Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Lorain spoke while returning to Kizen on the skeleton horse again.

“Thank you for cooperating with Kizen, but your safety is our first issue. We don't know when and where that Priest would try to take your life. Maybe it would be better for you to take a break from class for a wh—”

“Nah.”

Simon shook his head.

“I’ll just act like normal.”

“……Wouldn’t it be too dangerous?”

“It’s fine. That person may not have seen my face, and even if they were after me, they would somehow leave a clue.”

Lorain’s red eyes flashed for a while.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t need a clue made by risking your life.”

“Just listen to me, Lorain. If I take a break from class or show odd behavior that I didn’t make before, the Priest will be certain of my identity. What would they think if they saw Kizen’s security roaming around me? They’ll find out that I’ve given the information to the higher-ups, and they’ll realize that they’re cornered.”

“That’s true, but—!”

“Can you predict what a fanatic will do if they get cornered?”

Lorain bit her lip.

The opponent was so loyal that they entered Kizen with a core considered a terrible sin in their body to carry out their mission. The behavior of fanatics couldn't be understood by an average person.

Large-scale hostage-taking and suicide terrorisms were incidents commonly caused by the fanatics.

If the same thing happened in Kizen, the organization's external image would be seriously damaged, and it’d provide a reason for those who have questioned Kizen’s governing system to unite.

After giving it a thought, Lorain spoke while sighing.

“……Fine. But if there’s anything fishy going on, I’ll protect you, even if it limits your freedom. Remember that there’s no need to sacrifice yourself for everyone’s well-being.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Of course, Simon didn’t think of it as a sacrifice at all.

‘I can’t stop my school life just because of that.’

If you failed to attend class, the gap between you and other students would widen.

Then, what if the time came when you had to leave Kizen due to lack of grades or skill?

Kizen was never a flexible institution to take care of an individual's circumstances, and it was your loss if you sat on your hands.

It was Simon’s judgment that it’d be better to boldly keep the school life if he had to bear the risk one way or another. There was still a lot to learn at the school.

The two of them parted after arriving in Kizen, and Simon returned to the dormitory as if nothing had happened.

* * *

The next morning.

Class A students were waiting to enter the building with excited faces. 

“It’s finally today!”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Today was Jane’s Beginner Dark Magic class.

Within it was the long-awaited Cyclops simulation scheduled for today. Everyone was wearing special training uniforms, not school uniforms.

“As expected from Professor Jane.”

Said Rick while rubbing his nose.

“I heard that, originally, you barely get to try the simulation in the 2nd semester, and we’re here trying it before the protection period ends.”

“Errr… I struggled to fall asleep yesterday.”

Muttered Camibarez. Meilyn laughed.

“Come on, it’s just a simulation battle, you see?”

“Now, now. Everyone in Class A, please get into your groups!”

Jane’s assistant teachers took control of the students. The students lined up and entered the building.

The hallways were clean. It looked like a new building. Everyone was talking in anticipation of the Simulation, but for Simon, every time he took a step, he felt his hair stand on end with a strange sensation.

“Groups 1 to 8, over here.”

“Groups 9 to 16, this way.”

Then, when they went down via magic circle elevator, an open space stretched out.

“Woah……!”

Kizen’s virtual battle simulation system, ‘Avalon’.

The system couldn’t be found anywhere else in the whole continent. Any monster could be reproduced as a magical creature to perform a virtual battle.

It was the result of moving the ancient ruins of ‘Hallucina’, a fortress of illusions and hallucinations, to Kizen and modifying it repeatedly.

“Good to see you, Class A.”

Jane and her assistants came down from the magic circle elevator on the opposite side. The students bowed their heads in unison.

“We don’t have much time, so I’ll get straight to the explanation.”

It progressed neatly, as expected from her.

As Jane pressed the button of the control device in her hand, the magic projector on the ceiling activated, and a screen appeared.

“Groups 1 to 4 will take the simulation on the left, and Groups 5 to 8 will take the one on the right. All rules are exactly the same as performance assessment. One participant and three supporters. Support team members can’t move from the set position, and only the participant can use direct offensive attacks. The Cyclops will only recognize the participant as an enemy and attack them.”

Jane reached out her hand and tapped the vest that her assistant was holding.

“But there’s no need to worry too much. The attacks of the virtual Cyclops are absorbed by this vest’s barrier magic. Each time damage is absorbed, the barrier gauge on the screen shown above will go down. Training ends when the gauge reaches 0. Return to the waiting room.”

The students nodded with nervous faces.

“You’ll be able to experience up to 3 sets of virtual battles. I hope that it’ll be a valuable time to evaluate how well the strategy you made last time fits and to raise the practical application to the maximum.”

After Jane’s explanation, the simulation immediately began. Groups 1 and 5 entered the training room, and the rest were guided to the waiting room.

The waiting room was a resting place with spacious sofas all over the place and a refreshment area. There was a mana projector installed on the ceiling, and with this screen, you could check on the situation of the other groups.

Simon and his party decided to watch the tests of the other groups first before working on their own strategy.

‘Ah, so Cindi Vivace is participating.’

Group 5 was the group of Necromancy aspirant Cindy Vivace, the purse snatcher he met in Langerstine.

She was the participating member, and her group was composed of aspirants of Curses, the Mechanics of Jet-Black, and Poisonous Alchemy.

The balance wasn’t so bad, in Simon’s opinion.

[Then, we will now begin the simulation battle.]

* * *

* * *

Jane’s voice was heard from the loudspeaker.

Woooooooooosh!

The whole area seemed to fill with mana, and the training room suddenly turned into a forest.

The surroundings were filled with trees, as if you’d fallen into the middle of the forest. Birds chirped and even winds blew. Exclamations broke loose from the students who were watching.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Ringing footsteps were heard in the distance and the birds flew away.

The sound of footsteps got closer and closer, and soon after passing through the bushes, a massive turquoise monster with a height surpassing 2 meters appeared.

Its body was lined with muscles. One eye was contorted like it was squashed, and the other eye was moving up and down frantically.

[Kwooooouuuuugh!]

As he roared with his mouth wide open, the faces of the students who entered the training room hardened simultaneously.

“Alright!”

Cindy reached her arms behind her back. A sleek black scythe was summoned in her hands.

“Let’s do this!”

The battle began with a thunderous roar.

And…

[Simulation failed]

Time Spent: 1 minute and 16 seconds

Damage Inflicted: 22%

Barrier Gauge: 0%

Overall Rating: F

The information measured from the simulation was projected on the screen of the mana projector.

Everyone opened their mouths at the one-sided result. Simon was also surprised.

‘It’s no joke, huh?’

The groupmates ran towards Cindy, who was lying down on the floor. After sitting up, she smiled awkwardly while scratching her head.

“Sorry, my timing for ghosting was a bit off. I’ll make sure to avoid it next time!”

Group 1, who were beside them, finished faster than Group 5.

They had the same reason. The participant couldn’t correctly respond to the fierce attacks of the Cyclops and was knocked out. Just one shot was enough to drop the barrier gauge down to less than half.

On that, both groups brought ‘curses’ as their means of sealing the Cyclops, but the participants were knocked out before they cast the curse, so there was no time to cast it.

“The movements of the participants were all frozen.”

Said Rick. Simon also nodded.

“There must be some psychological factors too.”

Even if the three group members were standing behind them, the fear and tension from facing the Cyclops themselves wouldn’t be easily overcome.

Simon turned his head.

“Meilyn, will you really be alright?

“Huh? Hm?”

With her face as white as a sheet of paper, she quickly nodded.

“I-I’ll be alright, of course!”

She didn’t seem alright, judging from the nervousness and trembling in her voice.

In the end, she left to go to the bathroom. Not only her, but many other students were going straight to the bathroom.

Group 2 and Group 6’s battle followed. Simon didn’t even blink to see if he could get a hint, but this time too, the participants were knocked out after getting directly hit by the attack of the Cyclops.

[Group 3 and Group 7. Please come into the training room.]

Group 7’s turn came much sooner than he expected. When Simon was getting up from his seat, a group of students was heading to the opposite training room too.

‘Ah, so Group 3 was Hector’s group.’

Group leader Hector acted as the center, with Class A’s ace summoner, Pierre Berkeley, and the two others who were skilled, with over 90 points in the Mechanics of Jet-Black and Necromancy. In fact, they were the group that received the best evaluation in Class A.

At that moment, Hector and Simon’s eyes met. The corners of Hector’s mouth rose up.

“Obviously, you’re the participant of Group 7, right?”

Simon shook his head.

“Not me. It’s Meilyn.”

“That lady who doesn’t understand the ways of the world as a participant, huh? Did you back off to boost her morale?”

“It’s just that the best person participated.”

“Don’t be so boring, Simon Polentia.”

Hector’s eyes gleamed.

“Give it all you got. I’ll make sure to break you properly this time.”

[Group 3, Group 7! Hurry up and get into the training room.]

With the pushing voice of the assistant teacher, the two turned their backs and headed for their respective training rooms.

Simon entered the training room. Rick and Camibarez were stretching while waiting. The assistant with the clipboard looked around and said,

“What about the other one?”

“Sorry I’m late!”

Finally, Meilyn came in while panting. As the assistant pressed the controller in their hand, the countless magic signals on the wall turned on, and the door closed.

“Participating member, to the front.”

“Yes.”

Meilyn came forward with a hardened expression.

“I’ll indicate the location of the support positions.”

The light on the ceiling signal flickered, and circles of mana were drawn on the floor. The three of them walked to their respective set positions. Camibarez on the left, Simon in the center, and Rick on the right. And Meilyn stood in front of them.

“The Cyclops can’t see the supporting members, so rest assured. Of course, taking even one step outside of this circle will result in disqualification.”

“Okay!”

“Participant, are you ready?”

“Ah…… Yes!”

Meilyn, who had been spacing out for a moment, answered.

“Meilyn, get the hang of yourself. Are you really okay?” 

Asked Rick.

“……Ah, I said I’m fine!”

“Don’t tense up too much, Meilyn! It’s just a simulation battle after all! Cheer up!”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Everyone took their positions. The assistant stepped back and said,

“Well then. We’ll commence the first simulation battle of the 7th group.

The assistant teacher’s body disappeared as if it had melted into the air, and a strong wind blew in. Simon’s eyes shone sharply.

‘To feel the wind indoors… It’s not just a simple hallucination after all.’

As the floor turned green, the surrounding area turned into a forest and a swamp spread out.

A leaf flew in the wind and hit Simon’s forearm. When he touched it with his hand, he could feel the texture of the leaves as they were.

Looking at it from the outside and experiencing it in person was definitely different. Simon couldn’t think of anything else in front of the overwhelming sense of reality.

And…

Thump! Thump!

You could feel the floor vibrating. Rick shouted,

“Everyone get ready! It’s coming!”

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

With the loud echo of footsteps, a massive Cyclops rushed in and made its way through the thick leaves.

[Gwooooooough!!]

The hairs all over his body stood on end and his heart started beating rapidly. It really felt like he ran into a monster in the forest.

‘You can feel this much pressure in the just set position. How much worse is it for Meilyn, who has to face it from the front……?’

“Pheww.”

Then, he saw her taking a deep breath. Her expression changed to something more serious.

“Alright, just do what you always do.”

Her trembling subsided.

Simon smiled. She quickly adjusted to the situation, unlike what he expected.

‘Yeah. Who am I worried about? There’s no need to worry about anyone here.”

Simon pulled down the imaginary lever. 

‘Let’s just focus on my role 200%!’

——