Chapter 1: 1. Lonely Night
1103 CE, England
"What is our Prince of Enchanters doing?" Arthur asked his friend, who was digging the ground.
"Ah, Arthur. I have no heir to pass my vast knowledge and inheritance to. I also don't have much confidence that my offspring would be worthy if I make any, not that I can.
"Before we go off to fight Morgana, I have decided to leave behind my inheritance. Only the one truly deserving it would gain it. A man who would be bound to do great things and change the world for the better." Merlin answered.
Arthur walked closer and squatted beside him to see what he had just put in the hole Merlin had dug. Seeing it, Arthur had question marks all over his face.
"You are leaving your inheritance in a box?" He asked.
Merlin shook his head. Even after staying with him and experiencing wizardry for so long, Arthur still saw things like most humans do.
"No, my friend. In this box are my staff and a seed. The seed would grow and become a magical tree. It will be strong enough to face the harsh erosion of times and will stay here no matter what. Looking for the one right person who will inherit my blood, magic, and wealth." Merlin explained to him as simply as possible.
Arthur was silent for a few seconds. He kept on looking at Merlin's face, no one knew what was going on in his head. Then he spoke, "Merlin, can this box be a bit bigger?"
"Why? You want to sleep in it and wake up as an Inferius in the future?" Merlin jokingly asked.
*Sigh*
"As much as promising that idea sounds, no. I want to leave my inheritance too. If there will be someone in the future who would inherit the great prince of enchanter's legacy, then I'm sure that he can inherit this small king's legacy as well." Arthur blurted his intention, slightly surprising Merlin.
"But you already have an heir and if you do this, this inheritor will have the highest claim to England's throne, even if there will be other monarchs ruling at that time. They won't step down for him. I'm warning you, it will create conflict." Merlin pointed out.
Arthur laughed in self-ridicule, "Hah, I don't care about the throne. Besides, you and I both know that my son won't be committing any great deeds. He's my illegitimate son, also, he's trying to dethrone me. He just thinks I don't know.
"Merlin, since you did that magic ritual on both of us to make us stronger, we lost the ability to procreate. We may have dragon blood running in our veins now, the same blood left us unable to procreate, so I don't have many options left. I guess it is heaven's way of keeping worldly powers in check."
*Sigh*
Merlin started enchanting the box again to make it bigger from the inside and spoke, "You are right, Arthur. It is like heaven wants to keep the worldly power in check. Why do you think there are so few wizards and witches? It is hard for a magical couple to produce magical offspring. Many times they turn out to be half-magical, those who can feel magic but not wield it.
"But, even after such disparities in population and differences. My only wish is that wizards and non-magicals can live in peace and harmony. I wish that after me, my Order of Merlin keeps on going forwards with my ideals. All species living in peace is my dream that I wasn't able to see fulfilled while I'm alive, but I hope I will be fulfilled someday.
"Okay, put a drop of your blood in this vial and whatever else you want to leave behind."
Arthur took two of his swords and put them in the box. They were both enchanted and rune-smithed by Merlin and semi-forged by goblins and fairies.
"I leave Hope and Despair for my inheritor." He muttered as he put them in the box. He had used these two swords to slay many magical monsters, but it was too strong to be used on humans.
Merlin nodded at Arthur's choice. "Good, I had thought you'd put Excalibur inside."
*Cough* "I still need it to win some battles. But don't worry, I will be leaving him the Excalibur too, somewhere stuck in some stone. Haha, I can already imagine it becoming unworthy people's pastime to try to take it out." Arthur planned while laughing.
Merlin shook his head in defeat. But this was also a side of Arthur's personality that would drag talented and strong people to him.
"Well, unlike you, I am leaving behind my main staff. To defeat Morgana, my spare wand is enough." Merlin claimed. He then waved his hand, showing off his wandless magic capabilities. The soil he had dug started to cover the hole by itself. Soon, it was fully covered and grass grew on it to make sure it was unnoticeable.
"Okay, this is done now, where do I leave my material inheritance? I don't trust my family," Arthur asked him.
Merlin thought a bit before suggesting. "I think the Goblins can keep it safe. I have gifted them a big patch of land and they want to start a money lending business there. They can keep it safe and due to the graces we have upon them, they won't ever betray our trust."
Arthur suddenly jumped, "WAIT! Merlin, tell me something."
"What?" Merlin tiredly asked.
"You and I are both half-dragons. Now, our inheritor will have blood from both of us. Would that make him a real dragon? Also, most importantly, will he be unable to sire children?" Arthur asked in concern. He didn't want his inheritor to suffer.
Merlin just dusted his robes nonchalantly. "I had the same thoughts but don't worry. I have charmed our blood to only fuse with him enough to let him remain human. If he can fuse with it completely while remaining human, then we will probably have a new human species appearing. But about his ability to sire children, well, he'll have more time than us, let's just hope he finds a cure."
Arthur took a few steps back and jokingly said, "My friend, sometimes you scare me."
But the next moment he lifted Excalibur with a firm and confident look on his face. "Okay, let's go and kill my bitc... I mean witch half-sister."
"Yes, let's go. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I have made our talking portraits. Mine will stay at Hogwarts and yours will stay at the palace where the future kings will settle. Our Inheritor will surely find me but I can't be sure about you." Merlin told him.
"Hah, Merlin my friend, my strong and kind friend, can you guide him to me as well?" Arthur asked, trying to butter him up.
"And why would I do that? I don't want my inheritor to inherit your bad habits. I am a Slytherin and you'd probably be a Gryffindor if you were a wizard. Gryffindors are known to be stupid." Merlin sternly said. But he was kidding.
"But you said Gryffindors were brave a few years ago. Oh, I also have no bad habits." Arthur proudly claimed.
"Really? But I just heard this morning that you sleepwalked to the pigsty and rode the pigs like they were horses. Then you passed out and slept there." Merlin said, making Arthur choke on his saliva.
"Come on, I was drunk, not sleepwalking. Don't distort the facts." Arthur complained.
"So the bards weren't speaking the truth... hmmm," Merlin added.
"WHAT?! bards are singing about that incident? There goes my reputation." Arthur dejectedly muttered.
They continued their journey while pulling each other's legs. All the people who saw them that day would remember it because they were never seen again after that.
Forever to be immortalised in the tales of Merlin the Prince of Enchanters and Arthur Pendragon, the Dragon King.
Morgana Le Fey also disappeared along with them so the magical world believed that Arthur and Merlin fought her and defeated her. Then perished with her.
The little seed left by Merlin grew to be as big as a two-story building. It could not be seen by anyone who wasn't worthy so nobody knew of its presence. Not even the magicals.
The tree saw countless wars and conflicts. Countless Monarchs and their assassinations. But still, no worthy inheritor came.
Years passed and became decades, then those also passed and became centuries. The lonely tree, dutifully stood there, still waiting, no matter how long it would take.
...
5th January 1968
London,
A little boy, who had just turned 9, was running along the night streets of London. His face showed fear and fatigue. He had been running around for the past 2 hours. He had gotten lost when he lost grip on his mom's hand while watching a parade on the street.
He shouted for her but the crowd was louder than him. His little height caused problems for him. Realising that if he did not get out of the crowd, he'd get stomped by the overly excited people, he went away from the crowd.
But, he had confidence and determination that he knew the way home. In the end, he found that he was wrong. He was now more lost than ever and the sun had set.
After a continuous search, he was tired and thirsty. Seeing a park nearby, he went there to drink water from the public tap.
He quenched his thirst which made him calmer. He looked around him and only saw darkness and not much sign of activity.
~I will look for mummy tomorrow.~ He assured himself. He was tired and just wanted to sleep.
He noticed a tree somehow growing out of the concrete. He decided to not get his clothes dirty by sleeping under a tree in the dirt and went to the tree on concrete.
He laid down and curled himself into a ball and cried himself to sleep. Initially, he felt cold as he was just wearing a t-shirt and a nicker, but later, he felt as if the warm wind was blowing around him.
Unknown to the little boy and anyone around the vicinity. That night, the tree glowed as if it was going to turn into a sun. The tree was happy and excited, to finally be able to fulfil its master's wish.
[You can see the park, the tree, Merlin and King Arthur on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]
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[IMPORTANT]
[A/N: Do not expect an OP MC from the start, he will get there slowly. The start of this fic will be slow and the fic will not entirely be all about Hogwarts. This will include real-world politics (Both Ministry of Magic and the British administration) and the Royal Family too.
This fic will not strictly follow the canon because
1. It is set in the pre-canon era so expect some OC characters.
2. It is fanfiction.
MC is a loving, straightforward and kind person(Because I like writing such MC.), however, he will not go out of his way to be kind to someone if he does not have the ability to help. But, if he has the ability to help someone, he will absolutely do it.
MC is not an orphan and actually has a loving family.
Also, this story exists in the omniverse ruled by Grandpa Universe]
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The upload rate for this fic will mostly be 2 chapters a day, but in rare circumstances, it might drop to 1 chapter a day.
Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely*
Thank you for your support!
[A/N: I have released another book, Naruto: Child of Chakra. Check it out.]