He was positive someone had been watching him now. He caught a glimpse of something red moving quickly from rooftop to rooftop a few buildings away as he used the rope he had anchored over the window to swing himself into the building. Summoning his sword cane and letting the liquid exterior fold back into a guard, he held it ready as he quickly scanned the building. He was not too worried about making noise now that he had more or less announced his presence to anything close by already. Ambros walked across the hallway and down the next set of stairs, making his way out of the building with far more confidence than he had when walking in. He had to admit there was something to this System thing.

Dear lord, he felt good as he stretched and shook his shoulders in the setting sun's light. It had taken a while, but 321 zombies and 38 ghouls later, and there didnt seem to be any more undead close by that wanted to play his game anymore. Reaching level 13 from just bombing the crap out of zombies from an unassailable position hardly seemed like a great challenge the System seemed to promote. Maybe it was giving him some sort of grace period for being a wimp or something.

Then again, Ambros certainly wasn't going to complain for a few easy levels, not that he could spend the attributes, but just the increase he felt from leveling that much in so short a time had made him stronger and faster. He could also feel his mana channels and mana pool had improved slightly. He couldn't wait to test it out later. According to the calculations he had made, he should actually start doing some proper damage with Arcane Bolt now, and Arcane Shield would become more than a gimmick that lit up with a purple hue when a mosquito accidentally broke it.

Setting off at a jog towards the east in the direction he had seen the red watcher moving. It was incidentally the same direction he had been heading in any way, so there was no reason to change now. His shadow was long as he made his way forward, marveling at how smoothly and effortlessly he was moving. Testing a few jumps, he was perhaps enjoying himself too much as he ran into three zombies that had just walked out of a building to his right. He would never know why they hadn't moved toward the intersection earlier, but he checked his arcane shield and led with an Arcane Bolt as he held his sword forward and sped up toward them.

The Arcane Bolt screeched across the distance, hitting the zombie to his right on the forehead. It was lifted off the ground and hurled back a step or two. To his surprise, its legs trashed around as it hit the ground, so there was not enough oomph to kill a zombie yet. It didnt deter him however, as he slashed out at the nearest zombie hitting it on the shoulder, making it stagger back from the force explosion the sword made. Kicking out at the one still coming at him, he pushed it into the staggered one and watched as they both fell. To his embarrassment, so did he as he lost his balance from the kick and landed on his back, feeling a stone crack against his ribs. Gasping for breath, Ambros was starting to realize he wasn't Batman just yet, or even Robin.

Cradling his ribs on the right side, he got up at the same time as the first zombie he had hit. Making an educated guess, he concluded the Arcane Bolt must have hit it on the forehead as he could see its brain clearly through its missing skull. Taking a proper stance this time, he slowly walked towards it, making sure what little he remembered from fencing about footwork was correct and lunged at an appropriate distance. Ambros was surprised that he managed to hit the thing's brain, watching it explode. Sadly for him, he was standing in the perfect position to receive what was discharged through the path of least resistance on the zombie's skull, its forehead. Almost losing the content of his stomach as he desperately tried to scrape rotten zombie brains off his face and jacket, he started backing away and noticed another group of three zombies approaching him from the other side of the street. “Damn it!” He thought. Taking a few steps back the way he had come from to take in the situation and get a moment to clear his head, he barely had time to react as the zombies sped up, almost matching his jogging speed coming towards him.

“Well, screw this then.” He fired an Arcane bolt at the trio and watched one of them getting blasted off its feet while he ran. Then he cast another Arcane Bolt before setting off running again. He could see the last two of the original trio had made it to their feet and was making good progress toward him too.

He was almost back at the intersection when he managed to get a lucky hit with Arcane Bolt on the last zombie following him. Sitting down on his hunches, he was breathless and almost out of mana. That had not gone exactly to plan now, had it?

Battle Award

120 Exp

180 Sp

Do you wish to loot the corpses?

Yes, he would like that. Unsuprinsgly he got another six zombie ears and six more grains of power. He was amassing quite the collection now, not that he had anybody to compare himself to. He returned to the east with a tired sigh, trying to stay more careful this time.

The sun was almost at the horizon when he reached the beginning of the green zone. He hadn't run into more zombies. At least he hadn't noticed any, but he had been very careful when making his way here. It was too late to scout for a proper camp, so he found a nice big tree close to the edge and started casting Control Earth on the ground. Moving the earth towards the sides and the around the base of the tree, he made sure to keep the roots within the dirt, but he made a hut on one side of the tree, packing dirt into an arm-length thick wall and roof, using tangled grass and branches to keep the roof on the place. For an entrance, he dug a tunnel about thirty phases away that would come up into the makeshift hut. It took a while, but it would keep working once he set the instructions, and he had 436 grains of power now, so he wasn't afraid to splurge a bit. The structure and tunnel would keep compacting into something as hard as granite if he was willing to spend the mana. Considering he planned on having a polished surface in the tunnel, he was more than willing to do that. He wanted as many contingency plans as he could before going to sleep, so he planned on having the outside of the structure and the tunnel lined with rune script. He made steps up to the lower branches to watch the sunset as he worked some more rune stones. He had picked up quite the pile of appropriate sized rocks on the way here. Summing a stone and his keychain, he set about making more life and light rune stones. This time he wanted a bunch of each since he could afford it.

The green grass and smattering of trees that almost turned into a dense forest further in were strangely beautiful when put in contrast with the ruined buildings lining its edge. He had never really spent all that much time appreciating nature, but there was a calm about it he now enjoyed. Not many sounds from wildlife, however, not that he was complaining too much since he was liable to think a squirrel was a ferocious bear or something. Looking down from the branch he was sitting on, he could see the smoke stack getting finished as he summoned another grain of power. So far, building the structure has cost four grains of power. It was turning into more of a bunker than anything else. If the spot turned out to be good, he should consider feeding it more mana before the 24-hour timer ran out for the mana to disperse, and it would crumble back into the dirt. Sending a pulse of life mana into the tree he was sitting on as a thank you for the service. He could almost believe the tree shook in gratitude if he closed his eyes.

Catching movement out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the red watcher running across a rooftop, closely followed by three other people. No, the watcher was fleeing, he concluded after a bit. Still, there were people there. He wanted to see if contacting one of the groups was possible, preferably without violence. However, it was close to sunset, but the moon looked big. Hopefully, it would be enough. He wouldn't be shy about using his rune arsenal on any undead he encountered this time. He wouldn't make the same mistake again. Shock and awe were on the menu for any undead he encountered tonight.

Throwing a few grains of power on top of the building, he set priority and instructed it to make a siphoning chamber around the power grains so it had mana to draw on. Ambros quickly descended from the tree and started running towards where he had seen the red watcher and the three people running around, quickly leaving the building behind and heading south. They didnt seem to care about making noise. Hopefully, it would make things easier for him. He could already hear the sound of metal hitting metal, so he couldn't be too far away. Then again, it would be like a dinner bell to every damn undead in the area.

Running past a particularly ruined set of buildings, he caught sight of them a few streets further down to his left. He didnt get enough details, but by the three people trying to box in the last person, he had some idea of who was who. As he got closer, he could recognize the three vampires from earlier. The lady dressed in only jewelry was particularly easy to recognize since she now had a full set of claws and a mouth far too wide with pearly white fangs. The dandy was wielding a short sword coming in from the side, trying to box in the target, while the last one, with the big sword, chainmail, and plate armor, was leaning against a building in the back, seeming completely uninterested in the entire thing. Behind him, Ambros could see a line of zombies completely ignoring the commotion and seeming to be busy entering a tunnel going down into the ground. Something almost drew Ambros towards the tunnel. The vampire noticed Ambros almost immediately and started to reach for the sword on his back, but apparently, something changed his mind because he snorted before taking his pose against the wall losing interest in the entire thing again.

With a shrug, Ambros decided it was best just to roll with it. Why antagonize someone with a gigantic sword. Nodding at the bored one, he made his way toward the two vampires, and what he now could see was an elf. She had long red hair reaching all the way down her back, not that she was very tall, to begin with, so it probably looked longer than she was. That would make her one of the lesser elves if she was part of one of the great houses. He could figure it out later. The important part was that she possibly could have a way to contact the main branch of whatever elven house she belonged to. The same could be said for the vampires. He hadn't been prepared enough to enter negotiations with their predatory character earlier, but now he definitely was. He would make the final moments of their existence an unbearable nightmare if they made a move against him now. Summoning a couple of rune stones in his left hand, he approached at a more measured phase.

“Lovely night, isn't it?” Ambros said, walking towards the fighting trio. Watching them fumble to a halt almost made him chuckle. They really hadn't expected someone to barge in like this, not that he could blame them. He would seem like a normal human with his aura and mana shrouded. He wasn't even sure they existed outside of Earth anymore. That thought to set off something in his mind he would need to look closer at later, but now he had to focus on not becoming a vampire snack or an elf pincushion. The vampiress had turned back into her normal form, probably in shock. It made him reconsider the possibility of being snacked on a bit. She certainly had the assets to make it an interesting evening. At least someone appreciated his humor as the vampire with a greatsword chuckled.

He had to admit he had expected many things, from being hailed and recognized to immediately being attacked, but when the vampiress gave a far too toothy grin and said, “An imperial whelp walking around alone at night? My my. I didnt know this was my naming day. First, I get to toy with the tree-hugging little runt, and then a youngling of the people from the stars,” Sniffing the air in his direction before she continued, “A full-blooded imperial at that falls into my arms. You are right, whelp. It is a lovely night, ” Turning to the fop, she said, “Why I'm starting to think you were right, Antonio. This is turning into the most excellent hunt.” Before continuing to address Ambros, “Where are your praetōriae, boy? Or did you give them the slip to have fun outside your gilded halls? What house do you hail from, little one? I don't recognize your features. Myself? My sire hailed from the house of Bayntoni before, well, you know. Wouldn't it be fun if it turned out we were long-lost cousins? Oh, the thought of sinking my fangs and draining you as I sacrifice your rotten little imperial heart to the Great Lord Ankhonem.” Well, that was quite a bit to take in. Not much of it made sense, but he got the gist of what she was saying, even if it was a chase of mistaken identity. He didnt really see any point in correcting her.

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Deciding that there wouldn't be much point in arguing, just looked at the fop before deciding that it would be pointless to try. Turning to the one with the big sword, he asked, “And you, silent and stoic one. You would have to be dealing with her at any length of time. Are you looking to sink your fangs and sacrifice me to the great and powerful fruitloop or whatever she said?” From the hiss, the vampiress made, he wasn't sure she was offended at what he said about her or her great lord. However, the one with the sword gave a half grin and said in a deep voice. “My sire comes from the far south. We have never had much trouble with your kind. I'm not about to attack someone who has their power hidden. Besides, for all I know, you might hail from a house we have a trade agreement with. There never seem to be enough thralls. No, I'm happy with my job as an observer this night.” That at least made it a two-on-two.

Hoping the elfe spoke the same high elven, he had to learn he was about to speak when he almost smacked himself on the head. Of course, she would understand him with the Omnilingual skill. Damn, well, it wouldn't matter all that much. Looking at the elfe, he could see her eyes darting about, a short sword in each hand ready. She looked to have a few scratches on her, but then again, vampires generally regenerated at an astonishing rate, so she might have gotten quite a few hits without it showing without gauging their blood reserve. Well, time to put that to the test, too, he thought with a guess. “And you elfe. Will you be sacrificing me to some great umbabomba, or are you open to having a civil conversation?” He dearly hoped so because he didnt have a counter to her, unlike the vampires. She didnt need to know that, however. With a shake of her head, she said, “I won't sacrifice you, even if I should cut your heart out. Imperial dog.” Ah, how good it felt to be loved. Well, at least he could get her to have a reasonable conversation, unlike the vampiress. Eventually, he hoped. “That will do. Close your eyes, elfe,” He said as he brought forth one of his light rune stones and activated it. The world turned white momentarily, but he was already moving toward the redheaded elf. Who stood there blinking her half-blind eyes. Well, she would learn eventually. “Stab me, and I'll leave you with the vampires,” Ambros said as he threw her over his shoulder and started running towards the house he had made. Hearing a screech behind him, he increased his phase only to have the elf start clamoring to be let down, almost making him fall. Well, so much for his valiant attempt at rescuing the damsel in distress, he thought. “Fine, but you follow me to somewhere safe when I set you down.” Letting her get off his shoulder, she immediately started running towards the west. That was not the direction he wanted to go… Damn it. Why did he expect her to listen to him? Should have just knocked her out and tied her down. Alright, that may not be the best way to get honest answers from someone. Then again, you never know. People were into all sorts of things.

Setting off after the elf, he quickly found her scrambling up a rope hanging from the roof of a building. She was on the roof in under a minute, pulling it up before he could reach the rope. Curse her. Curse her a hundred times. These are dangerous thoughts for an Arcanist to have. Snap out of it, Ambros. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted two shadows jumping over to the same roof. Well, one could say the hunt was on again. Why they had ignored Ambros could have to do with his rune stone, but he wasn't about to let his guard down. Besides, he had no reason to trust the greatsword-wielding one, no matter how decent he seemed. Running towards the building, he saw the elf jumping across to the next roof that was a story lower. He wasn't sure he could have made that jump. No, he was positive he couldn't, so she was clearly more powerful than him in attributes. Not much of a surprise there.

The two vampires were close to the elf's heels. One of them even hissed down at him as it flew over. Ambros was tempted to throw a rune stone after it but doubted it would detonate in time, and showing how weak his Arcane Bolt was didnt seem prudent, so he kept running around the house only to watch the elf leap over to the next roof, it was the same height as the previous building so she barely made it too, scrambling up the side with her feet as she pulled with her arms getting over the edge. This time the vampires caught up to the elfe before she could escape, and he could hear a clangor of metal on metal from the roof followed by the occasional yell and screeching. Not having time to be careful, he made his way into the building, he could barely make out the interior, but it looked like a big room. The stairs were directly across from him. He could hear the floorboards creaking and bending as he made his way to the stairs. That was not exactly a good sign. The second floor was as big as the first, but the rooftop exit was luckily a ladder on the wall a few steps from the stairs. At least he was dealing with a flat roof this time. When he was ready to open the hatch, he decided discretion wouldn't do in this situation and simply braced a shoulder against the hatch and jumped.

Miraculously he landed on the roof with both feet as parts of the hatch rained around him. That was quite a decent jump, even if he had to say so himself. He did. He didnt know if it was his entrance or that he said it was quite a decent jump out loud but probably a combination. That or his charm was finally kicking in… Alright, that may be stretching it a bit. Looking at the elf holding off two vampires, but she had taken a beating. He saw the vampiress was in beast mode again, and the fop was trying to flank the elf again. He once more spoke the words that night, “Lovely night, isn't it?” Giving them all his best toothy smile. “You!” The fop said. Ambros looked closer and saw the burn marks on the fop's face. He smiled even more. Yeah, that looked painful. Not feeling like being outdone by the vampire, he answered, “Me! Say, have you been playing in the sun again? The elders tried getting you to pick flowers by sunshine again? You know they are only picking on you because you are the runt of the litter, right?” Time almost seemed to slow down as the vampire hurled itself at Amrbos, who lifted his left arm and sent a command to the rune stone as the vampire was right in front of him.

He was sure the flash from that could be seen everywhere. The vampire was hurled back all the way across the roof and over the side of the building. Smoke rising from the humanoid projectile. Well, that was one way to get evicted. Summoning another rune stone in his left hand, he looked at the vampiress and the elf. “So, elfe, how about you answer my questions and be on your way?” Time to bring out the big guns, he turned on Arcane Sight. The rooftop was bathed in the purple light shining from his eyes as he looked at the two very different beings. The vampiress was mostly what he expected. He even saw the mutation that had turned her lineage into having claws and let them unhinge their jaws. It was a silly thing that likely came from the forceful injection of several animal traits in their genetics. It would become increasingly prevalent as newer generations were introduced to it until they completely turned them into beasts. A cheap way to increase their power in the short term, but the price they would eventually pay was too big for the cost. He snorted in disgust. Oh, she didnt like that, but either his eyes or his display in turning her companion into a flying roast was enough to hold her back for now. At least, he knew it would end soon, one way or another. The elfe looked at him like he was a twelve-headed hydra while slowly backing up toward the edge of the building. He doubted it was by chance. However, she had far from given up. He could only sigh in resignation as she turned and jumped into the night as Ambros blasted the vampiress from the roof with another flash of light. Bloody stubborn elves.

Walking over to the edge, he could see her land on rubble almost at ground level, roll into a standing position, and start running or try to at the least. She obviously had issues holding her arm over her ribs and halting. He was surprised she could even walk from what he had seen in her from his Arcane Sight.

Hurting down to the ground floor, he ran around the corner to pursue the elf when a stumbling, lightly grilled vampire stumbled into his path. He wasn't sure he wanted the vampires dead yet. It largely depended on the elf and how cooperative she was. He did not have high hopes on that front at the moment. Summoning his cane sword, he kept it as a cane and poked at the stumbling vampire. The vampire went flying back as if a giant had swatted it and slammed into the rubble behind, still alive by the mewling noises it was making but holy crap Ambros had not expected that. It would probably have been less damaging to just stab the poor fellow.

Summoning another grain of power to refill his mana pool, he could only bite his lip in disappointment as the remaining mana in the grain dissipated into the air. He would have seen himself surrounded by a cloud of mana if his Arcane Sight was still on. Still, with his mana pool field up again, he set off after the suicidal elfe.

She hadn't gotten far. Three intersections further down, he spotted her to his right. The vampiress was straddling her and making an unholy mess of the elf. Blasted vampire. “I need her alive, you numbskull!” Ambros shouted to distract her from killing the elf as he ran towards them. The vampiress hissed at him, actually hissed like a pissed-off cat. Ambros cast an Arcane Bolt that hit her in the face. It would only do 6,5 units of damage by his calculations, whatever that meant, but apparently, it was enough to smack her head back and make the rest of the body follow as the vampiress tumbled off the elf's prone body. Running up, Ambros took one look at the elfe and knew that time was running out, so he lifted her unconscious body up on his left shoulder and started running towards the bunker he had set to construct itself.

As tiny as she was, he made good time even with a couple of wrong turns, but he knew time was still not on his side when it came to save her. He would need to spend some time setting up a proper healing array with rune stones too, and it would be a pain getting it right for her particular body. For the first time that night, he was glad she had a higher Body attribute than him.

When they finally reached the bunker's main entrance, he jumped down with the elfe cradled in his arms. Taking a moment to marvel at the tunnel, he was quite happy with the outcome of the bunker. He would be quite pleased if the outside was as well made as the tunnel. He would have thought an elemental had created it if he hadn't known better. Standing up, he took a few measured steps down the tunnel, testing the grip his feet had on the tunnel floor, the inside lit up by the tiny amount of moonlight coming down into the tunnel's opening. Everything was smooth as glass but hard as granite. In other words, exactly as he had instructed it. He could feel the remaining grains in the structure that hadn't been spent. Grabbing a few more grains, he instructed the bunker with Control Earth to bring them to the pocket where it kept its power stones to run the amenities and defenses. It would only take minutes now that his mana signature permeated the entire structure. It was like he had created his own domain.

Ambros felt as much as he heard the vampires drop down into the tunnel behind him, but damn, she was fast as the next thing he knew, his Arcane Shield was blown to bits, and he was hurled forward. The elf rolled a few steps further then he landed. Howling in pain as he felt claws cut deep furrows down his back, he twisted around on the ground and hit the twisted face of the vampiress with an Arcane Bolt in the chest, blowing her back a step.

Trying to ignore the pain in his back, he stood up as the vampiress said, “I will rip your neck out whelp and feed on your blood.” Nodding at her words, he said, “Sure you will.” He summoned the sword cane and let the liquid hilt form turning it into a sword before he lunged at her chest with its tip. Hissing at him, she moved back a step before attacking as he brought the blade back into a defensive position.

She was much more agile and faster than him but somewhat hampered by the fact that she could only come at him from the front. However, trying to completely block her was impossible. Long lacerations down his arms and back were taking their toll on his own movements, and while he had gone through much worse pain, it was still that pain. Feeling his frustration mounting as he was being pushed back step by step, he hit her with an Arcane Bolt in the shoulder, throwing her off balance. Thrusting his blade into her sternum, he gave a sigh of relief as the blade's enchantment blew a hole between her far too large breasts as her.

The blood loss starting to take its toll, but he only needed to hold out for a few more moments now. Trying to keep his momentum up, To his surprise, the vampiress grabbed his blade with both hands. In disbelief, he peered into her grinning eyes as she tore the sword from his grip with clawed hands and bent it until it broke in two. Then she bore down on him, bringing him down to the ground, slashing at his chest and face. He roared as deep cuts tore pieces of flesh from him. He felt her claw tear out his right eye. The pain was almost as bad as the feeling of losing his eye. Then the bunker sent him the confirmation, and he slapped his mangled right hand on the floor, letting out all the anger he felt at the blurry, grinning face hovering over him. He could see she was about to say something more, but he closed his left eye as he felt the mana pulse through the tunnel. For a moment, everything became light as the rune sequences in the tunnel unleashed their payload.

Battle Award

Giant Slayer I ( F )

2,500 Exp

4,000 Sp

Breathing through clenched teeth from the pain, he felt metal rain down his stomach and chest. Opening his left eye a crack, he saw it was the jewelry the vampiress had been wearing. Stuffing the jewelry in his dimensional bag, with the exception of the three dimensional bags, he found among them that he pocketed. They wouldn't go into his own ring, unsurprisingly. With a pained chuckle, he crawled over to where the elfe lay. Hoisting her on his right shoulder, he stood up and instructed the bunker to raise them into the main room while closing off the entrance. Screw the rest of the world for the moment. There was shit to do, and then Ambros needed some rest.