The 4 Kingdoms

In a tutoring room with other Noble children, Fuego and Nozel were talking to one another.

"Did you also feel that?" Fuego asked Nozel.

Nodding, Nozel said, "It felt… incredible, but at the same time, it gave me a sense of worry. Also… it reminded me of…"

"Of Merlin, right?" Fuego said, to which Nozel affirmed his suspicions. "Did you think something happened?"

"I can't say for certain, but a visit later would never hurt."

"You're right, I just hope my sister didn't feel that too. Otherwise, she would storm right into Merlin's home." Fuego said with a worried gaze.

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"Ugh… My head is killing me…" Julius stirred awake as he rubbed his head. Putting his hand beneath him, he felt the soft feeling of leather, causing him to look around the room in confusion. Then the scene where Merlin was facing a Devil replayed in his mind, causing him to quickly stand up, but collapsing to the ground right after. "Ah damn, Merlin!"

"Well, looks like someone is overly excited." Merlin's voice came from the side, who put down a book that he was reading, his face still slightly pale from the pure Mana state he forced himself into before. Julius merely groaned and rolled onto his back.

"My body feels so heavy, as though I've been drained of energy even though I didn't do anything," Julius said, nursing his headache, rubbing his head.

"Master Merlin, please forgive me for this display…" Sebastian stirred awake, immediately calling out to Merlin as he attempted to stand up but just like Julius, collapsed to the ground as his legs gave out under him.

"You two probably shouldn't be moving for a while longer. The Mana from your body has been drained due to a certain… anomaly, so all you need to do is rest up and replenish the flow of Mana within your bodies." Merlin said, conjuring two apples filled with rich Mana, floating it forward and dropping it on the pairs chest, saying, "Eat those, they'll speed up your recovery proc-"

"Merlin!! Where are you?! Are you alright?!" Mereo's roar reverberated through the Caliban Estate as she charged through the front door, breaking it down as the flow of Mana around her surged uncontrollably with rage.

Besides her usual attire, she now donned the red robes of the Magic Knight's squad she was a part of, the Crimson Lion, which only covered her torso as the rest hung behind her back.

Mereo then sensed Merlin's Mana signature, barging into the living room only to see Julius and Sebastian laying on the ground with apples in their mouths, and Merlin sitting on a leather armchair.

"Mereo, nothing's wrong, so pull back your Mana, these two are quite deprived of it currently, so any more external Mana can damage them," Merlin said, while Mereo frowned and turned to the two on the ground, crossing her arms.

"Was it you two? Were you the one who caused Merlin to become so distressed? Answer my questions if you want to live to see the next day." Mereo said, using her flaming claws to grab the heads of both Julius and Sebastian, who were both utterly vulnerable to her actions.

"Now now, let's not be hasty," Merlin said, walking over to her and placing a hand over hers which were balled into a fist, ready to strike the next man dead. "Something… unsavoury appeared so I merely lost control of my emotions for a moment there, but it's all resolved now. These two did nothing wrong, they were actually trying to help me. Now, let them down, remember, Julius is still a Magick Knight Captain."

Mereo alternated between Sebastian and Julius, then glanced towards Merlin, dropping the two back onto the ground. "I want an explanation. I could feel how your emotions were getting out of control from all the way out of the city, and I have never felt or seen you like what I felt back there before."

Looking at the people around the room, Merlin nodded and acquiesced to her request, "Well, might as well take a seat, it's a long story. You can listen in to Julius, as it would be important for you to learn about this early on if you intend on accomplishing your future goals."

Merlin then went on to explain the true meaning behind the curse of House Caliban, ranging from the pact his ancestors made with a Devil, down to the death of his parents due to the inherited curse. Mereo and Julius listened to everything he had to say with mixed emotions.

Mereo was concerned, worried, regretful, happy and also held a bit of a grudge against him for not telling her any of this before, while Julius was also concerned over the fact that Devils were able to infiltrate into the Royal Kingdom, while also incredibly interested in how the Devil's Magic Spell, 'Soul Magic' functioned.

Holding his staff, Merlin lightly flicked the bell hanging from a ribbon, saying, "This one has the Devil, Eurycantha, sealed within it. Although I wanted to kill him, we still know little of Devils, so he will come useful."

Looking at the bell, the people in the room couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that such a small object was currently containing the source that plagued House Caliban for generations.

"I'm not sure if merely killing a Devil would immediately get rid of it, so merely capturing and sealing it is the best option for me currently."

Merlin turned to Mereo and said, "Since all of you in this room have had the most contact with me, you will be able to feel the fluctuation of mana if my emotions get out of control like earlier today. What I failed to mention to anyone, even Sebastian, is that not only do I have an incredibly deep connection to the Flow of Mana, I am also a part of Mana itself."

"What?! Really?!" Mereo exclaimed with a sense of shock while Julius shouted out with a sense of excitement over the possibility that Merlin is one with Mana itself.

She then grabbed Merlin's body, checking him over, asking, "Are you fine then? Are you going to turn into particles?!"

"Calm down, I'm fine. Let me explain." Merlin said, placating Mereo's worry, as well as Julius and Sebastians.

"Well, ever since I was born I felt a deep connection with the Flow of Mana around me, you, and everything around me. Not just that, it feels as though we share a familial bond together." Merlin said, using simple illusion magic to allow the people in the room to be able to see what he sees when he uses his Mana vision.

Everyone's eyes started to glow their natural colour, as they saw flows of elemental Mana floating around their bodies and around the room. However, when they turned towards Merlin, their jaws all dropped.

If one were to compare the Flow of Mana of Merlin's to someone as talented as Julius or Mereo, it would be akin to putting a cup of water next to the endless ocean.

Waving his hands around, Julius tried touching the Mana around him, seeing the different coloured strands and wisps floating around. This world before him was completely different, changing his perspective on how he viewed Mana.

That was how it felt like for the 3, as they saw the Flow of Mana constantly pouring in and out of him, circling around and clinging to him as if it were reluctant to part from him.

"This is fascinating! I know you mentioned the concept behind the 'Flow of Mana' before, but being able to see it has expanded my horizon 10 times over!" Julius said excitedly as he jumped up, stumbling a bit from his exhausted state, running his arms through the air like a kid playing with fireflies at the lake.

Turning to Merling, he saw that compared to everyone else in the room, Merlin was absolutely covered in Mana.

Sebastian merely stayed quiet on the side, feeling assured that there would be no one who could harm his master, making him feel more at ease.

Mereo merely shook her head and said, "You're just too ridiculous, Merlin, you know that? But you need to make sure that everything you told us has to stay in this room, and no one must know what kind of person you are. We don't know what would happen if this sort of information spreads around."

Sebastian merely lowered his head and said, "If the thought even crosses my mind, I will gladly hand over my life to you, my Lady."

Julius turned to Merlin and said, "I want you to seal my memories if you are able to do so. There are numerous unknown spells out there, and some may relate to mind reading."

Merlin nodded and said, "I can just put the memories of this conversation deep into your subconscious so that no memory type magic can read into what transpired here today. You will still be able to recall this partial event, however, you can choose who has access to it."

Mereo went up to Merlin and said, "Do it to me too. If it's to ensure your safety, I'm willing to even have you erase my memories of this complete-"

Merlin held a finger to her lips, causing her to blush slightly. "You don't have to worry about such a thing, besides, the fact that you offered such a thing makes me trust you even more. But, I'll have to refuse your request this time"

"Then just do what you're gonna do to Julius to me," Mereo said. Sebastian also requested the same. It was no effort on Merlin's part to do so, as he stored the memory safely away deep within their own subconscious.

"Well, now that's over with, I think I deserve a break," Merlin said, slumping down on the couch lazily.

Julius interjected, "I have to head back before my vice-captain starts causing a ruckus, accusing me of neglecting my duties. I'll come to find you another day, Merlin."

With that, Julius left the estate, leaving Merlin alone with Mereo as she sat next to him, leaning on his body.

"It felt horrible…" Mereo suddenly said, covering her face in Merlin's clothes. "I had this feeling of despair and helplessness welling within my chest when I felt that something was wrong with you. I wanted to get here as soon as I can, but-"

Merlin then caressed her head as she slightly shook in his arms. "It's alright, I'm okay now. I'm glad that you're worried about me, but it also makes me feel guilty seeing you like this and knowing I was the cause of it."

"No! It wasn't-" As Mereo tried to protest, Merlin then abruptly kissed her, freezing her in place.

Separating his lips from hers, he looked into her eyes and said, "Thank you for your concern, but you don't need to worry so much. You don't want to have wrinkles so young now, do you?"

Still dazed by the kiss, she shook herself out of it and lightly pushed him for that remark.

"That was my first, and yet you did it so abruptly…" Mereo muttered, before snapping out of her docile state and give her trademark grin with her sharp fang showing, "Just take care of yourself. I'm going to head back before I get yelled at by my Captain."

"Alright, have fun. Make sure to stay safe now." Merlin said.

Before leaving, Mereo then asked him out of nowhere, "You never said what you were going to do from now on. You don't want to join the Magic Knights, so what is there for you?"

Merlin rubbed her back and thought for a moment, before replying, "Well, I guess just research here in my Mansion? I've just recently got a free basement, so I can renovate that into my own personal workshop. I'm going to be sticking around the Royal Capital."

Mereo frowned but then shook it off since she already knew what his answer to her question was going to be.

Merlin then continued to speak of his next plans, "I'll act as the Kingdom's last line of defence if something happens, which I highly doubt would for a long time unless the Diamond or Spade Kingdom's start to get more overconfident. Other than that, we'll just have to see what interests me."

"Well, whatever you want to do, just let me know beforehand if you're going to go somewhere dangerous. That way I can prepare myself if you ever need help." Mereo said, with Merlin nodding to her request.

"Now get going, you don't want to get yelled at now on your first day, do you?" Merlin jested.

"Yeah yeah, see you later, Merlin. Stay safe." Mereo said, leaving the Estate. Now that Merlin was alone once more, he leaned back into his chair and breathed out a long sigh.

"It's been a long day…" Glancing at the cloudy sky outside, he muttered, "The future… it's going to be getting busier now."

With a wave of his hand, a book appeared, showing a heart symbol on the cover of the book.

"Mana Method, the ability to channel natural mana into spells. A bit similar to how I perform mine, but still a bit primitive." Merlin muttered, throwing the book behind his back, dispelling it into petals. "If I remember, Acier said that they use Runes to form arrays that allow them to give simple orders to magic."

"I should visit the Heart Kingdom in the future once I have time. Maybe I can bring Julius with me, this will definitely pique his interest."