Chapter 191: A Farce from the Vampires in the Dream
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 191: A Farce from the Vampires in the Dream
After an unknown number of rounds of combat, I finally came to a complete stop once the mana in my mana sources was entirely depleted.
In this state, it wasn't suitable to continue. I had also discovered a fatal flaw: even though I possessed hundreds of mana sources and was using basic consumption spellbooks, they would still run dry eventually. The speed at which they depleted depended entirely on how much I decided to show off.
Any flashy combat technique required extra mana for setup, and the natural recovery of a mana source took a long time. Based on my initial tests, it took a full day for a single source to return to its peak state.
This meant that the more mana sources I had, the more mana I recovered within a fixed timeframe, because regardless of the total number, each one took a day to fully recharge. Each mana source’s recovery was calculated independently.
With my current limit, the total mana recovered naturally in one hour was only enough to fill about thirty mana sources. If I had the assistance of potions or recovery spells, that speed would be faster.
Having exhausted my mana, I exited the battle room. I couldn't learn anything more there for the time being.
Techniques like multi-casting might be difficult for others, but that was because they didn't understand spellbooks. For someone like me, I knew exactly how to use the most minimal amount of mental power to trigger different spellbooks simultaneously.
During that practice session, I had already turned these techniques into fixed patterns. However, turning them into instantaneous habits would require more time.
It wasn't something I could achieve in the short term.
When I stepped out, I noticed that quite a few people had gathered in the initial public area. At a glance, however, none of them seemed to be students from the Witch Academy.
My sudden appearance drew several gazes, but it ended there. No one approached to strike up a conversation.
It made sense. They weren't students of our academy; to them, I was likely just another ordinary witch student. Not every student participating in the exchange would come to the arena to watch matches.
The lack of disturbance suited me perfectly. My attention was immediately drawn to a notification popping up, asking if I wanted to perform a rapid recovery since my mana sources were heavily depleted.
I naturally selected "Yes." Without rapid recovery, I couldn't perform continuous operations, and I still wanted to try out other functions within the dream.
"Heh, look who it is. A student from the Witch Academy. Practicing here so early... are you afraid of losing too pathetically, so you came for some last-minute cramming?"
A sudden, provocative voice rang out. Even I was stunned for a moment. I looked around and, confirming I was the only Witch Academy student in the vicinity, realized the person was likely speaking to me.
But where was the speaker?
"Hey! I'm talking to you! Where are you looking!"
Since I hadn't been paying attention before, I locked onto the source of the voice this time. Finally, between two unfamiliar teenage girls, I saw the person they were flanking... a loli?
"Little sister, are you of age yet? If your parents aren't around, I can help drop you off at a daycare." I looked at the arrogant little thing, my tone dripping with sarcasm.
Looking at their "tall-short-tall" formation, I felt a sudden urge to laugh. Based on their black and blood-red uniforms and the school badges on their chests, I recognized their institution.
The Vampire Academy.
I remembered the Lord Vampire; my initial impression of that school was simply "the vampire academy."
"You! How dare you speak to me like that!"
Clearly, my words dealt critical damage. It seemed she wasn't the type who didn't care about her height. If that was the case, why did she pick such tall lackeys for contrast?
"You two, teach her a lesson. I want to taste if this girl's blood is as foul as her words."
"Yes, Miss."
The two followers beside her spoke respectfully, then moved toward me.
I could sense they were also students, not summoned entities, but why was there such a disparity in status? Even as strong as Tan Han and I were in the Witch Academy, we didn't have followers like this. Wasn't this behavior just demeaning oneself?
The conflict drew more eyes, though most people just stood by to watch the show.
This was a dream; killing someone wouldn't cause any real issues. One could say the public area was the most suitable place for provocations.
Though I still didn't know why she had targeted me the moment she saw me. I was a student of the host academy; what did she gain by trying to slap my face right out of the gate?
"Enough! This is the Primal Dream! It is a public area provided for everyone attending the exchange, not a place for you to pick fights and brawl!"
A sudden, angry shout shattered the atmosphere. Everyone's gaze was drawn to the speaker, and the crowd instinctively parted to make a path for her.
"Tsk... Tan Han? I didn't expect you to show up so early. What, you think I'm afraid of you just because you yelled?" The little loli recognized Tan Han immediately. She crossed her arms, putting on a tough front.
However, her reaction also showed that she knew quite a bit about Tan Han and was wary of her.
Standing to the side, I couldn't help but marvel. As the "script protagonist," was Tan Han really that well-known to other academies?
I wasn't half-bad either, you know...
Perhaps they had been briefed by their teachers. After all, this exchange tournament was a bit strange; there was a high probability it was aimed at Tan Han.
"You can find out if I can slaughter you before you even make a move." Tan Han's words were a blatant threat. Although dying here meant a cost-free resurrection, losing face was a different story!
The loli clearly understood this, so she chose to back down physically, though her mouth remained stubborn.
"Heh... you dare act? Aren't you afraid of inciting public outrage by fighting here? With so many people watching, aren't you scared?"
"They won't help you for no reason. End this boring farce. The Witch Academy lent you this dream for the sake of the exchange, not for you to act like a spoiled brat. And this is the Witch Academy—don't bring your vampire habits here."
"Vam... Vampire? You dare call us noble vampires 'vampires'! I'll make you—"
"Make me what?"
Before she could finish, Tan Han blurred across the distance and appeared right in front of the vampire loli. She pressed her hand directly against the girl's face, the mana fluctuations from her spellbook becoming the most terrifying threat in that moment.
Through the gaps in Tan Han's fingers, the vampire loli's eyes finally betrayed her terror.
But it was too late. She had lost both face and dignity. She had likely intended to pick a "soft persimmon" to squeeze to announce the Vampire Academy's arrival, only to run straight into Tan Han.
"I'll make you die!" The words seemed squeezed out from between her teeth, the final "die" exploding with all her pent-up grievance and resentment.
Blood-red power instantly swirled around her—the Blood Qi Essence unique to the vampire race.
But before that power could coalesce into a lethal attack, Tan Han sent her packing with a single strike.
With a prepared spellbook and fast casting, Tan Han could release spells in an incredibly short window.
With that one hit, the loli was dead. Her body collapsed and dissolved into bubbles.
Everyone was stunned by Tan Han's decisiveness, but anyone in her position wouldn't have shown mercy. The opponent was clearly a cornered dog acting out of desperation.
A moment later, a figure reappeared at the resurrection platform in the center of the public area.
"Tan Han! You actually dared to kill me! I'll make you feel the sensation of death too! I'll fill my goblet with your blood!"
"Is there no end to this?" Tan Han frowned. She hadn't expected the resurrection mechanism here to encourage such shameless behavior.
However, faced with the vampire loli who had already unleashed a blood-qi killing move, Tan Han had no choice but to respond.
Meanwhile, the two followers in front of me rushed toward the platform.
"Miss!"
"Master!"
Two urgent cries rang out, but before they could draw the crowd's attention, I restricted them with a Silence Spell and a Binding Spell.
Though these were spellbooks I wasn't entirely familiar with yet, it didn't mean I couldn't use them. And what did they just call her? One called her "Miss," and the other called her "Master"?
I layered another Silence and Binding Spell on them. Since I hadn't modified these spells yet, I couldn't cast them in an extremely short timeframe.
The commotion here drew some eyes, but it was clearly less interesting than the slaughter happening over by Tan Han. People gave me surprised looks before turning back.
"You two should stay put. What can you do up there besides being fodder?"
I looked at the two of them, who were bound by nothing more than basic consumption spells, and couldn't help but question their combat ability. Were they really here for an academy exchange?
I walked up to them. They were actually a man and a woman. Looking closely, I realized they were from different academies.
The girl was from a Vampire Affiliated Academy, while the man was from the Blood Slave Academy... Oh, so these three clowns were from different schools.
"Shh... be quiet. Your 'Miss' has provoked a lot of trouble."
I smiled at them, then stood up and walked toward Tan Han.
As Tan Han said, this farce needed to end. Using the confidence of resurrection to show off one's power—if that wasn't the behavior of a clown, what was?
Tan Han hadn't anticipated this situation either, but the opponent was clearly no match for her. She was essentially "fountain-camping" the girl, killing her the moment she stepped off the resurrection point.
From the look of it, Tan Han wanted to teach her a lesson so she wouldn't dare continue, and perhaps to help her cool her head.
"A little lesson should be enough, right?"
I walked to Tan Han's side and asked. I didn't think Tan Han was the type to enjoy senseless slaughter, so why hadn't she stopped?
"True."
Seeing me arrive, Tan Han sighed. "But there are some things I can't just stop."
As soon as Tan Han paused, the figure reappeared at the resurrection point.
"Why did you stop! Are you out of power? It's my turn to counterattack! I'll be the first vampire to kill you! I—"
Before she could finish, her head was blown apart by a Fireball Spell.
"Does she not know that energy recovers quickly in the dream?" I turned to Tan Han and asked.
"Maybe... she doesn't. Let's go. This girl is a mad dog. She's from the Vampire Academy; she's probably entered a berserk state due to blood qi backlash." Tan Han grabbed my hand, urging me to leave.
"You can get blood qi backlash even here?"
I looked on with disdain. While I wasn't entirely sure how blood qi backlash worked, the girl was clearly insane.
But letting her run wild here wasn't a solution either. Perhaps... I could try this?
"Xiao Han, let's go. Ignore her. Let the people from the Vampire Academy deal with their own lunatic."
"Wait a second, I want to try something new." I began channeling my spellbooks. It had originally just been an idea, but now I could test it out.
During the attempt, I killed the vampire loli several more times until a sphere flickering with lightning appeared before me.
If I didn't say anything, no one would likely recognize this as a "Lightning Strike" spell.
Normally, Lightning Strike produced a bolt of lightning upon release. But this sphere, which looked like a fireball, had arcs of electricity dancing across its surface.
The piercing white light instantly became the center of attention. The lightning ball didn't even distinguish between friend and foe; if I hadn't been protected by an energy shield, I might have been hit myself.
Even so, my single-layer energy shield trembled under the stray arcs.
This was the result of an overloaded output from a Lightning Strike spellbook. It consumed over a hundred points of mana. Fortunately, we were in a dream; in reality, using a spellbook like this would likely destroy it, or at the very least require extensive maintenance.
It was an extreme application. The consumption reached the level of a high-consumption spellbook, but the damage didn't quite match that tier.
One could say it wasn't very practical, but its symbolic meaning outweighed its utility. It proved that "brute force can make anything fly" applied to modifying low-level spellbooks as well. As long as I refined it based on this foundation, it could become a standard technique.
The effect of this spell was to destroy any conductive entity within its reach. Since I hadn't defined a target, its duration was limited. From the constant arcs of electricity, it was clear it was "leaking," but that limit was likely dozens of hours. Don't underestimate the endurance of a hundred points of mana!
I pushed the lightning ball toward the resurrection point. With this automated mob-grinder in place, wouldn't it give that vampire a proper lesson?
Attacking would greatly drain its duration, but it should still last for half an hour or an hour, right?
That was enough to teach her a lesson and give her time to cool down.
"What... is that?"
Tan Han stared at the spell effect with its terrifying energy fluctuations. She wasn't surprised by its power, but by the effect. Its power was just enough to lethally strike the vampire who couldn't defend in time, but the effect was... so persistent?
It was somewhat similar to a summoning spell, but even a summoned creature wouldn't act like this without the caster's control.
Clearly, this spell had escaped the caster's control but was still attacking indiscriminately.
"Oh, just a little trick with a modified Lightning Strike," I said softly. "Let's go. Staying here feels like being a monkey in a zoo. Didn't you say you wanted another match with me? I accept. I hope it's not too late?"
"You accept?"
"Mm-hmm~"
As Tan Han and I vanished, the farce seemed to come to an end.
However, many people realized that anyone who could talk so intimately with Tan Han was certainly no pushover.
The vampire student had kicked a steel plate the moment she arrived. Many people silently took note of this other terrifying existence in the Witch Academy.
Though they hadn't heard the final few sentences of our conversation, the lingering spell effect was the most direct proof of strength.
Several people still present tried to approach, but the lightning radiating from the sphere nearly made them scream in pain the moment it touched them. No one else was suicidal enough to try.
No one even tried to approach with a shield. Why go looking for suffering? If they made one mistake, they'd end up just like the girl at the resurrection point—and there wasn't a second resurrection point here.
Meanwhile, a trio in the crowd watched the nearby resurrection point, one of them frowning. However, he didn't make a move.
"What a waste. She's disgraced the entire Vampire Academy. I only egged her on to cause a little trouble for the Witch Academy, and she couldn't even handle that?"
"Lord, should we go rescue Miss Kailin Gaskell?" a blood servant at his side asked softly.
"Let her suffer. She and I are rivals; why would I save her? Once she's free from this farce, you can go and deliver my 'regards' to her."
"Yes, Lord."