"Mum! I'm heading out for a bit," Godfrey said as he walked out of his room and toward the exit.

"To where?!" Valentina's voice rang out.

"Elder Orion's forge. I won't take long," he replied.

"Alright."

***

Some minutes later, Godfrey was led into a massive hall. It had an elevated platform about a hundred feet away, and on this platform stood an extremely long table covered with metallic objects.

There was a large round window on the wall behind the platform, from which sunlight permeated the hall.

The moment Godfrey entered, he spotted Orion behind the table. He still had a scarf tied over his head, and he caressed his weighty, pure white beard while speaking with a young, fair woman who seemed to be his assistant.

She didn't look like someone who worked in the forge. She probably handled paperwork.

However, there was something more captivating than Orion and the young woman, and it was the four-armed, gorilla-like beast with snow-white fur. It wore a thick leather apron, and an opening in its abdomen glowed like a furnace.

The summon had a scarf tied around its head and was rummaging through the pile of objects on the table.

At the sight of Godfrey, everyone paused whatever they were doing and diverted their attention toward him.

"Still in your suit," Orion chuckled.

Godfrey scratched the back of his head, realizing he had forgotten he was still wearing it.

"Bring it," Orion said to his summon.

The beast pushed aside the items on the table, revealing a hammer lying at the bottom of the pile.

It was over ten feet tall, with a massive hammerhead and a sharp, axe-like edge on the other side, though it looked quite dull and plain.

"I made this from a few rare materials and according to your requirements," Orion stated.

"It's also exceptionally heavy."

"Good. So my summon needs to lay hands on it to assimilate with it, right?" Godfrey asked as he made his way to the top of the platform.

Orion responded with a nod.

'Come out,' Godfrey said inwardly.

A portal opened, and Mountain emerged with heavy steps. He stretched out his gauntleted hands and wrapped his fingers around the haft.

The insignia of the golden sun on his armour glowed brightly as golden light swirled around the hammer, starting from the bottom of the haft.

A reinforced counterweight pommel made of gold appeared at the end of the haft. Its shape was faceted and flared, like a crowned knob.

Runes burst to life along the length of the haft as gold swallowed the hammerhead and the axe, increasing their size and engraving the insignia of the golden sun between them.

Small spikes grew out of the hammer.

Mountain's size increased from eight feet to twelve feet as he swung the hammer onto his shoulder. The once-dark eyeholes in his helmet now glowed with fierce golden light, and a large image of the golden sun engraved itself onto his great helm.

His aura rippled outward, and his grunt sounded as deep as something echoing from the depths of a cave.

"That aura… your summon has evolved," Orion squinted.

"That's much faster. It usually takes a long time for others to fully assimilate with your crafts, and most of them don't even evolve. It almost seems like we're staring at a stored future state, one that requires that hammer to access," Orion's assistant speculated, her eyes glowing with interest.

'She's not wrong. My summons are indeed returning to their peak strength. They're not accessing new doors of power, but returning to where they once stood. However…'

Godfrey glanced at Mountain from the corner of his eye.

'…I think Mountain might have surpassed his previous peak. I can feel the surge in strength within me. He definitely ascended from a captain to a chief.'

"Thank you," Godfrey said sincerely as he turned and left.

The moment he boarded a taxi, Godfrey shut his eyes and opened the eyes of his soul body within his soul space.

He ran up the grand staircase. The massive doors opened, and he sped through, rushing straight into Mountain's chamber.

He went directly to the tablet.

Summon: Chief Knight of the Golden Order

Type: Hybrid

Tier: 10.0

Potential: 12.0 (Max!)

Description: [Once a Knight-Captain with potential, now a hailed dreadnought, an anointed defender and chief of thousands of the finest Heavy Infantry units in Pathani. Nearly indestructible against physical and elemental attacks 1.0 tier above him. Near indestructible shield. In Black-Out, this Chief Knight can copy up to five innate skills and gains access to tremendous strength for the duration of the state.]

'Wow. You've grown into something else. Nice. Now you're stronger, and your unit will be Lord Tiers. I'll test your strength, but first things first.'

Godfrey descended to a tall stone building flanked by two canopy trees, one with golden leaves, the other with white leaves, standing on either side of the door.

Their branches arched over the entrance.

Two men clad in black, Paradise police, those responsible for maintaining internal peace, stood guard before the door.

Godfrey exchanged pleasantries with them before walking inside.

The interior was vast. Various kinds of clothing were displayed behind glass, and on a platform sat Elder Inara at a sewing machine. Beside her was a massive silkworm spewing silk, and a ten-foot-tall female humanoid.

It resembled a tree shaped like a woman. She had a head full of red hair packed into a bun, with red roses growing out from the branches protruding from her hair.

She wore a red gown, from which roses also sprouted.

"Godfrey, what you want is over there," Inara said.

Godfrey went to where she pointed and saw a pitch-black hoodie within the confines of a rectangular glass box. The outer layer appeared to be made of shiny leather, with layers of foam stuffed into it.

Godfrey could already imagine how soft it would be, and it looked quite cool.

"I made it from a vanishing dragon's skin, my spider's silk, and some other materials. It's Divine Tier clothing, and all it offers is blocking your mana from any tracker. Once you unleash your summon, your mana signature can be tracked, but as long as you retrieve your summon, no one can locate you anymore," Inara explained softly.

"It can also repair itself, so you don't have to worry about damaging it. However, you can only access the hoodie if you can break that glass in one blow," Inara chuckled.

Her plan was to give Godfrey something to train harder for. With all that talent, he needed incentives, and this was one of them.

'It would take him a few months of training to break that mid-level Saint Tier gl—!'

Crack!

Inara's eyes widened as Godfrey entered Black-Out State, his tier rising from 16.4 to 17.4. With a casual knock, the glass cracked.

"Is this actually the glass you wanted to test me with? It's a bit fragile," Godfrey said innocently, thinking there might be a mistake. Maybe this wasn't the actual glass. The moment he discovered an Elder wanted to test him, he naturally wanted to do his best but not even Inara was prepared for his best.

And so, Inara's face went pale.

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