Time passed slowly, and nothing unusual happened in the pool.
Norton glanced at the clots of blood that had yet to dissolve completely in the water, then jumped back in.
The cave opening was pitch-black, narrow, and long.
The farther he went, the narrower it became, until Norton couldn't even move his arms and legs freely. He could only grip the edges around him and pull himself deeper inside.
This kind of extreme sport was incredibly stressful, especially for someone with claustrophobia. It was torture on a hellish level.
Fortunately, as Norton continued swimming forward, the passage gradually began to widen again.
Light was shining in. There wasn't much of it, but he was clearly not far from the exit, and it was very likely that he would emerge directly outside the cave.
Norton swam a little farther.
Finally.
"Splash!"
With a splash, Norton swam up from beneath the water and broke the surface.
Sunlight shone on him, bringing a faint stinging sensation.
This place was completely outside the cave, and looked like a gap at the foot of the mountain.
The pool wasn't large. Behind it was the mountainside, and in front was a gentle slope surrounded by dense vegetation.
The still, cold water was clear enough to see the bottom. Apart from a few fallen leaves that had sunk, there were no other large creatures.
It was an excellent place to sketch from life.
Sunlight streamed through the gap in the mountain onto the pool, making Norton squint.
This was what had puzzled him most since becoming a vampire. Why wasn't a vampire afraid of the sun?
Could it be because God was dead, and the sun's lethal effect was gradually weakening?
"Splash..."
With a sound of splashing water, Norton swam out of the pool and onto the ground.
"Looks like hiding here should be very safe." Norton looked around. There wasn't a trace of human habitation.
He finally relaxed and stood naked by the water.
His safety was assured for the moment, so next came studying his current condition.
What talents did the strange species known as vampires have, and what benefits did they grant him? It would be extremely unwise not to find out.
Norton stood in the sunlight and examined his body.
He hadn't had time to look closely yesterday. Now that he did, he felt that vampires really did fall outside the bounds of humanity.
His skin was deathly pale, without the slightest trace of color. It wasn't the pale complexion of fair skin, but a sickly pallor.
There seemed to be no blood left in his body at all.
Other than that, nothing seemed particularly unusual at present. Only his eyes looked a little strange, somewhat like those of a person with albinism, because they lacked color.
It was basically consistent with the descriptions in the church's books.
According to the Garden of Eden, he was at the initial stage of a corpse's transformation into a vampire. After a year, his eyes would turn red, his teeth would become sharp, and even serrated teeth would appear. There was no telling what his face might become. Once he reached that point, there would be no chance at all of him hiding in human society.
The church had to be destroyed, and not because Norton hated it. It was because he was a vampire, naturally opposed to the church.
The church's existence posed a great threat to him, and it might even have certain mysterious methods of dealing with him.
But he didn't necessarily have to destroy the church himself. He could simply lie down in the dirt for three thousand years, then get up to find the world completely changed.
But he also felt that this didn't seem very likely. He wasn't sure whether the Holy Lord Church possessed greater fighting power with which to maintain its rule. After all, monsters existed in this world. For humans to remain absolutely dominant in a world teeming with monsters, they must have some powerful forces of their own. If the church possessed such power, then this world would be stagnant, because the control exerted by powerful forces and policies of keeping the populace ignorant would fundamentally eliminate any possibility of the church's destruction, just like in modern times.
Unless an even more powerful outside force invaded and destroyed the foundations of the church's rule.
Of course, this was all speculation. Just as Norton couldn't lie here and sleep for three thousand years, none of these speculations could become reality either. So he still had to stir things up on the sly. At the very least, he had to kill that old charlatan Father Mia first!
Norton was utterly disgusted by Mia.
As for what he would do if Shenyin really existed?
Then it mattered even less. If he really existed, he could crush Norton with one finger, whether Norton hid or stirred up trouble. Rather than live cautiously under a god with a mind of his own, he would rather be crushed to death by that finger!
He, Norton, had already lived cautiously under the church's oppression for twenty years. He didn't want to go on living like that!
Norton made up his mind.
Norton didn't have many good points. He was honest and quiet, like a lump of modeling clay that took whatever shape it was molded into.
But Norton always felt that this was only because he hadn't made up his mind. He believed that as long as he did, he could accomplish whatever he set out to do!
And so Norton immediately set himself a lofty ambition!
Time passed slowly.
On the first day, Norton felt that he had yet to fully adjust to his body and needed to get used to it before he could go out and move around properly, so he settled for staying in the cave for the time being.
A day spent there did have its benefits. At the very least, he had now gauged his strength, which was much greater than an ordinary person's. How much greater? He reckoned he had the strength of two or three robust men.
That night, Norton, who felt he had more or less adjusted, lay on a rock in high spirits. He decided to go out the next day and see whether there were any monsters nearby, so he could make his subsequent plans.
On the second day, Norton woke up and swam outside through the passage at the bottom of the pool, only for the sunlight to make his whole body tingle.
He immediately slapped himself and returned to the cave.
Fuck, I forgot I'm a vampire, a creature that lies low by day and comes out at night! I should be sleeping during the day and going out at night!
After becoming a vampire, he seemed to have no need for sleep in the first place, or perhaps Norton, who had slept all night, simply wasn't sleepy in the slightest.
But it also brought a question to mind. If he went out to scout at night, wouldn't wearing a church knight's armor make too much noise?
But if he didn't wear it, he would have no protection, and could only take his greatsword and clash swords with people.
So he felt he ought to practice his swordsmanship, or at least work out how to swing his greatsword himself.
And so Norton whooped as he swung his sword around in the cave, practicing until he was full of confidence and felt he was already invincible under the heavens!
That afternoon, he noticed that the blood in the earthenware jar had grown somewhat dark.
Norton was afraid the blood would go bad before he'd had a single mouthful. So he ate the blood in the jar.
A vampire really was a vampire. After eating the blood, he felt incredibly comfortable, like a person soaking in a hot spring after eating and drinking his fill. Norton felt utterly content.
He felt this wasn't a good state to go out in. Being full might affect his performance, so it was best to digest his meal before heading out.
Norton made up his mind.