"Whoo-hoo!"
"Yeah!"
At that single word written on the chalkboard, the lecture hall was thrown into a frenzy. Students leapt from their seats, throwing their arms in the air, cheering and whistling.
Simon was just as excited. Unable to believe his own eyes, he briefly cast his gaze out the window before checking the letters on the board again.
’Death Knight’
It was real.
They were finally learning about Death Knights this semester.
"Wow! Your dream finally came true, huh? Death Knight boy!" Eshe cackled, slapping Toto hard on the back.
As the gazes of the surrounding students naturally turned toward Toto, his face flushed bright red.
"H-How long are you going to tease me about what happened at the beginning of the semester, Eshe?!" he stammered.
"I’ll never forget it. That was my first impression of you," Eshe teased.
Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted, "Professor! Will we be able to make it next? Every summoner’s dream! A Death Knight!"
Laughter erupted across the room. Even Lorraine couldn’t hold it in, turning her head away to hide her smile.
It was absolute pandemonium. The teaching assistants scrambled around the room, sweating bullets as they tried to calm the students down.
"Attention." Aaron slammed his palm against the chalkboard with a sharp ’bang’.
Only then did the students quiet down and look to the front.
"I will continue the explanation," he said, his voice echoing slowly through the hall. "There are what the continent commonly refers to as the ’Three Great High-Tier Summons’: Lich, Death Knight, and Bone Dragon."
Just hearing those words gave the Summoning majors goosebumps, sending an electric thrill through their bodies.
It was the ultimate romance of a summoner.
"Among them, our goal this semester is the creation and operation of a Death Knight."
If his goal was to skyrocket the students’ morale from the very first day, it was a massive success. Everyone’s eyes sparkled, hanging onto his every word with rapt attention.
However, a hand went up among the crowd.
"Do you have a question, Aseraz?"
The overall fifth-ranked student stood up from his seat.
"A Death Knight is a high-tier undead whose creation and operation are so complex and difficult that it typically only appears as a core assignment in the second semester of the third year," Aseraz stated. "We have only just entered the second semester of our second year. Is it truly possible for us to create one?"
Blunt glares gathered from all over. Students whispered that he was unnecessarily ruining the mood.
On the other hand, some nodded in agreement. It would indeed be a problem if they wasted time on an undead they couldn’t even finish during the most crucial semester of their second year.
Aaron lowered his hand. "If you’re asking whether it’s possible, it is."
His hand moved across the board, the chalk tapping against the slate. Beneath the words ’Death Knight,’ he wrote ’Dullahan’ in slightly smaller letters.
"All of you completed a Dullahan before the midterm exams last semester."
After finishing the word, Aaron drew a long line underneath it.
"After you finished your Dullahans, the subsequent classes didn’t have one specific goal. Instead, I had you handle the widest variety of summons and runic languages possible. In truth, all of those were necessary components for creating a Death Knight."
He circled the names of the summons and runic languages listed on the board, drawing lines connecting them to the Death Knight.
"You have already met the basic requirements. Now, all that’s left is to master the next level of difficulty in summons and formulas, and then dive straight into creating a Death Knight."
Cheers erupted from all around.
"However." He lowered the hand holding the chalk. "Just because you meet the basic requirements doesn’t mean all of you will be able to obtain a Death Knight."
The students remained silent, silently agreeing. After all, if creating a Death Knight was easy enough that everyone here could do it, it wouldn’t be called one of the Three Great High-Tier Undead.
"Once all the materials, techniques, and foundational knowledge are prepared, I will grant every single one of you the right to attempt creating a Death Knight. From there, it will require not only effort but also a certain degree of talent and luck."
Aaron picked up the eraser, wiped away the middle of the lines connecting ’Death Knight’ to the summons and runic languages, and drew a large square in the gap. Then, he marked a massive question mark inside it.
"If you pass through this domain, you will be able to obtain a Death Knight incredibly easily. But likely only four or five students in this lecture hall will pass."
For a moment, the gazes of the surrounding students shifted to a select few.
Simon Polentia.
Hector Moore.
Aseraz Mikel.
They were the three representative students with the highest grades in the Summoning major.
"There’s no need to be discouraged even if you fail," Aaron continued. "If you’ve faithfully kept up with the curriculum enough to challenge a Death Knight, your summoning capabilities will have already improved to a level incomparable to before."
He wrote the names of a few summons to the side.
-Demon Knight.
-Skull Commander.
-High Capel.
"With those capabilities, I will help you create knight-class summons that can substitute for a Death Knight. With these alone, you won’t fall behind students from other majors in duel evaluations, mission evaluations, and various other practical combat scenarios. Later, during the third-year curriculum, I will help you create a Death Knight through academically stable means without having to pass through the domain of luck and talent."
It meant he would take responsibility for their Death Knight creation by having them follow the regular curriculum, rather than relying on his own unique method.
The corners of Aaron’s mouth curled up. "Of course, you are Kizen. As Kizen students, all of you should devote yourselves to completing a Death Knight in your second year. That is all."
"Woah!"
The students clapped their hands, steeling their resolve. Eshe held her hand out toward Simon.
"Professor Aaron is the best! Look at the goosebumps on my arm when he mentioned the Death Knight!"
"Haha. Me too," Simon replied, rubbing his sweaty palms against his uniform pants.
Lorraine, sitting next to him, also smiled. "It seems worth following with all our might. I’ve always wanted a Death Knight too."
"M-Me too!" Toto raised his voice. "My dream is right in front of me! I’m definitely going to become a Death Knight summoner!"
While everyone was smiling and chatting, Simon’s thoughts were a bit complicated.
’Can I succeed in creating both a Death Knight and a Bone Dragon?’
He had already created a Lich during his first year. He possessed the masterpiece known as Herseva, which he would likely never be able to recreate.
Add to that the creation of a Death Knight as this semester’s assignment, and finally the Bone Dragon he had promised Nephthys.
If he succeeded in all of them, he would obtain all of the ’Three Great High-Tier Undead’ Aaron mentioned within his second year. This was an achievement that a single necromancer would find difficult to attain even if they invested their entire life into Summoning.
Originally, he had planned to focus solely on the Bone Dragon for this semester.
’I have to do it.’
Now that he had stepped down from the student council presidency, he wanted to be even greedier.
Above all, he was certain that the various elements he would learn while studying the Death Knight would also help in creating the Bone Dragon. Everything in Summoning was interconnected, after all.
’Let’s do this.’
Following the massive announcement about creating Death Knights, Aaron returned to his usual languid tone and delivered a few departmental announcements.
The first was that group sizes would be adjusted due to the students who had dropped out in the first semester. Existing groups would maintain their original formations as much as possible, but groups lacking members would be merged and reorganized according to their grades. Of course, this didn’t apply to Simon’s Group 10, as all of its members had survived.
And the second announcement.
"Professor Lin and Professor Lune of the Deathcraft class will be absent due to unavoidable circumstances."
The twin professors who taught Deathcraft, Lin and Lune, were originally Ancient Undead contracted to Nephthys. However, the situation on several front lines had become urgent, requiring their special abilities. Ultimately, at Nephthys’s request, they temporarily left the academy and were deployed to the battlefield.
"Therefore, Deathcraft classes for the second semester will be handled by a guest professor from outside," Aaron continued. "Kizen Headquarters went through a lot of trouble to recruit them, so make sure you learn well."
A guest professor all of a sudden? The students murmured among themselves.
"Have you heard anything?"
"Nothing at all."
One student quickly raised his hand. "Coiter Pizn, sir! What kind of person is the guest professor?"
"That is something you can find out during class," Aaron replied dismissively, unfolding the document in his hand.
"That concludes the departmental announcements. Next are the school-wide announcements. I hear the campus has been noisy lately with various protests."
The gazes of several students subtly shifted toward Simon before turning back.
He seemed to be referring to the picket protests led by Claudia. Aaron placed the document on the podium with an indifferent expression.
"The instruction is to guide you to focus on your studies, which is your primary duty. But it doesn’t seem like an issue for me to dictate, so I’ll leave it to your own judgment. Next."
He let out a low hum and narrowed his eyes. "Indiscriminate, unofficial duels between students on campus have become a headache. If you want to settle a score, go through the formal procedures and do it in front of a staff member. If you get caught, it will be hard to avoid heavy disciplinary action, so be careful."
This, too, was an announcement issued by the school after the incident with Balak’s intrusion caused an uproar among the faculty and parents.
Aaron read through the dense list of announcements in a dry, monotonous voice.
"And shortly into the beginning of the second semester, a large-scale exam targeting the entire second year will be held."
A group exam.
Tension swirled in the students’ eyes. A massive exam involving an entire grade like this hadn’t happened once since they became second-years.
"Eshe Arjel, sir! Is there any announcement on exactly what kind of exam it will be?"
"No," Aaron answered curtly. "Whether it will be competitive or cooperative, what kind of exam it will be, or where it will take place—even we professors don’t know. I’m told Kizen Headquarters is preparing it in strict secrecy."
Aaron rubbed his fatigue-ridden eyes and picked up the document. "Just assume it will have a similar vibe to the island survival evaluation you did in your first year. Since it’s the second-year version, the difficulty will be several times more overwhelming."
The students’ expressions froze slightly as they recalled the nightmarish island survival evaluation from their first year.
"Statistics show that the number of underachievers this past semester was lower than expected. Keep in mind that there might be a rather severe expulsion condition attached to the exam."
"Yes, sir!"
"Starting tomorrow, general elective classes will begin. Course registration will be conducted in the same manner as last semester, so be prepared. Think carefully about which subjects will be advantageous for you."
Everyone nodded. They were all well aware of how Kizen’s course registration worked, having experienced it in the first semester.
"Then, we will do a brief review of the first semester and wrap up for today."
Perhaps because it was the first day, classes generally proceeded in an orientation format.
After finishing Aaron’s Summoning major class, the students rode the minecarts down into Grelion’s cave for the first time in a while.
The Summoning Materials professor, Grelion, hadn’t changed. No, he actually looked even more bulked up than before.
His entire body was so massive and muscular that his face looked relatively small in comparison. Wearing nothing but sunglasses on top of that, he looked far more like a Combat Magic practitioner than a Summoning professor.
"You all must have heard! Professor Aaron plans to push forward with the Death Knight curriculum this semester!" Grelion boomed, striking his signature pose with his arms crossed and his legs spread wide.
"Personally, I’m not 100% satisfied with it, but since the Summoning professor made the decision, we must follow it! Gathering materials for a Death Knight won’t be easy, so brace yourselves!"
"Yes, sir!"
"This semester, I will make sure to teach you not only Materials but also Chimeras, so keep up! That is all for the announcements!" He thrust his arm out.
"Since today is the first day, we will take it easy! Kill about an hour and then head out! If you’re bored, you may use my exercise equipment!"
The students looked at the iron bar with boulders attached to it that Grelion used in the corner of the cave. They all clicked their tongues and shook their heads.
"Professor Grelion! Coiter Pizn, sir!"
"Oh, do you have a question? If you have a question, ask away!"
"Is there anything you can tell us about the new guest professor for Deathcraft?"
It was Coiter, who had been asking persistently since earlier.
Grelion stroked his chin. "Hahahaha! You’ll see them next class, but you sure are impatient! You can find out who it is for yourselves!"
"Is it a man?"
"It’s a woman, right?"
Grelion pushed up his sunglasses, the corners of his mouth curling up. "She is a lady."
"Whoo-hoo!"
A thunderous roar erupted among the male students. The female students looked at them with pathetic gazes.
"What else! What else! Is there anything else you can tell us?"
"Hahahaha! Well." Grelion flexed his muscles while lifting a dumbbell, then spoke as if something had suddenly come to mind.
"After exchanging a few words with her, it seems we have a lot in common. Especially when it comes to working out!"
The students fell into a state of utter confusion, picturing a hulking, muscular woman with long hair.

Comments

Loading...