They don't want me to try anymore.

Richard shuddered and finally burst out laughing.

It turned out to be the case.

He manipulated the dragonfly he had just acquired to fly up to the dome and spin around for a while. As the buzzing sound resounded, countless stars indeed began to move. The bluish-white specks of light drew bright lines against the dark background, as if an unprecedented meteor shower had fallen.

Yes, those stars are Richard's target.

Using the magician's hand, he plucked down two small stars and examined them in his hand.

It turned out to be two fireflies, each about the length of a forearm, their abdomens glowing and emitting waves of magical energy.

"...Let's change your name. From now on, we'll just call you Xingying."

Half an hour later.

"You kid..."

Arno looked at Richard, who had finally come out, and said with a pout, "Does it always have to be used at the last minute?"

Good things come to those who wait.

Richard, beaming with satisfaction, said, "Thank you for your hard work, teacher. Next time I go there, I'll definitely bring you some local specialties!"

"...The quantity must be doubled!"

Ah, this... this makes me want to stuff my intestines inside!

Richard left the scene with a wicked grin.

However, before he could even return to his dorm, two people were already lying in wait for him.

"Miss Catherine?"

Richard gazed at the slender figure in the middle of the road and asked curiously, "Has something happened?"

Catherine shook her head and said, "No, I just heard that you passed the preliminaries and obtained a new summon, so I felt it was necessary to start training. It just so happens that the facilities here at St. Goethe are good and the price is reasonable..."

Richard thought to himself: There's still a month until the official competition, and the three of us working together as a team should naturally get to know each other better.

So he followed Catherine and Sophia to the best training room in Saint Goethe—well, the place where he and Luvia often stayed.

The only difference is that there's no longer an older sister coach whispering sweet nothings to him; instead, two beauties are sizing him up.

“I’m quite familiar with Sophia, so before we begin, I’d like to test your abilities on your own as a warm-up.”

As Catherine spoke, she drew a two-handed greatsword as tall as herself from behind her back.

As she moved, pieces of armor flew out of the package at her feet and automatically attached themselves to her entire body, forming a set of red and white heavy armor from head to toe.

Then, runes lit up on her armor, and halos of light appeared beneath her feet, spreading out to a ten-meter radius and forming a hazy light domain.

"Go ahead and attack. You'd better summon the Purple-Eyed Black Dragon as well, otherwise you won't be able to do anything to me."

Catherine spoke with great confidence.

Moreover, as a mid-Silver rank Hospital Knight, she has every right to be confident.

The Hospitallers, a profession that gradually developed over three hundred years, originated from a holy order of knights who betrayed the church due to internal strife, and their name was the Hospitallers.

Paladins are known for their abilities, such as using holy light and being able to both attack and heal. However, at that time, the Knights Hospitaller lost the protection of their faith and naturally lost these abilities as well.

However, the Grand Master of the Knights had a very deep understanding of the power of the Holy Light. During his defection, he collaborated with many mages and alchemists and eventually regained some of his abilities with the help of magic.

Later, the Knights were disbanded. Some were pardoned and returned to the church, while others were wiped out. This technique spread and eventually evolved into a new profession.

Compared to traditional knights, Hospitallers are more adept at using alchemical equipment, making them highly versatile. They can fight and defend, and can heal others or buff teammates without relying on faith.

As for the drawbacks of this profession...

The main problem is that it's expensive.

Equipment is expensive, logistics are expensive, because practitioners are required to be proficient in both knight tactics and alchemical runes, so the threshold is high and the training is expensive, which can even make many middle and upper nobles feel the pinch.

Richard could tell at a glance that Catherine's equipment was more than twice as expensive as Linda's had been.

This isn't a tin can, it's a gold can!

But do you want me to summon Big Black?

That might not be necessary!

Richard raised an eyebrow, intending to demonstrate his strength once more, and drew his Ghostly Spike, summoning a row of fire elementals in front of him.

Catherine felt slighted and her expression darkened.

She stood motionless as the fire elemental flames attacked her—in the end, the flames were blocked at the outer edge of the light field, unable to get any closer.

"These alone are useless; it's time to summon the dragon, isn't it?"

Despite Catherine's warning, Richard summoned a group of wind elementals and repeated his trick in the sky.

Thunder and fire raged, but aside from creating chaos, they failed to inflict any damage.

Just as Catherine was about to lose her patience, she caught something unusual out of the corner of her eye.

Dozens of flying insects, resembling those with magic lamps hanging from their tails, had already surrounded her in the center, taking advantage of the elemental cover.

"what is this?"

"This is a compressed towel... oops, I mean a compression array!"

As soon as Richard finished speaking, the points of light on the tails of the flying insects began to converge and form a complex pattern.

Catherine's eyes widened in surprise: "Wait, is this a living magic circle?"

She immediately tried to interrupt the insect's spell, but it was too late.

The flying insects formed a cohesive magic array, which combined the attacks of the fire and wind elements into a spear of thunder and fire that pierced directly through the light domain!

This is the significance of Richard's special search for the fireflies.

These are natural magic circle nodes, allowing Richard to deploy magic circles more quickly, essentially giving him the shortcut key to the strategy he used to defeat Linda.

Of course, this kind of meticulous operation of summoned creatures also means a sharp increase in mental stress. Only Richard with high attributes can do it; ordinary people simply cannot play it.

At this moment, Catherine's defenses were breached, but she did not panic.

After her initial surprise, she took the initiative to swing her sword, using her powerful strength to force the Thunderfire Spear to deflect, and she also used the recoil to leap backward and dodge.

It looked like she was about to neutralize the attack...

"Be careful!"

Richard gave a soft shout and summoned the Dragonfly.

This time, there were no tricks; the three dragonflies crashed directly into Catherine in mid-air.

With their incredible speed, the protection provided by their dragon scales, and the weight of their over five-meter-tall bodies, they were like cannonballs, striking Catherine's armor with their hard horns in the blink of an eye.

Amidst the thuds, Catherine lost her balance and fell backward to the ground.

But at that very moment, many runes on her body lit up, and white light spread outwards, rapidly healing her abrasions and creating a shockwave that drove away the dragonflies that wanted to finish her off.

Taking advantage of the opening, she flipped herself up, and white flames ignited on her greatsword.

If this continues, it will become a real fight.

"excuse me."

Realizing that it was about time, Richard recalled all his summoned creatures.

Sophia clapped, and Catherine stomped her foot in annoyance at first, but then said approvingly to Richard, "Sorry, I underestimated you."

However, she then added, "Your approach is more suitable for surprise attacks; it's not as effective against prepared opponents."

Richard did not refute.

Starfires are indeed very fragile. If the enemy realizes that they are about to set up a formation, they will definitely attack them first, making it difficult to set up the formation.

Even so, he was very satisfied.

There's no such thing as a perfect summoned creature; it all depends on how the summoner uses it.

Sophia and Richard were on the same page, and she laughed, saying, "So when it's actually used, there will definitely be more deception and cover-up. And we can provide cover for Richard, can't we?"

After saying that, she took out her azure blue staff: "Sister Catherine, we've warmed up enough, let's start the next round of training."

She smiled at Richard and said, "This time we're going to summon the dragon. As teammates, it's essential to understand each other."

Richard stopped being coy and obediently summoned Big Black.

Catherine then walked to the door of the training room and began adjusting the settings.

The next second, the entire space transformed into a forest style, with towering trees everywhere.

Seeing Richard's somewhat puzzled expression, she explained:

"The specific rules of the tactical competition change every year, but the basic model is the same: all teams compete for a trophy in an off-road environment and hold it for a sufficient amount of time."

"That's why our combat environment can be very varied—it could be a desert, a coastline, or a dense forest—so we must be familiar with how to coordinate with each other in these places..."

She raised the two-handed greatsword again and said, "Without further ado, let's begin the next phase!"

"Roar!"

Amidst the roar of the black dragon, the three began a month-long intensive training camp.

While they were training intensely here, on a lake fifty kilometers away from Idaril...