HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

Six hundred years ago, the McFastie family was just a small family.

Marcus McFastie.

Six hundred years ago, he was a human being, a genuine human being. But while he was human, he was also a slave in the hands of a nobleman.

One day, a noble scholar named 'Karl' came to visit the castle.

In the hands of this nobleman Karl was a diagram he had copied from a mysterious and extraordinary book. He showed the parchment with the diagram to his friend, hoping to gain some different insights and answers, even the slightest clue.

Moreover, as a scholar, the nobleman Karl did not hide the patterns on the parchment; instead, he didn't care and generously allowed his friend's slaves to see them.

Marcus was one of the slaves who were watching.

Upon seeing the pattern on the parchment, Marcus immediately realized that it was extraordinary, as if it were filled with divine meaning.

The reason he noticed this was because Marcus had a brother who was a 'wizard'.

Marcus was captured and enslaved during the 'anti-witch campaign' because his brother was a wizard.

Marcus memorized the pattern, and then one night, he mysteriously contacted his escaped wizard brother.

After seeing it, the wizard brothers began to study its magic.

At the end of his research, Marcus, believing he had found the answer, murdered his wizard brother for his own benefit. If it weren't for his brother, he wouldn't have been reduced to a lowly slave.

After carefully reviewing the research data, Marcus used the corpse of his wizard brother as bait in a graveyard to capture a weak vampire who had been hiding during the witch extermination campaign and had not drunk blood for a long time.

Then Marcus drew the 'Power Extraction Alchemy Circle' on the parchment, transforming himself into a vampire through magic.

A free vampire unbound by the constraints of higher-ranking vampires.

Marcus, now a vampire, returned to the castle and used his blood poison to control his 'master,' ordering him to inherit a noble title. After that, Marcus drank the blood of everyone in the castle and killed them.

Over the next few years of his aristocratic life, Marcus gradually discovered his vampire flaws.

It fears light, thirsts for blood, and will go mad and turn into a mindless bat monster if it doesn't drink blood.

The real reason is that Marcus is an ordinary person, a Muggle. If he were a wizard, he would understand the flaws of vampires, instead of only focusing on the legend of their 'immortality'.

To remedy his flaws, Marcus wants to find the nobleman 'Karl' from back then and use his knowledge of magic training arrays to change him and replace his vampire species identity.

Instead, they were replaced by a more powerful and almost eternally long-lived magical creature.

Unfortunately, due to the turmoil of war, the Karl family disappeared in the chaos, and for the next hundred years, the search was fruitless and there was no news of them, as if they had completely vanished.

With no other option, Marcus could only hold the blueprint for the 'Ability Extraction Training Array' and begin his research.

Marcus then took advantage of his noble status to marry and have children.

Vampires reproduce through infection via bat venom in their blood, so naturally born children will not become vampires.

And so the MacFastie family grew in number, and with that number, wizard children with magical energy pores began to be born one after another.

With the help of his descendants, the wizards, Marcus continued to conduct experiments on magical species replacement, but all of them failed.

However, the failure of this experiment caused Marcus's vampire physique to undergo extraordinary changes, but he still could not overcome the weaknesses of vampires.

Marcus grew tired of living in the shadows and losing himself in the constant cycle of blood-drinking, so he entrusted the experiments to his descendants while he fell into a deep sleep, awaiting the day when the results would be revealed.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Andri's dragon breath pulverized Marcus's rotting body, which was being repaired in his blood.

Before Andri could finish venting his hatred and anger, the pool of blood that had formed on the ground began to surge, and then waves of blood swept towards Andri like a mountain of knives.

Seeing this, Andri hurriedly used his magic to levitate and then stopped outside the castle. The next second, his dragon breath condensed again in the blood pool in the castle hall.

Dragon's breath is not limited to Andri.

The four mutated black dragons—Yeva Karl, Amblan Karl, Kirolo Karl, and Anmoli—were already on high alert. After Andri charged out, they all gathered their dragon breath above the castle, intending to give Marcus inside a big surprise.

Four dragon-man magical dragon breaths, four black dragon fire breaths.

And at the highest point in the sky, the dragon girl Shako Karl, who held the silver-haired Teach in her arms, unleashed her 'Fierce Breath'.

The inextinguishable [Fiercefire] is the special ability of the human-dragon Shake Karl, and she can perfectly control this Fiercefire with complete freedom.

As Marcus's fully restored body was reflected in the blood pool, nine dragon breaths shot towards the castle. Instantly, the magnificent castle, covering an area of ​​more than 30,000 square meters, was destroyed by the fire explosion caused by the dragon breaths.

Xia Ke did not retract her 'Fiery Breath'. The dragon breath, along with that of Andre and the others, began to sweep away everything in sight, destroying everything in the castle, including the blood that had overflowed from it.

Silver-haired Teach looked down from in Shake's arms, searching for Marcus.

After a fruitless search, Andri volunteered to land in the charred and carbonized ruins of the castle and begin a thorough search.

Among the dragon witches like Amblan, Andri harbored the greatest and deepest hatred and anger towards Marcus, the culprit. He did not want Marcus to show any sign of survival, not even the slightest. If he did, he would destroy him again with his dragon breath.

Andri searched through the ruins of the castle, while four dragons circled overhead, keeping watch according to the commands of their respective dragon shamans.

Following the instructions of the silver-haired Teach, Anbilan and the others dispersed in all directions to prevent any possible accidents.

Dragon Maiden Xia Ke remained flying in the highest sky, providing fire support with her fierce flames.

Time ticked by, and the silver-haired Teach scanned and investigated with his petrifying demonic eyes. Given Marcus's extraordinary ability to survive as long as he had blood, Teach didn't believe he would be reduced to ashes by the collective dragon breath of Andri and the others.

Otherwise, the disappearance of people from residential areas cannot be explained, nor can the quiet in the forest.

The blood-red hue that enveloped the entire island's sky within the shield, and the bizarre phenomenon of dyeing the full moon blood red, remain inexplicable.

During the search, one hourglass, two hourglasses, several hourglasses passed. As the blood moon was about to sink below the horizon and dawn was about to break, no trace or evidence of Marcus's continued existence could be found.

Andri even used his [strength] and dragon arms to push the ground three feet deep in the ruins of the castle.

Time flew by, and dawn broke.

Silver-haired Teach watched as the warm sun rose on the horizon and shone into the island within the magical barrier. After feeling the warmth of the sun in the embrace of the dragon girl Shake high in the sky, he waved to Andri and the others, signaling, "Retreat..."

Before Teach could finish saying "Let's retreat," a sudden change occurred.

A massive amount of blood gushed from the earth, then rose up to form a thin film that enveloped the magical shield surrounding the island, swallowing the warm sun on the island and blocking the sun's rays from the sea.

Before the silver-haired Teach and the others could be shocked, the previously quiet forest was filled with the roars of dragons.

The dragon's roar sounded bloodthirsty and dark.

This sudden change in the scene prompted the silver-haired Teach to immediately shout to Andri, who was in the castle ruins, "Andri~ quick, fly up here!"

However, the next second, Marcus's voice came from the island: "Don't even think about it... he can't go anywhere."