The story begins with two sorcerers named Balthazar and Veronica riding their respective horses in the night with torches to illuminate their surroundings as their image is overlapped by the Encantus rendition of the most powerful Legrand sorcerer named Merlin and his three apprentices.

The war between sorcerers has been fought in the shadows of history and the fate of mankind rested with the just and powerful Merlin. He taught his secrets to three trusted apprentices; Balthazar, Veronica, and Horvath. He should have trusted only two. Veronica and Balthazar witnessed the savagery of a sorcerer beyond evil, Morgana le Fay, Merlin's most deadly enemy.

Arriving at their destination, Balthazar and Veronica see it littered with fallen knights and sorcerers alike before the scene shifts to the remaining knights rushed upstairs only to be incinerated by a horrific blast of fire which is revealed to be conjured from the most powerful evil sorceres' fingertips.

Morgana enters Merlin's seemingly empty chamber, oblivious that the great sorcerer is expecting her. While maintaining his cover, he opened his fingers, prompting nearby braziers to coil around Morgana's arms, restraining her. Merlin jumps from hiding with a sword in hand. Morgana on the other hand, cuts both braziers with focused heat, before using both as improvised twin foils to fight the great sorcerer.

An intense duel ensues as Balthazar and Veronica search for survivors inside the Stronghold. The duel culminated to Merlin cornered Morgana at a pillar and seemingly failed to deliver a final blow due to the sword knocks nearby wall instead - a distraction for Morgana not to notice her hands magically fuse into the pillar itself.

Merlin: We are but servants.

Horvath enters the chamber and greets his mentor.

Horvath: Merlin.

Merlin: Horvath!

Horvath casts the Disperse Spell with his enchanted Sword, freeing Morgana le Fay while Merlin is distracted.

Merlin: You betrayed me?

Morgana fatally stabs Merlin in the torso.

Morgana: I am no one's servant.

Letting Merlin fall as she rids off her improvised foils and turns on Horvath.

Morgana: Well done. Now get the spell.

And so it was. Morgana gained sorcery's most dangerous spell known as "The Rising," giving Morgana the power to raise an army of the dead and enslave mankind.
As Morgana and Horvath make their leave, the former tears a page about The Rising's schematics off Merlin's Encantus along the way. Back to Balthazar and Veronica, the two have split up to cover more ground, only for the former to get ambushed by Morgana le Fay.

Seeing Balthazar at the dark enchantress' mercy as the latter is about to bombard him with Plasma Bolts, Veronica magically binds Morgana's body via the Human Fusion Spell, before gesturing her hands at herself, and then at Morgana. Veronica sacrificed herself for Balthazar by drawing Morgana's soul into her own body.

The horrified Balthazar watches as Morgana has her soul painfully absorbed into Veronica's body, with her husk disintegrating. But Morgana began to kill her from the inside.

Morgana's soul begins to choke Veronica on the throat from the inside, attempting to take over her host. To save Veronica's life and to capture Morgana, Balthazar trapped them both in the Grimhold, an inescapable prison.

Balthazar reluctantly uses the Grimhold's innermost layer to seal Veronica just as her eyes change into Morgana's. Over time, Balthazar fought many sorcerers who tried to free Morgana, trapping them in layer upon layer of the doll. Eventually, he captured Horvath as well.

The several images of the outermost layers of Grimhold each with a medieval rendition of their respective prisoner; Abigail Williams' layer is a brown one whereas Sun Lok and Maxim Horvath's are yellow and red respectively. As Merlin lay dying, he gave Balthazar his Dragon Ring, saying it would guide him to the child who would one day grow to be Merlin's successor, the Prime Merlinean.

Merlin: The Prime Merlinean is the only one who can kill Morgana.

Balthazar would search for centuries. He then searched before he arrived in New York City, starting in Africa. Posing as a wanderer, he met a tribal child whose hands did not cause the Dragon to react. He then continues his search to other parts of the world, including India where he poses as a doctor while having random intriguing children checking on the Ring, and Russia as a teacher who gently pats a boy on the hair when the Ring doesn't react to his touch. The Dragon Ring is then shown on his hand. And never, it is said, will Balthazar waver from his quest, for mankind will never be safe until Morgana is destroyed by the Prime Merlinean.

Somewhere in the modern world, a Buzz Lightyear-themed alarm clock rings as it shows that it's already 07.00. The young boy with brown hair and blue eyes wakes up and turns it off, surprised to see a puppy licking him up.

???: Hey, Tank. How did you even get up here?

The seven-year-old boy is Matthew Stutler.

Emilie: Matthew? Field trip today. Don't forget to wear clean underwear.

Matthew: (as puppy Tank continues licking him) She means me, not you.

In New York City in the year of 1987. The camera pans to a school bus Matthew is on board as it moves through Manhattan Bridge. Kids chattering and on their own business as Matthew draws a doodle of King Kong on the bus window.

Unnamed Boy: (noticing what Matthew is doing while eating ice cream) You're not supposed to be doing that, Matt.

Matthew: Now!

As if that was a cue, his King Kong doodle on the bus window overlaps the Empire State Building in the distance. The journey goes smoothly as the kids later arrive at a park not far from the bridge with their teacher, Ms. Algar, who begins her lecture about the surrounding area's history.

Mrs.Algar: ...which means that before Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty were built...

Matthew was drawing a sketch version of New York City everyone got on their feet due to their ferry had just arrived.

Ms. Algar: Let's go. Get on the ferry. Get your bags. Stay close. Here we go.

Matthew puts his school supplies in his backpack, and suddenly his sketch art only for it to be carried by the wind

Matthew: Hey, stop!

Matthew rushes for the paper which is then stuck in someone's bike as he rides away, much to his unnamed friend's chagrin. The man notices the note and casts it aside, which is then inadvertently plastered on a bulldog's feet as the dog steps on it.

Matthew: Excuse me, excuse me.

Matthew shoved two pedestrians aside to see the dog's owner notice his paper and toss it away in disgust

Matthew: No! No, lady, don't!

Matthew continues the chase past the dark alley of New York full of papers and litter for the flying note, which brings him to a small shop, Arcana Cabana. Looking at the ominous shop, he notices his note got stuck in its door's mail slot. He rushes for reaching it only for the note to get sucked into the building. After debating what to do, Matthew enters the shop despite not having any appointment as he needs his question note back.

Entering Arcana Cabana, the shop turns out true to its namesake; it is full of an eclectic mix of goods from floor to ceiling, everything from mummies to animal skins, and every other type of strange antique and other artifacts that could exist in the world, including occult ones. What caught Matthew's attention, however, is an Arabian lamp resembling one that seals a genie in Aladdin, one of the most popular stories of One Thousand and One Nights which received many adaptations, including its Disney one.

Matthew: No way.

Matthew begins to rub the lamp before lifting it, only for the metal plate and other items placed beside it to fall and topple the next, creating a domino-like chain reaction that culminated in an ominous-looking urn called the Grimlock almost falling on Matthew until a hand stops it. The boy looks up and sees the store's proprietor, a shady-looking man with a trench coat, Balthazar Blake.

Balthazar: (about the urn) The second emperor of the Han dynasty locked his least-favorite wife in this urn for 10 years to the day. They say that if you open it up, the same thing will happen to you.

Matthew: I'm sorry. I'm looking for this note. Have you seen it? It kind of just blew into your store.

Balthazar: (walks towards the counter) A note?

Matthew: It blew into your store. It was just a...

Balthazar: ...coincidence?

Matthew: Yeah, it was just a coincidence.

Balthazar senses something in this turn of events and comes up with an idea in mind.

Balthazar: I have something I'd like to show you, Matt.

Matthew: (puzzled) How'd you know my name was Matt?

Balthazar: 'Cause I can read minds! (a beat later) It's on your backpack.

As the initially shocked Matthew awkwardly checks his back for his name tag, Balthazar goes for one of the store's cabinets and gestures for Matthew to go for him.

Balthazar: Come over here.

Following the eccentric proprietor to the store's counter, Matthew sees Balthazar pulling out a slender mahogany box from a drawer. He opened the box to reveal a small metal dragon figurine within. The figurine has an intricate design along with a green gem embedded on the back.

Balthazar: (referring to the dragon figurine) This is very special and if it likes you, you can keep it.

Matthew was briefly tempted but eventually reconsidered.

Matthew: I better not. My teacher said I couldn't be gone for long. She knows I'm here.

Balthazar: You're a bad liar, Matt. That's good.

Matthew surprised and uneasy that the man saw through his polite yet poor excuse, turns away and steps for the door only for it to close on its own.

Matthew: Oh, boy.

Realizing he had little to no choice, returns to the counter and takes the dragon. To his surprise, it comes to life with a shaking of its head before proceeding to climb its way for his index finger and wraps its tail around as the figurine turns into its true form; Merlin's Dragon Ring.

As Balthazar sighed in relief that he had found his late mentor's heir.

Matthew: No way.

Balthazar: (with a delighted yet mysterious-looking smile) I have been searching for a very long time.

Balthazar gently holds Matthew's shoulders.

Balthazar: Magically, here you are. That ring on your finger means something, Matt. It means you're going to be a very important sorcerer one day. And your first lesson begins right now with your very own Encantus.

He gestures as he says the next line.

Balthazar: Do not move, do not touch anything.

The excited Balthazar calmly rushes downstairs for Encantus through the stairs at the back of the store. As he parted a section of the brick wall beneath the same stairs with a wave of his hands, the curious Matthew examined the Dragon Ring when he heard a banging noise coming from the wall behind the counter. Noticing the bang becomes louder the more he gestures his hand with the ring in a certain direction, the boy tests the theory with repeated moves.

Curiosity overtakes Matthew as he pulls his hand with a jolt, causing something to burst out of the wall and land in front of him. Just as Balthazar opens the parted wall to reach the Encantus, a magical tome covered with spider webs and dust, Matthew picks up the strange object he just summoned by accident, the Marythoska-like Grimhold with a red outer layer depicting a man dressing in 1930s gangster outfit complete with a bowler hat. Unknown to the boy, his latent yet raw magic potential somehow cracked the doll open with a trail of small fiery bursts through the ring, startling him that he dropped the Grimhold at once. This is the least of his surprises, however, as swarms of large cockroaches swarm their way out of the doll's outer layer.

Matthew: No way.

Watches as the swarm gathers to form the man who is depicted on the outer layer of the Grimhold he unintentionally unlocked. The still-forming man, Horvath, takes a small step forward before gasping upon the air after being trapped for so long. His restoration completes with the last roach crawling into his mouth to form the remaining missing piece which is presumably his tongue, as he reaches for it to see whether it is there.

Horvath: (after a beat) When am I, lad?

Matthew: (nervous) New York City, s- sir.

Horvath: Not where. The year. You are wasting my time.

Raises his glowing cane, which bears his enchanted sword's crystal pommel as its head - the sword has been transfigured into its current form arguably to adapt to the modern era and avoid unwanted attention sometime before his imprisonment.

Balthazar blasted Horvath with a concussive blast of air, sending him flying before telekinetically pinning him to the store's glass ceiling. Appears with the Encantus in one hand while another, which has his crystal magic ring, raised to keep his former comrade in place above.

Balthazar: What happened to "don't touch anything"?

Horvath: That's not very sporting of you, Balthazar.

Balthazar: Be quiet. (to Matthew) It's not you. He's been like this for 1,000 years. I'll explain later. I need the Grimhold. Where's that doll?

Matthew points to the fallen Grimhold, prompting Balthazar to reach it. A bad mistake. Horvath reaches for his staff as soon as Balthazar lowers his guard before projecting an air blast that sends him flying out of the doll's reach. Matthew covers his ears as Horvath falls, no longer suspended by Balthazar's telekinetic force. Returning to his feet, Horvath magically shoves a nearby cupboard to pin his recovering nemesis from the distance without breaking a sweat.

Before he could reach the doll, however, Balthazar blasted the cupboard into pieces as he tackled Horvath away from it. Engaging in physical combat, the former pushes the latter against a nearby glass case with enough force to shatter it. Horvath retaliates by firing a plasma bolt from point-blank range only to hit the fence on the second floor. As Matthew picks up the Grimhold, whose outer layer depicts Sun Lok in medieval rendering, Balthazar and Horvath's physical brawl culminates with them dangerously projecting air blasts against one another in point-blank range, violently sending them apart.

Horvath: I'll have that doll!

Horvath telekinetically lifts a nearby ornate foil and sends it towards Balthazar, all while manipulating it in a manner as if the weapon is wielded by an invisible swordsman puppet to fight with through his staff that acts as the puppet's string. Breaking a longhorn off a nearby unicorn skull model, Balthazar uses it as a makeshift sword to parry the foil's assaults like an expert swordsman. Yet he can only hold for so long until Horvath gains an upper hand which prompts him to use a nearby wooden shield to protect himself against the final blow shortly after his nemesis disarmed him.

Fortunately, the foil got stuck on the shield just as it nearly punctured his skull, allowing Balthazar to raise the shield, yanking Horvath's telekinetic tether over the foil and causing him to knock himself with his staff that he lost his balance and fell. In the process, he inadvertently knocked the Grimlock nearby along with a jar full of harmless liquid whose contents spilled all over Matthew's crotch.

With Horvath disoriented, Balthazar forms a supercharged plasma bolt from his palms before hurling it upon him, yet the former Merlinean managed to evade at the last moment, causing it to strike a nearby knight armor model instead. Horvath returns fire by absorbing some amounts of flames from a nearby fireplace into his blazing fingers. Balthazar jumps for cover as Horvath hurls two fireballs at his hiding spot before finishing it with a swipe of fiery stream,

Before turning on the terrified Matthew.

Horvath: (with his remaining flames still on his fingers) I want that doll.

Balthazar: (jumping out of the blazing inferno, tackles the former Merlinean, and opens the fallen Grimlock) Leave, Matt! Leave now! (putting his and Horvath's hands into the magical urn as it sucks things, reducing themselves into ashes that it sucks)

Matthew runs out of the shop and tosses the Grimhold away in fear before bumping into Mrs. Algar and his classmates.

Ms. Algar: Matthew Stutler! Don't ever leave your...

Matthew: There's... these crazy wizard guys in there! They're made of roaches!

A frustrated Ms. Algar rolls her eyes as she closes in for the shop.

Matthew: No! Don't go in there! The store's on fire! Don't go in! Those guys are...

Sees the shop devoid of anyone with the fire somehow ceased with little to no traces.

Ms. Algar: You really shouldn't tell stories. Let's go.

Bully # 1: (noticing his wet pants and jeers, prompting everyone to laugh) Ew! He peed his pants!

Matthew: A jar broke. It's just water! There was a fire!

Bully # 2: (rolls his eyes) Yeah, Stutler leaked.

Bully # 3: (equally irritated) He's such a geek.

With that, the bullies go all out in jeering the humiliated Matthew in unison, provoking all kids except the saddened friends of his to follow suit that Ms. Algar is barely able to contain the situation. Unknown to them, the Grimlock now has additions in the form of Horvath and Balthazar among images of tortured souls on its surface which, unlike theirs, are purely aesthetics instead of other prisoners.

A few years later, Balthazar was the first to come out of the urn. As he walked through the streets of New York, he spotted Matthew at the park. Matthew was in denial, trying to forget the embarrassing moment of his past. With no choice, Matthew has become a sorcerer. Balthazar needs to find a place for Matthew to train. Matthew knew where the perfect place was, the underground lab.

At the lab, Balthazar begins his work. He first slowly raises his hands, gathering a large amount of energy which causes the lamps in the lab to flicker a few times. Once enough amount of energy has been accumulated, he then seemingly about to place both of his palms against one another before throwing them violently upwards causing phosphorescent flames to erupt from the concrete floor around him, startling Matthew in the process.

Balthazar continues by carving small circles and lines inside the larger circle as the amazed Matthew watches; each small circle bears an alchemical symbol. After he completes the finishing touches on his work, we are introduced to the Merlineans' iconic magic circle; Merlin Circle.

Balthazar: This is the Merlin Circle. It focuses your energy. Helps you master new spells. It is where you will learn the Art. Step inside, and you leave everything else behind. Once you enter, there is no going back.

Matthew: So, I should probably pee first? Better safe than...

Balthazar waits, prompting him to change his mind.

Matthew: I can hold it.

Matthew carefully steps into the circle, all while avoiding touching the flames until he reaches the center circle where Balthazar standing.

Balthazar: I am Balthazar Blake, sorcerer of the 777th degree, and you are my apprentice.

Matthew: (awestruck) Sweet.

The End