Chapter 38
—Greetings, everyone! It’s that time of year again! Welcome to the highlight of the first-year spring semester—the Summoned Beast Race! I’m your commentator, Runba Tess, a third-year student from the Summoning Department!
WAAAAAAAH!
Cheers erupted from the crowd of students filling the summoning practice field.
Celia wore a sour expression.
“This is supposed to be an exam?”
Even the Knight Studies duel had spectators, but the Summoning practical was on a whole different level.
There were not only commentators and spectators, but even projection magic had been installed to display the race clearly.
Seated next to her, Rhys chuckled.
“The Summoned Beast Race is a tradition in the Summoning Department. It’s super popular. Plus, it’s one of the main events in inter-academy competitions with other Hero Academies. That’s why there’s so much attention.”
“Student Council President! We’re from the newspaper club! Is that first-year next to you Celia Zerdinger, your younger sister?”
A male student wearing a magical video-recording device around his neck approached with a notepad and pen.
“She is.”
“Oh-ho! Could we get a quick interview with both of you?”
The student reporter asked for an interview.
“Popcorn here! Cold drinks, too!”
“Place your bets! Who will take first place?! Here are the current odds!”
Student merchants from the commerce club were also out—selling snacks and even setting up betting pools.
‘What kind of exam is this!?’
Compared to the previously solemn testing atmosphere, this was pure chaos, and the first-years inwardly screamed in disbelief.
But the ones suffering the most in this madness were the first-year Summoning students.
“Why are they so loud! I can’t concentrate!”
Tide clutched his head and shouted, and the surrounding first-years all nodded in agreement.
They were already tense beyond belief, and with the entire school turning the event into a festival, they had no idea how to cope.
The festive atmosphere only added to the pressure.
Still, some remained calm.
Notably, the ace students of the Summoning Department—Eliza and Walden.
“As the noble daughter of the Hergin family, I find it quite offensive to be treated like a spectacle.”
Eliza furrowed her elegant brows, and her followers nodded solemnly.
Walden, as usual, stood nearby with an unreadable expression.
Glancing briefly at him, Eliza turned her gaze to Leo, who was off to the side doing stretches—bending and straightening his knees.
Eliza smirked and called out,
“You performed admirably in the Knight Studies practical. I hope you’ve prepared just as well for the Summoning exam?”
“Of course.”
“As expected of our class rep—overflowing with confidence.”
Eliza narrowed her eyes slightly.
“But during the entire practice period, you were nowhere to be seen… Do you think the Summoning practical is beneath you?”
Typically, students ride the summoned beasts they’ve contracted with during the race.
However, many first-years hadn’t yet contracted flying beasts.
That’s why Lumene provided standardized flying beasts.
The core of the test was how quickly students could tame and control those beasts.
The school had allotted training sessions for taming in preparation—but Leo had never shown up for them.
“Hey, Eliza. Was that really necessary?”
Tide frowned at her barbed remark.
But the other students watching Leo didn’t look kindly either.
“Let’s be honest—he’s clearly not taking this seriously.”
“Sure, he’s famous in Knight Studies and Magic Studies, but in Summoning, he’s just got spiritual power. I’ve never seen him contract with a spirit or beast.”
“Doesn’t he think he’s above us?”
“If he’s going to slack off, he should’ve just sat this one out.”
The Summoning Department had fewer students, which often meant stronger bonds with the department itself.
So when Leo didn’t attend a single training session and still acted confident, resentment was inevitable.
The Summoned Beast Race tested total control of summoning skills—getting through obstacles and reaching the finish line first.
The obstacles were brutal, and interference between racers was allowed.
Injuries during the race were common.
To skip all preparation and walk in like nothing mattered—Leo didn’t make a good impression among the Summoning students.
Though Leo had experienced everything from land, sea, to aerial battles as a beast in his past life, none of the students knew that.
“That’s going too far.”
“Hah! Speaking up just because you’re in the same class, huh?”
When a Class 5 student stepped up, another student from a different class sneered.
“This atmosphere’s turning ugly.”
Chen Xia stepped in to mediate.
“It’s understandable that everyone’s on edge before an exam, but slinging insults—”
“Chen Xia. You probably don’t care much about Summoning since you’re top-ranked in Knight Studies, huh?”
A female student shot back sarcastically.
As she became the new target, Class 10 students rose to her defense.
The Summoning students began glaring at each other, tensions rising.
Just as Leo clicked his tongue at the scene—
“Quiet.”
A deep, heavy voice rang out.
Everyone turned toward the source.
Walden, who had been sitting silently with arms crossed and eyes closed, had opened his amber eyes.
“If all you’re going to do is bark at each other over riding beasts, take it somewhere else—don’t do it in front of me.”
“What was that? What did you just say, Walden?!”
“I said, it’s annoying listening to people brag like riding a beast a few more times makes them special.”
With a flat expression, Walden’s words made Sen Ryu—a male student from the eastern continent—visibly furious.
“You bastard!”
Sen lunged at Walden with a punch.
Thmp—!
But just before it landed, Leo caught his fist.
“If you fight before the exam, it won’t just end with a slap on the wrist.”
“Tch! Like I care what you say!”
Ryu shook off Leo’s hand and stormed off toward the other Summoning Department students.
Watching his retreating back, Leo let out a sigh and turned to Walden.
“You should watch your words a bit more, don’t you think?”
“Was it a problem that I stated the truth?”
“I don’t know how amazing you think you are, Walden Thaiden, but I don’t think you have the right to mock someone else’s effort.”
Leo, looking up at the much taller Walden, spoke without flinching. Walden gave a cold smile and walked away.
“The mood’s worse than I thought.”
Leo had only quietly attended Summoning classes, but it was clear there was tension within the department.
At his comment, Tide sighed.
“You probably didn’t notice since you’re taking multiple majors, but our class’s Summoning Department atmosphere is kind of a mess right now.”
“Why?”
“You, Xia, Walden, and Eliza are the top-ranking students, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Summoning usually has a big gap between major and non-major students. But you and Chen Xia being in the top spots really upset the second-years, and they ended up making us all gather and scolded us.”
“They scolded you for that? That’s just old-school nonsense.”
“Exactly! And on top of that, Walden didn’t even show up for the scolding.”
Which only made the second-years more furious, and they came down harder on the first-years.
“Things were already tense from that, and now you and Walden barely showed up for race training. It just made everything worse.”
“No wonder the mood’s sour.”
“Right. So I hope you understand where everyone’s coming from.”
“Got it.”
After that, Leo looked around at the students preparing for the race.
Everyone looked tense, and he could feel a strange hostility in the air.
‘So this kind of thing happens too, huh.’
It did make sense—others might have seen him as neglecting the class.
‘It’s not like I’m planning to half-ass it, though.’
Since he was participating, his only goal was first place.
—
—Ladies and gentlemen! The time has finally come! All racers are now lined up at the starting line!
First-year students lined up behind the starting line.
Just ahead of them was a pen containing griffons.
The moment the race began, they had to tame one of those griffons and take off.
Summoning Department students readied themselves with tense expressions.
“Listen up, rookies! Don’t get nervous—just do what you practiced! If you freeze up and mess up out there, I’m kicking your butts after!”
Yura, acting as referee, raised the starting flare and shouted at her students.
The Summoning students burst out laughing at her familiar tone.
Thanks to her, the tension lightened a little.
“Alright then!”
Yura raised the flare high.
“Three, two, one—”
BANG—!
Crashhh—!
At the exact moment the signal fired, bursts of [Spirit Magic] rained down around Leo and Walden.
Leo faltered at the sudden development.
—Whoa! What’s this!? Summoning Department students appear to be targeting class representative Leo and southern top-ranker Walden with heavy interference right from the start!
The unprecedented development had the spectators buzzing.
Even the Class 5 Summoning students looked shocked.
“What the hell is that?!”
“That’s so dirty! Damn Summoning Department jerks!”
“Hey! Don’t you have any shame?!”
“Fight fair, damn it!”
—Haha! Class 5 first-years are booing loudly!
Chaos erupted in the stands.
“C-Class rep!”
“Leo! Wait! We’ll help—!”
“Don’t worry about me—just go!”
Leo shouted urgently when his classmates hesitated at the start, trying to remove the [Spirit Magic] interference for him.
“This is a test! I’ll handle it, so don’t fall behind! Go!”
“Ugh!”
“Leo! I’m sorry!”
With regret on their faces, Class 5 students finally took off.
The mud-soaked ground gripped Leo’s feet.
Fire and wind blocked his path.
Walden, who had received the same interference, calmly activated his [Spiritual Power].
“Pathetic.”
Fwoosh—!
Despite the deliberate [Spirit Magic] interference from the Summoning Department, Walden dismantled it effortlessly.
That kind of dominance was impossible without overwhelming ability.
“You look like you’re struggling. Want help?”
Walden smirked and asked, but Leo gave a wry grin.
“No, I’ll handle it myself.”
“Suit yourself. Then I’ll be going ahead.”
With unhurried steps, Walden made his way toward the griffon pen.
Meanwhile, other students had already tamed their griffons and taken flight.
Standing at the starting line, Leo finally activated his [Spiritual Power].
“I knew he wasn’t well-liked, but I didn’t expect coordinated sabotage like this.”
Watching him with a click of her tongue, Yura muttered,
‘That’s gonna be tough.’
If it weren’t an exam, Leo might’ve been able to break through it all.
But the rule of this race was that only [Summoning Magic] could be used.
And based on Yura’s observation, Leo’s primary skillset lay in beast summoning, not [Spirit Magic].
Now, he was facing intense spirit interference from an entire department.
Leo, still considered unpolished in live situations, seemed unlikely to overcome this obstacle.
‘The rift between the first-years runs deeper than I thought. Still, this level of coordinated bullying…’
It wasn’t against the rules—but it certainly wasn’t admirable.
As a professor, Yura had tried to watch over her students—but clearly, she hadn’t done enough.
She resolved to step in and calm her department down after the race.
But then—
“──!”
The sound of Leo’s voice made Yura’s hair stand on end.
The gentle, melodic flow of his speech was not in human language—it was as if he were singing.
“──! ─!”
As the song continued, the power of the interfering spirits began to wane.
Fwoosh—!
Soon, the energy that had been obstructing Leo disappeared.
The spirits, once following their summoners’ commands, laughed joyfully, danced playfully around Leo, and vanished like a breeze.
It was the power to influence spirits contracted by others.
‘Did that lunatic just use [Spirit Speech]? That’s at least second-year [Spirit Magic] curriculum!’
Yura couldn’t help but laugh incredulously as she watched Leo finally take off.
‘He’s the real deal. No question about it. Leo needs to be in Summoning—no matter what!’
