Time slowly passed, and the pond water showed no abnormalities.
Norton glanced at the blood clots that hadn't completely dissolved in the pond water, then jumped in again.
The cave entrance was pitch black, narrow and winding.
The further inward he went, the narrower it became, eventually becoming so tight that Norton couldn't move freely and had to use his hands to grip the edges while squeezing through.
This extreme sport was truly stressful, especially for someone with claustrophobia—it was absolute hell-level torture.
Fortunately, as Norton continued crawling forward, the passage gradually began to widen slightly.
Light was already filtering in, not much, but clearly indicating the exit wasn't far, and likely led outside the cave.
Norton crawled a bit further.
Finally.
"Plop!"With the sound of breaking water, Norton swam from the depths to the surface.
Sunlight shone on his body, bringing a slight stinging sensation.
This place was completely outside the cave's range, looking like a crevice at the mountain's base.
The pond area wasn't large, with the mountain behind and a gentle slope ahead, surrounded by dense vegetation.
The clear, cold water surface remained transparent to the bottom, with only some sunken leaves and no other large creatures.
This was actually an excellent sketching environment.
Sunlight filtered through the mountain gap onto the pond, making it hard for Norton to keep his eyes open.
This was what puzzled him most since becoming a vampire—why didn't vampires fear sunlight?
Could it be because God was dead, so the sun's lethal effect was gradually weakening?
"Splash......"
With the sound of water, Norton emerged from the pond onto land.
"Seems like hiding here should be very safe." Norton looked around—not a trace of human presence.
He finally relaxed, standing naked by the water's edge.
With temporary safety secured, the next step was studying his current condition.
What special abilities did this strange vampire species possess? What enhancements did it provide? Not figuring this out would be extremely unwise.
Norton stood in sunlight, examining his body.
He hadn't had time for a detailed look yesterday, but now he realized vampires truly existed beyond human scope.
His skin was extremely pale, completely devoid of blood color. This wasn't fair skin, but pathological paleness.
His body seemed to contain no blood at all.
Otherwise, there were no particularly unusual conditions. Only his eyeballs, lacking blood color, had taken on the somewhat abnormal appearance of albino patients.
This matched the Church's descriptions in their books.
According to Eden's descriptions, this stage represented the initial transformation from corpse to vampire. After one year, eyes would redden and teeth sharpen, even developing serrated edges—who knew how his face might change? At that point, he'd completely lose any possibility of hiding in human society.
The Church absolutely had to be destroyed, not because Norton hated them, but because as a vampire, he was naturally opposed to the Church.
The Church's existence posed a massive threat to him, potentially even possessing mysterious methods to deal with him.
But he didn't necessarily need to destroy the Church himself—he could simply lie in this soil for three thousand years, then rise to find a completely changed world.
Yet he felt this might not be possible. He wasn't sure if the Holy Church maintained stronger forces to preserve their rule. After all, this world contained monsters, and for humanity to maintain absolute dominance despite them, they must possess considerable power. If they did, this world would remain stagnant, because powerful control and policies fundamentally prevented the Church's collapse, much like modern times.
Unless some stronger external force invaded violently, destroying the Church's foundation.
Of course, these were just speculations. Just as Norton couldn't sleep here for three thousand years, these speculations couldn't become reality. So he still needed to secretly cause trouble, starting by eliminating Father Mia, that old charlatan!
Norton utterly despised Mia.
What if Divine Cause actually existed?
That mattered even less—if he really existed, he could crush Norton with one finger whether Norton hid or caused trouble. Surviving cautiously under a self-aware god's rule was worse than being crushed outright!
Norton had already lived cautiously under the Church's oppression for twenty years—he refused to continue like this!
Norton made his decision.
Norton had few virtues—quiet and honest, like clay molded into whatever shape required.
But Norton always felt this was because he hadn't truly committed to anything. He believed that once he made up his mind, he could definitely accomplish whatever he set out to do!
Thus, Norton immediately set his grand ambition!
Time slowly passed.
The first day, Norton felt he hadn't fully adapted to his body yet, needing more time before venturing out, so he temporarily remained in the cave.
Staying one day had benefits—at least he now measured his strength, significantly greater than normal humans. How much greater? Probably equivalent to two or three strong men?
That night, feeling mostly adapted, Norton lay on a rock feeling excited. He decided to venture out tomorrow to check for monsters nearby, facilitating future plans.
The second day, Norton woke up, swam through the underwater passage outside, and felt tingling from sunlight exposure.
He immediately slapped himself and returned to the cave.
Damn it, he forgot he was a vampire—a nocturnal species! He should sleep during daytime and go out at night!
After becoming a vampire, sleep seemed unnecessary, or perhaps Norton felt completely awake after sleeping all night.
But this raised another question: if he scouted at night while wearing Church Knight armor, wouldn't the noise be excessive?
But without armor, he'd have no protection, forced to clash swords directly using only his Great Sword.
So he decided to practice his swordsmanship, at least exploring the basic swinging techniques of the Great Sword.
Thus Norton practiced swinging his sword in the cave, growing increasingly confident until he felt invincible!
That afternoon, he noticed the blood in the clay pot had darkened.
Fearing the blood might spoil before he'd tasted it, Norton consumed all the blood in the pot.
Vampires truly lived up to their name—after consuming blood, an extremely comfortable sensation spread through his body, like soaking in hot springs after a full meal, leaving Norton utterly content.
He felt this state wasn't suitable for going out—being full might affect performance, better to digest first before venturing out.
Norton made his decision.