The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　As the offspring of a hero and a blood princess, Witt possesses both the blood of a hero and the blood of a bloodline.

　However, due to some special reasons, the bloodline of the Blood Clan has remained dormant within him until now, and it is likely that it only gradually awakened after he encountered the Blood Princess.

　Originally, this wasn't a bad thing.

　However, before giving birth to Werther, the Blood Princess had already received the Demon King's "embrace," and the Demon King's blood must have flowed in her veins.

　This means that as the bloodline of the vampire clan within Vittor's body is activated, the demon king's blood that has been integrated into it is also revived.

　"I wonder if Principal Arte knows about this..."

　"You must know that."

　Thinking of this, Dak shook his head slightly.

　This has never been his business.

　"There's nothing to pay attention to."

　Once the Blood Princess is "resurrected," Witt's drama will end there, unless he can come up with something new.

　……

　The wave of blood quickly subsided.

　The magical spirits capable of causing such a large-scale anomaly certainly wouldn't stop at the second tier.

　Even if the kobolds formed from the "Ghost Butterflies" are incredibly powerful, they are no match for it.

　It could even be said that this is a complete waste of talent, using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

　The "ghost butterfly" is not a dangerous magical creature.

　But being disturbed like this, Dak lost interest in continuing his walk in the forest.

　He quickly left the dense forest, selected one of the remaining eleven magical markers on the map, and walked over at a leisurely pace.

　……

　There is no "old school building" at St. Marian's College. However, there are indeed some ruins behind the castle.

　The origin of these ruins is now impossible to ascertain.

　However, because there is a special "spring" inside that spews out a gas called "ancient aura" at fixed times and locations, it has never been cleaned up.

　Younger students have little understanding of this and do not have the means to identify and collect "ancient atmosphere".

　To most people, this place is nothing more than ruins.

　However, Dak occasionally saw Sara Swati running in that direction.

　As he strolled along this path, he unexpectedly spotted Sarah Swati... and Emma Metis, who happened to be there as well.

　The magical marker located in these ruins is an ancient gear floating in mid-air.

　The number that appears above the gear is "10"!

　Clearly, no one has yet solved the puzzle corresponding to this gear.

　Dark was indeed aiming for a challenge...

　However, Sarah and Emma, ​​who were standing on either side of the gear, seemed to share the same idea.

　Neither of them seemed impatient.

　They were probably close to completing their assessments, which gave them the time to stay here and conduct their research.

　But it was slightly different from what Dak had imagined.

　They weren't trapped by the levels, but rather by how the levels were triggered!

　In other words, they didn't even manage to trigger the level.

　Dark couldn't help but ask curiously, "How long have you been here?"

　Sarah looked up, a bright smile on her face: "It's been ten minutes, hasn't it? How did it go? Did you finish your assessment?"

　Dark shrugged and said, "One more is needed."

　Then he pointed to the gear and gestured with his lip: "Here, this is it."

　Emma scoffed, "Then I suggest you finish this before you start researching."

　Dark was slightly surprised: "Have you already collected all twenty magic markers?"

　Emma shook her head decisively: "No."

　Dark asked in surprise, "Then why are you still..."

　Emma stood up and gave him a small glare: "I'm just worried that this will make you miss the assessment."

　Before she could finish speaking, she had already started walking, saying leisurely, "Anyway, I'm leaving now, you guys continue."

　After saying that, she really left!

　“Well…” Sarah’s eyes darted around, and she said, “Then I’m off too. Good luck, Dark! I look forward to the day you solve the puzzle—”

　So, half a minute later, both girls who were circling the gears left.

　The other students spread the word, and most of them also knew that there was a magical marker here that couldn't be activated even in the level, like a "dud".

　Even professors make mistakes.

　They thought that way but didn't take it seriously.

　In fact, Dark came here because he heard that the magical markers here were difficult to break.

　But I never expected it to be so difficult to crack!

　"Let's take a look first."

　He blinked and reached out his hand directly towards the gear.

　The teeth of the gear are not dense, and its surface looks like both metal and rock, making it difficult to distinguish. It is covered with cracks.

　Most of these magical markers are not native to the area.

　This gear also seems out of place in this ruin.

　I wonder where Professor Jones got him from?

　Dak stopped what he was doing; his fingers touched a transparent membrane as they approached the gear.

　He then changed his gesture, from "poking" to "touching".

　After circling around, he figured out the structure of the membrane—it was a soft shell shaped like a rugby ball.

　With a little pressure, you can press a mark into the soft shell.

　But when you press down further, you find that you can't press it down at all.

　Emma and Sarah were kept out by this soft shell.

　"Indeed, if you can't even put your hand inside, how can you activate the level?"

　Dark shook his head and withdrew his hand.

　Faced with this situation, his first thought was to break through with brute force.

　Perhaps summoning a high-attack magical spirit would be able to break through it directly.

　But this clearly does not meet the requirements of the assessment.

　"Perhaps this membrane is the barrier?"

　Dak began to ponder.

　After careful consideration, he then summoned the "Dream Demon"!

　The reason for choosing to summon "Dream Demon" is naturally because it is a "ghost".

　His recent encounter with the "ghost butterfly" gave him inspiration.

　Since the gears are protected by a physical barrier that can be touched, let's use "ghosts" that can pass through walls!

　"Yao Mi—"

　As soon as the little dream demon appeared, it pounced on his face.

　He quickly reached out and grabbed its sides, then flipped it over so it faced the gear, saying, "There's an invisible shield around this gear. Let's see if we can get through?"

　"Yao Mi—"

　The dream demon shook its head violently.

　"If it's a magic barrier, you can't just pass through it at will?"

　Dak understood its meaning, but still said, "Want to try?"

　Then the dream demon squeezed out a small, hand-like tentacle from its body and gently touched the membrane outside the gear.

　The result... it passed right through!

　"As expected, it's a physical barrier."

　Dark's eyes lit up, and he felt that he might have found the right solution.

　These magical markers were originally designed for second-year students, so they couldn't be too difficult; at most, they were just for different groups of people.

　Just like the challenges he encountered at the beginning, which required solving math problems, they were perfect for students of the Magic Academy.

　The checkpoint in the dense forest not long ago was very suitable for the students of the Knights Academy.

　As for the gear obstacle in front of us, it's probably designed for students with "penetrating abilities".

　Just as Dark was pondering this, the little dream monster's tentacles touched the gear.

　In an instant, the gears that had been floating quietly began to spin at high speed.

　A strange, magical power emanated from the center of the gear, spreading out like a vortex.

　Dark did not react before he and the Dream Demon were enveloped by the vortex of magic.

　The ground beneath his feet seemed to have been stained black with ink, instantly losing its luster.

　When he looked down and then looked up again, even the gears had completely disappeared.

　The entire field of vision was plunged into complete darkness, with only the outline of the Dream Demon's body glowing.

　Dak suddenly realized something.

　This should be a level that can only be triggered by Ghost-type Magical Pokémon!

　"But how do we crack it?"

　As the thought flashed through his mind, the darkness in his vision was suddenly dispelled, and light radiated outwards from a single point.

　But the world that has regained its brilliance is no longer the ruins behind the castle.

　Suppressing his curiosity, Dak slowly looked around.

　The ground beneath his feet had been transformed into smooth bricks and stones—though not clean, they were free of cracks.

　The walls and broken stone pillars that should have collapsed have been rebuilt.

　The entire ruins have been transformed into a city of unfamiliar architecture.

　He had never seen this style of architecture in books, and it was quite different from several typical ancient cultures.

　The animal heads, which are carved as "totems" in various places, are difficult to identify.

　As he instinctively tried to get closer to take a closer look, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to recede backward.

　His body was thus propelled forward at great speed.

　The buildings on both sides of my body disappeared from my sight like flowing water.

　Then suddenly the image freezes!

　Darke stared wide-eyed, suddenly finding himself inside a building that resembled a church.

　The building's interior is hollow, with a hemispherical ceiling overhead and windows all around the walls. Blazing white light streams in through the countless small windows, making the interior blindingly bright.

　In an instant, a burst of white light erupted.

　For a moment, Dak's mind went blank. When he came to his senses again, he was standing in the ruins once more.

　He looked up abruptly, and the enormous castle came into view.