Ambrose Academy’s Modifier

(Garru Garru)

The Orcs were getting closer, Ari had to act while their guard was lowered.

He summoned his D-Rank sword.

"Please provide support from behind."

Ferine nodded.

He approached the group who were walking through a narrow path in pairs.

They were separated by a few meters on the side, and the back respectively.

Ari hid behind a tree and waited until they were within a few meters from him.

<Wood Magic: Root Bind>

Thick roots emerged from the ground like whips and slithered towards the Orcs at incredible speed.

The roots bound all four Orcs from the waist down to their feet, drastically reducing their mobility.

(GARRU GARRU!)

(GARRU GARRU!)

The Orcs used their machetes and easily cut the roots.

‘Right, they’re C-Rank monsters.’

Ari quickly reinforced their binding by adding multiple layers of roots.

The Orcs struggled to break free completely, but consistently managed to sever a layer of roots with one strike.

Ari bound the arms of an Orc seconds after it cut the roots around its legs, using three layers to ensure it could not break free too easily.

He leapt onto the roots and executed a double dash towards the orc.

(Garru!)

The orc roared in anger as it tried desperately to free its arms, but it was too late.

Ari executed a third dash and used the momentum to plunge his sword into the orc’s exposed eye.

The orc howled in pain, and finally managed to release one of its arms, but Ari had already left for the second orc.

An arrow flew overhead, piercing the bloody eye of the first Orc, killing it instantly.

‘Ferine caught on quickly.’

Ari’s physical strength was much weaker now than during the trial of courage.

Creating an opening for Ferine, who outranked him, was the smartest move in this situation.

Ari repeated the same tactic with the remaining orcs, giving Ferine a perfect kill record.

[You have gained 800 AP]

‘I can obtain AP like this too?’

Like in video games, when a party kills a mob or boss, the EXP is shared between them, but since AP is exclusive to Ari, he did not expect to gain any this time.

‘Is it based on my contribution to their deaths?’

"Good work, Malentasume," Ferine said as she approached.

"You too."

She smiled bashfully.

"Now, onto-”

(GARRU GARRU!)

(GARRU GARRU!)

The second scouting party heard the cries of their brethren and came running to their aid.

They surrounded the pair and ran towards them with their weapons drawn.

"Ferine!"

Ari grabbed Ferine by the arm and pulled her into his chest.

"M-Malentasume!" she said in shock at his sudden actions.

"Just watch."

Ari waited for the orcs to lunge at them before he counterattacked.

He searched for a spell through the blessing of The Great Malen-Soato, prioritising impact and power.

His physical strength and overall stats were lacking in comparison to the orcs, however, the blessing made up for his shortcomings.

<Wood Magic: Root Pierce>

Dozens of sharp-edged roots emerged from the ground around the two of them, each reinforced several times.

Before the Orcs could react, the roots pierced their exposed torsos, killing them instantly.

[You have gained 800 AP]

‘Same as before...200 AP per Orc scout is quite generous, considering the Tenahu only gave me 50 AP as a base.’

Ari couldn’t help but wonder if his blessing played a role in this too.

"Are there any more of them?"

"No, these were the only scouts in the Malen Forest today."

"They've become more brazen."

"Yes. Most likely, they intend to raid tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

Ferine nodded. “This large scouting party confirms it," she said with a bitter expression.

"We should inform Lady Amlerythe about this," she suggested.

"Yes, we should."

Unbridled anger rose in his chest. Ari knew what it meant.

He had to do something to show those assholes that the Soato, and the Malen Forest are not to be fucked with.

But first.

His eyes fell on the orc corpses.

“Ferine, I hate to ask, but could you extract their cores for me?”

Her eyes widened. “Their cores, Malentasume?”

Ari nodded. “I have a use for them.”

“Then please wait a moment.”

Ferine retrieved an ornate knife from her belt and began carving the chests of the orcs.

The cores were the largest he had encountered thus far, and the energy contained within made him excited.

Without wasting any time, he began absorbing the core energy.

[You have obtained 400 AP]

[You have obtained 400 AP]

[You have obtained 400 AP]

‘4800 AP overall. Not bad, but, I need a lot more to level up each stat...over 9000 AP to be exact.’

Ari discarded the last core and turned to Ferine who watched him absorb the cores without interruption.

"Ferine, before we go back to the village, I want to leave a message for the Orcs."

"A message?"

"Yes. Tell me, do you know which part of the forest the Orcs will come from?"

"Yes I do, but why, Malentasume?" she asked with a puzzled expression.

Ari dragged the corpses together and piled them on top of one another.

"Would you be able to take us there?... All of us."

She froze not knowing how to respond.

"Please, Ferine.” he stepped on the pile of corpses and extended his hand.

She sighed. "Yes, Malentasume," she said then grasped his hand.

When they arrived at the location Ferine mentioned, he noticed a clear divide between the luscious and mystical Malen Forest, and the more...ordinary forest it shared a border with.

Ari lined up the corpses of the eight Orcs on the ground, then cast a combination of Wood Magic: Root Pierce and Root Bind.

The roots pierced the corpses then coiled around them before raising them high into the air.

Ferine’s eyes widened at the barbaric display.

She opened her mouth to say something.

"I know that you may not approve of my actions, but remember what they are, Ferine. Remember what their intentions are."

She clenched her fists.

"This is a message to them. A warning."

"Let's go inform Lady Amlerythe about the impending assault."

"Yes, Malentasume."

◇◇◇

“There were eight scouts you say?” Lady Amlerythe asked with a grim expression.

When Ferine and Ari returned to Lady Amlerythe’s tree house, she asked them to sit at the table on the deck before explaining what happened.

“That is correct, Lady Amlerythe. Malentasume and I eliminated them before they could get close to the village,” Ferine replied.

Lady Amlerythe turned to Ari. “Malentasume, you put their bodies on display?”

He nodded. “You may not agree with my methods, but we had to send them a message.”

“It’s time that they fear us...our retaliation.”

Her eyes widened. “What do you intend to do?”

“Strike back. We eliminate all of the Orcs who enter the forest tonight. If any try to escape...we follow them back to their settlement, and reduce it, and everyone inside to ash.”

Her look of shock shifted into that of resolve.

She nodded. “As you wish.”

She turned to Ferine. “Gather the Elen-Gota. We have to prepare for battle.”

“Yes, Lady Amlerythe,” Ferine said, rising to her feet.

“Also... Malentasume, the tailors have finished preparing your attire. I shall have them present it to you, along with a weapon that will aid you in battle.”

“A weapon?”

Lady Amlerythe nodded with a smile.

“You will not be disappointed,” she replied. “Your battle attire will satisfy you as well.”

‘Yeah, it's about time I upgraded my gear.’

“Please lead the way.”

“There is no need, Malentasume. Please wait here, they will arrive shortly.”

Lady Amlerythe brought a fresh cup of tea in record time, they sat in silence and enjoyed the view of the waterfall.

A few minutes later, they arrived.

“Malentasume, this is the tailor who created your attire, her name is Greisla,” Lady Amlerythe said, introducing an amber eyed beauty with short blonde hair.

“It is an honour, Malentasume,” she said, lowering her head.

“And this is Clavyre, she performed the enchantments on the sword as well as your battle attire,” Lady Amlerythe introduced a tall Elf with red eyes and shoulder length hair.

'I noticed it before, but it’s quite bizarre that all of the Soato Elves have blonde hair. Only the colour of their eyes are different...'

“It is an honour, Malentasume, ” Clavyre said, lowering her head.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Greisla, Clavyre. Thank you for taking care of me.”

He smiled at them.

“T-There is no need,” they said at the same time while looking down to hide their flushed cheeks.

“I believe that you have something to give me?”

“Y-Yes!” they responded in unison.

Ari chuckled.

'So cute.'

The first to present was Greisla.

“This is my gift to you, Malentasume,” she said, extending her arms.

‘What? I thought they were simply enhancing my existing armour, but this...’

Griesla presented an entirely new armour set.

Ari glanced at Lady Amlerythe. “Did you choose the colour?”

“Perhaps,” she replied with a cheeky smile.

It was a long tailored royal blue sleeveless waist coat, with front darts and a belt.

The trousers matched the waistcoat in colour and elegance.

Brown leather ankle boots, laced in the front completed the look.

He confirmed through SMV that each armour piece was B-Rank.

Ari got lost in his excitement and removed his robe immediately.

“Oh my...”

“M-Malentasume ”

“...Malentasume.”

Without paying much attention to their reactions, he got dressed in his new attire.

It hugged his body perfectly, while allowing great freedom of movement.

It was a perfect fit.

“I love it. Thank you, Greisla.”

“Y-Yes...” she responded.

“Clavyre, you enchanted this right? What did you do exactly?”

“I...I-” she attempted to respond.

“Malentasume, perhaps you should receive the weapon first?” Lady Amlerythe suggested.

“Right. Sorry about that, I got too excited.”

Lady Amlerythe giggled.

The two Elves beside Lady Amlerythe remained silent while staring at him with heated gazes.

Cough.

“Clavyre, if you would...”

“Yes. Please accept this, Malentasume,” she said handing him an ornate sword.

“Wow.”

It was beautiful...if one could even describe a sword as such.

From the robust dark brown leather hilt, to the short yet elaborate guard, it spoke volumes of the craftsmanship that went into its design.

The sword had a golden pattern engraved on the blade that resembled vines extending from the hilt.

'This really is an Elven sword.'

Upon a closer inspection, he noticed the intricate Elvish engravings and runes on the blade, the guard and the bottom of the hilt.

“Just by looking at these runes and engravings, I can tell that you’ve put a lot of time and effort into this. Thank you, Clavyre.”

“Y-Yes.”

It reminded him of one of the swords he used in TO, the design, and especially the runes. Ari’s excitement threatened to boil over once again.

<Observe>

[Blade Of War: A-Rank]

He took a deep breath.

“Clavyre, please explain what these runes and engraved words mean.”

“Gladly, Malentasume."