Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Necromancer School’s Summoning Prodigy — Episode 16
Once all the students had lined up, the teaching assistants approached and fastened plain white bracelets around each of their wrists.
Simon flexed his arm and found the bracelet surprisingly heavy.
“Channel your Black Energy into the bracelet,” Hong Peng instructed.
The students obeyed without hesitation, pouring their Black Energy into the bracelets.
“Ugh!”
“What—what is this?”
Their bodies suddenly buckled downward.
“You’re all familiar with the Eggersut Curse, yes?” Hong Peng asked, hands on her hips, smiling.
She gestured toward the steep hill the students had descended earlier, where a teaching assistant stood waving a flag at the summit.
“Your next task is to climb that hill while bearing the Eggersut Curse,” she announced.
Every student’s face turned white.
‘Wait… seriously?’
‘This can’t be right.’
Yet no one dared protest to Keyzen’s Professor. Hong Peng’s smile widened.
“Get ready now. I’ll be monitoring who drops out.”
Only then, having grasped the situation, did the students take their positions at the starting line with grim determination.
Simon followed, already sweating profusely. The curse alone was crushing; whether they could even climb that slope seemed doubtful.
“All right then. Go!”
At Hong Peng’s cry, every Class A student surged forward at once.
At first, despite the curse’s weight, they walked upright to preserve their dignity. But as the slope steepened midway, there was no choice—commoner and noble alike had to crawl through the dirt on their bellies.
“Huff! Huff!”
“Nngh!”
Pained breaths and groans erupted from every direction. Though their bodies grew caked with mud, Hong Peng and the assistants watched their every move, leaving no option but to push forward.
‘Come on… come on…’
Simon pressed forward with bleeding hands, his fingers scraped raw by stone, gaining inch by inch.
Each step felt like lifting a mountain. His vision swam, the sky turning yellow before his eyes.
‘I’m doing this. No matter what.’
Preparatory coursework meant nothing now. This was pure physical endurance and willpower—nothing else.
If he fell behind here, he’d never catch up with his peers.
While others rested, Simon wrung out every ounce of strength he had left, climbing without compromise. He found his own pace and refused to break it.
Shiver. Shiver. Shiver.
His arms trembled beyond his control, but Simon moved them as if squeezing water from a stone.
The summit was in sight now. The flag marking the finish line fluttered near the assistant and Hong Peng.
‘Almost there!’
Simon was in the lead. Though Dick and the others below weren’t far behind, Simon was undeniably ahead of the rest of Class A.
And beside him—one other.
Hector was climbing at nearly the same pace.
‘Damn it. You again.’
Hector gnashed his teeth, eyes fixed on Simon.
He was sick of this. Simon had been in his way since the first class.
What made it worse was that Hector had been using his own method to reduce the Eggersut Curse’s effect, yet Simon—without any tricks, climbing raw—was keeping pace with him.
His pride couldn’t accept a tie. Hector unleashed his full determination.
As they approached the flag, the slope grew steeper still. The two competitors in first and second place widened their gap from the rest, driving themselves harder.
“Keep going!” Hong Peng shouted, fists clenched. The assistant clapped encouragement.
‘I’m taking first!’
‘First place is mine!’
Simon and Hector stretched their arms forward simultaneously.
Thud.
Someone walked right across both their arms.
Unlike the two boys, caked in dirt, a girl with sky-blue hair moved effortlessly, her graceful steps sending her skirt billowing as she passed.
Meilin Villène. First in Class A.
She reached the summit first.
“Congratulations. The top student takes first place,” Hong Peng said.
“Thank you, Professor,” Meilin replied.
The assistant beside her checked off her name on the list. Simon and Hector froze, stunned into stillness.
“How did you manage that?” one of them asked, voice hollow.

Meilin lifted her head and answered Hong Peng’s question.
“I computed a Resistance Formula to break the curse and climb back up.”
Simon felt as though he’d been struck in the head with a hammer.
There was another way besides brute force—you could break the curse and ascend. He’d never considered it.
“You both did well. Rest now.”
Meilin accepted the Recovery Beverage the teaching assistant offered and sat down in the shade of a tree, leaning her back against it.
First place was hers again.
“Professor Hong Peng!”
Just then, a teaching assistant came climbing up from the base of the hill.
“There’s an injured student! It looks like they’ve twisted their ankle.”
“I’ll go have a look.”
She glanced once toward Simon and Hector, then descended the hill with the assistant.
“……Unbelievable.”
The moment Hong Peng vanished, Hector—who had finally completely broken through the curse—pushed himself to his feet. Simon’s eyes widened in surprise.
Thud-thud-thud.
Hector strode up the hill and reached the summit. He accepted his Recovery Beverage as the second-place finisher and looked at Meilin.
“Listen here.”
She turned her head.
“What kind of stunt was that in Combat Magic—breaking the curse and climbing out? Did you think I went through all this hell because I didn’t know how?”
“What are you going on about.”
Meilin scoffed dismissively. Hector let slip a wry smile.
“That’s right. What would a sheltered lady locked away in an ivory tower know about the real world?”
“…….”
Her eyebrows twitched.
“Are you picking a fight with me?”
“It’s not a fight—it’s fact. During the Protection Period, grades aren’t evaluated anyway. The key is appealing to the professor through sincere classroom conduct and getting into their good graces. Your foolish display just now? Hong Peng will have marked you down for it, if anything. You won’t score a single point.”
Her eyes turned cold and fierce.
“Your personality is absolutely rotten. Why are you harassing someone who’s minding their own business? Is coming in second place really that humiliating for you?”
“Because you’re disrupting Class A’s lessons. And let me be clear—I don’t give a damn about someone like you.”
Hector turned away as he spoke. Just then, Simon came laboring up the hill, huffing and puffing. The teaching assistant smiled and handed him a Recovery Beverage.
“Student Simon Polentia. Third place.”
“Th—thank you.”
Simon, utterly exhausted, stumbled forward and collapsed into a seated position in front of the tree’s shade. Then he gulped down the Recovery Beverage.
“…….”
“…….”
Meilin and Hector’s gazes lingered on him for a moment.
The three of them sat together in silence beneath the tree’s shade for some time, catching their breath.

* * *
As time passed, students began to arrive at the summit one by one.
Those who had struggled to climb the hill due to lack of stamina found it increasingly possible as the curse’s potency gradually waned.
“I—I feel like I’m dying. Simon.”
Dik arrived with a fairly high ranking, but soon joined a group of students off in the distance who were vomiting. Simon went with him and patted his back.
Aside from a few who had dropped out due to exhaustion, everyone made it to the top, but the fatigue accumulated from this lesson was staggering.
While all the students lay sprawled out without the energy to lift a finger, Simon felt troubled about how to get everyone back to Keyzen. At this rate, if they rode hippobacks again, roughly half of Class A would probably drop out.
Fortunately, Hong Peng contacted Keyzen and received authorization to use a temporary Teleport Magic Circle.
“Waaaah!”
A magic circle was deployed in the lesson area, and stepping on it was all anyone needed to arrive in Keyzen. The servants who’d brought food had used this method as well.
The students exhaled with relief and stepped onto the magic circle, heading toward Keyzen. Simon, who’d been waiting in line with Dik, stepped onto the magic circle with him.
Whoooosh!
A dark, luminescent radiance burst from the magic circle, enveloping Simon’s body.
Just as the sensation of his feet lifting off the ground and the movement beginning to commence—
Thud!
He felt something block the way. Simon crashed into a wall and collapsed to the ground.
“……What?”
When he lifted his head, the surroundings had changed.
Dik, who’d stepped onto the magic circle with him, was nowhere to be seen. Simon was alone in a small cottage.
‘This isn’t Keyzen…… is it?’
Simon got to his feet.
It had a cozy atmosphere similar to the house he’d lived in back in Reshil, though this place felt smaller and wilder somehow.
The walls and floor bore the rough grain of unworked timber, a hammock hung where a bed might be, animal hide stretched across the ground in place of carpet. Along one wall, salted game hung drying in the sunlight.
Click.
The cabin door swung open, and a tall woman stepped inside.
“I’m sorry to surprise you like this, Simon.”
“Professor Hong Peng!”
She smiled warmly and gestured for him to sit.
Simon settled into a chair with an uncertain expression while she brought tea and began explaining what had happened.
A suspicious formula had been embedded in the Teleport Magic Circle—when the teaching assistants investigated, they found a formula that reacted to a specific person’s Black Energy and would redirect them elsewhere. The target of that formula was Simon.
“Can you think of anyone capable of something like this?”
Simon had no idea and shook his head.
Hong Peng made a thoughtful sound and crossed her arms. Unlike Simon, she seemed to have some suspicion in mind.
“So I interfered with the magic circle and altered the coordinates to point here—to my home.”
“I see…”
“It’s also my responsibility to protect the students from unknown threats. And besides.”
Her eyes gleamed.
“I wanted to have this conversation with you alone, to see what I could learn.”
“…Me?”
“Technically, contacting a student during their Protection Period violates the rules, but it seems someone else has already broken them based on what’s happened.”
Her perpetually smiling expression grew serious.
“Simon Polentia. How do you feel about specializing in Combat Magic?”
Simon’s pupils dilated sharply as she continued.
“If you’re willing, I’d like to take you on as my Direct Disciple.”
“…What!”
A Direct Disciple.
Students personally raised and mentored by the professors of Keyzen itself.
A professor could accept three Direct Disciples per year, and a student could receive instruction from only one Direct Professor.
The benefits that came with being a Direct Disciple of Keyzen were immeasurable. Above all, because the professor took absolute responsibility and provided one-on-one guidance, everyone wanted to become one.
The professors themselves approached the selection of Direct Disciples carefully—it was directly tied to their own record, and the limited number made the choice consequential.
Yet Hong Peng was offering Simon the position on their very first day of class.
“I… I don’t quite understand.”
Simon was taken aback.
Of course, Hong Peng’s offer filled him with trembling gratitude, but he felt he’d shown nothing particularly remarkable in that first class.
He’d simply kept pace with the other students, and in the final hill climb, he’d been left behind by Meilin and Hector.
Moreover, it was only his second day of enrollment. Hong Peng would meet many more students in the time ahead, yet she’d chosen him.
Apart from whether this pleased or displeased him, the situation simply didn’t make sense.
“Students focus on rankings, but I look at talent,” Hong Peng said, sipping her tea.
She continued, “When you leaped across the valley, the way you redirected your Black Energy—that was a first for me. Wasn’t it?”
How did she know? Simon nodded in silent amazement.
“Even so, your jumping power was the highest in Class A. That’s already beyond the realm of talent or coincidence. And in today’s hill climb, you proved your endurance and perseverance besides. Do you need more praise than that?”
“…”
Simon swallowed hard.
It was still difficult to believe, but when a professor of Keyzen spoke with such conviction, there was no room to refuse.
“That stamina, that mental fortitude, and above all—your extraordinary talent with Black Energy. Under Combat Magic, you’ll flourish as a student of the highest caliber.”
Hong Peng’s interlaced fingers trembled slightly as her expression became almost frightening in its intensity. Her pronunciation of the continental tongue grew even more precise.
“Within a few years, I’ll make you surpass even me—make you stronger than anyone.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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