A black cat squatted silently on a moonlit hillside, its amber eyes fixed on the small wooden house in the distance. After a long period of stillness, the flickering magical light behind the wooden window finally faded into darkness. Dyna waited a bit longer, straining his ears for any lingering sound. When none came, he crept forward cautiously.
At the fifty-yard magical warning line, he hesitated. Then, with a sharp breath and clenched teeth, he broke into a sprint and leaped onto the windowsill.
The interior was chaos. Furniture had been overturned, scrolls scattered, and in the center of it all lay John Flint, sprawled lifelessly across a large table. The house had clearly been ransacked. Donna Avery had likely taken the tapestry before leaving.
Dyna's eyes narrowed. He had always questioned why Donna Avery had been involved in John Flint's deciphering of the tapestry. According to his research, the Avery family had simply been a tool — a weapon John Flint used to strike back at his own family. The Averys had served their purpose and taken the fall. They should've had no further involvement.
And yet… later events contradicted that assumption. After John Flint's imprisonment in Azkaban, it had been only Sally Avery and Flint who returned to steal the tapestry. Why?
If he truly wanted the full story, Dyna would need to confront Donna Avery directly.
Still, that wasn't the most pressing issue now. Because tonight, by sheer coincidence — this accident he'd stumbled into — Dyna had uncovered something far more important: the extraordinary heritage of his mother's family.
The tapestry didn't belong to the Averys. The supposed tale that Dyna's grandfather had taken it from the Avery main family during their split was clearly a lie. If it truly belonged to the Averys and was connected to Merlin's treasure, how could the core Avery bloodline ever allow it to slip away?
Not to mention — with the Avery family's power and influence — if Donna Avery had used the tapestry to locate Merlin's tomb in just four years, then surely, over the course of centuries, the Averys would've found Merlin's treasure long ago.
The only conclusion: the tapestry had originated from his mother Anna's family. Her true role had always been to protect this secret — the map to Merlin's treasure.
Emrys — that was the name the Welsh Druids had used for Merlin. It meant immortal. Dyna had discovered this while buried in books at the library this semester. If that name ran in his maternal bloodline…
Then his lineage, his so-called "golden finger," his bloodline strength, and the tapestry that began it all — it all made sense.
Even the strange disappearance of the treasure key and the mysteriously beardless corpse of Merlin that had been dug up — Dyna could now explain those mysteries.
Because the truth was simple: he had summoned both the beard and the key.
He glanced at John Flint's lifeless form again.
Should he leave a message behind? Maybe something like: The murderer is Donna Avery, scratched into the floorboards with his cat claws?
He dismissed the thought almost immediately.
Even if Donna Avery were caught and sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss, it would be too merciful. Just another death — no different from what had happened to Sally Avery. And if Old Avery could rescue Guy Avery with a scapegoat, who's to say he wouldn't do the same for Donna?
No — that wasn't justice. Not yet.
Frowning, slightly disgusted, Dyna decided to take John Flint's corpse with him. It might prove useful — a "key prop" in his future revenge against Donna Avery.
Thankfully, the extra-dimensional space inside his necklace was large enough. He even created a special area for Flint's body.
After all, hadn't John Flint spent his entire life searching for Merlin's treasure? Now, he would rest alongside it — in a necklace. Ironic. Poetic, even.
With that, Dyna disappeared into the night.
Past midnight.
Time for the summoning ritual.
Dyna was now nearly certain: Merlin had been dead for many years. Donna Avery and John Flint had unearthed his bones and taken the treasure key. Dyna wasn't sure if they'd reburied him properly afterward. But if Merlin truly was Dyna's ancestor, then it didn't feel right to leave his remains exposed in some forgotten grave.
So tonight, Dyna planned to use a summoning — reluctantly — to retrieve his ancestor's corpse.
He raised his hand, focusing. "Merlin's corpse!"
Nothing appeared. No parchment note. That was unusual — but also confirmed that the body existed.
Then something tore violently at the skin of his palm. Dyna winced. Blood welled up — and he had a strong sense that something large was about to burst from the wound.
He pointed his hand at the floor.
"Pfft!"
"Thump!"
A smooth, naked body landed on the floor with a heavy thud.
Seriously? Why no clothes?! Dyna realized with dawning horror — he'd already summoned Merlin's robe before. He wasn't wearing that robe again, that was for sure.
Still, the body… it was "fresh." Just as Flint had described. Not decomposed — more like an old man in a deep sleep. And when Dyna saw the face, he immediately knew:
This was family.
That old, sharp-boned face looked exactly like his own did when he'd emerged from Azkaban. This wasn't a coincidence.
The corpse was remarkably well preserved. No signs of damage, no bites from wild animals. It seemed that despite their suspicion of each other, Donna and Flint had respectfully reburied the body. They may have shouted "Merlin's beard!" as a joke, but when faced with the real thing, even they must have felt some reverence.
Unfortunately, by summoning him like this, Dyna was the most disrespectful of them all.
Still… what's done was done.
He couldn't exactly return the body — he didn't even know where the tomb had been.
And in the spirit of not wasting effort…
He pressed his palm gently to Merlin's cold forehead.
If even a single beard hair had granted him immense power, what could an entire corpse offer?
Could Avery and Flint really have missed this? The magic mist surrounding the body was practically visible to the naked eye!
But Dyna wasn't about to waste the opportunity.
As his palm met Merlin's brow, a surge of raw magic erupted into his body.
It felt like being inflated with molten fire.
Power — overwhelming, searing, and relentless — coursed into every cell, every bone, every nerve. It hurt.
He tried to pull away, but it was too late. The channel had formed. Even if he removed his hand, the magic would continue to pour in.
It reminded him of the time he had undergone the "bloodline transformation" — the agony, the pressure, the helplessness.
Wait.
Maybe that hadn't been a bloodline change at all.
Maybe it had just activated something already in him — the Merlin bloodline. Awakened by that marrow-like substance.
Dyna fell to his knees. Sweat poured down his face, soaking his shirt and dripping onto the floor, forming a small puddle in minutes.
He had no idea how long the process lasted.
Eventually, the transfer ended. The magic flow stopped.
Shaking, Dyna slowly stood.
His body was weak — nearly broken. But within, a terrifying power stirred.
He felt it — the ability to control everything around him.
He gently placed the now-empty body of Merlin into his necklace, storing it in the same private space as the beard.
He turned to head back into the house.
But the ground never met his feet.
He was floating.
What?
He twisted in the air, stunned. This kind of magic outburst wasn't rare among wizards — but it typically happened only in children. When a young wizard's magic surged uncontrollably, levitation was one of the signs.
In other words… his body couldn't handle the influx of power.
He had overdosed on magic.
End of Chapter 37
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