Sera kept watching Nathan, who was reading a book across from her. She was trying not to pay too much attention, but she knew Nathan usually came to the library to talk to her about something.
Just as she was about to stand up, Nathan was already standing in front of her—she tried to act like her usual self, and asked what brought him here.
"Well... I wanted to talk to you about something, honestly there's something that's been bugging me," Nathan said, his eyes looking away, avoiding eye contact with Sera.
Sera raised an eyebrow, curious whether Nathan would ask about her shadow, or play games with her about something else.
"Earlier, when I was in my room, someone was spying on me, and it was you... I'm just curious, do you have anything to do with it?" Nathan asked, his eyes now fixed on Sera, his expression still flat like his usual self.
Sera's eyes widened slightly, not expecting Nathan to actually ask about that. She, who was prepared for it, could only maintain a straight face and speak.
"Huh? Do I need to spy on you? If we can talk like this, it'll be a waste of time if I have to spy on you," she sighed and answered calmly, knowing Nathan would notice if she couldn't think straight.
Nathan then only gave a small smile and said that Sera might be right. However, not long after that, both of Nathan's hands immediately grabbed Sera's neck and choked her like in the dorm room earlier.
Sera, who had fallen and could not speak, still managed to remain calm when choked—she knew that this might be Nathan's trick to uncover the truth. Sera began to grow weak and struggled to breathe, yet she still tried to stay calm even though she was choked for too long.
Sera finally began to speak softly even though she was already very weak and had previously been barely able to speak, her throat felt extremely sore as she tried to talk—yet she still forced herself to do it.
"Your mom... never... learn... you... how... to be... a good kid, huh?"
Hearing Sera's words, Nathan's body froze for a moment, his hands loosening their grip on Sera's neck—his eyes widened, showing a deep sense of fear and panic.
The word mom spoken by Sera brought Nathan's thoughts flooding back, transporting him to the past. His gaze drifted, alternating between memories of his mother, and Sera, who lay beneath him, seemed to morph into the ghost of his dying mother.
His mother's eyes slowly opened, and tears trickled down her face as she lay there.
"Nathan... Be a good boy, okay? Mom loves you," his mother said with a faint smile on her face.
Those words haunted Nathan's mind, the voice echoing in his thoughts, making him break out in a sweat and his body tremble.
He looked up, and before him stood the demon who had killed his mother—the demon raised its weapon and stabbed Nathan's face.
The sudden jolt brought him back to reality, he was still cold sweating, breathing heavily, his eyes still wide with a mix of guilt and fear.
----
Sera breathed a sigh of relief as Nathan's hands loosened their grip, but she was suddenly lifted off the ground as he yanked and grabbed her robe. She looked up at Nathan's face and was taken aback.
"Don't you ever say that word again! Or I'll kill you!" Nathan spat, his tone menacing, his expression terrifying, his eyes gleaming with fear and threat.
Sera's expression turned fearful, she felt that Nathan was dead serious, especially with that expression, like he was ready to kill her without hesitation. Sera was speechless, unable to utter a word.
Nathan leaving the library, leaving Sera alone, still lying there. He rushed back to his dorm room, locked himself inside, and shut his eyes tight, the memories still haunting him—making Nathan tear up and try to push the past away.
He was exhausted, the guilt washing over him again, remembering how he couldn't save his mother from the demon. Nathan just lay there, and as time passed... his skill kicked in as his consciousness slowly began to fade.
[ Dreamy Book Activated... ]
Nathan's eyes snapped open, and he found himself back in his dream world—everything felt empty, until a giant clock appeared before him. The clock's hands were ticking away, wildly and erratically.
The clock's short and long hands finally came to a stop, pointing at the XII.
His thoughts were spinning, memories of the past and present swirling together. His mind then focused on one thing: a demon in knight's gear approaching him—then kneeling before him.
His eyes felt heavy, and he closed them. When he opened them again, he woke up in his dorm bed, realizing it was daytime. Nathan stood up, looked in the mirror, and saw that he'd been crying, tears still streaming down his face.
----
Nathan walked out of his dorm room, still wearing the same clothes. He was used to the [Dreamy Book] and its skill—whenever it kicked in, a day would pass, and he'd likely get a glimpse of the future
As he walked towards the military academy's garden, he saw a group of soldiers carrying corpses, loot, and rare items from a recently emerged dungeon.
He approached the soldiers, but nothing caught his eye—everything seemed ordinary. That was until he saw the last cart, and his eyes landed on a defeated Demon Knight, bringing back memories of his previous dream.
----
A few hours had passed since the soldiers returned. Nathan, who had been meditating and training his mana circulation, finally decided to head to the monster research room.
He was utterly shocked when he realized that the room had no guards at all—most likely because the returning soldiers were too focused on celebrating the spoils of their raid in the auditorium. Nathan then came to a stop in front of the corpse of the Demon Knight before him.
The Demon Knight's corpse was slightly different from the one in his dream. It had a large mouth piercing through its armor, and it wore a knight's helmet that covered its entire face, leaving only its eyes visible.
Without hesitation, he tried to test his skills, using [Reanimation], a skill he'd developed to bring back the dead—part of his quest to become a perfect summoner.
At first, Nathan struggled, but to his surprise, the creature suddenly became his summoned being, catching him off guard.
「The Demon Knight Eater
「HP: ( 2000 )
「Ability:
「Fear Intimidation
「Blazing Fist
「Soul Injection
「Guillotine
「Dark Bone Sword
「Shadow Clone
「Shadow Rush
「Blood Explode
「Regeneration
「Illusion
「Armor Suit
Nathan's eyes widened in shock, he hadn't expected such incredible stats. What really caught him off guard was the Guillotine named attached to the creature's stats.
He then quietly left the place first, and afterwards he went to the training field, which was empty because today was a holiday for all personnel.
Nathan then ordered the demon to use its newest skill, [Armor Duit]; he only wanted to try something simple first—but he was certain that this was his strongest summon for now.
The command immediately took effect on the Guillotine Demon Knight; it then quickly approached Nathan—the giant mouth on its chest swiftly opened and devoured Nathan.
Nathan, who felt himself merging with the creature, could only wait for what would happen. He felt a bit of pain as his skin and bones fused with the Guillotine Demon Knight, and his heart pounded rapidly as the pain began to intensify.
What he certainly knew was that he had merged with the Guillotine Demon Knight—as if this skill were an equipment-type skill meant to strengthen himself.
"Fuck... I just realized that I can use a creature suit with my own summoned creature," Nathan said in his heart with excitement.
He then tried to strike the training stone with his bare hand, and unexpectedly it was very easy to destroy it—even his movements felt as though they were several times more agile, and his durability had also increased.
After spending some time adjusting himself and practicing, he then separated from the Guillotine Demon Knight—they faced each other, and Nathan wanted to try something crazy, he thought that this was an opportunity to test the skill he had created once again.
The skill was [Renamed]. A skill that could give a nickname, title, or special name to the creature he summoned, and was able to drastically increase its strength—and for sure, this skill was capable of making the creature he named become permanent.
He then pointed at the Guillotine Demon Knight, ready to bear the risk, and immediately channeled all of his mana circulation into his index finger, preparing to use his new skill.
For some reason, this time Nathan struggled greatly, his body immediately broke into a cold sweat and trembled—the circulation of his mana flowed smoothly, but it turned out to be quite difficult because he needed intense focus and concentration, as if the skill were a permanent enhancement spell.
[ Renamed Activated... ]
From now on, your name is Kalkrav," said Nathan as he successfully transferred his entire mana circulation to the Guillotine Demon Knight.
Nathan, exhausted and with his mana circulation completely drained, could only smile and assume that his skill had succeeded—he then lost consciousness and fainted on the field because this was the first time he had used up so much mana.
The Guillotine Demon Knight simply remained standing before Nathan, as if nothing had happened.
The statistics system then displayed the result of Renamed, and the system show...
[ Renamed Failed... ]
...