Others Summon Dragons, I Summon Legendary Knights

The Hero's Trash Son

"Good morning, everyone," said a man with curly brown hair that brushed his shoulders, a pair of round spectacles perched neatly on his pointed nose. A book rested in his hand as he strode confidently into the classroom.

"Morning, Mr. Edwin."

Godfrey caught the unified response of his soon-to-be classmates as he entered, following closely behind a girl his age. Her golden-white hair was tied into a sleek ponytail, glimmering faintly beneath the fluorescent lights.

"We have two transfer students joining us today," Edwin announced with a light, almost playful tone. "Your sophomore year will certainly be more interesting, as both of them are already… rather popular."

Godfrey's fingers tightened imperceptibly around the strap of his backpack. His ocean-blue eyes shifted to the girl half a meter away. Porcelain skin, wide golden-orange eyes, and lips that glistened faintly – glossed, no doubt, and not with the ordinary kind.

"Why don't you both introduce yourselves?" Edwin's voice echoed warmly from the front.

"I'm Isolde Pendragon."

'Pendragon!' Godfrey's pupils shrank. He wasn't alone; across the room, expressions shifted instantly. Whispers hissed like wind through dry grass, but what lingered most was the unmistakable awe shimmering in the sophomores' eyes.

Who didn't know the Pendragons? A family of summoners, legends for consistently birthing dragon summoners.

Godfrey cleared his throat, catching a sidelong glance from Isolde, who raised one willowy eyebrow in faint amusement.

"Good morning, everyone. I'm Godfrey Daniels, and I hope we can all—"

"You're the hero's trash!" The outburst came from Dale, a boy with a close-cropped haircut, his hands gripping the edge of his desk as if he had just unearthed buried treasure.

"Daniels, from Amazon, right?" Another boy, snow-white hair, an almost angelic face resting lazily on his palm, arched a brow.

Godfrey forced a thin smile. "Yes."

"It's the trash," Snow muttered with a shrug, eyes drifting back toward the window. A ripple of laughter fluttered through the class, some girls muffling it behind their palms, others chuckling openly.

"Godfrey is a human being, just like you. You don't call people trash." Edwin's rebuke was firm, but Godfrey knew better. Words carried little weight here. This was Manhattan Summoners High, one of the finest institutions in the world. Its students were heirs of wealth, prestige, and ancient legacies. They weren't just being educated, they were being groomed to lead the next generation.

'Am I not the same?' he thought bitterly.

He hadn't grown up poor. His father had been a war hero, famed for halting a horde of a hundred thousand orcs, holding the line until his final breath. Under such brilliance, the world expected his son to shine just as bright. But Godfrey hadn't awakened.

Awakening early, without the aid of the ceremony, was considered proof of extraordinary potential. His father's towering legacy made Godfrey's failure all the more humiliating. To the world, he was a blemish on a hero's name.

"Go on, sit down. Class is about to begin." Edwin's voice was gentle.

Godfrey's eyes trailed after Isolde, the Pendragon ice princess herself. She had awakened at the impossible age of one. The news had once been a global sensation. He had grown up hearing of it in secondhand awe.

He brushed aside the heaviness pressing on his chest and slid into a seat near the back. Isolde, unsurprisingly, chose the window row. Snow was directly in front of her.

"Godfrey," Edwin called suddenly. "You'll be joining the freshmen for their awakening ceremony tomorrow morning."

The muffled snickers of his classmates were unmistakable. Lips trembled with suppressed laughter, eyes glistened with mockery. Godfrey gave a quiet nod. By now, he was used to it.

Once, he had dreamed of grandeur, summoning a magnificent beast, becoming one of the admired boys of the academy, the kind with loyal friends and pretty girls' gazes trailing after him like moths to flame.

Now, thinking back, that dream felt almost laughable.

"Now then," Edwin's voice lifted, pulling Godfrey from his thoughts. "We all know of the first Summoner, Adam." He flipped open his notebook on the lectern. "And his summon?"

The class hushed instantly.

"The Prisoner of the Golden Headband, better known as the Monkey King. A King-tier summon, celebrated for his intelligence and unmatched battle prowess. A being capable of duplicating and mimicking the traits of any opponent." Edwin paused, letting the weight of those words sink in. "But he vanished… into a white dungeon gate. Which brings us to today's topic: what are dungeon gates, what are their traits, and why have they remained for over a century?"

Several hands shot up, eager to show off knowledge.

Godfrey tuned out. His gaze drifted to the world beyond the window, white clouds drifting lazily, sunlight spilling across rooftops. That was enough for him.

Break arrived. Godfrey rose, only to find Dale striding toward him with two others, Orwen and Cecil, flanking him.

The scowl on Dale's face melted into a practiced smile as he turned instead toward Isolde. "I'm Dale," he said, extending his hand.

Isolde brushed past him without a glance. Silence followed her exit, broken by Dale's sharp laugh. He turned back, now facing Godfrey.

"Don't you feel like trash?" Dale sneered. "Your father threw his life away against those orcs because your mother was about to give birth to you. That day, we lost a diamond and got garbage instead."

'Keep believing that,' Godfrey thought, walking past him with his hands in his pockets. He wouldn't take the bait. Not against Dale, one of the academy's strongest sophomores, and certainly not after being so plainly ignored by Isolde.

But as he moved down the hallway, an arm hooked around his neck. Godfrey turned slightly, green hair, sharp eyes, a lean build. If Dale was a bull, this one was a wolf.

"Heh. Look at him, scared already," a plainer boy jeered, stepping up beside him. Godfrey's irritation soured into caution when he noticed the figure trailing them, Snow. Clearly, these two were his lackeys.

Isolde was untouchable. Godfrey, on the other hand, was fair game.

"Heard your father's summon was the Gold Eater Colossus," the green-haired boy, Siegfried, said with a wink. "Bet it left your family a mountain of gold. How about buying us something after school?"

"Leave him," Snow's voice cut through like ice.

The two lackeys faltered, puzzled, until Snow stretched his leg forward, drawing attention to the loosened lace of his shoe.

"The son of a war hero tying the shoes of his classmate," Siegfried snickered, shoving Godfrey toward him. "Fitting, isn't it? A reminder of where you belong."

"You've got hands, don't you?" Godfrey's voice was flat. "Or do you just want to make sure the whole school knows you can't tie your own shoes?"

Snow's eyes narrowed. A faint, eerie shimmer kindled within his irises.

In the next heartbeat, Godfrey found himself teetering over the balcony rail of the cafeteria, third floor, wind tugging at his clothes, the ground yawning below.

Someone's grip on his jacket was the only thing keeping him from plunging headlong down this great height!

"He–he jumped?!"

"What in the world, did you see that?"

"Creep just climbed the rail on his own!"

A cacophony of voices fell into Godfrey's ears, allowing him to figure out Snow must have used his beast's ability on him!

....

A/N: I hope you enjoy the opening of this novel. Support by adding to your library and giving a power stone or two. Thank you.

Summon Awakening Ceremony

"Are you alright?" Isolde's voice was calm, though her expression betrayed little. Her tone carried more weight than her face ever did.

"Man, I expected him to break out of it eventually, but he would've really fallen. Tsk. Pathetic." Siegfried pointed mockingly at Godfrey, while Snow carried his tray to a table as if nearly throwing someone off the third floor was no different than swatting a bothersome fly.

"You're laughing? At nearly killing me?" Godfrey's jaw tightened, his ocean-blue eyes narrowed as he glared at Snow. His chest swelled with restrained fury as he pushed through the crowd and into the heart of the cafeteria.

Beside him, Isolde moved with her usual grace. Sixteen, the same age as Godfrey, her golden-white hair and golden-orange eyes gave her an almost ethereal air. The tension of the cafeteria seemed to bend around her.

"You still run that mouth of yours!" Siegfried barked, stepping forward and throwing a straight punch. It carried strength, but it was reckless, riddled with openings.

Godfrey's instincts surged. He seized Siegfried's arm, twisted the elbow, pivoted, and flung him over his back. The sophomore crashed into the ground with a bone-jarring thud.

"I'll kill you!" Siegfried roared, scrambling to his feet. This time his punch carried his true strength, the kind that could crack cement walls. But to his shock, Godfrey raised his forearm and blocked it.

A strike that should have snapped bone barely made Godfrey flinch.

Siegfried froze. His connection to his beast, gone and strength was gone. In that instant, he was no different from a powerless human.

Godfrey's fist struck him square across the face. A second blow, an uppercut, lifted Siegfried off his feet and sent him sprawling across the cafeteria floor.

"Did you see that?" a student gasped, abandoning his untouched tray. Another, midway through shoveling food into his mouth, stopped to gape.

"He beat Siegfried. That's… impossible!" Cecil, the bob-cut girl at Dale's table, frowned deeply.

Dale, however, only chuckled, arms crossed, eyes sliding mockingly toward Snow, who, for once, looked frozen.

Just then, another lackey surged forward, too fast for Godfrey to follow. Even with his guard raised, the boy's fists broke through, hammering Godfrey with blow after blow. A final uppercut, the same blow as revenge, launched him into the air, crashing him hard against the wall. He slumped to the ground, unmoving.

The cafeteria fell into stunned silence.

Snow stood. His expression distorted in disdain, then, without a word, he stormed out. Students followed quickly, scattering like startled birds. The idea that Snow had lost his composure was unsettling. Had it been Dale, perhaps they'd accept it. But Snow? No. That was alien.

When the hall had emptied, only Isolde remained. She stood before Godfrey's crumpled form, her gaze cool.

"Giving you an opportunity for a fair fight was stupid," she said flatly. "You were doomed from the start."

"Even then…" Godfrey's voice was low, but steady. He forced himself upright, meeting her eyes. "I gave him what he deserved."

Isolde's golden eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.

"Thank you," Godfrey continued, his breath uneven. "He got to taste what it's like, calling to your soul and hearing nothing in return. For a minute or two, he lived what I've lived for sixteen years."

He pressed a hand to his chest, wincing. "Something's broken," he muttered, staggering toward the exit.

Minutes later, Godfrey lay on a sickbed in the academy's infirmary. Manhattan High's "sick bay" was not for illness, it was for the battered, the broken, the survivors of fights that pushed students to the brink.

Growth was forged in conflict. To maim or to kill was forbidden, on paper. Godfrey wondered if the rules truly mattered. Snow had nearly ended him.

The nurse, dressed in a pristine white coat over pale blue attire, extended her hand. Behind her, a glowing magical circle bloomed, from which descended a radiant dove. Its beak and talons glimmered gold, and its wings spanned twice that of a Steller's sea eagle, the largest bird recorded before the cataclysm a century ago.

With a single beat of its wings, warmth washed over Godfrey. His ribs knit together, bruises faded, and drowsiness pulled at his eyes.

"You took quite the beating," the nurse sighed, her gaze soft. It had not even been a day since he transferred, and already he had ended up here. This place wasn't for the ordinary. Manhattan High was for monsters and their servants. You either rule or you serve.

And Godfrey, looked far too stubborn to serve, and far too weak to rule.

Before Godfrey could respond, a knock sounded.

Moments later, Isolde's voice drifted in as she spoke to the nurse who went to open the door.

"He didn't get to eat his lunch. I gathered something for him. Please make sure he eats."

Hard lines creased Godfrey's brow as warmth stirred faintly in his chest. Why…why was she being kind?

His question was answered when the nurse returned with a tray. Tucked beneath the plate was a folded slip of white paper. On it, written in elegant script:

I just like your face. Don't overthink it.

Godfrey stared, heat rising in his cheeks.

'You tell a guy you like his face and expect him not to overthink it? How does that even work?' he muttered to himself.

The nurse flipped through a file. "I suggest you rest. You're Godfrey Daniels, yes?"

He nodded.

"You have the awakening ceremony tomorrow. Rest, or you may not be fit for it. Remember, if you miss this chance, you may never awaken anything beyond the low tier so when I say rest, I mean it."

The next morning, the academy's grounds gleamed beneath the rising sun. Crowds of freshmen gathered, along with countless others, outsiders who had paid dearly for the right to use Manhattan's legendary Awakening Platform, famed for producing higher awakenings than anywhere else in the world.

Godfrey stood among them, hands buried in his pockets, fists clenched tight. This was it. His only chance. He had failed to awaken naturally. If he failed here too, then the truth would be undeniable: there was no summon within his soul.

No summon meant no future. In this world, a summon defined a man's worth. To have nothing meant to be nothing, an insect in a kingdom of predators. Worse, Manhattan High's acceptance had been conditional: he needed at least an Elite-tier beast to stay.

There were five tiers: Low Tier (1.0–3.4), Elite Tier (3.5–5.4), High Tier (5.5–7.9), Lord Tier (8.0–10.0), and the fabled King/Queen Tier (10.1–12.9). Even dragons, for all their majesty, rarely reached King-tier even when they had the potential.

From the classrooms above, students leaned out of windows to watch. On the central stage, an elevated platform shimmered with glowing runes, powered by six dungeon cores.

The headmaster stepped forward, slim and severe in his pinstripe suit, his presence radiating discipline. His eyes swept across the crowd.

"As you all know," he began, his voice just right for the crowd, "today determines your lives. There will be no needless speeches. We begin immediately."

His gaze dropped to the paper slip in his hand.

"The first name is…" He raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat, lifting his gaze back to the crowd and locking on the only teen with Manhattan's jacket.

"…Godfrey Daniels."

....

A/N: I hope you enjoy the opening of this novel. Support by adding to your library and giving a power stone or two. Thank you.

King Tier Summon

With silent steps that seemed to echo in his ears, Godfrey ascended to the top of the hexagonal platform, his eyes locked on the headmaster, who retreated for him to stand at the center of the stage.

The headmaster stood alongside a woman who held a tablet. It was the device that gauged the tier of a summoner's summon; she would be the first to see if he was just a normal human or had a summon lying dormant within him.

"Calm down. Take deep breaths and close your eyes. You'll find yourself in a place we call your soul space, and you'll be staring right at your summon."

The headmaster paused as Godfrey closed his eyes. "It will be dark, but do not worry. The light of your summon will be the only light you need…"

At this point, Godfrey couldn't hear what the headmaster was saying anymore. The dungeon cores glowed faintly, their brilliance dulled by the sunlight, and Godfrey was drawn into his soul space.

He had heard his mother's experience and several others. It was always the same: they appeared floating in what looked like endless space, and their beast awaited them there. Some said they were frightened at first sight, some were happy, and some recoiled at what they saw. But when Godfrey opened his eyes, he didn't know what to make of the sight before him.

He stood on a massive staircase, as wide as a highway. The blocks that made up the steps were pure white, as though marble and magic had been fused together, and the staircase ascended toward a towering wall with a colossal double door of wood.

Above it hung the sun, its piercing glow flooding everything in light.

Godfrey looked around in bewilderment. Where was the darkness? Why wasn't he floating in space, but standing on a staircase?

'It can't be that I died the moment I'm about to awaken, right?' He chortled, though the jest felt hollow. Still, it was better to see what awaited him at the top.

The moment he took a step, Godfrey found himself already standing before the great door. Carved into its surface with exquisite detail was a great oval shield crossed with a longsword.

He placed his hands on the door, and with the gentlest nudge, it swung inward.

"My God!"

The headmaster snapped toward the woman with the gauging device, deep lines cutting across his temples. "What is it?"

"His tier…" the woman looked at him, horrified. "It's 1…"

"It's what?!" The headmaster moved closer, his voice sharp, until the woman finally managed to speak.

"It's 12.1." She could barely force the words out, as though her voice was chained to a stone and dragged down.

The headmaster's eyes widened. "His summon has the potential of a 12.1 King-tier!"

The woman shook her head vehemently, thrusting the screen toward him. "It's 12.1 — and the potential…"

The headmaster's face drained of color, as if he had seen a ghost, when the reading revealed that the potential exceeded 12.9.

It was incalculable.

Just then, a golden diagram flared above Godfrey, its brilliance forcing Isolde, Snow, Dale, and the others in his class to squint as they leaned out from the windows to get a clearer look.

With a thunderous metallic crash, a summon descended from the diagram, clad in ornate golden armor layered over thick steel, a white cape fluttering from its shoulders as it landed.

The figure stood a full seven feet tall, a great oval shield in one hand and a longsword in the other. Its presence was imposing, and its helm bore a single vertical slit, no wider than a finger, that glowed faintly from within.

"A knight!" Disdain flared in Snow's eyes. Everyone knew humanoid summons like golems and orcs were considered weak compared to beast summons. The only exceptions were Adam's Monkey King, which was part monkey, and Cain's Dark Seraph, which carried celestial blood.

"You've summoned a humanoid creature with a tier of 3.0 and a potential of 6.0," the woman with the gauge announced aloud, then shot a furtive glance at the headmaster.

Only the two of them knew what the device first displayed, yet this was the reading she spoke aloud. Was he one of the rare summoners who harbored two summons within them?

If not, then the gauge was wrong. But since when did a low-tier summon possess such absurd growth potential?

"You may descend," the headmaster said in an even tone, his expression unreadable as he watched Godfrey retrieve his summon and step down. But his mind was calculating. "He stays under watch. There's something we haven't grasped yet. I need to know if that boy is truly a low-tier summoner or a king-tier hidden in disguise."

"A humanoid summon. What a terrible way to start the ceremony!" Godfrey heard someone mutter from the crowd, their voice tight with fear for their own fate.

"It has absurd potential, though. Imagine the chance to rise from a low-tier to a high-tier wasted on some ancient knight whose sword might not even scratch a beast."

Godfrey's eyes narrowed on the man who had spoken, standing beside his child. Their gazes met, but the disdain in the man's eyes didn't faze him. Nothing did, not when his mind was in turmoil.

He remembered the stone door with the symbol he had glimpsed behind the chamber of the knight he summoned. Everyone said the first thing they saw in their soul space was their true summon.

The first thing he saw wasn't the knight. It was the staircase leading up to what looked like a palace. If that was his true summon, then the knight was only a part of it.

Which meant behind the other doors… were other knights.

When he finally stepped into his class, his thoughts receded as every gaze fixed on him. The boy once mocked for having no summon now had one, but still.

"Your father's summon could spit gold and level an army of orcs, but yours can only wave around a puny sword and shield. Did the garbage just upgrade into the garbage bin?" Dale snickered, clutching his stomach as his lackeys roared with laughter. Others only looked at Godfrey with pity.

With a summon like this, he would always remain a mockery to his father's legacy.

"It's about time for combat class. Let's test that knight of yours." Siegfried rose to his feet, the grudge in his green eyes sharp as he ruffled his hair and walked out.

One by one, the others followed, some casting him pitying looks, others ignoring him, some mocking with their faces. Finally, only Isolde remained.

"It's a cool knight," she said at last.

Godfrey rolled his eyes. "The entire class is waiting for me to be humiliated publicly."

"Truueee…" Isolde pursed her lips. "But every summon has its advantages. I bet your knight has his."

....

A/N: I hope you enjoy this novel. Support by adding to your library and giving a power stone or two. Thank you.

Shocking Strength

Every summon has its advantages? What a joke! What kind of advantage could a low-tier summon possibly have against the monstrosities before him?

Standing in a massive arena with an open roof, Godfrey watched from the crowd as two figures faced each other on a wide platform. On one side stood Isolde, her summon at her side: a white-scaled beast. Its leathery wings stretched like the sails of an ancient warship, attached to its forelimbs, while its powerful hind legs and lashing tail made the ground tremble. But it was the head that stole everyone's breath; ferocious, reptilian, with a row of needle-like teeth sharp enough to shred whatever was unlucky enough to fall into its maw.

A White Wyvern. Tier 5.5, potential 7.0. Current tier 6.8!

Facing them stood Dale and his summon: a massive, hunched bull, seven feet tall at the shoulders. Two jagged horns jutted upward, their sharp tips crackling with lightning, while curved spikes of the same lightning hue protruded from its back. Its entire body was covered in black, chitinous plating, natural armor strong enough to deflect bullets.

The Armored Emperor Bull. Tier 5.2, potential 6.2.

Both Isolde and Dale had been bonded to their summons since before they could read properly, blessed early with strong companions.

Dale smirked, confidence shining through, though his usual cockiness was tempered in Isolde's presence. "My bull is already at 6.1 high-tier, with lightning at its command."

"Oh." Isolde's response was curt, almost dismissive. Her wyvern lifted its head and glared down at the bull with cold, intelligent eyes.

Dale's smile faltered, but he clenched his jaw and signaled his bull. The beast charged, each step sending lightning snaking across the stone platform. Sparks built between its horns, condensing into a searing bolt.

Isolde's wyvern growled, its throat rumbling. White mist swirled from its maw, and in an instant the charging bull was frozen mid-stride, encased in ice.

Gasps rippled through the students.

'Her wyvern… it can breathe an element!'

Frost spread across the platform, cracking stone as it raced outward. The frozen bull shattered into shards as lightning ripped through the ice, but the wyvern was already upon it. With a whip of its massive, scaled tail, it struck the bull's neck, sending the armored beast skidding across the arena, blood spilling from its jaws.

Dale's hands trembled as lightning flared weakly along his arms.

"Isolde wins." The combat instructor's voice rang out, stern and final. "Dale, retrieve your summon and let it recover. You treated her as if she were any other opponent. Her summon outclasses yours, but your defeat was sealed by your poor use of its abilities."

Dale grit his teeth, recalling his bull.

Godfrey's gaze lingered on Isolde as she returned to the stands. Every eye followed her with admiration, she wasn't just beautiful, she was talented, her future full of promise. For a brief second, she turned her head, glancing at him.

Godfrey's lips curved faintly. 'Cool summon,' he mouthed, silently.

A prideful smile touched her face as she caught his words.

"Snow wins."

The announcement snapped Godfrey's attention back to the arena. His eyes widened as he saw Snow standing beneath a strangely captivating butterfly the size of a man. Its wings glowed with red glimmer that shimmered like falling starlight.

The glimmer had drifted toward the snake another girl had summoned, instantly turning both summon and summoner to stone.

A stunned silence swept through the arena.

Snow lazily snapped his fingers. His Glimmer-Wing Butterfly flapped once, releasing multicolored glimmer that melted away the petrification. The girl collapsed in tears, shaking, eyes wide with the memory of being trapped inside her own body.

"Go easy next time. They are your classmates," the instructor said sternly.

"I did go easy," Snow replied coolly, descending the platform.

Gasps and whispers spread through the crowd. The Glimmer-Wing Butterfly was no ordinary summon. Tier 6.0, potential 6.5. Deadly in combat, but even more terrifying was its side effect: the longer it was bonded to its master, the more strikingly beautiful its summoner became.

And Snow was already living proof of that.

Before Godfrey could fully process what he'd just witnessed, the instructor's voice rang out again.

"Godfrey Daniels. You're next."

A knot of tension twisted in his chest, but he exhaled slowly, steadying himself. His fists clenched and released as he strode forward. This would be his first true battle as a summoner, the beginning of a fundamental change in his life.

His opponent, a girl with twin ponytails, smirked from across the platform. She was already certain of victory.

Godfrey shut his eyes for a brief moment, recalling the glowing words etched in a stone tablet beside the throne where he found his knight.

Summon: Knight-Captain of the Golden Order

Type: Hybrid

Tier: 3.0

Potential: 6.0

Description: [A Knight-Captain of the Sword and Shield unit – the greatest of them all. Oath-bound soldier of the Golden Order. Alchemically altered to slay monstrous beasts. Wields a 50-pound sword, a 100-pound shield, and armor weighing 150 pounds. In Black-Out State, this knight-captain breaks the limits of his base strength, ascends to greater heights, and mimics the abilities of his foes.]

Godfrey grinned in his soul space. 'A Knight-Captain, huh? Then I'll call you Mountain.'

His eyes snapped open to the real world, where the girl's summon appeared; a hulking Iron-Clawed Crab, its steel pincers gleaming, each snap strong enough to rip through a wall.

'Mountain… It's time. Come out.'

A golden diagram blazed beside him, and the towering knight emerged. Gold and steel glinted under the light, a white cloak trailing behind. A sun was etched upon its cuirass. With heavy metallic steps, Mountain passed Godfrey and raised his great shield, sword poised at the ready.

The girl chuckled. Her crab scuttled forward, claws smashing down with brutal force against Mountain's shield.

The impact rang out but instead of being forced back, the knight's shield flared with glowing runes. The absorbed force surged outward, blasting wounds across the crab's shell. The girl and her summon recoiled in shock.

Mountain lowered his shield and swung his massive blade, cleaving through one of the crab's steel claws.

Gasps erupted as blood spurted across the platform.

But Mountain wasn't done. Hatred radiated from his stance as he slammed his ironclad boot into the crab's chest, sending it tumbling. His sword rose high, poised to end the creature in a single strike.

"Stop!" Godfrey's voice rang out, sharp with shock.

Mountain froze, blade hovering an inch above the crab's head.

The arena was silent. For a heartbeat, even the instructor was stunned. Then, with a barked order, he rushed forward, retrieving the wounded crab and rushing to the school nurse to reattach its severed claw.

All around, students stared at Godfrey with wide eyes.

None of them could believe what they had just witnessed.

....

A/N: I hope you enjoy this novel. Support by adding to your library and giving a power stone or two. Thank you.

Vengeful Upperclassman Sam

Thinking back on what had just happened, Godfrey recalled the descriptions of his summon.

A Knight-Captain of the Sword and Shield unit — the greatest of them all. Oath-bound soldier of the Golden Order. Alchemically altered to slay monstrous beasts. Wields a fifty-pound sword, a hundred-pound shield, and armor weighing one hundred and fifty pounds. In Black-Out State, this Knight-Captain breaks the limits of his base strength, ascends to greater heights, and mimics the abilities of his foes.

'Alchemically altered to slay monstrous beasts…' His eyes slowly widened as he realized the implication. His summons were once an order of knights created specifically to handle threats revolving around beasts – and most summons were beasts. After all, most originated from creatures within dungeons.

Over time, human souls began to manifest these creatures within themselves. But their roots, their origin, had always been dungeon gates.

"You're walking with a girl and your mind is somewhere else? You're quite something, Godfrey."

Isolde's voice cut through his thoughts like sunlight piercing mist. He turned his head to his right, his ocean-blue eyes meeting the golden-orange of the captivating beauty walking beside him. She carried her white backpack in one hand, the faintest smile on her lips.

"There was no permanent damage," she reassured, reading his thoughts or so she thought. "Didn't you hear when the combat instructor said the nurse reattached the crab's claw?"

Godfrey nodded slowly. "I honestly didn't expect that to happen."

"Your expression was enough for me to know that." Isolde narrowed her eyes slightly. "I was stunned too. To see a 3.0 summon completely overwhelm a 3.1… it was impressive. The way your knight moved, refined, precise, without wasted motion. It didn't look like the usual clumsy strikes of a low-tier summon. So I came to a conclusion." She tilted her head. "Your summon is intelligent, isn't it?"

"Perhaps," Godfrey shrugged casually.

Isolde clicked her tongue and shoved his shoulder lightly. "Stop acting all high and mighty."

The school day had ended, and students were scattering toward their dormitories. Godfrey thought Isolde would be heading to hers too until a sleek black car pulled up ahead, honking twice. A suited man stepped out, opening the back door with a bow.

"Miss Isolde."

Godfrey lifted a brow. "You don't stay in the dormitory?"

She shook her head, brushing her hair back. "My parents made arrangements with the school management for me to have my own apartment outside the school. I don't know how long it will last though. See you tomorrow." She waved as the car door shut, and the vehicle rolled away.

Godfrey blinked, sighed, and turned back toward the boys' dorms. His excitement simmered, he wanted to return to his soul space, to explore the palace he had glimpsed.

Perhaps through the carved symbols on the second door, he could uncover what lay within. And from today's fight, he knew Mountain's armor wasn't ordinary steel; it had effects of its own, like the shield's reflection ability.

There was so much to discover.

Lost in thought and walking at a slower pace than usual, Godfrey noticed the campus path had grown quiet. Most students were gone, either in their rooms, glued to their phones, or hanging out with friends. Which was why it struck him as odd to see someone waiting ahead.

A student leaned against the wall, arms crossed. He looked older, seventeen, maybe eighteen, a third-year. Their eyes met, and Godfrey immediately caught the blaze of anger flaring in the boy's gaze.

The upperclassman cracked his neck as Godfrey drew closer.

"I heard you weren't a summoner, so we skipped you. No one gave you a proper introduction into the boys' domain." The student sneered, stepping into his path.

Godfrey loosened his shoulders. "What do you want?" Just when was this nonsense going to end?

The third-year's expression twisted with rage. "You just summoned a useless humanoid… and you dared flaunt your worthless knight's sword on my sister's crab!" He clenched his fist, and a summoning diagram blazed to life beside him. A golden-armored creature emerged, a beast that rolled itself into a gleaming wheel.

"You'll pay for that."

The Iron-Scaled Armadillo shot forward, its body compressing into a spinning golden sphere. In the blink of an eye, it shrank from the size of a man to that of a basketball, its speed tripling. Like a streak of light, it slammed into Godfrey before he could react. The impact lifted him off his feet, hurling him through the air. He hit the pavement, rolling hard before skidding to a stop.

This was an Iron-Scaled Armadillo. Current Tier 4.0. A beast infamous for its defense and speed.

But this one was worse. Flames burst from its plated body, fire licking across its scales. Not only fast and sturdy, it had developed elemental offense.

Sam, the third-year, loomed over him with a vicious grin. His arm gleamed, scales spreading over his skin until his entire forearm was plated in the beast's steel-like armor. "You're dead." He raised his clawed hand.

Before the blow could fall, a golden diagram ignited beside Godfrey. Mountain charged forth, sword already in motion. His horizontal slash forced Sam to exchange places with his beast, vanishing in a flash and reappearing at its location. The armadillo took the strike instead.

Sparks flew as Mountain's sword rang off its iron scales. The beast retaliated with brutal force, its claws blazing. Mountain barely raised his shield in time, but the blow was so heavy it shattered the pavement beneath him, dragging him backward in a grinding trail of stone and dust.

Sam chuckled darkly from behind. His summon reared, its talons of fire sweeping down. Godfrey barely rolled away, feeling the searing heat scorch the air above him. His chest tightened. A third-year… an elite-tier summon… there was no way Mountain could match this thing in his current state.

There was only one option left.

'Use Black-Out State. Now.'

Godfrey's mind screamed the order as the flaming claws descended again. A sudden gust swept through the street, tousling his hair.

The source was Mountain.

No longer golden, the knight's armor now gleamed a dark crimson, his longsword black as obsidian, his shield the shade of dried blood. He towered with a terrifying aura, flames of his own igniting across his form.

With a roar of steel, Mountain charged. The seven-foot knight rammed into the armadillo, slamming it into the wall hard enough for cracks to spiderweb across the white stone.

The beast shrieked as Mountain's flames burned hotter, fiercer, even more violently than the armadillo's own fire.

Sam's smirk vanished. His beast tried to roll into a ball, entering its strongest defensive form, but Mountain was relentless. He smashed his shield down with crushing force, breaking the stance, then leveled his sword for the killing strike.

"Stop!" Sam screamed. His face drained of color.

In less than five seconds, the battlefield had reversed.

That knight… he hadn't just grown stronger. He had copied the armadillo's flames.

Mountain turned from the fallen beast, boots ringing against stone, his blood-red helm tilting toward Godfrey. The obsidian sword pointed downward, the crimson shield steady at his side.

As if asking, What is your order?

....

A/N: I hope you enjoy this novel. Support by adding to your library and giving a power stone or two. Thank you.

King Tier Summoner in Manhattan High

Godfrey beckoned his knight to retreat, allowing Sam to recall his summon. It had not been long since Godfrey awakened Mountain, and the toll was showing.

Black-Out State had forced Mountain from 3.0 to an unbelievable 4.0, and the toll was clear, Godfrey's face was pale, his body trembling. His body felt weaker than usual, his breathing slightly unsteady.

It was natural. Most new summoners needed a week, sometimes a month, before their bond strengthened enough to maintain a summon for longer than a few minutes. With time, they could keep their companions for hours, even days. The most powerful summoners could sustain their summons all year, three hundred and sixty-five days without rest, repeating the feat continually without strain.

But the soul space was a natural cradle, a place where summons recovered and grew. That was why they were always recalled after battle.

"Cherish the mercy I've shown you today," Godfrey said flatly as he walked past Sam. The upperclassman stood frozen, disbelief carved into his face at the humiliation of his defeat.

"I was wondering when you'd leave Isolde."

A familiar, mocking voice made Godfrey halt. He turned back. His eyes narrowed at Siegfried and Maldred, strolling side by side, while Snow followed silently behind them, phone in hand.

Maldred stretched his hand forward. Quills shot out of his palm, crossing the distance in a split instant. Godfrey barely had time to cross his arms in defense before they pierced into his forearms.

He tried to summon Mountain, but dizziness washed over him. Before he could recover, Siegfried appeared before him in a blur of green. His hands had morphed into jade-like claws, large and gleaming under the sunlight.

Those claws clamped over Godfrey's face.

At terrifying speed, Siegfried slammed his head against the wall. Stone cracked like glass, web-like fractures spreading outward before Godfrey collapsed limply to the ground.

"Oops. Used too much strength," Siegfried laughed, retracting his claws as if nothing had happened.

He crouched down beside the unconscious boy, tilting his head with a smirk. "I wonder what that Pendragon girl sees in you. Is she into weak boys?"

Maldred strolled past Sam, who was still stiff and wide-eyed. His gaze lingered on Snow, the calm, silent figure whose mere presence dwarfed everyone else's.

Sam's throat tightened. He was a third year, a 4.0 summoner, yet Snow was already a 6.5. Even a year below, Snow was untouchable. Beside him was Siegfried, rumored to be 4.6 with defenses rivaling the elite 5.0 tier, yet still only Snow's subordinate.

Watching them crush Godfrey so casually stirred something ugly in Sam's chest. His earlier humiliation began to fade, replaced by a twisted satisfaction. 'That's right. He's nothing before true talents.

Snow, silent as ever, gave Godfrey's unconscious body a dismissive glance. With one sharp kick, he slumped him against the wall like discarded trash, then walked past, scrolling on his phone.

Godfrey's blue eyes fluttered open to the face of the school nurse leaning over him.

"You're awake. I was getting worried," she said, relief softening her tone as he sat up with a groan, touching his sore head.

"Don't worry. I've healed your wounds. After awakening your summon, your body has already grown tougher, so it wasn't life-threatening. But the shock knocked you unconscious."

She spoke gently, yet Godfrey still heard the pity buried in her voice. It made his jaw tighten.

"Can you apologize to your classmates?" she asked, trying to reason with him. "You're supposed to be friends. Why are you—"

"Apologize? To people who want me as their lap dog?!" Godfrey snapped, biting his lip and clenching his fists.

He forced a few deep breaths, then lowered his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."

Would lashing out at the nurse help? No. He already knew the answer. Others had time, years to train, to grow alongside their summons. The sophomores had at least one year of experience. He hadn't even had one day.

His blue eyes flickered as he recalled his knowledge. Summons grew slowly in the soul space. Battles accelerated that growth, but the true catalyst was the dungeon core, something only found in green gates.

Mountain was still low tier. But if Godfrey could push him to elite tier 4.0, then with Black-Out State he could match a 5.0. Mountain's unique weapons gave him the ability to harm even tougher foes, up to 0.5 tiers above.

That meant one thing, if Mountain reached 4.0, Godfrey could threaten even a 5.5 summon.

The next day, Mr. Edwin entered the classroom, dropping his book on the desk before facing the students. His sharp eyes settled on the empty seat beside Isolde.

"Mr. Godfrey Daniels was severely injured yesterday," he announced. "He'll be taking a few weeks off to recover. But he will return before the Ranking Competition at the end of this month. Remember, those who make it into the top three will have better chances of graduating as Valedictorians, and their summons' potential will be boosted. Work hard."

The class immediately erupted in whispers.

"The coward ran after a simple head bump," Siegfried scoffed loudly. Maldred leaned over, whispering the story to another student, who snickered.

'So he's gone…' Isolde thought to herself, her golden-orange eyes glinting coldly as they swept toward Dale and Snow.

"With that humanoid summon, it was only a matter of time," sneered the girl Godfrey had defeated in combat class. "Manhattan is a place for the great, not trash flaunting his father's name."

"Trash mocking trash," Dale cut in with a scowl. "Your brother only picked a fight with him because you were beaten by a mere humanoid summon."

The girl's face paled, lips snapping shut. She dared to mock Godfrey but she wouldn't dare to challenge Dale.

"Maybe it's because of Isolde," another whispered. "The top boys are furious she spends time with Godfrey instead of them."

The classroom buzzed until Mr. Edwin's voice cracked like a whip.

"I don't want to hear another word." He dropped his notes on the lectern, his stern gaze sweeping the room. "Today we discuss the two categories of summons: Chimera and Primal. These are the only two types of—"

Several sessions later, Cecil left the female bathroom and was about to pass the staff's corridor when a voice made her freeze.

"King tier!" a male voice exclaimed.

"Yes, a king tier was detected yesterday," a woman replied, her tone shaken. "At first, the Headmaster and I thought it was a mistake. But this morning, the authorities contacted us, their gauges picked it up too. Yet the student's summon doesn't resemble any King-tier summon."

"Which student?"

"It's Godfrey Daniels. The sophomore transfer."

"…What?!"

The man's shocked outburst echoed Cecil's own thoughts. She covered her mouth with trembling hands.

'Godfrey… a King-tier summoner?! Impossible.'

Her heart raced. King-tiers were the stuff of nightmares and legends. One had once declared himself a god, and the world had barely stopped him.

How could that boy, who couldn't even defend himself be of such a terrifying rank?

When she finally returned to the cafeteria, her eyes instinctively sought Siegfried. He had been the one who humiliated Godfrey.

'No… it can't be true.' She clenched her fists. 'A King-tier? That's absurd. Godfrey awakened a stupid knight, everyone saw it. These gossipers have lost their minds.'

Though she said that internally, that seemingly stupid knight had defeated her classmate and her elder brother on the same day it was summoned by a boy who had no prior experience as a summoner!

Something was wrong.