Chapter 535
A quiet path near the dormitory.
Simon and Benya were taking a walk together.
“Want to bring out the ghoul?”
Before Simon could even say a word, Benya suddenly suggested it. Simon obediently nodded and summoned the ghoul from subspace.
— Grrrk!
The ghoul, upon appearing, scanned its surroundings with savage eyes, as if ready for a fight.
“Close your eyes and focus on the ghoul’s thoughts.”
As Simon followed her instructions, concentrating on its will, he could feel the raw instinct of the undead and its unyielding rage toward living beings.
Next, he felt the undead’s body stepping firmly onto the grass, and behind it, he sensed the summoning magic circle and the clear current of Darkness.
“Good. Now, make it take one slow step forward.”
The ghoul lifted its foot and stepped forward.
“You too, Milord. Take a step forward.”
Simon took a step.
“Next, both you and the ghoul—one step together.”
The ghoul’s hind leg followed, taking a step. Simon also stepped forward.
“Match its pace. Slowly, one step at a time.”
Simon and the ghoul moved together.
“Focus on the sensation under your soles. Nice and slooow.”
Simon wasn’t sure what this training was supposed to be, but the sensation of the grass pressing under his feet felt oddly pleasant.
He couldn’t tell whether the feeling was from his own feet or the ghoul’s feet—but it didn’t really matter.
Their steps began to synchronize smoothly.
A two-legged human and a four-legged undead were moving in rhythm.
It didn’t feel bad.
“The ghoul is walking oddly.”
Its left arm and left leg were moving forward together. Simon quickly corrected its stance.
“This time, Milord, your right arm and right leg are going forward together.”
Simon corrected his posture as well.
Concentrating intently, beads of sweat formed on his forehead before he even realized it. Strange—why was this so exhausting?
“You’re not neglecting the sensation of your soles just because you’re focusing on the steps, right?”
It was as though she was reading his mind. Simon firmly centered himself on the feeling of the grass beneath his feet, moving himself and the ghoul in tandem.
Swish.
The grass pressed underfoot was felt more clearly through the ghoul. After all, Simon had shoes on, so he relied on the ghoul’s senses.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
When he focused on the soles, rhythm and steps naturally followed. As he matched his breathing slowly, the mental connection tightened, becoming denser and more vivid.
Like that, they walked for another 30 minutes.
“Phew…”
Simon was drenched in sweat but wore a satisfied smile, panting lightly. Benya came closer and gave him an encouraging smile.
“Well done!”
“What exactly was that exercise?”
“It’s training to improve the ghoul’s control and to smoothen the flow of thought connection.”
Simon screamed inwardly in regret.
If he had known about this sooner, he would’ve done it all week!
“There’s also a training where you and the ghoul crawl together on all fours.”
Benya chuckled to herself.
“But isn’t that a bit much? People might start rumors that the 3rd-year is treating the Student Council President like a dog.”
However—
Simon was already down on all fours, hands and feet on the ground.
“Don’t do that!”
Her face turned red as she shouted in panic.
It was the first time Simon saw Benya blushing like that.
* * *
After their walk, they got to the main topic. Simon showed Benya the ghoul prototype diagram he had completed with Belya last night.
“Hmm…”
She studied it seriously before letting out a half-laugh.
“Is this… really possible?”
“Yes. I’ve already practiced it.”
“You really like these strange modifications, don’t you?”
She muttered.
“The problem is with the venom leakage.”
“For that, you can install artificial rubber organs inside the ghoul.”
“Rubber organs?”
She pulled out a book from subspace and flipped it open. It detailed the ghoul’s inner body structure.
“You just create fake organs right here and attach them.”
She pointed at a specific section.
“Since it’s undead, the material doesn’t matter much. You just need a storage area for the venom. You could reference similar creatures, like the Foam Toad or the Black Viper, to design it.”
“You’re right!”
“Though, if you add this, the ghoul will get heavier, so it’ll lose a bit of mobility. Is that fine?”
There’s no such thing as a free gain. Sacrifice was always the price for acquiring power.
Simon nodded firmly.
“That’s fine. Thank you for the advice!”
“Good! This experiment looks fun, so I’ll help you too. The dormitory lab will be crowded, so let’s do it in the club room instead?”
Simon quickly nodded again.
“Thank you, senior!”
* * *
The morning free period ended, and finally afternoon came.
The students of the Department of Summonology gathered in the auditorium, their faces tense.
Aron and the assistants were also present, though fewer in number than usual—probably because they were busy setting up the practical exam.
“Everyone’s here.”
Once the head assistant finished the roll call and stepped back, Aron spoke.
“I’d like to ask if you all slept well, but judging from your faces, it’s obvious you didn’t, so I’ll skip it.”
From staying up all night preparing for the practical test, the students’ eyes were hollow. Aron held up a sheet of paper.
“Before revealing the content of the exam, there’s one more thing you need to do.”
The students froze. Surely not another prerequisite curriculum to pass?
With his usual languid tone, Aron continued:
“Team formation.”
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The sudden word “team” threw the students into a frenzy.
“What? This is a group project?”
“I thought it was obviously an individual task!”
“We haven’t even had time to coordinate with anyone!”
“Silence.”
Aron easily quieted the students and explained further.
“From now, you’ll form groups of four. There are 52 of you, so that makes 13 groups.”
At those words, Serne suddenly appeared and clung tightly to Simon’s right arm.
“Finally! I’ve been waiting for this day, to be in the same group as Simon and synchronize our skills!”
Loraine narrowed her eyes and stepped to Simon’s left.
“What are you doing in the middle of class? Step back, Serne.”
“Yeah yeah~ there you go nagging again.”
The students around them began moving frantically. Especially toward Hector and Aseraz, the crowd seemed to be flocking en masse.
Students also moved toward Simon, but with both Loraine and Serne glaring at each other right beside him, no one dared approach to strike up a conversation. A few only swallowed nervously, their throats bobbing.
Thud!
Aron stomped the floor, and the sharp sound snapped everyone’s attention back to him.
“Seems you’re misunderstanding something. This isn’t like first year, where you could just group up with whomever you liked.”
The chaos among the students ceased in an instant.
“Unlike when everything was uncertain in the first year, by the second year your rankings are based not only on theory but also on practical combat performance. Your skill levels are more or less stabilized. Imagine Simon, Hector, and Aseraz being in the same group—then no other team could possibly compete.”
It was true, and the students nodded in agreement.
If strong students only clustered with the strong, team balance would collapse. For proper evaluation of all students, a new standard was necessary.
One student raised his hand.
“Then how are the teams decided?”
“Look behind you.”
An assistant was standing before four boxes. Each was labeled: 1–100, 100–200, 200–300, 300–400.
Another assistant behind him held chalk, ready at the blackboard.
“Your rank determines your group. 1st to 100th are Group A. 101st to 200th, Group B. 201st to 300th, Group C. 301st to 400th, Group D. From each group a ball with a name written on it will be drawn. The four drawn will form one team.”
Simon’s jaw dropped.
‘So that’s it!’
As the #1 overall student, Simon belonged to Group A. That meant it was impossible for him to be grouped with other Group A elites like Hector or Aseraz.
Each team would have a mix of strong and weaker students, maintaining balance to some degree.
Serne chuckled slyly.
“Hehe, so there’s still a chance I’ll end up in the same team as Simon, right?”
Loraine quietly nodded.
Serne was ranked 280th, and Loraine 287th.
Both were in Group C. That meant only one of them—or neither—could end up in Simon’s team.
Then a hand shot up.
“Benz McBeef, sir! White and I are transfer students, so we don’t have Keyzen Academy rankings. What happens to us?”
Aron glanced at him and replied,
“In the three other necromancer schools you’d both be top-tier, but here at Keyzen, since your skill hasn’t been proven, by convention you’ll be placed in the mid-range, Group C.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then, we’ll begin forming the teams.”
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Assistants drew balls from the boxes and passed them forward.
A crucial moment.
Students gulped nervously, watching.
“The members of Team 1 are confirmed.”
— Hector Moore, Pierre Buckley, Matt Comer, Laubel Brenmers.
The leader of Team 1 was Hector.
The sight of Hector from Class A high-fiving Pierre Buckley drew eyes, while the two new teammates approached to greet them.
The other students whispered.
“That’s already a powerful team.”
“Wait, the Buckley guy in Group B? Must’ve been ranked 100th or 101st?”
“He messed up badly on a few BMATs. Otherwise, he’s practically Group A level.”
Simon crossed his arms and watched anxiously.
Teams formed rapidly.
After the powerhouse Team 1, most other teams looked fairly balanced and solid. Students who had been placed shook hands and laughed, building camaraderie.
Even after seven teams were formed, Simon’s name hadn’t yet appeared.
Moments later—
“The members of Team 8 are confirmed.”
Wooooah!
Another historic powerhouse team was born.
“Wow, how’d that lineup happen?”
“That’s just broken.”
— Aseraz Mikel, Eldarin Luo, White, Biend Clack.
It was basically a collection of aces from each group. The strongest team by far.
‘So Aseraz and White are together…’
White certainly had the ability to be in Group A, but due to the transfer student rule he was placed in Group C—and Aseraz happened to pull him.
The result was the most formidable lineup possible.
“Let’s do well together, transfer student! I’ll make you the best in the department.”
Aseraz smiled broadly, extending her hand.
White just stared blankly at it for a moment, then suddenly turned and leapt toward the window—because a bird was fluttering outside.
Aseraz awkwardly retracted her hand.
“On raw power alone they’re unbeatable, but when it comes to teamwork and communication, who knows…”
At some point Fitzgerald had appeared, adjusting his glasses as he commented. Simon glanced at him.
“Fitzgerald, you’re Group A too?”
He nodded.
“Shame we can’t be in the same team.”
“Can’t be helped. Those are the rules.”
Neither Simon’s nor Fitzgerald’s names had appeared yet. Then an assistant spoke:
“Starting Team 10.”
She drew a ball and handed it back. The head assistant took it and wrote the name on the board.
At once—
Rustle, rustle.
Students rose from their seats everywhere. Not only those still unassigned, but even those already chatting with their new teams stopped to look forward.
At last.
The name everyone had been waiting for appeared.
— Team 10: Simon Follentia.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters