The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima

by Antony W. F. Chow

  The Class A mages saw that their protectors had fallen and swords pointed at their necks. The survivors bitterly raised their hands to surrender.

  "This match is over! The Elite Class has won!" the head judge declared.

  Chapter 78

  Student Exhibition Match

  When the two teams gathered afterward to shake hands, someone asked, "How come Luka's pets didn't participate?"

  The Elite Class members exchanged grins.

  "We never wanted them to join us on the field," Terrwyn confessed.

  "Why?" the defeated students asked in unison. Class A wasted resources preparing to face those two monsters. For example, they purchased bolas out-of-pocket and spent time training to use this unusual weapon on practice dummies. The nobles also asked their retainer-mages to replicate the animals' movements with golems while Class A members battled these magical minions. Hearing Terrwyn say that these beasts wouldn't enter the Battle Royale match made their blood boil!

  The leader noticed their sudden hostility and quickly sought to soothe their anger because he worried that they would attack the other class. The leader turned around to address them. "I take full responsibility for the misunderstanding." Then the noble bowed to his classmates.

  They panicked and dropped their frustration. "No one's blaming you. Please raise your head!" a student urged.

  "Yeah, the fault lies with those despicable people in the other class for using a lowly tactic to fool us!"

  "We'll regain our honor next time!"

  "Kids, it's time for you to leave the field," the head judge prodded them.

  Class A finally noticed that their opponents already returned to the stands. The chastened kids quietly left as well.

  Once the arena emptied, Headmaster Ladis teleported onto the field. "We just saw an exciting match between the Elite Class and Class A. But don't go anywhere because we have one more fight remaining today. Coming from the North Gate is our Junior Class Representative, Llewel Ilbryen! His challenger from South Gate is our school prodigy and Freshman Class Representative, Luka Heavensfell! Let's give them a big round of applause, everyone!"

  The audience clapped and cheered for the new entrants.

  Llewel wore elven chainmail armor, which gleamed brightly under the afternoon sun. This equipment covered his torso. The fighter declined to wear a helmet out of pure vanity -- he wished for the female watchers to see his handsome face. Additionally, Llewel donned a pair of bracers on his forearms. His left hand held a longbow, and a sword rested against his left hip.

  Luka, on the other hand, came out unarmored and barehanded.

  The upperclassman thought Luka took him too lightly for this battle, and Llewel's razor-thin brows arched in disbelief. "Hey kid, did you oversleep and forget to bring your equipment?" he asked with a smirk.

  The younger person responded with a friendly smile. "Not at all. I have dimensional storage, and I can take out my equipment at any time," he explained politely.

  Llewel became green with envy because a magic bag was extremely rare and valuable. He tried to buy one in the past when it appeared in an auction. Unfortunately, the winning bid was over a million gold pieces and far more than he could ever afford. The item never appeared in an auction again, and Llewel regretted missing out ever since.

  Luka casually demonstrated his truthfulness by taking a bow and quiver out of his storage.

  Since Llewel possessed elven blood, his eyesight was superior to human beings. He stared at the weapon and recognized it as an elven bow made from the precious bark of a Tree of Life! "Where did you get that elven heirloom?" he asked in a belligerent tone of voice! His imagination ran wild as Llewel considered the possible ways for a stinking human to obtain an elven bow: raid a hidden, elven village; old trophy from Luka's ancestors who participated in the Religious Wars; or a gift from the Divine Church of Light.

  "I got it as a parting gift. During my magic apprenticeship with Alectos, my teacher arranged for me to live in an elven village. Various things occurred, and I somehow became an Honorary Elf," Luka explained patiently. Since Terrwyn told him that Llewel possessed elvish blood, Luka understood his concern over the elven bow.

  "Liar!" Llewel was mad as hell. He couldn't fathom why Alectos, the God of Magic, would accept a human as an official disciple. Even worse, what benefit would the Patron Deity of Elves gain from arranging a human to live in an elven village? Furthermore, Llewel's elvish ancestor entered exile while a human received a warm welcome to elven land. How unfair! How absurd!

  Landis watched calmly as the junior become visibly distressed. The headmaster wanted Luka to face a strong enemy so that the child would reveal more of his skills. Pope Demetris had the same wish. Thus, both hoped that Luka would fan the flames in Llewel's heart.

  Landis turned to the head judge and nodded. He teleported off the field.

  "Enough talk. Begin!" the official barked.

  Llewel pulled out an arrow from his quiver; all the arrowheads were blunt. With a practiced hand, the archer aimed at the spot between his target's eyebrows and released! Twang!

  Ever since Luka stepped into the arena, he watched his enemy closely. Thus, Luka wasn't surprised by Llewel's sudden attack. The defender quickly shot his arrow. He activated Spatial Sense to track the two projectiles. When Luka realized that his shot would miss, the mage sent a gust of wind to change its trajectory.

  Ping! The arrowheads collided and dropped harmlessly to the ground.

  Llewel scowled as he fired two arrows quickly. This time, he targeted Luka's forehead and heart.

  The defender calmly shot them down.

  The junior representative switched to a different tactic. He started running toward Luka while veering left and right like a snake slithering on the ground. At the same time, Llewel fired his arrows in rapid succession.

  Luka copied his opponent's movement and knocked them down again. Ping-ping-ping!

  When Llewel reached melee range, he dropped his bow and freed his sword. The swordsman executed a flurry of jabs.

  The defender calmly invoked his Critical Insight and used it in conjunction with his Spatial Sense. Luka danced around to avoid every thrust. Suddenly, he reached Llewel's backside and snapped a kick to the attacker's butt!

  Llewel stumbled forward a few steps before he regained his balance. He immediately slashed a backhand, hoping to catch Luka off-guard.

  Unfortunately, Luka read the move and ducked. As Llewel's hand passed by, Luka lashed out with a hand chop to the swordsman's wrist.

  The sudden blow forced Llewel to drop his weapon! Losing it in the middle of a fight constituted a great humiliation. Llewel balled his hands into fists and channeled his anger to power the punch at Luka's face!

  Luka accepted the impromptu challenge and threw his left fist against Llewel.

  Crack! The older student winced in pain. His knuckles fractured from hitting Luka's fist! Llewel studied his opponent's hand and discovered that Luka was unhurt from this exchange. The older student couldn't understand why. He snapped a kick to the young person's chin.

  Luka parried it with an open palm. Again, the exchange of blows turned into his advantage as Llewel's toes fractured from contact with Luka's wrist.

  Llewel backtracked to put some distance with his enemy. He quickly drank a high-grade healing potion. The liquid's medicinal effect activated and began to mend his broken bones. However, the healing process was painful, and Llewel gritted his teeth to prevent a scream from escaping his mouth.

  Luka stood rooted to his spot and waited politely for the potion to heal his opponent.

  "Why are you standing there? Take that bastard down!" someone hectored from the stands.

  "Yeah, stop acting like a gentleman!"

  "This is not a nobleman's duel! Stop wasting our time!"

  Luka stubbornly tuned out those comments, and he continued to wait. Once he confirmed that Llewel recovered completely, Luka slowly approached his opponent again.

  However,
Llewel did not thank Luka for his courtesy. Instead, Llewel thought this was another humiliation perpetuated by his enemy to gain points with his followers and fan club. Consequently, Llewel's hatred for Luka rose.

  How could Llewel beat Luka? The two possessed similar skills in archery, while Luka was the stronger melee fighter. If Llewel persisted in fighting with a bow or sword, he would lose. Thus, the contestant needed to try something else. But Llewel also knew that Luka possessed an astounding amount of magic power. Therefore, he would lose badly in a magic duel simply because his mana would run out sooner.

  In the end, Llewel must use his trump card: the antimagic field. Unfortunately, he could use it only once per day. If it didn't work against Luka, then Llewel would be a sitting duck. However, this was his only hope of a turnaround for this match. Therefore, he must use it immediately!

  Llewel closed his eyes and clutched his fists. His mind reached for the speck of void within his soul. His metaphysical self gently grasped it and pulled the nothingness out of its resting place. The black hole slowly crossed his singular metaverse and entered the physical world. Llewel felt resistance from the real world and pushed back with all his might. This struggle turned into a contest of wills until Llewel abruptly broke through.

  Whoosh! His antimagic field covered the entire arena!

  "Llewel has finally used his trump card," Ladis said while stroking his beard.

  "Let's see how Luka deals with it," Demetrius replied with a gentle smile. The two men were watching the match from the headmaster's office.

  Other watchers who knew about Llewel's antimagic field also wondered how Luka would defeat this unnatural phenomenon.

  Luka smiled faintly as the magic effects vanished from his body. He felt thankful to Terrwyn for her tip. Thus, the mage had prepared to handle this situation. How? Enragement.

  Luka activated the demon blood essence inside his body. His skin turned light blue, and his muscles increased as his slender figure turned into a massive hulk of hardened flesh. His new, physical form ripped his school uniform to shreds. Luka peeled off his torn shirt and jacket, revealing a chiseled upper torso.

  The girls screamed in delight from the stands as they worshipped his godly physique.

  Luka's mind clouded with rage, and his inner emotions appeared on his face. His eyes turned red. His stare promised death and caused Llewel to tremble. Suddenly, Luka took a mighty leap into the air. When his massive frame reached forty feet above the ground, his trajectory began its earthshaking descent!

  Llewel's body remained rooted in place due to his overwhelming fear. His mind ordered it to move, but his figure wouldn't listen. His eyes grew wide as the looming creature became bigger and bigger until darkness encompassed his vision.

  Splat! Luka smashed into his victim!

  The audience reflexively averted their eyes. As much as the watchers detested Llewel, he was still a fellow student at this academy. They could easily imagine themselves in his place. Thus, the audience felt empathy for his plight.

  But curiosity made their eyes turn back to look at the carnage. To their collective shock, Llewel did not turn into meat paste! Instead, Luka somehow landed on his hands and feet and simply knocked Llewel down.

  But the victim was unconscious, and this match was over!

  The students cheered and clapped as Luka slowly pulled himself up. The girls screamed upon seeing his bare naked chest.

  Luka's cheeks turned red from their reaction. He quickly pulled a cloak out of dimensional storage and wrapped his body.

  The female fans groaned in disappointment.

  "What skill did Luka use?" Ladis asked. Since Llewel's antimagic field was active, Luka could not cast a magic spell to enhance his body. Moreover, the human race lacked a racial ability to perform the physical adjustment he witnessed. Thus, the school official believed that Luka had used an unknown skill.

  Pope Demetrius did not answer his friend. The church official saw that Luka's skin had turned blue, and it provided an important clue to solve this mystery. Demetrius once read a passage in an old book describing a church worshipper enacting a similar transformation. How? By fusing demonic blood essence into his human body to activate a demonic skill called "Enragement."

  Thus, Demetrius understood what happened to Luka. The pope also realized where his godson received demonic blood essence -- from his familiar. This revelation was devastating to the church official because Luka Heavensfell was the sole remaining holder of the Divine Summoner bloodline. If his blood became tainted with demonic essence, then the lineage may lose its unique properties and become unsuitable for Divine Summoning.

  Pope Demetrius assumed that Altima was aware of Luka's dealings with Bel. The servant couldn't understand why his patron deity would permit this unholy relationship between a high-level demon and her godson.

  "Are you alright?" Ladis asked and interrupted his friend's train of thought.

  "I'm fine," Demetrius smiled gently. "My mind just wandered," he admitted honestly.

  The headmaster chuckled. "It's a sign of old age."

  "Indeed." Demetrius joined the laughter while burying his fear about Luka deep in his heart.

  "Alright! I will return to the field and congratulate the kids. Be right back!" Ladis teleported to the arena. "Wow, what an awesome day this has been! Let's give a big round of applause to all the participants!"

  The audience politely cheered and clapped as the teachers led their freshmen students back to the arena. Although no one was surprised that the Elite Class won this event for the freshmen grade, the viewers were shocked by Luka's wide range of skills during his match, like archery. Also, they had no idea what ability he used to turn into a raging hulk.

  The bullies who previously crossed paths with Luka were thankful he never used this transformation to flatten them. Otherwise, Luka could turn them into bloodstains on the ground and justify his action as self-defense.

  Llewel had sufficiently recovered to stand on the field. Since he was the sole participant who wasn't a freshman, Llewel didn't have any classmates nearby. Instead, he stood far apart from the lower classmen. However, his eyes trained on his new nemesis.

  Although Llewel was unhappy that he lost, he also felt jubilation because he forced Luka to reveal a secret link between the Godson of Altima and demons. Llewel realized that his opponent used a demonic skill to bypass Llewel's antimagic field and defeat him. The blue skin was a telltale sign.

  Llewel swore to make the world understand that Luka was a monster wearing human skin. And Altima and her precious church were secretly working against the interests of humanity. His eyes danced with delight, imagining the kind words that future historians will bestow Llewel for exposing this conspiracy!

  When Ladis called Luka to the podium to accept a trophy for winning his challenge against the junior grade representative, Luka politely waved at the adoring crowd. Although he hated the extra attention, Luka graciously received it as part of his masterplan to gain influence within the royal academy and develop relationships for his eventual ascension as head of his Heavensfell Duke House.

  Terrwyn watched him with bitterness because she didn't think Luka was hiding more abilities. She never witnessed her rival use a bow or that weird transformation ability. Luka was like an onion, revealing more layers to peel. Notwithstanding her inner turmoil, Terrwyn fully supported her classmate and cheered for him.

  The rest of the Elite Class saw her actions and did the same. Although they worked hard to win their class match, Luka's domineering performance overshadowed their victory. Some students supported him wholeheartedly, while others, such as the proud beastmen, harbored anger at Luka for stealing their limelight.

  Once the award ceremonies concluded, the freshmen classes departed the training grounds.

  After the Elite Class exited the arena, Terrwyn suddenly spoke up. "Everyone, Zivadin has kindly agreed to treat us to a celebratory dinner," she said while looking at him.

  "Yes, I'm taking our
class to The Ephemeral Garden," Zivadin reaffirmed his promise to her. He made sure to bring enough gold to cover the bill.

  The beastmen nodded their approval of his choice. Wickkuil patted Zivadin's back in thanks.

  "Have fun, kids! Remember that your winter break has officially begun. I'll see you again in two months!" Tannyll waved goodbye and walked away.

  Luka looked at his cloak and realized he needed to put on a new uniform. "Can you guys wait a bit while I return to my dorm room to change my outfit?" he requested politely.

  The girls blushed when they remembered seeing him without his shirt and jacket. They quickly nodded while the guys rolled their eyes.

  "Hurry back," Terrwyn said with a nod. If Luka walked through the Noble District missing half his school uniform, then this would damage the academy's reputation. As the class representative, Terrwyn would take responsibility for this disgraceful act. Thus, she immediately permitted Luka to leave and made the class await his return.

  Luka teleported directly into his room and put on his school shirt and jacket. Then he returned to the beacon he set for his classmates' current location.

  Once Luka came back, the Elite Class followed Terrwyn and entered Tirli City. They soon arrived at the restaurant and took over the left section of the front patio. As the students enjoyed their delicious cuisine and drank fine wine, they began to discuss their plans over the winter break. The conversation eventually turned toward Luka.

  "I'm staying in my family manor and see what I could do to help out," Luka expressed his modest plans.

  The aristocrats nodded in understanding. They knew that the Heavensfell dukedom had a large territory with many vassals. Duchess Silverblade spent a lot of time mediating disputes between the nobles in rival factions while fending off church encroachment as well. Thus, the students from higher-ranking noble families felt sympathy for Luka and the lion's den that he was entering.

  Luka smiled politely and listened as the next speaker discussed his plans during the break.

  The Elite Class separated after dinner with promises to keep in touch. Luka returned to campus by himself to spend the night in his dorm room. He briefly considered returning home immediately but rejected the idea because of the late evening hour. Luka didn't want to burden the servants with last-minute cleaning to prepare his room.