Chapter 21
[Aaaaaaaaargh!]
Startled, Feer hastily backed away from Simon.
[This is horrific! A child born between my dear friend and my mortal enemy! How could this possibly…!]
It was the first time Simon had seen Feer so flustered.
Suddenly feeling mischievous, Simon cleared his throat and mimicked Anna’s voice.
“Darling~ it’s time to eat!”
[Gyaaaaaah! Stop! Stop it! The nightmare! It’s coming back! Get out of my head right now!]
Watching Feer writhe in agony, Simon clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.
With that, he’d gotten his revenge for learning a part of his father’s shameful past he’d rather not have known.
And somehow, he felt that he’d get along better with Feer from now on.
“Let’s get along from now on, Feer.”
[Don’t laugh like Anna, damn it!]
“Hahaha!”
* * *
The next morning dawned.
Until the afternoon of the final day of the weekend, Simon stayed with Feer and learned about the operations of the Legion.
[It’s a big mistake to think of Undead as lifeforms that operate under common sense! The reason Undead under a Necromancer’s control sometimes attack and eat people is because the summoner lacked a proper understanding of Undead!]
Feer’s instruction came from the perspective of the Undead. It was a different approach than what the Keyzen professors taught, which made it refreshing and engaging.
[What moves the Undead is a powerful death-thought! Among things humans can do, the closest equivalent would be a firm 'will'.]
Simon tilted his head.
“Will?”
[That’s right! Let me give you a simple example. Say you, a student of Keyzen, encounter an annoying senior. You think multiple times a day about killing the guy. Then the Undead next to you will remember that will.]
Simon, who had been nodding as he listened, suddenly felt all the hair on his body stand on end.
“Wait a minute. Then…!”
[Exactly. That Undead will then try to eat the senior when you’re not looking!]
Flames surged in Feer’s eye sockets.
[Even if your grudge against that person fades! Even if time passes and the memory disappears! The Undead will forever seek their life.]
“Th-That’s ridiculous!”
Feer chuckled wickedly.
[Don’t worry! I’ll fill you in on these kinds of precautions from time to time! Now, let’s return to the main topic. The most important thing when controlling Undead is an overwhelming will. Boy! Give that skeleton standing blankly in front of the wall the command to attack it!]
“Ah, yes.”
Simon stood up and stretched out his right arm.
“Attack that wall.”
Click.
The skeleton ran forward. Then it started scratching the wall with its hands and kicking it with its feet.
[That won’t do.]
Feer shook his head.
“...Then what should I do?”
[Watch closely.]
Feer’s eyes turned ominous.
[If you’re going to issue an attack order to an Undead, you must harbor hatred for the target! The killer of your parents! A demon who murdered your lover! Hate that wall more than anything in the world! Break it! Tear it down! Bathe in its blood!]
The skeleton, which had been lightly tapping the wall, began to change its movements. It scratched hard enough to leave marks and slammed into the wall with its whole body.
At the same time, Feer’s voice grew louder and louder.
[Die! Die! Die! Die! You shouldn’t be alive! You shouldn’t exist! Die in agony! I’ll rip off your limbs, pull out your intestines, and feed them to pigs! I’ll chew your flesh piece by piece and savor it! Die! Die! Die!]
Crash!
Bang!
Crash-crash!
The onslaught intensified. The skeleton began slamming its skull into the wall, letting out chilling shrieks.
Simon looked horrified by the savage display.
[Now you understand, boy! The stronger the will, the more the Undead’s hidden power and aggression are unleashed!]
“...While shouting curses?”
[I only explained it in human terms. The words themselves don’t matter! A top-class Necromancer can split firewood while infusing it with sheer will! And the more negative the emotion—rage, hatred, murderous intent—the more effective it is for Undead!]
But Simon could hardly hear Feer’s voice anymore.
The skeleton attacking the wall was destroying itself beyond repair.
“F-Feer! At this rate…!”
[Try stopping it. You’re the Legion’s primary commander.]
Simon nodded and looked at the skeleton.
“Stop! That’s enough!”
Bang! Bang!
But the skeleton didn’t stop. Even as its skull cracked and its hands dangled uselessly, it kept screaming and pounding the wall.
“Can’t you hear me?! I said stop!”
The skeleton didn’t even pretend to listen. It even began convulsing, its aggression intensifying.
Feer silently watched.
It might be a bit too much for the young Simon, but he needed to imprint this lesson deep into his mind.
The power of will, and the weight of a Necromancer’s command.
That skeleton would not stop until it was dust.
Even if its body crumbled, even if only its arms and legs remained, it would keep pounding that wall until its existence ceased.
Because that’s what an Undead is.
“Stooop!!!”
At that moment, Simon shouted with eyes wide open.
The air trembled and the ceiling shook. Even Feer flinched from the force of the roar. Then—
Screeech!
At last, the skeleton stopped.
Its gaze lingered on the wall, but it didn’t dare disobey Simon’s command.
“...Hey.”
Simon, breathing heavily, glared at the skeleton.
“If you ever disobey my orders again, I won’t forgive you.”
He didn’t want to see his summoned creature self-harm so gruesomely again.
At Simon’s ominous glare, the skeleton hurriedly turned its gaze away from the wall and stood up straight.
Feer let out a small gasp.
‘...That brat is already using Absolute Order?’
You can’t achieve that level just from a simple explanation about will. This was truly beyond expectations.
‘What kind of monster were you raising out in that backwater town, Richard!?’
Simon wiped his mouth with his sleeve and straightened up. Then, scratching his head awkwardly, he muttered with a sheepish smile.
“I’m terrible, right? Can’t even properly control my own Undead.”
[No, you did well.]
It was a sincere compliment.
[In real combat, there’s no time to yell or curse. You must train so you can move your Undead with just one command, packed full of will!]
“Understood, sir…”
Suddenly, Simon swayed and clutched his forehead. A sharp pain throbbed in one side of his head.
[You overexerted yourself. Being a Necromancer means constantly living on the brink of mental breakdown. Make sure to get proper rest!]
“Ugh, yes…”
Rest was important, but more urgently, Simon hadn’t eaten anything since last night.
He said he should start heading back to Keyzen.
[Once you’re back at Keyzen, you’ll need a way to contact me!]
Feer tossed Simon a small skull head from who-knows-where.
[It’s a part of me. If anything happens at Keyzen, use this to call me.]
“Ah, thank you.”
It had a soft, squishy texture.
Simon took out a pin from his bag and attached it like how other students decorated their uniforms. It didn’t even look that bad, so it worked as fashion too.
“See you next weekend, Feer.”
[Hehehe! I expect great progress by then!]
“Of course!”
Simon packed up his belongings and left the ruins.
* * *
By the time he arrived at Keyzen, the surroundings were growing dim.
Simon safely reported his return and entered the dormitory.
[Kehaha! It’s been so long since I’ve been at Keyzen!]
Feer’s avatar, dangling from Simon’s uniform, squirmed as it spoke. Of course, only Simon could hear the voice.
[You said the student protection period isn’t over yet, right?]
“Yeah, it ends next week.”
[Excellent! I’m going to see so many entertaining sights! Khehehe!]
Simon opened the door to Room 409 and entered. Dick was lying on the bed, and Kajan hadn’t been seen all weekend.
“Oh, Simon! You’re back?”
Dick sat up from his bed, looking cheerful.
“Hey, Dick. Did you have a good weekend?”
“So-so. Since it was the first day, I just made some connections with the merchants, got a few investment promises, and wrapped up some basics. What about you?”
Simon set Feer’s avatar on the desk, then took off his uniform jacket and hung it in the closet.
“I just met with someone I knew. It was a pretty decent weekend.”
In truth, it wasn’t just “decent”. Over the weekend, Simon had become one of only seven Legion Commanders in the world.
Feer’s avatar on the desk grinned widely.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it. Oh! More importantly, did you see next week’s schedule?”
“No, not yet.”
Keyzen’s faculty members were all active Necromancers. Because students also had fluctuating assignments and other responsibilities, the class schedule was flexible.
All students had to check the updated schedule every week.
“Tomorrow morning and afternoon are both ‘Elementary Black Magic’ classes.”
“Elementary Black Magic… that’s the one with the group project, right?”
“Yep.”
All Keyzen freshmen took nine classes.
<Katarology>, <Darkness Dynamics>, <Summonology>,
<Spiritology>, <Haemotology>, <Toxicology>, <Magical Combat Studies>,
<Holy Defense Studies>, and <Elementary Black Magic>.
Among them, <Elementary Black Magic> was a bit unique, because the professor of that course would become the homeroom teacher for Class A. The class was conducted in groups and evaluated all eight other subjects.
“I hope Professor Bahil ends up in charge of Class A.”
Dick had clearly become a fan of Bahil after the recent teleport incident.
“Anyway, that’s not the most important thing. From what I saw on the schedule, tomorrow’s ‘Elementary Black Magic’ class is when groups will be formed. And once those groups are made, they’re locked in for the entire semester. Our whole Keyzen life is riding on this.”
“That makes sense.”
Group formation for the whole semester. No doubt it was crucial. Simon nodded seriously.
“We’ll need a solid strategy for group composition.”
Dick’s eyes sparkled.
“Each of the four members needs to be strong in different subjects. I’m more of a jack-of-all-trades, but my highest entrance exam score was in Darkness Dynamics, so I’m going to lean into that.”
Simon thought for a moment before replying.
“I haven’t taken the exams yet, but… I think Summonology is my strongest subject.”
“Okay! So that’s one for Summonology, one for Darkness Dynamics? That’s great balance!”
Dick flipped through a notebook containing profiles of Class A students and continued speaking.
“In that case, our next top priority is to recruit someone aiming to major in Katarology.”
“Katarology? Why that, specifically?”
“I’ll explain. Watch carefully.”
Dick set the notebook down, opened the desk drawer, and took out a notebook and a quill pen.
“These are the courses with the highest GPA weight at Keyzen. They’re known as the ‘Three Major Necromancer Disciplines’. That’s Katarology, Darkness Dynamics, and Summonology. Students just call them ‘Kat-Dark-Sum’ for short.”
He wrote the three subjects on the notebook and circled them together.
Simon looked down at the page with a thoughtful expression.
“So we’ve got ‘Dark’ and ‘Sum’ already. That’s why we need someone focusing on Katarology.”
“As expected of Simon! You catch on fast! These days, some people say Summonology is losing importance, so they swap it with Spiritology and call it ‘Kat-Dark-Spirit,’ or include all four and call it ‘Kat-Dark-Sum-Spirit,’ but… the most widely accepted trio is still those three.”
Simon nodded.
“And below the Kat-Dark-Sum, there are the ‘Four Major Sub-Disciplines’: <Spiritology>, <Haemodynamics>, <Toxicology>, and <Magical Combat>. We call them Spirit-Haem-Tox-Combat’ for short. They’re important too, but they’re more often taken as majors for deeper specialization rather than mandatory study.”
Dick listed all seven subjects in his notebook, then wrote the last two beneath them.
“And then we have the auxiliary subjects: <Holy Defense Studies> and the comprehensive required subject, <Elementary Black Magic>. We call those two ‘Holy-Black’. They can’t be selected as majors.”
“Got it.”
Simon folded his fingers, organizing it all in his head.
“Kat-Dark-Sum. Spirit-Haem-Tox-Combat. Holy-Black. A total of nine subjects.”
“Exactly.”
“And four people per group, right? If we bring in someone aiming for Katarology to complete the Kat-Dark-Sum set, who should we recruit as the fourth?”
“That’s exactly what we need to brainstorm right now!”
Dick excitedly turned the page in his notebook.
“First off, among Spirit-Haem-Tox-Combat, we should avoid people majoring in Magical Combat. Those kids tend to only be good at that and struggle with the rest. I made notes during Professor Hongpeng’s class last time.”
“…Didn’t think we’d have to consider that.”
“Yeah. Also, in general, Katarology students tend to score high in Holy Defense Studies, and Haemodynamics students often overlap well with Toxicology, so their grades are usually strong in both. We have to take all of that into account.”
Simon and Dick spent the rest of the night planning their recruitment for the group project.
Dick, with his vast knowledge, took the lead in strategizing, while Simon, though mostly listening, made occasional piercing observations that even made Dick change his mind.
As a result…
“Perfect! So we’re agreed on this?”
“Yep.”
By tomorrow’s group class, they had a list of top ten priority candidates for recruitment.
Superb.