ã€ŠMerlin: The man who forged his own destinyã€‹


 Chapter 1 â€“ The encounter [PR]

    Chapter 1 - The encounter

    Morgan Le Fey, was your average college student, average grades, average looks¡­ Well, if there was something unusual about him, that would be his hobbies¡­ He was an Otaku, he really liked anime and manga, to the degree that he sometimes even cut classes to watch some episodes of his favorite anime.

    He also liked RPG games and he often imagined what he¡¯d do if magic really existed in the world. He never had helped anyone nor accepted help from anyone, but this time it was different, this time he had to act. He was going home, but he was late for the new episode of his favorite anime, so he decided to use a shortcut.

    He never went through that back alley if he could avoid doing so, it was too dark and there were always a prostitute or two with their clients whenever he passed through it. But today the scenery had changed, instead of the usual women, what was there that day was a group of men molesting a beautiful blonde young woman.

    The girl was called Sheena Altan, she was Morgan¡¯s neighbor, as well as the girl he had a crush on. When he realized who she was he run towards her, but before he could get to her, she suddenly stood up with a sinister grin on her face.

    Morgan continued looking at her and suddenly realized something, she was drenched in blood and the men who were trying to assault her weren¡¯t in sight anymore, he then looked down and saw the men, they were all dead, she had cut their throats and stabbed their hearts in less than a second. Morgan helplessly looked at her without knowing what to do next.

    She then grinned again, licked the blood on her knife and asked Morgan "So, do you also want to make me yours by force?"

    And, without giving him any time to answer her question or to react, she cleanly stabbed her knife through Morgan¡¯s heart, killing him on the spot. Morgan couldn¡¯t believe what had just taken place, and while he was trying to understand it, his consciousness fell into a bottomless darkness¡­

    *****************************************************************************

    ???: "Morgan Le Fey."

    Morgan heard his name and then he felt a warm presence in the darkness. This presence was a being made of pure white light, and that warmth he had felt before was emanating from it.

    ???: "Morgan Le Fey."

    Morgan: "Yes, that¡¯s my name and¡­ could you please tell me who or what are you? No, wait¡­ where are we? And how come I¡¯m alive after I was stabbed in the heart?"

    ???: "Please make one question at a time. My name is Fate, I¡¯m the being who reigns above the fates of every living creature in this universe. As for where we are, we are in a time before any time, we are in a place before any place, we are nowhere, yet we are anywhere. And about your last question¡­ what was it again?"

    Morgan: "I had asked how come I¡¯m alive after I was stabbed in the heart."

    Fate: "Oh, that! Well, the answer is rather simple, actually: YOU ARE DEAD!"

    Morgan somehow felt that she wasn¡¯t deceiving him (at least, he thought the being was a she), but the answer puzzled him even more. Then Fate started talking again, and explained to him how mortals are often mistaken when it comes to the concept of fate: fate was like a road, with a beginning and an end already decided from the moment a being was born, but as a road, fate has many detours, which ones are taken depends upon the choices the individual makes in his life, but no matter what choices are made or what detours are taken, the individual will always end up returning to the main road called fate.

    Then she said that every individual has a unique fate given to them by her upon their birth. Only one fate, no person should have more than one, for it goes against the laws of the universe, that¡¯s why it should be impossible. Then she said something that startled Morgan.

    Fate: "Well, that¡¯s how it should be, but you somehow ended up having two fates. The one I gave you at birth, by which you shouldn¡¯t have died so young, and the one that killed you, which came from somewhere else. It should be a fate provided by a being like me, but who resides in a parallel universe. As for its reasons for interfering with another universe by giving you an additional fate, I have no idea, but now that it has come to this, you have a choice to make."

    Morgan: "I don¡¯t understand, what choice are you talking about? I¡¯m dead, isn¡¯t that supposed to be the finish line?"

    Fate: "Well, that would be the case for someone else, but not for you. You didn¡¯t die because that was your fate, you died because of an external interference. So I¡¯m giving you a choice, you can either clean your soul, forget your past life and reincarnate in your previous world like every other soul, or¡­"

    Morgan: "Or?"

    Fate: "Or I could backtrack the energy signature present in your foreign fate to find the parallel universe, it originated from and reincarnate you there, with your memories intact. As the fate from there is already used up, the one which will come into play there is the fate I gave you at birth."

    Morgan: "Oh! I choose option two! I want to go to a parallel universe!"

    His childish reaction to the words ¡°parallel world¡± amused Fate, when Morgan calmed down she began speaking again.

    Fate: "I don¡¯t know what kind of world will end up into, only that it¡¯ll be one of the many worlds existent in the parallel universe that your corrupt fate came from. You won¡¯t be bound by the fate I gave you, actually, it will give you a total freedom of choice in that universe, that¡¯s something no being in a universe should have, apart from the ruler of fate, of course. That total freedom of choice of yours will probably change the fate of those around you, if that change will be for the better or for the worse, I don¡¯t know."

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    Morgan: "Ok, I¡¯ll be careful then, I don¡¯t want to screw someone else¡¯s life."

    Fate: "After you reincarnate there this time, the cycle of reincarnation of your soul will be linked to that universe and you will never be able to come back, are you sure you really want to go there?"

    Morgan: "Of course I¡¯m sure! Who would be the idiot to miss the chance of going to a parallel universe?! I even get to keep my previous memories, so I couldn¡¯t care less about coming back!"

    Fate: "Ok, ok, I understand. You¡¯ve made up your mind so the only thing left to do is to send you there¡­ Hmm, Morgan?"

    Morgan: "Yes, what is it, Fate?"

    Fate: "I¡¯ll give you a piece of advice before you go. The fate I gave you at your birth will automatically align with the signature energy of that universe right after your birth in that world. But that alignment won¡¯t give you the power of the freedom of choice right away, it will leak bit by bit, and it should be fully yours in more or less 6 or 8 years."

    Morgan: "Ok, I can wait. There is no need to rush things. It¡¯s as they say: ¡±Haste makes waste¡±, and I¡¯ve been given a second chance at life, while retaining my past life¡¯s memories, there is no way in hell I¡¯m doing something which could get me killed while I¡¯m still an infant!"

    Fate: "Ok, ok. I just wanted to make sure you understood the risks involved. Ah! One last thing, Morgan!"

    Morgan: "What is it?"

    Fate: "After you become strong enough¡­ If you ever find the bastard who ignored the multiverse treaty and interfered with my universe, causing your death, I want you to greet him in my place, BY KICKING HIS BALLS AS HARD AS YOU CAN! Ok? Could you please do me that favor?"

    At that moment Morgan started wondering about how powerful he would need to become to kick the balls of a supreme being who rules over the fates of several thousands of millions of lives and survive doing so. He concluded that it was impossible, not even in a thousand lifetimes would he be able to reach such heights of power.

    Morgan: "Yes, Ma¡¯am!"

    Fate: "Morgan, stay still, don¡¯t speak and unless you want pieces of your soul scattered among a dozen different worlds, DON¡¯T DISTRACT ME!"

    A very complex magic formation appeared in front of Morgan. The formation started glowing and enveloped him, finally, there was a flash of silvery light and Fate was all alone in the darkness, once again.

    Fate: "I think I¡¯ll miss him¡­ It had been a long time since I had last had such a good conversation with someone¡­"

    *****************************************************************************

    Morgan¡¯s POV:

    While Fate was talking about how I should be careful and avoid showing any sign of abnormality after birth, because I had yet to make my fate¡¯s power mine, I was thinking about my past life, and the many regrets I had. I never had a girlfriend, I was an unwanted child whose parents never cared about him, and my only friends were the books in the library. If I carefully think about this new opportunity I¡¯ve been given to start all over, I really would need to thank Sheena for killing me.

    Then, Fate suddenly gave me a chill and requested something from me¡­ an impossible task which I¡¯ll have to try my best to accomplish¡­ It¡¯s better not to make her mad, after all she is the one making my soul reincarnate into a parallel world, who knows what kind of shitty place I¡¯ll end up in if I piss her off¡­

    Fate: "After you become strong enough¡­ If you ever find the bastard who ignored the multiverse treaty and interfered with my universe, causing your death, I want you to greet him in my place, BY KICKING HIS BALLS AS HARD AS YOU CAN! Ok? Could you please do me that favor?"

    ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS? How the heck should I find a being as powerful as her, when I will reincarnate as a mere mortal in one of the many worlds that conform that parallel universe? And¡­ did she just say ¡°After I become strong enough¡±? This chick is crazy as hell. How am I supposed to match the power of that being while I¡¯m a simple human? Not even a thousand lifetimes would be enough to fulfill her request, but merely for my own sake, I complied with her demand.

    Morgan: "Yes, Ma¡¯am!"

    After that, a very complex magic formation appeared in front of me. I thought it looked really interesting, I had read about magic formations in manga and light novels, but seeing the real thing made me realize that I was yearning for learning magic. The moment right before the flash that reincarnated my soul appeared, one thought crossed my mind ¡°I hope the world, I¡¯m going to reincarnate into is a world of sword and magic¡±.

    The next thing I remember after that, is opening my eyes and seeing a lot of giant people looking at me. At first, I was confused, but after a few seconds I cleared my mind and understood that those people were my new family, and that I had successfully reincarnated into a baby¡¯s body.

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    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 2 â€“ Family [PR]

    Chapter 2 - Family

    Morgan quietly observed the people in the room, there were a middle-aged man, three young boys, the woman who was holding him (he assumed she was his mother), a teenager girl who was fidgeting while looking at him, and a girl in a maid outfit. Morgan guessed these were the members of his new family, but he was puzzled by the expression in their faces, it wasn¡¯t the joyful expression people usually have when looking at a newborn baby, it was the expression of someone attending a funeral. Not knowing what to do in that situation, Morgan reached his mother¡¯s hair with his little hands and started playing with it. The instant he did so, the people in the room stopped showing a worried expression and started to talk among themselves.

    Morgan expected to have to spend several years learning the language of this world, but he understood it from the beginning, he just considered it a side-effect of his fate aligning with the signature energy of this universe. From their conversation, Morgan started to understand what had happened a while ago. It seemed that the previous awkward atmosphere in the room was due to him not crying, but seeing him playing with his mother¡¯s hair made them understand that he was just fine.

    He also learned who the people in the room were, as well as their position in the family:

    His father was Anthon Pendragon, he was 35 years old and, for his outstanding services to the Shephiran Kingdom, he had been given a knighthood several years ago. He was currently serving in the palace as an instructor for the crown Prince, but he liked to talk about how his ancestors had once been rulers of a kingdom before the Great Magic Era. He was blond with blue eyes, and he had two wives: Emelyn and Leyla.

    His mother was Emelyn Pendragon, she was 27 years old, and she was a sixth rank fire-earth dual element magus. She had four sons with her husband Anthon. She was a very caring woman when it came to her family, but it was better not to make her mad. She was a redhead with blue eyes.

    Leyla Pendragon, she was 17 years old and Emelyn¡¯s little sister. She was a second rank wind magus and Anthon¡¯s second wife, but she had yet to give him children. She was a redhead with green eyes.

    His three siblings: Arnold (11), Josh (8), and Bly (4) were blond with brown eyes, just like their father. Morgan on the other hand, he was a redhead with blue eyes, like his mother.

    Finally, the girl in the maid outfit was Jasmine, she was 19 years old and she had served in this house for the last five years.

    Emelyn: "Anthon, how are we going to name him?"

    Anthon: "Hmm, let me think¡­ Got it, we¡¯ll name him Merlin, Merlin Pendragon!"

    Emelyn: "Merlin¡­"

    Leyla: "Merlin? I don¡¯t think I have ever heard that name before¡­ What kingdom is it from?"

    Anthon: "No wonder you have never heard that name before, Leyla. It¡¯s a name from before the Great Magic Era. Merlin was the name of the founder of the Pendragon clan, as well as Avalon Kingdom¡¯s first monarch."

    Emelyn: "I like the name¡­ but, why did you choose this one for him?"

    Anthon: "To honor my ancestors and¡­ because I hope our children may be able to restore the glory of our clan, at least to a certain extent."

    Emelyn: "That doesn¡¯t explain why you chose this name now and not before¡­ If those are your only reasons, you could have chosen it for another of our kids, so why didn¡¯t you?"

    Anthon: "Call it superstition¡­ but the original Merlin was a golden eyed redhead, so to honor that man, I had to wait until I had a redhead son¡­"

    Leyla: "Well, I think it¡¯s a good name."

    Emelyn: "I don¡¯t know about his future achievements, but he is my son, so I¡¯ll be proud of him and support him unconditionally!"

    After hearing his mother¡¯s words, Merlin couldn¡¯t stop his tears and started crying. His parents thought he was hungry, but how could they know those were tears of pure happiness? The words he had longed to hear from the mother in his previous world (even if she didn¡¯t actually mean them), he had finally obtained them in this new world, where he had a mother who (unlike the previous one) cared very deeply about him.

    Like that, Morgan¡¯s / Merlin¡¯s life in this new world began¡­

    *****************************************************************************

    Eighteen months later¡­

    It had been roughly a year and a half since Merlin was born in this world, Klantea. He had learnt to walk and he was starting to talk, although he had many problems to correctly articulate the words since his body was still developing. He had shown interest in books, so while his mother wasn¡¯t at home or was busy with other matters, his aunt Leyla would pick a book up and read it for him.

    Whenever his aunt read for him, he would sit on her knees and try to follow the text. This way he started learning the alphabet of this world, which was similar to the ancient runes that had been used centuries ago in northern Europe, in his previous world. Strangely enough, although he was able to understand the language immediately after being reborn, that wasn¡¯t the case with the alphabet, so this one he had to learn the hard way¡­

    Leyla had always wanted to have a little brother, but since her parents had already passed away that was clearly impossible, so she started treating Merlin as one. There were several reasons for doing so: first, her longing for a brother who would never exist; second, she had wanted to treat her other nephews that way too, but she was too busy with her training as a magus and had very little time to spend with her family, so this was her first opportunity to have a sisterly behavior with one of her nephews; and lastly, she was married, she didn¡¯t know when she might get pregnant, and after having her own children, she would have to act as a mother, which meant she wouldn¡¯t be able to spend so much time with Merlin.

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    From Merlin¡¯s perspective Leyla¡¯s actions were a good thing for him, because thanks to her reading those books to him, not only did he learn the alphabet in less than a month, he also learnt about the geography and current political situation of the continent.

    Roughly put, in this new world the seas occupied a 75% of its total surface, just like on Earth, on the other hand, this world was three or four times bigger than Earth. In this world, there were four continents, three which hadn¡¯t been fully explored: Kenton, Klasten and Kaltena, and the unexplored continent of Klatera, also known as ¡°The continent of no return¡± because not a single person who went there was ever back. The relationship between the continents Kenton, Klasten y Kaltena was almost non-existent, because the distance between continents was so great that the fastest ship had to travel for three months before reaching another continent¡­

    The little village where they lived was called Laklostia and it belonged to the ShephIran Kingdom, in the Klasten continent. Laklostia was a little town next to the border with the Klausna Kingdom, and because of that, there was a garrison two miles away from the border, to deal with the guerrilla tactics the soldiers of Klausna Kingdom liked to use, otherwise the soldiers of Klausna Kingdom would have raided the village, killed the men, had fun with the women and enslaved the survivors to sell them in their kingdom at a later date. The worst part of it was that the Klausna Kingdom denied any knowledge of their activities, so no actions were ever taken against those soldiers in their kingdom, despite having flagrantly violated the existent non-aggression pact between the two kingdoms.

    Another interesting fact that Merlin learnt, thanks to the books Leyla read to him, was that in this world elves, dwarves, beast-men, asmodian and demons actually existed. And so did monsters and dungeons, there were also branches of the Adventurers Guild in almost every town across the continent, just like this world had been created based on an RPG game or a light novel. Of course, after learning about that, Merlin was delighted and made ¡°becoming an adventurer¡± and ¡°meeting people from each of the other races¡±  his new goals in life.

    But those weren¡¯t the only changes in the Pendragon household. His brother Bly had just become 6 years old, which meant that, like every other kid, he had to go through the magic awakening test which was usually held once a month in the plaza of every village (in towns and mayor cities it was held once a week at the branch of the Magic Institute).

    After passing the test, Emelyn was told that he had a medium affinity with the earth element, which meant that if trained, Bly could become a third rank magus at most, with his affinity anything further than that would be impossible for him. But Emelyn wasn¡¯t disappointed because, although he could never go beyond the third rank, Bly was the first of his children to have some elemental affinity. Besides, he had an earth element affinity, which meant that Emelyn, being a fire-earth dual element magus, could train him and make the most of his potential far better than any hired instructor.

    Arnold and Josh usually trained all day long in the garden following the training regimen their father had left for them the previous month. They wanted to follow their father, so they decided to become swordsmen, just like him, but as their father only came home from the capital once a month, he always left them a parchment with the training regimen for the following month.

    *****************************************************************************

    And just like that, another two and a half years flew by¡­

    Merlin, with Leyla¡¯s help, had already gone through almost every book in the library and memorized each and every one of them. Most of the knowledge in those books was useless for a four year old boy, but he memorized the books regardless, because being useless now didn¡¯t mean they would be useless for him in the future¡­ the books he was most interested in were those related to compounding, survival and herbal medicine, geography and magic.

    The books related to martial arts of this world didn¡¯t pick his interest because they were mostly dedicated to fencing and archery, which a four year old can¡¯t practice. Besides, he had a profound theoretical knowledge of karate, taekwondo and aikido (being an otaku, after reading about them in the manga, he became interested in them and studied all their moves, but in his past life he had never trained, not even once), so he started secretly training in those three martial arts. He had come to believe that in this world, martial arts other than fencing and archery were non-existent, so he didn¡¯t want anyone to see him training in his martial arts, that way he could always have an ace up his sleeve¡­

    One day, Merlin was finishing his running exercises next to the old dried well in the northern part of the garden, when he heard a buzzing sound coming from inside the well. His curiosity got the best of him, and despite having been explicitly forbidden from approaching the well, he thought it wouldn¡¯t matter if it was just a quick peek. Before resuming his morning practice, he climbed the stone and looked inside, but all he could see was darkness¡­ Disappointed, Merlin tried to go back to the garden to resume his morning exercises, but he lost his foothold and fell inside the well. After hitting against the ground below, his sight blurred, and his consciousness faded away in the darkness¡­

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    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 MAPS

    Here you have some maps...

    World map:

    https://merlinthemanwhoforgedhisowndestiny.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/world-map.jpg</a>

    Shephiran kingdom:

    https://merlinthemanwhoforgedhisowndestiny.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/kingdoms-map.jpg</a>

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    Border Shephiran-Klausna

    https://merlinthemanwhoforgedhisowndestiny.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/shephiran-border.jpg</a>

 Interlude 1 - Sheena Altan [PR]

    Interlude 1 ¨C Sheena Altan

    In XX police department¡­

    Sergeant: ¡°Captain, we have finally managed to catch the serial killer who was murdering rapists!¡±

    Captain: ¡°Oh? Those are some good news for a change! Who is he?¡±

    Sergeant: ¡°Actually, sir, it¡¯s a she.¡±

    Captain: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, how did she get caught?¡±

    Sergeant: ¡°She didn¡¯t. She actually gave herself up and willingly confessed all her crimes.¡±

    Captain: ¡°That¡¯s strange, why would she do that when she hadn¡¯t gotten caught?¡±

    Sergeant: ¡°Her story is a little sick. Two years ago she was raped, and that traumatized her. Ever since then she would target serial rapists, study them, become their ideal victim and, when they tried to assault her, she would kill them. But, it seems like in her last piece of art, she killed an innocent man who knew her and tried to help her while she was being assaulted. Unfortunately, after snapping into a psycho-mode she killed him without realizing who he was, so, after regaining her sanity and realizing she had killed her acquaintance, she gave herself up and confessed. She couldn¡¯t deal with the guilt.¡±

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    Captain: ¡°Phew! That¡¯s quite the story! It¡¯d make a good movie, a tragedy, of course¡­ Well, let¡¯s go see her.¡±

    After entering the ward¡­

    Captain: ¡°Who was the idiot who let her keep her belt inside the cell?!¡±

    Officer: ¡°Well, she didn¡¯t look suicidal¡­¡±

    Captain: ¡°Idiot! Do you know how much paperwork I¡¯ll have to do because of this?¡±

    Officer: ¡°Sorry, sir.¡±

    Captain: ¡°Well, at least this means that the case of the serial murders of rapists is closed.¡±

    Sergeant: ¡°She left a note before hanging herself, sir.¡±

    Captain: ¡°What does it say?¡±

    Sergeant: ¡°Just two words: Sorry, Morgan.¡±

    _________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 3 â€“ Orb [PR]

    Chapter 3 - Orb

    After regaining consciousness, Merlin tried to assess his situation. He knew he had been unconscious for several hours, because when he fell into the well it was around eleven o¡¯clock and he was really hungry right now, he could tell it was past noon, but he couldn¡¯t be sure of the exact time. He looked around, but he couldn¡¯t see anything but darkness. Not knowing what else to do, Merlin crawled until he found the wall and tried to climb it up, but it was too slippery due to the moss, so after falling down several times, he realized he wouldn¡¯t go out that way¡­

    Merlin: "Oh, crap! I¡¯ve cut my hand with the edge of a stone¡­ just what I needed right now¡­"

    He tore a sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it around his hand to stop the bleeding. Right after he finished doing so, Merlin noticed there was a dim light on the well and it came from a stone on which he had dropped some of his blood. The stone started floating and when it was at a high of 3ft in the air, it started glowing more intently. That allowed Merlin to observe the well, and what he saw in front of him made him smile.

    In front of Merlin there was a narrow passage which went upwards, unless obstructed, it obviously would lead him to an exit. He walked towards the passage, but when he tried to step on it, the orb (that was the true nature of the glowing stone) didn¡¯t let him pass. As he was eager to get out of there, he tried to put the orb away, but the moment his hand touched the orb, there was a flash and Merlin couldn¡¯t see anything but a white space all around him.

    *What the fuck is this? Where the hell am I?* thought Merlin.

    He started walking around in that space, but nothing changed¡­ Merlin noticed something strange¡­ he had been walking for quite a while now, but he didn¡¯t feel tired at all. *How strange¡­*

    *****************************************************************************

    Merlin POV:

    I don¡¯t know whether I¡¯ve been transported somewhere or I¡¯ve fallen into a magical trap¡­ I¡¯m unable to leave here¡­ I think this time I¡¯ve messed up real good¡­

    ---BEEP---

    ---LINEAGE ANALYSIS COMPLETE---

    ---RESULT: POSITIVE---

    ---BEEP---

    ---ATTRIBUTE AFFINITY ANALYSIS COMPLETE---

    ---RESULT: EXTRAORDINARY AFFINITY WITH ALL EIGHT ATRIBUTES---

    ---BEEP---

    ---THE SUBJECT MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS TO RECEIVE THE INHERITANCE---

    ---INITIALIZING THE INTERACTIVE INTERFACE---

    ---BEEP---

    *What the heck was all that? It was like hearing an artificial intelligence (AI) of my previous world, but that¡¯s impossible, the technological level of this world is that of the Middle Ages, so it¡¯s impossible for an AI to exist here, isn¡¯t it?* That¡¯s what I thought, but what happened afterwards changed my mind¡­

    A red-headed man with golden eyes in his sixties appeared out of thin air and started talking to me¡­

    ???: "Hello, young man. You can address me as ''Orb''."

    Merlin: "Ok, Orb. May you tell me who or what you are? And, why did you trap me here?"

    Orb: "Oh? It seems there has been a misunderstanding, young man, I didn¡¯t trap you here, you did so yourself when you decided to take the test."

    Merlin: "What are you talking about, old man? I didn¡¯t decide to take any test, don¡¯t go deciding things on your own!"

    Orb: "Oh? But didn¡¯t you drop some of your blood on the orb to take the test? You did, so now that the process has already initiated, it can¡¯t be stopped until it is completed."

    Merlin: "Well, I admit I dropped some of my blood on the orb, but that was an accident. I fell into the dry well, got a cut on my hand and the blood dropped on the orb, but I didn¡¯t intend to take any test."

    Orb: "Outrageous! DID YOU JUST SAY THAT THIS MAJESTIC ORB, WHICH IS THE LEGACY OF HIS MAJESTY MERLIN PENDRAGON, FOUNDER OF THE PENDRAGON CLAN, AS WELL AS FOUNDER AND RULER OF THE MIGHTY AVALON KINGDOM¡­ DID YOU JUST SAY IT WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF A DRY WELL?"

    Merlin: "Hey! Calm down, old man! Yes, that¡¯s it, you¡¯ve got it right. Now¡­ Do you care to explain what¡¯s this all about?"

    Orb: "You belong to the Pendragon Clan and you don¡¯t know anything?"

    Merlin: "Well, it¡¯s the Pendragon family now. The Pendragon Clan you talk about doesn¡¯t exist anymore, it¡¯s just my parents, my three brothers and me¡­ As for your beloved Avalon Kingdom, it ceased to exist several thousands of years ago!"

    Orb: "I can¡¯t believe what I¡¯m hearing¡­ Not only did the Avalon Kingdom disappear, even the Pendragon Clan is almost extinct¡­ And what¡¯s worse, for more than a thousand generations nobody in the royal bloodline has met the requirements to receive Merlin majesty¡¯s inheritance¡­ Argh!  Well, at least not all is bad, it may have been several thousands of years since the orb was created, but someone of the royal bloodline has met the requirements at last! Hey, boy!"

    Merlin: "Yes, what is it?"

    Orb: "What do you know about the history of your family?"

    Merlin: "Well, dad always brags that we are the last descendants of the royal bloodline of Avalon Kingdom, he also said that our house is located on the same spot where once stood the Royal Castle. But aside from that, not much."

    Orb: "So you don¡¯t know about the ''Imagination Creation Magic'' transmitted in your bloodline?"

    Merlin: "No, what kind of magic is that? Besides, I¡¯m not 6 years old yet, so I still haven¡¯t received my magic awakening. Until then I won¡¯t be able to use any magic."

    Orb: "WHAT? YOU DIDN¡¯T RECEIVE YOUR MAGIC AWAKENING AT BIRTH? OUTRAGEOUS!"

    Merlin: "No, I didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t know about thousands of years ago, but right now it is customary to receive the magic awakening at the age of 6."

    Orb: "What foolishness! Don¡¯t they know that the growth of the mana pool during the period between 3 years old and 6 years old determines its growth rate for the rest of the life of the magus, as well as its maximum capacity? Doing the awakening at the age of six will only limit the potential of the magi! Boy, stay still for a moment!"

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    After he said that, I felt a burning sensation all through my body, and I sensed a lot of powerful energies inside me, but, despite some of them being opposed to the others, I felt that, inside me, those energies had reached a harmonious equilibrium.

    Merlin: "What did you just do to me?"

    Orb: "I just gave you your magic awakening. Although you are 4 years old and have already missed one year of the period of growth, you still have two years to go. You won¡¯t be able to reach your maximum potential, but at least your growth will be several times greater than that of the magi awakened at the age of 6."

    Merlin: "Wow, thanks! By the way¡­ What was that ''Imagination Creation Magic'' you were talking about before?"

    Orb: "That is a kind of magic passed down on the Pendragon bloodline, but to use it, the requirement is to have a high affinity with all eight attributes, as you have."

    Merlin: "That¡¯s impossible, the maximum number of elements, or attributes like you call them, that a person can have an affinity with, is 3 elements. Ever since the Great Magic Era, only one person has had an affinity to four elements, and nobody has ever managed to repeat that feat. So having all eight is impossible, only the gods are supposed to have that many affinities!"

    Orb: "Well, that¡¯s actually a misconception. Both humans and gods have an affinity to all eight attributes, the differences between them are in the capacity of their mana pool, and that gods have a certain margin to change their own fates. When it comes to attribute affinity, the number of usable attributes depends on the strength of the soul, the stronger the soul, the higher the number of usable attribute affinities!"

    Merlin: "Ok. Then, could you tell me how that magic works?"

    Orb: "You can create and learn any kind of magic you imagine, and at a higher level, you could even create physical objects out of thin air¡­ There is a catch though, you can¡¯t create any magic that already exists."

    Merlin: "Is the ancient magic that has been lost with the passage of time, and that nobody knows nowadays, also included in the restriction?"

    Orb: "I¡¯m afraid it is. Well, the ''Imagination Creation Magic'' has two main benefits for a magus, it allows its possessor to learn new spells in half the time and with half the effort, and the most important one in a magic battle: it halves the cost of mana when using a spell, which means that in a battle of endurance you¡¯ll have the upper hand."

    Merlin: "Pretty useful then!"

    Orb: "Well, now to the main topic! I¡¯ll proceed to transfer the inheritance to you, be prepared to receive it!"

    Merlin: "Ok."

    ---BEEP---

    ---INITIALIZING THE TRANSFER OF THE INHERITANCE TO THE SUBJECT---

    ---TRANSFER COMPLETE---

    ---PROCEEDING TO SELFDESTRUCTION---

    ---BEEP---

    Orb: "Well, boy, this is farewell. The inheritance you¡¯ve received is all the knowledge that his majesty Merlin Pendragon accumulated in his life. You¡¯ll probably be unable to access to most of the contents, it¡¯s a security measure he created to avoid its misuse. I¡¯ll give you the key to unlock it: ''The way to the acquisition of the knowledge is the acquisition of the knowledge''. By the way, what¡¯s your name boy?"

    *So that¡¯s just a lot of useless knowledge given that I can¡¯t access it¡­ Well, at least I got one amazing magic! But I should be careful and not to show I can use magic before the official magic awakening ritual¡­ And I¡¯ll have to think of something to hide my real elemental affinity, if people got to know that I can use all eight attributes I¡¯ll be in for a lot of trouble¡­ *

    Merlin: "My name is Merlin Pendragon. And why did you give me a riddle? I hate riddles, what the fuck did yours mean?"

    Orb: "Merlin Pendragon¡­ Appropriate, really appropriate¡­"

    Merlin: "Damn, he has disappeared and I didn¡¯t get a clear answer¡­ And how the hell do I get out of here?"

    *****************************************************************************

    Right after he wondered how to get out of the white space, there was another flash and he returned to his previous position, holding the orb while trying to enter the passage. But there was a difference, the orb had stopped glowing and, suddenly, it transformed into sand and fell from his hand to the ground. Merlin was startled by the fact that he could now perfectly see in the dark, but as he wanted to get the hell out of there, he didn¡¯t give it much thought and followed the passage until he reached the exit, which was situated 250yd from the entrance of the town.

    When the guards saw him asked:

    Guard 1: "Hey boy, are you Merlin, the youngest boy of the Pendragon family?"

    Merlin: "Yes, I am. Why?"

    Guard 2: "You, brat! You dare to ask why? The whole village has been looking for you since noon!"

    Guard 1: "Hey, don¡¯t scare the boy! Boy, hurry up and go home, your family is really worried about you, to the point that they even had ten men from Dorka Garrison come to the village to help with the search!"

    Merlin: "I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll properly apologize afterwards!"

    Guard 1: "Good, now go home!"

    Merlin went home and prepared to receive the scolding of his life, but that didn¡¯t happen. His mother, instead of scolding him, she hugged him and didn¡¯t let go of him for almost an hour, and she couldn¡¯t stop crying for almost two, although this time they were tears of relief instead of worry. When he was questioned about his whereabouts that day, he told the truth, that he fell into the well, was unconscious for several hours, and that when he finally regained consciousness he found the passage that led to the exit and returned home. He left out the parts of gaining the inheritance contained in the orb and his magic awakening. He thought that speaking of those would probably bring him trouble.

    Little could he imagine the consequences of his actions that day, that they would bring misfortune and sorrow to one of the members of his family he held dearest¡­

    _________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 4 â€“ Leyla [PR]

    Chapter 4 - Leyla

    Pendragon house, a couple of hours after Merlin fell in the well¡­

    Emelyn: "Jasmine is almost done making lunch¡­ Leyla, could you please tell Merlin to come in?"

    Leyla: "Sure, sis!"

    Leyla went to the garden but couldn¡¯t find Merlin. She recalled having seen him on the northern part of the garden, but when she got there, Merlin was nowhere to be seen. She even looked inside the well and shouted his name, but there was no answer, so she returned inside the house. When Emelyn saw her sister panicking and how pale she was, she realized something wasn¡¯t right.

    Emelyn: "Leyla, where is Merlin?"

    Leyla couldn''t stop herself and started sobbing before answering her sister''s question: "I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t find him anywhere¡­ "

    Jasmine: "Maybe he went out of the house without us noticing."

    Emelyn: "I¡¯ll go talk to the guards at the entrances of the village to make sure no one took him, Jasmine watch the other children, and Leyla, you look for him around the village, he can¡¯t have gone too far!"

    After Emelyn talked to the guards, one of them took a horse and went towards the river, after half a mile he reached the place were some men of Dorka Garrison were doing survival training, and, after talking to their captain, they all followed the guard back to the village to help with the search. The news of their arrival soon spread through the village and they started doing a door by door search. On the other side of the village two men dressed up in the Dorka Garrison uniform entered the village, but everyone assumed they belonged to the group which had come to help with the search, and didn¡¯t notice anything strange.

    Almost one hour and a half had passed since Leyla started looking for Merlin through the village. She was on the outskirts of the village, near its northeast entrance, and she noticed two men dressed in the Dorka Garrison uniform, who knocked at the door of a barn on the opposite side of the street. As she approached them to ask for news regarding the search, she looked inside the barn through the half-opened door and saw two men, one in aristocratic clothes and another one which had red eyes, was half naked and had a slave collar on his neck. One of the men in uniform covered her mouth, grabbed her right arm, and dragged her inside. The other uniformed man checked that no one had witnessed the scene and closed the door from the inside.

    Unif. man 1: "Captain, what do we do about the woman?"

    Captain: "Put a slave collar on her and have the asmodian slave have fun with her¡­ How did the scouting go? Did you manage to find out about the rounds of the guards?"

    Unif. man 1: "The scouting went well, sir. We¡¯ve already recorded how their rounds are made and the changes of the guard¡­ We¡¯ll be able to raid this village as soon as we go back to the border and get the men we have in standby there."

    Captain: "Good, very good¡­"

    While they were talking, the other uniformed man had already put a slave collar on Leyla and given her two orders: ¡°not to make a sound¡±, and ¡°to undress¡±. Leyla silently cried while her hands moved against her wishes and followed the orders of that stranger. When she was done undressing, the asmodian slave was ordered to rape her, but she couldn¡¯t bear it because she deeply loved her husband, so, as soon as she felt him inside her, her brain made her fall unconscious to protect her from going crazy. Although that didn¡¯t stop the slave and the three men from raping her, she was fortunate that she didn¡¯t have to consciously endure the process.

    When she regained consciousness, she noticed she was wearing her dress again and there was no slave collar on her neck, so she would have thought of all which she had gone through as just a simple nightmare, if she hadn¡¯t seen the man in aristocratic clothes pulling his pants up in front of her¡­ After finishing dressing up, the man looked at her and told her that if she ever told anyone what had happened there that day, they would go to her house and kill her entire family, from the oldest person to the youngest child. As she thought of Merlin, she promised she wouldn¡¯t talk and run towards the Pendragon house.

    Unif. man 1: "Captain, is it ok to let her go like that? She might tell on us anyways¡­"

    Captain: "Didn¡¯t you see the look on her face? She was more scared for the lives of the members of her family than for her own life. She won¡¯t say a word. Besides, I want to do her once more before killing her, after we¡¯ve raided this village¡­"

    Unif. man 1: "Ok, sir. I understand."

    Captain: "Let¡¯s sleep, we''ll depart tomorrow at dawn."

    Unif. man 1-2: ""Yes, sir!""

    *************************************************************************************************

    Pendragon house, midnight.

    A couple of hours had already passed since Merlin¡¯s return¡­ but Leyla still wasn¡¯t back. Emelyn wondered whether she should go looking for her, but ended up discarding the idea, Jasmine had already gone home and she didn¡¯t want to leave the kids without supervision. Emelyn showed a relieved expression as she heard her sister coming into the house, but when she asked her where she had been, Leyla ignored her and went directly to the bath. Emelyn was so surprised by her sister¡¯s reaction that she failed to notice the void look in her crying eyes.

    After Leyla stormed into the bath, she closed the door and blocked it from the inside. She could hear her sister calling her name and asking her what was wrong, but right now she couldn¡¯t say a word, she had been tainted and just wanted to clean herself up¡­ after washing herself dozens of times, she finally managed to organize her thoughts a little, despite still being hysterical and trembling, she was able to think straight and when she did, she opened the door of the bathroom, took her sister to the main bedroom and told her everything without stopping sobbing. When Leyla finished her story, she looked at her sister and what she saw in her face made her shiver¡­

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    Emelyn: "Leyla, I want you to go to bed and get some sleep."

    Leyla: "But sister, I¡­"

    Emelyn: "Leyla, I¡¯m going to go for a walk, stay here and watch the kids!"

    As Leyla saw her sister go out, she couldn¡¯t help but remember the expression she had in her face when she was told what Leyla had gone through that day¡­ And she had a pretty good idea of what her sister was going to do, as she had already witnessed her cruelty when protecting and avenging her family once before.

    It had been ten years ago, when Leyla was 7 and Emelyn had just turned 17, despite having gotten married and having a one-year-old son, Emelyn had come to her parent¡¯s house to take care of their sick mother. Leyla was really happy because she hadn¡¯t seen her big sister since her wedding, two years before. Leyla had gone with Emelyn to buy some groceries, but when they returned to the house, they found their parents dead and the killers waiting for them to finish the job.

    Emelyn was so upset that all the mana around her started running wild to the point that there was a cracking sound in the air, but that was just the beginning. Emelyn told her little sister to wait outside, closed the door and begin to punish those men. Leyla wasn¡¯t sure of what had happened, the only thing she knew was that after half an hour of uninterrupted screams, everything went silent, and when her sister came out, she was all covered in blood, despite not being injured.

    Then Emelyn took Leyla to the merchant district and stopped in front of a luxurious house. The guards tried to stop them, but they froze in fear after seeing her eyes. After she arrived in front of the merchant who had ordered the hit, he tried to flee but Emelyn didn¡¯t let him. She shackled him with magic of earth attribute and started torturing him to death. She used little earth spikes to open multiple wounds on him, then used fire magic to cauterize them and repeated that process for almost an hour. Finally, she got bored of torturing him, so she made an earth spike go through his heart and then burned the corpse to ashes. Leyla would never forget the horrendous acts her sister showed her that day, and now, Emelyn had shown her that very same expression before going out. She knew there would be a bloodbath that night.

    *************************************************************************************************

    Merlin couldn¡¯t stop trembling, ever since receiving the inheritance of the orb several hours before, he had realized that all his senses had been enhanced. This meant that he had heard perfectly well the conversation between Emelyn and Leyla, and also Leyla¡¯s confession. Merlin couldn¡¯t stop trembling, but it wasn¡¯t because of fear, it was because he was furious: he was furious at the men who had hurt his beloved aunt; he was furious at himself, because if he hadn¡¯t fallen into the well, then his aunt wouldn¡¯t have gone looking for him and gotten hurt; but what he was most furious at, were his weakness and powerlessness¡­  It wasn¡¯t just his aunt, it was also Sheena, he had been weak and powerless in both occasions, and due to it, both of them had gotten irreparably hurt.

    Merlin hated himself for being so weak, he had thought that, starting anew, things would be different, but he had only been four years in this new world and history had already repeated itself¡­ He swore that, starting next day, he would seriously train in both magic and martial arts, h-e would train until he was strong enough to singlehandedly protect those dear to him, but first¡­ he would have to comfort her aunt.

    When he entered the room, his aunt was surprised to see him. She turned her face away, hurriedly cleaned her tears and then looked at him with a big smile. Merlin looked at her eyes and saw the sorrow she was trying to hide from him. He couldn¡¯t bear it, so he run and jumped towards her, a second later he had his head on her chest, while giving her a big hug. She was really surprised because it was like this four-year-old kid knew what she had gone through and tried to comfort her¡­ but she quickly discarded the idea, because that was impossible, wasn¡¯t it?

    A couple of minutes later an explosion woke up everyone in the village. A barn had been set ablaze and nothing remained. Moments later, Emelyn entered the house, took a bath and went to her room. There she saw her sister and her youngest son peacefully sleeping while hugging each other, she couldn¡¯t help but smile, then carefully approached her sister and whispered in her ear:

    Emelyn: "I¡¯ve taken care of them, little sis. They won¡¯t bother you anymore, or anyone else for that matter¡­ There is nothing left of them, so, sleep tight, Leyla!"

    After saying that she left the room without making a sound and went to sleep in Merlin¡¯s room. She chose to do so because she didn¡¯t want to accidentally wake them up and let them see the creepy grin she had in her face right now, the joyous grin of a predator who had successfully hunted down, caught and utterly destroyed its enemy.

    Emelyn thought that they should inform her husband about what had happened today. He had returned to the capital the previous week, so it would be almost a whole month before he returned home, and this matter was quite urgent, so she decided that the whole household would set off on a journey to the capital the following day. She was certain that the children would love it, for it would be their first time going out of the village and travelling¡­

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 5 â€“ Journey [PR]

    The following morning Emelyn surprised everyone when she announced that the whole household (Jasmine included) would be travelling to Shephiria. As Emelyn expected, the children were delighted with her idea. Leyla was nervous, and Jasmine really excited, but Merlin, despite being excited about making his first journey in this world, he couldn¡¯t help but being a little disappointed, he had planned to start practicing magic that day, and, unless he wanted his secret to get out, doing that journey would mean that he had to delay the start of his magic training until he got back.

    They departed at noon with the commercial caravan. Emelyn would have preferred to depart in the morning, but the route to the capital wasn¡¯t safe and a simple carriage would make the day of any group of bandits, so she decided that they¡¯d join the commercial caravan in its return to the capital, they would be safer in numbers, and the tax for entering the towns on the route to the capital would be halved.

    ******************************************************************

    On the second day of the journey, Merlin had already grown tired of looking at the scenery and started thinking about what kind of magic training could he do without letting his mother know¡­ Mana sensing training was discarded, because ever since his magic awakening, sensing mana had become as natural for him as breathing. He thought about training the same spells he had seen his mother teaching his brother Bly, but that would also expose his secret¡­

    He really wanted to test the limits of his mana pool, and, as the only way for a magus to know how much mana he really possesses was to use magic until running out of mana, Merlin was quite exasperated with the current situation. While looking at Bly practicing his spells in front of their mother, he bitterly thought: *If only there was a skill or a magic that allowed you to see your own status and that of others, just like in a RPG game of my previous world you had the status window and the appraisal skill¡­ but as much as this world resembles a RPG game, I guess that¡¯s still impossible¡­*

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td>

    ¡°Imagination Creation Magic¡± : Creation of a new magic spell successful.

    Spell created : "Status Window Spell"

    Description: Allows the user to see his/her own statuses

    and some other personal information.

    Additional info: (Voiceless incantation), (Mana cost: 0 MP), (Non-attribute) .

    </td></tr></tbody></table>

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td>

    ¡°Imagination Creation Magic¡± : Creation of a new magic spell failed.

    Reason of the failure : Existence of a spell with the same effect: "Analytic Observation Spell".

    "Analytic Observation Spell" from the Avalon Inheritance has been unlocked.

    Acquisition of the "Analytic Observation Spell" successful.

    Description: Allows the user to see statuses of people and objects, as well as some other information

    Additional info: (Voiceless incantation), (Mana cost: 2 MP), (Non-attribute).

    </td></tr></tbody></table>

    Merlin: "What the heck?!"

    Leyla: "Is there something wrong, Merlin?"

    Merlin: "No, it¡¯s nothing¡­ Sorry for startling you Leyla¡­"

    After apologizing, he thought: *I guess I¡¯m the only one who is able to see it¡­ Well, it¡¯s more convenient this way¡­*

    When he read the contents of the second window, he realized the real meaning of the riddle left behind by Orb: The only way he had to acquire the sealed knowledge of the orb was to either create new spells which already existed in Avalon, thus receiving the original spell, or to learn new spells, which would unlock the original spells related to their level and effects. One way or the other, it was going to take him a really long time to fully unlock his inheritance¡­ Unfortunately, his ¡°Imagination Creation Magic¡± only worked that way with the spells from Avalon, with the modern spells, the magic just failed, without any consolation prize.

    He tried to use his newly acquired magic "Status Window Spell".

    Merlin: "Status Window!"

    Leyla: "Did you say something, Merlin?"

    Merlin: "No, it¡¯s nothing¡­ Sorry ¡­"

    He was puzzled because nothing had happened, then he tried to open it voicelessly, just with his thought *Status Window* and¡­

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Merlin Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>4</td><td>Race</td><td>**** Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>3</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">300/300</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.005 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">54 391</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.009 /Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Imagination Creation Magic (lv. 2)¡±,</li>

    <li>"Status Window Spell (lv. 2)",</li>

    <li>"Analytic Observation Spell (lv. 2)"</td></tr>

    </li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (extraordinary), Water (extraordinary), Wind (extraordinary), Earth (extraordinary), Space-time (extraordinary), Light (extraordinary), Darkness (extraordinary), Non-attribute (extraordinary)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Aikido (lv. 2)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Karate (lv. 2)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Taekwondo (lv. 1)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

    He was surprised at his own statuses, some of them were way higher than he expected, but then again, he had no idea of what were the average standard statuses in this world, so he used ¡°Analytical Observation¡± on his aunt and then understood how really high his statuses were.

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Leyla Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>21</td><td>Race</td><td>Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>7</td><td>Gender</td><td>Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">400/400</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.003 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">1 349</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.006 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Wind Magic¡±</td></tr>

    </li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Wind (medium)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''3''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Nursing (lv. 4)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.</li></ul>

    He decided he would later use ¡°Analytical Observation¡± on his mother, just to make sure¡­

    He was really happy for being capable of using magic, but the moment he saw his mother looking his way, he instantly stopped using magic. He had completely forgotten that his mother could feel the fluctuations in the mana around her, and he was in her range¡­ Fortunately, as his aunt was right next to him, as long as he didn¡¯t use magic, his mother would be unable to locate the exact point of origin of the mana fluctuations, and she would assume that the one using magic had been Leyla.

    Merlin asked Leyla if she had any book to read with him, but she hadn¡¯t any so she asked around and the alchemist who was in the caravan lent her a couple of books, one of them was ¡°Intermediate compounding¡±, which really interested Merlin (the books about compounding they had at the house only ranged from ¡°Initiation to compounding¡± to ¡°Basic compounding¡±), while the other ¡°Meditation techniques during the ¡®Lost Period¡¯ ¡±. The last book attracted his attention because the ¡°Lost Period¡± mentioned in the title referred to the period of time previous to the Great Magic Era, in other words, the time when the Avalon Kingdom still existed.

    He asked Leyla to start with ¡°Meditation techniques during the ¡®Lost Period¡¯ ¡±. The first thing written in the book was a warning: ¡°Please notice that the following Meditation techniques have been recovered from ancient texts found in ruins dating from ''The Lost Period''. Until the present day, no one has ever been able to meditate following this techniques¡±. Two hours later Merlin had already memorized the contents of the book and he retired to a corner of the carriage.

    From all the meditation techniques described in the book, the one which he thought most easy to learn was the ¡°Lotus Crescendus¡±. That technique, in the way it was described in the book, was really similar to the meditation techniques, martial artists used in his previous world for ki strengthening. As it was the most plausible, he decided to try it out.  After starting concentrating, he felt a lot of pain and thought *no wonder no one succeeded, who likes to feel pain? *. Right after he stopped concentrating, the pain disappeared and a new notification window popped up in front of his eyes:

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td>

    ¡°Imagination Creation Magic¡± : Skill Correction.

    Reason for the correction : Existence of the same skill with a more advanced effect: ¡°Lotus Crescendus¡±.

    Skill ¡°Lotus Crescendus¡± from the Avalon Inheritance has been unlocked.

    Acquisition of the skill ¡°Lotus Crescendus¡± successful.

    Description: Allows the user to strengthen his/her mana and increases the mana pool.

    Additional info: Meditation technique exclusive to the Avalon Kingdom royal family.

    </td></tr></tbody></table>

    He liked what he read on it, but he also thought: *It seems that it¡¯s as they say: be careful with what you wish, because it might become true! I actually believed it¡¯d be kind of cool and useful to be able to see my statuses and that kind of stuff like in a RPG game¡­ but these notification windows which pop up when you least expect them are quite irritating! * He then tried to meditate again with the corrected technique, and he was successful. He meditated for nearly three hours before dinner. At night, after he made sure his mother was already asleep, he invoked the status window and was pleased with the improvements.

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Merlin Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>4</td><td>Race</td><td>**** Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>3</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">300/300</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.005 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">54 436</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.010 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Imagination Creation Magic (lv. 2)¡±,</li>

    <li>"Status Window Spell (lv. 2)",</li>

    <li>"Analytic Observation Spell (lv. 2)"</td></tr>

    </li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (extraordinary), Water (extraordinary), Wind (extraordinary), Earth (extraordinary), Space-time (extraordinary), Light (extraordinary), Darkness (extraordinary), Non-attribute (extraordinary)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Aikido (lv. 2)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Karate (lv. 2)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Taekwondo (lv. 1)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Lotus Crescendus¡± (lv. 2)</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

    It wasn¡¯t much, but with just three hours of meditation the changes in his mana were already noticeable. This made his previous disappointment to completely vanish, for the ¡°Lotus Crescendus¡±  meditation technique would allow him steadily but surely improve his magic, which meant that despite being unable to practice spells without exposing his secret, he¡¯d be able to do magic training nonetheless¡­

    ******************************************************************

    On the third day of the journey they arrived to the commercial town of Katra, ruled by the infamous baronet Linus. There were rumors about how he abused his power and some of them even said that he was the ringleader of the black market in that town, but the royal investigators hadn¡¯t been able to prove anything so far, so he maintained his position. Merlin could see that the prices were very high, even those of basic products such as eggs and flour. He noticed that fact because he had been taught about the value of this world¡¯s currencies the day before.

    Each race had its own currency (with the exception of the devils, who had none), but dwarves, beastmen and humans used the same currency system, which worked as follows:

    100 copper coins = 1 large copper coin

    50 large copper coins = 1 silver coin

    100 silver coins = 1 large silver coin

    50 large silver coins = 1 gold coin

    100 gold coins = 1 white gold coin

    100 white gold coins = 1 twin white gold coin

    For a matter of reference, usually, a regular artisan family earns 2 silver a month.

    What Merlin saw at the stalls were baskets of 20 eggs each being sold at a price of 5 large coppers the basket. He was astonished, because back at Laklostia he had accompanied Jasmine to the market once, and the price he had seen there for a basket of 20 eggs was 50 coppers. That was 1/10 of the price at Katra!

    Merlin saw many new things in Katra. He saw beastmen and dwarves, for a long time he had wanted to see people of the fantasy races, but he hadn¡¯t seen any yet, but now, his wish was partially fulfilled! He was a little sad that he didn¡¯t get to see any member of the elven race, but he expected that he would see at least one when he reached Shephiria.

    Two hours after noon, the caravan resumed its journey towards the capital. Emelyn and Leyla saw how excited the children were and started laughing, journeying to the capital wasn¡¯t anything new for them, but seeing the expressions of awe in the faces of the children when seeing all the things new to them was really hilarious and the two women couldn¡¯t help themselves. And so, the journey continued without any major incident for another three days. Finally, the caravan arrived to Shephiria.

    _________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 6 â€“ Shephiria [PR]

    Right after the caravan entered the capital, Emelyn instructed the coachman to go towards the Palace. The first thing she wanted to do after arriving to Shephiria was to let her husband know they were there. When Anthon finally showed up, Emelyn just told him to ask for a two week leave at the Palace, and meet them at their house, then she turned around, and went back into the carriage after giving the directions of their house in the city to the coachman.

    Merlin was really surprised when he saw the house, despite it being half the size their house at Laklostia, it was larger than he had imagined. He explored the whole house, and when his mother assigned the rooms to the children, he interrupted her and asked for the basement to be his room. Emelyn didn¡¯t understand why a four-year-old kid would want to live in the basement of a house he had never been staying at before, but his answer left her dumbfounded and a little worried, because he had said he wanted to start doing basic compounding and he needed a workspace. With this answer, Merlin tried to convince her mother, but it backfired.

    Emelyn: ¡°C-compounding? What are you talking about? You are merely four years old! There is no way I¡¯m going to allow that! It¡¯s too dangerous!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, mother. I¡¯m old enough to manage the materials without any assistance. As for the theoretical knowledge, I already know the formulas up to intermediate level¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Argh! Look, Merlin. No matter how much theoretical knowledge you have about it, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you are still a four-year-old child! Working with fire and dangerous materials which can blow up anytime¡­ as your mother, I can¡¯t allow that!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°In that case¡­ If I only use non-dangerous material, and don¡¯t use fire¡­ would you give me your permission to do it?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Ok¡­ but I¡¯ll be checking on you from time to time¡­ and if I ever discover you breaking those conditions, I¡¯ll forbid you from doing compounding until you turn 15, understood?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°It¡¯ crystal clear, mother!¡± *It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to let you find out if do anyway¡­ *

    Emelyn: ¡°It better be!¡±

    After they came to an agreement, Emelyn assigned the rest of the rooms: The two rooms on the north would be used by Arnold (who would sleep alone), Josh and Bly (who would share a room). The room on the south was assigned to Jasmine. Emelyn would use the guest room, while Leyla would sleep with Anthon in the main room. This kind of room arrangements were unexpected because Emelyn wouldn¡¯t share the main room with Anthon and Leyla, but the announcement she made right after, made them forget about the room arrangement. She told them they would stay in the capital for a year and a half, until Merlin¡¯s awakening took place. Afterwards, they would return to Laklostia.

    Merlin was quite pleased by his mother¡¯s announcement. Being in Shephiria for a year and a half would allow him to do compounding to his heart¡¯s content. Thanks to their house being close to the Magic Association, he would be able to start practicing magic spells without his mother finding out about his magic awakening, for she wouldn¡¯t be able to distinguish the mana fluctuations of his magic from the ones coming from the Magic Association. And as a bonus, he might would be able to watch his father training the Crown Prince¡­ or the training of the knights¡­ and maybe pick up a few things on the way.

    His brothers, on the other hand¡­ They weren¡¯t as enthusiastic as him about remaining in the capital. The primary reason for that was their father. Back in Laklostia their father would come and supervise their training once a month, while the rest of the month they could fool around a little when training. Here, in the capital, their father would supervise their training every day¡­ and they didn¡¯t like his strictness.

    ************************************************************************************

    When Anthon arrived, Emelyn took him and Leyla into the master room to explain matters and decide how to proceed from then on. In the room, Emelyn told Anthon about Leyla, the rape and the reason she had ordered him to ask for two-week leave at the Palace. When he found out about what Leyla had gone through, he lost all the color in his face, brought her towards him and embraced her.

    He understood Emelyn¡¯s plan and although he didn¡¯t exactly liked it, he didn¡¯t have any choice if he wanted to save some face¡­ but that wasn¡¯t his main reason to accept her plan, the main reason was Leyla. If he slept with Leyla non-stop for two weeks neither of them would know whose child the baby was, and that would give them some peace of mind. Anthon was ovewhelmed by the situation, and regretfully thought *If only I had more money, she wouldn¡¯t have to go through this¡­ *

    This world had two kinds of birth-control potions: the ¡°Donna potion¡± and the ¡°Nadon potion¡±. The ¡°Donna potion¡± was a contraceptive potion, its use was widely spread and its price was 2 large-copper coins per vial. The ¡°Nadon potion¡± was an abortive potion, but as its main ingredient was ¡°Firebreath flower¡±, an S-Class ingredient only found in fire-dragon dens, its price was 30 gold per vial, which made it available only to the aristocracy or people of similar wealth.

    The following two weeks Leyla and Anthon barely went out of the room. Meanwhile, Emelyn took Jasmine and the kids around the city and bought the things necessary for the family to live in that house for a long period of time. Since up to that moment Anthon was alone in the house, furniture and some other basic items were lacking a little.

    ***********************************************************************************

    Six months later¡­

    Merlin finished his meditation, got up and started his martial arts practice. He had made a surprising discovery a couple of months before and now, after two months of practice, he had finally managed to get the hang of it. He accidentally discovered that if he circulated the mana in his body through his blood vessels, it permeated through them to the cells, and he was able to naturally strengthen his cells, without causing mana lost. This resulted in him having the strength of an adult when using this technique. It was similar to what he had read about ki strengthening in his previous world, so that¡¯s how he called that technique.

    He discovered that use of mana when he tried to circulate it through his body in an attempt to purify it, but it didn¡¯t work. Instead, he discovered a way to use mana to momentarily boost up his physical abilities, and it had an unexpected side effect: after its use a 5% of the total boost up remained, at a cellular level. Which meant that after using this technique, Merlin would become a little stronger, and that was a side effect which would make the most out of his training.

    He then checked his own status:

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Merlin Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>5</td><td>Race</td><td>**** Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>5</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">800/800</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.009 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">145 671</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.017 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.<li>¡°Imagination Creation Magic (lv. 2)¡±</li>

    <li>"Status Window Spell (lv. 2)"</li>

    <li>"Analytic Observation Spell (lv. 9)"</li>

    <li>¡°Elemental Magic (lv. 2)¡±</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (extraordinary), Water (extraordinary), Wind (extraordinary), Earth (extraordinary), Space-time (extraordinary), Light (extraordinary), Darkness (extraordinary), Non-attribute (extraordinary)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''><ul>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Aikido (lv. 5)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Karate (lv. 5)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Taekwondo (lv. 6)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Lotus Crescendus¡± (lv. 6)</li>

    <li>¡°Ki Strengthening Technique (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>"Marked mate tracking (lv. 10)"</li>

    <li>¡°Intermediate Compounding Av.In (lv. 9)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

    What he read on the window showed to him that his harsh training schedule really had paid off. He had levelled up in every way, and his mana pool had almost tripled, he didn¡¯t actually expect that 8 - 10 hours of meditation per day would have this effect on his mana pool, he expected a significant increase, but not this significant! Besides, he had checked his mother¡¯s status the previous week and her mana pool was 12349 MP, which confirmed to him, he had a mana pool which could probably rival a High Elf¡¯s. His mana pool clearly exceeded the limits of a human, and it was still growing¡­ this led him to think of the problem called ¡°Magic Awakening Ritual¡± which he would have to attend the following year. He still hadn¡¯t thought of any countermeasures for it, so it was about time to start doing some thinking¡­

    Two weeks after mastering his ki strengthening technique, Merlin went to the Alchemist Association to buy some materials (he had achieved mastery of Avalon¡¯s intermediate level in compounding) because he had started making antidotes the previous month and run out of many materials. He was especially proud of one antidote called ¡°Amariena¡±. He had tried out the formula and was successful, but he had been extremely lucky in this case, not only in getting it right at the first try, but also finding the main ingredient, ¡°Amara flower¡±, in their garden.

    The ¡°Amara flower¡± was thought to have become extinct 500 years earlier, so seeing one was no short of a miracle. Merlin, after finding the flower, he collected its seeds to plant it in the future and have his own personal share of ¡°Amara flowers¡±. The ¡°Amariena¡± was an antidote said to be able to eliminate any toxin and damage caused by it to the body, and it lasted for hundreds of years, hence despite the flower¡¯s alleged extinction, there were some vials of ¡°Amariena¡± still in existence.

    The people at the Alchemist Association thought he was running an errand for his parents, who would have dared to imagine this five-year-old boy was actually so proficient in compounding that he was able to produce even A-Rank antidotes? Obviously Merlin wasn¡¯t going to correct them, he wanted to keep a low profile, so their misunderstanding of the situation suited him just fine. When he was done, he passed by the library memorized a couple of spell books and then decided to go home because it was getting dark.

    On his way home, he heard sounds of a fight and the suffocated cry of a girl. Anyone else would have probably been unable to hear them, but his enhanced senses allowed him to do so. The sounds came from a side-alley in front of him and when he got there, the scene he saw made him lose it. He couldn¡¯t care less about the six dead guards on the ground or the man in butler clothes who was receiving a beating, but he saw three men with black knives attacking a little girl. To make matters worse, the girl had a black stab wound on her left arm and the blackness was spreading, which convinced him of two facts: first, the knives should have poison, be enchanted, or maybe both; second, they wanted to kill the girl and unless he interfered they would be successful.

    Merlin immediately used his strengthening technique and attacked the men, he started with the ones attacking the butler and finished them off by breaking the neck of the one who was crouching down, and crushing the skull of the other one with a downward kick. Then, he took their knives and threw them at two of the men attacking the little girl, two hits, two deaths, one of the knives pierced the heart of the man on the right, the other knife severed the carotid artery of the man on the left. As for the one left standing, Merlin broke one of his legs with a low kick, forced him to kneel and killed him with a heavy punch to the temple.

    He then turned around and talked to the little girl:

    Merlin: ¡°Hello, what¡¯s your name, little miss?¡±

    ???:  ¡°Ad-Adelle¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, Adelle. I want you to drink this. Don¡¯t worry it¡¯ll make you feel better.¡±

    After saying that he brought out a vial of ¡°Amariena¡± and tried to make her drink it. To his surprise, the girl was so scared because of the fight she had just witnessed, that she spilled and wasted the vial, but didn¡¯t drink it. Seeing this and that the poison in her was quickly spreading, he resorted to the ultimate method. He took out a second vial of ¡°Amariena¡±, kept the contents of the vial in his mouth, approached Adelle, kept her down against the ground, kissed her and gave her the ¡°Amariena¡± mouth-to-mouth.

    Then, after making sure the poison was gone, he used a basic healing spell of water attribute to heal her stab wound. Once he made sure she was completely recovered, he checked the butler and saw he had been rough up, but overall he was ok. Merlin heard a group of knights coming in his direction, so he quickly left the alley, just before the knights arrived at the scene.

    _________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 7 â€“ Making trouble [PR]

    Adelle''s POV:

    Those men dressed in black were about to kill us. I didn¡¯t have any hope of survival left, they were beating Laurenz to death, and the pain from the stab wound on my left arm is increasing and spreading. To make things worse, I don¡¯t even know why they attacked us, ours is just a simple merchant family who can only hire a butler and a maid, besides, I don¡¯t think grandfather would have enemies wanting to kill his family¡­ It doesn¡¯t make any sense!

    I was thinking that¡­ when he appeared. He was a cute boy with red hair and golden eyes. He looked a year older than me, but the moment he saw what was going on, the air around him froze and he let out a bloodlust that made me shiver, I had never been so scared before, yet at the same time, I felt protected.

    I¡¯ll never be able to forget what happened afterward, he killed the five men who had attacked us, and it took him less than twenty seconds to do it. Seriously, who is this boy? Then, he turned around and asked:

    Merlin: ¡°Hello, what¡¯s your name, little girl?¡±

    I was so scared I couldn¡¯t even speak properly.

    Adelle:  ¡°Ad-Adelle.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, Adelle. I need you to drink this. Don¡¯t worry it¡¯ll make you feel better.¡±

    After saying that he got out a vial and tried to cause me drink its contents. Only I didn¡¯t want to drink it, so I spilled and wasted whatever potion that was. After spilling the potion, the boy looked at me carefully and observed the wound, his gaze told me he had decided on something, but I would have never imagined what that decision of his was.

    He took out a second vial, identical to the previous one, opened it and kept the contents of the vial in his mouth. Then he approached me, kept me down against the ground in a way I couldn¡¯t move a single muscle, kissed me and gave me the potion mouth-to-mouth. He stole my first kiss! I hate him!  I hate him!  I hate him!

    I hate him for having stolen my first kiss, yet at the same time I can¡¯t help but warmly look at him¡­ No! What¡¯s wrong with me?! I should hate him and yet¡­

    When he was done with my treatment, he turned around, checked Laurenz¡¯s condition, went out of the alleyway and disappeared in the night. It was only then that I realized I hadn¡¯t asked him his name. Less than a minute after his disappearance, six knights came to the alleyway and questioned the two of us about what had happened there, and about the deaths of the guards. Usually, the matters related to security in Shephiria were left to the city guards, but when the knights learned of the disappearance of six city guards in an area close to the south gate of the Palace, they decided to go investigate so that the security of the Palace, for which they were responsible, wouldn¡¯t be compromised.

    *****************************************************************************

    At the same time, in the 7th Tower of the Cathedral, The Oracle Tower¡­

    A cry was heard in the tower, it came from the High Priestess¡¯ room, inside the Prophecy Hall. Everyone on the tower went to the Prophecy Hall to help the High Priestess, for they thought she was being attacked, but what they found in there wasn¡¯t a High Priestess being attacked, but a High Priestess who had fallen on her knees, was shivering in fear and on the verge of fainting.

    They were curious about what could have possibly driven the High Priestess to such state, so they followed the direction of her gaze and what they saw gave shudders to them¡­ because something impossible had happened: One of the prophecy tiles had shattered and became black. That had never happened before, as a matter of fact, the prophecy tiles were said to have been a present from the gods, they were indestructible, magic or blunt force, it was impossible to make a dent in them, much less shatter one.

    Besides, what made them afraid the most, was the shattered tile becoming black. The prophecy tiles were color coded: They were white, but after a prophecy is given by the gods to the High Priestess, it is automatically recorded on a white tile, turning golden. Once one prophecy has been accomplished, the golden tile which contained it returns to being white and its contents are automatically erased. No one had ever heard of a prophecy tile turning black, and they feared the unknown implications it might have.

    After the High Priestess recovered from the shock, she asked her attendants to look for any paper record of the prophecy contained in the shattered tile. Half an hour later, one of her attendants gave her a piece of paper with the transcript of the prophecy. The transcript gave her more questions than answers¡­

    ¡°On the night of the Sacred Moon the warrior princess will perish by her siblings¡¯ hands in the shadows, and the Kingdom of Shephiria shall follow her in her demise¡±. After reading those lines, she started shivering again, because that night was the night of the Sacred Moon, but the prophecy mentioned a warrior princess, and as far as she knew, the laws of the kingdom forbade princesses from becoming warriors, probably due to the existence of the prophecy. But for the tile to shatter and turn black¡­

    She finally ordered that the people who hadn¡¯t been assigned a task yet should go to the basement and search through the old records, to see if a tale had ever shattered or turned black.

    *****************************************************************************

    Shephiria¡¯s Palace. Conference room.

    Laurenz had just finished telling the king about the events that happened in the evening.

    Laurenz: ¡°Your Majesty, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s about time to come clean and tell Adelle who she really is?¡±

    King Dollan Shephiran: ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean, Laurenz.¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°But, your Majesty, Adelle is afraid, and what frightens her the most is not knowing why those men were after her life.¡±

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    K.Dollan: ¡°Laurenz, Adelle is the daughter of my late mistress Lana, even if she has my blood, she¡¯ll never be fully accepted in the Palace, actually, bringing her here would be signing her death sentence. I want her to be happy, to fall in love, to have her own family¡­ I don¡¯t wish to see her becoming a tool in the hands of the nobility. Trust me Laurenz, she is better off being the granddaughter of a merchant than being a princess!¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°I understand, your Majesty.¡±

    K.Dollan: ¡°Laurenz, about what we talked about before¡­ What¡¯s the information you have on the boy?¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°Well, he looks like a 5-6 years-old, has red hair and golden eyes. I saw him fight, and I can tell he is as strong as a regular knight of the Palace, maybe stronger. Although he shouldn¡¯t have had his magic awakening yet, I¡¯d swear he used a healing spell of water attribute to heal Adelle. Besides, I recovered the two vials he used when helping Adelle and took them to the chief alchemist in the Palace¡­ but the results were... well¡­ too frightening.¡±

    K.Dollan: ¡°Laurenz, what do you mean by that?¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°Well the result of the analysis on the vials was¡­ It was ¡®Amariena¡¯, your Majesty.¡±

    K.Dollan: ¡°¡®Amariena¡¯?! And he used two vials?! Who the heck was that boy?¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°I don¡¯t know, your Majesty, but he wore commoner clothes¡­¡±

    K. Dollan: ¡°So, a commoner who had in his possession two vials of ¡®Amariena¡¯ and didn¡¯t hesitate to use them to help a stranger, a good fighter, and possibly a magus prodigy¡­ Usually I¡¯d want him for myself and keep him in my service but in this case¡­ Laurenz!¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°Yes, your Majesty?¡±

    K. Dollan: ¡°Find that boy, then make him meet Adelle as often as possible, if we are lucky he¡¯ll grow interested in her. If he is by her side, I won¡¯t have to worry so much about her safety, and with his character he¡¯ll grow into a fine man¡­ he¡¯ll make a good husband for Adelle.¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°With all due respect, your Majesty, I think you¡¯re getting ahead of yourself. We don¡¯t even know his name, this search could take months or even years¡­ Besides, there is no certainty he''d fall for her...¡±

    K. Dollan: ¡°You¡¯re right, I got a little too excited. Anyway, find him.¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°Yes, your Majesty.¡±

    *****************************************************************************

    When Merlin got home, he was reprimanded by his mother for being so late. She told him a letter had been received from Laklostia, it seemed the village had been recently raided by soldiers from Klausna, and although there had been two deaths, they didn¡¯t get to kidnap any villagers thanks to the help of the soldiers from Dorka Garrison. On the other hand, the material damages had been great, so the letter requested that someone from the Pendragon family went to the village to confirm the damages on their property.

    Anthon had recently been appointed as the instructor of the second and third princes, which meant he couldn¡¯t go to Laklostia. Leyla was six months pregnant and in no condition to go travelling, so that only left Emelyn, and she had decided to bring Merlin with her. Merlin was about to protest, but then remembered that he had wanted to check something inside the well, so he didn¡¯t say a word. His mother said that there would be a caravan departing the next morning, its destination was Katra. From there, they would go on their own to Laklostia.

    The following morning, Merlin and Emelyn hurriedly went to join the caravan. Several hours after the caravan had departed from Shephiria, the city guards were ordered to look for a 5-6 year-old boy with red hair and golden eyes, and to report immediately if they found him, but at that time Merlin was already miles away from Shephiria. Merlin looked at his mother and asked:

    Merlin: ¡°Mother, why did you decide to bring me along in this journey?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It¡¯s just that you¡¯re always in the basement and for the last six months, aside from the meals, I¡¯ve barely seen or talked to you. So I decided to bring you along, that way I can spend more time with my son, why? Do you dislike it?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s not it, mother. It¡¯s just that I thought you would have brought one of my older brothers¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Well, Bly said he didn¡¯t want to come, as for the other two, they begged me to bring them, but that was only because they wanted an excuse to skip training.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, I understand, mother.¡±

    After three days of travelling without any significant incident, they arrived safely to Katra.

    There, they split with the caravan and went to rest to an inn. The following morning, after having breakfast, Emelyn told the coachman to go to Laklostia. She didn¡¯t know how to describe it, but she could feel that something wasn¡¯t right. She didn¡¯t want to scare Merlin, so she didn¡¯t share her uneasiness with him, but the feeling grew stronger the more they advanced towards the place where caravans usually camped to pass the night. Merlin also sensed something, but it wasn¡¯t just the gut feeling his mother had, he felt strong magic signatures and smelled blood, so he deducted that something should have happened at the camping site. But what they saw when they arrived, left them speechless.

    Tens of carriages had been destroyed, and the bodies had been mutilated¡­ There was no way to tell if the attackers had been bandits or beasts, but the cruelty used wasn¡¯t normal. Emelyn tried to protect Merlin from seeing the bodies, but that was impossible, besides he wanted to look, not for a morbid reason, but because it was something new to him and thought that if he memorized the marks on the ground and the broken carriages, he would be able to compare them to the ones in the books of the library.

    _______________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 8 â€“ Lupa and Bastet [PR]

    Seeing the corpses up close, Merlin realized most of them were beastmen. There were some humans too, but two thirds were beastmen. Emelyn, seeing that Merlin was fine despite being surrounded by corpses, was puzzled and worried, but in that situation, it was preferable to the normal reaction of a 5-year-old kid cowering in terror.

    Emelyn started looking for survivors, with all that destruction, it was unlikely to find any, but they couldn¡¯t rule out that possibility. Besides, it would be easier to determine the cause of such death and destruction if someone survived and explained it.

    Merlin followed his mother in her search, but he abruptly halted. He was sure he had heard something. He closed his eyes, concentrated on his hearing and¡­ there it was! It was faint, but he could hear the sounds of two people breathing heavily under the debris of a wrecked carriage. He looked at his mother, but she was almost at the other side of the camping site a few yards away. He then brought upon himself the task of freeing the two people trapped under the debris, so he started circulating his mana and used his strengthening technique to put the debris away.

    What he discovered beneath were two unconscious little beastmen girls, one of the cat family and one of the wolf family. The two girls were bruised all over, one of them had a broken arm, while the other had a broken leg, but overall they were fine and they would survive. Their physical damage was easy to heal, but the psychological damage was a completely different matter, it would take time¡­ how much, he couldn¡¯t tell.

    Merlin looked at his mother, she was still away and wasn¡¯t looking in his direction, so he took the two unconscious girls to their carriage, the coachman saw it, but he didn¡¯t say anything. There were two reasons for Merlin¡¯s actions: first, he didn¡¯t want his mother seeing him using magic, and second, he didn¡¯t want the massacre scene to be the first sight of the girls after waking up. He used a low-level healing spell of water attribute to heal the girls, it would take more time, but with all the interference caused by the residual magic signatures from the battle, the magic signature of his spell wouldn¡¯t be enough to be noticed by his mother. But he focused so much on the healing that he became oblivious of his surroundings, and his mother, who arrived to the carriage several minutes later, caught him red-handed.

    ***************************************************************************

    Emelyn¡¯s POV:

    I was a little worried about Merlin¡¯s attitude, a normal child his age shouldn¡¯t be able to deal so well with that situation. He started following me when I looked for survivors, but he suddenly stopped advancing and stayed just a few yards from our carriage. *I guess that no matter the situation, a child will remain a child*. Seeing that he wouldn¡¯t move from that spot, I continued looking for survivors on my own. After a while I looked at the place where Merlin was supposed to be, but he wasn¡¯t there. I called him, but there was no answer. I grew more and more scared by the second. I run to the carriage to see if he had gone inside, but an impossible sight received me there.

    Merlin was safe and sound. He was kneeling on the floor of the carriage between two unconscious beastmen girls, and he was healing them with magic. WITH MAGIC!? He had yet to receive his magic awakening a year from now, so how was he able to use magic? That should be impossible¡­ yet, he was doing it before my very eyes! I couldn¡¯t deny the evidence in front of me¡­ I checked the girls, and they were almost fully healed, so they would wake up at any time now. When Merlin was done with their treatment, he noticed me and looked at me with a panicked expression.

    Merlin: ¡°This isn¡¯t like it looks like¡­ And, you¡¯re not buying it¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°No, I¡¯m not. How is it that you are already able to use magic, when there is still a year until your magic awakening?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s not important¡­ Could you please keep it a secret? I don¡¯t want any strange men coming after me to make me their experiment material.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Ok, I won¡¯t ask you anymore, but if you want to keep it a secret, even if it¡¯s a life and death situation, don¡¯t use your magic at all until you officially receive your magic awakening,  otherwise your secret will eventually get out!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I understand, mother.¡±

    ****************************************************************************

    Then, the girls woke up screaming. They calmed down a little when they saw the interior of the carriage, but after seeing Emelyn and Merlin, they crawled backwards until they hit the wall, and started trembling in fear. Seeing this, Emelyn was about to talk to them when Merlin stopped her and asked her to wait outside of the carriage. When the girls saw Emelyn leave, they relaxed a little, but started sobbing. Merlin silently walked towards them and hugged the both of them until they finally calmed down enough to have a conversation.

    Between sobs, they told him who they were. The cat-girl was Bastet, and she was 4 years old, and both of her parents were magi, her father was a Rank 6 Fire-Wind magus, while her mother was a Rank 5 Darkness magus. The wolf-girl was Luca, she also was 4 years old, and her father was a merchant, while her mother was a Rank 5 Light-Water-Space-Time magus.

    Merlin knew that in the beastmen tribes magi were scarce, not only because the people capable of using magic in those tribes were less than in the human tribe, but also because they valued physical strength over magic, so even when someone had the capacity, it was usually left unused and the person only trained the physical strength. This meant that the two girls had really gifted parents, besides, one had a dual-element magus father and the other one had a triple-element magus mother, so the girls should have some magical capacity and at least affinity to one attribute, if not to more than one.

    After they presented themselves it was Merlin¡¯s turn. Merlin presented his mother too, but the girls didn¡¯t want to see her yet because the caravan had been attacked by human adults, and Emelyn was a human adult. Merlin asked them if there was anything he could do to make them trust his mother and they answered that if he swore eternal friendship to them and to protect them, then they would trust his mother.

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    Merlin swore it, but Lupa and Bastet denied with their heads. They asked him to remove his shirt and they removed their blouses. Merlin tried to stop them, but they said that it was necessary to do the ritual of friendship. Lupa took the initiative, took out the claws in her right hand and scratched her own chest right over the heart, then she did the same to Merlin, and after licking Merlin¡¯s wound, it closed. Finally, she asked Merlin to lick hers, and after he did, her wound closed. After Lupa had finished, it came Bastet¡¯s turn. She repeated Lupa¡¯s process and they all dressed up again after they had finished.

    Merlin suspected that, for the girls, this ritual held more importance than he originally thought, because after finishing it, their cheeks were red and they wouldn¡¯t look him in the eye. He didn¡¯t care though, because they were really cheerful now and seemed to have forgotten about their parents¡¯ deaths.

    Merlin went out and told his mother that she could enter the carriage. When Emelyn saw the situation inside, she wondered what had happened for the girls to act so shyly around Merlin, but the second she put a foot inside the carriage, the girls immediately hid behind Merlin while holding one of his hands each. Emelyn was surprised with this development, but she didn¡¯t make any comment. After Merlin presented the girls to her, she asked them about the attack.

    The girls answered that a group of about 20 people, warriors and magi, with baronet Linus¡¯ crest on their armor and robes, had attacked and pillaged the caravan under the premise ¡°no witnesses¡± and killed everyone, the two of them had been lucky and got trapped under the debris of a destroyed carriage, which made the killers think they had already died. She realized that reporting this to Katra, or doing a full report in any other town, would just make her family and the girls targets, so she decided they shouldn¡¯t report it. Someone else might do it later.

    They recovered the bodies of Lupa¡¯s and Bastet¡¯s parents and Emelyn used magic of earth attribute to make a pit under a big tree, to bury them. After finishing the burial, they got into the carriage and departed towards Laklostia. Emelyn was pouting a little because she had planned to pass all the time possible with Merlin, and the girls were so clingy with him that there was no space for her, but she understood that, in their sorrow, Merlin had become their pillar of support.

    They arrived at Laklostia three days later, but the village, they found was quite different from the one they had left six months before.  Half of the wall on the west side of the village had been destroyed, while the one on the east side was non-existent. Half of the barns had been burnt down and most of the houses had suffered damages. Their house was one of those which had been spared from pillage and damages, but that had only been because Emelyn had enchanted the walls with spells of fire and earth attributes before going to Shephiria.

    After making sure there were no damages whatsoever, Emelyn proposed to take a bath. Merlin would go first, then she and the girls would enter together. Lupa and Bastet wanted to go in together with Merlin, but Emelyn didn¡¯t yield. Merlin didn¡¯t exteriorize his thoughts to avoid hurting the girls, but he was secretly grateful for that, the girls were over-clingy and even though he enjoyed their physical contact, having it 24/7 wore him out.

    When he finished bathing, he dressed up and went to investigate the well. He had a theory and he wanted to see whether he was right or not. He went to the well, made a ladder with magic of earth attribute and descended to the bottom. He thought that this well might hold other secrets besides the orb and the tunnel which led outside the village, but the only way to know if he was right was to search it by himself.

    Emelyn went into the bath with the girls, who were blankly staring at her bosom, but seeing them, she couldn¡¯t help but sigh, because she recalled a similar situation with her sister ten years before¡­ she wondered why it is that little girls always envy the size of a busty adult woman, they usually get depressed over their own size without realizing that they still have many years to develop theirs¡­

    That train of thoughts was stopped when she saw something on the chests of the girls. She had little knowledge about the customs of the beastmen tribes, but she was certain that the ¡°mate marking ritual¡± couldn¡¯t be done before reaching adulthood at the age of 15. That meant that either they knew the ceremony and performed it on their own, or their parents had already chosen a mate for them and the ritual had been performed at a very young age. Emelyn decided that if they already had a mate, they should go to them and stay with their families.

    She decided to ask them about their marks, but the answer she got left her speechless. They shyly said that the mating marks were real, that they shared the same mate, and that their mate was Merlin. Emelyn didn¡¯t know how to react to that new information. She checked if the girls understood the real meaning of the ritual, and they did, as for the reasons why Lupa and Bastet chose Merlin as their mate were different, yet quite similar:

    Lupa: ¡°Our people can assess the strength of a person by their smell. Mother always said that if I found a man whose smell is stronger than a dragon¡¯s and who made me feel safe, I should try to seize him no matter what, and Merlin met those requirements.¡±

    Bastet: ¡°I-I just really liked his smell, besides, I wouldn¡¯t be able to find a place where I feel safer than by his side.¡±

    After saying that, the two girls looked down and covered their red faces with both hands.

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 9 â€“ Discoveries [PR]

    Seeing that the girls had tricked Merlin into doing the ¡°mate marking ritual¡± without any ill intent, Emelyn thought she should be lenient with them, but she still couldn¡¯t condone the fact that now Merlin was tied to them for life, so she made the two girls promise that they¡¯d explain everything to Merlin during the dinner.

    While Emelyn was lecturing the girls, Merlin found something which really made his day. On the wall of the well, next to the entrance of the tunnel he discovered a brick with Avalon Kingdom¡¯s Royal family crest. After he pushed the brick, the entrance of another tunnel appeared in the opposite wall, and as soon as he took a peek inside, he knew he had hit the jackpot. When he was about to enter the new tunnel, he heard his mother calling him because dinner was ready, so he pushed another brick with the crest on the inside wall of the tunnel and, after ten seconds, its entrance closed again, then he climbed up the ladder out of the well and went into the house.

    When Merlin entered the dining room, he noticed the strange mood his mother and the girls were in, he didn¡¯t know the reason why, but he was sure something big had happened. After Emelyn served dinner, she asked Merlin:

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, do you know what the ritual you did with the girls was? Do you understand its real meaning?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, mother. It was a ritual in which I swore eternal friendship to them. Nothing to worry about.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, that wasn¡¯t a ritual to swear eternal friendship, but the ¡®mate marking ritual¡¯. For the beast-people the ¡®mate marking ritual¡¯ equals to an engagement ring, which means that, in the future you¡¯ll have to take the two of them as your wives!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°So that¡¯s why I got that feeling!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, their reaction after doing the ritual was a little strange, so I thought that there might be more to that ritual than what they had told me, but I didn¡¯t expect it to have these consequences¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°So, now that you know everything, what are you going to do about it?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Right now I won¡¯t do anything, but when the time comes¡­ I¡¯ll marry my two beautiful fianc¨¦es.¡±

    When Lupa and Bastet heard him say that, they blushed and couldn¡¯t stop their tears of happiness. Merlin didn¡¯t say anything else, but his mother looked at him with pride and smiled.

    After dinner, a new problem arose: The girls wanted to sleep with Merlin, but Merlin and Emelyn were against it. Finally, Merlin compromised, the three of them would sleep in the guestroom with twin beds, but he and the girls would sleep in different beds. The girls still wanted to sleep with him, but they understood that wasn¡¯t going to happen, so they stopped complaining and accepted.

    When Merlin woke up the following morning, he felt something oppressing his chest, he tried to see what it was and saw Lupa and Bastet hugging him in their sleep. He replayed in his head the events of the previous night and confirmed he had gone to bed alone, so the girls should have sneaked into his bed after he fell asleep. He carefully slipped out of the bed without waking them up and tried to go investigate the new tunnel in the well, but his mother caught him before he could exit the house and had him have breakfast. While he was having it, his mother expressed her doubts about the situation with the girls:

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, I didn¡¯t want to ask you this in front of Lupa and Bastet, but¡­ are you sure about what you said about marrying them in the future? What if you fall in love with another girl?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Mother, regarding Lupa and Bastet, I¡¯ve already made my mind, besides, we¡¯ll grow up together, so I¡¯m going to shape them to my liking and keep them by my side for the rest of my life. Also, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll fall in love with another girl in the future, like you said, but how to deal with that situation, I¡¯ll decide when the time comes.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Ok. If you have already decided, I won¡¯t stop you, but remember that you must always respect those girls, ok? Don¡¯t go making them do strange things just because they¡¯re your fianc¨¦es!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Mother, I understand, I¡¯ll love them and respect them.¡±

    After his mother stopped lecturing him on how to treat Lupa and Bastet, he went to the well. Merlin opened the new tunnel and went inside. On the other side of the tunnel there was a circular room illuminated by the magic crystals in the ceiling. The walls were covered with bookshelves and there were two metal doors which led to two other rooms. In the center of the circular room there was a table with research papers on it. The room on the right served as storage room, as well as, alchemy laboratory. The other room was a wide white space with a gravity regulator, which allowed the user to increase the gravity inside the space as many times as wished, so in Merlin¡¯s opinion it was a training room.

    Merlin thought that he could use the training room to practice his magic, as for the gravity function, he decided not to use it yet, otherwise it would hinder his physical growth. He took the book ¡°Party tricks¡±, by Merlin Pendragon. Although it said ¡°party tricks¡±, it also contained several useful spells, like eye color or hair color changing spells, which could be cast both on oneself or on others. He learned all of them in less than half an hour and then put the book back to the bookshelf.

    The next thing he did was to examine the items in the storage room, to do so, he used his ¡°Analytical Observation¡± to know what each material was for, when looking at a strange colored round crystal¡­

    *Ding*

    [table]<tr><td colspan=''4''>Object Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Item</td><td colspan=''2''>Teleportation Stone</td></tr><tr><td>Rank</td><td>Legendary</td><td>Rarity</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>Item description</td><td colspan=''3''>This teleportation stone is a rare artifact manufactured in the Avalon Kingdom thousands of years ago. It allows the user to teleport anywhere he/she wants, as long as the user has a clear image of the place in the mind, and the destination place doesn¡¯t have an anti-teleportation barrier.</td></tr>[table]

    Merlin: ¡°What the¡­!?¡±

    For Merlin this was actually quite the good finding, because he was a little disheartened that after discovering the lab, the library and the training room, he¡¯d have to go back to Sephiria instead of enjoying the profits of using them. But the teleportation stone changed that, he could go back to Sephiria and still come to the well to train whenever he wanted to. The only problem was that the teleportation stone was a rare artifact only available to royalties and high nobility of the different nations due to its scarcity. This meant he¡¯d have to keep its existence a secret if he didn¡¯t want any trouble.

    Merlin continued to use his ¡°Analytical Observation¡± on the rest of the items and he found two identical stones, no bigger than his pinky, which would help him in developing Lupa¡¯s and Bastet¡¯s abilities, so he took one of them.

    *Ding*

    [table]

    <tr><td colspan=''4''>Object Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Item</td><td colspan=''2''>Magic Awakening Stone</td></tr><tr><td>Rank</td><td>High</td><td>Rarity</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Item description</td><td colspan=''3''>This Magic Awakening stone is an artifact manufactured in the Avalon Kingdom thousands of years ago. It allows the user to give the Magic Awakening to anyone he/she wants, independently of the target¡¯s age, gender or race.</td></tr>[table]

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    Merlin saw a few other interesting items, but he didn¡¯t take his time inspecting them because it was noon and they were going to call him for lunch at any time, so he closed the tunnel climbed up the ladder out of the well and went into the house. When he stepped into the house Lupa and Bastet tried to hug him at the same time and ended up pushing him to the ground. The girls had been crying because when they woke up he wasn¡¯t in the room, and when they went down to have breakfast, he was nowhere to be found, so they were afraid of having been abandoned. Merlin waited until they calmed down and then he got up and went to the dining room accompanied by the girls.

    A week later, Emelyn told them they would depart for Sephiria the following morning. Right after being told so, Merlin hurried to the well and used magic of earth attribute to completely seal the tunnel that led out of the village and to dissolve the ladder he had previously made.

    Three days after departing from Laklostia, they arrived to the caravan camping site where the massacre had taken place but, with the exception of some strange magic fluctuations, every trace of it had been erased. Luckily for the girls, their parent¡¯s unmarked burial site had been left untouched. While the girls were paying their respects to their parents, Emelyn and Merlin thought that baronet Linus probably had made clean up to erase any possible proof of his involvement, so they decided that, this time, they wouldn¡¯t enter the commercial town of Katra, they would go around it. This would only add a few hours to their trip, and it would be significantly safer for the girls.

    Four days later, they arrived to Shephiria and entered during a shift change. Besides, after three weeks looking for a redheaded boy with golden eyes, the guards didn¡¯t even bother with the children anymore, so it didn¡¯t take much time.

    **************************************************************************

    Shephiria¡¯s Palace. Conference room.

    Laurenz had just finished reporting to the king the results of the 3-week search for the boy.

    Laurenz: ¡°Your Majesty, I think that the boy was just passing by and didn¡¯t actually live in the city, otherwise the city guards would have seen him at least once in the last three weeks, yet that didn¡¯t happen.¡±

    King Dollan Shephiran: ¡°You might be right, Laurenz, although it¡¯s a pity, I really wanted him to be around Adelle¡­ Were you able to at least find out something about hat boy¡¯s background?¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°No, your Majesty, I was unable to do so. But if you would allow me to make an educated guess based on what we know about him¡­¡±

    K. Dollan: ¡°Please, be my guest.¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°Thank you, your Majesty. Well, a commoner who had in his possession two vials of ¡®Amariena¡¯ and didn¡¯t hesitate to use them to help a stranger, a good fighter, and possibly a magus prodigy¡­ If we add the fact that he went to the Alchemist Association to buy materials for his father and that such prodigal use of ¡®Amariena¡¯ could lead us to think that his family has enough in stock to make the use of two vials in a row ¡°negligible¡±, I can only think of one conclusion¡­¡±

    K. Dollan: ¡°Which is¡­?¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°That the boy must belong to an ancient family of alchemists who have passed down a significant amount of vials of ¡®Amariena¡¯ through its generations.¡±

    K. Dollan: ¡°Well, that certainly would explain how a commoner had in his possession two vials of ¡®Amariena¡¯ and didn¡¯t hesitate to use them¡­ Have you checked if any alchemist has entered or exited the city in the last month?¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°Yes, your Majesty. But no one among them had a child who fitted the description.¡±

    K. Dollan: ¡°It really is a pity, but I think we¡¯ll have to give up on that boy¡­¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t bring you better results, your Majesty.¡±

    K. Dollan: ¡°Well, nothing can be done about it. What happened, happened. Anyway, return to your duties guarding Adelle.¡±

    Laurenz: ¡°Yes, your Majesty.¡±

    ___________________________________________________________________________________________

    A/N: The items ranking is: Lesser > Medium > High > Extraordinary > Legendary > Mythical > Godly.

    _________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a> !

 Chapter 10 â€“ Awakening [PR]

    When the carriage arrived at their house, Merlin¡¯s brothers were training in the garden under Leyla¡¯s and Jasmine¡¯s watch. When they saw the carriage, they run towards it and jumped to hug their mother as soon as she descended from it. Leyla and Jasmine also approached, but they were surprised when, after Merlin jumped down from the carriage, he helped Lupa and Bastet descend from it. Arnold, Josh and Bly tried to touch the tails of the girls, but before they could do so, they hid behind Merlin. Seeing that, and that Merlin was starting to get mad, Emelyn told them to stop bothering the girls.

    After they entered the house, she explained that the girls were Merlin¡¯s fianc¨¦es, and that they would start living with them from that day forward. Then, Emelyn tried to assign the guestroom to the girls, but they stubbornly said that they would sleep with -Merlin and, as she realized that it was impossible to convince the girls to do otherwise, she gave up and decided to move the guestroom¡¯s bed into the basement. Anthon arrived a couple of hours later, and after being told about Merlin¡¯s new situation with the girls, he just thought *Like father like son. Way to go kid! * and couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    A week has passed since Merlin and the others returned to Sephiria, as usual, Merlin woke up between Lupa and Bastet. He had tried out every method he could think of to have them stop sneaking into his bed, but nothing worked, so he ended up making things easier for them: instead of the girls sneaking into his bed, cramping it, he started sleeping in theirs, which was twice as big.

    Of course, he made the girls promise they would never tell anyone, and they gladly agreed. He also locked the door so that no one caught them in bed together, which gave the girls a sense of complicity with him, as well as a ¡°love nest¡±, which was what Lupa and Bastet had started considering the basement.

    Merlin was eager to use the teleportation stone to go train in the well, but he decided not to do so until he had done Lupa¡¯s and Bastet¡¯s Magic Awakening. He sneaked out of the bed without waking them up, unlocked the door, and went to have breakfast. He wanted to go to the library to check on the books related to the customs of the beastmen. He could have asked Lupa and Bastet to tell him, but he preferred to look at some books first instead. He considered that directly asking them would be way too embarrassing for him, so he refrained from doing so.

    On his way to the library, Merlin went through a back alley behind the slave-market. There, fallen behind a pile of trash, he discovered a small cage which contained a little fairy, who looked at him with great surprise. Given the price fairies could fetch on the market, someone had probably stolen it and hid it there with the intention of recovering it at a later time.

    Fairy: ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m aware that this humble servant isn¡¯t worth your time, but could you please open the door of the cage and free me?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Hello there little fairy, I don¡¯t know who you¡¯re mistaking me for, but I¡¯ll help you regardless!¡±

    He opened the cage and set her free.

    Fairy: ¡°Thank you so much, your Highness!¡±

    And the fairy left in a hurry, leaving Merlin speechless and looking to the horizon. When he recovered, he went to the library.

    ***********************************************************************

    Fairy forest, two hours later¡­

    ???: ¡°Your Majesty, scout Lizzara is back!¡±

    Fairy Queen: ¡°It was about time! She should have come back three weeks ago!¡±

    Lizzara: ¡°This humble servant greets your majesty!¡±

    Fairy Queen: Lizzara, what took you so long?

    Lizzara: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, your Majesty! This humble servant got captured by the humans, until his Highness freed me just a couple of hours ago.¡±

    Fairy Queen: ¡°What do you mean ¡°his¡± Highness? We only have three princesses, we don¡¯t have a man, which could be addressed in such manner!¡±

    Lizzara: ¡°But, your Majesty, that human boy had your Royal Bloodline¡¯s imprint on his soul! I know what I sensed, and there is no room for doubt!¡±

    Fairy Queen: ¡°If you really are so sure about it, I¡¯ll have to send someone to investigate this matter. Lizzara, take another two scouts with you and find out who that human really is!¡±

    Lizzara: ¡°Yes, your Majesty!¡±

    ***********************************************************************

    The following morning, Merlin decided to do Lupa¡¯s and Bastet¡¯s Magic Awakening, so he took out the Magic Awakening Stone and looked at the sleeping faces of the girls. After he woke them up, he told them what he had planned for them and they gladly accepted his proposal. The first one to receive the Magic Awakening was Lupa, she touched the stone and a blinding bright light filled the whole basement.

    Merlin was a little surprised, for what he knew, the Magic Awakening Stone shouldn¡¯t react like that, which made him think this particular stone might be a little different from a regular Magic Awakening Stone. Right after the bright light dissipated, Merlin asked Lupa to try feeling the mana of the different elements, which without an element affinity tester was the easiest way to know one¡¯s own affinities.

    Lupa said that, aside from a strange feeling, she only felt mana of water attribute. Merlin thought that, given that her mother had been a Rank 5 Light-Water-Space-Time magus, it was strange for her to have affinity for just one attribute, so he used his ¡°Analytical Observation¡± on her to see her status.

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Lupa Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>4</td><td>Race</td><td>Beastman (Wolf clan)</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>1</td><td>Gender</td><td>Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">390/390</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.003 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">1 671</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.007 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''></td></tr>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (minimal), Water (extraordinary), Wind (minimal), Earth (minimal), Space-time (high), Light (high), Darkness (minimal), Non-attribute (minimal)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Marked mate tracking (lv. 10)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

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    Despite having seen it with his own eyes, he couldn¡¯t believe it. She also had an affinity to all eight attributes, although any element other than those inherited from her mother had an affinity level of minimal. Unfortunately, she only seemed to sense her strongest attribute, but that could be changed through training. He had a theory for this phenomenon, but he needed more information to see if he was right in his assumptions, so he hurriedly told Bastet to prepare for her own awakening.

    When he approached her with the Magic Awakening Stone and she touched it, a blinding bright light filled the whole basement again. At that same moment Emelyn opened the door and entered the basement, closing the door behind her. Merlin, who didn¡¯t notice her, immediately checked Bastet¡¯s status without even asking her to feel the mana of the different elements.

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Bastet Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>4</td><td>Race</td><td>Beastman (Cat clan)</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>1</td><td>Gender</td><td>Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">410/410</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.0025 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">1 738</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.008 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''></td></tr>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (extraordinary), Water (minimal), Wind (high), Earth (minimal), Space-time (minimal), Light (minimal), Darkness (high), Non-attribute (minimal)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Marked mate tracking (lv. 10)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

    After confirming Bastet¡¯s affinities, Merlin discovered that his suspicions were right. When ¡°Orb¡± had told him that in the past everyone had affinities to all attributes to some degree, he had thought it was strange that in just a few millennia people had lost those capabilities¡­ Besides, souls were made of elements of all eight attributes, so even if they had become weaker, like ¡°Orb¡± had said, that¡¯d affect the strength of the affinities to the attributes, not their existence¡­ Which meant that the problem was elsewhere and for what he had just experienced, it was probably a problem with the Magic Awakening Stones. Merlin was lost in this train of thoughts when a shout froze his very soul¡­

    Emelyn: ¡°MERLIN!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, mother? Is there a problem?¡± *Fuck, I¡¯ve been caught red-handed*

    Emelyn: ¡°A PROBLEM?!  WHY DID YOU USE HIGH LEVEL MAGIC?  DO YOU WANT TO BE DISCOVERED THAT BADLY?  I¡¯VE HAD TO CAST A HIGH LEVEL FIRE BARRIER AROUND THE HOUSE TO MASK YOUR MAGIC!  TWICE!  AND WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT LIGHT JUST NOW? MERLIN PENDRAGON, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, mother¡­ ¡°

    Realizing that he couldn¡¯t hide it anymore, Merlin chose the second best option: trying to gain an adult ally, so he came clean to his mother and he didn¡¯t left any detail out. He told her about ¡°Orb¡±, about his findings inside the well, about his Magic Awakening, about his affinities to all eight attributes¡­ And finally he explained to his mother that with the stone he had found in the well, he had just made the ritual for Lupa¡¯s and Bastet¡¯s Magic Awakening.

    Emelyn felt like she was about to faint¡­ it had been too much information at once, and she had previously thought that her son was a genius for being capable of controlling magic of water attribute at the age of 5¡­ only to find out he had extraordinary affinity to all eight attributes, and the girls were tri-elemental magi, with minimal affinities for the other five attributes at the age of 4¡­ The situation really was mind-blowing for her¡­

    After she recovered, she told the girls to go eat breakfast. Once they were gone, she asked Merlin what plans he had for the future, for him and for the girls. He answered that, for the time being, the three of them would train in the well, because the age requirement to enter any of the academies in the kingdom was 12 years old. The only exception were the little geniuses, dual-elemental and tri-elemental magi, who were recruited into the magic academies at the age of 9. One way or the other, they still had 4 or five years before enrolling anywhere, and he didn¡¯t plan to stay idly.

    Emelyn was glad that Merlin had thought about his future and the girls¡¯, but she couldn¡¯t help being worried about them, if people ever learnt about their true abilities, only the gods knew how far they would go to ensure the trio¡¯s cooperation¡­ Fortunately for her mind, Merlin didn¡¯t allow her to continue thinking about those things. Instead, he asked her for help to eliminate a problem which was endangering the unity of their family. The second he said that, Emelyn tensed up and looked at Merlin with disbelief, for she thought he was talking about getting rid of the baby. He understood his mother¡¯s reaction and he explained to her what his plan actually was.

    After hearing Merlin¡¯s plan, she was really embarrassed because of her misunderstanding. When she finally regained her composure, she agreed to his plan, for the sake of their family, and told Merlin he had her full cooperation. The plan itself was quite simple: Merlin would use a permanent disguise magic on Leyla¡¯s unborn child, so that regardless of who the father was, the child would look like its mother, with the eye-color of Merlin¡¯s father. The spell would be cast in a way that, despite Merlin being the caster, as long as the baby was alive, the spell would feed on its mana, independently of Merlin¡¯s situation. That way Anthon and Leyla would be happy, and the Pendragon family wouldn¡¯t break apart.

    The only problem with the implementation of this plan was Leyla¡¯s awareness of magic, when Merlin used the spell on the baby, Leyla would detect the magic signature of the spell even if she was unable to identify its nature. That was the reason why Merlin needed Emelyn¡¯s help to do it, he needed her to cast a powerful magic at the same time he cast his spell, that way the magic signature of Emelyn¡¯s spell would hide his. They decided to execute the plan later that day, during the dinner.

    With all the excitement of making preparation for the execution of the plan, Merlin forgot something he had seen on the status screens of both Lupa and Bastet, that their family names had changed to his, indicating that despite everything he had been told, to this world¡¯s system, he had already married them. He would realize that point several days later, when checking their training progress, and he would hysterically laugh for an hour before calming down.

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 11 - Birth and Banquet

    Three months have passed since Emelyn helped Merlin to cast the disguising spell on Leyla¡¯s unborn child. The whole Pendragon family was preparing for the imminent birth, but despite the whole family¡¯s visible happiness, there were two people who barely could hide their uneasiness. Those two were Anthon and Leyla¡­ after the birth they¡¯d know whether their worst fears had become true, or they had been lucky and the baby was Anthon¡¯s. Leyla had resigned herself to her fate, while Anthon didn¡¯t know how he would react if the baby wasn¡¯t actually his.

    Finally, a couple of days later, Leyla went into labor. After the baby was born, Leyla and Anthon finally calmed down. It was a girl, she had Leyla¡¯s fiery red hair and Anthon¡¯s blue eyes. What convinced both of them that the baby was definitely Anthon¡¯s was that she had a minuscule purple dot in the blue pupil of her right eye, which was a family trait Anthon had inherited from his mother¡¯s side. This trait hadn¡¯t manifested in any of his other children, but seeing it in this newborn child was for him the greatest proof of fatherhood he could ever have.

    Leila: How are we going to name her?

    Anthon: I¡¯m not sure. I was so nervous about the baby that I completely forgot about choosing a name¡­

    Leyla: What do you think, Emelyn? What would be a good name for my daughter?

    Emelyn: She''s your daughter, I¡¯m in no position to name her.

    Leyla: Come on, sis!  Please help us out!

    Emelyn: Ok, ok¡­ Then how about ¡°Lilith¡±?

    Anthon: Lilith¡­ It does have a nice ring to it!

    Leyla: Thank you, sis!

    Moments later, Emelyn brought all the children into the room to introduce their new sister to them. Merlin felt a strange sensation when he looked into Lilith¡¯s eyes. He felt compelled to protect this baby with his life, and he also felt a strong familiarity with her, as if she were some kind of long lost companion of his¡­ Well, it wasn¡¯t that strange, he had always longed for a little sister, both in his original world and in this one, so feeling overprotective of her was only natural.

    ***********************************************************************

    A week passed, and the Pendragon family started to settle down. Then a messenger came from the Palace, summoning the whole Pendragon family before the King. The faces of Anthon, Emelyn and Leyla showed great worry, because they didn¡¯t recall having done anything for the King to summon them to the Palace. Seeing that, the messenger hurriedly explained to them that the King had learnt of Lilith¡¯s birth through his sons, Anthon¡¯s disciples, and wanted to congratulate him in person.

    They became the focus of all the stares, or more exactly, Lupa and Bastet did. Despite the royal decree that the king had issued a few years back, giving beast-people the same rights as the other races in his kingdom, the majority of the nobility still saw them just as slave-material and livestock. That¡¯s why most of the nobles present were staring at the two girls with disgust, and some even were offended because they were being ¡°forced¡± to breath the same air as those two ¡°slaves¡±.

    Among the old nobles there were a couple which looked at the two girls with a stare of contained lust, the young nobles, on the other hand, weren¡¯t that skillful at hiding their desires, so it was obvious that some of them wanted to make the two girls their playthings.

    Boy 1: Those are some nice slaves you have there. I wonder how good they¡¯ll be after a little training¡­ Hand them over, now!

    Boy 2: Brother is right! Those two slaves are a waste in the hands of a low level family like yours! They¡¯ll be great after a little training¡­ So give them to us!

    Two boys, whose ages seemed to be between 11 and 13 years old, approached the girls and tried to grip their tails. They were confident that they could get the girls, because they belonged to the high nobility, which meant that if their family put pressure on the Pendragon family, they would have no choice but to surrender their two slaves.

    This abuse of authority between high and lesser nobility was a common occurrence, even more so when it came to slaves. They could just buy the slaves from the lesser nobility, but they enjoyed using their position to obtain what they wanted for free. The two girls felt them coming, but they didn¡¯t know how to react because the two boys were nobles. Merlin didn¡¯t have to think, as soon as they were close enough to touch the girls, he acted without saying a word.

    The people present was dumbfounded by how the situation unfolded. They saw the two boys trying to touch the girls, and the next second they saw them rolling on the floor, crying in pain, and they had each a little knife stabbing the hand used to try to touch the girls.  Right after that, Merlin pulled up one of them by the collar and broke his nose with a jab. The other one saw him coming and peed himself and run screaming towards the door.

    After they recovered from the shock, the nobles started to make a ruckus, because a third son from a lesser noble had dared to attack and harm children of the high nobility, and had also disregarded their orders about the slaves. At that moment, the King entered the room, and, seeing all the people acting like that, asked what had happened there. When he was told about Merlin¡¯s actions he was troubled, he had personally invited the Pendragon family, but after the altercation, Merlin would have to be punished for his actions against the high nobility, there was no way around it, so he started squeezing his brain trying to find a solution. He spoke to the people of the room:

    King Dollan Shephiran: Hear me, nobles! The Pendragon family has been personally invited by me to this banquet. As a matter of fact, they are the very reason this banquet is being held, to celebrate the birth of their daughter Lilith! So I would very much appreciate it if you stopped bothering my guests!

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The nobles looked confused, they knew they had been invited to a banquet with the king, but they hadn¡¯t been informed of the reason why it was being held.

    K. Dollan: To make such a ruckus just because of two slaves¡­ you should respect more the place you are in! Now, the slaves¡­ Uh, what is it boy? Do you know what you are doing?

    When the king tried to approach the girls, Merlin had jumped in front of the girls with a knife in his hand and said:

    Merlin: Do not approach them. I don¡¯t care whether it is a noble, a king, or a god, nobody will touch my family!

    K. Dollan: Boy I don¡¯t know why you care so much about those two slaves, but by wielding a knife in my presence and even threatening my life, by the laws of the kingdom I must order your execution¡­

    Anthon: Your Majesty, please be lenient with the boy, those two girls aren¡¯t slaves, they are his fianc¨¦es. My son has already been marked as their mate. That¡¯s why he is acting that way¡­

    King Dollan thought deeply about the situation, he had wronged the girls by treating them as slaves, just because they were beast-people he had assumed they were slaves, just like the rest of the nobles in the room. What made his actions even worse was that he was responsible for the royal decree giving the beast-people equality of rights with the other races, yet he still thought like the people who opposed that royal decree.

    The problem was Merlin¡¯s actions, he had acted in front of the nobility and his actions were punishable by death, and Dollan, as the King, had to uphold the law and execute the boy¡­ He wanted to give the boy a way out, but he couldn¡¯t think of a way¡­ Then Laurenz recognized Merlin and whispered in Dollan¡¯s ear: [Your Majesty, I don¡¯t know how it is possible, but that boy is the one who saved me and Adelle in that alley months ago¡­] When the King heard that, his anxiousness dissipated and made his decision:

    K. Dollan: Boy, by your actions here today, I should have you executed in accordance with the law. However, the courage and the disregard for your own life for the sake of your loved ones have touched me, so I¡¯ll give you an opportunity to prove yourself¡­ I¡¯ll have you fight royal knights in three stages. First, you¡¯ll fight against only one royal knight, if you win, you¡¯ll be pardoned from any crimes you may have committed today. After that will come the second stage, in which you¡¯ll fight two royal guards. If you win, you¡¯ll receive a thousand gold and a scholarship to the best academy of the kingdom, for you and three other people of your choosing. In the third stage you¡¯ll be fighting three royal guards, if you manage to defeat them, I shall concede upon you a title and a territory. The first stage is mandatory, the second and third stages are not. Now tell me, are you up for the challenge?

    At that point, everyone in the room except Merlin, Laurenz and the king were dumbfounded. The King was proposing a child who wasn¡¯t even six years old to fight against royal guards! They were starting to think that the King might had lost it¡­ but, then again, the boy had committed a crime punished by execution, so they understood the King was trying to give him a way out¡­ but they didn¡¯t think the boy would make it.

    Merlin: Thanks for the opportunity, your Majesty! Where do I fight them? Here or elsewhere?

    Now it was the young boy who shocked them, he hadn¡¯t hesitated at all and accepted the challenge proposed by the King, some of them pitied him, while some others thought that he was just an idiot who didn¡¯t understand the real meaning of what he was saying, after all, he wasn¡¯t even six years old¡­

    K. Dollan: You¡¯ll fight them elsewhere, of course. This room is too small and too cramped to hold that kind of fights. You¡¯ll fight in the arena of the royal knights¡¯ training ground. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s close to here.

    The nobles started going out of the room to go to the arena of the royal knights¡¯ training ground. Most of them brought their children so that they would learn what happens when people thoughtlessly act up against high nobility and royalty. On the other hand, some of them went to enjoy the sight of Merlin getting killed, those were, of course, the members of the family to which belonged the boys who wanted to take away Lupa and Bastet. Then, when the only remaining people in the room were the Pendragon family, Laurenz and the King, Anthon went over to the king and tried to change his mind about Merlin¡¯s challenge:

    Anthon: Your Majesty, I know my son offended you, but getting him to fight royal knights¡­ He isn¡¯t even six years old yet, he can¡¯t possibly win!

    K. Dollan: Sir Pendragon, haven¡¯t you already started training him? You should know his strength best and understand why I chose this kind of challenge for him.

    Anthon: That¡¯s precisely the problem, your majesty. I start training my kids at the age of 6, Merlin won¡¯t be 6 years old until next month, so I haven¡¯t trained him yet! That¡¯s why I¡¯m begging you to change your mind about the challenge!

    K. Dollan: Hmm¡­ *He hasn¡¯t trained the boy yet? That¡¯s strange. Could it be that Laurenz is mistaken and this is not the boy? No, that¡¯s unlikely¡­ The eyes may be different, but Laurenz wouldn¡¯t make that kind of mistake¡­ Could it be that someone else has trained the boy without his father¡¯s knowledge? That seems to be the case¡­ Well, I¡¯ll confirm with the boy before departing to the arena and if it is indeed him who saved Adelle, I¡¯ll allow him to participate in the challenge, if he isn¡¯t, I¡¯ll think of something else¡­*

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a> !

 Chapter 12 - The results of the challenge

    K. Dollan: All of you go to the arena with everyone else. There is something we must check with the boy. When we are done, we¡¯ll personally escort him to the arena ourselves.

    Anthon: Very well, your Majesty.

    After everyone else had left and the only ones remaining were the King, Laurenz and Merlin, King Dollan spoke to Merlin:

    K. Dollan: Boy, your father says he didn¡¯t train you, yet you have enough self-confidence to accept my challenge without even blinking. Did someone else train you  in secret?

    Merlin: I¡¯m self-trained.

    King Dollan was surprised, if the boy really was self-trained and his martial prowess was at the level Laurenz had reported, he couldn¡¯t even fathom what kind of strength he would achieve when he reached adulthood¡­ But he hadn¡¯t confirmed yet that he was indeed the boy who saved Adelle and Laurenz¡­

    K. Dollan: Boy, a few months back, did you save a little girl and her bodyguard from getting killed by a group of assassins? And did you use two vials of ¡°Amariena¡± to save her?

    Merlin: Your Majesty, let¡¯s stop playing games, ok? Given that the mentioned bodyguard is standing next to you right now, and the challenge you have designed to give me a way out from execution, I¡¯d say that you have pretty much figured out that I¡¯m indeed that boy.

    King Dollan was surprised by Merlin¡¯s change of attitude, his demeanor right now seemed to be the one of an adult, not that of a boy who wasn¡¯t even 6 years old. He was calm and collected, he wasn¡¯t allowing the situation to get to him, and he was calmly analyzing it instead.

    K. Dollan: Boy, from today onwards that girl you saved will be your fianc¨¦e, you¡¯ll marry her as soon as you come of age.

    Merlin: Your Majesty, I already have two beautiful fianc¨¦es whom I love, I don¡¯t need a third. Besides why would I want to marry a girl I don¡¯t even know? And why are you trying to force her into me?

    K. Dollan: Boy, the reason why those assassins were contracted to kill her is because she is my daughter, born from a mistress. She doesn¡¯t know she has royal blood, though, and I¡¯d really appreciate it if you didn¡¯t tell her about that. That¡¯s why I want her to marry you, that way she would be able to live a happy life, without worrying about the conspiracies in the Court. Besides, she has already fallen for you¡­ After all, you stole her first kiss¡­

    Merlin: That wasn¡¯t intentional, I had to administrate her the potion or she wouldn¡¯t have made it¡­

    K. Dollan: Don¡¯t tell anyone about your engagement with Adelle yet. In a couple of days her grandfather will be visiting you house and making the arrangement with your parents. Ok, now let¡¯s go to the arena¡­ Make sure you put on a good show, that will make anyone with ill intentions towards you or Adelle to think it twice before taking any action.

    Merlin realized that he didn''t have a choice in the matter, so he gave the only answer he could:

    Merlin: Ok, your Majesty. I understand.

    *********************************************************************

    In the arena, everyone was starting to get impatient, but Merlin, Laurenz and the King finally showed up. The Pendragon family tensed up, they didn¡¯t know what the King wanted to talk Merlin about, but given the current situation, they didn¡¯t know what to think, and that made them extremely uneasy.

    When Merlin and one of the royal guards entered the arena, the majority of the people watching couldn¡¯t believe their eyes, they saw an armored royal guard with a sword in his hand going towards a little kid who was unarmed. Some of them had thought the King was joking when he proposed the challenge to the kid, but nobody expected that the kid would accept the challenge and actually go through with it.

    The royal guard attacked first. Merlin saw the blade of the sword going towards him, so he used his ¡°ki strengthening technique¡± and avoided the slash. Next, he slipped to the side of his opponent and attacked the wrist, making him lose hold of the sword, which Merlin kicked away. Then the royal guard then tried to punch him in the head, but was startled again by Merlin¡¯s agility, who not only avoided his punch, but grabbed his fist with one hand, tapped his arm with the other, and sent him flying over his head, crashing against the ground a couple of yards from Merlin.

    The audience was speechless, who could have thought that a little kid like him would defeat so easily a trained warrior like the royal guard. Even the King was astonished by Merlin¡¯s battle prowess, he had expected him to win, but not that easily, and definitely not that fast. Among the audience, the only one who did expect that result was Laurenz, because he had already witnessed his way of fighting.

    The Pendragon family reacted to the situation in very different ways: Anthon was surprised by Merlin¡¯s ability and wondered who had trained his son without his knowledge. Emelyn understood why the girls came home so tired after their sessions of ¡°playing¡± to train their fighting abilities with Merlin. Leyla was surprised that the innocent boy she loved like a little brother was that strong at fighting. Merlin¡¯s brothers were stupefied to discover that their little brother was a stronger fighter while being unarmed than they were while wielding a sword. Lupa and Bastet were really excited, because they just witnessed their mate overpowering an opponent that he wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to win against.

    Seeing that the royal guard was unconscious and couldn¡¯t continue, the King announced Merlin¡¯s victory as well as the forgiveness of any crime he had committed up to that very moment. Then he asked Merlin if he was willing to continue to the second stage of the challenge. After Merlin answered affirmatively, King Dollan asked two other royal guards to stand in the arena to fight the boy. With the exception of Lupa and Bastet, the rest of the Pendragon family was dumbfounded by Merlin¡¯s actions, after all, he had been lucky and won against a royal guard, so they couldn¡¯t understand why he was taking such a risk.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    The King announced the start of the fight. The two royal guards quickly try to do a pincer attack on Merlin, it was obvious that they didn¡¯t want to end like their comrade, so they tried to restrict Merlin¡¯s movements that way. With his options reduced, Merlin jumped sideways making the two royal guard bump into each other and took some distance from them. The royal guards recovered and went towards Merlin.

    They tried to use another pincer attack on him, but he was expecting it and instead of restricting his movements, it created an opening for him to use in his attack. Merlin first focused on attacking the joints of one of the royal guards, the other one tried to sneak an attack on Merlin, but he had counted on that and while he evaded the attack, he dislocated the right elbow of the royal guard, disarming him.

    The audience didn¡¯t understand what was going on in the arena. They couldn¡¯t understand how Merlin was being able to hold his ground while fighting two royal guards simultaneously. Not only that, he was even giving them some damage, instead of receiving it. The situation was so impossible that they were unable to comprehend it. On the other hand, the warriors and royal guards who were watching, Laurenz and King Dollan included, had paled at the sight of the fight. They were capable warriors, so just by watching someone fight, they were able to assess the mastery that person had of his techniques, even if they didn¡¯t comprehend the techniques themselves.

    The result of their assessment was obviously the same for all of them: Merlin had unfathomable strength, few warriors in the city could be his match. And the more terrifying fact was that the boy wasn¡¯t even six years old, they didn¡¯t dare to imagine what his strength would be once he reached adulthood. King Dollan was speechless, but a cold sweat run down his spine when he remembered one single fact the rest of the audience was oblivious of: Merlin could actually use magic, well at least there was a high chance of it being so. If he was that strong without the use of magic, how strong was he actually with the full use of his capabilities? King Dollan immediately added Merlin to the people-to-never-offend list. He thought that it was fortunate he had offered a title and a territory as the prize for the third stage of the challenge, that way Merlin would be related to the Kingdom of Sephiran and foreign powers wouldn¡¯t snatch him away.

    After dislocating the other elbow of the previous royal guard, and breaking a knee of the other one with a low-kick, Merlin was declared victor of the second stage and the King announced that, as the prize, he¡¯d receive a thousand gold and a scholarship to the best academy of the kingdom, for him and three other people of his choosing. Then he asked Merlin whether he would participate in the third stage of the challenge, and Merlin answered once more that he would be doing it.

    The audience wasn¡¯t surprised by his answer anymore, as a matter of fact, they welcomed it and even started betting about the outcome of the third stage and the time it¡¯d take to reach a conclusion. Merlin¡¯s family had already calmed down, after seeing the fight of the second stage, they understood that Merlin would survive the third stage, even in the case that he might lose.

    When Merlin saw the three royal guards entering the stage, he realized that this stage would be a walk in the park for him, because by the way they were interacting with each other, he could clearly see that they had some personal issues between them, so their teamwork was non-existent and during the fight instead of taking advantage of their number by using combination attacks, they would just get in the way of each other, giving Merlin plenty of openings for his attacks.

    As soon as the King announced the beginning of the third stage of the challenge, the three royal guards rushed towards Merlin and they surrounded him with a triangle formation, trying to emulate the pincer attack that had given some trouble to Merlin in the second stage. Unfortunately for them, their movements weren¡¯t well coordinated due to their inexperience working together and their lack of teamwork. So, just as Merlin had predicted, they were getting into each other¡¯s way, killing the momentum of their companion¡¯s attacks, making them unsuccessful, and giving Merlin lots of opportunities to attack.

    Merlin wanted wrap it up quickly, so when he saw the openings in their stances he attacked, and unlike in the other fights, he put his whole power behind each hit, and the fight finished in a matter of seconds. The audience was dumbfounded, they had expected a fight of at least 5 minutes, which was the time that had taken Merlin to put an end to the fight in the second stage, so they couldn¡¯t comprehend how this fight, that was supposed to be much harder than the previous one, had ended so quickly.

    On the other hand, King Dollan, Laurenz, and the captain of the royal guards facepalmed, they had seen what the reason for the quick defeat of the royal guards had been, and so had done the rest of the veteran warriors in the audience. Now that the royal guards had lost face because of those three selfish idiots who couldn¡¯t understand what ¡°teamwork¡± meant, they would have to regain the respect of the other military forces through harsh work and making merits¡­

    The King announced Merlin as the absolute victor of the challenge, and told Merlin to accompany him to the castle, because bestowing a nobility title and giving a territory, which were the prizes of the third stage of the challenge, could only be done in the throne¡¯s room¡­

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 13 â€“ A titleâ€¦ and Adelle

    In the throne room all the nobles were speculating what title Merlin was going to obtain. The King had said the title came with a territory, so it wasn¡¯t going to be a simple knighthood, which made the nobles  wonder what title he was going to receive, and more importantly, where his territory would be located. The fact that a boy who wasn¡¯t even 6 years old was going to receive a title and a territory, was completely unprecedented in the kingdom, but it had slipped their minds, because they were worried that they might end up having him as a neighbor¡­

    The King finally appeared in the throne¡¯s room, and after a long ceremonial speech, he finally bestowed upon Merlin the title of Earl. Now was the time to choose Earl Pendragon¡¯s territory, and for that, the King ordered to bring a table, a chair, and a map of the kingdom. Once they were brought to the throne¡¯s room, the King told Merlin to stand up on the chair and to look at the map.

    King Dollan Sephiran: Look Merlin, do you see the different colors in the map, the territory marked in blue is the territory directly managed by the crown, so select any spot on it and you shall receive your territory around the spot of your choosing, of course, the capital is non-eligible.

    Merlin: Well, I¡¯ve always liked the Lakium forest¡­ anyway, I choose Laklostia, my place of birth, as the center of my territory.

    K. Dollan: Are you sure about that? That territory is in the border of the kingdom, and we aren¡¯t in very friendly terms with the kingdom of Klausna¡­ If they learn that the management of that territory is in the hands of a little boy like you¡­ I¡¯m afraid of what they might do¡­

    Merlin: Worry not your Majesty. I have several ideas on how to deal with them, if they come they¡¯ll be the guinea pigs that will prove my ideas right or wrong, but somehow, I doubt they¡¯ll be able to return to Klausna kingdom and make their report¡­

    K. Dollan: Ok, if you are so sure I¡¯ll give you that territory, but please don¡¯t let people die in vain ok?

    Merlin: Don¡¯t worry, your Majesty. I won¡¯t allow that to happen!

    K. Dollan: In that case, I shall give you the territory you want. The eastern border of your territory will be the border with Klausna kingdom. Its southern border will be in parallel with the Dorka river, 12 miles south from it, and it will go from the borders to the mountains. Finally, its northern border will start in the border with Klausna kingdom, 10 miles north from the Lakium forest, it will go in parallel to the forest and join the southern border in the mountains. Did you understand everything I said?

    Merlin: Yes, your Majesty. I sincerely appreciate your generosity.

    K. Dollan: Well, Earl Pendragon¡­ Now that we have finished our business, let¡¯s celebrate your sister¡¯s birthday, which is actually what brought us here today in the first place!

    *********************************************************************

    At the same time, in the kingdom of Forestia¡­

    Oracle chambers, Temple of the goddess Alslia.

    ???: Mother! Come, hurry!

    ???: Ellessia, you should be practicing your divination arts¡­ why are you shouting? As the High Priestess of the temple, I¡¯ll have to punish you for your behavior!

    Ellessia: But mother, I was practicing the divination arts and something strange happened!

    H. Priestess: Ok, Ellessia. Calm down and explain to me what that ¡°something strange¡±  was¡­

    Ellessia: Mother, I was practicing the divination arts to check on the outcome of a war mentioned in the ¡°minor prophecies¡±, and despite what was written in the prophecy as the outcome, half of the times, the outcome shown in my divination is the opposite to the one in the prophecy! I¡¯m certain I didn¡¯t do anything wrong, so I don¡¯t understand the results of my divination¡­

    H. Priestess: Ellesia, which war was it?

    Ellessia: It was the war that should take place in the continent of Klasten, between the human kingdoms of Shephiran and Klausna, ten years from now¡­

    H. Priestess: Hmm, let me check it out for myself¡­

    The High Priestess started using divination arts to check the outcome of the foretold war for herself, and after a hundred tries the result was clear: her daughter, Ellessia, was right. The outcome of the war had already been determined by the gods centuries before her birth, yet now, in 53 out of 100 tries, the victor wasn¡¯t the foretold one. It didn¡¯t make any sense, and she was at a loss because what¡¯s told in the prophecies is supposed to be set in stone, no matter their content, it will become a reality. There was no way to change that! The matter was starting to make her go crazy, so she decided to set it aside for a while and check again a month later. She also forbid her daughter from practicing the divination arts until she told her otherwise, and told her to only practice archery and spirit magic for the following month.

    *********************************************************************

    The following day, an unexpected visit came to the house of the Pendragon family. It was an old merchant, accompanied by his granddaughter and Laurenz. Merlin had been told in advance by the King, so he wasn¡¯t surprised by their appearance, but that wasn¡¯t the case for the rest of the family, who were startled seeing the King¡¯s personal bodyguard accompanying their visitors.

    The old man identified himself as Carl Teneris, a merchant. The little girl by his side was his granddaughter, Adelle Teneris, and also Merlin¡¯s fianc¨¦e. The Pendragon family was speechless, they looked at Merlin but he denied with his head. Before they could say anything else, Laurenz handed a parchment with the royal seal to Anthon, so that he, Emelyn and Leyla would be able to understand the situation. They took it and started to read its contents:

    [Dear Pendragon family,

    I sincerely hope that you¡¯ll be able to accept the young Adelle into your family. She may be young and inexperienced, but she is a good girl¡­ and has already fallen heads over heels for your son Merlin. I¡¯m personally interested in her well-being, so please treat her well. As soon as you finish reading it, please hand this parchment back to Laurenz, so that he¡¯ll be able to proceed to its destruction.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    Thank you for your comprehension.

    Yours sincerely,

    King Dollan Shephiran, Sovereign of the Shephiran kingdom.]

    When they were done reading the parchment, Laurenz took it back and set it on fire. Laurenz didn¡¯t relax until the whole parchment had been reduced to ashes, he then took his leave. Merlin¡¯s parents didn¡¯t know what to think, they obviously had to take Adelle in as per orders of the King, but they didn¡¯t understand why the parchment said she had fallen heads over heels for Merlin, when she couldn¡¯t possibly have been in contact with him for much time¡­

    Carl: I see that you are wondering about the relationship between your son and my granddaughter¡­ A few months ago, your son saved Adelle¡¯s life and stole her first kiss, as well as her heart¡­

    Anthon, Emelyn and Leyla looked at Merlin with a scornful look, they hadn¡¯t thought that Merlin would be the kind of boy to go around stealing the first kisses of little girls. His brothers were speechless, while Lupa and Bastet looked at him with teary eyes¡­ not only he didn¡¯t usually allow them to kiss him, he had kissed another girl out of his own free will, and that hurt them¡­ The situation was going out of control, so Merlin hurriedly said:

    Merlin: Yeah, I kissed her, so what? She had been poisoned and didn¡¯t want to take the antidote that I happened to have on me, so she didn¡¯t leave me any other choice than kissing her and forcefully administrate the antidote to her mouth-to-mouth! If I hadn¡¯t, she¡¯d be dead!

    Carl: That¡¯s true, son. But it also means you now have to take responsibility for it and keep her by your side. Besides, the King already told you the other reasons for this, didn¡¯t he?

    Merlin: Yes, he did. Ok, I¡¯ll introduce you to the other girls¡­

    Lupa and Bastet weren¡¯t really happy that they had a new competitor for Merlin¡¯s love¡­ but when they saw the way she looked at Merlin, their hearts settled down and welcomed Adelle into their group. At first they had thought of chasing her out, but after realizing she actually loved Merlin as much as they did, they accepted her as a sister.

    Leyla, Emelyn and Anthon didn¡¯t like the current development of the visit¡­ but they were powerless to go against it. It would have been different if it was just Adelle¡¯s family, but they had the backing of the King, and the way Merlin and Carl were talking, it seemed to exist some kind of secret involving Merlin and Adelle¡¯s relationship, something the King knew and that he wanted to remain a secret, so they decided to wait and let time show what all that was about.

    After her grandfather left, Adelle asked in which room she would sleep, but before Leyla and Emelyn could say anything, Lupa and Bastet said she would share their bed, and took her hand to lead her to the basement. Adelle thought it was a little strange to share the bed with the two of them, but after she saw its size, she understood that it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Besides, it was just a temporary thing until they moved out to Merlin¡¯s new residence, so she didn¡¯t mind it much.

    Meanwhile, Merlin was being interrogated by his parents and Leyla, they wanted to know what his new plans for the future were, now that the appearance of Adelle would make the other ones useless. At that moment, Merlin realized that if he really wanted to make his dreams true, he would have to carefully plan for it¡­ and be careful so that no additional girls fell for him. He decided that he¡¯d leave the management of the new territory in his mother¡¯s very capable hands, that way, he would be able to wholeheartedly train himself and the girls.

    The most important matters would be training the girls, making Adelle¡¯s Magic Awakening and exploring his new territory. There was also the matter of his official ¡°Magic Awakening¡±, but he¡¯d solve that the following week¡­

    He told his parents of his decision and went to see the girls. Emelyn, Leyla and Anthon were a little surprised, they didn¡¯t expect that Merlin would make a decision so soon and a so mature one at that! But once they thought about it, Merlin had always been a precocious kid, so it actually wasn¡¯t that surprising¡­ Since they didn¡¯t have a choice in the matter they let it go and decided to start making plans for the celebration of Merlin¡¯s sixth birthday, which would take place five days later.

    In the basement, Adelle was a little troubled. She had accepted sharing the big bed with Lupa and Bastet, but nobody had told her that Merlin usually slept in their bed with them¡­ had they told her beforehand, she¡¯d asked for a different room, because her heart still wasn¡¯t prepared for her to share a bed with Merlin¡­ but now it was too late so she tried to cope with the situation by laying down in one of the sides, with one of the other girls between her and Merlin.

    Adelle finally fell asleep, and so did Merlin. On the other hand, Lupa and Bastet were still awake and with mischievous smiles in their faces¡­ They had thought of a prank that, if done well, it might help to get rid of Adelle¡¯s shyness around Merlin. They decided it was the time to do it, so they got up and moved Adelle until she was on top of Merlin, then they laid down on both of his sides, as they usually did, and fell asleep with a smile¡­ The following morning they would have so much fun¡­

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    On a side-note, remember that this world is way bigger than Earth. The territory occupied by the kingdom of Shephiran would be half the size to the U.S. and the territory given to Merlin would be of the size of the State of Montana.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 14 â€“ Affinities

    Merlin''s POV:

    I woke up and felt something oppressing my chest, but to my surprise, when I opened my eyes to see what it was, I saw Adelle¡¯s sleeping face. I recalled last night¡¯s events, and I remembered Adelle going to sleep on one of the sides of the bed, and Lupa was between us¡­ Taking Adelle¡¯s personality into consideration, it was almost impossible for her to be this bold on the first night, so it was probably a prank that Lupa and Bastet had thought of¡­ well, I¡¯ll have to reward them later, this situation is not half bad¡­ On the other hand, this means I¡¯ll have to wait until the three of them wake up to go do my morning routine¡­ It¡¯s worth it though.

    I wonder what face will Adelle make when she wakes up and see the situation¡­ it¡¯s gonna be really funny!

    *****************************************************************************

    Adelle was so embarrassed that she didn¡¯t say a word for two days. When she started talking again, the adults asked her why she had acted that way, but she didn¡¯t give them any reason. Merlin and the girls felt a little guilty for they were the ones responsible for Adelle¡¯s odd behavior but none of them dared to come clean.

    Days passed and, soon, Merlin¡¯s birthday arrived. The whole household was in a celebrating mood. That would the last year they would be able to celebrate his birthday as a family, so they wanted it to be really special. As soon as Merlin established himself in his new position, he¡¯d have to deal with all the annoying protocol the nobility had, in which, the celebration of birthdays was also included, of course.

    What nobody had expected was the King making a brief visit to personally wish Merlin ¡°a very happy birthday¡±, and also to ask him about the design he wanted to be his family crest. Merlin disappeared for a minute, and when he came back he had a parchment in his hand. He then extended the parchment on the table, and showed it to the King.

    It was actually Avalon Kingdom¡¯s Royal family¡¯s crest, but any record or knowledge about it should have disappeared millennia ago, so Merlin intended to make the crest his own. The King didn¡¯t say anything either, he just took the parchment and went back to the Palace.

    After his departure, everyone started talking about Merlin¡¯s Magic Awakening Test, which would take place the following day, and they were wondering to which element or elements Merlin would have affinity. Only Emely and the girls knew about his affinity to all eight attributes, but they kept quiet about it. Merlin had already decided the elements he was going to show affinity to, and with the disguising magic he had learned from the book left behind by the original Merlin Pendragon, he wouldn¡¯t have much trouble hiding his real abilities. Besides, he had planned to use the affinities of the three girls to mask his own when attacking in a party, but that would be later on, when they had all become adventurers¡­

    *****************************************************************************

    The following day, the whole Pendragon household accompanied Merlin to the Magic Institute, they all wanted to know the results of the test first-hand. A surprise was waiting for them at the Magic Institute, the King had come to witness the test along with Laurenz. Their reason was quite simple, they wanted to confirm whether Merlin had affinity to the water element or not. If he really had it, Laurenz was convinced he had witnessed Merlin using it before, it¡¯d mean Merlin would become really powerful in the future, so they¡¯d have to prepare suitable rewards to rope him in and tie him to the kingdom more than he already was.

    The Magic Awakening Test, also called Magic Awakening Ritual in some regions, didn¡¯t have much of a mystery: a transparent orb was handed to the person undergoing the test, and depending on the color that the orb takes, and its strength, the person will have affinity to one element on another, and different ranks for their affinities. The affinities were tested by the orb one at a time, so if someone had multiple affinities, then the orb would show them in succession, starting from the strongest affinity to the weakest. In case someone has multiple affinities with equal strength, they¡¯ll be shown at random.

    The magus in charge handed the orb to Merlin while the rest of the people present held their breath in anticipation of the results. As soon as Merlin held the orb, it began to glow. The glow turned red and started to grow in intensity until the whole room was bathed in red light.

    Magus: Extraordinary affinity to the fire element!

    The red light disappeared and the orb started to glow again. The Pendragon household was really excited: Merlin was a dual-element user! The King and Laurenz carefully looked at the orb, but they weren¡¯t happy at all, because the glow wasn¡¯t blue like they expected, but brown. Once again, the glow increased, and finally, the room was immersed in a brown light.

    Magus: Extraordinary affinity to the earth element!

    The brown light disappeared and most of the people present thought that the test had already finished. The majority of the Pendragon household was already celebrating that Merlin was a fire-earth dual-element magus, just like his mother, when the orb started glowing again. They were dumbfounded, a third affinity? It wouldn¡¯t be that strange if one of the parents had three affinities, or both parents were magi of different affinities and at least one of them was a dual-element magus, but those weren¡¯t Merlin¡¯s case¡­ This time the orb glowed with a blue light, which made the King and Laurenz grin because they were right and Merlin actually had it! Then, following the same process as the other elements¡­

    Magus: Extraordinary affinity to the water element!

    After that, the magus in charge of the test was going to retrieve the orb, but just when he was about to touch it, he noticed that it was glowing again. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes! A fourth affinity! Ever since the Great Magic Era, only one person had ever appeared who had affinity to four elements, and nobody had ever managed to repeat that feat¡­ Until that very instant! The magus realized that he was witnessing something that would become part of the history of the world, and he was part of it!

    Everyone¡¯s jaws dropped, they couldn¡¯t understand what they were seeing, only when someone muttered ¡°A fourth affinity?! You¡¯ve gotta be kidding me!¡± did they understand that they weren¡¯t dreaming and it was really happening: Merlin had become the second person in having affinities to four elements ever since the end of the Great Magic Era!

    They carefully looked at the orb and saw it glowing with a grey light. They couldn¡¯t understand what they were seeing, the equivalence between colors and elements were clear: red = fire, green = wind, blue = water, brown = earth, black = darkness, white = light, violet = space-time¡­ but grey? Grey = Non-element affinity, the most mysterious affinity of them all¡­ The Spirit magic used by the elves derived from this affinity, but no human had ever possessed that attribute since the end of the Great Magic Era. That affinity granted the user the power to freely manipulate mana, to a certain degree, and in some cases, it even allowed the user to convert raw mana into mana of a concrete affinity, making possible to use low ranked spells of an affinity different from the user¡¯s.

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Magus: Imp-impossible! Ex-extraordinary affinity to the Non-element attribute?!

    Possessing this affinity would definitely bring unwanted attention upon him, so he had initially thought of using space-time as his fourth affinity, but he discarded the idea when he thought about the possible emergency situations he might would come across in the future: If in an emergency situation he unconsciously used a spell of an attribute he wasn¡¯t supposed to have, that would put him in an extremely difficult situation. On the other hand, by making public that he possesses the mythical Non-element attribute, if he ever uses a spell from an attribute he isn¡¯t supposed to have, people will just assume that he used the Non-element attribute¡¯s ¡°mana conversion ability¡± to cast the spell.

    Seeing the uproar that the results of the test were making, the magus decided to get over with it and proceeded to announce the results of the test.

    Magus: Earl Merlin Pendragon: Extraordinary affinity to the fire, water and earth elements, as well as extraordinary affinity to the Non-element attribute!

    Nobody knew what to say anymore, they stood there, blankly staring at Merlin while he returned the orb and left with his family. King Dollan realized that, given the circumstances, he couldn¡¯t rope Merlin in with the methods he had thought of¡­ so he only had one way left to do it, and that was gaining his friendship without using any tricks¡­ and that was something that he wasn¡¯t used to do!

    *****************************************************************************

    Merlin was completely unaware of the uproar that his very existence had caused in the human territories around the world. The news of him possessing the Non-element attribute spread through the kingdom and, in less than a week everyone in the kingdom knew about him. In two weeks, every major organization had already received the information, and started to prepare their course of action.

    They all sent spies, with their orders being to observe him and report his growth and behavior. The only exception to that was the Klausna kingdom, who saw him as a potential threat, and instead of spies sent assassins with orders of killing him and leaving no witnesses. Their reasons to send assassins against a six-year-old weren¡¯t only that he had the mythical affinity, but also that his territory was in the middle of the path they had chosen to use in the invasion they had planned to do several years later. If the boy ever had any funny ideas, like fortifying the border, that would seriously hinder their plans, so they decided to eliminate him before he had the opportunity to do so.

    *****************************************************************************

    Merlin was unaware of all that, he was in the courtyard celebrating with his family, when he suddenly remembered something. He asked his mother to cast a high level fire barrier around the house, and went into the basement with Adelle. Emelyn immediately understood that he wanted to do Adelle¡¯s Magic Awakening and casted the barrier, after doing so, she also went to the basement, she was curious about what Adelle¡¯s main affinities would be.

    When Emelyn entered the basement the had already finished the awakening, so she asked Merlin what Adelle¡¯s affinities were, but he didn¡¯t know yet because Adelle didn¡¯t understand what she had to do in order to sense her attributes. Merlin decided to use his ¡°Analytical Observation¡± on her to see her status.

    *Pling*

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Adelle Teneris</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>4</td><td>Race</td><td>Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>1</td><td>Gender</td><td>Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">290/290</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.003 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">2 371</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.006 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''></td></tr>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (minimal), Water (high), Wind (extraordinary), Earth (minimal), Space-time (low), Light (minimal), Darkness (minimal), Non-attribute (minimal)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Nursering (lv. 3)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

    Merlin told his mother that Adelle had extraordinary affinity to the wind element, high affinity to the water element, and a low affinity to the space-time element. Emelyn thought that it was a pity that despite being a triple-element magus, Adelle couldn¡¯t become really proficient in one of them, which would reduce her strength¡­ but she didn¡¯t say it aloud, Adelle was really happy with her affinities, and crushing her hopes of becoming a triple-element user was something that Emelyn couldn¡¯t bring herself to do. Besides, she had witnessed her son doing things deemed impossible by the current common sense, so if it was him, he might just be able to help Adelle to attain her new goal!

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 15 â€“ Cult of Abaddollyon (I)

    Merlin had expressed his desire of exploring his new territory, so Emelyn would accompany him and the girls on their journey, after all they were kids and it was dangerous for them to wander around without an adult supervising them. They decided to depart two days later, and started to make the preparations. The rest of the household would move back to Laklostia, and Anthon, who had been relieved from his duties by the king, would organize an increase of the patrols at the border to avoid any possible ¡°surprises¡± until Merlin (or Emelyn) fully organized the territory.

    Merlin thought that the Lakium Forest was as good a first destination as any other, besides, going there would also allow them to pass through several villages and see their current situation. Two days after Merlin¡¯s Magic Awakening Test they departed towards the Lakium Forest. There weren¡¯t any problems on their travel, which made them arrive one day in advance to the village of Sameru. This village was similar in size to Laklostia, so it gave Merlin a sense of familiarity he hadn¡¯t expected. He didn¡¯t want to stand out, so he asked his mother what the plans were for their accommodation.

    Merlin: Mother, where are we going to stay at tonight?

    Emelyn: Well, we have to greet this village¡¯s head and introduce you as the new appointed lord of these lands, so we¡¯ll probably be staying at his place¡­ Why do you ask?

    Merlin: I¡¯d rather stay at an inn that at the village¡¯s head¡¯s house¡­

    Emelyn: Merlin, you are the new appointed lord of these lands! The rules of etiquette dictate that when a lord of superior rank, or the lord who owns the land visits a village, the village¡¯s head must provide accommodation and give the proper treatment to the lord¡­ Staying at an inn instead of making use of that privilege is highly unusual. I won¡¯t oppose to it if that¡¯s your decision, but I¡¯d like to know your reason for doing so.

    Merlin: Mother, I¡¯m well aware that it¡¯s highly unusual not to use that privilege, but I still prefer staying at an inn. Mother, I know that by my demeanor and the way I talk you forget it sometimes, but I¡¯m a 6-year-old, and usually, people can¡¯t stomach to be under someone younger than themselves, even more so if it¡¯s someone of my own age. Although I very much doubt that the village¡¯s head will try to make a move against us, I can¡¯t say the same about the nobles who got pissed off by my appointment as an earl, so instead of an environment controlled by someone whose allegiances are unknown, I¡¯d prefer to stay at a more ¡°neutral¡± environment, at a place which can be easily defended and doesn¡¯t give the advantages of the numbers to a possible opponent party.

    Emelyn: Eh¡­ Such a strategic view of the situation sounded like what a veteran soldier would say, not a child! Are you really my son, Merlin? And, are you really a 6-year-old? Hearing what you just said I¡¯m starting to doubt that!

    Merlin: Hahaha, yes mother, it¡¯s me¡­ Mother, do you remember what I told you about the place in the well, back at our home in Laklostia?

    Emelyn: Yes, you told me that¡¯s where you found the Magic Awakening Stone that you used on yourself and the girls¡­

    Merlin: Yes, that¡¯s correct. Well¡­ there were also several books there, and a couple of them were about military strategy, so after reading them I started thinking more strategically¡­

    Emelyn: Muu¡­ I wish you hadn¡¯t found that place!

    Merlin: Why, mother? It¡¯s a good thing I did, it has helped me and the girls to develop our abilities, and it will continue to help us in the future!

    Emelyn: I know¡­ but it¡¯s just that you are maturing way too fast! I wanted to pamper you and enjoy being a mother again¡­ and it¡¯s really difficult to do so when your own son is a genius who can put most adults to shame!

    Merlin was surprised, up till that moment he had thought that his mother was proud of her genius son. He never took into consideration that his acting like an adult could actually frustrate her so much!

    Merlin: I¡¯m really sorry, mother! I¡¯ll try to act more like a child when I¡¯m around you! Besides, I really like being pampered by you! So, until I turn 15 and officially become an adult, you can pamper me as much as you want!

    Merlin said those words in a moment of tenderness, but little did he knew that he¡¯d lament them in the future¡­ After hearing those words, Emelyn started to cry, and when she finally calmed down, they proceeded to enter the village. After they found an inn to stay at, they went to the house of the head of the village to meet him and to learn from him the actual situation of the village. As soon as the head of the village was told about Merlin¡¯s identity, he invited them to dinner at his house. He also wanted to offer them his guest-rooms to rest that night, but they politely declined, they said they didn¡¯t want to impose, but the real reason was that they didn¡¯t trust him¡­ not after having heard Merlin¡¯s explanation for choosing to stay at the inn.

    Merlin felt that there was something strange going on in the town. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on it, but he had started getting that feeling after going sightseeing around the village, and the feeling got stronger after meeting with the village¡¯s head. When they got to the inn after dinner, Merlin told his mother about it and was surprised to learn that it wasn¡¯t just him, Emelyn had gotten the same bad feeling as him¡­ but she knew what the reason for her bad feeling was: the village barely had any children, and almost every young couple in age of having them, that they had come across, had ashen faces, but they wouldn¡¯t talk. Emelyn thought that there was something fishy going on, and wanted to investigate it, but she wasn¡¯t able to because she had to take care of the four children.

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Merlin sneaked out in the middle of the night and went to the roof of the inn. There, he had a good view of the whole village, and decided to observe if there was any kind of suspicious activity. After a while, Merlin got bored and thought about going back inside, when he suddenly saw several hooded people acting suspiciously and getting closer to the inn. He saw them gesturing and pointing towards the room Emelyn and the girls were sleeping in, and the number 4. Merlin understood that the lack of kids in the village, added to the number 4 when pointing at a room in which 4 kids were supposed to be sleeping, couldn¡¯t mean anything good. He went back into the room to wake up his mother and tell her everything he had seen and his conclusions about it.

    Merlin: Mother, wake up!

    Emelyn: Yawn! Merlin, it¡¯s the middle of the night¡­ you should be sleeping¡­ did you have a nightmare?

    Merlin: Mother, please! I couldn¡¯t sleep, so I climbed up to the roof of the inn and tried to observe the scenery¡­ and do some stargazing¡­ but when I looked down, I discovered that several hooded people have surrounded the inn and they pointed to this room, it¡¯s likely that they¡¯re planning to attack us!

    Emelyn: Merlin, I know that you said that you would act more like a child, but if this is a prank, it¡¯s not funny!

    Merlin: Mother, you know I¡¯m not a pranking person¡­ and every word I said is true!

    Emelyn: Ok, tell me everything from the beginning!

    Merlin then told her everything he had seen and how they seemed to be about to attack. Emelyn heard his conclusions, and she agreed with him, so she woke up the girls and started making preparations for an eventual attack. They didn¡¯t have to wait much, 5 minutes after finishing the preparations, seven hooded men burst the door of the room open and went inside. They were surprised that, not only had their surprise attack failed, but their possible escape routes had also been blocked with an ¡°Earth Wall¡±. The woman accompanying the children was a magus!

    Only now did they understood why the head of the village had told them to forget about taking those kids, but in their desperation, they tried to do it anyway and had walked into a trap. Seeing the situation they had gotten themselves into, they considered their options, and decided they would take some kids as hostages and get out of there, but when they tried to move, they realized they couldn¡¯t. Blocks of ice had trapped their feet, so they couldn¡¯t move at all, that was Merlin¡¯s doing, and Emelyn was pleasantly surprised by his quick thinking and fast reactions.

    Emelyn started interrogating the men, and they cracked down in less than a minute, without needing any convincing. It seemed that a group of bandits had seized the village several months ago, and they had taken away the majority of the children above 3 years old, the only children who remained in the village after that were the ones who were younger, or were sick at that time. The bandits needed healthy children to work in a secret mine, so they left the sick ones alone. The only reason they had tried to kidnap Merlin and the girls, was that they wanted to take them to the bandits and exchange them for their own children.

    Emelyn was at a loss of what to do with them, on one hand, as a mother, she understood that if she were in their situation and she wasn¡¯t a magus, she¡¯d probably have acted the same way as them. On the other hand, she couldn¡¯t forgive them for trying to take HER children, and she didn¡¯t plan to let them get away with it. Luckily for them, Emely prioritized the annihilation of the bandit group and the rescue of the children over the due punishment of the hooded men. Emelyn elicited from them everything they knew about the bandits: location of their base, approximate numbers, location of the secret mine and the children¡­

    After she was done with the information gathering, she and Merlin thought of a plan together. They would usually think of some kind on intricate plan to trick the bandits out of their base and rescue the children, but this time, that was impossible due to the geographical configuration of the place, in addition, the camping site of the bandits was located in front of the entrance of the cave, so to stealthily save the children would prove being impossible, because they¡¯d have to go through the bandits to get to the cave and take the children out of the mine.

    Given that they couldn¡¯t make use of the darkness of the night to rescue the children without confronting the bandits, they decided to go with the next best thing: to attack as quickly and overwhelmingly as possible. Between Emelyn and Merlin¡¯s magic, they could easily pull it off, but they still enlisted the help of the hooded men, who would be in charge of freeing the children and getting them back to the village, while Emelyn and Merlin provided a distraction and cover for the escape. Lupa, Bastet and Adelle would remain in the room of the inn, inside a high-level wind-earth double barrier, casted by Merlin and Emelyn, that way nobody would be able to do anything to the girls in their absence.

    As most of the hooded men were fathers whose children had been snatched away by the bandits, they complied and promised to do everything in their power to help, even if that meant laying down their lives for the success of the operation. Emelyn was pleased to hear that, but in the end, that operation was their last chance to get back their children, so they didn¡¯t actually have much of a choice but to participate in the operation and hope for the best!

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 16 â€“ Cult of Abaddollyon (II)

    Once they arrived to the camping site of the bandits, they separated into two groups, Emelyn and Merlin stayed at the limit of the camping site, while the hooded men placed themselves next to the entrance of the cave (that way, once the attack started, they could run into the cave without being seen by the bandits). While Emelyn and Merlin were waiting for the others to get in position, Emelyn moved a step backwards and stepped on a fallen branch and stayed still, she didn¡¯t know if they had heard the cracking sound from the branch braking, but she cursed inwardly when she saw movement in the camping site.

    ???: Hey, Kaleb! Did you hear something just now?

    Kaleb: No, I didn¡¯t hear anything. Alden, you should stop drinking ale! If Hazim catches you drinking while being on night watch, he¡¯ll kill you!

    Alden: Oh, C¡¯mon! Kaleb, don¡¯t tell me you are gonna rat me out to him, are you?

    Kaleb: That¡¯s not what I meant, Alden! I couldn¡¯t care any less if you get caught, the problem is that if there is any problem at all during our watch and it is discovered that you drank, my head is gonna roll too!

    Alden: Blablabla! Stop your yapping! I¡¯ve heard it again, I¡¯m going to the forest to check it out!

    Kaleb: Stop it, Alden! You¡¯re drunk, and for your information, what you just heard is the crackling of the campfire!

    Alden: Oh, was that it?

    Kaleb: Yes, that was it! Now sit down and stop making things difficult for me!

    After Emelyn and Merlin confirmed they hooded men were in position beside the cave, they started the attack to provide a distraction, but they got a little too excited and, in less than a minute, they annihilated all the bandits in the camping site. Only three remained, inside the cave, and they were giving trouble to the hooded men.

    Merlin: Mother, I can hear the sound of swords clashing! The others must have met trouble!

    Emelyn: You¡¯re right, we should hurry and join them! The head of the bandit group didn¡¯t seem to be within the group earlier, so he probably is inside the cave¡­ If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m not sure the others will be able to handle him!

    Emelyn and Merlin had heard the sounds of clashing metal and cries of pain coming from the cave and rushed inside, but what they saw was a scene that would be forever engraved in their memories: half of the missing children were caged like animals, while the other half were dead, they had been chopped down to tiny pieces and then scattered around the base of a blood altar. After seeing that, Merlin had to go to the side to puke. When he returned to the side of his mother, Emelyn looked at him and saw that his face was a little green.

    Emelyn: Merlin, are you ok? Do you think you can handle this? If you can¡¯t, just say it. You don¡¯t have to force yourself!

    Merlin: Mother, I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry! It just shocked me, that¡¯s all! I can deal with it!

    Emelyn: Ok, I understand. I won¡¯t bring it again.

    Emelyn understood that Merlin was trying to come to terms with what he had seen, and also, that he didn¡¯t want to show any weakness in front of her, so she didn¡¯t insist. The kids had been sacrificed to an avernal god, which meant that not only had the children been killed, their very souls had been consumed, without any hope of reincarnation. There were two bandits remaining, but of the seven hooded men who originally entered the cave, only one was still alive.

    Emelyn couldn¡¯t care less about the hooded men who had fallen during the rescue attempt, but the children were a different matter. They were innocent souls who had a whole life of opportunities before them, and whose lives had been severed by unscrupulous men who only were trying to satisfy their own greed. Emelyn¡¯s rage soared up and all the mana around her started running wild to the point that there was a crackling sound in the air. In her whole life, only in one occasion had she been as upset as she was right now, it had been when a greedy merchant had had her parents killed, many years before. Merlin understood what was going on and knew that unless he managed to calm his mother down, she¡¯d kill the two remaining bandits before they could even interrogate them.

    Merlin: Mother?

    Emelyn: ¡­

    Merlin: Mother, you should calm down¡­

    Emelyn: ¡­

    Merlin: Mother, please! Calm down! If you kill them we won¡¯t be able to know why they did what they did!

    Emelyn: Merlin, don¡¯t stop me! Those sorry excuses for humans must be exterminated!

    Merlin: I know, mother, but we should get answer first!

    After talking with her, Emelyn¡¯s face was beet red from the embarrassment: she had lost her cool and made a fool out of herself in front of her own son, not only that, her 6-year-old son had lectured her, and to make it worse, he had been right in doing so! She was so embarrassed that she felt like dying.

    They freed the surviving children and gave them a quick meal. Then, Emelyn burned to ashes the scattered remains of the sacrificed children so that wild beasts and animals wouldn¡¯t feed on them, and accompanied by Merlin, she went to interrogate the two captives. As soon as they saw her coming, their pale faces turned even paler. After hearing Merlin appealing to her mother so that she wouldn¡¯t kill them, they thought they were going to be let of the hook, but seeing her coming again, made them realize that their execution had just temporarily been put on hold.

    They thought they might had a chance at living if they talked, so they spilled everything out: their bandits group belonged to a community of worshippers of the avernal god Abaddollyon, and they were making blood sacrifices all thorough the continent. They believed the avernal god Abaddollyon was far stronger than all the gods from the different races combined, the only problem was that the avernal god Abaddollyon was sealed in the avernal realm, that¡¯s why he needed the blood sacrifices, to free himself and come into this realm, so that he could become supreme god and sovereign of Nirvatarus, for they believed it his natural right.

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    Emelyn and Merlin were speechless, they thought that dealing with the bandits would put an end to the problem, but it looked like there were a lot of bastards like them in the continent, people who would kidnap and sacrifice children for their selfish desires and the cult. After hearing that they didn¡¯t know the locations of any other blood altars or groups belonging to the cult of Abaddollyon, Emelyn deemed them useless and, contrary to their expectations, she killed them on the spot. Merlin was surprised at his mother¡¯s reaction, but thinking about it, if the plans of the hooded men had been accomplished, it would have been him and the girls the ones sacrificed on the altar, which meant her rage was more than justified. Merlin was also surprised at the fact that satanic cults also existed in Klantea.

    After dispatching the two bandits, Emelyn and Merlin destroyed the blood altar inside the cave, they went back to the camping site to where the surviving hooded man and children were waiting for them, and they then accompanied the children and the man back to the village. When the people of the village saw them coming, all the parents whose children had been kidnapped went to check whether their missing child was among the survivors of the tragedy, but unfortunately for the people of the village, the world is cruel and not everyone is fated to have a happy ending.

    When the villagers learnt about the fates of the other children from Emelyn and the hooded man, anger and regret appeared on their faces, but the parents of the deceased children fell to the ground in sorrow, while a feeling of helplessness invaded the villagers standing around them. They were their friends, their neighbors¡­ but they didn¡¯t know how to comfort them, for most of them knew that if it hadn¡¯t been for Emelyn and Merlin¡¯s assistance, they could very well be joining their friends in their sorrow. The village¡¯s head asked invited them to his house once more, but they declined the invitation and went back to the inn. They arrived to the room and dispelled the double barrier. The very second they did, Lupa, Bastet and Adelle run towards Merlin, tripped and fell down. Watching that, Merlin couldn¡¯t help but laugh.

    Merlin: Hahaha! I know that you missed me, but you don¡¯t have to prostrate before me, you know!?

    Lupa and Bastet: ¡­

    Adelle: Th-that¡¯s not it!

    Merlin: Hahaha! I know, I know, I was just teasing you a little!

    Lupa: You¡¯re mean!

    Adelle and Bastet: ¡­

    Emelyn: Merlin, I know that it¡¯s been a hard night, but you shouldn¡¯t take it out on the girls! They¡¯re your future wives! You should love them and treat them with respect!

    Merlin: I know, mother. I love them, but they¡¯re so cute when they are embarrassed¡­ I just couldn¡¯t help myself. Sorry!

    Emelyn: It¡¯s not me to whom you should apologize!

    Merlin: I¡¯m sorry girls! I promise I¡¯ll try not to tease you much!

    Emelyn made a face of disbelief. Merlin had apologized to the girls for teasing them, but at the same time, he had admitted that he¡¯d do it again! On the other hand, the girls didn¡¯t seem to notice what Merlin¡¯s words implied. They were just happy that because of the apology, they could ask for a little compensation from Merlin, and the three of them knew what they were gonna ask: a passionate kiss from him.

    Merlin had expected as much, but Emelyn was dumbfounded when she heard their request, although what really left her speechless moments later, was that Merlin actually went through with it. Sure, he wasn¡¯t as skilled as her husband, but still, seeing 5 and 6-year-old kids French-kissing was something she didn¡¯t expect to see, even more so when the boy was her own son. Emelyn also realized that, for the way the girls were reacting, that wasn¡¯t the first time they had kissed that way. When they finished, she asked Merlin.

    Emelyn: Merlin, may I ask you a question?

    Merlin: Sure, mother. What is it?

    Emelyn: When did you start kissing them like that?

    Merlin: Just a couple of months ago, mother. They saw father kissing you that way, and said that they wanted to try it out. The strange thing is, that despite how embarrassing it is, they liked it and continued to ask me to kiss them like that. But for me it¡¯s really embarrassing, so I reserve that special kiss for when we have to make up.

    Emelyn wanted to ask something else, but she didn¡¯t dare. After thinking about it for a while, she dismissed the thought, it was biologically impossible, so in the end, she didn¡¯t ask the question. Emelyn, Merlin and the girls rested for a few hours and woke up at dawn. They packed their luggage and put it into the carriage, then they went to the house of the village¡¯s head and asked him for a full report regarding the situation of the families whose children had been taken by the cult, and also what kind of activities the families did in the region.

    There wasn¡¯t much to go on, so after receiving that report and sending a letter to the King, explaining in it the existence of the cult of Abaddollyon, and another one to Anthon, warning him about the activities of the cult and telling him to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity which may be related to them, Emelyn and the children got into the carriage and departed from Sameru.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 17 â€“ Rings

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    Almost eight weeks have passed since we left the village of Sameru, and we¡¯re just a day away from the Lakium Forest. Over the course of the last few weeks, mother has tried to convince the girls of stopping to French-kiss me. Good luck, mom! Actually, she tried to convince me first, but after she realized that the instigators of those kisses were the girls, she stopped lecturing me and tried her luck with the girls. She thinks she has managed to stop them from doing so because, in public, the girls have passed from French-kissing me to simply kissing me in the lips, which is more appropriate for our age¡­ little does she know that, at least once per week, they sneakily French-kiss me before going to bed, as soon as she falls asleep.

    I¡¯m annoyed by their conduct, I mean, it¡¯d be different if they were fully developed women, and I was a fully grown man, but we¡¯re kids, even if we kiss that way, there is no way for us to go any further, and that leaves a bad aftertaste, so I¡¯d be glad if mother succeeded in convincing them to wait until our bodies have developed enough, before kissing me like that again! Anyway, I have just finished the rings, so I have to give them to the girls before a situation like the one a month ago happens again.

    ****************************************************************************

    Delia City, a month ago¡­

    After several weeks of visiting villages on their way to the Lakium Forest, Emelyn and the kids arrived to Delia City. Fortunately to the group, in the rest of the villages they had been in, there was no evidence of any activity whatsoever from the cult of Abaddollyon, as for the occasional bandits who had the unfortunate idea of trying to assault their carriage, they were quickly dealt with magic.

    They rented a room at an inn and then Emelyn said she had an errand to run, so she gave them a couple of silver each and told to go look around, but forbade them from going too far from where she was. She was back in half an hour, but that was enough for Lupa and Bastet to go missing. They had gotten separated from Merlin and Adelle when they run looking for sweets, and they still hadn¡¯t come back. Emelyn enlisted the help of the city guards to look for them, and informed of the situation to the city lord. When he learned about Merlin¡¯s status, he immediately ordered a lockdown on the city.

    ****************************************************************************

    Lupa¡¯s POV:

    Ugh? Where am I? My head hurts¡­  The last thing I remember before passing out, was that weird man who threw some kind of powder to my face and to Bastet¡¯s¡­ Oh, gods! Don¡¯t tell me we were kidnapped! Looks like Bastet is still unconscious, that¡¯s good, she¡¯d probably be hysterical by now otherwise¡­ Hahaha. Damn, he¡¯s seen me awake¡­ I don¡¯t want to have to deal with that man, I just want to take Bastet with me and go home with Merlin¡­

    ???: Oh? What do we have here? Your little friend over there hasn¡¯t woken up yet, but that doesn¡¯t matter. Do you see this here? This is a slavery collar and it is for you, your friend is already wearing one¡­

    Lupa: No! Why are you doing this to us? *Please, Merlin, save us! Hurry up!*

    ???: Why? I¡¯m a slave dealer, and you and your friend are some high quality material, so I can sell you for at least 2 white gold coins each.

    Lupa: You can¡¯t kidnap and enslave people just like that!

    Slave dealer: Shut up fucking animal! You¡¯re just livestock! A commodity, and a way for people like me to make a lot of gold!

    There is also this kind of human¡­ I got so used to Merlin and his family that I forgot the treatment beastmen usually get in human territory. But I never thought we¡¯d be made into slaves¡­ Huh? That¡¯s strange, the slavery magic from the collar should have worked already, but it hasn¡¯t¡­ why? I don¡¯t know why it didn¡¯t work, but I can¡¯t let that dealer realize that fact. Merlin, hurry up! I don¡¯t know for how long we¡¯ll be able to stall him¡­

    *************************************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    Lupa and Bastet are nowhere to be found, we did split when we were looking for sweets, and despite having agreed to come back before mother came out, they still haven¡¯t come. They have disappeared. I¡¯ve felt a burning sensation on my mating mark¡­ Let¡¯s hope it¡¯s unrelated, I don¡¯t want anything to happen to those girls¡­

    It¡¯s been an hour since the city is lockdown, but there isn¡¯t any lead to where Lupa and Bastet might be¡­ The burning sensation on my mating mark has returned, and it gets stronger by the second¡­ I feel like I¡¯m missing something¡­ I¡¯m gonna open my status window to check if there is something wrong with me¡­

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Merlin Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>6</td><td>Race</td><td>**** Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>8</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1200/1200</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.031 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">172 891</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.061 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Imagination Creation Magic (lv. 3)¡±</li>

    <li>"Status Window Spell (lv. 2)"</li>

    <li>"Analytic Observation Spell (lv. 10)"</li>

    <li>¡°Elemental Magic (lv. 5)¡±</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (extraordinary), Water (extraordinary), Wind (extraordinary), Earth (extraordinary), Space-time (extraordinary), Light (extraordinary), Darkness (extraordinary), Non-attribute (extraordinary)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''><ul>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Aikido (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Karate (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Taekwondo (lv. 9)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Lotus Crescendus¡± (lv. 8)</li>

    <li>¡°Ki Strengthening Technique (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Marked mate tracking (lv. 10)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Intermediate Compounding Av.In (lv. 10)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

    Ok, nothing¡¯s wrong with me¡­ Wait, what?! I¡¯m an idiot! How could I forget about that?! All this time looking for them, and I could have used the skill provided by the mating mark! So that¡¯s why I have that burning sensation on it. It was trying to tell me that I should use that skill!

    ***************************************************************************

    After Merlin realized that he could track the girls¡¯ location through the mating mark, he told his mother and used the skill.

    <table><tbody><tr><td>

    * *

    *

    </td></tr></tbody></table>

    *Ok, found them!* thought Merlin. He told his mother that the girls seemed to be in a basement in a street next to the red light district. Emelyn was going to tell the city lord so that she could borrow some city guards and raid the place, but Merlin considered that the risk of the people responsible escaping was too high, and if they had a way to escape, then it was likely that they could bring Lupa and Bastet with them, so he decided to go in alone, because with him being a kid, the enemy would drop their guard and they wouldn¡¯t immediately escape.

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    Emelyn: Merlin, I won¡¯t allow it! You¡¯re just a little kid, as your mother there is no way I¡¯m letting you do this!

    Merlin: Mother, please understand this is the only way we can make sure that Lupa and Bastet are there, and that they¡¯re safe. They won¡¯t suspect me and they¡¯ll probably even try to catch me too, that¡¯s precisely what makes this plan so perfect!

    Emelyn: I still don¡¯t want you to do it! Look Merlin, no mother would ever want her son to put himself in a dangerous situation, and I¡¯m no different! I know your plan is the safest way to do it, but I can¡¯t bring myself to let you do it!

    Merlin: Lupa and Bastet are my fianc¨¦es, they¡¯re important to me, and¡­ I think I love them¡­ anyway, I¡¯m gonna do this, with your approval or without it!

    Emelyn: Ok, if you¡¯re going to be like that, let¡¯s have it your way, but I¡¯m going to keep a close watch and if I consider that the situation has become too dangerous, I¡¯ll intervene with the help of the city guards! That¡¯s the only way I can compromise and allow you to go ahead with your plan!

    Merlin: Ok, mother. I understand. Thank you!

    Emelyn still didn¡¯t want him to do it, but she had seen that he was dead set on doing it his way to save the girls, she also was aware that Merlin¡¯s plan would greatly reduce the chances of the girls getting hurt, however, as a mother, it was very difficult for her to let her 6-year-old son put himself into danger. She complied with Merlin¡¯s wishes, but it didn¡¯t mean she could shake off the uneasiness she was feeling¡­

    As soon as he entered the basement, a man, who Merlin assumed would be the guy in charge of guarding the door, went towards him and threw sleeping powder to his face. Merlin recognized the sleeping powder and acted accordingly, however, the sleeping powder didn¡¯t have any effect on him, thanks to his practice of alchemy, Merlin had acquired immunity to a few common poisons, which included the Morpheus Weed from which the sleeping powder was extracted.

    Merlin¡¯s acting fooled the guard, who brought him to the room where Lupa and Bastet were being kept. Bastet had just woken up and although she didn¡¯t fully understand the situation, when she saw the guard bringing a supposedly unconscious Merlin into the room, she started weeping because she was afraid for him. Lupa on the other hand¡­

    Lupa: MERLIN, NO! DON¡¯T YOU DARE TO TOUCH HIM!

    Slave dealer: Oh?! Somebody is hysterical! ¡­Wait, you¡¯re wearing the slavery collar, so how come that you can talk despite having been ordered not to? And who is this Merlin boy?

    Merlin: Earl Merlin Pendragon, not at your service! Thank you for taking so good care of my fianc¨¦es, I¡¯ll have to reward you for that!

    Slave dealer: What? How are you awake? Weren¡¯t you knocked out by the sleeping powder?

    Merlin: SURPRISE! No, I wasn¡¯t knocked out by it, that kind of thing doesn¡¯t work on me, but that doesn¡¯t matter right now, we should concentrate into the matter at hand: punishment! Today, my dear pupils, you are going to learn what is to be punished! Didn¡¯t anyone ever tell you that there is someone you never should piss off if you¡¯re smart, if you value the continuance of your own existence, if you have any hope of having a future, there is someone you never ever should piss off¡­

    Slave dealer: And who would that be, you, little boy?

    Merlin: A powerful magus! And, yes Mr. Slave dealer, in this case, ME!

    Just as Merlin finished saying those words, a shriek reverberated through the basement, and all the slaves who were imprisoned in the other rooms of the basement couldn¡¯t help but have goosebumps, for they knew that it had been the voice of the slave dealer. Merlin had reduced his family jewels to ashes with a fireball, while he had frozen the guard guy transforming him into a block of ice, which he then proceeded to shatter, killing the man inside. Then, Merlin turned to the girls, he used a spell of Space-Time attribute to age the materials of the collars to the point they became dust, and freed the girls.

    When the orb transferred the inheritance to Merlin, it also gave him a protection against mind control-related magic (obviously, it would be really bad if someone controlled his mind and obtained the knowledge from the inheritance for the benefit of a third-party), and for what the girls had told him, the slavery collars had only nullified their magic, they hadn¡¯t controlled the minds of the girls, which meant that, somehow, his protection against mind control-related magic had been passed to the girls through the mating mark, that was the only theory that made sense to Merlin.

    When the slave dealer finally regained consciousness, he found himself surrounded by soldiers and arrested for kidnapping, rape and illegal enslavement. In the kingdom of Shephiran, slavery was legal, but very restricted. There were two kinds of slavery: debt slavery and crime slavery. Slaves of debt had the same rights as normal people, with the exception that they had to serve their owner until the debt was cleared, and the owners couldn¡¯t force them to do anything which went against those rights (such as, the owner couldn¡¯t order a slave of debt to lose his/her chastity).

    On the other hand, slaves of crime didn¡¯t have those rights and were treated the same as animals. In both cases, slavery was regulated by the law. The kidnapping and forceful enslavement of people outside of the law was punished with crime enslavement, in other words, by kidnapping and putting a slavery collar on Lupa and Bastet, once caught by the guards, the slave dealer had directly become a crime slave himself.

    *****************************************************************************

    Back to the present¡­

    After that incident of Delia City, Merlin had thought of what he could do to prevent that situation from happening again, and after several days, he came up with an idea: enchanted rings. He had bought a ring for the girls at a stall, back in Delia City, and he had yet to give them to the girls, so before doing so, he decided to enchant the rings so that they would provide some protection to the girls.

    For Lupa and Bastet he enchanted the rings with the effects: minor healing  and slavery magic nullification. Adelle¡¯s ring had two additional enchantments to the ones the other rings had: location and mind control nullification. That first enchantment would allow Merlin to find Adelle in a similar way as how he was able to locate the other girls through the mating mark. Had it been Adelle the one kidnapped instead of the girls, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to find her and save her, and that simple thought terrified him. He didn¡¯t know if it would prevent any problem in the future, but at least giving the girls some kind of protection would put his mind at ease, for now.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 18 â€“ Arrival to the Lakium Forest

    The following day, Merlin still hadn¡¯t given the rings to the girls. He found it a really embarrassing thing to do, and in his previous life, he had never gotten as far with a girl as to have to give her a ring, which made him really nervous. He was pondering about how to give them to the girls, when he heard his mother calling him. The expression in her face told Merlin that there was something going on, and that it was important.

    Emelyn: Merlin, we need to talk!

    Merlin: Yes, mother! What is it?

    Emelyn: Merlin, you remember that about a month ago, I went to see a healer to ask for advice, which is when Lupa and Bastet¡¯s kidnapping took place, don¡¯t you?

    Merlin: Hahaha, of course I remember, Mother. The faces of the city lord and the city guards when they saw the mess I had made were priceless! Totally worth it! Hahaha, but what¡¯s the problem with it?

    Emelyn: Your tendency to show off is a problem in itself, but that¡¯s not what I wanted to talk to you about!

    Merlin: What is it, then?

    Emelyn: Merlin, I could have cancelled the travel to the Lakium Forest, but you seemed to be really excited about it, so I hadn¡¯t the heart to cancel it, so now that we¡¯ve arrived, we¡¯ll stay here two days and then return to Laklostia.

    Merlin: Mother, why? I thought we¡¯d stay here for a week or so!

    Emelyn: Merlin¡­ I¡¯m truly sorry about it, but there is no way around it! My reason for consulting with that healer back in Delia City was that I had been feeling a little under the weather the previous days, so I wanted confirmation for something¡­

    Merlin: What is it, mother? If you are sick you should have said so, we¡¯d have stayed in Delia City until you recovered!

    Emelyn: Hahaha, don¡¯t worry Merlin, it¡¯s not like that! It turns out that I¡¯m pregnant, so we¡¯ll be going to Laklostia, with your father, but you still have two days to enjoy the Lakium Forest! Just be careful with the magical beasts and monsters, right now we¡¯re in a low danger zone, but it could get dangerous if you stray from the road too much!

    Merlin couldn¡¯t help but be moved by his mother¡¯s actions. She could have decided to return to Laklostia as soon as she learnt about the pregnancy, yet she had chosen to wait a whole month in order to fulfill Merlin¡¯s wish of visiting the Lakium Forest. Lupa and Bastet, after hearing about Emelyn¡¯s pregnancy, they looked at her belly then at Merlin and then at their own, they suddenly blushed for no apparent reason and run to play with Adelle.

    Merlin was left there, next to Emelyn, flabbergasted. *There is no way that they were thinking about that when they blushed, is there? It¡¯s widely known that beastmen children mature faster on that respect, but they¡¯re 5 years old, it¡¯s impossible that they were thinking about that* thought Merlin *Yep, definitely impossible!*. Merlin then thought back at the events of Delia City and asked his mother about the aftermath, because as soon as the city guards arrested the slave dealer, he went with the three girls to buy sweets and make them forget about the kidnapping, so he had no idea of how the situation had been dealt with afterwards.

    Merlin: Mother, back in Delia City, what happened after I was gone with the girls?

    Emelyn: I had to clean up your mess, that¡¯s what happened!

    Merlin: Sorry, mother!

    Emelyn: Hahaha, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not mad. In the end, your plan was the best option to make sure Lupa and Bastet were safe during the rescue, but as I said before, you tend to show off too much. The city Lord and the guards had a hard time believing that a 6-year-old boy could deal with two adult men the way you did, some of them even thought that you were a demon in disguise! It¡¯s unusual enough that you have been appointed as an Earl at the age of six! Is it really necessary to be showing off your magic like that? The first time I caught you using magic you asked me to keep it a secret, so I thought you were smart enough to keep a low profile, but now I¡¯m starting to doubt it!

    Merlin: I¡¯m really sorry, mother! It won¡¯t happen again!

    Emelyn: What¡¯s done is done, I made sure to shut their mouths about the matter, but you must be more careful! Now, about the aftermath¡­ Well, the other men of the organization were arrested and put into crime slavery as the slave dealer, you were lucky that they didn¡¯t go to the basement while you were rescuing the girls, by the way!

    Merlin: What about the slaves?

    Emelyn: Practically all the slaves had been kidnapped and forced into slavery like Lupa and Bastet. We used the communication stone in the house of the city Lord to contact with the capital and check the slavery records there, but they were unregistered slaves, which meant that they had been illegally enslaved, or they were slaves who had been illegally introduced in the kingdom. Either way, they were released, but as most of them had lost their families in bandit raids before being enslaved, I had the city Lord send them to Laklostia. I think you said you were making it the capital of your territory, which would require the construction of several new buildings and staff for their management, so I thought that with that amount of work, you could use the extra hands!

    Merlin: Thank you, mother! I hadn¡¯t thought about that!

    Emelyn: I guessed so! Now. Merlin, didn¡¯t you have something to give to the girls?*No matter how powerful, a 6-year-old will always remain a kid. Fufufu*

    Merlin: Ah, yes!

    Merlin didn¡¯t beat around the bush anymore. He approached the girls, distributed the rings, and he run into the forest out of embarrassment before the girls could even thank him for the rings. What he didn¡¯t realize was that he was running towards one of the zones with monsters and magical beasts, and he ended up in the territory of the horned rabbits. Horned rabbits were among the weakest of monsters in the Lakium Forest, and usually even novice adventurers don¡¯t have much trouble with them, but it was different with Merlin.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Merlin started fighting one of the horned rabbits with magic and he easily killed it with a simple spell, then he tried to fight another one with martial arts, but he got hit several times and ended having to use two fast-acting healing potions to recover. I his overconfidence, he was unprepared, and he quickly found himself surrounded by horned rabbits. Despite being able to deal with them with AOE spells, he was still in a tight spot.

    He had trained his body and had confidence on his martial arts in case he used up all his mana, but he had failed to realize a simple fact that his current situation had made more evident than ever: the martial arts he knew had been developed to deal with human opponents, not with monsters. This meant that, aside from magic spells, he had no means to fight monsters, so his overconfident attitude from before was now gone. He thought that he had to find a way to train his skills against monsters, but dismissed those thoughts to concentrate on defending from the attacking horned rabbits.

    Merlin looked around to see if there was any viable route of escape, but he didn¡¯t find any. Merlin wondered *Am I gonna die here? My mana is almost depleted, if I don¡¯t find a way out soon¡­*. Suddenly, Merlin saw the entrance of a cave 7ft above him, he grinned and used his ki strengthening on his legs, then, he jumped up, and with a backflip, Merlin managed to land inside the entrance of the cave.

    He looked down, to the horned rabbits, and stuck out his tongue to them. He sat down and prepared himself to wait until they got bored and went away, then he¡¯d go down and go back to the camping site with his mother and the girls. Seconds became minutes, and minutes became hours. After waiting for two and a half hours at the entrance of the cave, Merlin stood up. He had been cross-legged all the time, and his legs were numb, so the tried to use them a little while he made more time¡­ after two and a half hours, the horned rabbits still hadn¡¯t gone away, so he decided to explore the cave and see whether the cave was connected to a different exit.

    Merlin hadn¡¯t advanced more than 10yd into the cave, when he found the wall. The cave had turned out to be circular, and after he checked the wall of the cave in all directions, Merlin concluded that there was no other exit aside from the entrance he had used. Seeing that the horned rabbits were still outside the cave, Merlin decided to meditate to recover his mana. He went to the center of the cave and sat down to meditate.

    After a while, Merlin realized that his meditation at that moment wasn¡¯t as effective as it usually was, he wondered what the reason could be and it was then that he noticed a faint mana trace coming from the ground. That mana trace wasn¡¯t there the first time he had checked out the cave, so the only logical explanation was that the faint mana trace had appeared after he had started meditating. If the ground beneath him had somehow absorbed part of his mana as he was meditating, that would explain both the sudden apparition of the faint trace of mana and why his meditation hadn¡¯t been as effective as it usually was.

    Merlin thought about it for a couple of minutes and then he started meditating again. When his mana reserves were filled at full capacity again, he stood up once more and looked at the ground. A magic circle made of pure condensed mana had appeared on the same spot he had previously been sitting, and it gave off a strange feeling of familiarity that Merlin couldn¡¯t fully understand.

    He tried to understand the composition of the magic circle, he thought that if he managed to do so, he¡¯d be able to determine its function and why it was there. Magic circles were like software, they were different in their function, but all had an inherent pattern which allowed them to work on a certain operative system. On Klantea (the OS), the magic circles were always drawn following the same pattern: the element or elements needed for the spell on the center, and the runes which specified the function of the magic circle written forming an eight-pointed star around it. Tier 2 magic circles and onwards added rune lines inside the external border of the magic circle towards its center, the higher the number of additional lines, the higher the tier of the magic circle.

    Merlin carefully observed the magic circle in front of him and thought that his mind was playing tricks on him. *That¡¯s impossible! What kind of magic circle is this?!* thought Merlin, dumbfounded by what he was seeing. Following the theory behind the creation of magic circles, on the center of the magic circle should be represented one of the eight elements, but instead of any of those, what Merlin saw on the center of the magic circle in front of him was¡­ the crest of Avalon Kingdom¡¯s Royal family!

    There were several things which didn¡¯t make sense to him: a magic circle created with condensed mana (which was supposed to be impossible to create), a magic circle which instead of an element had a crest on its center (which wasn¡¯t supposed to be functional), and finally, the location of the magic circle¡­ why would had it been placed on a cave accessible to pretty much every person who passed by?

    Merlin really couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a> </a>!

 Chapter 19 â€“ Grani (I)

    Alright guys, I''m back! The situation at work has gotten a little better, so I''ll be able to write again, at least a chapter a week... maybe two chapters If I manage, but that would be a lucky week. I''ll be releasing the chapters on the weekends.

    Well this is the chapter due for last weekend, I had to go out of town and forgot my laptop at home, so here you have it!

    Ps: Cliffhanger haters, you know I try my best not to make cliffhangers on the chapters, but it was inevitable on this one. I originally intended to release this chapter together with chapter 20, but it''s been several weeks without any release and I would have felt guilty if I withheld this chapter until next weekend... so please, enjoy this chapter and endure it till next weekend!

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Chapter 19 ¨C  Grani (I)

    Merlin was wondering what the magic circle might do, so he infused his mana on the circle to activate it. He would soon regret his decision. Shortly after, Merlin was transported to another cave, but he couldn¡¯t see anything, only darkness¡­

    **********************************************************

    ???¡¯s POV:

    This feeling¡­ someone has activated the magic circle?! Good! It¡¯s been many millennia since that last happened, let¡¯s test him, whoever he is! Let¡¯s see¡­ a human cub? Are you telling me that after all this time waiting, the one to activate the magic circle was a human cub?! Well, little one, show me how you fare with a little pressure from me¡­

    Merlin: ¡°Kwagh! Cough! Cough!¡±

    Ok, that¡¯s enough! Just a little pressure and he already coughs two mouthfuls of blood?! Are you kidding me?! What are they thinking, sending someone so weak to obtain my power?! I think it¡¯s time to show myself!

    ???: ¡°Hello human cub. May you tell me why the kingdom has sent you to seek my power while being so weak?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Who are you? No, wait, I know you are a dragon, but why are you here? And what kingdom are you talking about? I ended up here by accident.¡±

    A human cub activated the magic circle and ended up in my cave, by accident?! I don¡¯t buy it, there is something that doesn¡¯t add up! Why would they bother to send a little human cub here if he isn¡¯t seeking my power? What are those humans plotting now? With the idiotic face the cub is putting right now, I¡¯m inclined to believe him, he doesn¡¯t seem to seek my power, nor to know where he is¡­ But if he has the ability to get here, how come he doesn¡¯t know? This situation is really odd, I guess I¡¯ll have to interrogate the boy!

    ???: ¡°Little cub, my name is Grani. After the death of my dear friend Merlin Pendragon, I came here and was left to slumber until someone else worthy of wielding my power appeared. The kingdom of Avalon should have sent you to seek my power, how else would you have known were the entrance to this place was located?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the kingdom of Avalon is no more. It disappeared many millennia ago, after the Great Magic Era no one has ever heard about that kingdom!¡±

    Got¡¯cha human cub! You just contradicted your own words¡­ although I¡¯m curious of how you¡¯re going to justify yourself when I point it out! Fufufu¡­ I¡¯ve always loved to mess with the humans who lied to me¡­ It¡¯s so fun seeing them trying to cover their lies with more lies¡­ You give them enough rope and they end up hanging themselves¡­ I¡¯ve lost the count of the humans I¡¯ve eaten as punishment for lying to me¡­ You¡¯re out of luck little human cub!

    Grani: ¡°Oh, that¡¯s really interesting! Now tell me, little cub, if it is as you say and no one has ever heard about that kingdom after the Great Magic Era¡­ how come you do know? I dislike liars! Well they¡¯re actually quite tasty, but I think you understand what I mean¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I didn¡¯t lie! The kingdom of Avalon disappeared and was forgotten. But I¡¯m Merlin Pendragon, one of the last descendants from the royal bloodline of the Avalon Kingdom, and named that way to honor my ancestor and founder of the said kingdom!¡±

    Oh? I didn¡¯t expect him to say that! If he really is who he says, and the kingdom of Avalon has disappeared and it¡¯s been long forgotten, this might be an opportunity to prevail over them¡­ If they have resurfaced because they think us gone, they¡¯re in for a surprise, but this human cub is still too weak¡­ I¡¯m trapped in here, so I can¡¯t teach him our ways¡­ Well, maybe he¡¯s already been instructed on them, otherwise, how would he be here? He wouldn¡¯t have been able to use the magic circle which leads here if he hadn¡¯t learnt our ways¡­

    Grani: ¡°Little cub, do you understand the meaning behind your family name, ¡®Pendragon¡¯?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°No, I don¡¯t. Sorry.¡±

    I¡¯ll be damned! This is going to take a while¡­ and quite a bit of magic!

    *****************************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    What is he asking now? Do I know the meaning behind my family name, ¡®Pendragon¡¯? If I recall correctly, back on Earth it meant something like ¡°dragon¡¯s head¡±, but I don¡¯t know if it has the same meaning here¡­ And even if it did, I don¡¯t get what that has to do with anything¡­

    Grani: ¡°Tell me, little cub, what do you know about the history if your family?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Aside that it was a royal bloodline once upon a time, not much.¡±

    Grani: ¡°Have you ever heard about the ¡®Cult of Abaddollyon¡¯''?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Those child-murdering bastards?  Yeah, I¡¯ve not only heard about them, I¡¯ve already killed some of them! They should be erased from this world!¡±

    Grani: ¡°Oh?! Little cub, you are a child yourself, but you almost sounded like an adult there! Anyway, this must be the work of Fate, you don¡¯t know about the real history of your family, nor you have been educated in our ways, but you¡¯ve already confronted the ¡®Cult of Abaddollyon¡¯ and wish to eradicate them¡­ Truly a member of the Pendragon Royal bloodline and a worthy successor of Merlin Pendragon! Hahaha!¡±

    I really don¡¯t get this dragon! He keeps on saying ¡°our ways¡± and talking about the history of my family and Fate¡­ If only he knew how much the Fate from this universe messed up my life back on Earth¡­ And what puzzles me the most is that he has talked about the ¡®Cult of Abaddollyon¡¯ as if it had some sort of relationship with my family! As if! He better explains himself, or I¡¯ll go back without hearing him out¡­ Oh, yeah, I forgot that I don¡¯t know the fucking way out of here! Damn, I¡¯ll have to wait until he stops blabbering to ask for the way out¡­ My day keeps on getting better and better¡­ Just my luck!

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Merlin: ¡°So, to keep a long story short, my family seemed to have some sort of feud with the ¡®Cult of Abaddollyon¡¯ in the past, and you think that by telling me, I gonna become you tool to fight them¡­ You¡¯re out of luck, buddy, I don¡¯t like being played, so look for someone else!¡±

    Grani: ¡°It seems that you have misinterpreted my words¡­ I wasn¡¯t trying to manipulate you into doing anything, I was just hoping that you continued your family¡¯s legacy¡­ but you don¡¯t seem to understand the current situation, so I better explain to you the origins of this world, your bloodline, and the ¡®Cult of Abaddollyon¡¯!¡±

    Well, let¡¯s see if this goes somewhere, or it¡¯s just the delusions of an old dragon who¡¯s making me lose my time here!

    ***************************************************************************

    Merlin didn¡¯t actually believe the dragon, he thought Grani was just feeding him some bullshit to trick him into setting him free, but contrary to his expectations, the dragon started telling him about the history of Klantea.

    [Contrary to what is written in history books and to what the different cults say, when this world was created, the gods didn¡¯t create the five races, as a matter of fact, at that point in time, the gods didn¡¯t even exist¡­ Actually, along with the creation of this world, a very powerful being was also created. That entity had the power and the ability to manipulate everything in this world at its will. The entity, after many millennia of solitude, decided to try and leave this world to find another one in which he wouldn¡¯t be alone, but much to its surprise and anger, the entity discovered that it was actually bounded to this world and couldn¡¯t abandon it.

    When its anger dissipated and it managed to think with clarity, the entity took a decision: if it couldn¡¯t go find other beings of its kind, then it just had to create them itself! It then proceeded to divide its consciousness and power into 23 different parts, each of them completely independent the others, failing to notice that in doing so, its own consciousness and identity would disappear. The 23 new beings had two different genres, 10 of them were male and the other 13 were female, those are the beings known as the gods of this world¡­]

    At his point, Merlin couldn¡¯t help himself and interrupted the dragon¡¯s speech again to ask his question.

    Merlin: ¡°Sorry for interrupting you again, but, did you say there are 23 gods?! I thought there were only 11¡­

    Grani: ¡°Little cub, I know you have questions but I¡¯d really appreciate if you would wait until the end before asking them! That way most of them will be answered before the end of the lesson! Now, answering your question¡­ yes, there are only 11 gods in the current pantheon, but it wasn¡¯t like that in the beginning¡­ And before you ask me again, you¡¯ll get to know what happened to the rest of them if you let me continue¡­¡°

    Merlin didn¡¯t dare to continue asking, and listened again to the story the dragon was telling him¡­

    [¡­ but a new problem arised! The gods and goddesses got bored of chatting among themselves and started to do little changes to the world, just to kill their boredom. Those changes started piling up and ended up resulting in the breaking of the sole continent this world had, dividing it into 5 pieces: Kenton, Klasten, Kaltena, Klatera and Klasnia, the lost continent. Realizing that they had reached the limit, and couldn¡¯t alleviate their boredom with that method anymore, the gods decided to create new lifeforms in the world, sentient beings which would amuse them with their actions and their daily lives. Thus, the five main races were created: elves, dwarves, beastmen, devils and humans.

    After observing these lesser creatures for a while, and watching them name themselves and their offspring, the gods became self-aware that they didn¡¯t possess names, so they decided to name themselves. Some of them took a name after the element they governed: Ignis, Unda, Aer, Terra, Lux, Erebos, Inanis, Fulgetra, Mana... or some other random name according to their personalities: Obitus, Ortus, Nex, Debellum, Bellum, Fames, Cruciatus, Pestis, Natura, Minutorars, Fera, Asmodea, Bastheth and Lokiseth.

    Time passed and some gods chose a race, to become its patron god. Natura became the patron goddess of the elves, Minutorars became the patron god of the dwarves, Fera became the patron goddess of the beastmen, and Lokiseth became the patron god of the humans. As for the devils, they didn¡¯t have a patron god, they had six: Nex, Bellum, Fames, Debellum, Cruciatus and Pestis, they all gave their power and protection to the devils. Actually, Asmodea too wanted to give her support to the devils, but she refrained from doing so because there were six gods already supporting them.

    What those six gods didn¡¯t realize at the time was that their support to the devils was disrupting the balance of power too much, and the devils were attaining a power akin to a demigod¡¯s. That resulted in the devils, drunk in power, warring, conquering and enslaving the other races. The situation forced the other gods to intervene, and the war reached a stalemate.

    The gods thought that was it, never would they have thought the hexad who supported the devils would betray them by giving even more power to the devils! Seeing that their beloved world was in danger of being destroyed by the overpowered devils, the gods other than the hexad decided they had to take drastic measures, and banish the vile creatures from their world, for all eternity! The price for taking this action, however, it wasn¡¯t something they wanted to willingly pay, for it was truly too much! Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t actually have any other choice¡­]

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 20 â€“ Grani (II)

    Ok, guys. mini-cliff at the end... just a little jump down... and next chapter Merlin will finally get out of the cave!

    So, yeah... enjoy the chapter...

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Chapter 20 ¨C  Grani (II)

    [The only way the gods had to deal with the situation was to seal the devils in another dimension, along with the hexad who supported them. However, the gods were even in power, and that meant that if they wanted to seal the hexad along with the demons, six of the other gods would have to sacrifice all their power to create the seal, which, in the case of beings made of pure power as the gods were, meant death. To create the seal they would have six casualties, and it wasn¡¯t certain that the seal would work, for the overpowered devils were too powerful, and the gods didn¡¯t know how their power would affect the seal.

    Asmodea, the only goddess aside from the hexad who liked the devil race, came up with a solution for that problem, if the power of the devils would disrupt the seal, then as long as that power was weakened, there would be no problems at all! When the other gods heard about her idea, they looked at her in disbelief! If that were possible, wouldn¡¯t they had done it already before the situation got that bad?! But after Asmodea explained in detail the plan she had thought of, they changed their opinion: genius!!

    Asmodea¡¯s plan was elegant in its simplicity, yet they wouldn¡¯t have ever thought of it for it implied a new concept, and the gods usually had great difficulty to think outside the box. She proposed that instead of sealing the devils and the hexad simultaneously, they should first seal the hexad, which would halve the power of the devils, and then, seal the devils. As the devils¡¯ power, although weakened, would still risk to disrupt the seal, Asmodea had thought of a way to weaken them even further: they would sever the part of the devils¡¯ souls which had been corrupted by the power bestowed by the hexad, and introduce it into animals. That way, the power would still exist, but without a conscience with the ability to wield it, it could be sealed without affecting the seal in any way whatsoever.

    Asmodea¡¯s plan had several flaws, but at that moment, neither she or the other gods realized they existed, only after having implemented their plan would they realize the consequences said plan would leave for the future generations. The devils with damaged souls became no better than animals, and Asmodea, taking pity on them cured their souls, but in doing so changed them into the race who is known nowadays as the asmodians. Another blind spot of the plan was how the power of the hexad would affect to the animals used as vessels for it prior to the sealing. Those animals mutated into what is now known as monsters, and those who mutated even further and gained a conscience are now known as devils¡­]

    Merlin had a hunch that what he was being told would be important for him in the future, but he still couldn¡¯t see how that was related to his family, or to the ¡°Cult of Abaddollyon¡±, so he couldn¡¯t help but ask.

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯m sorry for interrupting you again, but could you please explain to me how exactly is this related to my family, my family name, and the ¡®Cult of Abaddollyon¡¯ ?¡±

    Grani: ¡°Little one, you are very impatient¡­ You should learn to calm your heart, for being hotheaded in a battle will only lead you to your demise¡­  Allow me to continue telling you the story, and you¡¯ll soon understand how this is related to you and your family. The part about the ¡¯Cult of Abaddollyon¡¯ will come later.¡±

    Merlin decided not to say anything else and wait till the dragon finished telling the story before asking him again, but he didn¡¯t know if his impatience would get the better of him again before then.

    [¡­The gods carried out their plan and the ones sacrificed to create the seal were Natura, Minutorars, Fera, Asmodea, Bastheth and Lokiseth, five goddesses and a lonely god who heroically gave up their very existences to protect their chosen race, with the exception of Bastheth, who just didn¡¯t want to let go of her twin, Fera, and decided to accompany her into the oblivion¡­

    But here, a happy miscalculation happened. Due to severing the corrupted part of the soul from the devils, according to the plan laid by Asmodea, the ones weakened weren¡¯t only the corrupted fragments of soul, but also the members of the hexad: Nex, Bellum, Fames, Debellum, Cruciatus and Pestis, which in turn decreased the consumption of power when creating the seal. The difference was negligible, but for Natura, Minutorars, Fera, Asmodea, Bastheth and Lokiseth, it meant the difference between existence and utter destruction!

    The six deities were really happy to be able to continue existing, but they had been greatly weakened, so much so, that if they didn¡¯t find a vessel soon, their existences would vanish! They decided to incarnate into the strongest member of their races of choice, living in symbiosis with them, and becoming the guardian spirits of their bloodlines, accumulating power little by little with each generation, until the day the hexad returned and their power was needed again to seal them away once more.

    That was something they considered a fact, the hexad would undoubtedly return. The seal required their sacrifice to be ¡°perfect¡±, in other words, if they didn¡¯t die, the seal would maintain its function and trap the hexad and the corrupted fragments of the devils¡¯ souls on the other dimension, but a bit of their power could leak into this world from the other side, and on the long run, it would allow them to come back to this side! Unfortunately for the world, time proved them right!

    Unbeknownst to the seventeen gods and goddesses, Nex, one of the gods from the hexad, had caught wind of their plan, and he made a countermeasure for it: he severed a minuscule part of his own consciousness and implanted it into an unborn human baby. That human baby was named ¡°Abaddollyon¡± after his birth, and when he was in his teens, he started his own cult under the influence of Nex¡¯s fragment of consciousness. He recruited humans of the worst kind and those who due to mistreatment by their own kind, or by their life circumstances, blamed the gods for their misery.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    By the age of 20, Abaddollyon had several thousands of followers but the fact that they massacred villages from time to time, killed the men and enslaved the women (who were later imprisoned in the basement of the base of the cult, and forced to have babies non-stop for the sake of the blood rituals of the cult) didn¡¯t sit good with the cults of the other gods, so in the end an allied force attacked the base and tried to eradicate the heretic cult, leaving only 6 people: Abaddollyon and his 5 most trusted followers.

    Abaddollyon and his followers learnt the lesson and went into hiding, then started to recruit people again, but this time, they bid their time and didn¡¯t recruit into the cult only those who fitted their previous criteria, they also recruited people belonging to the nobility, but who couldn¡¯t inherit, and helped them to raise in their position, from the shadows, they steadily infiltrated the high society of several kingdoms¡­

    Several millennia later, when Abaddollyon was in his last breaths, chaos reigned all over the continent as the ¡°Cult of the lost gods¡±, which was known to the allied forces as the ¡°Cult of Abaddollyon¡±, came into the open and started a war against the believers of different faiths. In the end, the five races joined hands to fight against the ¡°Cult of Abaddollyon¡± and destroyed the cult, but the six leaders of the alliance knew that it wasn¡¯t over, even after they learnt about Abaddollyon¡¯s death.

    After the battle, the six leaders of the alliance used the power of their guardian spirits to reinforce the seal, and then led each of their races into a period of prosperity and peace¡­ but they were well aware that the fight was far from over, they could just hope to prepare their people the best they could, so that in the next battle they would fare better and have less casualties¡­

    The human leader, Merlin Pendragon, founded the Kingdom of Avalon, developed magic to new heights and even stablished a gate network between the capitals of the different regions which conformed his kingdom, to promote commerce between them¡­ All that, while he was training his clan members in secret, and preparing them for an eventual clash with the ¡°Cult of Abaddollyon¡±¡­ Little did he imagine that his kingdom would one day disappear and be forgotten, his legacy lost, and his clan reduced to a family of eight¡­]

    Grani: ¡°I participated in that war as Merlin Pendragon¡¯s friend and mount. Soon after the war ended, Merlin and I created the space in this cave and sealed me inside, this way I could give a hand to future generations in their fight against the ¡®Cult of Abaddollyon¡¯¡­ but to this day, there has been no one worthy of getting my help. You are the one who has been the closest to do so, but you are too weak now. By my calculations, given the information you¡¯ve provided me with, I¡¯d say there are 10 to 16 years before the ¡®Cult of Abaddollyon¡¯ actively recruits scumbags and openly declares war against the five races again.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be kidding me! Are you seriously telling me in 10 to 16 years there¡¯s going to be a war between the five races and those bastards?!¡±

    Grani: ¡°That¡¯s correct. Besides, the current situation is far worse than it was millennia ago¡­ back then, the five races had their conflicts, but they were more or less united. On the other hand, right now, all five races have some kind of conflict with the others, and even worse, members of the same races are warring against each other¡­ creating an allied force like the one back in the day¡­ is highly unlikely at the present time.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What can we do then? I want to protect my family, and I don¡¯t want them to get involved in a war! Is there really nothing we can do?¡±

    Grani: ¡°Hmmm, there might be something¡­ I can think of two methods by which you could protect your family in case that the war breaks out¡­ but not in your current state, you are far too weak right now¡­ ¡±

    Merlin ¡°But the clock is ticking! Is there really nothing you can do? Can¡¯t you help me in any way?¡±

    Grani: ¡°I hate people who push their responsibilities onto others! But I do admit that the world has changed, and right now your strength might be on the upper side among your fellow humans, but if you were to fight an ancient devil  at its full strength, you wouldn¡¯t last even one second¡­ Argh! The people of this world were supposed to grow stronger with each generation, not the other way around!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°So we are doomed then¡­¡±*fuck, now that I finally got a good family who loves me, and three beautiful girls who will unconditionally love me and never betray me, the world is going to end¡­ damn, just my luck!*

    Grani: ¡°Not necessarily¡­ You know what? I¡¯m going to give you something that might be of help to you¡­ to what extent it helps you will depend only on your hard work!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Oh?! What is it?¡±

    Grani: ¡°The original Merlin Pendragon¡¯s training methods! Try to follow them, as the inheritor of his legacy you should be able to. I¡¯ll give you 3 years. In three years you shall come back here, and if you¡¯ve reached the level of strength required, I¡¯ll make a contract with you and become your magical beast! Maybe then we¡¯ll have a chance to stop what is to come¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What?! Wow, ok, I¡¯ll do my best¡±

    The dragon extended his right claw towards Merlin and touched his forehead. At the same time, Merlin felt a little dizzy, because a lot of technique manuals and training regimes went directly into his brain¡­ It took him about a minute to organize the newly acquired knowledge in his head and to get rid of the dizziness¡­ but after he did, he started shivering due to the contents of the training regimes, but for the girls, and for his family, he¡¯d persevere¡­

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 21 â€“ Return to Laklostia

    Merlin: ¡°Thanks for those¡­ By the way, you still haven¡¯t told me how your story is related to my family name, nor which god became my family¡¯s guardian spirit¡­¡±

    Grani: ¡°You are right. Do you remember when I said the gods decided to incarnate into the strongest individual of their chosen race? That you are human should give you a really big clue about which god became your guardian spirit¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Oh! It was Lokiseth, right?¡±

    Grani: ¡°That¡¯s correct. As for the origin of your family name¡­ It just so happened that at the time Lokiseth was looking for the strongest human, that man singlehandedly decapitated a dragon, and was holding its head with one hand when Lokiseth appeared before him, thus he adopted that family name: Pendragon¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, thank you for everything, but I have to go now, there are people waiting for me¡±

    Grani: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, remember that in this cave the time goes faster than in the outside, at a ratio of 10:1, which means that the 12 hours you¡¯ve passed inside, only amount to 1 hour and 12 minutes outside¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That sure comes in handy¡­ I¡¯m asking just in case¡­ but you wouldn¡¯t happen to know how to cast a spell with that effect on a room, would you? If you do, could you, please, teach it to me¡­ it would help me a lot in my training!¡±

    Grani: ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know if it is such a good idea, time passing faster means you growing old faster¡­ in a dragon it doesn¡¯t matter much, but in a human it would be disastrous if any accident were to happen¡­ time magic is no joke, kid!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Is there really no way for me to get you to teach me that spell?¡±

    Grani: ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll teach it to you on two conditions: first, the amount of time you will pass inside the area of effect from the spell won¡¯t exceed 1 year per natural year, with a maximum of two before we meet again. And second, we must stablish a soul link, that way I¡¯ll be able to monitor you through your training and make sure that you hold your end of the deal¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s fine by me, but what¡¯s a soul link?¡±

    Grani: ¡°It¡¯s basically a link between our souls. It will allow us to communicate with each other without the distance being a problem, and it will also allow me to monitor your body condition, and know whether you are using my spell too much or not¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well¡¯ that¡¯s useful for you, but I don¡¯t see any merits in doing so other than getting the spell¡­ and I¡¯m not comfortable with having someone else in my head¡­¡±

    Grani: ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll also teach you the technology and magic theory behind the creation of magic gates. It¡¯s also based in Space-time magic, so it won¡¯t be difficult for you to learn it¡­ What do you say?¡±

    Merlin was elated by the idea. *Currently, the gate network stablished millennia ago doesn¡¯t exist. If I could recreate it within my territory, the time needed to implement the development plans that I¡¯ve got for it would be reduced tenfold! I can¡¯t miss this opportunity!*

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, you¡¯ve got yourself a deal!¡±

    Merlin soon regretted having said those words, because the formation of the link gave his soul so much pain that he felt himself dying a hundred times over. When the pain was gone, he realized the soul link had more functions aside from just communicating with each other, Grani used the link to give him the promised knowledge, and thought it might come in handy in the future.

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, now that we¡¯re done with that matter¡­ do you mind telling me how do I get back to the external cave?¡±

    *****************************************************************************

    *Ouch! My butt! If he was going to teleport me outside, he could have been a little gentler!* Merlin was a little mad at Grani, because when he teleported him to the outer cave, instead of teleporting him standing on the ground, the dragon thought it would be funnier teleporting him in the air, 3ft over the ground¡­ which resulted in Merlin¡¯s butt being sore from the impact! *[You do realize that you still don¡¯t know how to control the communications through the soul link and right now I can hear your every thought, don¡¯t you?]* Merlin didn¡¯t bother to answer, instead, he tried to block him out, without success.

    While ignoring the dragon, Merlin walked to the entrance of the cave and looked outside. He saw that the horned rabbits were still waiting for him, so he casted a single spell of water attribute, Water Prison, and drowned all the horned rabbits on the spot. *What on earth did I do before to waste all my mana pool on these weaklings?! Looks like Grani was right, I was too hotheaded and I ended panicking when things went south¡­ Looks like I¡¯ll have to work on it!* After collecting all the corpses he wondered what to do about them, and considered that leaving them there would be a waste, besides if anyone else came across the corpses they could benefit from his work, therefore, Merlin thought of an alternative plan¡­

    He took a leather bag and engraved it to look like a bag of holding, but he didn¡¯t enchant it with Space magic. He created a ring and tried to enchant it with one of the spells Grani had passed him, in an attempt to create a storage ring, but he failed and the ring got destroyed. Finally, on his fifth attempt he succeeded and changed the shape of the ring into one with his crest. *Fufufu¡­ I finally succeeded into making a storage ring¡­ but I better not let anyone else know that I possess it¡­ nor that I was the one who made it!*.

    That was actually his reason for engraving the leather bag to look like a bag of holding, to hide the existence of the ring! Bags of holding, albeit unusual, aren¡¯t that hard to come by. Storage rings, on the other hand, were scarce, only when they were found in ruins or similar sites would their acquisition be possible, and some people would literally go to war to obtain one.

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    The knowledge and ability to craft them had been lost since the end of the Great Magic Era, besides to create a storage ring it was necessary that the craftsman used magic of Space-time attribute, which was impossible in the current era. After the Great Magic Era, the magic of Space-time attribute passed down the generations belonged only to the branch of Space magic, while the branch of Time magic disappeared and was long lost, the only exception being a single spell which aged objects until they broke. That was one of the advantages of the storage rings over the bags of holding, inside the bag of holding time passed at the same pace than outside of it, while inside the storage rings it was halved in the worst of the cases, and stopped in the best of them.

    Merlin went over to where his mother and the girls were, and told them that he had finished exploring, so they could go back at any time. While the girls were gathering their belongings and prepared for departure, Merlin dragged his mother to one side and started discussing with her the different means of transportation they had to return to Laklostia, because Merlin was worried about the time needed and Emelyn¡¯s state.

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, you really are a precocious child¡­ worrying about those things that only adults would take into account¡­ Don¡¯t worry about it, we¡¯ll take the safest and most direct route¡­ ¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Mother, that¡¯s why I¡¯m telling you to think it over! In my honest opinion, the safest way to go to Laklostia is going directly there without travelling at all!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°I¡¯m well aware that you¡¯re a gifted child, but even if you were capable of using teleportation spells, which I remind you are of the highest tier, you wouldn¡¯t be able to teleporting us to Laklostia, for the teleportation spell has a range of a couple of miles at most! Only a teleportation stone would allow you to do it, but it¡¯s impossible for someone like us to possess one!¡±

    Merlin didn¡¯t say another word, he just silently showed a bright smile to his mother and reached inside his shirt with his right hand. When he took the hand out, there was a blue stone on it. He handed it to his mother for examination.

    Emelyn: ¡°No way! That¡¯s¡­ Is it really what I think it is?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°It is, indeed.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Where did you get it?! Do you have any idea of the value on of these things has?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Hahaha, mother, please, don¡¯t get so excited! Do you remember that I told you I had found the Awakening Stone in the secret room of the well? Well among the other things I found was this teleportation stone¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Ok, we¡¯ll go ahead with your plan. Be careful with that stone, and don¡¯t let anyone know that you have it! It¡¯d only bring you trouble¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, mother, I know. I¡¯m fully aware that the scariest thing in the world isn¡¯t death, or punishment from the gods, but the greed of others!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand¡±*To see it that clearly at such a young age¡­ I know my son is brilliant and a precocious child, but to see and understand that fact to that extent¡­ Did I make a mistake somewhere while raising him up to this point?*

    If Merlin could have known what her mother was thinking in that instant, he would have probably come clean and told her about his reincarnation and the experiences of his past life, because he loved his mother deeply and didn¡¯t want her to blame herself for anything¡­ Luckily for the both of them, he couldn¡¯t read minds and just considered his mother¡¯s worried face as her doubts about the viability of the plan.

    Merlin: ¡°Mother, you don¡¯t have to worry at all, I¡¯ve already used the stone several times to go back to the well while being in Shephiria, so it will work just fine!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Oh, well in that case is fine¡­ Wait, what did you just say?! So that¡¯s why whenever you locked your door neither you nor the girls answered! You weren¡¯t meditating, you just were elsewhere! Merlin¡­¡±

    Merlin realized he had a slip of the tongue and now his mother knew about his activities¡­ and knew he¡¯d have to pay for it, but Emelyn surprised him and instead of getting mad at him, she just hugged him in relief, which puzzled Merlin. *This rascal!* thought Emelyn *Well, I guess that no matter how precocious a child is, a six year old will remain a child, won¡¯t he?*. And just like that, her concerns about the way she had raised him were all washed away.

    Emelyn separated from Merlin and started to discuss the plan with him, the use of the teleportation stone was good and all, but that in itself was a problem when it came to the carriage and the luggage. Teleportation stones were good items when it came to urgent long distance travels, but they were inefficient when it came to transportation, because they only transported living beings and what they wore at the moment, which meant that carriages and anything else than a backpack would be left behind. That was one of the principal reasons for the creation of the gate network in the first place.

    It was again Merlin¡¯s turn to surprise Emelyn, he told her about his storage ring, but he changed the story a little, and instead of telling her that he had created it, he said he had found it next to the teleporting stone, which was more plausible than a 6-year-old creating it. After they were done talking, Merlin stored away in his ring the carriage and the luggage first, then, he activated the teleportation stone, and teleported the group of five and the horses to Laklostia.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ !</a>

 Chapter 22 â€“ Giving the good news

    Chapter 22 ¨C Giving the good news

    The teleportation point in Laklostia chosen by Merlin, was located in a secluded section of the woods behind the village. He could have directly teleported into the garden of their house, but that would have raised suspicions about how they had gotten past the guards of the village without being seen. In order to avoid that, he decided to teleport into the woods and then enter the village in the carriage.

    Merlin took the carriage out of the ring and after the horses were in place, the three girls went inside, while Merlin and Emelyn sat on the coachman¡¯s seat. Then, they finally proceeded to go out of the woods and enter the village. Emelyn was surprised to see that the village guards had been replaced by soldiers, but she understood the reason when she remembered her son¡¯s new aristocratic position. She wondered how much the village would change in the next years.

    Merlin had originally planned to greet the chief of the village and the captain of the guards, and then go home with his family, but it didn¡¯t go as planned. The chief of the village had told him about the freed slaves who had arrived in the village the previous day, they were camping outside of the village, waiting for his orders. Merlin had entered the village through the opposite gate, so he hadn¡¯t seen them camping. He went to their camping site and after gathering them around him, he spoke to them.

    Merlin: ¡°Hi everyone, I¡¯m Earl Merlin Pendragon, welcome to my territory! The works for the expansion of the village will begin in a few days, so you will soon have your own houses, but before that¡­ Tomorrow, I¡¯ll come here again and register your names, age and abilities for a better management. Also, if a certain number of you prefer to live together, it may be arranged. So please do say so before a place to stay is assigned to you. Ok, that¡¯s all, see you again tomorrow!¡±

    At that moment, Merlin didn¡¯t notice their reverent gazes, not only had he freed them from slavery, he even planned to give them work and to provide them a place to stay¡­ to them, he was their savior and they would die for him. He had already attained with them what rulers usually can¡¯t with their subjects, he had obtained their undying loyalty, but Merlin wasn¡¯t aware of that, yet.

    *************************************************************************

    Pendragon house¡­

    Anthon: ¡°What did you just say?!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Wow! Congratulations sis!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Thanks Leyla!¡±

    Anthon: ¡°B-but¡­ A-are you sure you are pregnant?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Do you seriously think that I¡¯d have cut short Merlin¡¯s travel, come here, and told you¡­ if I hadn¡¯t checked beforehand?!¡±

    Anthon: ¡°I-I k-know¡­ It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t expect it, that¡¯s all¡­ After all, it¡¯s been 6 years since the last time¡­ so I didn¡¯t even think about that possibility¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°I¡¯ll kill you later, now let¡¯s tell the kids!¡±

    Anthon: ¡°Y-yes, ma¡¯am¡±

    After that, they gathered the children and told them the news. Merlin, Lupa, Bastet and Adelle knew about it beforehand, so they didn¡¯t act out like Merlin¡¯s brothers. After having dinner, they all quickly went to sleep. Merlin couldn¡¯t wait to try out his new time-dilation spells in the training room, but he was too tired, so he went to sleep and left the experimentation for the following day.

    ****************************************************************************

    Somewhere in Shephiria¡­

    ???: I¡¯m sorry, captain. We didn¡¯t manage to find the target. Rumor has it that he left for the Lakium forest more than a month ago. I¡¯ve sent people there, but I still haven¡¯t received any report on the situation of the target!

    Captain: So much for an elite squad of assassins! You aren¡¯t even able to find a single 6-year-old child! What am I supposed to tell His Majesty when I see him? Luckily for us, I heard a rumor this morning, and if it¡¯s true, the target should arrive to Laklostia in a month or so. Take your men there, and wait for him, then eliminate him and report back to me!

    Assassin: Yes, sir!

    ***************************************************************************

    The following morning, Merlin woke up earlier than usual, took a parchment and started to write down the list of facilities he wanted to build in his territory: a library, barracks for his future private army¡­ and also the things which would take priority to build in the immediate future: a barrier on the frontier, a centralized system with migration and commerce control¡­ Merlin realized he was trying to do too many things at the same time, but the clock was ticking!

    After thinking about it for a while, he came to the conclusion that his project was impossible in Laklostia, so he decided to build a new city from scratch a mile away from the village. For the construction of the city, he¡¯d focus on efficiency over tradition and make a city which suited his future plans. As for the barrier around his territory, he wanted to give priority to it, but he didn¡¯t have the means yet, so he could only wait, and for the moment, he¡¯d just make a wall around the new city and then extend it to the frontier¡­ it was just a temporary thing which would help to conceal his real intentions.

    After making up his mind, Merlin started to think about how to build his city, and when he tried to picture it, the first thing which came into his mind were the medieval towns from Earth¡­ along with their sanitation problems. Actually, in this world of magic, the sanitization wasn¡¯t really a problem in big cities, because they had covert channels running next to the houses with engraved runes which negated the bad odor and prevented any disease from spreading, villages, however, weren¡¯t usually that lucky. Laklostia was an exception among villages, probably due to being located in the same spot that the former capital of the kingdom of Avalon, this village had the same covert channeling as the big cities, despite being just a simple village.

    *What should I do? * wondered Merlin, *What kind of city should I create? This city shall become the capital of my territory, therefore, it will become a symbol which represents me¡­ That being the case, it can¡¯t be something normal, it must be something which everyone will want to see at least once in their lives! * With that determination, he started sketching a city which would later be known as ¡°The Palace of the Gods¡±, and he decided to name it ¡°Ragnar?k¡±.

    Merlin took this name from the Norse mythology from Earth, he considered it an appropriate name, for what it implied, and because he planned to use this city as his base of operations to stop it from happening in this world, when the battle against the worshippers of the ancient devils came to it. He knew that if things went south and nothing else worked, he¡¯d need a stronghold to protect himself and those he held dear. He also planned on making this city self-sufficient, so that even after years under siege, it would remain standing and allow its inhabitants to lead normal lives.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    It was a very ambitious project, but he might be able to pull it off¡­ At least that¡¯s what Merlin hoped. When he was done sketching, he went to have breakfast with his family, showed them his sketches for the new city, and told them about his plans for the development of the city. Their reactions to his words weren¡¯t quite what he had expected: his brothers and the girls didn¡¯t understand anything, but the girls still considered the sketches ¡°pretty¡±, Merlin¡¯s parents on the other hand¡­

    Anthon: ¡°Did you really make these?!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Do you think this is really doable? It¡¯s really beautiful, but I¡¯ve never heard of a city built like this¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s the point, mother. It has never been done before, it¡¯s precisely this uniqueness that will attract the attention of the people towards the city¡­ and make them miss what is underneath!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°I see that you have thought this through¡­ Ok, you have my support for this, but how do you plan on making the subterranean facilities without anyone noticing?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯ll show you something!¡±

    Then Merlin ran to his room, took a wooden box and ran back, he put the box on the table and asked that everyone else than his parents went out of the room. Once he was alone with his parents, he opened the box and showed the contents to them.

    Anthon: ¡°Hmm, Merlin? These are just colored stones¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°I don¡¯t know, Anthon, this is Merlin we are talking about¡­ I doubt this colored stones are that simple¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯ve got good eyes, mother. These stones are called ¡®tunnelling stones¡¯, they are color-coded and enchanted with runes, which gives them different effects, such as a tunnel upwards, a tunnel downwards, a small room, a big room¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Oh, with those you won¡¯t have any problem¡­ I understand now¡­¡±

    Anthon: ¡°Where did you get those?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Don¡¯t ask him that, Anthon! Merlin, dear, put those away and hurry up¡­ It¡¯s already the time to go talk to the freed slaves and distribute the works for them.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, mother. I¡¯ll be ready right away!¡±

    After Merlin went out of the room, Anthon couldn¡¯t resist anymore and asked Emelyn.

    Anthon: ¡°Emelyn, why did you stop me when I asked him about the origin of those stones?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Anthon, unless you want to put your whole family in danger, there are things that you are better not knowing¡­ besides, don¡¯t you think that others would have the same idea as you if they learnt about the stones?¡±

    Anthon: ¡°¡­ Ok¡±

    *****************************************************************************

    Emelyn¡¯s POV:

    *My husband is definitely an idiot! * That¡¯s the first thought I had when I woke up this morning. Yesterday, when I told him I was pregnant, he wasn¡¯t just surprised, he even looked at me like I was either tricking him or it wasn¡¯t his. *Idiot! I¡¯m a faithful wife, who else¡¯s could it be? * Granted, I haven¡¯t gotten pregnant in six years, but it¡¯s not like I had taken any measure to prevent it, the gods just didn¡¯t deem it opportune! And now that idiot behaves like that, I swear to the gods, if he weren¡¯t my husband I¡¯d have already killed him!

    *Ups! That¡¯s not good, Emelyn, you¡¯ve got to control your temperament¡­*  Fortunately, I have my son Merlin to distract me from that kind of thoughts. He is a little genius and, albeit a little strange sometimes, he is brilliant. He takes after his father regarding women, though. Well, luckily for the girls on his little harem, he doesn¡¯t seem to have lustful thoughts about other girls and when he accepts the love of a girl, he wholeheartedly reciprocates it¡­ his father could learn a little from him on that respect!

    (A/N: Well, Emelyn, what exactly did you expect from a 6-year-old boy? Besides, he is someone whose mental age is 31, how exactly did you expect him to have lustful thoughts towards three 5-year-old little girls, or other girls in their group age, for that matter?)

    We went to have breakfast, Merlin was a little late, and when he arrived, he showed us something which left us speechless¡­ He had made sketches depicting a new city, but it wasn¡¯t anything like what I¡¯ve ever seen before! If I had to describe it¡­ it was like a jewel sculpted in the form of a city¡­ If he really manages to build it, I don¡¯t think there will be anything in the world which could possibly rival it!

    As I continued to watch the sketches, there was one which picked my curiosity. It seemed to be an underground complex, it looked simple but I realized it was just the schematics for a really complex underground facility¡­ almost like an underground city in itself. I really don¡¯t understand what use this could have for Merlin or the city, but I know better than to ask him. Fortunately, Anthon didn¡¯t realize that and simply thought it was the little boy¡¯s secret base to play around¡­

    My idiot of a husband asked Merlin how he intended to make the underground complex, because even with magic of the earth element, it would take him several months to make it¡­ well, he was right on the money of that, except it wouldn¡¯t be just several months but several years if he were to make the whole complex from the schematics¡­ Actually, I was quite curious about that too. Then Merlin brought a wooden box with several enchanted stones inside, I guess he obtained them in the secret room in the well he had told me about.

    The eyes of my idiot of a husband started shining when told about the enchanted stones¡­ *Why is it that military-minded people are always thinking about the possible tactical use of whatever they are shown? * I scolded him and warned him that unless he wants to put our family in danger, he better keeps his mouth shut about this matter! Then, we finished breakfast and went with Merlin to see the freed slaves.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a> !

 Chapter 23 â€“ New allies?

    Chapter 23 ¨C  New allies?

    Merlin arrived to where the freed slaves were staying at, and saw that they were all already waiting for him. The one who was in charge of preparing the list Merlin had asked for, handed it to him. Merlin took a look at it and let out a sigh. *I know I asked them to make the information the most complete possible, but pointing out whom of the girls was a virgin and who had been abused¡­ that¡¯s a little too much! It¡¯s good that they are so eager to follow my orders, though. It seems that I¡¯ll have to be more careful in the future when giving out orders to them¡­ *  Emelyn took a peek at the list and then understood why Merlin had sighted.

    Out of all the names in the list, there were nine which stood out: Vania Kopek, Janus Aureus, and Argenta Lerion, former spies who were abandoned by their different kingdoms and fell into slavery; Shin Ryu, Akemi Ume, Sayuri Ryu, and Aimi Ryu, members of a fallen clan in the barbarian islands of the East who fell into slavery after the destruction of their clan; Sokar Winter, a dwarven craftsman who fell into slavery for the enormous crime of not revealing the secrets of his trade to the kingdom who captured him; and Mina Nosferati, a 13-year-old variant vampire who doesn¡¯t need to feed on blood and can walk under the sun without any problem whatsoever, she fell into slavery when she was kidnapped and sold by one of her suitors whom she had previously rejected.

    Aside from those nine, the rest of the people on the list were quite ordinary, several craftsmen, several foreign soldiers who fell into slavery after becoming prisoners of war¡­ and the rest were just villagers who had fallen prey of the greed of bandits and slave dealers, most of them being women who didn¡¯t have anywhere else to return to, or were too ashamed to go back after having been defiled by men of low morals.

    Merlin: ¡°I hate long speeches, so I¡¯ll try to make it short! You have all come here for a reason, you either wanted a chance to start anew or you had nowhere else to go, and just went with the flow. The reason doesn¡¯t matter, you are here and that¡¯s a fact! So, now you have to make a decision which will determine your fate! That magic circle is a soul restriction contract, once you accept it, you will never be able to remove it till the day you die! The rules of the contract are as follow: 1-Never betray me, my family, or the city of Ragn?rok. 2-Anything pertaining to the city that is said to be secret, mustn¡¯t be told to outsiders. 3-You must follow me until the day of your death. Any breaking of the rules will lead to the death and destruction of the soul of the said individual. Any questions?¡±

    Villager X: ¡°Will you take our lives if we don¡¯t enter the magic circle?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Absolutely not, I won¡¯t coerce you to enter the magic circle, however if you refuse to enter, you won¡¯t be involved in the construction of the city, and your house, when built, will be located outside of the city walls, aside from that, you¡¯ll get an assignment outside of the city, that¡¯s all.¡±

    Villager X: ¡°I was just asking!¡±

    The villager immediately stepped inside the magic circle, and the rest of the group followed, only 9 people remained outside of the circle. Merlin looked at them, and they were precisely the 9 people he was most interested in. He decided to talk to them and ascertain their reasons for not stepping inside the magic circle. He thought it really had gone way too smoothly with the others, for serving someone for life or dying isn''t an easy choice to make, so he wasn''t really surprised... he actually expected the number to be higher!

    Merlin: ¡°Looks like you want talk about something, let¡¯s go inside a tent¡­ the three ex-spies will go first, then the fallen clan, then the dwarf and finally the vampire girl!¡±

    **************************************************************************

    Merlin: ¡°Well, seems like you three have a lot on your minds¡­ speak up!¡±

    Vania: ¡°It¡¯s just that we have already worked with people in power, and as long as we were useful they helped us, but when it stopped being convenient, they left us to die. Once is enough, we don¡¯t need to go through that again! That of following you till our deaths¡­ it doesn¡¯t go well with us!¡±

    Janus: ¡°Vania is right, this contract makes us risk our lives, but you risk nothing!¡±

    Argenta: ¡°My thoughts exactly, it¡¯s too risky for us!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°THAT I DON¡¯T RISK ANYTHING?! YOU FUCKING MORONS! I RISK DYING JUST BY CREATING THAT KIND OF MAGIC CIRCLE! I¡¯M DOING THIS BECAUSE A FUCKING WAR IS COMING, AND IF I DON¡¯T DO IT, I RISK LOSING MY WHOLE FAMILY! YET YOU DARE TO SAY I RISK NOTHING?!¡±

    The trio was at a loss for words, they just didn¡¯t like the idea of being tied for life to someone so young, but they didn¡¯t expect him to react so strongly. Besides, the words he said¡­ A war was coming? He was risking his life trying to do the contracts? He was trying to save his family? The three of them didn''t fully understand the situation, but they could definitely relate to that! After all, that was the very reason they went into the spy business!

    Janus: ¡°What you just said about a war¡­ is it for real?¡±

    Merlin had managed to calm down and answer Janus¡¯ question. Fortunately, he had set up a sound barrier around the tent so, despite his shouting, the people outside didn¡¯t hear a thing.

    Merlin: ¡°You¡¯ll know about it in due time¡­ that¡¯s it, IF you join me!¡±

    The three of them silently walked out of the tent, and Merlin looked at their statuses right before they stepped inside the circle.

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Vania Kopek</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>25</td><td>Race</td><td>Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>58</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1400/1400</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.003 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">5 372</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.008 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Wind Magic¡±</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Wind (high)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Stealth (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Assassination (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Espionage (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Hand-to-hand combat (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Sword mastery (lv. 7)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table><table><tbody></li></ul>

    <tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Janus Aureus</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>28</td><td>Race</td><td>Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>63</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1600/1600</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.004 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">4 091</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.007 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Wind Magic¡±</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Wind (medium)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Stealth (lv. 9)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Assassination (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Hand-to-hand combat (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Espionage (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Conning (lv. 6)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Knife mastery (lv. 6)¡±

    </li></ul>

    </td></tr></tbody></table> <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Argenta Lerion</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>25</td><td>Race</td><td>Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>72</td><td>Gender</td><td>Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1800/1800</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.011 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">5 372</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.009 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Wind Magic¡±</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Wind (high)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Stealth (lv. 5)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Assassination (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Espionage (lv. 9)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Sex technique (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Hand-to-hand combat (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Poison mastery (lv. 7)¡±

    </li></ul>

    </td></tr></tbody></table>

    *******************************************************************

    The next to enter into the tent were the members of the fallen clan.

    Merlin: ¡°Well, it seems that you have a lot in your mind¡­ Speak up!¡±

    Shin: ¡°I¡¯m Shin Ryu, Akemi is my wife, and Sayuri and Aimi are my sisters. Despite being grateful for your help back then, I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t follow you for life, sorry!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°May I ask why you feel that way?¡±

    Shin: ¡°We need to take revenge on those who massacred our Ryu clan!¡±

    Sayuri and Aimi: ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Akemi: ¡°Those bastards should all drop dead!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°So you¡¯re unwilling to join me because that would interfere with your plans of revenge¡­ It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t understand your position, but aren¡¯t you forgetting something?¡±

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.Shin: ¡°And¡­ what would that be?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Your numbers! You are only 4 people and one of you is even a little kid, while your enemy is a whole clan, do you really plan on engaging your enemies in those conditions? That¡¯s just suicidal!¡±

    Shin: ¡°Like you¡¯re one to talk! You¡¯re a little kid too!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s beside the point! You¡¯ll not be able to have your revenge like that!¡±

    Shin: ¡°What would you suggest then?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you join me and create a martial Sect? You could find and train people, and when the time and the numbers are right, you¡¯ll be able to have your revenge!¡±

    At this point, the four didn¡¯t know how to answer Merlin¡¯s question. In this world, mana and ki were one and the same, as proven by Merlin¡¯s ¡°Ki strengthening technique¡±, so he assumed that if martial clans existed, martial sects would too. The problem was that, contrary to Merlin¡¯s assumption, martial sects didn¡¯t exist in this world, so the concept of passing down the clan¡¯s techniques to outsiders was foreign to them, and even taboo.

    Merlin was surprised when he was told they didn¡¯t know what a martial sect was, so he proceeded to explain to them the organization and working of the martial sects in the xianxia novels back on Earth. He tweaked the story a little, though, and said that the distribution was: the core family, inner disciples and outer disciples. The core family having the best techniques, while the outer disciples would learn the more trashy ones. Also, the outer disciples could advance to inner disciples and vice versa, based on their progress, but the core family was a closed circle.

    When heard about it, a strange light flashed in the eyes of the four clansmen, but Shin felt something was amiss, and when thinking about it, he realized what it was! Merlin was giving them the way to build up their forces and have their revenge, but he didn¡¯t say what he expected in exchange or how he would benefit from it!

    Shin: ¡°And, what exactly do you get out of this? Besides, I thank you for the idea, but I could establish a martial sect elsewhere, why would I need to follow you for the rest of my life and establish it here?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, I certainly plan on learning the secret techniques of your clan, as for why here and not elsewhere, that choice is yours to make, just note that to establish your sect in any piece of land of the continent, you must first ask for permission to the lord governing that area, and you are a foreigner in this continent, so it would be really tricky for you to attempt it elsewhere¡­ besides, to catch your enemies off guard, you can¡¯t create the martial sect in plain sight, I can provide a place which suits your needs best, but only IF you join me!¡±

    Shin: ¡°Are you really a 6-year-old?! Damn! Fine, we¡¯ll follow you! Not that we have a choice anyway!¡±

    Merlin took a peek at their statuses as they were leaving the tent, and was very pleased by what he saw.

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Shin Ryu</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>16</td><td>Race</td><td>Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>65</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1900/1900</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.009 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">5 624</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.010 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Wind Magic¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Darkness Magic¡±</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''><ul>

    <li>Wind (medium)</li>

    <li>Darkness (high)</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Stealth (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Assassination (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Hand-to-hand combat (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>"Ryu-style ninjutsu (lv. 8)"</li>

    <li>¡°Sword mastery (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Staff mastery (lv. 3)¡±</li>

    <li>"Knife mastery (lv. 7)"

    </li></ul>

    </td></tr></tbody></table><table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Akemi Ume</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>16</td><td>Race</td><td>Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>61</td><td>Gender</td><td>Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1600/1600</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.008 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">3 982</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.009 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Wind Magic¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Darkness Magic¡±</td></tr><tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''></li></ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Wind (medium)</li>

    <li>Darkness (medium)</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Stealth (lv. 9)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Assassination (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Hand-to-hand combat (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>"Ume-style ninjutsu (lv. 5)"</li>

    <li>¡°Staff mastery (lv. 6)¡±</li>

    <li>"Knife mastery (lv. 8)"

    </li></ul>

    </td></tr></tbody></table> <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Sayori Ryu</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>17</td><td>Race</td><td>Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>52</td><td>Gender</td><td>Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1500/1500</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.015 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">4 589</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.011 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Darkness Magic¡±</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Darkness (high)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Stealth (lv. 5)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Assassination (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Hand-to-hand combat (lv. 8)¡±</li>

    <li>"Ryu-style ninjutsu (lv. 5)"</li>

    <li>"Knife mastery (lv. 5)"</li>

    <li>¡°Poison mastery (lv. 9)¡±

    </li></ul>

    </td></tr></tbody></table><table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Aimi Ryu</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>8</td><td>Race</td><td>Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>31</td><td>Gender</td><td>Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1100/1100</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.009 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">2 037</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.012 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Wind Magic¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Darkness Magic¡±</td></tr><tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''></li></ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Wind (medium)</li>

    <li>Darkness (high)</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Stealth (lv. 6)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Hand-to-hand combat (lv. 5)¡±</li>

    <li>"Ryu-style ninjutsu (lv. 4)"</li>

    <li>"Knife mastery (lv.4)"

    </li></ul>

    </td></tr></tbody></table>

    ****************************************************************************

    Aimi¡¯s POV:

    I¡¯m glad that my brother accepted that little boy¡¯s offer, although I don¡¯t think ¡°little boy¡± fits him¡­ he certainly is a year or two younger than me, but the way he conducts himself resembles an adult¡¯s. Ever since the first time I saw him, my heart starts racing when I think about him, and I feel compelled to serve and protect him¡­ A young girl would usually think this is love at first sight, but I was raised in the Ryu clan, so I know what this sensation actually is¡­

    Since its creation, our Ryu clan has specialized in stealth, intelligence and assassination. We are called ¨C correction: were called ¨C a martial clan, because we were living in barbarian territory, and that¡¯s how they usually call the clans which specialize in fighting. There is a total of 29 martial clans in barbarian territory, of which, 6 clans ¨C currently 5 ¨C specialize in stealth, intelligence and assassination, while the others just fight their opponents head-on, barbarian style. Despite the fact that those 6 clans are called ¡°The 6 Shinobi clans¡± inside barbarian territory, outside of it, they are grouped together with the other martial clans.

    Back to what I was feeling about that boy, Merlin¡­ my mother once told me that the women in our bloodline have the innate ability to detect great leadership, meaning that if I ever felt that from a person, it meant that person would do great things in the future. Mother said that if the person I felt it from was a woman, I should befriend her and follow our shinobi code while serving her. But if the person I felt it from was a man, aside from befriending him and serving him, mother said that I should also try to become his mistress¡­ but I don¡¯t know what a mistress is¡­ mother told me she¡¯d explain it to me when I grew older, but she has already passed away and, now, I¡¯ve started feeling this from that boy¡­ I¡¯ll guess I¡¯ll have to ask big brother later to properly explain to me what a mistress is¡­

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 24 â€“ Mina Nosferati

    Chapter 24 ¨C  Mina Nosferati

    Mina¡¯s POV:

    My name is Mina Nosferati, and right now, I may be in trouble. I¡¯m waiting for my turn to speak with a 6-year-old kid who happens to be the lord of this territory. He looks harmless, but first impressions are often deceiving, despite his age and looks, he is a capable magician able to draw a massive soul contract magic circle, and he has managed to convince hundreds of people to accept the said soul contract. Even those most reluctant to accept it seem to have done so in the end, I¡¯m not sure of what kind of mind magic he has used on them, but I won¡¯t let him affect me! He is talking with a dwarf at the moment, and for the looks of it, soon it will be my turn to speak with him. As for why I am in my current predicament, it all began three years ago in a faraway land¡­

    *************************************************************************

    Vampire territory, in the Kaltena continent. Three years ago¡­

    Mina: ¡°Mother, do you really have to go?¡±

    Mina¡¯s mother: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sweetheart, I don¡¯t really have a choice! Mommy will be back before you know it, ok? No, dear, don¡¯t cry, please!¡±

    Mina: ¡°But -sob- I don¡¯t want you -sob- to go away!¡±

    Mina¡¯s mother: ¡°Mina, dear, hear me out! You are a very special girl, and many people will want to use you. Don¡¯t trust any vampire! As someone with my blood, you¡¯ll always be in danger, so I¡¯ve arranged for you to enter an academy in the Klasten continent. The headmistress'' name is Hildegarde Hexenwunder. After meeting her tell her these words ¡®Ich habe das Blut des Grimm, und ich bin hier die Zukunft zu sch¨¹tzen!¡¯, she¡¯ll know what to do! I¡¯ll be back in a year, but if I don¡¯t come back, promise me that you¡¯ll leave this cursed land and go to the academy!¡±

    Mina: ¡°I promise, mother!¡±

    Mina¡¯s mother: ¡°One last thing! Take this marble, and bond it with your blood!¡±

    Mina: ¡°Mother, why did the marble disappear?¡±

    Mina¡¯s mother: ¡°It didn¡¯t. It just entered your body, I just hope that you will never have to learn about its function¡­ Goodbye, dear!¡±

    ***************************************************************************

    That was the last time I ever saw my mother, and after she left, everything went wrong. The following morning, the news of her departure had already spread like wildfire, and numerous representatives from other vampire clans came to ask my father for my hand. I was only a 10-year-old little girl, yet they were asking my hand in marriage, I guess that was the reason why my mother told me not to trust any vampire other than myself!

    I¡¯m a variant vampire, a daywalker, who can eat normal food and survive without consuming blood. Technically, I should be a half-vampire, given that my mother was a human, but due to her special lineage, I turned out to be a pureblood variant vampire, which makes me really valuable in the eyes of the other vampires, because I might be able to pass down my daywalking trait to my descendants, empowering that way whichever clan that manages to obtain me.

    The only thing sheltering me from this dispute among the vampire clans, was my mother¡¯s presence, but now that she was gone, that pack of wolves wouldn¡¯t back down until someone obtained me as a prize! Even my uncle R¨¹diger asked my father for my hand, and he was directly related to me by blood! I never thought that my mere existence would lead to a civil war in the vampire territory, and to the demise of my own clan!

    In the end, my uncle R¨¹diger enlisted the help of the Teppes clan, and killed my father. He really thought that after my father¡¯s death, he¡¯d be able to have his way with me, but his own allies took his life, for they wanted to keep me for themselves. They tied me up, and put a slave collar on me so that I¡¯d be forced to obey their every order. For two years, I was moved from one place to another, while the civil war continued taking lives of fellow vampires.

    When I turned 12 years old, I was deemed capable of bearing children without risk for my life, so they took me to the room of the clan¡¯s head, the reason being crystal clear even for a 12-year-old girl like me. I desperately tried to call for help, but the slave collar impeded me to do so. Helpless, I watched my own body move towards them against my will, and when ordered to strip, the slave collar didn¡¯t leave me any other option but to do so, therefore, they really thought they¡¯d have their way with me¡­ until something unexpected happened!

    Right when the clan¡¯s master was about to take my chastity, the marble my mother had gifted me before departing appeared in front of me, created a magic shield around me, and discharged a lightning bolt to his manhood, literally burning it to ashes. Not even with the high regeneration vampire trait would he be able to recover from that, for the head, and that part, are the only body parts the regeneration is unable to recreate.

    All the men in the room were utterly terrified, and they waited until the magic shield wore off before approaching me. They were so scared of me they didn¡¯t even dare to directly touch me, so they gave me orders to move, through the slave collar. After holding a meeting, the elders of the clan decided to give it a last try, but when there was a similar occurrence, they agreed to give me away to some other clan. Two clans later, rumors about what happened to whomever dared to touch me had spread through the vampire territory, and no clan wanted anything to do with me anymore. Finally, the civil war came to an end, and they sold me to a slave trader for just 1 silver, under the condition that I was to be taken away from the continent.

    Half a year later, I ended up in the basement of a slave shop, in a city in the middle of nowhere. The slave trader knew better than to put his hands on me, so I ended up being much luckier than other female slaves in the shop. A couple of weeks after my arrival, I saw through the bars on the door that the slave dealer and his guards were bringing in two little beastman girls, but I didn¡¯t expect at the time that just a few hours later someone would come rescue them, freeing the rest of the slaves in the shop in the process.

    And the one responsible for all that was the little 6-year-old kid who was talking with a dwarf in the tent in front of me. I really don¡¯t know what to think about him, he is way too young to do most of the things he is said to have done¡­ therefore, I¡¯d usually think those were just rumors, but seeing him draw and activate the soul contract magic circle proved me otherwise. Well, the dwarf has finally come out of the tent¡­ and he has stepped into the magic circle too, so is my turn to go into the tent now. Let¡¯s see how it goes!

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ****************************************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    That dwarf was really hard to convince, he only agreed to remain here, at my service, after I showed him a clepsydra and promised to teach him how to make one, and also how to make other new mechanisms I know of. I made the clepsydra for the girls, I never really thought I would end up using it this way¡­

    Oh! The beautiful vampire girl has just entered the tent, it may be unbecoming of me thinking this, given that I¡¯m currently a 6-year-old, but she¡¯s hot, like crazy hot! Almost every model back on Earth would be considered plainly attractive compared to her, and she¡¯s just 13, I can¡¯t wait to see how beautiful she becomes when she finishes developing. Now that I think of it, it is really strange that she was left untouched and unsold, given her looks¡­ not that I¡¯m going to pry into it, if she doesn¡¯t want to talk about it herself I won¡¯t ask. She seems to be on guard against me, I don¡¯t like it, but it¡¯s better for her to be that way than being too trusting. I¡¯ve got a feeling that this one won¡¯t be staying in Ragnar?k¡­ let¡¯s hear what she¡¯s got to say!

    Mina: ¡°I won¡¯t let you bewitch me like the others! I¡¯ve got a mission to accomplish, and I will not let you to stop me!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok¡­ I have no idea why you think I put the others under a spell to step into the circle and make the contract, but I didn¡¯t. I¡¯m good, but not that good! May I ask what that mission you mentioned is?¡±

    Mina: ¡°I need to go to Klausna Kingdom and enter their top academy to meet with its headmistress, Hildegarde Hexenwunder. That obviously means I can¡¯t remain here any longer, however I thank you for saving me back then, I¡¯ll make sure to repay you in the future!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, I think I¡¯ve started to understand your situation, but there are several flaws in your plan!¡±

    Mina: ¡°Really?! Would you be so kind to point them out for me, please?¡± *You are not going to get me little boy!*

    Merlin: ¡°Well, for starters, there are 8 months left until the beginning of the new academic year, so you won¡¯t be able to enter any academy on the continent before then. Then there is your mission, which for what I understand, requires you meeting with Lady Hildegarde Hexenwunder. You said you were going to Klausna Kingdom¡¯s top academy to meet her, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Mina: ¡°Yes, what about it?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You see¡­ I¡¯ve received a scholarship for Hexenwunder Royal Academy, here in the Shephiran Kingdom. This is only a wild guess, but given the name of the academy, and that my scholarship was signed by the academy¡¯s headmistress, Lady Hildegarde Hexenwunder, I¡¯d say even if you were able to enter Klausna Kingdom¡¯s top academy without falling into slavery again, you wouldn¡¯t be able to meet her!¡±

    Mina: ¡°If you say so¡­¡± *Damn! Now that I think about it, mother said Lady Hexenwunder was the headmistress of an academy in the Klasten continent. She never specified in which kingdom of the continent her academy was located! From the bits of information I gathered from the other slaves, I just assumed the academy was in Klausna Kingdom, fortunately, I¡¯ve discovered the truth before going there!*

    Merlin: ¡°Now that the matter of your mission has been sorted out, will you join my city?¡±

    Mina: ¡°Sorry, but I won¡¯t, as I previously said, I don¡¯t want to be forced to serve you for life!¡± *There is no way I¡¯m going to put myself in such a disadvantageous position¡­ it¡¯d be different if it were an equals contract instead of a master-servant one¡­*

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, then. I¡¯ll make arrangements for your accommodation until you head for the academy.¡±

    Mina: ¡°I¡¯m thankful for that, but there is still the matter about the soul contract¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Eh?! What do you mean? Didn¡¯t you reject the soul contract just a second ago?¡±

    Mina: ¡°I rejected the master-servant soul contract that you did with the others, but if it¡¯s an equals soul contract, then I wouldn¡¯t mind!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Master-servant soul contract? Equals soul contract? Do you mean to tell me that there are different kinds of soul contracts from the one I use?¡±

    Mina: ¡°So you didn¡¯t know! No, they are actually the same soul contract, but based on the terms agreed in the contract, soul contracts are divided in those two categories. The only actual difference between the two is that a master-servant soul contract only applies the penalty upon breach of contract to the servant party, while an equals soul contract applies the penalty upon breach of contract to either of the parties.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, let¡¯s do it then!¡±

    Mina and I agreed on the terms for the soul contract: 1-Never betray me, my family, or the city of Ragn?rok. 2-Anything pertaining to the city that is said to be secret, mustn¡¯t be told to outsiders. 3-I too must never betray her.Any breaking of the rules will lead to the death and destruction of the soul of the said individual. It was similar to the contract accepted by the others, with the exception of the third term of the contract "You must follow me until the day of your death"  which made the other contract a  master-servant one.

    In Mina''s contract, however, "I too must never betray her"  is a term that not only puts us as equals in the contract, it also ensures I won''t misuse the contract and  take advantage of her through it! She''s a really smart girl!  I drew a second magic circle to make to make the soul contract effective. During its activation, we drank each other¡¯s blood, as per the vampire customs. We went out of the tent to meet with the others afterward.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Plothole Hotline

    Howdy guys, I''ve seen that some of you have found, or think to have found several plotholes in my story.

    I''ve gotta be honest with you, I''ve reread the story, and I don''t see any. It probably is because I''m the author, and as I have the story in my head, I can''t see them. That''s why I''d like to ask your help with that. You can call this a "plothole hotline" of sorts if you want. Whenever you see something you think might be a plothole, please do notify me through this thread. I''ll check it out ASAP and fix it if it''s actually one.

    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    I''ll leave this thread open until I finish my story.

    Thanks for your help!

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 25 â€“ The â€œCouncil of tenâ€

    Merlin and Mina met with the others and saw the magic circle had completely disappeared. Upon seeing that the contract had been successful, Merlin decided it was time to put things into motion. He prepared himself, stood next to Emelyn, and started to speak to them.

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, all of you have chosen to follow me, and have thus become the first people who will settle in our new city, Ragnar?k. As all of you know, I¡¯ve been bestowed the title of Earl, and you currently are in my territory, however, my age is a problem, so for the time being, it will be my mother, Emelyn, who will deal with everything related to the organization and government of the territory. Until I state otherwise, you all shall heed her every word as you would mine, for when she speaks, it¡¯s like I¡¯m speaking through her. Understood?¡±

    Everyone: ¡°Yes, Lord Pendragon!¡±

    ***************************************************************************

    Having distributed the different works to the freed slaves in Merlin¡¯s name, Emelyn left the crowd and went home. Merlin, instead of following her, gave a signal to the nine people who had caught his eye, and told them to meet him inside the tent he had previously used. The nine people, albeit surprised, hurriedly complied. Once Merlin had finished putting a spell on the tent, soundproofing it, he turned around and spoke to them.

    Merlin: ¡°I guess many of you, if not all, are wondering why I¡¯ve summoned you here. The answer is very simple: you are to become the secret pillars of Ragnar?k, its shield and sword in the shadows!¡±

    Mina: ¡°Excuse me, lord Merlin. I¡¯ll be going to Hexenwunder Royal Academy in eight months¡­ How exactly do you expect me to become a pillar of this city, when I won¡¯t even be living here?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°My dear Mina, you don¡¯t necessarily have to be present in the city to become a secret pillar of support for it. There are many ways in which you could help, but we¡¯ll get to that later. From now on this group will be known as ¡®The Council of ten¡¯. We¡¯ll act in the shadows and make sure that anyone in the underworld learns to fear this name.¡±

    *Who is your dear?* thought Mina, *Idiot!*. Although she didn¡¯t voice it out, she felt embarrassed when he addressed her that way. No one had ever addressed her that way aside from her parents, who were her closest relatives, so it was very embarrassing for her being addressed like that by someone of the opposite sex, even if the one doing it was a 6-year-old boy.

    Merlin took out an orange stone twice the size of his fist and ten pieces of silver he proceeded to enchant. Upon seeing the orange stone, Sokar, the dwarven craftsman, recognized what the stone was and gasped, while Merlin chuckled seeing his reaction. Merlin made a gesture inviting them to take a piece of enchanted silver each, then he continued his explanation.

    Merlin: ¡°Please bond the pieces of enchanted silver with your blood.¡±

    As soon as they bonded the pieces with their blood, they transformed into silver medals, with an unknown symbol, and engraved characters which looked like some sort of text by their disposition, but that they were unable to recognize. Shin couldn¡¯t hold back his curiosity anymore and asked Merlin about the meaning behind those strange characters.

    Merlin: ¡°It¡¯s a new language and alphabet that I¡¯ve created for the exclusive use of this ¡®Council of ten¡¯. That orange stone over there is a low-grade memory stone, it can hold a limited amount of knowledge, and imprints it into the mind of whoever touches it. It will work only nine times before turning into dust. All of you, touch it and learn it, for this is the only language in which the members of the ¡®Council of ten¡¯ will communicate with each other.¡±

    Klantea¡¯s common language had a similar grammar to that of English back on Earth, but the vocabulary was actually closer to Dutch. Merlin had originally thought of using English as the secret language for the ¡®Council of ten¡¯, but he finally chose not to, due to the similarities between Klantea¡¯s common language and English. It wouldn¡¯t be much of a secret language if it was easily decipherable, so he chose French instead, because it had a completely different grammar. As a safety measure, he also made it so that the roman alphabet could only be used by the members of the ¡®Council of ten¡¯ when using French, that way he ensured no document in any of Klantea¡¯s languages would ever exist written in the roman alphabet, eliminating like that the risk of someone deciphering the messages of the ¡®Council of ten¡¯, were anyone able to intercept one. When everyone was done and the orange memory stone turned into dust, Merlin spoke to them again.

    Merlin: ¡°Maintenant vous devriez ¨ºtre capables de comprendre ce qui est ¨¦crit dans vos m¨¦dailles.¡± (You should now be able to understand what is written in your medals.)

    Everyone concentrated their gazes in their own medal and read the inscription ¡°Conseil des dix¡± (¡®Council of ten¡¯).

    Merlin: ¡°¨¤ partir de ce moment, d¨¨s qu¡¯on parlera d¡¯affaires concernant le ¡®Conseil des dix¡¯, on n¡¯utilisera que cette langue. C¡¯est bien compris ?¡± (From now on, whenever we talk about any matter concerning the ¡®Council of ten¡¯, we¡¯ll do so in this language. Is that understood?)

    Everyone: ¡°Oui, Ma?tre.¡± (Yes, Master.)

    Shin: ¡°Master, I¡¯m sorry to point it now, but isn¡¯t Aimi a little too young to belong to this ¡®Council of ten¡¯?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°No, she is not. Of course, when giving her a mission, her age and ability will be taken into account. Don¡¯t worry, Shin. I don¡¯t plan to needlessly put your sister in danger!¡±

    Shin: ¡°Thank you, Master.¡±

    Once he had finished making his preparations, Merlin started giving out the first orders for the ¡°Council of ten¡±. For the last few days, he had been having the lingering feeling that something was wrong and he was missing what it was. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on it, which is why he hurried so much when creating this ¡°Council of ten¡±. He was planning on creating it after the completion of the city anyway, but he got impatient and created it much sooner.

    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Merlin: ¡°Vania, Janus. You two will investigate the slave-dealing business around Delia City, and around this border. Killing that slave dealer was good and all, but I¡¯m not so gullible as to think that the illegal slave dealing he was involved with was finished with the death of that one man¡­ Half of the slaves he had in stock were from other continents, such an occurrence should be impossible in a city like Delia, unless he had some kind of organization backing him up. Be careful, and don¡¯t get caught! If you find any information on other slave dealers involved with the said organization, do not take any action! Report it and wait for orders. Did I make myself clear?

    Vania and Janus: ¡°Yes, Master!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Good! Argenta, I need you to pose as my mother¡¯s personal maid and stay by her side 24/7. I¡¯m afraid that someone might want to hurt her, now that I¡¯ve given to her the ruling of Ragnar?k. She usually wouldn¡¯t have any problem dealing with some enemies, but now that she¡¯s pregnant, she might not be able to do it, that¡¯s where you come in! As they say: better safe than sorry!¡±

    Argenta: ¡°Leave it to me, Master!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Sokar, there were 5 accomplished blacksmiths and 12 blacksmith apprentices among the freed slaves. Take them all with you and help them develop their skills. I¡¯m not asking for them to acquire your level of skill, but we need to build the city as soon as possible!¡±

    Sokar: ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to meet your expectations, Master¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Now as for you five¡­ I won¡¯t be able to provide you with a place to train until the construction of the city advances a little more, so¡­ you can help with some miscellaneous work until then. Also, Mina do you have some kind of experience in hand-to-hand combat?¡±

    Mina: ¡°No, my mother was supposed to train me, but she never had the chance¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Shin, would it be possible for you to train her in hand-to-hand combat for the next 8 months, until her departure for the academy?¡±

    Shin: ¡°Sure, although how proficient she becomes on it will depend solely on her ability and effort, I can¡¯t do miracles!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thanks Shin!¡±

    Aimi: ¡°Brother, why have you all stopped using that strange new language and started talking in the common language again? Won¡¯t people know about our plans?¡±

    Shin: ¡°That¡¯s because we¡¯re just talking about training. Everyone knows that we belong to what they call ¡®a martial clan¡¯, so it¡¯s only natural for us to talk about training, we don¡¯t have to conceal it. What we have to conceal is our actual training, which is why we have to wait some more days until we have a place where we can train in isolation. Do you understand now, Aimi?¡±

    Aimi: ¡°Yep, thanks brother!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, now that we¡¯re done here, everyone is dismissed!¡±

    Leaving the tent after the others, Merlin thought of supervising the works being done in the city, but he found himself really tired, so he went straight to home and without even greeting his family, he laid down on the bed and fell asleep. What Merlin didn¡¯t know at the time, and he¡¯d only find out years later, was that he had been on the verge of destroying his own soul when making the soul contracts!

    Soul contracts are a branch of magic which can¡¯t be classified in any of the elements, the reason being that they only use magic power to activate the magic circle which initiates the contract, the actual contract requires the use of soul force, and if too much soul force is used, the caster¡¯s soul implodes and gets destroyed. The usual amount of soul contracts an average person can make daily is 2, a third try usually leads to the immediate soul destruction and death of the caster.

    However, Merlin had surpassed that limit more than a hundred times over, yet he was still alive! Were it not for the fact that, luckily for him, his soul was tens of times stronger than usual, he¡¯d have died more than a hundred times over that day! In ancient times, a heretic cult became famous for finding a solution to that problem, that was the first time ¡°soul crystals¡± ever appeared in Klantea. They were like batteries of soul energy, they allowed the user to cast hundreds of soul contracts without any danger for the soul. But, as everything in life, when something is too good to be true, it usually is¡­

    It took researchers more than a hundred years, but they managed to learn the secrets behind the soul stones¡­ A soul stone in itself was just a recipient, but unlike what had been told to the public, it didn¡¯t collect soul energy from the air¡­ it collected the soul energy from the souls trapped inside! Yes, to produce soul stones, the heretic cult hadn¡¯t hesitated in buying slaves or kidnapping people to extract their souls at a later time and use them to create the soul stones! Needless to say, when the world learned about the truth behind the soul stones, the heretic cult was thoroughly destroyed and the use or production of soul stones was completely banned!

    Merlin didn¡¯t know of any of that, and in his ignorance, he almost lost his life. He had read about soul stones in the well, he even had an empty one in his possession, but the whole story related to soul stones was common knowledge and sense at the time the books were written, therefore the books didn¡¯t mention any of it. Merlin slept soundly until the next morning, but he was the only one¡­ the women in the family were so worried about his condition, they kept the whole household awake through the night just in case he needed some urgent help!

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 Side-story - Christmas in another world.

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    It has been 3 years and 7 months since I reincarnated in this world. It¡¯s winter now, and I really, really miss the central heating of my student apartment! Don¡¯t get me wrong, I love it here, and I enjoy the time I pass with my family next to the hearth, mainly because I didn¡¯t have any quality family time in my past life, but it¡¯s quite boring¡­ Back on Earth, we¡¯d be bombarded with tv commercials about toys, special sales, etc¡­ we would be celebrating Christmas in a couple of days, but Christianity doesn¡¯t exist in this world, so no Christmas for me¡­

    I am so bored that I don¡¯t even feel like reading¡­ strange, being me, isn¡¯t it? My three brothers too, they are so bored that they¡¯ve started sparring with wooden swords in the next room¡­ they¡¯re in for an earful when mother discovers them, she had forbidden them from sparring inside the house¡­ last time they did it, Jasmine had to spend 3 days cleaning up the mess, even with mother¡¯s help. However, I have to admit I understand them very well, for I too would like to do something else than being holed up in the house the whole day round! It would be a different matter if I had my anime, manga and webnovels to entertain myself, but I don¡¯t, and I¡¯m starting to get desperate here!

    It has been snowing for the last 10 days, yet we aren¡¯t allowed to go out and play with the snow. In this world, there are stories about the evil spirits of the snow, who prey on the unsuspecting humans foolish enough to keep them company for a while. Those spirits supposedly try to take away the heat from the human bodies, to use it for themselves. Although I don¡¯t rule out the possibility of the existence of such kind of spirits, it¡¯s painfully obvious to me that it¡¯s just a story to keep kids inside the house during the winter, avoiding that way getting frostbite or have hypothermia. I made up my mind and went to talk to my brothers.

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯m bored, what about you three?¡±

    Arnold, Josh and Bly stared at me like they had seen a ghost. Well, I guess it¡¯s understandable since this was the first time I¡¯ve ever started a conversation with them, it¡¯s usually the other way around, with them seeking my attention and interrupting my reading¡­

    Arnold: ¡°What do you want to do?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I want to go outside and play with the snow!¡±

    Arnold and the other two were speechless, which is understandable, from their perspective I must look like a lunatic, wanting to go out without fearing the evil spirits of the snow! Arnold was the first one to regain his composure and he asked me how I was planning on dealing with the spirits, my answer caught him by surprise: ¡°Scarves and gloves.¡± *Are you really that surprised, Arnold? What other answer did you expect, then?*

    ********************************************************************

    Emelyn¡¯s POV:

    The house had been quiet for a while¡­ maybe a little too much! I went to check on the children, but they were nowhere to be found. After asking Leyla and Jasmine, I found them in the backyard playing with the snow. Initially I was going to scold them, but then realized the four of them were wearing scarves and gloves so that the evil spirits of the snow wouldn¡¯t attack them.

    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Having seen them play for a while, making what looked like small walls of compressed snow, I decided it was about time to make them come back in, and have lunch. As I turned around to enter the hose, I heard giggles behind me and a snowball crashed on my butt. *Now you¡¯ve done it, boys! You want to play? Ok, we¡¯ll play!* I didn¡¯t know who had thrown the snowball at me, but it probably had been Arnold. He was going to turn 15 in two months, but he still liked to act like a child¡­ *Well, I¡¯ll need a little help to even the odds, 4 vs. 1 isn¡¯t fair play!*

    Emelyn: ¡°Leyla, put on gloves and a scarf and come out here!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Ok, I¡¯m here. What is it, sis?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Oh? It¡¯s nothing, I just need your help to teach a little lesson to your four nephews!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°What lesson?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Don¡¯t throw snowballs to your mother from behind!¡±

    *****************************************************************************

    Hearing that answer, Leyla just thought *What have you done, boys?* and helped Emelyn in making snowballs to battle the boys. After ten minutes of war, the walls the boys had previously made proved very useful to both sides, with Emelyn and Leyla having a small advantage. Another ten minutes later, alliances had been made and broken multiple times, resulting in a pandemonium! What had started with Emelyn and Leyla teaming up against the children, had ended with Leyla and Merlin teaming up in a battle royale against the others! With the exception of Merlin, everyone else was covered in snow from head to toe, resulting in having to go back into the house to take a bath and change clothes.

    They had lots of fun that day, and they played to that newfound game several times on the oncoming weeks. Even Anthon ended up participating in a couple of occasions, but he was slow and full of openings when throwing the snowballs, so he ended up receiving the greatest number of snowball hits. He didn¡¯t really mind losing, he enjoyed the family time and, given his employment, he was unable to have much of those¡­ In the end, these snowball wars were engraved in the hearts and memories of the Pendragon family, eventually becoming a tradition of the family in the years ahead.

    ****************************************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    Wow! That was fun! I never would have imagined I could one day experience a snowball battle with my family¡­ not that it would have ever been possible in my old world anyway! This has been the best Christmas ever! *Merry Christmas to you too, people of Earth! Enjoy the good times with your families and loved ones, for life is very short! I wish you Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!*

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a> !

 Chapter 26 - Assassins

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    Damn! I really fucked up this time! Not only was I heavily reprimanded by my parents for overexerting me and collapsing, they even threatened me with a mana-sealing bracelet! And to make matters worse, the fianc¨¦e trio is now super clingy with me, to the point they haven¡¯t let me meditate for a whole week! I understand they were worried about me, but isn¡¯t this a little too much?!

    Fortunately, the construction of the city has advanced enough to start digging the underground complex with the mining crystals¡­ I think we¡¯ll be done in another week, and then, I¡¯ll finally able to train in seclusion for three months, without being annoyed by the overclingy trio! I really can¡¯t wait to start! I like being around them, I mean, it¡¯s fun and I enjoy it greatly because I didn¡¯t have that during my infancy in my past life, but when they go and switch into the overclingy-mode¡­ I just can¡¯t deal with them!

    If only those three would put into training the same amount of energy they put in following me around, they would have already achieved the same strength I had a couple of months ago. At the beginning of their training, they put their best effort because it was something new to them, and they quickly learned the stances, but now that it¡¯s all repetitions, repetitions and more repetitions¡­ it bores the hell out of them, so they¡¯ve lost all their interest in the training. And to make things worse, even if I tried to make them understand about the oncoming war and the reasons why they should get stronger, they are way too young to get the whole picture¡­

    *****************************************************************************

    Night fell and all the members of the Pendragon household went to their respective rooms to slumber, with the exception of Merlin, of course. Frustrated for not having been able to meditate for a week, he waited until the girls were asleep and then snuck out of the bed and went to the backyard to meditate. After a while, he started dozing off due to the fatigue of the day, he suddenly noticed a presence next to him and saw Jasmine, in her hands a blanket and a smile on her face.

    Jasmine: ¡°Lord Merlin, you shouldn¡¯t come out in the night like this, you might end up catching a cold!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°It¡¯s ok, Jasmine. Thank you for the blanket, and you don¡¯t have to address me as lord, you can continue addressing me young master Merlin, as you did before¡­¡±

    Jasmine: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare, lord Merlin. Now that you possess your own title of nobility, how could this lowly maid address you in such an informal manner?!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Whatever, I won¡¯t argue with you! Uh? Did you hear something, Jasmine?¡±

    Jasmine: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, lord Merlin. I didn¡¯t hear anyth-AAARRGGG!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Jasmine! NO!¡±

    Without giving Merlin any time to react, a black dagger had embedded itself into Jasmine¡¯s heart, robbing her of her life and future. Merlin tried to reanimate her, but upon realizing her death, Merlin relived past traumas and something broke inside him¡­

    *****************************************************************************

    Assassin vice-captain¡¯s POV:

    Finally, hahaha! This damn brat had us on a goose chase for months and I promised myself that I¡¯d slaughter his family before his very eyes as punishment for making us lose time like that! He should have stayed at one place and died quietly and without giving us extra work! That maid seemed to be quite close to the boy, now that¡¯s the expression I wanted you to show me boy! Despair and helplessness! I love when my targets show those emotions in their faces just before I take their lives! Hahaha!

    Eh?! Why am I the only one laughing? The others should be enjoying the show¡­ Wait a second! What the hell is that?! MOMMAAAA!

    *****************************************************************************

    Emelyn¡¯s POV:

    I was peacefully sleeping when powerful mana fluctuations nearby woke me up! I tried to go see what it was, but my new personal maid, Argenta, didn¡¯t even allow me to approach the door. Soon after, Leyla came into the room asking if it was me who was causing those mana fluctuations in the air¡­ They are similar to mine when I lose it and go berserk against my enemies, so I can¡¯t blame Leyla for thinking that way.

    A flash of light outside the window drew our gazes towards whatever it was that caused such a phenomenon¡­ And it turned out to be my youngest son, Merlin. He is a gifted boy, but I¡¯m sure that he¡¯ll be able to win against those assassins¡­ Wait, assassins?!

    Emelyn: ¡°I have to hurry and save Merlin! Those are trained assassins! He¡¯s only six, he can¡¯t possibly contend against trained assassins! Let me go, please!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Clam down, sis! He¡¯ll be fine, remember that he can compete on equal ground with royal guards!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It¡¯s not the same, those royal guards underestimated him and didn¡¯t aim to kill him! But this is different, those are assassins, trained to kill, and aiming for the killing blow from the beginning! Nooo,-sob- Merlin,-sob- don¡¯t die, please! -sob-¡±

    Argenta: ¡°You should calm down lady Emelyn, the boy has got everything under control¡­ I¡¯d even dare to say that he¡¯s scaring the assassins shitless! Hahaha!¡±

    When Emelyn and Leyla heard Argenta¡¯s words, they looked at each other without being able to understand the meaning behind her words.

    Emelyn and Leyla: ¡°¡°Eh?!¡±¡±

    *****************************************************************************

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.The assassins thought Merlin was an easy prey, they couldn¡¯t have been more wrong! In physical prowess they¡¯d be about the same, but they committed a fatal mistake which they¡¯d have to pay with their lives: they had killed Jasmine in front of him, just because they could, and because they wanted him to grieve her before he himself got killed.

    Never would have they imagined that their actions would be the trigger which allowed Merlin to tap onto Lokiseth¡¯s divine power. When he did, Merlin¡¯s eyes turned golden, his red hair spiked upwards and traces of lightning coiled non-stop around his whole body, while levitating two feet over the ground. For anyone witnessing it, Merlin would appear to be a god who had descended from the Heavens to exert his wrath upon the puny mortals who had dared offend him, which actually wasn''t that far from the truth.

    Needless to say, the assassins were very scared of him, so much so, that they lost control over their bowels, and a pungent odor reached Merlin¡¯s nose. He ignored it and created a wall of mud between his position and house his family members were observing from. Once he had obstructed their view, he soundproofed the area around the house so that no sound entered the ears of his family, for he didn¡¯t want them to have nightmares about what he was planning on doing.

    Although Merlin¡¯s family was spared from the cries of the assassins as Merlin dealt with them, that wasn¡¯t the case of the rest of the people in a 5 mile radius, who heard the shrieks and had horrible nightmares for a whole month. Merlin killed them in the most torturous and gruesome way he could think of, that¡¯s how much they had pissed him off. Merlin wouldn¡¯t usually show such cruelty against his enemies, but those assassins had touched a sore spot!

    He had a psychological trauma due to being unable to save Sheena and Leyla from going through hell and back, and when he saw Jasmine getting killed next to him because he had been unable to react fast enough, he just snapped, abandoned any concept of morals and took it all out on them, every feeling of regret, sorrow, fury, powerlessness, he took them all out on the assassins, to the point that when he was done, their bodies couldn¡¯t even be recognized as such anymore.

    When Merlin came to his senses, he was horrified by the scene he himself had created. He didn¡¯t mind killing people as long as they had given him a reason to do so, but this was plain slaughter and extreme cruelty, it didn¡¯t give any dignity to the opponent, this was the kind of fight Merlin abhorred the most, yet he was now the perpetrator of one. Not knowing what else to do, Merlin stored the bodies in his ring and cleaned the back yard. Then, he undid the soundproofing of the house and the mud wall. Having entered the house, Merlin found his family waiting for him, so he confirmed Jasmine¡¯s death to them, and said that he had managed to fend off the attackers, luckily for him they didn¡¯t pry any further on the matter.

    *****************************************************************************

    In his room, Merlin pondered his current situation, his berserker state was very powerful, but it was equally dangerous, he was lucky this time, but had there been someone present, aside of the assassins while he was in that state, he would have probably attacked them too. Fortunately, the trigger for that state seemed to be the death of someone he cared about in front of his eyes, and that wasn¡¯t a situation he came across very often.

    Trying to recall his memories from the time he was in the berserker state, Merlin only managed to remember little bits of information, but they were really disturbing. Apparently, the one to order the hit on him, had been the current King of Klausna Kingdom, who was worried about the possible plans Merlin might have had about closing or fortifying the border. It seemed that Klausna Kingdom was making preparations to go to war against Shephiran Kingdom, and their plans also included the annexation of Merlin¡¯s territory to their own.

    The power boost that came with the berserker state hadn¡¯t completely dissipated yet, about half of the power still remained within Merlin¡¯s body. Realizing that, he decided to put an end to the chase and making the mastermind of the operation against him understand that attacking him wasn¡¯t worth the trouble. Merlin wanted to finish the problem once and for all, but he lacked a good plan. The only one he currently had was to use what remained of the power boost to put on a show and make Klausna¡¯s King afraid of going against him, but since it had been precisely him being too outstanding the origin of his current predicament, he immediately discarded the idea.

    After thinking about it for a while, Merlin had yet to come up with a plan. Then he saw his medal of the ¡°Council of ten¡± and had an idea: if he couldn¡¯t show his own power, he could make it look like a powerful organization was protecting him in the shadows¡­ After all, there is nothing more nightmarish for a paranoid person than ghost who can strike him down when he least expects it¡­ If Merlin really managed to pull it off and have Klausna¡¯s King believe that he had a powerful organization backing him, he could kill two birds with one stone, making Klausna¡¯s King stop scheming against him, while at the same time, creating a great reputation in the underworld for the ¡°Council of ten¡±.

    An additional benefit of the said plan was that the paranoid King would probably suspect everyone of belonging to the organization he¡¯s afraid of, which in turn would create political instability in the upper echelons of Klausna Kingdom. The King might even think the organization had some kind of inside help, or that some members of the nobility were colluding with them to have a chance to seize the throne. Huge benefits could come from just a little action, unfortunately, the risks involved on the operation were just as great. Merlin was well aware of that fact and he didn¡¯t want to take any chances, but since the success of the plan relied on the remaining power that Merlin still possessed in his body from the previous power boost, and he didn¡¯t know when that power would disappear, roughly in a few hours, the window of opportunity for his plan was actually quite short.

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 Chapter 27 - New Plan

    Merlin started to put his plan into motion. He went downstairs and asked not to be disturbed that night, which meant that the girls, instead of sleeping in his room, would be sleeping in the guest room. It pained Merlin to see the faces the girls made when they were told they¡¯d have to sleep in the guest room that night, but there was no way around it, for no one could notice him disappearing in the middle of the night.

    Back in his room, Merlin locked the door and changed into a more appropriate attire for the actions he intended to take that night. If someone of his generation in his previous world were to see him at that time, they would have probably recognized his new attire. It was very similar to the Assassin¡¯s Creed outfit he had once worn in Hallowe¡¯en. And he thought that, given the role he was going to play that night, few attires were more appropriate than that one.

    From the information he had obtained of the assassins, he had a fairly clear idea of the layout of the Palace in the capital of Klausna Kingdom. Although it wasn¡¯t perfect, he was convinced of being able to get to the Palace without getting lost. Entering the Palace was a different matter, he knew for the assassins where the entrance to a secret tunnel was located inside the royal chamber, but he only had a general idea of the area where he could find the exit of the said tunnel.

    Merlin couldn¡¯t help but appreciate the advantages of having inside information *It sure comes in handy knowing a way to enter the Palace bypassing all the guards¡­ The troublesome part now is to find the hidden door of the tunnel¡¯s exit, if the assassins knew of its exact location, that would have saved me some time. Too bad they were blindfolded when they were taken there¡­*. However, when he used Lokiseth¡¯s divine power to search the minds of the assassins, part of the information obtained was fragmented, and he only caught glimpses of their memories, which meant that he had enough to use the teleportation stone to go to the capital of Klausna Kingdom, but that was as far as the information was going to take him.

    Palaces usually had anti-teleportation barriers, which made impossible for Merlin to use the teleportation stone to appear directly inside the royal chambers. The second best option, then, was to find the hidden exit of the secret tunnel and use it as an entrance. Merlin¡¯s choice was clear, the second option gave him more chances of succeeding, so he took it.

    Had he chosen to directly teleport into the royal chambers, he could encounter unforeseen circumstances and get caught without even having the chance of realizing his plan. Take a different timing in a change of guards, for example, or even the king having a nightmare and being awake when he materialized there out of thin air¡­ Going through the tunnel would make unforeseen events easier to deal with!

    After he put on a mask under the hood, Merlin went out of the room through the window, he made sure everyone else in the house was already asleep and then left through the back yard. Once he was at a safe distance from the house, Merlin took out the teleportation stone and disappeared from Laklostia. A few seconds later, he materialized in the shadows of an alleyway close to the east gate of Klansa, the capital of Klausna Kingdom *It sure comes in handy to have a teleportation stone¡­ I¡¯m very lucky to have one!*. He was going out of the alleyway when he heard the rhythmic sound made, but the city guards coming his way. It startled him at first, but he then heard their conversation and relaxed.

    Guard 1: ¡°Hey, guys, have you heard the latest news?¡±

    Guard 2: ¡°What are you talking about? If it¡¯s about that kid who got himself made into an Earl and given a territory on the border with our kingdom as his fief, then that¡¯s old news!¡±

    Guard 3: ¡°Seriously, what was that king thinking when he did that?!¡±

    Guard 2: ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it sure will help us if the rumors of a new war with the kingdom of Shephiran in a couple of years turn out to be true¡­ After all, what kind of countermeasures for an eventual war could a 6-year-old prepare? That¡¯s just as gifting that territory to our kingdom!¡±

    On his hiding spot, Merlin snickered at the statement of the guard and thought*That might be true if it were a normal 6-year-old, but if you underestimate me that much, then you¡¯re in for a big surprise, pal!*

    Guard 1: ¡°It wasn¡¯t about that!¡±

    Guard 3: ¡°What news were you talking about, then?¡±

    Guard 1: ¡°You guys know that my wife works as a maid in the Palace, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Guard 2: ¡°Yeah, we know. That¡¯s how you end up knowing all the juicy rumors of the Palace before anyone else! Now tell us what it is, you are killing us with the curiosity!¡±

    Guard 1: ¡°Do you guys remember how a few months ago the King crushed the noble house of Zircon, just because he wanted to make its heir¡¯s newlywed wife his concubine?¡±

    Guard 2: ¡°Everyone heard the Zircons were done for, but none knew the specifics¡­ So that¡¯s what actually happened, no wonder she threw herself from the tower of the Palace a couple of weeks later¡­¡±

    Guard 1: ¡°Yeah, it really stirred uneasiness among the nobility! But that¡¯s nothing compared with what the king did 3 days ago!¡±

    Guard 3: ¡°3 days ago? Does it have anything to do with the dressing contest of young ladies? Or is it about the crown Prince¡¯s birthday?¡±

    Guard 1: ¡°It has to do with both, actually. I suppose both of you are well aware of the crown Prince¡¯s special preferences when it comes to women¡­¡±

    Guard 2: ¡°Everyone knows he is into little girls, all slave-dealers in the capital reserve their best slave girls aging between 6 and 9 for the crown Prince¡­ It¡¯s really disgusting, but there is nothing we can do about it, let¡¯s just hope he doesn¡¯t ever get the chance to actually sit on the throne¡­ ¡±

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    Guard 1: ¡°Shhh, don¡¯t say that out loud! You never know who hears you¡­ back on the topic, the dressing contest was actually something the King had set up to choose the crown Prince¡¯s birthday present!¡±

    Guard 3: ¡°You don¡¯t mean¡­!¡±

    Guard 2: ¡°Oh, fuck! That¡¯s sick! Instead of punishing that pervert, he¡¯s encouraging him!? Who was the poor girl?¡±

    Guard 1: ¡°Yes, it¡¯s as you have already guessed¡­ The winner of the contest, Amanda Risme, was given to the crown Prince as his birthday present! She was only seven, and she didn¡¯t manage to survive the night¡­ Duke Risme almost took his personal troops to attack the Palace! Hadn¡¯t it been for his wife convincing him not to do it, he most likely would have gone through with it!¡±

    At that time, Merlin saw one of the guards drop on his knees, as if all strength had abandoned his body. The guard seemed to be in shock, his face was devoid of any color, and he was trembling. Merlin didn¡¯t understand that kind of reaction to what they had just heard. It was shocking to learn about the disgusting misgivings of the crown Prince, yes, but it wasn¡¯t that shocking, after all, it was a world where those with power could trample on those beneath them at will.

    Guard 2: ¡°Hey, are you ok?¡±

    Guard 1: ¡°What has gotten into you all of a sudden? You were fine a second ago!¡±

    Guard 3: ¡°My¡­ my daughter Amelia participated in that contest, and she¡¯s 7 too!  It could have been her the one taken by the crown Prince!¡±

    Guard 1: ¡°But she wasn¡¯t taken, so calm down and let¡¯s go back to the barracks, it¡¯s time for the change of shift!¡±

    Merlin came out of the shadows as soon as the guards left, and he started thinking about what he had just heard. *What do you know? That was quite the interesting information! The King is a despotic tyrant, and the crown Prince is a damn pedophile! The political instability among the nobility might come in handy in the future, if used correctly, it might give Shephiran Kingdom a leverage over Klausna Kingdom¡­ By my calculations, I still have roughly 6 hours before the power boost completely dissipates, I think I can spare 1 hour to put a side-plan into motion.* Merlin finally decided on a plan of action, however, he didn¡¯t go straight to the Palace, he went to the mansion of Duke Risme, instead.

    It wasn¡¯t too hard for Merlin to infiltrate into the mansion, which surprised him a little. *So much for being heavily guarded! If you only guard the gates, but neglect the perimeter, it¡¯s like inviting an assassin to go for your head!* He took a mental note of advising the duke on that regard later and moved on. Merlin didn¡¯t know the layout of the interior of the mansion, but it didn¡¯t take him much to find the room where the duke was, the cries and the sounds of pottery breaking didn¡¯t leave much room for a mistake.

    Merlin stealthily went towards the room and saw the duke, drunk, with a bottle of wine in his hand, crying, and making a mess out of the room. The duchess wasn¡¯t in the room, but her soft cries could be heard coming from the bedroom on the opposite side of the hallway. *This is a thoroughly broken family¡­ They only had a daughter, but they have just lost her and can¡¯t do anything about it. The duke seems to be quite hot headed, and his wife is the one with the brains¡­ I could use them for my plan.* It was against his old principles to make use of the sorrow of a family to advance in his plans, but he was well aware that their participation in his plan was their only way to get payback for their daughter¡¯s murder.

    He entered the room and threw sleeping powder to the duke¡¯s face. After verifying he had been knocked out, Merlin tied his hands and legs, and put a gag on him. Making sure he didn¡¯t make a sound, Merlin blocked the door and turned around to speak with the duke. He had woken him up and administrated him a remedy for the hangover.

    The duke was puzzled by Merlin¡¯s presence in his house, if the King wanted to kill him, he would do so in a public manner, to make an example out of him. In the unlikely chance that the King wanted to secretly get rid of him, there were other ways, besides, the little man in front of him wasn¡¯t wearing the official assassin outfit of the kingdom. All those facts allowed duke Risme to calm down enough to notice the peculiarities of the little man in front of him. His face was masked and under a hood, impeding the duke to ascertain the race of his mysterious guest.

    Merlin¡¯s height was 4ft, which was the average height of an adult male dwarf, and that led the duke to think Merlin was actually a dwarf, but he still had no clue about Merlin¡¯s presence there. At that moment, Merlin introduced himself to the duke.

    Merlin: ¡°Good night, Duke Risme. I am a member of the ¡®Council of ten¡¯, you probably have never heard about us, because we are an organization which works in the shadows. We don¡¯t usually show ourselves to people unrelated to our organization, but in this case we have a common enemy, your King.¡±

    The duke didn¡¯t know about the organization, and he wasn¡¯t sure of wanting to know, but given the skill of the man in front of him, he was sure of one thing: no matter who those people were, they probably could help him to avenge his daughter¡¯s death. Even that being the case, Merlin¡¯s next words surprised him so much, they made him fall from the chair he was sitting on.

    Merlin: ¡°How would you like to become a king, Duke Risme?

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 Chapter 28 - Infiltration

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    Chapter 28 - Infiltration

    Merlin: ¡°How would you like to become a king, Duke Risme?¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Wh-what do you mean, to become a king?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, it¡¯s as it sounds, I¡¯m offering you the opportunity of seizing the throne of Klausna Kingdom. I won¡¯t be immediate, of course, and although you will be the king, it will be my organization who shall govern from the shadows, but we¡¯ll pretty much allow you to act independently. Do you like that deal?¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°It sounds too good to be true, where is the catch?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°The catch? I have already told you! You get to be the king, but it¡¯s us who govern from the shadows. We¡¯ll change this kingdom together, what do you say?¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Your proposal is tempting for sure, but what are your reasons for doing this? You said the King was also your enemy, why is it? Why do you hate the King so much?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Let¡¯s just say that a good and honest woman related to our organization ended up dying because of the selfishness of your King. Isn¡¯t that more than enough reason to step up and make that bastard pay for his crimes? Some of the higher-ups in the organization wanted to erase this kingdom from existence¡­ only after being convinced that doing so would result in the deaths of many innocents, did they change their minds!¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°A good and honest woman died? Erasing this kingdom from existence¡± *The good and honest woman who died must be the Zircon woman who threw herself from the tower after being forced to become a concubine of the King¡¯s. But what¡¯s that about erasing this kingdom from existence? Just what kind of monsters belong to his organization, to have the power of thoroughly destroying kingdoms like that?*

    Merlin: ¡°So, what is it going to be?¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Can you assure me that if I were to join you, you will make the King and the crown Prince pay for my daughter¡¯s murder?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°If everything goes as planned, the crown Prince won¡¯t survive the night. The King, on the other hand, will survive for a while to grieve for the death of his son. He will die in two years time, meanwhile you will make the due preparations to seize the throne. For starters, try to increase your influence among the nobility, and rope in those who had good relations with the Zircons, they will be more willing to join you than others.¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Why wait? If you can get to the crown Prince, couldn¡¯t you also get to the King and kill both of them in the same attack?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°We could, but we don¡¯t want to. How could the King suffer and grieve the death of his son if he were dead too? Besides, in the two years until his death, the management of the kingdom will be far worse than it already is¡­ that will engrave a desire for a new king in the hearts of everyone in the kingdom, even in the nobility, which will make the transition of the throne to you go more smoothly.¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°You really have thoroughly planned this, haven¡¯t you?¡± *Just what was that woman¡¯s true identity? For their organization to retaliate wanting to make the King suffer as much as possible, her background was definitely not a simple one! With their help, I¡¯ll be able to avenge Amanda¡¯s death!*

    Merlin: ¡°Should I take that question as an affirmative answer?¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Yes, you should!¡±

    As soon as the duke accepted his offer, Merlin told him to bring his wife so that they could discuss further plans and the concrete details of the ¡°let¡¯s seize the throne¡± plan. The first thing the duchess did after entering the room was sizing Merlin up, after showing her approval, she sat down to the table, and inquired about the reasons behind Merlin¡¯s plans. Satisfied with the answers, she didn¡¯t pry any further, and started talking to Merlin about the specifics of his plan.

    Half an hour later, Merlin had learned more about the internal affairs of the Klausna Kingdom, than what he had learned about the internal affairs of the Shephiran Kingdom in his 6 years of life. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that the duchess was a good strategist, and after explaining his plans to her, not only did she understand them very quickly, she even pointed out a couple of flaws which could put him in danger.

    Having finished his visit to the duke, Merlin went to the square where he expected to find the hidden exit of the tunnel. He had an unexpected harvest in the house of the duke, his father-in-law had been the one to design the new camouflage of the exit of the tunnel, and the duchess having visited her father at work at the time knew its precise location, which in turn saved Merlin a lot of time and reduced the risk of him being caught wandering around when searching for it.

    He found the hidden exit exactly where the duchess had told him he would, in a corner, behind the poison ivies that covered the wall. Then came the tricky part, he had to open it without anyone noticing, it would have been far easier for him to blow it up, but that would have been a really big giveaway, and would have endangered the whole operation. There was no mechanism to open the exit¡¯s door from the outside, but that wasn¡¯t going to stop Merlin.

    Merlin used a new spell of his ¡°Sonhologram¡± to see what kind of mechanism opened the door from the inside. He had custom-made this spell, based on the sonographic technology used on Earth: he used the sound manipulation ability of the wind attribute to send ultrasounds into an object and perceive its interior, and then used the light manifestation ability of the light attribute to translate the information received from the ultrasounds into a 3D image of the object, allowing a more thorough examination of it.

    This spell ¡°Sonhologram¡± would make any thief or explorer envious, because it would allow anyone able to use it to look inside the walls of a room in search of secret rooms, passages or a hidden safe, or inside a labyrinth, it would allow adventurers and explorers to find hidden traps, saving lots of lives. Unfortunately for them, Merlin didn¡¯t plan on sharing, besides, the spell required a wind-light dual element magus to cast it, and they weren¡¯t that common.

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    Merlin observed the hologram for a while, becoming familiar with the mechanism that opened the door. Once he knew the ins and outs of the mechanism, he proceeded to open the hidden door externally. While using ¡°Sonhologram¡± to have a live feed of what was going on in the interior of the door, Merlin used earth manipulation to temporarily change the shape of the door around the mechanism and carefully exert pressure on its key points, opening the door like the mechanism had been activated from the inside.

    Merlin closed the door behind him after entering the tunnel, he was about to cast a ¡°light ball¡± when suddenly the torches on the walls of the tunnel lighted up one after the other, illuminating his path for as long as he could see. Ten minutes later, Merlin arrived to a fork, which offered him 4 paths to choose, among them, 2 paths didn¡¯t have any distinctive markings, whereas the other 2 had the royal seal of Klausna Kingdom in their entrances.

    ********************************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    Ok, I have 4 paths in front of me and only one leads to the royal chambers¡­ the question is, which one? The royal seals are placed in such a way, that they would go unnoticed unless you use the tunnel to go up to the Palace, you wouldn¡¯t see them when going down to the square¡­ This probably means the markings were put there to help the soldiers when retaking the Palace after it was captured by the enemy, making use of this tunnel as a means of counterattack the enemy forces, catching them with their guards down!

    If my assumption is correct, then the path leading to the royal chambers must be one of the two with a royal seal marking, but where does the other one lead to? Well, it doesn¡¯t matter, I have around 5 hours left, so if I take the wrong path I just have to come back here and take the other one! *Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Out goes YOU!* Ok, I¡¯ll take the path on the right!

    ********************************************************************

    At the time Merlin was making his way through the tunnel, back in Duke Risme¡¯s mansion, the duke was talking with his wife and wondering about Merlin¡¯s true identity.

    Duchess: ¡°I wonder who that dwarf was. He was quite the strategist himself, and that organization he belonged to¡­ I had never heard about it before!¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Dear, I honestly don¡¯t care about who he is or who is backing him up. As long as we get to avenge Amanda¡¯s death, I would make a deal even with a devil worshipper!¡±

    Duchess: ¡°Gods, no! Don¡¯t even joke about that!¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Dear, I know your family comes from the Dollan Empire, and they witnessed the demon worshipper hunt that occurred there a couple of centuries ago, but this is Klausna Kingdom, a few words won¡¯t send me to the torture chamber and being publicly executed, the hunt ended centuries ago!¡±

    Duchess: ¡°You can¡¯t know that! Besides, the hunt never ends, the worshippers of the devils still exist, hidden in plain sight!¡± *The ancient records of my family show it clearly, the hunt never ends, because as long as devil worshippers exist, it can never end!*

    D. Risme: ¡°Sorry, dear. I didn¡¯t know you were going to get like that just for a few words¡­ Ok, I won¡¯t say those words again! Calm down, please!¡± *What the hell has gotten into her? Even our daughter¡¯s murder didn¡¯t put her in this state! I was just joking around, but could it be that there is some terrible secret related to those devil worshippers? Hers is an ancient family rooted in the Dollan Empire for several centuries, if there is something else to the devil worshippers hunt than what was let known to the public, her family is definitely aware of it! What could it be?*

    Duchess: ¡°Oh, I¡¯m VERY CALM! Now, back to the topic, are you really going to accept their offer of seizing the throne in two years?¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Why not? That bastard of a King is going to lead this Kingdom to its destruction! Rumors have it that he plans on making a war against the kingdom of Shephiran in 3-5 years'' time! Do you even understand what that actually means, in people and resources? A lot of people will die because of the King¡¯s selfishness, and many more will starve to death! For Gods¡¯ sake! He even crushed the Zircons, an ancient noble family, and one of the main military forces in the kingdom, just because he had fancied a woman!¡±

    Duchess: ¡°Oh, I¡¯m surprised that you have thought about that, but the current situation is far worse than that! My family has informed me that, as soon as the news about the destruction of the Zircon family reached the Court, the Dollan Empire sent troops on standby near the border with this kingdom, as soon as the King makes some idiotic move like attacking Shephiran Kingdom, Klausna Kingdom will become part of the Dollan Empire in a year''s time. Whether you use this information for your own benefit, or you tell the King, is up to you! You would make a good king, though!¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°You¡¯re quite the schemer, aren¡¯t you, dear? Do you think that ¡®Council of ten¡¯ is trustworthy?¡±

    Duchess: ¡°It¡¯s a good trait for a future queen, don¡¯t you think? I don¡¯t know if we can trust them or not, but we probably can. The fact that they dare to attack a royal family to avenge the death of one of their own speaks for itself. They could probably seize the throne at will, without any help whatsoever, we are just lucky that they took pity on our circumstances and offered us a chance to avenge Amanda!¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°I understand, dear. Although I dislike the idea of being a puppet king, this Kingdom will fare far better with one than it is doing with its current monarch!¡±

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 Chapter 29 - Payback

    Special thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my own site

    Chapter 29 - Payback

    Merlin found a door 20 minutes after leaving the fork, but the door had a lock. He obviously didn¡¯t have the key for it, but the lock in itself told him something: he had picked the wrong path. It didn¡¯t make any sense to put a lock on the door if the tunnel really was the one leading to the royal chambers, if that really was the case, the lock would be on the wrong side of the door and the secret tunnel would have been rendered useless.

    With a fire ball, Merlin melted the lock and then pushed the door open, the sight that received him forced him to hold his breath. Mountains of gold coins and gems were on the floor of the room and against the walls, what looked like the contents of a whole armory were adorning the walls, but given the dimensions of the room, it still didn¡¯t feel packed up. Finally, a path marked by the marble tiles on the floor led towards an arch with the inscription Das wahre Licht liegt in der Dunkleheit, behind it there was a smaller room which looked like a chancel and apse of a church. Inside, a pedestal presented two long swords, there was a plate on the base of the pedestal with the inscription Er, der diese Schwerter aus¨¹bt, soll den Weg der Dunkelheit beschreiten, um das Licht zu werden, das Frieden zu dieser Welt bringt.

    Merlin couldn¡¯t help but being overwhelmed by all of this, but he soon recovered, and he decided to ¡°help¡± Klausna Kingdom take care of the mess in the room. *This room is really messy, and there is an awful lot of dust in it. Now that I¡¯m here, it¡¯s my civic duty to help ¡°clean¡± this mess.* Soon after, all the contents of the room were safely stored inside Merlin¡¯s ring. When Merlin arrived to the arch, surprise showed in his face as he read the inscription on it. *Impossible! This¡­ this is German! How come there is an inscription written in German in a world in which this language doesn¡¯t exist?! Could it be that I¡¯m not the first person from Earth having been reincarnated in this world with the memories intact? How mysterious!* Merlin advanced towards the pedestal and felt a strange energy around it. Oddly enough, even though he felt wary of that strange energy, he also felt compelled to go near it.

    Merlin read the inscription on the pedestal and thought back to the inscription on the arch *The inscription on the arch said "The true light lies within the darkness"and the one on the pedestal says "He who wields these swords shall tread the path of darkness to become the light who brings peace to this world", I wonder what the real meaning behind those inscriptions is¡­ anyway, those two swords look good, so I¡¯ll take them too!* As soon as Merlin walked past the arch with the two swords inside his storage ring, the room with the pedestal caved in and the inscriptions on the arch disappeared like they had never been there. Merlin didn¡¯t think much of it and returned to the fork to take the right path to the royal chambers and exert his revenge.

    Returning to the fork and arriving to his original destination took Merlin almost an hour. The satisfaction he felt when he arrived at the door which led to the royal chambers was indescribable. The closest thing to it would be the satisfaction someone would feel when resolving a math problem with the right answer, after a hundred tries getting it wrong. Merlin discovered there was a two-way peephole on the door, which he used to make sure of what the situation was on the other side. The Queen didn¡¯t usually share her husband¡¯s bed with him, on a normal day, that was the job of his concubines. That night, though, the King was on his bed alone, and that suited perfectly well Merlin¡¯s plan.

    Opening the door, Merlin threw a sleeping powder bomb in the air and closed the door again before the sleeping powder dispersed into the room. Although Merlin had gained a certain immunity against this kind of sleeping powder through his study of alchemy, in the quantity released by the sleeping powder bomb, he would still be affected to a certain extent, and he couldn¡¯t afford that. After waiting for 5 minutes, the powder in the air had already fallen to the floor, and Merlin stepped into the room. He moved the King to the center of the bed and started to prepare the scenario. Merlin took out the mangled corpses of the assassins out of his ring and put them on both sides of the King, then, he took out his medal of the ¡°Council of ten¡± and sent his will into it.

    A mana ray automatically shot out of the medal and arrived to the wall, where the symbol of the ¡°Council of ten¡± appeared just above the headboard. The most strange thing about the symbol, was that it was made of fire, but unlike normal fire, that one changed between golden and black, and it was Merlin¡¯s own creation. Several days before, Merlin was experimenting with the use of runes to fuel spells for a certain amount of time, and added a new functionality to the medals of the council.

    The runes would maintain the spell active for 3 years, and they could use it to mark the places where the council had taken action, for example, to mark the house of a criminal who had been dealt with by the ¡°Council of ten¡±, which would serve the double purpose of making known to the people with shady businesses that there was someone watching, and warning their enemies not to oppose them. Of course, at the moment no one knew of the newly formed ¡°Council of ten¡± nor feared them, but that would change from that day onward. Merlin used the same kind of rune-based spell to engrave a message for the King above the symbol of the council:

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    [Klaus Klausna,

    Your selfish actions provoked the death of an innocent young woman related to our organization, and no content with that, you even dared to send elite assassins to kill an innocent 6-year-old boy who had done nothing to offend you! Tough luck! The boy is under our protection, your making an attempt against his life means we¡¯ll have to punish you in a way that will set an example for others to see! What happened to your son, you brought it on yourself, besides that pedophile had it coming too! You have sinned, and today is the day that marks the start of your penitence!

    Ps: We¡¯ll claim your life two years from now, attack the boy again and you shall receive our wrath even in your death!]

    Having finished in that room, Merlin used another sleeping powder bomb on the hallway, knocking down the guards. Then, he entered the crown Prince¡¯s room and immediately set up a soundproof barrier around the room. After blocking the door, he turned around and faced the crown Prince, who was looking at him wide-eyed. Merlin ignored him and went towards the slave girl to his side. Merlin checked the girl, and to his delight, he discovered that aside from the tore clothes, she was ok, only frightened.

    Merlin expired a breath of relief, he had been able to save her before the crown Prince had his way with her. After destroying the slave collar with the same method he had previously used when Lupa and Bastet had been captured, Merlin threw sleeping powder to her face and knocked her out. She had experienced enough traumatic events for a day, and Merlin didn¡¯t want to add to those the ¡°treatment¡±he was going to give to the crown Prince! He gently moved the girl to a sofa, and confronted the crown Prince.

    *******************************************************************

    Crown Prince¡¯s POV:

    Who the heck is that masked guy? Not only did he dare to interrupt my fun, he even dared to ignore me! No one has ever disrespected me to this extent! And what are those guards doing? Why did they let him pass? This must be a conspiracy to get rid of me! Well, it won¡¯t be that easy for you, even if you bribed your way to my room, I just have to scream and the other guards of the Palace will come to my rescue!

    C. Prince: ¡°GUARDS! HELP! THERE IS AN ASSASSIN IN MY ROOM! INTRUDER! GUARDS, COME TO MY AID, NOW!¡±

    *How come no one is coming?!* The guards as well as everyone else in this wing of the Palace should have heard me scream¡­ Why hasn¡¯t anyone come to help me?

    Merlin: ¡°HAHAHA! Don¡¯t bother trying, you can scream all you want, but no one outside this room will hear a thing!¡±

    No way! Did he cast a soundproof barrier? When did he do that? I didn¡¯t notice a thing! Who is he? Could he be the brother of one of the girls I¡¯ve done before? No way, those bitches were just slaves, livestock, there is no way someone would go through all this trouble to get my life just because of some slave girls¡­ And the families of the few girls I¡¯ve done who weren¡¯t slaves wouldn¡¯t dare to attack me directly nor would have the funds to hire someone at this level¡­

    C. Prince: ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°No one of consequence. Why should you care about who I am? You should care about what I am. And what am I? I¡¯m your end! You have sinned greatly and I¡¯m the divine punishment sent by the gods to deal with a pedophilic trash like you!¡±

    What is that supposed to mean? Punishment sent by the gods? Like they care whether I have some fun with those slaves or not! I¡¯ve got many enemies, I wonder which one of them would have the means to put a contract on me¡­ *If I get out of this alive, I swear I¡¯ll send the assassin division to eliminate all of them!*

    ********************************************************************

    Merlin despised the crown Prince with all his soul, the mere thought of what would happen to Adelle, Lupa and Bastet if they ever fell into his hands was enough for Merlin to want to rip him apart. He didn¡¯t want to get dirty with the bastard¡¯s blood, so he changed his original plan and didn¡¯t start by castrating him as he had previously intended.

    C. Prince: ¡°What are you going to do to me? Please don¡¯t kill me! What are they paying you for this? I¡¯ll double it, no, I¡¯ll triple it! What do you say, can¡¯t you let me off the hook?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I would never let a pedophile bastard like you off the hook, but even if I did¡­ your father messed with the wrong kind of people, and your death is part of the price he has to pay!¡±

    After hearing Merlin¡¯s words, the crown Prince was so scared he pissed himself. Merlin couldn¡¯t help but chuckle when seeing that, had the crown Prince ever stopped when one of the girls he abused pissed herself due to the fear of what was expecting her? Of course not, so why should he? In addition, his death was part of Duke Risme¡¯s agreement with Merlin, and Merlin wasn¡¯t someone to go back on his word.

    He thought for a while, and then came out with a solution. He used a modified version of his rune-based fire spell, and changing it into a cyclic loop of burning and healing. Merlin then applied it to the crown Prince¡¯s nervous system, that way his brain registered that his whole body was on fire making him scream endlessly in pain. A short while later, the crown Prince stopped screaming, blood was running down his nose, then he fell forward, dead. The sensory overload had been too much for the crown Prince¡¯s brain, and it had caused him a brain aneurysm which ultimately killed him.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 30 - Mandy

    Merlin quickly took out his medal of the ¡°Council of ten¡±, and marked the wall before leaving another message for the King on the wall. The purpose of this message was to mislead the King into thinking that the death of his son was unrelated to his pedophilic tendencies, which would draw suspicion away from Duke Risme.

    [Klaus Klausna,

    Let the death of this pedophile son of yours be the price for delaying your execution two years. Please, be smart and don¡¯t make us add interest.

    Ps: Your Palace really lacks in security, we didn¡¯t even have to kill our way in¡­]

    This was Merlin¡¯s application of Sun Tzu¡¯s principle ¡°all war is based on deception¡±. The last phrase was intended to mislead the King into thinking that the assassin had somehow bypassed the guards and killed his son, then bypassed the guards again and escaped, which sounded the most logical, and would make the King to completely forget about the tunnel which led from the royal chambers to outside the Palace. Its second function was to piss the King off out of his mind.

    As soon as he finished writing the message, Merlin severed the head of the corpse and put it on its navel. Then he went towards the sleeping girl, gently took her in his arms, and abandoned the room without even caring about closing the door behind him. Merlin went back to the room of the King and hurriedly entered the secret tunnel while carrying the unconscious girl. After shutting the door of the secret tunnel, Merlin descended to where the fork was and stopped there to rest. The girl had started to show signs of waking up along the way, but she still hadn¡¯t opened her eyes.

    The very second she did open her eyes, she crawled back to the wall of the tunnel and started bawling like there was no tomorrow. Merlin was surprised, he had never expected her to react that way after waking up, but what took priority at that moment was to make her stop crying so loudly, he didn¡¯t know if she could be heard or not, but better safe than sorry, if they were discovered because of her cries, Merlin¡¯s effort would have been all for naught.

    Merlin tried to talk to her, but she was terrified, and didn¡¯t dare to look at him. He realized that for a 7-year-old girl, seeing a strangely clothed man right after waking up should be quite frightening, even more so, given the situation she was in before falling asleep. Merlin quickly removed his mask and took the hood down. Speaking some words, he tried to put her at ease.

    Merlin: ¡°See? You don¡¯t have any reason to be afraid of me! My name¡¯s Merlin, what¡¯s yours?¡±

    ???: ¡°M- Mandy¡­ You¡­ You are a kid!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Hello there, Mandy. Nice to meet you! I see that your powers of observation are intact! I am indeed a kid, and so are you! I would really appreciate it, though, if you could keep my appearance, age and race a secret, otherwise you would be putting my life in danger!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Ok. I promise I won¡¯t tell anyone!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok. Let¡¯s take you somewhere safe!¡±

    Merlin put back on the mask and the hood, and took Mandy towards the hidden exit of the tunnel. They were about to go out, when Merlin suddenly realized the mistake he had almost made.

    Merlin: ¡°Mandy before going out there, there is something you must know. You are not a slave anymore, but everyone in the Palace knows how you look like, and they might send people looking for you. I¡¯ll have to alter your appearance with a disguising magic, but the effect will be permanent unless I personally dispel it, are you ok with that?¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Will I look like a little girl even as I grow older?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°No, the altered features will remain, but the disguising magic will adapt them to your current age.¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Then it¡¯s all ok! Please, go ahead and cast the magic!¡±

    Merlin complied to her wishes and cast on her the same kind of disguising magic he had previously used on his cousin Lilith. He didn¡¯t really change her much, just enough so that no one who had seen her before would ever be able to recognize her, unless she admitted being the crown Prince¡¯s former slave, which she would not!

    Merlin: ¡°Say, Mandy¡­ Do you have any family, or any place to return to?¡±

    Upon hearing his question, Mandy bit her lower lip, closed her fists and looked down before giving him an answer. The desperate and enraged tone she used gave him shivers.

    Mandy: ¡°My family is dead, I¡¯m the only one remaining of the Zircon bloodline. I was visiting a friend in a village a few miles away from the capital when my family was massacred under the orders of the King! But my luck wasn¡¯t much better! The village was raided by bandits and most of the people was caught and sold to slave dealers, me included! The most ironic thing is that the slave dealers sold me to the very person who ordered the massacre of my family, and I was unable to avenge them!¡±

    At that point it was obvious that she was seething with rage, but her disconsolate tears made crystal clear that even though the resentment she was harboring against the King was something she could never get rid of, she was far too weak to act on her feelings and make the lustful bastard pay for his crimes, which was filling her with despair!

    Merlin: ¡°So, your family name is Zircon, eh? That¡¯s good, I think I can arrange a good place for you to stay, and even help you to get payback from that bastard King, but you will have to forsake your family name, sorry!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Don¡¯t be! It¡¯s good enough that you are going to provide me with a place to stay and save me from starving to death on the streets¡­ You even said that you will help me get back at the man who gave the order to slaughter my family! Forsaking my family name is a small price to pay if I am able to avenge them! I would even willingly become your slave if that helped me avenge their deaths!¡±

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    Merlin: ¡°Hey, hey, hey! Don¡¯t go around offering yourself as a slave, idiot! What if it was someone else instead of me and accepted your proposal? It¡¯s good that you are so determined to reach your goal, but sometimes, the line between determination and foolishness is very thin¡­ and you almost crossed it just now! Don¡¯t you EVER do that again!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Ok, I understand, Merlin.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s good! Now, I¡¯ll be taking you to¡­¡±

    Mandy: ¡°But I still wish to serve you!¡±

    Merlin was confused, he understood how he had gone from saving her to promising her to help her avenge her family, what he couldn¡¯t figure out was how they had gotten to the point in which Mandy offered herself as a slave to him! And despite him rejecting her offer, she still insisted on serving him! He didn¡¯t know what was happening anymore¡­

    Merlin: ¡°Mandy, why are you so willing to be at my service, be it as a slave or as a servant?¡±

    Mandy: ¡°I don¡¯t have a clear reason, I just feel safe by your side, and think that you are the only one who can bring me happiness, besides, I want to be of use to you, and the easiest way to be useful to you is becoming your servant or your slave!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Look, Mandy, I¡¯m not fond of slavery, so I won¡¯t make you my slave!¡± *I just saved her, so I understand that she needs to lean on someone for support, but I must stop this before her gratitude turns into mad love like it happened to the other girls! Oh! I got it! This might work!*  ¡°I also don¡¯t intend to make you my servant, however, I can make you a member of my organization and someone who reports directly to me! Would that be acceptable?¡±

    Mandy: ¡°YES! Please do that! Thank you very much!¡± *YES! This way I¡¯ll be able to repay him, be useful to him and make him happy! Thank the gods! Thanks!*

    Merlin prepared a magic circle to make with Mandy a soul contract with similar terms to the one he had made with Mina. After successfully making the contract, Merlin took out an enchanted piece of silver and gave it to Mandy for her to bond it, once she did, it changed into a medal of the ¡°Council of ten¡±, making her an official member of the group. However, her medal had a subtle difference if compared with the medals of the original members, that subtle difference on the engravings of the medal indicated that she was a direct subordinate of Merlin¡¯s, but she wouldn¡¯t learn about that until much time later. Finally, he passed a memory stone to her, which left her astonished when it turned to dust after imprinting into her mind the language of the council.

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, now that we have resolved that matter, it¡¯s time to go to the place you will be staying at! Follow me closely!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Yes!¡±

    They left through the hidden exit of the tunnel, which closed again behind them. A poison ivy entangled in Merlin¡¯s left arm when he was making way for Mandy, but he cut it and stored it in his ring. He wouldn¡¯t have bothered storing it away in different circumstances, but nobody approached the poison ivies, sometimes an alchemist might cut a part of one for a concoction, but they usually grew their own, so a cut poison ivy on the ground would attract attention, even more so given its function on that particular location.

    Merlin guided Mandy towards Duke Risme¡¯s mansion, which greatly surprised her when she saw their destination. Moving in the shadows as much as possible, making a few stops to avoid the guards making their rounds, they arrived to the east wall of Duke Risme¡¯s mansion. Mandy tried to go to the main entrance of the mansion, but Merlin quickly stopped her, after the commotion at the Palace, the King would probably send guards to ask around about any suspicious activity that night, and Merlin didn¡¯t trust the guards in the mansion. *All it takes to make my plans of revenge crumble and send the hounds against the Risme family is a loose-tongued guard of the mansion who saw a little more than he should have!* To avoid that situation, Merlin took Mandy on his arms and jumped over the wall, he would have been unable to do it in his normal condition, but with the remnants of the power boost it was doable for him.

    After landing on the other side, Merlin didn¡¯t stop and went straight ahead to the study-room where he had left the duke and duchess 3 hours before. He found them exactly where he had left them, it seemed that they were so anxious about the execution of Merlin¡¯s plan, that they didn¡¯t even dare to step out of the room, just in case he came back hurt an needed some urgent medical help. Only when Duke Risme loudly cleared his throat and signaled something to Merlin¡¯s chest, did he realize that he was still princess-carrying Mandy, whose face was beet-red from embarrassment. Not wanting to give her any more reasons for a misunderstanding, Merlin immediately let her down and introduced her to the duke and duchess, leaving them speechless.

    Merlin: ¡°Duke Risme, duchess¡­ Please allow me to introduce to you Mandy Zircon, the last surviving member of the Zircon family. I would like to request of you to take care of her while I am away making some necessary preparations for seizing the throne two years from now.¡±

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 31 - Returning home

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    Chapter 31 - Returning home

    Merlin: ¡°Duke Risme, duchess¡­ Please allow me to introduce to you Mandy Zircon, the last surviving member of the Zircon family. I would like to request of you to take care of her while I am away, making some necessary preparations for seizing the throne two years from now.¡±

    Merlin¡¯s words had left them speechless, they didn¡¯t doubt the information since it was Merlin the one who had told them so, but they had been sure of the Zircon family complete eradication, yet now, Merlin appeared and out of the blue he had introduced to them the last surviving member of the Zircon family¡­ They couldn¡¯t help but being surprised and think *How many secrets does this so called ¡°Council of ten¡± organization have? To keep a member of the Zircon family safe despite the efforts of the King to thoroughly eliminate the members of the family aside from the one he was interested in... their network must be quite impressive if they were able to pull that off!* Duke Risme was the first one to recover from the shock.

    D. Risme: ¡°Nice to meet you, little Lady! Welcome to our humble abode, I¡¯m sorry for your loss!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Likewise, I too am sorry for yours, Mer- this member of the ¡®Council of ten¡¯ told me about your daughter¡­ I don¡¯t hope to replace her, but please take care of me!¡±

    Mandy almost had a slip of the tongue when talking to the duke. Merlin had warned her not to call him by his name in the presence of others, and the moment she let her attention wander, she almost did what she had been banned from.

    Duchess: ¡°Well, Mandy, was it? Nice to meet you! Don¡¯t worry, I know how difficult it is for a girl to live alone in this harsh world of ours, even more so in the case of a little girl like you! So you are more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Thank you very much!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, this going better than I had originally expected! I¡¯d like for you to adopt her into your family, as your daughter.¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Ok, but why? What reason could you possibly have for wanting us to officially adopt her?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°For starters, I can¡¯t have her by my side, it would be very dangerous for her, so she needs a place to stay. Then there is the thing of the King wanting to eradicate her whole family, if he were to learn that she is alive, she would be doomed, so she needs a new family name, and yours is as good as any. Lastly, You two are the only ones outside of my organization I can trust in Klausna Kingdom enough to ask this favor of!¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Ok, I understand now, we¡¯ll take her in! But, won¡¯t people think it is strange that we are adopting a girl similar in age to our own late daughter, just a few days after she was murdered?¡±

    Duchess: ¡°It would be strange, indeed!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°No worries there! It would be even stranger if you were to wait more to do so! Duke Risme, right now, you could use the cover story of your wife grieving so much over the death of your daughter that she is on the verge of a mental breakdown! In order to avoid that, you decided to adopt an orphan girl to replace your lost daughter and have your wife occupy her mind with her. Mandy had her features altered by magic, and no one aside from me can dispel the magic I used, so there is no problem with her being introduced to this kingdom¡¯s high society, no one would be able to recognize her!¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Ok, now that that matter is settled¡­ How was it, were you able to deal with the crown Prince?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Let¡¯s just say, that I caught him about to repeat his sin with a young slave, and he got so mad at me for interrupting him that he lost his head! Hahaha!¡±

    Merlin understood, in the way they were looking at him, that they hadn¡¯t gotten his joke. He approached the sofa where the duke was sitting and started whispering something into his ear. Mandy and the duchess were at a loss, they didn¡¯t know what it was that Merlin was whispering to the duke, but his complexion visibly worsened by the second as Merlin continued whispering. When Merlin finished explaining in detail his trip to the Palace to the duke, he returned to his seat. Mandy and the duchess were wondering what it was that Merlin had told the duke, but the duke¡¯s following words made them understand it was better for them not to ask!

    D. Risme: ¡°Please remind me to never offend you or your organization!¡±

    Duchess: ¡°What is that supposed to mean, Rick?¡± *What could have that dwarf possibly told my husband to scare him to the point of saying those words?*

    D. Risme: ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing, dear. He just explained to me that when he said the crown Prince had ¡®lost his head¡¯, he meant it quite literally, that¡¯s all!¡±

    Duchess: ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then all it¡¯s good! Our Amanda will finally be able to rest in peace! Well, there is still the King, but he¡¯ll lose his head two years from now, so for the time being we have avenged our daughter¡¯s death! Thank you very much, mister!¡± *At the beginning I thought he was just bluffing, but now I understand he and his organization are the real deal! That bastard of a King has always done as he pleased in this kingdom, even when he was a prince! He originally had 5 brothers, 3 older than him and 2 younger, but they all died in mysterious circumstances before the current King obtained the throne, and there was no conclusive evidence that he was behind those deaths, so the previous King gave him the throne without worries¡­ But living a life of offending people without having to face the consequences makes you get carried away and ending up offending someone you shouldn¡¯t¡­ And this ¡°Council of ten¡± organization doesn¡¯t look like is one to joke around when settling debts with those who offend them!*

    Oblivious to the thoughts that were running rampant in the mind of the duchess, Merlin had given Mandy an enchanted ring, and had taken out two magic scrolls which he then gave to both Mandy and the duke, as he told them, those were 1-time-use items, only for an emergency that required the immediate presence of someone of the council. The function of those magic scrolls was simple, they only had to write their message and then burn the scroll, as soon as the scroll was destroyed, the 10 head figures of the ¡°Council of ten¡± would receive a telepathic message, its content being what had been written on the magic scroll.

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    Merlin did it that way because he had a bad feeling about the power boost, he had tried not to think about it, but the closer he was to depleting the remnants of the power boost in his body, the more convinced he was that the power he had received didn¡¯t come without a price. It was just a feeling, but it was a strong one, and Merlin trusted his instincts, which is why he had made the scrolls in such a way, so that if he was temporarily rendered unable to take action in a time of need, someone of his ¡°Council of ten¡± would! After saying his farewells, Merlin took out the teleporting crystal and vanished in front of the three.

    As soon as Merlin materialized in Laklostia, he hurriedly returned to his room through the window. He could have teleported back directly into his room, but his mother¡¯s sensibility to magic fluctuations was a problem, and if she woke up, he would have a lot of explaining to do, so in order to avoid that, he teleported back to the village and then sneaked back into his room. Before anything else, he unlocked the door of the room and changed back into his normal clothes. Then, he opened a drawer and took out two parchments, a bottle of ink, and a quill.

    He was being cautious, but he had a feeling that it would be good to leave written instructions, just in case something happened to him, therefore, he prepared to write 2 letters, 1 for his parents, and 1 for any member of the council who might come across it, namely Argenta, who was always by Emelyn¡¯s side. Merlin pondered for a while about how much information he should give on the letters, he ended up deciding that the least possible for his mother, and as much as possible for the one to the ¡°Council of ten¡±. He started with the letter addressed to his mother.

    [Dear mother,

    When fighting against the assassins earlier, I overdrafted my mana and I ignore what consequences that might have on my body in the future. If you are reading this letter, then it is highly likely that something has happened to me. Don¡¯t worry, whatever situation I¡¯m currently in, I will overcome it and return back to you!

    Make sure that Lupa, Bastet and Adelle train diligently every day, both in magic and martial arts. Please have father test their talent for swordsmanship, if they have any, please let him train them, they will need it in the future! Also, please don¡¯t overwork yourself with the management of the city, it is ok to delegate sometimes. You are pregnant and should take care of your health!

    Love, Merlin.]

    When Merlin finished writing the letter, he sprinkled sand over it to dry the ink, and set the letter aside. Next, he took the other parchment and started writing a letter with his instructions for the members of the ¡°Council of ten¡±.

    [To the members of the ¡°Council of ten¡±, here you have some information of interest and your instructions in case something happens to me and I am temporarily unavailable to direct you:

    Knowing that this previously ownerless territory on the border with Klaus Kingdom had suddenly been bestowed to a noble, me, Klausna¡¯s King sent some assassins to take my head, and in the process of eliminating them, they killed the maid at my house.

    Obviously, that being the case I had to act, so I went to the capital of Klausna Kingdom, executed their crown Prince as payback for the death of my maid, and left a warning to the King on the behalf of our organization. I also recruited a new member for our organization while I was there, she will be staying in the capital and inform us if there is any serious development regarding the situation with the King and our organization.

    Our only allies in that Kingdom are Duke Risme, his wife, and his daughter Mandy, our new member. Please, don¡¯t make trouble for them if your investigations take you there!

    Instructions for the future:

    - Vania and Janus, continue investigating the illegal slave-dealing business, once you have discovered the full extent of their organization, kill the ones in charge, free the slaves, and after checking their identities, bring those who are willing to Ragnar?k. I¡¯ll leave a blood contracting stone, the red one, on the first drawer of my desk, you all know what to do with it!

    - Argenta, continue protecting my mother as you have till now.

    - Mina, continue training with the shinobi your hand-to-hand combat, I¡¯ll check your progress in the future.

    - Sokar, continue training the blacksmiths.

    - Shin, Aimi, Akemi, and Sayori, You four continue training by yourselves and training Mina. If you find anyone suitable among the freed slaves, you can recruit them, but only after they have signed a blood contract, we don¡¯t want rogues spreading your martial arts around! For that purpose, I¡¯ll leave a blood contracting stone in the second drawer of my desk, the orange one with green patterns.

    Please take care, everyone!

    Merlin Pendragon ]

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    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a> </a>!

 Chapter 32 - The price of the power

    As soon as Merlin was done writing the two letters, he put them on his desk and laid down on the bed to get some sleep, there were still two hours before dawn and he didn¡¯t want to have to explain to his mother why he had bags under his eyes. He fell asleep soon after closing his eyes, but his peaceful sleep didn¡¯t last long. Half an hour later, Merlin woke up when a sudden pain invaded his whole body, but he was paralyzed, as a matter of fact, he couldn¡¯t even open his eyes.

    He could feel nothing but an insufferable pain, and despite knowing that he had brought it into himself, he cursed his luck. *Fuck! I never knew that the price for that power boost would be this much pain, had I known it beforehand, I wouldn¡¯t have used it!*  What he ignored was that even if he had known about it beforehand, it wouldn¡¯t have changed the outcome in the slightest, for it was the consequence of his actions, not of the choices he had made.

    However, even though he was feeling pain all over, Merlin¡¯s outward appearance continued being that of a young boy peacefully sleeping on his bed. Three hours quickly passed, and the three girls, who thought it was very unlike Merlin not having woken up at down, went to wake him up. Seeing that Merlin didn¡¯t wake up no matter what they tried, they started crying and went to ask for help from the grownups.

    *******************************************************************

    Emelyn¡¯s POV:

    I wonder what is wrong with Merlin, his little harem came crying into my room, saying that they tried to wake him up for ten minutes, and that he didn¡¯t wake up no matter what they did. Adelle, Lupa and Bastet looked very scared, so I don¡¯t think they are faking it, they don¡¯t joke around when it comes to their relationship with Merlin, they try to act like adults when they are around him, fortunately, my son knows where the limits are and doesn¡¯t take advantage of them¡­ more like the other way around, actually.

    It is quite cute, and fun, seeing him all flustered when they try to make adult advances on him¡­ I didn¡¯t expect them to take that to the point of making out with him, though. *I wonder if I should look for an etiquette teacher for them, after all they are going to be noble ladies after marrying Merlin¡­ They have to learn how to behave as such!* Well, let¡¯s go see what Merlin has done to worry them to such extremes¡­ If this is just a prank he played on the girls, I¡¯ll make sure he will remember the punishment for the rest of his life!

    As I entered the room, I noticed something very strange, there was no mana movement. Even among the magi, I possess a special sensibility to mana movements, a fact that has saved my life in many occasions. Every living being has innate mana, the only difference is that those capable of interacting with it are able to use magic and the others aren¡¯t. The point is that all living beings produce a slight mana movement with their respiration, but in Merlin¡¯s room there was no movement¡­ *Don¡¯t tell me¡­ Was he injured when he fought against those assassins and hid it? Please, gods! Don¡¯t allow my child to die!*

    I run to his side, and hurriedly checked whether he was still alive or not. I exhaled a breath of relief, Merlin was still breathing. Actually, if it weren¡¯t for the lack of mana movement in the room and that he wasn¡¯t waking up, there was no sign of something being wrong with him. I tried to inject my mana into his body to see where he was hurt, but I discovered that his body had no mana left inside instead. As far as I know, Even if someone is suffering of mana depletion, or had his mana sealed, there should still be some mana left inside the body, the only exception to that would be The Plague.

    What is known as The Plague, was something which occurred in both central continents around two thousand years ago. A very ancient tomb was discovered, and the explorers who were mapping it brought out an artifact which caused an absolute mana depletion and death in those who touched it. They were thought to be isolated cases, but soon the plague spread and it continued killing people for the next decade, when it mysteriously disappeared, leaving the death count in the millions. *How could he have contracted The Plague?!* I quickly made everyone go out of the room and sent Leyla looking for a healer. The group sent by the Healers Guild to set up a guild branch in Ragnar?k arrived yesterday, by good luck, otherwise we wouldn¡¯t have had a healer to whom to turn right now.

    I had only asked for a healer, but soon after Leyla went to look for one, the whole group came back accompanying her. They frowned upon seeing Merlin and I¡¯m afraid of asking them¡­ If Merlin really has The Plague, there is no known cure for it, he would have to be moved into complete isolation and left to die, then the room and his corpse would have to be set ablaze to prevent any contagion. I saw the healers gesturing to me to enter the room and I went to hear their diagnosis.

    Emelyn: ¡°Is it¡­?¡±

    Healer 1: ¡°It is not The Plague. Although the complete mana depletion is consistent with it, the boy still lives, whereas an infected of The Plague would already be dead at his stage. We are unable to tell you much else.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It is good that it isn¡¯t The Plague, but what is it then? Could you tell me what is going on with my son?¡±

    Healer 2: ¡°We are very sorry, but the honest answer to your question is that we don¡¯t know. We have never encountered this kind of symptoms in a patient, and outside of The Plague we can¡¯t think of any disease with similar symptoms. It is very strange.¡±

    Healer 1: ¡°Strange indeed, but not impossible. I can think of a possibility, but it is so far-fetched that I almost don¡¯t dare to voice it out.¡±

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    Emelyn: ¡°And what might that be?¡±

    Healer 1: ¡°The Devil¡¯s Scythe. It is a vicious poison from the Great Magic Era, it reportedly causes the same symptoms the boy is showing, but it was supposed to be long lost and no healer has ever encountered it since the end of the Great Magic Era, even I only know about it because it was mentioned in a diary of a healer from the Great Magic Era passed down in my family¡­ To wickedly use such a terrible poison in a child¡­ This might be unbecoming of a healer to say, but the person responsible for this should be put to death in the most torturous way possible!¡±

    Merlin was poisoned with such a terrible thing? *I¡¯ll find whoever is responsible for this and make him pay!* The face the old healer was making showed that he would probably tear to pieces the person responsible for Merlin¡¯s poisoning if he were to be put in front of him, this made me grateful to the old healer, but at the same time, it made me fearful for Merlin¡¯s state.

    Emelyn: ¡°Is there any way to cure him? Since you know about that strange poison, do you happen to also know about its antidote?¡±

    Healer 1: ¡°It pains me to have to admit it, but no antidote is known for that poison, and even if it once existed, it was long lost in the waves of time. Unfortunately, any kind of magic used on him to try to heal him would only worsen his current state.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Is there really nothing that can be done?¡±

    Healer 1: ¡°You can pray to the gods in his behalf, maybe he is lucky and survives the complete magic depletion caused by the poison. If he happened to survive it, he would be unable to use magic and he would have a delicate health for the rest of his life¡­ but he would be alive.¡±

    What the old healer told me struck me like lightning, Merlin, who isn¡¯t even 8 years old, is one of the greatest magi I have ever met. At his young age, he has even surpassed me, but it now seems that his future looks quite dark. He is my son and I will never cease to love him, I just hope that the girls won¡¯t have a change of heart after learning the news.

    I¡¯m not very worried on that regard, those girls are madly in love with him, they are too young to be in a relationship, but at the same time, that is exactly what will allow their love to fully blossom, since they won¡¯t have to fight against the prejudices we adults usually have when it comes to relationships. Furthermore, their affection will probably have a healing effect on Merlin once he wakes up and discovers his new reality and what it implies¡­

    ********************************************************************

    Mina suddenly woke up when she felt a sharp pain in her chest, like somebody was stabbing her heart with a knife. The pain subsided after a couple of minutes, and she looked around trying to identify its cause, without any success whatsoever. The more she thought about it, the less she understood why she had felt that sudden pain in her chest. Not finding any reason for it, Mina dismissed her worries about the pain and just thought that as long as it didn¡¯t happen again, pointlessly thinking about it was a waste of time.

    ********************************************************************

    Klausna Kingdom capital. Duke Risme¡¯s mansion¡­

    Mandy clutched her chest due to a sharp pain piercing through it. Despite the pain quickly subsiding, she knew that something was wrong, so she tried to find the cause for the sudden pain. After discarding other possibilities, she thought of the young assassin who rescued her and with whom she had made a soul contract. She couldn¡¯t help but to grow anxious about his well-being, after all, when she ruled out any other possibilities, she concluded that the sharp pain was a kind of warning she had received through the soul contract: Merlin was in danger!

    Fighting against her impulse of using the communication scroll to get news on Merlin¡¯s current state, in the end she chose not to, after all, the communication scroll was legendary ranked item, and Merlin had given it to her for emergencies, as a life-saving item. In addition to that, the scroll established a one-way communication, so even if she used it, it was unlikely she would get the information she wanted. Besides, the assassination of the crown Prince had already been discovered, so the guards in the capital had started conducting a door-to-door search, looking for anyone who didn¡¯t reside in the capital and might be a skilled assassin.

    Mandy didn¡¯t look the part, but the guards might take her away for questioning nonetheless. Even though she was still worried about Merlin, she decided to wait for news of him and focused on her task at hand: becoming useful in the Risme household. She had always been considered a genius back when she was with the Zircon family, but she had been sheltered from the outside world, and no one aside from her parents and siblings knew how brilliant she actually was.

    That fact would surely play in her favor if she was ever discovered being a genius of the Risme household, because no one would make a connection between a seemingly normal girl who is supposed to be dead and a genius recently adopted into a family who just lost its only child. In addition to that, with the exception of her foster parents, she wanted to be low-key and let the world think she was a harmless and spoiled little girl.

    ____________________________________________________________________

    A/N: To those who might feel like dropping this novel because of Merlin''s current situation, be reassured, this is not the end of Merlin''s magic.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a> !

 Chapter 33 â€“ Two girls and wedding plans

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site

    Chapter 33 ¨C Two girls and wedding plans

    Mandy¡¯s POV:

    I don¡¯t like how those guards are looking at me. It seems that they aren¡¯t looking only for the assassin of the crown Prince, but also for the slave who was with him at the moment of his death. They were talking about something with Duke Risme, but I couldn¡¯t hear the contents of their conversation from where I was. The duke gestured me to approach them and tried to calm me down with his words.

    D. Risme: ¡°Mandy, sweetheart, there has been an accident at the Palace, the crown Prince has died and a young female slave has escaped. These men are trying to find that slave, and because you are a newcomer in the capital they have to check that you are not the young girl they are looking for. Don¡¯t worry, come here.¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Ok, father. But what exactly do I have to do?¡± *The crown Prince had an accident and died? Bullshit! They are trying to cover it up.*

    D. Risme: ¡°Just uncover your neck and show it to them, that should suffice. They just need to confirm that you don¡¯t have a slave collar.¡±

    Mandy: ¡°It is fine, father. I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    I showed them my neck and they left after seeing I didn¡¯t have any slave collar. As a safety measure, after the death of the previous owner, a slave collar won¡¯t accept a contract with a new owner for the next three days. This means that the one who had ownership over me was the crown Prince and not the King. Well, regardless of what their intentions might be, thanks to Merlin I¡¯m safe. I wish I could spend more time by his side, he is the first kid my age I have ever met who isn¡¯t dumb and can maintain a normal conversation with me¡­

    Well, most of the kids my age are stupid in comparison with me, ever since I started having those weird dreams and learning lots of different things, I quickly surpassed my peers. Adults look down on me for being a kid and don¡¯t take me seriously, ignoring me for the most part. The kids around me consider me a weirdo because they don¡¯t get most of the things I talk about¡­

    Long story short, I am usually isolated due to my intelligence. That is why I offered myself to Merlin as a slave or a servant, I knew that by being by his side, I finally would be able to have a relationship of equals with someone and enjoy my life a bit, besides I¡¯m sure that he wouldn¡¯t let me suffer in the slightest. But I also understand that he has his own circumstances, it is not like he can present himself at home with an unknown girl and say ¡°Hi, this is Mandy, she¡¯ll live here from now on.¡± At least, by becoming a member of his organization, and his subordinate, I am useful to him and if I do my duties extraordinarily well he might make me his personal assistant and allow me to remain by his side.

    ********************************************************************

    Laklostia. House of the Pendragon family.

    Emelyn didn¡¯t know how to react to what was going on with Merlin, so she just sat on the bed by his side and ruffled his hair while looking at him. The group of healers saw that and silently left the room. She was so focused on Merlin that she failed to notice the two letters laying on his desk. However, that wasn¡¯t Argenta¡¯s case, she came into the room looking for Emelyn and noticed both letters, she stealthily took the one addressed to the members of the ¡°Council of ten¡± and hid it in her bosom, then she handed the other letter over to Emelyn. She read the letter right after receiving it and after learning of its contents, she burst in tears. *In that condition and he still cares more about others than himself¡­ How is he going to take the news when he wakes up and discovers his new reality? I just hope not too badly.*She turned to look at Merlin and ruffled his hair once more.

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, dear, fight the poison and don¡¯t give up! Adelle, Lupa and Bastet need you, and the baby I am currently carrying will also need its big brother Merlin. You must come back to us, you have to¡­¡±

    Argenta: ¡°Lady Emelyn, everyone is in the living room, waiting for you to come down and give them the news regarding master Merlin¡¯s current state.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Thank you for reminding me, Argenta. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll have to trouble you with looking after Merlin while I¡¯m down explaining his current situation to the family.¡±

    Argenta: ¡°Don¡¯t worry lady Emelyn, it is an honor and my duty to do so.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    After Emelyn left, Argenta went to the center of the room, sniffed the air and then spoke.

    Argenta: ¡°Aimi, your concealing technique is almost perfect, even with my spy training I barely noticed you, now come out, please.¡±

    Aimi: ¡°Y-you¡­ How did you know I was here?¡±

    Argenta: ¡°Your scent gave you out.¡±

    Aimi: ¡°M-my scent? Th-that is impossible, I bathed this morning before coming here!¡±

    Seeing her stutter from embarrassment, Argenta couldn¡¯t help but chuckle and tried to solve the misunderstanding right away.

    Argenta: ¡°When I spoke of your scent, I didn¡¯t mean that you smelled bad, quite the opposite, actually. Whenever you are near him, you smell like roses. It isn¡¯t a problem here, but if you plan on serving him and protect him from the shadows, that little fact will give you away, not only putting you in danger, but also him! Now, did you understand what the healers said?¡±

    The very moment Argenta said those words, the expression in Aimi¡¯s face changed into one of helplessness and depression. She affirmed with her head that she had perfectly heard and understood what the healers had said about Merlin¡¯s predicament, but her expression changed once more when she heard Argenta¡¯s following words.

    Argenta: ¡°Well, I don¡¯t agree with them. Anyone who got his hands in such an extremely rare poison would either treat it like a precious treasure, for a special occasion, or send it to an alchemist to try to reproduce it. There are plenty of fast-acting poisons that are more than enough to kill a 7-year-old kid, nobody would be dumb enough to waste such a precious poison to kill someone like master Merlin. It¡¯s just not worth it.¡±

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    Aimi: ¡°But, if you are right, then¡­ what exactly is going on with him?¡±

    Argenta: ¡°I am no healer, so I can¡¯t tell for sure, but I know that the kind of power he used when he fought those assassins last night was far superior to the power he usually has. He almost looked like a god exerting his wrath on human offenders¡­ My guess is he broke through the human limitations and wielded a power no human is meant to, and now he has to deal with the backlash of using that power.¡±

    Aimi: ¡°Then he is still in danger like the healers said!¡±

    Argenta: ¡°I never said he wasn¡¯t, but you know him as well as I do, even if he were to lose his magic, his mind is more dangerous than an army of magi, he will find a solution for any problem he might encounter, so worrying about it now won¡¯t do us any good.¡±

    Aimi: ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Argenta: ¡°What we need to do now, it is not to mourn his current situation, but to get stronger so that we can support him better when he wakes up and recovers.¡±

    Aimi¡¯s eyes showed understanding, after giving a nod acknowledging Argenta¡¯s last statement, she turned around and left to go train herself further. Argenta was amazed by Aimi¡¯s personality *She is very innocent, but she has the heart in the right place.* She then looked at Merlin and thought *Boy, you are quite the player¡­ but you don¡¯t even realize it. You are going to break a lot of hearts on your way to the top!*

    *******************************************************************

    In the living room, Emelyn had just finished explaining the healers¡¯ diagnosis to the members of the family. The three girls started crying immediately, Leyla was still processing the information, and Anthon was starting to leak killing intent. Josh and Bly decided that if their powerful little brother was going to become a magic cripple with a frail health, they would stop skipping their training and gain enough strength to make up for the one Merlin had lost.

    Arnold was the one most troubled by the news, he was as shocked as the rest of the family, but he had an additional problem: he was going to marry his fianc¨¦e, Rose, in four months, but he had yet to inform his family about their wedding plans. He had intended to do it that day, but after hearing the diagnosis of the healers on Merlin, he didn¡¯t feel it was the right moment to drop the bomb. After the family meeting finished, Arnold slipped away and went to meet Rose to explain the situation to her.

    Rose was the daughter of a travelling merchant who used to go to Laklostia several times a year. She had met Arnold when she accompanied her parents on their travels, she was 5 at the time and Arnold was 7. They hit it off from the beginning, and as time passed, it became more and more clear that the two of them would end up getting married eventually. Rose¡¯s parents were against it in the beginning because ¡°how could a mere villager give their daughter a good and happy life?¡±, it was only when they learnt that Arnold¡¯s father was the swordsmanship instructor for the princes at the Palace, that they finally agreed to allow their daughter¡¯s romantic relationship with Arnold. Needless to say, as soon as they learnt about the fiefdom bestowed to his brother, they encouraged their daughter to marry Arnold as soon as possible.

    Arnold was explaining to her the situation that was going on at home, when he noticed that Rose was looking behind him and had suddenly lost all color in her face. He turned around to see what had frightened her and found himself face-to-face with his own father. Anthon didn¡¯t say a word, he went behind his son, elevated his right leg behind himself and kicked Arnold¡¯s ass, sending him flying 3 or 4 yards.

    Arnold: ¡°Father, wait. I can explain!¡±

    Anthon: ¡°You damn idiot! What the hell do you think you are doing?¡±

    Arnold: ¡°Sorry, father. I know that right now is not the right moment to hold a wedding with everything that is going on with Merlin, but¡­¡±

    Anthon: ¡°Shut up! Just how much longer do you intend to make her wait before you marry her?¡±

    Arnold and Rose: ¡°¡°Huh?!¡±¡±

    Anthon: ¡°What! Did you really think that your mother and I were unaware of your wedding plans? Both families had started making your wedding preparations since before Rose turned 15, but instead of keeping your promise of marrying her on her birthday, you put it off with the excuse that you had to finish your swordsmanship training and become a city guard in Shephiria. Now that you have become a city guard in Ragnar?k and finished your training, you have no more excuses to delay the wedding anymore!¡±

    Arnold: ¡°But Merlin¡­¡±

    Anthon: ¡°Don¡¯t you dare to use your brother as an excuse! We don¡¯t know when he will wake up, maybe tomorrow, maybe never! You know what? I¡¯m going to visit Rose¡¯s parents and inform them that there has been a slight change of plans, instead of getting married in six months, we¡¯ll hold your wedding two weeks from now! You two, come with me!¡±

    Arnold was left speechless by Anthon¡¯s decision and silently followed after him. Discovering that his parents not only knew about the wedding plans, but had also participated in the preparations for it without him and Rose knowing, had been a real shock for him. Rose, on the other hand, had a bright smile on her face on the way to her home.

    *****************************************************************

    Merlin tried to block out the pain he was feeling, but he was unable to. He finally gave up and stop trying to resist the pain, at the exact moment he did so, he felt himself falling down at a breakneck speed¡­

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 34 - Where on Klantea am I?

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    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site

    Chapter 34 - Where on Klantea am I?

    Merlin tried to block out the pain he was feeling, but he was unable to. He finally gave up and stop trying to resist the pain, at the exact moment he did so, he felt himself falling down at a breakneck speed. He didn¡¯t understand what was going on, for he knew his body wasn¡¯t moving from his bed, yet the feeling of falling down felt completely real to him. After falling within the darkness for a while, he started to see some light and finally could observe his surroundings, he was in the air, above a lake encircled by mountains, plunging toward its center.

    Crashing against the surface of the lake with a big splash, Merlin continued diving down a few feet before he managed to return to the surface and swim to the lakeshore. Once there, he looked around and made sure no one was around him before taking off his clothes and wringing them. He waited until the clothes were completely dry and then put them back on.

    Merlin had no idea of what was going on, he didn¡¯t know how he had gotten there nor how to go back. He took a moment to consider his options before moving in a random direction. The lake was at the bottom of a valley, there was a prairie in a radius of two miles from it, where he could see the boundary of a forest which occupied the valley¡¯s side of the surrounding mountains. In one of the mountains, Merlin saw what looked like a cave on the top side of one of the boulders protruding in the forest. Ignoring what dangers might be luring within the forest, Merlin¡¯s choice was to look for a shelter, after securing one, he would have time to scout the surroundings and find food and water.

    Strangely enough, the excruciating pain he was feeling before falling into that place was gone, but the fatigue of swimming to the lakeshore remained, so Merlin considered that, however improbable it might have seemed, what he was experiencing was real and not a dream. Accepting that fact made him be wary of the surroundings and rack his brains for a solution, but he didn¡¯t have any luck, so he chose the second best option: instead of staying idle and waiting for something to happen and go back, he looked for shelter and a way to survive, he would have time to think of a way to go back later.

    *******************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    *Where on Klantea is this? Please, don¡¯t tell me that I died again and was sent to another world!* No¡­ if that was the case, I would have been reincarnated into a baby again and I might even have lost my memories, I have retained my body, so I am still alive¡­ for now, anyway. The hole on that boulder looked like a cave, let¡¯s just hope it isn¡¯t inhabited by any wild animals or monsters, my magic seems to be sealed here, so I would have a hard time if any were to appear.

    I advanced forward, paying attention to any sound or sign of movement which might indicate the presence of wild animals in the vicinity of my position. There were even occasions in which my own steps sounded strangely and scared the heck out of me! I may look like a scaredy-cat, but I had grown accustomed to being an OP character with my magic skills, and neglected the training of my physical skills, they are ok when fighting against humans, but when fighting against wild animals or monsters I might not be able to fight back. Having my magic sealed is a bitch!

    This forest is similar to the ones I explored on Earth, back in my days as a boy scout, my classmate Johnny had convinced me to join¡­ and I left six months later, fed up with spending there the precious time I could use reading manga or watching episodes of my favorite anime. Who would have told me that, so many years later, the experiences from back then would be useful to me: what are the best places to look for shelter in a mountain, how to get directions within a forest, where to look for sources of water, what plants might be edible or not¡­ Life-saving lessons that I had completely forgotten about until I had to put them to use today. Of course, being the city boy I was, the thought of a situation such as this happening to me never crossed my mind, how wrong I was!

    It took me 4 to 5 hours to get to the boulder with the cave, the distance to the lake could be easily covered with a 2-hour walk, but I advanced very carefully, trying not to make a sound as to not alert any wild animals or monsters in the vicinity, so it took me more than twice that amount of time to get to my destination. I was shocked when I observed the boulder, two parallel rows of indentations deep enough to put in a fist or foot, which run from the ground level up to the entrance of the cave.

    That wasn¡¯t a natural occurrence, it was obvious that those indentations had been carved there by someone. *Is someone living there already?* I ignored my uneasiness and climbed up to the cave. Upon seeing the interior of the cave, I confirmed my suspicions of someone living there the provisions of food and water clearly proved that point, but what shocked me the most was the set of clothes next to the provisions.

    They were similar to those a certain bald martial arts master, who used to wear a big tortoise shell on his back, gave a certain child with a monkey¡¯s tail for his apprenticeship, but without the kanji w on them. The moment I saw them, only one thought crossed my mind *cool!*. I seriously wanted to try them on, but afraid of the owner of the cave returning and catching me by surprise while I was distracted, I dismissed the thought and sat down to meditate.

    No matter how I tried, I was unable to gather any mana, as if I were back on Earth and mana was inexistent. Not long after starting my meditation, the fatigue from the day ate away my forces and I unknowingly fell into slumber. When I woke up, it was already dawn of the following day. I looked around the cave, fearful of the owner¡¯s reaction to my intrusion, but I didn¡¯t see anyone, *either he didn¡¯t come back, or he didn¡¯t mind me staying here*.

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    I checked the provisions and the set of clothes, but both were untouched, as in the previous day, so I thought it would be wiser to assume that the cave¡¯s owner hadn¡¯t returned yet. I was about to descend when I saw a three-eyed deer looking at me directly into the eye, I didn¡¯t feel like going down anymore¡­ that three-eyed deer looked evil to me, and it gave me a bad vibe. I had never heard of a three-eyed deer before, not as a monster, and definitely not as a normal animal. I once more doubted whether to question my sanity or to give up on trying to figure out where I was and how I had gotten there.

    With nothing else to do until the three-eyed deer went away, I practiced several moves from my martial arts, but I quickly got bored of that and try to meditate again without any success, which confirmed that it wasn¡¯t me being too tired the previous day, it really was impossible to collect any mana there, wherever that place was. The three-eyed deer was still on the same spot it was before, and I was really hungry, so, despite feeling very sorry for the owner of the cave, I attacked his provisions, with the intention of replenish them after I was able to go down and get my own.

    The three-eyed deer not only didn¡¯t go away, it even brought some friends, it wasn¡¯t until the second week that they went away. Fortunately for me, the cave¡¯s owner had enough provisions to last a month or two. I still waited for 3 days before going down, after the three-eyed deers went away, I didn¡¯t want to discover the hard way that they were intelligent enough to lure me out of the cave by faking their leave and then eat me. It wasn¡¯t the case, they didn¡¯t seem to be anywhere around the cave.

    After calming down, I went looking for provisions, but it didn¡¯t go quite as I had expected. I gathered enough edible plants to replenish the food I had taken from the provisions, but the problem was the water. The lake had salty water, which made it unsuitable as a water source, and the only natural spring I had managed to find, had blue water.

    I tested the water, just in case, but just one gulp of the blue water made him instantaneously vomit my last meal, that added to the metallic taste, and the blue color of the water, made me remember my classes of chemistry back in high school. I was pretty sure that the spring¡¯s blue water was the result of its water being contaminated with copper (II) sulfate. As the night was falling, I gave up on trying to find a water source that day and returned to the cave, I still had enough water for the following three weeks, so I didn¡¯t need to rush it.

    *************************************************************

    Somewhere in ???.

    In a meeting room created through magic to hold its form inside the magma, six people were heatedly arguing around a hexagonal table. Five of them were seated at the table, while the remaining one was standing next to it. The illumination was constantly changing, due to variations in the magma streams which formed the columns in the room, giving an eery feeling to it. A person suddenly teleported inside the room and occupied the remaining free seat at the table. He immediately asked about the situation.

    ???: ¡°What is this commotion for?¡±

    As soon as he asked that question, everyone else in the room froze and didn¡¯t speak a word more. The first one to recover was the man standing next to the table.

    ???: ¡°My Lord, something terrible has happened. The staff of Fate broke down when we tried to ascertain the outcome of the next Holy War!¡±

    ???: ¡°It isn¡¯t that surprising, we used most of its power several years ago, it was on the verge of breaking down ever since. Why should you cause a ruckus because of it?¡±

    ???: ¡°It would seem that the situation is not that simple. Please continue and tell him what you told us before!¡±

    ???: ¡°Yes, my Lord. My Lord, actually we couldn¡¯t get a clear reading before the staff broke dawn, it was almost like the staff of Fate was rejecting our commands and rebelling against its masters¡­ We poured more power into it trying to get a clearer reading, but the interference remained and the breaking down process accelerated.¡±

    ???: ¡°We already knew that the staff of Fate would be of no use to us on the oncoming Holy War, that doesn¡¯t change our plans in the slightest. Did you understand something despite the interference on the reading?¡±

    ???: ¡°Some words, my Lord. They look sort of like a prophecy, though.¡±

    ???: ¡°So? What are the words?¡±

    ???: ¡°Right. Sorry, my Lord! The words were ¡®Devils of old, run, for a god has descended¡¯. Those were the words which could be understood.¡±

    ???: ¡°Hahaha, I wonder which one was the old fool tired of living who descended into the mortal realm¡­ It¡¯s really hilarious. I wonder if they have already forgotten that descending to the mortal realm means taking a mortal body, and that is the only time in which they can be destroyed, allowing us to take their power for our own¡­ I¡¯m dying to know which one of the old all-haughty suckers was the fool to descend, a free meal for us! Hahaha!¡±

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 Chapter 35 - A master?

    As Merlin got used to fend for himself, the days became weeks and the weeks, months. Soon three months had already passed since his arrival to that mysterious place, but he still hadn¡¯t met the original owner of the cave, making him wonder if the cave had been abandoned for good or its owner had met his end at the mercy of the strange creatures inhabiting the forest below. He was lucky and found spring, a day after running out of water, which he appreciated much more after a whole day of thirst.

    He had failed to notice, though, that ever since his arrival, there had been someone observing his every move¡­ and analyzing his every action. That person was currently standing on the top of an oak, on the mountain opposite to the one Merlin¡¯s cave was in, observing Merlin prepare a soup with the herbs and water he had picked in the morning, and was sneering at him.

    ???: ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll give him another week to see if he changes his attitude¡­ So far, he has been a great disappointment. To think that the rightful inheritor of the knowledge and abilities of the original Merlin Pendragon has turned out to be like this¡­ If he doesn¡¯t change his disposition in the next week, I¡¯ll drop him into a hell that he will never ever forget!¡±

    Unaware that, in one week, he was going to regret not having died, Merlin continued making his soup. During the last few weeks, he had found more strange animals in the forest: Two-horned snakes, winged spiders, five-clawed lynxes, three-tailed foxes, four-winged crows¡­ Animals he had never heard of before, most of them looking like variants or mutants of the species he knew.

    Strangely enough, he hadn¡¯t encountered any monster since his arrival, and it almost looked like there weren¡¯t any on that forest¡­ or he just hadn¡¯t entered their territory yet. However, Merlin¡¯s lack of courage to even engage on combat with any of the strange animals, surviving only on the provisions left in the cave and the plants and fruits he could collect when he went out of the cave, had thoroughly disappointed the person observing him.

    Not meeting Merlin in the two months since his arrival had been a sort of a test of character, one which Merlin didn¡¯t pass. Proceeding with caution is the smart thing to do, but when caution transforms into cowardice, the warrior loses his worth¡­ and that was, in the eyes of the person observing him, Merlin¡¯s current situation.

    Merlin ignored the exact details concerning the strange animals, so acting with caution and not engaging them without having more information was the smart thing to do¡­ but in the opinion of the person who was observing him, Merlin should at least have tried to observe them in order to get some useful information on them, which would have allowed him to hunt them better, contrary to what he had done until the moment: running away from them and hide in the cave.

    Another week passed, and the person who was secretly watching Merlin finally decided to show himself to him.

    *******************************************************************

    ??? POV:

    This child definitely relied too much on his magic. It is really disappointing that after having all his magic sealed, he was unable of even hunting some small animals for his own survival. It is almost like he was a real 6-year-old, one would think that with the experience of his previous life, he would be able to do at least that much¡­ I never imagined he would turn out to be such a coward without his magic. Well, the week of grace I gave to him has already passed, so it¡¯s time to meet him in person.

    *******************************************************************

    Merlin was asleep over some pelts in the cave, when a kick to his side woke him up. He didn¡¯t sober up quickly enough, though, making it impossible for him to cushion in any way his crash against one of the oaks below the cave. After falling to the ground, Merlin tried to see who had hit him, but all he was able to see was another kick landing on his body. After being beaten up to the brink of death, Merlin saw a hand in front of him, offering him a vial, its contents Merlin recognized as being made from herbs, but he couldn¡¯t recognize the formula.

    When he looked up, Merlin saw a man who seemed to be in his forties, wearing a black dougi, looking at him with disdain, while offering the vial to him. *Is this the original owner of the cave?* If that was the case, Merlin understood this reaction, but why was he offering him a vial? *Is he trying to poison me? No, with his skill, if he wanted me dead, he could kill me at any time, he doesn¡¯t have any reason to resort to trickery¡­*

    Merlin: ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ???: ¡°You¡¯ve got guts! Asking me who I am¡­ when is precisely you borrowing my power without permission what has gotten us both in this mess!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean, I have never borrowed power as you say¡­ Wait, don¡¯t tell me¡­ are you talking about that power boost?¡±

    ???: ¡°¡®Power boost¡¯ he says¡­ He uses my power without the permission of the Grimm, going against the ¡®Covenant of the Heavens¡¯, and he calls it ¡®power boost¡¯¡­ unbelievable!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Huh? What are you talking about?¡±

    ???: ¡°I¡¯m Lokiseth. Does that name ring a bell?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Lokiseth¡­ Like in the guardian god of my family?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Not ¡®like in¡¯, I¡¯m exactly that one, idiot! Now, take the vial and drink it. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s just a recovery potion.¡±

    Merlin took the vial, but he didn¡¯t drink it. He was considering the possible scenarios, but he still couldn¡¯t understand why the person before him had harmed him and given him a recovery potion afterward. *This doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­*

    Merlin: ¡°Why would you first harm me to then cure me?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Oh, that? That was just a light punishment for your idiocy! One would have thought that after wasting your entire mana pool fighting some horned rabbits, and after Grani¡¯s warning, you would have learned to control your emotions during a battle, being calm and collected, allowing you to assert the situation and control the flow of the battle¡­¡±

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    Merlin: ¡°How-how do you know about that? And what does controlling my emotions have to do with anything?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°I know everything that has happened to you because I¡¯ve been inside you the whole time¡­ As for controlling your emotions, it was to avoid the current situation.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Which is?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°You really don¡¯t know, do you?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Would I have asked you if I did?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Fair enough. My whole existence is sealed inside you, but you shouldn¡¯t have any access to my power unless the Grimm gave you permission to do so, during the fight against the hexad and their minions, as stated in the ¡®Covenant of the Heavens¡¯. However, in my case, you can also forcefully draw my power out if an emotion is strong enough to bypass the security measures integrated in the seal.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, I used your power without permission, so what¡¯s the problem? It looks like a one-time deal to me. Why would that be so bad? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m dead¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°No, you are not, but you almost did! I had to use all of your mana to create this realm inside your body, because that was the only way you could survive. Once you drew out my divine power, there was no way of putting it back, and by the ¡®Covenant of the Heavens¡¯, unless the person has received permission from the Grimm to use the divine power, nobody in the mortal realm can contain it. You certainly have no idea of how close you came to explode from the inside out, taking with you everything in a thousand mile radius. Anyhow, here we are, in this realm with no magic¡­ and I¡¯m going to thoroughly train you until you become a true Pendragon man!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What do you mean, train me? I can train by myself just fine! I even learned 3 different martial arts by myself!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°If I knew you were going to be so conceited about that, I wouldn¡¯t have given you a hand¡­ Why are you making that face? Did you really think that just by reading some martial arts manuals and emulating the moves of battle scenes from movies while watching them frame by frame, you were able to master the moves? As if something like that could ever happen! I transferred to you the muscle memory of your predecessors, allowing you to easily master most of the moves, because your body already knew how to perform them! However, now you will learn from zero, and even your previous fighting experience will be useless here.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You¡­ what do you mean?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Well, there is no experience like the one you gained by yourself¡­ in addition, cowardice is not a trait a Pendragon should have, starting today, I¡¯ll shape you into a true Pendragon man, as I said before. You will start by hunting the animals around here, and learning how to cook them, how to make a fire without fire¡­ basically, you will fully awake the legacy your ancestors passed down in your blood, by doing the same things they did in their lives.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I guess I don¡¯t have a choice in the matter¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°No, you don¡¯t.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Is it safe consuming those animals¡­ I mean, they¡¯re mutants, won¡¯t they give me radiation poisoning or something?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°They are not mutants, these species are currently extinct in Klantea, but they existed there before the humans did. This realm was based on a mix of the things you know and the things I know, for example the orange uniform I left in the cave for you, was based on one of the anime you liked so much, and this forest¡­ There aren¡¯t any oaks in Klantea, their creation was also based in your previous world.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°The poisoned spring too? Or you just thought that a spring with blue toxic water was cool?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°¡­¡± *Ups, that one was a mistake, but there is no way in hell I¡¯m going to admit that!* ¡°That one was done on purpose, it¡¯s for when you will learn to make natural poisons, without using alchemy!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Are you sure? I would swear you doubted a little there before giving the explanation.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure. Now let¡¯s get on with your training! You will be training under me for a year, in that time, I plan to drill into you all the teachings that were part of your legacy as a Pendragon, but were lost due to the decline of the clan!¡±*Please, let it go¡­ Now that I think about it, he can really use it when learning about the fabrication of natural poisons, so it is not a complete lie¡­ Ok, it is, but as long as he doesn¡¯t realize that, then all is good.*

    Merlin: ¡°Whatever! Let¡¯s get started, the sooner we start, the sooner we¡¯ll be done with it!¡±

    Merlin wasn¡¯t eager to start at all, but given that he had no idea of how to get out of that place, ¡°the realm¡± Lokiseth said to have made inside his body, he decided that, for the time being, he didn¡¯t lose anything by training under Lokiseth, he might even would be able to learn a trick or two from him.

    What Merlin didn¡¯t know at the time was that the time flow inside that realm was 5 times faster than in the outside world, and when Lokiseth said he would be training under him for a year, he didn¡¯t mean a year inside the realm, but a year in the outside world. Another thing Merlin also ignored, was that while things like injuries and scars wouldn¡¯t appear in his real body, his body changes such as muscle growth would. A big surprise was waiting for him when he woke up!

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 36 - Shocking revelations

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 36 - Shocking revelations

    Lokiseth¡¯s POV:

    He has resigned himself to be here for a long time, but I don¡¯t know if he¡¯ll be able to keep up with the training regime. Thanks to the time dilation inside this pseudo-realm, we have five years to drill into him all the ancestral teachings he should have learned since his birth¡­ It was very dangerous for him to use my power and he¡¯ll suffer the consequences of doing so, but it was a fortunate event it happened, otherwise the minions of the hexad would have probably killed him before he knew what had hit him! The only downside to this situation is his lack of motivation¡­

    ************************************************************

    Making two wooden buckets appear out of thin air, Lokiseth put them in front of Merlin and looked at him with an evil smile. *I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this¡­* thought Merlin, and his suspicions were confirmed by Lokiseth¡¯s next words.

    Lokiseth: ¡°Well, Merlin, this will be the beginning of your training. Take these buckets and go to the lake, fill them with water and bring them back here.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Oh, one more detail, you have to run.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Say what!?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°As I said, run from here to the lake, take the water, and run back here with it. It¡¯s a very simple exercise, you shouldn¡¯t have any problems understanding what you have to do, should you?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Running there is one thing, but running back¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Well, you can do as I say or let your dear ones die. I don¡¯t mind either way, it¡¯s your choice to make, kid!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You, bastard! What do you mean by my dear ones dying?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°If you really want to know, I can explain it to you¡­ after you return with the water.¡±

    Merlin cursed Lokiseth and run as fast as he could towards the lake. *That was a cruel thing to do, but it was necessary. I didn¡¯t plan on explaining it to him so soon, but if his desire to protect the ones he loves drives him to focus and train as he should, then it will be ok to tell him ahead of schedule.*  Lokiseth was feeling a little guilty for playing with Merlin¡¯s emotions, but as it was for the greater good, he dismissed the feelings of guilt and focused on preparing the things necessary for the next step in Merlin¡¯s training.

    He waved his hands, and everything in a pentagon, each side being 20ft long, turned into dust. As soon as he waved his hands again, the area within the pentagon fell down and formed a pool. Lokiseth intended to make Merlin run down to the lake and up until he filled the pool with the water he had brought in the buckets. When Merlin came back with the water and Lokiseth showed the pool to him while explaining the second part of the exercise, Merlin was so shocked he almost fainted on the spot! Running to the lake and back with the water just once had left him dead tired, and now he had to do it who knows how many times until he filled the pool?!

    Merlin: ¡°Let¡¯s forget about the exercise for a second¡­ What did you mean when you said if I didn¡¯t do this training my dear ones would die?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Oh, that? Do you remember what Grani told you about the origin of this world, and the hexad of gods who were sealed?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, but how is that related to any of this?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°The seal is weakening, all gods can feel it, and those among humans who serve the hexad will stop at nothing to destroy anything and anyone who could get in the way of the return of those six damned gods! That, of course, includes your girls and your family.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I don¡¯t really understand what you are saying¡­ Why would my family or the girls pose a threat to the minions of the hexad? Why should they be in danger? I am the only one who poses a threat to them because of you!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°It¡¯s far more complicated than that. The gods whose power was used to create the seal should have attached themselves to a person of your parents¡¯ generation. That would have given them plenty of time to adapt to the body of the host and teach the host the way to correctly wield our divine power. However, the fate of the world changed, not only were we attached to a host a generation later, the fate of those new hosts is to die before reaching adulthood.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You mean the gods of the hexad have the same ability as me, they are able to change fate?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°No, they were somehow able to do it, but that is not an inherent ability of theirs. You did well, though, you saved two vessels, so even with the changes they made, your ability countered their actions.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Sorry, but I don¡¯t understand what you just said.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Lupa and Bastet. Those two are the vessels of the two goddesses of beastmen, Fera and Bastheth! They were fated to die under the carriage debris you saved them from.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That has to be joke! They have never told me anything about it!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°They probably don¡¯t even know they are, the goddesses will speak to them on their fifteenth birthday, and guide them while they create a pseudo-realm like yours to hold their power. Only an adult body would be able to resist its creation. In that regard, you must make sure that they conserve their chastity till then, were they to lose their chastity before their fifteenth birthday, a similar situation like yours could occur. They would die though, the only reason I could make the pseudo-realm in your young body was your insanely big mana pool, and I had to use it up for it to work¡­ their mana pools are above average, but far from yours, so they would explode¡­ please, keep it in mind!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I didn¡¯t intend to take their chastity, even less so before their fifteenth birthday, but thanks for the warning, anyway! It¡¯s good to know it, that way I can prevent any irreparable mistake from happening.¡±

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    Lokiseth: ¡°Ok, now that you know, go back to training!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, master!¡±

    *Master?*  Lokiseth was delighted hearing Merlin call him that way *Looks like hearing the truth about the girls and the dangers that truth implies, has made him willing to do any training¡­ Poor girls, not only are they destined to be with him due to being the vessels of Fera and Bastheth, they are madly in love with him (those two always had a thing for me, they probably are amplifying several fold the feelings of the girls for Merlin)¡­ but he insists in maintaining a distance from them, he still hasn¡¯t noticed that, little by little, he too is falling in love with them¡­*

    *****************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    Well, that sure is a lot of information to take in, I never imagined that I would become the vessel for an old god, nor that Lupa and Bastet were vessels too¡­ There had always been something that didn¡¯t feel right when I learnt about the circumstances in which the caravan had been attacked, but I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it.

    If the minions of the hexad were able to change the fate of the girls to some extent with the help of some artifact, then it is highly likely that they knew the girls would be on that caravan. Then it would just be a question of manipulating some corrupt officials or nobles and incite them to attack the caravan under the premise ¡°no witnesses¡±. The vessels of the goddesses would die, and no one would know those two were the actual targets of the attack!

    *Crap! I almost fell!*  I shouldn¡¯t get myself distracted by those things¡­ Right now the only thing that matters is to get as strong as possible, in the smallest amount of time possible. That¡¯s the only possible way to protect the girls and my family. Anyhow, now that I¡¯m trapped in this place, and unable to go out for a whole year, I only have a choice to make: To stop whining and make the most out of the training and resources in this realm.

    ******************************************************************

    While inside Lokiseth¡¯s pseudo-realm had passed a little over 2 months, 3 weeks had already passed in the outside world since Merlin had fallen into a coma. Rose and Arnold had gotten married the week before, and they had been gifted a newly build house in Ragnar?k. Lupa, Bastet, and Adelle had passed almost every second available by Merlin¡¯s side, with the exception of their martial arts and magic trainings, which they had finally started to do seriously, once again. They didn¡¯t attend the wedding, at that time they were crying their eyes out by Merlin¡¯s side, but Arnold and Rose understood their position and didn¡¯t insist, after all, if they had to change places with Merlin and the girls, they would act in the exact same way.

    Emelyn and the other members of the family had started to worry about their health, but as they could do nothing about Merlin¡¯s current state, which was the root of the problem, they were at a loss of what to do for the girls. Emelyn was writing something on a parchment when Leyla entered the room carrying Lilith in her arms.

    Leyla: ¡°What are you doing, Emelyn?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Oh, I¡¯m writing a letter to my friend Glenna, I want to see if she¡¯s available to teach the etiquette of the nobility to the girls.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Do you really think that is a good idea?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It is. I had been thinking about it for a while, ever since I discovered the three of them making out with Merlin. They are too young to be doing that, fortunately, Merlin is a boy very mature for his age and tried to avoid those kind of situations, but the girls even trying is a problem in itself. Besides, right now they need something to distract them from thinking in Merlin¡¯s current predicament.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant, I know your reasons. What I meant to ask is if you think that it is a good idea to ask her to teach the girls¡­ I still remember the time when she made an eunuch out of an adventurer who groped her at the hall of the Adventurers Guild!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Hahaha, I remember that too. She married Richard Glenanne and quit adventuring after receiving an ancient curse which impedes her from running. She then started teaching etiquette to the children of the nobility, and she hasn¡¯t stopped ever since. She has even earned a nickname: ¡®the demoness teacher¡¯. ¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Wait, are you really saying that the ¡®demoness teacher¡¯ of the capital, Glenna Glenanne, is our friend Glenna?!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Yes, it¡¯s her. She became much more docile after getting married and having a couple of kids¡­ If Merlin didn¡¯t already have Adelle, Lupa, and Bastet, I would probably have tried to have him engaged with Glenna¡¯s daughter.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Don¡¯t let Merlin hear you say that, sis. He already got forced by the King to be Adelle¡¯s fianc¨¦, and tricked by Lupa and Bastet into becoming their mate, if he finds out that you are trying to find him another fianc¨¦e, he will probably stop talking to you!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°I¡¯m well aware that Merlin is currently not interested in romance and treats the 3 girls like sisters, not like lovers, except when they initiate that kind of behavior, and they are too young for that. Furthermore, I¡¯m not trying to find him a fourth fianc¨¦e, I¡¯m just saying that if he hadn¡¯t any, I would have tried to make Glenna¡¯s daughter his fianc¨¦e. That¡¯s all.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°It better be, he has enough problems with 3 girls, if you tried to add another one to the mix, Merlin would probably end up escaping from home and the girls!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Ups, you are probably right! Anyway, it was just a hypothetical talk, nothing else! I just hope Glenna is available and able to come here, I haven¡¯t seen her in a while!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°It looks more like you want to catch up with Glenna than asking for an etiquette teacher¡­¡±

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 My decision

    Dear readers,

    Thank you for your answers to my "quick question", after reading them I''ve seen that most of you prefer that I keep writing the story as I''ve been doing so far, including the POVs of different characters, so I''ve decided to continue writing it like that.

    I have also decided to start a new fiction thread with the rewrites of this story. The main plot won''t change much, I''ll just flesh it out in some parts I consider lacking, and correct some mistakes I did along the way.

    Don''t worry though, that doesn''t mean I am going to drop the current story or put it on hiatus, the releases will continue as usual. I''ll be doing the rewrites at my own pace, but I''ll be releasing them as a separate fiction so that it doesn''t get confusing between original chapters and rewrites.

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    I''ll post the link of the new fiction thread for Merlin: the man who forged his own destiny (RW)  in the description of the current fiction thread, as soon as I start releasing the rewrites.

    Thank you all for your understanding and support, and above anything else, thank you for reading my story!

 Chapter 37 - Life magic

    Another 5 weeks passed inside Lokiseth¡¯s pseudo-realm. Merlin¡¯s physical condition had noticeably improved, and Lokiseth had started to teach him the basics of the Pendragon Clan¡¯s martial arts. The knowledge he inherited from the legacy left in the orb included the original Merlin Pendragon¡¯s special techniques and his understanding of them, but as always, ¡°The way to the acquisition of the knowledge is the acquisition of the knowledge¡±. Despite having inherited the techniques in the legacy, he was unable to access them due to not having prior knowledge of the Pedragon Clan¡¯s martial arts.

    The orb had all the knowledge the previous Merlin Pendragon had accumulated during his whole life, but the capacity of the orb was limited, so what he put into the orb was his personal knowledge, the knowledge that was supposed to be passed down in the generations of the clan had been left out.

    That was the case with the martial arts of the clan, they were the base of the original Merlin Pendragon¡¯s special techniques, but as they were supposed to be passed down, he didn¡¯t bother putting them in the legacy of the orb, for he hadn¡¯t expected his clan to decline.

    Merlin had finally gotten used to hunting to survive. That day¡¯s catch had been a three-eyed deer, and Lokiseth was teaching Merlin what was the best way to cook it. Merlin had been pondering about something for some days already, and he had finally decided to ask Lokiseth about it.

    Merlin: ¡°Master, can I ask you a question?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°You already have¡­ But you can ask another one.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Master, I was wondering¡­ couldn¡¯t you do something to shorten the time I need to be here? I¡¯m afraid that if I spend a year here, without any kind of nutrition for my real body, it will be ruined.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Oh? As expected from someone whose medical knowledge is superior to the current one in Klantea!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Huh?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°The people in Klantea has also found that problem with the people in a coma. They use the nourishing pills from the Alchemy Association to avoid the problem you were talking about, not that you need them anyway¡­ in fact, right now, your real body can¡¯t even take those pills, so you don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°But that¡¯s horrible! How am I supposed to avoid the ruin of my body when it is unable to take those nourishing pills?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Eat.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°I said ¡®eat¡¯. Have you forgotten where you are? This pseudo-realm is a pocket dimension where everything is real. Why else do you think that you need to eat and drink here? The food and water is real, as it is the nourishment they provide to your body, and when I say your body, I mean your body, not only the version of your body inside this pseudo-realm. That¡¯s why I said that you don¡¯t need to consume nourishing pills to avoid the ruin of your body during your coma, you are currently consuming real food and water. Why would you need an alchemic compound?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thank you for explaining it to me, master. I won¡¯t have to worry about that problem anymore.¡±

    *****************************************************

    A week after sending the letter to her friend Glenna, Emelyn received her reply. She was reading it when Leyla walked in the room. When she saw her sister turn pale while reading the letter, Leyla run toward her, worried that there might have been a problem with the baby and Emelyn wasn¡¯t feeling well.

    Leyla: ¡°Emelyn, you are pale! What is it? Is there something wrong with the baby?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It was a joke¡­ it was meant to be a joke¡­¡±

    Leyla didn¡¯t understand the meaning of Emelyn¡¯s words, but she realized that her reaction should be related to the letter she had in her hands. She took the letter from Emelyn¡¯s hands and read it.

    [Dear Emelyn,

    It has been a while since last time we met, I was beginning to think that you had forgotten about me. Your letter came just in time, I recently quit teaching the children of baron Lerz, or more like they terminated the contract when they learned of my beastman and elven heritage.

    It was very satisfying, though, learning that your boy, Merlin, had taught those children a lesson after they bullied his beastman fianc¨¦es. Talking about fianc¨¦es¡­ is about time that Merlin and Tessa met each other. When she was two years old, my husband and I were discussing about her future, and I remembered a conversation I had with you back when I was still an adventurer, you said that it would be nice if I had a girl and she married one of your sons¡­ so we decided that she should do exactly that!

    This is just to say, I accept your offer. We still have to put some things in order on our end, but we should arrive there in 7 - 10 days after you receive this letter.

    Kisses and hugs for everyone.

    Glenna.]

    Leyla felt her thoughts going haywire. She was agape and she couldn¡¯t say a word, she hadn¡¯t actually expected that what her sister said jokingly a week before, had suddenly become a reality.

    Leyla: ¡°Emelyn, did you really speak with Glenna about having your children married?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°We talked about it only once, but that was years ago, Merlin and Tessa hadn¡¯t even been born at the time. I never considered the possibility of her remembering that promise and trying to uphold it, when even I had completely forgotten about it!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°It¡¯s a fortunate thing that Merlin is currently in a coma, it will give us some time to sort out this mess. Now, seriously, how could you do such a thing, Emelyn?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It was a conversation we had 15 years ago! How was I supposed to think that a casual conversation with a friend 8 years before Merlin¡¯s birth would end up getting him another fianc¨¦e?! Leyla! Please, help me think of something, if not, Merlin will probably escape from home when he wakes up from the coma!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°First, Tessa hasn¡¯t met Merlin yet, so she¡¯s still not his fianc¨¦e, which gives us a chance to get out of this mess without him knowing about it. Second, it¡¯s your mess, you think of a solution for it! And lastly, I originally came in here to ask you if you think that we should teach life magic to the girls.¡±

    Emelyn was surprised by Leyla¡¯s suggestion. Life magic, was a series of basic spells, convenient for the everyday life (hence its name), which could be used by everyone, even non-magi, the only requisites were to know the chants and to possess mana inside the body, it didn¡¯t matter in what quantity. All living beings had a minimum amount of mana inside their bodies, so with the exception of rare cases, everyone was able to use it, as long as the incantation for the spells was known.

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    However, in spite of it being usable by anyone, not everyone knew life magic. The reason was simple: money. Everyone could use life magic, but not everyone was taught. Those who knew life magic usually asked for a fee to teach the chants to others, and that fee not always was affordable, so few normal people, aside from those belonging to noble families, knew life magic. Half of the merchants and low ranked adventurers didn¡¯t know it either, on the other hand, it would be difficult to find a magus who didn¡¯t know life magic.

    Emelyn: ¡°Why do you want to teach life magic to the girls?¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Every magus has to know life magic, the girls would become jokes as magi if they didn¡¯t!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°I already know that, Leyla, what I mean is: why now? We can teach them life magic at any time, why have you suddenly decided that you want to teach them now?¡±

    Leyla: ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ you now¡­ they pass most of their time by Merlin¡¯s side, feeling powerless¡­ I just thought that if we taught them life magic, they could use ¡®clean¡¯  on Merlin in our instead, that way they would feel they are doing something to help with his situation, and they wouldn¡¯t feel so down.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°You know, Leyla, that might actually be a good idea!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Thank you, sis! And about that other matter¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°You just had to remind me, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    **************************************************************************

    Klausna Kingdom. Royal chambers.

    K. Klausna : ¡°30 fifth rank water magi, 13 sixth rank dual-element magi, and even a seventh rank tri-elemental magus, and nobody, NOBODY IS ABLE TO ERASE THOSE MESSAGES IN FIRE FROM THE WALLS?! THE FIRE DOESN¡¯T EVEN BURN!¡±

    3-E magus: ¡°We found mana traces, Your Majesty. We know it is a fire-based spell, but we aren¡¯t able to decipher its composition, like¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ like it doesn¡¯t have any!¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°Alright, listen up. Not only does the Queen not come to my room, even my concubines refuse to come anymore! I don¡¯t care how you do it or how much it costs, I want those messages removed from the walls!¡±

    3-E magus: ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    After that, the King left the Royal chambers and went to the conference room. Making sure no one could see him, he turned the torch holder on the wall to the right, and a secret door opened. Having closed the door behind him, he went through the passageway and entered the secret meeting room belonging to the head of Klausna Kingdom¡¯s spy corps.

    K. Klausna: ¡°Zador!¡±

    Zador: ¡°I¡¯m here, Your Majesty.¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°Zador, have you found any information regarding that so called ¡®Council of ten¡¯?¡±

    Zador: ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have failed you this time, Your Majesty. I have put to use all of the resources available to the corps, but in the end, we have found no information about the said organization, not even in the underworld of the neighboring kingdoms. We have yet to confirm the findings in Dollan Empire, but at this point in time¡­ I don¡¯t hold any hopes of finding anything there. They are like ghosts, we don¡¯t even know how they bypassed our guards to commit the murder and bring the bodies inside the Royal chambers!¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°How is that even possible? No matter how good an underground organization is at keeping their secrecy, they are bound to leave behind some kind of evidence of their existence¡­ And given how they acted here, they are not exactly low-key when acting against those who offend them, someone out there should have some information on them!¡±

    Zador: ¡°Your Majesty, if I may¡­ It certainly is as Your Majesty says, someone out there is bound to know something about this organization, if it exists¡­¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°If it exists?¡±

    Zador: ¡°Your Majesty, with the current information we have on that organization, or better said, the lack of information on them, we can come to two possible conclusions, either the said organization doesn¡¯t exist and they wrote that on the walls to mislead our investigation, or¡­¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°Or¡­? Could you please finish your sentences?¡±

    Zador: ¡°Yes, sorry, Your Majesty. The other possible conclusion is that the organization actually exists, but they are so damn good at their job that there is no record of them anywhere, and those who know about them are too loyal to the organization, or too afraid, to talk.¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°If you had to guess which of the two possible conclusions is the correct one, what would be your guess?¡±

    Zador: ¡°I¡¯m afraid Your Majesty wouldn¡¯t like my answer.¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°Please, go ahead. Tell me your guess.¡±

    Zador: ¡°My guess would be that the organization actually exists.¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°May I ask you why?¡±

    Zador: ¡°Well, Your Majesty, there are several facts that support that conclusion. First, there have been some assassination attempts in the past by foreign spies, but nothing of this kind. Second, if this was really done by a foreign spy in an attempt to mislead our investigation, it would have been more logic to point toward an enemy kingdom, not toward some organization no one has ever heard of. Third, the professionality of the job is far superior to the one of the known spy corps, which clearly points to a new enemy. Fourth, the writings in fire on the walls were made with an unknown spell no one has ever seen before, which also points to a new enemy never encountered before. And...¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°There is still more?!¡±

    Zador: ¡°...And lastly, infiltrating an enemy Palace to conduct an assassination, taking the time to leisurely knock out the guards and Your Majesty, calmly writing on the walls with an unknown fire-based spell, and leaving Your Majesty alive while insinuating they can take Your Majesty¡¯s life anytime they want¡­ that takes a special kind of arrogance, the kind of arrogance that someone has when knowing that no matter what you do, you will never get caught! As far as I know, not even Dollan Empire has that kind of professionals!¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°What do we do then?¡±

    Zodar: ¡°The only choice Your Majesty has left, is to tighten the security in the Palace, and pray that Your Majesty doesn¡¯t offend the ¡®Council of ten¡¯ organization any further.¡±

    K. Klausna: ¡°To think the current situation really is that bad¡­ Do I really have only two years left to live?¡±

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 38 â€“ Glennaâ€™s arrival

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 38 ¨C Glenna¡¯s arrival

    Dollan Empire. Spy corps headquarters.

    ???: ¡°Is this information reliable?¡±

    ???: ¡°Yes, lord general. Our spies have confirmed Klausna Kingdom¡¯s crown Prince has died. The official statement is that he died in an accident, but the rumors in the capital indicate otherwise.¡±

    General: ¡°It was an assassination, then.¡±

    ???: ¡°That seems to be the case, in addition, one of our own managed to infiltrate the Palace disguised as a sixth rank water magus, and found proof of it.¡±

    General: ¡°Wait, wait a moment there, Thor! How is it possible that our spy found evidence of the assassination and the people of the Palace didn¡¯t? Something doesn¡¯t add up in that story!¡±

    Thor: ¡°Lord general, I think it will be better if you directly read the report!¡±

    He gave the parchment with the detailed report to the general and quietly waited for him to finish reading it. When the general was done, he put the parchment aside and closed his eyes without saying a word. Thor didn¡¯t dare to break the heavy silence that had invaded the room and waited for the general to speak again.

    General: ¡°Do we have any information on this ¡®Council of ten¡¯ organization?¡±

    Thor: ¡°I¡¯m afraid we don¡¯t have any, lord general. It is either a newly formed organization, or an organization of which there has been no record so far, which means they are really good at concealing themselves, but such an arrogant move against Klausna¡¯s Royal family, doesn¡¯t look consistent with that concealment level!¡±

    General: ¡°It is unlikely that it is a newly formed organization, it takes a long time to train a professional to that level and once you do, you won¡¯t let go of him easily! That means the organization has maintained a concealment level never seen before on this continent. However, they have gone out in the open to commit this assassination. Why¡­?¡±

    The general took the parchment again, and reread the part of the messages on the walls. Then, he looked at Thor, and thought of any possible reasons an organization, which had worked so to leave no record of its existence anywhere, could possibly have to act so publicly.

    General: ¡°Thor! Do we have any information regarding the woman mentioned in the message? Her background should definitely be not simple if her death led to such a secretive organization to act so publicly!¡±

    Thor: ¡°We tried to check her background, but she was like a ghost, she appeared in the capital about a year before marrying into the Zircon family, but the information on her before her arrival is non-existent! It¡¯s almost like she appeared out of thin air! It seems that the only ones in the whole capital who knew about her background were the actual members of the Zircon family.¡±

    General: ¡°And they were all massacred¡­ The woman is a dead end, then. What about the boy? How is he related to the ¡®Council of ten¡¯? Why is he under their protection?¡±

    Thor: ¡°As stated in the message, there was an assassination attempt on the boy. The maid that was with him died in his place, but the killers still managed to poison the boy. The boy is favored by the King Dollan Shephiran, to the point of being given a fiefdom due to his martial prowess, many powers had their eyes on him after his display of ability and strength. Until not long ago, his father was the exclusive swordsmanship instructor of Shephiran¡¯s princes.¡±

    General: ¡°Do we know why he was targeted? It doesn¡¯t look like a kid could pose any problem for them in the near future!¡±

    Thor: ¡°Lord general, Klausna Kingdom was preparing for war against Shephiran Kingdom, and the boy¡¯s fiefdom was an strategical location which could impede the advance of Klausna¡¯s troops in the most direct route toward Shephiria.¡±

    General: ¡°Klausna triumphing over Shephiran is against our interests¡­ What is the current situation of the boy?¡±

    Thor: ¡°We looked into the records of the Healers Guild, and the reports of the healers who went to cure him state that the boy presented symptoms similar to those of The Plague, caused by a poison never encountered since the end of the Great Magic Era. They don¡¯t expect him to recover!¡±

    General: ¡°What a pity¡­¡±

    **************************************************************************

    Another 3 weeks passed and Ragnar?k resembled more to the city Merlin had originally designed. There had been some problems of people rioting due to the order of not letting anyone without a soul or blood contract anywhere near the construction site. Nevertheless, some of the soldiers from Dorka Garrison were helping the newly appointed city guards in securing the perimeter around the construction site, so the riots were easily suppressed.

    Everyone was marveled by the pace the city was being built at, what would usually take more than a year to build, had been built in Ragnar?k in few weeks. Not only was it a sight to behold, the pace was far superior than any other on the continent. That situation had been created by the nature of the workers. In other places, contracted workers would barely do the minimum required amount of work, trying to delay the completion of the projects in order to increase the pay.

    In contrast to them, the workers in Ragnar?k were highly motivated to build the city because it was going to be their city, the place where they would settle down and form a family, and where their children would grow up. They were building their homes and their city with their own hands, they didn¡¯t ask for a salary and they would get a house for free in return. That, coupled with the fact that they had magi among them helping with the construction, made the building pace insanely fast.

    Sadly, when people see someone else obtaining something remarkable, they tend to long for it, and rumors of special methods of construction being used in Ragnar?k started to appear. Those rumors made many kinds of people appear in Ragnar?k to see it with their own eyes, and after confirmation on site, they attempted many different approaches to obtain the rumored special methods of construction, some of them were to create the riots, trying to sneak into the construction site and steal them.

    Little did they know that those special methods only existed in their imagination. Even the King had sent an envoy after the insistence of the minister of war, who thought those special methods should be classified top secret and used by the military to construct forts in times of war. That envoy was the only outsider allowed to enter the construction site, but after he did, he wished he hadn¡¯t.

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    He was looking forward to see the so called special methods, but when he discovered the true nature of their speed, he was thoroughly disappointed and a little fearful, for he didn¡¯t know how his superiors would react after reading his report.

    When he returned to the capital and gave his report, the minister of war thought the envoy was a shameless man who had obtained the information and wanted to keep it for himself, but the King understood that what was going on in Ragnar?k was due to Merlin¡¯s influence and decided to let it go. He also asked the royal alchemists to look into the archives of the Palace for any information related to the poison known as ¡°The Devil¡¯s Scythe¡±.

    *************************************************************

    Emelyn and Leyla were making preparations to receive Glenna¡¯s family. They were supposed to have arrived to Laklostia two weeks before, but they had been forced to delay their departure from the capital due to unforeseen circumstances. Today, Glena¡¯s family would arrive to Laklostia, but they still didn¡¯t have a house in Ragnar?k or Laklostia, so Emelyn and Leyla decided to accommodating them in their home until a house was assigned to them.

    A few hours later, a carriage stop at the door of the Pendragons¡¯ home, Glenna¡¯s family had finally arrived. After the presentations were done, Glenna noticed that there was something amiss: Merlin wasn¡¯t present.

    Glenna: ¡°Emelyn, Leyla, where is Merlin?¡±

    Leyla: ¡°¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°About that¡­ Glenna, we have a lot to talk about. Adelle, Lupa, and Bastet. Give Tessa a tour of the back yard and play with her while we adults have a talk!¡±

    The 3 girls didn¡¯t say a word and went toward the back yard. Tessa hesitated for a moment and looked at her mother, after Glenna nodded, Tessa followed the girls. Glenna then followed Leyla and Emelyn into the house.

    Glenna: ¡°Well, girls, could you please explain to me why we have sent the girls away the very second I mentioned Merlin?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin has already 3 fianc¨¦es, no one of them chosen out of his free will, we can¡¯t choose a fourth one without his consent. We just can¡¯t!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Sorry, Glenna. Please, understand!¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Glenna¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°What is so funny?¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Sorry, the whole thing about Tessa and Merlin¡¯s engagement was something I said out of convenience. As you two already know, Richard¡¯s father is a baronet. My father-in-law wants to have ties with the high nobility and when Tessa was only two years old,  he tried to have her engaged with Marquis Thogra¡¯s youngest son¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Then, that means¡­¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Yes, it¡¯s as you think. I remembered our conversation years ago, and to save Tessa from being used as a tool by my father-in-law to further his agenda, Richard and I decided to inform his family that we were going to uphold our promise to you, and have Tessa marry your newborn son, Merlin.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Then, you want to have Merlin and Tessa be engaged in name only!¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Yes.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°That means you don¡¯t plan on actually making her Merlin¡¯s fianc¨¦e! This is good, now we don¡¯t have to worry about Merlin running away from home after he wakes up!¡±

    Glenna: ¡°That was the original plan¡­ ¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°What do you mean, ¡®the original plan¡¯?¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Well, you know how the women in my family tend to fall for strong warriors¡­ Tessa was among the public when Merlin fought those 6 royal guards a few months ago, and she said that instead of being Merlin¡¯s fianc¨¦e only in name, she wanted to become his fianc¨¦e for real!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°I don¡¯t plan to force Merlin to accept her as his fianc¨¦e. If she really is serious about it, then she must earn that right by making Merlin fall for her! You must forbid her from telling anyone that she is his fianc¨¦e!¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Fair enough! I¡¯ll explain it to her in a way that she understands. Now, can I meet my future son-in-law?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°You seem to be quite confident in her success!¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Hahaha! Of course I am, she¡¯s my daughter!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°There is a slight problem with you meeting him¡­¡±

    Glenna: ¡°A problem? What do you mean?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It will be easier to show you¡­ Please, follow us!¡±

    Glenna followed Emelyn and Leyla to Merlin¡¯s room, and she was surprised when she saw the boy on the bed. Glenna was about to touch Merlin¡¯s body with her left hand, when she noticed the lack of mana in his body. Frightened, she retreated 3 steps and looked at Leyla and Emelyn.

    Glenna: ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me he has The Plague?!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It¡¯s not  The Plague, when we requested help from the Healers Guild, the healers who were sent here confirmed it. There was an assassination attempt on him a few weeks ago, our maid died and Merlin was poisoned. The poison was something called ¡®The Devil¡¯s Scythe¡¯, and its symptoms are similar to those of the plague. It¡¯s an ancient poison from the Great Magic Era.¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Why would someone try to kill Merlin? Albeit a genius, he is just a child!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Well, the things he has done so far have caught a lot of attention¡­ Someone probably felt envious or threatened by his potential, and ordered his assassination. That¡¯s just the kind of world we live in. I was afraid of something like this might happen in the future, but I never expected it to happen so soon!¡±

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a> !

 New series thread

    Hello, dear readers,

    as promised, I have started to rewrite the earlier chapters of this story. To avoid any possible confusion, I have posted the rewrites in a new story thread.

    Here you have the link, for those interested:

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.http://royalroadl.com/fiction/5122</a>

    Thank you all for reading this post. Chapter 39 will be released in RRL on monday

    Have a nice day!

 Chapter 39 - Rumors and poison

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 39 - Rumors and poison

    Tessa cried a lot when her mother explained to her Merlin¡¯s predicament and Tessa¡¯s position in Merlin¡¯s life. She accepted that the only way she could be with him would be befriending him first, but as he was in a coma, she chose to become friends with Lupa, Bastet and Adelle, that way they could put good words for her to Merlin.

    Another month passed and the development of the city continued smoothly, to the point they would finish its construction in 2-3 weeks. The three girls received Glenna¡¯s devilish training in etiquette along with Tessa, who started fearing her mother¡¯s company for the first time. The date of Mina¡¯s enrollment into the Hexenwunder Royal Academy was getting closer by the day, and she had gotten better at hand-to-hand combat, even obtaining Shin¡¯s praise, which wasn¡¯t an easy thing to get.

    The Pendragon family received a surprise two days ago, and was about to begin celebrating it. The surprise being, they had received the admittance letter from the Hexenwunder Royal Academy for Bly, in the magic department. It really came as a surprise because Bly¡¯s potential as a magus barely qualified for it, and there were far too many applicants and with a better background for him to be admitted.

    Everyone celebrated Bly¡¯s godsend opportunity, but they knew it was really strange for him to have received the admittance letter, when he hadn¡¯t even applied for the academy, which showed it was someone else¡¯s work¡­ and that it might very well be related to Merlin.

    ********************************************************************

    Klausna Kingdom. Duke Risme¡¯s mansion.

    The genius ideas Mandy had shown the duke and duchess so far had allowed the household to almost double its income and influence in the kingdom, in a question of months. The duke and duchess no longer treated her as their step-daughter, the way they treated her was now so natural, that someone who didn¡¯t know better would think Mandy was their real daughter.

    So much so, that rumors had started spreading in the capital, stating that she was the daughter Duke Risme had with a mistress. That after the death of the daughter he had with his legal wife at the hands of the crown Prince, Duke Risme had taken Mandy in and told the truth about the affair to his wife, who had in turn adopted Mandy as her new daughter.

    Duke Risme and his wife didn¡¯t mind such rumors spreading, as a matter of fact, they welcomed them. Instead of having to make up a lie which could be investigated later and found out, the rumor would work in their advantage. The populace creating that rumor made of any lie told by the duke about Mandy¡¯s origin, an attempt to cover up his affair with Mandy¡¯s mother, reinforcing that way the believability of the rumor.

    There was only one occasion in which the rumor worked against the duke¡­ The first time the duchess heard about the rumor from a maid, he entered his husband¡¯s study and slapped him silly before giving him any chance to give an explanation. It happened 3 weeks ago¡­

    *SLAP* *SLAP* *SLAP*

    D. Risme: ¡°Dear, why did you slap me?¡±

    Duchess: ¡°You¡¯ve given me more than enough reason! Say, how many more are there that I don¡¯t know about?¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Dear, I really don¡¯t know what you are talking about! How many more what?¡±

    Duchess: ¡°Feigning ignorance isn¡¯t going to get you anywhere! Humpf! To think I really believed the act you put together with that dwarf! How could I be so stupid?¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°An act? What act? Why do you think that it was an act? It was true! Everything that went on that night was true! I would have thought that Mandy¡¯s presence here and that bastard¡¯s death were proof enough!¡±

    Duchess: ¡°While it is true that Mandy has greatly helped our household since her arrival, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that she is the result of your infidelity! Did you really think that I wouldn¡¯t eventually find out? Well, I did! Just like the other time!¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Ok, ok¡­ I think that I have finally understood why you are reacting this way. With the exception of that one time, I have always been faithful to you!¡±

    Duchess: ¡°Yeah, right! Like I am going to believe those words¡­ Everyone in the capital knows about your affair with Mandy¡¯s mother. It seems that I¡¯ve been the last one to learn about it, but it has already reached my ears!¡±

    The duke approached his wife and despite her struggle, he took her into his embrace. Her tears were those of rage and frustration, she tried to contain them, but she was unable to. She still loved her husband, despite his prior infidelity, she thought he had been a good husband to her, however, hearing that rumor from the maid had crumbled her world and everything she believed in.

    The duke knew he had been the origin of the rumor, and after seeing how much he had hurt his wife trying to jeep her in the dark, he decided to come clean and explain to her the circumstances in which the rumor had been originated. Seeing that he had somehow managed to pacify her, he started whispering into her ear so that no one else would learn of the truth behind the rumor.

    D. Risme: ¡°Dear, the other day, when I was talking with Marquis Stenzma about the spike on commerce in the capital the last few weeks, he asked me about Mandy and I told him she was my daughter. What I really meant to say was that she was my step-daughter, but Marquis Stenzma misunderstood and thought Mandy was my illegitimate daughter. I, of course, noticed his misunderstanding, but I thought that a rumor like that would help legitimate her position as our daughter, and didn¡¯t correct him.¡±

    Duchess: ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me? If I had known before, I wouldn¡¯t have reacted like that when I overheard two maids talking about the rumor!¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Sorry, dear. I know I should have told you, but I didn¡¯t expect my past affair would make you react this way, even before asking me how much of the rumor was true! You know I love you, I would never do that to you. Not again!¡±

    After that, the both of them started making up without paying any attention to their surroundings. Having a consultation to make to his step-father, Mandy went to his studio. She saw her step-parents making an effort to give her a little brother or sister in the future, so she closed the door, and went back to her room after asking a maid to make sure that no one would disturb them.

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    ***************************************************************

    Lokiseth¡¯s pseudo-realm.

    A few months have passed since Merlin finished his foundation training in survival and the Pendragon Clan martial arts. Merlin originally thought his foundation training was very harsh, and prayed that it would end soon, but when it did, he finally understood the meaning of the saying ¡®be careful with what you wish for, lest it might become true¡¯.

    As soon as he was done with the foundation training, Lokiseth decided it was time for Merlin to begin his training in compounding and identification of poisons and antidotes. Lokiseth used a very Spartan way to teach him, he gave Merlin a vial and made him smell it. If Merlin was able to identify the poison, its ingredients, and the symptoms it provoked, he passed. If he was unable to do it, then he would suffer a punishment.

    Lokiseth: ¡°Well, Merlin. Now is the time to check how much you remember of today¡¯s lesson. Take this vial and identify the poison, its ingredients and the symptoms it provokes when used in a victim.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, master. This is Lucretia poison, and its ingredients are powder of Lardit flower, root of Azari, and juice of Klader fruit. The symptoms differ in function of the method employed to administrate the poison. When ingested, it causes abdominal pain, nausea, amnesia, muscle breakdown and tremors. When inhaled, it causes hallucinations, confusion, nausea and amnesia. When injected, it causes generalized seizures, nausea, convulsions and cardiac arrest.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Is that all, Merlin?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I think so. Yes, master.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Ok, then I¡¯ll give you my verdict on your answer.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Please do so, master.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°You identified the poison correctly as ¡®Lucretia¡¯. You also identified its ingredients correctly. Well done!¡±

    Seeing that Lokiseth didn¡¯t continue analyzing his answer and had praised that part instead, Merlin started becoming nervous and his heart-rate started soaring. He didn¡¯t want to fail, if his answer or some part of it was wrong, a world of pain was waiting for him¡­ and he wanted to avoid that at any cost!

    Merlin: ¡°Then my answer was correct, right? The symptoms too, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°You identified the symptoms correctly, in case the poison was inhaled or injected. However, in your answer when the method of administration of the poison is ingestion, you made a mistake!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Oh, no!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Drink the poison, Merlin.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, master!¡±

    Merlin didn¡¯t dare to hesitate and gulped down the poison. It didn¡¯t take much time for the poison to take effect. Soon after, Merlin was on the ground, clutching his stomach, and suffering an acute case of abdominal pain and nausea. He had started trembling too. Lokiseth looked at him and smirked.

    Lokiseth: ¡°Merlin, could you be so kind to tell me what your symptoms are?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Y-yes, ma-master.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Go ahead, then. Tell me your symptoms after the ingestion of ¡®Lucretia¡¯ poison.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Y-yes. I-I ha-have abd-dominal p-pain, n-nausea, a-and tr-tremors.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Do you have amnesia, or muscle breakdown?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°N-no, ma-master. I-I w-was wr-wrong.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°It¡¯s good that you have realized your mistake. Please, don¡¯t forget next time, or we will have to do this again! Here, have the antidote!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Th-thank y-you, ma-master!¡±

    Having taken the antidote, Merlin drank a lot of water and went to a side to urinate and finish expulsing the remaining poison from his system. Lokiseth had power over the pseudo-realm, and he had made it so that Merlin wouldn¡¯t actually die inside it, but that aside, he could still feel the pain of being at the death¡¯s door.

    Taking advantage of that fact, Lokiseth was drilling into Merlin everything related to poisons and antidotes, by making him experience the poisons first-hand. That ¡°special training regime¡± would benefit Merlin a lot in the future, but at that precise moment, it was making him wish he could die for real and escape the torture.

    Merlin: ¡°Master, I have a question for you¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°What is it, Merlin?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, the thing is¡­ I have been studying poisons for months, now. I was wondering how many poisons are left for me to study¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°With today¡¯s lesson, you have studied about 40% of the total number of poisons. You have yet to study the remaining 60%!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I was better off not knowing that¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have asked!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Think about it positively. You have already endured the first 40% of the poisons. It would be worse if, after all you¡¯ve gone through, you still had to experience the 90% of the poisons, instead of the 60%!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Master, your statement doesn¡¯t carry any falsehood, but it isn¡¯t very reassuring either!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°That¡¯s just how it is.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I could swear that I have been trapped in here for more than a year, now. Why didn¡¯t you release me?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°I guess I forgot to tell you¡­ Inside this pseudo-realm time passes five times faster than in the outside world. When I said 1 year, I meant it in the outside world.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°But that means¡­!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Yes, Merlin. That means in the outside world no more than 4 months have passed.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Oh, don¡¯t make that face! Ok, ok¡­ You win! I can¡¯t let you out before the 1 year is up, your body wouldn¡¯t be able to stand it!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Why did you say I had won, then?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Well, you seem to be a little down lately¡­ so, I have decided to give you a reward for training so hard! I¡¯ll give it to you after you finish your training in compounding and identification of poisons and antidotes¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What kind of reward?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°I won¡¯t spoil it for you, but I think you are going to like it an awful lot!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thanks, master. I¡¯ll look forward to it!¡±

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 Chapter 40 - Jasmine

    Lokiseth¡¯s pseudo-realm.

    Two and a half years have passed since Merlin was trapped in there. His torturous training in compounding and identification of poisons and antidotes, has finally reached its end. That day was the promised day, Merlin was wondering what the promised prize would be, but Lokiseth seemed to be oblivious of the date and had already started preparing the next stage of Merlin¡¯s training. Merlin couldn¡¯t endure it anymore and asked Lokiseth.

    Merlin: ¡°Master!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Yes, what is it, Merlin?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Master, do you remember what day is today?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°I remember, indeed. Today is the day that marks exactly 18 months since your arrival in this pseudo-realm.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Master! Today I finished my training in compounding and identification of poisons and antidotes!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°I know, I was there when it happened. Congratulations!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Aren¡¯t you forgetting something, master?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Not that I am aware of¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Master, didn¡¯t you promise you would give me a prize when I finished my training in compounding and identification of poisons and antidotes? Or was it just a lie to make me work harder?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°It would seem that you have misunderstood something¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I was right, then, there is no prize whatsoever!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. The exact word I used at the time was ¡®reward¡¯, not ¡®prize¡¯. And your reward is currently waiting for you inside the cave.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thank you master!¡±

    At that moment, Merlin took off without waiting for Lokiseth, and run toward the cave. Lokiseth smiled wryly and stopped what he was doing, he left the things on the ground, and then went to stop Merlin before he reached the cave. When he caught up to Merlin, he immobilized him against the ground and sit on his back.

    Lokiseth: ¡°You seem to have forgotten your manners, Merlin! Since when do you think that you have the right to run off whenever you please, without even letting me finish what I was saying?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Sorry, master. I just¡­ I was so happy that I have finally earned that reward that I completely forgot myself back there! It won¡¯t happen ever again!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°It better not! If there is ever a next time, I¡¯ll make you drink a mix of all the poisons I know, and I¡¯ll force you to be on the brink of death for a whole month before giving you any antidote!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I promise, master!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Very well. Follow me!¡±

    As Merlin followed Lokiseth into the cave, he felt that there was something strange in it. He didn¡¯t have any evidence to support that feeling, but his instinct told him he was right. Merlin heard giggles upon entering the cave, which was quite the strange thing, given that Lokiseth and him were supposed to be the only two using that cave.

    However, he didn¡¯t need much time to guess who was giggling, because soon after he heard the giggles, a 3-year-old little girl run at him and hugged him. He didn¡¯t know who the little girl was, so he looked at Lokiseth for an answer.

    Lokiseth: ¡°What?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Who is she? Weren¡¯t you and I the only ones supposed to be in this pseudo-realm? How did she get here? And more importantly, who is she?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°You had met her before, after all, you¡¯ve known her for years!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Have you really forgotten about her?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Can you please stop playing mind games with me? I can¡¯t recall who she is. As a matter of fact, I don¡¯t think I have ever met this little girl before!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Ok, playtime is over! I¡¯ll tell you who she is¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Who?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Jasmine, your maid.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Impossible! Jasmine died in front of me when those assassins tried to kill me! Besides, she was 19, how could she possibly be here and be a 3-year-old?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°This is going to take some time to explain¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°It would take 5 times that in the outside world¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you knew how to joke. Do you remember what happened the day those assassins tried to kill you and got her instead?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°She got killed, I got mad and used your power, which led us to our current situation. But I still don¡¯t manage to understand what that has to do with this little girl! How could she possibly be Jasmine?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°As I said, this is going to take a while¡­¡±

    With those words, Lokiseth started to explain to Merlin what really went on that night, and the reason for Jasmine becoming a 3-year-old little girl. The night he fought the assassins and Jasmine was killed, Merlin had a soul stone on himself. When Jasmine¡¯s soul escaped her body, it somehow ended up trapped inside the soul stone.

    Merlin: ¡°If she really died and her soul was trapped inside the soul stone, then how did she enter your pseudo-realm? And why has she become a little girl?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°As I said, her soul was trapped inside the soul stone. Those stones weren¡¯t made to hold souls safely and then extract them, they were made as power sources for magic tools that work on soul energy.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I still don¡¯t get what that has to do with Jasmine¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°You need to learn the virtue of patience, it is bad manners interrupting your elders when they are explaining something to you!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Sorry, master.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°As I was saying, the soul stones weren¡¯t made so that the souls trapped in there could be easily extracted, which leads us to our current predicament. When I extracted Jasmine¡¯s soul from the soul stone, her soul received some damage, and she will need several years to recover. For that reason, instead of giving her a body her age, I gave her a body which suits her, given her current predicament. She will grow up along with that young body, and her soul will recover.¡±

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    Merlin: ¡°But why does she act like a real 3-year-old girl? Shouldn¡¯t she be an adult girl in the body of a child?¡±

    Lokiseth was starting to get fed up with Merlin¡¯s ranting, so he finished his explanation in one go, without giving Merlin any chance to retort. He explained to Merlin that as a result of her soul being damaged, Jasmine¡¯s personality had reverted to that of a child, and while she had retained most of her memories, her cognitive abilities were those of a 3-year-old, hence the body Lokiseth had given her.

    He also explained to Merlin, that giving her a body inside his pseudo-realm wasn¡¯t the same as resuscitating her, it was an spiritual body of sorts, meaning, the body was real inside the pseudo-realm, but it would be destroyed the very moment it went to the outside world.

    Merlin didn¡¯t really understand that point, everything in this realm was real, even his body in the outside world was being nourished by the food he was consuming inside the pseudo-realm! But after giving it some thought, he finally understood that Lokiseth¡¯s words were true, because there was a very big difference between the two of them, Merlin entered Lokiseth¡¯s pseudo-realm while he was alive, while Jasmine¡¯s soul had entered it after her death¡­

    Jasmine¡¯s body inside the pseudo-realm was just the physical manifestation of her soul, if it were to the outside world, she would become a ghost or a vengeful spirit, but she had no way to be a human girl anymore. The only reason she had yet to enter the reincarnation cycle, was that her soul had been accidentally trapped inside the soul stone, and released inside Lokiseth¡¯s pseudo-realm.

    Merlin: ¡°Master, is there really no way to resuscitate her in the outside world?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°After her real body died, her body couldn¡¯t host her soul anymore, unless you want her to become an undead?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I don¡¯t want that! Sorry master, I know that I¡¯m being unreasonable here, but I feel guilty about her death, and I really would like to give her a second chance at live¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°It is not like it is impossible¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Please, tell me how!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°¡­but she has first to recover from the damage in her soul. Once her soul has healed, she¡¯ll have to possess a new body.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Master, if Jasmine possessed a body, she would end up being exorcised, and having her soul destroyed!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°That would be the case if she possessed the body of a normal person, but if she possessed the body of a woman whose soul had been destroyed, Jasmine¡¯s soul could fuse with that body and reclaim it as hers.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°And where do we find such a body?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Some dungeons and labyrinths have soul-destroying traps, that would be your best bet. Anyhow, it will take years for her soul to recover, so you have more than enough time to find her a suitable body. Besides, if you don¡¯t find her one, you could always make her one yourself!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What do you mean, master?¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°You don¡¯t need to know about that now, you don¡¯t currently have the resources nor the capabilities to do it anyway!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Ok, ok, I¡¯ll tell you! Stop looking at me with those puppy eyes! Have you ever heard about homunculi?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°The creation of those artificial humans was first researched as a solution to situations like Jasmine¡¯s, but was later abandoned and banned when unscrupulous people tried to attain immortality by making use of them. If you were to find the necessary equipment in some ruins, you might be able to create an artificial body for her.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thank you very much for the information, master.¡±

    Lokiseth had hesitated when telling Merlin about the homunculi, because any ruins susceptible of having the necessary equipment for creating one, were sure to be ranked at least as S Rank in danger. If Merlin were to go to one of those places before being ready, he was sure to die before being able to even make half a step inside.

    Of course, after having passed so much time inside Merlin, Lokiseth had already figured out his personality, and knew that telling him the information about the homunculi was a gamble. Either he pushed himself to the limits in order to get strong enough to go exploring ruins, looking the necessary equipment, or he got too full of himself and went exploring some ruins before he was prepared, dying in the process.

    However, Lokiseth made the gamble because he knew that when a man is doing his best effort to correct a mistake he committed in the past, is then that he is the most reliable. He was using Merlin¡¯s guilt over Jasmine¡¯s death to fuel his motivation to get stronger as fast as possible, and when it came to Merlin¡¯s survival, Lokiseth thought the end justified the means.

    Merlin took the little girl who had fallen asleep in his embrace, and laid her on some pelts on the floor of the cave. *She really does look like a very young version of Jasmine¡¯s*  thought Merlin as he looked at her sleeping face. Then he turned around and went toward Lokiseth to ask him for a new training regime, he had unknowingly fallen for Lokiseth¡¯s mind tricks, and had ended asking for a training regime 3 times harsher than the one Lokiseth had originally planned on giving him.

    *************************************************

    Commercial town of Katra. Baronet Linus¡¯ residence.

    B. Linus: ¡°Is that information reliable?¡±

    Guard: ¡°Rumor has it that ever since they finished the construction of the city of Ragnar?k, the security on the route to the capital has increased tenfold! Of the 3 bandit groups under at our service, 1 was wiped out last week by a group of city guards from Ragnar?k that had been dispatched to protect the caravan.¡±

    B. Linus: ¡°That explains why our income has plummeted the last few months. This can¡¯t continue! Find a way to cut Ragnar?k¡¯s protection to the caravan route, I don¡¯t care how you do it, but we need more income in the town!¡±

    Guard: ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 41 â€“ Mental holodeck

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    Chapter 41 ¨C Mental holodeck

    It was late in the night and dozens of soldiers enjoyed the warmth of the several campfires that had been lit in the camp. Merlin looked around him and observed them, it had been a long war, and his numerous enemies had tried to get rid of him on many occasions. He knew that someone among the men in the camp was a spy working for his enemies, but he didn¡¯t know his identity.

    Soldier A: ¡°Young master, you should take this soup before it gets cold!¡±

    *Strange. I was just about to get up to get my share, why would this soldier bring me the soup? I wasn¡¯t even planning on taking it right now¡­ It is very suspicious¡­* thought Merlin. He looked at the soldier, but aside from being nervous, he didn¡¯t make a gesture out of place that could identify him as a spy.

    Merlin turned my attention towards the soup, it really was the soup that had been served to the rest of the soldiers in the camp, however, that precise serving the soldier had brought to Merlin had an extra ingredient: poison. The poison ¡°Caldtera¡± kills the victim with a heart-attack 12 hours after its ingestion. Realizing the soldier had tried to poison him, Merlin quickly stood up and beheaded him on the spot.

    Soldier B: ¡°Young master, why did you kill that soldier? He only brought you the soup, you could have just dismissed him if you weren¡¯t hungry right now¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That bastard had poisoned the soup! All of you, take turns and go to the healer, have him check if any of you have also been poisoned by that bastard!¡±

    All soldiers: ¡°Yes, young master!¡±

    Soon dawn came, and with it, the forest woke up. All the soldiers in the camp had already gone to the healer¡¯s tent for a check up, fortunately, no one of them had been poisoned. There were some wolves moving among the thickets surrounding the camp, so Merlin instructed the soldiers to prepare some traps. He went back to his tent, took out a map, and extended it on the table.

    A few minutes later, his direct subordinates entered the tent to discuss possible strategies with him. Merlin didn¡¯t know the number of enemies that were waiting for them outside of the forest, but there was one thing that was crystal clear for him, they wanted him and his men dead, and they would go to any lengths to obtain that result.

    Merlin ordered the soldiers to put the traps in place and tell him when the wolves had been caught. His idea, although na?ve, was very simple: to catch the wolves in the traps, alive, and then free them on the border of the forest, while setting them on their enemies as a vanguard for the attack planned by Merlin¡¯s forces.

    Midday arrived and it was lunch time. Merlin ate his share, and went to do his business at the latrine in a hurry. Having relieved himself, Merlin¡¯s mood changed for the better. Suddenly, he started to feel numbness all over his body, he realized he had been poisoned, and tried to reach his tent to take an antidote. However, when he arrived to the center of the camp, where the food was being served, he saw all his men on the ground. He checked several of them for a pulse, but they were all dead.

    *Who did this? I killed the man who tried to poison me! Why have we all been poisoned?* thought Merlin. Then, he saw the cook going out of the tent and Merlin called out to him.

    Merlin: ¡°Max! What happened? Why is everyone dead? Did that bastard from yesterday poison any of our supplies?¡±

    Max: ¡°He didn¡¯t poison any of our supplies, I did.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°He didn¡¯t poison them. Then, how did our soldiers¡­? No way, you!¡±

    Max: ¡°Hahaha, you really are slow, young master! That fool you beheaded yesterday, only brought the soup to you because I told him you had asked for it. I was the one who poisoned your soup, not him! Oh, man, how I laughed after seeing his corpse¡­ Hahaha!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Why, Max? Why did you betray our kingdom?¡±

    Max: ¡°Why? Because I hate your goddamn kingdom to the core! My father was a soldier, but after his death on the front, the soldiers of your beloved kingdom pinned the fall of the fort on him, the hero who died defending it! And, do you know what takes the cake?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What?¡±

    Max: ¡°My mother and I were evicted from our house, and forced into debt. My mother even became a debt slave, and due to some shady deals of the slave dealer, she ended up being sold to a brothel. I, on the other hand, was left to rot in the streets of the slums! That is the kingdom you said I betrayed, but the truth is, your kingdom betrayed me first!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That might be so, but all those soldiers were innocent! They weren¡¯t the ones who betrayed you! Why did you have to kill them?¡±

    Max: ¡°You don¡¯t have much time left, so there is no harm in telling you¡­ They offered me 2000 gold and a fief, just for killing this company, which I intended to do regardless of their offer. It was killing two birds with one stone!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You are a shameless bastard!¡±

    Max: ¡°That might be so¡­ but I am a rich shameless bastard! And you are a dead man talking. Good bye, young master!¡±

    Merlin¡¯s vision started to blur while seeing the traitorous cook walking away, his body had stopped responding to him and he could feel his life escaping his body¡­

    *********************************************

    Merlin opened his eyes, only to see Lokiseth¡¯s fist rapidly closing the distance with his face! After crashing against the wall of the cave, Merlin heard Jasmine¡¯s giggles and faced Lokiseth.

    Merlin: ¡°Master, why did you punch me?¡±

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    Lokiseth: ¡°Because of your idiocy! There are a little less than two months left before the 5 years in this realm are up, but 2 times out of 10 you still lead yourself by your hotheadedness!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Master, I¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°No excuses! We have been doing these exercises with the illusions for more than 2 years, now¡­ but you still make rash decisions, and the point of these exercises was precisely to correct that and to teach you how to conduct yourself in real-life situations!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I know, master, but I¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°I said no excuses! Tell me, what were your mistakes in the last exercise?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I didn¡¯t identify the main threat and had all the soldiers killed.¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°No! You hotheadedly killed the soldier who brought the poisoned soup to you, without even trying to analyze the situation first! Had you bothered analyzing the situation, you would have realized that soldier was a new recruit and was nervous because that was the first time he had met his commander, you!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°¡­¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°Any little amount of investigation would have led you to discover the traitor, that cook! However, what makes me the most furious, is that the day you died within the illusion, you didn¡¯t even check the food for poison before eating it! Didn¡¯t I teach you that was the first thing you must do whenever you are served food or a drink?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I know, master. I¡¯m sorry, it won¡¯t happen ever again!¡±

    Lokiseth: ¡°You better make damn sure it doesn¡¯t! In the illusion, if you fail, you can start again from the beginning! But in the real world, there are no redoes, if you happen to die, you¡¯ll be dead for good! Prepare yourself for the next illusion!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, master!¡± *I hate this fucking mental holodeck! More than 2 years doing this crap and I still haven¡¯t gotten used to it! Every time I die, I feel it!*

    *****************************************************

    The time for Merlin to get out of Lokiseth¡¯s pseudo-realm was drawing nearer by the day.

    While he was busy dealing with the illusions Lokiseth was trapping him in, in the outside world, Glenna was lovingly giving the four girls her torturous training in ladylike manners. They had received her training for a few months, and they had also been taught common sense, which in the case of Lupa and Bastet was highly necessary.

    In Glenna¡¯s opinion, the four girls were almost ready to be introduced to the high society, without bringing any shame to their families or to Merlin.

    Emelyn had given birth to a girl whose name was decided by Adelle, and she named the baby Lizza. Emelyn had told the Adelle, Lupa, Bastet and Tessa to come with a name for the baby, but the four girls were unable to come to an agreement, so they ended up deciding the name by playing rock-paper-scissors and Adelle was the one who won.

    When Lilith was born, Leyla and Emelyn didn¡¯t allow Adelle, Lupa and Bastet to take care of the baby without their supervision because they were too young for it. Nevertheless, the situation had changed with the addition of Tessa to the group, the four girls had matured under Glenna¡¯s strict instruction, and the youngest among them was already 6 years old. That meant they were old and mature enough to take care of a baby while the mother was busy elsewhere.

    Of course, Emelyn wouldn¡¯t separate from her newborn daughter that easily, but in the few moments she had to go out to solve some problem and Leyla and Glenna couldn¡¯t babysit Lilith and Lizza, they allowed the girls to do the job. The four girls, on the other hand, took those few babysitting moments like a sort of special training for when they became mothers themselves.

    The last few months had marked a significant increase in the trade with Ragnar?k, but so had increased the bandit attacks on the caravans that made the route Ragnar?k-Shephiria. The instigator of the attacks was, of course, Baronet Linus. His idea was to unsettle the merchants, making them fear for their security, and have them return to their previous route, the one which had the commercial town of Katra as one of its stops.

    Baronet Linus¡¯ plan backfired, due to the protection given to the caravans by the guards provided by Ragnar?k, instead of unsettling the merchants, they were shown that choosing the Ragnar?k-Shephiria route instead of the Katra-Shephiria one, was not only more profitable, even the security provided by Ragnar?k was better than any other they could hire privately.

    The whole situation was giving Baronet Linus a headache! *How is it possible that the more I try to disrupt the commerce towards that goddamn city, the more they receive, and the more my income suffers?* he thought.

    The answer to his question was actually quite simple: he was a money-grubber. When the only existent route was the Katra-Shephiria one, Baronet Linus sent bandit groups to attack the caravans, and on top of that, the tariffs imposed to the merchants to enter the commercial town of Katra were the highest in the kingdom. However, the tariffs for the merchants when entering Ragnar?k were practically non-existent, while the security of the new route was of the highest grade, so the very moment the new route was open, most of the merchants chose to use it.

    Being in a mess of his own creation, Baronet Linus couldn¡¯t help but curse his bad luck, but as they say, there is no medicine for regret on the world, so the only thing he could do then, was to regret and deal with the consequences of his own actions.

    ****************************************************

    Unlike any other day, there was no one In Merlin¡¯s room aside from him. The door quietly closed itself without anyone pushing it, and strange fluctuations started to appear in the air. Merlin¡¯s body started to shine and levitate over the bed, but after a while, his body descended back on the bed and the shine disappeared along with the fluctuations in the air. Suddenly, Merlin opened his eyes¡­

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 42 - Catching up

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 42 ¨C Catching up

    Merlin looked around him and was surprised to see that he was alone in the room. He hadn¡¯t expected his parents or aunt to be by his side, but Adelle, Lupa, and Bastet would usually be all over him, even more so with him being sick or in a coma. Merlin slipped out of the bed, went to the full body mirror in a corner of the room, and was a little surprised when he saw the image reflected on it.

    It was only at that moment that he finally understood the real meaning behind Lokiseth¡¯s words, when he was told the changes in his body inside the pseudo-realm would affect his real body, it also included the growth! The boy reflected in the mirror didn¡¯t look like the 7- year-old Merlin actually was, he looked to be 12 or 13 years old.

    Having recovered from the shock, Merlin extended his spiritual awareness to sense who was in the house, and discovered that only Adelle, Lupa and Bastet were, along with two other women he didn¡¯t recognize. One of them seemed to be around 30-40 years old, while the other was around 10.

    That was one of the tricks Lokiseth had taught Merlin during his martial training, to extend his spiritual awareness to his surroundings, and sense the spirit of those around him. It was a trick only a person who had forged their body and spirit for more than 50 years could use, however, Lokiseth had enhanced Merlin¡¯s spiritual awareness, allowing him to use it. The advantage of this trick over tracking spells, was that it located the spirits of the other people and couldn¡¯t be countered with magic, locating even those hiding with magic spells or artifacts.

    The only drawback it had was it didn¡¯t work if someone had enough control over his or her spirit to hide it, but at Merlin¡¯s current level, the few people capable of doing that wouldn¡¯t even bother to look twice at him, much less attacking him. The certainty of that fact had been what made Lokiseth keep quiet and not to warn Merlin, nevertheless, he would tell him had Merlin ever encounter one of them.

    *Who are those 2?* wondered Merlin. *As expected, many things seem to have changed in a year.*

    Merlin decided to open his status window to see exactly what changes had occurred as a consequence of him using Lokiseth¡¯s power.

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody>

    <tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Merlin Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>7</td><td>Race</td><td>**** Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>65</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">2800/2800</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.009 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">171</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.017 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Imagination Creation Magic (lv. 2)¡±,</li>

    <li>"Status Window Spell (lv. 2)",</li>

    <li>"Analytic Observation Spell (lv. 9)"</li>

    <li>¡°Elemental magic (lv. 2)¡±</td></tr>

    </li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (extraordinary), Water (extraordinary), Wind (extraordinary), Earth (extraordinary), Space-time (extraordinary), Light (extraordinary), Darkness (extraordinary), Non-attribute (extraordinary)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Aikido (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Karate (lv. 6)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Taekwondo (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Lotus Crescendus¡± (lv. 6)</li>

    <li>¡°Ki Strengthening Technique (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Marked mate tracking (lv. 10)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Intermediate compounding Av. In (lv. 10)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Pendragon Clan Traditional Martial Arts (lv. 10)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

    Merlin: ¡°WHAT?¡±

    Merlin completely forgot to keep his voice down, for what he was seeing had started to drive him crazy. He had half-expected it due to Lokiseth¡¯s words, but confirming it with his own eyes had hit him hard. His mana pool had been reduced to the point that a single middle-ranked spell would completely deplete it, that is, if he was able to cast it.

    In the back yard, Lupa and Bastet perked up their ears to the shout, looked at each other and run into the house. Glenna, Tessa and Adelle were left in the back yard, dumbfounded. Their sense of hearing was worse than that of the 2 beastman girls, so they didn¡¯t hear Merlin, nevertheless, realizing that Lupa and Bastet weren¡¯t coming back, the three of them hurried into the house to see what had agitated the two girls so much.

    Back in his room, Merlin heard someone running upstairs and with his spiritual awareness he discovered it was Lupa and Bastet, while the other 3 were entering the house. The 2 girls opened the door, and saw Merlin standing in the middle of the room and looking back at them. After a short moment of awkwardness, Merlin greeted them.

    Merlin: ¡°Hi, Lupa, Bastet¡­ I¡¯m back.¡±

    The 2 girls lost all strength in their legs and dropped to their knees tearing up. Merlin was surprised that they didn¡¯t run at him to kiss him, but he guessed they were overwhelmed by their emotions, and couldn¡¯t even think doing that. Soon after, Adelle and another girl Merlin didn¡¯t know ended up in the same state as Lupa and Bastet. The unknown older woman looked at Merlin, agape, and with a look of incredulity that puzzled Merlin even more.

    Merlin: ¡°Who are you? And who is the girl?¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Hello, Merlin. Nice to meet you at last. I¡¯m Glenna, a friend of your mother¡¯s, and Tessa¡¯s mother.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Nice to meet you too. So, you are a friend of my mother¡¯s and the new girl is called Tessa and she is your daughter. Ok, now, could you tell me why are they acting like that?¡±

    Glenna: ¡°You were diagnosed with a poisoning from ¡®The Devil¡¯s Scythe¡¯, a poison from the Great Magic Era for which there exists no cure. The people from the Healers Guild said they didn¡¯t expect you to recover, ever.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I just went over my limits and exhausted all my magic, didn¡¯t my mother read my letter?¡±

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Glenna: ¡°What letter?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Never mind that. Could you, please, send someone to tell my parents that I have finally awoken?¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Yes, of course!¡±

    When Glenna left, Merlin looked at the four girls without knowing how to console them. He knew their tears were those of relief, not of grief, but even that being the case, Merlin was helpless and didn¡¯t know how to react.

    *****************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    Ok, it¡¯s official: I hate seeing people crying! First the four girls: Adelle, Lupa, Bastet, and the new girl, Tessa. Later, it was my mother, and my aunt, even my father was weeping! I understand that they thought I would never wake up, but isn¡¯t this a little too much?

    Of course, the situation was actually as I feared. My mother read the letter I had left for her, but she thought I knew about the poison, and wrote the letter to put them at ease even though I was done for. Hearing the diagnosis of the healers just confirmed their suspicions, and it never occurred to them that what I wrote in the letter might actually be the truth.

    I really wish I could have taken a picture of the faces they made when they realized, after my explanation, that the reason for my coma was actually mana exhaustion. However, they were horrified to learn that most of my mana pool had disappeared, and that I planned on joining the Adventurers Guild and go on missions until the time came for Lupa, Bastet and Adelle to go to the Hexenwunder Royal Academy.

    They tried to dissuade me from doing it, but I explained that going adventuring was my only chance of finding a way to recover my mana pool before going to the academy with the girls. When they finally understood that it was my only chance and that it wasn¡¯t even certain that I would manage to do it, they agreed to my plans.

    It really came as a surprise to me that my eldest brother had finally grown a pair and married Rose, but she soon explained to me how it happened¡­ *Arnold, you better man up or I¡¯ll kick your ass and force you to!*

    Adelle, Lupa and Bastet, haven¡¯t tried to kiss me yet, but they still blush whenever they look at me, so I guess, although their feelings for me haven¡¯t changed, they have matured and act more ladylike. The one who unsettles me is the new girl, Tessa. She looks at me in a strange way, *I just hope that she isn¡¯t like those 3, they are a handful already, I don¡¯t need a new addition to the play!*

    After the heartwarming family reunion, I passed a message to Argenta, and ordered the members of the council that were currently in Laklostia or Ragnar?k, to meet in my room at midnight.

    ***********************************************************

    Midnight. With the exception of Mina, who had already departed for the Hexenwunder Royal Academy, and Mandy, who was in Klausna Kingdom, the rest of the members of the ¡°Council of ten¡± were in Merlin¡¯s room. Aimi blushed as soon as she spoke with Merlin, she too had matured, and understood the true meaning behind her mother¡¯s words. Merlin, on the other hand, was oblivious to her reactions.

    Merlin: ¡°In the end, did you discover anything about the illegal slave trade?¡±

    Janus: ¡°Yes, master. It seems that the origin of the problem is an underground organization called ¡®Chimera¡¯. Their aim is unknown, but they seem to have bases all around the continent. They smuggle illegal slaves into the continent, or between kingdoms, and they take a fifth off the slaves to their bases, to never be seen again.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Any ideas of what they do with them?¡±

    Vania: ¡°No, master. The possibilities are endless. It could be something as simple as illegal mining, or they could even be building an army!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Let¡¯s hope that¡¯s not the case! Sokar, how is it going in your end?¡±

    Sokar: ¡°It couldn¡¯t be better. The Craftsmen Guild is at odds with us, because we don¡¯t share our newly trained blacksmiths and craftsmen with them, but when they were told about the soul contract, they stopped trying to force our hand. However, they have increased our annual membership fee to 100 gold instead of the usual 10 gold.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Can they do that?¡±

    Sokar: ¡°The minimum they can ask is 1 gold and the maximum 100 gold. The usual fee is 10 gold, though. Anything above that is usually a penalty to the member, to end up leading him to bankruptcy if he doesn¡¯t abide by the rules of the guild. Nevertheless, in our case we make 100 gold every month, so it doesn¡¯t actually affect us much.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°All is good then. Argenta?¡±

    Argenta: ¡°There have been no attempts against your mother¡¯s life, or against the life of any other member of your family.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Good, Shin?¡±

    Shin: ¡°Everything is going as planned. I recruited 15 suitable people, and their training is a little slow, but it was to be expected given how late they have started to train.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Good. You all have done a good job while I was in a coma. Thank you all. You are dismissed. Shin, you stay, there is something I have to discuss with you¡­¡±

    Shin: ¡°Yes, master!¡±

    After everyone else had left and they were the only ones in the room, Merlin took a stone from a drawer and crushed it against the floor. It was a soundproof barrier generating stone. Making sure the barrier was in place, Merlin turned around and looked at Shin.

    Merlin: ¡°Shin, I need your help with something.¡±

    Shin: ¡°What is it, master?¡± *He wants us to speak in the common language?*

    Merlin: ¡°You know that my mana pool has been crippled, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Shin: ¡°Yes, master. I heard about it, I wish I could help you with that, but¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You can!¡±

    Shin: ¡°Eh?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I won¡¯t beat around the bush, Shin. I know that shinobi have a way to increase their mana pool by killing. I need you to teach it to me!¡±

    Shin: ¡°What? How did you¡­?¡±

    Shin was horrified by Merlin¡¯s words. It was true that shinobi clans had a way to do what Merlin had described, but it was considered a forbidden practice, since using it usually led to insanity and giving birth to bloodthirsty killers who indiscriminately massacred villages in order to increase their power.

    Merlin: ¡°How I know about it is not important, don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t go insane or kill indiscriminately, but I need to increase my mana pool to at least a normal capacity before going to the Hexenwunder Royal Academy. I only have 2 years to prepare!¡±

    Shin: ¡°You do realize the biggest drawback of that technique is that although it increases the capacity of your mana pool, it is just temporary, and once you use the mana, you won¡¯t recover it unless you kill again, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I am aware of it, but that is the only way I currently have to quickly increase my mana pool.¡±

    Shin: ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll teach the technique to you. After all, I had promised to teach you our ways. I just hope I won¡¯t have to regret this in the future!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t disappoint you!¡±

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a></a> !

 Chapter 43 - Soul mana hook

    Shin: ¡°Master, I know you think you won¡¯t abuse the technique, but many said the same in the past, and ended up addicted to using the ¡®Soul mana hook¡¯ because of how easy is to harvest mana using it!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You seem to misunderstand something. My current mana pool is a fifth of the mana pool a low rank magus would have. In case of an emergency I would be unable to use a life-saving magic, and for what I understand the natural mana and the mana harvested by your technique are to be used separately, which means I can accumulate mana with your technique for emergencies, and use my natural mana for training.¡±

    Shin: ¡°Yes, although it can be used in the same way, soul mana is different from natural mana. Natural mana is the mana accumulated in your body through meditation, while soul mana, is the mana produced by a soul while leaving a recently killed body. I understand your aim, but even so¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not like I plan on killing humans to harvest their mana. Well, if they try to kill me or harm someone I care about, sure, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate, but my aim is to harvest the mana from the monsters I will hunt during the missions for the Adventurers Guild.¡±

    Shin was flabbergasted by Merlin¡¯s words. The ¡°Soul mana hook¡±  technique, was a forbidden technique developed by the ancestors from his shinobi clan, in order to replenish their mana during a battle. The technique had been devised to harvest the soul mana produced by the enemies they were slaying, and it was especially efficient in a battle of 1 against many, but he had never heard of anyone using it while slaying monsters!

    Shin: ¡°Fr-from monsters?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°The name of the technique is ¡®Soul mana hook¡¯, so I thought that as long as the being slayed has a soul, it should work. And since the monsters have souls too, they should produce soul mana when being slayed, shouldn¡¯t they?¡±

    Shin: ¡°I-I guess¡­ To my knowledge, no one has ever tried to do what you just suggested, master. It makes sense, though!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I have an Idea. Since you are so worried about me becoming a bloodthirsty killer if you teach me the technique, why don¡¯t you go to the nearest forest and use it while slaying some monsters? If it doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll give up on the technique and I will try to find some other way, but if it does work, you will teach me the technique. How about that? Would that put you more at ease?¡±

    Shin: ¡°Yes, master. It would. Ok, let¡¯s do it that way. Then, master, I¡¯m off!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Go ahead!¡±

    ************************************************************************

    In a forest close to Ragnar?k, 2 hours later.

    Shin¡¯s POV:

    Ok, that makes 30 crabrats. The ¡°Soul mana hook¡± also works in monsters, just as my master, Merlin, had hypothesized. I still can¡¯t believe our clan overlooked for generations something so simple that a 7-year-old has discovered it just by hearing the description of the technique! Were the ancestors of our shinobi clan really that dumb? No, that would be disrespecting them¡­ This technique was a forbidden technique, meant to be used in battle and only as a last resort. It probably isn¡¯t that they weren¡¯t smart enough discover this side of the technique, but that they didn¡¯t have the chance to discover it.

    In addition, they probably thought it could only be used in people, so they didn¡¯t dare to use the technique on monsters. It really works on them, but the efficiency isn¡¯t very high. After killing 30 crabrats, I only managed to accumulate enough soul mana to cast a low-ranked spell.

    Nevertheless, this efficiency should be enough for my master¡¯s purposes, after all, he has 2 whole years to accumulate soul mana from the monsters he will slay during the missions from the Adventurers Guild. I guess it¡¯s safe to teach him this technique.

    Ok, time to go back!

    **********************************************************

    While he was waiting for Shin¡¯s return, Merlin was pondering what his next steps should be.

    For the moment, he decided not to appear in public, because the only people who knew his actual age was 7 years old despite his current appearance, were the members of his family and the members of the ¡°Council of ten¡±.

    If he were to appear in public, information about his current appearance would circulate around, and would add difficulty to his life as an adventurer.

    Merlin decided to play the ¡°reclusive young master¡±, and make it look like he had developed an extreme case of agoraphobia after the attempt on his life, and he wouldn¡¯t abandon his room no matter what.

    The service that had been hired after Jasmine¡¯s death, had been forbidden from approaching his room ever since he had fallen in a coma, so they wouldn¡¯t notice no one was in the room even if he left for months.

    He had already decided to join the Adventurers Guild, but doing so in Ragnar?k, meant to take the risk of being recognized, and his effort on making a clear distinction between the agoraphobic 7-year-old, and the 13-year-old young adventurer, would go to waste.

    To avoid that risk, he chose to go Daferma, a city that was 2 days away, on horse, from Ragnar?k. That city would have an additional benefit for a rookie adventurer like Merlin: a rank D Labyrinth.

    Having monsters ranging from rank F to rank D in the same location would save Merlin a lot of time he would have otherwise spent going from place to place and trying to locate stronger monsters.

    *However, it seems I won¡¯t be able to go away for the time being¡­ I just woke up from a year long coma, if I were to leave now, I don¡¯t think my family would take it well. Furthermore, I have yet to build the front I¡¯m going to put of being an agoraphobic 7-year-old, and that takes time¡­* thought Merlin.

    He also had to get used to the way his new body interacted with mana, because that too had changed in the time he had been trapped inside Lokiseth¡¯s pseudo-realm. Merlin was tired from waiting for Shin¡¯s return and started to meditate using ¡°Lotus Crescendus¡±.

    *What is this?* wondered Merlin. *Wasn¡¯t I supposed to have great difficulty feeling mana after using Lokiseth¡¯s power?*

    [*Try using you head, idiot!*] Lokiseth¡¯s voice sounded in his head, startling him.

    *Master, how come you are speaking in my head?*, asked Merlin.

    [*Telepathy. As for your previous question, you should indeed have great difficulty feeling mana after having used my power. Nevertheless, your enhanced spiritual awareness makes up for it, enhancing your ability to sense it!*] answered Lokiseth.

    Thanking Lokiseth for his explanation once more, Merlin went back to meditate. He stopped meditating after what he had felt had been a few minutes, but it was already dawn and Shin was patiently waiting in a corner of the room, which made him realize, it had been a few hours and not minutes that he had been meditating.

    Merlin was impatient to know how effective had been his meditation regarding his mana pool, but he felt bad for Shin, and chose to wait. It was obvious to Merlin that the big smile in Shin¡¯s face indicated he had brought good news back.

    Shin: ¡°Master, your hypothesis was right, the technique really does work on monsters! I honestly don¡¯t know how my ancestors missed something like this!¡±

    *Looks like master¡¯s information was good.* thought Merlin.

    [*Of course my information was good! Who do you take me for?*] retorted Lokiseth.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    *Sorry master, I didn¡¯t mean to say that you are unreliable. Now, could you please stop talking in my head unasked? It fucking hurts!* thought Merlin, while cursing whomever created the spell for telepathic communication.

    Shin: ¡°Master, are you ok? You don¡¯t look good!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯m fine, Shin. I just have a little headache.¡±

    Shin: ¡°Should I wait till tomorrow to teach you the technique, then?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thank you, Shin, but as I said, it¡¯s just a simple headache. Please do teach me the technique now.¡±

    Shin: ¡°As you wish, master.¡±

    Merlin learned the technique in a couple of minutes, but he couldn¡¯t put it to use. He was going to create a persona whose main trait was being agoraphobic, so he couldn¡¯t wander around and let people see him.

    Earlier, he had wanted to practice Shin¡¯s technique right away, however, it wasn¡¯t wise to do so at the moment. Merlin decided to slip away during the night, disguised, and go to the forest to slay some monsters and train the ¡°Soul mana hook¡±.

    He told Shin to meet him outside the north gate of Ragnar?k in the darkness of midnight. It would be new moon that night, and that would make it easier for them to go around unseen. Shin left Merlin¡¯s room and Merlin checked out his status window.

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody>

    <tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Merlin Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>7</td><td>Race</td><td>**** Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>65</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">2800/2800</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.009 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">171 | 0</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.017 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Imagination Creation Magic (lv. 2)¡±,</li>

    <li>"Status Window Spell (lv. 2)",</li>

    <li>"Analytic Observation Spell (lv. 9)"</li>

    <li>¡°Elemental magic (lv. 2)¡±</td></tr>

    </li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (extraordinary), Water (extraordinary), Wind (extraordinary), Earth (extraordinary), Space-time (extraordinary), Light (extraordinary), Darkness (extraordinary), Non-attribute (extraordinary)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''>

    <ul>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Aikido (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Karate (lv. 6)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Taekwondo (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Lotus Crescendus¡± (lv. 6)</li>

    <li>¡°Ki Strengthening Technique (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Marked mate tracking (lv. 10)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Intermediate compounding Av. In (lv. 10)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Pendragon Clan Traditional Martial Arts (lv. 10)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Soul mana hook (lv. 1)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

    He was a little disappointed, despite his mana pool having increased by a little, the increase rate was too slow. At that pace, it would take him 100 years to fully recover his former mana pool.

    The good news were that if he maintained the same increase rate, his mana pool would be the same size of that of an ordinary magus by the time he entered the Hexenwunder Royal Academy. However, an ordinary mana pool would only allow Merlin to use middle-ranked spells, and very few low-cost high-ranked spells.

    Fortunately for him, according to Lokiseth¡¯s information, the ¡°Soul mana hook¡±technique Shin had taught him shouldn¡¯t have an upper limit on how much soul mana he could stock. If Merlin managed to accumulate enough soul mana, he would be able to cast high-ranked spells with ease in an emergency, ignoring the limitations of his own mana pool.

    *I really have to thank Shin for having taught me the technique, it really is a cheat-like ability for a battle-magus if mastered!* thought Merlin.

    Of course, having learned the technique didn¡¯t mean Merlin would slack off on his training or meditation, he was well aware that becoming dependent on that technique would become his downfall.

    There were 3 reasons why using that technique was risky: it could give birth to a bloodthirsty killer, the soul mana couldn¡¯t be recuperated after being used, and if all the soul mana was used up in the middle of a battle, the magus¡¯ fighting power would drop a level, endangering him and his companions, if he had any.

    ******************************************

    Emelyn¡¯s POV:

    I can¡¯t calm myself down¡­ My youngest son, Merlin, has finally woken up from the coma! I feel like I am in a dream. We thought he had been poisoned, and he would never recover. Well, he actually had told me in the letter that it was just a severe case of mana exhaustion, and that he would be fine, but I didn¡¯t trust him. I thought he was just trying to comfort me, and it turned out he was telling the truth¡­

    He didn¡¯t come down to have breakfast this morning, so I went upstairs and he was in his room, sitting cross-legged and meditating. I tried to go back out of the room without bothering him, but just as I was about to close the door, he called out to me.

    Merlin: ¡°Mother, come in, please.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Sorry, Merlin. I didn¡¯t want to distract you, but you didn¡¯t come down to have breakfast, and I was worried.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I didn¡¯t want to worry you mother, sorry. Could you please call father and aunt Leyla, and have them come here? I need to tell you something, to the three of you. And, please, don¡¯t let the girls in here, for the time being.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Is there a problem with your body? Are you feeling alright?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯m ok, mother. I just have to talk about something important with the three of you!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°O-ok¡­¡±

    I have no idea of what he wants to talk about, but it looked serious. Ok, there is no point in thinking about it, I¡¯ll just find out after bringing Leyla and my husband. I think they are still in the house¡­

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/</a> !

 Chapter 44 - Revealing secrets

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 44 - Revealing secrets

    Once his parents and Leyla came into the room, Merlin quickly shut the door, and used a magic stone to create a soundproofing barrier. This surprised Emelyn and Leyla, they didn¡¯t know what it was that Merlin wanted to talk about, but they understood that it was something important.

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, dear, is a soundproofing barrier really necessary?¡±

    Anthon: ¡°Soundproofing barrier? Is that what that magic stone was? The soundproofing barrier magic stones have a price of 1 gold each¡­ how wasteful!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Looks like you want to talk about something important!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Indeed.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Is it related to your coma?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°It is not directly related to it, but it is connected to it in some way, yes¡­¡±*How am I supposed to explain to you that I have an ancient god and his entire pseudo-realm inside my body?*

    Emelyn: ¡°What is it, then? Hurry up and explain!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°This is going to take a while¡­¡±

    Following those words, Merlin stayed silent for a few minutes, trying to decide how to explain the situation to them. He was well aware that he couldn¡¯t tell them the whole truth, otherwise their overprotective nature would kick in and they wouldn¡¯t allow him to do some of the things he should do.

    Merlin decided to omit some details, and change some others, to make the story more believable, and to lessen his family¡¯s reluctance to allow him to act as he saw fit. For example, he told them about the war that was to come, and how a god had appeared in his dreams while he was in a coma.

    However, he didn¡¯t explain anything about Lupa and Bastet being vessels for two goddesses, he thought that the less people that knew about it, the better. He also ¡°explained¡± to them, how that god had ¡°ordered¡± him to join the Adventurers Guild and rank up before attending Hexenwunder Royal Academy, but he couldn¡¯t be accompanied by the girls.

    Merlin also explained that he had designed Ragnar?k in a way that the city would be self-sufficient, and able to survive a long siege in times of war, becoming an impregnable fortress. He didn¡¯t go into details, because it would have used up a lot of time, and the girls might feel that there was something going on.

    Emelyn, Anthon, and Leyla stared at him blankly. Emelyn was the first one to recover, and she expressed her worry for her son.

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, I know that you would never lie to us, so what you just told us must be true¡­ I know that, but I am still your mother, and I can¡¯t help but worry about you. Do you really want to become an adventurer and do what that ¡®god¡¯ instructed you to?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Mother, I¡¯m certain that he spoke the truth. Besides, becoming an adventurer has been my dream ever since I was a kid¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin¡­ you are 7 years old, you are still a kid!¡±

    Merlin felt his cheeks turning red from his anger, he wasn¡¯t careful enough and had a slip of the tongue. Emelyn, on the other hand, took it as him being embarrassed for having his mistake pointed out when trying to speak like an adult.

    Merlin: ¡°I think you know what I meant, mother.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°So cute! Don¡¯t worry, though, we have understood that your dream is to become an adventurer, and now, by this god¡¯s request, you have no choice but to become one at your current age!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thank you for your understanding, aunt Leyla.¡±

    After that, it didn¡¯t take long for the 3 of them to agree to Merlin¡¯s plans, but they had yet to decide on how to deal with the girls, for Merlin was sure that they would want to accompany him no matter what.

    In the end, they concluded that the best choice was to keep the girls in the dark, and when the time came, Merlin would slip away in the middle of the night, without giving the girls a chance to act up.

    However, they were somehow unwilling to let Merlin play his agoraphobic little boy persona, because they had just recovered their son, and if he did put on that act, they would be unable to spend as much time as they wanted with him.

    Emelyn was a little distressed when she learned that her son was going to become an adventurer 6 months later, but she didn¡¯t plan on stopping him. She didn¡¯t dare to risk losing the favor of the gods just because she was worried about her youngest son.

    ***********************************************************************

    The time passed very quickly, and the night fell. When the appointed time came, two figures dressed in black were moving from Ragnar?k, in the direction of the forest. Those two figures were, of course, Shin and Merlin.

    Having arrived in the forest, Merlin had Shin lead him to the territory of the crabrats. They were the lowest-level monsters in that forest, but after the horned-rabbit fiasco, back at the Lakium Forest, he wasn¡¯t sure of how well he would fare against them.

    At the beginning, he doubted his own capabilities, but after fighting for a while, he gradually became aware of how much Lokiseth¡¯s training regime was paying off. Detection of attack patterns, perfect timing for the parrying and deflection of attacks, and perfect dodging. All those abilities had been thoroughly trained by Merlin under Lokiseth¡¯s supervision.

    Merlin almost couldn¡¯t believe it. It wasn¡¯t just a matter of having a bigger body-build, he had gotten stronger and faster than he was before the coma, even his reaction time had gotten better. He originally thought that he was going to have trouble dealing with the crabrats, but the opposite had actually happened.

    He was so excited with his newfound abilities, that he almost forgot his main purpose of going to the forest that night. Had it not been by Shin¡¯s reminder, he would have forgotten to practice the use of the ¡°Soul mana hook¡±. After a while, Merlin checked his status to check the efficiency of the technique.

    *Ding*

    <table><tbody>

    <tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name</td><td colspan=''2''>Merlin Pendragon</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td>7</td><td>Race</td><td>**** Human</td></tr><tr><td>Level</td><td>65</td><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">2800/2800</td><td width="25%">Health Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.009 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">187 | 210</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen.</td><td width="25%">0.017 / Sec</td></tr><tr><td>Magic</td><td colspan=''3''><ul>

    <li>¡°Imagination Creation Magic (lv. 2)¡±,</li>

    <li>"Status Window Spell (lv. 2)",</li>

    <li>"Analytic Observation Spell (lv. 9)"</li>

    <li>¡°Elemental magic (lv. 2)¡±</td></tr></li></ul>

    <tr><td>Attribute affinity</td><td colspan=''4''>Fire (extraordinary), Water (extraordinary), Wind (extraordinary), Earth (extraordinary), Space-time (extraordinary), Light (extraordinary), Darkness (extraordinary), Non-attribute (extraordinary)</td></tr><tr><td>Skills</td><td colspan=''5''><ul>

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.<li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Aikido (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Karate (lv. 6)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Otherworldly Martial Art: Taekwondo (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Lotus Crescendus¡± (lv. 6)</li>

    <li>¡°Ki Strengthening Technique (lv. 7)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Marked mate tracking (lv. 10)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Intermediate compounding Av. In (lv. 10)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Pendragon Clan Traditional Martial Arts (lv. 10)¡±</li>

    <li>¡°Soul mana hook (lv. 2)¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>

    </li></ul>

    *Not bad,* thought Merlin. *Not bad at all.*

    Merlin was pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of the technique, in just 3 hours, the stocked soul mana obtained from hunting the crabrats had already caught up to his natural mana pool. However, that same fact made him wonder why Shin had said the efficiency was bad, when in his opinion it was quite good.

    [*That is because of my existence*] said Lokiseth.

    *What do you mean that it is due to your existence?* thought Merlin.

    [*Well, that technique focuses on accumulating soul mana. As its name implies, the origin of the soul mana is the soul, so the efficiency of the technique varies in function of how adept an individual is to manipulate souls.*] answered Lokiseth.

    *But, how is my ability to manipulate souls related to you? Isn¡¯t everyone capable of using the technique?* thought Merlin.

    [*The gods were the ones who created all souls in this realm. I am a god, and I am inside you. How do you think that might be related to your ability?*] said Lokiseth, sarcastically.

    *Ok, I understand, master.* thought Merlin.

    Shin: ¡°Master. It is time to go back.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What do you mean, Shin?¡±

    Shin: ¡°Master, we won¡¯t be able to reach Ragnar?k before dawn, if we delay our departure any more than this!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You are right, Shin. Sorry, I was so focused on training the technique on the crabrats that I completely lost track of time! Thank you for reminding me!¡±

    Shin: ¡°I was just doing my duty, master.¡±

    Without saying anything else, they went back to Ragnar?k and Laklostia.

    *************************************************************

    Lupa, Bastet and Adelle were restless and didn¡¯t manage to get any sleep that night. They hadn¡¯t seen Merlin at all previous day, and the times that they went to his room, they had been received by a closed door.

    Thoughts like *does he hate us now?* or *has he forgotten about us?* flooded their young minds. The thought never crossed their minds, that it could all be just a coincidence. It had actually been a series if coincidences what had happened that day.

    The girls had gone to see him 3 times during the day, the first time he was talking with Shin, the second time he was meditating, and the last time he was talking with his parents and Leyla. However, the poor girls thought that he didn¡¯t want to see them, and had ignored them.

    The following morning, when they went down to have breakfast, Emelyn and Leyla were shocked by their appearances.

    Emelyn: ¡°The 3 of you have bags under your eyes¡­ What were you 3 doing last night instead of sleeping?¡±

    Leyla: ¡°You 3 look horrible this morning, are you feeling sick?¡±

    Lupa, Adelle, and Bastet didn¡¯t have the strength to answer their questions, they dropped on their knees and started crying, just like when they had seen that Merlin had woken from the coma the previous day, which made Emelyn run upstairs to check on him.

    Seeing that Merlin was ok, Emelyn went back down and found Leyla, desperately trying to calm down the girls. It took them almost an hour, but the girls grew calmer, and between sobs, they managed to explain why they cried.

    Emelyn and Leyla were dumbfounded when they learned their reason. They realized it had all been just a series of unlucky coincidences, but even that being the case, it had strongly affected the little girls. Having forced the 3 girls to have breakfast, Leyla and Emelyn took them to Merlin¡¯s bedroom and entered without knocking.

    Merlin: ¡°Wha-¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, what were you doing right now¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Good morning, mother. I was about to start meditating.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Not anymore!¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Merlin, you have to pay more attention to your surroundings! These 3 are madly in love with you, and they are your fianc¨¦es, why did you ignore them all day long yesterday? Don¡¯t you understand how bad they felt because of your actions? They thought that you either hated them, or didn¡¯t want to be with them anymore!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, that they have been learning etiquette and stopped being all over you, doesn¡¯t mean that their feelings have diminished in the slightest¡­ quite the opposite, I¡¯m afraid.¡±

    While being lectured, Merlin recalled the events of the previous day, and realized that he really had neglected the girls. He had occupied his time starting to put into motion all those plans that he had made while being trapped inside Lokiseth¡¯s pseudo-realm, but he had ignored the 3 girls, giving them the wrong impression that they were hated.

    Emelyn: ¡°I don¡¯t know what it was that you had planned for this morning, but I want you to forget about it and play with the girls. The-whole-morning!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I understand, mother.¡±

    As soon as Emelyn and Leyla closed the door behind them, Merlin turned around and looked at the girls. They were fidgeting and blushing, but a wide grin was illuminating their faces. How could Merlin not understand their reaction, even more so after having been lectured by his mother and aunt?

    He felt he had to make it up to them, so he decided to spend the whole morning with the 3 girls, no matter what they wanted to do.

    Merlin: ¡°So, what do you want to do? A thing that can be done in this room, please!¡±

    During the next hour, they played tag, and showed to him their proficiency in the martial arts he had taught him, without magic, of course. However, a sleepless night wore the girls out, and after one hour of playing, they wanted to sleep.

    They didn¡¯t want to leave him, so they decided to take a nap on his bed. The girls quickly fell asleep, and Merlin was making a mischievous smile while looking at their sleeping faces.

    *I wish I could spare them from the suffering and cruelty of this world, but given that 2 of them are vessels for the goddesses, I don¡¯t know how much I¡¯ll be able to shield them¡­* thought Merlin. *Argh! The 3 of them are so cute!*

    ________________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 45 - Reactions

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 45 - Reactions

    Emelyn¡¯s POV:

    I didn¡¯t understand why Merlin had called us here, but he started to tell us a story about the origin of the world¡­

    Merlin: ¡°Contrary to what is written in history books and to what the different cults say, when this world was created, the gods didn¡¯t create the five races, as a matter of fact, at that point in time, the gods didn¡¯t even exist¡­¡±

    *Seriously? Did he call us here only to give us a history lesson?*

    Merlin: ¡°¡­The gods carried out their plan and the ones sacrificed to create the seal were Natura, Minutorars, Fera, Asmodea, Bastheth and Lokiseth, five goddesses and a lonely god who heroically gave up their very existences to protect their chosen race, with the exception of Bastheth, who just didn¡¯t want to let go of her twin, Fera, and decided to accompany her into the oblivion¡­¡±

    I can¡¯t put my finger on it, but there is something in Merlin¡¯s story that doesn¡¯t add up¡­ I just don¡¯t know what it is, but the feeling remains¡­

    Merlin: ¡°So, the god that appeared before me while I was in a coma, and taught me the true history of our world, told me that the seal on the hexad is weakening, and a war will break out in a few years.¡±

    Anthon: ¡°But you are still a kid! What can a kid do in a war? Even if the one who talked to you was really a god, what does he expect of you?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You are right, father, but I can at least prepare for it and get stronger!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Is that why you built an underground complex beneath the city and started to build up a secret corps of your own?¡±

    My words left Merlin speechless, and my husband too. The former was probably surprised that I had seen through his plans, that were quite good for a boy his age, while the latter had been shocked by my words, because he doesn¡¯t understand what I meant.

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, how did you figure it out?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°I¡¯m your mother, how wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

    Of course I knew something was up, I just wasn¡¯t aware of the details. However, Merlin had just admitted it was like I thought, there is just a small detail¡­ he started to make those preparations before going into a coma, which means that god had already appeared before him at that time.

    I don¡¯t really know for what reason he tries to hide that fact, but Leyla and Anthon don¡¯t seem to have realized Merlin was lying about it. I know that if he is lying about it, then he must have a very good reason to do so, I won¡¯t pry any further for now, but it looks like Merlin and I are going to have a very serious talk very soon.

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin. Don¡¯t go around telling the true history of Klantea, like you did with us! Otherwise, you might get labelled as an heretic by the church, and hunted down!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I know, mother, and I won¡¯t! Then, do you believe me?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Yes, I do, dear.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°I believe you too!¡±

    Anthon: ¡°I don¡¯t know whether what you just told us is true or not, but it kind of makes sense, so it probably is the truth. However, your mother is right, you must keep that story for yourself!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I understand, father.¡±

    I usually wouldn¡¯t believe such a tale, but this is the second time I have heard that¡°true history of Klantea¡±. The first time I heard it was years ago, when I was still working at the Adventurers Guild. An ancient parchment had been found in some ruins, and the guild master, who knew the ancient language in which it was written, had translated its contents.

    I happened to read the translation, before emissaries from the church destroyed the original and the translation. The translation of the parchment stated the same¡°true history¡± Merlin just told us, and Merlin has no way to know its contents, only a handful of people know them.

    That leaves only one possibility, he really has been visited by a god and was told he true story of the world. But that leaves a question unanswered¡­ *What could an all-powerful god want from my 7-year-old son?*

    ******************************************************

    Leyla¡¯s POV:

    It surprised me when I heard that Merlin had summoned Emelyn, Anthon, and me to his room. I didn¡¯t really know what it was about, but my sister¡¯s face told me that it was something important.

    *Has his health worsened again?* Let¡¯s hope that is not the case.

    *No, Leyla, keep your mind cool. He looked fine yesterday, so he will be fine. Thinking otherwise might jinx him!*

    Merlin used a magic stone to create a soundproofing barrier as soon as we arrived, which was very strange. That in itself wouldn¡¯t have been a bad thing, but it was quite wasteful, those magic stones are anything but cheap. Only after he started talking, did I understand that the soundproofing barrier was really necessary!

    I would have considered the story he told us as the product of a child¡¯s imagination, if I hadn¡¯t seen the face my sister made when she heard it. Unlike our husband, my sister wasn¡¯t showing incredulity in her face. Far from it, what she was showing was remembrance and astonishment.

    I really couldn¡¯t consider myself a good sister, if I was unable to recognize the changes in Emelyn¡¯s expression, after all these years. However, I could see that her astonishment didn¡¯t come from the contents in Merlin¡¯s story, but from the fact that he knew about that ¡°true history¡± of our world.

    *Could it be that my sister had already heard that ¡°true history¡± somewhere else?*

    Well, it doesn¡¯t matter much. What matters now is that Merlin is ok. I don¡¯t think we could deal with the situation if he were to fall in a coma again, or had another accident. And just like that, the conversation advanced to the point of him telling us he had been ordered by the god to become an adventurer.

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    Merlin: ¡°Well, as I said, the god that appeared before me told me to become an adventurer before going to Hexenwunder Royal Academy. The two main reasons for that are the need for me to get stronger, and to find some items during the missions, that will help in the war.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Will you take Adelle, Lupa and Bastet with you?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°No, the god forbade me from doing so. He said they would die if I did. He gave me his blessing of protection, but he didn¡¯t have enough power to do the same with the girls.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Well, there is no room for discussion, if that¡¯s the case. But it¡¯s going to be troublesome to keep them here without you. They might even run away from home to look for you¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯ll probably have to slip away in the middle of the night, to avoid them. However, if I do that, I¡¯ll make sure to have come up with a way of dealing with the girls in my absence.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°Just make sure you don¡¯t break their hearts!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Don¡¯t worry aunt Leyla, I don¡¯t plan to.¡±

    I¡¯m well aware that he doesn¡¯t want to hurt the feelings of the girls, but as mature as he is, he doesn¡¯t understand how complex a girl¡¯s heart is¡­ Those girls have been waiting for him, for a whole year, being by his side whenever it was possible for them to do so.

    Merlin doesn¡¯t understand that for them, he has already become their reason of living. If he were to lose his life, there is no doubt they would kill themselves to accompany him in the afterlife! Adelle probably have doubts about it because she still has family left, but that is not the case with Lupa and Bastet.

    He really should be very careful while handling them. Let''s just hope that everything goes well, and nothing will happen to Merlin. It would be good if during those 2 years he is going to be away, the girls get used to it... Such dependence was good to get over the deaths of their parents, but it is not good in the long run...

    *I wonder if Emelyn and I should give Merlin a crash course in women and love¡­ At least, we should clearly explain to him the extent of the feelings the girls have for him!*

    Let¡¯s just hope that everything goes well and he handles the situation properly¡­

    ************************************************

    Anthon¡¯s POV:

    I didn¡¯t know why this rascal had asked Emelyn to bring Leyla and me to his room, but what is the first thing I see him do as soon as we arrive and close the door? He wastes a mana stone to create a soundproofing barrier. There goes 1 gold!

    *I know that with the income from the city, you have more money than your parents, kid. But couldn¡¯t you at least cut some slack to your old man, instead of showing off?*

    He then explained the reason why he had asked us to come, and started telling us a story he had called the ¡°true history¡± of this world. The said ¡°true history¡± was something we had never heard before, in it the existent gods on this world are 23 instead of 11, and 6 of them are bad guys sealed in a different plane, while another 6 sacrificed themselves to keep them there.

    The point where the story became even more farfetched, was that the ¡°true history of Klantea¡± had been told to him by a god! Like the gods don¡¯t have anything better to do than appearing before a 7-year-old kid while he is in a coma, and putting strange ideas on his head.

    Strangely enough, my 2 wives believed his words, and Emelyn even added that while we were living in Shephiria, she had heard a rumor about something strange happening with the prophecy tiles of the temple. That really took the cake! At that point, I didn¡¯t know what was what anymore!

    With that rumor supporting Merlin¡¯s story, the possibility of an eventual war involving several kingdoms, became somewhat of a certainty. Now, I started to understand why Merlin had designed the city of Ragnar?k in the way he had done.

    Aside from its beautiful architectural design, there were some parts of the city that looked like they had been specifically designed to resist a long siege, but that didn¡¯t make any sense, for it seemed a little too much even for a city located near the border with another kingdom.

    However, after hearing Merlin¡¯s story, everything started to make sense: when he designed the city, he did so expecting no little trouble in the future! But that gave birth to another enigma, if he had been visited by that god during his coma, how did he design the city that way, months before falling into a coma?

    I felt that there was something which didn¡¯t quite add up in his story, but although that was the case, my 2 wives didn¡¯t say anything. The both of them are very smart, I know for sure that if they figured out what was wrong in Merlin¡¯s story, they would have pointed out by now¡­

    So it is probably that I am just being too paranoid¡­ After all, if he has been visited once by a god, it could very well have happened twice, thrice, or any number of times¡­

    *What the heck? How can those 2 be so calm about this? Merlin is only 7! How can a god ask a 7-year-old kid to help him prepare for a war to come, and even force him to join the Adventurers Guild?*

    The worst part about all this is that I can¡¯t do much to help him, despite being his father. As depressing as it may be, the only thing I can do right now, is to go back to the training regime I used to do when I was young, and try to get back in top shape before that war starts.

    I¡¯m afraid that will be the only way I¡¯ll have to protect my family, though, if Merlin survives, he¡¯ll probably be far stronger than I¡­ which is not exactly a bad thing, new generations shall be better and stronger than the previous ones, that is the way of the world¡­

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 46 â€“ Preparations for the departure

    The date of Merlin¡¯s departure drew nearer with each passing day. Many things changed since Merlin had that big talk with his parents and aunt. The rumor that he had become agoraphobic ever since he woke up from the coma, had reached even the capital of Klausna Kingdom, however no one had gone to take his life, so Klausna¡¯s King firmly believed that as long as the child was alive, the ¡°Council of ten¡±  wouldn¡¯t claim his life before the appointed time.

    Lupa, Bastet, and Adelle became even more engrossed in their training, and their control over their primary affinity was getting better. Tessa had joined the other three girls in their training, and after asking Merlin for permission, they had started to teach her the martial arts they had learned from him.

    Rose, Arnold¡¯s wife, had gotten pregnant, and although Merlin regretted not being able to be present to celebrate the baby¡¯s birth with his family, he didn¡¯t dare to delay his departure, because the time he had was very limited.

    One of the innovations Merlin had made in Ragnar?k, was a public school. The education imparted there ranged from simple math and teaching how to read, to basic mana manipulation. Merlin¡¯s third brother, Bly, became a teacher for the earth affinity there.

    In spite of it being called public, the school only admitted children whose age was between 5 -12 years old, and the children¡¯s families had to be residing in Ragnar?k or Laklostia. That was highly criticized nobles of other territories, even more so when some of them realized that the quality of education there, was the same their own children were receiving from their home tutors, but what irked them the most, was that the commoners were receiving it for free.

    The situation got to the point that even some nobles tried to send their children into the school, to either avoid paying the home tutors or disrupt the classes in the school, nevertheless, the children stood out and were kicked out of the school.

    The school didn¡¯t ban nobles from assisting, as long as they resided in Ragnar?k, however, the school wouldn¡¯t give them any preferential treatment based on their status, and the children of the nobility didn¡¯t usually take it well when they were treated the same as commoners, so they always ended acting up.

    Another innovation Merlin had made, was the way to handle criminals. He had copied the system used in the kingdom to keep the slave registry, and adapted it in his own territory to keep a record of the criminals.

    Those who committed a crime in his territory would be added to the registry, and if after having paid their debt to society, they committed another crime in Merlin¡¯s territory, once they had finished serving their time, they would be kicked out of the territory, and banned from ever entering again.

    ********************************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    Now, I have finished my training with Shin, and finished meditating, so it¡¯s time to deal with the matters concerning the ¡°Council of ten¡±. Argenta will continue being mother¡¯s bodyguard, while Vania has started to give some young recruits their spy training, and Janus will continue inquiring into that ¡°Chimera¡±  organization of which we have barely any information at all.

    *Oh! Fuck, I completely forgot about her!*

    I¡¯ve just realized I haven¡¯t contacted Mandy yet, and she is probably waiting for me to do so. I gave her that enchanted parchment for emergencies, but it¡¯s not like she can use to have a conversation with me. The night just fell, I should visit her before it gets too late.

    ************************************************************************

    Klausna Kingdom¡¯s capital. Duke Risme¡¯s mansion.

    ¡°Kyaaaa!¡±

    A scream resounded in the mansion, waking up Duke Risme and his wife who had just fallen asleep. They quickly got up and went toward Mandy¡¯s room. A few of the guards in the mansion were going there too, however, when all of them got there, they saw Mandy covering herself with a bedsheet, her face showing extreme embarrassment.

    D. Risme: ¡°Mandy, dear, are you ok? Why did you scream?¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Sorry, father. I was changing to go to bed, but a spider fell on my shoulder and I screamed. I¡¯m sorry I bothered all of you.¡±

    Duchess: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, honey, what matters is that you are ok.¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Ok, people. It was a false alarm, so go back to your posts!¡±

    Duchess: ¡°I think we all should go back to bed. Sweet dreams, honey!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Thank you, mother, you too.¡±

    D. Risme: ¡°Good night, dear.¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Good night, father.¡±

    After they closed the door and left, Mandy looked to her wardrobe and called out to Merlin.

    Mandy: ¡°They are gone, now, you can come out!¡±

    Merlin got out of wardrobe and looked at Mandy.

    Merlin: ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t intend to startle you when I teleported here. I thought that you had probably fallen asleep, or didn¡¯t go to bed yet. I never expected to catch you in the middle of changing¡­¡±

    Merlin¡¯s wry smile could be seen despite the hood of the outfit, which enraged Mandy.

    Mandy: ¡°I¡¯ll make sure that Merlin punishes you for seeing my naked body! Even if you are a member of the ¡®Council of ten¡¯, you don¡¯t have the right to see me naked, only Merlin does!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Wow! Those are some big words for a little girl like you! And quite disturbing must I add, please refrain from saying that again in my presence. Besides, how do you intend to make me punish myself?¡±

    Mandy stared at him wide-opened, trying to process the meaning behind Merlin¡¯s last question. She understood the meaning, but the person in front of her had the body-built of a boy 12-13 years old, while to her knowledge, Merlin was a 7-year-old.

    Noticing her state of confusion, Merlin smiled, and took the hood down to let her take a look at his face. Seeing his face, Mandy realized that it really was him, although he looked a lot older than he actually was.

    Mandy: ¡°Merlin!¡±

    She dropped the bedsheet, run to Merlin and hugged him. That startled Merlin, who was half-expecting it, but what he didn¡¯t expect was the nakedness. Unable to withstand the situation, Merlin stopped looking at her, and turned his line of sight to the side.

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    Merlin: ¡°Mmm, Mandy¡­?¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Yes, what is it?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I don¡¯t mind if you want to hug me¡­ but could you please put some clothes on first, please? You are going to catch a cold if you continue naked like this¡­¡±

    Hearing his words, Mandy looked down and saw she really was naked. Her cheeks quickly turned red and she run to the bed to cover herself with the bedsheet. She then started to look shyly at Merlin, the embarrassment being too much for her.

    Mandy: ¡°C-could you, pl-please, t-turn around? ¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You want me to turn around so that you could put on some clothes?¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Y-yes.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok¡± *However, at this point, I have already seen everything¡­ What is the point of getting all shy and embarrassed after showing me all you have to offer? Anyway, it¡¯s not like I would lust after you now, but who knows in a few years¡­ For what I have just seen, you are going to grow into a real beauty¡­*

    As Merlin¡¯s thoughts were straying away, Mandy¡¯s thoughts were in turmoil. She had said that only Merlin had the right to see her naked, but she still felt embarrassed and ashamed of exposing her body to him. While she was certain that Merlin wouldn¡¯t try anything at that moment, she couldn¡¯t help but being shy when thinking about the future.

    Mandy: ¡°Sorry, about that.¡± *I hope this accident was worth my embarrassment, and will make him look for me when we grow enough¡­*

    Merlin: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t mind. I have great expectations for you in the future¡­¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Thank you.¡± *YES! It looks like the embarrassment was worth it¡­ This will make him keep me in mind when he chooses his wives in the future, hahaha!*

    Merlin felt a little unsettled when he saw the face Mandy was making, but he quickly dismissed his worries and asked her how the situation was in Klausna and if anything noteworthy had happened lately in the capital or the kingdom.

    Mandy: ¡°The rumors about a war with the Shephiran Kingdom that were around the last time we met, have disappeared, probably due to something you did back then at the palace¡­¡±

    Merlin¡¯s face clearly showed his astonishment, because he didn¡¯t expect Mandy to connect the dots so easily. Seeing that, Mandy smirked in self-congratulation and continued her report.

    Mandy: ¡°Most of the nobles that were in the same faction as my biological family, have now joined father. Of course, they don¡¯t know I am actually Mandy Zircon. Aside from that, there has been a lot of movement in the slave market, and there are even rumors of slaves disappearing without trace, but the veracity of those rumors has yet to be confirmed.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You are unexpectedly good at this!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Of course I am! Who do you think this genius is?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, ok. Don¡¯t get cocky now, or else I won¡¯t ever praise you again!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Sorry! Please, don¡¯t do that! It feels good when you praise me¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Good! Anything else?¡±

    Mandy: ¡°Nothing that I can think of¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Very well, in that case, I should get going!¡±

    Mandy looked at Merlin, she gave off the impression of wanting to say something but not daring to. Merlin caught on her gaze, and remembered he had forgotten to give her the communication stone he had created for her.Realizing the problem of being unable to be in touch with his only information source inside Klausna Kingdom, with Lokiseth guiding him, Merlin had created two identical communication stones.

    Their function was similar to that of walkie-talkies, only being able to connect with each other. If someone were to see them in function, they would consider the pair of stones an artifact from the Great Magic Era.

    Usually, Lokiseth wouldn¡¯t have given Merlin that kind of knowledge, and he made sure that Merlin understood it was a 1-time-deal. However, Lokiseth had felt a strange and undetermined sensation when Merlin had been in contact with Mandy¡¯s body the first time they met, so he had decided that it would be good for Merlin to be in good terms with her, just in case.

    Merlin wasn¡¯t aware of Lokiseth¡¯s predicament, and simply thought that Lokiseth had been in an extremely good mood and had decided to be nice to him.

    Merlin: ¡°Oh, I almost forgot that I have something to give you, Mandy!¡±

    Mandy: ¡°You have brought me a gift?! Thanks¡±

    Nevertheless, she was extremely disappointed and puzzled by his ¡°gift¡±  when she received the stone from Merlin¡¯s hands.

    Mandy: ¡°A stone? Why are you giving this to me?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°This is no regular stone, Mandy. This is a communication stone, and theoretically it should work no matter in which part of the world we are, even if we were in different continents!¡±

    Hearing those words, Mandy¡¯s face stopped showing disappointment and changed into one of extreme happiness. She made Merlin bend over like she were to tell him a secret, and she lightly kissed him in the lips before retreating to her bed and sitting on it.

    Her actions had left Merlin dumbfounded, and he touched his own lips while thinking *What the heck is wrong with the little girls on this world? Are they always this bold when they are young? First were Lupa and Bastet, then Adelle, and now Mandy too?*

    Unbeknownst to Merlin, back in his pseudo-realm, Lokiseth was on the ground clutching his stomach and laughing, while Jasmine was looking at him, wondering what was so funny.

    Lokiseth: ¡°Bwahahaha¡­ I totally didn¡¯t see that coming! That gift was supposed to be a logistic support to a member of the ¡®Council of ten¡¯, to think that he would conquer her heart in one go with it¡­ but really, this boy¡¯s luck with women, specially of the troublesome kind, is really off the charts. However the face he makes when forced in one of this situations, is really priceless¡­ Hahaha¡±

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 47 â€“ Departure

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 47 ¨C Departure

    Many days had passed since the incident with Mandy, and Merlin had already put it into the back of his mind. His current worries were not to forget anything he might need in his troubles, and organize the future plans of the ¡°Council of ten¡±. The preparation of the food, crafting materials, and clothes was easily carried out, the organization of the future plans for the council, not so much.

    The main problem was the number of fronts the ¡°Council of ten¡± had to deal with: two secret organization whose real purpose was unknown, the protection of Merlin¡¯s territory from the shadows, the recruit and training of new operatives, the expansion of their information net through Merlin¡¯s and the surrounding territories, and last, but not least, making the necessary preparations in Klausna Kingdom so that the current King will be deposed and Duke Risme crowned new King.

    After thinking hard about it to the point of giving himself a headache, Merlin decided to just give them some general pointers, and then decide on the specifics when the time came. As the saying goes ¡°no plan survives a real confrontation¡±, so he decided to take the easy way out, and instead of planning the specifics ahead and that after something unexpected happened, those plans were abandoned, he chose give a general plan and decide on the specifics after seeing how the situation developed.

    The members of the ¡°Council of ten¡± applauded his prudence, and for the sake of convenience, Merlin created another pair of communication stones and left one in Argenta¡¯s care. However, this new pair of communication stones was unable to connect with the other pair, Merlin had made sure of that.

    It wasn¡¯t that merlin distrusted either Mandy or the other members of the council, but Lokiseth¡¯s words about her had unsettled him, and he had decided that until he knew what her deal was, it would work better for all the implicated parties that they didn¡¯t have contact with each other.

    ************************************************

    The time for Merlin¡¯s departure had arrived. That day, his room had been more crowded than usual, ever since he woke up in the morning, there hadn¡¯t been any time thorough the day, in which the people in his room amounted to less than 6.

    The four girls, Lupa, Bastet, Adelle, and Tessa, didn¡¯t know what all was about, they just were happy that they got to pass more time with him¡­ even their lessons had been cancelled that day! The adults had all wondered how Merlin planned to make the girls accept his departure, but they got their answer when Merlin invited the four of them to have dinner with him in his room, and added a little ¡°extra¡± to their plates when they weren¡¯t looking.

    After the girls fell asleep came the drama time. Merlin already expected it to happen, but seeing his mother and aunt tearing up still broke his heart¡­ However, he had to do what he had to do, and staying wasn¡¯t an option.

    Anthon: ¡°Son, I won¡¯t try to dissuade you from going, but you must be careful!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thank you, father. I know.¡±

    Anthon: ¡°Also, beware of vixens, swindlers and prostitutes. Don¡¯t go near a brothel, they are nothing but a source for trouble!¡±

    After hearing those words, both of his wives smacked him and furiously glared at him.

    Merlin: ¡°Father¡­ You do realize you are talking with your 7-year-old son, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Anthon: ¡°I know, but your body development is that of a young man 12-13 years old, so it wouldn¡¯t be that strange if you sword already stood up sometimes, waiting to be polished¡­ That¡¯s why I said that if you need it polished, don¡¯t go to a brothel, just go to a slave merchant and buy a female slave to satisfy your needs!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°¡­¡± *How the heck did he know that? I haven¡¯t told anyone about it, it was too embarrassing!*

    As soon as he had finished saying those words to his son, Anthon felt two murderous auras behind him and started shivering. Then, his two wives pinched one of his ears each, and dragged him to the side, before starting to beat some sense into him. Glenna took the chance to approach Merlin, and introduce to him the young man who was accompanying her.

    Glenna: ¡°Hello, Merlin. This is my son, Dean.¡±

    Dean: ¡°Nice to meet you, Merlin.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Likewise.¡±

    Glenna: ¡°Merlin, Dean also wants to be an adventurer, like you¡­ Do you mind if he goes with you?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, I actually do. The whole point of starting in another city is to make the people think of Merlin the adventurer and Merlin the son of the Pendragon family as two completely different boys!¡±

    Glenna: ¡°But¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°No buts! People know you, and if we were to go adventuring together, it wouldn¡¯t take long before people connect the dots, and those who want me dead would strike again against my family!¡±

    Glenna: ¡°But¡­¡±

    Dean: ¡°It¡¯s ok, mother. He is right. Merlin, I just wanted to become your friend and go adventuring with you. It seems I was too pretentious, I won¡¯t bother you anymore, sorry!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Wait!¡±

    Dean was surprised that Merlin had called out to him right after he had rejected his friendship and companionship. He stopped and turned around to face Merlin.

    Dean: ¡°Why? We have nothing else to talk...¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You seem to be mistaken about something.¡±

    Dean: ¡°Oh? Could you please enlighten me and tell me what exactly I am mistaken about?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I never said that we couldn¡¯t be friends and go adventuring together, I just said it is impossible to do so right off the bat! However, you should register in the Adventurers Guild here in Ragnar?k, and after you become a D Rank adventurer here, you can come looking for me. At that time, I will probably have made a name for myself already, and nobody would associate the adventurer me with the sick boy me!¡±

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    Dean: ¡°Ok, I understand. I¡¯ll do just that, then!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thanks.¡±

    After Dean and his mother left, Emelyn and Leyla went to give their farewells to Merlin, followed by a pig-headed man with panda eyes, his father.

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, dear, don¡¯t pay any heed to what this good-for-nothing of a father told you before. Although it is something practiced by many adventurers, you are too young to engage in that kind of activities. Besides, you have the girls to think of¡­ how would they take it if they knew you had been unfaithful?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I understand, mother.¡± *It is not like I was intending to do that, anyway. It might be an usual practice among adventurers, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I have to do it too, does it?*

    Leyla: ¡°Good! You must come back from time to time, or we will worry to death, ok?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, aunt Leyla.¡±

    Then Emelyn closed the distance between her and Merlin, and started to whisper in his ear.

    Emelyn: ¡°You have to come back here at least once a month, independently of where you are, with the teleportation orb you have no excuses not to do so!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°O-ok, mother. I understand.¡± *Holy shit! That was fucking scary! I have always known the tender and caring mother, and the angered mother¡­ but this scary mother, I don¡¯t want to see ever again!*

    Anthon: ¡°Son, take care.¡± *I would tell you to make use of this time to fool around all you want, because you won¡¯t be able to later on¡­ but I don¡¯t want to be beaten again, so figure it out on your own, kid!*

    Emelyn and Leyla said their farewells to Merlin, and hugged each other in tears, while seeing Merlin¡¯s figure getting smaller in the distance.

    ****************************************************************

    At the same time, in a tree nearby.

    Shin: ¡°Aimi, why are you here, crying?¡±

    Aimi: ¡°Sorry, brother *sob* I didn¡¯t want him *sob* to leave¡­¡±

    Shin: ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you go with him? You know as well as I do, that he has things to do, so it is impossible to confine him here¡­ However, you could always go with him¡­¡±

    Aimi: ¡°No! *sob* I¡¯m too *sob* weak!¡±

    Shin was at a loss on what to do. He knew his little sister was a martial genius rarely seen in his clan, her talent was one that appeared once in a hundred generations, and at 10 years of age, her strength could rival that of a D Rank adventurer.

    However, she had a very low self-esteem, and she belittled her abilities way too much. It was probably due to her inability to do anything during the attack that led to the annihilation of their clan. Shin had tried to make her realize her own capabilities, but to no avail.

    Shin: ¡°Aimi, are you sure about this? You might regret it later¡­¡±

    Aimi: ¡°Yes, brother *sob* I¡¯m sure.¡±

    Shin: ¡°Ok, I won¡¯t bring it up again, then. You should go back home and rest.¡± *I wonder when she will realize her own power¡­ Well, it isn¡¯t like our master needs our protection, for he is more than capable of dealing with anything that might be thrown at him. Nevertheless, it would be very beneficial for Aimi and the clan if he took an interest on her¡­*

    ********************************************************

    Merlin was running under the cover of the night. He regretted never having been in Daferma before, if he had, he would have been able to use the teleportation orb, and would have been able to avoid 2 days of travel there. On the bright side, Lokiseth¡¯s training regime had allowed him to be faster than a horse when running, and he wouldn¡¯t lose any time even travelling without one.

    Four hours later, Merlin decided to take a rest. He found a comfortable spot on a tree, and decided to take a nap. Soon dawn came, and sounds of battle woke him up. A little disoriented for not waking up on his bed, it took a few seconds for Merlin to remember that he had already set out for Daferma and was sleeping in a tree.

    As the battle sounds persisted, Merlin descended from the tree, stealthily run from behind a tree to behind the next, and finally managed to see what was going on. A group of about 20 bandits had surrounded a carriage and killed most of the guards. The remaining guards were wounded, and few were able to continue fighting.

    Assessing the situation, Merlin decided to help the people in the carriage. He first sneaked behind the two lookouts and broke their necks, however, the rest of the bandits were so engrossed in the battle, that they didn¡¯t notice the two men had gone missing.

    Merlin went for the archers next, he used the daggers he had looted from the lookouts, and threw the daggers at them, straight through their hearts. But that time it had been too eye-catching, so the bandits discovered him. Merlin didn¡¯t mind, though, it was time to attack them head-on.

    As Merlin attacked and killed a bandit after another in just 2 or 3 moves, the bandits surrounding the carriage stopped trying to get in and focused on attacking Merlin. The guards defending the carriage, on the other hand, they didn¡¯t miss the chance to regroup, and the few guards who were still able to fight started to attack the bandits from behind.

    The bandits, who had relied on their numerical advantage in the beginning, were then caught in a fight between 2 fronts: on one side Merlin, who had descended on them like a god of death, and on the other side, the wounded guards who wanted retribution for the lives of their fallen comrades.

    The bandits didn¡¯t really have a chance, in less than 5 minutes, all of them had lost their lives. When Merlin went to speak with the guards, they were wary of him and they all went for their weapons the second Merlin tried to approach him.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 48 â€“ Destination: Daferma

    When Merlin went to speak with the guards, they were wary of him and they all went for their weapons the second Merlin tried to approach him. Merlin was surprised by their reaction, though it was natural for them to be on guard against a stranger, he didn¡¯t expect them to be so wary of the very person who had just saved them. Merlin ignored their reactions, and tried to talk to them.

    Merlin: ¡°Hello there! Are you ok?¡±

    Given their state after the fight, being ok was a little of an overstatement. They were tired, and they had lost most of their fellow guards, if they suffered a second attack they would be unable to retaliate, so their wariness of Merlin, who could try to attack them in their weakened state and do whatever he wanted to them, was completely justified.

    In addition, they had their young lady to think of. At that moment, they didn¡¯t have the ability to protect her from whatever it was that Merlin wanted to do to her, so they didn¡¯t answer him and just kept their hands on their weapons.

    In their agitated states of mind, they didn¡¯t realize that if Merlin held any ill intentions toward them, he could simply have allowed the bandits to continue their attack and eliminate them after they had finished off all the guards. Seeing that they didn¡¯t answer him and their wariness of him had increased, Merlin tried to talk to them again.

    Merlin: ¡°Oh, come on, guys! What¡¯s with those faces? I¡¯m not going to attack you, if I wanted to do so, you would already be dead!¡±

    Hearing Merlin¡¯s remark, the surviving guards realized his words held some truth in them, with the fighting ability he had previously shown, if he wanted them dead, they wouldn¡¯t be able to even put up a fight. However, he had done nothing to them, instead, he was trying to talk with them, which made them let their guard down, and finally relax a little.

    Guard A: ¡°Who are you, boy? Where do you come from? For what reason did you help us?¡±

    The guard with the most seniority among them couldn¡¯t help but ask those questions. He had travelled around the continent as an adventurer in his younger days, and was familiar with most of the fighting styles on the continent, but he hadn¡¯t recognized the fighting style Merlin had used when he dealt with the bandits.

    That made him curious about the boy¡¯s background, he looked to be only 12-13 years old, yet his martial prowess was superior to that of veterans like them. He thought that he boy either belonged to a powerful family from another continent, or he had inherited one of those secret legacies passed down the generations in an ancient family. Those were the only possibilities he could think of.

    It didn¡¯t matter though, the most pressing matter at that time was to make sure their young miss safely reached her destination. Their manpower had suffered big losses in their confrontation with the bandits, and who knew if there was someone else preparing an ambush to attack their young miss.

    The guard decided that they had to convince Merlin of accompanying them and protect their young miss until they reached their destination. Meanwhile, Merlin had a decision to make. It was painfully obvious to him, that after the attack, their fighting power had greatly diminished, and they would try to rope him in, for the time being, in order to assure the security of whomever it was that was riding inside the carriage, and Merlin had to decide whether he would lend a helping hand or not.

    Merlin: ¡°My name is Merlin, Merlin Lefey. I am from a little village thousand of miles away from here, and I am currently doing a learning journey in order to experience the world. My master said that in order to understand the way of the heavens, I have first to experience the vastness of the world.¡±

    *So he really has a master¡­ I wonder who might be,* thought the guard. They really needed Merlin¡¯s help, but he needed to make sure the master of the boy wasn¡¯t at odds with the family of the young miss. *Besides, it¡¯s the first time I have ever heard the surname Lefey. It¡¯s likely that they are not from around here, after all, he said he his village was thousands of miles away.*

    Guard A: ¡°Tell me, young man. What is your esteemed master¡¯s name?¡±

    Merlin didn¡¯t know how to answer that question. He couldn¡¯t say his master was an ancient god who was now sealed inside his body, so he went through the names of martial artists in the xianxia novels he had read back on Earth, and chose a name randomly.

    Merlin: ¡°My esteemed master¡¯s name is Meng Hao.¡±

    Guard A: ¡°Meng Hao? I¡¯m afraid I have never heard of him before, I apologize for my ignorance!¡± *I really don¡¯t know that name, which means his master has never crossed paths with any members of the family of the young miss!*

    Merlin: ¡°It¡¯s understandable, my master is a very reclusive person. Please, don¡¯t mind it!¡±

    Guard A: ¡°Thank you, young man. May I ask where are you headed?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°From what I¡¯ve been told by some villagers I asked a few days ago, this road should lead to the city of Daferma. I intend to register in the Adventurers Guild there. Is that information wrong?¡± *Come on! It¡¯s obvious that you are heading there too, and you want to ask me to protect the carriage with you! Ask away!*

    Guard A: ¡°What a coincidence! The information is accurate, we are heading there ourselves, could I trouble you with giving us a hand in defending the carriage till we get there? You will be rewarded, of course!¡± *This is too coincidental! Our destinations are the same, is it fate? Or is he a young assassin sent to kill our young miss?*

    As the guard was pondering about the possibility of Merlin being an assassin, Merlin looked straight at him without saying a word.

    *Nah, I must be overthinking things,* thought the guard.

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    He was about to offer him a ride inside the carriage, when Merlin asked him if he could borrow a horse of the dead guards. He was surprised by his suggestion, but he quickly agreed to Merlin¡¯s request.

    As they were talking, the guard saw Merlin¡¯s surprised face, as he witnessed the surviving guards capturing the horses of the defeated bandits in a way that could only be described as ¡°cowboy style¡±, and for just a moment, Merlin felt like he had suddenly transported to the Earth¡¯s Old West.

    The guard misunderstood Merlin¡¯s reaction, and kindly explained to him, that they were capturing the horses of the bandits to sell them to a horse dealer as soon as they reached the city. Those horses could easily fetch a total of 50 gold, with a good haggle, and that money would help the families of the deceased guards get by for some time.

    After thanking the guard for his explanation, Merlin walked toward the horses of the deceased guards to choose his mount. However, when he approached them, the horses backed away from him, only one remained, and that one horse inclined its head down in submission to Merlin. The next second, he jumped and mounted the horse.

    Just as the guard who had talked to him before was about to warn Merlin to get away from that horse, he saw Merlin jump to mount the horse, and succeed. This left the guard and his comrades speechless, that horse was ¡°Tempest¡±, the mount of their deceased captain, and up to that moment, Merlin was the first person, aside from their captain, to mount Tempest without ending up with a broken back.

    Having finished rounding up the horses of the bandits, and burnt their corpses, they finally set out for Daferma. Talking with the guards, Merlin learnt they were at the service of Viscount Monyme, and they were escorting a guest to his house. In spite of their vague words, Merlin could infer there was a lot more to it than just a visiting guest.

    There were a lot of inconsistencies in their story, besides, there were several other seemingly unrelated facts that were inconspicuous on their own, but when they were put together, told a very different story. For example, the horses of both the bandits and the guards weren¡¯t normal horses, they were war horses, and unlike what the guard had said, their real price if sold was about 250 gold.

    Also, the location of the ambush had been carefully selected, no matter if it was Ragnar?k or Daferma, even if they deployed reinforcements for the guards who were protecting the carriage, by the time they arrived to the location of the ambush everything would have already ended.

    And then, there was the strongest clue that indicated the bandit attack had been a carefully planned assassination attempt targeting the mysterious person inside the carriage, all the bandits had very good equipment, and their fighting style was that of the imperial guards from the capital of the Dollan Empire.

    Lokiseth had drilled into Merlin the characteristics of the different fighting styles existent in Klantea, not to the point of mastering them, but enough for Merlin to recognize them if he sees someone using them.

    The fact that a squad of imperial guards from the Dollan Empire had disguised themselves as bandits to target the mysterious person in the carriage, made him feel uneasy, but he didn¡¯t say anything, he just became more vigilant of their surroundings, just in case another ambush had been prepared as a backup plan.

    The rest of the journey went on without incidents despite Merlin¡¯s vigilance. It looked that whoever was behind the assassination attempt, either thought that previous ambush was perfect and there was no need for a backup plan, or the backup plan would take place in Daferma.

    However, Merlin didn¡¯t dwell much on it, for it was completely unrelated to him, and not his business. He had agreed to help them protect the carriage, and his job would end as soon as they delivered the carriage and the mysterious person to the mansion of Viscount Monyme, then they would part ways and whatever happened to the mysterious person from them on, didn¡¯t have anything to do with him anymore.

    As they went through the gates in the city wall, Merlin looked around him in awe. Seeing that, the guards started to say teasing words to him, half-jokingly. The truth was that the city was very different from what he had pictured it from the descriptions his parents had made of it. That was only natural, though, the Daferma they had described to him, was the one 15 years prior, and the city had changed a lot in that span of time.

    When he finished ¡°admiring¡± the city, as the guards said, he accompanied them to the Mansion of Viscount Monyme to receive his reward. Merlin wanted to quickly get over with it and find a room in an inn, before going to the Adventurers Guild.

    He was impatient, and he was starting to feel like leaving without receiving his reward, but he finally managed to calm himself down and thought *Well, Merlin, you have already waited 7 years before having a chance to become an adventurer, waiting an additional hour won¡¯t kill you!*.

    In the end, Merlin decided to wait for the viscount. Although Merlin¡¯s peerage was a higher rank than the viscount¡¯s, and Daferma was in Merlin¡¯s territory, right at that moment, Merlin was a simple boy making a learning journey, and experimenting the vastness of the world, as per orders of his master. He wasn¡¯t an Earl, so unless he wanted his real identity to be uncovered, he had no choice but to give face to the viscount and wait for him.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 49 - The Adventurers Guild

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    Chapter 49 - The Adventurers Guild

    When Merlin¡¯s patience had reached its limit and he was about to storm out of the room, without caring about offending the viscount, a servant opened the door of the room and announced his arrival. Hearing that, Merlin closed both of his fists and forcefully calmed down.

    The viscount came accompanied by two youths, a young boy who didn¡¯t look older than 11, and a young girl who, despite the evident development of her feminine attributes, seemed to be 13 or 14 years old. He didn¡¯t have a reason for it, but the very second he saw them, Merlin had a bad feeling about the situation.

    The viscount made a sign to one of the guards that were in the room with Merlin, and confirmed with him the information he had gotten about the ambush to the carriage.

    Viscount Monyme: ¡°Is that the boy you were talking about?¡±

    Guard A: ¡°Yes, my lord, he is the one.¡±

    V. Monyme: ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s hard to believe that a boy that young has the strength you described¡­ However, I know that you would never lie to me, so if his strength is the real deal, we might be able to make use of him¡­¡±

    The viscount didn¡¯t even bother to keep his voice down, and seeing how he was planning on using him for his own plans, without even asking for his opinion, Merlin couldn¡¯t hold it anymore, and talked to the viscount without even minding his manners.

    Merlin: ¡°Viscount Monyme!¡±

    The guard and the viscount were startled by Merlin¡¯s voice, because he had said it half-shouting. The young girl had her eyes wide opened for a second, before recovering and letting out a smile. The young boy, on the other hand, looked at the viscount nervously. Meanwhile, Merlin continued talking.

    Merlin: ¡°Viscount Monyme, I don¡¯t know what your plans including me might be, but don¡¯t you think it is a little presumptuous on your part to assume I am going to happily agree to them?¡±

    V. Monyme: ¡°Well, I¡¯m a viscount, and¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I might be a simple boy who set out in order to experience the world, but even I have my own honor, and I won¡¯t let you tarnish it anymore! It was disrespectful enough having us waiting for you the better part of the afternoon, you even plan on using me without asking for my opinion? Who do you do you think you are? The King? A god?¡±

    V. Monyme: ¡°I-I¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I have had enough of this! I¡¯m leaving!¡±

    Without giving them any time to react, Merlin went to the nearest window and jumped down. The viscount run to the window, only to see Merlin strolling out of his property, like if jumping down from a second floor was the most ordinary thing in the world.

    V. Monyme: ¡°How did he survive that fall? And why did he leave, was it something that I said? Besides, I¡¯m a viscount! How dares that brat to disrespect me?¡±

    At that time, the young girl had arrived next to the viscount, and had heard his last question, which she hurriedly answered.

    ???: ¡°You disrespected him first, uncle. He saved my life and my brother¡¯s out of the kindness of his heart. He isn¡¯t one of your men, and he has no obligation whatsoever toward us! In addition to that, he is not from this kingdom, so your authority as a viscount doesn¡¯t mean anything to him!¡±

    V. Monyme: ¡°Camille, dear, that¡¯s beside the point. He¡­¡±

    Camille: ¡°It is the point! You kept him here for a long time, impeding him to do in the city the things he had to. You didn¡¯t even thank him for saving our lives, and even planned to use him in your schemes without consulting him first, and you made the plans with him hearing them! How exactly did you expect him to react?¡±

    V. Monyme: ¡°¡­¡±

    ***********************************************

    While the young lady was busy, lecturing the viscount, Merlin had already arrived to the Adventurers Guild. Truth be told, that branch didn¡¯t look much different from the one in the capital, albeit smaller, and a little more squarish.

    Merlin entered the guild and went to the counter to make his registration, but before he could do so, a group of bulky men had surrounded him. They looked like brawlers, and the first thought that came to Merlin¡¯s mind after seeing their actions was *No way!*.

    He really couldn¡¯t believe that he had gotten caught in such a clich¨¦ situation. He had often read manga in which the weak looking main character had to teach a lesson to some idiot adventurers upon his arrival at the guild, because they tried to bully him and keep him from registering with the guild. What Merlin hadn¡¯t expected, was live that situation himself!

    Guy 1: ¡°Look boys, a little mouse is trying to become an adventurer!¡±

    Other guys: ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    Such mockery wouldn¡¯t even faze Merlin, but the second he tried to move toward the counter once again, the adventurer who had talked first grabbed Merlin¡¯s shoulder to keep him in place. That crossed the line, and made Merlin go into battle-mode.

    Merlin: ¡°You would do better to keep your hands to yourself, otherwise, you might lose one of them some day¡­¡±

    The group was startled by the words that Merlin had icily said, but after taking a good look at him, they thought he was just putting a tough front, and started laughing at him again.

    Guy 1: ¡°Those are some badass words for a weak little shit like you!¡±

    Guy 2: ¡°Go home, and come back when you have gotten rid of the smell of your mother¡¯s milk!¡±

    Guy 3: ¡°Yeah, go home, kid!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You had your chance, don¡¯t regret you choice later!¡±

    Merlin didn¡¯t bother trying to reason with them any longer, with those words he unsheathed the dagger on his waist and initiated his attack. He slashed at the hand the adventurer had on his shoulder, and cut it off by the wrist. The slash had been so fast, that by the time the adventurer¡¯s brain registered the pain of having his hand cut off, Merlin¡¯s dagger was back in its sheath.

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    After cutting the hand off, Merlin didn¡¯t stop moving, and went away before the blood stained his clothes. He attacked another of the adventurers surrounding him. That one wasn¡¯t fortunate either, Merlin destroyed his right kneecap with a kick, then broke his jaw with a sideways elbow strike, and several teeth flew out of his mouth. The pain was so intense, that he fainted, and Merlin charged toward another adventurer.

    Soon after, another two adventurers were down, as for the last one remaining, Merlin punched his stomach, and left him kneeling in the ground, gasping for air. The hall of the guild was in complete silence, no one present could believe what had just taken place before them. A seemly weak 12-year-old boy had destroyed a B Rank adventurer group in less than a minute!

    No one in the guild pitied the 5 men on the floor, the other adventurers were actually glad that someone had finally taught them a lesson. Whenever the group of five were in the city, the number of young adventurers, as well as beautiful female adventurers, significantly decreased in the guild due to their harassment.

    They either quit adventuring, of left the city without any intention of returning, which made the other adventurers wish for their downfall, which had finally come that day, by Merlin¡¯s hand. The branch¡¯s guild master had given them a several warning in many occasions, but they had ignored them, leading to their current situation.

    When he was done with the las one of them, Merlin turned around and went to the counter to fill his registration papers. He smiled to the receptionist and stated his business there.

    Merlin: ¡°Hello there! I would like to register as an adventurer.¡±

    Receptionist: ¡°Wha-ah, oh, yes, sorry! Yes, here you have the -WATCH OUT!¡±

    Merlin had already started moving to avoid the approaching strike before the receptionist gave him the warning, but he was grateful to her nonetheless. Making use of his nimbleness, Merlin avoided the strike and positioned himself behind his attacker. He then sent a kick to his attacker¡¯s tailbone, and while he was paralyzed by the pain, Merlin brought him down and dislocated both of his arms.

    Having disabled the attacker and checked no one else had the intention of harming him, Merlin returned to the counter to resume his registration process.

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to see that, thank you for your warning earlier, by the way.¡±

    Receptionist: ¡°Lefey, that¡¯s an unusual family name. I have never heard of it before.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I get that a lot! It¡¯s only natural, I¡¯m not from around here.¡±

    Receptionist: ¡°Oh! That explains it, then. Well with this out of the way, the only thing left is making your guild card. If you excuse for a second, I¡¯ll go get an inert card for you to bound with your blood!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, go ahead!¡±

    Waiting for the return of the receptionist with the card, Merlin heard that the abnormally silent guild hall had returned to its usual noisiness. He looked back to check that the group of adventurers he had dealt with before wouldn¡¯t try anything funny, but he discovered that they were already gone.

    ************************************************************

    ???: ¡°What did you say? Are you drunk, Emelinda?¡±

    Emelinda: ¡°I¡¯m not, guild master! I witnessed it with my own eyes! That young boy utterly destroyed the ¡®Fiendish Wolf¡¯, and the weakest among those five was a Silver B Rank adventurer! He even cut off Hank¡¯s hand with a slash so fast that anyone below Silver A Rank wouldn¡¯t know how it happened!¡±

    Guild master: ¡°And you say he is only 12 years old?¡±

    Emelinda: ¡°Yes!¡±

    Guild master: ¡°Keep an eye on him and try to keep him away from the dangerous missions! I have to report this to the Head guild master!¡±

    *************************************************************

    Emelinda gave the inert card to Merlin and had him drop some blood on it to bond it. Merlin was very surprised when he saw the data he had previously given when filling the form earlier, was now shown on the card. He had expected that, but it¡¯s never the same to read about it in a manga or web-novel, and experiencing the real thing yourself!

    Emelinda explained to Merlin everything about the guild, how the specialized shops were distributed inside the guild and their location, and how the ranks worked inside the guild. The missions available were divided into two groups: solo missions, and collaborative missions. As the name of each group was self-explanatory, she didn¡¯t dwell much on it.

    The next thing she explained were the ranks. There existed 10 ranks, them being from weaker to stronger: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS, X. So far, there had never been a X Rank adventurer, for the necessary power to become one would be akin to the power of a god.

    Those ranks were further divided in 3 stages: bronze, silver and gold. The stage the adventurer¡¯s rank was in, was shown in the border of the guild card, represented by its own color. However, while being in the same rank, the strength of someone at the bronze stage and someone at the gold stage were worlds apart.

    An adventurer could choose any mission of his own rank, but with the restriction of the mission being a maximum of one stage above, or two below, his or her own. Finally, there was no limit to the number of missions that could be accepted at any given time, but there existed a failed completion fee of 15% the total reward, if a mission was accepted, but not completed in time.

    **************************************************************

    Meanwhile, in Viscount Monyme¡¯s mansion, a servant that had been sent to look into Merlin¡¯s whereabouts, had come back to report to his master the situation Merlin had found himself in, and the way he had used to solve it¡­

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 50 - The scheme in the ballroom

    Meanwhile, in Viscount Monyme¡¯s mansion, a servant that had been sent to look into Merlin¡¯s whereabouts, had come back to report to his master the situation Merlin had found himself in, and the way he had used to solve it. Hearing the report, the viscount¡¯s face lost all color, and he started trembling.

    *Just, who the hell did I provoke earlier?* wondered the viscount, terrified. *I was really lucky that he chose to leave instead of attacking me, with such power, not even all the guards of my household together would have been able to stop him, would he want to kill me¡­*

    When the realization that he had looked the death in the eye and survived by pure luck, finally sank down on him, the viscount almost wetted his pants. However, it also made him all the more adamant about making Merlin take part in his plan.

    The viscount sent out a messenger, with orders of finding Merlin and giving him a letter, its contents being the following:

    [Highly esteemed adventurer Lefey,

    I beg you to pardon my previous rude behavior, it was unbecoming of me, and it should have never happened. I wish to set things right with you, and I would like to invite you to the banquet I will be holding tonight in celebration of the safe arrival of my niece and nephew whom you saved from that ambush.

    Regarding the other matters, I won¡¯t try to force your hand anymore. However, I would really appreciate it if you could at least hear my story before deciding if you wish to help or not. I won¡¯t ask anything else.

    I¡¯m fully aware that our relationship hasn¡¯t started with the best of the beginnings, but I would like to mend it, and try to make peace with you. As I said before, I hope you could find it in your heart, to forgive my past offenses and come to hear me out. I¡¯ll make sure to make it worth your while.

    Sincerely yours,

    Viscount Zesh Monyme]

    *****************************************************************

    Merlin had started noticing something strange when he went looking for an inn. In fact, there were 2 things he had noticed: someone was spying on him, and people in the street had started avoiding him.

    *Looks like the news about what I did back in the guild have spread quite fast!* he thought.

    Although it could be troublesome to be that infamous in the long run, Merlin didn¡¯t mind it at the present time, because that would drive away any potential problems in the immediate future.

    As for what would happen later on, Merlin didn¡¯t bother to ponder about it, he probably would have built himself a good reputation at that time, and his current infamy wouldn¡¯t matter anymore.

    He found an in which suited his needs, and went to take a nap. He had found a good inn, it cost him 1 silver / day, but for a room with an individual bath, that price was on the low side. Usually inns had shared baths, only separating men and women, while the inns which had individual bathrooms in each room, usually charged between 1,5 and 3 silvers /day.

    Merlin was having a very nice dream, when he was suddenly awoken by the knocking on the door of his room. Not having asked anything to the innkeeper, he thought it was very strange for someone to come knocking on his door, so he unsheathed the dagger on his waist, and kept his right arm behind his back, ready to strike if needed.

    He carefully opened the door with his left hand, and saw a servant carrying a rolled up parchment in his hand. The servant was sweating beads, and he started trembling the second Merlin looked at him. Having taken a quick look at the letter, he dismissed the servant, telling him to inform his employer of his assistance.

    *What is that viscount scheming now?* wondered Merlin.

    The tone of the letter wasn¡¯t that of someone who had actually regretted his actions and wanted to set things right, and that made Merlin wary of the possible schemes the viscount might have laid down to rope him in.

    Merlin was spot on about the viscount schemes, but what he didn¡¯t know was that the viscount was a proud man who never before had apologized to anyone, and he had tried his best when writing the letter. Not wanting to think about it anymore, he decided to go to a tailor¡¯s shop to get an attire for the evening. He would have used one of his own, but the ones he had would have given his real identity away.

    ************************************************************

    The night quickly came, and Merlin arrived in front of the mansion of the viscount. Upon seeing him, the guards started trembling and hurriedly gave him way. Their reaction shocked Merlin, who started to wonder if things had gotten a little out of hand.

    *Am I really that scary? To think that even veteran warriors would start to tremble just because they caught sight of me¡­* thought Merlin, worried.

    What Merlin didn¡¯t know was that in order to prevent any incident from occurring, the viscount had given his description to all the guards, and warned them not to start any conflict with him, or not only would their heads roll, but also those of all their family members. That, coupled with the rumors of what had transpired at the Adventurers Guild, had made them terrified of that innocent looking 13-year-old young man.

    Once inside, Merlin was surprised by the serious lack of people. After observing for a while the people in the ballroom, Merlin discovered that everyone there belonged to the household of the viscount. The viscount saw Merlin and went toward him, however, when he arrived to his side, the viscount noticed Merlin¡¯s worries and hurriedly tried to explain himself.

    V. Monyme: ¡°My highly esteemed guest Mr. Lefey, please don¡¯t worry about it. They are all from my household, that¡¯s true, but the things I wanted to discuss with you tonight are of a delicate nature, and I wouldn¡¯t want anyone else to learn about them!¡±

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    Merlin: ¡°First, cut the crap, you are not that good at acting! Second, why me? How can you be sure it¡¯s not against your interest to tell me? I could very well sell the information to third parties once I get out of here¡­¡±

    V. Monyme: ¡°I highly doubt that Mr. Lefey. If you truly had those intentions, you wouldn¡¯t have saved my niece and nephew that time, nor would you have stormed out of my mansion like you did earlier in the afternoon.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I could have a really shrewd mind¡­¡±

    V. Monyme: ¡°I highly doubt that, and even if that was the case, it wouldn¡¯t change that your strength is the real deal. But let¡¯s not talk about that right now, please, enjoy the banquet and the dance. We¡¯ll talk about the other matters after the banquet or tomorrow morning.¡±

    Leaving those words, the viscount left Merlin and went to entertain other guests. The household of the viscount was by no means little, he had over a dozen children, most of them married into other noble families, and they had come to the banquet with their respective wives and husbands, some of them even with their own children.

    In the middle of the livelihood, Merlin discovered that for the others, the banquet was being held to celebrate the recovery of the viscount¡¯s wife, who had nearly died a few days prior, from a sickness she had contracted.

    On the other hand, the reason Merlin had been told was the safe arrival of the young boy and the young girl who had accompanied the viscount earlier in the afternoon. That put Merlin on his guard more than he already was, and confirmed his suspicions that this banquet was just a ruse of the viscount¡¯s, for what purpose, he didn¡¯t know, but he was sure it had something to do with the ¡°talk¡± the viscount wanted to have with him.

    The young girl he had seen earlier in the afternoon approached him with a smile. She was wearing a pale blue low-cut dress, which didn¡¯t show too much skin, yet showed enough to enhance the impact of her well developed feminine attributes. Even Merlin, who wasn¡¯t interested in relationships with the other sex at the moment, couldn¡¯t help but gulp when he saw her.

    She was bringing a wineglass in each hand, and offered Merlin one. After he took one of the wineglasses from her, she said she was bored and suggested that the two of them went to the balcony to talk. Merlin was at a loss of what to do, but in the end, he went with the flow, and followed her to the balcony.

    ???: ¡°Thanks for following me here. Sorry, I don¡¯t think I had the chance to introduce myself to you in the afternoon, I¡¯m Camille.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Nice to meet you, Camille, I¡¯m Merlin.¡±

    Camille: ¡°I know. Thank you very much for saving my and my brother¡¯s lives. And please, forgive our uncle, he has been under much stress lately.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Is it related to that ¡®talk¡¯ he wanted to have with me later tonight, or tomorrow?¡±

    When he mentioned the word ¡°tomorrow¡±, Camille¡¯s face suddenly got beet red, but Merlin thought it was due to the wine she had just sipped. She quickly composed herself, though, like nothing had happened at all.

    Camille: ¡°Yes, it is related to that. But let¡¯s not talk about that, it¡¯s too boring. I heard from the guards that you were a fighting expert who is out to experience the world and wanted to become an adventurer?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I registered earlier, right after I left this mansion.¡±

    Camille: ¡°That¡¯s very interesting. Have you taken any mission?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Not yet. I intended to familiarize myself with the city before taking one, why?¡±

    Camille: ¡°N-no reason! I was just curious, that¡¯s all.¡±

    Merlin made a strange face and moved his wineglass toward his mouth to take a sip, when something unexpected happened,

    Camille: ¡°DON¡¯T!¡±

    Right after her shout, she hit Merlin¡¯s hand and made him spill the contents of the wineglass.

    Merlin: ¡°What th-? Camille, what did you do that for?¡±

    Camille: ¡°So-sorry, Merlin. You seem to be a nice boy, so I don¡¯t want to entangle you in this political intrigue!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What do you mean, Camille?¡±

    Hearing his question, Camille got beet red again, and shyly embraced herself to cover her feminine attributes. Merlin had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but he wanted to hear it from her.

    Camille: ¡°The wineglass had a potent aphrodisiac. I was supposed to seduce you, and then ensure your cooperation with us by making you take responsibility for taking my chastity.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I knew about the wineglass, I wasn¡¯t going to actually drink from it, I was just testing your reaction.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Why?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Why? I could ask you the same question. You obviously didn¡¯t want to go through with this, I seriously doubt that you were even mentally prepared for it¡­ So, why force yourself to do it? And why did you stop midway?¡±

    Camille: ¡°This is something that I have to do for my own survival and my brother¡¯s. We need your strength, and I was resolved to do anything to ensure your cooperation but¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°But?¡±

    Camille: ¡°But this was originally our problem, we don¡¯t have the right to involve innocent people! Besides, I¡¯m a cursed child and the big sister, so no matter what you might have done to me, I wouldn¡¯t have complained. However, you are a nice boy, maybe even a little too much! I just couldn¡¯t bear to do that to you!¡±

    *I¡¯m such a nice boy that you ruined your uncle¡¯s carefully planned trap, just because you felt sorry for me? Poor girl, you are the one who is too nice to play the schemer!* thought Merlin.

    Camille wasn¡¯t aware that Merlin had seen through the viscount¡¯s scheme as soon as she entered the room dressed the way she was. However, he wasn¡¯t sure of her exact involvement in the plan, so he had played along to find that out.

    ________________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 51 - The past of the siblings

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    Chapter 51 - The past of the siblings

    Merlin: ¡°What do you mean you are a cursed child?¡±

    Hearing Merlin¡¯s question, Camille gave up in trying to hide her past from him, and came clean.

    Camille: ¡°I guess there is no point in hiding it anymore, is there? I¡¯ll tell you, you would need to know about it, were you to decide to help us in the end¡­¡±

    She was divagating a little, but Merlin chose to hear her out, he had a feeling that her story could shed light on many things, for example, the ambush or the attitude of the viscount.

    Camille: ¡°My brother and I grew up in the Imperial Palace, in the capital of the Dollan Empire. Our mother was one of the youngest mistresses of the Emperor, and his favorite one, she became his mistress when she was 15, after he killed a demonic wolf and saved her life.¡±

    *So far, it¡¯s a good love story, but I still don¡¯t see how that is related to our current situation* thought Merlin.

    Camille: ¡°However, more than 30 years ago, an oracle received a prophecy from the gods. It stated that two cursed children would be born from the blood of the Emperor, and if allowed to live, they would bring disaster upon the empire. They would recognize the children when the wrath of the gods marked their home in a day of clear sky.¡±

    *What does that ¡®wrath of the gods that marked their home in a day of clear sky¡¯mean?* asked himself Merlin.

    [*It means that lightning would fall on their house in a day of clear sky. I think that in your old world, that phenomenon was called positive lightning, or bolt from the blue.*] said Lokiseth to Merlin.

    *Thank you for clarifying that point, master.* answered Merlin.

    Camille: ¡°A couple of months ago, lightning struck our home, our mother went missing, and then every soldier and guard in the Dollan Empire was given the order of killing me and my brother on sight.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Wow, you had it rough! But if that was the case, how on Klantea did you make it alive out of the Dollan Empire and managed to get here?¡±

    Camille: ¡°A stroke of luck. A few years back, our uncle came to visit us accompanied by a merchant friend of his. When we started to get persecuted, that merchant happened to be in the capital buying some goods, and smuggled us out of the Dollan Empire in his caravan.¡±

    From Lokiseth¡¯s teachings, Merlin had gained some understanding about prophecies, and the most basic fact about them, was that they were divided in two groups: short notice prophecies and long notice prophecies.

    Short notice prophecies were given to an oracle between 1-5 years before the foretold events took place, whereas long notice prophecies were given to oracles a minimum of 100 years before the foretold events took place.

    Taking those facts into consideration, from her explanation, Merlin could deduce most of what had actually happened. The most plausible theory was that the two siblings and their mother had found themselves involved in some kind of conspiracy.

    The prophecy was most likely real, however, if more than 30 years have passed since it was given to the oracle, then it was a long notice prophecy, which meant the siblings weren¡¯t the ones mentioned in the prophecy, but someone had put a lot of effort into making it seem otherwise.

    The quick spreading of the contents of the prophecy among the population a short while before the positive lightning struck the house of the siblings, pointed in that direction. With the help of the right artifact, any wind magus of the fifth rank or above could have casted that lightning from several miles away.

    Another suspicious fact, was the disappearance of the siblings¡¯ mother. It was too coincidental that she disappeared right before her children were persecuted and an order of killing them was sent out. Either they didn¡¯t want her to appeal to the Emperor in behalf of her children, or someone wanted to get her, and used the matter of her being the mother of the ¡°cursed children¡± to tie the hands of the Emperor, and keep him from looking for her, for the sake of the empire.

    Anyhow, whoever was the puppeteer in the shadows wanted the siblings dead, and if that person had gone so far as to have imperial guards infiltrate in Shephiran Kingdom and pose as bandits, risking an international incident if discovered, just to kill the siblings, it was obvious that the threat on their lives was still there, and would continue until they were confirmed dead.

    Camille: ¡°What I don¡¯t understand is how those imperial guards found us¡­ We took a lot of precautions precisely to avoid that!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s an easy question: someone sold you out.¡±

    Camille: ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean. That merchant is loyal to our uncle, he would never do something like that!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, let me put it this way to you: whoever it is that wants you two dead, doesn¡¯t care about the cost, and usually, the fastest way between two points is a bag full of gold! You said that merchant is loyal to your uncle, let¡¯s say he really is loyal to him¡­ What about the rest of the members of the caravan? Are they loyal to your uncle too? Do they have any reason at all not to sell you out and make a fortune in the process?¡±

    Camille was dumbstruck by Merlin¡¯s words, she couldn¡¯t believe she had missed such an obvious detail. Of course, someone had sold them out! And they didn¡¯t even have to put any effort in obtaining the information required by the ambushers, because she and her brother had foolishly assumed they could trust the members of the caravan, and given the information to them!

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    And another realization had struck Camille thanks to Merlin¡¯s words, if their enemies had ambushed the carriage sent by the viscount and guarded by his men, then they surely knew where they were at the moment! That also meant that the multiple plans the viscount had made to keep them safe, had already been jeopardized and were of no use anymore.

    Seeing the turmoil of her emotions reflected on her face, Merlin didn¡¯t know how to continue the conversation from there, so he asked a question that had been bugging him for a while.

    Merlin: ¡°Say, Camille¡­ why were you trying so hard to seduce me, when you obviously hated acting that way? Don¡¯t you understand what would have happened if I accepted your advances? I could have even eaten the cake and disappeared before drinking the coffee!¡±

    Hearing his words, Camille furiously blushed because she knew too well what Merlin meant. She was, after all, the daughter of an Emperor¡¯s favorite concubine, and her mother had explained to her about the birds and bees at the early age of 7. Seeing that she was approaching the age in which she would be married off to some noble, her mother had even explained to her about the different ways to please a man.

    She had no practice whatsoever, but she knew all the theory. She was currently blushing so strongly, because the moment Merlin mentioned the subject, she had pictured herself putting all her theoretical knowledge into practice, with him. She finally managed to get a grip on herself, and honestly answered Merlin¡¯s question.

    Camille: ¡°Two reasons: First, as I said before, it didn¡¯t matter what happened to me, as long as I secured your cooperation and you lent me your strength to protect my brother. And second, for just a moment, I thought that with your strength, you wouldn¡¯t mind about me being a cursed child, and I would be able to be loved like a normal girl¡­ That would have been killing two birds with one stone.¡±

    Her voice broke a little at the end, and Merlin noticed it. He realized that she was at her limit, and she was doing her best to hold on. He didn¡¯t have any intention of becoming romantically involved with her, but she was too nice, and he felt that he should help her out a little.

    It was ok to do so just as a normal friend, and now that he had already made his mind up, he had only to make sure that she didn¡¯t misunderstand the nature of their relationship. Too many girls had done that already, and it would give him a real headache if Camille joined them.

    Merlin: ¡°I think we should head to your room now¡­¡±

    Camille¡¯s cheeks started to redden. She was confused and nervous, confused because Merlin had previously said he wouldn¡¯t do that with her, and nervous because of what might would happen next. Merlin chuckled when he saw her reaction, he then took her in his embrace and whispered in her ear.

    Merlin: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t do anything to you. I¡¯m sure that at least one person in the ballroom knows about your uncle¡¯s plan, and is working for the ones targeting you and your brother. They expect me to drink the spiked wine, and follow you to your room, which is exactly what we are going to do¡­¡±

    When Camille heard that, she calmed down a little, but she was still blushing, and that Merlin was holding her tightly into his embrace didn¡¯t help. The viscount, on the other hand, was delighted to see them acting so intimately, for he believed everything was going according to his plan. Seeing Merlin and Camille cross the ballroom hand-in-hand, and going in the direction of her room, only strengthened his belief.

    A few minutes later, they arrived to the corridor that led to her room. Merlin had noticed for a while that there was someone following them. He didn¡¯t know if it was one of the viscount¡¯s servants, or someone working for the ones targeting the siblings, either way, that didn¡¯t change what he had to do.

    Seeing that Camille was about to talk, he put his hand on her mouth and gestured to her to stay silent. She didn¡¯t know that someone was spying on them at that moment, and tried to talk again as soon as Merlin put his hand away.

    Camille: ¡°Merlin¡­ *mwah!?*¡±

    Not knowing what else to do to keep her quiet, he chose to keep her mouth occupied with something else instead of talking. In the beginning she resisted the kiss, but she eventually gave in and even took the lead at the end.

    The person who was tailing them didn¡¯t realize they had stopped going toward the room to kiss, so he continued walking, but hurriedly stepped back to hide behind the corner before they could see him, upon seeing them standing in the hallway.

    He thought *looks like that child really has fallen into the clutches of that cursed girl¡­ I have to inform master that the plan of the viscount is proceeding as planned.*

    Feeling that the one following them had gone away, Merlin separated from Camille, only to see that she was still in a daze. She was unable to muster any strength on her legs, so Merlin supported her and led her to the interior of the room.

    Merlin felt the room out, and discovered that it was a plain, simple room, there were no secret passages or traps whatsoever. He was feeling a little dejected, but it was good in a sense, in case an attack were to occur, the assailant only had two possible points of entry, the door, or the window, both of which he proceed to close.

    He heard Camille clearing her throat, and turned around to face her. She was doing her best to try looking angry, but she was failing big time. She couldn¡¯t hide the happiness reflected on her face.

    Camille: ¡°Merlin¡­ You are aware that you just stole my first kiss, aren¡¯t you? How exactly do you plan on making it up to me?¡±

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    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 52 - Preparing to mislead the enemy

    Camille: ¡°Merlin¡­ You are aware that you just stole my first kiss, aren¡¯t you? How exactly do you plan on making it up to me?¡±

    Those words and her happy smile sent shivers down Merlin¡¯s spine. Nevertheless, he soon came up with a solution.

    Merlin: ¡°Camille, please undress and lie down on the bed.¡±

    Camille: ¡°O-ok¡±

    Suddenly, she was terrified by how the situation was turning out, and wondered if she had taken the matter with Merlin too far. However, she also realized that, for a young girl in her position, becoming the lover of a powerful man was indeed one of the best outcomes, and for what she had seen about Merlin, he didn¡¯t seem to be a bad choice. Soon after, Camille¡¯s moans resounded in the room.

    Outside the closed window of the room, the man who was previously tailing Merlin and Camille, was attentively listening to the sounds coming from the room, and once he heard her moans and had confirmation, he finally went to see his employer to inform him of the situation.

    He had intended to go to his employer right away, but he changed his mind and decided to confirm the relationship between Camille and Merlin, before reporting it to his employer. He wasn¡¯t the only one spying on those two, though, another person was outside the room, with an ear placed on the door, listening to the sounds coming from the room. That other person was the viscount.

    Hearing Camille¡¯s moans he wore a satisfied smile on his face and thought *Good, now the boy will be willing to work with us and make the plan successful!*

    Had the viscount or the spy taken a peek inside the room, they would have seen Camille lying down on the bed in her undergarments, and Merlin giving her a full body massage, which was what was making her moan.

    However, people have a surprising ability to adequate facts to their convenience, and both, the viscount and the spy, thought Merlin and Camille were having some adult fun, but they didn¡¯t bother confirming that was actually the case.

    Before the viscount and the spy left, Merlin, who was aware of their movements, sent a mana speck out to mark both of them, which he planned to use to track their movements inside the city at a later time.

    A few moments after they left, Camille fell asleep, exhausted. Merlin decided that it was time to start putting his plan into motion. Ever since he decided to help Camille, he had been planning how to do it. It didn¡¯t take long for Merlin to realize, that as long as they were alive, the Dollan Empire wouldn¡¯t stop hunting them down, only after their deaths had been confirmed would the Dollan Empire let the siblings alone.

    With that thought as a starting point, Merlin started to depict a plan to fool the Dollan Empire and make them believe the siblings had died. The first step in his plan would be to make sure the man spying on Camille and him never made it back to his employer, then interrogate him after administrating veritalis, a strong truth serum, to him.

    The second step would be going to the commercial town of Katra and buying a couple of slaves which could make good fresh bodies in his play. Though he was reluctant to kill two innocent slaves, without 2 bodies to confirm their deaths, the Dollan Empire would never stop their chase. However, he decided to buy two slaves whose minds had been so thoroughly broken, that killing them and putting them out of their misery, would actually be an act of pity.

    The third and last step of the plan would be to frame either the spy or his employer for the death of the siblings, in a public manner. Then he would disguise the appearance of the siblings with the same spell he used on Mandy, and make them pass as his companions or slaves.

    He didn¡¯t have the time to hesitate. He quietly slipped out of the room through the window, and traced the speck of mana he had previously left on the spy to know his location and go for him.

    ********************************************************************

    In a house on the opposite side of the city, a few men were drinking some beer jars while conversing loudly among themselves. Those men were dressed exactly the same way as the bandits Merlin killed when protecting the carriage.

    Only one man wasn¡¯t joining in the fun, and was sitting in a corner. The way the others looked at him from time to time, made it obvious that man was their leader. He had been looking through the window the whole time, but his face suddenly darkened and one of his men couldn¡¯t help but ask him what was wrong.

    ???: ¡°Captain, why did you suddenly make that horrible face? Is something wrong, sir?¡±

    Captain: ¡°Yes, Alistair. I was tracking the man we hired to spy on the cursed children inside the viscount¡¯s manor, but his presence has suddenly disappeared.¡±

    Alistair: ¡°But sir, your tracking skills are unparalleled in our division¡­ How could a mere former adventurer escape to them?¡±

    Captain: ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be able to, and the only way to do that would be by either dying, or entering a place with a high level barrier¡­ The church is close to the location I lost track of him, he probably entered inside and I¡¯m just worrying for no reason¡­¡±

    Saying those words, he relaxed and started drinking the beer in his jar. Little did he know that what had actually happened was very different from his hypothesis, Merlin had knocked the spy out, and coated him with a thin layer of his own mana. It took almost his whole natural mana pool to do it, but in his opinion, it was worth it.

    ***********************************************************

    Merlin was shocked by the information he had obtained from the spy, the people sent by the Dollan Empire sure were vicious! They were up against 2 children, and not only they had orders of killing them, they had to be thoroughly tortured before being allowed to die, and anyone who had even the slightest contact with them, had to be quietly killed.

    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The truth serum Lokiseth had taught Merlin how to concoct was very effective, the spy had spilled everything out, and the information he had given to Merlin, made the latter wonder whether his opponents were in their right mind.

    They had given the spy way too much information about their own plans! They either were overconfident in their abilities and thought that even if the spy was caught, he wouldn¡¯t talk, or they planned on him being caught and giving fake information to the enemy.

    However, Merlin doubted that the information given by the spy, was bad information fed to him by his enemies, using the spy as a proxy. The reason for that was that most of the information the spy told him, Merlin had already acquired it through Camille, which confirmed its reliability.

    Ruling out the possibility of a trap, Merlin decided to move forward with his plan. Hearing what those men had in store for the siblings, almost made Merlin go massacre them in a fit of rage, but he soon calmed down and realized that getting rid of them wouldn¡¯t solve the problem, the Dollan Empire would just send more people.

    Reaffirming his certitude that his plan was the way to go, Merlin put the spy to sleep and left him in his room in the inn, then, he slipped out of the city without being noticed by the guards, and used the teleportation orb to go to the commercial town of Katra.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Merlin to get inside Katra after teleporting into the woods nearby. The last time he had been in the town, he had noted down the location of the slave shops that treated the slaves the most poorly, and it was precisely in one of those shops, that he would find the slaves he needed for his plan.

    Merlin disguised himself as an old man, and went into the first slave shop on his list. Soon after, he came out empty-handed. The slaves who had been shown to him in the slave shop, were the worst slaves they had in stock, but they weren¡¯t as broken as Merlin needed them to be, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to bring himself to kill them.

    The same happened in the second slave shop he visited, and in the third¡­ He was starting to get a little desperate, and trying to think of other cities he had visited that might had slaves who fitted his requirements, when he came across the last slave shop on his list.

    Shopkeeper: ¡°Good evening, mister. How may I help you?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Good evening. I would like to see what slaves you have in stock.¡±

    Shopkeeper: ¡°Is there any special requirements for the slaves you wish to acquire?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Actually, yes, there are some. I wish to see all the slaves you have, both male and female, aging between 12 and 15 years old. Also, their bodies should have no distinctive markings whatsoever, and they should have lost any will to live.¡±

    Shopkeeper: ¡°Those are some harsh requirements¡­ I think we only have three young female slaves and a young male slave that fit those criteria. Please, wait here for a moment and I¡¯ll bring them here for you to see.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thank you!¡±

    Merlin went to a corner and sat down on a sofa, while a well dressed female slave brought him a cup of tea. Almost like if the shopkeeper had planned it beforehand, he came back into the room, bringing the slaves with him, as the same time Merlin had finished the tea in his cup.

    Shopkeeper: ¡°These are the slaves in stock that fit your criteria.¡± *Please, take them all away, that way we won¡¯t have to continue wasting food on these useless slaves!*

    Merlin: ¡°Let me see¡­¡±

    He had chosen right away the slaves he was going to buy, but he didn¡¯t want to show any eagerness which could make the shopkeeper remember what his pick had been. He chose the male slave, and the female slave on the outer right.

    Merlin: ¡°Hmm¡­ If this is the only male slave you have that fits my criteria, I¡¯ll have to take him¡­ And about the female slaves, could you tell me their origin?¡±

    Shopkeeper: ¡°Does it really matter their origin?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Not much, nevertheless, it could affect the way they do their work, so I would prefer knowing it before buying them.¡±

    Shopkeeper: ¡°Ok. The one on the left is Narthi, a female debt-slave. She is a half-elven girl who was sold to the owner of a brothel 3 years ago. After her mind broke under the stress of the situation, she was brought back to the slave shop.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I understand.¡±

    Shopkeeper: ¡°The other two are sisters, Lina and Liza. They were rescued from a bandit lair in the north, however, they killed a guard of Katra after having accused him of being one of the bandits who raped them. Both of them are crime slaves, who were forced to serve the sons of the deceased guard, until they became like they currently are.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thank you for explaining their situation to me. Ok, I¡¯ll be taking both the sisters too.¡±

    Shopkeeper: ¡°That will make 3 large coppers.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Here.¡±

    Shopkeeper: ¡°Thank you for your purchase. Please come again if you ever need to buy more slaves!¡±

    Having left the slave shop, Merlin brought his newly-bought slaves to a side-alley near one of the entrances in the wall of the commercial town of Katra. Several minutes later, Merlin made use of a change of shifts in the guards, to bring the 3 slaves out of the town. Only when they arrived to the woods, did Merlin dare to relax.

    _________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 53 - The play is on

    #1</a>

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 53 - The play is on

    In the woods, Merlin looked at the two sisters. The oldest one had features similar to Camille¡¯s, however the youngest of the two was useless to him. He took out a dagger to get rid of her on the spot, but he found himself trembling, having second thoughts and unable to kill her in cold blood.

    *What the hell is wrong with me? Why can¡¯t I do it?* thought Merlin, frustrated.

    [*Good. You had scared me for a second there!*] said Lokiseth.

    *Master! What do you mean, master?* asked Merlin.

    [*Your plan is good on paper, but to kill innocent people in cold blood¡­ you don¡¯t have it in you!*] answered Lokiseth.

    *Which means I¡¯m weak! I made the plan, but I lack the strength to carry it out!* said Merlin.

    [*That means that despite the strength you have acquired, you still retain your humanity. You have no hesitation whatsoever when killing an enemy, but you can¡¯t kill innocents. That¡¯s not a weakness, Merlin, that¡¯s a virtue!*] corrected him Lokiseth.

    *But it also means I won¡¯t be able to carry out the plan!* objected Merlin.

    Merlin was at a loss of what to do. He realized Lokiseth was right: morally, it was a good thing he was unable to sacrifice innocents in order to achieve his goals, but it was impractical and it hindered his plans.

    [*Merlin, that you are an upright moral character is a good thing on its own, but as a warrior, and given the role you will have to play in the war against the ancient devils and the hexad, you can¡¯t afford to be soft!*] warned Lokiseth.

    Then, he gave Merlin a difficult order, [*Kill her mortal vessel now!*]

    *No! She has suffered enough already!* retorted Merlin.

    [*Don¡¯t worry, as long as her soul hasn¡¯t been tainted with malice, I¡¯ll pull it into my pseudo-realm, and the same goes for the other two. So don¡¯t hesitate and do it! You are losing too much time here!*] replied Lokiseth, impatiently.

    *I currently don¡¯t have any soul stone in my possession! Don¡¯t you need one to do that?* asked Merlin in a doubtful tone.

    [*A soul stone would damage their souls like it did to Jasmine¡¯s. Back then, the soul stone was necessary because I still hadn¡¯t created my pseudo-realm. However, now that I have it, I can pull in departed souls whenever I need to, as long as they haven¡¯t been tainted!*] declared Lokiseth.

    Lokiseth¡¯s main objective in telling Merlin that information was to give him some peace of mind, as well as to have him carry out the plan. He was afraid that if Merlin didn¡¯t learn to make some sacrifices in favor of the greater picture earlier on, when the time came that he had to make them in the war against the hexad and their minions, Merlin might discard the plan with the highest odds of success due to his inability to sacrifice a few for the sake of the majority.

    He didn¡¯t lie to Merlin, though, it was true that he now had the ability to pull any recently departed soul into his pseudo-realm, as long as it hadn¡¯t been tainted with malice and it was within a certain range.

    Moreover, pulling the souls of those three poor slaves would have an additional benefit for them, because Lokiseth might even be able to reset their minds to the way they were before being broken due to the traumatic events they had gone through.

    It was impossible to cure their minds inside their mortal vessels, which were the physical embodiment of those traumas, but in their soul form, freed from their mortal carcasses and the evidence of the events that broke them, Lokiseth believed it was possible for them to make a full recovery¡­ over time.

    Merlin finally took the life of the youngest female slave, with two streams of tears on his face. He tried to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible. As soon as her soul left the body, Lokiseth collected it into his pseudo-realm, and froze it in space and time, waiting for the moment he had collected the souls of the other two slaves.

    Lokiseth planned on working simultaneously on the recovery of the minds of the three, that way, he had two other souls as reference, in case an anomaly happened to one of them during the recovery process.

    Had the minds of the three slaves been broken by a curse or mind magic, Lokiseth would only need to snap his fingers and they would have been cured. Unfortunately, their minds had been broken due to the traumatic events their fellow humans had made them go through, therefore, their recovery process would be long, and full of restrictions, like the need of losing their physical body before starting the process.

    After storing the body in his ring, Merlin closed the distance with the two remaining slaves and activated the teleportation orb. Back in Daferma, Merlin had to rack his brain to find a way to get the slaves into the city without the guards seeing them.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    He had completely forgotten about that problem until that moment, and he couldn¡¯t store the slaves inside his ring because they were alive, so he had no choice but to figure out by himself a way to get them inside the city.

    As if the heavens themselves were providing their help to Merlin, a suspicious looking mercenary group tried to enter the city without presenting their identification, and caused a ruckus, temporarily leaving the gates unguarded when all the guards went to stop the mercenaries.

    Merlin didn¡¯t miss that chance and entered the city with the two slaves. However, they didn¡¯t go unnoticed, one of the guards happened to see them going into the city, and when he informed his superior about that, he gave the order of finding the three intruders to all the guards in the city.

    On his way to the viscount¡¯s manor, Merlin stopped at the inn and brought the spy with him. He knew that doing things in a hurry and without a solid plan, would inevitably lead to sloppiness, but he barely had an hour before the viscount came looking for him at dawn, so he had to move fast on the things he needed done before then.

    Pondering for a second which one of the siblings should go first, he decided on Camille¡¯s brother, after all, his room was next to Camille¡¯s, so it didn¡¯t actually make that much of a difference.

    *The security here is a real joke! Maybe I should give the viscount some tips on how to improve it, like having guards make rounds inside the hallways of the manor¡­ but I¡¯ll do so later, now I have other things to do!* thought Merlin.

    The lack of difficulty when infiltrating the manor along with two slaves and the captured spy, had shocked him. He had mentally prepared himself to take some detours, or give plausible excuses if he ever got caught, but it turned out that none of them were necessary in the end. Merlin didn¡¯t know whether to be happy or sad about it.

    They silently entered the room, and Merlin threw sleeping powder to Camille¡¯s brother¡¯s face. Making sure he would be unconscious for a good while, Merlin ordered the male slave to undress Camille¡¯s brother, take his clothes and wear them. Then, the male slave switched places in the bed with Camille¡¯s brother, and Merlin ordered the spy to kill him.

    Spy: ¡°No, I won¡¯t do your bidding!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°You mean that you won¡¯t do it unless the pay is enough, isn¡¯t that correct?¡±

    Spy: ¡°Wh-that¡­ I don¡¯t know what you are talking about!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Oh, really? Well, let¡¯s make things shiny clear: You are going to die tonight, independently of whether you do as I say or not. You have innocent blood in your hands, so don¡¯t expect me to show any mercy. However, although your death has already been decided, that doesn¡¯t have to be the case with your friends and family¡­¡±

    Spy: ¡°My friends and family? Hahaha, good luck with that! You don¡¯t even know my name!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I don¡¯t need your name. I¡¯m aware that you are a former adventurer, I just need to collect your head and bring it back to the Adventurers Guild. How much time do you think I¡¯ll need to collect every bit of information the guild has about you?¡±

    Hearing Merlin¡¯s words the spy¡¯s face visibly paled. He had been shunned by his family and most of his friends after being expulsed from the Adventurers Guild, but he didn¡¯t blame them for having done so, he was a disgrace as a man, his actions had earned their distrust, and he was aware of it.

    However, he didn¡¯t want them to bear the consequences of his own selfish actions. He took the sword Merlin was offering to him, and cleaved with it at the head of the male slave on the bed. Little did he know that Merlin¡¯s earlier words were just a bluff and he would have never taken the lives of innocent people not involved in the incident.

    Nevertheless, Merlin¡¯s bluff worked and he took the male slave¡¯s life. After Lokiseth took the male slave¡¯s soul into his pseudo-realm, Merlin took Camille¡¯s unconscious brother with him, and the four of them went into her room.

    Although Merlin used the sleeping powder on Camille, and the female slave switched places with her, he didn¡¯t order the spy to kill her right away. Instead, Merlin used a paralyzing poison on the spy, and took the unconscious siblings with him to bring them back to his room in the inn. They couldn¡¯t be seen around the manor anymore or it would crumb the play.

    There wasn¡¯t any incident in the trip to the inn, however, when he was on his way back to the viscount¡¯s manor, he discovered that most of the guards in the city were looking for three intruders. Merlin disguised himself and tried to avoid the guards, but to no avail, less than two minutes later a patrol had caught sight of him and called out to him.

    Needless to say, Merlin run away like a bat out of hell the second he heard the guards call out to him. Noticing that he was unable to shake them off by normal means, after several turns, he took out the corpse of the female slave who died in the woods outside the commercial town of Katra, and left it on the ground, next to the door of a house.

    Merlin then used his ¡°ki strengthening technique¡± on his legs, and jumped on the roof of the nearest house. He had originally planned to bury the body of the dead female slave together with her sister¡¯s, but he unexpectedly had to use it in such a fashion and change his plans.

    Luckily for him, he had stored rhe body in his ring intead of burying it in the woods near Katra, he would have currently been in big trouble if he had done so. While he was having those thoughts, the guards, misled by the body, had stopped trying to find him, and were convinced he was in that house.

    Guard J: ¡°You! Go back to the guard post and bring reinforcements, these houses only have one door, so he is trapped inside now! Go, hurry!¡±

    Smiling inwardly when he heard the words of the guard, Merlin started crawling his way up on the roof and he then jumped to the roof of a different house. Repeating the process several times, Merlin steadily made his way away from the location at which the guards were quickly gathering.

    When he was at a safe distance, and several houses blocked the line of sight of the guards, keeping them from seeing his actions, he finally stood up on a roof and looked in the direction of the viscount¡¯s manor. Running and jumping around on the roofs like a parkour expert, Merlin arrived to the manor and went back to Camille¡¯s room.

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 54 - Sorry, but you two are dead

    The spy was startled by Merlin¡¯s entrance through the window of the room, he had expected it, but he had put his attention elsewhere for a while, hence his surprise. Merlin tried to sense the position of the viscount inside the manor, and realized he was coming in his direction. He was 4 minutes away from the room, and Merlin was growing impatient due to being tight on time.

    Not dwelling anymore about that, Merlin looked at the female slave. In spite of knowing that for her, death, and Lokiseth pulling her soul into his pseudo-realm was actually her luck, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little guilty about it.

    He was supposed to have slept with Camille, which meant the slave should be naked or in her underwear when her body was found. However, Merlin didn¡¯t think it was right to leave her naked body exposed for everyone to see, so he had her wear Camille¡¯s gown and hoped for the best.

    Checking the viscount¡¯s position once more, Merlin discovered that he was coming toward the room at a quicker pace than before. Instead of the 2-3 minutes, they only had 1 to stage Camille¡¯s murder. Merlin told the spy to kill the slave, and Lokiseth pulled her soul into his pseudo-realm.

    Then, Merlin took his sword, shouted ¡°DAMN BASTARD! YOU HAVE KILLED HER! I¡¯M GOING TO KILL YOU!¡± and leapt towards the spy. The spy knew he was going to die regardless of what he did, but he still defended from Merlin¡¯s attack. In fact, he wanted to harm Merlin as much as possible before passing away.

    ***********************************************

    Viscount¡¯s POV:

    I woke up early this morning. I couldn¡¯t sleep that well last night, probably due to sending my niece to sleep with that young man. My sister would probably kill me if she knew I had her beloved daughter give her chastity to a man she just met. However, I didn¡¯t have much of a choice, it was this or both siblings getting caught and murdered by the men chasing them.

    Having Camille sleep with that young man is a gamble, he might not be able to protect them in the end, but he probably is one of the strongest men in the city. It would be perfect if he were to fall for her and be willing to lay his life down protecting her if needed be, nevertheless, as long as he can become a strong layer of protection for both siblings, it will be ok.

    In addition, if that young man were to marry Camille and enter the family, that would also mean a substantial increase in the strength of my household¡­ but thinking about that is going ahead of myself, I should first check about the boy¡¯s intentions.

    I was on my way to Camille¡¯s room, when I heard the young man¡¯s voice. He had just shouted ¡°DAMN BASTARD! YOU HAVE KILLED HER! I¡¯M GOING TO KILL YOU!¡±and following that, sounds of swords clashing invaded the hallways nearby. I ran to the room, but I didn¡¯t expect to see the scene that received me when I arrived there. The young man¡¯s clothes were tore in many places, but overall, he looked fine.

    The man attacking him, on the other hand, had been severely injured all over his body by the young man¡¯s slashes, but he seemed to be holding his own. However, my sudden appearance sealed the fate of the attacker. He got distracted when he saw me, and the young man used that chance to behead him. His decisiveness startled me for a second, but I didn¡¯t mind it in the end, and looked around the room, searching for Camille.

    I wasn¡¯t prepared for that. She was too young and had all her live ahead of her, to think that the enemies of those two have managed to get into the manor despite my efforts¡­ *It¡¯s regrettable, but what is done it¡¯s done, and I can¡¯t do anything to change this outcome. On the bright side, Camille¡¯s death has been avenged, and Gil is safe.* The young man faced me, and apologized to me.

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t save her.¡±

    Viscount Monyme: ¡°I don¡¯t blame you, boy. You had no way to know there was going to be an attack, and she is already dead, so she doesn¡¯t care anymore about this matter. But tell me, how did this happen?¡±

    *How can I blame you, boy? If you really knew the mess she and her brother were in, you would have never associated with them in the first place!*

    Merlin: ¡°¡­¡±

    V. Monyme: ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t worry, boy. I won¡¯t pursue the matter of you sleeping with my niece, I knew what you two were up to when I saw you leave the ballroom together, but did nothing to stop you, because I thought you were a good match for her. Besides, looking at it now, at least you gave her a piece of happiness before she died¡­ thank you!¡±

    He is blushing, hahaha. What an innocent young man, Camille probably was the first girl he has ever slept with¡­

    Merlin: ¡°I woke up early, and after watching her sleep for a while, I dressed up and went out of the room for a walk. When I came back, I saw that man coming out of the room next to this one, and coming into Camille¡¯s. I run to the room and unsheathed my sword on the way, but I was to late. She was already dead when I entered the room.¡±

    The expression this boy is making¡­ Damn, I don¡¯t want him to feel guilty for her death! It¡¯s not his fault. Who would have guessed that an assassin would come into the manor, and be audacious enough to kill Camille¡­

    V. Monyme: ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, boy, you couldn¡¯t have known that an assassin was going to attack her. There was nothing you could have done to save her¡­¡±

    Wait a second¡­ did he say that the assassin came from the room next to this one? But that room is¡­ *Gil!*

    ************************************************

    Merlin saw the viscount run out of the room. He didn¡¯t say anything, he smiled inwardly, and took out a tracking nullification talisman. That was a talisman which could be issued by the church, however, it had the rank of legendary was an artifact of legendary rank on its own right.

    That kind of talisman, Merlin could create it in half an hour, but the knowledge to create them had been long lost in Klantea. There were only a few hundreds of them in existence, and most of them were scattered through the numerous temples of the church around Klantea.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    In normal circumstances, those talismans would only be used by high-ranked members of the church who were in the middle of a top-secret inquisitorial mission. Despite knowing that the talisman would probably raise questions about the church¡¯s involvement in the assassination, Merlin decided to put it in a pocket of the spy.

    If word got out about the talisman being found in his possession, those who used the siblings being cursed as an excuse to hunt them down might think the church learned about the siblings, and sent out an inquisitorial mission to deal with them. It would also explain why whoever was tracking the spy, suddenly lost track of him.

    *I hope that will be enough and they will buy the death of the siblings.* thought Merlin.

    Merlin stood up and went to the other room. There, he found the viscount closing his fists tightly and seething with anger. The viscount had felt helpless at first, because he couldn¡¯t act in the open against the instigators of the murders due to how powerful they were. From helplessness to wrath, he couldn¡¯t control his own emotions anymore. He started to feel wrathful, and started to think of ways to punish the guards in the manor for their negligence.

    After a while, the viscount finally calmed down and realized it wasn¡¯t the fault of the guards, the enemies chasing the siblings were highly trained individuals, there was no way for his guards to successfully confront them. Sadly, the only individual strong enough to do so, didn¡¯t get there in time and only could finish off the assassin.

    Merlin didn¡¯t know of the exact thoughts of the viscount, but he could tell he had finally calmed down and started to calmly assess the situation. After that, they talked for a while, and Merlin agreed to assist to the cremation ceremony of the siblings the following day. Merlin left the manor and went back to the inn.

    Back in his room, Merlin observed the siblings asleep on the bed, and decided to talk to Camille first. He gently shook her to wake her up, and smiled at her when she opened her eyes.

    Merlin: ¡°Good morning, sleepy head.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Huh? Good morning, Merlin¡­ This is not my room¡­ Where is this place?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°This is my room in the inn.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Ok, but why am I here? Ok, why are we here? Why did you also bring my brother? If you really wanted to do adult stuff with me we could have done it in my room, back at my uncle¡¯s place.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that was not my intention when bringing you two here.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Ah, ok¡­ but you haven¡¯t answered my question?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Sorry, but you two are now dead.¡±

    Camille: ¡°What do you mean? How are we dead? Don¡¯t you see we are here, alive and kicking?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°The people who want you dead, won¡¯t stop chasing you until you die. They even went as far as to infiltrate the manor last night, so I staged your death and your brother¡¯s to fool them into thinking that they have achieved their goal.¡±

    Camille: ¡°I understand¡­ How did my uncle take it?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°He thinks you two are dead.¡±

    Camille: ¡°What? Why?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°He is your uncle, you, more than me, should be aware of how bad he is at acting. Sometimes, to fool your enemies you have to fool your allies first. In this particular case, with how bad your uncle is at acting, the only way for your enemies to buy your deaths without your uncle inadvertently selling you out, was to make him believe your deaths are real.¡±

    Camille didn¡¯t know how to react to Merlin¡¯s words, it was a lot to take in, and their uncle could never learn the truth or it would jeopardize their survival, but that also meant she didn¡¯t know what to do from then on.

    Camille: ¡°What are we supposed to do now? Without a background, a family, or any kind of backing whatsoever, how are my brother and I supposed to survive?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I have a suggestion for you¡­ if you are interested.¡±

    Camille: ¡°What is it?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I could alter the way you two look with magic, we could form an adventurer group, and you two could go adventuring with me.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Is that even possible?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°If you are willing, yes, it is.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Please, take care of us from now on!¡±

    Although Merlin had made that offer, he wasn¡¯t sure about how to work it out. The part of changing their looks with magic was very easy, however the part of giving them new identities and registering them in the guild, was easier said than done.

    There were two main problems to make it work. First, a boy and a girl of the same ages as the deceased nephew and niece of Viscount Monyme¡¯s suddenly registering in the Adventurers Guild, right after their deaths, was bound to arise the suspicions of the people who wanted the siblings dead. The second problem was that their entrance in the city hadn¡¯t been registered by the guards, and they were still looking for the intruders, so he had to find a way to take the siblings out of the city, and have them enter it again in a proper way.

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 55 - The Witch Bloodline

    *What to do?* wondered Merlin.

    Camille could pass for his sister, but trying to make her brother pass for Merlin¡¯s twin was a little too much of a stretch. Merlin¡¯s head started to hurt, and he decided to stop thinking about it and do one thing at a time.

    He called Camille over and used on her the same spell he had used on Mandy. He didn¡¯t change much, but what he changed was enough to make her look like a completely different person. Her blonde hair turned crimson, and her beautiful emerald eyes turned violet, which made her even more bewitching than she was before.

    After Camille¡¯s, it was Gil¡¯s turn. Merlin turned his ears pointy, making him look like a half-elf. Then, he turned Gil¡¯s emerald eyes light brown. As long as the siblings didn¡¯t say anything out of place, nobody would be able to tell who they really were.

    ¡°Ok, as I said before, you can join my adventurers group, but I don¡¯t plan on keeping useless people by my side,¡± warned Merlin, ¡°So what are your fight skills?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a pretty decent archer.¡± said Camille.

    When he heard her answer, Merlin thought that something didn¡¯t add up. If she was a pretty decent archer like she affirmed to be, why didn¡¯t she help defending the carriage, or when they had been attacked previously? Either she was lying, or she had wanted to keep that a secret, but it still didn¡¯t fell right with him.

    Then, he looked at Gil and asked him ¡°And you? Do you have any noteworthy fighting skills?¡±

    ¡°I was trained in the use of daggers¡­¡± he answered.

    ¡°Ok, if both of you have fighting skills, why didn¡¯t you put them to use when you were attacked?¡± asked Merlin, ¡°Especially in your case, Camille. An archer could have helped reducing the number of attackers before they got too close!¡±

    Camille looked a little distressed, she looked at her brother and then back at Merlin. He didn¡¯t understand her reaction to his question, but he guessed that it could be something they didn¡¯t want to talk about.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but my brother and I lost the wooden weapons our mother gave us, and due to our curse, any normal weapon that we wield loses its ability to harm, however, they still work perfectly in the hands of others!¡± explained Camille.

    *Wow, talk about a strange condition* thought Merlin.

    [*Looks like you have struck gold this time, kid!*] said Lokiseth, startling Merlin.

    *Master, what do you mean by ¡®I have struck gold this time¡¯? Aren¡¯t those two useless in battle?* asked Merlin.

    [*On the contrary! If correctly trained, those two could become your biggest assets in a battle. There is no such a curse, the closest curse to what they described would be the one which turns into dust any wielded weapon, but that is not their case!*] replied Lokiseth.

    *Master, could you please then tell me what their deal is?* asked Merlin.

    [*It is highly probable that they belong to a witch bloodline, but they don¡¯t seem to be aware of this themselves, which means their bloodline heritage has been lost and they didn¡¯t receive it. It is a good thing for them though, they might have been locked up and forced to be breeders otherwise.*] stated Lokiseth.

    *Master, what do you mean by that? And what do you mean by ¡®witch bloodline¡¯? Isn¡¯t a witch just a female magus?* asked Merlin.

    [*Don¡¯t let the knowledge from your other world fool you! Making assumptions will lead to your death! How many times have I warned you about it?*] scolded Lokiseth.

    *Sorry, Master.* said Merlin, sheepishly.

    Lokiseth gave then his explanation to Merlin, [*I previously told you about the origin of the world, and the creation of the high humans, high elves, and other races, didn¡¯t I? At that time, Natura, the goddess of nature, created a branch of high humans on her own, which came to be known as the witch bloodline. The witches and warlocks belonging to that bloodline had a longevity similar to the ones of high elves, and they were also a bunch of tree-huggers like them.

    However, unlike the people of the elven race, who changed nature to their needs through the use of spirits as a medium, the people of the witch bloodline were able to control nature with their own will. This trait was so powerful that the other gods of the pantheon urged Natura to put limitations to the power of her creations, for if it wasn¡¯t done, they could easily thwart the balance of power between races, and provoke an all-out war among all the races.

    Natura, who also didn¡¯t want that possibility to become a fact, agreed to the request of the other gods and limited their powers. She made it so that any weapon not belonging to the nature itself would become dull in their hands, and their reproduction rate would be so low, any couple could only have a child every two or three hundred years. That way their numbers would be constant, always between 1000 - 1500 people.

    However, Natura made a miscalculation there. She didn¡¯t take into account the greed some members from other races would feel when learning about the existence of such a peculiar breed of high humans. Not only other races, even some high humans coveted their power, and starting to capturing them in an attempt of using them as breeders.

    The constant chase almost led to the complete extinction of the witch bloodline, and the remaining survivors scattered through the world, living lives of anonymity and reclusion. The world eventually forgot about their existence, sparingly mentioned in some ancient records, but never seen in actuality. Ironically, that same fact is what prevented them from going extinct alongside the high humans.

    They were thought extinct too, but these two siblings are the living proof that wasn¡¯t actually the case. However, their story is a little strange, and I think chances are history is repeating itself in their case.*]

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Merlin had been a little overwhelmed by Lokiseth¡¯s explanation, so he didn¡¯t immediately understand the meaning behind his last words. A few seconds passed, in which Merlin organized his thoughts, as well as the information Lokiseth had just dumped on him, and finally realized it.

    *Master, do you mean all that happened to them was just some kind of conspiracy? That someone planned all that just to get their hands on their witch bloodline?* asked Merlin, astonished.

    [*I¡¯m not saying that is actually the case, but all the evidences point to that possibility. Their mother suddenly disappeared, and after they escaped, an order has been given out to take their lives. It practically looks like someone discovered their mother was a witch and captured her, then they tried to capture the siblings but failed, so they gave out the order of killing them on sight, to avoid any leaks of their mother¡¯s disappearance, as well as to avoid the possibility of anyone else robbing them of their monopoly over a breeder from the witch bloodline. Besides, due to political reasons, the Emperor can¡¯t even look into those disappearances without becoming a public joke.*] said Lokiseth.

    Merlin thought about it and came to the same conclusion as Lokiseth, but decided to hide those news from the siblings to prevent any kind of heroic thinking of saving their mother, that would get them killed before they were prepared.

    It wasn¡¯t a fair action toward the siblings, but he had grown fond of them in that short period of time, and he decided it was the only thing he could do to prevent them from rushing to their own deaths. He also made a decision, he would help them get stronger, and when the right time came, he would explain to them the conclusion Lokiseth and he had come to about all that had happened to them.

    ¡°Merlin, are you ok?¡± asked Camille.

    She was worried about him because Merlin had suddenly stopped talking to them and had lost focus on his eyes. When he heard her voice, Merlin stopped talking with Lokiseth, and brought his attention back to the siblings. He was touched by her concern, and smiled at her before starting talking again.

    ¡°Ok, if that is the case, don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll make sure to find some weapons that suit you guys!¡± affirmed Merlin.

    Gil didn¡¯t seem very convinced by Merlin¡¯s words, nevertheless, the look his sister was giving to Merlin made very obvious to him that she trusted Merlin with her life. He didn¡¯t say anything out loud, but he was growing weary of Merlin.

    It wasn¡¯t only his sister¡¯s sudden infatuation with him, but also the many impossible things he usually did like they were the norm. He felt respectful and envious of Merlin¡¯s power and abilities, but he couldn¡¯t discard a faint feeling of dread. He was worried that Merlin might betray them and sell them to their enemies.

    ************************************************

    At the same time, in the house that was serving as the headquarters of the people sent by the Dollan Empire to deal with the siblings¡­

    Captain X: ¡°Alistair! What did you find out? Why hasn¡¯t our man inside the mansion come back yet?¡±

    Alistair: ¡°I¡¯m afraid he has perished, captain.¡±

    Captain X: ¡°¡®Perished¡¯? What does that mean, ¡®perished¡¯?¡±

    Alistair: ¡°It¡¯s as it sounds, captain. He is dead. It would seem, that instead of reporting back as scheduled, he went to the church, and received orders of finishing off the siblings, which he did at the expense of his own life.¡±

    Captain X: ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense, why would the church employ to carry out the assassination, the same man we employed to gather intelligence for us? And how did they know about him?¡±

    Alistair: ¡°I have no idea of how the church got to know about the man we had in our payroll, however, the intervention of the church in this matter is out of question. When they searched our man¡¯s body after his death, they found in his possession a tracking nullification talisman issued by the church.¡±

    Captain X: ¡°Why should it be the church?¡±

    Alistair: ¡°They have a lot of control over those talismans, so the only way an average ex-adventurer like him could have gotten his hands on one, was if the church itself had given it to him for the mission.¡±

    Captain X: ¡°Have you confirmed the deaths of the siblings? Have you made sure this isn¡¯t a hoax created to deceive us and make us stop the chase?¡±

    Alistair: ¡°Yes, captain. I seduced one of the maids, and she allowed me to see the bodies. They were badly damaged, but I¡¯m sure it was them. Besides, the viscount doesn¡¯t know how to hide his emotions, and his grief was real. In addition, he asked the church for an explanation, but the church denied any involvement in the matter and suggested the talisman¡¯s origin might be a ruin the assassin visited during his adventuring days.¡±

    Captain X: ¡°Good work, Alistair. On another note, you should stop seducing women when gathering information during a mission. That not only makes you ineligible for missions in places you have previously been, you already have 11 bastard children. If your wife one day learns about this little habit of yours, and all the women you have gotten pregnant during your missions, you will wake up the next morning with a dagger through your chest!¡±

    Alistair: ¡°Sorry, captain.¡±

    Captain X: ¡°I¡¯m not the one you have to apologize to, it¡¯s your wife! On a second thought, don¡¯t apologize to her or tell her anything about your misdeeds, just stop committing them!¡±

    Alistair: ¡°Thank you, captain, for your forgiveness!¡±

    Captain X: ¡°I didn¡¯t say it for you, I just don¡¯t want to see my sister-in-law being punished just because you didn¡¯t learn to keep your pants on! My wife would never stop nagging me about her sister¡¯s fate, otherwise! Anyway, I¡¯m going to contact our superiors and tell them the good news. Alistair, you go and tell our men to pack up, we are returning home!¡±

    Alistair: ¡°Yes, captain!¡±

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 56 - Caladbolgs edge

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 56 - Caladbolg''s edge

    It was tricky, and it took a lot of work, but Merlin succeeded in getting the siblings out of the city. He left them in the woods nearby and went back in. He almost lucked out and got caught when crossing the entrance, but thanks to his disguise, he managed to convince the guards he wasn¡¯t anyone suspicious.

    *Master, I¡¯m afraid I rushed things too much when inviting the siblings to join my adventurer group. I probably should have asked about their abilities before doing so¡­ I don¡¯t wish to go back on my word, but with their inability to wield weapons, it would probably be better for them to stay in Ragnar?k instead. What do you think, master?* asked Merlin.

    [*Indeed, you rushed it too much, but that doesn¡¯t matter now. You think they will be useless to you because they can only wield weapons made by their own people, isn¡¯t it? But you already have weapons suitable for them, besides, once they awaken the power of their bloodline, they will be able to create their own weapons, and problem solved!*] said Lokiseth.

    *What do you mean, master? How do I have weapons suitable for them?* asked Merlin, surprised.

    [*Do you remember the treasure vault you so efficiently ¡°cleaned¡±, back in Klausna Kingdom? Among the things you got there, there were some ornamental weapons in wood¡­ Well, they were actually witch weapons.*] replied Lokiseth.

    *Master, do you mean¡­*

    [*Regular weapons are useless for people of the witch bloodline, conversely, witch weapons are useless in the hands of regular people. Some idiot probably found the place of a deceased witch, thought those weapons were ornamental, and used them as such! They are low grade weapons, but witch weapons nonetheless.*] explained Lokiseth.

    Merlin pondered about it for a while and came to a conclusion: he would keep them by his side as long as they were useful to him, but he would send them to Ragnar?k the very second they became a hindrance to him.

    Fifteen minutes had passed since he had come back into the city, he removed his disguise and left the city, he greeted the guards on his way out, so that they would remember when exactly he had left, and that he was alone when he did. Then, he went to the woods where he had left Camille and her brother.

    *************************************************************

    Gil: ¡°Sister, can we trust that guy?¡±

    Camille: ¡°What do you mean, Gil? Of course we can trust him! After all, he saved our lives!¡±

    Gil: ¡°If you say so¡­¡± *Sis¡­ Don¡¯t think I¡¯m just a little kid. Only a blind person would be unable to see your feelings for him, when he saved us, he became your knight in shining armor, but you don¡¯t think any further than that¡­ Fortunately, he doesn¡¯t seem like a bad guy, and is dense enough to fail to notice how you act around him¡­*

    Camille: ¡°Gil, you are making a strange face.¡±

    Gil: ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing, sister. I was just thinking about those people who are after us.¡±

    Camille: ¡°¡­¡±

    Gil wasn¡¯t exactly ¡°delighted¡± by their current situation. He didn¡¯t like to have to obey someone else¡¯s orders, he had had enough of that back in the Dollan Empire. But then again, having to obey orders was still better than being dead, so for the time being, he decided to comply with whatever Merlin said to them.

    At the same time the previous conversation between the siblings was taking place, Merlin was thinking about what approach he should take when explaining to them about their bloodline and the underlying reasons of their persecution. He wasn¡¯t sure of how they would react to the news, and that made him uneasy which made him opt for delay tactics until they got to know each other better.

    A couple of minutes later, Merlin arrived to where the siblings were, and noticed the tension in the air. He didn¡¯t ask what had happened, for he wasn¡¯t sure of wanting to know, he just told them to come closer to him and started to explain to them how things were at the moment.

    Merlin: ¡°Ok. First, Gil. From now, your race will be half-elf, and you probably should change your name to Will. It sounds similar so it will be easier for all of us to get used to it and remember it. Also, you are forbidden from calling Camille ¡®sister¡¯, I would say in public, but it is better if you stop altogether, that way the chances of you misspeaking in public will also lessen.¡±

    Gil/Will: ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but I get your reasoning, so ok.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Good. Now, Camille. You won¡¯t need to change your name, with your changed appearance you can pass as my sister, which is what you will do from now on. Get used to calling me ¡®brother¡¯, because I¡¯ll treat you as my sister from today onward.¡±

    Camille: ¡°O-ok¡­¡± *Damn! What are my chances to get you if you treat me like your sister? I guess it will do for now, but I won¡¯t give up!*

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go back to the city and have you registered in the Adventurers guild! Oh, one more thing, you can¡¯t have any contact whatsoever with your uncle, no matter how grieved you see him. If he were to know you are still alive, news would leak out and those after you would come to kill you more ruthlessly than before!¡±

    Will: ¡°Got it.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Isn¡¯t that a little cruel for our uncle?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Faking death will only work once on your enemies, are you willing to go back to being hunted down just to comfort your uncle? Furthermore, your enemies have spies inside your uncle¡¯s manor. If they were to know you two are actually alive, what do you think would happen to your uncle? They would capture and torture him, expecting him to spill your whereabouts!¡±

    Camille: ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t think about that.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I know it is going to be hard on you two, but even if you cross him, or anyone you previously knew, you must ignore them. Doing otherwise would be tantamount to sentence them to death after a very long and painful period of torture!¡±

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    Will: ¡°Ok, ok. We understand, you didn¡¯t have to be so explicit about it!¡±

    After that conversation, Merlin took the siblings back to the gate and entered the city normally. Something unexpected happened when they were at the gates of the city, though, they crossed a group of men going out which happened to be the people dispatched by the Dollan Empire to kill Gil and Camille.

    *Eh? Aren¡¯t those two our targets?* thought Alistair when he saw the siblings at the gate.

    However, when he focused his attention on them, he discovered that though their features were similar, the girl¡¯s hair and eye color weren¡¯t like their target¡¯s, as for the boy, he was a half-elf, so there was no way he was the one they had been chasing down.

    *For a second there I thought our targets had come back to life¡­ I think I am going to ask for a vacation after we get back home, this mission has taken a toll on me and I am starting to imagine things¡­* thought Alistair before going out of the city with his comrades.

    The siblings didn¡¯t notice anything amiss, but Merlin did. However, as things didn¡¯t escalate, he didn¡¯t bother to point it out to the siblings. Once they were inside the city walls, Merlin took them to his inn, and booked a room for each of them. Following that, he brought them to the Adventurers Guild to have them register as adventurers, to create his own adventurer group, and register Camille and Will as its members.

    Right after they entered the guild¡¯s hall, Merlin got distracted and separated a few steps from the siblings. The siblings didn¡¯t notice it and continued their way to the counter. Merlin hurried up and followed them, but not before trouble came their way.

    The adventurers that were in the guild¡¯s hall when Merlin had previously destroyed the B Rank adventurer group that had attacked him, started to whisper upon seeing him enter the hall.

    They didn¡¯t know if something similar would take place again, but Merlin¡¯s next words when he saw an adventurer grabbing Camille¡¯s arm and touching her butt, let them know something interesting was going to happen.

    Merlin: ¡°Hey, jackass. Would you mind letting go of my sister?¡±

    *His sister? That idiot just molested that monster¡¯s sister!? He is dead! That idiot is definitely dead!* thought the ones who had seen Merlin before.

    After Merlin spoke those words, silence was made and the adventurer, who didn¡¯t expect anyone to speak to him in that tone, unconsciously let go of Camille. He turned around to face Merlin and sneered at him.

    ???: ¡°Oh, what do we have here? A little peasant shit who doesn¡¯t know his place! Do you know who I am? I am Lian Kless, the third son of Baron Kless! Even if I took your peasant sister to my bed, that would be her honor!¡±

    *Now he has done it!* *He is dead!* *That idiot only knows how to think with his dick!* *Why did he provoke the monster?* *Like status would matter to that monster!* *I¡¯m afraid Baron Kless is going to lose his third son¡­*

    Many people present thought like that, however, no one was willing to interfere, first because they weren¡¯t confident of being able to overpower Merlin, and second, because they were aware of Lian¡¯s misdeeds with women, and hated him. As a matter of fact, despite Lian¡¯s use of his status as the third son of Baron Kless, he had been disowned by his father due to him molesting the maids and even going as far as forcing his way with them!

    Merlin: ¡°Well, mister molester, I don¡¯t care whose son you are. As far as I¡¯m concerned, you are just a jackass who molested my sister, so I¡¯m going to break your three legs and make you unable to use them anymore!¡±

    He didn¡¯t waste any time, right after voicing those words, Merlin kicked Lian¡¯s crotch, and accompanied by Lian¡¯s loud wail, a sound of something breaking was heard. Merlin didn¡¯t stop there, he broke both of his knees, and taking out a dagger placed it in front of Lian¡¯s eyes.

    Merlin: ¡°You better go away now, if you ever come near my sister again, I¡¯ll let you know what it means to experience death while being still alive!¡±

    Hearing Merlin¡¯s words, a wet stain started forming in Lian¡¯s pants, he turned around and crawled his way out of the guild¡¯s hall. Many adventurers were delighted by Merlin¡¯s actions, most of them female adventurers who had been molested by Lian or someone like him.

    *Told you so!* *That was a good show!* *I better make sure not to bother that monster, ever!* *A molester less in the guild, good!*

    The matter taken care of, Merlin accompanied the siblings to the counter and had them registered as adventurers. Camille registered as ¡°Camille Lefey¡±, while Gil registered as ¡°Will Ford¡±. Now that they had guild cards with those names, they could safely use them as their proof of identity, which meant, as long as they didn¡¯t do something that revealed what their identities really were, their enemies would continue to believe them dead.

    Merlin: ¡°I would like to start an adventurer group.¡±

    Receptionist: ¡°Very well, what will its name be?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Caladbolg¡¯s edge.¡±

    Receptionist: ¡°Any adventurer other than you in that adventurer group?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°My sister Camille and my friend Will.¡±

    Receptionist: ¡°Ok. May I have all three of your guild cards, please?¡±

    After they gave their guild cards to her, she placed them on the registration form and put an inked seal on the form. When she did, the words ¡®Caladbolg¡¯s edge¡¯ appeared on each of their guild cards. Having finished the procedure, she gave the guild cards back to them, and conveyed to Merlin the guildmaster¡¯s wish of speaking with him in private.

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 57 â€“ First mission

    Merlin and the siblings followed the receptionist to the guildmaster¡¯s office, he was waiting for them, and he even had asked a maid to prepare herbal tea for them. In Merlin¡¯s opinion, hiring a maid just to prepare you tea at the office, was a waste of money and human resources. On the other hand, it also made clear to Merlin that the man they were going to speak to was an eccentric.

    Guildmaster: ¡°Welcome¡­ welcome, my guild¡¯s calamity and his companions¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°¡®Your guild¡¯s calamity¡¯? When did I earn such a weird nickname?¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°You haven¡¯t, it¡¯s just the way I call you. Does it surprise you? You haven¡¯t been registered in the guild even a week and you have already wasted a B Rank adventurer group, and an A Rank adventurer. He had just ranked up to A, but that¡¯s not the point!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, I understand why you call me that way. Now, can we get to business, please?¡±

    He was starting to get impatient. He had his suspicions about the reason why the guildmaster wanted to meet with them, and he prayed to be wrong, it would get very dangerous for the siblings otherwise.

    Guildmaster: ¡°Straight to the point, I like it. There is a B Rank mission I would like to entrust to your adventurer group.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t help you with that, sorry.¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°Why not? You have enough strength to accept this mission, and you have yet to hear the contents of the mission.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I don¡¯t need to. I may have enough strength to take that mission, but my two companions don¡¯t! I won¡¯t risk their lives by accepting a mission they don¡¯t have the strength to carry out.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Merlin, we don¡¯t wat to drag you down. If you want to take this mission and do it alone, you can do so. You don¡¯t have to be concerned about us!¡±

    Will: ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°See, even your companions agree with me!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s not the point. Due to personal reasons, I will have to quit adventuring in less than two years, that¡¯s why I want to make my companions stronger in that time frame. However, to get stronger they must first remain alive, hence my negative in taking the B Rank mission.¡±

    The guildmaster frowned upon hearing Merlin¡¯s answer, but he understood his position. He wanted to entrust that mission to him, because he had been the only one qualified to take it, so far. The one who had given the mission to the guild was an old friend of his, and the guildmaster knew her personality, someone without the qualities she had specified wouldn¡¯t do.

    His face didn¡¯t show it, but the guildmaster was agonizing over Merlin¡¯s negative. The mission had been cumulating dust in his drawer for more than 10 whole years, and when he finally found someone who fit the requirements for it, that same person didn¡¯t accept the mission. He started to think of ways to convince Merlin to change his mind and accept it.

    Realizing that it wasn¡¯t that Merlin was opposed to accepting that mission, but that he feared for the lives of his companions, the guildmaster believed to have found a way to have Merlin accept the mission. It would cost him a fair amount of gold, but he would be able to convince him.

    Guildmaster: ¡°Let me see if I have understood this correctly¡­ The only reason for your negative to accept the mission is that you don¡¯t want to risk the lives of your companions, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That is correct.¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°Then, if I could ensure their safety during the mission, would you accept it?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I probably would, but how exactly do you plan on doing that?¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°Providing them with lifesaving equipment, such as rings of sacrifice.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That wouldn¡¯t make the mission profitable for the guild¡­ Why are you willing to go so far in order to make me take this mission?¡± *Rings of sacrifice? I can¡¯t make those, so if we can get them for free, it will save us hundreds of gold! But there seems to be something strange with this mission¡­*

    Guildmaster: ¡°I¡¯ll be honest with you. This mission was given to the guild 10 years ago, but it has very strict requirements about how the person taking it should be. So far, you are the first person who fit those requirements, and the time limit is closing on us, so I can¡¯t wait for a second person to fit the requirements, and I need you to accept the mission. It would harm the reputation of the guild, otherwise!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°So you basically need me to take the mission to save the reputation of the guild, even if it takes thousands of gold to do so¡­ You really seem to be desperate!¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°I am! I gave my word and my personal honor and reputation are on the line along with the guild¡¯s!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What are the contents of the mission? I¡¯ll make my decision after knowing them!¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°Thank you! Thank you!¡±

    The guildmaster took out the parchment with the details of the mission and gave it to Merlin. After reading through it, Merlin was astonished due to its simplicity! He even started to suspect the guildmaster was actually pranking him.

    Merlin: ¡°Is this a joke? Collecting a flower in a territory devoid of any life? How can this possibly be a B Rank mission? Are you trying to pull my leg?¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°The lost valley is devoid of any life, so there won¡¯t be much danger for you and your companions. However, this ¡®Essuor¡¯ flower grows in a hidden location in the valley, only if you know the way, you can find the location.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain how such an easy mission hasn¡¯t ever been completed in the past¡­¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll be honest with you. The hidden location where you can find the flower is, in fact, an ancient temple where a divine trial is given. To obtain that flower, you have first to pass that divine trial, and climb to the platform behind the end line of the last part of the trial.¡±

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    Merlin: ¡°Why me?¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°Because the guardian of the trial only allows to take the trial to people who fit very specific criteria, which you happen to fit. The trial can be taken alone, or in groups up to 4 people, however, if it is taken with a group, the person leading it must fit the criteria, and if that person fails, the whole group will fail.¡±

    Merlin was wondering what criteria those were, but he didn¡¯t ask, he was more concerned about the danger that might be luring in such a trial, and the fact that Lokiseth didn¡¯t say a word about it wasn¡¯t reassuring in the slightest.

    Merlin: ¡°Do you know about monsters, routes, or any information whatsoever that could help me in this mission?¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°All we know is that no one has ever succeeded in passing the trial so far, and that it is impossible to die on it, but the information is very limited due to a soul contract imposed upon the participants that forbids them from disclosing any specific information about the contents of the trial. In addition, the trial can only be taken once in your life, independently of whether you manage to pass or not.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Is it really impossible to die on it?¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°Yes, whenever one person dies inside, the body disappears from the trial grounds and the person reappears at the entrance of the temple, alive, but disqualified. In the event of the person dying being the leader of a group, the whole group will be disqualified and reappear at the entrance of the temple.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°If it really is impossible to die on it... then, why did you offer to give life-saving equipment to my companions?¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°Call it an insurance. We only know that, up to the last part of the trial, no on e has died so far. However, we have no way of knowing what may happen beyond that point, so providing your companions with rings of sacrifice is a must do, just in case something unexpected were to happen. It can also be understood as a bribe of sorts to make you accept the mission.¡±

    The guildmaster¡¯s explanation had illustrated some of the points Merlin was wondering about, nevertheless, there was still one point which had been left unexplained: why didn¡¯t the kingdom or the church take charge of guarding that site? Following human logic, the different powers around that location would usually dispute themselves for its ownership. Why didn¡¯t that happen in this particular case?

    Those questions puzzled Merlin, but he decided against asking out loud. If Lokiseth himself, who was a former god, didn¡¯t speak about it, either it was a taboo subject, or he had no knowledge about it. Merlin wasn¡¯t sure of which option was scarier.

    Guildmaster: ¡°Be careful, and don¡¯t let anyone know you are there to take the trial. It is treated as a myth around those parts, however, organized groups of strong bandits lurk around there and assault anyone who is said to be going or coming back from the trial. Besides, many people go around there to try their luck, but only those who know the way can actually find the entrance to the temple.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I understand. Going around telling I know the way would be akin to drawing a target on my back, and I would be risking not only my life, but also that of my companions.¡±

    Guildmaster: ¡°It¡¯s good if you understand.¡±

    For what the guildmaster understood about Merlin, he knew he wouldn¡¯t go around telling about his mission, in fact, that last remark was a reminder directed to Camille and Will. Since Merlin trusted them, he wouldn¡¯t offend them saying things clearly, but they truly looked like rookies, and was somewhat concerned that they might hinder Merlin during his mission.

    Camille and Will weren¡¯t stupid either, they knew first hand how strong Merlin was, so they were aware the guildmaster¡¯s last words weren¡¯t directed to Merlin but to them. It also reminded them that if they wanted to be useful to Merlin, they would have to think of other ways to do so, given that the both of them were useless in battle.

    They still didn¡¯t know Merlin had some low grade witch weapons that would allow them to fight by his side, so it was only natural that they thought that way. Merlin planned on giving those weapons to them after they had left the city. It was unlikely that someone would recognize the witch weapons, not many people knew about them.

    Nevertheless, on the off chance that happened, it would be too troublesome to deal with, and it would bring the heat back on them, so Merlin decided to minimize the risk, and give the weapons to them at a later time. He also had come with an idea that could be useful to hide the origin of the siblings, but he needed time to try it out, and the probability of it working out would increase if done in a forest instead of inside a city.

    His idea was quite simple, he wanted to try a modified version of his disguising spell on the witch weapons to make them look like regular weapons, and avoid raising the suspicions of anyone who saw them. After all, it was quite unusual seeing someone wielding wooden weapons in actual combat, and even more unusual being able to deal great damage with them.

    The thing the siblings needed the least, was giving birth to some strange rumors which would bring unwanted attention to them. However, due to their singular nature, Merlin wasn¡¯t sure of being able to do it. It should work in theory, but he lacked a profound understanding of their nature, and that could lead to unexpected results.

    Theory and practice are two completely different things, and given the very limited stock he had of witch weapons, Merlin couldn¡¯t afford to make a gamble with that kind of high stakes more than once, so he decided to wait, and go through with the experiment in an environment which could increase his chances of success.

    After inquiring about the terrain, the route, and whether any special kind of supplies was needed for the mission, the guildmaster accompanied the trio to the door, to the great astonishment of the adventurers present in the hall of the guild.

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 58 â€“ Weapons

    Given Merlin¡¯s status as the monstrous super-rookie, it didn¡¯t surprise them that he wasn¡¯t severely punished by the guild, because it would be counter-productive to lose such a good seedling over a measly dispute, even more so when it was the other party that was at fault.

    However, the respectful attitude the guildmaster was showing to Merlin was something reserved only for S Rank adventurers and above, which puzzled them and made them wonder what background Merlin had and what his actual strength was.

    Merlin didn¡¯t mind them, but he was a little mad at the guildmaster for all the unwanted attention he was bringing on him. In Merlin¡¯s opinion, it would had an adverse effect on his plan of keeping a low profile in the guild.

    What Merlin failed to notice at the time, was that his plan had already failed the very moment he destroyed the B Rank adventurer group. The news of that happening had long since spread among the higher-ups of the Adventurers Guild, at a global level!

    Wanting to keep a low-profile after that was just Merlin¡¯s wishful thinking. The guildmaster was aware of that, but decided to keep Merlin in the dark about it, for fear that he might abandon the mission if he learned the news had spread.

    It would be better if he learned about that fact from others, and not from him, that way, their relationship wouldn¡¯t be strained and the mission he had entrusted to Merlin would have a higher probability of being accomplished.

    Seemingly unaware of everyone¡¯s thoughts, Merlin and the siblings went to buy supplies around the city. The siblings were surprised to see that, unlike other adventurers, Merlin didn¡¯t buy any potions of any type, nor any poisons that were specially prepared to deal with some troublesome monsters.

    In spite of their surprise, they didn¡¯t say a word. They believed in Merlin, and they were sure that if he acted that way, it meant he had a reason to do so, they had no idea whatsoever of which reason that could be, though.

    Merlin was aware that his actions were unlike any other adventurer¡¯s, but seeing his two companions didn¡¯t ask, he didn¡¯t bother explaining himself. They were going to learn about his reasons eventually, so he didn¡¯t see any need to. After buying some goods he deemed necessary, Merlin bought two horses for the siblings, and led them back to the inn.

    The real reason why he hadn¡¯t bothered buying any potions, was that he had already brewed and stockpiled his own, and their quality far surpassed that of the potions sold in the city. As for poisons, he also had some in his ring, and he could prepare more at any given time, so the thought of buying some didn¡¯t even cross his mind.

    Leaving the siblings in the inn with instructions of not leaving their rooms until he got back, Merlin left the inn and went to Viscount Monyme¡¯s manor, to attend the cremation of the deceased siblings and take back his horse Tempest. The cremation should have taken place the following day, however, it would seem that a servant of the viscount¡¯s had seen Merlin buying supplies and horses, and she had informed her employer.

    Upon learning of Merlin¡¯s imminent departure, Viscount Monyme decided to hold the cremation that same day, and he had sent a servant to inform Merlin of the change of plans. Merlin had met the servant just as he was about to leave the inn, and accompanied him back to the manor. Two hours later, Merlin returned to the inn with his horse Tempest, and told the siblings to take their belongings with them because they were leaving.

    Will: ¡°Wow!¡±

    Camille: ¡°Now I understand why you didn¡¯t buy a horse for yourself before¡­ Were did you get it? It looks rather familiar, but I can¡¯t remember where I have seen it before¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°It¡¯s Tempest, the horse that belonged to the captain of the guards who were protecting you the first time we met.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Oh! That certainly explains why it looked familiar.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, if you have all your things with you, we¡¯ll go now.¡±

    *****************************************************

    Camille¡¯s POV:

    There is no mistake about it, it is happening again. It has been only a few hours since we left the city, but that strange sensation is back, I don¡¯t understand why I feel this way whenever I enter a forest. It¡¯s not a bad thing, though, I feel brimming with energy, and so is Will. I asked him if he felt the same as I did when entering a forest and he did.

    However, it would seem that it¡¯s just the two of us, the rest of the people around us wouldn¡¯t feel anything strange in the forest, and they would look at us as if we were nuts whenever we would bring it up. It doesn¡¯t seem like an illusion, though.

    Merlin seems to know a lot about a lot of things, so I wanted to ask him if he had any idea of why Will and I would feel that way in the forest, but I didn¡¯t dare to ask him in the end. I was scared of how he might have reacted, I¡¯m not sure I could deal with the situation if he were to think I¡¯m nuts and stop talking to me¡­

    After setting up the camp for the night, Merlin did the strangest of things, he beckoned us to go in front of him, and he handed me a beautiful decorated bow, and two decorated daggers to my bro-¡­ to Will. I still have a hard time not thinking of him as my brother, but I can¡¯t call him that way anymore. Will and I couldn¡¯t understand why Merlin was handing us ornamental weapons.

    Will: ¡°Are you trying to make fun of us? We may be unable to wield any weapons, but you don¡¯t have to give us wooden decorations to make us feel even worse about it!¡±

    Camille: ¡°Will¡­¡±

    I understand Will¡¯s point, nevertheless, this is Merlin we are talking about¡­ He wouldn¡¯t act that way with us. If he has given these decorations to us to use as weapons, then I¡¯m sure these so called decorations aren¡¯t that simple. They must be hiding some kind of secret¡­

    It might even happen that we could wield them like those passed down in our family!

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    Well, I kind of got ahead of myself with that thought, but, then again, with Merlin anything is possible. We should have made sure not to lose our family heirlooms, it was just our carelessness that made that happen. Anyway, what¡¯s lost is lost, dwelling on it won¡¯t change that fact.

    ******************************************************

    While Camille was thinking about it in a positive light, Will continued his rant. Merlin, who was smiling at first, ended up fed up with Will¡¯s attitude, and decided to explain to them what those seemingly ornamental weapons really were.

    Merlin: ¡°Will, could you please just shut up? You are starting to give me a headache! What would be the point of making fun of you two just because you can¡¯t wield any weapons? Do you really think that I have the time or the will to do such a foolish thing?¡±

    Will: ¡°¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Use your head before going around slandering people!¡±

    Camille: ¡°That¡¯s enough, Merlin. I think he has gotten your point!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Sorry, Camille. You shouldn¡¯t underestimate those weapons. They look like ornamental goods because some good-for-nothing idiot didn¡¯t understand their true value, and decorated them in such a flashy way to use them as decorations.¡±

    Will: ¡°You mean they are real weapons?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, they are exactly the same kind of weapons as the family heirlooms you lost on your way to Daferma. These are low-grade, though, but they should do the trick until we find something better for you. Now, infuse your mana into the weapons and try them out!¡±

    Will reluctantly did as he was told, and a surprised expression took form on his face. Camille tried it out too, and discovered why Will was making that face. She couldn¡¯t believe their luck, and made her wonder, once more, what exactly Merlin¡¯s background was.

    From what their mother had told them, Camille knew their family heirlooms were very ancient, and their crafting method had long been lost. Their mother had repeatedly warned them not to lose them, because they wouldn¡¯t be able to replace them if they did.

    However, Merlin had casually taken those weapons out and handed them like they grew on the trees and he could get more at any given time! If Merlin had known what was going through Camille¡¯s head at that time, he wouldn¡¯t have known whether to laugh or to cry.

    The only reason he had to hand those witch weapons out, was that they were useless to him, and those two would have become a hindrance to him without them. He wasn¡¯t so kind as to give something away without obtaining some kind of benefit from it.

    It was an investment for the future, if it would pay out in the end, he didn¡¯t know, but having the siblings defend themselves instead of asking for his protection, was a benefit on itself. He didn¡¯t explain anything to them about the weapons, and let them figure them out by themselves.

    Nevertheless, when he deemed they had spent enough time analyzing them, he decided to ask them to give the weapons back.

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, that¡¯s enough time. Give them back to me.¡±

    Camille: ¡°¡­¡±

    Will: ¡°So you really were teasing us! You brought our hopes up, giving us weapons we can use despite our curse, and now you take our joy away by asking us to give the weapons back! Don¡¯t you think that is just too much for a joke?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Camille, could you please tell me something? Has he always been this moronic, or did he become like that after hitting his head when you were escaping from the capital of the Dollan Empire?¡±

    Will: ¡°Oy! What is that supposed to mean?¡±

    Camille: ¡°Please, guys, don¡¯t fight!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what that¡¯s supposed to mean! Yours is an inherited curse that runs in your family, and if people knew you have that curse, they would probably hunt you down and try to either kill you or enslave you. That is exactly the reason behind your mother¡¯s disappearance, and why you had a price on your heads!¡± *What¡¯s wrong with me today? Why am I lowering myself to this child¡¯s level?*

    Camille: ¡°The weapons!¡±

    Will: ¡°That¡¯s right, even if what you just said was the truth, that doesn¡¯t have anything to do with the weapons, nor with why you are teasing us!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°A moron, indeed. Camille has figured it out already, but since you are such a moron, I guess I¡¯ll have to spell it for you. It¡¯s common knowledge among the people who know about the curse in your bloodline, that the ones with the curse can only wield that type of weapons. In other words, wielding those weapons in public will be tantamount to tell everyone who you really are!¡±

    Will: ¡°If that really is the case, then, why did you let us know you had these weapons? If you had just stayed silent about it, nobody would have criticized you for not giving the weapons to us, but you are taking your teasing too far!¡±

    Hearing Will say that, Camille facepalmed and thought, *How can that idiot be my brother? It is very simple, if Merlin showed us those weapons and even had us try them out, then it means he intends to give them to us! As for taking them back after explaining how dangerous is to show them in public, it is highly probable that he either has a way to conceal their nature, or he wants to keep them in safekeeping until the time for using them comes¡­*

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 Chapter 59 â€“ Master enchanter?

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    Chapter 59 - Master enchanter?

    Merlin payed no heed to Will¡¯s words and took the weapons back. Taking a carving knife out of his ring, Merlin sat down on the ground, and started carving a series of symbols on the weapons. Camille was surprised by his actions, but she didn¡¯t say a word. She looked at him with interest, and was curious about what he was doing.

    Will got mad at being ignored, but he stopped talking after realizing nobody was paying any attention to him. He didn¡¯t understand Merlin¡¯s actions, and he wanted the weapons back, but the was afraid that if he overdid it, Merlin might rat on him to the Dolan Empire.

    Merlin¡¯s idea was good on paper, however, doing it proved to be more troublesome than he had originally thought. His idea of using the disguising spell on the weapons was a good one, but he had failed to notice one crucial fact, the spell required of the mana from a living being to work. That meant he couldn¡¯t cast the spell on the witch weapons, at least not in the way he had intended to.

    Under Lokiseth¡¯s guidance, Merlin found a way to cast the spell on them, a way that would also allow Camille and Will to keep the weapons with them at all times, and even make the weapons stronger. The symbols Merlin was carving on the weapons were related to that.

    They were ancient symbols related to soul magic. That was the solution Marlin came to under Lokiseth¡¯s guidance, to make the witch weapons into soul weapons. Not only would that allow endless growth to the weapons, making them virtually indestructible, it also made it impossible to lose them, as they would be soulbound to their owners.

    It would also solve the mana source problem for the disguising spell, the witch weapons would be able to draw the mana from their owners through the bond in their souls. Of course, Merlin couldn¡¯t give such an in-depth explanation to the siblings, so he planned on just telling them he had enchanted the weapons.

    It took Merlin a whole hour to finish the carvings due to the special care he had to put on making them, it would have been disastrous had he made a mistake¡­ It wouldn¡¯t have been a joking matter if because of his mistake, instead of bonding with the owner¡¯s soul, the weapons trapped the souls inside them.

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, it¡¯s done!¡±

    Will: ¡°What is? Are you going to give us the weapons back?¡±

    Camille: ¡°Please, don¡¯t mind him¡­ What were you doing to the weapons? Those strange symbols don¡¯t go well with the decorations on the weapons¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s the only thing you point out!? I just spent a whole hour carving those symbols, and the first thing you point out is that they aren¡¯t pretty¡­ You are incredible!¡±

    Camille: ¡°Hehe¡­ Is that a compliment?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Maybe¡­ or maybe not. Anyway, that¡¯s not the point. I have enchanted the weapons so that only you can use them, you won¡¯t be able to lose them anymore, and they will grow stronger the stronger you two get!¡±

    Will: ¡°Bullshit! There is no way you can do that, even a master enchanter wouldn¡¯t be able to do it!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Whether you believe me or not is your choice.¡± *Seriously, what is it with that attitude? Besides, do you really think a regular master enchanter would have the direct guidance of a god to pull this out?!*

    Camille: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I believe you. So, how do we activate the enchantment?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Thanks, Camille. To activate the enchantment, you just have to let a drop of your blood fall on the five-pointed star.¡±

    To their surprise, as soon as they followed Merlin¡¯s instructions, their wooden weapons transformed into seemingly ordinary ones, made of iron. However, what shocked the siblings the most, happened right after that, for as soon as the appearance of the weapons changed, they turned into balls of light and went into the bodies of the siblings.

    Will: ¡°What the heck was that?¡±

    Camille: ¡°Merlin¡­ What did just happen?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry the weapons just went inside your bodies¡­ You don¡¯t have anything to be worried about.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Nothing to be worried about?! Merlin, the weapons just went inside our bodies! Don¡¯t you find anything wrong with that?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Not really. Those were actually soul weapons, when you dropped your blood on them, not only did you activate my carvings of the disguising spell, you bounded the weapons to your souls. That was why I had said you wouldn¡¯t be able to lose these weapons.¡±

    Will: ¡°Soul weapons? That¡¯s stuff from legends, there is no way those could actually exist!¡±

    Camille didn¡¯t jump to conclusions and gave some thought to Merlin¡¯s words, it was true that what he had said was difficult to believe, but everything that had happened so far pointed that his words held some truth. In the end, she chose to believe in him and trust his words.

    Merlin didn¡¯t particularly care whether they chose to believe his words or not, it was their decision, but he didn¡¯t want to spend any more time on that matter. He turned around and went to sleep in his tent.

    Will: ¡°How are we supposed to take the weapons out? Not only did that bastard without deciding the turns to keep guard tonight, he didn¡¯t even explain to us how to get the weapons out! So much for Mr. I-know-it-all¡­¡±

    *SLAP*

    The slap echoed in the silence of the night, while Will looked at Camille in disbelief. He had it coming with his attitude, but he didn¡¯t realize that his bitchy attitude was getting on the nerves of the other two. He mad at Camille for slapping him, but when he looked at her, the look she gave him sent shivers down his spine.

    Will: ¡°What the heck did you do that for?¡±

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    Camille: ¡°Do you even have to ask? Do you even realize the risk Merlin is taking when helping us and keeping us by his side? If our enemies learned about this, not only would he die, even his loved ones would be in danger, yet here he is, doing his best keeping us alive and protecting us from danger!¡±

    Will: ¡°Hmph! We didn¡¯t ask for his help!¡±

    *SLAP*

    Camille: ¡°I did ask for his help, although I must admit that he has gone well beyond what I had expected from him. However, that¡¯s not the point. You are returning kindness with ill will! What would mother think of us if she learned about your attitude? Is that how she raised us?¡±

    Will: ¡°Mother is dead! She won¡¯t give a damn about what I do or don¡¯t do!¡±

    *SLAP*

    Will: ¡°Fuck, girl! I swear, if you slap me again I¡¯ll break your wrist!¡±

    Camille: ¡°Fine, next time, instead of slapping you, I¡¯ll kick your balls and make you an eunuch!¡±

    Will gulped and looked down, he realized Camille was serious and quickly covered his manhood with both of his hands. After hearing Camille¡¯s words, he pondered his actions up till that moment, and realized he really was in the wrong and owed Merlin an apology. Nevertheless, his pride knew no bounds and he didn¡¯t intend to apologize and admit his wrongdoings.

    Camille: ¡°Hmph! One day, that pride of yours is going to get you killed! You are wrong about something, though, mother isn¡¯t dead!¡±

    Will: ¡°You can¡¯t know that!¡±

    Camille: ¡°I can¡¯t explain it, how I know it, but I just know that she is still alive!¡±

    Will: ¡°Oh, yes? Then, where is she? How come she didn¡¯t return home?¡±

    Camille: ¡°I¡¯m sure she was kidnapped. I don¡¯t know where she is, nor how to help her, but I do know one thing, if we really want her back and want to help he, we must get stronger! We are much too weak as we are now!¡±

    *Smart girl!* thought Merlin. In spite of having gone to sleep, he was unable to fall asleep, so he pretended to be sleeping and listened to the conversation of the siblings. He didn¡¯t care much about will¡¯s opinion on him, but he was grateful to Camille, nonetheless. She stood out for him, and he appreciated that.

    In addition, her assessment on their situation made Merlin see her in a different light, she had read his mood correctly, and realized Merlin¡¯s patience with Will¡¯s behavior was reaching the limit. Instead of waiting for Merlin to explode, she had chosen to intervene, and that had gained her several points with Merlin.

    Having finished their discussion, Camille went to sleep before giving Will any chance of refusing to keep on guard duty. His sister had never acted that way with him before, at the beginning, he had thought that the change in his sister¡¯s behavior was due to Merlin¡¯s influence, and jealousy had filled his heart because he had always been very close to her and he feared that Merlin might have replaced him in her heart.

    However, after Camille¡¯s slapping and taking a calm look at the situation, he realized his fears were unfounded. It didn¡¯t matter if she had stopped calling him brother and started addressing Merlin that way, they were siblings and their blood ties wouldn¡¯t break just because she didn¡¯t call him brother anymore.

    Understanding that fact was already a great leap forward, but he wouldn¡¯t mature just with that. After all, he was a 12-year-old kid who had been pampered a lot by his mother. That was the first time he had such a huge setback and had to fight with his life on the line, the first time when his own survival had to be obtained by his own fits and wits.

    Looking at the stars, Will made an oath: To never again be a burden to his sister and his companions, to change into a man his mother would take pride in calling her son, and to grow stronger, strong enough that anyone who heard his name would abandon any thoughts of harming him or anything he held dear.

    He didn¡¯t see, though, that the very second he made that oath, one of the stars in the firmament started to sparkle with a stronger light.

    ***************************************************

    In a mountain several miles away from Merlin¡¯s group¡¯s location¡­

    ???: ¡°Young mi-master! Please, reconsider your decision!¡±

    Y. Master: ¡°Sorry, Virca, but I don¡¯t have any other choice. I must find father and let him know about my uncle¡¯s machinations! He even dared to arrange my marriage with that person!¡±

    Virca: ¡°Young mi-master! I know that you are upset about that arranged marriage, but you are being too rush! You escaped from home to find master, but you don¡¯t even know where he is! We lost contact with him 2 years ago, how do you plan on finding him when even the best trackers among our guards had to give up?¡±

    Y. Master: ¡°I¡¯m sure my uncle bribed them into being unable to find father! I think I know where to find him, and even if he is not at that place, I¡¯m sure he will have left some clues there which will lead me to him!¡±

    Virca: ¡°Young mi-master¡­ Maybe, it isn¡¯t that your father can¡¯t be found, maybe it is that he doesn¡¯t want to be found¡­¡±

    Y. Master: ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. I have heard that tale too, how my father sent a letter in which he said that he was abandoning me and left the family in the hands of my uncle, how he had found a new woman and left the kingdom with her¡­ Sorry, but I don¡¯t buy it! I know father better than anyone else, and if he really had abandoned the clan in such a way, he would have taken me with him, or at least, told me about it before disappearing!¡±

    Virca: ¡°¡­¡± *You really are too na?ve. Things are never as simple as that, but if I were to explain that to you, I doubt you would be able to take it¡­*

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 Chapter 60 â€“ The yellow springs

    The following day, the group was in a strange mood. Merlin and Camille didn¡¯t speak much, and Will¡¯s anger and embarrassment didn¡¯t exactly help the situation. He couldn¡¯t blame anyone but himself, though. Will had asked Merlin earlier in the morning about the method to summon out the soul weapons, but he got angry when he learned that he had just to will in his mind the words ¡°weapon manifestation¡± to get them out.

    His anger was due mostly to his own embarrassment, and although it was directed to himself and not to Camille or Merlin, it still affected the overall mood of the group. Camille noticed the changes in Will¡¯s mood, however, she had nothing else to say after the talk she had with her brother the previous night, so she didn¡¯t take any further action.

    Merlin, who was unaware of Will¡¯s change of heart after his talk with Camille the previous night, simply believed Will¡¯s current mood to be on the line of his previous childish behavior. He stopped paying any attention to him, and focused solely on making sure they didn¡¯t deviate from the correct path toward their destination.

    They barely spoke during the following week, with the exception of some occasional chatter when setting up the camp at night, or when they had to take breaks in order to let their horses get some rest. In the meantime, Merlin¡¯s personality had reverted to what it once was back when he was on Earth: introverted and barely able to communicate with other beings.

    Maybe it was because of that, that he failed to notice they were being followed by a group of fairies. They didn¡¯t plan on interfering with Merlin¡¯s group under any circumstances, but that didn¡¯t stop them from chasing after Merlin¡¯s group. It was no longer due to the orders from their queen, but their own desire.

    Fairies were a playful race, and if something caught their interest, they wouldn¡¯t let go of it until they grew bored of it. They should have reported back when they found Merlin, but they recognized the witch weapons, and saw him carve the symbols in them, making them into soul weapons.

    Their surprise when they witnessed that, couldn¡¯t be described with words. A group of a human magus, whose level of inscriptions were well above a master enchanter, and who even possessed the royal blood of the fairies, coupled with two survivors of the witch bloodline¡­ Just, how entertaining was that?

    In a world where the entertainment industry was limited to theatrical plays and books, the fairies were bored out of their minds, which usually led to them making mischief for other people, simply to relieve their boredom. Now that they had discovered some interesting ¡°toys¡±, they didn¡¯t want to share the fun with their fellow fairies, and decided to keep on watching Merlin¡¯s group without reporting back, for the time being.

    Merlin, of course, was unaware of all that. Fairies were a special kind of spirit, they existed in multiple dimensions at the same time. That made tracking them specially difficult, even for a god. Existing in multiple dimensions at the same time gave them the ability to shift dimensions for a short while, that meant they had a life-saving ability which could even allow them to avoid capture.

    Unfortunately, there exists a balance in the world, and for every world-shaking ability, there is something which can counter it. In the case of the fairies, a special kind of mana infused metal alloy cancels out their dimensional-shift ability, which is why they were successfully captured from time to time, and sold to rich nobles as pets.

    **************************************************

    Merlin, Camille and Will were about to set camp in the forest, when a clich¨¦ situation took place again.

    ???: ¡°Give us your money or your lives!¡±

    ???: ¡°Hey, boss, look! That chick is not bad! She is quite beautiful!¡±

    Merlin¡¯s heart sank when he heard that comment. It was bad enough that as he was growing drowsy, he had neglected the vigilance of the perimeter, and twenty bandits had encircled them. However, what made it worse, was that they had set their sights on Camille, and unlike any other bandit group Merlin had crossed so far, they had 3 capable magi among their ranks.

    The pump of adrenaline generated by their predicament took away Merlin¡¯s drowsiness, and he started to think of ways to get rid of the bandits. The first thing to do was to get rid of the magi among the bandits, but the spells he would usually use to get rid of them, were either too powerful to be used by Merlin in his current state, or they couldn¡¯t be used in a forest without risking setting it ablaze.

    Merlin cursed his luck when thinking about it. He had learned a spell from Avalon¡¯s inheritance, which would render an enemy magus temporarily unable to use magic, unfortunately, his current mana capacity wasn¡¯t enough to cast the spell even once, much less thrice.

    He put those bitter thoughts to the back of his mind, and looked at Camille and Will. Merlin was surprised by what he discovered in their eyes: determination, and will to battle. In Merlin¡¯s opinion, the two were too soft, but now they were starting to show signs of getting stronger, or more exactly, they were starting to take the proper path to ensure their own survival.

    Reassured by the attitude of the siblings, Merlin started to think of way to regain control over the flow of the battle that was about to occur. Given their disadvantageous situation of the trio, Merlin decided that his best course of action was to taunt their opponents and made them mad, mad enough to attack recklessly, which would result in flaws in their attacks, flaws that Merlin and the other two could exploit and gain an advantage over the bandits.

    Bandit boss: ¡°My brother is right, that chick is of good quality¡­ tell you what, guys, if you hand over all of your money and possessions, as well as the girl, we will let you go unharmed, we¡¯ll even allow you to keep the horses. The other choice is you two dying and we will be taking the girl and everything you have afterward!¡±

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    Merlin: ¡°I have a question, though. I understand you wanting our money, but what use would you have for this girl?¡±

    Hearing his question, the bandits started to laugh loudly. They looked at Merlin in a new light, they thought he was just an ignorant boy who didn¡¯t know anything about the matters between men and women, which made them unconsciously belittle him and underestimate his ability to deal with them.

    B. Boss: ¡°Hahaha, truly hilarious. To think a young boy like you is so wet behind his ears that he wouldn¡¯t know the use of a woman¡­ Why don¡¯t you bring the girl over here? I¡¯ll show you the practical use a woman has for men¡­ Hahaha.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°No, thanks. I don¡¯t feel like having nightmares for a whole year! Besides, I don¡¯t think you understood what I meant by not knowing what use you would have for her¡­ I mean, do you really think you would be able to satisfy her with your dull and half-broken swords? Oh, sorry, swords is indeed an exaggeration. I meant, with your dull and half-broken little knives?¡±

    His words worked like a charm, the bandits instantly had a hideous expression in their faces, whereas Camille was furiously blushing. She had recalled that night, back in the manor, when she had planned to seduce Merlin, only to get cold feet in the end. She couldn¡¯t help but having a little speck of expectations for the future, after all, she was adventuring with Merlin, and anything could happen.

    B. Boss: ¡°You bastard! I¡¯ll teach you a lesson!¡±

    All the bandits charged at Merlin, trying to hit him. Even the magi were so mad at him, that they momentarily forgot about being able to cast magic, and run toward Merlin, trying to get a punch at him. Merlin was surprised at how well his taunt had worked, it had worked even a little too well.

    He had originally planned to take care of the six or seven bandits that would lose their cool by the taunt and attack him, but he certainly didn¡¯t expect all of them to come attack him simultaneously. A little overwhelmed by the wave tactic used by the bandits in their anger, Merlin told his companions to fall back, and then pulled all the aggro of the bandits, fighting alone against them.

    Camille and Will wanted to help Merlin, but they understood that in that kind of situation, they would be a hindrance instead of a help. Instead of focusing all of his attention on his fight with the bandits, Merlin would have to be worried not to hit them by mistake, and that would put him in a dangerous position.

    The siblings didn¡¯t want that to happen, so they had obediently fallen back as Merlin had asked them. When the bandits had surrounded them in the beginning, there was no way for Merlin and the others to escape, a wall of humans and trees wouldn¡¯t allow them to do so.

    Nevertheless, when the bandits fell for Merlin¡¯s taunt, and rushed toward him, many places appeared where they could slip through to scape. When Merlin told the siblings to fall back, they were surprised and thought ¡°Where are we supposed to fall back? We are surrounded!¡± but they understood soon after.

    Not having to worry about the siblings, and with all the bandits attacking him at the same time, Merlin found himself in an advantageous position, for everywhere he hit or slashed would be an enemy. While evading the punches and stab attempts of the bandits, Merlin managed to get to one of the enemy magi, and stab the dagger on his right hand through the heart of the magus.

    Before the bandits could react to the death of their comrade, Merlin made his way to one of the wo remaining magi. Merlin couldn¡¯t kill him in one hit like the other one, due to the action s of the other bandits, but he still managed to stab him twice, once on his abdomen and once on his tight. It wasn¡¯t lethal, but it was painful enough to deter the magus from casting any spell before the end of the battle.

    The third magus was smarter than his comrades. Having seen that Merlin was targeting the magi first, he back down and retreated a few steps, making Merlin unable to attack him unless he defeated the other bandits first. Merlin regretted not having been fast enough to injury or finish off that magus, but he still hadn¡¯t lost his advantage.

    The situation was so messy, that the magus would be unable to target him with a spell without risking harm to his own comrades. Merlin¡¯s only concern at that time was the possibility of the magus changing his target to the siblings. The only thing Merlin could do at that moment was to end the battle as quickly as possible and head over to help the siblings.

    The bandits looked at Merlin in disbelief, they had thought the trio were easy targets, but a crouching tiger had turned out to be among them. They stayed still for a second after the third magus had to retreat, but Merlin¡¯s next words woke them up and made them attack even more ferociously than they had previously done.

    Merlin: ¡°Ah? And here I thought you were tough guys¡­ In the end, you have turned out to be just a bunch of weaklings! Did you mammas not breastfed you enough when you were born? Well, you have attacked me, so it is too late even if you regret it now! I¡¯ll send all of you to the yellow springs!¡±

    B. Boss: ¡°What are you waiting for, brothers? Don¡¯t let his words confuse you! Attack!¡± *What the heck were those ¡®yellow springs¡¯ he was talking about?*

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 Chapter 61 â€“ Dushe Consortium

    Merlin didn¡¯t mind them attacking as a group, he actually preferred that to them attacking one by one, because it would be faster to deal with the bandits as a group. Furthermore, the only ones who had an environmental advantage over Merlin were the three magi. Having dealt with them, the rest of the bandits didn¡¯t pose any threat to Merlin.

    After taking the three magi out, Merlin¡¯s only concerns were to limit the damage the fight could bring to the tents of his group, and to make sure none of the bodies of the bandits fell on the fire and spread it around. It wouldn¡¯t be funny that the tents or the forest were set ablaze by accident.

    Still, it only took Merlin two minutes to finish off the rest of the bandits. However, after searching some of the bodies, he discovered that those bandits had a viper¡¯s head tattooed on their chests, and hurriedly searched for any survivors and cut off their heads. Will and Camille were astonished by Merlin¡¯s actions, because they didn¡¯t understand why he was acting that way.

    Will: ¡°Hmm, Merlin?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes. What is it, Will? Whatever you have to say, say it fast. I¡¯m in a hurry right now!¡±

    Despite his words, Merlin didn¡¯t slow his pace in the slightest, he went from body to body checking their vitals and cutting the string of life of those who had been previously spared, or had been lucky enough to escape from certain death.

    Will: ¡°Why are you being so vicious? Do you really need to be so bloody? Look at my sister!¡±

    Merlin looked at Camille, and saw her pushing the trunk of a tree with her left hand, while vomiting the dinner from the previous night. Merlin couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for her, he hadn¡¯t wanted her to see such a sorry spectacle, but after knowing the identities of their attackers, he didn¡¯t have a choice. Having killed one, he had to kill the rest, he couldn¡¯t leave any witnesses.

    Merlin: ¡°I feel sorry for her, but I didn¡¯t have a choice. If you knew who they really were, you would be thanking me instead of scorning me for my actions.¡±

    Will: ¡°Wh-what do you mean?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok. All dead, now the only thing left is searching the bodies for anything of value and then disposing of them. What do I mean? Will, look at their chests and tell me what you see¡­¡±

    Will: ¡°They have a viper¡¯s head tattooed on their chests. So, what? What does it mean? Why would you kill them all just because of a drawing in their chests?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°They are members of the Dushe Consortium.¡±

    Will: ¡°Members of the Dushe Consortium¡­ Wait a second! The Dushe Consortium?! As in the Dushe Consortium that is a bandit association and is spread through the whole continent? THAT DUSHE CONSORTIUM?!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°There is no need to shout, but yes, that is exactly the Dushe Consortium I was talking about. You don¡¯t need to panic though, I¡¯m going to take care of the bodies. No bodies, no murder. No murder of their members, no reason for the Dushe Consortium to come after us!¡±

    As a criminal organization active for centuries in the continent, the Dushe Consortium had earned quite the frightening reputation. Only the troops of a kingdom or an empire were qualified to fight against them without repercussion. Whenever a noble decided to take action against them without a direct order from the king, the noble¡¯s household had been erased from existence.

    It had occurred on many occasions, and the people of the continent ended up learning the lesson: if you touch someone from the consortium prepare to forfeit your own life and those of the people around you. However, unlike other bandit groups, the Dushe Consortium worked in a similar way to mercenaries. They didn¡¯t kill, rape, and kidnap indiscriminately, they did so under contract.

    They also had a peculiar ¡°protection fee¡± system. If a noble didn¡¯t want the consortium to work in his territory, paying a high enough fee to the consortium was the way to go. There were also different fees, according to the amount of gold paid, a noble could restrict the actions of the consortium members inside his territory in different ways, or make them go away altogether.

    Merlin¡¯s territory didn¡¯t need to pay yet, because the consortium always waited a decade before starting to ask fees from a newly stablished territory. The reason for that was very simple, when a territory was bestowed by a king to a newly ascended noble, the situation of the said territory was usually a mess, and it took about a decade to put things in order.

    Another reason was that if the noble didn¡¯t have any descendant, the territory would go back to the kingdom were the noble to die. A span of 10 years was enough for a noble to have a kid or two. After al, the consortium had existed for centuries, so waiting 10 years meant nothing to them.

    Having finished pillaging the bodies, Merlin stored them inside his ring. He would have cremated them in situ, but he didn¡¯t want to take the risk of setting the forest ablaze, so he decided to store the bodies away and cremate them at a later time, when they had gone out of the forest.

    Will and Camille were pale, they were still afraid that members of the Dushe Consortium would come after them. Merlin, on the other hand, was pretty confident they wouldn¡¯t come. There were several oddities with the presumed consortium members Merlin had eliminated, and he couldn¡¯t take them out of his head.

    First, their tattoos. Merlin didn¡¯t know how the tattoo arts worked on that world, but if they worked in a similar way as they did back on Earth, the tattoos on the bodies of the dead bandits were too new. It was widely known that the new members of the consortium would be trained by senior members, for at least two whole years, before going out in the field. However, in Merlin¡¯s opinion, the tattoos on the chests of the bandits he had killed were four months old at most.

    The other oddity Merlin had noticed was their strength. They were too weak. Usually, the weakest members dispatched by the Dushe Consortium would have the strength of a B Rank adventurer. However, if that had actually been the case, they wouldn¡¯t have fell like flies once Merlin had disabled the three magi.

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    With his current strength, it would have taken Merlin twice the time to deal with the bandits, were they to have the strength of B Rank adventurers. All those clues pointed to two possibilities: either they had gone rogue after joining the consortium, or they were just posers. Either way, the consortium wouldn¡¯t come looking for trouble with Merlin, they would thank him instead.

    There was still a third possibility, which was the main reason why Merlin didn¡¯t want to leave any evidence of their fight with the bandits. The bandits could be new recruits of the consortium who were in the middle of a field exercise, and after finding Merlin and the siblings by chance, they had decided to profit from the situation, but they ended up annihilated.

    Although Merlin¡¯s money wasn¡¯t on the third option, it couldn¡¯t hurt to be cautious, just in case. As it being unlikely didn¡¯t mean it being impossible, Merlin had decided to store the bodies away and cremate them after they were several miles away from that forest, for he still couldn¡¯t afford to offend such a mighty foe.

    Merlin¡¯s mischievous side appeared, and he didn¡¯t tell the siblings about his suspicions. However, Merlin¡¯s mischievousness had an unexpected effect on the siblings, and he ended up regretting his decision. By not telling them, their fear grew bigger by the second and that wore them out.

    They were unable to sleep nor rest for several days, and Merlin couldn¡¯t bring himself to tell them the truth after that much time, lest he would to be blamed for their situation. Knowing that they couldn¡¯t continue like that, Merlin decided to put them at ease as soon as they went out of the forest. What happened next, was really out of his expectations.

    Merlin: ¡°Hmm, guys, you don¡¯t have to be so tense¡­¡±

    Camille: ¡°But Merlin, what if they come for us when we let our guards down?¡±

    Will: ¡°Camille is right, we must be alert! We don¡¯t know when they will come for us!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What I mean when I say that you don¡¯t have to be so tense, is that if they really were coming after us, they would have done so before we left the forest. It would have been more advantageous for an enemy to attack there. Since we haven¡¯t been attacked there, it means no one in coming for our lives!¡±

    *flop* *flop*

    *I¡¯ll be damned!* thought Merlin.

    As soon as they relaxed from hearing Merlin¡¯s words, both Camille and Will fell unconscious on the ground. With little to no rest due to the lack of sleep, and mentally wore down from expecting an enemy attack, which didn¡¯t happen, the siblings had been at their limits for several days.

    Now that the state of permanent tension that had allowed them to hold on for several days was gone, they fell unconscious instantaneously. Merlin cursed himself for his actions the previous days. A single moment of mischievousness had resulted in that situation, and now that both siblings were unconscious, it would be difficult to deal with it, if a dangerous situation in which they were attacked were to arise.

    Not wanting to remain in that location even a second more than necessary, Merlin took the matters into his own hands, and made sure they would be able to depart before midday. He took Camille and put her on her horse, then, taking a rope out of his ring, Merlin tied her to the horse so that she wouldn¡¯t fall from it.

    Will was next, Merlin tied him to his horse too and grabbed the bridles of both horses to guide them. Unfortunately, that meant their travel speed was going to fall a lot, but it was still better than waiting like sitting ducks, where the siblings had fallen unconscious. Despite Merlin¡¯s money not being on that third possibility, he didn¡¯t want to take that gamble and chose to flee, just in case.

    *****************************************************

    Shephiran Kingdom, Shephiria, Royal Chambers¡­

    A woman who seemed to be in her thirties was impatiently walking around her room. She had a crown on her head, and she had started to bit her nails. Looking at her actions and the ugly face she was making in that moment, nobody would have thought that she was, in fact, the Queen.

    *knock**knock*

    Queen: ¡°Enter!¡±

    A maid opened the door and gave an envelope to the Queen. She kept the head down at all times, and didn¡¯t dare to look her in the eye. She hurriedly went back out of the room and let out a sigh of relief after closing the door. The maid didn¡¯t know what it was that was making the Queen so irascible during the last weeks, but she was afraid for her life. The fact that the Queen had another maid whipped to death three weeks prior, didn¡¯t exactly calm her heart.

    The Queen opened the envelope so fast that she cut her finger, but she paid no attention to it and read the contents of the letter. Below the mark of a viper''s head, there were only six words: ¡°Currently unable to locate the target.¡±

    Cursing through her teeth, the Queen shredded the letter and the envelope in a fit of rage. Forcefully calming herself, she recovered the bits from the floor and threw them to the heath in the room.

    Queen: ¡°Where are you, little whore? Just where are you hiding that even they are unable to find you?¡±

    _________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 62 - Returning home

    Many thanks to Sam Ellis for sponsoring this chapter on my site!

    Chapter 62 - Returning home

    Two weeks passed in a flash, and the trio were nearing their destination. They didn¡¯t encounter any more trouble after the bandit attack in the forest. Any fear they might had of being chased by the Dushe Consortium, completely dissipated when they realized that if someone was after them, they would have caught up to them by then.

    Upon waking up, the siblings had been surprised by being tied to the horses, but Merlin¡¯s explanation had quickly calmed them down. Merlin¡¯s appearance was calm on the outside, but he had some doubts in his heart¡­ Were those people truly plain bandits?

    That region should have been wiped clean of bandits, so it made more sense to think those men were people in training. Merlin sighed. Although the last two weeks had been uneventful, they were really tired due to being on guard 24/7. In that time, Will and Merlin had finally started to get closer, to Camille¡¯s delight.

    *It has been more than five weeks already, hasn¡¯t it?* thought Merlin.

    It was just a simple thought which had crossed his mind in a moment of idleness, however, that stray thought led to a sudden realization which made him shudder.

    *Fuck! I completely forgot! I¡¯m dead meat, mother is going to kill me¡­ I said I would come back in a month, but it has been more than five weeks and I have yet to show my face back at home¡­* Merlin cursed in his mind for a while before calming down.

    True enough, since Emelyn knew of the existence of the teleportation orb in Merlin¡¯s hands, before his departure, she had told him to come back home at least once a month. It had been more than five weeks since he left home, yet he hadn¡¯t returned even once. It was no longer a matter of him being scolded, his whole family should be worried sick!

    *The most I can do now, is to go back right away! If I delay this any longer, the situation back at home could escalate to the point in which I won¡¯t be able to use this identity anymore!* thought Merlin worried.

    Setting up a new identity had been easy for him because nobody knew him, but that was no longer the case. If his current identity was seen through and his true identity was exposed, then he would be unable to continue being an adventurer, for his past actions in the Adventurers guild had made him quite famous.

    Deciding to do some damage control as fast as possible, he quickened his pace and went to tell the siblings about his plans of returning home for a quick visit before continuing the mission. Will and Camille were surprised when they learned about his situation, and expressed some doubts about having to turn around when they were so close to their destination.

    Will: ¡°Merlin, I don¡¯t know about this¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What do you mean, Will?¡±

    Camille: ¡°I think I know what he means¡­ It hasn¡¯t been easy to come this far, and going back right when we are so close to the location indicated in the mission isn¡¯t exactly enjoyable!¡±

    Will: ¡°Camille is right. We are so close, yet you want to give up the mission and go away for months? Although it is true that we have no say in the matter because we are just tagging along, it is frustrating spending so much time travelling to get here, just to turn around and go away from here!¡±

    Hearing them, Merlin understood where they were coming from. Because he still hadn¡¯t told them about the teleportation orb, they mistakenly thought that all their effort since leaving the city until that moment had been all for naught.

    They didn¡¯t know that one of the requirements for using the orb, was to have a clear image of the place you were going to, in other words, you should have visited or seen your destination at least once! That meant they had spent weeks to get to their current position, but now that Merlin knew the place, they could get back there at a moment¡¯s notice.

    Merlin: ¡°Will, Camille. Have you ever heard of an artifact called ¡®teleportation orb¡¯?¡±

    Will: ¡°Of course, who hasn¡¯t?¡±

    Camille: ¡°Merlin, don¡¯t tell me you¡­¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s right, Camille, I possess one!¡±

    Merlin chuckled after seeing their dumbfounded expressions. They reacted more strongly than he had originally expected, but then again, it is not everyday that someone tells you they have a ¡°teleportation orb¡±, an artifact that people would usually kill for.

    One would have thought that after having spent some time with Merlin, the siblings would have gotten used to his way of doing things, and they wouldn¡¯t be surprised anymore, no matter what he did. However, thinking like that would be a mistake.

    In spite of Merlin¡¯s unique way of doing things, he had never before taken out an artifact like that. Even when he gave them the witch weapons with the array to soul-bind them, they hadn¡¯t been that surprised. They, once more, wondered about Merlin¡¯s identity.

    Camille and Will were well aware Merlin wasn¡¯t using his true name when he registered with the guild. It wasn¡¯t obvious at first sight, but after spending some time with him, they realized he was a little stiff whenever the surname ¡°Lefey¡± was used, almost like he had to remind himself that it was his. They didn¡¯t pry on it, but it made them curious, so they decided that it was a good chance to discover who Merlin really was.

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, now that you now my secret, go and prepare. We will depart at midnight.¡±

    ************************************************

    Will: ¡°Hmm, Camille.¡±

    Camille: ¡°What is it, Will?¡±

    Will: ¡°How do you think Merlin got his hands on that teleportation orb?¡±

    Camille: ¡°I don¡¯t care and you won¡¯t do either. He is our benefactor, and that¡¯s all we need to know.¡±

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Will: ¡°Do you think he might be a prince? If he is then it wouldn¡¯t be so strange for him to have access to an artifact like that!¡±

    Camille: ¡°Look, Will. I don¡¯t care who he is or what he does¡­ I would choose to stay by his side even if he was an ancient devil! Now, stop the useless chatter and help me tie this!¡±

    *************************************************

    Laklostia, house of the Pendragon family.

    The women in the house were starting to get hysterical because of Merlin¡¯s disappearance. The last few days had been agonizing for them. Merlin didn¡¯t contact them for a month, and when he was supposed to come back and visit, he didn¡¯t appear, and that had been several days ago.

    Merlin¡¯s fianc¨¦es didn¡¯t move from Merlin¡¯s room for several days while Leyla and Emelyn focused on playing with their young daughters, but they didn¡¯t go out of the house. Merlin, who didn¡¯t realize he had made his family worry that much about him, was in for a beating when he returned home.

    Leyla: ¡°Sis, do you think we should go to the Adventurers guild and ask for information on him there?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t do that, Leyla. He wasn¡¯t going to register with the guild under his true name, and we don¡¯t know the name he chose for the registration, so even if we wanted to ask for information in the guild, we can¡¯t.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°What should we do then? He had to arrive here more than a week ago! I don¡¯t want anything to happen to him, he is so young!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°He is still alive, but he might not be after I give him a piece of my mind and a good scolding! To make us worry like this¡­ Hmph!¡±

    *Merlin, please be safe¡­ but don¡¯t come back home! Sis is in her scary mode again!* thought Leyla while shivering.

    Emelyn was mad, and Leyla knew it, but it wasn¡¯t the normal kind of mad, it was the kind of being mad that would make someone have nightmares when sleeping at night! But, then again, Merlin had given a communication stone to his mother before his departure, yet he had never spoken with her, not even once. It was only natural that his mother was mad at him.

    ****************************************************

    Oblivious to what was expecting him back at home, Merlin wandered around trying to figure out where was the most suitable place to use the teleportation orb. He wanted it to be a hidden location, so that no one would see them disappear on thin air, or appear out of it when they came back. It would be disastrous for Merlin¡¯s group were someone to learn about the orb.

    He had until nightfall to find such a place. Merlin wanted to find a secluded place, and after several hours searching, he finally found one. He actually found it by accident, because he had misstepped on a rock and fallen into the bushes on the side of the path. The bushes couldn¡¯t support his weight and he fell into what seemed to be a small hidden valley in the mountain.

    Merlin stood up and looked around him. It was a pleasant surprise for him to discover that the hidden valley he had fallen into was exactly the kind of place he was looking for. The surrounding foliage made it almost impossible to peek at what was happening inside without exposing yourself first, and that made easier to check if there were any unwanted witnesses present.

    Merlin quickly found the way out of the valley and returned where the siblings were waiting for him. The looked dejected because they didn¡¯t manage to find any location which met Merlin¡¯s requirements. However, as soon as Merlin told them about the hidden valley he had found, their spirits went up again.

    They didn¡¯t lose any more time and Merlin led the siblings to the hidden valley. They had to make it there before sunset, because the way to enter the hidden valley was tricky, and Merlin wasn¡¯t confident on going the right way in the dark.

    There was, of course, the option of falling into the bushes to get into the valley, but the horses would get hurt from the fall, and Merlin¡¯s bottom was still sore from the previous one, so he wasn¡¯t exactly willing to repeat the experience. They carefully led the horses into the valley and calmly waited for the sunset.

    As the night fell, the group came together around Merlin. He took the teleportation orb out and activated it. The orb shone and they vanished from the hidden valley.

    **********************************************

    Y. Master: ¡°Virca, did you see that too? Or did I just imagine it?¡±

    Virca: ¡°I saw that too, young mi-master.¡±

    Y. Master: ¡°Virca, do you know the invisibility spell they just used?¡±

    Virca: ¡°I don¡¯t, young master. However, I don¡¯t think that was an invisibility spell at all, I think they simply teleported away.¡±

    Y. Master: ¡°Teleported away? Come on, Virca. Don¡¯t joke like that, to teleport their group away they would have to use a teleportation orb! That¡¯s an artifact, you know!? They don¡¯t grow on the trees! They are kids like me, how could they have a teleportation orb?¡±

    Virca: ¡°¡­¡±

    Y. Master: ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    Virca: ¡°I don¡¯t know how they could have one, but they did.¡±

    Y. Master: ¡°Too bad they are gone now¡­ I would have liked to meet such interesting people¡­¡±

    Unfortunately, Merlin hadn¡¯t discovered that on one side of the hidden valley there was a cave and that there were two people in it. Those two people had seen everything that had happened in the valley ever since Merlin fell inside. Whether they harbored ill intentions toward the group or not, no one knew, but one thing was for sure, that was precisely the kind of unwanted attention Merlin wanted to avoid.

    Fortunately for the group, they had vanished from the valley and the other party didn¡¯t know their destination, but there might be some trouble if the people in the cave were still there when Merlin and his companions teleported back to the valley.

    _________________________________________________________________________

    You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ </a>!

 Chapter 63 - Family

    The group materialized on the exact same spot Merlin had used when he brought his pregnant mother back from the Lakium forest. Since he had already used it once before and was familiar with it, it was easier for him to picture the place in his mind and designate it as the arrival point.

    While on the way out of the woods, Merlin was wracking his brains trying to find a way to enter the village without being stopped by the guards. He was starting to regret having used his magic of earth attribute to fill the tunnel which led from the well in his family¡¯s back yard to the outside of the village.

    His aim when filling the tunnel, was precisely to avoid having someone use it to stealthily intrude in their home. How could he have predicted that he would, one day, need to make use of it to return home? But that didn¡¯t matter any longer because he had suddenly realized he had forgotten one fact, he could use his disguising magic to enter the village.

    Merlin had focused so much on the problem that he had almost missed the solution. After he disguised himself, Merlin mounted his horse and led the siblings into the village. Camille and Bastet were very surprised when they learned the little village they were in was Merlin¡¯s hometown, for they had assumed he was some kind of big shot, like a prince or a count¡¯s son.

    Discovering that Merlin was, in fact, a villager left them dumbfounded. Of course, Merlin had no intention whatsoever of telling them he was part of Shephiran¡¯s nobility, Merlin Lefey was an adventurer, whereas Merlin Pendragon was an earl. They might find out on their own while staying in Laklostia, but he didn¡¯t want to directly tell them so.

    Camille: ¡°Merlin, where are we going? Is there an inn around here?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What do you mean Camille?¡±

    Camille: ¡°Well, there is no way we are staying at your place is it?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°That¡¯s actually what I was thinking of having you do.¡±

    Camille: ¡°But you barely know us!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Don¡¯t sweat the small stuff and follow me!¡±

    Camille¡¯s worries were perfectly justified. Although having someone they barely knew staying at their place was a common occurrence among nobles, it wasn¡¯t so in the case of commoners. Among commoners, staying at the place of someone you barely knew without the explicit consent of the head of the house, was considered bad manners and an offense to him.

    Merlin understood what she meant, but in his case, there was no way that if he invited them over, his parents would take it in a bad way. When he arrived at the door of his house, Merlin was surprised to discover two guards in front of it, because there weren¡¯t any when he left. He quickly recovered and approached one of the guards.

    Guard: ¡°Halt! Identify yourselves!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Quickly, sent word to your lady Emelyn that the person she currently is mad at for being late and his two companions are at the door!¡±

    The guards looked at each other without knowing what to do. No one had notified them that there would be guests coming, nevertheless, Merlin¡¯s imposing manner and his choice of words, made it look like not only was she waiting for these guests, they were late and their lady Emelyn should be impatient to meet them.

    The guard hurriedly run into the house and soon after he run back to the door accompanied by Emelyn and Leyla. The two women stared at the group and were startled at first, but they were intelligent women and they understood the situation as soon as they made eye contact with Merlin.

    They quickly invited the group inside and called the service to take care of the horses. Once they were in the living room, there was an uncomfortable moment of silence before Merlin made a suggestion which confused Camille and Will.

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, I think I should visit the young Merlin first. Let¡¯s go to his room.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Will your two companions come too?¡±

    Merlin thought about it and saw that he only had two choices at the moment, either they came to the room and discovered his secret or they stayed in the living room with the service, which could lead to a slip of the tongue and them burning his cover. He didn¡¯t want to see any of those scenarios, but since they were already there, Merlin chose the lesser bad and chose to bring them to his room.

    As soon as he opened the door and entered the room, two beastman girls tackled Merlin down and hugged his body without letting him go. The next second, another girl jumped on Merlin and hanged herself from his neck, almost leading Merlin to the point of suffocation between the three of them. Leyla and Emelyn smiled wryly and closed the door as fast as they could after Camille and Will entered the room.

    *What exactly is going on? And who are these little girls? Why are they hugging Merlin like that when even I haven¡¯t been able to?* wondered Camille looking enviously at Lupa, Bastet, and Adelle.

    *Ok¡­ this is weird¡­ Is Merlin a lolicon? He didn¡¯t look like he was into little girls, though¡­ It seems that my sister is out of his striking zone¡­* thought Will.

    Merlin wondered how they had recognized him in spite of his disguise, but he came up with the answer right away: his scent. His disguising magic had several levels, the most basic one only changing the color of the eyes, while the most advanced one changed everything in a person, from the color of the eyes to the voice, and from the body size to its scent.

    As he hadn¡¯t had any contact with anyone besides his family members ever since waking up from the coma, Merlin didn¡¯t bother using an advanced version of the disguising spell, instead, he used one of the most basic ones, only changing the color of his eyes and hair, and slightly modifying his facial features.

    It was enough to fool other people, but the members of his family would recognize him after putting a little effort into it. In the case of Lupa and Bastet, they recognized his scent right away and run to him before even noticing the changes in his looks.

    Merlin was, after all, their mate, there was no way they wouldn¡¯t recognize him, even if he had altered the way he looked. He suddenly noticed there was someone else in the room, someone who was looking at him.

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    There was a fourth little girl in the room, she was shyly looking at Merlin while blushing, but she didn¡¯t dare to come forward like the other three girls. That fourth little girl was Tessa, the little girl who was Merlin¡¯s fianc¨¦e only to be safe from the schemes from her family, but Merlin was still oblivious of his ¡°official¡± relationship with her.

    Merlin saw that the girls were pale and shaking, they didn¡¯t try to kiss him at all, and he realized that those three girls were probably the ones scared the most by his tardiness.

    ************************************************************

    Merlin¡¯s POV:

    I¡¯ll be damned! I forgot that they are just 6 years old, and treated them like adults. Of course, they would act like this after thinking they might have lost their favorite person! They probably thought of the worst possibilities and cried their eyes out in fear for me¡­ Poor girls, I¡¯ll need to think of something to make it up to them.

    *Slap*

    Ouch! That hurt, mother! I deserved it, though. I gave her the communication stone so that she wouldn¡¯t worry about me, but in the end, I made her worry even more when I didn¡¯t use it to speak with her. I had originally planned to use the communication stone to speak with her once a week, but I ended up completely forgetting about it¡­

    Now that I think of it, mother wasn¡¯t the only one who received a communication stone from me¡­ Ugh, I better pay Mandy a visit before going back to the mission, I have to check on her and learn about any important change in Klausna Kingdom¡¯s political situation. Ok, it is decided, I¡¯ll definitely go visit her before teleporting back to that mountain.

    Well, how should I deal with this?¡­ Lupa, Bastet, and Adelle won¡¯t stop crying, and I need to talk with mother and explain the situation to Camille and Will.

    ***********************************************

    As Merlin was thinking how to explain things to Camille and Will without exposing many of his secrets, he heard a young voice shouting his name trough the closed door.

    ???: ¡°Milii. Milii op da!¡±

    After the words, a soft knocking on the door could be heard. Merlin looked at Emelyn and she just smiled at him, but Leyla¡¯s radiant smile hearing the voice showed him who was calling him.

    ???: ¡°Milii. Milii op da! Op da Milii!¡±

    Merlin understood that the young voice was actually asking him to open the door, but what surprised him was the identity of the person asking him. He had figured out who was calling him, but the surprising part was her age, not even two years old, and she could speak that much¡­ It really surprised him.

    The one calling him was, of course, his little sister Lilith, Leyla¡¯s daughter. She opened the door and took her daughter in her arms. Then, she shut the door again and faced Merlin.

    Leyla: ¡°This little one is probably the one who has missed you the most since you left.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What has happened? She didn¡¯t speak that much when I left.¡±

    Leyla: ¡°That¡¯s why I say that Lilith is probably the one who has missed you the most since you left, she started asking for you and didn¡¯t stop. Actually, we didn¡¯t know how to trick her into stopping looking for you. We had to tell her that you had fallen asleep again and that she couldn¡¯t enter the room and bother you.¡±

    At that time, the little girl extended her little arms toward Merlin and asked to be picked up by him.

    Lilith: ¡°Milii, Lilid up!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Ok, ok. I¡¯ll pick you up! Come here!¡±

    At that time, the three girls finally let go of Merlin allowing him to go and take Lilith from Leyla¡¯s arms. It was a heartwarming scene seeing Merlin with Lilith in his arms, and it caused different reactions on the people present.

    Leyla, Emelyn, and Will saw a loving brother spoiling his little sister, whereas Lupa, Bastet, and Adelle felt an indescribable sensation in their hearts. Camille couldn¡¯t help but blush when she saw Merlin like that, she had a short delusion in which she imagined herself married to Merlin, and the little girl Merlin was carrying being theirs.

    However, she quickly snapped out of her delusion and only smiled. After a while, Lilith fell asleep in Merlin¡¯s arms and Leyla took her away to sleep on her bed for the night.

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, isn¡¯t it about time you introduce your two friends?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Sorry, mother. These are Camille and Will, I saved them from the attack of a bandit group and ended up forming an adventurer group with them.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°It¡¯s nice meeting you, Camille, Will. Please take care of my son while you go out on a mission.¡±

    Will: ¡°Thank you, madam.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Thank you, although with his strength, if there is ever a situation, Merlin will probably solve it by himself before we had even the opportunity to intervene!¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Oh, is that so?¡±

    Merlin wished that Camille would have phrased his words differently. Camille had actually spoken the truth, but her way of saying it gave off the impression that Merlin was jumping into danger non-stop, and that made Emelyn frown. For what reason she had frowned, no one knew, but it wasn¡¯t definitely a good thing.

    _________________________________________________________________________

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 Chapter 64 - Troublesome news

    Worried about her reaction, Merlin looked at his mother, but she didn¡¯t seem interested in pursuing the matter any further than that. Her reaction, or more exactly her lack of it, surprised Merlin, but he didn¡¯t point it out.

    Nevertheless, he started to have an ominous feeling, like if he was in the clutches of a demon from hell without any way to escape. Merlin looked around the room but no one else seemed to feel the same way and he dismissed that feeling as a figment of his imagination.

    Emelyn: ¡°How much do your friends know about you?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Much less than they will in a while, mother.¡±

    Will and Camille didn¡¯t understand those words. It was true that they didn¡¯t know much about Merlin aside from what little he had previously told them and that he was their benefactor. However, Merlin had just called that woman ¡°mother¡± when he was supposed to be an orphan, which showed the siblings that the little information they had about him was actually wrong.

    Emelyn: ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to tell them?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Now that it has come to this I don¡¯t have a choice, do I?¡±

    He turned to look at the siblings and showed a defeated smile.

    Merlin: ¡°Well, guys¡­ It¡¯s time to come clean! As you probably have guessed already, I¡¯m not who I said I was. My real name is Merlin Pendragon and this is my mother Emelyn.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Wait a second, did you just say Merlin Pendragon? As in the Merlin Pendragon who became an Earl at the age of 6?!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yep, that¡¯s me!¡±

    Camille: ¡°But you are 12 years old, not 7!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Actually¡­ I really am 7 years old, Camille.¡±

    Will: ¡°You should stop the joke now, Merlin. You clearly are 12 years old, not 7! It¡¯s ok if you want to joke for a while, but it¡¯s no good to dwell in such delusions!¡±

    Seeing how the siblings didn¡¯t believe Merlin¡¯s words, Emelyn smiled wryly and decided to intervene.

    Emelyn: ¡°He has spoken the truth.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Eh?¡±

    Will: ¡°Say what?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin is my son and I gave birth to him 7 years ago, even if he looks like that, it doesn¡¯t change that fact!¡±

    Camille and Will looked at her in disbelief. Their reaction wasn¡¯t that surprising, after all that Merlin had done so far and the way he conducted himself, they had trouble believing he was only 12 years old¡­ and now they just heard that he actually wasn¡¯t 12 but 7, it was only natural for them to have trouble digesting the truth.

    Merlin: ¡°Around a year ago, I fell in a coma after suffering an assassination attempt.¡±

    Camille: ¡°Yeah, we heard about that. Actually, I doubt there is anyone in the continent who didn¡¯t hear about it!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, what you didn¡¯t hear about is how during that coma, my body grew from that of a 6-year-old to that of a 12-year-old.¡±

    Will: ¡°Are you for real?¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Yes, I am. Since such a weird thing happened, we decided it was better to keep that fact a secret. We put on a show for other people, making them believe I had become a reclusive young boy who never leaves his room while I am actually adventuring around the kingdom under the name Merlin Lefey.¡±

    The siblings felt inclined to dismiss his words as a delusion, but they ended up believing him because his story checked out and it also explained the inconsistencies they had found in Merlin¡¯s behavior.

    It was an incredible story, so incredible that they understood why Merlin and his family had decided to hide it from the public. The siblings felt they were being shown a lot of trust by being told the truth, and decided that, no matter what, no one would ever hear that story from their mouths.

    Camille: ¡°Thank you for trusting us this much!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°It would have been an almost impossible task to keep you two in the dark after bringing you here.¡±

    Camille: ¡°¡­¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Ok, now that that¡¯s out of the way, let¡¯s go downstairs to have dinner.¡±

    ******************************************************

    In the underground training facility under Ragnar?k¡­

    Shin: ¡°Aimi, I just learned Merlin is back. Don¡¯t you want to go see him?¡±

    Aimi: ¡°He¡¯s back!?¡±

    Aimi couldn¡¯t hide her surprise and delight hearing the news her brother had just told her, unfortunately, she was well aware that if she were to see him again so soon, she would be unable to let him go adventuring without following him.

    Shin: ¡°So, don¡¯t you want to go see him?¡±

    Aimi: ¡°Yes brother, I do want to go see him¡­ but I¡¯m not strong enough to do so!¡±

    Shin: ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    He truly didn¡¯t understand his sister¡¯s words because he had been observing her and, since Merlin¡¯s departure, Aimi had progressed a lot in her training. What Shin had failed to notice was that when she said she wasn¡¯t ¡°strong¡± enough, she meant it in a sentimental way, not in a physical way.

    Aimi: ¡°I¡¯m not ready, ok? Let¡¯s just leave it at that!¡±

    Shin: ¡°Ok, as you wish.¡±

    He didn¡¯t understand why his little sister was acting like that, but he knew that even if he continued asking, she wouldn¡¯t answer, so he could only drop the matter and wait till she wanted to talk about it. He couldn¡¯t even understand his own wife¡¯s mind, trying to understand the mind of a 9-year-old girl¡­ He gave up even before trying.

    *************************************************

    After having dinner with his family, Merlin and the siblings went to get some sleep. Merlin was about to sink into dreamland when he noticed someone opening the door and getting inside the room. The one who entered was Emelyn, she walked to the bed and shook Merlin awoke.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Merlin: ¡°What is it, mother?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Sorry, I know you were falling asleep, but we need to talk!¡±

    Merlin: ¡°I already apologized for not using the communication stones while I was away.¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°Merlin, although I¡¯m mad about that, I¡¯ve come to speak with you about a different matter.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°What is it, mother?¡±

    Emelyn: ¡°There have been several unconfirmed rumors lately, if we were to pay any heed to them, several noble houses from Klausna Kingdom are getting together with the intention of deposing the current king¡­ If that truly happened and a civil war occurred, Ragnar?k might be attacked.¡±

    Her answer made Merlin smile inwardly. How could Emelyn know that she was talking with the original instigator of those actions some Klausna¡¯s nobles were taking in order to depose the current king? It had only been a little over a year since he spoke about his plans with Duke Risme, and now there were even rumors about it¡­

    Merlin didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. Having rumors running around about their operation in Klausna Kingdom could only mean two things, either the nobles implicated hadn¡¯t been careful enough to avoid leakages or the nobles implicated had so much influence in the kingdom that their actions couldn¡¯t go unnoticed.

    If it was the latter, it was great news to Merlin, for it implied they had gathered enough forces to depose the current king without causing much of a civil strife. However, if it was actually the former, not only would it allow the current king to take countermeasures, it would lead to needless casualties and bloodshed when the people revolted against the King in a civil war.

    A civil war in Klausna Kingdom wasn¡¯t something Merlin wanted to see. It wasn¡¯t just a matter of him not wanting to see innocent people die, if a civil war truly took place, a lot of refugees would come into the Shephiran Kingdom, and as one of the cities in the border Ragnar?k would have to serve as a buffer zone and regulate the influx of people through the border.

    Merlin didn¡¯t want that to happen because it would destroy the plans he had for the city. He was glad that his mother had brought those rumors to his attention, now he had to hasten his visit to Mandy. Although he didn¡¯t need to go in person and could just use the communication stones, he felt it would be better if he went to visit her, that way he could also meet with Duke Risme and learn the actual situation among the nobles.

    Merlin: ¡°Thanks for telling me this, mother.¡±

    Emelyn hugged him and didn¡¯t let go, which resulted in almost choking him to death. Only after he started coughing, did she let go of him.

    Emelyn: ¡°Sorry Merlin I got a little too emotional. This was the first time you have been away from me for so long, so I missed you a lot while you were away.¡±

    Merlin: ¡°Well, mother. This has proved the saying ¡®there are some loves that can kill¡¯¡­¡±

    Emelyn couldn¡¯t answer due to her embarrassment, but she had told the truth. As Merlin was her youngest son, he was the one she doted on the most, and she had missed him way more than he could ever imagine.

    After saying good night to Merlin, Emelyn left the room. Merlin wanted to get some sleep but now that he knew about those rumors, his sleepiness had faded away and he couldn¡¯t help but start to think of different scenarios and how to deal with them, were a civil war to occur in Klausna Kingdom.

    **************************************

    Hexenwunder Royal Academy, headmistress¡¯ office¡­

    A woman was writing in a parchment when she noticed the crystal ball on her desk glowing red and showing a shady figure moving fast through the grounds of the academy. The crystal ball was an artifact she had unearthed in some ruins in her younger days as an adventurer.

    The artifact was pretty much useless on its own, but when connected to a barrier, it allowed its perfect control and that of everything within. The orb glowing red meant that there had been an unauthorized entry through the barrier protecting the academy.

    The said barrier should be able to deter anyone under a Rank 6 magus, which showed that the intruder was quite powerful, for a regular magus. After all, compared to her most Rank 7 magi were like children without a good grasp of their own magic.

    Headmistress: ¡°Well, well, what do we have here? A little rat trying to sneak around in my academy? You are a thousand years too early!¡±

    The woman murmured a spell and the intruder shown in the crystal ball fell to the ground unable to move. Then, the woman opened a window of the office and jumped down, descending to the ground bellow with the grace of a feather.

    Once on the ground, she leisurely walked toward the location in which the intruder had been immobilized by her spell. She didn¡¯t feel any hurry, nor was worried that the intruder might break free from her spell and escape.

    The only way the intruder could escape was if he had a talisman or artifact with a magic canceling effect, but even those would be rendered useless as long as she had control of the barrier around the academy. Once an intruder came in and got caught, he could forget about ever going back out.

    The woman approached the intruder and looked down at him. The intruder couldn¡¯t stop cursing in his mind, the mission¡¯s instructions were very simple: going in, kidnapping the girl and going out. They were simple instructions and he was a professional with a 100% success rate, he never thought he would get caught that easily.

    The result was evident from the beginning, though. He thought it was an easy job, after all, a young female student who just entered the academy couldn¡¯t give him any trouble, but he failed to take into consideration under whose protection his target was.

    Would the headmistress allow any of the students in her academy suffer any harm from outside forces? Definitely no! But greed tends to make people blind to obvious facts, and such was the case of this intruder, who had been blinded by the gold of the reward and forgot to consider the punishment he would suffer in case of failure.

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