Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 208

"Huff! Huff!"

"This way!"

Landing on the northside of Roke Island, Rick gathered the nearby scattered Kizen students the moment he regained consciousness and dealt with the situation.

It was a simple matter for Rick to rally the students, who were in shock from the crash and the divinity monsters. He could use his silver tongue to become their mental support.

"Above!"

Rick looked up upon hearing that shout. A birdlike Prima Materia monster was looking directly at them.

"Dodge! It has ranged attacks!"

Everyone threw themselves to the side and ran for cover in the hills.

Fwaaaaah!

The bird monster fired a beam of divine light from a hole in the center of its body.

Rick and the students cowered as dirt was scattered in the air. The monster then moved on, shooting divine light in all directions.

"I-It really meant to kill us!"

Panicked a male student.

A freckled female student next to him picked up the conversation.

"…Something really is off. Even if it's Kizen doing this, firing divinity with the intent to destroy a student's core is just too much!"

"I know. The stakes are too high for a mere test. This has to be a real emergency."

Rick let out a long sigh as he watched their imaginations grow out of hand. Again.

He reminisced about the good old days back in the Island Survival assessment. He had sweet-talked nobles who couldn't even make a fire by themselves and made them his loyal subjects.

But this time, the situation was too extreme. The new subjects were getting rowdy.

"Why are we going into the forest? Let's just hide around here. Who knows? Somebody might pass by on a boat."

"Now, now! Listen up!"

This won't do.

Unable to bear it anymore, Rick called for everyone's attention.

It was tough for him to go from being with smart people like Simon to having to deal with these mediocre idiots. But there was nothing he could do about that.

They were better at fighting than he was, so he had to look after them somehow.

"If you have a brain, just think about it! Didn't your professors tell you that the integrated second semester will be preparing us for real war?"

"…Th-They did."

"But this is too much!"

"Okay! Everyone, pull yourselves together. I know you're in shock and it's hard to process what's happening, but if you calm down and think about it, the examiner's intent is quite clear."

Rick raised a finger.

"Having us face our trauma."

Rick glanced up at something in the sky as he talked.

"The Saintess's attack abruptly ended the first semester. With so many students injured and so many more stressed out of their minds, we even got an early vacation, didn't we? So we never got to properly revisit that incident."

At this point, Rick was getting worked up, adamant about persuading everyone that this was just a test.

"Do you think Kizen would just let that slide? The examiner intends for us to overcome our past fears and surpass our limits by recreating the horrific event!"

"B-But you saw it as well!"

Shouted a terrified student.

"Those things actually shoot to kill! If they hit you, it won't end you as a Kizen student, but as a necromancer! How can such a thing be tolerated in Kiz—?"

"Let me ask you a question."

Interrupted Rick, needing to cut this irrational fear in the bud.

"What was the most important assignment for these holidays, again?"

"!"

That's when everyone's jaws dropped as they exchanged knowing glances and began whispering amongst each other.

"…Finding a way to fight against priests!"

"R-Right! A way to face divinity! I thought we were supposed to present what we came up with in our first class when we came back."

Rick nodded along before adding,

"The presentation part was a lie. The biggest challenge in the holidays was finding a way to fight against priests. That's what they're testing with this scenario right now!"

The students' eyes widened with surprise, and then a calmness slowly emerged.

Many useless questions had been filling their heads.

If Kizen was indeed destroyed by Efnel's attack, what would happen to them, trapped on this island? Would the Dark Territory collapse and become a vassal of the Holy Federation? Where would they flee if war broke loose?

But this wasn't an actual emergency.

It was just a test, a scenario.

They were able to settle those wild questions with just that knowledge.

"And…"

Rick reached for a nearby rock and enchanted it.

"I'll show you the biggest piece of evidence right now!"

Rick turned around and threw the rock hard into the sky.

The black stone flying in a straight line suddenly bounced off the air with a tonk.

"Huh?"

All the students jumped to their feet. Out of nowhere, an observer appeared, its invisibility disabled by the impact.

"Huzzah!"

Without anyone realizing, Rick had thrown a net alongside the rock like a skilled fisherman.

As the observer tried to flee, it was caught in the net and pulled right back down to the ground. Rick jumped onto it and pinned it to the floor.

"Gotcha!"

"I-It really is an observer!"

"They were secretly watching us!"

The students cheered. Rick picked up one of the sharp stones lying around and enchanted it.

"No, that might not be it."

"What? But you just kept saying—"

"I'm just saying that I'm not 100% sure. There's a chance that Efnel sent it to observe us, you know? I'll have to destroy it and disassemble it for analysis."

Rick chuckled as he looked at the other stunned students.

"There's nothing wrong with being sure~ I hear that this is extremely expensive equipment, which is a shame, but being watched by the enemy means death, so~"

Locking the observer between his legs, Rick lifted the rock over his head, about to bring it down with all his might. Then, the observer flashed a quick red warning light.

[Beep! Do not tamper with the observer during the test.]

[Beep! Beep!]

Rick smirked at the observer beeping eagerly as if begging for its life.

"Do you need more proof?"

All the students quickly shook their heads. Rick pushed himself to his feet and brushed the dirt from his uniform.

The observer scurried away, re-enchanting itself with invisibility.

"Now! I know a lot more about this exam will go. You want to survive, don't you? You don't want to go back home on the very first day of school without ever stepping foot on campus, right? How would you look your parents in the eye when you just bid your farewells?"

As the students nodded with a heavy seriousness, Rick grinned.

"So, just trust me from now on."

'Welcome, my pawns.'

* * *

* * *

Back at headquarters.

"Huh, that bastard… His skills are mediocre, but he sure can pull off some stunts."

Evangelos, the test director watching the whole thing on a screen, laughed.

"Finding the observer and using it to your advantage? Yeah, a necromancer must be that ballsy! Mark him, too."

"Yes, sir!"

Looking over at Rick, Evangelos wheeled the chair he was sitting in back to the center.

The situation was normal.

Some students still hadn't gotten over their panic, but a few were making their ways to the island's center. He liked the quick thinking of those students.

Serene, the S.A.2, ruled like a queen and used a wall of bodyguards charmed with her feathers to progress.

Chatelle, the S.A.3, marched with the force of a chariot, slaying any monster unlucky enough to get in her path.

Elissa, the S.A.7, was taking an airborne route with her Phantom Ships rather than walking.

'Special Admissions really are special. Well, they're definitely starting off at a different level of skill.'

Other than the S.A.s:

Meilyn utilized a river flowing to the other side of the island by constructing a boat out of ice and floating down it.

Camibarez used her sharp nose for blood to find the injured or Hemomancy students when everyone was scattered, creating one large cooperative group.

Fitzgerald used his chimera to dazzle the island's animals and monsters, progressing without a single fight.

In fact, some of the regular students progressed faster than the S.A. students.

As the semester progressed, the gap between the S.A.s and the regular students should narrow.

'But…'

Evangelos' looked at one screen.josei

'One of them still stands out above the rest.'

Evangelos stared at the image of Simon on the screen, then turned to the nearest member of staff.

"Prepare the next trial for the first five to enter, including Simon Polentia."

"Yes, sir!"

Evangelos grinned deviously, his hands held together in a tight grip.

'Now, let's see how you're gonna deal with this.'

* * *

Up on the hill, Simon watched the situation from above.

The closer he got to Kizen, the bigger the roaming monsters he saw, both in size and in number.

The terrain didn't help. Ahead of him were open fields with no cover nor obstacles, like trees or long grass.

Needless to say, it was impossible for him to take on a group of enemies that size by himself. However, they were reaching heights where it was hard for him to just glide over them.

It was time to prepare.

There was no need for him to save on jet-black at this point. He was far enough in that he shouldn't run out.

Simon pulled an item out of his subspace and set it on the ground.

One of Simon's tricks up his sleeve for fighting priests was…

"It's been a while."

The mud golem.

The golem's core rang with a pure tone as if happy to see him after so long.

Simon patted the core lightly, then dug a hole in the ground nearby and set it down.

'Now, focus.'

The most important task over the holidays… Finding a way to fight priests and their divinity.

Simon thought about it, too.

Well, it was difficult. An aspiring summoner who mainly focused on using undead was already at a severe disadvantage against divinity. Also…

'…Why do I even have to think of a countermeasure?'

After his battle with Flema, Simon's body had become somewhat immune to divinity.

He could even take a direct hit from light magic, like that necromancer-slaying spell 'Exorcism'.

But he couldn't present that in front of Jane, saying, 'I'm okay because divinity doesn't work on me.'

So, as an aspiring summoner, he researched new techniques.

'And my answer was this.'

Simon stroked the golem's core and concentrated.

Golems were a bit of an unusual entity among summons.

They were called undead because they functioned as undead to summoners, but they were technically closer to chimeras. The material that made up their bodies wasn't flesh, but natural objects, and hence not prone to divinity.

Simon stepped back and stood a short distance from the golem's core.

Then, he closed his eyes and slowly lifted his arms.

{Summon Golem}

Grrrrrrrrrooooooosh!

Simon's jet-black, injected into the golem's core, began to go wild.

The surrounding sand, mud, and rocks clung tightly to the core. Tighter than usual.

'I need to build it differently from the typical mud golem.'

This golem needed to be specialized for speed and evasion, not combat. So, he abandoned its normal form.

'Keep it simple and maneuverable.'

Around the golem's core a surfboard-like wedge was formed. Arms and legs were omitted in favor of wheels, and there was an engine at the back to make those wheels spin. The engine was, of course, powered using jet-black.

From above, it looked like a mudboard with a streamlined body.

Simon hopped onboard.

This was the speed-specialized mud golem he had prepared in advance. He took inspiration from the divine train's wheels.

"Let's go!"

Vrooooooooom!

The engine flared with jet-black, and the golem's wheels started to spin.

Soon, the board carrying Simon shot forward, sending dirt and dust flying.

——