A stream of messages flooded Vlad’s vision, giving him a headache because his eyes darted around the panels, trying to see what all of them were. Realizing they were just his kill notifications, he ignored them since he was bombarded with messages. However, he did notice one message that caught his attention.

[You are experiencing a Level-Up! You are now Level 14!]

[You have obtained 5 SP!]

Vlad smiled while standing before a large pile of goblin corpses that he killed, which resulted in his level-up. And it wasn’t just the experience he obtained for his level up that satisfied him either.

[Blood has been consumed! 40 BP has been obtained!]

[Skill [Hemophagia] has been activated! An additional 30 BP has been collected!]

[Blood has been consumed! 40 BP has been obtained!]

[Skill [Hemophagia] has been activated! An additional 30 BP has been collected!]

[Blood has been consumed! 40 BP has been obtained!]

[Skill [Hemophagia] has been activated! An additional 30 BP has been collected!]

[Blood has been consumed! 40 BP has been obtained!]

[Skill [Hemophagia] has been activated! An additional 30 BP has been collected!]

[Blood has been consumed…]

Thanks to his profession skill [Siphon Circle], he was able to collect a lot of BP. And it seemed that Hemophagia worked in correspondence with this skill as well, making it even more effective in BP gathering. Seeing the amount of BP he was stocking up, his grin grew even wider, which disturbed his friends when they noticed his expression.

“Do you really have to smile like that after what you did to these bastards?” Chloe chided while pointing at the corpses. “I mean, look at them! They’re basically shriveled-up husks, and seeing you smile like that is very disturbing.”

Vlad glanced over at the goblins he killed. They were all drained of their blood, making them look withered and mummified. Without the blood in their body, their skin was practically clinging to their bones. To make matters worse, the skin seemed frail and thin, almost like paper, but he wasn’t going to touch them to see if that was the case. Just the sight alone was enough for him to believe that.

“Still,” Arthur spoke up. “That magic circle was certainly something. Being able to kill all those goblins in an instant. It was thanks to this, that we were able to kill so many goblins in one go.”

“You mean Vlad killed them,” Chloe stated. “Considering how many of them died, I bet you experienced another level up, right?” She turned to Vlad with an expectant expression.

“Yep,” Vlad nodded, still grinning. “I’m level fourteen, now.”

“Whoa,” Arthur’s eyes widened. “That’s only four to five levels below us. If you keep this up, you might be able to reach Level 18 before leaving this building. Maybe even beyond that.”

“And you’ve literally only been back for almost a day,” Chloe crossed her arms while grumbling. “It took us a little over two days to reach that, and you’ll likely pass us in less than a damn day.”

Vlad shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I’m just lucky.”

Seeing this, Arthur and Chloe let out a heavy sigh while Lucy softly giggled while watching the scene. Once they were done with the goblins, the four players left the area and made their way over to the steps that led to the first floor. Instead of descending, they all pinned themselves against the wall near the stairs as Chloe and Vlad peered over to see what was down there.

“I’m pretty sure we only took down a small portion of the goblin army,” Chloe noted. “At least, that was my estimation.”

“Which meant that there were still plenty of the bastards down there along with their boss,” Vlad concluded, carefully scanning the bottom of the first floor to make sure no goblins were approaching the steps right now.

Because of the total size and volume of this building and the fact that it was a monster nest, the group probably barely killed a good majority of the goblin population. Knowing this, they were in a bit of a pickle with the remaining inhabitants still roaming around the first floor. Then there was the Boss itself, but they could worry about that issue later.

“Should we just repeat the Siphon Circle plan?” Arthur suggested. “Since the circle could affect a large number of monsters, we could just keep luring the monsters up here and kill them like that.”

That was a sound plan. Not only did they not have to deal with killing the goblins one by one but as a group, they also just needed to keep doing this until the numbers of them were manageable to do a full-on monster sweep without worrying about being overwhelmed.

However…

“That’s not going to work,” Vlad shook his head.

“Huh?” Chloe turned to him, her face stricken with confusion. “Why not?”

“Because…apparently there’s a cooldown system for my Profession skills,” He declared dejectedly.

“What?!” Chloe blurted out, glaring at the vampire. “Why didn’t you tell us until now?!”

“Because I didn’t notice until now while looking over my notifications.”

Because Vlad pushed aside most of the notifications he got after killing those goblins except for his level-up and BP gain, he completely didn’t notice the Cooldown notification for his Profession skill. What was worse was how long the Cooldown took.

“How long do you have until you can use the skill again?” Arthur asked.

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Vlad wore a depressed expression as he declared the duration. “Thirty minutes…”

All three of Vlad’s friends were baffled after hearing this, their eyes wide and mouths agape. All Vlad could do was stand there helpless as he explained the current situation.

[Profession Skill [Siphon Circle] is undergoing a Cooldown. It cannot be used for Thirty minutes.]

The vampire stared at the panel that displayed the notification, a mixture of annoyance and pain shown on his face. His hand clenched into a fist; his sharp nails digging into his palm as blood leaked from the newly punctured wound in his hand.

This was a big problem for a multitude of reasons, but there was one issue that definitely caused the group a lot of grief. That was the time it took for the cooldown to be over and the time they had left before failing their quest.

At this point in time, the group had a little over forty minutes left for their quest became incomplete. And by the time the cooldown was done, so they could use [Siphon Circle] again, they wouldn’t have enough time to kill all the goblins and the Boss. And if there was a possibility that they could do this, they would be cutting it close. Way too close for their liking, considering the stakes.

This meant that the four players needed a new plan. One that could allow them to kill all the goblins and the Boss before time runs out. And that wasn’t going to be easy. Between the remaining goblins and the Boss, they had no idea how much time it would take to get the job down. And they also couldn’t just sit back and come up with a plan, since time was precious for them.

A heavy groan escaped Chloe’s mouth. “Damn, does that mean we’ll have to fight that horde head-on?”

“Well, luring them away would take too much time, especially since we can’t kill them in one go without the [Siphon Circle],” Arthur pointed out. “Although, doing a frontal assault wasn’t that good of an idea either. Especially after the last time we got ambushed. We’ll be overwhelmed in seconds before being able to escape.”

Arthur made a valid statement. They didn’t have a lot of options to deal with the rest of the monsters. Luring takes time, and it will take even more to kill them one by one, and attacking head-on was suicidal. Even if there were four of them, they had to face off against maybe a hundred dozen more of those goblins.

If they were planning on doing that, they would need an army…and maybe that was actually possible.

A lightbulb lit up in Vlad’s head as a plan slowly began to form. Although there were only four of them, there was a way for them to gather more allies to assist them in their fight against the remaining goblins…and that was the goblins themselves.

“Guys, I have an ide-!” Just when Vlad was about to give everyone hope, he stopped at the sound of distant grunting from goblins. They were coming from the first floor.

Hearing them, the vampire smiled, revealing his fangs. Looked like he managed to find some volunteers.

He gave his friends a quick glance before telling them, “I’ll be right back.”

Without wasting a second, he blurred down the stairs in a flash, lunging at one of the goblins as he descended. Tackling it to the ground, the goblin tried to let out a yelp before its mouth was covered by the vampire.

As for the other goblin that witnessed this, it also attempted to cry out for assistance, but the vampire reached over and grabbed the creature before immediately slamming it to the ground, knocking it unconscious. He did the same with the goblin he tackled and punched its lights out. Vlad had to hold back his strength so he didn’t bash its skull in and kill it. He still severely bruised its head, but it didn’t seem that severe, and resumed his objective.

Grabbing the goblins, he rushed back up to the stairs leading to the second floor. Once he got there, he tossed the two monsters to the floor with a loud thud. Chloe and the others watched with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety; curious as to what Vlad was planning and anxious about the goblins waking up.

“Do I even want to know what you’re trying to do?” Chloe asked.

“You can,” Vlad stated while kneeling down at the goblins. “But it would probably be better if I just show you.”

After saying this, Vlad lifted one of the unconscious goblins and plunged his fangs into its neck. As he did, the sweet taste of blood coated his tastebuds, overwhelming them with flavor. However, Vlad wasn’t doing this to just gorge himself.

He had an objective. After drinking its blood for a few moments, he immediately pulled away, just barely keeping the goblin alive before completely draining it of blood. Then he got the notification he wanted.

[Would you like to turn this monster into your Kin or a Thrall?

* Thrall (50 BP)

* Kin (100 BP)

Once again, he smiled at the panel. Not only that, but compared to Rick, the goblin was cheaper, which seemed understandable, and convenient for Vlad’s plan. Before making a decision, Vlad decided to see which choice was better.

[Thrall: Mortal beings that become servants to vampires. While not vampires themselves, they do receive a portion of that strength by becoming a Thrall. Depending on the species, they can retain their intelligence and personality or become a mindless slave that follows their master’s every bidding.]

[Kin: Mortals that become vampires and Kins to their turner. Kins are essentially family to the vampire that turned them, and their connection with one another will be even stronger. Vampire Kins are far stronger than thralls, and depending on the subject being turned, they can become extremely powerful. But much like Thralls, they cannot go against their master.]

Vlad pondered over his options. While turning the goblins into his Kin would make them stronger, there was the issue of this path making the goblins his family. Which meant he should only do this with his friends or maybe even his sister. Turning random strangers into his family seemed like a hassle anyway.

Which left Vlad with only one choice. Turning the goblin into his Thrall. Not only was this a better choice since he was merely using the goblins as fodder, but Thralls were cheaper than Kins. Considering the benefits, he chose the Thrall option without hesitation.

As soon as the Thrall choice was selected, Vlad was given another panel that instructed him what to do.

[To complete the Thrall Transformation, please feed the subject your blood.]

Vlad cocked an eyebrow. So, he had to exchange blood with the goblin to turn it not a Thrall. That seemed simple enough. Using his nail thumb, he dug deep into his palm, drawing blood instantly. Raising his hand over the goblin, the crimson liquid leaked from the wound before dripping off and entering its mouth.

Letting a couple of drops enter, Vlad suddenly felt something happen. Deep within his soul, he felt a tether attached itself to it, as if establishing a connection with Vlad. That was when he realized that the connection he just made was with the goblin he attempted to turn into a Thrall.

The moment the connection was made, the goblin Vlad was holding suddenly started to writhe in pain. Its body twitched and trembled along with its muscles bulged and toned. After this continued for a few moments, the monster stopped moving.

Opening its eyes, Vlad realized that they were no long disturbing yellow color but a menacing crimson shade. The vampire and thrall stared at one another for a moment before Vlad released his servant.

Landing on the ground, the goblin immediately kneeled in front of Vlad as if already viewing him as its master. Its appearance didn’t look that different other than its slight buffer appearance and crimson eyes. But, Vlad could tell from his connection to the Thrall that it was completely bound to him, and it would follow every order he gave it.

To prove this theory, Vlad issued his first command, his eyes flashing red briefly. “Raise your left hand.”

Almost immediately, the Goblin stood up and raised its left hand. Instead of looking natural, the action felt more puppeteer. This meant that the goblin wasn’t a being that retained its intelligence, though that would be for the best since having them as mindless servants served him better.

Satisfied, Vlad turned around to see how his friends were reacting to this. As expected, they were in shock. Well, mostly Chloe and Arthur who both looked bewildered and disturbed. As for Lucy, she seemed surprisingly calm, despite what Vlad just did. If anything, it felt like she was…excited to see the Thralls.

She had a calm expression on her face, but for some reason, Vlad could tell that she was excited. Although he was a bit disturbed by this, the vampire had bigger fish to fry and immediately got to work.

“Alright, guys,” He declared with a toothy grin. “It’s time to make our own army for the battle.”

Behind him, the goblin thrall also smiled, revealing its newly formed fangs, solidifying the fact that it was indeed like a vampire.