What They Call an Academy (46)

I dumped the remaining points cleanly into Luck and confirmed the allocation, then opened Echidna's status window.

"Hmm..."

Just as I'd worried from the start, her leveling speed had been historic—she'd hit level 10 in no time—but her skill levels were painfully low. Even the ones that had climbed to 4 were only there because I'd ground her like a solo farming machine. And that was only possible because she was a demon; any other summon probably wouldn't have reached even that.

"Huh?"

I was about to hit the button next to her name that I thought said [Evolution Available], but a closer look showed it wasn't evolution at all. It was a class change.

Maybe because she was a demon, or maybe because she was so close to human form—I had no idea. Either way, I pressed [Class Change Available] to check. A new window unfurled, letters cascading into place.

"...That's it?"

Back when Hive had been grinding monsters inside the barrier, four options had popped up. This time there were only three—even fewer. I'd half-expected it, but seeing the actual results still killed the excitement a little.

Or maybe this was the normal number. Growl and Kallion had taken forever to evolve, and they'd suffered plenty along the way. Echidna, by contrast, had spent almost all her time just learning what I taught her. She'd barely had a chance to show off her own abilities. Of course the list would be short.

"Still, I've already got what I want. That's enough."

I already knew which one I was picking, but for the sake of the encyclopedia I figured I should at least look them over.

First up: Dark Mana Awakening — [Devil Witch].

Exactly what it sounded like—a witch who'd opened her eyes to dark mana. Unlike the Hive evolutions, which had only given rough skill descriptions, this one listed main weapons and aptitudes too. Probably because it was a class change instead of an evolution.

True to the witch theme, her main weapon would be a broom. She also had high aptitude for Dark Alchemy and Curses based on her newly awakened dark mana. The high Intelligence score was almost certainly why this option had appeared.

On top of that, the existing skills would mutate on class change, and she'd gain one empty skill slot. Not bad at all. Actually, pretty solid. It was a special class only available to demons, so the uniqueness spoke for itself.

But what really caught my eye was that empty skill slot. Same principle as when I'd first chosen Echidna—she'd get to pick one skill from the pool available to the demon race. Of course, since she was class-changing, specialized skills would be added, or brand-new ones she'd never seen before would appear.

"Heh..."

Different from evolution, sure, but not bad. In some cases it might even let her specialize harder than a normal evolution. Whether this was a demon-race trait or not, I'd need more data to say. Still, just knowing this path existed was already a win. Deep info like this was hard to get unless you asked someone who already knew.

"Next."

Dark Conversion — [Dark Priest]. The classic image of a fallen cleric. Think of a monk who'd broken his vows—not the kind of corruption that leaves the path entirely, but a conceptual twisting of it. Closest thing would be an apostate who no longer believes in any god.

Main weapons weren't limited to maces; spears, swords, whatever fit the fallen-cleric concept. Wide open. The flavor text said she was out searching for answers to the contradiction of wielding holy power while believing in no god. Aside from the fact that a demon body could use holy power at all, nothing else stood out much—which probably explained why the usual protective and healing leanings had thinned out, replaced by a more aggressive, front-line edge. Most of the aptitudes were combat-oriented. And just like Devil Witch, she'd get one empty skill slot.

I'd been raising her specifically hoping this option would appear. If it hadn't shown up, I'd have been in real trouble.

"Next."

Heart of Malice — [Traitor]. A little special, but the easiest of the three to understand. Take the usual "sowing discord" and crank it to eleven through a race that manipulates emotions. Main weapon: spear. Using the demon racial traits, she could push someone's feelings in one direction or plant an entirely different emotion, planting seeds of strife—small acts with lethal potential.

If you pictured the classic image of a demon from my past life, this job fit perfectly. It had probably unlocked because of that woman Garnet Washer—she'd thanked Echidna, then had that faith shattered right after. Like pulling a drowning person out of the water, accepting their gratitude, then shoving them back under. Her own delusion, sure, but the relief she'd felt in that brief moment had been so deep that the betrayal that followed must have been crushing. Without that incident, Echidna might have only had two options.

"Echidna."

"...?"

She trotted over at my call and looked up at me. I gave her head a rough pat, then spoke.

"I'm class-changing you now. If anything feels different, tell me right away."

"...!"

She nodded. I ruffled her hair one more time, then selected [Dark Priest].

A new window appeared. At the same time, shadows rose around Echidna like living things, wrapping her in an instant until she was sealed inside a cocoon. I stayed calm and checked the vision that floated in front of me.

The figure in the vision looked like a slightly older version of the current Echidna. If she was elementary-school age now, the one in the vision could have walked into middle school without anyone batting an eye. Her wild hair had been neatly arranged beneath a veil; only her cold, settled eyes glittered through the lace. She wore a nun's habit dyed entirely black—more accurately, a modern dress that only evoked a habit. Flanking her stood ranks of people whose faces were half-hidden by black veils. Men and women, young and old, all in pitch-black nun and priest robes, every one of them gripping weapons still dripping with blood. Not a single one was uninjured. Clothes torn and blood-spattered, yet the black fabric hid every trace of red.

Some squeezed holy power into their weapons to reinforce them. Others slowly healed themselves mid-fight. The climax was a massive holy-power assault born from their shared prayer and chorus. It looked like a giant spear of light, bound by dozens of chains as if restraining itself. The moment it struck the ground, a jet-black flash swallowed everything—yet inside that darkness, their eyes shone like stars in the night sky.

The light died. The cocoon before me split open, and the Echidna from the vision stood there.

"Ah."

When the change finished, Echidna slowly opened her eyes. The moment she spotted me she dropped to her knees as if it were the most natural thing in the world, clasping her hands in prayer before me. Maybe it was just my imagination, but the air around us seemed to grow brighter, more sacred.

"Thank you. This grace the God has bestowed upon me—I will never forget it, even in death."

Her voice was soft, yet it reached my ears like a whisper right beside me. Nothing unpleasant about it. If anything, just hearing it brought a sense of peace, as if I were being gently cared for.

I'd be lying if I said the sudden change didn't startle me. Still, receiving this kind of devoted treatment made me feel a little awkward.

"...God?"

When I didn't answer, her face crumpled like she was about to cry, as if she'd done something wrong. I reached out without thinking. Yes—she'd grown a little, but the childlike look hadn't vanished. More importantly, the presence I felt through the summon link was unchanged. Echidna was still Echidna. So I rested my hand on her head the same way I always had, careful not to knock the veil askew.

"Ah...♡"

Whether from joy or something else, the demon tail peeking from under the habit's hem twitched and swam through the air. The class change had made her body grow, and the tail had become a touch sleeker to match.

"Anything feel off or awkward?"

"This is the body God gave me! There is not a single strange thing about it."

That wasn't what I'd asked. I sighed. Still, communication was smoother than before—maybe I should count that as a win. Come to think of it, there'd been a notice that the doctrine of Self-Faith had been established.

I opened her updated status window, partly to fill the empty skill slot and partly just to check.

Since the only real change was the shift toward holy power, the only mutated skill was the old Lesser Demon, now Seeker.

I immediately poked Self-Faith to check the doctrine section.

"...Oh."

What had once been vague and formless had become something real. It had solidified far more concretely than I'd expected; I couldn't help the quiet admiration that slipped out.

She still lacked proper holy-power skills, but once she got even one decent one she could serve as a solid heal-tank. And since a Dark Priest's holy power was inherently aggressive, she could even function as a self-sufficient damage dealer if she leaned into enhancement skills.

Either way, good. Personally I hoped she'd switch from mace to spear now that her body had grown. But first there was one thing I needed to correct.

"That title. Change it to something else."

I'd reached the point where if I didn't curse a god three times a day my tongue would sprout thorns. Having someone else call me a god now felt like spitting in my own face.

Echidna looked flustered but nodded and immediately started listing candidates. Every single one was either "god" or something equally lofty—most of them made me feel like I was being mocked.

Maybe I was being too picky about a simple form of address, but to me it was serious. Once it stuck, every future summon would inherit it. I was going to spend the rest of my life with these kids. If I had to hear some weird title every single day, I'd be kicking the blankets in my sleep forever. Some people might call it pointless, but this one thing I would not compromise on—for the sake of my own mental health.

Echidna might have found it ridiculous, yet she accepted my opinion without a single frown and kept offering suggestions as if nothing were wrong.

"Um, then... how about Master?"

Out of the entire mountain of options, that was the only one I could live with.

"...Yeah. That's better."

"Understood. Master!"

The system message popped up the instant Echidna cheerfully agreed. Watching the doctrine rewrite itself in real time left me blinking in disbelief, but she just kept smiling like none of it mattered. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I really had nothing left to say.

I handed her a spear made of shadow, ordered her to practice freely, and started thinking about what to put in that last skill slot.

Plenty of candidates, but after narrowing them down three remained.

First: [Grace].

A skill only clergy-types could hold. It let the user draw power from their doctrine through holy power. Echidna's current doctrine leaned heavily toward struggle—combat—so using it would almost certainly give battle advantages. The problem was that if the doctrine changed or was revised again, the effect might change with it. A bit of a gamble, so I'd have to hope the payoff was worth it.

Second: [Blessing].

Another common clergy skill. Independent of doctrine, it used holy power to raise physical abilities and could even grant holy attributes to weapons. Solid all-around advantages.

Third: [Divine Aura].

Also clergy-line. Think of it as body reinforcement based on holy power instead of mana. Unlike Blessing, which could be cast on others, Divine Aura was self-only—but its reinforcement efficiency was higher, and while active it provided continuous recovery plus a mild curse-cleansing effect. Best of all, because it used holy power rather than mana, it stacked with pure mana-based physical reinforcement.

All three were ridiculously attractive. I wanted every last one of them, but that wasn't an option. Shame.

"...Which one do you like?"

When in doubt, ask the one who'll actually use it.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"I think Divine Aura would be good."

"Alright, then that's the one."

"W-wait—huh?"

My instant agreement left her flustered, hands waving. She grabbed my wrist just as it reached for Divine Aura, then immediately scrambled backward and dropped to her knees as if she'd committed some grave offense.

"What?"

"Y-you aren't going to ask for a reason...?"

"Do I need to?"

This wasn't early Kallion with his low intelligence. Echidna was already half-mature as a person. Her thinking leaned a little fanatical, sure—but that also meant she had the mental capacity to be a fanatic in the first place.

People who don't know better treat religion like a rest stop where you just believe and relax. Dig deeper and you find a world of people flying every which way, material and spiritual, just to seize ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hearts. Today's religions only reached the light after grinding countless people for ages to create the impression that "this place is safe." Macro-scale, it's just land-grabbing without a country. The invisible power struggles underneath require more brains than most politics.

Say that out loud and they'll scream blasphemy to protect the value of the product they've built—but that's reality. There's a reason the philosophers who stay carefully neutral always say belief is optional.

Anyway, all those reasons boiled down to this:

"You thought it through and gave me an answer. So go all the way with it."

In line with her doctrine. As long as she believed in me and followed me, I would believe in her and watch over her. This was the first step—respect for her thoughts. Not just her. Hive, Growl, Kallion—same for all of them. They were my summons, yes, but each was an individual with their own personality and tastes. They were family under me, so I'd set the initial direction. Beyond that, I had no intention of stopping them from doing what they wanted. Nothing limits growth like restricting direction.

Eventually these kids would have to move hard in my place. The top priority was making them able to act even without me as the center. If I made them depend only on me, what was the point?

I said all of that without holding back. Echidna and the others looked moved, yet also tilted their heads like they weren't sure this was right. That distance was perfect. Getting worshipped as some god would only be a pain for me.

"Confirm."

Divine Aura appeared in Echidna's empty skill slot. With that, I closed every window floating in my vision.

Long if you called it long, short if you called it short. Time to head back.

I recalled Growl and Echidna, then walked straight to Kallion. Lee Se-rin was already sitting on his back like it was the most natural thing in the world. The moment I settled in behind her she shared her device screen, showing me restaurants and other photos. Every single place looked like some remote experience spot, yet the pictures were nothing but lovey-dovey couples. The title: Hunters' Choice — Top 10 Date Spots Preferred by Awakened.

What absolute bullshit.

"We're a little late, so shall we start with lunch? I've already planned the rest of the schedule!"

"...Fuck."

She took the reins as if our going was already decided. I had no choice but to swear.

The moment we passed through the dungeon gate, an ornament set with a blue gem appeared. I grabbed it and stuffed it into my pocket.

Outside, the dungeon entrance was oddly noisy. Even though we'd emerged on Kallion's back, no one noticed us—proof that Lee Se-rin's perception interference was working fine. Ignoring the trio still pleading for something in the middle of the crowd, we soared straight into the sky.

Looks like this damn date still isn't over.