“I’m not a patient person, Julian. When will you be ready?”

“S-soon.”

The half-naked Verno sat on his large bed while glaring at a fidgeting student standing in front of him.

The youth had short brown hair, a pair of beady eyes, arched eyebrows, and a particularly long and pointy nose.

He was Julian, formally part of the Unholy Blasphemers. He had betrayed his organization and switched sides. Although he had been suspected by Verno, he was still able to avoid torture when he said he had away to obtain the Alchemy Scripture.

Both the Brutal Prince Order and the Sun Alchemists were after the priceless artifact known as the Alchemy Scripture.

Rumors claimed that the Alchemy Scripture held secret concoctions of miraculous elixirs as well as ancient techniques to create indestructable golems and summon other-worldly creatures. For those reasons, the two organizations were vying for the prize, which was kept in the tightly-protected and heavily-guarded vault.

“Soon? Soon isn’t an answer. I want an exact date!”

Julian, with his head lowered, shook for a couple of breaths before stutteringly responding,

“T-ten days, no… nine!”

“I’ll give you a week. If I don’t have the scripture by then, I’ll show what true hell is.”

“...”

“What are you gawking at? Out of my face. Fucking cowardly rat!”

Julian scurried out of the room in a hurry, but ended up bumping into Feylord at the hallway.

“S-sorry.”

“...”

Feylord scrutinized the youth before saying,

“You’re that traitor, right?”

“I…I…”

“Hahahaha! No need to be scared.” Feylord patted Julian’s shoulder and continued,

“I believe we can confide in each other. Become friends.”

Unfortunately, Julian didn’t give any answer. He let out a faint squeal and ran away.

Seeing him charge to his room and slam the door shut, Feylord sighed in disappointment and went to meet with Verno.

Meanwhile, a relatively small mouse was watching this from a distance away. It remained out of view and stuck close to the wall as it swiftly made its way toward Julian’s room.

‘From one jackpot to the other. Truly.’-Arthur

“What the fuck are you looking at?!”

Julian, whose mood changed, growled at the frightened Joshua.

The two turned out to be roommates, but the latter was cowering in his bed, unable to focus on his book ever since the former returned.

“Look at me again and I’ll rip your eyes out.” Warned Julian as he walked to the window and looked at the night sky, seemingly pondering about something.

The fear he had displayed in front of Verno was partially fake, but it was necessary to make them underestimate him.

He didn’t escape from the Unholy Blasphemers with sheer luck. He was a spy, an expert in Stealth and disguise, which was why Nader had yet to find him.

Still, he wasn’t strong enough to confront Verno, nor did he have the courage to escape the Nemia Academy.

Nader might be the only spy belonging to the Unholy Blasphemers, but he was a smart individual who must’ve laid multiple traps in case Julian were to try fleeing.

‘I need more time. A week isn’t enough.’

“Didn’t I tell you not to look at me?”

“Ah!”

Julian ran to Joshua and dragged him by his head before kicking his stomach multiple times.

“This should teach you.”

‘This makes me feel less guilty.’ Thought Arthur to himself as he snuck into the room and hid under the desk. The mouse’s body was small to begin with, and it was an easy task to avoid the target’s sight and bask in the darkness.

One hour later, Julian and Joshua were finally asleep.

The weak-willed youth hailing from the Boulard family had struggled to bandage his bruised abdomen, and though he wanted to continue reading his body, exhaustion soon overwhelmed him. He kept peeking at the sleeping Julian for a while, afraid that he would be beat up again.

Finally, at the dead of the night, Arthur made his move.

In the mouse’s body, he was incapable of using many of his magical abilities, but that was of no consequence. While his active skills were restricted, his passives and stats were unaffected. Basically, even as a minuscule mouse, he was remarkably fast and monstrously strong. There were some minor limitations due to the size of the host, but they weren’t that detrimental to the parasite.

Using the mouse’s body, Arthur jumped in the air and landed on Julian’s neck.

The youth’s body twitched and his eyes opened, however, it was too late.

The combination of four skills: [First Attack], [Tusk Damage], [Vampire Bite], and [Rat Teeth] were able to do the job.

The mouse’s sharp and pointy teeth sunk into Julian’s neck, ripping his flesh and shredding his arteries.

There was no blood whatsoever, all of it was sucked by the parasite. Within half a minute, Julian’s skin turned pale and his twitching body was robbed of life.

Arthur wasted no time as he switched hosts, pleased that there were no unexpected complications.

At first, he thought Julian would offer more resistance, but it turned out he had severely underestimated his skills. [Rat Teeth] and [Tusk Damage] allowed him to easily penetrate the victim’s defences even with the use of a mouse’s teeth.

[First Attack] granted him absolute advantage, and [Vampire Bite] made sure there was no blood to deal with.

*You possessed Human Corpse: Julian.*

*You have gained a new skill: [Stealth Movement(Passive Lv4)]*

*You have gained a new skill: [Elemental Affinity: Ice(Passive Lv2)]*

*You have gained a new skill: [Face Change(Active Lv3)]

*The skill [Dual Dagger Mastery(Passive)] has leveled up: Lv2🡢4*

*The skill [Cold Resistance(Passive)] has leveled up: Lv4🡢5*

*Your stats have increased. Please check the Status Window for more details.*

‘Three new skills. A nice harvest.’

Arthur put the dead mouse to the side and sat up, first glancing at the sleeping Joshua before checking the new skills.

*[Stealth Movement(Passive Lv4)]: Renders the user’s steps silent and decreases the probability of being spotted while hitting within unilluminated spots.*

*[Elemental Affinity: Ice(Passive Lv2): The user has a strong affinity toward the Ice attribute. The higher this skill’s level is, the stronger Ice-asped spells will be.

More spells will be available at Lv5.

Current available spells: [Icicle] - [Freeze].

[Icycle]: Conjure X icicles and shoot at a designated target. The number of conjured icicles depends on the amount of used Mana.

[Freeze]: Spreading a freezing aura from the user’s feet, slowing down enemies and potentially blocking fire-aspected spells.*

[Face Change(Active Lv3): The user can change his or her face for a maximum period of 90 days.

Permanently decreases Mana by 20%

Mana exhaustion will lead to the cancellation of this skill.]*

‘Well, the first two skills are good but the last is useless to me.’

As a parasite, provided that he had enough hosts, Arthur can change into whatever appearance, be it human or beast. Such a skill might’ve been useful for a spy, but it was nothing to a parasite.

What made Arthur curious was how Julian acquired such a skill. It was definitely a special skill, much like [Mist of Decay].

However, the bloated murderer’s magic could be attributed to genetics like Leonis Sanguis’, but Julian’s [Face Change] seemed strange and dissimilar to the abilities acquired from birth.

‘I got hold of the traitor’s body and I’m Joshua’s roommate. I have to protect this kid for a while, so it’s like hitting two birds with one stone.’

It was a pleasant outcome, but juggling between the life of Khalil and Julian was bound to be burdensome. Fortunately, as a teacher, Arthur didn’t teach everyday, so there was a leeway to be exploited there.

With Julian as his current host, Arthur transformed into a thin mist that slipped out of the open window and disappeared from view.

Very soon, he arrived at the Blue Blossom Forest. Eager to try a couple of new things, the parasite searched for a couple of minutes.

When he found a black tiger in the midst of chasing after a boar, Arthur tailed it stealthily. Even when he got close, the beast noticed nothing.

When the boar was caught and killed with one sweep, Arthur extended his hand and combined [Enhanced Spell] and [Icicle].

The result was a thick icicle 2 meters in length; With his command, it whistled in the air and shot at the tiger’s back, piercing through its fur and impaling it.

The beast tried to free itself but it quickly bled to death. Before moving to the next target, Arthur made sure to possess the two corpses and increase his stats even more.

At some point, he came across a black tiger bigger than the rest.

It was vigilantly wandering the forest, its paws leaving deep imprints on the ground.

Its size was at least twice the normal black tigers and it even had three differently-colored tails.

“Hmm…”

Arthur licked his lips as he followed the menacing beast with his eyes. Instead of fear, he was thrilled, hoping that he would be able to go all-out.

He had delved deep into the large forest and this was the first strong beast that he had encountered.

He waited for a bit before using [Enhanced Spell] then [Infernal Cry].

The devilish roar reverberated across the region, startling the beast and making it shake momentarily.

Before it recovered, a green mist burst around it, followed by an icy energy that froze the ground and its limbs, further immobilising it.

A bone-chilling soft cackle entered the large tiger’s ears as something fell from above, smashing its body to the ground.

The yellow-ish barrier hammered on it three times before three icicles flew from three directions, piercing a bit of skin before disintegrating.

Its fresh notwithstanding, the tiger roared deafeningly as it thrashed around and freed itself from the ice. It leapt backwards, getting out of the range of the mist and the barrier.

It opened its mouth and released a blue-colored blast of energy that dispersed the mist and destroyed the nearby trees.

However, the parasite was totally unscathed as a bit of mist swirled in a particular spot before revealing Julian.

The youth grinned back at the enraged tiger, taunting it provocatively.

‘It certainly is tenacious.’

Arthur didn’t hold back in his attacks, but the tiger was still able to move around and even retaliate.

He was unable to use his sword-related skills due to the lack of a weapon, but he had confidence in eliminating the beast.

But, contrary to his expectations, the tiger turned tail and fled.

“A shame I can’t put my other hosts to use. Still…”

Arthur chuckled and rose upwards as the mist enveloped him and allowed him to glide in the air. He easily caught up with the tiger and dropped down while swinging a long scythe.

The tiger halted its escapade and raised its head, unleashing a second which clashed with the Sanguis barrier, shaking it but failing in breaking it.

Arthur dropped to the ground and shot an empowered icicle that snapped a tree before stabbing the tiger’s flank.

The beast flailed around and crushed the ice projectile, but the parasite was already upon it.

The Sanguis Barrier changed shape, transforming into a spinning pyramid that cascaded upon the beast, drilling into its back.

A fountain of blood gushed out, nevertheless, the tiger didn’t fall down. It let out a loud roar as its body twitched then slowly became larger.

Its wounds started healing at an accelerated rate, surprising Arthur. The yellow-ish transformed again, becoming a large wall that swiftly moved toward the target, blowing it back dozens of meters.

As Arthur controlled the mist and used [Air Decay] to incapacitate it. Unexpectedly, the tiger wasn’t hurt by the barrier of the mist as it lunged at the parasite.

Arthur used [Freeze], which slowed down, but he was still sent flying to the back.

Seconds later, the beast returned to its normal size and the wounds returned. Instead of continuing its reckless attacks, it resumed its escapade.

Meanwhile, Arthur got back to his feet and looked at his arm, which was bent backwards. He nonchalantly fixed it while letting out a heavy sigh of disappointment.

“No wonder this is considered a Danger Zone. I should’ve tested my physical prowess too. I guess I feel safer fighting from afar.”