"The child in the prophecy?" Calystron was stunned, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Yes, I am the child in the prophecy. And…" Merlin frowned. "What's with that expression? Don't you believe I'm the child in the prophecy?"

Clear dissatisfaction crept into his voice.

Lyserra cast him a cold glance, and a chill instantly ran down Calystron's spine.

"W-Wait! Don't misunderstand! I just didn't expect you to be the child in the prophecy. After all, you shouldn't be the one," Calystron said in a panicked, fearful tone.

He had only just escaped that punishment and had no desire to be tortured by Lyserra again.

Merlin was taken aback by his words. "What do you mean I'm not the child in the prophecy?"

A guess surfaced in his mind, but he didn't dare voice it.

Calystron straightened his posture and explained, "You may not know this, but the prophecy about a child who would save the world from the Evil God Volgrath has existed for hundreds of years."

"At the time, Gabriel Solayne was the first to make the prophecy. He foresaw that the child would be born centuries later. However, the characteristics he described were very different from yours. The child had reddish-black hair, possessed great tenacity, smiled easily, and—most importantly—was born into a poor family in a remote village."

"Meanwhile, you…" Calystron looked him up and down before continuing, "You don't possess those characteristics. You're very different from what Gabriel described back then."

Hearing this, Merlin fell silent. His mouth opened and closed, as if he wanted to say something, but no words came out.

The traits Calystron described clearly belonged to Abel, the protagonist of the novel.

"System, do you think Gabriel Solayne's prophecy was wrong?" Merlin asked. "Or is there another explanation?"

"[His prophecy was not wrong, Master. As I have already said, your appearance is the cause of all the changes in this world. Once you decided to alter your destiny, everything began to deviate from the original path. Abel's loss of his identity as the child of prophecy—and its replacement by you—is also a result of that,]" the system replied indifferently.

Merlin took a moment to steady himself and clear his thoughts.

Then he raised his head and said, "Perhaps the prophecy has changed. The Holy King Vargan made a prophecy as well, and I am the one who appeared in it."

Calystron fell silent for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.

"Perhaps you're right."

In truth, he wanted to deny it—to insist that a prophecy could not be changed.

There were two types of prophecies: those that could be altered and those that could not.

Prophecies that could be changed were usually ones that did not have a major impact on the world.

An example was a prophecy that concerned oneself alone, without involving others.

Meanwhile, unchangeable prophecies were those that involved other people or even the world—such as the prophecy of a child who would appear to defeat the Evil God Volgrath.

However, he didn't dare mention this in front of Merlin, afraid Lyserra would beat him up again.

In addition, he was very curious about Merlin's true identity.

A child who could take the position of "the child in the prophecy" from its original owner was clearly no ordinary child.

Well, thinking about it now, the future of that child—the mysterious man from his dream—was indeed terrifyingly powerful.

His power surpassed that of any living creature in this world.

"All right, Calystron. I came to the hall of offering to ask for your dragon's blessing," Merlin said bluntly.

"My dragon's blessing?" Calystron was surprised. Earlier, Merlin had mentioned needing his dragon's blessing.

At the time, he thought the child was joking, but it turned out to be true.

He glanced at Lyserra, who was wriggling affectionately in Merlin's arms, confusion evident on his face.

This boy already had such a powerful dragon by his side. Why would he need his dragon's blessing?

Although he didn't know Merlin's purpose, Calystron didn't refuse.

Besides fearing Lyserra, he also wanted to build a closer relationship with Merlin.

Who knew? Perhaps in the future, Merlin might help him break through his limits and become a stronger dragon spirit than he is now.

"All right, I'll give you my dragon's blessing."

Calystron closed his eyes. Suddenly, a two-meter-wide sphere of light emerged from his forehead.

It slowly drifted toward Merlin, then enveloped his entire body.

Merlin closed his eyes and earnestly absorbed the dragon's blessing.

As the name suggests, a dragon's blessing was not raw power like magic or anything similar. It did not make the recipient instantly powerful.

However, those who obtained it would receive something far greater than power—good fortune.

Good fortune was something that could not be seen. But what if it truly existed?

Someone might be walking casually and suddenly stumble upon a bag containing a hundred thousand gold coins.

If not good fortune, what else could explain such an event?

The dragon's blessing also granted many other benefits, such as keeping the recipient clear-minded, preventing madness, and offering various other protections.

In short, it was similar to a cheat bestowed upon main characters in novels—including Abel, who also received it in his own story.

'I wonder how quickly he'll absorb my dragon's blessing,' Calystron murmured, curiosity flickering in his eyes.

In this world, only three people had ever received the blessing: Arthur Solayne, Gabriel Solayne, and the Fifth King, Lucius Solayne.

Each required a different amount of time—Arthur needed only half an hour, Gabriel one hour, and Lucius two hours.

Since the boy before him had successfully claimed the identity of the child in the prophecy, he should be on par with Gabriel, or perhaps even Arthur.

Suddenly, Merlin opened his eyes and broke into a broad smile.

"The dragon's blessing is truly amazing! I feel refreshed inside, as if I've been reborn," he said enthusiastically.

He looked at Calystron, winked, and thanked him.

"Thank you, Calystron!"

Calystron: "..."

He didn't know what to say. Moments ago, he had expected Merlin to need far more time to absorb the dragon's blessing—half an hour, or even an hour.

But what the hell?

It hadn't even been five minutes since he bestowed the blessing, yet the kid had absorbed it perfectly.

'Is this kid a monster?' Calystron swallowed hard.

The next second, he forced himself to calm down. The adult version of Merlin, who had fought him and Gabriel in another timeline, was already terrifying.

So it was only natural that his younger self was exceptionally gifted.

'Luckily, I apologized right away. As expected—this child must never become an enemy, no matter the situation,' Calystron thought to himself.

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