Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

A small villa, far from the bustling Kizen campus filled with guests.

In the building, first-year Kizen professors were sipping wine and observing things as they progressed.

All tests were controlled by the headquarters, and professors were strictly forbidden to be involved in the tests.

[Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!]

[It's the S.A.1! Simon Polentia breaks through! That's beyond indomitable will! Just what kind of spell did he cast?]

The professors were nodding in approval at Simon's performance.

"He's good, as expected."

"At first, I wondered why he was the S.A.1, but he keeps on standing out. I wanna try teaching him."

"He grows fast. The story that he didn't prepare at all at home must be a lie, don't you think?"

"Nah, I believe it. His written grades are bad, you know? He's just talented."

Said a spiky-haired professor as he turned to the side, laughing out loud.

"Haha, Professor Walter!"

Walter, sitting on the couch sipping on wine, smiled softly.

"Amazing! You're really amazing! You've only been here briefly, and you're already leaving your mark on the S.A.1? He's using what you've taught him! As a professor, seeing something like this must be rewarding!"

Walter bowed politely.

"It is all thanks to the work of Professor Silage."

"Hahaha! No need to be so formal and modest! You're no longer a student here. We're equals!"

"Thank you."

Walter adjusted his glasses, a shine going over his eyes.

He had taught Simon how to cast Cloud, but he had never imagined him using it to create a blood golem.

"Professor Aaron, you must feel great about your job these days."

This time, the spiky-haired professor's gaze moved to the Professor of Summoning, who was already being congratulated by two other professors.

"How long has it been since a proper Summoning aspirant appeared! It's already rumored that he'll be the next Kizen student council president. That mint blood golem filled with originality is also your work, right?"

"I'm—"

Shatter!

A glass broke on the ground.

"Ah."

Everyone turned to look, and there they saw Bahil smiling.

Broken glass scattered across the floor and red wine seeped into the floorboards.

"Ah, my mistake."

It was obvious he'd dropped it on purpose.

Bahil stood up and strode forward to right in front of Aaron.

Looking at him, Aaron sighed,

"Are you crazy?"

"Senior Aaron, let me speak to you for a moment."

"Bahil."

Aaron looked up to meet Bahil's eyes, his gaze piercingly cold.

"There are other professors and the vice president here. What is the meaning of this rudeness? Clean it."

Bahil only responded by looking Aaron directly in the eye. Aaron didn't avert his gaze.

Sip.

Sitting alone on a couch, drinking wine and watching the test, Jane glanced at them.

Bahil, knowing he had gotten a little more attention than he asked for, responded,

"I see Simon has created a new blood golem."

He then waved his hand, drawing a magic circle on the floor, and the broken glass and spilt wine began to float.

The glass then reformed into its original shape, the spilled wine perfectly contained inside.

It was a task that required quite a lot of control, but Bahil accomplished it without even turning to look. Now holding the wine glass again, he gently swirled it in his hand as he said,

"Isn't that blood golem spell a product of combined studies? It uses summoning as a base, with hemomancy and curses as additions?"

Bahil's gaze shifted slowly from Aaron to Walter.

"I could've been of assistance. I could've been an advisor in curses."

Crush!

His hand tightened, and this time the glass shattered into fragments so small that it became a thin dust that quickly disappeared in the wind. Even the red liquid inside had disappeared.

"I am not too pleased that you two left me out."

"This is all a misunderstanding. Let me explain, Professor Bahil."

Walter gave an indulgent smile and got up from his seat.

"The thing that blood golem is formed of is known as 'Cloud'. It is a skill that utilizes his SM-1 blood, and…"

As Walter continued to explain, the other professors went back to chatting amongst themselves, discussing the students who passed next.

As Bahil listened to Walter's explanation, his face relaxed, accepting what was said.

"...and that is all I have done with him. I have also never seen him create a blood golem until now."

Bahil approached much more casually this time, then lightly touched Walter's shoulder.

"It would seem that our new Professor of Hemomancy is quite capable. I hope we get along well."

"Thank you. I am in your hands."

As Walter replied, he felt a slight ache in his shoulder where Bahil had placed his hand.

Bahil then looked back at Aaron and smiled.

"And you, Senior Aaron. Shall we make a bet?"

Aaron rubbed the dark bags under his eyes in annoyance.

"What is it now…?"

"Don't you think it'll be interesting to see which one Simon chooses at the end?"

Bahil added, slowly turning away,

"I'm confident, just so you know."

* * *

* * *

"Phew… Pant! Pant! Pant!"

All the traps stopped as he pressed the red buzzer.

'…I did it.'

He was dizzy from the lack of blood and his whole body throbbed and ached. Simon stumbled to the side against the wall.

No, he tried to stumble to the side against the wall, but the spear in his arm was in the way, so he staggered back to his feet.

[Boy! Are you alright?]

'Ah, yes. I'm still alive thanks to the blood golem.'

The blood golem's most essential ability was to share damage with the caster through the 'life link'.

The golem shares 80% of the external damage the caster takes. Even if slashed by a sword or pierced by a spear, it'll create a large wound on the golem's body while the caster will only get scratches.

To accomplish this, you must master a difficult curse known as 'life link', but Simon could skip this using the Cloud.

Aaron gave Simon a method to transmute the Cloud to mimic the effects of life link, making it possible for a first-year, Simon, to learn how to make a blood golem.

Just then, an intercom turned on somewhere in the ceiling.

[In five minutes, you will be teleported to the final stage, stage 4. All of your equipment, your belongings on the floor, and your summons will be teleported with you.]

The voice paused before adding,

[Students who have passed stage 3 may end the test here. If you choose to end the test here, you will be ranked based on the time you took to pass stage 3 but will be ranked below any who complete stage 4.]

'So there's one more after all.'

Of course, he had no intention of ending it here. Simon reached over and grabbed the spear in his arm, pulling it out.

'Thank you, golem.'

When Simon pulled out the spear, it came out smoothly without any additional pain. It was worlds apart from the struggle in pulling a mere arrow.

Clatter!

After dropping the spear and touching the wound, he realized that the injury was far shallower than he thought despite the spear getting lodged into his flesh. He poured a potion on it, and not a single mark was left behind.

'This is amazing. So this is the effect of life link, huh?'

A summon made from the blood of the caster that can take the caster's damage instead. It was amazing.

Clang!

Thud!

After removing all the weapons from his body and restoring most of the wounds with potions, Simon jumped around to see the difference.

He felt much lighter, but…

'I can't move properly.'

He'd lost too much blood from creating the blood golem, and he'd used Jet-Black Eruption while exhausted. In fact, he could barely stand.

But he had no intention of quitting here. He had only passed, and he needed to complete the final stage to get one of the top ranks.

[Since you did not give any sign that you wish to give up, you will be transported to stage 4. Please remain still.]

Whirrr!

He felt his feet rise into the air and, when he blinked, the landscape was completely different.

He was outside.

He could see the setting sun from where he stood in the middle of a desolate wasteland where not even grass grew.

The blood golem had been sent alongside him, its body tattered from the blows it had taken in the life link.

Feeling grateful and sorry, Simon stroked its arm. It felt slippery.

'But what am I supposed to do here?'

[Activating recollection.]

Suddenly, a map of this entire place appeared in Simon's mind.

It was just wasteland all over, and 100 Holy Grail replicas were scattered around the island.

[This is an island owned by kobolds. There are currently 300 students on the island and 100 artifacts. Students who destroy a Holy Grail will pass. If you fail to destroy a Holy Grail, you will only be ranked as you were when you passed the third stage of the test.]

The map then faded to the background, able to be easily remembered but not in the way.

[You will be greeted by hungry kobolds.]

Simon looked around and saw the brown-skinned monsters that looked like cursed fairies roaming around.

Pier commented,

[Kuhehehe! Kizen has really gotten insane! They're pushing their limits!]

The final part of the test was a competition to break past the monsters and destroy the targets.

Simon regained his composure.

Taking time in the third stage to make a blood golem, he cleared it slower than most. Many students would already be on their ways to the Holy Grail replicas.

'Alright, let's do my best until the en—'

Pow!

A dull noise came from his side.

When Simon turned his head, he saw the blood golem pummeling a kobold. As the kobold fell, the golem placed its palm on the creature's face.

Squeeeeelch!!

Red blood seeped from the kobold's eyes, nose, and ears, being absorbed into the blood golem's mass.

'!'

Then, smoke rose from the injuries on Simon that he couldn't fully heal with the potions. Once the smoke cleared, the wounds were completely gone.

'So this is the healing property of the blood golem!'

Blood golems can absorb other creatures' blood to restore their health, and as the blood golem heals, the caster—Simon—heals proportionally.

Life link worked both with the caster's wounds and the caster's recovery.

Slam! Thud!

The blood golem was silently pummeling kobolds. There was no way the kobolds, who were on the weaker side of level 3 monsters, could defeat the golem.

The wounds on Simon's body healed, and his spinning head steadied as blood returned to his body.

'Alright.'

After defeating the kobolds, the blood golem thumped over to Simon. Simon closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He raised his arms in front of the blood golem, unleashing a series of magic circles above the golem's head.

'Let's try to go all the way!'

Pwiiiiiissshhh!

The blood golem returned to a gas and was quickly sucked into the magic circles.

It shrank in size until all that remained was the golem core, which soon fell to the ground. The entire Cloud forming the golem had been sucked into the magic circle.

'Alright, next step.'

Simon opened his ring's subspace and summoned skeletons out of it.

20 normal skeletons with spears and shields and 3 skeleton archers.

23 undead in all.

Currently, Simon could only control 6 undeads simultaneously. Yet he pulled out almost quadruple that.

[Kuhahaha! Don't you think this many is a little too reckless, Boy?!!]

'I'll pull it off no matter what it takes.'

Simon brought his arms back down, and the magic circles that absorbed the golem flashed with light.

Whoooooooooosh!

The gas flooded back out and around the skeletons.

The Cloud didn't have to be limited to the golem. In his training, he had already confirmed that he could combine the Cloud with skeletons.

'Focus!'

The bones of all 23 skeletons were coated with a Cloud refined by the magic of the blood golem.

As if wearing an extra layer of armor, their crude white bones turned mint, and the mist slowly rose from their eye sockets like Pier's burning flame.

Click! Clack!

Clack clack!

The skeletons—now enhanced by the cloud—took a distinct stance, shouldered their weapons, and then angled their swords or drew their bows.

Flutter!

Mint capes of clouds fluttered behind their backs.

The Cloud allowed Simon to transcend his limits of undead control and manipulate the 23 enhanced skeletons as if they were his own body. On top of that, the blood golem's 'life steal' and 'life link' stayed intact.

These weren't summoned, natural, nor conscripted undead. They were a new form of undead unique to Simon.

{Simon Original - Royal Bodyguards}

[Kerugh!]

Kobolds shrieked from the distance. Simon turned to look.

Zooooooom!

Slaaash!

As soon as Simon's eyes landed on the targets, ten skeletons dashed in and decapitated rank 3 monsters with only a single swing of the sword.

Shk.

The skeleton archers notched their arrows, the Cloud quivering around the arrowtips, and then fired.

Fwish.

Every fired arrow meant a dead kobold

Finally, a handful of the Cloud transformed into a 'crown', which gathered in a ring between Simon's hands raised above his head.

As he pressed the crown down, he could clearly feel the presence of all 23 skeletons.

His right eye also turned a brilliant emerald.

'Let's go.'

Rattle!

Rattle!

The 23 royal guards followed Simon, their cloaks fluttering in the wind.

——