CHAPTER 320: SIMULATION (1)

Her certainty was grounding. Stronger than anything he could have told himself.

They continued walking, heading toward the central courtyard where students gathered before morning training. Merlin could feel the stares already, some curious, others confused, a few trying not to look impressed that he’d been personally summoned by the Headmistress.

Elara noticed those looks too. She stepped slightly closer, enough that their arms brushed.

Not quite touching.

But the message was clear: don’t approach him right now.

They passed under an archway covered in creeping vines. The shade gave a momentary coolness, a brief shelter from the sunlight and the murmuring world. Elara’s voice softened there.

"Merlin."

He turned to her.

"You don’t have to pretend everything is fine," she said quietly. "Not with me."

His chest tightened for reasons unrelated to danger.

"I’m not pretending," he said. "I’m just... thinking."

"Then think with me instead of alone."

He swallowed.

God, she made it too easy to fall.

"...Alright."

She nodded, satisfied with that simple concession. "Good."

They reached the wide walkway leading to the training grounds. Instructors were gathering second-years for the day’s early exercises. Merlin could already see Nathan waving at him from a distance, his dark-blue eyes bright with curiosity.

But Merlin didn’t join them yet.

Neither did Elara.

She stopped just a few steps before they reached the crowds and lowered her voice.

"Whatever Morgana told you... whatever she sees... remember this."

Her hand settled against his wrist, light but firm.

"You don’t carry this alone. If there’s a threat in the shadows, then I’ll face it with you. Whether you like it or not."

Merlin’s heart skipped.

Not metaphorically.

Literally.

"...Elara."

"And don’t tell me it’s too dangerous," she added before he could continue. "I decide what risks I take. You don’t get to choose that for me."

He stared at her, struck speechless for a moment. She wasn’t joking. She wasn’t saying it for effect. She wasn’t trying to play the hero.

She simply meant it.

Every word.

Finally, Merlin nodded.

"...Okay. With me, then."

Her expression didn’t change much. Just a faint softening at the edges. A tiny shift that someone else might miss entirely.

"Good," she said simply. "That’s all I wanted."

Before he could say anything else, Nathan called out again, louder this time. The others were gathering too, Adrian, Liliana, Ethan, Sera, Dorian, the entire original cast.

Merlin and Elara walked toward them together.

And even with the weight of Morgana’s words still lingering in his mind...

He didn’t feel alone.

Not anymore.

The training fields were already alive with noise by the time Merlin and Elara joined the others. Students sparred in the open rings, instructors shouted corrections over the clashing of weapons, and the crisp scent of early-morning earth mixed with the metallic taste of mana in motion.

Nathan was the first to rush over, dark hair bouncing slightly, eyes bright with curiosity and something like relief.

"Merlin! Elara! Took you two long enough." He paused, gaze flickering between them with suspicion only a best friend could muster. "Why do you look like you just walked out of a war meeting?"

Elara raised a brow. "Because we did, technically."

Nathan blinked. "...Wait, what?"

Merlin gave him a light pat on the shoulder. "Later. For now, we train."

Nathan frowned but didn’t push. That was one thing Merlin respected deeply about him, Nathan had a thousand questions constantly rotating in his head, but he never forced them out.

Adrian joined in, carrying his massive battle axe over one shoulder like it weighed nothing.

"You two missed roll call. Instructor Kessler looked like she wanted to conjure an avalanche out of spite," he warned. His grin widened. "It was kinda impressive."

Sera, as always, looked composed and razor-sharp, her silver eyes shifting briefly toward Merlin. "Headmistress Morgana summoned you. That alone is enough reason to excuse your absence."

"True," Liliana added with a light, airy voice that contrasted her deceptively delicate appearance. "But Kessler doesn’t care about reasons. Or excuses. Or emotions. Or—"

"Life," Ethan muttered, dragging his longsword along the ground with the energy of someone who had permanently given up on morning activities. "She doesn’t care about life, Liliana."

Dorian stood at the back of the group as usual, quiet and unreadable. His red eyes, cold, precise, flicked over Merlin once. Just once.

For Dorian, that was practically a dramatic display of curiosity.

The group gathered together naturally, like they had always been meant to.

Yet Merlin felt the shift.

A subtle tension.

A lingering awareness of Morgana’s warning.

He glanced across the field. Instructors moved around with practiced ease, but none acted suspicious. Nothing looked out of place.

But something was wrong.

He could feel it.

A sharp whistle cut through the air.

Instructor Kessler stormed toward them with her usual presence that felt like someone had forged a living glacier and taught it to yell. Tall, muscular, hair tied in a severe knot, and expression permanently stuck between "disappointed" and "about to destroy someone’s self-esteem."

"Elites," she barked. "Line up."

They did.

Merlin took his place at the far end, Elara just beside him, Nathan next to her, the rest forming up in crisp formation.

Kessler paced in front of them, boots crunching on the gravel. "Today, we begin a new cycle of affinity-focused discipline. Some of you," her eyes glanced directly at Merlin for a fraction of a second, "have shown... unusual progress."

Nathan shifted nervously.

Kessler’s gaze caught him next. "Some of you have awakened additional affinities."

Nathan stiffened under her scrutiny.

"And some of you," she continued, "still think that raw talent is enough to keep you alive."

Her glare moved to Adrian, who grinned sheepishly, to Ethan, who yawned, to Liliana, who waved, to Dorian, who stared blankly, and finally to Sera, who offered a perfect salute that somehow annoyed Kessler even more.

"Today," she declared, "we push further."

"With controlled sparring?"

"No," Kessler said with dangerous calm. "With battlefield simulation."

A collective murmur rippled through the students.

Merlin’s eyes narrowed.

Simulation days were rare. They required heavy mana expenditure, complex illusion arrays, and multiple instructors monitoring the field. They were only used for two things:

Extreme training or testing reactions under potential threat.

And given what Morgana told him...

Merlin didn’t believe this was coincidence.