“Have you calmed down, Merlin?”

A soft voice came from behind him. Merlin turned his head and saw Linda approaching with two glasses of orange juice in her hands.

He quickly stood up and nodded. “I have, Master. This time, I’m sure I can do it.”

“Good!” Linda smiled, pleased with his spirit, and handed him the glass in her right hand. “Drink this to refresh your mind.”

Merlin didn’t refuse. He took it and drank eagerly.

Linda chuckled softly and sipped her own. Afterward, the two continued their training session.

Merlin took a deep breath and opened his right palm.

Under Linda’s watchful gaze, he whispered, “Spark.”

Whoosh!

A red magic circle appeared—this time, it didn’t shatter right away.

“Oh?” Linda raised an eyebrow. “Will it work this time?”

As she watched curiously, a small spark flickered from the circle, showing that Merlin had succeeded.

Clap! Clap!

Linda clapped her hands, looking at him with admiration. “Congratulations, Merlin. You did it. I didn’t expect you to succeed this fast. Honestly, that’s amazing.”

Failure was common for beginners when casting basic magic for the first time. The duration of failure varied—some took two hours, others four, and some even an entire

However, on the other hand, some succeeded on their very first try. Only those truly born for magic could do so, and their talent level was usually ranked S.

Although Merlin had failed at first, he quickly identified his weaknesses and learned how to overcome them. As his master, she felt deeply proud of his progress.

Merlin smiled awkwardly. His success wasn’t entirely due to his own skill—it was thanks to the help of the system. Of course, he wasn’t foolish enough to say that out loud.

After all, the system was his greatest secret. Even those closest to him could never know of its existence.

“Alright, let’s move on to the next stage. There’s still a lot of basic magic you need to learn. All of it will serve as your foundation before reaching the Ninth Core Spirit stage,” Linda said.

Merlin nodded slightly and continued his training under Linda’s watchful supervision.

***

The next afternoon…

“Hah… Hah… Hah…” Merlin panted, lying exhausted on the ground.

His training clothes were soaked with sweat, and his whole body felt stiff.

Linda walked up to him and chuckled. “How was the training? Amazing, wasn’t it?”

Merlin forced his heavy eyelids open and raised a thumb.

“It was… amazing!” he said with a weak smile.

Counting yesterday, it had been two days since he began practicing magic with Linda. During that time, he had poured all his focus and energy into succeeding in every session.

Honestly, practicing magic wasn’t that exhausting. However, the more he chanted, the greater the mana consumption in his body became.

As a result, he experienced a phenomenon known as “mana dryness.”

It was both painful and draining—his nerves tensed, and his muscles twisted from within.

Fortunately, his condition hadn’t reached a severe stage yet, so there was no risk of lasting damage.

“Pfft!” Linda giggled softly. She crouched beside him and poked his cheek. “Good thing you’re still hanging in there. This is just a small part of the training I’ve prepared for you. Be ready—in two days, I’m going all out on you.”

A beautiful yet sinister grin bloomed on her face, making the corners of Merlin’s mouth twitch slightly.

But a second later, Merlin sensed something off about Linda’s words and quickly asked, “Master, what do you mean by ‘in two days’? Aren’t we going to practice tomorrow?”

Linda shook her head. “I have some business today and tomorrow. So, we’ll postpone our practice until the day after.”

“Business, huh?” Merlin muttered, lowering his gaze. Two days ago, Linda had said the same thing, which made him wonder what she was actually up to.

Sensing his curiosity, Linda pinched his cheek and teased, “Do you want to know what I’m doing?”

Merlin felt embarrassed but didn’t deny it. “Yeah, I’m a little curious. But if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine.”

Everyone had their own secrets and responsibilities, so he respected Linda’s privacy and didn’t want to pry.

“Well, it’s not like I’m hiding anything,” Linda said casually. “The king heard about my visit to the Clay family and invited me to the palace.”

She sighed softly before adding with a hint of annoyance, “He’s throwing a small party to welcome me, and I can’t exactly refuse. You probably don’t know this, but I really hate crowded events.”

Ever since she was young, she had disliked parties and formal gatherings.

To her, they were nothing more than occasions to wear a fake smile—something completely against her nature.

“Party, huh?” Merlin murmured, narrowing his eyes.

Looking back, there was no such event in the novel. But it made sense—Linda was supposed to return to the academy after helping him and Catrine awaken their guardian spirits.

“Could it be that I’ve changed the plot too much?”

The thought flashed through his mind, and he took a deep breath. Little by little, the story was beginning to drift away from how it was meant to unfold.

Still, he didn’t really care. After all, he had the system on his side, along with knowledge of the characters, the plot, and everything else.

However, just as the flutter of a butterfly’s wings in a Brazilian forest could cause a tornado in Texas, even a small change in the plot could one day bring disaster upon him.

“Why so quiet? Worried I won’t come back?” Linda teased, smiling as she playfully pinched his cheeks.

Merlin could only let her have her way. His relationship with Linda was slowly changing—what had once been stiff and formal was now turning into something closer and more natural.

“Status,” he whispered softly.

[Status]

Name: Linda Thalsis

Age: 27

Identity: Headmistress of Freya Academy of Magic, the Nameless Mage

Talent: S

Guardian Spirit: Silver-Eyed Tiger (★★★★★)

Rank: First Spirit Core

Bloodline: Angel’s Golden Blood (Gold)

Favorability: 95

Upon seeing her favorability score, his breath caught.

’95? Damn it! Isn’t that really high?’ Merlin muttered, swallowing hard.

He hadn’t checked Linda’s status panel since her affection score had stopped at 80. And now, without realizing it, it had jumped to 95 points—enough to make his heart race with excitement.

“Ahem! It’s fine, Master. Just be careful later, alright? If you mess up, I’ll be the one to handle it,” Merlin said teasingly.

“You…” Linda was speechless. She hadn’t expected her disciple to tease her so boldly.

But strangely, she couldn’t bring herself to get angry. Instead, a warm, pleasant feeling spread through her chest—one she couldn’t quite explain.

Shaking off the thought, she stood up and reminded him, “I’ll be leaving now. So take care of yourself until we meet the day after tomorrow.”

Without waiting for his reply, Linda turned around and walked away.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep