<h4>Chapter 18: Back to the River</h4>


    Lyle dragged his injured body and slowly moved toward the city. There was still a lot of time before morning arrived, but at least he would be safer closer to it since there should be a lot fewer monsters present in that part of the forest.


    Lyle quickly brought up his status screen and checked it out as he stopped to get a breather.


    Name: Lyle


    Level: 4 – 210 / 500 Soul Power


    ss: Blood Lord (more info in the ss menu)


    Race: True Vampire Lord (more info in the race menu)


    Attribute points : 0


    Strength: 10


    Agility: 12


    Endurance: 9


    Vitality: 9


    Willpower: 9


    Spirit: 12


    ''It''s not a lot, but I do feel a bit stronger, I do wonder what bing Tier I will be, back when I reached the realm of Bronze Knight I had be almost double stronger than before, and that was without adding in the ability to control mana better and sense it more.'' Lyle thought as he winced in pain while sitting on a fallen tree.


    The wounds he had received from the wolves were quite something. He had been hit a couple of times before that, but the wounds that he received from the Toskars and other monsters paled inparison to what he received after being ambushed by the three wolves.


    ''I can''t believe I got so careless, I was too focused on my victory to realize that I was being targeted and that one of them had gotten close to me, damn it, if they had been any stronger, I might have lost my life back there.'' Lyle thought as he panted. The first thing he did was check out the old mage''s ring, he hoped that he could find some healing potions inside of it, but unfortunately there were none.


    "Tch, what kind of an archmage doesn''t carry such important items with him?" Lyle said in a low voice before getting up with some trouble.


    The wounds wouldn''t kill him, not if he rested. He didn''t even have enough mana to use his blood maniption to stop the bleeding, if he was to get into a fight right now, he would need to end it fast and with little exertion, otherwise, the bleeding would be worse.


    Lyle changed his mind, instead of going straight toward the city, he would first stop by the river, even though he had encountered Toskars there previously, he had already killed a fair amount and no more should be present.


    He wanted to wash off the blood from his body, even though the blood on his robes would still be there, at least his body would be clean. This wasn''t because Lyle was a clean freak or anything like this, but simply because he wanted to minimize the smell of blood that wasing from him.


    Some monsters could sense him from far away if he was drenched in blood and that would make it harder for him to get closer to the city without any fighting.


    Lyle remembered which way the river was, even though he had been badly injured and his consciousness turned blurry after the fight, he still forced himself to stay awake and observed his surroundings.


    He decided to use the same path he used to get here as he was not just more familiar with it, but the risk was lower since he had already killed the monsters that were there.


    It took him a full 40 minutes to get to the river, which was quite longpared to before. He couldn''t move fast and had to be cautious in order to not meet any monsters. His speed had thus dropped sharply and he had slowly moved toward the river before finally arriving there.


    The dense bushes and the trees gave him a lot of covers, as did the darkness present in the forest. But with all the blood on him, the stench would definitely attract monsters that were nearby.


    Lyle had to move fast, there were no monsters nearby, and the bodies of the Toskars he had previously in were still present on the ground, they were all in the same state he had left them, which was a good sign since that meant that no monsters hade here to feast on their bodies.


    If other Toskars had been present, they would have at least put their brethren in the river, or if they were hungry, they would have eaten them. Lyle had even put some right on the bank of the river and their vines inside the river. Thanks to the moonlight that fell on the river, he was able to see the vines moving with the current, which was yet another good sign since that meant that no monster was present in the river, otherwise it would have pulled the dead Toskars in.


    Lyle always did things with a backup n in his mind. He had intentionally left the bodies in such a way so he could quickly confirm whether something had visited the area or not, one never knew whether he needed toe back after all.


    For Lyle, it was a bit different, he knew he would probably pass by this ce again, even if he hadn''t gotten injured.


    Still, Lyle didn''t n on going straight to the river just yet. He picked up a nearby rock and threw it in the river, then another one, and another.


    The rocks were a cautionary test of Lyle''s as he wanted to check whether something that perhaps didn''t care for the small Toskars was inside, but it seemed there truly was nothing.


    Lyle then approached, his footsteps as silent as they could be.


    It was currently summer, and even if he got wet, the temperature at night was still warm enough and he would be fine. He first approached the river and stared deeply inside it. He was still not going to simply get in, he had had enough surprises for today.


    The river wasn''t particrly deep, the deepest point was about 2.2 ( 7.2 feet ) meters and there should be norge monsters inside, at least that was what he hoped.


    Lyle finally stepped inside the river. He went closer to the center until the water was at his knees. Then, Lyle quickly put his head below the river and opened his eyes, once again checking if there was anything there.


    The moonlight gave some light, but thanks to his night vision he could clearly see everything. There was nothing. The river was truly devoid of any monsters.


    Lyle then proceeded to get inside the river fully and quickly washed his body before getting back on the shore. There was no guarantee that nothing would swim to his location so he wasn''t about to risk staying in the river any longer than he needed to.


    His long red hair waspletely wet and water droplets fell from its tips. Lyle''s red eyes scanned the surrounding area before he started making his way back to the city.


    His current appearance was pitiful. The robe he wore was torn at numerous ces and barely provided any cover. His chest was bare, his stomach, some parts of his legs, and about 40% of his body was visible right now.


    One thing that Lyle did notice when he went to the river was his hair. Usually, his hair would turn ck during nighttime, but now it waspletely red. Maybe it was because of the surprise he had after the system had appeared, but Lylepletely forgot about it.


    The hair bing red was because of his bloodline evolution. As a true vampire lord, nighttime would improve his stats, but his physical body would no longer change.


    His hair and eyes were blood red, but Lyle could also control that and turn them ck. That was thanks to the fact that a vampire lord wasn''t just a being that could control blood, in fact, that was only true for a minority of them.


    Vampires were simr to humans in that regard, although most could sense blood from far away, only a few could actually manipte and control it like Lyle.


    Turning into a vampire lord had given him another benefit, and that was the ability to use the element of darkness.


    That meant that he could now learn how to cast spells of the dark element, ones that were well known for their destructive power.


    He could also use the cover of darkness to blend in and make himself less visible.


    Compared to his ability to manipte blood, however, it was weaker and needed more mana. The reason was simple, even though it was also an ability, it was currently locked.


    Lyle could only use a little bit of its power before he became stronger, only then would he gain ess to the full power of the ability.


    The very notion of that made his blood boil. Controlling blood and darkness was abination that was well-known in the world as one of the most powerful beings could do it.


    The ruler of the vampires and the most powerful vampire in existence, The Empress of the Night.


    As Lyle went back into the forest and made his way to the city, he was unable to see a shadow appearing beneath the surface of the river. The Toskars he had left at the river bank was suddenly pulled in before disappearing into the river.


    Small waves were created by the movement of the monster that quickly ate the monsters before turning around and swimming upstream.