Others Summon, I Forge Beast Armor

Raven didn’t bother hiding her disappointment with Luke.

She was thinking her brother was turning his life around, but this decision told her he was only deteriorating further.

”Whatever...” she sighed as their drone ascended. ”Now it’s up to Scarlett and me to make sure you don’t die.”

Unfortunately, she thought Scarlett was on her side.

Scarlett supported Luke because she understood his choice.

A spear fit him because he could launch it far with the strength of the Hell Ape Gauntlet. After all, you can’t punch with a sword in your hand.

”Let’s not argue,” Scarlett said. As the last team, they marked the end of the induction.

But the students left themselves waiting on the Grand Terrace when there was nothing left to be addressed.

The Trials had already begun.

Each day, they had 12 hours of battle to prove themselves, and the clock was already ticking for today.

Without Camilia, they would have stood there forever, waiting for the next briefing that wouldn’t come.

”What are we waiting for? Please, make use of the maps in your drones to find monster zones.”

Very quickly, everywhere became noisy. The sophomores couldn’t believe the Trials had already begun. Even their drones were live.

Most started checking the maps for gates or monster heat, eager to get into a fight, slay monsters, and prove themselves like true hunters.

”Look! There’s an active Beta-grade gate near the farms!” a team shouted excitedly.

But they should have kept that to themselves.

”Thank you for the heads-up,” another team said. ”Now you stay here, and we go clear it.”

”Thieves! We will get there first!”

”Doesn’t matter. We will get there second, beat you up, and toss you out!”

”Guys, there’s another active at—”

”Shut up, you fool! Do you want other teams stealing our game?!”

Information was power in the academy’s trials. If you didn’t know where monsters were, you wouldn’t get to fight anything. No fighting meant no points.

So, stealing another team’s discoveries was a recurring tactic, especially between stronger parties that preyed upon weaker ones to secure their own rankings.

”Silence!” one student roared. It was Borg, the strongest Greater summoner of their generation.

Everyone glanced his way to hear what he had to say.

”For anyone who owes me supplies, I want to be paid in a different form today.”

FWOOSH!

He pointed at a boy and a girl who had lost wagers to him.

”You two! You are going to scout for me. Every monster zone you find belongs to my team,” Borg commanded, sending shivers through their bones. ”And you, and you, and you! All of you are working for me today.”

He pointed to as many debtors as he could, locking down his prey like they were nothing but free labor.

Other students frowned at his ruthlessness, especially the stronger ones who thought he was being a jerk.

One student wasn’t going to stand for it.

Luke Kingsley.

”If you won a bet for supplies, then take the supplies and leave it at that, Borg,” Luke said, stepping forward without fear. ”Stop being an extortionist.”

Borg faked a laugh, slapping his knee.

”Luke Kingsley now, are we?

Look, bottlehead. I’ll give you one chance to shut your mouth before I make you shit your own casket.”

”...”

Luke tightened his jaw, and Borg chuckled as they faced off.

If a fight ensued between the two, it could be deadly since they were a hundred feet in the sky.

The weaker students hid behind stronger ones as they felt Aeon warp around Borg.

But a voice stopped the altercation before it escalated.

”Luke Kingsley is right. None of you should listen to that coward.”

Everyone turned to see Derek Cole. He was speaking to the class with his back turned, which amplified his presence. His black cape flowed over his uniform, while just a side of his face was visible.

”So I have spoken. Anyone who obeys that weasel will face a steeper punishment from me. My team is taking the gate near the farms. If any would contest, please step forward.”

Silence froze the Grand Terrace. Some students could even hear the wind whistling through their uniforms...

Since no one challenged him, Derek walked away, followed by his team.

Meanwhile, Luke and Borg were still standing, but Borg was hit the hardest, forced to swallow his words, and crushed by hierarchy.

”Nice speech, big guy,” Luke said, turning his back on him. ”Looks like there’s always a bigger snake in the grass.”

************

In New Florence, gates manifested at a rate of one every minute. That meant sixty gates opened every hour, each one trying to drag the world back into the apocalypse.

But sometimes, a gate would collapse on its own, or two nearby gates would merge together. That left about thirty stable gates every hour, all controlled by the Confederacy or the Bureau, depending on how dangerous.

With so many active guilds and hunting parties, thirty gates weren’t enough to go around. What happens when academy students are added to the competition?

Luke’s party got into Scarlett’s sports car, hoping to beat the rival teams to a gate near the mountains. Unfortunately, another team got there first because one of their members had a teleportation summon.

Vivian opened the map again to look for another gate, but every zone on the radar was occupied.

”I don’t like feeling like a savage chasing after gates,” Raven soliloquized from the back seat as she watched the city blur past the window.

”Is that so?” Scarlett asked, glancing at the rearview mirror. ”But you wanted to go as a duo. How were you planning to win the chase?”

”Yeah, Rave,” Vivian giggled. ”You don’t even know how to drive! You would’ve ended up asking one of our butlers for a ride!”

Luke smiled as the sisters bickered. He caught Raven’s eyes in the mirror too. Cyan with turquoise irises.

”See, Raven? Having a squad isn’t a weakness. It’s about being efficient and making smart decisions.”

”Fine, fine,” Raven said, waving her hand apathetically. ”But if driving around in circles isn’t working, why don’t we stop by a guild and ask for information instead of guessing?”

”That’s a good idea,” Scarlett replied as she accelerated onto the expressway. ”We can visit the Golden Dawn Guild. My grandfather founded it, so they’ll definitely help us.”