Reader Mage 20-Breathe In. Breathe Out

“Outside parties aren’t allowed,” said Prestige Academy’s security guard, a middle aged man who looked every bit the threat he was. “I’m sorry.”

“Ahhh… Shucks!” Janeth spat as she retreated, her expression suddenly gloom. “That ans I won’t get to watch you both thwack everyone else and co out on top. Ugh… That’s a rubbish policy.”

rlin chuckled stiltedly. “It’s an exam, Janeth. I told you that you won’t be allowed.”

“Still…” She groaned.

They were standing at the front gate of the Academy, which was one of the most magnificent gates rlin had ever seen, with thick iron bars as large as those of a dieval castle’s gate, and golden insignias of the Academy’s sprouting tree emblazoned all over it.

However, the rest of the examinees here to take Prestige Academy’s assessnt exam weren’t focused on the sa thing rlin was as they walked into the Academy grounds. After all, a certain person was dressed in a shaman’s robe.

“Couldn’t you have worn sothing else and just changed when you left?” Nora criticized Sunny, her arms folded.

“No can do,” replied Sunny as he fanned himself gently. “I’m heading straight to work from here.”

“Yeah, I get that,” said Nora. “But you’re drawing unwanted attention here. I don’t like it.” She clicked her tongue.

“Well, put up with it until you walk in through those gates,” Sunny replied, unbothered. “This is your paynt for making a fool of when you ca to my studio.”

Nora scoffed. “That was purely business. I didn’t make a fool of you.”

“Business, making a fool of , sa difference.” Sunny flashed his nose at her. She rolled her eyes.

“I guess we should let you guys go in now,” Janeth said, still upset that she wouldn’t be able to watch them take the exam.

This was the thing about keeping one’s hopes up. Most of the ti, the disappointnt hit hard. But for every disappointnt, there was a new opportunity waiting. And rlin saw one—for himself, that was.

“I could tell you all about it after,” he said, cheering himself inwardly for having the courage to propose sothing. After all, he’d never really been the best at asking a girl out or anything of the sort—if this even counted as one.

Janeth’s eyes glowed. “Really? Like you won’t leave out any details.”

rlin smiled. “I have a very good mory. I’ll make sure to tell you about every single thing. At least the ones I get to witness.”

Janeth grabbed his hand and wrapped her pinky around his. “That’s a promise.”

I would have preferred, ‘that’s a date’, but I guess this is good too…

“Sure,” he said.

“Make sure to ace the exam, okay? Don’t believe in all that nonsense about no one has done it before so it should be impossible. There’s always a first ti for everything, and you put in the work. Your muscles are proof of that.”

rlin’s cheek turned red. He couldn’t stop that from happening whenever she ntioned his muscles. It always made him feel…naked. Even now that he was dressed fully in a tracksuit, as instructed by the Academy, it still felt like he had been stripped of his clothes by those words.

“Haha… Sure. I will,” he replied with a strained laughter. Janeth turned to Nora next.

“You too,” she said. Then her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, and before I forget. After the exam let’s all go out and celebrate. You guys haven’t had soju yet, right? My goodness, soju and barbecue would make you guys float, I promise.”

She was even more excited about the whole exam than the examinees themselves. rlin found that cute. But they were seventeen. They couldn't be caught taking alcohol.

Sunny shook his head, still waving his fan about. “Not even taking into consideration the fact that you get drunk over a single shot, they’re minors, Janeth. Refrain yourself.” He relayed rlin’s thoughts on his behalf and Janeth flushed. “Also… Please don’t involve in cris. The ones I’m already caught up in are enough.”

Nora seed to take an abundance of pleasure at those words, because she imdiately shot a smirk at Sunny.

“I’m glad you’re well aware that fraud is a criminal act.”

“I’m a self aware person, young miss. Delusion is a disease. You would know that if you took the ti to sit and self reflect.”

And then they went at it again.

rlin wasn’t sure if he was to be glad that Nora had finally found soone else she could bicker with, or if he should be concerned that they were always at each other’s throats. Things wouldn’t get ugly quickly, would it?

Well, at least it did well to take his mind off his pounding heart at the mont.

“Alright then,” said Sunny when he’d had his fill of dragging words with Nora. He then turned around, preparing to take his leave. “Do your best, you both, and I’m sure everything will fall into place. Good luck. And with that, I bid you adieu.”

“Wait up,” called Janeth to Sunny as she quickly wrapped rlin and Nora in one big hug. “Do well guys. See you later.” And she left, catching up to Sunny rather quickly.

rlin sighed away the tension in his body when Janeth and Sunny were a notable distance away. He had not been expecting to be pulled into a hug.

Nora turned to him. “Are you ready?” Concern was on her face.

rlin nodded. “As ready as I can be.”

“Good.” She licked her lips, taking in a deep breath and exhaling. “Because we must pass—no matter what.”

“Agreed,” replied rlin. “No matter what.”

The main grounds of the Academy were massive—so massive that rlin’s jaw had dropped countless tis as he and Nora found their way to the auditorium as directed by the security. There was a fountain at its center, and small patches of grasses all over the area. Most of all, plum blossom trees lined the surroundings in elegant gracefulness, each accompanied by stone monunts which seed to be of prominent figures in alliance with the Academy, holding torches that had light orbs within them.

The scenery was so bright and colorful; but the most beautiful of all were the spires that every single building possessed. Tall, ornate, and doused with the golden rays of the sun. Everything had such an ancient feel that rlin couldn’t stop picturing them even though he was now standing before the auditorium’s building like every other examinee.

Although, the auditorium too was nothing to scoff at, so maybe that was one of the reasons why he couldn’t focus on anything besides the Academy’s beauty. After all, the building before him possessed detailed stonework, with tall columns and arched doorways, which made it look like a grand historic theater out of the Edwardian era. Its front featured a triangular roof with a circular carving, and above its main entrance was a balcony where a single banner dropped, bearing the insignia of Prestige Academy.

rlin wasn’t the only one in awe, everyone was, and their expressions did well to show it.

“It’s beautiful…” Except Nora. She had said that with such a lukewarm tone that rlin felt offended even though she had just praised the auditorium. Maybe if she’d had even just a bit of expressiveness on her face.

He kept his words to himself, though, and just glanced around.

Every person present was his competition. From what he’d studied on Prestige Academy, he’d co to find out that they only admitted a-hundred-and-sixty students a year. And the number of examinees present looked to be about four hundred, if not more. rlin was not sure how the exam would comnce while accommodating such a number, but he was sure that it would all work out in the end. What he was most concerned about, though, was if he would really be able to pass. What would he do if he—

He shook his head, only refraining at the last mont from slapping his cheeks.

I’m going to pass… That’s all I need to think about…

“Why’s the door still locked?” a voice grumbled, coming from beside rlin. He turned slightly to behold a boy who was sweating so much a bucket could be fetched from him standing there, displeasure etched on his face. The boy was rather slim, and a bit taller than rlin; he had black hair, black eyes, and on the bridge of his nose, which was dotted by freckles, sat round glasses. “How long are they going to keep us out here? If the exam’s to start by ten, then it should start by ten. Diligence, for goodness sake.”

rlin checked his wristwatch, and it really was ten already. The boy was right. The exam should have started by now, as had been divulged in the mail they had received. And yet they were still locked outside the auditorium.

There was no way the second best ranked Mage Academy in the world had no idea that they were expected to keep to ti, so he felt like there was so other reason for the delay. However, that delay was unnerving the examinees even further. rlin would have been one of them, but his days of ditation had not been for waste.

Breathe in. Breathe out. He mumbled to himself, focusing on his breathing and muffling out the sounds around him as he focused on the calm waves of nature itself, the chirping of birds in the sky, and the rustling of the leaves of the trees in the Academy itself. He couldn't let himself be flustered. His life depended on it.

It was less than ten minutes later when a loud broadcast bood, reeling the attention of the examinees to the speaker that hung from the walls of the auditorium.

“ALL THE EXAMINEES ARE TO MAKE THEIR WAY INTO THE AUDITORIUM IMDIATELY!! I REPEAT. ALL THE EXAMINEES ARE TO MAKE THEIR WAY INTO THE AUDITORIUM IMDIATELY!!”

rlin was glad. For the past few weeks he had felt as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff, staring into an endless canyon that kept calling him to fall, to be swallowed whole. He couldn’t keep living that way. The quicker he got this exam over with, the quicker he would find out where he stood, and the quicker he could get on with his life. And as the large doors of the auditorium creaked open, he locked eyes with Nora, and they both nodded at themselves before taking their first steps forward.