It's Called an Academy

After landing on the outskirts at the foot of the mountain, I dismissed Kallion for the moment and followed Lee Se-rin’s lead deeper into the forest.

Perhaps because we had planned from the start to enjoy ourselves at the amusement park, both of us had chosen clothes with good mobility—and now that choice felt strangely fitting. Of course, coming into a dungeon dressed this lightly was wrong to begin with.

“...A bit late to ask, but how did you even bid on this dungeon?”

“Oh, I just bought the ownership. When I said I’d pay in a lump sum, they handed it over right away.”

“Insane money flex.”

From the previous owner’s perspective, offloading a white-elephant dungeon like this had to be pure profit.

“This is a field-type dungeon. Aren’t there people who already applied to use the inside?”

“Doesn’t matter. Field-types are ridiculously huge, so unless you deliberately try to run into someone, you won’t. Besides, it’s an unpopular dungeon—hardly anyone’s here.”

Lee Se-rin immediately operated her device and held it out to me. Various Awakened personnel details and ranks were listed; I realized at once it was the roster of people currently inside the dungeon.

“Fourteen people. Pretty many for something ‘unpopular,’ isn’t it?”

“If you assume four or five per party, that’s only three teams.”

“...Fair enough.”

True—me clearing everything solo was the weird part. I’d gotten so used to summoner play that I’d almost forgotten basic party dynamics.

“Over there.”

When we arrived, people were already waiting. Whatever the previous administrators had installed was being torn down at high speed and replaced with the latest machines bearing the dragon emblem. The workers moved so fast they left afterimages, like someone had hit the fast-forward button on a video. In a world where skills—powers outside every normal standard—existed, even this was possible.

“Installation complete, Madam Chairman.”

“Good work, everyone. Since this was so sudden, I’ve put triple the usual pay into your accounts. Head home and rest for today. If you want a company dinner, put it on the corporate card.”

“Guys, the Chairman’s treating us to dinner too!!”

““Thank you!! Madam Chairman!!!!””

She skimmed the approval documents thrust at her and stamped them without hesitation—every inch the corporate executive. When it came to work, she was thorough. That clear separation of public and private was one reason I could credit her. Of course, the sheer insanity she pulled beyond that kept me permanently on guard, so it never quite reached full trust.

“Let’s go.”

“Hold on.”

I raised my mana and draped myself in shadow. Layered over my base clothes, the color was naturally all black. Anticipating aerial movement, I added an outer jacket as well. I reshaped my shoes into boots and locked them in place; the overall look was closer to a slimmed-down riding suit.

That finished me. Next was her. I fashioned a hooded cape of shadow and handed it to Lee Se-rin. Flying earlier had taught me her hair got in the way far too much. Even if she refused, she would force her way into the seat in front of me somehow. Better to steer things toward the less annoying option.

“...This is a formula from the Kingdom of Cabansol, isn’t it?”

“Apparently one of the masterpieces by a guy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠named Doteron.”

“Aha! I know that old coot. I heard he finally rose to ■■, and the price was making toys like this.”

“...What did you just say?”

The moment the sound reached me, the pronunciation smeared as if a filter had slammed down. At the same time my head throbbed, refusing to grasp even fragments of the word—deliberately blocking comprehension.

“Ah, sorry.”

Lee Se-rin made a face like she’d slipped up, then fiddled with the shadow cape before simply pulling it over her head.

“It’s nothing major. Just a restriction some high-and-mighty star put in place. To anyone who isn’t the person involved, it sounds like an alien language or something? I’ve never heard it myself, but they say it feels like your brain’s being violated. Drop any curiosity or interest in the word and you’ll be fine right away.”

“...Ah. Right.”

Just as she said, the second I let go of my questions about the mangled word, the throbbing cleared in real time. What a ridiculous restriction. Though the real problem was the woman who had spoken it without any filter at all.

“Think before you talk next time. Fucking hell.”

“Doctor, you really should do something about that mouth of yours. I personally like it, but other people probably won’t.”

“And whose fault is that...”

I swallowed the rest of the curse and tapped my still-fuzzy head with my knuckles until it cleared. The waterlogged, muffled feeling in my ears was the worst.

“I’m ready!”

At her words I started walking straight toward the dungeon entrance. The machine that should have scanned my Awakened ID the moment I entered stayed silent. When I glanced back, she wore an unreadable smile and shoved me forward by the back.

“Must have broken while they were swapping the machines. Coincidence is a funny thing, isn’t it?”

“...Just shut up.”

Apparently she didn’t want any record of me entering the dungeon. I had no idea why, but she was clearly plotting something else I didn’t know about. One thing was certain: she was moving purely for her own amusement. Honestly, she was scarier than any shadowy mastermind.

Pushed by her force, I stepped inside. A strange sensation like piercing a membrane washed over me, and the air changed at once.

Whoooooosh—

A fierce wind howled as if determined to live up to the dungeon’s name. It was the same mysterious feeling you only got on the roof of a high-rise.

The ground spreading out around us was nowhere to be seen. Beyond the horizon lay only blue sky and clouds. Clusters of rock floated in the empty air between them like stepping-stones linking island to island.

Kyaaaah... Gruaaaah...

From farther off came the faint sounds of an ongoing hunt—explosions, monster screams, and shouts.

At the same time, system messages filled my vision.

Field-type dungeons were closer to open-world games than anything else. Unlike quest dungeons, there was no mission handed to you at the start. Unlike event dungeons, you didn’t have to clear everything in one continuous run. You simply used the vast natural backdrop and whatever incidents occurred inside it to advance. So did that mean these dungeons had no end?

No. Every dungeon had a clear end. With field-types, walking back out the entrance you came in through immediately settled the results. Rewards were decided solely by the progress you raised through exploration, so if you felt like it you could stay as long as you wanted. I distinctly remembered an article about someone who had survived alone for 180 days by self-sufficiency inside one of these.

“Nnngh~ It’s been ages since I’ve been in a dungeon.”

She stretched openly, looking for all the world like she’d come out for a light stroll. Given the clothes she was wearing, the place felt more like a resort than the inside of a dungeon. Anyone else would have gotten an earful for that attitude, yet the mere fact that she was herself made it forgivable—and that was irritating. This was why power mattered. With enough power you could stroll around like you were on vacation and no one could say a word.

Maybe that was the ultimate form I should be aiming for. Of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠course I had zero desire to become like her.

“Kallion. Hive.”

I flicked my fingers with mana while speaking the names of my first and third summons. Instead of the previous flashy light, a cautious sparkle appeared and Kallion took form. Hive immediately dove into my shadow the moment it manifested—instinctively judging her as dangerous, no doubt.

“Really~ You don’t have to be that scared! Hurry up and say it. Come on. ‘She’s my woman, so don’t worry’—something like that.”

Halfway through she scrunched her face and dropped her voice into a deep imitation. It was hilarious, yet I couldn’t even snort. Context made it obvious the ridiculous impression was of me.

“Save the sleep-talk for when you’re actually asleep.”

“Hmph, boring.”

Pouting, she stroked Kallion’s scales as if standing in for me and quietly leaned against the dragon. Because I had put so much care into its appearance, the sight of her closing her eyes and matching her breathing looked like a painting. Title: Dragon’s Saintess—something along those lines.

“...Good boy. So much nicer than a certain someone.”

“Grrrr...”

In reality Kallion was terrified and had lowered its eyes in preemptive submission, and she was smiling because that pleased her immensely—a thoroughly chilling scene. Anyone who didn’t know the full story might have found it genuinely sacred. Kallion shot me a half-tearful glance, but there wasn’t much I could do. Suggesting we leave quickly was about the best I had—though that would mean it had to move without any real rest.

Kallion read my thoughts instantly and sent back an urgent will that said it didn’t care. That desperate, huh?

“Let’s go.”

“Ehh... Already?”

“I’m hitting level 15 as fast as possible, summoning the next one, then starting the real leveling.”

“Ahh, so Doctor’s the contract-distrust type. That’s why these interesting children get made... Mmm, curiosity really does lead to new realizations. Fascinating. Truly.”

She delivered something that sounded like a profound maxim, but the summary was simply “Keep bringing me fun things.” Look at those eyes sparkling with starlight even though she hadn’t used any mana. If Kallion hadn’t been my summon, she would have already snatched it up and worked it to death for her own amusement.

Now she was practically drooling, eyeing Kallion like she wanted to lick it. I grabbed her by the nape and planted her firmly on the shadow saddle I’d made. This time, anticipating combat, I placed her more toward the torso—slightly ahead of the wings rather than near the head. After adjusting the size and locking her in place so she couldn’t pull any nonsense, she settled down as meekly as a cat left at a friend’s house.

“Hehe.”

Correction. Not even ten seconds after I wondered at the quiet, she started pressing her entire body against me as if my arms were her rightful home. It was simple contact, yet the soft uniqueness of a woman’s body came through unfiltered. And she didn’t stop there—she pushed even harder, as if demanding I feel more. The little smile she wore while doing it felt deliberately designed to scrape my nerves, because she knew I wouldn’t touch her. The coy eye-smile and the way she was practically wagging her tail sealed it: she was doing this on purpose.

This wasn’t fanning a fire—what the hell was she even trying to accomplish?

Thwack!

“Mmph...!”

I rapped her on the head to make her stop. Reacting to every single one of these antics was a mistake. Every last one of them was calculated.

It hadn’t been a day or two—it had been seven full years. After being jerked around that long, even if your body reacted on its own you reached a state where you could take it with complete indifference. Being called gay still got under my skin, but being called a eunuch had happened so often I was confident I wouldn’t flinch. The moment I approached her with that kind of intent, our relationship would have nowhere left to go but collapse.

This wasn’t some hypothetical family talk—it was cold, practical reality. She and I were fundamentally incompatible. Standing at opposite poles made the repulsion and the collisions that much stronger. That was exactly why she enjoyed it more. The instant that balance tipped one way, her “fun” would turn into “boredom.”

I had watched in real time how a fish already on the hook got raised. No matter how attractive she felt, I would never hand over my heart. From the start I had no intention of trusting anyone but myself. If I had trusted her, I wouldn’t have needed to craft familiars one by one and grow my own power. Continuing this behavior was itself no different from ignoring and insulting her.

I had to use that excuse—not even a real excuse—as comfort, or my own resolve would twist first and I’d have long since killed myself. So I used her. Thoroughly. I took whatever was useful and shoved away the rest. Unconditional trust was never on the table. Yet because I had come to understand the existence that was Lee Se-rin, I could credit her more than anyone else in this world.

This twisted relationship itself had been proposed first by her—the one who understood and found amusement in my own warped way of thinking. The first proposal that sprang from mutual understanding had been far too sweet; after I rejected it, she offered the next-best option. I used her, and through me she found her fun. Looking only at the results it was no different from licking each other’s wounds, yet the sticky emotions hidden inside were things words could never capture.

That was why I desperately worked to grow stronger. I wanted to tip this asymmetrical scale—even a little—toward balance, instead of remaining the one being unilaterally cared for. I refused to stay in a state where our positions could flip at any moment. Simply receiving was never enough. Parasitism disgusted me. Only what I achieved and built with my own hands could be trusted. That had been true of my past self, my previous life, and the values still ran thick through me now.

The pitch-black shadow called the past would never be erased. No matter how much time passed, no matter how bright the light that shone... it would keep dragging at my ankles and walk beside me for the rest of my life. So even while saying all this, I still kept company with her. That was the duty and the debt I carried under this contract. Debts were best paid as quickly as possible, while you still could.

“Hiiing, that hurt...”

While the woman clutched her head and squeezed out crocodile tears, I finished sorting my thoughts and immediately ordered Kallion to move.

“Grrrng!”

At the command it shot into the sky. The moment we reached a suitable altitude I released Hive’s shadow crows in every direction. Once the information came in I could clear the place step by step and raise levels on the side.

Start with the surroundings.

Standing on two legs I hadn’t felt it, but the place we had just left was only a floating rock about the size of a large boulder. Lying on its side it had looked like ground; from the air the truly massive ones came into view and made it look relatively tiny. Calling it the “Floating Fortress” the dungeon name advertised felt like a stretch. Even a quick mana-focused glance into the distance showed islands far larger than this one.

I steered Kallion toward the island that stood out with its especially sharp rock spire. No deep reason—Hive’s intel simply said it had the highest monster density nearby.

“Kkuhaaak?”

“Kiruruk? Kkwaak?”

Just approaching the island made the monsters clinging to the smaller floating rocks around it react. They were bird-like monsters with oversized beaks that belonged in tropical forests, and others that resembled eagles. Most of the ones nearby were avian types. Occasionally a giant bat or a grotesque half-bird, half-human thing appeared—creatures that made you question whether they even counted as birds—yet they all shared the common traits of feathers and beaks. When a gorilla-like thing flapped its wings and clacked a beak that looked like a snout, I simply gave up thinking further. Monsters were called monsters for a reason: they looked like monsters.

“Set.”

Crrrack—

Kallion opened its jaws wide in the direction my fingertip indicated. Without any further order, the will and mana flowing through our link gathered and manifested in front of its mouth.

Huuuung!

A massive magic circle formed, and with it a gigantic sphere of mana. The basic structure of the circle was identical to the red-haired woman’s solar strike, Corona Buster. I had only altered the way it was fired. An ordinary person could never manage it. You needed talent on the level of the archmage Riri just to roughly understand and reproduce a spell of this caliber.

The condensed mass of energy pulsed and sparked as if it would explode any second. The image I held was a high-pressure washer. I offered an escape route to energy that desperately wanted to burst through its sealed membrane. The path, however, was far too narrow and tight for the volume of power. To force its way through, the energy had to move faster—far faster. All that remained was to direct it so it sprayed wide and thin.

“Fire.”

Piiiiing—

A piercing high-pitched noise and a flash of light erupted together. No explosion followed. Partly because I had narrowed the area, but mainly because every scrap of energy that would have gone into detonation had been poured into velocity instead. The result: monsters all around us were suddenly split cleanly in half and dead. I had packed in too much mana—even the nearby floating rocks were sliced clean through. The cut surfaces melted into glowing red liquid that dripped away. I left the corpse looting to the shadow crows. The thought of personally collecting from that many bodies already made my vision darken.

“Waaah, the application is amazing. I can’t tell whether to praise the master or the summon’s talent. Too much trouble—let’s just say both, okay?!”

“Shut up. You’re distracting me.”

I couldn’t focus. The previous attack must have enraged them badly—masses of figures were pouring in from the far side. In an instant the sky was packed solid with monster swarms.

“Set.”

But numbers no longer mattered much to me. What mattered was whether I could drop every last one of them. The old me would have been impossible. Even with the dragon Kallion, I would have run short on mana and had to move my own body. The current me was different.

A skill ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so broken it raised every stat by a free 100—400 total—as long as the conditions were met. Thanks to that absurd power I could feel the mana refilling almost as fast as I poured it out. One percent of 150 was obviously larger than one percent of 50. If only a single stat had skyrocketed, recovery like this would have been impossible. Because every stat had risen evenly, the overall harmony produced this completely unreasonable effect. Layer on Kallion’s traits and skills and the destructive power climbed another notch. The more I repeated it the more natural it became; what had been a single beam became two, then three, spraying mana lasers in every direction like a laser show against the night sky.

For the grand finale I reshaped the mana energy into a sphere again and compressed it even further. The monsters, deciding the attack was over, charged in scattered groups. I didn’t care. I waited until they entered range, then opened my mouth when they were close enough.

“Wipe them out.”

At the command, polar light erupted from Kallion’s jaws and the world turned pure white for an instant. A massive mana storm whipped my hair in every direction. From under my chin came an excited scream like someone riding a roller coaster, but I ignored it. When not a single monster remained in front of me, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cut the mana supply.

My level had risen.