REAPER SCANS
Necromancer Academy's Genius Summoner
[Translator - Ramen]
[Proofreader - Artethrax]
Chapter 483
The infamous subject registration season at Kizen had begun.
Four hundred students scattered and dashed across the campus, looking like grains of sand from a distance.
Although everyone started at the same point, most students wouldn't have been able to plan out their every move.
In fact, Simon was in just as urgent a position as others.
'The most competitive one is Professor Jane's Mechanics of Jet-Black. I need to get to Professor Bahil and back as quickly as possible.'
Just then, Simon's head jerked up.
A massive kitchen-knife-like shape was suddenly falling from the sky.
Thuuuk!!
As it crashed down, the sandy ground was scattered in every direction.
Twisting his body mid-jump to avoid it, Simon landed on the ground.
"Another one?!"
In front of him, a monster with a metallic gray sheen across its entire body was growling.
When Simon raised his hand, bone fragments came out of his subspace and floated into the air, clicking together to form a spear.
{Bone Spear}
The Bone Spear shot off like lightning in the direction Simon pointed, stabbing into the chest of the monster.
Ting!
However, it simply bounced off.
'What the…?'
It wasn't like this at first.
It began with just ordinary, danger level three monsters lurking across the second-year campus.
And, of course, attacks worked on them.
But the closer he got to the Curses department building, the more he encountered these gray monsters that were immune to attacks.
Simon quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding the claws of a beast with that same gray sheen.
{Bone Armor - Gauntlet Mode}
As Simon recalled the Bone Spear, it disassembled and wrapped around his right arm in a picturesque pattern.
Then, he swung his armored fist straight toward the back of the monster's head.
"Huh??"
But this time, his fist passed through the monster's body as if it were a ghost.
All he got from the exchange was a kick to the chest from the monster.
[Barrier Gauge: 91%]
Simon clicked his tongue and retreated.
He couldn't inflict any damage, but the monster could attack the suit he was wearing.
It wasn't like he could just ignore the damage, either, since if the barrier gauge hit 0%, he'd be unable to move for thirty minutes.
Left with no other choice, Simon ran without engaging the monsters.
[Kuhehehehe! You seem to be struggling, huh, Boy!]
A familiar voice echoed in Simon's mind.
When Simon looked down, the skull-shaped badge on his uniform shimmered with dark-blue light.
'Pier!'
Simon's face lightened in relief, happy to hear from the skeleton.
'It's been a while since you came to watch!'
[Indeed. I've been busy figuring out how to repair Karl, who's still a complete mess! Other than that…]
The badge's eyes shifted.
[I've seen this test before!]
Simon quickly stopped and stepped back.
A gray monster's huge arm slammed into the ground in front of him.
[Think about where you are, Boy!]
Dodging the monsters' attacks, Simon asked,
'Where I am?'
[Indeed! Richard could figure it out in just twenty minutes.]
Simon frowned, perhaps even sulking.
'Are you comparing me to my father again?'
[Kuhahahaha!]
For now, getting to Bahil's lab was more urgent than figuring out how to destroy those monsters. If possible, avoiding them was the best course of action.
'At least all that observing the campus from the student council office is coming in handy.'
Fortunately, the student council building was located in the middle of the second-year campus. The view was great, so Simon often looked out while working, meaning he now had a perfect map of the campus in his head.
'And the route Rick taught me!'
Simon ducked out of the way of another attack, then swiftly darted into an alley between buildings. He saw the two monsters chasing him crashing into each other.
'I can do this!'
As Simon came out from the alley into an open area…
Fshiiing!
A card on the ground sparkled with light. Simon's eyes widened as he realized he'd made a mistake.
'One of Endolas Vaudeville's cards!'
The light from the card wrapped around Simon. Soon, a barrier wall formed, encircling him like the 'ring' of an arena.
There was no escape. He was entering one of the worlds inside the cards he'd seen in the BDMAT.
Moments later, a monster appeared in front of Simon.
It had that same gray sheen as the monsters from the campus. It walked on two legs like a human, had an overly muscular upper body compared to its thin lower body, and blades were attached to its arms.
'I assume I have to defeat that thing to get out of here?'
The monster charged in, swinging its bladed arms in a straight slash.
Swiiish!
Simon pretended to hold his ground and guard, then dodged to the side.
The monster's arms narrowly missed Simon, and Simon's own raised fist shimmered with jet-black.
{Hong Feng Original - Drum Beating}
Swiiish!
As expected, combat dark magic didn't work. Once again, Simon's fist simply passed through the monster's body.
'Stay calm. Don't just keep trying to fight, analyze the situation.'
Simon narrowed his eyes.
'This isn't real. Both this barrier and the monsters were artificially created for the subject registration season. What's the examiner's intention?'
The examiner's intention… Once he considered that, a brilliant thought flashed through his head. Simon was going to Bahil, and he was near the Curses department building…
He pointed at the monster.
{Exhaust}
The Exhaust shot out from his fingertip and struck the monster. Unlike other attacks, which it reflected or absorbed, the curse was working.
"I knew it. So this was it."
This wasn't just about subject registration. The monsters created by the Necromancer of Cards, Endolas, were testing whether students were worthy of taking the classes or not.
Simon jumped off the ground, dodging the monster's attack. Even after landing the Exhaust curse, the monster showed no signs of slowing down.
'This curse isn't the right answer. I need to use the most effective curse to take down that monster!'
Simon's eyes moved to the monster's frail legs. The corners of his lips went up, and he conjured a magic circle with his right hand.
"Humans are creatures with a precarious sense of balance, standing up on their hind legs and walking with their backs straight. Just falling over makes most of their actions impossible."
The curse that students frequently used during their first-year Duel Evaluations.
It was a skill Bahil himself devised for the terrified first-years during their first duels, a curse that targeted specific areas like the legs to make opponents trip.
{Heavy Foot}
Simon's curse shot toward the monster's legs like lightning and swayed around its legs. Unaware of this, the monster reached its arms to grab Simon, and…
Thunk!
Like a falling tree, it collapsed to the ground.
'The problem is the monster, and the answer is the curse.'
And when Simon cast the correct curse, a green mark finally appeared on the back of the fallen monster's neck. Simon immediately threw a Bone Spear toward it.
Pshkl!
It pierced through the skin perfectly.
The monster shattered like glass, and the barrier surrounding Simon disappeared, too.
[Kuhehehe! You've figured it out at almost the same time as Richard, Boy!]
Simon let out a light sigh and smiled faintly.
"If you actually timed it, I think I would've been a bit faster than my father."
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Ramen
Proofreader - Artethrax
Join our discord for updates on releases!
* * *
Kizen's subject registration rules changed or were updated every year.
And this year's subject registration, as Simon had discovered, required students to use only the skills and knowledge of the subject to overcome monsters and traps.
"Help me neutralize this!"
"Move!"
Students registering for the Poisonous Alchemy class had to pass through areas swarming with all sorts of venomous monsters.
They had to counter the monsters with opposing poisons or neutralize themselves while crossing poisonous swamps.
If they triggered a card trap, a more specific mission was assigned. For example, they'd find a person collapsed inside the card and had to identify the poison affecting them before neutralizing it to escape the barrier.
Similarly, around the building of the Necromancy department, there were monsters vulnerable only to spirit-based skills, while in the Hemomancy department, there were monsters that could only be defeated using blood.
The students were overwhelmed by the difficulty, which was much higher than they had expected.
"Ugh, fucking second year! It's so tough already!"
Meilyn swung her arm wildly, casting jet-black flame magic. Large ice monsters were melted by the flames she conjured, but it had no effect on the creature behind them, which was made entirely of water.
"Stupid commoner, you're up!"
"Leave it to me!"
Rick pressed a button firmly. The jet-black trap he set in advance activated, sending high-voltage currents through the ground, causing the water-based monster to stumble and collapse.
"We did it!"
Shouted Camibarez, who blew away monsters with jet-black wind magic.
Soon, the barrier faded, revealing the Kizen campus once again.
"Woah, this is way tougher than the information I had! Teamwork is almost essential."
Rick wiped the sweat from his forehead. Meilyn turned her head to look at the buildings behind them,
"Do you think Simon is okay?"
"Are you worried?"
Teased Rick, and Meilyn let out an "Ugh!!" with a reddened face.
"I-It's only natural to worry about a friend! Why is your tone so impure?"
"What are you talking about? My question was entirely pure, and you got worked up for no rea— Agh! Ahh! Stop pulling my hair!"
"Now isn't the time to fight among ourselves!"
Camibarez intervened in the middle, stopping the two of them.
"If it's Simon, he'll definitely show up! He's great with curses, and he has a skeleton mage, so he can definitely handle the mechanics of a jet-black mission that requires using magic of an opposing element!"
Rick scratched his head.
"You know the Curses route I told Simon about…?"
"Yes?"
"It is the fastest route, but logically speaking, wouldn't it be full of traps?"
"…"
The two girls' faces stiffened slightly, but Camibarez quickly regained her relaxed face.
"I still believe he can do it."
"Whew, you sound so confident! Why do you think that?"
Camibarez smiled brightly.
"Because Simon is Kizen's student council president!"
* * *
Pant! Pant!
Simon was running, breathing heavily.
'This test wasn't about who arrived the fastest!'
The difficulty was higher than expected.
It was clear that other second-years were struggling, too. As long as his barrier gauge didn't hit 0%, which would earn him a 'thirty-minute penalty', Simon figured going slowly may not be a bad strategy.
At this point, Simon had been caught in the trap of a second card.
A barrier surrounded him like a duel ring, and coming toward him were three gray monsters.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
One monster opened its mouth and let out a bizarre shriek. Each time it did, Simon felt a jarring shock through his skull.
'Good thing I brought my first-year Curses textbook.'
Simon held the textbook in his left hand while drawing a magic circle with his right. He had briefly forgotten the formula, so he reviewed it on the spot.
'This is it!'
Finally completing the formula, Simon raised his finger.
{Silence}
The Silence curse. It stretched out like a trail of smoke and hit the screeching monster. The sound no longer escaped the monster's throat.
"That's better!"
Simon finished off the silenced monster, whose weak point had been exposed, with a Bone Spear.
As he reviewed the curses he had learned in his first year, Simon felt this was time spent well on its own. Cruel as it might be, Kizen was still the best educational institution.
'Next.'
Simon looked up at the monster spewing flames in the air. It had large wings and, most notably, oversized ears that resembled a human's.
'For that type of creature, this curse works perfectly.'
As Simon quickly prepared the curse…
"It's original! It's great!"
Suddenly, a man's voice echoed in his head.
"It's because he didn't do any prior studies! Because his thoughts were pure white paper that hadn't been stained by the ink of formulas and modifications! That's how he can come up with such a unique idea!"
"The Motion Sickness curse, of course, has to be made with the vibration formula! But this thinking just means that your brain is contaminated with tradition!"
Back in Curses class, when Hector's faction mocked him about things like how the S.A.1 didn't even know vibration formulas, Bahil had given him those praises.
'…That suddenly came to mind.'
Simon raised his index finger.
{Motion Sickness}
The curse flew and struck the monster's body.
Its effect was powerful. The monster's flight started to wobble, and it then crashed to the ground on its own.
'As expected, the answer was Motion Sickness. Then, now there's just one left!'
It was the trickiest one.
An undead. It was a monster that fed on his own flesh by tearing it apart. It was growing stronger with each bite, even as it writhed in agony.
Weakening curses like Exhaust had no effect.
'What curse could be the answer for this monst—?'
"This is a set of curses I developed just for you."
Once again, a memory played out in Simon's mind on its own.
"You won't find them in any other books. They're one-of-a-kind curses."
"Isn't it the nature of an educator to want to teach when there's a brilliant student? Let's just call it the attachment of a teacher. You're a student, so your job is to learn whatever you can. If teachers wish to help you learn more, you just need to learn to accept it."
Simon bit his lip and completed another curse.
Bahil had prepared the four great curses just for Simon to help him master Compellonia.
And the first of them…
{Indolence}
The curse of painlessness, Indolence, struck the monster's body.
The monster, which had been alternating between devouring its own flesh and attacking Simon, dropped its weapon the moment Indolence took effect and began ravenously tearing apart its own body.
Soon, it devoured even its own heart and destroyed itself.
Ssshhh…
The barrier disappeared, and Simon returned to the Kizen campus.
"Phew."
Simon raised his head with an uneasy feeling.
The building of the Curses department, where Bahil was waiting, stood before him.
'Wh-What should I say when I meet him?'
——
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