Luke and Ryan stood in the middle of the arena. Professor Kuiver officiated from the side while lots of students gathered to watch the fight.

Most of the students knew Ryan Razael was loud and always caused trouble, but they still believed he would win. After all, Luke only had a piece of armor on one hand.to defend himself. What was that against an actual beast?

"I almost feel bad for him," one noble from Class C laughed. "After Ryan beats him up, I’m going to challenge that failure too."

"Me too," another boy said with a grin. "There should be enough of the Duke’s son for all of us."

He then looked at the boy sitting nearby.

"What do you think, Prince Derek?"

Prince Derek didn’t laugh with them. He was seated with his legs crossed while the two boys were standing beside him like bodyguards. Nobody questioned why he stayed quiet. Just looking at him was enough to know he was someone important.

Elsewhere in the academy, Adrian and his circle were in the library. Somehow, Luke lived rent-free in their heads, distracting them from the books they were supposed to be studying.

"Did you see how he came to school late today?" Mark laughed. "He looked so messy and confused."

"Yeah. He probably went crazy after seeing his workshop burn to the ground."

"And don’t forget we trashed his room too. I wonder if that idiot has even found out yet."

Miquelon lowered his monocle and looked up from his book.

"Wait... if you guys trashed his room, where is he going to sleep tonight?"

The table suddenly became quiet. Everyone looked at Adrian, who was sitting with his legs resting on the desk.

"Where he sleeps isn’t my problem," Adrian said without a speck of care.

Just then, the doors opened, and Chloe rushed inside urgently. Everyone looked at her, yearning for what she had to say.

"You need to get to the arena right now!" she gasped. "Ryan Razael just challenged Luke!"

Adrian and Miquelon looked at each other in shock. Just a moment ago, they had been wondering what Luke was going to do next. Now he was already in the arena, ready to make a fool of himself.

They didn’t waste time hurrying out of the library and arriving at the arena just in time to see Luke and Ryan standing face to face, ready to fight.

At the same time, someone else had heard what was happening.

"Excuse me, Professor Kuiver. What’s going on?" a girl asked. It was Camilia, the academy’s new apprentice.

"Hello, Camilia," Professor Kuiver replied. "Student Ryan has challenged Student Luke. I already checked the wagers on both of their tokens, so the match has to happen. If Ryan wins, he will get all of Luke’s summoner supplies. That includes beast food, medicine, monster cores, and evolution crystals."

Several students gasped and started whispering to each other.

"But if Luke wins," Kuiver said, "he will get all of Ryan’s supplies, along with Ryan’s Combat Bracket."

He looked at both students.

"If there’s nothing else to discuss... summon!"

Camilia looked at Luke and Ryan, finally realizing how fast things were escalating. She hadn’t expected something like this to happen on her first day.

"Isn’t Luke Kingsley the Duke’s banished son?" she thought. "Then why is he fighting a Greater-tier summoner? If this weren’t the joint term, I would have stopped this before it even started."

Back in the middle of the arena, Ryan smiled.

"It’s over, Kingsley," he said as he raised both hands. "You will be crushed by my beast, the Imperial Lion, crowned in gold!"

FWOOOAH!

ROOOAAAR!!

The Imperial Lion let out a roar that echoed across the arena. Some of the weaker students, including Camilia, shivered from the pressure.

Everyone stared at the beast.

Firstly, a giant golden statue appeared.

Then the gold melted. As it melted away, the real beast was born. Out stepped a mystical lion with gleaming fur and unmatched divinity.

Luke gulped as the lion stared at him with those glowing white eyes. It was almost as big as the werewolf Godrick. But unlike Godrick, the Imperial Lion was covered in armor from head to toe.

Luke had no idea that summoners could equip their beasts with 100% defensive barding!

"My beast is something you’ll never have!" Ryan laughed proudly. "You should give up now and make him a new crown instead! Every spike on his crown stands for a battle he has won. As you can see... there are seventy of them."

"I guess that’s pretty impressive," Luke said, choosing not to comment on the armor. After all, it would be hypocritical since his own plan was to be fully clad one day.

He glanced at the crowd and spotted Vivian. She didn’t share his confidence. Only Scarlett did, because she had witnessed what he was capable of even while injured.

Luke faced Ryan again and summoned the Hell Ape Gauntlet, smoking with fantasy black heat.

He expected everyone to laugh at him like before, but they didn’t because most of the Rubverton students had never seen the gauntlet before, so they just stared at it in silence. Ryan broke the silence with more laughter.

"That glove isn’t enough, Luke! You know that!"

"You’re right," Luke replied. "It isn’t."

FWOOSSH!

As black as night, the Bluespine Centaur Chestplate spread across Luke while the Molten Triceratops Mask blemished his face, turning him into an enigma so eerie, none had ever witnessed.

Ryan’s smirk vanished completely.

"W-w-what on earth is that?"

Confusion traveled through the arena, hitting Adrian and his circle the hardest.

"Wait, he can wear more than one armor piece?" Miquelon asked.

Meanwhile, the others covered their mouths as if they had seen a ghost. Seeing how scared they looked only made Adrian more annoyed. He hated not knowing what was going on. His insecurity made him want to know everything.

"What is it? Why are you guys acting like that?"

"I-It’s Luke..." Chloe whispered.

"What about him?" Adrian demanded, his eyes glowing.

"Luke is the same guy who saved us back at the shopping mall," Jax answered. "We recognize the mask."

Adrian looked back at his half-brother, realizing things were not as simple as he thought. If Luke could summon more than just that glove, did that mean he could really wear a full set of beast armor one day?

Adrian gritted his teeth in anger. More than anything, he wanted to jump into the arena and kill his half-brother once and for all. But he couldn’t. The match had already begun.

"Begin!" Professor Kuiver shouted.

"Luke Kingsley!" Ryan yelled as he activated Echo without thinking. "You will be devoured by the Imperial Lion, king of beasts!

Comet Drill, Cesar!"

Luke put his teeth together and launched forward too, spirits evaporating from his body.

〖Purgatory Charge activated!〗

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