The Summoning Genius of the Necromancer School
The Cyclops charged forward with a terrifying roar, its target clearly Mei Lin.
She stepped back, her face pale with fear.
"Come forth," Simon commanded, pulling an imaginary lever.
The ground opened up, and two skeletons sprang out.
"Advance!" The skeletons rushed forward at a frightening speed.
Seeing this, the Cyclops lifted the log it held in its hand.
The Cyclops was a monster that wielded tools, uprooting trees to swing them like clubs as its main attack method.
Boom! With a chilling sound, one skeleton shattered against the wooden club.
At the same time, another skeleton came in from the side and thrust its short sword.
Clang! It was indeed sturdy.
The sword passed through, leaving only a slight scratch on the skin.
Enraged, the Cyclops twisted its waist and swung the club again.
"In this situation, it's better to use just one," Simon gritted his teeth and extended his arm.
He focused all his mental energy solely on one skeleton's thoughts.
"Dodge!" Simon's absolute command rang out.
The skeleton immediately reacted, lowering its waist to avoid the club and swiftly darting to the side.
"Nice, Simon!" Dick's shout echoed.
Simon could control two undead at once, but his true strength shone when he focused entirely on one skeleton.
The furious Cyclops began to swing its club wildly.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The skeleton dodged the attacks like a gymnast.
The three watching from behind, as well as the students observing, were left speechless.
Originally, Simon's role was to buy time with the undead, but he was performing even better than everyone had expected.
"Hurry! We can't hold out much longer!" "I'm getting ready!" Dick and Kamibarez prepared the exhaustion curse, Exhauster, while Mei Lin prepared the dark elemental magic, Dark Flare.
The three magic circles raced toward completion.
Bang! The skeleton, which had been holding on just long enough, finally shattered against the club.
The Cyclops, with its fiery gaze scanning the surroundings, spotted Mei Lin and charged at her.
"Ugh!" Simon sent out two more skeletons from the void.
However, the damage from the destruction of the summoned creatures was not recovered, and the Cyclops broke through with its charge.
"I've completed it!" Dick shouted.
Kamibarez raised both arms in triumph.
"Exhauster!" "Exhauster!" The two magic circles activated simultaneously.
The curse hit perfectly! The Cyclops' movements slowed down.
"Got it!" Dick and Kamibarez's faces brightened, but Simon's expression remained tense. 'Still too fast!' The speed reduction from the curse was not as significant as he had hoped.
The Cyclops continued to charge, and Mei Lin completed the blazing black flame in her right hand.
The distance between the monster and Mei Lin was three meters.
She let out a powerful shout and swung her right hand.
The pitch-black flames shot forth, spewing smoke.
Whoosh! The black flames exploded, engulfing the Cyclops' body.
Just as everyone cheered and clenched their fists, a loud crash echoed! The wildly swung club broke through the flames and struck her head.
Beep! [Simulation Failed] Time Taken: 2 minutes 11 seconds Damage Taken: 26% Barrier Gauge: 0% Overall Evaluation: F
"......!" The dense forest faded away, as if turning the page to the next chapter, returning to the indoor training room.
Mei Lin lay on the ground, having been knocked several meters away by the Cyclops' club.
"Mei Lin!" "A-are you okay?" Everyone rushed to her in shock.
Fortunately, she appeared to be fine, grimacing as she pushed herself up from the floor.
"Mei Lin! Mei Lin! Are you really okay?" Kamibarez, with tears in his eyes, held her hand.
Mei Lin forced a smile, saying she felt no pain.
- Good job, Team 7. Jane's voice echoed from the ceiling's loudspeaker.
Dick jumped up in surprise, while Simon and Kamibarez supported Mei Lin on either side.
- Team 7 managed to implement the initial plan to some extent.
Especially impressive was the summoner's ability to distract the Cyclops with the skeletons.
"Thank you," Simon bowed his head.
- However, the rest of the team members were generally lacking.
You need to use Exhauster to immobilize its movements, and in the meantime, take down the Cyclops with Dark Flare.
It may sound good in theory, but reality is a bit different.
Everyone nodded with serious expressions.
- The biggest issue is the lack of skill.
When casting Dark Flare or Exhauster, minimize mistakes as much as possible.
That's all.
"Thank you!" Team 7 trudged out of the training room under the instructor's guidance.
But then...
"Wow!" As soon as they stepped into the waiting room, loud cheers erupted.
"...... W-what?" Of course, the cheers were not for Team 7. It was from the training room of Team 3 right next door.
They saw the Cyclops lying on the ground, bleeding, with Hector proudly standing on top, exhaling deeply.
The surrounding floor was filled with black smoke.
[Simulation Successful] Time Taken: 4 minutes 02 seconds Damage Taken: 100% Barrier Gauge: 98% Overall Evaluation: A
"...... Did they really catch that?" "The barrier gauge is at 98%. That means they didn't take a single hit, right?" The atmosphere in Team 3, the only team to hunt the Cyclops on their first attempt, was at its peak.
Team members approached Hector and high-fived him.
- Well done, Team 3. Jane, the vice president, gave her first praise.
The students gasped in envy, and even the usually stoic Hector smiled.
After Jane's detailed comments ended, they finally stepped out of the training room.
"Wow!" "Nice, Hector!" Hector's faction cheered his name.
Other students clapped and congratulated him.
"......"
At that moment, Hector's gaze met Simon's.
Hector raised an eyebrow at the results of Team 7 and smirked, as if to say, 'See?'
"Our."
Mei Lin's voice made Simon turn around.
Her eyes were blazing with determination.
"We must win."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"That's right! We can't be discouraged! We still have three games left!" "Let's take our time and figure out what went wrong."
Team 7 entered an emergency strategy meeting.
"First of all, as Professor Jane pointed out, the lack of skill is the biggest issue," Dick said.
"While Simon buys time with the skeletons, Kamibarez and I need to quickly activate Exhauster without mistakes."
"That's true," Simon added.
"Exhauster gets stronger the more it stacks. Even if the first curses hit, the Cyclops doesn't slow down significantly."
Turning to Mei Lin, Simon continued, "Mei Lin, you need to avoid attacks."
"Uh?"
"Don't think about whether an attack will come from behind. Just focus on the fact that an attack is coming and keep an eye on the Cyclops' movements. I'll do my best to protect you."
Mei Lin nodded firmly.
Simon stood up.
"You know that thing we learned in Matuhak? The sensation of stepping on the pitch-black ground."
"Stepping on... what?"
"Stand up. I'll teach you again."
Simon shared various tips with Mei Lin, while Dick and Kamibarez discussed the Exhauster magic circle together.
"Let's remove the duration formula."
"Won't that make it too unstable?"
"It's high risk, high return. It's important to stack the curse quickly. After all, if Mei Lin takes even one hit, the game is over."
Soon, the turn for Team 3 and Team 7 came around again.
Simon's group entered the training room.
"Alright, let's give it our all!" "Fighting!" Everyone lifted their spirits, shaking off their gloomy feelings.
A moment later, the surroundings transformed into a grassy field, and the Cyclops appeared with a roar.
Having experienced this once, the tension was somewhat reduced.
The battle began as the Cyclops spotted Mei Lin and charged at her.
"Advance!" Simon's skeletons rushed forward as if they had been waiting for this moment.
This time, one skeleton took the hit first, while the other stubbornly held onto the Cyclops.
"Surely, I'm getting used to its movements little by little."
The Cyclops' attack pattern was not difficult.
It had power and speed, but its movements were simple.
Just by watching the shoulder and arm muscles, one could tell whether it was a swing or a downward strike.
However, no matter how skilled Simon was, there was a limit to how much the stiff skeleton could dodge all the attacks.
Eventually, the skeleton was destroyed, and the Cyclops charged at Mei Lin.
"Exhauster!" "Exhauster!" This time, the two curses successfully hit, slowing the Cyclops' movements.
Mei Lin also completed her Dark Flare.
Overall, they felt more at ease than during the first attempt.
"Huff!" She took a deep breath and sent forth the black flames.
The Cyclops hesitated and raised its club, but the fireball exploded against the club, spreading flames all around and sticking to its skin.
- Kyaaaaaaah! With a painful scream, black smoke enveloped the Cyclops.
'Good! That hit!' Dark Flare was indeed an effective attack.
They could see the Cyclops' health gauge rapidly decreasing on the mana projector.
"Mei Lin! This is just the beginning!" "I know!" With its skin burning in immense pain, the Cyclops' gaze fixed on Mei Lin.
It then began to charge madly at her.
Simon sent the skeletons forward, but the Cyclops, blinded by pain, no longer paid attention to the undead.
It charged at Mei Lin, taking the skeletons' attacks head-on, intent on killing the one who had inflicted such terrible pain.
At that moment, Mei Lin was preparing her second Dark Flare.
"Ugh!" She canceled the spell and knelt down.
The Cyclops' club, soaring into the sky, came crashing down.
'The sensation of stepping on the pitch-black ground!' Boom! The club struck the ground.
Mei Lin, having successfully evaded, rolled roughly across the grass.
"Another attack is coming! Dodge!" Hearing Simon's shout, Mei Lin hurriedly got up, but a raging demon engulfed in flames swung its club.
Mei Lin leaped with all her strength.
Crack! The club grazed her leg.
The mana projector displayed 'Right Leg Fracture.'
"Ah!" "Mei Lin!" Mei Lin tried to flee again, but her leg wouldn't cooperate.
The training uniform she wore simulated the symptoms of a leg fracture.
"Exhauster!" "Exhauster!" The next round of Exhauster was cast.
This time, the Cyclops' movements slowed down visibly, but Mei Lin couldn't dodge due to her injured leg.
"Ah, ah..."
Crawling away, the Cyclops' club fell from above, relentlessly following her.
[Simulation Failed] Time Taken: 3 minutes 45 seconds Damage Taken: 42% Barrier Gauge: 0% Overall Evaluation: E
"Such a shame!" As the forest returned to the indoor training room, Dick let out a disappointed sigh.
Simon bit his lip and nodded.
If it hadn't been for the leg fracture, they could have easily dealt with the slowed Cyclops.
Hearing Jane's comments, they stepped outside the training room, only to find Hector's Team 3 had smoothly taken down the Cyclops, saving nearly 20 seconds.
"...... Next is the last one," Kamibarez muttered.
With morale low, Dick and Mei Lin nodded sadly.
"Gather around for a moment," Simon said.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Next time, we will definitely clear it."
Fire lit up in Simon's eyes.
He seemed completely unfazed by the previous defeat.
"No, I have a sure-win method."
He looked as if he was enjoying this challenge immensely.