Merlin and Janeth sat in silence side by side on a bench, the mood surrounding them awkward.

  The Consortium Mages had swooped in and taken care of the Ice Wyverns in a fsh, and had assigned Hunter Mages who were preparing to wander into the Dungeon portal to clear it.

  Apparently, Merlin and Janeth were lucky. The twenty Ice Wyverns that had appeared was just a tip of the iceberg of what could have poured out of the Dungeon. After all, unless the Dungeon was cleared and the portal was closed, it would remain open and more and more beasts would make their way out.

  Twenty was an absurd number, but it could have been a lot worse.

  But that was hardly what caused the silence between both of them at the moment. It was simply because they didn’t know what to say to each other.

  Janeth’s dispy had been shocking to Merlin, and Merlin was well aware of how his would have come off too. During the battle, while adrenaline pumped through his body, it was exciting. But, now, if his dispy had been caught on camera, it was cause for worry on his part. A first year Deficient Mage who had only spent a week at the Academy moving like that was enough reason for someone somewhere to bat an eye. And he couldn’t hide behind his boxing lessons now like he’d done with Chima and Hakyun.

  How would he answer the questions when they came?

  And, furthermore, the words of the mysterious dy were still crawling through his mind. It had all sounded like he was being watched, and something, for some reason, was being expected of him.

  His scalp prickled at the thought of being stalked.

  Really, who could she be?

  This is so disorienting. It’s only been a week and I feel like months have passed. Merlin clutched his hands tightly. I don’t even know what to expect anymore.

  “Are you alright?” Janeth asked, a little bit stiltedly, but breaking the silence between them nonetheless.

  Merlin looked at her. Concern was on her face. His thoughts had probably leaked out.

  For a moment there, he thought about telling her everything, about how he had actually been burdened with the task of fighting the Cataclysm, the System and what could possibly happen to him if it was found out that something like that existed, and, his most current worry, what the mysterious woman had said.

  But… He held himself back. She’d explicitly told him that she was still finding her grounds in life. If that involved keeping the fact that she was a Warrior a secret, then it would be insensitive of him to drag her into his own worries. It would only make her life more of a mess than it already was.

  He turned away. “I’m fine. What about you? Does it still hurt?” He gnced at her thigh. It was bandaged now, a rge dot of red visible through the white strip.

  She smiled, though a little bit too weakly. “I’ll be fine.” She then heaved out a deep exhale. “Kinda lucky, aren’t we? The Ice Wyverns just lost control suddenly. What do you think happened?”

  “I’m not sure,” he lied.

  They weren’t lucky. Merlin was certain it was that mysterious woman’s doing. But there was no reason to tell Janeth that… It was weird how it seemed no one had seen her. For a moment when she’d appeared behind him, he’d felt time slow down, but he doubted anyone actually had the ability to control time. It was an element of the universe that came about due to a combination of a lot of variables. There was no way something like that could be controlled. That meant she must have done something else to mask her presence.

  If Merlin was sure of one thing, it was that she was someone he shouldn’t be getting involved with.

  Janeth cleared her throat, and Merlin’s attention snapped back to her. He blinked when he noticed her gaze drifting into the distance.

  She wanted to say something.

  “So, Merlin,” she started, confirming his thoughts, “about—”

  “Hello,” a voice cut her off, drawing their gazes to its owner who was an auburn-haired man with silent, brown eyes and a slim build, holding a tablet. Merlin remembered who he was. “How are you both doing? I’m Kang Do-Won. The Archon of the Consortium Mages present here.” He stretched forth a hand, Janeth took it, followed by Merlin who repyed the picture of the man bowing down to Kim Yiseo during the Dungeon Break that had occurred on his way to the Academy. It seemed he was the one who was in charge of Dungeon Breaks; that, or, his appearance signalled the presence of danger—just like a certain Deficient Mage. “I apologize, but, if you don’t mind, I would like you both to walk me through the events that happened prior to the portal’s emergence.”

  The former it was.

  Merlin and Janeth recounted their experience one at a time, everything aligning besides the part where Merlin had left Prestige Academy through the front gate, while Janeth had snuck out of Warrior camp.

  Merlin gnced at her at those words, not knowing how exactly to feel, whether eted that she had taken a risk just to spend time with him, or that his request had not only put her in such a dire situation that had almost cost her life, but would also be getting her punished.

  She turned to him, worsening his mood indeliberately with a smile. “It’s fine. You didn’t force me to sneak out of camp. I did it on my own accord.”

  “But…” Merlin tried to say something, but his words caught in his throat, having no clue the exact words that would soothe whatever feelings was biting her deep down.

  Goodness, he really didn’t know anything about her, did he? How dare he have said he liked her?

  “What Warrior camp are you assigned to?” Kang Do-Won broke the silence that had erupted between Janeth and Merlin while they stared at each other. They turned away from each other.

  Janeth cleared her throat. “Mapo-gu district.”

  Kang Do-Won nodded as his fingers drummed on the tablet he held. “Instructor Taehyun’s district, right?”

  Janeth’s brows jumped up, the glum expression lying underneath her fa?ade of a smile faltering for a brief second. “Y-Yeah.” She paused as Kang Do-Won nodded. “I want to ask how you know that, but you’re a Consortium Mage, so I guess that much should be obvious.”

  Kang Do-Won stole a gnce at her. “We’re friends, that’s how I know.” Her glum expression completely faltered now. “The possibility that he will rid you of the punishment for sneaking out of camp is almost nonexistent, as you may well know that he’s quite strict.” Janeth nodded. “But, considering your chivalry here today, I think I can put in a good word for you; perhaps he will cut it down by forty percent.”

  Janeth blinked owlishly, then jumped up to her feet with a groan and bowed the deepest Merlin had seen yet. “Thank you, sir! I will not forget your help today!”

  Kang Do-Won just nodded, then jerked a thumb at a dy conversing with a few civilians. “My assistant will take you back. You can go on to her now and introduce yourself.”

  Janeth nodded. She then turned to Merlin.

  It was still awkward between them, and Merlin couldn’t even put a finger on which particur reason out of the multitude that had risen today was why.

  “See you ter, Merlin,” she said.

  He nodded. “Have a safe trip back.”

  “You too.”

  And with that, she was off.

  “So… Merlin Tyrrell,” Kang Do-Won turned back to him. Merlin just stared, having zero inkling as to where whatever conversation might crop up would head. “You’ll have to make do with me taking you back to the Academy. That is fine with you, yes?” Merlin sighed and nodded. Thankfully, it had not been more of an interrogating fest. “One more thing…” Kang Do-Won turned his screen to Merlin. A video that showed a certain teenage boy dressed in a white shirt tucked into bck pants, crazily jumping around in the air and punching holes into Ice Wyverns’ wings with just pure mana alone was visible on it. And… It was viral. Merlin froze. “Your anti-magic. Walk me through it.”

  ###

  Arthur heaved out a deep exhale as he took off his surgical mask and dumped it into the biohazard waste bin, his gloves and cap following swiftly after.

  His muscles ached, and his eyes burned. Heart valve repcement was one of the more delicate surgeries; he had to bend awkwardly for hours, and carefully go through the process while being on a time limit. It didn’t matter how many years he’d been working as a surgeon, he could never get used to the strain it put on him.

  At least, he now had a couple of minutes to rest up before the next emergency came. He knew wishing for little to no emergencies would mean he wouldn’t earn his keep, but, honestly, the spluttering of blood and watching a patient teeter on the edge of life and death was not really the most exciting of sights.

  He needed a break. However, if people needed him, then he would be there in a heartbeat. It was for this reason he had become a surgeon after all. To be someone’s hero in their story. Surgeons put on capes too, it just wasn’t the fshy kind.

  “I’ll leave the rest to you, then, Felicity,” said Arthur to a blonde haired dy who was dutifully taking care of the equipment used in the surgery.

  “Yes, sir,” she replied.

  She was a new intern that had been assigned to him, but her professionalism shone in every way, and she had never faltered during a surgery—yet. She had a bright future ahead of her, Arthur was sure about it.

  He walked out of the operating room as the thought of Nora and Merlin fshed through his mind. Felicity’s presence reminded him of those two gremlins constantly, but he always tried his best to hold back his concern during operations, leaving it for after.

  I wonder how they’re fending at the Academy. I just hope they aren't getting themselves hurt.

  After cleaning up and taking off his scrub, Arthur sought out the reception area, hoping his wife would be there. He had not heard any announcement calling her for an operation, but he wouldn’t have inside the OR now, would he?

  Luckily, she was right there at the reception, leaning over the front desk as Lilian, an administrative staff member she was especially close to, showed her something on her phone—as usual.

  However, it was not one of those comedy videos on the net this time.

  Arthur’s brows narrowed as he saw the look his wife wore. It was one characterized by an intense unease pstered on a pale complexion which made his stomach tie a knot.

  Something was wrong…

  “Honey,” he hurried his pace as he called out to her. “What’s wrong?”

  By the time he got to her side, though, a tear was already running down her eye. She turned to him and he grabbed her by the shoulders, her iris’ colored red.

  “It’s Merlin,” she stuttered and Arthur felt his heart freeze in his chest, his skin turning cold.

  “W-What happened to Merlin?” he asked, gncing at Lilian who just took her gaze away. Different thoughts sped through his head, no one settling down as a sure-enough guess for him. And he hoped none of his thoughts were true—he truly hoped.

  Phoebe bit her lower lip but didn’t give a reply. Arthur knew that this was where he took it upon himself to find out what exactly was going on here.

  Still embracing his wife, he reached out for Lilian’s phone, and the video his wife had watched appeared before him, their son brushing through death countless times in mere seconds. His breathing increased in tempo the more he watched, and then, he saw his son spill out blood, crash to the ground, and stare up to magic so enormous Arthur was reminded of the disaster of the Cataclysm.

  His muscles tensed.

  The video moved so fast then. A butterfly crept over the camera of whoever had been recording, and by the time it left, the beasts above were in a frenzy. Shortly after, licensed Mages fled onto the scene and took control of the situation.

  However, one thing was certain. His son—their son—had been on the cusp of death.