Heroine Creation: All My Summons Are Custom Made

By the time the fifth challenge of the Inter-Class Competitions came along, Lancet was the main talk of the occasion. Everyone had an opinion on whether or not it was fair that he was using legendary heroines who were far more powerful than others to win the challenges.

It only got worse after the fifth challenge, when Lancet completely disassembled the entire Multi-Room Trial Gauntlets.

In the areas that were dense with beasts, he used Thor for protection. Clearly, in his roster, the Valkyrie Captain was his vanguard.

When a horde of stone-golems and tempered iron constructs barred the path, she didn’t bother with defensive maneuvering; she simply bulldozed through them, shattering their physical forms with single strikes, ignoring structural weight limits that pinned other students to the floor.

Lancet walked right behind her, hands in his pockets for most of the challenge.

In the anti-magic zones, where the suppression fields drained most students of their stamina and forced them to crawl agonizingly, Astensia used her Ironwill to walk through the suppression fields, carrying Lancet over her shoulder while the rest of Summoner-D held on to her legs as she dragged them out of the zones.

For the puzzle mechanisms and rescue conditions, Spectra bypassed the standard trial-and-error logic entirely. She called forth a swarm of Demons. The winged, clawed, and horned beasts, acting under her will, simultaneously triggered multiple pressure plates, scouted hidden pathways, and overwhelmed the room’s mechanics through sheer numbers and perfect synchronization.

They cleared the complex conditions in seconds.

By the time they reached the final corridor, Lancet was finished. He stood at the exit, standing victorious, while the other Class Groups were still struggling at the first checkpoint, completely dusted and humiliated by a competitor that barely had to do anything at all.

Lancet was proving to be the best example of why everyone in the Awakener Supreme hated Summoners.

Summoners barely did anything but yell out orders, and their Summons did all the work. It was especially worse in Lancet’s case because his Summons were way too overpowered.

And he was making the Academy’s revered competitions look like a cakewalk because of it.

Everyone was talking about it. Even some of the administrators brought up this complaint. But others, including Ordenance Tellment, the Academy’s Dean, quickly came to Lancet’s defense.

Ordenance pointed out that regardless of how powerful Astensia, Thor or even Spectra were, they were still Lancet’s Summons. It would be wrong for them to deny him of using his Summons just because of how powerful they were.

In his words: ”Many Summoners have extremely powerful Summons. Are we to punish the boy simply because he has the most powerful of all?”

And: ”What of Renan Falconhart? Do we tell him to stop using his powers because he’s ranked much higher compared to others?”

Ordenance’s argument was unbeatable. Even Headmistress Danistasia ultimately agreed and the matter of Lancet’s overpowered Heroines wasn’t brought up any more.

However, the matter of using a villainess and Demons, in a place where they trained to fight against villainy and Demons was a graver one. The administrators could not simply let that go on, and despite Dean Ordenance’s attempts to get them to have an open mind, they refused to let the matter rest.

Danistasia was also against it and was pleased when the administrators gave her the go ahead order to summon Lancet Leogardt and relay to him their decision regarding the use of the Mother of Demons inside academy grounds.

The office door barely made any noise when Lancet opened it. Peeking inside, he pushed the door wider and stepped into a space so polished and deliberate.

The Headmistress’s office was nothing like the loud, trophy-filled chambers he might have expected from a school built around strength and prestige. The room was like a blade, elegant and beautiful only because every curve had a purpose.

Dark polished wood lined the lower walls, while the upper half of the room rose into tall, pale stone shot through with silver veins that caught the light from the hanging crystal lamps. A large window dominated the far wall, overlooking the Academy grounds from a height that made everything below look small and manageable.

It wasn’t a cozy room, and it wasn’t exactly welcoming either. It was functional and very imposing.

Like the office of a woman who never wasted motion.

Lancet looked ahead and saw Danistasia standing with her back to him, looking out through the glass as though the entire Academy were something she could measure by sight alone.

Her posture was perfect, straight as a ruler, her long silver-blue hair falling down her back with immaculate order. Even from behind, she carried the sort of controlled stillness that made Lancet think of winter seas and sharpened ice—beautiful from a distance, lethal up close.

By the desk stood Dean Ordenance, arms folded across his chest, broad and severe and silent in the way of a man who had already decided where he stood on whatever issue had brought Lancet here.

The moment he entered, both of them acknowledged his presence without actually turning.

Danistasia’s voice came first, cool and level.

”Take a seat.”

Lancet obeyed, lowering himself into the chair opposite her desk with more stiffness than he would have liked. His eyes flicked around the office before he could stop himself.

He noticed things immediately—small, strange, personal things tucked away in a room that otherwise looked built for authority.

A few books on thaumaturgic law and combat strategy, of course. A set of glass paperweights shaped like frozen petals. A narrow cabinet with locked drawers and neatly stacked sealed files. A porcelain tea set that looked untouched. A framed commendation that had been placed, not proudly displayed, but precisely centered as if even sentiment here had to be arranged with discipline.

More interesting was the Glacian Sword hanging by the far left wall. It was a legendary blade that was used by Lord Frost a hundred years ago. Seeing that sword, Lancet was almost enchanted. He wanted it.

And he had already formulated an idea of how to get it.

Lancet settled his hands on his knees and tried not to look too obviously nervous while Danistasia continued watching the Academy grounds through the window.

”Quiet the tournament you’re having, huh?” she said at last, still not looking at him. ”Mr Leogardt?”

Lancet took a deep breath. ”Just doing my best, ma’am.”

”But you’re not really doing that, are you?” Danistasia turned finally, her cold blue eyes locking with Lancet’s. Lancet froze, almost jerking a little, staring at her angular, pale face. Those cheekbones were like arrow heads.

”In fact,” Danistasia catwalked, hips swaying enchantingly. She placed her hands on the desk and leaned over, her dark crown creaking, and her cleavage spilling low and forcing Lancet to fight the great fight of maintaining eye contact.

”...You’ve barely done anything at all,” she finished. ”All you’ve accomplished in this competition is because of your legendary Heroines.”

She tilted her head, a phantom of a smile on her lips. ”Is that not true?”

Lancet gulped.