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

“I’ve made up my mind to go, but…”

Although I don’t think I’ll die, I’ll literally be just not dying. I couldn’t imagine what kind of situation I would end up in. Of course, I couldn’t just run away because I was scared. What I needed right now was in that place.

“But still, I’m hesitant. It feels like going to work against my will.”

As I got closer to the office, my steps became heavier. My mentor in dark magic and a professor at the academy, Charon Difflen, may not be famous, but he was a solid mid-level professor with a considerable support base.

His unique coldness and unshakable composure served as powerful weapons to conceal his identity as a dark magician. But he wasn’t the type to overlook mistakes like the one I made.

When I arrived at Charon’s office, I could see that the light was on. Fortunately, it seemed like he hadn’t left yet.

Good.

“Professor Charon, it’s Adrian Cromwell.”

I knocked on the door and waited for a moment, but there was no response. After a tense moment, I heard a faint voice from beyond the door.

“Come in.”

I cautiously opened the door. Inside, a middle-aged man with neatly arranged black hair sat at his desk, examining a magic tablet with a precise 5 by 5 grid. By the way, that magic tablet was a magical tool similar to a smartphone from the world I used to live in.

“…Adrian.”

“Yes, professor.”

“Didn’t I clearly say the 11th?”

“I’m sorry. I mistook the date.”

His icy gaze passed over me like a snake’s tongue. After an uncomfortable moment passed, he stood up from his seat. Soon, he turned around and began walking somewhere in the office.

“I don’t want to waste my psychic energy on someone like you. But I still have to teach you a lesson.”

“I will take the punishment.”

“Retrieve the body from the grave labeled ‘Beyden’ at the Vin Hartz National Cemetery. You have two days.”

The Vin Hartz National Cemetery, it instantly came to mind. It would take more than a day to go back and forth. But I didn’t have the option to refuse. If I refused, I would be the one used in place of that body.

“Understood.”

“Follow me.”

As soon as I answered, he touched a book on the bookshelf. Then, the bookshelf slid aside, revealing a barrier.

“Open.”

With a simple interaction of mana, the light emitted from his ring touched the barrier, and it gradually became faint as it recognized the owner. As I followed him into the barrier, various smells of chemicals and decaying bodies vibrated in the air.

“Even though Adrian has seen this several times before, he still looks uncomfortable.”

It was as if I had entered a slaughterhouse, with all sorts of corpses scattered around. There were all kinds of corpses, not just animals, monsters, and humans, but even different species.

“Phew.”

I suppressed the furrowing of my brows.

As I followed Charon further inside, this time there were quite well-preserved (?) bodies hanging on chains.

“I should have done it yesterday, but it doesn’t really matter.”

Charon mumbled to himself and used magic to lower one of the bodies.

“What are you doing? Are you still not in your right mind?”

When I continued to stare at the body absentmindedly, Charon spoke to me. Then my body reflexively started gathering unknown reagents. It was a familiar movement in my body.

“Oh, so this is how it works.”

As my body moved, memories naturally came to mind. First, I dripped the blood of Mandraga on the central floor little by little. Then Charon began using magic to construct the structure of the blood well.

“About this point now…”

I sprinkled Torokan root powder here and there. And I placed various cursed objects and reagents that served as mediums in their appropriate positions…

“Voila.”

Once I placed the body in the center, it was done.

“Was this process always so complicated?”

In the game, I could just resurrect the bodies and summon the undead with a single spell. It’s already giving me a headache. After the preparations were complete, Charon arranged the mana and formed a magical circle.

While watching that process, I felt a gaze from somewhere unknown and turned around.

“…?”

There, in the place with iron bars, a thin woman with shackles was looking at me. Seeing her reminded me of Adrius’s memory.

“A vampire.”

No, Charon had a damn vampire with him too?

Unlike vampires in other games or media, vampires of wickedness were treated as a separate race. They didn’t die or turn to dust when exposed to sunlight. Instead, their rarity was extraordinary, and I could count on one hand the number of times I had encountered a vampire in the game.

“And each time, I died and had to restart.”

Vampires were individually formidable. Their strong bodies and unique blood magic provided a perfect balance of offense and defense. Charon was undoubtedly a strong mid-boss-level talent, but that was during the middle of the game’s progress. I was puzzled as to how Charon was carrying a vampire in a restrained state.

“And when I killed Charon, there was no trace of the vampire.”

Of course, I couldn’t tell if this space was reproduced in the game, but it was strange that nothing related to vampires appeared until death.

“Could it be that he failed in turning the undead into vampires?”

Adrius’s memory also didn’t recall anything relevant. He only supplied the vampire with food once a month. As I carefully recalled my memories, an unexpected conclusion emerged unrelated to vampires.

“Now that I think about it, I was just a complete sucker.”

Adrius.

Looking at him now, he not only lacked talent but also had a considerable gullible nature. In the memories that surfaced, he hardly learned anything from Charon, except for diligently assisting him. After learning basic tactics at the beginning under his guidance, I hadn’t learned anything since then.

Boom. Sizzle.

A sound that awakened my senses emanated from the magic circle. The magical circle, which had been spreading a foreboding red light, gradually absorbed mana and formed the structure of the spell.

Crack. Puff.

As the light intensified, the flesh of the lying bodies turned into dust and crumbled.

Groaaaaan.

What should I call that?

Zombie skeletons?

However, before I could even entertain that thought, the undead that had risen collapsed.

“Failure.”

Charon’s calm voice echoed. After those words, Charon began writing something in his notebook.

“Is it over?”

Was he calling me just for this one thing? Now that I think about it, I’ve been called for much less significant tasks before. While cursing internally, my body diligently cleaned up the filthy room, despite feeling repulsed.

“Adrias.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“…Professor?”

“Sorry, Master.”

He calls himself a teacher even though he doesn’t teach anything. But I sent him a loyal gaze like a quick-witted recruit.

“It seems Angela’s food supply has exceeded a month.”

Angela was the name of a vampire trapped behind bars.

“Yes. I will take care of it after I tidy up.”

“Adrias.”

“Yes.”

“I thought you had changed, but you’ve become even more foolish.”

With those words, he left. Could it be that he noticed the change in me? As I entered Adrias’ body, I also changed from my original personality. Nevertheless, it seems that I was distinctly different from Adrias, which made me curious.

“If I worry about such things, I’ll die sooner.”

I muttered to myself and continued cleaning.After all, I’m just a disposable minion. The only one who cares about my changes is probably Charon. If even Charon barely reacts like that, there’s no need to constantly worry about Adrias’ memories and my every move.

Instead of cleaning, out of curiosity, I tried using a spell. Fortunately, there were remnants of a medium and a discarded magic circle, which was a perfect environment for me.

[Basic Command: Summon Skeleton.]

[Warning! No summonable entities currently available.]

Oh?

When I tried to use the spell, as if it was programmed, the mana array automatically appeared in my mind. Arranging the mana and then proceeding to chant, a remarkable spell was activated. It felt like a special benefit for players.

“This way, there won’t be much burden, right?”

Honestly, when I planned in my room, I had a lot of concerns about having to learn magic from the basics, even for black magic. In the end, I had to borrow books from the library and learn on my own. But now I’ve saved myself some trouble.

“Still, I have to learn more.”

Generally, black magic cannot be learned through self-study. It wasn’t for any particular reason, but simply because there were no ways to learn the relevant knowledge. In this world, black magic is taboo, so it is secretly transmitted in the underworld. If books or materials were widely available, I would have tried self-study, but there were no black magic books to be found.

…Of course, that’s the story of ordinary people. I had the conditions for self-study.

“There are plenty of black magic books here.”

It was my first growth plan. That was Charon’s collection of black magic books. Anyway, until I become stronger, I can’t cut ties with Charon. So I should make the most of him. To the original Adrias, these were Charon’s belongings that he never even thought of touching.

After finishing the cleaning, I checked the items in the laboratory. Even though I’ve only spent three years in school, I could roughly understand what was what. Even if I use them little by little, it won’t be noticeable, right?

I soon checked the black magic books that filled one side of the laboratory wall.

“Introduction to Black Magic, Basic Course for Black Mages, You Can Do It. You Too Can Use Black Magic!”

Unlike the books I saw at the academy, they had a slightly crude feel, but for now, I took out the most basic-looking books. When I was about to prepare myself to read the books in earnest, a piercing gaze stabbed me.

“Ah.”

As a vampire, Angela and I locked eyes, and I awkwardly scratched the back of my head and got up from my seat.

“I forgot that I was supposed to give her food.”

The guy’s meal wasn’t anything special. Since there were already plenty of corpses around, there was enough blood, and I just needed to give a little blood. Following Adrius’ instructions, I brought a long hose and put it into a container filled with blood, passing it through the iron mesh.

Of course, there wasn’t a large amount of blood. Just enough to avoid starving to death?

That’s when I heard a cracked voice.

“You…?”

As I handed over the hose, I wondered if I misheard and raised my head. Did I hear it wrong? Still unsure, I asked Angela just in case.

“Now, did you say something?”

I couldn’t recall a single instance of her speaking. Even though I had spent over two years under Charon’s rule, it was the first time. But she was just looking at the hose in my hand, as if asking when she spoke.

“I’m sure she said something.”

As I handed her the hose from a distance, she weakly approached and sucked on it with her mouth. Although I didn’t know how she got caught, her determination to survive was remarkable. After resolving her meal like that, I calmly started reading a book again, but once again, I heard a voice.

“Adrius.”

When I turned around, her pink eyes were looking at me.

“You’re not Adrius. Who are you?”

It wasn’t a mistake. In an instant, my body froze with goosebumps. But I casually opened my mouth without showing any signs.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. If I’m not Adrius, then who am I?”

“If you were Adrius, you would have trembled at the moment I spoke.”

“That’s amusing. Being trapped here, did you finally go crazy? What do you want to say?”

“Get me out of here.”

“Huh. Do you think I’ll let you out because I’m crazy? Well, is it some kind of new suicide method? Sorry, but I don’t have any intention of dying yet.”

“If you don’t let me out, I’ll reveal your identity to him.”

“The Master? You really trust his words.”

“Even if you don’t believe it, I can make you doubt. That’s enough.”

Certainly. If the guy who hadn’t spoken a word all this time suddenly expressed doubt about my identity to Charon, it could be quite unsettling.

“At least it’s better to let you go and die than to die like this.”

“Are you afraid of him?”

“That too, but even if you’re clearly going to kill me, do you think I’ll let you out because I’m crazy?”

“I promise. I won’t kill you.”

Her two eyes glowed red. That light was similar to the light that lures prey.

“And I will kill him too. What do you say?”

“Enough with the nonsense, just suck the blood.”

Although I said that, to be honest, I’m curious. If he dies, everything here will be mine. Of course, I have to dismantle the barrier, but that’s a matter of taking only Charon’s ring.

“In the end, you have to let me go.”

“…”

“If I tell him your identity, do you think he’ll leave you alone? Probably not. If that happens, you’ll have to let me go, even if you don’t want to, in order to survive. Letting me go now would be a way to repay my favor before that happens.”

If it had been the same as before, I would have ignored and walked past, but there is a reason. Of all times, it’s after Charon mentioned that he seems to have changed, which irritates me even more.

In the end, I closed the book and stood in front of the window.

“Alright. Have you made up your mind?”

“I can’t open this iron window.”

“That’s not a problem. You just need to release this restraint.”

Releasing the restraint also requires a magical dismantling. Before pondering if I can actually do it, I demanded a definite answer first.

“Before that, swear that you won’t kill me.”

“Alright, I swear.”

“No, swear it to the family.”

“…The family?”

“Don’t play games with me. Until you swear to the family, there’s no chance.”

Although I said these words, honestly, I was skeptical. Vampires have only one family. And anyone would trade the name of the family for something as crucial as their life. So, there is no certain way to confirm sincerity.

“…”

However, Angela surprised me unexpectedly. No, she barely lifted an oath that’s just words? Honestly, even if she swore, I had no intention of releasing her. I just wanted to buy some more time under this pretext.

Angela, who pondered longer than I expected, finally spoke up.

“Alright. I swear on Lucifer’s name.”

Ding!

[The condition has been met.]

[A potential evolutionary organism has been discovered.]

Before her words could finish, a startling message rang out. What is this sudden sound?

[Angela Lucifer’s potential for evolution: 55%]

[If evolved, there are two possible branches.]

[Would you like to evolve?]

Why did this suddenly appear?

And naturally, I chose to confirm.

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