The Summoning Genius of the Necromancer School

As the students gathered and lined up, the assistants approached.

They placed plain, unadorned white bracelets on each student's arm.

When Simon moved his arm, he found it quite heavy.

"Channel your dark energy into the bracelet," Hong Peng instructed.

Without much suspicion, the students did as they were told.

"Ugh!"

"What is this?"

Suddenly, the students' bodies bent downwards.

"You all know the Exhaust Curse, right?" Hong Peng smiled, hands on her hips.

"The next course is over there."

She pointed to the steep hill the students had just descended.

An assistant stood at the top, waving a flag.

"You have to climb to the top of the hill with the Exhaust Curse on you."

The students' faces turned pale.

"Wow, hold on a second..."

"Isn't this a bit too much?"

But no one dared to protest against the professor from Kizen.

Hong Peng chuckled.

"Get ready. I'll be checking who falls behind."

Realizing the situation, the students stood at the starting line with tense faces.

Simon, following behind, was already sweating.

Just reaching the starting line with the curse was tough, and he worried if he could even climb that steep hill.

"Alright, then go!" At Hong Peng's shout, all the students of Class A rushed forward.

At first, everyone tried to maintain their dignity despite the heavy curse, but as the slope increased in the middle, there was no choice.

Both commoners and nobles had to crawl on the dirt.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

"Argh!"

Painful breaths and groans erupted everywhere.

Their bodies became dirty with soil, but with Hong Peng and the assistants watching, they had no choice but to move forward.

"Huff...!"

Simon, with hands bleeding from being scraped by rocks, pushed himself a bit further.

Each step was heavy.

His vision spun, and the sky turned yellow.

"I must do this."

Forget about advanced learning progress; this was purely about physical strength and willpower.

Falling behind peers here meant never catching up in the future.

Simon, even when others rested, squeezed out every bit of strength to climb.

He created his own pace and refused to compromise in maintaining it.

Tremble.

His arms shook beyond his brain's control, but Simon forced them to move.

The summit was in sight.

The assistant and Hong Peng stood where the flag fluttered, marking the destination.

"Just a bit more!" Simon was in the lead.

Though not far ahead of Dick and the others, he was certainly ahead of the other Class A students.

And beside him, another person.

Hector was climbing the hill at almost the same pace as Simon.

"... Damn, it's you again."

Hector gritted his teeth, looking at Simon.

It was annoying.

From the first class, Simon kept catching his eye.

Even though Hector was climbing by reducing the curse's effect in his own way, Simon was keeping up with him without any tricks.

His pride wouldn't allow him to lose.

Hector also exploded with determination.

As the flag drew nearer, the hill's slope became steeper.

The two, ranked first and second, widened the gap with those below, raising their pace.

"Keep it up!" Hong Peng shouted, clenching her fist.

The assistant clapped in encouragement.

"I'm first!"

Just as Simon and Hector stretched out their arms.

Step.

Someone walked over their arms.

Unlike the two, who were covered in dirt, a girl with sky-blue hair passed by gracefully, her skirt fluttering.

Class A's top student, Meilin Villain.

She was the first to reach the summit.

"Congratulations. You're the top student."

"Thank you, professor."

The assistant beside her checked her name on the list.

Simon and Hector, stunned, paused for a moment.

"How did you do it?" Hong Peng asked, and Meilin looked up to answer.

"I calculated the resistance formula and dispelled the curse to climb."

Hearing that, Simon felt as if he'd been struck by a hammer.

There was a way to climb by dispelling the curse instead of struggling with strength!

"Well done. Let's take a break."

Meilin received a drink from the assistant and sat under the shade of a tree.

Once again, she was first.

"Professor Hong Peng!" At that moment, an assistant came up from below the hill.

"We have an injured student! It seems like a slight ankle injury."

"I'll go check."

She glanced at Simon and Hector before following the assistant down the hill.

"... Ha, this is ridiculous."

As soon as Hong Peng disappeared, Hector, who had completely dispelled the curse, stood up.

Simon's eyes widened in surprise.

Step by step, Hector walked up the hill and reached the summit.

Placing second, he received a drink and looked at Meilin.

"Hey."

She turned her head.

"What's with dispelling the curse and climbing in the magic class? Do you think I struggled because I couldn't do that?"

"Whatever."

Meilin snorted dismissively.

Hector smirked.

"Well, what would a lady who's lived in an ivory tower know about the world?"

"..."

This time, her eyebrows twitched.

"Are you picking a fight?"

"I'm stating a fact. During the student protection period, grades can't be evaluated anyway. The key is to appeal to the professor with diligent class participation. Your foolish act just now might have caught Professor Hong Peng's attention, but it won't earn you any points."

Her gaze turned fierce.

"Your personality is twisted. Why are you causing trouble for someone who's minding their own business? Are you that upset about coming in second?"

"I'm telling you not to ruin Class A's lessons. And just so you know, you're not even on my radar."

Hector said, turning his head.

Just then, Simon was struggling to climb up to the summit.

The assistant smiled and handed him a drink.

"Student Simon Polentia. You're third."

"Th-thank you."

Exhausted, Simon staggered and collapsed under the shade of a tree, gulping down the drink.

"..."

Meilin and Hector's gazes lingered on him for a moment.

The three of them caught their breath in silence under the tree's shade for a while.

As time passed, students gradually reached the summit.

Those who struggled to climb the hill due to lack of stamina began to ascend as the curse's effect slowly diminished over time.

"I feel like I'm dying, Simon."

Dick, who also reached the summit with a fairly high rank, soon joined the group of students vomiting in the distance.

Simon went over to pat his back.

Except for a few who showed signs of exhaustion and fell behind, everyone made it to the top, but the fatigue from this class was immense.

As all the students lay down, unable to move a finger, Simon felt overwhelmed at the thought of how to return to Kizen.

If they rode the hippo again, about half of Class A might fall behind.

Fortunately, Hong Peng contacted Kizen and got permission to use a temporary teleportation magic circle.

"Wow!"

A magic circle unfolded at the class location, and just stepping on it would take them to Kizen.

The servants who brought the meal also arrived using this method.

The students sighed in relief and headed to Kizen via the magic circle.

Simon, waiting in line with Dick, stepped onto the magic circle.

Buzz! The dark light emitted from the magic circle enveloped Simon's body.

As his feet began to lift, signaling the start of the teleportation.

Thunk! He felt something block him.

Simon felt the pain of hitting a wall and fell to the ground.

"... Huh?"

When he looked up, the surroundings had changed.

Dick, who had stepped on the magic circle with him, was nowhere to be seen, and Simon found himself alone in a small cabin.

"This isn't Kizen... is it?" Simon stood up.

The cozy atmosphere reminded him of the house he used to live in at Reshill, but this place was smaller and wilder.

The walls and floor retained the rough grain of unprocessed wood, with a hammock instead of a bed, and animal fur instead of a carpet.

On one wall, salted game was drying in the sunlight.

Click.

The cabin door opened, and a tall woman entered.

"Sorry for the surprise, Simon."

"Professor Hong Peng!"

She smiled and offered him a seat.

Simon, bewildered, sat down, and she served tea.

Then she briefly explained the situation.

There was a suspicious formula in the teleportation magic circle, and when she had the assistants investigate, they found a formula that reacted to a specific person's dark energy, sending them elsewhere.

The target of that formula was Simon.

"Do you have any idea who might do such a thing?"

Simon shook his head, having no clue.

Hong Peng made a thoughtful sound and crossed her arms.

Unlike Simon, she seemed to have an idea.

"So I interfered with the magic circle and redirected the coordinates to my home."

"Oh..."

"Protecting students from unknown threats is also my role. And," her eyes sparkled, "I wanted to talk to you alone, Simon."

"... Me?"

"It's against the rules to contact students during the protection period, but it seems someone has already broken that rule."

Her usually smiling face turned slightly serious.

"Simon Polentia. How about majoring in magic studies?"

Simon's pupils widened, and she continued.

"If you want, I'm willing to accept you as my disciple."

"... Ah!"

A direct disciple.

It refers to students whom Kizen professors personally take responsibility for and nurture.

A professor can have three direct disciples per year, and a student can only receive guidance from one direct professor.

The benefits of becoming a direct disciple at Kizen are countless.

Above all, the professor takes absolute responsibility and provides one-on-one guidance, so everyone wants to become a direct disciple.

Professors also approach the selection of direct disciples very carefully, as it is directly related to their achievements and there is a limit on the number of students.

Yet Hong Peng was offering to make Simon her direct disciple from the first day of class.

"I don't quite understand."

Simon was a bit flustered.

Of course, Hong Peng's offer was incredibly flattering and grateful, but Simon felt he hadn't shown much in this first class.

He was just following along like other students, and at the end, he was outdone by Meilin and Hector in climbing the summit.

Moreover, it was only the second day of admission.

Hong Peng would meet many more students in the future, yet she chose him.

Regardless of whether he liked it or not, he couldn't quite grasp the situation.

"Students may look at rankings, but I see talent."

Hong Peng took a sip of tea and continued.

"When you leaped over the valley earlier, the way you bounced your dark energy. It was your first time, right?"

How did she know? Simon was surprised internally and nodded.

"Even so, your leap was the best in Class A. This isn't just about talent or coincidence. And with the climb to the summit, you've proven your stamina and endurance. Do you need more praise?"

"..."

Simon swallowed dryly.

It was still hard to believe, but he couldn't deny the words of a Kizen professor who spoke so confidently.

"With that stamina, that mentality, and above all, your incredible talent in dark energy. If you come to magic studies, you'll blossom into the greatest talent."

Hong Peng's face, with her fingers interlocked, became intensely serious.

Her pronunciation in the continental language became much clearer.

"In a few years, I'll make you strong enough to surpass me, no, stronger than anyone."