Others Summon, I Forge Beast Armor

Luke opened his eyes, expecting to see the white ceiling of the school clinic, but he saw a fan and a yellow ceiling instead.

He wasn’t in the clinic but back in Principal Claris’s fortress.

”It seems like I was passed out for about a day,” Luke thought as he noticed the light coming through the windows. ”Am I alone?”

Soon, something returned to the room. It was as tall as a human. It was Principal Claris’s summon, the Lotus Owl. Her name was Grace, and she was in her bigger form.

Grace had an intimidating presence, yet she somehow made you feel at ease. It was impossible not to respect her, even while she gave you an earful.

”Greetings, Luke. You’re awake,” the owl said as she bent down and tapped Luke on the forehead with her beak. ”You have endured much, young one, but take heart. The suffering is over.”

”Suffering?” Luke thought as he struggled to sit up.

First thing, his hand went to his shoulder, checking the place where Adrian had stabbed him with that strange thorn.

”Oh, it was,” Grace replied, using telekinesis to offer Luke a glass of water. ”A soul shock is the last thing a summoner of your level should experience. As the name suggests, it damages much more than just the flesh.”

”My soul?” Luke asked.

”Correct,” Grace confirmed. ”The weapon your attacker used is the spirit thorn. A conventional but crude tool...

...and also a very common one.”

Luke watched as she effortlessly brought one out of what seemed to be Principal Claris’s inventory. It looked like the proboscis of a mosquito with prismatic colors.

Luke reached out to touch it, but Grace pulled it away and let it disappear back into her feathers.

”It is a needle with a sap that goes into the soul, not just the flesh. The soul becomes unstable, and it can no longer channel Aeon properly.

Any summoned beast or... beast armor, in your case, is dismissed. After that, you can’t summon again for some time. Weakness comes, and dizziness follows. Some people don’t recover for months if the strike is deep.

In simple words, its purpose is to make the victim easy prey to be killed.”

Luke looked down at his palms. He couldn’t deny that he could still feel that shock in him. He felt disconnected from his soul.

”I could try summoning one armor piece to be sure,” Luke thought, ”but what if I can’t?”

He clenched his fists in anger. ”Adrian is responsible for this...”

This was exactly what his half-brother had always wanted. To make Luke useless. To make him nothing.

”Do not worry, Luke,” Grace said. ”My mistress made sure you received the best recovery possible. Your attacker’s plan failed. You can still summon.”

Luke caught something she said.

”Why do you call him my ’attacker’ when you know exactly who he is? His name is Adrian, my half-brother.”

Grace stroked her beak thoughtfully. ”I suppose—”

”And his plan wasn’t just to shock my soul,” Luke interrupted. ”Let’s be real. He wanted me dead. He tried to murder me in the library. What about Scarlett? Is she okay?”

”Miss Scarlett is alive and well,” Grace reassured. ”She stayed here while you slept, and she will return tonight. Her help also forced the academy to enact justice. Your brother did not go scot-free.”

”Justice?” Luke laughed. ”Yeah, right. You’re telling me the Duke’s heir was actually punished for what he did to me?”

”Of course, Luke!” Grace exclaimed, stopping him from getting too pessimistic. ”Do not speak so bitterly. You are not a nobody in this academy, and Adrian Kingsley does not own the world.

My mistress made sure he paid the price. He has been suspended, and three thousand points have been deducted from his total for this term.”

Luke’s jaw dangled on the floor. That was more than he expected.

Yes, a suspension and a point deduction were lenient for attempted murder, but they were severe for a Duke’s son—not to mention the heir.

Normally, a simple reprimand or maybe a one-day suspension would have been enough.

And the joint term had only just started. Only a few students like Luke had managed to earn any points so far. Adrian currently had zero.

What were they even deducting three thousand points from?

”Having a negative score this early will ruin his chances of becoming Dux,” Luke thought.

He was glad something bad had finally happened to his brother, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that this would come back to him one day.

”You should come outside and get some fresh air,” Grace suggested. ”After that, we will test your summoning.”

********

Meanwhile, in the Kingsley Estate, the night before...

Adrian arrived back inside his private ride. He didn’t look happy. In his hands was the suspension letter, and the humiliation was eating him alive. He forced himself to hide his rage so nobody would see how angry he really was.

”Foolish Principal. Foolish academy. They don’t even know who owns the city they live in,” Adrian thought, clenching his teeth. ”And Lucy Blackstone... you dare to interfere with my kill? I will make sure you pay for this a hundred times over. You will regret the day you stood in my way.”

He stepped out of the vehicle, trying to carry himself like royalty as he walked toward the palace. At the same time, he was already thinking about his next moves to fix his score and destroy his enemies.

As he got closer to the palace, something about the air around the estate felt different.

Adrian knew that feeling. He had used it on others before.

Boom!

Something landed where he had been standing, but luckily, Adrian sensed it in time and rolled away.

He looked up, expecting to see an enemy, but all he saw was Vivian’s summon, the Seraph Leaper.

”Vivian, you crazy bitch!” Adrian growled as he ducked and dived across the grass to escape the spells fired by the giant rabbit.

The spells exploded behind him, destroying the lawn.

He searched for his half-sister and found her standing at the other end of the courtyard, screaming commands at the rabbit.

”Kill him, Peaches!” Vivian screamed. She had completely lost it after finding out what Adrian had done.

But Adrian was far from fodder.

”Foolish girl,” he said as he summoned his beast. ”You think you can challenge me just because you’re angry?”

”Peaches, tear him apart! Winged Claws!” Vivian screamed back.

”Trying to avenge Luke, huh? I’ll show you! Cassiel, go!”

Adrian was a prodigy of the Kingsley family, and he knew it. That was why he fought back without hesitation.

The Golden Griffin, a chimerical beast, ranked Elder, leveled at 4.4, was a ferocious creature.

Recently, Vivian had raised her rabbit from 3.4 to 3.5, but that small improvement wasn’t enough to close the gap between them.

As the fight exploded in the estate, the only thing that kept her stalemate with her half-brother was the fact that she was out for his blood; meanwhile, Adrian wasn’t, but he didn’t mind making her bleed.