Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 21

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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 Summoning Prodigy of Necromancer School — Chapter 21
[AAAAAAAHHHHH!]
Pier jumped back from Simon in a sudden panic.
[This is horrible! A son born between my friend and my enemy! How could such a thing even…!]
It was the first time Simon had ever seen Pier so flustered.
Seized by a sudden urge to tease, Simon cleared his throat and did an impression of Anna.
“Dearrrrr — dinner is ready!”
[Nooooooo! Stop! Stop it! A nightmare! It’s conjuring nightmares! Get it out of my head right now!]
Watching Pier writhe in agony, Simon doubled over with laughter, clutching his stomach.
This was his revenge for learning his father’s dark history—information he’d never wanted to know in the first place.
And yet, somehow, it felt as though he and Pier would get along much better from now on.
“I’m looking forward to working with you going forward, Pier.”
[Don’t laugh like Anna! Damn it!]
“Hahaha!”

* * *
Morning broke the next day.
Through the afternoon of the weekend’s final day, Simon remained with Pier, learning about Legion operations.
[It’s a mistake to think of the Undead as creatures bound by common sense! The reason Undead under a Necromancer’s control often cause accidents by devouring people is because the sorcerer lacks sufficient understanding of what the Undead are!]
And Pier’s instruction proceeded from the Undead’s perspective—a viewpoint different from that of the Kizen professors, which gave Simon a refreshing angle to learn from.
[The Undead are moved by a powerful death-will! Among all the things humans can do, the closest thing to this is an unshakeable will of intent.]
Simon tilted his head, confused.
“Will of intent?”
[Precisely! Let me give you an example to make it clearer. Say you’re a Kizen student and you encounter an annoying upperclassman. You think about killing him dozens of times a day. The Undead standing beside you—it remembers that will.]
As Simon nodded along, listening, he suddenly felt the hairs all over his body stand on end.
“Wait. Then surely…!”
[Exactly. Now that Undead will seek to devour your upperclassman the moment your back is turned!]
Flames roared within the hollows of Pier’s eye sockets.
[Even if your ill will toward him fades! Even if time erases him from your memory! That Undead will hunger for his life eternally.]
“That’s… that’s impossible!”
Pier chuckled darkly.
[I’ll explain such precautions to you from time to time—don’t worry. Now, back to the main point: what matters most when controlling the Undead is an overwhelming will. Boy! Give that skeleton standing blankly by the wall an order to attack it!]
“Yes, understood.”
Simon rose from his seat and extended his right arm.
“Attack that wall.”
Tap-tap.
The skeleton rushed forward and began scratching the wall with its hands and kicking it with its feet.
[That’s not enough.]
Pier shook his head disapprovingly.
“…So what should I do?”
[Watch carefully.]
Pier’s eyes darkened with ominous intensity.
[When you give an Undead an order to attack, whatever the target—harbor hatred toward it! A parent’s sworn enemy! The demon that slew your lover! Despise that wall above all else in this world! Crush it! Tear it! Bathe in its blood!]
The skeleton’s movements at the wall began to shift. It clawed with such force that gouges appeared in the stone, hurling itself against it with savage ferocity.
And with it, Pier’s voice grew louder and louder.
[Die! Die! Die! Die! You must not live! You must not exist! Perish in agony! Seize its limbs and tear them apart—spill its entrails for the swine to feast upon! I will chew every scrap of its flesh between my teeth and savor the taste! Die! Die! Die!]
Crash!
Bang!
Crash-crash-bang!
The assault intensified. The skeleton ultimately began battering the wall with its skull, letting out spine-chilling shrieks.
Simon’s expression twisted in revulsion at this bloodlust.
[Now do you understand, boy! The stronger the will, the more you can draw out the Undead’s latent power and agency!]
“…Even while cursing like that?”
[I merely explained it from your human perspective—the language itself is not what matters! A first-rate Necromancer can infuse a command to chop firewood with profound will! And regardless of the will itself, negative emotions like rage, hatred, and murder-intent are far more effective on the Undead!]
But Pier’s voice scarcely reached Simon’s ears anymore.
The skeleton’s body attacking the wall was being pulverized and shattered beyond repair.
“P-Pier! At this rate…!”
[Try making it stop. You hold the primary command authority over the Legion.]
Simon nodded and fixed his gaze on the skeleton.
“Stop! Cease now!”
Bang! Bang!
But the skeleton did not stop. Its skull cracked and splintered, its arms swinging loose, yet it shrieked like something possessed and hammered away at the wall.
“Don’t you hear me? I said stop!”
The skeleton paid no heed. It began to convulse, its violence escalating with each passing moment.
Pier watched in silence. For the young Simon, the sight might have been disturbing, but he needed this moment—needed to burn the truth into the boy’s mind and make him understand it.
The power of will, and the weight of a Necromancer’s command.
That skeleton would not stop until it crumbled to dust.
Even when its body fell away entirely, even when only its hands and legs remained, it would batter that wall until its very existence was erased.
That was what it meant to be Undead.
“Stop――now!!!”
Simon’s eyes flew open. He screamed.
The air trembled. The ceiling rang. Even Pier flinched at the force of that raw cry. And then―
Crack!
The skeleton stopped.
Its gaze lingered toward the wall, but it dared not disobey Simon’s command.
“Listen here.”
Simon glared at the skeleton, breathing hard.
“Defy me one more time, and I won’t let you off lightly.”
He had no wish to watch his own summon destroy itself like that again.
At the menace in Simon’s eyes, the skeleton hurriedly tore its gaze from the wall and stood rigidly at attention.
Pier let out a small gasp.
‘Did that little runt just use Absolute Command?’
This was no mere feat of imbuing will into a command. This exceeded his expectations entirely.
‘What kind of monster has Richard been raising out in that backwater village?’
Simon wiped his mouth with his sleeve, straightened his posture, and then—as if nothing had happened—scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.
“Pathetic, isn’t it? I can’t even control my own Undead properly.”
[No, you did well.]
The praise came from genuine conviction.
[Once real combat begins, you won’t have time to curse or threaten. Train yourself to compress your will into a single command—that’s how you’ll move your Undead in the field.]
“Yes, I under―”
Suddenly Simon swayed. He pressed his hand to his forehead. One side of his head throbbed dully.
[You’ve exhausted your mind. A Necromancer must always live with mental strain. Get adequate rest!]
“Ugh, yes.”
Rest was one thing, but he hadn’t eaten a thing since last night.
Simon said he ought to head back to Kizen.
[When you return to Kizen, you’ll need a means of communication!]
Pier tossed him a small Skull Head from who-knows-where.
[It’s my duplicate. If anything comes up at Kizen, use it to summon me.]
“Ah, thank you.”
The skull was soft and yielding to the touch.
Simon pulled a pin from his bag and fastened it to his uniform jacket the way other students adorned theirs. The appearance wasn’t so poor that it couldn’t pass as fashion.
“Then I’ll see you again next weekend, Pier.”
[Hehehehe! I look forward to seeing your progress in a week!]
“Of course!”
Simon gathered his things and left the Ruins.

* * *
By the time he reached Kizen, dusk was settling over the surroundings.
Simon completed his return report without incident and headed to the dormitory.
[Gahahaha! It’s been far too long since I’ve seen Kizen!]
Pier’s duplicate, hanging from Simon’s uniform collar, wriggled as it spoke. Of course, only Simon could hear its voice.
[The Student Protection Period hasn’t ended yet, has it?]
“No, it ends next week.”
[Excellent! I’ll have much entertainment to look forward to! Kehehehe!]
Simon opened the door to Room 409. Richard was lying on his bed, and Kassan was nowhere to be seen all weekend.
“Oh, Simon! You’re back?”
Richard sat up from his bed, his face flushed with excitement.
“Hey, Richard. How was your weekend?”
“Not bad. Since it was the first day, I mostly networked with the merchants and secured some investment promises. How about you?”
Simon set Pier’s duplicate on the desk, then took off his uniform jacket and hung it in the wardrobe.
“I just met some people I know. Spent the weekend pretty well, all things considered.”
In truth, it had been far more than just spending the weekend well. By this past weekend, Simon had become one of only seven Legion Commanders in the world.
Pier’s projection on the desk broke into a knowing grin.
“Glad to hear it went well. Oh! Speaking of which, did you see the schedule for next week?”
“Not yet.”
Kizen’s faculty were active-duty Necromancers, and since students faced frequent changes due to missions and other circumstances, the schedule was fluid.
The entire student body had to check the revised timetable once a week.
“Tomorrow—both morning and afternoon—it’s Elementary Dark Magic.”
“Elementary Dark Magic… that’s the class with the group assignment, right?”
“That’s the one.”
All of Kizen’s first-year students took nine courses.
Curse Studies, Dark Emanation Studies, Summoning Studies.
Spirit Studies, Blood Studies, Toxin Studies, Demonic Combat Studies.
Holy Defense Studies, Elementary Dark Magic.
Among these, Elementary Dark Magic was a particularly distinctive class. The professor for this subject also served as the advisor for Class A. The course was structured by groups, with that professor evaluating all the remaining eight subjects.
“I wish Vahil were the advisor for Class A.”
Richard seemed thoroughly captivated by Vahil ever since the recent teleportation incident.
“Anyway, that’s not the main point. Looking at the schedule, it seems we’ll be forming groups in tomorrow’s Elementary Dark Magic class. And once a group is formed, it stays together for the entire semester. This is a matter of life and death for our Kizen experience.”
“No doubt about it.”
The composition of the group that would travel together for a whole semester—needless to say, it mattered enormously. Simon also tilted his head with a serious expression.
“We need to plan the group composition very strategically.”
Richard’s eyes lit up.
“First, ideally each of the four group members should excel in different subjects, right? I’m fairly average across the board, but my highest entrance exam score was in Dark Emanation Studies, so I’m thinking of going that route.”
Simon considered for a moment, then spoke.
“I’ve never taken a real exam yet, but… Summoning Studies seems to be my stronger area.”
“Perfect! So we’ve got one for Summoning Studies and one for Dark Emanation Studies? The balance is genuinely excellent!”
Richard flipped through a notebook containing the profiles of Class A students as he continued.
“Then our next top priority recruit absolutely has to be someone aiming for Curse Studies.”
“Curse Studies? How does that follow?”
“Let me explain. Watch this.”
Richard set down his notebook and pulled out a fresh sheet and pen from the desk drawer.
“There are the subjects with the highest grade weight at Kizen. They call them the ‘Three Major Necromancer Disciplines’—Curse Studies, Dark Emanation Studies, and Summoning Studies. Students usually shorten it to ‘The Three Major Disciplines.'”
Richard neatly wrote the three subjects in his notebook and drew a circle around them.
Simon gazed down at the notes with careful eyes and spoke.
“We’ve covered two of the three with you and me. So that’s why we need someone specializing in Curse Studies.”
“Exactly, Simon! You catch on fast! These days, some people drop Summoning Studies since its weight has decreased and include Spirit Studies instead, calling it ‘The Three Major Plus One’ or even ‘All Four Core Disciplines’—but the three I mentioned are still the most widely recognized. That’s a fact.”
Simon nodded in agreement.
“And beneath the Three Major Disciplines, there are the Four Specialized Subjects: Spirit Studies, Blood Studies, Toxin Studies, and Demonic Combat Studies. Shortened to ‘The Four Specialized Subjects.’ These are important too, but rather than being something you must learn, they’re usually chosen as specializations to study deeply.”
Richard wrote all seven subjects into the notebook, then added the final two below them.
“And then there are the supplementary Holy Defense Studies and the mandatory comprehensive Elementary Dark Magic. Together, those two are called ‘The Supplementary Subjects.’ You can’t choose those as specializations.”
“Understood.”
Simon counted on his fingers, organizing it all in his mind.
“The Three Major Disciplines. The Four Specialized Subjects. The Supplementary Subjects. Nine courses total.”
“Exactly.”
“Four members to a group, right? If we bring in a Curse Studies candidate to complete the Three Major Disciplines, who should we recruit for the fourth spot?”
“That’s the part we need to put our heads together and figure out right now!”
Richard eagerly turned to the next page of his notebook.
“First, among the Four Specialized Subjects, we should filter out Demonic Combat Studies candidates. Those kids tend to be really good at Demonic Combat and not much else. I made notes on them all during Hong Peng’s class last time.”
“…So we have to factor in those kinds of details too.”
“Right. And generally, Curse Studies candidates also score high in Holy Defense Studies, while Blood Studies kids tend to have a lot of overlap with Toxin Studies, so they tend to score better there. You have to grasp all these patterns.”
Simon and Richard deliberated on their Group Assignment recruitment plan late into the night.
Richard, with his vast store of knowledge, led the planning, while Simon listened intently and occasionally made incisive points that caught gaps. Richard would immediately concede and adjust their strategy.
The result:
“Perfect! So we’re going with this?”
“Yeah.”
By tomorrow’s group class, their recruitment targets had been ranked from first to tenth priority.

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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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