My Ultimate OP System: Summoning All Dragons, Gods, Heroes & Villains-Chapter 81: A Bit More Progress

At the Stark Manor...

Ethan, Bettie and Valerie had just reached the garage.

Holding a set of car keys in his hand, he turned toward Valerie, who was adjusting her gloves near the vehicle’s door, and said, "This particular one is Eduardo’s favorite, so for your sake, I hope you don’t crash it."

He tossed the keys toward her. She caught them with both hands and nodded respectfully.

Then Ethan turned toward Elizabeth. "Thank you, Bettie. Truly."

Elizabeth smiled. "Thank you as well, Stark."

She extended her hand forward and Ethan shook it, then took a few steps back to let them pass through.

Valerie and Elizabeth then entered steam-powered which quickly started and rolled through the compound.

As it approached the gates, Valerie pressed a button on a small device Eduardo had given her not long ago.

The gates opened up and the car passed through and disappeared down the road.

Ethan watched them go for a moment, then turned and headed back inside.

As for Eduardo, he was currently out fulfilling an errand somewhere in the city.

Ethan walked into the living room and dropped onto the large sofa with a heavy sigh. He leaned back, crossed one leg over the other, and turned his attention to the television screen mounted on the wall.

The broadcast was still running.

The headline at the bottom of the screen read in bold letters: "ONE MILLION GOLD GRITS BOUNTY - HITMAN X WANTED BY THE STATE."

Ethan stared at the screen for a moment. His thoughts drifted briefly to Lucy, and he wondered how she was handling all of this. Seeing the face of her father’s killer on every screen in the city couldn’t be easy.

He exhaled slowly and muttered to himself, "It’s for the best."

It was as though he were trying to justify the pity he felt for the Hargreeves family.

Right then, Francesca emerged from the kitchen carrying two plates of pancakes. She walked into the living room with a cheerful expression, then stopped abruptly and looked around in surprise.

"Where’s Elizabeth?" she asked, glancing toward the hallway and then back at Ethan.

"She already left," Ethan replied.

Francesca’s face fell slightly, and she pouted. "Oh no. I made pancakes for both of you."

Ethan smiled. "I’ll have mine."

Her expression brightened immediately. She walked over and set one of the plates down on the table in front of him, along with a glass of juice.

"There you go, Master Ethan," she said warmly.

"Thank you, Francesca," Ethan said, still smiling.

But as she turned to leave, her eyes caught the television screen. Her cheerful expression changed instantly, replaced by a look of disgust and sadness.

"I hope someone catches him soon," she muttered bitterly.

Ethan nodded. "I hope so too."

Francesca sighed, then bowed slightly and turned back toward the kitchen.

Once she was gone, Ethan leaned forward and took another glance at the screen before shifting his attention elsewhere.

He mentally commanded his status screen to display before him, but his attention was drawn to his experience points first.

[Total Experience Points: 74,450]

He liked the look of that number. It had grown significantly after his magic training session with Bettie during the earliest hours of the morning while it was still dark outside.

"Just a few more to a hundred thousand," he whispered to himself, almost excitedly. He had plans to do lots of upgrades for when he hit that milestone.

His eyes scanned down through his class list:

∙ Summoner: Ex

∙ Caster: SS

∙ Saber: S

∙ Magi-Engineer: S

∙ Ranger: C

∙ Warrior: C

∙ Guardian: D

When his gaze reached Guardian, he paused.

That was the one class he had practically no clue about. At least with Ranger, he knew it had to do with long-range artifacts like guns or bows or something similar.

But Guardian? Aside from a basic understanding of what a guardian was, he had no idea what that class actually entailed.

Then a thought struck him.

Isabella.

He remembered their first meeting at Belsorth Academy when she had told him she was dual-classed: Caster and Guardian.

A small grin spread across Ethan’s face as he reached for his Arcphone sitting on the armrest beside him.

He opened his chat with Isabella and his eyes widened slightly when he saw the message count. There were eleven unread texts stacked on top of each other

"Shit," he muttered.

Most of her texts were only trying to get his attention, and the last two read

Miss Berlene❤️: Babe??

Miss Berlene❤️: You’re not nice to me anymore 😢

Ethan let out a short laugh and shook his head in amusement. This device was one of the least things he paid attention to these days.

He looked at her messages again and chuckled softly before whispering to himself with genuine affection in his voice, "Such a sweet soul."

Then he typed out a reply:

Me: Hey love, do you want to maybe come over today?

The moment he hit send, three dots appeared at the bottom of the screen almost instantly.

Miss Berlene❤️ is typing...

Ethan grinned as he waited. Then his phone pinged once.

Then twice more in rapid succession.

Miss Berlene❤️: Yayyy!

Miss Berlene❤️: I thought you’d never ask!

Miss Berlene❤️: What time???

Ethan chuckled again as he typed back:

Me: Whenever you’re ready. I’ll be waiting.

Then he tossed the device aside onto the couch and stood up from his seat. He heaved a sigh, cracked his knuckle, then muttered to himself with determination in his voice:

"Well, that remaining twenty-five thousand five hundred and fifty experience points won’t earn themselves."

He took one bite of Francesca’s pancakes perfectly golden as always, and followed it with a quick sip of juice.

Then he turned on his heel and headed out toward the back courtyard for some training.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

——

Almost five hours later...

Ethan lay flat on his back in the courtyard, his amber eyes were glowing as he groaned in pain. His regeneration trait had already kicked in, working overtime to restructure the shattered bones in his ribs and left arm.

This was, in fact, the tenth punch he’d taken from his half-dragon summon in a row.

On the opposite side, Nina still had her fists clenched, but now tears streaming down her face as she sobbed openly.

"Why does my liege keep asking me to assault him?!" she wailed. "I do not understand! This is not what a loyal servant should do!"

She dropped to her knees dramatically, covering her face with both hands as her shoulders shook with each sob.

"I am a terrible servant! A disgrace!"

"Jesus, this summon is too silly. What a drama queen," Ethan thought to himself through the pain.

It was a good thing his bond skill wasn’t active at the moment. If it had been, things might have gotten worse if she heard him calling her silly in his thoughts.

"My liege will perish because of me! I will be known as the summon who killed her own master! History will curse my name!"

Ethan sighed and closed his eyes, waiting for his body to finish healing.

Five minutes passed, then suddenly, a sensation of relief washed over him. It wasn’t just his demon regeneration anymore.

A notification screen appeared before his vision.

[The Dragon Trait: Inverse is now active]

[Healing will now take effect]

[You have gained an additional 1% damage resistance to Nina’s punches]

[Total damage resistance to Nina’s punches: 10%]

The extra healing from his dragon trait somehow quickened his regeneration speed significantly. Within a few seconds, the pain faded entirely, and Ethan sat up feeling completely normal again.

He rolled his shoulders, as though reconfirming his ligaments were back to normal.

"It’s okay, Nina," he said calmly. "You can stop crying now."

Nina sniffled loudly but continued sobbing.

Ethan sighed again. "It’s a command."

The tears stopped immediately.

Nina blinked a few times, then wiped her face with the back of her gauntleted hand. Her sobs reduced to quiet sniffles as she looked at him with reddened eyes.

"Y-yes, my liege..." she whispered.

Ethan stood up fully and brushed the dirt off his clothes. He turned toward Nina with a small smile.

"Even though I’m stronger than the last time we did this," he began, "I’m really not close enough to react to or dodge your movement speed yet."

Nina immediately bowed her head in a timid manner. "I... I apologize for being too strong, my liege..."

Her voice was so soft and apologetic it almost sounded like she was about to cry again..

Ethan shook his head in amusement. "Don’t apologize for that."

He turned his attention toward the other side of the courtyard where his other two summons were currently engaged in their own activity.