Chapter 16: 16

Mightiest Melee Magician

Chapter 16

It would be held at Arenahall, the largest battlefield of the Ignit Magic Academy.

Professor Hydel, our Battle Magic Professor, would also accompany us, along with the knights of the Poldren Territory, which was located in the vicinity of the academy.

There were two main reasons we were receiving the support of the knights.

The first reason was for the safety of the students.

The second reason was to test the student’s ability to fight in tandem with the knights.

Right about now,

“Bahl Kali! That’s a disqualification! Who the hell are you attacking!”

“Ack! I─I apologize!”

Normally, the magicians attacked the enemies from the rear.

Because of this, they required higher accuracy than normal.

If not, situations may arise where, while the knights and monsters were in a chaotic close combat scenario, friendly fire could occur.

This test’s purpose was to reduce the risk of these incidents happening and to assess the magician’s ability to deal with emergencies on the battlefield.

In this sense, this test could be considered the most complicated and important test out of all the tests currently taken.

The occurred over a period of 10 days.

On the first day, all the ‘low scoring students’, those who received less than 10 points from the Ancient Ogre Kingram, were deployed.

The monster that appeared before this group on the first day was none other than…

“It’s a slime!”

“It’ll be at least a bit easier than I thought.”

Slimes.

Usually inhabiting deep inside forests, they lived in groups.

Due to their special way of reproduction, there were very many of them.

Due to excessive suppression operations of the past, they weren’t usually seen in big cities, but they still appeared in the rural territories and mountain villages.

That’s why it was one of the monsters that you were required to know how to handle properly.

Its speed was slow and if you hit its inner core directly, it instantly died.

However, if you were unable to kill it in one strike, it spewed a deadly poison from its body, so it could be dangerous if you were not on guard.

Maybe they were too lax.

Some of the students were too caught off guard, looking unsightly for one of the ‘graduating class.’

“Jason! What are you doing!”

“I─I’m sorr- Ack! Go away!”

“Kweeek!”

In the midst of that, my roommate, Jason, showed an ugly scene of being chased down by the slime.

“Jason Damon, you’re disqualified.”

“Aack! Disqualified?! Please give me another chance, Professor!”

“You have no right to complain.”

“Noooooo!”

He had to squarely receive a disqualification.

Sigh.

That’s why I told him to practice in advance.

Eventually, Professor Hydel had to go by himself to suppress all the slimes.

He shook his head while talking to them.

“To not even be able to dispose of one little slime… I don’t know what you lot have been learning the last 6 years. You can go back.”

“……”

“I’m not here to babysit you lot.”

‘Not here to babysit you.’

This was Professor Hydel’s specialty shock treatment, but since most of the students grew used to it, it wasn’t effective.

“Wasn’t the slime abnormally large?”

“Wow… So it wasn’t just me. The test was just too difficult.”

“Look at that bulky frame… It’s like they brought in an Emperor Slime or something.”

The students were too busy denying their reality.

I wanted to grab them by their collars and shout at them until spit covered their face.

Hey! That’s not it! You guys were just too weak!

“…Those guys.”

As the test officially started, the students’ miserable skill levels were revealed, and Straang snickered while observing this.

“Kekekeke… Do those things want to be magicians? Looks like they won’t even be enough as assistants. I really can’t understand these times. Back in my day…”

Straang once again went to talk of his times when dragons used to smoke.

It was a story about how magicians were weaker these days, and I nodded in agreement with him.

My thoughts were the same as yours, Straang.

“Is it a Kobold Miner next?”

“Yeah.”

The monsters that appeared after the slimes were Kobold Miners, Silverfur Wolves, Low-Rank Fire Elementals and a Rank 9 Devil Hellkin.

Monsters and magical creatures differentiated by the students’ grades were released for the test.

But the test results weren’t any different than against the slime, and most students failed disgracefully.

And then, finally…

The last day of the .

The day of my test.

There were only 13 ‘high-scoring’ students who were taking the test on the last day.

And one thought that went through every one of them was,

“What monster would it be today?”

On this day.

What would be the monster they face?

As the monsters that appeared in the tests were higher level than usual, we had increased expectations of what the monster on the last day of tests would be.

Sure enough, as today was the last day of tests, an insanely difficult monster popped out for the test.

“O-Orc?”

Orcs.

A humanoid monster that still inhabited multiple areas of the continent, living in groups.

Even being 1.5 times bigger than humans, they had retained a similar level of intelligence.

They had retained their tribal family structure and were always on the lookout for opportunities to plunder human cities.

As they were a hostile species, they were constantly at war with humans in most areas of the continent.

The orc walked into the testing area, tied with chains on its arms and legs, but still maintained its ferocious imagery.

The students started muttering amongst themselves, being pressured by its presence.

“If it’s an orc… This is an actual battle…”

“Th-that’s right.”

“Woah… This is my first time seeing it in real life.”

“I-I have seen one before. Orcs have invaded my territory multiple times before.”

We were taught from a young age that orcs were one of humanity’s main enemies.

We learned of the wars with orcs, our victories against them.

And how some of us were still dying to them somewhere in the world.

Being 16 to 19 years old, for the young students here, an orc was an enemy they must fight in real combat after graduating from the academy.

Maybe that’s why the eyes of the 13 students that were taking the test were filled with renewed resolve.

No, it was an emotion greater than mere resolve.

* * *

* * *

“Orcs are enemies I wanted to kill one day… For that day to be today.”

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“Right. As soon as the orc appeared, this stopped being a test. This is a war we must win.”

“I learnt that we must kill all orcs. Let’s kill it now!”

The testing grounds started heating up from the slowly increasing hostility and excitement that spread out from everyone.

“……”

Professor Hydel, who was silently observing everything, flicked his fingers in an instant and removed the shackles from the orc’s legs.

“Kruuuk! Kreek!”

“…Uh?”

As the shackles were removed from the enraged orc, it quickly took a charging stance.

“Kyaaa!”

“A- Ah!”

The students who were exuding hostility fell backwards from surprise.

At that time, Professor Hydel spoke up.

“You wanted to kill an orc? A war to win? Don’t make me laugh. What do you kids know about war?”

At that moment,

“Krureeeek!”

The unshackled orc started charging towards Professor Hydel at frightening speeds.

Strength, speed.

As a combative species not lacking in any of these, getting hit by an orc fist wouldn’t just end with a few broken bones.

But Professor Hydel flicked his finger just as before to cast Frozen Tree and restrained the orc.

He continued to speak with an expressionless face.

“Where did your fighting spirit from when the orc was tied up go?”

“……”

“Don’t be mistaken. You lot are only brats who wouldn’t be able to do anything in a one-on-one situation against an orc.”

When the orc was chained up, it looked like a monster that we could kill at any moment.

But as soon as the chains were gone, the orc instilled fear in us that was greater than any normal monster.

It was a different level than the fear from a slime.

This was fear that signalled the possibility of death.

“Suppress unneeded excitement and push aside your personal feelings. You are magicians. Always maintain cold rationality.”

He was right.

This was no different from an actual battle.

A battle that could lead to a huge accident at the slightest slip.

At the Professor’s stern attitude, Straang giggled as he enjoyed the situation.

“That Professor guy. He’s pretty legit.”

“He’s Professor Hydel. He’s a good person.”

“I see.”

Professor Hydel nodded his head as he looked around at the faces of his students that were pale with fear.

Looking satisfied at the outcome, Professor Hydel nodded again.

“That’s a good expression. I hope you maintain that tension going forward.”

And so, the third test had begun.

* * *

Professor Elrick Galehill of Potion Crafting, who was observing the , frowned at the results of the third test.

‘Blast it. That Michael kid… To mess up his test again…”

His nephew, Michael Galehill, who must become the ‘valedictorian’, showed a weak response against the orc.

Michael must graduate as ‘valedictorian’.

Because it was the tradition of his Galehill house, which was known as the magic family.

It was also Elrick’s mission as a professor.

But by seeing the way this was going, a dangerous situation could arise.

Compared to Michael, Ruin Ardell had consistently received good marks.

There was only one way out of this situation.

‘Since Michael messed up his test… I need to make Ruin fail his test as well…’

After he gathered his thoughts, Professor Elrick immediately went to Director Tirion.

“Director. Are you perhaps thinking of running the test as is?”

“What are you trying to say, Professor Elrick?”

“Isn’t it soon Ruin’s turn?”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t Ruin Ardell that one in a million student who received 100 points from that Ogre Kingram? It isn’t right to test such an outstanding student under the same conditions as those who only scored 20 points.”

“……”

Tirion narrowed his eyes in thought.

He had instantly recognised Professor Elrick’s impure intentions from his request.

But Professor Elrick’s words weren’t completely wrong.

As a tradition of the academy since a long time ago, separating students in the 3rd and 4th test by difficulty according to the 2nd test results was to nurture the magician’s ability to judge a situation.

And for a student who scored 100 points, an even more difficult task must be given as part of the test.

“What you said isn’t wrong… but do we have a monster prepared for that?”

“We do.”

“What is it?”

“Isn’t there an ogre the knights of Poldren caught while capturing the orc alive?”

At the word ‘Ogre’, Professor Hydel, who was only silently listening, spoke up.

“We can’t do that.”

“Can’t do it? Why?”

“You said an ogre. Do you think comparing an orc and an ogre on the same level is the right thing to do?”

The battle strength of an ogre wasn’t something a single 16-year-old student could hope to fight.

“On top of that, Ruin doesn’t have any real battle experiences, unlike the other students. It was only recently he overcame his evocation disorder. Do you really think it’ll be possible for him to fight an ogre?”

But Professor Elrick was firm on his stance, with no sign of backing down.

“Professor Hydel, this is a tradition passed down in the academy for a long time now. It seems you’re completely ignoring this fact.”

“That’s not a big problem. The safety of the student is the main priority.”

“Isn’t it for that safety why a professor goes in with the student into the testing grounds? If a dangerous situation were to arise, you yourself could intercept and protect him. Isn’t that right?”

“……”

Professor Hydel furrowed his eyebrows at what Professor Elrick just said.

He wanted to retort immediately, but stopped himself, as if he challenged it anymore, some foul language might have been thrown at each other.

The other problem was, Director Tirion seemed to be entertaining this proposal.

“You two can stop now. What both of you said has some truth to them. But honestly… I am also interested in what Ruin will show.”

“Director!”

“He’s the student chosen by Kingram. We need to treat him accordingly. Instead, we’ll dispatch one more professor in for safety and I’ll request help from the knight captain of the Poldren territory. From what I heard, he seems to be the only Rank 6 Knight in the eastern area. How’s this?”

Professor Elrick was smiling after hearing Director Tirion’s proposal.

“That is an excellent choice.”

“……”

Hydel gave up trying to talk any longer and turned his back.

If Director Tirion said it like this, it had already been set in stone, and the decision couldn’t be changed anyway.

Hydel’s gaze moved towards Ruin.

However,

“…Tsk.”

Ruin was grinning unsightly, as if amused by something.

Even if he wanted to worry about him, the boy always did something to nullify it.

——

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