Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 208

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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 Genius — Episode 208
“Huff! Huff!”
“This way!”
Dick, who had fallen to the north of Rocksum, was already gathering the scattered Kizen students along the beach the moment his eyes opened, taking control of the situation.
It was remarkably simple for Dick to rally the panicked students—shaken by the impact of the fall and the emergence of the Holy Power creatures—with his sharp tongue, becoming their emotional anchor.
“It’s coming from above!”
At someone’s cry, Dick’s gaze lifted. A creature shaped like a bird—one of the Prima Materia monsters—came into view.
“Get down! That thing can use ranged attacks!”
All of them threw themselves behind the ridge, taking cover.
Snap!
From the opening in the creature’s body, a pillar of light composed of Holy Power shot forth.
As earth and debris sprayed everywhere, Dick and the students huddled low. The creature fired Holy Power indiscriminately in all directions before moving on.
“Th-they really were trying to kill us!”
One male student muttered in panic. A freckled girl beside him picked up the thought.
“…This is strange. Even if it’s Kizen, shooting Holy Power with the intention of destroying a student’s core seems excessive.”
“Right, for a simulation, the intensity is way too high. This feels like a real situation.”
Watching them spin theories between themselves, Dick let out a long sigh.
The Island Survival Assessment had been perfect. He’d gently roasted those useless nobles until they couldn’t even make fire, molding them into his followers.
But this time the situation was so extreme that the students kept trying to break free from his control.
“And why are we even heading into the forest anyway? Why don’t we just hide around here? Someone might pass by in a boat.”
“Listen, listen! Pay attention to what I’m saying!”
This wouldn’t do. Dick clapped his hands sharply.
He’d grown used to traveling with sharp minds like Simon, but being forced to lead these ordinary students was proving difficult. Still, there was no avoiding it—they fought better than he did, so he had to manage them somehow.
“Think about it, if you’ve got a brain! Didn’t your professors say the Integrated Second Semester would follow a quasi-wartime curriculum?”
“…Yeah, they did.”
“Even so, this seems extreme.”
“Listen! Get your heads on straight. I know the shock has your brains shrinking and you can’t think clearly, but if you calm down and really consider it, the examiners’ intent becomes obvious.”
Dick raised his index finger decisively.
“Face your trauma head-on.”
As Dick launched into his speech, he was quietly glancing about with the corner of his eye, studying the empty air around them.
“The entire first semester was derailed by the Saint’s terror attack. Many students were injured, and plenty reported psychological stress. That’s why they even moved up the break, right? The incident was never properly closed out. Do you really think Kizen would let that slide? The examiners’ intent is to recreate the Saint’s terror attack and have us overcome that past fear and push beyond our limits!”
“B-but you saw it yourself!”
A thoroughly frightened male student cried out.
“Those things were really firing Holy Power to kill! If one hits directly, we don’t just get expelled from Kizen—we get eliminated as Necromancers entirely! How could Kizen possibly allow—”
“Then let me ask you a question.”
Dick cut him off.
“What was the most important assignment over this break?”
“!”
Only then did the mouths of all the students fall open. They exchanged glances and began murmuring among themselves.
“…Competitiveness in the Great Priest Battle!”
“R-right! It was about how to block Holy Power! We were supposed to present what we’d prepared in the first class of second semester.”
Dick nodded and cut in.
“The presentation is a decoy. The real major assignment of the break—competitiveness in the Great Priest Battle. That’s what they’re—”
Dick spread both arms wide.
“Testing right now in this simulation!”
Slowly, composure settled into the widened eyes of the astonished students.
Certainly, they had been worrying far too much.
If Kizen had truly been destroyed by Efnel’s attack, what would become of us trapped on this island? Would the Dark Alliance crumble too, and we’d all become vassals of the Sacred Federation? If war breaks out, where do we flee?
It wasn’t a real situation. This was only a test, a simulation.
Even thinking that much could steady their wavering hearts.
“And.”
Dick quietly picked up a nearby stone and cast an Enchant on it.
“I’ll show you the biggest proof right now!”
Dick turned and hurled the stone hard.
The black stone streaking in a line suddenly collided in mid-air with a sharp tick! and bounced away.
“Huh?”
All the students jumped to their feet. An Observer, its invisibility shattered by the impact, tumbled out of the empty air.
“Hyah!”
Dick was already casting a net with the practiced skill of a seasoned fisherman.
The fleeing Observer was caught in the net and dragged back, and Dick vaulted forward, seized it, and slammed it to the ground.
“Caught him!”
“Wait—he really is an Observer!”
“He was watching us this whole time!”
The students erupted in excitement. Dick picked up a sharp stone nearby and cast an Enchant on it.
“Actually, that might not be it.”
“What? But you just kept saying—”
“I mean I’m not a hundred percent sure. Maybe Efnel sent this to observe us? I should smash it open and dissect it to find out.”
Dick chuckled, watching the bewildered faces of the other students.
“Better to be certain—can’t hurt, right? I heard this equipment costs a fortune, but it’s not worth the risk if an enemy can observe us. That’s as good as being dead.”
As Dick pinned the Observer down with both knees and raised the stone high above his head, the device flashed red with urgent warning symbols.
—Beep-beep! Do not damage the Observer during the examination.
—Beep-beep! Beep-beep!
Watching the Observer cry out warnings like it was begging for its life, Dick broke into a smug grin.
“Need any more proof?”
Every student shook their head vigorously. Dick got to his feet and brushed the dirt from his School Uniform.
The Observer fled in a panic, vanishing back into its transparent state.
“Listen—I know a lot more about this exam than you do. You want to survive, don’t you? You don’t want to go home empty-handed on the first day of the school year, right? After saying goodbye to your parents just now, how could you face them? Right?”
The students nodded solemnly, and Dick’s mouth curved upward.
“So from now on, trust only me.”
Welcome to being my chess pieces.

* * *
Exam Command Center.
“Heh. Kid’s got no real skill, but his head’s working overtime, isn’t it?”
Evangellos, the chief proctor overseeing everything on the monitors, let out a booming laugh.
“He found the Observer and made it work for him? Right—if you’re going to be a Necromancer, you’ve got to have guts like that! Mark him too.”
“Yes, sir!”
Evangellos rolled his wheeled chair away from Dick’s screen and back toward the center station.
The overall situation was stable.
Some students were still trapped in panic, but a select few were already making rapid progress toward the Island Center of Kizen. He liked their quick judgment immensely.
Serne, Special Admission #2, reigning like a queen with an honor guard fashioned from feathers.
Shatel, Special Admission #3, advancing like a tank, slaughtering every monster in his path without discrimination.
Elisa, Special Admission #7, riding a Ghost Ship above ground, utilizing the aerial route instead of the land route.
‘The Special Admission students are no contest, of course. But then again, their starting position is worlds apart from the regular students.’
Beyond them, Merin was fashioning boats from ice, making use of the river route.
Kamibarez was tracking down the wounded and blood-type students by their scent, building them into one massive cooperative organization as everyone scattered.
Even Fitzgerald was progressing without combat, using Chimera to mesmerize the island’s fauna and monsters, drawing their attention away.
In fact, the regular students were advancing faster than the Special Admission students.
As the semester progressed, the gap between them would only narrow further.
‘But still.’
Evangellos’s gaze fixed on one particular screen.
‘The one who stands out most is a different matter entirely.’
Evangellos gazed intently at Simon’s image on the monitor, then turned his head.
“Prepare the next trial for the five fastest arrivals, starting with Simon. Have everything ready.”
“Yes, sir!”
Evangellos interlaced his fingers and smiled wickedly.
‘Now let’s see what this one does.’

* * *
Simon stood atop a ridge, surveying the situation below.
As he drew closer to Kizen, the monsters grew more numerous and larger. The terrain wasn’t helping either. Ahead lay open Grassland with no trees or brush for cover, no obstacles to shield him.
Of course, facing enemies of that scale alone was impossible.
‘Time to prepare.’
There was no point in conserving his Darkness now. Simon reached into his pocket dimension and withdrew something, setting it down on the ground.
His trump card for this Great Priest War was, in fact—
“It’s been a while.”
A Mud Golem.
At its long-awaited return, the Golem Core chimed with joy—ting, ting—a bright, cheerful sound.
Simon gently patted the Core and then dug a shallow pit nearby, placing the Core at the bottom.
‘Focus now.’
Homework from Kizen for the break. Dealing with a Great Priest battle—one that fires Holy Power.
Simon had mulled it over from every angle.
It was difficult, certainly. A Summoning Studies aspirant whose strength lay in Undead had to contend with priests hurling Holy Power, his direct opposite—and truthfully, that wasn’t even the real problem.
‘……Why do I have to deal with this at all?’
After his fight with Phlema, Simon’s body had grown somewhat immune to Holy Power attacks.
He could take White Magic as lethal to a Necromancer as Exorcism full in the face and walk away unscathed.
But he couldn’t stand in front of Jane and announce, “Holy Power doesn’t work on me, so I’m fine.” In the end, as a Summoning Studies aspirant, he’d researched a new countermeasure.
‘And that answer is this.’
Simon stroked the Golem Core, drawing his focus sharp.
Golems were somewhat unusual among summoned creatures.
A Golem Core counted as Undead that could access thought-essence, but strictly speaking it was closer to a Chimera than true Undead. Since the materials composing its body weren’t flesh but natural substances, Holy Power held no lethal sway.
Simon stepped back, putting distance between himself and the Golem Core.
Then he closed his eyes and slowly raised both arms.

Whoooosh!
The Darkness poured by Simon into the Golem Core began to churn wildly. Sand and mud and stone from all around began to slap and cling to the Core, layer by layer.
‘I’m constructing it in a form unlike the standard Mud Golem.’
It had to be shaped for speed and evasion rather than combat power. So he abandoned the typical Golem form entirely.
‘Simple. Mobile.’
Around the Golem Core he built a broad, surfboard-like shape. He skipped the arms and legs, instead mounting wheels and fashioning an engine at the rear to spin them. The engine’s driving force was, of course, Darkness.
Whirrrrrrrr.
From above, it looked like a streamlined mud board.
Simon hopped right onto it.
This was the board-style Mud Golem Simon had prepared—inspiration drawn from the wheels of the Holiness Train.
“Let’s go!”
Screeeeeeeee!
The Darkness roared to life in the engine, and the Golem’s wheels began to turn.
The board bearing Simon shot forward in a spray of sand, streaking ahead like an arrow loosed from a bow.

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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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