Chapter 45: Limits

"So that’s it," Darwit said.

"The summon, right?" Mason said, narrowing his eyes a bit.

"Yes." Darwit said as he Aaron closely.

"Aaron Grey, protracted engagements have never been his strong suite, have they? He can sustain the Python for a while, but fighting at this level is different and for this long too. He’s been using it continuously since the start of the match, and he’s forcing it to fight three opponents now."

Mason nodded slowly. "That’s the only thing holding him back."

"Exactly." Darwit said. "He’s already among the strongest third-years. If he could sustain his summon even at normal durations, there wouldn’t be many students in the academy capable of stopping him."

"You’re right." Mason said as his eyes shifted toward Leon, then he frowned. "How’s that kid still fine?" He asked, genuinely puzzled.

Darwit looked at Leon too. The boy stood behind his summons without any visible strain whatsoever.

A Summoner maintaining three summons should have been under tremendous pressure because of the energy drain, yet, here he was, totally ok, he didn’t even look remotely tired.

To that question, Darwit had no answer.

’That’s what I need to find out.’ He said in his mind, and it was the very thing Mason thinking also.

Leon himself had never felt any noticeable drain from summoning his undead. As far as he was concerned, maintaining three summons felt no different from maintaining one, and maintaining one felt no different from not having any summon out at all.

..

The battle continued.

Aaron knew he was running out of time, and it showed in the sudden aggression that had started to show.

The Python’s movements had slowed enough that relying on it for a prolonged exchange was no longer an option, so he made one final attempt.

"Nymph!" He called out to his Python.

The summon moved closer, and as soon as it reached his side, they charged together.

He ignored the Skirmishers and went directly for the Skeleton Swordsman, hoping to overwhelm it before the other two could interfere, the Phython having pushed them off just then.

The Swordsman met him head-on and his first strike was blocked.

The Python leapt above him, adding gravity to the weight of is attack, forcing the Swordsman to shift to defend, immediately after shoving Aaron backwards with a firm kick, though Aaron managed to reduce the force.

He immediately rushed back, refusing to let it recover.

For a second, the two worked perfectly together, forcing the Swordsman backward, until the Skirmishers arrived.

One came from the side.

The other moved behind Aaron.

Aaron turned just enough to avoid the first blade, but that moment was enough to break his pressure on the Swordsman.

The Python tried to cover him, but it was too slow, a curved blade struck its side.

The Python staggered as it rose its head.

Aaron’s expression changed as he saw that. "Nymph." He said in a low voice.

The summon tried to recover, but its body couldn’t take anymore.

The arena went silent.

Aaron stared at it for a moment before lowering his hand.

Against his will, the Python disappeared, it had gone past exhaustion already, even he could feel it on himself.

While it hadn’t been defeated, Aaron just simply couldn’t sustain it any longer.

The silence lasted only a second before the arena erupted.

Aaron stood alone, head down for a moment.

Across from him were three undead, with Leon standing relaxed behind them.

Leon met his eyes, and after holding eachother’s gaze for a second, Aaron took a breath, then gave a faint smile that barely showed.

"I knew it." He said. "I knew you were hiding something."

At that, Aaron raised his hand, prompting the referee to step forward.

"I concede." He said.

The referee looked toward Leon, then toward the three undead standing before him.

"Winner... Leon Carterrrrr!"

The arena exploded immediately. Some were shouting in disappointment, others in pure surprise.

Leon stood still for a moment, calling back his summons. The Skeleton Swordsman lowered his blade, while the two Desert Skirmishers stepped back.

All three were damaged, but perhaps that was the joy of undeads, it barely affected their performance.

One Summoner and one summon had nearly pushed three undead to their limit.

’So this is what a real Summoner fight looks like.’ He thought to himself. A part of him was glad that this wasn’t what was required to clear dungeons, if not it really would have been a terrible job. He almost laughed at that, it was funny to him somehow.

The cheering continued around him. Students who had mocked him weeks ago were now shouting his name.

In the end, it seemed like the biggest difference wasn’t the victory, but what everyone had just seen.

Leon Carter wasn’t a weak Summoner with an unusual undead. Besides going toe to toe with one of the academy’s strongest and coming out on top, depending on how they decided to interpret the win, HE HAD THREE SUMMONS.

That was the biggest of it all, and was probably going to be the talk for a while.

From the edge of the arena, Darwit watched him carefully.

"Three summons," Mason said quietly. "Do you think three is his limit?"

Darwit shook his head. "Stop imagining nonsense, will you?"

..

Across the academy grounds, far from the noise of the arena, Joseph stood beside the Headmaster, both of them had watched the entire match.

Joseph turned toward him. "Sir."

The headmaster remained silent.

"What do you think?" Joseph asked.

The headmaster looked through the window toward the arena below. For weeks, Leon Carter had been treated as an unusual student with almost everything happening around him abnormal, and classifying him as that was the best they could do, a boy who had somehow produced results nobody expected.

That explanation no longer worked.

The headmaster’s expression became serious. "Bring Leon Carter to me." He said.

"Immediately?" Joseph hesitated.

"Of course not, Joseph." he sighed, trailing his hand on his forehead as he looked toward the arena. "Let him finish celebrating."

He paused.

"Then I want to speak with him personally."

’Perhaps trying to understand him from a distance was the wrong approach from the get go.’ He thought to himself, he was going to ask Leon himself.