Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner – 265



Chapter 265

People living in the Washuburn mountains liked to talk about the mysterious ‘old castle’ at the top of the center-most mountain.

Many rumors were often passed around about the place.

That those who enter can never leave.

That terrible monsters who could end the world lived within.

That the castle’s owner is a beautiful woman who decided to hide in the mountains.

But to address the rumors the first two are true and the last one isn’t.

Steam collected on one of the windows as a man looking to be in his late twenties was dipping himself in a hot sulfur bath.

His alluringly pale skin slender limbs and long hair might make someone looking from afar believe he’s a woman but a closer look shows he is unmistakably a man.

Just as he tilted his head back and began to blankly stare at the old castle’s ceiling footsteps echoed through the halls.

“Sir Magnus preparations for everything are now complete.”

The figure that pulled open the bath door was a zombie dressed in a form-fitting butler uniform. Powerful jet-black unique to the Ancient Undead coursed through its veins.

Magnus turned around to face the servant and lazily pressed

“What about getting into Roke Island?”

“All paths are blocked. We have tried every path we could find from coming in as a guest lecturer submitting a report to HQ and even observing the upcoming BDMAT exam as civilians. This could only mean…”

“…the Witch of Death has been involved.”

Magnus smiled in satisfaction and stroked his cleanly shaven chin. 

“She must be very fond of her daughter.” 

“Why don’t we submit a formal complaint to Kizen HQ over the loss of Talahze?”

Said the zombie butler adjusting his monocle.

“Of course we will be reprimanded for sending a man to Roke Island without permission but—”

“A complaint? You want me to snitch to the HQ like a dirty rat?!”

Magnus let out a sharp laugh.”

“That’s not my way! Plus they’re all the same. Why would they do anything to their sweet little Lorain when her little Miss might run the HQ in the future?” 

“I-I see. Sorry sir. I spoke out of turn.”

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“How are the items?”

The zombie butler looked back and nodded.

His subordinates dragged in four monsters bound by chains.

“Are these the ones that you requested?”

“Yes.”

‘Hard Diles’ level 4 monsters.

Reminiscent of saltwater crocodiles in appearance the four reptilian beasts that staggered through the door had layers upon layers of chains wrenching their mouths closed. Many loops in the chains were cracked and some sections had completely broken off due to them struggling around.

“As planned I have cursed these diles to leave no traces so they won’t find anything suspicious.”

Splaaaasshh!

Magnus stood up from the sulfur bath. A cloud of steam formed around him as the remaining water on his body began to quickly evaporate.

“One of my own died. It’s only natural that I pay back the debt.”

He pulled his robe over his damp skin and looked back. 

“Alahze are you around?”

The moment the last word left his mouth the floor wriggled and an undead appeared that looked to be chunks of flesh stitched together.

[Alahze here. Talahze’s enemy… Revenge.]

“I know I know I’ll make sure to avenge Talahze. First tear off some of your flesh and feed it to that monster.”

[As… command.]

Pushing past the ravenous beasts ripping into the glob of half-rotten meat Magnus strode to the central room sat on his throne and raised a wine glass.

“Well then. Let’s wait for the news.”

* * *

Finally the day of the event.

The morning of the third BDMAT had come.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for waiting!” 

Standing on a large stage that stretched across the whole Kizen campus a man in a fancy suit holding a loudspeaker crystal was shouting at the top of his lungs. Countless spectators could be seen watching on.

“Thank you for coming to spectate the third BDMAT! My name is Conrad Hayabone and I will be the host for this event again!”

Looking across the crowd with a professional smile the announcer continued

“Hahaha! Nice to see you all! Oh it looks like there are some familiar faces! Oh Madam you’re here again! I heard that winning the chance to spectate is almost impossible even as a parent. Whoa~ you must be one lucky mother! Hahaha!”

After lifting the atmosphere by actively interacting with the audience he deftly pulled out a script card from his pocket.

“Now! I would like to introduce another Professor of Kizen who will be assisting me with commentary for the third BDMAT!”

The MC spoke with extreme calmness but his heart was racing.

‘Please I hope it isn’t Professor Belya. Just not her please…!’

He looked at the card in desperation.

“!”

His face lit up. A part of him wanted to scream with joy but he restrained himself like the professional he is. 

“We have a pretty big name here for commentary! It is my pleasure to introduce you all to Vice-President Jane Olivia the second-in-command at Kizen and the current adviser of the first-year Class A!”

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Hearing ‘vice-president’ the crowd went into a frenzy of shouts and cheers.

The sound of clicking heels echoed across the stage. A woman with short pristine hair and a face heavy with coldness stepped up to the stage.

‘I’m finally free of Professor Belya!’

“Vice-President let me escort you this way! Hahaha!” 

Offering an arm like escorting a lady Conrad bowed politely. But Jane brushed past him without a single glance.

He quickly straightened up and coughed lightly before chasing after her.

After walking to the center of the stage Jane raised the communication crystal ball she had hastily been handed. The crowd craned their necks to see what Kizen’s vice-president had to say.

“Lighting team!”

That was the first thing she said.

“The mana screen on the side is tilted 15 degrees too far clockwise. Additionally the shade has been improperly set up making the spectators on stage left uncomfortable.” 

At that a servant from the lighting team started running frantically.

“Sound team. Do I have to point out the most basic of basics? Why is my loudspeaker crystal ball not fully charged?”

A group of servants came sprinting across the stage double checking every last detail.

“It looks like we will need to redo the seating arrangements.”

This time servants filled the entire crowd and hastily reorganized matters as Jane commanded.

“The number of faulty tongue pads was not within the expected limits that we planned around. The safety of the students is at stake! Senior members of the production team step forward.”

As the seniors came up with guilty faces Jane switched off her loudspeaker and began to reprimand them. She berated them with such impeccable logic that they were speechless.

‘What’s going on?’

‘I don’t know either.’

The crowd was confused by the sudden turn of events.

“V-Vice-President! I’m sorry I’m late!”

Stuttered the servant in charge of lighting panting from having to dash in from the sound booth.

Jane spoke with such coldness that it chilled the servant to the bone.

“Were your 24 years of experience spent collecting flowers? What were you thinking setting the mana lighting so half-hazerdly?”

“I-I’m sorry! We set it like that for the first and second exams so—”

A fire burned in her eyes.

“Tell me in your own words why one should repeat the mistakes they made in the past. It being an inconvenience is not a sufficient response.”

“I-I’m sorry!” 

“Come to HQ immediately after the event. You’d better have your report written up by then.”

Jane took direct control and micromanaged countless tiny details that each left dozens of servants breathless to try to fix.

The MC standing behind her was unknowingly clasping his hands together in polite silence.

‘…A-A perfectionist this time huh?’

It felt like there was no one ordinary at Kizen.

“I apologize for any inconvenience brought about by the lack of organization.”

Jane bowed deeply to the spectators and apologized. The crowd hadn’t noticed a single one of the inconveniences she was referring to but with the chaos they just saw her unleash on the servants they decided to go along with it.

In the end it was up to the MC to push past the confusion and bring the audience back on track.

“Ahem! Hahaha! It would appear that we had a bit of trouble there but let’s start over! Please help me welcome Vice-President Ja—”

“I’m here due to my rights as a first-year professor. Please address me as such.”

“Ah! Understood! Please welcome Professor Jane!”

Clap clap clap clap!

The audience applauded still somewhat dumbfounded but listening regardless.

Jane lifted her loudspeaker crystal ball and said in a very solemn and serious voice

“Parents and guests thank you for attending our school’s event. Your presence is greatly appreciated. As an elite necromancer training institution we strive to prepare our students to the best of their abilities and…”

The speech didn’t miss a single detail.

Once she was finally finished the MC said while sweating profusely

“Okay okay Professor Jane! Let me guide you to your seat now!”

A servant had been giving the MC signals for the last minute urgently gesturing for him to cut her off.

‘You couldn’t even say a thing in front of the vice-president.’

Having successfully gotten Jane to sit in her commentator’s seat the announcer quickly moved on. She was about to call for officials as she didn’t like how the table was set but he took the initiative first.

“Now then Professor may I ask you to explain this third BDMAT exam?” 

“Yes please bring up document 287 on the main screen.”

At her command the screen changed to a picture of a vast ocean. 

“The theme of this third exam is the ocean.”

Unlike the students watching the guests reacted with bewilderment as this was the first time they had heard this.

“As you all may know the ocean is the worst natural environment for a necromancer.”

Jane’s firm voice echoed through the school.

“However necromancers cannot pick and choose the battlefields and environments they want. No one knows what will happen at any given moment and Kizen necromancers have to be able to fight regardless of the conditions. That is why we chose the sea as our testing stage.” 

“Woah~! What a surprise: a test in the ocean! So students will be marked on swimming skills huh?”

It was a joke to lighten the mood but Jane glared at him as if looking at an insect.

“…My apologies Professor.”

The MC couldn’t believe it but he was actually kind of missing Professor Belya. 

Jane continued

“This test will assess their responsiveness adaptability and creativity in an unfamiliar and challenging environment. We are low on time due to unforeseen delays so I will skip straight to explaining the rules for you all.”

As soon as she finished her sentence the main screen changed again. It seemed that the servants were paying full attention after the reprimandings.

“Please look at the screen.” 

The new image was of the bottom of the ocean. 

“Have you noticed anything strange?”

At Jane’s question the crowd scrutinized the image with furrowed brows.

At first glance it was just a normal murky mossy ocean floor. Some whispered to their seat neighbor for help some claimed that they saw it and some stood up from their seats passionately staring at the screen. 

“Zoom in please.”

At her command the screen zoomed in on a specific area.

A coin could be seen embedded in the ground. It was hard to see at first even when zoomed in because of its earthy color.

“This is one of the many ‘coins’ that will be used in this test. The passing condition for this BDMAT is simple. Collect ten coins from the bottom of the ocean.” 

“Th-The bottom of the ocean?!”

At this point everyone watching except for Jane felt like this was too hard.

The announcer butted in

“It’s sort of like treasure hunting!”

“…I don’t like the metaphor but let’s just put it like that. And one more thing student-on-student combat is allowed in this test.”

Jane went on to explain the protective vests that all students would be wearing over their swimsuits. Students will be considered ‘out’ if they lose consciousness or if their barrier gauge reaches 0. Those students will leave all of their coins behind and be teleported to a safe zone.

Students who are out can re-enter the ocean with a barrier gauge of 100% after 30 minutes.

“Oh my! So we should expect a really competitive test Professor?!”

In contrast to Jane’s unchanging calmness the enthusiastic MC raised his voice again livening things up.

“Then I assume students will divide into two groups! There will be those who scour the bottom of the sea and there will be students who target the ones who work to collect coins! Does that mean that students who retrieve the ten coins will then pass the test and be able to leave?”

“Of course not.”

She smiled. 

“Collecting the coins is only the beginning.”

Perfectly on cue the lighting team split the main screen into dozens of screens each displaying different things.

“What are all of those?” 

“M-Monsters?”

There were squid-based monsters with dozens of powerful tentacles trailing behind them a giant stingray that emits electricity deep-sea fish that would shoot up from the bottom of the ocean to catch their prey and many more.

“Collecting ten coins is the minimum requirement to pass the exam. Any student who fails to collect ten during the 4 hours of the exam is eliminated. Students who have collected all their coins then have to go out into the open ocean to earn ‘points’.”

The screens flashed momentarily then were updated to show the point value of the monster displayed.

“When monsters are eliminated students’ tongue pads on their arms will record the points. The student with the most points at the end of the exam will be given 1st place.”

“Aha! I see. Collecting coins is the basic requirement to pass the exam but the overall ranking is determined by hunting sea monsters. As expected from Kizen! There’s no such thing as an easy exam!” 

Having said that the MC paused momentarily before realizing with terror on his face

“Wait a minute! If a student who has collected all ten coins is attacked by other students while hunting a monster and falls unconscious…”

“Correct. All the coins and points they have collected will be lost. They will have to go back to the beginning and start from picking up coins.” 

“Whew! That’s a really high risk!”

While the two of them discussed the rules suddenly there was a huge cheer from the crowd.

Before either had realized it or seen the stagehand signaling to them the screens changed to show the 847 students standing at the start line in the ocean. 

From the looks of things they were just about to start.

“Go Elissa! You’re the hope of Dresden!”

“Go Yansen! You can’t lose to Dresden!” 

“First place goes to Chatelle Maerre again!” 

“Sisters from Ivory Tower you got this!!”

Cheers filled the air especially for the star students. It looked like the spectators were excited for this event.

The MC also stood up.

“In the end it’s not about rules. It’s about people! So Professor do you think there are any students to watch out for in this ocean-themed BDMAT?” 

She answered without having to give the question much thought.

“There are many variables but students who excel in underwater combat will probably have an advantage. Elissa and her Phantom Ships Laheim—the Lord of Snowfield Castle—and finally…”

“Finally?” 

Her head moved.

In the center of the screen a boy was stretching and checking on his Bone Armor.

——