| Time Skip (1)|

[Merlin's PoV]

It's been a few years now that I've stayed in this wonderful city, Zester. I've also received many training from both Grandpa Virion, Art, Tess , and my noble etiquettes teacher.

It's weird but I seemed to have consciousness of everything that happened to me since my birth. I knew what to do in order to survive.

I haven't interact with anyone before I met Arthur and Tessia who taught me the language they speak here. But it seemed that I can also speak another language which I am very familiar with it...but I don't seem to remember how I acquired it.

It's strange and ther-

"Hey, Art! Merl! Hurry up! We're going to be late!"

Oh right, we have go somewhere today...Art has completed his assimilation or something.

I'm an early person so, I've already gotten myself dressed up.

"AAAGGHHHH!! Tess! Stop! I give! I GIVE!" Art cried out.

Tess finally got off of Art, letting go of the leg lock she had in a firm grip.

"Can't there a gentler way of waking me up, Tess?" Art grumbled, massaging the burning feeling at the back of his leg.

"It's getting harder and harder to wake you up in the morning! I have to do something, right?" Tess retorted.

"Tess is right. For you who always act so grown up and mature, isn't it embarrassing for us your 'senior' to always wake you? 'Little Arty'" I joked.

"Hehehe Arty. I'll call yo-" Tess giggled.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Art got up and yelled.

"Oops, our junior has a temper that is as short as himself pft- hahahah" I joked.

"Hehehehe" Tess joined me.

"You!...*Sigh*...Whatever, I'm going to get ready"

"You're no fun~" I acted sad.

Just like that, Tess went out of the room as Art is going to get ready.

I watched him skipped showering and just changed into a presentable robe before tucking the 'stone' into his robe.

"...Eww~"

"Shut it" Art shushed me.

Also, that stone...and the turbulent mana around it will definitely cause trouble if not for it to be covered by that special feather which seemed to have sealed its mana from leaking...I don't think it's a stone but something akin to an egg.

With that, we headed out into the courtyard with Tess who's just waiting outside our room.

"Took you guys long enough. Hahaha! Art! Are you ready? Today is finally the day. After this, you'll be a true beast tamer, not like those lucky adventurers that just have a beast will," He emphasized, arms crossed.

Art gave him a firm nod while Tess headed to the table Gramps was sitting on to watch.

"I wonder if I'll be able to become a beast tamer in the future." I causally muttered.

"Tame yourself then you'll become one" Art smirked and said in a mocking tone.

"Pft-hehehe" Tess giggled.

"HAhahaha! Nice one brat!" Grandpa laughed and smacked Art's back so hard that he almost fell face first.

"..."

.

It wasn't much of a ceremony. All it consisted of was Gramps exerting a large amount of mana into Art's core. That would trigger a large surge of mana that Art would have to direct and spread into his body.

'Assimilation process is truly bothersome...' I thought, watching it from the sideline with Tess.

"Do you remember the basic phases of beast tamers, Art?" Gramps quizzed.

Art recited the basics that Grandpa Virion pounded into him and me these past years.

"All beast tamers have a different number of forms that they can will their bodies into. The number of forms depends on the strength of the Beast's will that is left in the mana core. The first phase, that all beast tamers have, is 'Acquire'. In this phase, the Tamer can utilize a small portion of the inherent ability that their beast has. The second stage is 'Integrate', where the Tamer's body wholly infuses with the Beast's will, allowing a much better control over their beast's inherent abilities."

As Art recited the basics, I even silently mouthed the basics. That showed the effort gramps put in his teaching...Completely ingrained it into our brain.

"Correct! The phases that the beast tamers are able to unlock simply shows how much they can utilize their beasts' will. The stronger the beast, the harder it is, but at the same time, if the tamer can't get insight, then it is also impossible to get past the first phase. One thing to note, however, is that, not always is the Integrate stage more powerful than the the Acquire. The Acquire phase is tapping into a specific inherent ability of your beast's while Integrate is a much more all-encompassing power up using your beast's will," Gramps reminded, his face deathly serious.

"While I didn't tell you earlier, now that you are about to become a true beast tamer, you should know is the differences in how a beast tamer's will is acquired. If the beast is killed and his mana core is extracted with its will still intact, a mage can absorb the will and try to gain insights. That mage would be considered a forged tamer. While it is a lot easier and straightforward to be a forged tamer, the probability of gaining insight is very rare and limited. One of the reasons it took me so long for me to be able to break into the second phase was because I am a forged tamer. I consider myself lucky to even be able to break into the second stage though. Arthur, you are one of the extremely rare legacy tamers; where the beast willingly imparted its will onto you."

'Willingly huh?' I looked at Art and wondered what kind of amazing beast willingly gave him its will...

Continuing on, gramps explained,

"Art, Merl, my first phase doesn't really make me that much faster, but I'm able to erase a bit of my presence and blend myself into the shadows. You guys haven't seen my second phase, right? Watch carefully. It took me over ten years for me to make a breakthrough into this phase."

With my name being mentioned as well, I have to pay attention.

Feeling a powerful surge of mana surrounding his body, I couldn't help but involuntarily cringe. All of a sudden, the mana around his body seeped back into him and my eyes widened.

Grandpa's skin turned pitch black. Even the whites of his eyes became black while his irises turned sharp and glow yellow. His tied white hair became unbound and was also a shiny black color. The aura that surrounded him makes me shudder and take a step back.

"This is the Integrate phase. I'm going to sneak up behind you, Art. Pay attention," He growled, his voice much raspier than before.

Was it really sneaking up if he tells him… was what I was thinking when he disappeared from my vision. I couldn't feel his presence at all but I found himself standing behind Art with his finger touching his nape.

Fast!

It seemed like instant teleportation but I knew it wasn't by the skid mark from his initial position. It was speed that even I, no, we couldn't keep up with. Not even close. No. The scary part wasn't even his insane speed. It was his lack of presence. Even directly standing behind Art, I couldn't sense where he was.

I was itching to fight him even if I knew that the result would be the same.

He turned back to normal, his face slightly flushed as Tessia began clapping as if this was a show.

"Whew! Using that form always takes a toll on me. After training with it for a couple decades, I'm able to keep the form on for a bit less than an hour. During my Acquire phase, I am simply channeling a small portion of my beast will and I'm able to borrow the the speed and stealth of the shadow panther. However, with my Integrate phase, not only did my speed and stealth rise, so did my senses to keep up."

Art nodded in agreement while I could only get jealous them being a beast tamer.

"Good! Let's begin the ceremony," Gramps replied, clasping his hands together.

Art stood face to face with gramps, only an arm's length apart. Tess who's beside me was now leaning forward from the sideline not too far from the duo in excitement, as they were about to start.

"Just let your mana come out freely. Don't try to control anything. I'll restrain you if necessary so it's crucial that you keep a relaxed state of mind and rouse the particles of mana you assimilated all these years," gramps instructed.

After a nod from Art in response, gramps then began exerting his mana into Art's core, flooding Art's core with his mana along with his.

I too infused my special eyes with mana which enabled me to see a whole new world where colorful mana particles are everywhere in the atmosphere. I focused my eyes on Art's body, seeing the changes.

"Not good." I muttered, noticing that Art's rampant mana is about to burst out.

***

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