This Guy Will Have to Do

Ilara quickly ascertained there was an elite Orc standing in front of her due to his vestments, size, and the quality of his weapon. She glanced at the nearby town, judging the distance she’d have to run for assistance.

“Celeritas,” she chanted calmly.

Increasing her speed was enough to outrun other mages, but this was a completely different level. Even if she managed to outrun an elite Orc, likely impossible since they were physically superior to her in every way, there was no one in town who could deal with such a threat.

Even her school, farther away, had very few people equipped to fend off the Orc. She was one of them of course… But still, as her teacher loved reminding her, she was just a healer.

So instead, she ran away from the town and towards the nearest road. The townsfolk would only get in her way, anyway. Despite her acceleration spell, she could feel the Orc stomping the ground, quickly gaining on her. She turned around to take aim at the Orc.

“Repulsio.”

It was a spell to knock objects away from her, one she had mastered in countless duels against warriors trying to close the distance on her. Her spell, which landed with perfect accuracy, stopped the Orc, but it only resulted in a small pushback. He grinned it off, and they both started running once more.

“Repulsio.”

The Orc, even before she had finished casting her spell, had already anchored himself by sticking his giant axe into the ground, and she achieved nothing—or that’s what she wanted him to believe.

“Girl, do you really think an elite warrior will fall for that same trick twice? Did you not learn any other spells that could help you in battle? Typical pacifist half-elf weaklings…”

Ilara was aware a warrior like that couldn’t be stopped that easily, but all she wanted was to gain some mental ground.

She kept running and purposely tumbled on the road. Dirt was all over her newest healer robes that she had commissioned for her graduation day; that was the price she had to pay for victory. She tried to make it even more convincing by scrambling to grab her staff, pretending to lie down helplessly on the ground. If there was any chance of winning, it was giving the Orc a false sense of confidence.

“To think a mage would be this weak. The great spirits have blessed me today.”

That was the opening.

“Lumina.”

Ilara stuck a blinding light on the Orc’s face. They had told her that was a useless spell to master, but she could always imagine a situation where it would help. The light was so bright that only a mage experienced in light magic could look at it directly.

“Repulsio.”

With a large burst of her magic power, Ilara shot the Orc vertically into the skies, her blinding light still attached. The Orc could be seen from a great distance, and acted as a beacon for help. Ilara prepared her final spell as she stood up.

“Claustrum!” She stabbed her staff into the soil, and projected a large spherical barrier around her. Only those allowed by her could enter the safety of her barrier, and the Orc was not one of them. He bounced on it as he fell, and slid off.

The Orc recovered after a few seconds, while Ilara looked at him through the barrier. She was already bored by the whole experience, predictable to a fault. “Is that all an elite Orc amounts to?” The corner of her lips raised slightly while she stared at the Orc, safely separated by her magic barrier.

“Arrogant girl.” The now enraged Orc tried to slam the barrier with his battleaxe, only to have it repelled by Ilara’s magic. He furiously smashed away at it, but the barrier held strong, and Ilara never broke eye contact. “There’s limits to your magic, even if you’re S rank.” Instead of walking away, he sat down and made himself comfortable on that field. It was even kind of him to not keep swinging his axe at the barrier to deplete it, but perhaps he was also saving his strength.

At that point, it was just a waiting game. As soon as someone with a little bit of muscle walked down that path, anyone, even a farmer, she could empower them to take down the Orc. That, or her magic could just run out…

For a moment Ilara believed no one would show up. It was just her luck for growing up in the countryside and going to that subpar school—no adventurer willingly went to those parts.

She sighed and closed her eyes, wondering if that was her unceremonious end. At least, one last time, she could enjoy breathing in the clean air of the forests, listening to the sounds of the fields that had been her home for the last few years.

◆

It took longer than she would’ve liked, but someone finally walked down the road and into her strange standstill with the large Orc.

It was a human, carrying a large, worn axe on his back. With muscles of his size, he was a perfect target for her strengthening spells.

His hair was a mix of orange and brown, and he was taller and slightly older than her. Those details were irrelevant, but she couldn’t avoid registering them.

“You. Inside,” she commanded.

The human, gleefully humming a song as he walked on the road, spotted the large elite Orc and gradually became terrified. “Is that… the light I saw?”

“Quick, inside the barrier!” Ilara had no time for composure.

The panicked human leapt into the barrier before the Orc could stop him.

Ilara examined him. “You will do,” she said, though not entirely convinced. She tapped the human with her staff. “Celeritas. Potentia.”

His body started to glow and so did his weapon… if it could be called that. “This feels amazing!”

Ilara grinned. All those years of mastering supportive spells paid off, on top of the basic healing training.

“What… is this light though?” he asked after a few moments of basking in the magical glow.

Ilara wished the human hadn’t opened his mouth. “These spells make you faster and stronger. Fight inside my barrier, and swing at him.”

“Sure.”

She didn’t know if she should be impressed or frightened by that human’s lack of care. He walked up to the Orc, just as instructed, and started swinging at him in a completely undisciplined fashion with a large smile on his face. Was that really the time for someone to be enjoying himself? Their weapons clashed several times, but the human, despite his shoddy axe and mediocre technique, would always win every exchange. It was impossible to harm him through Ilara’s barrier. The fight was more than over as soon as the human entered her domain.

At some point the Orc got tired. “I guess this is why you’re S rank...”

The human fighter was confused, but Ilara was too pleased with herself as the Orc walked away in utter defeat. Once the Orc was out of sight and everything was quiet, Ilara breathed a sigh of relief as her barrier dissolved.