"Are you really serious? I knew strength was before most things, didn't know we respect strength this much." Leon said.
"Well, glory aside, we summoners ultimately fight to protect those who cannot protect themselves, the stronger you are, the more you can fulfil that mandate." Raul said.
"Well, the top students in this school are genuinely strong," Dustin added, and the absence of his usual brightness on the subject was its own statement. "We're not close to that level. Not yet."
Leon sat on the edge of his bed and listened.
"The smart move is to sit this one out," Raul continued. "Build for next year when we have more experience and the bond with our summons is stronger. Entering now is just giving the upper years target practice."
Leon nodded slowly, taking that in before speaking. "I'm going to enter."
His words caught both of them off-guard, they turned and looked at him.
Raul's expression shifted through several stages before settling on something that was trying to be diplomatic. Dustin's was simply surprised, openly and completely.
"Leon," Raul said carefully. "You have a Grade 1 summon. I know the dungeon thing was impressive, and genuinely, that was impressive, but a dungeon and a tournament bracket are different situations. In a dungeon you control the pace. In a match you're facing someone who is actively trying to counter you, hell, with the level of strength some of the seniors in this school have, you'd be blessed if they try to counter you, you'd be obliterated instantly. They are just ranked well above what either of us can currently handle."
"I know," Leon said, his tone lacking the deep edge of seriousness the others' carried.
"Then—"
"I'm still entering."
Raul looked at him for a moment, then looked at his desk, then back at Leon, and appeared to make a decision about how much further to take this particular conversation.
Dustin had gone quiet for a moment and looked like something was running through his head. Then he sat up straighter. "You know what. Me too."
Raul was even more surprised at this and turned to look at him.
"I mean it." Dustin's expression had shifted into something more resolved. "I've been thinking since the dungeon exposure. I want to know where I actually stand. Not where I think I stand, where I actually stand." He looked at Raul. "Entering is how you find out."
"You'll find out by losing in the first round," Raul said.
"Maybe, but I'll find out something." Dustin shrugged, and it was the shrug of someone who had genuinely made peace with the terms. "What's the worst that happens? I lose. I learn something. I come back next time better prepared."
Raul looked between them both, at Leon sitting with the calm expression of someone who had already closed the decision, and at Dustin with the particular bright resolve of someone who had just opened one.
He exhaled deeply through his nose. "Fine," he said. "I'll be there to cheer when they knock you both out in the first round."
Dustin grinned. "You'll be cheering a lot then, because we're going to win."
"That's not what cheering means in this context," Raul said.
Dustin laughed it off, tapping Raul in the back a couple times before focusing on his own thing. Raul could only sigh multiple times throughout the night as he came to terms with the decisions the others had made.
Curious, Leon asked about a few names he could remember that had summoned powerful summons during the awakening ceremony. "Who else among the first years is in the tournament?"
Without looking up, Raul answered. "Quite a few actually, all equally monsters too."
"That's right. Though, Ray Stone won't be participating. No one knows the true reason, but he gave the excuse of wanting to grow more first." Dustin chipped in.
"Oh really? Well that's interesting." From the little Leon had seen, though Ray Stone wasn't the typical arrogant genius, he didn't look like someone to back down that easily either. 'No wonder he thinks there's another hidden reason.' He looked at Dustin who continued in response.
"I know, right? That guy is such an achiever, not to mention the fact that he is the class rep. not joining is just too suspicious. Everyone suspects something deeper, its just that no one can prove it."
Listening to them both, Raul rounded-up what he was doing and prepared to take a bath. "You two should be more worried about yourselves, not what others got going on in their personal lives."
"Mr. Serious over here." Dustin pointed with his thumb while smirking.
The rest of the night went on like that, with little talks before each of them focused on their own thing.
Leon let them to go summon another undead creature, planning to venture off from where people would be. The death energy, he learnt, had gotten even more potent, so the same spot he had used before wasn't good enough anymore.
After going deep into the forested area close to the dorms, he initiated the summoning quickly, speed running the process as much as he could. For a moment he even felt like he would be dragged into another dungeon, but everything went well and he retuned soon enough.
More than anyone, Leon couldn't wait to test his strength against others. 'Before that though, how do I even register myself for the tournament?'