Inside the nursery of a mansion, three cute babies were sitting on a royal rug. They were triplets who had just turned one year old: Raven, Vivian, and Luke, the newest members of the famous Kingsley family.

The two girls, Raven and Vivian, were not alone on the rug. Playing right next to Raven was a Crimson Wild. Next to Vivian was a Seraph Hare.

But the boy, Luke, sat in the middle with nothing. He didn’t have a beast at all. He just watched his sisters play.

Around the rug, many adults were standing and watching. There was the father, the stepmother, a doctor, and many servants, all wearing serious faces.

In this world, it was a huge miracle for a one-year-old baby to reach into their soul. Usually, people had to be much older to summon a beast. But the Kingsley family was different. They were known as one of the strongest summoner families in history. For a Kingsley child to summon a beast at age one was actually quite common.

Because of this, everyone was very worried about Luke. Why was he the only one who couldn’t summon anything?

The doctor walked forward and looked at Luke. He used a special tool to check the baby’s energy.

"The young master Luke is healthy," the doctor said to the father. "Maybe his soul is just taking a bit more time. Sometimes, if a beast is very powerful, it stays hidden for a longer period. We should not give up hope yet."

The Duke father nodded, trying to feel better. But the stepmother, who was standing beside him, wore a mask of upset.

She looked at Luke with chilling cold eyes, judging him as a cursed child because their mother—her sister—had died during birth. Plus, triplet births were rare, and Luke looked like the odd one out with his black hair.

"Thank you, doctor," the Duke father said. "We will continue to watch him closely. I hope you are right about his soul. He is my heir after all, and a dud can’t be an heir."

While the adults were busy talking about him, baby Luke wasn’t listening. He saw something moving on the royal rug. It was a small, black bug crawling near his foot.

"Goo goo gaa gaa."

Baby Luke crawled away from his sisters and their beasts, and followed the bug until it stopped. Then, he reached out his small hand and crushed the bug against the rug.

Instantly, the bug let out a tiny shrill. It didn’t leave a mess. Instead, it evaporated into a cloud of red dust.

Right then, a screen appeared in front of the infant’s eyes.

〖Flame + 0.1〗

〖You have awakened your blessing: Flame of Innovation〗

"Goo goo gaa gaa?"

Luke looked around and saw another bug near the edge of the rug. He crawled over quickly and smashed it with his palm again.

〖Flame + 0.1〗

Luke liked the way the red dust looked. He was about to find a third bug when a hand reached down and grabbed him. It was a maid named Alice.

"Oh, little Luke! What are you doing over here in the corner?" Alice said with a smile, picking him up and pecking his cheek. "Don’t touch the roach, okay? It’s nasty. Let’s get you back to your sisters."

Luke just blinked and watched the screen fade away. He didn’t have a beast, but he felt very warm inside.

***********

17 YEARS LATER

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal hitting the stage echoed through the auditorium.

The prestigious Montclair School was in silence. Hundreds of students and teachers stared at the center of the stage. They were trying to understand what had just happened.

Usually, when a student from a great family stood there, the room would fill with bright light or the roar of a powerful monster.

But there was no roar. There was only that sound of cold metal.

Luke Kingsley stood in the middle of the stage. He was completely stunned, just as everyone else. His face was pale, and he looked down at the floor with disbelief.

’What the hell is that?’ he thought to himself.

Lying on the floor was a gauntlet. Strange. It was made of a dark steel that didn’t shine, looking like a crafted piece of armor for a hand, yet it didn’t have a body to go with it.

In a world where people summoned giant dragons, fiery wolves, and magical birds, a piece of metal was uncanny.

"Is... is that a glove?" someone shouted from the crowd.

Then, the whole auditorium burst into loud laughter.

"A gauntlet! He summoned a piece of trash!"

"Look at the great Kingsley family! They produced a blacksmith’s apprentice!"

"He spent sixteen years waiting just to get a mitten!"

The mockery was everywhere. People were pointing their fingers and doubling over because they thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen.

Today was the Final Awakening Day. It was the day every eighteen-year-old learned their final fate and their true power. Luke had spent his whole life being the beastless triplet, but he had always hoped this day would change everything. He was a Kingsley, one of the most prestigious summoner families in the world. His ancestors had summoned beasts that could level mountains.

Now, he had summoned a gauntlet.

While others summoned great beasts, spiritual birds, fierce wolves, dragons, serpent kings, holy warriors, and ancient spirits.

He had summoned a hand armor?

The world felt like it was closing in on Luke. His ears wouldn’t stop ringing, and his chest was so tight it was getting hard to breathe. He risked a glance to his right where the top-ranked students sat. His sisters were there. They were both famous geniuses.

Vivian stood with her summon beside her, the Seraph Hare that had grown into a beautiful Seraph Leaper with glowing wings. Unlike others, Vivian looked sad. Her eyes trembled with pity for her brother, as though she wanted to say something but could not.

But Raven was different. Her beast had grown too. The Crimson Wild had become a Crimson Hellhound that breathed actual smoke. However, she was not sad; she was amused. It was as if she had expected Luke’s failure.

Standing next to them was Adrian, his stepbrother. Adrian had a Golden Griffin perched behind his chair. He let out a mean laugh and shook his head in disgust, his eyes full of scorn and satisfaction, as if Luke’s humiliation was the funniest thing he had seen all year.

〖Congratulations on your first summon: Hell Ape Gauntlet!〗

〖Flame Points: 405.6〗

Luke didn’t care about the screen. The laughter of the school was too much. It felt like he was drowning in their voices. He couldn’t stay on that stage for another second.

He picked up the gauntlet, turned around, and fled, running off the stage and through the back doors of the auditorium.

Luke ran and ran until his legs gave up. He finally stopped in an empty hallway, but the sound of the laughter still stuck inside his head.

"How is this possible?" Luke asked out loud, his voice shaky and small. "I am a Kingsley. We don’t summon gloves. We summon the best beasts!"

He leaned against the cold wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. He felt like his heart was actually breaking into pieces. He had waited fifteen years for this day. Everyone always told him that because his awakening was taking so long, he must be hiding a super powerful beast. The doctors said his soul was just condensing something huge.

"A huge piece of trash is what it was," Luke muttered.

He looked at his hands.

Suddenly, Luke closed his eyes and focused, and a flame combusted to life in his palm.

He had kept this dark flame a secret for years. He could generate fire without even having a beast yet!

Luke thought this meant he was a genius who didn’t even need a summon to be strong. He had planned to show everyone this flame today to prove he was the true heir.

But now? His final fate was about just a metal gauntlet.

"Was I born just to make shoes and armor for people like Adrian?" Luke thought.

The idea made him feel sick. If he couldn’t summon a beast, his father would definitely renounce him. In the Kingsley family, if you were weak, you were nothing. His stepbrother, Adrian, would become the next Duke. Adrian would probably kick Luke out onto the street or make him a servant. Luke would become the biggest shame in the history of the family.

"I can’t let that happen. I just can’t," he whispered.

But what could Luke do?

Just as he was about to weep for his doomed future, a bright light flashed in front of his eyes.

〖System Notification: Your Forge Slot has been unlocked!〗

〖A New Draft Card is available for viewing. Would you like to reveal it?〗

Confused, Luke raised his brows. He didn’t know what a "Forge Slot" was, but he didn’t have anything else to lose. So, he mentally accepted.

The card flipped over with a cool sound effect.

〖Draft Card: Molten Triceratops Mask〗

〖Requirement: 210 Flame Points〗

〖Description: A mask made from the spirit of an Ancient-grade Triceratops that lived in a volcano. It protects the wearer’s face and identity, and grants the focus of the prehistoric titan.〗

〖Would you like to Forge?〗

"Molten Triceratops? That sounds like a real beast at least," Luke said. He looked at his stats. He had over 450 Flame points from all those years of secretly smashing bugs and practicing his fire. "Okay, I accept. Do it!"

The moment he said the words, the hallway vanished.

Luke felt like he was falling through a hole in the floor. Everything went black for a second, and then it got hot. When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in the school anymore. He was standing in what appeared to be a dark cave.

"Where am I?" he called out.

This place was his soul. It looked like a giant blacksmith’s workshop. There was a huge furnace in the middle, housing fire. Around the room, there were piles of materials a blacksmith would need. Luke saw stacks of steel, bars of black iron, and glowing crystals that looked like beast cores. It looked like the most expensive workshop in the world.

In the center of the room, sitting on a stone pedestal, were two items that looked otherworldly.

〖Item: The Hearth of Creation (Legendary Anvil)〗

〖Description: An anvil made from dark matter. It never breaks and makes every strike more powerful.〗

〖Item: The Shatterer of Limits (Legendary Hammer)〗

〖Description: A hammer that can shape any material, even the souls of gods.〗

Luke walked closer, his eyes wide.

He was starting to understand. He wasn’t just a summoner who failed.

He was something else.

The trash metal he summoned on the stage wasn’t a mistake—it was the tool he needed to use this place.

He looked at his right hand. The gauntlet appeared out of thin air and wrapped around his arm. It felt different now.

〖System: Hell Ape Gauntlet Activated.〗

〖Strength has been increased by 50,000%!〗

After the prompt, a surge of power coursed through Luke. His muscles felt like they were made of iron. He felt so strong that he thought he could punch through a mountain.

"Okay," Luke said, his voice sounding much more confident now. "Let’s make this mask."

Having assimilated the card, the system started giving him directions. It was like he had been a blacksmith for fifty years. The knowledge just flowed into his brain. He grabbed one bar of black iron and a glowing red crystal that was labeled

〖Molten Triceratops Core〗

He threw the iron into the furnace, then used his Flame to make the fire even hotter. When the metal was glowing white, he pulled it out and put it on the Legendary Anvil.

"Here goes nothing!"

Luke grabbed the Legendary Hammer. It felt surprisingly light because of the power of his gauntlet. He raised it high above his head, and his Flame erupted from his body, covering the hammer in swirling fire.

BOOM!

Luke brought the hammer down with one pound. The sound was like a clap of thunder. A shockwave of heat blasted across the workshop, and bright red light filled the entire cave.

When the light faded, the iron and the mana core were gone. In their place sat an intimidating mask that looked like the head of a rhino. It was still smoking from the heat.

〖Congratulations!〗

〖You have successfully forged: Molten Triceratops Mask!〗

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Using this medium to welcome you stumbling upon my book. I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions here and even in my review to come. In the meanwhile, kindly support with powerstones, as it gives me the motivation to continue writing.