Is It Wrong for an Extra to Steal the Protagonist's Harem?-Chapter 52: New Trait

[System Warning: Necrotic Damage.]

[HP: -150.] [Status: Cursed (Minor).]

"Ugh!" I grunted, hitting the ground. My skin felt like it was burning.

"Alex!" Alicia fell next to me. "You... you blocked it?"

"Get up," I coughed blood. "Finish the Bear."

Alicia looked at me. At the blood on my lips.

Her eyes changed. The fear vanished, replaced by fury.

"You dare hurt my... my meat shield?!"

She stood up. Her mana flared. Her hair floated up, turning into a halo of fire.

"[Hellfire Pillar]!"

She didn’t use a chant. She just screamed.

A massive column of spiraling fire descended from the sky, engulfing the corrupted Bear.

ROAAAAR—

The roar was cut short as the bear was incinerated instantly.

Silence returned to the forest.

The mist cleared.

Three dead Cultists. One pile of ash that used to be a Bear. And four traumatized students.

I tried to stand up, but my legs gave out.

"Alex!"

Emily and Alicia both rushed to me.

"He’s hurt," Emily said, checking my pulse. "Necrotic poison. We need to get him to the infirmary. Now."

"I’ll carry him," Martin volunteered, stepping up with surprising courage. "I have Haste. I can run him back to the entrance."

"Do it," Emily ordered.

Martin hoisted me onto his back.

"Don’t die, leader," Martin panted. "You still owe me a new cauldron."

"Shut up, Martin," I whispered, my vision fading.

As I blacked out, I saw Alicia looking at me with a complicated expression.

[System Notification: Alicia Raven - Interest Level: 40/100 (Indebted).]

’Well,’ I thought as the darkness took me. ’At least I didn’t die a virgin.’

****

Beep... Beep... Beep...

The first thing I registered was a rhythmic, annoying sound. The second was the smell—a sharp, sterile mix of alcohol, healing potions, and... vanilla?

The third thing I registered was the fact that my right hand was buried in something incredibly soft, warm, and heavy.

I slowly forced my heavy eyelids open.

The harsh white ceiling of the Academy Infirmary greeted me. I groaned, my throat feeling like I had gargled with glass.

I looked down at my right arm.

Lily was fast asleep, sitting in a chair beside my bed. Her head was resting on the mattress, and somehow, during her slumber, she had dragged my right hand and pressed it firmly against her impressive, uniform-clad chest. She was drooling slightly, her face pale with exhaustion and tear stains marking her cheeks.

"Hey," I rasped, my voice barely a whisper.

I gave my fingers a slight squeeze.

Lily’s eyes snapped open instantly. She bolted upright, her golden eyes wide.

"Master!"

She threw herself at me, burying her face in my neck, sobbing uncontrollably.

"You’re awake! The healers said you might not wake up for a week! They said the necrotic poison was eating your mana core! I was so scared... I thought I lost you!"

"Calm down, Lily," I coughed, patting her back with my free hand. "I’m too stubborn to die. And who would pay your salary?"

"I don’t care about the salary!" she wailed, hugging me tighter. "I care about the meat! I mean, the Master!"

I chuckled, though it sent a sharp pain through my chest.

"How long was I out?"

"Two days," a cool, lazy voice answered from the doorway.

I looked up. Professor Cassandra was leaning against the doorframe, smoking a thin, purple pipe. She blew a ring of smoke that smelled like lavender, her eyes sharp beneath her witch hat.

"Two days?" I muttered. "Did we pass the Expedition?"

"You brought back a mutated Level 15 Boss Core, killed three Eclipse Cult assassins, and saved the lives of two High Nobles," Cassandra said dryly, walking into the room. "If I gave you anything less than an S-Rank, the Duke of Flamehart and the Tower Mistress would have my head on a pike. Group 11 is exempt from the next three practical exams."

"Nice." I smirked.

Cassandra pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the bed. She didn’t look lazy anymore. Her aura was dense, suffocatingly powerful.

"Now, Alex," she said, her voice dropping an octave. "Tell me everything about the black spike."

I recounted the events. The mutated Moss Golem, the red moss, the Demon’s Nail I found in the rubble, and the subsequent ambush by the Cultists.

Cassandra listened in silence. When I finished, she tapped her pipe against her staff.

"The Cult of the Eclipse," she murmured. "They haven’t been active in the capital for a decade. The fact that they infiltrated the Whispering Forest and managed to corrupt a local guardian spirit... it means we have a rat in the Academy faculty."

"A rat?"

"The forest’s barrier codes are changed weekly," she explained. "Only Professors and high-ranking staff have them. For assassins to sneak in and set up a catalyst... someone let them in."

She stood up, her expression grim.

"The Headmaster is keeping this quiet. The official story is that your group encountered a rare mutant beast and you got injured protecting your teammates. Do not mention the Cultists to anyone."

"What about Martin, Alicia, and Emily?"

"They’ve been briefed. And threatened," Cassandra smiled thinly. "They know how to keep their mouths shut. Especially since you’re currently the ’Hero’ of the hour. Emily Frost hasn’t left the waiting room outside since they brought you in. I had to threaten her with detention to get her to go to class."

Emily? Staying? That was... a massive development.

"Rest up, Alex," Cassandra said, turning to leave. "You’ve proven your worth. But be careful. If the Cult knows you killed their acolytes, you might have a target on your back."

The door clicked shut behind her.

I looked at Lily, who was glaring at the door.

"She smokes too much," Lily grumbled. Then she looked back at me, her eyes darkening with a familiar, hungry gleam. "Master... the healers said the necrotic poison is gone, but your mana circuits are heavily damaged from the shock."

"They ache a bit," I admitted.

****

[Name: Alex Edelhart]

[STR: 7]

[AGI: 8]

[STA: 31]

[MP: 14]

[INT: 34]

[CHARM: 31]

[Unallocated Stat Points: 2]

[Lust Points: 230]

’System, allocate the two free stat points to MP.’

[Allocating... MP: 14 -> 16]

I closed my eyes, feeling the capacity of my core expand. Sixteen MP. I could now comfortably cast a few intermediate spells without passing out.

But there was a lingering notification blinking in the corner of my vision.

[Anomaly Detected: Remnant Necrotic Energy.]

[Status: Dormant in the Defective Internal Circuit.]

I frowned. The treatment had healed the damage, but the pure necrotic energy from the Cultist’s suicide bomb was still trapped in the tangled mess of my defective circuit.

In a normal mage, this would be a time bomb. It would eventually corrupt their core and turn them into a ghoul.

But I wasn’t a normal mage.

’Wait,’ I thought, my Calculation Power: 28 spinning up.

’My circuit is defective because it creates massive resistance, right? It breaks down magical power into raw Recoil Energy. What if I apply that same process to the Necrotic Energy?’

If I could grind the dark mana down using the tangled knots of my own body, I could theoretically purify it into raw, usable stats.

"Let’s gamble."

I closed my eyes and focused on the dark, cold lump of energy in my chest.

Instead of trying to push it out, I pulled it deeper into the "Trash Circuit."

VROOOOM.

A sound like a jet engine roared in my ears. Pain flared—a cold, biting agony that felt like liquid nitrogen in my veins. The necrotic energy fought back, trying to freeze my heart.

"Break down," I commanded my mana.

I forced the dark energy through the tightest, most tangled parts of my circuit. Friction generated heat. The heat battled the cold.

Cr-crack!

[System Warning: Unauthorized Mana Decomposition!]

I gritted my teeth, blood dripping from my nose. "Do it!"

SHATTER.

The lump of necrotic energy broke. It didn’t just dissipate; it shattered into thousands of tiny, neutral mana particles that flooded my system.

[Host has successfully metabolized Necrotic Energy using a Defective Circuit.]

[Reward: Permanent Trait Acquired - ’Shadow Affinity (Minor)’.]

[Reward: MP +2]

I opened my eyes, gasping for air. The cold was gone.

"MP 18," I wiped the blood from my lip, a manic grin on my face. "I’m a genius."

Knock. Knock.

I quickly wiped my face with a towel and pulled the blanket up. "Come in."

The door opened cautiously.

It was Alicia Raven.

She was wearing her standard uniform, but she looked nervous. She was holding a basket of incredibly expensive-looking Star-Apples.

"Alicia," I said, leaning back against the pillows. "To what do I owe the pleasure? Did you come to finish me off?"

"Shut up," she snapped, but there was no real heat behind it. She walked over, her eyes darting to the floor, and roughly set the basket on the bedside table. "I... I heard you woke up. I brought these. They’re good for mana recovery."