Merlin was ecstatic, despite his right arm aching like it had been stormed by the piercing of countless needles at the same time. In fact, he couldn't move it at this moment. And, yet, it was impossible to stop himself from grinning.
"Geez, you've finally lost it, haven't you?" said Nora as she approached the living room, a stainless bowl filled with water and ice blocks in her hand. She sat down beside Merlin where he was on the couch, and placed the bowl down on the table. "Here, put your arm inside. Should help cool it down." Then she paused; a second later veins popped out the side of her head as she shot a glare at Merlin. "Will you stop grinning already?"
"I can't help it," replied Merlin, cheery. "I really have a System."
"Yeah, I was there. And this is like the hundredth time you've said it," Nora grumbled. "You'll make my ears bleed at this rate." She grabbed his hand. "Now put it inside."
Merlin yelped when she did that, even though a cold feeling crawled into the nerves of his arm a second later, cooling them. The pain he was feeling was not exactly mind numbing, but it was still there, regardless, and that took away his grin.
"Just look at how much you're hurting, and what you're concerned about is the fact that you have a System? What use is it if you get injured after every spell you deconstruct?"
That was the thing, this wasn't supposed to be happening. It had not been like this for Kieran in Singularity Mage.
Merlin had a couple of ideas why, though. For one, he had deconstructed the spell of an A-Class Mage, whose mana was at least ten times his own. It didn't matter if the spell was a crude, novice one, it was still the spell of an A-Class Mage. Kieran had not performed such a feat in Singularity Mage, until at least fifty chapters in. However, that was solely because the protagonist had not met a Mage of such caliber so early into the story. Because when he'd done it, he had not been in the same pain Merlin was feeling now. And Merlin could understand why.
Kieran had a good physique, honed from his years of toiling his family's farm and aptly fending off the predators that stalked their home in the mountains. His body could withstand more than whatever Merlin could. Which brought Merlin back to the System's Quests for him. He realized the importance of them now. He had thought just leveling up his Intelligence was all he needed, but that was probably foolish. What good was his ability to deconstruct spells if his body couldn't withstand it?
And that brought Merlin to his current dilemma…
Which Attribute do I assign my free points to? Do I go with Strength, or Resilience, or do I just continue with Intelligence like I have, despite the risks?
Now that his mind had wandered in that direction, it began eating into him.
His reason for wanting to level up his Intelligence was undeniably clear—it was tied to his ability to deconstruct spells. As for his Resilience, it was so that he could withstand the troubles that would come with him doing just that—at least for spells way above his level. And, as for his Strength, he had a nagging feeling that it was most likely connected to his Resilience.
It was more than obvious that building one's muscles was equivalent to raising their stamina and endurance for certain tasks. Sure, it was not a hard rule, but it would be difficult to come across a thin, wiry person being able to withstand what a rather beefy person could. And those thoughts made Merlin wonder—what if putting his Attribute Points in Resilience showed no effect until he'd leveled up his Strength? That would be a waste. He had to be meticulous with what he was doing here. And the fact that he had no knowledge about Quests was making this a lot harder.
If only the System was not modified.
Merlin glanced at Nora. She pressed his arm down into the bowl of ice water, peering into it like a hyena checking if a carcass was truly dead.
There was no point in trying to think of what to do alone. Two heads were better than one.
"Hey, Nora," he called.
"Hmmm…" she replied, not looking up at him.
"Mind helping me make a decision?"
"Not really," she replied, and rather calmly that Merlin was baffled for a moment. Then her true self came out. She shot him a glare. "If you're just trying to pick the opposite of what my answer is, then forget it. You're not getting me twice, nerd."
Merlin laughed sheepishly. She was still annoyed about what he did last time.
"I'm sorry, alright," he apologized. "You know that it was just the only choice I had back then. There was no option for me to quit the System's page."
"Hmph…" She scoffed. "So what is it you need to ask?"
Merlin relayed his thoughts to Nora, explaining it in as much detail as he could. When he was done, she too became visibly confused as to what to do. He was glad he was not the only one who was having a tough time making a decision.
However, unlike him, Nora was rather quick at making up her mind. It only took a few seconds of gazing silently into the bowl of ice water before she had something to say.
"Level up your Strength," she said. "That's obviously the best option." Merlin did not need to ask her 'why?' for her to go on. She loved doing this, so he just listened silently. "For one, it gives you versatility, you know? With your strength amped, you'll be able to physically do a lot of things that may come to help you later on. That's literally the whole point of Deficient Mages becoming Warriors in the first place." Merlin frowned. Nora didn't have to look up to notice that. "I'm just saying. Of course, I'm not trying to tell you to become a Warrior, I'm just advising you to have more options up your sleeve. You can already deconstruct spells, even if they're limited to like the crude versions of an A-Class Mage's. That's still something. Leveling up your Strength will prepare you for leveling up your Resilience, which in return will prepare you to be able to deconstruct any spells thrown your way. At the same time, you'll most likely be stronger than most people our age—if you take it seriously. Who knows? Maybe you'll get into Prestige Academy because of that versatility."
She'd said a lot, but it all made sense, so much that Merlin was willing to discard his slight annoyance at her for comparing his situation to that of other Deficient Mages who had become Warriors. It was not like she had lied, but the truth always hurt.
He sighed, and replied, "Got it."
"Also," she added. "What's the point in being able to deconstruct spells if your body cannot handle it?" She then narrowed her eyes at him. "Let me just say it now, I will not continue being your personal doctor, so you better get your body up to speed."
Merlin chuckled. "Got it. Got it."
And, with that, he called for his System, the blue interface appearing before his view as fast as lightning.
[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: 0%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Agility: 3%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 5%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Perception: 0%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Resilience: 3%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 5]
Reading his intentions, the words before Merlin's view shifted hazily into new ones.
[Assign +05 Attribute Points to Strength?]
[Yes?]/[No?]
Yes…
[Assigning...]
[Successful]
[+05 Attribute Points have been assigned to Strength]
[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: 2.5%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Agility: 3%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 5%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Perception: 0%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Resilience: 3%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 0]
Merlin couldn't help but click his tongue. Nora noticed this.
"What? You don't want to level up your Strength?"
Merlin shook his head. "No. It's not that. My growth's just too glacial," he said. "Two Attribute Points translate to one level up percentage. After putting the five I got from our practice into it, I only went up by two-point-five percent. At this rate, it'll take at least six months before I get to a hundred percent."
Nora frowned at him. "What are you talking about Merlin? This is only the second day since you've received your System. I think you're growing fast enough."
Merlin shook his head again. "No. You're saying this because you can't see what I'm talking about."
He then recalled that he could view his System from his phone, courtesy of the app that had installed on it after he had received the gift from The Sleeping Jacket. It was a handy way for him to not look like he had lost his mind in public when he wanted to glance through his stats, and it was even handier now, serving as a means to give Nora a glimpse into his worries. And he did just that.
Nora took the phone from his hand, flayed her eyes over its screen, and handed it back to him with the same look she had collected it with.
"My point still stands," she said, baffling Merlin. "In fact, showing me those stats just made me even more annoyed with you for grumbling. Is there something wrong with you? In just two days you've made progress on your Strength, Intelligence, Resilience, and Agility. How many people can boast of that? I know how long it took me constantly jogging to get to this point I am now."
Merlin's head jerked back, partially at the scolding he was receiving, and partially because he had actually not noticed his sister working hard. He was curious as to how long she had been undertaking such activities, but he couldn't bring himself to ask. Not now. Not when she was looking at him like that.
"So suck it up and just put in more effort," she continued. "I'm sure you'll be grateful for that."
Maybe it was foolish of him to have been so hasty. It was already enough of a miracle that he even had the chance to become somewhat useful despite being a useless Mage. He really had no right to complain about anything.
"My bad," he apologized. "I lost my head there."
"Damn right, you did."
Then Nora took his arm out of the cold water and rubbed a pain relieving balm she had bought at a convenience store on their way back. It was not until then that her first aid to him came to a conclusion. Maybe even the only aid he would be getting.
"Don't move for a few minutes," she added. "I think?"
Merlin laughed softly. "Alright." Then he suddenly had a recollection. "Ah! What about your ranked match?"
Nora paused, then, all of a sudden, punched his injured arm; he cried out in pain.
"What was that for?!"
She scowled. "You made me miss out on my own level up, Merlin Tyrrell!" She grumbled, packing up hastily. "How will I get to legendary at this rate?" The next second, the living room was silent, Nora nowhere to be found.
Merlin remained on the couch, blinking owlishly for a while. At that moment his phone beeped. He picked it up and smiled so warmly from cheek to cheek at the message on his screen—particularly, the sender—that his arm hardly hurt anymore.
[Janeth Park: How's your arm? All better?]
Without wasting a single second, he replied…
[Merlin Tyrrell: Yes. Thank you for the concern.]
He was yet to put down his phone when a reply came in.
[Janeth Park: You're welcome. Also, I didn't mean to pry, but I overheard you and your sister's conversation as you left the gym. You know, you don't have to come in tomorrow if you're not feeling good. Take a break and rest up.]
Merlin's smile immediately vanished. That was one thing he couldn't do. His progress was already slow enough. If anything, he had to double his efforts like Nora had said. He was not yet at the point where he could be taking breaks. And, besides, those were the only times he could see Janeth. He was not wasting it lazing away in his room.
His fingers moved rapidly.
[Merlin Tyrrell: I'm fine. Honestly. You'll see tomorrow.]
Janeth's reply took a bit longer this time, almost dampening Merlin's mood, but it came anyway.
[Janeth Park: Hmmm… Alright. If you say so. See you tomorrow, then.]
Merlin sighed.
[Merlin Tyrrell: Yeah. See you tomorrow.]
He put off his phone and plopped backwards on the couch; his exhaustion caught up to him, and he fell asleep immediately.