The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 6

Swoosh—

Slimes suddenly jumped out from the front without warning, aiming directly at me. I dodged to the left, raising my shield.

“Ugh….”

Thud.

The squishy green liquid splattered onto the ground with a splattering sound.

Without even a moment to grimace at the unpleasant sight, another slime charged at me.

One, two, and then three.

As three slimes lunged at me simultaneously, it became increasingly difficult to fend them all off with my shield.

“Can you handle it?”

With a heavy word, Basilus, who tilted his head curiously, sprang forward, snatching one of the slimes with his sharp claws.

I dodged the remaining one and struck the last slime with my shield.

Due to the flexible nature of the slimes, they either burst or bounced away easily.

I knew well that focusing on defense like this wouldn’t allow me to hold out for long, especially not in real combat, unlike in a beginner’s training ground.

I approached the swamp where the slimes were gathering, pulling out my practice staff.

I had to do it.

Since this dungeon was meant for magical training, I had to succeed.

“Phew….”

There were three or four slimes in front of me.

I aimed my practice staff precisely at one of the bouncing slimes.

Taking a short breath, I gradually controlled my breathing. I had to focus all my attention on the slightest hand movements.

My fingertips trembled, just like when I escaped the underground cave, evading death.

“….”

The magic that had been flowing wildly through my veins began to surge towards the tip of my staff. The blue flame that wrapped around the staff burned more fiercely.

This is it.

“Just a little more….”

Please.

Please.

At the moment when I had maximized the delicate force that wouldn’t even budge a scale, I quietly chanted a spell.

Thud.

The arrow arced through the air, and with a heavy sound, the slime that was charging toward me burst.

Simultaneously, the green liquid fell onto the head of a creature that had been hunting below.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Kwoo….”

Not a very pleasant sensation, huh?

I understand. I don’t have time to clean it up now, though.

Panting, I aimed at the next target.

“Gasp… Gasp.”

For the students of Ardel Academy, this was just one of the basic spells—Arrow.

It’s a type of long-range magic that creates a bow with magic to attack. Shooting magic arrows to penetrate a target is also one of the most basic training methods for mastering magic.

Though I succeeded, dealing with two slimes at once was still difficult.

I deflected the next incoming slime with my shield and returned to my original position.

In some ways, this is a rather brute-force training method.

But there’s no other way. Since I’ve never been properly taught, I have no choice but to learn through real combat.

“Is this right?”

This feels quite challenging for a beginner’s training ground.

It probably means my stamina is nearly depleted. I let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“It seems like things are mostly sorted here.”

I led Basilus and turned around.

About a dozen slimes were split in half, oozing green liquid. Although I dealt with them relatively easily, I was starting to feel exhausted, possibly due to the terrain.

Slowly, I lifted my head and pushed aside the vines hanging from the trees. There was still a long way to go before clearing the dungeon.

Maybe about halfway through.

The closer I got to the swamp, the more the number of slimes increased.

On top of that, each step felt like it was sinking deeper into the swamp, making the environment extremely challenging.

It was becoming difficult to control everything on my own.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, a slime jumped out from the side and struck my shoulder, falling to the ground.

As the squishy sensation transferred directly, I involuntarily bit my lower lip.

Even though it’s just a training dungeon without toxins, it would have been dangerous if this were real combat.

I can’t afford to let my guard down, not even for a moment.

I thought it was just my imagination, but no.

This is really tough.

If the difficulty was a bit higher, I might have died.

If this is only a beginner’s training ground, what do the other students even do?

“…Arrow.”

Bang.

I simultaneously burst two slimes with my magic arrows and looked down at them.

The creature that had been happily snatching them one by one earlier now had a more cautious look in its eyes.

This is good news.

As more slimes started appearing at once, it seemed like Basilus’ hunting instincts had awakened.

Swoosh— Swoosh—.

At the moment when two slimes were heading toward him consecutively, Basilus, with his wings spread, soared into the air and unleashed a fiery breath from his mouth.

“Crazy.”

Thud.

The slime turned to ashes in midair without a trace.

I had thought he could breathe fire since he was born with the fire attribute, but the power was more substantial than I expected.

I hadn’t noticed properly due to the smog when we escaped the cave, but seeing this now, I felt sorry for the minions we burned down when we escaped the black wizard’s base with Basilus.

“…They must have been really hot.”

Wow.

I thought he could only unlock things, but he can also burn them.

I kicked the pile of black ashes on the ground and stared ahead.

There was still no time to think about anything else.

“Here comes another one….”

This is so frustrating.

This time, a large slime emerged simultaneously from the side and the rear.

Despite its larger size, Basilus didn’t hesitate for a moment, biting into it and unleashing another breath.

Once again, the ground was engulfed in flames, and the agonizing screams of the slime echoed.

And Then.

“Gasp….”

Slash.

I aimed precisely and burst the last remaining slime with my hand.

The swamp, which had been bustling with slimes just moments ago, had turned desolate in an instant.

The sight of all those bouncing slimes reduced to ashes and gone was….

“Not bad at all.”

I panted as I approached him.

He’s definitely not just any dragon. To wipe out so many slimes without a trace in such a short time….

Now I truly understand how valuable it is for a tamer to have a strong monster.

“Basilus, well done.”

Ugh.

My bones creaked in protest.

Maybe it was because I had just finished my first battle without a single break, with my limited stamina. I sank down to the ground right where I stood.

“Kwoo!”

Basilus, who was gleefully covered in green slime from the fight, lifted his head proudly and ran toward me.

“Kwooooo…!”

“Uh.”

Everything’s great, but…

Could you not rub up against me like that?

I peeled off the sticky green slime clinging to my arm and patted Basilus’ head.

For the first training session, we did pretty well together.

I raised my hand toward him.

“Nice.”

Slap.

As I waved my hand, Basilus seemed to understand what I meant and placed his paw against it. We locked eyes as his round, innocent eyes blinked at me.

A well-behaved dragon—feels like being with a natural treasure. Maybe I should reward him with a box of cheese when we get out of this dungeon.

Smiling contentedly, I tucked my practice staff into my pocket.

And then—

“Aaah! This isn’t right!”

Huh?

A sharp voice caught my attention.

* * *

“No! Not that way!”

How noisy.

They mentioned there was someone else already inside, so it must be another student from Ardel Academy who entered at the same time as me.

When I turned my head, I saw a girl I didn’t recognize.

She had striking short brown hair, and her emerald eyes were filled with panic.

“Aaah! Aaaah!”

I don’t know who she is, but seeing how she can’t even handle a single monster properly in this beginner dungeon gives me a good idea of her level.

“Another novice, it seems.”

She’s probably a fellow student preparing for the entrance exam. Since she’s an aspiring tamer, she must have dragged a monster in here, but the fact that it’s a beginner’s practice ground suggests she’s not very skilled.

The problem is, she’s not doing well even here.

Not that I’m in any position to talk, being only two days into handling magic myself.

Basilus seemed to agree, wagging his tail and nodding his head.

So, the creature she’s been struggling with since earlier is….

A Hellhound, barking loudly and running wild inside the dungeon.

A large size that reaches up to her waist, cold black eyes that seem chilling, and a wolf-like appearance. Hellhounds are notorious for never letting go once they’ve locked onto their prey.

“It seems she doesn’t have the ability to control it.”

The Hellhound wasn’t attacking slimes but was instead tearing up the grass, and it even started splashing around in the swamp with a vine in its mouth.

The girl, now red with frustration, was jumping up and down in place, screaming.

“Aaah! Don’t break that, you stupid dog!”

Bark bark!

“Hey!”

Sigh.

It’s partly due to her lack of taming skills, but Hellhounds aren’t exactly known for being obedient.

Even if you somehow succeed in taming them, controlling them according to the tamer’s will is challenging.

This is because they are incredibly wild for a canine monster and do not consider humans as their masters.

That’s why when the protagonist, Lee Han, tamed a Hellhound, he went through all kinds of trouble.

In terms of dogs, this would be on the level of taming an American Pit Bull Terrier—a notoriously difficult task.

Of course, a proper tamer could manage it, but…

She chose hard mode from the start without the skills to back it up.

What a shame.

“Sigh… this sucks.”

The short-haired girl collapsed onto the ground as if she had given up.

Her body was caked in mud from trying to restrain the Hellhound, and it was clear that no one could say she looked good right now, even out of politeness.

At this rate, she might collapse before she can even calm the Hellhound.

Bark bark.

Just then, the ominous howling echoed again.

The Hellhound, now completely unrestrained, leaped up and began to climb over the short-haired girl’s shoulder.

“Aaaah!”

By the time her scream echoed, it was already too late; she was covered in sticky mud.

Ah.

The scene made me sigh involuntarily.

It’s true that Hellhounds are highly wild, but they’re still in the canine family.

Their habits, their actions—it’s all quite similar. And in that regard, what this girl is doing is perfectly provoking the creature.

Instinctively, I began analyzing the situation.

I could see the problems clearly. Where it went wrong, how badly it went wrong.

This wasn’t a judgment from a tamer’s perspective, nor was it from a magical standpoint.

It was simply from the perspective I was most familiar with.

Not as the third-rate extra Han Siha, but as a completely ordinary veterinarian, Han Siha.

“Hey!”

The dog was already as excited as it could get, and the human was just as frantic.

A complete mess, to the point where I didn’t even know where to start fixing things.

After watching this disaster for a while, I unconsciously muttered,

“That’s not how you handle it.”

At that moment.

The short-haired girl, looking like she was covered in a mud mask, frowned.

“…What?”

Ah.

Did she hear that?