It didn't seem like it would be difficult for us to follow those agreements.
I asked my father directly,
"So, will humans also stick to their obligations?"
My father stayed silent for a moment before speaking.
"Yes, their leaders and people in power will. But of course, there will always be those who break these agreements on their side, just as it could happen on ours."
"So it isn't a big issue if ordinary people break them. Ultimately, they will be punished. But it becomes a serious problem if those with authority and high positions are the ones who break them."
My father looked at me and gave me some advice.
"Theo, no race is pure evil. Even demons—although they usually lean toward evil—you will still find some among them who want to do good."
"From my personal view, evil is the easier path. It is the path of the weak and the cowardly. Robbery, killing, and committing crimes… those are not things the truly strong or balanced people choose to do."
"For example, what is harder: creating something, or stealing it? Of course, stealing is easier."
"And those who follow evil think they are defying nature, but the truth is that they are submitting to it more than anyone else."
"Evil is not really a philosophy or a way of life. Most of the time, it is simply a tool—something that makes the road easier."
"In the end, the path of evil is the easier one, while the path of good is very difficult. On top of that, people will call you a fool and mock you."
"Even though I have followed the weak man's path all my life, I still advise you to walk the path of righteousness."
I was surprised by my father's words. They sounded very logical.
I never expected him to praise righteousness. He always seemed like the kind of person who would mock such a path.
In this era, it is rare to find someone who truly follows the path of good.
Even humans have abandoned it, especially the mages. They adhere to the principle of Equivalent Exchange.
They have become slaves to that rule. Every help they offer becomes a debt you must repay.
After my father left, I thought about what he had said.
I didn't agree with many of his ideas, because I personally prefer the easier path. Still, I had to admit that the overall idea made sense.
The path of righteousness is the hardest one. It is meant for people who are strong both mentally and physically.
I went to my bed, planning to sleep.
Before sleeping, I asked the System to show my stats.
Name: Theodore Carl
Age: 22
Race: Vampire
Level: 2
Strength: 205
Endurance: 200
Speed: 204
Body: 250
Mana: 207
Available Raw Energy: 38
Unique Ability: [Green Flame]
Skills:
[Intuition]
[Transformation]
[Blood Control]
[Darkness Control]
Status: Cursed
It seems these past two days were not very productive.
I expected to reach around forty or at least thirty-five points of raw energy. Instead, I only gained twenty-eight. The other ten were already mine.
There was also a question I had wanted to ask for some time, but I usually ignored it because I didn't like relying too much on the System.
"You parasite, why didn't you tell me about the contamination that affected me while I was reading Alchemy?"
[Master, that was because it was stronger than me. I couldn't sense it. The contamination was entering your body in very small amounts, and I only noticed it after it had accumulated. That is why I warned you not to sleep.]
Finally, I felt relieved.
That explanation matched what I had been thinking, even though I still had some doubts.
Still, noticing the contamination from the Dead World—even if it was late—was quite an achievement.
Soon after, I tried to sleep.
After some time, I finally drifted off.
On the second day, the same terrifying dreams returned.
Creatures made of filth… and a table covered with yellow-green worms.
There was also a lion made of pus, feeding on something that looked like green mucus mixed with bile.
It looked like the spit of someone seriously ill.
I barely managed to hold back from vomiting.
The place was unbelievably disgusting.
The whole place felt sick… even the space itself seemed infected.
This continued for hours before the dream finally faded, and I was able to sleep peacefully.
After a long rest, I finally woke up at my usual time, just before complete darkness fell.
After washing up, I sat at the same table with my father and we started eating.
I felt disgusted today and could barely finish my meal.
Without hesitation, I told my father about the situation and the disturbing dreams.
I noticed that he paused while eating when I described them, but he continued anyway.
"This is something I expected, Theo," he said. "But I didn't think it would be this intense."
"But don't worry. The longest these dreams should last is two weeks."
"So be patient. In fact, you will benefit from this. Your soul will become stronger after resisting the contamination."
I found that strange.
Normally, whenever my soul became stronger, my Green Flames would grow stronger as well.
But during the training over the last two days, my flames were actually weaker than usual.
I told my father my concern.
"But Father, I feel weaker these days even though I resisted the contamination and got rid of it."
My father's eyebrows rose, and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Theo… do you really believe that?"
"You think you got rid of the contamination on your own? Do you have no shame?"
"I'm the one who removed the contamination and helped you force it out. It wasn't your soul that defeated it."
"As for why you feel weak, isn't it obvious?"
"Your soul is still fighting the contamination. That alone will affect your mental recovery."
"And on top of that, you exhausted your soul during the past two days by using mental recovery potions."
"I told you to stop training for a couple of days, but you insisted. And now you're complaining?"
My face turned red with embarrassment.
"Father, are you obsessed with embarrassing me?" I said, annoyed.
"You could have said that in a better way without humiliating me."
My father immediately laughed.
"Embarrassing you is normal. There is no one else here for you to feel ashamed in front of."
"And mockery hurts. That will make you instinctively avoid repeating the same mistake."
"So here is my advice, Theo."
"Stop your meditation training for two days."
"Otherwise, those two weeks might turn into a whole month."
"And if you want to shorten that time, focus on intense physical training."
After that, my father stood up from the table and left.
As soon as he disappeared from my sight, I gathered myself.
After organising my thoughts, I prepared for today's task.
Today's commitment was intense training.
Even though circumstances prevented me from training properly these past few days, I still had one week left before the engagement.
During that time, I needed to train as hard as possible and exhaust all my raw energy.
I headed toward a hall next to the dark meditation room.
Unlike that room, this place was very different.
The hall had several ventilation openings, and the temperature inside was extremely cold.
It was clearly designed so that the smell of sweat would disappear quickly.
In every corner, faint vapours rose into the air, releasing a pleasant fragrance.
I could feel the cold air against my skin.
It was even colder than our already freezing floor.
I couldn't help but admire whoever had chosen those vapours.
The scent was unique and strangely comforting.
Without hesitation, I removed all my clothes except for knee-length undergarments.
Then I turned toward the massive machines filling the room.
There were many different devices.
But the first thing that caught my attention was a terrifying torture device.
Yes… You heard that right.
A torture device.
It was shaped like a smiling imp that opened from the middle.
Inside it were thousands of needles.
This horrifying machine was actually used to increase regeneration ability..