Drac always thought that the ring that he had was not just for show, some relic of the past. He had no idea that this thing could be related to the secret of the ballroom. Curious about the purpose of the ring, he took it out and wore it. He sensed a pulse going from the ring, to the cane, then to the white tile.

It was then he felt the whole ballroom rumbling. The rumbling itself was not so loud to wake everyone up, it was just strong enough to make the person standing in the place aware of what was happening.

He knelt down, with his hand on the floor, trying to understand what was happening. He felt that there was something underneath the floor. It was some kind of mechanism that was working underneath. And then everything came to a stop. He soon spotted, one step away from the sealant looked like it had caved in the floor. The cane also came out of the tile.

With the cane, he pushed the caved-in sealant, only to realize the tile that used to be under it had vanished. Now it was replaced by stairs, that seem to be heading underground.

What surprised him was the fact that the stairs looked like they were made of some sort of glowing material, making it easier for someone coming down to descend.

Is that some sort of glowing stone? He could not feel mana from the stone, so figured that it couldnt be mana stone. But didnt know what exactly this stone was.

Without an ounce of fear, he started descending down.

The floor closed behind Drac as he ventured in. The stairs took him through a narrow path, on whose end was a reinforced metallic door. With no lock, or doorknob, he touched the door with his hands, and the ring in his hands sent a pulse to the door, opening it.

What greeted him was a very old dusty room, which was lightly illuminated by the glowing ceiling, which looked like it was made of the same material as the stairs. Although the illumination was enough for a person to see what is where. It was just enough to get a feel of the room.

This place looked like an old abandoned science lab. Before him were tables of various glass beakers, along with various apparatus that he had never seen before. Towards his right were shelves and shelves of books.

He saw a big glass jar, with the whole face of a creature in it. The jar was filled with light brownish liquid, and the face was floating in it, staring straight at him. The creature’s face had some sort scally growth all over its face, none of its surface was made of smooth skin. Everything was covered in scales.

And there were several jars all around the lab, with various parts of different creatures, floating in liquids for gods knows how long.

But the crown jewel of the place was on the other end of the room.

Floating in mid-air, illuminated by the ceiling and floor, there was a cube the size of a volleyball. The cube looked like it was floating on a pedestal, making him curious about what it was. With a small walk, as he came closer to the thing, he started feeling weird.

Something was attracting him towards the cube, but at the same time, he could feel that going closer to the cube could be dangerous for him. He observed the cube, only to realize it was made like a 3by3 Rubik's cube. Instead of colors on all the sides, there seem to be symbols all around the thing, making him further curious about that thing held.

Drac was curious, but not foolish. He knew better than to touch something alien in clearly what looked like a laboratory.

I need to have some light down here, to inspect what all of this is, he thought as he started looking at the apparatus and weird stuff preserved in the glass jars all around the place.

He inspected the apparatus the glass beaker lying around, and the setup, only to realize how familiar he was with this stuff. And they should not be present in this world.

From test tubes to the beakers, everything in the lab was of the same measurement as a chemistry lab back on Earth. I would have overlooked all of this if the glassware were of different volumes or such. But this kind of similarity.. This can't be overlooked. Someone can only make this if they have worked with the original thing.

The idea that someone in the past might have transmigrated into this world like him seemed like a believable thing to him. If he could get tranmigrated then surely someone else can as well.

Now all of a sudden, the insignia of a flower that is not present in this world makes sense to him. Only someone from Earth could have chosen it to be their house insignia.

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Drac looked around the lab and soon found some spare rooms as well. One of the rooms was a storehouse, which was full of wooden crates which were filled with mana stones. One of the rooms was what looked like a bedroom, but it was the third room that interested him.

Unlike the other room, this one was smaller. It was a study room and had a chair and table. The interesting part was the tubes, with a bell-like opening at the ends. These tubes were coming out of the wall in front of the table, and their opening seemed to be pointed at the desk and chair.

What is this, some sort of surround sound music system?

Drac took a seat and started looking around at what this place could be used for. It is then saw a small box, located beside his desk. There was a simple latch to open the box, he opened it to find a translucent stone inside, which he realized soon was the mana stone whose energy had been sucked dry.

No way.. Is this what I think it is?

He immediately jumped up and brought a small mana stone from the store room, got back, and inserted the mana stone in the box. As if electricity started flowing through the box, an indicator started glowing and soon he felt that something in the room became alive.

Two large holes opened from the table’s top and mechanical button switchboards came out. Curious about the buttons, he flipped one open.

He started hearing some noise come out of one tube. The noise was just a breeze, so he switched off that tube and tried another one. And this time he started hearing the sound of people talking on the other end.

“I still believe that Drac did it you know,” the voice said, gathering his interest in the conversation.

“Nah,” came a voice of a woman, “That man is creepy, sure.. But killing so many people? Nah, he is not that good,”

The man then asked, “What is so difficult about it? You know, half of the people in that group were normal humans. They dont stand a chance against a guy like him,”

“Well… I am not saying that Drac could not do it.. But this is seventy people we are talking about. He wouldn't kill them in cold blood, cause he could. It is just that… he doesn't seem like a person who would ill that many people for no reason at all,”

“Then who killed all those people that day of the massacre, because sure there is no seven hells is there a monster lurking around this dump.”

They are talking about the night of the massacre. He thought. Drac also realized that the people talking were probably the soldiers under Greg. He was not really close to the soldiers, and did didnt know their names or voices.

“I dont know,” the woman said, “Speaking of which, do you reckon that this place has started to get chilly out of a sudden?”

“Yeah seems like it,”

These soldiers are probably on watch duty right now… It means that these pipes are some sort of listening device of some sort.

How the device worked, he didnt know. What he was most interested in knowing was the fact how the box sucking the mana stone’s energy worked. If he could learn how to harness this energy as well, the possibilities of the things that he would be able to make would be boundless…

After hours of lurking around the lab, Drac eventually came out. And the first thing that he noticed when he came out was the chill in the air. The temperature had dropped significantly ever since he was done there. The strange part was that it was summer season, with spring about to come. There was no reason for this region to be this cold.

As he walked away, the tile closed on its own, and he started walking back to the castle. Evading soldiers, by the time he reached his room, the temperature had dropped significantly. Now all he wanted to do was, go to bed and just fall asleep.

When he opened the door of his room, a gust of very cold wind blew on his face. He saw that the candle in his room was lit, someone was lying on his bed, and most importantly a person was sitting on his desk. With long white hair, a naked pale white torso with broad shoulders, and very long legs, the man in question was reading the book on his table with a worry about the world.

“What..” He muttered. His guard came up, and he glanced at the bed, to realize Jina was the one lying on his bed.

“The woman,” the stranger said, gl “She was passed on your doorstep. Probably waiting for you to return,” For some reason, Drac felt that he had heard that voice before. It didnt take him long to connect the dots, the white hair, the pale skin, and the coldness.

He immediately stood behind the man, and bowed, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, master,” This man was the shadowy figure that he saw near Mikaila, this man was her master.

The man closed the book, with a snap and leaned back on the chair. Without looking back, he said, “So you have been reading up on alchemy huh? Interested in the subject?”

“Yes, master,”

“So tell me, Drac.. What is the difference between water lily, and lily water,”

It was a trick question, but answered, “Water lily refers to the plant that grows in the marshes in the wild. The plant has a white flower and could be distinguished by sensing the mana flowing through the plant. While lily water is a potion that does not use any ingredients from Water lily and is a cure for boils made from Hubric reaction,”

The man finally stood up and faced him, “Well, you really are learning,” the man said. The stranger had a very gentle and handsome face, but Drac was not fooled by his exterior. This man was the master of Mikaila, surely he was a dangerous individual. And from what he could feel, this man was the strongest person that he had ever met in this world.

“Yes master, I dont want this opportunity to go to waste,”

The man put his hand forward, “Name is Kaisel. Kaisel Ulaspas.. Nice to meet you,” Drac then shook his hands with the man, and started a journey full of blood and red….