Derek stood opposite Yuna, grinning with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.
Yuna's eyes narrowed as she studied him, then she cleared her throat.
"You heard the man. This is supposed to be a test. You better know how to treat a lady right."
The instructor gave both of them a long look and barked:
"Begin."
Immediately, Yuna placed her hand on her wide hips, jutting one hip out, and blew a kiss before calling:
"Answer my call! Thorn King!"
I let loose a silent sigh.
'Leave it to girls to make the whole thing cringe.'
Even Derek paused, staring at her with a stunned expression that would've been funny if it wasn't so genuine.
She shot him a grimace.
"What? The priests said we can do this — anything that strengthens our bonds with our summons."
Derek grinned maniacally. "Strengthening bonds... yeah, sure, go ahead and enter into cahoots with a spiritual being from over a thousand years ago."
As he spoke, blue and golden light was already materializing close to him, the glow casting strange shadows across the training field.
Standing beside Yuna was a six-foot-tall figure draped in armor that seemed to have been crafted using dried wood and a mass of vines — like something that had crawled out of an ancient forest and decided to play soldier. The massive muscle man that Derek had for a summon appeared next to him, all steel plates and impossible bulk.
Derek clenched his fist as his summon finished materializing. Yuna was already commanding hers with a hand thrust forward, her fingers splayed wide.
Her summon did not move — it merely folded its hands, and what looked like vines on its armor started to tear themselves out and shoot at Derek, who was already barreling toward Yuna's Thorn King like a man with a death wish.
A wide grin split Yuna's face. "You're going to get badly injured because you underestimated me and rushed in without thinking!"
However, Derek merely smirked as he ran forward to meet the approaching vine arrows. She panicked — she didn't want to accidentally kill her classmate. But the attack had been released, the vines already whistling through the air. Her eyes suddenly flared with surprise as she saw something strange. Derek's summon was approaching from behind, but not fast enough. Then the next moment, Derek exclaimed:
"Exchange!"
And he switched positions with his summon.
The vine arrows bombarded the impenetrable armor of the steel colossus he had for a summon. The summon didn't even seem to pay attention and merely took a knee and bent, letting Derek — running from behind — use it as a platform to cover the distance in one powerful leap.
Yuna's eyes widened. "You can do that?!"
Before she could right herself to do anything, Derek crashed down on her summon with a devastating knee drop, smashing it to the ground with a sound like breaking branches. As he dropped, he rolled and sprang up with a punch straight to her gut, sending her hurtling backward to roll across the ground in a graceless tumble.
In less than one minute, the battle was over.
Derek then flashed a wicked grin at me and dragged his thumb across his neck.
'Subtle.'
To be honest? Derek was a B-rank, which meant he had a Hero-tier summon. It would've been disappointing if he wasn't strong. But never did I expect that the bastard was going to be smart too.
'Strength and brains. Fantastic combination.'
The instructor's voice cut through the stunned silence:
"So? What did you lacklusters just witness? Or are you all too busy being impressed by flashy movements to actually learn anything?"
Yuna was still on the ground, clutching her stomach and gasping for air like she'd been hit by a truck. Derek stood there with that shit-eating grin plastered across his face, not even breathing hard. His summon hadn't moved from where it took a knee — completely undamaged despite the barrage of vine arrows that should've at least scratched the paint. And Yuna's summon had returned back to the embrace of her soul.
A hand shot up. Maxwell — a lean guy with sharp features and silver hair that caught the sunlight, giving him that pretentious scholar look that screamed "I correct people's grammar for fun."
"Sir, Derek's summon is clearly a Vanguard class. High defensive capabilities, damage absorption, the ability to serve as a shield for the summoner. But Derek himself utilized a mobility-based attribute to—"
"Wrong," the instructor cut him off flatly.
Maxwell blinked, his hand still raised like he was frozen mid-explanation. "I... what?"
"You're half-right, which makes you completely wrong. Anyone else want to embarrass themselves, or should I just assume you're all as dense as Castellan over there?" He jabbed a thumb toward where Yuna lay sprawled.
Another hand went up — this one belonging to Elena, a girl with long chestnut hair tied in a high ponytail. She had this calm, analytical air about her, the type who actually paid attention in lectures instead of daydreaming about lunch.
"Derek's spirit is a Vanguard-Striker hybrid," she said evenly. "The summon itself has Vanguard properties — high defense, able to tank damage — but Derek used it tactically like a Striker would use terrain. The exchange ability let him bypass Yuna's range advantage and close distance instantly. That's Striker methodology: eliminate the target before they can establish control."
The instructor's expression shifted fractionally. Still irritated, but less so.
"Better. The good thing about having Heroic Spirits is the fact that they can belong to more than one class. In unique cases, the attributes themselves can make up for the weakness they have as a vanguard. Ashford's spirit is Hero Tier — it probably granted him attributes that boosted his strength and durability. And gave him combat knowledge." He gestured toward the still-kneeling colossus. "The summon body serves as an impenetrable wall, while Ashford himself becomes the damage dealer — using his summon's defensive capabilities to create aggressive openings."
He turned his glare on Maxwell.
"This is why I said you were wrong. You saw the Vanguard traits and stopped thinking. Hybrids are dangerous because they don't follow the limitations you expect."
Maxwell flushed, lowering his hand and looking away like he'd been slapped.
I stood there in the back, half-hidden behind a couple of taller students, processing what I'd just seen. Derek hadn't just won — he'd dominated. Yuna never had a chance to establish her strategy, never got to show off whatever clever vine-based tactics she'd been planning. That exchange ability was basically a free gap-closer, and with his summon serving as both shield and springboard...
'Fuck.'
The tactical implications made my stomach churn. Derek could engage at will, disengage at will, and his summon was durable enough to weather anything thrown at it while he positioned himself for the kill. And that was just one ability. Who knew what else that Hero Tier summon had in its arsenal? Fire breath? Ground slams? The ability to bench-press a building?
"Castellan!" The instructor's voice snapped toward Yuna, who was finally struggling to her feet, still wincing with every breath. "Your mistake?"
Yuna grimaced, one hand still on her stomach like she was trying to hold her organs in place. "I... I didn't account for his mobility. I thought if I kept him at range with Thorn King's vine attacks, I could control the engagement, but—"
"But you assumed he'd play by Support class rules," the instructor finished, his tone sharp enough to cut glass. "You saw a big, slow, armored summon and thought 'Vanguard, no threat to me at range.' Then Ashford used you as the threat vector instead of his spirit. Classic failure of tactical assessment." He turned to Derek. "Ashford, what's your spirit's class?"
Derek's grin widened like he'd been waiting for this moment his entire life. "Vanguard-Striker hybrid, sir. Colossus can tank anything, and I get to dance around hitting weak points."
"And your rank?"
"B-rank, sir."
Murmurs rippled through the class like a wave. Seeing a B-rank in action made them truly realize how vast the distance between ranks was — not just a difference in power, but a difference in options, in tactical flexibility, in the sheer unfairness of what Hero Tier spirits could do. Plus Derek had a Hero Tier spirit, which meant better attributes, stronger abilities, and enough essence to actually use them without collapsing like Ethan and Declan had.
The instructor nodded curtly. "Adequate explanation. Return to the line. Castellan, get yourself to the infirmary before you vomit on my training field."
Yuna nodded weakly and stumbled toward the edge of the grounds, one of her friends—a shorter girl with concern written all over her face—rushing over to help support her weight. Derek, meanwhile, strutted back to his position with that same savage grin plastered on his face, looking like a conquering hero returning from war.
But not before making eye contact with me one more time.
He mouthed two words: "You're next."
I felt my jaw clench, every muscle in my face going tight. Every instinct screamed at me to look away, to avoid the confrontation brewing in his eyes like a gathering storm, but I held his gaze for a long moment.
'Not scared of you, asshole.'
Then I rolled my eyes and looked away, dismissing him like he was background noise.
Let him think what he wanted.