Chapter 3-Two-Star Void Mantis！

When Li Yao left, the job change ceremony was already coming to an end.

A total of 700 students at Yucai High School participated in the job change.

Among them, including Li Yao, there were two main battle-type A-rank professions, seven B-rank professions, and 140 below B-rank.

For Yucai High School, this result was neither good nor bad.

However, with an A-rank mage profession as a foundation, Zhang Yi was still quite satisfied.

As the ceremony concluded, Zhang Yi looked at Jiang Ningyu, who had come to his office with a hesitant expression.

"You want to talk about that A-rank skill book, right?"

"Yes," Jiang Ningyu nodded, feeling aggrieved. It's impossible to buy an A-rank skill book with just 50 million…"

"Can you help me get the skill back, Principal? I owe him, and I'll find a way to repay it."

Zhang Yi took a sip of tea and said, "Don't worry, what belongs to you won't be lost."

"But didn't Li Yao already take the emblem?" Jiang Ningyu asked.

Take it?

Wasn't that something you owed him?

Zhang Yi gave Jiang Ningyu an exasperated look before continuing.

"Did you forget? Li Yao is also an A-rank profession."

"According to the rules, he is also entitled to an A-rank resource subsidy."

"As long as you perform well in tomorrow's rookie dungeon, I can make sure this subsidy legally and properly ends up in your hands."

In his eyes, although both were A-rank professions, one was a mage and the other a summoner.

The difference in value was obvious.

For the sake of securing more resources for the school, Jiang Ningyu, as an A-rank mage, was naturally the better investment.

Hearing this, Jiang Ningyu's face lit up with excitement.

"Thank you, Principal!"

Zhang Yi nodded, then said earnestly, "I fully support your decision to break up with Li Yao. A Frost Mage and a Summoner belong to two completely different worlds."

"You have a bright future ahead, while he will only hold you back."

"I understand," Jiang Ningyu's grievance vanished instantly.

Did you hear that, Li Yao?

You and I were never meant to be in the same world.

Breaking up with you was the best decision I ever made!

Meanwhile, Li Yao returned home, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and hurried to his room to get to work.

He opened his system panel and silently chanted:

"Draw Hextech!"

[Extracting Hextech enhancement runes…]

[Congratulations! You have drawn your first rune: Gold-tier rune – Combat Training!]

[Congratulations! You have drawn your second rune: Prismatic-tier rune – Hedge Fund!]

Hedge Fund!

Li Yao's face lit up with joy.

Hedge Fund was the absolute strongest early-game economy Hextech rune!

With his Star Ascension talent, he could directly use gold to rank up his summoned units, significantly boosting their attributes.

For him, Hedge Fund was the perfect Hextech rune!

He never expected that on his very first draw, he would land a Prismatic-tier rune!

Hextech enhancement runes came in three tiers: Silver, Gold, and Prismatic.

[Hedge Fund (Prismatic): Immediately gain 50 gold. Gain 10 additional gold every 5 levels.]

[Combat Training (Gold): Select a unit.

When it defeats an enemy of equal or higher level, permanently gain +1 Strength.]

Seeing the effects of the Hextech runes, Li Yao took a deep breath.

Even the Gold-tier Combat Training was incredibly exciting.

The reason Summoners were considered a weak class was simple: their talents were limited, and their summons weren't strong enough.

But with Combat Training, his summons could infinitely increase their Strength by defeating enemies!

This meant his summons had unlimited growth potential!

In the late game, a single strike to slay a dragon might even be possible!

Thinking of this, Li Yao couldn't wait to start training his summoned creatures.

"First, I need to get a summoning skill book!"

Li Yao opened his computer and navigated to the Federation's StarNet website.

On the homepage, he found the Shop section, which offered equipment, skill books, potions, and more.

He filtered his search: Summoning Skill Books | A-rank | Usable below Level 10.

As expected—not a single result.

The rarity of A-rank skill books meant they couldn't simply be bought with money.

His trade—50 million for an A-rank skill book—was an absolute steal!

After entering his Exchange Emblem, dozens of exchangeable skill books appeared.

[Tiger Claw Phantom Lizard – Summon]

[Red-Horned Bull – Summon]

[Goblin General – Summon]

While there were many A-rank skill books, Li Yao already had a target in mind.

His "Chessmaster" talent ensured that as long as his summoned units weren't entirely wiped out, he himself could never be attacked.

Combined with Combat Training, which granted permanent Strength boosts upon defeating enemies…

His first summon needed to be a physically powerful creature with extreme survivability.

After filtering through the options, only one skill book met his requirements.

[Void Mantis – Summon]

Without hesitation, Li Yao redeemed it immediately.

Using StarNet's specialized transmission technology, the skill book materialized before him.

Li Yao activated it right away.

[Congratulations! You have formed a contract with the Void Mantis. The Void Mantis has acquired the "Chess Piece" trait!]

With a thought, he expended 50 Mana, and a pale purple mantis appeared before him.

[Chess Piece: Void Mantis]

Level: 1 (Scales with Summoner's level)

Rank: A

Synergies: Assassin · Void Creature

Star Level: 1 start (15 Gold required to ascend an A-rank unit)

HP: 350/350

Strength: 12

Spirit: 6

Agility: 2

Endurance:7

Skills:

[Void Assault] – Enters the Void, becoming Level 2 Invisible. The next basic attack deals 200% physical damage. (Cooldown: 12 sec）

[Taste Fear] – Deals 200% physical damage. If no other enemy is within 2 meters, damage doubles. (Cooldown: 5 sec)

No doubt, an A-rank summon!

Its base stats were excellent, and both skills had high damage multipliers.

This synergized perfectly with Combat Training!

In terms of current stats, even an A-rank like Jiang Ningyu would struggle against the Void Mantis in a one-on-one fight.

However, ordinary Summoners had a major flaw—their summons could not rank up.

By the time most professions reached their second job change, they would surpass A-rank summons in raw strength.

This was why Summoners struggled in the late game.

But Li Yao was different.

With his Star Ascension talent, this limitation simply didn't exist.

"System, upgrade it!"

As his words fell, the Void Mantis expanded dramatically.

Its original half-meter size grew to 1.2 meters.

Though it still crouched low, its massive scythe-like forelegs—each nearly half a meter long—radiated a deadly aura.

Its entire exoskeleton exuded sharp, lethal intent.

The stats changed accordingly.

[Chess Piece: Void Mantis]

Level: 1

Rank: S

Synergies: Assassin · Void Creature

Star Level: 2 start (40 Gold required for next ascension)

HP: 1150/1150

Strength: 31

Spirit: 12

Agility: 43

Endurance: 23

"Excellent!"

Looking at its greatly enhanced stats, Li Yao nodded in satisfaction.

Now, he just had to level up tomorrow.

Once he hit Level 5, he would gain the 10 Gold bonus from Hedge Fund…

Allowing the Void Mantis to evolve even further!

At that point.

Even Li Yao couldn't predict how terrifyingly strong it would become!