Chapter 201 – Vague Objective.

The arena fell silent as the last serpent dissolved into glittering specks of mana. The glow faded, leaving only the faint shimmer of Eldric’s flickering summoning circle. Before it stood Rusty, tall and unmoving, his halberd resting on one shoulder. He waited calmly, as if expecting another monster to appear for him to cut down.

“Th-that’s… impossible…”

Eldric staggered back, clutching the empty potion vial in his hand. His mana was completely drained, and the color had vanished from his face. He dropped to one knee, overcome by dizziness.

“You… you can’t have. There’s no way you can control something above E-rank!”

Gwen said nothing. Her pulse pounded in her ears, and her hands trembled from exhaustion. The summon she remembered from before had grown even stronger. Each time she called him forth, his rank seemed to rise for reasons she could not explain. She could barely contain him in this world after summoning so many lesser living armors. However, what surprised her most was that he seemed bored.

“Was that it? Are there any other enemies to defeat? Or should I slay that human?”

“N-no, please don’t!”

She shouted and quickly covered her mouth as she realized what she was doing. Communicating with her summon usually happened through their minds, but fortunately, the people around her were too busy being astonished by her victory to notice what she had said.

“Hmm… was that really it? No more opponents to fight?”

“I…”

Gwen didn’t know how to respond, as she wasn’t sure herself. Eldric seemed defeated, but the teacher had not yet dismissed the match. There was still a chance that another student might challenge her, since the one ranked above Eldric remained. For a moment, she glanced toward the stands and noticed something unusual. Aranea was gone.

‘Where did she go? Could it be?’

She wondered, careful not to let Rusty hear her thoughts this time. Even though the teacher finally declared her the winner, she could not calm herself. Then, to her surprise, Rusty spoke again.

“Is that my next opponent? She feels stronger than the other humans. This might be more interesting!”

Aranea had appeared in the dueling arena. Her gaze was not on Gwen but on Rusty. Without saying a word, she stepped onto the platform. The shield had already been deactivated after the teacher announced Gwen’s victory. To everyone’s surprise, Aranea strolled toward Rusty and began circling him.

“What is this human doing?”

Asked Rusty without moving. The pale girl continued to walk around him, her eyes shifting between wide and narrow. It seemed she was examining him, intrigued for some odd reason.

“Lady Venomridge… I apologize, I’ve lost…”

Aranea finally snapped out of her thoughts as Eldric approached with his head lowered. She looked surprised, as if she had already forgotten about the duel.

“Ah… thy efforts were commendable, Eldric, but Gwendolin Rainstar has earned her place at the front. From today, thee shall sit with Aldric.”

Gwendolyn was taken aback by the words she heard. She had expected Aranea to challenge her to another fight, but instead, Aranea accepted the result and willingly gave up the desk area Eldric had fought to defend. Aldric was the name of the other youth who had accompanied her, and it seemed she was content for both of them to sit together on the side closer to the entrance.

As Aranea turned to leave, the crowd erupted into hushed whispers. No one could understand what had just happened. Some had expected her to challenge Gwen to a fight to determine who was truly the mightiest summoner in B-class, but she showed no interest in doing so. Instead, the pale girl simply walked away, her eyes almost sparkling as she kept glancing at Rusty’s metal frame.

“Haha, I knew you could do it! Waiting until the last moment to reveal your true power was diabolical!”

Astrella appeared just as Aranea was leaving and approached her confused friend. Gwen still stood frozen in place, her mind swirling with disbelief and shock.

“Diabolical? That wasn’t the plan…”

“No need to be shy now, you won fair and square. And Rusty was it? Great to see you again!”

Astrella smiled at Rusty, who was still standing in the ring like a lost child. Soon, the two girls began laughing and jumping with excitement while he remained still, looking around in confusion.

*****

‘That couldn’t have been it, right?’

Rusty had won his duel, but the outcome left him completely puzzled. He had expected a series of matches to follow his first victory, yet it seemed that was not the purpose of this mission. There appeared to be no more battles to fight, and before he could make sense of it, the teacher’s voice echoed through the arena.

“Gwendolin Rainstar, please vacate the premises. Other students are still waiting for their seating duels.”

At this point, he was no longer sure what to do. Perhaps new challenges awaited him elsewhere, so for the moment, he decided to go over to his summoner. The rules of summoning missions were clear: if his summoner died, he would fail the mission. He also had to remain within a certain distance of Gwen; otherwise his body would vanish, and he did not know if she could call him back once he was gone.

Rusty shifted his weight, his halberd resting casually on his shoulder, and took a step toward Gwen. The two girls turned to look at him as he approached. He intended to step down from the platform, but as soon as he tried, something felt wrong. His metal boot began to shift, and the mana holding it in place trembled as if it were trying to tear him apart. He jumped back instinctively, as though under attack, and raised his halberd.

“Uh… Gwen?”

He called, tilting his head.

“Why can’t I move forward?”

Gwen’s eyes widened as she saw Rusty trying to leave the platform.

“Oh, that must be because of the magical wards around the chamber. Your mana density is probably too high for them to let you through.”

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“For me to pass through? Mana density? What do you mean?”

He was deeply confused by what was happening, but he could tell that if he stepped out of the circle, his body would dissolve into mana particles and he would likely fail his mission.

“Gwendolin, you look a bit paler than usual. Wouldn’t it be best to release the summoning?”

“I…”

Gwendolin looked at Rusty with a tired gaze. It was clear that she was unsure of what to do.

“Isn’t there any other way?”

She asked, turning to Astrella.

The green-haired girl raised her eyebrow and replied in a surprised tone.

“Another way? I’m not sure. The only other option would be summon reduction, just like I use with Airy here.”

Airy, the small fairy, hovered around Astrella with a bright smile on her face. Rusty did not fully understand what the fairy-elf-human meant, but he could tell that this fairy was much weaker than the one who had cast supportive spells on him during the last exam he participated in.

“Summon reduction…”

Gwendolin whispered.

“That technique allows a summoner to shrink their creature’s body and lower its mana density so it can exist within the boundaries set by the school.”