Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

There were various rituals that Asura had taught William. Most of them worked by transferring demonic energy from William's body—and what Asura had stored in the sword—to the user, in this case, Victoria.

But for it to work, a kind of sacrifice was necessary. The idea was to take the life force of creatures, absorb it, and use it as a conduit for the demonic energy.

This way, William could use the life force of the slain creature for himself, maintaining his strength.

If he simply passed his demonic energy or the energy from the sword to Victoria, it would eventually run out.

Not to mention, he would feel weaker. However, by using the life force of slain creatures and the magical symbols of the ritual, it was possible to mitigate this negative effect.

And it could go even further. There was another ritual that could send demonic energy to William if Victoria performed a sacrifice for him.

At first, this could be done with other types of creatures, like magical beasts, but eventually, human sacrifice would be the most effective.

Perhaps this was one of the reasons the demonic race had been hated and had disappeared. William found this somewhat hypocritical. Many other mages and civilizations did worse things for their deities and yet continued to thrive.

In any case, after William explained the procedure to Victoria, she was a bit apprehensive.

"Is this really a good idea? We'll have to sacrifice a magical beast? Look, it usually starts like this, and before you know it, I'm doing it with other humans…"

William was surprised that she immediately saw where things could lead in the future. Not that it was hard to figure out.

But Asura had told him something else: if she performed the rituals, William would eventually gain more influence over her.

It would be like having a follower.

'The idea of having a cult doesn't seem so bad… From what I understand, with these rituals, I can have them perform sacrifices that will send more power to me…'

The idea seemed great for increasing his power and, who knows, maybe even reviving the demonic race. Of course, those were things for the future. Right now, he was more concerned with escaping the mansion.

"Don't worry, we'll only sacrifice magical beasts. And like I said, many mages do worse things for power. Remember, if you want to become strong, you'll have to do things others aren't willing to do."

That phrase stuck in Victoria's mind. She decided to trust William and go along with the idea of the ritual.

"Alright, we can do this. But where are we going to find a magical beast to kill? It's not like I can just leave the academy right now."

"You can't?"

William wasn't aware that this was the case at the battle academy. Typically, magic schools like this didn't allow students to leave whenever they wanted. They lived there, with free shelter and food.

"I can't…"

"But surely they must have some kind of dungeon or something here that has beasts. They have combat classes against beasts, right?"

An academy like this would have the resources to teach its students in the best way possible. Having a few magical beasts, both weak and strong, was quite common.

Victoria confirmed this when William brought it up. It was as if a lightbulb had gone off in her head.

"That's true, I had almost forgotten about that. But it's not that easy to get in there."

"I think we can figure it out. What's the best time? At night?"

"Yes, at night."

Now that William didn't have many commitments at Jonas's mansion—he was 'recovering' from the fight—he was able to spend the entire day talking with Victoria.

He took the opportunity to study the layout of the battle academy, the guards' routines, and where the dungeon was located. That's where the magical beasts were kept. Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

The security inside the academy wasn't as tight as one might expect. They focused more on securing the entrance, and once inside, things were a bit more relaxed.

Even so, they were confident that no one would try anything. All the students were selected after rigorous tests, interviews, and, of course, a significant financial investment.

Despite this, there were still guards inside the battle academy, and the entrance to the dungeon was locked. Victoria didn't know how to open it.

The lock was magically sealed. William didn't know how to pick it either, but he knew someone who could—Stuart!

With his consciousness split between his real body and the sword, he consulted Stuart, explaining everything about the lock. Stuart gave him some practical tips on how to break it.

When night fell, and Victoria was in her dormitory, it was time to sneak out and head to the dungeon entrance.

Students weren't allowed to leave the academy grounds, but they were free to move around inside. Because of this, it was relatively easy for Victoria to slip out and blend in with other students who were strolling through the gardens or visiting the on-campus restaurants.

However, as they approached the entrance to the dungeon, the number of students dwindled. The reason was that the dungeon entrance was located inside the academy's main building.

The only place students could visit at that late hour was the library.

As they passed by, they saw a few students studying. Most of them were the less talented ones, trying to catch up with the rest of the class by putting in extra hours.

When they finally reached the dungeon entrance, they found a guard standing there. This was unexpected.

"I swear there wasn't a guard here the other nights I passed by. I don't know why there's one here now," Victoria mentally communicated to William.

The situation had just become less favorable.

"Is there anything we can do? Do you know anyone who could distract the guard?" William asked.

Victoria seemed to be deep in thought about something. She then mentally communicated to William.

"There's a boy who seems interested in me, but I've never really paid him any attention. I could ask him for a favor. What do you think?"

It wasn't the best plan, as it would mean that the boy would know Victoria had done something wrong, but it was the best they had at the moment.

Without getting the guard away from the door, it would be impossible to do anything, and it seemed the guard would stay there until late at night. He probably wouldn't leave until the main building of the academy closed completely, and by then, it would be impossible to even get inside.

"Alright, let's do it."

Victoria went to find the boy she had mentioned. Surprisingly, he was also walking around the garden. Was it a coincidence, or had he seen Victoria leave her room and decided to go out as well?

He was a young man sitting alone on one of the benches. Victoria sat down next to him, which made the boy visibly surprised.

"V-Victoria. What are you doing here at this hour?"

He was stuttering. William found the scene amusing.

"I know I shouldn't just show up out of nowhere and ask this, but could you do me a favor? I really need your help."

The boy didn't hesitate.

"Of course! Anything you need!"

William was laughing hard on the inside.

'Ah, love is so funny…'

Victoria explained what she wanted: she needed him to cause some kind of commotion in the library to attract the guards.

The library was near the dungeon entrance, and there were no guards stationed there, so the guard at the dungeon door would have to be the one to respond.

When the young man heard this, he hesitated.

"Is this a good idea? I think it might cause trouble for me later," he said.

He was considering backing out. William mentally communicated with Victoria, suggesting an idea.

"Tell him you'll agree to go out to dinner with him sometime. He'll definitely say yes on the spot."

"But then I'd have to go to dinner with him, and I don't want to."

"You can't handle one dinner in exchange for getting stronger?"

William managed to convince her.

"How about we go out to dinner next week? If you do this favor for me, I'll think about it," Victoria said.

The young man responded in less than a second.

"What kind of mess do you want me to make in the library?"

It was surprisingly easy to convince him with that offer. Victoria waited in one of the hallways near the dungeon entrance.

Neo, the young man, started causing a commotion in the library. It didn't take long for the guard stationed at the dungeon entrance to head over and check what was going on.

This was the perfect opportunity for them to enter the dungeon. Victoria rushed to the entrance and stopped in front of the locked door.

"How do I open this now?"

William had learned from Stuart how to unlock the seal, and he began explaining the process to Victoria.

The only problem was that he didn't have access to mana to assist her, so Victoria had to do it all on her own.

She tried to follow the rune creation William had taught her, but it wasn't working. The magic to break the lock kept failing.

"Relax and focus. It's not that hard to do," William said.

He was trying to stay calm, but they were running out of time. The guard could return at any moment.