Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 93: 93-Activate Reader Mage

Read chapter 93 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

Merlin was unable to come to an understanding concerning what had just happened. He focused intently on the figure approaching him, the thick fur on his body, the golden eyes, and the proud gait in which he walked with. Was he really staring at the same Nikolai that he had fought during Grimoire sparring class? There was no way. Nikolai had been slower, and his strikes had carried basically no weight. It was practically impossible for someone to go from that to whatever he was at the moment. Something was wrong. It was either Nikolai had been hiding his strength during the sparring class, or his abilities had been significantly boosted by something. And Merlin was not leaning towards the former, because he saw no reason as to why Nikolai would hold back, and he was well aware that the lad had been giving it his all during their fight. Which was why he was more inclined towards the latter being the more plausible reasoning. Merlin stood up. “Nikolai,” Merlin called. “Is that you?” Nikolai chuckled and stretched his arms outwards. “Who else would it be, Merlin?” “Is there a problem? What’s up with you?” Nikolai halted and frowned. “What do you mean?” Okay, Merlin wasn’t exactly sure how to put his thoughts into words. He couldn’t just go around accusing someone of using mysterious magical steroids now, could he? So he kept his mouth shut. Nikolai sighed. “I’ve never felt better, Merlin. So which is it? Want to chat, or do you want to take one more shot at me?’ Merlin shook his head. “Hey, man, I’m just trying to defend my flag here. I’m not really a battle maniac. If a fight can be avoided, I’d prefer to avoid it.” Nikolai shrugged. “Sad. Well, this can’t. I need to take the flag.” Merlin knew there would be no more words exchanged as Nikolai lunged forward. He readied himself and swerved out of the way, barely escaping Nikolai’s swipe at him. If the claws had connected, they would have left crazy scars on his chest. Not enough to kill him, but enough to incapacitate him. Was this right? Well, it didn’t matter. For now, he had to focus on protecting the flag. He couldn’t let the rest of his team down. “Are you looking down on me again, Merlin?” Nikolai growled as he sent slashes after slashes, forcing Merlin into defence. “I never looked down on you,” Merlin replied through gritted teeth as he pounced back, away from Nikolai, but was only allowed a moment to catch his breath as the boy covered the distance between them in a flash. “You say that, but you aren’t attacking,” Nikolai noted. “You’ll lose if things keep up this way.” Did the lad think he didn’t know that? Merlin wasn’t attacking because he wasn’t sure how exactly to strike. Last time, he had held back his strength because he was well aware of Nikolai’s limits. Now, however, he wasn’t so sure. What if he struck too hard and broke the boy’s ribs? Nikolai slammed his hand down to the ground where Merlin had been standing a second ago and sprayed debris and dust into the air. A small crater had formed right where he had hit. Merlin frowned. Well, if I don’t strike, it’ll be my own ribs breaking… Merlin channeled his mana to his fists and took his stance. “Finally taking things seriously, heh?” Nikolai took a deep breath in and exhaled. Merlin gave no reply, so he dashed forward immediately. Merlin, however, was more prepared this time. Ever since he had realized that he could use his mana to create his own personal skills, like [Mana Whip], he had been coming up with different ways to make use of it to bolster his fighting capabilities. One of the ways he had come up with was by modifying [Flash Step] from relying solely on his instincts to the input of his mana. Mana was an extension of himself, and delving deep into it had given Merlin a deeper understanding of its structure. In other words, he was more attuned to it than he had been previously. And since mana was an extension of himself, then it reacted to his thoughts faster than his body did. Since he was yet to put