Chapter 808
The magic of the Corruption System was, without a doubt, completely different in every way from the theories of black magic they had studied until now.
“Wait—handling the main rune and the control rune at the same time? Wouldn’t that collapse the circuit?”
“If you twist the serial circuit like this, the resistance value will spike too strongly.”
It wasn’t logical.
The students, brimming with confidence and excitement, were taken aback by this entirely new sequence of formulas and principles.
Of course, even within such an illogical framework, some clever students quickly managed to identify the rules and apply them.
“When the main rune and the control rune mix, they clash… but this clash is actually used to supply Darkness into the circuit.”
At first, even Simon was surprised—but with new knowledge came a new mindset. With his uniquely flexible way of thinking, he quickly picked out the rules.
More than just mindset, Simon had already trained in mastering heterogeneous formulas through the Dragon’s Magic.
For Simon, who had already learned magic in completely different systems, the new logic of Corruption System magic wasn’t such a big obstacle.
And besides—
“Well done, Loraine! How did you figure that out?”
“Ah, I just had a feeling that if I combined them like this, it would work.”
Loraine instinctively traced the formulas and found answers.
“As expected of Hector!”
“There’s nothing he can’t do.”
Hector, too, as a user of Dragon’s Magic, quickly discovered the answer.
Students with talent or flexible thinking swiftly adapted to the new theory. In fact, it was the model students, the ones whose heads were filled to the brim with prior studying in Summonology, who struggled the most.
“Ugh…”
Fifth place overall, Aseraz Mikel, was the prime example.
“I don’t understand.”
After becoming a necromancer, she had believed all her life that 1 plus 1 must equal 2. But in this system, it could equal 3—or 4. The notation, the order of operations, the way Darkness was distributed—everything was different.
Asking why was meaningless.
The Corruption System was black magic once used by Ancient Undead, reprocessed and unraveled for humans to use. It was natural that such an approach would be incomprehensible from a human’s perspective, but for her, it was hard to accept.
Thus, without fully grasping the lecture, Aron began the practical lesson.
“No need to be nervous. Since today’s the first day with the Corruption System, I’ve prepared a simple assignment.”
Aron brought something forward.
A fist-sized, hermit-crab-like undead monster called a Lepentor.
Even after becoming undead, the Lepentor retained its habit of nibbling on seaweed. Of course, being undead without a digestive system, it simply expelled what it ate, but it had the tendency to chew endlessly.
The task was—
“Change the Lepentor with the Corruption System. The exemplary case would be making the Lepentor carnivorous.”
Aron set down a plate with fish pieces.
“Or even simply stopping it from chewing seaweed will earn you a PASS. I shouldn’t need to say this to second-years, but physical modifications, like altering its mouth, are not allowed.”
Matt Comer, who had been about to seal the Lepentor’s mouth shut, reluctantly lowered his tools.
“You must make meaningful changes to the magic circle and must use corruption formulas. Begin.”
The practicals of the Corruption System began immediately.
The Lepentor had a flat shell engraved with a summoning circle, making it easy to modify—hence it was commonly used as an experimental subject.
The students grumbled as they struggled to apply the corruption formulas they had just learned.
For Aseraz, it was a grueling time. She sat scanning her eyes across other students’ work, focusing less on theory and more on collecting data.
To think she already had to copy others’ results just to earn a PASS…
She even felt a twinge of self-loathing, wondering if she could ever hope to create something like a Corrupted Death Knight this way.
“Already finished, Simon Follentia?”
Aseraz’s head instantly snapped around.
Already done?
“Yes, here it is.”
Simon placed his Lepentor into the tank and stepped back. The Lepentor crawled about, endlessly nibbling on seaweed.
“Hm.”
Aron tossed in some fish meat, but there was no reaction. The Lepentor still ate only seaweed.
“What exactly changed?”
Simon smiled faintly.
“Everything.”
A moment later, Aron’s eyes widened.
The Lepentor, which should have been endlessly chewing seaweed, suddenly grew sluggish and stopped, as though tired. It even looked like it was about to fall asleep.
“Ah, I see…”
“Yes.”
Simon nodded.
“I shifted the direction of corruption slightly, so the Lepentor believes itself to be alive.”
Undead monsters carried various peculiarities.
One of them was an obsession with survival and ecology upon becoming undead.
For Lepentor, this manifested as consumption. It denied its own death and clung to eating as the act that sustained its sense of being alive.
But Simon had induced satisfaction through corruption. The creature no longer thought of itself as dead.
“I said to change its habit, but I haven’t yet taught such a high-level approach…”
Aron scratched his chin, smiling faintly.
“Still, the result is valid. PASS.”
“Thank you!”
Simon became the first in the class to receive a PASS.
As he conversed with Aron, Aseraz glared at him quietly from behind.
* * *
In the end, it took her two extra hours after class before Aseraz finally earned a PASS.
Walking out of the lecture hall, she trudged along slowly.
‘How did it come to this…’
She had declared boldly that she would surpass Simon Follentia, and entered the Summonology Department with that resolve. But now, she was confronted with the wall that was Simon.
That wall was the gap of talent.
Of course, her written grades were superior. But that was only because she had previewed slightly more material than Simon—a mere difference in accumulated knowledge.
It was by no means proof she was inherently superior to him.
‘Simon Follentia.’
And it wasn’t just his abilities.
He was admired and cheered on by many.
Once, when she made a snide remark about his delayed return, the words came back to her like this—
-Everyone’s worried about him, but Aseraz said she’s glad, since with Simon absent, her rank moves up one spot.
Wasn’t Keyzen supposed to be a pure meritocracy, a system of endless competition?
‘Why do they look at me with disapproval when I only point out the obvious?’
If Simon doesn’t return, everyone’s rank goes up one spot—that’s good, isn’t it? They all pretended to worry outwardly, but inside, they were secretly glad.
‘Haa.’
Her heart felt as though it were burning pitch-black.
The sense of deprivation toward Simon had grown even stronger after today’s class.
‘Should I transfer?’
The thought crossed her mind for a moment, but Aron’s lectures were undeniably valuable. She couldn’t give up the chance to obtain a Death Knight.
Above all, her pride would not allow it. To feel a wall against her rival and leave the department as a defeated loser, she refused to make herself that pathetic.
As she walked on, eyes shut tight—
Shhhhhh—
Aseraz’s eyes widened.
Darkness suddenly spread before her path.
‘Who would play such a prank with black magic indoors…’
She was about to ignore it and walk past when suddenly—pah-sush!—the Darkness crumbled away like ashes, and from within fell a clean, white envelope.
<Aseraz Mikel>
Her name was written upon it.
With a small sigh, she snatched the envelope.
Who the hell is pulling this prank? Annoyed, she tore it open and unfolded the letter, reading the first line—
‘……!!’
Goosebumps shot up her arms. She quickly looked around, searching for a place with no one around. Spotting a nearby women’s restroom, she rushed inside.
Bang!
Slamming the door shut, she sat on a toilet seat and drew out the letter again.
Then she read it slowly.
Haa… haa…
Her eyes quivered, and her breath grew rough.
Then, at last, she clenched her eyes shut.
* * *
That afternoon, in the campus park—
“Wow, amazing! You actually met the famous Chief Inquisitor, Leight, and came back?”
Simon was walking with Dick, who had come to borrow his Darkness Dynamics study notes, chatting idly.
“Loraine and Serne helped me out.”
“Phew, that’s bragging material for ten years at least.”
It felt good to chat and joke with Dick again after so long. Dick drained his coffee from a street stall cafe, crunching on the leftover ice as he asked,
“By the way, nothing’s happened since the cursed-doll incident?”
“What do you mean?”
Dick glanced around cautiously and tapped his cup with his fingertips.
“Well, you know. Haven’t the Ballack Student Council tried to pick another fight with you?”
“No.”
Though truthfully, when they entered the Forbidden Forest, he had been tailed by the council. But Erzebet had thwarted the pursuit, and no further issues arose from it.
Dick shrugged.
“My sources tell me vice-president Sota is getting restless. Be careful. I’ve already stopped at least two attempts in advance.”
“Mm.”
“Especially with the upcoming group exam.”
Dick stretched out his hand.
“Something’s 100% going to happen.”
“That’s a big exam hosted by the Keyzen headquarters. Surely not.”
“What does that matter? In Keyzen’s group exams, the rules themselves can be twisted to deliberately disqualify someone. Once the test begins, everything is counted as strategy. And if it really turns out to be something like Island Survival—”
Dick’s eyes locked on Simon.
“They could move the other second-years to eliminate you beforehand. You know that at Keyzen, even if you’re Top 10 or the top of the year, if you fall under the expulsion conditions, you’re expelled without exception.”
“Don’t you think you’re over-worrying?”
“Well… would you still call it worry after seeing this?”
Dick pulled out a newspaper from his coat.
It was issued by the Keyzen News Club.
<Simon Follentia. Regardless of the duel result with Ballack, confirmed as next year’s 3rd-year Student Council President.>
<Concerns rise over possible negotiations already made with higher-ups.>
<Simon’s position is secure. What are the 1st- and 2nd-year protesters fighting for?>
While Simon scanned the paper, Dick muttered,
“The bastards in the News Club have turned into a full-blown yellow press. They leave out the real points and only twist the narrative to favor themselves, manipulating public opinion.”
Dick sighed heavily.
“And they’re overworking the 1st-years so they can’t care about school politics, while driving wedges among the 2nd-years to split them apart, anti-Simon Follentia, pro-Simon Follentia, that kind of thing.”
Simon pressed a hand to his forehead.
“I can’t stand this kind of political nonsense. That’s why I turned down Senior Leonard’s proposal in the first place.”
“I know. But whether you like it or not, you’ve been dragged into the eye of the storm. So, prepare for this group exam more thoroughly than usual. Sabotage is almost certain—”
“Simon!”
Just then, a teaching assistant came running from the Summonology building.
Simon stood up.
“Ah, assistant.”
“Simon.”
Catching his breath, the assistant said,
“Professor Aron is summoning his direct disciples.”
Hearing this, Dick grinned broadly.
“As expected. Feels like something good is about to happen.”
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