[Strength has leveled up!]
[Agility has leveled up!]
[Intelligence has leveled up!]
[Perception has leveled up!]
[Resilience has leveled up!]
[Strength Level 9 → Level 11]
[Agility Level 11 → Level 15]
[Intelligence Level 4 → Level 6]
[Perception Level 6 → Level 7]
[Resilience Level 15 → Level 26]
Words from the System detailing Merlin's progress in the last month hovered before his view as he struggled with knotting his tie. His hair was not completely dried from his bath, and water still streaked down his cheek. He was getting late for his first day at the Academy, and that was not the best of first impressions to make.
"I swear, Merlin, you do this all the time!" Nora complained as she dragged her luggage towards the apartment's door, its wheels making a rough sound as it rolled along the floor. "You could have taken today off! What was the point in exercising today?"
There was a point. In fact, points. He had gained a lot from making sure he had completed his daily workout, even though it had just been a personal one, evident from the words before his eyes. After all, he had leveled up every single one of his Attributes, and, most of all, his Intelligence. Which was nice, because now, he could feel it, he had gotten to the point where he could deconstruct an A-Class Mage's Novice, Tier II spell. The problem now was, Nora had long moved up to Tier III. It didn't hurt him, it was just that he was still playing catch up. Which…uhm…kinda hurt him.
He sighed.
"Sorry…" Merlin apologized as he took a moment to check his hair in the mirror, making certain that he looked as presentable as he could, and then dragged his luggage out of his room as well. Nora was standing by the entrance, leaning on the door and fiddling with her phone. "Why are you still here?" he asked.
"What do you mean? I was waiting for you, dimwit," Nora rolled her eyes. Just like Merlin, she too was dressed in Prestige Academy's uniform, a red blazer, a brown plaited skirt to Merlin's trouser, white shirt, and a brown tie. "And I'm texting Jane," she added.
Merlin leaned in closer immediately at those words. "What for? Is she coming?"
Nora slammed her palm on his face and pushed him back. "Hold your horses, lover boy. No peeping into my phone." She flashed her tongue at him. "And, no, she's not coming. Says she has somewhere to be. Wishes us goodluck."
"Ah…" Merlin sounded down, and, well, he personally felt he was right to be.
His and Nora's membership at the gym had ended a while back, and even though Sunny had granted them a pass for a few weeks after a little bit of Janeth drama, that all came to an end now. They were on their way to the Academy, and they were going to be living within it; jogging to Sunny's gym every morning was now impossible, as well as training boxing with Sunny in the evening too. In other words, he probably wouldn't be able to see Janeth in a while—Sunny too.
Maybe they could get together sometime? Merlin thought, then suddenly chuckled. How the tables had turned. A month ago it was Janeth fighting for it, now he was the one considering it.
"What's so funny?" Nora started with a brow raised, still typing endlessly on her phone.
"Nothing that you need to concern yourself with," Merlin replied. "By the way… Why were you hurrying me if the uber isn't here yet?"
"Huh?" Nora blinked. "When did I ever say it wasn't here yet? I just need to send this message first."
A horn sounded at that moment—more than once in fact. Merlin was taken aback by Nora's actions. She must have lost her mind to be so relaxed while delaying their driver. He had never understood her, and he doubted he ever would.
Merlin and Nora sat in silence as the uber they had boarded drove them in the direction of the Academy, both engaged in two vastly different activities. Nora had her headset on, of course, playing Tower Raider. While Merlin scrolled through his System's Interface on his phone.
NAME: Merlin Tyrrell
AGE: 17
MAGE CLASS: Deficient
SYSTEM CLASS: ???
[ATTRIBUTES]
STRENGTH: LV. 11
AGILITY: LV. 15
INTELLIGENCE: LV. 6
PERCEPTION: LV. 7
RESILIENCE: LV. 26
[Blue Quests ongoing (2):
Strengthen your body, Merlin Tyrrell. (The strength of a Mage not only lies in their prowess with magic, but also in their physicality. A better body makes a better Mage.)
Be clear of mind and spirit, Merlin Tyrrell. (If you are quiet enough, you will hear the flow of the universe. You will feel its rhythm. Go with this flow. Meditation is key. A better mind and soul makes a better Mage.)]
[Progress to leveling up Strength: 55.25%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Agility: 64%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 46%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Perception: 94%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Resilience: 41%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 270]
Merlin smiled at the sight of the large numbers before his view, recalling when they had been so low that he had almost lost his mind. And it was all thanks to him never letting up in his training.
He had taken a break once, the day after the assessment exam, but after that he had gone back to work. And he had progressed so much physically as well that when the Academy's uniform had arrived, he had had to send it back, because his measurements had changed.
He was more fit now. Had more muscle mass than he had ever thought he would, but still a long way from what he would need if he was to be able to tackle Dungeons on his own.
I'm fine with taking things slow, though… No rush…
As for the free Attribute Points he had been stockpiling for a while now, he knew what Attribute he was going to be sending them to. He needed to at least close the gap with Nora before she ran away completely.
Assign two-hundred-and-seventy A.P. to Intelligence…
[Assigning...]
[Successful]
[+270 Attribute Points have been assigned to Intelligence]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 46%/100%] → [81%/100%]
[Intelligence has leveled up!]
[Intelligence Level 6 → Level 7]
Merlin blinked owlishly as a surreal feeling tingled all over his body, his brain bombarded with vague information that he barely understood but didn't feel foreign to him. And in those pieces of information, what he figured out was that…He glanced at Nora…He had been closer to her than he had thought. level seven was the level he had needed to be able to deconstruct an A-Class Mage's Novice, Tier III spells.
It was weird, though. He had just gotten to level six, and it was the point where he felt his mana was strong enough to deconstruct an A-Class Mage's Novice, Tier II spell. He would have thought that the gap between that and a Tier III would be massive, but it was just separated by a single level up. It sounded too good to be true. If only he could use Kieran as a point of reference, but their starting points were so vastly different that he couldn't even think about trying that.
Does this mean that the higher I level up, the less gap there is between me getting stronger at deconstruction? But the levels numbered to a hundred, if I remember correctly. If level seven is already putting me on the same level as an A-Class Mage who completely mastered basic mana control, then what sort of being am I going to become at something like level fifty?
He recalled that there was a point in Singularity Mage where Kieran had become a massive powerhouse, but he couldn't quite recall what level the protagonist had been, or chapter.
That was the thing about a novel numbering up to a thousand chapters. And he was not even halfway into it on his reread. It was easier when he had been following it daily.
Merlin shook his head as he suddenly realized that his train of thought concerning his deconstruction was filled with lapses.
Deconstructing wasn't that simple. There were other things associated with it. He was just taking it at face value at the moment. Yes, he could deconstruct an A-Class Mage's Novice, Tier III spell now, but what about the damage? Was he strong enough to withstand it? That aside, could he deconstruct more than a single spell at once? And what about the distance? He had noticed that at the moment he couldn't deconstruct spells that were very far away from him. He needed to be at most thirty steps away from the caster. Those were the things he had to take into consideration. And when he realized that he was actually nowhere near the level he wanted, he leaned back glumly with a sigh.
Dissatisfied with how perusing his User Interface had ended, he turned to his mail and scrolled through the leaflet the Academy had sent.
Students were expected to arrive at the Academy before nine, and head to their respective dorms to have their luggages checked by their dorm master. Then once it had clocked ten, they were to make their way to the auditorium, where they would receive their orientation and be officially welcomed into the Academy.
Merlin hoped that his school life would go rather smoothly. For some reason, he couldn't shake off the eerie feeling hanging onto his nape, like he was forgetting something important—something he should be remembering. But there was nothing he could do about it, so he shifted his mind to something that wouldn't stress him out, and there were only two things that did that: fiction and music. He went for the latter. But before he could engage in the act, the uber abruptly stopped, startling him and prompting Nora to take off her headset.
"Is there a problem, sir?" Nora asked, peeking from the backseat where they were. She was quite polite when she wanted to be.
"There's traffic up ahead," the driver replied. "It seems there's a commotion going on."
A commotion?
Merlin glanced out of the car and noticed that the walkway was filled with onlookers capturing whatever was going on up ahead. He quickly rolled down the window to see what exactly had captured the attention of everyone. Nora was no different. In fact, she took it up a notch.
"Do you mind unlocking the door, sir?"
"Huh?" The driver sounded confused. "Why would you want to head out there? It's obvious what's going on, isn't it?" he asked, then pointed towards the windscreen of the car and at the Consortium Mages running onto the scene in their blue fitted combat suit with the hexagonal logo of their Guild etched on its sleeves.
Merlin wouldn't deny that he too was curious. He always was. And that got the better of him at this moment, because despite the danger stepping out of the car at the moment could bring his and Nora's way, he repeated what she had said.
"Please, open the door, sir."
The driver glanced at him and sighed. "These Mage Academy students have no sense of danger." The car's doors clicked at that moment, and Merlin and Nora rushed out, not even replying to the man's comment.
There was a 'do not cross' line up ahead, and the hold up was as an effect of the cars turning back. The bit of chaos here and there was due to the presence of the Consortium Mages. After all, when the Consortium Mages took control of a situation, it meant that there had been a Dungeon or Tower break. In other words, Spawns—monsters that had escaped from the Dungeon or Tower—were close by.
"Janeth was right," Merlin mumbled under his breath.
Nora, who was standing on the other side of the car glanced his way. "Huh?"
Merlin turned to her. "Remember? She said that there have been Dungeon Breaks recently. I never thought we would get this close to one."
Nora clicked her tongue. "There's nothing to see here, though."
Which was the best situation they could have hoped for, and more than normal too. There was no way the Consortium would let the monsters get this close to the city. They were always near every area where the mana reading was high so as to be right on time when a Dungeon or Tower portal appeared. That way they could take control of a Break before it got out of hand.
The driver of their uber pressed his horn at them in that instant, impatient.
"We should go now!" he said, his head peeking out of his window.
"You heard the man," Merlin called out to his sister. "Let's leave, or we'll be late for the orientation."
At that moment, a scream echoed through the area, catching Merlin's tongue at its tip, preventing him from saying one more word. He instantly shifted his attention to where it had come from.
A monster had appeared.
Merlin knew which this one was. It was a Troll. A D-Rank monster that was just as brutish as its name, with skin the color of gravel, long limbs, and a face that almost resembled that of a horse, wielding its signature weapon: A mace.
Trolls were slow-witted monsters. And that should have meant that they were not as threatening as their physicality made them out to be. But this Troll wasn't here alone. There was a hooded being standing just behind it, almost eerily similar to a Necromancer.
Merlin knew which monster that was. It was a Caster. A purely support monster that did nothing but enhance the abilities of other monsters.
How had they gotten here? He wondered briefly. There were no portals in sight, which meant that the Break must have happened some ways ahead, and there was no way Consortium Mages weren't there.
Well, it didn't matter. There were Mages present here. They would definitely find a way to take care of it; and even though he would have loved to see how the battle played out, he had to set his priorities straight. It wouldn't be a good look for a Deficient Mage to be arriving at the Academy late. And, besides, who knew what could transpire in the heat of battle? He didn't want to be here if something unpredictable happened. He was not exactly battle ready now, was he?
"Hey, Nora! Time to go!!" Merlin called out as the people in the area scurried about, seeking shelter. Even those who had been recording put off their phones. Some boys and girls his age went on with it regardless, foolhardy; but that was none of his business.
Merlin immediately pulled open the back door of the uber, happy that he had not yet taken a step too far from it. The driver was very eager to leave the vicinity as well. That was evident in the fact that he had turned on the ignition already without his passengers telling him to. Maybe he would leave them if they didn't get in soon.
However… Merlin's twin sister didn't seem ready.
Nora watched with furrowed brows, as the only three Consortium Mages in the area rushed towards the monsters, their Grimoires hovering at their sides, and their spells dancing at their fingertips.
"Hey, Nora…" Merlin called again, this time his voice low. "Don't you dare tell me…"
She glanced at him and pointed in the direction of the monsters. "I think we should help them."