Vlad and Tyler eyed the Orcs before them, watching their every movement before they took action. The Orcs were standing there, conversing with one another through their own distinct yet incomprehensible language. It sounded guttural and low as if they were grunting or growling at one another. A part of Vlad wished that he could understand their language, but pushed away the thought immediately, forcing himself to stay focused. Trying to understand the monsters invading his world would only cause more trouble than it was worth. He had already thought about such a thing and came to the same conclusion as before.

These monsters were his enemies. Trying to know what they were saying wouldn’t benefit him at all. If anything, he was more inclined to stay ignorant of the language barrier. Doing so would lessen the issue of him hesitating when killing the monsters. You couldn’t feel sympathy toward your opponent if you didn’t understand them.

Vlad turned to face Tyler, his eyes completely focused on the Orcs they were about to attack. When the Knight Leader turned to him, he gave a sharp nod, giving the vampire the cue to take action against the monsters. Vlad nodded back before he spun his head back to face the Orcs.

His hand was stretched out, the warm energy building up in his chest slowly flowing into his hands. His palm got hotter and hotter until he felt that there was enough energy for him to attack. He pulled back his arm before swinging it at the ground beneath the Orcs. The condensed blade of blood manifested and zoomed toward its target, leaving a trail of crimson behind like a bloody meteorite. The orcs didn’t even notice the attack until the Blood Blade stuck the ground near them, kicking up a lot of dust and debris. The Orcs roared in anger and confusion, their silhouettes being covered in the dust cloud.

Normally, you would have to guess where the enemy was in that dust to try and land a hit on them, but thanks to Vlad’s [Blood Sense] skill, he could see their red silhouettes fully displayed, allowing him to know their location. Warm energy built up in his hands before he hurled another Blood Blade attack at the enemy, his target, two of the Orcs that were level 12. He wanted to take down the stronger enemies, but on the off chance that they could either detect his attack and dodge or simply be unfazed by it, he decided to take down the weaker ones to focus on their main goal; diminish their numbers to make them more manageable to fight.

Once the [Blood Strike] was launched, he watched as the attack made contact with his targets, as two Orcs howled in pain before collapsing. A death notification soon appeared in front of Vlad, signaling that he killed them.

[Orc has been defeated! 1170 XP has been collected!]

[Orc has been defeated! 1170 XP has been collected!]

Vlad’s eyes furrowed, annoyed at the amount he received yet he didn’t see any level-up message pop up. However, before he could briefly check his status window, Tyler commenced the attack like a general leading an assault charge.

“Attack, now!” The Knight Leader vaulted over the debris they hid behind and charged at the Orcs.

Vlad followed suit and joined him in the fight. As the pair rushed at the enemy, the Orcs emerged from the dust as it faded away behind them. One of the green giants let out an infuriating roar, saliva spewing out from its mouth as its eyes glared in their direction. Neither the vampire nor the Knight Leader were fazed by its glare, while their weapons were raised and ready for battle.

Roaring once more, the Orc pointed its weapon at the pair, prompting its brethren to charge at them as well. It was now a full-on assault charge from both parties.

“You take the two on the right, and I’ll take on the two on the left!” Tyler declared, not slowing down a bit as he said this to Vlad.

“Of course, you would go after the ones that had higher levels,” Vlad retorted but smiled all the while.

“Hey, if you think you can take them, then be my guest.”

“Just shut up and fight already!”

Vlad rushed toward the two level thirteen monsters, while Tyler focused on the Level 15 and 14 Orcs.

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The moment Vlad got close to his enemies, he brought his spear up and thrust it at one of the Orcs’ legs. The Blood Hunter managed to cut its ankle, carving a good piece of its skin. The Orc roared in pain and slammed his weapon, which was a battleaxe, down on Vlad. Instead of jumping away, he used [Blood Dash], and blurred forward, phasing through the monster as blood before materializing back into his normal form. While behind the Orc, Vlad spun his spear before plunging it at the neck of the monster.

Before the spearhead could make contact with the Orc, Vlad immediately pulled his weapon back as the other Orc swung its weapon, that being a sword, on his spear. If he proceeded with his attack, his weapon would’ve been destroyed by that other Orc’s blade. Once Vlad’s weapon was away, he sprinted toward the other Orc, slashing at it from multiple angles. His spear managed to cut its arm, chest, and even leg. Sadly, all of his attacks were too shallow and barely did any damage compared to what he did to the first Orc’s ankle.

In retaliation, the Orc with the sword roared and slashed at Vlad. He swiftly moved around, narrowly dodging the monster’s attack, except a few times when the blade sliced his arm and shoulder. Pain flared across his two wounds, but he pushed the pain aside, focusing fully on the monster before him. It didn’t take long before the other Orc he fought before was up and about, instantly moving to its brethren’s side to provide support.

Faced with the two green creatures, Vlad let out an exasperated sigh, annoyed that his fight was dragging on like this. For a brief moment, he glanced over at Tyler, curious as to how he was doing in his battle.

Surprisingly enough, he was doing quite well. He fought like a real knight, aggressively slashing his blade at the Orcs while maintaining a certain distance, keeping himself out of their range of attack. When one Orc attempted to raise its weapon to attack, Tyler responded by rushing forward and slashing at the monster’s leg, easily crippling it. As it fell to its knees, the Knight leader attempted to finish it off by swinging his sword down on its neck, decapitating it instantly, but the other Orc intervened, smashing the ground with its club, breaking apart the ground under his feet.

Before he could lose his balance and risk getting hit, Tyler leaped to the side, landing on a part of the ground that was intact. The Knight leader glared at the other Orc through his helmet before he rushed at the monster, determined to kill it.

Vlad wanted to see more but was immediately reminded that he had his own fight to deal with when a sword was flying right toward his head. The vampire managed to duck in time as the blade swung past him, not a single hair or skin touched by the weapon. Vlad pulled his arm back, his hand radiating with warm energy and then swung it, delivering a [Blood Strike] attack toward the orc’s torso. The green monster managed to react in time, bringing up its sword and blocking the condensed blade of blood. Upon contact, it was pushed back from the force, its dirty, green, monstrous feet sliding against the ground.

Vlad clicked his tongue, annoyed that the monster blocked his attack. That and the fact that its weapon could block his [Blood Strike] skill. That ability was able to cut through convenience store shelves like they were made of butter. Did he not pour enough energy into the skill before launching it? He wanted to try again, determined to cut through that damn sword, but he couldn’t risk using up his BP. While the Orcs were reorienting themselves, Vlad took a quick glimpse at his BP meter, slightly relieved that he was still over two hundred. Still, he was getting really close to getting it below a hundred points.

If his math was right, he should be able to use [Blood Strike] around ten times or so without risking his BP going below a hundred. But, using an average amount of energy wasn’t going to cut it. Not unless he caught them off guard and attacked their blind spot. At the thought of this, a light bulb lit up in his head, giving him an idea.

Vlad quickly glanced at the ground before the Orcs. The two monsters were significantly close to one another, making the exposure more likely to happen to both of them. The Blood Hunter quickly built up the warm energy in hand and hurled it at the ground beneath the monsters. Dust and debris clouded the area around them, instantly taking away their vision of their surroundings. Before they attempted to move out of the dust cloud, Vlad activated [Blood Dash] and blurred over to the Orcs.

Once he was positioned in front of them, he charged up both hands with warm energy, adding more than usual to ensure that his attack made contact and did its job. Vlad let out a heavy sigh and hurled the two Blood Blades at the Orcs within the dust cloud. Through the sight of [Blood Sense], Vlad witnessed the blades of blood sever the Orc’s torso, resulting in their upper body sliding off and falling to the ground while their lower bodies collapsed to their knees.

[Orc has been defeated! 1365 XP has been obtained!]

[Orc has been defeated! 1365 XP has been obtained!]

[You have leveled up! You are now Level 10!]

[You have obtained 5 SP!]

A grin flashed on Vlad’s face. He was finally Level 10! It had only been almost a day, and he managed to reach this threshold. As he wore a big smile on his face, another panel appeared. And when he read it, he was a bit surprised by what it showed.

[You have reached Level 10! You can now select a Profession!]

“…A profession?”