Chapter 40

“Leo is surprisingly persistent.”

“I’m glad we’re in the same class.”

Nella stuck out her tongue while watching the match on the magical screen from the spectator seats, and Iliana shuddered.

The students from the Department of Summoning, worn out by Warden, were merely easy prey for Leo.

“That’s right! Good job! Leo oppa! Crush them all!”

“Go, Leo! Do you know how much money I bet on you?”

Chelsea, who was the angriest about the group lynching, jumped up and down, passionately cheering for Leo while spinning the jacket of her uniform in her hand.

“Nella.”

“Yes, Professor Halind.”

“Bring Kal Thomas to me immediately. I need to hear who treated the uniform like that.”

At Professor Halind’s cold summons, Nella approached Kal.

It was then that the students in Class 5 burst out laughing at Kal being scolded by the homeroom teacher.

– Ah! The match between Warden and Eliza is finally happening in the leading group!

The magical screen suddenly focused on the leading group.

Cheers began to pour from the audience as the ace students of Summoning engaged in an intense fight.

*

Flying through the sky at high speed, Eliza spotted a small flame generated in front of her and quickly maneuvered in midair.

Whoosh-!

In an instant, the fiercely burning flame rapidly contracted, creating a massive explosion.

Seeing this, Eliza frowned.

‘An explosive attack utilizing the spirits of fire and wind.’

The principle was simple.

The fire spirit creates a powerful flame.

The wind spirit prevents the flame’s power from spreading in all directions by compressing it.

The compressed flame became stronger, and when its power reached its peak, it was released.

Issuing two commands to spirits of the same attribute required considerable skill.

However, Warden was simultaneously issuing commands to spirits of different attributes—one to raise strength and the other to control it.

‘This isn’t merely a skill achievable by being adept at handling spirits. I haven’t heard anything about attending a magic class?’

The principle of this explosion did not solely rely on pure spirit power.

He was utilizing the principles of magical formulas to control the spirits.

Eliza smiled slyly.

‘Indeed, he deserves to be called a monster.’

But Eliza was no push-over either.

As a direct descendant of the legendary summoning family, she had secured the second place in the northern exam, just narrowly missing first place to Chloe.

Warden’s spirit-handling skills were astonishing, but Eliza skillfully maneuvered the griffon with almost divine agility.

In stark contrast to the other students, who had been effortlessly hit by Warden’s attack, Eliza managed to evade his strikes without much difficulty.

“No matter how strong an attack is, it means nothing if you can’t hit me!”

Warden smiled coldly at Eliza’s shout.

“Then let’s see if you can avoid this!”

Numerous droplets began to form around Warden.

Then they were shot towards Eliza as sharp needles.

Eliza chuckled, summoning her energy.

Kyaaaah!

With a roar, the griffon jumped and began to grow 1.5 times in size.

Warden’s eyes bulged at the transformation.

‘Is she enhancing her familiar?’

The griffon took a deep breath and exhaled.

The intense breath of wind blew away Warden’s attack entirely.

‘Did she manage to make the griffon use breath? Impressive.’

The griffon was not originally a familiar that used breath attacks.

Yet, she managed to manipulate the familiar to achieve a similar ability.

The ability to draw out a familiar’s potential beyond its limits was a part of her exceptional qualifications as a familiar summoner.

Everyone was in awe of the fierce battle between the ace students of Summoning.

“This is it!”

Chen Sia quickly maneuvered the griffon and surged ahead.

Having avoided Warden’s attack earlier, Chen Sia had been waiting for an opportunity from the back.

Seeing Chen Sia aim for an opportunity, Eliza laughed.

“I won’t allow that.”

Whip!

“Wha?”

Eliza pulled out a whip from her belongings and swung it.

The incredibly long whip, likely 10 meters in length, moved as if it were a living snake, wrapping tightly around Chen Sia’s neck.

At the same time, flames began to gather in front of Chen Sia.

In a hurry, Chen Sia strained her legs, pushing the griffon forward with all her might.

Whoosh-!

The griffon rapidly descended at Chen Sia’s urging.

Using the momentum, Chen Sia tore herself free from the whip and escaped the blast radius.

As Chen Sia plummeted from the air, the griffon swooped in to catch her just in time to avoid the explosion.

“Phew! Cough-! This is too much, Eliza.”

Even amidst the fierce battle, she showed no signs of retreat.

It was then.

Whoosh-!

The sound of powerful wingbeats echoed.

Chen Sia’s eyes widened.

“A Black Wyvern?”

“Jeez!”

A rough curse echoed.

Turning her head, she saw a small black wyvern, ridden by Sen Riu, who had thought to be completely disqualified earlier, trailing from the back.

“Riu! Riding a familiar aside from the griffon is cheating!”

“Shut up! Do you think I care about that? I hid this move as my secret weapon! Warden! Eliza! Chen Sia! I’ll destroy the three of you at once! You’re finished!”

Kyaaaah!

The black wyvern roared.

“How did that clueless guy form a contract with a Black Wyvern?”

“That’s not a Black Wyvern; it seems to be a mutated wyvern.”

Warden expressed a puzzled look, while Eliza squinted her eyes.

As the black wyvern exhaled dark breath.

Kyaaaah!

The griffon’s roar rang out from afar.

Whoosh-!

Leo, flying at incredible speed, dove into the leading group.

“Lord Leo!”

Chen Sia waved happily at him.

Leo waved back lightly and then spotted Riu, his eyes narrowing.

“Ha! I don’t know how you managed to keep up, but this is good! Leo Flove! I’ll crush you along with all of them…”

“Hey.”

Leo spoke in a low voice.

The atmosphere around them instantly became tense.

“Where did you get that lizard?”

Leo’s crimson eyes glowered fiercely.

What Riu was riding was not a wyvern.

It was not a familiar either.

‘Paphnir.’

One of the ancient beasts tamed by the great heroes during the Era of Catastrophe, it was a creature extinct long ago.

“What did you say?”

Riu shuddered under Leo’s piercing gaze.

“I asked where you got that lizard.”

“This is my contracted familiar! Are you jealous because I formed a contract with a great familiar?”

“A familiar?”

Leo’s expression soured.

It was absurd to call a beast handled by the beast tamers of Tartarus a familiar.

Leo scanned the surroundings.

Other students also showed no particular emotions beyond caution.

It was clear they too considered Paphnir a familiar.

‘Certainly, Paphnir was not mentioned in the lessons about monsters in the Summoning class.’

Paphnir had been a key monster of Tartarus during the Era of Catastrophe.

Thus, Kyle and his peers had set out to exterminate those monsters deliberately.

‘Because of that, Paphnir practically became extinct by the late Era of Catastrophe.’

If it had completely vanished, it would not be strange for people in this era to be unaware of Paphnir.

‘However, if that’s the case, there is something strange.’

Leo’s expression hardened.

‘Why is a monster thought to be extinct long ago reappearing now?’

As Leo’s expression stiffened, Riu wore a triumphant expression.

“Hmph! It seems you’re surprised to see me contracted with a high-class familiar!”

“Riu. No matter how impressive your summoning beast is, you’ve been disqualified from the match, so step aside. If you keep insisting, it might not end with just a scolding.”

“Shut up! This is a match with restrictions from the start! That’s nonsense! I have the ability to wipe you all out! I’ll prove it now!”

Kyaaaah!

Paphnir’s mouth opened wide as it charged forward, exhaling flames.

“You really are clueless about your own position.”

Eliza mocked Riu.

“Shut up! You’re just lucky to have been born into a good family!”

Riu gritted his teeth and switched his target to Eliza.

Paphnir was a beast with speed and power surpassing a griffon.

Yet, Riu’s handling of Paphnir was subpar.

Watching Eliza deftly dodge Paphnir’s attacks with movements that neared the miraculous, Leo clicked his tongue.

‘That’s simply being tossed around by the beast.’

He was being influenced by the strength of the high-class beast, Paphnir, unable to make proper judgments.

At that moment, Chen Sia leaped from the griffon and landed on Paphnir’s tail.

Paphnir thrashed its tail irritably, but Chen Sia didn’t fall.

Instead, she steadied herself and charged at Riu.

Riu’s face turned pale as Chen Sia surged forward, enveloped in a blue aura.

“Gah?”

He tried to respond somehow, but he stood no chance against Chen Sia in close combat.

Whoosh! Thud!

“Eh?”

Paphnir’s wings twisted at an awkward angle.

Chen Sia, who was charging, suddenly veered off in a bizarre direction, avoiding the thrashing wings, lost her balance, and fell.

“Haha! How’s that! The power of my familiar!”

Riu laughed mockingly as he watched Chen Sia plummet downward.

The griffon descended quickly to catch its master.

“Not on my watch!”

However, Riu’s interference caused the griffon to miss its timing.

Eliza clicked her tongue and dove down to catch the falling Chen Sia.

Whoosh-!

“……!”

But Leo, swiftly overtaking Eliza, caught Chen Sia in an instant and pulled her in front of him.

“Thank you! Lord Leo!”

“Don’t do anything reckless.”

Leo chuckled softly and soared down again.

‘Fast, what the heck did he do to the griffon?’

Eliza watched Leo with narrowed eyes.

“Leo Flove!”

Riu fumed with rage.

‘He’s losing his sanity due to the contract with a beast.’

Stealing a glance at Riu, Leo placed Chen Sia back on her griffon.

Warden and Eliza joined them in the air.

“Indeed, you’re skilled, representative of the students.”

Eliza squinted her eyes.

“You pretended not to have a familiar contract, but you secretly formed one with a high-class familiar with protective skills, didn’t you?”

“You’ve got keen eyes.”

“Anyone from the Hergen family would see through you. So which familiar did you contract with? It seems it has a fire attribute?”

“That’s a secret.”

Leo placed his index finger to his lips and smiled.

Eliza scoffed at Leo’s gesture.

“Hmph, regardless, Riu is handling a high-class familiar. Though he can’t manage it properly, it still has overwhelming specs. So we need to combine our strength.”

“That’s not a familiar.”

“What did you say?”

“That’s a monster.”

——————==