The Harvest of a Vacation
A long, slow breath in.
Hector crouched low, his body coiling like a compressed spring. The stance looked odd at a glance, but there was no mistaking it — from there he would launch forward with no wind-up at all, the release instant and brutal.
Camibarez, her eyes still glowing red, refused to back away either, reactivating the Winds of Blood around her.
"Kami."
Simon stepped up and rested a hand on her shoulder, rising to his feet.
"This one's mine."
"Simon! But the impact—!"
"I've recovered from the impact. Besides, Hector picked this fight with me, so it's only right I finish it."
"Anyone will do."
Jet-black began pouring off Hector's body, dripping onto the ground in thick, heavy drops.
"Here I come."
He kicked off the ground like a man tearing the earth apart. His new form vanished from sight, the floor shook, and dust bloomed into the air.
Simon immediately sprang in front of Camibarez, crossing both arms into a guard.
BOOOM!
Hector's fist stopped dead in front of her — caught on Simon's crossed arms.
"Ghhk!"
Sweat streamed down Simon's face, and Hector's mouth curled at the corner.
"Should've come out like that from the start—!"
Simon's waist twisted, and his leg shot upward. Hector recoiled in alarm, snapping his head back just as a black flash traced a straight line past where his chin had been.
Tch — the guy really is beyond praise!
Hector fell back for the moment. Simon lowered his leg and let out a soft breath.
"Do we really have to go this far, right here?"
Drawn by the thunder of the brawl, onlookers were flooding in from every corner of the alley.
"You know starting this here is completely unhinged, right?"
"We're Kizen, Simon Polentia."
Hector stretched out his arm and tore open a subspace.
"If you want to fight, you fight. No one can stop us."
Skeletons came pouring out of his subspace in a rush.
Watch closely! The fruits of my vacation!
Hector swept his arm in a rough arc. The bodies of the skeletons broke apart into dozens of individual bones, which began snapping together into the shape of long, sharp javelins.
That's—!
⟨ Bone Spear ⟩
Simon kicked off the ground and threw himself aside. Where he had stood, bone javelins carved through the air in wicked curves and buried themselves deep in the dirt, one after another.
Hector can use Restoration?
Fwook! Fwook! Fwook!
Bone spears rained from the sky like a storm of lances, and Simon was left frantically dodging with no room to think.
"KUAHAHAHA!"
Hector swung his left hand this time. Several skeletons spilled from his subspace and latched themselves onto his legs and fists.
Simon's eyes went wide with disbelief.
Bone Armor — boot and gauntlet versions!
Back in first semester, Hector had plainly struggled with Restoration during Summoning class. He'd entered Kizen with advanced training in every subject, but Restoration alone belonged to the realm of raw, absolute talent, and it had given him endless grief.
Yet now he was wielding it freely, with enough command to use it in live combat.
I didn't sleep a single proper night all break! I coughed up blood dragging my skill up to his level!
The ground beneath Hector's planted feet split with a sharp crack.
Now taste what it feels like to be beaten at the very Summoning you're so proud of!
Hector charged at Simon with explosive force.
Simon hurriedly opened his own subspace and raised his arm. Bones clamped onto his right arm in quick succession.
The attack came swinging down like a grizzly bear's forepaw — one look was enough to know Simon's raw strength could never stop it.
Then—!
Simon's Absolute Order fell. The bones in his right arm erupted with bluish-green magic, and the two boys' bone gauntlets collided head-on at the center.
KWAAAAAANG!
The violent collision sent shards of floor tile and splintered wood spraying in every direction. The crowd of onlookers pressed in like storm clouds screamed and shielded their faces.
Whung! Whung!
Simon slipped past Hector's wild gauntlet swings with nothing but shifts of his upper body, and angled his right arm back toward the subspace.
New components latched on over the gauntlet — a wheel of bone spun into place, a barrel locked on, the muzzle aligned.
⟨ Bone Armor — Handgun ⟩
Hector's brow twitched.
A new technique?
Sliding the incoming swing off to the side, Simon leveled the muzzle at Hector's forehead and pulled the trigger with kinetic force.
TAANG!
The bone bullet shot out like a flash of light — and Hector barely caught it with his left hand.
I finally catch up, and he pulls out another freak technique!
Hector fell back, face twisted in fury, and Simon opened up with the handgun's full firepower.
BRARARARARARA—!
The torrent of rounds shredded the shantytown behind Hector into a honeycomb. Hector kept up evasive maneuvers even as he stretched an arm back toward the pile of bones behind him.
⟨ Bone Spear ⟩
Bones floated up, shaped themselves into spears, and rose high into the air before plunging down at Simon from above.
This time Simon leapt clear of his firing position. While he loaded fresh rounds, Hector's lance-rain offensive hammered down without pause.
Click!
Having caught every round that flew at him, Simon spun the wheel and took aim at Hector.
The projectiles the two of them hurled turned the air into a dizzying chaos.
"Whoa! So THIS is what a fight between necromancers looks like!"
"Incredible!"
Somewhere along the way the onlookers had worked themselves into a frenzy right alongside the duel. They pumped their fists, shouted support for one side or the other, clapped and cheered.
"Hey, hurry over here!"
"Kizen students are going at it!"
Amid the roaring crowd, only Camibarez stood with her hands clasped together, watching Simon with anxious eyes.
BOOOM!
The two collided at the center and were thrown backward at the same instant. Sweat was pouring off Hector like rain.
Why won't he go down?! Why won't he give me a single opening?! I want to win. Against that bastard of all people, I want to win so badly it's driving me mad!
KUUNG!
Hector stomped the ground, and the wreckage of the twenty-odd skeletons he had used so far floated up into the air.
I'll beat you and prove that every drop of blood, every ounce of effort I've poured out meant something! To myself! I'll be able to hold my head even higher in this world!
He swept his arm, and a baptism of longspears came down like a bombardment, leaving no space to escape at all.
I think I understand now — why Hector obsesses over fighting me.
KUUUUNG!
Simon refused to yield either, and stomped the ground in turn. The bones of every skeleton he had deployed so far drifted up and gathered in front of him.
Honestly, just losing to him once would be an option. School life would get a little easier. But—
Thump— thump—
Feeling his own heart pounding, Simon swept both hands through the air like a conductor.
When it comes to a contest, I never want to lose. Not ever!
The bones gathered at the center stacked themselves layer upon layer without a single gap, forming the massive barrier of a tower.
⟨ Bone Wall ⟩
TUTUTUTUTUTU—TAK!
The spear-storm of Bone Spears slammed into the wall and ricocheted off in every direction. Only then did the onlookers fully grasp what was happening — they shrieked and scattered, fleeing the rebounding bones.
"What in blazes is all this racket?!"
At last, even the guards of Langestin came swarming in. The crowd, which had been watching in feverish excitement, flinched at the sight of them and melted backward or turned and ran.
Langestin's guards were infamous for their overwhelming — and indiscriminate — use of force.
"Which lunatics decided to start a brawl in broad daylight—!"
A guard pushed through the crowd to the front.
But the ones fighting in the street weren't gang members, or residents, or travelers. Two boys in Kizen uniforms, red ties whipping through the air, were locked in a ferocious duel.
The guards who had swaggered up so confidently all wore the same stunned expression.
"...Kizen? You're Kizen?"
Just then an old woman shoved through the spectators and threw herself at the guard, grabbing his arm and shaking it.
"Oh please, do something! Stop them! Our shop's right back there!"
"Ahem. Ma'am, Kizen is outside our jurisdiction, so..."
"B-boss, at least give it a try! Just tell 'em, y'know — 'Would you kindly stop fighting?'"
"You tell them, you idiot!"
The guards were too busy arguing over who had to go in to do anything else.
"Pardon me for a moment."
A man walked past between them. The guards tried to warn him it was dangerous, but the man did not slow his stride.
CRANG!
The two colliding boys were shoved backward, sliding across the ground.
Their Kizen uniforms spared them any wounds, but the shock of each clash was quietly accumulating in their bodies. Their jet-black was draining away, their strength waning.
"SIMON POLENTIAAAAAA!"
Hector flung both arms wide, as if shaking them loose.
At first he'd intended to trade a few blows and call it done. Not anymore. His mind had changed.
Subspaces tore open on all sides at once, and sheets of Fire Dragon Scale came pouring out, wrapping themselves around his body. In the space of a breath, his legs and torso were transforming into a dragon's form.
I can't wait for the Duel Evaluation! I'm beating him here, right now, before the second semester begins!
He split his jaws wide and spat out a breath of jet-black.
KWAAAAAAAANG!
A jet-black, crimson-tinged blast of heat detonated in front of Simon.
The sight of fire and explosion finally made the onlookers understand how serious this was. They scattered with screams, and embers drifted onto a building and burst into roaring flames.
GOOOOOOO!
And there, at the very heart of the explosion, a coil of serpentine metal blades wrapped around Simon's body without leaving a single gap.
Hector grinned.
"So you finally brought THAT summon out!"
"From here on, I might not be holding back either."
The blades parted, revealing Simon's glistening pair of pupils.
"Shall we continue?"
"Obviously!"
FWOOSH!
The hole-riddled wings of Fire Dragon Scale on Hector's shoulders spread to their full span.
"Let's finish this right here! Simon Polentia!"
The two of them hurled themselves at each other at the same moment. Hector's draconic claws and Simon's bone-armored fist tore through the air as they closed the distance.
Grab.
"!"
Both boys' arms were seized by someone at the same instant.
With staggering force, the direction of both arms was twisted, and their bodies crossed and flipped through the air.
Simon's eyes went wide. Above his own rising body, he saw a red droplet of blood.
That technique—?!
FWOOOOOOM!
A blood explosion went off, and both boys' bodies blasted straight down through the floor tiles.
"Hmm—"
The brown-haired man who had subdued them in an instant stood at the center, arms crossed. He wore a brown suit to match his hair and carried a briefcase in one hand.
"This really won't do, right here of all places."
The man nudged his monocle up with his little finger and thumb. His voice was remarkably calm and gentlemanly, and Simon felt the nerves that had stood on end begin to settle.
"Semester hasn't started yet, so I'd like you both to compose yourselves."
"Ghhk!"
Hector, a carpet of tile rubble dumped over his head, lifted his face.
"Interfering with a duel between Kizen students! Who the hell are you?!"
Just then Simon spotted Camibarez running over, hands clamped over her mouth, her face full of astonishment.
"D-Doctor?"
"It's been a while, Camibarez."
The man smiled, his eyes softening with warmth.
Simon's eyes widened. Was that man the very doctor Camibarez had studied under?
Simon was racking his brain to piece the situation together — but Hector was already rising, gritting his teeth.
"Identify yourself!"
"It seems that for one semester, I'll be conducting the Hemomancy classes in place of my teacher, Professor Silaje, who is carrying out an important mission of his own."
The man smiled.
"I'm called Walter Hahn — the one taking over Hemomancy. A pleasure."
The new Hemomancy professor...?
Simon and Hector, and even Camibarez, all looked equally stunned.
"Doctor! I— no! Professor! How did you—"
"Professor Silaje's mission is expected to run long, so at his recommendation, I've agreed to take the classes as a full professor."
Not merely a stand-in for Silaje, but the official Hemomancy professor.
Walter's appointment to the faculty had already been confirmed through his external interview.
"Though for now, 'doctor' is still the right title. I only become a professor once I cross to Roc Island and receive my teaching authority."
He had passed Kizen's screening, but for the moment he remained an ordinary necromancer. Only after crossing to Roc Island and standing before Nephthys would he grasp the immense power of a full Kizen professorship.
'For now,' he says.
At that moment, Hector slowly rose to his feet.