The cave they were descending through by train was incredibly deep. It was impossible to even guess where it ended.
’A place like this existed on Roc Island, huh.’
And the deeper they went, the more grotesque the sights became. Monster heads hung from ropes, and what looked like the long stomach of some beast coiled and writhed like a snake.
’Hic!’
Thoroughly terrified, Toto clung tightly to Simon’s arm, letting out constant shrieks.
"...S-Simon. Do you think we’ll be able to see the sunlight safely after this class is over?"
"Don’t worry. It’ll be fine."
Simon tried to calm him down with a calm smile, but Toto still flinched at the slightest sound. Beside them, Hector sat with his chin propped on his hand, looking bored.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Suddenly, loud screams came from the train up ahead. The screams quickly faded, echoing through the cave.
"There must be something else up ahead!" Toto’s face turned pale.
’Creek— Creeeeak—’
Simon caught the change in the sound of the tracks and the slope, and he stretched his legs out to touch the end of the cart. Hector, seeming to have noticed as well, grabbed the cart with both hands to brace himself.
"Toto."
"Yeah?"
"Hold on tight."
The moment Toto opened his mouth to reply, his hair shot straight up. The track behind them plunged into darkness at a terrifyingly steep angle.
’Whoooooooosh!’
The train suddenly began a high-speed descent.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Starting with Toto, the students began to scream. As the small Toto dangled as if he would be thrown off, Simon grabbed his left arm, and Hector, scowling, grabbed his right shoulder.
"Ugh! Aaaaaaah!"
"Just hold on a little longer, Toto!"
’Creeak— Creeeeak—’
Eventually, the train’s speed gradually decreased and came to a stop. The Summoning Material Studies TAs spoke.
"Alright, students. You may now disembark."
The students staggered as they got up from their seats one by one. Simon supported the dazed Toto, while Hector strode off alone without a word.
’Where are we?’
The place looked like a dark altar from some forbidden story. In the center of the circular space was a large altar, surrounded by a ring of tables. On them were various undead materials—some laid out, others hanging from long hooks chained to the ceiling.
Candles were lit on the walls, and a shallow channel carved into the floor had underground water trickling through it. The gap was narrow, so there was no fear of getting one’s shoes wet by misstepping.
Simon had no idea what kind of events would unfold or what kind of class would be held in such a place.
Soon, the last train arrived, and the students disembarked. They all had expressions of terror as they took in the gloomy scenery of the cave.
"Alright, students. Please step away from the tables."
The TAs stepped in to control the students, then stood by the wall with their hands respectfully clasped.
"Professor Grelion is now entering."
A short distance from the altar where the students were, a blue flash of light appeared, though it was hard to see clearly in the unlit area. Simon recognized it as the light of a teleportation magic circle.
’Thump—’
’Thump—’
Heavy footsteps echoed through the cave. The students could see a large figure approaching from the darkness. Soon, stifled screams erupted from here and there.
A muscular, bare-chested man emerged, carrying a blood-soaked, mountain-sized boar monster on his shoulders.
’That, that person is...’
’A professor?’
’Thump—’
’Thump—’
Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, the students couldn’t even breathe. With each step he took, the cave’s reverberations grew louder. As the man dropped the monster onto the altar, the entire cave shook with a loud ’THUD!!’
Simon’s eyes grew serious.
’I see signs of battle.’
Had he been fighting right up until he used the teleportation circle? There were minor cuts on his skin. The monster wasn’t completely dead either; its legs twitched intermittently.
Grelion turned his back and took two butchering knives that were hanging on the cave wall. He scraped them together, creating a metallic shing sound, then approached the twitching monster with one of them in hand.
He plunged the knife into its belly.
He dragged it straight down, slicing the belly open. A steamy vapor billowed out, and the smell of blood hit the students, making them flinch.
What followed was a masterclass in butchery. Professor Grelion’s knife moved without hesitation. With every slice and plunge of his hand, a pulsating organ would slosh out.
’Swoooosh!’
Jet-Black erupted from behind his body. The Jet-Black drew magic circles in the air and began to engrave them onto the materials scattered on the floor.
’Shnk! Thwip!’
Butchering knives of various sizes and purposes spun through the air, directed by his Jet-Black, and whenever he extended a hand, the exact one he needed would fly into his grasp. It was an incredible display of multitasking.
"Chimera, Agandero."
He took a material he had just extracted from the monster’s body, attached a few materials hanging from the ceiling to it, and dropped it on the floor. The organ, which had an eye, began to move and wander around on its own.
"Chimera, Warjack."
"Chimera, Admo."
He was creating chimeras on the spot using the materials from the monster he had just hunted. He attached legs to a zombie with missing limbs and added contents to an empty undead to make it move.
’Shnk!’
’Thwip!’
All the students watched in a daze as large and small chimeras piled up on the floor. Legs moved on their own, and arms, engulfed in black liquid, became a monster’s tail. He also created an ’Abomination’ by sticking together the organs of different monsters.
Finally, he cut off the remaining head of the boar monster and attached it as a third head to a two-headed monster. After creating the Triple-Head Chimera, he wiped the blood splattered on his face and put down his knife.
From the corpse of a single monster, twelve chimeras were born in an instant. The work was finished, but the students, overwhelmed by the atmosphere, couldn’t even applaud.
"I am Grelion," he finally spoke. "You."
Grelion pointed his hand. Toto, who had the misfortune of being singled out again, hiccupped and stood stiffly.
"Y-Yes! Toto Amori...!"
"Tell me what a chimera is."
Toto’s face was rigid as he racked his brain. "I-It refers to a being that is a combination of two or more creatures...!"
"That’s the most common definition. Now, you!"
This time, a female student he pointed to next spoke up. "It’s an undead with multiple powers, created by a necromancer through artificial grafting."
Grelion nodded and walked forward with heavy steps. Then he stopped and snapped his head toward Simon.
"A chimera is an extremely practical creature."
His eyes shone fiercely.
"If a necromancer has two or more types of creatures or undead in their hands, they can create any kind of supreme monster. It’s an essential element, especially for a summoner whose summons are quickly consumed."
He grabbed his stiff neck and gently shook it from side to side. "During my active duty, I once ran out of summons. I raided a farm on the outskirts of a territory, assembled ten pigs, and wiped out an entire castle."
The students gasped.
"A necromancer sometimes has to fight like that."
The corners of his mouth lifted. "What did I say the name of this class was?"
"Summoning Material Studies!" the students shouted.
"It’s part of the official curriculum, so it can’t be helped, but I don’t like that course name."
He slowly looked around at the students.
"Let’s call it Chimera Design Theory. I will teach you not only the study of materials but also how to use them to create powerful chimeras. All the knowledge of materials in my class exists to create powerful chimeras."
He picked up a still-twitching piece of the monster’s flesh from the floor and smiled grimly.
"Welcome to the forbidden domain."
For modern summoners majoring in Summoning, chimera creation was an indispensable field of study. There was once a time called the ’Chimera Age,’ and the chimera creation techniques of necromancers were highly developed. All sorts of runes, formulas, and techniques derived from chimeras had a great influence on almost all summoning magic.
In other words, from the second year of Kizen, most summons were unusable without knowledge of chimera-related techniques. It was intertwined with Aaron’s intermediate major, Summoning.
Of course, besides such academic reasons, Simon thought there was no harm in learning chimera creation.
"Begin the grafting."
Fortunately, the first chimera class didn’t involve handling animals or monsters. What lay before the students were flowers planted in pots and aquatic plants in a water tank.
The first chimera class required combining a common houseplant with the roots of an aquatic plant. The goal was to create a flower that would grow perfectly fine even when placed in water. The key was to maintain the properties of both plants while also drawing out the advantage of the aquatic plant, which could grow well without dying in water.
"Place the cut surfaces of the two plants together, wrap them with magic tape to secure them, and then activate the promotion magic. When the two cut surfaces heal, water, nutrients, and plant hormones will be transferred between the two plants."
Simon calmly connected the flower and the aquatic plant, then floated it in the water tank. Toto, next to him, tried the same thing, but his flower quickly died and its roots sank in the water. Simon’s flower, however, was perfectly fine and alive.
’Success!’
Simon removed his hand from the plant and smiled with satisfaction.
’Chimera creation, huh? This class is interesting too.’
A chimera exhibits the advantages of both species simultaneously. Even with simple grafting, one could create a plant where potatoes grow on the roots and tomatoes grow on the stem. If black magic was used, and the materials being joined were undead, then dynamic changes beyond human imagination were possible. This was because while living chimeras had to be grafted between similar species to avoid rejection, undead had little to no such rejection when mixed with anything. Of course, their operational time and lifespan couldn’t be guaranteed.
’Now I really feel like a major.’
Indeed, the depth of the techniques learned in the second year was on a different level from dealing with skeletons or zombies at best in the first year.
"Vast knowledge is required to create a chimera," Grelion explained. "No two chimeras in this world are exactly the same. Even if you create a thousand of them from two of the same monster types, the formulas used will inevitably differ. What’s needed more than sense in creating a chimera is a perfect understanding of the creatures used as materials. From now on, you are to memorize all the handouts I provide."
Groans erupted from the students all around.
After all the students had left, the TAs began to clean up. The area was covered in blood from dismantling the giant monster. Grelion was also cleaning up with the TAs. At his command, the chimeras moved with squelching sounds and walked into the depths of the cave.
’Flash!’
Just then, a blue light flashed at the end of the cave. It was the sound of a teleportation magic circle activating. Grelion stood up to greet the visitor.
"You’re here, Aaron."
Aaron ran a hand through his long, shaggy hair as he walked over and bowed his head. "It’s been a while, Professor."
"To think the rookie you once were is now the second-year Summoning professor. A lot of time has passed indeed." Grelion chuckled.
Aaron sat down and let out a tired sigh. "How were the children?"
"I heard many talented students came to the department this time, and there were certainly quite a few faces that stood out."
Hector, Aseraz, Lorraine, Serne. And even the current Student Council President, Simon.
"How was Simon Polentia?"
"He didn’t particularly stand out," Grelion answered flatly. "It’s only the first class, and all we did was graft plants, so it’s hard to judge anything. TA! Bring me Simon’s work!"
"Yes, sir!"
A TA brought Simon’s plant in a water tank. The two professors examined it.
"He completed it, but it’s ordinary. Perhaps he doesn’t have a talent for chimeras."
He took the plant out of the water tank. Then he unwrapped the tape.
His eyes widened. The cut surfaces were almost perfectly joined.
"He used something other than the black magic I taught them."
Thinking it made sense, Aaron smiled. "That’s just like him."
"What?"
"When I was teaching Skeleton Mages, he was the one who made a Lich."
’Hmm—’
Grelion’s eyes gleamed.
"Is that so?"

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