Chapter 371. Gears and Dragonfire.

  “Wow, it’s kind of neat to see the whole field being used for a duel,” I said.

  “Oh, that’s right, you missed the announcement. It turns out that even the whole field isn’t quite enough for the minions that the headmaster and Professor Izbix can summon. They had to have a discussion and settle on some other restrictions before fighting. Look, they’re getting started now,” Melody said.

  Out on the training field both Headmaster Glorine and Professor Izbix began summoning their minions. Izbix was first, and having been in his class, I wasn’t shocked to see that it was a large mechanical figure that appeared. It was a 30-foot-tall clockwork golem of some sort, humanoid shaped, and built entirely of metal. Long arms were tipped in razor-sharp claws, though I didn’t see any other visible weapons.

  Next to the minion, four large crates appeared, and Izbix still wasn’t done with his summoning. On the other side of the field, Glorine was taking his time, and a minion hadn’t appeared yet, despite the massive amounts of mana he was pouring into the summoning. Izbix finished up by summoning six smaller wood crates before Glorine’s minion finally made an appearance.

  A huge ball of light appeared, almost blinding me, and when it finally dimmed, the headmaster’s minion was revealed. A loud roar, the sound partially blocked by the protective barriers to keep us from harm, bellowed forth from a massive dragon. Nearly taking up its entire side of the field, the dragon pawed at the ground and waited for the barrier that separated it from its foe to disappear.

  Seeing a dragon almost took my breath away. This one was even more impressive than Doshkath, who I’d had fighting for me briefly in the arena challenge. That dragon had been a tier five beast, but I had to believe that Headmaster Glorine was well past that tier. Seeing a dragon, one that wasn’t trying to eat you, was every kid’s dream. This one, which the system didn’t bother to name for me, was a red dragon, and it was almost spot on in appearance to everything I’d seen in fiction and the movies. It had large wings folded over its body, and didn’t seem inclined to take to the air.

  I had to figure that the lack of flight was due to the rules laid out by the administration before the fight, and not due to any lack of ability on the part of the dragon. While the dragon had caught my attention, Professor Izbix’s minion was no slouch either. As the preparation timer began to run out, the four large boxes near the golem unfolded. In each was a mass of gears, metal, wood, and what might be bone of some type.

  The professor’s golem stepped into the first box, and the odd collection of materials began to assemble themselves around the leg of the golem, adding armor, strange devices, and other few feet of height to the construct. When its other leg stepped into the second box, the golem bent over and placed both hands inside the last pair of large boxes. Gears whirring, and metal clanking accompanied the transformation of the already imposing golem.

  “It’s like a clockwork Voltron,” I muttered under my breath. Melody ignored my Earth-specific reference and just kept her eyes on the action that was unfolding. The time limit expired, and the two summoned creatures jumped into action. Both charged forward, and the golem’s body shifted as it attacked. One arm transformed into a long spear with a glowing orange spear tip that it thrust at the charging dragon.

  The other golem arm began to whirl a spiked metal flail that glowed with a sickly green mana coating. Each leg, near where the top of a boot would be, began to launch a seemingly unending barrage of crossbow bolts. Behind the golem, the six smaller wooden crates opened, revealing turrets that began to fire out blasts of magical energy at the dragon.

  The dragon’s mouth opened wide, and a stream of liquid fire sprayed out like a pressure washer on overload. The spray hit the spear-tipped arm of the golem. Metal, even magically enhanced as the golem’s body was, proved unable to cope with true dragon fire, and the limb melted away. The barrage of crossbow bolts from the golem’s leg peppered the dragon, but most bounced off its thick red scales.

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  A few bolts found gaps between the scales, and dug into the dragon’s flesh, but they had to be mere pinpricks to such a powerful foe. The heavy flail of the golem hammered into the side of the dragon, and this weapon had a much greater effect on the beast. Scales shattered and the dragon was shifted to the side by the blow. The sickly green mana remained behind as the weapon was retracted for another strike. Flesh corroded and scales melted as the acidic mana burned into the dragon.

  Lunging forward, the dragon bit onto the arm with the flail. In response, several spikes erupted from the arm, burying themselves deep into the soft flesh of the dragon’s mouth. With a shake of its head, the dragon tore the second arm off the golem which reeled back, trying to put distance between it and its foe. The dragon still had several spikes in its mouth that it attempted to remove with another blast of dragon fire.

  The flames melted the long ends of the spikes, but I thought I could still see remnants imbedded in the dragon’s mouth. Whipping around, the dragon swung its tail into the legs of the golem, knocking it back and crushing one of the turrets that were still firing at the dragon with limited effectiveness.

  I waited for the dragon to resume its charge and finish off the golem, but it hesitated, giving off a low growl as mana built up over its body. The spell it had charged up released itself in a wave of healing energy. The burnt and battered flesh on the dragon’s side was partially repaired, and the bleeding in its mouth ceased. Several of the crossbow bolts embedded in the gaps of its scales were ejected, and it spit out the nub of one of the spikes that had impaled the roof of its mouth.

  Barely able to stumble walk on its bent and battered legs, the golem clumsily stepped on one of the smaller turrets. Instead of crushing the weapon, it seemed to absorb it, the gears, metal, and other materials that made up its structure reconfigured themselves to replace the damaged portion of the golem’s leg. With a bit more mobility, the golem stepped on another turret, completing the repair of both legs. It was reaching toward another turret with the mangled remnants of its spear arm when the dragon attacked again.

  Another, much smaller blast of fire hit the golem in the chest, knocking it off its feet. I didn’t know how much fire a dragon could breathe before needing to recharge, but I was beginning to believe that his one was just about out of juice. When the golem tried to stand again, the dragon whipped its tail into the golem, shattering one of the freshly repaired legs. Looming over the fallen and badly damaged foe, the dragon lunged forward to bite at the golem’s head. Even before the bite landed, a loud click was heard over the training field.

  Just as the dragon’s bite crushed the mechanical golem’s head, a series of explosions rocked the dragon. Everywhere a crossbow bolt had lodged, and where the remains of the spikes in the dragon’s mouth were placed, explosions occurred. Bits of dragon were blasted from its body, but with a twist of its mangled mouth, the dragon tore the head off of the golem. The amalgam of magic and machine dissipated into mana vapor, just like my minions when they were destroyed.

  The crowd watched in silent awe as the dragon also succumbed to its wounds, just moments after the golem. The announcer stepped back onto the field, waving at the crowd to be silent. He turned slowly to face everyone viewing from the sidelines before speaking.

  “That was quite a spectacle from two of our top summoners. Let’s give a cheer for Headmaster Glorine, the victor of this day’s finale,” the announcer shouted, his voice amplified so we could all hear. I joined in the rousing cheer that filled the training field. The announcer waited for the cheers to die down before continuing.

  “Let’s also give our hearty thanks to Professor Izbix. If his minion had held on for a few seconds more, he might have taken the title as victor today. I think we all look forward to seeing what these impressive faculty members bring to next year’s tournament,” the announcer said. After another round of applause for Professor Izbix, the announcer spoke for a final time.

  “Thank you all for participating and attending this year’s faculty summoner tournament. Enjoy the rest of your day, and we look forward to seeing you again when classes resume at the beginning of the week,” the announcer said before walking off the field.

  “It’s always impressive to see a dragon in real life,” I said to Melody.

  “I’ve seen the headmaster’s dragon summons before, but this is the first time he used the red,” Melody replied.

  “Wait, he’s got more than one dragon he can summon?” I asked, wondering just how powerful Glorine really was.

  “Yes, I don’t know if he can summon more than one at a time, but he has several in his repertoire,” Melody said.

  “Maybe someday we’ll get something as impressive,” I said.

  “That’s the dream, but for now, we’ve both got a long way to go,” Melody said. She was right, I had a long way to go, but I couldn’t wait to see what my class would eventually become. How powerful would my drone, Elida, and the goblin trio be once I hit the same tier and rank as the headmaster?

  Those were dreams for another day, and I was reminded of the tasks ahead of me as a familiar prompt appeared, and a blue portal swirled open next to me.

  You are Summoned!