In this Second Chance at Life, where I can see skills as clear as day, everything feels like a breeze. And to make it even better, I’m spending my days joyfully with my First Love. - Chapter 59

The Trial of the Supreme God stripped me of my skills, stats, levels, and even my profession. Everything was confiscated, leaving me seemingly powerless. Yet, for reasons unknown—whether out of oversight or as an act of mercy—the Supreme God didn’t touch my Unique Skill, Repetition Mastery.

The true value of Repetition Mastery lies in its ability to retain anything learned through consistent practice. Skills that had reached their maximum level before losing my stats seemed to remain functional. For instance, though Appraisal was capped at level 80 and therefore inaccessible, most of my other skills still worked.

On top of that, thanks to my years of training, my base stats—while far from their previous peak—felt solid.

Interestingly, while I was unconscious following my defeat, I apparently remained in the dungeon. And despite losing my profession, I discovered that my contract with my familiar, Kanahebi, was still intact.

According to Kanahebi, the familiar bond isn’t tied to a specific profession. Instead, it’s a soul-level contract, meaning that as long as I’m alive, the bond won’t be nullified.

This likely meant that Hermes Pigeon, the familiar tasked with protecting my family, was also still active.

Additionally, the 100 Slaughter Machine Dolls I left behind in this world remained functional.

As for my authority as Dungeon Master, it hadn’t been taken either. Since that authority was something Kanahebi passed on to me, it remained intact.

Though my Item Box was slightly smaller due to losing the Item Box Expansion skill, it was still operational and could store dungeon-related items.

Ultimately, the only meaningful losses were my enhanced stats from non-maxed augmentation and strengthening skills, and my Appraisal ability.

Granted, losing my augmentation skills reduced my stats by nearly 100-fold, which was a huge blow. However, the residual skills—those retained through Repetition Mastery—weren’t bound by the Supreme God’s influence. That meant they couldn’t be nullified, even in the Supreme God’s domain.

In other words, next time, I could protect Ichika even on the Supreme God’s turf.

If anything, I was in better shape than before.

The following morning, Ichika immediately noticed something unusual. Using her Insight skill, she realized that my strength had grown even more compared to yesterday.

She couldn’t be certain why, but she suspected it was the influence of Repetition Mastery.

Though Insight allowed her to perceive many things, it couldn’t reveal the true nature of unique skills belonging to others.

Still, she was convinced that this was the power of Repetition Mastery.

But then a realization struck her.

“(Wait… does this mean Yasushi-kun won’t hold me anymore?!)”

Ichika’s stats were drastically reduced compared to before.

The Supreme God had redistributed both her and my stats and skills among humanity, leaving her weaker than the average person.

If Yasushi hugged her with his increasing strength—or worse, anything beyond that—her body might physically break.

“(No! That’s unacceptable!)”

Ichika clenched her fists.

Though Yasushi hadn’t realized this yet, once he did, he’d likely hold back entirely, avoiding physical affection altogether. She knew Yasushi wouldn’t risk hurting her.

But Ichika, now in high school and starting to feel the stirrings of adulthood, wasn’t willing to accept this. She didn’t want to put everything on hold.

“(I won’t let this happen!)”

Determined, Ichika activated her Insight and poured all her mental effort into finding a solution.

She needed a way to stay close to Yasushi without risk of harm.

After some time, she reached her conclusion.

“Yasushi-kun! I know this is sudden, but… make me your familiar!”

“…What?”

“You heard me. I want you to make me your familiar,” Ichika repeated firmly.

That morning, as soon as I saw Ichika, she seemed lost in thought.

And then, out of nowhere, she hit me with this.

At first, I thought I must’ve misheard her. But judging by her serious expression, she was completely serious.

“Why… would you want that?” I asked, baffled.

“Um… I can’t quite grasp what you’re trying to say, Ichika.”

“Well, you see—”

To summarize, if I were to make Ichika my familiar, I’d regain benefits like Familiar Enhancement and the Overwhelming Numerical Advantage that I supposedly still have. On top of that, she’d become durable enough that I wouldn’t have to worry about breaking her if I hugged her.

Apparently, even my old titles are still intact. Can humans even become familiars? I have so many questions, but making Ichika my familiar… huh.

I sighed. While regaining my strength had provided some relief—“Now I can protect Ichika!”—the comfort didn’t last long. Thanks to the Supreme God’s interference, Ichika had also been weakened, to the point where even being close to me could harm her fragile body.

The thought of her becoming strong enough to withstand my touch is tempting, though.

“Ichika, are you okay with this? Becoming my familiar…?”

I’ve always wanted our relationship to remain equal. The idea of forming a master-servant bond, even if just on paper, made me hesitate. Still, the advantages were hard to ignore.

“I’m fine with it,” Ichika replied. “If we become bound as master and familiar, I’ll feel even more connected to you, Yasushi-kun. Besides, if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of me being your familiar, once the contract gives me power, I’ll be able to use a ‘Familiar Contract’ myself.”

So, in short, Ichika would become my familiar, and I’d become hers in turn.

Ichika as my master, and me as her servant… Yeah, there’s something about that—taboo, a bit twisted… but oddly appealing.

Even without fully understanding a “Familiar Contract,” a “Familiar Bond” would allow us to know each other’s location and communicate from afar. Pretty useful.

And since I’d also be her servant while being her master, our relationship would still be balanced. With so many benefits, there wasn’t a good reason to refuse.

“Alright, Ichika, I’ll make you my familiar.”

Technically, all I needed to do was wish for it, and the contract would complete as long as she was willing. But I chose to seal it with a kiss because, well, I wanted to.

“Hmm…?!”

Ichika looked surprised, then suddenly leaned against me as if she was about to collapse. I caught her before she could fall.

“Hey, are you okay? What happened?”

“I-I’m fine…”

Species: Human-Demon
Name: Ichika Kobayashi
Level: 1
Unique Skill: Foresight

Huh? What’s this? It feels like when I appraised myself for the first time. But… Species: Human-Demon? She’s not human anymore.

Could it be that she stopped being human because I made her my familiar?

…Well, regardless of her species, Ichika is still the woman I love.

And her appearance hasn’t changed at all.

“Are you really okay? Your species is listed as ‘Human-Demon’ now… And being able to see your status is kind of strange in itself.”

“Yasushi-kun, the reason you can see my status is that becoming your familiar allowed you to use a fraction of my skill, Foresight.”

I see. But that doesn’t explain the “Human-Demon” part! Just as I was about to say something, Ichika silenced me with a kiss.

Wait, was this for the Familiar Contract? Now that I could partially use Foresight, I realized a kiss wasn’t necessary for the contract.

While I was happy Ichika kissed me, I couldn’t shake the embarrassment of her realizing my earlier kiss was purely because I wanted to.

And so, I became Ichika’s familiar.

In that moment, it felt as though every cell in my body was being remade, as though my soul was transforming into something entirely different. The sensation was a mix of pain and the exhilaration of growth—a strange, indescribable feeling.

So that’s why Ichika collapsed earlier. It’s also why she became a Human-Demon.

And then…

Species: Human-Demon
Name: Yasushi Sajima
Level: 1
Unique Skill: Iterative Trials

I, too, had become a Human-Demon.

Though my level was now 1, I could tell that I was slightly stronger than I had been before my battle with the Supreme God—even with all the reinforcement and enhancement skills I’d used back then.

I couldn’t see specific stats anymore, but somehow, I just knew.

On that day, Ichika and I abandoned our humanity together.

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