Chapter 600
The large-scale practical evaluation that began after the midterms.
In some ways, it was even more important than the written-only midterm exam.
Since the professors had held special lectures on Dullahan, the students weren’t particularly surprised; they had already assumed the evaluation would involve Dullahan 100%.
‘It’s here at last.’
That was what most of them thought.
With everyone seated, all eyes were fixed on Aron’s mouth, waiting. Finally, he spoke.
“The content of this large-scale practical evaluation is… ‘Single Undead Operation’.”
Single Undead Operation.
According to Aron’s explanation, the students were allowed to use only a single undead in the test hall. With that one undead alone, they had to handle everything the exam required.
“Of course.”
Aron added in a flat tone.
“Which undead you choose to use is up to you.”
At those words, the lecture hall boiled over like a pot of water.
Aseraz immediately raised her hand.
“Aseraz Mikel! Does the tier or type of undead matter?”
“No.”
Aron gave a short nod.
“Whether it’s a 10-tier Bone Dragon or a 1-tier Skeleton, the condition is that you may only utilize one undead. The rest of the specific rules will be announced on the day of the exam.”
Simon’s 10th team instantly huddled together.
“I-I thought it was going to be a Dullahan evaluation for sure.”
Toto muttered.
“It practically is.”
Simon replied. Loraine beside him also nodded.
“Simon’s right. ‘Only one undead may be used’. If that’s the only condition, then the strongest card most students can bring out will definitely be a Dullahan.”
Of course, there were exceptions, like Fitzgerald who used the ‘Siren Chimera’, or Chendra Glivice who specialized in ‘Gravekeeper Undead’.
Students who already possessed their own firmly specialized undead would be wracking their brains over which one to send out.
“But hey!”
As always, Eshu jumped into the conversation with a sharp voice.
“Up until now, the Summonology professors have been hammering on the Dullahan with all those lectures and training camps, right?”
“They have.”
Toto agreed, and Eshu rubbed her hands together with a triumphant smile.
“Then logically, the exam is bound to favor using a Dullahan, isn’t it? It has to be a test where you somehow have to craft and use a Dullahan!”
Simon looked at her with surprised eyes.
“Surprisingly sharp, Eshu.”
“Hmph! This much is basic… wait a second! What do you mean surprisingly?!”
Aron had said the “specific rules” would be announced on the exam day.
That phrasing carried nuance.
If they had spent an entire week teaching Dullahan but the exam had nothing to do with it, the professors would’ve at least given the rules or a hint beforehand.
Even the relatively recent ‘Ghoul Evaluation’ was the same: professors taught the ghoul first, then tested them on the ghoul. Following the Dullahan lecture with a Dullahan evaluation was the logical and natural course.
This wasn’t something worth overthinking. Simon boldly lifted his quill.
“If we assume Eshu’s guess is correct, then by considering Dullahan's abilities, we can roughly infer what the exam will entail.”
10~30 minutes, specialized in short-term combat.
Absorbs massive amounts of mana and converts it into Darkness.
Possesses immense strength and speed.
Outstanding durability.
Can wield weapons and utilize aura.
After writing this much, Simon lowered his quill and grinned.
“There’s one thing we can be sure of.”
“What is it?”
“The exam will definitely have a time limit.”
At those words, his team members let out small exclamations of “Ooh~.”
“Right. They’d factor in Dullahan’s short operational time.”
“To deduce this much from such limited information—! As expected of our top student!”
Loraine nodded, while Eshu flailed dramatically. Simon waved them off.
“No, no. We reached this conclusion together.”
Anyway.
‘Fitzgerald must be really troubled.’
If the test had restricted them to the Dullahan only, it’d be simple. But the condition was any single undead.
If one had enough confidence in their specialized undead to forgo the Dullahan, that too would be accepted.
Sure enough, glancing at the 11th team, Fitzgerald was frozen in place, hand on his glasses. He looked deeply troubled.
“Well then, the exam has been announced.”
Aron opened his textbook.
“Let’s continue the Dullahan lecture.”
“Yes, sir!”
On the weekend that followed after regular classes—
At a time when students might slack off, Aron deftly kept them motivated and tense with the looming “exam”.
“Even if you choose to use another undead in the test, note that any completed Dullahan will still be graded separately from the evaluation itself.”
Fitzgerald, who had been deep in thought, flinched and quickly grabbed his quill.
“Everyone, get ready. We’ll move to the practice lab.”
* * *
The students moved to the practice lab.
The three main materials for the Dullahan were said to be ‘Ogre Lord – Abaddon – Guardian’. Most students were bringing out the corpse of Abaddon.
Abaddon was a swamp beast reminiscent of a reptile covered in scales, walking on two legs and wielding weapons.
At a glance, it resembled a Lizardman, but it was on a whole different level from the common Lizardmen. Called the “King of the Swamp”, it was formidable.
“Which brand did you get?”
“Fran brand! I wanted Vanilla, but my budget… hehe!”
Students all began taking out their ‘Abaddon sets’ from subspace. The vacuum-packed corpses, preserved with multiple magic circles, were kept in optimal condition.
“Ughhh.”
Eshu pretended to cry as she took out her Abaddon set.
She had the cheapest ‘Kerak’ brand. When she unwrapped it, the scales were all damaged, and the corpse was tied up crudely with something like rope.
“My six months’ worth of part-time wages…!”
“I already burned through all my sponsor money, too.”
Toto beside her also pulled out a Kerak-brand Abaddon with a miserable face.
They weren’t alone. Many students were straining under the financial burden of this undead, on a completely different scale from before.
‘Guess I’ll take mine out too.’
Simon opened his subspace. What came out was a large, luxurious coffin, black with golden trimming.
In the middle, bold golden letters spelled out: “Vanilla.”
“Whoa!”
“The top-tier Vanilla brand!”
Thanks to the extra funds he’d earned from missions, Simon had gone down to Rochest and splurged on a Vanilla-brand Abaddon set.
Eyes from all over the room turned to him.
“Open it, quick!”
“Alright.”
Simon placed his palm on the security magic circle engraved on the coffin lid.
Detecting Simon’s Darkness, the circle released the lock. With a hiss of escaping steam, the coffin opened on its own.
“Waaah!”
Inside, it was filled with jet-black flowers, and within them lay the Abaddon—the material for the Dullahan. Its veins bulged vividly, and its muscles were perfectly preserved.
“It’s huge! Looks like it’s two heads taller than my Abaddon!”
Of course, the larger and heavier the Abaddon, the more expensive it was.
Eshu picked up one of the black flowers inside the coffin.
“Corpse-preserving Demon Flower. Just a single blossom costs hundreds of silver, doesn’t it?”
“Must’ve been crazy expensive.”
But it still wasn’t a full set.
What Simon pulled out next were jet-black pieces of armor.
Since the Dullahan operated on explosive amounts of Darkness, it could wear extremely heavy and durable equipment that humans would never even dare attempt.
And due to the Dullahan’s nature of absorbing mana through its entire body, the armor had to be custom-made with mana absorption in mind.
‘It really is massive.’
Simon lifted a large helmet. Without channeling Darkness, even holding it was difficult.
The thought of a dead body wearing something this heavy really hammered in how extraordinary a necromancer’s black magic was.
“Look at that shine.”
“The design’s smooth and refined.”
The watching students each made comments. Simon answered them casually, but his gaze was elsewhere.
‘An Abaddon-made Dullahan will definitely be strong…’
But it could never surpass a Dullahan crafted from the supreme material, the Guardian. Conveniently, both Hector and Aseraz—who owned a Guardian—were also taking out Abaddon corpses.
Likely, this was just for practice to follow along in class. Wasting such a rare material on a first attempt, risking damage, would be fatal.
They would surely complete their Dullahan with Guardian materials when the real evaluation came.
‘Don’t get impatient.’
Simon turned his head back.
‘As long as I can complete the Dullahan with the materials I’ve prepared, I’ll win no matter what. For now, I’ll just focus on steadily learning the crafting process.’
“Attention.”
Just then, Aron entered the practice lab. The students immediately shut their mouths and fixed their eyes on him.
“Did anyone fail to prepare materials for practice?”
At the back, two students raised their hands while bowing their heads. The expressions of those who turned back to look went icy.
Securing class materials was the most basic of basics.
At Keyzen, no one did it for you. Whether by part-time work or hunting monsters directly, you had to obtain your own materials by any means—that was the respect owed to the class.
But Aron didn’t get angry. He simply nodded slowly.
“…I contacted a dealer and obtained two Abaddon corpses that were old and about to be cleared out of stock. Take those.”
“Th-thank you!”
“Of course, their condition isn’t guaranteed. By exam time, you must secure a proper Abaddon.”
“Yes, sir!”
The assistants brought over two Abaddon corpses buzzing with flies. Some students with weaker stomachs pinched their noses.
The state was obviously terrible, but for now, even having such materials to continue class with was fortunate.
“Then, let’s begin.”
Aron donned a pair of work gloves as he spoke. The students followed suit, eyes gleaming.
* * *
The weekend lecture only ended late at night.
“Ughhhhhh.”
The students of the Summonology building shuffled out one by one, faces drained.
“Th-that was brutal!”
“When are we supposed to study for the other midterms at this rate?”
They trudged, exhausted. Their heads were about to burst from all the information crammed in.
And amidst this—
“I’m heading out first!”
Simon alone was brimming with energy. He hurriedly packed his bag and bolted out, as if unable to contain himself.
Toto reached out.
“Si-Simon? Aren’t you coming back to the dorm?”
“Yeah! I’ll be a little late. Go ahead and rest first!”
As his figure quickly vanished, Eshu tilted her head.
“He still has the strength to run? Impressive… but where’s he rushing off to? Did his girlfriend get mad about him missing a date ‘cause class went late’?”
Loraine smiled faintly.
“He’s probably going to work on making another Dullahan.”
“Again?!”
Eshu jumped.
“We spent the entire day making Dullahans already!”
“That’s just the kind of person Simon is.”
Knowing his nature, Toto silently nodded as well. Eshu stuck out her tongue, exasperated.
“Geez, no wonder he’s the top of Keyzen. If I had to be that obsessive to be number one, I’d rather give up in peace!”
“…Even with that, it’d still be hard.”
Meanwhile, Simon was running like mad.
After actually making a Dullahan in class, he simply couldn’t hold back anymore.
He dashed forward on Darkness, grinning.
‘I can’t wait to make it!’
Covering the distance in an instant, Simon entered the Mutant Club room and flipped on the lights. Naturally, no one was left at this hour.
He sprinted straight into the basement, undid the seal as Benya had taught him, and stepped inside.
‘Good. Still here.’
At the center of the basement.
Manus’s skull rested neatly on a display stand. The wall bore deep claw scars from the last incident.
Simon began rummaging through his subspace.
‘Alright! Let’s get started right away.’
Without hesitation, Simon opened it.
‘Tonight, I’ll awaken you into a new body.’
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters