Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 5: 5-I’m Always Right, Merlin Tyrrell

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Nora’s Grimoire arrived the next day—along with their IDs—just before they went on their morning jog, packaged like a Christmas present specifically handpicked for the only child of a magnate. She was currently tearing the packaging open with a smile on her face, while Merlin stood behind the couch, arms folded, face grimaced, and thoughts, one of jealousy. “Stop taking your lovely time with it, would you?” he grumbled, unable to hold back any longer. “I’m waiting here.” Nora glanced over her shoulder, looking around as though she couldn’t see him. “And what does that have to do with me?” Merlin waved the back of his palm languidly like he was shooing away a chicken. “Just hurry up so we can practice. I need to see if this stuff actually works.” “My Grimoire?” “No…” He looked disgusted. “My System, obviously.” Nora mumbled something under her breath. Merlin ignored her, since she went back to unpackaging her Grimoire—that was what mattered. And a few seconds later, when she was done, he flung himself over the couch and plopped down beside her, getting a closer look at what it looked like. It was not exactly different from those he had seen while watching the videos of Mages on the net, a leatherbound tome the size of a small diary, dark-brown, signifying that it was for an A-Class Mage—different colors for different Classes of Mages—and with an orb at the center of its cover. To Merlin, it was beautiful. To Nora, however… “Why’s it so small?” she grumbled, flipping the Grimoire around, like it was a handfan. “Stop complaining about everything, will you?” Merlin pulled her cheek. She slapped his hand away. “Shut up.” She picked up the manual that came with it, wondering what was written inside. Merlin was curious as well. “Channel a bit of your mana into the Grimoire—just a bit—and a symbol representing your ability will appear on the orb,” Nora read. For someone who had aced the written entrance examination into Prestige Academy, the second ranked Mage Academy in the world, channeling mana was a trivial thing. At least, theoretically. All they had done before the exam was attend lessons in preparation, they had never really put what they had learned into practice due to the restrictions that came with magic as a whole. Now that a Grimoire was present, though, there was no problem in engaging in such—hopefully. Merlin watched as Nora tightened her fingers over her Grimoire, her shoulders tensing for a brief moment, before relaxing. She closed her eyes, and Merlin could instinctively feel something move gently within her. And then, the orb on the cover of the Grimoire glowed, and what seemed to be a spiral appeared within it. His brows narrowed. Nora opened her eyes. “It’s not really that hard,” said Nora. “Channeling mana, I mean.” Nope. I think it’s because you’re just too smart. Merlin didn’t let her know that, though. She would just have a bigger head than she already did. “A spiral,” he turned to the symbol on her Grimoire. “Is that air?” Nora tilted her head slightly. “Yeah. I guess I’m an Air Mage.” “It seems so.” Merlin nodded. “What now?” “Uhm… We practice. What else?” Nora said, as though that was common sense. Reading Singularity Mage and actively participating in it had given Merlin a lot of ideas on spells as a whole, their functionality, and how they were cast. He was not certain how much of what happened in the novel could be related to spell casting in reality, but if The Sleeping Jacket was a Mage—there was no reason to claim that they were not; even Mages had hobbies—then it was probably ninety percent correct. However, there was no way for Merlin to figure that out. He glanced at the Grimoire in Nora’s hand and caressed his chin. And the lessons they had taken in preparation for Prestige Academy's entrance exam was not one that touched deeply into magic in its entirety. They had just been taught enough to aid in them passing their exams. It had only been for a month, after all. Honestly, Merlin was still on th