Godfrey halted at the door of his classroom, eyes locked on Isolde who was chatting with Lucy. Now that he had grown much stronger, he couldnât understand how a girl bench-pressing a ton with relative ease could still look elegant.
It amazed him because, in this one-month break, the great amount of mana in his body had amplified the effects of his training, adding extra flesh to his biceps, triceps, and chest.
He now had the kind of build Numbers like Jon, Yuan, and Percival were known for, rivalling quite a lot of seniors. A perfect build, some might call it, because this was achieved through compression.
Some students like Dale used their mana to increase their muscle mass while training, allowing them to look buff and bigger than the rest.
While caught up in his thoughts, Lucy saw him, her eyes widening as she tapped Isolde, who turned and followed her gaze.
"Are you going to keep standing there?" Edwinâs voice made Godfrey move to his seat as others scrambled to theirs.
As he sat down, Godfrey turned to the golden-white-haired girl. She rolled her eyes at Godfrey, who crossed his arms and leaned backward.
"Is it me, or does Godfrey look even better?" Orwen whispered to Dale.
Dale scowled. "What do you mean?"
Orwen pointed at the girlsâ reactions to Godfrey. It wasnât rowdy, but it was noticeable.
"Itâs like he got some kind of glow-up from a beautifying summoner."
"He does radiate a different energy," Cecil confirmed with a quick glance.
Snow was the final student to walk into the class and straight to his seat without a word as eyes followed him. His spot as the number one most handsome boy in his class was still undisputed, despite Godfreyâs glow-up, due to his body growth kick-started by the one yearâs worth of mana within his muscles, blood, and organs.
Edwin coughed, gaining everyoneâs attention. "Now... weâre going to have a call class this morning."
Saying this, Edwin took a chair and sat before the class with one leg crossed over the other.
"After this semester, you all will be moving onto your junior year. Youâll be one step into the world. Thatâs one of the reasons weâll be having a broad conversation about Earth." He paused to make sure the class was following before continuing.
"What do you know about the first summoner, Adam?" Edwin tilted his head.
Lucy raised her hand. "His summon, the Monkey King, has a staff that could reach the clouds and could be as big as a skyscraper in its fully expanded form. I believe that was one of the outstanding feats known about Adam and his summon."
Edwin nodded. "What else?"
"It could transform into other summons or whatever it faced, use the skills of what it transformed into, and could multiply itself, with each copy being able to defeat King Tiers. I believe thatâs what made the Monkey King the strongest summon ever," Snow said with a laid-back posture.
"Thatâs a good one, but does that make the Monkey King a King Tier?" Edwinâs question puzzled everyone as they looked at each other.
"I did a little research and discovered that the tier âKingâ was actually derived from the King in the name Monkey King. But the summon itself was never said to be a King Tier because, back then, tiers didnât exist." Edwin rose up.
"One man and one summon stopped the Great Despair, an apocalyptic event that plunged the entire world into darkness, wiping out over a billion. Yet such a catastrophe was stopped by one summoner who fought against hundreds of King Tier dungeon bosses, all of which were not sealed in dungeons."
Isoldeâs eyes gleamed. âHas it been authorized to tell people about this?!â
"Researchers have said that indeed the Prisoner of the Golden Headband is beyond the capacity of a King Tier, the same thing for Cainâs Dark Seraph, a summon capable of giving summons to ordinary humans, making them summoners. It could also add to a summonerâs, which was why Cain had a terrifying army of dual and tri-summoners," Edwin continued.
Godfreyâs eyes narrowed at the absurdity of such a skill. Everyone had different expressions, those that had heard of it before were less shocked.
"It could also bring darkness, a darkness where no source of light works. Even the flames of summons vanished within it, like those flames didnât exist..." Edwin stopped abruptly, a smile appearing on his face as he saw the expressions of his students.
"The despair you feel before such strength is a testament to the theory of tiers currently beyond humanity. But our world is still growing. Soon, dungeons with creatures beyond King Tier will appear, and when that happens, we shall figure out the secret behind Adamâs disappearance. Other tiers will be discovered, and maybe we shall see other gates, like the white one Adam entered and never returned."
"When will all this happen?" Godfrey asked.
"In a century or so. The Earth will be properly saturated by then, and the numbers of King Tiers will have risen."
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
"Weâll all be dead by then," Dale chortled.
"Possibly. But the number of dungeons rising is a sign of whatâs to come, Cain Fanaticâs interference or not. So now youâre all spooked, better study hard for this semester."
He walked to the board and began listing types of beasts and their traits.
***
Later on, in the Shadow Club, Lucy sighed. "So there are more tiers, and Iâm stuck at the lowest of them all."
Isaac frowned. "You might be a low tier, but your potential is above it, right?"
Lucy shook her head. "My summonâs potential is 3.4, the peak of low tier, and Iâm currently at 3.3."
Isaac was stumped, unable to say a word, as there was nothing he could do to change her summonâs potential.
Godfrey patted Lucyâs head with a warm smile. "Youâve got your brains, and we wonât judge you based on your tier."
Seeing Godfreyâs smile, Lucy felt light.
Just then, the door opened, and they all looked at it, expecting a potential new member, but it was Tank, Number Ten in Nexus Club, who did.
As he strode in, the triplets, Ulric, Wufric, and Leofric, entered after him.