Chapter 313

Chapter 313

To think that they were being asked to hunt a dangerous, venomous monster with just two people!

As all the students in Class A were stuck processing the absurd task, Belya called out,

"Chief!"

"A-Ah, yes, Professor?"

The chief assistant teacher, standing at the back, rushed in and stood at the front.

"Pick pairs of people at random and send them up to the teleportation magic circle."

"U-Understood! What about you, professor?"

"I'm going to make some antidotes in advance."

As she said that, Belya gave a peculiar smile.

"I'm sure some of them will return right before they die from poison."

A heavy tension filled the room. Belya looked at the students.

"Remember, you lot. Don't act rashly just because you want a high grade."

With that. She left the lecture room.

The chief assistant teacher put her hand to her chest, let out a small sigh of relief, and turned to the students.

"Now, you heard that right? We're sending you out in pairs."

Just then, Claudia raised her hand.

"A-Assistant teacher! Can we form the pairs oursel—?"

"I'm sure you know you can't do that. The professor said 'randomly'."

In this school, a professor's word was absolute.

As the students nervously murmured about who they may end up going with, the assistant teachers wrote down all the names from the roll.

"Instead..."

"?"

The assistant teacher smiled as she placed two empty boxes on the table.

"We'll put students in pairs of one male and one female. Doesn't that sound great?"

Professor Belya's order was to pick random people, but how they were divided was up to the assistant teacher's discretion.

The chief assistant's idea sparked a huge reaction.

The male students seemed half-pressured, half-excited, and many of the female students were verbally objecting but secretly fixed their hair or took out a mirror as smiles formed on their faces.

"...How bothersome."

Hector clicked his tongue as he rested his chin on his hand.

Soon, the chief assistant teacher picked a name out of the 'male' box, and another assistant teacher picked a name from the 'female' box to go with him. The next time around, they reversed it. The chief assistant teacher picked a female student, and the other assistant teacher picked a male student. And so on.

The chief assistant teacher intended to relax the students before the performance assessment, but this simple drawing of lots turned into a pretty fun event.

Before long, every student in the class was extremely attentive, loudly reacting to each and every pairing.

"Then, we will start with the male student for this one!"

The chief assistant teacher pulled a slip of paper out of the 'male' box. She unfolded it, the rustling paper being the only thing heard amid the hushed silence, which was soon broken as she called out the name written on it.

"Rick Hayward!"

Knowing that it was his turn now, Rick opened his arms widely, expecting some cheers, but the female students all looked disgusted.

"There goes the landmine."

"Gross."

"Rick is fun and all... but... he's a little, y'know..."

Hearing those, Rick choked up and glared at the female students.

"Hey now! What's wrong with you guys?! You know how much I am trying to–...!"

"The female student he'll be paired with is Kathryn Theurel!"

The girl, presumably Kathryn, smacked with her face down on the table with a loud thud.

The male students burst into laughter, while the female students patted her on the back and comforted her.

"Thanks for your service, bomb-disposal agent."

"Good luck."

Meilyn, a member of Rick's regular group, chimed in,

"Kathryn, we will never forget your sacrifice."

Rick glared at the forming group of female students, seething with anger.

"Just wait and see! I'll show you all!!"

Sitting behind Rick, Simon tugged on his arm as if stopping him.

"Don't get too upset about it. They're just teasing you."

"Alright! The next student is... Simon Polentia!"

Suddenly, a thick silence fell over the lecture room.

The girls teasing Rick suddenly looked ahead with a straight face, with no traces of laughter to be found. Meilyn was fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, and Camibarez clasped her hands together. Gulps were heard in the wave of silence.

"This is nonsense! You guys are acting so differently!"

Rick, now being directly compared to this reaction to Simon, died for the second time in less than a minute.

"Honestly, the difference is too great."

Cindy Vivace confirmed the kill.

Meanwhile, Simon was thinking about who'd be a good pair with him. A complete stranger would be too much and tactically disadvantageous.

'I'd like to go with Meilyn or Cami or at least one of the girls I know.'

Then, a male student spoke up.

"Assistant Teacher. It's the girls' turn to be picked now."

"Ah, right~"

The chief assistant teacher stuck her tongue out in joking embarrassment as if realizing her mistake. Then, she folded Simon's note neatly and put it aside. The girls glared at the male student.

"Well then, the next female student is...!"

She unfolded a note and read it.

"Camibarez Ursula!"

The flat sand on one side was slowly beginning to rise.

'One's here!'

Simon hurriedly swooped Camibarez up in his arms and jumped. A large tail rising from the sand stabbed the ground with force.

Pooooooow!

The sand splashed up like a fountain. It was clear what would happen if they were hit by that.

Simon looked back after putting Camibarez back down. The tail had disappeared, leaving only a greenish liquid mixed in the sand.

"That's the thing's venom. Let's be careful, Cami!"

"Yes!"

As expected from a level five monster. It was much faster than he thought.

The two of them were on high alert, and sand began to rise from one side again.

Spotting it first, Camibarez shouted,

"Simon! On your right!"

Simon realized his left foot was stuck to the ground. He opened his eyes wide.

'Open!'

Fwhiiiiiiiiiiip!

The scorpion's tail slammed down just as the blades rose to block the path.

Clannnnggggg!

The two tentacles and the tail collided in the center, the resulting noise ringing in the air for a few seconds after.

It was a hit and run strategy.

Immediately feeling its attack getting blocked, the desert scorpion tried to hide in the sand again.

Bubble bubble!

However, a necromancer never makes the same mistake twice.

A small pond of blood rose up around the scorpion, surrounding it. Closing her eyes in concentration, Camibarez swung her arms gracefully upward.

{Blood Thread}

Fwiiiiiish!

Fwiiish!

Threads of blood gushed out of the pond and wrapped around the scorpion's body. The threads then tightened as the scorpion tried to force itself back down into the sand.

"Urk!"

Camibarez groaned in pain, staggering against the force.

"I'll help you out, Cami!"

{Cloud}

A rope of emerald smoke shot out from Simon's ten fingers and wrapped around the Scorpion's body.

"Heave... ho!!"

Simon and Camibarez pulled as hard as they could, and the scorpion—wrapped in green and red ropes—wavered.

It lost balance, and was pulled fully out of the sand.

Slam!

The scorpion struggled violently. Its razor-sharp front claws slicing at the Cloud and a few strands of Blood Thread.

'Ugh!'

Simon, whose nerves were connected to the Cloud, felt an excruciating pain.

"Simon!!"

Slaaaash!

The scorpion's front claw grazed across Simon's shoulder as he jumped back out of the way. Simon, only barely avoiding an amputation, clutched his shoulder.

'Ugh, the venom...!'

In a frenzy, the desert scorpion lunged at Simon.

Clang!

Simon and the scorpion clashed in the center. Losing in the battle of strength, Simon found himself getting pushed back in the struggle, leaving long marks on the sand.

'Jet-Black Eruption!'

Black sweat began to drip from Simon's body. With his enhanced physical strength, he barely managed to stop the scorpion.

Bewildered, the scorpion raised its giant tail and tried to strike Simon down, but...

Yank!

Camibarez cleverly concentrated and wrapped the blood threads around the tail, stopping its movement.

"Nice one, Cami!"

Simon opened his original, ground subspace while holding back the scorpion. Skeletons poured out, climbing on top of the scorpion as it struggled to move.

From their vantage point, the skeletons then shoved spears into the gaps of its carapace to widen them and slashed at the exposed weak points.

The scorpion writhed in pain, its cry piercing Simon's ears.

"You ready?"

"Yeah! I've completed it in advance!"

Simon flexed his eyes wider as he ordered,

'Open!'

Shunk!

Six overlord blades shot up from the ground, lifting the scorpion's body into the air. Simon staggered back and shouted,

"Now!!"

Camiibarez raised her arms above her head with bloodshot eyes.

The skill that hemomancy was most famous for.

{Hemorrhage - Overflow}

Fwoooooooooosh!

Blood gushed out from the monster's wounds, and red rain fell from the sky.

——