Chapter 14

The Necromancer School's Summoning Genius Chapter 14

The next morning, Simon's new day at Kizen began.

Today, three classes were scheduled.

The first class, Dark Studies, was taught by Professor Eric Aura, a middle-aged man.

He had ideally placed wrinkles, a neat beard, and a dignified appearance that matched well with his suit, exuding a relaxed demeanor that came with age.

Everyone felt a sense of goodwill towards him.

"Darkness is the foundation of a necromancer. It cannot be emphasized enough."

Eric skillfully guided the students.

His explanations were easy to understand and stuck in their minds.

Although it lacked the flashy techniques of Curse Studies' Bahil, the class itself was clean and straightforward.

Before they knew it, all of Class A was engrossed in Eric's lecture.

How does darkness create the miracle known as black magic? The flow of darkness.

Understanding runes.

The workings of magic circles.

"The origin of runes can be found in the 'Eternal Flame' of the Del Temple."

Eric didn't stop at simple theoretical explanations.

"People didn't question why the flame of the torch never extinguished. They considered doubting the miracle of the gods itself as blasphemous."

Sometimes, he brought in historical context to explain runes.

"Eventually, they noticed that the ashes falling from the torch formed shapes like 'letters.' And they were shocked to realize that mere letters could create miracles like the burning torch. This is the origin of runes."

Eric drew ancient runes on the blackboard and explained how the mages and necromancers who studied them improved the runes.

Then, he naturally transitioned to the interpretation of modern magic circles.

Why does this magic circle work? Why doesn't this one work? Eric carefully dissected the magic circles and explained them.

Meanwhile, Simon, who had been drawing magic circles without much thought using correction tools, finally began to understand a bit of their workings.

As Simon was frantically taking notes and keeping up with the class, the bell signaling the end of the class rang.

"We'll stop here for today," Eric announced the end of the class.

"There is an assignment for next time. Choose a non-functioning magic circle from what you've learned, and write down the correction methods, calculations, and formulas used to make it work, and submit it next time. The three students I call will present in front of the class."

Perhaps because Dark Studies was a mandatory major class, fortunately, Simon wasn't called to the front this time.

He cheered inwardly.

"Wow, this class is so hard."

Among the students noisily leaving the lecture hall, Dick stretched with a visibly tired expression.

"It feels like studying arithmetic with my dad back in the day. Can't we just memorize and use magic circles as usual? Why do we have to know every little detail about how they work?"

"I thought it was okay," Simon said, crossing his arms.

"I didn't understand half of it, but I liked how he explained the principles step by step."

"You just love everything about Kizen. You even scratched the soap in the bathhouse out of curiosity..."

Simon nudged Dick's chest with his elbow.

Although Dick staggered back with an 'ugh!' sound, he couldn't stop laughing once he started.

"Haha! You got scared seeing the bubbles in the bathhouse! Can I even go in here? Puhuh!"

"I'm going ahead," Simon replied sulkily and walked off first.

Dick quickly followed, saying it was just a joke.

Class A had to prepare for the next class without a break.

After a 20-minute walk, they arrived at the next class location, a barren field on the outskirts of Kizen.

"There's no one here?" "Oh, over there...!" As Class A students chatted while waiting, a cloud of dust rose from the forest.

Thud, thud, thud, thud! The ground shook as if an earthquake was happening.

What was approaching was none other than a herd of over a dozen hippos.

The students gasped and stepped back in surprise.

"Haha! Hello, freshmen!" A man riding on top of a hippo appeared.

With dark skin, thick lips, a slender body, and short limbs, he was barefoot and wore short clothes.

He skillfully stopped the hippos in front of the students and jumped down.

"Professor Hongpeng has decided that today's class will be at Lok Mountain! Everyone, get on the hippos!" The Martial Arts Professor 'Hongpeng Toon Sokum Marlat' was a well-known eccentric at Kizen.

Although Kizen provided her with a lab and residence, she wandered around Lok Island and camped out.

Because of her nature, most of the Martial Arts classes were outdoor classes.

"... Are we supposed to ride those?" A male student looked at the hippos with a disgusted expression.

"Hey, servant! Shouldn't you at least put a mat on those beasts?" The man who heard this smiled and approached the student.

And then, "Ah, ahhh!" He lifted the student by grabbing his face with one hand.

Surprised voices erupted from all around.

"W-what are you doing?" "How dare you to a Kizen student!" A sinister aura emanated from the man's innocent smile.

The students who were about to protest hesitated and stopped.

"Why are freshmen these days so clueless? You should call me a teaching assistant, not a servant."

The male student, finally understanding the situation, hurriedly shouted.

"Ahh! I'm sorry, senior!" If he was a teaching assistant, there was a high chance he was a senior who had attended Kizen.

Moreover, as someone who served closely with the professor, he was not someone a freshman could ignore.

"Not senior, but teaching assistant."

"I'm sorry, teaching assistant!"

Watching the commotion, Simon shook his head.

"Why are they like this?" "They're nobles," Dick shrugged and replied.

"They grew up pampered like greenhouse flowers, so they still have the habit of treating people like their servants. This kind of thing will happen frequently until the beginning of the semester."

Simon nodded at the all-too-convincing explanation.

After a while, the teaching assistant, back to his innocent face, waved his arms and said, "We've been delayed a bit. Everyone, please get on the hippos! Up to three people can ride one hippo!" The students quickly climbed onto the hippos with more agile movements.

Simon skillfully got on in one go, and Dick, after slipping several times, finally managed to get on with difficulty.

"Phew, the class hasn't even started, and it's already tough."

Behind Dick, who was wiping his sweat with his sleeve, Simon noticed a female student struggling and jumping in place.

"Is everyone on? Then let's depart!" At the teaching assistant's words, the female student looked panicked.

Simon willingly extended his hand to her.

"Need help?" "Ah...! Thank you."

She approached with a face as if she had seen a savior and grabbed Simon's hand.

As Simon pulled her up with strength, her body was lifted like a paper doll and landed on the hippo's back in one go.

"Let's go!" As soon as the female student got on, the teaching assistant kicked the hippo's rear.

The leading hippo started running with a shout, and the rest of the hippos followed suit.

The girl, who had barely gotten on, sighed in relief and turned to Simon.

"Thank you for helping me! I'm...!" She tried to say something, but the conversation was cut off as the hippos suddenly picked up speed.

Other students, seemingly scared, clung tightly to the hippos' backs.

The sensation of vibration rising through their bodies, the ride wasn't very comfortable.

A student shouted desperately, "T-teaching assistant! I'm going to fall! What should I hold onto?" "Anything."

"It's too fast!" "Endure it with grit! This is also part of the training!" The teaching assistant, balancing with just his two legs, raised his right arm and said, "Of course, if you fall off and get trampled by the hippos, you'll die, right? They say there's always one or two accidents a year?" "... What?" The students doubted their ears.

"Hold on! Hold on! Kizen doesn't need students who can't even ride a hippo properly!" "Ahh, uwaah!" "Mommy!" "Hey, stop! Damn it, stop this thing!" "Hahahahaha!" It was a class of madness on the move.

Finally, they arrived at the class location.

Passing through densely grown trees, they reached a wide-open field in the middle of the mountain.

The sun was hanging in the center of the forest as if welcoming everyone, and the chirping of birds and the cries of insects flowed harmoniously like the music of a concert.

It was an incredibly beautiful place.

"Huff... huff... damn..."

"Ugh, huff..."

Of course, that is if the viewer is ready to appreciate the scenery.

All the students were sprawled on the field with exhausted faces.

The hippos had gone back down the mountain slope, and the teaching assistants were handing out water bottles to the collapsed students. 'What is this?' Simon tasted it and found it to be a very peculiar flavor.

A sweet drink with a slightly spicy aftertaste.

But as soon as he drank it, his thirst was quenched, and his fatigue was relieved.

Other students' expressions also gradually returned to normal.

Flap, flap, flap! This time, a flock of white birds flew over the students' heads.

Everyone blinked and watched the spectacle.

"Welcome to my main job, everyone!" Simon turned his head.

Beyond the flock of birds taking flight, a tall woman was walking towards them with her arms outstretched.

With healthy tanned brown skin and a muscular, toned body, her hair was styled in a unique way, twisted into several layers like ropes.

The students quickly stood up. 'That person is...' Hongpeng Toon Sokum Marlat.

She was a legendary necromancer who single-handedly faced the colossal undead monster 'Kundar Hydra,' which devastated four territories, and dramatically won by breaking 100 necks over five days.

After that battle, Hongpeng was scouted to Kizen and has been teaching Martial Arts there ever since.

Although eccentric, there was no doubt about her skills, and that was why the school turned a blind eye to her antics.

Flap! The forest birds flew and perched on her outstretched fingers.

"Then, everyone, please stand up."

She spoke with a slightly awkward accent, as if she wasn't entirely fluent in the common language.

"Form a line in four columns." "......?" As the students stood blankly, not understanding, Hongpeng's teaching assistants approached them familiarly and said, "Please form a line in four columns."

"Move quickly."

The students lined up with bewildered expressions.

Hongpeng stood at the front, and the teaching assistants positioned themselves on either side of the lined-up students.

"Then let's start."

But when will the class begin? Just as Simon was thinking that, Hongpeng started running forward.

The students at the front hurriedly followed her, and an unexpected running session began.

"A healthy mind resides in a healthy body! The basics of Martial Arts require strong physical strength!" Although her speech was awkward, as if she had just learned the continental language, her message was clear.

As she gradually increased her speed, the students at the front struggled to keep up.

And Simon, running in the third row, admired her as he observed her movements. 'Amazing.' He had never seen anyone run like that.

The angle of her feet when she stepped, the movement of her muscles, the sway of her shoulders and upper body.

It was so flawless it gave him goosebumps, like a picture.

Why did she feel like an alien from another dimension, even though they both had the same two arms and two legs? It was so ideal it felt alien.

"Huff! Huff!" "Huff! Huff!" While everyone was running frantically, Hongpeng slowed down her pace a bit and continued the class.

The basics, spirit, and significance of Martial Arts.

In summary, Martial Arts was a class where students learned combat techniques by extremely enhancing their bodies with darkness and using it to fight.

Once they reached a certain level of mastery, they could wear 'Black Robes,' where silk-like darkness flowed from their bodies to form the shape of clothing, a technique symbolic of battle necromancers.

Many male students had a longing for this technique, and it wasn't uncommon for them to choose Martial Arts as their major for the sake of the Black Robes.

"There are many trees. Be careful!" The running continued even in the terrain filled with dense trees and leaves.

The four-column formation broke down, and everyone started following Hongpeng in their own way, avoiding the trees.

While most were struggling to push through the bushes, some students were even jumping on the branches above.

All of them were Martial Arts aspirants, showcasing their skills as if they had been waiting for this moment.

A teaching assistant jumped onto a tree and gave them a thumbs-up.

The aspirants' expressions brightened.

"I'm envious of the Martial Arts kids. Tsk!" Dick grumbled, having been hit in the face by a tree trunk. 'Hmm.' Simon watched them closely.

A black magic specializing in physical combat, he felt quite intrigued.

"Huff! Huff! Hey, Simon! Are you okay?" Dick said with a flushed face.

Simon blinked and replied, "Huh? Oh, I'm fine."

"Huff! Huff! How do you have such stamina...! Cough, cough!" "Doesn't everyone do this kind of running?" Simon, who used to leap over the rugged southern mountains of Leshill like a neighborhood walking path, was perfectly at ease.

While even the teaching assistants were sweating profusely, Simon's expression remained utterly relaxed. 'This class is fun too!' As Simon, like a fish in water, enjoyed the rare physical class, Hongpeng watched him with shining eyes.