"Who... is this?" Merlin asked while keeping eye contact with me.

"This is Tristan, mine and Elizabeth's son." Meliodas replied as he looked at Merlin and me suspiciously.

"You've found him?" Merlin said with raised eyebrows.

"Yup, not long ago," Meliodas replied happily.

"I see." Merlin said as she floated toward me.

"It's nice to meet you Tristan, I am Merlin, your mate." Merlin said with a confident smile as she floated in front of me.

"Yeah... Nice to meet you too." I said as I continued looking at Merlin but couldn't help but think of Alice.

"Mate?" Elizabeth said as she and Meliodas's eyes widened.

"Mhm, our mate bond formed once we saw each other." Merlin said with a sensual smile on her face, damn this woman was stunning!

'How the hell am I ever gonna explain this?' I said to myself as I thought of how I would explain the existence of my new mate to Alice.

"My friend and my son..." Elizabeth said as she realized the relationship she had with the two of us.

"Is this supposed to happen?" I asked Elizabeth wondering if she knew what was happening.

"Although it's rare, hybrids can have two mates, one mate for each race." Elizabeth replied knowing what I meant.

"That makes more sense." I said as I released a sigh, I was happy right now; Merlin's presence was enough to uplift my mood just as Alice's did but I still had to think of how I would tell Alice.

I now knew that the reason I had two mates was because I was part God and part Demon which was good to know but I still had a problem to handle, a small pixie who was extremely possessive over anything that regarded Tristan Swan, me.

"Don't worry." Meliodas said as he sat down next to Elizabeth.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"You have another mate?" Merlin interrupted as she created a chair from magic and sat next to me while staring at me intently.

"I do." I replied as I looked into Merlin's eyes and her stunning smile widened.

"How interesting." Merlin said before falling silent as she scanned me and as much as I wished to look at her I needed answers from Meliodas.

"When hybrids gain two mates the two mates who are mated to the hybrid gain a sibling bond thus removing the possibility of any infighting." Meliodas said with a smile.

'Thank god!' I shouted inwardly happy that things wouldn't go as I thought they would.

"Were you so worried about her?" Merlin asked me with a smile.

"Of course, she's my mate." I replied with relief easily portrayed on my face.

Although I hadn't spoken with Merlin long I could sense what type of woman she was. Merlin gave off a mature, elegant, confident, and regal vibe, she was surprised when she felt our bond form but immediately after she regained her cool.

'Round two huh?' I said to myself as I felt my feelings for Merlin grow the more I spoke to her.

"I see." Merlin replied before looking away from me and at Meliodas.

"So, what did you call me here, if we can I'd to hurry this up so I spend some time with Tristan alone." Merlin said to Meliodas with her head tilted slightly.

"Hehe, wanna get to it already huh?" Meliodas said teasingly before continuing.

"Well, Tristan can use infinity." Meliodas said causing Merlin's eyes to widen before her head whipped in my direction.

Merlin hadn't paid attention to my magic signature since she had entered the room since our mate bond had formed which was understandable but now that everything was settled and Meliodas had brought attention to it she now had a chance to check me out.

Merlin didn't say anything directly and instead, she put her hands on my chest and leaned forward until our foreheads were touching.

'This woman's playing with fire.' I said to myself.

When I first got together with Alice I was far more awkward with romantic stuff due to my inexperience but now I couldn't be considered a complete novice and with Merlin so close to me I couldn't help but want to kiss the lips that had been presented to me.

'Control brother, control.' I said to myself as I calmed my heart which was beating faster due to Merlin being so close.

"You're very interesting Tristan." Merlin said as she leaned away from me while she slid her hands down from my chest to my belt.

'This woman...' I said to myself.

"Gross! Ew! Yuck!" Meliodas said breaking the atmosphere, I had forgotten about them.

"C'mon Meliodas." Elizabeth said as she stood up preparing to leave.

"I would like to stay longer Tristan but we've got duties to attend to so we have no choice but to return to the kingdom, but for now please think about our offer and we can talk about it next time we call, okay?" Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Sounds good." I replied feeling we had a good conversation.

With that, I said goodbye to both of them before they made their exit leaving me and a curious mature woman who was playing around with anything she saw.

"What is all of this stuff Tristan?" Merlin asked me, whether she was comfortable with me or simply confident that nothing would happen when alone with me I didn't know.

"Things I made." I replied unsure of how to describe every little thing in the lab, there was so much.

"Oh? You made all of this?" Merlin questioned me with a beautiful smile on her face.

"I did." I replied as I walked over to her and stood beside her.

"Hmm..." Merlin hummed as she looked me up and down before moving and placing herself directly in front of me.

"I find you perfect in every regard." Merlin said with a lovely smile as she tilted her head slightly.

"You're quite laidback about this." I said with a smile.

"Of course I am." Merlin said with a smile before continuing.

"Might as well get comfortable, you and I will be together forever." Merlin said as her eyes took a familiar look.

'She's just like Alice...' I said inwardly as I wondered if I had a knack for attracting certain types of women but I wasn't unhappy about it, in fact it was the opposite, I liked this more than I should.

"Indeed." I replied as I smiled genuinely which made Merlin's face gain a red hue.

"You're definitely the most handsome man I've ever seen." Merlin said flirtatiously.

"You're quite the flirt aren't you?" I replied happily, I had been called handsome countless times but when Merlin and Alice did it the feeling was completely different, I like their compliments.

"Only for you." Merlin replied immediately which told me she was telling the truth.

Merlin and I began talking about a bunch of different things just getting to know each other and as we delved deeper and deeper into the conversation my feelings for the woman solidified. Merlin was an interesting woman and I was helplessly drawn to everything about her, I'm certain that even if she wasn't my mate I would still like her just like I would with Alice.

"I'm curious about this pill you're creating." Merlin said with her legs crossed as she watched me working on the creation of NZT-48.

"As am I." I replied with a smile as I looked through the microscope.

"We already know that." Merlin replied as she walked toward me with her hips swaying left and right hypnotically, she usually floats around like I do so I knew she was doing this on purpose.

Once Merlin arrived beside me she began watching the process of creating and destroying with interest until it came to the part for me to test on the humans.

"Will you be watching this part? It's not pretty." I said to Merlin seriously.

Compared to the response I expected Merlin began laughing heartily before speaking again.

"Tristan, I'm a mage who's been testing things for longer than you've been alive, I've used countless beings as my test subjects, I assure you that I won't be offset by one of your test." Merlin said with a smile.

'Yeah, should've thought about that to be honest.' I said to myself knowing Merlin was right.

"Oh... I see, but I have a question for you." I said with a smile causing Merlin's eyebrow to raise as she smiled back at me.

"Do you know what they call an older person who hits on a minor?" I said with a teasing smile as Merlin's smile faltered.

"A ped-" I said before being interrupted by Merlin.

"Don't say it." Merlin said causing me to laugh even more than she did earlier, it wasn't easy but I did like teasing her.

I laughed for a bit while Merlin watched me with a precious smile of her own, we hadn't even known each other for even a single day but we mixed perfectly.

"Alright, let's get to the tests." I said as I smiled genuinely at Merlin before floating to the test room.

"Do you plan to finish the pill before going to the Kingdom?" Merlin asked as she floated beside me.

"Yeah, I believe I can finish in a week or so." I replied as I forced a pill down a man's throat.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" The man instantly began screaming so I used a silencing spell on him.

"Sorry, continue." I said to Merlin who didn't seem to mind.

"Would you like to come to my place when you come to the Kingdom?" Merlin whispered in my ear, her question clearly had more than one meaning.

"I'd love to." I said into her ear causing her to shiver slightly, it's gonna take more than a whisper to shake me!

"Mhm, good." Merlin said with a content smile as she looked at the dead man who I had force-fed a pill.

One by one I worked my way through the test subjects as I documented the effects of the new pills I had created and unfortunately everything failed until the very last one.

"Amazing... I finally understand." The man said as if he had been enlightened.

"Thank you." He said as he looked at me with a genuine smile, it appeared a even a man like him could be sincere, gross.

"How are you feeling Subject 137?" I asked the man who seemed to be fine with telling me anything.

"I feel clear as if I've woken up, it's an odd feeling being able to understand everything that once confused me as well as understand things that I had never even thought of, a weird feeling indeed." The man said with a charismatic tone, this was good, very fucking good.

"Have you-" I said before being interrupted.

"Formed any plans to get out of here?" The man finished my sentence before continuing.

"Yes, I have, thousands of them, but they all lead to my death." The man said still holding his smile.

'Fantastic.' I said to myself as I held in my excitement, this was exactly what I've been wanting to see.

"Sabes porque estás aqui?" I asked in Portuguese hoping he would pass this test.

English version: [Do you know why you're here?]

"Claro que estou aqui para ser a vossa cobaia, como toda a gente." The man replied instantly with a smile.

English version: [Of course I'm here to be your guinea pig, like everyone else.]

Hearing the man speak perfect Portuguese after only hearing it once was just what I needed to know to understand that I was close, very close to the final product I needed to create.

'Let's not jump to conclusions yet.' I said as I used mind control to begin the next tests while making sure he would answer and do as I said properly.

~ 2 hours later ~

I clenched my hands tight as I looked at the subject who had shown me the results of my pill, results that were the exact same as the Limitless pill.

I tested everything that the Limitless pill granted the one who took it and the test subject passed with flying colors. Hypermind, Perfect recall, Semi-Instant learning, Semi-Instant analysis, Omnilingualism, Superhuman Charisma, Superhuman dexterity, Perfect multitasking, Superhuman instincts, Hyper competence, he had all of them.

Hypermind allowed the subject to possess a high level of intellectual and cognitive proficiency. He can process massive amounts of information as well as process an otherwise improbable number of simultaneous calculations, identify all of the variables in any situation, and rapidly cross-correlate previously accessed information.

Perfect recall allowed the subject to flawlessly remember and rapidly recall everything he had ever experienced, encountered, or learned in their lifetime without being overwhelmed. He needs only to read, hear, or see something once and he'll never forget it. His brain and mind gain unlimited storage and analytical capacity.

Semi-instant learning allows the subject to gather and assimilate any kind of knowledge/skill and understand it fully and rapidly. He can read things at extremely high speeds while still retaining all of the information.

Semi-instant analysis lets the subject subconsciously notice, process, and understand the details of any stimulus, no matter how small, as well as perceive and understand a large number of cause-and-effect relations. Thus deducing the path leading to any effects, allowing him to intuitively plan, analyze, and take action efficiently without trouble. He was also capable of creating functionally flawless, elaborate plans. It should also be mentioned that he was able to deduce the steps needed to succeed at any given task and execute them perfectly if it was within his capabilities.

Omnilingualism allowed him to have the ability to rapidly gain fluency in most known forms of communication, often becoming fluent through newly available memories of prior exposures as seen when I spoke Portuguese and he responded fluently.

Superhuman Charisma made the subject become an eloquent speaker, orator, and story-teller, as a side effect of the additional abilities afforded by the drug. He became infallibly persuasive and charismatic. His uncanny charisma would have allowed him to easily take a leadership role in any situation if he had gotten out of here alive.

Superhuman dexterity gave the subject perfect muscle control, he could perform any physical act without difficulty. He was able to perform dexterous tasks with no practice beforehand rapidly and flawlessly. It should also be mentioned that he could copy any movement/action after seeing it performed once, which I believe would go perfectly with my Hanma bloodline.

Perfect multitasking allows the subject to be able to perform multiple tasks at once. For example, he could solve a Rubik's Cube with one hand and draw a perfect copy of one of Leonardo Da Vinci's self-portraits with his other hand. Read through 100 pages of documents, and mentally solve complex math problems, whilst speaking Farsi, all without any task distracting them from another. He could do many things all at the same time efficiently and flawlessly.

Superhuman instincts allowed the subject to possess a mind and instincts that processed the world in the most advanced and efficient manner. He possessed the ability to find solutions to 99% of the problems that he may face while using both logical and illogical sense and strategies. Unfortunately for him though, I was the 1%.

Hypercompetence allowed the subject to become proficient at many tasks/skills. He could handle situations and matters, regardless of the problem, situation, or conflict, and he would know what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.

'I'm right there.' I said to myself excitedly, I wouldn't need a week to finish the creation of NTZ-48.

The pill I made was the limitless pill and that was good, no it was fantastic. The pill that turned out to be the NZT-48 wasn't the pill I was expecting so it was a bit surprising but either way, I now how the limitless pill in hand, and now the only thing I had to do was to figure out how to make it give a permanent improvement while also making it strong enough to work on me.

"What an interesting thing you've created." Merlin said with a smile as she looked at me with a smile.

"I agree." I replied with a smile as I began working on the pill I would take myself.

"It's surprising to see a seemingly regular human be capable of such things." Merlin said with interest as she looked through the test results, none of my subjects were members of the supernatural society so she wasn't wrong to be surprised by what the subject was capable of.

After speaking with Merlin some more I began working fervently as me and Merlin spoke about random things while she was doing some magic stuff in the corner.

The first goal was to make the pill effects permanent and I had already done this with another source but the two pills were very different so although it would be hard to apply the same formula to the new pill I already had the base made so I just had to work at it for a while to get it.

I worked for hours trying to put together the Limitless pill for myself until finally, I had overcome the first hurdle, making it a permanent enhancement.

The simplest way to put it was that I used a certain component within the pill itself to cause a chemical reaction within the brain at the peak of the pills performance that will cause the pills effect to remain even after the pill itself has worn off, effectively creating a permanent version of the NZT-48.

'Can't stop yet.' I said to myself as I moved on to the easier part of the two hurdles I needed to jump.

With the duration of the limitless pill out of the way I now had to empower the pill so that it had the same effect on me as it does a regular human and as mentioned before this stage was far easier than the previous one.

Once again I dived into my research while talking with Merlin who was still playing around with magic in the corner, although she was interested in the things I was doing she didn't know much about it since she focuses on magic, but that didn't mean she was clueless, she was around the level of a college professor in every subject.

Some time passed again as I continued working until finally I could be seen with a vial in my hand that held a thick teal liquid that was glowing brightly.

I had intended to concentrate the pill while increasing its power but after the change I did to the pill when I made it permanent, the pill itself ended up breaking down when it was condensed too much so I had to change things up.

I decided to turn the pill into an injectable serum that would be strong enough to carry the necessary power to give me the benefits I wanted from NZT-48.

'My best creation yet.' I said to myself with a smile as I put the blue vial into the machine next to me before I sat down in a chair and prepared myself for whatever was to come from the Limitless Serum.

To be continued...