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Vangor set down his notebook and fired off another Shadowshot at the training dummy, trying to increase the piercing power of his attack while maintaining the sphere's speed. Unlike the first sphere, the second one burned a hole in the target on the dummy, but still didn't tear straight through the dummy itself. "Still not enough? I could swear I increased the power. Perhaps making the sphere bigger really is the right idea," Vangor said to himself, but as he reached for his notebook, he thought he caught sight of someone watching him. He continued reaching for his notebook and got to work on his results, taking occasional glances in the direction of the person watching him as he wrote, muttering to himself about potential changes he might need to make.

That would depend on how things play out. While he is busy with his Shadowshot refinement, it wouldn't be too hard to get his attention. And if Karnis's character image is accurate, there's always the possibility Vangor could get distracted by...certain parts. He may be an absolute idiot (outside the things that interest him), but he is still a guy.

That could work. Someone not very studious and someone who only really puts effort into things that interest him (and occasionally puts in just enough effort to not fail classes otherwise).

I see. You have a good point there.

So in a sense, tie his hands behind his back (metaphorically speaking) since he can't get out of it. Sounds interesting.

Surprisingly, Vangor has (mostly) little incentive to use necromancy in his training, aside from maybe using the skeleton soldiers as moving targets to practice hitting moving targets while also having long internal monologues.

"Pierce my enemies with the power of darkness! Shadowshot!" Vangor called out, pointing his staff towards a training dummy a short distance away. Responding to his words, a sphere of darkness about the size of a tennis ball shot out of the tip of his staff, racing towards the dummy. While the sphere was fast, when it made contact with the target on the training dummy, the damage it inflicted was minimal at best, leaving only a small burn mark where the sphere smacked into it. Vangor shook his head as he lowered his staff and bent down to pick up a notebook he had close by. "The speed is effective, but the size and power are very clearly lacking. Shadowshot is supposed to pierce through armor. I must've sacrificed too much power for speed," Vangor said to himself while he wrote down the details of his latest test in his notes. After he had parted ways with Bella at the mall, Vangor had returned to his dorm to watch his favorite show, but on his way there, he had overheard a rumor that apparently, the staff was planning out some kind of talent show. With an excuse to work on refining his techniques, he found himself at the academy's arena to practice his techniques and potentially find new ways to use them. "Once I've gained new skills with my techniques, I shall captivate the masses in the talent show. If I can't control them with fear, I'll dazzle them with my almighty power, and then people will just be lining up to become my minions. Even that vampire won't be able to resist," Vangor said to himself, snickering a bit to himself thinking about stealing the show with his great and powerful talents. Partway through, however, he paused as he recalled a part of his conversation with the countess. 'Still...it's important to have other things to put attention and time into. Foooor instance, hanging out with a friend and having a good time,' he remembered her saying back at the store at the mall. "Friends, huh?" Vangor said to himself, holding up one of his hands in front of him. For a moment, a pale blue light covered his arm, telling him his barrier had activated for that moment. He shook his head, trying not to think too hard about it. "Nonsense! A dark necromancer such as myself needs no such thing as 'friends.' Besides, no human would align themselves with a necromancer willingly. Teacher told me of the risks of becoming a necromancer, after all," he went on to nobody in particular, pausing for a moment before returning to his notes. "Perhaps I should just try to increase the power while trying to maintain the high speed. Maybe the sphere needs to be bigger, too," he muttered, writing down more notes.

Considering how...odd the situation ended up before with Bella, I don't know for sure. Might be interesting, might be more of Vangor hiding in his shell.

I think that time has come again...to throw Vangor somewhere and make him do stuff. I'm thinking the Arena for honing his abilities and attempting to come up with more practical ways to use his abilities to, and I quote, "captivate an audience" for a (rumored) talent show... ...but I'll probably do it after I play a rando. EDIT: Why not the Athletics Field? Because I don't know. As I was planning it out in my head while I was at work, the arena was the first thing that came to mind.

Once he was sure Bella was out of earshot, Vangor let out a sigh of relief. "How overwhelming. It seems I was not entirely wrong about the danger of vampires. At the very least, I managed to keep my secret safe. Even so, I had not known that vampires such as that preferred such...close contact," Vangor said to himself, looking down at the phone in his hand. After about a second or two of silence, he remembered something important. "Ah yes, I need to return to the dorm. It's almost time for the new episode," he said, stuffing his phone back into his pocket and making his way out of the shop without buying anything. In the end, he had ended up getting no items for his new staff, but it was still something on his list.

"Very well. However, I will be busy with my plans for a bit, so I will not be able to respond right away," Vangor answered after thinking it over for a few moments, taking his phone out of his pocket. Only then did he realize upon checking his contacts that he had absolutely zero people in his contacts list. He knew if he had admit to such a thing, he'd be a laughingstock, so instead, he jumped to his usual tactic. "Be lucky, vampire, as you will be yet another in my grand list of phone contacts," he went on.

"It is a rather simple task. You will aid me with research, other random tasks and my planning for world conquest. If you perform well enough, perhaps one day you will move up the ladder and become my apprentice, where I can teach you my special techniques. Becoming my minion does also carry the benefit of working for a great and powerful dark necromancer," Vangor said even though he had not really put too much thought into the whole "minion" thing and simply decided to spout off a bunch of things he had heard on TV, figuring that was generally what minions did.

"To be fair, a title like that means little to a dark necromancer such as myself. But yes, my...activity, takes high priority, even over an opportunity as rare as this," Vangor answered, pausing for a moment as if he was considering something. "However, had you been one of my minions, perhaps I would be able to introduce you to this activity of mine," he added.

"But of course not. Only children think such things. However...such things may not be suited for one such as yourself. It is a program only the greatest of villains can truly understand," Vangor answered even though the show he was talking about was not something "only the greatest of villains can understand." 'Why is she so persistent, though? Is she after my ultimate technique? I have heard stories of creatures who can steal abilities from others, but that was in that book I read at the library the other week in the fiction section. With magic, however, could it be possible for vampires to do the same thing?' Vangor thought to himself.

"That may be true...but if I miss today's episode, who knows when it'll air again. It could be nothing but a marathon of reruns for the near future," Vangor replied, muttering the last part quietly to himself to hopefully keep his secret safe. After a moment of thinking things over, he thought of the perfect (at least in his own mind) excuse. "There will be other chances to study and learn of undead that aren't bound to a necromancer's power, after all," he went on, trying to keep up his confidant act.

Vangor froze up for a moment, considering in his head what kind of response he should give. "Well, I still have the task of collecting materials for a new staff. There is also...another task I must take care of before it is too late," Vangor answered, looking away from Bella. "Besides, asking for aid such as that is a task suited to a hero. As far as I know, you might be after something from me. After all, a vampire of your caliber should be able to handle any potential threats easily," he went on.

"Naturally, I use them for a number of tasks. Material gathering, scouting missions, pest elimination for profit, cleaning. They may not be able to perform tasks that require heavy lifting or intense thinking, but I find uses for skeleton soldiers. But of course, once the time comes for my grand conquest to begin, they shall be used for that task as well. They shall be the first in my ultimate army, after all," Vangor replied.

"Well, you see, these catalysts may seem like simple bone pieces, but all you need to do is pour a bit of magical power into them and they will return to their original form as one of my skeleton soldiers. The process of changing a skeleton soldier into one of these is rather time consuming and is not a technique a beginner necromancer would use. Some may call this a waste of talent, but I am a firm believer that sometimes, the simpler methods are better than trying to raise some kind of greater undead through a complex ritual. Since I do not carry around the tools to summon zombies or other undead on hand, I have these to call forth skeleton soldiers whenever I need them, even if their range of uses is still rather limited. Luckily, I can still give them simple orders, and with the right amount of magical power, they can perform some more complex tasks. One must try to be flexible when it comes to the art of necromancy," Vangor explained, using his (self proclaimed) teacher mode to distract himself from the close physical contact.

The moment Vangor felt Bella's hand on his, his whole face turned red. Even while he tried to mental gymnastics a reason why she was acting in such a way, he couldn't come to any real conclusions. It took him almost a minute to return to his usual dark necromancer self upon the mention of his undead. He cleared his throat and set his staff against an object so he could reach into his pocket, pulling out a plastic bag filled with a number of triangular shaped bones. "I do not carry around the materials to summon zombies or other greater undead, but I do have these catalysts to summon skeleton soldiers when I require them. They say sometimes simple is best," Vangor replied.

Vangor cleared his throat and looked around, trying to come up with an excuse while also trying to avoid looking Bella directly in the face. "Information such as that is reserved for dark necromancers such as myself," Vangor answered after deliberating the whole thing in his head for less than three seconds. 'I must not fall for her charms and say something that will destroy my good name...but what is this "friend" thing she is referring to? Ah yes, those things that common fools who have no desire for conquest sometimes have,' Vangor thought to himself.

"Well, there is another thing..." Vangor muttered to himself, clearing his throat and quietly laughing to himself. "But of course, I lack the time for such recreational activities. The goal of world conquest is a full time task, after all," Vangor answered, increasing the volume of his laughter, partly as a way to hide what he had said to himself moments earlier.

Subconsciously, Vangor took a step back when Bella got closer while at the same time, he racked his brain for a way to answer her question without revealing anything about his favorite TV show. "W-well, as a great and powerful dark necromancer, naturally I am interested in the dark arts and necromancy. While I do occasionally read on the other branches of magic, my preferences lie in what I am skilled most with," Vangor replied, mentally high fiving himself for not screwing up hardcore and saying something that would destroy his image.

"That will not be necessary. I was simply testing you. It would be a shame if I had to use my greatest technique on you if you turned out to be hostile like the stories say about vampires," Vangor answered, but in his head, he was sighing with relief that he had dodged a bullet by not letting the situation advance any further.

Vangor didn't respond right away, unsure of what was so funny. He was sure he had been completely serious, as he always was, when it came to matters regarding the dark arts and the undead. 'Even if she claims to be a vampire, she is...far less intimidating than the tales say about vampires. Even so, I should be careful. Perhaps neglecting my Shadowshot practice will end up coming back to ruin me,' Vangor thought to himself while he waited for Bella to stop laughing.

"Then it appears we have similar goals. I have come seeking items to create a new staff, which will therefore increase my magical capabilities. This location is rather lacking on items that would be of interest, however," Vangor said, going straight back to his usual dark necromancer act at the drop of a hat. He pointed a finger at Bella and shook his head. "But you are a creature of the night, are you not? Ruling the night is your specialty. While you may be able to allure men to acquire their blood, there are times when stealth is a more preferable option," he went on, lowering the volume of his voice to avoid letting Bella's secret out to anyone who may be listening.