Chapter 62: Escalate

I let Vetsmon explain my guns from his own perspective. His mother listened intently the entire time before chiming in. 

“So your summons are ranged. Mine primarily consist of swords, but I can also summon spears and knives. Look.”

She waved her hand, and in it appeared a knife. 

It was masterfully crafted, looking like it was carved from some kind of obsidian rock. The blade was so sharp that I felt like it could cut me from a distance. And the golden hilt had intricate carvings across its body, including some inserted gems. 

“These knives herald from some other world, and that world contains master crafters even better than those from here.”

“Another world? Why do you say that?”

“Well, I’ve retrieved many weapons with unfamiliar writing. Even this knife has it. It’s definitely a language, but even after searching I’ve found no language in our world’s history that looks like this.”

“I see.”

I nodded as she showed me some of the script engraved onto the flat of the blade. I also couldn’t recognize it, but it definitely wasn’t something randomly generated. 

This meant that all summons came from another world, and well, my very existence also backed that theory up. 

After a bit of thinking, I also took out one of my summons, a Colt 1911. 

“Here, this is what mine looks like.”

“Oh, I’ve never seen anything like this. How does it work?”

“Well, bullets are inserted here, and this hammer slams down to fire it out of the barrel when you pull the trigger…”

I showed off several parts of the gun, taking out the magazine and racking the slide a few times to show how it worked. 

Her eyes sparkled as she watched. 

“Amazing! Well, it seems your summons are built for the express purpose of fighting at a range. That’s good. If it were like mine, you wouldn’t be able to do much.”

“Did you fight in the military?”

“Briefly. I’ve risen to Authority 9, but even with legendary weapons, I was never able to do much. Most of my fighting was done in my early years. After that I married my husband and left for the Church. However, there was indeed a special technique I used that kept me valuable in the military. John, did you know that summoners are actually able to pass off their cold summons to others?”

“That’s possible?”

My eyes widened a bit. 

It wasn’t a topic widely discussed, mainly because there was nothing to say about it. A cold summoner’s weapons couldn’t be utilized beyond their body. 

I had figured this out rather early. If a weapon were to fall out of my hand or get thrown, then it would disappear as soon as it left a certain boundary around my body, going straight back into the dimension. 

The only exceptions to this were the fired bullets and more recently my grenades. But even the bullet shells and magazines would vanish when dropped. 

There was simply no way for me to hand off a weapon to someone like Umara. 

But it seemed like Vetmon’s mother was capable of doing the impossible. If she could hand her legendary weapons to a knight, then that knight would have their combat power boosted significantly, and cold summoners would become walking armories. 

Something like that would change the entire dynamic of the summoner class. They would become some of the most valuable magi around. 

And in a way, being able to do something like that made sense. As Mrs. Verga just said, what good was a legendary weapon if it couldn’t be used by a suitable warrior? So then, what point was there to having summoners? They seemed good for nothing other than being smart. 

But if this were possible, then that wouldn’t be the case. Cold summoners, the most useless and weakest summoners, would bring weapons from other worlds to equip the warriors of this world against the Scourge. 

I wanted to know more about this, but my hopes were quashed when I saw Mr. Verga place a hand on his wife’s shoulder. 

“Dear, please don’t spill the Church’s secrets so easily.”

“It’s not a secret though. And it’s not like I was going to teach him anything.”

“Haah… John, I apologize. My wife gets excited and doesn’t realize when she’s speaking about things she shouldn’t.”

“Oh, no, that’s fine.”

“Anyway, tell me about your trips. I’ve heard that your squad encountered plenty of beasts during your time.”

The topic was changed, and I reluctantly went with it. 

Vetsmon chimed in as I continued to think about the implications of what was said. 

And the only conclusion I could come to was that, if cold summoners learned to master such a technique allowing them to share their weapons, it would lead to a system where summoners, although valuable, were destined to be used no different from the weapons they conjured. 

This would naturally introduce a significant amount of conflict involving the fate of the class, and that would be the reason why such a thing might be kept a secret by the summoners who would know about it, or at least, why they wouldn’t investigate it thoroughly. 

I thought about my own views on it for a while, but after about an hour, I suddenly got a message on my Aerial. 

It was from Umara.

“Come help me.”

“Well shit.”

I cursed and stood from my seat, catching everyone’s attention. 

Vetsmon asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Umara wants help. It seems like it’s time to draw some lines in the sand.”

“Do you need help?”

“No, I’ve got some experience dealing with people. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to deal with this.”

I spoke while buttoning my suit, adjusting myself before walking off. 

I crossed into the other hall and looked around at all the noble students. And at one particular corner, there was a group of men huddled rather close together. 

With a sigh I walked over, crossing the entire hall with an unhurried stride. 

As I did so, I could sense an increasing amount of gazes falling on me. 

And as I got closer, I could hear Umara’s voice. There was no panic or fear in it, simply annoyance as she dismissed all their attempts at conversation or ignored their questions. 

So since my girlfriend was being hounded by a bunch of men who couldn’t take a hint, I wasn’t polite to them. 

I looked toward one man a few inches shorter than me. He had mana within his body, so he was the first I reached out for. 

My hand went for the back of his neck, gripping it so hard that he let out an involuntary yell. 

“Agh! What the hell?!”

“Back off, please.”

I said that and threw him behind me, disregarding whether or not he went tumbling to the floor. As for the others, I put my hand on their chests and pushed them aside. 

“Hey!”

“Hi. Umara, let’s go.”

I grabbed Umara’s hand after shoving another man off to the side, opening a gap she could slip out of. And then I started to walk away. 

Right as I did though, I felt my free arm get grabbed by the wrist. 

My immediate action was to let go of Umara and pull out my pistol, pointing it while turning around. 

And I met the eyes of a familiar individual. 

A knight, or as I knew him, my unwelcome mailman. 

He was the one who had delivered my welcoming letter on my first day at the Magisterium. Having had a rude awakening and considering he had been a total asshole who threatened me, I ended up placing a gun against his head to drive him off. 

Later, I had found out that he was Rank 20 on the Elites, someone who went by Ravon and had the nickname ‘Severing Blade’. He was blonde like Feiden and was generally handsome, but he carried himself like he was above all.

Still, when I saw him again, I smiled a bit. 

“Well, isn’t it my delivery boy? Come to give me another letter?”

“Excuse me?”

“Ah, you said that back then too. So? Where’s my letter, boy?”

“…You’ve got a loose tongue.”

He snarled and started tightening his grip. It wasn’t much for him, but I could feel my forearm begin to compress more than I’d like. 

So I frowned and placed my gun right in front of his eye socket. 

“Be careful, or I’ll do what I said back then too and tear your pretty face a third hole.”

“You just harassed a noble, and you think you can just walk away? I think you need to learn your place, John Cooper. You’re a commoner, nothing more.”

“Yea? Is that why I so easily passed up your rank in the Elites? I gotta say, I was disappointed to learn that you were so low on the board.”

“You son of a-”

“Hey!”

Umara stepped in just as Ravon started to tighten his grip again. I could feel my arm start to tremble as pain wracked my bones. 

“Ravon, back off!”

“Umara, are you really dating this disfigured troglodyte? I could name a dozen men off the top of my head who are better in every way than this fiend.”

“What, like you? John already has a higher kill count than you and he started just last month.”

“…I’ll be coming back, so it’ll be easy to surpass him.”

“Surpass me?”

I chimed back in with a chuckle. 

“You had a year’s head start and you still fell behind. Did you have your thumb up your ass the whole time?”

“Watch yourself, peasant! You’re nothing more than a Cold Summoner, and you’re in the hands of a knight. I have you at my mercy, so if you want to feel as your arm is slowly crushed in my palm, just keep talking.”

“I think you’re the one who’s misunderstanding the situation here, dickweed.”

I lowered my voice as my arm felt like it was going to fracture. 

“You may have my arm, but I have your fucking life. If you did your fucking research, then you’d know that there is nothing you can do in this very moment to save yourself if I wanted to kill you where you stand. Do not make the mistake of thinking that I jumped into the Elites out of luck, or that you are in any way stronger than I am. So, let go of my arm. Or break it, and watch as I tear your fucking face in half.”

“…”

We were both silent while staring at each other, the stalemate continuing. 

I usually wouldn’t be so aggressive, but being in the hands of a knight as a normal man was one step short of signing my life away. There was a reason I never let it happen, habits ingrained into me after spending long enough in the Trenches. The few times that I wasn’t able to do so, I was very close to dying and relied on my coat’s powers to save me. 

And I didn’t have my coat on, so to put it lightly, the fear for my safety was screaming at me to simply put a bullet in his brain. But the reasonable part of me was suppressing that fear and keeping my itchy finger in check, making sure I wouldn’t make an irreversible decision. 

But then, right as I wondered if he would really crush my bones into splinters, I heard a voice. 

“Get your hands off of him!”

“Who… Ugh!”

Feiden flew in like a shooting star, grabbing Ravon’s face and relinquishing his grip on my arm. 

And with righteous justice, he picked him up by his head and slammed him into the ground face first. 

*Boom!*

“Ouch.”

I cringed a bit as the floor was cracked by Ravon’s hard head. Simultaneously, while I sighed a bit in relief, Vetsmon ran in from behind. 

“Are you okay John?”

“Yea, I’m fine.”

“Are you?”

Umara spoke and grabbed the arm that Ravon had been squeezing, pushing up my sleeve. 

I flinched at the pain, and once rolled up, I could see my forearm now purple from wrist to elbow. 

“Shit, did he break it?”

“He what?”

Feiden lifted his head at Umara’s words before gritting his teeth and looking back down at Ravon. In his hands, Ravon seemed like nothing more than a ragdoll to be yanked around on a whim, like he was an ordinary man and not a knight.

“You’re going to pay for that!”

*Bang!*

“Agh!”

Feiden sent out a punch straight into Ravon’s face, instantly creating a bruise as blood flew out of his nose. 

Then he shifted his focus and lifted his foot, slamming his heel down onto Ravon’s arm. 

We could all hear it.

*Pop!*

“Ahhh! Fu-!”

“Listen to me very carefully!”

Feiden grabbed Ravon’s face just as he started to scream, turning his head toward him. 

“Touch our summoner again, and I’ll tear your damn arm off! That goes for everyone here! If John doesn’t kill you first, then I’ll hunt you down and make you regret ever hurting him!”

“…He is so drunk.”

I mumbled in surprise. I had never seen Feiden so angry before. So although his flushed face seemed to be due to anger, I could definitely tell that he had more than a few drinks. 

The next moment though, there was another voice that interrupted Feiden’s ramblings.

“What’s going on?”

The President came walking over with measured steps. Next to him was the Puppet Master, surprisingly. 

Seeing them, Feiden tossed Ravon aside, standing up and adjusting himself so he looked proper again. 

The Puppet Master watched Ravon’s tumbling body before ignoring him and glancing at me, seeing my arm. 

“Is it broken?”

“Almost.”

“Hm. Thank you for not shooting.”

“Pay for the healing and we’ll call it even.”

“Alright. Just go find Vizen at the hospital, tell him I sent you”

He nodded without question, causing President Carrion’s eyebrows to raise. 

A moment later though, the President took in the sight of a beaten Ravon, frowning. 

“John Cooper, you started this altercation after blatantly attacking your fellow students. That’s grounds for punishment.”

“Wait! I was being harassed, and John was just helping me!”

Umara stepped in front of me, her very presence acting as a shield.

But he gave no more than a cursory response, as if she had nothing to do with the situation. 

“I can hardly call a conversation harassment, Lady Umara. On the other hand, throwing a student to the floor and threatening the life of another is unacceptable behavior at this institution.”

“But President! John didn’t-”

“This isn’t up for discussion.”

The President shot a glare at Feiden right as he tried to explain, his Aura exuding a deep pressure that nobody around could refute. 

Feiden had no choice but to retreat. Not even Umara could say anything. Despite me having done the least amount of damage and having actually gotten hurt, he was clearly targeting me and wouldn’t stand for any challenges to his authority.

But by this point, I was already beginning to see red. These nobles were really starting to push all the right buttons. 

“Hey, President.”

“John…”

Umara turned around, perhaps warning me after sensing how pissed I was. But my patience for bullshit was run through a while ago. 

Sure enough, the President turned to me with that high and mighty grin of his. It was a good thing that he wasn’t any taller than me. I could face him on equal grounds. 

“What is it, Mr. Cooper? Perhaps you would like to offer an apology to Ravon?”

“Please, I would sooner shoot myself in the foot. In fact, I should be offering you the chance to apologize to me.”

“Hm?”

The President was surprised by my words, and it was clear from his frown that he found them to be quite insulting.

I continued before he could refute.

“I was grabbed by a knight. You might not understand, but a summoner like myself feels very threatened when a knight manages to get a hold on them. Any normal summoner would be at their mercy, not to mention how my arm feels half broken right now. You see that?”

I raised my arm, exposing the swelled bruise that was my left forearm. I could barely clench my fist without shooting pains. Regardless, the evidence was clear.

“I was injured because you failed to uphold order in a timely manner. More than that, a student from your Magisterium has obviously failed to learn not to threaten or attack their fellow students, especially while at a party. That responsibility falls on your shoulders. So perhaps an apology is in order, to myself and Umara for being harassed, and to all the other students here who may have been failed in their education at your institution.”

“…Be careful, Cooper. To dare question my ability makes me question your right to be at my institution at all.”

“Hoho, President, you’re misunderstanding something.”

I chuckled a bit as his Aura started to become more ominous.

“I’m not questioning anything. The bruise on my arm is hard evidence. The only reason it’s there is because of your oversight.”

“There has been no such thing! And I will not stand for your slander or accusations.”

“And I won’t stand for your prejudice. You don’t want accusations? Then put your dog on a fucking leash, or don’t be surprised when I put him down after he ruins my nice night.”

“…Now, I think you’re the one misunderstanding something.”

The President suddenly stepped forward, pressuring me with his presence, standing less than a foot away. 

My jaw clenched a bit. He was a knight, not to mention a Duke at Authority 11. He could kill me with less than his fingernail, and I could clearly feel that looming death over me through his Aura. 

But I continued to look him straight in the eye as he growled with a low voice that only I could seem to hear.

“You are a student at my Magisterium, and a guest at my mansion. In both places, you have no authority nor right to dictate the law. I alone hold that right. My word is King here. And your very existence is a disturbance, let alone your feeble attempts at maligning my name.”

“That’s feeble? And yet it still gets you so worked up. Compared to that, your ridiculous attempts at pinning the blame on me are outright pathetic. I’m starting to doubt whether or not your word really is law. Yet another failure at educating your students.”

“…Then to teach you, I’ll give you a 10 day suspension. You can take that time to reflect.”

“Oh, now we’re getting somewhere.”

“Speak more, and I’ll simply expel you from the Magisterium.”

“Heh.”

I smirked, almost willing to take up the offer. 

Before I could talk more though, Umara stepped in between us under the eyes of everyone in the venue.

“Stop! President, let’s not cross the line.”

“Umara, do not tarnish your name by stooping to defend him.”

“And do not tarnish yours by acting like you’re a king, even within your institution. Your hospitality here has led to nothing but harassment toward me and injury toward my boyfriend. Do not make the blunder of thinking you can treat the daughter of Duchess Talerria in such a manner, nor the mistake of thinking that my boyfriend should not receive the same respect I demand as my equal. You’ve already done and said enough, so let’s put a stop to this now before this escalates into something most undesirable.”

“…”

Everyone was silent, including me, but not out of a culled attitude. 

I was surprised. I had never seen Umara step up and demand the respect inherent to her name. She didn’t ever flaunt her status, so this was a first for me. 

And she was protecting me from President Carrion. While she was assuming the authority of her mother, she technically had the right to. It was her birthright as the daughter of a Duchess. 

She held status within the wonderful world of nobles. And within that world, she could demand certain things and make others take a step back, or outright bend to her will. 

Only someone like President Carrion couldn’t be culled by her words, but he also couldn’t disregard her. If he pushed any more, then he would be invoking her mother by insulting her authority. And as she said, such a thing would escalate a situation that didn’t need to be. 

But there was also a slight complication. She was doing it on behalf of a commoner, so if he took a step back, it would be no different from admitting that I held the high ground. His pride wouldn’t allow him to. 

And sure enough, he didn’t take a step back. We continued to stare eye to eye, equal in height but not equal in presence. Maybe I had won the battle of words, but at a certain point, that didn’t mean anything. 

Still, it spoke volumes about his own character. I thought, if I were at that level of power, and some kid not even half my age came up to me and started challenging me, I wouldn’t give him the time of day. 

The fact that he got so offended and enraged by my words only helped me understand that in their mind I was so far beneath them that to even attempt to besmirch their name was unacceptable. And I wasn’t surprised. Dictators didn’t tend to accommodate criticism. 

But, despite my insistence on escalating this situation thus far, I could tell that it was time for me to take a step back. With Umara having stepped in, I couldn’t only think about myself. 

So with a smile, I gave the President a wink before turning around. 

Glancing around, I could see that every eye, both adult and student, was on us. We had attracted quite a bit of attention, though I wasn’t sure how much everyone heard. Still, this would be a story that got passed down for a while. 

I didn’t know whether I felt good about it or not. I was simply challenging the unexpected tyranny of the Magisterium’s President. Where I came from, such a thing was not just allowed, but expected. 

To defy corruption is a virtue.

After seeing a few familiar faces, I found the Duchess. She stood in the center of the doorway between the two halls, watching us with a neutral face, as if she were unconcerned about anything going on. 

I wondered. Was she just apathetic to a squabble, even if it involved her own daughter? Or was she testing us? 

She didn’t hide her intentions to ensure that I would be able to handle life among nobles. It came with the position of Umara’s boyfriend. So perhaps making sure that I wouldn’t simply bend over at the slightest threat from a noble was a part of why she didn’t interfere. 

Then again, I took this quite a bit further than it should’ve. It was intentional, but that also meant that her opinion of me may not be very high. 

Oh well. The only thing I could do now was leave. I surely wasn’t welcome. 

I took measured steps out of the hall toward the exit. My shoes were the only things to make a sound as I did so. 

Halfway there though, I heard the President’s voice.

“I don’t go back on my word. If I see you on Magisterium grounds before 10 days are over, I will expel you on sight.”

“…”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t even acknowledge him with my gaze. I just kept walking.

I felt incredibly isolated as I approached the exit. Before I could leave though, there was another pair of feet that scampered on over to my side. 

I looked and saw Feiden catch up to me. Then, Vetsmon ran over as well. 

He was followed by Umara. As for Tana, well, I hadn’t actually seen her in a while. I wasn’t sure where she was. 

So the four of us walked out the door. 

We were silent for a while as we walked the stone path through the mansion gates and onto the street. 

Before going any farther, I stopped and turned to the others.

“You guys don’t have to worry about me. I ruined my night, not yours. You can stay.”

“Stay just to get fucking surrounded by guys again? No thanks.”

Umara spitefully rejected, causing Vetsmon to chuckle. 

“Heh, I wasn’t really having fun either. I don’t have many friends besides you guys. I would probably spend the rest of my night talking with my parents.”

“Me too.”

Feiden chimed in after him. 

Hearing their excuses, I just smirked. 

“Well, you guys don’t get the 10 day vacation.”

“You mean suspension?”

“Same difference.”

“You know, I’ve never heard of someone getting suspended from the Magisterium before. I guess you’ll be famous as the first.”

Vetsmon pat my shoulder with his bear paw, making me flinch. 

“Yea, I guess.”

“You also challenged the President. That’s definitely never been done.”

“I thought you were going to get kicked out on the spot.”

Umara mumbled, going quiet for a second before suddenly punching my non-injured arm. 

“Ow. Why?”

“You scared me. You were reckless. We’re supposed to leave the Magisterium together, and you just went and challenged the authority of the Magisterium’s President in his own home. And it wasn’t even necessary.”

“Not true.”

“What? How is that not true? We could’ve just let it be and left. Why did you have to talk back?”

“You said it yourself. Carrion was speaking as if he were the King. He’s drunk on power, and he needed a slap to the face to bring him down a notch. Doing so is absolutely necessary, and apparently I have to be the one to do it since nobody besides you seemed to have the balls to. Besides, I told you that I don’t stand for that kind of bullshit, no matter who it comes from.”

“…”

Umara went silent, remembering my earlier words.

I took out my cigar case with a sigh, preparing a stogie.

“The President is an old bitter asshole because his son is a little bitch who can’t get a girl, so he holds a grudge against me and twisted the situation to pin all the blame on me. Not to mention how I’m a commoner who dared to speak to a noble like him that way. Unfortunately he made it too easy to call him out not expecting that I would, so he got butthurt when I did. Heh, it was quite satisfying seeing him so pissed off. You should try it sometime.”

“…I think I’ll pass.”

Umara smiled a bit, taking a calming breath. 

She gently linked her arm with mine, resting her head on my shoulder. 

“I understand why you did all that, and I thank you. But if we want to stay together, you need to avoid getting expelled, even though I never thought such a thing would ever be an issue. Even if just for me, I ask that you try to exercise a bit more restraint from now on, at least in front of people like the President who can take things away from you.”

“I suppose I can do that.”

“Thank you. In exchange, I’ll take care of all the dogs who can’t seem to leave me alone.”

“Hehe, woof.”

“B-Bad guy!”

I laughed while hugging her from behind, planting a kiss on her cheek and making her go red. 

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