Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 377
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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 School’s Summoning Genius Episode 377
The 1st Training Ground, where Simon and Shatel had clashed, had rocketed skyward before shattering into fragments.
The 3rd Training Ground, where Merin and Serne had fought, had become a sea of flame.
In the end, Kizen ordered both training grounds closed. The administrators had to scramble across the grounds coordinating alternative venues until their legs cramped.
And so Simon, Dick, and Kamibarez descended the stairs to the Waiting Room to greet Merin. Far down the corridor, she approached with a towel draped over her shoulders.
In stark contrast to the scorching heat of the training ground, her nose twitched from the cold aura she’d woven.
“Merin!”
Kamibarez rushed forward with a whimper and threw herself into her embrace. Merin let out an embarrassed laugh.
“Kami, I’m filthy right now.”
“Sniff! I was so worried about you, Merin!”
Kamibarez’s tears came pouring out. Her face pressed against Merin’s soon grew smudged with soot, but she didn’t care.
Merin smiled gently, rubbing her back.
“Man! That match was absolutely insane! This is what I call a fight worth losing to!”
Dick acted it up, reenacting the moment when Merin had unleashed the Black Ice Freeze Barrier.
Simon, following behind, smiled and spoke.
“Fight without regrets?”
“…Simon!”
The moment Merin saw Simon and her teammates’ faces, relief washed over her—her nose grew warm, and her vision blurred.
But crying in front of them was embarrassing. She desperately composed herself and forced out a bright smile.
“You won?”
At her question, Simon nodded.
“Of course.”
“Beating Shatel, no less. You really are something.”
The two of them shared a quiet laugh.
Then Kamibarez, who had been burying her face in Merin’s embrace, peeked her head up.
“Merin! You were so cool at the end!”
“Huh? I… I was? I was so in the zone I didn’t even know what was happening…”
“When you were pushing Serne so hard at the end, you looked kind of like female Simon!”
Merin’s cheeks flushed crimson.
“K-Kami! Is that actually a compliment?”
Kamibarez rubbed her face with a smile.
“It’s the highest compliment for me.”
“Y-you!”
All four of them burst into laughter.
Dick, giggling with his body bent nearly in half, glanced at the clock mounted on the ceiling and his eyes went wide.
“Whoa, is it really that late? Kami! We need to get ready for our match!”
“Yes, Dick!”
The three of them hurried outside.
Simon turned to follow right behind them.
Whoosh—
His head turned. Somehow, a single feather had drifted down and alighted gently on his shoulder.
—Thank you.
The moment the feather touched him, Serne’s form appeared. She stood leaning against the wall of the opposite corridor, waving her hands gently.
“…Serne.”
“Thank you for helping our Merin. She’s an important talent for the Ivory Tower, so it’s only proper that I, as the heir, offer my thanks.”
She grasped her skirt and bowed politely. Simon, meanwhile, furrowed his brow and sighed.
“You’re not going to tell me you pushed Merin to her limits for her own good, are you?”
“Ufufu. Well, I did intend that at first~”
A small, impish smile played at Serne’s lips.
“But when I saw our cute Merin grinding her teeth and charging at me so desperately, something clicked in me, I suppose? I wanted to torment her? My original plan got a little… bent out of shape, you see.”
Simon spoke in a flat tone.
“…You really do have a rotten personality.”
“Isn’t that what makes me charming?”
Watching Serne say such a thing without batting an eye, Simon shook his head in disbelief.
“Hey.”
Thud.
“What are you two doing?”
It was Merin. She grabbed Simon’s shoulder and yanked him backward, tucking him behind her. Simon looked at her back with mild surprise.
“Oh my~”
Serne tilted her head as if intrigued.
“You were using Illusion Magic—how did you figure it out?”
“Do I look like I got brains made of stone?”
Merin pointed at the ceiling with a flat expression. An Illusion Nullification magic circle had been drawn on the wall at some point.
“Hey, isn’t this fun? Honestly, I feel like I could manipulate someone at your level whenever I wanted.”
Serne simply closed her mouth and offered a subtle smile.
“Right, keep staying careless like that. I reached 70% by the end of first-year semester. In second year, I’ll force a draw. And when third year graduation comes—”
Snap.
Merin flicked her thumb downward and declared with confidence.
“I’ll definitely break you. I’m taking the Ivory Tower Successor position too.”
Serne’s eyes curved like a fox’s. Then, with a meaningful expression, she lifted the corners of her mouth into a smile.
“I’m looking forward to it~”
Serne turned her back. She gave Simon a quick wink, and then vanished from the spot with the space around her warping and distorting.
“Ugh.”
Merin, with her hand on her hip, clicked her tongue irritably. Then she turned to look at Simon.
“Hey.”
A flustered Simon stammered his reply.
“Wait, hold on! Merin! I didn’t do anything—Serne just suddenly—!”
“Thank you.”
Simon fell silent.
He’d expected her to be angry given that it involved Serne, but her eyes were now soft with genuine warmth.
“What you told me from the spectator seats was a huge help.”
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, speaking with renewed composure.
“If it weren’t for you, I’d be in a different place right now.”
“All of this was the result of your own effort, though.”
So saying, Simon took a long stride forward. In the distance, Dick and Kamibarez were waving their hands, waiting.
“At least today—just for today—be proud of what you’ve accomplished purely through your own strength.”
…….
Watching Simon’s back as he walked ahead, she felt her chest tighten, and she drew in a deep breath.
“C-come on! Don’t lag behind, you blockhead!”
* * *
Kizen headquarters officially announced that this Duel Evaluation would be the last for first-year students this term.
Simon achieved an Undefeated record in the Top Squad.
Merin had also remained undefeated until she faced Serne in the final, losing and placing in the Mid Squad.
Kamibarez advanced to the Top Squad after a single victory in the Mid Squad. Dick finished in the Lower Squad.
However, the grade for the Duel Evaluation primarily depends on detailed assessment based on the content of each duel. Despite being in the Mid Squad, Merin would likely receive a higher grade than most Top Squad students.
Of course, the final squad placement still carried significant weight.
Even if a student had started in a high squad, the bottom 100 students in the ‘current lowest squad’ faced immediate expulsion from Kizen. With the transition into the integrated second semester, the proportion of Duel Evaluation results decreased, which is why expulsions had dwindled to this degree.
So out of the 1,000 first-year students who had enrolled initially, only 647 had survived until now.
Going forward, with the various Practical Assessments, final exams, and Mission Evaluations to come, plus most critically the Advancement Exam failures, the number of survivors would inevitably plummet.
And then.
The important hurdle began: the subject-specific ‘Final Practical Assessment.’
First came the Teaching Assistant Duel in Professor Hong Peng’s Martial Arts class.
“Kehahahaha!”
The Martial Arts teaching assistant Simon faced was none other than Bread—the very man with whom Simon had a grudge.
“What’s the matter? Simon Polentia! Come on, strut around like you did back then!”
In the Training Ground, Bread’s fists extended in rapid succession, driving Simon back. Simon held purely to a defensive stance.
The rules for this Teaching Assistant Duel Practical Assessment were to use only Combat Magic.
Using magic circles resulted in disqualification.
And if the student dealt three valid hits to the teaching assistant before their Barrier Gauge was depleted, an A+ grade was guaranteed.
“What are you doing! Fight properly, damn it!”
Bread was throwing punches filled with malice.
While he’d held back against other students, he showed no such restraint with Simon. Simon’s Barrier Gauge had already dropped to nearly half despite his guard stance.
But.
“You little—!!”
Simon remained calm. Even crouched in a defensive posture, he showed no signs of intimidation, his eyes sharp as he looked for an opening—which only infuriated Bread more.
‘No matter what, his offensive options are limited to Strike, Piercing Strike, or Blade Strike! He won’t land any of them!’
Bread cut his barrage short and pulled his right fist back. Dark Element swirled violently, and Dick cried out in alarm.
“Simon! It’s Piercing Strike!”
“Dodge!”
Piercing Strike—a technique that penetrated the opponent’s defense.
It was precisely as Bread, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, drove his right fist forward toward Simon, who had taken a defensive stance.
Whoosh.
Simon dropped his guard of his own volition and surged forward, taking Bread’s Piercing Strike directly on his chest.
“What the—?!”
Even knowing it was a penetrating technique, only someone with nerves of steel would attempt such a thing.
Simon closed the distance to Bread in a flash, pressing his right hand flat against the man’s ribs.
Then he drove with all his might.
Boom!
Bread’s body was sent flying. The first light flickered on, confirming the blow had landed.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
Bread tumbled toward the edge of the arena and landed hard on his backside.
‘What was that technique…?!’
The moment he lifted his head, he saw Simon standing with his index and middle fingers pressed together, positioned as if about to flick.
As Simon flicked his fingers, a dull crack split the air and a shockwave erupted against Bread’s forehead.
With the second light illuminating, the watching students erupted in cheers.
“What’s happening?!”
“Go, go! Keep pressing!”
Bread’s mind snapped into sharp focus.
He’d been thinking only of basic Magic Battle techniques suited to a student’s level, and then out of nowhere, original techniques came flying at him.
‘Damn it! Creating new Magic Battle techniques is far harder than crafting original magic circles!’
Bread sprang to his feet.
‘I can’t give him any more time!’
Under no circumstances could he allow a third hit. It was a matter of pride as a teaching assistant.
Bread trampled the Dark Element and charged at Simon.
“Huuuh.”
Simon drew a long breath and swept his arms in a fluid, graceful arc.
He was preparing for something.
The Dark Element coiled abnormally around his fists. Though his opponent was merely a student, anxiety flickered in Bread’s eyes.
‘Damn! What is that?’
Close-range technique?
Long-range strike?
Counter?
Ground fighting?
He couldn’t discern what Magic Battle technique it was.
Panicked, Bread hit the brakes, trying to read Simon’s movements, when—
Boom!
Simon suddenly drove his fist down at the ground. The earth trembled and buckled, and from beneath Bread’s feet, dirt and gravel erupted in a fountain.
‘A 1st year wielding wave propagation…!’
Though dust and rubble struck Bread, the third light didn’t ignite.
Of course.
Swoosh.
Simon’s true aim was his left hand.
He’d struck the ground with his right fist, and now his follow-up attack came flowing like water. His left hand, swinging wide, shaped the Dark Element into a blade of jagged darkness.
Shreeeeeak!
The erupting earth obscured Bread’s vision, and with it came the follow-up strike—the long-range cutting technique, Blade Strike, carving through the dust.
Bread twisted his body sharply to evade—
Slash!
The blade grazed his ribs and arm as it passed. The third light finally ignited.
“Stop the match!”
Hong Peng clapped sharply and called out.
“Simon Polentia! For successfully landing three hits on a Martial Arts teaching assistant, a grade of A+ is confirmed!”
Simon raised his fist in triumph and cheered. Dick, Merin, and Kamibarez all shouted in excitement, and the other students applauded and cheered for the first A+ grade they’d witnessed.
“…Huh?”
Bread stood motionless, his expression hollow and vacant, mouth agape.
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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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