Vlad continued to observe the Orcs before him, monitoring their every movement while attempting to form a plan to take them down. He especially kept a close eye on the Level 15 Orc. Much like the Level 15 Lizardman, this Orc looked different than its brethren.
Its long black hair was braided and adorned with different colored beads and rings including its beard. The monster was also covered in studier armor with spiked shoulder pads shaped like a lion. In its left hand was a large battleaxe about Vlad’s size. Upon closer inspection, the blade was stained red and reeked of iron; a sign of how much blood was shed in its slaughter. The monster was currently sitting on some debris while scanning its surroundings. Its eyes then trailed over to Vlad’s location, causing him to duck under the cars to avoid getting caught instantly.
Vlad made sure to keep his [Stealth] skill activated to ensure that his presence wasn’t known to the Orcs. With their current numbers, he couldn’t risk attacking them as a group. His first goal was to reduce their numbers to a more manageable group. Of course, to do that, he needed to either stealthily kill them one by one without getting caught or…get rid of most of them with one attack.
Vlad was banking more on the latter rather than the former since his chances of the latter succeeding were higher. And there was one factor as to why he believed that to be the case, which was the versatility of his skill [Blood Strike]. After his fight with the red lizardman from before and his [Blood Strike] experiencing a rank up, Vlad learned a couple of things regarding it.
The blood hunter took another glance at the orcs, seeing them all grouped together and talking to one another. He crept closer to the edge of the vehicle, peering his head out to get a better look at the monsters. His eyes then slid downward to his right hand which was making a claw gesture. Taking a deep breath, Vlad closed his eyes and concentrated on activating [Blood Strike], but in a different manner.
He felt the warm energy in his chest pulse to life as it flowed to his right hand. His fingers started to heat up, signaling that he was collecting energy into them. He focused a little more and had the energy equally pile up in all fingers and thumb. Then, while crouched, he shifted closer to the edge, getting into position. With his clawed hand raised, he aimed right at the Orcs, prepared to hurl a condensed blood blade in their direction.
He held his breath for a moment, and then the next, as soon as a few of the Orcs were close enough, he aggressively swiped his arm, delivering a devastating blood wave at them. Instead of a thin, condensed blood blade like before, Vlad decided to do something different. By concentrating all that energy into his fingers, he evenly expanded the blood blade into something more lethal.
It was a massive wave of solidified and deadly blood, rushing toward the Orcs like a tidal wave. The monsters were too late to notice the wave coming at them, even when they whipped their heads to witness the attack in front of them. A couple of Orcs roared in surprise and some immediately stood up and tried to escape. However, the majority of them were engulfed by the wave, obliterating them. Their bodies weren’t merely cut in half, but diced into tiny pieces as if they were put in a blender. The pieces of meat left by the wave fell to the ground with a wet thud, as they were all sprawled all around.
Immediately after, Vlad received some messages regarding the deaths of the majority of the Orcs he had just eviscerated.
[Orc has been defeated! 1170 XP has been received]
[You have leveled up! You are now level 7!]
[You have obtained 5 SP!]
[Orc has been defeated! 1170 XP has been received]
[Orc has been defeated! 1170 XP has been received]
[You have leveled up! You are now Level 8!]
[You have obtained 5 SP!]
“Would you look at that?” A smile crept up Vlad’s mouth, displaying the evident joy he was experiencing after leveling up twice in a row.
However, he was also drained almost instantly, as if he'd just run a marathon in a nano-second. His muscles ached and he nearly fell to his knees before using his spear to support himself. Confusion welled up inside him as he questioned why he felt so tired all of a sudden, only to feel a wave of hunger course through him, his stomach rumbling like thunder as it demanded sustenance. It was then that Vlad figured out what was wrong, but just to be safe, he pulled up his status window to double-check. His eyes trailed down to his BP count, only for the color to drain from his face as he witnessed how low it was.
[BP: 60/525]
“Shit…” He swore, doing his best to stay upright while his legs trembled under the pressure.
Vlad was certain that his BP was well over two hundred before the fight started. And yet, his dwindled to below a hundred with a single attack? Just how much energy did he pump into that blood wave attack?
His attention shifted away from the BP as he heard a duet of roars directed at him. Glancing at the source, Vlad saw that there were two remaining Orcs left. And with a quick appraisal, he realized that it was the two strongest Orcs, including the Level 15 one.
The Orc with the hair and beard beads slowly stood up with the help of its battle axe to support itself. The beast glared at Vlad, its eyes giving off a crimson glow that was full of fury and hatred. The blood hunter was unfazed by this, as he pulled out his spear to prepare for the fight.
As for the other Orc, which was the level 13 one, it slowly stood back up, wobbling on its feet before finally stabilizing itself.
With the two orcs finally back on their feet, they readied their weapons and charged at the vampire. The level 15 Orc leaped forward and swung its battleaxe at Vlad’s head, prompting him to crouch down, narrowly avoiding the attack. It felt like he was lagging a bit since a bit of his hair was trimmed by the blade of the axe. He bore witness to this as pieces of his hair slowly descended to the ground. Thankfully, they were only a few strands. But, even so, the fact that he was delayed to the point his hair became collateral concerned him.
He needed to drink blood, or else, he was in for a world of pain against these two Orcs. Just as the level 13 Orc rushed at Vlad with a sword, the vampire instantly ducked and rolled, completely avoiding the monster’s attack altogether. Once he adjusted himself into a kneeling position, he hastily reached into his Hunter’s Pouch and pulled out two vials of human blood. After ripping both tops off with ease, the young vampire downed the vials without a second thought. He barely even got to taste the blood, since he was in a bit of a hurry to refill his Blood Points.
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Thankfully, he received the message panels that informed him of the blood.
[Human/Non-Player Blood has been consumed! 70 Blood Points has been obtained!]
[Skill [Hemophagia] has been activated! An Extra 14 Blood Points has been obtained!]
[Human/Non-Player Blood has been consumed! 70 Blood Points has been obtained!]
[Skill [Hemophagia] has been activated! An Extra 14 Blood Points has been obtained!]
While reading the panels, Vlad wiped his mouth of the blood. His instincts suddenly alerted him of danger, causing him to whip his head around to find the cause, only to see one of the orcs swing their weapons down on him. The vampire once again rolled across the ground as the battleaxe from the Level 15 Orc slammed against the stone pavement, creating a massive hole in the process. Vlad grimaced at the sight, relieved that he managed to avoid it in time, or else, he’d end up part of the broken pavement as well along with his splattered organs, blood, and bones.
By pure instinct, Vlad poured some energy into both of his hands, feeling them heat up almost instantly as he swung both palms, making an X motion. The condensed blood materialized and turned into a massive red X and barreled toward its next victims. The weakest Orc freaked out, its eyes wide with shock and fear as it tried to make a run for it. Meanwhile, the other Orc firmly stood in place while its axe was pulled back. And with a mighty swing, the Orc obliterated the Bloody X attack, shattering it upon impact and scattering the remains all around it.
Vlad stood there in awe, a little slow in processing what he had just witnessed. He firmly shook his head, clearing his mind and focusing back on the task at hand. With his spear in hand, Vlad charged at the Orc, determined to wound the creature as much as he could.
He drove his spear forward, aiming directly at its head. The Orc responded by rotating its axe around, deflecting his attack with relative ease, much like the lizardman from before. Instead of pulling away, Vlad simply swung his spear again and aimed for its torso yet was blocked yet again with a similar move like before.
“Tch…!” Vlad clicked his tongue, leaping backward out of frustration and anger. “Okay…let’s try this, then…”
[Five points has been distributed into Strength Attribute!]
[Five points has been distributed into Agility Attribute!]
Feeling that he had no other choice, Vlad used all his SP and boosted his strength and agility. Feeling a surge of energy course through him, the vampire attempted to attack the creature once more. He gripped his spear hard while driving the weapon down on it, only for it to get blocked by its sword. Currently, in a stalemate, the Orc pushed Vlad away, causing him to slide backward, his feet grinding against the ground as the distance between them got larger.
After moving back a couple of feet, the vampire felt a presence behind him, so he turned around and saw the level 15 Orc raising its battleaxe, ready to bring it down on his head. Luckily, he knew how to get out of this mess. In an instant, he activated [Blood Dash], instantly shifting into a blood form and phased through the Orc in a flash, returning to his human form the moment he got behind the monster.
Vlad still wielded his spear, and with it, he propelled it at the Orc’s back, stabbing into his lower spine. The spearhead dug deeply into its body as blood profusely seeped out the wound. As for the Orc, it howled in pain, urgently trying to turn around so it could attack Vlad. Before it could, the vampire slashed another [Blood Strike] at the Orc, aimed right at its leg. Due to its arm covering its knees and calves, he wasn’t able to sever the limb in one strike, however, he managed to damage the armor enough to where he struck skin if only a little.
The Orc once again roared in pain, falling to its knees while its leg started to bleed. Vlad’s next move was to finish it off with one more [Blood Strike] attack. He then concentrated on the warm energy within his chest, forcing the energy to flow into his hand once more. As soon as he felt the warm sensation build up in his palm, he was ready to strike, only for the other Orc to make an appearance, emerging right behind the Orc and thrusting its sword at him.
Vlad swiftly shifted to the side, while also changing targets and launching his [Blood Strike] attack at it. Although the Orc tried to leap away, his blood blade managed to cut its arm that held its sword. Just when the vampire was about to hurl another one to finish the job, the other Orc showed up, its battleaxe horizontally swung at his neck. With [Blood Dash], he blurred away from the axe, then launched his [Blood Strike] at the level 15 Orc, but it managed to block his strike with its weapon. Although it was pushed back from the force, the weapon itself was still intact, if only slightly dented.
If Vlad wasn’t a spear user, he would’ve wanted that battleaxe, considering it could block his [Blood Strike] skill. Or was that because of its high level? No, had to be the weapon. Even if the Orc was level 20, the power of its weapon was dependent on other factors exclusively.
The two orcs readied themselves to attack again, to which Vlad did the same, gripping his spear with two hands and pointing it directly at them. However, just before the three could begin their fight again, a hail of arrows fell from the sky, raining down on the Orcs. Vlad was caught up in the arrow storm, watching as each bolt struck the ground near his feet, prompting him to leap away to avoid getting hit.
He then tried to locate the source of that hail of arrows. Using [Blood Sense], he managed to pick up several human-like silhouettes up ahead of him. The moment he saw this, his eyes widened in shock as he realized who they were. They were players! Just like Vlad and Flint!
However, instead of relief filling him, there was, instead, this annoying and infuriating feeling welling up inside him. And that feeling was rage and greed…
Those bastards were stealing his kills! Like hell he was letting that happen!
Using [Blood Dash] at full power, Vlad blurred in front of the Orcs while they were still distracted and wounded by the arrows. And with a single swing, he summoned a powerful [Blood Strike] and hurled it at the Orc pair. The condensed blade of blood bolted toward the monsters, and upon making contact, instantly severed their torsos from their bodies. After a moment, their upper torso fell to the ground and their legs collapsed at the same time while blood spilled out of both ends of their wounds.
[Orc has been defeated! 1800 XP has been obtained!]
[Orc has been defeated! 1365 XP has been obtained!]
[You have leveled up! You are now Level 9!]
[You have obtained 5 SP!]
Seeing the death notifications flooding his vision, Vlad was filled with relief that he managed to take all the XP for himself. He wasn’t sure if his XP was shared with whoever delivered that volley of arrows, but as long as he got the experience points, he didn’t care.
Speaking of that arrow barrage, it looked like the culprits were about to show themselves. Vlad turned toward the group of players as they made their way toward Vlad. From what he saw, there were five of them, all of them wearing distinctive armor, clothing, and weapons, probably due to the different classes they currently possessed.
Suddenly, one of the players stepped forward to Vlad. The player was a male with short brown hair, and wearing a metal plated arm guard on his right arm. Strapped to his waist was what appeared to be a gladius sword and a shield mounted on his back. From what he could tell, this guy looked like a Gladiator. Could that be his class?
“Hey, there,” the Gladiator player greeted Vlad. “I’m glad we were able to find other players.”
Instead of greeting the player back, all Vlad could do was stare at him with a narrow glare. He should feel happy that he managed to encounter another player like himself since that meant he could go to their shelter and prepare for the blood moon. However, all he felt at the moment…was annoyance and hunger toward them. Even now, his stomach churned aggressively, hinting at his growing hunger for blood. And at least five blood bags were standing before him, waiting to be consumed…
It was at this moment that Vlad came to realize that being around other players…might actually be a bad idea.