Intermediate Magical Beast
"Aren't those kids idiots?"
Stella grumbled about the group that had left as she watched them go. The fact that they hadn't gone off alone was partly because they'd built up some affinity with me, but more importantly, this was a group mission from the start. If it had been a solo rampage kind of assignment, she would've dragged us straight to the battlefield instead of here.
I turned to the remaining kids and suggested we assign positions in advance.
"Since it's a group mission, it might be good to set our roles beforehand."
"Yeah, now that we've got four of us, that doesn't sound half bad."
"Um, so... I should tank, right?"
I nodded at Noah's words and laid out the positions for everyone. Noah as main tank. Me as sub-tank. Stella as main dealer. Sheera as sub-dealer.
Whether by chance or design, none of our roles overlapped.
'Well, duh. Of course not.'
In Project Luna, there was a feature for partying up with NPCs. The devs probably wanted players to max it out, and if they stuck only same-role NPCs together, some would inevitably get benched. So balancing it like this made perfect sense.
"Alright then... shall we?"
I took the lead and started climbing the mountain.
"Salamander!"
The moment Stella spotted a lowest-grade monster, she summoned her Salamander. Even in that brief time, it had synced deeply with her, reading her intent flawlessly and spewing flames right away.
I wanted to yell, Spitting fire in a forest? Are you insane? But amazingly, the flames didn't singe a single leaf—they targeted and melted only the monster with pinpoint accuracy.
It defied physics, but that's what summons were. Guardians transcending natural laws to protect humanity.
Watching Stella, Sheera tilted her head and sidled up.
"Why not bring out Ifrit?"
"...If I did, it'd look like I'm hogging all the glory by myself. If that was the point, the teachers wouldn't have told six of us to team up."
"Heeeh~ Then me too."
Taking the cue from Stella, Sheera summoned her 1-star summon. Stella stared at her in disbelief.
"...What're you doing?"
"Summoning my summon, same as you?"
"...You're here because of your family's summon, aren't you?"
"Eh, whatever. I'll call it if things get dicey. And besides..."
─Cheep?
"Isn't it just the cutest?"
Sheera shoved the Bluebird right in Stella's face as she said it. And yeah, it was shockingly adorable—that tiny blue bird lived up to the hype.
Stella's gaze got stolen by it, but she snapped out of it and whipped her head away.
"Quit screwing around! This is basically a battlefield!"
"But~ girls look better handling something this small and cute."
"...So you're saying our Salamander isn't cute?"
"Honestly─ it's kinda creepy. Reptile."
Did Salamander understand? It drooped its head sullenly from afar. Stella could easily sense her summon's mood and immediately bellowed in denial.
"If we're going there, your family summon's a reptile too!"
"That's why I didn't summon it."
"You little...!"
"Both of you. Stop fighting."
No end in sight to their spat, so I had to step in. Pathetic? Sure, but what do you expect from kids.
"What the hell? Who cares if a summon's cute?"
It matters. If specs were equal, I'd pick the bikini-armor babe over an ugly one too. But that's game logic—purely hypothetical equal performance. Not worth bickering over in real life.
"Sheera, quit picking fights for no reason."
"Bored."
"Want me to leave you here?"
"...Sorry."
After wringing an apology from Sheera, I made Stella do the same. They weren't seriously at each other's throats anyway—just bowed their heads on my say-so.
But the mood, once soured, didn't bounce back easy. I sighed inwardly and trudged on in silence.
Not long after, rustling came from the bushes ahead. I summoned without hesitation, scanning everywhere.
"─Anna."
"Yes, Master."
"Toward the monster presence."
Holy Cross
Anna raised her shield at my command and unleashed her ultimate. Original Art—not meant for spamming like this. It packed massive power but needed long prep, usually saved for finishers.
But reality? No such thing. Meet enemy, ultimate. Eye contact, instant death. Don't know it? Die.
Plus, Anna's was light and holy affinity—harmless to normal humans or summons. Total cheat skill.
─SKREEEEEE!
The monster ambushing from the bushes screamed, and hoofbeats echoed from all sides. Lowest-grade beasts swarmed us in seconds.
But no one here feared them.
"─Golem."
Noah reached out, and a colossal statue dwarfing our view materialized. It got the memo instantly and stomped lightly.
BOOM!
"Tanking just means keeping our team safe, right?"
Noah commanded the Golem to kick every last lowbie away like whack-a-mole.
In-game, it was a bulky polygon lump with sky-high defense. But now, in reality...
That sheer power moving its massive frame...
KABOOOOOM!!
"So yeah, just kill 'em all. Like moles."
...turned it into a weapon itself. Noah cleared the swarm in a flash, then scratched her head with a dopey grin.
"...Ahaha. Got 'em all."
BOOOOM!
"...What the hell was that?"
Elton, climbing solo after ditching the group, turned at the rumble behind him. Dense trees blocked the view below.
'They catching up already?'
He sped up. He knew this was a teamwork lesson—to build cooperation and pick a leader.
'Don't need it.'
No need to learn that crap. As a count's son, he'd studied kingship and more since childhood. Leading kids? Old news.
"W-Wait—! Let's go tog...!"
"...Copy."
Copy trailed after. Elton barely stifled a sigh watching him.
'A marquis's son? That guy?'
Pathetic. Timid, fat, scared stiff—did nothing. Waste of a summon. He'd concede Copy's sparring win... but his personality boiled Elton's blood.
If not a marquis heir, Elton would've bullied him through academy life, no doubt.
"Hurry up. You're slowing us."
"Huff, b-but... it's tough."
"Should've exercised."
"...I do."
Copy averted his eyes. His gut screamed otherwise. "Exercise" probably meant the academy's mandatory hour—light stuff everyone did.
Elton, who trained two hours daily extra, found him utterly pitiful.
"Why not summon yours and ride it?"
"S-Summons aren't for...!"
"Right. Yours ain't rideable."
Elton smirked, picturing it. Ent Dryad. Sluggish thing that rooted enemy feet—great for merits, promoted a marquis. Useless alone. Like its owner, needed help for everything. Trash.
"So? Want me to summon mine for you?"
"Y-You'd do that?"
"...Hah."
Elton snorted and summoned. White Tiger. Shabel tiger breed, rumored descendant of the Four Divine Beasts' White Tiger.
It tilted its head at him, but before Elton could explain, Copy clambered on.
"Uwaaah... p-please..."
─...Grrr.
The summon glared—no words needed—but Elton looked away. A three-digit weight like Copy's? No burden for it.
"...Dude, slouching like that—you gonna summon in time?"
"Huh? It'll be fine... got this guy, right? We'll manage."
Sigh-worthy answer. But to blitz a mid-grade and return fast, he needed Copy's help. Plus, soloing with this baggage would boost his image. Couldn't ditch him.
"Ugh, let's go."
Elton mounted too and ordered the climb. Way faster than walking—they shot toward the peak.
And spotted the coiled mid-grade beast waiting at the summit.
"Ooh... yeah, that's a mid-grade for sure."
Elton dismounted instantly. Copy belatedly summoned his and went on guard.
Sensing their power, the beast lifted its head, eyeing them.
Elton burst out laughing.
"Idiot. Should've charged on sight. Copy."
"Y-Yeah. Bind it—Dryad!"
Dryad's Original Art
Roots erupted from the earth, binding everything tangled. Even same 3-star summons couldn't escape once caught. Mid-grade beast included.
"Die!"
Seeing it helpless, Elton sent his summon to finish. White Tiger's fangs pierced deep—steel-melting chompers. No beast survived.
Crunch crunch. Confirmed the feast, Elton grinned, dreaming of top scores and treatment.
'Valedictorian? Duke's daughter? Whatever! I can do it solo...'
Crunch, crunch.
Bone-and-flesh-tearing sounds.
"U-Um... Elton?"
"What? Ready to head back, Copy?"
"N-No... look..."
Elton glanced where Copy pointed. His "feasting" White Tiger... was getting eaten instead.
'...What the fuck?'
─GRRRK, KYIING, KEEEE!
Summon screamed in agony. Beast devoured greedily.
"B-Block it!"
"How!?"
"U-Use your summon—do something!"
"I-I only know that one skill..."
"What!?"
Despite lifelong handling of his family heirloom, Copy unlocked only one Original Art. Never an issue before.
Now, time to pay for laziness.
─GRRRRR...
Beast finished the summon, eyes blazing at them.