Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 22
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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 the Necromancer School — Chapter 22
The recruitment targets for tomorrow’s group class project had been decided, ranked from 1st to 10th priority.
The 1st priority recruit was Jamie Victoria.
An excellent student aspiring toward Curse Magic, her outgoing and action-oriented personality was an additional plus.
The 2nd priority recruit was Claudia Menjes.
The talent Dic had called ideal—Blood Magic as her major, Poison Magic as her minor. If they could just secure her, the entire first semester would be smooth sailing.
Beyond that, they’d compiled a list down to 10th priority.
“Even if we can’t lock down Jamie or Claudia, it’s crucial we don’t get attached and move fast through the next names on the list. Oh, and when recruiting them, we need to emphasize hard that you’re here as our special exception recruit—that okay?”
“Yeah. No problem.”
Only after the two had sketched out their plans in meticulous detail did they sink into bed.
Simon felt a strange sense of satisfaction. Was there another group that had prepared their strategy with this much care?
He found himself genuinely looking forward to tomorrow’s class.
* * *
The next morning,
a new week at Kizen had begun.
When Simon stepped into the Elementary Black Magic lecture hall for first period, the atmosphere was entirely different from the quiet week before. Now there were familiar faces, and students were chattering away with animated conversation.
Simon sat down quietly and was pulling out his textbook when Dic placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Just came back from talking with Jamie! We’ve broken the ice pretty well.”
Simon’s expression shifted to one of admiration.
“You’re really good at this stuff.”
“Heh, in business, networking is essential. This was always my job.”
Just then, footsteps echoed from outside the lecture hall. The students instinctively scrambled back to their seats.
This was the moment when A class’s homeroom professor would finally be revealed.
“Please let it be Bakhil!”
Dic muttered under his breath. Simon too had secretly hoped that Aaron from Summoning Magic might be assigned as their homeroom professor.
Hong Peng from Combat Magic seemed decent enough, and Eric from Dark History Magic appeared to be the type who’d explain Black Magic with warmth and kindness.
And then the door opened.
“Ah……!”
Every mouth in the room fell open.
“No, you’re joking?”
Dic’s pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck them.
The professor cut through the silence and took her place before the podium.
Her hair was styled in a severely restrained short cut, her expression cold and sharply chiseled, and her eyes gleamed with an authoritative purple hue.
The acting rector of Kizen, holding the title of Vice-Chancellor.
“I’m Jane Olivia.”
She was Kizen’s second-in-command.
“Though I hold the title of Vice-Chancellor, during class please feel free to address me simply as Professor.”
Nefertiti’s closest confidante and the true wielder of Kizen’s authority, essentially governing in her stead.
She was among the very pinnacle of every faculty member Simon had encountered so far.
“……Why is that person teaching a first-year class?”
Dic whispered, his voice barely audible.
As he said, it was rare for the acting rector to teach students directly, and on the few occasions she did, they were almost always third-year courses.
“Well, life sometimes brings unexpected circumstances, doesn’t it? Dic Hayward.”
Dic flinched as if he’d seen something out of a horror film, his body snapping rigid.
‘H-how does she know my name?’
Cold sweat streamed down the back of Dic’s neck. Jane turned her gaze to survey the students.
“I will be teaching Elementary Black Magic for first-year A class for this semester. As student Dic Hayward mentioned just now, I’ve previously only taught third-year courses, so……”
Her eyes narrowed.
“I would appreciate if you all made an effort not to feel the disparity in level too acutely.”
A series of soft gulp sounds rippled through the room.
Though attending the Kizen Vice-Chancellor’s class was undoubtedly enormous fortune, the rumors surrounding her prevented the students from simply smiling through it.
Jane was the perfect embodiment of the colloquial term “Kizen-like” that circulated among students.
She was notorious for expelling anyone who showed even the slightest lack of promise or whose attitude displeased her.
Even the third-year top-tier talents whom Kizen doted on had not escaped the blade of expulsion, so it was only natural that A class students were already gripped by dread.
“Then we shall begin the lesson.”
Jane broke the silence and opened her mouth.
“As you all should know, Elementary Black Magic oversees eight subjects and complements the fundamentals of necromancy that those eight subjects cannot teach.”
At her signal, teaching assistants distributed thick sheaves of paper to the students.
“Before we proceed, you should each know where your competency stands across those eight subjects.”
Simon and Dick’s shoulders trembled.
A comprehensive exam on the very first lesson! This was a situation they hadn’t anticipated at all.
“Each subject will have twenty-two minutes. You’ll sit for the first four subjects, then take a four-minute break before tackling the remaining four in succession. Should any cheating be detected, I will remember your name, and once the Student Protection Period expires, you will be expelled.”
There was no room to catch a breath.
Jane, having neatly herded the students into a state of pressure, crossed her arms and made her declaration.
“Then we shall begin the examination.”
* * *
For Simon, this was his first school examination ever.
At the same time, it was a grueling and agonizing three hours that stood out even across his entire life.
Of course, the suffering was more mental than physical.
[7. After the casting of a Paralyze curse, the subject displays symptoms of muscle rigidity and hypertonia, petrifying twenty minutes later. Assuming zero mana loss within the subject’s body, which of the following correctly represents the subject’s curse resistance and the additional Dark Value that must be invested in the Paralyze Magic Circle?]
‘…I can’t solve this at all.’
Black was script and white was paper.
It was unmistakably written in the Continental tongue, yet he couldn’t make sense of a single word.
It infuriated him.
The problem was clearly meant to be solved, yet while every other student’s quill moved across their papers, he had no choice but to sit alone in a daze—and that helplessness was crushing.
A kind of powerlessness he had never experienced before seized his body.
He’d been a fool to think that simply because recent events had gone well, simply because he’d claimed his father’s Undead Legion, he could adapt easily to Kizen.
‘That’s right. This is reality.’
Without any preparatory study, he would have to work far harder than everyone else—like a madman.
Staring at problems he couldn’t even attempt, Simon felt his stubbornness growing, his defiance hardening.
Three hours that felt like an eternity slowly passed.
“Ugh…”
“That was genuinely difficult.”
When the exam ended, the other students’ expressions were far from cheerful.
Dick handed his test paper to a student behind him and turned his head.
“How’d it go? Simon?”
Simon offered a bitter smile.
“…I really need to study hard.”
“Agreed.”
Once Jane had collected all the test papers, she addressed the students.
“You’ve all worked hard on the exam. Enjoy your lunch, and I’ll see you in two hours.”
“Thank you for your instruction!”
No matter how bleak his spirits felt, the mention of lunch sent his body springing upright—just as it always had.
The Class A students filed out of the lecture hall like a receding tide.
“Let’s begin.”
“Yes!”
The real work for Jane and her assistants was only now starting. They distributed the test papers among themselves and began grading at their respective desks.
Jane was noticeably the fastest among them.
Her hand moved so swiftly it was barely visible to the eye, never faltering—the quill swept from top to bottom in a single fluid motion before she turned to the next page.
“……”
But when had it happened? A girl’s face appeared beside Jane’s desk.
Both cheeks pressed to the edge of the table, her large blue eyes blinking steadily.
“…You must be busy. Why have you come here, Nefertiti?”
At Jane’s cool question, the girl laughed with innocent sweetness.
“Just to visit!”
“……”
Jane ignored her and resumed grading.
Nefertiti, sulking, stayed pressed to the desk and swung her legs playfully. After enduring it for a while, Jane finally lost patience and brought the edge of her hand down sharply on the crown of Nefertiti’s head.
“Ow!”
“Don’t interfere.”
“Waaaah! Jane’s always hitting only me!”
Clutching the top of her head, she burst into tears and ran to grab the sleeve of a nearby assistant.
The assistant’s face went pale at the sudden appearance of Kizen’s ruler.
“Sigh…”
Jane let out a heavy breath.
“Don’t torment my poor subordinate. Come over here.”
“No! No! You’ll just hit me again!”
“Quickly now.”
Jane’s voice turned cold, and Nefertiti pouted her lips as she approached.
“Everyone else should move to the empty classroom next door and finish grading there.”
“Yes!”
As if they’d been waiting for exactly those words, the teaching assistants grabbed the test papers and scrambled out of the lecture hall in a panic.
Nefertiti narrowed her eyes and puffed out her cheeks.
“Jane! You’ve been so cold to me lately!”
“I’m the same as always.”
“No way. You’ve changed! When I picked you up from the slums, you were such an innocent child—scared eyes, trembling, clutching my hand so tightly!”
“That innocent child has been suffering from twenty-four-hour overwork and job stress. This is what it’s become.”
Jane spoke flatly and handed half the test papers to Nefertiti. The woman blinked.
“What? What is this?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? Since you’re here, stop interfering and help me grade.”
…….
Nefertiti, finally understanding the situation, laughed nervously and took a step backward. She tried to turn and flee, but Jane moved faster, catching her and clamping her around the waist.
“Noooo! I don’t want to! Let me go! I don’t want to work!”
Jane struck the top of Nefertiti’s head once more to make her obedient, then set her down properly on the chair and handed her the test papers and a pen.
“Jane. Aren’t you aware this is child abuse and labor law violation?”
“Who exactly is a child here? Stop talking and get to it.”
……Yes.
For a while, only the sound of pen scratching filled the room. After Jane finished five test papers in rapid succession, she glanced sideways at Nefertiti.
Nefertiti was grading with her cheeks puffed out in a sulk, writing “idiot” above a wrong answer.
“What are you doing? Don’t fool around.”
Another swift, merciless strike to the crown of her head followed.
Nefertiti covered the struck spot with both hands, her voice trembling.
“Stop! This student really is a complete idiot! They got question 2 about Poison Magic components correct, but then got the comparison question right below it wrong!”
“Hmm.”
Jane examined the problem and let out a soft laugh.
“Question 2 was solved using the formula, and question 3 was solved using common sense without engaging the brain. It’s a mistake students make all the time.”
“Idiot, I tell you! What’s this student’s name?”
Nefertiti flipped to the front of the test paper to see the name.
“Huh?”
The name was covered.
“It’s a Blind Evaluation. If we grade while looking at names, bias might creep in.”
……Even for just a test, you go this far? That’s thorough.”
“Even if it’s just a test, there are some interesting specimens.”
Jane pulled out one of the graded test papers.
“And this is the opposite case from what you were grading.”
“Opposite how?”
“Questions 1 through 15—the basic questions designed to earn points—were almost entirely wrong. But.”
She flipped the test paper over.
“Question 20. The highest-difficulty problem. This student tackled it.”
Question 20 on the very last page.
The entire back was so densely packed with formulas it made one’s head spin.
“What is all this?”
“Ancient runes from Dark History Magic, the Instance Skeleton formula from Summoning Magic, the Exhaust calculation method from Curse Magic.”
……Don’t tell me?”
Jane smiled faintly and nodded.
“Yes. This student didn’t do any advanced study. They inferred the answer by carefully combining only the material taught last week.”
Nefertiti read through the test paper.
“Wait, this is a dark energy calculation problem, but they used a Summoning formula? They assumed resistance was proportional to the dark energy loss rate and solved it that way.”
“Yes.”
“So they got it right?”
Jane shook her head.
“If you use the Theron Formula, the answer comes out to exactly 1,200,000.”
“What answer did this student write?”
“1,200,146.”
Jane’s expression became frighteningly serious.
“It’s not the intended answer the problem was looking for, but it’s closer to the true answer.”
Nefertiti took another look at the test paper.
She could see that Jane—so strict about everything—had marked question 20 as correct.
“Nefertiti. There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you assign me to the first-year classes? And to that—”
She tore open the white paper with the name redacted in the blind evaluation.
[Simon Polentia]
“Class A, where this boy is.”
Nefertiti rested her chin on her hand and smiled knowingly.
“Hehe, I’m not sure what you’re getting at?”
Jane sighed inwardly.
‘……That three-hundred-year-old fox of a woman.’
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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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