Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 61
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Summoning Prodigy of the Necromancer School, Chapter 61
Simon offered a sheepish smile.
“I just got lucky — it’s similar to a technique I already knew.”
Riding the momentum, Simon immediately began his second Circling. The work went far more smoothly than the first time.
As Simon rolled the Pitch Black Substance across his palm, it seemed to ask him a question.
‘Are you doing that thing again?’
Simon answered by maintaining the rotation of the Pitch Black Substance firmly.
In nearly half the time it had taken initially, he completed the Circling and was able to insert it into the magic circle.
Hummmmm!
As the second corner activated, several more runes came to life.
“Only two left now! Keep going, Simon!”
“Right.”
Simon sharpened his focus and resumed the Circling. The second was easier than the first, and the third easier than the second.
Hummm!
Finally, as all four corners ignited, the entire magic circle blazed with brilliant light.
Click-clack. Click-clack-clack.
The skull began to move of its own accord, its jaw and palate chattering against each other. Perhaps because of the difference in material, the sound was clearer and more crystalline than that of an Island Ratman Skeleton.
Then the skull sprang up with a bounce.
“Ow!”
And promptly sank its teeth into Simon’s arm. Though it had no teeth, the force of its bite was so strong that tears welled up in his eyes from the pain.
“Ah, there’s a note about this.”
Dick spoke while examining the assembly diagram.
“Sapiros has a strong inclination to bite anything. After activating the magic circle, step back and leave out some dog chews or cushions for it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me a little sooner!”
Simon grunted, struggling to pry the skull away from his arm.
“I only just noticed it myself. Looking at this, it says that if you wait a day or two and then gradually tame it through the mental connection, this aggressive behavior diminishes considerably.”
“There’s no time for that.”
Simon fixed the skull with a hard stare, eyes wide open.
“Let go.”
The skull, which had been munching away at Simon’s arm, flinched. As Simon gazed at it steadily, it finally released his arm and retreated.
“Never bite anyone again. That’s an order.”
The skull drooped, falling silent — as if utterly crestfallen. Watching this, Dick let out a hollow laugh.
“So there are no bad skeletons in the world — they all listen perfectly to you.”
Now that the summoning magic was activated, it was time to assemble the bones directly. Simon pulled out all the bones from the box and gently stroked the skull.
“Just wait a little longer. I’ll build your body for you soon.”
Perhaps the skull understood his words.
It bounced gleefully across the table, and in its excitement, knocked Pier’s avatar off with a bump.
[What kind of jerk is that!]
Pier’s voice echoed inside Simon’s mind.
[This new recruit has no manners! When you come down to the army later, prepare to repeat after me that you’re dead!]
‘……Ha ha.’
Simon placed Pier’s avatar back on the table and began the real work in earnest. Following the assembly diagram, he methodically assembled the Skeleton piece by piece.
‘This really is the most fun part.’
The bones developed an attractive force, and each time he connected them, the sensation of them snapping together like magnets felt wonderful.
However, the assembly difficulty was considerably higher than with the Island Ratman Skeleton.
‘Banding? How am I supposed to do this?’
Some parts of the assembly process required the user to apply Pitch Black techniques directly, while other stages involved using the medicine included in the box.
The arms were particularly difficult to assemble. Since Skeletons were weak Undead with limited strength, he had to perform various operations to create the muscle strength needed to draw the bowstring.
He threaded Pitch Black thread through the holes between the arm bones, and wrapped the arms in Banding using Pitch Black, as though bandaging them.
He applied Adhesive Medicine to the joints and waited for it to dry, then applied heat once it was sufficiently tacky to finish the job.
Since this was his first time doing such work, he stumbled through much of it. After dozing on and off for two hours, Dick eventually returned to Room 409, and the other students who occasionally visited the Break Room gradually stopped coming.
Simon alone spread out his Summoning Studies textbook and Pitch Black Mechanics textbook, stubbornly absorbed in assembly work.
“Ah…….”
Simon, who had been lost in frenzied assembly work without noticing the passage of time, gazed out the window.
Dawn was breaking.
‘I’ve never felt every second and minute slip away like this in my whole life.’
Still, he had to see it through to the end. Simon connected the last two finished leg bones.
“Done……!”
A majestic Skeleton with a pure white, smooth body and horns sprouting from its skull was now testing out its limbs.
Click-clack! Click-clack-clack!
He seemed pleased with his new body, hopping and bounding through the Break Room in exuberant bursts of motion.
“Excellent. Let’s head outside!”
Thud!
Simon and the Skeleton Archer emerged from the dormitory together.
Beneath a cloudless dawn sky of deep blue, the Kizen campus spread out like a painted scroll.
Simon drew in a deep breath of the crisp morning air and called out.
“Catch!”
He opened a subspace and tossed the Skeleton-Specific Bow.
He’d originally planned to give the one-gold bow he used himself, but decided it might be too strict for the skeleton at this stage—better to start with something easier.
Click.
The moment the Skeleton Archer received the bow, his body trembled faintly as if anticipating something. Then, in one fluid motion, he assumed a precise shooting stance.
His left hand gripped the bow while his right arm swung behind his back, reaching into empty air as though his arm were a broken machine, thrashing about uselessly.
‘…Could he be searching for arrows from a quiver on his back?’
The Skeleton was the type of undead that retained the habits and mannerisms of its former life with remarkable strength.
That’s why the bones of monsters that wielded bows in life were used as material for Skeleton Archers. Sapiros, too, was a semi-human, semi-beast creature of the forest that made the bow its primary weapon.
“The arrows are here.”
Simon pulled arrows from his subspace and held them out. Seeing this, the Skeleton Archer backed toward him still-turned, his right arm continuing to sweep through empty space behind his back.
Simon chuckled softly and placed the arrows into that reaching hand.
Snap!
With lightning speed, he nocked the arrow.
Whack!
In one fluid motion, he drew the string taut and completed his aim. Simon connected through their bond to designate the target.
‘Shoot that tree.’
His pulse quickened. This was the moment he’d been waiting for—finally seeing the results of a night’s work.
Simon gave the command, his heart racing.
‘Now!’
Twang!
The arrow cleaved through the dawn breeze and thunked solidly into the tree. Simon clenched both fists and let out a triumphant shout.
This was Simon’s first successful creation of a Skeleton Archer.
* * *
At that same moment, in Rochester.
In an old building located some distance from the city center, a mysterious underground surgery room existed beneath its stairs.
In this space where blood-stained tools lay scattered in disarray, a man lying on a surgical table slowly raised his body. His lower half remained in undergarments while his entire exposed upper body was covered in jet-black tattoos drawn in Pitch Black substance.
“Ugh…”
Upon awakening, a severe headache struck him, and the man grimaced while pressing a hand to his forehead.
“You’re awake, Haren?”
His eyes shifted. The surgery room door opened, and a weary-looking man walked in.
“Ah, Professor Bahil!”
Bahil leaned his back against the wall and folded his arms.
“The procedure was successful. How do you feel?”
“…….”
Haren ran his eyes over his body, now covered in Pitch Black tattoos. Then he clenched his right fist hard.
Pitch Black substance flowed like spring water, dripping steadily onto the floor.
“……I’m overflowing with power! It feels like I could do anything.”
“That’s fortunate.”
Bahil smiled slightly and continued.
“Return to Kizen now and attend classes as usual. Under no circumstances are you to show your body to anyone. And refrain from showering until the Combat Evaluation begins—though washing your hair or face should be fine.”
Bahil said this as he tossed a school uniform hanging on a rack to Haren.
“When the Combat Evaluation starts the day after tomorrow, those tattoos will naturally fade from your body. They won’t show up on Kizen’s doping tests either. But the enhanced strength you’ve gained from the curse will easily hold for about two months.”
Haren gazed at Bahil with eyes full of gratitude.
“Professor… Why are you helping me like this…?”
“The reason hardly matters, does it? You need only handle the task I’ve requested of you.”
At these words, Haren’s expression turned serious.
“You mean… defeating Simon Polentia, Class A’s Special Exception Number One, in the Combat Evaluation.”
“Exactly. Don’t be too frightened just because he’s a special exception. Your current level far surpasses his.”
Haren clenched and unclenched his fists, checking his body’s condition. Then, from his back, he drew out his signature technique—Black Hand.
Screeeech!
A black hand emerged from his back. Haren could only marvel.
Its size, its destructive power—both were on an entirely different scale now. When he extended the Black Hand fully before him, it was large enough to shield his entire body. As he drew it out long and wielded it like a whip, it cut through the air with vicious, bone-chilling screams—whoosh! whoosh!
With this, he had confidence he could win against anyone.
“Thank you so much, Professor Bahil! I will never forget this kindness!”
This intoxicating rush of power!
To Haren, Bahil—who had granted him such strength—seemed like a god. So he added one more thing.
“If Simon Polentia bothers you, should I kill him during the Combat Evaluation and make it look like an accident?”
In that instant.
Bahil’s smile froze, his expression turning glacial.
Screeeeeeeech!
Behind Bahil came a sound like a ghost’s wail. Every fiber of Haren’s being trembled with pure terror.
“Don’t do anything foolish. You are only to handle the tasks I assign you—nothing more.”
Haren felt his breath coming in gasps. His own hand clawed at his throat.
“If something goes wrong and he dies.”
A chilling light blazed from Bahil’s eyes.
“Neither you nor your family will have a peaceful death. I’ll ensure you suffer eternally, even after you’re gone.”
“Gasp! Cough! Y-yes, I’ll remember!”
As Bahil released his grip, Haren gasped for breath, his whole body heaving.
‘…You pathetic wretch, and you don’t even qualify as a backup plan.’
Bahil turned and left the Surgery Room without another word. He pulled on his outer coat and placed his hat upon his head.
‘Simon Polentia. I’m sorry to resort to such methods, but there’s no helping it.’
It felt like carving bone and flaying flesh, yet what Simon needed now was defeat.
Once he sank deep into that bitterness, he would reflect on himself and wonder what had gone wrong. And eventually, he would come to understand that the root cause was Summoning Magic itself.
‘I will apologize for this someday. But you, in time, will thank me.’
Bahil’s lips twisted into a complete sneer, the corners of his mouth reaching his ears.
‘You will be grateful for the decision I’ve made. Without a doubt!’
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————