As he arrived at home, he opened the door, only to see himself, or rather the avatar already inside, playing with Ariel.
The moment he walked inside, Ariel's head turned to him, then back to the avatar, then him again, then she cutely clutched her hands on her head as she muttered 'maybe it's another magic trick…'
He chuckled and walked to her.
"Don't think too much Ari, it's me, just that I'm now two"
She looked between two of them suspiciously, then asked.
"Are you real?"
"Do you want to touch it?" He stretched out his palm.
She calmly placed her small hand and her eyes widened, "how did you do it? Can I also do it?"
"It's very hard to do, I don't think you can do it now, maybe when you grow up a little…" he patted her head, then at that moment, Silver walked out.
She stared at him, then the avatar, and she gave them both a deadpan look, "It seems like you really had a way to split yourself… congratulations, this world now has two of you…"
"Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?" The avatar chuckled.
"One of you is already a pain, add another and it's just worse… if you suddenly become three one day, I'll just return to the forest of Civilth" She smiled wryly as she sat down.
'Heh… you're lucky I'm not a marauder' he chuckled inwardly, "It's not that bad…"
"So? When are you going to the… Song clan? And which of you is going?" She asked.
"I'm waiting for them to reach out…" he answered, and the avatar continued "... and I'm the one that's going"
Silver nodded, then she asked again.
"And… how are you going to deal with your looks?"
"I'll change mine… I think I'll just do it now, I'll make it look as much as you guys as possible, that way I won't be the odd one out in this family of ours" he smiled, then started changing his features.
For the body, he chose to maintain his current height, though he increased the mass by a little, and he made his skin paler, similar to Silver's, then next was his hair, he chose to make it just neck long, with bangs covering parts of his eyes, then he made them a pale white color, similar to Ariel's and Silver's, but not as bright as Nephis', then his eyes were heterocromic, with one eye golden like Silver's and the other grey like Ariel's, then finally the face, he chose a face similar to the one in his past life, but with obvious changes made, he was good looking, but he had slight dark shades under his eyes that made him look like he was tired of living, this look had hung with him for a while in his past life, after all, college really did drain the life out of him.
"How do I look?" As he finished, he turned to them with a smile.
"Somehow this look seems to match your character" Silver gave her opinion.
"Thanks" he replied sarcastically.
"Wow! Big brother looks like me and sister Silver" Ariel clapped excitedly.
"Thank you Ari, I'm officially your big brother now" he smiled.
"The face gives me a nostalgic feeling… I won't compliment you, that'll obviously be weird" He avatar chuckled.
"You're right, just thinking of me complimenting myself makes my stomach turn…" he chuckled in response.
"You're really strong minded…" Silver muttered as she looked between the two of them.
"How come that feels like both a compliment and an insult at the same time?" Merlin sighed as he walked to the kitchen, leaving the avatar to play with Ariel.
He took some stuff from the kitchen, then prepared something for them to eat for the night, honestly none of them really needed food, Silver was a Saint, she didn't really need to eat m, after all she couldn't die, Ariel was an echo, so obviously she didn't need food, and him as a sleeper could go two weeks without food, and now he was an ascended, it was safe to say that if he didn't eat for half a year, he would at most feel tired, that was how his body functioned, after all he had been blessed with the essence of a god.
So in reality, they were all just eating for formalities, after all it made them feel more human, especially him that needed it as Celestial Worthy refused to return Hope's gift to him.
After they finished eating, he cleaned the place, then changed and went to his room to rest, Ariel stayed with Silver, as she had gotten used to it, and he was happy with it, after all, if someone found him on the same bed with a twelve year old, he would be having a visit from the FBI… what's that? The FBI doesn't exist in the shadow slave verse? Heh… you would be surprised when they show up in the front door, after all those guys have their ways, what's the problem about crossing universes to them.
…
A few days later…
Eubin stood a distance away from the house that belonged to the ascended called Merlin, she had been following him for a while, she had been keeping an eye on him even before he got his house, however she didn't carelessly approach him.
As for the reason why, it was because he was living with a Saint, being a Saint herself, she knew how strong transcendents were, and her target was practically living and eating with one.
She had held out on contacting him because of that very reason, but now she could no longer delay, she was going to meet with him, although he had a Saint, that was only one, and compared to her who had multiple Saints as sisters, the odds were in her favor.
She stood in front of the door, and took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell.
Cring…
The sound rang out once, but no reply, so she rang it again.
Cring…
As the second sounded out, her senses picked up someone walking to the door, a second later, the door opened and she laid her eyes on the figure who opened it.
'Huh? Is that… a child' She was baffled.
The one who opened the door was a small child that seemed about eleven or twelve.
"Excuse me, who are you?" The small child's voice sounded out, before she could reply, another voice sounded out, one that she was familiar with.
"Huh? Ari you're not supposed to be opening the door, you're still too young… and Silver you're sitting right there, why didn't you answer it instead?"
Merlin, her target, walked up to the door, his eyes still fixed on Ariel, when he reached her side, he patted her head and said in a soft voice.
"Go stay with Silver, I'll handle the visitor…"
The small child instantly nodded and ran back, while the girl was returning, she managed to catch a glimpse of the house, and that's when she saw another person sitting inside, a beautiful woman, who gave off a cool and calm presence.
'So that's the Saint…'
She turned her attention away, and turned it to Merlin who was currently staring at her, she gave him a smile, but before she could start, he spoke first.
"So… who are you?"
"I'm Eubin… or Beastmaster, anyone you're familiar with, and I'm from the Song clan" She smiled as she introduced.
She watched as his face went from slight confusion, then to realization, then his expression turned strange as he looked her up and down, albeit politely.
"Song clan… so, what does the song clan want with me?" He smiled too.
'Are you really asking? Do you know how popular you actually are, I've already noticed a few Valor spies watching this place just from my casual walk here'
She maintained her smile as she replied.
"I'll get to the point, I want to recruit you to join the Song clan…"
"Huh? Are you alone?" Merlin's head tilted as he looked around checking for anyone nearby.
"You don't have to worry, I came alone, so are you willing to accept?" She asked calmly.
He raised his hand to stop her, "Sorry, my relationship with the Song clan only works with Seishan, by the way, where's she? I thought she would have at least come along"
"Shan's not around now, she's challenging the second nightmare currently, so she won't be back till much later" She replied softly as she gauged his reaction.
Merlin simply sighed and said.
"Well sorry, but I'll only talk with Seishan, since she's not around, you guys will have to wait till she returns"
'Huh? He rejected… no it's not rejection, he only wants to talk to Shan… normally I would've waited, but Mother said…'
'Sigh… I really didn't want to resort to this, plus that Saint is right there… if it comes to it, I'll get help from the others' She sighed inwardly.
"I think you should reconsider" she offered a seductive smile as she used her aspect to influence his mind a little.
However, just as she was about to succeed, she immediately felt a heavy pressure fall upon the area, the pressure wiped off the effect of her ability, she raised her head shocked to meet the eyes of the Saint inside the room.
The main reason she was shocked wasn't because the saint interfered, she already expected it, however it was the fact that the pressure the Saint gave off was stronger than hers.
She was about to release her pressure to match the Saint's, however before she could do so, she was stunned as another pressure was added, this one was weaker than hers, but it was still the pressure of another transcendent, and it was coming from somewhere inside the house.
Just as her brain was processing the fact, her eyes witnessed another scene, the small girl who opened the door earlier, looked up at the Saint, then at another location in the house, then turned to look at her, as another pressure came off her, now this one left her stunned.
Two details were the most shocking, one being that she was obviously a small child, and the other was that the pressure she gave off completely overpowered the previous two, this was a very powerful transcendent.
'Are transcendents really this common, just this house has three...'
She suddenly regretted her decision, the problem she had been worried about encountering had been triggered, one was fine, but three transcendents wasn't really worth angering over one ascended.
She turned her eyes to stare at him, and she saw that he had a faint smile on his face. He casually lifted his hand, and immediately the pressure from the Saints disappeared, as his smile became broader.
"I think I'm positive about my decision, I'll talk with Seishan when she arrives…" He spoke like he didn't just control the actions of three transcendents.
'Mother was right, he really is too dangerous to be left alone, where is Shan when you need her…' She cursed inwardly.
Merlin was already turning around, ready to return inside, and it made her mind run wild, she thought of trying to convince him, but her previous actions might have put her in his bad book, and suddenly she remembered something.
'Should I really say it?... It doesn't matter anyways, I might as well try…'
She opened her mouth and repeated the words Hel said to her, "Everyone will die, including me"
As the words left her mouth, Merlin's body immediately stopped as he turned around and locked eyes with her.
"Where did you hear those words?"
She was stunned by his curious voice, as she thought inwardly 'thank you Hel, you're a genius…'
She held in her excitement as she answered.
"It was my Sister, Hel or Deathsinger who told me those words, she said if I told them to you, that you would agree"
She didn't hide the details as she had already almost lost the initiative in their earlier discussion, so she told him what she knew.
Merlin's brows furrowed slightly, then he nodded.
"She was absolutely right, I agree to join the Song clan, I'll discuss the terms after I have a talk with Lady Hel…"
His sudden acceptance left her stunned as she visibly sighed in relief, however deep down, she was curious as to what that phrase meant to him, why he reacted so surprised, and why Hel knew it would work, after all it was no different from her previous death rambling.
Merlin gave her a smile and said.
"Please wait for me here, I'll be out with you in a minute or so…" then he closed the door.
Eubin was finally able to relax as he had accepted, she felt like it was a huge accomplishment, after all she was almost just assaulted by three Saints, and almost failed her Mother's mission, however the odds was completely reversed because she decided to trust her sister, so she was obviously happy, so happy that she didn't realize that an ascended just left her, a transcendent, a legacy of a powerful clan, standing outside the door like a postman.
…
Merlin, or rather Jayson was inside the kitchen cooking something for the others, it had been a few days since he changed his appearance, and now he was finally getting visited, he wasn't really interested in listening to the talk as the avatar, or rather Merlin, would brief him on it, so he simply focused on his cooking.
That was when he felt Silver's pressure, he sort of expected it, so he played along, he summoned the cloak and channeled his essence, bringing him to the level of a Bizarro Sorcerer, then he released his own pressure, being a Titan, he could now use the cloak for approximately three minutes, so he wasn't worried about his essence running dry.
The next second, another pressure completely overpowered his and Silver's, and he knew it was Ariel, but what he didn't understand was how she had learnt it, maybe Silver taught her, who knows what women do in their spare time.
The whole exchange lasted for a few seconds, until he felt Silver's pressure go down, then he also unsummoned the cloak, and focused on his cooking.
A while later, Merlin walked into the kitchen and briefed him on the situation that happened and it left him stunned.
The phrase Hel said was one that he remembered well, after all it was on the first chapter of one of his favorite books, but what he was curious about was how she knew of it, from what he knew, she was supposed to be a Seer like Cassie, and he was basically invisible to those, the only two times Cassie herself had gotten visions concerning him, was because his Supreme self sent it to her, but Hel had obviously not had contact with his Supreme self, so how did she manage to get a vision about him.
It was this same reason that made him more eager to head to the Song domain, he needed to get an answer, and then he would state his terms with Ki Song.
"I guess this is goodbye then…" Jayson extended his hand, and Merlin took it, completing the handshake.
"I'll see you later, I'll drop by from time to time to greet Ari, and any interesting information I get, I'll tell you through our soul sea"
"Sure… stay safe alright" Jayson waved.
Merlin nodded, then went out of the kitchen to say goodbye to Ariel and Silver, then after making necessary preparations, he walked outside and met Eubin still waiting patiently.
"Thanks for waiting, I'm ready… you're taking me there directly right?" He asked politely.
"Yeah… hold on" Eubin nodded then placed her hand on his shoulder, the next moment she pulled her anchor in the dream realm, however, for some reason she didn't cross over.
.
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Dropping this now because I won't be available tomorrow, but if I am, then lucky you guy because I'll drop another chapter...