rlin stood dazed at Nora’s words. One would think he had not heard her, but he had, and the look on her face showed that she really ant what she’d said. In fact, she showed her zeal by imdiately reaching for her Grimoire in her backpack.
“You should go sowhere else, sir,” Nora said as she loosened her tie and unbuttoned her blazers. “We’ll find you when things are under control.”
She spoke with such confidence that if she had not been dressed in Prestige Academy’s uniform, one could be forced to think that she was actually battle trained.
“You really need to work on your sense of danger, young lady. Please stay alive so I can get my pay.” The driver instantly reversed his car until he had a chance to turn its wheels and zood off. rlin snapped back then, realizing that he was now stuck with her.
“Are you sure about this?” rlin asked, his attention fully anchored on his sister’s intentions. He was not even worried that they might not see that driver again, despite the fact that their things were in the car. They were registered Mages in the Consortium’s system, even if under the ‘Academy’ tag. All they had to do was file a report, and even if the driver lived in the underworld, he would be pulled out of it.
His main concern was with Nora’s determined gaze.
“Huh? What are you saying now?” Nora glared at him. “What is there to be sure about? People are risking their lives up ahead. We’re registered Mages. If we can help, then we should.”
rlin sighed. She was right. And if he was being honest with himself, it was foolish of him to have placed importance on getting to the Academy over making sure that none of the people around were caught up in the crossfire.
He had been rereading Singularity Mage for the past month and most of it was now fresh in his head. He recalled that the Troll and Caster were D-Rank monsters, so they shouldn’t be that hard to defeat. Him and Nora could just focus on leading those who were being caught in the damage away. The problem now was with the Classes of the Consortium Mages present. They were D-Class Mages, all three of them, evident from the way the accentuations on their battle wear was lined and their black colored Grimoires. And a single D-Rank monster possessed the strength of two D-Class Mages. And this monster was being enhanced by the Caster that had co with it.
This was definitely the real reason why Nora had not wanted to leave the Mages to the monsters alone. It would be exceptionally tough for them. He had been selfish.
“Fine!” rlin decided, unbuttoning his blazers and loosening his tie as well. “Let’s do this!”
As soon as he’d said those words, the battle leaned in the favor of the monsters, as one of the Mages engaging it was sent flying into a car, the Troll having slamd a mace into the side of his stomach.
rlin’s forehead creased as he froze, imdiately rethinking his choices. But he was way past that point now. There was no going back. And he knew the exact way to turn the battle their way.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Nora?” he said, readying himself as he watched the two Consortium Mages left to fight the Troll doing their very best to hold it back. But it was only a matter of ti before they too were beaten down like their mate.
“Yeah,” replied Nora as her Grimoire flipped open and the wind around her shimred with a luxurious blue luster, before gathering at her feet in a pair of small swirls like little tornadoes, and lifting her up. She had modified Air Vortex into a flight spell. She was one crazy lady. “I’ll join them and hold the Troll back. How long do you need to deconstruct the Caster’s spell?”
“It’s a D-Rank monster, so not very long,” he replied. “But I’ll need to get in close. I cannot deconstruct spells I’m more than thirty feet away from. Can you cover as well in the case that I’m noticed?”
Nora smiled. “What do you take for? Of course I can do sothing so simple. Let’s go.”
rlin dashed forward as Nora propelled herself through the air, drawing the gazes of the people who had been running away. Her hair and blazers fluttered in the wind making her really look like a Mage who had raided various Dungeons.
rlin, on the other hand, kept to the ground. He was a lot faster than he had been a month ago, so keeping up with Nora’s speed despite all the obstacles in his way wasn’t much of a problem. Soon later he arrived at a good enough spot, which was where the injured Mage sat, while Nora closed the gap between her and the Mages engaging the Troll.
“Hey! Get out of here! What are you doing?!” one of the Mages bellowed at Nora as soon as she’d appeared in their vicinity. He was busying himself with firing a barrage of fireballs, but that did not seem to stop him from taking note of his surroundings.
His companion, on the other hand, was fully focused on the monster before him. With his teeth gritted, he created layers of ice before his hefty build, preventing the Troll’s mace from striking him square in the stomach. But it kept proving futile, as every layer of ice he created was broken down in an instant with a roar. All he could do was defend, and that was not getting anyone anywhere. What was worse was that his ice was getting weaker with every new one he created. Very soon he would be unable to block.
“I’m here to help!” Nora proclaid.
“You can’t help! You’re an Academy student! You’ve learnt nothing of the battlefield. Leave here now!” Nora’s newfound supervisor lectured as he changed the spell he was casting from fireballs into a bolt of fire. And as soon as he said those words to her, he rushed forward, having grown tired of leaving his Ice Mage companion to deal with the Troll all alone.
Nora, however, stubborn as she could be, joined in despite the Mage warning her not to.
rlin understood the Mages. These sorts of things were delicate for the professionals. They would gladly receive any help they could get, but what if she got injured? They would definitely have to answer queries. To them, an Academy student wasn’t a Mage, they were day to day citizens.
But that didn’t matter at the mont. They were here to help, and they would. rlin stretched forth his left arm.
“W-What are you doing?” the Mage on the ground behind him said with a croak. “Get out of here. It’s not safe.”
“It’ll be fine,” replied rlin. “How long until backup arrives?” he asked.
It was obvious that one should be coming. The Troll and Caster weren’t from this vicinity, and the Mages combatting them were D-Class Mages, the Consortium wouldn’t be so foolish as to subject their Mages to a nonsensical death.
The injured Mage tried to argue with rlin to send him away, but a few croaks and he decided to answer the question he had been asked instead.
“In about three minutes,” he replied, an arm over his stomach as blood trickled down his forehead.
Three minutes…Will Nora be able to last that long? rlin clicked his tongue. It didn’t matter; right now he just had to do what he could. The best thing here was to sound confident even if one wasn’t.
“Trolls are not smart monsters. It should be fairly easy to keep it from rampaging any further until then, right?” rlin said as he inwardly activated Reader Mage.
Deconstructing Caster’s spell would be kind of complex, but it was doable.
What the monster did was almost the sa thing as he had learnt to do with his mana after falling into a trance—channeling it out. Theirs, though, worked in a different way.
Mana was a form of energy, so by channeling their mana directly into its recipient’s cellular system, they acted as a stimulant, doubling the mana the recipient had, and providing extra energy, boosting their strength, speed, and stamina. It worked just like steroids.
But just like steroids, if a foreign substance that could change its structure ca into contact with it, it was rendered useless. Casters’ mana were the only type of mana that could serve as enhancers, rlin mixing his mana with Caster’s was how he would deconstruct the spell.
And his theory was proven right when the System replied to his request for Reader Mage’s activation.
[Perk: Reader Mage Activated]
[Analyzing spell…]
[Analysis complete]
[Spell: Enhancent.
Category: Advanced, Tier II
Spell Wielder: D-Rank Caster.
Spell Description: An enhancent spell where mana is channeled into another’s body, reinforcing muscle fibers, accelerating nerve signals, and stimulating hormone release. Functions as a short-term amplifier, akin to steroids.]
[Deconstructing Process: Foreign substances are the bane of steroids. Taint the caster’s mana with yours, changing its structure and rendering the enhancent spell useless.]
[Deconstruct?]
[Yes?]/[No?]
rlin almost smiled. Unlike other tis, he had not received any warning for deconstructing this spell, and it was an Advanced, Tier II spell. He had grown.
Yes…
His mana crackled to life above his outstretched palm and rged into a singular ball as quickly as possible.
Caster turned his way in that instant, perhaps noticing the threat headed its way. rlin gave it a half smile, and imdiately shot the ball of mana he had created out of his hand. It flew through the air, and sank into the dark mana of Caster, visibly tainting it as it rippled like a pond of water a pebble had been dropped into, its color shifting eerily.
[Deconstruction Complete]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 81%/100%] → [86%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 5]
[They ought to fight fair and square, no enhancents, right, rlin Tyrrell?]
Yes… They ought to.
Caster’s spell collapsed instantly, and the battle tilted in the favor of Nora and the Mages.
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