He met rin shortly after the Lockdown. Entering a low level dungeon with him to see how everything worked now that they're stuck. It didn't take long for Merlin to take a liking of Rin and become friends with her.

He ocassionally goes to dungeons with her and helps her whenever she has a question of the game (their reality now) he can answer. He tends to call her Rin-chan.

The way they met was honestly something Merlin wishes to forget, yet he's grown to live with what happened. After what happened he and Vanitas have occassionally met up to do dungeons the two of them, Merlin gaining new experience on the new monsters and what they drop while Vanitas can prepare the dungeons for his own Guild to fight.

He tolerates Vanitas somewhat better after their previous meetings, yet he still believes he's not really that much of a nice man. Even so, he's currently being taught how to use a sword after learning that there are no more class limitations.

Even before the Lockdown he knew of Faust as someone who constantly bought items he put up for sale at the marketing table in game. He still exchanges items with him and even buys things from Faust that even he never heard before, which makes him think highly of the now demon due to his class. He thinks he's a funny man and easy to get along with, yet he prefers to mostly keep it all bussiness with him currently.

Before the Lockdown he made Vivi as a NPC for his Guild Avalon. He made her to be the secretary and his retainer whenever he logged in. Now however she's a sentinent being just like he is. He couldn't help but to think of her as anything but something of a daughter, since he did make her in a way after all. Decided to give her a proper job at the guild (with payment of course) and lets her do whatever else she wants to do, since she has her own free will now.

Is quite glad she gets along with Banika as her sister now.

He met Banika during a quest in a new unlocked area that he wanted to visit. After accepting the quest which he found really interesting to work with, upon the completition of it, to his surprise, Banika asked of him to become her new Master.

Because of the circumstances in which she asked that of him, after some thought he decided to accept becoming her new Master, yet insists she just call him Merlin. He sees her as some kind of Daughter as well, and introduced her to Vivi as such.

After hearing about a Deity being in a frenzy at a new town he visited, Merlin decided to check for himself what was happening. Much to his stubborness, he ended up going solo into a basically overleveled dungeon, ending up trying to finish it all by himself, the goal to free the Deity from a parasite which was causing all nearby monsters to go on a frenzy, her body possesed.

After almost dying for real, he managed to successfully finish the dungeon and thus freeing the Deity from the parasite. One thing led to another, and in a not very stable moment he asked the Deity to marry him, as she promised him to grant a wish of his as thanks. Surprisingly, she accepted.