Merlin attentively listened to Elena's introduction of the ancient monument. The more he listened, the darker his expression became. Although he did not know the exact location of the ancient monument Wizard Sammir and the group was going, he had heard some descriptions of the place.
The situation of the ancient monument as explained by Elena was almost the same as what was told by Wizard Sammir. This confirmed that the information regarding the ancient monument had spread throughout Floating City.
"How is it, Wizard Merlin? It may be dangerous in the ancient monument but we should be able to overcome many dangerous situations with my ability. We'll benefit a lot from this."
Wizard Glen squinted his eyes and his lips quirked into a smile. He appeared to be confident.
"Swoosh."
Suddenly, Merlin stood up and shook his head. "Wizard Glen, Elena, I have some matters to attend to. I'll excuse myself first. As for the matter of the ancient monument, I think I'll pass."
After saying that, Merlin directly left the house, leaving behind a group of Spell Casters in the room. The atmosphere was extremely grim. The smile on Wizard Glen's face was frozen in place and his expression showed a hint of embarrassment.
"Hehe, Elena. The prodigy you talked about all day doesn't even dare to enter the ancient monument. Haha…"
Wizard Ken shot a glance at Elena and his words carried a mocking tone. Meanwhile, Elena's expression was rather dark. She ignored Wizard Ken's mocking statement.
Elena's gaze revealed a hint of confusion. She thought that Merlin would gladly agree to enter the ancient monument. Little did she expect Merlin to immediately reject her and leave.
Wizard Glen soon recovered from the shock. He took a thoughtful glance at Merlin's back, then spoke in a low voice, "Doesn't matter. We won't force him. Six-Elemental Spell Caster? He's far inferior to Kleis. Such a cowardly attitude will never make him a First-level Spell Caster… I can protect the three of us just fine in the ancient monument. It's more appropriate to have one less person!"
Looking at Wizard Glen's dark expression, Elena opened her mouth. She knew Glen's character well; Glen must be furious at Merlin at the moment.
However, Elena only ended up opening her mouth with no words coming out from her. She stared at the direction where Merlin left with a complicated look…
After Merlin left the Delman clan, he wore a rather dark expression. He raised his head to look at the booming Floating City and multiple thoughts crossed his mind.
Since the information about the ancient monument had been leaked, Wizard Sammir and his group had lost the upper hands in this matter. He would need to discuss this matter with Sammir as soon as possible.
Upon thinking that, Merlin headed directly to Wizard Sammir's residence.
Soon, Merlin arrived at his destination. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Merlin could not help but yelled urgently, "Wizard Sammir, things are bad!"
"Hmm? Wizard Merlin, you came right on time. We're about to look for you."
Merlin saw Wizard Sammir, Wizard Bren, and Wizard Riesen from the courtyard. These three were surprisingly gathered at Wizard Sammir's residence.
"Why are you here?"
Merlin shot his gaze at Wizard Bren and Wizard Riesen. When his gaze fell on Wizard Riesen, his glance paused slightly.
"Wizard Merlin, what do you mean by 'bad' earlier?"
Wizard Sammir did not answer directly but instead, he asked Merlin.
Merlin thought for a moment and finally replied, "The information about the ancient monument has spread throughout Floating City. I'm not sure if Wizard Sammir is aware of that."
"Oh? Wizard Merlin, you came at the right time. Wizard Bren and Wizard Riesen rushed here today for this matter as well!"
It turned out that Wizard Bren and Wizard Riesen came to Wizard Sammir's for the same reason as him.
Following that, the four went to the living room and discussed the spread of information regarding the ancient monument in detail.
Wizard Sammir spoke first, "The information of the ancient monument has leaked since some time ago. Only a few of us knew about this information, but I reckon no one will leak the information. Then, only one possibility is left. Other Spell Casters have found the ancient monument incidentally."
In fact, it was easy to understand this matter. No matter what Merlin and the others were planning to do, they would definitely not leak the information. Meanwhile, since the ancient monument was found by Wizard Riesen, other Spell Casters could have found the ancient monument as well. Thus, the spread of information was not absolutely impossible.
It was not important whether who had spread the news around. Rather, the actions of Merlin and the others in face of this situation were more crucial at this moment.
"Everyone, let's talk about it. What should we do now?"
Wizard Sammir asked in a heavy tone as he scanned across the room.
"What can we do? Although the spread of information regarding the ancient monument has caused some disadvantages for us, the situation is not bleak. With our abilities, it's a piece of cake to enter the ancient monument. Who dares to fight us? Whoever that comes our way, we'll kill them!"
Wizard Bren let out a smirk and his tone was rather intimidating. Even the Alchemy Creatures in a great shape behind him had adopted a cold attitude with his words. They released an intimidating aura, faintly forming a sense of pressure around them.
Wizard Riesen glanced at Wizard Bren and nodded. He said in a calm tone, "That's right. With our abilities, who dares to fight us when we join forces? We must enter the ancient monument and we must be quick. Even without having the upper hand, we shouldn't fall behind, too. Otherwise, even if the danger in the ancient monument cannot be easily overcome by ordinary Spell Casters, some roaming wizards might just be lucky enough to infiltrate the deeper region of the ancient monument. It'll be bad when that really happens."
By now, some Spell Casters had definitely entered the ancient monument. Some of them could have the luck and avoided the danger zones in the ancient monument. When they reached the deeper region of the ancient monument, they would take all spells, casting tools, and potions.
Although there was a sense of urgency in Wizard Riesen's tone, Merlin noticed the calm composure hidden deep in Riesen's eyes.
This showed that Pandora Demon Ability which Wizard Riesen cared most about could be safe. In other words, the place where the Pandora Demon Ability was located could not be found easily by ordinary Spell Casters.
"Wizard Merlin, what do you think?"
Wizard Sammir looked at Merlin once again. Since the last time Merlin used his Glacial Finger and killed the powerful Wizard DeMarco in an instant, Merlin had an important role in the small group. Wizard Sammir and the others had completely acknowledged Merlin as their equal.
Merlin thought for a moment and shook his head slightly. "I think the situation is quite bad. The information has been leaked for some days. Some Spell Casters of Fourth-level and above may have gone there by now. Although we have three Third-level Spell Casters in the group, our abilities are still slightly inferior to those of Fourth-level and Fifth-level Spell Casters."
Ever since Merlin knew about the spread of information, he had been weighed down by worries. He thought that the situation was terrible. If the ancient monument had attracted the attention of Fourth-level Spell Casters, their advantage would become less apparent.
Merlin even began to imagine the scene where powerful Spell Casters of Fourth-level or Fifth-level fighting frantically for Pandora Demon Ability in the ancient monument.
However, after Merlin had finished his words, he raised his head to find Wizard Sammir and the others giving him strange stares.
"Is something wrong? Isn't our situation quite bad?"
Merlin frowned. He did not understand why the others would have such strange looks.
After a long moment, Wizard Sammir seemed to think of something and came to a sudden realization. He shook his head slightly and wore a bitter smile. "Wizard Merlin, how many Fourth-level Spell Casters do you think there are in Floating City?
"Those Spell Caster clans have one powerful Fourth-level Spell Caster at most. In addition, Sterling House in Floating City, albeit strong, was only a branch of the organization. Sterling House also has a rule to follow - they never send Spell Casters into an ancient monument. They can only buy things from Spell Casters who risked their lives in the ancient monument with a fortune.
"Other than Sterling House, the rest are roaming wizards… Wizard Merlin, you may have come from a spell casters' organization and don't know about the real situation of roaming wizards. It's extremely difficult to reach Third-level for roaming wizards. Wizard Bren, Wizard Riesen, and I are considered to be a handful of the strongest roaming wizards in Floating City. I've never seen a roaming wizard of Fourth-level and above in Floating City during all my years here."
Merlin suddenly realized that Wizard Sammir and the others were considered the powerful ones amongst roaming wizards. The cultivation of roaming wizards was extremely difficult. Merlin had learned about it briefly from Elena. Hearing this again from Wizard Sammir had further deepened his understanding regarding roaming wizards.
Some roaming wizards could have experienced some sort of wonderful encounters and in addition to having excellent talents, they could have the chance to become Fourth-level Spell Casters. However, surely such people were not present in Floating City. Wizard Sammir and the others were said to be the most powerful roaming wizards here. That was the reason why Wizard Bren had such an overbearing attitude earlier.
"Other than Spell Caster clan and roaming wizards, there are also spell casters' organizations! Should they hear about the ancient monument, won't they send strong Spell Casters to the place?"
Merlin immediately thought of the powerful spell casters' organizations, hence raised the question.