3 Ten Years Old

*Two Years Later*

merlin was walking through the forest with Lucian on one side of him and Shin on the other, "Boys, this world is full of magic, all living creatures benefit from this magic. However, when this magic grows out of control... the creatures who use it will go berserk. This turns them into monsters. Humans are not exempt from this either."

Shin spoke up, "There was a person that was turned into a monster that you defeated right? I've heard of it many times. It's because of this that grandfather is looked upon as a hero."

"You are correct, today is the day that you will kill your first monster. This is a test, but I want you both to just try your hardest."

Both boys exclaimed in excitement, "Really! This is exciting."

Only Shin spoke next, "How are we meant to find the monsters though?"

Merlin responded, "You need to use the Enemy Search Magic, first you need to-"

Lucian cut Merlin off mid sentence, "You need to spread your magic out lightly into the surroundings. Once something comes into contact with your magic, you will be alerted of its presence."

Merlin had a surprised look on his face, "How did you know that? This magic can only be used with quite a high degree of magic control."

Lucian replied simply, "I use it all the time, it's helpful for finding food."

This surprised Merlin even more, but he did not allow the boys to see this, "Well then, if you already know how to do it, I think Shin should be the one to try in hopes of finding the monster. However, don't be discouraged if it doesn't work on your first try, this is quite a difficult magic to use."

Shin immediately attempted to use the magic, and much to Merlin's surprise, he succeeded on his first try. A look of happiness and awe could clearly be seen on Shin's face as he felt the presence of everything in the forest. However, this turned into a look of shock as he felt something different, "I've found something, it's giving me a bad feeling."

merlin looked at Shin, "You've found it. That is the magic of monsters."

The look on Shin's face became a lot more serious, "It's really bad grandfather, we have to hurry and get over there. Terrible things are going to happen if we leave it alone."

A grave look appeared on Merlin's face as well, "Things might really be a bit bad."

Lucian, Shin and Merlin all sprinted through the forest as quickly as they could, with Lucian using his natural affinity with the forest to move through it more quickly than the others. He skilfully manoeuvred his way through the trees, and arrived before the other two did. Despite Shin's magic boots assisting him, he could not keep up with Lucian's enhanced physical abilities due to his species and the potions he had drank.

Standing around fifteen metres from Lucian was a huge red bear which had an evil aura exuding from it. Lucian did not make a move until the other two arrived as well, as although he was sure he could defeat the monster, he wanted the security of the others.

Once the other two arrived, Shin immediately charged at the monster with his Hypersonic Vibration sword in hand. However, he had to dodge out of the way of an attack from the monster.

Looking at this, Lucian immediately joined in the fight as well as he could not let Shin get all of the glory. He quickly began to form a magic attack in between both of his hands, as a flurry of wind and flames started to converge together. In the past two years, Lucian had developed and was on his way to mastering the ability of Magic Combination. Once he released the spell, he shouted at Shin, "Get out of the way, this could injure you as well if you don't move."

Shin listened to Lucian, and dodged out of the way as soon as he could. Once he was at a safe distance, Lucian released his magic attack. A massive tornado of wind and fire was sent towards the Bear Monster.

As soon as it hit the monster, it was engulfed in flames and dragged into the tornado. This caused it to be constantly attacked by the fire with no way to escape. Once the tornado had died down, the Bear Monster fell to the ground with a loud thud and it was clearly dead.

merlin looked incredibly shocked, "What was that magic just now?"

Lucian looked at him and replied, "It's combination magic, I combined Wind and Fire Magic to create a fire tornado."

Merlin looked intrigued, "That must require a high affinity with the elements, and also a high control over them too."

"Probably, I just thought it would make my attacks stronger. Did we pass your test then?"

"You both most certainly did, Lucian your magic was very powerful and well controlled despite doing something that must require an incredible amount of concentration and control. Shin, you used your magic boots to quickly close the distance between you and the enemy, and the enchantments on your sword are something I have never seen before either."

Lucian and Shin replied together, "Cool, can we go home now though, we're both starving."

As the two boys started to walk back in the direction of their home, Merlin was thinking to himself, 'I didn't expect the boys to be this strong already, there really is a lot to be anticipated from them both. Lucian's combination magic, and Shin's enchantments are beyond my expectations.'