"The winner is! Simon Pollentia of Class A!" Cheers, both loud and soft, erupted from the entire audience. Rather than enthusiastic cheers, they were somewhat dazed exclamations. "......Awesome." "As expected of Special Case #1." "Where's that guy going after graduation? We should......" "Oh, brother. Kizen probably won't let him go at that level." "How long has it been since we had an ace from Summoning Studies? He's unique." As officials from various organizations and groups exchanged opinions, students in the front rows of the audience suddenly shot up. "Simon! You did great! You're the best!" "Ugh, seriously! You made my heart pound for nothing." "The big picture was great! Hahaha!" Kamibarez, Mei-rin, and Dick were shouting loudly and waving their hands. Simon spotted the three and gave an awkward smile, waving back. An agency official crossed his arms. "Our kids are cute." "Uh, brother. Your remark just now......" "You idiot! They're my direct juniors!" "Ah, right. You graduated from Kizen." After waving to his group members, Simon turned his head. Haren, who had been embedded in the wall, fell down, and medics carried him away on a stretcher. Overhearing the medics, Simon learned that Haren wasn't injured thanks to his protective suit, but his body was simply shocked by the immense impact. Haren was blinking blankly, his face dazed. "Haren." Simon approached him. "......" "I'm not sure what grudge you have against me, but listen." Simon smiled faintly and continued. "You'll never defeat me with 'that kind of power' that isn't your own." "......!!" Haren's eyes widened at those words. "Alright, alright, let's go." Haren, his face pale, was carried away on the stretcher. Simon lightly dusted off his hands and turned his back. Seeing the wind whistling through the large hole in the indoor arena wall, a belated sense of embarrassment washed over him. 'They can fix it quickly with magic, but I still feel bad.' Disassembling the Golem here would cause even more trouble, so Simon led the Golem out of the arena. Meanwhile, the referee proceeded with the next match. "Simon!" Kamibarez and the group members were already running out of the arena. "Are you hurt anywhere?" "Nope, I'm perfectly fine." "Hey! What were you really doing?! You scared us! You didn't tell us anything!" Simon gave an awkward laugh at Mei-rin's shout. "Sorry for making you worry." "Oh, well! I wasn't worried at all!" Meanwhile, Dick approached the Mud Golem with an expression of admiration. "Kuh, so this is Simon's Golem!" As he reached out to touch it, the Golem recoiled and glared at Dick. Dick flinched and stepped back. "Hello? Good boy~" This time, Kamibarez approached and stroked the Golem. The Golem didn't reject her touch. Instead, it even lowered its body slightly, taking a posture that made it easier to pet. "......" Dick made a sour face. "......That bastard might not be a Golem." "What are you talking about?" "Simon! Can I ride on it?" Kamibarez asked, her eyes sparkling. Simon was just sweating profusely and laughing. "......?" "Kami." Mei-rin swept her hair back and said. "Maintaining a Golem constantly consumes Jet Black. Simon might just dry up and die if he keeps it up much longer." "Ah! Oh no! I'm so sorry! I was so thoughtless......!" Kamibarez quickly moved away from the Golem. Only then did Simon release his thoughts and stop the Golem's operation. The Golem then crumbled like a mound of earth. Simon approached the mound and pulled out a large, spherical object from the collapsed dirt pile. This was the Golem's core. "So this is what it looks like." Kamibarez and Mei-rin squatted down and carefully touched the Golem's core. At that moment, a 'ting!' sound came from the surface of the core. Kamibarez let out a short scream and recoiled. "It's okay." Simon said with a smile. "It sometimes plays pranks when it's in a good mood." "Ah......" "But isn't this incredibly expensive? How did you get it?" Simon grinned at Mei-rin's question. "I managed it with money I earned from missions and some credit." Simon had earned 500 gold from his last mission and received an additional 200 gold as a commission from Lord Raymond for clearing out the Grey Orcs in the mountains. A few days ago, when he went down to Rochester to buy Skeleton Archers, Simon spent 90 gold on three Skeleton Archers. He now had 610 gold remaining. -A Golem Core starts at a minimum of 700 gold. At the Necromancer Shop Owner's words, Simon had reluctantly decided to give up. Then the shop owner made a new offer. -This isn't a small amount of money, so I'll give you a special discount for 650 gold. I'll give you 50 gold on credit. How about you take it for 600 gold? And so, Simon, completely swayed by the shop owner's words, ended up buying the Golem Core. 'I might have overspent a bit, but oh well.' Still, the Golem was worth the high price. Its combat power was undeniable, and unlike skeletons, it could be used for a long time. Simon carefully placed the Golem Core into his subspace. "By the way, Dick, when's the next mission period?" "......Why suddenly?" Because he wanted to go out and earn money again quickly. Necromancy is money. Simon smiled, thinking that thought. *** All morning duel evaluations were over. After a light lunch, Simon's group moved to Arena 4. Dick, Mei-rin, and Kamibarez's duel evaluations would all be held here. Dick, who was up first, left for the waiting room to prepare. "Kami. Are you really okay without eating anything?" Simon asked. Perhaps due to the tension of the upcoming duel, she was huddled with her knees together, and she managed a strained smile. "......Yes, I'm fine. I just can't swallow anything." "Are you sure you're okay, though?" Mei-rin crossed her arms and glared at Simon. "Don't push yourself just to watch our matches, just go to sleep." "I'm fine, perfectly okay. The duel earlier completely woke me up." "......Honestly." "Oh, there's Dick!" As Kamibarez said, Dick, wearing his protective suit, and his opponent were coming out to the center of the arena. Dick's opponent was a female student named 'Ri-gang Chopra'. She had dark brown hair tied in a ponytail and slightly tanned skin. "Tsk, another girl as an opponent." Dick muttered, resting his arm behind his head. Ri-gang's expression immediately soured at his words. "So what? Just wait, I'll crush you so you can't even squeak." "Yeah, yeah." Dick grinned slyly and shook her hand. As the two separated and stood apart, barrier gauges appeared on the mana projector. [Dick Hayward: 100%] [Ri-gang Chopra: 100%] "Are both students ready?" "Yes!" "Yes." The referee nodded. "Then, the duel evaluation between Dick Hayward and Ri-gang Chopra will now begin." The referee lowered his arm. "Match start!" Dick immediately opened his subspace and pulled out a sleek sword, gripping it in his hand. 'Enchant.' A magic circle unfolded on the sword, and its blade turned jet black. Dick lightly swung it, taking a combat stance. "Is that all?" Ri-gang scoffed and opened her subspace. From her subspace, no less than twenty swords burst out, clattering onto the floor. Sounds of bewilderment erupted from various parts of the audience. "What is that?" "......Can she even use all of those?" Mei-rin and Kamibarez also commented. Then, a magic circle unfolded over the pile of swords, and the swords simultaneously began to turn jet black. 'Multiple Enchantment......!' Coincidentally, it was a battle between two Enchanters. Even seeing twenty swords being enchanted at once, Dick remained relaxed. Unlike Ri-gang, he was layering enchantments onto a single sword. "Hehe, you don't know anything about enchanting. The amount of Jet Black you pour into it determines the performance of an enchanted weapon. Multiple enchantment is a technique to be avoided unless you're a professional." "Shut up and just watch!" Ri-gang spread her hand. The twenty swords trembled as if alive and floated into the air. Ooh- Gasps and exclamations mixed throughout the arena. The swords danced as if guarding her. Looking closely, there were Jet Black threads attached to the tips of the swords, which she used to lift them into the air. "Die." Ri-gang spat out roughly and spread her fingers. Three swords floating in the air flew towards Dick with fierce speed. "Whoa!" Dick ran by treading on Jet Black and swung his shortsword. Clang! Clang! Clang! Sparks flew with each metallic clang, and the swords fell to the floor. Whoosh whoosh whoosh! As if zeroing in, this time ten swords flew from different directions. "Wow, this is tough!" Dick dropped the sword he was holding and pulled out an object with a handle from his subspace. He knelt on one knee and extended it forward. 'Enchant!' Whoosh! Dick's Jet Black spread out like an umbrella. Swords furiously flew and crashed into it. Metallic sounds erupted, deafeningly loud. Perhaps it was too much to block all ten, as a corner of the Jet Black shield tore. Swords grazed various parts of Dick's body. "Dick!!" Kamibarez cried out worriedly, looking at the mana projector screen. [Dick Hayward: 69%] [Ri-gang Chopra: 100%] Dick, whose barrier gauge had been reduced, staggered and retreated. "Phew, that was dangerous! But now it's my turn...... Huh?" The swords that had attacked Dick and were scattered on the floor trembled and returned to Ri-gang's vicinity. Dick's mouth hung open, and he gave a hollow smile. "You're good~" Ri-gang frowned. "Do you still have the energy to run your mouth?" "Of course, of course! Want to see how much more I can run it?" Dick took a deep breath. "Name, Ri-gang Chopra. And your real name is Priyanka Chopra." "!!" Ri-gang's eyes widened. "Native of Dipak Territory in the Shahed Kingdom. Chopra is your mother's surname, and your core was awakened by the village elder. It took you one year from core awakening to your first Jet Black, your specialty is hunting, and your hobby is cooking." "What, what are you doing?!" "After entering Kizen, you were placed in Class G, your subject test average is in the 70s, your first friend was Narsha Abra, you aspire to Jet Black Mechanics but recently became interested in Martial Arts. You have a minor knee injury. Height 163, weight 61, waist size is......" "Shut up! You crazy bastard!" Ri-gang Chopra's face turned beet red as she screamed. Mei-rin, embarrassed by the fact that they were in the same group, covered her face with her palm, and Kamibarez hung her head low. "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles." Dick grinned and opened his subspace. From the five metal stakes that emerged, he pulled one out and drove it into the ground. "That's my motto. First of all, I know better than anyone that I'm weak~ So I'm very interested in knowing others." "Stop blabbering and just die! Please!" Ri-gang launched ten swords simultaneously. Dick placed his palm on the metal stake and poured mana into it. 'Enchant!' Mana flowed into the metal stake. Then, all the swords flying towards Dick stuck to the stake with a 'thwack'. "......!" "It's a kind of electromagnet. When operated with Jet Black, it attracts metals of the same property." Dick used the metal stake to push himself upright. "Half carbon steel and half amarillium. Right?" "H-how did you even know that......!" Dick pulled out a note from his pocket, unfolded it, and smiled. "This is your purchase list from the Rochester weapon shop." "......!" "As soon as you got money from this mission evaluation, you bought twenty swords. One more thing I can tell from this information." Dick tossed the note behind him and rummaged in his pocket, pulling out a single 1-silver coin. The coin was already blackened, indicating he had used Enchant. "You didn't buy any shields or armor, did you?" Dick unfolded a magic circle on his right palm and another on the coin. Then, with the two magic circles touching, he clenched his fist tightly. "Perhaps you were careless because your opponent, me, is a pure Enchanter, but if that's the case......!" Dick brought both arms behind his head and lifted his left leg. He then planted his foot on the ground, and his center of gravity naturally shifted forward. At the same time, his right arm swung powerfully, his palm unfurling, and the two touching magic circles sparked. "You're bound to be vulnerable to accelerated ranged attacks!" Whoosh! With a fierce tearing sound, the coin shot out like a flash of light. '......F-fast!' She couldn't dodge it. Ri-gang hastily sent the surrounding swords forward, but the coin was a step ahead, slipping through and striking her forehead. Thump! A circular shockwave erupted from her forehead. It was blocked by the protective suit's barrier, but the sudden impact to her head made her eyes roll back. Thud! Her body collapsed to the ground. [Dick Hayward: 69%] [Ri-gang Chopra: 35%] The enchanted coin's power wasn't enough to knock her out in one hit, but Ri-gang had lost consciousness from the impact. The referee checked her condition and announced. "Match suspended! Ri-gang Chopra has lost consciousness. Dick Hayward is the winner!" "Kya-ha!" Dick clenched his fist with a cheerful smile.
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