Nora stared at her brother in silence, and Merlin stared back. That was, until a loud thwack came from the back of his head, forcing his gaze down to the table as a searing pain shot through it.
"Hey! What was that for?!" he screamed with a clenched chin as soon as he realized what had just happened. Nora's hand was still up where she had slapped him.
"Are you out of your mind, Merlin Tyrrell?!" she roared. "Why do you look so happy? Don't you see what's wrong with this thing? A System? That doesn't exist. You'll be lucky if you've not been infected by a virus."
Merlin clicked his tongue and showed her the interface on his screen. "This is hovering before my eyes at this moment. I'm not being delusional."
"Then… A virus that makes you hallucinate. There are a lot of things that the cataclysm brought to this world; perhaps new viruses are one of those," Nora argued.
Hey, Merlin wouldn't dispute the fact that his sister was right in her way of thinking. Being infected was a more plausible conclusion than being in possession of a System. However, because it was implausible at first glance didn't mean that it should be discarded as useless. After all…
"Let's say we were born before the cataclysm, if I told you that one day humans would cast spells and fight monsters coming out of things called gates, would you have believed me?" Nora flinched, and finally lowered her hand. Had she really been meaning to slap him once more if needed? She was probably the only sister in the world that slapped her twin brother when he got on her nerves.
"That's…" She struggled to find a reply to that.
Jackpot!
"So, you see? I'm not wrong for thinking that there's a chance this is real," Merlin said with a sigh, turning his gaze back to his phone. "But it's also possible that it's as you say. Maybe I've been infected with a virus, and I should probably seek treatment. But wouldn't that be rash of me? Thinking like that? The damage has been done, the least I can do is test it out."
It's one thing to receive a, quote and un-quote, System. And it's another for it to actually be real.
Nora exhaled and sat down beside him.
"Well, I guess you're somewhat right. Earth is already a completely different place than it used to be." She rested her cheek on her palm and pointed a languid finger at his phone. "So, you received it from the author of that novel you're always reading, right? If what you told me and everything I read is correct."
Merlin nodded. "Yeah. It's a System I helped build—apparently," he said. "It was an interactive novel, you see. And I contributed in deciding what skills the protagonist got."
"The Kieran?"
"Yes, the Kieran," Merlin replied with a frown. "Who else would I be referring to?"
"Don't ask me." Nora shrugged. "Anyways, it poses a lot of questions. For example, why were you the one he gifted that?"
"Duh… Because I was the only reader?"
"Then who is he to be able to gift you something like that? And that Reader Mage Perk you got. Analyze and deconstruct spells… Is it what I'm thinking it is?"
Merlin grinned. "Of course!"
He was so loud with that reply of his, and that was because Reader Mage was his baby—the first and best skill he had created for Kieran. If the System really was real, then he would become the bane of Mages and monsters, considering what Reader Mage could do. Magic as a whole would be ineffective against him. And, maybe—just maybe—there would be a reason for him to be accepted into Prestige Academy.
He almost scoffed at himself. He had read Singularity Mage solely because he wanted to see Kieran rise from the weakling he was into the greatest Mage ever, not because he saw himself in the character. But, now, he had become exactly that character. He'd become what he'd read.
Ironic…
"That's actually crazy," Nora said, she almost sounded glum. Was she? "You being able to stop any spells cast your way would be the worst thing for humanity."
Merlin reddened. "What do you mean?!"
She raised her shoulders and stretched out her palms. "I'm just saying… You're already a madman as it is. When no one can beat some sense into you, it will only make matters worse."
Merlin narrowed his eyes. "Why would you need magic to beat some sense into me, you brute?"
"You said you wanted to test it out…" Nora ignored Merlin's question. "How do you intend to do that?"
Merlin sighed. "I'm not exactly sure. To see if I can really analyze and deconstruct spells, I would need a Mage to cast one at me. There's no Mage that can help with that." Nora tapped on the table silently, and when Merlin looked at her, she pointed at herself. He blinked owlishly for a second. "You must be crazy. Newly evaluated Mages are not allowed to practice spell casting unless they have a supervisor, or until they've gotten to the Academy. We don't have the money to hire a supervisor, and it'll be months before you even know if you've gotten admitted into Prestige Academy. The assessment is a month away, do you realize that? And, besides, your Grimoire is yet to arrive."
Nora clicked her tongue. "Look Merlin, I'll give it to you straight. I'm not going to the assessment without knowing one or two spells. Do you think an assessment of Mages will not require us to cast spells?"
"If that was the case, then there wouldn't be a rule requiring us to need a supervisor to practice," Merlin argued.
"That's because you're looking at it wrong," continued Nora. "They never said we cannot practice without a Mage, it's just advisable to do so with one present. What we're not allowed to practice without is a Grimoire."
Merlin stood corrected. However, his worries remained. Channeling mana was risky, especially if the Mage was an A-Class Mage, like Nora, with a pool of mana only second to an S-Class Mage. He didn't know exactly why, but what he knew was that she could explode if things went wrong. What would he tell Mom then?
"Still…"
"Why are you so against this?" Nora tilted her head with furrowed brows. "You get to test out your System, and see if it's the real deal, and I get to train in spell casting. It's a win-win situation for both of us. And, besides, you know even if you don't agree to this, I'll still practice either way. So you better just take it while I'm being nice."
That was not exactly supposed to convince him, but when she put it that way…
"Ugh… Nora. I just don't want you exploding." Merlin scratched the top of his head. She was even more stubborn than him when she wanted to be. "Fine. You have a deal."
Nora smiled. "Good." She then glanced at the cold food on the table, and her expression tightened. "I swear, Merlin, if you don't finish that food, I'll never cook for you again. Got it?"
Merlin's muscles quivered. His lips shifted to the side slightly and they twitched. "Understood," he replied.
Nora stood up then. "I have a ranked match in the morning; I'm going to bed. Take care of the dishes."
"Will do," he replied simply, and she was gone. Merlin's attention instantly went back to the System, glancing between the User Interface hovering before his eyes and that on his phone's screen. He still couldn't believe this was real.
I wonder how analyzing and deconstructing spells will fare out at the Academy's assessment exam if it turns out to be true. Will I really be able to make it in for being able to cancel out spells? Because, technically, I'm still not the type of Mage that is needed to raid Dungeons and Towers. I cannot cast spells, which means being at the forefront in raids will be difficult. So when it comes down to it, I'll most likely be a support like the healer class always is in all those adventure games. I doubt the Academy wants to train any deadweight. That aside, what would they think of the ability? There are no records of anything like it existing.
Merlin's eyes widened as a shock coursed through his body.
"Hey, Nora!" he shouted. "If this is real, will I be put in a lab and dissected?!"
"Probably," she had taken a few seconds, but she replied regardless. "But like you said, no Deficient Mage has ever gotten admission into Prestige Academy. So to have a chance and stand out, you'll probably have to rely on that Reader Mage thingy. Left to me, though, I'd tell you not to use it. But I know how desperate you are to become a Mage, so I doubt you'll listen to me. The choice is yours to make."
Merlin's mood soured somewhat. "Being dissected, huh?" He shuddered.
"On the other hand," Nora continued. "I doubt that such will happen. To be honest, I won't sit back quietly, and neither will Mom or Dad. One thing I do know is that Mage Academies were created to both train and study Mages. There are a lot of things the world still doesn't know about magic. So, even if you'll be seen as weird, you most likely won't be carted off to a lab. I'm sure the government doesn't want to deal with all the drama that would come of that. You'll probably be admitted into Prestige Academy, if anything, so that they can keep an eye on you. That's what I think. Now, please don't shout again. I want to sleep."
Merlin smiled. Well, that cheered him up. He glanced at his phone and heaved out a sigh. Then he put it off, and kept it aside, the interface hovering before his eyes vanishing out of sight as well.
He was about to dig into his food when he decided to test if summoning the System functioned in the exact same way as it did in Singularity Mage.
System… he called, and it appeared. With a mental cue for the word: 'get out', it went away as well. Merlin nodded. It did function in the same way.
With all that done, it was time for him to dig into his food. One spoon later, he wished he had eaten while the curry was hot.
Merlin woke up the next day to a fascinating sight. He had not called for the System, but it came to him either way, hovering with words he couldn't comprehend in his dazed state. Well, at least at first.
[Blue Quest received: 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.]
[Progress to leveling up Strength: 0%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Agility: 0%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 0%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Perception: 0%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Resilience: 0%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 0]
Merlin rubbed his eyes, hoping that the words before them would completely vanish from his sight once he was done. They remained, to his dilemma.
He had no idea what exactly he was to do here. The only thing he could think of was exercising, and he'd never been one for that. Which was why his body was the lanky spectacle it was.
To be honest, he would be just fine with leveling up his Intelligence Attribute, as that was what directly tied to his ability to analyze and deconstruct spells. But what he could do for that was alien to him. The only way he could think of was by using Attribute Points. But the System was smart. It had tied his ability to obtain Attribute Points to his leveling up progress.
He really had no choice but to exercise, huh?
Merlin shook his head, stood up from his bed, and wore his tracksuit. As he stepped out of his room, he was met with another astonishing sight. Nora was also dressed in a tracksuit. She eyed him from head to toe, and he did the same. Then, at the same time…
"Where do you think you're going?"