Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 37
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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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Necromancer Academy’s Summoning Prodigy — Chapter 37
Cycling back around, Group 7’s final turn had arrived at last.
If they failed again, their chances of victory in the real Cyclops battle scheduled for next week would grow thinner still.
Everyone’s resolve was extraordinary. Meilin especially, the designated fighter, stood warming up with utmost gravity.
“Here it comes!”
With Dick’s cry, the Cyclops burst through the tangled trees and roared. As before, Simon’s Skeleton charged out first.
‘Hold the line no matter what.’
While Simon’s Skeletons drew the Cyclops’s attention, Meilin prepared Dark Flare, and Dick and Kamibarez readied Exhaust.
Up to this point, the sequence was identical to before.
Crack!
One Skeleton couldn’t withstand the Cyclops’s barrage and shattered. Immediately, Simon linked his consciousness to the Skeleton behind him and issued a fresh attack command.
Slash!
The Cyclops, its back freshly wounded, erupted in fury and lashed out at the Skeleton.
“Dark Flare is eighty percent complete!”
Meilin called out.
“First Exhaust finished!”
“Me too! Moving to the next phase right now!”
The two held their completed Exhaust in their right hands while beginning to craft a second Exhaust with their left.
This was the crux of the new strategy.
Simon’s Skeletons could only hold the Cyclops at bay during the opening moments, before he unleashed his offensive—when the monster still perceived the Skeletons as its sole adversary.
By extending that opening phase, they would reap every advantage before commencing their attack.
Even after completing Dark Flare, Meilin remained in place, waiting quietly, while the other two prepared their second Exhaust.
Multi-casting was nearly new to them both, and mistakes poured from their lips—yet Simon, controlling the Undead with miraculous precision, absorbed every misstep.
‘Deploying the seventh Skeleton. Go.’
Of course, this strategy hinged entirely on Simon’s role in holding the opening.
The moment his focus wavered even slightly, the Cyclops would pivot straight toward Meilin.
“Simon! That’s it!”
At last, Dick and Kamibarez completed four Exhausts.
The instant Simon heard those words, he dissolved the Skeletons’ formation without hesitation.
The bones clattered to the ground in pieces, and the Cyclops, suddenly bereft of its target, spun about searching—then locked eyes on Meilin.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The monster thundered toward her, shaking the earth with each stride. Now it closed within curse range.
“Exhaust!”
“Exhaust!”
Dick and Kamibarez’s magic circles blazed, and the curse seeped into the Cyclops’s body.
The monster slowed. In that breath, Meilin hurled Dark Flare.
Black flames erupted across its skin, and the acrid stench of burning flesh seared the air.
-Shriek!
The Cyclops flailed, raising its club. Simon, watching intently, shouted.
“Head-on, overhead strike incoming!”
Meilin planted her foot on shadow-dark ground and launched herself skyward. The club crashed down where she had stood, gouging the earth.
“Back off! Roll your body as you retreat—horizontal upper strike!”
Whoosh!
The Cyclops, having hammered the ground, twisted its body with elastic force and raised the club—but Meilin evaded that too.
“Forward dash!”
Simon, parsing the creature’s movements, barked the command, and Meilin obeyed, slipping aside.
Under the stacking of four Exhausts, the monster’s reflexes had degraded enough that even Meilin’s lesser athletic prowess could dodge its strikes. Against a high-mobility monster like the Cyclops, exhaustion curses proved devastatingly effective.
“One more volley!”
Dick and Kamibarez unleashed another pair of Exhausts.
Six Exhausts total!
The brutish Cyclops, which had been swinging its club wildly in all directions, showed signs of flagging for the first time.
“I’m casting Blood Magic!”
Kamibarez drew blood from her fingertips, raising a crimson magic circle.
Blood Magic’s Blood Silk—a carpet of woven blood rushed forth at terrible speed, streaking past the Cyclops’s face.
Though it dealt no direct harm, the thick scent of blood made the Cyclops flinch and halt its advance.
“Now! Simon!”
Two Skeletons, clinging to the monster’s back, looped an iron chain around its neck—an item borrowed from Dick’s Dimensional Space.
The monster shrieked and lunged for Meilin, but the chain pulled taut, arresting its charge. Both ends were already anchored to nearby trees by the Skeletons.
-Shriek!
Writhing in the lingering flames of Dark Flare, the Cyclops thrashed wildly. With breathing room finally earned, Meilin redoubled her efforts to prepare the next Dark Flare.
‘Did he really pull that off?’
A tactic exploiting terrain formed from Darkness Mechanics.
When Simon first laid out the plan, she’d thought it too ambitious, but he executed it with such simplicity that it actually worked.
Meilin clicked her tongue and unleashed a second Dark Flare.
Whoosh!
The flames, which had been dying down with the passing moments, roared back to life with fresh ferocity.
Capillaries burst across the Cyclops’s eye as it shrieked like a thing possessed—a vision of some damned soul thrashing in sulfurous hellfire.
“Seventh one coming!”
Dick continued stacking Exhaust. Now Simon had joined Kamibarez in layering the debuff as well.
Crack! Crack-crack-crack!
The Cyclops thrashed violently. At last, the two trees bound to it by chains were wrenched up by their roots.
The Cyclops began dragging the chains and timber toward them.
“Leave it to me!”
Quick-witted as ever, Dick infused the chains with Darkness Enchantment.
Dick’s specialty was Enchant—a skill built on the foundation of imbuing darkness into objects.
The darkness woven into the chains converted entirely into weight, and the Cyclops became as one straining to haul some massive, ungainly tool.
And then.
“Now—go down already!”
With a shout unlike her usual self, Meilin’s third Dark Flare detonated directly against the Cyclops’s body.
Boom!
At last it buckled to its knees. The towering flames consumed the creature wholly, and an acrid, charred stench rolled across the entire forest.
Soon a heap of ash lay crumpled on the ground.
[Simulation Successful]
Time elapsed: 6 minutes 48 seconds.
Damage dealt: 100%.
Barrier gauge: 97%.
Overall evaluation: B.
“We did it!”
Meilin clenched both fists and let out a cry of triumph.
“Wow, wow! We actually hunted it! Ha-ha-ha!”
“You were all amazing!”
The other three rushed over to join her.
Everything had unfolded perfectly according to plan, and every member had executed their role flawlessly. Group 7 embraced and bounced with joy, savoring the moment.
—Congratulations on clearing it, Group 7.
Jane’s commentary followed.
She noted a tendency to over-rely on the capacity of a single Summoner and pointed out the lengthy hunt duration, but overall the assessment was favorable.
They were tasked with maximizing their proficiency in Dark Flare and curse magic during the remaining time and over the weekend.
“Thank you, Professor!”
As they exited the training hall, several students offered applause. Envious gazes were everywhere.
It had taken time, but they had killed a Cyclops nonetheless.
“Hey, Simon! You’re a true rival of mine! Well done!”
Cindy Vivace approached with her hand raised high. Simon grinned and opened his palm, meeting her high-five with a sharp clap.
‘That stings.’
Simon shook out his hand as he asked.
“Did your group succeed?”
“Of course! Once I got the hang of Spirit Transformation, it was easy!”
While Group 7 centered around Meilin to some degree, Group 5 was entirely Cindy Vivace’s show.
She would shift into her Spirit Transformation state, impervious to physical attacks, evade the Cyclops’s strikes, then return and slice with the Darkness Scythe her teammates had created, repeating the cycle.
They succeeded in bringing down the Cyclops without difficulty.
“By the way, Simon. Weren’t you majoring in Summoning Magic?”
“…I told you, I’m not.”
While the others chatted in a warm, convivial atmosphere, only Hector—who had finished his simulation and was resting—kept a sinister gleam in his gaze.
* * *
Contrary to the dark reputation Kizen carried in the wider world, Simon found himself living the best days of his life there.
The classes at Kizen were demanding, but there was no question they were engaging.
Chatting with friends during breaks about the Practical Evaluation, rushing off with Dick at lunch to try limited-menu items, slipping away to the library during free moments, receiving tutoring from Pier on how to command Undead—it was all pure joy.
In Curse Studies, Bahil had begun watching over Simon with striking frequency. Even Meilin was starting to reconsider Dick’s words.
‘Is Professor Bahil really showing favoritism toward Simon?’
Of course, Simon shook his head.
His grades in Curse Studies were poor, and he hadn’t done any preliminary study either, so he’d fallen behind in every practical session. He couldn’t fathom why a pragmatist like Bahil would show him any favoritism.
“That’s all for today’s lesson. Have a pleasant weekend.”
“Thank you for the instruction!”
With Eric’s Darkness Mechanics class finished, another week had passed without incident.
Tomorrow was finally the weekend!
The students were making plans with eager faces to go sightseeing in Rochester.
“Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.”
Watching the cheerful mood of her classmates, Meilin muttered her disapproval while packing her bag.
“The Cyclops Practical Evaluation is next week, and they’re actually thinking of going to Rochester? Honestly, these thoughtless fools have no sense whatsoever.”
“Oh, really?”
Dick, lounging in his chair with one hand propping up the back of his head, chuckled to himself.
“Or are you actually just upset? Kami’s gotten confession requests too, but no one’s asked the academy’s ace to go out and have fun, have they?”
“Hey!!”
The two of them bickered as they always did. And true to Dick’s words, Kamibarez had just been called outside the classroom by a male student.
Even Simon had to admit she was remarkably popular.
She had a cute face, a gentle personality, was kind to everyone, and had a ready smile. The male students wouldn’t have left her alone for a moment.
Just then, Kamibarez came rushing back into the classroom, breathless from being called outside.
“Kami! What happened?”
Dick asked eagerly.
“Um…”
Her face flushed, she spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
“I apologize to him, but… I turned him down…”
“I knew it!”
Meilin’s face, which had been held in anxious suspense, suddenly brightened two hundred percent.
“I told you Kami had her head on straight! You’re going to practice with us this weekend. Right?”
“Yes! I realized my shortcomings during the Simulation, so I’d like to practice with all of you.”
Having answered this way, Kamibarez’s eyes darted sideways, glancing at Simon’s face.
When their eyes met, she visibly startled and quickly looked away.
“Sorry, but I’m out. I’ve got business matters to handle this weekend.”
Dick said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Meilin shot him a sharp glare, but said nothing more. For Dick, who aimed to become a merchant, weekend schedules were as important as classes.
With her arms crossed, Meilin turned to face Simon.
“Don’t tell me you’ve also got plans like that idiot?”
At Meilin’s question, Simon’s expression became uncomfortable. Truth be told, he’d been planning to go to the Ruins on the weekend to meet Pier.
“…Tomorrow’s difficult, but I’ll participate in training the day after tomorrow.”
“Are you serious? You too? Don’t you realize your role is the most important in this evaluation?”
Simon quickly raised his hand.
“It’s not like I’m just going out to have fun. I’m planning personal training.”
“Personal training?”
“Yeah. There’s someone in Rochester who tutors me in Summoning Magic.”
Meilin blinked, as if surprised.
“My, you’ve hired a weekend tutor? So you do realize you came without doing any preparatory study.”
“Y-yeah, that’s right.”
Kamibarez, who’d been standing with her head hung in gloom, suddenly looked up.
“B-but we’ll be able to see you in Kizen the day after tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah. I need to coordinate with you all.”
“That’s a relief!”
“And Dick, you come too tomorrow night.”
“I can’t promise, but I’ll try my best.”
“You’re always making such excuses about being busy.”
“What a sad girl you are, Meilin, with nothing to do on weekends.”
“Just drop dead!”
Simon laughed out loud at the sight of the two of them bickering. At the same time, his mind was already cycling through his weekend plans.
‘Only a few days left until the actual evaluation.’
Simon was planning to do intensive training with Pier that weekend.
In fact, he hadn’t told the other team members this, but his goal this time was far beyond simply stalling the Undead.
‘I’m going to bring down a Cyclops using a Skeleton.’
Simon was planning to accomplish something that no other Summoning Magic student in Class A would even dare to attempt.
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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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