Chapter 39 - Secrets and A Holy Sword

I could always stay true to myself in front of you, you saw me for what I was but not once had you seen me as a monster, the most precious thing you had given me was happiness and a sense of belonging. You were my light.....so why...why did you have to die protecting me, now with you gone my light has also disappeared and nothing kept the darkness at bay...except for your words....the memories we made....I miss you....goshujin-sama...

Tamamo-no-Mae, Kitsune Avatar of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu.

Before the destruction of the Dynasty of Emperor Toba

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(A/N: Hope you like a BIG Chapter)

-Garden of Avalon-

After meeting Scathach, Shiro's body Traveled to the Garden of Avalon to meet Merlin he didn't worry about his body back home since it was a sort of clone/dummy body that's only function was to alert him if someone was disturbing him like if something were to come to wake him up his real body would be notified.

At the Garden, Merlin was sitting near the stream with his hood on as Shiro made his way towards him along with Fou on his Shoulder, who decided to tag along.

Merlin:....Shiro i see that you've arrived....

Shiro was about to speak before Merlin held his hand up.

Merlin:.....No need Shiro, I've seen what you've been upto.......but Shiro, I am proud of you.

Shiro couldn't understand, what the heck was going on!? and Fou was equally shocked, Merlin for all his bullshit and antics was rarely serious or even this wise.

Merlin got up, his hood still obscuring his eyes as he made his way towards Shiro and put a hand on his Shoulder.

The scene was really heartwarming, seeing a teacher be proud of his disciple.

.....Now if Merlin didn't RUIN it!

Merlin:...(sob) You've once again proven...(Sob) how you took my teachings and gotten yourself such a beautiful woman.....(Full blown crying)....to think such a beautiful Ice Flower would melt in your presence........I've Truly Taught you Well!

Shiro was sure that his brow was twitching along with Fou. He immediately held his hand up and beckoned Fou.

Shiro: Come on Fou!

Fou complied and held his Shiro's hand tightly, then Shiro reinforced his arm for extra performance as slung Fou at Merlin's face!

Fou: Kyuuuu!!!

*PAH*

Fou successfully Punched Merlin in the face as he fell down, Fou made his way back to Shiro's Shoulder as they high fived for a job well done.

Merlin: You know most students don't do this to their teachers.....ESPECIALLY PARTNERING UP WITH THEIR ENEMY!!

Merlin Shouted at the end while pointing towards Fou on Shiro's shoulder.

Shiro: Then shouldn't you act like a teacher for once, YOU OLD PERVERT!!

And like that the normal banter between Beast IV, The Young Prince and the Great Magus of Flowers began.

After the banter, Shiro and Merlin sat down on the comfortable grass, Merlin returned to his position near the stream while Shiro sat down beside the tree, his back leaning on it and Fou was on the branch with his eyes closed, whether he was taking a nap or just relaxing was unknown.

Shiro:.......Merlin....I think you already know that I've received the blessing....

Merlin: Oh I do! and must say I'm impressed that you were able to be acknowledged by those stuck up fairies so quickly. Now you should be able to harness more power of Excalibur and soon be able to utilize it fully like Arthur.....Avalon is a different matter since unlike Excalibur you weren't able to train with it previously because of the absence of the blessing and only have you gotten a boost to your passive healing.

Shiro frowned, even though he had the blessing he always thought the benefits the sword and Sheath provided were too good to be true and there had to be something about them, Curse his luck he was right.

Shiro: How did Arthur master Avalon?

Merlin couldn't help but wryly look at Shiro, his King/student was idolized to this day and "her" legend was so famous that Merlin knew by the help of his "sight" and information from Shiro that if she was summoned as a servant without the help of Invisible Air to hide her swor.....he mean Shiro's...Oh what the heck! If she didn't had it to hide Excalibur, it would be pretty much less than a sign of her True Identity easily making people aware of her True Name.

But Shiro. He didn't seem to care for these things; Respect he had for the honorable BUT he never put anyone on a pedestal even if they were famous Kings and Queens, he would always treat them as "Humans with abillity, that are worth Respect"

Not just that but as long as he himself didn't see someone, Shiro wouldn't give a final judgement even if he knew the legend of the killer, Jack the Ripper he wouldn't judge him without seeing him.

History "tended" to twist the truths of some matters.

A Quality of Shiro he was most certainly proud of, but he couldn't help but sigh in slight regret that Shiro wasn't born in "her" time, not only would he have an easier time reaching the peak of his potential but a person of his qualities could not only fix but also prevent so many hardships and tragedies of his King......Perhaps for her he could even be a Friend, listening to her problems and sharing her weight.

It was times like these in his imprisonment that Merlin reflected on his long life and in times like these he hated his Clairvoyance, Hated Fate and most of all...Hated himself for putting such a heavy burden on a girl that was the closest thing he had to a Daughter.

Shiro: Merlin, are you alright?

Merlin looked at Shiro and saw his concerned expression, even with knowing his faults and his history laid bȧrė before him, his student deep down didn't change his opinion of the Magus.

He was a Pervert and had a very serious liking to the female gender...But he was someone that cared even more than humans which he always says he doesn't understand because of his "Heritage"

Merlin: It's nothing I just got lost in my memory tends to happen when you're imprisoned.

Merlin quickly shook his head while crying anime tears so that he could change the subject but judging by the look Shiro was giving him he caught on his half-truth.

Well.....just because he's good at reading people doesn't mean Merlin has to stop trying to hide his emotions!

Merlin:....well! let's stop this depressing moment, you wanted to know how Arthur mastered Avalon right?

Merlin released an internal sigh of relief seeing Shiro's attention finally shift only for his hope to dash as his he gave him a final look that clearly said.

"We'll change the topic BUT We won't forget"

Merlin cursed his Student's preceptiveness! But then he only sighed in defeat as he got ready to give Shiro an Explanation on Avalon.

Merlin: Shiro listen carefully these are some things I've not even revealed to my King and the Knights of the Round Table, when Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone, the earliest years of his days when he set foot on the battlefield against the Saxons where filled with days when she....!! He! returned from skirmishes always covered in wounds and sometimes he even came back when he was at only an inch away from death.

Merlin nodded.

Merlin: Good. it seems like your lessons with Scathach are going well and it is precisely because of this reason I had contacted one of the Fae that resided in Britain she was The Lady of the Lake. I requested her to give Arthur an Artifact to make sure he lives while on the battlefield, she said that he was already judged worthy of gaining both a blessing and a weapon but told me that they would hold on to it for more time since Arthur had to prove himself worthy of carrying "that" weapon.

Shiro: The Weapon was Excalibur and Avalon right?

Merlin: Yes.......but there was one problem.

Merlin's expression suddenly became gloomy as his features darkened.

Merlin:.......Shiro this is something that had to done....but that doesn't mean I liked to do it, even though Arthur gained the Strongest Holy Sword as well as a Scabbard that gave him his healing power and the strongest barrier but because of my decision.....Arthur for the first time questioned his kingship.

Shiro was looking at Merlin suprised but he composed himself since he might hear a secret that only he knew aside from Merlin.

Merlin: Arthur was more attached to Caliburn since it was the sword that symbolized his kingship and his oaths and if Caliburn wasn't gotten rid of, Arthur would never accept Excalibur. So I was finding ways to....get rid of it.

Merlin features darkened further and Shiro was shocked and could somewhat understand how Arthur felt when his sword was destroyed.

Merlin: In one of our campaign, I accompanied Arthur, The enemy commander was a famous Saxon Noble under King Hengist but he was a true warrior and somewhat followed the codes of Chivalry, he was respected even in our army, He challenged Arthur in a one on one duel and Arthur accepted.....and I got my opportunity, one of the oaths Arthur made when he pulled Caliburn was to follow the Code of Chivalry, I had casted a spell on Caliburn that gave it a one time use poison attribute and hid it in one of my illusions when the fight began and the Saxon was hit the poison activated and killed him and since Arthur "used" poison which was against the code of Chivalry, the magic of Caliburn was undone and the sword broke........

There was silence, Shiro was shocked he always thought that maybe King Arthur did a mistake causing the sword to break but he didn't expect that, Merlin who Arthur trusted the most was the one that destroyed his sword even if it was to protect him and give him a better weapon.

Merlin:..........Even though Arthur couldn't understand how a Holy sword which was nearly indestructible like Caliburn broke, he knew it was somehow because of him and he started to question his right and abillity to rule even though he was given Excalibur and Avalon the seed of doubt was already planted......would you believe that I wanted to destroy that sword for a very long time even though it was created by me?

Shiro looked at Merlin incredulously asking him to continue.

Merlin: Most people don't know but.......more than Uther ever could, I and Sir Ector were more of his father than him, who gave him up seeing he was a gir....! nevermind....the point is even with my great power as the Greatest Mage of Britain and one of the strongest Mages in Human History, I wasn't able to nearly help Arthur as much as I wanted and had him carry the entire country's burden and more than once I wanted to break that sword that sealed his fate.....that's why I told you Shiro I'm a horrible teacher.

Shiro only leaned back on the tree and closed his eyes for a few moments contemplating what he heard before Merlin spoke again.

Merlin: Hahaha looks like I got lost in my memory! sorry you had to hear my rambling now what we're we talking about?....Hmmmmmm Oh Yes! Avalon! now Shiro, Arthur went on many battles with his army and most of the times he was at the very front along with his Knights that got to fight with him and in times even the passive healing of Avalon wasn't enough to quickly heal all his injuries and standing still to use the Full Healing of Avalon wasn't a good idea, so he found a way to use his immense Mana Reserves along with Fine Control to achieve a Higher healing stage of Avalon that was more potent than passive healing but less than Max Healing, that would require you to cease movement while feeding Avalon large amounts of Mana and Stamina this would also cause you to accumulate mental stress faster.

Shiro didn't stop Merlin from explaining but his expression was nonchalant and what he was thinking not even Merlin knew.

Merlin: The thing Arthur did was that he used Fine Control of his Large Mana supply from his Dragon core to force Avalon to give him healing power greater than the passive healing which allowed him to ignore shallow wounds as they healed quickly and Major wounds would at the very least close up. I called this Stage Advanced Healing.

Merlin appeared rather smug about his naming sense.

Shiro looked at Fou who had opened his eyes momentarily and it felt like the two were communicating with stares alone.

Shiro: (Atleast it's better than your supposed name.)

Fou:(It is....but his naming sense was still terrible. Now....it just got worse)

Shiro nodded. (Agreed) Fou himself closed his eyes again as he relaxed on the branch.

Merlin's brow was twitching his special sixth sense was telling him that these two compatriots where insulting him.....AGAIN!

Sometimes Shiro reminds him of Arturia seeing how similar the two of them were sometime all that was missing was Shiro hunting him down with Excalibur in his hand hahaha....haha.....ha....

He jinxed himself didn't he.......

Shiro was looking at Merlin Curiously as he suddenly became depressed, proven that there was a dark cloud above his head. But why did he have a sudden urge to chase him and impale him with Excalibur.

But he shook his head and instead asked.

Shiro: So how did he accomplish Advanced Healing?

Merlin suddenly regained his easy going smile in a split second making his earlier depression look like an illusion. Truly his mood change was even faster than Rin and Luvia's.

Merlin: Well to gain Advanced Healing on Par with Arthur's you must simulate the same thing he did.

It didn't take a genius to find out what he meant.

Shiro: So I need to fight along side using Avalon on my body?

Merlin nodded sagely.

Merlin: Precisely. For Warriors learning from experience is the best way to advance and what better way than to earn experience than putting your life on the line in a battle against fellow steel. Since you are also an instinctual fighter the gain will be bigger.

In short while fighting Shiro will have to multi-task or split his attention while on an enemy and Forcing a large chunk of his Mana inside Avalon using Fine Control simultaneously to increase his healing powers, the Forceful injection of Mana will allow increase in Healing Power and the Fine Control is needed to lower the wastage of Mana and transferring the increased healing throughout his body with the help from Avalon.

Learning through theory would take too long since there are many factors to consider so the fastest way was for his body to learn through experience just like his Senpai Arthur.

Shiro: One more question Merlin, but when I got the blessing from the Fae she did something which caused some sort of change....No, it was like she took Excalibur...and replaced it with something else.

Merlin's eyes suddenly got serious as he solemnly asked.

Merlin: Shiro. Show me the sword.

Seeing Merlin in a rare case of seriousness, Shiro quickly called upon Excalibur.

Shiro: Excalibur!

Since Shiro had Excalibur in its true form not as a Noble Phantasm summoning it was different from his usual Tracing.

A Golden Magic circle materialized in front of Shiro as plunged his right hand in it like a portal and pulled out The Strongest Holy Sword, Excalibur in all its glory.

Shiro passed it to Merlin who examined the sword in the end he passed it to Shiro with a Frown.

Merlin: I don't know what to say.....it's without a doubt Excalibur....but at the same time it isn't.

Shiro: What do you mean Merlin?

Merlin tapped his staff while closing his eyes in contemplation until finally opening them.

Merlin: Well Shiro in simpler terms the power of the sword is the same.....but it's the presence that is different.

Shiro looked at Merlin confused but Merlin only waved his hand dismissively as he asked one crucial question that he realized he should have asked earlier.

Merlin:....Shiro...the Fae that you met....do you know her name?

Merlin was never this serious but his sixth sense was telling him their was some deeper meaning in this scenario.

Shiro: Her name was Vivian.

Silence.

Merlin's expression changed from a serious wise Sage to a comical shocked expression as his eyes widened and he dropped his staff.

Fou was awake, currently enjoying seeing his former master in distress.

Shiro was even more confused unfortunately for him he had accidentally forgotten to research about the Lady of the Lake and didn't know she and Vivian were one person.

And Merlin made the most appropriate response he could muster.

Merlin: Huh?