Simon, the summoning genius of the Necromancer School, wore an awkward smile.
"I just got lucky because the technique was similar to what I knew."
Riding the wave of confidence, Simon immediately began the second circling.
The task became much easier than the first time.
As Simon started to roll the black substance in his palm, it seemed to ask, 'Are we doing that again?' In response, Simon maintained a strong rotation of the black substance.
In nearly half the time it took the first time, he completed the circling and was able to insert it into the magic circle.
Whoooom! As he activated the second corner, several runes sprang to life.
"Now there are two left! Keep going, Simon!" "Okay."
Simon focused and resumed the circling.
The second was easier than the first, and the third was easier than the second.
Whoooom! Finally, as all four corners ignited, a bright light filled the entire magic circle.
Thud.
Thud.
The skull began to move on its own, making sounds as its jaw clashed against the roof of its mouth.
Perhaps due to the difference in material, it produced a clearer sound than the Island Ratman skeleton.
At that moment, the skull suddenly jumped up.
"Ouch!" Then it bit Simon's arm.
Although it had no teeth, the strength of its jaw was enough to bring tears to his eyes from the pain.
"Ah, there's a warning here," Dick said while looking at the assembly diagram.
"Saphirus has a strong tendency to bite anything. After activating the magic circle, step back and throw some dog treats or cushions."
"Why didn't you say that a bit earlier!" Simon grunted as he struggled to detach the skull.
"I just found out myself. It says here that if you connect with it after a day or two and slowly tame it, this aggressive tendency will decrease significantly."
"There's no time for that."
Simon glared at the skull.
"Get down."
The skull, which had been gnawing on Simon's arm, flinched.
When Simon stared at it, it eventually released his arm and stepped back.
"You must not bite anyone again. That's an order."
The skull drooped and quieted down, looking almost deflated.
Seeing this, Dick chuckled.
"There are no bad skeletons in the world, and they all listen well in front of you."
Now that the summoning magic had been activated, it was time to assemble the bones.
He pulled out the bones from the box and gently stroked the skull.
"Just wait a little. I'll make your body soon."
Did it understand those words? The skull seemed excited and began to hop around on the table.
Then it knocked over a clone of Pier that was placed on the table. [What kind of guy is this!] Pier's voice echoed in Simon's head. [This rookie has no sense! When you come down to the legion later, make sure to shout that you’re dead!]
"... Haha."
After placing Pier's clone back on the table, Simon began the serious work.
He carefully assembled the skeleton according to the assembly diagram. 'This is definitely the most fun.' As the bones of the skeleton gained a magnetic pull, they stuck together like magnets with each connection, which felt pleasant.
However, the assembly difficulty was significantly higher compared to the Island Ratman skeleton. 'Banding? How do I do this?'
There were parts in the assembly stage where the user had to use the black technique directly, as well as stages where he had to use the chemicals included in the box.
Assembling the arms was particularly difficult.
Since the skeleton was a weak undead, various tasks had to be done to create the strength needed to pull the bowstring.
He passed the black thread through the holes between the arm bones and treated it with black as if wrapping the arm with bandages.
He applied adhesive to the joints and waited for it to dry, then applied heat to finish.
Being his first time doing this, he stumbled a lot.
After two hours of dozing off, Dick finally returned to Room 409, and even the other students who occasionally visited the break room had now stopped coming.
Simon was alone, spreading out the summoning textbook and the black mechanics textbook, persistently focused on the assembly.
"Ah..."
Losing track of time, Simon looked out the window.
Daylight was breaking. 'This is the first time in my life that every second felt so precious.' Still, he had to see it through to the end.
Simon connected the last two leg bones he had completed.
"Done...!"
A proud skeleton with a smooth, white body and horns on its skull moved its limbs.
Thud! Thud! Then, seemingly pleased with its body, it began to hop around the break room.
"Good. Let's go outside!" Thud! Simon and the skeleton archer stepped out of the dormitory together.
Under the cloudless azure dawn sky, the scene of the Kizen campus looked like a painting.
Taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air, Simon shouted, "Catch!"
He opened a space and threw a bow specifically for the skeleton.
Originally, he intended to give it a one-gold bow he used, but that might be too tight for the skeleton, so he decided to start with something easier.
Thud.
The moment the skeleton archer received the bow, it trembled as if sensing something.
Then it immediately took a precise shooting stance.
Holding the bow with its left hand, it brought its right hand behind its back.
There was nothing behind it, but it was waving its hand in the air like a broken machine. '...
Could it be looking for arrows in an imaginary quiver on its back?'
The skeleton was a type of undead that retained strong habits and traits from its previous life.
That’s why the bones of monsters that used bows in their past lives were used as materials for the skeleton archer.
Saphirus was also a half-human, half-beast monster that lived in the forest and used a bow as its main weapon.
"Here are the arrows."
Simon pulled out arrows from the space and held them out.
Seeing this, the skeleton archer stepped back while still showing its back, its right hand still sweeping the air behind it.
Simon chuckled softly and placed the arrows in its hand.
Crack! With lightning speed, the skeleton nocked the arrow.
Thwack! With a skilled posture, it pulled the bowstring and aimed.
Simon connected with his thoughts to designate a target. 'Shoot that tree.' He felt nervous.
This was the moment to see the results of his all-night work.
With a pounding heart, Simon commanded, 'Now!'
Piiing! The arrow flew through the morning breeze and struck the tree with a thud! Simon clenched his fists and let out a cheer.
This was Simon's first time creating a skeleton archer.
At the same time, in Rochester.
In an old building located a bit away from the city center, there was an unidentified underground operating room beneath the stairs.
In this space, cluttered with blood-stained tools, a man lying on the operating table slowly raised his body.
His lower half was in underwear, and his upper body was covered in black tattoos painted in black.
"Ugh."
As soon as he woke up, he grimaced from the intense headache, pressing his forehead.
"Are you awake? Haren Cork."
His gaze shifted.
The door to the operating room opened, and a tired-looking man walked in.
"Ah, Professor Bahil!" Bahil leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"The procedure was successfully completed. How do you feel?"
"......"
Haren scanned his body covered in black tattoos.
Then he clenched his right fist tightly.
Black substance flowed like a spring, dripping down to the floor. "...... I feel overflowing with power! I feel like I can do anything."
"That's good to hear."
Bahil smiled and continued, "Now return to Kizen and attend classes as usual. Under no circumstances should you show your body to anyone. And refrain from showering until the duel evaluation. Washing your hair or face is fine."
As Bahil said this, he tossed Haren the school uniform hanging on a coat rack.
"In two days, when the duel evaluation starts, those tattoos will naturally disappear from your body. You won't be caught in Kizen's doping test either. However, the power strengthened by the curse will last for about two months."
Haren looked at Bahil with grateful eyes.
"Professor, why are you helping me like this...?"
"The reason doesn't matter. You just need to handle the task I asked of you."
Upon hearing this, Haren's expression turned serious.
"You mean to defeat Simon Polentia from Class A in the duel evaluation."
"That's right. Even if it's a special case, there's no need to be too scared. You far surpass his level now."
Haren clenched and unclenched his fist, checking his physical condition.
Then he pulled out his specialty, 'Black Hand,' from his back.
Swoosh! The black hand emerged from his back.
Haren couldn't help but be amazed.
Its size and power were on a completely different level than before.
As he extended the Black Hand forward, it became large enough to cover his entire body.
Swinging it like a whip, it made a fierce slicing sound.
With this, he felt confident he could win against anyone.
"Thank you, Professor Bahil! I will never forget this favor!" This exhilarating feeling! Haren felt as if Bahil, who had given him this power, was like a god.
So he added, "If Simon Polentia is a nuisance to you, should I disguise an accident and kill him during the duel evaluation?"
At that moment, Bahil's smiling expression turned cold.
Creak! A ghostly wailing sound echoed from behind Bahil.
Haren's entire body trembled with pure fear.
"Don't do anything unnecessary. You only need to handle the task I assigned you."
Haren felt his breath becoming shallow.
He even began to clutch his own throat.
"If something goes wrong and he dies..."
A chilling light radiated from Bahil's eyes.
"You and your family will never die peacefully. I will ensure you suffer for eternity even after death."
"Cough! Gulp! I-I will keep that in mind!" As Bahil withdrew his aura, Haren gasped for air. '...
How dare a mere pawn think of a sub-plan.' Bahil turned his back and left the operating room, putting on his outerwear and hat. 'Simon Polentia.
I'm sorry to have to use such methods, but it can't be helped.'
It felt like cutting bones and carving flesh, but what Simon needed now was defeat.
If he fell into a deep sense of defeat, he would reflect on himself and ponder what went wrong.
And he would come to realize that the cause was the study of summoning magic. 'I will apologize for this someday.
But you too, in the distant future.' The corners of Bahil's mouth twisted into a complete smirk. 'You will surely be grateful for the decision I made.
No doubt about it!'