Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Become a Summoner."

Eren said and looked at Rodrick thoughtfully. The latter took a while to understand what it would mean for him.

"Do you mean I should only concentrate on increasing my mental strength? Pump up my Intelligence stat while ignoring the rest? Eren, there's a reason why this class isn't opted for by most rankers these days. The aptitude test will never show…"

Eren shook his head before replying.

"As I said, Rodrick. Forget about what the aptitude test says. It can only test your aptitude based on the data that has been fed into its array. Agreed, it gives the most efficient result for most rankers. But you, as an individual, are not "most rankers", are you?."

Eren said and got up from his seat. He started pacing around the room while playing with a thread sized fire snake he had summoned on the tip of his index finger.

"I guess intelligence stat is always looked down upon because it barely affects a ranker's spellcasting ability. A ranker is more likely to overburden their mana circuits than stress their mental faculties while stacking or casting multiple spells at once.

But things change when you look at spells that use your mental powers by default. Animated spells are one such type."

As he spoke, Eren made the fire snake he had summoned change shape in front of him. The snake got progressively larger by the moment until it had an erect head the same height as Eren's. It opened its mouth in front of its master under his command.

The butcher touched the fangs of the snake's open mouth with his bare hands and carried on.

"The summoner class has its drawbacks, yes. You would stop enhancing your other body stats. This means they would only increase at a slower rate when you advance to the next stage or the next rank.

But…"

Eren said and made another fire snake of the same size come into life besides the first one. He started playing with both of them. After a while, he continued.

"But if you take up the summoner class and increase your mental stat values, you would get to summon more of such beasts than any other ranker could imagine doing.

Think about the idea of getting surrounded by an army of undying soldiers that would stay forever loyal to you. I don't know about you. But I find that pretty cool. You can solo clear any raid inside the dungeon or out in the field when you reach high enough rank with that class."

Eren said and looked at Rodrick. He was still pondering over many things. Then he looked at Altashia who wanted to say something. But since he had placed a gag order on her, she was instead staring at him with the same pout on her face.

Eren raised his eyebrows before commenting.

"Al, you want to say something?"

Al nodded before opening her mouth to speak. Functional introvert as she may be, she could only keep quiet for so long.

"Eren, summoners have a huge weakness. They are the same as mages in that sense. Take them out first and their summons disperses in thin air.

And since their other body attributes are weak, they are easier to target. Even more so than mages who could at least cast defence spells on themselves.

Why do you think the class doesn't have many rankers practising it anymore? Rodrick would be at a disadvantage the moment someone…"

Eren smirked at Altashia before interrupting her.

"Heh! You don't think I know that summoners are even more of a glass cannon than mages? But so what?

Every class has its pros and cons. Which class is immune to this simple rule?

Rodrick would indeed be more vulnerable than he ever was if he takes up the summoner class. But that is only until he masters his path as a summoner.

Don't forget. The animated spells cast by regular rankers and animated spells cast by summoners are two different things. Furthermore, the summoners can breathe more life into each of their summons, making them more powerful individually.

When Rodrick reaches a high enough rank, he can also cast Monster Summon spells. Why would he be afraid of anyone attacking him if he has a huge monster army protecting him?

Umm… I'm biased towards having a monster army. But you guys get my drift, right?"

Eren said, expecting another rebuttal from Al. It arrived shortly afterwards.

"But that is only when he progresses sufficiently in his summoner path, Eren. What would he do until then? Not fight? Is he willing to risk his life every time he enters battle? Will he always rely on his teammates?

I mean it's not entirely impossible if you think about it. But I don't think Rodrick would like to count on others. The reason his paranoia gripped him was that he couldn't count on anyone after all."

Altashia said with a worried expression on her face. She was looking at Rodrick as if it was her fault he had started doubting himself. She then snapped out of her silly thought process all by herself before Eren could do that for her.

The butcher kept on playing with his fire snakes. He had summoned another snake of the same size by now. He was trying to punch them on their noses while telling them to dodge it. The dual feedback he was receiving while performing those punches was causing disharmony to his movements.

Eren knew that his intelligence stat was increasing ever since he had started smoking Stellar Sativa. And if the rumoured effects of Stellar Sativa were to be believed, it was also going to help him awaken his soul sense faster.

Therefore, he hypothesized that there was a correlation between intelligence and soul sense awakening. He didn't voice his hypothesis though. Because it was too early to say anything on that matter.

"Rodrick won't like to be dependent on others you say? But he already depends on someone to have his back."

Eren said and smiled at Altashia. He then looked at Rodrick who also looked at him with the light of understanding flashing in his eyes.

"Aqua. My demon beast!"