Chapter 779: Chapter 216: Ian of Myth and Mutation_2

He briefly introduced the future education system and mentioned some comparative data he had seen; the survival rate of little wizards during the magic school era was indeed much higher than in this era.

"Interesting."

Merlin stroked his chin.

"Hogwarts?"

He suddenly spoke out of nowhere.

Ian was taken aback.

He remembered he hadn’t mentioned the name Hogwarts.

"How do you know?"

Ian looked at Merlin with great surprise.

Merlin just smiled softly.

"So it really is Hogwarts. It seems I have quite a connection with this school." He didn’t directly answer Ian’s question but confirmed his suspicion through Ian’s reaction.

"Have you met the founders of our school?" Ian couldn’t help but conjecture; if they could all find ways to travel through extended eras, there’s no reason the founders of Hogwarts couldn’t. Moreover, from Dumbledore’s memories, it seemed Dumbledore acquired the broken ancient time converter after becoming headmaster.

It’s hard to say that the broken ancient time converter wasn’t something left by the founders.

"This isn’t information I told you." Merlin still didn’t answer directly, though his response conveyed a clear implication; perhaps he had made a pact not to reveal this matter specifically.

"To be honest, Lady Ravenclaw’s notes also mention she once saw such a bird, though she didn’t harbor as much hostility towards it as you do."

While speaking, Ian glances again at the raven in the coffin, his doubts growing deeper, uncertain if this raven is the same one Lady Ravenclaw witnessed.

After all.

A raven living for a thousand years is truly shocking. Thinking of this, Ian instinctively lifts his head, looking at the line of shining words.

[Death is a great blessing]

The words glitter brilliantly.

As if expressing a longing for death. Ian is unclear whether these words are left by him or imply the magical raven that might have lived for many years inside the coffin.

"Hah, my hostility is strong?"

Merlin, upon hearing Ian’s query, his face again showed anger. He clenched his fist and said through gritted teeth, "I was betrayed by this bird! That was undoubtedly the most terrifying and exceedingly painful experience of my life. It pretended to be harmless on the surface yet secretly wanted me to..."

Merlin stopped abruptly halfway through his words.

As if unwilling to remember past scars.

"Wanted you what?"

Ian’s curiosity was piqued, prompting him to inquire further, but Merlin chose silence, merely sighing with a hint of satisfaction on his face.

"I’m sure I’m not the only one who would feel schadenfreude. Perhaps this bird also fooled you, which is why you buried it in this empty tomb."

"Believe me, if Medivh is truly your future, then you will definitely have been targeted by this bird in the past." Merlin had a reasonable guess.

He felt Ian must have achieved what he could not do - kill the shadow crow. According to his understanding of Medivh, this little fellow’s future temper would not be good.

Just as vengeful as the shadow crow.

And when two vengeful beings meet, one of them will inevitably be unable to bear grudges anymore... Merlin felt he had glimpsed the truth even without using prophecy.

The little wizard remained noncommittal about it.

"Perhaps."

He felt Merlin’s guess might be wrong, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly where. Meanwhile, Merlin’s gaze once again returned to the coffin.

"No matter what, this shadow crow bears great secrets; its rank equals that of a divine spirit, even the king of gods fears mentioning it, and its corpse is an exceptionally rare and valuable alchemy material." Merlin’s tone carried a hint of awe, yet he did not act, instead signaling Ian to take the raven’s corpse.

"You say it’s so precious, don’t you want to keep some yourself? It’s alright, we can split it evenly; I’ll take the body, and you can have the neck or some other parts."

Ian’s gaze also fell on the raven’s corpse. As an alchemy enthusiast, how could he not recognize its immense value, just the traits untouched by time being one of the ultimate pursuits in alchemy.

"Keep it yourself." Merlin directly rolled his eyes, seemingly uninterested in this rare alchemy material, even faintly feeling it was unlucky.

"I said already, I’m merely looking for the future direction. And now, I’ve found my answer." Although he didn’t uncover treasures, Merlin was very pleased with this adventure.

"Answer?"

Ian had heard Merlin mention this before, initially thinking it was just a fabricated lie driven by survival instinct, unexpectedly, Merlin had found the so-called path ahead?

"What is it?"

The little wizard’s curiosity was piqued.

He, too, is a legend.

Eager for further progress.

Merlin didn’t answer directly but instead asked, "Have you ever wondered why you’d repeatedly return to the past in the future, intervening in history involving gods?"

He was clearly convinced that Medivh was merely Ian’s future self.

"Uh... because it’s necessary to go back? Surely not because of love." Ian could only ponder and speculate, yet couldn’t truly think of a reason with any basis.