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.