As the battle raged on, Zero's keen observation allowed him to adapt to the man's utilization of Knight's Resolve, exposing the chinks in his armor and gradually gaining the upper hand. He astutely noted that the man's aura was faltering, indicating a loss of control over his Knight's Resolve and increasing vulnerability.
Zero seized the opportunity and delivered a potent strike that disarmed the man, sending him sprawling to the ground. With his aura diminished, the man lay defeated and bruised.
Glaring down at the vanquished opponent, Zero couldn't resist offering a piece of advice, "Impressive use of Knight's Resolve, but control and discipline are paramount. A formidable tool can quickly become a liability if wielded recklessly."
The man's frustration boiled over as he pulled out a vial of blue liquid and consumed its contents, appearing reinvigorated. He promptly reactivated his Knight's Resolve.
"Don't you dare lecture me, you piece of sh*t! I'm Nikolaus Auer, a B-rank adventurer! I won't be condescended to by an insignificant worm like you," retorted the man, now identified as Nikolaus.
"Alright, Nick, let's make a deal. I'm in need of information about the human kingdom, and you seem like the perfect source. In the spirit of camaraderie, I'll hold back just enough to keep this fight fair," Zero replied, a hint of a smirk on his face.
Zero and Nick reengaged in an intense battle, both driven to claim victory. Zero maintained a delicate balance, offering Nick a fair contest while demonstrating his exceptional swordsmanship. The fight unfolded with Zero analyzing Nick's tactics and searching for vulnerabilities.
Despite Nick's relentless efforts, Zero's superior skills and experience gradually wore him down. A well-timed move from Zero disarmed Nick and sent him crashing to the ground, his aura flickering as he lay defeated.
Zero approached Nick and, with a firm grip on his hair, lifted his head to meet his eyes. Employing his vampiric powers, Zero hypnotized Nick, compelling him to provide truthful answers to his inquiries.
As Zero extracted information from Nick about his homeland and adventurers, it became clear that Nick had limited knowledge about his own kingdom. While the realm was expansive and divided into territories overseen by nobles, Count Secundus De Cepeda was the only significant piece of information Zero could gather.
On the subject of adventurers, Nick was far more informative. He explained that adventurers were individuals who undertook perilous quests and missions, often for compensation or personal gain. These adventurers were categorized into various ranks, ranging from the most skilled A-rank adventurers to novice F-rank adventurers. The Adventurers' Guild was their governing body, akin to the Merchant's Guild, and was under the jurisdiction of the crown.
Nick shared detailed insights about adventurers and the remarkable red and blue potions. He clarified that the red potion was primarily a healing elixir, apt at closing wounds and rejuvenating an individual's vitality. In contrast, the blue potion was an energy elixir, proficient in rejuvenating an individual's stamina and mental energy, particularly useful in Lingua casting. Furthermore, the blue potion had the unique capability to provide a temporary boost to physical capabilities, enhancing an individual's strength and speed.
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Nick provided an elaborate explanation of adventurers, describing them as courageous individuals who undertook perilous quests and missions in exchange for compensation or personal gain. They were classified into different ranks based on their skills and abilities, with an A-rank signifying the highest level of skill and competence, while an F-rank was allocated to newcomers still in the early stages of their journey. These adventurers were affiliated with the Adventurers' Guild, an entity similar in structure to the Merchant's Guild, operating under the purview of the kingdom's crown.
To illustrate the concept further, Nick retrieved his adventurer's card, a solid slate of iron inscribed with mana. This mystical card contained extensive information about Nick and functioned as his official identification within the guild. Its security measures were renowned, and not even the formidable mages of the tower could tamper with the information encoded within the mana, rendering it a reliable and unforgeable system.
Zero listened intently, absorbing every detail about the world he had inexplicably found himself in and the individuals who inhabited it. Upon concluding his interrogation of Nick, he extended a claw on his pointer finger, ominously puncturing Nick's neck with eerie precision. A slow, macabre spectacle unfolded, as the lifeblood within Nick's veins flowed out and condensed into a sinister orb that hovered menacingly above Zero's pointed digit. The very essence of Nick's existence drained away until his lifeless body lay desiccated, a mere husk upon the ground.
With an unholy thirst that had been left unsatisfied for days, Zero lifted the condensed orb to his lips and indulged in a grotesque feast, savouring the rich vitality of his victim's essence. An eerie sense of satisfaction washed over him, as the warmth of fresh blood coursed through his vampiric veins. The predatory hunger was quelled, at least for now.
But Zero's malevolent intentions did not end with mere consumption. He methodically gouged his own finger with a claw, coaxing forth a droplet of his sinister blood. This morbid droplet was then strategically manipulated, moving with sinister intent towards the lifeless lips of the fallen Nick. The ritual was grimly intricate and punctuated by the eerie silence of the surroundings.
What followed was a ghastly transformation. Nick's corpse, a withered relic of his former self, experienced a grotesque metamorphosis as it writhed and convulsed in an eldritch display. Zero's vampiric blood possessed three dreadful capabilities, the effects of which were now exhibited on Nick's unfortunate remains.
The first was the blood's power of healing. When introduced into a living vessel, it coursed through the bloodstream, mending injuries and repairing physical damages with an unnatural swiftness, restoring the individual to peak condition.
The second use was more sinister: the transformation. This vile infusion remolded the recipient's body and psyche, bestowing upon them the dread gift of vampirism – immortality, and the insatiable thirst for blood. Though the process was agonizing and time-consuming, it culminated in the emergence of a powerful immortal being with a hunger for the crimson life force of others.
Zero's final application of the vampire's blood was the creation of a ghoul, a subservient, wretched creature bound to its master's will. This transformation was swift, achieved through the introduction of a minimal dose of vampire blood, typically administered through a bite or wound. The resulting ghoul was instantly reanimated but rendered physically and mentally inferior to the vampire, possessing limited intellect and devoid of free will.
Zero had employed this dreadful ability on Nick's lifeless form, transmuting him into a ghoul. Another drop of his sinister blood then brought the undead servant back to a semblance of life. The ghoul's first instinct was a ravenous craving for flesh and blood, yet it remained tethered to Zero's dominion for the duration of its existence.
This unholy creation, the product of Zero's malevolent sorcery, was a grotesque abomination. Its limbs elongated unnaturally, concluding in razor-edged claws. Lifeless eyes stared blankly from a cadaverous visage, its mouth agape, revealing a cavernous expanse of serrated teeth from which a never-ending drool oozed. An aura of darkness enveloped the ghoul, a malevolent shroud that seemed to drain vitality from its surroundings. It was a nightmarish entity, capable of rending anything that crossed its path, a relentless harbinger of doom, yet a slave to Zero's unrelenting will. Every command, no matter how vile or perverse, it would obey without hesitation.
Fortunately for Nick, the same tome in Soma's castle that Zero had read mentioned that ghouls, if they were permitted to exist long enough and fed regularly, could gradually ascend to a state of being a lesser vampire with a modicum of free will. However, in the case of the wretched creature before him, Zero harbored doubts about its capacity for such an evolution.
The ghoul cast a vacant gaze towards Zero, a grotesque puppet waiting for the puppeteer's directives. Zero issued a chilling command, instructing the monstrosity to lie in ambush for Nick's companions and attack them when they were most vulnerable. Afterward, it could heed the savage call of its instincts and hunt within the surrounding forest. With a sinister wink, Zero vanished into the shadows, his malevolence echoing through this enigmatic world, a world he had only begun to unravel.