[Character Profile:
Name: Raven
Race: Half-Human/Half-Demon ???
Physical Characteristics:
Strength: 1.23
Agility: 1.10
Endurance: 1
Ethereal Characteristics:
Magical Power: 0.23
Spirit: 2.34
Physical Skills:
Swordsmanship [Level 5: 1231/75000]
Combat Mastery [Level 4: 4034/50000]
Magical Skills:
Energy Slash [Level 1: 1000/10000]
Magical Sense [Level 1: 229/10000]
Mana Control [Level 0: 1079/10000]
Spiritual Skills:
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]
In the training room, Raven stood calmly, studying his status. After a moment of contemplation, he gripped his sword and executed a swift slash. In the wake of his strike, a faint, thin gust of wind traveled two meters before dissipating.
As soon as his swordsmanship skill reached level 5, he felt a new ability awaken within him. Simultaneously, a notification appeared before his eyes:
[Skill Acquired: Magical Slash]
This development greatly pleased him, as he finally understood how to obtain new skills. However, he also deduced that this was likely a related skill rather than an entirely new one. Swordsmanship could be considered the primary skill, with Magical Slash being a secondary effect.
What disappointed him, though, was the realization that such a technique clearly required magical energy, which he possessed in dismally small quantities.
Due to his limited magical reserves, he could only unleash such a simple gust of wind once. Afterward, he felt more physically drained than if he had sparred with training dummies for ten minutes straight.
"Moreover, I suspect this skill wasn't even at full power due to my lack of energy," Raven mused. "Not only that, but it seems the energy deficiency directly blocks any experience gain for this skill."
Feeling the weight of exhaustion, he could do nothing but stand and wait until he finally returned to normal. However, the longer he waited, the more miserable he felt. After 20 minutes passed with no improvement, he decided to leave the training room.
Now that he paid attention to his body, Raven realized he was ravenously hungry. Before heading to his room, he made his way to the faculty cafeteria.
Although he was half-demon, his memories told him he could sustain himself on human food. This was also one of the things that helped lower suspicions about his true nature. But as he recalled the faint scent of crimson liquid, he unconsciously swallowed.
He could control himself very clearly and understood that humans didn't drink that substance. However, the sweet aroma was so enticing that he could still vividly remember it.
"These are clearly demonic traits, but the further I stay from them, the better," Raven thought. "But there's a problem: can I survive on human food alone, or like a vampire, do I absolutely need blood?"
Lost in thought, he finally reached the cafeteria. Entering, he climbed to the second floor where the faculty dining area was located. There, he saw other instructors and teachers, but being a newcomer, he wasn't acquainted with anyone. Moreover, his social skills were poor, resulting in him taking his free lunch and sitting in a secluded spot.
Looking at the food before him, he carefully picked up his utensils and began to eat. Although it was a free meal, he found the taste quite palatable.
As he slowly savored his food, a sudden, subtle sensation washed over him. In the next second, a notification appeared before his eyes:
[Skill: Magical Sense (experience +1 * 1000)]
Not understanding what was happening, he raised his head and looked around. What caught his attention was a group of instructors sitting together, looking in his direction. Seeing that he had noticed them, they seemed to confirm something among themselves before talking and laughing.
"What just happened?" Raven wondered. "Based on the skill notification, I sensed something magical, and these guys clearly did something."
Lost in thought, he couldn't comprehend the situation for a moment. However, a few seconds later, a memory surfaced. During his magical training, he had learned that sentient beings could manipulate their magical energy to create an aura or pressure to test an opponent.
If the target was weak, they would naturally be overwhelmed by the aura; if strong, they could resist it.
Recalling how the group of instructors had been looking at him, it was obvious that one of them had directed their aura at him. Although the result wasn't clear to Raven, judging by their reaction, they seemed satisfied, as if they had successfully intimidated him.
Understanding the situation, he ignored them and quickly finished the food before him. At present, he didn't need any attention, as if others discovered he was a demon, things would end badly.
Finishing his meal, he swiftly exited the cafeteria. On his way out, he felt the same sensation as before:
[Skill: Magical Sense (experience +1 * 1000)]
Ignoring it again, he left. His body had recovered somewhat, but not enough to continue training in the practice room. Returning to his office, he sat at his desk and sighed.
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The room served as both his office and bedroom, with the sleeping area behind another door. The academy provided living quarters for all instructors.
Sitting at his desk, he pondered for a while.
"So, I can acquire some skills through others. However, based on the current situation, it seems the best course of action is to find a way to increase my magical power. If it were greater, I could use magical skills as well as physical ones.
But what puzzles me is that my memories contain no methods for increasing magical power.
The memories of magical teachings are fragmented. I can only understand how to control magic, and magical sense seems to work instinctively."
Sifting through the memories he had received, Raven concluded that things were even stranger. Since the previous owner of this body had clearly been able to become an instructor here, it meant they shouldn't have been extremely weak. Yet the magic he now possessed was clearly feeble.
Raven's only hypothesis was that the solution to this problem must have been in the memories he didn't receive. But he only got fragments and nothing more.
His eyes darted back and forth for a while until suddenly, something caught his attention. He quickly stood up and approached the door leading to his bedroom. Entering, he looked around.
For a moment, he froze when his gaze fell upon a mirror. In the reflection, a young man with white hair and dark red eyes stared back at him. He was dressed in an instructor's uniform, which was quite simple: a white shirt with a blue insignia on the left chest, and black trousers.
The style was more fantastical than modern.
Shaking his head, he continued his search, his gaze finally focusing on a small cabinet standing near the bed.
Approaching it, he opened the cabinet and began to check, but unfortunately, there was nothing useful inside.
Looking again, he squinted at the bed, and a second later, he began rummaging through it.
To his surprise, he found several items there: a container with a dark purple liquid, and a square metallic object resembling a box, adorned with strange patterns.
Glancing at the nearby purple liquid, he was tempted to open and smell it but decided against the idea. Setting the liquid aside, his gaze fell on the box. Feeling it with his hands, he finally found a small circular spot.
Not understanding what it was, he brought his finger to the opening and began to probe, trying to open it. In the next second, he felt a barely noticeable attraction from the circular spot. Finally, he pressed his finger against it.
Immediately, faint red lines spread from the button, followed by a click. Suspiciously eyeing the box, Raven managed to open it with slight effort. Inside was a letter and a small book with a red cover.
Swallowing hard, he took the letter and opened it. To his relief, he could understand what was written there, thanks to the memories he had received, as the language of this world was clearly different from his past.
After carefully reading the contents of the letter, he learned some interesting things.
First, the letter was sent by someone named Daxo. It mentioned that they had received news of his admission to the academy. Moreover, they had prepared a gift for him that would arrive in a few days, right when he would be at the academy.
"This couldn't be holy water, could it?" he thought suspiciously as he continued reading.
It also stated that he needed to become stronger quickly to fulfill the assigned task.
The letter ended by saying that they were aware he couldn't leave the academy for some time to contact them and that they would be waiting.
"What the hell is going on? Who are these people, and what mission was the previous owner supposed to complete?"
Realizing he couldn't get anything more from the letter, he finally turned his attention to the small red book.
The very first words in the book stunned him.
[Obtaining magical energy from a creature by absorbing its blood...]
Reading the contents of the first page sent shivers down his spine. This was clearly a method of gaining magical power, but the approach was extremely bloody and repulsive.
But what Raven noticed was that there were no specific words about humans in the book; rather, it simply referred to "creatures."
"Does this mean that even demons can be used to obtain magical power?" he wondered.
When he turned the page and was about to continue reading, the image on it shocked him.
'Human, kill....'
Out of nowhere, as he looked at the picture depicting a human being used in a ritual, a faint whisper suddenly sounded in his ear.
Quickly looking around, he felt his heartbeat accelerate rapidly.
'Human, kill....'
Another whisper echoed, causing him to hold his breath and grab his sword. The open book fell to the floor with a soft thud, but paying no attention, Raven warily scanned his surroundings.
After waiting for some time with no further sounds, Raven began to relax slightly.
He approached the entrance door and made sure there was no one in the office. Finally, as his nerves eased, he started breathing heavily.
"What was that voice just now..." he muttered.
As he spoke, his gaze fell on the book.
"The book, the absorption method, the rituals."
It seemed he had discovered something, and his eyes narrowed as he stared at the book.
"Is this an artifact from the Abyss?!"
As soon as he came to this conclusion, everything fell into place. The Abyss was a place ruled by evil gods and indescribable things. Any object emerging from there could cause catastrophes on a massive scale.
Even the weakest human or ant would become extremely powerful if exposed to the corruption of the Abyss. From his memories, Raven clearly knew that the Abyss was tantamount to taboo.
The Holy Church, which opposed all evil, was the main adversary of the Abyss. They were not as obsessed with killing demons as they were with destroying the Abyss at any cost.
Calming himself, he approached the book. Using a blanket to avoid direct contact, he picked up the book and placed it back in the box.
As soon as he closed the box, it immediately locked, requiring Raven to bring his finger to the circular spot again to unlock it.
Seeing the book disappear from view, Raven took a deep breath.
"Damn it, not only did I become a demon, but now there's an object from the Abyss here. What the hell was wrong with the previous owner of this body?"
Asking himself these questions, he placed the box under the bed and returned to his office.
The information he had obtained since appearing in this place was so overwhelming and shocking that it left him feeling exhausted and drowsy.
Locking the office door, he leaned against the desk and began to doze off to regain some normalcy. He didn't want to return to the bedroom yet, as the Abyss artifact was there.
His eyes gradually began to close, and he drifted off to sleep.
=========================
To his surprise, when he woke up, it was already morning. He must have been extremely tired.
Now, opening his eyes, although his body was somewhat stiff due to his sleeping position and one of his arms was numb, overall he felt better than yesterday.
"Ding!"
As he stretched, a loud bell sound suddenly rang out. Through the window near his desk, he could clearly see a bell tolling in the distance atop a high tower.
"It seems that's the signal for everyone to gather. Oh right, today is the opening ceremony," Raven remembered.
Entering the bedroom, he made sure the box was still there. After some consideration, he hid the box in its previous place inside the bed. Then, after tidying himself up, he left.
On his way, he also saw other instructors emerging, all heading to the same place.
Unlike Raven, they greeted each other, forming small groups. There were about 20 instructors present. The academy was very large, so these weren't all the instructors in the entire institution.
Exiting his room, Raven took a deep breath and followed the crowd.
"Although I have so many problems, right now I'm more interested in the opening ceremony," he thought to himself.