Where the Integrated Second Semester Begins
“Did everyone enjoy the vacation, Class A?”
A thunderous answer poured out as if the students had been waiting for it. Jane raised her palm lightly and quieted them down.
Then the TA standing behind her lifted both hands above her head in an exaggerated pantomime of fury, jabbed a finger at Jane, and snapped back to attention.
“It's been a while, and it's good to see you all. Unfortunately, four of you couldn't even manage a proper greeting. I do believe I told you to come prepared to deal with Divinity.”
Only then did the students flinch. Her face was most certainly smiling, but the tone of her voice was not.
“Class B next door lost exactly one student, I hear. When that news reached Professor Bahil, my face burned with shame.”
Oh, Professor Bahil, you absolute—!
Several students, Dick included, cursed Bahil inwardly. Why does he have to poke this woman's temper again and make life miserable for the rest of us?
As the students hung their heads, Jane smiled.
“I'm not blaming you, of course. The ones at fault aren't you—it's the incompetent failures.”
She turned her back.
Her heels clicked against the floor as she strode toward the blackboard, while the TAs swiftly set up mana projectors and raised a screen into the air.
“We'll need to review this exam so that such a thing never happens again, won't we? We'll start from the very bottom of the rankings.”
* * *
Playing the footage back, Jane dissected every mistake and misstep of Class A piece by piece. The students' morale was in tatters by the end of the first class.
Dick was called out for being all talk and no substance, with a critical error in his route selection.
Camibarez was faulted for a slow start—her composure had cracked the moment she first laid eyes on the divine monster—and for wasting too much sentimental effort rescuing her teammates.
Meilin's creativity in building an ice barge to travel down the river earned grudging approval, but Jane pointed out that she'd been shivering helplessly from the cold her own magic generated and told her to come up with a countermeasure.
Nearly everyone got thoroughly chewed out. The only two Jane let off without a word were Simon and Hector.
“Even classmates have things worth learning from one another. Everyone, model your judgment after these two. Applause.”
Clap clap clap clap!
Caught off guard by the sudden applause, Simon smiled awkwardly, while Hector scrunched his face in irritation—still seething that Simon had edged him out of the top spot.
“Professor! Our class is pretty impressive though, isn't it?”
Dick blurted it out. He was addressing Jane as if she were a friend sitting next to him.
Is this guy insane?!
Meilin and the surrounding students pressed fingers to their lips in horror, but Jane, unexpectedly, took the bait.
“And what exactly is so impressive, Dick Hayward?”
“We took first, second, AND ninth in our class! Class B only has one person in the Top 10, at eighth!”
Jane shot him a frosty glare, and Dick hastily shut his mouth and ducked his head.
“Moving on to the next announcement, then.”
Astonishingly, Jane's voice grew noticeably softer from that point on. Dick, pretending to take diligent notes, quietly raised a thumb in Simon's direction.
“This may be a bit sudden, but there's a decision you all must make by today.”
She took a fresh set of materials from a TA and continued.
“In this Integrated Second Semester, you may drop up to two of the nine subjects you are currently taking.”
At those words, the students' eyes went wide.
“Basic Dark Magic, which features visits from the department professors; Divine Defense Studies, the core of the Integrated Second Semester; and Jet-Black Mechanics are designated mandatory subjects. Kizen recommends dropping only one class. If you wish to drop two, you will need a one-on-one interview with the professor in charge. And naturally—do not assume that fewer classes will make it easier to earn good grades.”
Simon nodded along as he listened.
Dropping from nine subjects straight down to seven was, admittedly, an enormous risk. Unless you were the type to go all-in on a single discipline, it wasn't a decision anyone would take lightly.
“So by the end of this week, come to me with the one class you've chosen to drop. That's all.”
Simon made up his mind on the spot.
…Professor Umbra, I'm so sorry.
Simon still hadn't escaped the memory of Spirit Studies' chicken-feed dance, so the choice was only natural. Every student who still couldn't sense Spirits would be dropping Spirit Studies in droves.
Camibarez, of course, was no exception.
“What about you, Meilin?”
“Already decided.”
“Oh, me too. Easy.”
Rather surprisingly, both Meilin and Dick had chosen to drop Spirit Studies as well.
For Meilin, the reason was that she couldn't prepare Jet-Black Elemental Magic while in the 'Spirit Transformation' state, the core technique of Spirit Studies.
Dick's reason was simply that the other three were all dropping it, so he'd follow suit. Meilin immediately rapped his knuckles.
“You're hopeless, you know that~? This decides your entire future—please, think about it seriously for once.”
“I'm an all-rounder. I'm confident in everything.”
Dick shrugged his shoulders.
“Besides, Spirit Studies has a massive gap between the majors and the regular students, and the grading's brutal. Dropping this one's just smart.”
And so all four of them reached their decision.
* * *
When Jane's Basic Dark Magic class ended, Simon and his team headed off to their next classroom.
Simon was in a wonderful mood.
Second period is Summoning!
How long had he awaited Aaron's class?
He'd been starved for new knowledge this whole time. He wanted to learn fresh things as quickly as possible and forge them with his own hands.
Then Dick, walking beside him, flipped through his notebook and spoke up.
“Hey, this Summoning class isn't in the usual lecture hall.”
“Right! It's outdoors!”
Camibarez said. Meilin gave a small sniff of acknowledgment.
“Outdoor class on day one? My instincts are tingling.”
“Tingling about what?”
“A hint for the Comprehensive Dark Magic Assessment.”
It was true—Aaron himself had said as much at the opening ceremony:
“The theme of the exam is something you must uncover for yourselves. We will offer hints in a variety of ways. Even the idle jokes professors toss out may carry a hint—so stay focused on everything around you.”
Recalling that voice, Simon let out a low whistle.
“Sharp catch.”
Meilin flicked her flowing sky-blue hair over her shoulder with a smug look.
“It's not like it takes a genius to think of this. You three are rusty from the break—hurry up and get your heads back in the game.”
And so all of Class A, Simon included, arrived at the location Aaron had specified.
It was behind the Third Indoor Arena, the venue they frequented for Duel Evaluations—and a running track had been installed there.
The track's tiles were marked with measuring scales so that distances could be recorded. The male students were entertaining themselves with standing long jumps, comparing results among each other.
Simon rested his chin on his hand.
Summoning… a track… the Comprehensive Dark Magic Assessment? I'm not getting it.
The other three were hard at work deducing the exam theme as well. Speculation flew back and forth—a necromancer's version of a marathon, a contest of instantaneous speed, and more.
“Assemble, please!”
Aaron and the TAs appeared. All of Class A lined up with tense faces.
Same as ever, I see.
Simon smiled inwardly.
Yesterday's crisp formal wear was nowhere to be found—Aaron had reverted to his short-sleeved shirt, shorts, and slippers. His eyes, which rubbed at an unshaven, stubbly jaw, flickered with weariness and a general air of annoyance.
Aaron stepped forward, and the TAs fell in behind him.
“Good to see you all.”
The students returned his languid greeting warmly, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
“I hope you rested well over the break. Every professor intends to run you ragged for the entirety of the Integrated Second Semester.”
With that, Aaron turned his head toward the track.
“But there's no need to go straight into the heavy stuff on day one. Today, we'll be learning a new branch of Summoning dark magic. Everyone, take out one of your skeletons.”
The sight of every student opening their subspace at once and calling forth a skeleton was quite spectacular.
Simon too summoned a single ordinary skeleton—one not converted into his Legion.
“Given the two-month gap, we'll start with some review.”
Aaron began.
“Among undead summons, the unique strength of the skeleton.”
The instant the word strength left his mouth, a hand shot up faster and higher than anyone else's. Aaron shook his head with a look that said, you again.
“Jamie Victoria, Professor! The skeleton's greatest strength is, without a doubt, the applied versatility of 'Restoration'—exploiting the property of bone bonding to bone! No matter how thoroughly it collapses, as long as Jet-Black remains in the joints, you can stand it back up as many times as you like!”
Aaron nodded and turned to the other side.
“Then the weakness?”
Simon, eager to answer, thrust his hand up—but far too many students had beaten him to it.
Aaron's finger landed on the figure with the most overwhelming presence among them.
“Hector Moore. It's vulnerable to a Priest's Divinity.”
“That's a weakness shared by nearly all undead. Next.”
This time Simon finally got his hand up, and Aaron smiled faintly and pointed at him.
“Simon Polentia. The skeleton's weaknesses are mobility and defense. When operated on its own rather than as a vehicle for Restoration, it tends to be smashed apart before it can even reach the enemy.”
“Correct.”
The moment the word correct left Aaron's lips, Simon felt a swell of pure joy. Maybe it was nothing special, but simply participating in class and answering right felt genuinely wonderful.
You little—! You waited on purpose to answer right after me…!
Hector ground his teeth in silent fury, but Simon never noticed. Aaron's lecture continued.
“Because skeletons are undead made of bone alone, their physical capabilities are hardly exceptional. Take a strong enough impact and the bonds between their bones simply scatter—they collapse. Beyond sheer numbers, they offer nothing.”
Simon nodded along, wholeheartedly agreeing.
In the early stretch of first-semester Duel Evaluations, he had put the skeletons' numbers to reasonably effective use. Opponents couldn't afford to ignore armed undead closing in on them, which let him force their attacks.
But that was the extent of it. Now that Kizen students' abilities had risen across the board, everyone could sweep away multiple skeletons in a single wide-area technique.
They'd also developed the mana control to avoid being easily struck down by a weapon-wielding undead. Here in the middle of their first year, skeletons meant little beyond headcount. Their threat value had fallen so far that even baiting an enemy's attack wasn't easy anymore.
And if the opponent happened to be a Priest, it was an even worse headache. One blast of Divinity, and his skeletons were done for.
That was why Simon had come to rely less on the skeleton's raw combat power and more on Restoration-based tactics. Even in his fight against Hector in Langestin, the two of them had used nothing but Restoration techniques.
“And so.”
Aaron's voice pulled Simon out of his reverie.
“Is the skeleton a summon only a necromancer gifted in Restoration can use? To that question, my answer is, of course, no.”
Aaron's voice rang out, low and deliberate.
“There exists a method that can compensate, to a meaningful degree, for each of the weaknesses you've just named. The Integrated Second Semester begins here.”