Located deep in the lower levels of the Academy was the Old Training Arena. In Awakener Supreme, it was explained that this place was where students gathered to battle outside the knowledge of the professors.
The place was mainly dark with light spilling in from the entrance above, the shattered windows and other holes on the wall.
Broken pillars rested over each other, rocks made for makeshift stands where students gathered in crowds.
Today, unexpectedly, it was packed.
Word traveled fast in the Awakener Supreme Institute, especially when it involved public humiliation. Fights on the first days of school gathered a lot of traction.
Most of the students present were Summoners—First Years looking for entertainment, Second Years looking for blood—but there were others, too.
A few Elementalists bored with their own perfection, some Specialists leaning against the railings.
But of course no one above Second Year (Class Group-Cs) cared to show up for these childish bouts.
Kasto and Anita were huddled near the front of one of the crowds, their faces pale with worry. In another crowd, almost blending into the shadows, Luke stood with his arms crossed, no expression on his face.
"Move it," Dace grunted, shoving Lancet forward.
Lancet stumbled into the center of the battleground, his shoes skidding on the grit.
His heart hammered against his ribs. Even though he had the Grace ready, he wasn't prepared for this. Not yet.
He had hoped for a few days to summon Astensia, then explain the situation to her. To get her to pledge her loyalty to him, and see what she's truly capable of.
Being thrown into the duel was too risky. What if there was something he had forgotten to do?
"Look at him shaking!" Gully jeered, playing to the crowd.
Theo smirked. "I'm going to teach you a good lesson in front of everyone, kid," he announced, his voice echoing off the walls.
He stood at the opposite end of the field, a manic look on his face that showed just how certain he was that he would win this match. And just how much he was going to enjoy it.
"Get ready to be my toilet paper for the rest of your Academy life!"
Lancet swallowed hard. He adjusted his stance, trying to look less like a victim and more like a participant.
"Begin!" someone shouted.
Theo didn't waste a second. He withdrew his grimoire right out of nowhere and the pages fluttered in front of him. Then stopped.
"Come forth and feast!"
The red smoke burst out from the pages. Unlike the previous day, Theo didn't inhale the essence to transform himself. Instead, he let the red mist rise into the air.
It started to take shape a few feet away, forming a terrifying creature that could only be described as a nightmare.
It stood eight feet tall, its skin flayed to reveal wet, crimson muscle. Rusty chains were embedded in its flesh, rattling with every breath. It had no eyes, only a mouth filled with rows of needle-like teeth.
⸢ Entity Identified: Faceless Flayed Man-eater ⸥
⸢ Rank: Descending 3-Star Demon ⸥
The crowd gasped.
"No way," a student muttered. "That's Theo's most powerful Demon. He's using that?"
"He really wants to kill the newbie, huh?" another laughed nervously. "He's going to smash whatever summon that slum rat pulls out."
Lancet stared at the monster, watching saliva drip down its mouth-face. He was used to horrific descriptions of Demons in the novel, but seeing them face-to-face was a whole new deal.
Theo grinned, holding on to the invisible chains of Grace that kept the Demon bound to his will.
The Faceless Man-eater let out a shriek that scraped Lancet's ear drums. The only thing stopping it at that moment from devouring him was Theo's chains.
But that wasn't going to be the case for much longer.
Theo frowned. "Where's your summon, slum rat?"
"Come on!" someone from the stands yelled. "Do something!"
"Show us what an 'Architect' does, Dull Rank!"
Lancet stood frozen. The sheer pressure of the 3-Star Demon was making his knees weak. He knew it was now or never. He had no time to hesitate further. He summoned his interface.
⸢ Do you wish to officially create Heroine, Astensia Valengard? ⸥
⸢ Cost: 1,900 CP ⸥
"YES! YES!" Lancet screamed in his mind.
⸢ Heroine is being created. Please wait. ⸥
"He's not summoning anything!" a girl shouted. "He's empty!"
"That means he has to fight himself! That's the rule!"
Laughter rippled through the arena. They all pointed at him, mocking him.
Theo's grin widened. "Get him, Vorgath! Tear his legs off first!"
The Demon roared and charged.
It moved with terrifying speed for its size, crossing the distance in bounding leaps. The ground shook.
Percival's eyes widened in horror. 'HURRY UP?' he yelled to his system.
Ding!
⸢ Heroine created successfully. Astensia Valengard is now waiting in the Summon Space. ⸥
The Demon was twelve meters away. Six. Lancet could smell the rot in its breath.
'Summon! Summon! Summon!' he cried in his mind.
⸢ Spend 100 MP of Grace to summon Astensia Valengard? ⸥
Lancet thrust his hand forward, his palm facing the onrushing nightmare.
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, YES!"
The arena suddenly turned white.
BOOM!
A pillar of pure, blinding light slammed down from the ceiling, obliterating the shadows of the underground arena.
It hit the ground between Lancet and the Demon with the force of a meteor.
The shockwave caught the Man-eater mid-air, and was swatted away like a fly, tumbling backward across the stone floor before crashing a foot away from Theo.
"Woah!" The crowd shielded their eyes, the sudden brightness stinging their retinas.
"What was that?!" Theo yelled, staring into the light.
Slowly, it began to dim, reducing to a golden glow. Within the glow, a figure was revealed.
She was kneeling on one knee, her head bowed in reverence or exhaustion. A massive greatsword, decorated with old runes, was driven into the stone floor, acting as her anchor.
She wore an armor of gold over silver chainmail and yellow leather, with heavy pauldrons and glistening gauntlets.
A winged Valkyrie helm obscured the upper half of her face, but beneath it, a thick braid of liquid gold hair spilled over her shoulder.
The silence in the arena was absolute.
Even the dust motes seemed to freeze in the presence of such majesty. She radiated a kind of unimaginable kind of power. All they could do was stare.
Slowly, the Knight stood.
She was tall, like an Amazon. The greatsword was pulled from the stone with effortless strength, the blade singing as it cut the air. Her shield hung firmly beside her.
"Unbelievable," was the first word she muttered. "I live."
The crowd stared, slack-jawed.
"Who... who is that?" Dace whispered, stepping back.
"I've never seen that kind of summon before," Gully stammered. "A real person?"
In the crowd, Kasto stared in disbelief, his hands shaking as he pointed. "Wait... the winged helm... the golden braid... It can't be."
"You know who it is?" Anita asked.
"Are you kidding? That looks exactly like Astensia," he whispered. "The Guardian of the Greatest Gate."
On the field, the Golden Knight's gaze swept through the crowd. Then, as if they were insignificant, she turned and looked at Lancet.
Theo had an expression of rage and disbelief in his face. What the hell was happening here?!
"You," she said. It wasn't a question. It was an accusation. "You summoned me here. You pulled my soul from the eternal."
She took a step toward him, the metal of her greaves clanking softly.
"Why?"
Lancet stared up at her. For a moment, he was completely befuddled. He couldn't believe it. His creation. She was real.
He had actually done it. He had brought a real person into the world of Awakener Supreme. And not only did others believe she was real, she believed so too.
He gazed at her face. She was more beautiful than he had anticipated. Intimidating too. Way more intimidating than any description he had typed into the window.
Perhaps it was the aura that came with an Awakener such as herself. An Awakener he created.
Lancet swallowed the lump in his throat.
"I need your help," he said, his voice trembling.
He didn't even have to fake the fear. He pointed a shaking finger at the Demon, who was still sprawled on the floor.
"I know who you are," Lancet said, looking into her eyes. "I know that you defend the weak from evil; from the strong who wrongfully impose their will upon them. I know you can help me."
He took a breath, playing the role of the desperate summoner to perfection.
"I am completely helpless," he confessed. "That boy... he summoned that Demon to hurt me. Simply because I am weaker than him."
Theo's brows creased. 'What is this little shit trying to do here?!'
"Please, Astensia," Lancet pleaded. "You are my only hope."
Astensia stayed still.
She looked at Lancet: a boy with no armor, no weapon, and barely a flicker of Grace. Then she looked over her shoulder at Theo, who was screaming at his Demon to get up and kill them both.
She looked back at Lancet. Her expression softened by a fraction.
"You brought me back..." she murmured, "because you believed in my goodness?"
She gripped the hilt of her greatsword tighter.
"You put your hope in me, Summoner? You could have called upon monsters, or beasts, or the hundreds of other Awakeners. But you chose me."
To her, this wasn't a random summon. It was a call to duty. A weak master had reached across time, bypassing all others, to ask for her shield.
It was the highest honor a Knight could receive.
"Very well," Astensia said.
She turned to face Theo and his bound Demon. Her cape snapped in the unseen wind of her rising aura. The air around her began to shimmer with the power of Grace and her unadulterated Will.
"I will not fail you, Summoner!"