A New Life

"Hmph, so you made it."

I knelt in front of the throne of King Alchris inside the royal palace, surrounded by imposing ranks of cabinet ministers and knights of the Imperial Guard. In that august setting, the next words that the king spoke took me by surprise.

"First off, I must apologize. I know without asking that my daughter has been causing you trouble."

"What?! Father!" Ciel objected.

"Come now. Have you any idea of how difficult you've made things for Crow?" Crow was Ciel's personal chamberlain—or put more bluntly, her butler. He was the guy who'd been waiting in attendance on the other side of the door when Ciel was teaching me Disarmament. "So, can you tell me whatever it was you couldn't say in the arena?"

What the king wanted to know was why I had caught Ciel's attention in the first place. The problem was, well... "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Your Majesty..."

"Never mind that. Just spit it out. Remember who you're standing next to—a member of my household who is in possession of the most powerful Eye. If you're telling the truth, I'll know it."

Oh yeah, good point. Glancing around the room, I saw nods of agreement. "Um, okay, well... Those three I fought at the colosseum? I used to travel in their group, until I was killed as a result of their betrayal. The experience points that I accumulated over seven loops of that are what caught the princess's eye."

The king listened in silence, but around us others began chattering noisily.

"That's impossible. Simply impossible..."

"Could it be...? If the princess herself believes...?"

"Is it true?"

"Even if it is true, would it really make him that powerful?"

"Did you see how he fought?"

"But really, master swordsman? Sage? Dragon knight? Isn't that a bit...extreme?"

I mean, fair enough. It's not like I didn't share their doubts.

"Father," Ciel began, "this man has seven times the amount of experience as a normal person. For comparison, the head of your royal order of chivalry has maybe two or three times the average. That's how exceptional this man is."

"Fascinating."

"And what's more, he has the potential to follow skill trees for swordsmanship, sorcery, and beast taming. When I say he could be a master swordsman, or a sage, or a dragon knight, it's not an exaggeration."

"You're really serious about this, eh?"

"Yes. I swear to you that I will hone him into the crown jewel of the kingdom's mighty forces."

The king and the rest of the audience nodded thoughtfully at Ciel's brazenly confident assertion. "Very well," he said. "Ciel, I leave this matter in your capable hands."

"Yes, sir. I won't disappoint you."

Although the royal audience wasn't over yet, it seemed the main matter at hand had been handled without much of a fuss. So far, so good.

"Now then," the king continued, "as for those duplicitous comrades of yours. At this point in time, there's no crime we can actually charge them with. However, the humiliation of being utterly annihilated in a three-on-one battle without so much as landing a single blow will be a serious stain on each of their noble houses. I believe that constitutes an appropriate punishment for now."

"They're monsters with hearts of rotting garbage. That alone seems like enough of a crime to charge them," Ciel said.

"Ciel, don't say such things," the king scolded. "Still, if the two of you are teaming up to bear the weight of the kingdom's future strength, then as far as I'm concerned, this young man is like family to me. If any of those three appear to pose a real threat, I will officially label them a traitor to the crown. And for the moment, I will let the heads of each of their houses know of my intentions."

That should stop them from making trouble, I thought.

"Even if they try something, they're just too weak compared to him," Ciel said. "According to Remille, in his previous seven lives their party managed to reach hero candidate status. Of course, who knows if they'll even make it that far without Remille's support."

"Hmph. Well, in any case, it seems we've covered everything we can for right now. Ciel, I don't suppose you're planning to carry out his training here in the capital?"

"Nope. We'll definitely need to venture out into the world."

"I was afraid you'd say that. Limdt!"

"Yes, right here." An old man who had been standing at the king's side stepped forward.

"Help these two with whatever preparations they need for their journey. Let them pick whatever equipment they like from the royal treasure house and see that they obtain any funds they need."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

"Excellent. Then go forth, for the glory of the kingdom."

"Yessir." Sure, no pressure. It seemed like, with that, the audience was over. Following the lead of the people around me, I bowed my head to the king.

It wasn't too long before the old man, Limdt, sent for us.

❖

"Hrm, you've got a real hero's face, eh? Nice chiseled features."

"Ignore him," Ciel said. "He says that to everyone."

Such was the banter as he led us to the royal treasure house.

"Ah, Princess, you are too harsh with an old man. Now then, weapons are over here. As for armor, you will need to consider whether you plan to fight at the vanguard or stay in the rear."

He displayed a parade of the most dazzling equipment I'd ever seen, one after another. Is this really okay...? Each piece was of a finer quality than anything I'd encountered in any of my previous seven lives.

"Don't be shy," Ciel said. "I'm happy to see these things actually used rather than sitting here collecting dust."

"Precisely so," Limdt agreed. "As the one who crafted them, nothing could bring me more joy."

"You made these?!"

"That he did. Old Limdt here is a dwarf. He's served as master smith for the royal family for generations, since my great-grandfather's time. And now he's the, uh... What was it again?"

"The state minister of the treasury, Your Highness."

"Right. Now he's that."

Wow, whaddaya know... Being in the royal palace, I'd expected to be surrounded by impressive people, but already my expectations had been totally surpassed.

"Of course," Limdt went on, "it is not as though I created all of these pieces myself. There have been many talented royal smiths over the years. Some of the dark magic artifacts from the dungeons cannot be crafted with current knowledge."

"Well, anyway, don't worry about that; just pick whatever you want. Personally I'd like you to train as a rear guard, though."

"Rear guard?" I repeated. "How come?"

"So you're not wasted. Being in the rear guard is the best way to take full advantage of your XP and let your variety of different skills shine. You could, like, shoot attack spells while riding on the back of a dragon or whatever."

"Whoa..." What a dream that would be!

Limdt seemed to sense from my expression that my enthusiasm had been sparked, and he started gathering a bunch of items from the treasure house. "For fighting on dragonback, something light and nimble is best, I'd say. I recommend mythril. It's a light material and also has a high level of magical resistance."

"Wait wait wait. Mythril? The metal of legend?!"

"Hmm, I suppose it is seen that way by humans, yes."

"I'm pretty sure Limdt is hundreds of years old," Ciel said. "This sort of thing is old hat to him."

"I bask humbly in the glow of your words of praise, Your Highness."

The royal family really is something, huh? In my previous seven lives, I had never once so much as seen any mythril.

"If you find something that suits you, go ahead and take it," Ciel said to me. "Limdt, while I'm here, I'd like to review my own equipment as well."

"As you wish, Princess." With that, the two of them vanished deeper into the armory, leaving me alone in the room. I felt my anxiety rising—there were more precious artifacts in here than I could have ever dreamed of possessing after seven whole lifetimes. I wished they hadn't left.

"I guess being surrounded by treasures like these is a double-edged sword, so to speak... Oh, what's this?" One singular item among the hoard caught my attention. "I didn't know they made such a thing..."

The object I'd pulled out was a piece of armor way too big to be designed for human use. It was more like a claw or talon—armor for a beast tamer's animal companion. This being the royal family, presumably that meant a dragon. And scattered around it were sets of armor and saddles for the dragon riders. "I wonder if I'm gonna be able to use these when I'm older..."

My thoughts turned to my beloved companion, as yet unmet in my current life. To that last memory... "Better not to think about that, huh?" The moment before my own death, murdered so cruelly right before my eyes.

I knew she was some sort of catlike demon, but in my short time with her it had been hopeless to try to fully understand everything about her species. "Catra..."

Before I could investigate whether there was gear that would fit smaller claws too, Ciel and Limdt returned.

"Oooh," Ciel exclaimed, "so that's what you picked out? Seems like you're into the dragon knight idea, then, huh?"

"Uh, no, actually. I was thinking first I'd like to tame a cat, if that's okay."

"What?!"

And so I stood in the royal treasure house, awkwardly racking my brains for how to explain this to a very shocked princess.

❖

Ultimately we left the treasure house without talking about it further, and Ciel proceeded to organize our departure from the castle with whirlwind speed.

"Um, Ciel, are you really sure this is okay?"

"Oi, chill out! I already told you it's fine!"

With my thoughts full of my plans with Catra, I hadn't really cared to pick out any further equipment, but Ciel had her own ideas and had forced us to take anything and everything that she thought might ever possibly be useful. Swords used by legendary heroes, staves of great sages, dragon knight saddles and stirrups of every possible size... Basically, if you could imagine it, she'd thrown it in.

And when I say "thrown it in," I mean literally: all of those items were stuffed into an incredible magic bag. It was enchanted to let you store items in a magical realm—truly the ultimate in luxury goods. And this one was the maximum size. Really, in a way, the most valuable item in that room was the bag we stuffed everything else into. And now that very same magic bag was fastened around my waist.

"It freaks me out to think that this bag I'm carrying, and all the stuff inside it, could somehow become the kingdom's downfall..."

"Don't worry," Ciel replied. "Upon your death, ownership of that bag will automatically revert back to the royal family. No one else will be able to use it."

"Somehow I don't find that very reassuring..." Doesn't that just mean someone would have to find a way to use it without killing me? That might actually be scarier.

"If it bothers you so much, hurry up and get stronger. Your time is limited enough as it is, and yet here we are doing some sort of side quest..."

I knew that three years from now I'd be thrown into some sort of crisis. Ciel did have a point. "Yeah, um, sorry about this..."

"You should be."

It said a lot about Ciel that despite her grumbling she had still come along with me. Together we made our way up the winding mountain roads. Putting aside how ludicrous it must have appeared to be using a mythril dagger to clear a path through the brush, I had to say that the finely honed blade did a fantastic job as a weeding tool. Even so, it was slow going.

"So this is where the behemoth is, huh?"

"Yeah." After I'd declared to Ciel that I wanted to tame a cat, she'd had me describe Catra to her, and it turned out that Catra was likely a behemoth cub. Of course, with a time frame of just three years to work with, her military prowess wouldn't be much to speak of. We were wagering a lot on Ciel's guess about Catra being a behemoth, and Ciel had only reluctantly acceded to this plan, being ever conscious of our need to hurry. Although, if it did turn out that Catra was a behemoth, I was pretty sure Ciel would also be quite pleased, honestly.

"In any case, if you're aiming to become a dragon knight, this will be a good place to work on obtaining skills related to beast taming."

"Thank you, Ciel." As we cut a path through the difficult terrain, I felt grateful that despite her complaints, Ciel was right here at my side.

To find the behemoth cub—that is, Catra—it was crucial to enter this forest at exactly the right time. Now that I thought about it, the first time I'd come here had been a really close battle. I guess the others weren't very strong yet either...

By now, I had a good idea of what sorts of demons would appear where, so there wasn't really any danger. Still, the truth was that I found it difficult to go forward. And...

"Phew, we finally made it," Ciel said.

"Yeah."

"Hey, are these uncharted ruins? Don't you think that's something you should maybe tell me before we come here?"

"Oh...is it?" I felt a surge of guilt at her exasperated expression, but there was something I had to take care of before I could focus on apologizing to her. I knew Catra would be right around here, next to the hidden dungeon, asleep and injured...

"Meep..."

"Catra!"

"Meee...?" She lay splayed on the ground, covered in wounds. Normally if a strange human came this close to her she'd run away, but right now she was in no shape to flee or to fight.

"Wow, whaddaya know. It is a behemoth," Ciel said, eyes wide with wonder. And more importantly: "Poor thing. Can she be saved?"

"I'll save her." I remembered it all perfectly. This was where I always came across Catra. And every time, I was shocked by her strength and fortitude. "Let's see, bandages for the wounds...disinfectant..." As I rummaged through the medical supplies I had brought, Ciel once again sighed in exasperation.

"Honestly, Remille. Healing magic exists, you know. Or at the very least, if you knew she would be in this condition, you could have brought a healing potion."

"Er..." Okay, so she had a point. I couldn't think of a good comeback to that.

"Meep..." Somehow even Catra's stare seemed accusatory.

Well, all I could do was make do with what I did have. In the end, I had to rely on good old-fashioned first aid techniques. Despite Ciel's needling, I prepared cloth for bandages, fetched water, and worked to clean the wounds and lower her temperature.

At some point while I was absorbed in all that, Ciel vanished.

"Heart of ice, that girl," I commented to Catra.

"Meep..." she agreed.

At first she had weakly resisted my ministrations, but pretty soon she seemed to realize that I was trying to help her and calmed down. Her injuries would not be quick to heal. In the past, I'd had to tend her for three whole days—and she'd still just barely made it through.

And while I did that, the rest of the party had killed time by exploring the nearby ruins, I think... Although, now that I thought about it, they'd never told me the whole story of what happened in those ruins.

"Meeeep."

"Shh, it's okay. You're going to be okay."

As I murmured to Catra to comfort her, Ciel suddenly reappeared and held something out to me.

"Here. Use this."

"What is it?"

"A healing herb that grows around here. You said you also know alchemy, right?"

"I do..." I stared at her, startled by her effort to help.

"I didn't do it for your sake!" she said, blushing. "Anything to hurry this whole ordeal along. That's all."

"I see. Well, thank you."

"Hmph!" She turned haughtily away from me, her face still flushed.

She's such an open book once you know her. I was grateful for it.

Thanks to Ciel's aid, Catra recovered before the day was done. Or really, I should say, it was a confluence of several things: a miracle created by Ciel's choice of healing herb, my knowledge of alchemy from previous lives, and Catra's incredible strength and vitality.

❖

"Meep!"

"I know I've already asked this, but are you sure this little kitten is really a behemoth?" I asked Ciel.

"Yup. According to my Appraisal skill, there's no question. Well, at least no question for someone who's already quite knowledgeable about animals."

"If you say so."

"Meep."

This little cutie, licking my cheek like a spoiled child trying to get attention... It was rather hard to see her as a legendary monster. But if Ciel said it was true, then I couldn't doubt it.

"Once she reaches her potential, she'll surpass even a dragon in fighting strength."

"Amazing."

"Meeep!" Catra somehow, adorably, seemed to puff with pride.

"Hmm, but how many years will it take to reach that potential?" I asked. Even if she was a behemoth, I didn't think she'd become such a mighty military asset before that fated day three years from now.

But Ciel's next comment made me completely rethink that. "No, that's not how it works. Behemoths—or really, any demons or magical beasts—don't grow linearly with age. They grow in proportion to strength."

"In proportion? What do you mean?"

"Goblins are a good example. All goblins are basically a fixed size, right?"

"I guess, now that you mention it, yeah."

"Newborn goblins are too weak to be called goblins. As they grow up, they become 'true' goblins. Even if they never get stronger, a goblin is still a goblin. But there's an exception—know what it is?"

"Hobgoblins?" It was like a sort of evolution. Goblins that are exceptionally large and powerful are called hobgoblins. They were seen as a distinct species, but could this just have been how growth worked for magical creatures?

"Any goblin who gets large enough to be considered a hobgoblin becomes a hobgoblin, and if they get even stronger they become a goblin king. Or if they're skilled at magic they become a magic goblin, or if they learn to use a sword they'd be a sword goblin. This cub may look like a little kitten right now, but as soon as she levels up enough, she'll suddenly be a full-fledged behemoth. That's what I mean when I talk about reaching her potential."

"So you're saying..."

"Of course, as always, it's not going to be instantaneous. But with my guidance she'll be powerful within a year."

At Ciel's confident claim, Catra tilted her head quizzically.

"Anyway, let's go conquer this uncharted dungeon!"

"Right, uncharted... But they told me there wasn't anything in there."

"What, you still trust those guys?"

"Good point." My spirits fell at facing that bitter truth, and Catra nuzzled at me as though to comfort me. So cuuute. I felt instantly healed.

"There could be something there. And in any case, going through this dungeon will also give her some XP. It's a perfect opportunity to help her grow into a behemoth."

"Another good point." The dungeon was certainly a great opportunity to earn experience points efficiently. Especially since a whole bunch of demons would come surging out whether we entered it or not.

Of course, there was the small matter of having to survive.

"First thing's first; I'll explain my training plan to you. Things will go smoothest if you understand the whole plan."

I took a seat on a nearby boulder to listen obediently to Ciel's explanation. Catra came to sit in my lap, and we both looked up at Ciel while she talked.

"For now, you'll be focusing on enhancing your skills as a trainer. That will include obtaining and mastering the skills of Familiar Enhancement and Ability Absorption."

"Familiar Enhancement and Ability Absorption?" Those weren't terms that I was familiar with.

"Do you mean to say that you don't even know the other skills involved in being a tamer?"

"Huh? There are skills for tamers other than...Tame?"

"You know how there are things that vary with the ability level of a trainer, like the success rate of the Tame skill, or how many beasts can be tamed at once, or how much of your familiar's power you can draw on?"

"Sure." That was taming 101. The higher your proficiency as a trainer, the more those abilities improved.

"All of those are actually subskills of Tame, and each can be leveled individually."

"Subskills?"

"Yes. On their own they're useless, but for a person who knows the Tame skill, these subskills help raise their abilities as a tamer." Seeing the lingering confusion on my face, Ciel explained further. "Familiar Enhancement is a subskill that lets your familiar become stronger in proportion to your strength. And Ability Absorption allows you to gain strength by drawing on your familiar's. So the first step is to use Familiar Enhancement to help this kitten of yours reach the strength to awaken her potential to become a behemoth. After that, she'll be powerful without you having to do anything special."

"Really? Just like that?"

"Historically, every single dragon tamer was extremely strong themselves. A full-fledged behemoth is even more powerful than a dragon, so you'll have to power up accordingly or this won't work at all."

She seemed so confident. Even Catra seemed to look up at me with pride.

"Okay then. I know it's short notice, but I would like to take advantage of this dungeon to start leveling her up."

"Meeep!" Ciel had reached a hand out toward Catra, but Catra struck out with her front paw as though to ward her off.

"Hey now, what's that about?" I asked Catra. She'd had no problem with my absentminded petting as she sat in my lap.

"It's fine, whatever. Anyway, it's characteristic of behemoths to have skill trees that spread infinitely in any direction. She could become powerful along any path. From flying through the sky to digging beneath the earth, there are many different types of behemoth."

"Really? They have that much individuality?"

"Yup. The common threads between all behemoths are that they have skill trees as broad as humans', and that they acquire new skills more easily than humans do. Beyond that, each individual's path is different."

Now that she mentioned it, I'd heard it said that the main strength of humans, compared to most species of demons or other animals, is that our paths aren't predetermined by our species. Humans can become whatever we set out to become. Ciel's litany of "master swordsman, sage, dragon knight" was a perfect example. No matter how hard a goblin tried, they couldn't become a dragon rider.

...Or could they, if they had something like Ciel's Appraisal guiding them? Well, anyway, goblins don't have trainers or whatever.

I turned my attention back to the conversation. "So what path will Catra grow along?"

"Meep?" Catra tilted her head at my question.

Too cute.

"I'd say that can wait until after the dungeon. Ideally, it would be determined by what she wants to become."

"Meep!" Catra clung tightly to me. Just as I was wondering what was going on in her head, Ciel let out a sigh.

"Well, she's easy to read, isn't she?"

"Huh?"

"She's saying as long as she can be helpful to you, she's fine with anything."

"Meeeeep." As though to confirm Ciel's words, Catra purred and nuzzled against me.

❖

"Okey doke. We'll take on this dungeon, but first I want you to tame ten of the monsters that live around here."

"Any ten I want?"

"Yup. Slime, goblin, heck, you could tame a pigeon if you want." And don't question my orders, her tone seemed to add.

Taming ten beasts, even if they could be anything, was no small feat. If it was all the same to her, I'd just as soon start with common, low-maintenance creatures. "So...even bugs?"

"Sure. If you can handle ten of them."

"Okay. Gotcha." I knew what she was up to: she was trying to expand my Tame skill. In my seven lives so far, I'd never tamed ten things at once. Eager to test my skills, I scanned the area around us for bugs. Flinging my arms wide, I commanded, "Tame!"

At my call, a dozen bugs came zipping through the trees right to me.

"Whoa." Ciel regarded me with surprise.

"What's wrong?" I didn't see what there was for her to be so surprised by.

"If you already know how to use Multi Tame or Area Tame you should have told me that up front!"

"But...it only works on bugs."

"Even so. Well, this is good, actually. You can jump forward in your skill tree now. You tamed more than I expected, so the subskills Familiar Enhancement and Ability Absorption have reached intermediate level. Congratulations. You've already left the realm of what's possible for an ordinary tamer."

"Wow, just like that?" This doesn't seem real... No, seriously, I couldn't perceive any real difference from my previous lives.

"Even if you technically knew how, did you ever actually manage to tame that many at once in any of your past lives?"

"No, I guess not." The most I'd ever done at once was like two or three creatures, whether I was dealing with bugs or birds. This time, since I'd been told to tame at least ten, I had used my Tame command on all of the few dozen bugs in the vicinity. From both my conversations with Ciel and my own past lives, I knew that one of the keys to obtaining and leveling skills was to have the specific knowledge of how much experience was necessary and the correct way to obtain it. In this case, since I had so much XP already, really only the second of those was relevant.

"Oh, could I have used up more XP than I had to with that Tame just now?" I asked.

"Hmm? Nah, don't worry about that. I'm pretty sure that you've banked so much that it doesn't matter."

Only pretty sure, huh? Great...

"Listen. When do you think experience points are usually built up?"

"When? Like, when you're training, or when you bring down an enemy?"

"Right. But that's weird, isn't it? Building up your strength by training is one thing, but why do you get XP from killing a monster?"

I'd never thought about it before. One way to get stronger was by defeating enemies and gaining XP that way. Everyone knew that. I'd never considered the logic behind it, but... "That's a good point; your physical condition doesn't actually change from beating an enemy." I guess you might gain a bit of strength just from the act of fighting, but that didn't really account for the amount of experience gained.

"Exactly. Experience points are actually based more on mental experience than on physical strength or training. So actually fighting a monster levels you up better than rote drilling."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

"And that experience isn't conditional on actually winning the battle either."

"Oh..." The implication of Ciel's words hit me. "So that means, all those times..."

"That's right. You've faced the fear of death head-on. Every time, you confronted a horror so terrifying that a normal person would have died from fright alone. Even at a conservative estimate, the mental experience you've gained just from that is more than it would normally be possible to obtain in an entire lifetime."

"Wow." So I guess when Ciel said back at the palace that I had seven times the XP of an average person, that wasn't an exaggeration. In fact, even that "seven times" was an oversimplification. It sounded like it could be even more than that.

"And this time through, you know that Catra is a behemoth. That makes a huge difference. Even before she's a full-fledged behemoth, you'll be able to strengthen your own skills way more. Enough that it wouldn't be crazy to aim to tame a dragon."

"Meep!" Catra's chirp seemed to protest Ciel's statement.

"Yeah, I know you don't like that," Ciel said to her. "If you don't want to deal with a rival, hurry up and get stronger. When we're in the dungeon, make sure you eat at least one of every new creature we find, okay? Behemoths absorb the abilities of whatever they've eaten. That will help you get nice and tough."

"Meep." Catra still didn't seem to like Ciel, but at least she was listening to her now. Like a delicate truce had been reached.

"You don't have to stress about experience points. I can make you strong using what you already have. And in the process, you'll build up an even bigger excess of XP."

That sounded like a good deal to me.

"And the first step is this dungeon. The stage is set perfectly. The goal of this mission is to get Catra to come into her own, so you should stay out of her way as much as possible. Remember—once she reaches full strength, you will be able to draw on that to get stronger without doing anything else yourself."

"I...guess that makes sense."

"For this mission, the behemoth will take the role of vanguard. I am in command. You will protect me. Leave the task of conquering the dungeon to her. We'll let her progress until she gets stuck."

"Meep!"

"Understood," I said. Familiar Enhancement and Ability Absorption. It was incredible how powerful those skills became in combination. "Let's do this."

"Meeeep!" As I carried Catra in my arms, she purred adorably and nuzzled against my cheek.

❖

"Wow, it seems even bigger on the inside."

"Those three clowns spent a good two or three days messing around in here while you were nursing Catra back to health, didn't they? Stands to reason that it's big enough for them to spend that much time here."

"Good point." Of course, seeing as how I'd come to find Catra without even bringing along a healing potion for her, it goes without saying that I hadn't done a single bit of preparation for taking on a dungeon either. But while I'd been caring for Catra, Ciel had taken care of some of those preparations for us. The magical item that lit our way now was a light we'd made by applying my alchemy skills to materials that Ciel had scavenged.

"Alchemy is pretty sweet, huh? If nothing actually happens to you three years from now, I'd advise you to pursue it further."

"At least that way I'd never go wanting for anything as long as I lived, I guess." Alchemy was an extremely lucrative talent. After I'd realized that, my lives had always been quite comfortable. Thanks to me, we had been able to afford lodgings two ranks higher than we would have otherwise.

"Eh, even if you make it through the next three years, it's not like that will be the end of your troubles. Best to get as strong as you can."

"Hey, what do you mean if I make it...?"

"Oooh, look. The first enemy has appeared. Think she can take it?"

I was still bothered by what she'd said, but suddenly we had bigger problems. Ciel signaled to Catra. Catra acknowledged her command with a small dip of her head.

"Meep!"

In that instant, a bat swooped out of the darkness. Catra dodged the attack, then pivoted her body in midair to knock the enemy down. And just as Ciel had commanded, she bit off a chunk of its corpse and gulped it down.

"Whoa..."

"Do you get it now?" Ciel asked.

Sure enough, tiny wings immediately sprouted on Catra's back. And, even weirder, I suddenly felt an odd lightness spread through my own body.

"That's about all you're gonna be able to absorb from something as weak as a bat. You can kill the rest of them without bothering to eat any."

"Meeeeeep!" In response, Catra sprang at the approaching flock of bats. With each one she killed, her wings grew slightly larger, and I felt my body grow ever lighter.

"How...?" I began.

"She's activated the seed of the Skill Eater ability that grown behemoths have. As she battles and gains XP, that skill is strengthened too. And that strength, in turn, is reflected back to her tamer, raising your stats as well."

"That's...kind of overpowered, isn't it?"

"Are you finally beginning to understand why a full-grown behemoth is considered more fearsome than a dragon?"

It seemed Catra's potential power was indeed far beyond what I'd imagined. But more to the point at the moment... "Uh, how many bats are there?"

"Good question."

No matter how many Catra took down, that many more seemed to swarm to take their place. It seemed she'd absorbed what she could out of them for now. "I should help her."

"Meeeep." Catra came flying over to me at my words. I held out my arm to receive her, and she gracefully scampered onto my shoulder.

"Can I?" I asked.

"Sure. This is the perfect chance to practice extending your Tame skill."

"Right." I raised my hand high, focused my awareness on the swarming flock of bats, and... "Tame!" My intention was to tame every single creature in a straight line extending ahead of me.

As she watched me, Ciel asked, "Do you ever feel that if you'd focused on taming from the very beginning, you would have had more success in your lives?"

"All the time."

My attempt went even better than I'd expected. It seemed the practice with the bugs had paid off. Even I could tell that the Area Tame and Multi Tame subskills had activated effortlessly. My taming extended out in a long line through every creature in front of me.

"I'll Appraise you now."

"Uh, sure." As Ciel fixed her gaze on me, her eye changed color. It seemed her plan was to perform periodic Appraisals to keep track of my condition. And the verdict was...

"Oh, wow. Better than I thought."

"Hmm? What do you see?"

"You've unlocked pretty much every main skill for taming. All that remains is to make use of strong familiars to continue expanding each of those skills."

"So not just quantity over quality?" And here I'd been hoping to power up just by taming a ton of bugs and bats...

"Quantity isn't irrelevant, but it's not the most efficient method. Obviously if you tame many creatures at once you'll reach your capacity, so you have to release them as you go. So it stands to reason that it's best for each individual to be pretty strong. Of course, if you asked her, I'm sure she'd say she's enough to fill your capacity on her own."

"That makes sense."

"Meep!" Catra agreed, fixing me with an almost cocky gaze.

In terms of my current limits, I could keep a hold of this many bats as long as they stayed within a fixed range; I had to release any that were too far away. And it sounded like the stronger Catra got, the more she alone would tax my capacity...

"I'm not sure which will happen first as you level up—your being able to tame other strong beasts, or Catra getting strong enough that she takes up all your strength. As far as I'm concerned either is fine, as long as you're getting stronger."

"Meeeeep!" Catra chimed in enthusiastically.

"I'm just happy to see her growing up," I said.

"Meeep." She chirped in contentment as I reached up to pet her where she perched on my shoulder.

"A grown behemoth's combat skills are impressive in their own right, but their greatest strength is in the ability to reflect that power back to you. Her growth automatically makes you stronger."

"With Ability Absorption, right? But I've never felt any particular benefits from taming her in previous lives."

"Well, sure. In those lives, she was basically a rather impressive cat. And you weren't consciously focusing on Absorption. This time will be totally different—just you wait."

The adorable way Ciel seemed to swell with pride was so like Catra that without thinking I reached out and patted her on the head.

"Ah! What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just... I wasn't..."

"I don't mind. But be more gentle, and run your fingers all the way through my hair. There, like that."

To my surprise, she seemed to quite enjoy that and let me stroke her hair for a bit. Jealous of the competition, Catra butted me with her head, and so I found myself continuing the trek through the dungeon alternately petting both Catra and Ciel. Not your typical adventuring party, but the two of them seemed happy enough, so who was I to complain?

❖

"So I guess there are different enemy types on each level?"

"Perfect," Ciel said.

"Meeeep!"

We'd only encountered bats and other similarly weak foes on the first level, but on the second we had our first encounter with demons actually deserving of the name when we were accosted by a horde of goblins.

"Wonder what Catra'll gain from eating a goblin."

"Getting those wings was a stroke of luck. She won't always get something so useful."

"Oh?" As we chatted, Catra had flown into the midst of the goblins and was engaged in tearing them limb from limb.

"The skill she gained from this has to do with wielding a club, which means nothing to her. So the effect on her stats is pretty small. Still, it's a more efficient way to level up than just using normal experience points. That's the beauty of the Skill Eater ability."

"Incredible."

"As I keep telling you. The truth is, I'm not even sure how many tamers there have been throughout history who've commanded a full-fledged behemoth."

"I'm excited to try it."

"Yeah. But for that, we need Catra to actually mature."

Right. At the moment, she looked like a cat that had sprouted wings. And apparently the wings were retractable, so most of the time she would just look like a normal cat. Considering that at the very end of my last life she'd still looked like a slightly oversized cat, I guessed that there must have been lots of behemoth cubs that died before ever reaching full maturity. If I hadn't saved her and nursed her back to health in those previous loops, who knows what would have become of her?

"Meep!"

"If she keeps up like this we should be fine, right?"

"Maybe. Let's hope... Hey now, you have to check each one carefully! Make sure you get just one of each goblin subtype. It'll be fastest to just kill the rest normally." Ciel continued to relay detailed instructions to Catra.

Goblins are able to evolve along a variety of different paths, although to a lesser extent than humans. That meant that Catra was steadily continuing to gain strength.

"Magic goblins! Lucky! Eat as many of those as you want," Ciel instructed, before explaining further at my confused look. "Depending on exactly what sorcery they've learned, magic goblins can be so different from each other that they might as well be different species. Look."

There were three magic goblins in the horde. Sure enough, each seemed completely different from the others in both physical appearance and style of magic. "Hey wait, isn't this too much for her to take on by herself?!" Magic goblins were typically only defeated by whole parties of adventurers once they'd reached C rank—and we were facing a whole group of them at once. Catra, still in her kitten form, hardly seemed a match for them. However...

"Meeeeeeep!" With a cry that seemed to say don't worry about me, Catra dashed toward them. The other goblins swarmed in as though to protect their magical brethren, and she rammed right into them, sending one goblin flying through his comrades and knocking them down like bowling pins.

"Wow."

"Looks like she just learned the hobgoblins' Shield Bash ability."

"What did that have to do with shields?"

"That's just how it is with skills. It might take on a different name as she masters it."

"Oh. Huh."

And so we progressed easily through the dungeon, watching Catra's steady progress, with nothing to do except deal with the occasional shot that made it past her.

❖

"Has she doubled in size?"

"Meep!" She barely fit anymore, but nonetheless Catra flapped her way up to perch on my shoulder.

"In terms of stats, I'd say she matches up favorably against a higher B rank demon."

"That's wild." If a demon of that level spawned, it wouldn't be unusual to round up an S rank adventurer party to deal with it.

"She hasn't mastered everything she's learned yet, but still, none of the enemies in this dungeon could put up much of a fight."

"Yeah." We'd traversed through a few more floors, and Catra had pretty much taken care of everything on her own.

"I was just thinking that it'd be good for her to have an opponent she could really learn an appropriate fighting style from, and it looks like this floor is just what we needed."

"Another cat?"

"An earth tiger."

The cat-beast that appeared was bigger than Catra—bigger even than a human, if it were to stand up on its hind legs. I'd called it a cat, but its expression was pure savagery, and its body seemed entirely made of muscle. Its power was obvious at just a glance.

"They're about equal in terms of stats, but because she gained her strength in such an unnatural way, she hasn't had the chance to learn to use her skills organically. If she can absorb the earth tiger's movements, that will be a big help for the next floor."

"We must be almost at the boss, huh?"

"Yeah. I bet this earth tiger is the guardian."

Guardians. The elite monsters that guarded the passage to the floor boss. The creature that stood before us sure looked like it could be something like that. "I don't think I could take it..."

"What are you talking about? You could take that thing in one hit."

"Yeah, right," I laughed. But the look she gave me had no hint of humor. "Huh? Are you serious?"

"Sheesh, could you please learn to judge your own strength better? Thanks to Catra's progress, your stats have just about tripled since we entered this dungeon. If you just waved your sword around a bit, you'd be ready to obtain the Advanced Swordsmanship skill."

"You're kidding." Skeptical, I grasped my sword tightly and swung. Amazingly, the sword moved in a smooth arc that made all of my previous attempts at swordplay seem like a child waving a stick.

"Holy..."

"Congratulations! You are now an advanced swordsman."

"Just like that?"

"And not only that—thanks to those magic goblins, you can now use pretty much any kind of magic you want. Although we'll need to keep raising your proficiency."

I tried to wrap my mind around that statement. Sure enough, when I delved into the depths of my awareness, I could sense the magical energy coursing through my body. All of the types of magic I had worked so hard to obtain in the past now hummed effortlessly at my fingertips. "Incredible..."

"The beauty of Ability Absorption."

"What will happen when Catra comes into her own as a behemoth?"

"You'll be able to take down a dragon single-handed."

"No way." If that's true...I might even be able to take down the horror I have a date with in three years.

"Isn't my training plan brilliant?" The smug grin she flashed at me was super cute.

"Extremely."

While we'd been talking, Catra's battle with the earth tiger had come to an end. Literal instant victory.

"Meep."

"Well, that was fast." It seemed that when facing off against the earth tiger, Catra somehow had learned how to use her power just from staring at her opponent. She'd finished off the tiger more easily than even Ciel had expected, and successfully used Skill Eater to raise her stats. It didn't look like she'd absorbed any new skills, though.

"Well, the enemies weren't much to speak of, but at least we finally found a chamber worthy of a dungeon," Ciel observed.

I guess she was right about the earth tiger playing the part of guardian. Just past the battle arena, we came upon a room completely blanketed in keyholes.

"Uh... Do we need to have the keys to all of these in order to progress?"

"I don't think so," Ciel said. "Have you seen a single key anywhere so far?"

"No..." With this many keyholes, typically you'd expect to find at least one key somewhere nearby. "So then...what?"

"The keyholes are letters. And the keys are corresponding words." As she spoke, she squinted at the keyholes, brow furrowed in concentration. Her Eye glinted gold. "To offer thine heart's dearest desire..."

The instant Ciel muttered those words—

"Whoa...!"

Every keyhole in the room radiated light, and the whole thing began to spin wildly. It seemed as though the whole room, down to the floor we stood on, came alive with light, and then...

"RAAAAWWWRRR!"

With a ferocious roar that rent the air all around the dungeon, a legendary beast appeared before us.

"What the...? It looks just like a huge version of Catra." In other words...

"That's right, this is what Catra will become—if she never matures into a behemoth."

"Wait, if she doesn't mature...?"

Ciel was using her Eye of Appraisal to analyze the creature's abilities. "It's also a catlike beast that happens to have a skill similar to Skill Eater."

"Similar?" Okay, so maybe it wasn't technically a behemoth. That didn't seem to make it much less of a threat.

"This is a sort of...failed prototype, a creature who tried to become a behemoth but didn't make it. If I had to give it a name, I'd say it's a fake behemoth."

"It still looks pretty strong."

"It's more dangerous than the earth tiger. Maybe A rank. It looks similar to a behemoth cub, but it's fully grown. It doesn't realize that, however. It still thinks that if it eats other beasts it will get stronger."

"So that means..."

"Look out!"

"RAAAAWWWRRR!!!"

The fake behemoth charged with an earsplitting roar. Ciel didn't have combat abilities of her own, but her Eye allowed her to anticipate its movements and dodge. Before I could even worry about her, she had evaded its attack.

"Catra!" I yelled.

"Meeeep!"

Catra instantly understood my intent and flew toward me. The fake behemoth may have been ferocious, but an advanced swordsman like me could fend off its attacks. I placed myself between Catra and the beast.

"My turn, Ciel?" Throughout the main dungeon Catra's growth had taken priority, but up against a boss I figured it was time I jumped into the fray myself.

"You're up," she confirmed. "Show him what you're made of."

"Let's gooo!" As I drew my sword, the fake behemoth gave an answering howl.

"GRAAAWWWR!"

"Hmm. Now that we're face-to-face, you're not so scary, are you?" Ciel had told me I should get better at gauging my own strength. Let's see, I think this calls for Repel...

"You will fall." I swung my sword three times toward the oncoming fake behemoth. Like a true advanced swordsman, my strokes sliced the air in a precise flurry of motion.

One stroke to halt its attack.

The second stroke to sweep upward and expose its weak spot.

And finally...

"Hiyaaah!"

...The third stroke to slice the fake behemoth's head clean off its body.

"Nice work. Let's call it at that for today," Ciel said, as though I hadn't just insta-killed a dungeon boss.

"This isn't the end of the dungeon, then?"

"No. But I think if we go just a bit farther, we'll be able to get the full picture."

Seeing as I had no idea how she could know that, I supposed it must be another part of the Appraisal skill.

"Meep!" With the defeat of the fake behemoth, Catra seemed to have grown another notch. Despite her increasing size, she seemed determined to ride on my shoulder, where she currently clung with fluttering wings. Cute, yes, but it was getting a little silly. Well, whatever made her happy.

"So, will we sleep here?"

"Yeah," Ciel replied. "Seems like a good place, since other than that fake behemoth, this floor should be clear of enemies." She rummaged around in the magic bag as she spoke. And from inside it she pulled out...

"Is that a bed?!"

"Yup! If we're gonna rest in comfort, we might as well go all the way, right?"

I couldn't argue with that, but this seemed rather excessive. This magic bag made things too easy. Typically, adventurers had to be content with sleeping bags. This was...out of the ordinary.

"It's not an everyday thing, but today we happen to have the space for it. The bed's pretty wide, so do you mind sharing it?"

"No, no, I mean, wait, I—"

"It's pretty likely that some contact will happen accidentally, since we're sleeping next to each other. I'm not bothered by that, but since I'll be leaving all the battling to you tomorrow, it'd be in your own best interest to focus on getting rest."

"That's true, but—"

"Meee!" Before I could continue, Catra thrust her face angrily toward me with a howl.

"You can sleep with us too," Ciel told her.

"Meep." At that invitation, she leapt onto the bed.

"If you don't join us, she's gonna be super grumpy."

"Meep," Catra agreed.

I was trapped. "Well... How about we eat something?!" I attempted an unsubtle change of topic.

"He's a scaredy-cat, huh?"

"Meeep." Somehow even Catra's gaze seemed scornful.

It was true that I should get used to going along with Ciel's plans, but...sometimes she was a bit too willing to do whatever it took to achieve her ends.

"Fine, be that way," Ciel said. "Oh, before you cook, you should perform some alchemy. It's a perfect chance to show off your skills."

"Don't get your hopes too high. Although, I guess with you here it's another story."

"That's right. For starters, prepare the ingredients exactly as I tell you." She started pulling things from the bag one after another.

"You collected all those ingredients?"

"Mmhm. Do you know what these are used for?"

"I don't know the exact formulas, but they all seem like strengthening agents." The ingredients she laid out included medicinal herbs, tree nuts, and mushrooms that she must have collected back in the forest, as well as various viscera of the monsters we'd defeated in the dungeon. Doping agents, all of them. Substances that gave you a temporary surge of strength or passion, or that instantly cleared your head.

"If you create everything you can think of with these, your power as an alchemist should return to the level of your previous life."

"Really?"

"You seem to be drawn more to the behind-the-scenes support role than to swordsmanship or sorcery, so your taming and alchemy skills are easiest to level up."

I had a sudden thought. But also...

"Also," Ciel continued, seeming to echo my thoughts, "you're good at assisting the tactics of your allies on the front line. But that task is best left to a familiar. I've pretty much settled on your training program."

"So for now, a tamer who can wield a sword?"

"Alchemy is more than just a convenience. I've thought of a way to make full use of your alchemy, taming, and some amount of combat ability, so just prepare yourself and follow me," Ciel said confidently.

I'll follow her anywhere.

"But first, food! Hurry up and finish mixing, and maybe you'll earn yourself the Advanced Cooking skill."

"Is that skill really necessary?"

"Of course it's necessary! I'm a very picky eater."

And so the three of us—two humans and one behemoth cub—passed a pleasant evening meal together.

❖

Dungeon assault, day two.

"So...sleepy..."

"Hmmm, guess you're not used to such a nice bed, huh?" Ciel said, giggling.

I could guess the cause of her amusement.

"Meep." Even Catra seemed to be laughing.

As it turned out, we'd been too busy fooling around last night to actually get any sleep. But ah, the memory of how Ciel had squealed when I saw her underwear...

"It'll be fine," she continued. "That tonic you brewed will ward off any fatigue."

"I guess." It turned out that the potion she'd had me make in order to obtain the cooking skill was actually extremely useful. I seemed to be able to make many advanced potions that had been beyond my abilities in the past. I guess I really was stronger than I'd been in my previous lives. With this level of doping tonic, I could push myself a full thirty percent more than I'd ever been able to.

"Now, on to the sixth level. We're truly in unexplored territory now—it's unlikely your former party made it past here."

If they even made it this far, her tone seemed to imply. That was fair enough. In those days we—or I guess I should say they—weren't at a level to tussle with a fake behemoth.

"I think I understand the layout of this dungeon, at least in broad terms," Ciel said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. This Eye's pretty handy, y'know."

I keep forgetting I'm talking to the wielder of the Eye of Appraisal—the jewel of our kingdom.

"What I've realized is that there are at least thirty levels to this dungeon. The tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth each have their own floor boss. At our current power, I'd say we can make it to floor fifteen, maybe nineteen at best."

"So a pretty standard dungeon, then?"

"Yup. There's no especially strong magic to contend with or riddles to solve—just progressively stronger enemies as we move through the levels. Plus matters of affinity, of course."

"So you're saying the boss of the twentieth floor is too strong for us?"

"For now. Maybe after Catra grows into a real behemoth."

"Hang on a sec. What does that mean about the boss on the thirtieth floor?!"

"No idea."

"You don't know?" At that moment it suddenly occurred to me that Ciel wasn't acting like her usual self. In place of her usual brazen self-confidence, her eyes held a glint of uncertainty.

"I...can't see it," she said. "That's partly due to the distance, but it's not just that. My power is supposed to let me get a complete picture of an opponent's skill set—strengths, weaknesses, everything—but beyond the thirtieth floor, that picture is completely black. I wonder...if it might just be too massive for even my powers to comprehend."

I knew I should say something, but as I groped for words Ciel quickly changed the subject.

"Well, that really just means I also have to work to get stronger. We'll advance as far as the tenth floor for now, and leave the rest for another time."

"Okay, if you think we can make it."

"The tenth floor boss will be yummy. It's not anything you can't handle."

Yummy? Any enemy with especially good skills could be considered "yummy" for us right now, I supposed.

❖

"Well, so far so good, huh?"

"It'd be a bad sign if we'd already started having trouble," Ciel replied.

We'd made it up to the tenth floor without encountering any real resistance. It was almost as if floors six through nine were just devoid of enemies. "I guess Catra leveling up really is making me stronger too."

"It's been a fruitful dungeon. Whaddaya think, have you surpassed the level of your previous seven lives?"

"I might have." Honestly, I'd always had only a vague sense of my own stats and arsenal of skills. It was only through Ciel's abilities that I had any precise reference points for quantifying such things. And even then, those reference points were just arbitrary. I had no way to compare accurately to my past lives. All I really knew was that the speed I was progressing at right now was not normal.

"You've obtained over ten new skills. Your stats are higher than those of a B rank adventurer. And of course, you'll have to get used to drawing even more power off of Catra."

"Just how strong has she gotten, anyway?" She was already way too big to look like a normal cat anymore, not to mention the bulging muscles, wings, and horns she'd grown. It was no longer possible to ignore the fact that she was indeed a fledgling behemoth. Nevertheless, she persisted in yelping "meep!" and trying to climb up on my shoulder. Ciel had taken pity on me, and helped Catra to learn a new skill that allowed her to resume her catlike form. My shoulder was extremely grateful.

"Hmm...maybe mid A rank? But not quite enough to take on a whole A rank party."

"She needs more experience for that?"

"That's part of it. But right now you've both got a bit of a 'jack of all trades, master of none' deal going on. Your powers were all absorbed from different sources and haphazardly cobbled together."

That was definitely true. There was no rhyme or reason to how we'd been gobbling up different skills and increased stats.

"A monster who grew to this strength more naturally would have the ability to focus all of their power in one concentrated attack, but she can't do that. So while weaker enemies are a cinch, she isn't capable of taking down high-level foes."

"So then, to be the best weapon—"

"No." Ciel cut me off. "I intend to continue developing you as a jack of all trades as long as possible. As long as it's not necessary to fight any high-level enemies just yet, it's the best path to take."

"If you say so..."

"The important thing to remember is that if your concentrated attack doesn't match up well against your opponent, you're a goner. I want to make sure you two are equipped to handle anything and everything you might come up against."

Ciel spoke these laughably impossible plans with such firm confidence that I couldn't help believing that she would somehow make it happen.

"It never even occurred to me that the key was helping Catra to get stronger," I said. I had always thought that I would be the one protecting her. Looking at her now, I had to admit how wrong that had been.

"Meeeep!"

"Patience, patience. We're not there yet." Ciel grinned mischievously.

Thinking of the legends passed down of true full-grown behemoths, I had an idea what she might mean by "not there yet," but something in her expression made me think there was something further behind her words.

"Even compared to other monsters, behemoths have tremendous power," she continued.

"Yeah, so you've said." Stronger even than dragons; I know that already.

Seeing my confusion, Ciel explained. "True monsters possess such overwhelming power that just standing before them is enough to bend your will to theirs. It's exactly the same as when you tamed Catra."

"Well sure, that's how monsters like goblin kings extend their influence. But that's just... Wait, do you mean...?"

"Yes. Someday, this kitten of yours will rule over all of the monsters as their queen. And as her tamer, you will be able to use Ability Absorption on all of them."

"What...? What are you trying to say?"

"Two years. Just give me two years, and—yeah, I'll say it—you'll become the Demon King."

Demon King.

Well, what else would you call one who commands all of the demonic beasts? But really, the behemoth would be the true ruler. I would just be...a random guy who happened to be along for the ride and sitting above her on the totem pole. The idea felt awkward to me, somehow.

"I mean, it's not like I'm gonna bring you back to the palace and introduce you as the Demon King. But this is just so you get a sense of the power level we're talking about here."

"Just thinking about that kind of power is...a little terrifying."

"Then don't just think about it. I intend for you to experience it firsthand," Ciel replied with a grin. "We need to power you up. For the sake of my freedom."

The uncut gem. The precious treasure of our kingdom, with sharp, jagged edges that cannot be smoothed. In that moment, I felt I got a glimpse of the princess's true nature.

"By the way, Remille, what did you do after saving Catra in your previous lives?"

"Uhhh..." I searched my memories. Oh, duh! "The battle with the lord of Margus's house." How could I have been forgetting such an important event?

"Oooh, intriguing."

And so I explained the details as Ciel's grin grew wider. Margus was our party leader and the fourth son of the Earl of Argus. The House of Argus maintained territory in the west of the kingdom. Margus's elder brothers, down to the third son of the house, had been granted work managing the family estates.

"There was no place for Margus there, so he became an adventurer. But if you ask me, he had more potential than all three of his older brothers combined."

"Despite everything, you still speak so kindly of him."

"Yeah... I don't know why." It was strange even to me. It was like all my memories had been turned upside-down and shaken, and my emotions regarding my three former companions were all tangled up. But one thing I knew for certain was that there was no path that led toward reconciliation. I had watched them murder Catra right before my eyes. There was no forgiving that.

"It's just...in my memories, they hadn't done anything to me."

"Yeah. I get it." Ciel smiled. "My eye is said to be able to see into the future, but your strength is in seeing your own past. There's no need for you to harden your heart."

"I guess..."

"It's a good thing," Ciel said, still smiling at me. "It's what makes you, you."

(Editor: power stones, please 🥺)