I'm a proper student; I only take nine kinds of potions every day.

In the afternoon's recitation class, Evan still achieved a perfect score.

He answered every question he was called on to with crisp and clear answers, and could recite chemical equations from memory.

Even Lecturer Wright couldn't help but glance at him a few more times, a hint of ambiguous approval appearing in his gray eyes behind the metal-rimmed glasses.

Morales, sitting behind Evan, hadn't been able to concentrate on the lesson much throughout the class.

Those grey-blue eyes hidden beneath his side-parted hair were constantly scrutinizing Evan's back.

"This guy's sitting and walking postures are quite normal."

Morales observed silently in his mind.

"It doesn't look like it's been used."

From a young age, he possessed a thirst for knowledge and focus rarely seen in his peers.

This talent allowed him to enter the University of the Wise through self-study with almost no parental supervision.

But today, that focus wasn't on the textbook; it was entirely devoted to observing Evan.

Ivan has changed so much in the last few days.

It was so great that he couldn't explain it using any common sense.

He had to find the answer, or the cat scratching at the wall in his head would never stop.

After the kindergarten term ends, there is always a physical education class.

Ivan walked onto the cinder-covered playground and took a deep breath of the cold air.

After breaking through to the second level of physical fitness, his lung capacity increased several times compared to a week ago.

This playground used to be the place he feared most.

Every time I run, I vomit, and my lungs feel like they've been stuffed with a lump of burning coal.

But now.

Ivan stood at the starting line, with only one thought in his mind.

Should I avoid his sharp edge?

I simply crushed his edge.

The starting whistle blew, and he took a step, his boots making a light, clattering sound on the coal slag.

While others were still adjusting their breathing, he was already able to calmly divert his attention to observe the classmates around him.

Those who choose running are generally students from underprivileged backgrounds.

Baseball requires purchasing professional bats and gloves, boxing requires paying for a training ground and hiring sparring partners, and rowing is even more out of the question—that's something for rich kids.

Running requires no equipment, no rules, just a pair of legs that can run.

The students in Evan's team generally didn't look too good.

He was sallow and pale, with bluish lips and dark purple eye bags.

It's obvious that they've taken medication.

He spotted Ryan in the crowd.

Ryan is in much better condition than the last time I saw him.

A hint of rosiness appeared on her sallow complexion, and although her steps were still unsteady while running, at least she was no longer as fragile as before, as if a gust of wind could blow her over.

"Copper pills have such analgesic and blood-circulating effects?"

Ivan silently made a mental note of it.

From an appearance standpoint, copper pills can even beautify a patient's condition more than actual therapeutic drugs.

But he knew that this only pushed back the time of death by a few weeks, at the cost of making the lower classes more compliant, optimistic, and devout before they died.

This is truly the work of a healing church.

The run ended quickly.

The others lay sprawled on the wooden benches by the playground, panting heavily, their chests heaving.

Only Evan stood there, his breathing slightly heavier, but his face showed no signs of fatigue.

He sat at the end of the bench, took out his pocket watch from his jacket pocket, and glanced at the time.

Just then, a series of orderly footsteps came from the north entrance of the playground.

A group of about twenty female students ran over, their running postures uniform and their steps light.

In this era, girls who can enter the University of the Wise are either rich or noble.

Even when they're running, they wear well-tailored sportswear.

The colors are light blue, off-white, and light pink, creating a soft and harmonious palette.

All hair is tied up and secured with ribbons or hair clips.

With a light application of makeup, even running until her cheeks flushed only gave her a healthy blush.

Each person exudes an elegance and poise that comes from within.

Even during intense exercise, their posture resembles that of someone dancing a slightly faster-paced waltz.

The group of poor students on the bench, dressed in tattered jackets, patched pants, and broken leather shoes, stared wide-eyed.

These swans are something they will never be able to touch in their entire lives.

As the girls ran past them, a breeze carrying the sweet scent of flowers swept by, and the poor boys couldn't help but puff out their chests and take a deep breath of the mid-November chill.

"It smells so good."

A round-faced boy next to me sighed with his eyes closed.

Ryan walked over and sat down next to Evan, leaning back in his chair and panting.

"How are you feeling?"

Evan nodded: "Good, it doesn't hurt as much anymore."

Ryan grinned, a smile that looked particularly satisfied on his still sallow face.

"Me too. I feel better than ever before."

He lowered his voice.

"I just introduced a few classmates to go get the medicine together. We poor folks should help each other out whenever we can."

Ivan hummed in agreement, offering no objection.

He knew that copper pills were a slow-acting poison, but he also knew that for someone like Ryan, it was the only straw they could grasp at.

Persuasion is pointless; in fact, it might make them think he's heartless.

After LeBon's incident, the school's "ignoring the ban" of Evan seemed to quietly crumble.

These poor students from the lower classes would nod to him today, and a few of the bolder ones would even come over to talk to him.

Ivan simply nodded without saying anything more.

The distance between him and these people is much greater than it was a week ago.

But he doesn't intend to show this distance.

Several students around him began to complain quietly.

"Can't I stop taking this medicine? I feel like I'm going to become an idiot if I keep taking it."

"The school will check, and they'll come to draw blood every few days."

"Then we can have one person take it each time, and have them tell us about the side effects first? We can take turns like that?"

"How can this go unnoticed?"

……

As Evan listened to these complaints, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Since you don't want to eat it, give it to me."

The thought had barely formed in his mind, and before he could even organize his thoughts on how to bring it up, his ears caught a strange sound.

Heavy, suppressed breathing.

Not the kind of panting you feel after a run.

It was a more primal, more unsettling sound, like a caged wild animal straining against the bars.

Ivan's pupils dilated slightly.

He turned his head abruptly.

The girls' team ran their second lap right in front of the boys, less than ten meters away.

The aroma is even stronger now.

Three meters to Ivan's side, a thin, pale-faced student was slowly rising from the bench.

Ivan recognized that face.

Gilbert was also one of the students participating in the drug trials.

Gilbert's breathing became increasingly heavy, his chest heaving violently like a bellows.

His eyes were now an unnatural dark red, not from bloodshot eyes, but from some kind of inner color showing through his irises.

Ivan's nasal cavity was instantly filled with a strong smell of blood.

The smell wasn't coming from the ground; it was emanating from Gilbert.

Intense, fresh, with a warmth like that of steel after it has been heated to a high temperature.

"Can you smell something?"

Ivan asked the person next to him in a low voice.

Ryan shook his head blankly.

A skinny young man named John grinned, revealing a row of uneven teeth.

"What else could it smell like? The scent of a rich young lady."

Ivan's brows furrowed deeply.

How could this group of people not smell such a strong stench of blood?

"Hey! Gilbert! What are you doing?"

John then noticed the classmate who had stood up and waved and called out.

next second.

Gilbert's body felt as if something was setting it ablaze from within.

He rushed towards the flank of the girls' group without hesitation.

That speed was unusual for a gaunt patient.

Coal dust flew up at his feet, and his body almost grazed the ground as he flew past, leaving the boys sitting around him no time to react.

The girls were completely unprepared.

In their world, these poor boys from the bottom of society are people they wouldn't even dare to look at, and they simply can't imagine that someone would pounce on them.

"Ah!"

The piercing screams exploded across the playground like shattered glass.

The entire running formation instantly collapsed, and the light-colored sports skirts were scattered in disarray under the sunlight.

Ivan moved.

He didn't even think about it; his body reacted first.

He took two steps forward and three steps closer; the power from his two points of physique made him a beat faster than Gilbert.

Just as Gilbert's sharpened right hand, with nails that had grown into claws, was about to tear open a blonde girl's shoulder, Evan's left hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Ah!"

The girl let out a high-pitched scream.

Ivan ignored her and grabbed Gilbert's shoulder with his left hand.

A strange instinct surged up from the depths of his spinal cord, directing his muscles to make a rather stylish and skillful move.

Use leverage. Turn around. Press down on the waist. Throw.

Gilbert's gaunt body was slammed to the ground with a standard over-the-shoulder throw, kicking up a cloud of coal dust.

But he did not lose his ability to resist.

A low growl came from his throat, a sound that no human throat could produce.

Muscles bulged under the skin at a visible rate, and the thin body was stretched and swollen by some internal force.

Ivan squinted and leaned closer to look.

Gilbert's two upper canines are slowly getting longer and sharper.

"This is... a side effect of the Night Demon Potion and the Blood Potion?"

Ivan immediately thought of the extraordinary trait of "Basic Vampire" on his character panel.

He didn't mutate because of the panel reversal side effect.

But the other test subjects did not have this miracle; their bodies were torn and twisted by the chain reaction of the two potions, eventually turning into some kind of unfinished monster.

Gilbert struggled violently beneath him.

That kind of power was not something a thin, sickly student could possess.

His fingernails dug deep furrows into the cinder floor, and his body twisted like a wildly writhing crocodile.

"Help! Help! Another poor person has gone mad!"

The noble ladies scattered and fled, screaming in terror.

The word "again" made Ivan's heart sink.

It seems this has happened countless times.

Faced with Gilbert's violent struggle, Evan suddenly recalled some memories that he had never learned but were extremely familiar with.

Those memories were like the old witcher in the tricorn hat whispering in his ear by the campfire.

"A crippled, bloodthirsty beast."

"The weakness is located on the bulge on the side of the throat, a spot called the blood sac."

"It will continuously stimulate the host's nerves, driving them into a state of blood thirst."

"Breaking the Bloodsucking Sac can temporarily dampen the Bloodsucking Beast's offensive desire."

"But the blood sac will automatically recover after about two hours."