Chapter 35: Crack II

’Get up.’ Leon commanded, and to the joy of he who summons undead, his summons weren’t affected by pain or sensations, the Swordsman pushed itself off the ground as though nothing had happened. As long as there was no serious damage, this was an opponent that had no concept of pain or strain.

Leon clenched his fists.

He had been watching the fight, analyzing the movements, looking for an opening, but he had spent too much time reacting to what his opponent was doing.

’Letting it fight on its own is still good, but perhaps in this case not the best option?’ He thought to himself.

Once again, with another clash, the Swordsman’s armor cracked further, and its body was driven backward, but instead of trying to stop the charge, it turned with the force, letting the boar’s momentum carry it past.

Its blade came down and struck the boar’s injured front leg such that it was not able to cover fast enough.

The beast stumbled, its charge finally coming to an end.

Seeing the opening, Leon didn’t waste it. "Now! Finish it!"

The Swordsman moved forward.

His opponent reacted immediately.

"Don’t let it get close! Charge again!"

The boar struggled to turn, but its injured leg buckled. Even then, it forced itself forward, red energy flaring around its body.

Leon realized what was happening.

’He’s trying to force one last hit.’

The beast charged, but when it leapt towards the Swordsman, unfortunately, the red energy around its body flickered away, and by the time it had reached the Swordsman, there was nothing but pure armor all over its body, no protective energy.

The Swordsman stepped aside.

The boar rushed past, its injured leg giving way as it tried to turn, at that moment where its body tilted, for a brief moment, the gap beneath its armor was exposed, and also in that brief moment, as though expecting that opening, the Swordsman struck.

Its blade pierced deep into the opening, drawing a loud cry from the boar before it collapsed onto its side.

The referee immediately stepped forward.

"Match over! Winner, Leon Carter!"

In unison, the whole arena erupted.

Leon stood still, watching the Swordsman pull its blade free.

Its armor was badly damaged, but apart from that, it was still as mobile as ever.

Leon let out a slow breath.

’That was kinda close... and frustrating.’

He recalled his summon and turned away from the arena.

His opponent remained standing across from him, staring at the fallen boar with a worried expression.

The boy had prepared carefully, and for a while, it had worked, but in the end, he still lost.

As for Leon, he didn’t feel particularly happy about the victory. While he had expected to win, what bothered him was how close he’d come to losing.

By the time Leon returned to the waiting area, Dustin was already waiting for him.

"That was insane!"

Leon glanced at him.

"Was it?"

"Of course it was! That boar nearly crushed your summon!"

Raul gave Dustin a look.

"Maybe don’t shout that part so loudly."

"What? It’s true though!" He protested.

Leon sat down on the bench. He knew Dustin didn’t mean it any other way, not to mention, he didn’t feel like arguing.

In the end, the fight had left him more unsettled than he wanted to admit. He’d barely moved during the match, yet his hands were still tense.

Dustin sat beside him.

"Seriously, though. That guy actually prepared for your summon. I didn’t think anyone would bother doing that."

"They probably will now," Raul said.

Leon nodded, "yeah."

That was another problem.

The more he fought, the more information people would have about his summons, and unlike him, many of the other students had years of experience fighting against different types of opponents.

He couldn’t keep relying on people underestimating him. Well, not like he was in the first place.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

He was trying to go through the tournament with just one summon, but in the end, it seemed he would need to pop out one more.

Facing some like Aaron Grey who had achieved Unification, fighting with just one summon would be a mistake.

’That’s the only way, since I’m weak my self.’ The thought was unpleasant, but there wasn’t much point denying it.

While he was a Summoner, being able to move and react to things once one started facing greater threats was a must.

In the tournament, there was the rule not to attack the Summoners themselves, but in actual combat against intelligent opponents, Summoners are the first targets, not their summons.

’While I have an army of 50, I better start thinking of training to achieve Unification.’

Leon looked down at his hands.

Unification aside, he had almost no real combat experience as a human. He didn’t know how to fight or how to use a weapon. In the past, out of curiosity, he had asked the Skeleton Swordsman to teach him a few things, looking to cheat the system, but that didn’t work, the Skeleton wasn’t that intelligent outside a fight.

’Arghhhh... if that’s even an option.’ He thought to himself, leaning backwards with his eyes closed.

For most Summoners, Unification was a natural way to improve their own combat ability, which was what had Leon worried, since unlike what was expected, even the other first year students felt it from the day of their awakening, he hadn’t felt any meaningful bond with his undead.

"Arghhh." He groned out loud. ’I guess that’s where my army comes in.’

Regardless, at some point, he would need to become stronger himself, the problem was figuring out how.

"You’re thinking too much," Dustin said.

Leon looked up. "Am I?"

"Yeah. You won. Just enjoy it for a while."

Leon gave him a small smile. "You simple headed man." He leaned back against the bench.

Raul laughed at that, and Dustin protested, but it was nothing serious.

’Should I even watch the next match? I need to lie down.’