CHAPTER 29: THE FRESHMAN – BULLY & THE BULLIED

While walking through the wide footpath, heading for the dormitory, his mind was occupied with thoughts of their field trip. Apparently, the trip was a vacation in one of the biggest Blue Gate dungeons in Manhattan, a dungeon called the Undead Desert.

Unlike Green Gate Dungeons, which were famous for being dangerous due to the fact that no one could leave once they entered, and most people only entered by mistake, Blue Gate Dungeons were pocket dimensions. Some were as big as cities, others as vast as regions.

The Undead Desert was said to be as large as one of the biggest deserts on Earth.

Because of this, and the fact that the creatures within respawned after a certain time limit, Blue Gate Dungeons became an unlimited resource for the authorities and guilds.

From them, new metals, alloys, and rare stones had been discovered, allowing technology to keep up with the destructive might of summons, such as the combat dagger Godfrey purchased, a weapon forged from beast carcass and dungeon metal.

’I need to look it up. Knowing what kind of beast I’m going to face will give me an edge in attaining points.’ Godfrey’s eyes narrowed. Of course, even during this "vacation," whoever had the most kills would earn the greatest points, bringing them closer to ranking first by the end of sophomore year, and one step closer to becoming valedictorian.

The sky was already orange as the sun dipped toward the horizon, preparing for its last descent and allowing darkness to creep in. The sound of blows and grunts pulled Godfrey out of his thoughts, and he turned toward the source.

To his right, a group of upperclassmen surrounded a freshman with light-brown curly hair, trembling like a leaf against the wall as fists pounded into his face and body. Godfrey recognized the one throwing the blows, Sam, the third-year he had fought a month and some weeks ago. The freshman on the other hand was his dorm mate.

After hearing the full story about his abduction, he knew Siegfried had the freshman wrap him up with his web. But seeing him beaten black and blue and not even attempting to stand up for himself, irked Godfrey.

There was a reason for the school’s dormitory setting. As a sophomore, he was responsible for that freshman. He could allow him to be beaten, or he could do the beating himself and tell others to stay clear.

Sighing heavily, Godfrey dropped his backpack. The sound of it hitting the ground drew the attention of the upperclassmen and Isaac, the freshman. When Isaac saw Godfrey, his pupils trembled with shame, and he lowered his head, hiding his bruised face in guilt.

There was one painful fact about bullying: it ate away at the mind, shackling the bullied to the bully. Sometimes they were so far gone they didn’t even realize they had arms to throw a punch back. At least die with dignity.

This kind of thinking had put Godfrey at odds with the top boys of his class, earning him more than a few hard hits. But he was still standing. He was still in school. And they weren’t.

"Stop," Godfrey said in a slightly cold tone. He was already annoyed by the fact that third-year students were ganging up on a freshman who didn’t even have the backbone to fight back, all while jeering at him.

"What?" Derek, a muscular upperclassman, raised an eyebrow. He had slicked his gelled hair backward, and his muscles pressed tightly against his white turtleneck. Strangely, though, he wore round glasses. The frown on his face made it clear he was pissed off.

Godfrey looked at the girl beside him, obviously a freshman, and shook his head. "He’s under my authority. I’ll discipline him myself."

"Wow. I finally meet the famous humanoid summoner in person, and he’s already cocky because he came third." Derek cocked his head. "Do I look like those inexperienced sophomores to you?"

"He got his head slammed into the wall like a fruit last time and wrapped up in a web sack the second time. Beaten so badly it took two days to recover. The only way he could come out of there was by making sure Dale, Siegfried, Maldred, and Orwen were suspended, and here he is, claiming to be a tough boy." Sam snickered, tapping Isaac’s head. "Isn’t that right?"

"You’ve done enough. Let him go," Godfrey said firmly.

"And who are you to tell me that?!" Derek shot forward with a step, throwing a powerful straight punch aimed to break Godfrey’s nose and knock him out. He knew Godfrey wasn’t weak, but that strength was only notable among sophomores, most of whom hadn’t even faced life-threatening battles in dungeons. And without a summon, a sophomore was even more vulnerable.

But to his shock, Godfrey’s body gravitated left, pulling his face out of the punch’s path. The move was so natural and fluid that Derek’s heart skipped a beat. His eyes followed Godfrey’s movement, watching as his left hand folded into a fist and tore forward.

He could see it, but dodging it was another matter.

Godfrey’s fist slammed squarely into his face, breaking his glasses and sending him staggering backward as blood dripped from his nostrils. Wiping his nose, Derek saw the crimson stain on his fingers and his eyes darkened. "I’ll—!"

Godfrey slammed his right foot into Derek’s chin, throwing him off his feet and crashing him to the hard floor.

’Since when can Godfrey fight?!’ Sam’s eyes widened. The others around him were shocked and slowly distanced themselves from Isaac. After all, that was Number Thirteen in the Nexus Club, yet Godfrey displaced him with only two moves.

"Fighting him hand-to-hand was a mistake," an upperclassman muttered. They might have ganged up on Godfrey, but he was a dual summoner, with that annoying summon that could copy another summon’s innate skill!

Having trained in hand-to-hand combat, mostly boxing, for years so he could stand up to low-tier summoners, Godfrey was simply too much now that he was as strong as a top-level elite.

"Good. Good. Good." Derek’s eyes snapped open. He took the broken glasses still hanging on his face, squeezed it into a ball, and tossed it away. A portal flared up before him, and a creature emerged.

An ant, but with a humanoid shape. It stood balanced on four jagged, insectoid legs, each ending in sharp points that dug into the ground with predatory ease.

Its body was wrapped in pale armored plates that looked grown rather than forged, leaving dark, sinewy muscle exposed in the gaps.

One arm ended in a set of hooked, clawed fingers, while the other had become a single massive blade, curved and heavy like a scythe. Its head was small and low beneath the hunched plates of its shoulders, with twitching antennae and a set of jutting mandibles that gave it a constant, hungry snarl.

This creature was the Elder Warrior Ant, a 5.5 High-Tier summon!

"You’ll regret what you just did!" His eyes gleamed.

....

A/N: My outline isn’t much anymore, I can’t really see into the future so I’ll have to upload one Chapter, today and tomorrow while filling up the outline. Having a clear picture of the future keeps me at ease, just wanted to let you guys know.

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to support! Special thanks to @Redghost91 for the gift and the rest of you for the powerstones milestone we just crossed!

We’ve hit 200ps!