Chapter 117
Simon blinked.
“The most important function?”
“Yes. Be aware of the ring on your finger and press your left foot firmly onto the ground.”
Following Gellen’s words, Simon gently stepped on the dirt floor with his left foot. It felt as though he were pressing a button with his foot, and then, centered on his left foot, a transparent magic circle appeared.
“Now, the caster should be able to see the virtual magic circle. Try channeling Darkness into it to activate the magic circle.”
Activate it? How exactly?
Though puzzled, Simon poured a small amount of Darkness into the magic circle.
Fwoosh!
One corner of the magic circle lit up with a black flame and came to life.
‘So that’s how it works.’
There wasn’t any complicated process. Just by channeling Darkness, the virtual magic circle automatically formed.
“This state is called ‘Set Mode’. Once your left foot leaves the ground, Set Mode will deactivate.”
As Simon lifted his left foot, the magic circle really did fade into the air. When he stepped down again and activated Darkness, the magic circle formed and returned to Set Mode.
‘Amazing!’
A childlike smile formed at the corner of Simon’s mouth.
“Now, what you can do in Set Mode is simple. The caster can open up to six subspaces simultaneously.”
Simon’s face froze in shock.
“Six at the same time?”
“Yes, look around you.”
Before he knew it, six transparent magic circles were floating midair.
“Unless configured otherwise, the subspaces will open where the virtual magic circles are located, visible only to the caster. Execution is easy. Just say the activation word, ‘Open Gate’, in your mind. Saying it out loud is fine too.”
Simon nodded and focused his concentration.
Once again, he would create a virtual target in the air and have Overlord concentrate its attacks on it.
“Open Gate!”
Swish!
Swishhhhhhhhhh!
Swishhhh!
Six magic circles opened, and six tentacles burst out as if waiting, piercing through the air.
Simon unconsciously let out an exclamation.
“Wow!”
Standing beside him, Benya’s eyes widened as she clapped her hands. Simon spun around to face Gellen and shouted,
“Gellen! You’re a genius! How could you make a subspace like this…!”
“Ahaha! This was originally a ‘pending project’ designed with multi-subspace usage in mind. It was by chance that I reworked it into Overlord’s exclusive magic circle. It was a rewarding task for me too.”
Gellen raised his index finger.
“But as I mentioned before, this subspace needs to output something different from its normal usage…”
“You said there could be risks.”
“Hoho! Yes, exactly. Do you feel it?”
Simon looked at the ring on his left hand.
“The ring is hot.”
“Yes, that’s right. If you open too many subspaces at once or too frequently, the subspace will gradually overload.”
Simon wore a puzzled expression.
You can open six gates at once, what’s the big deal if the ring just gets a little hot? That doesn’t seem like much of a risk.
“In actual combat, there will be times when you’ll need to keep opening subspaces. If you keep recklessly using subspaces even when the ring gets hot enough to burn your finger…”
Boom—
Gellen mimicked an explosion with his mouth.
“In the worst case, it’ll explode. Your finger might get blown right off.”
“…Ah.”
Just imagining it made his finger hurt.
“Of course, if you don’t go overboard, there’s no problem at all. As long as the caster follows some basic common sense and self-restraint. When the ring gets too hot, stop using it. And wait patiently until it cools down. If you stick to just these two things, I guarantee safe usage.”
So, don’t overdo it. Simon nodded.
“And to prevent frequent overloads of the subspace, I recommend using around four on average, rather than the maximum of six. Save all six for emergencies, as a trump card.”
After finishing his explanation, Gellen bowed his head.
“That’s it. Do you have any questions?”
“Lots! First of all…”
Simon immediately fired off a barrage of questions, as if he’d been waiting. At the same time, he was formulating the most efficient method of operating Overlord in his head.
‘With this…’
Simon could feel his confidence rising.
‘With this, I can win with my own power.’
* * *
That night, in the first-year boys’ dormitory.
“Finally, tomorrow’s the weekend!”
Dick shouted as he flopped down on his bed.
“Simon! Let’s ask Maelyn to hang out over the weekend!”
“Sorry. I’ve already scheduled a special training.”
Right after the weekend, he had his duel evaluation with Malcolm. Before then, he had to get Overlord’s control with the new subspace fully on track.
“If it’s the Malcolm fight, then it can’t be helped.”
Dick rested his chin on the pillow with a disappointed look, but he seemed to accept it.
And the next day, on the weekend, hellish training truly began.
“I told you, right? You can start when you want, but ending it is up to me.”
Aron even came into Keyzen on the weekend to oversee Simon’s Overlord training. This time, the training was about placing Overlord into subspace and having it block the bones Aron fired.
To an outsider, it might’ve looked like child abuse. The intensity of the weekend training was that extreme.
Simon moved until he was completely exhausted, willingly enduring the brutal sessions. Through this training, he began to get a sense of how much he could push before the ring became too hot.
[Hmph! That Keyzen professor is too Necromancer-centric in his thinking! Training without a full understanding of Undead is meaningless!]
Feer, burning with a strange rivalry against Aron, called Simon over to the ruins. Simon was already worn out from Aron’s training, but he was never one to turn down more practice.
[Even if you attack through subspace, the essence doesn’t change! Read Overlord’s intent and deliver the most effective strike!]
“Yes!”
After finishing the training with Feer, Simon returned to Keyzen and visited the ‘Mutant’ club room.
Just as Simon had been worked to the bone running around, Overlord had also been through hellish training.
“Simon!”
“You’re here.”
“Huh, you guys.”
Even though it was the weekend, Toto and Fitzgerald were in the clubroom assembling a skeleton together. Simon grinned.
“You two got pretty close, huh.”
Toto scratched his head.
“Huh? Really? Haha.”
“Enough chatter. Help us with the assembly.”
“Got it. Help me with my project afterward though.”
Once they finished assembling the skeleton, Simon took Overlord out from subspace, and the two helped apply chemicals to the dried sections of its body.
“Hold on.”
Fitzgerald stood and ran his hand along one of Overlord’s legs. Simon jumped in alarm.
“Careful! If you touch it recklessly, it’s—!”
“This leg feels a little different.”
Fitzgerald stared intently at Overlord’s leg. Simon shrugged.
“Really? They all look the same to me.”
“You said the Undead’s creator is dead, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm.”
After a brief moment of thought, Fitzgerald looked at Simon.
“I think the creator put more effort into this leg. Try connecting with Overlord’s consciousness and stretch the leg out further.”
“Stretch it more?”
“Yeah. Like you’re unfolding it.”
Fitzgerald was a weirdo, but Simon figured he must’ve had some basis for saying this.
Simon closed his eyes and stretched the leg out to its maximum length. From this exact state—
‘Unfold!’
He gave the command through his will. Then, Overlord responded strangely.
The leg trembled slightly, then suddenly drooped.
Considering Overlord’s nature of simply ignoring impossible commands, this was odd.
This didn’t feel like something it couldn’t do—it felt more like a failed attempt.
‘One more time…!’
Simon gave the command again. Overlord’s leg trembled again, and then came a faint creaking noise.
‘Keep going! Don’t give up!’
As Simon continued to give the command, the bones that had seemed tightly compacted suddenly stretched out like a coiled spring unraveling.
The fully extended leg of Overlord was about 1.5 times longer than the other normal legs.
“Told you I was right.”
Fitzgerald flashed a smug smile.
“He probably tried to add this function to the other legs too, but failed and just fused them all together. Looks like only this leg can extend.”
Simon shot up and grabbed his hand.
“Thank you! Fitz!”
“Uh? Uh, yeah.”
“I just got a seriously important hint!”
Simon’s eyes sparkled.
This kind of variable could be huge.
He felt like he might be able to formulate a winning strategy.
* * *
The morning of the duel evaluation finally arrived after the weekend.
Keyzen had significantly increased the number of outside observers for this evaluation.
Nobles from the kingdom, representatives from various institutions, and even scouts. Countless people had come to Roke Mountain to observe this public duel evaluation.
“The arena is this way!”
“Please follow the regulations!”
And the ones who were suffering were the aides assigned to manage the nobles.
Rena, a veteran dormitory manager in her fourth year, was also part of the event staff and it was hell.
“Hey now! Do you know who this is!?”
“Can’t I just chat with my student for a moment?”
“I’m sorry, but no! Absolutely not!”
Rena forced a smiling face with all her might, but inside, she was screaming in agony.
‘Ugh! These old geezers are so damn stubborn. Seriously!’
The nobles hated being told what to do by aides, looking down on their instructions. They flaunted their status and wealth nonstop, and if they felt even slightly disrespected, they’d raise their voices so much your ears would bleed.
She honestly felt it was easier dealing with bratty students.
‘Wait.’
Just then, she spotted a middle-aged man twirling his mustache trying to sneak out of the line.
Rena spread her arms and blocked his path.
“You can’t go in! It is strictly forbidden for civilians to enter areas outside the arena!”
“Hmph, don’t you know who I am? I’m Count Soriot. I just want to see my son’s face for a moment…”
“Count, I’m sorry, but that is absolutely not allowed! Please follow the formal visitation procedure!”
“My, my. Must you be so rigid?”
Count Soriot slipped a pouch of gold coins from his sleeve and pushed it toward her chest.
“I can’t accept this! Eeek! P-please stop, Count!”
“Come now, just take it.”
While the two were bickering, Count Soriot gave a subtle eye signal.
Whoosh!
Two men who had been standing behind him suddenly dashed toward the first-year campus.
“Two intruders!”
“Stop them!”
The aides and instructors screamed and took off in pursuit.
But the men weren’t ordinary. They instantly activated their Cores and turned their bodies into a spectral state. The instructors’ hands only sliced through air as they tried to grab them.
‘Necromancers!?’
If they broke through, all hell would break loose. The instructors shouted and gave chase, but the spectrally transformed men didn’t slow down.
Just as they reached the outskirts of the first-year campus—
Clank!
Clank!
Chains flew through the air out of nowhere, binding the two men’s bodies.
‘H-how did that work on someone in a spectral state?’
There wasn’t even time for questions. The two men caught by the chains drew large arcs through the air and crashed down on the ground just behind Count Soriot.
Thud!
A cloud of dust exploded. Moments later, the two men, their heads buried in the ground, trembled before falling limp.
Murmur, murmur, murmur.
The other nobles whispered while watching the scene, some chuckling, others covering their mouths with fans.
Count Soriot’s face flushed bright red.
“How dare you do this to my retainers! Who—who are you!?”
“That would be me.”
Step, step.
All the instructors and aides around stiffened, standing at attention with tense expressions. As if parting for Moses, the aides cleared a path. A woman walked through the middle.
Her short, precisely cut hair and cold violet eyes gave off a solemn air.
‘T-that’s Vice-Chancellor Jane Olivia of Keyzen…!’
She strode right up to Count Soriot and stood before him.
“There’s no need for concern. We’re taking very good care of your son. But this kind of contact is inappropriate.”
It was the first time he’d seen such a great Necromancer up close.
Trembling in fear, Soriot said,
“I-is it really so wrong for a father to want to see his son?”
“Once enrolled, he is no longer just your son, but a Necromancer of Keyzen. And also—”
She held out her palm, and two potions floated out from the cloaks of the retainers. Count Soriot’s face turned pale.
“Even if you handed these to him now, they wouldn’t change the outcome of the duel.”
“…!”
“Since you’ve come all the way to visit our school, please enjoy your time here.”
She walked off in another direction, and Count Soriot bowed his head in resignation.
Just then, a young noblewoman in a dress waved excitedly from the crowd.
“Jane! Jane!”
“Oh, Princess.”
Jane smiled softly as she approached her.
“You came.”
“Yes! Attending Keyzen’s events is the highlight of my life! Ah.”
She lowered her voice and whispered into Jane’s ear.
“I heard Special Admission No. 1 this year is insane. Is it true?”
Jane gave a wry smile.
“Shouldn’t you at least ask how your brother’s doing first?”
“Ugh, whatever! That guy’s weird! Always forming strange factions even though he’s a Noble and a prince! He hasn’t changed one bit since we were in the palace!”
Grumbling, the princess looked back at Jane.
“So, do you think Special Admission No. 1 will do well? Today’s the only duel between special admissions, right? I’m super excited!”
“Yes, you can look forward to it.”
Jane gave a faint, serene smile.
“He’s a student I personally oversee.”
“What?”
“Well then, I’ll excuse myself for work.”
Jane bowed and walked away. The princess giggled behind her fan.
“Jane said something like that? That’s rare.”
What kind of power did that student have? With her heart fluttering in anticipation, she headed for the arena.
Superb.