Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

The one assigned this time was Hector. Meilyn slouched, pouting her lips in disappointment, and Hector slowly stood from his seat.

Just like in the first class, Simon and Hector stood up, facing each other. The assistant placed the skeleton sets in front of them.

“We have about 10 minutes left until the bell rings.”

Said Aaron while looking at his watch. He then searched his pockets, pulled out a cheap-looking necklace, and hung it around the neck of the skeleton model standing in front of the lecture table.

“Use the skeleton to get this necklace. Whoever has the necklace at the end of class wins. I forbid you to move on your own or use other dark magic, but everything else is permitted. Then, get ready.”

Aaron stretched out his arm. The two lowered their posture.

“Begin.”

Simon and Hector knelt in front of the skeleton set simultaneously.

‘I can do it!’

Simon’s eyes lit up and he pulled out the skull.

‘I can win in this class!’ 

Simon awakened the undead by flowing the jet black into the magic circle inside the skull.

The skull’s eye socket shimmered in black light, making a popping sound as if it was alive.

‘I’ll assemble the spine at once. From No.2 to No.7…’

Simon raised his head and looked at the blackboard. However,

The assistant was tearing off the picture of the bone structure that had been pasted on the blackboard with an apologetic face.

Aaron said,

“Cheating isn’t allowed in this match.”

Simon bit his lips. Hector’s eyes shook a little like he was flustered, but he quickly turned his head to the skeleton set.

Simon also started selecting bones, pulling himself together.

‘Still, bones have numbers on it. I just have to assemble it step by step in order, starting from No.1!’

However,

No matter how much he looked at the bones, no numbers were written on its surface.

“The ones you used earlier are sets used for class. The assistants took the trouble to write the numbers one by one. No bone numbers are kindly written on a set of skeletons on the market.”

Aaron’s calm voice echoed.

“I’m sure I said it. If you’re a Necromancer, you should know everything.”

It was like a sky was falling on Simon.

Simon glanced at Hector’s side.

Hector, who had already completed studying in advance for all subjects, was smoothly assembling the Island Rat Man like he had memorized the order and structure of the bones of it.

‘Don’t give up. I’ve also completed it once, so the important bone sequences would be in my head.’

Simon also found the No.2 neck bone and began to assemble it little by little. Aaron crossed his arms and observed him.

‘It’s the first time No.1 Special Admission touched a skeleton, huh?’

He turned his head and looked at Hector.

‘On the other hand, that big guy memorized the order and structure. He’s relying on knowledge and memory to assemble it.’

Aaron had his own reasons for not showing the bone structure and numbers that were the first class. 

Of course, in this case, the one who studied in advance would have an overwhelming advantage. But Aaron's concern wasn’t about who’d win the match.

His goal was to find a student who has a flair for Summoning. 

‘Is he Hector? He has some talent.’

Although knowledge from studying in advance became the basis, it was his intuition to avoid making mistakes at crucial moments. When two options were conflicting, he was able to choose the correct option with very high probability.

‘On the other hand, the No.1 special admission…’

He was at a loss from the get-go. The order of important bones was wrong, and the overall assembly balance was shaking.

Seeing him swapping the bones randomly… It seemed that he was having a meltdown.

He wasn’t really in favor of studying in advance, but you had to prepare well if your skills were poor.

‘I guess the only student that’s worth scooping in this class is Hector.’

Click. Click.

Hector’s skeleton stood up, straight, since both its legs were already completed.

There was applause everywhere. In particular, the four people who offered to join the faction stood up and chanted Hector’s name.

‘I’ll win.’

Hector began assembling the arms and glanced at Simon.

Simon was stuck since the assembling of the torso. He looked like he was completely panicking. 

‘And now that I’m winning, I’ll trample you so thoroughly that you won’t get up again.’

Hector finished assembling the right arm. He could go and grab the necklace, but while he was at it, he even started assembling the left arm in order to keep face.

‘I need to turn him into a joke in this class. I need to break the confidence of being a special admission and drop it to the bottom.’

In the blink of an eye, he finished the left arm too.

Hector completed a skeleton without even looking at the diagram.

Hector’s skeleton began to move. It was a little unstable, but it was definitely taking steps forward.

The skeleton that had been circling around Simon, as if provoking him, had picked up the necklace hanging from the model and hung it around its neck.

Hector raised his muscular right arm. At the same time, he showed a performance where his skeleton also raised his right arm up too. Students sitting in their seats burst into laughter.

“Five minutes left.”

Aaron’s cold voice was heard.

“……”

Simon was still at a loss assembling the body.

Whether it was because he was nervous or conscious of his opponent, the sequence of bones that he seemed to remember had disappeared from his mind.

‘Calm down.’

Simon put down the bones he was holding in his hands.

Simon used his instinct or intuition to guess when he couldn’t recall the sequence or numbers of bones he had learned in class.

As a result, knowledge and intuition collided and tangled in his head.

So Simon decided to give up.

‘Unless my memory is at the level of a genius, it’s impossible to memorize all the detailed sequences of bones in one lesson.’

‘Therefore, I’ll give up the knowledge I learned in class.’

‘This time, I’ll just assemble with my intuition. Make it just the way I want it.’

* * *

* * *

Simon hit the skeleton that was being assembled with his arm and broke it. Surprised voices could be heard from the room.

“Did he give up?”

“No skills, no guts…”

“How is he No.1 special admission?”

Simon didn’t pay attention to those sounds. He didn’t want to leave a single trace of regret until the very end within the given time.

He lifted the No.1 skull. The sense and habit formed in that short time was unwittingly shouting to grab the No.2 Neckbone.

‘Make it just the way I want it!’

Simon ignored this and connected the No.5, 7, and 10 to the skull one after another.

“Uh, isn’t that wrong from the start?”

“It’s over.”

Simon clenched his teeth.

There was no reason to necessarily come up with a ‘correct answer’. Professor Aaron’s instruction was that you just had to raise the skeleton and get the necklace, whatever the method was.

‘There’s not enough time. I’ll discard difficult structures and simplify them.

‘Make the forelegs, centering on No.20’

‘I can’t remove No.27 since it’s the key point. Instead, I’ll take No.29.’

Aaron, who was silently watching Simon’s work, widened his eyes.

‘This is……!’

What Simon was making wasn’t an upright Island Rat Man.

But a form of a four-legged beast with both legs and arms on the floor. 

‘Nonsense. It’s absurd, but…!’

There was no doubt. It has a similar bone structure to the large rat monster ‘Gray Rat’ that was said to be found in large cities in the western part of the continent.

In fact, it fell within the same biological category and was known as the predecessor of the Island Rat Men.

‘He’s recreating the rat man’s appearance before evolution by assembling the bones differently?’

Of course, the anatomical features, ecology, and internal organs were completely different, so it was impossible to create the same Gray Rat.

However, what he was making now was an ‘undead’, something which worked without needing to follow the rules of living things. It was possible to make bones move with dark magic, whether they fit well or not.

‘He attached the No.49 tailbone to the chest. That makes sense.’

‘How does he know that No.11 and No.16 are compatible?’

‘He’s not acquainted with concepts and knowledge, but with natural insight?’

What was being made in front of him right now was a defective product that’s infinitely far from the correct answer that Aaron wanted.

Yet,

Aaron was feeling a shudder as vast as a sea.

‘Something’s strange.’

On the other hand, Hector also felt that something strange was going on with Simon.

With its arms and legs on the floor and its upper body lowered, Simon's work was a bizarre skeleton that couldn’t be called an Island rat man.

But he was certain that something was being built.

“Way to go Simon!”

Cindy Vivace suddenly stood up in the silent classroom and raised her arm.

“The shape is complete! I don’t know what that is, but just complete it!”

Rick also got up from his seat and shouted without even realising it.

The other students looked at Simon's work with tense expressions. Even Meilyn, the top of Class A, was almost standing. 

Hector bit his lip.

I’m the one who finished the product. I even did it in the shortest time without looking at the diagram.

I’m the main character here.

But why isn’t everyone looking at me?

Hector became nervous.

Just like in the first class.

‘You think I’ll just sit by and let this happen?!’

Hector ordered the skeleton. Aaron said that it was forbidden to move directly or use other dark magic, but other actions were allowed.

Hector’s skeleton started dashing towards Simon, who was concentrating on assembling and didn’t notice it. A loud shout like, “Dodge!” broke loose.

Slam!

Finally.

Hector’s skeleton kicked and smashed Simon’s skeleton.

It crumbled down, starting from the torso, and bones scattered in the sky. The students covered their mouths and jumped up from their seats.

‘I won, Simon Polentia!’

Hector smiled triumphantly while sweating profusely.

However,

‘……Why?’

Simon was stretching his right arm with a smile on his face, as if he knew Hector would do that.

Something was wrong.

Time seemed to slow down endlessly and Hector’s eyes moved in the direction Simon’s right arm was pointing.

Among the bones that flew from the kick just now, you could see an arm bone flying in an arc.

It flew next to Hector’s skeleton and performed a single simple, yet very precise movement.

Rustle.

The arm grabbed the necklace the skeleton was wearing and took it off. Then, it fell to the floor like it had lost its strength.

Everyone’s jaws dropped.

And at the same time…

Ring!

A clear bell rang to signal the end of class.

“……”

“……”

There was a deep silence in the classroom. No one could open their mouths.

Even Aaron blankly stared at the arm of the skeleton grabbing the necklace that had fallen to the floor.

“T-This is…… a mistake!”

Desperately shouted Hector.

“Professor Aaron! You said to get the necklace with a skeleton! That’s not a skeleton or anything. It’s just a meaningless piece of bone!”

Pft.

Small laughter could be heard.

Everyone’s eyes turned to where the laughter was heard.

Simon, sitting on the floor sweating buckets, raised his head and looked straight at Hector.

“I think you’re wrong.”

Whish!

The arm bone holding the necklace flew away as if pulled by a magnet and collided with the collapsed body.

Click!

Clack!

Click!

Bone fragments lying on the floor began to stick to the body of the skeleton that had been lying down. The skeleton staggered and stood up, perfectly reconstructing the appearance before it was smashed.

Hector’s eyes trembled in disbelief. 

The skeleton grabbed the necklace and approached Simon. Then, he stood up on his two legs and hung the necklace around Simon’s neck.

Staring at Hector’s sour face, Simon smiled. 

“Are you satisfied now?”

It didn’t matter who started it.

A fierce cheer broke loose in the lecture room.

——