Merlin was so bamboozled his eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets.
Had he been dreaming? Nora really launched a spell? So soon? There was no way that was possible; it had just been a day.
Spell launching was a skill in spell casting that required practice upon practice on the aspect of perfecting one's mana control. How in the world could she have achieved such an outcome without even practicing? Hadn't she used her time to create a new spell instead?
A thought suddenly flashed through Merlin's head, widening his eyes, and making him feel even more stupid than he had thought he was earlier—back at the apartment.
Merlin glanced at his sister as the Air ball she had launched vanished when it was three feet away from her.
"You weren't playing Tower Raider all night, were you?" he asked.
Nora scowled while flexing her wrist. "I have a life, you know? Do you think I just sit on my ass all day playing games? Tsk. What do you take me for?"
She wasn't exactly wrong, but for as long as Merlin had known his sister—which was for as long as she'd lived—that life she talked about was significantly conjoined with the game that was Tower Raider. And that was why the fact that she had focused on practicing her spell launching instead of farming XP, despite having missed out on her chance to move up to legendary because of him, was so out of the world that Merlin would not have believed it if only she hadn't just successfully launched a spell.
He chuckled dryly.
This makes me feel like I'm not serious. While I was sleeping, she was practicing. She's the A-Class Mage, Merlin. You should be putting in more effort than her.
Perhaps his internal turmoil showed on his face, because Nora sighed at that moment, the pompous look she had been wearing trading places with a somewhat plaintive one.
"What?" she started. "Are you feeling down because I already learnt how to launch a spell?"
Merlin jerked his head back slightly, his lips pursed. "I am not."
She narrowed her eyes, folding her arms as she angled her body, her Grimoire still hovering beside her head. "Then, were you perhaps hoping for me to fail? Ugh…Merlin, what kind of a brother are you? Consider what people will think!"
Now she was toying with him. But…that was good. It had brought him back to his senses. Why had he become so somber? He was such a downer, wasn't he?
"Fine. Fine. I get it, alright." Merlin tried to smile. "I was just surprised, is all. Face fixed now; all better?"
Nora snorted, looking away from him and down at her palm. Then her brows pulled in.
"It's still all wonky, though," she said, vaguely. But Merlin knew that she was talking about her spell launching. However, he was not quite sure what she meant by it being all wonky.
"In what manner?" he asked.
Nora's Grimoire fell into her hand. "Well, I can create the spell and connect the mana whip to it without losing control of either or both, but launching it is still tough." She looked up at Merlin. "Didn't you notice?"
Well, now that he thought about it, the spell only moving three feet from her left a bit to be desired. And there was also the speed. It had been very slow, comparable to tossing an item at someone rather than hurtling a baseball ball for a home run. The way it was currently, he doubted launching the spell would do any damage to a monster—a human, most likely, but a monster was a far cry away. In fact, Nora would have better chances of dealing damage by hitting them head-on herself. But it was not like they were going to be engaging any monsters any time soon, so that was a reach of a comparison on his part.
That aside, Merlin wasn't quite sure what to do here to help Nora's cause.
In Singularity Mage, after Kieran's enlightenment on what he could do to launch his spells, there had been a timeskip, only mentioning that it had taken him a week to get it right. Merlin had not walked through the entire process with the protagonist, and so his knowledge was not exactly helpful at the moment.
Nora seemed to notice Merlin's silence. And whenever Merlin was silent, it meant that he had nothing to contribute. She exhaled then, and her Grimoire took to the air once again.
"Time for your practice," she said. Merlin blinked, pulled out of his thoughts where a feeling of uselessness had been tugging at his sleeves. "Wanna deconstruct it on my palm, or should I launch it at you regardless of its flaws?"
There was only one answer to that question. And, with it, Merlin suddenly did not feel all that useless anymore.
"Launch it at me," he replied in an instant with the shadow of a smile. "That way you can keep practicing your launches while I deconstruct them."
He had been expecting Nora to smile like he was, but, instead, she frowned.
"You're saying it like you'll deconstruct a couple today," she said. "Have you forgotten how you got so badly injured just by doing that to one?"
Of course, he had put that at the back of his mind. But, not even considering that his Physical Attributes had moved up a certain degree due to his workout, he had gained two-point-five Attribute Points. If he deposited them to his Strength Attribute one at a time as he deconstructed her spells, the pain should be bearable—just like taking pain killers. He didn't mind, so she really shouldn't.
"I'll be fine," said Merlin, relaying his thought process to her. He had already filled her in on their way to the gym about how his arm had gotten all better, so none of the reasons for his course of action presently, jumped off as weird to her.
Still…
"You're so stubborn, Merlin Tyrrell." Nora shook her head.
"I'll be fine. Really," Merlin insisted.
Nora heaved out a low sigh. "If you say so." She then stretched forth her hand at Merlin. He moved back immediately—but not too far so that the spell would still be within his range—and assumed his stance, one almost the same as Nora's, only different in that he was supporting his right arm with his left. "Are you ready?" Nora asked.
"Get on with it," Merlin replied. Nora heeded.
The air around Nora's hand shimmered with a luxurious tinge of blue mixed in, compressing with such a high speed that one could turn dizzy if they tried to follow its movements. Merlin instantly activated Reader Mage in that instant, as he noticed the Air ball had completely formed.
[Perk: Reader Mage Activated]
[Analyzing spell…]
[Analysis complete]
[Spell: Air Ball.
Category: Novice, Tier II
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. Spell can be launched, do be careful it doesn't make an impact with you.]
[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.
[Deconstruct?]
[Yes?]/[No?]
Merlin immediately noticed that a few of the words hovering before his eyes differed significantly to what he had seen previously.
First of all, Nora's Air ball was now a Tier II spell. He recalled what that meant from Singularity Mage. But he didn't have the time to settle into his thoughts right now to fully recollect on them. And that was because he had been warned never to let Nora's Air ball make contact with his body. That, and the fact that she was only a few seconds away from blasting it his way. He could feel it.
Yes…Deconstruct! Merlin replied, now over-the-top anxious due to what he had read.
However, he had no reason to be scared. As long as he was able to deconstruct the spell before it got to him, everything would be fine. That was the essence of his practice, to be able to render his opponent even more useless than he was. And that was why he had thought of a way to double his deconstruction speed. Which was simple, really.
Magic downdraft was created by sending a wave of his mana down onto an Air spell; all he had to do was increase the wave of the mana he sent out, and that would do the trick. It did not require any extravagant thought process, or the sort. No. He just had to follow the instructions of the concepts he had learned during the lessons he had taken in preparation for Prestige Academy's entrance exam.
Mana was an extension of a Mage. It flowed like water within their body, having blended in with them as a whole. To put it simply, mana was to Mages what limbs were to humans.
Even if Merlin's mana was low, it still existed; all he had to do was search for it, take full control of it, and direct it the way he wanted.
And that was what Merlin did. He clenched his chin, and sourced through every inch of his body until he found the only cold existence within him. His mana. And, then, with a single thought—just like he was breathing in and out—he drew it towards his palm.
At that moment, Nora's Air ball shot forward.
[Deconstructing…]
Merlin could feel it. It was as though all his energy was being siphoned out of his body. The mana he was exploiting was larger—far larger than what he had used last time. And that worried him somewhat. After all, he was slowly getting exhausted.
He would have wondered if he would be able to keep the deconstruction going after his current attempt, or if his arm injury would be more severe considering the scale of what he was attempting, but now was not the time for wondering. And things only got worse three seconds later.
[1… 2… 3…]
[Deconstruction Failed]
[Intelligence too low to deconstruct Air ball, Novice, Tier II]
Huh? The blue electricity that had formed over Merlin's palm shattered into countless pieces like they were made of glass. What just happened?
Merlin stood dazed, unsure of what he was to do here. The sound all around him muffled as Nora's Air ball, blue and visible, inched closer and closer like time had slowed down.
Nora's face turned ashen. She instantly left her spot and tried to reach for Merlin before her spell could, understanding what was happening. Merlin, though, knew that she wouldn't make it.
Merlin froze in fear, and so did his breaths. I'm going to be hit…
All of a sudden, his vision blurred, and the next instant he crashed onto the mat, intense pain flaring through his side as though he'd been slammed into a wall by someone five times his size. But it wasn't the spell that struck him, it was a tackle, shoving him out of the way just in time for Nora's Air ball to miss.