Deficient Mages were as rare as S-Class Mages, but the reception of the two types of Mages differed very greatly. One was revered, loved, and everyone wanted to be around them. The other was…well, a topic of the type of gossip that was usually frowned upon.
"I've never seen a Deficient Mage before," one of the examinees whispered, glancing Merlin's way like he was some sort of alien; he could see them from the side of his eye, but he pretended like he couldn't. This whole situation had come about because someone had apparently heard Nora while she had been explaining the situation to Kim Minji, and had, knowingly or unknowingly, spread the information around that, well, Merlin was the Deficient Mage.
"How can a Mage be unable to cast spells?" another said. "Doesn't that mean that they aren't actually a Mage? The whole essence of being a Mage is the ability to cast spells."
No… The whole essence of being a Mage was being in possession of mana—of being an Enkindled. If one wanted to become a Warrior then, it was up to them to request a change. But the default of an Enkindled is being a Mage.
Merlin wanted to argue against the murmurs, but he held himself back. His ears were already bleeding from all the side talk, voicing his opinions on the matter would only worsen the situation.
Well, at least he had been able to figure out who the two S-Class Mages were. And…it was really, really funny. After all, one was the president of South Korea's grandson, as well as the son of one of the top four Guilds in South Korea, the Tiger Guild, while the other was the daughter of the Consortium Guild's Guildmaster.
All in all, they were the kind of big shots everyone wanted to cuddle up to, even if they weren't S-Class Mages. Their Class was just the icing on the cake.
At least they didn't team up.
It was not like that meant they wouldn't breeze through the exam, but only one of them would come first—their party, to be precise.
On that note, the wind had also brought to Merlin's ears that the parties of the S-Class Mages were made up of, at the very least, B-Class Mages. Basically, they had formed powerhouse parties there; and Merlin knew that it was only because he had hogged two A-Class Mages to himself by chance that they were not even more powerful.
But he wouldn't feel bad about it. He had only given himself a chance at success, and he would grab it by its horns.
"Hey," Kim Minji called, and Merlin turned to her where she had, somehow, slowly crept to his side. "What do you think are inside all those caves?" She nudged her chin in the direction of the Open field—at least, the part Ms. Jung had led them to—a vast expanse of greenery, possessing tall trees that went up to at least thirty feet, but still hundreds of visible caves which almost looked like small mountains.
Merlin didn't have the answer to her question. After all, if he did then he wouldn't be feeling tense, because, well, he would be well aware of how to pass. And he was sure Kim Minji knew that too. Which brought him to the understanding that she was probably just trying to strike a conversation with him.
Why, though?
"I'm not sure," Merlin answered regardless, but briefly. He was not exactly in the right state of mind to talk. His heart felt like it would leap out of his chest at any moment.
"I see…" Kim Minji nodded. And there was quiet—just for a while. "So, this might be sensitive, but, if you don't mind, I was wondering what it was like being a Deficient Mage."
Merlin instantly felt like he had been punched in the stomach and all the wind had been taken out of his sails. He had been suspecting that she'd had a reason for trying to strike a conversation with him, but he had not been expecting it to be that reason.
Honestly, though, he wouldn't fault her. Curiosity was part of human nature. All they knew about Deficient Mages was that they couldn't cast spells, so it was only normal that one wondered what it was like being a Deficient Mage. However, they had to consider the person they were asking. Merlin was hurt, but he was not willing to destroy the team's dynamic before they had even begun the exam.
He took in a deep breath, calming his heart, and said, "Nothing special. I'm just unable to channel enough mana to cast any spells."
The problem now was…Kim Minji didn't stop there.
"But I heard the Consortium doesn't give Deficient Mages Grimoires. So how are they completely sure that a Deficient Mage can't cast spells?"
Because the evaluation says so, and they don't want to have to waste resources by making Grimoires for people that won't be able to use it…
Okay. He was getting heated. He exhaled, calming himself.
"I'm not sure about that either. The Consortium probably has their reasons," he replied.
"Yeah, I get that. But—"
"Look," Merlin cut in, having had his fill of the questions, but trying his best to not come off harshly. "Can we drop this conversation? I get that you're curious, I am too, and I'm the Deficient Mage, but I think we should focus our minds on the exam. Don't you think so too?"
"Ah. I'm sorry. I asked too much" Kim Minji shrunk into herself in an instant, her shoulders dropping. "Yeah. I agree. We should focus."
Merlin kind of felt bad. Maybe he had come off too strongly than he had intended. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't find the words, so he just kept his mouth shut so as to not make things even more awkward than they already were. Thankfully, Ms. Jung was finally done with what seemed to be her preparations—courtesy of her unwavering focus on her smartwatch until a moment ago—and was now ready to begin the exam.
Merlin wasn't sure at first how her words would be heard, considering how large the crowd was, but it turned out she had a headset microphone, and the Open field had speakers hidden within its trees.
Ms. Jung gestured at the Open field. "As I said back at the auditorium, this is a Dungeon raid examination. It is simply to test your skills as Mages in the instance that you are faced with a Dungeon and its monsters. Yes, we at Prestige Academy do understand that you are still all budding Mages, and that is why the Dungeons are not exactly of the highest levels. But do not for once think that it'll be an easy ride. If you do not focus and take things seriously, no matter what your Classes are, you will undoubtedly fail." An examinee raised their hand. "You may speak."
"Is it like a simulation or is it the real deal?"
Ms. Jung smiled. "Well, that's for you to find out, isn't it? It's an exam after all." There was a loud groan from the examinees, and Ms. Jung had to clap her hands to silence them. "Now that that's all said and done, spread out into your parties."
Everyone moved as Ms. Jung had ordered, and when that was over with, she called for each party one by one, assigning caves to them before ushering them to begin the exam. Merlin's party watched in silence, the same as everyone else, until it was their turn.
"What do you have in the bag?" Ms. Jung asked Chima when they arrived before her. He was carrying his bag in a baby cradle.
"My clothes, ma'am, and a tennis ball that I juggle to ease stress sometimes," he replied, opening the bag to confirm his words as true. They all raised a brow at that.
Ms. Jung seemed to be lost for words at first. She then cleared her throat. "Why would you have your clothes here?"
"Uhm… There were some circumstances," he answered, vaguely.
"Like?" Ms. Jung pushed for a more detailed answer.
Chima sighed. "I just landed in Korea today, ma'am. It was meant to be yesterday, but I was moved from flight to flight, so the time sorta stretched out. I came here straight from the airport."
That means he's exhausted, Merlin thought to himself. Will he be fine during the exam?
Ms. Jung sighed. "Then you should have kept your bag with the security. Are you sure you will be fine taking the exam with it?"
Merlin had been somewhat worried that Ms. Jung would insist that no external properties were allowed within the exam grounds, but it seemed that such was not the case. Or maybe she was just considering the stress and time it would take out of Chima, and the rest of his party, to send him back to the entrance just to put down his bag.
Whatever it was, Chima's possession of a bag did not pose any troubles to them. And, besides, it wasn't like there was a way to cheat with clothes during a Dungeon raid exam. What were they going to do? Hurl clothes at monsters?
"I'm kinda wary about keeping my things with other people," Chima answered. "It's not locked, you see? I'll be fine, though. It's just my stuff."
"If you say so." Ms. Jung nodded. "Party thirty. Cave fifty. You have an hour. Good luck."
"Thank you," they all said in unison before proceeding forward.
Merlin swallowed dryly as they walked through the Open field—which was not exactly open, considering all the trees—as they sought out the cave assigned to them.
No one spoke to the other, most likely due to the anxiety that had come from the realization that their exam had basically begun. Merlin, at least, knew that that was why he was silent. And perhaps it was because of the silence between themselves that they didn't get distracted and found their assigned cave a lot quicker.
"Here we are," said Nora as they stood before a stone opening that looked eerily similar to that of the mouth of a hippo, the number 'fifty' carved onto it, and two blazing torches standing by its sides.
Merlin tilted his head at the site of the cave. For some reason, he felt like he had seen this exact structure before, but he knew he had never been anywhere near something like this. He wondered if this was what was called anemoia.
"Now, I get it, besides my brother and I, we're all basically strangers," began Nora, turning around to face them all. "But that doesn't mean that passing this exam will pose a problem for us. We shouldn't let it. Yes, understanding is something that is built over time, trust, too, but they both start with connection. If we want to pass, we have to connect with each other. We don't know what lies within this cave, we've never been in Dungeons before, and we've only heard about them from news and games and comics; but today will be the start. We all want to be Mages, if not we wouldn't be here. So, let's all butt heads together, okay? No rash decisions. We talk it out and take the best course of actions. Is that cool?"
"I-I'm fine with that," replied Kim Hanji, her breaths heavy. She was really, really nervous. Merlin could see it.
Chima, on the other hand… "Yeah. That's cool." He was quite calm.
Nora glanced at Merlin next. His answer was obviously the same as the others, so he simply nodded.
And with one last heavy exhale from all four of them, they walked into the cave, bringing them before what was a narrow dark, stone corridor lit by burning torches that ran along its walls. Chains hung from its ceilings, and tangled with them were countless bones, while along its floor was what seemed to be a trail of blood that went as far as the eyes could see. Kim Minji yelped in an instant, and Merlin's body tensed.
"What's this?" Chima asked with furrowed brows. "Blood?"
"That can't be," said Nora. "There's no way that's real blood."
"But what if it is?" Kim Minji said with a shudder as she took a step backward.
"It doesn't make any sense for the blood to be real," answered Nora. "This is an exam."
"Ms. Jung said that it's up to us to decide if this is just a simulation or if it's real," Chima said, his voice was rather calm in comparison to Nora's and Kim Minji's. "So it's possible that it's fake, and it's possible that it's real."
"Whatever the case," started Nora. "It doesn't change anything. We have to continue with the exam, so everyone calm your nerves. I'm not planning on failing here. Let's calmly think about our next course of action." She then noticed that Merlin had withdrawn himself from the conversation, staring with a daze at nowhere and no one in particular. "Merlin? Is there a problem?" she asked
And, yes, there was. Because before Merlin's view hovered words he had not been expecting to see.
[Alert!: You have walked into a Dungeon]
[Dungeon Name: The Necromancer's Lair]
[Dungeon Category: E-Rank]
[Red Quest received: Clear the Dungeon before the time limit runs out]
[Clear Conditions: Defeat the Necromancer]
[Time Limit: 1.00.58]
[Reward: Loot Box]
[Penalty for failure: ???]
Merlin wasn't certain how to feel at this moment, because he now understood why the structure of the cave's entrance had seemed familiar to him. He hadn't seen it before, he had read its description. After all, The Necromancer's Lair was the first Dungeon Kieran had cleared in Singularity Mage.