Chapter 137
Perfect stillness.
Visuals and sounds eliminated except for what was necessary.
In this world, he was the sole protagonist.
‘To think I’d see this imagery again here.’
During combat, Simon can reproduce this state through sheer focus. But still, the cradle of concentration created using Bahil’s curse or Serne’s feather was on a whole different level.
What he felt was his own body, the chillingly vivid flow of Darkness, and the faint presence of Serne, pressed close behind him.
[Shall we begin?]
A pleasant, clear voice rang out. Simon sharpened his focus and activated the Core.
Three times his usual output.
Like a rising river overflowing its banks, the swelling Darkness was accumulating damage in his body.
[You need to increase your control.]
She guided him so it wouldn’t deviate and would flow straight.
The Core did not stop. The amount of Darkness grew steadily. Control became harder.
[I’ll create an outlet.]
As her voice sounded, Simon felt the Darkness exiting his body.
Now the balance was just right. Relieved, Simon raised the Core output further.
His body burned.
His blood boiled, every cell screaming for power. The vitality was on a whole different level compared to ordinary internal Darkness manipulation.
[Slowly—]
Now the flow and release of Darkness occurred simultaneously. The power overflowed uncontrollably.
At that moment.
Serne, who had been clinging to his back in a back hug, stepped away. Simon’s world returned to normal.
“Serne?”
Students around him were murmuring and staring at Simon.
As Simon turned toward her, confused, she was smiling with her hands behind her back and gestured with her chin.
“......!”
Droplets of Darkness fell from his body.
Not only had he achieved Internal Darkness Divergence, but he had also mastered its release.
Jealous gazes from the students pierced him.
“Wow! That means he succeeded, right?”
“He already got it like that? Is he an alien or something?”
“As expected from Special Admission No. 1.”
‘No, I didn’t do it alone.’
When Simon looked up blankly, Serne was smiling like a spring flower.
“That’s another debt added. Okay?”
“.......”
Simon let out a small laugh.
“Yeah, thanks.”
She elegantly brushed her platinum blonde hair.
“When I collect ten debts like this, I’m going to use them for a really big wish, you know?”
“......What is this, some school cafe coupon card?”
“Ahaha!”
As the two chuckled and exchanged words—
Goooooooooh!
There was a boy and girl radiating volcano-like fury.
Maelyn was glaring with burning eyes at Simon and Serne, who were smiling pleasantly.
‘Ugh! Seriously, this is so frustrating! I warned you, didn’t I! I told you to stay away from that girl no matter what! She’ll only use and manipulate you!’
Maelyn felt like she was going to explode with frustration over Simon.
Why couldn’t he see her true colors? Seeing him grinning like a fool, falling for her looks just because he’s a guy, made her want to scream.
She felt like charging in and smashing their heads together on the spot.
Thud.
Right next to her, Hector had stepped forward, exuding fury from head to toe like a wrathful deity.
‘Simon Follentiaaaa!’
Hector ground his teeth hard.
‘How far do you plan to mock me, you bastard!’
Hector, who had started black magic years before Simon, could of course already do ‘Internal Darkness Divergence’.
But the technique he had mastered by pouring in countless hours and overcoming life-and-death struggles, Simon had just picked it up in one class session and showed it off.
Goooooooooh!
The gazes of the two students burned toward Simon. Some nearby students awkwardly pretended not to notice and resumed their training.
At that moment, the two, their fury peaking, locked eyes.
“What are you staring at?”
Maelyn growled.
“Are you out of your mind? Look somewhere else.”
Murderous intent flickered in Hector’s eyes.
Just as the two were about to rush toward each other—
“Maelyn! No!”
Kamibarez ran over in a panic and grabbed Maelyn. Members of Hector’s faction also rushed in and restrained his waist, pulling him back.
The two glared at each other fiercely, but when they saw the instructors approaching, they eventually turned away.
‘What’s going on?’
Hearing the murmurs, Simon turned around and saw that Maelyn and Hector were already walking off in opposite directions. The instructors were calming the students down.
Training resumed.
Now Simon could induce Internal Darkness Divergence at will. But—
‘The risk is too great.’
Gaining immense power in a short time was nice, but the toll on the body from the Darkness consumption was dangerously high. If he couldn’t decisively defeat the enemy using this, it meant a guaranteed loss.
And blasting out Darkness externally like that was highly inefficient. It felt like a true ‘finishing move’.
“That’s why even among pro necromancers, there aren’t many who use Darkness manifestation as their main technique.”
Serne said, waving her index finger.
“Professor Hongpeng is probably teaching this now to prepare us for the next techniques. There are many application skills that utilize manifestation.”
“Ahh.”
Simon nodded.
“You can use it too?”
“It’s not that hard to use.”
She extended her index finger toward Simon. Smoke hissed out only from the tip.
“But it’s savage and crude, isn’t it? I don’t really want to use Magical Combat.”
Well, even without Magical Combat, Serne had a virtually limitless arsenal.
From launching feathers, to imbuing them with Darkness and forming magic circles from afar, to deploying twenty magic circles simultaneously with twenty feathers. She could even transform feathers into other objects.
Her casual attitude during Magical Combat class was, in a way, a luxury she could afford.
“Still, I think nothing you learn ever really goes to waste.”
Simon shared his usual belief.
“Maelyn used to be a glass cannon type with Magical Combat as a weakness, but ever since she reinforced it, her performance has improved a lot.”
“That’s true.”
Serne smiled with folded arms. Simon, reading her expression, said,
“And if you really want to be friends with Maelyn, it’d be good to fix that habit of looking down on others.”
“What do you mean~? It’s a fact Maelyn’s below me, so what’s there to fix?”
Simon gave a hollow laugh.
“You’re one of the strangest people I know.”
Serne smiled too.
“Ah, we agree~ You’re the weirdest person I’ve ever met too.”
As the two were speaking, Hongpeng clapped her hands, signaling everyone to gather. All students from Class A and Class C flocked to her.
“Sit down comfortably.”
As the students sat on the grass, Hongpeng began to explain.
“It’s normal not to succeed right away! With Darkness manipulation techniques, consistent juice-extraction practice is what matters most. You all did great, so let’s take a 20-minute break, and next, I’ve prepared a fun event!”
At the mention of a fun event, the students’ expressions froze.
‘Is she gonna make us ride a hippo on one foot or something?’
‘It’s probably gonna be running up a hill with sandbags, as usual.’
Just then, Bred, a teaching assistant standing far from Hongpeng, tossed her a ball. She caught it easily with one hand and beamed brightly.
“Inter-class ball match. How’s that sound?”
“!!!!”
“For real??!”
An actual normal event?! Cheers of half-joy, half-shock erupted from all directions.
Balls were rare items since arriving in Keyzen.
With the arrival of a proper sport, the students’ eyes sparkled. Even those not interested in ball games were genuinely happy it wasn’t hippo-riding or hill-climbing.
“Alright, let me explain the game.”
With the ball tucked under her arm, Hongpeng moved on to specifics.
To put it simply, the rules resembled dodgeball. Enter the court and throw the ball to hit the opponent.
If the ball touched your body but you caught it cleanly and held on, you could gain the right to attack.
However, eliminated players couldn’t help their team from outside the court. Once out, you were completely out of the game.
“Of course! Just doing that would be boring, right?”
Suddenly, an ominous feeling swept over the students.
She lifted the ball and tossed it toward Bred again, but the throw veered off and flew toward the forest instead.
Swishhh!
Then, suddenly, the ball twisted its path and flew straight to Bred.
Bred lowered his stance and caught the ball stably. His legs slid backward several meters before coming to a halt.
“This ball is enchanted with black magic.”
The students gasped and murmured in alarm.
“No matter where you throw it, it always flies toward someone who possesses a Core. In other words, it can’t miss.”
Bred threw the ball again. It flew far off, then veered like a hawk chasing prey and headed toward Hongpeng.
She easily caught it with one hand again.
“Dodging is impossible. This sport allows only offense and defense. If you fail to block, you’re out!”
Is this even a ball game?!
Many students had that thought on the tip of their tongues. Some simply nodded as if resigned to it.
“Still, it sounds fun.”
“Yeah. We can’t lose to Class C!”
“Professor!”
Again, the question master, Class A’s Jaime Victoria, raised her hand.
“Can we use black magic?”
“Yes. You can use black magic to enhance yourself, allies, or the ball, but any effect on opposing players is strictly forbidden. Break the rules, and you’ll be eliminated immediately. Also, the ‘Spirit Form’ technique to make your body intangible is banned. If the ball keeps passing through, the game will never end.”
At that, Cindy Vivace looked visibly dejected.
“Twenty players per court. Best of three. The winning class will get delicious food. And the losing team…”
She smiled brightly.
“…will have to watch the winners eat while filling up on stamina drinks~”
At those words, fire lit in all the students’ eyes.
Competition!
The atmosphere shifted instantly, as Keyzen’s signature competitive spirit began to burn.
“Class A, gather up!”
“We’re not losing even if we die!”
“Class C, over here!”
“Time to crush those vice-chancellor suck-ups!”
As everyone burned with competition, Simon stood up from his seat too.
“Hey, Simon.”
Grab.
Before he noticed, Maelyn had grabbed Simon’s wrist. He looked at her, surprised.
“M-Maelyn?”
“Class rep wants you. For Class A’s strategy meeting.”
She pulled him along confidently.
As Simon turned around, he saw Serne waving at him with a relaxed smile. Soon, Class C students were gathering around her too.
“Where’s Kami?”
“......”
“Maelyn?”
She snorted and turned her head away haughtily.
Simon gave a wry smile. Why did she look mad again?
“Come on, Simon! Over here~”
In the middle of the Class A group, Jaime Victoria was seated at the center, and next to her stood Dick.
When Jaime nodded, Dick cleared his throat and got everyone’s attention.
“Ahem! Dick Hayword, the brains of Class A.”
Booing and playful jeers came from various spots, but Dick skillfully played it off with a show host’s bow, thanking the crowd for their warm welcome.
“I’ll explain on behalf of the class rep. First off, the teams are already set by the teaching assistants.”
From subspace, Dick pulled out a foldable table—why he even carried one was a mystery—and unfolded it, laying down sheets of paper on top.
Students gathered to check the list. Simon came closer to check the roster too.
‘I’m on Team 2.’
Simon looked only for the names he was familiar with.
Team 1: Maelyn, Dick, Toto.
Team 2: Simon, Hector.
Team 3: Cindy, Jaime, Kamibarez.
‘Not a bad balance.’
Simon thought, glancing sideways.
Hector, arms crossed and face contorted, looked extremely displeased with the team composition.
“Okay, everyone, listen for a sec.”
Dick began again.
“Our strategic flexibility is a bit limited, but what we can decide is which team we send in for rounds 1, 2, and 3. That means it’s a mind game. If Class C sends in their strongest team, we could bait them with our weakest and make them waste it. Then use our strongest to beat their mid-tier.”
Everyone nodded.
Then a student raised a hand.
“It’s best of three, right? Wouldn’t it be better to just send our two strongest teams and win straight?”
“Of course.”
Dick grinned as he continued.
“But Class C will definitely send Serne’s powerhouse team in either round 1 or 2. Unless they pull a totally bizarre strategy.”
“......Hmm.”
At the mention of Serne, everyone’s faces turned grim.
Serne, alongside Loraine from Class L, was one of Keyzen’s top two prodigies. Her presence was certainly threatening.
This time, Jaime spoke up.
“Then we should quickly decide which teams are strong and which are weak.”
“Yeah. Our balance is good overall, but if I had to pick……”
Dick’s eyes scanned the group.
“I think Team 2, with Simon and Hector, is our strongest. Any objections?”
Superb.