Orc King

Adonis burst into his dorm room and froze.

Every surface was buried under empty snack bags.Quackner waddled between the piles, happily crunching the last crumbs.Eclipse robe floated in the center, holding Adonis's ID card aloft.

"Where did you get all this? Did you empty my card?" he griped.

Eclipse handed the card back. The rune balance still showed ten.

"If you didn't spend any, how did you buy all these snacks?" Adonis demanded.

"Uwuuu uuwu," the robe replied smugly.

Adonis blinked. "You're saying someone treated you?" He shook his head. There was no time to figure it out. "Come on! Today's the Flame Dungeon run."

He yanked the robe onto his shoulders. Quackner flapped up and settled on his head.

"Because of you everyone identify me as one with the duck," Adonis grumbled. "Don't blame me if you become roast duck down there."

He strode out.

At the Flame Dungeon entrance, a line of first-years waited to enter. Buds, Weeds, and Blooms alike—all assigned to slay three Flame Orcs as homework.

Adonis spotted Mia near the guard booth.

"Sorry I'm late!" he called.

"Yes, you are," she replied coolly—but not unkindly.

She eyed him. "Where's your equipment?"

Adonis shrugged. "Eclipse is fireproof and self-healing. No need for armor."

Mia nodded once, then both flashed their IDs to the guard and stepped inside.

Inside, the air scorched their robes. Lava dripped from stalactites overhead. Mia's ice element and bloodline easily resisted heat; Adonis felt nothing thanks to Eclipse's protective enchantment.

Together they made way deeper to find several Orcs at once, since these monsters are noting to them, they wanted to finish soon as possible.

But unfortunately

They rounded a bend and saw three students already engaged:

Tyrant Haul, battered but still fighting,

A brown-haired boy casting light buff spells,

A violet-haired girl firing purple arcane bolts.

"Oh no," Adonis muttered. "I forgot to apologize to Tyrant." he thought internally, but since they are in battle he don't want to disturb them.

"That's Ai Holmes and Alex Rage," Mia said. "Their ranks are just below ours."

Before he could speak, the dungeon rumbled.

Both of them quickly sensed the danger from a presence nearby. And it was raging hot.

And then;

Blast of superheated air washed over them.

"Eclipse!" Adonis shouted.

Eclipse expanded into a massive black-and-white shield, enveloping all four of them and fanning off the inferno like a fortress of wind. Then it shrank back to his shoulders.

They looked up.

A towering Orc King loomed before them: scarlet skin, burning eyes, twin flaming horns, and a maw belching molten rock.

Ai squealed, "Orc King! We're royally screwed!"

"Shut your puns," Tyrant barked, slamming his hammer into the ground.

Alex stood motionless. "I suppose this is the end of our journey," he sighed gloomily.

Ai grabbed Alex's arm. "Come on we need to escape!"

But the three defenders were exhausted, their mana nearly zero.

The Orc King roared and spewed a torrent of lava fire at them.

BOOM!

Before the molten wave could hit, Eclipse roared back into place, forming a perfect dome of black-and-white shimmer. The lava sizzled and ran harmlessly down its surface.

Adonis sprang forward, golden sword in hand. He could feel the Orc King's power—greater than any aristocrat mage's. Wounding it seemed impossible.

But he tried anyway.

"Killing Circle!"

Twenty golden swords spun around him in a deadly ring. He hurled it at the Orc King, blades screaming through the air.

They cut into its flesh—but only left glowing bruises that healed instantly.

Tyrant coughed. "Why are you saving us?"

Adonis only shook his head. "I'll explain later. Run! Towards Mia!"

The Orc King's claws slammed the ground, cracking the stone. Adonis raised two swords as a shield, but the blow shattered them instantly. A heat wave knocked him to his knees—if not for Eclipse's cocoon, he'd be ash.

He spat blood. "This… is not going to be easy."

Above them, the Orc King readied its next assault.

Adonis steadied himself, eyes ablaze gold.

" Dammit, If I apologized to him in classroom it never had come to this."

And so the real battle began.