Fifteen Years Old

Once they returned home and ate their food, both Lucian and Shin were only awake for around another hour before going to bed.

It was during this time that the adults were having a conversation. Melinda was incredibly shocked as she exclaimed, "the Red Grizzly Monster was slain by the boys!? Just who on Earth are those kids? Both of their magic learning speeds are unusually high, they can keep up with Michel's training, and the magic they use is mostly original. Could they be from a different world?"

Merlin replied to her, "It doesn't matter who they are. They call me grandpa and learnt all of the magic I taught them earnestly. I may have adopted them, but to me they are like my real grandsons. I can't help my affection for them, when they grow stronger they will be able to protect themselves. There is no problem..."

Melinda was next to speak again but this time it was more smugly, "For the man called the 'God of Destruction' to say that."

Merlin looked embarrassed and said, "Stop that! To stir up memories of those dark days..."

Melinda cut him off before he could complain anymore, "Well, I love those children too. Although I have only met them occasionally, they are like real grandsons to me as well."

Melinda and Merlin looked at one another awkwardly before Michel broke the atmosphere by saying, "But to defeat that monster by themselves, it sounds like we must raise their amount of training."

Melinda replied to Michel with a slight look of annoyance, "To have fallen into the hands of this blockhead, those kids really are in trouble."

Merlin was seemingly in deep thought, 'It's about time I told them.'

*Next Day*

"We aren't your real grandsons?" Both Lucian and Shin said in a confused manner, in reality they both knew already, but neither wanted to say to him.

Merlin looked upset, "I am sorry that I did not tell you before. The carriage was decimated when I found you. I did not know anybody there, and I do not know who your parents are."

Shin replied alone this time, "I see." There was not a lot of emotion behind this which surprised Merlin.

"Are you not interested? What about you Lucian?"

With the same sort of tone as Shin had used, Lucian responded, "We don't remember who our parents are and anyways, we have you as our grandpa. And we also have Grandma Melinda and Uncle Michel. We know many people here, I don't think either of us miss our parents. That's why, thank you Grandpa, for adopting us. Thank you for always caring for us."

Both Lucian and Shin replied at once, "We're happy you picked us up that day."

Once they said this, tears started to form in Merlin's eyes, "Boys, thank you both."

*Five Years Later*

A blonde man dressed in clothes of very high quality who held an air of importance stood at a table ready to make a speech, "Now then, to our esteemed Merlin's grandsons, congratulations on turning 15 and becoming adults. In honour of this, let's celebrate. Everyone, drink up! Well then for Lucian and Shin's 15th birthday, cheers."

This man was someone who the boys came to know as Uncle Dis.

Everyone at the table put their glasses together while Lucian and Shin looked slightly embarrassed at each end of the table. They had both turned into attractive young men, with Lucian being the more attractive of the two due to his Elf Blood. Shin was 175 cm tall, and Lucian was 182 cm tall. Shin had his hair relatively short and it was still the same purple colour, whereas Lucian had his hair much longer, with most of it tied up and it had become an even purer blonde over time.

Merlin spoke to his grandsons, "In a bit, you'll go out into the world."

Both boys interjected, "But living here is fine, we don't really have to go outside."

Melinda replied in an annoyed yet loving tone as per usual, "No! In order to become proper adults you must follow the rules of society!"

The boy's uncle Dis spoke again, "So you cleared Merlin's magic graduation test. Congratulations."

Both boys responded, "Thank you, Uncle Dis."

Tom Haag, a shopkeeper, spoke to the boys next, "What have you two decided to do from now?"

They replied to him together, "We've never left the forest, so for now we were thinking of exploring the town."

Tom Haag then asked them another question, "And after that?"

The boys looked confused, "After that?"

Siegfried Marquez spoke to the boys, "You're going to do something right? If you go to the Capital then you can become monster hunters, Or you two could open a shop that sells magical equipment or potions. Or, since you guys are handsome, you could find yourselves a woman each."

Christina Hayden had a look of disappointment with him, "It's only you who thinks like this."

It almost seemed as though there were sparks of disagreement flying between the two of them.

Michel stopped this by speaking to them, "Now, now... Seig, Chris, don't be like that."

Lucian and Shin looked confused and Shin asked, "Hunter? You can earn a living out of suppressing monsters?"

Lucian spoke next, "A magic shop? Can we really set one up that easily."

Everyone had a grave expression on their faces, but Tom Haag spoke, "No way, boys, have you ever gone shopping?"

Lucian replied, "We've gone shopping a few times, but uncle handled all the monetary transactions, so we've never experienced it."

Everyone looked shocked, and Melinda and Michel both spoke, "Merlin...!? You..." "Merlin... This is..."

Merlin had an apologetic face, "Ah, now that you mention it... I forgot to teach them common sense."

Everyone at the table stared blankly at Lucian and Shin who were confused, but both of them did think to themselves in this moment, 'It is true, we've only been learning magic and martial arts. We haven't been taught any of this world's common sense."

*The Next Day*

Everyone who had been at the table the day before was now in a desolate and empty land which seemed like a desert of some sort. They had travelled there through Lucian's gate which was a magic that Shin had taught him.

This confused the boys, as normally it was just them and Merlin, "So everyone's coming today?"

Melinda replied, "I want to see exactly what kind of magic this old blockhead grandpa of yours has taught you boys. To be using this kind of gate magic, I don't want to think about it."

Dis spoke next, "But Melinda, we don't know what kind of trouble they will get into. Let's just give up and confirm it."

Shin was first and spoke up, "I just have to show off my magic right, right? Alright, I'm starting."

Shin had a look of focus on his face, as a large blue ball of fire appeared in his hands. He then released the fire ball and a long beam of blue fire was shot out. Once it hit the ground, a huge explosion happened and a crater was left in the ground.

Everyone was left speechless except Lucian and Shin, and once the spectacle was over with, Lucian spoke, "Good job bro, I guess it's my turn now then."

Everyone else believed that there was no way Lucian could outdo that attack, but he was ready to show them that they were wrong.

In front of Lucian, a massive green ball appeared, this was his acid magic that he had developed. He combined this with fire magic and the acid magic became boiling acid. Lucian shot this magic out at a non destroyed area of land, it was as fast, if not faster, than Shin's blue fireball. Once it hit the ground, the boiling acid ball exploded and destroyed around the same amount of land as Shin's attack had. However, this was not the end of it as the droplets of acid were sent flying into the air before plummeting incredibly quickly back down to create acid rain that dissolved the ground it landed on. Once the acid had all hit the ground, all of the moisture and water that was in it was drawn out. This water then proceeded to spread across all of the ground that it could, before freezing into large spikes before anyone could even tell it had happened.

If everyone was left speechless before, this would have made them lose the ability to talk forever. Not only was combination magic something that had not been done before, creating a magic attack that caused such a large amount of destruction and changed flawlessly from one element to another.

In shock, Merlin frantically asked Lucian, "What was that? How did you do it?"

Lucian replied, "I don't know really, I just told the magic what to do, and it did it."

This confused Merlin, "What do you mean you told the magic what to do?"

Lucian did not understand what was so confusing, "I spoke to it, with words. Like how we're speaking now."

Merlin could not wrap his head around this confusing discovery and decided to just leave it be and not pry too much.

Melinda seemed angry, "Merlin, did you not teach these children restraint?"

Merlin replied, "They were good learners and took in everything I taught them, I wanted to see how far they could go, but that isn't something I taught either of them."

With a hand on his chin and a pondering look in his eyes, Dis spoke, "We can't let them out in the world just yet. Such highly destructive magic is on par with the Gate magic. With this much power, either one of them could potentially take over the world."

Chris spoke next, "In addition, they have been trained in martial arts by Sir Michel."

Siegfried finished Chris' sentence for her, "One who is both trained in martial arts and possesses destructive magic..."

Chris then finished off the sentence, "I'm sure every country will do anything to have a person like that, and there are two of them right here."

While Melinda was shaking Merlin around while shouting at both him and the boys, Dis interrupted, "Honestly, Master Merlin, Lucian and Shin's powers are extraordinary. So much so that they threaten the balance of the world. Neither one of them have any clue about the world outside of the forest. If we let them enter society, they will be manipulated to satisfy the interest of the countries. Especially by the Empire that is trying to increase their military power. Not even to the neighbouring small country, it is for their sake and, ultimately, for the world's.

Both Lucian and Shin were thinking how they have never met anyone besides the people they were with and that what was being said was most likely true.

Dis continued, "So here's my suggestion. Why don't we enroll them to a magic academy in my country?"

Merlin's demeanour changed into one of caution that could become anger at any moment, "A suggestion that benefits your country, I see."

Dis was quick to reassure Merlin, "I hereby swear that I will never use either Lucian or Shin for military purposes. I do not want to involve them, who I regard as my own nephews in battles. The Magic Academy that resides in the capital of my country is a school for those that have finished their second grade education. It's an institution that further tempers those who are skilled in magic. There we can assess just how different these boys are than 'normal' magically gifted people. It will also be a good place for the boys to make some friends their own age."

Merlin returned to his usual self, "I see... What do you think boys? There is truth in what Diseum said, and I also think it's a good idea."

Both Lucian and Shin replied in sync, "We think it's a good idea too. Going to school and making friends sounds fun."

Hearing this, Diseum spoke once again, "Which class one will be put in is decided by the results of the entrance exam. So I will have you both take one for formality's sake. Inside magic schools in my country, nobility has no power over anything. The school uses a perfect merit system. That is why I cannot use my influence to enroll you in it immediately.

Shin asked a question, "What happens if you were found out doing so?"

A grave look appeared on Dis' face, "A very severe punishment."

Shin responded quickly, "That sounds scary. By the way, speaking about influence and punishments... Uncle Dis, are you some sort of important person?"

A smirk appeared on Dis' face, "Oh, I didn't tell you two? My name is Diseum Von Earlshide. I am my country's, Earlshide Kingdom's very own... King."

This was a shock to Shin, not so much to Lucian though as he had already known this, however he still decided to play along, "That means Chris and Sieg are..."

Chris spoke first, "I am one of the Imperial Knights, here as his majesty's escort."

Siegfried spoke straight after her, "As for me, I am a magician of the Royal Court. Also here as an escort."

Shin jumped in next, "That means, Sir Michel you're..."

Humbly, Michel replied, "I have long retired from my position... But I had the honour of being the general of the Knights."

Lucian and Shin both sounded confused, one more honest than the other, "Why would a King like you visit Gramps so much?"

Diseum replied, "Have you heard of the story of how Master Merlin subjugated a devil? That is a a story from when I was a student at the magic academy. Your gramps and grandma fought a long and difficult battle against the devil and came out victorious. They saved my life, and the lives of everyone else there Your gramps and grandma became revered as Heroes who defeated a devil and saved the Crown Prince, and your grandfather and me have become close friends over the years."

Lucian asked a question, "So that means gramps and grandma were in the same party weren't you?"

They both looked around awkwardly, and the reason was revealed by Chris, "In the same part you ask... they were a married couple, you know?"

Both Lucian and Shin had the same reaction, "Eeeeeeeehhhhh????"