Chapter 477
One hour earlier.
While most of the students had already completed their Skeleton Knights, Simon was still pouring every bit of focus into assembling his skeleton.
“Now!”
Simon’s Skeleton Knight swung its sword.
Pingrrrrrrr—
As it swung, its waist rotated along with it, and its entire upper body spun around in circles—twice over. The watching students clutched their stomachs, bursting out with laughter.
“S-sorry, Simon. Khuhp!”
Even Toto was holding his mouth shut, his face red with stifled laughter. It was nothing but a comical scene to everyone else, but Simon alone had an elevated expression, eyes gleaming.
“This is awesome!”
“...Huh?”
Toto blinked at him with a strange look.
* * *
An hour later, Simon and Aseraz stood on the platform, each commanding their Skeleton Knight.
“Undead duel. You’ve all done this plenty back in your first year, so you should know the rules well. The summoner’s black magic is strictly forbidden. Victory goes to the side that first severs the opponent’s undead’s head.”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
Simon and Aseraz replied energetically.
‘Simon Follentia.’
Aron turned his head.
‘You’ve always had a natural gift for pulling off the unexpected.’
He still shivered when recalling the time Simon turned a bipedal skeleton into a quadrupedal runner mid-fight.
But this was different. This skeleton was defective, and more than that, these were Skeleton Knights. Once armored, there was no way to disassemble and rearrange their bones into some new form.
‘Still… if he dared to step up here, he must have a reason.’
Confirming that both students were ready, Aron gave the order.
“Begin.”
Chrk.
Clack.
Simon and Aseraz took their stances simultaneously.
“Sorry, but I don’t intend to lose.”
Aseraz raised her slender arm. Her Skeleton Knight raised twin swords and assumed a clean, precise battle posture.
“I’m not asking you to.”
Simon retorted, readying his own Skeleton Knight. Aseraz frowned upon seeing it.
“...What the hell are you doing?”
Just like hers, Simon’s Skeleton Knight held two swords, appearing as a twin-blade type. The students’ murmurs grew.
“Have you even gone through Cognitive Bloom? Did you properly attune the Skeleton Knight’s nature to those weapons? Or are you just mocking me?”
“Neither of those.”
Simon smirked faintly.
“But I’ll win.”
Her eyes flared.
“Try it then!”
Thaaat!
Responding to her intent, Aseraz’s Skeleton Knight charged forward. With arms slightly spread and swords lowered, it fell into the ideal twin-blade stance.
Simon’s Skeleton Knight, however, held an odd posture.
Clack!
Clack!
It simply spread its sword-wielding arms wide, like wings.
“Quit messing around!”
Aseraz shouted furiously.
Her Skeleton Knight’s twin swords carved perfect arcs as they flew for Simon’s Knight’s neck.
‘Got you!’
Fwoooosh!
But the blades struck nothing. Aseraz’s eyes widened as if her target had vanished. Simon’s Skeleton Knight had bent backward at a grotesque angle, narrowly dodging.
“Tricks!”
Her Skeleton Knight quickly slashed downward, but at the same time Simon’s Knight snapped its bent knees open, lunging in.
‘Perfect timing!’
Simon released a magic circle linked to the Skeleton. The joints along its waist snapped loose, and the twisted Darkness coiled within began to unwind.
Pingrrrrrrr!
With arms outstretched, the Skeleton Knight spun like a top while still gripping its swords. Aseraz’s Knight rushed to cross its blades for defense.
Kagagak!
Sparks scattered, and both swords were blown aside with ease.
‘What?!’
Simon’s Knight spun past hers and landed on the ground.
Srrrr—
The spinning Skeleton Knight dropped to one knee as it halted.
At the same time, Aseraz’s Skeleton Knight’s head was soaring high into the air.
‘Rotation!’
Aseraz’s pupils shook.
The watching students gaped. Her Skeleton Knight’s head rolled across the floor with a dull thud.
Aron raised his arm and shouted.
“Victory to Simon Follentia!”
Waaaaaaaah!
The unexpected conclusion left students babbling in excitement.
“Did you see that?!”
“What even happened? It just started spinning like crazy!”
Aseraz dropped her arms in disbelief.
Simon’s Skeleton Knight struck a triumphant pose with its two swords raised, only for its torso to wobble and bend backward again, ruining its dignity.
“Explain to your peers what happened. Simon Follentia.”
Simon nodded.
“The Knight I bought was defective in the waist area. So, I simply separated the torso and lower body.”
“You… separated them?”
“Yes.”
Swick.
Simon pulled something from his pocket—an artificial cartilage glowing faintly blue. When tugged, it stretched elastically.
“I used this, the same material for making Skeleton Archer joints—to connect the torso and lower body. Then I manually twisted it up like a top and sealed it with a magic circle. The method is simple: when I release the seal remotely, the twisted cartilage snaps back to place, spinning the dual-blade Skeleton Knight at high speed for ten seconds.”
Simon twirled a finger in the air.
“It was defective, but I was lucky to find this gimmick! Imagine unleashing these spinning Knights right out of subspace, it’d be amazing, right? I’m even considering refining it further and applying for a Pentamonium patent.”
“....…”
Aron rubbed his forehead.
His head throbbed, but the corners of his lips curled upward.
“You lunatic.”
* * *
Simon ultimately earned an A+ in his first performance evaluation, Skeleton Knight Construction.
Whistling happily, he stored his spinning Knight neatly into subspace and left the classroom.
He wanted to relax with a proper lunch, but his next major class was right after, so he only bought a sandwich from the shop and kept walking.
The other students were doing the same, grabbing easy-to-eat food while moving.
“The next class is Summon Materials Science, but the lecture hall’s a bit far!”
Toto flipped through his notebook.
“How far?”
“Here.”
He unfolded the 2nd-year campus map tucked inside his notebook.
“Wow, that’s pretty far.”
“Yeah. About the same distance as Professor Hongpeng’s outdoor classes.”
And since that class was in just an hour, the Summoning students had to hurry. Thankfully, the vast Keyzen 2nd-year campus offered free horse carriages for transport.
Crossing bridges and passing through forests, they finally arrived at—
Gooooooooh—
A massive cave entrance.
“They’re holding class here?”
“Looks more like a dungeon, honestly.”
As the students murmured, someone suddenly emerged from the cave’s darkness. Toto shrieked, “Waaah!” in surprise.
“Greetings.”
A strangely dressed man.
He wore an unfamiliar martial robe, his head shaved bald and bound with a cloth. Tattoos of unknown meaning stretched across his face and under his eyes. His gaze was unfocused, distant.
Pressing his palms together, he bowed to the students.
“I am the assistant instructor for this class. Please, follow me.”
The assistant left those words behind and turned, walking into the darkness of the cave. The students, murmuring nervously, quickly followed after him.
Tok— tok—
The sound of dripping water echoed unusually loud in the cave. There was also the distant rumble of waves, and the scraping of stone against stone.
Simon glanced around with curious eyes.
‘Just how deep does this place go?’
After about twenty minutes of walking, iron rails appeared on the ground.
“Please put on your helmets and board the train.”
Toto glanced around anxiously.
“Good heavens, we’re going even deeper?”
Fwfwfwfwfw!
“Huk!”
“Kyaaaah!”
Students screamed and ducked. A sudden swarm of bats flew right over their heads.
‘That startled me.’
Simon also looked up, but the assistant remained calm, as if he had merely seen some birds fly by.
“Come, board.”
The rail train was built for three people per car. Simon handed a safety helmet hanging from the wall to the short Toto, then put one on himself.
Grab!
Suddenly, a hand seized Simon’s wrist and tugged.
“Hurry up, Simon!”
“S-Serne?”
She winked playfully.
“It’s dark and scary, so of course you have to stay with me. What are you waiting for?”
“Wait, what are you talking abou—”
In the end, Simon was dragged to the front of the train by Serne.
The car didn’t seem meant for passengers. It was covered in pitch-black soot.
“Hmph—”
Unimpressed, Serne clutched her skirt and hopped lightly on the spot.
That ability of hers never ceased to amaze.
A flurry of white feathers burst from her body, glittering as they fluttered into the train car. They transformed into a luxurious feather carpet and bedding.
The rest of the train was filthy, but this car alone now resembled a luxury suite.
“Come, sit here with me, Simon.”
But then, darkness seeped over the feather-padded seat, and from it emerged a black-haired girl—sitting there as if she’d been there all along.
Serne scowled fiercely.
“Why are you here uninvited?”
Without turning, Loraine replied coldly.
“You’ve already pulled stunts before. I can’t leave you alone with Simon.”
“Ugh, seriously! You interfere with everything I do!”
But with departure imminent, there was nothing to be done.
Grumbling, Serne boarded, and Simon was about to follow when—
“Train One departing.”
The assistant suddenly appeared, slipping into the last car. Simon bumped into his back and was shoved away.
Clunk!
The train immediately departed. The assistant bowed with fists clasped, while Simon could hear Serne’s furious screams as she was carried off with Loraine.
“......”
Rattle-clatter!
Then Train Two arrived on the adjacent track. From the darkness emerged another assistant, dressed exactly the same as the first.
“Students, please board the next train.”
Clatter—clatter—
Train Two set off. Simon gave a wry smile, staring up at the cave ceiling.
‘How did it end up like this?’
He thought he’d be riding with Loraine and Serne, but by the time he realized, he was stuck between two guys.
“U-ugh!”
On his right was Toto, who had chased after him. Terrified, he clung to Simon’s arm, trembling.
And on his left—
“......”
—was Hector.
He, too, had been separated from his own friends and looked thoroughly displeased. With his huge frame, Simon ended up wedged tightly in place.
Simon and Hector sat in strained silence, while Toto whimpered and gasped beside them, clutching Simon’s arm.
“Be quiet.”
Hector finally spoke.
“Yap yap yap. Shut it, dwarf.”
The words were directed at Toto. Intimidated, Toto hiccupped and clamped his mouth shut. But whenever something frightened him, he still whimpered and clung tighter to Simon.
Simon glanced at Hector and tried to speak.
“Hector.”
“Don’t talk to me.”
Hector’s reply was cold, but Simon decided that awkward silence was worse than trying for conversation.
After all, since the end of first year, he hadn’t really spoken properly with him.
“Didn’t you get in trouble with the 3rd-years? You kicked me out before the department welcome party even started.”
“Don’t spout nonsense.”
Hector narrowed his eyes sharply.
“And by regulation, the department representative only advises. We cannot interfere with student council affairs. That’s why I didn’t stop you.”
“Ah.”
“But the opposite holds as well. Even if you’re in the student council, you cannot meddle in departmental affairs. That would be overstepping your authority.”
Simon smiled faintly.
“Still, if you cross the line again like last time, the student council will have no choice but to intervene.”
“...You bastard.”
Their eyes locked, sharp and burning.
After a tense moment, Hector let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.
“Still… I am personally grateful you stopped that hazing last time.”
Simon’s eyes widened.
‘Did he just… thank me?’
“But there won’t be a second time.”
With that, Hector said nothing more until the train arrived.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters