Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 535

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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 School — Episode 535
A quiet forest path near the Dormitory.
Simon and Benya were taking a walk together.
“Want to see the Ghoul?”
Without having said anything yet, Benya made the suggestion out of nowhere. Simon readily nodded and summoned the Ghoul from his Subspace.
—Grraaaak!
The moment it emerged, the Ghoul swept its surroundings with a savage gaze, its entire bearing ready for combat.
“Close your eyes and focus on the Ghoul’s telepathic connection.”
As he did as instructed, the Undead’s raw instinct and fury toward all living things flooded through him completely.
Following that came the feel of the Ghoul’s rigid body pressing against the grass, and behind it, the crystalline sensation of the Summoning Circle and the flow of dark energy.
“All right. Now have it take a slow step forward.”
The Ghoul stepped out.
“You need to take a step forward as well.”
Simon took a step.
“Next, you and the Ghoul together—one step each, at the same time.”
The Ghoul’s back leg followed, and it took a step. Simon stepped forward in unison.
“Match your feet. Go slowly, one step at a time.”
Simon and the Ghoul moved simultaneously.
“Focus on the sensation in the soles of your feet—slowly, gently.”
Though he wasn’t entirely sure what this exercise was for, the sensation of his soles pressing against the grass felt strangely pleasant.
He couldn’t quite tell whether the feeling belonged to his own feet or the Ghoul’s, but somehow it didn’t matter.
The rhythm of their synchronized steps was smooth.
A biped and a quadruped, moving in perfect unison.
It felt good.
“The Ghoul is walking strangely.”
Its left foreleg and left hind leg were moving at the same time. He quickly adjusted the stance.
“This time, your right arm and right leg should move together.”
Simon corrected his posture as well.
As he concentrated, beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. He hadn’t expected this to be so exhausting.
“You’re not losing the sensation in your feet while focusing on the gait, are you?”
It was as if she were reading his thoughts. Simon deliberately relied on the sensation of his soles pressing against the grass to move both himself and the Ghoul.
Whisper.
The sensation of grass being trampled came through clearly from the Ghoul. Since he was wearing shoes, he had to rely on the Ghoul’s sensations.
Step. Step. Step.
When he focused on the sensation in his soles, the rhythm and gait followed naturally. As he slowly synchronized his breathing, the telepathic connection grew tighter and more cohesive.
They continued walking for another thirty minutes.
“Whew—”
Simon panted happily, sweat dripping down his face. Benya approached with a smile.
“You did great!”
“What exactly were we doing just now?”
“Training to improve the Ghoul’s control and smoothen the telepathic connection between you.”
Simon let out an inward cry of frustration.
If he’d known about something this good, he would have kept it up for the whole week!
“There’s also a training method where you and the Ghoul walk together on all fours.”
Benya chuckled.
“But that might be awkward, you know? Someone could start a rumor that a third-year is making the Student Council President walk like a dog.”
And yet—
Simon was already down on his hands and feet, positioned against the ground.
“Don’t you dare!”
She cried out in horror.
For the first time since they’d met, Benya’s face had turned bright red.

* * *
After finishing their walk, they got down to business. Simon showed Benya the Ghoul Blueprint that he and Byeol-Ya had completed the night before.
“Hmm—”
A hollow laugh escaped her as she studied it intently.
“Is something like this actually possible?”
“Yes. I’ve already practiced it.”
So she’s into strange modifications, Benya muttered to herself.
“The problem is how the poison leaks out.”
“Equipping the Ghouls with rubber organs should suffice for that part.”
“Rubber organs?”
She withdrew a book from her Subspace and opened it. Detailed anatomical diagrams of Ghouls were displayed across its pages.
“We fashion false organs and attach them right here.”
She pointed with her finger.
“Since they’re Undead anyway, the material doesn’t really matter, does it? We only need a reservoir to store the poison. I think we can reference the bodies of similar species like foam toads or black vipers to design it.”
“That makes sense!”
“Though adding this will increase its weight and slightly compromise mobility. Is that acceptable?”
Nothing in this world comes free. To gain something, one must surrender something else—a truth as old as time itself.
Simon nodded.
“That’s fine. Thank you for the advice!”
“Excellent! This project looks interesting, so I’ll help. The Dormitory lab will be crowded, so shall we work in the Club Room?”
Simon quickly nodded again.
“Thank you so much!”

* * *
Morning free periods ended at last, and afternoon arrived.
Summoning Department students gathered in the Grand Hall, their faces taut with tension.
Aaron and the teaching assistants were present as well, though fewer of them than usual—they were evidently preparing the examination on-site.
“Everyone’s here.”
Once the Senior Assistant finished the headcount and stepped back, Aaron opened his mouth.
“I’d like to ask how you all slept, just to be courteous, but you all look absolutely exhausted, so I’ll spare us the formality.”
The students’ eyes were uniformly hollow from overnight preparation for the practical assessment. Aaron lifted a sheet of paper.
“Before I reveal the content of the Practical Evaluation, there’s one more thing you need to do.”
The students’ expressions froze. Surely there wasn’t another curriculum to pass?
Aaron continued in his characteristic languid tone.
“Team composition.”
A murmur swept through the crowd—a tumultuous chorus of overlapping voices.
The sudden mention of “teams” threw the students into chaos.
“Wait—this is a group project?”
“I thought it was obviously individual!”
“We didn’t even have time to coordinate!”
“Quiet.”
Aaron silenced the students with practiced ease and continued.
“From now on, we’ll organize you into teams of four. With fifty-two students, that gives us thirteen teams total.”
At those words, Serne suddenly appeared and clung to Simon’s right arm.
“Finally! I’ve been waiting for this day—for the chance to be on the same team as you and build real teamwork!”
Lorain approached from the left, her eyes narrowing.
“What are you doing in the middle of class? Back off, Serne.”
“Nope, nope—here comes the lecture again.”
Students around them began moving frantically. Especially toward Hector and Aseraz, where a massive crowd was forming.
Students approached Simon as well, but none were bold enough to speak while Lorain and Serne stood locked in confrontation. A few simply swallowed nervously, anxiety written across their faces.
Thump!
Aaron struck the floor with his foot, producing a sharp sound. All eyes snapped back to him.
“You seem to be misunderstanding something. This isn’t like first year, where you could form teams with whoever you wanted.”
The students’ frenzy stopped instantly.
“First year was different—everything was uncertain. But second year has clear rankings based on combat ability and real-world performance, and your skills have stabilized. While I doubt it will actually come to pass, if Simon, Hector, and Aseraz formed a single team, no one could touch them.”
The students all nodded—the logic was sound.
Strong students would clump together with other strong students, and the balance between teams would be ruined. Second year demanded clear evaluation of every student, so a new system was necessary.
A student raised his hand.
“Then how will we be grouped, sir?”
“Look behind you.”
An assistant stood before four boxes. Each was labeled: 1–100, 100–200, 200–300, 300–400.
Another assistant held chalk at the blackboard behind them.
“Your rankings become your groups. First through one-hundredth place are Group A, one-hundredth to two-hundredth are Group B, two-hundredth to three-hundredth are Group C, and three-hundredth to four-hundredth are Group D. One student from each group will draw a ball with their name on it, and those four will form your team.”
Simon’s jaw dropped.
‘Ah, I see.’
As the top-ranked student overall, Simon would be in Group A. That meant it would be impossible for him to be on the same team as top performers like Hector and Aseraz, who were also in Group A.
Every team would mix high-performing and lower-performing students, ensuring a degree of fairness across all groups.
Serne let out a bitter laugh.
“Huh, so there’s still a chance Simon ends up in my group?”
Lorain nodded quietly.
Serne ranked 280th, and Lorain ranked 287th.
Both were in Group C. Either they’d both be assigned elsewhere, or only one of them could join Simon’s team.
Just then, a hand shot up.
“It’s Benz Macbife! Since White and I are transfer students, we don’t have rankings from Kizen—how does that work?”
Aaron looked at him and replied.
“Transfer students are considered top-tier by the standards of the three major Necromancer Schools, but since your abilities haven’t been proven here at Kizen yet, you’ve been placed in Group C by convention.”
“Yes, understood!”
“Then we’ll begin the team selection now.”
Click. Click. Click. Click.
The assistant drew balls from each group’s box and passed them forward.
A critical moment.
Students watched with bated breath, swallowing hard.
“Team 1 members have been confirmed.”
—Hector Moor, Pierre Buckler, Matt Commer, Raubel Buenmerus.
Team 1’s star was Hector.
Hector from Class A and Pierre Buckler high-fived, and two new students came over to introduce themselves.
Students around them began to murmur.
“Already got a formidable opponent.”
“The Buckler family is in Group B? They must be ranked around 100th or 101st?”
“Word is they bombed a few of their BMATs pretty badly. Without those, they’d practically be A-Class.”
Simon watched with his arms crossed, growing anxious.
Several more teams formed in quick succession.
After the formidable Group A contenders, the rest of the teams looked well-balanced and solid overall. Students whose teams had been determined were shaking hands, laughing, and getting acquainted.
Seven teams had been completed, but Simon’s name still hadn’t been called.
A moment later.
“Team 8 members have been confirmed.”
Whoooosh—!
Another legendary-tier team had been born.
“How did it turn out like that?”
“That’s an absolutely broken combination.”
—Aseraz Mikel, Eldarin Luuo, White, Biend Clack.
It was essentially the best team, having picked only the aces from each group.
‘Aseraz and White on the same team.’
White had more than enough ability to be in Group A, but the transfer student rule had placed him in Group C, and Aseraz happened to pick him.
The strongest team had been assembled.
“Looking forward to working with you, transfer student. I’ll make you the department’s best.”
Aseraz, knowing this, smiled and extended a hand.
White stared blankly at the offered hand, then suddenly spun around and dashed toward the window.
It turned out a bird was flying outside.
Aseraz withdrew his hand with an awkward expression.
“In terms of pure strength, anyone would call them the strongest, but thinking about teamwork and communication… well.”
Fitzgerald had appeared at some point, pushing his glasses up as he spoke. Simon looked at him.
“Fitzgerald, are you Group A?”
He nodded.
“Shame we couldn’t be on the same team.”
“Can’t be helped. That’s the rule.”
Neither Simon’s nor Fitzgerald’s name had appeared yet. Then the assistant spoke.
“We’re starting Team 10.”
She drew a ball and passed it back. The Senior Assistant took it and began writing down names.
Then.
Thump. Thump.
Students rose from their seats all around. Those still waiting to be called, and even those already assigned to teams, stopped what they were doing and looked forward.
At last.
The name everyone had been waiting for came through.
—Team 10: Simon Polentia.

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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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