Chapter 54

Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 54

It was a shocking announcement.

All students staying in the lowest squad in the Duel Evaluation would be expelled at the end of the semester. 10% of all students would drop unconditionally in one semester, regardless of their grades.

Since it takes two semesters to become a 2nd year, it could mean that close to 20% of students could leave Kizen through Duel Evaluation alone.

Jane continued to explain,

“Squad promotion and demotion are determined solely by the match’s outcome. Of course, each squad has different Duel Evaluation points. You get more points for losing in a match of a higher squad than winning in a lower squad. Everyone, please take on the challenge with the goal of advancing to the upper squad.”

She placed down the chalk in her hand and turned to the students.

“Here’s a question. Can anyone tell me the difference between the monster battle we had last time and this person-to-person battle?”

There was an arm that rose faster than anyone else at that question.

“Jamie Victoria.”

“Yes, Professor! This is Jamie Victoria speaking! In monster battles, we’re in a position to attack with a strategy, but in a person-to-person battle, there’s a difference, since the opponent could have a strategy for us too!”

Jamie nodded and turned to the other student who raised their hand.

“Hector Moore.”

This time, Hector, who had raised his hand, stood up. It felt like a huge hill was rising.

“Unlike monster battles, the range of dark magic used in person-to-person battles is limited.”

“Could you please explain in detail?”

“Skills that take a long time to cast, skills with clear trajectories or slow ejection speed, and installation trap-type magic circles are difficult to use in person-to-person combat, so their use is limited. Similarly…”

Hector’s eyes moved. His gaze was on Simon, who was seated far from him.

“The summoning magic of Summoning studies isn’t effective in person-to-person battles, since the way to counter them is clear. The opponent can ignore the summons and attack the caster directly.”

“Very well.”

Jane gestured, and Hector bowed his head politely, sitting down.

“The important details have almost all been said. In fact, there are dozens or hundreds of differences between monster battles and person-to-person battles. Well then. Can anyone explain why I’m explaining such obvious things?”

“……”

The surroundings became as silent as a grave.

“From this week on, you have to change how you think.”

Jane tapped her forehead with her finger.

“You shouldn’t be immersed in the afterglow of the Cyclops anymore. Loosen the screw on your head and twist your lifestyle and notions. It’s not like someone will agonize on your behalf. As you take the class, keep thinking about how you’ll battle your schoolmates with the cards you have.”

“Yes, Professor!”

The students responded vigorously.

“And.”

The corners of Jane’s lips rose.

Simon felt a shiver running down his spine while listening to her.

How could a person have such a terrifying smile?

“I’m the Vice-President of Kizen, but I think I did my best as a professor-in-charge of Class A. Class A is the only one out of the 14 classes in the first year that simulated with Avalon and did an actual battle against a Cyclops.”

Simon nodded. He was very grateful for her letting them experience such a great experience.

But why was she all of a sudden telling us this……?

“Let me be clear. I can’t imagine another class being on top of the Class A that I’m in charge of.”

Sparks flashed in the eyes of Jane, someone who always had a cold impression.

“A so-called Vice-President took charge of first-year students. I believe you guys won’t disgrace me.”

‘……Haha. So that’s what it meant.’

Although the professors didn’t really make it obvious, in fact, they were quite sensitive to the grades of their classes.

The Duel Evaluation in particular was a system in which students from Class A to Class N competed, and you could immediately see the results on which classes did well and which classes didn’t.

“Professor Jane!!”

It was then. Rick, who was sitting next to Simon, got up from his seat with an excited face.

“Don’t worry about it! We’ll do our best so you can roam around with confidence, Professor!”

Meilyn got startled and pulled at the hem of his clothes.

“Hey! Hey! Sit down! Why the hell are you interfering?!”

“Let’s go! Go Class A!!”

Loud laughter broke loose from everywhere.

Meanwhile, some male students responded to Rick’s words and shouted as though their fighting spirit was on fire.

“Did you hear that? Go Class A, huh?”

“Our students are soo cuute.”

The assistant teachers exchanged whispers and giggled.

Because they’d always been following Jane and dealing with the third-year students’ precocious behavior, dealing with first-year students this year felt fresh.

Jane looked at Rick with an expressionless face.

“Rick Hayward.”

“Yes, Professor!”

“I’m worried about you the most.”

Wahahahahahaha!

This time, the whole class burst into laughter. Rick sat down out of belated embarrassment while scratching his head.

“Ah, for real… I fucking hate it. You’re really embarrassing.”

Meilyn sitting next to him also buried her face in her hands.

“That being said, to give you some advice, Rick Hayward’s enchantments are pretty good. However, the question is how to make the enchanted weapon reach the opponent. If the opponent is a Combat Magic aspirant, you might stand a chance, but if you meet a Hemomancy aspirant who specializes in ranged attacks, you’ll fall without being able to lift a finger.”

She had a good point, so Rick nodded with a firm face.

“You should all think about your strengths and weaknesses, and what needs to be supplemented for a person-to-person battle.”

“Yes Ma’am!”

After coming down from the stage, Jane signaled to the assistants. The assistant teachers began to move busily.

“Then, let’s move.”

* * *

* * *

The place where Class A headed was the indoor training room in the building next door.

The reason Jane brought the students here was simple.

“Starting now, you’ll have some time to freely train and think about what kind of dark magic to use in a person-to-person battle. The assistant teachers will roam around, so ask them if you have any questions.”

After hearing the words ‘freely train’, the students dispersed as if they were waiting for it.

Some students did image training while using dark magic, and some students were sitting down and writing damage tables.

If desired, a mock duel between the students could be performed too. A protective vest similar to that used in the Cyclops battle was being lent out by the assistant teachers.

And on the other hand, Simon was leaning against the wall agonizing about the topic Hector had brought up.

-“The summoning magic of Summoning studies isn’t effective in person-to-person battles, since the way to counter them is clear. The opponent can ignore the summons and attack the caster directly.”

As he said, the opponent would stubbornly target Simon alone. Moreover, he was unsure whether the slow skeletons could catch up with the students running around with jet-black.

Crumble!

As Simon’s agony deepened, a skeleton suddenly fell to his side.

“Ahh! I’m sorry! Did I startle you?”

A bowl-haired male student rushed over and started putting the bone fragments into the box. Simon also squatted down and picked up the bones.

“I’ll help you.”

“Ah, thanks!”

The male student glanced at Simon’s face. At first, he looked a little surprised, but then he gave a smile full of joy.

“You’re Simon Polentia, right?”

“Yeah.”

His eyes shone.

“My name is Toto Amori! I was really, really impressed with your Cyclops battle last time! I’m also a Summoning aspirant, and you had something that made my heart race!”

Simon smiled. He stood up after putting all the skeleton’s bones in the box.

“Are you planning to use this skeleton in the Duel Evaluation?”

“Th-That’s……”

Toto scratched the side of his head and smiled timidly.

“Actually, I have no choice. I’m only good at Summoning, and I got into Kizen thanks to it. I’m pretty bad at other subjects, you see.”

Having said that, Toto looked up at Simon.

“I envy you, Simon.”

“……?”

“You’re good at Combat Magic. And you seem to be quite talented with Curses too……”

Simon blinked.

“I’m also a Summoning aspirant just like you, though?”

“That’s why I’m envious. If you want to survive as a Summoning aspirant, you have to do well in subjects that are advantageous to person-to-person combat such as Combat Magic or Curses.”

Simon folded his arms.

“So that means, Summoning isn’t so good for person-to-person combat.”

“Yeah. It can’t be helped in the beginning. After all, Summoning requires more time.”

At that moment, a female student who seemed to be Toto’s groupmate waved her hand. Toto also waved to her and said,

“Then, I’ll get going.”

“Good luck.”

Simon got lost in his thoughts while looking at Toto as he got far away.

‘Summoning is weak in person-to-person combat, huh?’

Of course, it’d be a different story if he used the Legion and wiped the opponents out, but that’d be impossible. Simon could only use his three summon-type skeletons in the Duel Evaluation.

Even after Toto had left, Simon leaned his back against the wall and pondered over and over again.

“Oh my. It looks like you have a lot of thoughts~”

Perhaps she was concerned about Simon, but this time, an assistant teacher approached with a smile.

Simon quickly bowed his head and said, “Hello,” surprised.

“What’s the matter? I spent almost 2 years at Kizen too, so you can ask me anything.”

“Ah, uhm……”

Simon gave an awkward smile and scratched his head.

“I’m just wondering about what style to fight with in the person-to-person battles.”

“Fufu.”

She folded her arms.

“In my experience, at times like this, it’s best to try it yourself rather than worrying about it.”

“……What?”

She handed him the protective vest.

“Put it on. I’ll spar with you myself.”

Suddenly, Simon happened to have a mock duel with an assistant. The two went to a large space so that other students wouldn’t be disturbed and stood facing each other.

“You can check the barrier gauge with the blue scale on the vest. Can you see it?”

“Yes, I can.”

Battling against an assistant teacher out of the blue.

Simon was stunned, yet nervous at the same time.

“You don’t have to be too nervous. I’ll only use dark magic at the level of a first-year student. Are you ready?”

“Yes!”

“Then, here I go!”

She spread her palms out. Jet-black rose like a haze and formed four magic circles in the air.

Simon looked at her with his eyes lit up.

‘A jet-black arrow.’

He learned it in the Mechanics of Jet-Black class. 

One of the most basic means of attack with jet-black. It was a common technique that most of the first-years used as a long-distance poking.

‘So she really is going against me at the level of a normal first-year student.’

As the assistant teacher opened her arms, three jet-black arrows flew in. Simon, who took his stance, quickly checked the trajectories of the projectiles, and jumped back.

Pssshhhk!

Three arrows pierced the floor.

‘……!’

And the one remaining arrow was flying in the exact direction of Simon’s jump.

It was impossible to suddenly change the direction of the jump. Simon clenched his teeth and stretched his hand out.

Phew!

A short sword protruded from the subspace on the floor. He grabbed it and swung, parrying the jet-black arrow.

“Oh! Pretty good~”

“It’s my turn this time!”

Three skeletons came out of the subspace and dashed towards the assistant teacher. She cast another jet-black arrow and fired it, and Simon strained his eyes.

‘Dodge to your right!’

Whish! Whish!

Skeletons moved nimbly. One was hit by her, and the other two managed to dodge and narrow the distance with her.

“Hmm~”

She clenched her fist. Her seemingly soft fists were dyed slightly black.

Swing!

She swung her fist after dodging the skeleton’s spear by bending her head back.

When she hit the center of the skeleton’s body, bones were scattered in all directions with a band. She then lowered her stance and smashed the skull of a skeleton approaching from behind with her elbow.

‘Ah!’

“Are you really supposed to space out like that?”

Clunk!

Simon’s stomach was bent backward. Before he realized it, some black streak of light pierced through his chest.

‘Crap!’

An Exhaust curse! 

His body suddenly became heavy.

‘I was careless. I could’ve dodged it!”

The assistant teacher used one hand to draw Simon’s attention seamlessly while dealing with the skeleton, and prepared an Exhaust with the other hand hidden behind her.

She also fired it right at the moment where Simon took mental damage from his skeleton getting smashed.

‘What she’s using are just basics…… but her skills are way different!’

Simon clenched his teeth.

“Now~ I took down the summons and also placed an Exhaust. Isn’t this a great chance to take down the summoner?”

She came running to Simon while even relaxedly narrating. Simon sent out three skeletons from the subspace again.

‘Stop her!’

The moment when the distance between the skeletons and her was narrowing…

Woooooosh!

Jet-black spurt from both of her legs like geysers, leaping over the skeleton in an instant.

‘Jet-Black Stepping from Combat Magic!’

After leaping over the skeleton, she kicked into the air and came down towards the caster, Simon.

“It won’t be painful since you have the barrier!”

Her fist thrusted down at a tremendous speed.

Simon’s eyes shone. Folding his shoulder toward his chest, he made the fist roll flow off of him like water.

‘Hmph.’

She knew from the start that this student was skilled in Combat Magic.

The assistant smirked and gently spread her left hand. The magic circle of a Jet-Black Arrow drawn on the palm was aimed towards Simon’s head.

‘This is the end……!’

At that moment, she felt goosebumps rise up from all over her body.

Simon’s right shoulder wasn’t folded, but turned excessively, and at the same time, the heel of his right foot was lifted, and his left foot was approaching from the opposite angle.

‘It’s not a guard, but……!’

The tip of his left foot, visible in her sight, became a black flash of unfathomable speed and swept over her face.

‘A spinning kick!’

Whiiiiiiiiiiish!

Simon’s legs passed through her face while drawing a savage trajectory.

A shockwave spread around, and the students who were practicing nearby looked at the two in surprise.

Simon, who performed the kick, was also surprised.

‘I thought it went in cleanly, but my leg just passed through her head?’

The two paused for a moment, then quickly fell apart.

“Oh, uhm…… I’m sorry.”

The assistant teacher bowed her head and apologized.

“I said that I’d only use basic dark magic, but I ended up using my major skill, Ethereal Form. Ahaha…… Let’s stop the mock battle here.”

“Thank you, assistant teacher.”

And at this time, the assistant teacher was looking at Simon like she’d seen a ghost.

‘What is this kid……? He’s scary.’

Wouldn’t it have been a straight trip to the underworld  if she got struck without a vest?

The assistant teacher swallowed down her saliva.

——