Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 351
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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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Summoning Genius of the Necromancer Academy, Episode 351
“Good timing. Come in.”
Click!
The door swung open, and the third participant stepped into view.
Simon knew this person very well. More than well—he saw him every single day.
Grey hair, a scar running down one eye. This male student.
“Kassan!!”
Simon plunged into utter confusion.
This was supposed to be an academic conference—specifically, a summoning thesis presentation—yet his companions for the trip were Serne and Kassan?
“My apologies for the late arrival.”
Kassan showed no particular reaction. He offered Aaron a slight bow of respect, then turned his gaze toward Simon.
Serne beside him grinned with those crescent eyes and waved her hand elegantly, but he ignored her cleanly. She pouted, her lips quirking in a sulk, but he ignored her once more.
“Since you all seem to know one another already, introductions won’t be necessary. Sit.”
Once the three students had settled themselves on the sofa, Aaron continued.
“We’ll now begin reviewing your theses.”
If Aaron found the theses lacking and failed them, Simon wouldn’t be able to attend the conference. The weight of anxiety suddenly pressed down on him.
Aaron examined Serne’s thesis first.
Flip.
Flip.
Pages turned at a brisk, steady pace.
It was enough to unsettle anyone—being reviewed by Professor Kizen himself—yet Serne merely smiled with perfect composure.
In truth, Simon had never once seen Serne afraid or intimidated by anyone. Not by Professor Kizen, and not even when the Saint herself stood before her.
She simply looked down upon them. As though all things in the world lay beneath her feet.
Sigh.
At last, Aaron finished reading Serne’s thesis and set it down on the desk.
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’ve written here.”
Simon’s mouth fell open. Content that even the Summoning professor couldn’t understand?
“However.”
Aaron’s voice dropped low and measured.
“For those mad eccentrics among the necromancers at the conference, it should prove sufficiently compelling. Well done.”
“This is merely the baseline, after all!”
Serne preened, running her fingertips through her tousled hair with theatrical flourish.
Now for the next. Aaron examined Kassan’s thesis.
Simon watched Kassan with a flicker of apprehension.
‘How on earth did this happen, Kassan?’
This man remained the greatest mystery. He was the typical all-in Combat Magic type, failing every other subject outright. He’d even admitted aloud that he’d scored twenty points on the Summoning Midterm.
And yet this man had written a Summoning thesis?
“…….”
As Aaron read through Kassan’s thesis, he stalled from the very first page. His expression hardened gravely, and he remained suspended at one particular passage for a long time.
“……Kassan Edvalt.”
Aaron lifted his gaze, his eyes cold and penetrating.
“What exactly are you?”
Kassan answered in his flat, expressionless voice.
“I’m merely a repeat student.”
The atmosphere had grown peculiar. Between the two men, tension crackled like a taut wire, while Simon, caught in the middle, could only shift nervously, reading the air. Serne, already bored, rested her chin on her palm and began filing her nails with practiced strokes.
Aaron glanced once more at the thesis’s first page. The content was abysmal, but scrawled in the corner in utterly careless handwriting were these words:
Just let this one pass!
— Neftis —
Above them were childish doodles—flowers, trees, clouds—apparently sketched by Neftis’s own hand.
Aaron exhaled a heavy sigh, rubbing his forehead, then set the thesis down having read only that first page.
“You pass.”
‘That counts as passing?’
Simon’s mouth fell agape as he stared at Aaron. Without explanation, Aaron reached for Simon’s thesis, the last of the three.
‘I’m going to be the only one getting torn apart at the conference. I just hope this man’s rotten eye at least gets healed by my work.’
He opened to the first page.
‘……!’
For the first time, surprise flickered across Aaron’s face. Before he could collect himself, he’d already raced through to page five.
He raised his eyes to look at Simon sharply, then lowered them to read, then looked sharply again, in a rapid, restless cycle.
‘Why—why is he doing that?’
Simon was wound to the utmost pitch of tension. His hands, placed respectfully atop his knees, had grown clammy with sweat. Every troublesome passage in the thesis felt like a needle, pricking at his chest again and again.
‘Ugh, I wish I could fix a few things even now. Since it’s my first paper, I should’ve kept it simple.’
Time had slipped away without his noticing, and Aaron had finally finished reading Simon’s thesis.
He set the paper down quietly and closed his eyes, as if savoring the lingering resonance of it.
‘The prose is exquisite.’
The opening sections seized attention with bold, unconventional developments, while the later portions meticulously laid out arguments that substantiated those risks. It was precisely the kind of content that would satisfy a necromancer’s restless curiosity.
And there was something else: the pure perspective of a student whose mind had not yet calcified.
The ingenuity with which he’d identified blind spots that stagnant, fossilized necromancers could never see, then reframed them creatively—it was masterfully done.
Aaron opened his eyes and fixed Simon with a steady gaze.
“Simon.”
“Yes, Professor!”
“Separate from the Academic Conference.”
He gestured toward Simon’s thesis with the tips of his fingers.
“You may submit this paper as your final practical assessment for Summoning Magic.”
“!”
Simon’s mind raced at those words.
The final practical assessment for Summoning Magic was worth a full forty percent of the grade—a project on Magical Undead creation and a supporting thesis.
He was saying that this paper alone would be enough to pass that crucial requirement.
‘It’s worth that much.’
Aaron had already decided that if Simon did only this, he’d have no choice but to give him an A+. The thesis was simply that exceptional.
But then.
“I must respectfully decline.”
Simon answered without hesitation. The anxious boy from moments before had vanished; now his eyes held a firm, unwavering resolve as he met Aaron’s gaze.
“I meant what I said. I will submit a Lich for my final practical assessment.”
“…….”
That raw, electric youth and passion.
No matter how many times he looked at Simon, Aaron saw himself as he’d once been.
But Aaron was an adult now, and adults had to speak as adults did.
“Even if you do manage to craft and submit a proper Lich, if its craftsmanship is lacking, your score could fall below what this thesis would guarantee you.”
Simon said nothing, merely offering a quiet smile.
That was answer enough.
“Very well. Your thesis is approved. This Academic Conference is going to be quite eventful, it seems.”
Aaron then outlined various precautions.
Given the diverse crowds that gathered at such an event, the three of them must stay together at all times. He also warned them not to give other necromancers any cause to criticize them.
The three nodded in agreement.
“This conference will be a valuable experience for you all. Learn what you can. That’s all.”
* * *
The following morning.
Simon, Serne, and Kassan stepped through a Teleport Magic Circle and arrived at Pentamonium, where the Academic Conference was being held.
“Wow……!”
If he had to describe his first impression of this city in a single word, it would be: a city of glass.
Especially striking were the colossal structures—dozens of stories tall, fashioned from luminous crystal stone that gleamed translucently—rising toward the sky as if determined to pierce it.
People called these buildings ‘Glass Towers,’ conceived as counterparts to the Ivory Tower, with each tower dedicated to a different discipline of dark magic. There were seven in total.
‘There are so many people.’
Elegantly dressed necromancers lined the streets.
There were also many ordinary people who hadn’t opened their cores, and during the conference period, the ratio of ordinary people to necromancers was roughly three to seven.
During the conference, almost all areas except restricted zones were opened to the general public.
Even if one wasn’t a necromancer, modern industry ran on dark elements and black magic. Understanding trends and detecting profit opportunities made this conference invaluable to many.
“It feels good to be out of stuffy Rocksum after so long,” Serne said, pushing her sunglasses up onto her forehead with a smile.
The eyes of passersby naturally turned toward her. Young and old alike caught themselves glancing her way, and scattered remarks about how pretty she was, or comments about the Kizen School Uniform, drifted through the crowd.
Indeed, simply wearing the Kizen School Uniform seemed to draw an extraordinary amount of attention. The brand name alone carried tremendous pull outside the academy.
Serne dismissed it with a soft snort and pulled out a compact mirror. Kassan checked the time, then spoke.
“Since I’ve taken on the role of guide, I’ll show you around.”
“Hold on a moment.”
Simon looked at Kassan as if he’d just made an excellent point.
“Why are you even here? You didn’t say a word to me about it.”
“Orders.”
Kassan’s reply was flat and uninformative.
The word ‘orders’—one of his favorite euphemisms—hung in the air with an unmistakable warning: ask further and suffer the consequences.
“What kind of assignment?”
Simon, now more comfortable with Kassan, asked without much thought. Kassan exhaled once before answering.
“Protection detail.”
Then he glanced briefly toward Serne.
“And surveillance.”
“?”
Serne blinked with an innocent expression, but Kassan ignored it.
“Why would protection be necessary in a place this closed off, with so many people around?”
At Simon’s question, Kassan scratched the scar near his eye.
“You were attacked by Legion Commander Magnus even within Rocksum, Simon. Only recently have the ravens’ pursuit forced Magnus to lie low, but there’s no harm in being careful.”
“Yes. I understand. I’ll be careful…….”
“Oh! That’s right!”
Serne suddenly wedged himself between Simon and Kassan, draping his arms across both their shoulders.
“This combination! We’re together again! The Saint Killer Trinity in disguise!”
Simon managed a bitter smile.
‘That’s a terrible name.’
“Get off me.”
Kassan’s expression soured as he spoke.
When Serne finally withdrew his arms with a sullen look, Kassan gestured.
“Follow me.”
Following Kassan, they arrived at the first floor of the Glass Tower, which housed the Summoning Magic division. According to what he could gather, the entire building seemed dedicated to summoning-related facilities.
‘Wow!’
A large signboard plastered on the entrance was filled with schedules of events happening in the building. There was a New Summoned Beast Contest, panel discussions, and celebrity lectures.
‘Amazing. So this is the Academic Conference!’
For someone like Simon, who had a keen interest in summoning magic, this place was nothing short of paradise. His eyes darted back and forth in excitement.
‘I want to see everything! I wish I had ten bodies.’
As Simon scanned through the schedule, he spotted his own event.
<Necromancer Student Thesis Presentation>
-Kizen, Alland, Sierra, Moiran.
It seemed students from schools other than Kizen had come as well.
Today was for 2nd-year presentations, and tomorrow would be the 1st-year presentation session.
‘I’m looking forward to it!’
While Simon gazed at the schedule with growing anticipation, Serne and Kassan were bickering.
“Five minutes is all I need.”
“Come with me.”
“My, how far do you intend to follow? You seem to have a sneaky side.”
“I decide how far.”
Eventually, Serne and Kassan walked off together.
Simon settled into a nearby seat to wait. His mind was already churning with thoughts about what to see first.
“Oh! Who’s this?”
But a high-pitched voice jolted him from his reverie.
“The distinguished Kizen student has graced us with his presence.”
“An elite among elites, really.”
Two male students and one female student, all wearing green checkered school uniforms, were approaching Simon.
Simon’s eyes widened.
‘No way.’
It was his first time meeting necromancer students from other schools.
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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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