Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Simon took a light breath and stepped up to the start of the course.

Taking his time, Simon let all distraction flow out of him with each inhale and exhale. All that remained in his mind was fighting and logic.

'Alright.'

He opened his eyes. Before he took off, he carefully checked the course once more.

There were metal rails on either side of him, wooden puppets moving up and down the rails. They rotated quickly, its wooden arm flailing toward the challenger.

Arm was designed with joints that required the challenger hit it firmly with a fist or foot to bend it back. It would hurt pretty bad if you missed it and it hit your bare body.

"Simon! Do your best~!"

"Do your best! Or whatever…"

Before he knew it, Camibarez and Meilyn had come over to cheer him on.

As Hong Feng counted him down, Simon bent his knees.

"Go!"

He immediately jumped forward. Cheers and fervent whispers of the spectating students rang in his ears.

First, a wooden puppet approached from the right rail. It spun, turning its wooden arms into a dangerous attack.

Simon chopped down with the side of his hand and struck the approaching wooden arm.

Click!

Upon being struck, the wooden arm bent back, harmlessly lying flat against the main body. The sound of the joints folding into place with a click gave Simon a rush of satisfaction.

'So that's how it is. I could get used to this.'

However, he wasn't done with this first dummy. There was another limb lower down on the dummy, threatening to sweep Simon off his feet.

Aware of it, Simon reinforced his knee and gave the wood a light, but precise, nudge. And again, the joint bent back with a click.

Simon had made it past the first wooden puppet without much trouble.

But things were just getting started. This time, two wooden dummies came at him from either side.

'Don't overdo it. Pace yourself.'

Simon's arm was a blur. He hit one going toward his neck with a straight punch, then immediately angled his elbow to parry one aimed at his stomach.

As he stepped back, he quickly had to bring left hand up to hit another one he didn't see coming down on his head.

Don't let yourself move in a pattern.

Don't be confused by the spinning.

All he had to do was react and respond to every attack when he saw it.

Click! Click! Click! Click!

Cheers erupted from all sides as Simon moved rapidly, disabling every single wooden arm.

"Way to go!"

"…Th-That's kinda cool."

The attacks kept on coming, but as Simon got into a rhythm, he only got faster.

He ducked to avoid two limbs coming at his head, then barely jumped off the ground to kick two arms beneath him simultaneously.

"Simon! Watch out!"

Thud! Rrrrrumble!

As he frantically hit wooden puppets away, a large ball of straw started to roll toward Simon. It looked heavier than straw should've been, perhaps because of an enchantment.

But he simply kept moving.

Jet-black gathered in Simon's right fist as he pulled it back. Then…

{Hong Feng Original - Drum Beating}

Pow!

The fist wrapped in jet-black collided with the straw ball.

A large hole was carved into the ball, breaking the enchantment.

Shredded bits of straw poofed out from the impact, and the sight of Simon striding forward amidst the aftermath left the spectators in awe.

'Next!'

The rate at which the dummies sped in only increased, and each dummy had more and more arms attached to them.

Simon calmly parried the surge of wooden arms and moved forward.

'Kugh!'

He was making good progress when, all of a sudden, he felt the ground begin to rumble once more.

'In front!'

Three skeletons were charging toward him, protected by large shields. In the distance, Simon could see an assistant teacher controlling the skeletons.

'The last person who challenged the course failed here.'

An unavoidable charge while the student was still having to parry away the wooden puppets.

It was a quite panic-inducing moment, but Simon calmly gathered jet-black in his left hand.

He didn't have to always be marching forward. He had gained enough distance, so he started backing away to give himself more time between each of the parries.

As he backed away, the skeletons approached while raising their shields.

Having easily drawn them into his domain, he slammed his fist into the middlemost of the three shields.

{Hong Feng Original - Roaring River}

Rattle!

As the shield and Simon's fist collided, the shield wasn't even scratched, but the skeleton holding it crumbled.

The other two skeletons continued to carry their shields and charged, so Simon ran between them, leaping off the ownerless shield.

"You're almost there!"

"Just a little bit more!"

But the difficulty of the course only grew.

In addition to the spinning wooden puppets, ropes were lined up in front of him.

Simon had to duck and jump around the heavy ropes all while fending off even more attacks. By this point, Simon's arms looked like a cone of solid mass in front of him with how fast they were moving.

Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!

"Whew!"

"How can he hit those so fast?"

Simon's eyes shone with concentration.

In front of him were scarecrows made of straw.

There were five scarecrows of different heights. The scarecrow in front was the shortest, and the one at the back was the tallest.

Dressed like armed soldiers, they were covered in metal armor, with only their necks exposed.

'Then…!'

Simon crouched down, running beneath one of the many ropes. Then, he wrapped his right hand with jet-black. The tip of the jet-black sharpened like a deadly dagger.

"Pant!"

Calculating the distance and the angle, Simon leaped forward and swung his right hand diagonally through the air.

{Hong Feng Original - Bayonet}

Slaaaaaaash!

The black blade extending out rose from the bottom to the top and slashed through the necks of all five scarecrows.

Clang! Clang!

As Simon landed, five straw heads each donned with helmets landed behind him.

Clank!

Then, the course slowed until it stopped, and Simon wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Professor Hong Feng shouted in satisfaction,

"Simon Polentia, that was beautiful! You passed with a perfect score!"

Wooooaaaah!

The spectators roared with excitement. Camibarez and Meilyn broke into heavy applause, and Rick whistled in delight.

On the other hand, Hector, watching from a distance with his arms crossed, clicked his tongue.

"Heh, I guess it wouldn't be fun if you can't pull off something so basic."

"Hector."

The assistant teacher chuckled and said,

"You do know that you didn't get the perfect score, having missed one of the necks at the end, right?"

"…"

Fwoosh!

Hector's eyes burned with rage.

"One more time! I'll do better than perfect!!"

Meanwhile, Simon had returned, sipping from a drink an assistant teacher handed him and a towel wrapped around his neck.

As he wiped the sweat from his face with the towel, Hong Feng approached.

"Congratulations, Simon."

"Thank you! It's all thanks to your guidance, Professor."

She smiled and wiggled her fingers.

"Could you spare a minute for me?"

* * *

* * *

The place where Hong Feng took Simon was a quiet house a short distance away from the training grounds.

It was an exotic-looking place with a spacious yard and a small waterfall beside it.

"Is this also your house, Professor Hong Feng?"

She shook her head.

"It used to be the place of an old professor in Kizen. I heard that he was the Professor of Dark Swordsmanship."

Simon's eyes widened.

"I've never heard of that! You mean to say there used to be a subject called Dark Swordsmanship?"

"Of course!"

Apparently, they once taught Dark Swordsmanship instead of Combat Dark Magic.

However, as time passed, Combat Dark Magic grew more advanced.

Also, most necromancers didn't like swords. Few necromancers even used staffs, finding them too unwieldy, let alone swords. They found it difficult to utilize other dark magic if they had to hold a sword in their hands.

"But it didn't disappear entirely. Martial arts is ultimately only one form of fighting. It's just that learning swordsmanship has been integrated into Combat Dark Magic."

Hong Feng continued while her eyes shone.

"In the second year, you'll be able to choose between and learn different weapons, too, so you can look forward to it."

"I will!"

"Now, enough with the small talk. Since you've done an amazing job on this class, Simon~"

She put her finger to her lips and spoke with perfect diction,

"I suppose I should give you a prize?"

Tap!

She planted her back foot firmly against the ground, bringing her right back above her head and beckoned Simon closer with her left. It was quite distinctly a fighting stance.

"I'll give you a chance to spar with me."

"Wh-What?"

Simon looked dumbfounded.

Wasn't that a punishment rather than a reward?

"…A spar? Between me and you, Professor?"

"Yes! Sounds like fun, doesn't it?"

He was a little bewildered, but as he calmed down, he realized that opportunities like these don't come along every day. Simon immediately took his own stance.

"I'll be in your care, Professor."

"The conditions will be the same as the performance assessment. We'll only fight using Combat Dark Magic. Please fight like it's the actual test."

The performance assessment, huh?

Hong Feng seemed to be trying to give some kind of hint.

Realizing her intentions, Simon smiled as he gathered jet-black in his right foot and left hand.

"Alright then, I won't hold back!"

Simon kicked off the ground and charged in at terrifying speeds. His fist, wrapped in jet-black, instantly became ready to perform 'Drum Beating'.

Swiiiish!

Hong Feng leaned slightly to the side and dodged. Redirecting his charge, Simon spun around on the spot and reached out with his free leg, concentrating all his force into a roundhouse kick.

Tap!

She raised her arm in an effortless motion, blocking Simon's kick. The resulting gust of wind made her hair flutter behind her.

"Pant!"

Pulling back with his leg, Simon lunged in with a flurry of punches.

Tap! Ta-tap. Thud! Thud!

With just one hand, she effortlessly parried them away.

Simon felt like he had become one of the wooden puppets he had gone against earlier.

He stopped the punches and spun around to for a spin back kick, but Hong Feng even dodged that by simply tilting her head back.

'As expected.'

However, she wasn't using her true physical capabilities to overwhelm Simon.

The strength and speed she used…

She was matching everything Simon did.

The only difference between them now was experience and skill.

'If so!'

Simon took a huge step with his right foot and lunged into her. When she raised her arms together, putting up a guard, Simon smirked and swung his right fist.

The skill swirling in his fist was Roaring River, which pierced through the opponent's defenses.

'Guarding was a mistake, Professor!'

But the moment Simon flung his fist in, swirling with Roaring River…

Shk.

Her arms, which had formed a guard, opened slightly, creating a gap.

"!"

It was too quick to react. Simon's fist slid perfectly into the gap, and she closed her arms again, seizing his wrist.

Without a target to pierce, the Roaring River failed to activate and vanished into thin air. But that wasn't what Simon was focussing on anymore.

"Kugh!"

An intense amount of pressure was applied to his wrist. Pain surged through his arm as it was left immobilized.

'I-It feels like my wrist is going to fall off!'

Hong Feng completely knew what kind of skills Simon had at his disposal. That was why she could read him so easily and counterattack.

Simon slammed his left fist to her guard, but it didn't budge. He couldn't even put much strength into his free fist, either.

As he raised his right leg to kick her, realizing the punches won't work…

"!"

She released her arms and lunged into Simon, grabbing his shoulder as she pushed through.

With one of his legs off the ground, Simon's balance was shattered.

Thud!

He collapsed to the ground.

"Hm…"

She leaned down until her eyes were directly above Simon's.

Simon could feel her breath, and her hair was touching his face.

"You died once now, Simon. Okay?"

She smiled and stepped back. Simon clenched his teeth, touched the ground, and shot forward feet-first.

Slam!

She took the kick with her arms.

"I love that desire to win! Splendid!"

'Jet-Black Eruption!!'

Simon immediately jumped off her guard and used the momentum to start to spin.

'Professor is matching my physical capabilities? Then…!'

With his own briefly overwhelming physical power thanks to the enhancement, he sent in kick after kick, cornering her. Finally, he succeeded in pushing her all the way against a tree.

Truly, she was cornered.

"Hm~"

With her back against the tree, she looked back.

'The professor knows all my skills?'

Then he couldn't let her know which one he was using.

'Pretend I'm going to do a roundhouse kick, but…!'

He let his leg flash with jet-black and spun yet again.

'The real attack is over here!'

Simon's right arm, which he used as a counterbalance to his spin, ended up lunging, and his leg, which was supposed to be the roundhouse kick, was soon firmly on the ground.

{Hong Feng Original - Bayonet}

Slaaaaaaash!

The black blade sliced the tree Hong Feng was against in two, but perhaps Hong Feng had even anticipated that, as she leaped into the air to dodge.

This time, Simon was the one in trouble, needing to correct his balance as his leg kept sliding and his arm was awkwardly extended in front of him.

Using the opening, Hong Feng kicked down against Simon's chest.

Screeeeech!

Simon was knocked back, leaving a long trail against the ground.

"Kugh!"

'My eruption is still active! Calm down!'

Landing on the ground, Hong Feng rushed in again. Just as Simon was getting back into a fighting stance, her counterattack began.

"?!"

Her arm curved like a whip, bones bending in an impossible way.

{Hong Feng Original - Flail}

Pow!

Simon felt the full force of her fist against his face well before he even saw it. As Hong Feng pulled back her fist, Simon tilted and started falling forward.

'?!'

His waist twisted as he tried to catch himself, and another of Hong Feng's fists shot out.

Just as Simon raised his guard up. Her fists disappeared into thin air.

{Hong Feng Original - Shift Swing}

Smack! Slam!

Pain came from his head and legs.

'How can she hit such distant parts at the same time?!'

Even as he staggered, Simom clenched his teeth and tried for his own attack.

"!!"

{Hong Feng Original - Snake Knot}

But before Simon knew it, Hong Feng was on top of Simon. Her legs were wrapped around his neck, her teeth bared like a snake about to bite its prey. Then, she applied pressure.

Crack. Crack.

The pain was mild but very real.

Simon broke out in a cold sweat.

If this was a real fight, his neck would've been snapped, and he would've died.

Tap.

She came down from Simon. The moment Simon looked back…

Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!

A giant fist, the size of a mountain, came at him. Simon felt his thoughts and senses freezing.

Her fist stopped right in front of Simon's face. That alone kicked up dust from the ground, and the trees swayed precariously.

"I…"

Simon forced open his mouth as his entire body seized up.

"I lost."

He had died at least three times.

Simon gasped with a pale face.

"Well done."

She lowered her fist.

Simon was still breathing heavily. His whole body was sticky, like he'd taken a bath in sweat.

"Now, what did you learn from that spar?"

"…"

Even while he was dazed, Simon thought about what to say.

As expected, you're so amazing.

The difference in skill between me and you is like the Sun and the sky, Professor.

Hong Feng would never want to hear any flattery like that. She wasn't the type to flaunt her strength, and she certainly wasn't the type to seek praise after defeating a student.

She fought against Simon with the same physical capabilities from start to end.

What could Simon get out of this one-sided spar?

"Originality."

Simon replied,

"There's no originality in me."

A half-moon smile formed on Hong Feng's lips.

——