At the end of lessons, the sophomore class went to the combat arena for the first practice of the week.

When they got there, the students split themselves into groups.

Luke didn’t think dividing themselves was right. After all, the joint term with their rival academy was around the corner. They had to stay united.

Despite the grouping, one student was isolated: Scarlett. She had no friends or partners. So, she decided to sit with Luke and his sisters.

"Is this spot taken?" she asked.

"Not at all. Grab a seat," Luke replied.

"Well, well, Adrian, look over there," Miquelon teased. "It looks like your brother isn’t as isolated as you thought. If he keeps pulling more people into his orbit, he might tamper with the power balance in our class."

Adrian couldn’t do anything but grumble. Wait till Luke gets to fight and he’ll have his deserved laugh.

Soon, the instructor pitted a boy named Wally against a girl named Tabitha for the first practice of the day.

Wally confidently laughed at Tabitha even though he had the weaker summon.

"Here’s some advice, commoner. Use Echo and fight me. Don’t rely on your bug. One hit and I’ll flatten it."

"You should worry about yourself. Your rodent isn’t any better," Tabitha replied, unfazed.

Light traces illuminated the arena as beasts were summoned. Wally’s, a Frost Bat. A Lesser beast with a fortitude of 8.3, going against a Lantern Moth, ranked Greater with a fortitude of 2.5.

As obvious as it could be, the Lantern Moth looked every bit a higher grade than the Frost Bat. Sunny glowing wings. Translucent exoskeleton. The Frost Bat’s hideousness just couldn’t match its grace.

But appearance rarely decided a fight.

"Ice Needle!" Wally took the lead.

Frozen icicles burst from the bat’s ice wings like a cluster of arrows, zipping toward the moth.

Tabitha was struck by goosebumps at the worst time possible.

Gasp!

"I need to fight back," she thought.

With "Flash Screen!", the Lantern Moth illuminated the arena, blinding the Frost Bat and impeding its aim. SKRISH! The Ice Needles swerved off target and crashed elsewhere.

"Now counter!" Tabitha followed up, gaining confidence. "Embers Fall on that nasty bat!"

The Lantern Moth flew higher than the bat, hovered over it, and dropped a shower of fire droplets by fluttering its wings.

Wally panicked when he saw his summon trapped beneath the burning rain. "Glacial Shield! Hurry!" he screamed.

Even as the Frost Bat managed to conjure the shield of ice, the cinders were just too hot. They melted through the defense, scorching the bat’s wings.

THUD!

"My Frost Bat!" Wally wailed as the beast fell back to the arena, its singed wings twitching as it struggled to regain balance.

"Finish it with a gust!" Tabitha commanded.

"Match over. Winner, Tabitha!" the instructor declared as the Frost Bat flew back and crashed into a wall.

"Cheater..." Wally mumbled instead of accepting the loss. "She cheated. That stupid moth is a joke."

"You look pathetic, Wally," Tabitha replied as they called back their summons. "Go back to your seat and cry."

"WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!"

"Yes, Tabitha! Go, girl!"

Tabitha’s friends cheered and whooped for her, celebrating her quick victory. But the noise drowned out once her next opponent stood up.

It was a powerful student named Borg.

"Big words for someone who fought a blind rodent," Borg said as he met the stage.

"You think you’ve arrived because you beat a Lesser beast? Look at the scoreboard, Tabitha. You’re still at the bottom....

And I’m about to show everyone exactly why."

Tabitha stepped back as Borg approached, her heart running a marathon, her eyes searching for an anchor.

Out of everyone, they pitted him against her next?

Tabitha knew who he was. Borg was the strongest Greater-grade summoner in the entire class, and the gap between their beasts’ base and potential was just too large not to be a problem for Tabitha.

Borg’s summon was the Rot Tortoise, starting at a rank of 6.4 with a potential of Elder-grade 2.3. Meanwhile, Tabitha’s Lantern Moth had a potential of only 7.5 within the same Greater tier.

"Oh no. Oh no," she prayed. "Please let my stamina be at a full hundred. Borg is ruthless—he’ll exploit anything he can."

"Her luck just ran out."

"Borg is best pals with Rake, the second-ranked after Queen Scarlett, and Rake has an Abyssal Hydra. There’s no way she’s winning."

The instructor officially announced the match, leaving Tabitha to face the prodigy. Her confidence was rattled, and Borg took pleasure in the sight.

"Summon your pet, commoner!"

Meanwhile, he summoned his Rot Tortoise.

THUD!

The creature’s arrival shook the arena. How heavy!

The Rot Tortoise was way bigger than normal. It looked like a pile of prehistoric rocks, with stinky slime dripping from its scales. One look at the beast, and everyone pinched their nose.

Tabitha included.

But she couldn’t afford to be squeamish. Tabitha had heard that the Rot Tortoise had infectious abilities. Maybe this could be one of them.

Hoping to seize the advantage, she summoned her moth again and struck first with the same gust she used to defeat the Frost Bat.

The Lantern Moth spread the hot wind at the reptile, but contrary to Tabitha’s expectations, Borg just commanded his tortoise not to move.

FWOOOOSHH!

The heat wave smashed uselessly against the beast’s shell as it tucked its limbs underneath.

"Is that all you’ve got?" Borg mocked as the heat wave washed over his beast. "Keep going. This guy literally lived on volcanoes."

"No... Don’t get frustrated by him," Tabitha hissed to herself, but she couldn’t help it. "Don’t stop! Use Searing Embers! Maximum output!"

The Lantern Moth fluttered urgently, hovering higher as it rained cinders again. Explosion after explosion rocked the arena floor, kicking up dust and smoke.

Some students cheered, thinking that volume had to do something.

But when the smoke cleared, the Rot Tortoise was still sitting in the same spot. It even grumbled in annoyance, snorting decay from its nose the same way a bull snorts hot breath.

"No way...’" Tabitha thought, sweating. "I’m using everything I have, and it’s just tanking them like it’s nothing!"

On the other hand, the Rot Tortoise had started using an AOE skill named Blight Domain.

Soon, a mist of fungus and parasitism spread out from the tortoise’s body, draining the life force of everything it touched.

The Lantern Moth choked and was weakened within seconds while Tabitha panicked, feeling the plague too.

She tried to command one last attack, but her weakened moth could barely lift its wings.

"Finish her," Borg ordered.

The giant tortoise then released one last pulse that shattered the Lantern Moth’s defenses, leaving Tabitha’s soul expended.

"Match over. Winner, Borg!" the instructor declared.

The other students stared in shock, whispering about how overpowered Borg’s summon was when it didn’t even look that powerful at first glance.

"He just sat there and let Tabitha waste herself."

"That skill is broken. You can’t even get close to that thing."

"I think a beast with longer range can counter it."

Meanwhile, Luke calculated the spreading speed of the mist. He soon realized that his beast armor could withstand an attack like that if he was fully geared from head to toe.

Did this mean suiting your beast in armor was just as important as having a powerful beast in the first place?

On the stage, the instructor guided Tabitha away while everyone recovered from how Borg had schooled her.

"As I said, you belong at the bottom. Know your place, commoner," Borg sneered.

The instructor frowned at the boy’s ruthlessness. Borg was far more powerful than the average student, meaning pitting anyone else against him now would only lead to another one-sided beating.

Wanting to save time and protect the class, the instructor called it a day for him.

Borg laughed arrogantly at the early dismissal. In the academy, this was the ultimate acknowledgment of talent.

Hoping to restart the practice with a balanced matchup, the instructor called out two fresh names.

"Next up! Chloe Ackerman versus Luke!"