The underworld assassins quickly noticed Zach's seemingly impenetrable defense and changed tactics after a string of assaults, most of which ended in total failure and annihilation. They stopped exposing themselves and stuck to launching hidden weapons and arrows from afar and setting up traps.
However, Zach's bubble-like defensive barrier repelled all attacks. It even kept the air pure and clean without so much as a hint of either poison or insects. It almost made their journey too smooth.
It was hard for Julius and Dukiel to build a real sense of danger or alarm despite the goal of their trip due to Zach's barrier. It was like they were in a world of their own and looking at fake dangers and threats like they were on a sightseeing tour.
Eventually, Dukiel had enough. He couldn't take it any longer.
"Zach, please tell me how you turned your skill into this." He had to know what Zach had done to transform and develop his skill to this degree. The last time they had been on an excursion into the forest with him, the barrier had been stronger than during the field trip, far stronger.
But it still broke not far into the forest due to the assassins' powerful and piercing attacks.
Now, it wasn't showing as much as a scratch or crack even several hours into the journey.
Dukiel wanted his skill to be useful. Even if Zach's method didn't work for him, he had to check.
Zach glanced back without fully turning his head. He glimpsed Dukiel's earnest desire.
"...How long do you two think I can keep my barrier up? With or without outside interference."
Dukiel and Julius looked at Zach's back. It seemed he was going to tell them something in a roundabout way. Why did he make it sound so scary before, then?
"...Since you've kept this up for a few hours without complaining…Half a day?"
Dukiel slowly shook his head at Julius' suggestion.
"It has to be more. Otherwise, he wouldn't suggest this trip. A day? Two days?" Dukiel was unsure. Two days felt too long. Did he go that long without sleeping?
Was he planning to never sleep until they made it back to the Academy after raiding the Locale? Was he hoping it would be over after they raided the Locale?
"Three weeks. That's my current record."
The two couldn't believe what they had heard.
Three weeks was an insane record. It didn't make sense.
"...How?" Dukiel didn't think Zach was lying. He tended to be a lot more annoying when he was. Now, it felt like he was completely serious.
Zach shrugged before answering.
"At first, I just trained it. I had my familiar attack it while I defended until I couldn't last anymore. When I coughed up blood I went to the infirmary before continuing. Then, I kept it up for as long as possible. Eventually, I could keep it up long enough that the problem was sleep.
"I stopped sleeping for a while just to see how long I could keep the barrier up even when enduring attacks. It worked, but I wasn't satisfied with the results of that kind of training. So, I started wondering…How can I make this more difficult? You know, like when lifting weights.
"Simply having my familiar or someone else break the barrier wasn't quite it. Instead, I started playing with the size and shape. Every second of the day, regardless of what else I was doing, I came up with various ways to create, maintain, and move my barriers.
"I also cheated by looking at the records in the library.
"After a while, when I could mold and transform my barriers like clay, I realized something."
Zach paused and turned around, stopping and forcing the others to stop. He looked them in the eyes.
"The wording is literal. The presentation is needlessly formal. My Blessed Defense is a skill. It's a contract skill that I got from my contract with my familiar. When you put it like that, it sounds like it's something external. It isn't my skill.
It's a thing I've been allowed to do thanks to my contract with my familiar."
Zach grinned. He could see Dukiel's and Julius' agreement in their eyes. That was how it worked.
By summoning a familiar, they got what was no different from a gift from the summoning interface. It wasn't their skill. It was a product and an extra boon on top of the familiar contract. It was a very useful bonus tool in their arsenal. But it was borrowed.
Confusion, denial, and hesitation sprung up in Dukiel's and Julius' eyes.
"It is my skill. Doesn't matter how I got it. Doesn't matter where it's from. It's mine. It's mine to do with as I please. Like such, it's like any other skill I have.
I can train it and use it however and whenever I want.
"If I take it another step, especially with how extraordinary and useful my skill is, isn't it like a new limb? Or maybe an organ? Some monsters or familiars can do things that their animal counterparts can't do. No, not like tear and throw entire trees. Anerias' Blackfire Hound can light its paws on fire. Dogs can't do that."
"But that's different!" Julius objected.
"Right. The Hound is a familiar while a dog is just a dog." Dukiel agreed with Julius' objection.
"You're a human! A contract skill doesn't turn you into a monster or familiar."
Zach smiled and held up a finger.
"You're wrong about one thing, Julius. I'm not just a human. I'm a summoner. I—we are already different from other humans, even if it's not obvious yet." Zach glanced at the Sentinel and the Mannequin behind his two friends.
"Have you never thought about how weird it is that one day you suddenly had a companion for life who would throw their lives away for yours? They fight for you. With you. You can trust them blindly to have your back despite never exchanging as much as a word."
That last part didn't apply to Zach, though.
"Being a summoner means you're never alone. Your back will never be exposed. Someone will always fight for you. Well, as long as you don't fuck it up. But regardless, that's not normal.
"Normal people are lonely. They're exposed. They fight for themselves and others. Others don't fight for them. And don't get me started on the interface and the levels. If I'm right, we haven't even scratched the surface."
Dukiel and Julius could only look at Zach in obstinate silence and refuse to understand or accept his words. It was too much, too unbelievable, and too circumstantial. Zach didn't have anything to back up his words.
Still, the strong conviction in those words forced Dukiel and Julius to continue mull over them in silence as they continued walking.