Centuries past

"What's this? There's a flow of Mana coming from the statue itself?" Merlin said as he observed the statue with his Mana eye, seeing traces of Mana flowing through and around it.

Suddenly, an anti-bird with a pair of sleek wings and a pair of tails that form an arrow at the tip appeared from below inside the skull, flying out and towards Merlin after sensing the incredible Flow of Mana within him, even though anti-birds were supposed to flock to those with the lowest amount of Mana.

Looking at the man in front of it, the bird was curious but also amazed at the same time. This white-robed man had the highest amount of Mana that she had ever witnessed.

Turning to the bird, Merlin noticed a pair of horns on either side of the bird's head, as well as a pair of long black feathers, sticking up from the top of its head. The bird flew in front of Merlin's face, gazing into his eyes deeply.

Merlin smiled and said, "Well, aren't you a curious one? You should know that using forbidden magic is frowned upon for a reason, and it seems you already figured out the drawback behind using it, isn't that right?"

The bird's lazy and dead eyes suddenly lit up in shock as it lost control of its wings for a moment, flailing around in the air. Merlin reached his hand out and let the birds land on it, as he said, "It is called Forbidden Magic for a reason."

The bird then flew up and attempted to peck Merlin's head, but encountered a shock coursing through its beak and body, causing it to fall out of the air once more as Merlin caught it.

"Sorry about that, the Mana around me is constantly protecting me, nothing much I can do about that. Now then, let's see if I can break your little curse." Merlin said, manifesting his staff under the incredulous eyes of the bird that was constantly getting shocked from the turn of events, not expecting to suddenly find someone that knew exactly of its predicament.

Merlin pet the back of the bird to soothe it, feeling the soft feathers as he ran his fingers over them. He then lightly touched the feathers on the bird's neck, which felt fuzzier than the rest of its feathers, creating a sense that it was wearing a collar around its neck.

Coating his hand with a veil of Mana, Merlin tapped on the bird's head, sending a piece of his own consciousness within. "Ah, so you're a girl. As for the time you've been trapped in this state…" Merlin suddenly felt quiet the moment he knew just how much time the person who was cursed from using a forbidden spell spent in the form of a bird.

Hundreds of years had passed for her, but she still remained in this form.

Passing through the threshold into her subconscious, Merlin came upon a small orb that floated in the middle of empty space. Inside of the orb was a young girl with short hair that had two locks sticking up from the top of her hair. The most notable feature was the short pair of horns adorned atop her head as she had her legs curled into her chest with her face buried between her legs. Adorning her body was a black dress with thin straps and a short ruffled skirt that resembled feathers.

On the surface of the orb were dark red engravings that surrounded it, trapping the girl inside. "Sealing magic, accompanied by the curse but… the catalyst doesn't seem to be from a Demon, instead there are multiple?" Merlin muttered to himself as he inspected the orb from all sides. "Luckily, it's easier compared to the curse on Acier… time also eroded some of the long-lasting properties."

"Well, let's create a small gateway first, that should allow her to exit and enter the orb without breaking it, so it should let her transform back at the least," Merlin said, manifesting his staff. He then lightly tapped the centre of the orb, creating a small ripple that expanded outwards as a quiet audible humming echoed throughout the space.

The ripple then retracted and started to reconvene from the epicentre of Merlin's staff. The ripples started to glow a rainbow hue, as its shape started to change to that of a translucent door.

"That should do it," Merlin said, pushing the door open. From inside the orb, the girl stirred as she slowly lifted her head and made eye contact with Merlin. She had red slanted eyes that give her a natural hostile aura with dark bags underneath them.

With a smile, Merlin stretched his hands forward for her to grab onto. Reluctant at first, the girl slowly reached her hand forward, grasping his.

Pulling his consciousness back out, Merlin saw that the bird in his hands started to glow as it floated into the air and backed slowly. The glow grew brighter until it covered the bird entirely and started to expand in size, slowly taking the shape of the girl that Merlin saw inside of the orb.

The glow then softened as it slowly dissipated, with the moonlight being the source of light that they had for now. The girl appeared before Merlin's eyes exactly as he saw her within the orb. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked at her hands, closing and opening them.

Suddenly, a tear fell down the corner of her eye as she looked up at Merlin, and with a quiet and calm voice, she muttered, "How? How did you…"

Merlin smiled and put a finger to his mouth, saying, "That's a secret for me to know. All that matters is that we can now have a proper conversation."

The girl stared at Merlin quietly for a moment, nodding and saying, "I don't know how you did it, or what you intend on doing, but you still have my gratitude for freeing me from that curse."

Merlin nodded and said, "You should be able to transform back and forth now, that's the least I can do in your current… predicament. Unfortunately, it looks like you won't be able to use your Grimoire for now."

The girl nodded in affirmation and said, "This is already more than enough, you've done more than I could have ever hoped for."

Merlin's eyes lit up as he said, "I almost forgot to introduce myself, my name is Merlin Caliban of House Caliban, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The girl's eyes then widened as she muttered, "House Caliban… but… that curse?"

"Oh, you know my House? And the curse? I already disposed of it, along with the Devil that plagued my House." Merlin replied casually, tapping the bell that hung from his staff. "He's currently enjoying his time in here."

"You… You got rid of the curse?" The girl said, shocked at the revelation. At first, she was able to sense the abnormal amounts of Mana that Merlin possessed, even surpassing the 1st Wizard King, but now knowing that he himself had killed a Devil caused the cogs in her brain to start turning into overdrive.

Looking at the bell that hung from the staff, she didn't know the words to form, merely leaving her mouth agape.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me what your name is?" Merlin said with a smile.

Snapping out of her thoughts, the girl nodded and said, "I'm Secre Swallowtail, former royal servant to Prince Lemiel Silvamillion Clover, or what you people now call him as, the 1st Wizard King."

"Oh my, this is really getting interesting." Merlin smiled, having a slight idea of what might have transpired back there, but kept silent as he continued saying, "So, you must have used a Forbidden Magic spell that caused you to turn into an anti-magic bird. And judging from the horns on your head, it seems that it hasn't been fully dispelled yet. You're quite lucky, much of its effect has started to erode with time."

Secre nodded and said with her tired tone, "I used a Forbidden Sealing spell to seal away a Devil and to keep the prince alive as well."

Merlin turned to the statue and said, "Well, I wouldn't call this being alive. He's on the verge of life and death, and even if you could resurrect him, he'll still die in the end just as the Flow of Mana intended."

Secre's eyes trembled as she gripped her hands and said, "If he does die, then I'm prepared to follow him."

Merlin shook his head and said, "Do you really think that your prince would have wanted that for you? Well, we can talk more about that once we cross that road, for now, you have some explaining to do."

Secre stayed silent a moment then said, "If it's you… then we might stand a chance if he comes back unsealed..."

"By him, I'm guessing you mean the Devil that probably started all of this?" Merlin said, pointing to the statue and the skull beneath him. "He must have been a High-ranking Devil, right?"

"High-ranking? I-I'm not sure, I don't have much information about Devils." Secre shook her head, as Merlin conjured up a pair of chairs and a table under her surprised gaze, as well as some food for her. Gesturing for her to take a seat, he said, "Well, we're going to be here for a while, so you should probably eat the first decent meal you had in almost 500 years."

Secre was about to interject but her stomach grumbled, causing her to turn away as a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. Merlin merely chuckled as she took her seat and began eating on the large variety of fruits, vegetables, meat, and bread Merlin had laid out for her. Since Merlin himself conjured them up, they had Mana restoring properties to them, allowing for Secre to recover to her former strength before she turned into a bird quicker than usual.

As she was eating, Merlin turned to the statue next to him and thought, 'It must be cruel, having to wait for someone for almost 500 years, and yet the moment they meet, it would have seen as a mere instant for him…' He then turned to Secre who was eating the food with a fervour and smiled as she almost choked from the food.

"Now now, the food isn't going anywhere, so make sure you get your fill as I have a feeling it's going to be a long night ahead of us with what you're about to tell me," Merlin said, conjuring up some Mana-infused water for her.

Now that she had a proper look at him, she saw the strange white robes he wore, along with the long white hair that flowed behind him. The petals in his hair raised some questions from her, but she thought that they somehow suited him. Along with the strange feeling of her tension being washed away by just being near him, it gave way to a feeling of curiosity and incredulity.

Secre thanked him and thought to herself, 'Merlin Caliban… I still can't believe House Caliban still exists even if I heard rumours about them. But… just who is he? How can he have such powerful Mana flowing around him? My prince, is this what you also foresaw to happen in the future? And his appearance… No Secre, stop that.' Secre shook her head under Merlin's confused gaze and continued to eat as Merlin drank some tea on the side with an amused expression.