Rebirth of the Dark Hero

Chapter 3: First Blood

Once Vandread realized what kind of hideous creature stood before him, his eyes widened with surprise. He couldn't believe such a creature had shown up at this time, when he was too weak to even wield the wooden branch effectively as a weapon.

“What a perfect timing for an ugly ogre to appear of all time.” He muttered.

Even though he was aware that ogres were roaming the area, he had maintained the hope that he would not come across any of them while he was here. 

However, it would appear that fate was playing a cruel joke on him, as it appears that he did come across one of the Ogres while he was here.

“Hey, do you have anything to help me?” Vandread tried to reach the system that had been talking to him.

‘I have already instructed you on what it is that is necessary for you to do. It was necessary for you to acquire the knowledge necessary to make use of the hirudyneas in order to awaken the latent power that you possess.’

The response provided by the system was so straightforward; however, Vandread found it difficult to comprehend. 

“That sounded pretty easy for you to say.”

‘Unfortunately, you're not in a condition where the alternative method of casting the spell would be effective. So long as you buy yourself enough time before letting the incantation loose, you should be fine. Otherwise…’

“Otherwise what?”

‘Otherwise, the incantation will revert back to the caster and it will deal  a great scale of damage to you. Worst case, it  could even take away your own life.’

"You certainly had the guts to say it in a way that would cause anyone who heard it to quake in fear at the thought of even uttering a single word," Vandread replied.

‘Are you terrified?’

The evasive question caused Vandread to laugh out loud in an instant.

Vandread's left corner of his mouth twitched in a grin as he replied, "Don't make me laugh. The legendary earl of Dizencia isn't frightened by this Ogre, so a spell has no chance of doing the same.”

Vandread boasted despite the fact that he was having difficulty maintaining his balance. If it weren't for the wooden branch that he's holding onto for support, he wouldn't be able to stand up straight. In spite of this, he never stops bragging about his ability. 

‘Well then, it would be better to make use of such courage to defeat your first blood, Vandread le Crozerea.’

“Would you at least tell me how I could cast the spell? What do I need to prepare?”

‘Gather your remaining energy. Concentrate all of them into your palm, and then using the word "haltos" give him the order to slow down. It is a spell that can defy the passage of time on whatever it is that you have cast the spell on.’

After a moment of relative stillness since the last time the system responded to Vandread, the earl promptly concentrated his remaining energy into his palm, which was now facing forward to the Ogre that was still making its way forward towards Vandread's direction. 

Instantaneously, he shut his eyes as he slowly felt a flow of weak energy traveling through his veins all the way to his palm. This sensation continued until his energy reached its palm. 

As soon as Vandread realized that the amount of power in his palm was just barely sufficient to cast a spell, he once again opened his eyes and uttered the word "HALTOS." The spell had an instantaneous effect, causing the ogre's movement to become noticeably slower.

“Now what to do?” Vandread asked the system.

‘Recite the incantation that the princess had used upon you.’

Because of that, Vandread was given sufficient time to cast the hirudyneas spell. the same spell that Princess Camilla cast upon him in order to siphon off all of his spirit energy.

"Thirst of leech, come right now,” Vandread began to recite the incantation. And just as he had seen it happen before, a crimson orb materialized out of his palm this time as well.  The Ogre in front of him writhed and wailed in excruciating pain.

Even though the Ogre's noise was excruciatingly bothersome to listen to, Vandread made an effort to bear it. Especially since this was the only way for him to take in the mana of the ogre.

As he continued to recite the incantation, "bring upon the orb that sucks up thee life...," it was constantly expanding and turning a brilliant shade of red.

And when Vandread finally yelled out "Hirudyneas!" from where he was standing, he witnessed how the ogre passed away in an instant.

With his first attempt at the incantation, Vandread was successful. He was now in possession of the blood-red orb that held the mana that he had stolen from the ogre that was supposed to kill him.

As soon as he let go of the two spells, he felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion, and he promptly collapsed to the ground once more. 

"What on earth am I going to do with this now?" Vandread asked, despite his gasping for air.

‘Eat it.’

What Vandread had just listened to prompted an instant wave of nausea in him. He had a hard time believing that it required him to consume the ogre's red orb in order to fully absorb the mana that it contained. He found it hard to believe that the system took this requirement seriously either.

“Hey, do you have other means for me to absorb this without the need to actually eat it?”

‘There is no other way than to eat it. Princess Camilla would’ve probably eaten your orb by now too.’

When Vandread was forced to recall the events surrounding the theft of his mana, he was unable to keep his agony at bay for even a short while longer. And with that, it suddenly caused him to ingest the entirety of the orb.

As Vandread chewed the sphere in his mouth, he was surprised to find that it felt like jelly inside his mouth and was similar to a pudding. More than that, however, he was taken aback by the flavor, which was reminiscent of raspberry. 

It all of a sudden brought to mind the tonic that he had consumed, which also had the flavor of raspberry in it.

After that, Vandread experienced a surge of vitality throughout his body as a result of what he had just taken in. It didn't take long for the mana he had stolen from the ogre to make its way to his veins, and as a result, he was able to stand up on his own without the assistance of the wooden branch. 

After his attempt to absorb mana had been successful, he smiled broadly and stretched his arms out to its full length.

‘You must have been wondering why, don't you? The tonic that they served you was crafted from the red crystal orb in order to effectively restore your depleted mana; however, it was infused with herbs that would cause your limbs to become numb.’

During the time that the system was attempting to explain it to Vandread, he quickly became silent. 

‘But the princess's true intent was to steal all of your mana once it was restored back by the tonic, and she succeeded in doing so.’

Vandread's fists were already balled up in rage at the mere thought of it. He was eager to exact revenge, but he had only recently begun to feel his spiritual strength return. 

“Hey, I wanted to get even with that vicious princess and exact my revenge. Just how many ogres do I need to slay before my dormant powers finally surface?”

‘I don't think it's a good idea to wipe out all the ogres in this area. The kingdom would undoubtedly find out about this, and they would learn that you are still alive. You will be hampered in your efforts to unearth additional resources by which to release your latent abilities.’

“What do you expect me to do? Just wait for nothing?”

‘Let them think you’re dead. Gather the resources you need and awaken your dormant powers. Let them think that your return signifies your rebirth as the legendary earl they have all betrayed.’

After hearing what the system had to say, Vandread's grin was so wide that it was almost tearing up his face. After some time, he came to the conclusion that the system was, in fact, correct. 

It would be to his greatest advantage if he were to make himself considerably more powerful without letting his adversaries know about it. This would be most beneficial for him.

If people from the kingdom of Dizencia went on a hunt for him, it would make it nearly impossible for him to complete the journey he needed to take in order to reawaken the dormant powers he possessed.

As a result, Vandread made the decision to set out on his way to hunt for his next prey outside of the ogre's domain. But just as he was about to emerge from the woods, a large trunk of wood struck him from behind and hurled him toward a solid mass of rock.

Vandread was caught off guard by the attack that came his way.

When he finally pulled himself up and was able to at least sit down, he was astounded to discover that he was surrounded by a group of ogres who had their mouths wide open, giving the impression that they were all eager to consume the earl…