"So the only option I have is to go with the homeless wizard?" she asked, looking at her parents and grandparents. Both her mother and grandmother were crying while her father and grandfather looked serious.
"I'm afraid it is like that" Geron replied "if it were like 20 or 30 years ago then there would be no problem with you staying since before the corrupt had no way of entering the blessed land…"
"...But now they do and they have managed to sneak into the kingdom without anyone seeing them" Gerald continued "they took advantage of the moment when we were not near you and made sure that we did not notice when they attacked you"
"and that is not all, having broken the curse of hatred you tend to influence the people around you more" Merlin revealed
"that means that other people could break the curse of hatred and then the corrupt would come for them too" Matthew said realizing the seriousness of the problem.
Matthew looked at his mother, she was a simple civilian, she could not even defend herself from the weaker corrupt if she were to break the curse.
"Salusbreath is a floating city that is always moving and no corrupted person has ever managed to reach it. Besides, its school has great magicians and warriors. I am sure that you will be able to develop yourself there in a way that you will not be able to do in other schools," Merlin said, trying to convince Matthew not to think it was a bad idea to travel to Salusbreath.
"But there are the followers of Damnatus," Merely replied with evident disgust.
Merely had already been to Salusbreath once and happened to witness one of the attacks of the followers of Damnatus on the city. It was a terrible sight. The followers had no mercy on the citizens and killed them in the cruelest way possible.
"No place is exempt from danger… now not even the blessed land," Geron replied to his wife.
"The followers of Damnatus are the ones who rule the land of ash, right?" asked Matthew.
Merlin nodded heavily, no matter how hard they tried to reclaim the lands they couldn't do anything, the followers were simply too many and too strong.
Matthew nodded, understanding what he had to do. He was going to Salusbreath and he would make sure that his family was not affected by the curse, even if it prevented him from seeing them again.
"Okay… when do we leave?" Matthew asked determinedly.
"Right away, there is another young man we have to pick up," Merlin replied, rubbing his head as he thought of who they had to pick up.
"Another one who broke the curse?" Gerald asked.
"Yes, young Caralsen did," Merlin said.
Gerald stood still for a moment. He knew that name from 13 years ago, Themur Caralsen, a great man and warrior who fought at his side at the end of the '10 Years of Tears' war. Gerald remained silent, remembering all the atrocities that had happened just a decade ago.
Matthew nodded, recognizing the last name. His father had told him about that family and how incredibly strong they were, as well as their strong code that they refused to break for any reason.
"Well, young Matthew, get your things ready, we have to leave," said Merlin.
—Break—
Merlin led the way to the outskirts of the Fallen Kingdom. Six hours ago they had begun their journey to the portal that led to the Ashen Land. Matthew observed the entire landscape with great attention. This was the first time he had been so far from the kingdom. The meadows had a very vibrant color that brightened the sight just by looking at them. Without a doubt, a sight you would expect from a place called the Blessed Land.
"Hey Merlin, when they divided the unique land, did they put a spell on this land to make it look this good?" Matthew asked. According to the history books, both the divine land and the ash land did not have this appearance.
"Mmm… not that I remember. In fact, when we divided it, all the lands looked the same, but over time they changed little by little. Maybe, not being influenced by Damnatus or some god, maybe the Elder Tree has regained its reign over this land, making it look like this," Merlin speculated without giving it much importance.
The two continued walking for 4 more hours, they had passed a river and a tower abandoned for several years until they reached a bridge that connected the lands of the Fallen Kingdom with a foreign kingdom. Merlin stood in the middle of the bridge, watching the water pass beneath them. "We arrived," he said.
"Are we there?" Matthew asked, not seeing the huge portal he had imagined in his head.
"Yeah, look," Merlin said, pointing to the water just below them.
Matthew looked out, unable to see anything. When he was about to ask what it had to do with, Merlin pushed him, causing him to fall into the water.
Matthew fell into the water, realizing that it was deeper than he thought. Before he wanted to swim out, he felt something pulling him into the depths. The water around Matthew began to change color and the water eventually disappeared. He felt as if he were in the air, unable to move. After a few seconds, the colors disappeared and he felt himself begin to fall.
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"Watch your head," he heard Merlin's voice in his head.
"What head?" Matthew tried to say, but his surroundings quickly changed allowing him to see that he was falling through the air directly into a forest "Shit!" Matthew fell head first into a tree breaking several branches.
When Matthew got up he saw Merlin at his side with a slight smile, he could swear that he had done it in revenge for all the times he called him homeless.
"Don't be ridiculous, the benign ones don't know the concept of revenge" said Merlin answering Matthew's thoughts "come on we have to meet up with my other clone"
Matthew stood up and shook himself as he looked at him confused "another clone? Are you a clone?" he asked
"Of course, I have to pick up several people throughout the year, I can't be everywhere at the same time… well if I can that's what clones are for" Merlin said amused.
Before Matthew could speak again they heard some voices approaching, it was another Merlin being accompanied by a young man of the same age as Matthew. The young man had blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a red shirt with white stripes around his neck and chest, along with loose brown pants and boots of the same color. On his back he carried a custom-made iron axe.
The young man quickly noticed Matthew and the Merlin at his side, the young man let out a loud laugh and approached Matthew.
"HAHA, did this old piss kidnap you too?" The young man approached and gave Matthew a big hug "I'm Trygve Caralsen, but you can call me Tryg, that's what everyone calls me in the communal house" he introduced himself
"Then I'll call you Tryg. I'm Matthew Blackcrow, as for a nickname I've never had one" said Matthew with a smile, something told him they would be great friends.
"I see, Matthew… wait did you say blackcrow?" Tryg asked surprised
"Yes, I come from the blessed land, I grew up as a blackcrow" Matthew confirmed.
"Ha, who would have thought, when the old piss told me that we were going for someone else I never imagined that I would be a blackcrow" Tryg confessed with a big smile "and tell me do you know him?" he asked
"Who?" Matthew asked confused although he already had an idea of who he was asking about.
"You know, Gerald Blackcrow… Well I understand that he is now called Gerald Goldeagle" Tryg said excitedly
"Oh, of course I know him. He is my father" Matthew revealed
"WHAT!!? Impossible according to father, he told me that Gerald could not have children" Tryg said surprised "Did he lie to me…?"
"Oh, I see. Your father didn't lie to you, you see, I'm adopted" Matthew revealed, Tryg turned to look at Merlin who nodded confirming Matthew's identity.
"That explains everything! Ha, I knew that a man as powerful as your father couldn't leave the world without leaving a legacy, it's the law of life." Tryg affirmed "You know, your father and my father met once, on the battlefield, the two fought hand to hand just like you and I are going to do against those bastard followers"
Matthew laughed at Tryg's words, he undoubtedly liked him.
"Of course I know, Themur caralsen, right? Father told me a lot about him" Matthew affirmed leaving Tryg more excited
"Of course I do! I knew that the old man was too impressive not to make a name for himself in that war" Tryg said happily.
"And tell me, how long has the homeless wizard been here for you?" asked Matthew
"Two days ago, I found him pissing in the hills near my village while I was hunting some of those corrupted ones"
"Were you hunting them? They didn't come for you?"
"Yes, two of them came to my house looking for me, but they didn't last a second, I cut off both of their heads and put them on a spear, then I tracked down where they had come from, finding a group of 5 to whom I showed the heads of the ones I killed" Tryg said excitedly while moving his hands to give more details.
Matthew and Trygve quickly became friends, drawing a sigh from Merlin who was already imagining everything he was going to have to go through with these two to get to Salusbreath.
"Come on young people, we have a long way to go to get to Salusbreath" Merlin ordered as he began his walk towards Salusbreath.
"Don't walk so fast old man, don't get tired" said Tryg running towards Merlin
"Tired? The homeless man is going to faint" said Matthew following them
Merlin at that moment regretted having been the one to go looking for these two fools and even worse, having brought them together.
—Break—
Merlin walked in front of the group, his face showing tiredness and irritation, only two days had passed since Matthew and Trygve met, but Merlin could no longer stand them, alone they were manageable and could even be fun, but together they were a disaster. For some reason since they got together they had acquired the peculiar ability to get into trouble, it was almost as if they were naturally attracted to each other.
"Tryg, look there are corrupted ones" said Matthew looking out from a cliff
Tryg quickly approached and saw a group of 10 corrupted ones, who were eating a raw deer. "Let's kick them." he suggested
"Whoever kicks the least corrupted ones will have to listen to Merlin sing" said Matthew as he jumped off the cliff.
"You didn't count to 3 like we had yesterday!!" shouted Tryg jumping as well.
While Matthew and Tryg fought with the corrupted, Merlin kept walking and talking without noticing that those two had left.
"And that's why you should avoid the gray forests, you don't want to run into wizards or creatures of the night" said Merlin explaining the rumors that circulated through the lands they were in.
After a while in silence, Merlin began to suspect that something was not right, Tryg and Matthew never stopped talking and even less when it came to magical creatures. Merlin turned back noticing that neither of them was following him, Merlin's face paled again, this was the fourth time they left his side in just two days.
"These damned children, don't they know how to stay still!?" Merlin wondered as he tried to feel Matthew and Tryg's magic.
Merlin felt Matthew's magic not far from him, apparently he was next to Tryg and what seemed to be a group of corrupted people.
"These kids are going to make my hair fall out from stress" said Merlin walking quickly towards Matthew and Tryg.
Below the cliff were Matthew and Tryg bothering a corrupted, they had already taken care of killing the others and only one was left, who was tied by the feet and hung from a tree while with a branch they hit him as if it were a punching bag.
"Since I was a child, Father told me about these things, by the way he described them I always imagined them much stronger" admitted Tryg hitting the corrupted person.
"There are some stronger ones, I think you've only met the weaker ones" said Matthew hitting the corrupted person
"You mean there are others like these, but stronger?" Tryg asked and Matthew nodded
"Yes, in fact, one almost killed me. Merlin said something about it being a second class or something, I just know that these are the weakest of all"
"I see, that makes sense... and well, I'm bored now, shall we kill it at once?" Tryg asked to which Matthew shrugged accepting the idea.
At that moment Merlin appeared in front of them, hitting each of them on the head with his staff. "What the hell were you thinking when you left, this is a dangerous place!"
"Calm old man, we're fine. The last 3 times you didn't even notice that we left" Tryg revealed
"What!? Well how many times have they left my side!?" Merlin asked angrily
"With this 7... I think" Matthew said and tried to remember all the times they had escaped.
Merlin was about to strike them again when the sound of a bird's wings fluttered. The bird flew over to Merlin, hovering over his shoulder, in its beak it carried a note which was addressed to Merlin.
Merlin read the note rubbing his forehead, things seemed to be getting more and more complicated. Merlin sighed thinking of what to do, the note informed him of an attack on Corinth, home of the benign of love, Arlene. Damnatus' followers had decided to attack together, they wanted to take Corinth. Merline sighed resignedly, knowing that he had no other choice.
"Listen carefully, you two apes. Damnatus' followers are attacking Corinth, to be more specific, they are attacking Corinth, home of the benign of love. I have to go help her, so I will have to let you go alone to Salusbreath." Merlin explained approaching them and hitting them with his staff
"Ouch, and that's because it was... wait, this is..." Matthew realized that he had received Merlin's memories which showed them the way.
"Those are my memories, use them to get to the city, there you will meet the lord of the mustache, he will take you to Salusbreath safe and sound, understood?" Merlin asked
"I think so..." Tryg said trying to process the information, Merlin not receiving a satisfactory answer raised his staff in a threatening manner scaring the two and making them nod quickly.
"... well, then I will withdraw, I cannot waste time" said Merlin raising his staff. Merlin's figure shine for a few seconds before disappearing in a flash.