Two bronze figures rose from glowing circles at Gwen's feet, their forms clanking to life as mana sizzled around them. Each stood a head taller than her, and thick plates gleamed faintly under the arena lights. A third circle appeared behind them, and an armor made of iron with a similar build emerged. It held a large shield and a pike, while the other two carried bows. Instantly, the audience reacted.

"Two bronze types and one iron? She's using low-rank constructs?"

"No way those can handle an E-plus summon."

Gwen ignored the comments and steadied her breathing. The bronze armors raised their bows while the iron one moved forward to confront the large serpent. It was a simple tactic, using the two weaker armors as distractions and ranged support for the iron construct.

The viper hissed, its eyes narrowing before it lunged at the iron armor. The serpent's body slammed against the construct, and the impact echoed through the arena like a thunderclap. The iron armor braced with its shield, skidding back several steps while digging its heels into the stone floor. Sparks flew as the serpent's fangs scraped against the metal plates, and cracks appeared in the shield almost immediately.

The bronze archers fired, twin volleys of glowing arrows striking the serpent's scales. They hit their target but barely left a mark. The projectiles clattered off harmlessly, turning into mana particles once they hit the ground.

"Pathetic!"

Eldric shouted from across the arena.

"Your toys won't even scratch it!"

Gwen stayed silent, focusing on her constructs. They were not the strongest, but they required little mana to maintain. Even when the snake punctured the shield, she could restore it with a small infusion of energy. The real challenge was dealing damage to the serpent, whose scales seemed impervious to the bronze arrows.

'Maybe if I hit the eye, but it's moving too fast…'

The iron armor lunged again, thrusting its pike toward the viper's side. The serpent twisted mid-motion, wrapping its massive body not around the weapon but around the entire construct instead. Its coils tightened, bending the metal frame until it began to collapse.

'A chance!'

Gwen seized the moment. With the serpent now stationary, she commanded the two bronze archers to target its eyes. One arrow missed and bounced harmlessly off the scales, but the other struck true, piercing the serpent's eye. The audience gasped as the viper let out a violent hiss. Its tail whipped around wildly, and it released the iron armor, which now hung in pieces, its frame bent and mangled.

Even though summoned creatures were made of mana, they still behaved like living monsters. Animal types such as this serpent could still feel pain, while Gwen's armored summons could not. When the opportunity came, she poured her mana into the Iron Armor, restoring its form. The metal plates began to shift and bend back into place.

The audience gasped as the viper opened its mouth and released a spray that looked like venom. The substance struck one of the bronze archers, and the construct began to melt. When the liquid dripped down to its knee, the archer lost balance and collapsed to the ground.

Gwen gritted her teeth, but everything was unfolding as planned. Eldric was focused on destroying her ranged fighter, leaving her Iron Soldier free to act. Fully restored, it gripped its spear with both hands. The weapon glowed red as it unleashed a powerful thrust that drove straight into the serpent's remaining eye.

A piercing hiss filled the chamber. The serpent's body convulsed and slammed against the floor and the barrier walls as it writhed in agony. It was truly suffering, and the Iron Armor pressed its attack. For a brief moment, victory seemed certain. The spear was pulled out and driven in again, as if to finish the creature. It twitched once more and then went completely still.

"It's over…"

Gwen whispered to herself.

"Not quite."

Eldric's voice cut through the silence. His expression was calm and confident, and his eyes glowed faintly. With a single motion, the massive serpent dissolved into drifting particles of mana.

"You thought I only had one serpent?"

Eldric raised his hand again, his voice echoing through the chamber.

"Serpent, return and rise anew!"

The air around him rippled as a pulse of mana surged from his core. A summoning circle flashed at his feet, larger than before, and the remnants of the first snake's mana flowed back into it. From that circle emerged not one but two identical vipers, exact copies of the first.

"Not bad, he can summon two of those at once."

"Smart, he managed to take back some of his mana from the defeated creature."

"Wait, I don't think he's done yet!"

To everyone's surprise, the two E-plus monsters were not the young man's limit. He summoned several smaller ones, six additional ones.

"Those look like horned copperheads, the same rank as those bronze armors. But wait, some of them have two horns. That means they're regular E ranks!"

Many of the students were astonished by the number of snake monsters Eldric could summon. The fight that had begun with three against one was starting to turn. Gwen reacted quickly, summoning more of her own creatures, but her limit was only two Iron Armors and three Bronze at once. She was already struggling against one of the larger vipers, and with her mana nearly drained, she knew she would not be able to restore any of her summons once they fell.

Gwen's stomach tightened as she realized she was at a disadvantage. She had made progress in her training, but this young man was still far stronger. Her most powerful summon was only an E-rank Iron Living Armor, and her earlier strategy of striking at weak points would no longer work. She soon found herself cornered at the edge of the arena, her armors barely holding off the relentless assault.

"Let's see how long you can keep those puppets standing!"

Eldric's hands moved as he poured mana into his serpents. They struck the armors, coiling tightly and sinking their fangs into the metal. Even the magical suits began to buckle under the pressure, their surfaces corroding from the acid-laced venom.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Was she really first in that exam? It must have been a fluke, right?"

"This is boring. Just finish it already."

The people watching from afar had already made up their minds. To them, Gwen had lost, and continuing to watch was a waste of time. Their teacher studied the battle and wondered if he should declare the victor already. Only one person still had a grin on her face: Astrella Fjord.

"Why are thou smiling? Thy friend is going to lose."

"Haha, you'll see, she isn't done yet!"

Astrella replied with a smug look, and her fairy mimicked her mannerisms once again. At this point, everyone in B-class was convinced that the two of them were fools who did not know their place. Gwendolin had no summons left, and her opponent was merely toying with her. There seemed to be no chance of victory, or so they thought.

'Should I just give up…'

Gwen thought as she looked at the slithering snakes on the ground. Mana particles drifted through the air as her last armor crumbled. She managed to recover a bit of energy, enough to summon one final armor for defense, but she no longer saw the point.

'I should just…?'

Then something flashed before her eyes, the image of the summon that had made all of this possible. She could feel it again, the same sensation she had experienced twice before. Without thinking, she reached out to summon once more, and something began to appear.

"She's so stubborn. Just give up already!"

"Ha, what is that thing even going to do against all those serpents?"

"Wait… something's off about that armor. It looks different…"

"Now that you mention it…"

From within the new magic circle, another metal frame rose. At first, people thought it was just another suit of iron armor, but the shape was not quite the same. This armor stood half a head taller, its metal imbued with enchantments, and its helmet shaped differently. In its right hand, it held a large halberd, also enchanted and sparkling with thunder magic, something the students immediately found strange.

"Why would a living armor use lightning magic? Isn't that its weakness?"

"Don't ask me, but the enchantment on the helmet looks like it protects it from lightning. That's… Interesting."

Two upperclassmen chatted as the newly summoned armor took shape, making the battle look far more exciting. Four of the smaller copperhead serpents lunged at the construct, but before they could sink their fangs in, the armored figure swung its halberd. With a single strike, a burst of lightning erupted, charring the serpents and cutting through them in the process.

"Whoa, it took them all out with one swing! What kind of living armor is that?"

The crowd came alive once more. Even those who had been ready to leave turned their attention back to the dueling platform. The echo of the thunderclap still rolled across the reinforced glass, fading only after several seconds.

"That's..."

Eldric's grin faltered as he saw the new summon appear. His serpents froze, and he ordered them to retreat for now. Astrella began to cheer as if she had been waiting for this creature to arrive. Aranea, standing beside her, widened her eyes, seemingly in shock at the monster's appearance.

"Haha, now the real duel has begun!"

Astrella shouted at the B-class students who had doubted her friend's strength. They all looked surprised, and even the teacher nodded with interest, clearly intrigued by the new summon.

"How peculiar."

****

"Hey, Gwen, how have you been? What's with all these snakes?"

Rusty rested his halberd on his shoulder after cutting down several snake-like monsters. He looked around and realized he was in a place that resembled the dueling arena, only much smaller in scale.

"Rusty, you're back. Where have you been?"

Gwen called out to him in a shaky voice, as if she were holding back tears. Rusty, on the other hand, replied cheerfully, happy to speak to a human without having a possessed head inside his body.

"Me? Oh, just battling some bandits and cultists. And I also started a blacksmith shop!"

As soon as she asked, he began talking about everything that had happened since he last left. His tone was quite cheerful, which caused Gwen to be confused.

"A blacksmith shop?"

"Yeah! It's not as hard as you might think, but those stingy merchants are making it impossible to earn a profit. Do you know how high their fees are? They're robbing me blind."

"Uh…"

His friend clearly didn't know how to respond to his nonstop chatter. She hadn't spent much time with Rusty in the past, but it seemed that once he warmed up to someone, he became surprisingly talkative.

"Don't think that this changes anything!"

As Rusty and Gwen were talking, their opponent, Eldric shouted from the far end of the dueling platform. He absorbed what mana he could and dispelled the few remaining small monsters around him. Soon he began to focus again, chanting as he summoned a third twin-fanged green viper.

"That armor might be tough, but it's not tougher than three of my vipers!"

Rusty glanced at his opponent and moved forward at a steady pace. He quickly analyzed the vipers' strength and identified them all as E-plus rank, monsters he could have defeated even in his previous form. During his last exam, he had been a creature of that same rank, and it seemed his current opponent still believed he was no stronger than before.

"Rusty, be careful!"

Gwen called out.

"Don't worry, Gwen. I'll take care of them in no time."

Rusty walked up casually, halberd still resting on his shoulder. The three serpents hissed in unison, their bodies coiling low as if preparing to strike. Mana rippled through the air as Eldric pointed toward him.

"Now! Tear that thing apart!"

The vipers lunged at the same time. Their bodies twisted and intertwined, scales scraping against stone as they closed around Rusty. In seconds, the three had managed to coil themselves around him completely. From the stands, no one could see his form anymore as only the writhing and shifting mass of green scales was visible.

"That armor is done for."

"Yeah, even if that armor's tough, nothing can withstand that."

The serpents tightened further, their fangs sinking into the steel body within. The faint sound of grinding metal filled the air, but Gwen's expression did not turn to despair. Instead, she looked confused. As Rusty's summoner, she could always sense when her monsters were taking damage, and right now, there was none. Despite the noise, Rusty's enchanted steel frame remained completely unharmed.

"That tickles… or it would if I had a humanoid body!"

Rusty joked, his voice reaching only Gwen. He decided it was time to end the fight. A sharp metallic sound came from within the coiled serpents, and suddenly a steel hand burst out, gripping one of the vipers by the head. With a crushing snap, the monster was destroyed, dissolving into mana particles within seconds. Only two remained.

"It didn't take any damage? How is that possible?"

One of the upperclassmen said.

"Could it be? That difference in power... is it a D-rank?"

Whispers spread through the crowd as Rusty began his counterattack. He tore through the second serpent as easily as the first. Twisting his halberd in one hand, he struck upward and sliced the creature from jaw to tail. Like the one before it, the serpent dissolved into tiny lights until only one remained.

"N-no, impossible!"

Eldric gritted his teeth and pulled a mana potion from his pouch. After drinking it, he summoned another large snake to aid the one still standing, but Rusty was not impressed. Halberd in hand, he charged forward. There was no need for buffing skills against such weak enemies. For a D-rank like him, they were barely worth the effort. With a single swipe, he destroyed the next serpent, and the last one met the same fate moments later.

"Do you see that? This is the true power of Gwendolin Rainstar, the Maiden of Metal!"

Astrella burst out laughing as she invented new titles for Gwen, making her friend blush with secondhand embarrassment. The students who had been watching the one-sided fight began cheering. Even though Eldric kept using potions and other support items to summon more creatures, they were defeated within seconds by Rusty's overwhelming strength. Soon, the crowd started chanting Gwen's new nickname, and the young girl lowered her head, pulling her hood up to hide her face.