Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 83: 83-You’ll Have To Do Better, Merlin Tyrrell

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The arena greeted Merlin’s presence once again, but this time he was a lot more tense. For one, he knew nothing about Park Yuri’s abilities, which would make the start of their duel rather tough on his part. Of course he could just go straight for her Grimoire, end things before they could begin, but he doubted she would be leaving it open. And, secondly… “I advise you not to hold back because I’m a girl or in the same Cohort,” Park Yuri said as she brought her Grimoire out of its pouch. “You’ll only get yourself injured that way…” She was right. He really had been thinking about holding back. He’d never fought a girl before, and his dad always told him to never hit one, so it was kind of awkward being put in the same arena as a lady now. However, he was going to respect her wishes or he would only come off as rude. After what had happened with Nikolai, he really didn’t want to give anyone else the wrong impression about himself. He nodded. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on holding back.” She gave a nod of hers, and Merlin realized that he’d never seen her smile. And that was weird because he had even seen Kim Yiseo smile. Was there something up with her? He shook his head. That was a bad habit of his; always getting curious about others when it wasn’t warranted. That usually led to prying, and he really didn’t want to annoy others. Better safe to just keep one’s distance. “Do you mind if we have a chat later on?” Park Yuri asked, shocking Merlin into an owlish blink, considering what his thoughts had just been. He remained silent, unsure what to say. “Is that a no?” Merlin snapped back and shook his head. “No. No. It’s fine. Sure, we can.” “Alright,” said Park Yuri, and her Grimoire took flight. “Begin!” Professor Dmitri voiced, having given them enough time to settle into the mood. Park Yuri wasted no time attacking. She raised a hand up to the sky, and her mana bloomed into a phoenix rising from the ashes. Merlin swore that he had heard a screech, but he didn’t let himself remain dumbfounded at the beautiful sight before him. Because, Park Yuri pointed a finger at him and the phoenix rushed in. She was a Fire Mage, that much was obvious, and since Merlin had both teamed up with and fought against Chima, an A-Class Fire Mage as well, he was not completely out of the park as to what steps he could take to defeat her. Deconstructing her spell did not require his body heat as Choi Sangook’s did, however, her mana control was impeccable. In other words, her spell moved faster, sharper, and would most likely sting more painfully if it hit. Merlin rolled out of the way as the phoenix flashed before him. Before he could stand up and ready himself for its follow up though, it was already upon him. He turned into a comedic show of rolling around like a cannon ball, with nowhere to escape to. He had to deconstruct the spell, but there was no time. Park Yuri was giving him none. She was far more meticulous than every other Mage he had fought yet. Her phoenix made sure to cover all the arena grounds, giving Merlin no breathing space. He was not particularly tired; with his Resilience at level 27 he could go on for at least thirty minutes without getting exhausted. The problem was this wasn’t a battle of stamina. And it would hurt his pride if he was unable to land even a single hit on her. But… What else could he do? His brain whirled with countless plausible actions he could take; if he could just cover the distance between both of them, he should be able to deal some damage. Then there was only one way he could do that. Merlin summoned Reader’s Bookmark, and activated [Flash Step]. He would have opted for [Mana Spring], but he could hardly control his speed with that skill. He had almost gotten himself injured against Choi Sangook using it, there was no way he would be leaving with just his foot being caught in an attack against Park Yuri. The phoenix flew towards him, Merlin tightened the muscles on his legs and danced around the bird of