Chapter 4

A week later, the monthly exam results came out.

On the written exam, I beat Rebecca by two points and took back second place.

Jason was still in first place.

After class, Jason came over and spoke to me coolly.

"Sure, that's all thanks to the groundwork I laid back when I was coaching you. You won't pull it off next time, though."

He smirked. "Doesn't feel great having nobody to teach you, huh?"

That was always his way of giving me an opening to come back to him.

He'd been like that since we were kids. He was allowed to not like me, but I wasn't allowed to stop liking him.

This time, I ignored him and studied harder. Practiced harder.

That night, the moment Marcel appeared, I told him the good news.

"I moved up in the rankings!"

He looked down at me, and a small smile tugged at his lips. "Oh."

He handed me a notebook filled with notes on every weak spot in my magic.

As I took it, I said, "I'm so glad I don't have to be punished."

He paused, and that cool, untouchable air settled right back over him.

"Yeah. Thank god for that."

The words were barely out of his mouth when the System chimed.

[Congratulations on raising your score! Reward unlocked: Hold hands with your fingers laced for one full minute to encourage each other!]

I froze. "Why would a normal magic practice system give out a reward like that?"

Marcel scoffed. "It was never normal."

"What do you mean, not normal?"

He wouldn't tell me. He only said, flatly, "It's just a reward. We don't have to do it."

Fair enough. I went back to studying.

The System didn't make another sound the rest of the night.

The next day, the Academy sent us into the Enchanted Forest to gather potion ingredients.

Partway through, I ran right into Marcel.

Our eyes met for a second. Then he walked past me like a stranger.

Great. That meant I didn't have to agonize over whether to say hi, and I could focus on gathering ingredients.

I'd just filled my bag when Jason and Rebecca cornered me deep in the forest.

"Your bag's stuffed. Hand over what you found."

I clutched my bag.

"No way."

Jason sighed. "How can you keep it all for yourself? You need to learn to share. We're teaching you how to make people like you."

Rebecca held out her hand.

"There's no way you can take both me and Jason. Just be a good girl and hand it over."

Then she tried to trip me by using earth magic to collapse the ground under my feet.

Jason backed her up by casting an attack spell at me too.

I fought back right away.

Worst case, all three of us would get hurt. I was ready for that. But I wasn't giving up.

I braced myself.

But their attacks suddenly vanished in midair.

Startled, Jason looked all around.

"Who's there?"

Rebecca glared at me, still unwilling to let it go.

"Hmph. Lucky you. We'll let you off this time."

Jason and Rebecca hurried off, rattled.

I looked around and thought I caught a glimpse of Marcel walking away.

Did he just step in to help me?

I could hear the classmates who'd been hiding nearby talking.

"Rebecca's got Jason looking out for her. Cordelia doesn't stand a chance."

"That's what she gets for being a stupid lizard. She won't be this lucky next time."

I knew Marcel didn't want anyone to know we knew each other.

So I just kept my head down and quietly sorted the ingredients in my bag.

[Ding!]

The System suddenly spoke up.

[Please complete your 'hold hands for one minute' reward within the time limit!]

[Time remaining: five minutes.]

Wait. Here?

I spotted him at once. Marcel was hard to miss.

Sure enough, he was looking my way at the same moment.

My heart skipped, and I ducked my head.

With students walking by every second, how are we supposed to hold hands?

The System's voice rang in my head.

[It's not mandatory.]

[You don't have to do it.]

I let out a breath.

Marcel must have been talking to it, but I couldn't hear what he said.

Then the System added something else.

[It's just that if you don't, the ultimate punishment will kick in tonight in the room. That's all.]

Looks like I'm getting caned, then.

There's no way Marcel will agree to something this ridiculous in public.

The next second, a gale whipped up around us, and swarms of bloodthirsty bats flew in.

The bats weren't deadly, but they were a serious nuisance.

Everyone scrambled to swat bats and protect the ingredients they'd gathered.

I got ready to fight them off, then realized not a single bat was coming near me.

The System reminded me again. [Time remaining: two minutes.]

Something moved beside me. I turned, ready to defend myself, and found myself staring into Marcel's eyes.

Suddenly, someone caught my fingers.

Before I could react, a big, warm hand had swallowed mine completely.

His palm pressed against mine, bold and possessive. His long, strong fingers slid between mine and locked tight.

His dragon aura wrapped around me, and my mind went blank.

It was Marcel.

How can he do that?

If anyone so much as glanced over, they'd see him standing right next to me.

Not far away, my classmates were yelling to each other.

"Where did this wind and all these bats come from? This is so weird. I can't see a thing."

"Isn't the Academy supposed to have a professor watching us? He should be helping us."

"Who knows what he's busy with? It's not like he's off on a date."

What on earth is going on?

The gale, the bats, and Marcel, of all people, going along with the reward.

The System's voice rang out.

[Reward complete!]

[Great job. Teachers and students should always encourage each other. Good luck on your next exam!]

Just like that, he let go of my hand.

His dragon aura faded, and he was gone.

Like holding my hand hadn't affected him at all.

But the warmth of his touch lingered. My fingertips tingled. It hardly felt real.

I shook out my hand until every trace of him was gone.

The gale died down fast, and the bats suddenly scattered.

Everyone else looked like a total mess.

That's strange. Why didn't the bats attack me?

I need to look this up at the Great Library. As far as I know, bloodthirsty bats only avoid purebred dragons. So what's going on?

I followed the noisy crowd out.

Marcel brought up the rear.

So quickly that I almost missed it, he glanced down at his hand and flexed his fingers a few times.