The group walked back to the school, Merlin's face looked a bit dry from him sweating so much despite wiping the water from his face. Confusion painted his face, and he was shivering like he had been in a snowstorm. The principle ran over, asking what had happened, and Morgan told him everything. "I'm so sorry you had to go through such an experience. It seems they've returned once more to claim the world again. Wait, what are those?" he asked, pointing to the scales Merlin was clutching onto. Just then the scales started to melt and mold together into a small body covered in dragon scales up to his neck, and his wings covering his body. "I...am...REBORN!!! The mighty Chyribdys has returned from the scythe of the reaper!" he yelled as small flames flew out his mouth, but then realized he's in the body of a child. "Seems I lost more power than I thought. The damned...oh no Merlin, are you okay? Did that vile cheater get you too?" he asked, checking Merlin for any wounds or scratches. Merlin didn't respond, still in shock and partially embarrassed for having a tiny dark lord looking at his sweaty body, so Chyribdys looked into his eyes and gently tapped his face to snap him out of his daze. "Forgive me for the scare, but honestly that revival was a massive gamble. Being in this body was the best I could manage. So don't worry about me, you can't kill a dragon that easy!" he said while laughing, which made Merlin smile now that he was out of harms way and his new friend was alive. Chyribdys looked at where his spire once stood, and started to rebuild it from a small cube in the ground. G reverted to his shark form, exhausted and unable to even make himself float. "I can't believe we just did that...I hate to say it but...we utterly suck balls." he said, looking completely defeated. Morgan karate chopped him in the head for saying that. "Enough of that defeat talk. We didn't even get started dammit. We're gonna get stronger, and when we do we're going for round two with derg boy over there, and we're going after the rest of the dark lords too. Now pick yourself up, and we're gonna train. I'm sure we have work to do if we're going to improve. Shikom, you and Merlin are going to train together for the next 2 months. Me and G will train together for the same amount. And try not to go crazy, rest and goof off. Sometimes casual time can train your brain. I'll see you guys in school tomorrow, later." she said before flying off. Shikom looked at Merlin for a second and runs blushing, while G swims back to his home. Merlin walked to his house, seeing his parents resting on the couch, and snuck into his room to heal his fatigue. "Man..what even was that? All that craziness, and here I thought it couldn't get any weirder. Hey, JiJi? You mind telling me about beastmen real fast? I have questions." he asked, causing Jikasa to emerge from his grimoire.
"Gladly. Beastmen and Spirons like you, are very different in their culture and even fashion. While you wear clothing that covers your whole body, Beastmen only wear stuff like a bra and flexible codpiece. Sometimes they wear long coats like you see with badass characters in comics or movies. But they never wear shoes, pants, or regular shirts unless it's like a crop top. Also, they practice lion incest because there's no real risk. We are part animal, and Spirons don't have an issue with it because they're not a bunch of prudes, and they don't disrespect animalistic customs because they don't fully understand it." he said. Merlin figured that Spirons were the "humans" of this world. He then thought about the incest thing, and realized it wasn't exactly a crime, but cardinal instinct for certain animals like lions. And as long as they don't do it to little kids then it's nothing to worry about. "Okay, so...all beastmen dress that way. That's actually very cute. Wonder why Rikusa had pants though. Must've been an illusion or something and he didn't want people staring at him. Poor guy." he muttered. Jikasa was waiting for him to ask something else. "Oh right. What was with that shadow? You know anything?" Merlin asked, and Jikasa looked into a small spectral book that flipped through multiple pages. "I see. They're familiars of the Dark Traitors that wish to collect souls, energy, or blood for their master. They're not able to leave their seal, however they can send out familiars when they need sustenance. Now that they've gotten Dark Lord energy, they want freedom." he said. Merlin was a bit worried about them, after seeing their familiars used cursed weapons. "Seems that they were powerful beings that only desired power and conquest. Think of someone like evil Gilgamesh, but with more punchable faces and weird libidos. Like Zeus, but creepier..." he said with a nasty look on his face. Merlin shivered a bit, wishing he didn't imagine Zeus being more of a creep than he was always portrayed and being ugly on top of that. He then relaxed himself on his bed, realizing he was hungry and went to see what was for dinner, which was salmon with noodles. As he ate, he kept thinking of Shikom and Rikusa fighting together, seeing them hitting enemies hard, like they dance around the battlefield. Then it got erotic, seeing them completely naked, were pinning him down and smiling over him with lustful looks on their face and beginning to gently bite his neck. Merlin's eyes were still closed, and he was about to reach for his pants before getting woken up by his dad who thought that he was asleep, causing the dream to end. "You alright bud? You must've had a crazy day." Roxin said as he went to get himself an apple. Merlin silently agreed as he did have an insane day, so he finished his food and went to take a nap.
As Merlin napped, he ended up astral projecting again and saw that the playground was still there, and Morgan was waiting for him, but she seemed different. "Hey dude, you made it back. Let's hit the monkey bars." she said as she went to jump onto the bars and started swinging around. Merlin just sat on the swings, and relaxed while everyone was playing. He then saw Shikom sitting alone from everyone, and he went to go see him. "Hey buddy. What's with the long face? You look drained." he said. But Shikom didn't answer, and just looked sad. Merlin then saw that he was covering his mouth, and seeming to be holding himself back about something. "Oh. Now I get it. That's an easy fix. Come to my place, and drink some of my blood." he said, which made Shikom seem like a dog getting angry, with his hair standing on end, and his teeth getting sharper. "Merlin...I can't..I don't like blood and I never want it again..!" he said, struggling to contain his drooling growls. Merlin then gave him a hug and pet his head, making sure to scratch behind his ear. "It's okay. Your vampiric urges aren't something you need to repress for anyone's sake, even if it's a little blood. I don't want my teammate to be in pain like this. So come on, I'll let you." he said softly. Shikom calmed down, and he gave Merlin's face a small lick and hugged him tightly. "Please...just for the night...don't let go. Just...don't let go until I fall asleep completely." he asked, on the verge of tears. Merlin agreed, not caring that they were just astral bodies, their emotions and feelings shine just as brightly in the darkness.