Kays Translations

Chapter 51: Merlin, Who Knows Absolutely Nothing

Kaelos was completely dazed. Merlin straddled him, pinning him to the ground, his fists a relentless storm hammering against Kaelos’s face.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Are you an orphan? Huh? Are you?”

Merlin’s face was a mask of cold fury as he struck blow after brutal blow. Each punch twisted Kaelos’s once-handsome features into a grotesque mask of pain.

Blood streamed from Kaelos’s nose, trickling down over his lips. Merlin lifted his fist, now smeared with crimson, and spat venomously, “Your mouth is as foul as if you’ve eaten excrement! Are you an orphan? Did no mother ever teach you manners?”

Kaelos was stunned, and so were his companions. They could hardly believe Merlin had actually dared to strike. Was he not afraid? Not of them, not of the elves behind them?

Stacie watched the scene unfold, a strange thrill tugging at her heart as Kaelos took Merlin’s blows. Yet she could not let Merlin descend further into the abyss. She sprang forward and grabbed his arm. “Stop! Merlin, stop!”

“You filthy, wretched lowborn scum!”

Bang!

The only response to Kaelos’s shouting was Merlin’s fist.

“You’ll pay for this!”

A surge of magical power erupted from Kaelos, hurling both Merlin and Stacie backward. Merlin landed roughly on the ground while Stacie, her hand pressed to her cheek, stared at him with wide-eyed fear and disbelief.

Kaelos, after all, was a mid-level fourth-tier mage. He lacked real combat experience, yes, but Merlin had been the first to strike, pinning him and blinding him with sheer force.

“I’ll kill you!” Kaelos shouted, wind-element energy coiling around his sword. Stacie tugged Merlin back, alarmed by the overwhelming magical power emanating from her brother.

“Brother, this is the Arcane Academy! You can’t just kill people here!”

“Shut up! If you weren’t a key piece in this arranged alliance, I’d kill you too! Why are you just standing there? Come fight with me!”

Kaelos naturally would not face this alone. He intended to draw the other elves in. Most of those following him were descendants of high-ranking elven elders. Killing anyone inside the Arcane Academy would have severe consequences, but if these witnesses fought alongside him, the burden could be shared.

The remaining elves quickly snapped out of their shock, drawing the ornate swords at their hips and charging forward.

Merlin’s stomach sank. He felt the surging wind-element energy from their blades and tried to summon his own magic to counterattack. But as a second-tier apprentice mage, his skills were limited.

Stacie, too, was exhausted; her magic reserves were depleted, leaving her unable to summon any fairy allies for combat.

Damn it! I’m so weak! Merlin thought, heart pounding. The incoming sword was enveloped in a violent wind element. One strike, and that fury alone would shred him to pieces.

At the brink of death, Merlin’s elemental magic surged under the pressure. It began condensing uncontrollably. When a thin membrane finally burst, Merlin felt his affinity with magic skyrocket, his power increasing substantially.

A breakthrough! Today, Merlin officially advanced from a second-tier apprentice mage to a third-tier novice mage.

Magic! I can use magic to defend myself! Panic surged through him as he realized that his past self had never even learned proper offensive or defensive spells.

This is it… I’m going to die!

A crimson rose blossomed under the moonlit night, the figure wielding a gleaming sword like a meteor streaking across the sky. Sparks erupted from the blade like startled fireflies scattering in all directions.

When the violent wind element collided with the scorching fire element, a wave of heat swept through the forest.

Kaelos sensed a terrifying force barreling toward him. His sword spun through the air as he twisted and stepped back, trying to deflect the oncoming power.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Ice shards cut through the dense foliage like sharp arrows, tracing elegant arcs before landing in front of the charging elves.

The shards pierced the ground, and frost spread instantly, coating the earth in a thick icy layer.

“Who’s there?”

Kaelos stared in disbelief at the sudden intruder.

A cloud drifted past the shy moon, which split the darkness with its light, revealing the figure standing before Merlin and Stacie.

Her skirts fluttered in the wind, fiery red hair dancing around her shoulders. Kris’s sharp gaze locked onto Kaelos, sparks of energy dancing along her sword.

Fitt perched casually on a tree branch, legs swinging, an ice spike forming in his hand. He looked down at the disheveled Merlin and Stacie. “Seriously? Kris and I waited for you half the way here, and you’re getting cozy with a pretty elf? Really?”

Merlin let out a trembling sigh of relief when he saw Kris and Fitt. He staggered to his feet, voice shaky. “Have you ever nearly been killed while… meeting someone?”

“Never seen it before? Were you two caught in the act? That male elf is the real protagonist, and he brought his friends for revenge?” Fitt asked, amused.

Stacie blushed deeply, while Merlin rolled his eyes. “Shut up. Do you think I’m shameless like you?”

“Merlin, what’s going on here?” Kris demanded, her eyes wary as she studied Kaelos and his group. While the elves didn’t seem particularly powerful, their numbers posed a real threat.

Merlin himself was practically defenseless. Stacie, a prodigy fairy user, appeared to have suffered some setback in her training and was no longer a formidable fighter.

Otherwise, these small fry elves wouldn’t even be a challenge for a single Windspeaker.

“Nothing much,” Merlin said, stepping behind Kris. “Just a little damage while protecting my team. Luckily you showed up. Otherwise… you’d only have found a mess.”

The sense of safety he felt was absurd. Heroes being rescued by a beautiful girl never felt quite right.

“Kris, are you sure you want to oppose me?” Kaelos asked. He knew Kris was a genius among sword-mages, well-known in combat classes. Moreover, her backing came from the Goldbriar family, a powerful ducal house with enormous influence.

“Kaelos, if I were you, I’d leave. I don’t know why Merlin and Stacie angered you, but I’m not happy with your actions today.” Kris raised her sword and pointed it at him.

“Kris, others fear the Goldbriar family. I don’t. Behind me is the Isabelle family. Are you sure you want to offend them?”

In an instant, Kris lunged forward with astonishing speed. Her sword flicked Kaelos’s blade from his grip before he could react.

“Don’t move!”

By the time Kaelos processed what happened, Kris’s sword was pressed against his neck, leaving him no room to breathe.

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