Chapter 38: Gifts

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Edward sheathed the Ebony Sword into his back sheath, and walked out of his room. As he did, he remembered Peter talking to him about the first day he got his powers.

When he woke up, he couldn't master his strength, and destroyed nearly every handle in his room, as well as his sink and bed. The drastic change in strength had messed him up.

Edward didn't have this problem though. First, his change in strength wasn't as drastic as Peter, Peter went from a below average teen to someone who could lift 25 tons.

As for Edward, although he didn't know exactly how strong he was, he knew he was still weaker than Peter by a good deal. That's in term of pure strength of course.

Also, he had to think of a name for this new realm of power, since he had broken the limit. Body Refinement, Spirit Awakening and now this… Several names came up to him, like Connection of the three Dantians, but it was a little too long.

After pondering over the question for a few seconds though, a good name finally came to him. Unity. It was shorter than Connection of the three Dantians, and he deemed it to be a good name. Body Strengthening, Spirit Awakening and Unity.

It felt a bit weird as he would have preferred to have two words and have the second one finish by -ing… But it didn't really matter, he was just annoying himself.

Not long after he came up with this name, Edward arrived in the throne room, where he saw Merlin and Arthur speaking to each other, and turning their head to the newcomer.

Surprise sprung up on their face as Arthur exclaimed "Serenity! You have awakened!"

Edward smiled and asked "Hey… How long have I been sleeping for?" Arthur scratched his cheek and Merlin replied "Seven days. Fighting that demon sure has tired you."

Edward was stunned, he didn't expect to sleep for a whole week. He asked "Did I miss anything? And is Thor still here?"

Merlin said "The Asgardian Prince has left, he had much to do back in his home. He sent you his farewells though, and had us tell you you are welcome in Asgard at any time, although you will have to make some commotion as Heimdall apparently can't see you."

Edward raised en eyebrow in surprise, he didn't expect the anti scrying effect of his armor to be so strong as to hide him from Heimdall, who was said to see everything in the Nine Realms.

The three of them chatted for a while, until Merlin eventually asked "When will you leave? You do remember that the longer you stay here, the more time will have passed in your present."

Edward nodded, the spell Merlin was speaking about was the one fixing time so his present world wouldn't get changed drastically. He didn't know how long would have passed in the present world though, so he would rather come back as fast as possible.

So he answered Merlin "Today, hopefully." Merlin nodded, and Arthur got up from his throne and approached Edward as he said "You have saved my kingdom, and got rid of one of my most dangerous enemies. Moreover, you got rid of the curse of my cousin, and even taught my army such a powerful technique… For that, I shall be eternally grateful of you. You shall always be welcome in Camelot."

As he said that, he took out a gold coin and handed it to Edward. Edward grabbed it, and saw that on one side of it was his mask, which was quite accurately sculpted. On the other side, a sword and a fist crossed.

Edward pocketed the coin and nodded in thanks to Arthur.

After this, Edward bade farewell to Arthur as well as the knights present in Camelot before following Merlin to his tower. It was time to go back home.

As they got in Merlin's tower, Edward saw Zatanna studying, which did not surprise him. Even though she had regained all of her powers, she stuck to studying mysticism to get a better grasp over her powers.

What did surprise him though, was her teacher.

Morgana, dressed in her usual revealing clothes, had an opened book in her hands, and was teaching Zatanna. When they arrived, they both looked at him, and Morgana sent him a flirty wink while Zatanna jumped from her seat as she exclaimed, very much like Arthur "You're awake!"

Edward nodded at Zatanna, and sent a look at Merlin, who's face looked exhausted and helpless all of a sudden. He explained "A lot happened while you were asleep. Basically, Morgana will be coming to your time with you two."

Edward opened his mouth wide and exclaimed "You're kidding."

Morgana approached from the side and said sensually "Darling, you have to take responsibility after doing THAT to me…"

Zatanna's face turned red, while Edward replied "Why would you want to suddenly move to a new world? Because the future is much more alien than you might think."

Morgana shrugged and replied "I don't have anything left here, other than regrets and pain…" She looked calm while she said this, but with his enhanced Chi Sense Edward discovered she was more agitated inside.

So he didn't continue asking sensitive questions, and instead asked "How much were you affected by losing a part of your soul? And how long will you take to heal from it?"

Morgana shrugged and replied "My magic has been weakened, but my knowledge remains. As for how long I will take to heal from it… It isn't really a matter of time, but rather of resources. This is another reason as to why I need to come to the future, there are too few resources here."

Edward slowly nodded "I see." and thought for a few seconds before saying "Fine, then. You may come, but let me warn you right now, I am not going to house you."

Morgana grinned and said "It never was my intention… unless you want me to?" Edward rolled his eyes and asked Zatanna "Are you ready to go?"

Zatanna nodded and said "We were only waiting for you." Edward nodded and Merlin said "Before you go, I want to thank you for what you did. I believe Arthur already gave you a token of his gratitude, so let me give you mine."

Merlin took out a vial, which contained a thick dark red liquid. Edward titled his head as he took it and asked "Is this blood?"

Merlin smiled and replied "This is not just any blood, it is from my father, the Great Demon Belial. This may be used in numerous ways, or not at all. You shall be the one to discover whether it will come to use to you or not."

Edward's clench on the vial slightly strengthened as he said "Thank you, Merlin. This is a wonderful gift."

And it was. Belial was one of the strongest beings in Hell, thus his blood was very potent. One of the applications Edward thought of was energy, as he felt he could power any machinery for weeks or months with only a small amount of this blood.

Of course, he wouldn't do so, it would be wasting the potency of the blood, but it showed how strong it was.

Merlin took something else out though as he handed it over to Edward and said "I also want to give this to you, not as thanks but as a friend. It is a prototype of mine, which I find to be quite interesting. Unfortunately, it cannot be used by the average person."

Edward looked at the new gift in surprise, and saw it was a bracelet. He put it on his right arm, under the Armor of the Ancients, and felt a connection establish with his mind. Curious, he accepted it, and instantly a part of his mind was sent into a strange space.

It was a cube of space. After a few seconds of inspections and noticing nothing in this space, he asked Merlin "What is this?"

Merlin smiled proudly and said "You are looking at the space inside the bracelet. Using your time's measurements, there is a space of five cubic meters inside this accessory. The basic function of the bracelet is to transport objects in and out of this space. Try it."

Edward was fascinated by this invention, and focused on this vial in his hands. He tried to send it into the bracelet, and actually managed to. The moment the vial disappeared though, a new weight appeared on his arm.

Merlin said "This isn't for normal people for several reasons. First, I can't just make the weight disappear. So everything you store within this bracelet will make the bracelet heavier by it's own mass. My first prototype was a ring, but I supposed you can guess why I changed the design."

"As for the second reason, it's for the mental strain. Splitting a part of your mind to look into the space is hard, and would result in a headache for normal people. Fortunately, both your body and mind are stronger than the average person, so you should be able to use it well."

Edward smiled at Merlin under his mask and said "Thank you, Merlin. This is a wonderful gift."

Merlin smiled and said "I'm glad you like it. Also, I believe you were interested in learning how to craft magical artefacts, like this one here?"

Edward nodded, so Merlin said "I would have gifted you with my knowledge, but I never wrote a book, and I can't be bothered. However, if I ever decide to do so in the next 14 centuries, I will make sure to send a copy to Kamar-Taj so you can get it."

Edward nodded as he thanked him "You don't have to do so much Merlin, I don't have anything to gift you."

Merlin snorted "I'm not doing this expecting something in return, I am only making gifts to a friend. Moreover, don't think you will get rid of me so easily, my demonic blood makes me nearly immortal so I should still be around by 2010. So… I guess see you later."

As he said that, he waved his hand, and a pentagram that had been drawn onto the ground in a corner of the room lit up. As it did, Edward actually felt magical energy from their surroundings rush at a crazy speed toward the rune before a tear appeared in space.

A portal was opened, they couldn't see what was on the other side as the membrane was of a dark black, but Merlin reassured them "There are no dangers in this portal, all you have to do is to walk through it like a normal portal. You should appear in Kamar-Taj."

Edward smiled and suddenly went for a hug, surprising Merlin who didn't know how to respond. He might be an extremely respected magician, he had been feared and discriminated against because of his bloodline.

So he never really experienced a friendship, not even with Arthur as their status kept them from truly becoming friends. After a second of hesitation, he accepted the hug.

Edward smiled as they separated, and waved Merlin goodbye as he entered the portal. Zatanna thanked Merlin for his teachings as she left, and Morgana… showed him her middle finger. It was unknown how she learned of this gesture of the modern world, or how Merlin managed to understand it as his face turned cold.