Chapter 637

637.

Kal’s strategy was extremely simple.

“Guerrilla. The terrain is perfect for it.”

A wide forest.

This alone provided Kal with a significant geographical advantage.

“First of all, there are plenty of places to run away or hide.”

The terrain had many cover options, making it easy to hide and escape.

“And the freshmen have absolutely no information about this island, which works to my advantage.”

The islands in Lumeria Lake are all used for student training.

Kal had come to this first island countless times.

As such, he knew the geography like the back of his hand.

Kal opened the space and checked the potions in his possession.

In addition to recovery potions, there were all sorts of offensive and defensive potions that Kal had created.

They were items Kal had improved by studying Dwenno’s alchemy book.

“Shall I start preparing?”

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

‘First, let’s secure the center of the island.’

Kal diligently moved around and started setting traps in suitable locations.

‘It will take some time for the freshmen to search this far.’

Thud-thud-!

Using a shovel he pulled from the space, Kal dug the earth and laid down a magic mine.

Then in another place, he set up a tripwire using wire.

It was a tedious process.

However, without such preparations, Kal could not face 500 opponents.

At first glance, it seemed like an unreasonable fight, but the professors of Lumeran certainly gave Kal a chance to create a gap.

That was the time for preparation.

How effectively he used this preparation time would determine whether he would be caught by the freshmen or not.

Having prepared potions as well as trap magic, Kal went to a distant small cave, took out a mana potion, drank it down, and wiped his mouth.

“Okay, I’ve roughly made my base.”

Kal organized the potions he would use in battle inside the cave.

Before he knew it, about an hour had passed.

The freshmen, being no fools, would be cautious in their search.

No matter what anyone said, Kal was a hero whose name was recorded in the Hero Record.

Charging at someone like him, solely relying on numbers, was usually a s*icide mission.

‘Lucky for me. Honestly, it’d be a problem if they charge in recklessly!’

“Well then, since the preparations are finished.”

Kal exited the cave.

“Shall I go meet the freshmen?”

A wizard’s ability is maximized from their stronghold.

But Kal had no intention of waiting quietly for the freshmen to arrive here.

‘It’s a hastily constructed stronghold. If 500 come at once, then it’s just impossible.’

So Kal decided to expose himself to the freshmen first.

Bam! Boom-!

Running through the forest at high speed, Kal hid behind a tree upon sensing the presence of freshmen in the distance.

There, dozens of freshmen had formed a party and were searching the surroundings.

‘There must be other parties not too far away?’

With that thought, Kal chanted a spell.

“Fire Ball.”

A magic that represents the fire attribute.

True to its nature, it has strong destructive power and is quite loud.

Kal created a sphere of flame on his palm and launched the fireball into the air.

“Mana response detected up ahead!”

“Beep—!”

Just then, one of the magic students shouted, and a sharp whistle rang.

Kal quickly fled from his spot while chanting a spell.

“Fire Ball!”

“Aqua Wall.”

Swish—!

The fireball that left Kal’s hand flew towards the freshmen.

However, before it could reach them, Kal’s magic was intercepted by someone.

Kal clicked his tongue at the sight.

“Looks like there’s someone troublesome in the mix.”

Vito Ingteum, from the Eastern Magic Tower.

He came from a prestigious family of magic in the Eastern continent.

‘He was said to be a rival of Betty, the top student in the 2nd year of the magic department during their time at the Eastern Magic Tower.’

In other words, in terms of magical prowess, he was at the top among the freshmen.

‘In fact, he’s the top of the magic department.’

Students from the Department of Knights chased after Kal.

Boom—!

Just as they reached Kal’s hiding spot, the fireball he’d concealed exploded, engulfing them.

“Gah~”

“It’s a trap!”

Screams erupted.

“You should have been cautious.”

As Kal chuckled to himself.

Drops of water began to form in front of him, transforming into a massive water blob, morphing into the shape of a freshman.

It was none other than Vito.

“Oh. Is that a unique spell?”

Kal, who had stopped in place, was impressed.

“It is an honor to face you, senior Kal, who has risen to the position of a hero.”

Vito exaggeratedly bowed his head to Kal and took out his magic staff.

“May I surpass your strategy and wisdom.”

Vito’s eyes chilled.

Seeing Vito like that, Kal clicked his tongue.

‘Oh no. He’s coming at me seriously from the start.’

In Kal’s eyes, Vito was different from the typical freshmen.

‘This guy has clearly done his homework on me.’

In a pure magic duel, the Vito in front of him would hold the upper hand.

But that didn’t mean Kal would let his guard down.

‘He’s wary of my strategy and tactics, right?’

Kal unleashed numerous weapons from the space.

Then he used the Inchant magic.

It was one of Kal’s specialties.

Sharp weapons targeted Vito.

As Kal’s magic unfolded, Vito raised his mana.

Swoosh—!

Hundreds of ropes stretched out, wrapping around the enchanted weapons.

Crash-! Clang-!

A huge axe cut the water ropes.

Water poured out, soaking the ground.

However, the number of ropes was unending.

Vito, watching Kal chant while releasing his mana, was captivated.

‘Truly, an impressive spell.’

Kal prided himself on his mainstay.

The enchantment magic was enough to leave Vito in awe.

‘Even if I am a weak third-year, I cannot let my guard down. If I attack carelessly, I will be the one to suffer.’

Thinking this, Vito firmly laid out his defense strategy.

Seeing Vito act this way, Kal clicked his tongue.

‘I figured I had a good chance in a direct fight, yet he’s going for defense?’

Vito’s judgment was extraordinarily calm.

Time was on Vito’s side.

When the freshmen swarmed, Kal would be done for.

‘If it were another freshman, they would have charged at me to show off.’

Kal pulled a potion from his pocket.

‘That’s why it’s sometimes easier to deal with someone decisive rather than someone fickle! Just as I expected!’

Whoosh-!

Kal opened the potion bottle.

Seeing Vito grow wary of his potion, Kal grinned and downed it.

Just as Vito had done his research on Kal.

Kal had also researched Vito.

In fact, there was not much to investigate.

During last year’s Hero Festival preparations.

Kal had also carried out entrance preparations for the freshmen.

Thus, he had naturally assimilated all the information about this year’s freshmen into his mind.

And he speculated that if he fought Vito, he would engage in a delaying strategy against him.

In reality, Vito had shown only a defensive posture against Kal.

Even as Kal used magic, Vito merely thought Kal was casting enchantment magic.

And it couldn’t be helped.

The information Vito had on Kal lacked details about the powerful high-level spells.

Vito believed that he could sufficiently defend against Kal’s magic with his own.

Roar—!

A tremendous amount of mana began pouring from Kal’s body.

Vito flinched upon seeing it.

“No way? This much mana!”

“It’s true that I can’t cast high-level magic with my pure power. But there’s an option called doping!”

Kal said, shaking the empty bottle lightly.

“It’s a potion that refines my mana. It temporarily spikes my mana levels. Well, after using it, I can’t use magic for a while and will suffer from muscle pain for a week.”

Kal smiled brightly.

“But just one shot allows me to use a powerful spell!”

What Kal had been chanting was the ‘Fire Explosion’ spell.

A spell that wouldn’t activate due to insufficient mana, even if it was completed.

But at this moment, as his mana surged.

He could finally complete the spell.

“Fire Explosion!”

A massive eruption of flames engulfed Vito.

Kaboom-! Whoosh-!

The surrounding area was obliterated, and Vito crumbled down to one knee.

However, he was not declared unable to fight.

“Cough! Not yet…… Not yet! If I can’t use magic, then it’s my victory…….”

“I can use magic though?”

“Eh? Just a moment ago, you said you couldn’t use magic……”

“Didn’t you visit our school last year during the Hero Festival and get beaten by second-year students?”

Vito’s face stiffened as he recalled getting beaten up by the magic department students in his first year when he tried to impress Chloe.

“Why suddenly bring that up……?”

“Weren’t those guys using physical magic back then?”

Kal sprinted towards Vito at full speed.

His muscles screamed in pain, but if he couldn’t endure such muscle pain, he wouldn’t survive in Lumeran.

As Kal leaped elegantly towards him, Vito shouted.

“Why do all wizards so depend on such crude violence!”

“You try staying in Lumeran and avoid using your body just because you’re a wizard! Physical magic! Magical Dropkick!”

Thwack-!

When Chelsea casually executed a dropkick onto Vito’s face, he was immediately declared unable to fight and warped away.

“Over here! This is where the explosion happened!”

“Ugh!”

Kal threw on the invisibility cloak he was holding and flattened himself to the ground.

“……Impressive. Such magic.”

“Is it a myth that Senior Kal can’t cast high-level magic?”

The freshmen passed by with serious expressions.

Once the upperclassmen moved out of sight, Kal removed the invisibility cloak and stood up.

He then pulled out a crossbow from his pocket and aimed it at an unguarded wizard.

“Hey! Where’s your caution!”

“Eh?”

Thwack-!

“Ugh?!”

“You should have watched your back!”

A magic department student was declared unable to fight without resistance and warped away.

“Wow! Over there!”

“Here!”

Boom-!

Kal dashed out.

A massive student blocked his path.

He appeared to be a student from the Department of Knights, fists clenched and swung at Kal.

Thud-!

“Ugh?!”

Kal’s body soared up into the air.

Kal, now high above the treetops, gritted his teeth.

‘Ouch, that hurts!’

The student who sent Kal flying was Grantz.

A martial arts-focused student from the Department of Knights.

He held the second-highest grades in the Department of Knights.

As Kal fell back down according to the law of gravity.

At that moment.

He spotted a student sitting atop the tallest tree in the vicinity, watching him through a telescope.

‘Oh? Are you mocking me?’

The girl was none other than Millia Lola, who had surpassed the second-ranked Grantz in the Department of Knights.

‘Target number one.’

As the heir of the southern mega merchant rollover, Millia was a figure that Kal had marked as suspicious, with a slight smirk on her lips as she watched him.

‘So pretentious, they all are.’

Kal clicked his tongue as he fell to the ground and used a roll to reduce the impact.

Then he began sprinting at full speed.

The faces of the freshmen, who had been watching Kal with tense expressions, suddenly turned blank.

“If he could use this level of magic, he wouldn’t need to run away!”

“Why is he running?”

The freshmen looked at each other.

“Could it be……He’s out of mana?”

As they thought about that, greed sparked in the freshmen’s eyes.

If they succeeded in snatching the key from Kal, they would undoubtedly attract attention.

At that moment, the freshmen began to chase Kal like unrestrained colts.

And…….