Under the guidance of the boatman, Lynn left the bustling harbor and traversed several streets until they reached an abandoned, run-down house in the northern part of the city.
"Please come in, Lord Raebel. Mr. Loude is waiting for you inside," the boatman gestured, inviting Lynn to enter.
Lynn nodded and pushed open the door, only to discover that the dilapidated exterior was but a facade. The interior of the house was an entirely different world.
The walls were built with heavy stone blocks and adorned with precious oil paintings and sculptures, giving the place an air of elegance and the faint scent of perfume filled the air.
In stark contrast to this elegant setting, burly men wielding large axes stood on either side of the room, eyeing Lynn like a lamb being led to slaughter.
Lame Loude, his wooden leg clearly visible, stood by a long table. He appeared to be around fifty, with a head full of white hair and a thin, hunched figure. His most striking feature was, of course, his wooden prosthetic leg.
Upon seeing Lynn, Loude's anger welled up, and he scolded him vehemently, "Raebel, have you gone mad? I've told you not to cause any trouble for me recently..."
"But today, you got into a brawl with Bob at the harbor over a cargo shipment! Do you know that the Church is likely to have noticed us by now? Two batches of sea vessels have been confiscated in the past three days..."
Loude chastised him, deeply troubled. However, he soon realized that something was amiss with the Raebel standing before him. Despite his reprimands, there was no fear or panic in his demeanor. Instead, Raebel was steadily approaching him.
"Wait... You're not Raebel!" Loude's thoughts raced, and he realized this. With a look of shock, he took several steps back and ordered the guards by his side in a loud voice, "Stop him!"
Only Loude's most trusted guards were allowed into this room, so upon hearing the order, they, along with the burly men around, didn't hesitate and raised their axes, attacking Raebel from all sides.
[Initiate Overload Mode, time is three seconds!]
Just a moment before the axes struck, Lynn silently chanted in his mind.
In an instant, the positions and movements of everyone in the room were displayed as data in his mind.
Lynn effortlessly sidestepped one of the burly men's attacks, disarmed him, and then kicked him away. He swiftly turned and struck another guard in the stomach with the back of the axe, before charging forward, defeating the remaining guards.
During this brief moment, Loude had managed to flip over the long table in his path. His wooden prosthetic leg was incredibly agile, more so than a real leg. With a whooshing sound, he covered a considerable distance in just a few steps.
Lame Loude... was surprisingly fast!
This spectacle left Lynn momentarily stupefied, but he quickly snapped out of it. He raised his hand, and several sparkling ice blades materialized in the air.
At the same time, Loude felt the intimidating presence behind him, but he paid it no mind, for the secret passage was right in front of him, within arm's reach.
However, the ice blades were faster. The one that had been launched earlier struck his prosthetic leg, causing him to lose balance and fall to the ground. Then, another [Icy Blade] flew and embedded itself in his robe.
"Keep running!" Lynn closed in step by step, coldly instructing. He had spent the past few days putting in a lot of effort to find Loude and wasn't about to let him escape easily.
Lynn quickly realized that his words might sound somewhat like those of an antagonist, but he changed his tone and explained, "In fact, I've come to rescue you, Mr. Loude!"
Lame Loude, feeling the chill around him and looking at the seemingly "friendly" Lynn, nervously swallowed a mouthful of spit.
Well, he would have to trust him for now!
After a friendly exchange, the previous misunderstanding was resolved. Loude called a few of his subordinates to clean up the somewhat messy room, and then invited Lynn to take a seat.
"Wizard, is there something specific you came to discuss with me?" Loude inquired cautiously.
"Of course, I've come to rescue you!" Lynn declared without hesitation. "As far as I know, the Church has secretly dispatched three thousand guards to Harbor Town, and they seem to be targeting the Dockside Guild."
"That may not be the case..." Loude shook his head, as he had also received this information but did not share Lynn's judgment.
"Just three days ago, the Archbishop of Nordland and his forces launched an attack on the town of Uhl and encountered a powerful wizard. It was only after paying a heavy price that they managed to drive the wizard away. These three thousand guards are likely here to guard against that wizard."
At this point, Loude suddenly looked at Lynn, and a speculation emerged in his mind.
"Yes, I was the one who fought against that Archbishop," Lynn nodded, not hiding the fact.
Seeing Lynn admit it, Loude couldn't help but be amazed. Based on the information he had received earlier, Archbishop Anluke managed to drive off the wizard but suffered from severe, incurable injuries himself.
Rumors had it that the place where they clashed had been turned into a white wasteland, and the horrifying blaze had not been extinguished to this day.
This illustrated the immense power and mystique of this magic.
Could it be that he was sitting across from a grand wizard?
No, that was highly unlikely.
Loude quickly dismissed this notion. He had witnessed the power of grand wizards before. A grand wizard could even temporarily freeze the cataclysmic vortex known as the "Eye of Death" with their full power. If Lynn possessed such power, Archbishop Anluke would have been the one to flee.
Given this, Loude immediately deduced that Lynn was a powerful wizard of the third circle.
Unaware of Loude's thoughts, Lynn continued to explain. "If you think that the Church is making all this noise just for me, that would be foolish. Archbishop Anluke's real goal is to find the route to the Wizards' Sanctuary. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone out of his way to come to Harbor Town."
"Furthermore, I've received information that on his way to Harbor Town, Anluke captured several wizard apprentices."
"They are all disciples of Kora and are well aware of this route and its connection to the Dockside Guild. The Church has not yet taken action against them, most likely because they haven't extracted enough information from them."
"I don't have much time left for you!" Lynn said solemnly.
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