Magical Beast Ecology Tradition: Newbie Hunt
I gripped the wooden sword, switching it nervously from hand to hand as I scanned my surroundings. I'd fought wolves to protect the livestock back home, and I'd gone hunting with a bow plenty of times. I'd even tangled with goblins before, but someone on my level... or maybe even a more skilled hunter? The academy uniform must be protecting me, right? With that hopeful thought, I slowly checked around.
That arrow from earlier—was it just a warning shot? "Ugh..." It felt like another one could fly out any second and bury itself in me, and all sorts of terrifying scenarios flooded my mind. I'd always thought stuff like this was just dramatic flair in comics to build tension. I never imagined I'd experience it for real at the academy, which only ramped up my nerves even more.
Unlike me, my classmates seemed to have some intel—they'd scattered quickly earlier, after all.
"I'm worried about Beatus, though." Another arrow came flying, and Beatus bolted the opposite way. Me? I figured putting distance from an archer was pointless, so I charged straight toward where it came from.
"Your judgment was sound, but I wonder if you have the skills to back it up."
"I'm fine! I can at least swing this wooden sword!"
"The academy uniform blocks most damage, and the academy itself is under miraculous protection—no student has ever died here."
"For real?"
"Even when Witchcraft once tested a 10th-circle spell with Meteor Storm of Ruin and obliterated the whole place, casualties were zero."
Wasn't that a bit too gruesomely over-the-top? Anyway, it was clear: no matter what happened inside the academy, you couldn't die. Grand Duke went on with an extreme example about losing limbs or your head and still surviving, but surely the upperclassmen wouldn't go that far.
Still, what kind of chaos was the academy hiding that they needed to traumatize brand-new freshmen with this "tradition" just to prepare us? If I signed up for this department later—next year, would I have to hunt newbies for points?
Thwack!
"Ho ho."
I smacked an arrow coming from my blind spot with the wooden sword, sending it clattering to the ground. Grand Duke, who'd lifted one wing in surprise, seemed impressed by my reflexes and quietly folded it back.
"I've trained for ten years, you know. No mana, so I had to hone other stuff."
I'd sharpened my senses to react even in pitch-black nights. The sharp whistle of an arrow slicing air, the enemy's piercing gaze, the "hostility" the instant it was loosed. I turned toward the forest, and the upperclassman who'd shot at me panicked and leaped to another branch.
"She noticed me watching, huh?"
"Basic for any archer. Even if she hadn't, you gotta keep moving."
Would joining Magical Beast Ecology teach me stuff like this? For someone mana-less like me, it might come in handy later if I reverted to male form and made a living hunting.
I easily dodged the next arrow, but thunk!—it slammed into my chest and ricocheted off with a loud bang.
"Ack...! Guh...!"
"Well, it looks pretty from afar, but the area is excessively generous."
An attack that would've missed if I were a guy hit my stupidly huge chest instead. And it hurt like a kick to the nuts—I clutched my chest, collapsing and gasping for breath.
"What's the point of having these things?!"
"They can captivate men?"
"I don't need that!!"
I sensed another arrow incoming and rolled across the ground. I'd dropped my wooden sword after that hit, so I grabbed a fallen arrow as a substitute, but it felt hopeless.
"Need a bow?"
Right then, Grand Duke asked and took off, morphing midair into a bow and drifting down slowly.
Was this possible too? I didn't gawk in awe—Grand Duke had warned me that freaking out over little things like this was rude. Technically, I could just ask him to grab it for me and be done, but he always gave me the chance to handle it myself.
"Hnnngh..."
"Argh, seriously!"
My chest got in the way, bowstring catching and refusing to draw fully. But I pulled it as far as I could and fired back the arrow she'd shot at me.
Phewww—it vanished into the woods. I'd aimed based on a rough guess of her position, but from the orientation earlier, I'd gotten a feel for how witches used their powers.
If I thought "I absolutely can't do this," it wouldn't happen. But if it was something simple, trivial, and I had total conviction and confidence? It would happen.
The arrow didn't curve or brake dramatically—it just halted dead, whipped around tip-first, and pierced the upperclassman hiding behind the tree.
"Gaaah!"
"I-I did it!"
"Ho, more daring than expected."
"Huh? This is daring?"
"Ignoring causality for a guaranteed hit? Most witches can't pull that off."
Grand Duke explained the difference between an arrow tracking a foe and one that always hits. To me, it seemed the same, but if it didn't tire me out, just do it, he said.
"They score by neckties or ribbons, so retrieve it."
"First-years and second-years have different colors, right? Wait, some weren't even wearing them, though?"
"Eh, snap a proof pic or something."
I pushed through the underbrush toward the pierced upperclassman. As I neared the one sprawled behind the tree, a presence above made me roll without hesitation.
"Ho, this year's freshmen are sharp!"
"That necktie in your hand... don't tell me..."
"Second-years can attack each other too! Used it as bait! Cute underclassman~"
She winked at me. An inexplicable disgust surged up my spine, filling my brain with revulsion. Why? I eyed her warily, wondering if I was under some effect, and she grinned sleazily, raising her hand.
"Heh heh, nothing beats making an innocent, clueless cutie cry... especially if she's a babe!!"
She leered like a perv, licking her lips and threatening to grope my huge tits.
"Shall I kill her, Master?"
Grand Duke whispered low beside me, but my brain was too fried to hear. Wait... did she just sexually harass me? Did a girl just say she'd grope my chest like some guy? I'd never even considered it happening to me, so my thoughts froze.
Instinct kicked in—my arms flew up to shield my chest.
"H-Hiiik!!"
"Heh heh...! Thanks for the reaction, underclassman!! Time for your senior to show you the fun side—hyaaah!!"
She shoved her hand in her pocket for something, yelling to intimidate. I reflexively screamed back.
"Stay back, you perv!!"
BOOM!
The "fire-breathing trick" I'd grasped as a witch erupted into an explosion like magic. More like, as a guy, I knew a man's weak spot—and the chest hit earlier felt just as bad. All that combined into: explode his crotch!
A massive, flashy flame bloomed between her legs, vanishing instantly, but her eyes lost focus and she crumpled with a thud.
"Wh-what...?"
"Hyahat! Underclassman, you startled? Actually, this is our surprise welc—"
"Kyaaah!"
A mustache'd second-year popped from the bushes. I yelped like a girl in shock, and the bandage—superheated from the fire and explosion—transformed. It contracted like metal, but my chest was too big: KABOOM! It burst with a roar, shards flying everywhere.
Grand Duke shielded me, but the mustache guy ate a faceful of bandage blades, looking like he'd headbutted a cactus.
Splat.
"......."
"Even first-gen Witchcraft wasn't this brutal..."
The crotch-exploded senior had pulled a Magical Beast Ecology notebook from her pocket. Probably meant to recruit me for the class, but she came off too pervy...
"...What do we do now...?"
"Hm... probably... not dead... probably..."
It wasn't our fault, anyway. Grand Duke said to grab the other senior's necktie since we'd hit her with the arrow, but I couldn't bring myself to loot the fallen ones, so we left.
When I'm a second-year... I owe the upperclassmen, so I'll sign up for Magical Beast Ecology...
"Thinking again, that was fucking brutal."
"Sorry..."