with people’s minds. It would often take control of people without them knowing by speaking to their hearts and then exploiting their weaknesses.

In short, the Secret Garden was a place filled with danger.

Many Legends were buried there. This was why it was known as the [Tomb of Legends] in the players’ hearts.

This was not only related to the Magic Medicine King, but also the creators of the Secret Garden, the Mikenshi Wizards.

In order to protect these Magic Medicines, they set up a lot of runes, arrays, and restrictions in the Secret Garden.

Anyone wanting to enter the Secret Garden would have their capabilities reduced greatly. Whether it was skills, specialties, or various abilities, they would all be severely suppressed.

Only their attributes would not be suppressed. Even Legends would be weakened in the Secret Garden, reduced to about two-thirds of their original strength.

This was also the reason Marvin dared to compete with the other Legends.

Even if his skills and specialties were also suppressed, with his 30 Godly Dexterity, Marvin had a slight advantage and could overcome some of them.

Moreover, he now had another method, Desperation Style!

The effects gained from the Martial Path couldn’t be suppressed by the Secret Garden. This was an area similar to the Ice Monster cave in that sense. Marvin had already gotten used to the Ice Monster cave in the past few days.

Thus, in the Secret Garden, the classes that more commonly trained in the Martial Path would be most dominant. The Monk class was the most typical example.

Unfortunately, Monks would rarely enter the Secret Garden, as most of them had little interest in material wealth and would rarely be influenced by others.

As for Wizards, their spells would also be severely restricted.

Legend Wizards in the Secret Garden would be roughly equivalent to Half-Legends! This was a very frightening drop in rank!

But with the appeal of Magic Medicine, very few Wizards would be able to restrain themselves.

Every time the Secret Garden opened, most of the people that came would be Wizards rushing from all over the Dead Area.

They would also be the ones suffering the most losses.

Although some people did manage to come out alive each time the Secret Garden opened, only a small portion could claim to have obtained any benefits from it. Moreover, many of those people were nobodies that would quickly disappear from sight.

But no one could ignore the Secret Garden’s appeal.

This was the part of the draw of Eric’s illusion.

...

Marvin considered the information he had about the place.

As Marvin’s influence grew, his "prophetic" ability in this world would slowly weaken.

He knew that he had to advance to Legend before the Great Calamity. Only with an increase in strength would he be able to challenge a powerhouse like Dark Phoenix.

Otherwise, even if he had the Sea Elven Queen’s help, he wouldn’t be able to rescue Hathaway from Dark Phoenix.

He decided to enter the Secret Garden not only to help Ivan and the Great Elven King, but also for himself.

If he could grab the crafty Magic Medicine King, in the hands of an Alchemist, this strange Magic Medicine could be used as materials and refined into a very fierce potion.

Marvin knew that the first player guild that cleared the Secret Garden had obtained a part of the Magic Medicine King and successfully refined it into a potion that could raise one’s attributes.

This wasn’t a short boost of attributes like Dragon Strength. It was a permanent increase! He had heard it wasn’t just a small boost either.

Increasing one’s attributes in the Legend realm was very difficult, yet this potion was able to do it. How could Marvin not desire it?

’Eric’s characteristics are [Swallow] and [Absorb]. It became known as the Magic Medicine King was because it swallowed and absorbed a huge amount of Magic Medicine, with its body eventually gaining the effects of many formidable Magic Medicines.’

’This guy is like a weaker version of the Archdevil’s head. The Numen at that time continuously collected the precious bloodline power from the Archdevil’s head to the point that the Numen still have powerful descendants even today. If I can contain the Magic Medicine King, I should also be able to continuously make powerful magic potions.’

For many powerhouses, these magic potions were something they would be willing to risk their lives for.

In the upcoming Chaos Era, Marvin would need many allies and would also need to increase their strength. Eric was the best option.

Thinking of this, an excited expression flashed in Marvin’s eyes. He began preparing a plan based on the information he knew.

But at that time, the horse crossed a shallow river, and the silhouette of an ancient village became faintly discernible in the distance.

’[Breton Village], finally!’

A faint light flickered in the distance through the fog. Marvin frowned, quickly approaching.

It was a barrier with black flames flickering on it.

Marvin checked and was surprised to find that the entire village was covered by this barrier.

’[Blackfire Lava]? That Wizard organization joined in?’

Marvin sneered in his mind, ’They want to keep it for themselves?’

Sure enough, before he reached the barrier, two black-gowned Wizard Apprentices appeared outside of it.

In the middle of their gowns there was a black flame, and below that was boiling lava.

"Please go back, sir." The apprentice on the left was a bit older and earnestly informed, "[Blackfire Lava] has already joined forces with other powers to control this place. People without enough strength don’t have the qualifications to enter the Blackfire Barrier."

The one on the right side was quite rude. He glanced at Marvin and seeing his youth, he revealed a disdainful expression. "A little guy coming out of nowhere actually dares to come to the Secret Garden? Could it be that you don’t know that with your strength, you would only be throwing away your life? Get the fuck out or we will take care of you!"

The apprentice on the left frowned but didn’t say anything.

In the western part of the Dead Area, [Blackfire Lava] was considered the largest Wizard organization. For this opening of the Secret Garden, their leader personally led the entire organization to occupy this place, intending to join forces with other Legends to enter and explore the Secret Garden.

Because the number of spots was limited, they wanted to prevent others from snatching any and thus a scene like this happened.

The entire Breton Village was sealed off by a Barrier.

Each group keeping watch had at least one 3rd rank Wizard overseeing them. Along with the Legend powerhouses they joined hands with, an ordinary person simply couldn’t enter.

Hearing this, Marvin dismounted and completely ignored the two Wizard Apprentices, using Shadow Escape to pass through the Blackfire Barrier!

"You are courting death!" The Wizard Apprentice on the right suddenly became angry and started to cast a spell at Marvin.