Chapter 36

Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 36

[Kwoaaaaaaaargh!!]

The Cyclops charged while screaming a bloody roar.

Its target was obviously Meilyn. She stepped back with a ghastly face.

‘Come out.’

Simon pulled the imaginary lever. The subspace opened on the floor, and two skeletons came out.

‘Forward!’

The skeletons ran forward at a frightening speed. Looking at this, the Cyclops lifted the log in his hands.

Cyclopes were monsters that used tools, and their main means of attack was uprooting trees and wielding them like clubs.

Whoooosh!

With a horrifying air-shattering sound, a skeleton got smashed into pieces by the wooden club. At the same time, the skeleton that walked up from the side thrust its shortsword.

Slaaaash!

The sword passed by, but only a slight scratch was made on the skin.

Enraged, the Cyclops twisted its back once more and swung its club.

‘After all, it’s better to use only one in this situation.’

Simon clenched his teeth and stretched out his arms. He concentrated all his focus only on one skeleton’s thought.

‘Duck!’

Simon’s absolute command was imposed. The skeleton reacted immediately, lowering its waist to avoid the club, and ran to the side in a nimble movement.

“Nice, Simon!”

Rick’s shout was heard.

Simon was able to control two undead units at once, but he was the type that showed his true powers when he focused solely on one skeleton. The enraged Cyclops started swinging his club frantically.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! 

The skeleton dodged the attack as if playing jump rope. Jaws dropped from the three people behind him along with the students watching.

Simon’s role was originally to buy some time with the undead, but he was doing better than everyone expected.

“Hurry up! I can’t last long!”

“On it!”

Rick and Camibarez prepared Exhaust and Meilyn prepared Dark Flare, a jet-black elemental spell.

The three magic circles were being quickly completed.

Slam!

The skeleton that had barely been buying time eventually got shattered by the club.

The Cyclops, fuming and scanning the surroundings with its scorching eyes, found Meilyn and jumped in.

“Kugh!”

Simon took two additional skeletons out from the subspace and sent them forth. However, he hadn’t yet recovered from the damage caused by the impact of the destruction of his summons, and the skeletons were penetrated by the Cyclops’ chariot-like charge.

“It’s ready!”

Shouted Rick. You could also see Camibarez raising her arms.

“Exhaust!”

“Exhaust!”

The two’s magic circles flashed and activated at the same time. 

The curses hit the target accurately! The Cyclops’ movement slowed down.

“It worked!”

The faces of Rick and Camibarez lit up, but Simon’s face didn’t get any better.

‘It’s still fast!’

The decrease in speed due to the curse was smaller than he thought. The Cyclops kept running, and Meilyn completed the blazing Black Flame on her right hand.

The distance between the monster and Meilyn was three meters. She let out a powerful shout and swung her right hand. The dark flame flew away while pouring out smoke.

Roooaaaar!

The dark flame exploded and covered the Cyclops’ body. That moment when everyone cheered and clenched their fists…

Swiish!

Through the flames, a wildly swung club struck her head.

Beep!

[Simulation failed]

Time Spent: 2 minutes and 11 seconds

Damage Inflicted: 26%

Barrier Gauge: 0%

Overall Rating: F

“……!”

The thick forest returned back to the training room as if the next page had been turned.

Meilyn was knocked out on the floor after being hit by the Cyclops’ club and flying several meters away.

“Meilyn!”

“A-Are you alright?”

Everyone freaked out and ran towards her. Fortunately, she seemed fine. She lifted her front up with her hands on the floor while frowning.

“Meilyn! Meilyn! Are you really alright?”

Camibarez held Meilyn’s hand with tears in her eyes. Meilyn forced a smile and said that nothing hurt.

[Good work, Group 7.]

Jane’s voice was heard from the loudspeaker in the ceiling. Rick, startled, sprang to his feet. Simon and Camibarez supported Meilyn from both of her sides.

[Group 7, you pulled off the initial plan to some extent. The performance of the Summoner who distracted the Cyclops with the skeleton was especially impressive.]

“Thank you.”

Simon bowed his head.

[However, the rest of the members were unsatisfactory overall. Blocking the movement with Exhaust and using Dark Flare to defeat the Cyclops in the meantime. It might sound plausible in theory, but you must’ve realized that in practice it is a little different.]

Everyone nodded with stiff faces.

[The biggest problem is the lack of proficiency. Try to minimize missing when casting Dark Flare or Exhaust. That’s all.]

“Thank you!”

Group 7 followed the assistant teacher’s guide and ploddingly came out of the training room.

And then…

“Woooooaaaaaah!”

As soon as they got into the waiting room, loud cheers broke loose.

“……Th-That startled me.”

Of course, the cheers weren’t directed toward Group 7.

The training room of Group 3 right next to them…

You could see the Cyclops knocked out on the floor, bleeding, and Hector, proudly standing on top of it, letting out a deep breath.

Black smoke was constantly flowing from the surrounding floor.

[Simulation succeeded]

Time Spent: 4 minutes and 2 seconds

Damage Inflicted: 100%

Barrier Gauge: 98%

Overall Rating: A

* * *

* * *

“……Th-They managed to hunt that?”

“The barrier gauge is at 98%. It practically means he didn’t receive a single hit, right?”

The mood of Group 3, the only group that hunted the Cyclops in the first attempt, was at its peak. The group members approached Hector and gave a high-five.

[Well done, Group 3.]

The first compliment from the vice-president of Kizen, Jane.

Students burst out in envy, and even that calm Hector smiled at this moment. 

After Jane’s detailed comments, they finally came out of the training room.

“Woooaaah!”

“Nice, Hector!”

Hector’s faction echoed his name. Other students also clapped and congratulated them.

“……”

Then, the eyes of Hector and Simon met. Hector raised his eyes to see the result of Group 7 and scoffed. He wore an expression as if telling Simon, ‘Look at you.’

“Let’s…”

Simon looked back at Meilyn’s voice. Her eyes were blazing so hot sparks they were sparking

“Definitely win.”

Everyone nodded.

“That’s right! There’s no time to be disappointed. We still have two games left!”

“Let’s take it slow and determine what the problem is.”

Group 7 started an emergency strategy meeting.

“First of all, as Professor Jane pointed out, the biggest problem is our proficiency.”

Said Rick.

“While Simon buys time with the skeleton, Cami and I need to activate Exhaust quickly without making any mistakes.”

Simon opened his mouth.

“That’s that, but… Exhaust is a curse that grows stronger as it stacks. Even when the first curses from you two hit, the Cyclops didn’t slow down that much.”

Having said that, Simon turned his head and looked at Meilyn.

“Meilyn, you have to dodge.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t think about whether an attack will come from behind, but watch the Cyclops’ movements with the thought that an attack will definitely come at you. I’ll also do my best to protect you.”

Meilyn nodded her head with a firm face. Simon stood up from his seat.

“You know how to do that thing we learned in combat magic, right? That feeling of stepping on the jet-black.”

“Stepping on…… what?”

“Stand up. I’ll teach you again.”

Simon gave Meilyn some tips and tricks, and Rick and Camibarez discussed the Exhaust magic circles together.

“Let’s take the persistence formula out.”

“Wouldn’t that lower the stability too much?”

“It’s high-risk, high-reward. It’s important to stack up the curses quickly. After all, if Meilyn gets hit even once, it’s game over.”

The cycle came back soon, and it was the turns of groups 3 and 7 again. Simon and his party entered the training room.

“Now, let’s do our best!”

“Go team!”

Everyone lifted the mood and cleared up the uneasy feeling.

After a while, the surroundings changed to grass, and the Cyclops appeared with a roar. The nervous feeling toned down after experiencing it once.

The battle began as the Cyclops found Meilyn and jumped in.

‘Forward!’

Like they were waiting, Simon’s skeleton also rushed in. This time too, it unfolded in a way where one skeleton was knocked out first and the other one was persistently holding back the Cyclops.

‘Without a doubt, its movement is becoming familiar little by little.’

The Cyclops’ attack pattern wasn’t difficult. It had power and speed, but its movements were simple. You could tell whether it was a swing or a smash by just looking at the movements of its shoulder and arm muscles.

However, no matter how great Simon’s abilities were, there was a limit to avoiding all attacks with the stiff body of a skeleton. Eventually, the skeleton was shattered, and the Cyclops rushed to Meilyn.

“Exhaust!”

“Exhaust!”

This time again, the two curses successfully hit, and the movement of the Cyclops dulled. Meilyn also completed the Dark Flare.

In general, they had more time than the first attempt.

“Hup!”

She took a deep breath and shot her black flames. The Cyclops paused and raised the club, but the fireball that exploded on the club spread out and stuck to its skin.

‘Alright! It went in perfectly!’

Dark Flare was definitely an effective means of attack. You could see the health gauge of Cyclops displayed on the mana project rapidly decreasing.

“Meilyn! We’re just getting started!”

“I know that too!”

Cyclops fixed its eye on Meilyn from the tremendous pain that burned its skin. Then, it started rushing toward her frantically.

Simon sent out the skeletons, but the Cyclops was seeing red due to the pain, no longer paying any attention to the undead.

Taking the attacks of the skeleton with its body, it rushed in to kill Meilyn, who caused this terrible pain.

And at this moment, Meilyn was preparing for the second Dark Flare.

‘Kugh!’

Meilyn canceled the spell and knelt down. The Cyclops’ club soared into the sky and descended, slashing through the air.

‘The feeling of…… stepping on it!’

Poooooooooow!

The club hit the floor. Meilyn, who had dodged it properly by raising the jet-black, roughly tumbled across the grass.

“The next attack is coming! Dodge it!”

As Meilyn hurriedly got up after hearing Simon’s shout, a raging demon swung its club while fire embraced its whole body.

Creak!

The club grazed past Meilyn’s leg. A sign that said, ‘Right leg fractured,’ appeared on the mana projector.

“Ah!”

“Meilyn!”

Meilyn tried to run away again, but her legs felt weak.

The training uniform she was wearing reproduced the symptoms of a broken leg.

“Exhaust!”

“Exhaust!”

The next Exhausts were fired. This time, the Cyclops’ movement visibly slowed down, but Meilyn couldn’t dodge its attack because of her injured leg.

“A-Ahh……!”

The Cyclops’ club, which was persistently chasing her, fell on her head as she was crawling and running away.

[Simulation failed]

Time Spent: 3 minutes and 45 seconds

Damage Inflicted: 42%

Barrier Gauge: 0%

Overall Rating: E

“That was close!”

As the forest turned back into the room, Rick let out an exclamation.

Simon also bit his lip and nodded. If it wasn’t for the broken leg, it would’ve been easier to defeat Cyclops seeing as its movements were slowed by the curses.

After hearing Jane’s comments and coming out of the training room, Hector’s Group 3 successfully hunted the Cyclops this time too. They also manage to shorten the time by about 20 seconds.

Camibarez muttered,

“……Next one will be our last.”

Rick and Meilyn nodded bitterly, their morale sinking.

“Gather up for a sec.”

Said Simon. Everyone turned to look at him.

“We can definitely clear it on our next try.”

Simon’s eyes were burning like a fire, like he didn’t even care about their previous defeat.

No.

“I have a plan for guaranteed victory.”

He looked like he was having so much fun with the difficulty.

——