"I guess that should be me…" Jet spoke up first as she recalled her memories.
"Well the first time I met Merlin, he was disjoint… almost like he couldn't tell reality from a dream, he looked entranced and scared… but things like that is common for people that had just finished their first nightmare"
She continued.
"Another thing was that he was very curious, like he was embracing a change of scenery. At first I thought he was the type that never left the outskirts, but the way he talked and the way he carried himself was different from regular outskirts behavior…"
She sighed and finished.
"Although he was different, it wasn't too profound, and I didn't spend much time with him because I dropped him at the academy immediately after…"
Everyone nodded, and Nephis spoke up next.
"I met Merlin at the academy gate, when we met, he stared at me with a strange gaze, but it didn't last long…"
"The next time we met was at the sparring session in the academy, we were up against each other, of all the people who sparred with me in a fight, he was the only one who won, he didn't just win, I wasn't able to do a single thing to him…"
She shook her head and continued.
"After that, I challenged him to a sword fight later in the day, and I won, but it didn't feel like a victory because he had no idea how to use a sword…"0
"We spent the rest of the time in the academy sparring to get better… then we met again at the Forgotten Shore, that was when I figured something was off with him"
She paused for a moment.
"Throughout his time in the academy, he only spent time with me, Cassie and Sunny, and coincidentally, we all ended up in the same place during the Solstice…"
"During our time in the labyrinth, he was the one who helped us all the way, he always made the plans like he could predict what would happen, he always knew the safest route to follow to get us where we wanted, and he always kept an eye out for all of us…"
"But he still had a thin wall around himself, like he was just playing a part in the world, not living in it… but as time went by, the wall became thinner and thinner"
She looked around as she drifted into her memories.
"By the time we arrived at the Bright Castle, he was still a little reserved, he didn't even rest for a second, even before we got the general situation of the place, he was already killing off nightmare creatures, like he knew the end of our path and was making it significantly easier…"
"He also seemed to possess a vast amount of knowledge that bordered on predicting the future, he helped us retrieve the memories we needed, he helped us increase our trust in each other, and he took care of possible dangers before they even showed up…"
She sighed.
"Even during the siege of the Crimson Spire, at the cost of himself, he still reduced the amount of nightmare creatures to a fraction… and in our last fight, he still managed to stop me from making a very bad decision that could've ruined the trust of our cohort, and in the end, he sacrificed himself for us to leave the Forgotten Shore"
As she finished speaking, the place became quiet for a while, until Cassie broke the silence.
"I guess I'm next on the list…"
She took a breath and started.
"When I first met Merlin was in the academy too, he mostly spent his time with Sunny, and sometimes we met at the cafeteria, but we didn't talk much…"
"When we met again on the Forgotten Shore, he helped us along the way… when I got my vision and he didn't show up in it, I thought maybe, just maybe he could change that future…"
"When we got to the Bright Castle, he immediately went off hunting, when he came back, I asked him why he was risking himself out there, and he told me that he wanted to help now that he still felt the need, because in the future he might not…"
She sighed.
"I didn't understand what he meant back then, but after our first date I finally understood it… after that, he helped us some more until the incident with Sunny…"
"Back then Merlin told me I could come to him concerning my visions… but at the most critical moment I panicked, and I made a mistake… I went to him and he promised me that he would fix my vision, at the time, I didn't really believe him, but his actions after proved me wrong… in the end, he really changed the future" She concluded.
Effie spoke up next.
"Well mine wasn't as heart touching as you guys… we just met back at the Outer Settlements, he stayed at my place a few times… though we didn't do anything… then we also sparred a few times, pretty boy is ridiculously strong by the way… then stuff happened and we left the Forgotten Shore"
"So.. in other words, Merlin is the cornerstone of the cohort"Jet said.
"Well yes…" they agreed.
"If so… then why didn't he join Valor with you guys? And how did he split himself in two? And why do you guys act like it's normal?" Jet asked, genuinely confused.
Although she didn't know what history they went through together, the things Merlin had done wasn't something that an Ascended should be able to do.
Splitting oneself into two different people, even Saints couldn't achieve such a feat, and these guys talk like it's just another Tuesday.
"Sorry Master Jet… but if you want answers, you'll have to wait until Merlin allows you to join the cohort" Effie patted her shoulder.
"Fine…" Jet sighed, "he said we'll talk in about a week anyways"
They discussed a few more topics, before eventually rounding up and heading back.
…
The next day…
Thud!
The sound of a body hitting the ground echoed in the room.
"Ow! How come I always land on my butt? Can't you go a little easier?" Rain complained as she stood up.
Merlin gave her a deadpan look.
"I'm not allowed to move from my position, I can't use both my hands either, and I still have to spar with you, how much more easier can I make this?"
"But… you're still beating me up" she complained.
"I'm supposed to be teaching you hand to hand combat and I can't use my hand, yours can't even touch me, and I can't move… I truly don't understand what I'm supposed to teach you if you impose more conditions on me" he sighed helplessly.
"How about blindfolded, can you fight with your eyes closed?" She asked.
"Nope…" he shook his head, "that's Sunny's speciality"
Rain nodded.
"So if you and Sunny fought blindfolded, he'd win?"
"Not at all… if Sunny fought anyone but me blindfolded, he would have a chance, but against me, that's impossible" he shrugged.
'After all if I want he can't sense me through shadow sense'
"But how so?" She tilted her head.
"Fine, let's do this… I'll blindfold myself, and all you have to do is simply hit me, I won't fight back, but I'll have free movements"
"Okay…" Rain agreed.
Merlin picked up a streak of clothing and sealed his eyes, cutting off his sense of sight, then he focused on other senses as he got into stance.
"Ready when you are…" he said.
After a few seconds he added, "I can't see anything so stop waving your hands in front of my face…"
Rain choked.
"How did you know I was waving my hands if you can't see?"
"That's because it's most definitely something you'd do" he scoffed.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" She asked.
"Two…" he said calmly.
"Wrong… my fingers aren't out" Rain chided.
"Yeah yeah… let's get on with this" he waved her off.
He got into a combat stance as he set his hands to guard.
..
Rain watched as Merlin got into his fighting stance, he placed one foot in front of the other, and brought his hips lower.
This was the stance he had drilled into her when her training first began, seeing him in that position made her skin tremble a little.
"Are you sure you're really not going to fight back?" she asked just to confirm whether he wouldn't just turn the tables and send her lying on her butt again.
Merlin sighed and undid the stance, then stood upright with his hands behind his back, he sighed and said.
"Fine… no combat stance, I promise I won't fight back, I'll only dodge, and block if needed"
She knew he had already given his word, however she still needed to confirm he wasn't seeing, maybe that time, he guessed the number of her fingers wrongly on purpose.
She was planning on waving her hands in front of his eyes again, but , before she could even start, Merlin's voice rang out flatly.
"If you're planning to wave your hand in front of my face again, then I suggest you stop wasting time"
She was stumped, 'can he read minds?'
His voice sounded again.
"In case you're thinking, no, I can't read minds, as for how I guessed, it was the fact that you didn't give any reply to my words, so I guess you little girl thoughts were running wild…"
"I'm not little…" she huffed.
'Please, she was the same height as her teacher, and he was way older than her… fine since you want to test yourself…'
She immediately threw a sideways kick aiming for his face.
Right before the kick connected, Merlin leaned back slightly and her leg brushed past his face.
He dodged at the last minute.
She didn't give him another chance, she immediately threw a punch, coincidentally, it was also aimed at his handsomely smug face, and again, just before the punch landed, Merlin immediately tilted his head to get right, avoiding her punch.
'tsk…'
She delivered a few more attacks but all were ineffective, they didn't land however they weren't useless, she learnt one thing from attacking him.
His reaction speed was slow, but his movements were fast, although he always dodged, it was only at the last moment that he did.
It was almost as if he had trouble pinpointing the exact point of the attacks, and it only came to him at the last minute.
From there, she was able to build a solid plan, she would use a feint to begin with, then her main attack would follow right behind. She knew he would be able to predict that one, so she would just make both a complete attack.
That way if he avoided the feint, she would get him with the attack, and if he thought the feint was a feint, then he would get hit by it.
'A brilliant plan if I do say so myself…'
She immediately got into stance, the first attack, the feint, was a kick with her left leg, aimed at his face, and the second was a punch with her right hand, aimed at his gut.
Just as she predicted, Merlin avoided the feint, placing himself right in the path of her next attack, however just as the punch was about to land, she felt his hand hold her wrist directly.
"A feint… that's smart, but don't underestimate a clown's intuition" Merlin offered her a light smile.
"If even feints don't work, then what am I supposed to do?" She grumbled.
"Hit harder, and faster until you see an opening… under relentless pressure, even the strongest shield would have a crack" he answered calmly.
"Fine then…" she got back into her stance as she launched another attack towards him, this one was faster than others, but at the same time, less accurate.
Merlin didn't dodge this time, he raised his hand to guard himself from the attack as he offered her an encouraging smile.
"Good, you're learning"
What came next was a flurry of attacks, Merlin was obviously struggling to keep up with her attacks, but that was only struggling, he was still untouchable, he either attack was either avoided or blocked, she mixed in some feints too, but he didn't fall for any of them.
At this point, she was starting to feel like he had some kind of third eye hidden somewhere that made him able to avoid everything even when seeing nothing.
..
Sunny, who had just come back from getting things he needed to make food, walked into the house. The first thing he noticed was that it was empty, he remembered Merlin and Rain had been here when he left.
'Did they go out?'
He thought for a moment, then decided to extend his shadow sense to search the house, through his shadow sense, he was able to feel two different shadows moving in the basement.
'it seems they're training'
He dropped off the goods in the kitchen, and decided to head to the basement to see how their training was going.
As he got there, the scene he witnessed could only be described as one he would never forget.
Merlin was blindfolded, moving endlessly, weaving and blocking attacks that came at precise speed, and Rain was covered in sweat but still delivering relentless attacks.
Her form and attack pattern was one he remembered, it was the same one Merlin had drilled into him every time they trained in hand to hand combat.
And Merlin's movements were one he was also familiar with, despite seeing it only once.
It was the same move he used on Nephis back in their first spar in the academy, it was one that left a deep impression on him, and now, Merlin was repeating that same move, blindfolded.
He watched them spar for a while, until Rain finally ran out of steam and plopped down on the ground.
"Ugh…so much for 'even the strongest shield would have a crack' " Rain grumbled.
Merlin stretched his shoulder as he gave a casual reply.
"I said that, but I never said I was a shield"
Even while blindfolded, Merlin turned to his exact position and spoke.
"Yo Sunny…"
'Isn't he supposed to be blindfolded? Can he see through it?'
"Ooh teacher you're here…" Rain waved tiredly as he walked closer.
"Hey there… how was the training" he said calmly as he waved his hand in front of Merlin to confirm he couldn't see.
"Sunny, I can't see… waving your hand wouldn't change that fact" Merlin said in a flat voice.
"Pfft…"
He turned to the side and saw Rain holding her laughter.
Merlin removed the blindfold and massaged his eyes, "Truly like teacher, like student"
He scoffed and said.
"Since you guys are done, come up, I bought something to eat"
Merlin checked his communicator and waved him off, "don't bother… I'm already late for Ariel's outing time"
With those words, Merlin's body became illusory and faded from the room.
"His abilities are truly magical…" Rain said as she stared at where Merlin had just been.
"Hey… what of mine?" He turned to her.
"Meh…" She shrugged "Your powers can't take me to the dream realm"
"Is that your reason for judging abilities?" He glared slightly at her.
Rain didn't answer, instead she changed the topic.
"Teacher… you never told me how you met Merlin and Lady Nephis"
"Oh… well I met Merlin immediately after my first nightmare, back then I just wanted to keep to myself and survive the solstice, but the moment I met him, all my plans went down the drain, he spent the remaining time in the academy stuck to me…"
"...It was also in the academy I met Nephis, Merlin was the one to meet her first, they had a spar just like you guys earlier, and Neph lost, then he decided to teach me hand to hand combat, Neph occasionally joined our training session…"
He sighed as he recalled his memories.
"Fortunately… we ended on the same place during the solstice, Merlin managed to find me midway, and we later met up with Neph and Cas… from there on, you already know the story"
He sighed again as he led her out of the basement.
"Was he always the strongest person in the cohort?" Rain asked.
"Yeah… since we met, he's always been the strongest, always being the one making the plans and preparations for us, thanks to him, our journey to the Bright Castle was not difficult" Sunny nodded.
"Even in the Outer settlement, he didn't rest, he just kept fighting, providing food for the people and killing off nightmare creatures in the area…"
"...He also supported us whenever we needed help with some things" he finished.
Rain nodded, then asked.
"Is that why he decided to stay behind and let you guys leave the Forgotten Shore?"
"He tricked us…" Sunny scowled as he remembered the beating he received from Merlin back on the Crimson Spire.
"Neph and I were planning to force him out, but after we defeated him and sent him out the dream gate, Neph and I fought on who to stay behind… I won, and after I sent her through the dream gate, Merlin pops out from a very unsuspecting corner, then beat the hell out of me and sent me off"
"So… you guys didn't push him out the dream gate?" Rain tilted her head.
"No…" He sighed, "he used an illusion to deceive us into thinking he left"
"That's… way different from what the stories tell" Rain said lowly.
He shrugged in response.
"Alright… thanks for today teacher, I'll be heading out now" Rain waved and walked to the door.
"Wait… I'll see you off" Sunny followed after her with a smile.
…
In the Song Domain…
"So Merlin wants me to throw a party for Seishan's return? And he wants the Awakeneds from the forgotten shore to attend" Ki Song spoke in a soft voice to Eubin.
"Yes Mother…" She nodded.
"I see, did he say anything else?" Ki Song asked.
"I gave him the condition of sparring with me… and he accepted" Eubin explained.
"Hmm? That child that loves keeping to himself is now willing to spar against you, all for the sake of a party?" Ki Song muttered amusedly.
"In that case, we have no reason to refuse, something tells me that a very interesting memory will be made during the party… contact Hel and tell her to make the plans for the party"
"...As for the spar, I'll be there to witness it myself, additionally, I'll ask the girls if they want to join in to watch… so be sure not to lose"
Eubin nodded, "I'll try my best Mother"
"Good… you're dismissed" Ki Song nodded.
After Eubin left, Ki Song's lips curved upwards.
'A very interesting child… I'm really looking forward to your actions at the party'
.
.
.
.
Only one chapter today...
3.2k words.