Chapter 3: Dark Magic, the Laboratory, and the Vampire

"I've made up my mind to go, but..."

Although I believed that I wouldn't die, that was just it—I wouldn't die. I couldn't imagine what I would encounter.

Of course, I couldn't run away just because I was scared.

What I needed was there, in that place.

"But it's still daunting. It feels like going to work, in a way."

As I got closer to the professor's office, my steps became heavier.

My mentor in Dark Magic, Professor Caron Diflen, was not widely known, but he was a solid mid-level professor with a considerable support base. His characteristic coldness and unflappable calmness served as powerful weapons for him to conceal his identity as a Dark Mage.

However, he was not the type of person to easily overlook mistakes, as cold and composed as he may be.

When I arrived at Caron's office, I could see that the lights were still on. Thankfully, it seemed like he hadn't left yet.

Knock, knock.

"Professor Caron, it's Adrias Cromwell."

I knocked on the door and waited for a moment, but there was no response.

In the tense silence, I could faintly hear a small voice from beyond the door.

"Come in."

I cautiously opened the door.

Inside, a middle-aged man with neatly combed black hair was sitting at his desk, examining a magic tablet that resembled a smartphone-like magical tool from the world I used to live in.

"...Adrias."

"Yes, Professor."

"Didn't I clearly say the 11th?"

"I apologize. I must have mistaken the date."

His icy gaze passed over me like a snake's tongue, making me feel uncomfortable for a moment. Then, he stood up from his seat.

Without a word, he walked towards somewhere in his office.

"I don't feel like wasting my mental energy on someone like you, but you still need to be punished."

"I will accept the punishment."

"Go to the Bayne Cemetery at the Binharts National Cemetery and retrieve a corpse with the name Bayne. You have two days."

As soon as I heard Binharts National Cemetery, memories flooded back to me.

It would take at least a day to go back and forth.

But there was no choice but to accept. If I refused, I would probably be the one used instead of the corpse.

"Understood."

"Follow me."

As soon as I responded, he touched a book on the shelf in his office.

Suddenly, the bookshelves shifted aside, revealing a barrier.

"Open."

With a simple interaction of mana, light emitted from his ring touched the barrier, gradually making the owner of the light recognizable as the barrier faded away.

As I followed him into the barrier, the smell of various potions and the stench of decaying corpses vibrated in the air.

"Even though Adrias has seen this multiple times, it's still unsettling."

It was as if I had entered a slaughterhouse, with corpses of various kinds, ranging from animals, and monsters, to even different races, scattered around.

"Phew."

I suppressed the frown on my face.

As I followed Caron further inside, the corpses, this time neatly arranged, hung from chains.

"It should have been done yesterday, but it doesn't matter."

Caron muttered to himself as he used magic to lower one of the corpses.

"What are you doing? Are you still out of your mind?"

As I stood there, staring at the corpse, Caron spoke to me.

And then, my body reflexively began gathering unknown potions.

It was a familiar movement as if my body knew exactly what to do.

"So this is how it goes."

As my body moved, memories naturally resurfaced.

First, I poured a few drops of Mandragora's blood onto the center floor.

Caron began constructing the rune with magic using the blood.

"Now, at this point..."

I sprinkled Torokan's root powder on various parts of the rune.

Then, I carefully arranged cursed objects and potions that served as mediums in their appropriate places...

"Utcha."

Once the corpse was placed in the center, it was done.

"Was it this complicated?"

In the game, I could just resurrect the corpses and summon the undead with a single spell.

I was already starting to have a headache.

Once the preparations were complete, Caron arranged the mana and constructed the magical formation.

As I observed the process, I felt an unfamiliar gaze from somewhere and turned around.

"..."

There, behind the iron bars, stood a thin woman with a gag, staring at me.

Seeing her, memories of Adrias resurfaced.

"A vampire."

Wait, did Caron have a vampire with him too?

Unlike vampires in other games or media, the Vampires of Sin were considered a distinct race. They didn't die just from exposure to sunlight. Instead, their rarity was extraordinary, and in the game, encountering a vampire was a rare occurrence.

"And I died every time I encountered one."

Vampires were individually powerful. Their strong physical abilities, combined with their unique blood magic, provided a perfect balance of offense and defense.

While Caron was undoubtedly a formidable mid-boss-level figure, that was during the mid-game when the game progressed. How Caron managed to restrain a vampire and bring it along was puzzling.

"And when I killed Caron, there was no trace of the vampire."

Of course, I couldn't be sure if this space was reproduced in the game, but the absence of anything related to vampires, even after dying, was strange.

"Could it be that he failed to turn the vampire into an undead?"

Even in Adrias' memories, there was no particular recollection related to that. Adrias simply supplied the vampire with food once a month.

As I carefully recalled my memories, a sudden and unrelated conclusion emerged.

"Wait, did I just fall for a complete scam?"

Adrias.

Looking back, he not only lacked talent, but he was also quite the gullible type. In the memories that resurfaced, he diligently followed behind Caron, doing his best to assist him while barely learning anything from him.

A low hum resonated from the magical formation, awakening me from my thoughts.

A foreboding red light emanated from the formation, gradually absorbing mana and solidifying the magical ritual.

Squelch. Pssss.

As the light intensified, the flesh of the placed corpses turned to dust and crumbled down.

Ahh...

What should I call that?

A zombie skeleton?

However, as soon as that thought crossed my mind, the undead that had just risen crumbled down, signaling the end.

"It failed."

Caron's calm voice echoed in the room.

After uttering those words, Caron began jotting something down in his notebook.

"Is that it?"

Did he call me here for just this?

Now that I thought about it, I had been called for much more trivial matters in the past.

While silently cursing, my body diligently cleaned up the dirty room.

"Adrias."

"Yes, Professor."

"...Professor?"

"I apologize, Master."

He didn't teach me anything, yet he calls himself my master.

But I sent him a loyal gaze, just like an obedient recruit.

"It seems Angela's feeding schedule has exceeded a month."

Angela was the name of the vampire trapped behind the bars.

"Yes, I will take care of it after I finish cleaning up."

"Adrias."

"Yes."

"I thought you had changed, but you've become even more foolish."

With those words, he left the room.

Could it be that he noticed the change in me?

As I entered Adrias' body, I had also changed from my original personality.

Yet, I found it strange that I was clearly different from Adrias, even though I had assumed his identity.

"If I pay too much attention to such things, I'll die even sooner."

Muttering to myself, I continued cleaning.

After all, I was just a disposable mob.

The only one who should care about my transformation would be Caron, at most.

Even Caron seemed to pay little attention, considering his reaction to the memories of Adrias.

Instead of just cleaning, out of curiosity, I decided to try using necromancy.

There happened to be remnants of mediums and discarded magical formations, making it a perfect environment for me.

[Basic Necromancy: Cast Skeleton Summoning.]

[Warning! You do not have any summonable creatures left.]

Oh?

As I attempted to use necromancy, it was as if the mana arrangement automatically came to mind, almost like it was programmed. I arranged the mana and proceeded to construct the ritual, and a proficient necromancy spell was activated. It felt like a special benefit for the player.

"If it's like this, it won't be a big burden, right?"

Honestly, when I was planning in my room, I had been contemplating whether I needed to start from the basics of magic, even if it meant learning it for dark magic. In the end, I thought I would borrow books from the library and study on my own, but this seemed to save me some trouble.

"But I still need to learn more."

Generally, it was impossible to self-study dark magic. It wasn't due to any specific reason, but simply because there were no means to learn the relevant knowledge. In this world, dark magic was forbidden, so it was secretly passed down in the underworld. Since there were no widespread dark magic books or resources available, self-study was impossible.

"...But that's the story for ordinary people."

I had the conditions necessary for self-study. The widely distributed books on dark magic were the first item on my personal growth plan. Until I became strong enough, I couldn't sever ties with Caron. So, I had to make the most of him.

Originally, Adrias wouldn't have dared to touch any of Caron's belongings. But these were the items I had set my eyes on.

If even one of these books were taken out, it would cause a commotion not only in the academy but throughout the entire country.

For some reason, Caron often left me behind and went off to do his own thing. Considering his previous actions, it was understandable why he didn't trust this gullible fool.

After finishing the cleaning, I checked the items in the laboratory. Despite being a beginner, I could roughly understand what was what.

Using them bit by bit wouldn't be noticeable, right?

I soon examined the dark magic books that filled one side of the laboratory walls. They felt a bit shoddy compared to the books I saw at the academy, but for now, I took out the most basic-looking ones.

With that, I prepared to read the books in earnest, but I felt a sharp gaze piercing me.

"Ah."

As I met the eyes of the vampire, Angela, I awkwardly scratched the back of my head and stood up.

"I forgot to feed her."

Her meal wasn't anything special. Since she was surrounded by corpses, there was enough blood available, and I only needed to provide a small amount for myself.

I followed Adrias' memories and brought a long hose to pour the blood into a container, passing it through the iron bars.

Of course, there wasn't much blood. Just enough to keep her from starving?

Then, I heard a hoarse voice.

"You..."

As I handed her the hose, I thought I misheard something and raised my head.

"Did I mishear something?"

But just to be sure, I asked Angela.

"Now, what did you say?"

In my recollection, she had never spoken before. Even after spending over two years under Caron's guidance, it was the first time.

However, she stared at the hose in my hand without responding, as if she was waiting for something.

"She must have said something."

I handed the hose from a distance, and she struggled to approach it, sucking the blood through her mouth.

Even though I didn't know how she ended up here, her determination to live was remarkable.

After resolving her meal, I calmly started reading the book again, but once again, I heard a voice.

"Adrias."

When I turned around, she looked at me with crimson eyes.

"You're not Adrias. Who are you?"

It wasn't a misconception.

I felt a chill run down my spine, but I nonchalantly opened my mouth.

"I don't know what you're talking about. If I'm not Adrias, then who am I?"

"If you were Adrias, you would have panicked when I spoke."

"That's funny. Have you finally gone mad from being trapped here? What are you trying to say?"

"Release me, and I'll tell that person about your true identity."

"Professor? Do you think I'll believe your words so easily?"

"Even if you don't believe, I can still make you doubt. That should be enough."

Indeed.

If that girl, who hadn't uttered a word all this time, suddenly started suspecting Caron of my true identity, it could be somewhat plausible.

"At least I'll release you instead of dying. That's better, isn't it?"

"Are you afraid to die by that person's hands?"

"That too, but even though it's obvious you'll kill me, do you think I'll release you just because you say I've gone mad?"

"I promise. I won't kill you."

Her eyes turned crimson, shining with a light that resembled a predator luring its prey.

"And I will kill that person too. What do you think?"

"Stop the nonsense and drink the blood."

"Although I said that, honestly, I'm curious. If he dies, everything here becomes mine. Of course, I'll have to dismantle the barrier, but that's just a matter of taking Caron's ring with me."

"You'll eventually have to release me."

"...."

"If I tell him about your true identity, do you think he'll leave you alone? Most likely, even if you hate it, you'll have to release me to survive. It would be in your best interest to release me before that happens."

Normally, I would just ignore her and move on, but there was some logic to her words. What bothered me, even more, was that she mentioned that Caron seemed different. After closing the book and placing it back in its original position, I stood in front of the iron bars.

"Alright, have you made up your mind?"

"I can't open this iron bar."

"That won't be a problem. Just release this restraint."

Releasing the restraint would require a magical dismantling. Before considering whether I could do it or not, I demanded a clear answer.

"Before that, swear that you won't kill me."

"Fine, I swear."

"No, swear it solemnly to your family."

"...Family?"

"Don't play dumb. Swear solemnly to your family. Until you do that, there's no chance."

I said those words, but honestly, I was skeptical. Vampires only have one family, and they consider it highly important. So, I thought anyone would be willing to sacrifice their family's name for a matter of life and death. That's why there was no clear way to confirm her sincerity.

"...."

However, Angela unexpectedly hesitated.

"No, even if it's just a verbal oath, why is she hesitating like this?"

To be honest, I had no intention of releasing her even if she swore. I just wanted to buy some time to think. But Angela, who pondered longer than expected, finally opened her mouth.

"Alright. I swear by the name of Lucifel."

Ding!

[Condition has been met.]

[A potential evolution candidate has been detected.]

Her words were still echoing when a notification appeared, causing a sense of dread.

"What is this all of a sudden?"

[Potential evolution of Angela Lucifel: 55%]

[Two different branches exist if evolution occurs.]

[Would you like to proceed with evolution?]

Why did this suddenly appear?

And naturally, I chose to confirm it.