“Transfer?” Hakyun blurted as soon as Marcus stepped in, shifting out of the corner where he and Merlin stood with a pinched expression. “There’s no way anyone would want to transfer. I don’t believe you.”

  Marcus only regarded him with a smile. Then he nodded, downturning his mouth. “Sure. The first stage is always denial.”

  Hakyun’s nose twitched and his mien worsened. “I don’t like this guy,” he said as he turned to Merlin and pointed at Marcus, not having the slightest intention to hide his displeasure.

  Marcus took no offense at that declaration. His gaze just shifted from Hakyun to Merlin and he tilted his head.

  “You must be him,” he began, shuffling forward slowly after taking off his shoes at the doorstep. “The Deficient Mage. Merlin Tyrrell. It’s nice to meet you.” He stretched a hand forward.

  Merlin jerked his head back slightly, an incredulous look painting his face.

  He had heard Marcus state to Chima that he had done his research on his competition, but the fact that someone took the time to find out about him in a way that wasn’t to scorn him still baffled Merlin somewhat. Not once had he imagined that happening; well, not since he had become a Deficient Mage. It was funny how quickly things could change.

  Merlin, not intending to be rude, unlike Hakyun who passed across a feisty first impression, took Marcus’s hand.

  “The pleasure is mine,” he said.

  “Oh. Nice grip,” Marcus noted as he tightened his hand over Merlin’s. “From your figure, I can see you are athletic, but your grip is significantly stronger than your figure should make it out to be.” His smile widened. “Tell me your secret.”

  Merlin blinked owlishly and retreated his hand. His secret was not something he could tell, hardly to people he knew, and definitely not to a complete stranger.

  “I don’t have any secrets,” he replied.

  Marcus hummed. “You sure? ‘Cause I could have sworn a Deficient Mage isn’t supposed to be doing the things you do.” Merlin’s forehead creased. “You’re something of a legend, Merlin. I can call you Merlin, can’t I? Unless you’ve become as formal as Koreans.” Merlin didn’t say anything. “I’ll take that as a yes then. So; where was I? Ah. You being a legend. Yeah. Have you checked how many views that video of yours has lately?” Merlin blinked. Marcus jerked back slightly. He glanced at Chima and Hakyun. They too all had the same owlish look as Merlin. “None of you? Dang. You’re not the kind of guys to be obsessed with stats?”

  Merlin was. He had just completely put that video at the back of his mind, considering he’d had a lot of things take its place since then, and his bulk of worries weren’t slowing down.

  But now that Marcus had mentioned it, maybe he should have checked. Because it seemed like it had spread so far and wide that everyone might now know his face. This guy did. And it was safe to assume that his classmates, and maybe even students of Nikita Academy did. Perhaps even students of the other Mage Academies in the world.

  A legend? Merlin’s heart raced. That was absurd. But for some reason his lips were being pulled involuntarily to the side. He fought back against the urge to smile. He couldn’t come across as smug.

  “You can smile if you want,” Marcus said, and Merlin’s expression froze. “It’d be weird if you didn’t feel some sort of ecstasy from it.” The lad shifted further into the room. “Mind offering me a seat?”

  Chima sighed and gestured at the couch. “It’s open.”

  Marcus nodded and sat on the couch. “You’re cool, Chima. I like you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Hakyun clicked his tongue and sat down on a stool in the kitchen area, while Chima took his place on the cushion near the window once again. Merlin walked to the fridge, slightly embarrassed, and brought a bottle of water for Marcus.

  “You guys are nice,” Marcus said. “I’d thought you would all be hostile towards me.”

  “I am hostile,” Hakyun snorted, nudging his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. “You’ve given me no reason not to.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Yeah, yeah. I get it. I heard you were like that. Feisty. You don’t have many friends, do you?”

  Veins popped out to the side of Hakyun’s head. Merlin had to hold him back from losing his cool. Marcus just drank the bottle of water he had been offered.

  “So? What do you want?” Merlin asked when Marcus was done quenching his thirst.

  Marcus glanced at him and shrugged. “Nothing. Just wanted to see what the popular Deficient Mage was like.” He eyed Merlin from head to toe. “And you look just like any other student. Must have taken a lot out of you to face those Ice Wyverns like that, staring death straight in the eye. You’re a brave one.”

  Merlin swallowed. “I just had no other choice.”

  “Nah. There’s always a choice. You just made a stupid one.”

  Merlin’s brows narrowed. That comment had caught him by surprise.

  “Oh. I didn’t mean it in that manner,” Marcus continued. “You made a stupid choice because you could have died, but a brave one. And the right one too.”

  “He won’t be coming to Crown Academy,” Hakyun chimed in. “So don’t bother with the flattery.”

  Marcus glanced at Hakyun. “And what about you?” Hakyun jerked back. “I can put in a good word.”

  “I told you not to recruit,” Chima reminded Marcus from across the room.

  Marcus chuckled. “My bad. Don’t mind me.” He turned back to Merlin. “On the other hand… Anti-magic. How does it work?”

  Merlin locked eyes with Marcus for a second longer, then he finally took his own seat on a stool.

  “Did your research give you nothing on that?” he said, a little too smugly than he would have liked. But it didn’t hurt anyone now, did it?

  Marcus smiled. “Eh; it didn’t. Guess I’m not as good a detective as I thought. Sherlock Holmes is a tall figure to emulate.”

  “Yes,” said Merlin. “But I’m sure you’re not really expecting me to tell you about it. We are opponents at this very moment. I think I’ll keep my trump card hidden.”

  Those words gave Hakyun a deep sense of relief. He grinned, and Merlin could hear him cackling even though he wasn’t.

  Marcus pursed his lips, nodding. “That is right. You’re right. Smart. Very smart. We have to keep our trump cards hidden.” He cleared his throat. “However, I’m curious. And I don’t think I’ll be able to leave Korea without understanding how it works. So this is what’ll do. I’ll reveal a secret about Deficient Mages to you, and you’ll reveal one about your abilities to me. It doesn’t have to be at this moment. There’s plenty of time. It can even be during the tournament or after. Just whenever you feel like, let me know.”

  He stood up and stretched.

  “It was nice talking to you guys. My mates and I stay in the guest hall across. Nikita Academy students are there too. It’s kinda a boring place. So if you’re interested in meeting the rest of Crown Academy’s students, just holla at me. I’ll introduce y’all to them.” He turned towards the door. “I guess I’ll head back now.”

  Chima stood up from the cushion and followed behind Marcus to the door.

  “We’ll see about paying the rest of your mates a visit,” he said. “Nice of you to come.”

  “Eh; don’t sweat it. It’s only right that I make friends with everyone.” Marcus waved and left the room. “Now, I head to my next destination. God, this is somewhat tiring.”

  Chima shut the door as Marcus turned to the next room on the floor, a beep sounding to signify that it had been locked.

  Merlin snapped out of his thoughts then and turned to his roommates.

  “I won’t lie,” he began. “I think I’m curious.”

  Hakyun’s brows furrowed. “Curious about what?”

  “Don’t you want to know what secret he knows about Deficient Mages?” Merlin asked, astounded that Hakyun had said such a thing.

  “Don’t be foolish, Merlin. It’s obvious that the guy is lying. There’s no way he knows anything about Deficient Mages that we don’t.”

  Merlin’s eyebrows twitched. He turned to Chima and Chima shrugged.

  “Don’t ask me,” he said. “I have no idea if he’s lying or not. It’s your call to make.”

  “You brute!” Hakyun voiced. “You’re tossing him to the lions.”

  “No, I’m not,” Chima argued. “I just won’t say something I’m not sure about. As long as Merlin isn’t planning on saying anything about the System, and he’s only revealing a single trick as to how his anti-magic works, then I’m sure it’ll be fine. And, besides, it’s not like the guy said it had to be now. It can be when the tournament is already decided.”

  Merlin obviously had no intention of revealing his secret about the System. And, honestly, it was not like how his anti-magic functioned was something that should be kept under closed roofs. They were all Mages. When the Cataclysm came, they might have to fight together. The better they knew how each other's combat skills worked, the greater their chances of victory.

  And, just like Chima had said, he could have the conversation with Marcus during or after the tournament. It didn’t matter. The lad was just as curious as he was curious about his kind.

  “I want to know what secret Marcus has about Deficient Mages,” Merlin said, cutting off Hakyun before he could bite back at Chima. “Perhaps it can help me understand more about my abilities work. That doesn’t sound like it would do more harm than good, does it?”

  Hakyun glanced at Merlin and sighed. “You do you.” He stood up and walked to Merlin’s room. “Blue!” he called, pushing the door open. “You can come out now—” His words hung in his throat for a breath longer. Then he turned, widening his eyes at Merlin. “Blue,” he said. “The dragon’s doubled in size.”

  Merlin’s heart skipped a beat, his brows pulling in.

  “What?!”