Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 72: Episode

’Ugh...’

Jessica lay on the ground amid the scattered bones, unable to move. Humiliation washed over her. She had let her opponent’s taunts get to her, charged in recklessly, and paid the price. No, he had likely guided her to that exact outcome. With all her techniques neutralized, what else could she do but charge forward like a moth to a flame?

It was a complete defeat, in both skill and psychological warfare. The gap between them was immense.

’So now I’m headed to a low-ranking squad. It’s for the best. The top squads are probably crawling with monsters like him.’

As she was trying to rationalize her loss with a sigh, Simon approached.

"Are you okay?" He knelt, offering her a hand with a kind smile.

Jessica stared blankly, her gaze shifting from his outstretched hand to his smiling face. Then, suddenly, a wave of emotions—frustration, shame, anger—crested, and her eyes grew hot.

"Y-you..."

Simon looked at her, confused.

"You disrespectful bastard!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with tears.

Simon flinched back.

"You think you’re the only one who matters, huh? You blatantly look down on me, win the match, and then you try to act all nice at the end? You’re a horrible person!"

"N-no, I was just..."

"You’re the worst!"

She scrambled to her feet and ran out of the arena, sobbing. Simon stared after her, momentarily stunned.

"Hey," the referee said, walking over. "We need to prepare for the next match. Please clear the arena."

"Ah, yes."

Scratching his head in embarrassment, Simon cautiously asked, "Um, was I a bit too harsh just now?"

The referee laughed heartily. "It was very Kizen-like! It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a refreshing match. Haha!"

It was the first time the phrase ’Kizen-like’ had left such a bitter taste in his mouth. As he turned to leave, a female staff member cleaning the floor muttered, "To be honest, you were a bit harsh."

"Haha."

Simon covered his face with his hand. He’d been so wrapped up in his own situation that he hadn’t considered his opponent’s feelings at all.

’I should go apologize to her personally tomorrow.’

---

All that remained was the midterm exams. The weekend was hell. Acting on Dick’s intel, Simon went to line up for the library at 4 a.m., only to find it already swarming with students. After waiting another two hours, the doors opened, creating a massive bottleneck. Some students vaulted over the crowd on platforms of hardened Jet-Black, while others scrambled up the walls like spiders. A few aspiring necromancers even phased through the walls using spiritualization.

All the seats were taken within twenty minutes. Simon barely managed to snag a corner spot.

And then, it was study, study, study.

The library was open twenty-four hours a day during exam period, allowing him to focus on nothing else. The weekend flew by in a blur of ink and parchment, and then the midterms began.

There were eight exams, two per day, each lasting two hours.

"The answer to number eight is two!"

"It’s two! Yesss! I got it right!"

"Hey, isn’t it four? Resistance builds here, blocking the mana flow."

"You idiot! It’s a direct formula, why would there be resistance?"

"Ugh! Ah, I didn’t see that!"

After each exam, students would swarm around the top performers like Meirin to compare answers. Simon couldn’t help but overhear, but he didn’t have the luxury of stopping to grade his own paper.

He returned to the library. He had to study; it was the only way to survive. Everyone called the exam period hell, but Simon didn’t find it so bad. It was a time when everyone, free from distractions, pushed toward a single goal.

There was no sabotage, no interference—just an unwavering focus on personal growth. Simon thrived in this atmosphere of good-natured competition.

And just like that...

"We’re—free—at—laaaast!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The final exams, Defense Against Divinity and Combat Magic, were over. The moment the bell rang, every student broke into a triumphant grin, arms shooting into the air. Dick, a quill clamped between his teeth, leaped onto his desk, hiked up his shirt in a victory pose, and was promptly smacked down by Meirin.

While the classroom erupted with the joy of liberation, Simon leaned back in his chair, quietly savoring the moment. ’I really did give it my all,’ he mused.

"Hey, Simon."

Meirin approached, her hands clasped behind her back.

"How’d you do in Summoning? It’d be a shame if we couldn’t see you around Kizen anymore."

At her playful jab, Simon heaved a sigh.

"Seriously, if I could go back just one month, I’d smack myself in the head."

"Huh?"

"For not realizing how reckless I was being."

He had to beat Meirin’s score of eighty-five. He had casually assumed a ten-point gap would be easy to close, but he now understood that such a difference was an insurmountable chasm.

’Simon...’ Kamibarez watched him, her expression clouded with worry. If Meirin won and tried to get him expelled, Kamibarez was prepared to beg her, to do whatever it took to prevent that from happening.

Meirin was just as taken aback. She had only been teasing. Why was he taking it so seriously?

"Don’t tell me... you bombed the Summoning exam?"

"No," Simon said, a gentle smile spreading across his face. "It just means that in the end, I’m still going to win."

"Oh, what the hell!"

Meirin burst out laughing, the tension in the air instantly dissolving.

As the group chattered about weekend plans, Dick leaned in conspiratorially.

"Sorry to be a buzzkill, but I’ve got some important news."

"What is it?" Meirin asked.

Dick scanned the room, making sure no one was eavesdropping, before lowering his voice to a whisper.

"After this weekend, the entire first year might be shipped off to an island for something called Island Survival."

Meirin’s face hardened. Simon and Kamibarez exchanged confused glances.

"What’s that?" Kamibarez asked.

Dick wiggled his fingers with a mischievous grin.

"It’s a project where they dump all the first-years on an island crawling with monsters and make us survive for four days. It’s also known as the Island Survival Evaluation."

"F-Four days?" Kamibarez whispered, rubbing her arms as if a chill had run down her spine.

"Once you’re there, food and shelter are your own responsibility," Dick continued. "You have to hunt monsters for points, and you can even fight other students to steal theirs. And, in true Kizen fashion, the lowest-ranking students get expelled."

"Oh..."

While Kamibarez trembled, Simon’s eyes began to sparkle.

"What’s with you?" Meirin demanded.

"Well," Simon began, unable to suppress a grin, "that sounds incredibly fun."

"Are you serious?" Dick asked, aghast.

"Yeah! Camping on a deserted island, hunting, fending off monster attacks! Wow, I love that kind of stuff."

It was nothing new to him, after all the time he’d spent in the rugged mountains of Leshill. Dick and Kamibarez, however, stared at him in utter disbelief.

"Is your information solid, Dick?" Meirin cut in. "How would you know Kizen’s official schedule?"

"Whoa, whoa," Dick said, waving his hands. "It’s not one hundred percent, of course. It’s just a theory for now."

"Based on what?"

"For starters, the servants are secretly pulling ’Tonguepads’ out of the storage rooms."

He explained that ’Tonguepads’ were devices students wore on their arms during large-scale evaluations to track points and other stats.

"On top of that, the teleportation team from Kizen’s main headquarters came to the school two days ago and started a massive project. They brought in a huge supply of magic circle components from Rochest. And get this—some professors have even scheduled vacations for next week. Why would they book time off when they have classes? It’s obvious, isn’t it?"

The sheer plausibility of his intel left them stunned. Dick crossed his arms, puffing out his chest.

"Heh. In this dog-eat-dog world, you need this level of information just to get by."

"That’s amazing, Dick!" Kamibarez’s eyes shone with admiration. "How do you know everything that happens at Kizen?"

Her praise made him stand a little taller.

"My key sources are confidential, so I can’t get into specifics. But let’s just say I make an effort to befriend all the servants here. They might be wary at first, but I keep at it, being friendly, treating them to meals, maybe even slipping them a little cash. Sometimes I even lend them my name and status as a student when they need it."

Simon nodded. He had noticed that whenever he was with Dick, most of the servants spoke to him informally, as if he were one of them.

"Honestly, the noble kids just see the staff as servants or helpers," Dick explained. "They don’t pay them any real attention. But those people? They’re the real source of information."

"Yeah, yeah, you’re a genius," Meirin snorted, turning away.

Simon spoke up.

"So, if this evaluation is really happening, what should we be doing to prepare?"

"Hmm, I guess we should focus on powering up, just like for the duels. Oh, and," Dick slapped his knee, "survival skills!"

"Huh?"

"You know, building shelters, starting fires, butchering game, identifying edible plants."

The girls’ faces fell.

"R-Right," Meirin stammered, her usual confidence evaporating. "We might have to... eat monsters."

Kamibarez had gone pale.

"Can’t we just... starve for a few days?"

"You think it’s that easy?" Dick countered. "If you starve, you won’t have the strength to fight off monsters or other students. You have to eat to survive."

As the grim reality of the situation sank in, their expressions grew darker.

Simon, on the other hand, was beaming.

"Man, this is going to be so much fun."

The other three stared at him, completely baffled.

"This won’t do," Meirin declared. "I’m going to Rochest this weekend to eat monster meat. I have to get used to it."

Dick chuckled.

"What good will eating something from a restaurant do? There’s a world of difference between a meal prepared by a chef and something you cook in the wild."

"I don’t care! At least my palate will adjust a little!"

"Speaking of which," Simon said, and all eyes turned to him. "Remember that meat soup we had at Professor Hongfeng’s cabin?"

"Oh, that!" Kamibarez exclaimed. "It was so delicious!"

"I still think about it sometimes," Meirin admitted.

A grin spread across Simon’s face.

"She told me it was made from monster meat."

Three pairs of eyes went wide.

"You!" Meirin lunged, grabbing Simon by the collar. "Contact Professor Hongfeng! Please! Ask her for the recipe! She’s especially fond of you, isn’t she?!" she pleaded, shaking him frantically.

Simon managed a wry smile.

"I don’t know if she’ll agree, but I’ll send her a letter."

"Y-You will?"

"Please, Simon!" Kamibarez begged.

The very next day, a reply from Hongfeng arrived.