*TITLE(S) : NONE

NAME : Arthur Bilgart

RACE : Wither Magick Parasite

Lv: 23 (41%)

-

Strength : 671(507)

Intelligence : 384(298)

Agility : 554(473)

Wisdom: 295(209)

Vitality : 466(385)

Dexterity : 420(341)

-

*Skills

-Resistances:

Magic Resistance(Passive Lv3🡢4)

Poison Resistance(Passive Lv5)

Cold Resistance(Passive Lv5)

Heat Resistance(Passive Lv3)

Disease Resistance(Passive Lv4)

Physical Damage Resistance(Passive Lv3🡢4)

Black Arts(Passive Lv6)

-Others:

Physical Enhancement(Passive Lv9)

Full Moon(Passive-Active)

Mana Control(Passive Lv6🡢7)

Long Breath(Passive Lv4)[Fish-type host required]

Possession(Passive LvEX)

Woodworking(Passive Lv2)

First Attack(Passive Lv5)

Culinary Arts(Passive Lv3)

Survival Instinct(Passive)

Keen Eyes(Passive Lv4)

Swift Wings(Passive Lv3)[Bird-type Host required]

Rat Teeth(Passive)[Mammal-type host required]

Warmth(Passive)

Insectile Gluttony(Passive)

Sickening Life(Passive)

Universal Human Language(Passive)

Basic Arman Language(Passive)

Medical Field(Passive Lv4)

Farming(Passive Lv2)

Tenacity(Passive Lv2🡢3)

Magic Beast(Passive Lv4)

Gila Poison(Passive Lv5)

Reptilian Transparency(Passive Lv3)

Tongue Catch(Passive Lv1🡢2)

Sharpened Claws(Passive Lv6)

Flexibility(Passive Lv3)

Bestial Regen(Passive Lv3)

Stealth Movement(Passive Lv4)

Elemental Affinity: Ice(Passive Lv2)

-Weapon Masteries

Knife Mastery(Passive Lv2)

Dual Dagger Mastery(Passive Lv2🡢4)

Sword Mastery(Passive Lv7)

Axe Mastery(Passive Lv3🡢4)

Spear Mastery(Passive Lv1🡢3)

Bow Mastery(Passive Lv3🡢4)

Staff Mastery(Passive Lv3)(NEW)

-Active abilities:

Vampire Bite(Active Lv10)

Sadistic Torture(Active Lv5)

Blood Succor(Active Lv7)

Corpse Dissection(Active Lv12)

Sanguis(blood) Barrier(Active Lv7)

Tusk Damage(Active Lv4🡢5)

Flight, No Fight(Active Lv4)

Exoskeleton Defense(Active Lv2)

The Mist of Decay(Active Lv5🡢6)

Wither Touch(Active Lv2)

Enhanced Spell(Active Lv2)

Internal Cry(Active)

Lunar Blade(Active Lv5)

Half a Moon(Active Lv4)

Sword Blast(Active Lv4)

Bestial Rage(Active Lv2)(Exclusive to animal-type hosts)

Spider Webs(Active Lv3)(Exclusive to Arachnid-type hosts)

Acid Spray(Active Lv4) (Exclusive to Bombardier Beetle)

Wither Blast(Active Lv1)

Magick Sense(Active Lv1🡢2)

Speed Jump(Active Lv6)(Exclusive to Blossom Baboon host)

Face Change(Active Lv3)

Slime Me Not(Active)(NEW)

Weak Telekinesis(Active Lv3)(Enigma Skill)(NEW)

Mind Blast(Active)(NEW)

Black Swirl(Active Lv4)(NEW)

The unexpected troubles notwithstanding, the last two days had been pleasantly fruitful for Arthur. Not only did he learn more about the Circle of Damnation, but he also possessed a considerable number of cultists from the Unholy Blasphemers.

Amongst his newly-acquired skills, excluding those related to the mastery of weapons, the parasite was interested in [Black Arts].

It seemed to be the standard skill used by most of the Unholy Blasphemers. It was hard to determine whether it was related to Black Magic or not, but there was a high probability that it was.

After all, Black Magic wasn’t an element like Fire or Water, it was an entirely different type of Magic. It has its own characteristics and branches. It was expansive, more so than normal Magic, but what made it avoidable by most was the mortality rate of its users and how difficult it was to master it.

Rather than relying on inborn aptitude or genetics, Black Magic was dependent on two important things; Materials and an efficient source of Black Mana.

Provided they knew the right ritual or spell and had the necessary materials and an abundant source of energy, anyone could use Black Magic.

*[Black Arts(Passive Lv6)]: A collection of Black Magic Spells and Techniques]

[Mind Blast(Active)]; Depending on the quantity of Mana used, assaults the target’s mind. A minimal expenditure of Mana will cause the target to fall unconscious.

A maximum expenditure of Mana will immediately kill the target.

System Notification: Targets that are perceived as the user ‘Arthur Bilgart’, will not be affected by [Mind Blast].

[Black Swirl(Active Lv4)]: Conjures a concentrated, spiraling, and harmful blast of Black Mana.]*

*[Weak Telekinesis (Enigma Skill)(Passive/Active Lv3)]: The user can influence or move physical objects.

This skill doesn’t work on living beings.

This skill can be upgraded with a Skill Point.*

*[Slime Me Not]: For a maximum of 5 seconds, the user’s body will have the same properties as a slime.

Impervious to all physical attacks.]

He didn’t obtain any overpowered skills, but [Slime me Not] and [Weak Telekinesis] seemed to be skills similar to [Sanguis Barrier], as in they were genetically inherited rather than learned.

[Weak Telekinesis] wasn’t particularly useful in battles, but it was still a nice thing to have.

‘Slime properties? Did their ancestor fornicate with a slime or what?’

It was definitely a very strange ability, especially since it belonged to a human. Nevertheless, Arthur didn’t dwell too much on its origin.

While it was a pleasant thing to have such a large arsenal of skills, he wasn’t going to use all of them in each and every battle. He needed to prioritize and know what to use depending on the situation.

“This is bullshit!”

Verno Vir Divitiae was raging and throwing a tantrum as he tried to remove a mechanical bracelet around his wrist.

It was the punishment he was subjected to after he was seen trying to kill a fellow student.

The bracelet practically made him unable to use any Magic within the academy grounds, thus rendering him defenseless. For a spy, that was fatal, and with most of his subordinates killed, Verno was in quite the troublesome situation.

Feylord Lernon, on the other hand, only received an inconsequential verbal warning.

“I’m going to get that cowardly piece of shit! Aghh!”

Verno kicked the bin as he vented his frustration, his reddened eyes soon falling on Reyna’s figure. The girl was minding her own business and chatting with Frey, one of the spies from the Sun Alchemists.

Noticeably enough, her second ‘lackey’, Feylord, was nowhere to be seen. However, that was to be expected after what happened. The young noble opted to stay in his room and protect himself from Verno.

“You! Go to the hideout and contact Teresa!”

A scared spy behind Verno was startled as he nodded continuously and rushed away.

Left with another nameless subordinate, Verno grunted and kicked him out of anger.

It was then that one of Verno’s new teachers, Khalil, passed by.

For a couple of seconds, Verno stood there, seemingly pondering about something. When he snapped out of it, he chased after the bronze-skinned man with long hair braids.

“H-hey… sir… sir!”

When the teacher turned around and finally paid attention to Verno, the latter smiled and said,

“What a coincidence to meet you here, sir!”

Thanks to Feylord’s snitching, Verno knew how Reyna managed to coax the new teacher and extinguish the initial flames of hostility that were ignited due to her arrogance.

With no one to lean back on, Verno quickly thought of what he perceived as a brilliant plan.

He was rich, therefore, someone hungry for money like Khalil wouldn’t turn down any ‘request’ provided the pay was generous.

“Yes?”

Seeing the teacher smile back, unaffected by being stopped or their previous ‘friendly’ spar during the first lesson, Verno felt relieved and slightly apprehensive.

“Do you have some time to talk, sir?”

“Depends. What are we going to talk about?”

Verno chuckled and did the standard money gesture, which all merchants liked to use.

“Ohhh…”

Khalil looked around before energetically nodding like an excited kid.

Verno, either too stupid to choose a secluded place for a private conversation, or not too worried about getting discovered, just took Arthur to a nearby bench in the middle of the campus.

“I’d like to request something from you, sir.”

He cut through the chase and before he even got a reply, he took out an exquisite black leather pouch from the jacket worn over his uniform and presented it to the parasite.

“There are exactly 249 Blakin Gold Coins in here. I’ll add another 500 if you accept.”

“That’s certainly enticing, but you still haven’t told me what you want me to do.” answered Khalil with a soft and friendly tone, his eyes gleaming at the sight of the pouch.

‘Why didn’t I think of this from the beginning?’

Verno was inwardly rejoicing and praising his intelligence as he saw the man’s greedy expression. Not all of the teachers in the academy accepted bribes or helped students do clandestine stuff, but there were some bad apples like Khalil.

Unfortunately, Verno’s last helper was the fired teacher, the one Khalil had replaced.

“Feylord Lernon is one of your students, isn’t that right, sir?”

“He is.”

“I want him dead.”

“...”

Seeing the bronze-skinned man avert his eyes and furrowed his brows, Verno panicked a bit and added,

“I’ll pay you a total of 1000 Blakin Gold Coins!”

It was an astronomical sum, which, indeed, did return the smile to the parasite’s face.

“So I just need to kill him?”

“Yes. If you do this, not only will you be paid, but I’ll consider you a close friend of mine, sir! You surely know about my aunt, who’s part of the Ten Seats. There’s loads of benefits to be had.”

Seeing the youth boast about his heritage, Arthur held himself from sneering and maintained the believable façade of a greedy teacher.

‘I really don’t know how he became a spy. Could someone really be this stupid?’

“I can, but I won’t be able to bring you the body.”

“Hahaha! That’s fine, sir! I trust in your abilities.”

Verno, more pleased than ever, acted more comfortable as his mood kept escalating. It was unknown whether he thought the teacher would really kill Feylord or if this was a trap, but Arthur guessed that it was the former.

“I hope you can kill him as soon as possible, sir! I’m looking forward to the good news!”

While waving his hand in farewell, Verno walked away, his unpleasant laughter unnecessarily loud and seemingly exaggerated.

Left alone on the bench, Arthur leaned his back and fell in deep thought.

With every passing day, things kept piling up and up with no signs for any resolution.

Everyone had a hidden agenda, everyone was lying, and everyone was after one thing or the other.

After Nader’s warning and much-needed explanation, the most urgent thing Arthur wanted to do was obtain a suitable host for ‘Last Possession’. For that, he either needed to delve deep into Blue Blossom Forest, or look for an island in this archipelago that housed a particularly dangerous beast.

The two corpses Sonia had offered him were lucrative and fitting to be used for ‘Last Possession’, however, Arthur wanted to prepare for any unfavorable eventuality.

If the Principal was going to betray him, or if he fell into a dangerous situation, he wanted to be sure of his survival.

Sure enough, with the use of [Origin Return], Arthur might be able to flee a short distance away, but such a skill could be interfered with using a multitude of ways. For instance, a powerful protective Barrier would render all spatial displacement obsolete, thus trapping everyone inside of it.

‘No. Killing Feylord would be too much of a waste. When the time comes, he could be used as bait to lure out Verno and his goons. Alternatively, I could use the cultist body in my possession to trick him into believing that Jan wants to recruit him… but, even then, he’s one overly-suspicious bastard. He said he wants the Phoenix Feather, so maybe I could use that to earn his temporary ‘cooperation’? That might be risky, but he did look quite desperate to get it when he had spilled the beans. The problem is, Feylord is the unpredictable type. He’s deceptive and a liar, so there is a chance all that talk about the Phoenix Feather was fabricated.’

The parasite shook his head as he let out a heavy sigh. There was too much happening at once, from Jonathan’s planned heist to the presence of the unknown member of the Circle of Damnation.

Frankly speaking, Arthur had no clue who it might be. There were over a thousand students in the Nemia Academy, thus making it impossible to pinpoint the target.

The list of potential suspects would be too long and the time it would take to investigate them would be too much.

‘First, I need to think of how to infiltrate the Vault and get what I want. I should plan it with Jonathan’s heist, so he and his colleagues could serve as a diversion. There’s no telling if Sonia is expecting the fake Alchemy Scripture to be stolen or not, but I think she does. But why isn’t she doing anything to stop it? No no no… if we switch it up and assume she wants the scripture to be stolen, then…no, it doesn’t add up as that would be contradictory since she wants me to get rid of the spies.’

Sunday night, on the top floor of the Administrative Bureau Building.

Principal Sonia was sitting behind her exquisite desk, dazedly staring at the documents in front of her.

A light knock on the door snapped her out of it. She softly replied,

“Come in.”

The late-night visitor was none other than Melissa Crimson, the Dean.

“Nader Coach has left. Julian has disappeared, but it’s safe to assume he was taken.”

“...”

The red-haired woman, whose eyes were covered with an old black eye-patch, furrowed her thick brow and stared at Sonia, who looked relatively young for her age.

“The attack that happened in Ilexset caused quite an uproar. The Witch of Izakan was involved, apparently. After investigating for a bit, I learnt that she was attacked by an unknown person.”

She paused for a couple of breaths and coldly snorted, “It’s obviously that parasite! He’s extremely dangerous, Sonia. I think it was a wrong move to let him stay here unattended.”

“In such precarious circumstances, it is better to rely on a complete outsider. A disposable pawn. Parmenas has been more ‘active’ lately, so he should have noticed something. And with Nader Coach gone, he’s basically got free reign.”

“I don’t understand!” Melissa crossed her arms and raised her voice. “Even if he’s a high-ranking spy from the Unholy Blasphemers, It’s still not enough for everyone to be so cautious of him. What are you not telling me?”

“It’s better to let sleeping dogs lie, Melissa. He basically snuck into the vault and roamed around for a full night without being detected. Were it not for the memory crystal, I would’ve never known. It’s fortunate enough that the Alchemy Scripture he took was just a fake.”

“So? He’s a spy so stealth should be his expertise. When I ‘appraised’ him, he wasn’t particularly strong.”

Sonia scoffed and retorted, “You rely too much on the System. You have to understand that they are capable of tricking it, if not negating it entirely. If Nader was the one we’re after, I wouldn’t have gone through this much trouble and maintained this idiotic act of obliviousness. I just want all of this to pass and return the peace and stability to my academy.”

“With this huge clusterfuck, I doubt it’s going to be anytime soon.”

Sonia nodded in agreement as her body slumped back on the chair and her expression became downcast.