Chapter 9

*3 days later*

*Gasp*

I woke up with a raging headache.' How long have I been out' I thought to myself as I turned to see my mother Chise at my side sitting on a chair.

Feeling movement from the bed Chise woke up and looked at Draco, pulling him into a hug.

" I know you want to look cool, but you scared us. It's been three days since you have been asleep and Rize has retuned home" Chise said in an admonishing tone as she was truly scared for Draco.

Hearing that Rize had left, I felt very sad as I didn't even get to tell her my feelings. Noticing her sons downcast expression Chise opens the drawer and brought out a letter.

" Here , Rize left you a letter" Chise said as she got up to leave the room.

Draco upon seeing the letter took it and open it up.

"Draco, I have nothing left to teach you and will be returning back home, as I have obligations to fulfill as elven royalty. Though I had been aware of your feelings for me, I couldn't reciprocate the same back to you as I am way older than you and have a fiancé already. It was nice being your teacher and I hope you will grow up to be a great adventurer. And don't forget to keep practicing as practice makes perfect".

After reading the contents I felt further downcast as she never mentioned anything about a fiancé before. But what does it matter, she was gone and he would have to live with that. 'Love is hard' Draco thought as he felt his stomach rumbling. Getting up from the bed, he made his way to the bathroom to wash up before heading to the kitchen to stuff himself with meat as he would have to make up for the lost training time he missed.

*4 months later*

Today I would be going out with the hunting group. Some orcs had been spotted in the nearby forest, as it was still the beginning of winter and the weather was cold. Orcs cause destruction in any eco system they have encountered, so leaving them for long will have serious negative consequences for the town.

Walking for 2 hours, we finally reach the last seen location of the orcs. The trackers and scouts went ahead to find the direction the orcs went.

Grandpa Marcus being my squad commander was a level 4 adventurer before he retired, but he was getting old in years. This was still going to be easy for him, but he only came here because it was a requirement for me to fight something stronger before I left for orario as my birthday was a few months from now.

The scouts returned with information of 9 orcs in total spotted in the forest. 3 to the east of the forest, 2 to the south west and 4 to the south. My squad composed of me, grandpa Marcus and three retired level 2 adventurers were to head south to deal with the 4. While the other squads dealt with the rest.

We walked for an hour before we spotted 2 orcs. Grandpa Marcus and the others dispatched of them quickly as we moved on to find the other 2. Ten minutes later we found one idle orc sleeping.

"Draco you will fight this orc alone, this will also be the final test before we let you go to Orario" said grandpa Marcus in a serious tone as I nodded back.

Quickly calling forth an earth rune, I thought I could end this quick with an earth spike but to my dismay I couldn't penetrate it.

"Buhiii"

The orc screamed a an earth spike hit it while it was asleep, though it didn't penetrate its skin the pain could still be felt.

Failing to take the orc down was due to the weak potency of my spells as I lacked falna. Dispelling the earth rune, I quickly started drawing a fire one, before the orc could get up.

Finishing, the air around me warmed up, alerting me of its completion. I quickly drew my great sword as I prepared to combat my strongest foe yet.

Heightening my sense to prepare for any sudden actions as I confronted the orc.

*Creak*

The sound of cracking wood could be heard as the orc pick the nearest log on the ground and hurled it towards Draco. 'Why are logs here, could there be an abandoned lumber mill nearby. I wish I surveyed the surrounding before attacking, perhaps I have gotten too cocky with all the praise I have been receiving' thought Draco as he swiftly dodged the incoming log.

Sprinting toward the orc as he jumped hurling his great sword above his head, ready to strike the orc from above. Seeing its assailant so close, hurling a big sword the orc opted to use the log in hand to block the blow.

Already anticipating this Draco muttered "Fire ball" as he used his tail to direct the spell toward the orcs crotch setting it ablaze with flames. Following up with "enchant weapon fire" Draco's sword set ablaze as he swung it towards th orcs head.

"Buhiii"

The orc screamed as it instinctively dropped the wood to put out the flames on it's crotch with snow.

"Splat" "Hisssss"

The sound of burning flesh and the smell of roasted pork could be observed as Draco's sword indented itself into the orcs skull. The orc dropped to the ground and soon turned to dust, leaving only its magic stone behind.

Feeling relieved it was over Draco let his guard down as another orc came running from the woods towards him.

" Draco watch out" screamed grandpa Marcus to Draco as he and the other squad member had left the surrounding area to give space when Draco was fighting the first orc. The other orc was supposed to be on the other end, maybe the scream of the orc Draco fought brought it here.

Draco had enough time with his quick reflex and heightened senses to evade the orcs charge. Noticing the lack of a dick, this one had to be female. Maybe it was the mate of the previously slain orc. After evading the orc, it charged and crash on a tree. Seeing this Draco quickly cast " spinning flame lance" and hurling it towards the orc hoping to at least penetrate it. Fire wasn't the best choice as they were in a forest filled with snow, but it was hard to switch elements as it would require another chant.

"Fwoosh"

The spinning flame lance hit the orc from behind as it was still stunned from hitting the tree.

"Buhiiiii"

It wailed in pain as the lance burned a large part of its skin from behind. So it wailed in pain trying to use the snow to lessen the pain.

Draco wasn't going to let such a chance go bye so he quickly dispelled the fire rune and drew a wind one.

As soon as he felt the presence of surrounding wind stir, I quickly cast " Wind cutter" sharp wind blades cut at the orc but it only left small cuts around the orcs body. Seeing that my offensive spells were ineffective, I quickly cast haste as my body felt lighter and engaged in a speed melee battle. After a while the orc was filled with gashes and was bleeding profusely while I was almost out of stamina. Having fast reflex and swinging my heavy sword had drained me but I was lucky as the orc succumbed to its wounds first. Soon it bled out and turned to dust. Feeling relieved Draco fell on his ass. The other squad members made it toward him and praised him, except his grandpa who looked a bit disappointed as Draco could have done better.

"Are you aware of the mistakes you made" said grandpa Marcus in a serious tone.

"Yes" replied Draco. There were better ways to handle this, he should have stuck to the earth element and used it to slowdown the orcs and used his sword to kill it like he did in the arena. Instead using fire in a snow covered forest was a stupid move. 'I need to work on my physical and magic skill coordination , and it seems I failed to observe my surroundings before making judgement. I could have lost my life today, and these monsters were way weaker than their dungeon counterparts. If grandpa didn't alert me of the second orc, I would have been seriously injured. I need to fix these flaws before I head to Orario' thought Draco as he picked the magic stones and the squad headed to the rendezvous point they had planned after clearing the orcs.