Heroine Creation: All My Summons Are Custom Made

Despite everything they had just told him, all Lancet could hear was:

’Keep the heroines anchored. That’s your only job.’

It made him feel a little hollow. He was just a conduit, a flesh-and-blood battery pack to ferry the real deals onto the battlefield. The real deals that he himself created.

Lancet also knew one thing for real. Humans always acted this way so he didn’t think there was going to be an exception this time.

After this mission, they would continue asking him to do this. They would invite him to more missions just so they could have Astensia and Thor fight for them. Then, the moment he became an inconvenience, they would start looking for ways to get to Astensia and Thor without needing him.

Lancet clenched his jaw, swallowing the insult. He decided to allow it this time. The town of Hebthej actually needs help.

”I understand,” Lancet said flatly. The excitement he had was gone.

Wolfgar’s scarred face softened just a fraction. ”If you can, please summon them now. Introduce them to us so we can brief them on the tactical layout. What you’re doing, Leogardt... it’s going to save a lot of people.”

Lancet nodded curtly. ”Give me a moment.”

He turned his back on the professors and walked toward a far, empty corner of the training hall, ignoring the curious stares of the other students. He took a deep breath, reaching into his Summon Space and called his creations.

Lightning and golden light rained down.

When the light faded, Astensia and Thor stood in the hall.

Astensia adjusted her golden shield, her eyes sweeping the room with disciplined awareness. Thor immediately crossed her arms, her lightning-blue eyes locking onto Lancet with a fierce glare.

”Hey, guys,” Lancet said quietly.

”Did we not talk about this, Summoner?” Thor hissed

”Yeah, we did,” Lancet replied. ”But this isn’t about me wanting your help. This is about you guys, too.”

Astensia and Thor paused, exchanging a brief glance before looking back at him.

”What is it?” Astensia asked, her eyes filled with genuine concern. ”Is something wrong, Master?”

”Not personally,” Lancet said. He looked at the golden knight. ”But Astensia, all you want is to help people. To protect the weak from evil.” He turned to the storm heroine. ”And Thor, all you want is to destroy evil. Even more... you want another chance to destroy Devilfall.”

There was a hitch in Thor’s breath. Her eyes suddenly widened, quivering with desperate hope. ”You are taking me to Devilfall?”

”Not exactly,” Lancet clarified, dulling the light in Thor’s eyes.

”We’re going to Hebthej.”

Both Heroines frowned in unison. ”Hebthej?” Astensia asked. ”The common town?”

”Yes,” Lancet nodded. ”It grew to be quite a bustling city with heavy trade. But right now, it’s under attack from Demons. They are slaughtering the civilians and corrupting the land. They plan to make it a new Demon Citadel.”

Both Heroines immediately equipped a more serious posture. Astensia’s face hardened into a mask of righteous duty to help the people of Hebthej. Thor’s eyes lit up again, enraged by the idea of Demons capturing another citadel.

Their different motives were shining through perfectly: one seeking to save, the other seeking to slaughter.

”We have to stop them,” Lancet said simply.

”Do you have a plan, Master?” Astensia asked, her tone entirely professional now.

”The Academy selected me, along with a few other students, to join the vanguard,” Lancet explained. He gestured over his shoulder. ”They asked me to summon you two so you can be briefed on the battlefield.”

Thor and Astensia looked up. They noticed that everyone was staring at them in awe. By the farthest corner, the three professors stood paralyzed, gawking at legends who they’d read about in history books.

Thor’s brows creased with determination. ”Very well. We shall speak with them.”

She strode past Lancet, her hammer resting effortlessly on her shoulder. Astensia followed close behind, her golden cape billowing. Lancet trailed after them, ignoring the sea of eyes that watched.

As they approached the professors, Wolfgar Windviper, a man who bowed to no one, placed a fist over his heart and executed a respectful incline of his head. Professors Vane and Thorne immediately followed suit.

”Legendary heroines,” Wolfgar addressed them, his gravelly voice filled with unwonted reverence. ”We are honored by your presence. If you will permit it, I will detail exactly what we are walking into.”

”I assume you are leading this charge?” Thor asked.

”I am only a teacher,” Wolfgar said. ”My duty is to train them for the mission. But I have all the details concerning the Demon Break if you wish to see.”

”Please,” Astensia nodded warmly. ”Go ahead.”

”Very well.” Wolfgar cleared his throat and switched the panel table’s position from the center to where he had just tapped his foot.

When the map appeared, he zoomed in once again on Hebthej.

”As expected of Demons, their movements are chaotic but we can always anticipate that they have a direction. We noticed that they are pouring in from the northern trenches, utilizing the miasma to blind our border wards. We have identified the Demon Head anchoring the Break. It has stationed itself at the old clock tower in the central town square, using the height to spread the corruption.”

”And the civilians?” Astensia interjected, leaning over the map.

”Most of them are trapped,” Professor Vane answered, tracing a blue line on the hologram. ”Our scouts report the majority of the survivors have sealed themselves in the southern catacombs beneath the town’s chapel. ”

”Is there an extraction route?”

”Yes. Our extraction route relies on these old smuggler tunnels leading to the eastern ridge. We plan to structure our defense by forming a heavy magical barricade at the Merchant’s Gate to bottleneck the Lesser Demons and buy time.”

”A barricade at the gates is foolish,” Astensia stated flatly, pointing a finger at the hologram. ”Demons do not respect structural choke points. If they smell the blood of the innocent in the catacombs, they have Demons that can simply burrow beneath your walls. And they will. You must anchor your defensive wards to the bedrock itself, using the Chapel’s holy leylines, not the stone of the gates.”

Professor Thorne’s eyes widened. ”By the Heavens... she’s right. That would stabilize the earth itself.”

Thor pointed to the center of the map. ”And your plan for the Demon Head is equally flawed. If it is perched in the clock tower, it is using the convergence of the town’s leylines to amplify the miasma. Do not send your foot soldiers charging up the stairs.”

She cast a glance back at the Student Awakeners. ”Your students are strong but let me lead the attack. I will shatter the leyline convergence from the sky. Your main vanguard should focus on clearing the Demon army. The Head is mine.”

Vernon didn’t like that, but Wolfgar couldn’t care less. He looked like a man who had just been handed the winning lottery ticket.

”I told you, kid!” he smiled at Lancet. ”You’re saving lives just by being here!”

He eagerly began redrawing the tactical markers, taking every word the Heroines said as gospel.

Lancet stood a few feet back. He watched as his summons took command of the room, their brilliance and battle intelligence completely overshadowing everyone else. He was slowly fading into the background.

Whenever Thorne or Vane spoke, they addressed Astensia or Thor directly, treating Lancet as if he were merely the pedestal upon which the statues rested.

”Hey, Leogardt.”

Lancet turned. Professor Thorne was holding out a heavy leather bandolier, strapped with six thick, glowing glass cylinders filled with a swirling golden liquid.

”Magical Supplements,” Thorne explained.

Lancet stared at them. They looked really expensive. ”You’re giving them to me?”

”Of course,” Thorne replied. ”You will be anchoring two Legends simultaneously in a high-stress environment. Drink one the moment your Grace dips below thirty percent. Your only job is to stay in the back with the evac-team and keep them anchored.”

Lancet took the bandolier. It was heavy. ”Right. The back.”

He quietly watched the professor leave and join the others. At first, he thought he was being unfair by feeling left out.

They wanted him to sit in the dirt and drink potions while his summons fought the war. This was technically the role of a Summoner.

But there were Summoners in Class Group-A and B. They were given combat roles. To be left out while his Summons fought felt so wrong.

But then again, there was no point in feeling bad. He was the only one who knew about the second Demon Head, and he was the one who was going to stop it.

Lancet decided then that he wasn’t going to be a spectator in his own story. It didn’t matter what role the Academy stuck him with.