The Ring

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.