Chapter 9 (1/2)

Mightiest Melee Magician

Chapter 9

This was a type of challenge.

“You fucking…”

Against the third son of the Galehill family, who had cemented himself as the king of his peers.

It was a challenge against Michael.

Maybe that was why,

“R-Ruin…”

Even those who weren’t particularly nice to me before started worrying about my wellbeing.

It was quite similar to my last incident.

“You… So you still haven’t woken up after nearly dying last time?”

When one of Michael’s lackeys, Ben Polt, threw a Lightning Bolt at me.

I replied while agreeing with Michael,

“I guess so. Looking at how I’m not able to hold in my temper when I see disgusting shits like you, I guess I still haven’t woken up yet.”

“What? You bastard!”

Michael shook with rage.

He looked as if he would explode at any moment, this seemingly being the first time someone had acted this way against him.

However,

“Stop!”

Thanks to the timely entrance of the professors, Michael was forced to suppress his anger.

And like a stereotypical villain, he turned his back while muttering,

“You, I’ll see you after the test.”

“……”

Wow, so threatening.

I just shrugged my shoulders and bowed my head towards the professors.

“I apologize for the commotion.”

“Sure. Return to your seat.”

Among the professors was Professor Hydel.

The others probably didn’t see.

That when Professor Hydel saw me looking at him, he smiled, as if amused.

Then, another professor, who was in charge of the test, stepped forward to announce,

“The tests will begin soon. But before that, we have an announcement to make.”

As the first day of the practical exams, the test today would be .

A test to see how many standing targets you could hit at once.

Well, that’s what it would have been.

However,

“What? Why?”

The difficulty was raised greatly.

Usually, the targets would remain in set positions during the test, but not this time.

“Move─ Movement Magic?”

One of the professors would animate the scarecrows and periodically make them strafe left and right.

“As you can tell, the test has been changed for this year. If you observe closely, they are moving with a set pattern, so concentrate and figure it out!”

Why?

Why would they suddenly increase the difficulty?

All the students suddenly had a look of nervousness.

However, Michael was different.

He kept his usual relaxed composure.

Well, so did I.

“Ruin, what are you thinking of doing?”

When Jason asked me, I just shrugged.

“Dunno.”

For me, it didn’t matter if the target moved or not.

Since I wasn’t even sure if the magic I’d show would be accepted by the examiners or not.

Only thing to do now… was to hit it straight on.

“Hilk! You’re first up.”

Hilk walked forward, looking nervous.

At that point, the stationary scarecrows stood up and started moving from their positions.

“Start!”

The first test had begun.

* * *

“Next!”

“Ah……”

“Isn’t this too hard?”

A myriad of regretful sighs was ever-present among the students.

Most, if not all, were complaints about the increased difficulty.

The professors were not having a good time either.

“These results are beyond terrible.”

“That’s what I’m saying. They are worse than I expected. Was it an average of 2 hits?”

An average of 5 simultaneous magic evocations.

And from these, only an average of 2 hits.

Some students, those who were too scared of the moving targets and unconfident in their skills, usually hit none.

And even the ones who could hit more were still scoring below the recommended score.

While looking at this scene in silence, Director Tirion clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

The difficulty was raised intentionally.

This was to distinguish the real magicians from the average student and cultivate them before the graduation test.

But for none of them to have the talent.

“Tsk, tsk. None of them are up to the task.”

They weren’t up to the standard they should be for students that would be graduating soon.

Where were the times when Tirion himself studied magic?

When people studied as they strived to become archmages and had the passion to restlessly work forwards.

But these weren’t the times now.

Now, it was but a method to control the authority known as magic, only for these magicians to become servants to others’ authority.

Then, Professor Elrick from the department of potion crafting came up and said,

“Here he comes. The pride of our academy.”

The one Professor Elrick pointed out was Michael.

Michael Galehill.

Well, of course, Professor Elrick here was also from the Galehill House.

Knowing this fact, Director Tirion didn’t hide his displeasure.

“Talking about pride, Professor Elrick. The test hasn’t even begun.”

“Even so… Michael has always been dominant in these tests. You too know this very well, director.”

“I know you want your nephew to do well, but please separate your public and private affairs.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Professor Elrick had no choice but to back down after Tirion became a bit sterner.

But luckily for Professor Elrick, the test results reflected what he had said.

“Woah! Look at that! Fire and Water! He casted two conflicting elements at once! One, two, three, four… Haha. There are too many to count!”

This was the truth.

Michael had succeeded in casting more than 10 Fireballs and Waterballs at once and sent them flying at the targets.

“13! He hit 13!”

He even showed a surprising scene of hitting over 13 of the targets.

With an accuracy of over 60%, it was an impressive record.

“Haha. If it’s at this level, isn’t it enough to say Michael is the pride of our academy?”

Clap clap clap clap.

Professor Elrick was clapping repeatedly as Michael stood confidently and snorted a peal of laughter.

* * *

* * *

Michael Galehill.