Chapter 43: Arc 1: Chapter 40: A Different Life

"Di Di Di"

Merlin lies on a bed, next to him were some complex machinery; on the other screen was a flickering green light that represented his heartbeat.

A young nurse was drawing blood from Merlin, she smelled nice, like the scent of a flower.

Unfortunately, the scent of a hospital was not good, Merlin did not like the smell of disinfectant, nor did he like the coming and going doctors.

He could still remember when he was young, he was scared to go to the hospital, not because he was scared of injections or pill-taking, he just didn't like the atmosphere. Sorrow, pain, despair, sadness; this was a place where any healthy person would not enter.

He wasn't sick.

He was simply here to have his physical examination before he works, as well as have a blood test. Supposedly this is to collect data for creating his future training program.

"Your body is healthy."

A doctor with a stethoscope walks into Merlin's room with his test results, he tells the young man on the bed:

"Your heart, circulation system, brain, etc are all good. Test results show that you're a healthy and normal young man, I've never seen someone as healthy as you before through my many years of work here. The only odd issue is that the temperature of your blood is lower than standards, but it's not an issue."

"Here's your physical report."

Merlin hands a few pieces of paper to Merlin, he puts both hands in his pocket and tells Merlin:

"After you're done drawing blood, you're free to leave."

"Thank you."

Merlin nods to the doctor to express his thanks.

A few minutes after the doctor left, Nick Fury walks into the room, the nurse also finishes drawing his blood and exits the room.

Merlin watches in slight pity as the nurse leaves the room, he turns and looks at Fury's face, and while rubbing his arm, he says:

"You know, sometimes, your face looks really scary. You should learn to smile more often."

"I can smile, but that won't necessarily mean that I'm happy."

Fury answers expressionless, he takes an ID card from his pocket and throws it towards Merlin, saying:

"Keep this card, after finishing your training in the Academy, go report at the base, someone will be responsible for your onboarding process."

"What I need to tell you beforehand, is that you're still under supervision until we finish your reviewing process, Merlin, then you'll officially become a member of the SSR. Before that, I hope that you'll focus on your training...and get rid of those bad habits of yours!"

Merlin shorts and copies Fury's tone:

"Of course, I can get rid of them and become a ruthless secret agent like you. But that doesn't mean I like to do it."

He looks at Fury, seemingly noticing his indifference, then he changes the topic:

"When do I begin my training for the serum transformation?"

"Don't be in a hurry now."

Fury with his hands behind him leisurely says:

"At least we have to first find out why you keep getting nosebleeds. In Miss Carter's memories, Captain America didn't have these aftereffects upon receiving the serum, that means..."

"It means nothing."

Merlin interrupts Fury's words and says with a lack of interest:

"Stop looking, you'll never find the cause."

"Oh?"

Fury squints his eyes:

"Sounds like you're hiding something? You know why you're having nosebleeds, don't you?"

Merlin wears his clothes, takes the ID card, and exits the room.

Fury follows behind him, waiting for his response; and after walking out of the hospital in SSR Headquarters, Merlin stops by the roadside and looks at the bustling streets in front of him, he takes a deep morning breath and says sadly:

"Yes, I do know why."

"When I first made the contract with the demon, every time I sense the mana in me flowing, I get nosebleeds; in some cases, blood flows from my ears as well. But this doesn't affect my health, a friend told me that this is the process of my soul getting stronger, and that it doesn't mean anything."

Merlin's words made Fury's expression change a little, he gently says:

"Peculiar way of putting it, first time hearing it, sounds mysterious."

"Mysterious?"

Merlin shakes his head:

"No, you think it's mysterious because you're curious, because it didn't happen to you, sir. Believe me, when a demon lives inside of you, you won't think that it's fun."

"Then what does it mean?"

Fury asks, which made Merlin hesitate as if thinking up a way to put it. He and Fury walk along the street towards the parking lot and say:

"Every time I bleed, it means that the dark power's corruption towards my soul and body. When I first injected the serum, when my body was enhanced, I thought the condition would lessen, even disappear. But it didn't, in fact, I could feel that the stronger my body becomes, the more mana it can bear, the corruption becomes fiercer."

"Every night, in every black night, it's silently growing stronger. It lurks in my soul, awaiting the time when it becomes strong enough to gobble me from the inside."

Merlin somewhat painfully rubs his forehead and continues:

"Last night, I had nightmares the entire time...I thought I wouldn't have nightmares anymore, but unfortunately, it may have always been my wishful thinking. It had never disappeared, and the more I use its powers, the closer my connection with it becomes."

"It's transforming me, Fury, it's pushing me towards a boundary, and once I cross it...I'll lose my identity as a human."

"What will you become?"

Fury takes out his car keys and opens the door to the driver's seat; he sits on the driver's seat while Merlin sits on the passenger seat, and while he starts the car, he asks:

"Do you become a fire-breathing demon that destroys everything?"

"Not that bad."

Merlin smiles, he leans against the seat and tells Fury:

"According to what my friend said, I'll become a half-demon. Unbelonging to humans or demons, if I fail to control the urge to destroy inside me, I'll become a terrible monster that slaughters all. Talking about this, have you not seen half-demons before? Someone as knowledgeable as you should know."

"Hmm?"

Fury widens his eyes, he places his hands on the steering wheel and asks:

"Why would I have seen half-demons? I've indeed contained many dangerous things, but truthfully, I've never seen one myself before."

 "Then you must be lucky."

Merlin turns around and looks outside the window, the city seemed to be awakening under the sunlight and says:

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"Do you know? Just in Manhattan, there are no less than 5 half-demons hiding; in New York, about 11...they hide among the crowd with different identities, lurking in the city for different reasons. I've been wondering, how many of these monsters were there across North America?"

"What did you say?"

Fury was truly surprised, he looks at Merlin:

"Are you sure? There are 11 half-demons in New York?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

Merlin closes his eyes and begins recollecting the 5 months he spent in Hell's Kitchen, then he says:

"At least 11, and all half-demons with strong inheritance, which means their power came directly from Great Demons or Great Devils. Once they lose control of their powers, a great disaster will befall this city."

"There are many more humans that are infected by irregularities. But from my understanding, if it's just irregularities like phantoms or mini-devils, they can't make too big of a hassle in human society. Oh, by the way, I don't know if you know this, but in some remote areas around New York, there are many vampires active."

"I've seen them seduce ignorant young girls or boys on the street before."

"Ka"

Fury abruptly steps on the brakes and looks towards Merlin; moments later, he takes out a pen and paper from his side and hands them to Merlin, and with a serious tone, he says:

"Give me all the life and activity area, as well as the physical characteristics of every half-demon you know that's hiding in the city. Along with the areas where large amounts of irregularities are gathered, in other words, I want everything you know about these guys!"

"Miss Carter might have seen this...Merlin, you are what we need right now, a talent in dealing with all things supernatural; I'll give you a mission, think of this as your first mission in the SSR."

Fury pats on Merlin's shoulder and says:

"You'll be directly under my jurisdiction, I need you to find every single irregularity hiding in New York in the shortest time possible, it's best you make a name list about them."

"It's no use, Fury."

Merlin shakes his head, he writes something on the paper while telling FUry:

"I've exchanged hands with your agents before, they can't even handle a normal person with a bit of dark power like me. In front of the strong half-demons, having them face them is akin to sending them to their deaths; in other words, even if I give you what you need, you can't deal with them."

'Who says we can't?"

Fury snorts, he makes an unpredictable posture and tells Merlin:

"How long have you been in the SSR? How would you know of our capabilities?"

"Come on, Merlin, you have absolutely no idea how much weight the SSR holds in the system. We have experts that specialize in dealing with supernatural events, but just because their experts, we can't always rely on them. So you'll have to do the intel-collecting."

Indifference flashes through Fury's eyes as he says:

"You do the locating and uncovering. We'll do the offending!"

 Merlin looked at Fury's expression, under his second sight, he could clearly see the confidence in Fury's eyes, he nods thoughtfully and tells Fury:

"Since you're so confident, I'll take the mission. I'll begin the mission as soon as I board-on officially."

"Yes..of course, to run throughout New York in such short time means that I'll need a good car, you guys will handle the gas cost! If you can, give me a not so stupid partner, I can't be doing everything now can I?"

"You're thinking quite a lot."

Fury shakes his head and tells Merlin:

"We'll talk about these when you graduate from the Academy."

"Tch, noring, I'm starting to regret joining you. I mean, look at the movies, how cool were guys like James Bond."

Merlin complained, Fury snorts and restarts the car, as he turns the steering wheel, he suddenly says:

"James Bond? That's just an alias, the real person himself is quite talkative, and his real experiences are much better than those issy-like movies."

"You've seen him?"

Merlin looked at Fury with surprise, the latter puts on a new set of sunglasses that covered half his face, he still showed an unpredicatble smile.

"Guess."

Merlin did not guess, he looks at the roadsign. Moments later, he suddenly tells Fury:

"Do me a favor, drop me at Columbia University."

"Hmm? What're you going for?"

Fury asks, but Merlin did not answer, but Fury still turned the steering wheel and drove on the road towards Columbia University.

"Bam"

Merlin with sunglasses and his baseball cap closes the car door, he looks at the Columbia University College of P & S; the eyes behind his sunglasses slightly flashes.

He turns around and hands a fully written paper to Fury, he lies on the car door and warns:

"These are all the targets I found that are probably half-demon. Listen to me, Fury, don't provoke them unless you're sure...I don't want to collect your corpse when I board-on."

"Mmm, I know."

Fury was not angry at Merlin's provocation, instead, he carefully folds the paper and puts it into his pocket.

He l0oks at Merlin and says:

"I still don't get why you're here? This is a school, not a place for homeless people, you're completely out of place here."

"I know."

Merlin stands up and presses his cap downwards, he tells Fury:

"If those accidents didn't happen, I should be here...as a 2nd year med student. You get it? Here!"

Merlin points to the university behind him and says:

"This was the other life I was supposed to live."

"I'm just here to reminisce..."

"About the dead me."

 

 

<End of Arc 1>

 

 

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