Having trained herself the entire day the previous day, Merlin slept longer than she usually did out of exhaustion. However, while she was busy laying in her bed it was already time for breakfast.
As such, her mother who had woken up earlier than usual called her from the kitchen , “Merlin! Time to get up.” she said. Although she said these words in her usual calm tone, she controlled her voice using sound magic so that her voice would seem like she was talking right in front of her daughter’s ears.
Hearing her mother’s words so close to her ears, Merlin immediately woke up from her slumber. Rarely did her mother have to wake her up and Merlin instantly thought to herself, “I slept longer than usual.” as she got up from bed and started tidying herself.
Hearing the sound of her daughter moving about, Nenevi started preparing the table for breakfast. Formerly a teacher at Mavis’ Institute, Nenevi had to quit her job due to pregnancy and even though she could continue working after Merlin was old enough to stay alone at home, she decided to completely quit and spend her time taking care of her daughter. The previous day, she had also spent her time helping her daughter train.
Having finally finished tidying her room, Merlin went down to the kitchen in her sleeping clothes to have breakfast with her mother.
“Did you sleep well, honey?” asked Nenevi who had just finished setting down the dishes.
“Yes mom, sorry for sleeping longer than usual.” answered Merlin.
“Don’t worry about that. You deserved that long sleep.” reassured Nenevi. “Now come let us eat, also your father will be returning home tomorrow.” she continued.
“So father’s finished with his meeting?” asked Merlin.
“Yes, although he still has to continue monitoring the forest.” answered Nenevi.
While eating their breakfast, Merlin suddenly remembered what day it was.
Catching her daughter’s sudden minor change in facial expression, Nenevi realising what happened said to her, “ So today’s the result date, honey. Are you ready for it?”.
“Ah, yes mom. I think I will pass.” replied Merlin.
“Oh, really? I thought you were dissatisfied with your performance yesterday.” asked Nenevi.
“Yes, I was. But thinking about it I think I will get through.” said Merlin.
Hearing this Nenevi smiled at her daughter and they both continued to enjoy their breakfast.
Meanwhile, Xavier who was at the tavern woke up earlier than usual. His mind was full of nervousness since he had to get in. It was the only way for someone like him to get better in his skills due to the nature of his hometown Svarga. As such he was wandering around the city waiting for the bell to ring.
On the other side of the city, Melos and Areti too woke up earlier than before. Although they weren’t as nervous as Xavier, they were still restless in their own way. They helped their aunt prepare breakfast as they waited for the bell.
2 hours had passed and Merlin wasted her time by reading the books in the studying room mainly ‘Phoenix : The Forgotten Race’ which she was interested in when suddenly the bell rang, followed by a louder sound a second later.
This was the signal for the publication of results which could be viewed in the institute. Quickly all the people who applied went towards the institute curious and anxious to see their results.
Now for the people who had left the city, since they wouldn’t be able to hear the sound of the bells, their markings which had been engraved when entering the city would glow brightly signalling the publication of the results.
Merlin, having heard the bell was not in much of a hurry as she dressed herself at her normal pace. Her mother, excited even more than her daughter, was urging her to move faster.
“Merlin, hurry up. Even if the result will be there for a week your mother wants to know as soon as possible.” said Nenevi in a slightly different tone then usual.
“Okay mom.” said Merlin as she went down the stairs.
“Now get back home as soon as possible okay. I will be waiting for the good news.” said Nenevi.
“Sure, bye.” said Merlin as she went out waving her hands at her mother.
A few minutes later, she reached the City Centre, where she went straight to Mr.Grimwald to buy some of his buns. As she was approaching his store, Merlin saw two people who were also buying some of Mr.Grimwald’s buns.
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Paying no heed to the other two, she went straight to him and asked, ”Hello Mr.Grimwald, can I get two buns please?”
Seeing Merlin, Mr.Grimwald immediately answered, “Ah, sure sure. So Merlin, are you also going to the institute?” he said as he handed her two fresh, warm buns.
“Yes.” replied Merlin as she gave 2 mir for the buns.
“Aye, is that so. Don’t forget to tell me the good news as well ok.” said Mr.Grimwald.
“Sure, well I have to go now.” said Merlin as she was about to leave.
“Bye.” waved Mr.Grimwald.
As the two of them were speaking, the other two customers who were waiting for their buns realized the girl who had just bought the buns before them.
“Ah, brother that’s her.” said one of the two.
“What do you mean, Melos?” asked the other.
“That’s the summoner.” replied Melos.
“Ah I remember. Want to be her friend?” asked Areti.
“Not..not really.” said Melos.
Noticing what her sister wanted, Areti asked Mr.Grimwald, “Sir, are our buns ready?”
“Yes, fresh out of the oven.” said Mr.Grimwald as he handed 4 buns to the two siblings. “If you want to catch up to Merlin, you can follow the Section B-4 road.” he continued.
“Thank you sir.” said Areti as they too left.
“Ah youth.” said Grimwald as he grinned happily.
Merlin, eating the buns as she made her way to the institute was thinking to herself, “Have I met those two before? They seem familiar.”.
Since she walked rather slowly, the two siblings managed to catch up to her.
“Hey, wait up.” yelled Areti.
Hearing something from behind her, Merlin looked back and saw the two people who were at the store approaching her. Seeing this she stopped and waited for them.
Seeing Merlin stop and wait for them, Areti and Melos hurried. As they reached her Areti asked, “Hi, we heard you are also going to the institute so we were wondering if we can go together with you.”
“Sure.” simply answered Merlin as she continued walking.
Following her, the two siblings realized how direct and straightforward she was.
“So we were watching your match 2 days ago and I just want to ask, are you perhaps an all-rounder?” asked Areti.
(An all-rounder is an individual whose aptitude/affinity with every element is the same ie. average. As such they can be considered as a Jack of all Trades but master of none.)
Not knowing what he meant by an all-rounder, Merlin answered, “ No, what’s that?” she also asked; curious as ever to something new.
“Oh, you don’t know? Well, before that I’m Areti and she’s Melos, my sister.” said Areti.
“Hi.” said Melos who was nervous when talking to other girls.
“Hi.” replied Merlin.
“Anyways, an all-rounder is what you would call a Jack of all Trades but master of none.” said Areti.
“Ah, so one whose aptitude is average for all elements.” replied Merlin.
“Yes.” answered Areti.
“Well, I’m a Summoner so guess I’m not one.” said Merlin.
Since Merlin was walking slower than expected, and Areti and Melos were in a hurry to see whether they had passed or not; they decided to go on ahead.
A few minutes later they both arrived at the institute. Unlike their first time being there, the amount of people who were looking at the published results were insane as such they had to wait for a while before seeing their results.
While the people slowly dissipated, Xavier who was at the front of the crowd too came out and on his way saw the siblings.
“Oh, Areti. You here to look at the results too?” asked Xavier.
“Ah, Xavier. Yes, what about you?” replied Areti.
“I managed to get in.” said Xavier with a smile on his face.
“That’s great.” said Areti.
“If you managed to get in, we’ll probably be accepted as well.” said Melos.
“Sure, oh right since I have nothing else to do let me stay here with you guys.” said Xavier as he stood with the two.
Finally they reached the notice board, and as they looked into it they saw both of their names written on it.
“Brother, look look here’s my name.” said Melos jumping with excitement.
“My name’s here as well.” said Areti as he too felt excited seeing both their names.
The two of them were so happy that they hugged each other for a few seconds.
“Congrats, guess we’ll indeed see each other in class.” congratulated Xavier.
“Thanks, Xavier.” said Areti.
“See, I told you if he managed to get in we would also get in.” joked Melos.
“Huh? What did you say?” said Xavier “Well, anyways at least we will be able to know each other better.” he continued.
As the three were leaving the campus, Merlin just arrived at the gates. Seeing the siblings come out smiling and such she thought to herself, “Hmm, so they passed.”
Seeing Merlin passing the gate, Areti called to her and said, “So you just arrived.”
“Yes.” replied Merlin.
“Well, hope you get the desired result like us.” said Areti as they passed each other.
Outside the gates, Xavier curiously asked, “When did you get all friendly with her?”
“Ah, we went towards the institute together but since she was slow we decided to go ahead.” said Melos.
“Yeah we met her near the store you also bumped into us.” said Areti.
“Hmm, you people get friendly with others rather quickly.” said Xavier.
“Haha, thanks I guess.” laughed Areti as they continued walking.
Meanwhile inside the institute campus, there were more people then Merlin thought there would be. Since the reason she walked incredibly slow was so that when she arrived she wouldn't have to wait to see her results.
However since her plan failed and she was curious as to what her result was, she thrusted herself up into the air with the help of her robe and landed right on the frontline of the crowd.
The people in the front were caught by surprise by her sudden arrival but Merlin paid them no mind and instead searched for her name on the notice boards.
Immediately she found her name at the top of the list in one of the notice boards. Happy with the results, she again thrusted herself up into the air and went straight towards the City Centre.