The performance evaluation began immediately. Students swarmed forward, scrambling to pick out ‘rune pieces’ and ‘staves’.
"I’ve never had such an amazing class before!" Meirin exclaimed, her cheeks flushed as she fiddled with a rune piece. Simon nodded in agreement.
The system was called the ’Magiste System’. When a rune piece was placed on the magic circle at a student’s desk and supplemented with the appropriate formula, the other magic circles below would engage like interlocking gears, optimizing the function as much as possible. An authentic summoning circle was incomparably more complex, but the ’Magiste System’ was designed specifically for testing and developing summons. Its purpose was to allow for rapid experimentation with different runes and formulas to find the optimal configuration.
"Simon! Simon! Look at this!" Kamibarez held up a rune piece and smiled sweetly. "The Rune of Strong Blood! It’s something we learn in the third year! We can use such advanced runes!"
"Really? That’s interesting."
Simon also began to slowly select his runes. The problem, however...
"Give it here!"
"I saw it first!"
With students crowding around, the competition was fierce. The rune pieces vanished in the blink of an eye while he hesitated. Students like Dick simply grabbed handfuls of runes at once.
"Alright, alright. No fighting!" a Summoning TA called out as he approached. "There are plenty of rune pieces. If you can’t find the one you want, please come to the lab next door."
Simon and the other students immediately moved to the adjacent lab.
"Woooooah!"
The shelves were filled with countless rune pieces, and below them were detailed explanations and even example formulas. Meirin let out a cry of pure delight.
"What is this? Why are they doing so much for us?"
Her excitement was understandable. Learning a single black magic spell normally took a considerable amount of time. One had to understand the magic circle, grasp the flow, etch the principles into one’s mind, and repeatedly tame the jet-black. But here, they could replicate the effect just by swapping out a rune piece. Meirin grabbed a whole armful of runes she liked.
’Hmm.’
Simon didn’t grab any runes rashly. Instead, he took his time, calmly looking around.
[Rune of Frequency]: The core medium for Piercing Arrow.
’I want to get a feel for it first. Maybe I should start with something simple like this.’
Simon picked up a rune piece and returned to the classroom, where the TAs were shouting instructions.
"Now, students touching the equipment for the first time, don’t try it on your own and cause an accident! Call a TA for an explanation!"
Despite the warning, there were always impatient types who would toss the manual and start fiddling with a new toy right away.
The TA added, "If you happen to break it, you’ll have to pay fifty thousand gold!"
A few students flinched and froze mid-motion. One let out a hollow laugh. "Come on, fifty thousand gold just for breaking one of these is a bit much..."
"The ’Magiste System’ is a single, interconnected unit," the TA clarified. "If one part breaks, the whole thing breaks."
At that, a few students raised their hands with guilty expressions. Simon also raised his hand and called a TA over.
"The Rune of Frequency? You decided on this one?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, watch carefully." She inserted the rune piece into the central slot of the magic circle. It seemed to melt into place, synchronizing with the formulas. "Just draw the essential formulas and circuits—the big, important ones—with jet-black. The system will automatically fill in the minor details."
After she roughly sketched the formula and pressed the ‘complete’ button, the panel activated, finished its calculations, and rapidly constructed the magic circle.
The circle momentarily flashed red, accompanied by a sharp error beep. Simon looked at the TA, surprised. "What went wrong?"
"Ah, in this case, it’s just a ‘capacity overload’."
"Capacity overload?"
"Yes." The TA held up her index finger. "It means the black magic exceeds the limits of what this Skeleton Mage can handle. It’s either too heavy, too powerful, or it’s a superior black magic that’s too complex."
"I see." It made sense. If a mere Skeleton Mage could freely use the highest-tier black magic, there would be no Jet-Black Dynamics majors in this era.
"In that case, make it a little lighter." The TA changed the projectile count from five to one. Simon, belatedly noticing the quantity setting, let out a dry laugh. Of course a spell that fired five shots at once wouldn’t work.
"Actually, I did that on purpose to show you the error," the TA said with a smile.
As the quantity was reduced to one, the magic circle became incredibly simplified. The circle glowed blue, then returned to its original color.
"And with that, you’re ready! Give it a try."
"Right."
Simon placed his palm on the magic circle and directed the Skeleton Mage with his consciousness. The mage’s staff moved and pointed toward the barrier.
’Fire!’
At Simon’s command, small spheres shot out from the magic circle at the tip of the staff, converged at a single point, and were fired. They struck the barrier with a loud ’thwack’.
Simon let out a disappointed sigh. The barrier showed sixty percent damage before it began to repair itself, quickly returning to one hundred percent.
"So close!" the TA said, clapping her hands. "See? It’s basically like this. To break the barrier, try changing the composition of the formula or circuits to be more efficient. Or you could try changing the staff, or even swap out the rune and have the skeleton use a different black magic."
"Yes, I understand perfectly. Thank you!"
It was certainly an interesting class. All around him, sounds of black magic activating and hitting barriers echoed through the room.
"Ah, this doesn’t work either?"
"I lowered the specs as much as I could."
However, most students received a ‘capacity overload’ error, their magic circles turning red. They were all being too greedy, setting up the magic they wanted to see rather than what a Skeleton Mage could actually handle.
"I understand your excitement, but this is not a game; it is a performance evaluation," Aaron said, glancing at his wristwatch. "We are now exactly halfway through the class. Consider realistic specifications."
His words snapped the students back to reality. They rushed to change their rune pieces, this time returning with runes for black magic they were confident in, or at least simpler ones.
"Ugh, this is hard." Dick was attempting to prepare three shots of the high-level black magic, ‘Atomic Blast’.
"...Get a grip, Dick."
"Just one more try!"
Jamie Victoria, success! Magic used: ‘Scratch’.
With fifteen minutes left, the number of successful students was gradually increasing. The TAs were writing their names and the magic they used on the blackboard.
Pierre Buckley, success! Magic used: ‘Impaler’.
Catherine Terrell, success! Magic used: ‘Chain Lightning’.
With ten minutes remaining, Meirin licked her lips and cautiously placed her hand on the circle. The Skeleton Mage’s staff moved.
"Please!"
An ice spike flew and struck the barrier, shattering it into pieces with a sharp ’crack’.
Meirin Villenne, success! Magic used: ‘Ice Pike’.
"Yes!" Meirin threw both arms into the air.
"...Could you keep it down," Cindy Vivace muttered from the back seat before preparing her own spell. Meirin turned to see what she was doing.
"A... a Jet-Black Arrow?"
A single ‘Jet-Black Arrow’, one of the most basic spells, flew and hit the barrier. It was large and spun like a drill, slowly chipping away at the barrier until it finally broke through.
"C-Cindy Vivace, success! Magic used: ‘Jet-Black Arrow’."
Cindy straightened her back with a relaxed expression, watching the TA write her name on the board. Meirin let out a disbelieving laugh.
"...You’re a freak, you know that?"
"Thanks for the compliment."
The success rate was now at sixty percent. Students were frantically attacking the barriers in a last-minute spurt.
’But still,’ Meirin’s head turned. ’What’s up with that Summoning prodigy?’
She had passed, and so had Kamibarez, but for some reason, Simon was taking his time. Meirin put her hands behind her back and casually walked over to his desk.
"Hey, if you’re stuck on something, I can help..."
Then her eyes widened as she looked at his magic circle.
"Gah! What are you doing?!"
A few students frowned and turned at her shout. She blushed and gave them an apologetic look before turning back to Simon.
"Hey, do you even understand the assignment? The ‘Rune of Transmission’?"
It was a rune used for simple communication magic. No matter how she thought about it, it seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with breaking a barrier.
But something was off about Simon. He didn’t seem to hear her. He was muttering strange words, completely engrossed in the magic circle, his pupils unfocused as if his mind were somewhere else entirely. A bit of drool had even begun to pool at the corner of his mouth.
’Such incredible focus.’
A slight chill ran down Meirin’s spine, and she wrapped her arms around her shoulders. ’No, but is he even on the right track? Is the Rune of Transmission really the right choice?’ She had to admit his concentration was amazing, but she worried that this time, that insane focus was heading in the wrong direction.
A deafening roar made everyone’s head turn.
"He-Hector Moore, success. ‘Dragon Breath’."
The barrier was completely obliterated. Aaron approached and examined his magic circle closely.
’I see.’
It was a family-specific black magic, used by a Skeleton Mage. Of course, it wasn’t a true ‘Dragon Breath’. Hector had adjusted the specifications, carving out runes and formulas to mimic it. The very fact that he had partially recreated his family’s unique magic with an undead put his success on a different level.
’I don’t particularly like the expression, but he lives up to his family’s name.’
Hector let out a light breath and glanced at the blackboard.
He, too, noticed Simon’s name was missing and looked over at him. Simon was still focused, manipulating something.
"Three minutes left," Aaron announced.
The students attempted their final spells. The TAs were busy writing names on the board.
"Simon...!" Meirin bit her lip anxiously.
"One minute left."
A considerable number of students, including Meirin and Hector, now had their eyes fixed on Simon. It was only natural; the ace of Summoning in Class A had still not passed the evaluation.
"Twenty seconds."
It was over. Most students had made their final attempts and lowered their hands, accepting the results. The only one with his hand still on a magic circle was Simon.
Just then, his Skeleton Mage’s staff moved.
"He cast a spell!"
"Huh? Nothing’s happening."
While everyone was watching Simon’s skeleton, a sharp ’thwack’ sounded from elsewhere in the room. It was followed by another, and another.
All across the classroom, the staves of the Skeleton Mages—the ones the students had already given up on—moved in unison.
"Ah!"
And all the staves were pointing in one direction: toward Simon’s barrier.
Then, they unleashed their power.
With roars erupting from all directions, dozens of different spells were fired simultaneously at Simon’s barrier. Students cried out in surprise, ducking for cover.
Just as the spells converged, the bell signaling the end of class rang out with a deafening ’clang’.
When everyone looked up, Simon’s barrier had been obliterated without a trace.
"He... he controlled my Skeleton Mage?"
"My ‘Chain Lightning’...!"
Simon opened his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. A TA, his shoulders trembling, announced, "S-Simon, success. Impaler, Dragon Breath, Scratch, Chain Lightning... and about thirty other spells."
Hearing this, Aaron let out a hollow laugh. ’What a crazy bastard.’
Soon, half of the blackboard was filled with Simon’s name and the long list of spells he had used.
"Hey, hey! What did you do?" Meirin demanded as she rushed over.
"Hive Magic," Simon said, panting for breath. "I tried to recreate Professor Aaron’s magic."

Comments

Loading...