34: A Vampire In The Academy (1)

The second class of the day has just concluded. Evelyn stayed in the section dedicated to fire elementals so she could meet with Mr. Leonard, the teacher specializing in fire elementals in this department.

Previously, after having breakfast in the canteen, the first-year students attended their first class - the general magic class. During the class, they were introduced to the basics of spellcasting using their spiritual energy reserves. Their previous general magic classes focused on the history of magic in Zitherland, mana control, and manakinesis - the manipulation of mana. Today, they began learning the basics of casting spells.

When the class was over, they took a few hours' breaks before returning for the elemental and variant magic class, which also ended a few minutes ago. Today's class in the fire elemental section focused on pyrokinesis, which is the ability to manipulate flames. The students with an affinity for the fire element were taught how to control and shape flames to create weapons, shields, or other fire-based constructs.

It was safe to say that in other sections of this department, the same elemental/variant manipulation was taught. Some examples include terrakinesis (earth manipulation), hydrokinesis (water manipulation), aerokinesis (air/wind manipulation), cryokinesis (ice manipulation), electrokinesis (lightning manipulation), umbrakinesis (shadow manipulation), ligneokinesis (wood manipulation), sonokinesis (sound manipulation), and other variants' manipulation for most students.

Just as the pyrokinesis class was over, Evelyn walked up to Mr. Leonard, who seemed to be waiting for her.

Just like Sushi's hair, Mr. Leonard's most striking feature was his dark crimson hair that cascaded down his shoulders. On his face, there was barely a strand of hair. He had no mustache or beard, except for his dark crimson eyebrows. His bulging black eyes, large nose, and muscular build made him look intimidating. But just as he opened his mouth and spoke to Evelyn, anyone could confirm that he wasn't a man of violence.

"So, you finally came. I knew you would definitely come. Come, let's sit down."

Evelyn averted her gaze, avoiding direct eye contact with the man. She said:

"Thank you, sir." She followed the man and sat in a seat in the hall. "Mr. Leonard, you asked me to come find you whenever I need your assistance in temporarily resolving my mana core issue. That is why I'm here now." Evelyn said straightforwardly, looking into the man's black eyes. Although she came to learn how to overcome her problem, she was still wary of this man. This was why she left her amulet in her room before coming, in case the man was only offering to help her because he had covetous eyes for her amulet.

"Okay. You might think I will request something from you in return for helping you..." he paused. "If that is your line of thought, then be rest assured that I am helping you out of my own will. I do it for every one of my students, especially those that I know have some potential in them. So, you shouldn't think that I'm giving you special treatment.

"Do you understand?"

Listening to the man's words, Evelyn couldn't help but feel that he was sincere. Perhaps she was being paranoid because of that dream that was still vivid in her mind today.

"Yes, sir!"

Those few lines said by the man had certainly made Evelyn see him in a new light. 'Let's not think about anything for now. Until I verify whether his method will be effective.'

"I will now show you the new method of meditation that will help resolve your problem. Don't be confused, I can actually relate to your predicament because I was once in your shoes when I was young. The method I'm going to share with you helped me overcome mine. So, I hope you will achieve the same result.

"Since both of us have a similar issue with our mana core, I will teach you my methods, just like a father. From now on, you are forbidden to use honorifics when addressing me. No 'sir', no 'Mr. Leonard', just call me Leo from now on."

Father? That word struck a particular chord with Evelyn. According to her mother, her father died on the day she and Elvis were born. She never knew what other students referred to as "fatherly warmth".

She felt a rush of emotions—similar to what she had felt when the woman in her dream embraced her—wash over her. 'This feeling... Why do I rarely experience it? Is this the feeling that others call "emotion"?' She pondered before opening her mouth to speak.

"Thank you so much, si… s… Mr. Leo," Evelyn said with a cracked voice.

Mr. Leo rolled his eyes as he watched the young girl in front of him struggling to express her emotions. He wondered what she might have gone through to become this way, but he didn't want to pry into his student's life. So, he pushed the thought away and continued.

"Let's start... Just sit cross-legged as you would normally do when beginning your mana control practice. Before you start absorbing mana into your core, take a few deep breaths and exhale. Feel the mana core within you.

"Start absorbing mana into your core, but immediately you notice a restriction. Stop. And refine the absorbed mana. After it has circulated as spiritual energy, store it in your core. Then, continue absorbing until you reach your limit. After that, refine the mana, and this time, do not store it in your core."

"Why?" Evelyn asked, fully absorbing everything the man was saying.

"That is because you have an incomplete spherical core. If you fill it to the brim with spiritual energy, the energy will start to leak out until every last bit of it is gone... Now, this is how you utilize the new spiritual energy..." he said trying to delve deeper into what he was teaching her, "... circulate it throughout your meridians and envision each meridian as a tiny core. That's all. The spiritual energy will circulate your body constantly, being stored."

"Isn't that just like how witches harness nature's energy?!" She exclaimed.

"Sort of, but it is different. Witches cannot refine mana into spiritual energy because they lack a mana core. However, they are capable of casting spells using raw mana. So, you see, it's entirely different.

"Now, let's discuss what to do when using your elemental abilities without depleting your spiritual energy. All you need to do is keep absorbing mana, and refining it as you use it. This method could even provide you with an infinite supply of spiritual energy to utilize. Only it is hard to master... Let me show you."

Leo ignited his flames and let them burn for almost half an hour. Evelyn watched him intently as she assimilated all the information she had just received.

She could be said to have hit the jackpot today. She can't believe that what Leo just told her would be able to help her overcome her mana restriction problem that has humiliated her in front of other students. It was even one of the reasons why she was ranked 1-star after the Magical Prowess Test.

Leo opened his eyes and extinguished the flames in his hand before he looked at Evelyn and said:

"You see, all this time my hand was flaring. I didn't utilize the stored spiritual energy in my mana core. I was using the latter method I told you about, continuously refining external mana and utilizing it in my flames."

After numerous attempts, Evelyn tried it out but failed repeatedly. She left the hall after succeeding in the final trial.

***

Room 43, Male Dormitories, Rylinth Academy.

A silhouette of shadow resembling a human phased through the door of the dorm room. The shadowy figure looked around the room as if searching for something or someone.

After a second had passed, the door of the room clicked open, and the shadowy figure moved towards it, merging with the person who had just opened it.

A boy with curly, black hair stumbled into the room, his eyes gleaming with a blood-red hue. He was desperately trying to conceal his elongated fangs protruding from his mouth.

It was this boy who opened the door to the dorm room. It was also him whom the shadow figure, resembling his replica, merged with a few seconds ago. It was none other than Steve.

Looking at him, one might think that he has lost all sense of sanity and embraced monstrosity.

Just as he entered the room, he hurriedly staggered to a small armoire beside his bed and retrieved a black, cylindrical bottle.

After opening the bottle, he gulped down the red liquid inside. But it seemed that the quantity inside the bottle wasn't enough to quench his bloodthirst, as he brought the bottle out of his mouth and shook it.

Only two drops of blood fell from the tip of the bottle to the floor

"This blood has gone bland and the blurriness in my vision has completely cleared.

"I can't go on like this... It's a relief that Coy wasn't in the room when I entered, otherwise, I might lose control and attack him, draining his fresh blood..." he paused and took a deep breath as if relinquishing the taste of the blood he just drank.

"I have my shadow clone to thank for its scouting ability, without it I would have blown my cover today in class today."

He went to sit in a meditative posture and, after a few minutes, he opened his eyes. It has returned to its normal hazel color, and the fangs were gone. Additionally, his pale face was back to its normal color.

"I really need to find a way to obtain fresh blood for myself, or else I might go berserk in front of the whole academy. That would be the end of me because I still don't know how humans perceive my race. Not to mention, if I fail to complete the Demon Emperor's mission here. My family will be annihilated...

"I can't afford to lose them, especially Mom and little Geraldine.

"I miss all of you... but you should wait for me, guys. I will definitely free you from the clutches of those f*cking demons," he said, tears streaming down his handsome face.