Chapter 55: Request to Fight

Linda had run into Dustin, Raul, and Leon three times over the last few days, though none of it was intentional.

The first time, she was looking for somewhere to train privately when she found the three of them already occupying one of the smaller training areas. Dustin and Raul were preparing their summons while Leon was sitting off to the side, looking like he wasn’t involved in whatever they were doing.

Linda considered staying for a moment, then decided against it. There were other places she could train, and sharing the space would only get in the way.

"You’re sure it’s Grade 3?" Dustin asked as Linda was already turning to leave.

"Want me to sing you a song, Dustin?" Leon answered without much interest.

Hearing that made Linda glance back at them. ’Does he have even more than 3 summons?’ Grade 3 was unusual enough to catch anyone’s attention, but their conversation moved on before she could hear much else.

Then Dustin and Raul challenged Leon’s summon.

Linda stayed near the entrance, mostly because she was already there and wanted to see what kind of Grade 3 summon Leon had. She didn’t intend to watch the entire fight.

Leon summoned a tall undead swordsman, gave it a short instruction, then went back to sit down as though there was nothing else for him to do.

’Is that all?’

Linda expected him to start controlling the summon once the fight began, but he didn’t. The undead fought Dustin and Raul almost entirely on its own.

It wasn’t simply strong either, it knew how to fight completely on its own.

The undead changed its distance whenever it needed to, ignored the poor attempts Dustin and Raul made to trick it, and punished any opening their summons gave it. Leon barely needed to say anything, and from the way he sat at the side, he didn’t appear particularly concerned about the result.

Linda watched them for several minutes before leaving. It was interesting, but she had her own training to worry about, and watching someone else’s summon fight wasn’t going to help her improve.

It was only later that she started thinking about what Dustin had said.

’Grade 3... Wait, grade 3?’ She hadn’t thought about it, but that didn’t make any sense at all, since it hadn’t been a new summon but the same one he had been using.

She started thinking back and remembered Leon’s awakening, much like almost everyone in the academy did. Leon Carter had awakened a Grade 1 Skeleton, one of the most common undead monsters. It was already strange that a person summoned a monster, then an undead, and then a Grade 1.

Now that same person had a Grade 3 undead?

Linda sat with that thought for a while, trying to understand how it could have happened. To her, there were explanations, and the most obvious one was Leon’s family.

Leon was a Carter.

The Carter family wasn’t simply wealthy. They were established and influential, with enough money that things ordinary students could never obtain in their lifetime, probably weren’t that difficult for them to get.

There were rare materials that could help summons grow, special environments made for training, and expensive methods that most people didn’t even know about. Linda had no idea what the Carter family had access to, so it was possible that Leon had used something to increase the strength of his summon.

It made more sense than a Grade 1 Skeleton Warrior naturally reaching Grade 3 in such a short time... But even that explanation didn’t completely satisfy her, mostly because of Leon himself.

Whenever Linda saw him, he never looked particularly busy. He sat around, read, used his phone, or watched other people train. Sometimes he seemed to do nothing at all.

’How can someone with that kind of power be this lazy?’ Linda asked herself.

If Leon had used his family’s resources to raise his summon that quickly, he should have still needed to put in some effort. If the summon had grown through another method, then that only made the matter even more interesting.

Either way, the result didn’t fit the person she always saw sitting around.

’Maybe he isn’t as lazy as he looks.’ She thought to herself.

That thought remained with her over the next few days.

She had just finished her own training when she happened to pass another room and heard Dustin’s voice through the slightly open door.

"You’re making it hold back more this time, right?" Dustin asked.

"He better." Raul answered before Leon could.

"I already said I would." Leon said.

Linda slowed down when she heard them.

’Another fight?’

She stopped near the door and looked through the opening. It was a different training room, but the same three people were inside.

Dustin and Raul were standing with their summons ready while Leon was sitting down again. The Great Swordsman stood beside him, waiting for whatever instruction he would give it.

’Of course.’ Linda thought.

She decided to stay this time. It wasn’t that she had suddenly become fascinated with them, she was simply curious to see if Dustin and Raul would do any better now that the Great Swordsman was supposed to hold back.

Well, the answer was a generous yes, but not enough for them to win.

The fight didn’t last much longer after Linda began watching properly. It didn’t take long before Dustin was lying flat on his back, while Raul sat several feet away with both hands behind him to support his body. The Stone Golem was down nearby, and the Dark Panther lay stretched across the floor, with the Great Swordsman standing beside Leon.

Leon was still sitting as though he hadn’t been involved in the fight.

"I hate that thing." Dustin said as he turned his head towards the Great Swordsman.

"You said that last time." Raul said with a laugh.

"I mean it more now." He grumbled, stretching on the ground.

"You did better." Leon said while looking at them.