"Status," he muttered, and the translucent interface materialized in front of him with a soft ding.
Ah yes, the magical RPG interface of destiny.
"Check the heart of your skill tree," Mira said beside him, her voice smooth and composed like she hadn't just tried to drown him earlier.
He glanced at her, then the tree. "Wait, how do you guys even know about all this? The status screen, the system, all that jazz?"
"The last hero was very cooperative," she said with a small smile.
Noah's face twisted. "Ah. A nerd."
He was tempted to call the guy a bootlicker.
A brown-nosing, magic-absorbing, sword-swinging bootlicker.
Probably one of those people who'd wake up in a new world and immediately say, "How can I be of service, my liege?"
Disgusting.
Noah rolled his eyes and tapped on the center of the skill tree — the 'heart' or whatever.
It glowed brightly for a moment, then a new box popped up.
There, in big shiny text, was something he definitely hadn't seen before:
[Unique Ability: (Arcane Dominion)]
[Description: A rare gift bestowed upon the Chosen Hero of Solmaria. [Arcane Dominion] allows the user to absorb, negate, and dispel arcane magic on contact. Think of it as magical rubber — except instead of bouncing things back, it eats them. Tired of being set on fire? Bam. Arcane Dominion. Wanna survive a nuke of enchanted doom? Just absorb it, forehead.]
[Warning: does not work on emotional damage.]
Noah blinked.
Then blinked again.
"...What the hell?"
Mira leaned in closer, her silver hair brushing his cheek.
He swallowed a lump in his throat so hard it echoed in his ears.
Her breath was warm, like cinnamon and cocoa and forbidden student-teacher romances.
"Every hero is summoned with a unique ability," she said softly. "You can grow your skills, but your abilities are your core. Tap it to see more."
He did, and the full skill card opened up in an even shinier display.
More magic UI things danced around like it was trying to show off how expensive the special effects budget was.
[Arcane Dominion – Rank 1]
[An ability exclusive to the Hero of Solmaria. Grants passive resistance to all arcane magic and allows the user to absorb magical attacks upon contact. Can dispel lesser enchantments.]
[Warning: does not protect against your own stupidity.]
"...What is this? The system's roasting me?" Noah said.
Mira snorted quietly.
"That's fair," he admitted, clicking his tongue.
Before he could finish internally monologuing about how cool and totally OP his ability sounded, he turned to Mira with a slight grin.
"So wait… does this mean I'm, like, immune to fireballs?"
Without warning, Mira's palm lit up like a matchstick.
"Waitwaitwait, hey hey HEY—!"
FWOOM.
A fireball erupted from her hand and slammed into his face.
The sheer heat knocked him off his feet.
He rolled backward across the grass like a burnt onion ring.
His legs flew up over his head, his back smacked the ground, and he came to a stop in an awkward sprawl with his limbs everywhere.
"AAAHHHH—OH MY GOD I'M DYING—" he screeched, flailing dramatically as he clutched at his face. "I TOLD YOU I WAS FRAGILE — MIRA, THIS ISN'T A TEACHING MOMENT, THIS IS A WAR CRIME!"
He wheezed.
He whimpered.
He flopped like a Magikarp out of water.
Then he opened one eye.
And blinked.
His face wasn't burning. In fact, it wasn't even warm. No smoke. No char. Not even a singed eyebrow.
"What the hell?"
The flames had dispersed like steam. They'd never even touched his skin.
Mira crouched beside him, her expression completely unbothered.
"You absorbed it," she said. "Arcane Dominion activated on reflex."
Noah stared at her.
Then down at his hands.
Then up at the sky.
Then back to her.
"Okay… that was still really messed up," he muttered, slowly sitting up. "You could've at least given me a countdown. I'm not a microwave burrito."
"Consider it a surprise quiz," she said sweetly.
"I failed algebra because of those!"
Despite the dramatics, his brain finally started catching up.
He had a passive magic-nullification skill. That meant magic attacks would just not work on him.
Fireballs, lightning bolts, cursed anime eye beams — it didn't matter. If it was arcane in nature, [Arcane Dominion] just deleted it like bad ex texts.
His mind started racing with possibilities.
He could punch a wizard in the face and absorb their spell mid-cast.
He could walk through a magic minefield like it was a playground.
He could survive getting set on fire by an unhinged, overly attractive magical tutor who apparently believed in tough love.
Wait. That one already happened.
Mira stood up and offered her hand.
He stared at it for a moment, still a little shell-shocked.
Then he took it, letting her pull him up with surprising strength. She was way stronger than she looked. Probably from all the spell-slinging.
"I just wanted to test it," she said softly, brushing some ash off his shoulder. "Sorry if I scared you."
"Oh, no, not at all," he said dryly. "Nothing says good morning like spontaneous combustion."
"Mm. You'll get used to it."
Noah grumbled but dusted himself off.
His heart was still thumping from the fireball trauma, but a strange sort of pride started bubbling up in his chest.
He hadn't just survived magic.
He ate it.
"Well," he said with a grin, "guess that makes me magic intolerant."
Mira rolled her eyes, but he could see the corner of her lips twitching.
"Don't quit your day job."
"I don't have one," he replied.
She pointed. "Training starts again in five minutes. We'll begin with channeling exercises next. That'll help you identify magical flow around you."
He groaned. "Does that involve more random surprise attacks?"
"No," she said.
Then after a pause: "Maybe."
Noah facepalmed.
Magic training was going to be a wild ride.
His eyes darted to Garrick who was chilling under the shade of a tree, drinking a bit of milk.
'Useless.'