Chapter 109: Promotion Exam 3
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No matter how hard I tried to cast [Roots], which had a higher chance of success compared to [Sleep], it wouldn’t work if I still did it the same as before. Magic depended on the image. I imagined capturing her, who was standing on that spot more vividly.
The image of a transparent ivy. Breaking through the ground surface, all of the ivy sprung forward at once. Entangling around Ljudmilla’s limbs, taking away her freedom of movement and before long, the vines would have completely wrapped her whole, making her unable to move an inch.
Ah, but I mustn’t cover her nose or mouth so she could still breathe… Okay now that I had a solid image of holding Ljudmila down, I outstretched my palm toward her. Since we were in the middle of a test right now, my opponent actually waited for me to form my image but in real life situations, this kind of opportunity would never happen. I needed to work harder…
“【Roots】… Ah! Ugh!”
I focused my strength and cast the spell. Ljudmilla-san, who had shaken the drowsiness away, looked prepared to receive my attack but… The staff she had been holding onto since she appeared, fell from her hands. Slowly, she was about to fall forward so in the midst of confusion, I hurriedly went to her side and I managed to wedge myself in just before Ljudmilla-san fell to the ground.
… I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a weird sound, after having my abdomen take a direct hit of Ljudmila-san’s full body weight. Her sudden loss of balance was justified since she couldn’t propel herself with the [Roots] affecting her.
“Ren!”
“Ren-kun?!”
“Renchan!!”
Ah. I could hear their voices even though they were a distance away from me but Ljudmila-san’s head hit me right on the spot so I still couldn’t let my voice out due to the pain.
I-I’m alright… I’m still alive!
“Are you alright?! Moonlight Witch! Get yourself off of Ren!”
“Fuh… Haah… I’m saved… Sig-san, she can’t move because of [Roots] that I cast on her so please don’t get mad at her but… Everyone, thank you for worrying about me. 【Release】.”
Sig-san and Fer-san came running to me. Sig-san helped me out from under Ljudmila-san while Fer-san was supporting Ljudmila-san since she was still unable to move. After chiding Sig-san a little, I thanked the three of them properly for caring about me. The examiner should’ve already seen the result of [Roots] so I quickly released Ljudmila-san from the debuff.
“Haah… Pretty boy, you are amazing. I’ve never felt the effect of [Roots] in what, 50 years? No, I think it’s close to 60 years? Oi, you damned old geezer elf! I, Ljudmila, the Moonlight Witch, recognize this kid’s debuff ability! …. Boy, my name is Ljudmila. Can you tell me your name, pretty boy?”
“Yes! My name is Ren Himukya Cleva but please just call me Ren, Ljudmila-san!”
Ljudmila-san quickly left Fer-san’s side after she was freed from [Roots]. She turned to the examiner… Or to be precise, to the elf and announced that with a loud voice.
…. Does this mean I passed the test?
Ljudmila-san then picked up the staff that had fallen to the ground and tottered to me with a clanking sound. She introduced her name and I quickly introduced myself back. I’d like her to refrain from calling me ‘pretty boy’ forever so I hoped she would just call me by my name.
“…. You’re such a good kid. Good luck with the exam. If the exam is anything like mine then… It’s going to be hard for you since you’re so kind.”
“Just like yours…?”
Ljudmila-san, who was a little shorter than me because of her bent back, outstretched her staff-free hand and patted me on the head as she whispered to me.
Is she talking about the promotion exam she had to take years before? I wonder what kind of exam it was since she said it’s going to be hard for me…
“Oh my…. How splendid! Ljudmila too, thank you for your help. I knew I can’t ask anyone else but you for this.”
“Ha! You stinky old geezer… I’ve done my part so don’t forget to give the herb you promised to me, okay?!”
“Old geezer you said… Even though I’m still so young! The rare herb from our country, right? You know I’m a man of my word.”
The elf who came to us while clapping excitedly, addressed Ljudmila-san first. From there on, they started to argue back and forth with such great vigor that no one could find any gap between their bickering.
I see… So they’ve made an underhanded deal beforehand? I wonder what kind of rare herbs they’re talking about?
“What are you talking about? Look at this geezer, talk about ram dressed as lamb… That’s right. I’ve come all the way here on my own. Of course I deserve at least that much.”
“Haah… Where did that fragile looking, as if she could disappear at any moment, 【Moonlight Witch】disappeared to..? Her hair has turned grey now but I originally gave her the nickname ‘moonlight’ because her pale, blonde hair was giving out a dim light like ‘moonlight’ and yet…. Now she has become a gaudy old hag.”
“You must’ve become an old geezer since you can’t even remember the things that had happened 55 years ago, huh? Nothing about me has changed though?”
“At that time, you were putting up such a big facade, didn’t you? Who would’ve imagined such a beautiful and fragile looking lady who looked like she’d disappear at just a touch would have such a violent temperament. Had I seen through your facade, I would have given you something along the line of ‘ferocious’ or ‘fury’ instead of ‘moonlight’…”
I guess they’re close enough to be fighting like this?
At any rate, from their conversion now I knew that the elf was much older than he looked like and he was the godfather of Ljudmila-san’s nickname. Also he must be at least 100 years old and that Ljudmila-san was very beautiful when she had taken the exam. At a quick glance, she looked like an ordinary old lady because of her bent back but her face was still beautiful even though she had wrinkles all over her body.
“Klaudios-dono, Ljudmila-dono…Can you two please drop your conversation for now? We would like to continue with the promotion exam…”
Griffith-san finally cut himself in after seeing that there was no end between the elf and Ljudmila-san’s quarrelling. The exam was being held at Aspel so he was the one being pushed to intervene. It was obvious to see since the other examiner kept on nudging him and some even flat out told him,”Go!”…
Griffith-san mentioned the elf’s name… What was it again? Klau…Di…Os was it? I couldn’t hear him properly so I’d like him to repeat it but I felt that now was not the right time.
“Ah, sorry about that… Okay… Now let’s start the next one, shall we?”
“Yes.”
Klaudios-san let out a forced smile after Griffith-san intervened.
For caution’s sake, I need to ask someone to repeat his name for me. But… I wonder what’s the next test? Or rather, just how many exams are there?!
“Next… Since we’ve seen your debuff magic, now we want to see your buff magic. These people will do just fine.”
As Klaudios-san said that, two examiners came forward.
“Buff magic, right? …. Erm… Buff magic for the swordsman type then?”
“Swordsman type? What do you mean? Is there any other type?”
They both had swords equipped on their hips but still I needed to make sure if what kind of buff magic would be suitable for them but somehow, Klaudios-san became very intrigued with my question.
When it comes to support magicians, of course buff magics are the way to go, right?
“Umm… It’s a buff focusing for those who mainly rely on physical attacks. There is also buff magic for the wizard type.”
“Oh? There’s different buffs for different types like that? … Then please give them the swordsman type and I will take the wizard type since I’m a wizard.”
Ah… Which reminds me, Francesca-san’s guards were also surprised when I told them about those different types of buffs.
Klaudios-san’s eyes were twinkling, he was brimming with excitement. His whole gesture screamed,”I’ve found something interesting!”
“Now then I will start with these people first. 【Haste】【Might】【Shield】.”
“Hm.We will go over there for a second to exchange some blows.”
“──! ───!”
After I cast buff on those two examiners, they began to stretch and test their range of movement before they went a little farther from us to exchange blows.
“Come on! Let me test it quickly too!”
“Y-yes. 【Acumen】【Empower】… There you go.”
When I was about to check the situation with those two examiners over there, Klaudios-san came to me and urged me to cast some buff on him as soon as possible. Klaudios-san then immediately disappeared from my sight. He must be very curious about it since it was the kind of buff he never knew before.
“So what’s the effect of these buffs?”
“[Acument] improves your chanting speed… Erm, I mean I have an image of buff magic that speeds up the process of formulating magic before the user shoots the magic. [Acument] can increase the speed of magic being released by about 30%. As for [Empower], it improves the power of your magic by 30%. Please be careful if you want to try casting offensive magic.”
Klaudios-san stroked his chin with his fingers, pondering about something after I explained the effect of the buff. He looked like the leader of the representatives so he must be very strong. If he used strong magic here, wouldn’t it be dangerous?
I secretly cast [Magic Barrier] to all the people in here just in case.
“Well now…”
Seemed like Klaudios-san had finally decided which magic he wanted to use. He smiled beautifully as he began to mumble quietly, starting the chanting process. Then, he suddenly snapped his eyes open and the ground also suddenly shook violently.
Huh?! Earthquake?!
“Uwah!”
“Ren-chan!!”
The moment the ground started shaking, Chris-san immediately came running to me despite the turbulence. He then embraced me tightly, protecting me from the impending danger.
“【Shield】!!”
I cast [Shield] in the spur of the moment and waited for the shaking to subside as I closed my eyes shut and hugged Chris-san back.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Name: Klaudios
Age: 152 years old
Height: 204 cm
The guildmaster of the royal capital guild in Valfort country. His nickname is 《Smiling Nobleman》. He’s an elf and a former S-rank wizard. He’s the oldest member of the current Guildmaster Council. The godfather of many adventurer’s nicknames.
T/N: Oof poor Ren! Being headbutted by almost 2 meters tall grandma!
Chapter 109: Promotion Exam 3
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
No matter how hard I tried to cast [Roots], which had a higher chance of success compared to [Sleep], it wouldn’t work if I still did it the same as before. Magic depended on the image. I imagined capturing her, who was standing on that spot more vividly.
The image of a transparent ivy. Breaking through the ground surface, all of the ivy sprung forward at once. Entangling around Ljudmilla’s limbs, taking away her freedom of movement and before long, the vines would have completely wrapped her whole, making her unable to move an inch.
Ah, but I mustn’t cover her nose or mouth so she could still breathe… Okay now that I had a solid image of holding Ljudmila down, I outstretched my palm toward her. Since we were in the middle of a test right now, my opponent actually waited for me to form my image but in real life situations, this kind of opportunity would never happen. I needed to work harder…
“【Roots】… Ah! Ugh!”
I focused my strength and cast the spell. Ljudmilla-san, who had shaken the drowsiness away, looked prepared to receive my attack but… The staff she had been holding onto since she appeared, fell from her hands. Slowly, she was about to fall forward so in the midst of confusion, I hurriedly went to her side and I managed to wedge myself in just before Ljudmilla-san fell to the ground.
… I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a weird sound, after having my abdomen take a direct hit of Ljudmila-san’s full body weight. Her sudden loss of balance was justified since she couldn’t propel herself with the [Roots] affecting her.
“Ren!”
“Ren-kun?!”
“Renchan!!”
Ah. I could hear their voices even though they were a distance away from me but Ljudmila-san’s head hit me right on the spot so I still couldn’t let my voice out due to the pain.
I-I’m alright… I’m still alive!
“Are you alright?! Moonlight Witch! Get yourself off of Ren!”
“Fuh… Haah… I’m saved… Sig-san, she can’t move because of [Roots] that I cast on her so please don’t get mad at her but… Everyone, thank you for worrying about me. 【Release】.”
Sig-san and Fer-san came running to me. Sig-san helped me out from under Ljudmila-san while Fer-san was supporting Ljudmila-san since she was still unable to move. After chiding Sig-san a little, I thanked the three of them properly for caring about me. The examiner should’ve already seen the result of [Roots] so I quickly released Ljudmila-san from the debuff.
“Haah… Pretty boy, you are amazing. I’ve never felt the effect of [Roots] in what, 50 years? No, I think it’s close to 60 years? Oi, you damned old geezer elf! I, Ljudmila, the Moonlight Witch, recognize this kid’s debuff ability! …. Boy, my name is Ljudmila. Can you tell me your name, pretty boy?”
“Yes! My name is Ren Himukya Cleva but please just call me Ren, Ljudmila-san!”
Ljudmila-san quickly left Fer-san’s side after she was freed from [Roots]. She turned to the examiner… Or to be precise, to the elf and announced that with a loud voice.
…. Does this mean I passed the test?
Ljudmila-san then picked up the staff that had fallen to the ground and tottered to me with a clanking sound. She introduced her name and I quickly introduced myself back. I’d like her to refrain from calling me ‘pretty boy’ forever so I hoped she would just call me by my name.
“…. You’re such a good kid. Good luck with the exam. If the exam is anything like mine then… It’s going to be hard for you since you’re so kind.”
“Just like yours…?”
Ljudmila-san, who was a little shorter than me because of her bent back, outstretched her staff-free hand and patted me on the head as she whispered to me.
Is she talking about the promotion exam she had to take years before? I wonder what kind of exam it was since she said it’s going to be hard for me…
“Oh my…. How splendid! Ljudmila too, thank you for your help. I knew I can’t ask anyone else but you for this.”
“Ha! You stinky old geezer… I’ve done my part so don’t forget to give the herb you promised to me, okay?!”
“Old geezer you said… Even though I’m still so young! The rare herb from our country, right? You know I’m a man of my word.”
The elf who came to us while clapping excitedly, addressed Ljudmila-san first. From there on, they started to argue back and forth with such great vigor that no one could find any gap between their bickering.
I see… So they’ve made an underhanded deal beforehand? I wonder what kind of rare herbs they’re talking about?
“What are you talking about? Look at this geezer, talk about ram dressed as lamb… That’s right. I’ve come all the way here on my own. Of course I deserve at least that much.”
“Haah… Where did that fragile looking, as if she could disappear at any moment, 【Moonlight Witch】disappeared to..? Her hair has turned grey now but I originally gave her the nickname ‘moonlight’ because her pale, blonde hair was giving out a dim light like ‘moonlight’ and yet…. Now she has become a gaudy old hag.”
“You must’ve become an old geezer since you can’t even remember the things that had happened 55 years ago, huh? Nothing about me has changed though?”
“At that time, you were putting up such a big facade, didn’t you? Who would’ve imagined such a beautiful and fragile looking lady who looked like she’d disappear at just a touch would have such a violent temperament. Had I seen through your facade, I would have given you something along the line of ‘ferocious’ or ‘fury’ instead of ‘moonlight’…”
I guess they’re close enough to be fighting like this?
At any rate, from their conversion now I knew that the elf was much older than he looked like and he was the godfather of Ljudmila-san’s nickname. Also he must be at least 100 years old and that Ljudmila-san was very beautiful when she had taken the exam. At a quick glance, she looked like an ordinary old lady because of her bent back but her face was still beautiful even though she had wrinkles all over her body.
“Klaudios-dono, Ljudmila-dono…Can you two please drop your conversation for now? We would like to continue with the promotion exam…”
Griffith-san finally cut himself in after seeing that there was no end between the elf and Ljudmila-san’s quarrelling. The exam was being held at Aspel so he was the one being pushed to intervene. It was obvious to see since the other examiner kept on nudging him and some even flat out told him,”Go!”…
Griffith-san mentioned the elf’s name… What was it again? Klau…Di…Os was it? I couldn’t hear him properly so I’d like him to repeat it but I felt that now was not the right time.
“Ah, sorry about that… Okay… Now let’s start the next one, shall we?”
“Yes.”
Klaudios-san let out a forced smile after Griffith-san intervened.
For caution’s sake, I need to ask someone to repeat his name for me. But… I wonder what’s the next test? Or rather, just how many exams are there?!
“Next… Since we’ve seen your debuff magic, now we want to see your buff magic. These people will do just fine.”
As Klaudios-san said that, two examiners came forward.
“Buff magic, right? …. Erm… Buff magic for the swordsman type then?”
“Swordsman type? What do you mean? Is there any other type?”
They both had swords equipped on their hips but still I needed to make sure if what kind of buff magic would be suitable for them but somehow, Klaudios-san became very intrigued with my question.
When it comes to support magicians, of course buff magics are the way to go, right?
“Umm… It’s a buff focusing for those who mainly rely on physical attacks. There is also buff magic for the wizard type.”
“Oh? There’s different buffs for different types like that? … Then please give them the swordsman type and I will take the wizard type since I’m a wizard.”
Ah… Which reminds me, Francesca-san’s guards were also surprised when I told them about those different types of buffs.
Klaudios-san’s eyes were twinkling, he was brimming with excitement. His whole gesture screamed,”I’ve found something interesting!”
“Now then I will start with these people first. 【Haste】【Might】【Shield】.”
“Hm.We will go over there for a second to exchange some blows.”
“──! ───!”
After I cast buff on those two examiners, they began to stretch and test their range of movement before they went a little farther from us to exchange blows.
“Come on! Let me test it quickly too!”
“Y-yes. 【Acumen】【Empower】… There you go.”
When I was about to check the situation with those two examiners over there, Klaudios-san came to me and urged me to cast some buff on him as soon as possible. Klaudios-san then immediately disappeared from my sight. He must be very curious about it since it was the kind of buff he never knew before.
“So what’s the effect of these buffs?”
“[Acument] improves your chanting speed… Erm, I mean I have an image of buff magic that speeds up the process of formulating magic before the user shoots the magic. [Acument] can increase the speed of magic being released by about 30%. As for [Empower], it improves the power of your magic by 30%. Please be careful if you want to try casting offensive magic.”
Klaudios-san stroked his chin with his fingers, pondering about something after I explained the effect of the buff. He looked like the leader of the representatives so he must be very strong. If he used strong magic here, wouldn’t it be dangerous?
I secretly cast [Magic Barrier] to all the people in here just in case.
“Well now…”
Seemed like Klaudios-san had finally decided which magic he wanted to use. He smiled beautifully as he began to mumble quietly, starting the chanting process. Then, he suddenly snapped his eyes open and the ground also suddenly shook violently.
Huh?! Earthquake?!
“Uwah!”
“Ren-chan!!”
The moment the ground started shaking, Chris-san immediately came running to me despite the turbulence. He then embraced me tightly, protecting me from the impending danger.
“【Shield】!!”
I cast [Shield] in the spur of the moment and waited for the shaking to subside as I closed my eyes shut and hugged Chris-san back.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Name: Klaudios
Age: 152 years old
Height: 204 cm
The guildmaster of the royal capital guild in Valfort country. His nickname is 《Smiling Nobleman》. He’s an elf and a former S-rank wizard. He’s the oldest member of the current Guildmaster Council. The godfather of many adventurer’s nicknames.
T/N: Oof poor Ren! Being headbutted by almost 2 meters tall grandma!
