"Remember, just like I instructed you," the assistant reminded them, her voice echoing across the platform. "Place your hands on the glass and pour all your soul essence into the core."
One by one, the five students reached out. Arthur took a deep, steadying breath and pressed his palms against the smooth, dark surface of his Spirit Core.
The moment his skin made contact, a strange, comforting warmth flooded his mind. He closed his eyes, mentally pleading with the universe. Please, just let me summon a Wyvern. Something like Lady Abelle's.
Naturally, just thinking the name Lady Abelle completely derailed his concentration. His intrusive thoughts aggressively took the wheel, and suddenly, he was vividly imagining himself pulling a massive dragon from the Rift, soaring high into the clouds, and flying parallel to her glorious, gravity-defying breasts. He tried his absolute best to shake the image and lock back in, but the mental picture of her spectacular assets refused to leave.
"Look! There's a glow!" someone in the crowd shouted.
Arthur's eyes snapped open. He instantly looked toward his own orb, but it was completely dark.
Instead, it was Sidwig's core that had erupted into a brilliant, radiant blue light. Sidwig was wearing a massive, arrogant grin, his eyes wide with triumph as the blue mana surged around his arms.
Directly beneath Sidwig's heavy boots, a massive, glowing summoning circle materialized on the stone floor. The air rippled violently with blue electricity, and the heavy silhouette of a powerful beast began to materialize within the flashing light.
When the blinding light finally settled, an eight-foot-tall beast resembling a primal yeti stood at the center of the spinning circle.
It was a Frost Fang Ape. The creature possessed dark blue-gray fur, massive muscular limbs, and oversized clawed hands capable of tearing through solid ice and stone. Curved ivory horns rose sharply from its thick skull, while its glowing blue eyes and exposed, razor-sharp fangs gave it a savage, predatory appearance. Its upper body was covered in patches of thick white fur and glowing icy markings, making it look like a primal monster born from the deepest frozen mountains and endless blizzards.
"Now would you look at that?" Sidwig barked proudly, crossing his arms as he looked down at the rest of the class.
The assistant checked her tablet, a professional smile returning to her face. "Another exceptional student. The beast's Fortitude is 7.4. Gold Tier."
The crowd of students gasped in absolute awe. Even if he hadn't touched Isoreth's legendary score, the bully had just pulled a high-ranking Gold-tier monster out of the Rift.
"Check that device again," Sidwig snapped, his arrogant smile twisting into an angry scowl. "I'm sure it's a Platinum Tier. The Fortitude has got to be higher than a damn 7.4!"
"I just told you what the reading is," the assistant replied, her tone sharpening. "It's a 7.4, kid."
"I don't believe you..." Sidwig growled, clenching his fists as he actually started walking toward her in a threatening stride.
"Behave yourself, Sidwig," Mrs. Alger cut in, her voice ringing out like a whip crack.
Sidwig froze.
"The gauge doesn't lie," Mrs. Alger continued, her sharp eyes pinning the bully to the floor. "It is a Gold-tier Fortitude. That is higher than what most people in this country could ever dream of summoning. You have done exceptionally well. But if you keep trying to disrupt this ceremony, you and I are going to have a serious problem."
Sidwig stopped dead in his tracks. He held fierce eye contact with Mrs. Alger for a few agonizing seconds, trying to flex his family's influence. But under her unwavering, veteran gaze, he finally blinked. Looking away in bitter defeat, he grunted, recalled his beast into a swirl of blue mist, and stormed off the platform.
Mrs. Alger let out a soft sigh, running a hand over her temple before turning her attention to the remaining students on the stage. Their hands were still desperately glued to the dark, unresponsive orbs, praying for a miracle that wasn't coming.
"That's enough," Mrs. Alger said gently, but firmly. "You have all tried your best, but to no avail. Please step down. As I said before, you can still pursue civilian studies and find a stable..."
Mrs. Alger abruptly choked on her words.
To everyone's absolute shock, a sudden, violent hum vibrated through the stone platform.
It was Arthur's Spirit Core. The previously dark glass had violently erupted, casting a brilliant, blinding golden glow that illuminated the entire cavernous hall.
A pristine, mechanical voice rang directly inside of Arthur's skull, drowning out the murmurs of the crowd.
[Welcome, Paladin Lord.]
A massive golden summoning circle erupted beneath his feet, its intricate holy runes spinning at a violent speed.
[Your Ascension will now begin.]
A heavy, dense silhouette began to coalesce right within the center of the blinding light. Arthur held his breath, his eyes wide and unblinking as the radiance solidified into a physical form.
First, massive greaves of etched, holy gold hammered themselves into existence on the stone floor, followed by heavy, articulated gauntlets. Then came a broad chest plate, polished to a flawless mirror finish that reflected the stunned, pale faces of the crowd below.
As the blinding light finally snapped and dissolved, the golden helmet dematerialized, revealing the strikingly beautiful face of a woman with fierce ocean-blue eyes and cascading blonde hair.
Her armor was a masterpiece of design, though it defied all logic of traditional warfare. The polished plate armor only covered her shoulders, her forearms, and her spectacular breasts, shaping a metallic bra that left the smooth, creamy skin of her midriff entirely exposed down to her waist, where the armored tassets and faulds continued.
She stood at a modest five feet tall, the exact height of a human woman, but she effortlessly held a colossal greatsword taller than herself in one hand, and a massive tower shield in the other.
The entire cavernous hall went dead silent.
Absolute shock paralyzed the students and faculty alike. In the entire history of the world, there had never been a humanoid summon before. By all appearances, Arthur hadn't pulled a monster from the Rift, he had summoned a living, breathing human woman.
Even Mrs. Alger was frozen, her mouth slightly open, completely stripped of her usual stern professional composure.
But Arthur wasn't shocked at all. If anything, his heart thumped with absolute, unadulterated joy. A girl? I summoned a gorgeous, high-tier girl?!
His eyes greedily traced the beautiful warrior before him, studying her flawless skin and mind-blowing curves. Sure, he hadn't gotten a dragon, but he had just manifested a model-level beauty out of thin air.
Finally, Mrs. Alger managed to find her voice. "This... this is unprecedented. This changes everything we thought we knew about the Rift and the nature of Summons."
She turned and nodded sharply at the assistant to get the reading, but the woman's face had gone completely white.
"Well, it's a summon, isn't it? We might as well rank it," Mrs. Alger urged, her tone tight. "What is the creature's Fortitude?"
The assistant slowly shook her head, her fingers trembling. "There's... there's no reading, ma'am. The... whatever that entity is, it has no Fortitude value."
Mrs. Alger stared at Arthur's summon. The blonde paladin stood perfectly still, like a flawless marble statue of a goddess.
"What do you mean there's no reading?" Mrs. Alger snapped, marching over to the assistant. She snatched the tablet right out of her hands and stared at the screen. Instantly, her face went just as pale as the assistant's.
When Mrs. Alger looked back up, she stared at the blonde warrior as if she were looking at a ghost.
"What kind of summon has absolutely no Fortitude?" Mrs. Alger whispered.
That was the exact moment a cold drop of uncertainty started to creep into Arthur's chest. The awe in the room was turning sour. He had summoned an anomaly. A human-like entity with broken stats in a world that only valued the raw, measurable muscle of beasts.
"I'll tell you exactly what kind of summon Arthur pulled," Sidwig's mocking voice suddenly boomed across the stadium, dripping with pure malice. "The bro literally summoned a pornstar!"
At first, the crowd was too stunned to react. But then, Christoffer let out a sharp bark of laughter. Slowly, like a domino effect, the rest of the students joined in, until the entire hall erupted into a deafening roar of mockery.
Arthur's brief moment of happiness completely shattered. He had always been the class joke, but now, he was a legendary laughingstock.
Mrs. Alger didn't even attempt to stop the shouting; she was simply too bewildered by the blank tablet to know what to say.
How do I release it? Arthur thought desperately, his chest burning as he wished for nothing more than to escape the suffocating weight of the room. Just disappear, please.
As if perfectly understanding his unspoken command, the blonde paladin dissolved into a sudden swirl of golden dust, disintegrating into the void on her own free will.
Arthur didn't wait around for Mrs. Alger to dismiss him. He stepped down from the platform and practically retreated out of the stadium, his ears ringing with the echoes of laughing voices. As he pushed his way through the doors, he caught a glimpse of Isoreth. She was watching him closely, her cold persona fully intact, her silver eyes entirely unreadable.
The heavy doors slammed shut behind him, cutting off the noise of the academy.
And right there, in the quiet, empty corridor, the majestic, mechanical voice rang in his head once more, clearer than ever before.
[Congratulations. You have successfully bound a Templar Paladin.]