Chapter 17 (1/2)

Mightiest Melee Magician

Chapter 17

Orcs.

The orcs of old were said to be lacking in intelligence and were weak to strategic combat, but that was not the case now.

As humans progressed throughout their lives, so did the intelligence of the orcs.

The orcs of nowadays were fast, strong and meticulous in their plans.

“A-Ack!”

“Avoid it!”

They broke through the front line of knights and aimed straight for the backline magicians.

“I–it dodged that?”

“No way. It dodged an Ice Arrow?”

They also dodged the laughable magic of students just by slightly turning their bodies.

Its strength was so immense that it could destroy the formations of knights in an instant, and Professor Hydel had to personally step up and suppress it every time an orc charged too close to a student.

“Were the orcs this strong of a species?”

“We’ve only heard what they were like. Now that I try to fight it, I can’t even think of a way to beat it.”

“Me too…”

It was strong.

Since the battle experiences of the students were too low, they felt the strength a bit more, but the orcs certainly felt beyond the abilities of the students to subjugate.

I also felt the same.

‘This isn’t a joke…’

As my turn crept closer, my head was only filled with worry about how I would fight the orc.

The other magicians could throw their magic from afar, but I was different.

First of all, it had an imposingly huge figure that would make me shudder just by being in its presence.

And a layer of dense muscles that made me question if my magic would be able to damage it.

I had to fight this orc face on, whose fist, if I exaggerated a little, was as big as my head.

I’d punched those stationary scarecrows during training, but I’d never learnt professional close quarters combat before, so my worries only increased.

‘With this, would I be able to fight an orc…?’

Even though I became a Player, this would be the first time I’d fought a real monster in a real battle.

However, even during my fearful contemplations, the edges of my lips kept twitching up.

Yeah.

Honestly,

‘It looks fun.’

Half worry.

Half expectation.

This weird nervousness that drained my body felt pretty nice.

But not all things were meant to go as planned.

As soon as it was my turn, Professor Hydel came and looked for me personally.

Bearing bad news.

“Ruin Ardell. It’ll be good for you to firmly resolve yourself for your test. It’ll be especially hard for you.”

“What do you mean by-”

“It seems that the academy has placed a great deal of expectation on you as you’re a student that received 100 points from Kingram. Your test will be harder than the other students. Meaning, the monster you will face will not be an orc.”

“Pardon?”

The appearing monster wouldn’t be an orc?

Then what was it?

“It’s an ogre.”

“……”

I thought I heard him wrong.

But I hadn’t.

“Oh ho! For you to fight an ogre as your first real battle! This will be fun.”

Since Straang definitely heard the same thing.

Professor Hydel continued to speak.

“Including me, the captain of the knights of the Plodren territory we hired will come out to ensure your safety. So, your safety shouldn’t be a problem… I’m only uncertain about if you can take the test properly.”

I was the unique student who had received max points from Kingram.

Thanks to this, it seemed I would receive some very special(?) privileges.

An uncomfortable privilege of being able to fight an ‘ogre’ that was three times as big as an orc.

I chuckled nervously.

“Ahahah… This… I can’t say I welcome it.”

“It’ll be a difficult enemy for you. Resolve yourself.”

For a moment, Professor Hydel looked at me with a gaze that reflected his now complicated thoughts.

It’d end one way or another, Professor.

“Ruin Ardell, ready up.”

“Yes.”

As I was called up, I lightly stood up from my seat.

“Go obliterate it!”

I walked onto the testing grounds, carried by Jason’s cheers.

But my triumphant expression faded as soon as I saw the reality of the ogre before me.

“……”

Was this… really ok?

* * *

* * *

“KROAARRR!”

“W-what the?”

The mood of the training grounds instantly became chaotic at the entrance of the ogre fuming with anger.

“W-what kind of orc is that big?”

“You idiot, that’s an ogre!”

“That’s an ogre… So Ruin’s test monster is that ogre?”

“Woah… How do you even fight that thing…?”

Ogres wore the bones of their kills as a necklace around their neck.

The ogre that appeared on the testing grounds had at least ten skulls hanging on its neck.

There were human skulls, but also skulls of magical beasts.

It meant that this ogre had at least fought and killed ten or more enemies.

At that moment, a man with a large build opened his mouth while holding his sword.

“Oh dear. We brought it here since they asked us to… but I never would’ve thought that they would use that guy for the test. Are they saying there’s a student in the academy that can face off against an ogre?”

His name was Coulter Pirante.

A Rank 6 Knight who could handle a bluish aura, and the current captain of the knights of Poldren territory.

He was the one who captured the orcs and ogre alive and brought them to the academy.

Coulter Pirante asked Professor Hydel,

“I did receive the request from the director… But are you really using that guy for the test? We had trouble capturing it, even with a lot of knights charging it together.”

At the question, Professor Hydel calmly nodded his head.

“That’s right. This is the Director’s order.”

Seemingly unsatisfied by Professor Hydel’s answer, Coulter furrowed his brows a little.

“It seems some risk their lives in the academy.”

“……”

It was a statement with hidden thorns.

The ogre was strong.

If you got hit by his full swing, your skull would split into two and your spine would be bent the wrong way.

Of course, it was a monster you must fight on the real battlefield.

But for it to be used as a ‘test subject’ for a student.