The joint look of confusion on Chima and Kim Minji's face was one on a far deeper level than that word could define. To them, Merlin had uttered a bunch of gibberish that anyone with a molecule of sense should be unable to understand. After all, there was no such thing as the ability to cancel out magic. Merlin knew he had to explain it to them, and since he did not have the time to be dallying about, he decided to do just that.
"Anti-magic," he reiterated. "Magic, spells, none of that can work against me, because I can stop them from functioning. I'm magic's antithesis." But that didn't make matters any better.
"You're a Deficient Mage," Chima reminded him, not to sour his mood, but to tell him that he could not do anything even remotely magical—assuming he was telling the truth, that was.
However, anti-magic wasn't exactly magical, was it? It was anything but magical in fact, because the whole reason it existed was to make a mess of the concept of magic.
Merlin wasn't trying to debate at this moment, though. They had to get moving or everything they'd done up to this point would all be for naught.
There was also one more thing that hovered around in his mind, and it was what the examiners watching at this moment thought of his revelation. They were going to see him in action soon enough, and that could be when everything came crumbling down, or his path to being an actual Mage began.
That went for the disbelieving Chima and Kim Minji as well.
"You should trust me," said Merlin. "I've proven that I can be trusted, haven't I?"
Chima nodded. "You have. But what you're saying now is on a completely different level from disarming traps."
"Then, if you're still finding it hard to believe, you can ask her if what I'm saying is true or not." Merlin jerked a thumb at Nora.
Chima glanced at her and shook his head. "She's your sister. She'll obviously stand by your side." Nora frowned. She kind of disliked that train of thought being associated with her. She always liked to see herself as upright, and so didn't like to be associated with things like favoritism. "But… We don't have the time for this," Chima went on, now carrying his bag over his back like he should have been at the start. "I'll trust you."
Merlin exhaled. He then glanced at Kim Minji. She closed her eyes for a moment and then nodded.
"I barely understand what's going on, but you've been right all this while, I don't think there's any reason for me to start doubting you," she said.
"Thank you," Merlin replied to both of them. It would have been faster to make them believe by simply dispelling a spell, but that would be foolish of him. He was taking not even a single risk.
"What now?" Nora asked, her arms folded, trying her best to put on a brave face. "How do we go about creating a path through the skeletons? We've never fought before, and not together too, it will be tough."
"It will, but I have an idea," replied Merlin.
Ever since he had asked them what spells they could use, he had been thinking about how they could best complement one another to break through the horde of skeletons, and also how they could defeat the Necromancer. And he had come up with the perfect way possible he could think of.
"This is what we'll do…"
The hall was a circular ring surrounded by stone pillars on every side, and there were only two exits, the way they had come in from, and another almost fifty steps away.
As soon as they stepped into it, the sounds of bones scrapping along the floor overshadowed the silence that had been in the hall, and from behind the pillars, groggily moving skeletons appeared.
"Is everyone ready?" asked Merlin, retreating behind Chima who had taken the vanguard. They all nodded in reply. He had given them their orders, now they just had to execute it to perfection.
The skeletons were going to launch a pincer attack, surrounding them from all directions, and naturally that would have been hard to break through considering the number of their party. However, that was if they had had no idea of what they were walking into.
An army of a hundred strong was bound to have most of their strength clustered behind the main force. As long as Merlin and his party could stop the main force from completely closing them in, they could keep the main power of the foot soldiers from being unleashed. The problem was that they were bound to be exhausted—at least those who were casting spells.
Which, of course, posed another problem.
Kim Minji's spell was Water Bullet, which sounded every bit threatening. But it was a Novice, Tier I spell, which meant that she couldn't launch it yet. In other words, it was basically a useless spell.
At least, that would have been the case had Merlin not taught Nora how to channel her mana out of her body and into a completely different object, which they had come to find out, could also be a spell.
It was going to be tough for his sister to multi-task, but she had said it was doable.
Chima took his Grimoire out of its pack strapped around his waist, then huffed out a puff of air onto his palm as it floated to the air beside him. In that instant, sparks appeared in a cluster like fireworks over his hands, the air shimmered and warped, and then came steam, and shortly afterwards, a sword made entirely of flame, as well as a shield.
Merlin wasn't exactly amazed by the whole process. Yes, this was the first time he had ever seen a fire spell being cast, but he knew of the mechanics through Singularity Mage.
Fire was formed using oxygen, heat, and fuel. Chima had used the oxygen in the atmosphere, then the heat from his breath, and, lastly, his mana had served as the fuel source. Combining the three together, he had been able to create his fire spells. It was one of the most complex ways of spell casting, and quite risky too. After all, too much mana, and one risked burning themself to a crisp.
"Ready," Chima said then, taking his stance.
"Ready," said Nora as her Grimoire hovered at her side as well, her Air Ball dancing on one of her palms, while the other rested on Kim Minji's back.
Merlin nodded, then focused on Kim Minji, who had her legs wrapped around his torso and her arms over his shoulders. "Are you comfortable?"
"Yes," she replied. "But I should be the one asking you that. Are you sure this is okay? Can you run carrying me like this?"
Well, she was rather light, but Merlin knew saying that would be unethical of him. Talking about a lady's weight was one of the many things you never did. But carrying her and running wouldn't prove a problem. He had trained for this, and, besides, there was no one else who could handle the task. Chima would focus on breaking through the skeletons that came from the front, Nora would blast the ones that came from their left hand side, while also channeling her mana into Kim Minji's spells so that she could launch her Water Bullets at the ones that came from their back and right hand side.
Nora would be the most exhausted of them. But she was the only one who could handle the task.
"It won't be a problem," Merlin replied to Kim Minji, adjusting her posture on his body. He tried his best not to let his mind wander, and he was very much successful.
"Aren't you guys done yet?" Chima asked.
"We're done." Merlin readied himself, and so did the others. "On three! One… Two… Three!"
And they dashed forward. Nora and Merlin ran side by side, both trying to keep up with one another so as to not break the mana connection Nora had built with Kim Minji.
What made Merlin's plan a lot more feasible was the fact that the foot soldiers did not have the capabilities to cast spells, as they were mere puppets, and they also didn't possess weapons of any kind.
However, their sheer number made up for those lapses. All they had to do was drown Merlin and the rest within their bones and they could crush them with ease.
But that was impossible. Merlin had made sure that his plan was foolproof, and that was evident in the way Chima broke through the skeletons rushing at them from the front. The boy seemed almost like a seasoned knight with the way he placed his shield just high enough that it covered his chest, but low enough that only half his face was hidden, and bulldozed through the horde that rushed at him. When any managed to escape his shield, he would strike them down with his sword of flame before they could lay their phalanges on him.
Nora had it harder. She was already sweating so much that her skin was turning pale, and they were yet to reach their destination. Despite how she had claimed to be able to perform her task without worries, fighting against a horde was hard while she was only able to cast spells with one hand, while still splitting her attention so that the mana she had channeled onto Kim Minji's fingertips didn't break off.
Thankfully, Kim Minji made use of every moment of Nora's troubles. Merlin couldn't look behind him to see how well she was doing, but the fact that no skeleton had made contact with him was enough proof that she was doing her job well. That and the battle cry that kept pouring out of her lungs.
Every step they took forward grew heavier, and it got harder and harder to break through the swarm. But they didn't give up. They pushed through. And just when their exhaustion had almost completely hit them, they escaped the hall and broke into the exit that led straight into another corridor.
Immediately, Merlin put down Kim Minji.
"Don't stop! Keep running!" he shouted. They were not safe until they had gotten into the Necromancer's chamber. And that was because the foot soldiers weren't planning on just letting them be.
It was like a stampede. The whole Dungeon shook as the foot soldiers broke into the corridor after them. Merlin was getting tired—everyone was. But if they stopped for even a moment, that would be the end of the exam. Fortunately, the corridor they were in had no booby traps. After all, the Necromancer had not been expecting any intruder to get past its horde.
"Next left!" Merlin shouted as they approached a branching junction that went both ways, and everyone followed after him. They swerved quickly to escape the incoming skeleton soldiers, bringing themselves into a chamber Merlin and Chima combined their strengths to close in an instant.
The exhaustion caught up then, making them so tired that they all bent down, panting, and, as a result, kind of missed what was staring them down.
Merlin, however, didn't. He had not expended mana, so he still had a lot more stamina than the rest.
He turned away from the door and moved to the front of the rest of his party as they tried to catch their breath. Before him towered two gigantic wolf-like beasts, their bodies a mess of rotten flesh and protruding bones, but their fangs and the glints of their eyes very much alive. And behind them stood the monster Merlin and his party were here for. A skeleton with a flaming head, dressed in a bluish-purple robe. The Necromancer.