Chapter 3: The Village Where the Professor Lives (3)

“Werewolves?”
Ravia’s words seemed to cause varying degrees of shock among the children in the room. Even Jiang Zhe, whose face was covered in fatigue, focused his attention, which made Ravia feel somewhat pleased.
“Werewolves? Are they orcs?” Allen asked, confused.
Clearly, Scott couldn’t stand Allen’s ignorance. Frowning, he said, “Allen, if you spent some of your time lifting weights reading literature, you’d know that werewolves and orcs are clearly two different concepts!”
“Oh, is that so?” Allen turned to look at his companions in the room.
At that moment, Dia said in a somewhat uncertain tone, “Werewolves, according to the literature, seem to be people possessed by demons, right, Ravia…”
“Hmph,” Ravia seemed dissatisfied that Dia had taken over the conversation. With a slight snort, she forced a smile and began to explain softly, “Senior Dia is right. Werewolves aren’t simply ‘a combination of human and beast.’ Their origin lies in demonic temptation… A long time ago, magicians confirmed that demons do exist in our world. But they also proved that demons live in a different dimension from ours—a separate world, a subspace.
Generally, demons can’t cross dimensional barriers to reach our world. Of course, advanced summoning spells can temporarily break this barrier. There are many types of demons, each with different abilities. I’m not entirely sure about the specifics… Stop laughing, Thos!”
“Okay, okay!” Jiang Zhe shrugged helplessly.
Glaring at Jiang Zhe, Ravia continued, “Among the countless types of demons, there are some skilled in mind magic. Legend has it that they can see through people’s negative emotions—like cruelty, desire, and bloodthirst. These demons can amplify such negative emotions infinitely to control people’s minds. In magical literature, these demons are called ‘Whisperers.’ Whisperers are extremely dangerous because they can manipulate lives through words. But they don’t possess great power. As long as one has a strong will, there’s no need to fear them. However, if one’s will is weak, even an honest person might become cruel, bloodthirsty, and greedy under the influence of Whisperers…”

According to historical records, over several hundred years ago, a werewolf was captured. He was the son of a carpenter named Jean Cornier. In his werewolf form, he was extremely powerful, and ordinary weapons were utterly unable to kill him, meaning any living being was at his mercy. The appearance of this werewolf disturbed the local lords, who sent large armies to capture him, but all these attempts failed. Eventually, a count managed to defeat the werewolf. He planned to burn him on a pyre, but an alchemist who came to help stopped him and took the werewolf away. Despite his extreme bloodthirst and aggression as a werewolf, Jean Cornier retained his sanity. He told the alchemist the reason he had become a werewolf… The details are not recorded in the texts, but the alchemist noted one very important thing: according to Jean Cornier, he had once encountered a mysterious knight in a trance. The knight gave him a wolf skin in exchange for Jean Cornier giving him a hundred souls each year. “Ah!” Lisa let out a cry and leaned nervously toward Allen. “…Jean Cornier signed this contract. Encouraged by the demon, he quickly showed his bloodthirsty side. He treated people as prey and committed brutal acts against humans without restraint. During the pre-magic era hundreds of years ago, his strength was unmatched by any alchemist; neither weapons nor alchemy could kill him. He destroyed village after village, killing everyone inside… Eventually, this evil werewolf was imprisoned in the alchemist’s dungeon…” Silence filled the room, until a yawn broke it. “Ha, I mean,” Jiang Zhe said, scratching his head in exasperation, “Ravia, are you giving us a lecture on werewolves?” “You!” Ravia glared at Jiang Zhe angrily and said to Scott, “Scott, you should know about it, right? There’s a forbidden magic in curses—werewolf transformation!” “Mm,” Scott nodded and said, “It seems to be a magic that involves making a contract with a demon, allowing one to become a powerful werewolf. Different from the werewolf transformation used by the elf druids in legends, it’s more of a curse than magic. That’s why it’s been banned by the Imperial Magic Association for generations. No spells, procedures, or tools related to it may be kept; only summaries are allowed…”

“Is that really the case, buddy?” Allen asked in surprise, his tone filled with doubt. “Even if werewolves were extremely powerful hundreds of years ago, magic didn’t exist back then, did it? If it did, those damned werewolves would have been burned to death a hundred times over!”
“Hmph!” Scott didn’t answer Allen’s question; he simply glanced at Ravia.
Seemingly grateful that Scott had still given her a chance to explain, Ravia smiled slightly and shook her head. “You’re wrong, Allen. The reason Werewolf Transformation is classified as a forbidden curse magic isn’t because of the great power it grants after transforming into a werewolf, nor is it because of that contract with a demon… Listen well, you arrogant fool!”
“Hey!”
“Ahem,” Ravia said in a low voice, giving Jiang Zhe a teasing look. “From the war against orcs a thousand years ago to the formation of the empire hundreds of years ago, that was the era of alchemists. Modern magicians call it the Pre-Magic Era—a chaotic time when all sorts of creatures lived on the roads. At that time, humans only possessed alchemy and curses as magic; they hadn’t yet learned Green Magic from their allies, and the magical knowledge available for research wasn’t comprehensive enough…
After the empire was formed, dark magicians discovered while studying Werewolf Transformation that werewolves who had drunk human blood might transform into another kind of creature—another life form that also drank human blood. Dark magicians called them vampires! Compared to werewolves, vampires faced more restrictions, but they were also far more powerful. Moreover, they used special blood-based magic to kill their opponents and strengthen themselves…
“Vampires?” Jiang Zhe widened his eyes and asked repeatedly, “Werewolves turn into vampires after death? So… vampires are created from werewolves after they die?”
“Yes,” Ravia said, slightly puzzled by Jiang Zhe’s expression, and nodded to explain. “That’s what the records say. But not all werewolves turn into vampires after death, nor are all vampires created from werewolves. However, according to the records, vampires born from werewolves are just one type of vampire. These vampires don’t use blood-based magic, but they’re stronger than ordinary vampires. They can transform into wolves or bats, and their vitality is also greater than that of ordinary vampires. As long as their energy isn’t exhausted, they’re immortal!”

“No… an immortal?” Allen’s tongue stumbled slightly. Beside him, Lisa clutched his arm tightly, her face filled with terror.
“Just close to immortality… Such vampires are called [Gangro] in the records. Gangro are the strongest warriors among vampires. Their bravery doesn’t stem from madness but from their primal instincts. Methods used against ordinary vampires are almost useless against them. Of course, Salonia’s white magic can still cause them serious harm, after all, they belong to the ‘immortals’…”
“Then besides these Gangro, what other types of vampires are there?” Jiang Zhe asked curiously.
“Of course,” Ravia said proudly, glancing at Jiang Zhe before speaking softly, “Throughout history, many magicians sought eternal life by using alchemy to study life and ancient spells, turning themselves into vampires. They are called [Xinmo]. They transform themselves into immortal souls and can use not only dark magic but also other spells from their ‘pre-life’ days. They have always been hunted by Salonia’s priests, but it seems they haven’t been seen in nearly a century… Um, besides [Gangro] and [Xinmo], there seem to be a few other types of vampires, but there’s little record of them. I only remember that hundreds of years ago, there was a legend about a grand duke who became a vampire after being cursed for killing too many lives. Um, his name was…”
“Vlad the Impaler!” Scott reminded softly.
“Huh?” Lisa covered her mouth in surprise. She clearly remembered him as the character from the story just told.
“He was cursed for bearing the lives of so many victims. But according to legend, the real reason Vlad became a vampire was that he made a pact with a demon, sacrificing countless souls in exchange… Such vampires who become vampires by making direct pacts with demons are called [Lesamba] or [Jimichi] in the records. They are the most common among vampires, mostly humans who can’t resist the demon’s temptation and sign such pacts… For eternal life… Hmph!”
“Scott, have you seen them too?” Ravia’s expression was full of surprise.
Scott finally came back to his senses and smiled slightly. “No, I just happened to see it while reading some records.”

“Oh, I see…” To be honest, Ravia didn’t really believe Scott’s excuse. After all, she had spent some time with Jiang Zhe and the others. Compared to the other two, Scott could practically be considered a model of a magician, right? That’s what a real magician should be—that idiot!
In this world, are wolves and vampires born this way? Jiang Zhe was filled with curiosity and confusion.
He looked up, about to speak, when he saw Ravia staring at him with a strange expression, which made him feel uneasy. Coughing lightly, he said awkwardly, “I really appreciate you giving us an introductory lesson on wolves and vampires! Well, I’m going back to bed. You guys do as you please.” With that, Jiang Zhe stood up.
At that moment, Ravia spoke, her tone vague and unsettling.
“Legend has it that during full moons, wolves become extremely violent and bloodthirsty. They can’t control their desire for blood, so they follow the scent of blood to human settlements, then mercilessly tear apart and devour every living creature they see. They suck out people’s blood and chew on their internal organs…”
“Guh…” Swallowing hard, Lisa clutched Allen’s arm and said timidly, “A-Avi, your expression is… really scary…”
“Is that so?” Ravia smiled faintly. Her usually delicate face appeared somewhat terrifying under the candlelight.
“Sos, legends say wolves are incredibly fast—like a gust of wind… If you’re attacked by a wolf and your blood is drained, your soul is given to the demons, becoming part of their power. You can never escape, only forever be entangled with other souls, tearing each other apart…”
“P-Please stop, Avi…” Lailira leaned closer to Scott.
“…Eventually, your soul loses its humanity and becomes a plaything for the demons. Once they get tired of it, they’ll tear it apart and swallow it. You can’t resist the demons’ power—you can’t even scream. You can only endure the pain of your soul being torn apart, feeling it swallow you bit by bit…”
“Yah!” Lisa screamed, pressing her head tightly against Allen’s arm, leaving the young ‘knight’ at a loss.

Glancing at Ravia and then at Jiang Zhe, Scott wore a faint smile as he said softly, “Sos, do you know why werewolves can’t control themselves? It’s because the moon contains a special kind of energy. When the moon is full, this energy reaches its peak, triggering a desire for blood in their hearts… Although it’s still a few days until the full moon, today’s moon is also quite round… Maybe…”

“Hey!” Jiang Zhe glared at Scott, who was sneering secretly, and said irritably, “I’m happy to see them… I need a wolf skin for a coat!”

“Wow! Good job, buddy!” Allen whistled in encouragement from the side.

Seeing Jiang Zhe remain unmoved, Ravia clearly felt discouraged. At that moment, another loud howl came from outside…

Ravia smiled faintly and said mischievously, “Maybe… they’re also very happy to see you, Sos…”

“Huh!” A gust of wind blew through, causing the old window to make strange noises. Not only Lisa and Lailira, but even Dia’s expression became somewhat unnatural. Although Ravia pretended to be calm, her heart was pounding.

“Sos, I heard werewolves like to attack alone people. If one attacks the attic, we might not be able to save you in time… Of course, you can stay. Werewolves usually don’t attack groups…”

Looking at Ravia’s mischievous smile, Jiang Zhe shook his head speechlessly. Just as he was about to turn back to the attic to sleep, someone reached out and grabbed the corner of his robe—it was Dia.

“Sos, maybe wait a bit longer…” Her voice trembled slightly. Perhaps for girls, fear of terrifying things has nothing to do directly with their strength.

Perhaps due to an inexplicable sense of familiarity and fondness for Dia, Jiang Zhe sat back down amidst Ravia’s grumbling.

Although neither Jiang Zhe nor Allen and Scott showed any signs of fear, somehow, when Ravia saw Jiang Zhe remaining calm, she felt a sense of frustration. Grumbling, she said unfriendlyly, “It’s your turn, Sos!”

“Me?” Jiang Zhe looked at Allen and Scott, who were sneering secretly, and hesitated, saying, “I’m not very good at talking about scary things…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ravia said nonchalantly, adjusting her hair. “Just like you said, as long as you don’t make me laugh!”

“Oh?” Facing her provocative gaze, Jiang Zhe smirked wickedly. “Alright! Let me tell one then!”
Immediately after, there was a long silence, as Jiang Zhe, the person involved in the story, didn’t speak…
A horror story needs to focus on atmosphere!
Finally, the prolonged silence made the girls uneasy. Even Lavia’s expression became unnatural as she urged, “Hurry up and tell it!”
“Why the rush?” Jiang Zhe rolled his eyes irritably. Under the dim light of the candle, he spoke in a deep voice, “Once upon a time, in a campus—well, you can think of it as Riox… During a short holiday, all the students went home, leaving only one teacher… no, a professor, to stay overnight…
It was a pitch-black night…
The professor on night duty suddenly heard strange noises coming from the hallway. Feeling puzzled, he got up, opened the door, and glanced down both corridors. In the dim light, he saw no one in the hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a window blown open by the wind, with the wind making strange noises as it blew through it…
“What’s so scary about this?” Lavia muttered softly.
“Shut up!” Jiang Zhe snapped, frowning, before continuing, “The professor calmed down. He stepped out of the office, intending to close that window. Before he could go far, a gust of wind blew the door shut with a ‘bang!’
The hallway instantly became very dark. The lights on both sides… the wall sconces flickered dimly, appearing and disappearing. Eventually, the sconces went out, leaving the hallway completely in darkness. The only light source was the moonlight coming through that window…
The professor shook his head and walked toward the window, with each step making a ‘thud… thud… thud’ sound…
But then, the professor discovered something astonishing—he noticed that the sound of his footsteps was strange…
The professor stopped, but the ‘thud… thud… thud’ sound continued, getting closer and closer…
Finally, the footsteps stopped, right behind the professor…
The professor’s breathing became heavy. He felt something behind him, as he could sense the cold air coming from that direction…
But when he suddenly turned around, there was no one in the hallway behind him…
The professor turned his head back and took a deep breath, just like this…
Exhale…
Inhale…
The professor raised his head, and at that moment, he suddenly saw something!”

“What, what did you discover?” Raviya was startled by Jiang Zhe’s suddenly raised voice, shivering throughout, her voice trembling as well. The others also held their breath, staring at Jiang Zhe.
Jiang Zhe chuckled and softened his voice, saying, “The professor noticed that window was closed…”
“Hmph!” Realizing she had been tricked, Raviya glared angrily at Jiang Zhe.
“What?” Allen pouted in dissatisfaction.
“Was it blown shut?” Scott pushed up his glasses, looking puzzled.
As for the rest, aside from Dia glaring at Jiang Zhe irritably, Lisa and Lailira’s faces turned pale.
“It really was closed,” Jiang Zhe said sheepishly, realizing he seemed to have angered everyone. “Ahem, I haven’t finished… After the window was closed, those strange noises stopped, but the professor kept feeling something behind him—a chilling cold that seeped into his bones…
The professor wanted to return to his bright office, but the door was closed. So he searched through his pockets for a key. Since it was night shift, he had many keys, and searching through them one by one in the dim light was extremely time-consuming…
At that moment, the door in front of him creaked open…
The key was inserted in the door handle…
But the professor was sure he had put it back in his pocket after opening the door…”
“He… he must be mistaken, right?” Lisa said faintly and timidly.
“The professor thought the same, so he pushed open the door and sat back down at the long table, taking a deep breath. But then he felt a cold sensation on his neck. He instinctively turned around but saw nothing unusual… Yet as he turned, the professor glanced at the window glass and was shocked to see, besides his own reflection, another figure in the window…”
“Another what?” Lisa, who had been listening intently, tightly grasped Allen’s arm and asked softly.
“Go on, buddy!” Although Allen tried to hide it, his smile seemed forced.
But Jiang Zhe, under everyone’s attention, just stared blankly out the window.
Out of curiosity, the children in the room instinctively glanced outside and saw what seemed to be a human-like creature peering inside…
“Yah!” A few girls’ screams shattered the silence of the night.
W-what was that?
That faint, smoke-like figure…
Could it be… a ghost?
Yes, this isn’t my original world!

Jiang Zhe instinctively wanted to raise his hand to cast a fireball, only to find his arms tightly grasped by the terrified Dia and Lavia.
“Scott!”
“Mm!” Scott, who was also looking out the window, raised his hand and cast a binding spell. But to everyone’s surprise, the black energy passed straight through the ‘white smoke’ outside the window without causing any harm to ‘it’.
“How is that possible?” Scott was shocked.
The white smoke seemed almost alive; after ‘glancing’ at the children inside, it disappeared into the dark night.
Allen instinctively rushed to the window, opened it, and looked outside, but saw nothing unusual.
“Thud, thud, thud!” There were rapid footsteps outside, followed by knocks on the door, along with Professor Hodde’s voice.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
Scott opened the door with some confusion, while Jiang Zhe glanced at the girls holding his arms tightly and whispered, “It hurts! Stop pulling like this!”
Instantly, the two girls blushed and hurriedly released his arms.
At that moment, Professor Hodde, dressed in his pajamas, came in. Just as he was about to ask, he noticed the pentagram and candle at his feet. Seeming to realize something, he looked somewhat exasperated. “Don’t disturb the villagers’ rest—it’s very impolite!” Then, seeing the girls looking anxious, he said irritably, “Don’t bully the girls, you three brats!”
“No, Professor Hodde!” Scott said seriously, “It seemed like something was spying outside just now. My curse magic had no effect on it!”
“Hm?” Professor Hodde was stunned. He rushed to the window, glanced outside a few times, and frowned. “This is the second floor. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”
“We can’t be mistaken!” Lailira said quickly. “It looked like a human figure…”
“Is that so?” Professor Hodde touched the window frame with his finger and frowned. “Scott, you say your curse had no effect?”
“Yes, Professor. It passed right through that white figure. So I suspect it might be a soul…”
“That’s impossible!” Professor Hodde frowned and shook his head. “There are no magicians living nearby, let alone ones who can control souls. Such evil magic is strictly forbidden in the empire!” After a long silence, he clapped his hands and said, “Alright, the activity is over. Go back to bed!”
“Professor…”

“Alright, don’t worry. Remember there’s a professor from the Riox Academy with you. Rest in peace, Thos, Scott, Allen!”
“Yes, Professor…”
Meanwhile, outside the Rio village, the man in the black coat had his eyes closed, his arms wrapped around a tree. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and let out a long sigh.
“Damn it! This unremarkable little village not only has some little brats who can use magic but also a powerful mage. Truly damned… Curse!”
As he spoke, the man licked the droplets of water from his lips and sighed slightly. “I hope there are other villages nearby… Damn it!”