Chapter 59: Summoning Theory
Back at Principal Claris’s fortress, Luke walked out into the courtyard. It was bright and tidy. The grass was well-groomed, and some training equipment, including dummies and crosshairs, was set to one side.
Luke wondered if Principal Claris had ever trained other students here, and whether they had used this courtyard the same way he was about to.
She had only been the Principal for around six years. During all that time, Luke had not heard of her taking another student under her wing besides him.
"Grace, do the Vice Principal and the Dean have scholars too?" Luke asked as he sat down on a stool.
"They do," Grace replied. "But only seniors. For now, neither of them has a sophomore under their study. Interestingly, my mistress has never accepted a disciple until now."
Luke shrugged. He knew Grace was teasing him. As Principal Claris’s companion, she knew exactly why Luke was the exception.
"How come Claris can keep you summoned even when she’s so far away?" Luke asked, rubbing his chin. "Professor Mary said distance weakens the tether between a summoner and their beast. But without Claris here, you don’t seem affected at all."
Grace took her time answering. Her feathers streamed as she moonwalked across the courtyard.
"That is because my mistress possesses a powerful tether," Grace explained. "She is a Level 150 summoner. What your class studies as theory is simply everyday life for her."
Luke kept rubbing his chin.
"If she got stabbed by the spirit thorn, would it affect her the same way it affected me? Or is she strong enough to resist it?"
"Hoot... Most certainly not. Hoot..." Grace replied with amused hoots. "Her level is part of the reason, but the answer lies with her soul. You possess a D-rank soul. Your Principal possesses an S-rank soul."
FWOOSH!
The owl swept one wing through the air like a teacher pointing at a board.
"A weapon far stronger than an ordinary spirit thorn would be needed to shock her soul."
A look of surprise flashed across Luke’s face, and he asked, "So there are even stronger soul weapons out there?"
"There is always a higher mountain," he murmured to himself. "If a spirit thorn disables a rookie summoner, then the stronger soul weapons must be rarer... and more dangerous. I will have to be careful in the future."
"I am pleased you understand," Grace said with a nod. "Now, enough talking. Try summoning your armor. Let us see the results. And remember. If you can achieve so much with only a D-rank soul, imagine what awaits you at the level of my mistress."
Luke nodded and closed his eyes. He focused, and one by one, his armor pieces appeared. The gauntlet, chestplate, mask, and sabatons formed around his body automatically.
Feeling more confident, Luke decided to push things a little further.
He had never tried wearing a Mythic-grade armor piece before, so he attempted to summon the Dark Dragonlord Wing Guards.
An armor of that fashion could give him flight.
However—
〖System Notification: Unable to equip. This Mythic-grade armor exceeds your soul’s load limit.〗
"Damn it... So I really can’t wear it yet," Luke thought. "It looks like one Mythic-grade armor piece is about as heavy as three Ancient-grade put together. My soul just can’t carry that kind of weight yet."
Meanwhile, Grace watched Luke from where she stood. A skill called Holistic Gaze, similar to All-Seeing Eye, let her study every armor he was wearing.
"Now, move your body," Grace instructed. "Test your balance. Make sure you do not suffer from bluefoot."
"Alright, watch this," Luke said with a grin as he turned toward one of the mannequins.
He clenched his fist back and then burst forward with Purgatory Charge, grabbing the mannequin by the neck and throwing it into the air.
Luke followed after it, leaping into the air and attacking it with punches and kicks. The poor thing crashed back to the ground, while Luke floated down using his new foot armor to control his descent.
His feet touched the grass.
Adrian’s plan had failed. He could still summon.
After forging all the armor for the Insect Army, Luke was confident he could start trying out new blueprints for himself. What should he forge after the Seven-Tusk Elephant Sabatons? He still had plenty of Flame left.
Without warning, Grace suddenly flew right up to his face, staring at his mask with her unsettling owl eyes.
"Whoa!"
Luke jumped in surprise and lost his footing, landing on his back. He hadn’t registered anything close as a threat, which was why his guard had been down.
Meanwhile, Grace flapped her wings and flew away just as quickly as she had come.
"Fascinating, your summoning theory is, Luke Kingsley," she said. "You summon lifeless objects, yet they feel alive. Multiple pieces instead of one. The souls of beasts, but not their flesh. Tell me... why armor?"
Luke sat up on the grass, rubbing his lower back while staring at the beautiful owl in awe as she spread her wings.
Her pink feathers were so large they nearly reached both sides of the courtyard. A rosy aura also leaked from them, turning the courtyard into a field of flowers blossoming in peace and quiet.
It was one of Grace’s abilities, named Silent Classroom, which allowed Grace to emit tranquility that improved concentration, making it easy to learn and think.
Luke got to his feet in the meadow, his mind feeling three times clearer, but his attention stayed on Grace. She looked excited, yet solicitous. Some beasts just had different ways of expressing themselves.
"Of all the summoning theories, yours is by far the most unique," Grace continued, rubbing her chin as she walked through the field of flowers.
What was a summoning theory?
Simply put, it referred to what a person summoned.
In this world, the dominant theory was that 99.9% of humans were limited to summoning living beasts or humanoid creatures.
But that wasn’t the only possibility.
"You used the word theories," Luke pointed out. "Does that mean there are others?"
"Yes, but rare," Grace replied, pointing at his beast armor as her first example. "There are also beast food summoners and beast potion summoners. Then there are some in theory like beast weapon summoners, and beast tool summoners."
Luke couldn’t believe his ears.
It really put the world’s summoning system into perspective. Almost everything still revolved around beasts, just in different forms.
While he liked the idea of a beast weapon or beast potion summoner, he couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for those who could only summon beast food.