Others Summon, I Forge Beast Armor

There were some hours left for the trials to end on Day 4, but Luke had so many points that he could afford to have an early rest. He was also cautious about staying too long until it got dark, given his experience the last time he got arrested by the Bureau.

He left the arcade zone after planting the non-corruption tree.

That tree was a guarantee there wouldn’t be any monster zones around that area, whether corrupted or not. Whenever a monster got close to the tree’s effect, it would feel repelled and leave.

Maybe high-tier monsters are strong enough to resist the tree’s charm, but Luke wasn’t sure of the exact tier of monsters he should keep in mind.

The city was a beehive around this time because a lot of people wanted to make it back home.

Monsters are more active at night, so getting behind closed doors as early as 6 PM was the smart thing to do.

Of course, there are some people who stay out later than that, but these people must be hunters, the Bureau, or generally anyone who was confident they could defend themselves if the need arose.

Luke ordered a cab, driving through these hubs until he returned to the academy.

He paid the driver well and got to his fortress as quickly as possible.

The darkening sky was a good friend to avoid any attention.

In the fortress, Luke decided to train more with the Olympian Serpent Bodyplate before he called it a day.

The armor was a strange one compared to the others. It didn’t have a clear and direct purpose like the Molten Triceratops Mask or the Bluespine Centaur Chestplate. The reason must be its Mythic standing.

The same way a Mythic-tier beast is stronger and more complex than an Ancient-tier beast, so too is Mythic-grade armor more involved than Ancient-grade armor.

The more Luke experimented with the Olympian Serpent Bodyplate, the more possibilities seemed to appear.

That made him think the armor’s true strength wasn’t any individual skill, but its versatility. It could adapt to almost any situation if he was creative enough. For Luke, that made it his most interesting armor yet.

The first thing he trained was plant manipulation mixed with his fighting.

Luke summoned Seraphina to help him train because he wanted her to take control of the dummies and make them fight with intent, not mindlessly. Seraphina hesitated because making the dummies react intelligently meant they could hurt Luke if he made a mistake, but she gave in and agreed after he reassured her that he could handle the risk.

The courtyard’s peace disappeared as Seraphina’s powers brought the dummies to life as she had done before.

This time they wouldn’t be fighting each other. Luke was the target.

Their joints creaked and adjusted to set the rest of their bodies upright. Soon, they were alive and aware of their surroundings, enabling them to arm themselves with the weapons lying around.

Meanwhile, Luke gripped his spear tighter and let thick, thorny vines sprout from his hands to wrap around the shaft because he wanted the plant growth to enhance his range and weapon control.

The courtyard became a battlefield shortly after.

One dummy charged first, swinging its wooden sword at Luke’s head, but Luke stepped aside and thrust his spear into its chest. The vines suddenly became tighter, then yanked the spear sideways, making the spear turn in midair and strike another dummy approaching from behind.

”Whoa...” Luke remarked with a dazzling grin as the spear came back to him.

These pointy vines he wrapped around the spearhead were like extensions for the spear, flexible and daresay more deadly.

It let him bend the path of his strikes mid-air and execute sharp, impossible turns far beyond what his spear’s normal affix allowed.

That is to say, the spear’s affix could only give the spear three additional turns, but the vines could force it to change direction again and again.

Back to the fight; two dummies attacked together in a pincer attack, one swinging high while the other went for Luke’s stomach.

Luke ducked beneath the sword of the first and called vines to shoot from the ground, wrapping around the second dummy’s legs before he drove his Hell Ape Gauntlet into its chest.

When a third dummy tried to flank him, Luke ducked and punched again with his gauntlet. But in this punch, he channeled some energy from the Olympian Serpent into the Hell Ape’s armor. Venomous energy. Corrosive and toxic.

This energy came out as a greenish gas after the punch.

CRUSHHH!

Seconds later, the dummy’s stomach area was dissolved as if a cannonball had passed through it.

Luke released another stream of venom that ate through the next attacker’s body, then kicked it away.

Finally, he spun around and launched his spear like a missile, using the vines attached to his wrist to jerk the weapon back after it impaled the remaining dummy and shattered it into splinters.

”No monster. No flame. No core. No points,” Luke said while pieces of the dummies covered the yard. ”Too bad.”

He had introduced his newest armor to the rest of the arsenal, unerring. He also mixed it with martial arts.

This bodyplate had turned Luke’s body into a walking hazard that could strike from multiple angles at the same time. The fact that he just shredded Serpahina’s enhanced puppets without taking a hit—no Bluespine Centaur Chestplate equipped—showed him that his combat and battlefield control had gotten to a better tier because of this armor.

The vines gave his spear more freedom, while the Olympian Serpent’s venom gave his punches another way to damage an opponent.

His motions had also become more unpredictable because he could attack with his weapon, fists, and nature at the same time.

But Luke had one more thing to test.

As said earlier, he doesn’t know how far the Olympian Serpent’s abilities go.

He must question, understand, and comprehend his Resonance with the Olympian Serpent because dexterity is earned.