[Third Person's PoV]
Arriving back home, Arthur stumbled through the front door with a face that looked like it had gone three rounds with a troll and lost each one. His lip was swollen to the size of a small apple, and a purpling bruise bloomed across one cheek. Behind him, Merlin followed closely, a look of indifference plastered on her face as she carried Mercury's cage and the bags they'd lugged back from Diagon Alley.
"I said I was sorry…" Arthur muttered through puffy lips, the words coming out thick and slurred, sounding more like gibberish than a proper apology.
Merlin rolled her eyes with a dramatic sigh. "Oh, stop being so overdramatic. I didn't even hit you that hard," she said matter-of-factly, placing Mercury's cage gently on the table and setting the rest of their things down without a second glance at Arthur.
Arthur slowly turned his head toward her, the motion stiff and exaggerated due to his injuries. The expression was purely comical. But Merlin just rolled her eyes again and, with a casual flick of her fingers, cast a quick healing charm. A violet light washed over Arthur's face, and within seconds, the swelling receded, the bruises faded, and his expression returned to its usual slightly smug handsomeness.
He sighed in relief and rubbed his jaw, then he slowly pulled out his wand, admiring the weight and balance in his hand. There was something satisfying about the way it rested against his palm—almost like it was made just for him. But as he stared at it, an overwhelming urge welled up inside him.
"Don't," Merlin said flatly, not even looking up.
Arthur blinked. "What? I didn't even say anything!"
Merlin finally turned to face him, her expression unreadable. "You were about to shout the Killing Curse like a lunatic and start waving your wand around. I could feel it."
Arthur's face flushed crimson. He turned away and pouted slightly. "No, I wasn't…"
"…"
"You can't prove anything!" Arthur said holding his wand protectively as Merlin extended out her hand for Arthur to hand out his wand.
"Arthur… It's to take out the tracking spell that's on it" Merlin said, her eyebrows twitching
"Oh… right," he mumbled, sheepishly placing the wand in her hand while avoiding eye contact.
Once he got the wand back, he held it up triumphantly. "I'm going to test it out," he declared. "Along with my grimoire. With all the excitement yesterday from getting my Hogwarts letter, I completely forgot to actually test it."
"Not before you put away all your things," Merlin said, pointing toward the heap of bags that still sat around them.
"Oh right, sorry" He said apologetically before getting to work without much complaining.
---
Once he was done, Arthur stood outside in the backyard with Merlin at his side. The air was crisp, and a breeze tugged gently at his robes. His grimoire hovered beside him, suspended mid-air by an invisible force, its pages fluttering as if eager to assist.
"Alright," Arthur said, rubbing his hands together. "Let's see what this baby can do—starting without the wand."
He extended his gloved hands forward, focusing. With barely a thought, the grimoire pulsed with a glow, and the pages turned rapidly, flipping to the spell he had in mind. A moment later, a brilliant tier-2 magic circle materialized in front of his hand, etched with glowing runes and geometric patterns that shimmered like frost in moonlight.
Snowflakes began to drift lazily around them as the temperature dropped. Then, with a subtle flick of his wrist, jagged icicles formed in his palm, and with a burst of concentrated force, they launched forward in a shotgun blast of cold energy. The shards embedded themselves into the earth, forming an arc that sparkled with crystalline precision. Frost spread from the impact, spidering across the grass and freezing the dew midair. The ground hissed beneath his feet, and delicate snowflakes still danced lazily around them.
Arthur observed the aftermath with keen eyes. "I see…" he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The grimoire does three main things: it takes care of visualization, increases casting speed, and stabilizes the power output. It uses the minimum magic required for the spell to work properly. If I want more destructive force, that's something I have to contribute myself. Noted."
He paced slowly, speaking his thoughts aloud. "The grimoire adapts based on my understanding of the spell. It doesn't just copy the spell mechanically—it stores the conceptual framework I hold for it. That means the more I learn, the stronger and more refined the spell becomes within the grimoire. I still direct the spell—it doesn't cast itself. But it definitely gives me a head start."
"Why are you narrating your thoughts?" Merlin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It helps me remember," Arthur said, completely unfazed. "If I hear it out loud, it reinforces the concepts in my memory. And if I forget something later, maybe I can jog my memory by revisiting what I said."
He looked down at his gloved hands again. "Now then… When I reach a new understanding of a spell, the pages update automatically. The grimoire also solves one of my biggest issues—mastery. Even if it doesn't provide full mastery immediately, it gives me a functional, stable starting point. That's leagues ahead of the trial-and-error approach."
Arthur paused and clenched his fist lightly. "It bypasses the clumsy, unstable phase of new spellcasting. That gives me a huge tactical advantage. All I need to do now is integrate those spells into my style and refine them with repetition. Honestly, that's not something I mind at all."
With a soft hum of satisfaction, Arthur turned to his grimoire. It hovered beside him like a loyal companion. He placed his palm gently on an open page filled with diagrams and arcane script. He didn't say anything this time. Words weren't necessary. The connection between him and the grimoire was enough.
A proud, confident smile curled on his lips as the wind gently rustled the pages, as if the book itself was acknowledging him in return.
Arthur then reached for his wand and held it at the ready, a mischievous smirk creeping onto his face. Without warning, he suddenly shouted like an absolute lunatic, "AVADA—"
Before he could even finish, Merlin struck him upside the head with a force only she could manage. The impact created a loud, resounding smack that echoed across the field like a thunderclap.
"Acck!!" Arthur yelped, immediately crouching down and clutching the back of his head, his face contorting in pain. "I'm sorry!! I really wasn't going to do it, you know!"
Merlin's glare could've frozen fire. It was colder than the icicle shards still embedded in the earth from his earlier spell. She didn't say a word, but the look in her eyes was enough to make even a dragon think twice.
Arthur whimpered, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he rubbed the sore spot on his head. He pouted slightly, clearly trying to elicit some sympathy, then straightened his hair with a small huff of indignation.
"I'll be serious now," he muttered, sulking a bit but clearly trying to recover his dignity.
Taking a deep breath, he sighed and stared intently at his wand. His expression sharpened into a look of focus and determination. He channeled his magic from within, letting it surge through him, and concentrated it into the wand. A flicker of blueish energy sparked to life at the tip.
Then, without hesitation, he unleashed a streaming bolt of magic.
The raw magical energy erupted like a beam of force. As Arthur waved his wand, the stream ripped through the ground in front of him. Dirt and grass exploded in all directions as the focused wave of power carved a trail forward. When the stream finally struck a tree in the distance, the impact was immediate and violent—the concussive force split the tree clean in half, sending it toppling over with a loud crash.
"That was disappointing…" Arthur muttered, frowning slightly as he observed the aftermath.
"How so?" Merlin asked, raising an eyebrow with genuine curiosity.
Arthur turned to her with a hint of dissatisfaction on his face. "It didn't really do anything special. All the wand did was focus the direction and aim of the magic. I mean, that's useful and all, but I was kind of expecting more."
He paused, then his eyes lit up with sudden inspiration.
"Wait!" he said, excitement bubbling in his voice. "I've got an idea!"
He held his wand at the ready once more, but this time, he gripped his wand wrist with his free hand, steadying it with deliberate intent.
"This spell's a bit draining and tricky to pull off, but it should work..." he whispered under his breath, closing his eyes to concentrate.
Deep within him, Arthur's magical circuits flared to life.
Brilliant blue light surged beneath his skin, illuminating intricate zigzagging paths like glowing veins of energy. The circuits ignited in synchronized rhythm with his breath, flowing outward from his core and extending all the way to his wand. As the energy reached the wand, the same glowing patterns spread across its surface, etching themselves into the very fibers of the wood.
"Three-Tier Spell Magic: Reinforcement," he intoned softly, the words laced with power.
The magical circuits became stitched into the wand itself, embedding into its essence as they began to burn with Arthur's raw magical energy. His Reinforcement magic wasn't just enhancing the wand's exterior—it was delving into its very nature, amplifying it on a fundamental level.
Arthur's magic didn't simply strengthen the material—it awakened potential.
The wand, now elevated beyond its original design, shimmered faintly with power. Then, without warning, a radiant flash of light burst from its tip, illuminating Arthur's surroundings like a brilliant flare. The sheer force of it seemed to silence the wind itself.
Arthur slowly opened his eyes—now glowing with an ethereal blue hue, radiant and piercing. The very air around him trembled.
He raised the wand, steadying his stance with quiet confidence. The tip sparked once… then erupted.
A torrent of raw magic blasted forth from the wand, shrieking like a hurricane made of lightning. The spell screamed through the air in a concentrated beam of incandescent energy. It carved a blistering, steaming trail across the field, the ground beneath it instantly superheated. Grass burnt and black, soil turned black and cracked. The friction between the air and the beam caused mini shockwaves that rippled outward in concussive blasts.
Everything in its path burned. Trees exploded into splinters. Stones cracked and shattered. The trail it left behind hissed and sizzled, smoke rising in coiling tendrils as though the very world recoiled from its touch.
The sheer recoil of the spell sent Arthur skidding backward.
"Urgh—!" he grunted, digging his heels into the earth, leaving twin gouges in the dirt as he fought against the backlash. Dust and debris flew around him in a whirlwind as he leaned into the force, gripping his wand tightly with both hands to keep from being thrown.
Only when the energy finally died down did silence return, save for the crackling embers and the distant creaking of scorched trees tipping over.
Arthur exhaled slowly, his eyes still glowing but dimming slightly, and looked down at his wand—no longer just a tool, but a true extension of himself.
"That… was incredible," he said softly, a trace of awe in his voice. Then he turned to Merlin, eyes regaining focus.
He lifted the wand slightly, admiring it with a gleam of pride. "With Reinforcement active, any spell I cast through this wand now has twice the power, effect, and efficiency. It amplifies the intent and structure of my spellwork, making even a basic attack capable of catastrophic output."
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