Chapter 36

　　"GROOOOOOOOOOOAR!"

　　The Cyclops let out a bloodcurdling roar and charged, its single eye fixed on Meirin. She took a hesitant step back, her face pale.

　　[Come forth.]

　　Simon pulled an imaginary lever. A portal to his Subspace tore open on the floor, and two skeletons leaped out.

　　[Advance!]

　　The skeletons shot forward at a terrifying speed. The Cyclops saw them coming and hefted the massive log it wielded as a club.

　　WHOOOOSH!

　　With a sickening crack of displaced air, one skeleton was obliterated. At the same instant, the second skeleton darted in from the side and thrust its shortsword.

　　Clang!

　　The monster’s hide was as tough as expected. The blade only managed a shallow scratch. Enraged, the Cyclops twisted its body and swung its club again.

　　It’s better to use just one in this situation.

　　Simon gritted his teeth and extended his arm, focusing all his mental energy on the consciousness of the remaining skeleton.

　　[Duck!]

　　At his absolute command, the skeleton instantly dropped, the club whistling over its head. It then scrambled to the side with nimble agility.

　　"Nice, Simon!" Dick yelled.

　　While Simon could control two undead at once, his true talent shone when he poured all his concentration into a single unit.

　　The enraged Cyclops began swinging its club wildly. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

　　The skeleton dodged and weaved, leaping around the attacks. The three watching from the back, along with the students in the viewing lounge, stared with their mouths agape. Simon’s job was to buy time, but he was exceeding all expectations.

　　"Hurry!" Simon shouted. "I can’t hold on for long!"

　　"Almost there!" Dick called back.

　　Dick and Kamibarez were preparing the exhaustion curse, Exhaust, while Meirin gathered energy for the Jet-Black elemental magic, Dark Flare. Three magic circles were rapidly nearing completion.

　　CRACK!

　　The skeleton, having bought them precious seconds, was finally smashed to pieces. The Cyclops, panting with rage, scanned the area, spotted Meirin, and charged.

　　"Kuh!"

　　Simon summoned two more skeletons from his Subspace, but the mental feedback from the first one’s destruction hadn’t faded. The Cyclops plowed through them like a runaway chariot.

　　"It’s ready!" Dick shouted.

　　Kamibarez threw both her arms up.

　　"Exhaust!" she cried.

　　"Exhaust!" Dick echoed.

　　Their magic circles flashed in unison. The curses struck true, and the Cyclops’s movements visibly slowed.

　　"We got it!" Dick and Kamibarez’s faces lit up, but Simon’s expression remained grim.

　　It’s still too fast!

　　The curse hadn’t slowed it down enough. The Cyclops kept coming as Meirin finished conjuring a blazing black flame in her right hand.

　　The monster was ten feet away. With a powerful cry, she thrust her hand forward. The Jet-Black fire shot out, spewing smoke.

　　FWOOOOOOOOSH!

　　The flames exploded, engulfing the Cyclops. Just as everyone clenched their fists in triumph…

　　Whoosh!

　　A massive club tore through the inferno and slammed into her head.

　　Beep!

　　[Simulation Failed]

　　Time Elapsed: 2 minutes 11 seconds

　　Damage Dealt: 26%

　　Barrier Gauge: 0%

　　Overall Evaluation: F

　　The team stared in disbelief.

　　The hazy forest vanished, replaced by the sterile walls of the training room. Meirin lay on the floor several feet away, thrown by the force of the blow.

　　"Meirin!"

　　"A-Are you okay?"

　　They all rushed to her side. Fortunately, she seemed unharmed. She grimaced as she pushed herself up.

　　"Meirin! Meirin! Are you really okay?" Kamibarez asked, her eyes welling with tears as she took Meirin’s hand.

　　Meirin forced a smile and insisted she felt no pain.

　　"Good work, Group 7," Professor Jane’s voice echoed from the ceiling.

　　Startled, Dick shot to his feet while Simon and Kamibarez helped Meirin up.

　　"Group 7 managed to execute their initial plan to some extent," Jane continued. "The summoner’s performance, distracting the Cyclops with skeletons, was particularly impressive."

　　"Thank you, Professor," Simon said, bowing his head.

　　"However, the rest of the members were generally inadequate. Restraining it with Exhaust and then felling it with Dark Flare sounds plausible in theory, but you have now learned that reality is quite different. Your biggest problem is a lack of proficiency. Minimize your casting errors. That is all."

　　"Thank you!" the group replied.

　　They trudged out of the training room, guided by the TA. As they entered the waiting area, a thunderous cheer erupted.

　　"Wooooooooah!"

　　"Th-That scared me." The cheer, of course, was not for them. It was for Group 3. On the screen, a bleeding Cyclops lay defeated on the floor of the adjacent training room.

　　Hector stood proudly atop its corpse, taking a long, deep breath as black smoke billowed from the ground around him.

　　[Simulation Succeeded]

　　Time Elapsed: 4 minutes 2 seconds

　　Damage Dealt: 100%

　　Barrier Gauge: 98%

　　Overall Evaluation: A

　　"Did… did they actually kill it?" a student whispered in awe.

　　"The barrier gauge is at 98%. That means they basically took no damage!"

　　The atmosphere in Group 3 was euphoric. They were the only team to succeed on their first try. Hector’s teammates rushed over, slapping him on the back and exchanging high-fives.

　　"Well done, Group 3," came Jane’s voice—her first real praise of the day.

　　The other students broke into envious applause. For a moment, even the stoic Hector couldn’t help but grin.

　　After Jane’s detailed feedback concluded, Hector’s team emerged from their training room.

　　"Wooooaaaah!"

　　"Nice one, Hector!"

　　His supporters chanted his name while others clapped in congratulation.

　　Just then, Hector’s gaze met Simon’s. He glanced up at Group 7’s results on the screen and smirked, an expression that clearly said, See? What did I tell you?

　　"We…" Meirin’s voice was low and tight. Simon turned to look at her. Her eyes were blazing. "We have to win."

　　Everyone nodded in fierce agreement.

　　"That’s right!" Kamibarez declared. "There’s no time to be down! We still have two tries left!"

　　"Let’s figure out what went wrong," Dick said, getting serious.

　　Group 7 huddled for an emergency strategy meeting.

　　"First off, like Professor Jane said, our proficiency is the biggest issue," Dick began. "While Simon buys time, Kami and I need to cast Exhaust faster and without any mistakes."

　　"There’s that," Simon interjected, "but Exhaust is a curse that gets stronger as it stacks. Even with both of your first curses hitting, the Cyclops didn’t slow down much." He turned to Meirin. "You have to dodge."

　　"Huh?"

　　"Don’t wonder if an attack is coming. Assume an attack is always coming for you, and watch its movements. I’ll do my best to protect you, too."

　　Meirin nodded, her face set with determination.

　　"Stand up," Simon said. "You know that technique from Combat Magic? The feeling of stepping on Jet-Black."

　　"Stepping on… what?"

　　"I’ll show you again."

　　While Simon gave Meirin a crash course, Dick and Kamibarez refined their spell.

　　"Let’s remove the duration formula," Dick suggested.

　　"Won’t that make it too unstable?" Kamibarez worried.

　　"High risk, high return. We need to stack the curse as fast as possible. It’s game over if Meirin gets hit even once, anyway."

　　Soon, it was their turn again.

　　"Alright, let’s give it our all!" Dick said, trying to rally them.

　　"Fighting!"

　　They entered the training room, shaking off their earlier unease. A moment later, the world dissolved into a grassy field, and the Cyclops appeared with a deafening roar. Having faced it once, the fear was more manageable. The battle began as the monster charged Meirin.

　　"Advance!" Simon commanded. His skeletons shot forward.

　　The fight unfolded much like the first time: one skeleton was sacrificed early, while the other tenaciously clung to the Cyclops.

　　I’m starting to read its movements.

　　The Cyclops’s attack patterns were simple—brutal and fast, but predictable. Simon could now tell the difference between a swing and a downward strike just by watching its shoulder muscles. Still, even with his skill, there was a limit to what a stiff skeleton could dodge.

　　Eventually, the second skeleton was shattered, and the Cyclops resumed its charge toward Meirin.

　　"Exhaust!"

　　"Exhaust!"

　　Two more curses landed, and this time the monster’s movements became noticeably sluggish. Meirin had already finished preparing her Dark Flare. They had more breathing room than before.

　　"Hmph!" She took a deep breath and unleashed the black flames.

　　The Cyclops flinched, raising its club to defend, but the fireball exploded on impact, splashing fire across its skin.

　　It shrieked in agony as black smoke billowed from its body.

　　Good! A direct hit! Simon thought. The Cyclops’s health gauge on the projector was dropping rapidly.

　　"Meirin! It starts now!" Dick yelled.

　　"I know!"

　　Blinded by the searing pain, the Cyclops locked its gaze on Meirin and charged with renewed fury. Simon sent in more skeletons, but the monster ignored them, absorbing their attacks as it single-mindedly pursued the source of its agony.

　　Meirin was already preparing a second Dark Flare.

　　She aborted the spell and bent her knees as the Cyclops’s club swung down through the air.

　　The feeling of… stepping on it!

　　The club slammed into the empty ground. Having successfully used Jet-Black Stepping to evade, Meirin rolled across the grass.

　　"Next attack is coming! Dodge!" Simon shouted.

　　As she scrambled to her feet, the flaming beast swung its club again. Meirin threw herself aside with all her might.

　　The club grazed her leg. A notification appeared on the projector: [Right Leg Fracture].

　　"Ah!"

　　"Meirin!"

　　She tried to run, but her leg gave out. The training uniform was simulating the injury.

　　"Exhaust!"

　　"Exhaust!"

　　The next volley of curses hit home. The Cyclops slowed to a crawl, but with her leg broken, Meirin was a sitting duck.

　　"Ah, ahh…!"

　　She tried to crawl away, but the relentless monster was upon her, its club raised high before crashing down.

　　[Simulation Failed]

　　Time Elapsed: 3 minutes 45 seconds

　　Damage Dealt: 42%

　　Barrier Gauge: 0%

　　Overall Evaluation: E

　　"So close!" Dick groaned as the forest reverted to the training room.

　　Simon bit his lip and nodded. If not for the broken leg, they could have easily finished off the slowed Cyclops.

　　After receiving Professor Jane’s critique, they left the training room to see that Hector’s group had once again succeeded, even shaving twenty seconds off their previous time.

　　"Next time is our last chance," Kamibarez murmured.

　　Their morale had plummeted. Dick and Meirin could only nod bitterly.

　　"Gather around," Simon said, his voice sharp. Everyone turned to look at him. "We can definitely clear it next time."

　　A fire had ignited in his eyes. The previous defeats were already forgotten. No… it was more than that.

　　"I have a surefire way to win."

　　He seemed like he was absolutely thrilled by the challenge.