Chapter 50: I Am The Beast
Luke didn’t even have to think about it. Why be desperate to get a second gauntlet or a cuirass when he could get his first foot armor?
The Seven-Tusk Elephant was a beast that existed close to the time of the Primordials. It was so powerful that it once helped a god hold up a world on its back. Its full armor had three pieces: the Seven-Tusk Elephant Sabaton, the Seven-Tusk Elephant Body Plate, and the Seven-Tusk Elephant Mask.
With the foot armor, Luke would gain the abilities of the Ancient beast itself. Endless stamina? His. Control over gravity? His too. All at the cost of 330 Flame Points.
After forging 8,200 pieces for the insect army, Luke had 31,580 Flame left.
Now, 330 Flame was gone.
〖System Notification: Lucky Gacha!〗
〖Success! You forged a pair of armor instead of just one part!〗
Luke was distracted by the notification for just a second, and the Imperial Lion attacked him. His body was sent flying across the arena before crashing into a wall at the edge. Dust flew everywhere from the impact.
"He’s done for now!"
"I told you! You can’t fight a Greater beast with just a glove!" a Rubverton boy shouted as he jumped up from his seat.
"Damn, that crash looked painful. I hope he isn’t dead."
Over in Class C, the nobles laughed at what they saw.
"That’s what he gets for acting like he can fight. Hey, Adrian, looks like your brother will be sleeping in the clinic again."
Meanwhile, Ryan walked through the dust, already enjoying his premature victory.
"I told you, Luke Kingsley. You don’t have a beast, so you don’t deserve anything here. Not even mercy."
But Ryan’s smile disappeared when Luke stood up from the dust. He couldn’t even see him through all the smoke and dust if not for the glow of his visor.
"That’s what you don’t understand," Luke said, his voice deeper than thunder. "I am the beast."
"You’re still standing? Huh? Cesar, stop this nonsense!" Ryan shouted, trying to hide his anxiety.
Silence.
?!
"Huh...? Cesar...?"
There were many reasons why his beast could stop responding, but Ryan was already thinking about the worst.
He looked to his side.
The Imperial Lion was lying on the ground, pinned down by an invisible field, and forced to bow to Luke.
"What?! How are you doing that?! Cesar, I said attack!"
But the Imperial Lion couldn’t move.
Luke was controlling the gravity around its body, making it impossible for the beast to move even a muscle.
And he wasn’t finished.
Luke also pulled the Jetstream Centipede out from the lion’s armor and lifted it into the air. The little beast struggled and twisted around, but it couldn’t escape.
Splat! The centipede combusted, crushed by gravity once Luke squeezed his fist.
〖Flame: +5.0〗
"Luke is so awesome!" Vivian cried, hugging Scarlett.
Even Principal Claris, who was watching from the balcony, nodded in approval. Ryan was the only person far from entertained.
"He just killed my beast! Luke Kingsley broke the academy rules!" he shouted. "Why isn’t anyone doing anything?!"
But nobody listened to him. Ryan had cheated first by secretly bringing a second beast into the match. If you wanted people to treat you fairly, you had to play fair yourself.
"Ryan, join your beast and bow before me..." Luke said as he controlled the gravity around himself and started floating in the air. At that moment, he looked less like a student and more like a force of nature.
"I will never, you failure!"
"You have no choice..."
The gravity around Ryan suddenly became ten times stronger. The heir of the Razael family fell face-first into the dirt. He tried to fight against the pressure, but his body wouldn’t listen to him.
In the end, Ryan was forced to bow just like Luke had ordered.
Both academies watched in silence as dominance filled the arena. It lasted for seconds before Professor Kuiver confirmed that Ryan could no longer fight back.
"The winner of this match is Luke Kingsley!"
Luke ignored Ryan and called all his summons back, finally removing the pressure from everyone in the arena. Many students who had been struggling to breathe quickly sucked in air, while some who couldn’t handle the pressure collapsed to the ground.
Luke calmly walked off the stage while everyone watched him, but Camilia stopped him.
She was much shorter than tall girls like Scarlett.
"If you’re here to punish me for killing Ryan’s beast, I understand," Luke said. "I got a little carried away. I’ll accept whatever punishment you give me."
"No, I’m not here to punish you," Camilia replied. "Ryan Razael was the one who cheated first by using a second beast in a duel where only one summon was allowed. What you did is controversial, but you can defend yourself because of what he did."
Luke scratched his head.
"Then why did you stop me if I’m not in trouble?"
"I’m here to congratulate you on winning," Camilia answered. "I’m also here to help you swap your Combat Bracket with Ryan’s since it was part of the wager."
Luke nodded and followed Camilia out of the arena. The students moved aside to let them pass, leaving everyone behind with different expressions on their faces.
Luke knew that by showing this much power, he had broken the Principal’s most important rule: stay low. But he really had no choice. If he wanted to become stronger, he had to show some of his power eventually.
A few minutes later, Luke arrived at Camilia’s office, which was right next to Principal Claris’s office.
"Hey, this is actually a pretty big office for..." Luke started to say but changed his mind. "Apologies if that came out wrong."
"That’s fine," Camilia replied. "I know that since I’m new here, many of you might wonder if I’m actually fit for this job. But I hope I can change your minds by the end of this joint term."
"Well, if Claris personally picked you, she must have a very good reason."
"Yes, I guess..." Camilia agreed, but her voice became quieter. She found it strange that a student called the Principal by her first name, but she decided not to ask about it. She started getting the documents they needed.
"The bracket swap process starts with some paperwork that has to be sent to the right department. Once they approve it, they will use biomagic to transfer Ryan’s High Combat Bracket directly to your token."
"That sounds like a pretty complicated process," Luke said, nodding.
Camilia looked up at him and stared at his playboy face for a moment. It was hard for her to believe that this was the same Duke’s son she had heard about so many times when she was growing up. Almost every girl in New Florence had probably dreamed about Luke at least once or twice.
"If I may ask," she said, "why do you want a High Combat Bracket? I should remind you that you will now be competing against students like Rake Cooper, Ayn Blackjoy, and even Scarlett Trump."
Luke smiled as he looked around the office, taking his time to think of an answer.
Camilia was probably expecting him to give some big reason for wanting the High Combat Bracket, but Luke wasn’t sure how to explain it without sounding too ambitious. He glanced at the documents on her desk, then back at her before deciding to ask her a question of his own.
"If you had a combat summon, would you choose to stay in a low and safe bracket forever? Or would you choose the competitive one so you could fight the best?"
Camilia blushed at his clever reply, and suddenly the office felt a little smaller around them.
She decided to keep her answer to herself as she signed the documents. Then she took another piece of paper, wrote down her phone number, and handed both papers to Luke.
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A/N: Thanks for reading! Kindly support with powerstones and a review!