Chapter 248: Chapter 248: That’s Not How You Do It…

I successfully combined the elements of mid-level magic. The resulting spell was quite impressive.

The next day, after stopping by the workshop to shower Faye with affection—since I owed my success to the new staff—Iona’s slightly altered second semester classes began, just as she had mentioned.

“So, everyone, you’ve already been briefed by your homeroom professor, right? Starting today, we’ll be focusing on more practical content. If the first semester was about learning the classification and strategies for dealing with monsters, the second semester would involve creating combat scenarios based on that knowledge. Let’s see… It would be best to have someone with experience for this. Yandel?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s assume you’ve encountered a combat group consisting of two orc warriors and one orc shaman. The setting is a forest with sparse trees on flat terrain, and it’s midday. Both parties have spotted each other simultaneously, but they are about 30 meters apart. You have one companion, a vanguard at the level of an Aura Runner. How would you go about exterminating the enemy?”

“You can fire three Lightning Bolts in quick succession without incantation.”

Although the power would be slightly reduced, that was easily fixed by pouring in more mana. With Lightning Bolt, the orcs wouldn’t be able to react in time, making it an ideal approach.

“…Let’s add the assumption that you’re an ordinary lower-level magician.”

“Oh? So, you’re asking for a general strategy rather than what I would personally do?”

“Correct.”

“First… There are two patterns of behavior when orc warriors are out of weapon range. They will either throw something or charge forward with a downward strike. If they’re not in a desperate situation, they’ll most likely charge. In that case, you should dodge to the side rather than backward, which makes it easier to avoid. If the orc’s left foot is forward, it will swing its weapon horizontally, and if the right foot is forward…”

As I gave a detailed explanation of the orcs’ patterns and the strategy based on that, the Professor’s face grew increasingly blank.

However, before long, the Professor shook their head vigorously, cutting me off mid-sentence.

“Th-That’s enough! That’s more than sufficient. Please return to your seat.”

“Excuse me?”

I hadn’t even gotten to explaining how to exploit the shaman’s totem yet.

Feeling a bit regretful, I licked my lips and sat down. Only then did the Professor sigh in relief and continue the lesson.

“Yandel’s method is theoretically excellent. The problem is that real combat doesn’t always go as planned. Therefore, you should always leave room for flexibility in your strategy.”

“It’s not that difficult, though? For a small-scale skirmish like this, and given the skill level of Class A students, it’s entirely feasible. Of course, it would require practice.”

“Have you actually done it before?”

“Yes, in the Kingdom of Crasius.”

“Gasp…!”

The story of how Iona and I exterminated the archbishops of the Evil God cults, including Ayla, the Cardinal of Intolerance, was quite famous.

It was even known that I had fought my way through thousands of undead and hordes of fishermen to deliver blood to Iona.

Perhaps at a loss for words because I was directly involved, the Professor glanced over at me and continued speaking.

“Ahem. Yandel’s approach is indeed a good one. However, there is still an official model answer.”

“Oh?”

Up until now, the monsterology class had been about memorizing the characteristics and weaknesses of monsters.

In H&A, the classes only presented the weaknesses or relevant stories about each monster; they didn’t directly teach strategies like this.

Had they done so, the game would have turned into an online lecture, which was, of course, not ideal.

I was curious about what the standard strategy in this world might be.

As I focused with an excited heart, the Professor, wearing a serious expression, began drawing a simple diagram on the blackboard.

“First, the basic idea is to cast protection magic on the vanguard while the orc warriors are charging. As the vanguard holds off the orc warriors, the magician should quickly eliminate the shaman using a fast-casting spell.”

“Hmm?”

My eyebrows twitched in confusion, causing the Professor to flinch. Where had the enthusiasm from earlier gone?

“Sh-Shield magic is highly efficient. At the very least, it won’t easily break against an attack from someone of similar level. A regular orc warrior’s attacks, not a named entity, should be repelled at least five or six times. If you cast it on an Aura Runner-level vanguard, they should be able to handle two warriors with ease.”

That was true. With sufficient mana, breaking through a shield of the same level wasn’t easy.

As I nodded silently, the Professor sighed in relief and continued.

“Orc shamanic rituals are bizarre but primitive. They always require a sacrifice. Furthermore, their fire rituals are slower than incantations. In a race against time, the magician will have the upper hand, so if you use this advantage wisely, you can easily defeat them.”

That was also correct. In the distant past, shamanism was prevalent, but now it has fallen out of favor. There was a reason for that.

Magic and aura lagged behind in nearly every field except for a few areas.

You could gain the strength of a bear, but it wasn’t as effective as aura-enhanced physical strengthening. You could command nature and spirits, but it required a far more cumbersome process than magic.

Of course, grand shamans who had surpassed their limits were exceptions, but that was true in every field.

After listening to all of this, I understood why the Professor called it the model answer.

It was a typical but stable approach where the vanguard fulfilled their role, and the rearguard did the same.

Considering the distribution of stamina and mana, it wasn’t wrong to say it was efficient. If this wasn’t the model answer, what was? However…

“That’s not how you do it…”

“Why do you say that, Yandel?”

Even though I muttered quietly, the Professor, who had been watching me closely, immediately noticed and gulped.

“Instead of pouring that much mana into the shield, wouldn’t it be better to just overcharge a Fireball and throw it?”

Orcs were tough, but they wouldn’t avoid taking severe damage from an overcharged Fireball.

“But in the process of overcharging, it naturally becomes obvious that something big is coming. Orcs may have lower intelligence, but they’re not fools. Especially when it comes to combat.”

“Exactly. They’re not dumb enough to just stand there and get hit by an incoming Fireball. That’s why the vanguard needs to provoke them.”

“Provoke them?”

“Yes. Not the kind of provocation that uses aura to create a special wave and attract attacks, but a pure, anger-inducing taunt. Orcs can understand both their native language and the common tongue, so it should work. Just roughly shout something like, ‘Is your mother a goblin?’ and they’ll lose it.”

All greenskins, except for goblins who followed the twisted Prosperous One, were under the dominion of the Reckless Roar.

As such, they gained stronger physical abilities than before the War of the Gods, but they also developed anger management issues.

There was also a shared disdain among greenskins for goblins, considering them a despicable race.

Moreover, orcs had a strong attachment to their lineage and tribe, to the point of introducing themselves as the son of so-and-so.

Calling an orc’s mother a goblin? They wouldn’t be able to stand it.

By the way, this was implemented in H&A, where using the “mimic goblin” gesture in front of an orc would make them charge at you like crazy.

It was originally a one-time gesture for a quest to infiltrate a goblin village, but who knew it would work as a taunt exclusively against greenskins?

As a result, there were quite a few players who accepted the infiltration quest but never completed it.

“…But it could trigger a berserk state. There’s no need to take such a risk, is there?”

“No, that’s even better. Just spam Grease, and they’ll naturally incapacitate themselves in a few minutes. Meanwhile, the vanguard can circle around and deal with the shaman.”

Berserk was a common ability granted by the Reckless Roar to its followers, greatly enhancing all physical abilities and defense at the cost of blurred reason. Once the effect would wear off, all stats would temporarily decrease.

If the user was highly skilled, they might maintain their sanity despite their aggressive behavior, but for an ordinary orc, it was impossible.

Furthermore, Grease was barely classified as a low-level spell, so it consumed far less mana and cast much faster compared to other offensive spells.

In the end, this approach would conserve both stamina and mana.

After hearing everything I said, the Professor mumbled in a slightly intimidated voice.

“But we can’t teach students such dangerous methods…”

“Don’t worry. It’s not dangerous if you kill them before they kill you.”

That was how a magician was supposed to fight.

Safety was important, but if you prioritized safety that much, you should have become a paladin.

As I nodded to myself, I noticed that the classroom had grown quiet. I glanced around discreetly.

Everyone was staring at me with pale faces, as if they were looking at something dangerous.

Why? Why were they looking at me like that?

Just as I was about to furrow my brow, Elisha, sitting beside me, sighed deeply and shook her head.

“Sigh… After all that, you still claimed you’re not a battle maniac to Professor Iona yesterday?”

“…….”

As I pressed my lips together, Carla, who was sitting across from me, reached under the desk and soothingly stroked my thigh.

“It’s okay, Master. You’re interested in more than just fighting, right? You’re also quite interested in women, aren’t you? That’s enough for me!”

You’re both too much.

Yandel Vischer.