Reader Mage

Hakyun’s face twisted gently as he stared at Olivia, and it was very much evident what was going through his mind as he did.

Olivia was a B-Class Mage. On paper, she should have no problems defeating a C-Class Mage. However, that was not the real reason why Merlin had his fingers knotted together. Hakyun was smart; the fact that he had matched with Olivia meant that he was certain he had quite the chance of winning. But the similarities she shared with Nikolai could pose a problem in that regard.

Merlin couldn’t help but worry. What if Hakyun froze up or something? What would happen then?

He shook those thoughts away quickly as Instructor Park gestured for both contestants to take their stance.

No matter how it all played out fifteen minutes from now, he had to trust Hakyun. He knew the boy’s strengths, and he knew he could do it.

Merlin tightened his fists and licked his lips, and the match began.

Hakyun went for Olivia’s Grimoire first. The floor around him cracked and broke into small chunks that rose up into the air. Then his mana spilled out of him and connected to them, pushing them forward as they zoomed towards Olivia’s Grimoire and herself.

Olivia reacted quickly. Her lower half squirmed and underwent a rather visually excruciating transformation. It was like her bones were being shattered into pieces and put together in real-time. Her battle wear expanded, and in less than a second, where what everyone was certain human legs once were now housed something larger and more animal-like. Her heels were propped up, and when one looked closely, claws poked out of holes in her foot wear. Complementing her transformation was tawny-colored tail with black spots that jutted out of her lower waist for all to see.

Instantly, she shifted effortlessly from the path of Hakyun’s rocks, and so did her Grimoire.

That outcome, however, was to be expected. So Hakyun wasn’t surprised. He simply moved his fingers like a puppeteer would their strings, and the rocks responded. They swerved in the air and rushed towards Olivia once again. But just like before, she swiftly evaded. In the next instant, her hands went through the same evolution process as her legs, and they shifted grotesquely into the forelimbs of a cheetah, bearing claws and black spots.

That transformation froze Hakyun for half a second. But he immediately snapped himself back.

Olivia snarled at him, revealing fangs as her eyes shifted into golden slits, and then she rushed through the arena, heading for Hakyun at a breakneck speed. His rocks met her halfway, but she ducked and jumped over them like they were nothing but useless hurdles for her to pass on her way to victory.

Hakyun shifted a few steps backward as his brows furrowed and sweat trickled down his forehead.

Olivia didn’t give him a moment of respite. She blurred before him, and Hakyun was forced to give up on attack for defense.

His rocks fell to the floor, lifeless. Hakyun motioned his hands upwards, and the earth before him split open as though preparing to swallow Olivia whole. But instead a large wall jutted out of it, keeping Hakyun safe from whatever attack Olivia had in store for him.

And it was one heck of an attack.

She curled her mutated fist and threw a jab, aiming for Hakyun’s chest, but was blocked by the earth wall before him. Cracks spread all over the construct, and all Olivia did was add a little more force behind her punch, and the structure immediately crumbled.

“Shit!” Hakyun swore and danced a few steps backward as his glasses slipped off his nose, wet from his sweat. Splitting his attention between blocking Olivia’s attack and placing his glasses back in place opened up an opportunity for the mutant.

Olivia flashed behind Hakyun, her tail serving as some sort of rudder, helping her make swift movements. And this time Hakyun was not quick enough to defend her attack. Her complexion shifted from pale into tawny in half a second, and her face was covered in black spots. Her eyes glowed even brighter and her nose flattened into the structure common with wild cats. Her transformation seemed to give her punch even greater power; it landed right in Hakyun’s stomach just as he turned around to face her. He caved in, pouring out a mouthful of blood that seemed to pause in the air, along with his glasses, as he was thrown several steps backward.

Merlin shifted on his seat, half a mind from shooting up to his feet.

Hakyun held his stomach, gasping for breath, unable to even let out the agonizing scream that everyone could see had built up in his throat. His face had become an amalgam of pain; his eyes were wide open with tears building beneath them, his veins popped out of his neck and forehead, and eyebrows were drawn together intensely.

“I’ll give you a second,” Olivia started, a voice distorted and primal. “Give up, or I’ll pummel you until you do. The pain will be excruciating.”

Hakyun drew in breath sharply as he seemed to gain some sort of semblance of strength. He uncurled himself and pushed himself up, spitting out blood. But when he looked up, he squinted.

Merlin clenched his jaw.

Hakyun was short-sighted. At the moment, Olivia would be nothing more than a blurred painting, undefined by sharp edges. And the fact that she was a close-range fighter wouldn’t make much difference. Hakyun would be unable to react before she was upon him. To make matters worse, Olivia shifted forward and picked up his glasses and crushed them.

“From the way you’re looking, I assume you have short-sightedness,” she said as the crushed pieces of Hakyun’s glasses fell from her hand. “I’ve just destroyed your glasses. Fighting me the way you are is pointless. If you don’t give up, I’ll go for your Grimoire next. You don’t want to have to cough up a hefty sum to replace it now, do you?”

Hakyun chuckled as he wrapped an arm across his waist. Then, bit by bit, it transitioned into a self-deprecating laugh, revealing his teeth smeared with blood.

Olivia wore the same expression as everyone else. Merlin was the same. He wondered if Olivia’s punch had done a number on Hakyun and stripped him of his senses, and that caused his eyebrows to furrow.

“What a pickle, huh?” Hakyun started with a groan. “I thought I was over it, but I guess I’m not.”

Olivia frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“A friend of mine is just like you. A Mutant Mage. I haven’t seen him for a while now; heck, I don’t even know if he’s alive or not. Apparently, that’s classified information—”

“What does that have to do with me?” Olivia shook her head immediately after that question. “Don’t worry about answering that. I’m not even interested.”

Hakyun sighed deeply and smiled. He took off his shoes and tossed them across the arena, giving Olivia who had been shifting forward already pause, and then spread his legs apart and dropped into a low squat while retaining an upright torso.

“What I’m saying is,” he began as he tucked his arms behind his back and joined his clenched fists together, “you’re doing me a favor by taking away my eyesight. Now, I won’t see flashes of my friend while I fight you.” He shut his eyes.

For a moment, Merlin was confused as to what exactly Hakyun was planning, but after a quick recollection of what their discussion on what possible ways Hakyun could win his fight entailed, he instantly calmed down.

Earth Sensor. It was the latest of Hakyun’s spells which had come as a result of his training with Senior Will. It was just as complex a spell as Chima’s Giant of Fire, only differing in that it was one solely focused on detection and not attack potency.

Hakyun had mentioned that the spell wasn’t complete yet, and it was lacking in many ways, but Merlin could only hope that it did what his roommate wanted it to at the moment. Draw the fight out.

Olivia hissed, dropped on all four, and her back danced wildly as her spine seemed to drag further down her body. In the next second, she was a human on all fours, but not possessing the hunch-back that came with such a figure. She was basically a human-cheetah.

She sped across the arena, rushing towards Hakyun stealthily. When she got close, she slapped her tail against the wind, and changed her direction instantaneously. Then she pounced at him, ready to attack. However, a wall caught her midway, foiling her attack.

Olivia shifted back slightly, and walked around the still Hakyun gently. When she thought she saw an opening, she once again pushed herself at him, but a wall blocked her path again.

She repeated the same action over and over again, but every attempt of hers was foiled by a wall. And bit by bit, the color on her face began to change. Not only was she becoming more exhausted with each attempt, she was yet to find a way through.

Hakyun’s spell traded minimal mana output for maximum defense. All he did was spread out his mana across himself, that same mana detected an attack and served to control the earth wall he used to protect himself. It was like killing two birds with a single stone.

Olivia couldn’t break through. And when there was only a minute more to go, she became even furious, trying every wild attempt she could think of. But everything was meant with an unsurmountable wall. All Hakyun had to do was remain still, and she couldn’t lay a paw on him.

She hissed in frustration.

And, then, every other attempt she might have had in store was rendered ineffective before put into practice as Instructor Park raised a hand high to signal for the match to stop.

“Timeout!” she voiced. “That is the end of the sixth round. This match ends in a draw.”

At that announcement, Hakyun loosened the tension on his body with a deep exhale and fell on his buttocks to the ground. He breathed out a deep exhale as he took a moment to catch his breath, then he tapped himself on his chest as he coughed before revealing another bloody smile.

“Haha! Take that, nerds! Project Hail Mary is an overwhelming success!”

Merlin chuckled.