CHAPTER 30: THE FRESHMAN – MAMMOTH SPIDER

Mountain quickly emerged from a golden diagram that flared to life just as the Elder Warrior Ant launched itself at Godfrey. The huge knight materialized before him, activating Black-Out State, rising to 5.6, and raising his greatshield as the ant’s scythe arm tore through the air, unleashing a Quadruple Echo Slash.

It was an adaptive skill that allowed the ant to unleash four strikes in a single second. The sound of metal colliding against metal rang like thunder, and four slightly deep scars etched themselves across the greatshield. Yet Mountain remained standing, his ironclad boots sinking into the stone ground as a gust of wind, born from the ant’s speed, blew sand outward in a violent swirl.

The Elder Warrior Ant launched its fist, unleashing an air cannon punch that made the air ripple like silken cloth before bursting with a mighty roar. Lightning crackled across Mountain’s armor, flooding through his body and granting him astonishing speed. In a blur, he shifted to the side, leaving streaks of lightning sizzling in midair. Meanwhile, Godfrey seized Isaac and yanked him away from the cannon’s path just as it struck the wall with terrifying force, blowing out a section wide enough for a man to walk through.

The blast exposed the hallway, prompting students inside to look out with shocked eyes. Isaac gasped, his breath caught in his throat, as he watched the two high-tier summons clash with relentless intensity.

After absorbing enough blows, Mountain surged forward with a rumbling grunt. Closing in at lightning pace, he swung his massive sword, but the ant proved agile, its powerful legs propelling it backward, just out of reach.

"Godfrey’s dead," Sam snickered, relieved that a member of the Nexus Club would finally put Godfrey in his place, giving them the perfect chance to pummel him and force him into submission. The thought was short-lived. Mountain hurled his shield, and it slammed into the Elder Warrior Ant with crushing force, flinging the creature like a ragdoll.

It crashed through a tree planted in the median strip and slammed against the wall of a dormitory opposite the one already damaged. With a tremendous leap, Mountain barreled forward, his gauntlet crashing into the ant’s face before it could recover.

He seized it by the head and hammered it repeatedly against the wall, each blow so heavy that stone cracked and splintered.

Finally, the creature’s head burst through the wall into the hallway, startling the freshmen already shaken by the earlier destruction.

Mountain released the limp Elder Warrior Ant and turned back. Some upperclassmen recoiled in terror, Sam being the first to flee.

’Is this really a golem?’ Isaac’s pupils shrank in disbelief.

Derek trembled as Mountain advanced, the crimson steel giant towering like a hill of iron and blood. His breathing was steady yet heavy, a suffocating presence that could crush courage from any man. But to Derek’s relief, Mountain simply walked past him.

Or so it seemed.

Mountain halted after two steps. Derek froze, a chill running down his spine. Slowly, he turned his head just as Mountain tilted his own slightly.

The knight’s arm snapped out, the back of his gauntleted hand slamming across Derek’s face with devastating force. Derek’s eyes rolled white as he crumpled like a puppet whose strings had been severed.

Godfrey raised an eyebrow. "You didn’t have to do that," he said, half-amused.

Just then, Isaac fell to his knees and kowtowed, his forehead striking the paved ground. "I didn’t mean to do it! Siegfried forced me to do it!"

"Let’s go." Godfrey picked up his bag, ignoring the wide-eyed stares of the freshmen, and began walking away with Isaac trailing behind him like a downcast puppy. Mountain dissolved into a diagram and vanished.

"Isn’t that Number Thirteen in the Nexus Club?" one freshman whispered, pointing at Derek’s unconscious form with trembling fingers.

"And that summon that defeated him... wasn’t it the humanoid summon?!" another added, disbelief thick in his voice.

***

"Will you allow yourself to be bullied? Is that what you’ll achieve in Manhattan?" Godfrey asked later, sitting on his bed while Isaac lingered in the doorway, head lowered. Isaac said nothing.

"Show me your summon."

Isaac hesitated, glancing around nervously before whispering, "It won’t fit. And it doesn’t like tiny spaces."

Godfrey frowned, his brows knitting together. "It won’t fit in here? What kind of summon is that?"

"It’s called the Mammoth Spider," Isaac replied meekly.

Godfrey opened his laptop, typing the name into the search bar. The results popped up instantly, and his eyes widened. The Mammoth Spider, if awakened during adolescence, would already stand at the peak of the Elite Tier, a staggering 5.4! It grew to 8 feet tall in adolescence and up to 20 feet in adulthood, with a potential rating of 7.5.

He looked at Isaac, head bowed in shame, then back at the screen, where the monstrous spider glared back at him. Its gleaming carapace bore streaks of black and yellow, hairless yet polished to a glassy sheen, as if its body itself was armored.

The text detailed more: the creature possessed innate immunity to bludgeoning, making fists and clubs utterly useless against it.

It was immune to poison, impervious to illusions, and resistant to mental interference. Its webs, shimmering with eerie strength, were immune to fire.

Even among High-Tiers, the Mammoth Spider stood at the pinnacle of monsters. And yet, its summoner was this broken boy, physically gifted, but mentally shattered. Strong in body, but a coward in spirit.

Godfrey realized the truth; the Mammoth Spider was notorious for awakening late. Isaac must have endured elementary school and middle school powerless, bullied endlessly until the scars became chains that still bound his mind.

Godfrey tore a page from his notebook and began to write. Isaac peeked, fidgeting, pinching his fingers with anxiety.

"Take this." Godfrey handed him the sheet. Isaac scanned it and frowned. "A hundred push-ups, crunches, squats... is this punishment? I’d rather take a beating," he muttered.

Scoffing, Godfrey activated Echo and a longsword shimmered into his grasp. Isaac hiccupped in fright.

"Maybe you can recover easily from a punch," Godfrey said, voice calm, "but I don’t think it’ll be the same if I use this sword."

Isaac shivered.

"I’ll give you my details. Record yourself live while you do every exercise on that list, and send it to me. Oh and read the last part."

Isaac’s eyes widened as he reached the bottom. "I should not lose a fight... or you’ll cut the legs of my summon?!"

"Good thing we have a healer in this school," Godfrey replied with a soft smile. But in Isaac’s eyes, it looked nothing like kindness. It was the smile of a devil.

...

A/N: I was planning to lock after this Chapter... but here’s the deal: if I see a lip-curling, heart-racing review, I’ll keep the story open for the next three Chapters straight!

Thank you all so much for the support so far, we’ve already hit 20 Power Stones, and now we’re aiming for 40 Golden Tickets!

Drop a comment, share your thoughts, and let’s keep the momentum alive.

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