[Dark Manipulation]
With just a glance, I subdued all of them at once, entangling them in dark tendrils that prevented them from moving.
I didn't want to just beat them up till the brink of death.
That was far too merciful.
Instead, I'll treat them as pawns to make Kevin stronger.
It'll be a slow and painful process.
Just as they deserve.
"Stand up, Kevin."
I said, crossing my arms as I smiled. "You studied the book, right?"
"Y-Yes! But... I still haven't been able to decipher a single spell..."
"Well, that changes now."
I point at the entangled students, each one struggling; they couldn't even cry or scream for help, the tendrils ensured their voices were muffled.
"Let's start with the most basic..."
[Profaned Serpent]
The serpent of chaos and divine coiled around my body, its eyes pure white and dark, embodying its dual nature.
It was both powerful and intimidating.
And although the two elements were drastically incompatible, it wasn't enough to make it useless.
"Wait... doesn't that look different than before?" Kevin asked, approaching the serpent's head and observing its eyes.
He didn't even care about the wounds and bruises on his body, already used to the abuse.
"It's complicated. For now, let's focus on the task at hand."
I snap my fingers, causing one of the tendrils to tighten.
It was randomized to see which unlucky bastard would get chosen to be the first dummy to get experimented on.
"Let's see..."
I was never really good at teaching; each junior I was assigned back in the day would die before I even taught them the basics of shooting.
And if I can't even teach someone how to shoot a gun, how can I expect myself to teach advanced dark magic?
Well... through cheating, of course.
"Give me a second."
I bit into my thumb, using the blood to draw a pentagram on a wall that immediately burst into flames once I finished.
With a piece of parchment appearing from where it had combusted.
'I'll just let him borrow a piece of my power that allows him to cast some of the spells in the book; a genius like him should catch on after a while.'
Explaining the actual logic of the book in such a short span of time would be like describing rocket science to an ant; it would be inefficient and take far too long.
Even my deciphering of it was a fluke; Marcellus' revelation just happened to be very similar to something that was already familiar to me because of my old job.
For Kevin? I don't even think it would work for him as well as it did for me.
"Sign this."
"Is that a demonic contract...?"
"Scared?"
"N-No... I'm just surprised at how calmly you summoned it."
I don't blame him... it would be one thing summoning this with only him as the audience, but the fact that the entangled students also saw it? It was a terrible risk.
But I wasn't afraid at all.
After all, I already had the perfect spell to keep them quiet after this entire situation was handled.
"Can I use a pen?" Kevin asked, pulling a pen out of his pocket.
"Usually you would need blood..."
I replied bluntly, while it would definitely be more... convenient, demons and their rituals were the opposite of that.
Kevin sighed, reluctantly biting into his finger just like I did, but even if he was used to pain, biting into his own fingers to draw blood was definitely not something he was used to.
FWIP!
POOF!
The contract disappeared quickly after he signed it, a faint miasma subtly surrounding him for a brief moment before entering his body.
It was a simple contract, so simple that even its special effects were lackluster.
Now... I just needed a perfect excuse to make myself seem like a flawless teacher while hiding the fact that I had completely cheated his education.
And that wouldn't be hard at all.
Bluffing was a specialty of mine.
"I granted you the ability to cast some of the spells of the book using my power; use that to learn the theory yourself."
I placed a finger on my forehead while nodding to make myself look more knowledgeable.
"Discovering it yourself would make you stronger; it'll help you be less dependent on me."
"Got it! I won't let this opportunity go to waste!"
Kevin immediately turned around, extending his palm and pointing it toward the general area of the unlucky, entangled student.
[Dark Serpent]
"I'll start immediately!"
Kevin blurted out with more enthusiasm than a pyromaniac who was given a flamethrower.
The entangled student stared in sheer horror at Kevin's terrifying, manic grin. He knew that whatever was about to happen wouldn't be pretty.
As for me...
This was another very new side of him that I wasn't familiar with.
I knew he loved dark magic...
But that grin of his could even give my obsession for Evelina a run for its money.
'Guess it makes sense... prodigies are rarely normal...'