I Became A Third-Rate Villain In The Hero Academy

Chapter 17: Practical Skills Evaluation (3)

Orcs are an exceptional combat race.

Not only do they possess outstanding strength and stamina, but every individual is also born with innate battle instincts and a unique ability called "Blood Rage."

By the age of 12, they're considered adults.

In close combat, there are few races that can surpass orcs, aside from a small number of elite warriors.

However, orcs have clear limitations. They struggle with handling mana and have generally lower intelligence.

They excel in close combat, but not in other areas.

Archers who fire arrows from afar, assassins who appear without a trace and slip away after taking a life – there are many professions that don't mix well with orcs.

Among these, the profession with the worst compatibility is undoubtedly the mage.

High-ranking mages, who can cause all sorts of bizarre phenomena, are not just hated by orcs but are also the subjects of their fear. Orcs particularly dislike magic that causes confusion, paralysis, or fear.

Orcs generally have low magic resistance, so they are easily affected by status abnormalities spells that wouldn't affect humans.

No matter how physically superior orcs may be, they are useless against mages.

Over time, orcs began to learn magic instead of shunning it.

Although they study in academies and magic towers, magic and orcs are fundamentally incompatible.

Orcs have insufficient intelligence for learning magic, and their mana affinity is low. As a result, the most accomplished orc mage in history has only reached the 5th Circle.

Thus, the orcs' hatred and fear of mages have persisted for thousands of years.

[···The match will now begin! The long-awaited 35th match is between the 9th-ranked student, Andrew, and the 71st-ranked student, Noctar!]

Andrew and Noctar entered the arena.

However, the spectator stands were silent.

It was too quiet compared to the noise when other students entered.

About 100 orcs are enrolled at Elinia Academy. Orcs have powerful voices, so just a few cheering can echo throughout the entire stadium. But no one was chanting Noctar's name.

"Good luck, Noctar."

I quietly cheered for Noctar in a low voice. In contrast, the elite orcs sitting next to me had gloomy faces and lowered heads.

The Hero Department reigns supreme over all departments in the academy.

This means that Noctar, as the leader of the elite orcs of the Hero Department, is the leader of all first-year orc students in the academy.

Naturally, the leader's match should be cheered for, but all the orcs wore gloomy expressions and lowered their heads.

'I didn't know that orcs were this afraid of mages. It feels different to see it in person.'

Even though orcs are aggressive, their deeply-rooted fear of mages was much stronger.

Most orc students in the Hero Department transfer to other majors before their third year due to poor grades. Many 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-year orcs in the Knight Department are originally from the Hero Department.

The senior orc students gazed down at Noctar with sad eyes.

They had experienced this before.

Even an orc who's far above a mage's level will find it hard to defeat one.

To make matters worse, his opponent is the 9th-ranked Andrew, who specializes in mind magic.

TL: Earlier I called it 'status abnormality spells' but since illusions are included i'm going to call it as a whole, mind magic. May change as we learn more

The more hope one has, the greater the despair that returns.

The orcs had already learned this despair for thousands of years.

Soon, even the older orcs lowered their heads.

However, Noctar remained unfazed.

"Everyone, lift your heads. A true warrior knows how to watch his comrades' battles."

He firmly grasped his hand-axe in his right hand and raised it high.

That's right. Don't be afraid, Noctar.

I had taught Noctar how to deal with Andrew in this route. This time, Andrew would later become a villain who helps destroy the academy, so it's best to cut him down early.

Andrew is a narcissist who thinks he is a unique genius on the continent.

By the end of his second year, he is humiliated by Piel, and becomes the laughingstock of the entire academy. After that, he becomes corrupted and joins the academy's destruction.

Andrew is both academically top-notch and destined for corruption, so it's more helpful to me if Noctar wins.

"You can win, Noctar."

As long as he follows my instructions, it should be enough.

Noctar entered the arena holding a hand-axe in each hand.

There was usually cheering during other students' matches, but now it was eerily quiet.

No one knew the reason better than Noctar himself. He had heard his father, the chief of the Ashen Desert Tribe, repeatedly warn him about mages.

His opponent, a powerful mage ranked ninth in the grade, was especially dangerous. Among the students who specialized in magic, he held the highest rank.

Excluding a few who hadn't revealed themselves on the continent, he was the most talented mage among his peers.

His name was Andrew, a powerful practitioner who wielded fifth-circle magic freely at just 16 years old.

However.

'He will win.'

Noctar trained relentlessly based on the methods I had taught him.

At first, he probably thought, 'Is that guy crazy?' But he decided to trust him.

Once he trusted someone, he would trust them to the end. That was Noctar, the orc.

"Are you both ready?"

At the referee's words, Noctar and Andrew nodded in response.

The barrier seemed more robust than usual, probably because of Andrew's exceptional magic skills.

[The match has begun~!]

At Mari's voice, Noctar charged towards Andrew, recalling my words.

'First, several large fireballs will fly at you.'

As expected, large fireballs flew towards Noctar. There were about ten of them.

'Don't dodge, just take the hits.'

I told him that this was an illusion magic that artificially inflated the fireballs' size. Noctar continued his charge.

The large fireballs struck his body, but thanks to his [Hard Skin] trait, he could withstand the damage.

"Uh?!"

Surprised, Andrew quickly launched another fireball at Noctar.

It was about the same size as the previous one.

'I told him to dodge the second one.'

After taking one hit, Noctar realized he could endure it.

If he charged now, he could take down that pesky mage.

However, Noctar dodged the fireball just as Theo had told him to.

-Kwagwagwang

The huge fireball collided with the barrier, causing a loud noise.

The barrier, which was unscathed by most magic, was momentarily shattered by the destructive force. The fireball was similar in size, but it contained a deeper concentration of mana.

"Take, this!"

As Noctar threw the hand axe in his right hand, he charged at Andrew once more.

Andrew was flustered by the rapidly flying hand axe and deployed a barrier. But it was hastily made and had weak defenses.

Kwajik!

The barrier broke in one hit, and Andrew's mana was completely drained.

"Hueuk."

Though it was a hastily created barrier, the same amount of mana was used. If he hadn't blocked it... he would have been finished.

'What the hell is that orc?'

Originally, Andrew's plan was to cast a confusion spell after using the deceptive fireball as a distraction.

However, the orc saw through his deceptive fireball, dodged the more powerful fireball, and even baited his barrier.

Everything he prepared was being countered.

'I can't lose to an orc.'

Andrew struggled to keep his sanity and cast his specialty, a confusion spell.

All his remaining mana was drained.

True to his trait [Ruler of Mana], Andrew's spell was completed in an instant and─

"Take this!"

It was accurately cast on Noctar.

'My victory... huh?'

Andrew doubted his own eyes.

Ppak!

Noctar punched himself in the face. While Andrew was baffled by this sudden act of self-harm, blood from Noctar's face dripped onto the arena floor.

If he were a normal human, his skull would have been shattered.

'Is he crazy...?'

That thought didn't last long.

While Andrew was momentarily dazed,

"Kwooooooar!"

Noctar roared with enough force to be heard outside arena. Battle instincts, blood fury, and the blessing of the war god entered Noctar's body.

These three traits activated when he received a certain amount of damage, and Noctar forced them to activate by harming himself.

With the overlapping of the three traits, Noctar's abilities skyrocketed.

However, that was not what Theo was aiming for.

There was a hidden effect in the three traits that most people didn't know: when activated, they removed weak abnormal statuses.

One activation wasn't enough to dispel Andrew's confusion spell.

But with all three activating simultaneously, they judged that it would be enough to dispel a confusion spell that used relatively less mana.

"That's it, Noctar!"

Theo exclaimed without dignity.

Despite the tingling pain, Theo grinned happily.

As if in response to his voice, Noctar, bleeding profusely, charged at Andrew.

With his 3 traits activated, he was more than twice as fast as before.

Whoosh!

Noctar swung his hand axe with a fierce momentum.

Andrew, who had run out of mana, crossed his arms to defend himself, but

"Argh, aahh!"

Still in his defensive posture, he flew through the air and slammed into the wall beneath the spectator stands.

Andrew was disqualified. Noctar had won.

Knocked unconscious by the impact, Andrew's body spasmed intermittently. His arms were shattered, hanging limp.

Mari, also shocked, stammered in her speech.

[The... the winner of the thirty-fifth match is...]

However, Mari couldn't finish her sentence.

"Wowwwww!"

The orc students, who rose in unison without a care for who was first, shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Noctar! Noctar! Noctar!"

"Noctar! The great son of the Ashen Desert Tribe's chieftain, Noctar!"

Orcs have loud voices.

Only a few of them needed to yell for the entire stadium to echo with their cheers.

Of course, the cheers of over 100 orc students filled and overflowed the massive dome stadium.

"Uooooooo!"

Quite some time had passed, but the orcs' cheers showed no sign of subsiding.

If anything, they only grew louder.

[Um...]

Mari looked flustered and glanced at the chief professor, Rok, beside her, as if asking for help.

However, Rok, with his arms crossed, just stared at the audience with an impressed expression.

In the meantime, just as when Noctar had entered,

He raised his right arm, gripping his hand axe firmly.

It was like pouring gasoline on a fire.

"Noctar! Noctar! Noctar! Noctar!"

"Finally, the war god's wrath has descended upon the mage!"

"Kuhuhuhuhuk... S-sniff."

A female orc even wiped away tears.

It looked like fanatics seeing their pope. Aisha's fans would have to take a step back from the madness unfolding here.

Still immersed in the aftermath of the battle, Noctar stood, fangs trembling in the arena for some time before descending.

After quite a commotion, the next matches proceeded.

And then.

[The long-awaited thirty-ninth match is between student Ralph, ranked 37th, and Theo, ranked 181st!]

...Finally, it's my turn.

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