Encounter (Part 1)

"Boom."

With a huge and muffled sound, it felt as though the entire basement was shaking.

After a moment, Merlin stood up from the ground, gently patting his head. Dust covered both his hair and his clothes. Right there on the ground, the spot struck by that massive fireball had formed a half-meter-wide crater directly, making the terrifying power of the fireball just now abundantly clear.

Merlin hurriedly checked his Sea of Consciousness and discovered that the horizontal bar had turned gray once again, while the spell model showed no other changes aside from its mana being completely depleted.

Looking at the huge crater on the ground, Merlin still felt a lingering fear. The power of that fireball exceeded his expectations, and the appearance of that massive fireball was definitely closely related to the horizontal bar that had inexplicably appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

Next, Merlin tried every possible method, closely monitoring the changes in the horizontal bar within his Sea of Consciousness. Ultimately, Merlin discovered the function of the horizontal bar.

As it turned out, as long as Merlin cast Fireball three times, the color of the horizontal bar would change from gray to red. At that moment, simply stimulating the horizontal bar with Mental Power would trigger the spell model, releasing a behemoth-like fireball. Its power could be described as terrifying, being at least three times stronger than a regular fireball.

Merlin racked his brains to figure out the reason for the appearance of the horizontal bar. Perhaps it was due to the spell model redesigned by the Matrix, or perhaps it was because of the constitution of a transmigrator like Merlin, which caused the horizontal bar to appear.

Regardless of the reason, this horizontal bar was of enormous benefit to Merlin, at least for now, capable of unleashing three times the power of an ordinary Zero-Level Spell. Although Merlin did not know the power of a First-Level Spell, if he triggered the horizontal bar, the fireball it released—even if inferior to a First-Level Spell—shouldn't be far behind.

Moreover, this was a hidden power of Merlin's that could be used as a trump card.

Based on the massive fireball released by the horizontal bar, Merlin referred to the Fireball stimulated by the horizontal bar as the Greater Fireball, and this name was also extremely fitting and vivid.

Following that, Merlin continued to practice Fireball in the basement.

Deep in the night, under the dim candlelight, Merlin leaned over the desk and carefully perused the final volume of spell notes.

Old Aita's spell notes consisted of three volumes in total. The first volume contained Old Aita's introductions regarding spellcasters, along with some of his personal insights and experiences during daily spellcasting.

The second volume was dedicated to recording the various spell models that Old Aita had painstakingly constructed over the span of more than a decade. Merlin had finished reading the first two volumes of the spell notes, and as a result, he had reconstructed his spell model. He had even simulated the Fireball spell model within his Sea of Consciousness, yet during his process of practicing Fireball in the basement, he discovered some of his current shortcomings.

Among them, the most important point was insufficient Mental Power!

A spell model pertained to whether one could become a spellcaster, while Mental Power pertained to whether one could become an even more powerful spellcaster. Therefore, a powerful spellcaster had to excel both in constructing spell models and in Mental Power in order to hack through all obstacles and ultimately become a lofty, powerful spellcaster.

As for increasing Mental Power, the sole method was meditation.

Merlin's current Mental Power could barely control a single spell model. If he wanted to construct a second spell model in his Sea of Consciousness, he would be unequal to the task. Hence, Merlin started looking through Old Aita's spell notes. He believed that Old Aita would definitely have left a Mental Meditation Method within the spell notes.

Merlin slowly opened the mysterious third volume of notes, and among its sparse few pages, he indeed found some Mental Meditation Methods. However, according to Old Aita's introductions, these Mental Meditation Methods all belonged merely to primary meditation methods, and their effects were limited.

These meditation methods also had certain distinct characteristics of their own. Some meditation methods excelled at restoring Mental Power; once Mental Power was excessively depleted, meditating at that moment could restore it within a very short time.

Meanwhile, other meditation methods could grow Mental Power, and what Merlin wanted was this type of Mental Meditation Method that grew Mental Power.

After careful selection, Merlin chose a primary meditation method and began following its method, closing his eyes and maintaining the stability of his Mental Power.

This kind of Mental Meditation Method required long-term practice to bring about subtle changes imperceptibly. Therefore, after mastering the steps of the meditation method, Merlin opened his eyes and stood up without checking the state of his Mental Power, nor did he expect the Mental Meditation Method to take effect immediately.

"Young Master Merlin."

Outside the bedroom door, Lucija's voice sounded.

"Come in."

By this time, Merlin had already gotten up and dressed.

Lucija pushed the door open, entered the room with her head lowered, and said to Merlin, "Young Master Merlin, the housekeeper asked me to come and take your measurements so I can make some clothes for you."

Merlin lowered his head to look at his own body. Recently, he had also felt that the clothes on his body seemed a bit too small. For some reason, over the past few months, his physique had rapidly grown strong like a ballooning entity. His past clothes felt very ill-fitting when worn, and movement was extremely inconvenient.

"Come on."

Merlin hesitated for a moment, yet still took off his outer garment, wearing only a thin shirt. He spread his arms wide, signaling for Lucija to step up and take his measurements.

Lucija hurriedly stepped forward, holding a measuring tape in her hand to measure Merlin's height.

However, Merlin's height had also shot up by a large margin over the past few months, so Lucija could not quite reach. She could only stand on tiptoe, gently brushing against Merlin's front chest as she labored to measure his height.

Lucija tilted her head up. She wore a set of white maid attire with the collar pulled rather open. A slight lowering of Merlin's head allowed him to see a vast expanse of dazzling whiteness within.

Lucija was naturally very beautiful; the few freckles on her face not only failed to affect her beauty, but instead appeared somewhat charming. Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze appraising Lucija somewhat unscrupulously. For a moment, even though it was very cold outside the castle, Merlin still felt a wave of feverish heat surging up within his body.

"Young Master Merlin, the measurements are done."

Lucija seemed to have sensed Merlin's gaze, an expression of panic and fluster on her face. She hurriedly stepped back a few paces, lowering her head and not daring to look at Merlin.

"Alright, you may go out."

Merlin waved his hand, dismissing Lucija. He walked over to the mirror and gazed at the young face within it. Merlin could not help but smile slightly, murmuring in a low voice, "It seems I've been cooped up for a bit too long..."

Ever since arriving in this world, Merlin had always possessed a strong sense of crisis. Consequently, no matter what he did, he was extremely cautious and appeared exceptionally prudent.

Later on, when he came into contact with spells, he threw himself into them heart and soul.

Yet, after all, this body was a mere sixteen years of age—precisely the age of hot-blooded vigor. Even without such thoughts on his part, his body would involuntarily manifest certain reactions.

Merlin put on his outer coat and went downstairs, but he did not see Mei Xue's figure.

"Housekeeper, where is Mei Xue?"

"Miss Mei Xue has already left for the church."

Merlin nodded. For the past month, he had been busy practicing Fireball in the basement, often failing to even catch a glimpse of Mei Xue. Yet watching Mei Xue leave early and return late every day, it seemed she still hadn't broken through to become an Elemental Swordsman.

Regarding Elemental Swordsmen, Merlin only knew a few generalities. As for what specifically needed to be done to break through and become a true Elemental Swordsman, Merlin was not very clear either.

However, to become an Elemental Swordsman, the most crucial thing was the accumulation of elements. Only when the elements accumulated to a certain degree within the body could one successfully become an Elemental Swordsman.

Mei Xue possessed a fire-attribute constitution, requiring the accumulation of fire elements. The spell model in Merlin's Sea of Consciousness was also absorbing fire elements, and there might be some commonalities between the two.

When Mei Xue returns, I'll find some time to try and see if I can help her break through to become an Elemental Swordsman.

Merlin made a silent decision in his heart.

After finishing breakfast, Merlin wrapped a gray scarf around his neck and walked straight out of the castle.

The housekeeper asked somewhat quizzically, "Young Master Merlin, are you going out?"

"I'm going out for a walk."

"Please wait a moment, Young Master Merlin. I'll go call Moss."

Merlin shook his head slightly and said, "There's no need. I just want to go out for a walk by myself."

With that, ignoring the housekeeper's bewilderment, he left the castle directly.

Merlin walked for a stretch and arrived in front of Old Aita's small wooden cabin.

Gazing at the small wooden cabin from afar, Merlin's expression was very complex.

The small wooden cabin was completely abandoned. Because this was a place where an evil heretic had once lived, practically no people came around usually. In the small garden in front of the cabin, some lingering flowers and plants were now covered by heavy snow, leaving only a vast expanse of white visible.

Merlin shoved his hands into his coat pockets and wore a hat on his head. He looked around and, seeing that there truly were no people about, he stepped forward to push open the rusty iron gate and walked up the wooden stairs.

Merlin took off his hat and gently patted away the snowflakes on it. Raising his gaze toward the second floor, he was just about to head upstairs when his eyes suddenly narrowed slightly and his expression instantly turned tense.

"Footprints. Someone has been here."

Merlin said softly. He saw that on the stairs, which had originally been covered in dust, exceptionally clear footprints had actually appeared. Moreover, judging by the fact that they were still stained with some damp soil, it was obvious that these footprints hadn't been there long; someone had been here, and furthermore, the other party was very likely still upstairs!

Thinking of this, Merlin looked up at the upstairs level vigilantly, then gently put on his hat, lightened his footsteps, and cautiously walked upstairs.

The footprints on the stairs remained very clear. This was thanks to the fact that the small wooden cabin had not been cleaned for a long time, resulting in an abundance of dust on the stairs, which allowed the footprints to be seen distinctly.

Arriving on the second floor, Merlin inspected the door handle carefully. The dust on it was very sparse, indicating that someone had grasped the handle and opened the door.

"Who on earth is it?"

Merlin did not rush into the house. He narrowed his eyes as one familiar person after another flashed through his mind. Those footprints looked very petite; they did not resemble a man's footprints, but rather a woman's.

"Could it be Miss Kailisi?"

Merlin could not help thinking of Kailisi. After all, Old Aita was an evil heretic, and people from Blackwater City generally did not dare approach this area. The only ones familiar with Old Aita who frequented the place were Merlin and Kailisi.

Right at that moment, Merlin's acute hearing suddenly caught the sound of very light footsteps coming from inside the house—someone was walking toward the main door.

A thought stirred in Merlin. He hurriedly pressed his body against the left side of the main door, his eyes fixed intently upon it.

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