Zaroth was at his apartment brainstorming some ideas.
As always, trying to train his mana core as much as possible, he had summoned everybody, the wolves, with Silverfang and Luna, who was sitting across from him.
"Maybe scales? You are a dragon, right? And they have scales, so maybe I will be able to—"
"Zaroth," she interrupted him. "When I am in my dragon form, do you see scales?"
"No… you are undead, so when you are in your dragon form, made entirely from bone, you don't have any."
"Exactly. As such, there isn't a way to help you this time."
He leaned in his chair as he sighed in frustration. "So does that mean I will have to learn skills the hard way?"
Up until now, the two skills he had learned came pretty fast to him thanks to his connection with Luna, but it seemed this was going to change this time as she didn't possess any kind of abilities that would manage to grant him any defensive skills.
"Actually, these past few days something weird has happened."
Zaroth raised an eyebrow as he shifted his gaze to Luna.
"Which is?" he asked.
"You know that symbol that you got after making that deal with Midnight? Well, I think there is more to it than meets the eye."
"What are you talking about? Midnight and I even discussed the issue and didn't come to a conclusion about what it actually does. How would you figure it out on your own, and why are you only telling me now?" he asked.
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She sighed. "Well, there wasn't anything that could lead me to what that symbol did, but something changed."
She pointed toward him. "It's either you or Midnight, but there is a connection between the two of you. Of course, it isn't as refined as the connection between the two of us, but it's there. So maybe you will be able to learn skills that vampires can use?"
Zaroth blinked a few times trying to register the information. "Okay, first off, how did you come to that conclusion?"
She scoffed at his words. Getting up, she approached him and touched his chest where his heart was located.
"I've spent a long time in your soul. As such, I have a very good grasp on how it works. The easiest way to explain it is, imagine that your core was a mountain. Well, from this mountain, a small river suddenly appeared one day. Maybe it was because you've gotten stronger, or maybe Midnight has gotten stronger. It's also possible that this connection had always been there, but I've never been able to notice it until recently."
Zaroth massaged his forehead. "So basically, what you are saying is that you are sure there is a connection between me and Midnight, and I can capitalize on that opportunity to learn skills that a human normally shouldn't possess?"
"Pretty much, yeah. Now that I think about it, the signs have always been there, no? When she was in danger, your head began to hurt almost like trying to warn you that she was closer to dying."
"In other words, you are saying that I should meet with her?" he spoke as he used his bracelet to send a message.
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Zaroth: Hey, sorry to bother you, but are you free? I want to discuss something.
Midnight: I… can you leave me a bit more time to organize my thoughts?
Zaroth: It's not about that. It concerns our deal, you know, that symbol, right? I think I figured out what it does.
Midnight: …
Midnight: How does tomorrow after the lectures sound?
Zaroth: Sure.
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*****
"Yeah, it was actually a pretty hard fight. That man was able to use gravity. I'm not sure what class or blessing the man had, but he was a force to be reckoned with," Zaroth discussed his battle againts Radan during lunch with his friends.
Roran smiled as his eyes shined. "That does sound like a tough opponent, but you won, right? In that case, I'm going to suggest—"
"Sorry, actually, you know that girl I was telling you about? I'm going to meet again with her today, so I can't go drinking tonight," Zaroth cut off Roran before he could finish.
"But feel free to party without me. I don't want to ruin the mood," he added.
Lily protested. "There is no way we are going to—"
"Well, if that is your wish, who am I to go against it?" Roran interrupted her.
"Oh, come on! Without him?!" she complained.
"Lily, look at it this way. Today we can party for Zaroth, and tomorrow we can party with Zaroth! That way, everybody wins, right?" Zack joined in.
She opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, she sighed. "Okay, if you two want to go so badly, I will not try to stop you."
Zack shifted his gaze to Zaroth. "Oh yeah, you did say that you will try to learn a new skill, right? Do you have an idea in mind?"
Zaroth's eyes shined green as he smiled menacingly. "Yeah, actually, I do have an idea in mind."
*****
'This is not a date, right?' he asked Luna in his mind, trying to reassure himself.
'No, it is not. But looking at the way you have dressed up, it is pretty clear that it could go either way,' she replied.
'Okay, I did put on my suit that I used on the date with Elysia, which now, thinking about it, may be a bit disrespectful... And I might have gotten a haircut, but that doesn't mean we are on a date!'
He heard Luna sigh in his head. 'Just admit it. You just really want to fu—'
Zaroth stopped paying attention to Luna as Midnight came into view.
She was wearing a beautiful crimson dress that matched her eyes and hair perfectly.
He felt his body growing hotter as he gulped audibly.
Suddenly, he was glad that he prepared himself as much as possible.