The Summoning Genius of the Necromancer School

The next name called was Hector.

Maylin leaned back with a pout, clearly disappointed, while Hector slowly stood up from his seat.

Just like in the first class, Simon and Hector faced each other.

The assistant placed a skeleton set in front of them.

"There are about 10 minutes left until the class ends," Aaron said, checking his wristwatch.

He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a cheap necklace, hanging it around the neck of a skull model placed at the front of the classroom.

"Use the skeleton to get this necklace. Whoever has the necklace when the class ends wins. You are not allowed to move yourselves or use other dark magic, but any other actions are permitted. Now, get ready."

Aaron extended his arm.

The two lowered their stances.

"Begin."

Simon and Hector simultaneously knelt in front of their skeleton sets.

'I can do this!' Simon thought, his eyes shining as he took out the skull. 'I can win this class!'

Simon poured his dark energy into the magic circle inside the skull, awakening the undead.

The skull, now flickering with a dark light in its eye sockets, made a rattling sound as if it were alive.

'Let's assemble the spine in one go.

From the second to the seventh...'

Simon looked up at the blackboard.

But then.

"......!"

The assistant, looking apologetic, was taking down the bone structure diagram from the board.

Aaron spoke, "Cheating is not allowed in this match."

Simon bit his lip.

Hector also seemed flustered, his pupils shaking, but he quickly turned back to his skeleton set.

Simon steadied his mind and picked up a bone.

'The bones have numbers on them.

I just need to assemble them in order from number one!'

However, no matter how much he examined the bones, there were no numbers written on them.

"The ones you used earlier were class materials. The assistants kindly wrote the numbers on them. Skeleton sets sold in the market don't have numbers conveniently marked on them," Aaron's calm voice echoed.

"I told you, didn't I? Every necromancer should know this."

It felt like the sky was falling.

Simon glanced sideways at Hector.

Having already completed all the preliminary studies, Hector was assembling the bones without hesitation, as if he had memorized the order and structure of the Island Ratman's bones.

'......

Don't give up.

I've assembled one before, so I should remember the order of the important bones.'

Simon found the second cervical vertebra and began assembling it step by step.

Aaron watched with his arms crossed.

'Special student number one is touching a skeleton for the first time.'

He turned his head to look at Hector.

'In contrast, that big guy has memorized the order and structure.

He's relying on knowledge and memory to assemble it.'

Aaron had his reasons for covering the bone structure diagram and not providing bone numbers from the first class.

Of course, this meant that the side with preliminary study would have an overwhelming advantage, but Aaron's interest wasn't in who would win.

His goal was to find a student with a sense for summoning.

'Was it Hector? He has a sense.'

Though his knowledge from preliminary study was the foundation, avoiding mistakes at crucial moments was due to his intuition.

When faced with two confusing choices, he had a very high probability of picking the right one.

'In contrast, special student number one is.......'

He was struggling from the start.

The order of the important core bones was wrong, causing the overall assembly balance to shake.

Seeing him randomly swapping bones, it seemed his mental state was half gone.

While Aaron didn't particularly favor preliminary study, if one's skills were lacking, at least their preparation should be good.

'The only one worth noting in this class is Hector.'

Click.

Hector's skeleton, having completed both legs, stood upright.

Applause erupted from various places.

Especially the four who claimed to be his faction stood up and chanted Hector's name.

'I'm going to win.'

Hector began assembling the arms, glancing sideways at Simon.

The guy was stuck on assembling the torso, completely panicked.

'And since I'm going to win, I'll thoroughly crush him so he can't get up again.'

Hector finished assembling the right arm.

He could have gone straight to get the necklace, but he leisurely assembled the left arm as well.

'I need to make him a laughingstock in the class.

I need to break his confidence from the special admission and bring him down to the ground.'

In an instant, he finished the left arm as well.

Hector had completed a skeleton without even looking at the diagram.

Hector's skeleton began to move.

It was a bit shaky, but it was definitely taking steps forward.

The skeleton circled around Simon, as if mocking him, and then picked up the necklace hanging on the model, putting it around its own neck.

Hector raised his muscular right arm high.

Simultaneously, his skeleton mimicked the gesture, raising its right arm high.

The students sitting down burst into laughter.

"Five minutes left," Aaron's cold voice was heard.

"......."

Simon was still struggling with assembling the torso.

Was it because he was nervous, or because he was conscious of his opponent? The order of bones he thought he remembered seemed to evaporate from his mind.

'Stay calm.'

Simon put down the bones he was holding.

When he couldn't recall the order or numbers of the bones he learned in class, Simon used his instincts, or intuition, to piece them together.

As a result, knowledge and intuition clashed and tangled, stirring his mind.

So Simon decided to give up.

Unless one had a genius-level memory, it was impossible to memorize the detailed order of all the bones from just one class.

So, he decided to abandon the knowledge he learned in class.

'This time, I'll assemble it just by following my instincts, the way I want.'

Simon knocked over the skeleton he was assembling with his arm, breaking it apart.

Surprised voices erupted from various places.

"Did he give up?"

"He has no skill, no perseverance."

"How is he special student number one?"

Simon paid no attention to such voices.

He didn't want to leave any regrets by the end of the given time.

He picked up the number one skull.

And in that brief moment, the common sense and habits formed shouted at him to pick up the number two cervical vertebra.

'The way I want!'

Simon ignored it and connected the number five, seven, and ten bones to the skull in succession.

"Didn't he get it wrong from the start?"

"It's over."

Simon gritted his teeth.

There was no need to create the 'correct answer.' Whatever Professor Aaron's demand was, as long as he could make the skeleton stand and get the necklace, it was enough.

'There's no time.

I'll boldly discard the difficult structures and simplify them.'

'Make the front legs centered around number twenty.'

'Number twenty-seven is crucial, so I can't leave it out.

Instead, I'll include number twenty-nine.'

Aaron, who had been silently watching Simon's work, widened his eyes.

'This is......!'

What Simon was creating wasn't an Island Ratman that walked on two legs.

It was a four-legged creature with its two arms and legs on the ground.

'Impossible.

Ridiculous.

But......!'

There's no doubt.

It closely resembles the bone structure of the large rat monster 'Gray Rat,' known to be found in the western continent's major cities.

It's essentially in the same biological classification category and is known as the form before the Island Ratman evolves.

'Assembling the bones differently to recreate the pre-evolution form of the Ratman?'

Of course, the anatomical features, ecology, and internal organs are distinctly different, so it's impossible to create an exact Gray Rat.

But what he's creating now is an 'undead,' far removed from the common sense of living creatures.

Whether the bones fit well or not, it's possible to move them with dark magic.

'He connected the number forty-nine tailbone to the chest.

It looks plausible.'

'How does he know that numbers eleven and sixteen are compatible?'

'He's not understanding it through concepts and knowledge, but intuitively perceiving it?'

What was being created before Aaron's eyes was a defective product, far from the correct answer he had presented.

Nevertheless.

Aaron felt a thrill as vast as the ocean.

'Something's strange.'

Meanwhile, Hector also sensed that something was unusual about Simon.

Simon’s creation, with its two arms and legs on the ground and its upper body lowered, couldn't be called an Island Ratman.

It was a bizarre skeleton.

But it was clear that something was being created.

"Well done, Simon!"

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

"The shape is there! I don't know what it is, but just finish it like that!"

Before anyone knew it, Dick also stood up and shouted.

Other students watched Simon's creation with tense expressions.

Even Maylin, the top of Class A, was half-standing.

Hector bit his lip.

I was the one who completed the product.

I did it in the shortest time, without even looking at the diagram.

I'm the protagonist.

But why is no one looking at me?

Hector grew anxious.

Just like in the first class.

'Are you just going to watch?'

Hector commanded his skeleton.

Aaron had only forbidden them from moving themselves or using other dark magic, allowing any other actions.

Hector's skeleton began to run towards Simon.

Simon seemed unaware, focused on his assembly, and amidst the noisy shouts, cries of "Watch out!" erupted.

Bang!

In the end.

Hector's skeleton kicked Simon's skeleton, shattering it.

The torso crumbled, and bone fragments scattered into the air.

Students stood up, covering their mouths.

'I won.

Simon Polentia!'

Hector smiled victoriously, sweating profusely.

But.

'......

Why?'

Simon, as if he knew all along, was smiling with his arm outstretched.

Something was wrong.

Time seemed to slow down endlessly, and Hector's pupils moved in the direction Simon's right arm was pointing.

Among the bones that flew from the kick, he saw an arm bone flying in an arc.

As it flew past Hector's skeleton, it performed a simple action, but a very precise single action.

Rustle.

The arm grabbed the necklace the skeleton was wearing and pulled it off.

Then it fell to the ground as if it had lost its strength.

Everyone's mouths dropped open.

And simultaneously.

Ding-dong—

The clear sound of the bell announcing the end of the class rang out.

"......."

A deep silence filled the classroom.

No one could open their mouths.

Even Aaron was staring blankly at the arm of the skeleton that had fallen to the floor, clutching the necklace.

"This, this isn't right!" Hector shouted desperately.

"Professor Aaron! You said to get the necklace with the skeleton! That's just a meaningless bone fragment, not a skeleton or anything!"

A small laugh was heard.

Everyone's gaze turned to where the laughter came from.

Simon, sitting on the floor drenched in sweat, looked up and stared straight at Hector.

"I don't think so."

Whoosh!

The arm bone holding the necklace flew like a magnet and collided with the collapsed torso.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

The bone fragments scattered on the floor began to attach themselves to the fallen skeleton's torso.

The skeleton staggered, stood up, and perfectly recreated its pre-destruction form.

Hector's pupils shook in disbelief.

The skeleton, holding the necklace, approached Simon.

Then it stood on two legs and placed the necklace around Simon's neck.

Simon smiled as he looked at Hector, who wore a face as if he had swallowed something bitter.

"Is this enough?"

Without anyone leading, a fierce cheer erupted in the lecture hall.