Chapter 14

Mightiest Melee Magician

Chapter 14

You have obtained an Achievement.

Find clues about Draka I

You have obtained the title “Friend of the Ogre” as a reward.

You have obtained the skill “The Ogre’s Fury” as a reward.

You have obtained the spirit of “Incarnation of Strength, Straang” as a reward.

* Title * 

Friend of the Ogre

As an effect of the title, decrease the chance that an ‘ogre’ would become hostile to you.

As an effect of the title, you are able to communicate with ‘ogres’.

“To communicate with them…”

Ogres couldn’t speak the human language.

Well, other than Kingram.

But it was true that the ability to communicate with an ogre in the wild was a unique ability.

I didn’t know where this would be useful, but… it was better than not having it.

I immediately checked the skill window.

The Ogre’s Fury

Active

You borrow the strength of a raging ogre and instantaneously become stronger. For 30 seconds, your strength will increase by 300. This is affected by ‘Body Arts’ and will gradually increase over time.

Cooldown: 3 minutes

‘A skill to instantaneously become stronger…’

It was a generally useful ability.

Above all, as I became stronger, the skill also became stronger.

I liked that it was a ‘growth type’ skill.

And one more thing.

“What’s this…?”

I muttered to myself as I held that pebble in my hand.

Kingram nodded as if he figured out what I was thinking.

“Looks like you’ve received some quest rewards. Draka would sometimes talk into the air like that as well.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Let’s see.”

Kingram moved his massive body and came closer to me.

He talked after analysing the small pebble in my hand.

“Hmm. So it’s Straang.”

“……”

He was correct.

The Incarnation of Strength, Straang.

I urgently asked Kingram,

“Do you know this item?”

“Item? This is no item. It’s an ‘incarnation’. How could I not know when this one used to stay right next to Draka all the time? Looking at it now, it looks like it sealed itself into a spirit stone after Draka died.”

“……”

An Incarnation…

What would that be?

But hearing that it was sealed in a ‘spirit stone’, I could guess it was something close to a spirit.

Spirits.

Spirits were divine beings, and there were only a few people who could handle them.

I once heard that there existed a group of spiritual beings that could handle these spirits somewhere in the northern forests.

They were called spiritualists.

These spirits shared a fundamental origin with the 4 natural elements, similarly to magic.

However,

“That one is the Incarnation of Strength. They are sometimes called spirits, but they are quite different to the average spirit. Its temper was terrible and so was its demands, as it asked Draka for his strength nonstop every day. But if you can satisfy its demands, it’ll also promise you endless strength.”

“……”

Not any of the 4 elements, but ‘strength’.

And for it to be an ‘incarnation’, not a spirit.

Wasn’t this an entity that represented the fundamental concept of strength?

I had never heard of such an entity.

‘Well… that could also be said about my current abilities.’

Of course, considering the things I went through the last few months, I wasn’t as surprised.

But I still asked Kingram,

“Are you saying an incarnation will be born from this rock?”

“Correct. Originally, incarnations don’t reveal themselves to anyone but their masters, so for it to appear like this means that it has met its master.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Even if you don’t make a fuss about it, it’ll naturally wake up soon. Since it has found its home.”

Kingram was speaking the truth.

As I clenched on the rock in my fist, a line suddenly appeared and started cracking open.

And in the centre of that opened rock…

“…a bear?”

was a single bear.

It looked unnatural considering it was small enough to fit on my palm, but looking at it rubbing itself with its tiny paws after just being born, it was definitely a cute baby bear.

However, looking pissed that it was called a ‘bear’, Straang glared at me in anger.

“How about not calling me a bear?”

“…the bear is talking.”

Oh my.

A bear was talking.

Well, it wasn’t especially surprising considering the talking ogre.

“I’m not a bear!”

“……”

As I looked at it confused, Straang stood up by hitting my palms.

And after that, it put its two hands on its hips and talked while trying to look imposing.

“I am an incarnation not bound by forms. I could become anything I wanted. Here, watch this!”

After shouting confidently, Straang strained his eyes open.

But… nothing changed.

“Eh… huh? S-strange…”

The only thing that changed was that Straang’s face had become red while clenching.

“Pfft.”

“D-don’t laugh!”

I could only laugh at that cute display.

Straang responded with a shaky voice filled with frustration.

“It’s─it’s because I have no strength! I’m starving because I was just born. So give me food right now!”

“Food? What do you eat?”

“Your strength.”

“My strength?”

The Incarnation of Strength, Straang.

That is, he grew by eating my ‘strength’.

Based on the strength that I gained every day from the quests, he said he would regain his strength as I grew stronger.

However,

After looking me over from head to toe, he pouted with disappointment.

“Why is the master this time so weak?”

“…Master? Me?”

“Yep! Master! Draka, my previous master, was really strong. Well, he wasn’t that strong to begin with… Whatever. If you want to get my help going forward, it’ll be good for you to diligently become stronger. I hate weak masters the most.”

Talking about how I was weak and how he hated weak masters as soon as he was born.

Even though it whined, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.

‘So, you’re saying I’m the master…’

I’d need to train even harder in the future, even if it was just to feed this kid.

Well, rather than a master-servant relationship, this was closer to a symbiotic one.

“If I get stronger, you get stronger.”

If I could get stronger, I didn’t care what it was called.

“Yawn-! I’m gonna sleep for a bit. I’m too tired right now. Wake me up when it’s time to eat.”

Straang talked about how ‘babies need a lot of sleep’ and flopped on my shoulder, soon falling asleep.

I looked over to Kingram and laughed from the absurdity of the situation.

* * *

* * *

Kingram was also the same.

“Keke. Even after seeing it again after thousands of years, its spoiled personality is still the same.”

As if Straang had triggered his nostalgia, Kingram gave a smile that would have been hard to imagine at the testing grounds.

A laughing ogre.

I still couldn’t get used to it.

After looking at me and the sleeping Straang for a while, Kingram spoke up.

“Seeing you like this reminds me of the old times. You match the figure of Draka when we welcomed him into my original home, the ‘Sky Phoenix’ clan.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Ruin Ardell, small destroyer who is continuing the will of Draka. What are you thinking of doing from now on?”

“What do you mean?”

“That power you have will definitely help you grow, but it can also lead you down the wrong path. You may become consumed by that strength.”

“……”

I knew.

That at the end of this road, ruination could be waiting for me.

Like Draka.

“When you become stronger, what would you want to do?”

I collected my breath thinking over this question.

“Hmm.”

The reason I wanted to become stronger.

The reason I wanted to become a magician was all for the Ardell Territory.

To protect my home from magical threats.

To become an extraordinary magician just to give the inhabitants of my territory a bit more wealth in their lives.

To spread the name of ‘Ardell’ that no one knew about.

To properly show those pigs who ignored and disrespected the ‘Ardell’ name.

Ok.

Let’s end it there for now.

The future after that was not as scary as the choices I had to make right now.

There was no reason to fear, and no reason to decline this power.

I looked up at Kingram with strength in my eyes.

“I am different from Draka.”

“Hm?”

“I’ll live according to my own will. For my subjects, for my family, and for myself.”

“……”

“I promise you just one thing. I won’t be consumed by my strength like Draka. That’s all I can give you right now.”

“…hmm.”

As if satisfied by my answer, Kingram smiled widely and asked me,

“Small destroyer. Aren’t you curious why I asked if you wanted 0 points or 100 points?”

“I am.”

“From the view of those arrogant magicians, your magic may look like nonsense and a fraud. But…”

Kingram gave a whimsical smile.

“It was the best magic for me.”

Ogres who respect strength.

More than that, to witness the magic of his ‘teacher’, Draka, for the first time in eons, Kingram saw it as the best magic.

An ancient ogre that lived for thousands of years, enough to call it an eternity.

Kingram.

I had given this piece of living history a gift of a far-off memory.

And…

“I’ll be looking forward to what kind of role you’ll play in the future.”

planted a seed of expectation in time that would flow onwards into eternity.

And for that, Kingram had answered my thirst for curiosity.

If I put it that way, maybe this meeting between me and Kingram was necessary for the both of us.

“Thank you.”

After my words of thanks, Kingram started to move back into his platinum statue.

It was time for him to sleep again.

“Even though Draka was consumed by his strength… oh small destroyer, have pride. He was a being stronger than any other.”

“……”

And Kingram, who had gone inside his statue, had opened his eyes and begun his eternal sleep once again.

‘Pride in strength.’

At Draka, whose existence had now been proven, I declared in my heart,

‘I’ll show you.’

The strength that you have passed on to me.

I’ll definitely show you.

* * *

As I left the artifact room, Professor Hydel was standing there, waiting for me.

Even though Straang was fast asleep on my shoulder, it looked like the professor couldn’t see him.

The Professor asked me with a neutral expression,

“Did you finish your business?”

“Yes.”

“Then, let’s return.”

It was only natural that Professor Hydel would be interested in what I spoke to Kingram about, but he didn’t ask.

The reason was simple.

Because magicians had the right to keep their secrets.

We just silently walked through the hallway, and he only spoke to me after coming back up to the 1st floor.

“Ruin Ardell.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be looking forward to your next test.”

“……”

That was it.

He swiftly turned his back after he finished talking and disappeared through the end of the hallway.

A cool individual in more ways than one.

“Looking forward…”

Kingram, and also Professor Hydel.

I didn’t know why this phrase felt so good to me.

It was a phrase I hadn’t heard in a long time.

Not after I turned 10 years old, to be precise.

That’s right.

A lot of things definitely changed in these last few months.

I gave anticipation to some people.

And…

“Ruin! What did you talk about with that damned ogre?”

“…Jason?”

“How dare he say my magic is mixed with water! This damned bastard ogre!”

“Ruin! How dare you raise the class average like that? What about poor me who only got 7 points?”

“I was 3 points!”

I was receiving an unprecedented amount of attention from my peers who were out to get me.

“Can you please let me go?”

“Hmhm. To be able to strangle the archmage Ruin who has been flipping all the records of the academy. I am truly grateful.”

“Stop that.”

“Yes, sir archmage.”

“…Pfft.”

Well…

It wasn’t that bad.

Honestly, my academic life became pretty enjoyable.

Compared to my ‘prison-like’ life the last 5 years, it was a little better.

——