Bone Armor
Simon found himself back in Aaron's Summoning class for the first time in a while.
And the topic of the day was Restoration — a lesson in collapsing the Island Ratman skeletons they'd built in the previous session, then reassembling them.
"The single greatest advantage of a skeleton is its restorative power."
Aaron, who had strolled into work today with the same dry, straw-like hair and rumpled shorts as always, jabbed a finger toward the ceiling.
Whung!
Whoong!
The bones scattered across every corner of the classroom came hurtling together through the air at a tremendous speed.
Barely seconds later, the skeleton, fully assembled in midair, touched down on the floor and even executed a stylish bow — and cheers and applause erupted from every direction.
"The principle behind Restoration isn't difficult. Even if a skeleton's body is shattered by a powerful impact, residual Jet-Black energy remains in the bones."
Aaron plucked a single bone from the skeleton with his hand.
"All you have to do is activate that Jet-Black and maximize the 'property of attraction' that makes the bones want to return to their original form."
Then he let the tension drain from his fingers, and the bone flew back, slapping into place like a magnet snapping home.
"Alright. Practical exercise, begin."
Since the lesson was about Restoration, Simon had suddenly become the student who'd done all his homework in advance.
While the other students practiced reassembling their skeletons piece by piece — torso, arms, legs — Simon succeeded in restoring an entire skeleton in a single motion.
Not only Meilin but even Hector struggled with it.
This was the domain of pure talent, a field where practice and training alone could never carry you to one hundred percent. When it came to skeleton restoration, Simon stood alone in Class A.
So for once, Simon — usually too busy just keeping up with the material — was savoring a rare moment of leisure. He had even finished helping Dick and Camibarez with their restorations and was now doodling in his textbook.
"Hey. Are you seriously just goofing off like that?"
Meilin, apparently getting riled up, grumbled under her breath.
Instead of answering, Simon swept his hand through the air in a single circle. The bones strewn across the desk clicked into alignment one after another, and the skeleton's torso was complete.
"……Well. That's pretty good."
Meilin was struck dumb. Behind them, Dick burst out laughing at the sight, thoroughly enjoying it, until a passing TA shot him a look and he quieted down.
"D-don't act all high and mighty just because you're good at Restoration!"
Meilin declared, burning with competitive spirit. She was the type who couldn't rest easy unless she ranked first in every single class.
"You said you'd leave Kizen if you didn't beat my Summoning score next month, didn't you? If you think just because we're on the same team I'm going to go easy on—"
"Don't worry. I'll beat it, no question."
Simon answered, propping his chin on one hand as he turned a page of his textbook.
She trembled with clenched fists, seething with frustration, but when it came to this Restoration lesson at least, she was in no position to say anything against him.
"Ugh. If only I'd solved problem 20, I would've broken into the nineties in Summoning……."
At her muttered complaint, Simon looked up.
"Problem 20 in Summoning — that's the one at the very back, right?"
"Yeah."
"That one was easy."
Her brow narrowed.
"……Hey. Why are you suddenly butting in? You think you're better at Summoning than me?"
"No."
"Then how on earth did you solve number 20? With the formula?"
"I don't know that formula."
Impossible.
Problem 20 required an application of the Theron Formula. Meilin, who'd gotten it wrong, had gone straight to Professor Aaron afterward to have the solution explained to her.
And here was Simon, who hadn't even studied ahead — solving problem 20 without knowing the Theron Formula?
"What answer did you get?"
"1,200,146."
Meilin's eyes went wide. The correct answer had been '1,200,000' — which made his essentially right.
"Spit it out, quick! How did you solve it?!"
"I just combined as many of the formulas I've learned here at Kizen as I could. Hmm… I don't remember exactly what the problem was, so I can't really explain it."
She bit her lip hard. She resolved that later, without fail, she would get a copy of the problem and make him solve it again in front of her.
Once Meilin fell silent, Simon's attention drifted back to his textbook.
No matter how many times he looked, Summoning was full of endlessly fascinating material. Just skimming through the new undead and dark magic he'd be tackling in the months ahead set his heart pounding.
'I want to build a Golem as soon as possible. If I just buy the materials in Rochest, I bet I could teach myself.'
"Simon Polentia."
At the voice that suddenly bored into his ear, Simon whirled around, startled.
"What are you doing right now?"
Aaron was looking down at him, eyes dark and menacing.
Simon's face went white.
He'd been caught slacking off! His textbook was open to a page completely different from everyone else's — there wasn't a shred of an excuse to be made.
"Answer me."
Aaron asked in an icy voice. He genuinely looked angry, so Simon decided honesty was his only option.
"I finished my restoration, so I was just taking a look ahead at the next lesson's material."
"……"
To be fair, Aaron already knew.
Simon was the only student in the class who had pulled off a complete ten-second-range full restoration in one go.
But unlike the situation itself might suggest, Aaron's expression looked absolutely murderous.
"Stay behind in the classroom after class."
With nothing but those words, Aaron turned on his heel and walked away. A thick fear wrapped itself around Simon's body.
"S-Simon…… don't tell me you got in trouble?"
Dick muttered, his face stiff. Meilin crossed her arms, lips still jutting out in a pout.
"I told you, didn't I? I asked if you really should be goofing around like that."
And yet even as she said it, she couldn't seem to help herself, sneaking furtive glances at Simon's face.
Simon, of course, didn't hear a word any of his friends were saying.
* * *
The Summoning class ended.
It was the time of evening when he'd normally eat dinner, head back to the dormitory, and wrap up his day — but Simon had to stay behind in the lecture hall.
As Simon stood in the empty classroom bracing himself for whatever was coming, Aaron approached with his hands shoved in his pockets.
"Follow me."
The two of them left the lecture hall. Simon kept his head hung low as he trailed behind.
'……He's probably just going to make me keep practicing Restoration.'
Aaron said nothing at all.
It had plainly been his own fault, so he would have gladly accepted any scolding — but Aaron was treating Simon as if he simply didn't exist. Somehow, that silence was harder to bear than any lecture would have been.
They passed through the building and stepped out onto a deserted stretch of open ground. A wide, empty space ringed by trees, with no one else in sight.
"There are a few things I can't stand."
Aaron pulled a battered cigar from his pocket and clamped it between his teeth. He snapped his fingers — a spark crackled, and the tip of the cigar flared to life.
After drawing in a mouthful of smoke, Aaron's eyes had shifted into something dead serious.
Simon felt himself shrinking smaller and smaller, and bowed his head.
"A student who has the will, yet fails to learn anything from my class."
"……I'm sorry, what?"
"Summon your skeleton."
What was that supposed to mean?
Flustered, Simon nonetheless did as he was told and pulled his skeleton out of his subspace.
"Now perform a Restoration in front of me."
Aaron snapped the hand not holding the cigar, and the skeleton went flying apart with a bang.
The connection severed, Simon staggered under a dull throbbing in his skull — but his right arm shot out on pure reflex.
'Restoration!'
With the fallen skull at the center, the bones snapped together like magnets, and the skeleton was whole again in moments.
"……Right. I'll grant that you're peerless when it comes to Restoration. So now I'm going to teach you its advanced techniques."
Simon's eyes went wide.
"Y-you weren't going to chew me out?"
"It's a supplementary lesson."
Aaron said, sliding the cigar between his fingers.
"And in case you're about to take this the wrong way — providing extra instruction to a student who has surpassed the standard curriculum is also part of a professor's job."
Simon's eyes, brimming with gratitude, went glassy with tears.
"……Professor Aaron!"
"Hurry up and get into position. And stop eating into my time off."
"Ah — yes, sir!"
Simon's face lit up bright as he pulled his focus together. And Aaron summoned a skeleton from his own subspace.
'Whoa.'
It was far larger and more intricate than Simon's.
The bones were black, and both the variety and refinement of them put an Island Ratman's skeleton to shame. A crimson cape draped its back, and it carried an assortment of weapons across its shoulders.
"It's a skeleton crafted from demon bone."
"That's amazing!"
The magnificent sword. The ornate armor. The beautiful mount.
Simon had never cared a whit for wealth or treasure of any kind — but looking at that skeleton, he felt an overwhelming, aching desire to possess it.
"I'm only showing you twice, so watch closely."
Aaron snapped his fingers and the skeleton collapsed. Then he raised his arm and pointed at a nearby tree.
Chuh-duh-duh-duh!
The bones lying scattered across the ground shuddered, then shot up into the air like a bolt of lightning.
Fwah-bah-bah-bah-bah-BAK!
Hundreds of bones punched clean through the tree like skewers.
"An offensive technique built on Restoration. Bone Piercing."
A squirrel that had been nibbling fruit nearby bolted in fright. Aaron's slender arm swayed, pointing at the squirrel.
Chwah-chah-chah-chah-chak!
The bones flew like beams of light, sealing off every gap around the squirrel.
"A binding technique built on Restoration. Bone Prison."
Aaron raised his index finger, and the cage flew upward and scattered — and in that instant, the squirrel escaped.
"And finally."
Aaron clenched his fist.
The skeleton's bones, still scattering through the sky, came streaking down toward Aaron's own body this time.
Chah-jak!
Chak!
Aaron's body vanished beneath a shroud of bone. It looked exactly as if he had changed into a suit made of the skeleton itself.
The empty joints clicked into perfect alignment, and Jet-Black energy seeped out between bone and bone, stretching across the gaps like woven fiber. The crimson cape settled into place across his back. Last of all, the skeleton's skull came down over Aaron's head like a helmet.
"A defensive technique built on Restoration. Bone Armor."
"Whoa……!"
Simon trembled with an electric, full-body thrill. Aaron, clad in his skeleton, was dazzling enough to make his eyes hurt.
'So cool!'
Aaron extended his right arm, and the armor peeled away in a cascade like a living garment, reforming into the shape of a skeleton kneeling on one knee.
"Depending on the necromancer's skill, a skeleton can become a weapon, a prison, or a suit of armor. All of this is dark magic that applies Restoration. Understood?"
Simon nodded so hard it looked like his head might fly off.
"Of course, these Restoration techniques aren't taught until second year…… but when it comes to achievement in Restoration, you're exceptional. I'll show you an arrangement — a way of using them that you can manage yourself."
"Th-thank you, Professor!"
"For now, the only one you'd be able to imitate is Bone Piercing. Get ready."
Aaron had Simon perform a restoration once more, then studied him.
"You're unfolding the restoration outward from the skull as your center."
"Yes, sir."
"Break yourself of that habit, starting this instant. The key is guiding the skeleton so it travels where you want it to go. I'll give you some tips."
Having already trained his will with Pier's help, Simon was able to grasp Aaron's explanation almost immediately.
'Come to me!'
After a few rounds of trial and error, the scattered bones of the skeleton came streaming toward Simon's front. True, the speed of the skull — the core of any skeleton — still dictated the speed of the bones that followed, but simply being able to perform a restoration at range was a huge gain in itself.
"Restoration and Bone Piercing are two entirely different things. You're only borrowing the principle of restorative power — treat them as completely separate techniques."
"When you're drawing bones in with Restoration, get in the habit of tilting them sideways. That's how the sharp edges dig into an enemy's flesh."
"If you concentrate the Jet-Black lingering in a bone in a single direction, you can turn it into a razor-sharp blade. For bones without a natural point, just have them latch onto the target's body. That alone will impose a substantial binding effect."
Simon soaked up Aaron's teachings like a sponge, and the lesson flowed straight into live training.
Chah-jah-jah-jah-jah-jak!
Skeleton bones clamped onto a stand of nearby bamboo. The sharp edges of the bones bit into the stalks' surface while the rest locked on like magnets.
'Restoration!'
From that state, Simon clenched his fist — and the bones squeezed the bamboo tighter and tighter.
And then, at last.
Crack!
He succeeded in snapping the bamboo.
"Alright!"
Simon thrust both fists into the air and let out a triumphant shout.
In just a few hours, he had mastered a brand-new technique.
'Ahhhh, I'm so happy!'
A colossal sense of achievement that made his entire body quiver.
This feeling was, truly, as addictive as a drug.