2. The Summoner of ■■ (23)

KWA-AAAANG!!!

Fists packed with condensed wind and light collided. Even though wind was something you could never truly grasp, the fist of light met it head-on and forced it back.

Kallion seized the opening, shaping his Magic Armor into swords and spears and launching them. I transformed my gauntlets into a bow and fired as well.

I never expected any of those attacks to land on a human who ran freely through the air. This was pure suppression. I released the mana from the bow and focused it into my fingers.

What I called forth was the lantern that hungered for souls—the one that would shine brilliantly even in hell.

Snap!

“Keres.”

Hoyo-yoyo…!

The moment I flicked my fingers, a burning skeletal hand burst from the empty air ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠behind me. It slowly widened the space with its own grip until its complete form emerged.

“Suppression fire.”

“Clack-clack!”

Without a single question she clacked her jaws, summoned a bow, and loaded it with blue flames. That made two for long range. On top of that I added ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Haze as support for both of them.

“Pin him down properly.”

“Grrrng!”

Kallion answered with a confident roar. Trusting him completely, I simply dropped from his back as if falling.

A powerful wind slammed into me like a blow, yet somehow my speed never dropped. Haze must have been exerting some kind of power.

Even as an immature spirit he was already influencing things this much—impressive. The spirit stone I fed him last time must have been exceptional. I was already looking forward to his evolution.

When the ground was close enough I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠steadied myself and stretched a shadow toward a massive nearby tree.

The image I used was the movement technique of that friendly neighborhood spider hero. In my past life I’d always found him both frustrating and pitiful whenever I watched him.

Crrrack…!

But the reason that spider hero could move so smoothly was because it was a movie. Reality was nowhere near as forgiving. The tree couldn’t bear the weight of my falling body; it bent, then shattered. Even so, it had done its job perfectly.

Having dumped the entire impact of the fall onto the tree, I reinforced my body with mana and landed.

Thud!

The shock left a hole in the ground shaped like my feet, but so what? Surviving a drop from that height with only a broken tree and a footprint was the strange part.

Bzzzzzt!

The instant I touched down, a sound like drone propellers whirred past my ear.

Without even looking I held out my arm, and Bihos settled onto it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I smiled in satisfaction.

“Good work.”

Flutter!

He answered by giving his wings one big shake. His carapace was nothing like the clean shell I’d first seen—it was covered in wounds.

Barely any undamaged surface remained. The tip of his horn had dulled considerably from overuse, and several legs were clearly missing.

I said nothing more and simply poured mana into him as praise.

Snap!

Light slowly gathered and the wounds began to close. Through our link he understood the meaning perfectly and clacked his mandibles in joy. Watching him like that, I thought he and Keres really did make a good pair.

That aside, the healing speed was a little slow. I could roughly guess why the mana cost was high, but the sluggish pace was new.

The high cost was probably because of the insects’ nature—many yet one.

The Bihos on my arm was a single individual, yet what I was actually healing was every Bihos across the entire island that had been charging the enemy in real time and poisoning them.

Is it because of the distance?

The only reason I could think of was the sheer distance between individuals.

Hive’s shadow crows felt more like magical extensions of Hive himself, so creating new ones was cheaper than healing existing summons.

The trait [Crow Flock] itself was specialized for that kind of effect.

Since the shadow crows would all vanish the moment Hive’s summon was released, they were treated as consumables rather than true individuals from the start.

Bihos was different.

The concept of “many as one” was the same, but every single Bihos possessed a fully separate physical body.

If Hive’s relationship was “Hive – Shadow Crow A,” then Bihos’s was “Bihos A – Bihos B.”

In simple terms, the difference between cloning and generating.

That meant forming the swarm took more time and mana, but every individual retained the full performance of the original even when separated. The start was slow, yet the advantages piled up the longer the fight went on.

That was what I’d thought until now. Seeing the transmission lag like this made me reconsider a little.

“Buffs will have to go on him first.”

If mana transmission was slow, buffs would apply slowly to the other individuals as well. Once I got individual-target buffs, I’d have to cast them on Bihos first so that by the time everyone else was covered, he would finally receive his.

I needed to hit level 10, evolve him, and then take a deeper look at his future direction.

“Next—”

BOOOOM!!!!

Before I could finish speaking, a massive impact roared from the far side. Colossal mana like a giant’s foot slammed into the ground. The quake-like pulse of power was all too familiar.

“Reus, huh.”

Reus Vagna. The mana wavelength was identical to the Genesis Sword he’d used before.

KWA-AAAAAAANG!!!!

Right after came a black-gold strike that looked ready to tear even that giant apart. I instantly knew whose attack it was—and I recoiled.

“What the hell are those two doing now…”

It looked like pure trouble no matter how you sliced it. So I ignored it. I checked through the [Link] just in case my kids were involved, but they weren’t.

That meant they were tangled up with the faculty. Lucia’s attitude toward me on the first day left me uneasy. Fighting the teachers was pointless. Unless there were separate points for it, the smart move was to grab scores elsewhere and get out fast.

I sent Bihos into the air and followed after him.

“Grrraaah…”

“Krrrk…”

After walking a good while I reached the deeper forest. A huge number of monsters lay collapsed, exhausted from poison, while other Bihos surrounded them completely.

They were stacking the toxin by gathering like that.

Just as I’d ordered at the start, the monsters were left alive but barely, accumulating in real time. I smiled in satisfaction and settled into stance. I formed a spear of shadow and transformed it into a sword.

Bzzzzzt!!

As if answering my mana, a swarm of Bihos leapt into the air.

The image was severance—cutting away everything in front of me.

“Haze. Keres.”

Fwoosh!!

I called the names of the ones who should still be with Kallion, and Keres’s flames flared along my blade. Haze had taken those flames from Keres and added them to my sword through the wind.

Spirits were nature itself, or close enough. This was a little trick using the racial skills [Nature Embodiment] and [Feeble Wind].

It was only possible because the [Link] skill had strengthened our connections.

This way, even if I killed them, their souls would safely reach Keres. Her true body was no longer the skeleton—it was the flames that wrapped around it.

I poured even more mana into the blade. Matching the image I’d set at the start, the edge grew sharper and more refined while the flames quietly danced along it.

Hmmm…

When I’d pushed it to the limit and faint residual notes of mana hung in the air, I reinforced my body as well and moved.

No fancy swordsmanship. I’d never learned any. Just the self-taught slash that suited me best.

That was enough.

“Hup!”

Shhk!

There was almost no sound. Even the resistance of the air seemed to help me; I felt nothing at my fingertips.

Crack.

But the result was perfect. Diagonal lines appeared across the fallen monsters’ bodies as if cracks had formed. Along those lines space slowly, yet surely, slid apart. That was their end.

Fwoosh!!

The flames that rose afterward burned every last soul without exception. To be thorough I incinerated the corpses as well, leaving only charred bones, magic stones, and other byproducts.

Points were added on top of that. Remaining score: 15. I’d found sixteen secrets so far, so if I just picked up a few more I’d hit 100 without trouble.

Confirming that the blue flames rose into the air without fading, I called Hive.

“Hive.”

“Caw!!”

Hive poked his head out of the shadows and immediately summoned shadow crows to collect the remaining byproducts.

No further work was needed, so I ordered Bihos to defend the areas around the secret locations like a perimeter.

Once that was done I’d summon Growl and move. I kept mana ready in my fingers so I could call him at any moment, then turned my head.

“So, how long were you planning to just watch?”

“…”

Step, step.

At my words a woman walked out. Faint flames still flickered at the tips of her shoulder-length red hair, making it clear she was ready to fight at any second.

It was the same woman from earlier. I didn’t know her name—only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that she was in Class A. That place was pretty far from here; had she come straight after fighting?

It was only day two, yet she looked rough. Her eyes were a little bloodshot; she clearly hadn’t rested properly.

“What do you want?”

At my question she limped closer, then glared at me with a sigh.

Her naturally sharp eyes made the glare look like she was ready to stab someone.

“That’s my line. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“?”

She spat the words like she was already annoyed, then held out a half-crumbled insect corpse. Even in that state I could tell it was one of the Bihos—specifically one of the multiplied ones.

“How can you stand there so shamelessly after stealing someone else’s prey…?”

Crunch.

She clenched her fist and the remains crumbled like charcoal, falling to the ground. From her words I understood exactly what had happened. And then I was even more puzzled.

“There’s nothing in the exam rules that says you can’t take someone else’s kill, right?”

Her scowl deepened and she let out a long, irritated sigh.

“…O ancient incarnation of fire. Reveal your form in this place.”

Fwoosh!!

And just like that she began preparing a spell against me.

I knew that expression well. The face you make when you’re furious but the other person is so right you have nothing to say. She seemed to have roughly figured out that this whole situation was part of the test.

“Burn all who stand in my path and display your existence!!!”

As her spell neared completion the flames on her hair blazed more fiercely, and a red light began to overtake her yellow eyes.

“Caw.”

Hearing from Hive that everything was ready, I flicked my fingers, summoned Growl, and mounted him in the same motion.

Bihos had already withdrawn, and the shadow crows didn’t need separate recovery. I pulled off my mask so she could see my face clearly once her spell was finished, and smirked boldly.

“Should’ve caught them faster if it bothered you that much.”

“…Grit. Reduce him to ashes. Prominence Wave!!!!”

Because she’d been grinding her teeth the flames finished a beat late. Growl bolted as if fleeing, and behind us a wave of fire that looked determined to burn the entire island forest crashed down.

KWA-AAAAAAAK!!!!

It was fast and powerful. I even saw a few students who failed to dodge the sudden attack get swallowed by the flames and retire in real time.

Fwaaah…

But no matter how strong an attack was, it meant nothing if it didn’t hit. Even with mana reinforcing him, Growl’s speed left that wave far behind.

She’d used what looked like her strongest attack, yet if her goal was to hit me she should have chosen a single-target homing spell—even if it was a little weaker—over a wide-area blast.

“Too bad.”

I never planned to get hit in the first place, but I said it on purpose just to piss her off. The distance was far enough that she might not have heard, yet someone who could unleash an attack like that definitely did.

“…!!!!”

The faint scream from far away and the way the flames began recharging confirmed it.

Before the second attack could come I left the area, heading for the treasure locations.

No need to dismount. Until now I’d been half playing along with the exam and half sightseeing, but the faculty had started moving. Better to escape before things got truly annoying.

Anything that blocked the path I forced through with mana-charged shadows. Anywhere that looked like a teacher was standing guard, I avoided completely.

Hitting the nearest secrets in order, I safely reached my target score.

Along the way the stubborn woman who had been chasing me realized she couldn’t catch me and switched to hunting the Bihos scattered across the island. The information came through the [Link], so I dismissed Bihos’s summon. It was a shame to lose the numbers I’d worked so hard to build up. Next time I summoned them I’d check how much the swarm had grown.

Kallion’s group had bought more than enough time, so I ordered one final massive mana barrage, confirmed the huge drain, and immediately released their summons as well.

Right about now weapons formed from Kallion’s Magic Armor would be raining down all over the island. Teachers who didn’t want the exam to end would be desperately trying to minimize the damage. Any student who saw that would figure out the situation easily enough.

Checking the message that popped up on my device, I looked up at a teacher in the sky wearing a thoroughly defeated expression, smirked, and pressed Yes.

In that instant my vision flipped once, and I found myself standing on the deck of the ship that had brought us to the island.

I glanced at Hong Su-ah ahead of me, who was clutching her head with an utterly speechless look, and let out a quiet snicker.