Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Academy Exams Are Bound to Be a Total Mess
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Orek spotted the students who had run into the beastkin bandits.
He immediately flew to that sky island.
And then, a comet crashed down around them.
KABOOM!!!
"Urgh... W-what is that?"
"Boss!! O-over there!!!"
"Huh...?"
The beastkin bandits spotted a star falling from the sky and looked around, chills running down their spines.
'Kyarrgrrr!'
'Fools!'
Thousands of spirits seethed in the sky with malicious intent.
And in the center of those spirits, a brilliant light bloomed—
"GRRROOOOAR!!"
A massive bear appeared.
"W-what is that?"
"...Isn't this even worse for us?"
"What do we do?!"
The students froze in terror at the sight of the light-tailed killer who had slain the elves' queen right before their eyes.
The beastkin bandits made a snap judgment and bolted from the spot.
But the instant a thud echoed out, the giant bear was at their side.
A chilling whoosh of rotating wind followed as something swung through the air.
KABOOOOOM!
In the end, the beastkin were pulverized by the bear's forepaw and the razor-sharp gale blades, vanishing in bursts of blue light.
The students' faces turned pale at the brutally savage scene.
And the overwhelming pressure from thousands of spirits glaring at them with malice made the very space feel suffocating.
Just as the bear noticed them and began to lumber closer—
Piiiing!
BOOM!!!
A fireball suddenly flew in from somewhere.
Of course, the spirits blocked the spell.
But the moment the students saw who had cast it, their faces lit up.
"M-Magic Division's head professor?!"
"And the Knight Division's head professor, plus the Alchemy Division's head professor too?!"
"Kids!! You okay?!"
"This is why they stuck us with this team..."
"I thought we'd get some rest with a nice view, but what the hell is that...?"
With the arrival of the three head professors, more faculty from the academy appeared.
These were the reinforcements the academy had prepped in advance for any emergencies during the practical exam.
They had rushed over upon seeing the sky island's greatest threat—the light tail—descend upon it.
As the bear looked baffled, the other professors aside from the heads evacuated the students elsewhere.
"This exam is no joke!"
"That's why they planned for us to die three times or so?!"
"Hey, hey! Run, quick!!"
Once the students were safely evacuated under the other professors' guidance, the head professors faced off against the light tail with heavy sighs.
"This exam was thrown together in a rush, but it's way too messed up..."
"What can we do? Orders from above."
"Everyone, quiet down. Our top priority is not provoking that thing."
"...Didn't you just hurl magic at that monster?"
"What choice did I have?"
"You're bickering here too?!"
The Magic Division and Knight Division heads started arguing, leaving the Alchemy Division head looking utterly miserable.
Orek, watching them, tilted his head.
'Lady Zephyra, do you know who they are?'
'Not really... Honestly, I have no clue.'
Orek had grown up in tribal society and had no concept of schools.
Zephyra had spent some time with elves, but they operated on a priestess system, so she couldn't make heads or tails of these beings.
What could they do?
'Kill all but one.'
'No need for multiple mouths. Shall I go, then?'
'Of course~ I'll just direct from here like last time.'
'That'll do.'
'Heard that, kids?'
''''Yes!!''''
As the killing intent thickened on the sky island, the head professors braced themselves.
"...Is this why the elves' queen died?"
"Queen Elfride probably faced thousands of spirits without even knowing what that bear was."
"That's our future right now! M-maybe we try talking? Act like nothing's wrong and go on our way..."
"I heard the elves' queen tried talking too."
"Oh, damn."
And so, the three head professors—who taught the empire's top talents—entered combat stances along with Orek.
************
The head professors quickly formed up.
Knight up front, alchemist in the middle, mage in the rear.
The classic tank-support-DPS positioning.
Before the fight kicked off, the miserable alchemist pulled some powder from his pouch and scattered it, forming a thin defensive barrier around them.
"Charge in trusting my support!"
"Huh?! I haven't finished buffing yet—!!"
Ignoring the alchemist, the knight professor charged forward.
But he wasn't just rushing in blindly.
Trusting his instincts, he swung his sword through empty air—and the bear materialized right there.
'Way faster than expected!!'
Despite its massive bulk, there hadn't been a sound when it moved just now.
Thanks to Orek's display of insane speed and agility, the knight professor rated this foe at maximum threat level.
Soon, Orek's forepaw clashed with the professor's sword.
CLANG!
They exchanged three blows in an instant, and blood trickled from the professor's mouth.
The power gap was too vast; the impacts didn't cancel out.
But the knight professor, facing such a fight for the first time since the Great War, grinned.
'First opponent like this since the Great War!'
His body had aged since then, of course.
Mystical powder drifted in from behind.
The moment it touched the knight professor clashing with Orek, his pain eased and his physical abilities surged.
"Thanks!!"
"That's just pain relief!! And you absolutely cannot break through! Right now behind—!"
BOOM! Bang!!
The mage was barely holding back the elemental storm whipped up by thousands of spirits.
Thankfully, unlike with the elves' queen, these were only lesser spirits, so it was manageable.
But if the mage's focus slipped even a little, they'd all get swept into the storm and die.
With DPS support cut off, the tank's damage was accumulating.
No choice, then.
The support had to step up.
Tears in his eyes, the alchemy professor started burning through his expensive materials and pre-made items.
He hurled needle-like darts that exploded on impact.
When plants sprouted nearby, he sprayed herbicide to wither them.
He even tossed recovery potion vials laced with instant heals to the knight professor.
And fired off spells at other spirits to ease the mage professor's burden.
'These are all consumables, though!!!'
He was already down to half his stock of materials and items.
If they all vanished, he'd be reduced to a mere average mage.
Still, his ass-kissing shone through.
"Head professors!!"
"My god..."
"What the hell is all this?!"
"They're here!!"
Word of the chaos on this sky island had spread, so the reserves—who'd evacuated all nearby students to other islands—arrived.
Since students had been spread evenly across early sky islands, the practical exam could continue as long as Orek didn't snipe them precisely.
The alchemy head professor just wanted to retreat now.
But he knew full well the enemy wouldn't let them.
So he quickly resupplied.
Even as more opponents piled onto Orek,
He took zero damage.
If anything—
BOOM!
"Cough, hack..."
"Head professor?!"
The Knight Division head professor—the frontline anchor—finally collapsed from the relentless shocks.
With a crack in the front line, the battle crumbled like dominoes.
No one left to trade blows with Orek and restrict his movement.
Now free to act, Orek rampaged across the battlefield at will.
Even when other Knight Division professors swung their swords, Orek—having gauged their level—flat-out ignored them.
Clang!
Scraaaape...
"Attacks aren't landing?!"
"What in the world...?"
The Knight Division professors' faces drained of color at failing to so much as scratch its hide.
And the reason soon became clear.
"T-that thing looks like a druid! Some kind of magic's reducing most physical damage!"
"""What?!"""
The alchemy head professor finally pieced it together from how it controlled plants
And fought by shapeshifting into animals.
Yes. To deal real damage to Orek, mages needed to step up.
But the spirits enveloped the mages,
Keeping them pinned.
The alchemy head professor—hardly specialized in magic—tried some attack spells as a stopgap, but it was like sprinkling water on sand.
To make matters worse, amid the professors blocking incoming spirits, a verdant bird appeared.
The Magic Division head professor's eyes widened as he sensed the bird's power.
"Top, top-tier spirit...?!"
"I wanted to watch Orek's awesome show longer, but I gotta patrol elsewhere now? So, bye~"
Slash!!!
And just like that, Zephyra—who appeared out of nowhere—wiped them out from behind.
While Orek finished the front.
Now, only the Alchemy Division head professor lay alone on the ground as Orek and Zephyra moved on.
************
Beep-beep!
Bip!
"Hm? Little bro, something up in the mini dungeon?"
[ Uh... Well, you see, big bro. ]
Thanks to the little bro handling precursor duties, he rarely contacts me.
But if he does...
No way more beastkin are causing trouble—!
[ There's this place called the academy in the empire. Apparently, their humans are running some practical exam here right now? ]
"Huh?"
Academy out of nowhere?
I checked the mini dungeon's status first.
Ding!
[ Can you see the current situation too, big bro? ]
"N-no way, for real?!"
Kids in school uniforms are in my dungeon?!
Laughing and chatting as they face off against spirits,
Or harvesting samples from plants growing on the sky islands.
Does that mean... this world had academy elements mixed in too?!
My god, what kind of fusion fantasy mash-up is this!
But that just means it's a god-game loaded with content, so my dungeon must be crawling with challengers too.
Can't just sit here!
"I'm heading there too."
[ If you're just sightseeing, wouldn't watching the feed be easier? ]
"Nah, I wanna check these future hopefuls' level myself."
[ Huh?! ]
In academy settings, the top students per year are always freakishly strong outliers.
Gotta compare them to the hero players, right?
I told the second bro to hold the shortcut, and to ping me if anyone neared the boss room.
Then I entered the mini dungeon to meet these bright young prospects.