My Summons Are Mythical Beasts

Ten miles was nothing short, even for Lucas. However, after doing such activities continuously—almost daily—he had already gotten used to it. The Starlight Academy alone was three miles away from his home. Not to mention his daily run; he would have to travel such a distance by foot twice a day.

Lucas took a glance at the towering building of the Starlight Academy as he ran at a moderate pace. He did not get close to the academy, however, and remained running on the road seldom traveled by the masses.

The main road, where everyone traveled, was located at the next block. Lucas would pass by that road later and then go to the public park to cool off a little before returning to complete the ten-mile morning run.

Arriving at the crossroad, Lucas stopped for a bit to let the traffic pass before crossing over.

Early in the morning, the main road was already busy and full of traveling beasts. Most of them were beast taxis, while the others were used privately by citizens that owned a license to summon.

Different kinds of beasts passed by him. There were quadrupedal beasts, while there were also bipeds carrying their masters on their backs. Other than that, there were also beasts with more than four legs.

There were endless varieties of beasts that looked fascinating to the eye.

These beasts, though, mostly don't have any combat ability, hence the reason why they were being used for transportation.

After the road became less crowded and the traffic light turned red, Lucas finally had the chance to cross the road along with the others.

Leaving the main road behind, Lucas ran forward and eventually reached the public park that was also filled with people.

Unlike the road where it was allowed to summon one's beast if they have a license, in the park, however, it was truly prohibited. It was because there were a lot of children playing around, so beasts should not be summoned here lest they hurt the mundane people.

There was a separate park for those who wanted to summon their beast, but that place was often empty and devoid of people, as summoners would usually have their own private place to practice with their skills, or if they didn't, then they could go to beast gyms to train with others. There were fees before one could enter such a facility, though, so going there had never crossed Lucas' mind.

Entering the park, Lucas began walking to cool down before he found a seat to sit.

The seat he found was situated in front of another road. Although not as busy as the main road, there were still a lot of pedestrians and beasts roaming around the street that he was facing. His gaze moved as he curiously identified the beasts that passed by his eyes.

This was how he usually spent his morning here in the park. Nothing stressful, just a relaxing and peaceful morning.

However, Lucas also knew that such a relaxing and peaceful morning was very brittle and as fragile as glass.

One dungeon descent, and all this peace will turn into chaos and destruction.

Lucas sighed and stood up. Having rested enough, he planned to return home and prepare for school. Today, he would hunt dungeon beasts for experience points once more. His goal was to reach Iron Star 3.

As for how long it would take him to reach that rank, even he himself was not sure anymore.

Just as he exited the park, Lucas suddenly saw some familiar figures coursing the street.

Riding atop a bear-like beast, Ethan sat gracefully along with two other figures that Lucas found familiar as well. Upon a closer look, he realized that they were part of the seniors who pursued that injured Cliff Borne Ram before.

As if feeling his gaze, Ethan and the other seniors also turned their heads toward his location.

Their gazes met in the air as Lucas' body froze for a moment. He did not know why, but he suddenly felt nervous after being subjected to their gazes.

Ethan smiled and ordered the bear beast to go closer to him. Lucas silently stood on the sidewalk as he waited for them to approach.

"Lucas," Ethan said with a smile. He glanced at the park right behind Lucas and continued, "I did not expect to see you here of all people."

In his mind, Lucas was a hardworking, ambitious, and, at the same time, a greedy kid. Of all people, Lucas was the last person Ethan expected to see near a park where most people were seen being idle and relaxed.

At this hour, he expected Lucas to be already on campus, doing missions, or had entered the dungeon and gained experiences, as time was valuable for someone like him who doesn't have a high-grade grimoire.

"I am just doing a normal exercise, senior," Lucas answered with a polite tone. This was the senior who had given him a graded weapon; of course he would speak to him politely. After all, who knows if he would suddenly give him another gift for being polite, right?

"I see," Ethan nodded his head in understanding.

"Right, these are my classmates, Dorian and Asher," he said, introducing the two men sitting along with him.

The one named Dorian has messy, ash-blonde hair. With his robust body, it might seem as if he was very energetic, but it was actually the opposite. His complexion was a little pale as he slouched forward lazily, as if sitting beside Ethan was the hardest thing he had done for the entire week.

The Asher guy on the other hand was a little better. He has dark brown hair and striking black eyes. His complexion was also pale, but not as pale as Dorian's. The most notable feature of the guy, though, was the black eyebags that rested below his eyes.

Both of them were still wearing the same uniform that Lucas had seen them wear before.

Since Starlight Academy does not have any student uniforms due to how costly they were, Lucas guessed that the uniform they were wearing was the uniform of their squad.

The two nodded politely to him but did not speak any word, as though they were mute.

As if it were completely normal, Ethan ignored their reaction and said, "Are you going back now? Wanna hitch a ride with us?"

Lucas hesitated for a bit before he finally nodded his head.

Although he still needed around five miles to run, Lucas decided on a whim that today would be his cheat day.

Riding a beast in the street was something he did not usually experience. The fare was also expensive, and depending on the beast and the distance, the fare would even increase. Since the senior had offered him to ride the massive beast for free, how could Lucas decline?

At the same time, he was actually a little curious about Dorian and Asher. The scene of them pursuing that injured ram was still as clear as day to him.

His curious mind wanted to know what happened to that ram. Were they able to kill it? Or has it managed to escape and then eventually killed the other students?

"Hop on, then. Don't be intimidated by him; he's just a transport beast and does not have any combat ability," Ethan said with an inviting gesture.

The bear-beast was massive and was as wide as a bus from his previous life. Its length was comparable to a pickup truck, and its height was as high as ten feet.

The bear had thick black fur that seemed to glisten enthusiastically against the morning sun that had slowly risen on the horizon.

With another order from Ethan, the bear beast lowered its body, allowing Lucas to hop above it and easily land on its wide back.

After Ethan gestured for him to take a seat, he ordered the bear beast to move forward.

Like riding a horse, one might think that it would be a bumpy ride. However, that was far from the truth as Lucas felt that he was actually riding a bus due to the comfort it provided.

The ride was comfortable and full of breeze.

For most transportation beasts, something like this was actually pretty normal. Most of their skills revolve around transportation after all. Some of them has skills that added comfort to their riders, while there were others that has skills to increase their running speed.

Sometime later, the ride finally arrived at Starlight Academy.