Extra To Protagonist-Chapter 93: Recovery (1)

Lunch wasn't urgent. No bells, no assignments. Just that slow drift of students toward the south wing where the food halls waited.

The friend group moved in their usual tangle of too-close steps and half-formed conversations. Adrian walked ahead, gesturing with a training sword like it helped him explain a story better.

Nathan was trying to steal Liliana's book while she swatted him with increasing violence. Seraphina walked like she wasn't part of it but somehow still kept their pace perfectly. Elara stayed beside Merlin.

Merlin didn't speak much.

'That pull is still there. That hum. Weak. Faint. But real.'

It sat under his ribs like a second heartbeat. No temperature. No pressure. Just a presence. And as he walked, it stayed with him.

The system had been silent.

Not broken anymore. Just seemed offline? However Now—

A flicker.

[SYSTEM… REBOOTING]

He paused mid-step.

Not visibly. Not enough to draw eyes.

But his breath caught.

[CALIBRATING CORE THREADS]

[INTEGRITY: 21%]

[FUNCTIONALITY: 9%]

[WARNING: ESSENTIAL AFFINITY NODES DISABLED]

[RECOVERY IN PROGRESS… DO NOT FORCE INITIATION]

[REMAIN STILL]

'Right. Because that's something I can do.'

His knuckles curled slightly. Not clenched. Just reflex.

Elara glanced at him. "Something wrong?"

"No."

She didn't believe it. But she let it go.

He walked slower after that. Not from fatigue. Just to listen.

The system hadn't given him a proper message in what felt like forever. It didn't feel like a return. Not fully. But the language was familiar. The tone. The quiet coldness of it. Like a machine remembering its voice.

[BEGINNING CORE STABILIZATION LOOP]

[RECOMMENDED: LOW-PRESSURE ENVIRONMENT. STIMULI REDUCTION. BREATH CONTROL.]

'Not happening here.'

They passed a cluster of first-years on the edge of the stairwell. One of them recognized Merlin and elbowed their friend. He heard the whisper. Heard his name. Chose not to respond.

Elara bumped her shoulder into his again. Not hard.

"You're zoning."

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"The sword."

She glanced down at the blade he still carried. Not Keryx. Just a standard longsword hanging from his belt.

"You're keeping it?"

"Not sure."

That was honest, at least.

His fingers twitched near the grip again. Not to draw it. Just a motion. A weight check.

[THREAD PATHWAY SYNC… 12%]

[ARCHIVE NODE: UNREACHABLE]

[USER INTERFACE: LOCKED]

[RECOMMENDED: CONTINUED PHYSICAL STIMULI AND PASSIVE MANA FLOW]

'So you're saying keep fighting. Subtle.'

They rounded the corner toward the main stair. Stone banisters. Open railing with charm-warded glyphs faint along the edge.

The scent of stew floated up from the dining wing below. A mix of herbs and something that might have been root meat. Not appetizing. Not disgusting. Just… there.

Merlin exhaled slow.

'This isn't normal recovery. The system's repairing itself like it got torn out of sync. Like I wasn't supposed to wake up at all.'

They reached the lower floor. Adrian was already halfway through a line for food, somehow bartering for an extra roll.

Nathan and Liliana were arguing over chairs. Seraphina had chosen a seat near the corner where no one could sit behind her. Elara waited.

She didn't ask again.

Just sat at his side when he did.

The tray in front of him steamed faintly. He didn't reach for it.

The hum under his skin didn't fade.

It got clearer.

[CORE SIGNAL RESTORATION: 17%]

[ESTABLISHING LINK WITH HOST]

[INITIALIZING STABILITY CHECK…]

A pause.

Then a faint buzz behind his eyes.

He blinked once.

'That's new.'

The system didn't speak again.

But the warmth stayed.

Not strength.

But the beginning of it.

Elara reached forward and dropped a wrapped roll onto his plate.

"You're going to eat. And you're going to chew. No brooding until the second course."

He looked at her.

Then picked it up.

The bite tasted like slightly burned flour and stubborn company.

The dining hall never got quiet.

Even in the low lull between meal rushes, there was always something. Trays clattering. Forks scraping against tin. Someone laughing too loudly at the wrong table. A plate dropping somewhere behind the counter, followed by a half-muttered curse from the kitchen staff.

Merlin stared at his plate. The bread sat half-eaten. A thin strip of boiled meat gone cold. The soup looked like it might have been made from whatever was left in the pantry and a vague wish for flavor.

He wasn't hungry. But he ate anyway.

'The system wants consistency. Baseline habits. Normal routines. This counts.'

Elara hadn't moved much beside him. Her bowl was nearly finished, chopsticks balanced neatly across the rim.

She sat like she wasn't really eating for hunger either. Just passing time. Her eyes scanned the room once. Then again.

He could tell she was counting. Not people. Paths.

"She's checking who's paying attention," he muttered under his breath.

Elara raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing."

He took another bite. Chewed. Swallowed.

[CORE SIGNAL: STABLE (24%)]

[LOW-LATENCY FEEDBACK CHANNEL RESTORED]

[SYNAPTIC RECOGNITION LOOP ACTIVE]

[SYSTEM RESPONSE SPEED: REDUCED BUT RECOVERING]

[HOST NEURAL MAP: ACCEPTABLE RANGE]

'That's a lot of words to say I'm no longer dying.'

The message lingered faintly in the corner of his vision. Not intrusive. Just there.

He exhaled once through his nose. Short. Quiet.

Elara didn't look at him, but he saw her mouth tilt at the corner. Just barely.

Nathan dropped into the seat across from them, tray already picked apart. His sleeves were rolled up, hair slightly damp like he'd either rinsed it or lost a bet. Probably both.

"Food's terrible today," he said, stabbing at the rubbery root in his bowl. "Think they're punishing us for breathing too loud."

"Or because you keep stealing from the fruit basket," Elara said.

"Hey. Redistribution is a noble act."

Merlin blinked slowly. Nathan was doing that thing again. The thing where he acted like nothing serious had happened and somehow everyone else followed along.

Adrian arrived two seconds later with a bottle of something fizzy under one arm. He dropped it onto the table like it had personally offended him.

"I saw someone pass out in line. Not kidding. They just folded."

"From the food?" Nathan asked.

"No. I think their mana cracked."

"That's worse."

Merlin kept chewing.

The warmth in his chest shifted again. Not like a flare. Not a pulse. Just a turn. A slow rotation in the shape of something he used to know well.

[MANA-LINK POINTS: INACTIVE]

[AFFINITY RESONANCE: NULL]

[WARNING: USING EXTERNAL FORCE WILL HINDER REPAIR RATE]

[RECOMMENDED ACTION: PATIENCE]

'I've been patient for a while.'

He hadn't touched Keryx in hours. Not since the training hall. But he could feel it again. Not the weight.

The pressure. The sword's silence wasn't absolute anymore. It was humming. Faint. Low. Not in his ear. Not in the air. Just in him.

Elara passed him a second cup of water. Didn't speak. Didn't comment on how much he hadn't touched the first one.

Nathan was still talking.

"So then she says to me, 'If you can't take the duel seriously, don't show up,' and I said, 'I can't take breakfast seriously either, but I still show up.'"

Adrian looked impressed. "And she didn't hit you?"

"Not immediately."

Liliana arrived late, book in hand, sliding into the seat next to Adrian like she didn't even see the food.

"Class announcement just went up," she said. "Two days from now. Full-scale simulated raid. Third and fourth years involved. Volunteers only."

Nathan blinked. "Since when do they let first years into that?"

"They don't. But Reinhardt signed our names already."

"What?"

Elara looked up. "All of us?"

Liliana nodded. "Said it was non-negotiable. Something about evaluation under pressure."

Nathan groaned. "I'm going to die."

"No you're not," Merlin said quietly.

Nathan gave him a look. "What makes you so sure?"

Merlin sipped the water.

'I'll be there.'

"Because I'll be next to you," he said.

It wasn't loud. Or dramatic. Just said plainly.

The table went quiet for a beat. Adrian stopped mid-drink. Liliana paused turning a page. Even Elara's eyes flicked toward him, searching.

Nathan tilted his head.

"You sure you're ready for that?"

Merlin didn't smile. Didn't shrug.

But he said, "Yeah."

And this time, he meant it.

The hum in his chest steadied.

[SYSTEM CORE: STABILIZED AT 29%]]

[SLOW RECOVERY IN PROGRESS]

[STAY AWAKE]

Merlin looked down at his plate.

For once, the food didn't taste like ash.

—

The last few bites disappeared slowly. Liliana nibbled at a strip of what might have been roasted squash, barely tasting it.

Adrian tilted his chair back until it creaked, bottle still balanced between two fingers. Nathan shoved a hunk of bread into his mouth like he was doing it a favor.

Merlin finished what was left on his tray. Not rushed. Not slow. Just deliberate. The warmth in his chest hadn't left. If anything, it had grown clearer. Less fogged.

'Still not enough to use. Not yet. But the system's back at least.'

He drank the last of the water. The cup clicked soft against the tray as he set it down. Elara reached across and took it without asking, stacking it with her own.

"You never carry anything," she said quietly.

"I carry enough."

She rolled her eyes and stood.

Chairs scraped. Trays clattered back into the return slot with uneven rhythm. The line near the commissary window had thinned out.

Only a few students still lingered at the far tables, most too tired to care about who sat where or what conversations were being had.