Chapter 234
“As expected of a giant half-blood! Special Admission No. 3, Shatel Maer!! He just breaks through the traps with his bare body!”
The excited crowd continuously chanted Shatel’s name. The announcer, caught up in the thrill, turned to Belya and said,
“Professor! She was amazing in the last test too, and this time as well, she’s overwhelming! He’s like a living, breathing tank! What kind of black magic is that?!”
“You idiot! Does that look like black magic to you?”
Belya smirked as she rested her chin on her hand.
“That’s just innate. The kind of physique where even weapons can’t leave a scratch, that’s the body of a giant. And yet he talks about some family-inherited black magic as if that’s where his power comes from. Pathetic. That’s what real bloodline power looks like.”
“Ahh, it’s unbelievable! Is he really human like us? He breaks through and presses the red buzzer! Shatel! First to clear Stage Three!”
Stages one and two took some time as students had to dismantle traps on the way, but the real spectacle was Stage Three.
It wasn’t about trap removal skills, it was a test of pure durability and endurance. All students had to confront it head-on.
“Ahh! Right as we speak, student Maelyn Villene!”
The main screen in the spectator stands showed Maelyn.
She cast magic circles beneath her feet, unleashing a torrent of ice while running along the ceiling.
Weapons meant to descend from the ceiling were obstructed by her ice, and in the meantime, Maelyn cleared Stage Three at an incredible speed.
“Oooh! Her mastery of Darkness-Element Ice Magic is at a phenomenal level! It’s like witnessing the revival of the Great Mage Era!! That’s the Ivory Tower for you!”
“She’s pushing too hard.”
Belya muttered bluntly.
“She won’t last two minutes. She’s pouring out all her ice because she thinks there’s no next stage. She’s going to collapse in Stage Four.”
“Is that so! Let’s keep watching to see if the professor is right! Ah, just now, another contestant enters! This time, from the Great Dragon House rivaling the Ivory Tower! Hector Moore!!”
Now completely covered in scales, Hector, shaped like a dragon of time, sprinted close to the ground.
Breath poured from his mouth, relentlessly blasting the ceiling and destroying the weapons before they could drop. He sent skeletons ahead to trigger traps, then alternated between breath and curses.
“Now that’s good.”
Belya smiled brightly.
“He’s using skeletons to locate the trap positions, then switching between breath and corrosion curses. Much more efficient than that girl from earlier.”
“But Professor! Isn’t this test supposed to focus on defense and endurance?”
“He’s the type who crushes everything with extreme offense. That kind of approach is less efficient, but still effective in this test.”
Everyone was clearing Stage Three using their own strengths and styles.
“But the student who cleared Stages One and Two faster than anyone else hasn’t moved a single step in Stage Three!”
At the announcer’s cry, the main screen switched to show Simon.
“He appears to be preparing some kind of black magic, it’s already been 30 minutes! Other students are passing him and heading to Stage Four!”
Spectators who had placed their hopes—or bets—on Special Admission No. 1 began to boo. The announcer, flustered, turned to Belya.
“Professor! What do you think of this kind of move?”
Belya, watching Simon with an oddly sullen expression, pouted her lips and replied,
“He’ll figure it out. That guy.”
“Pardon?”
“Move on to the next!”
* * *
“Huff.”
Simon panted. He knew 30 minutes had already passed.
‘Professor Aron was right.’
Aron had taught him a new “Blood Golem” but had advised sealing it away until the second year.
The reason, he explained, was that it took too long to complete and drained a massive amount of stamina.
Aron warned that the caster might collapse the moment it was completed.
But—
‘Out of all the black magic I know, nothing suits this situation better than Blood Golem.’
Simon boldly chose to use the Blood Golem he had learned as an elective.
As blood drained from his body and dizziness set in, he pulled out a “Blood Potion”, favored by students majoring in Haematology, and drank it. Already his fifth bottle.
Feer quietly observed Simon.
‘This kid always tries to push too far.’
And yet, even while constantly pushing limits, he had never once failed. He always succeeded, and sometimes even performed miracles. But this time, draining stamina directly might finally present a real wall.
Would Simon learn failure for the first time, or overcome even this?
Everything depended on him.
‘Huff... huff...’
Simon’s vision spun. Drinking more blood potion wasn’t helping, his body was at its limit.
‘...This won’t work.’
Staggering, Simon pressed his fingers to his forehead.
‘This won’t do.’
Clang!
Simon shattered the magic circle of Walter that he’d been maintaining with his right hand, then began drawing a new one.
‘I know how dangerous it is to interfere with a magic circle. But if I let fear of risk stop me, I’ll never change anything.’
Just like he had reconfigured Exhaust in Katarology class, he would modify the circle again this time.
The theory wasn’t difficult. Walter’s Cloud magic circle used Darkness and Blood in a 4:6 ratio.
He would reverse the ratio, Darkness and Blood, 6:4. If you had the confidence to control the cloud, there was no need to strictly follow Walter’s ratio.
‘I’ve already formed the core and the frame! Now just the outer layer...!’
Simon’s magical ecosystem began to evolve in a new form.
‘Lighter!’
The resulting cloud was lighter in color, stickier, and damper. Though the golem’s feet and legs formed, they wobbled as if even walking would be hard.
But this much was enough.
‘I’m not planning to break through with the Blood Golem.’
Finally, the Cloud covered the core of the golem, activating the black magic. A grand golem, 3 meters tall, rose to its feet.
It was a swirling, emerald-colored liquid monster, its body marked with spiral patterns like a snail’s shell. Not the stereotypical bright red Blood Golem, but a jade-hued creature.
Now for the final step. Simon drew the same magic circle as the one on the golem’s core onto his own chest.
Zeeeeeeeeeng!
The two magic circles began to synchronize. Simon exhaled deeply, then turned to face Stage Three’s gauntlet.
[You’ve chosen to twist the original path, haven’t you!]
Feer’s apparition grinned.
[Weren’t you planning to have the Blood Golem take hits while you ran halfway through? What now?]
‘From start to finish...’
Simon popped open his final Blood Potion and chugged it, eyes focused dead ahead.
‘I’ll run with my own legs.’
Bwahahaha!
Feer’s thunderous laughter exploded in Simon’s head.
[As I thought! You are, without a doubt, the most insane human I’ve ever met!]
* * *
“Amazing! Special Admission No. 10, Malcolm Randolph! His control using Doppelganger to scatter the weapons was truly impressive!”
The announcer shouted with excitement. Belya, seated beside him, leaned on her chin with a satisfied expression.
“That was originally a fixed-position magic circle, wasn’t it? Yeah, I thought so. But he modified it so he could carry it while running. Kid’s got a surprising bit of genius in him.”
The announcer nodded and brought up a topic related to Malcolm.
“But recently, he stirred up controversy in a duel evaluation with Special Admission No. 1 by using a ‘liquid bomb!’ All the unsolved explosion cases that the Randolph Gang had been denying are now being reinvestigated! Professor, what are your thoughts on this?”
Belya burst out laughing.
“Is that for real? If that’s true, he totally screwed over his own dad! After all this, if he can’t even graduate from Keyzen, he’s gonna get his ass kicked!”
“Ah, just now! The very student who had been standing still for 30 minutes, Special Admission No. 1, is finally moving!”
The main screen once again showed Simon. Having finally succeeded in creating his teal-colored golem, he suddenly began sprinting forward on his own two legs.
“What?! He spent 30 minutes making a golem, only to abandon it and head into Stage Three on his own, Simon Follentia!”
The announcer leapt to his feet, visibly excited. The crowd began to murmur in confusion.
“Did he fail the summoning and go in bare-handed instead? He already burned a massive amount of stamina using Haematology magic! If he just leaves the golem behind, what a waste of time, energy, and Darkness! Professor, what’s your take on this?”
Belya shook her head.
“I don’t know much about Summonology. But just from what’s visible, he failed to complete the golem he wanted. He gave up and is breaking through with his bare body. That’s how it looks.”
“You said ‘just from what’s visible’! So do you think Simon has another plan in mind?”
“Yeah, he’s a smart kid. I’d say he’s got something planned.”
Tadadat!
Simon ran like mad, dodging hundreds of weapons falling from the ceiling.
As droplets of Darkness began to drip from Simon’s body, the announcer shouted out,
“Ahhh! Internal Darkness Divergence!! With such an advanced Magical Combat technique, one wonders—why didn’t he just use that from the start to break through?!”
“You don’t know jack.”
The sharp rebuke from Belya made the announcer flinch.
“Didn’t you see what happened to the Magical Combat kids earlier? The ones who tried to brute-force it with speed got caught by the weapons in the end, and the ones who hardened their bodies or at least mimicked a Dark Robe passed. You can’t clear Stage Three with speed alone. That’s how the trap was designed.”
Thud!
Just as Belya finished speaking, a heavy impact sounded on screen. The audience’s eyes snapped to the main monitor.
“…!”
A spear had lodged itself in Simon’s shoulder. Gasps and horrified screams erupted from all around.
“He’s done.”
“I had a bad feeling ever since he started making that golem out of nowhere.”
“For a Special Admission No. 1, he really was kind of underwhelming.”
Even so, Simon gritted his teeth and began running again, the spear still stuck in him. Then, two arrows flew in and pierced his legs.
“Ughhh, that’s gotta hurt.”
“He’s really done now.”
“Come on, disqualify him already! Are you gonna kill a kid during a test?”
As the crowd erupted in chaos, Simon kept running.
Sliced by swords, stabbed by arrows, smacked by maces—he hit his head, blood pouring from his forehead, but he never stopped his feet.
He’s done.
It’s over now.
There’s no way he can get back up.
Amid the jeers, pity, and cynicism, Simon continued to stand tall and charge forward. Again and again, he shattered the expectations of those who thought he was finished.
Before long, the crowd fell silent, and even the once-chatty announcer was left speechless, his mouth agape.
“…Why.”
In the hush, someone muttered quietly,
“Why won’t that guy go down?”
The atmosphere toward Simon was starting to shift.
“Of course.”
By now, even Belya had leaned in with a thoroughly satisfied expression.
“No necromancer would ever go into battle without insurance.”
Thud!
Crack!
Splat!
No matter how fast you are, there’s no avoiding getting hit a few times in these traps. Now clearly exhausted, Simon began taking hits—as expected.
But he didn’t fall.
He didn’t even think of giving up.
Simon continued to charge forward, enduring every attack with his entire body.
“Oh! Ohhh!”
“Go! Keep going!”
Simon was proving it through sheer action. The jeers and cynicism vanished, replaced by rising excitement.
“He’s still moving!”
“Waaaaaah!”
“He’s insane! He just won’t go down!!”
The audience had begun to see themselves in Simon, cheering him on. Everyone held their breath and raised their voices.
And finally, at last—
Beeeeeeep!
Blood-soaked Simon finally pressed the red buzzer that led to Stage Four.
Simon, body covered in countless embedded weapons, was still standing firm.
As the audience stared, mouths agape at the unbelievable sight, the camera zoomed in on Simon’s face.
He was smiling.
He clenched his fist and raised it high above his head.
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
As if they had been waiting for it, an explosive roar of cheers erupted from every direction.
It was a clear, unforgettable moment—burned into everyone’s minds.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters