Chapter 38
The next day, the weekend.
Simon came down to Rochest for the first time.
“Wow.”
Rochest was a young and vibrant city.
Street performances and spontaneous events were happening everywhere, and Keyzen students in casual clothes danced, played instruments, and had a great time.
Of course, compared to the big city of Langerstine, it was on a much smaller scale, but Simon still found Rochest more charming.
First, Simon unfolded a map and stopped by a necromancer shop. It was the place Dick had personally recommended as the cheapest.
As he opened the door and entered, a young employee greeted him warmly.
“Welcome...... Oh?”
The employee smiled brightly.
“Simon! You're Simon, right?”
......Who was this again?
Simon wracked his brain, trying to recall who this overly familiar clerk was, but thankfully, the other person introduced himself first.
“It’s me! Rowen! We met on the first day of the entrance ceremony!”
“Oh...!”
The chatterbox who came with him on the Underworld Whale. He was, in fact, the first friend Simon had made at Keyzen.
“Hey! I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Good to see you, man! You’re in Class A, right? I’m in Class D! Class D’s brutal too! Can you believe that the half-giant Shatel Maer ended up in our class? But Class A has Special Admission No. 1... Oh, right! You’re Special Admission No. 1! Wow, that’s right. I still get chills thinking about the moment your identity was revealed at the ceremony...!”
And there he went again.
Before things got any more chaotic, Simon quickly changed the subject.
“So, what are you doing here?”
“As you can see, part-time job.”
Rowen shrugged his shoulders.
“Gotta earn some pocket money. Part-time gigs in Rochest pay pretty well, so it's nice.”
‘Part-time work, not a bad idea.’
Simon had started to worry about money too. The monthly allowance from school barely covered his class materials.
“Think I can get a part-time job too?”
“Hmm, to be honest, you’re a bit late! All the positions were filled last week. Tons of students want in.”
“That’s a shame.”
Of course, money was important, but that wasn’t the main reason Simon had come here today.
When Simon said he had come to buy a skeleton set, Rowen kindly pointed him in the right direction.
‘20 sets of Island Ratman Skeletons.’
It cost him a hefty sum right away, but it couldn’t be helped. For next week’s Cyclops practical evaluation, he would need a lot of skeletons.
Of course, even if the skeletons reached the end of their lifespan, they could still be added to the Legion, so it wasn’t a total loss.
After picking up a few extra materials for undead experiments he wanted to try, Simon exited the necromancer shop.
‘Next up.’
Simon rustled through a note where he had written down supplies.
‘Weapons for the skeletons.’
His next destination was the weapons shop.
Weapons could also be bought at the necromancer shop, but Dick had shared a tip that it was more expensive there.
“Welcome!”
The middle-aged man running the weapons shop greeted him with a bright smile. He quickly scanned Simon’s school uniform, and his smile grew even wider.
“What can I help you with? Lately, the new model of the Darkness Sword made with obsidian’s been flying off the shelves!”
The shopkeeper handed Simon a sword hanging on the wall and told him to unsheathe it.
When Simon applied slight pressure, the sheath opened with a clicking sound, revealing a pitch-black, gleaming blade.
“G-Great sword. But I don’t need something this fancy...”
“Then how about this! Combat gloves for Magical Combat! Latest model, so the firepower is—!”
“I’m here to buy weapons for skeletons!”
Simon quickly interjected.
The shopkeeper’s expression instantly dropped, and he slumped into his chair, pointing casually toward the corner of the store.
A shelf full of cheap swords was jammed with items.
“Thanks!”
Regardless, Simon cheerfully dashed toward the shelf. Most were duds or second-hand, but perfect for undead use.
He carefully examined the blades, opened sheaths, and tapped the edges with his fingers to check quality.
He ended up buying five swords, five spears, and two shields.
“Please ring these all up!”
Simon dumped the weapons onto the counter. The shopkeeper, who had been resting his chin on his hand, jumped up in surprise.
“Y-You’re buying all this?”
“Yes.”
The shopkeeper, now with a softened expression, began adding up the prices of the weapons. As he did, he asked cautiously,
“What are you planning to do with all this? Aren’t you a first-year? Even if it’s skeletons, at best you’d manage two or three at a time.”
“I’m just stocking up. The blades wear out fast, you know.”
The shopkeeper, inspecting the weapons Simon had picked, smiled.
“You sure picked only the best among these. Did you have some sword training before coming to Keyzen?”
“Not really, but my father taught me how to choose good weapons.”
“Wow, you’ve got a great father!”
The shopkeeper burst into laughter.
“These days might be the age of necromancers and priests, but some things are timeless. A man should have a fine sword at his hip, right? Gotta protect yourself with it!”
“Absolutely.”
Seems this man took a lot of pride in his profession.
When Simon responded with polite enthusiasm, the shopkeeper’s mood brightened even more.
“Skeleton-use weapon set — five swords for 250 silver. Five spears for 200 silver. Two wooden shields, 100 silver. That’s 550 silver total, but I’ll give it all to you for 500.”
“Thank you!”
“No, thank you. A young noble like yourself showing interest in humble things. Ah! Wait here a moment.”
The merchant disappeared for a moment and returned with a bow and a quiver of arrows.
“This is a bow and arrow set made from ebony wood, excellent for channeling Dark Flare. Normally goes for 1 gold, but I’ll give it to you for free this time.”
Simon’s eyes widened.
“F-Free? I can’t accept something this expensive!”
“Hey now! I’ve been running this shop in Rochest long enough. I may be a humble merchant, but I can spot talent. Some kids, I know they’ll be gone in no time. Others, I know they’ll make it to third year. It shows.”
The shopkeeper placed the bow on top of Simon’s weapon bundle and said,
“If you’re gonna be buying weapons for three years, consider becoming a regular here. And if you tell your friends about the place, even better.”
“Still, a 1-gold item...”
“Bows don’t sell well at Keyzen anyway. Don’t worry about it, just take it. You know how to use one, right?”
“Yes. Kind of...”
At this point, refusing would be impolite. Simon bowed his head in gratitude.
“Come again!”
Having completed a thrifty round of shopping, Simon headed to his next destination in a great mood.
He bought a few materials needed for other classes like Toxicology and stashed them in his subspace.
‘Feer, I’m heading out now.’
[Understood!]
He was now headed to the ruins to train with Feer.
He was a little nervous about entering the Forbidden Forest again, but Feer kindly came out to greet him at the edge. After climbing onto Feer’s back, they reached the ruins in just a few minutes.
Click!
Clack!
“Have you all been well?”
As Simon entered, the skeletons that had been incorporated into his Legion ran up to him like puppies greeting their commander. Smiling, Simon patted their skulls.
“Feer. Here are the skeletons to be incorporated into the Legion.”
Simon took the damaged skeletons out from subspace.
Feer clicked his tongue.
[There are a lot of casualties.]
“They got pretty banged up from the last simulation battle.”
When Feer placed his hand on one of the damaged skeletons’ skulls, deep blue flames burst into their eye sockets like torches. The Legion now had eight skeletons.
[Now things are getting lively!]
“Feels good.”
Once the damaged skeletons were incorporated into the Legion, the two of them sat down facing each other.
[Like I said before, this training’s going to be pretty intense! You ready for it?]
“Yes, absolutely!”
There wasn’t much time left before the Cyclops practical evaluation. Simon planned to push his skeleton-handling abilities to the limit this weekend.
First, Simon assembled the skeletons he’d bought at the necromancer shop.
Soon, six skeletons stood armed in front of Simon, and opposite them stood six skeletons from the Legion.
Simon’s summoned type, and Feer’s natural type formed opposing teams. The skeletons seemed to understand this, clattering and eyeing each other as if sizing up a rival.
[You said you can control two skeletons at once, right?]
“Yes.”
If he tried to control three or more simultaneously, his thoughts would tangle, throwing his command structure into chaos.
More than that, his mental strength would plummet rapidly, and a maddening headache would make it unbearable.
[Heh heh, no need to rush! What matters isn’t how many you can control at once, but how well you can handle one or two!]
“Understood.”
[I’ll only control two at a time too! Bring it on, boy!]
“Yes!”
Simon thrust out his right arm.
‘Charge!’
Two sword-wielding skeletons leapt forward, kicking off the ground. Feer also sent in two sword-wielding skeletons.
Clang!
Clack!
The clash followed. Blades struck with sharp, metallic screeches.
As Simon pondered the next move, two of Feer’s spear-wielding skeletons suddenly thrust forward from behind.
‘...Ugh, retreat!’
Simon’s skeletons barely managed to pull back in time. Then, the sword-wielding skeletons at the front—thrown off balance by the retreat—were pushed back by Feer’s swordsmen.
Clang! Clack!
Simon's skeletons blocked the attacks in precarious postures, their spines twisted awkwardly.
Then, as if waiting for the moment, the spear-wielding skeletons returned, striking their legs with the shafts of their spears.
Simon’s skeletons collapsed onto the ground, completely subdued.
‘...I lost.’
Lowering his arm with regret, Simon turned his head.
“That’s cheating, Feer! You said two at a time!”
It was four versus two, of course he couldn’t win. As Simon protested, Feer let out a boisterous laugh.
[What are you talking about! I also only controlled two at a time, just like you!]
“Huh? What do you mean... Ah!”
That’s right.
Feer had first controlled the sword-wielders, then the spear-wielders.
Then back to the swords, then back to the spears, alternating control.
[It’s nothing special. We call it cross operation! It’s about switching control rapidly between skeletons to expand the range of your limited control.]
“...Ah.”
[If you can’t connect to multiple skeletons at once, the key is to move through them two at a time, but still keep them all active! Got it?]
Step, step.
Before he even finished his sentence, two of Simon’s spear-wielding skeletons stepped forward.
‘Focus.’
Simon made the sword-wielding skeletons open their palms. Then he switched to the spear-wielders and gave them high-fives.
“Like this, right?”
[…]
Feer was silent for a moment, then his mouth curled into a smile.
[Puhehe! You’re a fun one to teach!]
“Sorry?”
[Nothing. If you’ve got the hang of it, let’s go straight into practical combat!]
“Ah, yes! Let’s do it!”
* * *
On the first day of the weekend, Simon trained with Feer on undead control and cross operation. With improved skill, Simon could now control up to three skeletons simultaneously.
The next afternoon, he returned to Keyzen. Along with Maelyn, Kamibarez, and Dick, he practiced combat teamwork.
Simon’s role was to stall with undead as much as possible, feed the Cyclops four Exhausts and one Dark Flare at the same time, and initiate combat.
Then, after gradually weakening the Cyclops, Maelyn would deliver two more Dark Flares, ending the fight in victory.
To reduce errors, they repeated the same pattern over and over.
It wasn’t an Avalon simulation, nor a real battle, it was just mock combat in thin air. But even that drained them completely. Everyone collapsed to the ground, gulping bottled water.
“Simon! Who was the tutor you met in Rochest over the weekend?”
At Kamibarez’s question, Simon flinched and replied,
“J-Just someone my father introduced me to. Why?”
“Your undead control got way better!”
“Yeah. For sure.”
Dick, who’d been lying flat in the training ground, sat up.
“You’re handling three skeletons at once now. Is it really possible to improve that much in such a short time?”
Maelyn leaned in, clearly intrigued.
“Who was it? A professional necromancer? Someone from Keyzen?”
Suddenly, all three of them locked their gazes on him. Simon gave a troubled smile.
‘...How do I explain this?’
Superb.