A Degenerate's Tale

Whoosh!

A grey magic circle appeared in the Royal Palace's garden before transforming into Earl and Ari.

Ari was wearing her usual Court Mage robe while Earl wore his usual white shirt with a red ribbon bow tie. She patted him on the head and said, "Be nice to the old man, okay?"

Earl nodded with a smile. "Okay!"

Deeper into the Royal Garden was a courtyard.

The ground was paved with marble, and there were several stone benches as well as fountains that decorated the place. In front of the fountain stood an old man. He had a head full of grey hair, and a pair of piercing blue eyes. His complexion was pale and his skin, wrinkly. He wore a black robe with gold trimmings, he was Court Mage Merlin.

In front of him sat a little girl on a bench. She had beautiful, long silver hair and soft blue eyes. With her frilly, white and pink dress, she appeared to be the most adorable little girl. She was Princess Sharon.

Earl walked elegantly to the pair, rendering a proper noble greeting before taking his seat next to Princess Sharon.

"You are here." Court Mage Merlin nodded with a faint smile. He gave the impression of a very kind, and gentle grandpa. Perhaps that was why he was chosen to be the teacher of these two kids.

"Earl!" Princess Sharon greeted and gave him a small nudge before blushing and looking the other. Compared to the arrogant, haughty princess she was when they first met, the difference was night and day.

"You look beautiful as always, Your Highness," Earl said his usual flowery words causing her blush to deepen. These were only superficial words, of course. Until she ripened enough for taking, Earl could only plant the seeds in preparation for the future.

Pa!

Court Mage Merlin suddenly clapped to get their attention. "Now, now... Shall we start the day off with a little pop quiz?"

"Pop quiz?" Both kids sounded.

"Correct! Princess Sharon!" Merlin directed his attention to the small princess.

"Yes!" Sharon straightened her back.

"Tell me about the continents in this world." Merlin placed his hands behind his back and sat in front of a fountain, waiting for her answer.

Princess Sharon took a moment to think before answering. "There are 3 continents in this world. The Great Continent we are on, the Holy Continent, and the Demon Continent."

Merlin then signalled with his wrinkled hand, "Go on."

Princess Sharon took a deep breath and continued. "The Great Continent is known for harbouring numerous races. The most well-known ones being humans, elves, and beastkins.

The Holy Continent houses exclusively humans. Under the leadership of the first Pope, as well as the first hero numerous years ago, all demihumans on the Holy Continent were subjugated or exiled.

And finally, the Demon Continent is the home to the demonkins. They are lead by Demon Kin-"

"Stop right there." Merlin suddenly interrupted Princess Sharon. "Perfect answer. Now let's have Earl finish off what you were saying earlier. Earl!"

"Yes." Earl nodded.

"Tell me about the order structure of the 3 continents."

"The Great Continent is ruled by 4 main powers. Our great Ablax Kingdom in the west, the Elven Kingdom in the north, the Beast Kingdom to the south, and the Ofrain Kingdom to the east.

The Holy Continent is ruled entirely by the Holy Kingdom and there is not much to be said here.

The Demon Continent is ruled by 12 Demon Kings. These Demon Kings are ranked and act in a hierarchy. They are the remnants of the Demon Lord's forces that were subjugated by the Holy Church as well as the Hero King." Earl answered without missing a beat. As someone who spent the majority of his time reading during his infancy, all of this information had become second nature to him.

"Excellent. Excellent." Merlin nodded slowly and stood up. "With that little warm-up done, shall we get started with our magic lesson for the day?"

The reason behind Earl's early education was because of this. Princess Sharon had turned 8 years old and could start learning magic. 8 years old was also when one would formally receive general education. Because Earl had been Sharon's closest playmate throughout the years, King Ablax had asked Merlin to teach Earl and Sharon at the same time. This would not only strengthen their childhood bond, but also the bond between the Court Mages and the King himself.

And to avoid attracting too much attention to Earl's magical talents, Ari had informed the King that she had only begun teaching Earl this year. She had also told the King that Earl had reached the Novice level in magic. Because of this, the King was further motivated to have Earl and his daughter together, seeing Earl as a good source of motivation for his daughter.

"Let me see your progress with Fire Magic," Merlin said as he conjured up a small wisp of fire in his hand.

"Okay!" Princess Sharon said excitedly as she jumped out of her bench. As in turned out, watching Earl use magic over the year had totally turned Princess Sharon into a magic geek.

She brought her little hand forward and focused intently. Her silver eyebrows furrowed together and her lips pursed together, making her look exceptionally adorable. A few seconds passed...

Whoosh!

A small wisp of flame lit up in her hand for a few seconds before disappearing.

"I did it! Did you see that Earl!" She turned her little head over to Earl with the biggest smile on her face. It has only been a few days since they had started learning magic together and she had made incredible progress.

Her positive energy was contagious. Merlin and Earl broke out into a smile seeing her reaction.

"Very well done, Princess. What about yours, Earl?" Merlin clapped before turning his attention over to Earl.

Earl would not do anything to blow his cover yet so he played his character as a "Novice Mage". However...

He opened his palm, and a small fireball instantly conjured itself. The colour was beautiful, approaching a golden colour earning gasps of astonishment from both Merlin and Sharon.

...This did not mean he would miss out on the chance to make his mother look good. The size of the fireball was the perfect image of a Novice spell. It was the colour and mana control that went above and beyond.

Merlin could only sigh in shock. "As expected of the son of that woman..."

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