"Lotus, I'll be relying on you on my next duel..." Vale said in a soft voice.
He already discussed his plan with the Dark Spirit and the latter had certainly agreed as long as he provides her with enough energy she can use.
He obviously agreed with her as he had even decided to use one of his favors from the Headmaster. He already mentioned to Headmaster Jean that he would like to visit his precious basement as long as it has corpses that he can touch…
The Headmaster was elated after hearing this so on the 28th of July, the day before his duel, he would have a 3-hour tour in his basement!
Since he was expecting to encounter a few high-quality corpses there, he was expecting that Lotus would get a lot stronger and he would also have a chance to extract other corpses…
"I've never fought against a Slender Zombie before… However, I should be capable of destroying its energy source if my Dark Energy is stronger than the zombie."
"Yes… We will make sure that you'll be in your strongest state before the battle. But… are you sure you're not going to just disappear so suddenly?" Vale asked.
To be honest, he was still quite worried that Lotus would suddenly disappear… After all, their relationship is quite odd and it was formed in a strange way…
He indeed summoned her through a ritual he made with the blessing of the rulers of the Spirit World, but it's not a ritual to make a contract with her…
Lotus is just his friend and not his servant of some sort… This is what he requested in his prayer chant after all.
This is also the reason why he's being really cautious about his treatment of the Dark Spirit. Although he requested a friendly spirit in that ritual, it doesn't mean that this spirit would forever stay like that whatever treatment he gave to her.
"I'm not going away… I can't even return to the Spirit World. At most, I can probably use another host but that's too troublesome and will make me a lot weaker." Lotus replied as she sensed Vale's emotion.
"I see… Thank you for saying that."
Lotus no longer replied after this.
Days quickly passed and the day to visit the Headmaster's basement finally arrived.
Vale suddenly heard the Headmaster's voice inside his head telling him to visit him in his office.
This was just after Professor Morton's class ended.
"Vale! Have you finished your preparation? We will come and watch your match tomorrow…" Chad suddenly said after seeing Vale hurrying to get out of the classroom.
This attracted the other's attention as they also said some encouraging words to him…
Lisa and Aubrey, on the other hand, looked at Vale with smiles on their faces. The two of them had given Vale a report regarding Slender Zombies and even mutated Slender Zombies that they found in the library and heard from their seniors.
Vale didn't ask for it but they still gave it to him in hopes of helping him in his duel.
Vale then thanked everyone and ensured that he will do his best in his duel before leaving the classroom.
The stake in that duel is a huge deal to him after all. If he wins, he gets the scrolls and his opponent's contribution points. If he loses, he had to participate in Larkin's experiment to advance his research in Undead Creatures.
The stake may not be fair but the battle isn't fair either… Vale would be the one to fight in the duel and he can use his Mystical Artifacts and Dark Spells. On the other hand, he will only fight a Zombie that is not capable of casting Dark Spells or using Mystical Artifacts.
It would seem that Vale was the one in favor of this battle…
However, since this duel was suggested by Larkin himself, there should be something off with this rule and he surely has tricks up his sleeve.
As soon as Vale entered the Headmaster's room, he greeted Headmaster Jean who was smoking behind his desk.
This is Vale's first time seeing the Headmaster smoke… He didn't quite expect that he was smoking but now that he thinks about it, it seems quite fitting to his character.
Headmaster Jean simply flipped the cigar it disappeared in his hands as soon as Vale entered.
"Alright. Let's go…" Headmaster Jean said as he stood up and approached Vale.
"Headmaster, may I know where this place is?" Vale asked. He was simply curious to know the location of the basement whether it is within the Academy or not.
Headmaster Jean smiled at his question as he didn't immediately answer.
He then held Vale's right shoulder before speaking with his deep voice. "I can't tell you."
Vale wanted to say something more but his surroundings suddenly turned dark and he can only see the Headmaster's white smiling teeth before they also vanished in the darkness…
'This…' Vale was stunned.
It was quite alarming but he remained unmoving as he believed that the Headmaster wouldn't harm him at all… If he has plans of harming him, he could've done it a long time ago and wouldn't make it so complicated.
In addition to that, his Spell Dispersion's passive ability didn't work either… It means that the Headmaster's spell was incredibly stronger.
Soon, a blinding light appeared in the darkness and after a few seconds, he realized that he was already in a different place!
He's now in the middle of a forest with a cottage house in front of him!
"Illusion? Wait, Teleportation Spell? Is it Tier 2—No, a Tier 3 Dark Spell?!" Vale was shocked as he realized what was going on!
Only about 20 seconds had passed and he already arrived at a place he had no idea about. Vale couldn't help but look at the Headmaster with deep respect.
He wanted to learn this Dark Spell too!
Headmaster Jean chuckled after seeing his reaction… Well, he expected that Vale would be surprised so he didn't mind it at all.
"Just study well and you'll learn all of it. Follow me, I'll be showing you my collection. You have to ready your heart as you might find something that will blow your mind."