Chapter 637
Chapter Title: Guerrilla Tactics
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637.
Karl's strategy was extremely simple.
“Guerrilla tactics. The terrain is perfect for it.”
A vast forest.
This alone gave Karl a huge geographical advantage.
“For one, there are plenty of places to run and hide.”
The terrain was fundamentally full of cover, making it easy to hide and escape.
“And the fact that the freshmen have no information about this island is another condition in my favor.”
All the islands in Lake Lumeria were used for student training exercises.
Karl himself had been to Island No. 1 countless times.
As such, he knew the geography like the back of his hand.
Karl opened his subspace and checked the potions he had on him.
In addition to recovery potions, it was filled with all sorts of offensive and defensive potions Karl had made.
These were items he had personally improved by studying Dweno's alchemy book.
“Shall we start with the preparations?”
Karl armed himself so he could use the potions at a moment's notice.
‘First, the very center of the island.’
Karl moved diligently, starting to set traps in suitable locations.
‘It'll take time for the first-years to search this far.’
*Dig, dig-!*
Karl dug a hole with a shovel from his subspace and planted a magical mine inside.
And in another spot, he set up a tripwire.
It was an incredibly tedious task.
But without these preparations, Karl couldn't possibly face 500 people.
At first glance, it seemed like an unfair fight, but the Lumerne professors had certainly given Karl an opening.
That opening was this preparation time.
How effectively he used this time would determine whether he would be captured anticlimactically by the first-years or not.
Having prepared not only potions but also trap magic, Karl went to a small, distant cave, took out a mana potion, gulped it down, and wiped his mouth.
“Alright, the base is more or less set up.”
Karl organized the potions he would use for combat in the cave.
Before he knew it, about an hour had passed.
The first-years weren't fools; they would surely conduct their search cautiously.
No matter what anyone said, Karl was a hero whose name was in the Hero Record.
Charging at such a person, relying only on numbers, was usually suicide.
‘A relief from my perspective. Honestly, if they just charged in without thinking, it would be troublesome in many ways!’
“Well then, since the preparations are complete.”
Karl left the cave.
“Shall I go meet the first-years?”
A mage's abilities are maximized at their own base.
However, Karl had no intention of just waiting here for the first-years to arrive.
‘It's a hastily made base to begin with. And if 500 of them swarm me at once, there's still no way out.’
Therefore, Karl decided to expose himself to the first-years first.
*Fsh! Swish-!*
Karl, who was running through the forest at high speed, hid behind a tree a moment later upon sensing the presence of first-years in the distance.
There, dozens of first-years had formed parties and were searching the area.
‘There must be other parties not too far away, right?’
Thinking so, Karl chanted a magic spell.
“Fireball.”
The quintessential fire-attribute spell.
True to its element, it was a very flashy spell with strong destructive power.
Karl created an orb of fire on his palm and floated the fireball in the air.
“Mana reaction ahead!”
*“Tweeeet-!”*
Just then, one of the mage students shouted, and a sharp whistle blew.
Karl immediately fled the scene, chanting a spell.
“Fireball!”
“Aqua Wall.”
*Swoosh-!*
The fireball left Karl's hand and flew toward the first-years.
But before it could reach them, Karl's spell was blocked by someone.
Seeing that, Karl clicked his tongue.
“There's a troublesome one mixed in.”
Vito Ingteum, from the Eastern Continent's Mage Tower.
He hailed from a renowned magical family in the Eastern Continent.
‘Back in the Eastern Mage Tower, he was said to be rivals with Betty, the second-ranked second-year mage, right?’
In other words, in terms of magical skill alone, he was at the top of the first-year class.
‘He's actually the top student in the magic department, too.’
The knight department students chased after Karl.
*KABOOM-!*
But as they reached the spot where Karl had been hiding, a fireball he had hidden there exploded, engulfing them in the blast.
“Gah~”
“It's a trap!”
Screams erupted.
“Should have been more careful.”
Just as Karl let out a smirk.
A water droplet began to form in front of him, turning into a large mass of water and then transforming into the shape of a first-year student.
It was none other than Vito.
“Oh. A unique magic?”
Karl stopped in his tracks and admired it.
“It is an honor to face you like this, Senior Karl, who has ascended to the rank of a hero.”
Vito gave an exaggerated bow to Karl before taking out his magic staff.
“I pray I can surpass your wisdom and strategy, Senior Karl.”
Vito's eyes turned cold.
Watching Vito, Karl clicked his tongue.
‘Damn. He's coming at me seriously from the start.’
In Karl's eyes, Vito was different from the typical freshman.
‘This guy. He's definitely done his homework on me.’
In a pure magic duel, Vito would have the upper hand.
But that didn't mean he was letting his guard down.
‘He said he's wary of my wisdom and strategy, right?’
Karl poured out countless weapons from his subspace.
And used Enchantment magic.
It was one of Karl's specialties.
The sharp weapons targeted Vito.
Seeing Karl's magic, Vito roused his mana.
*Fwoosh-!*
Hundreds of ropes shot out and wrapped around the enchanted weapons.
*Slash-! Splat-!*
A huge axe sliced through the water ropes.
Water poured out, soaking the ground.
But the number of ropes was endless.
Vito watched in admiration as Karl stood his ground, scattering mana and chanting spells.
‘Indeed, what incredible magic.’
Just as Karl was confident it was his bread and butter.
The Enchantment magic was impressive enough to draw admiration even from Vito.
‘Even if he's the weakest third-year, a third-year is still a third-year. I can't be careless. If I attack rashly, I'll be the one to fall.’
With that thought, Vito built up a more solid defensive strategy.
Seeing this, Karl was taken aback.
‘He's assessed that he has a good chance of winning in a direct confrontation with me, yet he's still hardening his defense?’
Beyond mere caution, Vito's judgment was utterly cold and calculated.
Time was on Vito's side, after all.
Soon, the first-years would swarm in, and it would be over for Karl.
‘Any other first-year would have rushed at me to show off.’
Karl took a potion from his pocket.
‘This is why someone decisive is sometimes easier to deal with than someone who changes their mind constantly! He's exactly as the information described!’
*Pop-!*
Karl opened the potion bottle.
As Vito grew wary of Karl's potion, Karl grinned and gulped it down.
Just as Vito had researched Karl.
Karl had also researched Vito.
In fact, it wasn't much of a research.
Last year, during the preparations for the Hero's Festival.
Karl had also been simultaneously helping prospective students prepare for their exams.
In the process, he had naturally committed all the information about this year's freshmen to memory.
And he had seen through the fact that if he were to fight Vito, Vito would employ delaying tactics against him.
Indeed, Vito was only showing a defensive posture against Karl.
Even when Karl used mana and cast spells, he simply thought Karl was using Enchantment magic.
He had no reason to think otherwise.
The information Vito had on Karl wouldn't include any details about high-level magic boasting immense power.
He judged that his own magic would be sufficient to defend against Karl's.
*Whoooooosh-!*
An immense amount of mana began to pour from Karl's body.
Seeing this, Vito flinched.
“What? This much mana!”
“It's true I can't cast high-level magic with my own pure strength. But there's a method called doping, you know?”
Karl said, playfully shaking the empty bottle.
“It's a potion refined from my own mana. It temporarily causes my mana to surge. Of course, after using it once, I can't use magic for a while. And I have to suffer from muscle aches for a week.”
Karl smiled brightly.
“But it lets me use one powerful spell!”
The spell Karl had been chanting was ‘Fire Explosion’.
A spell that wouldn't activate even if the chant was completed due to insufficient mana.
But now, with his mana amplified.
He could complete the spell.
“Fire Explosion!”
A massive fiery explosion engulfed Vito.
*KAGAGAGANG-! FWOOOSH-!*
The blast blew away the surrounding area, and Vito collapsed to his knees.
But he wasn't judged incapable of combat.
“Ugh! Not... not yet! If you can't use magic now, then it's my victo—”
“But I can use magic?”
“What? You just said you couldn't use magic...”
“You came to our school for the Hero's Festival last year and got beaten up by the second-years, right?”
Recalling how he had hit on Chloe and gotten thrashed by the then-first-year magic students, Vito's face stiffened slightly.
“Why are you suddenly bringing that up...”
“Didn't those guys use physical magic back then?”
Karl ran towards Vito at full speed.
His entire body screamed from the muscle pain, but frankly, if you couldn't endure this level of pain, you couldn't survive at Lumerne.
Seeing Karl leap majestically towards him, Vito shouted.
“Why do all you so-called mages resort to such vulgar violence!”
“You try living at Lumerne. You think a mage can get by without using their body! Physical magic! Magical Dropkick!”
*Thwack-!*
As he landed the same dropkick Chelsea often used on him right in Vito's face, Vito was immediately judged incapable of combat and warped away.
“Over here! The explosion came from here!”
“Yikes!”
Karl threw the invisibility cloak he was holding over himself and flattened himself on the ground.
“...Incredible. A spell like this.”
“Was the rumor that Senior Karl can't use high-level magic just a lie?”
The freshmen passed by with serious expressions.
After the students in the rear passed, Karl removed the invisibility cloak and stood up.
He then took a crossbow from his pocket and aimed at a defenseless mage.
“Hey now! Don't let your guard down!”
“Huh?”
*Thunk-!*
“Agh?!”
“Should have watched your back!”
The magic department student, anticlimactically judged incapable of combat, was warped away.
“Hah! Over there!”
“He's here!”
*Fwip-!*
Karl dashed forward.
A student with a massive build blocked his path.
Looking like a knight department student, he clenched his fist and swung at Karl.
*CRACK-!*
“Keuk?!”
Karl's body was launched into the air.
Reaching the treetops, Karl gritted his teeth.
‘This hurts like hell!’
The student who had sent Karl flying was Grantz.
A martial artist-type knight student who fought with his fists.
His rank was second in the knight department.
Karl, who had been floating in the sky, fell back down according to the law of gravity.
In that moment.
He spotted a student sitting atop the tallest tree in the area, watching him through a telescope.
‘Oh? Are you mocking me?’
That female student was Millia Lola, who had surpassed Grantz, the second-ranked knight who had just sent Karl flying, to become the top student of the knight department.
‘Number one on the watch list.’
The heir to the massive southern Lola Merchant Guild, a student Karl had marked as a person of interest, was watching him with a twisted smile.
‘Tsk, these talented ones.’
Clicking his tongue, Karl fell to the ground, using a breakfall to reduce the impact.
And he began to run at full speed.
The freshmen who had been watching Karl with tense expressions suddenly looked blank.
“If he could use magic like that, he wouldn't need to run, would he?”
“Why is he running away?”
The first-years looked at each other.
“Maybe... he's out of mana?”
As that thought crossed their minds, greed flared in the first-years' eyes.
If they succeeded in taking the key from Karl, they would surely attract a lot of attention.
The moment they thought that, the first-years began to chase Karl like unbridled colts.
And...
*KABOOM-!*
“It's a trap!!”
“Kuaaaack!”
They began to be toyed with by Karl.
“Wahahahaha! This is easy! Too easy!”
Karl burst out laughing as he started weaving through the forest.
***
“Idiots.”
Millia, watching her classmates from a high place, scoffed.
No matter how much it seemed he couldn't use magic, her classmates charging thoughtlessly at a hero were utterly pathetic.
“By the way.”
Millia looked towards Karl through her telescope again.
Seeing Karl toying with the first-years with such ease, Millia's lips twisted once more.
A moment later, Millia lowered the telescope, cupped her cheeks, and muttered.
“Haa... Senior Karl... so cool...”
Her once twisted lips were now parted in a dazed smile.
Millia, with her dreamy expression, flinched and covered her mouth.
After taking a deep breath, Millia leaped down from the tree and began to chase after Karl.
Along the way, she came to a sudden stop at the place where Karl had defeated Vito.
Then she suddenly dropped to the ground, whipping her head back and forth as she started searching for something.
A moment later, Millia found the empty potion bottle rolling on the ground and tucked it into her pocket.
“Wait for me, I'm coming to see you now.”
And then she started running in the direction Karl had gone.