Chapter 709
Final exams were less than a month away.
Simon was absorbed in digesting the so-called “special training”, which in truth were supplementary classes. Darkness Dynamics, Katarology, Magical Combat—all three led Simon’s growth in different directions.
But among them, if one could be called the most unusual supplementary lesson—
‘Nice! Found another one!’
—It was Aron’s Intermediate Summonology.
Simon had arrived at an excavation site through a teleportation magic circle, the same place archaeologists frequented. He had even matched his outfit with theirs, wearing a brown jumper.
“Student, you’ve got talent for this kind of work too.”
An excavator, his face darkened from dirt, chuckled heartily. Simon carefully placed the bone he had just unearthed onto a makeshift shelf.
“Thank you.”
“Take it slow, nice and slow.”
Simon then pulled out various tools from the bag slung over his shoulder. With a brush, he carefully dusted the dirt off the bone surface, then placed it on top of a magic circle plate.
He picked up an artifact that resembled a compass.
Click.
When he pressed the button, the needle whirred and spun, then stopped after a sharp 180-degree turn. The corner of Simon’s lips curled upward.
‘Jackpot.’
Simon straightened his back and looked with satisfaction at the results he had gathered so far.
“You even got the femur. Looks like you’re fully prepared.”
Right then, Aron strode over. Like Simon, he too wore a brown jumper and a safety helmet.
“Yes! This bone contains the highest concentration of ‘dragon factors’ we’ve seen yet!”
The reason they had come so far through a teleportation magic circle—it was for the Bone Dragon lesson.
“We’ll begin the lesson right here.”
Aron sat down on a nearby spot.
“The material we’ll be handling this time is the Drake. You’re familiar with it, yes?”
“Yes. It’s often called a degenerated dragon, right?”
“Correct, and in Bone Dragon crafting, it’s considered the very first entry-level material.”
Aron folded his arms.
“First, let me explain the major premise. There are two crucial elements in Bone Dragon creation. The first is—”
Wooooong!
The dark excavation site suddenly flashed brightly as a magic circle spread open. At the center, without any additional formulas, a single strange inscription appeared.
“It’s the Dragon Rune.”
If all runes until now had shared some visual or functional consistency, the Dragon Rune was completely different.
Its form seemed to mock the entire existing magical system. To compare, it resembled the script of a legendary Eastern continent.
“And what’s required to activate this Dragon Rune is—”
“You mean that ‘dragon factor’, right?”
“Correct.”
Aron grabbed one of the bones Simon had collected and tossed it toward the magic circle.
Suuung—
The moment the Drake’s bone touched the circle, it floated up into the air, as if gravity itself had vanished.
“Oh!”
“The dragon factor lingering in the bone reacted to the Dragon Rune.”
Aron threw a second bone.
Suung—
It too floated briefly in the circle, but soon lost strength and dropped to the ground.
“A bone with insufficient dragon factor shows weak reactions like this. Only bones imbued with dragon factor can be operated by the Dragon Rune. That is the foundation of a Bone Dragon.”
Simon quickly finished his notes, then tapped his chin with the tip of his quill.
“So the essence of a Bone Dragon is the ‘Dragon Rune’, and only bones containing dragon factors are subject to its control.”
“Exactly.”
“Then the reason we came to this excavation site, instead of hunting the Drakes scattered across the continent…?”
“Correct.”
Aron nodded, slipping his hand into his pocket.
“The modern Drakes have degenerated so heavily that they no longer contain any dragon factor. Of course, they’ve adapted to their changed ecosystem in their own way, but now, they’re nothing more than monsters, unworthy of being called ‘dragons’.”
“That’s fascinating.”
“In order to survive, they lowered their own ‘rank’. It’s something that happens often, not just in the wild, but in human society as well.”
He jerked his chin toward the bones.
“Now, it’s your turn.”
“Yes, sir!”
Simon raised both hands, gathering his focus.
He had been practicing the Dragon Rune all along. Starting with the most basic.
From his palms, Darkness welled out, rippling like black liquid. It spread into the air, as though asking a question.
—What will you create?
It seemed to wait for his command, expecting spoken intent, ready to remember.
But Simon wasn’t trying to cast ordinary black magic.
‘Empty yourself.’
He emptied his mind.
This was an entirely new form of rune. All the theories, knowledge, and experience he had learned so far were useless here.
He had to rely purely on intuition and talent, shaping the vague image inside his mind.
—Something’s wrong!
—You made a mistake, right? You wanted to form this familiar formula, didn’t you?
Darkness, with its nature of remembering, tried desperately to craft something it already knew.
But Simon rejected those temptations, throwing himself into the unknown sea.
What he wanted was—
‘A new domain!’
Flaash!
Simon opened his eyes at last.
A bizarre rune was born, utterly shattering the conventions of runes, filled with extra strokes and strange supporting lines below.
Vrrr—
The Drake bones on the table instantly reacted. They trembled wildly on their own, then rose into the air, floating above the magic circle.
Because of the varying amounts of dragon factor, some bones floated higher, others wavered dangerously close to falling, but all of them responded.
‘Good!’
Simon’s lips curled in exhilaration as he felt a sensation he had never experienced before. He swung his arms enthusiastically. The bones spinning within the circle shifted, connecting, forming various shapes together.
Watching, Aron stroked his rough beard with a faint smile.
‘I thought I’d have him do this work for at least a month.’
But it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary.
At last, the Darkness forming the rune was consumed, and the bones dropped back down to the table.
“How was that? Did I succeed?”
“Yes. Remember the sensation you just felt.”
Aron turned and began walking away.
“After being in the cave so long, my lungs aren’t doing well. Let’s continue outside.”
“Yes, sir!”
Simon and Aron stepped out of the excavation site.
Archaeologists and excavation workers bustled about. One archaeologist recognized Aron and waved.
“Professor Aron! Long time no see!”
“It’s been a while, Doctor.”
“What brings someone of your caliber all the way out here?”
He patted Simon lightly on the head.
“I’ve been giving my disciple some instruction.”
“Hello, sir!”
Since the archaeologist seemed to be Aron’s acquaintance, Simon bowed politely.
The archaeologist chuckled warmly.
“Good, good. Staying only in classrooms is no good, you know? Coming to sites like this, that’s all part of the learning experience. Make sure you take in as much as you can.”
After a few more words, the archaeologist rushed off toward a massive bone that had just been brought out from the dig site.
Aron took off his outer garment and sat on a rock.
“The Drake will do for now. From the next time onward, you’ll start handling bones that have been artificially infused with dragon factors little by little, so you can get a feel for it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Simon knew from when he learned with the Dullahan, such preliminary work had to stack up, one after another, in order to reach the final destination.
“I have a question, Professor.”
“Speak.”
“Did all Drakes degenerate and turn into mere monsters?”
Aron shook his head.
“Some Drakes abandoned their rank for the sake of reproduction and survival, while others developed the dragon factors within their bodies to the point they can even use breath. Those are the ancient breed of Drakes, so powerful that it feels almost wrong to still call them Drakes.”
Simon’s eyes sparkled.
“If I trained with one of those, wouldn’t it help before making a real Bone Dragon given to me by Lady Neftis?”
“It would indeed be helpful.”
Aron closed his eyes and added,
“But such specimens are very rare, and very expensive.”
Simon’s eyes shone even more brightly at the words rare and expensive, but Aron failed to notice, as he was busy placing a pipe in his mouth.
* * *
Having obtained the crucial information about the rare ancient breed of Drakes, Simon returned to Roke Island and continued his supplementary lessons in Darkness Dynamics, Katarology, and Magical Combat, steadily raising his skills.
At night he studied for his finals, and at dawn, he secretly entered the “Ruins of Feer” to research a new technique to prepare for his battle with Aizel.
Swishhh!
Simon’s secret weapon, the Chaos Dullahan that had slain ten thousand monsters during the practical evaluation.
At the end of that Dullahan’s body—
Hissss—!
Blades made of chaos were sprouting.
Simon let out a cheer and collapsed backward.
“I, I did it.”
[Khhuhuhu! Interesting indeed!]
Feer, who had been watching, approached with his arms folded.
[So, you imitated the Saint’s technique with chaos, and implanted it into the Dullahan! Impressive, but this will make the black magic far too heavy.]
“Yes, that’s a bit of a concern.”
Though still lacking in practical applicability, Simon decided to take meaning from the mere fact of success.
‘I’m looking forward to the day I fight Senior Aizel.’
Thus, in the late hours of dawn, he returned to the dormitory.
After a brief nap, he endured the regular classes and supplementary lessons.
In his spare time, he studied for finals, and in the evening, he had to stop by the student council room to handle council duties. With the end of term approaching, student council work was also extremely busy.
“Simon! Please sign this!”
“Thanks, Kami.”
Simon skimmed the document before signing.
‘……Neither more nor less, I just wish I had ten bodies.’
In Keyzen, every single second was as precious as gold.
There was simply too much to do, too much he wanted to do here.
Especially this time, regular classes, supplementary classes, Bone Dragon crafting, final exam studying, practical evaluation preparation, the duel against Aizel, and student council work all overlapped.
‘At least if I had the ability to not sleep.’
While Simon indulged in such fantasies with a yawn, Maelyn approached.
“Simon, this also needs a sign….”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You’re tired, aren’t you?”
Simon quickly forced a smile.
“No, no, I’m fine. Do I just sign here?”
“You’re not the type to pull all-nighters over finals this early… don’t tell me you’re seriously preparing to beat Senior Aizel?”
Maelyn was sharp. Simon gave an awkward laugh.
“I was just trying different things. Also preparing for the final evaluation….”
“You already have a 100% win rate in second-year finals, what preparation do you need!”
She scolded briefly about the importance of his condition, then sighed with a ‘good grief’.
After all, for Simon to be preparing for Aizel in the midst of such busyness was an effort for the student council’s sake too, so she didn’t push further.
Instead, she said,
“Don’t suffer in silence. If you need my help, just say so.”
Simon paused, staring at Maelyn. Startled by the sudden gaze, she blushed and turned her head.
“W-what?”
“Maelyn. Now that you mention it—”
A good idea suddenly came to Simon.
“Could you help me out a little?”
* * *
After finishing student council work, they stepped outside.
Maelyn put her hands on her hips with a hah?
“You want me to be your undead’s opponent?”
“Yeah.”
Simon carefully adjusted a chaos magic circle as he spoke. Before him stood the massive figure of the Chaos Dullahan.
“A duel! A duel!”
The rare entertainment brought out Dick’s delighted expression.
“Both of you, good luck! Simon! Maelyn!”
Kamibarez also flapped her wings in excitement. Maelyn laughed incredulously.
“So, I’m standing in for Senior Aizel? But even if we’re both Darkness Dynamics majors, the black magic I use is completely different from his.”
“It’s fine.”
Simon had suggested the rule of ‘Full Position’.
In the usual duel evaluations, black magic could not be pre-prepared. But in Full Position, both combatants could prepare as much black magic as possible beforehand, then crash into each other head-on.
Since it began with both sides unleashing their strongest moves, the fight would be decided in an instant. The key lay in how powerful the black magic was, and how many magic circles one could simultaneously deploy and sustain.
Maelyn had completed and was sustaining no less than five different black magic circles, while Simon had prepared only the Chaos Dullahan.
“Of course, I’ll be the referee!”
Dick stepped forward.
“Since Full Position is dangerous, victory will go to whoever lands a valid hit strong enough to reduce the barrier gauge by half! Any objections?”
“None.”
‘Why am I even doing this?’
Grumbling, Maelyn glanced at the huge, headless giant standing at Simon’s side.
‘…….’
The Chaos Dullahan, Simon’s strongest summoned undead, the one that had carved a new legend in Keyzen by slaying ten thousand monsters.
Now that she was about to face it, Maelyn gulped nervously.
Dick, catching it instantly, raised his brows.
“Oh? Maelyn, are you scared?”
“N-no! Not scared at all!”
Maelyn squealed and clenched her fist.
“You think you can beat me, one of the Top 7, with just a summoned creature and not even yourself? I’ll settle this in one blow, so be ready!”
Simon smiled faintly. Dick raised his arm high.
“Now then, let’s begin! In the red corner! Ever since losing to Serne last year, she’s gone wild, slaughtering hapless commoners, maintaining a 100% win rate in finals! A lady so cold that not even a needle prick would draw blood, Maelyn Villene!”
“Hey!! What kind of intro is that?!”
“And in the blue corner! Leading the Chaos Dullahan said to have slain ten thousand monsters, Student Council President, Simon Follentia!”
He swung his arm down.
“Match start!”
At Simon’s mental command, the Chaos Dullahan roared forward with a thunderous crash, charging straight at Maelyn.
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