After the first period of the summoning class at the Necromancer Academy ended, the next lesson began.
Today, Class A had four short two-hour lessons planned, and the second lesson was Spirit Studies.
"Let's go in with spirit! Today, we will enter with spirit!" A man with a deep voice shouted in the middle of the classroom.
His name was Umbra Warframe.
Notably, his body appeared somewhat hazy compared to others, with his legs even floating in the air like a ghost.
It was said that he had become this way after being deeply immersed in the spirit transformation magic, frequently crossing the boundary between reality and the spirit realm.
He wore a lifelike wolf mask on his face.
It was so realistic that rumors circulated among the students that it was his real face or that Umbra was a werewolf hybrid.
The Spirit Studies taught by Umbra dealt with the handling of what they called "spirits."
Everyone expected the class to be very meticulous and quiet, but that was a complete misunderstanding.
"You lack spirit! Your minds are rotting! Why is everyone already concluding that they can't do it? Come on! Raise your arms!" Umbra was an enthusiastic teacher.
Despite his ghostly body, he was full of strength and energy.
Simon, trying to feel the spirits, had been awakened more than once by Umbra's booming voice.
Once, a student asked, "Professor! No matter how hard I try, I can't feel the spirits. What should I do?" Umbra replied, "Feel! Don't think you can't, just feel! Just feel it without question! You still lack effort! Put all your strength and heart into it! Pour out your energy!"
...
That wasn't particularly helpful advice.
However, Umbra's words weren't entirely wrong; feeling the spirits wasn't something that could be solved with strength, knowledge, or know-how.
The ability to resonate with the soul, known as "spiritual sensitivity," varied from person to person, and whether one could feel the spirits with a small sensitivity depended on individual constitution.
And Simon, who had never been lacking in talent, was particularly poor at Spirit Studies. '...
Why can't I feel anything?'
He was sitting with other students around a round table, diligently spinning a tool called a "Ouija board."
"Is it my turn to recite the incantation now?" Jamie Victoria said in a droopy voice.
Even she, the honor class president and outstanding in all subjects, had yet to feel the spirits.
The foundation of Spirit Studies was "spirits."
Without feeling this, no lesson had any meaning.
Thus, Umbra divided the class into two teams.
The first team was the educational team that followed Umbra's lessons to learn how to manipulate spirits.
The second was the preparation team.
Since they couldn't feel the spirits yet, they spent the entire class repeating various actions to try to sense the spirits.
They spun the Ouija board, performed strange dances with occult tools to summon spirits, or meditated in a coffin-like box (of course, they would be scolded if they fell asleep or dozed off), repeating these odd behaviors.
"You lack spirit!" Occasionally, Umbra would check on the preparation team after setting the students of the educational team to practice.
"Put in more spirit!" As five students held their hands on the Ouija board, Umbra grabbed the handle with his large hand.
"Grip the handle tighter! Like this! With all your strength and care, spin it!" "Yes!" His strength was so overwhelming that he alone dominated the combined strength of the five students.
"Your voices are too quiet!" "Yes!!" Jamie Victoria squeezed her eyes shut and began reciting the incantation to summon spirits in a loud voice.
Umbra nodded in satisfaction as his gaze returned.
"No, you! What are you doing!" This time, Umbra's gaze fell on Kamibarez, who was sweating profusely while awkwardly dancing the ritual.
She gasped in surprise and said, "I-I’m sorry, Professor!" "Lift your legs higher! Sparkle! That's right! The ritual to summon spirits is no joke! Make your movements bigger!" "Yeees!"
As she flailed her knees in a bizarre dance, small tears welled up in her eyes.
Her whole body was drenched in sweat.
Honestly, it wasn't a dance a girl should be doing.
It was neither graceful nor rhythmic, just a wild shaking of her head and shoulders, with her arms twisting like a cobra.
How that could be considered a dance to summon spirits was beyond comprehension.
Among the students, nicknames like "Chicken Feed Dance" and "Squid Courtship Dance" had already emerged. 'P-poor Kam...,' Simon thought with a sympathetic expression as he watched her.
"Alright! Teaching assistants! Switch!" "Yes!" The teaching assistants approached Simon and his group, who were spinning the Ouija board.
"Please leave all items in place and stand up. We will move to perform the ritual dance."
Finally, it was their turn.
Simon sighed deeply as he stood in the spot where Kamibarez had been dancing earlier, at the back of the classroom where sheets were laid out.
There was a sort of positioning, so the students had to stand facing each other with some distance apart.
And right in front of Simon stood Jamie Victoria, of all people.
"I believe you’ve memorized the dance by now. Let's begin."
The teaching assistants started playing eerie instruments adorned with skulls.
A strange flute sound echoed. 'Just clear your mind.' Honestly, it wasn't a dance one could perform with a sane mind.
Simon emptied his mind and moved his body as he had learned, stepping in rhythm.
His legs shot forward, knees rising to his chest.
He waved his arms and legs, twisting his upper body as if he were a jellyfish.
Students who had been peeking to gauge Umbra's reaction couldn't help but chuckle at Simon's passionate dance. 'What the... is he seriously dancing like that?' 'He’s good at physical stuff.' Simon began to dance, his body and mind becoming one without a single thought.
It was a state of true unity.
Umbra, seeing this, chuckled in satisfaction.
"Very good! Excellent! Even if you can't feel the spirits, having that kind of determination and effort is what matters!" Umbra thought he should take Simon to the Goliath Death Day 50th Anniversary event scheduled for this weekend to have him perform the spirit dance as a side job.
He danced remarkably well. '...
It feels like I'm being praised, but I'm not happy at all.'
While dancing diligently, Simon peeked with one eye and saw class president Jamie Victoria awkwardly performing the Chicken Feed Dance.
The moment their eyes met, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"P-please don’t look over here..."
At her plea, Simon quickly turned his head away.
The students weren't entirely happy about being made to do such things.
However, they dared not protest to Umbra and timidly expressed their complaints to the teaching assistants.
Each time, the assistants would respond similarly, saying, 'If you don’t like it, you can join the educational team.' In fact, the students in the preparation team had no room to complain since they were there due to their own lack of skill.
Moreover, the most surprising thing was that among the students who spun the Ouija board and danced the Chicken Feed Dance, there would always be one or two who genuinely felt the spirits and raised their hands.
"Congratulations. You will go to the educational team."
Finally, the students escaping this embarrassing hell for the educational team cheered as if they had gained the world.
By this point, rumors circulated that the effectiveness of the occult ritual wasn't so much about its efficacy but rather that students, unwilling to face humiliation, gritted their teeth and ended up feeling the spirits.
Thus, the grueling Spirit Studies class came to an end. 'Ugh...' After completing the preparation team course, Simon walked down the hallway with his limbs flailing like a jellyfish.
"Hey, are you really okay?" Meilin asked in surprise.
Simon raised his flailing arm in a gesture that he was fine.
"What did you learn in the educational team?" "Of course, attack magic."
Dick, who was walking on the left, said while supporting the back of his head with his arm.
Unbelievably, Dick had also succeeded in feeling the spirits in the first class.
"Because of the duel evaluation, all the professors are focusing on teaching attack magic that can be immediately applied instead of theory. Other classes are probably the same."
"Hmm, what was the next class?" Dick replied with a grin.
"It's Blood Flow Studies."
That was the class that had been postponed due to Silaji's mission schedule and personal matters.
Today was Class A's first lesson.
The Blood Flow Studies class took place inside a building called the "Magic Bullet Shooting Practice Hall."
The professor was the famous Silaji Bisavar, the same middle-aged professor who had taken Simon on the Sky Whale to Kizen.
His face was still pale like a patient fighting against a disease, with sunken cheeks.
Now, he had more white hair than black, and his hands had a yellowish tint.
Simon thought he looked worse than when he first saw him.
"Cough, cough. Blood Flow Studies is a type of black magic that uses blood as a medium."
Seven students, including Simon, stood in a shooting line.
Two hundred meters in front of them was a target.
"It is known to the public as a study that reproduces the techniques of vampires or blood clans, but, cough! That is not true. The most compatible substance in the pitch black is the caster's blood, and it boasts a long history."
The students in the shooting line prepared to shoot while the others sat down to listen to Silaji's explanation.
"The pitch black and the blood of the pitch black user complement each other in any way. Necromancers can 'artificially' mix pitch black and blood to create various magical reactions."
Silaji spread his hands.
In one hand, he held a droplet made of pitch black, and in the other, blood was flowing out.
When the blood droplet and pitch black met in the air, they reacted violently and bounced around at an incredible speed.
The students gasped in admiration.
"Cough, cough! I can firmly say that it is a waste of power for a necromancer not to use 'blood,' regardless of my position as a Blood Flow Studies professor. Although it has the downside of consuming the caster's stamina, Blood Flow Studies can become the fastest and most powerful weapon for a necromancer."
Under the control of the teaching assistants, the students in the shooting line clenched one hand into a fist and extended their right index fingers toward the target.
They all had devices attached to their arms like IV drips, and as the assistants activated the devices, a magic circle unfolded in front of the students' fingers, turning red with blood.
This was the basic technique of Blood Flow Studies known as "Blood Flow Bomb."
This IV device was simply the Blood Flow Studies version of a "magic circle correction device."
"Cough. Since today is the first class for Class A, we have fallen behind quite a bit. Today's lesson will be to find out what type of blood you possess, what assistance this blood can provide, and finally, to practice the actual use of the Blood Flow Bomb."
No matter how much the lessons had fallen behind, how many things were they doing at once? Simon thought this as he gazed at the target set up only 200 meters away.
There wasn't just one target; there were up to ten set up behind it.
Silaji, with his hands behind his back, turned his head.
"Now, it's time for practical application."