Finally reaching her home, Merlin was ecstatic. Although her face didn’t show signs of such joy her parents could tell. For a long time she had to rely on simple meals to satisfy her hunger and now, after 2 whole years of missing out on her mother’s home-made food she could finally enjoy them again.

She slowly went up the stairs to take a bath and she just couldn’t help looking around the house, if there was any change to it while she was away. She noticed the change of furniture in the living room, the seats had been replaced with finely crafted wooden benches with golden balls on the corners of the armrest and there were golden cushions to make sitting comfortable. The rest still remained the same and she felt somewhat at ease with it.

Now finally inside the bathroom, she undressed herself at the clothing area and went inside the bath. The bathroom occupied 30% of the upper base of the house, the rest was occupied by Merlin’s room, master bedroom and the studying room. Since both of her parents were esteemed wizards, the bath was operated by programmed magic which was operated by the magic core in the roof of the room. As such the bath was already prepared for her and she took her time inside the warm bath.

A few minutes later, she finished bathing and with a towel covering her body she went to her room. Her room had remained the same but you could clearly see the work her parents had done to keep it clean. She quickly put on some clothes and went downstairs.

“You know, since Merlin’s back, when is the examination anyway?” asked Nevill as he was helping her wife prepare the food. “7 days from now, but hey let us put that aside for now and celebrate our daughter’s return” replied Nenevi as she neatly put the food on the table. “Yeah, we can discuss it later” and they both put their minds into the food.

“Merlin, food’s ready” she said as they heard their daughter’s footsteps. As she reached the dining area Merlin saw both her parents sitting on both sides of the table leaving the middle seat for her, and in front of them huge amounts of her beloved parent’s cooking. She slowly walked towards the table, sat down and then they ate the food.

“So, how was it in the forest?” she asked while slowly eating the Carmia salad. “Well, the forest was exactly like father said. The area where I entered was really calm. I slept the first night in the open but the next day I managed to find a cave which I used as shelter.”

“See, like I said knowledge is the key to survival.” said Nevill; “Anyway, any new summons?” he continued. “Yes, my Flame Imp evolved to Flame Cambion and I also got a new Rock Golem.” replied Merlin.

“Ooooooh, that’s great.” said both of them. “ Ah yes, the Rock Golem semi-evolved and Leo also got stronger.” she added. “That boy huh? You were really lucky to have him as your first summon. I mean self-conscious humanoid summons are considered to be really rare.” said Nevill. “Aaaah Leo, that boy will surely help you get stronger in the future” her mom stated.

“I also saw some strange men in the forest” she said as she reached out for the rice which she had longed for.”They were wearing cloaks with dragon insignia on them.” This immediately caught the ears of both her parents. Although Merlin wanted to keep such encounters to herself as it was bothersome to tell others, she felt the urge to relay such information to her parents since they had high status within the city.

”A group of people with dragon insignias on their back? I don’t think I’ve heard of any group like that. What about you, dear?”.”Well, we’ve been noticing strange fluctuations in the flow of mana within the forest recently. Those people might be connected to it. I’ll tell the others tomorrow.”

”In any case, any other ‘strange’ thing you saw in the forest?” asked Nenevi to Merlin.”Yes mom, I came home earlier than I intended to because the forest felt strange. Every creature and monster I saw had purple eyes and they seemed to increase every day.”

Both Nevill and Nenevi immediately had an idea of what was happening as their eyes directly met each other; they nodded to each other. “Ah yes, there’s something important we have to….” Before he could finish talking, he felt a sharp pain on his foot; “Ouch”. It was his wife who while smiling nonchalantly stepped on him so as to remind him of something.”A..a….anyways let us enjoy our meal for now.” he said as his wife nodded in approval.

Although most of their conversation was about her, she was happy to chat with her parents. She knew they asked her all those things because they cared for her. Her time in the forest made her even more mature than before; it was like an adult’s mind in the body of a 12 year old. This too was because of her passive/inborn talent.

(After dinner)”You can rest, honey. I will clean things up with your father.” said Nenevi. Hearing this Merlin decided to go up to her room and sleep in her comfy bed.

“She’s maturing quite fast aint it.”. “Yeah, must be because of her talent. But then again she hasn’t changed much from when she was a baby.”. “Hahaha, yeah she didn’t even cry when she came out wasn’t it.”. “And you thought she was dead right? You, a member of the council.”. “I...it was because I was nervous you know.” “Yes,yes I was just joking.”. “You know, with your smile it's hard to tell.” “But you like this smile of mine don’t you.” “Yes, it’s the best”. They quietly chatted with one another as they were filled with the relief of their daughter’s return.