Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 225: Episode

An offer to become Walter’s direct disciple. It was the second such offer he had received recently. But without much hesitation, Simon bowed his head. "My apologies."

It seemed best to clearly state his refusal, leaving no room for ambiguity. Walter didn’t ask for a reason and simply nodded curtly. "If you ever change your mind, feel free to tell me. If we join forces, your Hemomancy can develop much further than it is now." "Yes. Thank you for your consideration." Walter smiled gently. "You can thank Professor Silage in person later. He was the one who oversaw all the research, after all." "Of course. I’ll be sure to visit and thank him when he returns to Kizen." Simon bowed his head to Walter and left the research lab.

---

And so, the first Hemomancy class ended without incident. Simon went to the cafeteria to have lunch with his group members. "Why did the tree get stumped? It couldn’t get to the root of the problem!" On his twentieth attempt, one of Dick’s jokes finally landed. Kamibarez laughed out loud, and Meirin, her pride wounded, could only twitch the corners of her mouth. Dick, quickly catching the subtle reaction, shouted, "Yes! I finally made Meirin laugh!" "I-I wasn’t laughing! Why would I laugh at something like that...?!" At the sight of Meirin stammering out an excuse, Dick and Kamibarez burst into even louder laughter. Simon, watching them with a smile, was lost in thought again. ’A new power.’

He had refused Walter’s offer, but for Professor Silage’s sake, he had no intention of neglecting his training in this new skill. ’How can I use this most effectively? Since I’m thinking about it, maybe I should try it one more time.’

He drew a drop of blood from his index finger and conjured the magic circle he had just learned from Walter. The blood drop and the magic circle combined, and smoke with a peculiar, nautilus-shell-like pattern flowed out. It was strange that a combination of blood and Jet-Black would have a clear emerald hue. It felt like it had transformed into a completely different, third substance. When Simon lifted his finger and moved it up and down, the smoke moved in sync. Finally, when he stretched his finger out to the side, the smoke shot out like an arrow and wrapped around the sauce container on the next table. ’It really feels like I’m grabbing it with my hand.’

Controlling the Cloud was as easy as controlling his own body. The smoke returned and handed the sauce container to Simon. He dispelled the Cloud and seasoned the hot noodles that had just been served with chili sauce. But at some point, his friends’ conversation had stopped. When he looked up, the three of them were staring down at him, frozen in uniquely surprised poses. "Wh-Wh-What was that?! How did you do that?!" Meirin shrieked. "Whoa, dude, you know that was pretty cool, right? Grabbing something out of reach is the dream," Dick said, his voice tinged with envy. "That’s amazing! Is that a new skill of yours, Simon?" Kamibarez asked, her eyes wide as she clasped her hands together. At their more intense reaction than he expected, Simon gave an embarrassed laugh and explained. "Professor Walter taught it to me earlier. Apparently, this is the new way to use SM-1."

"That new blood type of yours?"

"Yeah."

Turning his head back to his meal, Simon blew on his noodles and took a bite. ’Oops, it’s really spicy.’ He had added too much sauce. "Then does that mean you’ll be learning with us in Hemomancy class now, Simon?" Kamibarez asked with a bright smile. "Yeah, I guess so."

"That’s great! I was always worried seeing you sitting all alone during class!" Indeed, the thought suddenly made him feel a lot better. ’From now on, I’ll be able to properly participate in Hemomancy class.’

Meirin, who had been picking at her lentil salad, lifted her head. "Ah, what’s the next class?"

"Summoning!" Dick answered immediately. "We have it back-to-back yesterday and today. But this is the last Summoning class for the week." "He really packed the schedule! I wonder if Professor Aaron is going on another mission," Kamibarez mused. Listening to their conversation, Simon was lost in thought for a moment. ’Ah, now that I think about it...’

---

The location for the second Summoning class was the same racetrack as yesterday. "Today, we will review the ‘Skeleton Dash’ we learned in the first class," Aaron announced, crossing his arms. "Let me be clear: if you don’t succeed this time, there will be a deduction in your evaluation score."

With that one sentence, the students’ concentration and participation skyrocketed. Hands shot up from all over, seeking help and feedback, and the TAs had to run around frantically. "Maintaining the skeleton is the prerequisite. The dash comes after that." Aaron was also personally overseeing the students’ practice. His first subject was Cindy Vivace, who was on the verge of failing every subject except Necrology. "You’re focusing too much on the dash; that’s why only the legs are shooting out."

"But if I focus on the skeleton’s cohesion, the dash doesn’t work!"

"Still, cohesion comes first. Your priorities are wrong." Accepting Aaron’s feedback, Cindy prioritized the skeleton’s cohesion and commanded the dash. The skeleton’s foot slid a few centimeters forward. "Ugh. Just as I thought...!" "Good job. This is the right way to learn and get a feel for it."

"But the other kids’ skeletons are zipping around so fast."

Just then, behind Aaron, Simon was lining up his skeletons and commanding them to dash. A sharply cut bundle of straw flew high into the air and landed with a thud near Aaron’s feet. Aaron pretended not to see it and focused on Cindy’s feedback. "If you stick to the basics, the distance will eventually increase."

’SWISH!’

"Conversely, if haste makes your basics waver, everything will collapse."

’VROOOOOM!’

"No one is good from the start. Take enough time to..."

’VROOOOOOOOOSH!’

"Simon Polentia!" Aaron spun around and shouted. Simon, who had successfully dashed five skeletons, looked back at Aaron with an innocent expression. ’What a cunning little snake,’ Aaron thought with an internal sigh. He closed his eyes and said, "You stay after class."

"Ah!"

Whenever Simon couldn’t learn something in his class, Aaron would always give him a supplementary lesson. As if he had been waiting for those words, Simon smiled brightly. "Yes, Professor!"

---

After all the regular Summoning classes were over, Aaron and Simon met in the open space behind the track. The two exchanged simple updates. "You learned... ‘Corpse Explosion’?" Aaron asked, his face hardening. "Yes! Should I show you?"

"Who taught you?"

Simon, who had been secretly hoping for praise, was taken aback. Aaron’s expression was incredibly serious, with no hint of a joke. "This is an important question. Don’t look away. Answer honestly." With Magnus, the 5th Legion Commander, extending his reach, Simon had to block any information related to the Legion Commanders as much as possible. He couldn’t say it was Yona even if his mouth were torn open, and mentioning the name Richard Polentia was also dangerous. It was a bit cliché, but he decided to make an excuse. "A retired necromancer stayed at our house for a while during the vacation. From him..." Naturally, Aaron didn’t look convinced. "Conjure the magic circle."

Aaron’s voice was so cold that Simon’s shoulders trembled slightly. Watching him cautiously, he did as he was told and created the ‘Corpse Explosion’ magic circle he usually used. Aaron’s eyes frantically scanned every detail. "Haaaah."

A moment later, what sounded like a sigh of relief finally escaped his lips. Simon swallowed nervously. "Who did you say taught you?"

"Ah, an acquaintance of my father’s. Is something wrong?"

Aaron let out a small gasp as he examined the magic circle again, as if savoring it. "This is truly amazing."

Simon’s eyes widened. "The formula for ‘Corpse Explosion’ is specialized for rapid casting, yet the power isn’t significantly reduced. It might put a slight overload on your mental strength, but such a measure is natural on a battlefield where a single misstep means death. This is a thoroughly field-tested magic circle, honed by thousands, if not tens of thousands, of uses. The creator’s personal expertise is etched into every formula." ’Was it really that amazing?’ When Richard had taught him the magic circle, he did say it was a simplified version of the one he used. "You learned from a good person."

Aaron took a cigar from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and lit it. Then he turned, blew out a puff of smoke, and looked at Simon again. "As you know, Jet-Black has a ‘tendency to remember.’ If you first learn an incomplete or unnecessary formula, or a magic circle with serious problems, you’ll have a hard time correcting it later. Teenagers like you who are in the middle of learning have to be especially careful. That’s why you shouldn’t learn black magic from just anyone."

"I-I’m sorry."

"There’s nothing to be sorry about. If you had learned ‘Corpse Explosion’ from me, I would have taught you something a bit heavier, but a compact version like this isn’t bad either. He left room for you to add formulas to increase its power as you grow. Filling in this remaining part is now your job." Aaron crossed his arms. "He’s truly no ordinary person. I’d like to meet him and have a conversation someday." For a Kizen professor to say that much... It was surprising, but Simon quickly drew a line. "I-I don’t know him well either, aside from him being my father’s acquaintance and seeing him often when I was young."

"I see. There are still many reclusive necromancers out there. That’s enough about ‘Corpse Explosion.’"

Aaron lightly tapped the end of his cigar with his finger and continued, "So, what do you want to learn from me this time?"

"Ah. Well..." Simon explained the entire situation in Walter’s research lab and even conjured the Cloud in front of Aaron to show him. But perhaps because it was a Hemomancy technique, unlike the surprised reactions of his friends, Aaron’s expression was rather indifferent. "I don’t see why you’re showing this to me. Professor Walter would know more about Hemomancy than I do."

"Ah, well." Simon scratched the side of his head and gave a bitter smile. "Actually, I recently turned down Professor Walter’s offer to be his direct disciple. It’s not a technique from any textbook, so I felt a bit bad asking him properly..."

"Hmm..."

"So I was wondering if there might be a way to combine this power with Summoning."

Aaron smoked his cigar. He smoked for a long time. After finishing one, he took out a new one and lit it again. "A completely unknown Hemomancy technique... and a combination with Summoning."

After tapping off the burnt part of his cigar, Aaron looked at Simon. "When you become a second-year, something called ‘Combined Studies’ will be introduced. It’s for when a single field of study can’t achieve something, so you mix and add knowledge from other fields to create a synergy effect." "Ah! Then Hemomancy and Summoning, too!" "Of course, that exists. Teaching it isn’t a problem, but combining your original blood-stream technique with Summoning is a bit tricky..." Aaron, who had been muttering to himself, suddenly widened his eyes. "Wait, you said this smoke feels connected to your body?"

"Ah, yes."

"And it shares your senses and nerves?"

"Yep."

Aaron was about to take out a third cigar but put it back. Then, after thinking deeply for a moment, he said, "One week."

"Huh?"

"Come find me after next week’s Summoning class. I’ll have it completed by then." A fierce academic passion ignited in Aaron’s eyes as he lifted his chin. "The next technique you will learn is the ‘Blood Golem,’ something third-years learn."