Others Summon, I Forge Beast Armor

While the students received their tokens, trouble found Luke.

”Why even bother taking a token, Luke Kingsley? Without a beast, aren’t you going to decorate the bottom of the rankings? Save yourself the embarrassment!”

As usual, Luke ignored buffoons. He focused on his token syncing with his identity.

But the guy kept poking his back with the tip of a pen. His pals whispered and giggled, making a scene.

”There’s no place to hide, Luke Kingsley! We have arrived!”

”The VP has authorized challenges! Let’s see how brittle our Duke’s son really is!”

The instigator leaned forward, his hot breath romancing Luke’s neck.

”The second we leave this orientation hall, I am going to school you. Really. Really. Bad.”

Luke didn’t even have to swat the fly behind him because his Amazon of a sister crushed it first.

”If you open your dog mouth one more time in my presence, I will make sure you never speak again.”

First came the confusion, then the anger. The guy processed the weight of her threats and the ice in her eyes, but still had to save face in front of his friends.

”Careful, Lady Vivian, or I will challenge you too! Don’t think being a girl protects you from a beatdown.”

”Bwahahhahahahahahahah! Oh, please do it!” Vivian laughed, her mockery as striking as her beauty. ”I’ll tell your kin to buy a coffin in advance.”

The bully was left speechless. Vivian was ready to continue, but Luke stopped her. She had reminded everyone that the Kingsley family stood united no matter what.

Back to the stage, Principal Claris ascended again.

”Now that the foundation is set, I introduce to you my new assistant, Camilia,” she announced, presenting the blonde girl beside her.

Camilia offered herself to the crowd as students clapped.

Meanwhile, many boys were licking their lips. Camilia did not belong to Montclair or Rubverton. This made her feel untouchable, and boys love a challenge.

”Camilia hails from Lumina El Caria Academy,” Principal Claris added. ”Moving forward, she will serve as my successor and become the next Principal of Montclair Academy when my own term concludes.”

[Principal Claris’s POV:]

I got ready for the worst as the words left my mouth, knowing they might cause chaos.

These boys and girls belong to the top two academies. They have big egos and drive, years of hard work backing them up. Throwing an outsider into the mix was, in some sense, an insult.

But the issue was Camilia. Yes, she’s the smartest in the room, but she’s just a commoner, and she’s their age mate, making her the youngest to touch this position.

These students are never going to accept her looking down on them from the top. Would you take orders from someone you think you can beat in a fight?

The announcement dropped like a stone into a still pool, triggering the exact reaction I had anticipated.

They all rejected the news.

The auditorium became a storm of protests.

[POV END]

”Hey! Is this a joke? We won’t have that girl ruling over us!”

”No way! We refuse!”

”Silence!” Principal Claris boomed. ”I understand your fears, but Camilia is only serving as an apprentice for now under my supervision. I will remain the Principal until it is time to step down. And don’t be so classist, young people! Even I didn’t graduate from Montclair nor Rubverton’s!”

Principal Claris couldn’t be more right.

In New Florence, there were five academies.

Three were combat academies: Montclair, Rubverton, and New Florence Public Academy. These schools catered to summoners with combat-inclined summons.

The other two were non-combat: Lumina El Caria and Margaery Trump’s Public Academy, catering to summoners with auxiliary summons.

The tradition was that the top students from Lumina El Caria became administrators. For example, they served as principals for the combat academies because they possessed superior strategic minds and organizational skills.

On the flip side, the best combat students went on to become hunters for the Confederacy.

Camilia had earned her spot with a CGPA of 98.98.

Her scores were just as flawless as her smile. She appeared unaffected by their disapproval.

”I am very glad and honored to be here,” Camilia said, trying to act the role already. ”Learning directly under the Principal is a big opportunity, and I intend to do my part to make sure this joint term is a complete success.”

”We must remember that while a healthy rivalry pushes us forward, we’re all on the same side when it comes to protecting the world. Let’s keep the fights inside the arenas where they belong and focus on improving ourselves. Let us use this term to build bridges, not burn them.”

The crowd grumbled. In his seat, Luke doubted anyone would take her seriously. The discord was already too deep for an outsider to fix with standard advice.

Looking at Vivian, he noticed she was staring at the stage without blinking.

”Don’t you like the new girl?” he asked.

”No,” Vivian answered. ”I have a strong feeling she’ll cause trouble.”

Meanwhile, Camilia finished her speech, ending with, ”Any questions?”

Immediately, a Rubverton student raised his hand. ”Will you be learning with us or tutoring us?”

”Neither. I am only here to assist managerially and oversee the administrative tracking of your points,” Camilia answered.

She thought the student was done, but he pressed on. His plan was to humiliate her.

”So you’re just here to spy on us? Gather knowledge on how to fight since your petty academy didn’t teach you anything useful about real battle? Isn’t that a bit shameless?”

”PETTY?!”

Camilia’s face turned redder than chilli.

”Hey! Sit down if you don’t have anything reasonable to ask!” she yelled.

Silence claimed the auditorium again. This time, it was because of the future Principal.

Camilia realized her mistake. Her eyes nervously checked the faces of the Principal and Vice Principal because she was desperate to please them.

Even though she was the best student, her spot was not permanent. This apprenticeship was an evaluation to see if she was truly fit for the mantle. If she slipped up, the next student in line would replace her.

”I mustn’t do that again,” Camilia told herself, correcting her tone and forcing a smile.

”If there are one or two things I can learn about combat while managing this term, so be it. But I won’t be sitting in any classroom.

Speaking of classrooms, there won’t be one classroom for everyone. You have been divided into: Class A, Class B, and Class C. You can see your assigned class and seat number engraved on your tokens.”

Everyone glanced at the tokens to see where they landed for the start of the joint term.

”Luke, I got A,” Vivian said. ”What about you?”