Merlinda

Merlinda, titled the Song of the Forest, is an elven healer and prophet who rises from captive servant of the Moon God to the new Moon Priestess. Zhang Yang rescues her repeatedly, after which she becomes a decisive ally whose healing and prophecy magic help defeat enemies far beyond her original level. (Chapters 121–126, 240–242, 315–318, 374, and 748–756)

Biography

Lone Desert Smoke and Soaring Swords

Merlinda is first found imprisoned in the Underground Tower by Terpot Ryhar's Shackles of Shadow. The Level 45 Elite is being infused with corrupting power that will erase her will within three hours, but she can still ask Zhang Yang to retrieve an Elemental Stone from Ron. He completes the task and frees her. Merlinda then insists on confronting her captor, stays behind to support the battle with healing and Punishment Ray, dispels the Weaken effect placed by the ghost Hermione, and mourns the former friend rather than treating her destruction as an uncomplicated victory. She rewards Zhang Yang with the ring that carries a healing Shadow in her image. (Chapters 121 and 124–126)

Her search for the Moon Elves' Staff of Prophecy leads to another capture in the Frozen Fractal palace. A specter tries to force her through the Ritual of the Moon God, and Merlinda sends Zhang Yang after both the Frozen Key and the stolen staff. Once they are returned, she rises from a Level 45 Elite to a Level 65 Yellow-Gold NPC with fifteen million health, ten million mana, and 1,200 defense. Riding a white tiger, she uses the staff's prophecy magic—especially Blast Topple and Deprivation—to strip King Arthur of the Sword in the Stone and its invincibility, then supports the kill with Punishment Ray and Higher Regeneration before leaving to investigate her scattered people. (Chapters 240–242)

Merlinda is later held in Blood Moon Castle because Pilo intends to force her into marriage. Zhang Yang's party helps free her, and she directs the destruction of the castle's cannons before applying an area version of Higher Regeneration during the escape and confrontation with Slane. Thea, the reigning Moon Priestess, identifies Merlinda as the woman who will inherit the office and lead the Moon Elves after the proper ritual. By the later unicorn crisis, Merlinda has become the new Moon Priestess; she diverts from her original goal to protect Ai Carlo and the unicorn's mother, takes a severe blow in their defense, and survives after Zhang Yang immediately uses the Fountain of Life. (Chapters 315–318 and 374)

The Moon Elves remain politically separate enough that recruiting Merlinda is not a simple guild arrangement, despite Zhang Yang having rescued her three times. When Angus threatens the region, Merlinda overrules elders who oppose intervention and invokes her authority as Priestess to follow Zhang Yang into battle. Thea and Aweena accompany her as protectors. Merlinda travels on a Legendary Unicorn, brings prophecy and healing magic into the fight, and sustains Zhang Yang, Serena, and the allied barons while Angus's damage would otherwise overwhelm them. (Chapters 748 and 750–754)

After the victory, Merlinda remains in White Jade Castle for several days. She does not answer Serena's request to enter the palace, and Thea and Aweena quietly escort her home instead. Her departure preserves Moon Elf independence while leaving the alliance intact: she has chosen to aid Zhang Yang and Serena against a shared enemy, not to surrender her priestly authority or people to White Jade's court. The latest supplied account leaves her alive and returned with her protectors. (Chapters 755–756)

Appearance and personality

Merlinda has pointed elven ears, pale eyes, emerald-green hair, fair skin, and a slender, curved figure. At her first rescue she wears a purple Amherst dress and carries an ancient staff; after becoming Moon Priestess, she appears in white ceremonial clothing and later rides a Legendary Unicorn. The corpus changes her rank and equipment over time, so her early dress and staff should not be treated as a permanent endgame costume. (Chapters 121, 124, 242, 374, and 751–752)

She is compassionate, faithful, proud, and unusually willing to endanger herself for others. Merlinda grieves for the corrupted Hermione, refuses to abandon a confrontation after captivity, shields unicorns from demons, and defies her elders to fight Angus. Her dignity can make her secretive or offended by jokes about inadequate rewards, while her repeated captures and severe injury show that courage and high healing power do not make her invulnerable. (Chapters 124–126, 240–242, 315–318, 374, and 750–752)

Abilities and gameplay

Merlinda progresses from a Level 45 Elite support NPC to a Level 65 Yellow-Gold holder of the Staff of Prophecy and ultimately the Moon Priestess. Her strongest documented contribution is sustained healing across multiple high-health allies, supplemented by dispelling, light-based attacks, and staff-granted prophecy effects. Repeated imprisonment, forced rituals, and a near-fatal blow establish that these abilities require protection and do not prevent control or burst damage from stronger enemies. (Chapters 121–126, 240–242, 315–318, 374, and 750–754)

Higher Regeneration

Higher Regeneration initially restores five percent of a target's health each second for thirty seconds. Merlinda uses it while supporting Zhang Yang after her first rescue and later applies an area version during the escape from Blood Moon Castle. By the Angus battle, the spell can affect multiple allies within roughly fifty meters, lasts twenty seconds, and restores five percent of each recipient's health per tick up to a maximum of 200,000. That percentage scaling makes it especially valuable for Zhang Yang, Serena, and the barons, whose health pools are much larger than an ordinary fixed heal. (Chapters 124–125, 318, and 752–754)

The spell is powerful but bounded. Its later per-tick cap prevents five percent scaling from growing without limit, its duration requires recasting in a prolonged battle, and Merlinda must remain present and protected for the group to keep receiving support. Her role against Angus is therefore central without making the encounter self-sustaining on healing alone. (Chapters 752–754)

Prophecy and offensive magic

Merlinda can cast Punishment Ray and remove hostile effects such as Hermione's Weaken. After recovering the Staff of Prophecy, she gains Blast Topple and Deprivation; together they knock away King Arthur's special protection and remove the Sword in the Stone that supplies his invincibility. She also attempts Holy Punishment, although immunity can prevent it from taking effect. Her attacks contribute to victories, but the narrative consistently values her more as a healer and encounter-enabler than as the principal damage dealer. (Chapters 124–126 and 241–242)

The Staff's power is a material part of this progression. Receiving it upgrades Merlinda's NPC quality and statistics, and its specialized effects counter a particular boss state that ordinary attacks cannot overcome. Losing the staff or being restrained can therefore suppress much of her demonstrated strategic value; her prophecy is not shown as unrestricted knowledge of every future event. (Chapters 240–242)

Merlinda's Shadow

The Shadow summoned by Merlinda's Ring of Grateful, also translated as Merlinda's Appreciation Ring, is an item-created projection rather than the living Merlinda. At the ring's early stage, the invincible Shadow lasts ten seconds, restores 1,000 health each second, and has a three-minute cooldown. It reproduces her healing identity but does not transport Merlinda herself, share her later statistics, or prove that the ring's version automatically acquired her later area-healing cap. (Chapters 124–125)

Power progression

Relationships

• Zhang Yang: Merlinda's repeated rescuer and eventual battlefield ally. He frees her from several captors, recovers the Staff of Prophecy, saves her after the unicorn defense, and calls on her healing against Angus; she ultimately trusts his warning over the elders' objections. (Chapters 121–126, 240–242, 315–318, 374, and 748–754)
• Thea: Merlinda's predecessor as Moon Priestess and one of her principal protectors. Thea identifies her as the future elven leader and later accompanies her into danger and escorts her home. (Chapters 318 and 750–756)
• Serena: A fellow leader whom Merlinda heals during the Angus battle. Serena wants a closer political relationship afterward, but Merlinda returns with the Moon Elves instead of answering a palace summons. (Chapters 752–756)
• Angus: A regional enemy whose threat persuades Merlinda to defy conservative elders. Her sustained healing is essential to the allied force that defeats him. (Chapters 750–754)

Items

• Merlinda's Ring of Grateful: A reward Merlinda gives Zhang Yang after her first rescue, also rendered as Merlinda's Appreciation Ring. It summons an invincible healing Shadow modeled on her for a limited duration. (Chapters 124–125)
• Staff of Prophecy: A Moon Elf celestial artifact stolen and held in Frozen Fractal. Recovering it upgrades Merlinda's quality and statistics and enables Blast Topple and Deprivation against King Arthur's special protection. (Chapters 240–242)