DEMON'S VIRTUE

[Your <Apprentice Holy Energy Resistance> Skill has leveled up!]

Eiro looked at the notification in front of him. It was really surprising how quickly he was able to raise this specific skill if he tried to in this manner. It leveled up another three times just this night, bringing it to level 85.

Of course, Eiro was able to find the perfect amount of Holy Energy that his body could take until being damaged beyond repair. Nothing was happening to his soul either, luckily, or he would have just doomed himself.

Even so, he couldn't avoid the fact that his whole body ached an incredible amount. So much so that Eiro just wanted to lay there all day, doing nothing at all. But he couldn't do that, he still had classes to teach today. It would be a calmer day for him, then, especially in the practical combat class that he was going to teach today.

The Demon walked out of the door to his room and slowly walked down the steps. And there, he saw James walking toward him, breathing heavily, full of exhaustion.

"Good start to your training for now?" Eiro asked with a wry smile, and James soon locked eyes with the Demon in front of him, "Just... shut it... I feel like I'm about... to die..."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Eiro pointed out as he walked past the light elf, who only continued to glare at him, "Fuck you..."

"No thanks." And just like that, Eiro made his way back down to the ground floor, noticing that James was flipping him off behind his back. But Eiro didn't care, he was in too much pain for that. It was like his whole body was bruised after a heavy beating.

"Morning. Are all of you ready for school?" The Demon asked unenergetically, looking at the children sitting at the table in front of him.

"Yup, for the most part." Rudy said, glancing at Arc sitting next to him, casually reading a novel. Eiro rubbed the bridge of his nose, "What does that mean? Arc, what did you do? Or rather, what did you not do?"

Arc casually stayed silent, pretending not to hear Eiro. Instead, Sammy answered for him, "I'm pretty sure he didn't do any of his homework."

"...Really now? Arc, the only thing you really had to do was read the text given to you about Archibald Hemingway, and then answer a few questions about his life. What's so hard about that?" Eiro asked with his arms crossed, and Arc slowly flipped to the next page in his book.

"Nothing in particular, just that the dude's life is boring as shit. I read about him when I was 13, Dad. During your 'Autobiography' phase. We had like 10 books about him. I'll just answer all the questions during the carriage-ride, or hold a full-on presentation about him. Not that it would take long either. His life can be summed up in a sentence. He was born a prodigy, didn't lift a finger his whole life, and then happened to kill a Royal Monster by pure luck." Arc said in a bored tone, and Eiro let out a deep sigh. To an extent, he was right. Arc probably knew most of what could be taught to him in those sorts of classes anyway. That didn't mean he could just laze around and not do what was required for them.

"Except that the royal monster in question was the closest to becoming the new Monster King after the old one died. And he was a 'Hive' type, with thousands of monsters being part of his own self. All alone, he defended a town from that many monsters that were each strong enough to be the weakest royal. The 'luck' part you mean is that each individual monster gave him experience after he killed it, letting him rapidly level up." Eiro pointed out, "If you think about it, that's a lot more awesome than the way than how I managed to kill a Royal."

Arc slowly raised his head from his book and locked eyes with Eiro, "If you put it that way, sure, he might be kinda cool. But he's still boring as shit compared to our life. I mean, we have a fucking angel and an undead in our basement."

"Wait, what?" Sammy asked confused, "We have what in our basement?"

"I'll explain it on the way to school. But Arc, it doesn't matter if you think something is boring. That doesn't mean you can just not do it. Got that?"

Arc soon rolled his eyes as he stood up from his seat, "Fine, I'll do it now, I guess."

"Good. We're heading off in half an hour, so hurry it up." The Demon pointed out, and walked past the table a bit more. He let his body drop onto the chair with a loud groan, and everyone in the room turned toward the Demon immediately.

"Dad, are you getting... old?" Clementine asked nervously, and Eiro stared at the girl with a deep sigh, "You know that technically my body is younger than all of yours, right? No, I'm not getting old. I've been practicing my Holy Energy Resistance all night."

"...Has Avalin's holy energy gotten stronger again?" Sammy questioned. Eiro slowly nodded his head in response, "Yes, she nearly set me ablaze last night. I'm just 15 levels away from the Intermediate stage, at that point I should be fine for the next few months. And then after my next evolution, that skill is surely going to be strengthened again, and I won't have to worry about anything anymore."

"Speaking of... How are you going to hide your evolution from the students? And when is it going to happen anyway?" Curiously, Rudy asked. He tried to change the topic. The fact that Eiro could constantly be injured by their sister was something that everyone that was a part of this family was worried about anyway. They were well-aware of the dangers that existed within this family-dynamic.

Eiro thought about it for a moment, "If I hurry it up and use a lot of my freetime to hunt... Two, three months maybe. My evolution itself is most likely going to take a month or two as well. I doubt that my body is going to change in major ways anymore. And any changes that I'll experience can be hidden through Bavet's help." The Demon explained quickly, "So I doubt it's going to be an issue."

"That's good. Would be a bother to explain why a man with kids our age is suddenly growing by another ten centimeters."

"...If that happens, I'll blame it on a fake skill that I'll pretend to have. Shouldn't be too hard." Eiro replied to Arc, who chuckled a bit in response.

Eiro looked at his palm, and pressed down onto it with his wooden thumb. His body felt weirdly... weaker than before last night. Part of it was probably just the pain that he was still experiencing, but beyond that, it felt like his body had lost in substance in a weird way. It would probably recover soon enough, but it still felt a bit weird.

But either way – Eiro had to keep on raising his Holy Energy Resistance skill if he wanted to keep living like he did right now.

---

Eiro walked into the room that he would have his next class in, and exhaustedly placed his satchel onto the table. He thought that the pain would disappear throughout the day, but the opposite was the case. It only became worse. At least, Eiro's body felt more sluggish than before. It was surely just temporary, however it still felt quite uncomfortable now at this time.

"Alright, Class, we will now be discussing the basics of combining Magic with physical combat. Can any of you tell me how you think this would be possible?" Eiro asked the students. This was a special elective class for those that were able to use magic on top of taking combat classes.

Surprisingly, none of the students raised their hands. They just had a practical class, so most of them seemed quite exhausted.

"Anyone? At all?" Eiro asked again. Finally, a student raised their hand.

"By covering your weapon in magic?" They asked, and Eiro quickly nodded his head, "That is the most basic form that this sort of combination can take, yes."

The Demon pulled out his dagger, and proceeded to use fire magic, covering its surface in red hot flames. "There are, however, some other ways to use magic in similar ways. Instead of just covering your weapon in magic..." Eiro walked up to a container filled with water next to his desk. He pulled the water out of it, and quickly froze it, turning it into the shape of a sword.

"You can also use magic to fight more directly. This, of course, requires a lot more control over magic in general, so it's not for everyone. In the first method, you can just link your magic to your weapon, and let the magic do the rest. You can concentrate on fighting. With the second, you need to split your concentration between your magic and your combat. There are benefits to either method, of course. A weapon made of magic is a lot more versatile. Easier to adapt to different situations. It can't be completely broken either. One simply cloaked in it may let you deal more raw damage, and might be easier to use. It all depends on your own style, and the situation."

After Eiro's explanation, the Demon suddenly felt a bit of a tingle in his hand as one of the students raised their hand. It was Rico, and Eiro had a rough idea what he was going to ask.

The boy was called on, and then asked his question, "Is there a way to use the second method as a hand-to-hand fighter?"

"Well... That might require a bit of creativity, but it's certainly possible." Eiro pointed out. The ice that made up the sword he was holding turned back into water as Eiro placed his right hand behind his back. Instead, the water formed a fake right hand as it soon froze over again. Eiro moved it around with a bit of concentration, creating similar movements to a simple jab.

"Or if that's too hard, you can do something like this as well." The Demon said, and moved his right hand back in front of his body. The ice began floating in front of his hand and turned into a large fist of ice. Again, Eiro moved his hand like a jab, and the ice-fist moved in similar motions.

"Basically, linking up your hand with your magic to create a fake hand. More reach, possibly more power, and a lot more possibilities." The Demon explained, "I wouldn't suggest using the 'cloaking' method if you use fire magic though." He laughed. A few students laughed along. Everything was fine.

Until Eiro suddenly felt a jolt in his arm, and a bit of smoke left his body. He just now realized why his body felt so sluggish.. Holy Energy was stuck in his body.