A Wizard's Secret

by Stayrr

Anyone who could construct a stable Spell Model could become a Wizard — that was the Wizards’ ultimate secret! Having been given a new life as the son of an aristocrat and armed with a super quantum computer from his past life, Spell Models came as easily as breathing to Merlin. With this overwhelmingly huge advantage, would Merlin become the greatest Grand Wizard of all time?

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A Wizard's Secret

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Anyone who could construct a stable Spell Model could become a Wizard — that was the Wizards' ultimate secret! Having been given a new life as the son of an aristocrat and armed with a super quantum computer from his past life, Spell Models came as easily as breathing to Merlin. With this overwhelmingly huge advantage, would Merlin become the greatest Grand Wizard of all time?

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Read A Wizard's Secret - Chapter 1 - Merlin online free - Light Novel Full

"Bang."

Lin Fei felt himself flying through the air. His body was falling rapidly before he finally hit the ground. He felt horribly groggy, and a shrill noise of car's brake rang in his ears. At this time, he found himself failing to open his eyes; his remaining subconsciousness could only register the chaotic noise that surrounded him.

"Hurry, call the police. There's been an accident."

In the infinite darkness, Lin Fei thought he had witnessed a ray of light. Suddenly, he woke up wide-eyed as though he had been startled by a nightmare. His chest rose and fell as he panted for breath. He was still terrified inside.

"Where is this? The hospital?"

Lin Fei quickly checked himself as he remembered being flung into the air by a vehicle that was moving at a high speed. He found himself lying on a big, soft bed, wearing loose-fitting pajamas. There was also no or injury on his body.

'How strange. I was thrown into the air by a car, how am I not injured at all? Besides, even if I was not injured, I should be in the hospital. Is this the hospital?'

It was only until now did Lin Fei raise his head to examine the room. It was a spacious room, even the bed was draped with ornate. The vast blue sky outside of the window was visible through the thin fabric.

However, gradually, Lin Fei realized something was wrong. There was no light nor air conditioner in this place. Anything electrical was not to be found.

There was only a writing desk, a high stool, and a round stool. Some books bound with a string were placed on the writing desk, as well as a candlestick with three unfinished candles.

Surprised, Lin Fei hurried to the massive mirror in the room. An unfamiliar young face appeared in the mirror; tall nose, a long face as pale as a sheet of paper, long black hair, and a pair of uncommon blue eyes.

The reflection in the mirror was no longer the face Lin Fei was familiar with!

"Who am I?"

Lin Fei mumbled as he plonked himself down on the bed. Immediately, an excruciating pain burned his head, accompanied by unfamiliar memories that came flooding his mind.

"Merlin? I'm Wilson Merlin?"

Lin Fei hastily put these unexpected fragments of memories into order. This world he had passed through was a backward one, somewhat similar to the Western Middle Ages which was ruled by several kingdoms. He was currently situated in a middle-sized city named Blackwater, under the rule of the Kingdom of Light.

Merlin's father – Old Wilson, was a lord. Even though his rank as a baron was lowest in the nobility social class, he won the title by shedding blood and tears in battles. He joined the army when he was young and performed his service for twenty years. He also accomplished brilliant achievements in the battle when the Kingdom of Light sent troops to suppress the heretic Kingdom of Blackmoon in the east.

After being discharged from active military service, Old Wilson was conferred upon the title of Baron by the king alongside a piece of land of a favorable size. However, Old Wilson preferred to live in the city, hence, he only visited the fief when it came for time to collect taxes.

Merlin regained great memories of Old Wilson, but his recollection of his mother was not clear. He only remembered vaguely that his mother was an easterner who sought refuge from the Kingdom of Light, and that he has inherited his black hair from her.

However, his mother passed away not long after giving birth to Merlin. Therefore, even Merlin himself could not recall her appearance.

"Dong, dong, dong."

Just as Merlin was still immersed in his own memories, the knocking sound on the other side of the door sent him dashing to his bed as he called out, "Come in!"

The door to the bedroom was pushed open gently. A servant girl dressed in a gray uniform walked in with a change of clothes. "Young Master Merlin, this is your clothes for today," she said softly.

Memories gushed into Merlin's mind at the sight of this servant girl. This was his personal maidservant named Lucia.

"Alright, leave them here, and off you go," Merlin replied.

Lucia, who had kept her head low all the time, finally looked up at her young master. Her skin was fair with slight freckles, but that did not affect her beautiful appearance.

"Young Master Merlin, Young Lady Macy is waiting downstairs for breakfast."

Merlin nodded. "Okay, I'll be down in a minute."

Lucia bowed slightly, lifted her dress, and left the room without a sound. Finally, Merlin rose from his place and put on the change of clothes that Lucia had left on the desk.

The comfortable white shirt was most probably made out of cotton. It was evidently purely handmade as there was no trace of it being sewn by a machine. After putting on the black coat, Merlin scrutinized the person looking back at him from the mirror. Apart from the expression in his eyes and the slight resemblance from his past life, everything else was completely alien to him.

Merlin left his bedroom for the hall downstairs and noticed his sister Macy sitting on the chair in poised, albeit with a face full of annoyance. Evidently, she had been waiting for a long time.

"Hurry up, Merlin. We don't want to be late to the church again."

Macy urged.

"Oh? Where are we going?"

Merlin asked as he sat down on the chair. His eyebrow raised in confusion as he genuinely had no idea where they were supposed to go. Although he had retrieved much of Wilson Merlin's memories, a major fragment of it still remained unearthed.

Macy widened her eyes but refrained herself from hitting the roof. She lowered her voice and explained, "Merlin, cut it off. Although father has left to collect the taxes, he made it clear that it's obligatory for you to receive training from Swordsman Pero at the church every day."

Merlin listened in silence. That one sentence that Macy said had revealed a great deal of information. Old Wilson had left for his landholdings and would not return for a while. This meant that, at least for now, he would be spared from being exposed by Old Wilson before he completely regained his memory.

"Very well."

Merlin replied without much enthusiasm. He then picked up the cutleries and started on his breakfast.

It was bread, milk, and some really thick wheat gruel which tasted delicious. It had given Merlin his appetite and soon he gulped down three small bowls.

Merlin finished his meal quickly and patted the corners of his mouth clean. Then, he began examining Macy.

Macy was born by the eighth lady of Old Wilson whose name Merlin could not exactly recall.

Macy, who had not realized herself being put under the scrutiny of her brother's eyes, urged. "Let's get going, we're running out of time. Swordsman Pero is a rather strict man."

Therefore, Merlin and Macy hurried into the carriage that has long awaited them and finally left for the church.

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Chapter 2: A Backward World

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

The whirring of the wheels went as the carriage moved unsteadily on the ground of Blackwater City which was laid out with irregular bluestone. It was very uneven and it felt a little uncomfortable traveling in the carriage.

Merlin sat next to Macy, and the faint fragrance coming from her comforted Merlin. However, the carriage ride was indeed too bumpy. After a short while of trying to adapt, Merlin gave up and leaned back on the carriage, his legs slightly bent. This posture made him feel more at ease.

However, Macy was very dissatisfied. She looked at Merlin's legs in front of her eyes and frowned slightly. "Merlin, can't you position your legs properly? You are a nobleman, and you must act like one."

'I'll just lie down for a bit. I didn't sleep well last night."

Merlin replied with indifference, still keeping the position he felt most comfortable.

Unexpectedly, Macy did not argue with Merlin. She bit her lip gently, and a hint of worry washed across her face. She asked cautiously, "Is it because of Avril?"

Merlin did not reply, hence Macy continued speaking, "actually, there's no need for you to be worried. No matter what, Avril is officially engaged to you, witnessed by decades of friendship between the Parman family and the Wilson family. She will be married to you eventually. Anyhow, you have to quit fooling around as well, and spend more effort on making Avril like you better."

Although Merlin kept his eyes closed, he was not really sleeping. He remembered with his heart each and every word Macy told him.

'Avril is my fiancée? But, from what I gathered from Macy, it seems like Avril isn't quite fond of me… Why can't I remember anything about this matter?'

Merlin only regained a fraction of his memory, and the rest was lost forever. In order to not expose himself to others, he had to listen carefully to what everyone says and analyze the information thoroughly.

For instance, this Avril that Macy had mentioned must be another important piece of information. Merlin kept the knowledge in his mind.

Merlin was getting rather irritated after lying down for a while. He drew the curtains and shivered as the cold breeze blew.

"Winter is coming…" Merlin exclaimed. It was already September, the last month of the fall season, but it seemed that the cold has arrived earlier than expected.

"You're right, winter is coming, although I'm unsure why the weather has gotten cold quicker this year."

Merlin wrapped his clothes tighter around himself as he curled into the corner of the carriage.

It appeared to be still drizzling outside. There were not many people on the street, apart from a few tramps who knelt to the ground as they begged from the well-dressed people.

These tramps clothed themselves in some rough linens that they probably collected from somewhere, and they appeared as thin as hemp ropes. Their eyes were filled with desperation. There were also several really young children among them.

The others showed a look of disdain as they passed by, some even covered their noses and mouths and sped on hastily. Merlin's eyes swept past these tramps without much interest and shifted his attention at the group of knights crowded by the street.

These knights all had silver light armors wrapped around the upper body, a wooden shield in hand, and a sword of half a human's height on their back. They imposed an impressively-commanding manner. The crowd on the street seemed to be very afraid of these knights, and some children, when they saw these knights, showed a hint of envy on their faces.

Merlin frowned. He had no idea who these knights were, but even so, he did not dare to inquire Macy about it.

Macy also noticed these knights from inside of the carriage. However, she seemed at the least impressed and said coldly, "It's them again, knights of the City Defence Troops. A pleasant to the eye but of no use. Judging by the large number, perhaps yet another town has been encountered with bandits. More and more disturbance has arisen recently. Many bandits appear in the small towns surrounding Blackwater City."

Merlin remained silent as he registered this information into his mind. He has just arrived in this world, and his memory was made up of bits and pieces in a chaotic order. He was not in the best position to speak more.

Merlin observed the situation in silence for a little longer. Although there were only about one hundred of these knights, they were all well-equipped and each of them had an imposing manner. They were definitely not as useless as Macy had accounted.

These knights were getting ready to leave the town, and soon they disappeared from Merlin's sight. A brief moment later, Merlin, who began to tremble because of the cold wind, finally let down the curtain and returned to the warmth of the carriage.

Some time later, the carriage gradually came to a halt. Moss, the coachman announced softly, "Young Master Merlin, Young Lady Macy, we've arrived at the church."

"Alright, let's get down. We're here at the church!"

Macy, who appeared extremely energized, jumped off the carriage at once. Merlin who followed behind stretched his body and moved his stiff neck. He raised his head at the sight of the church in front of his eyes.

This church covered an extremely expansive area, almost as large as four to five football fields. There were ordinary believers as well as some aristocrats dressed in aristocratic costumes. They all came to the church for morning prayers.

The Kingdom of Light officially established their beliefs in the God of Light. The power of the church was enormous. Almost every city had a church after the God of Light. The people that visited the church for morning prayers as such were endless.

Merlin also followed the crowd to the church hall. On the white walls inside were several huge murals. These colorful and lively paintings were obviously religious murals that praised the God of Light.

Merlin noticed that on the mural positioned in the middle right was a tall deity of vague features being surrounded with a soft holy light. The white light shrouded many believers, including the elderly, children, men, women, nobles, commoners and even criminals. The faces of these people were washed over with a sincere and peaceful smile under the Holy Light.

The name of this religious mural was called God Loves the World. It was written in the sacred language of Light. Based on the memories inherited by Merlin, he was rather familiar with the scriptures written on the murals.

In addition to this mural named God Loves the World, there were also other murals such as God Expels the Darkness, God Brings the Light, God Punishes the Devil, God Descending Miracles, God Blessing Believers and so on. Although the murals expressed different stories, the meanings they aimed to convey were the same. All of them praised the glorious deeds of God of Light.

The devout believers bowed their heads down and crossed their hands before their chest as they prayed under the guidance of the pastor. In just a minute, the sounds of prayers filled the vast church.

Merlin thought of those tramps earlier on the street, and then scanned the room full of people who were praying piously. He finally realized that this was indeed a very backward world after all!

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Chapter 3: Supernatural Civilization

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

The praying time lasted only half an hour. The believers gradually dispersed when the church bells rang, indicating the time.

Merlin, on the other hand, was held back and directed to the small door of the church by the anxious Macy. Soon, both of them arrived in the backyard of the church. There, Merlin noticed about twenty people of different ages practicing swordsmanship under the guidance of a middle-aged man.

Macy walked toward this middle-aged man uneasily and said in a low voice, "Lord Pero…"

The man in front was Swordsman Pero. He, who appeared about thirty years old, was dressed in a silver light armor; in his hand held a greatsword with the width of four fingers. His eyes which brimmed of a radiating vigor imposed on him a dignified manner.

Swordsman Pero glanced at Merlin and Macy before saying softly, "Get into formation…"

Macy was glad that Swordsman Pero did not punish them. Immediately, she and Merlin wormed their way into the crowd.

Merlin was feeling rather confused when he joined the crowd. Just as he was at a loss of what to do, a red-haired young man waved at him from the back.

"Merlin, hurry up."

The red-haired young lad shouted at Merlin with an exaggerated expression.

Merlin hesitated for a second. Soon, his memory reminded him of that red-haired young man, and hence he walked swiftly toward the young man.

"Hey, Merlin, you're late again. Look at Swordsman Pero's annoyed face, you're going to be in trouble."

The red-haired young man mocked.

Merlin frowned. It was not that he cared much about the punishment from Swordsman Pero, instead, he was trying all his might to recollect the memory of the red-haired young man. Although his memory was partially lost, he had a strong memory of that red-haired man. Therefore, he tried really hard to recollect his memory, and gradually they came back to him in bits and pieces.

The red-haired young man called Anson was Merlin's best friend, who was also a son of a baron. However, he was different from Merlin. He was not to inherit the baron title as there were two elder brothers before him.

Anson kept on talking, but Merlin who was lost in his own thoughts could not care much about what Anson was babbling on about.

Just then, Swordsman Pero's eyes met theirs. Anson, who could not seem to stop chattering just seconds before, immediately shut his mouth and pulled on a serious face.

Swordsman Pero then shifted his gaze and pointed to the racks of weapons near him. There were all sorts of weapons, including greatswords, shields, daggers, sabers, great axes, and others.

"Merlin, Anson, carry this iron shield to the center."

Anson's face fell the moment Swordsman Pero spoke. He forced out a smile and turned to Merlin. "We're dead. You're the one who's late to practice but I have to suffer your misfortune…"

Despite the grumble, Anson stood up quickly together with Merlin and went forward to the rack, ready to move that black iron shield.

Even though its size was not too big, the shield was unusually heavy. Merlin and Anson strained every muscle on their body, but only managed to lift it up slightly. Merlin was puzzled. Who in the world could lift such a heavy shield? And what was the point if no one could lift it?

Merlin and Anson were breathless when they finally moved the shield to the center and rested it against a boulder. They retreated to a side respectfully and waited for instructions from Swordsman Pero.

However, Swordsman Pero ignored Merlin and Anson. He announced to the people below. "All of you have been practicing for a while now, and I shall test your strength today. Whoever thinks they can break this shield by hand are welcome to try."

Merlin's facial expression changed slightly. Anson and he had exhausted themselves by moving the shield. It should be evident to the others on how hard and solid this iron shield was. Anyone who wanted to break this shield with their bare hands would definitely be asking for trouble.

He thought Swordsman Pero only wanted to examine the courage of these people.

"Teacher, I would like to try."

Soon, a burly man stood up and said to Swordsman Pero.

Swordsman Pero nodded and replied, "Well, go ahead, Cawthon."

Anson whispered at the sight of the burly man, "It's Cawthon again. Just because he's a disciple of Swordsman Pero, he always puts on an air of grandeur as if he's above everyone else…"

Cawthon strode to the shield. He took a deep breath, clenched his fists and began to gather his strength.

"Bang."

Suddenly, Cawthon punched his fist forcefully onto the iron shield. The punch was extremely fast. It was shown that Cawthon had indeed exhausted all his might, but what was strange was that hint of white light that appeared around Cawthon's fist.

The deafening sound lasted for a long time. Not only was the iron shield not broken, that powerful punch did not even leave any trace on its surface. Swordsman Pero shook his head and said faintly, "Cawthon, do not use brute force. Remember, Elemental force is the most powerful. Use your heart to guide the Elemental force, it's the mightiest force of an Elemental Swordsman!"

It was obvious that Cawthon was also dissatisfied with himself. He bowed to Swordsman Pero before returning to his seat.

"Hehe, Cawthon has the talent, but it takes more to become an Elemental Swordsman."

Anson laughed mockingly at Cawthon's failed attempt. Although Merlin appeared calm on the surface, intense surges of feelings and emotions washed through his heart.

Even Merlin who stood in a distance away felt a gush of strong wind coming from the punch that Cawthon had just performed. The strength of that punch was so forceful it was terrifying. As far as Merlin knew, it was not a force that could be possessed by ordinary people.

This was not the most surprising part. What surprised Merlin the most was that Cawthon was not injured at all after landing such a powerful blow on the sturdy iron shield. This was beyond the understanding of Merlin.

"Who else would like to try?"

Swordsman Pero once again looked at the crowd at his foot.

"Lord Pero, let me try."

The voice sounded familiar. Merlin's eyes narrowed as he realized it was his sister, Macy, who had just volunteered.

Swordsman Pero nodded, "Well, Macy, go on."

Macy hurried to the shield and winked mischievously at Merlin. As she took a deep breath, her rounded peaks moved up and down. Anson's eyes stared straight ahead at the spectacular sight.

"Bang."

There came another loud noise. Macy had landed a punch not any weaker than Cawthon's. This time, Merlin studied very carefully. He noticed that an extremely faint glow of fire actually flashed around Macy's fist.

The faint flame shrouded intermittently around Macy's fist. Just like Cawthon, the petite Macy also did not injure her hand after the punch. It was as though she did not strike her fist against a hard iron shield.

However, Merlin who just moved the shield knew clearly that an iron shield of such a heavy weight was definitely made out of real iron.

'I don't have any recollection in my memory that Macy actually has such great strength? Is this even possible?'

Merlin felt that pieces of really important memories were lost from his mind.

"Is there anyone else that would like to try it out?"

Swordsman Pero asked once again, but this time no one step forward. Therefore, Swordsman Pero stood up slowly and walked toward the shield. He suddenly raised his voice. "Look closely, the real secret of an Elemental Swordsman is in the Elements. The force of the Elements is unparalleled, only by carefully guiding the Element that the exceptional power can erupt!"

As soon as his voice faded away, Swordsman Pero clenched his right fist. In the blink of an eye, a flame flared up directly out of his hand. His entire arm seemed to be wrapped in flames.

"Crack."

Swordsman Pedro punched his fist into the shield. Almost immediately, that hard iron shield, like a wooden board, scattered on the ground into several pieces of iron scraps. Even the boulder behind the shield was affected under the powerful force, forming numerous dense cracks on the surface.

'This… is this? Supernatural force?'

Merlin stared with his mouth open. His mind was in a state of complete blankness. Everything in front of him was beyond his cognition. The human body could actually emit flames, and the power of Swordsman Pero was comparable to a small-sized bomb.

Initially, Merlin thought that the world he had crossed into was a very backward civilization. However, now, it seemed that this was not the case at all. The punch performed by Swordsman Pero earlier clearly proved that this world was a supernatural civilization.

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Chapter 4: Elemental Swordsman

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Merlin still had the dull look in his eyes as Anson next to him spoke in an envious tone, "Swordsman Pero is getting more and more powerful. The impact he made last time was not even as strong. The chances are ten to one that Swordsman Pero is going to succeed in becoming a Second-level Fire Swordsman. Indeed, elemental affinity has a high influence on the cultivation progress. Swordsman Pero only cultivated for three years and he will soon become a Second-level Fire Swordsman. He's considerably one of the fastest in the church in Blackwater City."

"Fire Swordsman?"

Merlin's heart jolted. He heard Swordsman Pero mentioning earlier the term "Elemental Swordsman" numerous times, but he had no idea what it actually meant. He thought it was just the way they addressed a person who practiced swordsmanship, but now it seemed there was more to that.

Merlin's memory was only partially merged. Hence, many key memories were still unable to be retrieved. Among them was the memory related to this Elemental Swordsman. Merlin had no impression about it at all. He was eager to know everything about Elemental Swordsmen, but he also knew that he could not inquire directly without risk raising doubts from others.

Therefore, he beat around the bush and asked Anson in a subtle manner. Fortunately, Anson did not suspect anything. Besides, he was a close friend of Merlin, so he revealed a lot of information inadvertently.

It turned out that Swordsman Pero was not just another Swordsman, but an Elemental Swordsman of a powerful force!

In this world, many people were born with an elemental affinity. These people could absorb invisible Elements in the surroundings into their body. When the degree of Elements was accumulated to a certain level, the force could be guided out of the body by special methods and erupt into a powerful force. These people were called Elemental Swordsmen.

Of course, swords were not the only necessary tool in introducing Elements into the body. For instance, some people with an affinity to the Wind Element could become amazing hunters with the assistance of a strong bow. The reason why they were called Elemental Swordsmen was that the vast majority of people in this world utilized swords in this cultivation.

Swordsman Pero was already a true Fire Swordsman. However, in the case of Cawthon and Macy, they only had the elemental affinity without yet the ability to completely guide the force of the Elements out of the body, or perhaps the accumulation of Elements inside the body was not enough. Hence, they could not be considered real Elemental Swordsmen.

However, as long as they persevered in practice, they might become powerful Elemental Swordsmen on par with Swordsman Pero who could perform such terrifying punch.

Merlin felt really excited at the knowledge of this. Did it not mean that he could also possess such a powerful force?

However, Anson's next words extinguished his hope.

"Merlin, Elemental Swordsman are tremendously powerful, and their future is boundless! However, we don't have any elemental affinity. It is destined that we will never be an Elemental Swordsman. You might get off better as your sister Macy is one of them with a high affinity to the Fire Element, perhaps she will turn out a Fire Swordsman in the future. On the other hand, you are the absolute heir to the Wilson family. Even if things don't turn out well for you in the time to come, you can easily become a baron, but what about me? I have two older brothers, so it's impossible for me to inherit to the title…"

Anson was getting low-spirited as he spoke about this and finally kept his mouth shut.

"No elemental affinity…"

It was as if Merlin had just been splashed with a bucket of cold water. He calmed down in an instance. According to Anson, elemental affinity was the key to becoming an Elemental Swordsman!

For instance, Swordsman Pero who had an affinity to the Fire Element was able to introduce Fire Element into his body as his own power and eventually became a powerful Fire Swordsman.

Generally, the stronger the elemental affinity, the easier it would be to introduce the Elements into the body, thus becoming a swordsman. Swordsmen were divided into categories based on the different types of Elements, including Fire Swordsman, Ice Swordsman, Wind Swordsman and many other.

However, the noblest and the one with the brightest future were the Light Swordsmen that possessed affinity to the Light Elements. Once the Light Elements were absorbed into the body, the person would become a Light Swordsman.

Almost every Light Swordsman would become a Guardian Swordsman of the Church of Light. They received help and support from the church, and their speed of cultivation was comparably quicker than other Swordsmen.

However, no matter what type of Elemental Swordsman, the elemental affinity was fundamental. People without elemental affinity would never become Elemental Swordsmen. Like Merlin and Anson, they precisely belonged to the class without any element affinity.

The people who came to practice swordsmanship with Swordsman Pero were divided into three categories. The first ones were civilians who did not have any slightest background status. Each of them possessed elemental affinity and belonged to a higher class of people, so they were allowed here by the church. If they were fortunate enough to become an Elemental Swordsman, they would be taken in to join the armed forces of the church. Cawthon was one of the best among them.

The second category was the children of the aristocratic, but the aristocrats that possessed elemental affinity. Compared to the civilians aforementioned, these aristocrats with high background statuses had a brighter future. Once they became Elemental Swordsmen, their families would send them to a larger city for further studies. Their future was promising. Macy belonged to this class of people.

The third category was people like Merlin and Anson. They were also children of the aristocratic, but they have no elemental affinity and that limited their achievements in the future. Although these three types of people practiced swordsmanship under Swordsman Pero, they were distinct from one another as each belonged to their own small circle.

After a long time, Merlin thought of Cawthon who had showcased his outstanding performance. He then whispered, "How about the elemental affinity of Cawthon?"

"Cawthon? He is probably the most talented among us, because of his affinity to the Light Element. Once the Light Element is introduced into his body successfully, he will go leaps and bounds to become Guardian Swordsman of the church. He is definitely going places. He has already attracted the attention of the church even though he has not yet become an Elemental Swordsman, even Swordsman Pero has accepted him as a disciple. For him to become an Elemental Swordsman is only a matter of time."

Anson glanced at Cawthon who was in the front row when he finished speaking. His eyes showed a glint of envy.

As if noticing Merlin was feeling quite disheartened, Anson murmured, "Cawthon is born a talent, but your sister Macy has a high potential too. She also has an affinity to the Fire Element just like Swordsman Pero, so he will definitely spend effort in educating her. With Macy, your Wilson family will not decline in the next few decades. Compared to me, you'll be in a way better position in the future."

Merlin had a sudden inspiration. He was surprised to learn his sister Macy had such extensive potential. Besides, as Anson mentioned earlier, it was noticeable that Swordsman Pero frequently checked on Cawthon and Macy from time to time, closely watching their cultivation process. This showed that he had high expectation on Cawthon and Macy.

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Chapter 5: Antique I

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

The morning passed in the blink of an eye. Swordsman Pero only focused his attention on those who had elemental affinities. On the other hand, he let people such as Merlin and Anson who had no elemental affinities do as they like.

Swordsman Pero clapped his hands to announce the end of the morning swordsmanship practice. Some people already stood up and started to leave.

Macy appeared excited. It seemed that she yielded good results under the guidance of Swordsman Pero today. Macy had an eye contact with Anson who greeted her somewhat awkwardly as she came to meet Merlin. "Young Lady Macy!"

"Humph."

Macy ignored Anson and turned around. It seemed she was not fond of him.

"Let's go, we shall hurry back."

Macy took Merlin by arm and quickly left the church. Outside, Moss had long waited on the carriage.

"Merlin, see you in the afternoon!"

From behind, Anson made a strange face at Merlin before getting into his carriage and leaving the church.

In the carriage, Macy stared fiercely at Merlin and gasped out in anger. "Merlin, I've told you many times not to hang out with Anson. He always influences you to fool around…"

It seemed that Macy was not fond of Anson at all and regarded him as a bad influence on Merlin. However, judging from their interaction earlier, Anson seemed more fearful than angry of her.

"Why does Anson seem to be afraid of you?" asked Merlin.

"Didn't Anson tell you?"

Macy looked suspiciously at Merlin, but soon, she seemed to realize something. She nodded and said, "I understand, it must be too shameful for Anson to say."

A few seconds later, Macy raised her fist angrily. "I found out the last time Anson took you to fool around with some women, so I secretly taught him a painful lesson. However, it seems that he didn't learn from experience. It's about time for another reminder."

Merlin was speechless looking at the way Macy was pleased with herself. Perhaps his sister had violent tendencies! However, it was no wonder Anson was intimidated of her considering the frightening power Macy possessed.

The carriage kept bumping along the road, and it was feeling rather dull inside the carriage. After a long while, Merlin asked Macy hesitantly, "Macy, how did you sense the Elements?"

Macy lifted her head in surprise, but she still considered his question seriously before whispering, "It's really simple. I can sense it when I close my eyes, but I can only sense the Fire Elements. I can't see or touch it, but I'm able to sense it. I can even sense when they gradually enter my body. Later, I can gather them into a powerful force when I finally accumulate enough of them!"

Merlin nodded slightly. He quietly closed his eyes and try to feel it the way that Macy explained, but he could not sense the slightest thing. Perhaps elemental affinity was indeed innate. There was no way to change it. The people without elemental affinity was not possible to sense the Elements.

Merlin's plan of becoming an Elemental Swordsman fell through.

Not long after, the carriage arrived at the Wilson Castle. The butler had already prepared a hearty lunch. There was a lamb that was roasted to perfect golden yellow that gave off strong meaty aroma.

However, Merlin had no appetite and only ate a little.

Macy, on the other hand, ate with a gusto. When she finally devoured the whole lamb, she patted her belly satisfactorily. She leaned back on the seat and glanced at Merlin before speaking in a worried tone, "Merlin, I'm skipping etiquette class this afternoon to practice sword in the church. You'll go to the class in Moss's carriage, but you must come back before night falls. Don't you dare go fooling around with that bad influence Anson again! Otherwise, hehe, you know the consequences! Father specifically asked me to keep an eye on you before he leaves!"

Merlin nodded slightly at Macy's threat. It seemed that the former Merlin was always sort of half-baked.

Macy left the castle soon after. Merlin felt the weather was getting colder, hence he went upstairs to fetch himself a thick coat before returning downstairs to get into Moss's carriage.

In the carriage, Merlin rubbed his temple at his problem. He completely had no idea that he was to attend an etiquette class in the afternoon. This showed that his memory loss was actually quite severe.

Fortunately, he had Moss. He was a good person. Moss had not much to say in the carriage and fulfilled his duty to send Merlin to the class.

Merlin got out of the carriage. In front of his eyes was a three-story building with a rusty iron fence at the entrance. An old gatekeeper curled up in the corner seemed to be dozing off, his eyes half-squinting. However, he would open the iron fence as long as someone arrived.

"Young Master Merlin's here unusually early today."

The old man who guarded the door was wrapped in a broken coat, his face had turned red in the cold wind. He greeted Merlin familiarly.

Due to Merlin's memory loss, he could not remember the old man's name. He only nodded and smiled.

It was empty inside, so Merlin headed for the small building. The creaky floorboard squeaked as he stepped on the wooden stairs as if his weight was too much of a burden.

The walls next to the stairs were painted with some colorful murals of characters and scenery of various quality. Even he who was not involved in the art world would notice that some of these murals were no different from graffiti.

Merlin came to a few empty spacious rooms as he loitered aimlessly on the second floor. There were some instruments such as tambourines and organs, so these should be the place for music lessons.

"Hey, Merlin, what are you doing there? We don't have a music lesson, but a history lesson for today."

Merlin turned his head around at the familiar voice. It was the red-haired Anson.

Anson grabbed Merlin and brought him to the third floor, all the while acting mysterious and winked his eyes at Merlin. "Come on, we should hurry so we get good seats. I heard that we have a new history teacher today. A really beautiful one. I'm really looking forward to seeing her!"

Merlin was unsure where to go so he followed Anson all the way to a spacious room on the third floor.

There were already more than a dozen young men and women dressed in gorgeous costumes seated in the room. People gathered in a small group and chatted gaily. When Merlin and Anson arrived, a fat man sitting in the front row waved frantically at their direction.

"Good job, Gutt. You got us such good seats. You've always been the most proactive every time we have a beautiful teacher."

Anson was all smiles when he greeted the little fatty.

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Chapter 6: Antiques II

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Merlin could still faintly recall Gutt, the little fatty from his memory. Thus, Merlin searched his memory the best he could, unmoving on the surface. Finally, some information about Gutt popped up from his memory.

Gutt. His full name was Dougland Gutt. The Dougland family was nothing notable. They only attained their status during the generation of the old Dougland. Even though they were not wealthy, they were not even nobles on top of that, old Dougland was truly incredible. He built his fame from scratch. From the status of a civilian, he had become the wealthy man in the current Blackwater City in just a few decades.

More than ninety percent of the jewels in the entire Blackwater city was managed by the Dougland family, so the little fatty Gutt tended to be generous with his spending. Naturally, he soon mixed well with Merlin and Anson.

Gutt was very chubby. Sitting at the front row, he himself could take up the seats for two. He had small eyes and, with a little squint, his eyes could almost transform into a thin line. Gutt was obviously elated when he saw Merlin and Anson. He quickly said, "Quick. I already saved seats for both of you. It's in the first row!"

Merlin and Anson sat down at rest. Then, both of them began to discuss their new history teacher relentlessly.

Merlin shook his head slightly. Looking at Anson and Gutt, almost all their topic included women. No wonder Macy warned Merlin to not fool around. Without proper self-control, it was indeed not easy to not fool around with these two guys around.

However, Merlin still attained something useful. From their casual conversation, he slowly understood the situation. This was the etiquette class for nobles that was set up by a noble in Blackwater City. The purpose of this class was to teach aristocratic etiquette specifically for people like him.

These aristocratic etiquettes included music, history, philosophy, art and all sorts of complicated things. Other than those born into a noble family, the son of a wealthy man like Gutt, though not of a noble bloodline, would be sent here to learn of aristocratic etiquette as well. It was to ease the communication with the noble in the future.

After a while, the whole room became crowded. People kept flooding in. The empty house before was almost full at this moment. Merlin made an estimation. There were about forty people in the house.

One of them was a thin, pale man. He walked through the front door and seemed to intentionally walk past Merlin. He took a glance at Merlin and snorted. He was full of disdain towards Merlin. He then sat at the back row.

Merlin could not remember much about this man, but apparent enough, this man was not that friendly with Merlin.

"Tirath again. This self-centered guy. Merlin, don't mind about him. The marriage between you and Avril has already been decided. No matter how unsatisfied this guy is, there's no use anyway."

Anson said in a low voice. Merlin nodded as he grasped at this information. However, Merlin was not aware of Tirath's identity. He was lucky to have a big-mouthed friend like Anson who easily spat out information just by a little nudge.

Tirath was the oldest son of the Vingult family. Just like Merlin, he was also the absolute heir to the baron title. In fact, Merlin and Tirath's conflict was not exactly personal. It was more of a conflict between families. It was rather cliché speaking of this.

Baron Vingult once fell in love with a woman. Coincidentally, Old Wilson fell in love with her as well. Both even had a duel secretly for her. At last, it was Old Wilson who won the duel and got the woman. She was the current eighth wife of Old Wilson, Macy's mother.

Merlin was speechless. He did not think that huge breasted madam had such a charm in her during her younger days to the point of sparking a duel between two men of nobility.

Tirath loved Avril and the Vingult family also begged for her hand through the Parman family. However, in the end, Baron Parman allowed Avril to be engaged to Merlin instead. Thus, the conflict between the Vingult family and the Wilson family became completely tied and unable to dissolve.

"Merlin, Tirath hates you to the bone. He always seeks trouble with you. You need to be careful. Stay away from him and don't fight with him. Even though this guy is self-centered, it is undeniable that he has a few things up his sleeve. He possesses affinity to the Earth Element and has a great chance of becoming Earth Swordsman. The three of us combined won't be able to go against him."

Anson advised deeply, apparently rather cautious against Tirath.

"Elemental Swordsman again?"

Merlin nodded. He had the opportunity to witness the power of these people who had an affinity to the Elements. Naturally, he would not be so dumb as to start a fight with Tirath.

After a short while, the sound of boots slamming on the floor could be heard from outside of the house. A lady entered the room. Immediately, the whole room became silent.

This lady had long legs that were wrapped in nude-colored stockings. She was wearing a cashmere overcoat, but it could not cover the lush hills on her chest. She had a hot body that released a sort of mature and seductive aura about her.

Even though she looked seductive with her hot body, every movement of hers was filled with elegance. Enchanting and elegance, both extremely different qualities, seemed to perfectly merge in this lady.

"Perfect!"

Anson and Gutt stared hard at this lady who just came, obviously overwhelmed by her aura.

The lady did not mind the gaze set upon her. She gave a mild smile. "I am your new history teacher. You can call me Gia."

"Perfect. Utmost perfect! I can't believe I met such a perfect lady. No way. Merlin, Gutt, let's make this clear first. Never go for Gia. She is mine."

Anson seemed very worked up to the point of spouting nonsense.

Gutt said with dissatisfaction, "Pfft. Anson, can't you see how many have their eyes set on her? Still, if you really want to do this, it's not impossible, too. Everyone knows what's the deal for being a teacher here. Isn't it just to seduce the nobles here? These people want to attain the status. Let me look up the history of this Gia after this. At least, it makes it easier for you to get close to her."

As for Gutt's words, Merlin could not comment much. He had no impression of this place in his memory. Naturally, he did not know of the situation here. However, after listening to the conversation between Gutt and Anson, most of the female teachers here came to seduce nobles. If they were able to succeed, they could attain the status they wanted.

In fact, their previous history teacher no longer came to give classes because she had gotten together with the son of a baron. Thus, the teachers that came here basically did not have many pure motives.

Gia seemed extremely calm as she said nonchalantly, "alright. Let's begin our class. Today, I'm going to talk about antiquess with you!"

As soon as she finished her sentence, Gia took a delicate ring from her pocket. She held it high. The sunlight that shot through the window fell on the ring, presenting a porcelain-like white color.

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Chapter 7: Gia

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

"History delivers knowledge and civilization to the people. Therefore, as a noble, you must learn about the history. Antiques bore the marks of the history. To learn history well, you must learn about antiques well."

"The nobles ought to be knowledgeable, elegant and intelligent. A true noble must love antiques and be an expert about it. This ring in my hand. Can anyone tell me about its background?"

Gia held the ring up high. Under the sunlight, it did not give off much of a gleam. Obviously, it was not made from gemstones. Its material should be rather special.

Merlin knew nothing about antiques, but Anson fancied it more. He used to collect some interesting antiques usually. Hearing Gia's question, Anson immediately stood up.

"Miss Gia, can I have a good look at the ring, please?"

Gia nodded and handed the ring to Anson. Anson caressed the ring lightly and studied the pattern on it carefully. At last, he said confidently, "This ring is made from a special material. My guess is jade. Using jade to make rings. Historically, it was only during the secret age of the Molta Empire 3600 years ago that it was common for people to make rings out of jade. The pattern on the ring also presents a similar fashion. It should be a ring from the age of the Molta Empire without a doubt."

As she listened to Anson's logical analysis about the ring's background, a hint of surprise dashed across Gia's eyes. She nodded. "That's right. You said well. What is your name?"

Anson was elated and immediately replied, "I am Anson."

Gia nodded and continues, "Good. Anson's analysis is accurate. I can see that Anson is very knowledgeable. He has already gotten a hold of the most basic element of aristocracy etiquette. Every noble should be knowledgeable. However, even if you don't know anything about antiques now, that's alright. I will use a long time to teach you the basic fundamentals of understanding antiques. Now, I will show this ring around. Feel the material and look at the pattern on it. Feel the touch of time upon it."

The ring was first passed to the people at the front row like Merlin. Merlin was not particularly interested in antiques, but he was intrigued by the Molta Empire Gia mentioned.

Merlin had some recollection of this Molta Empire in his memory. The Molta Empire 3600 years ago was undoubtedly a great yet secretive empire.

It was great because the Molta Empire 3600 years ago had ruled over the whole land unlike now. There were at least a few dozens of kingdoms in the entire land now.

It was secretive because the downfall of the Molta Empire was unbelievable. It had fallen almost in one night and without any indication. The entireMolta Empire only existed for less than a hundred years. Until now, there was not any acknowledged conclusion about the reason why the Molta Empire had crumbled apart in one night.

"Why would such a huge empire crumble apart in one night?" Merlin could not believe this. He tended to believe that the flow of time had caused inaccurate rumors to pass down generations upon generations. And so, the true reason that Molta Empire had fallen was covered up.

The ring was passed to the back and Gia followed to the back. At this time, Merlin noticed the riled-up Anson had a difficult look on him.

"What's wrong, Anson?"

Merlin asked in a light voice.

Anson took a complicated glance at Gia who walked to the back, then sighed. He slowly said, "It is most probably impossible to get Gia now. I thought she is the same as any other woman that came here for some rich noble boys. But after seeing that ring, I think this is not plausible. Do you know how much that ring cost?"

"A dozen silver coins?"

Gutt did not know much about antiques as well. To him, gemstones were the most valuable. This ring was only made from jades. It was good enough to worth a dozen silver coins.

However, Anson shook his head. "It can't be bought even from a dozen gold coins. You may not know this, the antiques from the age of the Molta Empire priced at an unbelievable value in the current market. Don't even mention this delicate-looking ring that belongs to the nobles then. She can bring out an antique that priced at more than a few dozens of gold coins. Do you seriously think Gia came for money?"

Merlin fell into his thoughts. In this world, there were three currencies that could be used at face value: gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins. A gold coin was equivalent to a thousand bucks in his previous life. A few dozens of gold coins were equal to more than ten thousand. Someone who could bring out more than ten thousand nonchalantly wouldn't seduce the nobles for status indeed.

"Yeah. Makes sense. Look like this woman has some background there, but that's fine. There is no one that I can't investigate. Give me a few days. I can even dig out the information of Gia's previous three generations."

Gutt was brimming with confidence.

Gia's first lesson soon passed. These nobles only had one class each day, so people began to leave slowly.

Merlin and his friends came out of the building. Moss was already waiting at that place. When Merlin was about to get into the carriage, Anson quickly tugged at his coat and spoke in a low voice, "Merlin, what are you doing going back so early? Let's go to a place together."

Merlin thought of Macy's previous warning. He shook his head helplessly. "It's fine. I should get back early. I will pass today. Moreover, Macy warned me to go back before the day gets dark anyway."

Anson quickly said, "Merlin, where do you think we are going? Hehe. I am bringing you to open your eyes now. Lately, an acquaintance of mine brought some new antiques. Gutt and I want to take a look at it."

"Just antiques?" Merlin was a little hesitant.

"Of course. Let's go."

Merlin finally nodded and said to Anson and Gutt. "Come on up. Let Moss send us there."

Anson was disdainful. "With this? It's a torture to be in there. Let us take Gutt's carriage."

Merlin raised his head. An extravagant-looking carriage that was covered with a layer of fur and pulled by four horses appeared in front of them. Merlin compared the carriages and showed a bitter smile. He nodded then and told Moss, "Moss, pick Macy up at the church. It's more comfortable to take the carriage in such a cold weather."

"Young Master Merlin, then how are you coming back?"

Moss took a look at Anson and Gutt, his face full of worry.

Gutt waved his hand. "I will send Young Master Merlin back."

Moss nodded and said no more. He immediately directed his coach towards the church. Merlin and the bunch then went into Gutt's luxurious carriage and slowly left.

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Chapter 8: Relief Sculpture

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

In the carriage, the seats were covered with soft fur. The fur emitted a warm vibe in this cold weather. Even though Merlin was not clear with the pricing in this world, but he knew the fur he sat on now definitely worth a lot of money.

Even Merlin, who was born into a noble family, had to exclaim, "How sumptuous!" Even though the nobles had a high social status, in terms of wealth, the Wilson family was far behind the Dougland family with its income stemming just from tax collection.

It was, as expected, the luxurious carriage has an enjoyable seat. Without waiting much longer, they had reached their destination and the carriage slowly came to a halt

"Alright, let's get down."

Anson could not wait to usher him down.

After that, they entered a small shop. The shop looked empty since there were only a few products placed on the shelves.

Merlin was not familiar with this place. Albeit full of confusion, he would not say it out loud. Instead, he followed Anson and Gutt closely.

Anson and Gutt seemed to know their way around. Both headed straight to the counter where there was a young girl in an outrageous outfit. Once she saw Anson and Gutt, she flashed a smile at them.

"Young Master Anson and Young Master Gutt."

The young girl apparently knew Anson and Gutt.

"Alright. Let's go inside. I heard your boss got some new stuff in lately?"

Anson rubbed his hands and asked the girl.

"Yeah. My boss got some new stuff in. Some are of superior quality. I am sure Young Master Anson and Young Master Gutt will be satisfied with them," The young girl said as she pressed something under the counter. Following that, a wall in front of them began to turn, showing a dark passage underneath.

"Linny, let me check if you have grown up lately."

Gutt came right in front of this girl named Linny and reached out his fat hand. He actually reached right into the girl's breast and grabbed her.

"Fatty, let's go."

Anson yelled in a hurry when he saw Gutt was falling behind.

"Hehe. Coming."

Gutt took out his fat hands and threw a shiny gold coin into Linny's hands. After that, he followed Anson's footsteps into the dark passage.

The passage was a little dark in the beginning. However, after a while, a fiery light could be spotted. It appeared that there were candles at the two sides of the passage used for illumination purposes.

Merlin squinted his eyes to find that the passage was heading downwards. They were already about eight feet deep into the ground. "This passage was dug deep, it appears."

After walking for about a hundred meter, some sound finally came to them. Along with some exclamation, Anson obviously picked up his pace and soon, they were out of the passage.

At the end of it was an extremely wide hall. It was about the size of two football fields. There were not many people in there, but all of them stood in groups of two or three. They were discussing the antiques lying around in this hall.

Surely, this was the place Anson and Gutt wanted to come.

Anson arrived in the hall as his eyes darted around. Then, a middle-aged man dressed in black approached him. "Young Master Anson, Young Master Gutt, you are a little late today."

Anson's expression changed and quickly asked, "Mr. Nathan, are all the good ones sold?"

The middle-aged man smiled. "Of course not, but it's almost finished. Let's go. Miss Carice is looking at the new stuff now."

"Oh? Miss Carice is here?"

Gutt's fat face gave out a delighted smile.

"Just arrived."

In a while, the middle-aged man brought Merlin and the bunch into a quiet room. In this small room, there were about five young people murmuring to each other as they surrounded some antiques on the shelves.

"Hi, Miss Carice. You are so quick."

As soon as Anson stepped into the room, he greeted a lady in a green dress who had short, blonde curls.

Gutt approached her quickly and stared hard at Carice.

Carice frowned slightly and, when she looked at Anson, she pulled a stiff smile. "Anson, you are here right on time. Look at these new ones. Their quality isn't bad."

Carice's gaze fell on Merlin, but she simply ignored him. She seemed to be a woman extremely crazy about antiques as well.

Anson took a beeline towards the shelf. There was a palm-sized white jade that was carved into a strange figure. The figure had the head of a fish and the body of a man. It was also making a strange gesture as if it was spitting water out of its mouth.

There were also some gruesome monsters that had spikes all over their body. They held iron whip as they swung their whip at some strangely dressed people. These images and carving styles were more than strange to outsiders like Merlin.

"Tsk. These are all antiques from the age of the Molta Empire."

Anson had some knowledge about antique. With one look, he could see the background of these antiques.

Carice was holding a rather yellowed jade in her hand. It was also carved into a figure of monster. She asked Anson with knitted brows, "Anson, this antique is rather unique. Look at the design. I have never seen one like it before. But look at the material and carving styles. It's definitely from the age of Molta Empire. I am sure of it."

Anson also frowned, apparently confused.

At this time, the middle-aged Nathan spoke, "These new ones are from a ruin that dates to the age of Molta Empire. The things we found there are all peculiar, but I can promise you that they are all from the age of Molta Empire."

Merlin also took a few carefree glances in front of the shelves. He knew nothing about antiques, so he naturally could not join the conversation. These antiques sure looked peculiar, but in his eyes, he could not feel any sense of aesthetic about them. Rather, he felt uncomfortable looking at them.

Most objects on the shelves were made of jade. This indeed corresponded to the style of Molta Empire. Merlin continued scanning the objects. At the lowest shelf, in an inconspicuous corner, Merlin saw a piece of a broken relief sculpture.

Yes, the relief sculpture. It was obviously knocked out of its building by force.

This relief sculpture was only the size of a palm. Its carving represented a naked man that sat on the floor in an extremely awkward pose.

Merlin picked this relief sculpture up lightly and stared at the pattern on it.

Suddenly, Merlin felt his world sway. The relief sculpture in his hands seemed to come 'alive' and the naked man carved on it was doing an extremely awkward pose step by step.

"Hu…"

Merlin was in shock and the image in front of him immediately disappeared. He was still holding this odd relief sculpture, and nothing had seemed to move at all.

"Was I imagining things just now? An illusion?"

Merlin could not help but rub his eyes, then stared at this relief sculpture again carefully, especially on the patterns on it. Slowly, the image he saw appeared once again and the relief sculpture seemed to come alive. The naked man on it was doing the awkward movement in an extremely slow pace.

"Merlin, what are you doing?"

Right at this time, Merlin felt someone held his back. He immediately got back to his senses and found Anson holding him.

At this moment, everyone was judging Merlin with strange glances. They all saw Merlin, who came with Anson, had changing expressions as he held that relief sculpture. His body kept swaying as if he would pass out any second.

"This relief sculpture. Can you tell what this is?"

Merlin quickly handed this relief sculpture to Anson. It was not a coincidence that the illusions appeared two times in a row. There must be something wrong with this relief sculpture.

Anson took a thorough look at the relief sculpture, then nodded. "This relief sculpture is exquisite. It's also from the age of Molta Empire, but it seemed to be incomplete. Moreover, there should be more than one relief sculpture like this here. What? You like it?"

Merlin was observing Anson all this while and found Anson completely normal. He had to ask in a low voice, "Just this? You didn't find anything special about this?"

"Special?"

Anson looked at it carefully again, then shook his head. "It only has a unique design. I only like the jade products of the Molta Empire. I don't really fancy this relief sculpture."

After saying that, Anson then handed this relief sculpture back to Merlin.

After experiencing the panic before, Merlin had completely calmed down by now. He was clear that those were not simply illusions, but the people here, except for himself, could not see anything special about this relief sculpture.

"Could it be that only I had the vision?"

Merlin kept playing with the relief sculpture. Even though he did not know what was going on, there was obviously something wrong with this relief sculpture.

"Mr. Nathan, how much for this relief sculpture?"

Merlin wanted to buy it and study it thoroughly when he went back.

Nathan looked at Anson and smiled. "Young Master Anson, this is…"

Anson had not begun to reply before Gutt patted Merlin with a sneer as he said, "Hehe. Mr. Nathan, this is Wilson Merlin."

Nathan's eyes immediately flared up. Even if he had not seen Merlin before, but the name of Wilson was too much of an attraction. In Blackwater City, there were only just that few noble's families. Nathan could not be clearer about that.

"Oh, I see, it's Young Master Merlin. If Young Master Merlin like it, we will only take the cost of this relief sculpture. Ten gold coins!"

Anson came close to Merlin's ears and murmured, "Nice. Ten gold coins. A fair price. If you really like the relief sculpture, you can buy it."

Merlin naturally believed Anson, so he nodded. He then took ten gold coins from his pocket and bought this odd relief sculpture.

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Chapter 9: Illusion

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Holding the odd relief sculpture, Merlin did not look closely at it again. It was too odd to think that it could cause hallucination. He thought that it was better to study it when he was back home safely.

Anson chose a palm-sized jade product but Nathan gave a price up to a hundred gold coins. Although Anson was born into a noble family, he still had two brothers before him. He could not use more than thirty gold coins in a month. One hundred gold coins were more than what he could use.

Thus, Anson could only give it up regrettably. Meanwhile, Carice chose a jade bracelet but it was priced even higher at one hundred and twenty gold coins. Exquisite jade ornaments from the Molta Empire were trendy amongst the nobles so Nathan would not worry about being not able to sell it due to the price.

Carice wore an emerald earring and a jade bracelet on her right hand. She appeared to adore jade ornaments. Even if this jade bracelet cost more than one hundred gold coins, she still bought it with gritted teeth.

Gutt approached her and offered to buy the bracelet for Carice. It was obvious that fatty Gutt truly liked Carice. However, she declined the offer without much thought, making Gutt rather disappointed.

"Hey, fatty. Carice is gone. What are you still looking at?"

Seeing his disappointed look, Anson laughed sneakily.

"Anson, who is this Mr. Nathan? His antiques obviously come from a questionable source. Even though he does it discreetly, it's impossible that the Defense Troop doesn't know. Why haven't they taken any action?"

Merlin asked in a low voice.

"Hehe, why would the Defense Troop come here? Mr. Nathan is the only person out front. The boss behind this place is the…"

"…?"

Merlin was surprised but he calmed down soon. If Nathan answered to the…, then the Defense Troop would naturally not check this place.

In Blackwater City, the noble of the highest title was only Baron. The … was strictly controlled by the Augustin family. Even though he was a Baron as well, his influence was the greatest in the city. Under normal circumstances, the nobles in Blackwater City would have slightly lower status than the Augustin family. Just like the Defense Troop, though it was meant for the city, it was the private troop of the Augustin family.

They walked out of the passage. Just when they reached outside, a cold breeze blew, freezing them to their bones.

"Look, it's snowing!" Anson shouted.

Merlin squinted his eyes and looked at the sky. As expected, the cold raindrops before had turned to white snowflakes now.

'Snow in September? This weather was unusual!'

"Hu… so cold, let's go home quickly! Bloody hell, snowing in September. Oh right, Merlin, I will send you back to Wilson Castle first."

Fatty Gutt pulled his coat closer and dived into his carriage in a lightning speed.

The carriage slowly came to a halt in front of Wilson Castle. Merlin alighted from the carriage. Even with a cashmere coat, he still felt like he was freezing.

"Merlin, see you tomorrow. D*mn this weather!"

Anson and Gutt waved goodbye to Merlin. After seeing the carriage trotting away, Merlin walked into the castle.

"Hu…"

As Merlin entered the castle, he heaved a sigh of relief. He saw that there were maids building fire at the firepit, so the house was warm. He took off his coat and patted the snow off it lightly.

"Hmm, the relief sculpture?"

Merlin's eyes fell on the relief sculpture that was fed into his coat. After looking around and taking note that no one was paying attention to him, he headed straight upstairs into his own room.

After shutting the door, Merlin took the relief sculpture out from his coat.

"Let's try it one more time."

Merlin rubbed his eyes lightly, then focused his attention on the relief sculpture. Then, he stared at the pattern on it from up to bottom.

"Hoof."

The whole relief sculpture seemed to tremble slightly then the familiar sensation hit him again. Merlin felt the world was swaying and the naked man on the relief sculpture came alive. Right before Merlin's eyes, he was starting to do an extremely awkward action.

The movements were complicated, and they almost stretched the human's body to its extent. In a daze, Merlin felt his body starting to copy the movements of this naked man.

"It hurts…"

Merlin could not help but yelp. At this moment, Merlin came back to his senses, only to realize that he was now lying on the floor. The relief sculpture was dropped to the floor but to his surprise, it did not break. Merlin was maintaining an extremely odd yet complicated pose.

Merlin quickly stood up and broke out in cold sweat thinking about his action.

"Something is wrong with this relief sculpture! Terribly wrong!"

Merlin was still panicky. He did not dare to look at the relief sculpture. The feeling of not being in control of his own body was terrifying and it made him shiver thinking about it. This relief sculpture was truly odd.

After half an hour, Merlin calmed him nerves completely. Even though he did not look at the relief sculpture again, he had totally noted down that awkward pose in his mind.

"What use does this pose has?"

Merlin thought about it. He still felt that he should have tried to replicate that complicated pose when he was fully conscious. It was as if this movement was unbelievably attractive to Merlin.

The move was complicated. It required the person to do it slowly step by step. Merlin was lucky that he had remembered the move in his mind, so without using much time, he was able to pull that move off completely.

This time, Merlin was no longer in a trance and he was fully conscious. He could carefully feel the specialty of this pose.

"Hmm, I was a little cold earlier, but I feel warm now. My muscle also seems to be tight." Merlin felt the changes in his body.

After maintaining this pose for half an hour, Merlin did not feel anything wrong with his body. It was just that his muscles were tightened. It became more obvious with time and seemed as if something was stirring up.

One hour, two hours, three hours…

The sky slowly darkened. Merlin seemed to have completely absorbed himself in this posture as he experienced this odd feeling.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Suddenly, a series of urgent knocking sound came from the door.

"Merlin, what are you doing hiding in the room?"

Merlin was surprised by the noise. It was Macy. He opened the door and saw that the sky had gone totally dark at this hour.

Macy stared at Merlin in confusion, then the smell of sweat hit her. She saw that Merlin was drenched in sweat.

"Merlin, what are you doing? Why are you sweating so much?"

Merlin also noticed that he was covered in sweat but there was this sort of warm and energizing feeling in his body where he did not feel exhaustion at all.

"Nothing, it's already dark, huh. I will go down soon."

Macy was still trying to sneak a glance in the room but Merlin was blocking right at the door so she could not see anything. She could only cover her nose and said, "Let Lucia prepare some hot water for you. You should take a bath before you go down."

Merlin nodded and agreed that this stench was undoubtedly too much. Even he himself could not stand this smell.

After a while, Lucia had prepared hot water in the bathtub. Merlin took off his drenched clothes and jumped into the bathtub. The warm water almost made him moan with pleasure.

Merlin soaked himself in the bath without moving a muscle. His head leaned on the side while his eyes stared unfocused at the ceiling of the room.

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Chapter 10: General Prat

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Soaking in warm water, Merlin closed his eyes. He was not trying to sleep but was feeling the change of his body quietly.

"Higher strength. My body feels relaxed, but my limbs are sore as if I have done intense sports. Are these the effects of that strange posture?"

Merlin tightened his fist while his veins engorged under the skin. He could sense that his strength had increased, though not obvious. The sweat earlier was as if he had done some intense sports but Merlin knew very clearly that he was simply maintaining the strange posture of the relief sculpture.

Overall, that pose seemed to develop Merlin's body in a good way although the background of the relief sculpture was not exactly known. However, since there was this incredible effect, there was no reason for Merlin to discontinue the practice.

Merlin soaked for a bit in the bathtub to rid himself of the sweat odor. Then, he got up and dressed. When he saw the relief sculpture on the table, Merlin thought about it for a while as he caressed the pattern on the relief sculpture.

Merlin had that posture etched in his mind, so this relief sculpture no longer served any purpose. He then hid it under his bed and proceeded downstairs.

In front of the dining table, Macy was holding her jaw with her left hand while her right hand randomly drawing on the table out of boredom. The butler was standing at a side. When he saw Merlin, he bowed a little and said respectfully, "Young Master Merlin, dinner is ready."

"Alright, sorry for waiting."

Merlin was elated so he had a good appetite. After getting a large portion of grilled gigot and a glass of milk, he quickly rid the chill off him. He felt warm throughout and extremely comfortable.

Merlin opened his cashmere coat a little and leaned on the chair. With his squinting eyes, he could see snowflakes floating about in the sky outside.

"It's so cold. I wonder how father is doing now."

Macy had finished her meal as well. She looked at the snow outside and said with worries.

Old Wilson went to his land to collect tax, and it usually took three to five days. It was about time that Old Wilson came back.

"Doom, doom, doom."

Suddenly, urgent knocking sounds came from the main door. Merlin and Macy looked over to the door quickly. Who would come to the castle at this late hour?

The butler opened the door quickly and a gush of chilly wind immediately flew into the house. Amongst the freezing breeze, Merlin's expression changed. He smelled a thick bloody scent in the wind.

"General Prat? What is the matter?"

The butler yelled in surprise. The person standing outside of the door was the general of guards beside Old Wilson.

Upon hearing the butler's exclamation, memory about Prat immediately jumped into Merlin's mind. Prat led all knights in the castle and within the Wilson family's land. Except for Old Wilson, he had the most power and influence in the land. He was Old Wilson's right-hand man, so even Merlin had to call him uncle.

"Uncle Prat, why are you back? Did father come back early as well?"

Macy quickly stood up and asked excitedly.

Prat followed Old Wilson to his land to collect tax. Since Prat was back now, Old Wilson should be back as well.

However, Prat shook his head slightly and spoke in a low voice, "Sir Baron is not back yet."

The people's heart jumped to their throat. Could it be something happened to Old Wilson?

"It's cold outside. Come inside and talk."

The butler quickly let Prat in and shut the door tight. Immediately, the chilly wind stopped, and the house warmed up again.

Merlin now had a good look at Prat. Prat was tall and strong with a silvery white armor on him. His auburn short hair was ruffled and was sprinkled with white snow.

However, Prat's white armor was stained with fresh blood. There were even a few openings on his huge sword. He had obviously gone through some intense fight.

"Uncle Prat, what is wrong with you? Where is father?"

Prat smiled. "Hehe, Sir Baron is, of course, safe. But during our journey to the land, we met a small group of thieves. That's all. Sir Baron commanded us to rid of these thieves. Sir Baron worries that they may come back and threaten the land, so he let me rush back to bring one hundred heavy-armored knights from the castle!"

Merlin relaxed a little. Thieves were not a small matter but Old Wilson returned from the battlefield. He was already used to killing and battling. He had better ideas to deal with these thieves.

Moreover, Old Wilson had trained a troop of heavy-armored knights, totaling to one hundred and fifty of them. They could be known as the strongest force in the castle.

"Uncle Prat, the castle is still very quiet now. It shouldn't need so many heavy-armored knights for protection. You should bring all one hundred and fifty heavy-armored knights away to ensure the safety of father and the land."

Prat hesitated a little and finally nodded. "Alright. Let's do as Young Master Merlin said. I will bring all one hundred and fifty heavy-armored knights. Rest assured, Young Master Merlin. Those thieves are nothing to worry about. Back when I was following Sir Baron, I have cut down countless of those easterners. These thieves can't even compare to that."

Prat said as he laughed, apparently confident about himself. He was also one of the soldiers following Old Wilson back then. He had experienced the cruel war against the easterners. After that, Old Wilson was given noble title by the kingdom and he brought Prat back.

As compared to Old Wilson, Prat was more of a standard soldier: Battle-oriented, loyal and decisive but also cruel and bloodthirsty. In the castle, many servants were afraid of General Prat.

"Uncle Prat, you haven't eaten anything, right? You had a rough journey in this cold weather. There's still half of the grilled mutton. Come and have some."

Prat did not hesitate at all. He had rushed over in the snow for one day and one night. He was indeed starving, so he grabbed the grilled mutton on the table and gobbled it down. However, Prat did not take much time resting. He soon gathered one hundred and fifty heavy-armored knights in the castle and went on their journey.

Merlin's frown did not disappear as he watched the knights leaving the castle. He asked the butler, "Blackwater City has always been safe. Why would there be thieves all of a sudden? Also, look at Uncle Prat. These thieves are not weak. Or else, father wouldn't let Uncle Prat bring the heavy-armored knights."

The butler looked at Merlin and said hesitantly, "Blackwater City used to be safe but for some reasons lately, these thieves have been going around. They have attacked a few towns near Blackwater City. The knights of Defense Troop have been dispatched numerous times but they never found those thieves. But rest assured, Young Master. Sir Baron has one hundred and fifty knights. Along with the knights in his land, there should be no problem dealing with these thieves."

Merlin nodded lightly. With Old Wilson there, surely the land would be alright.

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Chapter 11: Change of the Body

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

The servant girls in the castle cleared the dining table quickly. Merlin stood up, getting ready to go upstairs and rest.

"Merlin, I've news to tell you."

"What news?" Merlin turned and looked at Macy uncertainly.

"Swordsman Pero wants to bring us to the church in Grand City tomorrow and socialize with the other youngsters in the city."

Merlin's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he knew that the "us" Macy had mentioned did not include him. They must be those who possessed an elemental affinity with the most potential where they were worthy of great efforts by the church to nurture them.

"How many days will it take?"

"About four to five days, I guess."

Merlin nodded and said, "Alright, I know. With Swordsman Pero leading you guys, it should be really safe, so I'm not worried."

Then, Merlin walked upstairs.

There was some doubt in Macy's eyes as she watched Merlin's back. In a low voice, she murmured, "This fellow Merlin, he seems to be somewhat different from before."

Earlier, there was a big change in Merlin's tone of voice and expression as he spoke compared to how he had been previously. In the past, Merlin would never say something like, "So I'm not worried."

Back in his room, Merlin was sober. Once again, on his bed, he sat in the strange posture found on the relief sculpture.

Merlin was already very familiar with this strange posture so he did not feel awkward at all. He felt so comfortable even to a point where he laid on the soft bed and fell into a deep slumber unintentionally.

…

Early the next morning, Merlin woke up from his dreams. By that time, a thick layer of snow had covered the grounds as it snowed the entire night. As a result, a thin layer of ice crystals had formed on the edges of the window. It was also extremely cold indoors.

Merlin shivered involuntarily. It was only after he had awakened that he discovered he had fallen asleep the night before without him knowing.

"I'm sweating again…"

Merlin stretched his hand to wipe the back of his arm and found that it was oily sweat. Merlin could feel the stickiness all over his body, so it was very uncomfortable.

"Lucia, get me some hot water."

Merlin opened the door and called for his maidservant, Lucia. Although Lucia was somewhat puzzled that Merlin still wanted a bath on such a cold day, she did not dare to question him although she found that it was rather perplexing. All she could do was to follow Merlin's instructions and switched on the hot water tap, filling up the bathtub.

Merlin jumped into the bathtub and speedily washed his body to get rid of the sweat stain.

Although he had been frozen the entire night before, Merlin did not feel any discomfort at all. Instead, he was invigorated with a face flushed red and energy seemed to fill his body from the top to the bottom.

"Lucia, Master Merlin is bathing again?"

An exceptionally frail and old voice drifted into Merlin's ears.

Merlin quickly recognized that this was the butler's voice. Apparently, the butler was questioning Lucia.

Lucia replied in a soft voice, "Yes, butler, the master's been in the bath after waking up in the morning."

"Hmm… Tomorrow onward, prepare some hot water every morning."

The butler instructed her in a low voice. Then, there were footsteps fading off into the distance. It was assumed that both of them were already leaving.

"The butler's quite attentive."

Merlin smiled gently. He knew that it must have been the butler coming to get him downstairs for breakfast, and so he stretched out his hand and opened the big doors to the bedroom.

"Eh? Why isn't there anyone?"

Merlin was astonished as he heard the voices of the butler and Lucia clearly. They had obviously been right outside the door but how could there be no one?

He felt weird so he immediately walked to the corridor and looked downstairs, only to discover that the butler and Lucia were there.

"Downstairs? How can they be downstairs? Their voices were evidently clear when they were speaking earlier…"

Merlin raised an eyebrow. Then, a thought came to him –'could it be that he could hear people talking when they were downstairs?'

When Merlin reached downstairs, he did not give a second glance to the sumptuous breakfast spread on the table. All he did was grab a piece of bread at random and started eating absentmindedly.

"The weather today is really odd. It's not winter yet but it's already so cold."

"Knopp, get to work quickly. If the butler finds out that you're loafing on the job again, don't think about getting to work here at Baron Lord's after today."

"…"

Merlin ate his bread as he listened carefully to various voices in the distance. They were at least a few dozen meters away from Merlin and some were even up to a hundred meters away, yet Merlin was able to listen albeit faintly, to them all. This showed that his hearing ability had greatly improved.

This was a very sudden change. Merlin was extremely sure that he had not undergone this change, at least before he went to bed last night. Right now, his hearing ability had been enhanced significantly. He could even hear the footsteps of every person within a few dozen meters from him very clearly.

"Master Merlin, is there anything else you need?"

The butler's words interrupted Merlin's deep thoughts. Only now did he turn his head, just to discover that the bread in his hand had been finished without knowing when.

"I'm done eating."

Merlin wiped his mouth and hurriedly returned to his room upstairs.

In the room, Merlin took out the relief sculpture from the end of the bed, where he had hidden it. He knew that his change had definitely been brought about by the strange posture on the relief sculpture.

Furthermore, Merlin's boost in hearing ability was just the beginning. He could also feel his strength, agility, and other attributes had undergone an enhancement as well.

As long as he continued to practice the posture on the sculpture, the quality of his body would definitely improve and become more outstanding.

Merlin hung around upstairs for a while. After putting on a thick coat, wrapping a gray scarf around his neck, and wearing leather gloves on his hands, he went downstairs.

After snowing for the entire night, a thick layer of snow had piled up in front of the castle. The tops of the great bald trees were also covered with snow. Everywhere he looked was white snow.

Moss had been waiting for long outside. His face had been blown red by the chilly wind and was currently rubbing his hands repeatedly. Merlin did not feel like admiring the snowy scene so he hurriedly darted into the carriage and said to Moss, "Let's go."

The carriage moved gently. Merlin leaned against the wall in the carriage. Suddenly, he felt as though the carriage seemed rather empty today.

"Wait, where's Macy?"

Merlin hurriedly asked Moss.

"Miss Macy has already left the castle earlier today."

Merlin shook his head gently after hearing Moss' answer. It was only then that he remembered that Macy had gone to Grand City with Swordsman Pero and would be staying there for a few days, so he would not have to go to the church during these few days as well.

The etiquette class was only going to be held in the afternoon so Merlin could freely arrange his time in the morning. He thought about it for a moment. He had just arrived in this world a few days ago, and the places he had been could be counted using his fingers alone.

Only the antique at Nathan's felt somewhat new and strange to Merlin. Especially that piece of strange relief sculpture where Merlin had a great interest in. Furthermore, the antiques during the time of the Molta Empire had attracted his attention.

"Moss, stop. I'm not going to the church anymore. Go to Mr. Nathan's!"

Merlin yelled loudly at Moss.

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Chapter 12: Old Man Etha

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

The carriage came to a gradual halt. Moss pulled open the curtains in the carriage and said in a low voice, "Master Merlin, we're here."

Merlin nodded and alighted from the carriage. Once he was out from the carriage, a chilly wind blew over his face, causing him stinging pain as though he had been cut by a knife.

Merlin hurriedly covered his face with both hands. It was only then that he knew how much Moss suffered, sitting outside all that time.

"Moss, when I go in, I won't be coming out for a while, so during this time you may just sit in the carriage."

A look of gratitude washed over Moss' face as he nodded before darting into the carriage. To be hit by the cold wind outside was also a form of torture.

Merlin only turned and walked in after seeing Moss climbed into the carriage.

It was still the charming Linny at the counter. Although Anson and Gutt were not with him this time, it was evident that Linny remembered Merlin. There was an immediate smile on her face upon seeing Merlin's arrival, and she opened the secret passage in a respectful manner.

Merlin darted into the passageway easily as he was familiar with it. It felt much warmer there as there was no backflow of cold wind.

Very soon, Merlin reached the underground hall. Perhaps it was because of breakfast, or perhaps the weather was too cold, it was quite empty with not many people in it currently.

It seemed that Nathan was not here as well. Alone, Merlin began to stroll about casually.

There was no sunlight in the hall. Everything was illuminated by candles made of the fat of a strange sea creature. Although they were more expensive, they did not emit the unpleasant burning smell. On the contrary, they emitted a strange hint of natural fragrance.

The antiques were placed on stone platforms surrounded by even more expensive, transparent crystals for viewing. Merlin did not have a clue regarding antiques. After walking around the hall, he did not discover any antique that could cause him illusions like the relief sculpture did. This also indirectly proved the extraordinary quality of the relief sculpture.

As Merlin was admiring the antiques, he suddenly heard light footsteps behind him.

"Miss Carice?"

Merlin turned to discover that the person behind him was someone familiar – it was the person that little fatty Gutt had been constantly thinking about. Indeed, she was very pretty. She was wearing a white mink coat with tight cotton pants, accentuating her long and slender legs. It seemed that women would never forget to groom themselves no matter what the occasion was. Even on a day as cold as this, she still had to wear body-fitting cotton pants to accentuate her beautiful long legs.

Carice looked at Merlin rather hesitantly. It looked as though she did not have much of an impression of Merlin.

Anyway, Merlin did not mind. He smiled gently and said, "Miss Carice, we've just met a few days ago, right here. I came with Anson and Gutt…"

Carice's eyebrows loosened up lightly. In a thoughtful manner, she nodded and said, "I remember now. Are you Wilson Merlin?"

Merlin nodded before taking two steps forward, drawing closer to Carice.

"Miss Carice, I've heard from Anson that you're an antique specialist, especially in the antiques of the Molta Empire era. Recently, I've come to like some extremely special Molta Empire antiques but there's nothing here at Mr. Nathan's that I'm satisfied with. So, if there are some special antiques in Miss Carice's possession, could you let me have a look?"

After he said that, Merlin looked at Carice. He knew that Carice had collected many antiques, perhaps one of them would be the mysterious relief sculpture that he yearned.

"Rare and strange antiques? You like the same things as an old gentleman I know. He also likes collecting rare and strange antiques from the period of the Molta Empire. If you have time, I can bring you for a look now, and perhaps you'll find an antique that you'll like."

Carice and Merlin were standing close to each other. As a result, her warm breath blew toward Merlin's neck, creating a weak and numb sensation. Carice's perfume was also exceedingly refreshing and this made him happy and carefree.

"Then, I thank you, Miss Carice, for leading the way."

Naturally, Merlin agreed cheerfully. As long as he could find that mysterious relief sculpture, he would be very contented even with a mere hint of a clue.

Thus, Merlin followed Carice from behind and walked out.

Light snow was still drifting about outside. The cold wind that blew on their faces felt like knife cuts. Carice had a carriage as well so she quickly darted into her carriage and it slowly moved forward.

"Moss, follow Miss Carice's carriage in front."

Merlin woke Moss up, who then drove the carriage slowly behind Carice's carriage.

As the weather was very cold and there was still light snow, the surface of the road had also been frozen, which made it wet and slippery. Both carriages moved at a very slow pace, and it was only after half an hour that they reached their destination.

Carice and Merlin arrived at a small, old-fashioned wooden house. There was a garden in front of this small house with various flowers and trees. However, the garden was currently in a pitiful state; tiny trees that had yet to grow their big and thick branches were falling all over the place, squashed by the accumulating snow.

Snow had fallen the entire night yesterday, and the wind was very strong. A small garden like this would be destroyed easily. All that could be done was to wait for spring to come and replant them.

Seeing the mess in the garden, Carice shook her head gently and said helplessly, "Mr. Etha's garden is ruined again. Poor Mr. Etha, he's wasted a few months repairing his garden, but now it's become like this."

Both of them walked into the small house as Carice led the way. They went up to the second floor and came to a wooden door that had faded in color and looked extremely old.

Carice turned her to give an advice. "Merlin, Mr. Etha likes quietness, so you have to be a little quieter after you go in."

Merlin nodded. It seemed that the person Carice had wanted to find was in this room.

"Is Mr. Etha here? I'm Carice, here to see you today."

Carice knocked on the door and whispered into the room.

"Creak…"

The old, wooden door opened and an old man, around fifty years of age appeared.

The old man was short. The top of his head was balding and had very little hair but the old man had carefully combed the sparse hair back behind his head. He wore a black overcoat and had a thin face with fair skin, and he kept a pair of beautiful mustaches under his nose. He looked very sharp.

Just as Merlin was sizing up the old man, the old man was also doing the same. He looked at Merlin and Carice contemplatively. However, he merely gave Merlin a cold glance before shifting his gaze upon Carice. He said in a hoarse voice, "Carice, come in."

The old man turned around and walked back into the room. Merlin and Carice followed him from behind before Merlin closed the door after them casually.

The fireplace in the house was still burning with fierce flames. The old man immediately walked to a wooden chair before the fireplace and sat down while speaking in a hoarse voice, "Carice, tell me, for what matter have you come looking for this old man today?"

A smile broke out on Carice's face. She brought Merlin straight to the spot before the old man. The light from the fiery flames in the fireplace shone upon his face, turning his originally chalk-white skin to somewhat rosy.

The old man did not even raise his head. He held a thread-bound book with a black cover with both hands, reading it with relish.

"Mr. Etha, I've brought my friend here to visit you today."

Carice gave Merlin a look, signaling him to introduce himself.

Merlin nodded and spoke as he stepped forward slightly in respect. "Mr. Etha, I'm Wilson Merlin. I really like some antiques, especially the antiques during the time of the Molta Empire. Today, Miss Carice mentioned that there are many unique antiques from the Molta Empire era in Mr. Etha's house, which is why I've taken the liberty of coming here to trouble you, sir."

The old man added more wood into the fireplace. The crackling sounds emitted by the burning wood in the fireplace could be heard clearly. It was after a long time before the old man slowly put down the book in his hands and stood up. He said coldly, "Come with me."

"Mr. Etha's temper is very weird."

Merlin felt that this old man Etha had a somewhat odd and unpredictable temper.

"Shush, lower your voice. Mr. Etha's personality is just a little eccentric and antisocial, but he's a very good man. Alright, follow Mr. Etha in."

It was obvious that Carice knew old man Etha very well. Along with Merlin, she followed Etha into another room.

This room was small and seemed slightly cramped with the three of them inside. There were two gigantic red bookshelves which had been arranged in an extremely organized manner. There were no books on the shelves but some small and exquisite antiques.

Some of these antiques were broken and incomplete while some were flawless. However, these were unique and different from the antiques that Merlin had seen over at Nathan's. They were like porcelain in distinctive shapes that Merlin had never seen before like the ancient bottle which had a curved opening on either side. It was indeed very strange and special.

Merlin stretched his hand out, wishing to touch these antiques. Old man Etha, who was beside him growled fiercely. "You may only look but you cannot touch!"

Merlin felt embarrassed and all he could do was withdraw his hand.

There were approximately over a hundred uniquely-shaped antiques arranged on the bookshelves. Merlin looked as far as he could, but there was not a single one that was the same as the relief sculpture. He could not help but felt somewhat disappointed, and casually asked, "Are these the only antiques here?"

Old man Etha seemed to be quite disgruntled with Merlin's tone of voice and said in a deep voice, "I've been collecting them for a very long time. Why, do you consider them few?"

Seeing that old man Etha was somewhat upset, Carice hurriedly explained, "Mr. Etha, don't get upset, it's just that Merlin's only interested in the antiques of the Molta Empire. Also, he has only just come into contact with antiques so it hasn't been a long time."

Carice whispered into Merlin's ear, scolding him, "Don't simply say things. Mr. Etha is quite upset already."

Merlin nodded. Old man Etha really had a weird temper so it was better to speak less and not provoke him.

Although the antiques here at old man Etha's were very strange and unique, Merlin did not find the mysterious relief sculpture he was looking for. Thus, he could not help but revealed a hint of disappointment on his face. Shaking his head a little, he spoke to Carice, "Let's go out first."

It was after Merlin and Carice had left the room that the odd-tempered old man Etha narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on Merlin's back for some time. There was a hint of a weird expression on his face.

After they left the house, Carice asked in a low voice, "Merlin, did you find any that you like?"

Merlin shook his head. Carice did not persist so she could only bid old man Etha goodbye. "Mr. Etha, sorry for bothering you today. We'll come and visit again in the future."

The odd-tempered old man Etha suddenly asked, "You're called Merlin?"

"Yes, Mr. Etha. What do you wish to request of me?"

Merlin looked at old man Etha doubtfully.

"Are you willing to learn antiques appraisal from me?"

As old man Etha's voice fell, Merlin became somewhat dazed and was puzzled. Why would this old man with a weird temper want to have him as a disciple now?

Although Merlin did wish to learn how to appraise antiques, he thought it would be easier for him to understand the origins of the relief sculpture. He was also absolutely clueless with regard to this weird old man Etha.

Just as Merlin was hesitating, there was a hint of delight and surprise on Carice's face. She hurriedly spoke to Merlin in a low voice, "Agree quickly. Mr. Etha's appraisal of the Molta Empire antiques can be considered to be the most authoritative in Blackwater City. It's your good fortune that he wants to have you as a disciple. Others don't even get this kind of opportunity even if they beg for it."

Merlin was amazed. How could this old man, who lived in such an ugly house and possessed such a weird temper had such great skills?

"Why? Aren't you willing?"

Old man Etha's face darkened as his anger grew.

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Chapter 13: Molta Language

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Although Merlin felt that old man Etha was rather odd, Carice had already said that the old man had very high attainments in appraising Molta Empire era antiques. Therefore, he did not have any more misgivings. Bowing slightly before old man Etha, he said respectfully, "Merlin is willing to follow and learn from you, teacher!"

"Very good."

Old man Etha's face, which had just been somewhat ashen, immediately changed into a big smile. "Merlin, come this afternoon and begin by learning some basic knowledge about appraising antiques."

Merlin was unable to figure out old man Etha's temper. He did not dare to object, so all he could do was nod and indicate that he would come in the afternoon. Following which, old man Etha sent Merlin and Carice out the door.

"Miss Carice, who on earth is teacher Etha?"

Merlin could not wait any longer and inquired Carice.

Carice was in a deep thought for a moment before lowering her voice and said, "Mr. Etha seems to have come to Blackwater City from some other place. It's just him as I've never seen that he has any relatives. His personality's a bit reclusive, and he only likes to collect antiques. I also met Mr. Etha by accident and asked for his advice on antiques. It has come to a point where I always consult Mr. Etha if I encounter some antiques I don't understand. As for other things about Mr. Etha, I'm not very clear myself."

Merlin nodded. Subsequently, they got on their way respectively and Merlin went back to the castle in his carriage.

…

In the afternoon, Merlin came once more before the small house of old man Etha.

By then, the weather had already cleared up. The snow which had fallen heavily for a full day had now stopped. However, the air was still very chilly. Merlin pulled his coat tightly and went up to the second floor before knocking on old man Etha's door.

The door opened very quickly. Upon seeing Merlin, old man Etha's face was indifferent.

"Still considered on time, not bad."

Old man Etha said nothing more and let Merlin through the door.

Merlin came to the side of the fireplace where old man Etha liked to sit. He could see a thick book placed next to the fireplace.

Old man Etha lifted his head, gave Merlin a look, and said casually, "Antiques are the sediments of history. A piece of antique may perhaps be bearing a special period of history. So, if you wish to understand antiques, you've to be knowledgeable and understand the historical background of antiques in depth. For example, the antiques of the Molta Empire era that you like – if you wish to truly be able to identify the antiques of this period, you must first understand the Molta Empire. Do you know what is the most important thing about the Molta Empire?"

Merlin shook his head as he lacked knowledge in the Molta Empire.

"It's language. Language is indispensable to a great and united empire. Only through language can we understand the many events during the time of the Molta Empire. Of course, language is also a very good method in identifying the antiques of the Molta Empire era."

Old man Etha casually picked up the small book on the table and handed it to Merlin.

Merlin casually flipped to a page and discovered strange symbols on it. He had never seen them before. Old man Etha explained, "This is the Molta language. It's the language used during the time of the Molta Empire!"

"Molta language?"

Merlin's eyes lit up. This Molta language was very different from the language that was being used in the Kingdom of Light now. The sacred language of Light was somewhat similar to the western Latin alphabets of his previous world, with various letters forming more than thousands of words and phrases.

As for the Molta language, every component looked like a tadpole. To Merlin, he was unable to identify the differences between these letters.

"Merlin, if you wish to appraise the antiques during the time of the Molta Empire, you've to begin by learning the Molta language."

So, Merlin began to learn this complicated Molta language here at old man Etha's.

Learning a language was an extremely dull task, but Merlin was passionate about learning the Molta language. Perhaps this body had been born very sensitive toward languages where he showed great talents while learning the Molta language. Within an afternoon, he had already mastered a few dozen words.

Of course, perseverance was required when learning a new language. One would only be able to grasp it fully after learning for a few months, or even years.

The afternoon passed very quickly. Seeing that the sky had gradually darkened, old man Etha said coldly, "Alright, that's it for today. Go back and practice the Molta vocabulary you've learned today properly."

"Teacher Etha, I'll definitely do my revision well when I get home."

Merlin gave old man Etha a slight bow to show his respect once more before leaving the small house.

"Hoo…"

Outside, the cold was biting with a chilly wind. Merlin's mind, which had been somewhat drowsy became much awake and clearer. He could already see Moss' carriage.

"Moss, back to the castle!"

Merlin darted into the carriage and stretched his legs, leaning his back against the carriage. He lightly massaged his head with both hands. Although it had been tiring learning from old man Etha today, this had been the most productive day he had ever since he arrived in this world.

…

A few days had passed. Merlin went to and fro old man Etha's place and the castle daily. Life was very simple then as he traveled between these two points.

"Butler, is there something wrong?"

After Merlin had his breakfast, he asked the butler in a soft voice. He had noticed earlier that something seemed to be amiss with the butler today.

The butler hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth to say, "Master Merlin, Miss Macy has already left the castle for nine days and hasn't been back since. Should we send people to look for her in Grand City?"

Merlin was stunned. During the past few days, he had only been concerned about learning the Molta language. Every day had been very productive so he had somewhat forgotten about Macy.

He remembered Macy saying that the social exchange in Grand City would only take about three to five days but it had almost been ten days now and she had not returned. No wonder the butler was worried.

"How about this, let's not send people over to Grand City in haste first. I'll find time later and ask Anson about it to see if he has any news."

The butler nodded before ordering the servants to clear the dining table.

"Hoo…"

Walking out of the castle, a burst of chilly wind blew into Merlin, causing him to shiver involuntarily. Although snow had not fallen these past few days and the weather had been sunny, it was still very cold.

"Moss, go to teacher Etha's."

Merlin hesitated for a moment. He usually goes to old man Etha's in the afternoon. Since he was going to find Anson today to inquire about some news, he still had to first go to old man Etha's and explain the situation.

The carriage slowly left the castle.

…

Merlin stood in front of old man Etha's door and called out softly, "Teacher Etha."

After a few moments, Merlin did not hear any response from old man Etha so Merlin stretched out his hand to knock on the door.

"Squeak…"

The main door was unexpectedly pushed open the moment Merlin's hand touched it gently.

Merlin paused for a while before going inside. He searched all over the place and saw no traces of old man Etha. It looked like old man Etha was not at home.

"Teacher Etha is really too careless. The door's not even locked. Isn't he afraid that thieves would come in?" Merlin muttered.

Recently, the security in Blackwater City could not be considered satisfactory. However, Merlin knew that old man Etha had always been weird and mysterious. He had been coming here for almost ten days now, and still, he did not know what on earth old man Etha did for a living. He only knew that there was only old man Etha in this house. Other than Merlin and Carice who visited occasionally, no one else had come.

Merlin guessed that old man Etha had probably come to Blackwater City alone.

Seeing that old man Etha was not at home, Merlin sat quietly in front of the fireplace and waited, taking the time to review the Molta language he had learned over the past few days.

After waiting for about an hour, the temperature in the house seemed to have dropped considerably. Hence, Merlin casually added some firewood into the fireplace. It was at this moment that Merlin heard footsteps downstairs, outside the door. Old man Etha had most likely returned so Merlin hurriedly stood up.

"Bang!"

The main door was shut harshly. Seeing Merlin in the house, old man Etha was startled and asked, "Merlin, why are you here?"

Merlin saw that old man Etha was wearing long, leather boots which had mud and earth stuck all over them. The big coat on his body was also covered with some dew. His face was slightly pale, and he looked as though he was very tired. Merlin did not know where on earth he had gone to.

"Teacher Etha, I've come to ask for a vacation. I might have to attend to some family matters in the afternoon, so I won't be coming today."

Merlin watched old man Etha for any reaction. To Merlin's surprise, old man Etha did not look furious but rather calm instead. A long time passed before old man Etha nodded his head and said in a composed manner, "I'll be traveling far these few days, so your education might have to stop for a while."

Merlin was astonished. Old man Etha usually looked like he could have been rather carefree and idle. What matters could he have to attend to?

"When is teacher Etha coming back?"

"Can't say for sure, perhaps three or five days, perhaps ten days or half a month. But you must remember, even if I'm not around, you've to practice the Molta language well. I've some insights here on learning the Molta language, and some translations in the sacred language of Light. I've organized all these a few years ago so take them and try to figure them out yourself. They should be of some help in improving your level of understanding of the Molta language."

While saying this, old man Etha took out a stack of thick materials and passed them to Merlin.

Merlin was at a loss. This stack of information was not an ordinary item. Was this not equivalent to a dictionary from his previous life? Moreover, these records were written by old man Etha, so they were extremely precious. In this era, such things could be considered a priceless treasure. Although Old man Etha was strict and stern, he still placed a lot of importance upon Merlin.

"Don't worry, teacher. I'll definitely practice the Molta language well at home."

Hence, Merlin took the materials and turned to leave.

"Wait…"

Old man Etha's face changed. Finally, as though he had made up his mind about something, he drew a black ring out from within his arms and immediately tossed it to Merlin. He said in a low voice, "I'll give you this little knick-knack, so you wouldn't be calling me 'teacher' in vain."

"Teacher, this…"

Merlin was somewhat hesitant, but old man Etha waved his hand casually and said impatiently, "Go, go quickly, go do what you should be doing. I'm rather tired, I want to rest properly."

The old man had not had a hint of courtesy where he immediately shooed Merlin out the door.

Merlin went downstairs and into the carriage, putting the materials inside. He was still in a daze, feeling that something was slightly amiss with old man Etha today, gifting him the materials as well as the ring.

"Old man Etha's been mysterious, weird and kooky the entire time. I wonder what on earth had happened? But this ring's really strange – it looks like it's been around for a few years…"

He did not know what material this black ring was made of. It was so light that it felt like nothing as he held it in his hand. The entire ring was as black as ink, and there was a hideous monster with three heads engraved on it, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. It looked remarkably true to life and made those who looked at it to feel somewhat strange.

Probably, not many people would be willing to wear a ring like that.

Merlin fiddled with it carefully for a moment but he did not discover anything special about it. Thus, he put the ring into his pocket and said to Moss, "Moss, let's go. I'm attending etiquette class today."

The carriage slowly left old man Etha's small house.

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Chapter 14: Heretic

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Merlin sat in the spacious carriage. Although the journey was as bumpy as always, his physical attributes were no longer what they used to be, so this bit of distance felt like nothing to him anymore.

"Master Merlin, we've arrived!"

Moss said to Merlin while pulling the curtains in the carriage.

Merlin opened his eyes and alighted from the carriage. Before his eyes was a small three-story building, with an old man watching at the door. Merlin ignored the old man. Just as he was about to enter, little fatty Gutt's luxurious carriage which was drawn by four horses, arrived as well.

"Hey, Merlin."

The little fatty poked his head out from the carriage before leaping down casually. Anson alighted from the carriage behind him. It seemed that Gutt had picked up Anson along the way.

Gutt and Anson quickly walked to Merlin. The little fatty Gutt stretched his chubby hand out and patted Merlin's shoulder lightly and said with a laugh, "Merlin, you've not come for so many days, what have you been up to?"

Before Merlin could answer, Anson's face suddenly fell. His eyes were staring fixedly on something behind Merlin.

"It's Tirath and Teacher Gia. Why are they walking together?"

Anson's expression was dark and gloomy. Ever since he laid his eyes on Gia, he had always been thinking about her. Never had he thought that Tirath would rush in and take the first step.

Merlin turned as well to see Tirath and Gia chattering and laughing away. They seemed to be deeply immersed in their conversation.

Tirath also saw Merlin and the others. The corners of his lips curled into a sarcastic smile. In a high and mighty demeanor, he walked into the small building with Gia.

Gutt glanced at Anson, who was next to him. In a deep, heavy tone, he lowered his voice and said, "Anson, don't be so crestfallen. This Gia is not an easy target. Hehe, haven't I said the other day that I'd investigate Gia thoroughly within three days? I've really gone and did my investigation. Guess what I found out, guys?"

Seeing Gutt's serious face, Merlin could not help but ask rather curiously, "What did you find out? Is Gia's background really great?"

Gutt shook his head and spoke in a low voice, "Her background isn't great, it's that she has no background at all! To be accurate, I've not found anything. Gia has only appeared in Grand City, and it looks like she appeared out of thin air. I've not been able to find out where she's from, what she does, and who her relatives and friends are at all! Hehe, my family's business is spread throughout the entire Kingdom of Light so we're very powerful when it comes to intelligence. If we wish to investigate a person, we'll definitely be able to, but this Gia… She's really mysterious!"

Gutt might be careless and unconcerned most of the time, which made him look like a good-for-nothing rich man's son, but after Merlin had come into contact with him more, he had discovered that this little fatty controlled a part of the Dougland family's business. He was definitely not as deplorable as he seemed on the surface.

Even if the Dougland family's powerful web of intelligence could not find out anything about Gia's true identity, then he was afraid that there were really some secrets surrounding this Gia.

Gutt continued to speak to Anson, "Anson, you've to be alert. This Gia might be pretty but her identity is unclear and is very mysterious. You also need to be more careful and do your best not to have anything to do with her. As for this fellow Tirath, hmph, if there's anything wrong with Gia, he'll be sorry by then."

Gutt curled his lips. It was obvious that he thought nothing of Tirath.

Hearing Gutt's advice, Anson's expression eased up a little. Merlin did not have much interest in this Tirath and the mysterious Gia so he asked Anson for news about Macy, "Anson, Macy, Swordsman Pero, and the others have gone to Grand City for so many days and they haven't returned by now. Have you heard about any news?"

"Macy, huh? I've actually heard some news. Let's get inside first. I'll tell you about it slowly."

Anson's eyes were flashing. For a moment, Merlin's heart sank a little.

In a single file, the three of them went into the spacious house. This class was a history class, as always. However, Gia and Tirath were both not here and no one knew what they had gone off to do.

"Anson, has something happened to Macy?"

Merlin asked hurriedly after they had sat down.

Anson shook his head gently, and said with a wry smile, "Don't worry, Merlin. Your sister Macy's fine. But you're in quite some trouble, though."

"I'm in trouble?"

Merlin did not know what Anson was talking about. He looked at Anson in confusion.

"It's like this. Haven't Macy and the others gone to Grand City under Swordsman Pero's leadership to join the social exchange? It's at this exchange that Cawthon had a breakthrough and became a true Elemental Swordsman, and what's more, a Light Swordsman! This matter has even shocked the bishop of the Grand City church, who personally blessed Cawthon and received Cawthon as a Guardian Swordsman of the Church of Light. That was why they had delayed their return. Tsk tsk, this fellow Cawthon can be considered to have reached the heavens with a single step."*

Anson's face was full of excitement as though he was the one who had become an Elemental Swordsman.

Merlin knew that an Elemental Swordsman was not much but to be a Guardian Swordsman of the Church of Light was different. A Guardian Swordsman would receive the full nurturing of the Church of Light. Also, when it came to the position, although he would not receive the title of an aristocrat from the Royal Family of Light, the position of a Guardian Swordsman in the Church of Light was, in fact, practically the same as an aristocrat!

As the power of the Church of Light grew greater in the kingdom and their influence became more widespread, the position of these Guardian Swordsmen would also improve, like a ship rising with the water level.

After a while, Gia and Tirath walked in together. Gia was radiant and beautiful, as always. Tirath, on the other hand, had a long face. His expression was somewhat dark.

"Hehe, by the looks of Tirath, could he have been rejected and humiliated by Gia?"

The little fatty snickered secretly and delighted in Tirath's misfortune.

Then, Gia began to explain the history course. Merlin had no interest in Gia's course but he was secretly observing her. Even Gutt had not been able to figure out Gia's identity by mobilizing the intelligence network of the Dougland family. She must have kept some secrets.

Nevertheless, Merlin was unable to see anything that was out of the ordinary with Gia even until the end of the course.

"Merlin, see you tomorrow."

Little fatty Gutt and Anson bade Merlin goodbye. Thus, Merlin returned to the Wilson Castle in Moss' carriage.

…

A team of more than twenty knights moved swiftly across the wide-open road. The outfits of this team of knights had very distinguishable features; all of them wore white light armor and on their backs was a greatsword each.

"How much further until Blackwater City?"

The team of knights came to a gradual stop. A middle-aged, golden-haired man asked in a cold voice. This man had long, brown hair which had been tied into a small braid, tucked behind his head. He wore a white robe with light armor fitted on the outside. He looked rather androgynous. However, there was a silver crossed-swords imprint embroidered in front of his chest.

"Sir Jason, after we go over the mountain in front, we'll reach Blackwater City."

A knight wearing a beautiful silver helmet spoke slowly. Fear flashed across his eyes as though he was extremely afraid of this androgynous, white-robed knight.

The white-robed knight nodded. His expression was cold and indifferent as he spoke to the knight in the silver helmet, "Swordsman Bogg, this operation cannot go wrong. The evil heretic hiding in Blackwater City must be captured. I believe that the bishop has already told you what should be done?"

The white-robed knight's eyes were sharp, causing Bogg's entire head to break out in sweat.

"Don't worry, Sir Jason. The bishop has already told us before we depart. This time, all authority over the operation is in your hands, Sir Jason."

"Very good, let's go."

The white-robed knight nodded satisfactorily. However, the heart of Swordsman Bogg was very heavy. He was one of the Guardian Swordsmen of the Church of Light in Grand City and also a powerful Second-level Light Swordsman.

Despite his level, Bogg was still very careful in this operation as the church had mobilized people from the Inquisition and Jason was one of them. Bogg was not clear about the Inquisition but all he heard before were some rumors about how the members of the Inquisition were mysterious and strange, and possessed great power which only ordinary people could imagine. Also, they were God's most faithful believers.

Every time the Religious Court sent out its team, it was due to the evil heretic which Bogg understood well of. It was a mage in the legends that blasphemed against the God of Light and possessed evil powers, the most powerful force in the depraved Kingdom of Blackmoon.

Faced with the evil heretic and mobilizing the people from the Inquisition, even Bogg, a Second-level Light Swordsman, felt ill. He did not know what awaited him in Blackwater City.

…

With his eyes closed, Merlin laid quietly in the bathtub of steaming hot water. He was holding the piece of relief sculpture in his hands.

After a moment, Merlin opened his eyes, looked at the relief sculpture and a deep thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"For the past few days, there's no longer any sweat on my body in the morning. I don't feel any effect anymore when I perform the posture of the relief sculpture. I think it's already ineffective for me…"

Merlin murmured quietly. Although he had already expected it, he still felt sorry when this day had really arrived. He felt that the tremendous power he experienced with his body could practically rival that of real Elemental Swordsmen, and such a change had been brought about by this mysterious relief sculpture.

Then, Merlin got up, put the relief sculpture away properly and headed downstairs.

Macy had already given up on waiting for Merlin and had begun eating breakfast.

"I'm going to practice my swordsmanship at the church."

Macy quickly finished eating and spoke in a cold tone to Merlin. Then, she immediately walked out of the castle with her sword.

Merlin was already used to this. Ever since Macy had returned from Grand City ten days ago, her entire personality had become cold and indifferent. Moreover, she had been desperately training her swordsmanship to a point that the liveliness she had possessed previously had disappeared.

Merlin also understood the reason for Macy's change. Apparently, Macy had been provoked by Cawthon.

Macy and Cawthon had always been the candidates whom Swordsman Pero looked highly upon – the geniuses who had the most hope of becoming Elemental Swordsmen. Cawthon, however, had broken through very early and had even become a Guardian Swordsman of the church. Macy, on the other hand, was a genius like Cawthon, and yet she had not become a true Elemental Swordsman until now. With this, Macy had changed into a cold and indifferent person. All she could think about was practicing her swordsmanship.

"It looks like I've to find the time and have a good talk with Macy."

Merlin muttered quietly. Perhaps even he had not noticed that he had slowly melded into the identity he possessed now and had completely become one of the inhabitants of this world.

After finishing his breakfast, Merlin returned to his room upstairs. Within the past ten days, he had mastered over a hundred words in the Molta language. Including previous ones, he had already mastered over two hundred words and phrases in the Molta vocabulary. This was already enough for him to read some simple sentences in the Molta language.

To grasp the Molta language well, Merlin had even neglected his swordsmanship training at the church in the morning. It was lucky that Macy was now provoked by Cawthon, so all she could think about was to become an Elemental Swordsman, therefore she did not have the time or energy to meddle in Merlin's business. This was why Merlin had been living comfortably for the past ten days.

"It's been ten days, I wonder if old man Etha has returned?"

Merlin was about to continue practicing his Molta language, but upon careful contemplation, it had already been ten days – he should go and see if old man Etha had returned.

Although he had the materials old man Etha had given him, he would still encounter some problems while self-studying. If old man Etha was around, those problems would naturally be solved with the greatest of ease. He would no longer have to make guesses so painstakingly.

Thus, Merlin put on his clothes and left Wilson Castle, sitting in Moss' carriage as it rumbled toward old man Etha's little house.

(TN: The Chinese idiom used here is 一步登天. Literally translated, it means to step into the sky with a single step. It is used to describe instant success.)

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Chapter 15: Spell Caster I

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

The carriage was driven slowly on the main road. Merlin had his eyes closed, resting in the carriage. Suddenly, he felt the carriage being jolted around violently and heard the horses outside neighing and whinnying.

"Moss, what's wrong?"

Merlin pulled open the curtains of the carriage asked Moss with a frown.

At the same time, Moss was exerting as much energy as he could to control the panicking black horse. Hearing the dissatisfaction in Merlin's tone of voice, Moss said with some unease, "Master Merlin, a team of knights had rushed in from the back. I don't know who on earth they are, rampaging on the street."

Merlin raised his head and looked into the distance. Indeed, he saw a team of knights in bright and shining armor in front. They were currently rushing forward, completely ignoring the passersby and carriages on the road. The entire street was chaotic with the curses of many people.

The outfits on these knights' bodies were unlike those of the City Defense Troop knights. Merlin had never seen them before.

"Aye? Merlin?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice drifted into Merlin's ear from the side. Merlin turned his head to see a carriage stopping by the roadside on the right side of the street. The coachman was doing his best to calm the shocked horses down. As for the person in the carriage, it was surprisingly Carice, whom he had not seen for more than ten days.

"Miss Carice."

Merlin hurriedly got down from his carriage and went to Carice's carriage and asked, "Miss Carice, are you alright?"

Carice shook her head gently and said, "It's just that the horses have been frightened, I'm fine. Right, I've gone to visit Mr. Etha a few days ago but Mr. Etha wasn't home. Do you know what's going on?"

"Teacher Etha said he has some personal matters to attend to and has to leave Blackwater City for a period of time. I want to go and see if Teacher Etha has returned today."

A hint of a smile appeared on Carice's face. "Such a coincidence, I'm also preparing to go see Mr. Etha. Shall we go together?"

Merlin nodded. With their carriages in a single file, they drove toward Mr. Etha's small wooden house.

After a short while, the carriages came to a halt slowly. Moss pulled open the carriage curtains and said to Merlin helplessly, "Master Merlin, we're unable to go forward; it's been blocked."

"Blocked?"

Merlin frowned and lifted his head to look outside. At a location not far from old man Etha's small wooden house was a circle of people blocking the road.

"What's going on?"

Carice had also gone down from her carriage. She glanced at Merlin, looking very mystified.

"Miss Carice, the road seems to have been blocked. Shall we go and see what the matter is?"

So, Merlin and Carice got down the carriage and walked a few steps forward, arriving in the midst of the crowd. Merlin and Carice were tall so they were still able to see the situation inside even though they were outside of the crowd.

"This bunch of knights again? Miss Carice, do you know these people?"

Merlin saw over twenty knights wearing silver-white armor in the midst of the crowd. They had been the ones who had rampaged on the street and caused the chaos. Now, they were blocking the road and not letting anyone pass, resulting in a large crowd around them.

Carice frowned and observed the outfits of this group of knights carefully for a long time. Then, she lowered her voice and said, "I don't really dare to confirm it but looking at their attire, they seem somewhat like the Guardian Swordsmen of the Church of Light. But we don't have Guardian Swordsmen in Blackwater City, so I don't dare say for sure."

"Guardian Swordsmen?"

Merlin repeated the words. Immediately, he remembered Cawthon because he had become a Light Swordsman and a Guardian Swordsman of the church in Grand City.

"Could it be the Guardian Swordsmen of Grand City?" Merlin guessed in a low voice.

"Grand City? It's possible but they've mobilized so many Guardian Swordsmen to Blackwater City all at once. Could there be some great trouble?"

Carice and Merlin did not dare to say for sure. It was known that every Guardian Swordsman was a big personality, especially in a small city like Blackwater City. In a sense, the Guardian Swordsmen of the church were equal to aristocrats.

There could have been something serious to have all twenty Guardian Swordsmen who were equal to aristocrats to be sent out all at once.

It was at this moment that another team of knights came from behind. Merlin was very familiar with the attire of this team of knights. They were the knights brigade of the City Defense Troop in Blackwater City.

The crowd immediately split apart, letting the team of knights from the City Defense Troop through. The leading knight yelled at the unidentified knights, "Where are you knights from?"

A knight wearing a silver helmet walked forward. With a high and mighty expression, he said to the knight of the City Defense Troop, "We're the Guardian Swordsmen from the Church of Light in Grand City!"

"Guardian Swordsmen from Grand City?"

The knights of the City Defense Troop were shocked. On normal days, even the castellan had to give a Guardian Swordsman careful treatment if one was to come from Grand City. Therefore today, it was needless to talk about it when more than twenty Guardian Swordsmen had come all at once.

"May I know what business do these few honorable Swordsmen have to come to Blackwater City?"

The knight from the City Defense Troop asked cautiously.

"We've received orders from sir bishop to come and capture the evil heretic of the Kingdom of Blackmoon. You should leave quickly or you'll be hurt by the magic of the evil heretic."

"The evil heretic?"

As though they had heard about some frightening thing, the crowd which had just been densely packed retreated speedily. In the blink of an eye, they were far away from these Guardian Swordsmen.

Even the young knights in the City Defense Troop were shocked with looks of horror on their faces.

Merlin did not know what that evil heretic was. However, seeing the reaction from those around him, he could more or less guess that it was someone who was extremely horrifying and scary.

"Swordsman Bogg, the evil heretic is in the small wooden house in front. Bring your men and surround the place."

A man wearing white robes with light armor instructed the Guardian Swordsmen around him.

There was a chill in Bogg's heart. As expected, they had found the evil heretic. He did not dare to waste any time. Unsheathing his greatsword in a hurry as though he was about to face a great enemy, he got a dozen or so knights to quickly run forward and surround the small wooden house.

"Ah? Isn't that Mr. Etha's house?"

Alarmed, Carice cried out involuntarily. It was fortunate that the noises of the surrounding crowd were very loud, covering her voice.

Merlin hurriedly grabbed and pulled Carice's hand. He could not bother himself with how it felt, and hurriedly said in a low voice, "Miss Carice, don't make a sound."

Of course, Merlin could see that the target of this group of Guardian Swordsmen was the small wooden house of the mysterious old man Etha. He knew that since this group of Guardian Swordsmen had arrived, they must have had obtained some sort of news.

"Merlin, don't know if Mr. Etha's back yet, huh? But the situation now seems to be very disadvantageous for Mr. Etha. I hope it won't involve him."

Carice spoke in a low voice.

Merlin's expression was grave and heavy where he shook his head slightly. There was a bad premonition in his heart as though this matter and the mysterious old man Etha were irreversibly linked.

A few dozen Guardian Swordsmen surrounded old man Etha's small wooden house in groups. Swordsman Bogg, who was wearing the silver helmet on his head, asked the white-robed man respectfully, "Sir Jason, what do we do now?"

The white-robed man narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to see the situation in the small wooden house. However, the doors and the windows of the small wooden house were shut tight. No one could see what was inside properly.

After a long time, the white-robed man waved his hand and said, "Swordsman Bogg, go in. It'll be best if the heretic can be captured alive."

Swordsman Bogg was slightly stunned. He felt suffering in his heart as everyone knew how horrifying the evil heretic was, but Jason had already given the order. Although Bogg was a Second-level Light Swordsman, he could only obey.

So, Swordsman Bogg summoned three Guardian Swordsmen and rushed into the small wooden house together.

Everyone stared nervously at the small wooden house. After those four Guardian Swordsmen had entered, there did not seem to be any movement. Even the white-robed man frowned and muttered under his breath, "Could the information be wrong?"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Suddenly, there were a few muffled sounds came out from the originally calm and quiet small wooden house. The bodies of the few Guardian Swordsmen who had rushed into the house earlier flew out immediately from the small wooden house. Their bodies were charred black as though they had been burnt by fire. There was even the charred stench of grilled meat.

The bodies of the few Guardian Swordsmen fell to the ground heavily, unmoving. They were all dead.

The knights of the City Defense Troop who had been nearer to the small wooden house were no longer able to hide the horror in their hearts after seeing the three charred bodies. All of them turned and ran, retreating far away.

These Guardian Swordsmen were not ordinary men. Every Guardian Swordsman was at least a First-level Light Swordsman and can be concluded that they were all great and powerful Elemental Swordsmen.

Nevertheless, now, these Elemental Swordsmen had only gone in for a while to only die mysteriously.

"Holy Light Cleave!"

It was at this time that a loud roaring voice rang out from within the small wooden house. There had been four Guardian Swordsmen who entered the house. Three were now dead and Swordsman Bogg was still inside.

This voice came from Swordsman Bogg.

A figure immediately jumped out from the small wooden house accompanied by a dazzling white light. Astonishingly, it was Swordsman Bogg.

"Sir Jason, the evil heretic is inside."

Bogg's body was shrouded in dazzling white light. However, the tattered clothes on his body could still be vaguely seen. There was also fresh blood dripping to the ground from his right arm. It was obvious that he had also been injured.

"Second-level Swordsman, it's a Second-level Swordsman!"

Carice, who was standing next to Merlin, said in a tone of disbelief. There was also a slight chill in Merlin's heart. He was afraid that a Second-level Elemental Swordsman would be the number one master in the entire Blackwater City, and in a way that was rightfully deserving.

Swordsman Pero was only a First-level Fire Swordsman and Old Wilson who had been through the battle for a long time seemed also to be a First-Level Elemental Swordsman at his peak. However, they had never broken through to the Second-level.

However, right now, a great and powerful Second-level Elemental Swordsman was in such an unexpected and pitiful state. He had practically escaped out of the small wooden house in a flurry.

The white-robed man gave a cold glance at Swordsman Bogg. Then, he took a deep breath and shouted at the small wooden house, "Heretic, God is forgiving. If you could only return into God's embrace, believe in God and be one of God's people, then the sin on you shall be cleansed."

"God? Is there a God in this world? You Church of Light have been around for so many years, and you're still so pretentious. Laughable, really laughable! You, as a First-level Spell Caster, could you still not know about those laughable lies of your church? I only believe in the truth, I believe in the true essence of magic, and not the imaginary God that you men speak of."

A hoarse voice rang out from the small wooden house. Subsequently, a figure slowly walked out from there.

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Chapter 16: Spell Caster II

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

"It's Mr. Etha. How can it be Mr. Etha?"

It seemed to be rather difficult for Carice to believe that the figure which had appeared outside the small house was, astonishingly, old man Etha who had disappeared for more than ten days and that the evil heretic those Guardian Swordsmen spoke of was old man Etha.

Merlin fixed his eyes stubbornly on old man Etha. Although he knew that old man Etha was very mysterious and seemed to have kept some secrets that no one knew about, he had not realized that old man Etha was such a powerful and strong master.

Those few Elemental Swordsmen had died at old man Etha's hands. Moreover, that pitiful Second-level Light Swordsman had also been defeated by old man Etha.

However, what Merlin was paying even more attention to was the question of what sort of power did old man Etha, who looked extremely ordinary, used to defeat so many masters?

"Shut up, heretic! Your soul has already been completely depraved. If you don't believe in God, then you must receive God's punishment!"

The voice of the white-robed man was very sharp. He waved his hand violently, signaling Swordsman Bogg to go forward.

Swordsman Bogg took a deep breath. He raised his greatsword with both hands and right at that instant, the greatsword emitted an incomparable dazzling light.

"Light Sword!"

Swordsman Bogg brought the blade down. The strong force in the air spread out into the surroundings. Even Merlin could feel the great power as though he was going to be squeezed open.

"Such power and might from a Second-level Swordsman!"

Merlin could not help but feel a chill in his heart. By relying on the mysterious posture of the relief sculpture, the strength of his body had been improved to a state where it could barely rival that of a First-level Elemental Swordsman.

However, if he was to face a Second-level Swordsman, Merlin knew without a doubt that he would not have any chance of winning.

Nevertheless, although he faced an attack as ferocious as Bogg's, old man Etha behaved as though he had not seen it. He even shook his head gently and said, "Still sending a Normie to die. You Church of Light are hypocritical to the extreme!"

All they could see was old man Etha waving his finger around. A cluster of fireballs with the size of a fist each appeared in the direction of his finger. This cluster of fireballs floated in midair and was even spinning around furiously.

"Go!"

The moment old man Etha's voice fell, this cluster of fireballs charged toward Swordsman Bogg and collided brutally against that strong and bright light of his.

Swordsman Bogg was a Light Swordsman, so he could channel and erupt the powerful force of the Light Elements.

Nevertheless, when Swordsman Bogg's greatsword encountered with the fireballs, the solid greatsword was immediately melted by the scorching heat. The fiery flames even continued burning directly toward Swordsman Bogg's body. Swordsman Bogg made a quick decision and threw the greatsword in his hand away promptly. The light on his body flashed once more as his body speedily retreated backward.

The greatsword that had been thrown by Swordsman Bogg onto the ground turned into a clump of metallic liquid in the blink of an eye. It was enough to show how terrible the temperature of the cluster of fireballs earlier had been. The three Guardian Swordsmen who had died previously had probably been burnt to death by them.

Old man Etha's eyes narrowed slightly and shifted his gaze at the white-robed man. In a hoarse voice, he laughed coldly and said, "Hehe, First-level Spell Caster, could it be that you still want these Normies to die in vain?"

Being stared at by old man Etha, the white-robed man's face turned ashen and green. He said, "Evil heretic, you're courting death!"

The voice of the white-robed man was shrill beyond compare, causing a stinging pain in the ears. It was evident that he could not be more furious. He sat on his horse as always, with both hands propped up before his chest as he began chanting in a low and deep voice, "The Lord of mercy, the omnipotent Lord, your faithful believer needs to borrow your strength and eliminate that evil heretic! Holy Light Adjudication!"

For a moment, the sun in the sky dimmed. Beams of gigantic white light condensed above the small wooden house, bringing humongous airwaves and slashing down directly, whistling toward old man Etha's head.

Old man Etha had originally been wearing a black bowler hat but following the spell cast by the white-robed man, the great airwaves that had surged up immediately blew old man Etha's hat away, revealing a head of sparse hair.

Old man Etha's expression slowly became grave and serious. He pointed his skinny hands into the airspace in front of his body. Clusters of fireballs appeared promptly, spinning non-stop.

This time, there were four or five fireballs floating in the empty space. Old man Etha's face had also turned pale. It seemed that four to five fireballs were already his limit.

"A First-level spell, Holy Light Adjudication?"

There were faint traces of craziness in old man Etha's serious expression. Pointing with both hands, the four to five fireballs charged toward the Holy Light in front at a great speed.

"Fizz… Fizz..".

It was as though those four to five fireballs had fallen into the water and they were drowned by the vast Holy Light. All they did was emit some strange noises before they moved no more.

Seeing that his Fireball seemed to be useless, old man Etha hurriedly took a few steps back. However, his feet staggered slightly, causing him to almost fall to the ground. Apparently, he had already retreated until the front steps of the small wooden house. Behind him was the building – there was nowhere else he could retreat to.

"Whirlwind!"

Old man Etha gritted his teeth slightly and waved his hand where a whirlwind appeared in the garden in front of the small wooden house, whistling away and uprooting the plants and trees that had originally been all over the place. Earth was being mixed into the whirlwind endlessly, showing off its tremendous destructive powers.

The gigantic whirlwind whistled as it rushed toward the Holy Light which was closing in quickly. Suddenly, both powerful forces collided and, in that instant, sand and pebbles flew everywhere as the earth shook. The small wooden house seemed to be somewhat unable to withstand such a violent shock and it looked as though it was about to break apart and collapse.

Finally, the Holy Light drowned the whirlwind that old man Etha had cast. The vast light was like a giant web, enveloping old man Etha ferociously.

Old man Etha seemed calm. A hint of a smile slowly appeared at the corners of his lips.

"Boom!"

A cluster of flames appeared above old man Etha's body and swallowed him entirely. In the blink of an eye, old man Etha had been burnt into ashes by the flames. The Holy Light struck the ground brutally, blasting the steps in front of the small wooden house into powder where tiny gravel flew in all directions.

Old man Etha was dead. His body had been instantly turned into cinder by the fire.

The corners of the white-robed man's lips contorted. His expression looked very dark as he stared at the spot where old man Etha had been standing. A long while passed before he gave his instructions to Swordsman Bogg. "The evil heretic has died. Swordsman Bogg, bring your men into the house where the heretic had lived and search it at once. Don't let go of anything inside the house, take them all away."

Swordsman Bogg nodded. He immediately led the remaining Guardian Swordsmen and dashed into the wooden house.

Having witnessed such a dream-like battle from the sidelines for a long while, everyone's faces had become rather agitated. Perhaps everything that had happened today would become memories they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

"Sir pastor, please pray and bless us. Help us cleanse the filth of the evil heretic!"

The Normies around them bowed slightly toward the white-robed man, expressing their respect for this honorable pastor. They did not know the true identity of the white-robed man. Amongst the people they could see in the church, only the pastor who specialized in leading the people into prayer seemed to fit the identity of the white-robed man.

The thoughts of these people were very simple. Unbeknownst to them, an evil heretic had slipped into their midst. Perhaps their bodies had also been stained with the filth of the evil heretic. This was why they were begging the honorable pastor who had eliminated the evil heretic to cleanse them.

A smile broke out on the face of the white-robed man. The pastor was the most basic clergy member in the church as well as one of the lowest positions. He, on the other hand, was a Wizard in the Inquisition. When it came to the position, his was naturally higher than that of a pastor.

However, at the moment, he was glad to be a pastor. Thus, he said in a high voice, "Don't worry, the evil heretic had used evil magic to hypnotize all of you but if you would only believe in God sincerely, God will not abandon you."

Then, the white-robed man spread out his arms and chanted loudly. Vaguely, a hint of faint white light enveloped everyone and put their hearts at peace.

Many stayed where they were, praying to the God of Light in low voices. Only Merlin and Carice were somewhat at a loss. Carice's face was turning slightly pale, and her lips had become purplish blue. It was evident that there was utter horror in her heart.

Anyone, as long as they had been living in the Kingdom of Light and had stayed under the influence of the Church of Light for a long time would be horrified at the evil heretics. Carice was not an exception. She was unable to imagine that old man Etha, who had not seemed any different from any ordinary old man who had extensive knowledge, was a terrifying and evil heretic.

Merlin's face looked bad as well but he was much calmer than Carice. Merlin did not feel horrified by old man Etha's identity as an evil heretic. Rather, he felt that this matter might get him into trouble.

"Miss Carice, let's go."

Merlin stretched out his hand to hold Carice's. Her palm was sweaty, showing how nervous and scared she was.

Luckily, many people were still praying. No one really noticed Merlin and Carice so they went into their carriages and left without a sound.

…

Back at Wilson Castle, Merlin hurriedly entered his room.

"Hoo…"

It was only after he had returned to his room that Merlin let out a long sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease. Thinking back to everything he had just seen, he still felt it had been rather unimaginable.

The battle between old man Etha and the white-robed man seemed to have opened up an entirely great, new door for him. Previously, he had thought that Elemental Swordsmen were strong and powerful beings in this world. The energy that a First-level Elemental Swordsman could break out into with all his might was downright terrifying.

However, the energy of old man Etha and the white-robed man from the church was completely beyond Merlin's imagination. The usually superior and aloof Elemental Swordsmen did not have the slightest bit of resistance before old man Etha as they were extremely weak.

Old man Etha and the white-robed man were the ones who possessed the truly great and powerful energy!

"Right, old man Etha has given me a ring before."

It was then that Merlin remembered the ring that old man Etha had given him. He had originally thought that it was a normal handicraft but after having discovered how abnormal old man Etha was, naturally, Merlin no longer considered the ring to be an ordinary handicraft.

Thus, Merlin began to search the room in haste.

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Chapter 17: The Ring

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Merlin finally found the ring in an inconspicuous corner on the writing desk. Back then, Merlin had not taken the ring seriously after old man Etha had given it to him, so he had casually placed it on the writing desk.

Merlin took the ring and lightly rubbed off the dust on it.

The ring was still as black as ink. Holding it in his hand, it seemed to have a cold and gloomy aura. Although Merlin had not given this strange ring much thought before, this ring was not going to be that simple now that he knew old man Etha's true identity.

Merlin carefully recalled old man Etha's every move when he had given him the ring. Old man Etha was pale with a rather exhausted expression. Merlin also did not know what he had gone to do.

"Could Teacher Etha have foreseen that he'll be in danger at the time?"

The more Merlin thought about it, the more suspicious he felt. Otherwise, old man Etha would not have suddenly gifted this ring to him for no reason.

A savage and terrifying monster had been carved on the ring. Using his finger, Merlin lightly caressed every part of the ring, but he did not discover anything out of the ordinary.

Thus, Merlin placed the ring close to his eyes and carefully scrutinized every inch of the ring. He wished to see if there were any prompts in the form of writing on the ring.

Surprisingly, just as he was focusing all of his attention on the ring, there was a spell of trance as though everything around him had darkened in an instant.

Right when Merlin was feeling panicky and confused, he had a strange sensation where it seemed like this darkness was completely unable to block his senses, and he could clearly "see" everything around him.

This was a space about ten square feet wide. There was darkness everywhere and it looked exceptionally empty and vast. Merlin could only see a book with a black cover that had been placed in the space. In this spacious place, the book looked extremely eye-catching.

"Space?"

A hint of doubt flashed across Merlin's head. Then, he was awakened in the blink of an eye. Slightly stunned, he looked around to discover that he was still sitting on the wooden chair, holding the ring in his hand. It was as though everything that had happened earlier was merely his illusion.

"No, it isn't an illusion."

Merlin pondered deeply for a moment. He could clearly recall everything he had seen in that dark space. He believed that it was definitely not an illusion.

Therefore, he focused his mental energy and stared at the ring once more. After a while, just as he had expected, he was back in the dark space that he had been a while ago.

'It seems that this ring contains a space.'

Merlin thought in his heart quietly. Old man Etha had given the ring to him, so he had certainly left something behind for him. Merlin wished to see what on earth old man Etha had kept here for him.

The space in the ring was wide and empty. There was only a book with a black cover. Without a doubt, it was this book that old man Etha had left behind.

Thus, Merlin tried to meditate in his heart to get the book out. This method proved to be very useful; the book with a black cover disappeared in the blink of an eye. By the time Merlin came back to his senses, he discovered that the book with a black cover had already appeared on the writing desk.

The book with a black cover was very thick and was divided into a few sections and was bound with black thread.

Merlin flipped to one of the pages lightly, only to see some strange images drawn on it. They looked similar to some mathematical models that belonged to the world in his previous life.

There were densely packed words written under the images. The words were in the Molta language and the handwriting was very familiar. It was old man Etha's handwriting.

"Molta language?"

Merlin frowned. He had only mastered over two hundred words in the Molta language so far so he could only merely read out some sentences with difficulty.

For example, Merlin could recognize words like "fireball", "model", and "magic". Nevertheless, Merlin could not understand when it came to the majority of the other content.

However, through these simple intermittent words, Merlin had already been able to guess for the most part, that this book was very possibly old man Etha's handbook or perhaps he recorded some of the experiences he had while practicing magic during his everyday life, into this handbook.

This was a Spell Manual that was true to its name!

Thinking about this, Merlin's heart was beating excitedly. Ever since he had seen the great powers of old man Etha and the white-robed man, he could never again forget such immense power that was beyond imagination.

Moreover, this Spell Manual of old man Etha had opened up a completely new door for Merlin!

In the end, despite his escalating emotions, Merlin still shook his head helplessly after reading the handbook for a while and closed the handbook.

There were many words in the Molta language on this Spell Manual and many of them were extremely rare words. With only the two hundred or so words that Merlin had mastered so far, he was unable to understand even a complete sentence, let alone understand the content of the handbook.

Thus, if he wished to understand what was written in the handbook, he had to first learn the Molta language. At the very least, he needed to master over a thousand words before he could understand the content in the Spell Manual at a minimal level.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

A series of hurried knocks sounded from the door, startling Merlin. Hurriedly, he hid the Spell Manual away properly before opening the door.

"Master Merlin, a few knights from the City Defense Troop have arrived at the castle, saying that there are some matters which Master has to talk to them."

The butler was standing outside the door. There was a deeply worried expression on his face.

"Knights from the City Defense Troop?"

There was a shock in Merlin's heart. After he had returned to the castle, he had vaguely felt like a premonition that the matter with old man Etha would be made into a huge issue and everyone related with old man Eta would be in trouble.

Only, he had not expected trouble to come so soon.

"Let's go, butler. I'll go and meet with them."

Merlin went downstairs and arrived at the hall.

In the hall, there was a man wearing light silver armor sitting on the chair. Next to him were three knights who were wearing the uniforms of the City Defense Troop.

Merlin merely cast an indifferent glance at the three knights from the City Defense Troops and as for this man in silver armor, Merlin was even more certain in his heart now that this must be related to the matter with old man Etha because the attire of this man was of the Guardian Swordsman from Grand City.

"Are you Wilson Merlin?"

The man in the silver armor asked coldly.

"I'm Wilson Merlin. What are you here for?"

There was no change to Merlin's face as he asked the question calmly.

"We're the Guardian Swordsmen from the church of Grand City. There are some issues we've to investigate. Let's go."

The three knights from the City Defense Troop quickened their steps and went behind Merlin, fixing their eyes on him fiercely.

Merlin frowned slightly. He knew that the power of the church was extremely great and if the knights of the City Defense Troop had been mobilized, then they must have obtained permission from the castellan so he had no choice but to follow them.

"Alright, I'll go with you guys for a while."

Merlin arranged his clothes for a moment before following the silver armored man out of the castle.

The butler hurriedly ran a couple of steps. Next to Merlin, he anxiously asked, "Master Merlin, what's this about? Are there misunderstandings? Shall I go and get sir baron to return?"

Merlin was the only son of the Wilson family and the heir to the title. Thus, it was natural that the butler would be very anxious about such a big incident.

Merlin shook his head. There was a hint of a smile on his face as he spoke, "No need to trouble Father, it'll be fine. I'll be able to settle this matter very quickly. Right, don't tell Macy in case she gets impulsive and does something irrational."

After Merlin had given his instructions, he leisurely sat in the carriage prepared by the City Defense Troop and left the castle slowly.

In the carriage, only a knight from the City Defense Troop and the silver armored Guardian Swordsman watched Merlin. The other two knights were riding the horses and guarding the carriage.

After all, Merlin was different from the others. Merlin was the only heir to the title in the Wilson family. He held a very high position so a Guardian Swordsman had been specially sent forward. Otherwise, there would really be no way to get Merlin out from Wilson Castle by relying on just these City Defense Troop knights.

"Master Merlin, you don't have to be nervous. We're only getting you to accompany us for an investigation. After we've confirmed that there are no relations between you and the evil heretic, we'll let you return."

The person speaking was the knight of the City Defense Troop in the carriage. He was very afraid of the Wilson family as Old Wilson did not have a very good temper. In Blackwater City, there was really no one Old Wilson was afraid of other than the castellan. Now that the men of the City Defense Troop had taken Merlin again, how horrible it would be if Old Wilson knew about it?

Although the knights of the City Defense Troop had to obey orders and have taken Merlin again, they did not dare to treat him harshly.

Merlin nodded slightly and no longer paid attention to this knight from the City Defense Troop. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the Guardian Swordsman who was in the carriage.

This Guardian Swordsman was not very old and was no more than thirty years old but his expression was very cold. After he had sat in the carriage, he had been still. There was no intention of him to pay Merlin any attention.

Merlin still wished to dig out some news from the lips of this Guardian Swordsman. Therefore, he spoke in a soft voice, "I have a friend who went for an exchange in Grand City some days ago and he has become a Guardian Swordsman. I heard that he has even received the blessings of the honorable bishop of Grand City. I don't know whether you'd know him, Guardian Swordsman sir?"

"Are you talking about Cawthon?"

This cold Guardian Swordsman finally opened his eyes wide, speaking in astonishment.

Merlin's heart moved. He hurriedly nodded, saying, "That's right, it's Cawthon."

Seeing Merlin nod, the expression of this Guardian Swordsman finally warmed up. He said, "Now that you've mentioned it, it's quite a coincidence. After Cawthon was blessed by the honorable bishop, he's been sent to our small team but because Cawthon has just become a Guardian Swordsman, he isn't allowed to come this time."

The relationship between Merlin and this Guardian Swordsman had been drawn a lot closer due to Cawthon. Thus, Merlin finally voiced the doubt that had been long hidden in his heart. "The evil heretics are very powerful. According to the legends, all of them possess evil powers and Normies wouldn't be able to fight against these evil heretics at all. However, you guys unexpectedly killed that evil heretic this time. Who on earth is that Sir Jason?"

After Merlin had asked this question, the atmosphere in the carriage became dense immediately. Even the knight from the City Defense Troop looked at the Guardian Swordsman expectantly.

The Guardian Swordsman looked at the hopeful expressions on Merlin and the City Defense Troop knight. He seemed very satisfied as a hint of a smile showed at the corners of his lips before he said in a low voice, "You guys have really asked the right person this time. Anyone else doesn't know Sir Jason's identity at all. Sir Jason is a high-ranking official in the Inquisition. His position is higher than even us Guardian Swordsmen, and he directly reports to the jurisdiction of the headquarters. Even the honorable bishop doesn't have the authority to direct the members of the Inquisition. The Inquisition only sets out to deal with evil heretics and they're usually extremely mysterious so no one knows what they do. However, in the church, it's rumored that the members of the Inquisition are the people who are closest to God where they've even been granted all sorts of mighty powers by God!"

After he finished speaking, a hint of envy showed upon the face of this Guardian Swordsman.

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"The Inquisition, huh?"

Merlin etched this place into his mind. That strong, white-robed man came from this Inquisition of Church of Light. Merlin felt even more alert. If he met anyone from the Inquisition in the future, he would need to treat them with care.

The carriage slowly came to a halt. Led by the Guardian Swordsman, Merlin went out of the carriage. He raised his head to see and to his surprise, he had reached the Blackwater City's church.

There were many people same as Merlin but most of them did not have such privilege as him. They were all normal citizens and were brought into the church by the City Defense Troop.

"Let's go. Tell them everything they need to know. As long as it's not related to the evil heretic, they'll let you go soon."

The Guardian Swordsman said to Merlin with a smile. Due to Merlin's relationship to Cawthon, he had a good impression of Merlin.

Merlin nodded and entered the church with this Guardian Swordsman.

In the church, there were up to a hundred people. They lined up in a few rows. Some were asking the crowd about matters related to old man Etha. There were also some clerks who were responsible for the records.

Merlin had a good hearing. Listening closely, he heard a few people in front of him interrogating a middle-aged man.

"When have you met the evil heretic?"

"For many years now. I'm a tailor. Whenever there's a change of season, Mr. Etha will come to my shop for tailored clothes."

"Except for clothes, have you seen him anywhere else?"

"Except for clothes, I haven't seen Mr. Etha anywhere. He's very secretive, always hiding in his wooden house. Usually, he doesn't even come out. Who would've thought that he's an evil heretic?"

"Good. Next."

That was the whole process of the questioning. Those who had gone through the process would be brought away swiftly for the next round of interrogation.

"If it was such a simple interrogation, there's nothing to be afraid of."

Merlin finally calmed himself.

Soon, it was Merlin's turn. The clerk standing in front of Merlin seemed neat and tidy. He was responsible for recording the conversation while the one doing the questioning was a Guardian Swordsman.

This Guardian Swordsman only took one boring glance at Merlin before he asked, "What's your name?"

"Wilson Merlin."

After hearing Merlin's name, the Guardian Swordsman's expression changed slightly. Then, he took a good long look at Merlin and his expression obviously became stern.

"What's your relationship with the evil heretic?"

Merlin did not hesitate and said directly, "I don't know Etha's true identity so I learned antique authentication from him for a while."

Merlin was also observing this Guardian Swordsman closely. He saw that there were not many changes to his expression and Merlin immediately understood.

These people were clear who old man Etha had contacted with before the interrogation. They had also gotten hold of some information of the people Etha had contact with. Surely, they knew of Merlin's relationship with old man Etha.

The Guardian Swordsman asked Merlin more questions and Merlin had also answered truthfully except for the ring. Merlin would not hide any fact regarding the old man. Otherwise, the people would doubt him.

After a long while, the Guardian Swordsman had asked all he needed to ask. He raised his head and said to another Guardian Swordsman by his side, "Bring him in. Let Lord Jason do the last bit."

Hence, another Guardian Swordsman came forward and brought Merlin to a small house in the church.

"Go on in."

The Guardian Swordsman stopped after he sent Merlin to the door. He said to Merlin without much emotion.

Merlin sighed deeply before he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The house was a little dark and humid. As soon as Merlin stepped inside, he could feel a few gazes upon him.

"Miss Carice?"

Mersin squinted his eyes. He saw that there was someone he knew in the house. It was Carice. She was brought here too.

Carice also saw Merlin and only nodded her head slightly as an acknowledgment. It seemed that her emotion was much stable and she was not as afraid as she was yesterday.

Other than Carice, there were a few more strangers in the house. A bald old man, a fat madam and the tailor who was questioned by the Guardian Swordsman before.

They stood in the small house feeling unrest. They gazed up to the white-robed man sitting in the chair with fear.

After seeing this white-robed man, Merlin knew that he was the Wizard who killed old man Etha – Wizard Jason of the secretive Inquisition.

Merlin was the same as others, standing idly in the house. Jason did not speak and he was simply waiting silently instead.

After a while, a few people came in. In total, there were eight of them. They were feeling unrest, sometimes a hint of fear escaped their eyes. They did not know what sort of interrogation awaited them here.

There was a large religious mural behind Wizard Jason. It was about God of Light who was punishing a bunch of devils who committed all sort of atrocities. Accompanied by this mural and the indifferent Wizard Jason, it was inevitable to induce fear in the people's heart.

After a long while, Wizard Jason finally stood up. His sharp gaze scanned everyone briefly before saying slowly, "More or less, you're the people who've spent a long time with the evil heretic. That evil heretic is cruel, sly and extremely capable of evil spells. So, I want to test for myself if you've been tainted by the evil heretic."

Upon hearing Wizard Jason, that bald old man and the fat madam were already full of trembles. If there were no one holding them, they would have already passed out.

In Church of Light, those who were related to evil heretic would receive the cruelest punishment. The most serious of all was to be strapped to the stake and be burnt alive. So, the fact that Wizard Jason questioned if they were related to the evil heretic had caused insurmountable fear in them.

Wizard Jason's mouth quirked into a smile. With both of his hands crossed in front of his chest, he spoke in a low pitch, "Don't be afraid. If you're not tainted by the evil heretic, God will definitely forgive you."

After that, Wizard Jason began to murmur. From his body, he began to emit a faint white light that felt holy and noble.

In the blink of an eye, it covered the whole house. Meanwhile, Wizard Jason had already taken off the light armor he wore. Along with the huge white robe and the brightening of the holy light, the mark of a silver cross on his white robe became clearer as well.

The people who were engulfed in the holy light felt as if they were seen through completely. They could not hide even the slightest secret. Merlin took a sideways glance at Carice to see that she was bright red with a slightly awkward expression.

Merlin frowned because he felt it too. Albeit well-dressed, in this holy light, clothes did not seem to have any effect of covering one's body. It was as if they were seen naked by others. He could not blame Carice for being awkward about it.

"Is this the magical spell? Luckily, I didn't bring the ring with me. Or else, there's no way I can escape Jason's investigation."

Merlin became stern and more terrified of the secretive Wizard because the magical yet strong spells were powers that he could not fathom at all.

The others were horrified by the holy light Jason emitted as well, but Merlin remained calm. He even had the energy to observe Wizard Jason. Merlin then noticed that obvious mark of a silver cross on Jason's white robe.

Merlin had only seen such a unique mark on Jason. Even the Guardian Swordsman of Grand City did not have such a mark. Merlin guessed that this mark represented Jason's status and identity in the Inquisition.

The holy light continued for a while and then dissipated slowly. Then, Wizard Jason showed a slight cheerful smile and said in a high voice, "Good. I've completed my investigation. You're all loyal believers and haven't been tainted by the evil heretic."

Upon hearing Jason's words, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Some even prayed silently.

"Ee-yah."

The door to the house opened wide and Jason waved his hands, "You all can leave."

Thus, everyone bowed slightly to Wizard Jason, then left the house hurriedly. After experiencing that scene just now, no one would like to stay any longer with Jason.

Swordsman Bogg who was outside walked into the room. With a hint of uncertainty, he asked, "Lord Jason, did you find anything else?"

Jason shook his head, "Nothing. I investigated with Magic-detection. These people don't have any magic power, not to mention anything that has the aura of that evil heretic. It seems that evil heretic came to Blackwater City by himself."

Swordsman Bogg nodded and continued, "The things in that evil heretic's home. How should we deal with them?"

"Put them in the carriage and bring them back to Grand City. Let the bishop deal with them. Maybe from his things, we'll be able to find other heretics."

Wizard Jason said to Swordsman Bogg.

Walking out of the church, the wind was chilly. Merlin could not resist the urge to pull up his shirt to his neck. However, he was fiery hot within. He had finally overcome the hurdles with the church. Following that, he could properly plan to study old man Etha's Spell Manual in secret.

"Miss Carice are you alright?"

Merlin asked out of courtesy as he saw Carice who was behind him.

"I'm fine…"

Carice pulled a forced smile. He could see that she was still exhausted. Surely the matter with old man Etha had pulled a great deal on her.

"Miss Carice, you should go back and rest for a few days." Merlin consoled Carice while the latter nodded. She then bid Merlin goodbye, entered her carriage hurriedly and left.

Ensuring that Carice's carriage had left his view, Merlin looked at the church. He knew the butler would definitely come.

As expected, Merlin saw the familiar figure of the butler and Moss. However, beside Moss, in this chilly weather, there was yet another familiar figure.

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"Macy?"

Merlin frowned as he shot a questioning glare at the butler.

The butler shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Young Master Merlin, Young Lady Macy got hold of the news herself."

Macy had a dark expression on her as she shot deathly glare at Merlin. Merlin was extremely troubled by his sister Macy because in Macy's eyes, Merlin always seemed to be the rich kid who needed to be restricted.

When Macy was about to speak, Merlin quickly held Macy's hand and lowered his tone, "Don't say anything. Say it when we get home. Let's enter the carriage first. Let's go."

Macy was pulled by Merlin into the carriage. The butler and Moss were sitting in front of the carriage. It then slowly left the church.

In the carriage, there was no chilly wind so it seemed a little warmer. However, the air in the carriage seemed stagnant. Macy was gawking at Merlin as she tried to say something while Merlin seemed calm.

After a long while, Merlin raised his head and looked at Macy. "Ask away. What do you want to know about?"

Macy frowned and had a complicated look on her. She only spoke after a long pause, "Is there any trouble?"

"Most of them have been dealt with. After some time, the people from the church should be back in Grand City. There won't be anything more."

Merlin stated the facts as calmly as he could be.

"That's good, then. This matter involves the church. It isn't anything big and father is away. So, from now on, you shouldn't go out too often. I'll ask for leave for you from Swordsman Pero. I'll say that you're ill."

Macy said in a serious note. She knew it clearly that once things had involved the church, even the smallest matter could become detrimental. She was not clear with the whole matter but restricting Merlin from going out could at least save him from some troubles. This was the best solution Macy could think of.

Merlin nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I'll stay in the castle for the meantime and not go out."

He had the thought of studying old man Etha's Spell Manual wholeheartedly anyway. Now that Macy was able to explain the situation to Swordsman Pero, he could save some trouble for himself.

The carriage slowly came to a halt in front of Wilson Castle. After they had entered the castle, Merlin ordered the old butler to tell anyone who came for him lately that he was not home.

After he had given that instruction, Merlin returned to his room upstairs.

After a short rest, Merlin carefully took out the well-hidden ring from under his bed. Upon seeing this ring, Merlin felt a warm sensation drawing into his heart.

He recalled how small he seemed in front of Jason at the church. Once Jason decided that Merlin was acting odd, he would've died in that place.

Wizards. Wizards who had gotten hold of strong spells were the true powerful people!

Merlin sent his Mind Power into the ring. With a thought, that thick Spell Manual in the ring appeared in Merlin's hands but he was not rushing to flip it open. He placed the manual lightly on the study table and studied the ring instead.

"If he can store the Spell Manual in the ring, then I should be able to store other things in the ring as well."

Merlin guessed in his heart. He intended to test it so he took the mysterious relief sculpture out. According to the method provided in the manual, he had to use his Mind Power and touch the ring at once.

"Swoosh."

It disappeared in the blink of an eye. Merlin squinted his eyes slightly to check the ring with his Mind Power. As expected, the relief sculpture lied quietly in the ring.

Knowing that the ring could store other things as well, a weight was lifted off Merlin's chest. This relief sculpture was extremely mysterious and unfathomable. Putting it in the ring would be safer.

After that, Merlin grabbed the Spell Manual and flipped it open lightly. Even though he had seen it before, he was simply surprised by it and did not have a good look. Now, Merlin would like to study the content in the manual.

However, Merlin only tried a few sentences before giving up helplessly. Even if he had the information from old man Etha as reference and he could understand it word by word but doing this was nearly ineffective. He was extremely slow and he could not attain the effect he wanted.

Thus, the most urgent thing was to have a grasp of Molta language. At least, he needed a strong foundation in it. This required Merlin to grasp hold of more than one thousand vocabulary in the following days to at least try to understand the content of the Spell Manual.

So, Merlin directly placed the manual back into the ring. As long as he could not grasp hold of more than one thousand Molta words, he would never retrieve the Spell Manual.

The butler entered the hall of Wilson Castle hurriedly.

"Young Master Merlin, the Guardian Swordsman from Grand City had left Blackwater City this morning."

The butler flashed a smile. He was ordered by Merlin to observe the Guardian Swordsman of Grand City. Once they had left, he needed to report it to Merlin.

Merlin stood up suddenly and said in a low voice, "Butler, are they all gone? Is there anyone who stays behind? What about the leader, Wizard Jason? Has he left?"

The butler answered, "They've all left. Led by Lord Jason, the Guardian Swordsman brought three carriages of things away. I heard they're all things moved from the evil heretic's home. Their pace is slow but they've left Blackwater City this morning. I only returned after confirming it repeatedly."

"Butler, you've done well."

Merlin was relieved. Even though he had not left home for a while lately, he was still taking note of the movement of the Guardian Swordsman who came from Grand City closely.

Only after making sure that they had already left, he felt truly relaxed.

"Right, did anyone find me lately?"

Merlin asked the butler.

The butler hesitated for a while and said, "Yesterday, Young Master Anson and Young Master Gutt came for your but they were chased away by Young Lady Macy."

Merlin shook his head with a bitter smile and let the butler left first.

However, Merlin did not take this to heart. Anson and Gutt should not have any urgent matter. They were better off chased away by Macy. That way, he could learn the Molta language at peace.

Without other disturbances, Merlin's pace of learning Molta language was quick. In just a few days, he had grasp hold of more than a hundred words. Now, he had the vocabulary of about three hundred words. As the number of words increased, the speed to learn Molta language would increase significantly as well.

Since these Molta words were highly correlated, the few first hundreds of Molta words were the hardest to learn. However, as time passed by and when he had understood Molta words enough, he was able to correlate the words and learn new vocabulary in a much higher speed.

"With my current speed, I'll be able to understand more than a thousand words and at most, a month. At that time, I can read the content of that Spell Manual."

Merlin was looking forward to that day.

The heat from the burning furnace warmed the entire hall. Now that it was October, the weather had become even colder. The ground outside was already faintly frosted and extremely slippery. The servants of the castle were also bearing the freezing wind as they rid the ground of the frost with shovel as quickly as possible.

In the hall, Merlin and Macy were dining. There were butter bread, wheat porridge and a glass of milk prepared on the table. Macy took a glance at Merlin who was gobbling up food. She seemed to have something to say to her brother hesitantly.

"Macy, I've finished."

Merlin used his white handkerchief to wipe away the food on his mouth. Then, he stood up and was about to leave when Macy stopped him.

Macy frowned and said, "Merlin, wait a minute."

"Anything wrong?" Merlin turned and looked at Macy.

Macy put down her fork and knife and wiped her mouth. She said softly, "Merlin, yesterday Gutt and Anson came to look for you. Why didn't you go out with them?"

Merlin showed an odd expression. Macy had not liked seeing fatty Gutt and Anson before and said they were Merlin's bad influence. Once she met them, she would not show any good expression.

However, Macy's attitude today was a little strange but Merlin did not think too much about it. He said nonchalantly, "Anson and Gutt didn't have any urgent business with me. The weather's so cold. It's better staying in the castle."

"Merlin, you've been staying in the castle these days. It's been more than a month. It's better to go out for a walk some days."

Macy's gaze showed a hint of worry.

Right now, Merlin also realized that his lack of socialization these days was too abnormal as compared to his previous behavior and had caused Macy to worry about him. She probably still thought the incident with the church had caused some effect on Merlin somehow.

Thinking about that, Merlin smiled and nodded. "I will when I have time."

After saying that, Merlin turned around and went upstairs. Meanwhile, Macy was still frowning. She was worried about Merlin's current condition. Usually, Merlin would not stay at home even for a day.

The butler hesitated for a while before saying with a smile, "Young Lady Macy, even though Young Master Merlin did not go out much during this period, he was energetic and cheerful all this while. There shouldn't be any problem."

After hearing what the butler said, Macy finally relaxed her eyebrows. She wore a thick coat and left the castle in a hurry.

Merlin returned to his room quickly. He did not take Macy's words by heart. If there was no important matter to attend to, he would not leave the castle during this time.

This was because he had understood more Molta vocabulary. Until now, he had grasped hold of one thousand and one hundred Molta words. He could be deemed as he understood the basic Molta language.

Thus, Merlin was prepared to retrieve old man Etha's Spell Manual today and study its content.

Taking the ring he hid under his bed, Merlin's Mind Power reached into the ring quickly. With a thought, a thick Spell Manual appeared in Merlin's hands.

Merlin only briefly flipped through this Spell Manual the previous time. Since his Molta vocabulary was limited, he did not understand its context at all.

Now, Merlin flipped the Spell Manual open once more.

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Chapter 20: Spell Model

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

The manual was basically written in the format of diary and notes. Many were comprehensive thoughts of old man Etha toward spells. Even if Merlin had grasped hold of more than one thousand Molta words, reading and understanding the content of the manual was still difficult for him.

However, this was also partly due to the manual where it consisted of many technical terms about spells and Spell Caster so Merlin could not understand those parts easily. As for other content in the manual, Merlin could read them in a breeze.

Soon, Merlin found some descriptive text about spells where it discussed the methods to become a Spell Caster.

"To be a Spell Caster, the most basic thing to have is Mind Power! Only those with a strong Mind Power can simulate the Spell Model. It was only then that they etch it in their mind where it eventually becomes the source of Spell Strength!"

Merlin pondered about these words over and over again. Even if he did not understand what a Spell Model really was, he could understand most of what these words were saying.

Mind Power was the foundation to become a Spell Caster!

Maybe old man Etha had realized Merlin's extraordinary Mind Power in the first place. That was why he had given the ring that hid the Spell Manual to Merlin.

As to why Merlin's Mind Power was different than others, that was easy to explain since he was reborn into this world.

Since he knew he possessed the condition to become a Spell Caster, Merlin was exalted. Thus, he continued to read the text to find the way to become a Spell Caster.

Soon, Merlin found old man Etha's words on the third page of the manual. "Mind Power is the basis of a Spell Caster while the build-up of a Spell Model determines the strength of the Spell Caster."

The words "Spell Model" had appeared in the manual quite frequently, but even after searching for a long time, Merlin could not find any Spell Model.

Merlin now knew most of the steps required to be a Spell Caster. Firstly, one must have extraordinary Mind Power. Next, it was to construct a Spell Model and imprint the Spell Model into one's mind using Mind Power. This was the same as simulating a Spell Model in the mind using Mind Power.

If everything went well, then one could become a Spell Caster.

Old man Etha's Spell Manual had many volumes. Merlin read through the first volume and saw that it was all about old man Etha's experiences when he cultivated spells. It did not record about any Spell Model that was the key to become a Spell Caster.

Then, Merlin picked up the second volume. As soon as he flipped it open, he saw an extremely complicated drawing. Under the drawing, there were some explanatory notes from old man Etha.

"Zero-level spell – Fireball's Spell Model. I have improved this Spell Model several times. Its specialty is its stability. Although it may come off a little weaker than other Fireball in power, its forte lies in its stability. Once this Spell Model is used, beginner Spell Casters don't need to worry about the issue of Spell Model falling apart in their minds."

This complicated drawing of Zero-level spell – Fireball's Spell Model was the Spell Model Merlin was searching for.

Other than this Spell Model that was more stable, there were other models of Fireball that were stronger. However, old man Etha had made his notes under these models. If these Spell Models were exceptionally strong in power, then one must always take note of the possible issue of the Spell Model falling apart.

These strong Spell Models did not have a stable construction. Once these were used by force and fell apart in one's mind, this could cause detrimental effects on the Spell Caster and even jeopardize his life.

Therefore, for a Spell Caster, the most important thing was to construct a Spell Model that suit himself.

Merlin did not pause long at the Spell Model of Fireball. He flipped the pages and found that the manual also had the Spell Model of Whirlwind.

Same as the Fireball, the Whirlwind was also a Zero-level spell.

There were two Zero-level spells in total and these were all the spells recorded in old man Etha's manual. Merlin was slightly disappointed as these were only two Zero-level spells that could be considered as the most basic spells.

However, when Merlin began to further study the important detail to become a Spell Caster, he did not dare to look down on these two Zero-level spells anymore.

Take Fireball as an example, though it was simply a Zero-level spell, the complexity of its Spell Model was unfathomable to Merlin. This Spell Model resembled some complicated mathematical model during Merlin's last life.

To completely imprint such complex Spell Model into his mind in addition to Mind Power without a single mistake was very difficult. It brought upon a heavy burden on his Mind Power.

No wonder the basic criteria for one to become a Spell Caster was to have strong Mind Power. If a person's Mind Power was simply passable, he could never be able to simulate such complicated Spell Model in his mind using Mind Power.

Without considering the complexity of the Spell Model, the Spell Caster needed to choose which Spell Model to use – a stable Spell Model or a stronger Spell Model.

Like the Fireball, old man Etha had built more than ten Spell Models for himself, all of which were extremely complex. Merlin only looked at it briefly and he had already felt dizzy and exhausted.

The other spell, Whirlwind, was the same. Its Spell Model was complicated. Two Spell Models had been expanded into many different types and all of these had been written in the manual in more than thirty pages. The second volume of the manual was mostly Spell Models for these two spells.

Merlin sat on his chair and placed the Spell Manual on the study table. He rubbed his forehead lightly. He was not relaxing but was thinking about these two spells in silence instead. He was considering which Spell Model he should adopt.

"In comparison, the power of Fireball is slightly stronger than the Whirlwind. Moreover, it's the spell Teacher Etha is most familiar with. My first spell should be Fireball!"

After comparing the pros and cons of both Fireball and Whirlwind, Merlin finally chose the Zero-level spell – Fireball.

Of course, there were no limitations to Zero-level spell. Normally, a Spell Caster would possess at least three Zero-level spells because only with three Zero-level spells the mind would be in a more stable state so it would not collapse easily this way. In the future, he would be able to upgrade the level of his Spell Model to become an even stronger Spell Caster.

Three Spell Models were the basic but there were some strong Spell Casters who could possess four or five or six or even more Zero-level spells. However, the prerequisite for that was to have enough Mind Power to support all spells. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to construct more Spell Models in their minds.

Entrance-level Spell Caster like Merlin had Mind Power that could support only one Spell Model at his best.

Having decided on the spell, Merlin would have to face old man Etha's Spell Models again. There were all sorts of Fireball's Spell Model and this was the part that gave him a headache the most.

Although Fireball was simply a Zero-level spell, old man Etha had created thirteen different Spell Models according to his understanding all these years.

Some were stable, some were explosive. However, each of them had their own unique traits.

Merlin read old man Etha's Spell Manual again. In it, he found that some basic Spell Model had to be modified according to personal needs.

The overall structure of Fireball was this way but if the Spell Caster wished to have stronger power and make his Fireball explode when he cast the spell, he would only need to make a slight modification to the Spell Model.

Some Spell Casters wanted to have a more stable Spell Model to support his upgrade in the future to become a First-level, a Second-level and even a higher-level Spell Caster. Therefore, he needed to modify his Spell Model a little to make it more stable.

Merlin was troubled facing these Spell Models. Old man Etha had mentioned in his manual that it was best for him to modify the Spell Model to suit his needs.

However, Merlin was only a beginner. How would he be able to modify these Spell Models left by old man Etha?

Although there were only these few dozens of Spell Models in Etha's Spell Manual, in reality, the calculation and simulation involved in producing these Spell Models surely took old man Etha a long time to complete. Merlin had no time to slowly study these Spell Models at all.

"It'll be much easier if I have The Matrix."

Merlin could not help but sigh. "The Matrix" was a quantum calculator. As a super calculator, the most basic function of matrix calculation, function drawing, and data analysis could be considered as a top notch in the industry. Moreover, the most important aspect was its intelligent core. According to the user's needs, it could construct the perfect model for mathematical or physics purposes.

If he had "The Matrix", Merlin would be able to find the most suitable Spell Model without much effort no matter how complicated these Spell Models were.

"Will you like to initiate the Matrix?"

Merlin was stunned for a minute. He seemed to hear a weak sound, a notification to initiate "'The Matrix".

After a while, there seemed to be no change. Merlin could only shake his head helplessly as he mumbled to himself, "It seems these that Spell Models are definitely too complex for me that I even hallucinated. How can I possibly have The Matrix here?"

Merlin thought the voice earlier as a hallucination that appeared out of exhaustion.

Just when Merlin continued to think about the Spell Models, suddenly a crisp voice rang in his mind. "Will you like to initiate The Matrix?"

The voice this time was extremely clear and kept echoing in his mind. Merlin was stunned for real but soon he was elated. He could not believe this.

"Could it be 'The Matrix' followed me here?"

Though full of doubt, Merlin said in a deep voice, "Initiate The Matrix!"

The order had been placed. Merlin was filled with anticipation as he waited.

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Chapter 21: The Matrix

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

"Instruction confirmed. Initiating The Matrix. Scanning owner's identity. Creating folders. Owner's identity confirmed. Do you want to bind account?"

After a long while, a monotonous digital voice rang again and echoed in Merlin's head.

"Yes!"

Merlin did not hesitate. He knew once he had bound his credentials, he would be able to use The Matrix. Others could not even see it because this advanced quantum calculator was injected into the blood in the form of liquefied metal. It merged completely in the flesh and blood of the owner and no one could destroy it.

"Collecting blood samples. Binding successful! Reading folder. Folder crashed. Building a new folder… Please name the new folder."

"New folder, huh."

Merlin's eyes shone and said in a deep voice, "Folder name Merlin!"

"Naming new folder successful. Welcome, Mr. Merlin to use The Matrix, the quantum calculator!"

At this time, the voice of The Matrix had turned into a sweet girl's voice. Her voice sounded relaxing.

Merlin was sitting on the high wooden chair quietly. Although he seemed calm, his shining eyes had betrayed the excitement he felt on the inside.

For a Spell Caster to construct a suitable Spell Model, he would need to spend a few dozen years to make all sorts of simulation and calculation of the Spell Model. Even so, many final Spell Model of the Spell Casters was still not satisfying.

The creation of Spell Model had wasted many of the Spell Caster's time. Now, Merlin had this quantum calculator with him. It represented the most advanced technology in his previous life. With its aid, maybe Merlin would not need to waste much energy on creating a Spell Model.

"Anyhow, let's test it. Let's see if The Matrix is useful."

Though excited, Merlin still kept his head cool. He knew he had to use The Matrix to test these Spell Models. He needed to see if this could work.

Merlin immediately ordered, "The Matrix, create a Fireball database."

The Matrix immediately began its scan and recorded all the Spell Models of Fireball that old man Etha had studied for years into the database.

"Fireball database successfully created."

"Immediately analyze these Spell Models!"

Along with Merlin's order, the powerful quantum calculator began its work. Its speed was unfathomably fast. In the blink of an eye, The Matrix had immediately created up to ten thousand of Spell Models for Fireball with old man Etha's Spell Models as the base. On top of that, the number was still increasing.

"Dee! Analysis completed. In total, one hundred and eighty-six thousand five hundred and nineteen models created."

Hearing the voice of The Matrix, even Merlin was dumbfounded. One hundred and eighty thousand Spell Models. Just from old man Etha's few Spell Models as the foundation, one hundred and eighty thousand new Spell Models were created.

This was the forte of this calculator. If it was pure manpower, they could not have thought of all the possibilities no matter how creative they were or how strong their Mind Power was, not to mention creating one hundred and eighty thousand Spell Models.

Of course, most of the Spell Models found were not what Merlin needed. Merlin still had to filter the overall best and the most suitable Spell Model for himself.

Merlin thought the first element of choosing a Spell Model was its stability, not power. With stability as the foundation, he would increase the strength of the spell. Spell Model created from this line of thought would be the best Spell Model for him.

Merlin closed his eyes. With a serious look on him, he placed his hands lightly on the table, hitting a frequent yet dynamic rhythm. This was Merlin's habit. Whenever he was thinking and preparing to make a decision, he would naturally do this action.

After a long while, Merlin opened his eyes and said, "The Matrix, use the Spell Models in the database and choose all Spell Models that have stability above Spell Model No.1!"

Merlin's so-called Spell Model No. 1 meant the Spell Model created by old man Etha with the highest stability. It was the one old man Etha was most satisfied with among all. Its specialty was its stability. Once he simulated it in his mind with Mind Power, the possibility of it falling apart was very low.

Merlin's choice was undoubtedly focused on stability. Without chasing after the mere strength of a spell, Merlin knew only a stable Spell Model would be a good foundation for higher-level Spell Model in the future.

This was just like a building. Zero-level Spell Model was the foundation. The more stable the foundation, the higher the building could be possibly built in the future.

Merlin had thought a lot about it before making the decision.

"Filtering begin… Dee! In total, one hundred and thirty-eight Spell Models are more stable than Spell Model No.1!"

The Matrix had completed filtering in lightning speed. In addition, the result also surprised Merlin.

There were one hundred and thirty-eight Spell Models that were more stable than the Spell Model created by old man Etha after building it for several years.

This was the effect of high-speed calculation incomparable to the human mind no matter what.

From these filtered results, Merlin wanted to filter them further.

"From these Spell Models, choose the Spell Model that causes stronger explosion than No. 13."

Merlin issued his order to The Matrix. No. 13 was the most powerful model among the Spell Models created by old man Etha. However, its structure was greatly unstable. Once No. 13 was forcefully used, it could fall apart easily. Since it was highly dangerous, old man Etha advised in his Spell Manual numerous times against choosing such Spell Model which was easily collapsible.

"Dee! Filtered ended. There's no Spell Model that fits the criteria."

Merlin frowned. There was no Spell Model among these one hundred and thirty-eight that was stronger than No. 13.

However, after some thoughts, he calmed down. A Spell Model that was stable and powerful was not easy to find. Stability and strength – one could only choose one trait or reach a compromise.

After understanding this point, Merlin continued his order, "Change of filter criteria. Find the strongest one among these one hundred and thirty-eight Spell Models."

Soon, an extremely complicated Spell Model appeared in Merlin's head. It was the Spell Model that The Matrix had found which fit Merlin's criteria.

This Spell Model was stable enough. As for its power, Merlin thought about it then asked The Matrix softly, "As compared to No.13, how strong is this Spell Model?"

"According to the structure of this Spell Model, this Spell Model's strength was about seventy percent of No.13!"

"Seventy percent? More than enough. It's much better than Teacher Etha's Spell Model No.1."

Merlin sighed in relief. It was good enough to have seventy percent of the strength of Spell Model No.13 and it was far stronger than old man Etha's Spell Model No.1.

Then, Merlin closed his eyes slightly. He began to carefully study this Spell Model that was chosen from one hundred and eighty thousand Spell Model where it was deemed the most suitable for Merlin.

Moreover, this Spell Model could be considered as the best compromise between stability and strength. The Spell Models old man Etha used a few dozen years to create could not compare to the Spell Model that was created using The Matrix in a short amount of time.

After choosing the Spell Model, the last step was to simulate it in his mind with Mind Power. This process was the step that took the longest time to complete and easiest to fail.

If he had weak Mind Power, even remembering the complex Spell Model would be difficult, not to mention simulating it in his mind. That would be more than difficult.

Although old man Etha had left a note noting Merlin's strong Mind Power and his potential to become a Spell Caster, Merlin had to complete the last step to become a true Spell Caster.

Thus, Merlin closed his eyes in silence and focused his mind. He began to simulate the Spell Model of Zero-level Fireball.

The Spell Model modified by The Matrix was even more complex as compared to old man Etha's Spell Model. It was even difficult to draw all the curved lines on a paper and moreover, he had to simulate it with Mind Power.

Facing such a complicated Spell Model, the consumption of Mind Power was beyond imagination. Merlin had already felt the exhausting effect from trying to simulate the Spell Model with Mind Power.

One hour, two hours…

Snow suddenly fell outside the window and so, the temperature in the house seemed lower.

Merin had sat on the wooden chair for two to three hours. His legs were numb from the cold but he could not feel a thing right now. This was because his attention was all focused on the Spell Model in his head.

After simulating it repeatedly, Merlin finally felt a slight change in his Awareness.

Awareness was the place where Mind Power resided and was the most mysterious place in the brain. The Spell Model in which Merlin simulated with Mind Power had taken its form by now and appeared in the empty Awareness.

"Finally, it's done…"

Suddenly, Merlin opened his eyes. His voice even trembled from excitement.

Finally, after spending three hours, Merlin had successfully simulated the Spell Model of Fireball in his mind with Mind Power.

As soon as the Spell Model had formed its shape, Merlin had a feeling that was slightly different than before. Even though he had sat without moving for a few hours and his limbs had gone cold, but now there seemed to be a ball of heat surrounding him.

He could see it if he closed his eyes. The Spell Model of Fireball in his Awareness was spinning slowly right now. There seemed to be a small spark of fire being absorbed into the Spell Model from the outside.

That fire spark made Merlin thought of Fire Element!

When Merlin was asking Macy how he could sense Fire Element, Macy had described the shape of Fire Element. Since Merlin did not possess an affinity to the Fire Element, he could not attract Fire Element into his body by nature so he could not become an Elemental Swordsman.

However, now that he had the Spell Model of Fireball, he could feel endless Fire Element entering his body in a frenzy. They were rapidly merging into the Fireball's Spell Model. It was as if the Spell Model in the Awareness was a black hole, crazily engulfing the endless Fire Element around it.

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Chapter 22: Fireball Spell

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

It was chilly outside the castle. Snow was falling heavily and formed a thin layer of frost on the ground. However, Merlin could not feel the cold at all. Instead, he felt overly warm. He even took off his thick coat, leaving only a thick shirt on.

The Spell Model of Fireball finally formed in his Awareness. What Merlin was about to do now was to test the strength of the Fireball.

Merlin scanned the room. His surrounding was not suitable for him to do the Fireball testing, so Merlin wore his coat and headed out.

He recalled there was a secret basement in Wilson Castle. It was very hidden and wide. Only Old Wilson, the butler and Merlin knew about this basement.

Merlin wanted to test the Fireball and the basement was the perfect place for him.

Recalling his memory, Merlin went straight to Old Wilson's room. He pressed a brick on the wall lightly. That was the switch that gave the way to the basement.

"Ka-chak."

With a creak, a wall in Old Wilson's room gradually pulled apart from two sides. Dust flew about and fell on the ground.

In a couple of moments, a dark tunnel stood before Merlin. He took a candlestick on Old Wilson's table and lit the candles. With the weak light, he walked into the opening.

The passage was extremely dark as no one had come in for a long time. There was a heavy and unbearable stench in it. Merlin proceeded cautiously without stopping.

This passage headed downward. A long stone staircase led him to a place a hundred meters below ground. At two sides of the passage, there were many candlesticks. Whenever Merlin met a candlestick, he would light the candles. Thus, the dark passage turned bright and clear as he walked further.

Walking on for a few minutes, the stone staircase had disappeared and Merlin had reached a wide basement.

This basement was just a hall. There were more than ten small rooms storing weapons, shield and armors.

Merlin could still recall the few times he was brought here by Old Wilson when he was ten years old. When Old Wilson was repairing the castle, he had referenced the structure of a few military fortresses. Thus, there was a basement which only allowed one person to enter. If there was any danger, one could simply hide in it.

If one had prepared way beforehand and stocked the basement, the supplies here would be enough to feed a few hundred people for a year.

However, many years had passed. Blackwater City was peaceful without many wars, so the basement was gradually neglected.

Albeit neglected, the basement provided enough space for Merlin to test the power of Fireball.

Thus, Merlin stood at the center of the underground hall and began to sense the Spell Model in his Awareness quietly.

The Spell Model in his Awareness was still rotating slowly. Even the slightest Fire Element underground was absorbed into the Spell Model.

The Fire Element that was absorbed by the Spell Model was the Magic Power of the Spell Caster itself! The longer the time Spell Model existed, the more the Magic Power it accumulated. So, once the Spell Model was created in the Awareness, one could just leave it alone. The Spell Model would automatically accumulate Magic Power.

Merlin read old man Etha's Spell Manual carefully and was clear about the method to cast a spell. It was easy where he would need to stimulate the Spell Model with Mind Power.

"Fireball!"

Merlin shouted. His Mind Power directly stimulated the Spell Model of Fireball. In the blink of an eye, a fireball which emitted scorching heat appeared from the empty space less than a meter away from Merlin.

Merlin was filled with elation but he was not able to control his Mind Power, so the fireball dissipated as quickly as it had been formed.

The fireball dissipated because Merlin had not controlled his Mind Power properly. Once the fireball was cast, the Spell Caster had to control it with his Mind Power.

Even though he failed the first time, Merlin did not give up. He concluded his experience and lesson and cast another fireball.

This time, he controlled the fireball well with his Mind Power and began to direct the fireball to fly around in the air.

"Boom!"

The fireball crashed into a stone wall. This fireball in the size of a fist seemed to contain a large amount of energy. It caused the tough wall to tremble and burned a half-inch hole in it.

That was not enough to show the true strength of Fireball. Merlin took a heavy armor from the storeroom in the basement. This was the standard equipment of a heavy-armored knight. Once he had this on, even the sharp knight's spear could not pierce his armor.

It was naturally just right for Merlin to use this armor to test the power of Fireball.

He hung the armor on the wall but he did not continue to cast Fireball. Instead, he sat down for a rest.

Merlin rubbed his head with both hands. Since he had cast Fireball for two times, he realized the Magic Power accumulated in the Spell Model had been emptied. If he wanted to cast it again, he would need to wait for his Magic Power to recover.

Looking at the Spell Model in his Awareness which absorbed the Fire Element from outside slowly, Merlin thought to himself as he murmured, "It seems like the time is too short since the creation of the Spell Model. I can only cast Fireball for two times."

As for lack of Magic Power, Merlin could not do anything. The accumulation of Magic Power could only rely on the time the Spell Model was given to accumulate. There was no shortcut to it.

After an hour, the Spell Model slowly recovered. Merlin could cast Fireball once again.

"Go!"

Merlin cast it again. This time, he was already familiar with the casting of Fireball, so he could do it swiftly. He controlled the fireball in front of him and smashed it into the armor on the wall.

"Ssss."

There was no huge noise as he had imagined. A fist-like hole burnt through the protection of the armor that covered the front chest by the small fireball. The hole was still hissing smoke.

Even Merlin had broken into a cold sweat. He was aghast. Even though he had assumed the strength of the Fireball would be remarkable, he did not expect it to be this powerful.

This was a heavy armor made from iron. Its defense was top notch among other armor – even the knight's spear could not pierce it.

However, the Fireball could easily burn a hole in an armor of such defense. The small fireball Merlin cast contained a terrifying power and temperature.

"Hmm? What's this?"

Merlin came back to his senses. When he was checking the Spell Model in his Awareness, he found something new. In his Awareness, there was a grey horizontal frame beside the slowly rotating Spell Model.

Merlin was worried about the appearance of this grey frame in his Awareness, especially near his Spell Model.

"When does this appear?"

Merlin furrowed his eyebrows. He remembered clearly that this grey frame was not there when he built the Spell Model. It must had appeared lately.

Thus, he observed it more closely. He realized half of this grey frame was slightly bright while the other part remained dull.

Merlin observed for a long time but he still did not know what this frame was nor did he know when it had appeared in his Awareness. However, he did not plan to waste his time studying this frame. He needed to spend a long time trying to familiarize the process of casting the Fireball.

Thus, Merlin released the fireball again. His Mind Power guided the fireball and crashed it into the heavy armor.

"Boom!"

This time, the whole fireball exploded and flew all over the place. Even the armor with high defense strength was blown into pieces.

This was the effect of Mind Power. Not only could it guide the direction of the spell but also made many changes to it. For example, he could let the fireball explode when it approached the enemy. If he needed to deal with hard objects, he would not let it explode and instead, he would burn a hole through it due to the heat.

These were all techniques used in casting spells. It required long practices and battle experiences to gradually discover all effects of spells.

Since Merlin had just built his Spell Model, he would usually empty his Magic Power after casting two Fireballs. He must rest during this time to wait for his Magic Power to recover.

If he forcefully stimulated the Spell Model, he could cause the Spell Model to fall apart and caused a detrimental effect on the Spell Caster indirectly.

These taboos during the process of casting spells were recorded in detail in old man Etha's Spell Manual. Merlin had memorized all by heart.

When he was resting, Merlin found that grey frame again in his Awareness. However, the strange thing was that the frame was no longer grey. It had become red.

Looking at the red frame, Merlin had a strange feeling so he tried to touch it with his Mind Power.

"Woom."

After being stimulated by Merlin's Mind Power, the red frame shone a bright light. The static Spell Model which was slowly recovering suddenly spun in a fast movement.

At the same time, the Magic Power that had recovered was rapidly emptied by Spell Model. Before Merlin even understood what was going on, a large fireball immediately appeared in front of him. It slowly hovered in the air and its internal part seemed greatly unstable. It seemed it was about to explode anytime.

Merlin gawked at the large fireball in shock. If his previous fireballs were the size of a fist, then this fireball was almost the size of three to four fists.

"Not good."

The fireball was not guided by Merlin's Mind Power. Moreover, its internal part seemed greatly unstable and seemed as if it might explode anytime. Merlin felt a sense of danger and immediately directed the fireball with his Mind Power to collide with the ground.

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Chapter 23: The Incident I

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

"V-room!"

A huge yet heavy noise rang. It was as if the whole basement was shaking.

After a while, Merlin stood up from the ground. He patted his head slightly to find that his head and clothes were covered with dust. The place where the large fireball collided with directly caused a gigantic hole, almost half a meter in diameter. It only showed what terrifying power was contained within that fireball just now.

Merlin quickly checked his Awareness. He noticed that the frame had turned grey again. Meanwhile, the Spell Model remained the same except that it had exhausted its Magic Power.

Looking at the gigantic hole, Merlin still felt overwhelmed. The power of that fireball was out of his expectation and its appearance must be closely related to the horizontal frame that appeared out of nowhere in his Awareness.

After that, Merlin tried all ways to observe the change of frame in his Awareness. Finally, Merlin found the usage of the frame.

It turned out that after Merlin had cast Fireball for three times, the color of the frame would turn from grey to red. At this time, once he used Mind Power to stimulate the frame, the Spell Model would be triggered and released a gigantic fireball. Its power was terrifying and at least three times stronger than the normal fireball.

Merlin could not understand the reason behind the appearance of the frame. Maybe it was because "The Matrix" had redesigned the Spell Model. Or maybe it was because Merlin had passed through from another life.

However, no matter what, this frame at least brought a great advantage to Merlin. It could bring out a spell which had a force three times greater than that of any normal Zero-level spell. Even though Merlin did not know how strong a First-level spell was, the fireball created from triggering the frame would not be any less than the First-level spell.

Moreover, this was Merlin's hidden power. He could use it as his trump card.

With the gigantic fireball released by the frame in mind, Merlin named this triggered Fireball as Large Fireball since the name fit the image well.

Merlin then continued his Fireball practice in the basement.

When the night had fallen, Merlin was bending over his writing desk under the weak candlelight. He was flipping through the final volume of the Spell Manual carefully.

Old man Etha's Spell Manual consisted of three volumes. The first volume talked about his introduction about Spell Casters and his experience of casting spells.

The second volume recorded all sorts of Spell Models in which old man Etha had spent years to create relentlessly. Merlin had completed reading the first two volumes of the Spell Manual. He had rebuilt his Spell Model and even simulated the Spell Model of Fireball in his Awareness. However, during his practice of Fireball in the basement, he found some weaknesses he had currently.

The most crucial weakness was his lack of Mind Power!

Spell Model determined whether a person could become a Spell Caster while Mind Power determined whether the Spell Caster could become a strong one. So, a strong Spell Caster must be excellent in both creating Spell Model and using Mind Power. Only with this, he could be able to overcome all difficulties and become the ever-strong Spell Caster.

To increase his Mind Power, his only way was to meditate.

Merlin's current Mind Power could barely control a Spell Model. If he wanted to construct a second Spell Model in his Awareness, he would not be able to do it. Thus, Merlin decided to read through old man Etha's Spell Manual. He believed that old man Etha must have left a Mind Meditation Method in his Spell Manual.

Merlin slowly flipped the mysterious third volume open. From just a few pages, he found a few Mind Meditation Methods, but according to these notes, these were only beginner methods where their effects were limited.

These methods had their own specialties. Some specialized in Mind Power recovery. Once he had exhausted his Mind Power, he could recover himself quickly through this method.

Some could increase Mind Power. This was what Merlin needed – Mind Meditation Method that could increase Mind Power.

After careful consideration, Merlin chose a beginner Meditation Method and began to do as this method told. He closed his eyes and maintained the steady state of his Mind Power.

Mind Meditation Method like this had to be practiced for a long time to properly induce a change. So, after Merlin had grasped the steps of this method, he opened his eyes and stood up. He did not check the state of his Mind Power since he did not expect the method to have any immediate effect.

"Young Master Merlin."

Outside his door, Lucia's voice reached him.

"Come in."

Merlin had already woken up and dressed properly by now.

Lucia pushed the door open and entered the room with her head lowered. She said to Merlin, "Young Master Merlin, the butler asked me to take Young Master's body measurement so that we can make some clothes for you."

Merlin lowered his head to look at his body. He felt it too recently. The clothes on him seemed to be slightly smaller. For some reason, his body shape had turned muscular rapidly in these few months as if he was an inflated balloon. His usual clothes seemed to be ill-fitting and restricted his movement greatly.

"Alright."

Merlin hesitated for a moment but he still took his coat off. Wearing only a thin shirt, he opened his arms wide and signaled for Lucia to take his body measurement.

Lucia came forward hurriedly. With a body tape measure, she measured Merlin's height.

Merlin had become a lot taller in these few months, so Lucia was unable to reach his head. She could only stand on tiptoe and stood lightly against Merlin's front chest and measured Merlin's height in difficulty.

Lucia was raising her head as she measured it. She wore her white maid uniform and the neckline was rather wide. Merlin could see her fair skin the moment he lowered his head for just a little.

Lucia was a beautiful woman to begin with. She had freckles on her face which did not affect her beauty but it made her look fetching. Merlin squinted his eyes while his unscrupulous gaze fell all over Lucia. Suddenly, even if it was freezing outside of the castle, Merlin felt a scorching heat rising in his body.

"Young Master Merlin, I'm done."

Lucia seemed to notice Merlin's stare and she looked nervous. She took a few steps back and lowered her head. She did not dare to look at Merlin.

"Alright. You may go now."

Merlin waved his hand and asked Lucia to leave. He walked in front of the mirror and stared at his young face. Merlin smiled a little and mumbled to himself, "It seems I've abstained for too long…"

Since Merlin had arrived in this world, he had always felt a sense of danger. No matter what he did, he did it carefully and because of that, he seemed meticulous and cautious.

Then, he found Magic and immersed himself in it.

However, this body was only sixteen years old. It was the age that was filled with passion and excitement. Even if he did not have those thoughts, his body would react nonetheless.

Merlin wore his coat back and went downstairs but he did not find Macy anywhere in sight.

"Butler, where's Macy?"

"Young Lady Macy had left for the church."

Merlin nodded. He had been busy practicing Fireball for this whole month, sometimes not even seeing Macy at all. However, since Macy had been going out early and coming back late every day, it seemed like she had not overcome the barrier to become an Elemental Swordsman.

Merlin only knew a little about Elemental Swordsman. To overcome the barrier to become one, Merlin was unsure about the exact ways as well.

However, he knew the most important thing to be an Elemental Swordsman was the accumulation of Element. Only when the Element had been stored in the body to a certain extent, she could become an Elemental Swordsman.

Macy had an affinity to Fire Element so she needed to accumulate Fire Element. Merlin's Spell Model in his Awareness also absorbed Fire Element. Both matters should have something in common.

"When Macy is back, let's find a time and test it out. Let's see if I can help her to overcome the barrier to become an Elemental Swordsman."

Merlin decided in his heart.

After having breakfast, Merlin wore a grey scarf and headed straight out of the castle.

The butler asked in surprise, "Young Master Merlin, you're heading out?"

"I'm going out for a walk."

"Young Master Merlin, please wait. Let me call Moss."

Merlin shook his head. "Don't have to. I want to go for a walk by myself."

After that, he left the castle directly despite the Butler's surprise.

Merlin walked for a while and reached old man Etha's small wooden house.

Staring at the small house, Merlin had a complicated expression.

The small house had been abandoned completely because this was the place where the evil heretic had lived so there was no one around. The garden in front of the small house still had some flowers but they were covered by snow at the moment where it formed a blanket of whiteness.

Merlin stuck his hands into his pocket. With a hat on him, he looked around the place. After making sure there was no one around, he pushed the rusty iron fence open and climbed the wooden stairs.

Merlin took off his hat and gently brushed the snow off. He raised his head and took a glance at the second floor. When he was about to go upstairs, suddenly his expression stiffened as he squinted his eyes.

"Footsteps. Someone's here."

Merlin said it softly. He noticed a series of clear footsteps on the supposedly dusty staircase. Moreover, the footsteps were covered in moist mud. Obviously, these footsteps were not left here a long time ago. Someone was here. The person might even be upstairs now!

So Merlin looked upstairs cautiously. Then, he wore his hat lightly and went up softly and quietly.

The footsteps still seemed clear as no one had cleaned the house for a long time. So, the stairs were exceptionally dusty. That was how he was able to spot the footsteps so clearly.

Reaching the second floor, Merlin checked the door handle carefully. There was almost no dust on it. Someone had opened this door by this handle.

"Who is it?"

Merlin did not enter the room bluntly. He squinted his eyes. In his mind, multiple familiar figures flashed across his eyes. The footsteps looked small. Rather than a man's footsteps, it seemed more likely to be a woman's.

"Could it be Miss Carice?"

Merlin could not help but think of Carice. After all, old man Etha was the evil heretic. People of Blackwater City would not come to this place at all. The people who were friendly with old man Etha and used to frequent this place was Merlin and Carice.

Right at this time, Merlin's sharp hearing suddenly caught the soft sound of footsteps outside of the house. Someone was heading toward the main door.

Merlin responded swiftly and hid on the left side of the main door. His eyes stared at the main door sharply.

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Chapter 24: The Incident II

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Merlin listened closely to the sounds in the house. Since he had practiced the posture of that mysterious relief sculpture relentlessly, Merlin's senses had been greatly sharpened. He could hear any slight sounds in the house.

"Why isn't there any sound?"

Merlin frowned. He heard a series of light footsteps just now and it seemed the person had reached the door. Suddenly, all sounds had stopped.

"Boom."

With a loud bang, the wooden door beside Merlin was smashed broken by someone, sending the broken wooden debris flying around. Following that, a hand quickly reached out from the hole made in the wooden door. A white light flashed by.

"Phew."

It was a sharp dagger headed directly toward Merlin.

"I have been found!"

Merlin immediately realized that he had been found out.

The dagger came at him at the speed of lightning. Merlin could not even defend against it. The only thing he could do was to roll sideways, barely dodging the hit.

"F*ck!"

Merlin was so infuriated that he spat out a curse. He almost got killed even before he had a clear view of the person's face. It turned out he was still too clueless.

After that, Merlin did not wait for his doom. Instead, his body curled up like a fierce leopard and dashed toward the wooden door brutally with his explosive strength.

"Ka-chak."

The wooden door was completely destroyed by this hit. Merlin felt himself crashing into a soft body, bringing the person into the wooden house.

The wooden house was dark with all the curtains shut tight. They must have been shut off by the people from the City Defense Troop. The whole house was almost sealed off. Moreover, since the place was not ventilated for a long time, the house reeked of an unbearable, moldy stench.

After crashing into the person, Merlin quickly jumped up from the ground. His alerted gaze set tightly on the person as he asked, "Who are you?"

The secret person in front of him wore a long black coat. The wide coat had covered his body shape so her figure could not be seen. Also, she wore a large, black cloak over her head so her face could not be seen.

Faced with Merlin's question, the secret person did not speak. Instead, she held up her dagger. Her wide black coat slowly began shaking. It was as though there were gusts of wind blowing beside her.

"Hmm? Wind Element? Elemental Swordsman?"

Merlin was already extremely sensitive toward Elements. The Wind Element on the person was extremely strong and surrounded her completely. She was an Elemental Swordsman. From the wave of Wind Element about her, she should just be a First-level Elemental Swordsman.

"Swoosh."

Her figure flashed when her speed had reached its peak. In the dark wooden house, Merlin still could not grasp the secret person's figure even when his senses had already been sharpened greatly. His opponent's speed was simply too quick.

Merlin could only stay still and remain imperturbable in this incident. Once he sensed some movements near him, he would send his fist that way without thinking. However, each punch seemed to only hit empty air. This made Merlin fairly upsetting because all his strength had not been put to correct use.

"Tsk."

Suddenly, Merlin felt a chill at his neck. A sense of immediate danger could be felt and he quickly turned his neck sideways. The sharp dagger directly pierced Merlin's skin.

It was great fortune that Merlin was able to dodge in time. Moreover, his body had become extremely sturdy due to the practice of posture. So, this attack only ended in a scratch.

However, this made Merlin break into a cold sweat. Just by a small margin, his neck would have been pierced.

"D*mn it. Too fast!"

Merlin cursed in a low voice. His opponent was a Wind Swordsman that specialized in speed. Her figure that came and went like a shadow was simply too quick. Merlin even had difficulty to catch the person's figure by sight, not to mention getting a hit.

The house was too dark. Under such an environment, fighting with a Wind Swordsman only put him in a disadvantaged situation.

Thinking about that, Merlin turned around abruptly and dashed outside.

"Huhu."

However, the secret person's speed seemed to be quicker. She came right in front of Merlin and stabbed at Merlin's chest.

"Got you. Go to hell!"

Merlin's mouth quirked into a smile. With the light by the door, he could clearly see the shadow in front of him. This was the time he struck.

"Fireball!"

A fireball appeared out of nowhere and flew right at the secret person. The flying fireball emitted terrifying temperature and was more apparent in the dark house.

The fireball's speed was quick. The person also seemed to be shocked by the fireball that appeared abruptly. She only managed to dodge sideways as the fireball got a direct hit on the person's black cloak.

The heat given off by the Fireball was extremely high. Without almost anything to stop it, it quickly burnt off half the person's black cloak, revealing her beautiful blonde, long hair.

The house was still dark. Although Merlin could not see the person's facial expressions, he could guess that the person must be aghast.

When the person was still in shock, Merlin dashed forward. With his hands like leaf fan, he caught hold of her long coat and smashed her onto the ground.

"Bang."

Merlin's strength was exceptionally strong. She was immediately thrown into a state of confusion from this smash. Still, she was an Elemental Swordsman nonetheless. Her physical attributes were still excellent, so she still had the energy to stab at Merlin's neck.

"Hmph!"

Merlin groaned as his left hand grabbed the person's and his right hand grabbed her hair. Without the slightest hesitation, he smashed her head into the wall.

"Bang bang bang."

After smashing her in the wall consecutively for three times, the secret person no longer struggled and went slumped. Merlin only stopped after seeing that.

Merlin took in large mouthfuls of breath. This was his first time facing such a dangerous opponent. Moreover, it was a matter of life and death. Although in terms of their actual strength, Merlin was a strong Wizard who could easily win against any First-level and Second-level Elemental Swordsman, he almost died in the person's hand just now.

If he could not apply his spells in real battles, then it would be totally useless even if he got hold of strong spells.

Old man Etha had only grasped two Zero-level spells back then. He was the same as Merlin, an Entrance-level Spell Caster. Amongst the ranking of Spell Caster, Entrance-level could be counted as non-professional. Those Entrance-level Spell Caster could not even be counted as true Spell Caster. Only those who had grasped three Zero-level spells and had upgraded all three into First-level spells were able to become First-level Spell Caster.

Even if old man Etha was only an Entrance-level Spell Caster, he still dealt with the Guardian Swordsman from Grand City with ease. Even Second-level Elemental Swordsman like Swordsman Bogg was far from being his opponent. This also proved the strength of the Spell Casters. It was not something that could be compared to Elemental Swordsman.

However, Merlin was almost killed by a First-level Elemental Swordsman today. This showed how alarmingly lacking he was in terms of battle experiences. In the beginning, he did not even have a chance to cast his spell. As a Spell Caster, this was a deadly weak point.

Merlin touched his neck with his palm. He could feel some thick blood flowing out of it, but it was simply a small cut on the surface. Moreover, there was no more blood, so the figure was fine.

This was a great lesson to be learned!

"If I have cast Fireball and blasted the door open in the beginning, he won't be able to hurt me regardless of his speed."

Merlin was concluding his weakness from the battle just now. He had not gotten used to his identity as Spell Caster and his habit to attack first. Spell Caster should finish his enemy off from afar, not fighting close combat with an Elemental Swordsman.

The woman in a black clothing was still lying on the ground. Since she was smashed by Merlin for a few times, it might still take a while for her to regain consciousness. Thus, Merlin stood up and approached her. He uncovered half of the black cloak that remained on her.

After fighting for such a long time, Merlin had not gotten a close look at her face.

The black cloak was uncovered, revealing her blonde hair in which a part of it was burnt. The hair was still releasing a burnt odor.

"Too bad she had such a beautiful hair."

Merlin shook his head slightly as he praised this beautiful, long hair. It was a shame that Merlin's fireball had burnt a part of such beautiful hair. The blonde hair also appeared slightly black and extremely odd.

The person was lying on her side with her hair covering her face. Merlin put her hair slightly off her face and looked at her.

"Hmm?"

Merlin's eyes squinted. His stare became sharp immediately.

"Gia?"

The person lying on the ground was, to his surprise, Gia who taught his history class.

Merlin could still recall that even Gutt had not found Gia's true background with his family's influence back then. He did not expect to see Gia at this place.

Moreover, according to how she acted, she was not a normal teacher. It was not as simple as that.

Just when Merlin was guessing the relationship between Gia and old man Etha, Gia groaned slightly and was about to wake up.

Merlin stood up and took a step back, with his eyes staring dead at Gia.

After a while, Merlin heard Gia's breathing became rapid, so he pulled a light smile. "Stop pretending. Why don't you open your eyes if you're awake?"

Hearing Merlin's words, Gia opened her eyes as expected. She looked at Merlin and said in a calm tone, "Wilson Merlin? I can't believe Mr. Etha has really taken you as his true disciple."

Just when Gia was struggling to stand up, Merlin waved his hands. Following his motion, a fireball appeared and directly collided towards the ground beside Gia.

"Boom."

The fireball hit the ground and exploded directly. It blasted a hole off the wooden floor, leaving black smoke sizzling above the hole.

"Done with the game. Otherwise, the fireball will be exploding on your body the next time."

Merlin warned Gia directly with his action. After a month of an excruciating practice of his Mind Meditation spell, his Mind Power had finally improved. Most important of all, he was even more skillful in manipulating his Fireball so the situation of fireballs going out of control would not happen again.

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Chapter 25: True Identity

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

A fireball emitting a scorching heat that was floating around Merlin. Deterred by the fireball, Gia did not dare to move. She only looked at Merlin silently.

Merlin nodded in satisfaction and said with a low pitch, "When I ask a question, you answer."

"Merlin, we are not enemy. You are Mr. Etha's disciple. You…"

Even before Gia finished her sentences, Merlin waved his hands again. A fireball dived right towards Gia who was still lying on the ground. She was shocked and quickly shook her dagger, trying to block this fireball.

"P-chink."

Although the fireball was only the size of a fist, its temperature was enough to melt iron. Thus, once Gia's dagger met the fireball, it immediately melted into liquid iron.

Meanwhile, the small fireball went forward, brushed by Gia's arm and hit the wall.

Gia's sleeve was directly burnt off, becoming torn pieces of debris. A black mark was also burnt on her white and delicate arm by that horrifying heat. An odor of grilled meat even filled the wooden house.

The excruciating pain made Gia break into a sweat. A tinge of fear was mixed in her gaze at Merlin.

"Now you should understand. When I ask a question, you answer."

Gia gritted her teeth and nodded. She did not dare to utter a single word more.

"What is your relationship with Teacher Etha?"

Merlin began the questioning.

Gia lightly pulled her body to lean on the wall. She answered, "Mr. Etha is my boss. I work under Mr. Etha. We are sent here by the Kingdom of Blackmoon."

Merlin finally understood. It turned out Gia and old man Etha were the people sent by the Kingdom of Blackmoon to the Kingdom of Light to fish for information. No wonder Gutt could not attain Gia's background at all.

"Teacher Etha is found by the church. Why aren't you found as well?"

"We almost never see each other. We have always exchanged information with codes. Mr. Etha is found because he is a Spell Caster. Mr. Etha made a trip to Grand City and was accidentally found out by the church. No matter what identity he holds, a Spell Caster will be eradicated by the church."

"If so, the church did not realize Teacher Etha was sent here by the Kingdom of Blackmoon? It's simply because his identity as a Spell Caster was found out?"

"It should be this way. Or else, with the church's capabilities, I would have been taken away by them a long time ago."

Merlin stared right at Gia. From her response, Merlin did not find anything illogical, so her response should be true.

Merlin was clear that heretic was not tolerated in the Kingdom of Light. Old man Etha was also hunted down by the Wizard in Inquisitor because his identity as Spell Caster was found out.

Perhaps, even the church had not realized his true identity. Except as a Spell Caster, he was also a member of the secret intelligence unit sent by the Kingdom of Blackmoon.

The atmosphere became heavy. Merlin's silence had caused great unrest in Gia's heart. She knew the man before her was thinking how he should deal with her.

"Other than you, does anybody else know about Teacher Etha's identity?"

Merlin thought about it for quite a while. His tone had become stern. If someone still knew about old man Etha's identity, then the person might use this fact against him. Merlin did not want to get involved in the matters between the Kingdom of Blackmoon and the Kingdom of Light.

So, once there was someone who still knew about old man Etha's identity around, then Gia could not be left alive.

Seemingly realized Merlin's intention, Gia appeared rather flustered. She quickly said, "Except for me, no one else knows about Mr. Etha's identity. Merlin, I am still of use to you. Even though you have become an honorable Spell Caster, but in the Kingdom of Light, you are seen as a heretic. You still bear the risk of being found out by the Church of Light anytime. With me, at least I can scout for information for you. Until you decided to leave the Kingdom of Light, I can help you to…"

Gia's pitiful figure and her beautiful face truly hit a soft spot in people's heart.

"Get up."

Finally, Merlin spoke slowly. The fireball before him also gradually dissipated, turning into a wisp of smoke.

"Hu…"

Gia who leaned against the wall finally sighed in relief. She took a large mouthful of breaths as she wiped the cold sweat on her forehead. Holding her injured arm, she stood up in jittery.

She stood up, but she did not leave immediately. Instead, she began to take off her clothes. First, she took off the black cloak, revealing a thick, white fur coat.

Without the cover-up of the black cloak, Gia's prideful shape then showed itself. Only that she seemed pale and covered with sweat now. It appeared that her arm was badly injured. This made her beauty seemed less attractive at this moment.

"Please, take care of this for me."

Gia pointed to the clothes she had thrown to the floor. There were some blood stains on the black cloak. Wearing that out would alert others without fail.

Merlin simply raised his right hand and a fireball flew off instantaneously. It fell on the floor and burnt the clothes in a blink of an eye. Soon, the clothes on the floor had turned to ashes.

"I will leave first. The people from City Defense Troop will come around here sometimes. It's not safe here."

After saying that, Gia pressed her injured arm lightly and dashed out of the house.

Merlin looked at Gia as her figure disappeared out of his sight rapidly. Then, he moved around in old man Etha's small house. Almost everything in the house had been moved away. Only the empty room was left about.

Seeing that there was nothing more of value left in the house, Merlin was prepared to leave. After all, staying long hours in this place was definitely unsafe, regardless of whether there were people of City Defense Troop poking around.

A beautiful figure went to the streets for a few rounds before pausing. It was Gia who had just left the small house.

Gia bit her lips as her arm was still bleeding. The clothes tied around her arm had almost turned red. She turned around to look at the direction of old man Etha's wooden house and groaned. She cursed in a soft voice, "Idiot!"

After that, Gia seemed to have touched her injury again, causing her unimaginable pain. She could only lean against the wall and slowly moved towards one of the courtyards in front.

The courtyard had a high fence built around it. There was a classic-styled penthouse inside. The environment was comfortable, but the garden was empty. Not a single human could be seen.

Gia held her arm as she entered the garden totteringly. At this moment, the clothes could no longer stop the bleeding wound. Drops of blood dripped onto the ground. It was a ghastly sight to behold.

"Master Rolin!"

Gia came to the small house, but she did not knock. Instead, she called out softly with respect.

"Gia, are you hurt? What happened?"

A husky voice came from within the house. It came with a tone of shock.

"Master Rolin, when I went to Mr. Etha's house, I saw Wilson Merlin. I can't believe Mr. Etha actually took Wilson Merlin as his true disciple. He is now a Spell Caster. I was hurt by him."

Gia explained the incident briefly.

The person in the house said slowly after a long pause, "These Spell Casters are always reckless and unscrupulous. They don't think for the Kingdom at all. Old Etha even went to Grand City without warrant for a casting tool. In the end, he is found out by the Church of Light… Hmph. Thank goodness he is dead now. He didn't give away us. Or else, our effort in these few years are all in vain!"

'Master Rolin' in the house seemed to be resentful against Spell Casters, especially old man Etha. Gia did not dare to discuss such a matter much. No matter if it was Spell Caster like old man Etha or 'Master Rolin' in there, their status was still far above her.

After 'Master Rolin' ranted about his dissatisfaction with old man Etha, he asked in a heavy tone, "This Merlin. Does he know about us?"

Gia's expression changed slightly and quickly explained, "Master Rolin, Mr. Etha seemed to only teach Merlin about the knowledge of Spell Caster. He did not talk about us to Merlin. Otherwise, I am afraid I won't be coming back today."

"This Merlin is a hidden danger after all. We must not give ourselves away. So, we must eliminate Merlin! Gia, since he has let you go, then he should be less cautious about you. You must find a way to bring him here. Hmph. At that time, I will eliminate him myself."

'Master Rolin' was full of killing intent.

"Master Rolin, this Merlin has already become a Spell Caster. I am afraid it's not easy to kill him."

Gia said, a little worried.

"No need to worry. He has just become a Spell Caster. Since I am doing it by surprise, killing him is a piece of cake! With his guard off, these Spell Casters are nothing different than Normies…"

Master Rolin said without a doubt. Gia could only nod, but her expression was a little dark.

"Gia, it has been almost a year since you are sent to the Kingdom of Light. I will ask for your return to the higher-ups."

Although spoken softly, Gia had heard the words. Her dark expression immediately showed a hint of happiness. Her pale face due to blood-loss seemed to recover a little due to her excitement.

"Thank you, Master Rolin!"

Upon saying that, Gia left the place quickly.

In the Wilson Castle, Merlin returned to his room and took off the scarf lightly. Blood stains could be seen on the scarf.

Merlin stood in front of the mirror and looked at the injury on his neck. The cut had already formed a scab and the bleeding had stopped. The cut was not long. It only looked like a cut caused by the branches.

Cuts like this would heal completely in two days. Not even a scar would be left.

Merlin threw the blood-stained scarf into a bowl and threw a fireball into the bowl. Then, the scarf slowly burnt into ashes in the scorching fire.

Following that, Merlin opened his window for ventilation. Until the strange odor caused by the burning scarf had disappeared, he opened the door and went downstairs.

The butler was still directing the servants in the castle to cut down a huge tree in the yard and move it out of the castle.

The tree had collected a thick amount of snow on its branches. Due to the howling wind yesterday, the tree had been uprooted by it, now lying on the ground.

Merlin squinted his eyes to see the servants busy running about in sweat. Suddenly, he could hear a series of sound made by horse hooves outside of the castle. Moss' carriage that was sent to pick Macy up had returned.

Merlin quickly stood up. The reason he was here was to wait for Macy's return.

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Chapter 26: Whisper

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Macy entered from the door. Her face was red from the cold. After she brushed off the snow on her, she quickly came near the fireplace and kept rubbing her hands to keep warm.

"Macy, you returned so early today."

Merlin also came in front of the fireplace as he said casually.

Macy took a glance of Merlin in surprise and said softly, "Swordsman Pero said it was too cold. He let us return early for these few days."

Merlin nodded but did not say anything more. He sat in front of the fireplace, seemingly keeping warm. In fact, he was observing the Fire Element within Macy.

Since Merlin had constructed the Spell Model of the Fireball in his Awareness now, he had become more sensitive toward Fire Element. He could clearly feel that the Fire Element around them was entering Macy's body in small amounts at one time.

This was the unique part of Macy's affinity to the Fire Element. It could attract Fire Element into the body. If the Fire Element was accumulated to a certain extent, Macy would be able to control the Fire Element in her body and triggered the burst of strong power of the Fire Element.

However, Merlin noticed that even if there were a lot of Fire Element entering Macy's body from outside, a lot of Fire Element were also leaving Macy's body at the same time.

That was to say, in this situation, Macy could not trap the Fire Element that entered her body at all. This was the largest difference between an Elemental Swordsman and a Spell Caster.

Once a Spell Model was constructed, a Spell Caster's Spell Model would be able to absorb the Elements around him by force. The Elements could be trapped in the Spell Model and became the Magic Power of Spell Caster. The Elements would not be lost in this case.

Meanwhile, Elemental Swordsmen could not trap the Elements by force. They could only collect more Elements by relying on their unique physical attributes to absorb the Elements. The difference between the two was obvious. The difference was too large and could not be discussed on the same level.

Merlin wanted to see if he could help Macy to overcome the barrier to become true Elemental Swordsman! However, after careful observation, he found that when he stood beside Macy, the Spell Model would, in turn, forcefully absorb the Fire Element around them. Even the Fire Element in Macy's body was forcefully absorbed into the Spell Model.

Therefore, Merlin could not help Macy at all. He would get in the way of Macy trying to collect Fire Element.

There was nothing Merlin could do in this situation. Instead, he shook his head and stood up. "Macy, since it's so cold, you should rest early."

After that, he went upstairs and returned to his room.

Sitting in Moss's carriage, Merlin was meditating with his eyes closed.

After cultivating for a few days, his Mind Power had an obvious enhancement. However, it still forced for him to construct the second Spell Model in his Awareness.

"Young Master Merlin, we are here."

The carriage came to a pause. Moss pushed back the curtain and said.

Mind Meditation Method could be cultivated anytime and anywhere. He could also wake up from it anytime and anywhere. He did not particularly need a quiet room to cultivate it. Thus, upon hearing Moss's words, Merlin opened his eyes and jumped off the carriage.

Merlin was going to his etiquette class today. He found that there was not much meaning to practicing Fireball more in the castle anymore. He could already control the fireballs with precise Mind Power now, so he did not need long-hour practices anymore.

Merlin walked straight to class. He saw Gutt and Anson on the second floor, but they seemed to have not noticed Merlin. They were staring at the faraway Tirath.

Tirath was holding many invitation cards in his hands as he handed to the people who came to the etiquette class.

Merlin approached the two and patter Gutt's shoulder. He asked softly, "What is Tirath doing?"

Gutt jumped in surprise. He only relaxed after seeing it was Merlin. He curled his lips. "What more? Today's Tirath's birthday. He is going around to invite people to attend his birthday ball."

"Birthday ball?"

Merlin was not interested in this at all. Moreover, with his relationship with Tirath, the latter would never invite him.

"Hey. Merlin, you may not know about this. The good part always comes last. Tirath came here today to specially invite Teacher Gia."

Gutt sneered. As soon as he finished his words, Gia came down from upstairs.

Merlin squinted his eyes slightly. Gia was not lightly injured yesterday, so her face still appeared slightly pale. However, the red mark caused by Merlin on her forehead had now disappeared. He did not know what medicine Gia had used that could heal her wound that quickly.

After Tirath saw Gia, he quickly approached her. With proper noble's etiquette, he handed the invitation to Gia with both hands respectfully. He said with smiles, "Teacher Gia, today is my birthday. I have organized a birthday ball and I hope you will attend the event!"

"Your ball?"

Gia raised her head and took a glance at Tirath. Following that, her expression became cold and stiff as she said. "Apologies. I have some business to attend to today. I'm afraid I can't attend the event."

After that, without caring about Tirath's shocked expression, she headed straight towards Merlin.

"Merlin, come with me. It's something important. About you."

Gia came close to Merlin's ear and whispered to him.

Merlin's expression changed but quickly recovered. He saw the people around him were full of shock. Gia's 'whispering' to him and her coldness towards Tirath had caused a distinct comparison. It had obviously caused some misunderstandings amongst the crowd.

"Let's go."

Merlin had a calm expression. After that, he followed Gia and left the building.

Tirath glared at the backs of Merlin and Gia as they disappeared from his line of sight. He stayed rooted at the same place for a long time, with his face livid. The invitation card in his hands had also fallen to the floor. He had not thought that Merlin had gotten hooked up with Gia silently just like that.

"Haha. Sad Tirath. What a surprise. Little did I expect Merlin to hook up with Gia just like that. Look at them. Something must be going on between them!"

Fatty Gutt snickered, but he also seemed a little confused. So, he asked Anson, "Anson, do you know when Merlin and Gia got together?"

Anson's expression kept changing. After a while, he heaved a long sigh and shook his head. He said, "I don't know. How many times have Merlin come here in total?"

Anson felt complicated. After all, he could not forget about Gia as soon as he met her. Now that Merlin had become so close to Gia, it was hard for him to accept this.

Merlin was right behind Gia. They came directly to the wide yard. The view here was great. They could see if there was anyone around in just one glance. They would not have to worry about people listening in on their conversation here.

"Gia, say it. What's the matter?"

Merlin gradually halted his footsteps and asked calmly.

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Chapter 27: Fierce Battle I

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Gia also came to a halt. She turned around and said softly, "The thing is Mr. Etha has left something with me. I didn't know what it was before. Yesterday, after I went back, I opened it and found Mr. Etha's message in it. He asked me to pass the thing to you."

"Teacher Etha's thing is with you?"

Merlin stared right into Gia's eyes and continued asking, "Where is it now?"

"I have hidden it in a secluded place. Come with me."

After saying that, Gia turned around and left.

Merlin squinted his eyes and stared at Gia's back. At last, he followed Gia away.

Walking out of the building, Moss approached him and asked, "Young Master Merlin, do you need the carriage?"

Merlin waved his hands. "No need for that. I'm only out for a while. You just wait here."

Moss saw Merlin going out with a beautiful woman, so he did not ask any further sensibly. He returned to his carriage again.

Thus, Gia and Merlin walked around a few streets to finally arrive at a pleasant courtyard.

"Let's go. The thing's inside."

A gleam that was not easily noticeable flashed in Gia's eyes. She brought Merlin into the place.

The yard was extremely wide. There were only a few bald trees, but there was no snow accumulated on the ground. This showed that someone had often cleaned this place.

There was a staircase made of rock here. Going up the stairs, they reached the main door. It appeared to have led to the parlor.

The door was shut tight. As Gia came to the front step, she suddenly turned around and asked, frowning, "Merlin, the thing's inside. Why have you stopped?"

Merlin paused. He looked at the door and a smile appeared on his face.

"Gia, how many people are there inside?"

Gia was stupefied, but she still acted calmly and said, "This is my secret stronghold. Only I know about it."

"Is that so? Let me test it out then."

As soon as he finished his sentence, two fireballs appeared beside Merlin. They floated silently in the air, emitting horrendous heat with their presences.

"Master Rolin, do it!"

Gia immediately howled. Her whole being retreated into the house at a great speed. However, Merlin was even quicker. The fireballs flew towards Gia at an incredible speed according to the guidance of Merlin's Mind Power. They left a whiff of smoke in their track.

"Boom, boom."

With two explosions, a fireball was crashed into Gia's thigh directly, but she seemed to have prepared for this. A delicate shield in her hand had blocked the fireball just in time. However, since the fireball exploded, the strong impact had pushed her into the house. Merlin did not know if she was alive or dead.

Another fireball crashed into the sturdy door. The scorching heat had burnt a hole in the door.

"Swoosh, swoosh."

A series of black arrows shot out from the house. These arrows were very short and blotted out the sky and land. One glance at it, one could tell that these arrows were shot from a crossbow rather than a usual bow.

The arrows had a great speed. In an instant, ten arrows had approached him. The Spell Model in Merlin's Awareness trembled violently, then two fireballs appeared again.

Merlin quickly jumped to the back. Right after that, two fireballs instantaneously exploded. A strong impact had blown off the approaching arrows that instead fell to the ground.

The yard was quiet again. Merlin looked at the house on alert. A figure slowly came out of the house. He stood at the top of the stairs, gazing upon Merlin condescendingly.

"You actually found us out… Have we shown a flaw? Or does the problem lie in Gia?"

After the dust had fallen, Merlin could clearly see the figure standing on the stairs. He was a middle-aged man about forty years old. He was near two meters in height and seemed muscular. His face was also bearded. He held a huge sword that imposed a strong condescending air around him. It was as if he was a beast in a dormant state.

The Spell Model in Merlin's Awareness was absorbing the Fire Element from the outside with all its might. He had cast four Fireballs in total just now. That grey frame had already turned red, indicating that he could trigger the Large Fireball.

"Gia lied to me. But haven't I used her as well? Her words are full of loopholes. I didn't kill her in Teacher Etha's house because I want her to bring you guys out into the light."

"Although the Church of Light is dangerous, they won't notice a small city like Blackwater City, so I will be safe. But you are different. You know my identity. You bunch are a hidden danger to me and have to be eliminated!"

Merlin's tone had turned cold and stiff. In truth, back when he was still in old man Etha's house, Merlin had already realized Gia was lying. However, if he killed Gia on the spot, the people behind Gia from the Kingdom of Blackmoon would track him down by following the clues.

Thus, Merlin let Gia go in the meantime and went with her plot. He prepared to deal with everyone behind Gia who came from the Kingdom of Blackmoon.

The bearded man seemed calm and said faintly, "Young Spell Caster, you are indeed smart. But, you Spell Casters are all the same. Egoistic. Arrogant. Especially Etha, that old thing. He doesn't even listen to my order. For his casting tool, not only did he leave Blackwater City without a warrant, he even took you as a disciple. Hmph, he should feel lucky that he died so early. Or else, I will let him know Spell Casters are nothing to be arrogant about!"

The bearded man's spirit elevated once again. The incredible pressure pressed towards Merlin and invoked a sense of danger in Merlin. His opponent must not be a normal Elemental Swordsman. He might be a Third-level Elemental Swordsman or above.

Moreover, from the man's words, Merlin felt that he seemed to resent the old man Etha a lot. He even had a biased opinion against Spell Caster.

This was a person that abominated Spell Caster greatly.

"How can you compare yourself to Teacher Etha? Stop the trash talk! We'll know after we fight!"

Merlin stopped the talking. He waved his hands slightly and a fireball flew straight towards the bearded man in a swoosh.

Even before it had come close to the man, he stomped his feet to seemingly caused trembles to spread throughout the whole yard. In a blink of an eye, a devouring flame rose around his body.

The flame was half a meter tall and almost warped the air around him due to the heat. He was a strong Third-level Fire Swordsman!

This was Merlin's first time seeing a Third-level Fire Swordsman. The strongest Elemental Swordsman he had seen before was Swordsman Bogg who followed the church's Wizard Jason to Blackwater City recently. However, Swordsman Bogg was only a Second-level Elemental Swordsman and was far less strong than the bearded man.

"Hehe. Zero-level spell, Fireball? Young Spell Caster let me show you the power of flame controlled by Fire Swordsman. Flame Cleave!"

The bearded man raised the huge sword in his hands. As if he was not afraid of the fireball emitting horrifying heat at all, his huge sword was swung down ferociously downwards.

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Chapter 28: Fierce Battle II

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

The flames on the greatsword leaped up another meter ferociously; when the blade was slashed down, the power of the violent flames immediately erupted. Even Merlin, who was a few dozen meters away, was able to feel the violent impact.

Before this violent impact, the fireballs that Merlin had unleashed were instantly swallowed up by the ferocious flames on the greatsword.

A slight chill went through Merlin's eyes. This was his first encounter where the Fireball had not worked. Moreover, his Fireball had been broken through with such a violent, forceful method.

"Your Fireball is only a Zero-level spell. If you want to talk about brutality, my Third-level Fire Swordsman power can completely suppress your Fireballl. Young Spell Caster, you will be the first Spell Caster to die under my sword, haha!"

The bearded man began to guffaw. His eyes were filled with fervor and craze, as though to be able to slash a Spell Caster to death was something he had always dreamt of.

Merlin hurriedly took a few steps back. The bearded man seemed to understand Spell Casters and magic very well, and the reality was, indeed, just as the other party had mentioned; Merlin was currently at a disadvantage. His Fireball was unable to be of much use at all against the bearded man.

Of course, Merlin was also clear that his current feeling of being overextended was not because a Third-level Elemental Swordsman was truly more powerful than a Spell Caster.

Even an Entrance-level Spell Caster was definitely not someone a Second, or Third-level Elemental Swordsman could match.

Merlin was now at a disadvantage because, in reality, there were just too few spells that he had mastered by now. He only had one spell; if he could build and structure a binding sort of spell in his Awareness, then the situation right now would be greatly different.

Therefore, he also had to be very prudent when choosing his spells. A powerful spell might not be suitable for himself; the best spells should be the ones that were in tandem with his usage, to be able to achieve the optimum results.

The offensive nature of Merlin's current Fireball could be considered very strong amongst Zero-level spells. However, no matter how powerful it was, he was still bound hand and foot now without a Binding spell, being suppressed by the bearded man.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

All of a sudden, a few black arrows flew out from the house, shooting toward Merlin silently.

Nevertheless, Merlin's Mind Power had enveloped the many meters surrounding him. He could immediately sense any changes the moment they occurred so he was already aware of when the arrows flew out of the house.

Merlin was unable to dodge the violent attack of the bearded man in front. He could only unleash another Fireball to block him.

"There's not much Magic Power left. At most, only four or five more Fireballs can be cast!"

Although Merlin had been constructing the Spell Model for quite some time, it had still only been slightly more than a month. He was already at his limit to be able to cast a dozen plus Fireballs now.

"Looks like they can't be killed if the Large Fireball isn't cast."

A glimmer of light flashed across Merlin's eyes. Judging by the direction the arrows from which the arrows had been shot, there should be two people in the house holding powerful bows, paying as much attention as they could here. Once they found a suitable opportunity, they would not hesitate in shooting and unleashing their arrows. This was an extremely great threat to Merlin.

So, he had to fight and end the battle quickly!

Having thought until there, Merlin no longer hesitated. His Mind Power was immediately triggered and was already turning into a red horizontal frame.

"Large Fireball!"

Merlin stretched his hand and pointed; a cluster of fireballs that was thrice the size of the previous smaller fireballs appeared in the air. The terrifying temperature burned the air so much that it became contorted. The internal structure seemed to be extremely unstable and needed Merlin's Mind Power to forcefully suppress it. Otherwise, a huge explosion could happen.

Such a gigantic fireball could be said to be a leviathan 1 ; it was impossible for it not to attract attention.

"Not good. Is this a First-level spell?"

The bearded man's face changed when he felt the immense energy contained within the gigantic fireball. His entire person made an immediate decision and instantly backed off. He had an excellent understanding of magic; even though the gigantic fireball before him was not a First-level spell, it was already impossibly close to it. Such tremendous power was definitely not something he, as a Third-level Fire Swordsman, could block.

By then, the bearded man was no longer thinking about how Merlin could suddenly cast such a powerful spell. Instead, with a burst of energy, he frantically retreated backward, wanting to distance himself from the gigantic fireball in the air.

Even as he was retreating, he took the greatsword in his hand and, as though he was throwing a flying spear, concentrated all of his power and swung his right hand forwards brutally.

The greatsword turned into a beam of white light. In a beautiful line of a parabola, it shot speedily toward Merlin. The friction between the greatsword and the air even produced slivers of sparks. It could be seen just how fast it was.

"Explode."

Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly; his Mind Power immediately triggered the detonation of the gigantic fireball.

Boom.

Despite the fact that the fireball was still a meter or two away from the bearded man, the power produced from the explosion of the fireball was far too great. The violent impact immediately sent the body of the bearded man flying.

As for the greatsword thrown out by the bearded man, it had also been blasted by the fireball into a few pieces.

After the smoke and dust settled, Merlin saw the bearded man lying on the ground. He was facing downwards, sprawled over the stone steps, unmoving. There was a pool of blood on the ground. It was a startling sight.

Merlin did not go up hastily. Instead, he released another fireball, which landed directly upon the back of the bearded man. A bloody hole was blasted open on his back, revealing the densely packed white bones inside.

Merlin only went forward upon seeing that the bearded man was not moving at all, bent over the ground with half his brains practically blasted open. He was already dead.

The might of the Large Fireball caused even Merlin to be somewhat astonished.

However, Merlin did not think about it further; there were still people in the house. He had to kill them all before he could breathe easy.

Swoosh.

With a swift step, Merlin immediately leaped into the house. Inside the pitch dark building, he instantly dodged a few cold glistens of light. Those were black arrows. Luckily, Merlin had come prepared. Two clusters of fireballs speedily flew towards the direction from which the arrows had been shot.

"Explode."

Merlin immediately detonated the two fireballs. The people hiding in the Darkinstantly let out agonizing cries; the moment the fireballs had exploded, in the weak light of the fire, Merlin saw two men in black outfits being sent flying by the explosion and falling to the floor, never to move again.

Having gotten rid of the two crossbowmen, Merlin continuously searched the house with his eyes. He had blasted Gia into the house using his Fireball previously but seeing that Gia's corpse was not on the floor, it was very clear that Gia was not yet dead. She must have concealed herself.

The house was very dark inside, but some traces of blood could vaguely be seen on the floor, stretching to a corner in the house. The corners of Merlin's lips revealed a hint of a smirk as he followed the traces of blood on the floor and searched.

In the corner of the wall, Gia was stubbornly clutching at her thigh, with her back leaning against the wall. The blood on the floor had flown out from her thigh; although she had blocked Merlin's fireball just now with a shield, her thigh had still been injured by the impact of the violent explosion.

"Merlin, don't kill me, I'm forced to do this as well. Now that you've killed Master Rolin, and the headquarters set in Blackwater City by the kingdom have been completely destroyed by you, I can serve you from now on. I can help you seek out information, you can do whatever you want to."

Forcing herself to withstand the pain in her thigh, Gia straightened her torso and proudly puffed up her ample bosom, her eyes filled with provocation.

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Chapter 29: An Unexpected Gain

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

"Whatever I want to?"

Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly as they swept across Gia's ample bosom unscrupulously.

"Yes, I'll follow you by your side from now on. You can do whatever you want to."

A smile broke out on Gia face as she spoke in a charming and fascinating manner.

"Too bad, you're already of no use…"

Merlin's slightly narrowed eyes revealed a cold glint of his intention to kill.

Swoosh.

A cluster of fireball immediately shot out from Merlin's hand and brutally crashed into Gia's chest. Instantly, a bloody hole was burnt through on her voluptuous chest; the flesh that had been charred black sharply contrasted the pale white skin of her breasts.

Gia's eyes opened up, big and wide, as though she was finding it somewhat difficult to believe.

After Gia had been killed, Merlin once again walked to the corpse of the bearded man. After fumbling about with the body, Merlin found a few pieces of paper which were slightly yellowish from the body of the bearded man.

"En? Is this… a Spell Model?"

Merlin was rather stunned. He had not imagined that he would be able to find a Spell Model from the bearded man's body, something that only Spell Casters could use. However, this was not the time to carefully look at what the Spell Model was in particular. He still needed to deal with it quickly here first.

Thus, Merlin dragged out those few corpses and piled them up in the yard before releasing a fireball. Eventually, these four corpses were quickly burnt in the fiery blaze, becoming deformed. No one could recognize who they had been.

Following that, Merlin simply dug a hole in the yard and buried the ashes that had been produced after the four corpses had been burnt.

After he had handled all that, Merlin left the yard immediately.

Hoo…

Merlin had just walked out from the yard when a chilly wind hit him, as though there was still a faint scent of blood. He turned his head once more to glance at the yard; after tonight, there would not be any smell of blood anymore, basically. As long as no one went in and looked carefully, no one would be able to see the bloodshed that had happened here.

Going against the cold wind, Merlin wrapped his clothes around him and walked along the street corners with a calm expression on his face.

Merlin returned once more to the small building. Seeing that Moss was still sitting inside the carriage, he went forward and called out softly, "Moss, send me home."

Moss gave Merlin a glance of suspicion, but he did not ask any questions. Driving the carriage quickly, they went back to Wilson Castle again.

In the room, Merlin sat on a high, wooden stool. The dim, yellow candlelight flickered unceasingly, as Merlin closed his eyes. He was still reflecting on today's fight and kills.

This was his first time killing people, both in his past and present lives, and he had killed four! However, Merlin had not felt uneasy at all while he had been killing them. Instead, he had felt very calm.

"That courtyard was the secret headquarters of Gia and the others, so definitely no one knows about it. They'd even refrained from communicating with the other people in Blackwater City to maintain their secrecy. That's a good thing for me. At least no one will notice it."

Merlin carefully thought about the possible dangers that this incident might bring. If there was any danger, he was afraid that it would be because Gia and the rest still had companions out there. However, the probability of this was very small. They would definitely have gathered their strongest forces to face a Spell Caster.

After pondering for a while, Merlin stopped thinking about it. He took out the yellowish pieces of paper that he had found on the bearded man's corpse. Surprisingly, there was a Spell Model on them.

Merlin had not looked at them carefully while he had been getting rid of the corpses, so he was not sure what kind of Spell this was.

Merlin pushed the candle lightly and put the yellowish papers under the candlelight, carefully looking through them.

"Frost, an Ice-type Zero-level spell."

There was a burst of glee in Merlin's heart; this was a Zero-level spell, and coincidentally, also a binding Spell he had been dreaming of.

Merlin already had the Spell Model for a Whirlwind. It was the second type of Zero-level spell recorded in old man Etha's Spell Manual; back then, the old man Etha had also cultivated the Whirlwind.

Nevertheless, the Whirlwind and the Fireball were the same; both of them were offensive spells. After analyzing, Merlin had come to the conclusion that this Whirlwind was actually not a Spell that was the most suitable for him.

He already had the Fireball, and its power was immense. What he urgently required was a support type or a Binding spell.

Now, he had obtained a Binding spell by accident, which coincidentally matched the usage of a Fireball. The combative effect would definitely be excellent.

As a Fire Swordsman, the bearded man had kept on him the Spell Model of Spell Casters. This was very strange in itself. However, thinking about how the bearded man seemed to be mysteriously hostile towards Spell Casters, Merlin could make a vague guess.

The bearded man must have also wanted to be a Spell Caster. Perhaps it was because of the fact that his Mind Power was too weak, he was unable to become a Spell Caster. Therefore, although he had the Spell Model of a Frost, there was nothing he could do with them.

Therefore, as time passed, the bearded man had nurtured an animosity toward Spell Casters.

The bearded man possessed a Spell Model but had been unable to cultivate it. Now, that had become an advantage for Merlin.

"Mind Power's still somewhat insufficient and unable to support two Spell Models. Looks like I'll have to wait a while before I can cultivate the Frost."

Merlin frowned. There was some resentment in his heart.

Although he was already cultivating the Mind Meditation Method, the growth of his Mind Power could only take place after a long period of time. It would take days and months for it to accumulate and grow. Merlin was unable to support a second Spell Model with the standard of Mind Power that he currently possessed.

"Looks like I have to spend some time meditating."

Merlin's Mind Power had now become his shortcoming. Because he owned The Matrix, all Spell Model construction problems that plagued every Spell Caster were not a bother at all to Merlin. What he lacked was a tremendous amount of Mind Power that would be able to support even more Spell Models.

On the second day, Merlin sat in Moss' carriage. He got Moss to drive the carriage on the streets, making a huge round; in actual fact, he was observing the courtyard where the bearded man and the others had lived in.

Just as Merlin had expected, there was no more scent of blood outside the yard now, and there were not many people in the area. To maintain their secrecy, the bearded man and the others kept minimal contact with the people around them. Therefore, even if they were to disappear for a year or so, it would not attract much attention.

Merlin let out a soft sigh of relief. The best ending to that would be for him not to be discovered.

However, there was still Gia. Her appearance was unusual in itself, therefore it had been very easy for her to attract attention. Moreover, she was the etiquette class teacher. Some suspicions would definitely arise if she were to disappear.

Therefore, Merlin attended etiquette classes over the next few days to understand the reactions of the people regarding Gia's disappearance, so that he could prepare himself to take countermeasures at any time.

The landmark building of Blackwater City was indisputably the Castellan's Mansion.

The Castellan's Mansion was encircled by great city walls. There was a castle inside with conical roofs. In front of the castle were even more knights of the City Defense Troop walking to and fro; it was difficult for Normies to even get close to the Castellan's Mansion.

Suddenly, a troop of knights who were charging ahead quickly appeared not far away from the Castellan's Mansion. By the looks of the attires on this troop of knights, they were vastly different from the knights of the City Defense Troop.

It was only until this troop of knights had come close that they could gradually be seen more clearly; there were twenty or so men in this troop of knights, counted from both the front and the back. They seemed to be escorting a carriage in the middle.

Escorting the carriage, these knights closed in on the Castellan's Mansion at high speed.

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Chapter 30: A Distinguished Guest

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

The captain of the knights of the City Defense Troop immediately stepped forward, shouting at the troop which was galloping toward them from the distance, "Which aristocrat is it?"

Ordinary people were not allowed to form troops of knights; only aristocrats had the right to form them with a certain amount of knights to guard the safety of their territory. As for the others such as merchants, wealthy men and so on, all of them were not allowed to form troops of knights. They could only employ the services of some powerful Swordsmen at best.

The troop of knights before them slowly decreased their speed. The leading knight was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a helmet that looked like fire and a suit of heavy armor. Riding a mighty black steed, he slowly came forward and said in an indifferent and condescending manner, "I'm Baron Vingult Bore. I've brought an important guest to visit the honorable castellan today."

"So, it's Baron Vingult. Please hold on for a moment, I'll go and inform the honorable castellan about your arrival."

Naturally, the captain of the City Defense Troop knights knew who Baron Vingult was as he was an important aristocrat in Blackwater City. However, before he left to make his report, he gave a deep, hard look at the carriage that was in the middle of the knights. The identity of the person in the carriage must be extremely respectable, to be personally escorted by Baron Vingult.

Therefore, the captain of the knights did not dare to tarry. He hastily entered the Castellan's Mansion.

As Baron Vingult gazed at the great Castellan's Mansion, a hint of a blazing glow flashed across his eyes. Following which, he called out softly to someone behind him, "Tirath."

Tirath had followed as well, in the midst of the troop of knights. Hearing Baron Vingult's voice, he hurriedly took a few steps forward and said in a respectful tone, "Father, what are your orders?"

Baron Vingult's eyes narrowed a little. He lowered his voice and said, "In a while, Augustin definitely won't allow entry to all of you, so you take charge of the knights in the castle and be on guard here. Wait for me to come out."

Tirath squinted his eyes slightly. He asked somewhat worriedly, "Father, would there be any danger, if Augustin disagrees…"

"Disagrees? It'd be even better if he disagrees. After the business is done, who knows, the master of this Castellan's Mansion might have to be changed. As for danger… With the presence of that honorable sir, what danger could there be?"

Baron Vingult looked to the horse carriage behind him. There was even a hint of fear on his face.

In just a short while, the knight who had gone to send his report returned. He respectfully looked at Baron Vingult and said, "The honorable castellan has ordered that only the baron and the distinguished guest in the carriage may enter."

Baron Vingult nodded. "Lead the way!"

Saying thus, Baron Vingult and the mysterious carriage slowly followed the knight and entered the Castellan's Mansion.

Inside the reception hall of the Castellan's Mansion, the current castellan of Blackwater City, Baron Augustin, sat on a chair. He furrowed his eyebrows as he gazed out with bright, piercing eyes.

"Castellan, sir, Baron Vingult has arrived."

Baron Augustin hurriedly waved his hand, saying, "Welcome, Baron Vingult."

His voice fell when Baron Vingult strode into the hall with a big smile, before bowing slightly toward Baron Augustin as a form of etiquette between aristocrats.

Baron Augustin's expression did not change. He merely gave Vingult a cold look before saying calmly, "Baron Vingult, is there anything of importance that pushed you into not staying in your castle, and instead, coming to this Castellan's Mansion of mine?"

Despite Augustin's chilly tone of voice, Vingult was not offended. His expression remained the same. All he did was to lower his voice as he spoke, "Baron Augustin, I'm not the one who has come to find you this time. It's a distinguished guest instead!"

Having finished speaking, another man dressed in a white robe, with a silver crossed-swords embroidery in front of his chest, came into the hall.

When he saw this white-robed man, Augustin's expression changed greatly; he immediately stood up and said in a deep voice, "Wizard Jason, haven't you already killed the evil heretic the last time? Could there still be evil heretics in Blackwater City?"

Astonishingly, this white-robed man was Wizard Jason who had previously come from Grand City to Blackwater City and killed old man Etha.

Wizard Jason had a pair of extremely clear eyes that seemed to be able to see through a man's heart. He did not reply to Baron Augustin's question. Instead, he said with a spurious smile, "Baron Augustin, you should be making your decision already!"

Hearing those words, Augustin could no longer maintain his composure. He sat on his chair with a stunned expression as he hung his head, his face as dark as deep water.

Wizard Jason's purpose did not have anything to do with any evil heretic; it was for him to make his decision!

"Is the church finally taking action? Can't they wait a while longer?"

Augustin asked, with an ashen white face.

However, Wizard Jason's expression was somewhat indifferent and cold. He said with a sneer, "Baron Augustin, we've given you ample amount of time to consider this matter. Once we take action, the promise before this would be considered invalid!"

Augustin's lips were drying up. He looked at Vingult, who was beside Wizard Jason; he knew that if he still did not agree, the Vingult family would be the ones gaining an advantage eventually. As for the Augustin family, they might go on a complete decline due to a wrong decision made by him.

He could not afford to pay such a huge price!

After a long moment, Augustin slowly lifted his head. He took a deep breath and said in an extremely grave tone, emphasizing every word, "Wizard Jason, my City Defense Troop knights will obey your every assignment at any given time!"

"Haha, Baron Augustin. You're willing to return into God's embrace, and you'll still be God's most faithful believer. God will never abandon a faithful believer. Don't worry, we'll not be moving immediately, but we still need the cooperation of the castellan for what comes next."

"Wizard Jason, tell me, what should be done? I, from the Augustin family, am God's most faithful believer!"

Since the decision had already been made, Baron Augustin's heart relaxed instead.

"It's very simple. The castellan only has to invite all aristocrats in Blackwater City to the Castellan's Mansion for a discussion on the recent problem of frequent bandit attacks on the small towns. I believe all of them will come. By then, we'll naturally treat the aristocrats who are willing to have faith in God and become a believer well. But, if they're stubborn and foolish, I'll personally strike and kill them!"

After hearing Wizard Jason's plan, a chill pierced through Baron Augustin's heart. If this plan really succeeded, they would be able to capture all of Blackwater City's aristocrats in a single swoop.

Seeing that Wizard Jason's eyes had looked over to him, Augustin hurriedly said, "Wizard Jason, please don't worry. I'll surely inform all aristocrats of Blackwater City to come forth in my capacity as the castellan."

The matter was just about to be settled when Baron Vingult, who was on the side, suddenly stepped forward. In a low voice, he said, "Wizard Jason, Wilson is currently not in Blackwater City. He has gone to a land within his territory and has not return until now. If he isn't dealt with, I'm afraid that, by relying on the heavy armored knights in his hands, he would bring us a lot of trouble."

"Wilson? Castellan, what do you think should be done?"

Wizard Jason's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Baron Augustin coldly.

Baron Augustin glanced at Vingult; everyone in Blackwater City knew about the grudges between Vingult and Wilson.

After a moment of contemplation, Augustin said in a low voice, "Wilson has been in the army for twenty years and has accumulated various achievements in war before finally becoming a baron. He could be said to have plenty of experiences on the battlefield! The heavy armored knights trained by him, close to two hundred of them, are the most elite amongst the elite. Even my City Defense Troop knights wouldn't be able to block the attack of the heavy armored knights under Wilson, I'm afraid. Moreover, Wilson himself is a Second-level Elemental Swordsman. His power is great, making him very difficult to fight!"

"But, you can't dismiss getting rid of Wilson if you wish to control Blackwater City. Based on his nature, it's absolutely impossible to get him to betray the Royal Family and rely on the church, so he has to be eliminated. In this case, we could delay the time of the meeting slightly so that Wilson has time to hurry back from his territory. By then, with Sir Jason in the city personally, what trouble could Wilson stir up that we should be afraid of?"

Wizard Jason nodded, seemingly in approval and praise. With a smile, he said, "Not bad, not bad, Wilson has to be dealt with! But it's unnecessary to delay the time. The castellan should still send people out to pass the invitation to all aristocrats, including Wilson Castle. As for Wilson, hehe, he won't be able to return, forever…"

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Chapter 31: Territory I

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

Merlin sat in Moss' carriage, laying down on his side slightly and going along with the bumps of the carriage. He was unmoving; Merlin was currently meditating. This type of Mind Meditation Method did not require any stringent conditions to be met; it could be cultivated whenever and wherever.

Right then, Merlin wanted to construct the second Spell Model in his Awareness as soon as he could. To do that, it was necessary for him to strengthen his Mind Power, and so far, the only way to increase his Mind Power was to meditate.

"Master Merlin, we've arrived."

Moss' voice sounded out softly. Following which, Merlin opened his eyes and pushed the curtains of the carriage aside before jumping down.

This was already the third successive day that Merlin had attended etiquette class. During these past three days, Gia's disappearance had already begun to arouse the suspicions of some people.

Therefore, Merlin had to pay even closer attention to the reactions of the people there.

He had just walked into the room on the second floor when he saw the little fatty Gutt. He was sitting in front of an organ with his two fat hands on the keys, currently performing a piece.

Although Merlin did not understand music that much, even he could not stomach the music played by Gutt. This was not music at all, it was a racket.

How could all ten of little fatty's fingers that were full of meat like thick firewood sticks be suitable to play music?

They had a music class today. There were some other people in the room who just could not stand the torturous sounds Gutt was making. Thus, with angry roars, they chased Gutt off the organ.

The little fatty Gutt did not mind at all. After seeing Merlin come in, he came over to Merlin's side cheerfully. With one hand on Merlin's shoulder, he said casually, "Merlin, you've been so punctual these past few days arriving here, hehe, this isn't your style. Could it be that you're waiting for Gia?"

Little fatty Gutt had a mischievous grin on his face and even made eyes at Merlin.

Merlin was already used to Gutt's jokes, so he did not mind. Instead, he asked in a low voice, "Right. Gutt, you're well-informed, so do you know why Teacher Gia hasn't been coming these few days?"

Gutt shook his head. "I don't know. Gia's identity is mysterious, and she was hired on a temporary basis as well. No one even knows where she lives, so don't even talk about knowing of any news about her. I heard that there's already a candidate as the new history teacher and they'll be coming to class tomorrow, hehe, perhaps she'll be even more charming and touching than Gia!"

Merlin did not contribute any further to the conversation, but there was a slight sigh of relief in his heart. Gia had been sent by the Kingdom of Blackmoon, so naturally, her identity had to be kept a secret. It would not have been discovered by anyone.

In that case, however, she had disappeared and no one was able to investigate and discover the real reason why. This was extremely fortunate for Merlin. By the time the new history teacher took office, who would still remember Gia?

"Merlin, you be careful around Tirath recently. Ever since he failed at inviting Gia to the dance for his birthday, he's never come here again. He's been shifty and mysterious lately, don't know what he's up to."

Gutt advised Merlin out of kindness.

"I'll take note."

Merlin nodded, but he did not mind it much in his ear. Right now, he was most concerned about his Mind Power and when he would attain the level at which he could construct the second Spell Model.

After returning to Wilson Castle, Merlin was just about ready to go back to his room and meditate. Nowadays, other than eating and sleeping, practically all of his time was spent on meditation and increasing his Mind Power.

Awareness was still necessary for meditation, which was why the effect of meditation would not take place in the unconscious state he would be in after he fell asleep. Meditation had to happen in an indistinct, seemingly real yet unreal state for his Mind Power to grow gradually.

Therefore, Merlin could not meditate when he was sleeping. Otherwise, he would use all eight hours of sleep to meditate so that his Mind Power would grow faster.

Nevertheless, it was at this moment that the butler came up to him. He said to Merlin, in a soft voice, "Master Merlin, there are two City Defense Troop knights outside. They say that they've come to look for the baron on the orders of the castellan."

"Knights from the City Defense Troop?"

Merlin frowned. He did not feel favorable towards the knights from the City Defense Troop now. The last time they came, they had taken him away and sent him to the Guardian Swordsman of the church for interrogation. He had even faced the extremely dangerous Wizard Jason. He had been lucky that Wizard Jason had not discovered anything out of the ordinary, allowing him to escape danger.

"Let them all in."

Merlin spoke coldly. Although he felt dissatisfied with these knights from the City Defense Troop, they had still been sent by the castellan so he could not choose not to see them. After all, in Blackwater City, the most powerful person was still the castellan.

Very soon, two tall and big knights wearing silver light armors came into the hall. After the butler introduced Merlin to them, they gave a small bow as a form of salutations before speaking in a respectful manner, "Master Merlin, we're here on the honorable castellan's orders. We've come to inform Baron Wilson to come to the Castellan's Mansion after three days for a meeting with all the aristocrats in Blackwater City to join forces in dealing with the issue of the bandits."

It turned out to be the problem of facing the bandits. Merlin had also heard about how great numbers of bandits had suddenly appeared around Blackwater City and continuously attacked some small towns surrounding the city. Even with the City Defense Troops mobilized, they had not been able to eliminate those bandits. In addition, Old Wilson seemed to also have encountered some small gangs of bandits on his trip to collect taxes on his territory this time. He had even sent General Prat back to despatch some heavy armored knights.

The appearance of the bandits could already be considered a certain threat to Blackwater City, which was why the castellan had not hesitated to mobilize all the aristocrats of Blackwater City. He wanted to unite in fighting against those bandits.

"Alright, I know, I'll definitely inform father as soon as I can."

Merlin beckoned with his hand, getting the butler to send the two City Defense Troop knights out.

In just a short while, the butler had sent the two knights out before coming back into the hall. He spoke to Merlin, "Master Merlin, I'll immediately send someone to inform the baron."

However, Merlin waved his hand and said calmly, "That's unnecessary, I'll personally go to the territory this time and inform father."

"Master Merlin, the area around Blackwater City isn't safe now."

The butler advised him against the idea hurriedly. He did not wish for Merlin to encounter bandits on the way there and suffer an untimely death.

"We can despatch more knights as escorts. Even though there are no more of father's heavy armored knights in the castle, if we send a few dozen more of the other knights to go with me, nothing bad will happen. Alright, that settles the matter. I'll set off early tomorrow."

Merlin spoke in an unquestionable tone of voice. He was so determined because, in actual fact, he merely wished to take this opportunity and have a look outside of Blackwater City. Ever since he had arrived in this world, Merlin had not been to anywhere other than Blackwater City.

This was such a good opportunity. How could he miss it?

"Master, I'll go and make preparations now."

Seeing that he was unable to dissuade Merlin, the butler could only go downstairs and make preparations. After all, Merlin's safety was very important. Even without the might of the heavy armored knights, the power of Merlin's convoy must not be weak. It would take some time just to pick and choose the knights who would be part of the convoy.

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Chapter 32: Territory II

Translator: J_Squared Editor: J_Squared

On the next day, just as dawn broke, the Wilson Castle bustled with activities. Troops of light-armored knights, comprised of more than sixty men, assumed their positions near the main doors.

"Be careful, don't stop along the way, go straight to your father's territory."

Macy urged Merlin to be cautious. She had received news that Merlin was going to the territory last night. By then, the butler had made arrangements for everything; even if Macy had wanted to stop him, it would have been too late.

Merlin nodded before stepping into the horse carriage. The journey this time was far and would take almost a day to complete. The person driving the carriage was still Moss. Hence, Merlin would have someone familiar with him.

"Moss, let's go."

At Merlin's orders, Merlin slowly left Wilson Castle under the escort of many knights.

The carriage quickly drove out of Blackwater City. This was the first time that Merlin was coming out of the city to see the outside world, therefore he did not meditate. Instead, he pulled the curtains in the carriage aside and observed the scenery outside the city everywhere.

The roads outside the city were very bumpy; they could not be compared to the roads in the city that were inlaid with flat stones. The roads outside the city were, at best, some mud mixed in with some gravel that had been spread at random on the ground. There were gullies everywhere, causing the ground to be high in some places, and low in the others. Even if Moss could be more skilled at driving the horse carriage, he would still have no way of stabilizing the carriage.

It was fortunate, then, that Merlin's current body had already become very strong and fit after going through the nurturing of the mysterious posture on the relief sculpture. Therefore, Merlin could still withstand being slightly tossed about like this.

Merlin's carriage was in the middle of the team of knights. Pulling aside the curtains in the carriage, Merlin was able to see a knight on the side. He was around sixteen or seventeen years of age and still looked very young. However, his hands were full of thick calluses, caused by long years of wielding the sword.

"What's your name?"

Merlin asked the young knight.

The young knight hurriedly answered in a respectful manner. "Master Merlin, I'm called Yaguez."

"Yaguez, how many years have you been in Wilson Castle?"

"Master Merlin, I was chosen by the honorable baron three years ago. Then, after two years of hard training, I was finally promoted to a knight."

There was a hint of gratitude and pride on Yaguez's face. Merlin knew that to be a knight of an aristocrat was already a glory in the eyes of the common folk.

The entire family of a person who had become a knight of an aristocrat within his territory would receive some tax exemptions or reductions. Therefore, it was the dream of many civilian children to be a knight by the side of an aristocrat.

To become a knight at the age of sixteen or seventeen, Yaguez should also have really great talent, in addition to his hard training.

"Do you have a fire type physique?"

Merlin continued to ask because he could sense that some Fire Elements in the surroundings were entering the sides of Yaguez's body without ceasing.

"Yes, Master Merlin. I possess a fire type physique, but had I not met the honorable baron, I'd have starved to death a long time ago. The baron has said before that a knight must be loyal, righteous, brave and devoted. I will follow the baron and be his subordinate throughout my entire life and be his knight. This is also my first time carrying out a task, Master Merlin. Don't worry. Even if we encounter bandits, I will definitely protect you."

Yaguez spoke in a solemn and extremely sincere voice. Merlin could feel that those were the true thoughts coming from Yaguez's heart.

Looking at Yaguez's sincere face, Merlin nodded gently before putting the curtains of the carriage down and drawing his head back into the carriage.

"Protect me?"

Merlin could not help but shake his head. The current physical fitness of his body was such that he could basically match the peak of a First-level Elemental Swordsman already. In addition, he was also a mysterious and powerful Spell Caster. Who would he need to protect him?

Nevertheless, this also indirectly reflected Old Wilson's methods. Every knight under him was extremely loyal to Old Wilson.

This also caused vigilance to be raised in Merlin's heart. Old Wilson had an abundance of tricks and was extremely perceptive. If he met Old Wilson in the territory, he could not say much and must be careful and prudent, to avoid revealing any tell-tale flaws.

Merlin had only watched the sceneries outside the city for a while before he lost interest. Thus, he laid down on his side in the carriage and began to meditate on his Mind Power.

"Master Merlin, we've arrived at the territory."

After who knew how long, Merlin woke up from his meditation.

"We've arrived?"

Merlin lifted the curtains in the carriage and discovered that it was already sunset; the color of the sky was gradually becoming somewhat dusky. At the end of the small, winding road was a gigantic castle. It was the castle in Old Wilson's territory.

This castle looked extremely ancient with pointed and conical roofs. The bricks on the walls were already turning black, and he could see that there was a section of the wall that had been repaired

Merlin leaped down the carriage and walked forward. A few knights guarded Merlin by staying around him; although they had already reached the territory, they still did not let down their guard.

"Stand still, who are you people?"

The moment they came near to the castle, four guards blocked the road.

A knight next to Merlin hurriedly stepped forward and said, "This is Master Merlin, he has come to the territory to see the baron for an important matter."

"Master Merlin?"

Those few guards were somewhat doubtful. They had never seen Merlin, but they had also heard that Baron Wilson had a son called Merlin.

"Master Merlin, please wait for a moment. We're getting General Prat to come forward and confirm."

The guards did not let Merlin into the castle. Instead, they sent people off into the castle to look for General Prat.

Merlin frowned. It was not because he felt disgruntled over being blocked, but because the guards in the castle were somewhat too careful and prudent. Could it be that something had happened to the castle, causing the security of the castle to be this tight?

"I'll ask Prat in detail after he arrives."

Merlin was already aware that something might have happened in the castle during this period of time. However, he could only learn everything after Prat had come.

After waiting for a moment, Prat's figure finally appeared. He walked over with quick steps and berated, in a loud voice, "Let me through quickly, he is Master Merlin, all of you take a good look now and remember him well. When Master Merlin comes in the future, you're not allowed to stop him!"

General Prat reprimanded the guards severely for a while, before bringing Merlin into the castle.

As they walked, Merlin inquired. "Uncle Prat, has something happened on the territory? Why are such strict precautions being taken?"

Prat hesitated for a moment. After that, he lowered his voice and said, "It's all because some time ago, a huge gang of bandits was discovered around the territory. For security, the entire territory has been plunged into a state of war. Precautions are very strict."

Merlin was rather surprised. He had not encountered a single bandit on his way here. He had originally thought that the territory had not been invaded or harassed by the bandits. Never had he imagined that the situation had already become so severe.

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