9 Chapter 8 Alucard

Mrs. Belnades walked into the room with a gray-haired young man. He had a slightly effeminate face, which strangely still managed to exude masculinity. His eyes were a piercing gray that matched his hair, reminding Zero of ash after a fire. He introduced himself to the class as Soma Cruz.

'System,' thought Zero.

NAME: SOMA CRUZ (VLAD DRĂCULEA)

RACE: HUMAN

SOUL: IMMORTAL DARK SOUL

SOUL RANK: S+

LEVEL: 1

ATTRIBUTES: DARK, TIME, SPACE, LIGHT

STRENGTH: 42

SPEED: 58

MAGIC ENERGY: 300

VITALITY: 350

SKILLS: POWER OF DOMINANCE, SOUL STEAL, CHAOS AVATAR, DEMON CASTLE, BLOOD TRANSFORMATION

POWER OF DOMINANCE (RESTRICTED): DRACULA'S ABILITY WHICH LETS HIM ABSORB THE SOULS OF MONSTERS HE HAS DEFEATED AND USE THEIR POWERS AS HIS OWN.

THE SOULS CAN BE USED IN FOUR WAYS.

ABILITY: GRANTS A PASSIVE ABILITY

BULLET: GRANTS PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DEMONS ALLOWING HOST TO USE THE DEMON'S POWERS

GUARDIAN: SUMMON AN AVATAR OF THE DEFEATED DEMON TO PROTECT HOST.

ENCHANT: GRANTS A PASSIVE BOOST TO STATS

SOUL STEAL (RESTRICTED): ALLOWS THE CASTER TO INSTANTLY STEAL THE SOULS FROM ANY CREATURES THAT ARE IN THEIR VICINITY, IN MOST CASES KILLING THEM IN THE PROCESS. IF HOST'S SOUL IS DAMAGED, THEN THEY CAN CONVERT THE SOUL INTO SOUL ESSENCE TO HEAL THE HOST'S DAMAGED SOUL. IF THE TARGET HAS STRONGER MAGICAL ENERGY THAN THE HOST, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO RESIST THE EFFECT.

CHAOS AVATAR (RESTRICTED): DRAWS POWER FROM THE CHAOS ENTITY. GRANTS A PASSIVE IMMUNITY TO THE CORRUPTING POWER OF DARKNESS. GAINS ACCESS TO DEMON CASTLE, A SUB-DIMENSION HELD WITH THE HOST'S SOUL. ABLE TO USE ALL ABILITIES REGARDLESS OF MAGIC LEVEL.

DEMON CASTLE (RESTRICTED): A CASTLE THAT CAN HOLD THE SOULS OF DEFEATED ENEMIES AND CAN CONVERT THEM INTO DEMONS/MONSTERS LOYAL TO THE HOST. AS LONG AS THE CASTLE HOLDS THE SOULS OF THE DEFEATED, THE USER CANNOT BE TRULY KILLED AND WILL RESURRECT.

BLOOD TRANSFORMATION (RESTRICTED): ABLE TO TRANSFORM A HUMAN INTO A VAMPIRE THROUGH THE USE OF BLOOD AS A CATALYST FOR DARK POWERS. THE AMOUNT OF POWER USED WILL DETERMINE THE TYPE OF VAMPIRE CREATED.

Zero couldn't believe it. He had thought Soma would have an A+ soul rank, and he was shocked to see that Soma's soul was S+ rank instead. 'This guy is more of a cheat than I am!' yelled Zero inside his mind. He looked at Soma's stats and felt fear for the first time in his life. Although Soma was weaker compared to the lesser vampire Zack that he had met before, he knew that if Soma managed to hone his powers, his death would be guaranteed if they ended up fighting. The worst part was that Soma was much weaker than Dracula. In essence, if Dracula managed to resurrect fully through Soma, there would be no chance of succeeding in his ultimate goal in this world.

'System, how long will it take to copy the Power of Dominance skill?' asked Zero in his mind.

APPROXIMATELY 4 MONTHS' TIME. ASSUMING YOU ARE SEATED NEXT TO HIM EVERY DAY FOR 7 HOURS EVERY SCHOOL DAY. SHOULD I PROCEED YES/NO?

'Well, I half expected this since the system recommended I should come to this world a year early. This just goes to show you how overpowered this main character is. Yes,' thought Zero as he let out a sigh.

Soma then walked to the seat next to Zero and smiled at him, and Zero smiled right back. "Looks like we'll be deskmates for the year. Please take care of me," said Soma.

"Of course, and I hope you'll do the same for me too. I'm actually a transfer student too, so I hope we can be friends," said Zero with a smile, while hiding his true intentions.

The first day of school was an eventful day that dispelled any misconceptions Zero had about easily completing his mission. His new teacher was more powerful than him, both physically and in soul, so his hypnotic gaze was useless on her. He had planned to hypnotize his teacher to pass him, no matter what, so that he could focus on more important things. Copying the ability would take months, so he could skip some school days.

After school, Mina showed up in Zero's classroom to walk back home with him and Soma. Soma was pleasantly surprised to learn that his new friend was the cousin of his old childhood friend. They walked and listened to the story of what Soma had been doing since he left Japan. It was pretty uneventful compared to what would happen in a year's time.

As they were walking, Zero's phone rang, and he told Soma to escort Mina safely home for him, claiming that a package had arrived in the city. This was a lie, of course, as he didn't want them to know about Hikaru. He answered the phone but said nothing.

"Master, one of the individuals you had us look into, a man named Genya, has arrived in this city. He's even checked into the hotel we met at last time," said Hikaru.

"Okay, I'll be right there. Don't approach him and just behave as normal," ordered Zero.

"Yes, master," responded Hikaru.

Zero then headed to the hotel. He arrived and went to the reception desk. They had been informed that he was Hikaru's little brother and that he would be visiting her quite often since they were close. So he was led to her room without any delay, unlike last time.

As the elevator was about to close, a tall man with long black hair stopped the elevator and walked in. This was Genya Arikado, a man who exuded a regal aura like that of a king. He was handsome in every sense of the word.

NAME: GENYA ARIKADO (ALUCARD)

RACE: DHAMPIR

SOUL: DHAMPIR

SOUL RANK: B+

LEVEL: 60

ATTRIBUTES: DARK

STRENGTH: 2200

SPEED: 2854

MAGIC ENERGY: 29,000

VITALITY: 20,000

SKILLS: DHAMPIR PHYSIOLOGY, DARK MAGIC MASTERY, SHAPESHIFTING, SUMMONING, SWORDSMANSHIP MASTERY, DARK METAMORPHOSIS, SOUL STEAL

'Wow, system, I didn't even need to ask,' mused Zero.

Due to previous actions, it has been determined that you wish to appraise those you deem targets and threats. As such, you no longer need to ask, as system settings have changed to fit this preference.

'What skill of his can I copy in this elevator ride completely?' asked Zero.

SWORDSMANSHIP MASTERY AND SHAPESHIFTING.

'Then copy those,' ordered Zero.

Twenty seconds later, the elevator stopped, and Genya exited. He looked back and smiled at the young man inside the elevator, and the young man smiled back.

SKILL SWORDSMANSHIP MASTERY GAINED

SKILL SHAPESHIFTING GAINED

Zero then rode the elevator to Hikaru's penthouse and entered her room. She was sitting in the same seat as last time but this time she rose to greet Zero. "Hello, master. I hope you had a good day today."

"I did, thank you. So that man Genya, I wish to know how long he'll be staying at the hotel," said Zero.

"He booked a room for a period of 2 months. So I believe he plans to stay here for quite a while. I didn't manage to find out much about him, I apologize," said Hikaru as she bowed.

"It's okay. When I wanted you to investigate him, it was simply to find his location since I already know everything important there is to know about the man. Since he and Soma Cruz have arrived here, there is no longer any need to continue to investigate them. But continue with the third one," said Zero.

"Yes, I understand," said Hikaru.

"Thank you. I appreciate everything you've been doing for me. I need you to do another thing for me. I want you to find me some masters of the sword and a marksman to teach me," said Zero.

"Thanks are not necessary, master, and I will find you the best teachers available in Japan," said Hikaru.