Extra To Protagonist

Elara didn't waste the moment. She crashed into their shield wall like a storm given flesh, her spear a silver blur. Adrian roared beside her, his axe biting into weakened defenses.

One by one, the wall cracked. Shields fell. Voices cried out.

The system's message hit like a thunderclap:

[Enemy Team Eliminated.]

The field shifted. The smoke cleared slightly. The ground beneath their feet trembled faintly as if the simulation itself had taken a deep breath.

Two teams remained.

Merlin's chest heaved as he straightened, dragging the back of his hand across his mouth. Nathan grinned beside him, though his breaths came sharp and fast. Elara's spear dripped with sweat, her eyes cutting immediately toward the last remaining squad.

They hadn't moved.

They'd been waiting. Watching.

And now, they came.

—

The final team broke through the mist like wolves.

Just steel. Heavy blades, long spears, hammers that shook the dirt with every step. Their leader, a tall boy with black hair tied back, a greatsword strapped across his back, smiled when his eyes met Merlin's.

"Everhart," he called, his voice carrying across the clearing. "I was hoping I'd get you."

Merlin's grip on his sword tightened. "You'll regret it."

The boy laughed, lifting his greatsword with one hand. "We'll see."

Then they charged.

—

The clash was thunder.

Steel met steel, sparks flying as Elara locked her spear against a hammer swing twice her weight. Adrian caught another blow on his axe, teeth bared in a snarl as the ground cracked beneath his boots. Nathan darted through their ranks, cutting tendons, slipping past blows meant to kill.

Merlin met the leader.

The greatsword came down like a falling tree, heavy enough to crush a man whole. Merlin caught it on his blade, knees bending, arms screaming under the weight. The boy's grin widened.

"Not so untouchable, are you?"

Merlin's golden eyes narrowed. Lightning sparked faintly along his blade. He shoved upward, breaking the lock, forcing the greatsword wide.

"I'm not here to be untouchable," Merlin growled. His blade blurred in a feint, high, then low, cutting sparks into the boy's greaves. "I'm here to win."

The boy snarled and swung again, heavier this time, his greatsword screaming through the air. Merlin's body moved faster, sharper, every dodge a hair's breadth, every counter a whisper from ending it all, if only he chose to unleash.

But he didn't. He couldn't. Not yet.

Still, his restraint left cracks.

The boy's blade clipped his shoulder, sending pain shooting white-hot down his arm. Merlin hissed, twisting away, his body slower than it wanted to be.

The gulf between six stars and three was too wide. Even holding back, even half-crippled, Merlin's blade still danced circles around his opponent.

And still, it wasn't enough to stop the storm entirely.

Because this wasn't just him.

This was all of them.

And the last team wasn't breaking.

Not yet.

—

Above, in the instructor's gallery, Morgana leaned forward again, her violet eyes locked to the field. Her voice came low, silky, to no one but herself.

"Show me, Everhart. How long can you chain the storm before it drowns you too?"

The other instructors said nothing.

The clash below only grew louder.

—

The forest trembled with every blow, every cry.

Merlin's golden eyes burned as he locked blades with the greatsword again, lightning whispering down the steel between them. Sweat clung to his brow, blood warmed his shoulder, his chest rose and fell in sharp bursts.

And still, his grip never faltered.

This wasn't the end.

Not yet.

But the leash on his strength was fraying.

—

The air in the simulation burned.

Heat shimmered across shattered stone, steam hissing from fissures where water and flame had clashed moments before. Illusory sunlight filtered down through half-broken arches, painting the ruins in molten gold.

Dust hung thick in the air, cut only by the harsh sound of breathing and the faint crackle of lingering affinities still twisting through the battlefield.

Four teams had entered the mock ruin.

Now there was only one figure still standing tall.

Merlin Everhart.

His chest rose and fell steadily, golden eyes burning with an intensity that didn't match the exhaustion that weighed on every other first-year.

Around him, Nathan staggered upright with blood at the corner of his mouth, Adrian leaned heavily on his axe, Liliana clutched at her ribs, and Seraphina dragged herself free of ice that had turned against her.

Ethan's longsword lay shattered nearby, its blade steaming with overuse. Even Elara, her silver hair damp with sweat, crouched low with her affinity flaring weakly at her fingertips.

They were all broken down. Merlin was not.

And that was when he stopped holding back.

–––

Up until then, Merlin had been measured. A flick of lightning here, a controlled surge of wind there, flashes of steel against weaker blows. Enough to win exchanges. Enough to keep his team alive. Enough to stay ahead without showing his true weight.

But when the last rival team launched their coordinated strike, ice walls rising, water surging, fire and darkness snapping in tandem, something in Merlin snapped.

He planted his foot into the fractured ground, the veins in his arms lighting faintly, and the battlefield answered.

The simulation's sky rumbled as if thunder itself had been waiting for his call. Lightning didn't just strike, it bent around him, threads of pure light weaving into a lattice that arced from stone to steel, from steel to flesh.

Wind roared through the ruins, a storm compressed into human form. The earth beneath his boots splintered outward like glass cracking beneath a hammer.

And when his hand rose, just one hand, every affinity in reach bent.

Nathan, mid-charge, froze as his flames stuttered like candles in a storm. Seraphina's ice cracked apart before her spell even finished. Adrian's water tripped into steam. Even Elara's silver aura shivered against the pull.

Merlin's voice cut through the chaos, low but sharp enough to split the world.

"Fall."

The shockwave wasn't visible, but they all felt it. Pressure hammered the courtyard like a mountain dropped onto their shoulders. Students staggered, knees buckling, some collapsing outright. The simulated ruin cracked under the force, walls caving, debris tumbling, dust exploding outward.

When it cleared, Merlin stood alone in the eye of the devastation.

–––

Outside the pods, the instructors sat in silence.

Vivienne's normally stern eyes widened, the glow of the simulation reflecting fire-orange across her irises.

Reinhardt leaned forward in his chair, beard twitching as if he'd forgotten to breathe. Sophia's knuckles whitened around the quill she had been using to take notes, the feather snapping under the pressure.

They had all felt strong students before. Some promising. Some gifted.

But this wasn't promise. This wasn't gifted.

This was dominance.

–––

Inside, the first-years could only stare.

Nathan, stubborn as he was, tried to stand again. His flames guttered against Merlin's aura, no more threatening than sparks against a storm. His eyes narrowed, jaw trembling with fury, but the truth pressed too heavy.

"…Six stars," Morgana whispered.

It wasn't loud. It wasn't even meant for the others. But the words carried, slipping into every ear like poison.

The battlefield froze again, not from magic, not from force, but from realization.

Six stars.

Every head turned. Nathan's face drained of color. Liliana's hands shook where she held her chest. Adrian dropped his axe into the dust with a dull thud. Even Elara, who had never wavered against anyone, felt her throat tighten.

They were three stars. Some were barely touching two. The strongest among them, Nathan, was only three.

And Merlin Everhart was six.

The gap wasn't a step. It wasn't even a staircase. It was a chasm so deep none of them could see the bottom.

–––

Merlin lowered his hand slowly.

His chest rose and fell in even rhythm, not the labored heaving of the others. His eyes flicked across them one by one, Elara's defiance, Nathan's disbelief, Morgana's unflinching gaze, Adrian's shock, Seraphina's trembling anger, Liliana's wide-eyed awe, Ethan's bitterness.

He didn't speak.

He didn't need to.

The silence itself was a verdict.

Finally, Elara broke it. Her voice was sharp, almost desperate, violet eyes boring into his.

"…When?"

Merlin's brow furrowed faintly. "…When what?"

"When did you climb that far?" she snapped. "You… you were never like this before."

The others leaned in, the question burning across all their faces.

Merlin exhaled slowly. His eyes dropped to his palm, faint arcs of lightning still crawling lazily across his skin.

"…While you were asleep in your safe beds," he said quietly.

The words hit harder than any affinity could.

–––

The instructors exchanged glances outside.

Vivienne's jaw tightened. "He wasn't supposed to advance this quickly. Even prodigies don't break the four-star wall this young."

Reinhardt's eyes narrowed. "Prodigy? That's not prodigy. That's… something else entirely."

Sophia, pale, finally set her broken quill down. Her voice was flat, almost frightened. "That's what six stars looks like. A child among gods."

–––

Back in the simulation, Morgana stepped forward. Unlike the others, her expression didn't crack with fear or awe. Her crimson eyes narrowed, her dark aura curling faintly around her like smoke.

"…So it's true."

Merlin's gaze slid to her, steady. "…What is?"

"That you're the anomaly," she said. Her voice was quiet, but it cut sharp, deliberate. "Even here, even among us—you're not like the rest."

The others flinched. Some wanted to deny it, to argue, to pull Merlin back down to where they could reach him. But none found the words. The battlefield itself had already spoken louder than any of them could.

Merlin's jaw tightened. For a heartbeat he looked away, toward the shattered sky above. "…Maybe."

His golden eyes glowed faintly as he looked back at them. "But if I am… then so what? I'm still here. Same as you."

Elara's fists clenched. Nathan's teeth ground. Adrian swallowed hard. Liliana blinked away tears she hadn't realized were forming.

The gap remained. No words could bridge it.

–––

The simulation pulsed.

A voice echoed through the ruins, neutral and final:

[Battle Concluded. Winning Condition Achieved.]

[Team Seven: Victory.]

The environment shattered into fragments of light, dissolving into dust until only the pods remained.

–––

Merlin gasped faintly as the helmet lifted, his body shuddering with the jolt of transition. The sterile chamber of the academy's training hall replaced the battlefield. Students groaned as they staggered free of their pods, sweat dripping, legs trembling.

Only Merlin stood steady.

The others couldn't meet his eyes.

Nathan shoved past an attendant without a word, his fists clenched so tight they left crescents in his palms. Seraphina stalked toward the corner, her shoulders shaking with restrained rage. Liliana lingered by Adrian, whispering something Merlin couldn't hear. Ethan muttered curses under his breath.

Only Elara lingered, her expression unreadable. Her violet gaze met his across the chamber, holding for a long, long moment.

Then she turned and walked away.

–––

Vivienne finally spoke, her voice tight but clear.

"That concludes Part Three of the combat exams. Results will be logged. You have one hour before the next session begins. Dismissed."

The students filed out slowly, murmurs filling the chamber. Whispers of "six stars," of "Everhart," of "monster."

Merlin stayed where he was, his golden eyes dimmed, his shoulders heavy.

He had won. That much was undeniable.

But as he stood alone in the silent chamber, he couldn't shake the weight pressing against his chest.

Victory had never felt lonelier.