The Royal Castle

Charles felt as though a bomb had gone off in his head, destroying his brain, along with his ability to think and process information. It took him a whole minute to muster up the right words to reply Merlin.

"Shocked, huh? No worries, you can take as long as you need to digest the news." Merlin nodded in understanding. He understood how much of a shock it would come as to Charles.

First of all, the boy was a commoner. He rarely, if ever, even interacted with the upper class of society, not to mention nobility.

Secondly, his talent as a mage was quite poor, so he would never imagine himself having such a privilege in his life, not to mention being the apprentice of the greatest mage alive.

Merlin threw all those complications aside without hesitation. He had found the one perfect to take after his path in magic, and he would damn well do his best to make sure his newest disciple became the best there was.

Some more time passed as the coachman drove the carriage through the streets of the Middle Layer of the city. Hours went by as Charles remained in silence, stunned, as he comprehended the implications of what Merlin had revealed to him.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, where Charles had spent his time thinking, as well as trying to covertly examine Merlin, his 'clone', and Arthur, the carriage finally came to a stop.

"Oh! We are here!" Merlin stood up from his seat and made his way to the door of the carriage. His 'clone' stood up and slinked closer to him, before transforming. Charles watched on with a slack jaw as the clone of Merlin transformed into a crystal staff that was as tall as Merlin himself, with a blue, crystal snake rapped around its length.

"Hello, young Charles." The snake whispered, its split tongue flitting out of its mouth.

"A... snake?" Charles gaped.

"My name is Oris. It is a pleasure to meet you." It nodded and replied, before turning and wrapping itself around Merlin's neck like a thick scarf.

"Come along, Charles. I need to introduce you to my benefactor." Merlin placed a hand on Charles' shoulder and led him out of the carriage.

Another wave of shock rolled through Charles as he finally beheld the splendor of the Royal Castle in its full glory for the first time. He had only seen it from far away before from the academy, so this was his first time seeing it up close.

"Don't dilly dally now, young man. The esteemed Grand Archmage awaits." The coachman smiled at Charles as he led the horses to where they could rest, snapping Charles out of his stupor.

"Yes, sir." Charles replied and hurried off to follow after Merlin, Arthur, and Oris.

The guards at the entrance of the castle knocked their heels together and slammed the butts of their spears on the ground as they bowed in greeting.

"Welcome back, Grand Archmage!" They cried out in unity.

Merlin waved and smiled at them as he passed, while Arthur nodded in greeting. Charles simply shuffled forward as he eyed their imposing armor and weapons. He took in the extravagant decorations of paintings, decorated ceramic vases, and stained glass as he walked behind Arthur. The banner of the kingdom of Skyhart was present at occasional intervals. The colors shone with pride and Charles' eyes sparkled as he took in all the sights.

The three people and snake familiar made their way through the wide, spacious halls of the castle, before finally stopping before a door. A strange look crossed over Merlin's face before he raised his hand to knock on the door as he whispered something under his breath.

The knock that rang in the two boys' ears, covering up the small commotion that occurred in the room. In that short moment that didn't span up to five seconds, the room underwent a large change that left Arthur unable to recognize the room when the door finally opened.

The shelves and tables were arranged neatly, and a pleasant fragrance wafted through the room and in between the shelves.

"What the hell-" Before Arthur could even finish his sentence, Merlin's hand was firmly clamped around his mouth to shut him up.

"Welcome to my study and laboratory, Charles. I hope you can get as comfortable as possible here." Merlin smiled widely at Charles like an old man trying to lure a little girl with candy into his house.

"Whoa..." Charles' mouth formed an 'o' shape as he stepped into the expansive study. The tall shelves that stretched high up to tough the ceiling loomed over him, almost as if they were trying to impose their intellectual dominance over him. The soft, but sweet fragrance that danced in the air soothed Charles' mind and allowed him to think in a much clearer manner. Truly, the study of the greatest mage alive was sure to be a treasure in itself!

"There are books on all sorts of magic, as well as alchemy, artificing, and many other fields." Merlin explained. "Arthur, you can show him around."

"But-"

"And behave yourself." He directed a stern gaze at the young apprentice who was about to protest. "Bear with Arthur for now, Charles. I will go and arrange a meeting with my benefactor and come back to pick you up so you can meet him later." Merlin gave Charles an apologetic smile. He wanted to personally show Charles around, but he also needed to organize a meeting with the king of Skyhart so that he could introduce Charles to him as his mage apprentice.

Merlin left the room and made his way to the king's study, leaving Charles alone to deal with Arthur who was not in the mood to deal with a commoner.

Charles scratched the back of his neck as he turned to face Arthur with an awkward smile.

"Please take care of me." He managed to say.