Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 217

"Did you spend your vacation well, Class A?"

Loud answers poured out from the students as if they'd been waiting for her to ask. Jane lightly held up her hand to request silence.

An assistant teacher standing behind Jane raised her hands into the air to draw attention, pointed at Jane, put a finger behind each side of her head to make something resembling devil horns, and then returned to her neutral posture.

"It's good to see you again after so long, but it's a shame that I don't even get a chance to say goodbye. I'm sure I told everyone to come prepared to deal with divinity."

The students all flinched. She was unmistakably smiling, but the tone of her voice wasn't.

"I heard that Class B only had a single failing student. When Professor Bahil told me that Well, needless to say I was embarrassed."

'Ugh, Professor Bahil Why?!'

Some of the students, including Rick, inwardly resented Bahil for that. Why did he have to mess with her and make our lives hard?

As the students hung their heads in shame, Jane smiled.

"I'm not blaming any of you because you are not the ones who are at fault. It's the incompetent dropouts."

She turned around, walking to the blackboard. The assistant teachers quickly set up a mana projector and screen in the air.

"We'll have to give feedback on this test to ensure this doesn't happen again, right? I'll start from the bottom ranked student."

* * *

Jane went through the recordings of each student's attempts, pointing out every mistake or error made. The students all struggled to accept such a thorough unpacking of their flaws, and a few were even crying by the end of it.

In Rick's case, she pointed out that he was all talk and no action, and that he made a big mistake in the route he chose in getting back to Kizen.

Camibarez was criticized for getting off to a slow start when she saw her first white monster and for carrying too much emotion, choosing to save her teammates at the cost of speed and efficiency.

Meilyn was told that her creativity in building an ice boat on the river was great, but had it pointed out that such a vehicle wouldn't be practical in the long-term because of the hypothermia risks of being so close to ice for so long.

Most of the students were thoroughly criticized. The only ones Jane let slide were Simon and Hector.

"Even if they are your peers, you should learn a thing or two from them. Try to replicate their good judgment skills. A round of applause for them."

Clap clap clap!

Simon laughed in embarrassment at the sudden applause, but Hector frowned, still annoyed that Simon took his first place.

"Professor! Aren't we still a great class, though?"

Blurted Rick of the blue. He was talking to Jane as if he were talking to a classmate.

'Is this bastard crazy!?'

Meilyn and the students around him all tried to shut him up, but to their surprise, Jane responded.

"What do you mean by 'great', Rick Hayward?"

"Well, we had the first, second, and ninth place finishers in our class! There was only one top ten finisher, eighth place, in Class B!"

As Jane glared at him, Rick quickly shut up and bowed his head.

"Let's move on to the next announcement, then."

Surprisingly, Jane's irritated voice had become softer. Rick, pretending to take notes, turned to Simon and gave him a silent thumbs-up.

"I know this is a bit abrupt, but there's a decision you need to make."

She said as she took some new forms from an assistant teacher.

"In this integrated second semester, you may drop up to two of the nine subjects you're taking now."

The students' eyes widened at that.

"Beginner Dark Magic, taught by the moderating professor; Defense Against the Holy Arts, which is the core of the integrated second semester; and Mechanics of Jet-Black are all mandatory. Kizen recommends that students only drop one class. If you want to drop two, you'll need a meeting with your moderating professor, and of course, you shouldn't think that having fewer classes will give you an advantage in your grades."

Simon nodded as he listened to the explanation.

It was definitely too much of a risk to go from nine classes to seven, seeing as variety was required for the upcoming assessments. You would only do it if you were going all in on a single subject.

"So I want you to pick one class to drop by the end of this week. No more, no less."

Simon had immediately made up his mind.

'I'm sorry, Professor Umbra.'

It was a no-brainer. He still hadn't gotten past the chicken dance part of Necromancy. By now, most students who didn't 'feel the spirit' would drop out.

Camibarez, of course, was one of them.

"What are you going to do, Meilyn?"

"I've decided."

"Yeah, same here."

Surprisingly, both Meilyn and Rick also chose to drop Necromancy.

For Meilyn, it was because she couldn't prepare her elemental spells while in the 'Ethereal' state, a state which was core to Necromancy.

Meanwhile, Rick just went along with what the other three were doing.

Hearing that pitiful reasoning, Meilyn immediately scolded Rick.

"Must be nice~ to be so thoughtless. This is your future, so please be serious about it."

"I'm pretty confident, since I'm an all-rounder."

Rick shrugged.

"Besides, there's a huge gap in grades for the class between students majoring in Necromancy and those not. It's the right decision to drop it."

So the four of them decided.

After Jane's Beginner Dark Magic class, Simon and his group headed to where the next class would be held.

Simon was in high spirits.

'To think that the second class is Summoning!'

He looked forward to Aaron's class so much.

Simon had been so hungry to learn. He couldn't wait to see new things and make them his own.

Just then, Rick, walking next to him, flipped through his notebook and said,

"The Summoning class this time isn't being held in its usual lecture hall?"

"Yeah! They said it's going to be an outdoor class!"

Said Camibarez. Meilyn, next to her, snorted.

"An outdoor class on the first day? Hmm. I'm getting a hunch."

"A hunch?"

"That there's a hint for the Broad Dark Magic Aptitude Test."

Certainly, Aaron had said it himself at the opening ceremony.

"You'll have to figure out the test themes on your own. The content of the lessons, the topics in the performance assessments, the flow of supplies, rumors, legends, and folklore. We will provide hints in various ways. There may even be clues in the professors' jokes, so pay close attention."

Recalling what was said, Simon gasped,

"Pretty sharp."

Meilyn, now on her high horse, ran her fingers through her light blue hair.

"I mean, isn't it only natural to realize that? Looks like you guys lost touch over the holidays. Wake up already."

And so, the entire Class A had arrived at the location Aaron announced.

It was at the back of the third stadium, a location often used for Duel Evaluations. A race track had been set up within it.

Lines were drawn on the tiles to give varying distances people could compete with. Some boys were already doing long jumps and comparing their scores.

Simon rested his chin on his palm.

'Summoning, track & field, and the BDMAT? I don't really get it.'

The other three were also trying to guess the theme of the next test. Assumptions ranged from a necromancer version of a marathon to a speed contest.

"Please assemble!"

Aaron and his assistant teachers had appeared.

* * *

* * *

All of Class A stood nervously as they formed lines.

'He hasn't changed.'

Simon laughed inwardly.

His neat attire was nowhere to be found, and Aaron was back in his shorts, t-shirt, and slippers. His eyes were the perfect symbol of tiredness and annoyance as he stroked his stubble.

Aaron stepped forward, his assistants lining up behind him.

"Long time no see."

At Aaron's languid voice, the students returned their own greetings. Everyone's eyes shone with anticipation.

"I hope you got a good rest over the break. Because your professors will kick your asses for the entire integrated second semester."

Upon declaring that, Aaron gestured toward the track.

"But I guess there's no need to go all out on the first day. Today, we're going to learn a new way to use Summoning. Everyone, take a single skeleton out."

It was a sight to behold as all the students opened their subspaces and took out a skeleton in unison.

Simon also pulled out a regular, non-conscripted skeleton.

"In lieu of the two-month break, let's do a little review."

Aaron asked,

"The strength of skeletons compared to other undead summons."

As soon as he said the word 'strength', a person had raised her hand. Aaron tilted his head with a 'you again?' look.

"Jamie Victoria, sir! A skeleton's greatest strength is its widely applicable 'restoration', which uses the bones' tendencies to connect and adhere to each other! Even if a skeleton collapses, as long as jet-black remains in its joints, it can get back up!"

Aaron nodded, turning to the others.

"And the weakness?

Simon raised his hand, wanting to answer right away, but too many students were raising their hands in front of him.

Aaron pointed to the one with the biggest presence.

"Hector Moore, sir. It is vulnerable to the priest's divinity."

"That's a weakness almost all undead have. Next."

This time, Simon raised his hand immediately. Aaron smirked and pointed at Simon.

"Simon Polentia, sir. A skeleton's weaknesses are in its mobility and defense. If you don't use any skills related to restoration or focus entirely on it, it's easy for it to be destroyed before it reaches its opponent."

"That's correct."

The moment Aaron said it was the correct answer, Simon felt a surge of joy. It may not have been much, but just participating in the class and getting it right made him happy.

'You bastard! Deliberately answering right after me!'

Hector gritted his teeth in rage, but Simon didn't notice at all.

Aaron continued to explain,

"Skeletons are made only of bones, not muscle, so they're not particularly athletic. The lack of extra support also means that upon impact, their bones simply break apart and collapse. They can't mean more than their headcount."

Simon nodded in agreement.

In the early stages of the first semester's Duel Evaluation, Simon had been able to take advantage of large numbers of skeletons. He could force his opponents to split their focus on every individual attacker.

But it got no further than that. Now that the students' skills had leveled up as a whole, they were all able to take out multiple skeletons at once with area of effect skills.

They also learned the Combat Dark Magic skills required to bounce off the weak weapons wielded by the undead. By now, skeletons were purely useful for their numbers. They weren't very intimidating, so they no longer lured the opponent into overattacking.

It was even worse if the opponent was a priest. They could just throw around divinity and make the skeletons meaningless.

As such, Simon relied more on the restorative power of his skeletons rather than their combat powers. Even in the fight against Hector in Langerstine, they both used only restoration skills.

"Then"

Aaron's voice snapped Simon out of his thoughts.

"Is the skeleton a summon that can only be used by a necromancer gifted with restoration skills? To that question, I'd obviously answer No!"

The rare event of Aaron raising his weary voice in class made everyone immediately pay attention.

"There is a way to cover for some of the shortcomings of the skeletons that were mentioned. The integrated second semester begins here."