Heroine Creation: All My Summons Are Custom Made

Every student in the tiered seating was frozen, their eyes wide as they stared down at the broken battle floor that was slowly starting to repair itself.

Slowly, every head turned toward Professor Chance.

Usually, this was when the stoic Professor would step forward, adjust his spectacles, and deliver a clinical breakdown of the duel. He would explain the Grace management, the tactical flaws, the elemental counters.

But this time, Chance stood perfectly still. He stared at the ruined floor, pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose, and looked up at the shell-shocked students.

”Class is dismissed,” Chance said flatly.

He didn’t offer a single word of explanation. He just turned on his heel and walked out, leaving the Year Ones alone with the impossible reality of what they had just witnessed.

Lancet stood there for a moment, acting as nonchalant as he could even though his cheeks started to red from the hundred unblinking stares drilling into him.

The tension was so thick it was hard to breathe.

Then, the shrill ring of the Academy bell arrived and shattered the silence.

Everyone, not excluding Lancet, let out sighs of relief.

’Saved by the bell,’ he thought. He turned on his heel to make a quick exit, but a shout stopped him in his tracks.

”Hold on!”

Lancet paused, slowly looking over his shoulder.

A boy from the third row was standing on top of his seat, his fists clenched, his eyes burning with desperation.

”Lancet! Teach me!” the boy yelled. ”Teach me how you do it! Teach me to summon legends like you!”

The entire hall froze all over again.

’Eh?’ went the collective breath of the students. Eyes darted frantically between the desperate boy and Lancet.

Lancet stared blankly. ’Shit. What is this guy talking about?! He’s going to start a riot with that kind of question!’

Lancet must have been a prophet, because just a second later, a girl a few seats down abruptly shot up to her feet.

”Please, teach me too!” she shrieked, pointing frantically. ”You just defeated a senior! A Shadowmancer in Summoner-B! How can I be like you? Teach me please?!”

That was the spark that ignited the powder keg.

”Tell us your secret!”

”How do those ladders work?!”

”Are you from a hidden clan?!”

”Hey, Lancet! I’ll pay you! How much Profits do you want?!”

A mini-riot exploded. Dozens of students scrambled over their desks, abandoning all Academy decorum. Some had genuine stars in their eyes, desperately wanting to become better, while others had calculating, greedy looks, trying to extract whatever cheat-code information they could sell or use.

They surged down the stairs, a stampede of Academy uniforms closing in on the battle floor.

Lancet’s eyes went wide. ’What the flying fuck?’

He took a step back, wanting to bolt but not knowing what direction to. Right then, a hand suddenly clamped down hard on his shoulder.

”Come with us!” Kasto yelled over the din.

Anita was right beside him, already pulling Lancet by the sleeve of his blazer. ”Run!”

The three of them scrambled out the side entrance just as the first wave of frantic students hit the battle floor.

What followed was a mad sprint through the beautiful white and gold corridors of the Awakener Supreme Institute.

It was complete chaos. As Lancet, Kasto, and Anita hurried past the tall windows and stone pillars, the first-year Summoners who had chased them spilled out into the halls.

But instead of continuing the pursuit, they collided with students from other Classes who were just getting out.

Lancet saw a Summoner-D boy grab a passing Specialist-D student, gesturing wildly with his hands, mimicking a giant hammer. He saw mouths leaning into ears, and heard whispers leave lips.

”...a Year-3 Shadowmancer... got completely vaporized...”

”...no, I swear to God! The Valkyrie! Thor Stormchild!”

”...two legends? That’s impossible...”

The trio hastened their steps but the whispers raced ahead of them. By the time they reached the main thoroughfare, heads were already turning.

Lancet saw eyes watching him from the distances. Some were curious, some were cold and calculating, and some carried the promise of danger.

”Keep your head down, keep walking,” Anita said breathlessly, practically dragging him along the path leading toward the dormitories.

What Lancet didn’t notice, but was happening nonetheless, was Luke trailing them from a precise distance.

He walked with his hands in his pockets, looking bored and indifferent, but his eyes sharply scanned the intersecting corridors, silently keeping watch to ensure no one tried to jump Lancet in the chaos.

They reached the Bronze Dorms, passing the iron gate. Even here, the rumor had beaten them. Students loitering in the common areas stopped their conversations, their eyes tracking Lancet as the trio moved toward the stairs.

As they hurried up to their floor, they passed Theo. The same Theo Kane who had bullied Lancet on his first day in the dorm.

None of them saw him, but Theo saw Lancet. He watched him head to his room with a defeated expression on his face, before slowly lowering his face and turning away.

The kid he had tried to step on to prove his dominance was now an Academy celebrity.

The trio finally reached their room. Kasto shoved the door open, practically throwing Lancet inside before Anita darted in and Kasto slammed it shut, locking it with a heavy click.

They were silent for a moment, looking at each other, then a beaming grin split across Kasto’s face.

”That was awe—!”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The three of them froze. Anita threw Kasto a panicked look. ”Who’s that?!” she hissed.

”I don’t know!” Kasto whispered back. He carefully reached for the handle, unlocking it and opening the door just a crack.

Standing plainly in the hallway, hands in his pockets, was Luke.

”You forgot I live here?” Luke asked deadpan.

”Hehe... hey, Luke,” Kasto chuckled nervously, pulling the door wide open. ”Come in.”

Luke casually walked past them, stepping into the room and immediately heading for his bed on the top bunk. He climbed and lay down, opening his comic without another word. Kasto quickly shut and locked the door again.

The moment the lock clicked, the celebration resumed.

”That was unbelievable!” Kasto whisper-shouted, jumping up and down, shaking Lancet by the shoulders. ”You did it again?! How did you manage to find another legendary Heroine! Thor! The strongest Valkyrie!”

”I thought I was going to pass out when she blocked that Shadow Knight’s attack!” Anita laughed, her hands on her cheeks. ”She was so cool!”

”Cool? She is the greatest thing ever! One of the best!” Kasto went full geek, his eyes shining. ”Do you know how insane her lore is? The history texts barely even have her actual name, they just call her the Thunder of Devilfall! She was Servont’s second-in-command! To actually see her in the flesh... the armor, the warhammer! It was exactly like the old tapestries but a million times more terrifying!”

Lancet looked at Kasto with a modest, slightly strained smile. ’Boy, Lore Attunement really did a number on you, didn’t it?’

”It was... a lucky draw, really,” Lancet said, trying to play it cool while they continued to hail him as a god. ”I just pushed my Grace to the limit and hoped for the best.”

”You keep trying to make all of this sound ordinary,” Anita shrieked. ”It’s so not!”

”Could you all keep it down?”

Luke’s voice drifted up from the top bunk. His face was still swallowed by his comic book. ”I’m trying to read here.”

Kasto gaped at him. ”How can you read at a time like this?! Can’t you see how cool this is, Luke? Our roommate has two summons that are legendary Awakeners of the past! He just humiliated a Year Three! Did you forget that Nereus is a 2 Star Platinum?!”

Luke sighed, casually flipping a page. ”All I see is a much bigger target on Lancet’s back now. So can you all be quiet and let me read my comic?”

Lancet’s smile faltered slightly. He secretly agreed with Luke entirely. With the Serpent Society and others with their own agenda, all of this was only pushing him higher into their selfish orbits.

Taking the hint, Anita and Kasto leaned in closer, dropping their voices to excited whispers.

”Okay, okay,” Kasto whispered, grinning conspiratorially. ”But you have to promise us something, Lancet. You really have to introduce us to Thor.”

”Yeah!” Anita agreed in a hushed tone. ”We want to meet her properly! Astensia too!”

Lancet winced internally. ’Introduce you? She practically wanted to crush my skull ten minutes ago.’

”I... I will,” Lancet responded, scratching the back of his neck. ”But Thor is still a little unsettled with being brought here. You saw how angry she was. First, I have to subtly let her adjust to her new reality and our contract before we can do any proper meet-and-greets.”

Kasto nodded understandingly, giving him a thumbs-up. ”Makes sense. You can’t rush a Valkyrie. As long as it’s a promise.”

”It’s a promise,” Lancet said, offering a genuine smile.

The three of them shared a quiet laugh in the center of the room, the adrenaline of the day finally beginning to wear off, while Luke silently turned another page in the background.