Chapter 379
In accordance with the academic nature of the symposium, Simon presented Herseba through a scholarly lens.
The properties of the heart, the core ingredient of a lich; the formulas and runes of summoning magic circles; the structure and characteristics of the Life Vessel.
What drew the most attention from the audience was the fusion between the autonomous staff Areldellu and Herseba.
Even Aron was surprised to hear that the lich's mind had transferred into an artifact.
"That’s pretty rare."
"Lich creation is highly volatile."
"The combination of an autonomous staff and a lich deserves proper research. It could be a viable way to significantly reduce the risks of liches."
The researchers were busy jotting down every word Simon said. Simon, who had always been the one taking notes, found the experience a bit foreign.
But since this was still a Summonology class, Simon leaned on his experience from the Pentamonium symposium and focused on the academic aspects. There wasn’t enough time to go into details like the three powers Herseba used, or the full specs of the mummy.
And with that, the presentation concluded.
Clap clap clap clap clap!!
A thunderous round of applause erupted. Simon bowed politely to the audience and nodded to Aron as well.
While the crowd was cheering—
"Genius gives great presentations too."
"Of course a genius is different, right? Born different from us."
"I wanna be born a genius too~"
In a corner of the lecture hall, some sarcastic remarks were being exchanged.
A few of the Class A Summonology aspirants had held a grudge against Simon since the Skeleton Mage lesson.
A professor’s "attention" is practically a form of capital to students. The rumor going around was that Simon had used his Skeleton Mage during class to pressure Aron, and ended up scoring personal Life Vessel tutoring sessions.
"So jealous~"
"Let’s be honest, who couldn’t do well if they got 1-on-1 tutoring from Professor Keyzen?"
"Special admission number one was handpicked by Neftis anyway. I bet Professor Keyzen’s just keeping him in check out of respect for her."
Just as the criticism was starting to escalate—
"N-No, that’s not true!"
A voice suddenly butted into the conversation.
"Don’t say stuff like that when you don’t even know Simon!"
It was none other than Toto.
Though his voice was drowned out by the general cheering, it was loud enough. The expressions of the Summonology aspirants turned cold.
"You talking to us right now?"
One of the girls gave him a long, chilling glare, and Toto’s face shriveled up instantly.
"What’s this loser sticking his nose in for?"
"Isn’t he in the same club as Simon?"
"Wow~ Already trying to ride his coattails? What, you think being close to Simon makes you special?"
Toto waved his hands, flustered.
"N-No! I didn’t mean it like that! I just think Simon is—"
Clap!
Just then, Aron clapped his hands loudly, quieting the room.
"Well done."
Aron began to speak.
"Lich summoning is filled with variables. Change just one of the three core components, and the final result changes drastically. It’s not something I can just nitpick. The formulas and runes were also sound. However, what I want to talk about is—"
His gaze shifted from Simon to the other students.
"Leaving the thesis aside, Simon’s presentation today. What did you think?"
A hand shot up, as if waiting for the cue. It was class president Jaime.
"Extremely skilled!"
"Right."
Aron nodded.
"I’m not here to talk about the quality of the thesis. Simon attended the Pentamonium Academic Conference last month. He wrote a paper before you did, and he presented in front of a large crowd before you did. That little bit of experience gap is what made the difference."
He scanned the room.
"Has anyone here even raised a hand to try for Pentamonium?"
"......."
Silence blanketed the lecture hall. A few students looked down in shame.
"Simon’s skill didn’t come from being a genius. Everything in the world has a cause and a reason."
The students looked at Aron, slightly bewildered. Where was this going?
"He made a mage while others rested, and prepared a lich while others made mages. Dismissing all that effort as mere talent and tearing it down is the most pathetic thing you can do."
Aron was staring directly at the three students who had belittled Simon. Their faces turned beet red.
The eyes of the rest of the crowd followed Aron’s and locked onto the trio.
"Hey! You guys talking behind Simon’s back again?"
Claudia Menzies stood up first.
"You guys seriously...."
Jaime gave them a look of pity.
"If you're so jealous of Professor Aron’s tutoring, then go exceed the syllabus and ask him yourself. Don’t want to put in effort, still want the rewards, just full of complaints while flapping your lips~"
Cindy Vivace spat venomously.
Flinch!
The trio suddenly felt a chilling presence behind them and stiffly turned around.
There, leaning back in the dim lighting of the lecture hall, was Hector—eyes gleaming menacingly.
"......Pathetic scum."
To Hector, who was pushing himself to death just to catch up to Simon, they were the type of people he despised most.
"I’ll see you three later, yeah?"
Maelyn was also smiling sweetly, twirling a finger. Her lips smiled, but her brow cast a deep shadow.
"Silence!"
With Aron’s shout, everyone’s gaze returned to the podium.
"Final exams, performance assessments, BMAT, promotion exams. I know you’re all busy with the academic schedule. But if you just do what everyone else does, you’ll never be different. Keep that in mind."
"Yes, sir!!"
"Simon Follentia."
Aron finally turned his head to Simon.
"A+."
"A… Thank you!"
Another round of thunderous applause erupted. The eyes of the students, now looking at Simon who had received the highest grade, sparkled with admiration.
"......."
And in the corner of the stands—
Chehekle, the top teaching assistant of Katarology, who had secretly come on Bahil’s orders, clapped while feeling a sense of surprise.
‘Can’t believe Professor Aron said that.’
Having been a TA for some time, she had seen Aron for quite a while.
Talk of challenges and effort... such words wouldn’t have come from the Aron who had hit rock bottom in the first semester.
‘Simon’s positive influence has changed Professor Aron’s negative tendencies.’
She rested her chin in one hand with a gentle smile, then let out a small sigh.
‘......I wonder if that boy could change our crazy professor too?’
* * *
"Amazing! Absolutely amazing! That was excellent, Simon!"
Katarology class.
The final assessment presentation: <Synergy Curse Using Three or More Curses>.
Bahil, excited beyond measure, was spitting as he explained just how perfect and beautiful Simon’s theory was.
Meanwhile, Simon scratched the side of his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
‘I did somehow manage to learn the four major curses, though.’
The Curse of Numbness, Indolence.
The Curse of Hostility, Hostile.
The Curse of Delusion, Delusion.
The Curse of Awakening, Waker.
Simon had completed the four curses, and the very next day was the presentation.
With no choice, he postponed working on Compellonia, and instead pulled out what he could from the four curses to create a single, unified curse.
All four formulas belonged to the mind-affecting category, and so, they shared a certain commonality.
That was the inclusion of awakening formulas that act on the central nervous system. By combining these four formulas appropriately, he presented a formula that maximized the awakening effect, and Bahil, clearly pleased, heaped praise upon him.
"Absolutely magnificent! Of course, the grading criteria is 'curse synergy', but just your creative arrangement of the four curse formulas alone is more than enough to warrant an A+."
"Thank you!"
Simon bowed deeply.
From behind the stage, Chehekle engraved Simon’s A+ into the grade list, then looked up at Bahil.
‘His mouth’s practically stretched to his ears.’
Bahil looked to be in a very good mood at the fact that Simon had created an original curse magic circle.
To be fair, Chehekle also found the synergy configuration quite refreshing. Simon was a student who viewed black magic with a fundamentally creative lens.
Rustle. Rustle.
At that moment, Bahil made a gesture toward Chehekle. With a heavy sigh, she rose from her seat and quietly approached Simon.
"Simon."
"Ah, yes, Teaching Assistant."
Simon straightened his posture with polite formality.
"Professor Bahil would like to see you in his office after class."
"Understood. I’ll head up right away."
As Chehekle walked away, Dick, Maelyn, and Kamibarez stared intently at Simon.
"Hmph, sounds like an offer to become a direct disciple."
Maelyn concluded.
"B-But! Simon’s thinking of becoming Professor Aron’s direct disciple!"
Kamibarez said in a fluster.
"If you’re gonna turn it down, recommend me instead."
Dick said shamelessly, pointing at himself.
"It’s probably not about becoming a direct disciple."
Simon said.
Since he had already learned Bahil’s four major curses, he figured this was finally about that mysterious technique called Compellonia.
* * *
Simon’s guess was exactly right.
Summoned to Bahil’s office, Simon was finally taught Compellonia.
Since he had already naturally absorbed the core formulas while studying the other four curses, the learning curve wasn’t too steep.
"Simon. I explained what Compello is before, didn’t I?"
Still riding the high of the earlier presentation, Bahil smiled with satisfaction as he spoke.
"Yes, Professor! You said it’s a domain of absolute truth that great necromancers occasionally experience."
"You remember precisely. That’s right. Have you used it recently?"
Bahil asked, eyes glinting with subtle expectation.
Simon paused to think, then clapped his hands.
"Oh! I think I briefly touched it while making the lich!"
Crack.
Bahil’s brows twitched slightly despite the smile on his face.
Chehekle, who was bringing coffee, couldn’t hold in her laughter and let out a quiet pfft!
"Ahem! Professor, Simon. Please enjoy your coffee."
"Thank you."
Simon bowed and took a sip.
As expected, the coffee in this office was sweet.
"Using Compello by yourself is an entirely different experience."
Bahil said, steering the conversation back on track.
"However, there’s one condition to using Compellonia."
"A condition?"
Bahil nodded.
"The first use of Compellonia is critical. When you first cross the 'gate', what you feel and realize, that’s the core. If your first use is improper, you could end up broken."
Simon gulped.
"Then… when should I use it?"
"In crisis."
Bahil answered immediately.
"In the most desperate moment of your life, when your life is in danger, when every method has failed, and you’re left with nothing but a prayer to the heavens—use Compellonia then, and trust me."
A smile crept up on his lips.
"Then this curse will give you an answer, Simon."
"I understand."
"Remember, reserve it until the end, and use it only at the very last moment."
"I’ll remember that."
Simon bowed deeply and left the office.
Bahil silently reached for the pipe resting on the table and placed it between his lips.
Fwooo.
Thick smoke filled the room.
"Chehekle."
"Yes, Professor."
Chehekle stood before him with a polite posture.
Bahil stared out the window for a moment, then spoke in a chilling voice.
"What do you think would be a good life-threatening, desperate crisis for Simon to experience?"
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters