My Summons Are Mythical Beasts

A frown appeared on Lumber's face. Lucas' teacher not meeting them was nothing but bad news to them.

Suppressing his emotions, he asked politely, "Sorry, but did you tell him that we are looking for Lucas? And that he has not been home since this morning?"

The student nodded his head. "Of course. I also mentioned that his time inside the dungeon should already be up and he should have gotten out by now."

"And?" Rosana inquired eagerly.

"And? Well, Teacher Julian said the same thing. He is busy and won't meet anyone for today," the student said while shaking his head. A hint of regret and pity could be seen in his eyes. He did not tell them, but he was actually able to guess why Teacher Julian was not willing to meet Lucas' parents at this moment.

As he looked up, though, and saw the expressions of both his parents, he realized that perhaps... they also knew?

Anyway, Teacher Julian had willingly met the two of them before, so there was no other reason why he was unwilling to meet them now.

Seeing them in that state, though, does not sit right with him.

As an Iron Grade Grimoire user, he also knew what kind of treatment Lucas was getting in the school, and especially in their class. Even he himself was not exempt from such treatments, but what he received was less compared to what Lucas was getting.

Being an Iron Grade Grimoire user that was subject to such treatments, his parents, who also somewhat knew of his situation, would always worry about him all the time.

Though as much as he wanted to help Lucas' parents, he truly could not do anything in this situation.

"I'll try to search for Lucas on the campus. As for searching for him inside the dungeon, I'll do my best, but I won't enter the dungeon anytime soon, as me and my squad need to prepare thoroughly before we enter," he said after some hesitation.

Rosana's eyes lit up upon hearing his words.

She bowed deeply toward him and thanked him profusely, "Thank you! Thank you! You're a good kid!"

Lumbert also expressed his gratitude, "Thank you! What should we call you? And how should we contact you just in case?"

"Oh, my name's Rhyle-"

He suddenly paused mid-sentence as he saw two people walking in one of the school pathways.

Recalling some of the rumors, his eyes lit up as he said, "Wait for a moment; maybe we can get some help."

He did not wait for them to reply before he sprinted away to meet the two people walking in the pathway.

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A confused expression appeared on Rosana and Lumbert's faces. However, hearing what he said, a sense of hope could not help but rise up inside them.

A while later, Rhyle came back with the two people he approached earlier.

Introducing them, Rosana and Lumber came to know that they were Teacher Christie and a senior student named Ethan. Likewise, the latter two came to know of their identities as Lucas' parents too.

"Is it true that Lucas has not returned yet?" Ethan asked for confirmation.

Rosana nodded her head. Hearing Ethan's name, of course she felt happy as Lucas had mentioned how helpful and kind this senior was to him. This senior even gave him a graded weapon, so in return, Rosana gave him one lunchbox as a thank-you gift.

She knew, of course, that the price of the tonfa was invaluable compared to the lunch she made, but it was all she could afford in the end, so she hoped that this senior of Lucas would appreciate her effort.

Just as she was about to ask if Ethan had seen Lucas, Ethan turned toward Teacher Christie and said, "This is unusual. From what I know of that kid, he is a very sham... I mean, a cautious individual."

Teacher Christie nodded her head. "I can attest to that as well."

"When was the last time you've seen him?" She continued.

Rosana and Lumber both answered yesterday morning when he left for school. As for Ethan, he said that he met Lucas yesterday morning as well when he gave the lunchbox to him.

"The food you made is very delicious, by the way," he said to Rosana.

Seeing the worry in her eyes, Teacher Christie came forward and held her hands together. "Please lessen your worries. I will tell my students to search for traces of Lucas on the campus."

"Worse case scenario, he might have overstayed inside the dungeon and must have been forcefully pulled out. In that case, I can also call some of my acquaintances and set up a search rescue operation outside of the city. Lucas is a smart kid that is only hindered by his grimoire. If he was indeed sent out, then I know for sure that he would be able to survive until rescuers arrive," She said, mixing some truths with cautious optimism.

Her words seemed to have some effect. At least Rosana managed to calm her worries down.

Lumber, though, was more aware of the situation.

If Lucas was indeed forcefully sent out by the dungeon, then his situation might be worse than he had expected.

'Well, as long as he's still alive. That's all that matters,' he thought.

"I'll go and check in the dungeon personally, then," Ethan volunteered.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Rosana kept on thanking. She did not expect that despite the grade of grimoire awakened by her son, there were still people like them in school that cared for Lucas.

After a while, Teacher Christie advised the two of them to return home for now and just wait for their news.

Rosana did not want to at first, but she ended up getting persuaded by Lumbert.

"Let's go home and take a rest. Do you think Lucas would be happy if he saw us being weary and tired the moment he returns?"

As they left, Lumbert expressed his gratitude to Teacher Christie, Rhyle, and Ethan one last time.

True to their words, Teacher Christie and Ethan began to search for Lucas on the campus with all the means that they have.

After a while, both of them came to know that Lucas had indeed entered the dungeon and had not come out yet.

Considering that it had already been more than twenty-four hours since his entry, there was a high chance that he had already been sent out of the dungeon by now.

That is, if he was still alive by the time that his time inside runs out.

Just like his parent's, though, Ethan and Teacher Christie did not believe that Lucas would die easily inside the dungeon.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

At least, that was what they thought too at first.

However, after Rhyle made them recall the strange happenings inside the dungeon these past few weeks, even the two of them were no longer confident about keeping their hopes up as well.

"Well, Ethan, you should go and check inside the dungeon and check if anyone has seen him. Once you find traces that he's still alive and was only sent out of the dungeon, then get out and report to me immediately so that we can set up a search and rescue party out of the city."

Ethan nodded his head and immediately entered the dungeon after paying the fee.

Teacher Christie sighed and shook her head in regret. She truly hopes that nothing bad has happened to Lucas. Their interaction might be brief, but she was able to see the determination and the drive to grow stronger in his eyes.

Sometimes, if they don't die out, that determination and drive will become more valuable than so-called talents.

Ethan has his own connections in the school. He might not be the most talented of his batch of students, but in terms of resourcefulness, he was up there at the top of the list.

Just three hours later, he came back with a familiar item in hand.

"This is one of the Armadon Tonfa that I gave him a few days ago."

"Where did you see it? What do you think has happened?"

Ethan shook his head subtly before answering, "I found it near the Ember Ant's area. From what I saw, an intense battle must have taken place. Judging by the damages around the area, two powerful beasts not belonging to the dungeon might have fought in there."

"Maybe Lucas was unfortunately caught up in that battle. There is a chance that he is already dead, but I'm willing to believe that he was truly forcefully sent out of the dungeon after exceeding the time limit."

Teacher Christie nodded her head. "As long as there's hope, then we can't give up easily."

"How about the two beasts fighting? Do you have any idea about the owner of those beasts?"

Shaking his head once more, Ethan answered, "No. In fact, that is the strange thing about this situation."

"After asking around, I realized that no one has any idea of who has fought in there before. Oh right, I also heard from Dorian that Asher has been missing as well."

"Asher? Do you think this is somehow connected?" She asked with a frown.

She had some dealings with that Asher as well. As someone who has a Bronze Grade grimoire but has unluckily obtained a weak starter beast, she had also helped Asher before.

"Slightly. It's because I saw vine marks left in the area of the battle. Asher has a vine beast, so I think Asher was the owner of one of the beasts that fought there. As for the other party, I don't have any idea at all."

"Alright, thanks for the work. I'll take it from here."

Ethan nodded his head and bowed respectfully before he left her office.

He left behind the Armadon Tonfa sitting on her desk, as if a clear reminder that it once belonged to someone that they were about to search.

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Thank you for the gift, pachakili and David_Needles