Return of the last survivor

And see something he did! Everywhere his eyes fell, Merlin saw incredibly lush greenery, with birds and animals everywhere.

In the sky, he saw a single sun, dimming into the distant horizon, while 4 moons, were already hung square in the increasingly starry sky.

In front of his was an incredibly dense forest, and behind him was a nearly endless dessert! In the centre of the forest was an incredibly large tree, nearly double the size of the snowy mountain he was currently on, while the centre of the desert had an incredibly large volcano, continuously spewing out molten lava, and tonnes of toxic gases constantly. The volcano itself was just as tall as the super tree in front of him, creating a sharp contrast. The plane itself seemed to be hanging on a terrible balance, with the mountain he was standing on acting as the pivot.

A faint sense of belonging flitted past Merlin's mind for an imperceptibly small amount of time. This feeling flew by so fast that Merlin himself didn't even notice it.

'Mecha, Cortana, pick one side.' Merlin stated in his mind.

'Master! Lava! Rare Metal!'

'My lord, the terrain on the barren side of the plane is easier to traverse, and enemies should be spotted a distance away. However, there could be enemies lying in wait under that sand, which would be almost impossible to detect until you reach Tier 2. The green side of the plane should be even more dangerous, with all kinds of dangers hiding everywhere.'

'Alright. Hmm… we will wait here on the mountain them. Until I completely heal. We will see then. No need to take risks travelling through possibly hostile regions. So far there has been nothing here, and I'll just wait here until I am healed.'

Merlin mentally shrugged as he sat down cross legged and began to greedily absorb the slightly more concentrated mana that at the foot of the mountain, where he had awoken initially.

There was no point in exploring a dangerous plane without being at full strength, and getting caught up in tough situations like the protagonists of other novels Merlin had read before the Apocalypse happened.

A month passed by in a flash, as Merlin spent his time practicing the First and second methods of the elemental law set, while reading through the infinite number of books in 'Archive'.

He had let the drop of Mecha left alive wander the mountain and eat anything it wanted, but not to leave the range of the mountain itself. During this past month, Mecha had eaten a tonne of normal rocks, and quite a few precious materials. His level had increased to Tier 0, Lv 2, while Cortana was just about to mature.

Merlin was also just about to recover enough to break through to Tier 2.

Suddenly, the invisible golden barrier around him quivered slightly as he reached Tier 2. He did not need to sleep or anything this time, since he was not actually breaking through. He was simply healing his wounds and regaining his strength.

The time taken to this point was incredibly long, nearly tripling the time Merlin had initially estimated for himself. The only reason he could find for this was that the World will was no longer directly trying to attack him, but was reducing his rate of recovery.

However, Merlin had finally broken through once more and returned to Tier 2. However, he did not stop his meditation, and continued to recover.

…

At this moment, in a majestic hall nearing the top of the World tree branches, at the centre of the Forest of Efrit, a council of 7 humanoid creatures with greying hair and wrinkles on their faces, were having a formal meeting held every 2 years regularly, and on every emergency or important occasion. If Merlin was present, he would have recognised them by their strikingly long and sharp ears, along with their graceful demeanour and thin and elongated bodies. These were elves, forest elves to be exact.

Suddenly, all six of them turned, their gazes piercing through the leaves and branches, to land on the newly advanced Merlin sitting atop one of the higher levels of Saint Ferlin Mountain.

A few moments of silence later, one of the 6 elves, all of whom were seated a step lower than the one seated on a wooden high back chair at the end of the conference table, spoke up.

"What is that creature?"

"Not one of us for sure" snorted another member.

"He does not seem to be a demon either."

"We need to eliminate it before it grows stronger!"

Just as the argument was getting increasingly heated, the aged and slightly hoarse voice from the male elf seated at the end of the conference spoke, causing all the other members to become silent.

"He is not a demon, nor an elf. We need to figure out his intentions first. Send an envoy. Being the only Tier 2 in the tribe, this frail body of mine will not be able to beat him. He has already ascended to Tier 2, and is growing stronger by the second. Even if all of you gang up on him, you will not beat him. 6 peak Tier 1s will never beat a Tier 2. My body is too old, and I am only alive due to the World Tree's power. She is only keeping me alive to fend off the old demon. My role is to remain alive until he does, and them go down with him."

Upon hearing these words, everyone in the room fell silent.

A long while later, the council came to a decision to immediately send an envoy to the mysterious being atop Saint Ferlin Mountain.