Chapter 61: Roland the Overseer

Ethan checked his balance.

He turned and left the Exchange Facility.

His next destination was the marketplace.

Ethan went straight to the resource section and checked the items displayed there.

He soon found what he was looking for.

[Solar Ore]

[Price: 2,400 Academy Points]

Ethan looked at the price.

He currently had 4,000 Academy Points, with 2,000 remaining from his previous balance and another 2,000 from exchanging the Inferno Core.

So he could afford it.

Solar Ore was a Fourth Order material commonly used to create fire-based equipment and other fire-related items.

Ethan needed it for the Solar Elementals’ first Growth Path.

Ethan took the Solar Ore and paid 2,400 Academy Points for it.

[2,400 Academy Points have been deducted.]

[Solar Ore obtained.]

Ethan placed the Solar Ore into his inventory.

One of the Growth Path requirements was now complete.

Ethan left the marketplace and headed back toward his room.

He hadn’t gone far when the Identification Token in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

Ethan stopped and took it out.

A notification appeared on its surface.

[Incoming Communication]

[Sender: Overseer Roland]

The Identification Token was normally used for identification, but Academy overseers could also use it to communicate with students.

Ethan accepted the communication.

"Ethan," a man’s voice came through the token. "Come to the Academy Cafeteria. I need to speak with you."

Ethan paused.

"Why?"

"I’ll explain when you get here."

The communication ended.

Ethan muttered, "I wonder what he wants."

He had been planning to return to his room and trigger the Solar Elementals’ Growth Path, but that could wait.

Whatever Roland wanted, it was probably worth hearing.

Ethan changed direction and headed toward the Academy Cafeteria.

When he arrived, the cafeteria was already busy. Students filled the tables, talking among themselves while others lined up to get their food.

Ethan looked around and soon noticed Roland sitting at a table near the side of the room.

The man noticed him as well and raised his hand, motioning for Ethan to come over.

Ethan walked toward him.

The man greeted him with a jovial smile and gestured toward the empty seat across from him.

"There you are. Come, sit down."

Ethan sat across from him.

"I’m Roland. You can just call me that."

"I’ll be looking after you this year, so you’ll probably be seeing me quite often."

Before Ethan could reply, several staff members arrived at the table and placed a variety of dishes in front of them.

Roland picked up his utensils with a smile.

"Eat first. We can talk while we do."

Ethan picked up a piece of roasted meat and took a bite.

[You have consumed Flamehorn Deer Meat.]

[Strength +2]

Ethan’s eyes lit up slightly.

It had been a while since he’d eaten food like this.

He picked up another piece and ate it.

[You have consumed Silverleaf Fruit.]

[Spirit +1]

Ethan looked at the food on the table with a little more interest.

Roland chuckled when he noticed Ethan’s reaction.

"Not bad, right?"

Ethan nodded while chewing.

Roland picked up a piece of meat as well.

"Since this is our first time actually meeting, I thought I’d at least prepare something decent."

"We’ll probably be seeing each other quite a bit this year, so there’s no reason for our first meeting to be boring."

Roland took another bite before continuing.

"Your assessment was quite interesting, by the way. Those shadow creatures you summoned certainly caught everyone’s attention."

Ethan kept eating.

"It’s not every day we see a summoner with abilities like yours. I was curious to see what else you could do."

Roland smiled as he picked up another piece of meat.

"You probably noticed the artificial sun during the assessment."

Ethan nodded.

"We don’t normally add something like that to the test. But after seeing what you could do, we thought you might need a little more pressure."

"Then you surprised us again. We thought those shadow creatures were your only summons, so seeing those fire creatures come out was quite the surprise."

Ethan continued eating.

"You’re making it sound more impressive than it was."

Roland laughed.

"Maybe. But you certainly made the assessment more interesting."

Roland chuckled and picked up another piece of meat.

"Then you came into the academy and cleared a Hell Difficulty dungeon on your first day."

"Most students spend months training before they even consider challenging Hell Difficulty. You walked in alone, cleared it, came back, and went shopping like it was nothing."

Ethan calmly took another piece of meat.

Roland shook his head with a smile. "You really don’t understand how unusual you are, do you?"

"I understand."

"Then you’re pretending not to."

Ethan smiled faintly.

"Maybe."

Roland laughed.

"That’s exactly why I asked you to come here."

He put down his utensils.

"I’m the Overseer responsible for this year’s students who entered the Order Academy through the assessment. Part of my job is keeping track of their progress, guiding them when necessary, and making sure they have what they need to develop properly."

He picked up his drink and took a sip.

"And you’ve already given me quite a lot to keep track of."

He smiled.

"But I’m not here to question you about everything you’ve been doing. I actually wanted to talk to you about your Summoning profession."

Ethan looked at him.

"What about it?"

Roland leaned back in his chair.

"Most Summoners have a limited summoning scope. Their profession determines what kinds of creatures they can summon, and most can only summon a small number of related types."

"Some can only summon one type of creature for their entire life. Others might be able to summon two, five, or even ten different types."

He looked at Ethan.

"But during the assessment, you summoned those shadow creatures, then brought out a completely different group of fire creatures."

"That got me curious."

"You seem to have a much broader summoning scope than most Summoners."

He paused.

"So I’m wondering how far your summons actually extend."

Ethan thought about Roland’s question.

How far could his summons actually extend?

His Legion Summoner profession seemed to have no fixed limit, although every new legion still had its own requirements.

He couldn’t tell Roland that.

There was no reason to reveal everything about his profession yet, but hiding the existence of future summons completely could cause problems later.

"I don’t know yet," Ethan said. "But I think there will be more."

Roland raised an eyebrow.

"More?"

Ethan nodded. "I’ve only seen two types so far. There could be more, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to summon them."

"So you really don’t know how many types you can summon?"

"Not yet."

Ethan took another bite of meat.

Roland chuckled.

"Well, having a wide summoning scope is certainly useful, but don’t let it make you careless."

Ethan looked at him.

"Summoners have a major weakness. No matter how powerful their summons are, the Summoner is still responsible for controlling them."

He picked up another piece of meat.

"Most Summoners rely heavily on their creatures to fight for them. If someone gets close enough to take out the Summoner, the strength of the summons doesn’t matter anymore."

"That’s why a good Summoner can’t just focus on making their summons stronger. You also need to be able to protect yourself when something gets through."

"And if you’re really going to have more than one type of summon, you’ll have even more options in battle. Just don’t forget that your enemy will be looking for you, not your summons."

Ethan continued eating.

Roland’s words made sense, but Ethan wasn’t sure how much they applied to him.

His legions weren’t simply extra bodies that fought for him. Each legion came with its own abilities, including skills that could directly protect or strengthen him.

Shadow Veil had already hidden his presence from perception abilities.

Divine Flame gave him a way to attack enemies directly.

And those were only the abilities he had unlocked so far.

Who knew what other skills he would gain as he unlocked more legions?

Still, Ethan wasn’t going to explain any of that.

Roland put down his drink.

"There’s something I think you should do, though."

Ethan looked at him.

"Spend some time at the combat training facility."

"The combat training facility?"

"More specifically, the Combat Simulation Orb."

Roland smiled.

"You don’t need it because I expect you to start beating other students in one-on-one fights. That’s not the point."

He leaned back in his chair.

"The orb can simulate different professions and their abilities. You can use it to fight against all kinds of opponents without actually putting yourself in danger."

He paused before continuing.

"You’re a Summoner, so you should know what the people trying to kill you can do."

Ethan listened quietly.

"Learn how Warriors fight. Learn how Assassins move. Learn what Mages can do when they have time to prepare. Learn how support professions can change a battle."

Roland picked up his drink again.

"You don’t have to become an expert at fighting every profession. You just need to understand them well enough to recognize their strengths, their weaknesses, and how they might try to get to you."

He smiled.

"If you know what your opponent can do, you’ll have a much easier time deciding which of your summons to use."

Ethan nodded. "I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the advice."