"I'll go first."
Fitzgerald stepped forward first as the interview officially began.
Reaching into his subspace, he slowly summoned his undead. The creature that appeared was unlike anything Simon had ever seen before. Instead of legs, its lower body consisted of a pair of organic wheels, while its torso resembled a rectangular carriage. Above that, however, its upper body looked vaguely human.
Its oversized pupils wandered aimlessly in every direction, never focusing on a single point, while each of its six arms moved independently, making different, bizarre gestures.
The creature's appearance was so complicated that Simon couldn't even think of a proper word to describe it. If anything, it reminded him of an ancient statue excavated from some forgotten ruin.
"...?"
Simon stared blankly at the undead, completely unable to identify it.
Meanwhile, Knox's reaction, along with Benya's and Dio's, was completely different. Rather than confusion, all three immediately showed interest the moment they saw the creature.
"A Chimera?!" Benya exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes." Fitzgerald nodded calmly.
The Chimera was considered one of the masterpieces of undead research.
Living creatures generally couldn't survive excessive biological modifications. Once their original physiology was altered beyond a certain point, their bodies would inevitably fall into imbalance, drastically shortening their lifespan.
Cases such as conjoined twins or naturally mutated monsters were among the few rare exceptions. Undead, however, were no longer constrained by the logic of life.
Because of that, necromancers were able to combine cells from entirely different undead species, creating creatures that would have been impossible for any living organism. The culmination of those experiments was the Chimera.
"What's the core monster?" Dio asked, his interest clearly piqued.
In Chimera research, the core monster referred to the primary undead that served as the foundation for the entire creation.
Fitzgerald was about to answer.
"It's a Seiren, right?" Knox spoke before he could.
Fitzgerald looked at Knox in surprise.
While Benya and Dio exchanged a glance before quietly letting out small gasps of admiration.
"Oh..."
"That's a sharp eye you've got, Knox," Fitzgerald admitted with genuine respect.
The Seiren was a rare magical monster possessing the upper body of a human and the lower body of a seabird. Thanks to its naturally high affinity for magic, it was often selected as the core monster for Chimeras specialized in spellcasting.
"A first-year already using a magic-type undead..." Dio muttered, sounding genuinely impressed.
"I've heard a Seiren's lingering thoughts are incredibly complicated," Benya added. "Just synchronizing with one is enough to drive most necromancers insane."
"That's correct."
Fitzgerald adjusted his glasses.
"At my current level, I can only maintain the connection for about five minutes. As for going insane... that's not really a problem."
A brief silence followed.
Then, almost unconsciously...everyone nodded.
"...Yeah."
"That sounds about right."
For some reason, after speaking with Fitzgerald for only a few minutes, nobody found that statement strange anymore. Somehow, it suited him perfectly.
Benya's eyes sparkled as she circled around the Chimera, carefully examining it from every angle. The more she looked, the brighter her smile became.
"Comrade!" she called enthusiastically. "Would you be willing to give us a demonstration? Ah, of course, only if it isn't too much of a burden."
"I'll do it."
Fitzgerald calmly closed his eyes.
Almost at the same time, the Chimera's unfocused pupils suddenly snapped wide open. Its six arms twisted into different positions, each moving independently in a disturbingly unnatural manner.
Vmmm!
Vmmm!
Vmmm!
One after another, six magic circles materialized around its arms.
Dark flames. Ice. Wind. Lightning.
The six circles shone simultaneously before unleashing a barrage of Black Magic toward the testing walls.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The underground room trembled slightly from the successive impacts.
Simon stared at the Chimera with undisguised amazement.
Amazing... a summon capable of casting six different black magic spells at the same time...
If someone could fully master a Chimera like this, maintaining a top rank at Kizen would hardly be difficult.
Even Knox gave a small nod of approval.
Not bad. His synchronization is still rough, but for a first-year... that's already impressive.
"...That's all."
As soon as Fitzgerald severed the connection, his body swayed slightly before he steadied himself with a hand on the table.
"Awesome!"
Benya threw both arms into the air, practically bouncing with excitement.
"You pass! Absolutely pass!"
"Thank you."
Benya then looked toward Dio with an expectant grin.
"What do you think?"
Dio gave the Chimera one last glance before nodding.
"...It fits our club perfectly. I like it."
"Great!"
Benya clapped happily.
"One confirmed pass!"
She immediately turned toward the remaining applicants.
"Next!"
Toto nervously stepped forward.
Simon instinctively shifted his attention toward his classmate.
...Toto's special summon.
Until now, Toto had only ever used ordinary Skeletons during class. Simon couldn't help wondering what kind of unique summon he had managed to obtain in such a short amount of time.
"I-I'll begin!"
Taking a deep breath, Toto opened his subspace.
Several moments later...
"...A dog?"
Three medium-sized dogs jumped out one after another.
Each possessed a thick coat of fur, sturdy limbs, and sharp fangs reminiscent of wolves.
Simon scratched the side of his head.
"...?"
At first glance, they looked less like undead and more like ordinary beasts that had been tamed through Black Magic.
"...Interesting."
Unlike Simon, Benya's expression immediately became serious.
"Little Comrade..."
Before she could continue...
"Those dogs..."
Knox looked at the three animals for a brief moment before smiling faintly.
"...They're already dead, aren't they?"
"...!"
Toto looked at Knox in surprise.
"Y-Yes."
Simon's and Fitzgerald's eyes widened almost simultaneously.
"They're undead?"
Neither of them could hide their disbelief.
The dogs looked far too healthy. Their fur was glossy, their movements were lively, and they wagged their tails exactly like ordinary living animals.
"...I see."
Dio slowly crouched down as realization dawned on him.
"It's that..."
Benya nodded. "Parasitic undead."
Among all known undead, Parasites were considered one of the strangest species.
Rather than becoming undead themselves, they invaded the bodies of specific living creatures and lived as parasites. Through hypnosis, paralysis, hallucinations, and countless subtle stages, they gradually consumed their host from the inside before eventually forming their own Core where the original heart had once been.
The terrifying part was that the host rarely realized it had already died.
Believing itself to still be alive, it continued living normally while its mind was slowly replaced by the Parasite controlling its body.
Because of that bizarre characteristic, Parasites had long become one of the most actively researched undead among necromancers pursuing the secrets of immortality.
"Impressive."
Benya placed both hands on her hips and smiled approvingly.
"Controlling Parasites is far from easy."
"T-Thank you..."
Toto's face immediately turned bright red from the praise.
"Can we see what they can do?"
"Y-Yes!" said Toto.
"...Fight my Skeletons." Dio casually summoned several Skeletons before ordering them forward.
The moment they charged...
"Go!"
Toto immediately issued his command.
Tatatatata!
The three dogs burst forward with astonishing speed.
Before the Skeletons could even react, one dog leaped into the air and clamped its jaws around a Skeleton's neck, dragging it to the ground in a single motion. Their claws and fangs were coated in dense Darkness mana, proving they had perfectly inherited the Parasite's abilities.
Within only a few minutes, every Skeleton had been reduced to scattered piles of bones.
"Come back!"
Still happily chewing on broken Skeleton bones as though they were toys, the three dogs obediently returned to Toto's side.
As Toto crouched down and gently patted their heads, the dogs wagged their tails excitedly before happily licking his face.
"Very good!"
Benya gave Toto an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
"Little Comrade, you pass too!"
"T-Thank you, Senior!"
Unable to hide his excitement, Toto bowed deeply.
"Now it's your turn, comrade."
Benya flipped her cream-colored hair over one shoulder before turning toward Simon with an eager smile.
"What kind of summon are you going to show us?"
Simon nodded and stepped forward. After thinking for a brief moment, he looked toward Dio.
"Senior, could you restore that Skeleton first?"
"...Hm?"
Dio glanced at the pile of broken bones before giving a small nod.
"...Sure."
With a casual wave of his hand, the scattered bones reassembled themselves, and moments later the Skeleton stood once again in its original condition.
Simon quietly took a deep breath.
The atmosphere inside the underground workshop immediately became tense. Everyone fixed their eyes on him, wondering what kind of unique summon had caught Benya's attention.
Simon slowly reached toward the empty air as though grasping an invisible handle. Then, he pulled it. Suddenly, a dark rift quietly opened before him.
"Attack."
But....nothing happened.
Simon remained calm and repeated the command.
"Attack."
The subspace remained completely still.
Rather than becoming impatient, Simon simply continued issuing the same command, as though he had already expected this reaction.
Suddenly...
Chrrrrrrrk!
Several enormous bladed tentacles burst out of the subspace.
The Skeleton barely had time to react before the razor-sharp appendages swept across its body, tearing it apart in a single strike. As quickly as they had appeared, the tentacles immediately slipped back into the dimensional rift, leaving only scattered bones behind.
"W-Whoa!"
"What was that?!"
"...That scared me."
Voices of surprise echoed throughout the underground room.
Even Simon couldn't blame them. If he hadn't known what was hiding inside that subspace, he probably would've reacted the same way.
Meanwhile, Benya stood frozen in place.
"...I've never seen an undead like that before."
The next moment, she rushed over and grabbed Simon by both shoulders, shaking him excitedly.
"Comrade! What was that just now?! Don't leave me hanging! Show me! Show me right now!"
"A-Ah! O-Okay!"
Simon hurriedly opened his subspace once more. This time, he carefully brought the creature out little by little.
The room fell silent again.
"What... is that?"
"I've never heard of an undead mollusk before."
"It's an Overlord."
Before Simon could answer, Knox calmly spoke up.
"I saw one during the Undead Exhibition at Blue Harbor~."
Simon's eyes widened in surprise.
"Knox, you know this?"
"Yeah." Knox nodded. "I happened to visit Blue Harbor during the exhibition. The young lord there was surprisingly enthusiastic and explained quite a lot about the exhibits. There was also an annoying old man who kept looking down on me, so I slapped him once and he ended up flying straight into the harbor."
"..."
Everyone stared at Knox speechlessly.
For a few seconds, nobody knew whether they should be surprised that Knox recognized the Overlord... or by the fact that he had casually sent someone flying into the harbor as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
Fortunately, Benya quickly pulled everyone's attention back before the conversation wandered any further.
"So? Tell us everything!"
Simon nodded before explaining how he had visited Blue Harbor during the Undead Exhibition, completed a commission there, and received the Overlord as a reward. He then revealed that the undead had been created using a Kraken as its base, prompting another wave of astonished expressions from everyone present.