"I thought you said you had to get to college?" asked Nora with a tilted head. She was a rather curious being, and never failed to let that known.
Merlin was too, but in the short time since he'd met Janeth, he had come to notice that whenever she was around, he had fewer words to speak. And the way she had worded what she'd said earlier made it seem like she had been silently watching them all this while. For someone else, that might seem creepy. For Merlin, it just made him even more sheepish.
Although, how had they not noticed her presence? That was something that stuck to his head despite the reactions of his seemingly feeble heart.
Janeth shrugged in reply to Nora's question. "The lecturer did it again," she said. "It's the fourth time this semester he's bailed on us."
That was a rather casual reply. It was not like they knew who the lecturer was.
"Ah, I see…" Nora played along regardless. Then… "You don't have many friends, do you?"
Merlin gasped and sharply turned to his sister. "Nora!" he voiced as he pinched her lips shut. She pushed him away. His words didn't stop there, though. "Why would you say that?"
"You didn't let me finish," she shot back. "At least let me before you get all up in my face!"
What else could she have to say that would justify asking such a sensitive question?
Despite Merlin upbraiding his sister, though, he was well curious deep down. And that was why he said nothing more.
Nora turned her attention back to Janeth. "I didn't mean to be rude, despite how that came out. I was just wondering. Usually, when classes end up not being held, people tend to go out with their friends instead, you know, to arcades and such, maybe even reading. It's the first time I've seen someone return to the gym to watch two ignorant Mages practice." She paused. "So, like I said, I do not mean to be rude. I'm just curious."
Well, Merlin wouldn't say he saw much difference between letting her finish what she wanted to say, and her stopping earlier. In fact, her completing her words made the situation even more awkward.
Despite Merlin's curiosity, he hated 'awkward', and was just about to find any means to dispel the silence that had fallen upon them, when Janeth chuckled as though unoffended. Perhaps she wasn't. Her expression was one without animosity.
"Haha… I get you," Janeth said. "It's normal to be curious. I would be too. Just that I wouldn't have said it as bluntly as you did."
"My bad," said Nora. "I find it hard to sugarcoat my words."
You got that right!
Merlin could not count how many times he'd tried to stop her from incurring the wrath of other people because her tongue was somewhat loose. He'd had no choice but to see it as the downside of being exceptionally smart. Not like him being less smart made him any more social, though.
Janeth nodded in response to Nora. "It's good. Remain that way. There's no point in sucking up to people. It's just a recipe for being used by others." Then she shrugged. "And, yes, I don't have many friends. I'm only close to Sunny, to be honest. That's one of the reasons I'm always at the gym."
She threw her gaze around the room, from its ceilings to its walls, and to its mat.
"We've been friends since we were kids, you see. His father used to own the gym before it was passed onto him, and this was where I came to play after school. Since I was surrounded by heavy metals day in and day out, it's only natural I came to like them too, right? Ah. On that note, want to hear something funny? Sunny's so skinny it baffles me. Despite growing up the son of a gym owner, and ending up as one himself. It's almost like he never wants to touch a single metal in a gym." She laughed heartily. Merlin felt a pang of jealousy touch his chest. Maybe her and Sunny were more than just friends.
"You know…" Nora began as soon as Janeth's laughter died down. "We don't have many friends either. Heck, we've only been in Korea for a couple of days. And since we'll be spending most of our mornings here going forward, it would be nice if we could get to know each other better." Janeth blinked, seemingly surprised at the turn of the conversation. Nora gave a nasty grin then and jerked a thumb at Merlin. "The truth is, I'm bored out of my wits having only my doofus brother to talk to." Hey! "Some girls' time would be nice."
Janeth glanced at Merlin, who immediately traded his frown for a flush, then smiled. "That would be nice."
Nora reciprocated Janeth's smile and nodded. "Perfect." She then turned to Merlin who had no say in the matter—not like he minded, though. "What next now?" She glanced at her wristwatch. "It seems shooting spells is going to take a bit of hard work, so what do you want to do? It's already past ten. We can't keep going for the whole day, you know? I have to bathe, and cook, and, well, play Tower Raider. Continue tomorrow?"
Merlin didn't have a problem with that. He already knew getting Nora to achieve spell launching today would be one heck of a hurdle, but, unlike her, he was yet to achieve anything, and he was not leaving this gym without something.
"No," he said. "I have to see if I can deconstruct it."
With those words, he glanced at Janeth who was watching them from the door, obviously curious what possibilities lay with magic as a whole.
He wondered if deconstructing a spell before her would be the wisest of choices, considering it wasn't something that was particularly common in the world, but he quickly thought against it. Janeth had said she wasn't a Mage, for one. And it was not like had any intention of hiding his capabilities. That was his gateway to becoming a Mage. What use would it being a secret do for him?
"Fine," Nora shrugged. "But I can't hurl it at you, you know?"
"Yeah, that's okay," replied Merlin. "I'll just deconstruct it while it sits on your palm. Beggars can't be choosers."
"What self awareness. I like that for you, little brother." Nora jested.
"Shut up," Merlin frowned. "We're twins."
Then she channeled her mana, and her Grimoire flipped open in response. But just before it took to the sky, she caught it, noticing something that she had missed previously.
"Wait," she said. "Look at this, Merlin."
Merlin blinked owlishly then peered into the Grimoire. On its first page were words detailing the steps on how Nora had formed her first spell, the air ball.
"The Grimoire did this itself? This was not in the manual," said Merlin. Then his eyes widened. "Hold up. Does this mean any spell you learn will be recorded within the Grimoire? Like your personal diary?"
Nora nodded. "I think it's because of my mana. The Grimoire requires my mana to function, and since it's an extension of my being, it must have any knowledge I possess. It makes sense that the Grimoire knows what I know."
"But that doesn't explain how it writes it down by itself, though. It's as if it has a mind of its own."
"I know right?"
"Woah, that's neat!" Janeth said suddenly from behind Merlin and Nora, causing them both to flinch. They had not noticed her come up to them. She smiled when they turned around. "Magic is really neat."
It really was, Merlin supported inwardly. But she was too close.
"You like magic, don't you?" Nora asked, her eyebrows raised.
"I do," Janeth didn't deny. "One doesn't have to be a Mage to like it, right?"
"Of course not." Nora waved a hand over her face. "If you want, I can tell you all about it as I learn more? Well, it's not like you can't find enough to satiate your interest on the internet anyway, but nothing beats discussions, I tell you."
Janeth nodded rather enthusiastically. It was like she had become a child once again.
"I'd like that."
They were hitting it off, weren't they? Another wave of jealousy stormed Merlin's core.
Tsk.
Nora turned back to him then. "Alright, Merlin. Let's get on with it! Time's running out, and you know I have things to do."
"You mean you have Tower Raider to play." He had suddenly become irritable.
"What's Tower Raider?" Janeth asked. Nora gasped so loud you would think someone had fallen down a flight of stairs.
"You did not…" She leaned closer to Janeth, forcing the young lady to take a step back in confusion. She even looked towards Merlin for help. He couldn't offer any though. Not especially when it involved Tower Raider. But, luckily for her, Nora was rather lenient to first timers. She backed off immediately. "I guess I'll have to add that to the list of things we'll sit down and have a chat about. Can't have you walking around oblivious to the existence of something so spectacular."
Fanaticism was really a curse. Merlin sighed.
"A-Alright, I guess." Janeth said nothing more. And Merlin finally had the chance to earn something from his trip to the gym.
But when Nora's Grimoire floated up, and her air ball appeared on her palm, a glance of his at Janeth to see the look of awe on her face made his heart pound faster. Deconstructing spells suddenly became a lot harder than he thought it would be.
However, at that moment, he had an idea.
The whole reason he had received a second Blue Quest was because of his growing infatuation with Janeth; that, apparently, made him lose sight of what he was meant to concentrate on. So, what if meditating wasn't the only way to progress that Quest? Maybe achieving something worthwhile even while she was present, and his mind was wandering, would bring about the same outcome as meditating.
It wouldn't hurt to give it a try—not like he had a choice.
Merlin focused his mind and willed for the System to activate his Perk, just as he recalled Kieran had done it. Then he turned his attention onto the spinning ball of air on Nora's palm.
[Perk: Reader Mage Activated]
[Analyzing spell…]
[Analysis complete]
[Spell: Air Ball.
Category: Novice.
Spell Wielder: A-Class Mage.
Spell Description: A multipurpose fast spinning ball of air made from the redirecting of the motion of air currents to flow in the opposite direction of the Earth's rotation.]
[Deconstructing Process: Air currents cannot be stopped. However, they can be forced to change into other forms through turbulence. Generate downdraft by sending a wave of your mana downwards at high speed into the path of the air currents. And, most importantly, brace for explosion.
Brace for explosion?!
[Deconstruct?]
[Yes?]/[No?]
Yes… Merlin replied with his heart in his throat, like he was staring down a cliff. The world around him muffled, and all he could hear was his own heartbeats. If this worked, then everything about him would change—every single thing.
However, he did not forget the description of his Perk. His Intelligence was significantly low, and not all spells could be deconstructed. But from reading Singularity Mage, he knew that something as crude as Nora's first spell should be well within his expertise. If he could not even do this, then it was probably pointless going forward.
Merlin clenched his chin and stretched his hand over Nora's air ball. A sudden gush of warmth rushed from his body towards his hand, his mana leaking out of his palm visibly to form a surge of blue electricity coalescing into a circle.
[Deconstructing…]
[1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… 9… 10…]
At that moment, Merlin's hand reverberated, shot back by a sudden force that emanated from Nora's air ball exploding into oblivion, surprising everyone present so much that they remained speechless.
It… It worked…
Merlin's eyes widened in disbelief, his chest rising and fell rapidly, and his brows soaked with sweat. It had taken everything out of him to deconstruct a single, crude spell. But he had done it either way. And, as a result, he couldn't help but smile. Even better, was the System stroking his ego.
[Deconstruction Complete]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 5%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 5]
[On the path to becoming a Mage, aren't you, Merlin Tyrrell?]