REAPER SCANS
Necromancer Academy's Genius Summoner
[Translator - Ramen]
[Proofreader - Artethrax]
Chapter 365
Simon followed Benya into a small pub in Rochest.
The old wooden building, covered in blackish dirt, reeked of strong beer.
It was a place filled with humanity. It was the kind of atmosphere more suited for village locals to have a drink rather than Kizen students.
But as soon as Simon walked in, one of the tables became noisy.
"Welcome, Simon!"
Cheerfully greeted a bearded man, raising his beer mug. Two others at the same table waved welcomingly.
"Oh!"
They were familiar faces for Simon.
The three of them were the undead artisans from Vanilla who had helped Simon create a skeleton out of a deimos, a marine undead.
"Sir Diego! Sir Marco! Sir Rodrion!"
He could still clearly remember being scolded by the three of them while they made the magic circle.
Simon ran to them with a big smile. Diego, technically the leader, stood up and opened his arms. Simon embraced him warmly, and the other two also joined around the pair.
"Hahaha! It's been a while! Have you grown taller?"
"Have I?"
"It's been a while, Sir Simon."
"Hey friend, pay some attention to us, too."
The unexpected meeting made the reunion even more joyous. The four of them chatted boisterously.
"Can't you even see me? Misters?"
When Benya approached from behind, the artisans finally gave her a polite greeting, addressing her as 'young lady'.
Then, Simon asked,
"I was so surprised! What brings you to Roke Island?"
"We had some business with Kizen, so we stopped by. And also…"
Diego pointed his thumb behind him.
"Someone who has business with you is over there."
A man was approaching, navigating the maze of tables.
He was a middle-aged man in an out-of-trend leaf-green coat and fedora. He tipped his fedora and bowed politely.
"It's been a while, Simon. Do you remember me?"
"Of course! It really has been a while!"
The subspace artisan, Gelen Eclipse.
This was the man who crafted the subspace for Simon's Overlord.
Simon looked at them with slightly bewilderment.
'To think everyone gathered here like this…'
Whether it was a subspace or a deimos, everyone here was an engineer who had helped Simon immensely.
"I came to deliver this to you, Simon."
Gelen Eclipse placed a small box on the table.
It was about the size of a ring box, and Gelen tapped the case with his finger.
Fwish!
Then, the box opened, creating a subspace in the air.
Inside was a heart, emitting a bluish glow as if emphasizing its magical properties.
"This is 'Herseva's Heart', the one that you ordered."
"Ah!"
Simon's eyes sparkled.
The item right in front of him was worth a whopping 25,000 gold.
"Life Vessel hearts require extreme care in storage and transport, you see. So, we move them into subspaces with temperature and humidity control functionality. And one more thing."
Gelen handed the ring for the subspace containing the heart to Simon and pointed to the item next to it.
"This is Herseva's skull. It's useless without the heart, so the seller provided it for free."
"Oh! Thank you."
Gelen smiled faintly.
"Of course, you'll have to return the subspace once your work is done."
"Of course."
"Are you making good use of the Overlord subspace I made?"
Simon showed the ring on his left hand and grinned.
"Yes! Thanks to this, I've overcome many a crisis."
This time, Diego, the leader of the Vanilla artisans, approached.
"This is a bonus."
Then, he began to take boards out with magic circles drawn on them. Simon's eyes widened.
"Wh-What are all these?"
"You're making a Lich, aren't you? We heard the news and prepared the setting circles for you. You just need to infuse your jet-black."
Simon's eyes began to water with emotion.
"Thank you for your consideration!"
"Hey now~ It's not a big deal."
Diego scratched his head in embarrassed, then said with a serious face.
"Actually, we'd really like to help and support you, but you already know, right? To craft a lich…"
"You can't mix other's jet-black with it. Yes, of course I know."
Aaron had taught him that.
This was the reason why there were no pre-assembled liches in necromancer shops.
The Life Vessel had to be made with a single person's jet-black. Any impurities would later cause the jet-black conversion values to drop significantly.
It was an undead that he had to create on his own, without relying on anyone for help.
'It's nerve-wracking.'
In the past, Simon had the help of the artisans here, but now he had to manage making an undead from scratch independently.
"Thank you so much! I'll try my best!"
Still, Simon felt like he was receiving a huge boost of energy from this pub.
The artisans clapped their hands and cheered him on with wishes of good luck.
* * *
"Well then, I'll be off!"
Simon bowed politely and left the pub. The artisans gathered around the table, waving him goodbye.
"The beer's gone flat, hasn't it?"
"Order another one!"
"Artisan Gelen, care to join us for a drink?"
"Oh, may I?"
The four old men chatted noisily through the night.
Then Benya, who had been sipping beer at the next table, came over with flushed cheeks.
"How strange."
"What's the matter, young lady?"
Asked Diego.
"The fact that you even lied about having business with Kizen just to come see Simon."
"Ahem…"
Diego blushed himself and cleared his throat while the others laughed loudly.
Diego handed Simon the magic circle boards as if it were nothing, but they had spent all day and night working on those and still hadn't found time to sleep.
"Why go that far for Simon? Is it like an investment for the future, since he's Kizen's S.A.1?"
"Hahaha! Young lady!"
Diego laughed loudly and waved his hand dismissively.
"Even though you don't always look the part, sometimes it's clear that you have indeed inherited the blood of Vanilla, young lady. We necromancers are maniacs. We don't care about things like that."
"Then…?"
"They say a fine sword chooses its owner. Then what about the person who makes that fine sword? It's no different. There's nothing better than having someone I like use what I made. It's not about expecting a reward."
Simon had a charm that drew people in.
The desire to help him out wasn't out of goodwill or a calculated thought.
"If you aren't expecting a reward, then…?"
Diego spread his arms out wide.
"What else could it be? It's for self-satisfaction!"
"Hahaha!"
"You're already drunk, aren't you?"
Bang!
Benya joined in the loud laughter and sat down with the old men.
"Alright, alright! I'll drink 'till dawn, too!"
Shouted Benya, raising her beer mug above her head.
"For our proud junior, Simon Polentia!"
"Cheers!"
Five mugs clinked together.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Ramen
Proofreader - Artethrax
Join our discord for updates on releases!
* * *
Simon had finished all his preparations and entered Pier's ruins.
He planned to craft the lich in a place where no one could disturb him tonight.
[Commander~!]
Elizabeth was the first to welcome him.
[Have you arrived, young master?]
Akemus greeted Simon with a polite bow. Prince, who was playing cards, whined, "Why were you so late?!"
[Kuhehehe! You've come, Boy!]
Pier also approached. Simon smiled and followed him to the central altar.
"This reminds me of the old days."
Said Simon, placing the subspace he received from Gelen and the various setting circles on the altar.
"When I first enrolled in Kizen, I assembled you here, Pier."
[Kuhehe! Indeed you did!]
Simon placed down the items and took a light breath to focus.
[Have you prepared enough?]
"Yes. I can now form the three bands too, even if it was with an experimental heart."
[Good!]
The four Ancient Undead surrounded Simon, keeping a slight distance.
"Then, let me begin."
There was no more time to waste. He first opened up the crystal skeleton he obtained from the after-school BDMAT.
Ziiip!
Snap!
He took out the contents and assembled the skeleton like stacking a tower. Assembling skeletons was Simon's specialty, and it was completed in no time.
[Commander! Will you use the crystal skeleton for the skull, too?]
Asked Elizabeth, who was assisting closely.
"No, for that…"
Simon took out Herseva's skull, which was placed next to the heart in the subspace.
"Let's use this."
He originally planned to make the body using a crystal skeleton, but changed directions now that he had a better material.
Placing a plain-looking skull on the body glittering with crystals looked bizarre, but it was highly functional.
'Now, for the summoning magic circle.'
Simon drew a large magic circle on a blank sheet and took out all the magic circle boards he had received from the artisans.
Inspecting the contents drawn on the boards, Simon felt a bit touched. They had said there were just a few simple magic circles on them, but the boards contained quite a few high-level ones, too.
'Thank you so much, artisans!'
Gratitude filling his heart, Simon poured jet-black into the magic circle on the boards. Thanks to the artisans' help, Simon could efficiently keep his focus on jet-black, quickly completing the summoning magic circle.
"Now, please get ready!"
All that was left was the core of the lich: the Life Vessel. Even if there was a body and a summoning magic circle, it was just a regular skeleton if it didn't have a heart.
Only by completing this Life Vessel could he raise the famed undead known as a 'lich'.
Simon took out the heart from the subspace ring.
[Oh!]
[That's cool.]
The Ancient Undeads clamored among themselves.
Just from taking the heart out of the subspace, mana could be felt filling the air, and the ruins grew brighter.
What would happen when he made a lich with this?
Simon warmed up his fingers, his own heart pounding uncontrollably.
"I'll start now!"
The creation of a lich's Life Vessel had to be done by only him.
It was a battle fought alone.
The high difficulty level and the high failure rate, even with expensive materials, prevented most summoners from even attempting to create a lich.
However…
[Commander! I've stitched together the magic circle here!]
The Ancient Undead were helping Simon from around him.
Conscripted skeletons shared jet-black with their commander. All four of them could work, Simon's dark-blue jet-black flowing through their fingers.
This was a trick only available to a Commander. The Ancient Undead also focussed on their specialties for this lich creation.
Simon had carved the initial magic circle onto the heart, but Elizabeth was fixing some parts of the formula with her web infused with jet-black. She was performing the high-level task known as 'stock' with her abilities.
[How long do I have to stay like this?]
[Take your time, young master.]
Meanwhile, Prince and Akemus kept the magic circle floating perfectly still, and…
[I will be the one to refine the circuit.]
Pier intervened in the magic circle, tuning the jet-black circuit. Then, Simon engraved the runes he wanted and continued the formula.
'I can do this!'
He had come this far with the help of many people.
Even now, he wasn't alone while making a lich.
Dripping with sweat, Simon began the micro magic circle that had to be drawn inside the main one.
Hours passed in the blink of an eye.
'Now, link the heart's magic circle with the summoning magic circle.'
Click!
Click!
Both magic circles lit up simultaneously.
'The first band!'
The magic circle swayed, jet-black flickering off of it, then transformed into a 'band' that encircled the heart.
'The second band!'
Soon, two bands encircled the heart. Cheers erupted from the ancient undead.
[You're doing great!]
[Keep going like that!]
As Prince and Elizabeth cheered him on, Simon briefly wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
He was feeling a bit dizzy, but he had passed the point of no return.
Ba-thump. Ba-thump.
The heart was beating. Once taken out of the subspace, everything had to be done quickly. The longer it took to turn the heart into a Life Vessel, the more its performance would degrade.
'Now, the third band!'
His entire consciousness focused on a single point. His mind expanded, and his senses heightened.
Before he knew it, his vision turned gray.
Hersevan's heart before him began to beat slowly, and all sounds sank into a muffled nothingness, like sinking into a deep sea.
A state of perfect immersion.
The heartbeat pulsing with the aid of dark magic and the movement of the two bands flowing in different directions were clear and obvious to Simon.
'Now! I have to do it now!'
Simon's arm moved. So focussed on the task at hand, he couldn't recall Aaron's advice on making the third band, but he knew exactly what to do regardless.
His hands moved instinctively.
Impossibly aware of the speed of the two bands and the heartbeat, he repeatedly drew, then paused, then drew again as he crafted. It connected, seeming to follow the heartbeat's pattern.
A relentless focus so intense he lost the sense of time.
'Phew.'
After several hours, Simon finally brought his hands back.
The three waving bands were completed. The form Aaron had shown him was right before his eyes.
'Now, one final step!'
Simon drew a simple magic circle before the heart. It was simple. This magic circle was just a 'button'.
Simon chanted the spell.
{Summon Lich}
Then, he activated the magic circle.
Grooooooooooooooosh!
The countless interlocking elements began to turn like gears. The heart began to beat, and the bands rotated.
Then, the completed skeleton began to move on its own, picking up its own heart.
Prince stepped back in surprise.
[Huh? What's going on?]
[Kuhehe. Just watch!]
The skeleton then opened its rib cage and carefully placed the heart at its center.
Ba-thump! Ba-thump! Ba-thump!
The heartbeat reverberated across the underground ruins like a powerful drum, and mana was pulled into the two rotating bands.
As mana flowed along the bands like veins, it turned black the moment it passed through the third band and the heart.
'It worked!'
The conversion of mana to jet-black has been done.
The transformed jet-black enveloped the crystal skeleton's entire body, allowing it to stand on its legs and move its arms more freely.
Finally, when the jet-black reached the magic circle drawn on the skull…
Fwish!
A 'spirit' now inhabited this lich.
[Mm.]
A human voice came from the magic circle on the skull.
[Huh?]
The skeleton creaked as it moved its crystalized body. Then, it tilted its skull and looked at Simon.
'…!'
Simon was so nervous that he just stared straight ahead while trembling. The lich's lower jaw then opened, and it spoke.
[I see, so you're my creator?]
——
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