Seniors

If one were to choose between a powerful transformation skill and an 'act-cute' skill during a life-and-death situation, anyone would surely choose the powerful transformation skill without a question.

When a summoner advances to Iron Star 1, Bronze Star 1, Silver Star 1, and Gold Star 1, they would get one random skill from one of their contracted beasts.

Random!

The Gentle Dog only has two skills at the moment, the Gentle Gaze and the Hellhound Manifestation. 

A fifty-fifty chance.

Apparently, Lucas' luck was not good at that time. 

[Gentle Gaze: The eyes emit a gentle, warming light, providing comfort and mild warmth, ideal for soothing and calming. Consumes 5 Spiritual Energy for each use.]

Although this was the skill he randomly acquired, given the situation, Lucas had no other choice but to make do with it.

Fortunately, it was quite effective during the battle.

His role as the 'attention grabber' was even more solidified the moment he used the skill once.

One of the Ember Soldier Ant's happened to look at him.

Although the Ember Soldier Ants don't have any good eyesight, the effect of the Gentle Gaze made it so that the Ember Soldier Ants could see the soft glow on his eyes.

The Gentle Dog did not miss the opportunity when one of them got distracted. It immediately pounced and bit its head, killing it directly after forcefully separating its head from the thorax.

The last one was an easy kill. It could not respond to the situation and was killed by the Gentle Dog.

After killing the two, Lucas gained another two sets of 4.64 experience points. His experience points were now at 16.43, and he needs a total of 150 XP to reach Iron Star 2.

Lucas closed the cover of the grimoire and saw a single grayish star on the cover. 

The star ranks and classifications were based on the stars that would appear on the grimoire's cover.

As an Iron Star 1, the single star on his grimoire cover was naturally grayish in color. It also looked metallic, a stark contrast to the paper-like and dilapidated brownish color of the grimoire cover.

Seeing the star, a smile formed on Lucas lips.

Leaving the area of battle in a hurry, Lucas found a thick bush and hid underneath it. Under the thick bush, Lucas sat in a meditative position to start recovering his Spiritual Energy.

With the current situation of Ember Soldier Ants going rampant, he, with no capabilities, truly did not dare to go out, lest he encounter another batch of Ember Soldier Ants.

He also doesn't have any more items to help with the situation, as he used all of them during the fight earlier. In fact, even the leather armor his parents had given him already had a little tear due to the intense battle earlier.

Lucas quickly entered a meditative state a whole minute later.

Meditations were also taught in school along with the free basic meditation technique.

Lucas had already mastered it and hence was able to quickly feel that his Spiritual Energy was beginning to recover.

Although it was only a small amount due to his grimoire grade being low, Lucas thought that this was still better than nothing.

Recovering only 0.5 Spiritual Energy per minute, Lucas spent a total of 12 minutes to recover 6 Spiritual Energy. His total Spiritual Energy was now at 9, enough to summon the Gentle Dog once for thirty minutes.

During the time he was recovering his Spiritual Energy, the Gentle Dog had also already recovered inside the grimoire. All of its injuries were healed, and it was now in its peak condition.

Lucas did not summon it yet, as every minute for him was precious.

After reviewing the map and route that he planned to take, Lucas stood up from the bush and immediately began the journey back.

His nerves were tense, and he did not dare to relax. A slight mishap might cost him his life.

As he was running, Lucas suddenly heard the rustle of leaves not far away from him.

At the same time, he saw an object flying toward him at extreme speed at the corner of his eyes.

He shivered in fright and immediately dashed away, not bothering to take a clear look at what it was.

Boom!

The next moment, an explosion ensued at the location where he stood earlier.

Lucas looked back to his horror and soon saw that the ground was already charred black.

It was fortunate that his body was well trained; otherwise, he would surely not be able to have enough reflexes to dodge such a terrifying attack.

Further ahead, Lucas saw an ant head that was much bigger than the Ember Soldier Ants he had faced before.

In an instant, the name of the ant immediately popped up on his head.

Iron Grade-Iron Star 4, Ember Molten Ant.

Unlike the previous Ember Soldier Ant, the Ember Molten Ant was a long-range attacker, famous for its Exploding Spit skill.

Lucas was horrified and was about to summon his grimoire when a huge flying praying mantis appeared above the Ember Molten Ant's head.

With a swoosh, its blade-like arm descended down and instantly decapitated the Ember Molten Ant's head.

The next moment, multiple figures appeared right behind along with their respective summoned beasts.

"Hey, are you alright?"

One of them, a man with spiky hair and sharp canine teeth, asked with a grin.

Behind him were four others, two men and two women.

With a quick glance and quick analysis, Lucas guessed that they were probably seniors in Starlight Academy.

Lucas nodded his head politely, not saying much.

The spiky-haired guy summoned his bronze-colored grimoire and proceeded to flip open the page eagerly as if he wanted to check something urgently.

Lucas saw the stars embedded into his grimoire. With a quick count, he determined him to be an Iron Star 7 summoner.

"Damn it, I only got a 12% contribution this time as well! Captain, how much did you get this time?" He stated with an aggrieved tone as he looked back.

Lucas followed his gaze as the four behind him also looked at their respective grimoires.

Lucas saw that one of them has a Silver Grade. It was the woman in the middle, wearing green armor made of some unknown metal. She looked pretty and cold. The small mole on her right eyebrow just added to her cold charm.

Lucas also saw that her star count was only 1, but the color of the star was actually bronze.

A Bronze Star 1 Summoner.

No wonder they could finish the Ember Molten Ant that quickly.

The others were also pretty powerful. One of them was already at Iron Star 9, while the other two were at Iron Star 7, just like the spiky-haired guy.

"55," the woman with the silver-grade grimoire replied simply.

"Damn it!" The spiky-haired guy cursed and stomped his foot on the ground angrily.

"Haha, calm down, Darian. Even if she gets the highest contribution, the amount of experience points the captain gains is still meager compared to the amount of experience points she needs to level up to Bronze Star 2," said the guy whose grimoire was also a Bronze Grade and was already at Iron Star 9.

"Right, right! Sooner or later, I'll surpass you and the captain!" Darian nodded his head with a proud expression.

"Friend, are you perhaps a second-year student?" The Iron Star 9 guy who has long hair and a gentle demeanor asked.