“Tch… You’re a monster,” Hakyun commented, unable to choose between amazement at seeing anti-magic at work, or frustration that he and Chima had been unable to beat Merlin in the two times they had gone at it before their time in the training room had run out.

  Merlin chuckled stiltedly. “I think I’ve heard enough of that already.”

  Hakyun had been repeating that statement ever since they had walked out of the training room, and they had showered already. If the boy kept on saying it, Merlin felt like his head would explode from all the fttery being thrown his way. He was not anything special—at least to deserve being called a monster.

  Chima, on the other hand, was staring at his palm while lying on the couch, silent. He had been that way ever since their training had concluded.

  Merlin turned his gaze in the boy’s direction.

  He wondered if Chima had taken the duels more seriously than he had thought. If so, then why had he been holding back—a lot too? Merlin doubted he would have won if the boy had been of the mind to, well, kill him, for instance. Though, he doubted Chima needed to initiate mode: bloodlust to defeat someone like him. A Deficient Mage was a far cry from an A-Css Mage after all.

  He did not like the gloomy mood, though. So he decided to ask.

  “Something on your mind?”

  Chima sighed audibly and put down his hand. “Nah. Don’t mind me.”

  “Are you the killjoy now?” Hakyun snorted as he made himself some cereal, which was of a rather abysmal ratio of milk to corn fkes. There was no way it didn’t all turn soggy.

  Hold on. Why was that even qualifying as dinner in the first pce?

  “Shut up,” Chima bit at Hakyun before sitting up. “It’s just that…I was thinking about how weak we are.” Merlin blinked, well aware of the direction the conversation was heading, as Hakyun began scooping his dinner into his mouth. “You see, I understand that Merlin was the one the headmaster called to tell about the coming of the cataclysm, but let’s be real with ourselves here, four-eyes, do you think he’ll be the only one fighting? We honestly have to better ourselves. That’s what I was thinking about. So, no, I’m not being a killjoy, I was just taking a moment to consider our future and its reality.”

  Merlin sighed. Chima was right. The battle that was coming wasn’t going to be only his, every Mage present was going to be needed; that meant that Chima and Hakyun were no different. However, that didn’t mean they should let it weigh them down. Merlin was more than happy to bear the load. Everyone didn’t have to be bogged down by the future when they could enjoy living in the present. Only one person had to. Only him.

  He was just about to open his mouth to rey his thoughts, hoping it would serve as some sort of reassurance to Chima, when Hakyun cleared his throat quite loudly.

  “And?” Hakyun started, drawing Merlin and Chima’s gaze his way. “So we shouldn’t enjoy school life because we’re going to be thrown to the battlefield way sooner than we thought?”

  Chima’s brows furrowed. “That’s not what I said.”

  “Well, that’s what you were implying.” Hakyun took another spoon of his cereal and shoved it into his mouth. “Look, if we don’t get to enjoy school life now, when are we going to? During the war? I’ll be straight with you both, I’m going to make the most out of the time I have now. When the future comes, I’ll deal with it then. No. We’ll deal with it together. How does the saying go? Live in the present, the future will worry about itself…something like that. Anyway, let’s just focus on us now. I’m not saying we shouldn’t train, but let’s not become so obsessed with it that we forget we’re kids. I’m a kid, and I’m going to live like one until I’m no longer one.” He took another spoon of his cereal and smiled brightly. “The milk is just the right amount. Soggy fkes is just the best.”

  Merlin couldn’t help but smile. That was the thing he liked about the d. Hakyun never had second thoughts about making his mind known. He, on the other hand, always deyed. He was always afraid of how he would be perceived and that made it hard for him to speak up at times. He had to better himself.

  He turned to Chima.

  “Hakyun's right,” he said. “We shouldn’t let the thought of the arrival of the cataclysm weigh us down, okay?”

  Chima stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed and nodded. “Sure. Ugh… Now I’m hungry.” He then stood up, grumbling inaudibly as he made his way to the kitchen area.

  Hakyun frowned. “I hope you’re not trying to copy my recipe, brute?”

  Chima scoffed, waving his hand at Hakyun. “I like my fkes crunchy. I’m not an animal like you.”

  Hakyun snorted in reply. Merlin smiled at the exchange.

  However, deep down, he knew that he was different from them. He was the hope of the world. If the cataclysm came and he was not well prepared to battle it, the destruction that pgued the world twenty years ago would repeat itself. He couldn’t let that happen.

  He picked up his phone and opened up the System. There had been no time for him to check his gains from his training, so he decided to do it now before it slipped his mind. After all, he was rather sleepy, so he felt that once he went into his room, it would be lights out for him.

  The blue eye insignia of the System appeared before his screen, and a second ter disappeared, revealing Merlin’s user interface to him.

  NAME: Merlin Tyrrell

  AGE: 17

  MAGE CLASS: Deficient

  SYSTEM CLASS: ???

  [ATTRIBUTES]

  STRENGTH: LV. 11

  AGILITY: LV. 16

  INTELLIGENCE: LV. 8

  PERCEPTION: LV. 8

  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: 98.75%/100%]

  [Progress to leveling up Agility: 26%/100%]

  [Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 46.5%/100%]

  [Progress to leveling up Perception: 28.5%/100%]

  [Progress to leveling up Resilience: 84.5%/100%]

  [Free Attribute Points received: 25]

  There were no level ups, but Merlin didn’t feel so bad. His Strength was just an hour of calisthenics away to level up. Of course, he could just assign his free Attribute Points into it and achieve that right this instant, but he had made up his mind that unless the situation was a dire one, requiring him to input the points into something else, his Intelligence Attribute would be his go-to from now on.

  Assign twenty-five A.P to Intelligence…

  [Assigning...]

  [Successful]

  [+25 Attribute Points have been assigned to Intelligence]

  [Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 46.5%/100%] → [59%/100%]

  More than halfway to another level up… I wonder what I’ll be able to do by level twenty…

  From his training, he had also come to understand more on how the System seemed to assign him points. When he deconstructed a spell, the Attribute Points he received were tantamount to how much progress his Intelligence Attribute went through. On the other hand, at the end of his battle, the Attribute Points he received were two-times the progress of all his Attributes.

  After his training duel with Chima and Hakyun, his Attributes had all progressed by ten percent, five percent for each duel, and his Attribute Points assigned were twenty. It had been this way during the physical assessment where his progress had been by twenty percent and his Attribute Points had been forty, as well as back during his fight with the Necromancer.

  Which also brought him to the realization that the System also progressed his Attributes based on the level of danger he faced. He had progressed his most in a single instance during his battle with the knights in the physical assessment. And the reason was as obvious as the rising sun. He had been gravely injured.

  In other words, if he wanted to get stronger faster, he needed to have multiple close shaves with death.

  Merlin pressed his lips together. That was absurd. He had come to the conclusion that venturing into a Dungeon would help with his progress, but he had not realized that if he wanted exponential growth it was dependent on how close to death he was.

  If I get even better, then there’ll only be so much training within the Academy would do to help with my growth. Unless, I start having to fight the professors themselves… He almost chuckled. Basically, training will not get me to the point I’m aiming for… Do I really have no choice but venture into Dungeons?

  He was being driven insane.

  “And, you, Merlin…” Hakyun started suddenly, snapping Merlin out of his thoughts and drawing his gaze to him. “I was waiting for you to ask, but since you won’t, I guess I’ll just be out with it anyway.”

  Merlin put off his phone as he blinked owlishly, unsure what exactly Hakyun was talking about.

  Was there something he should have asked about? Had they been engaged in a discussion he had forgotten?

  He gnced at Chima, but the boy looked just as lost as he munched on his own cereal. That meant Hakyun was the only one aware of whatever topic he was bringing up.

  Merlin didn’t have to wait long for his confusion to be cleared up though.

  “Yes, I didn’t tell you guys all about me and Sangook’s history,” Hakyun began, and Merlin immediately understood why Hakyun had said what he’d said a moment ago, while Chima put a pause on his dinner. “We’re more than just bullied kid and bully. We’ve known each other ever since we were kids. Well, truly, there’s not much to say. We were friends for like a minute; and when I say for a minute, I truly mean for a minute. Because it didn’t st any longer.”

  Hakyun paused, but Merlin and Chima didn’t interrupt.

  “You see, my father works as his, well, father’s driver. You know, the Guildmaster of the Golden Crown Guild? Well, one of the days my dad was to drive Sangook to school—this was back in middle school—I was te, so I missed the bus. And, by whatever stroke of luck that was, while I was waiting for another, my dad drove past the bus stop and noticed me. Long story short, my dad managed to persuade Sangook to let me ride in the car. It was all good at first. But after that day, whenever we met, it was absolute horror for me. I was honestly surprised. We were cool one minute, and the next, it was like we’d had a big fight.”

  He sighed.

  “Well, my dad took it a step further. When he found out I was a Mage, he pleaded with Sangook’s dad to help with getting me into Prestige Academy. Not like we could afford the absurd evaluation fee of the Consortium Guild after all. Well, for some alien reason that even surprised me, Guildmaster Choi footed the bills for both my evaluation fee and the entrance exam. The rest was all up to me, so I studied real hard and practiced real hard despite not having a supervisor. And I’m gd that I got in, make no mistake, but…I really wish my dad hadn’t done that.” He put down his bowl of cereal. It must have gotten even more soggy to the point of being inedible. “I’ll be honest. I don’t think I can avoid Sangook for long. If he wants something from me, then I’m just going to have to give it to him. I owe it to his family after all.”

  Merlin was lost for words. He had not expected their history to be such a…complex one. And he couldn’t help but be as surprised as Hakyun due to Sangook’s switch.

  Was there something else? He felt like it was practically impossible for someone to be friendly one second and be so ferocious the next.

  Or was it?

  Perhaps it had just been Hakyun’s skewed way of interpreting the boy granting him the grace to ride in his car, and he had missed the cues of animosity the boy had towards him. And it was not until it was taken up a notch that he noticed.

  Still… Why would anyone be so cool with making another’s life a living hell?

  Choi Sangook… What was up with that guy?

  Chima’s spoon cttered into his bowl in that instant, snapping Merlin out of his thoughts. He then smmed his hand on the table.

  “Listen to me, four-eyes,” Chima sounded furious, “you don’t owe anyone anything, okay? Especially not that guy. Just because your father works for his father doesn’t mean you have to take his bullshit. And if repaying his father’s kindness to you is by bending over for him, then you don’t have to repay anything. I don’t want to ever hear you say something so stupid again. Do you hear me?”

  Hakyun's lips remained tightly shut, an incredulous look on his face. He was taken aback by Chima’s sudden outburst. But that was only normal. Merlin had noticed it ever since his first day with the d, Chima was one of the best friends anyone could ask for. He was like Nora, just more jovial and cool headed. They both hated anything that had to do with misuse of power. And that was one of the reasons why Merlin was in full support.

  “Chima’s right, Hakyun,” Merlin said, drawing his roommates’ attention his way. “If bullying you is the way to repay his father’s kindness, then you don’t have to repay them. I strongly believe you should stand up for yourself. No one should have to go through that.”

  Hakyun was silent for a few seconds. Then he lowered his head and nudged his gsses back onto the bridge of his nose as he muttered, “Thank you, guys.”

  Chima scoffed. “Of course. If he tries anything, I’m gonna beat him up myself. No one else gets to make your life a living hell besides me.”

  Hakyun shot Chima a gre. “Y-You must be out of your mind. You can’t make my life a living hell!”

  Chima raised a brow. “Oh, really?”

  “Yes, really!”

  Merlin’s shoulders rexed as the room got all lively once again, and, instantly, he was unable to control his yawn any longer. He stood up, bid his bickering roomies goodnight—who were so engrossed in their tussle of words to even notice him taking his leave—and retired for the night. It had only been five days at the Academy, and a lot had happened already. It was fun.