What's Wrong with Only Having a Shield? My Summoner Hates Me

Chapter 7.3

I slam my shield against the Elves one more time, and as would be expected of anyone, my normal attack doesn't do much to them. Unfortunately for them, that's what I wanted to happen. I'm simply doing a move similar to what I did against Roy during our first spar.

Visualize flames!

My shield quickly lights up as orange flames bursts out my shield and spreads onto the two Elves on the other side. They begin screaming in horror as they jump out of the way, making another big mistake.

I smirk.

Fifth step complete.

With my shield still flaming, I close the distance between Benjamin and me.

Benjamin stumbles over himself as he falls to the ground on his bottom, fear crawling slowly over his face. I smile in triumph as I bring down my flaming shield.

"I-I surrender!" Benjamin wails, bringing my shield to a stop only a couple of inches from his face.

Silence fills the stadium, the atmosphere almost becoming cold despite the fact I had a source of fire on my arm.

Then, it came, and an even louder roar from the crowd. I could barely hear the announcer over the crowd, there was nothing else he would be announcing other than Isabel's victory.

I had initially intended to render Benjamin unconscious, but I was unaware that surrendering was an option.

Seriously though, I thought this was a big occasion... go all out or something, dude.

* * *

"That went surprisingly smoothly, I wasn't expecting the elves to intercept you though." Roy sighs as he slumps down onto a sofa in the break room.

"I wasn't expecting a surrender that early on," I admit.

"A win's still a win!" Hilde exclaims excitedly as he gulps down a cup of water.

Usually, anyone would be all joyful and merry after a win in a tournament, but I felt a sense of dread. Then it hit me...

Everyone is staring directly at me...

Isabel stands directly in front of me and crosses her arms, "So? What trick did you use this time?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" I ask.

"Don't act stupid now, how did you come up with that plan?"

Right, I guess I should explain...

Also, who are you calling stupid?!

* * *

"Roy, look, don't you think it's unusual that Benjamin is wide open here?" I whisper a question as we watch the TV to analyze Benjamin's placement of his Spirits around him.

"It's almost too obvious though, he's either overconfident or hiding a secret tactic," Roy whispers back.

That's right, Roy and I were watching the replay of Benjamin's qualifier match.

It wasn't cheating, of course, there's absolutely nothing wrong with studying the opponent. After breakfast in our room, we figured that we should learn Benjamin's tactics rather than come up with one on the spot.

We analyze the replay once again as Benjamin overwhelms his opponent by using his advantageous number of supporting Spirits to create a wall that both defends and causes damage around his main damage dealer which was a Drakon.

The unfortunate opponent of Benjamin, a Summoner with two supporting Spirits and one main damage dealer, was given two choices: deal with the overly supported Drakon first, or dismantle the supports. She went for the wiser option and sent her two supporting Spirits to battle Benjamin's mages. I watched with the interest in how Benjamin would counter the quick guerilla attack.

Even though I had seen the replay once already, I still watched in disbelief as Benjamin ordered his Spirits to continue supporting attacks around the Drakon.

Reckless, but overwhelmingly powerful.

The overly supported Drakon now had only one target to face, and that one target had no support...

It was almost too painful to watch how helpless the other Summoner had become.

In my opinion, she went for the wiser option, but I couldn't help thinking about the outcome if she had gone for the Drakon instead. Would it have been different? No, there was a literal wall of arrows and fireballs all around the Drakon.

As the replay ends, I lean back on the couch and close my eyes.

Think, there has to be a counter to this play... we need a wide opening... opening?

"Roy...rewind the replay." I get up and walk over to the screen.

"To where?"

"When Benjamin's opponent sends out her supports."

Roy fiddles with a button on the TV and rewinds the replay, he hits play and we watch the start of the downfall of the opposing Summoner.

Then I found it, the opening that we would need to defeat such a reckless plan. I just needed confirmation.

"Roy, we automatically win if the other Summoner is unconscious right?" I ask.

"Yeah, that's part of the rules," Roy confirms.

"Are we also allowed to directly attack other Summoners?"

"Yeah, it's not very common, but it is allowed."

I grin and almost let out a chuckle. "I've got a plan."

* * *

"I see, that's why you seemed more confident on the battlefield than usual." Isabel mumbles.

"W-well, I wasn't expecting the elves to intercept me, or for him to just surrender. So, I guess it didn't all go to plan right?" I force a laugh to reduce the tension in the air.

Isabel slowly raises her hand and points a finger at me, "I'm the Summoner in this party, I don't appreciate the fact that I'm not making the calls here. I'm going to be the one who makes the calls from now on."

She folds her arms and looks away, "Still, th-thank you for helping without me asking."

I smirk, "Oh? What was that? I couldn't hear you... maybe you should say it louder while directly looking at me."

Isabel glares daggers at me as her cheeks flush up.

Ah, I'm going to regret this, aren't I?

"By my command, I order my Spirit Rin..."

Ah fuck.

"... to remain silent for the rest of the day!"

My freedom of speech!

A/N: Hello everyone, I've got a couple of things to say if you don't mind me saying.

I'm super, super sorry for the weekless upload last week. I was severely sick, and to add to it, I had wifi issues. My router is completely broken, and I can't really afford to get a new one at the moment. I'm currently using my phone's data. I've been reading the comments, your support and criticism mean so much to me, and it always fuels my drive to become a better writer.

This may come off as pathetic, but I'm in a tough spot.

If you are able to, and only if you really are able to, please support me on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/michaelsakutani. I always upload an extra chapter draft ahead of the general audience. I'll also be doing a Patreon Q&A for every 5-10 Patreon members we get.

While I'm on my knees kissing your feet, you might as well follow me on Instagram too? (Gotta plug it somehow)

Jokes aside, thank you so much for sticking with my amateur story, you guys are the best.