Others Summon Dragons, I Summon Legendary Knights Chapter 3: King Tier Summon

Godfrey climbed the hexagonal platform with footsteps so quiet they reverberated in his own ears, gaze fixed firmly on the headmaster, who stepped back to allow him the center spot on the stage.

Beside the headmaster waited a woman gripping a tablet, the very tool designed to measure a summoner's summon tier; she alone would first discover if he was merely a regular person or concealed a summon deep inside.

"Stay calm. Breathe deeply and shut your eyes. You'll enter a realm known as your soul space, face-to-face with your summon."

Godfrey shut his eyes, prompting the headmaster to continue. "Expect darkness, but have no fear. Your summon's radiance will provide all the illumination required..."

Godfrey no longer registered the headmaster's instructions. The dungeon cores emitted a soft glow, muted by the sun's rays, pulling him straight into his soul space.

Stories from his mother and various others had prepared him. Everyone described the identical scene: drifting in infinite void where their beast stood ready. Initial reactions ranged from terror to delight or revulsion. Yet Godfrey, upon opening his eyes, felt utterly perplexed by the spectacle unfolding before him.

A enormous staircase sprawled beneath his feet, broad like a freeway. Its steps consisted of flawless white blocks, blended seamlessly from marble and sorcery, rising up to a massive wall flanked by gigantic wooden double doors.

Suspended overhead loomed the sun, its intense shine drenching the entire area in blinding light.

Bewilderment swept over Godfrey as he glanced about. Where had the shadows gone? Why did he stand solid on stairs instead of hovering in the void?

'No way I perished just as awakening began, huh?' He chuckled, but the humor rang empty. Regardless, ascending to discover what lay ahead seemed wiser.

In the instant Godfrey advanced one foot, he materialized right in front of the enormous doors. Etched with masterful precision across their face appeared a large oval shield intersected by a longsword.

His palms pressed against the doors, and the faintest push caused them to swing open smoothly.

"My God!"

Deep creases furrowed the headmaster's temples as he whirled toward the woman holding the gauging tablet. "What happened?"

"His tier..." Horror filled the woman's gaze as she stared at him. "It’s 1..."

"It’s what?!" The headmaster edged nearer, tone slicing like a blade, waiting for her to utter the rest.

"It’s 12.1." The words barely escaped her lips, weighted down as if shackled to an anchor.

The headmaster's eyes bulged wide. "His summon boasts 12.1 King-tier potential!"

Vigorously shaking her head, the woman shoved the screen in his direction. "It’s 12.1 — and the potential..."

Color fled the headmaster's face like he'd glimpsed a specter, the display showing potential surpassing 12.9.

It defied calculation.

Suddenly, a golden array ignited above Godfrey, its dazzling flare making Isolde, Snow, Dale, and his classmates squint while craning from the windows for a better view.

A deafening clang of metal echoed as the summon plunged from the array, draped in elaborate golden armor atop heavy steel plating, white cape whipping from its shoulders upon touchdown.

Seven feet of height defined the warrior, clutching a vast oval shield in one grip and a longsword in the other. An overwhelming aura emanated from it, helm featuring a slim vertical eye-slit, finger-thin, emitting a subtle inner glow.

"A knight!" Scorn ignited in Snow’s gaze. All knew humanoid summons such as golems or orcs paled against beast types. Rare outliers included Adam’s Monkey King with its simian traits and Cain’s Dark Seraph bearing heavenly lineage.

"You’ve summoned a humanoid being at tier 3.0 with potential of 6.0," the gauge-holding woman proclaimed loudly, casting a quick sidelong look at the headmaster.

Just those two knew the device's original readout, but this figure was what she voiced. Could he be among the scarce summoners bearing dual summons?

Otherwise, the gauge had erred. Since when could a low-tier summon hold such outrageous growth promise?

"You may descend," the headmaster stated calmly, face a mask as he observed Godfrey dismiss his summon and retreat from the platform. Yet thoughts churned within. "Keep him monitored. Something eludes us still. I must uncover if that youth truly wields a low-tier summon or conceals a king-tier facade."

"A humanoid summon. Such a disastrous ceremony launch!" From the audience, Godfrey caught a whisper laced with dread for the mutterer's own upcoming trial.

"It boasts ridiculous potential, right? Picture the opportunity to climb from low-tier to high-tier squandered on an old knight whose blade might not even dent a monster."

Godfrey narrowed his gaze at the speaker beside his son. Their eyes locked, yet the contempt in the man's stare failed to unsettle him. No such thing could, not with his mind swirling in chaos.

He recalled the stone door bearing a symbol he'd spotted behind the summoned knight's chamber. All agreed that the initial sight in one's soul space revealed their genuine summon.

What caught his eye first wasn't the knight. Instead, it was the staircase ascending toward what appeared to be a grand palace. Should that represent his actual summon, the knight served merely as a piece of it.

That implied the doors beyond housed... additional knights.

As he entered the classroom at last, his reflections faded while all eyes turned toward him. The youth previously ridiculed for lacking a summon now possessed one, yet the scorn lingered.

"Your dad's summon could spew gold and crush an orc horde, but yours just swings a tiny sword and shield. Has trash simply evolved into a trash container?" Dale chuckled, holding his belly as his followers burst into guffaws. The rest merely gazed at Godfrey with sympathy.

A summon of this caliber ensured he'd forever mock his father's illustrious heritage.

"Combat class time's here. Time to try out your knight." Siegfried stood up, his green eyes flashing with resentment as he tousled his hair and strode away.

The class filed out one after another, some throwing sympathetic glances his way, others overlooking him, a few sneering openly. In the end, only Isolde stayed behind.

"It's a cool knight," she finally remarked.

Godfrey rolled his eyes. "The whole class awaits my public embarrassment."

"Truueee..." Isolde pouted her lips. "But every summon carries its strengths. I'll wager your knight possesses his own."

....

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