Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Oh.

The shop owner folded his arms and smiled.

Arent you a freshman? A skeleton archer already?

Yeah. Im planning on giving it a try.

There were different positions for skeletons.

Skeleton archer, skeleton mage, skeleton rider, etc.

The skeleton archer was simply a skeleton that used a bow as its main weapon.

At first, Simon gave the Island Ratman skeleton a bow and made it try archery, but it was a total mess. It couldnt even hang an arrow properly, let alone pull the string.

So when he looked through textbooks to find a solution, he found that there was a different kind of skeleton suitable for skeleton archers.

Sapiros should be safe for a beginner to try out a skeleton archer. This way, please.

Simon and the shop owner headed a little deeper in from the wide, central hall.

Simons eyes moved wildly. There was a pile of things that he couldnt understand how to use. He thought that itd be quite interesting to come here and take a look if he got some time.

The sapiros bones are over here.

The shop owner got down on one knee and pulled out a box in a compartment under the shelf.

As he blew off the dust, you could see silver letters on a black background. It had a very luxurious look.

Shall I show you the inside too?

Yes!!

Simon answered with a voice that was almost a scream. The shop owner opened the box with a smile, looking at his cute junior.

Woah!

The inside of the box was covered with an antique red cloth, and in the center was the skull of a sapiros with two horns sticking out. In each space around it were vertebrae, arm bones, leg bones, and more, each stored by type.

Vanilla makes the highest quality skeletons.

Said the shop owner, getting the arm bone and flicking it with his finger.

Did you hear that? It means that its been properly refrigerated. For the ones thatll be used as skeleton archers, the joint of the arm is important. Ah! Of course, the magic circle is also drawn on the skull.

The shop owner carefully lifted the skull and showed its insides. You could see quite a complicated jet-black magic circle.

Its a magic circle that professional necromancers have carefully engraved inch by inch. The defect rate is remarkably low, and even if theres any defect, compensation will be given from the brand who made it. Bring it to the store, and Ill exchange it for a new one.

He was saying things so fascinating that Simon should be ecstatic, but on the contrary, the smile on the corner of his mouth was shaking.

I-It must be really expensive then, huh?

30 gold per box. But as its the Vanilla brand that everyone knows, its worth your money.

30 gold!

Simon sighed inwardly. He knew that Summoning cost a lot of money, but it was no joke after all.

Of course, it didnt really matter to Simon as a Commander, but 30 gold per unit was terribly expensive considering the short period of use for the skeleton.

Isnt there anything a little bit cheaper?

Of course there is! Ill show you.

The shop owner got up and looked through the boxes. Then, he carefully pulled out a few boxes and placed them in front of Simon.

Starting from the right, its 27 gold, 24 gold, and 22 gold.

Even Simon, who didnt know much about the undead yet, could see that the quality of the bones became poorer right to left.

And theres also a 20 gold one made by an unknown Necromancer.

As he opened the box that had been roughly tied with string, you could see a huge mess of bones with a musty smell. After rummaging through the bones, he pulled out the skull and revealed its magic circle.

The magic circle is still working properly, but itd be hit and miss whether its a defective product or not.

Ill have to avoid that.

Simon looked at the other boxes.

[What are you thinking about, Boy?!]

Th-That startled me.

[Of course you should choose the most expensive Vanilla brand! Its not like you cant use your skeleton if it breaks like other Necromancers! Doesnt it all become the strength of the Legion?!]

Thats true, but

Simon looked at the boxes while pondering. What Piers saying wasnt wrong either. If youre buying something, wouldnt it be better to choose a good quality one?

Ill have three Vanilla sets.

Oh my, a big spender! Sure thing.

The shop owner whistled and pulled out two more boxes with Vanilla written in silver. Simon, who was watching him, suddenly became curious and asked,

By the way, why is the brand name of the undead products called Vanilla?

The shop owner took out a bone and sniffed it.

Its because the bones smell like Vanilla.

Im just joking. The last name of the founder of the brand is Vanilla. Now, lets proceed to the counter.

Ah! Wait a minute, Senior.

Said Simon while gulping down his saliva.

Theres one more thing Id like to purchase

Hurry up! Bring them out.

Simon opened the subspace and took out the box. The word Vanilla was written in shiny silver letters on a black box.

Kyah! Can I open it?

Of course.

When Rick opened the box, white bones appeared on the luxurious red cloth.

Look at this charming color.

The students who were chatting in the seat next to them seemed to be curious as well.

Whats this?

A Sapiros Skeleton Archer Set. Its apparently from that Vanilla brand.

Woah!

This is Vanilla?

Everyone was looking at the box with eyes as if they were looking at the newest product.

Simon looked at those students and chuckled. He liked the fact that they had common interests because it was a school of Necromancers.

But wheres the assembly drawing?

Hold on.

Simon found a piece of paper enclosed below after rummaging through the box. He opened it, and everything was ready.

Okay, Ill begin now.

Go, go!

Simon first inserted jet-black into the Summoning magic circle drawn on the skull.

The colorless magic circle was dyed black, and the runes interlocked and rotated to build an ecosystem called the magic circle.

Is it done?

The magic circle was working, but there was no movement in the skull. Looking at the magic circle, some runes didnt activate properly yet.

Look at this, Simon!

Rick, who was examining the assembly drawing, said,

See the four corners of the magic circle here? Apparently, you have to Circling the jet-black and put it in!

Whats Circling?

It must be the technique used to create magic circles in Mechanics of Jet-Black. We havent even learned this yet.

After all, from the beginning, it was a difficult skeleton for a freshman to make. Simon took out the Mechanics of Jet-Black textbook from the subspace.

Circling Circling

While halfway through the table of contents, he found the entry for Circling. Simon opened that page.

Huh? Isnt this?

He wondered why it seemed familiar, but the content was similar to when he listened to Bahil about core operation in the past.

The cycle of jet-black.

Meditation.

Blackhole.

It was almost like the core operation Simon was using now. He thought that the tip Bahil gave was probably based on this thing called Circling.

I might be able to do this.

Simon slowly raised his right arm and closed his eyes.

Cycle, not transformation. A circulating image.

Swaaaaaaa

Jet black began to rise from Simons palm.

Jet-black has a tendency to remember.

Bahils voice from his memory echoed in his ears.

Just like the hands and feet of humans. If you repeat the same movements hundreds of thousands of times, the jet-black tries to reproduce the acquired flow without realizing it. Isnt it amazing? Thats why its important to practice repeatedly and develop the right habits.

Simon clenched his teeth. Just focus and contemplate. Make the jet-black remember this flow and keep it this way.

Swaaaaaaa

The jet-black had entered a stable state. Sweat dripped down from Simons body.

It worked.

Now, even if he paid attention to a slightly different place and looked back, the jet-black was spinning on its own.

This was Circling.

Simon compressed the whirlpool-like jet-black into a small area and then inserted it directly into one of the four corners of the magic circle.

Whirrrrrrr!

A light came on in the corner. Like a mechanical device that was supplied with power, the runes that had stopped around them came to life and began to move.

Hey, what the hell are you?

Rick was left speechless.

Youre following it after going through a textbook once? Are you for real a genius or what?