Chapter 307
After collecting two cards, there was about twenty minutes left.
Simon looked around, wondering if he might run into the target student, but on this vast Roke Island, there was no way to find exactly who he was looking for.
And so, the four-hour exam ended, and Simon returned to the Keyzen campus. On the way back, he also ran into Dick.
"This was seriously, seriously so freaking fun!"
Dick was in full excitement mode. He clenched both fists, blew out a puff of air with a "Hoo!" and his bangs swayed.
"Is this really the BMAT I know? Is it even allowed for BMAT to be this fun? Wow…!"
Simon replied with a smile.
"Calm down a bit and tell me."
Apparently, Dick had discovered a siege warfare theme.
The location was the Keyzen castle wall, with a limit of 30 participants. Once fifteen people gathered on the cards attached inside the wall, and another fifteen on the cards outside, the ones inside became the defending team, and the ones outside became the attacking team.
And this time, Dick said he won as part of the defending team.
"I enchanted the cannons, and even enchanted the regular soldiers' arrows! My performance was insane!"
"…Mm, that does sound fun."
It felt like a large-scale war had been recreated, and Simon felt himself getting interested. Siege battles were indeed a theme that lit the fire of a boy's adventurous spirit.
"How long is the game time?"
"Inside the siege game, time flows slower. It felt like I fought for half a day straight, but when I came out, only about three hours had passed."
If it took three hours, finding another card within an hour afterward would be cutting it close.
"But, the top contributor on both the defending and attacking teams gets '1 point' each, regardless of cards!"
"That's tempting."
On their way back to the dorm, every student they passed was talking about the BMAT.
So this is the kind of thing they do once or twice a week?
It was indeed a test that felt light and clean without much burden.
Of course, the students' strategies would change by the next time, so it was hard to predict how it would go, but at this rate, it felt doable alongside the regular professors' classes.
"Anyway, Simon! Next exam, come do the siege theme with me!"
"I'll think about it positively."
* * *
The next morning.
"Simon! Over here!"
"You're two minutes late, sleepyheads!"
Having gotten ready about thirty minutes early, Simon and Dick met up with Maelyn and Kamibarez.
The reason they met early was, of course, to share BMAT information. The four of them sat at an outdoor cafeé table, ordered sandwiches and drinks, and chattered away.
All four had managed to get two cards each on the first day.
Maelyn had done two solo games. She said there was even a theme combining puzzles and magic circle creation, something that required brainwork.
Kamibarez had tried a theme related to Haematology, but she could only use the basic skill Bloodshot. She had to quickly shoot down villains with Bloodshot and rescue hostages. If she accidentally hit a hostage, her barrier gauge would take a huge chunk of damage.
"To get to the point."
Maelyn said with a serious expression.
"The connection between card colors and subjects isn't as strong as we first thought. For example, even if you enter a red Katarology card, there's a good chance you'll play a game unrelated to curses. Feels like… fifty-fifty?"
Simon nodded.
"All of mine were unrelated to the subject."
"I wanted to do a bunch of Haematology themes too, so I was a little disappointed!"
"Here's why,"
Dick said, grabbing a chip from the shared plate and popping it into his mouth with a smug air.
"It's because the game's creator isn't a god, but a human. Endolas Vaudeville."
Simon tilted his head.
"What does that have to do with it?"
"The link between color and subject is probably a recent rule addition."
Dick drew lines of ketchup and mustard on a chip as he spoke.
"As you all know, the game themes feel very entertainment-focused, right? So the professors must've complained, asking for more educational, subject-related themes. So—"
"Endolas is rushing to make new ones right now!"
"Exactly, Kami! So next exam, there might be more subject-related themes."
As Dick reached for another chip, his hand met empty air.
"Whoa! We already ate them all?"
His gaze naturally drifted toward Maelyn.
She happened to be chewing a chip, and her face flushed bright red like a guilty party caught in the act.
"Wait, hey!! Why look at me first?!"
"You're seriously a food monster."
In the end, Maelyn ordered another serving of chips with her own money.
"…So petty over food."
"I bet the new order will be gone in three minutes."
"Hey!!"
Simon and Kamibarez chuckled quietly.
"Ahem, anyway."
Maelyn quickly steered the topic away from food.
"There'll be a lot more people trying to collect the full red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet set. Like you, Simon."
"That makes sense."
But there was still time before the next exam.
For now, preparing for the upcoming classes, where performance evaluations were about to drop, was more important than the BMAT.
"What's the first class?"
"Summonology! But it's not in the usual classroom!"
"That's a little unsettling. Professor Aron did warn it would be tough."
The four of them chatted as they walked to the classroom. Just as Kamibarez said, the gathering location announced this time was different from usual.
"Wow!"
Everyone's eyes went wide as they entered the new classroom.
"What's today's class?"
At each student's seat was a skeleton's skull and one arm, with a magic circle in front of them. The arm was holding a staff.
"We must finally be making that!"
Maelyn said excitedly.
"That?"
"Skeleton Mage!"
Simon's eyes widened. His heart began to race, and he quickly set his things down to study the magic circle closely.
It was a summoning magic circle, but the structure was a bit unusual. Certain essential elements normally required in a summoning circle were omitted, making it simplified.
"Professor's here!"
At the shout, the students hurried to their seats. Soon, Professor Aron and the teaching assistants entered the classroom.
As always, Aron had messy hair, stubble that looked several days unshaven, and was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, dragging his slippers along the floor.
He spoke in his usual lazy tone.
"As I emphasized yesterday, as of today, the entire Keyzen enters performance evaluation season."
At the word performance evaluation, the students' expressions stiffened.
Performance evaluations were directly reflected in 'grades'. Simply put, if the midterm and final exams were written tests, then performance evaluations were practical tests.
"Let me briefly explain the Summonology performance evaluation once more."
Aron walked to the blackboard, picked up a piece of chalk, and drew a long line.
"You have to complete all postponed performance evaluations during the remaining two semesters. So far, we've done only one."
He grouped 20% of the total evaluations together and wrote 'Deathland' underneath.
"Remember? Back in the first semester, in 'Deathland', we had the performance evaluation for creating original zombies."
The students nodded, recalling the past.
Simon did too, he had met Prince there.
"And the remaining 80% is still ahead."
Aron drew a line about halfway down.
"Of that, half—40% of the total performance evaluation weight—goes to the most important task, which I will reveal now."
The students swallowed nervously. Aron began writing on the board, his hand moving briskly.
With each stroke, the students' eyes widened.
Murmur, murmur, murmur!
"Here."
Aron added the two words, thesis.
"Waha."
Dick let out a dry laugh.
"Thesis? You mean, like, the kind you present at an academic conference?"
Even Maelyn, a model student among model students by nature, was trembling.
"…We're seventeen years old. What kind of thesis do you write at seventeen?"
"This is seriously tough."
"Makes the BMAT just vanish from my mind."
While the other students were flustered, Simon was letting his imagination run wild in his head.
'My own magical-type undead…'
As the classroom grew restless, Aron spoke again.
"Attention."
The students immediately straightened up and looked at Aron.
"For now, there's no need to feel pressured. This 'Creation of Magical-Type Undead' will be evaluated at the end of the Summonology course. Think of it as the final goal of first-year Summonology."
Aron crossed his arms.
"And there's no professor who would assign an impossible task. As long as you follow the classes properly, I've arranged the curriculum so that you'll naturally reach this goal. Understood?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's begin the lesson."
Having easily quelled complaints, Aron walked to the blackboard.
The students lifted their heads high. Perhaps because the topic of performance evaluation had just been discussed, their focus had noticeably sharpened.
"Production of magical-type undead starts from 'zero' for everyone here. Whether it's undead control or restoration techniques, they have little to do with magical undead creation. Even those lagging behind, pay close attention."
"Yes!"
"Then, look at what's in front of you."
Everyone lowered their heads to see the items.
A skull, a staff held in a hand, and a summoning magic circle.
"These three elements together make up a single Skeleton Mage setup."
Aron slowed his speech to make it easy for the students to follow.
"The summoning magic circle in front of you is the one that should originally be on the skull, but I've brought it onto the desk to make it easier to operate. Now, let's power it up. Pour Darkness into the 'ownership formula' of the magic circle."
Simon followed the instructions. Placing his hand on the circle of the summoning magic circle and imbuing it with Darkness, the entire magic circle was immediately dyed in his deep, dark blue light.
Tak-tak! Clack!
Finally, the skull of the Skeleton Mage began to move. At the same time, the staff-holding hand also started to move around.
Simon then successfully completed connecting to the Skeleton Mage's consciousness.
"Anyone stuck?"
The students glanced around and called out,
"No, sir!"
"Then straight to practice. Using the magic formula on this circle as it is, have the Skeleton Mage cast an attack spell. The target is over here."
The assistants moved quickly, setting up a large panel to the students' left.
After a bit of tinkering with the panel, a barrier made of Darkness spread out with a snap.
"The magic setting is the same for everyone—'Wind Cutter'. Move the Skeleton Mage's consciousness and fire the magic at the barrier. And don't even think about shooting the person in front of you, even as a joke."
"Yes!"
Simon exhaled lightly, hoo, then opened his eyes wide.
Slow start, like warming up the engine.
Simon's Darkness moved, activating the runes inside the magic circle.
The point of discharge is the staff.
The Skeleton Mage's staff-holding arm moved.
'Aim the point of discharge at the barrier.'
The tip of the staff pointed toward the barrier.
'Fire!'
Then, a magic circle appeared in front of the staff, releasing a blade of wind.
Thuuung!
The Wind Cutter struck the barrier precisely and scattered. Simon clenched his fist and let out a cheer.
Thung!
Thuuung!
All around the classroom, sounds of wind striking the barrier could be heard as Wind Cutters successfully activated.
"Waaah!"
"This much is basic!"
"Assistant! Mine's not working!"
The room split between cheering students and those on the verge of tears asking for help. The assistants bustled about.
"It's really an undead casting magic."
Maelyn, who succeeded, wore a dazed expression, though a happy smile was tugging at her lips.
On the other hand, Kamibarez, apparently having failed, was quickly darting her gaze around nervously. All the assistants were busy helping other students.
That's when Simon approached.
"If you don't mind, I'll help you."
"Th-thank you, Simon!"
Her eyes sparkled as if she were seeing a savior. Simon stood close beside her.
"First of all, the flow of Darkness in your magic circle is unstable. Think of Darkness as blood, and runes as the brain. The blood has to circulate well to supply the brain with nutrients. Try to make this flow more natural."
Simon placed his hand over hers as he spoke. Kamibarez's pupils trembled rapidly.
"Hm? Kami, are you really nervous?"
"N-no! I'm fine!"
She shouted, her face flushed.
"I'll support you. Just think of this magic circle as a controller, and think of your body as that skeleton. Imagine you're moving that skeleton's hand to cast the magic. Connect to its consciousness naturally."
Kamibarez, face red as a beet, gave a small nod. Still, she managed to move the staff.
"When leading undead, willpower is the most important thing. It's not just about casting magic. Have a clear target, and send the will to destroy it. Then it will operate naturally."
"Ah, I get it!"
She took a deep breath and glared fiercely at the barrier.
Then, without her noticing when it happened, a Wind Cutter activated from the staff's tip and struck the barrier.
"I-it worked, Simon!"
"Good job."
Simon smiled, and Kamibarez, still bright red, smiled back.
"Now, attention."
Aron's voice rang out. Simon quickly returned to his seat.
"If you can't even handle casting Wind Cutter, that's a problem. This is the bare minimum. And now, before class ends today, I'll give you a performance evaluation task."
Drrrrrk.
Drrrk.
The assistants entered, pushing carts. On them were hundreds of rune models and staves.
"From now on, using the various materials, you will modify the Skeleton Mage's Wind Cutter however you like."
"!"
What kind of class was this! The students' eyes sparkled brightly.
"And before the bell rings for the end of class,"
Aron's finger pointed at the barrier.
"Any student who breaks that will pass."