From Mortal To Divinity

"Zelretch." I say as I feel the magician appear a few feet away, and dodge a spear thrust from Morgan. "You have not visited in months. That is a bit unusual for you."

"Well, I have been a bit busy." he answers. "Unlike what you may think, I do in fact have things to do."

"Of course you do." I say sarcastically as I parry a slash heading towards my heart. "And the majority of it involves making my life unnecessarily difficult or annoying. After all, how else could dozens of warriors seeking lessons, coincidentally arrive in my woods as I take down my previous bounded field to set up a new one."

"I hold no idea of what you speak of." he says with a voice full of faux innocence.

"Of course you do not." I once again answer sarcastically as Morgan parries a slash and attempts to move into my personal space.

"See. You even agree with me." he cheerfully answers.

This time I simply ignore him and duck under a kick aiming for my head. Taking advantage of Morgan's momentary imbalance, I move into her personal space and sweep her feet out from under her. Pressing my advantage, I aim a spear thrust towards her neck while she falls, only for her to roll out of the way and to use her momentum to vault back onto her feet.

"You never did say why you came." I say to Zelretch as I block a sweep from Morgan's spear. "I know that you came here for business reasons instead of a simple visit. I can tell by your lack of jokes."

"You asked me to keep an eye on Camelot for you after you found out that your little apprentice is from there, and I did." he answers me.

And he is correct. After Morgan told us her story, I contacted Zelretch in the hopes that he would be able to find me information on the Pendragon family and Camelot. According to what he found, Morgan and Morgause were born five years before a third Pendragon child who was born in secrecy a few months after Morgause's death. The child was hidden by Merlin and it was only through sheer luck that Zelretch even managed to find out about said child. Morgan ran away at the age of twelve as soon as she found out about the plan to arrange a marriage for her. She found us around two years later and has been training with us ever since

"Well?" I ask him as I disarm Morgan and thrust my spear towards her neck. "I assume that you have something substantial for me or else you would not be here."

"And your assumption is correct." he answers me as Morgan dodges the spear thrust and attempts to move into my personal space for an effective use of hand-to-hand combat.

"The lords of Camelot will soon be holding a competition to decide its next king. It appears that the competition will be held in Roan two weeks after the Mage's Association assembly. So in about a month." explains Zelretch

Hearing Zelretch's words, Morgan slightly hesitates in her approach, costing her. Taking advantage of Morgan's mistake, I sweep my spear under her feet, throwing her to the ground. Before she can recover, my spear tip stops a centimeter from impaling her jugular.

"I yield." she says.

"Well done." I tell her as I help her up. "In terms of skills alone, I would place your spearmanship on par with me before I took lessons from Scathach. So just below any true masters of the spear such as Setanta, Ferdiad, Connla, and Aoife. Then again, magecraft is where your true skills lie."

"Thank you teacher." she answers with a smile.

"Tell me Zelretch. Do you know what the competition is?" I ask him, bringing Morgan's attention back to the topic.

"Apparently, they will have to draw a sword from a stone to prove their worthiness of the position. I have examined the sword, and I must say that the only one that even remotely has a chance of drawing that sword is Morgan." he explains.

"How so?" I ask as I let my conjured spear dissipate and accept the cup of water offered to me by a statue.

We are currently in the training field. Which is honestly just a field half the size of a football field with statues standing at the edge to attend to any occupant's needs.

"Well for starters there are two criterias, and the very first one is to be of the Pendragon bloodline." he says.

"And the second?" I say as I look towards Morgan who is listening with rapt attention.

"That one is a bit more complicated. From what I can tell one needs to have the ideals of a King, however I wasn't able to ascertain what ideals those are." he replies.

"Ideals of a King." I repeat with a thoughtful frown. "Those are extremely broad terms. Throughout the years many have had ideals on what a King should be. Is the sword looking for a specific ideal, or would any ideal that would make one a good King work?"

"I honestly have no idea." replies Zelretch to my spoken thoughts.

"Do you think that I could pull the sword?" Morgan asks me, completely ignoring the possibility of a third Pendragon child somewhere out there.

"I honestly do not know." I reply. "For the past four years we have trained you in everything a King would need to rule effectively, from politics to the martial arts, we have trained you in them all. Not only have you learned them well, but you have excelled in all of them. Unfortunately however, it seems that the sword chooses its wielder through their ideals instead of their training, so I honestly do not know."

"Don't worry. I will not let you down. I'll draw the sword from the stone and become King." replies Morgan reassuringly, more towards herself than me.

Before I can answer her however, Scathach's voice does.

"We are already proud of you Morgan. You have nothing to prove to us." says Scathach as she walks into the field.

"Zelretch. It is good of you to visit. I rarely get to see you nowadays." says Scathach towards Zelretch with a deceptively sweet smile.

Zelretch looks towards me, his eyes pleading for help. Unfortunately for him, I decide that I very much wish to see him suffer for all of the trouble he has caused me so far. Besides, it is not my fault that he constantly trolls us and leaves without seeing Scathach because he knows that she will not be happy with him. Unlike me, Scathach will not take it lying down, nor will she laugh along with him later once whatever prank he has concocted is done and over with. Now not only is she mad about the pranks, but she is also mad because he has been avoiding her. The poor bastard, he has no idea what he has done to himself.

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Three weeks later Scathach, Morgan and I find ourselves dressed formally in preparation for the assembly.

Unlike my usual dress code of Atlantean armour or dress pants and button down shirt, today I decided to wear a three piece suit. The consisting of burgundy pants, jacket, vest, and a black button down shirt and tie, the suit is form fitting yet easy to move in should I be required to do so excessively due to a fight. A contradiction made possible due to the fact that it is my transformed rune suit. On my feet I wear black shoes, and black formal gloves in my hands.

While I decided to wear fashionable yet simple clothes, Scathach decided to go all out.

Keeping with her usual dark clothes, Scathach wears a sleeveless black dress. The dress leaves her shoulders uncovered, instead it's supported around her neck and flows down into an elegant court neckline. It's a snug fit which is meant to draw attention to her b.r.e.a.s.ts, but in a graceful and elegant manner. The dress' waist is thin, but also a loose fit. It's left simple, elegant and undecorated, creating a look that flows from top to bottom. Below the waist the dress widens and has multiple symmetric layers from top to bottom. The dress reaches well above her ankles and is longer in the back, making it possible to see her heels. Gorgeous on their own, and an ideal match in combination with the dress . To top it all off she's wearing an intricately designed necklace and a matching bracelet.

While Scathach and I very much prefer dark clothes, the opposite is true for Morgan who wears a forest green dress. The dress covers her shoulders almost fully and flows down into a delicate plunging neckline. Unlike Scathach's dress, it is a snug fit which removes the focus from her b.r.e.a.s.ts, but without making it look sloppy. Her arms have been covered to just below her elbows. The sleeves a loose and, in a way, help put focus on her soft skin. The dress' waist is narrow, but it is a slim fit. A small, stylish belt is all that is needed as a perfect adornment. Below the waist the dress widens and has a ruffle style towards the bottom. It reaches all the way down, almost covering her feet and is the same length all around. She is also wearing heels, they are simple, but radiate grace and refinement.

Similar to Scathach and I, her dress is a transformed rune suit. A gift from me after her spearmanship reached a level just below of those monsters like Ferdiad, Setanta, and Setanta's descendants. The above mentioned are simply in a league of their own just below Scathach and I.

"Well don't you three simply look lovely." says Zelretch as he appears before us in a swirl of colors.

"Zelretch." I greet him with a nod. "One of us is going to have to change, and I have no plans of being the one to do so." I tell him as I put my hands in my pocket and look him up and down, his suit a perfect replica of mine.

With a shrug Zelretch's suit changes from burgundy and black, to a full black suit with white gloves.

"Come along now. It would not do for us to arrive late." he says as he approaches us.

"You act as if you are the one taking us there. When in reality I am our transportation." I say with a raised eyebrow as I put my one hand on Morgan and his shoulder while Scathach grabs one of my arms.

"Well I'm the one who put your tag in the room so that you may teleport there." replies Zelretch.

"Hmmm." I humm back while reaching out to the tag that has my teleportation rune inscribed on there.

Finding it, I activate it and we are immediately teleported to it. We appear inside a large room. The right side of the room is lined with large windows showcasing the night sky and letting the moonlight shine into the room. The left side and the back of the room are a wall lined with couches and loveseats while the front of the room is left bare of everything but a door that serves as an entrance into the room.

Other than the moonlight, a giant chandelier hangs overhead to provide lighting.

While we are not the last ones to arrive, we certainly are not the firsts as there are already at least a dozen men and women gathered.

Our entrance does not go unnoticed as two women and three men approach us.

"Lord Malphas, it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person." says the first man to reach us as he extends his hand for a handshake.

"Please, Lord Animusphere, it is my pleasure to meet all of you in person." I reply as I take his hand for a firm yet respectful handshake.

Despite standing at six feet tall and wearing the standard clothing for the time, Romani Animusphere does not strike a particularly intimidating figure. Rather he looks to be a typical yet handsome scholar with pale skin from not receiving much sunlight, to soft features, white hair, and soft grey eyes. He is the current head of the Animusphere family and one of my most loyal supporters.

"May I introduce you to my companions." I say as I step aside and allow Scathach and Morgan to step forward.

"You have already heard of my wife, Scathach." I say as I introduce her and she offers him her hand, to which he lightly takes and kisses.

"It is a pleasure to meet you madam." he responds.

"This is our shared apprentice, Morgan le Fay." I introduce as she follows Scathach and offers her hand.

Romani Animusphere takes her hand and also kisses it.

"Enchanted." he says as his companions also greet the two. "Now allow me to make the introductions."

"These two beautiful women are Venla and Aino, twins and co-heads of the Edelfelt family." he introduces the two women as I take their offered hands and kindly kiss it.

Standing at five feet six inches, the twins look almost identical with Venla having a beauty mark under her right eye to set her apart from her sister. They both have long, silky blond hair done into curls, and green eyes. Making them almost identical to their descendant, Luviagelita.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Lord Malphas." they say in unison, a flirtatious smile on their faces.

"The gentleman behind them is Julius Archibald, head of the Archibald family." presents Romani as Julius and I shake hands.

"Lord Malphas, I am excited to finally meet you. Your accomplishments are something that I very much aspire to reach." he says with a look in his eyes that very much reminds me of fanboys.

"You flatter me Lord Archibald. I simply had the time and opportunity to reach such heights." I reply and ignore the way the fanboy gleams in his eyes slightly increases.

Before he can answer however, he is interrupted by the last member of the group. Standing at six feet tall, the man strikes an impressive figure that easily denotes him to be a warrior. He has blue hair tied in a ponytail, earrings that reminds me of Setanta's, and a roguish smile that would not be out of place on the mentioned demi-god's face. Looking at his familiar smile, I cannot help the foreboding feeling that slowly invades my being.

"Old man, it's nice to finally meet you." says the man with his roguish smile as he firmly shakes my hand.

His words quickly quiet the room as the occupants who had been only partially listening now turn their full attention towards us.

Before I can ask him if we had ever met before, everything clicks in my head. The blue hair tied in a ponytail, the earrings, the warrior's physique, and not to mention that roguish smile. This man can only be a direct descendant of Setanta.

"What is one of Setanta's direct descendants doing all the way over here." I ask him with a smile.

Seeing me recognize him must have come as a shock because his smile freezes on his face for a second before turning into a boisterous laugh.

"Of course you would notice. She said that the line would give me away." he says after he finally gathered himself.

"She?" asks Scathach as she walks up next to me.

"Old lady Aoife. When she heard why I was coming here she told me that you would recognize me, especially if I introduced myself with that line. Also she told me to tell you that you're a 'stupid old man', and to tell you, Lady Scathach, to 'keep the old man under control.' " replies the man with a laugh, making my eyebrow twitch in annoyance at the nickname.

"Brennan. Why don't you fill the rest of us in." interrupts Romani.

"Right." he says as he brings himself under control. "As you all know, I am from the Fraga family. However, I was born as the only direct descendant of Setanta in my generation. My many great-grandmother and I are his only descendants left alive."

"Interesting." answers Romani as he and the other occupants of the room look at Brennan in a new light.

Before anyone else can say anything, Zelretch clears his throat and brings the room's attention to him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, while I would love nothing more than for us to continue with our amicable conversations, we must get started now. After all, the future of magecraft will not be decided by itself."