Everyone stared upward. Every summoner, every beast, even the raging Bartholomew froze, because atop the broken battlement, lightly panting and covered in dirt, stood Syber. In his hand, held casually over his shoulder as if he had just finished a morning jog, was the B2 flag.

  “Huh?”

  Bartholomew’s voice cracked.

  “What…?”

  The young bearish man looked bewildered. He had just managed to seize the flag belonging to the B1 class, yet the one that was supposed to remain at his own stronghold was now here. That meant they were about to lose this fight and that his classmates had failed him.

  “Useless. Why is everyone so useless?

  He shouted again and then pointed at Syber with the B1 flag he was holding.

  “Do not think you have won. As long as I have this flag, victory will be mine!”

  Bartholomew shouted in anger and urged his Bear-Wolf toward Syber. The rules were clear. The competition would end only when both flags were placed in the designated holes. As long as he held the B1 flag, he still had a chance to salvage the situation.

  “That flag. Give it to me!”

  Syber did not move. He simply stood atop the shattered battlement while the wind tore at his bestial coat. His current form was a fusion of human and tiger, a form he disliked showing to others. Yet this time, he had chosen to use the power that some people despised.

  “Syber! Watch out!”

  Astrella and Gwen, along with Rusty, saw the massive Bear Wolf charging toward their friend. Rusty sprinted after it, and even though he was faster, there was no time to reach Syber. Gwen followed close behind to widen the summoner range, but it still was not enough.

  “Give. That. To. ME!”

  Bartholomew roared and forced more mana into the Mind Merger until the Bear Wolf beneath him trembled from the overload. Its veins bulged with a luminous crimson glow, and its claws cracked the stone as it barreled forward.

  Syber did not flinch and, for some reason, he remained pressed against the battlement. As the Bear-Wolf lunged upward to strike him, he looked almost relaxed. Dust burst into the air as a sudden collision shook the area. The students froze. Some shouted when they realized what had happened.

  “That is…”

  Gwen pointed, and Rusty stopped beside her. Both of them watched the massive Bear-Wolf fly backward as it crashed into a creature of similar size. This one was a dark purple spider with its own rider clinging to its back.

  “It is Aranea!”

  Astrella shouted as the enormous spider met the Bear-Wolf in midair. It looked as if Syber and Aranea had planned the ambush together and that she had been waiting behind him for the perfect opening. The Bear-Wolf still outweighed the armored arachnid, but when Aranea unleashed a second attack in the form of a concentrated beam, the monster finally staggered.

  “This might be my chance…”

  Rusty had continued charging forward and reached the spot where the Bear Wolf and its master had landed. The spider’s attack had created a rare opportunity. The creature struggled against the beam's force and was forced to stand on its hind legs to shield its rider.

  “I can see the underbelly. It is completely unarmored!”

  Bartholomew urged his mount to its feet, raising its massive paws to guard against the onslaught. In doing so, he failed to notice the living armor racing toward him from behind. Rusty’s halberd crackled with power as twilight energy swirled around him. He hurled himself forward with every bit of strength he had. Just as the spider’s beam weakened and the Bear-Wolf began to recover, Rusty drove his halberd forward with all his might.

  The blade sank deep. A wet crack split the air as the halberd’s enchanted edge tore through the unarmored underbelly of the Bear Wolf. For an instant, time seemed to stop while Bartholomew’s eyes widened in horror. His connection to the beast ran deep, and when the blade entered, he felt every moment of its agony.

  “No!”

  The Mind Merger snapped as the pain flooded his mind. Rusty’s thrust drove upward, gutting the Bear Wolf like a fish and inflicting even more damage. Particles of mana escaped from the enormous gash and Bartholomew’s gaze twisted unnaturally. His mount struck the ground with a heavy thud a heartbeat later, and Bartholomew tumbled from its back, hitting the dirt while clutching his head.

  The Bear Wolf convulsed. Its form began to unravel as mana poured from the fatal wound Rusty had opened. Within moments, the once towering creature collapsed and dissolved into fading streams of light.

  ‘Is this the downside of his skill?’

  Bartholomew, who had been loud and boastful only moments before, now writhed on the ground. His hands gripped his skull as if trapped in a raging migraine. His words had turned into meaningless noise, but Rusty paid him no mind. Instead, he looked to the flag that had fallen beside his armored boots.

  He picked it up and hurled it forward. Syber caught it and sprinted back toward the flag area. He had already placed the B2 flag into one of the slots. The moment Rusty threw the B1 flag, the tiger blooded youth lunged ahead. He snatched the pole cleanly out of the air with one swift motion, dropped to a knee, and drove the flag into the correct place without hesitation.

  “No, stop him!”

  One of the stunned B2 students cried out, but it was already too late. Everyone had been so focused on Bartholomew’s downfall that they forgot the competition was still underway. The moment taught Rusty a valuable lesson, revealing how quickly troops could falter once their commander fell.

  Both flags were now secured in their proper positions, and the mechanism holding them was activated. A strange triple chime echoed across the battlefield. It was loud enough to reach the students still fighting in the forest, and they immediately stopped. Everyone understood that the battle had ended.

  “We won?”

  Gwen asked in a surprised tone.

  “Of course, we won. We had the metal maiden with us.”

  Astrella replied, teasing her friend. Gwen blushed when one of her titles was mentioned. Syber dissolved the summon fusion shortly afterward and appeared from behind, which prompted Astrella to speak to him.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “I suppose you helped too.”

  “...”

  Syber said nothing. His eyebrows twitched with irritation, but he managed to hold his anger in check. He had fulfilled the mission planned by Rusty. While Aranea and the others kept the enemy occupied, he slipped into the opposing stronghold to retrieve the flag. Class B2 was mostly unaware of his D rank battle power and focused much more on Aranea and her spider.

  The plan was simple but effective. They left a smaller number of troops along with their supposedly strongest fighter and tricked Class B2 into focusing all their attention on her. The enemy believed that if the armored spider could be stopped, the entire B1 class would collapse. That did not happen and it was their overconfident leader who suffered defeat.

  ‘Perhaps if he had other people to help him, the result would have been different.’

  Rusty stood there and looked at the young summoners. Half of them had their heads lowered in defeat, while others were cheering. He even saw tears running down the face of one of the humanoids. This strange competition seemed to matter a great deal to them. He did not understand why they cared so much about status or about being accepted by others, since he focused mostly on his own personal growth.

  To him, striving for others’ acceptance made little sense, but he was beginning to understand the value of bonds between people. The world felt more interesting when it was shared. At first, it had been only him and Gleam, but now Gwen was starting to make her way into his metallic heart. He was not sure how long their relationship would last, yet for now it felt stable, even if he sensed that change might come soon.

  The moment the competition ended, this system message appeared before him. At the same time, everyone in the vicinity began to glow. It was the same spell that protected them from being killed, but now it simply pulled them back to the Academy.

  “There they are.”

  “B1 actually won. That is surprising.”

  “It must be because of that Metal Maiden. Her summon is incredibly strong.”

  As the remaining students from B1 and B2 appeared outside, they were greeted by voices from both sides. The overhead orbs displayed scenes from their previous battles. There was no scoreboard for individual kills, but there was some type of ranking that showed which class had performed better. Rusty did not understand exactly how it worked, yet their number was three times higher than the other, which suggested they had done exceptionally well.

  “It is astonishing how fast they finished this competition. I expected them to keep fighting for at least another hour.”

  “It really shows the difference in talent between them.”

  More upperclassmen whispered among themselves while the students from B1 stood proudly, smiling. Their teacher approached them to congratulate them as all of them appeared at the teleportation gate they had entered through. Even though they had been victorious, his expression did not change much, but a faint smirk was still visible.

  “All of you did well. You are free to rest, your credit will be calculated later, and as always, you will have the next two days free to recover.”

  Everyone from B1 cheered as they had earned a reprieve. On the other hand, the chubby teacher from B2 looked furious. He was not good at hiding his disappointment, and instead of a reprieve, he already had more work for B2 in mind.

  “I’m disappointed in you all.”

  The chubby instructor snarled as he raised his voice for the others to hear.

  “Extra drills. Two hours. No excuses.”

  Groans spread throughout the B2 ranks. A few glared at Bartholomew as he still sat hunched over, clutching his head, while others looked away, bitter and ashamed. Their teacher’s words stung, but they knew they could not say anything back. They had lost this time, but as long as they recovered in the future, they could still make up for their failure.

  “Take him to the healers.”

  Harold spoke as Bartholomew remained under the side effects of the mind merger. As the losers retreated, the B1 class celebrated. Astrella was overjoyed, and even Eldric and Aldric had nothing negative to say about Gwen’s performance. It seemed that her class had begun to accept her, and for Rusty, that meant his mission was complete and successful. Soon his body began to shimmer as it started to disappear. The forces that kept him in this place were fading, and he was returning to the Soul Forge.

  “Rusty?”

  Gwen reacted slowly at first, but as his summoner, she felt that something was different. They had spent a whole week together, and their connection had grown. He had never been summoned away, so she understood that something was wrong, and she instantly ran up to him.

  “I have to go now, Gwen. Take care of yourself.”

  “N-no wait, why are you leaving? Just stay here with me, I still need you.”

  Although Gwen had managed to overcome some of her major deficiencies, she was still not fully self-sufficient or confident in her competence. In her eyes, her success was tied closely to Rusty and his overwhelming presence.

  “Well, I will be sure to come back, so until then, just get stronger and do not worry, you will, I will guarantee it!”

  Rusty presented her with a thumbs up, a motion he had learned from the humanoids. He was not lying, since he knew that once he returned to the summoning chamber, he would be able to increase her stats and strengthen her summons. Even though she would not be as strong as before, it would likely be enough for her to remain in B class.

  “W-wait… I…”

  For a moment, it looked like Gwen would cry and start begging for him to stay, but she stopped herself from speaking. Her bottom lip quivered for a moment before she seemed to come to some kind of revelation.

  “I… I’ll wait for you, I’ll be stronger next time, so be sure to come back!”

  The quivering of her lip lingered only a moment longer before her expression steadied. He was not sure how to describe it, but some of the uncertainty in her eyes had vanished and had been replaced by something new. It was not an expression she had worn before meeting him. It was clear that this young girl had slowly begun to change.

  “Good. Grow strong, Gwen. I know that you can.”

  His silhouette grew transparent. The academy, the cheering students, and Gwen’s trembling hands blurred before him as the world turned bright. It did not take long before he found himself back inside the summoning chamber.

  “That was quite something.”

  He spoke as he took in the silence. The Soul Forge was devoid of chatter. For the past week, he had been forced to endure constant babbling, so he enjoyed the quiet, although not for long.

  “Rusty, you’re back.”

  Alexander’s light appeared first as he greeted him, and not far behind was Aburdon.

  “I don’t think that girl has the ability. We should replace her with another summoner before it is too late.”

  Aburdon did not seem to like Gwen’s performance and, just as many times before, he and Alexander began to argue.

  As the two bickered, he examined his rewards. The enchantments he received were different and unfamiliar. The number of experience talismans had also increased, and one was even of a higher rank. However, this was not the end. There was another window he was waiting to appear.

  “Oh?”

  He expected the first window to appear, but not the second. He quickly moved toward the console to look through the shop. He wished to reinforce Gwen’s summoning repertoire with these coins, but he had underestimated how many he had received.

  Just as before, when he opened the shop, he was given the option to allow Gwen to summon additional monsters, but this was not the only possibility. A new section of the shop had opened, one that affected him rather than his summoner.