The priest’s eyes widened as he stared blankly at Dominic, anger dispersed by sheer incomprehension. He couldn’t even speak, thoroughly disconcerted by the suggestion.

  "What do you mean, Master?" Calvin asked, his own eyes wide with shock.

  "I do call myself a demigod. Do you really think I can’t revive the dead?"

  Everyone stared at him in stunned silence.

  "True, not something I could do without a while to prepare—I’d need to spend some time experimenting on a dead planet," Dominic explained, "because I’m not sure if all the souls of this world are linked to the common Tartarus system ruled by that man, or to some system of your own. Once I confirm that, and verify that reviving people doesn’t harm the world, I'll probably do it in some apocalyptic world." He paused and looked around, waving a hand to indicate everyone present. "But once we’ve dealt with the immediate crises, I'd be more than happy to revive all your relatives, friends—anyone who asks, really."

  A blanket silence fell over the room.

  Finally, the priest hiccupped before collapsing to his knees. "I apologize for my impudence, Your Holiness. I… if this is truly possible…Please. Please bring them back. I don’t care if I have to wait the rest of my life." he said, his voice breaking as though he might sob.

  Dominic smiled awkwardly and waved his hands. "No, no, it's fine," he said with a nervous chuckle. "You don’t need to feel bad about it. I understand how fickle emotions can be when you're mortal."

  Calvin was still in shock, his mouth hanging open as if a whole lizard could fit in it. Dominic snapped his fingers, making Calvin blink rapidly and close his mouth.

  "You're seriously that surprised by this?" Dominic asked.

  "No, no... it’s just... it’s something so permanent..."

  "And what is more permanent than a God?" Dominic replied.

  "Right, even death is only a part of a God’s domain…" Calvin murmured, still reeling.

  “Exactly. So, we’ll add that to the list to take care of once we’ve strengthened Gabrielle’s world and you’re closer to becoming a demigod yourself. Now then,” Dominic clapped his hands once and turned to the king. “No one going to kill each other while I’m gone, right?”

  Delizio and King Nohl nodded confidently to one another. The angered priest followed suit more sheepishly. He still seemed unsure of how he should be reacting, currently both confused and teary-eyed.

  Well, they could deal with each other reasonably for now. Dominic had more urgent things to do. “Excellent. Then this issue is resolved. Can you give me a royal seal? I intend to enroll my disciple at..." He turned to Calvin for confirmation.

  "Starlight Academy," Calvin filled in helpfully.

  "In Starlight Academy," Dominic repeated. "I do intend to edit the curriculum, unless Calvin prefers the full, traditional experience at the academy. In either case, I assume your royal seal would be useful for such a matter."

  “Certainly, Your Holiness," the king said solemnly. He waved his hand to summon his royal seal into his palm, then a piece of paper in his other hand which he stamped with the seal. One more wave of his hand and golden letters appeared on the paper, written in beautiful, regal handwriting.

  The king held it out to Dominic, weight in his every move. "This letter grants you all the authority of a king. Anything you wish to do, anyone you wish to execute—not that you can’t do that on your own, but this grants you the royal authority to do so. You could even use it to execute my own kin—except for killing me, which I can’t quite grant... or maybe I could... yes, you could kill me with this and become the new king."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Dominic waved his hand dismissively. "I’m not really interested in that," he said, brushing aside the king’s internal calculations about whether a royal order of power transfer would eliminate any treasonous claims while making someone worthy of inheritance.

  The king smiled. "Indeed, what could a kingdom offer someone who’s a god?"

  "Different scopes of power, after all," Dominic mused, nodding sagely. He took the letter with a flick of his finger, storing it away in his storage space. Before he could even ask, Gabrielle helpfully presented a map in front of him.

  "Time to go to the academy?" Calvin asked excitedly.

  Dominic grinned, and in a flash, they were gone.

  Calvin's breath hitched at the sight spread out before them. Starlight Academy—the place he’d longed for all his life.

  A magnificent castle of gold and white marble sprawled comfortably atop a green hill overlooking vast green lawns divided by purpose and surrounded by towers. It looked more fitting for a king than for students, and yet here it was.

  The massive wrought-iron gates did nothing to obscure the castle or its towers and outbuildings. To the right of the main castle, an observatory’s divided dome aimed an intricate working of crystals and brass at the sky, a device such as Calvin had never seen. Nor was it the only massive artifact to be given pride of place in one of the academy’s plaza sections. Several more stood scattered about, whether with magic or gears and pulleys, whose usage Calvin couldn’t begin to guess at.

  A free-floating fountain sent water up through a series of woven glass tubes, water that appeared from nowhere at the bottom. The fountain’s braided and intertwined helixes and loops rose and split out out from their initial close cluster at waist height until they spread out overhead like a massive stylized willow tree, only instead of trailing leaves its branches ended in a dozen open spouts at the top to cast glittering droplets into the air only to disappear just before touching the ground.

  An open amphitheatre stood proudly dominating the leftmost section just inside the wall, with a handful of students already seated around and more arriving from both within and without. Another section contained training fields for everything from running or playing games to combat simulation and practice targets.

  One could be forgiven for assuming it was a kingdom unto itself.

  Calvin took in Starlight Academy with a mix of awe and longing. This vast expanse of land, these many facilities, each with a clear function. Calvin and his master were far from the only visitors to come hoping to tour the academy grounds today.

  All around them people stood gathered around the closed gates, waiting for their chance to enter. Whether rich citizens or nobles either alone or bringing their children to see the academy for themselves.

  Everyone ignored their abrupt appearance in the middle of the crowd—probably due to his master's powers.

  Among the extravagant onlookers, there was one family that stood out: a single mother with her son. While they weren’t exactly shabby, their clothes were well-worn and old, and when standing next to the nobles, the disparity in wealth and status was immediately apparent.

  They must be commoners. Probably a scholarly, skilled student hoping to enroll here.

  "Then," his master asked, breaking Calvin from his thoughts, "What is it that you want your academy life to look like?"

  "What do you mean, Master?"

  "If your academy life could look however you wanted it to, what would it be? What did you envision when you longed for this experience?" his master asked again.

  Calvin considered the idea.

  “We have the royal seal. If you don’t want to go through all four years, I could form a time bubble for you and get this done in a day. Maybe compare the previous results to yours, show how your peers are clearly inferior to you, and then you could attend one final exam to prove to yourself that you’re better than all of them?”

  Calvin looked at the nobles in front of him, then glanced at Starlight Academy. He pondered: was that really what he wanted—a speedrun? He thought about dealing with all the noble brats, their attitudes, their bratty behavior, and nodded to himself. He did want to spend some time in the Academy, but that could be done while he was in the time bubble.

  When time was sped up, he didn’t have to attend the Academy and put up with these nobles and their antics, trying to ‘network’. That wasn’t why he was here. Networking or expanding his connections for a job—he had broken free from that kind of life. He was here to learn and test his growth, not play petty power games.

  Calvin nodded. “Yes, master, I think I’d like to speedrun this. I’d appreciate it being in a time bubble. I could complete my exams and studies and get a well-rounded grasp, comparing my results to the others.”

  He’d once dreamt of joining the upper class, but now it felt beneath him. With his master, that was no longer the path he desired.

  Dominic grinned and nodded. “If it works for you, I have no qualms.”