Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 261

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

The Summoning Genius of the Necromancer School, Episode 261
The next day.
Third Indoor Arena.
While the BMAT was held as a public examination, this semester’s duel evaluations were conducted entirely in private.
The arena’s atmosphere reflected this quietness. The scattered spectators in the stands were mostly students waiting for afternoon matches, or those who’d come to scout the competition’s strength, and.
“Yawn.”
Upper-class students who’d shown up out of boredom. Here, slouched in the very back row with her legs crossed, was a short-haired second-year girl in the same boat.
“Hello there, senior!”
A first-year boy suddenly struck up a conversation with her.
“…A first-year?”
“Yes! Dick Hayward, at your service.”
Dick offered a dazzling business smile as he bowed respectfully.
“Watching the duel evaluation’s nice and all, but isn’t it about time you got a little peckish?”
Beside Dick, who spoke with such consideration, stood Kamibarez laden with drinks and snacks.
The second-year girl’s face darkened.
“What are you doing? I’m not buying any of that.”
“Haha! How could I possibly ask such a heavenly senior for payment? The Kizen second-year curriculum is famously grueling—this is just a junior’s small show of support to help you push through!”
“Really?”
At the mention of free, she snatched the drink from Kamibarez’s hands without hesitation.
“So you do have some sense of looking after your seniors, huh? But I’ll skip the snacks—I’m on a diet.”
“Of course! Please, take it easy!”
Dick and Kamibarez were turning to leave when the girl called out, “Hey, wait.”
“This doesn’t have anything weird in it, right?”
“Hahaha! If I did something shady to a heavenly senior like you, I’d be banned from school! This came straight from the campus café—still sealed, brand new!”
“Fine. Now go on.”
The second-year girl poked a straw into the drink with a flick of her hand. And so Dick and Kamibarez made their way through several more seniors, distributing drinks and snacks.
“Okay, all done!”
Dick settled into his seat with a satisfied expression.
“Thanks so much for helping, Kamibarez! I’m buying you lunch and dinner for the rest of today and tomorrow!”
She blushed slightly, apparently unaccustomed to this kind of thing, and sat in the seat beside him.
“But Dick, why are you handing out drinks and snacks to all those seniors?”
“It’s all about networking! Relationship building.”
Dick puffed out his chest and crossed his arms.
“Talk to a hundred seniors like this, and even if only one or two take the bait and become friendlier, that’s profit. Seniors who come to watch the duel evaluations tend to be pretty generous with their juniors anyway! And besides.”
Dick pointed to the drink Kamibarez held. A sticker-like logo was affixed to the cup.
“Oh!”
It was an advertisement.
It was Dick’s proxy trading business—customers ordered from the category, and the next day he’d bring items to Rochester and deliver them all the way to the dormitory.
The sticker logo was a winged sandal, with the brand name “Talaria” written small beneath it.
“Since the second-years don’t know about my business yet, I’m doing some advertising in the meantime.”
At his words, Kamibarez let out a small exclamation.
“You work much harder than people think, Dick!”
“Huh? Wait—what impression do I give other people?”
“Lazy and always cutting corners!”
Dick clutched his chest with an exaggerated wounded expression, and Kamibarez burst out laughing.
“I wish Merin could’ve come too. That’s too bad.”
“She has a morning match. Oh, it’s starting soon!”
“There’s Simon!”
Students were beginning to warm up on the arena floor, and Simon was among them.
The referee stepped forward to explain the rules.
“Starting with this duel evaluation, we will be adopting a new protective suit.”
Simon and the other competitors were already wearing the new protective suits—neat, single-colored navy outfits that glowed faintly, as though powerful dark magic had been woven into them.
“The previous protective suit would detect impact first, deploying a barrier, and the ‘Barrier Gauge’ on screen would decrease according to the damage sustained by the barrier.”
The referee picked up a dagger in his hand and slashed his own thigh. The students gasped.
But the moment the dagger cut through his leg, instead of blood, purple mana flowed out like crimson. The referee’s thigh remained perfectly intact.
“This suit receives the opponent’s attacks directly. You’ll feel the pain, curse effects, and toxin effects all as if they were real. Beyond that.”
The referee took a few steps to the side. His leg limped noticeably.
“When struck, the suit replicates effects like bleeding, fractures, and severing, giving the wearer the same vivid sensations as actual combat.”
‘Who needs that kind of vivid sensation!’
In that moment, every student present was silently screaming exactly that.
“Of course, the wearer’s body remains perfectly safe as long as the Protective Suit itself doesn’t tear. Ordinarily only second-year students could wear this suit, but starting this year, the first-year students in the Integrated 2nd Semester have been cleared to use it as well.”
The stands erupted with murmurs at this new development. Dick clicked his tongue and propped the back of his head against his arm.
“Damn, those Kizen bastards are ruthless. Everything’s quasi-wartime curriculum this, Integrated 2nd Semester that—they just keep ramping up the difficulty.”
“Won’t it hurt, though?”
Kamibarez wore an anxious expression, but Dick laughed it off casually.
“It’s just fake pain. Weaker than actually getting cut or stabbed. Wait—huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s Professor Bahil!”
Kamibarez’s gaze lifted as well.
Sure enough, at the far end of the stands, Bahil sat alongside his senior assistant Cheheckle.
As all eyes turned toward the celebrity arrivals, Bahil pressed a finger to his lips with a subtle smile, then gave a small wave. Stifled gasps erupted throughout the crowd.
“Who do you think he came to watch?”
“Who else? Me, obviously!”
Dick shouted excitedly.
“I got invited to Professor Bahil’s lab, you know! I even cleaned the place!”
“But Dick, your match is this afternoon.”
Just then, the referee’s voice rang out.
“Then let’s proceed with the first match. A-Class student Simon Polentia.”
Simon walked toward the center of the arena as his name was called.
“And,”
the referee turned his head the other way.
“A-Class student Claudia Mendis.”
Claudia approached from the opposite side. Simon’s expression darkened slightly.
‘Of all people, Claudia.’
After what had passed between them recently, there was an awkward tension in their relationship. Soon the two faced each other.
“Hello. Didn’t expect to meet here.”
Simon greeted her first, his face relatively composed, but Claudia’s eyes blazed with fierce hostility.
“For the past day and a half,”
“?”
“I’ve done nothing but think about how to crush you. I watched your Duel Evaluation video countless times on a Memorial Crystal Orb, and stayed up all night researching your strategies.”
A spark of genuine curiosity lit in Simon’s mind.
“So you figured out how I fight?”
“Of course I did.”
If everything went according to plan, Claudia had convinced herself she had a hundred percent win rate.
The referee then leaned both arms forward.
“Students. Shake hands.”
Simon and Claudia approached and clasped hands.
“I’m looking forward to it. Let’s have a good match.”
“Even now,”
Claudia said.
“Your faith in Professor Byeol-Ya hasn’t changed?”
Simon nodded, releasing her hand. She gritted her teeth and turned away.
As the two created distance and faced off again, the referee called out.
“Very well. We now begin the Duel Evaluation between A-Class student Simon Polentia and A-Class student Claudia Mendis!”
A roar of excitement burst from the stands.
“Simon! Take her down cleanly!”
“Go for it! You’ve got this, Simon!!”
Dick and Kamibarez’s voices cheering could be heard among the rest. A small smile crossed Simon’s lips as he spotted them.
The referee, who had been watching both of them in turn, dropped the arm he’d raised above his head.
“Match start!”
Crack! Pop!
The instant the match began, Claudia drew two Potion bottles from her waist and hurled them to the ground at her feet.
Hissssss!
Brown vapor poured from the shattered bottles, swirling thickly around her body and concealing her from view.
Poison gas, right from the start.
Simon, who had already pressed the Magic Circle base for a Blood Golem to his back, stared straight ahead.
The poison didn’t spread far—it gathered and settled around her. The acrid stench suggested the toxin was quite potent.
‘You’ll never get close to me.’
Within the poisoned haze, Claudia’s eyes gleamed.
‘I’ve analyzed every aspect of how you fight, every Dark Magic technique you use—perfectly.’
Claudia divided Simon’s combat style into three distinct phases based on time.
Early stage — Combat Magic.
Mid-stage — Overlord.
Late stage — Blood Golem followed by Simon’s original Skeleton Technique.
‘Simon’s Combat Magic is overwhelming. If this turns into close combat, I have no chance of winning.’
That’s why she laid poison beneath her feet, completely sealing off any possibility of close-range engagement.
It was a reckless move, and even she, having swallowed an Antidote, felt the strain — but if it meant blocking Simon’s Combat Magic, she considered it a worthwhile price.
‘Especially since Simon has formidable stamina. Once he summons the Blood Golem in the late stage, I have no chance. Later he’s controlling twenty-three Skeletons at once — how am I supposed to overcome that?’
Close combat meant certain defeat. Dragging things out indefinitely also meant certain defeat.
She turned these calculations over in her mind as she unfurled a new Magic Circle.
‘The only window where Simon is remotely vulnerable is mid-stage. If I’m careful with just the Overlord, I need to strike him down before he summons the Blood Golem — that’s the ideal scenario.’
She placed a Deadly Poison Potion atop the completed Magic Circle and activated it.
Poison Fog.
A green sphere erupted from the Magic Circle, and toxic mist began dispersing in all directions.
Unlike the brownish toxic gas that swirled around her, the Poison Fog spread far and wide, smothering the entire Arena in moments.
The spectator seats were shielded by a Mana Barrier Network, so the smoke couldn’t escape — it pooled only inside the Arena.
‘Good. First phase complete.’
Poison Fog was the cornerstone Dark Magic any aspiring Poison Studies student learned.
The basic strategy was to lay down Poison Fog, gnaw away at the opponent’s health gradually, and conduct the match on defense and counters — that was the Poison Mage’s textbook approach.
Time was always on the Poison Mage’s side, and it allowed psychological pressure on the opponent as well.
Meanwhile, Simon was preparing a new Dark Magic spell, turning his head curiously to survey his surroundings.
‘So Claudia’s coming out with Poison Fog, just as expected.’
Simon had faced a Poison Studies student during the Duel Evaluation in the first semester, so he knew it well. He turned to study the Mana Screen.
[Simon Polentia : 98%]
[Claudia Mendis : 94%]
The Barrier Gauge was already being whittled down. The moment he stepped into the toxic mist, his throat burned and his entire body prickled.
In that interim, Claudia unleashed another Poison Fog in quick succession. This time, yellow and orange toxic smoke joined the mix.
One paralyzed the nervous system, the other scrambled the opponent’s vision — each carefully prepared to counter Simon’s Combat Magic and Blood Golem casting.
Simon had to admit it honestly.
‘So she really is Class A’s finest Poison Studies student.’
Layering Poison Fog three times didn’t mean three times the power. There was elemental compatibility even between poisons, and careless combinations could result in one toxin being masked by another or interfering with how it worked in the opponent’s body.
But Claudia’s skill at blending poisons seemed genuinely exceptional.
[Krkrkr! Is this the time to stand admiring someone else’s skill, boy!]
‘I just finished it now. The Curse was unfamiliar, so it took longer to prepare.’
Simon finally applied the completed Curse to his own body and fixed his gaze forward.
[Simon Polentia : 92%]
[Claudia Mendis : 94%]
The Barrier Gauge had already swung against him. The poison’s effects continued unabated, the suit flickering purple and then returning to normal, over and over.
‘You said you’d perfectly analyze me, didn’t you?’
Simon walked toward Claudia with a slight smile playing at his lips.
‘Then I’ll make full use of that knowledge.’

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