The Summoning Genius of the Necromancer School
After a long time, Simon found himself attending Aaron's summoning class again.
The topic of the day was 'Restoration'.
It was a lesson on breaking down the Island Ratman Skeleton they had created last time and restoring it again.
"The greatest advantage of a skeleton is its ability to restore itself."
Aaron, dressed in messy shorts with his frizzy hair, raised a finger.
Whoosh! Bang! The bones scattered around the classroom gathered in the air at an incredible speed.
Within seconds, the assembled skeleton landed gracefully on the floor and even bowed, prompting cheers and applause from the students all around.
"The principle of restoration is not difficult. Even if the skeleton's body is shattered by a strong impact, there remains residual darkness in the bones."
Aaron pulled out one of the skeleton's bones with his hand.
"By activating this darkness and maximizing the 'gravitational property' that seeks to return to its original form, we can restore it."
Then, as he relaxed his grip, the bone flew back and stuck to its original place like a magnet.
"Now, let's begin the practice."
Since the lesson was about restoration, Simon found himself well-prepared.
While other students practiced restoring the torso, arms, and legs separately, Simon succeeded in restoring the entire skeleton in one go.
Mei Lin and even Hector struggled with the restoration.
It was a realm of thorough talent that could not be reached with practice and training alone.
When it came to skeleton restoration, Simon stood out in Class A.
Thus, while Simon usually had to keep up with the class, he was now able to enjoy a rare moment of leisure.
After helping Dick and Kamibarez with their restorations, he had time left to doodle in his textbook.
"Hey, can you really play around like that?" Mei Lin grumbled, seemingly in a bad mood.
Instead of answering, Simon waved his hand in the air.
The bones scattered across the desk gradually came together, forming the skeleton's torso.
"...... Good job."
Mei Lin fell silent, her mouth agape.
Dick, sitting behind her, chuckled at the sight but quickly quieted down when he noticed the instructor passing by.
"Don't act all high and mighty just because you can restore well!" Mei Lin said, her competitive spirit flaring.
She was the type who needed to come in first in any class to feel satisfied.
"You said you would leave Kizen if you didn't surpass my summoning class score next month, right? If you think being in the same group means I’ll take it easy...!"
"Don't worry. I'll definitely surpass it."
Simon replied, resting his chin on his hand while flipping through the textbook.
She trembled her fists in frustration, but at least in this restoration class, she couldn't say anything to Simon.
"Sigh, if I had just solved problem 20, I would have scored in the 90s in summoning class..."
Hearing her mumble, Simon looked up.
"Problem 20 is the one on the last page, right?"
"Yeah."
"That one was easy."
Her brows furrowed. "...... Hey. Why are you suddenly acting all cocky? Are you better at summoning than me?"
"No."
"Then how did you solve problem 20? Did you use the formula?"
"I don't know about that."
That was absurd.
Problem 20 required applying the Theron formula.
Mei Lin, who got that problem wrong, had gone to Aaron to ask for the solution.
But Simon, who hadn’t even studied ahead, claimed to have solved it without knowing the Theron formula?
"What was your answer?"
"1,200,146."
Mei Lin's eyes widened.
The answer was '1,200,000', so it was practically correct.
"Hurry up and tell me! How did you solve it?!"
"I combined all the formulas I learned at Kizen as best as I could. Hmm, I can't remember exactly what the problem was, so I can't explain."
She bit her lip, thinking she would have to copy the problem later and solve it again.
As Mei Lin fell silent, Simon's attention returned to the textbook.
There were so many interesting topics in summoning class.
Just skimming through the new undead and dark magic he would be dealing with in the future made his heart race.
'I want to make a golem as soon as possible.
If I just buy the materials in Rochester, I could self-study, right?'
"Simon Polentia."
A voice suddenly pierced his ear, and Simon jumped in surprise, turning around.
"What are you doing?" Aaron was looking down at him with a fierce gaze.
Simon's face turned pale.
He had been caught slacking off! He was on a completely different page from the other students, leaving him with no room for excuses.
"Answer me."
Aaron asked in a cold voice.
He truly looked angry, so Simon decided to be honest.
"I was successful in restoration and was briefly looking over the next lesson."
"......"
Of course, Aaron knew.
Simon was the only student in the class who had succeeded in a complete restoration in under ten seconds.
But despite that, Aaron's expression was still very intimidating.
"Stay after class."
Aaron left those words behind as he turned away.
A deep fear enveloped Simon's body.
"Si, Simon... Did you get marked?" Dick muttered with a stiff face.
Mei Lin crossed her arms, pouting.
"I told you, didn't I? Can you really play around like that?"
Even as she said that, she seemed to be worried, glancing at Simon.
Of course, Simon couldn't hear the voices of his friends.
The summoning class ended.
It was time to have dinner and wrap up the day in the dormitory, but Simon had to stay in the classroom.
Worrying about what might happen in the empty classroom, Aaron approached Simon with his hands in his pockets.
"Follow me."
The two left the classroom.
Simon kept his head down, walking behind him.
'......
I should have just kept practicing restoration.'
Aaron didn't say a word.
It was clearly his fault, so he could accept any reprimand, but Aaron was treating Simon as if he were invisible.
This silence was even more torturous for Simon.
They passed the building and entered an empty lot surrounded by trees, a spacious area with no one around.
"There are a few things I can't stand."
Aaron pulled an old cigar from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
Flicking his finger, a spark flew, igniting the end of the cigar.
After taking a puff, Aaron's gaze turned serious.
Simon felt himself shrinking even more and lowered his head.
"Students who have the will but cannot learn in my class."
"...... Huh?"
"Bring out a skeleton."
What does that mean? Simon was confused but followed the instruction and summoned a skeleton from his spatial pocket.
"Try restoring it in front of me."
As Aaron flicked his finger with the hand holding the cigar, the skeleton flew apart with a bang.
As the connection broke, Simon felt a sharp headache and staggered, but reflexively stretched out his right arm.
'Restore!'
The bones that fell to the ground quickly gathered around the skull like a magnet, rapidly completing the skeleton.
"...... I see. I know you excel in restoration. Now, I will teach you advanced techniques of restoration."
Simon's eyes widened.
"Y-You’re not going to scold me?"
"This is an additional lesson."
Aaron said, placing the cigar between his fingers.
"Just to clarify, providing additional lessons to students who surpass the achievements of regular classes is also a professor's role."
Tears of joy welled up in Simon's eyes. "...... Professor Aaron!"
"Quickly get ready. Don’t waste my time."
"Y-Yes!"
With a brightened face, Simon focused his attention.
Aaron then summoned a skeleton from his spatial pocket.
'Wow.'
It was a skeleton that looked much larger and more intricate than Simon's.
The bones were black, and the variety of bones used was far beyond that of the Island Ratman.
It wore a red cloak on its back and carried various weapons.
"This skeleton is made from demon bones."
"Awesome!"
With a magnificent sword, splendid armor, and a beautiful horse, Simon, who was usually indifferent to treasures, felt an overwhelming desire for that skeleton.
"I won’t show it to you twice, so watch closely."
Aaron snapped his fingers, causing the skeleton to shatter.
Then he raised his arm and pointed to a nearby tree.
Rustle!
The bones scattered on the ground began to stir and then shot into the air.
Whoosh!
Hundreds of bones pierced through the tree like skewers.
"This is an attack technique using restoration. Bone Piercing."
Simon saw a squirrel that had been nibbling on fruit nearby suddenly get startled and run away.
Aaron's slender arm pointed at the squirrel.
Swish!
The bones that flew like rays of light surrounded the squirrel without leaving any gaps.
"This is a binding technique using restoration. Bone Prison."
When Aaron raised his index finger, the prison flew up and scattered, allowing the squirrel to escape.
"Lastly."
Aaron clenched his fist.
The bones of the skeleton that had been scattered in the air now shot toward Aaron's body.
Clang!
The bones covered Aaron's body, making it look as if he was putting on a suit made of bones.
The empty joints clicked into place, and the darkness flowed out from between the bones, blocking like fibers, while a red cloak settled on his back.
Finally, the skull of the skeleton covered Aaron's head like a helmet.
"This is a defensive technique using restoration. Bone Armor."
"Wow......!"
Simon trembled with a chilling thrill.
Aaron, clad in the skeleton, looked dazzlingly magnificent.
'So cool!'
Aaron extended his right arm.
The armor peeled off like a living garment, returning to the form of a kneeling skeleton.
"A skeleton can serve as a weapon, a prison, or armor, depending on the necromancer's capabilities. This is all dark magic applied through restoration. Do you understand?"
Simon nodded vigorously.
"Of course, these restoration techniques can only be learned in the second year, but... your achievements in restoration are exceptional. I’ll teach you a way to use it that you can apply with a little arrangement."
"Th-Thank you!"
"For now, the only technique you can mimic is Bone Piercing. Get ready."
Aaron observed Simon's restoration again and analyzed it.
"You’re expanding restoration around the skull."
"Yes."
"From this moment on, fix that habit. The key is to guide the skeleton to go in the desired direction. I’ll give you a tip."
Having had experience training his will with the help of Pier, Simon immediately understood Aaron's explanation.
'Gather in front of me!'
After several trials and errors, the scattered bones of the skeleton began to gather in front of Simon.
Of course, the speed at which the subsequent bones arrived depended on the speed of the skull, but just being able to restore from a distance was a significant achievement.
"Restoration and Bone Piercing are distinctly different. You’re just applying restoration power; think of it as a completely different technique."
"When summoning with restoration, develop the habit of tilting the bones sideways. That way, the sharp parts can dig into the enemy's flesh."
"You can concentrate the darkness remaining in the bones in one direction to make it sharp like a blade. For bones that don’t have a piercing part, just feel it attaching to the target's body. That alone can give the opponent a significant binding effect."
Simon absorbed Aaron's teachings like a sponge.
He then immediately moved on to practical training.
Clang!
The skeleton bones stuck to the nearby bamboo.
The sharp parts of the bones dug into the surface of the wood, while other bones stuck like magnets.
'Restore!'
As Simon clenched his fist, the bones tightened around the bamboo more and more.
And finally.
Crack!
He succeeded in breaking the bamboo.
"Yes!"
Simon clenched his fists in triumph, letting out a victorious shout.
He had acquired a new technique in just a few hours.
'Ah, I’m so happy!'
A tremendous sense of achievement made his whole body tremble.
This was truly an addictive sensation, like a drug.