CHAPTER 35: THE FROST MOUNTAINS [PART 2]

Elena’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Kassie.

Kassie wore black lustrous armor that looked like flowing liquid metal—dark and sleek, catching the light in ways that made it seem almost alive. The armor converged toward the middle of her thigh, leaving a lot of her pale skin exposed. All of her thighs were bare, her lower ass cheeks too, but her upper body was imposing and demonic enough to make you forget about the rest.

A horned helmet, visorless. Spikes jutted out from her armor’s shoulders and back. She stood next to me, leaning her hand on the crossguard of the red and black sword that was easily her height—maybe taller.

Her presence alone commanded space. Many students glanced around and muttered.

"Damn, she’s hot."

"She looks so powerful."

"At the end of the day, she’s just a mortal tier."

"I wonder if Cade touches her when no one’s seeing."

I sifted through the comments, filtering out the noise, and focused instead on the rest of my group. The two girls with Elena—one had a heroic spirit that looked like a blood-soaked warrior maiden with pale crimson hair, battered dark armor, a massive axe, and visible exhaustion etched into every line of her form.

The other lady had brunette hair in buns. Her heroic spirit was a masked archer in dark armor and a forest green skirt, silent and graceful. The kind that could put an arrow through your eye before you even heard the bowstring.

The D rank standing with us had a summon that looked like a walking fortress—a tower with crowned battlements for a helmet, wielding an impossibly large war hammer that probably weighed as much as a small car.

He flashed a shy smile at me just as I turned to check out his summon.

"My name is Kael. I’m rank D. My summon is Ironhold... he’s a Vanguard class."

He looked happy. Maybe too happy, actually.

’Bro must be thanking his stars for being late and bumping into me.’

Naturally, anyone would be thrilled to end up in Elena’s group. She was an A rank, after all.

Charlotte and her friend, on the other hand, seemed displeased.

’Tough luck.’

Either way, they were stuck with us. Not like anyone forced them here—they were the ones who decided they wanted to be Elena’s handbag.

Elena brought out a rod and extended it with a smooth motion. Immediately, it lengthened into a full staff.

’Oh, cool.’

"We should get ready and get in proper formation. The rest seem to be doing the same thing."

She glanced at all of us, starting with Kael, studying his Ironhold with an assessing gaze.

"Your summon is Vanguard, correct?"

Kael nodded. "Yes."

She commanded naturally, like someone used to being obeyed. "Then you’ll be taking the front. Do you have any weapon?"

Kael tapped a hand-sized hammer that hung at his waist.

"Good choice." She commended him and turned to me. "What about your summon..."

Her eyes drifted admiringly to Kassie.

"What’s her name?"

"Tyrant Empress. She’s Striker class."

Elena smiled, something brightening in her expression. "I know that—I paid attention to your battle with Instructor Stanley. I think she’s a hybrid, though. Could she be a Commander class? She has an air of domination about her. And then ’Tyrant Empress’... somehow, if you look at it, the names of our summons give us hints to their personality, which also reflects in their classes."

I stared at her as she rambled on, a bit stunned.

’Is this girl... fangirling Kassie?’

She certainly was.

She caught herself at some point, clearing her throat and introducing her handbags.

"This is Celine. Her summon, Silvares, is a hybrid of Striker and Specialist class."

Celine flipped her head arrogantly, her fringes stopping just above her brows—made her look a little cute but simultaneously bothersome. She laughed gloatingly, as if I’d already insulted her.

"What? You think Silvares is going to be Caster class just because she uses an arrow?"

’I didn’t say anything.’

Well, I didn’t really think that anyway. Instructor Stanley had been sure to drive in the mechanics of classes. It wasn’t about the weapons—it was about the attributes and the skills of the summons themselves.

"And this is Charlotte. Her summon is a Vanguard too."

Charlotte had the face of someone who came from a very rich home and was used to being above everyone, just recently humbled by being a C rank.

’Bet she envies Elena so badly. Would kill to be in her position.’

I nodded once and looked around. It was normal to familiarize ourselves with each other’s summons and their classes—it would help us work better as a team. And this was certainly the best place to do it, before things got messy.

I turned to Elena. Just at that moment, she introduced herself with a small smile, as if she knew I was about to ask about her own summon.

"Tempest here is a Striker-Caster hybrid."

I nodded.

"Then I guess we’re sort of complete."

We were lacking a Duelist and Support. The Support was really important—could mean the difference between walking out of here or being carried out. But I wanted to believe Kassie and I could partially fill in for that.

’Not that I’m letting them know.’

Elena nodded.

"Yes, let’s move."

By the time we concluded, several other groups had also finished their introductions. Everyone spread wide into different angles of the mountain plains, trudging forward with boots sinking deep into the snow.

In time, we were already walking amidst the endlessly tall and thin trees of the snow forest. The trees looked like skeletal fingers reaching into the sea of the sky, spaced far apart—far enough that you could see between them for dozens of meters, but close enough to feel enclosed. Trapped.

We trudged forward silently, each person with their summons flanking them.

Then Kassie stopped.

At that moment, all five of us stopped too, glancing around to figure out what was wrong.

’Not now, Kassie...’

I bit down internally, praying she wouldn’t do something crazy. So far, I’d come to understand that Kassie sort of knew my situation—she chose to speak only when I was around people I’d become comfortable with. It was with my permission that she’d revealed herself to Tristan and Clara.

Well, Lira... her situation was different.

"Cade..." Elena called softly, tension creeping into her voice.

Kassie extended her hand backward and resummoned her sword with a ripple of crimson light. At the same time, Tempest’s blue eyes flashed bright, and Elena’s eyes widened.

"Vanguard!"

Kael flustered, failed to send his summon forward quickly enough. By the time Ironhold began to move, it was a second too late.

A creature easily the size of an adult elephant—muscular, powerful, with white fur covering its body—dropped down from the tall trees like a boulder made of claws and teeth. Straight down toward where Kael was standing, threatening to flatten him into the snow.

’Shit—’

But Kassie moved.

She was a storm of motion. Crimson aura flared around her as she twisted forward with insane speed, closing the distance in a heartbeat. She crashed into the creature mid-fall, shoulder-checking it with enough force to redirect its momentum entirely. The beast slammed sideways into a tree with a bone-rattling crack, bark exploding outward as the trunk shuddered.

Kael stumbled backward, eyes wide.

’That could’ve been bad.’