Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 183: 183-E = MC

Read chapter 183 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

To the competitors, the way the last fight had ended was rather disappointing, but those who were left of Prestige Academy’s battle crew were satisfied with the outcome to a certain degree. Crown Academy would obviously be different, since they were still behind, but that didn’t matter to the winners, unless to serve as a bit of motivation that they were ahead and ensured no points were lost going forward. There were only three matches left until the competition came to a close. Lee Jaehyun was next, which was why he was already up on his feet, taking a deep breath as he readied his mind to exit the waiting room and step onto the arena. Then would come Park Yuri’s, and after that was Merlin’s. Merlin felt like his heart would jump out of his chest at any moment. When the waiting room had still been filled, he had not really been focused on his own match but those of his mates. But now that one more person was leaving, and it was getting closer to his fight, he began to feel anxious. What if he lost? What if he was the one who ended up handing Crown Academy the point they so desperately needed to remain as number one in the rankings? What if he couldn’t prove himself to his parents? Those questions ran amok in his head, and if he wasn’t careful he could end up driving himself insane. If Blue was here he would have cuddled the dragon tightly and just fallen asleep. The announcement came a minute later, and Lee Jaehyun made his way towards the door. So far, no one who had gone out to fight had returned to the waiting room after, so Merlin didn’t assume Jaehyun would be any different. “See you on the other side,” Merlin said. Jaehyun turned around and nodded. “I’ll give my best,” he said. “You can count on that.” Merlin smiled. “I don’t doubt it for a second.” Jaehyun sighed calmly and left. Merlin turned to Park Yuri, who was sitting silently with her eyes closed and her arms and legs crossed. “I guess it’s just us two left.” She looked at him. “You sound anxious.” Merlin’s lips twitched. “I think your ears are playing tricks on you.” She turned to the TV screen after a long second of resting her eyes upon him. “There’s no need to lie,” she said. “It’s fine to be anxious. Although, I don’t think there’s anything to be anxious about. We’ve done fine so far. We can win. We just have to play our parts to the best of our abilities. And if anyone can do that, it’s you. I trust you, Merlin Tyrrell, so you have nothing to be anxious about.” Merlin’s heart skipped a beat. His body felt light all of a sudden, like a gust of wind could lift him up and hurl him into the sky with little to no resistance from himself. That was one of the longest string of sentences Park Yuri had ever spoken in his presence, and one of the calmest and kindest too. Perhaps she was right. Maybe there was really no need to be anxious. Sure, Marcus Reed seemed like a tough opponent, but even the best of mages could be defeated. All he had to do was read the fight to the best of his abilities and think up several ways to come out on top. He could do it. “Thank you,” Merlin said as Jaehyun arrived in the arena at the same time as his opponent. “That really means a lot.” “Don’t sweat it,” said Yuri. “We’re classmates.” Merlin nodded and focused on the duel about to begin. Jordan Miles was Jaehyun’s opponent. He was a tall and rangy lad with cropped dark, blonde hair and brown eyes. Standing across from Jaehyun, he didn’t seem like most of the people from Crown Academy who had come before him. He had a rather amiable smile on his face and waved at Jaehyun. Around him, however, was a slight, almost missable, shimmer—a watery distortion that looked like heat rising from a microwave. Merlin wasn’t surprised at the sight. He had seen that vibrating distortion in the air around Jordan already when studying the lad, and it had also been a point in the discussion he and Yuri had had with Jaehyun, concerning how he could come out on top in his duel. After all, Jordan was a He