[Location: The Grand Battle Arena (Ruined)]
[Time: 12:15 PM]
[Status: Raid in Progress]
The sky rained monsters.
Gargoyles swooped down like kamikaze jets, grabbing students and dropping them from heights. The arena was painted in blood and chaos.
"Hold the line!" Arthur (Class A) shouted, his golden armor dented. He fired fireballs desperately, but for every Gargoyle he killed, three more took its place.
"We can't hold them! There are too many!"
In the center of the mayhem stood Ryan.
He wasn't panicking. He was checking his phone.
[Current Fear Points: 98,500... 99,200...]
"Come on," Ryan muttered, shooting a Gargoyle in the face without looking. "Just a little more panic, people! Scream louder!"
Above him, the Grey Hood floated on his Alpha Gargoyle. He saw Ryan.
"Found you."
The Grey Hood raised a black staff. A massive sphere of necrotic energy formed.
[Spell: Death Bomb]
He launched it straight at Ryan.
"Ryan! Move!" Grog screamed, trying to jump in front of the blast.
But Ryan didn't move. He stared at his System screen.
The counter ticked over.
[Fear Points: 100,050]
"BINGO!" Ryan yelled.
"SYSTEM! UNLOCK SHOP LEVEL 3!"
[Ding! 50,000 Points deducted.]
[Shop Level 3 Unlocked.]
[New Inventory Available: Epic Tier.]
Time seemed to slow down. Ryan's mind raced through the new catalog.
Resurrection Stone (1 Million Points) - Too expensive.Demon Sword (500k Points) - Can't afford.Summon Scroll: Skeletal Dragon (Single Use) - 50,000 Points.
Ryan grinned. "Add to cart. Checkout!"
[Ding! Item Purchased: 'Scroll of the Frost Bone Dragon'.]
[Warning: This summon is massive. Please ensure you have enough space.]
The Death Bomb was meters away from Ryan's face. The heat withered his hair.
Ryan ripped the golden scroll in his hands.
"I choose you... FLUFFY!"
CRACK-BOOM!
A massive magical circle, 100 meters wide, exploded on the arena floor. The ground shattered.
A colossal skeletal hand, the size of a bus, burst from the earth and swatted the Death Bomb away like a fly.
The Grey Hood's eyes widened. "What?!"
"ROOOOOOAAAAAAAR!"
From the portal, a behemoth rose.
It was a Dragon. But it had no flesh. Its body was made of polished white bones, blue ice-fire burning in its ribcage. Its wingspan covered the entire stadium.
[Summon: Frost Bone Dragon (Level 40)]
[Duration: 1 Hour]
The Gargoyles stopped attacking. They hovered in the air, trembling.
Even monsters knew when an Apex Predator arrived.
Ryan stood on top of the Dragon's skull, holding onto one of its horns.
He pointed his gun at the Grey Hood.
"Hey, Hoodie!" Ryan shouted, his voice amplified by the Dragon's aura. "You brought pigeons to a Dragon fight? Cringe."
The Grey Hood was shook. A student? Summoning a High-Tier Undead Dragon?
"Who... who are you?"
"Me?" Ryan adjusted his camera drone to get the perfect angle.
"I'm just a content creator. And you are disrupting my stream."
Ryan stomped his foot.
"Fluffy! Dracarys!" (Or rather, Frost Breath!)
The Bone Dragon opened its massive jaws. Blue energy gathered in its throat.
FWOOOOOSH!
A beam of absolute zero ice blasted into the sky.
It hit the swarm of Gargoyles.
Hundreds of them froze instantly in mid-air, turning into ice statues. They fell from the sky and shattered on the ground.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The Grey Hood barely dodged, his cloak freezing at the edges.
"Impossible! A Necromancer of this level?!"
The Grey Hood realized the mission had failed. He couldn't fight a Dragon alone.
"Retreat! All forces, Retreat!"
He turned his Alpha Gargoyle around and flew towards the dimensional rift.
"Oh no, you don't," Ryan narrowed his eyes. "You owe me for the emotional damage."
Ryan pulled out his Soul Shatterer (Desert Eagle).
The Dragon was fast, but the Grey Hood was faster. Ryan couldn't catch him.
But he could snipe him.
Ryan activated [True Sight]. He aimed.
"Felix! Jinx him!"
On the ground, Felix (the unlucky boy) looked up. "Uh... I hope he forgets his keys?"
Ping. Felix flipped a coin.
Up in the sky, the strap of the Grey Hood's saddle suddenly snapped.
"What?!"
The Grey Hood slipped. He lost his balance for one second.
That one second was all Ryan needed.
BANG!
Ryan fired a spirit bullet.
It didn't hit the Grey Hood (he had a shield).
It hit the Dimensional Rift Generator the Hood was holding.
KABOOM!
The generator exploded in the Grey Hood's face.
The Dimensional Rift began to close violently.
"NOOO! YOU BRAT! I WILL REMEMBER THIS!"
The Grey Hood was sucked into the closing rift, screaming in rage.
The remaining Gargoyles, cut off from their leader, went into a frenzy or fled.
The sky cleared. The purple clouds vanished.
The Bone Dragon hovered over the arena, roaring in victory.
Ryan stood on its head, arms spread wide.
"VICTORY!"
[System Notification: Raid Boss Repelled.]
[Fear Points Gained: +20,000]
[Reputation: 'The Dragon Rider' established.]
[Global Stream Views: 1 Million+]
Ryan looked at the chat. It was moving so fast it was unreadable.
User_RichKid: "[Gift: Dragon Egg x10] FLUFFY IS THE GOAT!"
User_Slayer69: "I bow down. I will never call Class F trash again."
User_Government: "We need to recruit him. Now."
The Dragon slowly descended and landed in the arena. Its time was running out.
It looked at Ryan, nodded respectfully, and dissolved into bone dust.
Ryan landed on the ground. He was exhausted. His points were gone (50k spent).
But he stood tall.
The students of the Academy looked at him. Not with mockery. Not with doubt.
But with absolute Fear and Awe.
Director Malik walked down from the VIP box, clapping slowly.
"Ryan," Malik said, a strange glint in his eye. "You saved the Academy. You are a hero."
Ryan dusted off his hoodie.
"Hero? No thanks. Hero doesn't pay well."
He extended his hand.
"But I did save your school. I believe there is a 'Savior Bonus' in the contract?"
Malik laughed. "Of course. Name your price."
Ryan grinned.
"I want the Royal Armory Key. And... I want Expulsion Immunity. I plan to do some crazy things this semester."
Malik nodded. "Granted."
Ryan turned to his team—Grog, Jin, Felix, Violet. They were bruised but alive.
"Good job, Suicide Squad. Tonight, drinks are on me."
As they walked away, Ryan's phone buzzed with a private message.
Sender: Unknown.
Message:"You summon Dragons. You wield Fear. You are one of us. Come to the 'Tower of Silence' if you want to know the truth about your System."
Ryan stared at the message.
"One of us?"
He looked at his shadow.
Bob (The Shadow Butcher) waved back.
The Academy Arc was over.
The World Arc had just begun.