Chapter 37 — The Wheel Turns

Another full rotation of the arena brought Group 7's turn around at last.

If they failed this time too, their odds of beating the real Cyclops in next week's field exercise would shrink to almost nothing. Everyone's resolve was sharper than usual — especially Meilin, who stood warming up with an uncharacteristically solemn expression.

"Here it comes!"

With Dick's shout, the Cyclops burst through the dense trees and let out a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠roar. Once again, Simon's skeletons charged out ahead of everyone else.

'Hold the line. No matter what.'

While Simon's skeletons drew the Cyclops's gaze, Meilin prepared her Dark Flare while Dick and Camibarez readied their Exhausts. Everything up to this point was identical to before.

Crack!

One skeleton failed to withstand the Cyclops's flurry of blows and shattered. The instant it happened, Simon linked into the ghost of the skeleton behind it and issued an attack command.

Shraaak!

Slashed across the back, the Cyclops flew into a fury and lashed out at the skeletons.

"Dark Flare's at eighty percent!" Meilin shouted.

"First Exhaust complete!"

"Me too! Moving on to the next one right away!"

The two held their completed Exhausts aloft in their right hands while their left hands began weaving new ones.

This was the heart of the new plan.

The window in which Simon's skeletons could pin the Cyclops down existed only in the opening phase — before Meilin or the others launched their offensive, while the monster still believed the skeletons were its only enemies. Their strategy was to stretch that window as long as possible, milking every advantage the opening had to offer.

And so Meilin, despite having her Dark Flare finished, stood waiting in place while the other two prepared second Exhausts. Multiple simultaneous incantations were nearly a first for both of them, and mistakes piled up one after another — but Simon's undead control covered for every one of them, holding the line against the Cyclops with miraculous resilience.

'Seventh skeleton, deploy. Go!'

Of course, the linchpin of the whole strategy was Simon, who anchored the opening phase. The moment his concentration wavered even slightly, the Cyclops would charge straight at Meilin.

"Simon! Now we're ready!"

At last, Dick and Camibarez had completed four Exhausts. The moment he heard it, Simon dismantled his skeletons' formation without a second's hesitation.

The skeletons clattered apart across the ground, and the Cyclops, suddenly bereft of opponents, glanced around before its eye found Meilin.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The monster came bounding in, shaking the earth — and crossed into curse range at the same moment.

"Exhaust!"

"Exhaust!"

Dick and Camibarez's magic circles flared, and the curses latched onto the Cyclops's body. The monster slowed. Seizing the opening, Meilin hurled her Dark Flare.

The black flames began devouring its skin, and a horrific burning stench stung their noses.

—Kyaaaaaagh!

The Cyclops flailed and raised its club. Simon, who had been watching its every movement closely, shouted:

"Straight ahead — downward smash!"

Meilin kicked off a jet-black platform and threw herself forward. The club came down on the spot where she'd been standing, cratering the ground.

"Fall back! Tuck in as you go — horizontal rising swing!"

Whoosh!

Having smashed the floor, the Cyclops twisted its body with elastic force and swung the club up in a vertical arc — but Meilin evaded even that.

"Frontal dash!"

Having read the Cyclops's movements, Simon called out each instruction, and Meilin dodged in rhythm with him. The monster was laboring under four stacked Exhausts, so even with her dulled reflexes, nothing it threw at her was beyond dodging. Against a high-exertion monster like the Cyclops, an exhaustion curse was devastatingly effective.

"One more round coming!"

Dick and Camibarez layered on another pair of Exhausts.

The sixth Exhaust in total!

For the first time, the wild Cyclops that had been swinging its club wildly in every direction showed signs of buckling under its own fatigue.

"I'm using Blood Flow magic!"

Camibarez drew blood from her fingertip and raised a crimson magic circle.

The Blood Flow spell Blood Silk. A carpet woven from blood came rushing in at terrifying speed, sweeping right past the Cyclops's face.

It was a spell with no killing power — but the thick smell of blood made the Cyclops flinch and halt mid-stride.

"Now! Simon!"

Two skeletons — no one knew when they'd climbed up there — hung off the Cyclops's back and looped chains around its neck. Borrowed goods from Dick's subspace.

The monster howled and tried to charge Meilin, but the chains snapped taut and froze it in place. Their ends had long since been anchored to the trees by the skeletons.

—Kyaaaaaagh!

The Cyclops thrashed in agony, the embers of the Dark Flare still smoldering on its flesh. With breathing room at last, Meilin threw herself into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠preparing her next Dark Flare.

'We... we actually pulled that off?'

Terrain tactics built around the topography shaped by Banya's magic. When she'd first heard Simon's plan, she'd thought it was a stretch — but Simon had gone and turned it into reality with absurd ease.

Clicking her tongue in disbelief, Meilin let her second Dark Flare fly.

FWOOSH!

The flames that had been dying down roared back to life with renewed fury.

Blood vessels burst in the Cyclops's eye as it screamed like something deranged — a figure that brought to mind a prisoner of hell thrashing in a lake of brimstone.

"Now — the seventh!"

Dick kept stacking Exhausts. By now, after Camibarez, Simon had joined ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the stacking as well.

Crack! Crack-crack-crack!

The Cyclops thrashed so violently that the two trees anchoring the chains were finally torn out by the roots.

Dragging the chains and trees behind it, the monster began lumbering toward them.

"Leave it to me!"

Quick-thinking Dick coated the chains with Jet-Black.

Dick's specialty was Enchant, built on Jet-Black infusion. The Jet-Black stored in the chains converted entirely into weight, and the Cyclops might as well have been crawling forward while hauling a load of iron anvils.

And then—

"Just fall down alreadyyyyy!"

With a battle cry unlike anything she usually let out, Meilin's third Dark Flare struck the Cyclops square on.

KU-BOOM!

At last, the monster dropped to its knees. The raging flames swallowed it whole, and the reek of scorched flesh spread through the entire forest.

Before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long, they watched a heap of ash collapse onto the ground.

"We did itttt!"

Meilin screamed, clenching both fists tight.

"Wha— we won! We actually killed it! Hahahaha!"

"You guys were the best!"

The other three came running over. Flawlessly on plan — and everyone had performed their role to perfection. Group 7 threw their arms around each other and bounced up and down, drinking in the joy of it.

Jane's commentary followed. She pointed out that their plan leaned too heavily on a single summoner's capacity, and that the hunt had taken too long — but overall, the assessment was favorable. She assigned them the task of pushing their Dark Flare and curse proficiency as high as possible in the remaining time and over the weekend.

"Thank you, Professor!"

As they filed out of the training hall, a few students gave them a round of applause. There was no shortage of envious stares, either. It had taken a long while, but they'd taken down a Cyclops — that was what counted.

"Simon! That's my rival for you! Great work!"

Cindy Vivace strode over and raised her hand high. Simon broke into a grin and opened his palm, and she slapped him a crisp high-five.

'That stings.'

Shaking out his hand, Simon asked, "Did your group clear it?"

"Obviously! Once I got the hang of Spirit Transformation, it was easy!"

If Group 7's plan orbited Meilin, Group 5's was Cindy Vivace all the way, through and through. She would shift into her intangible Spirit Transformation state to slip past the Cyclops's attacks, dart back in to slash it with a jet-black scythe her teammates forged for her, and repeat the cycle over and over — taking the monster down without so much as a scratch.

"By the way, Simon. Aren't you a Spirit Magic major?"

"......How many times do I have to say no."

While everyone chatted away in the warm, festive atmosphere, the only person radiating a dark glower was Hector Moore, fresh off his own simulation and mid-break.

For all the fearsome reputation Kizen had in the outside world, Simon was enjoying the best days of his life there.

The professors' classes were brutal, but without question fascinating. Chattering with friends about the performance assessments between periods, racing Dick to the limited-time menu specials at lunch, squeezing in visits to the library whenever he had a spare moment, learning undead command in private lessons from Pier — it was all, every bit of it, a joy.

In Curse Magic class, Bahil had begun keeping an eye on Simon far more often, and Meilin was starting to reconsider what Dick had said. 'Is Professor Bahil really playing favorites with Simon?'

Simon, of course, shook his head at the idea. His Curse Magic grades were low, he'd done no preparatory study, and he kept falling behind in practicals. A pure meritocrat like Bahil had no conceivable reason to favor him.

"That's all for today's lesson. Enjoy your weekend."

"Thank you for your instruction!"

With Eric's Jet-Black Dynamics class, another week passed without incident. Tomorrow, at last, was the weekend!

The students, buzzing with excitement, were busy making plans to head out to Rochest.

"Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic."

Watching the students revel in the cheery mood, Meilin grumbled as she packed her bag.

"The Cyclops assessment is next week and they're actually planning a trip to Rochest? Truly hopeless idiots, the lot of them."

"Oh, is that so?"

Dick, sprawled in his chair, snickered with his hands behind his head.

"Could it be you're just sour? I mean, Cami's already gotten a date invitation, while nobody's asked the Ivory Tower ace to hang out at all?"

"Hey!!"

The two of them were scrapping as usual today. And just as Dick said, Camibarez had been called outside the lecture hall by a boy not long ago.

Even by Simon's judgment, her popularity made perfect sense. An adorable face, a gentle temperament, kind to everyone and always smiling — the boys were never going to leave her alone.

Just then, Camibarez came darting back into the classroom.

"Cami! How'd it go?"

Dick asked in a flash.

"Well......"

Her face flushed scarlet, she answered in a voice barely above a crawl.

"I'm sorry to him, but...... I turned him down......"

"Knew it!"

Meilin, who'd been holding her breath, lit up two hundred percent.

"That's our Cami — she knows what matters! You're staying to train with us this weekend. Right?"

"Ah, yes! I felt keenly how much I lacked during the simulation...... so I'd like to practice with everyone."

As she answered, Camibarez rolled her eyes sideways to sneak a look at Simon's face — then, the moment their eyes met, she flinched hard and dropped her gaze.

"Sorry, but~ I'll pass. Business schedule's got me slammed."

Dick said with a shrug. Meilin shot him a venomous glare but didn't press further. For an aspiring merchant like Dick, weekend scheduling carried as much weight as classes did.

Arms crossed, Meilin turned to Simon next.

"Don't tell me you've got weekend plans too, Simon — like this idiot here?"

Simon's face tightened at her question. In truth, he'd been planning to visit the ruins to see Pier this weekend anyway.

"......Tomorrow's a bit rough, but I'll be there for training the day after."

"Ugh, seriously! Even you? Don't you realize your role is the single most important one in this assessment?"

Simon waved his hands quickly. "It's not just for fun. It's personal training."

"Personal training?"

"Yeah. There's someone in Rochest who tutors me in Summoning."

Meilin blinked, visibly surprised. "Oh my. Weekend tutoring, huh? So you did have some self-awareness about skipping your prep work."

"Th-that's about the size of it."

Camibarez, who'd been sulking with her head lowered, suddenly jerked it up.

"B-but I'll still get to see you here at Kizen the day after tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. We'll need to work on our coordination."

"What a relief!"

"Hey, Dick! You'd better show up tomorrow night too."

"No promises, but I'll try."

"You're disgustingly good at acting busy, you know that?"

"Says the woman so free on weekends it's tragic. It's Meilin."

"Just die already!"

Watching the two of them bicker, Simon laughed out loud — and at the same time, the weekend's itinerary unfolded in his head.

'Only a few days left until the real thing.'

Simon planned to spend this weekend in a hellish training camp with Pier.

He hadn't told his other teammates, but his goal this time went far beyond merely stalling the monster with his undead.

'I'm going to bring down the Cyclops with skeletons alone.'

It was something no Summoning aspirant in Class A had even dared to imagine — and Simon was planning to do it.