Chapter 157: Great News

Still in Mordred's Point of View

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When I stepped my foot in the darkened room, lights that looked like stars twinkled before me. When the luminance kindled the obsidian place, figures of students and adults welcomed my eyes. All of them wore different coloured robes that differentiate them apart.

And I immediately thought of these people as mages. And that thought saved me some time from asking the whereabouts of these sorcerers.

Those mages waved their wands and conjured sparks in the air that suppressed the darkened room. The glitters those wizards produced filled the studio with life and recreated the dazzling sky.

Among those mages was my sister, Rain, practising her spell. She wore the same robe as those mages beside her, but with a crest on her back. Since Rain showed flying colours from the academy, Merlin recruited her as a court mage. And even though Rain was just practicing magic in the academy for weeks, she made a name for herself. 

That girl even beat me, even though the two of us had some special abilities inside of us. And I hated getting reminded about the losing match against Sir Geraint. But I would leave that thought for another day.

I rushed towards her and gave Rain my warm embrace. Despite practicing with these mages, Rain stared at me and returned my embrace. She tugged me close to her body and squeezed me like a koala would do near a tree.

Within a few seconds, Rain nudged my arms and asked, "I thought you're training with the knights? And it has been months since we last met!" 

It was what Rain had mentioned. Rain and I didn't meet for countless weeks or months because of this rigorous training. After applying for the mage and knight slots, King Lancelot gave us to the best teachers in the kingdom. The path we took had a bumpy road, but we learned a hundred things from them.

All the mages beside us watched our figure. But after a few seconds, the instructor growled at them, yelling they should continue their training. However, that tutor didn't check on us and let us do whatever we wanted in this room. 

Rain pulled me away from the training students as we went to another room. I gawked my eyes at my surroundings  upon stepping foot inside. The room finally had light inside, compared to the one we previously entered. 

As soon as Rain closed the doors, I struck her with a conversation. "What's wrong with these rooms? It's like some sort of magical force field encloses us?"

"Even though you're a knight, you're still sharp to know your surroundings."

Rain wasn't the one who answered my question. A voice echoed in the distance, which came from a man that I didn't know. But upon hearing that sound, Rain's eyes widened in delight. I didn't share Rain's sentiments as I readied myself in a protective stance.

"Worry not, child. I am just the mage you're looking for. And I am also the instructor and director of this academy," the mysterious voice chimed, followed by a pair of footsteps.

Within a few seconds, the peculiar figure finally revealed himself from the shadow. A man around, filled with wrinkles on his face, greeted our eyes. He wore a lengthy robe that covered his entire body. Clipped on the man's hand was a staff, with a gem attached on top.

"Are you, perhaps, Merlin?" I asked, and rummaged my hands behind my back.

After a few seconds of searching my patch, I finally handed the note to Merlin. I didn't want to use my inventory and reveal my system to the world. Arthur gave me this power before sacrificing himself to save the town. And even though the two of us butted heads, I still admired his actions.

If word came out that I had these mystical powers, people inside Camelot would study my system. And if these knights unlocked the system, chaos would strike afterwards.

"Yes. It is I, Merlin. People call me by different names. But I do not care about them, since those titles bear nothing but trouble," Merlin acknowledged, as he offered his hand. "Ah, the note! Did Sir Geraint send this letter?"

I nodded my head and replied, "Yes! Sir Geraint sent me this. I didn't peek inside, since this letter must contain some inscribed texts from the knights….I may be a thick head, but I don't want to include myself from Camelot's political views."

"Ah, my boy. This note just contains the list of groceries, animal bones, and gems I requested from the knights. It's nothing special….Here, I can show it to you if you want."

My curiosity got the best of me as I leaned over to Merlin and glanced at the letter. It was what the mage bloke had mentioned. The scroll contained the materials Merlin said earlier, with some added materials that my eyes couldn't read. Sir Geraint must have used another ancient language to describe some obelisks Merlin needed for his alchemy. 

"Now that you're here, Afenos, please take some rest inside the room. There's a spare lounge at the latter side of the academy, not far from here," Merlin confessed, as he weakly pointed his hand.

His fingers quivered as he directed us at the uncharted road. Even Rain couldn't hide her astonishment, with her mouth gaped open. 

"Isn't that place reserved for the wealthy students? You prohibited me from going inside that turf," Rain voiced her concerns, as she crossed her arms.

"I did. But now's a special occasion….especially for tomorrow," Merlin retorted, as he nodded his head. "The news coming from the kingdom will wake you up from your sleep. I advise you to take all the rest as you can before visiting the citadel."

"For what?" I asked, while tilting my head.

Merlin didn't reply to my question and kept it blank in the air. That guy turned around and trundled towards the opposite door and left the two of us with a decision. Since Rain and I had nowhere else to go, we headed straight at the room Merlin had introduced us. As soon as we arrived at the place, we hastily entered and prepared our bed.

The marvelous room welcomed our eyes, with a fluffy bed inviting our exhausted body. The paintings and sculptures at each side caught our eyes, but it was not enough to pull us from the bed.

Rain and I didn't mind sharing a room or the mattress, since we lived long enough to experience it. And after those tiring six years, the two of us didn't care about boundaries. 

As we rested our bodies on the bed, the thought lingered inside my head. It was the lines Merlin mentioned earlier before leaving the two of us behind. If my gut spoke the truth, that news Merline spoke could lead on to something.

But Rain disrupted my train of thought as she asked me a question.

"Don't you think it's a bit unfair….To live this life when….The village is gone."

After a few weeks of accepting the Camelot's order, we heard from the king some grave news. A monster horde attacked some villages, which was also led by a lesser demon. The king mentioned that the village we grew up in experienced the worst casualties, which led to its total annihilation.

Since we couldn't return to the past, we strained ourselves in this training. We didn't have any time to weep at the people we lost, especially when our father and Arthur died for the village's sake. Rain and I just hoped that we could avenge them by enhancing our statistical power and fighting capabilities.

"We've talked about this, Rain….We can't do anything about that right now. But we could always look forward and strive to be stronger. If we could achieve the strength of those knights and wizards, we could….destroy those demons."

The demons were the source of our village's destruction. If it weren't for that lesser demon, we could still return to our hometown. Those neighbours we had were the most excited ones after hearing our acceptance in Camelot.

But instead of protecting them, we saved ourselves and trained with ignorance.

"What if we didn't leave the village? What if we refuse this offer and help them using our systems? Maybe we could have saved some of them and evacuated the children to the nearest kingdom?" Rain continued, disregarding what I had said moments ago.

I couldn't argue with Rain's words, since that thought also haunted my mind. I could only grit my teeth after hearing my sister's opinion, which made my stomachs churn.

"But what if we fail to protect them and die because of those demons? Arthur's and our father's death would be nothing! It's okay if we live….We have that responsibility on avenging them….I could taste the delight of killing those demons with my hands," I replied, and closed my eyes. "Let's rest, Rain. If we're lucky, we could meet someone tomorrow….That's what Merlin said. Some great news."