Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 328: Episode

Simon was tossed into the air five times by the ecstatic crowd.

While the triumphant energy of the mission was still buzzing, the boss monster’s body dissolved. A light shimmered in the sky, and a gift box floated down.

"No way!"

"It was a prize mission!"

One for each of them, a gift box landed softly at every student’s feet. Simon, however, was still sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath from the celebratory tossing.

"What’s the prize?" he managed to ask.

A female student who had opened her box grinned. "It’s a Skeleton Set!"

That snapped Simon to his senses. He scrambled over and tore open his own box. It was true. And it wasn’t just any skeleton—it was a ’Skeleton Mage Set’ from the ’Franc’ brand, a name known to be on par with the top-tier Vanilla line.

’They’re giving away something this expensive? This BMAT is no joke.’

Since it was a yellow card Summoning game, it made sense that the prize was related. A wide grin spread across Simon’s face.

"Great work, everyone—"

He stopped. At some point, all the other students had turned to him, knowing smiles on their faces. They exchanged subtle glances, then nodded in unison.

"Here, Simon."

One by one, they began placing their Skeleton Mage Sets in front of him. As a pile of eight boxes grew at his feet, Simon stared, flustered.

"W-What are you all doing?"

The girl with the headband gave an awkward laugh and waved her hands dismissively. "Come on, we have some conscience."

"You did everything, honestly."

"Besides, we’re not Summoning majors. We don’t really need them."

A male student clapped a hand on Simon’s shoulder. "Take them while we’re being nice. It’s not a request."

With that, he turned and stepped into the exit portal. The others followed suit.

’...Haha.’

Simon’s eyes welled up. He was genuinely touched.

---

"Great work, everyone!"

Waving goodbye, the students left the game one by one. Simon gathered the Skeleton Mage Sets and stepped through the portal as well. By the time he emerged, the four hours had passed, and the after-school BMAT was officially over. The campus was alive with the boisterous laughter of students heading back to the dorms or off to the dining hall.

Simon made his way toward his own dormitory. His haul from the BMAT was two cards, two boxes of ’Crystal Skeletons’, and eight boxes of ’Skeleton Mage Sets’. It was an almost unbelievable bounty.

’I can’t wait to start building them!’

His mind was completely consumed with the thought of assembling the Skeleton Mages. He decided to set the Crystal Skeletons aside for now, unsure of what they might become.

"Oh, you’re back, Simon!" Dick yelled as he entered Room 409. He was already dressed for the bathhouse, clearly having been waiting. "That siege battle was a blast! The tactics everyone’s using are getting more and more creative!"

Dick chattered nonstop as they grabbed their towels and headed for the communal bathhouse. He slung an arm around Simon’s neck. "You promised you’d do the next siege battle with me, right?"

"Alright, alright. I promise."

Apparently, the siege battle event was always held at the Kizen castle walls. The card’s location moved, but it was always somewhere along the ramparts. Simon gave his word he’d join Dick next time.

"Ugh, I feel disgusting. Let’s get in there!" Dick shouted, pulling open the bathhouse door.

The scene inside was one of raw, chaotic humanity. The air was thick with the smell of sweat and steam. Muscular upperclassmen stood around shirtless, while a swarm of naked first-years scrambled and shoved their way toward the large bath.

Dick quietly shut the door.

"Let’s just use the showers in the restroom."

"Y-Yeah."

---

After his shower, Simon decided to start working on his new Skeleton Mages immediately. He grabbed one of the sets and was about to leave Room 409 when Dick, lounging on his bed, shot him a look of utter disbelief.

"Seriously? You just finished a huge evaluation, and the first thing you want to do is build a skeleton?"

Cradling the box like a precious treasure, Simon beamed. "Yup!"

"You’re something else," Dick shook his head.

Simon left his room and headed to the dormitory’s common utility room. It was empty when he opened the door; everyone else was likely resting or in the dining hall. He claimed the largest table and set down the box.

[Excellent, boy!!] Pier’s voice boomed in his mind. [There is no task more vital than increasing the might of the legion! Indeed!]

"Yeah, yeah."

Simon took a moment to examine the box. The words ’Skeleton Mage’ were printed in the center, with the elegant gold script of the ’Franc’ logo beneath it. Then, with the giddy excitement of a child on their birthday, he opened the lid.

"Phew."

A blissful sigh escaped him, his cheeks flushing. Inside, nestled on a plush, wine-colored cushion, lay the components. A skull sat in the center, surrounded by perfectly arranged compartments holding the spine, arm bones, leg bones, and more.

[Boy! There is another layer beneath.]

"Right. It must be two-tiered."

Simon carefully lifted out the top tray with the skull and opened the compartment below.

"A staff?"

Inside lay the wooden staff for the mage. It was separated into two pieces, a top and a bottom. Simon took them out, peeled the sticker off the joint, and pressed them together. As if by magic, they fused seamlessly into a single, solid piece. He ran his hand over the surface; there was no seam. It was as if it had always been whole.

"Apologies to Benya Vanilla, but I’m really starting to like the Franc brand."

[Mwahahahaha!]

He searched the box, but there was no instruction manual. As he was rummaging, Pier spoke again.

[Boy, inspect the lid.]

"The lid?"

He now noticed a small tab on the inside of the box lid. He pulled it.

’Thump!’

A thick bundle of paper fell out onto the table.

’This is the manual?’

It was the size of a textbook. He flipped through it, finding every page densely packed with complex magical formulas. Simon’s eyes widened in shock.

[Mwahahahaha!] Pier’s booming laughter echoed in his head. [Now you see! Building a Skeleton Mage is no child’s play!]

Simon had assumed it would be on the level of the ’Magiste System’ from Professor Aaron’s class, but he had been gravely mistaken. The Magiste System was for tweaking an already completed skeleton. Assembling one from a kit, even a high-quality one, required a tremendous amount of study.

He forced a smile and rolled up his sleeves. "Well, I’m fired up now." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

[Mwahaha, your face tells a different story!]

Simon took a deep breath, regaining his composure, and opened the first page. He quickly saw that the manual contained very little about physical assembly. Ninety percent of the book was dedicated to creating the Skeleton Mage’s summoning magic circle.

’Let’s begin.’

After skimming the first few pages, Simon spread a ’Jet-Black Sheet’ on the table—a practice surface for drawing the magic circle before engraving it onto the skull.

"First, I need to take control."

The basic summoning circle was already laid out on the sheet. He broke through its security protocols, unlocked it, and began infusing it with his own jet-black, claiming it as his own. Licking his dry lips, he moved to the next step, awakening the essential formulas and meticulously connecting the jet-black circuits according to the manual.

"I can choose which black magic the Skeleton Mage uses!"

For weapon-wielding skeletons, the muscle memory from their past lives as monsters was crucial. The necromancer simply reawakened those memories. But a Skeleton Mage was different. As long as the base skeleton had been magically inclined in life, the necromancer could program it to cast any spell they wished.

Simon immediately thought of Meirin’s ice magic, the elemental art he was most familiar with.

"I’ll start with Ice Bolt."

He dove into the formulas, completely engrossed.

And.

He got a little ’too’ focused.

’Knock, knock.’

A rap on the utility room door startled him. Simon looked up to see the dormitory manager peeking his head in.

"Y-You scared me! Student! What are you doing up at this hour?"

"Huh?"

"Just look out the window!"

It was already dawn. The deep black of night was giving way to the faint, gray light of morning. Simon blinked, dazed, then slowly pushed himself up from his chair.

"My apologies."

"Nothing to be sorry for, but you should hurry and get some sleep! Not that you’ll get much now!"

The time had flown by in what felt like an instant. Simon carefully lifted the practice sheet, placed it back in the box, and stood up.

---

"A quick announcement."

The next day, during their first period Summoning class, Professor Aaron scratched his shaggy hair. "Starting next class, we will begin the full-scale construction of Skeleton Mages."

A wave of excited cheers swept through the classroom.

"Finally!"

"An undead that uses magic! This is going to be amazing!"

The Summoning TAs, however, could only offer silent pity. They knew that by the next class, those cheers would turn to screams of frustration.

"You will need a Skeleton Mage Set," Aaron continued, writing a list of approved brands on the blackboard. "I’m not asking you to buy the expensive Vanilla or Franc lines, but make sure you purchase one of the brands on this list. Others use a different construction system."

Dick nudged Simon’s arm. "Hey, perfect timing! You’ve already got a Franc set, and we start building next class. You can just follow along."

"Um..."

"And don’t pull another all-nighter, you lunatic."

Simon laced his fingers together, his expression serious. "When’s the next Summoning class?"

"In two days."

"Then I have two days to finish it."

Dick blinked, completely baffled. "The class to ’start’ building them is in two days. What do you mean you have two days to ’finish’ it?"

Simon just smiled. His goal wasn’t merely to complete a Skeleton Mage. His ultimate goal for his first year was to create a lich. He couldn’t afford to get bogged down here.

’I will finish this Skeleton Mage before Professor Aaron’s next class.’

He had hit a wall during his all-night session. Now, he was determined to smash right through it with his own power.

"And this should be so obvious it’s embarrassing to even say it," Aaron said, tapping the blackboard to quiet the chattering students. "Master the basic Jet-Black Elemental spells you intend to give your mage. Call Fire, Cold Bolt, things like that. I expect none of you to be moronic enough to try and teach a spell you can’t cast yourself."

Dick’s head whipped around so fast it was a blur. "Meirin! I need tutoring in Jet-Black Ice Magic! Now!"

"Ugh! You idiot!" Meirin snapped, launching into a tirade.

While they bickered, Simon was already jotting down notes.

-Call Fire.

-Gust Circle.

-Cold Bolt.

He planned on creating a Skeleton Mage for all three elements.