Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner – 356



Chapter 356

The first student from Kizen to step on stage was Kajann.

He differed from the students who tried their best to impress the judges. With a calm face and an even tone he read what he wrote as if reading a textbook.

His presentation was unstoppable like a chariot rushing in a straight line. Even the judges who were busy interrupting and criticizing students were too flustered to find an opening to intervene.

“That is all.”

On top of that the presentation was less than five minutes long.

The audience was filled with a huge silence.

“You’re… really perplexing.”

The Thesis Ripper held the thesis far from his eyes and said

“Main strategies for summon-type monsters? Isn’t this more of a combat dark magic field than summoning?”

“I thought it was necessary information for summoning as well.”

Calmly replied Kajann. Even if he had kept his identity hidden answering this audaciously would be impossible for most.

“No more importantly! This thesis has a major reason for disqualification!”

Calavan the Citation Hell pushed up her glasses.

“The student hasn’t entered any citations in the reference section at the end of the thesis. We cannot accept a thesis that lacks the basic among the basics–”

“I didn’t cite one because it said to cite sources when citing academic material.”

“What?”

“The source is information from the Thieves’ Guild.”

Blunty revealed Kajann.

“All information guilds including the Thieves’ Guild encrypt and protect the identities of their information providers. Does anyone ask information guilds for citations?”

Hahaha…!

As a subtle laughter rose from the audience Calavan’s face turned red.

“Ahem!”

And La Toni the Proof Finder sitting at the leftmost seat frowned uncomfortably. It was hard to demand proof as it was just a story about fighting undead that wasn’t based on academic information.

“Enough!”

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Vintra the Thesis Ripper shouted a large frown clear on his face.

“Although the attempt to analyze a monster’s weaknesses using the information guild’s data is good in the end it has nothing to do with summoning. This is also trash! Zero points!”

Once again Kajann’s thesis was torn to shreds in Vintra’s hands.

Apathetic to it Kajann glared at the judges with a look of disdain and turned around.

“Y-You…!”

“Youngsters these days… Honestly!”

Bang! Bang!

Vintra the thesis ripper banged the table silencing the hall.

“That was nothing but a waste of time! Next!”

This time Serene stepped onto the stage. She greeted the judges and audience cheerfully projecting a flower bed as a background.

“My name is Serene Aindark~”

Hearing that the judges let out small exclamations.

“So it’s the famous heir of the Ivory Tower.”

“It’s surprising to see them presenting a thesis at Pentamonium.”

“Looks like we can expect something this time.”

Like the other students Serene used a crystal ball and mana projector to display her thesis on a screen in midair.

[Feather-soldier creation by Serene]

Simon thought the title was decent enough.

But why is the background picture of the thesis a weasel?

“Using my unique supernatural ability I created an original undead called ‘feather soldiers’!”

As she turned the page an extremely dense wall of text appeared. Half of the page was dyed black with ink.

Simon felt his eyes strain and the three elderly judges had to stick their necks out like turtles or put on glasses.

“The feathers I create with my supernatural abilities are 100% compatible with jet-black! I can also turn feathers into magic circles. So I thought what if I made a summoning magic circle with these feathers? The runes I used are…”

While listening to Serene’s quick way of speaking Simon found himself with a pure question.

‘But why is the background a weasel?’

“So I changed the formula like this!”

Every time the screen changed the weasel’s pose changed too.

No matter how much he thought about it he couldn’t figure out the connection between summoning and weasels. Judging from how the text color suddenly changed to a rainbow or a picture of her pet dog from her mansion appeared it seemed she just placed whatever she found cute.

He couldn’t focus on the formulas and could only focus on the weasels.

“I’ll demonstrate this right away!”

Serene dropped a few feathers on the floor. The feathers disintegrated forming a magic circle on the ground and a few more feathers were added to it.

The feathers melted and flowed in. Soon after a soldier with a white geometric form emerged from it.

“Just like handling undead with thoughts I can control these feather soldiers at will! Since I’m still a beginner I can only handle up to ten! And right here! Let me explain the reason why I used the Abel equation in the formula…”

“…”

The audience seemed to give up on understanding the explanation halfway but the three necromancer judges’ eyes were shining.

“How interesting!”

“As expected from the Ivory Tower!”

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The judges were nodding their heads for the first time.

Unbelievably Serene’s presentation which was totally incomprehensible except for the fact that weasels are cute was working.

“It’s the kind of content that would appeal to the eccentric necromancers at the conference. Well done.”

Aaron when he reviewed Serene’s thesis had predicted this.

Serene’s thesis regarding creating feather soldiers with her supernatural abilities was useful to no one but herself. In other words it had close to zero academic value.

Yet the judges were intrigued.

They were all necromancers who stayed so long in the field that they were almost rotting in summoning studies.

From the judge’s perspective the presentations of the students whose thesis were torn up were as simple as saying ‘One hundred plus one hundred is two hundred’ or ‘eating too many sweets is bad for you.’

On the other hand Serene’s presentation was like explaining how to swim as a sloth.

The judges felt a freshness in the ‘new facts’. Even though they’d never be sloths themselves.

“It feels like a part of my brain I haven’t been able to use in a while is waking up.”

“The content was fresh.”

Thus Serene became the second student to take her thesis back intact. The judges were pleased but the audience and students seemed to find it hard to accept.

And now the final act in this series of presentations.

“My name is Simon Polentia.”

Simon stepped onto the stage. All eyes moved to him.

“The Special Admission No.1 from Kizen I see.”

The judges looked at Simon’s profile.

“The Polentia family? Never heard of it.”

“Let’s not expect too much and observe carefully.”

“Mhm. Indeed.”

Simon bowed to the judges and handed out copies of his thesis to the three of them.

“I’ll begin.”

Simon’s eyes locked on to the three judges.

Calavan the Citation Hell Vintra the Thesis Ripper and La Toni the Proof Finder.

The three he had to face came into his vision.

“What I’ll be presenting is…”

The final presentation of the student thesis conference.

Perhaps they had lost focus or were too impressed by Serene’s fresh presentation and had now lost interest the three elderly judges rested their chins on their hands or leaned back in their chairs.

“A skeleton mage that uses Corpse Explosion.”

“What?”

Vintra straightened his spine in surprise like a spring. There was a clamor in the audience too.

“Student! This is an academic conference not a fiction-reading contest!”

Shouted Vintra wide awake. The other two judges also spoke sharply.

“Does it make sense for the undead to give a self-destruct order to another undead?”

“How can a skeleton mage use a complex dark spell like Corpse Explosion…?!”

Simon smirked and raised the paper.

“It’s possible.”

Simon opened a subspace and pulled out a zombie and a skeleton mage.

“I’ll demonstrate it first before explaining.”

As Simon turned around and gestured Serene flicked a feather she had on her finger.

The feathers stuck on the stage floor and formed a protective barrier around the zombie.

Simon lightly tapped the barrier with the back of his hand to check if it was safe then took a step back and gave the skeleton mage an order.

“Corpse Explosion.”

Tap!

The mage held out its staff. A magic circle spread from the end of the staff causing the zombie to flinch and stand upright.

Its pupils and mouth began to glow and then…

Booooooom!

It really exploded.

Startled by the sudden loud roar the audience let out frightened screams and ducked down. The judges also flinched and moved back out of the way.

Rrrrrrrrumble!

Simon looked at the protective barrier now filled with smoke and smiled in satisfaction.

“It’s something like that.”

Soon Serene flicked in another feather to cast a ventilation spell dispersing the explosion cloud and lifted the barrier.

Whisper whisper whisper!

While everyone was talking in confusion Vintra urgently shouted

“H-Hurry up! Please explain how this was done!”

“Of course dear judge.”

Simon got the hint from recently blowing up the monster duke in the siege theme with Corpse Explosion.

Originally he used the skeleton mage to assist in casting Corpse Explosion on the monster duke but he thought why not have the skeleton mage use Corpse Explosion on its own?

“I chose a monster called a ‘muspel’ as the base. It’s a fire monster that lives in a lava area and the monster explodes like a bomb. You should be familiar with it as it is often used as a material in fire-type skeleton mages.

Two of the mages Simon owned were also muspels. He walked around slowly while explaining

“So you make a pair of zombies and a skeleton mage using these muspels.”

“Oho!”

“A zombie muspel… That’s new!”

The principles weren’t that difficult. A necromancer just had to inscribe the same rune in the summoning magic circles for the skeleton mage and zombie.

The [Rune of Transmission].

It was the very same rune Simon used when he was in Aaron’s Magiste system class.

“The Rune of Transmission is the key to the muspel’s Corpse Explosion.”

A muspel born in the lava area had a lifespan of 1-2 years after reaching maturity. At the end of its life it will explode unable to withstand its own body heat.

However it was commonly known that the explosive effect completely disappears if you kill a muspel and turn it into a zombie or skeleton. That being said…

“I focused on recreating this ‘explosive effect’ they had in life to then channel through Corpse Explosion.”

Simon’s ideas were revolutionary.

Typical Corpse Explosions relied on overloading the core or summoning magic circle of an undead but Simon focused on the unique properties of the muspel monster.

A truly free and creative thinker unhindered by academic conventions. Every time he revealed runes and formulas exclamations burst out from the necromancers in the audience.

“How incredible!”

“Genius!”

“An explosion utilizing the physiological characteristics of a monster back when they were alive…!”

“How did he come up with this?”

The audience began to get excited and even the three judges started sweating.

“That will be all.”

Simon finished his presentation with a smile.

He didn’t reveal all the formulas and principles instead stopping where he could. Because he needed to sell this thesis.

As his presentation ended cries of disappointment came from various parts of the hall but Pentamonium was always like this.

“Isn’t there a risk that a stored muspel zombie might explode prematurely?”

Vintra raised an interesting question.

“As I mentioned earlier once a muspel becomes a zombie the option for it to explode disappears. The principle is basically that the Corpse Explosion spell of a muspel skeleton mage creates the non-existent explosion switch and forcibly flicks it.”

This time Calavan the Citation Hell adjusted her glasses and said

“Why didn’t you include any citations at the back of the paper?”

Simon shrugged.

“Because all the ideas came from my head.”

Calavan had already reviewed it but not a single line of Simon’s paper was based on existing theses.

Her mouth closed and La Toni the Proof Finder stood up this time.

“This is grand fraud! It must be intended to insult Pentamonium!”

“What?”

“The jet-black signal that can be sent with the Rune of Transmission is in a completely different area from the ordinary central nervous system! How can you prove that muspel’s explosion was artificially induced?”

“If you wish…”

Simon pulled over a blackboard that was nearby.

“I will prove it.”

Then he started writing the proof from the Rune of Transmission on the board.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Scratch tap.

Only the sound of Simon’s chalk moving could be heard in the hushed silence.

Simon wrote the formulas like he was possessed giving no regard to keeping his hair or shirt in order.

Insight of theory.

Simon had already reached that insight and analyzed it using what he learned in Mechanics of Jet-Black. Deriving the explosion process from the runes using formulas wasn’t difficult.

‘Thank you Professor Eric Aura!’

Everyone watched Simon move the chalk.

With a final tap Simon drew one last dot to complete the last sentence letting his hand drop to his side.

“Is that enough?”

A perfect proof.

They were at a loss for words.

‘This is truly…’

Vintra felt a chill run down his spine.

It was a revolution beyond unconventionality.

The creativity and unexpectedness of this 17-year-old boy presented a new path for the stagnant necromancer world.

The hardened assumptions the ingrained common sense that things must be in a certain way were shattered and scattered on the floor while a new foundation stood proudly before their eyes.

Clap.

Vintra clapped his hands.

“Excellent!”

Clap. Clap.

Applause spread from various parts of the audience.

Soon

Clap clap clap clap clap!

“Woooooooaaaaaaah!”

The applause turned into loud cheers and ovations. Some professional necromancers even stood up in excitement to give a standing ovation.

Even the nitpicky Calavan and La Toni clapped their hands in a daze.

Simon bowed to everyone in gratitude.

“This is exactly what we wanted!”

Excited Vintra suddenly stood up.

“Many people questioned the level and significance of the ‘student thesis presentations.’ But today Simon Polentia has proven its necessity! New approaches from students! Bold attempts that are born of their youth! Today is a day that may be talked about for years to come. Very well done!”

“I’m honored.”

“You plan to register this thesis in Pentamonium correct?”

“Ah yes.”

“Come here!”

Simon didn’t know why Vintra was calling him but he walked up to him anyway.

“Take this.”

And what Vintra handed him was a piece of white paper. The judges on either side gleaned at it and gasped in shock.

“Elder Vintra!”

“This is presentation time for the thesis! You can’t suddenly…!”

“There’s no rule that says you can’t purchase a thesis during the presentation.”

Vintra’s eyes were gleaming with greed as if he was already half out of his mind.

Simon lifted the paper in confusion.

It was a check. But while it had Vintra’s signature on it the value section was blank.

“Dear judge this is…”

“A blank check.”

Clamor clamor clamor!

At that the audience whirred up a fuss.

“Wh-What is the meaning of this!”

“Do you have no shame as a judge?”

“If you want to buy it you should compete fairly through bidding!”

Professional necromancers shouted with red faces and Vintra sneered.

“Whether it’s bidding or what I’ll buy it at the highest price. That’s how the market works is it not?”

For a moment Simon thought that this man was a necromancer to the marrow.

“Come on! Write down whatever amount you want! It does not matter how much it is!”

He spread his arms wide and shouted. Then he whispered quietly that only Simon could hear him.

“A necromancer student studying summoning always needs money. You must’ve participated in this conference for the same reason.”

“…”

A blank check.

If Simon wrote an amount it would be his.

He could even buy a heart for the lich’s Life vessel.

In a way it could be considered an honor. When else in life would he get such an opportunity?

Simon’s hand moved slowly.

“Yes that’s right. Hurry up write the amount!”

“Dear judge.”

Simon picked up the blank check.

And slowly…

He raised it vertically for Vintra to see.

“What are you—?!”

Riiiiiip…

“!!!”

The entire hall fell silent in an instant.

No one could move. No one could breathe.

Riiiip…

While everyone in the room was frozen only Simon’s hands moved tearing the blank check.

Rip…

Finally having torn the blank check into shreds Simon walked towards Vintra who was trembling in utter disbelief.

“It feels unpleasant doesn’t it?”

Simon smiled and stacked the torn pieces of the blank check together.

“You showed your sincerity by thinking of me yet it turned out like this.”

And then he started tearing it horizontally.

“Us the students felt the same way.”

Riiiip…

The sound of paper tearing echoed in everyone’s ears.

Alland Sierra Moiran. All the students stood up and watched on with wide eyes.

“Even with our busy academic schedules everyone who participated in this presentation gave their all. The degree of effort may differ but everyone gave their best.”

“There was no preparation no dedication no thought. It was a recital of the obvious. You were the one who disrespected Pentamonium first.”

“Disrespect Pentamonium? Unless you’re crazy how could a mere student disrespect Pentamonium?”

“What on earth are they teaching the students in Sierra?”

“No one is good from the start. We did our best with what we had. Dear judges were you all perfect from the moment you were born?”

“Trash. Zero points.”

And finally Simon looked at Vintra whose face had completely crumbled. The only feature showing he was alive was his trembling lips.

Rip. Rip. Rip. Rip.

“We are…”

Just as Vintra the Thesis Ripper had done…

Simon dropped the shredded blank check in front of Vintra.

“…not trash dear judges.”

No one in the world had the right to mock someone who tried their best.

——