Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 165: Episode

Simon and Lethe stood up. After kneeling for several hours, Simon couldn’t manage it in one go. He staggered, his legs numb, and Lethe clicked her tongue.

"Tch, what a weakling. Can’t you even get up properly?"

...As expected of a priest, every word out of her mouth was laced with judgment. Still, as the student in this arrangement, Simon kept his complaints to himself and maintained his smile.

"The first subject we’ll learn is Blessings, the core of a priest’s power," Lethe announced, placing her hands on her hips, her voice clear and resonant. "It’s white magic that uses the goddess’s grace to strengthen oneself and others."

"The blessing we’ll be practicing is Strength, the most basic enhancement for physical power. We’ll start there."

Lethe took out her Blessings textbook and opened it to the page displaying the magic circle for Strength. She explained each divine formula until he understood, then closed the book and had him practice drawing the circle in the dirt with a stick until he could replicate it perfectly from memory. Only then did she allow him to try creating it with Divinity.

Simon absorbed the information before making his attempt.

’I can do anything.’

’Vwoooom!’ By now, conjuring Divinity at his fingertips was simple. He focused, picturing the magic circle in his mind and willing the divine energy to take its shape.

’Whoa.’ The Divinity that pooled in his hand felt like an obedient child, eager to please. It was a world away from Jet-Black, which took years of practice just to change its shape after being summoned. The Divinity moved exactly as he willed it. Of course, moving it and shaping it into a complex magic circle were two different things. He could manage the outer circle, but completing the divine language and intricate details within proved incredibly difficult.

"Haaaah." It was his twentieth attempt. He formed the circle, only to fail at the formula again.

"Your faith is lacking," Lethe said, her voice flat. "It’s always the faith."

Beside him, Lethe offered a constant stream of pointers. At some point, she had flopped onto her stomach in the grass, diligently scribbling in a textbook.

"What’s that?" Simon asked.

"Summer homework."

Simon was speechless.

Lethe shot him a grumpy look. "What, you got a problem with that?"

"No. Good luck."

Simon was a student, too; he understood the grind of vacation assignments. Leaving her to it, he focused his concentration once more.

’Lethe’s method is the standard for a Priest. I’ll do it my way.’

As Simon saw it, the biggest problem he faced was the force of habit. The muscle memory he had built drawing magic circles with Jet-Black was unconsciously bleeding into his use of Divinity. Jet-Black had a tendency to remember. For simple black magic, he had reached a point where merely thinking of the name and the main rune would automatically complete the entire formula.

But Divinity had no such property. If he were drawing a magic circle and let his mind drift even slightly into the subconscious, the circle would invariably dissipate.

’So...’

Simon gritted his teeth.

’I’ll manifest the entire image at once.’

Since Divinity was fluid to control and intimately linked to a person’s mind, there was no need to draw it out piece by piece like Jet-Black.

’The completed magic circle in my head...’

Pushing his concentration to its absolute limit, Simon pictured the magic circle in his mind, then lowered his gaze to his left hand.

’I’ll pull it out into the world!’

’Vwoom!’

The Divinity squirming in his palm unfurled like a wide sheet of dough. One by one, the divine words Lethe had taught him embedded themselves within it.

’It’s not enough!’

Simon bit his lip.

’Imagination and concentration alone have their limits! I’ll cover the rest with insight!’

Mana, Jet-Black, or Divinity. Mage, necromancer, or priest. What was the difference? Just as they all began from a single source, the truth they would ultimately reach was one and the same.

The letters on the magic circle began to move slowly. Simon mobilized every scrap of knowledge he had learned at Kizen. He carved paths for the Divinity to flow through the characters, creating channels for it to circulate. In areas where he met resistance, he twisted the routes.

There was no need to overthink it. All he had to do was ensure Divinity flowed through every part of the magic circle.

Simon pieced it together as if solving a puzzle, and finally...

’Vwoooooom!’

The magic circle was complete. Lethe, who had been lying on her stomach doing her homework, looked up at Simon, her eyes wide with shock.

’What in the world is up with him?!’

He had actually done it. On the very day he first managed to manifest white magic! Her body trembled.

"I’ll test it," Simon said, carefully placing his palm over the white magic circle.

Lethe’s eyes widened.

He felt the circle being absorbed into his body as an unknown energy began to well up inside him. At the same time, he could see a reddish-white tendril of power coiling around his form.

’I’m overflowing with power!’

Simon walked over to a nearby tree and, without channeling any Jet-Black, threw a punch.

Watching the leaves shower down, Simon clenched his fist. He could clearly feel the surge in his physical strength.

"I did it, Lethe! I used the blessing correctly, right?"

Lethe, who had been staring blankly, suddenly turned her back to him. Then she began to scratch at the ground with her fingertips.

’Does this make any sense? It took me a whole week, and he does it in a single day? A guy who doesn’t even believe in the Goddess, no less?’

She felt as though this man was shaking the very foundations of the faith she had worked so hard to build.

When Lethe remained silent for nearly ten minutes, Simon spoke to her cautiously.

"What are you thinking about?"

"...About how much I want to beat you to a pulp."

"That’s nothing new."

Simon chuckled softly.

"What are you going to teach me next?"

Lethe stared at him, her expression unreadable. A necromancer who could use Divinity. No matter that it was Anna’s request and that she needed a collaborator, was she committing an act of utter madness right now?

Could teaching him white magic truly become a great threat to Efnel later on? When they became adults and faced each other on the battlefield someday, would she regret this day?

"What’s wrong, Lethe?"

She let out a deep sigh and slowly rose to her feet. No matter how many times she considered it, the conclusion was the same. It was foolish for a mere mortal to try to read the Goddess’s will with her own narrow perspective.

"Divinity is the power of one who is blessed and acknowledged by the Goddess." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

A new strength entered her eyes.

"I believe there must be a reason the Goddess gave you this power."

She couldn’t make the mistake of misinterpreting the Goddess’s will based on her judgment alone. Wasn’t that the very lesson they were always taught at Efnel?

"Just promise me one thing," she said, her eyes intense. "Whether you believe in the Goddess or not, whether we end up fighting later or not, promise me you will never use white magic to stray from the proper path."

"I promise."

Lethe sighed and nodded, her expression cold.

"Then, let’s move on."

---

Simon learned the fundamental white magic spells from Lethe: ‘Strength’ from Blessing Studies, ‘Divine Arrow’ from Divinity Dynamics, and ‘Heal’ from Healing Studies. He had only just learned them, so they weren’t yet at a level he could use in a real fight. More practice was needed.

And one more thing. Although Simon could now handle both Divinity and Jet-Black, using both powers simultaneously was an entirely new realm.

For example, if he tried to cast ‘Strength’ on his body while maintaining his ‘Internal Jet-Black Circulation’, the two powers would clash, and one of them would inevitably dissipate. It seemed he would need dedicated practice to master fighting with a dual core.

For now, Simon focused purely on mastering white magic. Lethe, too, dedicated the first day to theory and, from the second day on, guided him through repetitive practice to improve his stability.

’This is fun.’

Simon was practicing his stability by running with ‘Strength’ cast on his body. Casting a blessing wasn’t the end of it; he had to constantly manage his Divinity to keep it from fading.

’Learning something new is exhilarating!’

A huge grin on his face, Simon suddenly picked up his pace. Lethe, running beside him, shouted in frustration.

"Hey, what are you doing? Why are you suddenly sprinting like a maniac!"

"I just felt like running!"

"Just do as you’re told! Ugh, seriously!"

The cool headwind blew the sweat from his brow. Simon never once let the blessing fade.

After their lesson, a new mission awaited him back at the manor.

"Simon, I need you to go to Vtant Village," said Richard.

"Okay, Father!"

It was a patrol mission for a village within the Leshill domain. Nestled in a rugged mountain range, Leshill had no large cities. Dozens of small villages were scattered throughout the mountains, and patrolling them was the duty of the Leshill heir.

"Father."

"What is it, Simon?"

"When I complete my task, could you perhaps teach me black magic?"

Richard, who was cleaning the floor, widened his eyes. Lethe, sprawled out on the sofa in exhaustion, stared at Simon as if he were insane.

"But you’ve been practicing white magic all this time."

"I can’t neglect black magic either."

He had no intention of wasting a single second of his vacation. During these two months, Simon planned to elevate his mastery of both.

"Haha! You’ll be learning it until you’re sick of it when you go back to Kizen. What’s the rush?"

"It’s a spell I won’t be able to learn right away, even when I return."

"What do you want to learn?"

Simon took a shallow breath.

"‘Corpse Explosion’."

"Hahahahahaha!"

At those words, Richard burst out laughing like a madman. Simon was startled. He was sure it was the first time he had ever seen his father laugh so openly.

"Isn’t that a high-level spell you don’t learn until your second year?"

Simon was taken aback by the flash of intensity in Richard’s eyes, but he quickly composed himself.

"Yes. I had a chance to get a taste of it, and I want to perfect it before the feeling fades."

If it hadn’t been for the sudden vacation, he would have begged Aaron to teach him, but the situation had changed. And Simon wasn’t one to pass up the opportunity with a great necromancer standing right in front of him.

"Teaching you isn’t difficult, but don’t expect a Kizen-level lecture from me. Those professors are the best of the best. They’re several times better at teaching than I am."

"Just showing me is enough. Please!"

As Simon bowed his head, Richard stroked his chin.

"Alright, but on one condition."

He took a bracelet and an anklet from his Subspace and dropped them on the floor.

"These are all artifacts enchanted with an ‘Exhaust’ curse. If you can visit all the villages while wearing these, I’ll consider it."

"Really?"

"Of course! Hahaha!"

Simon quickly sat down and fastened the cursed bracelet to his wrist. Lethe, who was watching him blankly, rose with a thoroughly exhausted expression and headed for the master bedroom.

She could see Anna lying there, wrapped in Jet-Black bandages. Slumping down beside her, Lethe leaned against the bed and spoke with a weary sigh.

"Ms. Anna... I really think all the men in this house are insane."