Reader Mage 35-Can I See Some Magic?!

Kim Yiseo?

rlin rembered that na. Back at Prestige Academy, before the Dungeon raid exam had begun, he had eavesdropped on the examinees chatting about the two S-Class Mages present amongst them. Kim Yiseo was one of the two nas ntioned, the daughter of the Consortium Guild’s Guildmaster.

This is her? rlin’s eyes narrowed slightly as he sought out a better view of her face. He had not caught one back at the Academy considering the sheer number of examinees present. She had smooth skin, black eyes, and had so sort of aloof presence, like she was way, way older than her peers.

“What are you doing here?!” the Fire Mage exclaid.

“What am I doing here?” she asked, her arms folded and her tone strong. Then she glanced at the Troll she had killed in one strike. “How did that beast get over here? I can sense that the occurred break is at least a good fifty ters away. Have you all lost it? What if there had been casualties?”

She can sense how far away the portal is? rlin’s brows fell.

It was not surprising that a Mage could sense mana. It was one of the things they all had—well, all those who weren’t Deficient Mages. rlin wondered if leveling up his Perception to the highest would end up granting him that ability. He already had sothing he shouldn’t be able to have after all. But that was not what was important at the mont. It was the distance of the portal, and the fact that a re Academy student could sense mana that far away. Was this the difference between an S-Class Mage and the rest, or was it because she was the daughter of the Consortium Guild’s Guildmaster, and had received advanced training from the best of the best already? Both were plausible, and he couldn’t pick one to settle on.

“We’re sorry!” the Ice Mage cried out. “But you can’t bla us. We were stationed here to prevent folks from going forward. It was those at the site of the break that let it escape.”

“I see…” She did not sound too pleased that she was being argued with. The car her web held was let down gently, and then she dropped gracefully from it as well. “So you have no fault, is what you’re saying?”

The Fire Mage flinched and nudged the Ice Mage at his side. “Why would you say that?”

Through it all, rlin could only wonder how she was already so strong to take down a Troll in one strike. Which was a sowhat fascinating way to think, considering Nora was his sister.

“rlin!” Speak of the Devil. Nora flung herself before him, grabbing his shoulder imdiately and checking him out. “Hey, are you alright?”

Haha…

“Of course, of course,” rlin replied. “Now, can you stop shaking so much? There’s a child in my arms.”

“Ah…” She took a step back. “I didn’t notice.” She then lowered her height slightly. “Hey, little one. How are you doing?”

The little girl had stopped crying now, but she had a snot dropping from her nose. rlin could only laugh at his situation. His uniform had been soaked in sweat already, and now he was smacked with a child’s snot. Furthermore, he was late to his orientation. His life at the Academy was getting to quite an aweso start.

“Saeron!” A voice called out. It was that of the woman rlin had seen frantically searching the area while others had been evacuating. She was sprinting towards them. No one had to tell him who she was. The child further solidified his deduction too.

“Mommy!” The little girl started to cry again. rlin let her down, pulling out his handkerchief to futilely wipe her snot off his uniform as she ran into her mother’s arms.

“That was reckless, you know?” Nora started as they watched the woman embrace her child.

“What was?” rlin asked, acting oblivious. “You smiling like a psychopath as you fought a Troll? Yes, it most definitely was.”

“You get on my nerves.”

“You say that every ti.”

Nora clicked her tongue. “I’m talking about you running in without requesting help. I thought you said I should cover you?”

“That was for the deconstruction,” rlin replied with a sigh. “You guys had your hands full with the Troll. Didn’t want to distract you.”

Nora was silent for a second. “Don’t do that next ti. I can handle a bit of distraction.”

rlin glanced at her, but didn’t argue anymore. He wondered how she would act when she found out about his plans going forward with his Dungeon Artist Perk.

“Okay,” he said simply.

“Thank you.” Their attention was drawn back to the woman who was now before them, and the little girl, Saeron. She was standing at her mother’s side, clutching the skirt of her gown, never wanting to let go of it ever again. “I don’t know what I would have done if—”

“Haha… It’s no problem, really,” rlin cut the woman off, scratching the back of his neck. He was certain he knew what the woman was about to say, and he couldn’t let her utter such a thing. It had not happened, so there was really no point. “I just did what anyone would do,” he added.

The woman smiled, she then turned to Nora and bowed. “Thank you as well. If not for both of you coming at the ti that you did, things could have gotten bad.”

“Glad to be at your service,” Nora sprouted a wide grin.

She was loving this, wasn’t she? rlin recalled when she’d continuously denied having any intentions of becoming a Mage. If only he could travel back to the past to show her little self her face now. He was sure he would relish in the wild emotions the forr would display.

“What are you looking at?” Nora whispered without turning his way. rlin just shrugged.

“Thank you, mister.” Saeron walked forward, finally having the courage. She then dipped her hand into her trouser’s pocket and brought out a piece of candy. It had been squished, most likely when she had been lying underneath the car. “Y-You can have this.” She reluctantly stretched forth her hand, her lips quivering, perhaps hoping he would say no so she could keep it.

rlin leaned forward, rubbed her head and smiled. “Thank you,” he said. “But it’s yours. Like I told your mother, I was just doing what anyone would have done. Let tell you a secret, though. Don’t tell anyone. You promise?” Saeron bobbed her head up and down. “I’m on my way to a Magic Academy, to beco a Mage. Do you like Mages?”

The little girl’s eyes glistened sowhat as though she had co across a new toy on display. Her face that had been all tight for a while now beca as bright as the sun.

“You’re a Mage?! Magic… Can I see so magic?!”

Well, about that…

rlin had his smile frozen on his lips. He could only chuckle. After all, he had no spells to show. In fact, she might end up hating him if she found out what he could do. His mind flashed back to how Janeth had reacted when she had found out that magic was not at the pinnacle of humanity. And she was an adult. Saeron was a child. He would probably traumatize her for life.

“Now, now, Saeron, let’s not bother the good people.” Her mother held her back.

“But I want to see magic.” She pouted.

Which was valid. She was a child. And even though she’d had a front row seat to the just-concluded battle, it was obvious that she had been unable to take in all the spells flying about because of the situation.

rlin would have done what she wanted, but, sadly…

“Ahhhh…” Saeron yelped in fright at first before smiling. She was suddenly up in the air like an eagle had flown in to steal her from her mother. “Look, Mommy! It’s magic!”

rlin glanced at Nora who had a finger twirling round and round.

“Show-off.”

“Shut up.”

After a few seconds, Nora let the little lady down.

Saeron’s mother could only force a smile. Her daughter up in the air? What if sothing had happened? She quickly bowed, thanking them, and dragged Saeron away, who kept waving at them.

Now that that was done…

“We should find our uber driver and hurry on to the Academy,” said rlin. Getting late was one thing, missing the orientation in its entirety was another.

“Ahem…” rlin’s and Nora's attention was drawn to the person who had walked up to them. “I can see that you both are Prestige Academy students.” It was Kim Yiseo. “You have my thanks.”

Nora folded her arms, instantly putting on an expression that made rlin shiver.

“How are you going to compensate us, then?” she asked. Her question baffled rlin. Why would she ask that? “I overheard. You’re the daughter of the Consortium’s Guildmaster, right? So, how are you going to compensate us for handling your ss?”

Kim Yiseo raised a brow, sighed, and replied, “Like I said, you have my thanks.”

The two ladies were now shooting eye lasers at each other. rlin decided to take the lead before it got even worse.

“We accept your thanks—”

“No, we don’t,” Nora sliced through his words. “We would like compensation. Two D-Rank monsters this far into the city, and only D-Class Mages were available?” She jerked a thumb at her back, obviously gesturing at Saeron and her mother who were nowhere to be seen anymore. “What if soone had died?”

“I was here just in ti to prevent that,” Kim Yiseo answered.

“You were here after my brother was left with no choice but to risk his life to save soone. You noticed the car flying his way, didn’t you?”

Kim Yiseo glanced at rlin who was trying to stop Nora from dragging this out any more than it was supposed to.

“And I stopped it,” she said.

“Yeah, you did. That doesn’t detract from the danger now, does it?” Nora continued. Things were getting heated, and rlin didn’t like it.

“Well, that is why you both are Mages, isn’t it?” Kim Yiseo didn’t back down.

Nora scoffed. “You must not know this, which is weird since you are just like us, and the daughter of the Consortium’s Guildmaster, but we only have student IDs. In other words, we are not yet certified Mages. We should not be at the battlefront.”

The intense staring had begun to tire rlin out now. He sighed, wanting nothing more at the mont than to put an end to it.

“We have to leave now.” His words were directed at both his sister and Kim Yiseo. “We’re late for our orientation at the Academy.”

Kim Yiseo put an end to her stare off with Nora and nodded. “I understand that.” She then looked around. “It seems like you both might have lost your ride. If you want, I can give you a lift.”

“I’m sorry, but we’ll have to reject your offer,” rlin replied. “Our things are in the uber and we need them.”

Kim Yiseo pulled out her phone from her pocket. “That can be solved. I’ll have them sent to the Academy.” She looked at Nora. “This can serve as compensation, yes?”

“No,” Nora outright rejected, causing Kim Yiseo to frown. She then waved her hand dismissively, beginning to walk away. “We can just file a report at the Consortium and we’ll get it either way. Keep owing us that favor. Let’s go, rlin.”

Kim Yiseo scoffed. “That will take at least a week,” she answered. “Do you think you're the only ones filing reports?” Nora froze. Kim Yiseo brandished her phone. “But with this I can get it to you today. That is unless you don’t want to brush your teeth, put on makeup, or have anything else to wear besides your uniform for the duration of your first week at the Academy, perhaps, even a month. I’m sure your training suits are in there as well. You won’t be able to attend practical classes without them. Again… This can serve as compensation, yes?”

Nora had her back turned to them, but rlin could vividly picture his sister’s expression. She was definitely biting down on her lower lip, holding herself back from bursting.

Well, he did not have any makeup to put on, but he definitely needed to brush his teeth and attend practical classes. He couldn’t also be moving around in just his uniform for a whole week now, could he?

“On second thoughts, that’ll do,” rlin replied on behalf of them both. “Thank you.”

“You’re welco,” said Kim Yiseo.

At that mont, a batch of reporters flooded onto the scene. Kim Yiseo’s face instantly squeezed in disgust.

The life of a celebrity, rlin deduced. He wondered how bad it really was, and if that would be his life if everyone eventually found out what he was.

Nora seed to take notice of Kim Yiseo’s plight, and in that instant found her new plaything, aside from rlin, Sunny, and the dead Troll.

“Are you scared of reporters, young miss?” Nora teased. Kim Yiseo’s visage worsened. “It’s funny how they are arriving on the scene faster than the Mages of the Consortium Guild. Really?”

Honestly, his sister had a point. rlin was in full support of the teasing. After all, shouldn’t the Mages be here by now? A lot more minutes than what had been expected had passed. This was incompetence at its finest.

And then they appeared, flashing into sight like they had just been hiding in the corners.

“My lady,” the Mage in the lead bowed. “I apologize for the delay.”

He was a man who looked to be in his late twenties, with bright auburn hair and a slim build. The silver accentuations on his battle uniform vastly differed from those of the other Mages. rlin couldn’t interpret it yet, but he would bet a pound that this man was at least an A-Class Mage.

The rest of the Mages had instantly divided themselves into two groups without any words. One went to hold back the reporters, while the others supported the Mages who had been involved in the battle, tending to their injuries, as well as taking care of the Troll and Caster.

Their coordination would have amazed rlin, if only they had not been late.

“Really? Delay? Did you just say delay, Do-Won?! What if there had been casualties?! If there’s any delay here, it’s you delaying from getting quickly to the Academy for my orientation!” Kim Yiseo was furious. But it was obviously not all because of the delay. Nora had that kind of effect on others.

“It will not happen again,” the Mage bowed even lower. “Forgive .”

Kim Yiseo held in her rage. “It better not.” She turned her attention to rlin, and then Nora, who was smiling with a self-satisfied look on her face. She reddened slightly. “Let’s leave. We’re late.”