Editor : Amethyst00



The strategy of Carl was extremely simple.

"Guerrilla tactics. The terrain alone is perfect for it."

A vast forest.

This alone gave Carl a massive geographical advantage.

"First of all, there are plenty of places to run or hide."

With plenty of natural cover, it was easy to hide or escape.

"And the freshmen have absolutely no information about this island, which also works in my favour."

The islands on Lake Lumeria were all used for student training.

Carl, too, had come to Island No. 1 countless times.

He knew the terrain like the back of his hand.

Carl opened his subspace and checked the potions he carried.

In addition to healing potions, he had all kinds of attack and defense potions he'd made himself.

They were improved versions based on Dweno's alchemy book, which Carl had studied thoroughly.

"Now, let's start prepping."

Carl armed himself so he could use the potions right away.

'Let's start from the central area of the island.'

He moved diligently, laying traps in ideal spots.

'It'll take some time for the freshmen to search this far in.'

Thunk-thunk—!

Using a shovel from his subspace, Carl dug into the ground and planted a magic landmine.

In another place, he set a tripwire trap using thin wires.

It is a bothersome work.

But without these preparations, Carl had no hope of facing 500 people.

At first glance, it seemed like an unfair fight, but the professors at Lumene had clearly given Carl a loophole.

That loophole was the preparation time.

How wisely one used this preparation time would determine whether one would be caught easily or not.

Having prepared not just potions but also trap magic, Carl went to a small cave far away, took out a mana potion, gulped it down, and wiped his mouth.

"Well, I've more or less finished making the base."

He organized the combat potions inside the cave.

An hour had passed already.

The freshmen wouldn't be stupid—they'd approach cautiously.

No matter what, Carl was a hero whose name was in the Hero Record.

Going after someone like that recklessly, relying only on numbers, was practically suicide.

'Good for me. Honestly, if they just charged in headfirst, I'd be in real trouble!'

"Alright, now that I'm done prepping—"

Carl left the cave.

"Shall I go meet the freshmen?"

A mages's abilities shine best from their base.

But Carl had no intention of just waiting for them to come here.

'It's a makeshift base anyway. If 500 of them rush in at once, I'm done for.'

That's why Carl intended to expose himself to the freshmen first.

Thump! Thump-thump—!

Carl ran swiftly through the forest, then quickly hid behind a tree upon sensing the presence of freshmen ahead.

There were dozens of them, moving in parties and searching the area.

'There must be other groups nearby too, right?'

With that thought, Carl began chanting a spell.

"Fireball."

The quintessential fire-element magic.

As expected of fire, it was highly destructive and loud.

Carl formed a ball of flame in his palm and launched it into the air.

"There's a mana reaction up ahead!"

"Piiiiii—!"

At that moment, one of the mage students shouted, and a sharp whistle echoed.

Carl immediately began fleeing and chanted again.

"Fireball!"

"Aqua Wall."

Splat—!

Carl's fireball flew toward the freshmen.

But before it could hit, someone blocked the magic.

Carl clicked his tongue when he saw that.

"There's a troublesome one among them."

Veto Inteum from the Eastern Continent's Mage Tower.

A scion of a prestigious magical family in the east.

'He was known to be a rival of Betty, the 2nd-ranking 2nd-year in the magic department during his Mage Tower days.'

In other words, in pure magical ability, he was top among the freshmen.

'In fact, he is the actual honor student in the magic department.'

Students from the knight department began chasing after Carl.

Boom—!

As they reached where Carl had been hiding, a fireball trap he'd set off exploded.

"Gah!"

"It's a trap!"

Screams rang out.

"You should've been more careful."

Carl smirked.

Then water droplets formed in front of him, transforming into a massive blob and then into a first-year student.

It was Veto.

"Oh? Is that a unique spell?"

Carl, stopping in his tracks, marveled.

"It's an honor to face Carl-sunbae, who has risen to the seat of hero."

Veto bowed with exaggerated formality, then pulled out his wand.

"I hope I can surpass your strategies and tactics."

His gaze turned icy.

Seeing this, Carl clicked his tongue.

'Great. He's coming at me seriously from the start.'

From Carl's perspective, Veto was no ordinary freshman.

'This guy's done a thorough investigation on me.'

In a straight-up magic duel, Veto might have the edge.

But Carl wasn't about to let his guard down.

'He said he's wary of my strategies?'

Carl pulled out countless weapons from his subspace.

Then he used enchantment magic.

It was one of his specialties.

The enchanted sharp weapons targeted Veto.

Veto responded by summoning mana.

Swoosh—!

Hundreds of water ropes shot out and wrapped around the enchanted weapons.

Clang! Splat!

A giant axe cut through the ropes, and water splashed to the ground.

But the ropes didn't stop.

Veto stood firm, calmly watching Carl chant more spells.

'An impressive magic, indeed.'

As if proving it was his pride, Carl's enchantments even impressed Veto.

'Even if he's the weakest of the 3rd-years, he's still a 3rd-year. I can't be careless. One wrong move and I'm done.'

With that thought, Veto strengthened his defense.

Carl clicked his tongue again.

'Even after realizing he could beat me in a direct duel, he's still fortifies his defense?'

Beyond just caution, Veto's judgment was icy cold.

Time was on his side anyway.

Once more freshmen arrived, Carl would be finished.

'If it were any other freshman, they'd be rushing me to show off.'

Carl pulled out a potion.

'That's why I sometime prefer decisive types over those who keep 2nd-guessing! It is easier just like the info said!'

Pop—!

Carl opened the potion bottle.

Veto, wary, watched as Carl grinned and chugged it down.

Just like Veto had studied Carl—

Carl had studied Veto.

Though, it wasn't exactly a "study."

While preparing for last year's Festival of Heroes, Carl had also helped freshmen prepare for their exams.

Naturally, he had memorized all the data on this year's incoming students.

And he'd figured Veto would try to drag out the fight.

In reality, Veto had only been playing defense against Carl.

Even when Carl used mana and cast spells, Veto assumed it was more enchantments.

It made sense.

The info Veto had on Carl didn't mention any high-tier destructive magic.

He figured his own magic would be enough to defense against Carl's.

Vrooooom—!

A massive surge of mana erupted from Carl's body.

Veto flinched.

"What?! This level of mana?!"

"It's true I can't use high-tier magic with my own strength. But hey, there's always doping, right?"

Carl playfully shook the empty bottle.

"It's a potion refined from my own mana. Temporarily boosts my mana. Sure, I can't use magic for a while afterward and get body aches for a week, but—"

He smiled.

"Just for one shot, I get to use real magic!"

The spell Carl had been chanting was Fire Explosion.

A high-level fire spell he normally couldn't activate due to lack of mana.

But now, with his mana amplified—

He could finish the spell.

"Fire Explosion!"

A massive fire blast engulfed Veto.

BOOM—! FWOOSH—!

The explosion leveled the area. Veto collapsed to his knees.

But he wasn't deemed unable to fight.

"Guh! Not… yet! If you can't use magic anymore, that means I win…!"

"I can still use magic."

"What? But you just said—!"

"You came to our school last year during the Hero Festival and got beat up by some 2nd-years, right?"

Veto's face stiffened at the memory, he'd been messing with Chloe and got pummeled by then-first-years from the magic department.

"Why bring that up suddenly…?"

"Weren't they were using physical magic back then?"

Carl charged at Veto full speed.

His whole body screamed from the muscle pain, but if he couldn't endure that much, he wouldn't survive at Lumene.

Seeing Carl leap toward him, Veto cried out.

"Why do mages rely on such crude violence?!"

"Try living at Lumene! Even mages gotta use their bodies! Physical magic! Magical Dropkick!"

Whack—!

Landing a dropkick on Vito’s face—the same one Chelsea often playfully did to him.

Veto was instantly incapacitated and warped out.

"He's here! The explosion happened here!"

"Crap!"

Carl threw on his invisibility cloak and flattened himself to the ground.

"…That's amazing. What kind of magic was that?"

"Was the rumour about Carl not being able to use high-tier magic just nonsense?"

The freshmen passed by, looking serious.

Once the rear group had gone, Carl lifted the cloak and stood up.

He pulled out a crossbow from his coat and aimed at an unsuspecting mages.

"Tsk tsk! Getting careless already?"

"Huh?"

Thwack—!

"Agh?!"

"Gotta watch your back!"

A magic student was knocked out and warped away.

"Gasp! He's over there!"

"There!"

Whoosh—!

Carl dashed away.

A huge student blocked his path.

Seemingly, a knight department student clenched his fist and swung at Carl.

Thud—!

"Ugh?!"

Carl flew into the air.

He soared to the treetops and gritted his teeth.

'Damn, that hurts!'

The student who punched him was Grantz.

A knight who fought with his fists.

Ranked 2nd in the knight department.

As Carl fell back to the ground, he noticed someone watching him through binoculars from the tallest nearby tree.

'Huh? Are you mocking me?'

It was Mylia Rola, who had taken first place in the knight department, ahead of Grantz.

'Top threat.'

Successor to the massive southern Rola Merchant Group, she was someone Carl had flagged as a person of interest.

'Show-offs, all of them.'

Clicking his tongue, Carl crashed down, reduced the impact with a fall roll, then began running at full speed.

The freshmen who had watched in tension suddenly looked confused.

"If he can still use magic like that, why is he running?"

"Yeah, why he is running away?"

They glanced at each other.

"Could it be… he's out of mana?"

Greed flashed in their eyes.

If they could take the key from Carl, they'd instantly gain recognition.

With that thought, the freshmen began chasing him like wild horses.

And then—

BOOM—!

"It's a trap!!"

"Gyaaaah!"

Carl began toying with them.

"Wahahaha! This is too easy!"

He cackled as he darted through the woods.

bl

"Idiots."

From up high, Mylia scoffed at her classmates.

No matter how weak he seemed, they were charging a literal hero without thinking.

"Anyway…"

She looked back through her binoculars.

Watching Carl toy with the first-years with ease, her mouth twisted again.

After a while, she lowered the binoculars and cupped her cheeks and murmured.

"Haah… Carl-sunbae… he's so cool…"

Her once-twisted lips were now curled into a dreamy smile.

Then she suddenly covered her mouth, snapped out of it, took a deep breath, and leapt down from the tree to follow Carl.

She came to a stop where Carl had defeated Veto.

Suddenly, she dropped to the ground, turned her head back and forth, searching.

Soon, she found the empty potion bottle Carl had dropped and tucked it into her coat.

"Wait for me. I'm coming to see you now."

Then she ran in the direction Carl had gone.