Hunt and Truth

After that day uncle, Michel put us through hell and back. His training consisted of unarmed combat, swordsmanship, and defense.

"Ha ... ha ... ha, man uncle when you said it ... that you were gonna up the level. This is beyond ... what I had expected. Shoma saying this while he is barely standing up with his sword in the ground in front of him.

Next to him was Shin and he was in the same state as me. At first, the training was a little hard but we managed. But after a while, it went from a level 2 difficulty to a fricking 9.

And with a teacher like uncle Michel it felt worse, he trained us a little in swords and unarmed combat along with reading the opponents. Once he saw us after our hunt he pushed us to the point I thought I saw him with horns and a tail.

In my eyes, he looked like what you would call a demon drill sergeant. But if you know the guy you see that he is what you would say, a muscle brain and always had a happy easy-going attitude the whole time. Sparing with him was tough, but as we kept training it got easier.

But once it got easier it went straight back to hard. Though there was a difference now uncle Michel's face was getting a lot more serious. I talked to Shin about it but he had no clue as to why either. So we just shrugged it off and rested a bit then trained again and afterward do some magic training with grandpa, and enchanting with grandma.

'These boys are gonna be monsters in the future. I had to get a lot more serious than used to. But this is so much fun to watch and train such monster's Hahaha,'

Michel thought to himself while looking at the two boy's.

While Michel was in his own thoughts grandma had a thought of how outrageous Shin and Shoma's learning is.

'They learned the ancient texts so fast and come up with things that never I thought of.'

This went on for a couple of years and now Shin and Shoma were now 10 years old but one thing was on their minds during those couple of years.

*Past*

In the forest, there were two boys sitting on a branch of a tree near a cabin. These boys were Shin and Shoma and they were discussing some things.

"So is are you gonna test out your improved Jet boots," Shoma asked while looking at Shin holding a pair of boots in his hands.

"Yeah, I think I finally fixed the kink with the enchant so it should work a lot smoother than before."

"But still that hurt when I tested it out the first time. Though it hurt is was still fun when it lasted. Until I face-planted into a tree, but that still didn't hurt as much as uncle Michel's training." After saying that Shin had a wry smile then after the last part we looked at each other and with a tired look.

"Haa why does he have to be like that. A harsh drill instructor indeed."

"Sigh, and when he notices we got better he'd make it harder." Shoma sighed while remembering the training he and Shin went through.

"Well anyway, let's test your boots shall we."

"Alright, here we go," Shin said while he was putting on his boots that were enchanted with an enchant called Jet boots.

An enchant that propels air from holes at the bottom of the boots for more mobility when magic is channeled in them.

Shoma watched as Shin put on his boots waiting to see the results of the improvements.

Once Shin had them on he hopped off the tree branch he was and channeled magical energy to the boots. Air started to come out of the bottom of the boots and everything was going fine. Until Shin suddenly flipped and lost control of boots and stopped feeding magical energy to the boots.

Shin tried to correct himself mid-air but it was too late. He landed on his back in a bush, while all that happened Shoma watched and couldn't believe what he just saw. From the beginning to Shin landing in a bush, everything happened so fast in the blink of an eye.

Shoma hopped off the branch and landed on the ground, then walked over to Shin to see if he was alright. But when he got near and was a to say something he stops as he saw two people in front of them.

They were grandpa and grandma and they were discussing something, and it looked like grandma was leaving for today.

"Is this really alright. Don't you think it's too soon for them to do this? It'll burden them even more you know." Melida said to Merlin with concern in her voice.

"Yes, this has to happen sooner or later and sooner is better. And I decided this when I started their magic training and also along with Shoma's changes it's for the better.

The power in both of them is astounding, so it would be better if they learned about killing monster fast ..."

Merlin said to Melida with a stern expression on his face. While Melida sigh and told Merlin a few words then left.

After that, I and Shin quietly got up and went back to training with thoughts of what we heard from grandpa. And after we're done training we got cleaned up and had dinner like usual. When we were going to sleep there was one thing we both were thinking about, "Monsters..." that was the last thing we thought about before we both went to sleep.

*Present*

Today in the forest you can see three figures walking on a pathway going somewhere. These were Merlin and walking at each side of him was two boys. To his right was a black-haired young boy wearing tan pants, brown shirt with a light brown robe. Along with black boots and a sword to his hip left of him.

To his left stood a boy with messy brown hair and a strand of red hair on the left side. He wears the same attire as Shin just with a black shirt instead. Along with his chain necklace with a metal black ring on it around his neck along with a bow with him as well as a sword.

As they were walking Merlin was explaining to them how the world works. While he was explaining this to them they were listening closely to every word he said.

"In this world, magic is everywhere it permeates through all living things. With that, all living creatures benefit from magic. But some can't control the amount of magic they attain. And when the magic goes out of control the creatures go berserk and turn into monsters known as demons. And humans are not exempted from this fact."

"There was someone who turned into a demon a long time ago that you defeated right grandpa? Like from the stories you told us." Shin said while remembering the stories Merlin told himself and Shoma.

"And you were praised and look upon as a hero even till this day," Shoma added while smiling at Merlin.

"Hehe, alright let's begin what we came here for alright," Merlin said with a bit of an embarrassed face scratching the back of his head, then turning to a bit of a serious one.

"Ok, but how do we look for monsters?" Shin asked while he and Shoma looked at Merlin with a questioning gaze.

"With the "Search magic". First, spread out your magic thinly into the surroundings. If something reacts to your magic when it comes into contact you will know of its presence. You will know immediately since all living things have magic in them."

After Merlin explained the spell both me and Shin closed our eyes and started to thinly spread our magic to the surroundings. While we were doing this grandpa was saying something but I was too focused on doing the spell.

"This magic needs a certain degree of magic control to accomplish." After Merlin said this he heard Shin and Shoma speak out in amazement.

"Woah~ this is so awesome. I can feel all the creatures nearby. It feels like I can control everything in the forest. I can even see grandma Melida in the house."

"Wow, this feels amazing like I'm looking at everything from a birds-eye view but also on the ground." While the two were in amazement at using search magic Merlin had a sweat drop seeing them use it successfully on the first try. "Well, I'll be..." Merlin muttered to himself.

"Hmm, hey grandpa. Why didn't you show us this earlier, this could have made hunting a lot easier you know." Shoma asks while giving grandpa a questioning look.

"Well this spell needs a degree of magic control and I waited till you were ready to teach you about it."

"Oh, alright if you say that then I trust your judgment." Shoma pondered for a bit then trusted his grandpa's words. Why wouldn't he trust his words since he has more experience with magic than we do.

While they were talking Shin and Shoma froze and their eyes shot wide open. The reason for this was that they both just detected a large amount of magical energy in the forest. But this energy had a different feel to it from the others.

"Wha... what is that, I've got a bad feeling about it..." Shin said with a serious look on his face.

"Yeah, that energy is really bad news," Shoma said while his tails and ears appeared making him tense up.

"Oh, so you've found it has you. That's the magic of monsters you feel."

"That's really bad news grandpa. We have to hurry and get there or terrible things are gonna happen! We can't leave it alone." Shin said in a worried and serious manner.

"Let's go quickly grandpa there's no time to waste," Shoma said to Merlin with a serious face, while his tails were frantically moving and ears twitching.

"... Things might really be that bad... alright let's go you two and be on your guard," Merlin said to Shin and Shoma before they took off in the direction of the monster.

While they were on their way to the monster Merlin was Surprised when he saw Shin moving faster and Shoma vanishing and reappearing ahead of us.

Merlin look at Shin then seen his boots shooting out air, then he saw the enchant runes but was shocked at the fact he couldn't read it. Then Merlin look at Shoma and noticed that he can't hear his steps, he thought it was because of the wind passing his ear.

'These two just what have they been up to.' Merlin tried thinking about it but put it to the back of his head for now as they were nearing the monster.

When they got there they stop a bit away from it so there not too close to it. And when they saw the monster they were shocked.

"A demonized Grizzly bear," Merlin said in shock at the type of monster they were against.

'Dam that thing is huge it's about the height of the house or bigger.' Thought Shin while looking at the demonized Grizzly.

'What the hell that's one big ass bear and that aura around it it's scary.' Shoma thought to himself while gazing at the bear.

As the group was watching the demonized Grizzly bear it noticed them and looked up. While looking up it could be seen that it was eating a boar as its bloody corpse can be seen in the mouth being munched on.

'Ok seeing that makes my stomach turn... but if I turn back now then I would be cowering in fear. And I don't want to back down, No I can't back away from this it's now or never.' While Shoma was thinking this with determination burning in his eyes and heart Shin was thinking the same way.

'Tha.That this is scary. Th-this is... a monster. However, it may be scary but I have to face this thing now or it could hurt others.' Saying this Shin readied himself and launched himself forward with a burst of his jet boots.

While Shin was charging towards the bear he drew his sword and channeled magic through it and it started to vibrate.

While this was happening Shoma grabbed his bow while holding four arrows. He then channeled magical energy into the bow and arrows then drew back his bow and shot four arrows in quick succession.

When shin was near the bear lunged at Shin bearing his claws towards him and, the sound of the bear's claws hitting the ground could be heard.

"Huh... Shin! Wait!!" Merlin shouted but was too late.

With Shin, he was a few feet in the air thanks to his jet boots. "Ah, that was close. Glad I had this magic gear because if I didn't then..." Shin said as he glanced at his previous location where the bear's claws were embedded in the ground surrounded by a small crater. He felt cold sweat at the thought of being just a bit slower.

However, Shin noticed the bear didn't move right away after its first attack failed until he saw four arrows in each of its limbs. And if you look closer you can see bits of electricity coming off the arrows. The arrows were pretty deep in between each joint by the look of it.

With that Shin didn't waste any time and sliced the bear's arms off as he noticed that it was about to move again. After he did that Shoma Stomped his foot on the ground as a magic circle appeared and the ground beneath the bear started to shift and its feet got stuck.

Once stuck Shin boosted back with his jet boots and slashed with his sword and in one fell swoop the bear's head was cut clean off.

After the head was taken off the body of the bear fell forward lifelessly to the ground. With the bear taken care of Shin comes back over to where Shoma and Merlin are with a smile. Shoma has the same smile and then they both look at Merlin and say.

" " We did it." "

After they said that they looked at Merlin, waiting for him to say something.

"Grandpa?" Shin ask Merlin but still didn't get a reply.

"Umm grandpa did we do well?" Shoma asked after Shin didn't get a reply. A few seconds passed by until he finally said something.

"AH? Ohh!! Sorry about that I was a bit overwhelmed at how you two took down that grizzly. Merlin said while trying to compose himself.

"So did we do alright for our first demon hunt?" Shin asked with a slight nervousness in his voice.

"We didn't fail did we, grandpa?" Shoma asked with the same nervous tone.

"Ah that no you two did great. Perfect actually that I was stunned." Merlin told the two with amazement in his voice.

"Really, alright then let's head home I'm hungry and I gotta prepare dinner too. Shoma said with happiness in his voice.

As the trio started to walk back Shin and Shoma were chatting along the way about their experience in their first fight. While they were talking Merlin was walking behind them thinking.

'I didn't expect... them to be so strong already. I guess it the right idea for them to experience this now than later.'

As night approached the trio had already arrived home and got cleaned up. After that Shoma got dinner ready with the help of Shin. Once all the cooking was done they brought the food to the table that was set up earlier.

They started eating and started to discuss their days. After everyone was done eating Shin and Shoma cleaned up the table and washed the dishes. Once they were done everyone went to sit down on the couches and continued to talk.

Shoma was in the kitchen and made some freshly brewed tea. He brought the tea over to the table and gave everyone a cup. However, after that, I sat down on the couch and grandma Melida picked me up and put me on her lap.

This was a normal accuracy as grandma Melida would stroke my tails while Shin did so as well. At first, this was strange but after a while, I got used to it and I was fine with it but it just tickled me a lot. But when grandma Melida strokes my tails it's really calming and makes me tired.

Everyone liked to stroke it and when I asked why they just told me.

"It's really soft and comforting how fluffy and silky it feels." After that, I just accepted my fate, but to be honest, it was soothing for me too. I guess this is how cats felt when they got petted.

A while later when it was getting dark I and Shin were tired after what we did today along with my tails in the mix. So after grandma told us to go to bed we got up and went to our room. Before I left though I filled up their cups one last time and said good night and went to bed.

Once Shin and Shoma were fast asleep Merlin discussed how the hunt went and the two other people were shocked to no end.

"They defeated a demonized red grizzly on their own!"

"Are you serious!"

Melida and Michel said with shock apparent on their faces.

"Sigh...yes and they didn't so fast that I couldn't do anything," Merlin said in a calm tone while thinking back to the hunt of Shin and Shoma.

"With the fact there keeping up with Michels training and they learned all the magic we have. It's not impossible that they may be from another world." Melida said with an exasperated tone.

"Their origins don't matter to me. Even though I adopted them... to me they are like true grandsons. And when they look at me and call me grandpa I feel happy no matter what." Merlin says while having a small smile.

"I can't help my affection for them. And when they get stronger and be able to protect themselves there will be no problems." Merlin said with soft eyes thinking of his grandsons.

Both Melida and Michel look at Merlin with shock at his words.

"For the one called "God Of Destruction" to say that..." Melida said in a teasing tone.

"Stop that! Don't bring up memories of those dark days..." Merlin said with an embarrassed tone.

"I can understand. I feel the same way about those boys." Melida says with a happy expression on her face.

After that, the air turned awkward and Michel being himself just changed the subject back.

"But to defeat a monster by themselves! I guess it sounds like I need to increase their training." saying that in a jovial tone.

"Sigh... for those boys to have fallen into the hands of this blockhead," Melida said in a tired tone.

'Hmm, I guess it's about time I told them.' Merlin said to himself in his head.

The next day Shin and Shoma woke up and got ready to practice but, once they walk outside they were met with the demon drill sergeant. But this time it looked more menacing than ever.

After we came back to earth from hell we heard grandpa say he wanted to tell us something important. So we followed grandpa to a tree near an edge with grass on it and sat down.

Once we sat down it was silent for a bit until I broke the silence.

"So what did you need to tell us, grandpa?" Shoma asked in a calm tone waiting for grandpa to talk.

After a bit of hesitation grandpa us everything from finding us to raising us to now. I and Shin listened to grandpa attentively waiting till he was done.

"Sorry for not telling you sooner," Merlin said in a solemn voice.

And after grandpa said that I and Shin look at each other and nodded and looked back at grandpa with a warm smile and hug him.

"Even if we were adopted you still took us in, cared for us, and raised us. It may be said not knowing our parents but we have you all with us.

"Yeah, we're really happy here with you grandpa, grandma, and uncle, and others to so we never felt lonely one bit.

Shin and Shoma said to Merlin while hugging him and smiling. 'And that's why we thank you for saving our lives.'

" " Thank you." "

"Oouu... ugh. Shin Shoma... uuu... uoooooo."

Grandpa started crying for a while. After he was done we hugged and headed back home.

Things carried on like normal but just a bit happier as the years went by.