《Rise of the Blood Sovereign》


 Lyle Status Screen [ Spoilers ]

    <h4>Chapter -1: Lyle Status Screen [ Spoilers ]</h4>


    Name: Lyle


    Level: 239 ¨C 1665 / 5 000 Soul Power ( Tier III, Golden Knight )


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


    Secondary ss: Ruler of Darkness


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


    Attribute points: 200


    Strength: 1350


    Agility: 1460


    Endurance: 1102


    Vitality: 1102


    Willpower: 1200


    Spirit: 1430


    Skills:


    Active ( 11 ) :


    Blood Art, blood spear ( improved version ) ¨C the host will be able to manipte blood into the shape of a spear with less mana cost and troublepared to simply manipting the blood into other shapes. The more mana and blood are used for the skill, the more powerful the spear will be.


    Vampiric Servitude ¨C The host can use the power of a vampire lord to change a being into a vamp or a vampire. The being has to be near death or died recently in order for the skill to be used. The being will have unconditional loyalty to the host and will perform any task the host asks of it. The current limit of servants: 6


    Blood Explosion ¨C The host can use any blood that he has manipted and cause it to explode.


    Infernal mes ¨C The host has a limited usage over the ''Infernal mes'' that can freeze anything they touch. The host can use the mes in order to summon the infernal mes andunch them at the enemy.


    [ Blood Hammer ] ¨C The host is able to manipte blood into a shape of a unique hammer that is blunt on one side, while having a long de with a pointed tip on the other side. The hammer is able to do it all, it can smash enemies to pieces, stab them and even cut them up, allowing for a wide variety of attacks


    [ Bonus skill ¨C Summon Servant of Darkness ]


    Description: The host can summon one servant from his shadow and have him help him for the next 5 minutes. The servant will have 70% of the host''s stats and will be able to utilize his abilities and skills proficiently, the stronger the host, and the better control over his own skills and abilities he has, the better control and strength the shadow servant will have.


    The maximum number of shadow servants is the same as the number of vampiric servants the host has.


    [ Curtain of Darkness ] ¨C The user can use his power to control darkness to summon forth a veil of darkness that can be used to hide his body and presence from the enemy. The skill is an effective toll to disappear from the enemy''s sight and retreat or hide oneself.


    [ Spear of Darkness ] ¨C By manipting darkness itself, the user can create a spear that was filled with the corrosive and destructive power of darkness. The wound that was created by the spear would be covered by the power of darkness, making healing incredibly difficult. Furthermore, the power of darkness would enter the body of the enemy and corrode it, destroying it from the inside. The enemy can only use mana to suppress the corrosive power.


    [ Night Rush ] ¨C By enveloping oneself with darkness itself, the user will move with much greater speed, his footsteps will bepletely silent and his presence will be almost impossible to be noticed.


    [ Blood Rush ] ¨C By boiling his own blood, the host will receive arge boost in stats, warning, using the skill for too long will damage the host.


    [ Blood Mist ] ¨C The host can transform himself into a mist made out of blood, heavily increasing his speed and physical resistance, but making it impossible for him to attack anybody, or defend himself, physical damage is almostpletely worthless against the host in this form, but magic is still lethal.


    [ Severing sh ] - The skill allows the host to sh at an opponent with incredible speed, often making it impossible for others to even see the attack before it is toote. The sh would then cut and sever everything in its path. The skill is not based on speed, however, but has the spatial element incorporated in it, allowing one to divide space itself in front of him, severing anything.


    [ Vampiric Eye ] ¨C This skill allows the host to use his gaze as a weapon. By using the skill, a mere gaze of the host could paralyze weaker opponents and stun an enemy of the same level for a moment.


    Passive ( 6 ) :


    Blood Sensitivity ¨C the host will be able to sense blood in a radius of 30 meters around himself, the stronger the host bes, the more powerful the passive skill will be.


    Tough Skin ¨C The host''s skin will be tougher the more powerful he bes and it will take much more force to prate it, thanks to the current stats of the host, the skin currently is three times tougher than normal, without losing any of its flexibility.


    Blood Power - A passive skill that strengthens the host''s blood, making his healing factor more powerful than before and making his blood maniption stronger when controlling his own blood, allowing him to create weapons and items out of his blood that was even more durable.


    Muscle Strengthening - A passive skill that makes the host''s muscles stronger, thus increasing his strength and endurance.


    Blood Bones - A passive that coats the host''s bones in a thickyer of goo-like blood, making it harder for enemies to damage them


    Dominating Aura of a Lord - The host has an aura around him that will make those weaker than him vignt and afraid of him, stronger enemies will feel as if the host is stronger than he is and will not attack easily. The host can use mana to empower the effect, but he can also turn it off, making it seem like he was a normal human.


    Ability:


    Blood Maniption ¨C rank S, level 3 ¨C the host can manipte blood in the surrounding 30 meters around himself. Blood from more powerful beings will be more difficult to manipte, as is the blood that is still inside a living being.


    Darkness Maniption ¨C Rank S, level 2 - the host can manipte the darkness element, shrouding himself in it and turning nearly invisible and deleting his presence around those near him. The ability allows the host to utilize the darkness offensively as well.


    [ Unique Ability, Servants of Darkness. ]


    Description: The host''s servants that have died will not truly die but will be assimted into the host''s shadow. The host can use a single skill or ability of the servant that is in his shadow for a short period of time before needing 2 hours of cooldown to use it again, furthermore, the host can choose which servants will be in his shadow and can fuse with one, gaining their abilities and skills as well as boosting his stats for a short period of time, the cooldown for the fusion will depend on the strength of the servant used, as well as the abilities and skills that they have.


    Transformations:


    [ Blood Lord, Awakening ] ¨C The host taps into his ss and bes a true lord of blood for a short period of time. During this state, the ability to control blood is empowered multifold while the host''s stats receive a moderate increase. The host will be unable to use any weapons or attacks that do use blood.


    [ Lord of the Dark, Awakening ] ¨C The host taps deep into his bloodline and turns into a true vampire lord for a short period of time. The host''s ability to control darkness will receive a great boost while the stats of the host will be increased multifold as well. If the host still does not have the ability to control darkness, then the overall stats will increase even more while the ability to control the dark will be partially avable to the host. The ability to manipte blood will, however, be locked during the transformation.


    [ Final Transformation, True Vampire Lord ]


    Description: The host can transform into a True Vampire Lord, during the transformation, he has all of his stats boosted, as well as his two abilities, allowing him to utilize them in ways previously unimaginable, furthermore, the two skills, Vampiric Servants, and Servants of Darkness, will gain a boost as well, allowing the servants to be stronger during the duration of the ability and allowing the host to summon all of his shadow servants at once during a battle.


    Warning, the transformation is incredibly taxing and the host will be left in a weakened state after using it, the weakened state will allow the host to only use 30% of his powers and stats for a set duration.

 Chapter 1: Lyle

    <h4>Chapter 1: Lyle</h4>


    ng!


    The sound of chains clinging reverberated through the prison, stifled by the screams of the prisoners. Some screamed out in pain while others begged the guards to let them go, trying their best to exin how they were innocent of their crimes.


    Lyle sat in the corner of his cell, his clothes simple rags that the guards had thrown in the cell together with his naked and beaten body.


    A ray of sunlight passed through a small window of his cell and provided some light. The sun was slowly setting and the only light source that Lyle would have would be the moonlight.


    "Is this the guy, the assassin?" A young guard who was passing by with another, older and more experienced guard stopped and asked.


    "Yeah, the crazy bastard actually thought he could assassinate the duke, got caught by the archmage who sealed his powers and ordered for him to be kept here before his execution." The older guard answered as he looked at Lyle with pity.


    Nobody liked the duke, the man was one that simply inherited the position from his father. He was a sadist who enjoyed torturing young men and women in his chambers before disposing of them.


    Of course, that was something that nobody had clear proof of, but everybody knew it was true. Many who were sent to his castle never returned, while their families got pitiful sums of money with a clear excuse that there was an ident in the workce.


    The old guard, alongside many, wished that the young assassin was more powerful and that he was able to kill the duke. s, he failed and was scheduled for execution, his fate would be a cruel one as he was certain to be tortured by the duke profusely before the date.


    Both the young man and the old guard sighed before continuing on their way.


    "Leave your pity for others, I won''t be dying here, not yet," Lyle spoke with a low voice that nobody except for him was able to hear. His long red hair was dirty and unwashed, his skin was covered in filth and his arms and legs were shackled by mana-sealing chains that would not allow him to use mana to break out.


    Lyle didn''t give up, however. He knew that once night fell, he would have a chance to escape this prison, and perhaps even assassinate the young bastard of the duke. He was never powerful, his childhood was spent in the gutter, fighting for survival every single day.


    His magic was weak, he had no talent for it, but his control over mana was something that surprised most that saw him, even mages. With the meager amount of mana he controlled, he was able to rise through the ranks of the assassin order and reach the very top.


    The Shade


    That was the name that he was known in the underground. Rare were those that knew of his identity as most of his targets were killed without the chance to even look at him. Even now, after failing to assassinate the duke, none of them thought that he was an assassin of such caliber.


    That was of course his n. He knew that assassinating the duke would be almost impossible with the archmage guarding him. Hell, even the best assassin in the empire might have failed.


    But if he let himself be caught, then it was different.


    Nobody would suspect somebody like him to break out and make his way to the duke. The archmage would definitely not have such a powerful defense put on the duke when he was so close to him.


    During the night, Lyle was differentpared to his usual self. His power rose but his mana would almost be gone. It was almost impossible for a mage to sense him, making him confident of being able to sneak up to the duke without the archmage finding him out. And if he did?


    Screw it, it was a good life.


    Night fell and Lyle''s red hair grew longer, covering his eyes and falling all the way to his back. His fangs grew longer and his eyes turned blood red while his hair changed color. From the normal red hair, it turned pitch ck.


    Nothing else changed, his height stayed the same, and his muscles didn''t grow or be smaller. His face stayed the same as well.


    Lyle nced down at the chains before closing his eyes. Suddenly all the blood that was inside the prison moved. It slowly crept to Lyle and in a minute, a knife formed entirely out of blood was present in front of him.


    He grabbed the knife with one hand and twisted it around before starting to pry open the shackles. They proved to be tougher than he anticipated, so he changed his target, he started cutting the ground where the chain was located at.


    In about 2 minutes, he managed to cut enough and was able to stand up. The shackles and chains were still there, but he would be able to get the keys from the guard post.


    He knew that the people here all hated the duke and he doubted that they would fight against him. If they did, however, his knife was ready to draw blood.


    Lyle came to the door of his cells and turned around. He twisted his body around the small gaps between the steel bars of the cell and managed to get out. He promptly returned his shoulders and other joints back in ce before walking toward the main guard post.


    Some of the prisoners had seen him and called out to him, only to be met with the cold eyes of the assassin. Upon seeing the red eyes that red at them with no emotion, the prisoners quieted down, all afraid of him.


    It only took Lyle a couple of seconds to find the guard post. He was situated very close to it in order for the guards to have better control over him.


    He came to the door and opened it.


    "Hmm, you?!" The old guard stared at Lyle with shock.


    The young guard, alongside two more, did the same. Even though Lyle had ck hair and red eyes now, it was fairly easy for them to recognize him.


    "Mind taking these off?" Lyle asked the old guard as thetter nced at the other three guards.


    "I''m still not done with my mission, I can''t really fulfill it with these on," Lyle said as the guards still looked at him warily.


    "If you fail, hell, even if you manage to do it, we will all be killed by the higher-ups, what do y-"


    "I''ll make it look like I beat you all, I have this with me." Lyle showed his red knife before disappearing from the spot. The old guard suddenly grunted in pain as his leg was cut, there was not a lot of blooding out of the wound, but the pain was there.


    "If I cut you up and knock you out, then you won''t face any consequences, if you still don''t want to cooperate, then I will kill you all, I do promise a quick and painless death," Lyle said with a calm voice while the guards all gulped before the young guard took out a set of keys.


    "Please, make sure that the bastard dies tonight." The young guard said with clenched teeth as he unlocked the shackles that bound Lyle''s hands and feet. Lyle stretched out a bit before massaging his hands and legs, the shackles that were put on him had been mped down hard on his legs and arms, making it quite painful.


    "Alright, this will hurt, but I promise that you will have nosting injuries, they''ll just look bad since that is what the higher-ups will check."


    Lyle moved like the wind, he cut the guard''s skin and flesh apart before knocking them all out, the young guard had his arm broken as well while he stabbed his dagger deep inside the old guard''s leg. The wounds looked horrifying, but they would heal with time and all that would be left would be a scar.


    As soon as Lyle was finished with the guards, he made his way through the prison. He already knew theyout of the whole castle, what kind of assassin would he be if he didn''t do at least that much in preparation for this night after all?


    The prison was right next to the castle and it took Lyle a short 2 minutes to get inside. The guards that guarded the front gate would be hard to pass by, but Lyle didn''t need to as he simply climbed up and entered through a window.


    He had previously made contact with a maid and paid her to keep that window open. It was something that wouldn''t get her into trouble even if it was found out, so the maid agreed and kept her promise.


    He stuck to the shadows and moved past the maids and butlers, in the rare asions where he couldn''t sneak past them, he would knock them unconscious and hide their bodies. They would wake up in a matter of minutes, probably confused as to what happened to make them suddenly fall asleep.


    For some of the maids or guards, he had nopassion, however. Those that talked about torturing others with ted expressions on their faces, those that adored the duke, he simply killed them all.


    Lyle wasn''t necessarily an evil man, if he needed to, he would sacrifice the lives of the innocent to save himself or to do his mission, but if he didn''t have to, he wouldn''t. Lyle made sure to hurry, however, as it was only a matter of time before somebody found out about his disappearance.


    Even though the four guards were supposed to be the only ones working in the prison tonight, somebody mighte down to check up on them or some of the prisoners.

 Chapter 2: The Duke’s Castle

    <h4>Chapter 2: The Duke''s Castle</h4>


    It took some patience for Lyle to make his way up the castle. The guards patrolled the inside while the maids, butlers, and other servants all busily moved around, making it harder for Lyle to pass unnoticed with each floor.


    He still gave it his all, blending in with the surroundings, and hanging on ceilings, Lyle even took the clothes of one servant at the very beginning of his infiltration and changed into them. His long hair and red eyes made him stand out a bit too much, however.


    The fact that his fangs would be seen each time he spoke didn''t help him either and Lyle had to stop simply walking around after reaching the fourth floor as he was almost caught a couple of times.


    He still persisted, however. This was the most difficult part of his n, well, except for the first part in which he could have died if the archmage wished to kill him and not take him, prisoner.


    As Lyle stepped onto the 6th floor, he quickly kicked the wall and jumped up before hanging from the ceiling. He was using his legs and arms to push against two beams and stay above the 3 guards that were going down the staircase from which he came up.


    He sighed in relief as the three guards disappeared down the stairs and hung his head down in order to observe if there were any more of them nearby. There was only one guard that stood some 10 meters from the staircase. His back was turned to the staircase and he wouldn''t be able to notice Lyle.


    Lyle let go of the beams and fell down on the ground. His gracefulnding made no sound and he quickly went toward the guard with his knife held backward. He quickly stabbed through the side of the guard''s neck, blocking his windpipe and making sure that he wouldn''t be able to produce any sound.


    The guard still struggled, however, his metal armor nging as he moved his arms around in an attempt to grab onto anything. Lyle used his ability to control blood and made sure that no blood fell down on the ground, it all flowed to his dagger which was bing more intricate and longer.


    It no longer looked like a dagger made from blood, but like one that was made of weird red metal. Lyle quickly used the dagger topletely open the neck of the guard before dragging him to a nearby room.


    He opened the room and scanned it, it looked like some kind of storage area, which worked perfectly for him. He took the guard inside and went to work. He started taking off the armor from the guard while still using his ability to make sure that the blood made its way to its dagger.


    Well, it was no longer a dagger at this point, but a short sword.


    Lyle put the armor on before grabbing the lifeless body of the guard and putting it in a giant sack of potatoes. The body would be well hidden inside and it would take a while for anyone to find it.


    Before Lyle could fully hide the body, however, a creak was heard as the door opened. Lyle quickly let go of the body and bolted towards the door. A man dressed in servant attire, one that was of better qualitypared to the servant that Lyle had killed and taken the clothes from stepped inside the room.


    Upon seeing Lyle who was still not wearing a helmet and the dead body behind him, the servant drew in a sharp breath of cold air as he tried to scream. Lyle''s sword was faster, however.


    The sword quickly went through the servant''s chest while Lyle used his free arm to grab him by the throat and crush it. Even though Lyle was not as powerful as knights were when it came to physical strength, he was still much strongerpared to normal humans.


    With his heart prated and throat crushed, the servant, who looked like he was almost 30, died immediately. His eyes were wide open in shock as they stared at Lyle who sighed before closing the door and then the man''s eyes.


    "Another unfortunate casualty," Lyle said in a low voice as he moved the man''s body to anotherrge sack, this one filled with wheat. He didn''t like when he had to kill those that weren''t his targets, but he wasn''t going to let anybody risk the sess of his mission.


    This wasn''t the first, and it wouldn''t be thest time Lyle had to kill somebody innocent in order toplete a mission. His heart had grown numb to the feeling and he cared little for his actions, as long as it could jeopardize his mission, he would go to any length to eliminate it.


    After Lyle put the two bodies in therge sacks, he spent some time using his ability and drawing to blood to his sword. The sword had grown long now and although Lyle was familiar with using a sword, he felt much morefortable with a dagger.


    He used his ability once again, but this time on the sword. The sword started wiggling and in mere seconds, it split in two, and Lyle was now left with two daggers in his hands. He spun them around in his hands before nodding his head, satisfied by the two weapons he now had.


    Lyle went for the door and opened it just a little bit, allowing himself to peek outside and make sure that there was nobody there. After confirming that the coast was clear, he went out before gently closing the door and making his way up.


    With the armor he now wore, nobody even nced in his direction, after all, the guards that were stationed on the 6th floor and above were all elites and the normal servants dared not even look them in the eyes, lest they offended them in some way.


    Most of the guards would never bother with the servants, some would form a sort of rtionship with some of them, they would offer protection and help while the younger, prettier maids and servant girls would give them their bodies in exchange.


    Some, however, were almost as sadistic as the duke was. They would sometimes grab a servant and rape them, or torture them for their own amusement. They never killed, if the duke or any of his close aids learned that a servant had died after being taken by a guard, they would turn the castle upside down to find the guard and kill him.


    The duke considered all the people in the castle as his property, and although he cared little for them and allowed the transactions between the servants and guards, and even the rapes and tortures, he would never allow one of his possessions to be killed without his approval.


    One thing that Lyle noticed was that with each floor he rose, the atmosphere turned gloomier. Even though working or living on the higher floors of the castle was an honor, it was also a fact that the duke would mostly choose his victims from those that were on the 7th floor and above.


    He lived on the 10th floor, while the archmage lived in one of the towers whose entrance was located on the 10th floor. Each of the 5 towers of the castle was reserved for somebody whose position was the same as the archmage.


    The duke was arrogant and a bastard, but he was quite shrewd with people and knew how to please them and their egos. He deliberately allowed all the higher-ups to live on the same floor as him, while the 5 who were most precious would live above him.


    The servants were only allowed till the 9th floor, the same went for the guards. The ones stationed on the 10th and final floor were those who had taken a blood oath and had be part of the duke''s personal army.


    Each one was not only strong, but they were also death soldiers who wouldn''t even blink before sacrificing their life for the duke. It wasn''t because they were so loyal, but because the blood oath forced them to.


    The death soldiers wore special red armor that signified their position and power. Even the elite guards of the castle would bow down when faced with one of them. Only a handful of people knew what the 10th floor looked like and itsyout and those that had gone there would usually only live for a couple of more days before the duke choose them as his next victim.


    Lyle, unfortunately, didn''t manage to get thepleteyout, but he knew where the duke was. He talked with a servant girl that had gone there two days ago. She only knew the way from the stairs to the duke''s personal chambers, but it was enough for him.


    The poor girl was killed yesterday, the duke had called her up once more and she never returned. With each floor, a servant rose, and the fear they felt increased. They couldn''t do anything about it, however, as quitting the job was not possible, it was a one-way ticket to hell.


    Lyle stared at the staircase that led to the tenth floor before moving past it. There were still some servants and guards around and he wouldn''t be able to go up at this moment, otherwise, everybody would be suspicious of him.

 Chapter 3: The Tenth Floor

    <h4>Chapter 3: The Tenth Floor</h4>


    It was already nighttime and there were far fewer servants walking around the castle than during the day. Lyle was lucky as none of the guards had stopped him to talk or had called out to him, but he knew that his luck wouldn''tst for long.


    He needed to find a way to get up, but it was hard, even if he was able to get to the tenth floor, he would need to find a way to pass the guards that were definitely keeping the duke safe.


    From what the servant girl had told him, there were two guards stationed at the staircase, but when she was returning from giving the duke food, she saw that there were two more that were passing by.


    Taking care of the two guards wouldn''t be too hard for Lyle, with his two daggers and the element of surprise, he would be able to kill them without making any noise, but if there were more, then he would definitely be unable to take care of them without any noise.


    He needed to find a way to get information about the number of guards at the staircase. He moved past the staircase and entered a room that was used by the guards as sleeping quarters. The sleeping quarters were full as most of the guards were sleeping right now, the duke made multiple sleeping quarters on each floor as he wanted his guards to be able to respond to any threat immediately without needing to move up and down the floors.


    Lyle was able to see that out of the 10 beds in these sleeping quarters, 7 were upied. He looked at the window at the end of the room and made a n. He would be unable to simply climb outside the castle and enter through a window as all the windows on the tenth floor had iron bars on the outside, but scouting the inside was possible.


    He would wait until a patrol team passed by the staircase before going up and dealing with the two guards who were stationed there. From then, he would need to pick up his pace and quickly reach the duke, being sneaky and unnoticed would not work and he would need to run and kill any enemy that he came across quickly.


    Lyle opened the window slowly, the creaking of the wooden frame made him tense as he feared that the guards would wake up.


    "Yaaawwn, man, why are you-" One of the guards woke up, but before he could even ask his question, his throat was prated by one of Lyle''s daggers that he had thrown at him.


    Before the man could produce any sound or move, a part of the dagger that was inside his throat suddenly broke off and exploded upwards, reaching his brain in an instant and killing him.


    Lyle panted a bit as he had been using his ability multiple times tonight. The skill he used to make a part of his blood dagger break off and form a small de that would destroy the inside of the enemy was incredibly useful, but also very draining.


    He scanned the room and upon finding that none of the other guards had woken up, he moved to the guard he had killed and retrieved his dagger before putting the corpse into a sleeping position and covering him with a nket so that nobody would suspect that he was dead.


    Lyle moved back to the window and quietly went out, he used his daggers to slowly climb up as he stabbed between the bricks that were used to make the castle.


    He made sure to move slowly and not produce any noise that could alert the death guards that were guarding the tenth floor.


    He quickly scanned the outside of the castle and moved to the left side as that was where the staircase was. He found a window and started moving towards it, upon reaching it he started going to the side as he wanted to get a good look at what the situation was inside.


    The very moment he stabbed his dagger between the bricks that were on the right of the window, he stopped. Sweat rolled down his forehead as he was able to sense that somebody was at the window, he didn''t know if the person was looking through the window or if his back was turned to it.


    One wrong movement and the enemy would be alerted of his presence. He gulped a bit as he stopped moving and waited, he waited for the enemy to move away from the window, hopeful that his dagger and right arm were not visible to the enemy.


    Every second was like an eternity, Lyle was able to feel his muscles getting fatigued as he waited for over a minute before the person moved away from the window.


    Lyle moved up and took out a shard of ss from his pocket. He used the ss to look inside the window, well, he didn''t try and find any details this way, he merely used the reflections from the shard of ss to check if anyone was close to the window and if it was safe to look inside.


    After confirming that it was indeed safe, he looked inside and found two guards at the staircase and 3 more who were passing by.


    ''One of those three was probably the one at the window, it seems I lucked out, he didn''t notice me.'' Lyle thought as he slowly went back to the window he used to go out with.


    The patrol team had just left, and they would definitely not be returning soon, this was a golden opportunity for Lyle to go up and deal with the two guards at the staircase and go to the duke.


    Upon reaching the window, he repeated the same process as he did with the upper one, he used a shard of ss in order to check if there was anyone nearby before entering the quarters.


    Nobody had woken up during the time he was gone, but there was one more person that was upying a bed. Lyle nced at the man that was lying on the bed and sleeping before moving towards the door.


    As he passed next to the new person, he suddenly stabbed his throat with his dagger before using the same skill he previously used.


    The man''s eyes were wide open in shock as he stared at Lyle with a confused expression.


    ''How did he notice me?'' Those were thest thoughts running through his mind before he died.


    ''Not a bad try, but my ability is to control and sense blood, that includes the blood flowing inside your body, your heart was pumping blood way too fast for a person who was sleeping.'' Lyle said to himself as he closed the man''s eyes and put a nket over him.


    ''I need to finish this fast, my mana is down to half and the archmage will probably get alerted the moment I kill the duke, I will need to leave the castle as soon as possible after killing him, otherwise I will definitely get captured again.''


    ''In the worst-case scenario, I will need to jump out and try to scale down the castle wall before fleeing the city.''


    Lyle left the quarters and did a quick scan of the hallway he was in. There were no guards present, and there were only 2 maids and 2 servants around. The servants had just returned from the 10th floor and were holding trays that held empty cups and tes, it seems that the duke or someone else had just finished eating.


    Lyle passed by the two maids and stopped at the staircase, upon making sure that nobody was looking at him, he made his way up the staircase. As soon as he was visible, the two death guards turned and stared at him.


    "What are you doing here?"


    "Ah, sorry, I have an important message for his lordship," Lyle spoke with a slight stutter and acted as if he was nervous, his bodynguage made the two guards ease up, but they still stared at him.


    "What message?"


    "Ah, here, I was told that you can also take a look, whatever happened won''t be a secret for long," Lyle said as he took out a parchment from inside his armor. The parchment was of course empty, but it was rolled and the guards couldn''t notice.


    One of the death guards motioned to him toe closer and he did so, he gave the guard the parchment and thetter unfurled it and tried to read the contents.


    "What is this?"


    "Hmm, what is it, Joh-" Before the second guard could finish his question, his throat was prated by Lyle''s dagger.


    The first guard was slow to respond, the parchment blocked his view and he was still oblivious that his friend had died, as soon as he put the parchment down, another dagger came and his fate became the same as the first guard''s.


    ''So far so good, now for the hardest part of the mission.'' Lyle said as he took a deep breath before running towards the duke''s room. Even though he was running, his steps were silent and almost inaudible.

 Chapter 4: The Old Duke

    <h4>Chapter 4: The Old Duke</h4>


    The way to the duke''s chambers wasn''tplicated. Lyle knew it by heart as he made sure to memorize where to go after he had talked with the servant girl 2 days ago.


    ''Left path, pass by two turns and then turn right at the 3rd turn, continue forward, go left on the next turn, pass by 2 again before turning right at the 3rd one, straight up until the second turn, go left and then straight until reaching the door at the very end.'' Lyle repeated the words in his head as he ran.


    It didn''t take him long before he came to the first turn, he simply continued, passing by the three guards who were on patrol and had turned right. The tenth floor wasn''t like the other floors, it was simr to a maze and had a variety of different rooms on it.


    There was a dining hall where the duke would frequently go to eat with the other higher-ups, they usually met for breakfast and dinner there. There were multiple rooms that were used for, well, less ethical purposes.


    Some were used by the ministers and higher-ups that resided in the castle, and even by the nobles that lived outside the confines of the castle to have ''fun''. They would bring maids, servant girls, and even brothel workers there in order to enjoy them.


    Most of it would end in a harmless fashion, at least physically. There were many servant girls who had their first time in that manner, either with one noble or more. Orgies were also hosted at least weekly, the nobles and ministers would all indulge themselves and rape wasn''t umon.


    The servant girls whose first time was with one person and was consensual could be called lucky as there were many that were raped. Their screams of pain and agony would only work to get the men fired up more and they would usually be held in the room for the whole day and night.


    Even the archmage, a person who was supposed to be above normal people and should have high morals also took part in such things. That was of course kept a secret as the man would usually use his magic to mask his appearance, he still had to keep his reputation in front of the people that simply believed he was employed by the duke solely because of the debt he owed his father.


    The archmage under the young duke''s service was an odd one. He wasn''t a part of the empire, at least not originally. The archmage came to the empire about 10 years ago, back then the empire was still powerful and an archmage of his caliber was not something the empire needed.


    Even today, the archmage that served the young duke was called the weakest of them all, nobody knew where he came from, or what he did to be found in the empire, almost dying of starvation.


    He swore fealty to the empire and was given a title, although barely. He stillmanded great respect from most mages, but when put next to his peers, he was the absolute lowest one.


    There were even some High Mages that had shown greater capabilities than him, slowly making his reputation plummet.


    It was only after the old duke visited the emperor that his situation took a turn for the better. The old duke was for some reason interested in the old archmage and employed his service, whether he truly did that for the archmage, or to gain good grace from the emperor who was spending the crown''s money on the archmage, was unknown.


    The story that followed was a wondrous one for the duke''s only son who was taken as an apprentice by the old man. The duke back then had just received his title and was slowly working on improving hisnd, and forming a personal army.


    He was a general of the empire andmanded great respect from others as he rose to his position alone. He held no titles before and rose to prominence during a great war again a neighboring empire.


    From the ranks of normal soldiers, he distinguished himself with his great strength and talent. By the age of 22, he had already reached the realm of a silver knight, bing one of the youngest in the history of the empire to do so.


    In the following years, the young knight made astonishing feats. He had killed tens of enemies of the same realm as him, led his troops to victory time and time again, and never suffered defeat.


    By the age of 26, he rose to the next rank, broke through a siege of the enemy during a hopeless situation, and took the head of the enemy general. He immediately received the position of vice-general following that.


    Even though he was a vice-general, hemanded more respect than others, even though some of the generals were below him in the eyes of the soldiers.


    It was, however, only when he turned 40 that his truly astonishing feats showed themselves. In a span of a single year, he had won 6 great battles and managed to not only regain the empire''s territory but also conquer some of the territories that the enemy empire held.


    His soldiers worshiped him as a god of war as he fought on the frontlines each time. His valor and strength shook the hearts of the enemy and in the end, the enemy was forced to sign a peace treaty and give more territory to the empire.


    The old duke was given his title and he put a pause on his conquest. He hung his cape and put his sword down until the next time the empire needed him. The other nobles either had respect for him or feared him. None dared to even think of using underhanded methods to suppress him as his bloody appearance at the peace treaty signing was still carved in their minds.


    But after a mere 5 years, tragedy struck. The enemy hadn''t forgotten the humiliation that was brought to them. They conspired with neighboring kingdoms and attacked the old duke when he was called to the capital by the emperor.


    It was said that 10 Titled Knights participated in the battle against the old duke who was a Titled Knight himself. Out of the 10, only 6 were left alive, two of which were heavily wounded.


    The old duke and his wife, however, were killed.


    The young duke took over the mantle of his father and swore revenge, only for that notion to slowly be forgotten as the young boy indulged in riches andfort. The people that once sang praise of the duke now hated and feared the young boy while the empire was attacked by its old enemy and an alliance of kingdoms.


    In the short 5 years that the war took ce, the empire had lost 40% of its territory. The number of soldiers that were killed was in the millions and only after paying a heavy price, were they able to inflict serious damage on the enemy and force them to stop their conquest.


    The situation now was at a stalemate, nobody knew when the war would go full throttle again and who would be the one to strike again.


    As for the young duke, it was as if he had forgotten all that he had said when his father was killed. The talks of revenge slowly died down, he never mentioned his father or mother again and simply stayed in his castle.


    The one thing that the organization that Lyle was part of managed to uncover, however, was the real truth of the matter.


    Why did the enemy manage toy an ambush inside the empire''s territory?


    How did nobody notice them, how did they know where the duke was going to pass through, and why didn''t the duke try to flee and not die a useless death?


    It was all told by a servant girl a couple of weeks ago. There were many theories before, but her statement to an agent of the organization made it clear what had happened.


    The duke''s death was not only nned by the enemy but by his son as well.


    The young man was useless, he had no talent in martial arts like his father, and neither did he have a high affinity for magic. He was bound to live a normal life, he would never inherit the position of duke as he would probably die of old age before his father who was a Titled Knight and could live much longer than normal humans.


    In his anger and jealousy, the young duke plotted with the enemy, together with the archmage, who was actually a person that came from one of the neighboring kingdoms, he slowly started his n years ago.


    With the help of the archmage and the other kingdoms, the young duke poisoned his father. It wasn''t a poison that could kill the duke, and it worked slowly, but over the course of many months and even years, the poison had taken root.


    It was a kind of poison that was untraceable and would not show any difference normally, it was only during battles that it would re up. The duke had lived in peace for a long, he trained and sparred with his men, but never to a point of going all out, which is what the poison needed in order to be activated.


    After the poison was activated, one would not only feel an immense amount of pain, but they would be unable to use mana as effectively as before.


    The servant girl had managed to overhear the conversation the young duke had with some person, the man wore a hood and his identity was unknown, but the contents of their talk made it clear that the young duke had plotted against his father all those years ago.


    It was that conversation that allowed the organization to find out what kind of poison was used and how they poisoned the old duke.


    The servant girl was for some reason not found out by the young duke or the hooded person, but she was still chosen by the duke to service him the next day. She never returned to the agent who was supposed to lead her to safety and have her tell everything to the higher-ups, but her statement to him alone was enough for the empire to allow the organization to assassinate him.


    The organization wasn''t one that simply killed people without care, they had their rules, and one of them was to never kill nobles without any proof of wrongdoing as they didn''t wish to go against the empire and be destroyed.


    The empire didn''t have enough proof to take the young duke in custody, so they could only deal with him this way. Any that helped the young man out would be arrested after his death as there was already a squadron of soldiers outside of the city, waiting for the duke''s death so that they could enter the city under the guise of investigating what happened.


    They would not investigate, however, but collect proof of what had happened so that they could get all the traitors in one fell swoop.

 Chapter 5: The Organization and Lyle’s Past

    <h4>Chapter 5: The Organization and Lyle¡¯s Past</h4>


    Some would call Lyle and his organization the dogs of the empire, listening to their beck and call. That, however, was not true, the organization simply had an agreement with the empire, and the higher-ups of the organization would be given free rein in the empire as long as they followed a couple of rules.


    Do not kill the important nobles of the empire without first contacting the royal family and ministers and showing proof of misconduct of those nobles.


    If any noble was used of being a spy, the organization had to help the empire and find proof that would either clear the used or show that the used truly was a spy.


    Never work against the empire, taking jobs in other kingdoms and empires was fine, but do not take any jobs that would upon theirpletion weaken the empire.


    That has how it has been for decades, and that is how the organization and its connection with the empire would continue. Nobody from the organization meddled in politics, and neither did they meddle in the squabble the noble houses had against one another, that was something that other, less reputable organizations did.


    The organization wanted to exist for a long time, and thus they had made this agreement with the empire. Most of the time, the ones that Lyle and his peers were tasked to kill or spy on were criminals, mercenary groups, minor nobles that held no power in the empire, and those simr to them.


    Assassination requests from the empire were also something that they would take, assassinating nobles of neighboring kingdoms was something that the organization dly did as the payment for such missions was high.


    As for Lyle, he did 2 of such missions and was sessful, both times, however, he almost lost his life.


    The mission he was taking this time might even be more dangerous, he was in the castle of the young duke, surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and mages, not to mention a couple of knights and the knight captain who was quite powerful.


    The biggest threat, however, was the archmage. It was of utmost importance that Lyle assassinates the duke before the archmage arrives, otherwise his mission would probably fail.


    As Lyle moved through the corridors, he used his daggers with great precision, sometimes he would throw them at his enemies and kill them instantly with a well-ced throw. Other times he would simply run past the surprised guards whose throats had been cut open.


    Once Lyle even came across three guards. All three had their backs turned to him and he was able toe quite close before they realized that somebody was there.


    He used his two daggers and quickly stabbed the two guards on the left and right before jumping above the third one who was right in front of him.


    The guard was in the middle of turning around when a pair of hands grabbed his head. Lyle spun as he wasing down on the ground before twisting the guard''s neck and breaking it instantly. With the help of gravity, he was able to not only twist the neck but throw the whole body to the side.


    The three guards all died with their eyes wide open, not knowing what happened until the very end.


    Lyle kept going, the three guards had made sounds during their deaths and their three bodies copsing would perhaps draw some attention. He quickly moved through the hallways and continued his onught.


    None of the enemy guards, no matter how alert they thought they were, were able to notice him before their untimely death.


    Even though Lyle was young, his natural talent and strength were what allowed him to be one of the top assassins in the organization. When it came to elite soldiers, perhaps only the royal guards, whose strength was at the top of the empire, would be able to notice him before he attacked them.


    These guys, no matter how shiny their armor was and expensive their equipment was, were simply not battle-hardened soldiers. All of those had left the city a while ago after fuming with rage and disappointment at the young duke.


    They had all followed his father through his battles and were ready to go to hell and back for revenge, but the young duke cared not about it.


    He made sure to suppress the soldiers, but dared not try anything else, amongst them were multiple men whose power was not to be underestimated, not even the archmage could defeat them.


    Lyle continued moving, he gathered that soon some of the guards would find it weird that some patrols had disappeared, while a patrol he missed might have already stumbled upon the corpses.


    He reached the end of the hallway, and a great wooden door that was iid with gold stood in front of him. The width of the door was 2 meters ( 78 inches) and it was about 3 meters ( 118 inches) high.


    Lyle stopped in front of the door and just as he was about to knock, he stopped as he was able to hear cries of pain and theughter of a maning from inside.


    Lyle didn''t know why, but he felt anger. It wasn''t the kind that would force him to act purely out of emotions and cloud his judgment, it was a subtle feeling of anger that he felt towards the young man who was in the room in front of him.


    Lyle had to work for everything he had, ever since he knew about himself, he was struggling and fighting in order to simply live.


    His childhood was spent in orphanages and the streets. Nobody that came to the orphanage to adopt ever chose him, he had no idea why at least not at the time.


    The changes he went through at night were present since he was 7. He was scared of it but never told anyone as he feared what they might do to him if they found out that he was different.


    He spent his time pickpocketing on the streets, he became very good at it and by the age of 12, he could steal a man''s purse in less than a second, even if that person was looking at him and knew what he was going to do.


    It was at that age when he was caught. Upon trying to steal from a man, the man grabbed him with a speed that his eyes couldn''t follow. That day became a turning point for him, the man saw his potential and asked him if he wanted to join the organization.


    He promised a warm bed, food, and a sense of finally belonging somewhere. Lyle of course said no, even though he was a kid, he wasn''t a fool that could simply be tricked so easily.


    It was only after the man showed him his skills and persuaded him to at least check the ce out that he joined them.


    The man was strong, even to the current Lyle, he was a figure he could only look up to. Somebody like that had no reason to lie to a kid, that was what he thought back then, and he was right.


    Joining the organization was the best thing he ever did and his life changed from that moment.


    The training sessions and theory tests were difficult and by the very end, only Lyle and 4 more people managed to pass. In the beginning, there had been over 100 of them.


    He spent years reaching this level and finally could somewhat live infort. But the person at the other end of the door was the opposite.


    He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he had parents that cared for him and he could get anything he wished for simply by saying it.


    No hardships, no struggles, the young duke had none of them.


    And yet he plotted against his parents and was the cause of their death. He took over his father''s territory, and for what, for a title, for the satisfaction of now having nobody that was above him in his territory?


    Not only that, but he was a bastard, one that Lyle truly disliked. He wouldn''t say he hated him, he wouldn''t say he hated anyone. It was too powerful of emotion, one that a good assassin had no need for, the same went for love.


    Being with a woman was one thing, it was a physical need that had to be fulfilled from time to time. But falling in love, loving a person more than you love yourself?


    That was something fools did, and assassins couldn''t be fools.


    Hearing the screams of the young woman behind the door woke Lyle out of his stupor. It was rare for him to stop and start thinking so deeply during a mission. He would need to clear his thoughts until the end of the mission and meditate for some time after finishing it.


    He had to know why he suddenly felt such emotions and control them, he didn''t want them to interfere with any of his missions in the future.


    He didn''t bother knocking, he simply grabbed the door handle before opening the door and entering the room.

 Chapter 6: The Duke’s Chambers

    <h4>Chapter 6: The Duke''s Chambers</h4>


    The room in front of Lyle was empty, it was a living room of sorts that was about 200 square meters ( 2152 square feet ) in size. The furniture of the room was made of rare wood and gold. The old duke was not the one to make it like that as he detested using the money for such expensive things.


    From what Lyle knew, the old duke was a man who, although was the duke, kept his living quarters simple.


    There was a firece at the end of the living room, the wall above the firece was decorated with hunting trophies and arge painting of the young duke with his parents.


    ''Probably for pretense.'' Lyle thought as he looked at the painting. The young duke was one that sold out his parents and had a hand in their death, there was no way such a person would have a painting of all three of them in the living room because he missed them.


    Lyle continued observing the room, bottles of liquor were opened and left on the table and floor. Some had obviously fallen down from the table and Lyle could see small puddles of liquor on the floor.


    The sofas were made out of leather, and not just any leather, but the leather of powerful monsters that had been hunted by the adventurer''s association and sold in order to make a profit.


    The whole room simply screamed luxury and Lyle scoffed at it. He hated such rooms, they showed the difference between those that were wealthy and poor, just one of the sofas cost more than what an average family makes for the whole year.


    Although he had decorated his apartment and made it look nice, he mostly used average materials for that as he also felt that making it too luxurious was simply a waste of money. He could spend his money to acquire more powerful weapons, better armor, and so on.


    "Argh!" Another scream was heard, Lyle quickly stopped his observation of the living room and looked to his right. The door of the room on the right was open a little bit and he slowly went to it.


    Lyle''s footsteps werepletely silent and as he approached the door, he could hear the screams of a girl and theughter of a man clearer.


    "Come on, the night is still young and there is so much more to be done, don''t tell me you are already finished?" A young man said as he stared at a girl that waspletely naked and tied up in front of him.


    The girl''s arms and legs were tied by roped and she was currently in the middle of the room, a mere inch above the ground.


    Her entire body was filled with wounds, some were marks from the whip in the man''s hand, while others were from being pped, punched, burned by fire, and more.


    Her breasts werepletely red as multiple cuts were open from the whip, the same went for her back and buttocks. As for the ce between her legs, two wooden toys were currently inserted in two holes while two strings kept them inside.


    Blood could be seen flowing from between the girl''s legs as she cried pitifully, her hair was a mess and her face scrunched up in pain, but it still couldn''t keep her beauty hidden.


    The man on the other side was also a looker. He was about 176cm ( 5''9 ) high and wasn''t muscr, but not too slim either. The workouts he had to follow back when his father was alive made his body rtively strong and even after the old man had passed, the young duke continued his training as it was something he had grown ustomed to after years of doing it.


    The duke''s amber eyes stared at the girl who was looking down at the floor and begging for mercy. He smiled cruelly as he came to her. His golden robe was decorated by golden threads and the image of a lion roaring, the crest of his house.


    The young duke came to the girl and grabbed her face before lifting it up.


    "Look at me, " The girl still looked down, afraid to look at the young man in front of her.


    "Hey!" The duke yelled out.


    "Look at me." He said once again, this time in a calm and collected manner.


    The girl shuddered and met his eyes, he smiled warmly at her before speaking.


    "What do you mean, show mercy, I have chosen you to be the one to warm my bed tonight, it''s an honor to do that, you know?" The girl continued looking at the duke as tears welled up in her eyes.


    "We still haven''t evenid to bed and yet you want me to stop, hell, I was even considerate enough to first warm you up with those two toys before sleeping with you, and yet you show no gratitude, perhaps I have been too soft on you?"


    "No, m-my lord, p-please!" The girl stuttered as she spoke, her voice shaky and full of fear, as were her eyes.


    "Good, now then, let''s continue," The man said as he let go of her face.


    "Each time the whip hits you, I want you to thank me, understood?" The young duke asked with a warm smile as the girl looked at him in fear.


    "Afraid not." A cold and indifferent voice said behind the duke as two daggers were thrust at his back.


    The young duke didn''t even have time to respond before the daggers plunged into his back, well, they were about to when the daggers, together with Lyle were sent flying to the wall behind the duke.


    The robe was suddenly sted open, destroyed by the powerful spell that wasunched by the young duke''s body.


    The naked torso of the duke was now visible to Lyle who stared at him with vignce.


    "An enchantment, no, this is-" Lyle''s eyes were wide open as he looked at the lines and symbols on the duke''s body.


    They shone in bright blue and moved around the body, creating an enchanting sight.


    "A body rune, the archmage was actually capable of doing something like this?" Lyle spoke as the young duke stared at him in anger.


    "Who the hell are you, how did an assassin get into my chambers?!"


    "Those worthless pieces of shit, I''m going to kill all of them tomorrow!" The duke said with anger as he stared at Lyle, this time with some apprehension.


    For an assassin to get into his chambers like this was no easy feat, he knew exactly how many guards patrolled the floors, especially the floor he was on.


    "Wait, you, why do you look familiar?" The duke suddenly asked as he stared at Lyle with great interest.


    "The assassin from before, you are the one that Irin caught!" The duke said as he pointed at Lyle who smirked at him before getting up and summoning his two daggers that suddenly floated to his hands.


    "Correct, duke Orsted, I am the assassin from today, it is a pleasure to meet you," Lyle said as he bowed slightly, his mouth still curved upwards as he nced at the duke.


    "But how is that possible, you were captured and put in prison, I am certain that they used mana-suppressing shackles on you, how did you get up here?!"


    "Ah, yes, that they did, but unfortunately that isn''t that useful against me, as for how I got here, tricks of the trade," Lyle said as he spread out his arms and approached the young duke.


    "It doesn''t matter, you won''t be able to kill me, my body is indestructible, Irin made sure of that!"


    "Once he arrives here, I will put you in a special cell and torture you until I die, for someone like you toe here and try and kill me, I will make you beg for death!"


    "So annoying," Lyle said in a cold voice as his demeanor changed, his smile was gone and an indifferent, cold face stared at the duke.


    The expressionless face, coupled with the cold and murderous eyes of Lyle made the duke tremble in fear, the killing intent he was currently releasing was something that the likes of Orsted had never experienced.


    "Today you die, nobody can change that."


    Suddenly Orsted took out a knife from his robe and pressed it against the neck of the young girl he was torturing.


    "S-stay back, stay back or I will kill her!" Orsted shouted in fear as his arm that held the knife trembled.


    The girl started crying in fear as she looked at the knife before staring at Lyle, hoping he would save her.


    "It doesn''t matter, her death will have no impact on my mission, if you wish to, you may kill her," Lyle said in a cold voice as he stared at the young duke before his hair suddenly started rising in the air.


    The stench of blood filled the room as Lyle was suddenly going through a transformation.


    [ Blood Knight, Ignition ]

 Chapter 7: Lyle’s Origin

    <h4>Chapter 7: Lyle''s Origin</h4>


    An overwhelming killing intent suddenly shrouded the room, the young girl and the duke were both horrified as they stared at Lyle whose body was slowly changing.


    His hair turned the darkest of ck while wisps or red could be seen on it. His red eyes started shining as a red hue covered him. The armor he was wearing suddenly started deforming before it fell from his body.


    A ck suit of what seemed to look like leather armor appeared on him. The armor looked like ordinary leather armor, if not for the red metal that was visible in some ces like the shoulders, the back of his hands, knees, and so on.


    His ck hair rose up as he stared at the duke while his two daggers became dark red and looked exactly like normal metal daggers.


    [ Blood Knight, Ignition ], it was a skill that Lyle spent a lot of time creating. The skill was only possible thanks to his origin.


    Lyle was not human, well, at least not entirely. His mother was human, he was certain of that as he still had memories of her back when he was a small kid. Before he was sent to the orphanage, he lived in a small shack with his mother.


    The shack was one of many in the city and his mother was nobody special, a member of the lowest ranks of society that did any job she could in order not to starve to death.


    He still remembered her face, her smile, and the tears that she would sometimes have when sitting alone at night when she thought he wasn''t awake.


    Lyle didn''t know why she would cry, he also didn''t know why he remembered all of these things.


    His father was a mystery, one that Lyle tried to uncover ever since he had joined the upper echelons of the organization.


    He was a vampire, that much he knew.


    As for Lyle, he was a hybrid, half human and half vampire.


    Hybrids usually stood at the bottom of the hierarchy of any race, humans hated most of them, and so did the other races, except for rare ones such as elves and the like.


    The reason for hybrids being hated wasn''t because they were part of both races, but because of their physical appearance. Most were ugly and disfigured and a nce would be enough to see that they are hybrids.


    Hybrids of beastmen were easy to identify as they had a human body but fur over it, their feet, hands, or head were usually of the race they belonged to. Their bodies were however not normal, they were usually weakerpared to normal beastmen and evenpared to humans.


    Their ugly appearance and weak strength were what made hybrids despised by society.


    As for Lyle, he was one of the lucky ones.


    A rare percentage of hybrids would be what was called the perfect hybrid. They gained the best of both races and identifying them was difficult since their outward appearance would be of one of the two races.


    They could, however, explode with power after using the ability they gained and transforming, just like Lyle was doing right now.


    He was a hybrid but could be a true vampire after using the skill. Not only would he be a true vampire, but he would even be strongerpared to them.


    Lyle could use this skill during the day as well, but the full power of it was only essible to him at night.


    Compared to what most would believe, vampires could freely walk during the day, those that had a weaker bloodline would just be weaker when standing under the sun, but those of noble vampire bloodlines and perfect hybrids would face no such penalties.


    But during the night, they would be stronger, and every single aspect of their being would rise, except for those with weak bloodlines that would barely get a bonus at night.


    Lyle''s father, whoever he might be, wasn''t a normal vampire, however. That was clear after Lyle was checked by the organization.


    There were already those belonging to different races and even hybrids amongst the ranks of the organization, so Lyle wasn''t afraid that they might do something to him. He was also going to use the organization''s power and influence in order to try and track down his father, so he felt it was natural that they knew about his origins.


    But the organization found nothing, not only about his father but his mother as well. It was like the woman never existed.


    Lyle still remembered the sight of his motherying down on the ground as a puddle of blood had formed under her head.


    He didn''t know what exactly happened, but she had started bleeding from the mouth and coughing. It only took a short couple of minutes before she died, drowning in her own blood.


    The conclusion that the organization gave made Lyle surprised, however.


    The pendant he had taken from the shack, the only heirloom he had, was not a normal one. It was masterfully crafted and impossible to havee from the empire as they simply didn''t have the technology and craftsmen that could create such a thing.


    It would be a treasure no matter where it went, and it was simply impossible for a woman of low birth to possess such a thing.


    As for his father, the organization concluded that he wasn''t a normal vampire, he was most likely a vampire that belonged to one of the noble houses of the vampires. The noble houses were incredibly powerful and each one was not a force to be messed with, even the empire would not lightly go against one.


    The ability to control blood was the reason why they concluded that. Ordinary vampires were unable to do something like that, and neither could a perfect hybrid that came from such a vampire.


    Only the noble ones, those that belonged to the top of the hierarchy amongst vampires could do something like that. Lyle''s [ Blood Knight, Ignition ] was a skill that transformed him not into a true vampire, but a noble of vampires.


    Not only was he stronger in all aspects when using the skill, but his ability to control blood also gained a boost and was much more deadly.


    Suddenly.


    Ssszzzzz


    A whistling sound was heard as a small blue dot appeared in the room. The dot slowly becamerger andrger.


    "Irin!" The young duke shouted, overjoyed by the sight.


    "A teleportation?!" Lyle shouted in shock as he stared at the sight.


    Teleportation was not something that any archmage could do, it was a high-level spell that only a small percentage of them could perform as it was an incredibly difficult spell with a high mana requirement.


    ''To think the archmage that was ridiculed by everyone was a high-level one, this isn''t good!'' Lyle thought as he suddenly performed a weird gesture with his hands.


    A small symbol on the back of his hand suddenly glowed before a parchment appeared in front of Lyle who simply tore it in half.


    The parchment was suddenly engulfed in ck mes that rose in the air and sped to the teleportation spell that the archmage was casting.


    They covered the spell up and it slowly started bing smaller.


    ''To think I would be forced to use such a valuable item during this mission, damn it!'' Lyle cursed as he stared at the young duke.


    The parchment he used had a spell infused into it. The spell was a high-ranking one and its power was a simple one, it would disturb and destroy any spell that was being cast in the area.


    It was an incredibly useful and powerful spell that was of the same rank as the teleportation one that the archmage Irin tried to perform right now.


    Its value was incredibly high and Lyle spent a lot of money, and effort in order to get one of these.


    ''If this guy is at this level, then I have to move quickly, otherwise, my death is certain." Lyle told himself as focused on the young duke whose expression had changed once again.


    He was ted to see that the archmage wasing to save him, but upon the teleportation being disrupted by Lyle, his spirit was down as he now understood that the enemy in front of him was even more dangerous than expected.


    His heart started beating much faster than before as his right hand started moving backward, before he knew it, the knife had cut deep inside the neck of the poor girl that stared at him in bewilderment.


    She couldn''t speak, but her body started shaking as tears fell down her face.


    Lyle stared at the young duke before looking at his daggers and suddenly fusing them. The blood from the girl suddenly floated over to him as the duke screamed in terror.


    He didn''t even realize he had cut the girl and that she was near death, but for Lyle, it was something that would help him since he now had a lot of blood that he could control.


    In a matter of seconds, most of the blood had left the girl''s body and flown over the Lyle before a red spear was created from it. He looked at the spear and nodded before pointing it at the duke.


    "Sorry, but it seems I don''t have a lot of time, so I''ll be ending this quickly."

 Chapter 8: The Duke’s Death

    <h4>Chapter 8: The Duke¡¯s Death</h4>


    "W-what are you doing, s-stop it, get away from me!" The duke yelled as he tried to get away from Lyle, only to quickly hit the wall with his back as he stared at Lyle with fear.


    "I-I''ll pay you, yeah, you''re an assassin, you work for money, w-whatever you were paid, I-I''ll double it, no, I''ll triple it, ok?!" The duke yelled out as a slight smile appeared on his face.


    Assassins usually took on jobs as long as they paid well, since Lyle hade for his head, he was definitely being paid by someone. Paying him in order to stop with the mission should work well, thought the young, inexperienced duke.


    "Money?" Asked Lyle quietly as he scoffed at the duke.


    "No amount of money can save you, not from me, or from anyone else they send, you have signed your death notice when you decided to align yourself with the enemy," Lyle said before kicking the ground and charging at the duke.


    The floor cracked open while the wall behind Lyle showed some cracks as well, in an instant, he was in front of the duke, his right arm pulled back as the spear glimmered underneath the moonlight that wasing in the room from the window.


    Lyle stopped in front of the duke before stabbing him. His spear shone with a bright red color as it disappeared in front of the duke''s eyes.


    Boom!


    The body of the duke that had been reinforced with the body rune was imprable to most. One needed to at least reach the realm of the knight before he could include mana in his attacks, which would allow him to break through the powerful defense. As for Lyle, with the boost to power he currently had, coupled with what was amongst his most powerful attacks, he was above a normal knight.


    There was no resistance as his spear prated through the body of the young duke. The runes glowed brightly, but broke and scattered in the air as the defense they provided was not enough to help Orsted out.


    The spear continued through and hit the wall, prating through it and making it crumble. Arge hole had been created in the room and one was able to see the city that spanned hundreds of meters around the castle.


    Orsted stared at Lyle before looking down. He wordlessly stared at the spear that had prated his body and destroyed the wall behind him. He could feel the cold breeze on his back as he closed his eyes.


    "Aligned with the enemy, so that was it, I was found out." The young duke said in a calm manner.


    "They sold me out, huh?" Orsted asked Lyle who shook his head.


    "You were found out by a servant girl a couple of days ago when you spoke with a masked man about the murder, judging by how easy it was for her to overhear it, they probably nned it."


    "Overheard by a servant girl, as if!" Orsted scoffed before coughing up blood.


    "nned, this was all nned by those bastards, how dare they betray me, after all, that I''ve done!"


    "What you have done, hmm, you have done a great job at being a bastard that cold-bloodedly killed his parents and betrayed the empire which you were supposed to serve, honestly, this kind of death is too good for you," Lyle said in a cold tone as he took his spear out before kicking the duke.


    The young man flew out of the room and started falling down.


    The beauty of the night sky was on full disy as Orsted stared at the stars before trying to grab one with his hand. The wind whistled in his ears as he picked up speed before hitting the ground.


    He was dead. His body was mangled to such an extent that it would be hard for people to even realize that it was the duke who had fallen down from a hole in his room.


    The guards and servants that were nearby were all shocked by the sight. The maids and servants screamed in terror as the guards stared at the body in shock. They tried to calm down the screaming servants before one recognized the body.


    The head of the young duke, as mangled as it was, was still recognizable. His long blonde hair, the amber eyes, even though they had fallen out of the eye sockets, they were still recognized by the guards who started panicking as well.


    The duke had died.


    From what they could tell, he simply fell to his death, but they had heard a loud boom and seen bricks fall down from above before. The body fell down soon after and after looking up, they could see that there was a hole in the 10th floor.


    They didn''t know why there was a hole, or who made it, but it immediately made them wary.


    As for Lyle, he was currently facing an old man that had entered the room at the same time he had kicked the young duke.


    The old man wore a gray robe and had a long beard that came down all the way to his chest. His face was wrinkled and his eyes were ck. The body of the old man was skinny, very skinny.


    He looked like a frail old man that would get blown away by the wind. His arms were bonny and there was not even an ounce of muscles on them. But if anyone was to underestimate this old man, they would regret it dearly.


    He was Irin, one of the archmages of the empire and the one that served the duke. Even though he was considered to be the weakest out of all the archmages, he was still a force to be reckoned with.


    With Lyle seeing the body rune on the young duke and the teleportation skill that the archmage previously tried to use, he now knew that the old archmage who was belittled by his peers had kept many secrets.


    To create a body rune was something that a High Mage could do, but it was a spell that most would not even try to learn thanks to its difficult learning curve. As for the teleportation spell, it was one that was many times harder to learn.


    Not only did the user need to have enough mana to teleport, but there was also the prerequisite of having a high knowledge of space and spatial magic. Only archmages could perform the spell, and usually, it was higher-end archmages that were able to do it.


    There were documented cases where a High Mage could use teleportation inrger, more powerful empires, but it was a rare case since those were geniuses that would appear once in millennia.


    "What have you done?!" The archmage roared in anger as he stared at Lyle with a murderous re. A heavy sense of oppression appeared as mana started responding to the old man''s anger.


    "My job." Lyle shrugged his shoulders as he spoke, he seemed calm and rxed, but inside his mind was churning with ideas of how he might escape.


    Fighting an archmage was beyond his capabilities, he wasn''t certain that he could defeat even the weakest of archmages even with a sneak attack, not to mention one that had hidden his capabilities so deeply for so long.


    The only way of surviving was to flee. There was no other choice for Lyle as he knew that only death awaited him otherwise.


    He shed a grin at the old mage before jumping through the hole. His spear suddenly turned liquid before it took the shape of a whip.


    Lyle coiled the end of the whip to the steel bars of the window next to the hole before he started running down the wall of the castle. He would be unable to do such a thing in his normal state, but in his Blood Knight mode during the night, his overall stats were greatly boosted and he could do something like this without any problems.


    The old mage came to the window and scoffed at Lyle before creating a small de of pure mana. He sent the de to the whip and cut it off, making Lyle jump off the castle wall as he felt the whip loosen up.


    He quickly turned in the air and nced at the archmage that was pointing his staff at him whilst chanting a spell. A formless ripple was suddenlyunched from the old mage as Lyle widened his eyes in shock before quickly using his whip to coil around an open window.


    He quickly used the momentum shift and moved his body to the side. The formless ripple hit the ce he was previously at and the wall of the castle was suddenly cut with no resistance. Screams could be heard as some blood flew out from the half-a-meter-wide cut, the old mage had seemingly hit someone that was next to the wall.


    Lyle used the momentum from the whip and aimed at a window before turning the whip into blood and re-forming it into a shield that he used to shield himself from the ss after he broke through the window.


    He quickly rolled and created two daggers before breaking into a sprint. He had to quickly leave the castle, otherwise, the archmage was definitely going to kill him.

 Chapter 9: The Appearance of the Mysterious Three

    <h4>Chapter 9: The Appearance of the Mysterious Three</h4>


    Lyle sprinted through the castle halls, the guards and servants that managed to see him were at first confused by the man in ck who was running with all of his might, but the guards quickly collected themselves and grabbed their weapons.


    "Halt, who are you?!" The guards yelled out as Lyle suddenly appeared in front of them, his speed exploding as he drove his two daggers through the necks of two guards before passing by them.


    A fountain of blood spurted out of their necks as the remaining guards were shocked at the sight. To see two of them killed in such a swift manner made them confused and they didn''t know what to do.


    Should they try running after Lyle, or should they stay and try to save the two guards?


    Their answer came soon as the archmage Irin appeared, he was flying and entered through the broken window before stopping in front of the guards.


    "Where did he go?!"


    "T-that way, my lord." One of the guards answered as Irin sted past them, his speed even greater than Lyle''s. The guards nced at each other and gulped, fully aware that this was not something they could participate in.


    An rm had been risen in the castle a couple of seconds ago, but most still had no idea why.


    Only those in the courtyard in front of the castle and the death guards together with the ministers and other higher-ups of the dukedom knew what had happened.


    Lyle ran with all of his might, his goal was to get out and try to lose the archmage in the city, or if that wouldn''t work, in the forest adjacent to the city.


    The empire had dispatched troops to arrive and take control over the castle, and they should be arriving soon, but Lyle doubted that they would be able to take down the archmage by themselves as nobody had expected that he was this powerful.


    Spatial magic was incredibly rare and difficult to learn. There were only 2 mages in the entire empire that knew it, one was one of the oldest and most powerful archmages of the empire, while the other one was his student, a High Mage that was on the brink of bing an archmage himself.


    Even if Irin only knew two spells when it came to spatial magic, it was enough. The spell he used to attack Lyle was probably [ Spatial Cut ], one of the simplest spatial spells that existed, but also one of the most powerful.


    The area of effect the spell had was limited, but almost everything in existence could be cut by it. The only weakness it had was its long casting time and rtively slower attack speedpared to other spatial spells.


    Of course, that was under normal situations, from what Lyle knew, when the spell was performed by someone that hadpletely mastered it, the cut would be instantaneous and it was almost impossible to dodge it.


    The slow casting speed of the teleportation spell and the cut made Lyle understand that the archmage had only learned the basics of the two spells, but that was enough to make him much more powerful than a normal archmage.


    As for what element the archmage was most proficient at, Lyle previously thought it was fire, but that was what everybody thought, and since the power of his fire spells was lowest amongst all archmages, it was probably not his true specialty.


    Lyle ran through the halls, jumped out of windows, backtracked, and did all kinds of things in order to confuse the archmage who was following him.


    His race trait allowed Lyle to hide his mana perfectly and Irin was unable to use that to track him, otherwise, he might have already been caught by him.


    rm bells were ringing furiously through the castle and all the guards had gotten up and were ready for a battle. Lyle had to kill many of them during his escape and sometimes he had to take an alternate path since there were simply too many of them.


    Arrows and bolts wereunched at him, and so were spelled by some weaker mages, but his speed gave him a huge advantage and they were unable tond a single blow.


    As the castle was in chaos, an interesting phenomenon was taking ce in the void around Corleon, the Lyle was at.


    Many bright lights appeared in the void and converged on the while a crack appeared in the void itself. The crack erged before the fabric of space and time was torn, and out of it, 3 figures appeared.


    The three floated in space, undisturbed by the shining lights that looked like a river of stars had appeared around the. The void didn''t bother them as they simply stared at the before a man who was in the front took a step forward.


    A single step was all he needed to bring himself thousands of miles to the front and stand right above the. The two other figures, a man and a woman followed after him until they stood right beside him.


    "So this is the new the system has found, hmm, it has a decent amount of mana, and good size, and there seem to already be some beings that were close to Transcending, it has potential." The man at the front spoke, his mouth however was kept shut while his voice rang inside the heads of the two people behind him.


    "Will the Order im the, master?" One of the figures, the man asked.


    "Probably, nobody else has found it yet, it would be best if we prepare for conflict, however." The man in the front replied.


    "The Terons are locked in battle against the Alkaids, I don''t think we will need to worry about them for some time." The woman spoke as both the men nodded their heads in agreement.


    "Yes, but those pesky Oliades are constantly on our trail, we can''t let information about this ce leak to them before we do the necessary preparations to wee this new in our ranks."


    "First, let us meet those who are close to Transcending." The man spoke as he grabbed at the void in front of him.


    In a grand castle that was situated on a cliff, a young woman could be seen sitting atop a throne. Her long ck hair fell down to her breasts as a long red dress hugged her body tightly.


    Her beauty was enough to make people wage wars for her, and that did happen multiple times in the past, but now, now she stood at the top of the world as she was the Empress of the Night, the oldest and most powerful of vampires in the world.


    Suddenly the empress looked up, a confused look appeared on her face before her body was suddenly lifted from the throne and she disappeared. The guards, maids, and nobles that had gathered to discuss important matters were shocked by the sight as they simply stared at the throne.


    On a different part of the was an empire. The size of this empire was so vast that the one that Lyle belonged to would be considered a vigepared to it. In the capital of the empire stood a golden castle, it was hundreds of meters high and seemed to connect the sky with the earth when looking at it from below.


    A man dressed in a golden robe stood atop a balcony that was situated on the top of the castle. A beautiful woman stood behind him, hugging him and whispering sweet words of love to him.


    This man was Arshavin, the emperor and the person regarded as the strongest human alive. His might was enough to destroy mountains with a single punch and overturn rivers with a flip of his hand.


    The two talked andughed together before Arshavin looked up, and in the same manner, as the empress, he suddenly lost control, was lifted in the air, and disappeared.


    The woman looked in shock at the sight and screamed out his name in panic.


    The same urred in 3 more ces in the world, three figures that were regarded as some of the most powerful beings on the suddenly disappeared.


    In the void outside the, all five figures appeared at the same time. The five nced at each other in shock as they all knew each other and knew how powerful each of them was. They then stared at the person in front of them and opened their eyes in shock at what they saw.


    A 3-meter tall man with long curled hair stood in front of them. He wore a ck suit of armor and stared at the five with no regard for their status.


    Behind him stood a man that was about 1.8 meters tall, his ck eyes looked like they contained a ck hole while his short red hair made them think of fire for some reason.


    Next to the redheaded man stood a young girl that looked like she was no older than 18. Her long braided blonde hair fell down to her lower back as she stared at the five.


    All five were shocked, they were shocked by the fact that they were floating in the void outside the, but they were even more shocked by what they could sense.


    Each of the three people in front of them was powerful, much more powerful than they were.


    The two that stood a bit away from them gave off a dangerous aura that let the five know that they were not on the same level at all.


    As for the 3-meter-tall man?


    He gave them a sense of hopelessness. It was as if a god stood in front of them. The mere sight of him made the five numb, they couldn''t even talk or move.


    "Hey, restrict your auras, you''re scaring them to death!" The tall man spoke to the two behind him as they stared at him in astonishment.


    "Um, master, I think it''s you who is doing that." The girl said as the man blinked before scratching his head.


    "Ah, sorry about that."


    The auras the five felt were gone and suddenly they couldn''t sense a single thing from any of the three in front of them, it was as if they were staring at three people who never had contact with mana in their lives.


    The feeling brought horror to their minds, but they quickly collected themselves before staring at the tall man.

 Chapter 10: Irin’s Plan

    <h4>Chapter 10: Irin''s n</h4>


    "I see, so you summoned us in order to-"


    "Yes, now go, get ready for what is about to begin, with the strength of this, I doubt it will fall, once one of you Transcends, you will be weed in the Order, until then, we will have minimal interference with your." The tall man cut off the empress and she simply bowed slightly at him before all five were sent back.


    "Master, they have potential, I believe that this will give us some good fighters." The redheaded man spoke as the tall one nodded in agreement.


    "Yes, those five are talented enough to reach Sainthood even, in the future they might be your peers, until then, we need to contact the Order and get things moving, the system will integrate itself with the at any moment." The two nod at the tall man before he tears a hole in the void once more and they leave. As for the sea of light that was around them, it slowly started flowing down to the.


    A change was about to ur.


    The five had returned back to where they came from and took action. The Empress immediately gathered all the people in the castle, which was easy since most of the nobles of the vampire race were already present.


    The emperor called for a meeting immediately after his return, he reassured his wife that everything was alright and that he would exin everything during the meeting.


    The other three did the same.


    The dragon king called his brethren to exin what was about to happen.


    The lord of the dead sea gathered all the powerful sea creatures and the lord of the elves called for all the tribes to quickly gather.


    The five were the most powerful and influential figures in Corleon, their every action was closely monitored by the other powerful organizations and figures in the world.


    The spies that were nted all sent back word of what was happening, making the organizations wary as all five had suddenly moved to action.


    Back in the Golden Knight Empire, in the city of duke Orsted, a figure suddenly jumped from a window that was located on the second floor.


    He quickly used a whip to grab onto a nearby house and propelled himself forward before dashing through the streets. Not long after the figure appeared, another came out of the window as well.


    A frail old man came out and floated in the air, observing the surrounding area in order to find Lyle. He looked around before smirking and lifting his hand, a drop of blood appeared above it.


    "You almost had it, if you hadn''t gotten injured, you would have seeded in leaving this ce alive, unfortunately for you, you failed."


    [ Forbidden Art: Blood Sensing ]


    The blood above the old archmage''s hand vibrated before it slowly floated down to the back of his hand. The blood suddenly fused with the hand and became a small tattoo of an arrow.


    The tattoo wasn''t stationary, however. The arrow pointed at where the owner of the blood was, and once the spell had been used, the old archmage could locate the person as long as they were not further away than 10 km from him.


    Irin smirked as he started flying towards Lyle, only to suddenly stop in his tracks.


    ''No, I can''t do it in the city, I have to make him leave the city first before I deal with him.''


    The archmage suddenly moved left from where Lyle was and rose a bit higher in the air.


    ''The brat is dead, those bastards have betrayed us, I have to leave this empire quickly, but first I need to deal with that brat, he knows too much about me and my abilities to be left alive.'' The old mage thought before suddenly casting a spell.


    "Close down the gates!" His voice thundered in the city as everybody was able to hear him.


    The spell he used was a simple voice-amplifying spell that had been further enhanced by the mage after he reached a high enough understanding of thews of space.


    "THE DUKE HAS BEEN ASSASSINATED, NOBODY IS TO ENTER OR LEAVE THE CITY BEFORE THE ASSASSIN IS FOUND!"


    His words shocked the people as the guards that had been posted at the four gates moved.


    They knew that for a person to speak with such a voice was thanks to a spell, and nobody in the city, except for the old archmage who was always by the duke''s side could do such a thing.


    If they were wrong, they would simply be reprimanded by their officers, but if they failed to do something that had been ordered by the old archmage, they would be flogged to death.


    ''I know that a person of your skills will be able to get out even with me putting the city under lockdown, and you will have no choice since staying in the city after it has beenpletely closed is the same as signing a death warrant in such a situation.'' The old archmage smirked as he floated down to a roof of a house and waited.


    He could sense how far away a person was with his spell and would know when Lyle had left the city, which meant he could now only wait until that happened.


    On the streets of the city, people came out of the bars and brothels in a stupor before running back home, those that had been asleep were woken up by Irin''s shout and scrambled to open the windows and check what was happening.


    The sleeping city was awake, and everybody was incredibly tense. The guards would definitely investigate every nook and cranny of the city, which meant that those that had illegal things in their houses were now scrambling to find a way to get rid of them.


    For one group in the city streets, however, the situation was different.


    Apany of soldiers had previously entered the city under the guise of being merchants. They were the ones that were supposed to take control of the castle after the duke''s death.


    "Commander, what should we do?"


    "We rush to the castle, I don''t know why that old bastard would inform everybody about Orsted''s passing, but we need to act fast." A man with long brown hair said as the soldiers simply nodded at him.


    There were over 100 soldiers that were a part of thepany and they all quickly went to get their armor and weapons. They had only expected to move after the assassin would give them a sign that the duke was dead, but there was no need to wait for him now.


    "What about the mage?" A soldier asked.


    "He will be at the castle, or in the city, we don''t need to look hard to find him, he put the whole city under lockdown, so it will be easy to locate himter, taking control over the castle takes precedence now." The soldiers all nodded and in a mere 5 minutes were all standing in front of themander in their full gear.


    Thepany moved and rushed to the castle, the people were shocked to see them as they wore the crest of the royal family and not the duke''s crest. The soldiers under the royal family were unlike any others, theymanded great respect and power and were untouchable by others.


    It only took them 5 more minutes before they were in front of the castle gates.


    Upon seeing the crest of the royal family, the guards hurriedly bowed and opened the gates while thepany quickly moved through the floors.


    None of the guards that were present in the castle dared stop them, some were still full of adrenaline over what had transpired and even drew their weapons out, only to throw them on the ground fearfully upon realizing who the soldiers were.


    Even the death guards dared not stand in the way of thepany, their equipment was greatpared to others, but when put against the royal family''s soldiers, they paled inparison in both equipment and strength.


    A mere 15 minutes was all it took for thepany to take control of the castle. The ministers and other higher-ups paled at the sight of the soldiers and simply sat in their rooms, fully knowing what was about to transpire.


    As for Lyle, he was right at the wall that surrounded the city.


    His blood knight form was still active, although he only had a couple of more minutes before it ended.


    His body was injured, and even though he was miles ahead of the guards of the castle, their sheer numbers had made it impossible to escape uninjured.


    The wounds were light, however, and he would quickly recover. For now, they didn''t inhibit any of his movements or his fighting capabilities so there was no need to treat them.


    He didn''t know why Irin had locked the city down, but if the mage really did believe that he was the only way he could stop him, he was dearly mistaken.


    Lyle quickly scaled the wall with incredible speed before reaching the top. Even though soldiers patrolled the top of the wall, they were sparse and it was impossible for them to stop him.


    He transformed his two blood daggers into a whip that had a spiked end. He stabbed the spiked end into the top of the wall before jumping down and using the whip as a rope. In a mere 5 seconds, he was down on the ground and simply nced up the 12-meter tall wall before smirking and running towards the forest.


    Inside the city, on top of a roof, the mage Irin opened his eyes and shed a dangerous smile as he stared in the direction Lyle had gone to.


    "The forest, perfect."

 Chapter 11: Irin’s True Identity

    <h4>Chapter 11: Irin''s True Identity</h4>


    Lyle quickly ran through the forest, since it was so close to the city, there were no powerful monsters inside of it, merely some normal animals that the hunters could hunt in order to get meat and leather while deeper inside the forest one could find some weak monsters that were used by the adventurers guild to train the newbies.


    Rarely would stronger monsters appear, but when they did, they would be quickly hunted down by the adventurers before they could kill people. Of course, there would always be some casualties, some unfortunate newbie would get ughtered by the monster, or a hunter would disappear, but that was a risk that they knew existed every time they went into the forest.


    The lush trees made for a great cover for Lyle. The moonlight was barely able to prate through the canopy of the trees and made the inside of the forest dark and most would struggle with their sight.


    For Lyle, however, it was no problem. As a vampire he was a creature of the night, they preferred being active at night and had night vision, which made the forest a perfect ce for him.


    He didn''t know whether the old archmage was still looking for him, but even if he was, he wouldn''t be able to find him inside the forest. Flying above the forest in order to locate Lyle was almost impossible, and going inside was even worse for the old archmage, at least that was what Lyle thought.


    The reality was that the Irin was following him from about 200 meters away. The forest spanned tens of kilometers ( 1 mile = 1.6km ) and Lyle had already gone deep inside of it. His speed was incredible as he didn''t slow down at all, wanting to get as far away from the city as possible.


    Irin was still not ready to attack him, even though they were already about 2km away from the city, there was still a chance that some people were nearby, and even though the chance of that happening was almost zero, Irin didn''t want to take even the smallest risk right now.


    He wouldn''t lose Lyle''s trace, that much was certain, so he didn''t mind waiting a bit more before attacking him. He thought of what he should do, should he simply attack the young assassin from above when he was unaware of his existence, or should he appear before him and let him squirm for a while?


    He knew that taking care of Lyle quickly was the best course of action, but he was angered by the assassin that had killed Orsted and foiled his ns. Whoever gave the information about Orsted betraying the empire was not a member of his kingdom as he would have been informed about it before, which made it clear that he couldn''t continue being active here and had to go back to his kingdom soon.


    The assassin was simply a tool that the enemy had used, but Irin still felt irritated by him. He didn''t want to give Lyle a quick death but wanted to torture him and make him suffer before ending him.


    Lyle waspletely unaware that Irin had gotten a drop of his blood and that he was using it to track him. Even though Lyle''s ability was manipting blood, he could only do it in a certain radius, all the blood that was more than 50 meters away from him can''t be sensed.


    As long as Irin kept his distance, Lyle would bepletely unaware that he was being tracked. Even if Irin was to get close to Lyle, thetter would still be unable to sense the blood since Irin had used it for the spell.


    Lyle ran fast as he wanted to get as far as possible from the city before his transformation ended. After that, his power would drop and he would bepletely unable to do anything against the archmage. Even though he was fairly certain that he was already safe, as an assassin he was taught that being cautious was something that he should never forget.


    No matter how good something looked like, one should be as cautious as possible when dealing with anything.


    As Lyle got some 3km away from the city, Irin made his move. His speed was suddenly increased by three-fold as he quickly overtook Lyle before dropping down and standing in the air in front of him.


    Seeing in the dark was not a problem for the old archmage, as a simple spell was enough to give him night vision.


    Upon seeing Irin, Lyle stopped running and started at him in shock. He didn''t know how the old archmage was able to get here, he was certain that he had created more than enough distance between them previously.


    Upon staring at the old mage, he noticed the arrow on the back of his hand that was pointing straight at him.


    "A spell?"


    "Correct, I have to praise you, you almost managed to escape, almost," Irin said as he stared at Lyle with a smirk on his face.


    "But now it is time to end this little game of cat and mouse," Irin said as he spread his arms open. A green gas suddenly started being released from his body as Lyle stared in shock.


    The grass and nts near Irin started withering as even the trees showed signs of being corroded by the gas. The sight made rm bells ring in Lyle''s head as he suddenly ran to the side.


    ''Poison, his mastery is in poison, damn it!'' Mages that mastered the art of poison were rare, incredibly rare.


    They were usually ostracized from society as any of their spells would always cause many casualties. Poison didn''t discriminate against friends and foes and those that fought against a poison mage or fought together with him both had to be incredibly careful to not fall to his poison.


    Of course, such mages usually had antidotes to their poison that they would hand out to their allies, but the damage they would deal to the surroundings was also something that most kingdoms and empires disliked.


    To find a poison archmage was rare as they were mostly members of underground societies that didn''t care for the lives of the innocent.


    Seeing the poison made Lyle think of a person. There existed only one known poison archmage in the surrounding area, and he belonged to a kingdom that was part of the alliance that went against the empire.


    How Orsted managed to poison the duke so easily was now easy to imagine, with a poison archmage by his side, the duke wouldn''t have suspected a thing.


    "I doubt that I can survive, I need to at least find a way to leave a message to the organization, they need to know Irin''s true identity." Lyle thought as he ran with all of his might, only for Irin to once again appear in front of him. He pointed his hand and a small cloud of poison was sent at Lyle''s way, who didn''t have enough time to dodge.


    The poison cloud hit him and he simply passed through it, he didn''t inhale any of the poison, but it didn''t matter, the poison spells of archmages could get inside the body by entering through the pores, and there was almost no way of blocking it.


    One would have to be at the same level as the archmage in order to use mana to block the poison or suppress it when it entered the body, and unfortunately for him, Lyle was not at the same level.


    "Don''t worry, that poison is not a lethal one, it will simply weaken you for a day, I still have a lot I want to do to you before killing you, who knows, if you behave properly, I might even give you the antidote," Irin said as he touched his spatial ring and showed a small vial to Lyle.


    Whether the antidote was real or not was something that Lyle had no idea of, but looking at how the archmage was behaving, and theplete control he had over the situation, he had no reason to not believe his words.


    Lyle stared at the old man who was smiling at him before suddenly jumping to the side. A deep cut appeared on the ground he previously stood on and sweat started covering his head.


    The poison was already working, thanks to Lyle''s ability to control blood, he could actually lessen its power since Irin had underestimated him by not knowing his ability and used a weak poison on him.


    "Now, don''t move, like I said before if you behave, I might give you the antidote and let you live, I don''t have anything to gain by killing you."


    "Hmph, you can keep your words to yourself, magister Ilya," Lyle said as he stared at the old mage whose eyes constricted a bit.


    Ilya.


    The magister of a kingdom, the main figurehead amongst all the mages of the kingdom.


    He was counted as one of the most powerful and dangerous mages in the surrounding area.


    Many years ago, the empire, together with the neighboring kingdoms decided to get rid of him, he was after all too big of a threat to them as his poison magic could change the oue of battles, no matter howrge they were.


    Over 10 archmages had gathered and attacked the magister during a conference, and out of the 10, only 6 survived, the others had fallen to the powerful poison.


    Everybody believed he was dead, but the old mage somehow survived, disguised himself, and joined the empire.


    "Ah, so you have figured out my identity, that is too bad, now I really need to kill you."


    "You would have killed me anyway, there''s no need to try and fool me."


    "I see, well then, I guess I should end this." The old archmage said as he lifted his hand.


    An incredible amount of mana was suddenly drawn to the man, if somebody was to look at the forest from above, they would be able to see the mana forming a vortex as it got drawn in by Ilya.


    "Farewell, young assassin," Ilya said as he brought his hand down at Lyle.


    And nothing happened.


    The vortex of mana suddenly dispersed, and the archmage was brought down to the ground as the spell he used in order to float was gone.


    [ The system has begun integrating with the named Corleon. ]

 Chapter 12: The System’s Arrival

    <h4>Chapter 12: The System''s Arrival</h4>


    "System, what the hell is that?" Ilya asked as he looked around him in shock.


    "What just happened, why did the mana around me suddenly change, wait, what-what is happening?!" The old mage shouted as he sensed mana around him.


    It was increasing.


    It was increasing at a visible rate, in mere seconds the amount and quality of mana had almost doubled, and it was still continuing.


    [ The system is integrating with the, mana will be spiraling out of control for 5 minutes before calming down, attention to the inhabitants of the world, nobody will be able to use mana for the 5 minutes mentioned. ]


    Both Lyle and Ilya stared in wonder as they heard the words that echoed in their heads, it wasn''t only them, the same thing was happening in the whole world.


    A hunter was gathering the little mana he had in order to kill a tiger that he had been hunting, only to lose control over the mana and subsequently get killed.


    A mage and knight were having a life-and-death duel, right as the mage was about to block the knight''s sword with a spell, he was shocked to find out that he couldn''t cast the spell and was prated by the sword.


    Only the five that had previously been kidnapped and brought in front of the tall man were not surprised, as were the people that were with them.


    They had previously exined everything to them and already started taking action.


    From what the tall man had told them, monsters would rise in strength and all intelligent life on the would be in danger. Many would lose their powers or be weakened after the system integrated itself with the, and even they would be weaker than usual.


    The dragon king and the lord of the dead sea were partly considered monsters, but they would also be weakenedpared to other, wild ones.


    In the void outside the, many lightyears away, the tall man suddenly stopped and looked back.


    "Master?"


    "The system has started the integration."


    "Those five will definitely be alright, each one is a Tier VII being, and this will definitely produce at least one Transcendent." The redheaded man said as both the girl and tall man nodded their heads before continuing on their way.


    Back on Corleon.


    Lyle stared at the mage before getting up from the ground.


    "I don''t know what is happening, but you can''t use mana, can you?" Ilya stared at Lyle in horror as he realized that the two had switched roles.


    Lyle was previouslypletely at his mercy, but without mana, the old archmage couldn''t even use his spatial ring right now and could do nothing to him.


    Lyle''s daggers turned into the blood while his armor disappeared.


    "I see, even this is considered using mana, huh?" Lyle whispered as he nced at his hands.


    Even though he didn''t need to use mana to draw in blood, the ability would still draw the mana from the surroundings by itself and the daggers had traces of mana inside of them.


    Everything had mana inside of it, no matter how weak and insignificant it was.


    "But my transformation is still active, that''s good," Lyle said as his nails suddenly grew a bit longer.


    As a vampire, he didn''t need to use weapons in order to kill somebody. His nails were as sharp as razors, while his fangs could prate through steel.


    He stared at the old mage as thetter panicked. He was physically weak, even back when he was in his prime, his physical strength was nothing special, but after barely surviving the attack all those years ago, he managed to fake his own death but was gravely injured.


    His current appearance was because of those injuries. His body was incredibly frail, but as a mage, his body was something that didn''t matter, as long as he could use mana, he could do anything he wanted to do.


    "Sorry, no hard feelings, you did try to kill me first," Lyle said as he grabbed the old mage by the neck.


    He pulled his right hand back before plunging it deep inside the man''s chest and prating his heart. His hand didn''t stop, however, but it continued until it came out of the old man''s back.


    "This should be enough, but, just in case," Lyle said before squeezing the mage''s neck and breaking it. He let go of the dead body before using his two middle fingers and stabbing them deep inside the eye sockets, prating the brain and destroying it.


    "One can never be too safe," Lyle said as he looked at the body of the dead mage. This was the most dangerous mission he had ever taken, and the one where he was certain he would die.


    He didn''t know what happened, and he didn''t understand what the system was and how it was integrating with the itself, but he did know one thing, it saved him this time.


    Without mana suddenly spiraling out of control, he would have never been able to kill Ilya with such ease, hell, he would never have been able to injure the old man, not to mention kill him.


    [ The system integrating with the will increase the mana it produced, all unintelligent life on the will find themselves growing stronger with incredible speed, and some will gain intelligence as well. ]


    The words of the system were suddenly heard inside Lyle''s head again.


    [ To all the intelligent life on the, brace yourselves, the increase in mana is both a good and bad thing, most will find their strength bing lower, but reaching the same level of power will be easier, as will bing even stronger. ]


    [ The system will help you with that, please stay calm and wait until the integration isplete. ]


    [ The host ''Lyle'' is advised to stay next to the body until the system has finished integrating. ]


    A different, gentle voice suddenly said to Lyle whose eyes widened in shock as he looked around him.


    "Who is it?"


    [ I am the voice of the system, one of many, please stay calm and wait until the integration is finished, the improvement of the host''s bloodline is at stake. ]


    Lyle stared at the body of Ilya in shock as he heard the voice.


    ''Improvement of my bloodline, what the hell does that mean?''


    [ The system will exin everything after integration isplete. ]


    Lyle once again widened his eyes as he heard the voice. Not only could the existence that was called ''the system'' speak directly to his mind, but it could hear his thoughts as well.


    Lyle was suddenly at an impasse, what should he do, should he wait as the voice had suggested, or should he just run and get the hell out of there?


    He thought for a bit before sitting down and leaning against a nearby tree. From what the voice had said, only five minutes were needed for the ''integration'', and 3 had already passed, waiting for 2 more minutes was nothing.


    After two minutes had passed, the whole world could once again hear the system.


    [ Integration isplete, the Corleon has been integrated by the system, to all the inhabitants, wee to the system. ]


    [ The system haspleted a scan of the host, a powerful bloodline has been found in the body. ]


    [ The host can improve the bloodline and has already done all the prerequisites that were needed, the host merely needs to consume the blood of a Tier IV being in order to improve the bloodline. ]


    [ Warning, the host''s power is currently too weak to handle the power of the improved bloodline, the host will have to sacrifice the current level he is in to improve the bloodline, the bloodline will also be partially sealed until the host reaches Tier VI and can handle to the full power of the bloodline. ]


    "I will lose all my powers, and what even is Tier VI, what is a Tier IV being?"


    [ The body next to you is a Tier IV being, a previously injured, and now dead Tier IV being, but a Tier IV being nheless. ]


    "So, I have to consume his blood, are you kidding me, no, I won''t do it."


    [ The improvement of one''s bloodline is extremely hard toe by, the host should reconsider. ]


    "I will not drink blood, no blood, especially not human blood!" Lyle shouted in anger as the system was quiet.


    [ Improving the bloodline will also allow the host to not only be vastly more powerful in the future but also find the person you are looking for. ]


    Lyle suddenly opened his eyes wide in shock as he heard the system''s words.


    "What, what did you say?"


    [ Improving the bloodline will also allow the host to not only be vastly more powerful in the future but also find the person you are looking for. ]


    "My bloodline, will improving it really help me track down that man?" Lyle asked himself as he stared at the dead body of Ilya.


    [ Correct, once the yer reaches a higher Tier, he will be able to find the person. ]


    "Dammit!" Lyle shouted as he neared the body.


    "Dammit, dammit, dammit, I don''t want to, but I have to find him, no matter what," Lyle said as he opened his mouth before biting deep inside the neck of Ilya.

 Chapter 13: Bloodline Evolution

    <h4>Chapter 13: Bloodline Evolution</h4>


    The sound of slurping could be heard as Lyle started drinking the blood of the dead Ilya. The body of the archmage had lost a fair amount of blood, but he was still able to get some from biting the carotid artery.


    He only drank for a couple of seconds before there was no more blood, he rose and stared at the body, aware that this was not enough to satisfy the requirement for improving his bloodline.


    He clicked his tongue before burying his face in the hole he had created in the old man''s chest. The sound of slurping continued as he drank all the blood he could. Lyle''s long ck hair suddenly became a bit shorter as the wisps of red disappeared. His eyes lost their previous shine as the transformation had ended.


    He, however, was unaware of it. He waspletely engrossed in drinking all the blood he could.


    Vampires in this world drank blood, but only those that possessed a low-ranked bloodline had to consume blood to survive. The higher-ranked vampires didn''t need to do such things, but they still had urges and found it a bit difficult to control themselves when an opportunity presented itself.


    Only the noble vampires hadplete control over their own urges. Drinking blood for them was the same as dessert. Drinking the blood of powerful beings would increase their strength and rarely ever would a noble vampire go on a rampage in order to find blood, although those cases existed.


    d the Cruel was a prime example. A noble vampire that loved drinking blood so much that in the end, he lost control. As one of the most powerful noble vampires, he stood at the top of the food chain and destroyed many towns, and even attacked cities and powerful monsters in order to satisfy his lust for blood.


    It was only after multiple empires, together with the other noble vampire houses had allied themselves that he was stopped. He had drank so much blood that his power had risen to incredible heights and defeating him took over 100 people who were once at the same level as he was.


    Most vampires would only drink the blood of their enemies, while there were those that would form a contract with humans or other beings that were willing to give their blood in return for power.


    Those beings would be ''Adjutants'', powerful beings that served the vampire they had formed a contract with. They were very powerful and could inherit a part of the vampire''s power through the contract.


    Even though the event happened hundreds of years ago, it created arge rift between the vampires and the rest of the world. Most kingdoms and empires prohibited the existence of vampires in their territory, but none dared attack the vampires as their strength was incredible.


    Lyle had never drunk blood before, as someone that possessed a noble bloodline, he had no need for it, and since he was half-human, he resented the very idea of ever doing such a thing, even though it would benefit him and increase his strength.


    He felt that if he started drinking blood from humans and other beings, he would slowly change and be more of a vampire than a human, and never did so.


    It was only now when an opportunity to be more powerful and finally have a way to track down his father presented itself that he acted.


    Ding!


    [ The host has drunk enough blood, and the requirements have been met, does the host wish to evolve his bloodline now? ]


    [ The system has done a scan over the surrounding area, and no threat has been detected, the system urges the host to evolve the bloodline right now. ]


    "Do it," Lyle said as he took a couple of steps to the side. He suddenly stopped, his eyes widened to their fullest as blood started flowing from them.


    His mouth, nose, and ears started bleeding as well as he fell down to his knees. He grit his teeth with all of his strength as an unimaginable pain assaulted him.


    His hands were clenched in fists and blood could be seen flowing from them as his nails dug deep inside the palms of his hands.


    Lyle felt as if his blood was boiling, and he wasn''t exactly wrong.


    To evolve a bloodline meant that his body wouldpletely change from the inside. The old blood would bepletely removed from the body before it started.


    His skin cracked at multiple ces as blood started flowing out, but the blood didn''t fall down on the ground, it floated around Lyle and created a cocoon of blood around him. Soon, his entire body had been covered by the cocoon before he lost consciousness.


    Lyle felt as if he was floating in water. He couldn''t move, he couldn''t open his eyes, all that he could do was simply feel.


    The situation wasn''t bad, but as time passed, Lyle felt tenser and tenser. He felt as if days, if not weeks had passed and yet he hadn''t been able to move from the spot.


    Months passed by, and Lyle was still stuck, floating in the water as his body didn''t listen to him. He tried shouting in frustration, but he couldn''t. Even moving a finger was impossible.


    Years had passed and Lyle was peaceful, he had grown ustomed to the situation. His mind was nk as he simply tried not to think at all and sleep.


    It wasn''t until ten years had passed that Lyle finally opened his eyes. He looked around himself, only to find a sea of blood surrounding him. As for his body, it was on arge rock in the middle of the ocean of blood.


    On the rock was an altar, an altar from which blood continuously came out and went inside the sea of blood. It was as if the altar was what had created the sea. On top of the altar was a statue of a woman.


    Lyle didn''t know why, but he felt drawn to the woman as if she was someone incredibly important to him.


    Suddenly the statue came alive, the woman opened her eyes and smiled warmly at Lyle. Her hair was as dark as the night sky, her eyes red as a rose, and her smile as warm as the sun.


    She reached out her hand at Lyle who simply stared at her in awe. Just as her hand was about to touch him, his eyes constricted as he backed away.


    The woman looked at Lyle in confusion before giggling.


    "An interesting one has appeared, this ''system'' doesn''t seem bad at all, I will be waiting for you, little one,e and find me once you grow up." The woman spoke as she smiled at Lyle for onest time before everything turned ck.


    The cocoon of blood in which Lyle had been standing inside shattered, and out came Lyle. His body was differentpared to before, he was about 3cm ( 1.2 inches ) taller, his hair had grown a bit longer and his body seemed a little bit more muscr.


    Most wouldn''t be able to notice the difference, but Lyle could. It wasn''t only his body that changed, it was his strength as well.


    It was gone.


    He felt as weak as he was back when he was still training to be an assassin. He could barely sense mana and his physical strength was miles away from what it previously was.


    Ding!


    [ Evolution has seeded, the host has evolved his bloodline. ]


    Ding!


    [ The host has regressed from being a Tier II, level 169 being to level 1. ]


    [ The host''s bloodline has changed. ]


    [ Vampire Noble ¨C Vampire Lord ]


    Ding!


    [ The system has detected an anomaly during the evolution, traces of another powerful bloodline have influenced the evolution. ]


    [ Vampire Lord has changed to True Vampire Lord ]


    ''Vampire Lord, I have actually be a vampire lord?!'' Lyle thought to himself in shock as he had difficulty digesting the information.


    Vampire Lords were incredibly powerful beings in the world of Corleon, they were at the very top of the food chain and only the most powerful beings in Corleon were above them.


    In the vampire race, it was only the Empress of the Night, the ruler of all vampires that was above the lords.


    Lyle didn''t just be a vampire lord, but something different, however.


    "What the hell is a pure vampire lord?"


    Ding!


    [ The system is unable to give information about the race, it is believed that the host might be the only being of the race currently existing, it is, however, certainly strongerpared to the race the host had previously evolved to. ]


    "So, I didn''t be a vampire lord, but something stronger?"


    [ Correct ]


    Ding!


    [ Thanks to the host''s powerful bloodline, a ss has been given to the host before reaching the ss requirements, the ss ''Blood Lord'' has been activated. ]


    [ Blood Lord, description: a being that controls blood and can use it to not only create things but even force other beings to obey him. ]


    [ yer has acquired 3 skills thanks to the ss. ]


    Ding!


    [ The host has been marked by the Empress of the Night, it is advised that the host bes powerful quickly in order to avoid being tracked down and captured. ]


    "Huh?"

 Chapter 14: The Empress and the System’s Explanation

    <h4>Chapter 14: The Empress and the System''s Exnation</h4>


    A woman opened her eyes as she sat on a silver throne. Her ck hair flowed down to the floor and moved about, even though there was no wind present inside the throne hall.


    "Interesting, a lord has been born, but not a normal one." The woman spoke as she nced at a guard.


    "Bring Lord Isaac to me."


    "Yes, my empress." The guard bowed before disappearing from the spot. Even though he was only a guard, he was one of the personal guards of the empress and was a Tier V being.


    The woman leaned back against the throne and exhaled deeply as she felt the cold silver touching her body.


    "First the system had arrived, and now a lord appears, how interesting."


    A mere 2 minutester, the guard returned, but not alone.


    A man that wore a long ck and gold robe was with him. His hair was slicked back and a symbol of a three-headed snake could be seen on his neck.


    "My empress."


    "Leave us." The empress spoke as all the five guards that had been in the throne room all bowed down before disappearing from the spot.


    "A new lord has appeared."


    "Does the empress wish for me to bring him to her?" The man spoke as he looked at the eyes of the empress.


    "No, there will be no need for that, he is quite a weak one, it will take time for him to grow powerful enough to join us."


    "I have called you for a different matter."


    "Do you remember when you came back about 23 years ago when you begged me to help you and that woman from the pursuers of the Eratnil Empire?"


    The man''s eyes suddenly constricted as he stared at the empress. His hands clenched into fists as memories of a distant past came to him.


    Back then, he thought he had matured, he thought that frivolous thoughts and actions done out of pure emotions were not possible for him.


    Yet a single nce at that woman made all of that shatter.


    He not only fell in love with a woman of a powerful noble n, but he copted with her and sired a child. He had done two grave offenses of the vampire n and by all means, he should have been executed for it.


    But he still returned, he, a vampire that was close to bing a lord returned back home and begged the empress for help.


    He begged her to help the woman change her looks and to disguise her so that the noble n would not be able to find her and the child that was growing in her belly.


    The empress, in his shock, epted it with ease.


    She only asked for one thing.


    That he would stay in the castle and be her right-hand man.


    By all ounts, that should have been an honor, but it was far from it.


    Isaac was forced to sign a blood pact with the empress, he was not only bound to her, but under herplete control. Every request the empress had would be epted by him, whether he liked it or not.


    "Yes, I remember."


    "Well, the new lord is your son, the very child that you and that woman had."


    "I see," Isaac said in a calm manner as his hands shook a bit.


    "That is all, you may leave Isaac." The empress said as Isaac bowed down before leaving the throne room.


    Upon exiting the throne room and walking through the halls, he clenched both of his hands before mming the wall to his left.


    The wall that had been created using maic stones that were mixed with monster bones and the dust and ashes of drakes and dragons was incredibly durable and not even an archmage could destroy it.


    Yet a simple m of the fist from Isaac was enough to not only crack a full 6 meters of the wall but also destroy the middle of it.


    ''My son, why couldn''t you have lived a normal life?'' Isaac thought before continuing towards his room.


    In the throne room, the empress stared at the gate with amusement before giggling as she heard the wall break.


    "Ah Isaac, what will you do now,e on, you have not disappointed me for 2 decades, let me have some more fun now as well, hehe." The empress giggled again as she stared at the gate in infatuation.


    "The Empress has marked me, what the hell?" Lyle shouted in a mix of fear and anger after hearing the words of the system.


    "How, why, why would the empress, one of the most powerful creatures of Corleon even care about me?!"


    [ The system suspects it is because of the host''s bloodline, the empress might be able to sense the appearance of a powerful new bloodline on the. ]


    "Why didn''t you tell me that before the evolution then?!"


    [ The system was unaware that the bloodline evolution would cause a mutation and give birth to a unique bloodline, the host will be safe, however, as the system can sense that the empress and the host are divided by arge distance. ]


    "The vampire''s empire is on an entirely different continent, I guess you are right."


    Ding!


    [ The system will now exin the status screen and the changes it has brought to this world. ]


    [ Activating the host''s status screen. ]


    Name: Lyle


    Level: 1 ¨C 0 Soul Power / 200


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


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


    Attribute points : 0


    Strength: 8


    Agility: 10


    Endurance: 8


    Vitality: 8


    Willpower: 9


    Spirit: 12


    Strength - Improves the physical strength of the person and the muscles, it allows for more powerful attacks, carrying weight, and the strength and durability of the muscles.


    Agility - Improves the speed and reflexes of a person, allowing for faster movement, attacks, and coordination of the body.


    Endurance - Improves the toughness, natural defense, and resilience of the body, namely the toughness of the host''s skin, muscles, and bones.


    Vitality - Improves the body''s natural regeneration and the internal organs'' toughness.


    Willpower - Improves the person''s speed of thought and resilience against soul attacks. A mage will have a harder time learning new spells and casting spells without enough willpower


    Spirit - Improves the person''s capacity to mana gather and the strength of the soul. The more spirit the host has, therger the mana reserve and the higher his sensitivity to mana will be.


    Skills:


    Active ( 2 ) :


    Blood Art, blood spear ¨C the host will be able to manipte blood into the shape of a spear with less mana cost and troublepared to simply manipting the blood into other shapes. The more mana and blood are used for the skill, the more powerful the spear will be.


    Vampiric Servitude ¨C The host can use the power of a vampire lord to change a being into a vamp or a vampire. The being has to be near death or died recently in order for the skill to be used. The being will have unconditional loyalty to the host and will perform any task the host asks of it.


    The current limit of servants - 1


    Passive ( 1 ) :


    Blood Sensitivity ¨C the host will be able to sense blood in a radius of 30 meters around himself, the stronger the host bes, the more powerful the passive skill will be.


    Ability:


    Blood Maniption ¨C rank S, level 1 ¨C the host can manipte blood in the surrounding 30 meters around himself. Blood from more powerful beings will be more difficult to manipte, as is the blood that is still inside a living being.


    Ding!


    [ The system has arrived on the Corleon and most intelligent beings have been weakened while wild monsters have seen a boost in power. ]


    [ All the beings on the now have ess to the system. ]


    [ The inhabitants of the no longer need to actively draw in mana in order to strengthen themselves and grow stronger, by simply defeating an enemy of a simr level, one will receive a portion of the defeated being''s soul power which will strengthen the host. ]


    [ The system has finished the exnation, the host will now have ess to the most basic functions, farewell. ]


    The gentle voice that Lyle had been hearing until now suddenly vanished after the exnation.


    Lyle was, however, focused on staring at the status screen in front of him.


    He looked at his level, before staring at what level he was at.


    He had no idea how the entire thing worked, but he knew thatpared to the previous him, he was much, much weaker, but his potential wasrger.


    "Alright, I first have to find my way back and give my report to the agent," Lyle said as he suddenly looked down. He only now realized that he had no clothes on and was standing naked in the middle of the forest.


    "I have to find some clothes first."

 Chapter 15: Ilya’s Wealth

    <h4>Chapter 15: Ilya''s Wealth</h4>


    [ The yer is unable to make the human called ''Ilya'' a servant as the difference in power is toorge and the person has been dead for too long ]


    "Well, it was worth a shot," Lyle said as he put on the archmage''s robes on. He proceeded to dig a hole before burying the dead mage inside of it.


    "If people find out he is dead, some might assume it was me who did it, since my strength is nowhere near what it once was, I need toy low for some time and increase my power again," Lyle said as he wiped the sweat from his face.


    Even though his stats were low, thanks to it still being nighttime, Lyle''s strength was boosted and he could fight against stronger enemies without much trouble, of course, most beings in the world were now stronger than him.


    "I wanted to go back right away, but I should wait, the road back is long and dangerous for the current me, I should increase my strength first before trying to find a caravan that is heading to Orsvald, that will be the best course of action right now."


    "Hey, system, you said that monsters have be more powerful, right?" Lyle suddenly asked.


    [ Correct. ]


    "Hmm, I wonder if the weaklings in the forest have also be stronger, maybe I can use them to regain some of my strength," Lyle said before smiling dangerously. He went to a nearby tree and broke off a branch before using his nails to sharpen it.


    His nails were quite sharp, even though he was only a level 1 being currently. They weren''t sharper than des, but he was still able to use them to sharpen wood, albeit with some difficulty.


    "Tch, it took a while, but it''s done," Lyle said as he stared at his hand, two of his fingers were bleeding, they were punctured by the wood during the sharpening process.


    Lyle closed his eyes and used his ability, he focused on the blood that was flowing out from his fingers before the blood started coagting and the bleeding stopped.


    "Good, I can still do the same things as before, albeit with more difficulty."


    "Now, let''s find some monsters, the city will probably be under lockdown until tomorrow, I should try and kill as many monsters as I can before going back there," Lyle said as he went deeper inside the forest.


    Lyle walked inside as he fiddled around with a ring that he was now wearing on his left index finger. It was the spatial ring that once belonged to Ilya.


    "The old bastard had some good things inside the ring, but no weapons or armor, well I guess a mage really doesn''t have any use for such things."


    The inside of the spatial ring was a full 100 square meters ( 1076 square feet ) in size. It was a top-notch spatial ring that only those in the top ranks of the empire had. For Lyle, it was a reward for managing to kill the old archmage during the system''s integration with the.


    ''This amount of gold coins will be enough for me to use for a long time, I can get some good gear in the city right after they open up, it''s a shame I can''t sell the staves, wands, and tomes of this guy, his research is also worthless to me.'' Lyle thought as he nced inside the ring.


    There wasn''t only gold inside, precious gems could also be found, but the things that were worth the most were the many staves, wands, tomes, and the research papers of the old mage. All of these items were things that an archmage personally collected and each was worth a small fortune, especially the research papers.


    There were also bottles of antidotes and poison inside, which could prove incredibly useful for Lyle in the future. The poison was definitely what Ilya had personally created and they were incredibly deadly.


    The research papers and tomes were all very useful to any mage, even archmages. The research papers were on the art of poison and spatial magic, two elements that were amongst the hardest to master, and finding any data about them was very difficult.


    Lyle would be unable to try and sell them for a long time, however. If he was to show such items, even if he went to the most reputable auction houses in the empire, there was the possibility of a powerful figure to try and find out his identity before attempting to kill him in order to check what else he might have.


    It would only beter when Lyle reached at least Tier III, which was the same as the Gold Knight realm in the empire, that he would be able to consider selling them.


    When it came to tiers, it only took Lyle a short period of time to get used to the system''s way of calling them. Tier I would be the same as a normal Knight, or as they were moremonly called, a Bronze Knight or Bronze Mage.


    Silver Knight and Silver Mage would be the equivalent of Tier II, Gold Knight and Gold Mage Tier III, and Titled Knight or Archmage Tier IV. There were higher ranks of power in the world, and Lyle knew them, just like a Vampire Lord was usually a rank as well as a bloodline, it was the equivalent of Tier VI for the system.


    Different races had different systems of power and what they called the corresponding ranks, but to the system, it was all divided into tiers.


    Lyle had no idea how many tiers there were, but he didn''t care, for now, he was a being that wasn''t even Tier I, to think of more would be useless.


    Lyle only walked about 2 minutes before he heard sounds in the distance. He quickly went down and started going forward while crouching as he stared in front of him.


    Soon he was able to see what had made the sounds.


    ''Toskars.'' Lyle thought to himself as he stared at the 3 monsters in front of him.


    Each of the monsters was about 1.5 meters tall and had a head that was unusuallyrge. The weird monsters stood on two legs, but they didn''t have arms, instead of that, there were two weird, tentacle-looking things that came out from their shoulders.


    Their heads were a mixture of a frog and a deer. They had no fur on their bodies as they were slimy all over. Their feet were simr to human feet but wider. Their small stomachs protruded out as the three monsters had finished eating.


    Toskars were not powerful monsters, they were usually a danger to normal people as they loved to ambush their unsuspecting victims before strangling them with their vines.


    Other than that, the monsters were quite weak, theirrge heads made it so they couldn''t run fast and the two tentacles, although allowing for a wide array of attacks, were soft and easy to cut off.


    ''Toskars being here means that the river is nearby, or it could be theke, no, theke should be a bit deeper inside the forest, I am sure of that.'' Lyle said before focusing on the three monsters.


    ''They''re bigger than normal, and those tentacles, they have small spikes all over them, that is definitely not how a normal Toskar looks like.'' Lyle thought before climbing on top of a nearby tree.


    ''Is this because of the system, have monsters already started changing so quickly?'' Lyle thought before clenching the small wooden spear in his right hand. Toskars usually had normal tentacle-like arms that were soft and slimy, their height was usually about 1.2 meters.


    ''I can take care of one easily, even killing two is not a problem, but I''m not sure about three, I still know nothing about those spikes, if they are dangerous, then this might be dangerous, but I do doubt that, no matter how much a Toskar bes powerful, they shouldn''t have poison inside their bodies.''


    ''Their stomachs are bloated, that means they have finished feeding recently, hmm, I can sense blooding from their feet and on the ground, leading to the right, that''s probably where the unfortunate victim is located at.'' Lyle quickly analyzed the situation as he stared around the Toskars.


    ''Their movement should be limited since they just fed, taking care of these three, shouldn''t be a problem after all.'' Lyle concluded before waiting for the Toskars to get closer.


    He had intentionally gone up a tree that was on the way of the Toskars. They would have to pass next to the tree, and Lyle would take full advantage of that.


    He grabbed another branch, but he didn''t break it off the tree, not yet. The wind blew and the sound of the leaves moving around was heard in the forest as the three monsters made sounds as they seemingly talked with each other.


    Suddenly, as they were walking underneath the tree where Lyle had climbed up on, they heard a snapping sound as a branch was broken. Looking up, the Toskars panicked as the silhouette of a person could be seen falling down on them.

 Chapter 16: First Fight in the Forest

    <h4>Chapter 16: First Fight in the Forest</h4>


    Bam!


    Lyle fell down from the tree and mmed the spear and branch in his hands into the skulls of two Toskars.


    The spear he had created managed to pierce into the soft skull of one of the Toskars, but it broke in the process.


    The branch, however, dealt a powerful blow to the top of the other Toskar''s head and was still in one piece. Lyle immediately threw the broken piece of the spear at the third Toskar before jumping back and dodging four tentacles that attacked him.


    The Toskar whose head was impaled by the spear had managed tosh out against Lyle before stumbling around and falling on the ground dead.


    As for the other two, they were enraged and ready to fight, well, at least the third Toskar who didn''t suffer a concussion was. The broken piece of the spear had impaled itself in the bloated stomach of the monster, but the wound was not deep and the Toskar could fight.


    The second Toskar, although still awake and ready to fight, was visibly shaken from the blow. His steps were slow and his body was swaying a bit.


    ''Good, I can focus on dealing with the third one while this guy is still in shock from the blow.'' Lyle thought before moving. He was faster than the two Toskar who were rtively slow monsters thanks to theirrge heads.


    He attacked the third Toskar right after dodging two tentacles that wereing at him, the tentacles were slow and not a threat to him since the second one still hadn''t recovered from the blow.


    The problem came after he reached the third one. The tentacles were faster and even though Lyle could follow their movement and predict where they woulde from, his body was not fast enough to allow him to do what he wished to do.


    ''Dammit, I still haven''t gotten used to the current state of my body!'' Lyle cursed before dodging back and ncing at the dead Toskar behind him.


    He suddenly ran back toward the second one before dodging to the side and grabbing the dead Toskar''s body with his left hand. He jumped in the air before grabbing the broken spear and pulling it out of the head before doing a quick spin and kicking the corpse over to the second Toskar who quickly used his tentacles in order to protect himself.


    Lylended on the ground and immediately threw the broken spear at the third Toskar before charging at the second one.


    The tentacles of the second Toskar were entangled around the corpse he previously threw at him, which allowed Lyle to shorten the distance between them fairly easily.


    Upon reaching the Toskar, he quickly mmed the branch on top of its head. The branch snapped from the power of the blow while the Toskar leaned back from the hit, his tentacles entangling from the corpse and falling down on the ground as the monster had briefly lost control over its body.


    Lyle then used his ws.


    He stabbed the small, chubby neck of the Toskar before using his other hand to stab through the monster''s eyes. A fountain of blood spurted out from the monster and covered Lyle who used his ability to manipte it.


    He immediately used one of his skills and formed a spear from the blood. Well, calling it a spear was more than generous as it looked like a thin piece of red matter that was being held in his right hand.


    The ''spear'' was about half a meter long ( about 1.7 feet ) and was only 4 millimeters thick ( 0.06 inches ). It looked incredibly frail and Lyle didn''t doubt that fighting with the spear was impossible since one hit would be enough to snap it in half.


    But this was the best he could do with his ability in a hurry. He assumed a pose and pulled back his right arm before locking onto the final Toskar. One of the tentacles was severely injured as the broken spear he had thrown previously managed to pierce through it, well, it pierced the left side and there was about 40% of the tentacle left at that location.


    Lyle spun his hips before throwing the blood spear with all of his might. The spear zoomed through the air before hitting the head of the Toskar. The Toskar had been unable to even use its tentacles to block the spear as it was simply too fast.


    Just like Lyle had thought, about half of the spear broke on impact, but it still prated deep enough. It wouldn''t kill the Toskar, but it was close to doing so.


    Lyle smiled savagely as he stared at the Toskar before snapping his fingers. The spear suddenly shook before exploding and dealing the final blow. The part of the spear that had been lodged inside the Toskar''s skull exploded and destroyed the brain, killing the monster.


    "Phew." Lyle exhaled strongly before leaning against a tree and sliding down. His face was covered in sweat as he had used most of the mana he currently possessed to create the spear and make it explode.


    The explosion was a skill he had created by himself a long time ago, and one that he loved using the most as it allowed him to quickly kill any enemy he stabbed with his daggers. But that was the previous him, the him right now was so weak that he could only do it once.


    Ding!


    [ Skill ''Blood Explosion'' has been created. ]


    [Blood Explosion ¨C The host can use any blood that he has manipted and cause it to explode. ]


    "Oh, the system can do things like this, that''s good, I don''t have to worry whether my old tricks would work then," Lyle said before taking a deep breath. He wasn''t only tired because of therge loss of mana, but because his stamina was depleted as well.


    Most people could fight such a battle and they would feel a little bit tired, but for some reason, even during the night when his stats were boosted, Lyle felt quite tired right now.


    [ The battle has been concluded collecting soul power ¡­ ]


    -Lvl 4 Toskar killed, 40 soul power gained


    -Lvl 4 Toskar killed, 40 soul power gained


    -Lvl 5 Toskar killed, 50 soul power gained


    [ The host has earned 130 Soul Power ]


    "So these guys were multiple levels above me, I wonder how much stronger one bes after a level, well, no better way to learn that than to level up myself," Lyle said as he stared at the canopy above him.


    "I shouldn''t just sit around, I need a weapon," Lyle said before getting up.


    Branches like the ones he used before wouldn''t be enough for fighting against monsters, he needed thicker ones.


    Lyle spent the next forty minutes looking for thicker branches before using his sharp nails to sharpen them.


    He even used his blood maniption in order to cover his nails in blood before making the blood take shape of the nails. He focused on making the edges of the ''nail armor'' as sharp as possible before he started working.


    Even though doing that made him use more mana, it was a small amount and he had already recovered a bit.


    Lyle created a longer and thicker spearpared to before, he also used some vines he found and wrapped them around one part of the spear so that he can grip it better before using another vine to tie it on two ends of the spear so that he could holster it on his back.


    Lyle next found another thicker branch and cut it into two pieces, each being about 35 cm ( 14 inches ) long. He then spent most of the forty minutes working on the two pieces. He created makeshift daggers, and just as he did for the spear, he wrapped vines on the handles of the daggers in order to have a better grip on them.


    Lyle nodded at his two new daggers as he spun them around. The two daggers were crude and simple, but they would be enough for now.


    If Lyle had his previous power, he could use such daggers to kill even Bronze Knights as he could wrap mana around them. With the measly amount of mana he had now, however, he was unable to even reinforce his body with it, much less to bring it outside and use it on his weapons.


    Against weak monsters that roamed the forest, however, it would be enough.


    He could use the spear to hit an enemy from long-range or to fight an enemy that had the reach advantage over him. The daggers were his weapons of choice, however, as he was most familiar with them.


    Lyle''s mana had replenished enough and he soon took off, ready to face off against more monsters before trying his luck in the city. Thepany of soldiers should have already taken full control over the castle and the lockdown should be lifted in the morning.

 Chapter 17: Being Ambushed

    <h4>Chapter 17: Being Ambushed</h4>


    Swish


    A spear zoomed past two trees before lodging itself deep into the body of a wolf that had been running away from Lyle.


    Three wolves were lying on the ground around Lyle as he panted heavily. His clothes were ripped apart and there were multiple wounds that could be seen on his body. Cuts, bruises, bite marks¡­


    Not all were from this group of wolves, of course. He had already fought against multiple groups of monsters before them. One was a group of Toskars he hade across after making his way to the river. The monsters were eating the body of a deer right next to the river and Lyle used that to his advantage and managed to kill the monsters without much trouble.


    The trouble came after more Toskars suddenly came out of the river and attacked him. Lyle had to fight off multiple monsters that this time had ambushed him.


    He also fought against a group of goblins that he hade across. Seeing the goblins came as a shock to Lyle as he knew for a fact that such monsters didn''t exist in the forest, at least not this close to the city.


    Goblins, although very weak monsters, bred incredibly quickly and if left alone, they would increase their numbers before you could guess it. They used human women, elves, and other females of other species in order to copte.


    They could also copte amongst themselves, but goblins generally disliked doing such things for two reasons.


    The first reason was the attraction. Goblins had simr tastes as humans did, they disliked the physical looks of the female goblins and they only copted with them when there was no other choice.


    The second reason was because of the strength of the offspring. Generally, when a goblin produces an offspring with a human or elf female, the offspring turns out to be more powerful than the parent.


    If the female in question was much stronger than the goblin, then the offspring had a chance to be born as an evolved goblin, bing a hobgoblin straight away, or another higher species of goblin.


    Because of that, any time goblins were spotted near cities or viges, the adventurers guild, or the city guards and soldiers would quickly go to exterminate them.


    Since goblins were weak, exterminating them was rtively easy. One only needed to watch out and not get surrounded by muchrger numbers, and they would be fine.


    The goblins were small, they were about 1 meter tall and were generally a bit stronger than 10-year-old children, but much more agile and faster.


    Dealing with one or two was easy, but goblins usually moved in groups, the one Lyle hade across was a group of 5 goblins.


    Lyle had to think hard about whether he wanted to fight them or not, goblins were not a big deal, but there was always the possibility that more could be nearby, and even if not, if he got wounded while fighting them, he could be in trouble when it came to future fights in the forest.


    After thinking so hard, however, he suddenly remembered something. It was nighttime. Goblins usually never came out during nighttime.


    They didn''t have good eyesight in the dark, not nearly as good as other monsters that roamed during the night.


    Smiling dangerously, he decided to fight. The battle started and Lyle managed to finish it quite quickly. He first went on a tree before jumping down on one of the goblins and stabbing through the poor bastard with his spear.


    He quickly pulled the spear out before throwing it at another goblin and drawing out his daggers.


    Instead of fighting the goblins at close range, he opted to throw both of the daggers at two of the goblins. Thanks to the darkness, none of the two managed to even see the daggers before they had gotten lodged inside their chest.


    For the final goblin, Lyle simply used hand-to-handbat. He came near the goblin and before the little critter could attack him, he used a low kick to sweep him off the ground. The kick, however, did even more than simply sweep, one of the goblin''s legs was broken and the monster yelled out in pain after falling down.


    All of the goblins were immobilized in mere seconds. The rest was easy, Lyle simply went ahead and pulled out his spear from a goblin''s chest before stabbing it in the throat. He then proceeded to do the same to all the other goblins before taking his daggers back.


    It was at this time that wolves appeared.


    Three wolves came close to Lyle during the battle but seeing his strength, none of the three wolves attacked him, they merely observed the battle and slightly moved closer and closer.


    It was only after Lyle had taken his two daggers back that they attacked. As Lyle was crouching in order to retrieve his second dagger, he felt the slight rustling of a bush and a breezeing behind him.


    He quickly rolled forward and dodged a bite.


    Upon looking back and realizing that two wolves had appeared, he was fully alert and ready to fight.


    But he didn''t know that there was a third one to his right. The wolf jumped at Lyle and mmed him down on the ground. Lyle quickly used the dagger in his hand to block a bite while trying to reach his second dagger that had fallen nearby.


    The wolf used its ws to w at his chest and rip apart the robe. Luckily, Lyle managed to grab the second dagger and used it to stab deeply inside the throat of the wolf.


    Upon being stabbed, the wolf panicked and tried to get away, only to get stabbed by the other dagger that Lyle had. The dagger went deep inside the eye socket and the wolf fell down to the ground, dead.


    The danger hadn''t ended as there were two more wolves that wereing after Lyle.


    Upon seeing the death of their brethren, the two wolves stared at Lyle whilst walking around him, each of the wolves in a different direction.


    Lyle didn''t wait for them to attack first, he quickly threw the two daggers at them before reaching for his spear. One of the wolves got injured by the dagger, but it was not a deep wound and it would do little to stop it.


    The other wolf, however, managed to dodge the dagger and jumped straight at Lyle who had already grabbed the spear.


    Lyle crouched before nting the spear down on the ground and aiming straight at the wolf. As the beast''s frame came closer, it opened its mouth in order to bite Lyle, only to be stabbed through its mouth by the spear.


    The thick spear not only managed to prate through the body, but it didn''t break, which was the best oue for Lyle.


    He quickly shifted his weight before moving the spear and throwing the body of the wolf at the second one that had charged at him. The wolf managed to dodge the body and came in front of Lyle, biting his left leg.


    Lyle winced in pain before using his spear and stabbing down, only for the wolf to back off before jumping at him.


    The wolf had this time bitten his left shoulder and thrown him down on the ground. Using the spear in this situation was impossible, so Lyle let it go before his nails suddenly grew a bit longer.


    He quickly used his nails and stabbed the wolf through the right eye. The attack managed to deal great damage and the wolf immediately let go of Lyle, but Lyle wasn''t ready to let it off the hook just yet.


    He quickly scrambled back up before lunging at the wolf and throwing it down. The wolf''srge body cushioned its fall and it did pretty much no damage, but Lyle wasn''t aiming at damaging it this way.


    He used his long and powerful nails and started wing at the wolf, in a manner simr to how the first wolf had done to him.


    Lyle, however, targeted the neck. His nails were nowhere near as sharp and powerful as before, but it was enough. He did a couple of wing motions before grabbing the neck with his left hand and holding it in ce with all his strength.


    The wolf didn''t stay idle during this time, however. It tried to bite his hands continuously while using its legs to attack. Numerous cuts appeared on Lyle''s body as more of the robe got ripped apart.


    He didn''t care, however. He even let the wolf bite his arm at the end as he pulled back his right arm and held his fingers together, forming a spear out of his hand. He suddenly thrust his arm down at the wolf''s throat with incredible strength.


    Splurt!


    The hand prated through and a gallon of blood suddenly started flowing out of the throat, dying Lyle in blood once again.


    His hand had not only prated inside the throat, but it almost went through itpletely.


    Lyle fell down on the dead wolf as he panted heavily before getting up. He immediately picked up his spear as having no weapons would be equal to suicide in the forest. As he crouched down and picked the spear up, he looked ahead of him, only to find a fourth wolf staring at him before turning around and running.


    Lyle''s eyes turned bloodshot, if the wolf went away and called more of them over, they would trace his scent and would spend the whole night looking for him.


    He used all the mana he had, he pushed his body to its limits before pulling back his arms and then throwing the spear with everything he had. The spear zoomed through the air before hitting the wolf.


    The wolf fell down to the ground, the spear had prated through its stomach and even one of its legs. The wound was serious enough that the wolf would probably die soon, but Lyle wasn''t going to wait, he quickly went and grabbed one of the daggers he had thrown previously before going to the wolf.


    He crouched down in front of it, his breath was heavy as he stared at the wolf that was panting. Lyle grabbed its head, his arm was shaking a bit, his body swaying as he not only used up all the mana and stamina he had, but had also lost quite some blood.


    He pulled back his hand before stabbing the wolf with his dagger. He then pulled it out and stabbed again, and again, and again.


    It was only after he could no longer sense a heartbeat that Lyle stopped. He got up and swayed before grabbing a nearby tree to stabilize himself. He pulled out the spear and went to retrieve the second dagger before moving away from the location.

 Chapter 18: Back to the River

    <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 ¨C 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.

 Chapter 19: Back in the City

    <h4>Chapter 19: Back in the City</h4>


    Lyle walked through the forest with steady steps, most of the bleeding had now stopped since he had used his ability in order to coagte the blood in order to stop the bleeding.


    His mana had replenished by a bit, and even though he was still nowhere to being back to his full strength, he had enough for a battle, if there was any.


    Lyle still didn''t n on fighting, even though he had mana and he had managed to stop his bleeding, fighting again could worsen his injuries, something he definitely wanted to avoid right now.


    With the bleeding stopped, and the blood from his body gone, Lyle was now more confident when it came to going through the forest and avoiding the monsters that inhabited it.


    His spear, even though it was still in one piece, had a few small cracks on it. Lyle figured that it could be used for a battle or two before it would break, a pity since he couldn''t really stop to get a new branch and create another spear.


    It mattered little, however, as Lyle wasn''t nning on fighting if he wasn''t forced to. His gear was back in the city, and his outfit and daggers were in an inn he had checked into yesterday. He had paid for a whole week in the top room in advance.


    Lyle had luckily disguised himself when he tried to assassinate the duke so that nobody would recognize him. His n was to get caught before assassinating the duke in his chambers, he didn''t need his gear as it would simply be confiscated by the guards, and trying to find it after breaking out would have been a nightmare.


    To be even safer, Lyle made a simple magic formation in the room, it was one that was used to create the most basic of an illusion. The illusion was cast on a corner of the room where Lyle had removed the nks of the floor and hid his gear in.


    Even if the owners of the inn were to go into the room, they would find nothing out of the ordinary in it.


    He had also left the room by jumping out of the window. He made sure that nobody had seen him as he had already disguised himself at that point.


    His disguise, coupled with the fact that he was never seen leaving the room should make the receptionist and the two owners of the inn believe that he was still in his room, sleeping.


    They would probably feel shocked to see him after he returned, but it was of little concern to Lyle who was nning on switching inns right away.


    Lyle walked toward the city with slow steps, he didn''t need to hurry since it would still take a while for the sun to rise. Avoiding any stray monsters was what he needed to do right now.


    Luck seemed to be on his side as even after walking for about 2 hours, he hadn''te across any monster.


    ''It seems like the part closer to the city is still devoid of the monsters, good, that makes it easier for me to go deeper in the forest to fight, not to mention that leaving the forest is now much easier for me.'' Lyle thought as he walked normally now.


    His mana was full once again and the bleeding had stoppedpletely. Lyle had used his ability a couple of times previously in order to stop it, after he finished coagting the blood at all the ces where he was bleeding, he once again looked for a river or pond.


    He didn''t fully get in this time, however, but merely used his hand to wash off any blood that was present on his body.


    After about 30 more minutes of walking, Lyle could finally see the city.


    The gates were open. That was the most important part.


    ''Good, it seems that themander had ordered for the lockdown to be lifted, this makes things much easier for me.'' Lyle thought as he finally left the forest.


    The city was still a bit away, and it took Lyle about 4 minutes to walk over to it.


    "Halt!" The guards yelled out as they stared at Lyle.


    ''Hmm, the royal soldiers?'' Lyle thought as he stared at the soldiers that were guarding the gates. There were only three of them present, but even one was enough.


    Nobody would dare cause any trouble upon seeing the royal crest on their armor.


    "Who are you?" One of the soldiers said as he observed Lyle. His ragged appearance rmed the soldiers as they could see w and bite marks on his body.


    "I, I''m a hunter, sir, I was in the forest and lost track of time, while I was returning that voice rang inside my head, monsters suddenly appeared and, and I almost died, please, let me go in, I just want to rest." Lyle presented a distraught face as he went down on his knees.


    Theck of mana made the soldiers less wary of him. Lyle had used his ability to change the color of his eyes and hair into ck, which was a lot less eye-catching than his usual red one.


    ''I can simply tell them the code so that they know I am the assassin they are working with, but that would put too much-unwarranted attention on me, they will definitely escort me to the castle and interrogate me about Ilya and what had transpired in the castle, that will be my final resort.'' Lyle thought as he stared at the soldiers with teary eyes.


    "Monsters appeared, in the forest?!" One of the soldiers asked in shock as he stared at Lyle.


    "Y-yes sir, I don''t know why, I was a bit deeper in the forest, but there had been no sighting for a while, suddenly goblins, toskars, wolves, all manners of monsters had appeared inside, I barely managed to survive," Lyle said as he pointed to his wounds.


    The wounds had started bleeding once again and Lyle had even manipted the blood to flow out more and cover a good portion of his body. If he had simply arrived without any bleeding, the soldiers would have definitely be suspicious of him.


    The soldiers nced at each other before one nodded and approached Lyle.


    "It''s alright, you can go in, but first, take this and smear it on your wounds, it should stop the bleeding." The soldier said as he gave Lyle a small bottle of what looked to be a balm.


    ''Healing balm, how nice of you.'' Lyle thought as he took the balm from the soldier''s hands before opening it. His hands trembled a bit as he applied the balm to his injuries, faking being in pain to make them less wary of him and to cause more sympathy from them.


    "Can you walk, do you need any help in getting back home?" One of the soldiers asked as he looked at Lyle with slight concern.


    "You don''t need to be shy, the information you have given us about the forest changing is valuable, this is the least we can do." Another soldier said before Lyle shook his head.


    "No, I will be fine sirs, this bottle you have given me is more than enough, thank you," Lyle said as he stared at them with tears falling down his face before bowing slightly to the soldiers that looked to be bit ufortable.


    "It''s alright, please, get in, go and get some rest." A soldier said before urging Lyle to get inside.


    Lyle bowed once again as he entered the city before walking towards the inn.


    He first made sure that the soldiers were not following him before going in a roundabout way and finally reaching the inn.


    A lot of people had been woken up by the mage when he had shouted about the duke''s death, which made people panic.


    Most were still up, but they luckily stayed in their houses.


    Lyle approached the inn before looking around and jumping on a nearby house. He quickly started climbing up on roofs before jumping on top of the inn. He scaled the wall down before entering his room through the open window.


    ''Everything is still the same, good.'' Lyle thought as he looked around the room, it seemed that nobody had entered it after he had left.


    He first entered the bathroom. There was a shower installed inside, a couple ofrge barrels of water were ced on the roof of the inn and small formations that drew in heat were created on the bottom of them.


    Thanks to that, thest two floors of the inn, where the best rooms were located in, had ess to warm water.


    Lyle took a quick shower before drying himself with a towel. He then took some of the clothes he had left in the room andy down on the bed.


    The night had been full of surprises and he almost lost his life twice. The arrival of the system would without a doubt cause great turmoil in the world, but for Lyle, it was a chance, a chance to rise up and be more powerful than he had ever dreamed of.


    With those thoughts in his mind, he closed his eyes before falling asleep.

 Chapter 20: The Powerful Forces of Corleon

    <h4>Chapter 20: The Powerful Forces of Corleon</h4>


    Lyle opened his eyes as the chirping of birds that had perched themselves on the roof woke him up. He had only slept for a little bit, but it was enough for him, well, at least it used to be.


    He felt sleepy and tired, but he had to get up. The first thing on his mind was to move out of the inn. He got up and got dressed before going to the corner of the room to retrieve his things.


    He had hidden a suitcase where his gear was located and a spatial ring.


    He quickly transferred everything over to the spatial ring that he had taken from Ilya as it had much more space.


    The one that he wore only had 2 cubic meters of space, which, although plenty to store important things, was simply notparable to the one he had right now.


    Even the ring he had, the lowest grade of a spatial ring, was incredibly expensive and Lyle had forked out about 10 000 gold coins for it. Forparison, an average family in the empire would have a yearly ie of about 100 gold coins, making it impossible for them to afford such a thing.


    The empire had over 1 billion people, and even though a majority lived a normal life and simply worked in order to provide for their families, the minority that was wealthy and powerful still numbered in millions.


    Compared to other empires in the world, the Golden Lion Empire of which Lyle was a part was a middle-ranked empire.


    The stronger empires not only had arger territory, but the poption was higher as well, especially the two strongest empires of the world.


    The Empire of the Soaring Sun was led by the most powerful human in the world, Arshavin "The Sunborn" Ilithel.


    The other was the Moonless Night Empire which was led by the Empress of the Night, Isabe de Cosse herself.


    The two empires were the tworgest empires in the world, but there were 3 others that were as powerful as they were.


    The kingdom of the dragon king, which although smaller in size and lesser in poption was in no way less powerful.


    The realm of the elves was another ce where even though their numbers were not as high as the two empires, each of their people had incredibly long lifespans and could live for hundreds of years. The ruler of the elves was one of, if not the oldest living being on the Corleon and was incredibly powerful.


    The final power that was equal to the three was one that was probably even above them individually. The underwater realm that was ruled by the lord of the dead sea was the vastest of them all.


    The powerful sea creatures there couldn''t even be counted while the lord of the dead sea was the most powerful being that none could defeat when he was underwater.


    Luckily, most of the creatures couldn''t go onnd and the lord couldn''t fight with his full power onnd or air, otherwise, they might have even conquered the whole world simply because of how many of them there were.


    The Golden Lion Empire had be a middle-ranked empire mostly thanks to the previous duke who was the second strongest person in the empire, his talent, however, was above all and it was a given that he would have reached the realm above Titled Knight in the future.


    The empire only had one person in that realm and it was the protector of the empire, the oldest human of the empire that was near his final years. Compared to other middle-ranked empires, they were weaker.


    Lyle packed and left his room before making his way down to the reception. The receptionist recognized him from yesterday and was quite understanding of his reason for leaving the inn.


    Lyle told her that he needed to go back home after all that has happened and that he feared the city might get locked down again because of the duke''s death. He thanked them for the good service before stepping out and making his way to another inn.


    He was wearing his disguise as he used the kit he had previously in the bathroom. The first thing he needed to do was to find a ce to change his appearance once again before going to the inn.


    He walked before reaching a restaurant, upon entering it he was seated and ordered food. The food came rtively quickly as Lyle had ordered some simple dishes. He ate it before paying and going to the toilet.


    Upon entering the toilet, Lyle first locked it before taking out his disguise kit and changing his appearance and clothes. He quickly finished doing it before leaving the restaurant and walking to another high-ss inn.


    He did the same as before, he found a room that was on the top floor and paid 200 gold coins to book it for a week. The price might sound steep, but the inn was almost full, and so were the upper rooms.


    Lyle''s n for theing week was to simply go to the forest every night and hunt monsters. He needed to regain a part of his strength before returning to Orsvald, one of thergest cities in the empire and the headquarters of the organization.


    Lyle could be considered to be part of the upper echelons of the organization, his strength wasn''t as high as the others of his rank in the organization, but his great talent and high sess rate during mission had been enough for him to progress.


    The backing of the old man who had recruited him into the organization so long ago was also another factor. Lyle had only met the man thrice after the initial encounter. The first time was after he had finished the training and was introduced to the organization and was about to be a formal member.


    The second time was after he had managed to progress and join the middle ranks of the organization while thest time was a mere 2 months ago when he had risen to a high-ranking individual in the organization.


    The old man was one of the top members of the organization, a Shadow. There were only 4 Shadows in the entire organization and each one was as powerful as a Titled Knight or archmage.


    Compared to a Titled Knight or archmage, however, a Shadow was weaker in directbat, but that was because they were assassins and their main way of fighting was by using a stealth attack to kill the enemy in one hit before leaving.


    Not only was Lyle not close to a Shadow, but he wasn''t even a Night de, which would be the equivalent of Tier III for assassins. Of course, Lyle was different as his vampiric side allowed him to fight a knight of the same tier evenly, while his transformation boosted his strength to be almost equal to a Night de for a short period of time.


    Spending time in the restaurant allowed Lyle to find more information about what had transpired after he left the city. The royal soldiers had taken over the castle and the whole city, they were quick and efficient and nobody had left the castle yet.


    ''All of those that were part of the duke''s entourage are probably jailed right now, the soldiers have probably been able to find any documents that they needed to link the duke with the enemy as well.'' Lyle thought as he entered his room.


    ''Ilya''s chambers will definitely be searched as well, the old bastard has probably put formation after formation to protect any important things he had, the soldiers will probably be unable to crack the formations and if a formation expert doesn''te, they might suffer the bacsh or even get the documents and other things he had hidden to be destroyed.''


    ''I would love to go and try to get some benefits, but I can''t, themander is a peak Golden Knight, even back in my prime I would have had no chance to defeat him, even assassinating him would have been impossible, not to mention sneaking in right now underneath his nose.'' Lyle thought before lying down on the bed.


    ''It''s still morning, I need to get some more rest, and allow my wounds to heal before heading out tonight, I wonder how hard it will be to get out, from what I have heard, the soldiers are not banning anyone from exiting or entering the city, I hope it continues like so until I leave.''


    Lyle fell asleep before waking up after about 9 hours of sleep. He had previously woken up in the morning and right now, the sun was starting to set. Sleeping for so long was something that Lyle hadn''t done for ages.


    He got up, and went down to have some dinner before returning to the room and checking his gear.


    He nodded before donning some normal clothes and leaving the inn. He would first leave the city before putting on his gear.

 Chapter 21: A Weird Caravan

    <h4>Chapter 21: A Weird Caravan</h4>


    The gates of the city were still open, but there were still soldiers posted on them. The soldiers were still the ones that Lyle hade across when he had returned from the forest and he knew that simply walking out of the city would be almost impossible.


    He would simply draw too much attention to himself. One person leaving the cityte at night when the world had gone through a change was not something that was normal, not at all.


    Scaling the wall and going out that way was an option, but it was too risky, Lyle could be seen by someone who would report him to the soldiers.


    He, of course, wasn''t nning on making himself suspicious right now. The first thing he needed to do was find a way to get out without being suspicious.


    The chance came rather quickly, however.


    A small-sized caravan was making its way to the gate. Three carriages, twenty guards, and two merchants were a part of the caravan.


    Lyle''s mind spun. He could get out by using the caravan as a cover. He couldn''t join them, that much was almost impossible at this moment since there was no way that they would allow a suspicious person that suddenly wanted to leave with them in the evening to join.


    Trying to sneak in would also be near-impossible since the soldiers would definitely be checking the carriages before letting them leave. One idea that Lyle had was to go underneath the carriage and try to sneak out that way, but the problem was that if any of the soldiers was to check down, he would be caught right away.


    ''Think Lyle, think, what can I do to sneak together with the caravan?'' Lyle thought as he stared at the caravan that had neared the gate.


    He decided to first wait. He would wait for the soldiers to inspect the caravan and their guards before making his next move.


    To inspect everything should take a couple of minutes, and Lyle could use that time to try and sneak past everybody or get in a carriage.


    As the caravan arrived at the gate, the soldiers of course stopped them before making them get to the side. No sane person would dare deny the request of a royal soldier, and the caravanplied.


    The merchant that was seemingly leading the caravan talked with the soldiers and was giving them what seemed to be some sort of a bribe. Lyle''s mind spun at the realization, the royal soldiers were quite loyal, and bribing them was not an easy task, one would usually need to fork out quite a hefty sum in order for them to look the other way.


    ''What the hell is inside that carriage?'' Lyle thought to himself as he stared at the main carriage that the merchant was pointing at for the soldiers.


    He quickly sprung to action, while the carriages were still moving in order to vacate the road for others who were leaving or entering, there were a couple of blind spots and Lyle was aiming to use them in order to get to the final carriage that would seemingly not be inspected as the 2 soldiers that were doing the search had epted a small pouch from the merchant.


    Lyle knew that his timing had to be spot on, otherwise he might get caught.


    The guards that were guarding the carriages were mostly below the Knight realm, but there were 3 that were in the Knight realm with them.


    Those three were, however, put at the front, right around the main carriage and thus Lyle had a chance to sneak up on the others before moving to the main carriage.


    Lyle quickly took out his daggers and cut his hands before manipting the blood toe out and form two small orbs of blood.


    He sped up and threw the two orbs next to two soldiers who were riding a horse each. One of the orbs fell on the right side, while the other fell on the left side. Upon hearing the sound of something hitting the ground, the soldiers looked to the right and left respectively, which left the center wide open for Lyle to pass through.


    Since both the soldiers had their backs turned to Lyle, they didn''t notice himing. The two looked down, but were unable to find anything on the ground, the orbs of blood that Lyle had thrown were small and the evening made it hard to spot the blood that was soaked into the ground, even during daytime it would be hard to spot it.


    Lyle was able to pass between the two guards when they looked to the side and before they averted their gaze from the ground, he had already slid in below thest carriage.


    That wasn''t the end, as Lyle needed to get to the front before he would be safe. The carriage was about 40cm ( 1.3 feet ) from the ground and Lyle had enough space to crawl through with ease. He quickly moved before stopping right at the end, he needed to pass through the horses before reaching the second carriage, if anyone was to spot him, he would be in a very bad position.


    He quickly observed his surroundings before suddenlying from below the carriage and running past the horses that were surprised and rmed by him.


    Before the two horses could neigh, Lyle had already disappeared below the second carriage. Luckily, he was fast enough to not be spotted or make the horses move around. The horses were well-trained, as they needed to be if anyone was to use them to pass through a dangerous ce, which this caravan was going to do it seemed like.


    Lyle did the same after reaching the end of the second carriage. The problem arose when the horses got rmed by his appearance, and the fact that there was a Knight inspecting the carriage that had his back turned to Lyle.


    Lyle quickly went down and slid between the man''s legs as the Knight turned around to look at the horses. Their neighs had hidden the sound of Lyle sliding, and he was able to get under without being spotted.


    After some 5 minutes passed, the carriage started moving.


    ''Will I need to do this every single night?'' Lyle thought to himself as he was grabbing onto the carriage from underneath.


    ''I have to find a better way to get out, I can''t be risking things every night.''


    The whole situation was very lucky for Lyle. As he was a vampire lord, he was able to hide his presence and mana very well, that, coupled with the fact that he barely had any mana right now, made it very hard for anyone to notice Lyle, even the guards, and soldiers that were all much more powerful than the current him.


    Lyle was, however, very interested in what was inside the carriage. To make the merchant actually take out a bribe, one that was big enough for even the royal soldiers to take, the carriage definitely hid something very valuable inside of it.


    Lyle quickly took out his daggers before aiming at the carriage. Usually, a carriage that would transport valuable goods and have knights as entourage was protected by a formation and was built from high-grade materials. This one, however, had none of that.


    For some reason, the merchant was focused on keeping secrecy and not drawing attention to himself or the goods. Whatever the reason for that might be, Lyle would find out soon enough.


    The daggers that Lyle used were quite powerful. They were crafted by a well-known cksmith in Orsvald after Lyle hadmissioned them. He had paid a hefty sum of 25 000 gold coins for the daggers.


    Even the mission he took this time would only pay him 20 000 gold coins for assassinating the young duke. The daggers were created by using a ck metal that would absorb light so that there would be no shine from them.


    Both of the daggers had a serration, but it was on the back of the daggers while the edge was nice and sharp. The serrations would help when stabbing an enemy as they would tear apart the flesh and insides while pulling the insides out after Lyle pulled them out of the enemy.


    The daggers were new and Lyle had received them onlyst month. He had in total used them twice for a mission before, but other than that, they were brand new.


    Lyle stabbed the daggers inside the carriage and they prated through like it was nothing. There was not even a sound that was created from the daggers cutting inside the wood of the carriage.


    It wouldn''t matter, however, as the sound of the horses galloping would pretty much mask any noise that Lyle would produce. He quickly started cutting away at the carriage before he was finally able to cut off a part that was wide enough for him to crawl in from.


    A problem, however, arose. As Lyle had finished cutting the wood, it suddenly fell down as something from above pushed it down. Lyle quickly acted and managed to grab the nk and the pouch that was above it, but he was now struggling with keeping his bnce as he was only holding on to the carriage with his legs.


    His abdominal muscles were tightened to their fullest as he slowly moved up before managing to put the pouch back inside and grab the underside of the carriage with his now free hand. He put the wooden nk inside as well before pulling himself up and entering the carriage.

 Chapter 22: Level 10

    <h4>Chapter 22: Level 10</h4>


    The inside of the carriage was pitch-ck, but for Lyle that was no problem. Therger problem came from bumps on the road that the carriage would go over from time to time, which would make it shake a bit and almost make him lose his footing.


    Lyle checked out the inside of the carriage, there were multiple pouches that were neatly put on the side and a couple of crates. That was it, there was nothing else.


    Most of the carriage was empty, except for those items.


    But upon inspecting what was inside, Lyle stood in the carriage shocked.


    Gems, jewelry, weapons, armor¡­


    The inside of the carriage was full of such things, the wealth that was now put in front of Lyle was something that only nobles could possess.


    ''What the hell are these things doing here?!'' Lyle shouted inside his mind as he stared at the weapons and armor in the carriage. Even though there were only enough armor pieces to equip 10 men, all of them were of very high quality.


    Their red color and sleek design would bring the best out of anyone, in terms of looks at least. The defense they provided was great since they were made by a high-ranking cksmith that the duke had contacted.


    Yes, the armor pieces that were inside the carriage were from the private troops of the duke. Even though Lyle was able to easily kill the death soldiers inside the castle previously, it was mostly because they themselves were weak, too weak to possess such good armor.


    As for weapons, there were about 20 of them, all swords.


    ''The jewelry and gems were probably also from the castle.'' Thought Lyle before putting everything in his spatial ring and going back outside.


    ''I definitely can''t let them see me now.'' Lyle thought as he looked around him.


    The caravan had actually gone inside the forest.


    Even though they were passing through the shallow part of the forest where they would face no enemy strong enough to truly threaten them, it was still weird as there were better paths to take.


    ''It doesn''t matter, I can use this to my advantage and leave without being seen.'' Lyle thought before slowly moving to the edge of the carriage.


    As soon as the carriage passed next to some dense bushes that even got a bit entangled in the wheels of the carriage, Lyle jumped.


    The sound of the bushes did not rm the guards or anyone else since they all knew that the path was narrow and that taking it would result in them hitting nts.


    Lyle''s escape was not only sessful but pretty much perfect.


    A couple of seconds had passed before Lyle got up and dusted himself off. He stared at the back of the caravan that was now far away and smiled.


    ''I can''t believe I managed to do this.'' Lyle said to himself before pping himself a bit to calm down his emotions.


    ''Let me get a bit further away before checking out my gains.'' Lyle thought before taking his leave.


    He only stopped after he had moved for about 2 minutes. Climbing on a tree, he leaned back against it as he sat on a big branch before checking the inside of his spatial ring.


    Just a brief scan of the items made his smilee back.


    ''All of this is worth more than 100 000 gold coins, hell, it might be worth two hundred thousand!''


    ''With this much, I can buy better gear and pay the organization for many things like someone to guard me, assassinate others, information¡­''


    ''I''m only going to get paid 20 000 coins for killing the duke, but that was because he was an easy target and nobody thought that the archmage would be so powerful, plus it was a given that anything I found in the castle would be mine, which further lowered the payment.'' Lyle thought before smiling again.


    ''But this, this will be enough for a long time, Ilya himself had about 110 000 coins in the ring, after I find some good jewelry stores, I will be able to easily sell the jewelry and gems quickly.''


    ''But for now, I need to get stronger.'' Lyle said as his face went back to his usual, deadpan self.


    Lyle brought out his gear and put it on. His ck suit of armor was made of the leather of a demonic beast that was almost as powerful as a Golden Knight. There were metal pieces on the armor as well, they were sewn on and served to protect the vital areas of the body.


    Lyle''s whole body was now covered in a suit of armor that clung tightly to his body but didn''t impair his mobility at all.


    His two daggers were put on their small sheaths that were on his waist while Lyle also took out a couple of smaller items.


    sh bombs that upon hitting the ground would not only explode and produce a bright light that would blind enemies for a couple of seconds but would also create a loud sound that would make their ears ring for quite some time.


    Smaller throwing knives were also included in Lyle''s gear. The knives were about 7.5cm ( 3 inches ) long and had no handles on them. Lyle would simply grab them with his fingers before throwing them at the enemies.


    Finally, there was also a spear. Lyle liked having a spear with him, it allowed him to possess means of a powerful long-range attack as the daggers were too small to be able to deal with some enemies.


    Lyle checked his gear once again and after confirming that everything was fine, he took off and went deeper inside the forest, ready to begin hunting the monsters.


    A couple of hourster.


    Lyle was sitting atop a branch as he looked down on multiple bodies of dead monsters. The monsters had their bodies cut apart and their blood was spewed around everywhere in the area.


    That was because Lyle had used his ability in order to manipte the blood. The stench of blood permeated through the forest as the many monsters smelt it. They moved closer to the origin of the smell, just like Lyle wanted them to.


    A couple of minutes before, just as Lyle had finished the battle against the humanoid monsters that were lying dead below him, he hit level 10. A notification appeared at that time.


    [ yer has reached level 10, please take on the trial challenge ]


    [ The yer will be unable to continue leveling up before taking the challenge, the ss halls have been spawned in all bigger cities of the world and one can now ess them in order to get a ss after hitting level 10 ]


    Ding!


    [ ss found, the yer has already received a ss thanks to his bloodline ]


    Ding!


    [ yer has gained a ss and evolved to a stronger being, awarding stats.]


    [ Strength + 4 , Agility + 6 , Endurance + 3 , Vitality + 2 , Willpower + 3, Spirit + 3 ]


    Name: Lyle


    Level: 10 ¨C 310 / 3000 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: 18


    Agility: 21


    Endurance: 13


    Vitality: 13


    Willpower: 13


    Spirit: 16


    Ding!


    [ The yer has reached the first threshold with the ''agility'' stat, new skill gained ]


    Ding!


    [ Warning, a problem has arisen. ]


    [ Thanks to the yer''s bloodline, the system is unable to give out rewards for thresholds since the yer has none at this moment. ]


    [ Please improve your strength in order to gain the benefits and bonuses from your bloodline ]


    Lyle was a bit confused over what the system meant by thresholds and how he had none right now, but he didn''t trouble himself much with all of that.


    He was surprised to see therge increase in stats after hitting level 10 as the bonus was more than what he had received from all the previous 10 levels before.


    That had given him an idea. He was now much more powerful than before and knew that he could deal with arge group of enemies. He used his ability to spread the blood around before climbing on a tree.


    The humanoid monsters he had killed were called the Eijas. They resembled humans a lot, they walked on two legs and had two arms, a neck, and a head. The main difference was the size.


    Eijas was at least 2 meters tall and their bodies were very thin and bony. They were monsters that didn''t possess intelligence and liked to eat the organs of other beings. Their elongated necks and heads made them incredibly creepy, as did the smiles that were always stered on their faces.


    They had no nose, ears no teeth. Their mouths were like the beak of a bird and they used that to tear off the flesh before swallowing organs whole.


    Lyle had previously killed a group of 7, but he knew that where there was a group of them, there were multiple other groups close by.


    The blood and spilled organs would attract the others as the Eijas were cannibals as well. Any fallen Eijas would have their corpse destroyed by their brethren as they tore the body apart in order to reach the organs.

 Chapter 23: Demon Boars

    <h4>Chapter 23: Demon Boars</h4>


    Sounds of the bushes being moved could be heard as monsters approached the area.


    It wasn''t just Eijas that had appeared, but other monsters as well.


    The wolves of the forest had an excellent sense of smell that was further improved after the system arrived and the world''s mana started going rampant.


    Toskars, demon boars, which although have ''demon'' in their name, are not truly demonic creatures.


    Their appearance was demonic as they had spikes growing out of their back and their blood-red head was enough to spook any new adventurer that came to the forest. Their tusks were about 20cm ( 8 inches ) long and curved down next to the mouth.


    The interesting thing about the tusks was that they couldn''t stab with them, they actually used them as des as the forward part of the tusks was incredibly sharp.


    They ate meat and only meat. Their mouths were full of incredibly sharp teeth that could rip apart flesh with ease and were considered to be some of the most dangerous beasts inside the forest.


    From what Lyle was able to see, the demon boars were definitely more powerful than the other monsters at this moment.


    As soon as the monstersid eyes on one another, they started attacking.


    The forest floor was a mess, the monsters tore apart one another as Lyle simply looked at them from above.


    He wasn''t going to join the battle, at least not yet.


    He held his throwing knives as he used them to pick off any monsters that were close to dying in order to get more Soul Power, but that was all he did so far.


    There were simply too many monsters present and he would get torn apart by them if he went down.


    The Eijas were powerful and could crush a normal human easily with their bare hands, but they were slow and clumsy, which made it rtively easy for even normal humans to escape from them when in the forest.


    The Toskars were even worse their numbers down had thinned and were almostpletely killed by the other monsters.


    The wolves were fast, deadly, and cunning, which made them one of the apex predators of the forest.


    The demon boars, however, were simply powerful. Their thick hide andrge size made it almost impossible to stop their charge. They were also quite swift and attacking them from the side or back would not give the best results.


    The spikes they had on their backs not only defended them against attacks but were also another means of attacking the enemy after charging at them.


    Lyle waited for about 6 minutes before the number of monsters went down. He took out his spear and infused mana into his right hand before pulling it back and throwing his spear with full force at a boar.


    The spear flew through the air and prated deep inside the already wounded boar. It had previously scrapped against two wolves before running into an Eijas that had managed to grab its body before attempting to squish it to death.


    The spikes had saved the boar as they prated through the monster''s hand and forced it to let go of the boar.


    Now it was dead, the spear had prated right above its head and dealt the final blow.


    Lyle nodded to himself before jumping down at an Eijas that was currently holding a wolf that had tried to jump on top of it and bite its neck.


    Lyle quickly stabbed down at the shoulders of the Eijas before pulling out the dagger that was being held by his right hand and stabbing the Eijas''s neck from the side.


    He didn''t stop, his right hand continued moving as he opened up the neck and a fountain of blood started flowing out.


    The Eijas let go of the wolf and tried to hold his neck, but the result would still stay the same.


    Lyle jumped off from the back of the Eijas and shed at its eye before falling down on the wolf the monster had let go and stabbed down at it.


    Lyle''s daggers were incredibly sharp and prated through the fur of the wolf with ease.


    He quickly pulled his hands back as the daggers cut open tworge cuts on the wolf''s stomach.


    Intestines could be seening out from the body as the wolf yelped in pain. Lyle simply stabbed it in the eye before jumping back and dodging a charge from another demon boar.


    The boar continued forward and hit the wolf, the tusks immediately cut deep inside the body of the already dead wolf before the boar lifted it with his head and threw it back.


    The body was almost cut in half from the boar''s actions and fell about 1 meter in front of Lyle who was running at another Eijas that was squeezing two Toskars in his hands.


    He quickly threw his daggers at the two small monsters.


    Thud!


    Thud!


    The daggers stabbed deeply through the heads of the monsters as Lyle jumped up and pulled them out before stabbing the Eijas in its eyes.


    The monster screamed out in pain and let go of the dead Toskars before trying to catch Lyle in a bear hug and crash his body.


    Lyle was ready for it, however.


    He had stabbed the daggers so that the serrated parts were facing down. With that, he was able to get a good grip on the eye sockets and used the daggers in order to pull himself up and get above the head of the Eijas that was now bent over.


    The daggers had been pulled out and Lyle quickly stabbed at the neck. He could have stabbed the head, but he wasn''t sure whether he had enough strength to actually prate through the thick skull of the Eijas and therefore he opted for the easier, more certain way of killing it.


    By the time the Eijas had fallen down, the demon boar had killed another two wolves and it was only it and Lyle that was left alive.


    The boar had some wounds on its body, but they weren''t anything serious while Lyle waspletely unharmed.


    He had managed to kill all of his enemies without sustaining damage and was actually quite proud of himself for doing so.


    He stared at the boar as it charged at him with the tusks pointing straight at his body.


    The boar was about 1.3 meters ( 4.25 feet ) tall and the soil beneath its feet were getting thrown around from the sheer power it had during the charge.


    Lyle knew that he would be unable to stop the charge of the monster. His equipment was great, but he was unable to use it to its fullest as he was simply far too weak at this moment.


    He sidestepped in order to dodge the charge before running toward the body of the boar he had killed with the spear.


    He needed it.


    Even though his daggers were sharp enough to even cut through the spikes on the boar''s back and perhaps even the tusks, he would be unable to do it since his body was much, much weaker now.


    With the spear, however, he would have more options.


    The best way of fighting an enemy like the boar was to have a weapon that would allow you to have a good reach distance. His daggers were simply too short to present him with such an advantage, but the spear would be more than enough.


    The boar was, however, faster than him and he needed to jump to the side twice in order to dodge the attacks.


    One of the attacks had managed to graze his leg, and even though he had a leather of a powerful monster equipped, the power beneath that simple graze was enough to give him quite some pain.


    The thing with better equipment was the fact that they needed mana in order to be used to their fullest.


    Without having sufficient mana to activate the equipment, they were simply a bit better than average ones.


    The armor for one, without being infused with mana, would not have even a third of its normal defensive properties. The same went for the weapons and any other items he had.


    Lyle could use mana and infuse it into the items, but he now had simply way too low of a mana capacity, and doing it once would make his mana reserve go down.


    Lyle sprinted and grabbed the spear before turning around and widening his eyes.


    The boar was right in front of him.


    Dodging at this moment was impossible, there was simply not enough time left.


    Lyle nted the spear in front of him and aimed it at the boar, hoping for the best possible ending.


    The spear went through the head, but it also dug deeper and deeper inside the soil.


    The momentum of the boar carried over even after its death and soon it collided with Lyle.


    The sharp tusks dug deeply into the armor as the boar fell down on him. The heavy body of the boar almost squished him as he struggled to push it to the side and free himself.


    Such a battle would probably make the other monsters second-guess whether they wished toe here or not, but the intense stench of blood would still make some too curious.


    He needed to take his knives back and get the hell out of there before more monsters arrived.

 Chapter 24: System Limits and The Midnight Dagger

    <h4>Chapter 24: System Limits and The Midnight Dagger</h4>


    The night was still young, at least for Lyle who only nned on returning to the city in the morning. He guessed that he had about 2.5 hours before he would need to go back to the city in order to return at the right time so that he could get back in his room without being seen by the staff or other guests.


    The inn he was staying at right now was located at an even better spotpared to the previous one that he choose without thinking too much as he didn''t n on staying long in the city anyway.


    There were other buildings, alleys, and trees around the inn, which made it incredibly easy for Lyle to sneak in and out of his room.


    He took a short break atop another tree. The sound of monsters growling and fighting each other reverberated through the forest as, just as he had guessed, they had arrived at where the battle between him and the other monsters happened and was starting to ughter one another.


    One thing surprised Lyle as he had managed to get about 200 meters away from the area as the system notification hit one more time.


    Ding!


    [ The battle has been concluded collecting soul power ¡­ ]


    -Lvl 5 Toskar killed, 25 soul power gained


    -Lvl 4 Toskar killed, 20 soul power gained


    -Lvl 5 Toskar killed, 25 soul power gained


    -Lvl 12 Eijas killed, 250 soul power gained


    -Lvl 11 Eijas killed, 200 soul power gained


    -Lvl 14 Demon Boar killed, 350 soul power gained


    -Lvl 15 Demon Boar killed, 400 soul power gained


    -Lvl 9 Wolf killed, 90 exp gained


    ¡­


    - Rank E Iron Dagger acquired


    - Rank E Rough Leather Boots acquired


    ¡­


    [ Due to the host being 5 levels above some monsters, the soul power has been halved, if the host is 10 levels higher than a monster, he will not receive any soul power. ]


    [ The host has earned 1 520 Soul Power and 14 S Coins ]


    [ Soul Coins or S Coins for short are the currency upon which the system and most organizations in the gxy operate, unlocking more functions of the system will cost the host and the other hosts of the S Coins and contributions which can be earned by ying monsters, leveling up,pleting certain quests or challenges that the system gives and more. ]


    [ Buying items from the system, initiating contact with beings outside of the, having any craftsman outside of the make items for you, and using the services of buildings and organizations that have spawned on the will all need S Coins. ]


    Finding out that there was a currency that the system used and that it was used outside of their was a big shock to Lyle.


    He had already had thoughts that life outside of the existed, hell, it was almost certain as the top powers of the had already managed to finds that had mana on them.


    They were even close to creating portals that would lead them there, but Lyle was unaware if they were sessful with that or not.


    Another finding was that any enemy that was 5 levels below Lyle would give only 50% of the soul power and that 10 levels lower meant no soul power at all.


    It made sense since weaker people could simply stay in the safer areas and hunt monsters to level up, and more powerful beings that could level an entire city with their spells and attacks could increase their soul power very quickly if such a limit didn''t exist.


    Lyle didn''t really care for it, as an assassin he was used to killing people that were stronger than him and didn''t have a wide repertoire of skills that could be used on multiple opponents, making the limits not really unfavorable to him.


    They would certainly crush the dreams of many, however.


    The existence of items being suddenly spawned after a battle was another thing that surprised him.


    Since he couldn''t see anything that the system mentioned, he had even gone back a bit in order to check if the boots and dagger were in the ce he had previously fought the monsters, and his thoughts were correct.


    He could see a simple dagger and rough boots that farmers would usually wear on the ground. He didn''t really care for them as the gear he had on was much better so he simply left.


    Still, knowing that he could actually get gear just from fighting monsters was an incredible thing. He had no idea what the rank was and how many there were, but he guessed that he would learn in the future.


    That was before the system had seemingly read his thoughts and answered.


    [ The ranking for abilities and items goes from F to Z, with the full ranking being F ¨C E ¨C D ¨C C ¨C B ¨C A ¨C S ¨C SS ¨C SSS ¨C Z ]


    Lyle simply nodded his head, grateful to know the rankings.


    He was now aware that his ability to control blood was not a normal one at all, as it was ranked at S, which was on the higher end of the spectrum.


    After dealing with all of that, Lyle stood up from the branch before heading deeper inside the forest.


    Since weaker enemies now barely gave him any soul power, he needed to go and fight those that were at least level 10, otherwise gaining levels would take too long.


    He ran through the forest at full speed, alerting a couple of monsters that were nearby. He could hear the monsters charging and running after him, but instead of feeling intimidated or concerned, he simply smirked before continuing to run.


    After some time, Lyle suddenly sped up before jumping on a tree and going back.


    The monsters who were suddenly left without a target were confused. They all looked around, only finding other monsters that had been charging at Lyle with them.


    The monsters were quickly rmed and started growling at each other, but not attacking.


    The more powerful monsters had some intelligence and wouldn''t simply jump to battle right away.


    But Lyle was, of course, aware of that.


    He grabbed two of his throwing knives before throwing them at two groups of monsters. There were 5 groups in total, and upon being injured, the monsters that belonged to the two groups that Lyle had targeted stared at the others in fury before attacking.


    Even though they had some basic intelligence, it was still not even close to a human''s.


    The monsters started a bloodbath while Lyle observed from above. He waited until the number of monsters had thinned down and they were injured before dropping down with his spear and killing one.


    He used the same tactic as before.


    Instead of simply charging in and fighting a group by himself, Lyle could manipte the monsters to fight against each other and tire themselves out before interrupting the fight and iming the benefits.


    His spear punctured the bodies of the monsters easily, and even though Lyle was not that proficient with the spear, he was still betterpared to an average spearman. He only used it for a bit before throwing the spear at a monster and quickly drawing out his daggers.


    So far, Lyle was too weak to even try using any of the skills that he had created or learned from the organization. There were some that he used, but they were more movements and subtle twists and turns of the body, legs, and arms than real skills as those were usually learned when one was close to reaching the realm of Knight.


    That was how it was done in the organization, however, other organizations had different methods of teaching.


    The organization that Lyle was a part of, The Midnight Dagger, operated differently from others.


    They believed that the fundamentals should be practiced till perfection before an assassin should start learning and creating skills of their own. Movement, throwing skills, close-quarterbat, stealth, and anything one could do in order to help be a better assassin was learned in the beginning.


    That was why in the early stages, the new recruits of the Midnight Dagger were weakerpared to most organizations, but after the recruits matured, they were above most, especially when reaching Tier II and higher.


    Lyle was using all that he had learned back then in every single battle. He didn''t even think about it, he just did it as it was a part of his daily life at this point.


    But the skills would only be avableter as Lyle would definitely suffer from exhausting his mana if he tried to use any now.


    Lyle flickered around the area as he battled against the monsters and used the surroundings to his advantage. Many times would the monster charge at him, only to be met with a tree, rock, or another monster when Lyle dodged.


    He picked them apart methodically and barely suffered a scratch from the battle. His stamina was a different story, however, as he was slowly starting to get tired.

 Chapter 25: [Bonus Chapter] Khilmen

    <h4>Chapter 25: [Bonus Chapter] Khilmen</h4>


    "Phew, that should be enough for today," Lyle said as he exhaled deeply.


    Tens of bodies were piled up around him, there were Eijars, Demon Boars, Gnolls, Kobolds, and even hobgoblins.


    Finding Gnolls and Kobolds was a surprise for Lyle as they were usually much deeper inside the forest. Most of the time, the two monster races stuck to being closer to the mountain that was further away and rarely ever ventured close to cities or viges.


    Kobolds and Gnolls possessed higher intelligence than most monsters at their level and would usually keep to themselves as they feared the fierce retaliation that humans would give after they would destroy a vige.


    Seeing them this close meant one of two things.


    They were chased out from the mountain and had no other option but toe here, or more of them had appeared and they were now spreading around because they needed more resources.


    The hobgoblins were what made Lyle truly worried.


    If there were already hobgoblins that led goblins here, then it wouldn''t take long for more powerful variants to appear.


    Ogres were one of those variants. They were incredibly powerful monsters that could crush enemies of the same level thanks to their incredible physical strength, but their intelligence was lowerpared to hobgoblins and goblins of the same level, which made setting up traps to target them easier.


    Hobgoblins and goblins also had other forms they could take after bing more powerful.


    Goblin warriors and sling shooters were two of the mostmon ones, but there were also shamans, alchemists, and more.


    Those were the ones that were harder to deal with since they used magic and the weakness of their fleshly bodies would be negated.


    Hobgoblins could also be warriors, swordsmen, archers, shamans, alchemists, brawlers, juggernauts, and more.


    They would be harder and harder to deal with if the empire didn''t respond quickly, but judging by how fast things had changed in the forest, Lyle doubted that the other regions of the empire had stayed peaceful.


    It was just like the system had said in the beginning, the world was going through a change, and humans and other intelligent species would have to struggle again in order to survive the new dangers that would show up.


    Lyle made up his mind to tell the guards about what he had found, but he would of course first disguise himself as another person.


    Simply telling them that he had seen all of these monsters made no sense, so he cut off the heads of some Gnolls, Kobolds, and Hobgoblins in order to persuade them. After doing so, Lyle made his way back to the city.


    He disguised himself as a middle-aged man that wore a ponytail and an eyepatch. Multiple scars could be seen on his face and the bare chest was visible thanks to the robe he was now wearing.


    The robe wasn''t just a normal robe, well, it was, but what it represented was far from ordinary.


    Lyle was wearing a robe that was called the Khi. The Khi was a robe that one could buy almost everywhere in the world and the people that wore it was called Khilmen.


    The Khilmen belonged to no empire or kingdom, but a n of warriors that one could join simply by showing his worth and strength. The one that led the n was one of the most powerful people below the world''s strongest five and was well-respected by many thanks to his great power and young age.


    Khiemon.


    It was a name, but also a title that was given to the leader of the Khilmen.


    Being only 50 years old, the current Khiemon was a talent that would only be seen once every 1000 years on the. He had risen in power quickly and many believed that soon he would break through to the next realm and that the strongest five would now have a sixth member amongst them.


    The Khilmen didn''t like wearing armor.


    They disliked using any tricks either.


    They were warriors and they fought in a pure and simple manner.


    The robe that they wore was easy to identify since there were 6 different weapons painted on its back, the symbol of the Khilmen.


    They would only use their weapon and that was it.


    Their robe offered barely any protection, but they didn''t need it as the Khilmen that were higher up in the hierarchy were all veteran fighters that could dust the floor with a normal opponent that was of their level.


    Impersonating a Khilman was a serious offense, but simply wearing the robes wasn''t. There were many that would buy the robe simply to walk around and show off, but some of those would face a terrible future as there were many underground organizations that held a grudge against the Khilmen and would attack them on sight.


    Even some Kingdoms and Empires had banned the Khilmen from entering and the robes banned from being sold.


    Still, there were those that would simply buy the robes and, in an attempt to look powerful and dangerous, would disappear.


    Wearing the robe of a Khilman was something that Lyle asionally did as they were quite well-respected in the Golden Lion Empire.


    Partly it was because of how powerful the upper echelons of the Khilmen were, while another part was because the protector of the realm, the most powerful being in the empire had once been a Khilman before he hung the robe and retired from the life.


    Being caught impersonating a Khilman was thus even worse here.


    Lyle was well-versed in acting as a Khilman, but he was a bit nervous. He would need to face the royal soldiers and make them believe that he was a Khilman himself, but without his previous power and theck of mana, he wouldn''t be able to pressure them with his aura or anything like that.


    His killing intent was the only thing he had left.


    He had honed his killing intent so that none would leak when he would go for the killing blow during an assassination attempt, but one other thing he could do was what he had done when facing the duke previously.


    He could suddenly erupt with a dense and powerful killing intent that would shake the very core of beings that were in front of him.


    That would be the only way Lyle could get the soldiers to believe he truly was a Khilman, if that failed, however, he would either need to flee from the spot or reveal his true identity in order to avoid being arrested or even killed by the soldiers.


    Lyle had now arrived near the city, upon walking to the gate, the soldiers had already noticed him.


    The robe, coupled with Lyle''s face and mannerisms made them a bit tense.


    A Khilman arriving in the city was quite weird as they were mostly found in areas where the monsters were high in density and were more powerful.


    His appearance and the invisible pressure that formed around him made the soldiers turn serious as they could immediately identify that the person in front of them was not someone to be trifled with.


    Upon seeing their countenance, Lyle was surprised a bit. He was only leaking a small portion of his killing intent, but the effect was obviously much greater than he anticipated.


    "S-State your reason foring here, Khilman." One of the soldiers said as he stared at Lyle.


    "I was merely passing by, but a troublesome sight had shown itself to my eyes, I merelye here to warn you and to investigate further for a couple of days," Lyle said in a serious tone as he suddenly took out the heads from his spatial ring.


    Seeing the heads of Kobolds, Gnolls, and Hobgoblins falling down on the ground made the soldiers confused at first, while the onlookers stared in horror at the bloody sight.


    "They were a couple of kilometers away from the mountain, you know what that means, right?" Lyle asked the guards who suddenly widened their eyes in shock.


    "The monsters have started moving, it seems that the words we all heard two days ago did not lie, the world is changing, and we need to follow it, otherwise it could spell our doom," Lyle said before making a brief pause and continuing.


    "You should bring this to the duke, and alert him of the changes, I will be staying here for a couple of days, investigating what is happening in the forest," Lyle said before walking through the open gate.


    "W-wait, sir, the duke, he, he is dead." A soldier suddenly spoke from behind Lyle.


    Lyle turned around and stared at the soldier before opening his mouth.


    "What happened?"


    "An assassin appeared, he killed the duke right before the so-called ''system'' appeared, we came to investigate his death, I will bring this to themander, will you join us?"


    ''As if.'' Lyle thought in his head before speaking.


    "No, as I have stated before, I am merely passing by, I only wish to investigate the forest for a couple of days, I will not bother themander or you, I bide you farewell now, the journey has been long and I wish to rest before starting my investigation," Lyle said before turning around and disappearing around the corner, leaving the soldiers dumbfounded as they stared at the heads.


    "Go to themander, he needs to know about this!" One of the soldiers said as the one closest to the heads nodded before picking them up and speeding to the castle.

 Chapter 26: The Commander’s Offer

    <h4>Chapter 26: The Commander''s Offer</h4>


    On top of the castle, in a study that belonged to the old duke, themander of thepany of soldiers sat, a big table was ced in front of him, and on it, tens of documents that he needed to go through.


    The documents presented all the wrongdoings of the young duke, the archmage, and other ministers of the territory.


    The study was actually the highest ce in the castle, but after the death of the old duke, it was locked and nobody was allowed to enter.


    That was under the orders of the young duke Orsted. Themander had opened the study, and upon seeing that nothing was out of ce, he used it to go through the documents.


    The portrait of the old duke and his family was hung on the left wall while the right was filled with bookshelves.


    Documents that the old duke was going through before his death were still there.


    The difference between reports the old duke had gotten and the ones that were in front of themander were very, very different.


    The situation was worse than expected. Almost all of the noble houses here were guilty of numerous charges and if charged with all of the evidence that themander had, most would lose their titles, while some would even be beheaded.


    That was what themander nned on doing, he had no sympathy for those bastards that sat around and did nothing but collect money from their business while asionally going out to cause trouble.


    Beheading was a mercy to those bastards, but he was not thewmaker, and neither could he try to change the rules.


    He knew that even after he would present the evidence to the royal court, some of it would definitely get misced and lost. There were always deals happening in the shadows, deals that he was not privy to because of his position.


    Still, even those that would survive and perhaps face no consequences would still pay a price. Most would be the dogs of the empire, doing anything and everything that the empire needed of them.


    They would never have as much freedom as before and would spend their whole lives serving the crown without any means of rebelling.


    For some, such a thing was too disgraceful, the disgrace they would feel would eat them away until they made a blunder. When they did so, then it would be time for them to face the consequences that they had managed to escape from so long ago.


    Themander sighed, even after 2 days he was still not close to dealing with everything here.


    With the situation of the entire world changing, he didn''t even know what to do.


    He had contacted his superiors, but the only response he got was one that told him to continue with the original n until they updated him with more information.


    Suddenly


    Loud knocks could be heard on the door of the study. Themander raised an eyebrow before opening his mouth.


    "Enter." His calm voice reverberated through the study as the door opened and the royal soldier from the gate entered the room.


    "Sir, we might have a problem." The soldier said before showing the heads of the dead monsters.


    He had put them in special bags so that blood or brain matter wouldn''t drip down. Even after his death, the old duke was still one of the most respected people in the empire, the soldier wouldn''t dare to sully his study with blood.


    Upon seeing the slight confusion on themander''s face, the soldier quickly narrated what had happened. He told about the Khilman that had suddenly appeared and given them the heads while reporting that the monsters were moving.


    Upon hearing everything, themander simply sighed before getting up and looking through the window.


    "The world is changing, the situation of the dukedom is far worse than anticipated, the assassin that was supposed to send the signal never showed up, even though he had done his mission, and now a mysterious stranger, a Khilman, shows up." Themander scratched the back of his head before sitting down.


    "Can''t I get a break?" Themander said as he stared at the ceiling before looking at the soldier.


    "We currently don''t have nearly enough manpower to do a sweep of the forest, from your guess, what realm is this Khilman at?" Themander said before suddenly letting out mana and pressuring the soldier.


    The pressure onlysted for a couple of seconds before themander stopped and looked at the soldier who was now sweating a bit. Even though the soldier was a Knight, when put up against a Golden Knight, he was barely able to stand from the slight mana that themander leaked.


    "He never leaked mana, but the pressure he gave off simply by looking at us made it clear that he was above us, so I would say at least a high-level Silver Knight, or perhaps a Golden Knight."


    "I see." Themander said as he nodded.


    "He said that he will stay a couple of days in order to investigate the forest?"


    "Yes sir!"


    "Good, give his description to all the soldiers, including the ones from the dukedom, he is not to be disturbed by anybody, all we ask of him is to share his findings with us, if he needs help, he has the right to choose 2 royal soldiers of the Silver Knight realm to help him, resources as well." Themander said as the soldier stared at him with wide-open eyes.


    "Sir, that, I might be presumptuous to say, but isn''t that a bit too much?"


    "No, it isn''t presumptuous, it is too much, but it''s also a bet."


    "A bet, sir?"


    "Yes, if the Khilman manages to find out more information and give it to us, we will be the ones to profit, he knew that, that was why he had given you the heads and the information so easily, but I doubt he will ask of help, the Khilman like working alone best, he probably won''t ask for any resources either." Themander said before looking at the soldier.


    "Go, I want everybody to be aware of that man''s existence by sundown."


    "Yes sir!" The soldier said before bowing and going out of the study.


    "A Khilman, hmmmm." Themander mused to himself before taking another document to go over.


    As for the person they were discussing.


    He was currently sitting in the room and having a discussion with the system.


    [ The host''s bloodline will have an impact on other people, as long as the person in question isn''t 2 Tiers above you, they will feel a sense of suppressioning from you, those that are 2 Tiers above the host or more will, however, see through it. ]


    "So, the reason why me releasing a bit of killing intent was able to make those soldiers nervous was because of my bloodline huh?" Lyle thought out loud as he stared out the window of his room.


    Knowing something like this would be very useful. He could now easily bluff and act powerful when faced with those that are stronger than him, of course, he doubted that it would work on everybody.


    [ Correct, as the host bes more powerful, the effect of the bloodline will be more powerful as well, but there would of course be those that also have a powerful bloodline or special abilities that will allow them to see through the host. ]


    "I see, that''s good to know, I probably shouldn''t try to use it in crowded ces then, I don''t want anyone to find out about my bloodline just yet," Lyle said before lying down on the bed.


    "I still haven''t used the [ Servitude ] skill, I wonder what kind of creature I should try and use this on, a hobgoblin, maybe a wolf?" Lyle thought before shaking his head. He would try to use the skill when the opportunity arose, he only had 1 slot for a servant, and he wasn''t going to use it for some weakling.


    The opportunity would, however,e sooner than Lyle had expected.


    As he got up from the bed, Lyle put on the robe of a Khilman before disguising himself once again. He used the same appearance he had in the morning and went to the city gate.


    Upon reaching the gate, the soldiers simply nodded at him while one called him over. He exined that themander would like to work together with Lyle and the terms he had given.


    Upon seeing the terms, Lyle smiled inside but simply shook his head whilst telling the guard that he will give them information about the forest for free and that there was no need to give him any benefits for something like that.


    ''Themander is a shrewd one, had I epted the offer, I would have probably been captured by him and the Silver Knights of thepany in the morning, he definitely knows that no Khilman would take such an offer as they disliked getting help for such simple matters.'' Lyle thought as he made his way into the forest.


    Upon hearing the report from the soldier that was at the gate, themander simply nodded before excusing the soldier, he nced at the window, smiled, and went back to reading the documents in front of him.

 Chapter 27: Harrison

    <h4>Chapter 27: Harrison</h4>


    "Now, where shall I go first?" Lyle thought as he stood in the forest.


    The forest that was close to the city was in no way a small one. It encapsted arge area of the dukedom and the deeper one went, the more powerful monsters they would encounter.


    It wasn''t as if the old duke couldn''t have destroyed the monsters of the forest back when he was alive, but he decided to simply keep the part that was close to the city empty while letting the monsters that were deeper inside live.


    They were good enemies for his soldiers to fight against and they also allowed the adventurer''s guild to have a ce nearby where they could train their newbies and those that were more powerful.


    From what Lyle knew, the most powerful monsters inside the forest were mere Bronze Knight realm monsters, such enemies would have been a piece of cake for him in the past, not to mention the powerful old duke who was a peak Golden Knight before his death.


    Destroying every monster inside the forest would have been nothing for that man, so him leaving them alive in order to train his troops was definitely true.


    But who knew, maybe there were some other, more interesting things to find inside the forest?


    It had changed since the system had arrived. It wasn''t that obvious in thest couple of days, but the trees had grown a bit and the bark was tougher.


    It was hard to notice in the parts close to the city, but as Lyle went in deeper, he was able to notice the slight changes.


    He had spent thest 2 days fighting in the forest and was able to see the slight changes that had taken ce.


    As Lyle passed through the forest and headed into the deeper areas, he hade across more monsters than usual.


    The suppression his bloodline had was, unfortunately not able to affect the monsters. Even though the suppression came from his bloodline and should affect all races, the monsters were simply not bothered by it.


    They would still, however, feel a threat from Lyle and would mostly keep out of his way.


    Lyle nned on going deeper than ever this time, he wanted to see just how the situation deeper inside the forest was before informing the soldiers that stood guard at the city gate.


    Hundreds of kilometers away from the city, however, the caravan that Lyle had robed had arrived at their location and entered a city that was a bit smallerpared to the one Lyle was in.


    The caravan guards escorted it to arge mansion before stopping in front of the gate of the mansion and waiting outside for the merchant toe out.


    The Tier I guards that had traveled with them went inside as they were originally members of the mansion and were just sent to make sure the merchant and the goods were safe.


    The lord of the mansion was another duke, but the one that had sent the merchant and the guards were the third son of the duke, Harrison.


    The third son was the one that held the least power in his family, he was the fifth child, and even his two older sisters had more influencepared to him.


    In the past, the young boy was good friends with Orsted, the only son of the old duke thatter became a duke himself.


    Orsted was simr to the boy in regards to not being very talented when it came to fighting or magic but had a scheming mind. The two were once good friends as their fathers were close as well.


    Orsted disliked the older siblings of the young boy and didn''t bother with them, but the two, however, became quite close.


    Harrison and Orsted would regrly hang out and talk, making up crazy ns that they would one day try to fulfill in order to raise through the ranks and reach heights that even their own fathers were unable to reach.


    They both knew that it was impossible for them to do so, but nothing stopped them from daydreaming at least.


    When the old duke was assassinated, Harrison was one of the first people to go to Orsted in order to check up on him and help him out.


    He could see that the old friend he once had changed, but Harisson didn''t know just how much he had changed.


    After spending 2 days with Orsted, Harrison got into a big argument with him, many things were said and Harrison was forced to leave as Orsted even threatened to get his guards to break his legs and throw him outside.


    Orsted also attacked Harrison where he was the most sensitive, calling him a useless piece of garbage that would never be able to amount to anything, a waste of space that, once one of his siblings managed to inherit his father''s position, would get shunned to the side and left to live a life of an average person.


    The words hit Harrison deeply and he never spoke to Orsted after that day.


    One thing he did, however, was nt spies.


    He had heard how Orsted was not loved by the people of the city a while back and decided to investigate.


    Harrison himself hid a deep secret.


    He never truly cared for the title of the duke.


    He never wished to really inherit his father''s position and lead the family.


    He wanted to stay unknown and just live a life of a rich person without having all the responsibility that came with it.


    For that to happen, however, he needed to have power as he would lose everything after his siblings took over.


    He put spies not only at Orsted but on multiple other people as well.


    He had created a spy organization that nobody knew of as they only served him.


    They weren''t particrly good, but there were 3 that were a cut above the rest.


    The three came from a different empire and were struggling to survive when Harisson took them in as his servants back when he was a kid.


    The three owed their lives to Harrison and vowed to serve him until their deaths.


    They trained hard and became quite strong and well-respected amongst the staff.


    It was they who gave Harrison the idea to make a spy organization and start collecting dirt on influential people in order to have more chips in the future.


    He always had a couple of his men in Orsted''s castle, and upon the assassination of the duke, they acted quickly.


    They went to the storeroom and picked up as much equipment as they could while another group took the jewels.


    They didn''t have time to think about getting more and left the castle fairly quickly with all the items.


    Theyid low for a day with the merchant who was also a member of the organization before leaving the city.


    The merchant didn''t only bribe the soldiers back when Lyle had seen him, but he also showed a small sigil that made the soldiers know that he worked for a noble family. That was the reason why the soldiers never checked the carriage, and why Lyle was able to rob them.


    In their haste, they simply didn''t have time to get a spatial ring to transport everything that way.


    As the merchant arrived deeper into the mansion, he and the guards entered a small storage room before getting off the carriage.


    Harrison was waiting for them with some other servants.


    The three head spies were of course there with him, each of them was a Tier IIbatant and a simple nce of theirs made the merchant tremble a bit.


    "You have arrived, did youe across any issues along the way? Harrison asked the merchant who simply shook his head.


    "No sir, everything went well, I-I have to say, to, to meet your esteemed self, I am very honored." The merchant said as he bowed down to Harrison who came in front of him.


    "Good, it''s good that no problems arose," Harrison said as he brought the merchant up and patted his shoulder.


    "Now we only need to get rid of any evidence of our involvement," Harrison said as he looked at the merchant whose eyes had opened wide in shock.


    A dagger had prated his chest and heart.


    Harrison stared at the merchant with cold eyes before twisting the dagger and pulling it out.


    The merchant fell down on the ground lifelessly, his eyes still showing shock at what had happened.


    This was supposed to be the day he would rise up through the ranks of the organization. He had done a very important task without any hups and was expected to be rewarded greatly.


    Instead, he was killed.


    It wasn''t only him, however.


    The guards that came with the caravan were all dead.


    The three behind Harrison had previously gone out and made short work of the guards who had still not reached even Tier I beforeing back to him.


    The son of the merchant stared at his father''s lifeless body in shock before staring at Harisson. His father had brought him together for this mission as he believed that his son could perhaps rise even higher in ranks than him after getting to know the boss and other higher-ups.


    A guard came behind the boy and slit his throat. The boy quickly bled out and died before his body was dragged somewhere together with his father''s body. His mother had died a long time ago and it was only he and his father in the family, their disappearance would probably go unnoticed.


    Harrison nodded to the guards as he stood behind the carriage doors.


    ''Finally, to think I got a chance to get something this valuable right now, my luck truly is too good.'' Harrison thought as the door opened, leaving his face confused as he stared at the empty carriage and the hole that was made in the bottom of it.

 Chapter 28: Harrison’s Plans

    <h4>Chapter 28: Harrison''s ns</h4>


    "Huh?" Harrison stared at the empty carriage before looking at one of the three Tier I guards that had been together with the merchant. The guard had the same reaction as Harrison, only one much stronger.


    He and the others were the ones in charge of protecting the caravan, especially thest carriage that held the important items inside.


    He and the others never even checked the carriage as they were hurrying to Harrison and didn''t want any dys. Nothing had happened during the trip and there was never a moment where the carriage was left alone as there was always at least one of them right next to it.


    They had been attacked by small groups of monsters and bandits along the way, but a simple show of strength was usually enough to make them flee, as for those that didn''t?


    Their lifeless bodies were left to rot on the road.


    The guards were all panicking now, they knew that the items they were transporting were incredibly valuable to their lord, and they were not here.


    "WHERE?!"


    "THE HELL?!


    "ARE MY GOODS?!"


    The guards shook in fear as Harrison''s enraged face appeared before them. His eyes were bloodshot and he was red in the face as he stared at them with hostility.


    "M-my lord, we don''t know, everything went well, we really have no idea what happened!" One of the guards said as he bowed down to Harrison who was still furious.


    Today was supposed to be the day when he would take the first step at creating his personal forces, the armor and weapons that he was supposed to receive were top-quality goods that one wouldn''t be able to get just by using money.


    The armor pieces and the weapons that Orsted had ordered to be made were made by a very respected cksmith, even if Harrison had the money to order something like that, he would need to wait incredibly long as his status was below many that the cksmith took orders from.


    It was thanks to Orsted being a duke and the fresh memory of his father that made the cksmith put his order a top priority.


    Everyone believed that Orsted was having them done at that time to increase the strength of his troops in order to fight against the enemy that took his father away.


    The weapons and armor that Harrison''s men had stolen were very valuable and were supposed to be used to arm the strongest among his followers. He nned on making some slight changes to them so that people wouldn''t recognize them before he would give it to them.


    But now, all of that was gone.


    Harrison didn''t care that much for the jewelry and gems that were missing as those were only secondary, but the weapons and armor were things he needed right now.


    He climbed inside the carriage and looked around, as did his 3 personal servants.


    They did a quick inspection beforeing to the same conclusion.


    Somebody went below, hung from the carriage, and cut off a piece of it before sneaking in and stealing everything.


    "You idiots!" Harrison bellowed as he struck one of the Tier I guards.


    "How did somebody manage to sneak in and steal the goods right under your noses?!"


    The guards were now terrified.


    They messed up, they truly messed up.


    They knew that Harrison would definitely not let them off the hook.


    Suddenly the three all acted.


    The one that Harrison had struck went to grab him as he was aware that the only way to survive today would be to take the young lord hostage and leave the city.


    The other two all positioned themselves next to the guard in order to stop the three Tier II fighters, but before the main guard could even grab Harrison, a hand grabbed his wrist before applying pressure and almost breaking it.


    One of Harrison''s personal servants, Jonah appeared in front of Harrison and shielded him from harm.


    The other two acted quickly as well, before the guards had been able to position themselves properly, they were already face-to-face with Elena and Ian, the other two personal servants of Harrison.


    Ian and Elena struck the two heavy and in a matter of seconds, the battle was over as the two guards were lying on the ground, their arms broken.


    Jonah didn''t spare the guard in front of him, he snapped his wrist before using his finger to poke and destroy one of the guard''s eyes.


    He then quickly bent down and grabbed the guard''s leg before sweeping him off the ground and breaking the leg.


    He then proceeded to stomp and smash the other hand of the guardpletely. The guard screamed in agony, as did the other two.


    Harrison on the other hand looked unbothered as he neared the incapacitated guard.


    "You have failed me, I know that you thought you could escape by capturing me, but now you will find out what happens to those that not only fail me but also threaten my life." Harrison nced at the three who quickly nodded to him before grabbing the guards and throwing them out, allowing a couple of people to pick them up and bring them somewhere.


    "You will soon be begging for death," Harrison said as he stared at the three guards who were soon gone from his sight.


    "What shall we do, my lord?" Elena asked as Harrison sat on the carriage and sighed deeply.


    "Nothing, whoever did this was good, they not only snuck past the three guards but were able to take everything quickly and disappear without causing an rm, it was probably a Tier II or Tier IIIbatant, probably an Assassin or Thief," Harrison said with a heavy face as he looked back at the carriage.


    The weapons and armor were supposed to be his trump card in the fight against his siblings, even though theymanded great respect amongst his father''s troops and servants, even they would have great trouble getting such good items.


    The armor and weapons that Orsted had ordered were good enough for Golden Knights to use, they were rare and hard toe by, even Orsted had only gotten about 50 of them after using an incredible amount of wealth.


    Of course,pared to the equipment that Golden Knights used, such mass-produced items were barely enough, but for Harrison, they would be a godsend.


    "Should we travel to Olswan and try to find the perpetrator?" Ian asked while Harrison simply shook his head.


    "There''s no way that the thief would continue staying here, not after Orsted has been assassinated, hell, it could even be the same person that assassinated him that stole the items, I highly doubt we would be able to do anything to someone like that."


    "The crown had a hand with Orsted''s death, older brother sent me a letter to tell me that, he probably did it just to spite me, even the one friend I had, no matter how strained our rtionship might be, turned out to be a traitor in the end."


    "A traitor?" Jonah asked in confusion before shutting his mouth.


    "Apologies, my lord, I shouldn''t meddle."


    "It''s alright, Jonah," Harrison said as he looked at him calmly.


    "Orsted had a hand in his parent''s death." The words struck the three like thunder as they stared at Harrison in shock.


    "He had allied himself with the enemy, that idiot, to actually do something like that, I wonder if he broke our rtionship on purpose so that I wouldn''t get mixed up in all of that?" Harrison said as he thought of the times he and Orsted spent together.


    It was true that the two were inseparable at one point and were like brothers.


    Their rtionship was great until the day the old duke died. After the argument, Harrison and Orsted never talked again, hell, Harrison put spies inside the castle in order to dig out dirt that he could use against Orsted.


    But upon learning of the truth, Harrison had a different perspective now.


    Perhaps all that happened was Orsted''s n, in order to not get Harrison to fall down with him in the case of his betrayal being found out, he may have broken their rtionship on purpose.


    "Whatever it may be, we are back to step 1, we don''t have our weapons and armor so we can''t arm ourselves, but not all is lost thankfully, we will continue with our n in Orsvald, you three should depart in about a week, also, don''t forget to train, you''re power has fallen thanks to the appearance of this ''system'' and you need to regain your strength," Harrison said before heading out.


    ''But now things are different, even the talentless I can now rise up and be more powerful, I won''t need to hide behind my men in the future and need protection all the time.'' Harrison told himself as his eyes held a dangerous light inside of them.


    ''I should go as well, killing monsters will help me get stronger, even killing that merchant has given me Soul Power.'' Harrison had received a notification from the system after killing the merchant, he was merely at level 1, and killing the merchant had given him 10 Soul Power, but now he knew that he could finally rise up in power and contend against his siblings in other things as well.

 Chapter 29: Servitude Failing and Lyle in Danger

    <h4>Chapter 29: Servitude Failing and Lyle in Danger</h4>


    "Shit!" Lyle cursed as he sped through the forest.


    ''I messed up, I really messed up this time, I should have known better than to get that close.'' Lyle thought as he ran as fast as he could, his limited mana being expended fast while a monster rammed through the trees behind him as it pursued him.


    About an hour ago.


    Lyle had just finished another battle.


    He was now level 14 and was surprised to find that he was now getting 2 free attribute points together with 2 points that would randomly be allocated. That meant that he was now getting 4 points in total, which was double more than before he had hit level 10.


    The increase in stats was good, but Lyle decided to hold onto using the attribute points just yet, one never knew when he would need a boost in power so he decided to simply have them stored for now.


    The monsters deeper inside was of course stronger, Lyle had evene across a territory of some slimes.


    Slimes in the world of Corleon were a bit weird.


    There were many of them that belonged to the lowest ranks of monsters, but even then, they weren''t easy to kill since one needed to destroy the core that was found in the center.


    The slimes were usually acidic and touching them would burn one''s skin, flesh, and bones.


    The more powerful slimes simply became bigger and the acid before more powerful, some could even melt weapons the moment they touched them. Even spells wouldn''t work on more powerful slimes since their acid could melt mana as well.


    There were different breeds and variants of slimes, of which the most powerful were the Ice slimes that would constantly release frost from their bodies and could freeze over a small forest.


    Lava slimes lived in extremely hot areas and they would leave a trail ofva that would consume everything in their path. They could of course also use mana and bombard people with fireballs, fire breath, and more.


    The rarest and most powerful amongst them, however, was a type of slime that is considered extinct in the world.


    The spirit slime.


    The spirit slimes were always incredibly rare and hard to find, but their power was something else.


    It was considered to be one of the most powerful monsters in Corleon and it was only about 2 centuries ago when the different empires of the world joined with a couple of monster ns to annihte the spirit slimes that were led by a king.


    The king was said to be even more powerful than the current top powerhouses in the world. The battle took days to finish and in the end, a couple of kingdoms were almost destroyed in the aftermath. Mountains were shaken and some even copsed, rivers were overturned and thendscape was forever changed.


    That was at least what everybody knew, the true story could be much different.


    Even Lyle decided to not disturb the slimes as it wasn''t worth it. He could only use his spear to fight them, but there were many and it would take too long to kill them all.


    Lyle continued through the forest, fighting more powerful versions of the monsters he hade across before while alsoing across some new ones such as forest fairies which were monsters that would charm one intoing close to them, they would look like the fairest of all maidens, the ideal woman that one wanted.


    But when one would get close enough, the fairy would change, the beautifuldy would disappear and a skinny, ugly-looking deformity of what a human could potentially look like would attack.


    Lyle hade across such monsters before, he almost lost his life the first time he did so.


    When he was merely starting as an assassin, he once made a mistake and had to chase his target through a forest.


    He found a fairy instead. Seeing the ethereal beauty in front of him made Lyle stare beforeing closer to her, only to be greeted by her long ws that dug deep inside his chest.


    If not for the dagger that he held in his right hand and the rigorous training that made stabbing or cutting someone in the face of danger a reflex, Lyle might have died there.


    Upon killing the fairy, he was able to see his target lying dead on the ground, his body seemingly looking much older than before.


    That was what the fairies did, they would take all your vitality, all the mana, and blood in your body and store it inside of them in order to show their illusions.


    Lyle fought the fairy that he came across in the forest, but didn''t kill her.


    He grabbed her before plunging his fangs deep inside her neck.


    He wanted to make her a servant of his.


    He knew that once someone got bitten, their appearance would change. If the fairy turned out to look like a human after being changed by him, then he could easily bring her with him anywhere.


    Her illusions would be a great help to him when it came to fighting powerful monsters or people.


    Unfortunately, what Lyle got was a notification.


    [ Warning, the host is currently not powerful enough to turn monsters into servants, only humans can be turned into servants before the host bes more powerful. ]


    The fairy started convulsing before copsing to the ground. Her body started shaking while her blood boiled before finally dying.


    Lyle sighed, it seems he had no choice but to find a person he could turn, but he wouldn''t just grab any random person and change them to a vampire, he wasn''t a cold-hearted killer that would do such things without a care in the world.


    No, he still had his principles. He would only change a person that tried to harm him. With that thought in his head, Lyle turned around and wandered deeper inside the forest.


    Finally, Lyle came to a huge tree.


    The forest always had a couple of rtively big trees inside of it, they were used as a sort ofndmark for the adventures so that they wouldn''t lose their way.


    One thing was different, however, as there was something weird right at the bottom of the tree.


    A couple of monsters were lying down and sleeping right at the base of the tree. Each one was about 1 meter long and had thick fur that covered its body.


    Their breath alone was very powerful and could be heard even from a couple of meters away. Lyle stared at the monsters in wonder before looking around and getting near them after not spotting anyone.


    As he got about 10 meters close to the monsters, he was able to see what they were.


    ''Oh no.'' Was the first thing on Lyle''s mind.


    The monsters that were sleeping in front of Lyle were Iron Bears.


    They were amongst the most powerful creatures that one could find in the forest and were right below the Knight realm. One thing that everybody knew about them was that they had an incredibly good sense of smell.


    Lyle knew that he had made a mistake. He was hasty, he just wanted to get a glimpse of what monsters were down in order to decide whether he would attack them or not.


    But Iron Bears were different. These bears in front of him were just cubs, and when cubs were involved, the mama bear would never be far away.


    Just the smell that Lyle would leave here would be enough to make the bear angry and potentiallye after him. Bears were very territorial and incredibly protective of their cubs.


    Lyle quickly turned around and started running away, but not even 3 seconds had passed before an angry roar echoed through the forest.


    The mama bear had arrived, and she was able to both smell Lyle''s scent and hear his movement. Upon learning that another creature hade so close to her cubs, the bear became enraged. It stared back at another bear that suddenly charged at Lyle while the mother stayed with the cubs.


    The other bear was of course the father.


    Iron Bears mated for life and usually never left the side of their partner. Upon learning that the cubs had been in danger, the male would usually charge at the enemy while the slightly smaller mother would stay at the cubs in order to protect them.


    The powerful bear charged forward and rammed into trees that were on its way.


    The trees were unable to stop it as its powerful body crushed them without much difficulty.


    Lyle sped up and ran with all of his might, he knew that if the bear was to get to him, he would be in serious trouble.


    The power that such a monster possessed was not something that he could hope to go against right now.


    Even though his weapons were powerful and could prate through the body, he was not powerful enough to fully activate them and damage the monster.


    He suddenly looked back, only to find that the bear was gaining on him. If he was to estimate the bear''s power, it was at least about level 40, which was much, much more powerfulpared to him.


    He stared ahead and grit his teeth before using a skill that he hadn''t used for a long time, one that he wasn''t sure would even work.


    [ Blood Knight, Ignition ]

 Chapter 30: [ Bonus Chapter ] New Transformation

    <h4>Chapter 30: [ Bonus Chapter ] New Transformation</h4>


    [ Blood Knight, Ignition ]


    [ Warning, the system has detected changes to the host''s body, the bloodline has evolved, and the skill is not applicable anymore, initiating the evolution of the skill. ]


    Ding!


    [ [ Blood Knight, Ignition ] has evolved and two transformations have been created. ]


    [ Blood Lord, Awakening ]


    [ Lord of the Dark, Awakening ]


    [ The following transformations each have their own advantages and disadvantages, the effects are the following: ]


    [ Blood Lord, Awakening ] ¨C The host taps into his ss and bes a true lord of blood for a short period of time. During this state, the ability to control blood is empowered multifold while the host''s stats receive a moderate increase. The host will be unable to use any weapons or attacks that do use blood.


    [ Lord of the Dark, Awakening ] ¨C The host taps deep into his bloodline and turns into a true vampire lord for a short period of time. The host''s ability to control darkness will receive a great boost while the stats of the host will be increased multifold as well. If the host still does not have the ability to control darkness, then the overall stats will increase even more while the ability to control the dark will be partially avable to the host. The ability to manipte blood will, however, be locked during the transformation.


    [ Does the host wish to activate one of the two skills right now? ]


    Two skills, each one a transformation.


    Lyle stared at the two incredible skills he had acquired. He never thought that the skill he didn''t use because he had no idea if it would even work would give birth to such two powerful ones.


    He quickly skimmed through the notifications before choosing the second one.


    The blood lord transformation was definitely good, but his ability to control blood was abysmally weak right now, and no amount of boosting would make it strong enough to allow him to contend against the bear that was gaining on him.


    The second one not only gave him more boost when it came to his stats but also unlocked the ability to control darkness, albeit partly.


    As Lyle activated the transformation, a change urred.


    His aura red up before an incredibly powerful sense of suppression hit the bear. It wasn''t only the bear, most of the forest was able to feel the aura that wasing from Lyle at this moment as he wasn''t trying to hide it at all, on the contrary, he was using everything he had in order to make the aura more powerful.


    His killing intent exploded, the bloodlust he had gained red up and his bloodline was fully activated.


    A ck suit appeared on Lyle as his hair turned pitch-ck, as did his eyes. They looked more like two small ck holes than eyes at this point.


    He grew a bit taller and his skin became white. The calluses he had on his hands suddenly disappeared while his nails grew a bit longer.


    The suit that was on him was pitch ck, with some silver on it.


    There was a silver formal shirt underneath the suit jacket, and the pants he now had on him were pitch ck as well, as were the shoes.


    He looked like he came straight out of an average vampire movie where all the vampires acted like aristocracy and loved to dress up.


    His long hair swayed in the wind as he stared at the bear with hostility.


    The bear stopped, its eyes constricted as he stared at Lyle. It could feel the incredible powering from the person in front of it, and fear slowly crept up on it as it didn''t know whether it should flee or simply lie down and prepare for death.


    Lyle stared at the monster before snapping his fingers.


    A curtain of darkness appeared in front of him, blocking the sight of the bearpletely.


    As soon as Lyle did that, he quickly turned around and ran with all of his might. His speed was now almost triple what it was before, but he was still not as fast as the bear and if thetter started running after him, he would be caught.


    The show of force that Lyle previously did was simply to trick the bear into thinking that Lyle was now the stronger one and that continuing to pursue him would lead to death. He knew that something like that wouldn''tst for long so he bailed out.


    The bear stared at the curtain of darkness without even blinking. It wondered what just happened, why did the weak human suddenly be so powerful, and why did he suddenly put darkness in front of him?


    The bear curiously looked at the curtain before it slowly started disappearing. In a matter of moments, it was gone and the bear could see everything in front of it.


    There was nobody there, there was not even a shadow of Lyle that previously stood in front of the bear.


    The bear stared before sniffing the air. There was no scent, it waspletely gone.


    It stared ahead before slowly turning around and going back to its nest.


    It had no idea what just happened or why the powerful being spared it, but it wouldn''t linger around to find out.


    When the bear was about half the way to his nest, something else happened.


    A small creature the size of a human appeared. The only difference between the creature and a human was the small horns it had on its head.


    The bear roared at the creature before charging at it, only to suddenly stop after the creature appeared on its back.


    Before the bear could do anything, the creaturended a powerful punch to its back, breaking it.


    It then appeared in front of the bear before putting a hand to its head and whispering something. It closed its eyes for a couple of seconds before opening them again, as for the bear, it didn''t move at all, its heart had stopped and its brain was destroyed.


    The creature in front of the bear was a demon.


    Demons could be found in Corleon, but they were rare and extremely powerful.


    Demons such as this one didn''t exist on the, however.


    The demon had used an ability that wasmon for its race, memory reading.


    It was only able to see a couple of minutes from the bear''s memory. It looked through the memory in reverse, it started with the bear staring at it, whilst ending at the bear staring at Lyle who had already turned to his vampire lord form.


    Upon seeing what had happened, the demon opened its eyes wide in shock before hurrying back to the depths of the forest, atop the highest mountain.


    Lyle was unaware of this, but his transformation had caused such a ruckus that even the people inside the city had felt his aura when he first transformed. The aura would only appear once like this, without any control, and that was when it was first used.


    Even back when Lyle first used his [ Blood Knight, Ignition ] it had caused a great scene as his aura ring up was felt about a kilometer around him.


    Compared to this, however, it was nothing as everything in a radius of a couple of miles around Lyle was able to sense it.


    The powerful monsters of the forest had all lied down on the floor and trembled, the demons that made their home on the mountain stared at the ce where Lyle was with great fear while themander and the powerful soldiers in the city all stared in shock at the forest, their eyes filled with fear.


    The aura of a Vampire Lord was something that only Tier VI creatures could stand up against, and in the whole empire, there were no such powerful beings.


    Themander trembled slightly upon sensing such a powerful aura before closing his eyes.


    He had once felt the aura of the man that the empire praised as the god of war, and even he was nothingpared to this.


    There was no need to panic, if the person whose aura they just felt wanted to kill them, the whole city would be pulverized before anyone could realize what had happened.


    As for the demons?


    After the one that had read the bear''s memory returned and told them of what had happened, they all panicked.


    Whatever ns they had would now have to be put to a stop.


    They quickly put everything they needed before fleeing the mountain and heading in a different direction.


    This would hurt them a lot, but they would all rather have their ns hindered for some time and not get killed.


    If they stayed on the mountain and the being who they felt decided toe up, then all of them would die, that much was absolute.


    Lyle had unknowingly put a stop to the n the demon had and potentially saved the city of Olswan and perhaps the whole area from demonic attacks.


    As for the person that had just put the fear of god into the hearts of all beings nearby?


    He was at the edge of the forest and was panting heavily as his transformation had ended.

 Chapter 31: The Vampire Lords Gather

    <h4>Chapter 31: The Vampire Lords Gather</h4>


    While Lyle was resting at the edge of the forest, unaware of what his transformation had done to the demon that had just appeared on the, the empire of the vampires was also going through amotion when it came to the higher-ups.


    There were currently 6 vampire lords in the empire, each one was a Tier VI being that could make kingdoms and weaker empires shake by themselves. Each one was staring in Lyle''s direction at this moment.


    They had felt it.


    The appearance of a new vampire lord.


    The moment that Lyle had activated his transformation, the bloodline inside the other lords reacted and they immediately found out about his existence.


    They weren''t as powerful as the empress who was able to sense him the very first day he managed to evolve his bloodline, but his turning into a lord and leaking out his aura was enough to make them know of him.


    Even Isaac, Lyle''s father had sensed him.


    As a vampire lord himself, and the one that shared the closest bloodline with Lyle, Isaac had not only sensed his existence but the approximate location of him.


    Of course, the location he sensed was simply that he was thousands of miles away and if he was to travel to it, he could find out the region in which Lyle stayed. By region, I mean the area where multiple kingdoms and empires could be found, it was a huge expanse ofnd that would take weeks if not months for Isaac tob over.


    He wasn''t going to do it, however, as he already knew about Lyle.


    The other lords, however, called for a meeting.


    The lords all gathered and discussed what had just happened. Isaac was thest one to arrive, and upon seeing him, the others all went silent for a moment.


    Isaac ''The Executioner''.


    That was his title, Isaac was the one in charge of dealing with traitors and those that had failed the empress, he had even killed a lord by himself in the past and was considered to be the 2nd or 3rd most powerful lord in the empire.


    Amongst the lords, one wasn''t present, the one not present was the oldest and most powerful among them.


    Even the existence of a new lord would not shake him and make him show up as he would only appear when there was a dire situation that needed to be resolved, or when the empress called for him.


    "Lord Isaac, what should we do about the new lord, did the empress say anything?" One of the lords asked as Isaac sat down on a chair.


    "Yes, her majesty told me not to do anything."


    "What?!" All the lords eximed unanimously as they stared at Isaac in shock.


    The birth of a new lord was not a small matter, each one was a powerhouse in the world, and they were a valuable resource to the empire and the most respected beings in it. The change the world had gone through was an even bigger reason to find the new lord and bring him to the empire in order to join them.


    "I don''t know the specifics, but her majesty has told me that the new lord is a special case and that when the time is right, he wille to us by himself."


    "Oh, so it''s another man, ahh, and here I hoped to get a new friend with whom I could gossip." A woman said as she nced at another woman at the table.


    Amongst the lords, only 2 were women, and one of them was the one that contested for the ce of 2nd strongest with Isaac.


    "Well, if the empress had said so, then I guess we have nothing to worry about." Another lord said as he leaned back on his chair.


    "Now, do we maybe have something else that needs to be discussed, it''s not often that we all gather like this after all." A fourth lord said as the others all nced at each other before they started talking.


    The meetingsted for about an hour, there were many lighthearted conversations, but there were also heated arguments that almost led to fights.


    Back in the Golden Lion Empire, Lyle had finally rested enough.


    Transforming into a vampire lord was not as simple as his previous blood knight transformation as it not only gave him more power, but also made him quite weak after it ended.


    The mana consumption that Lyle had gone through after using the veil of darkness and after pouring all of his mana into his legs was very high and had left him empty after he had arrived at the edge of the forest.


    Lyle moved closer to the city after using the disguise of a Khilman. Upon reaching the gate, he was surprised to see over 40 soldiers that were being led by a Silver knight waiting at the gate.


    ''Shit, did they see through my disguise?!'' Lyle thought as he calmly walked towards them.


    He knew that there was no going back, if they had truly managed to see through him, then he would simply show the symbol of the Midnight Dagger that he had with him. Turning around and trying to escape would be impossible since there was a Silver Knight present.


    "Ah, sir, you have returned." The soldier that spoke with Lylest night was the first person to respond.


    The other soldiers simply nodded at Lyle as they knew of his identity already.


    "Yes, there were, some issues at the forest," Lyle said as he looked calmly at the soldier who seemed a bit confused.


    "Issues, I''m sorry sir, but, I wouldn''t call such a powerful aura just an issue, we were ready to face death after sensing it, and themander himself told us that it was a monster that was above a Titled Knight, a Tier V or above that released that monstrous aura."


    Lyle was suddenly shocked.


    ''They felt it too?!''


    ''Dammit, I never thought that my transformation would do something like this!''


    "Well, the truth is, that was no monster," Lyle said as he looked at the soldier with a serious expression.


    It was now the soldier''s turn to be shocked, even the Silver Knight stared at Lyle with surprise.


    "Sir, you, you came across it?"


    "Yes, and it is a he, not it," Lyle said in a serious tone before ncing at the other soldiers.


    "There is no need to worry, that person had no ill intentions, he had only released his aura after I started interrogation him, if he had any notions of causing chaos or killing people, I wouldn''t be alive right now."


    Gulp.


    The soldiers all gulped as they imagined the scene of a lone Khilman trying to interrogate a suspicious individual in the forest, only to be shocked by finding out the person was actually such a powerful being.


    "He said that he was merely passing by and wanted to do a quick check of how much the forest had changed, after that, well, he disappeared," Lyle said before shaking his head.


    "There is no reason to think too much, none of us are capable of meddling in the affairs of such powerful beings, hell, I can''t even remember what he even looked like." The soldiers all nodded after hearing Lyle''s words, even the Silver Knight seemed to fully agree with him.


    "Sir is probably exhausted after what happened, please do go in and get some rest." The Silver Knight spoke as Lyle nodded gratefully at him before stepping inside the city and disappearing from their sight.


    "Sir?" The soldier at the front asked as he looked at the Silver Knight.


    "No good, I wasn''t able to sense anything from him, I did notice residual traces of that powerful aura, but that was probably the residual energy after being exposed to the aura of that powerful being, anyway, go and inform themander, it seems everything will be alright." The silver knight said as he removed his helmet from his head.


    Silver hair fell down his forehead and partially blocked his blue eyes as he gazed at the forest in front of him.


    "Yes sir!" The soldier shouted before running to the castle.


    ''A Khilman, plus the appearance of an incredibly powerful being, is my empire fated to fall?'' The silver-haired man said as he stared in front of him.


    ''Master was assassinated, by the help of his son, nheless.''


    ''The vultures around the empire banded together and attacked, barely being pushed backward after the empire had lost a lot ofnd.''


    ''Then, when we finally had some time to rest, the entire world changes, monsters start running rampant and nobody knows what will happen next.''


    ''Will we survive all of this, is it our destiny to fall down, to crash and burn and be forgotten in the history books?''


    ''No, I will not let that happen, I will be the one to raise the empire higher than it ever was once I inherit the throne.'' Said Sied Silver, the 3rd son of the emperor and the only personal student of the old god of war of the empire.


    Even though he had 2 brothers and 2 sisters that were older than him and were closer to inheriting the throne, he was the one that most of the empire believed would be the ruler in the end.

 Chapter 32: [ Bonus Chapter ] The Third Prince

    <h4>Chapter 32: [ Bonus Chapter ] The Third Prince</h4>


    Sied, even though he was a prince, loved adventure and fighting.


    This was one of the reasons why he used his authority to make the general in charge of this operation ce him in thepany of soldiers that were going to take over the castle.


    He wanted to be certain that nothing would be missed and that the evidence against Orsted would be found together with the evidence that would condemn the other nobles.


    Even themander had no idea that the 3rd prince was in hispany, and contrary to his belief, none of the nobles and higher-ups of the dukedom would get to evade their charges, Sied was going to make certain of that.


    The old duke was his teacher, the person that taught him everything he knew.


    He had a very close rtionship with him, and even though he tried bonding with Orsted in the past, it was obvious that Orsted disliked him very much.


    Perhaps it was because he was more talented and thus was able to spend a lot of time with the duke, or maybe it was simply because he was everything that Orsted wished to be.


    There was a point in time when Orsted was angry at himself, his father was his idol and he wished nothing else but to follow in his footsteps, but his meager talent in both magic and swordsmanship made that impossible.


    After some time, the hatred that Orsted harbored for himself disappeared as he started hating his father. He was quite a hypocrite, he hated his father because he was so talented and revered by others, but had no qualms about using his identity and wealth to do anything he wished to do.


    Sied''s heart broke after he learned of the old duke''s death, he was one of the first to go to the ce where the battle took ce before going to the castle to express his condolence and pay his respect to histe master and his wife.


    Orsted looked heartbroken as well and the two actually spent some time together, they talked and shared stories of the old duke before Sied had to leave.


    He had already lost his teacher, one of the people he cared about the most in the world, he wasn''t going to lose anyone else.


    The funny thing was that the soldier that Siedmanded didn''t realize who he was until he arrived at themander''s office to give out a report.


    The other soldiers were all staring at Sied in awe and shock as they were able to recognize him. The third son of the emperor was a major figure in the empire and many knew his face.


    They all quickly kneeled down before Sied told them to get up.


    "M-my prince, why, why are you here, s-since when were you-" One of the senior soldiers suddenly stopped talking as Sied lifted his hand.


    "I was here since the beginning, I will exin everythingter, I''m going to the castle first."


    "To the castle, why my lord?"


    "I am taking over the operation, this has be much bigger than we anticipated," Sied said before his figure turned into a blur as he sped to the castle.


    The soldier and themander had just started talking and the soldier was telling him of the knight who looked incredibly simr to the prince before the door opened and Sied came in.


    "My prince!" Themander hurriedly stood up before trying to kneel down, only to be stopped by Sied.


    "No need to kneel, we are all alone here, stand upmander, let me hear of what you have found out."


    Themander simply nodded before the soldier behind them bowed and left the study.


    The next 30 mins themander spent by telling Sied everything he had uncovered from the tens of documents they had taken, and there were still more that he needed to go over.


    "Those bastards!'' Sied suddenly said as he controlled himself in order not to let his mana flow out.


    He was in the study of histe teacher, he would never forgive himself if he unintentionally destroyed anything here.


    "They really took their positions for granted huh, not even bothering to hide their crimes, as if the crown didn''t exist," Sied said with a dangerous smile before looking at themander.


    "You said that you already found evidence on all the perpetrators,mander?"


    "Yes sir, the other documents are just more crimes the same people had done, this is already enough to lock them up." Themander said as his hands were clenched into fists.


    ''I''d like to see those bastards try and slither their way out now, the prince will never let them go off the hook, no matter who their backers are.'' Themander thought as a slight smile formed on his face, he knew that the prince was someone that had high moral standing and was not one to let evildoers off lightly.


    "Call them over, all of them, tell them that I am here," Sied said before turning around and walking towards the door.


    "I will be in the main hall."


    "Yes my lord." Themander said as he bowed down.


    "My lord?"


    "Yes,mander?"


    "What are you going to do?"


    Suddenly an evil and twisted smile appeared on Sied''s face whose back was turned to themander.


    "Some will die, some will spend the rest of their pathetic lives in a cell, while others, others will serve as my dogs until the end of their days, is that a fine solution in your opinion,mander?" Sied asked as themander gulped from the coldness he felting from Sied.


    "It is more than a fine one, my lord."


    In less than 1 hour, all the nobles, ministers, and other higher-ups of the dukedom had gathered in the main hall. They had heard that the 3rd prince had personallye here and was expecting them.


    All of them were scared senseless, they knew just what kind of a person the prince was and that he definitely knew what they had done in the dukedom.


    As all the people in the hall were wondering where the prince was, a door that was to the side of the hall opened as the prince entered.


    He didn''t bother changing and was still wearing his armor while his helmet was being held in his left hand.


    He calmly walked through the hall before sitting at the 2nd biggest chair that was at the head of the hall.


    Thergest one was the one that the duke himself had used, Sied didn''t want to sit on it simply out of respect for his teacher.


    The people in the hall suddenly trembled as the temperature inside dropped by a few degrees. Upon looking at the prince, they were scared senseless by the cold and murderous look in his eyes.


    "Good, you are all here." The prince suddenly said as he looked down on them all.


    "May I ask of you, esteemed gentlemen anddies, why do you all look like you have seen a ghost?" Sied asked them as he put his right leg over his left one and leaned back on the chair. He leaned his head sideways and propped it up with his left hand while looking at them all from above.


    The people were speechless, they knew that the prince had definitely found out about what they were doing and that they wouldn''t be let off easily. Even holding on to their titles andnd would be an almost impossible task.


    "M-my prince, may I ask what your esteemed self is doing here?" One of the people, the head of one of the most powerful noble houses in the dukedom asked as he slightly bowed to the prince.


    "Why am I here, well, it is because I found out that the son of myte teacher was assassinated, I arrived now in order to help the soldiers with uncovering what had happened."


    "I see, and may this humble servant ask why you have gathered us all here today?"


    "A simple question, the answer is even simpler, I wish for your cooperation, all the manpower you have, all the connections you have, I want you to use them all and find out who it was that killed Orsted, furthermore, I need a personal favor from you and a couple of others," Orsted said as he suddenly pointed at the man, alongside a couple of others.


    They were the ones whose crimes, and the crimes of their family members, were the least atrocious whenpared to the rest.


    As for finding out who killed Orsted?


    It was a futile quest as the crown itself had shielded the Midnight Dagger, no matter who tried to investigate the matter, they would get no information at all.


    "The rest of you are dismissed," Sied said as the nobles looked at each other in confusion.


    They were all ready to be arrested tonight, for their titles to be taken and heads to roll, instead, the prince only gathered them to ask something so simple from them.


    All of them were relieved, except for some that were a bit more tactful and experienced, they knew that this matter was far from over and was in fact only starting.


    Amongst the people in the crowd was one person that nced back at the prince with an interesting glint in his eyes.


    The young man simply walked out with the others before his presence disappeared as he climbed the side of the hall, his body hiddenpletely thanks to therge cloak he brought in order to cover himself.


    After he had gotten high enough, Lyle who had just disguised himself as a noble quickly crawled into the hall from a small opening and listened in to the conversation the prince was about to have with the nobles that had stayed inside.

 Chapter 33: The Dark Face of the Third Prince

    <h4>Chapter 33: The Dark Face of the Third Prince</h4>


    "My prince, what is yourmand?" The old gentleman that had previously been talking with the prince asked as he gracefully bowed down.


    "Ah, those cunts finally left." The prince suddenly said in an uncharacteristic voice as he ran his hand through his hair.


    "W-what?" The nobles asked in confusion as they weren''t used to hearing such wordsing from the prince himself.


    "I said those bastards who will die in the following couple of days have finally left, you lot should feel happy, however, as your crimes were light enough for me to consider a different form of punishment for you." The prince suddenly said before sighing and looking down at them.


    This time, the look he was giving wasn''t one that a prince would give to those below him, but what a powerful being would give to ants who were walking down on the ground beneath him.


    It was a look borne from incredible arrogance, one that the prince would rarely show to people with whom he wasn''t close. Even histe teacher, the god of war had never seen him show such a look.


    ''I always thought there was something eerie hidden beneath that mask of justice and those eyes, prince Sied.'' Lyle said in his head as he observed what was happening in the hall.


    Lyle had previously talked with the prince who was still wearing his knight outfit. Even he had no idea that he was talking with the third prince himself as he didn''t really know the man.


    He did have a nagging feeling that the person was familiar, but he wasn''t certain why so.


    He had previously gone back to the inn before changing his look and going out. He had a lot of time before morning and he wanted to rx a bit, perhaps even visit a brothel as well.


    During his walk, he came across some minor nobles who were talking about how they needed to return home as the third prince had suddenly appeared and was calling them all to the hall. That was when things suddenly clicked in Lyle''s head, he finally realized why the knight was familiar.


    He had seen the prince a couple of times, most of them being inside the headquarters of the organization.


    As Lyle was a member of the higher ranks of the organization, he was privy to more information than most. He knew the deal that the empire and organization had, and would regrly see some higher-ups of the empire visiting the headquarters through secret entrances.


    The prince was one of them, as were all the other princes and princesses of the empire. They all had their own subordinates inside the organization, and the higher ranks were also in cahoots with them.


    Lyle was one of the rare ones that never took a side as he didn''t wish to get involved in politics, he wasn''t interested in holding power in the empire either.


    Lyle waited until one of the nobles went home and made his way to the hall before knocking him unconscious and taking his clothes. He blended into the crowd and went in, eager to find out what this whole thing was about.


    Upon seeing the prince, Lyle had a bad feeling about what was happening. His attitude and the way he simply gave orders to the nobles without punishing them werepletely out of character for him.


    Lyle knew that something was definitely going to happen, something big.


    Upon seeing that a couple of the nobles were picked out of the crowd to stay, Lyle knew that the prince would probably show his true colors behind closed doors.


    Even though Lyle had never seen the prince acting in any suspicious way, and had seen and heard of his good deeds and chivalrous acts, he never believed that it was all true.


    Every single time he would see the prince, he would get a feeling of looking into the abyss.


    "D-die, what are you saying your majesty, why would they-" Before a noble could continue talking, the cold stare of the prince made him freeze.


    It was pure bloodlust and arrogance that could be seen in the deep blue eyes the prince had.


    "From today onwards, you are my dogs," Sied said as he red at each one of the nobles.


    "There will be no bargains, no deals, just servitude."


    "You will bark when I say you bark, run when I say you run, and follow all mymands without anyints, if not, I will kill you right now and order to soldiers to take over your possessions, your families will be sent to the dungeon, the females will be vited, as will the men." Sied suddenly started talking with a chilling voice that was unlike how any had heard him talk before.


    "The women will be then sent to work asmon prostitutes in the worst brothels while the men will be sent to work in the mines as criminals, I won''t even let the children walk away from the crimes your families havemitted." Suddenly Sied got up before disappearing from the chair and appearing in front of the nobles who were now petrified in fear and shock.


    "The ones that I have let go will face that destiny, some will have it easier, but some will have it even worse, I won''t even let them die before all members of their families have been vited in front of them and their dead bodies delivered in the cells."


    "You dared to not only kiss up to that bastard who had killed my teacher, his own father, but you took advantage and abused your positions, acting as if you were the ones that control the empire!!" Sied''s thunderous roar echoed inside the hall but was blocked froming out by an array that had been created below the hall.


    The nobles didn''t speak.


    Not even a sound escaped their lips as they stared at the man who was loved throughout the whole empire because of his charisma, talent, and benevolence.


    To think that such a person was actually so demented, so cruel that he would say such things.


    No, it wasn''t just saying them, they were all 100% certain that he would do all the things he just said he would.


    As for Lyle, even he who had some doubts about the prince and his true nature was shocked after hearing the words he spoke.


    ''Shit, shit, shit!'' Lyle thought as he didn''t move an inch.


    ''Why did I have to listen in, if I get caught, no way that my life will be safe, he won''t stop until he kills me, that damn maniac, I don''t care about those bastards dying, but the whole family, shit!'' Lyle cursed in his head.


    ''You had to go and listen in Lyle, you couldn''t just let it go, damn it, me and my idiotic mind!''


    "M-m-my prince, I ¡­ you-" The noble wasn''t even able to speak in front of the prince whose murderous intent had covered the whole hall.


    There had previously been soldiers stationed inside the hall, but the prince had ordered them to leave.


    "As I said, there will be no bargaining, you either bend the knee, swear your loyalty to me and the crown, or you die," Sied said as he grabbed his sword before pulling it out.


    ''The Shadowless de''


    That was the name of the sword the prince wielded. A masterwork of craftsmanship that the old duke had ordered to be made specifically for the prince. It was a custom-made sword that was said to be blood-bound to the prince so that only he could wield it.


    Upon seeing the sword that had been pointed at them, the nobles were all scared senseless.


    None of them were strong, they were either merchants who became incredibly wealthy or had been a noble house for many generations and were more focused on politics than those that served below them in their houses and trained.


    That was the usual noble, the leaders usually weren''t strong as they didn''t have time to train, while the second-inmand and lower were the powerhouses that the house would send out if there was any need for it.


    Of course, exceptions did exist, like the old duke and a couple of other noble houses that were made out of warriors and never stopped training and developing themselves.


    Those noble houses, even though they didn''t have a lot of political influence in the empire, were incredibly powerful and none dared disrespect them.


    The royal family was such a family.


    In the history of the royal family, there were only 3 emperors who had inherited the throne only thanks to their great intellect or leadership skills while having poor strength themselves.


    The others were all powerful warriors on their own, just like the current emperor who was a Titled Knight.


    "This one greets his lord." One of the nobles said as he quickly kneeled down and stared at the floor.


    The others all soon followed, and even though there was some hesitation and unwillingness in their eyes, there was nothing else they could do right now except to kneel down and swear their loyalty to the prince.

 Chapter 34: Found Out

    <h4>Chapter 34: Found Out</h4>


    To say that the nobles were terrified would be an understatement.


    They understood that from this day onwards, they would be tied to the prince and if he was to ever fall from grace, so would they.


    Still, it was better than having their entire family getpletely destroyed.


    They knew what they had done, and they knew that the prince could definitely do what he had told them he would do to the other noble families.


    "Oh, I forgot to mention one thing." Sied suddenly said as he looked down at the nobles.


    "The marriage contracts you had with the other families," Sied spoke whilst continuing to look down at the nobles before shing a small smile on his face.


    "You, you, and you." He pointed at three nobles.


    "The marriage between your daughter and the young John will proceed, as will the marriages of your two sons and thedies Sofia and Lian," Sied said as he looked at the nobles.


    "Those haven''t done bad, their families also aren''t as corrupt as the other ones, so I will let the marriage proceed, and I will not capture the three, but as for the others, they will all be annulled after the operation."


    The three nobles nodded at the prince, but they cursed him inside.


    The only reason why they were going to marry their children was because of the benefits they would receive after being connected to the other noble families with the marriage.


    Since the families would all get captured, their possessions seized and their titles were taken away, what value did those three have?


    None.


    They had no value to them, but they knew that the prince was doing this on purpose as they were the three strongest nobles amongst the group that had sworn the oath. By making them continue with the worthless marriages, he would make sure that they wouldn''t be able to grow toorge for him to control.


    "Alright, now that we have solved that, let''s sign those blood contracts!" Sied said in a cheerful voice as he pped his hands.


    A person entered the hall, holding a couple of contracts with him.


    "Your Majesty." The man who was dressed in a butler uniform bowed as he presented the contracts to Sied.


    Upon seeing the man, Lyle was shocked. He made sure that he made no sound and that his mana waspletely isted inside him as to not be found out by the old butler.


    The butler''s name was Reginald O''Brian.


    He was chosen to be the third prince''s butler when the former was 10 years old and had served him diligently ever since.


    He was also one of the rare people that knew the prince''s true nature and had the prince''splete trust.


    But that didn''t matter much to Lyle, what did matter, however, was the man''s strength.


    He was a Golden Knight and not just any Golden Knight, but one of the most powerful ones in the empire.


    He had reached the realm of Golden knight at 29 years of age, only three years longer than what the old duke who was said to be a genius. He was now 40 years old and was at the peak of the realm, people expected him to break through the next realm rtively soon.


    Even though one could officially be a high-ranking individual in the empire upon reaching the realm of a Titled Knight, the old butler had already made it clear that he would continue serving as the butler of the young prince until he was no longer able to be of use.


    The prince had managed to reach the realm of a Silver Knight at 20 years of age. He had broken the record and became the youngest to ever do so.


    Even Lyle, who had the advantage of his incredible bloodline was only able to reach the realm at 21 years of age. Lyle was incredibly excited and happy that day, he had after all broken the record that the old duke and a couple of other geniuses throughout the history of the empire had put.


    But then, just a couple of dayster, he heard the news of the young prince Seid breaking through the Silver Knight realm, officially bing the youngest to ever do it.


    Sied was a monster when it came to talent, that much was certain.


    Even the old duke had praised him and said numerous times that he would be even more powerful than he or any other person in the empire in the future.


    Upon hearing the prince''s words and seeing the contracts that he had taken, all the nobles were taken aback and visibly shaken.


    A blood contract wasn''t a small matter.


    It bound two people together and if one was to break the terms of the contract, they would die. That much was unquestionable and there had only been rare asions on the when one was able to nullify the contract.


    The nobles simply swallowed any disagreements they had and signed the blood contracts. They knew that there was no way out of their present situation, the prince had made that quite clear to them.


    It was only after they had done that, that they were finally allowed to leave the hall and go home.


    They all hurried home as each wanted to have a family meeting.


    They wouldn''t tell them anything about what had happened while they were talking with the prince in private, they knew that it could leak out and rm other noble houses, which was something that they not only didn''t want to happen, but they couldn''t since the contract obliged them to keep all of the prince''s secret, amongst many other things.


    The contract itself was long and without any loopholes, at least there weren''t any loopholes from what they could see during the brief time they could check the contracts.


    As for Lyle who was observing the whole thing from above, he slowly started crawling backward as he attempted to leave the area.


    With Reginald present, Lyle had no faith in himself being able to conceal himself for much longer. Even now, he was constantly keeping full focus on keeping his mana concealed, and even though his bloodline allowed him to basically empower himself without mana, he needed blood nearby in order to do that.


    As Lyle was moving back and making sure that nobody would be able to notice him, Reginald briefly nced at where he had previously been before looking at the prince.


    "My prince, a rat has been present, I''m ashamed to say that I only noticed him now, should I take care of him now?"


    "No, not now, go out and try to see who it is, if it''s somebody unfamiliar, follow him before eliminating him and everybody present, if it''s somebody whose face you know, firste back to me."


    "Yes, my prince." Reginald bowed down before disappearing from the spot.


    As Lyle managed to crawl out and get down on the ground, he waspletely unaware that he was being observed by Reginald, well, at least he was unaware at the beginning.


    Soon a nagging feeling at the back of his head started appearing. Lyle knew what was happening, he was being watched.


    He simply acted as if he didn''t notice anything and continued on his way, moving towards the mansion of the noble he had previously knocked out. The noble should still be knocked unconscious and he was first nning on giving back his clothes, of course, if he was still being followed, he wouldn''t do that.


    That was another reason why Lyle had dared to listen in to the prince.


    With his current appearance, even the prince would have to think twice before simply killing him.


    A noble having enough skill to listen in as Lyle did was nothing to scoff at. The prince would first have to think about whether the noble had any partners and he would first try to follow him before getting rid of everybody that might be connected


    The feeling of being watched soon disappeared, luckily.


    Lyle upped his pace before arriving at the alley where he had dumped the unconscious noble. He made sure to inject the noble with a sleeping agent that he had. As an assassin, Lyle, of course, had a couple of different potions and items with him, some were sleeping agents, some were poison.


    As for Reginald, he had returned to the prince and had told him of what he had seen.


    "Hmmm, a noble actually sneaked in and listened to my conversation, and he was skillful enough that you barely managed to notice him," Sied said as he closed his eyes.


    "Got to his mansion, kill everybody present, I don''t survivors, nor do I want evidence of a Golden Knight doing the deed."


    "Yes, your majesty." Reginald bowed down before leaving the hall. He wasn''t in a hurry to get to the mansion as the noble should take some time to return. He had already thrown a small device at the noble in order to track him.


    Even though Lyle was once a Tier II assassin, he would have still been unable to feel the tracker sticking to his clothes, not to mention right now.


    Lyle arrived and quickly put on the noble''s clothes back on him. He then used a pill, one that would get rid of the sleeping agent and wake the noble up before leaving the area.

 Chapter 35: The Annihilation of a Noble House

    <h4>Chapter 35: The Annihtion of a Noble House</h4>


    As morning came, the city was found shocked yet again.


    The duke had been assassinated just a couple of days ago, which led to the royal soldiersing into the city and upying the castle in order to investigate what had happened.


    And now another tragedy struck.


    Well, calling those two things ''tragedies'' was a bit of an overestimation as nobody amongst the citizen really like the duke, nor most of the nobles.


    But what had happened during thete night hours was something that nobody had ever expected to happen in the city.


    The noble house of Johanson, one of the medium-sized noble houses of the dukedom had been destroyed.


    Hell, destroyed would be an underestimation of what had happened, annihted would be more fitting.


    The head of the house, alongside his entire family, guards, private troops, and servants were all dead.


    Nobody knew what happened or how it happened, some servants who had been outside of the mansion had returned in the morning and found everybody dead.


    Their throats were slit, hearts pierced, and some even had their entire bodies crushed to pieces.


    The scene was horrifying and the royal guards quickly ran to the scene in order to block everybody froming in and perhaps even tampering with any evidence the perpetrator had left.


    There, however, was no evidence.


    Not even a strand of hair of the perpetrator had been left at the scene.


    Themander personally came, and after seeing the state the bodies were in, was shocked.


    The most powerful being in the noble house was a low-grade Silver Knight who had barely been able to reach the realm and had been stuck at it for years with no way of improving.


    Still, the old soldier was well respected by many since there had only been 3 Golden Knights present in the dukedom during the old duke''s reign.


    The three had all left after Orsted took over after his father''s death, and upon seeing just how the young duke was behaving, and trying to correct him on numerous asions without any sess, they left.


    Silver Knights were considered incredibly powerful in the dukedom, and seeing one dead was not something that usually happened.


    "The heart has been crushed, sir." The soldier that inspected the bodies before said as he stood next to themander.


    Themander simply nodded before crouching and inspecting the body by himself.


    "It wasn''t done by a weapon, see how the flesh has some tears around the hole of the chest?" Themander asked the soldier who furrowed his brows and crouched down to look at what themander was pointing at.


    "Yes, I do see tears, but, it could have been a weapon that-"


    "No, no weapon, this was done by using bare hands, I know it since I could have done the same thing, albeit with more error." Themander said as the soldier gulped.


    "Sir, you mean to say-"


    "The killer is a Golden Knight, and one that was probably more powerful than I am." Themander nodded before standing up.


    "But sir, why would a Golden Knighte here, why would a person with such power do something as horrible as this?" The soldier said as he pointed at a small hill of bodies in front of them.


    The Silver Knight was ced on the ground in front of the small hill, while the head of the house, Victor Johanson was ced on the top of the hill.


    His eyes were wide open in shock as his throat was open, but it wasn''t slit open, no, it was more likely that the Golden Knight had grabbed his throat before using his bare hands to tear it open.


    "I don''t know, I need to contact the higher-ups, something is going on here, first it was the disappearance of the archmage, then the Khilman arriving with bad news, the appearance of a person that was above a Titled Knight, and now this, this is turning out to be way above our capabilities." Themander said with his face scrunched up in worry.


    He knew that if the killer wanted to, he could probably kill him and the wholepany by himself.


    He wasn''t that worried about that happening as there would be no purpose for the perpetrator doing such a thing, except for wishing for death as touching the royal soldiers meant that an archmage or a Title Knight would arrive and use everything they had to capture the individual.


    But the problem was the fact that the 3rd prince was here.


    The prince came without any guards and waspletely alone.


    Themander had that thought as nobody except for Lyle and the nobles that had signed a blood contract knew of Reginald''s presence in the city.


    The old butler knew that the prince didn''t want anybody to suspect anything, so he wouldn''t show himself in the city.


    Lyle had woken up some time ago and upon learning the news of what had happened, was slightly terrified.


    ''He followed mest night, shit!'' Lyle thought before calming himself down.


    ''No, wait, had he been following me the whole night, it would have been me that died, not the noble.''


    ''He recognized the face and went to the mansion, killing everybody present.''


    ''No, that wouldn''t be quite correct, he had no way of knowing whether the noble would return back home, so how did he-'' Lyle''s eyes suddenly opened wide in shock as he realized what had happened.


    ''The clothes, damn, he put something on the clothes I was wearing!''


    "Damn it, I was too luckyst night, way too lucky.'' Lyle thought as he gulped in fear.


    The old butler was strong, even back at his peak, Lyle would have never been able to defeat such an opponent.


    ''I need to be more careful in the future, I also need to leave this city as soon as I reach the realm of Bronze Knight, hell, I might not even wait that long.'' Lyle said before looking out of the window.


    It was daytime.


    He hade back much earlier than expectedst night and even when he returned back to the inn, it was still night.


    He woke up during the afternoon, which meant that he had quite some time to kill before going to the forest.


    ''On the other hand, why even wait, I don''t need to sneak out of the city anymore.'' Lyle suddenly told himself before starting to put on his disguise.


    He didn''t know what the prince was nning on doing in the city, and neither did he care.


    What he did care about was what would happen to him and his alias.


    For now, he doubted the prince would try to do anything to him.


    He had returnedst night when the prince was present at the gate. Even though the transformation had ended, there were still residual traces of his aura on his body.


    It didn''t matter if the prince thought it was the aura of whatever powerful being had appeared or his own, it would be enough to even hold back the old butler.


    That was exactly what had happened.


    Upon killing everybody in the mansionst night, Reginald returned and gave Sied his report about what he found.


    Which was nothing.


    No clues.


    No suspicious individuals.


    Nothing.


    Sied decided that they would need to be a bit more careful in the future. He also told Reginald about what had happened at the gate.


    The old butler was shocked to find out that the Khilman had actuallye across such a powerful person in the forest outside the city.


    The prince had given him the order to not, under any circumstances, go against the Khilman.


    "I don''t know why, but I have a feeling that even you would die if you fought against him, the aura I felt on him, as brief as it was, made me shake a bit in fear, and this man was in the presence of such a powerful being, and nothing happened to him, it seemed like he wasn''t in the least bothered by the aura."


    Without even knowing it, Lyle had given his second identity in the city a perfect cover.


    He quickly scanned the outside of his window before going out.


    The staff of the inn had already grown ustomed to him rarely leaving his room and never came inside it.


    He wasn''t the only one that did so, so they didn''t suspect a thing.


    As Lyle approached the gate under the disguise of being a Khilman, the soldiers all slightly bowed to him before he nodded at them and went out.


    They had all known that he was powerful, but after what had happenedst night, they were certain that the person in front of them was at the very least a peak Golden Knight, if not even a Titled Knight.


    Lyle simply went out before heading to the forest.


    Last night was bad when it came to improving his strength, so he was going to spend more time inside and hunt more powerful monsters this time.

 Chapter 36: A System Mission

    <h4>Chapter 36: A System Mission</h4>


    ''Damn, I might have stumbled upon something big here.'' Lyle said to himself as he was crouching atop a tree and watching down at arge group of goblins and hobgoblins.


    The goblins and hobgoblins were sitting down on the ground while primitive cages could be seen around them. There were some beasts and monsters that were inside the cages, while a cave that was a couple of meters from the monsters seemed to contain even more.


    Suddenly screams could be heard as Lyle looked back.


    He couldn''t see anybody since the sound was far away, but it was slowlying closer to him.


    Lyle simply waited patiently. The screams became louder and louder and Lyle could tell that it was probably humans that were making them, both males and females.


    After a couple of seconds, he was able to see a peculiar sight.


    A group of hobgoblins was bringing three girls and two guys with them. The humans seemed to only be about 18 ¨C 19 years old and from looking at their old and worn-out clothes, Lyle could guess that they were from a nearby vige.


    ''They have already started attacking the nearby viges?''


    ''That''s too fast, they should still be fearful of the city guards, was it because of me?'' Lyle suddenly thought back on what happened yesterday. He had used his transformation and the incredible aura of a Vampire Lord, a Tier VI being was released, making the whole forest and the city aware of his existence.


    The powerful aura definitely scared the monsters, but it might have also forced their primal urges to kick in. Monsters and animals were bred in order to leave descendants after they died. The presence of a much more powerful monster might have urged the monsters in the forest to breed and pass on their genes much faster than usual.


    Ding!


    [ The host has found a mysterious sight. ]


    [ Thanks to the host transforming and releasing the aura of a Vampire Lord, the monsters in the forest had started acting erratically, especially those like goblins and hobgoblins that needed humans or other humanoid creatures to mate. ]


    [ The system asks the host to defeat the group of hobgoblins in front of him and to destroy their outpost, the system will give the host the following rewards for doing so: ]


    - 60 S Coins


    - 1 Level up


    - The host will be able to gain a beginner-level book of poisons


    "A book of poisons?" Lyle suddenly widened his eyes after seeing the final reward.


    ''Tch, you''re doing this on purpose, aren''t you?'' Lyle asked the system but only got silence as a response.


    He needed that book.


    He had a lot of sks and small bottles that contained poison from Ilya and had no idea what each one did.


    The book, although it might not help him with identifying all the poisons, might help him out with at least figuring out what some of them might do and how powerful they were.


    Also, since it said that it was a beginner-level book, there probably existed those of a higher level as well. Who knows whether the system would reward him with better ones in the future?


    Lyle looked down on the goblins and hobgoblins and first waited until the new additions entered the cave. From outside, one wasn''t able to see just howrge the cave is, but after the party entered, the sounds of screaming became less and less audible until Lyle was barely able to hear them anymore.


    ''Tch, if the sound really became this quiet because of the distance, then the cave has to be massive, or goes down and has some tunnels, that will be a bother to deal with.'' Lyle thought as he looked down at the goblins and hobgoblins that were down in front of the cave.


    He was now level 16 as he had already spent a couple of hours in the forest hunting monsters and leveling up.


    Lyle first had to deal with the monsters in front of the cave before entering the cave.


    But simply attacking them wouldn''t be good as the ones in the cave would be alerted of his presence.


    He already had a general idea of what he would be able to find inside the cave and knew that if he was to enter stealthily, he would probably be able to kill half if not even more than half of the monsters inside before being found out.


    '' Hmm, 6 goblins and 2 hobgoblins, it should be doable.'' Lyle said as he counted out the number of monsters that were outside.


    The goblins stuck together most of the time, but there were asions when they would leave each other''s side. As for the hobgoblins who were taller and strongerpared to the goblins, they mostly kept to themselves.


    They didn''t even stand together and were divided in three directions, with each one doing something else.


    One of the hobgoblins was roasting something on a small fire they had, another was using a stick to annoy a wolf that they had caught and the third one was sitting down and watching the forest.


    Killing those three without being noticed would be easy once the goblins were dead, but he first needed to do that without alerting any of them.


    The first target showed itself soon. One of the goblins departed from the group and went to the forest as he had apparently seen something. It was a small flower that the goblin had noticed and wanted to take it for some reason.


    Lyle didn''t care what reason the little monster had as this was a perfect opportunity to kill it. He nced at the other monsters, and upon seeing that none of them were paying attention to the goblins, he quickly moved from the tree and went down without creating any noise.


    He then quickly appeared behind the goblin and with one swift sh, he cut off its head.


    Lyle quickly grabbed the head and the headless body before going deeper inside the forest and hiding the body in a bush while keeping the head.


    He stared at the goblin''s head in his hand before a creepy smile appeared on his face. He nced back at the body before his smile deepened even further.


    About two minutester, one of the goblins from the group looked around before seeing theirpanion that had gone into the forest. The goblin looked at him with slight confusion as thetter was waving him over with a weird expression on its face.


    The goblin was behind a tree, which felt incredibly weird for the other one. It got up from the ground, mumbled something to the other goblins who were currently feasting on some flesh and went to check out why the other one was calling out to him.


    As the goblin came closer to the one behind the tree, thetter suddenly disappeared behind it. The goblin was again confused but continued further until he was at the tree. Coming around it, the goblin was surprised to see that nobody was there.


    It looked around, before spotting something very weird. It spotted blood on the ground, and not a small amount.


    It suddenly gulped before looking up. Its eyes widened in shock and it opened its mouth, only for a spear to prate through it and the rest of its body before stabbing through the ground below it.


    Lyle quickly came down and pulled his spear lightly which only went out of the ground. He then lifted it and looked at the goblin which looked like a shish-kebab.


    He quickly went up the tree before removing the spear from the body and using some thread to tie the corpse to a branch.


    Right next to the corpse was a goblin''s head and an arm that Lyle had cut off from the first one he had killed.


    He then proceeded to use his ability and coat the tips of his throwing knives and daggers with the blood of the dead goblin. There were four goblins left, and Lyle knew that using the same tactic again wouldn''t work.


    They would soon notice that the two of them had disappeared, and even with the low intelligence the goblins had, they would understand that something was wrong.


    Goblins were meek creatures that would get scared easily, and Lyle wasn''t about to let them get scared by the disappearance of the two and raise an rm or alert the hobgoblins who were currently not paying any attention to them.


    He quickly moved and got atop a tree that was closest to the group of goblins. He first held a stone in his hand before throwing it.


    The stone fell to the ground and the goblins looked in the direction where the faint sound came from.


    Two of them turned around, and it was at that point that the two goblins behind them suddenly stiffened up and rolled their eyes backward before falling down on the ground. Two throwing knives were stuck in their heads, and after hitting them, Lyle used his ability to make the blood on them explode and destroy the goblin''s brains.


    The moment they fell, Lyle appeared behind the two goblins that had turned around previously. Before the two could turn around after hearing the sound of two bodies falling down, their heads flew through the air as Lyle had decapitated them. The goblins were below level 10 and barely gave him any Soul Power, but it was fine.


    Lyle didn''t stand, he quickly moved to the hobgoblins.


    The one that was ying with the wolf didn''t hear anything, while the one that was staring at the forest was turning around.


    Before the hobgoblins were able to fully turn around, a spear prated through his back and destroyed his heart while Lyle threw one of his daggers that were coated in blood at the one that was roasting meat.


    The dagger hit the hobgoblin and prated through the throat before Lyle used mana and made the blood explode and destroy his neckpletely.


    That was when the final hobgoblin finally realized something had happened. He was able to hear the one closest to him fall down as the wolf he was annoying quieted down after Lyle had appeared.


    The hobgoblin turned around and was horrified to see everybody had been killed.


    Before it could do anything, however, Lyle appeared in front of him.


    The hobgoblin used the stick in his hand to try and block Lyle''s dagger, only for the dagger to easily cut through the stick and open his throat.


    Lyle then quickly spun the knife in his hand and used it in a reverse grip before stabbing down at the hobgoblin and prating through its eye.


    The monsters were all dead.

 Chapter 37: [ Bonus Chapter ] Inside the Goblin Cave

    <h4>Chapter 37: [ Bonus Chapter ] Inside the Goblin Cave</h4>


    "Haaaaaa." Lyle exhaled as he went to get the bodies.


    He had spent a bit more mana than expected in order to make his blood explode, it was still, however, less of an amountpared to before when his bloodline hadn''t evolved.


    Lyle could feel his mana as well had grown. He couldn''t bepletely certain, but he could almost swear that he didn''t have this much mana before. But, there was still something missing, Lyle could sense that something deep inside him was still somehow shackled, he just didn''t know what it was.


    He gathered the bodies quickly before hiding them up the trees.


    Lyle had no idea if more goblins or hobgoblins would be returning, and he didn''t want them to sound an rm after seeing all the corpses on the ground in front of their hideout.


    Upon doing all of that, Lyle nced around and looked at the monsters that were caged up.


    The monsters were all silent right now. They could sense great dangering from Lyle who was simply passing by their cages,pletely uninterested when it came to them.


    Lyle entered the cave.


    The inside of the cave was actually quite narrow, but it led further inside.


    Lyle made his way in, the screaming from the humans that were inside could still be heard.


    It was only a couple of secondster that Lyle constricted his eyes and jumped up before using his daggers to stab into the hard rock of the tunnel and stick to the walls above.


    Two hobgoblins were passing by.


    The two were talking about something, but Lyle of course didn''t understand theirnguage so he simply waited until they were right below him to drop down from the wall and kill the two.


    His daggers were truly showing their power here. The daggers were created for being used against much stronger opponents and those like hobgoblins would have no way to even block the sharp daggers.


    Lyle did the same with the two hobgoblins as he did before. He used a thin thread to hang them on the wall of the tunnel before continuing deeper inside. They were not perfectly hidden and perhaps enemies could notice them after entering the tunnel, but Lyle wasn''t about to constantly go out to hide the bodies before returning inside the cave.


    Suddenly the cave became wider, and not just a bit, but a lot wider.


    The ceiling also became higherpared to before in the tunnel and Lyle could even see some primitive buildings that the monsters had built from rocks and sticks in therge underground hideout he had entered.


    The area was about the size of a football pitch ( Author: I''m European, so when I say football, I don''t mean the American one, no hate for that though, do like watching it. ).


    The primitive buildings that the monsters had created had two purposes. Some were for sleeping, and the others were for holding the prisoners and breeding. That was it, there was nothing else that the buildings were used for or any other purpose they had.


    The screams of girls and guys echoed inside therge cave while theughter and moans of the goblins and hobgoblins were mixed in them.


    Lyle quickly went to work.


    There were about 10 goblins and 5 hobgoblins that were currently outside, while there were definitely even more that were currently partaking in different activities inside the buildings.


    A couple of the shacks that the monsters had created were incredibly close to Lyle who went to them first.


    He arrived at one before opening the door, or to be more exact, he pushed the door to the side as it was just arge nk that wasn''t even connected to the building.


    A hobgoblin and two goblins were inside the small shack while a girl was pinned down beneath the hobgoblin. The two small goblins held her hands which were bleeding thanks to their nails that were digging inside her flesh.


    The hobgoblin was enjoying himself as he moved his hips and indulged in ravaging the girl who was barely even able to scream or produce any sound anymore.


    Blood could be seen going down her legs, signifying that this was how she had her first time.


    Lyle quickly threw two of his throwing knives at the goblins before grabbing the hobgoblin from behind.


    He didn''t kill him right away.


    He didn''t know why, but he didn''t want to give the monster that swift of a death.


    He pulled the hobgoblin back before using his dagger to cut off the thing between his legs. The hobgoblin tried to scream, only for his throat to be almost crushed by Lyle who had grabbed it with full force before stabbing through it with his other dagger.


    Lyle then pushed the hobgoblin against a wall and stabbed through his heart, ending his life.


    He looked at the girl who was simply staring at him.


    "You''re safe, but don''t move, I need to take care of the other monsters, just stay here, alright?" Lyle asked the girl as thetter''s lips trembled before she simply nodded her head meekly.


    Lyle proceeded to spend the following 10 minutes slowly moving around the hideout and getting rid of the hobgoblins and goblins that were indulging themselves in carnal pleasure. There were about 2 shacks left, but he wouldn''t be able to get to them since they were in the center of the cave where the other goblins and hobgoblins were located at.


    ''That''s it for being stealthy I guess.'' Lyle said as he prepared himself for battle. The shacks at the center of the cave werergerpared to the others and there were definitely more monsters inside.


    There were even a couple of cages that he saw inside the hideout that had people inside of them. In total, he hade across about 10 people that were in shacks and 3 that were in cages.


    He had no way of taking out the remaining monsters without alerting them.


    Well, there were some things he could do to not alert them and get rid of a couple of them, but it was simply too time-consuming and his mana would drop down to dangerous levels after that, simply going head-on against the rest was the better tactic this time around.


    Right before Lyle was about to move and attack the monsters, he stopped as he felt a mana fluctuationing from one of the big shacks in the center.


    He wasn''t the only one as even the hobgoblins stared at the shack before it suddenly exploded.


    Two hobgoblins and 3 goblins were sted out from the shack as a man walked out from the debris that was falling around. A girl could be seen lying on a makeshift bed that was made out of wood and leaves.


    Tears could be seen falling down her face as her clothes were ripped apart.


    The man on the other hand had a big cut across his chest and a lot of blood was flowing out from it.


    Lyle could guess that he had struggled fiercely inside the shack which led to the hobgoblins getting annoyed by him and cutting him down in an attempt to kill him.


    ''These two, they were amongst the five that I saw getting dragged inside previously.'' Lyle thought as he stared at the 2 before the door of another shack was opened and more goblins and hobgoblins came out.


    From the open door of therge shack, Lyle could see two girls that were lying on a bed while the body of a man was next to them.


    All three were alive, but it was obvious what had taken ce inside the other shack.


    ''And those would be the other 3 that were in the same group.''


    ''But this guy, he was able to use mana?'' Lyle asked himself as he stared at the young man who was drawing mana to him.


    The man saw the inside of the shack and his eyes turned bloodshot as he lifted his hand and pointed at the shack before a concentrated st of mana went at the hobgoblins that hade out.


    The hobgoblins were sted away, but that was the only thing that happened. It would take much to kill them.


    The goblins on the other hand were either seriously injured or dead after being sted away like that.


    The young man suddenly started panting heavily before falling down on his knees. He had already suffered a grave injury, and the exhaustion that using mana at his level was incredible.


    The monsters all shouted before charging at him, only for the hobgoblins that were closest to the man to be prated by a spear that stabbed down on the ground beneath him.


    The monsters all stopped moving.


    The spear and the dead body of the hobgoblin made them nervous suddenly.


    The young man that was barely keeping consciousness suddenly looked up as a person appeared in front of him.


    "Hey, just do your best to not lose consciousness, I''ll take care of these guys," Lyle said as he nced back at the young man who was staring at him in confusion and shock.

 Chapter 38: Fighting Inside the Cave

    <h4>Chapter 38: Fighting Inside the Cave</h4>


    "Who ¨C who are you?" The young man said before suddenly wincing out of pain as the mana that had been spiraling toward him dispersed around him.


    "Just focus on surviving, I have already stopped your bleeding, but honestly, that wound doesn''t look good," Lyle said as he nced down at the young man before turning his sight to the monsters who were snarling at him.


    He took out two of his throwing knives and started walking toward the goblins and hobgoblins.


    "Don''t worry, this''ll be over quickly," Lyle said before throwing the knives and breaking into a sprint.


    The daggers found their targets and lodged themselves deeply in the heads of two goblins that fell down on the ground while Lyle quickly took out his two daggers and attacked a hobgoblin that was near his spear.


    Lyle had taken them by surprise and most of the monsters didn''t have any weapons on them, only 3 of the hobgoblins had a weapon, a normal sword each.


    The goblins usually used their bare hands, sticks, rock knives that they had created, and simr things. They were at the bottom of the food chain and most monsters at the same level could deal with a goblin in a one-on-one battle.


    The hobgoblin tried to punch Lyle, only to miss as Lyle swiftly sidestepped before trying to stab the monster through the neck.


    The hobgoblin turned out to be a bit better than expected and actually dodged the attack, only suffering a small cut on the side of his neck. Lyle had already extended his arm and a part of his body in an attempt to stab the hobgoblin, which led to him being open for an attack.


    Or at least that''s what the hobgoblin thought


    Lyle quickly turned to the side and pointed his left heel at the hobgoblin before delivering a spinning back kick with his right leg. He connected with the stomach of the monster that quickly spat out air as he was sent back by about 1.5 meters ( 5 feet ).


    As the hobgoblin fell to the ground, Lyle quickly threw the dagger he held with his left hand and another hobgoblin before grabbing his spear.


    The dagger hit the hobgoblin in the chest as thetter was charging at Lyle and didn''t expect the attack to happen so quickly. It flinched and stopped for a moment before ncing down at the dagger.


    The hobgoblin released an angry growl and grabbed the dagger before pulling it out. His actions were futile, however, as a spear prated the other side of his chest the same moment he pulled the dagger out.


    "Never lose sight of your opponent, you moron," Lyle said with a deadpan expression before suddenly jumping in the air and kicking the dagger the hobgoblin had released from his hand at another goblin and taking out the spear from the hobgoblin whose chest he had prated.


    There had been a total of 10 hobgoblins and 17 goblins at the start of the battle, now there were 8 hobgoblins and 14 goblins left, with one hobgoblin just standing up right now after suffering the kick from Lyle.


    "Easy does it," Lyle said as he dodged a flurry of attack that a hobgoblin hadunched.


    He then quickly kneeled and propped up his spear, which made the hobgoblin who was charging at him while attacking simply run into the spear and stab himself.


    Lyle then quickly let go of the spear before jumping back as two other hobgoblins and 3 goblins charged at him from the front.


    He took out two more throwing knives before throwing them at the goblins and managing to kill one while the second was only wounded as the knife hit the shoulder.


    ''Tch, don''t tell me I''m losing my touch.'' Lyle thought as he quickly moved to the side and ducked to dodge a swing of a sword before shing the side of the hobgoblin.


    Blood started gushing out from the cut as the hobgoblin held his side and kneeled down while letting go of the sword that another one quickly picked up.


    Lyle smirked before charging at the hobgoblin who panicked before trying to stab Lyle.


    Lyle suddenly went down and slid between the hobgoblin''s legs before stabbing them. He didn''t wait and quickly jumped at the hobgoblin that was kneeling before stabbing him in the neck.


    The action wasn''t aplete sess as three goblins suddenly jumped on top of Lyle. Two grabbed his legs while thest one grabbed his right hand that was holding the dagger.


    "Annoying little things!" Lyle cursed as he got up from the ground with some difficulty, only to be knocked down by another hobgoblin that jumped on top of him and started punching him in the face.


    Without the goblins noticing, a bunch of blood had appeared next to Lyle''s left hand before it started transforming into a crude spear.


    Lyle did his best to dodge the punches by moving his head, but it wasn''t easy and more enemies were charging at him.


    He then quickly grabbed the blood spear that he just created and stabbed the hobgoblin through the neck before throwing him to the side.


    He used the spear to stab the hobgoblin that was holding his right arm before getting rid of the other two as well.


    4 hobgoblins and 10 goblins remained.


    Well, the hobgoblin that Lyle stabbed between the legs was still alive, but it wouldn''t really be able to fight anymore, at least not during this battle.


    The other monsters were now visibly shaken up and were hesitating.


    The enemy that had shown up had killed so many of them in such a short period of time. To the goblins, it was unthinkable, Lyle seemed to be on the same level as some of the hobgoblins, but he was able to kill them as if they were nothing.


    They were correct, Lyle was the same level as some of them, while there were some that were 1 or 2 levels above him.


    But Lyle had a lot more experience when it came to fighting, not to mention that his armor and weapons were of incredible quality as well.


    One of the hobgoblins had taken Lyle''s spear while another took his dagger before staring at him.


    All of the hobgoblins were now armed, while some of the goblins had picked up rocks and even the knives that had been stuck in the skulls of their brethren and stared at him.


    "Hmmm, that''s not a bad idea, taking my weapons, but none of you are worthy of wielding them, do you even know how to use them correctly?" Lyle asked as he started walking toward them.


    His face was bruised and some blood wasing out from his nose as the hobgoblin from before managed to hit him a couple of times.


    "I''ll admit it, for monsters that are a head shorter than me," Lyle said as he stared at the hobgoblins that had deep green or light red skin, "You guys sure do hit hard."


    Lyle cranked his neck before sprinting at the hobgoblin that was holding his spear.


    He then suddenly stopped before throwing his blood spear and another hobgoblin that had his dagger.


    The short dagger was the worst weapon that they could use in order to defend themselves and as such, the spear prated through his right forearm and continued further, piercing through the shoulder as well before suddenly disappearing and leaving two holes that were about half an inch in diameter.


    The hobgoblin immediately started bleeding while Lyle took on the one that held his spear. The hobgoblin immediately tried to stab Lyle, only for the attack to miss by a millimeter as Lyle simply moved his head to the side before closing the distance.


    "Good idea, but don''t try to stab the head without being fully certain that you will hit," Lyle said as he came about half a meter close to the hobgoblin.


    He quickly grabbed the right arm of the hobgoblin with his free, left hand before stabbing through the arm with his dagger.


    He then quickly took out the dagger and the serrated side tore the flesh and skin of the arm before he stabbed the monster through the neck.


    He didn''te unscathed, however, as the hobgoblin managed to headbutt him at the same time he stabbed his neck.


    The forehead of the hobgoblin managed to hit his nose, which led to Lyle being disoriented for a brief moment while his nose bleed even more.


    He quickly pulled out his dagger and used his left arm, which was still grabbing onto the hobgoblin''s arm, to grab the spear as well and jumped back.


    He stumbled during the jump back as two goblins appeared behind him, trying to stab him.


    The three all fell together and the goblin quickly stabbed Lyle, only to be unable to prate through hisbat suit.


    "Good idea, but you should have aimed at my head," Lyle said before stabbing one through the neck while hitting the forehead of the other one with the butt of his spear.


    He quickly rose to the ground and stabbed the second goblin before lifting his spear and throwing the goblin at another one, making them both fall down on the ground.


    "Well, look at how few of you remain," Lyle said as he smiled dangerously. His nose was bleeding furiously and fell down to his mouth, dyeing his teeth red. His smile made the monsters all stop for a moment as they were scared of the human that was standing in front of them.


    To them, Lyle looked like a demon that hade to take their very souls.

 Chapter 39: Adam

    <h4>Chapter 39: Adam</h4>


    "Phew, well that''s over with," Lyle said as he took out a knife from a goblin''s head before putting it back in a small sheath that was on his waist. Lyle kept most of the throwing knives in the spatial ring, but he liked to have a couple of them on him as well since there were certain times when one couldn''t use the ring.


    Plus, it was simply something he had grown ustomed to ever since he had be an assassin. Going into battle without a couple of throwing knives on him just didn''t feel right.


    Lyle then went back to the group of people who were kneeling down and tending to the wounded young man.


    "Hey, all of you cane out now, the monsters are dead!" Lyle shouted and his voice echoed inside the giant cave.


    The people that had been captured had all seen him before and were all hoping that he could truly kill all the monsters and set them free. Upon hearing his shout, all of the people suddenly came out of the shacks and cages that Lyle had previously opened for them.


    Lyle''s arms had a couple of cuts on them and his face was a bit more bruised up with a cut that was above his left eye. He had almost lost the eye after a goblin managed to somehow throw his knife almost perfectly and nearly blind him.


    Lyle came to the group of five who were all staring at him before kneeling down.


    "Hmmmm, even though I have managed to stop the bleeding, I''m afraid I only managed to slow down his death, the wound goes quite deep," Lyle said as he looked at the wound that the man had suffered.


    "Sir, please, can-can you help him, please, we''ll do anything you ask!" The girl who was inside the shack together with the young man pleaded as she put her head on the floor whilst begging Lyle.


    "Sorry, but that won''t work, I have no use for any of you," Lyle said in a calm manner before looking at the man who was smiling at him.


    "That, that was a cool fight." The man said before suddenly coughing out blood.


    "So, there''s no hope for me, huh?" Smiled the young man as he stared into Lyle''s eyes, seemingly unbothered by his approaching death.


    "Tell me, where did you train?"


    "Huh, train?"


    "The mana sts you previously used, how taught them to you?"


    "Ah, you mean that, I''m sorry to disappoint you, but I''m just a normal viger, I don''t even remember much of what happened, I just saw that those monsters were about to defile Cindy and I-I just snapped, I suddenly felt power rush to me and, well the next thing I remember is sending some sort of wave to the monsters and sting them off before finding myself on the ground and you in front of me."


    "Never trained," Lyle said as his eyes widened slightly before he took another look at the young man.


    "Give me your hand, and what''s your name?" Lyle said as he took the young man''s hand and started checking his body with mana.


    "I-I''m Adam, sir," Adam said before suddenly violently coughing again. Blood came out of his mouth and dyed the rags he was in red before he started panting.


    ''This guy, no mistaking it, he has a high affinity toward mana, if he had been found by mages or knights earlier in his life, he would have already reached the realm of a Bronze Knight.'' Lyle thought as he checked Adam''s body.


    "Adam!" The girl that was with Adam in the shack, Cindy, cried out before hugging him and weeping.


    "There is a way." Lyle suddenly said as he let go of Adam.


    "Huh?"


    "There is a way for you to survive, and not only survive but be powerful, powerful beyond what you ever even dreamed of," Lyle said as he stared deeply into Adam''s eyes. Thetter stared back before sighing.


    "And what would I need to do in order to survive, I''m worth nothing sir, I''m just a normal farmer that lives off thend and helps out his parents alongside my other siblings, I have nothing of value to give you, nothing at all."


    "I only need one thing, and that is you," Lyle said as he smirked, leaving Adam and the others confused.


    "You, sorry, but what do you-" Before Adam could even respond, Cindy stared back at Lyle with anger before shouting.


    "What, you want him to be some toy for you, huh, some doll that will indulge in all your fantasies, and don''t y dumb, I know what sick things the nobles do, I won''t let you do that to Adam, I won''t ¨C"


    "No, I didn''t mean it like that," Lyle said as he sighed before looking at them.


    "I can save you, but from that point on, your life is mine, you will follow me and be my personal guard, nothing more, nothing less," Lyle said while fully knowing that if Adam was to agree with him, he could indeed make him do anything he wanted him to do, but he doubted it would evere to that.


    "Your¡­ guard?" Adam asked with a weak voice as he looked at Lyle weirdly. He had seen how the man had been able to destroy the whole base of goblins and hobgoblins by himself, and now he was supposed to be the guard of such a being.


    "Well, more of a servant, but once again, I will not force you to do anything you do not want to do, but there are things you will need to let go after taking my offer, them for example," Lyle said as he pointed at Cindy and the others.


    "You will probably never see them again, not just them, but your vige, your parents, everybody you know will be a thing of the past."


    Adam looked at Lyle before looking at the others who all nodded at him.


    "If you die, you will never see us again anyway, this way, who knows, you might have a chance to at least say hi in the future." The other guy said as he smiled weakly at Adam.


    "Never again?"


    "Probably, but who knows, we might pass by this area in the future, you will of course have a chance to visit them if you so wish to," Lyle said as he nodded to Adam before turning serious.


    "You only have a couple of minutes left to live, you have to make your choice quickly otherwise you will die."


    Adam stayed silent and looked at his friends before ncing back at Adam, this time with conviction in his eyes.


    "I ept, I don''t know who you are, or why you would save me, but you have already saved our lives once, if I survive, I will follow you to hell itself, sir."


    Lyle simply smiled before looking at everybody that was present.


    "Everybody needs to leave and wait for us outside." The people all looked at him with confusion before walking toward the exit, some, however, were fearful and didn''t know whether they should get out.


    "I have killed all the monsters that were outside, you can just wait in the tunnel, but if any remain after a minute has passed, I will personally kill you," Lyle said as he released his killing intent for a splint second, making everybody freeze before running to the exit.


    They could see that he wasn''t joking, if they truly stayed inside, then they would die.


    Even Adam and the others were shocked by Lyle''s words.


    The coldness in his voice waspletely differentpared to his previous demeanor.


    Lyle picked up Adam before going between some shacks, he couldn''t be certain that nobody would try and peek at what was happening, and if that happened, he would need to kill that person and perhaps all the others since they could potentially leak his secret.


    Lyle put Adam down and leaned him up against a shack before taking out his dagger and cutting his palm. He then stared at Adam as his hair suddenly started dancing around in the air. His previously ck eyes turned red and tworge fangs grew out from his mouth.


    Adam was scared senseless by the sight and opened his mouth to scream, only for Lyle''s hand to grab it and force him to drink down his blood while Lyle bit his neck.


    The exchange of blood continued for about 10 seconds before Adam closed his eyes. His body turned cold as his blood stopped flowing for a short period of time.


    Suddenly Lyle could hear Adam''s heartbeat as thetter opened his eyes and took a long breath. His chest rose up in the air as the sound of bones breaking could be heard.


    Adam''s body was now going through a change.


    He was bing a vampire, which meant that his entire body would change from the inside out.


    His teeth fell before being reced by new ones. His skin started peeling off as a newyer quickly grew out. His bones broke before mending themselves and growing stronger while his veins ruptured.


    His screams echoed inside the cave as Lyle moved a bit and stared at the entrance of the cave. Adam would need some time toplete his transformation and Lyle wasn''t going to let anyone see him just yet.

 Chapter 40: First Servant

    <h4>Chapter 40: First Servant</h4>


    "S-sir, Adam-"


    "He will be fine, the healing process is quite painful so he will be at it for a little longer," Lyle said as he looked back before suddenly turning his sight to the front of the tunnel. He could hear some footsteps outside.


    "All of you stay here, don''te out, but don''t go in the cave either, you can''t disturb Adam now, even the slightest disturbance could be bad," Lyle said as he stared at Cindy who meekly nodded.


    Lyle then moved toward the entrance of the tunnel. After killing so many goblins and hobgoblins he had managed to level up again and he was now at level 17. His agility and spirit had both gotten a point while he now sat on 14 free attribute points that he could invest any time he wished to.


    He moved quietly and slowly before using his daggers to get on the wall of the tunnel and slowly move closer to the entrance.


    The footsteps and grumbling of hobgoblins and goblins could be heard outside as they moved left and right in a hurry, seemingly checking if all of the ones in front of the cave were dead.


    Lyle didn''t hurry to attack them. He slowly moved to the entrance of the cave and started observing the enemies.


    He had gotten a bit injured previously and had spent most of his mana, which meant that he would be unable to use his ability or skills during a battle.


    Luckily, there were only 2 hobgoblins and three goblins in front of the cave. To win against such enemies was nothing hard for Lyle.


    As Lyle was dealing with the enemies that were outside, Cindy and the others were staring at the entrance with fear as they could hear the sounds of battleing from outside.


    Adam''s screams became louder as Cindy started looking at the end of the tunnel with worry in her eyes. She understood that Lyle had given them order and that he meant well, so she didn''t move and go to Adam, even as his screams intensified.


    Suddenly the screams stopped and they didn''t start again for quite some time.


    "He, is he ok?" Cindy asked with worry as the others also showed the same expression on their faces.


    She waited a bit longer, but there was nothing.


    No more screams.


    Even the sound of Lyle fighting against the monsters outside wasing to a stop as they could now barely hear anything.


    Cindy suddenly got up and ran inside the cave. The others called out to her and tried to stop her, but she didn''t listen and kept running.


    "He said that it''s dangerous during the healing, Adam is probably fine now, I just want to check how he is doing!" Cindy shouted as she continued running inside before stopping at some shacks.


    Adam was in front of her.


    His back was turned to Cindy who stopped and stared at him in wonder.


    His skin had be a bit paler and his hair grew out. The original brown hair was no longer brown, but ck as well. If Cindy were to take a good look at his hands, she would be able to see that his nails looked much sharper and were longer as well.


    Adam''s body also went through a change other than simply bing paler. He lost a bit of fat that he had and his muscles be more defined.


    She could only stare at his back, so she was unable to see his face which was also slightly different. His previous brown eyes turned ck, with a slight shade of red inside of them.


    His lips were a bit darker and his cheekbones were more pronounced.


    Adam now had tworge fangs, but they didn''t stick out from his mouth.


    "Adam, is ¨C is that you?" Cindy asked as she stared at the back of Adam''s head.


    The rags he previously had on were gone and he was standing in the middle of the cave naked.


    Cindy took 2 steps toward Adam who suddenly talked.


    "Get out."


    "But, Adam."


    Cindy, get out, please!" Adam shouted as his body started to shake a bit.


    Cindy stared at him with worry and tried to get closer, only for Adam to suddenly disappear.


    Before Cindy could understand what had happened, a hand grabbed her throat from behind and tilted it to the side.


    "I ¨C I can''t take it any longer," Adam said as he stared at Cindy''s neck.


    "I can hear it, your blood flowing, I ¨C I can almost smell it, it''s driving me insane," Adam said as he slowly lowered his head to Cindy''s neck.


    His fangs grew longer and he opened his mouth wide before biting down.


    Or at least attempting to bite down.


    A strong hand grabbed him by the hair before pulling his head back.


    His hand that was grabbing Cindy let go of her as Lyle appeared behind the two.


    "Didn''t I tell you to note here?" Lyle asked Cindy as thetter stared down at the ground, embarrassed and sorry.


    "I ¨C I just wanted to-"


    "To check up on him, I know," Lyle said while he looked at Cindy with a calm expression.


    "He needs some time to adjust to his new body, new sensations to feel and explore before calming down, being in the same ce as other people is dangerous, had I not arrived, Adam would have done something that he would probably regret till he died."


    "But it''s alright now, I''m here, go and join the others and wait for us, we will join you guys shortly."


    "Cindy nodded her head before leaving the area. She didn''t lift her head even once and almost hit some shacks a couple of times.


    "That girl, you almost killed her, Adam," Lyle said as he nced at Adam''s face which was now covered in tears.


    "I know," Adam said as he sniffled before being let go by Lyle.


    "You, who ... what are you, what am I now?" Adam asked as he stared at Lyle whose aura had changed.


    His hair grew longer as his eyes turned red. His fangs appeared and suddenly Adam went down on his knees without even knowing why.


    "I''m a vampire, a vampire lord, to be more exact."


    "Huh?" Adam asked as he stared at Lyle in shock.


    Suddenly the memory of what happened right before he lost consciousness came back to him. He remembered how Lyle cut his hand before forcing him to drink down his blood while biting his neck.


    He remembered the sight of Lyle who had changed and looked terrifying to him at that moment.


    "So, I ¨C I''m a vampire now too?"


    "Correct, you are a vampire, my first creation and servant," Lyle said as he stood in front of Adam with his hands behind his back.


    "Servant?"


    "Correct, once a being has been turned into a vampire, they will unconditionally obey all orders from their master, but don''t worry, I don''t intend to force you to do anything you don''t want, somebody that is truly loyal is of much better value to me than a puppet I can order around, the promise I have made before stands," Lyle said as Adam got up.


    "So what, I ¨C I can''t go out anymore, I can''t be around people, how will I even live?" Adam asked as his expression turned to one of horror.


    "You can go out, daylight has no effect on a true vampire, and since you have been turned by a vampire lord, you are considered to be a true vampire," Lyle said before pausing a bit to let Adampose himself and continued.


    "You can be around people, not all vampires are monsters who can''t control themselves, well, no true vampire is something like that, the lesser ones do find it hard to control their urges, but you shouldn''t have any problems, it is because the girl came too soon after your transformation that you couldn''t control yourself and almost bit her."


    "I will train you and help you to control yourself, so don''t worry about that, the only thing that has changed about you is your looks and power, you should find that you are much strongerpared to before," Lyle said as Adam suddenly inspected his body.


    "Here, clothes," Lyle said as he took out some clothes from his spatial ring and gave them to Adam who nodded at him before putting them on.


    When a human turns into a vampire, it will usually be strongerpared to before. How powerful one became depended on how strong they were before, and how powerful the vampire that turned them was.


    As a vampire lord, Lyle could turn even normal humans into powerful beings that were Tier I or Tier II, but since power was too low, Adam had only be a being that was level 10 at the moment.


    He didn''t need to do a trial and pick a ss as he already had one.


    [ Vampiric Servant ]


    That was the ss that Adam had.


    The power of his ss came directly from Lyle and its strength would heavily depend on Lyle''s strength as well.


    It was virtually impossible for Adam to ever be stronger than Lyle as his ss and power came from him.


    The two spent some time talking before heading toward Cindy and the others.

 Chapter 41: Training Adam

    <h4>Chapter 41: Training Adam</h4>


    "Adam!" Cindy shouted out as she saw Adam who wasing to them with Lyle.


    His new look made the four people a bit apprehensive, but after seeing him sh them a quick smile they slowly rxed before they started talking.


    Lyle went together with Adam and the vigers and escorted them back to the vige. Not all of the people present inside the cave came from the same vige, but that was the most that Lyle was willing to do since escorting them to their respective viges would take too long.


    All of them, except for Cindy and the other three who came together with them had been defiled by the goblins. The two girls were about to have their virginities stolen by the hobgoblins before Adam sted away the shack, leading to the monsters alling out and confronting him.


    It took Lyle and Adam some 30 minutes to get to the edge of the forest and exit it. A small vige could be seen in front of them.


    "This is it, me and Adam will stay here and keep an eye out for you guys in case there are more monsters, but after you enter the vige and I be sure that you are fine, we will leave," Lyle said as Cindy opened her mouth, but was unable to say anything.


    She and the others knew of the deal that Lyle made with Adam, they also understood that the only reason Lyle escorted them out was because of Adam.


    They all hugged Adam before leaving.


    As they entered the vige, Lyle was finally able to hear the words he was waiting for all this time.


    [ The host has finished the chain quest, rewards will be given out now. ]


    - 100 S Coins


    - 1 level up and 4 000 Soul Power


    - Beginner-level book of poisons


    [ The servant Adam has gained more loyalty toward the host ]


    Lyle had actually received a second quest after managing to save Cindy and the others. The quest only gave a bit more to Lyle and wasn''t really worth much, but after seeing that Adam''s loyalty would rise after doing it, he decided to take it and escort the vigers back.


    Lyle didn''t wish for Adam to simply be a servant that obeyed him because he had to, no, he wanted Adam to be a trusted subordinate that wouldn''t think twice before following up on his order.


    A brainless person that only knew how to serve was not really valuable to Lyle, no matter how powerful he may be.


    That is why he decided that unless it was truly necessary, he wouldn''t force Adam to do anything. He wanted to make the young man truly loyal and strong, but he also wanted him to have his opinion in case of Lyle did something that could be done better in the future.


    Lyle wasn''t an egoist, he didn''t believe that he was above others or that his way of doing this was always the best. He didn''t mind having somebody with him who would be able to give him a second opinion and help him out.


    That was what he expected of Adam, but first, the young man would not only have to grow stronger, but he needed to be trained.


    Hisbat abilities were pitiful since Adam rarely fought.


    His way of controlling mana was also abysmal and there would be a lot of work ahead of Lyle if he wanted to make Adam into a person that could be of help to him.


    Even though Adam''s talent had been increased thanks to him being a vampire, it would still take quite some time before the young man was qualified to fight alongside Lyle.


    They went back into the forest and went to the areas where the monsters were weaker.


    The first thing Lyle wanted to do was make Adam unafraid of killing others.


    The young man had never killed anything before, well, except for some wildlife that would be seen near the vige, but no monsters or people.


    That was lesson number 1.


    Lyle arrived near a group of Toskars.


    Adam was already level 10 and he was physically much more powerfulpared to the Toskars, but he was afraid.


    Even though the blood of a vampire cursed through his veins and made it easier for him to keep calm and collected, Adam was still unable to stop himself from slightly shaking as he stared at the group of monsters in front of them.


    Lyle lightly sighed as he watched the scene. He knew that he would perhaps take a bit too long and that he might need to discard Adam at the end.


    The young man''stent talent was quite high and his affinity with mana was fairly high and way above average, but none of that would matter to Lyle if Adam wasn''t able to progress quickly.


    He couldn''t afford to stay here for too long simply to train Adam, nor did he have the luxury of simply training him for longer periods of time. He was an assassin and sooner orter, he would be given another mission.


    Even though the world was in great turmoil and wars had mostly stopped thanks to the huge increase in monster activity, Lyle knew that the nobles would probably use this chance to kill even more of their enemies.


    He was right.


    The underground organizations that didn''t work with the crown were bustling with contracts from nobles and merchants who wished for their opponents to die.


    They didn''t care about the world changing.


    They would be fine, that much they believed in.


    But for them, this was a great opportunity to grow their power and be more influential in the empire.


    Lyle''s organization would definitely be tasked with killing nobles of the enemy kingdoms and empires, while there would probably be a good number of requests for bodyguards.


    An assassin was the best bodyguard when one was being targeted by other assassins.


    Many influential nobles would hire them and they would need to do their best to make sure their patron stays alive.


    Lyle could feel a slight headacheing after thinking of what he might need to do in the future.


    That was why he needed to grow his power quickly.


    He was known as ''The Shade'' and belonged to the upper echelons of the organization, the missions he would be given would pit him against enemies of simr strength, which Lyle waspletely unable to go against right now.


    "So, what are you waiting for, you have a sword, a shield, and armor, go and fight," Lyle said as he suddenly pushed Adam from behind and caused him to show himself to the Toskars.


    There were a total of 3 monsters in front of Adam.


    From what Lyle could see, the 3 were all about level 5 and shouldn''t pose a problem for Adam.


    Even breaking through his defense should be a challenge for the monsters who didn''t fare well against armored opponents. The monsters all stared at Adam before attacking him.


    "Wait, no, stay back!" Adam shouted as he swung his sword at one of the Toskars.


    "Tch, don''t just use your arm, you moron." Lyle''s voice was heard behind Adam as his attack missed the targetpletely. His swing left him open for an attack and the Toskar immediately used his tentacles to grab his right hand and leg.


    "You didn''t use your hips, you didn''t nt your feet correctly, and you swung too wide, leaving youpletely open and vulnerable to an attack, not only that, you are now focusingpletely on that Toskar, while the other two are attacking you from the other side." Adam quickly turned his head to the left before quickly raising his shield and blocking a tentacle that had beenunched at his face.


    "One more."


    Another Toskar managed to strike Adam and hit him from the side, making him hunch back slightly as the impact hurt him a bit.


    "Why are you simply standing, none of them have enough raw strength to go toe-to-toe against you, use that strength Adam, otherwise you might die today, I won''t be saving you from these weaklings." Adam opened his eyes wide before grunting.


    He shouted as he suddenly moved his right arm and leg. He lifted his leg, and the Toskar with it before kicking at the other one.


    His kick was slow and a person would be able to easily dodge it, but the Toskars were in the middle of attacking him, which meant that they couldn''t dodge in time.


    Adam''s leg connected with the Toskar that had hit him on the side, but the slow speed of the kick meant that little damage had been done, still, the kick was strong enough to force the other Toskar to let go of him.


    Adam then attacked the third Toskar that had tried to hit him in the only ce that was unguarded, his head.


    While Adam was doing all of that, Lyle was simply observing him and checking out his status screen.

 Chapter 42: Adam’s First Battle

    <h4>Chapter 42: Adam''s First Battle</h4>


    Name: Adam


    Level: 10 ¨C 0 / 3 000 Soul Power


    ss: Vampiric Servant (more info in the ss menu)


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


    Attribute points : 0


    Strength: 18


    Agility: 19


    Endurance: 14


    Vitality: 14


    Willpower: 13


    Spirit: 15


    Skills:


    None


    Abilities:


    Darkness Control ¨C locked ( Rank A )


    Mana st ¨C The servant can control mana and create sts with it, the more mana is used for the sts, the more powerful they will be. ( Rank C )


    Ding!


    [ The vampiric servant ''Adam'' has managed to inherit the power to control darkness from the host. Due to the low level and weakness of the servant, the ability will be locked until thetter reaches Tier II ( Silver Knight ). ]


    Lyle looked at Adam''s status and nodded in contentment. The young man not only had an inherent ability, but he had also managed to gain one from Lyle, although a weaker version.


    To have two abilities was notmon and it would serve Adam well in the future. If Lyle could train him well, then he might have managed to gain a servant that would be a powerhouse in the future.


    There were people that had dual-ability in the world, there were even those that had three, four, or even five like the emperor of the strongest human empire of the world, Arshavin "The Sunborn", a truly rare case that seemingly had no weaknesses thanks to his abilities.


    Having more inherent abilities wasn''t the most important thing, however.


    People could study and learn new abilities, but whenpared to your inherent one, it would use more mana for doing less. Inherent abilities were those that you were born with and had the highest affinity towards.


    Still, even with five inherent abilities, there were still beings as powerful as Arshavin, like the empress of the night that only had two abilities, but was still as powerful as he was.


    Adam was currently doing well.


    Lyle had given him some armor alongside clothes and it was keeping him safe for now.


    He didn''t n on letting Adam wear the armor for too long, however, as that would make thetter used to getting hit without much repercussion, which could spell his doomter on.


    Adam had managed to kill a Toskar and he looked to be fine so far, the act of killing his first monster hadn''t made a difference in him, although Lyle doubted that would persist after the battle was over.


    As he was level 10, Adam was currently fighting monsters that were a lot weaker than him and he would barely get any soul power, but that was fine, Lyle didn''t n on simply making Adam grow in levels and be stronger in stats without having any experience.


    As time passed, another Toskar died before thest one tried to run away.


    Lyle was just about to open his mouth and tell Adam not to let him get away when thetter shouted and threw his shield at the Toskar, hitting it at the back of its head and making it fall down.


    Adam then proceeded to get atop the Toskar before stabbing it numerous times with his sword, before finally being stopped by Lyle.


    "It''s alright, it''s dead, you won." Lyle calmly stated as Adam panted heavily as his eyes were bloodshot.


    The adrenaline rushing through his body and the excitement and fear he felt during the battle had made him lose control at the end and he had simply charged at the Toskar with the intent to kill it, something that Lyle didn''t expect would happen.


    As the excitement wore off, Adam began breathing normally before he looked around him. The dead bodies of the two Toskars were present nearby and his eyes constricted slightly as he saw them before looking down at the Toskar he had just killed.


    Seeing the mangled body of the monster made his hands shake a bit, he had never taken a life before, and now, during his first battle, he had not only taken the lives of multiple monsters but had also killed the third one in such a brutal manner.


    His memory was a blur and he didn''t even know what exactly had happened, but he knew that he had done this.


    "Get up," Lyle told him in a cold tone as Adam looked up at him.


    "Come on, up." Adam gulped before getting up, only to suddenly be punched in the stomach by Lyle.


    He fell down to his knees and held his stomach while Lyle sighed.


    "Feeling a bit better, the shock wearing off?" Lyle suddenly asked as Adam stared at him with slight hatred in his eyes.


    [ The servant Adam has lost some loyalty toward the host. ]


    "Come on, your body is strong, that shouldn''t have hurt that bad," Lyle said as he suddenly grabbed Adam by the back of his cor before pulling him up to his feet.


    "Killing isn''t easy, especially the first time, I know what you are going through, but you can''t let your emotions get the better of you, has your shaking stopped yet?" Lyle asked as Adam suddenly looked at his hands that were no longer shaking.


    "I ¡­ thanks, but, maybe a bit less punching in order to help me out in the future?" Adam asked as Lyle smirked a bit.


    "Pain is one sensation that can overwhelm most of the others, had I not punched you without you suspecting anything, you would still be shaking and overthinking things, you can''t do that, you fought against monsters, they wanted to kill you, so you killed them, it''s as simple as that, you need to learn that, otherwise I can''t even imagine what might happen to you if you ever kill a human in the future."


    "I ¨C I hope I never do," Adam says resolutely as Lyle nces at him before smiling.


    "Most hope so, but the truth is, humans can be more terrifying than any monster,pared to those who simply fight to survive and multiply, we do it for many reasons, in this world of ours, you can never be sure of who would stab you in the back, in my line of work, I have seen it happen many times."


    "Sons kill their fathers in order to inherit the wealth and power the family has, brothers kill brothers, fathers kill sons, lifelong friends turn on each other, it happens all the time." Lyle sighed before continuing.


    "Although you don''t wish to, in the future you will probably be forced to kill others in order to protect yourself, so be ready for that, of course, I don''t intend to force you to kill people if we have no reason to do so, so don''t worry about that."


    "But now, let''s talk about this sloppy mess of a fight you just went through," Lyle said as he flicked Adam''s forehead before going to the first Toskar thetter had killed.


    "This one is the cleanest kill you had, you were quite focused and managed to time your strike exactly when the little runt was open, cutting open its neck and killing it, overall, this one was well done," Lyle said as he nodded at Adam before going to the second Toskar.


    "This one though, you already tasted the fruit of victory and became a bit too confident, you had a sword, and yet you came very close to the Toskar, which allowed it to hit you a couple of times," Lyle shook his head and continued, "Without the armor you had, you would have suffered from multiple flesh-tearing wounds and the front of your body would have beenpletely covered in your own blood."


    "Overall, a less than adequate job, you lost your calm and simply used the overwhelming advantage you had over the enemy in order to kill it, sometimes that isn''t bad, but not this time, this time it was just sloppy."


    "As for that one," Lyle said as he suddenly pointed at the third Toskar.


    "Good throw, you hit him right where you needed to and managed to knock it over, the rest, however, damn."


    "You could have ended the battle simply by cutting off its head, but you instead mounted the monster and stabbed it a total of 18 times, if there had been any other monsters nearby, that would have been a perfect moment for them to ambush you."


    "I ¨C I don''t know what happened, at first I was scared and nervous, but then when I managed to get rid of the monster that was holding my leg and arm, I realized that I was much strongerpared to them, I still kept my calm and managed to kill the first one, but after that, something changed, I just thought less since I knew I could defeat the enemy with brute force, I also don''t even remember doing that to thest one, I, I just cked out for a moment."


    "It happens, especially since you just became a vampire, and your bloodlust gained control over you, vampires all have strong bloodlust and need to train in order to control themselves under any circumstance, even I didn''t have it easy during my first kill."

 Chapter 43: Adam’s Training Continues

    <h4>Chapter 43: Adam''s Training Continues</h4>


    The rhythmic sound of rain falling down on the ground reverberated through Lyle''s ears as he sat on a rooftop.


    Being only 15 years of age, the young man was staring down at his hands which were covered in blood.


    The gray rags that he used in order to disguise himself were dirty with blood as the lifeless body of his first victim was in front of him.


    The man''s eyes were wide open in shock, one of his hands was on top of his chest as he was seemingly trying to cover something up while 7 stab wounds were visible on the rest of the chest, stomach, and one final stab in the neck, with the dagger, still being inside of it.


    A hooded man stood behind Lyle as the young man simply stared in front of him without speaking a word.


    He was still in shock after killing the man.


    It was the first time he had done so.


    Living on the streets, Lyle had plenty of fights and there were even cases where bones were broken and people were seriously injured, but he had never killed anybody, he never needed to.


    It took Lyle 2 whole days to get over the shock of killing somebody.


    Since then, he was assigned to missions that were quite unimportant to the organization and only served as a practice to the newbies.


    The first 4 missions were all assassinations and the targets were usually normal people, none with anybat experience.


    That was in order to get the newbies acquainted with killing. After doing those missions, Lyle, as well as the other newbies, would get more missions that were suited for their ranks and power levels.


    Lyle still remembered the day of his first kill, he vividly remembered how he approached the man as thetter was standing on his roof and admiring the scenery.


    The shock the man had when Lyle stabbed him, the loud shouting, and his screams as Lyle continued to run his de through the man''s body, were all still there in Lyle''s memory.


    That''s why he didn''t me Adam for how he acted.


    He had acted even worse back then.


    Adam going berserk at the end and ultimately giving in to his bloodlust was something that Lyle half expected as well.


    He was a perfect hybrid and his control over his urges was much greaterpared to Adam. That was why he didn''t experience something like that, but it was still hard to control himself at times.


    "Hmmm, let''s go, we have more to do before morning, after that, we need to find you some suitable equipment, a sword and shield aren''t really for you," Lyle said as he patted Adam on the back as the young man simply nodded his head.


    "We''ll deal with choosing a suitable weapon for you after we get back to the city, for now, I want you to fight more and gain more experience when ites to fighting against monsters."


    "Yes, master," Adam said somewhat awkwardly before Lyle nced back at him.


    "Don''t call me like that, it sounds weird, my name is Lyle, when we are in public, however, call me sir," Lyle said after thinking a bit, since Adam was his servant, even if he was captured, he wouldn''t be able to give out any information against Lyle.


    "Alright, Lyle, sir."


    Lyle chuckled a bit after hearing how Adam had addressed him, but other than that, did nothing.


    The two continued walking and during the night, Lyle had Adam fight a total of 6 times, he would have done more, but the young man was both mentally and physically drained so Lyle decided to let him rest.


    After that, the two continued wandering through the forest and Lyle fought some monsters.


    All of the monsters were weaker than him, but he wasn''t fighting them in order to level up, but in order to let Adam see how he fought and to show him the proper ways of dealing with certain monsters.


    He didn''t know how much the young man would be able to remember, but seeing how attentive he was, he doubted that it would be worthless.


    His n of letting Adam learn from watching him was a sess in the end as Adam even started questioning Lyle about some things he didn''t understand, or asking about some things he wasn''t certain of.


    Lyle was quite satisfied with Adam for now and hoped the young man would continue doing well in the future. If he didn''t, and if he wasn''t strong enough after about a week, then Lyle would have no other choice but to get rid of him and find a new servant.


    The two returned to the city right before dawn. Lyle had disguised himself and under the astonished gaze of Adam, he exined to him what his current identity in the city was.


    As Lyle came to the city gate, he stopped and initiated a conversation with one of the royal soldiers that were on duty.


    The city guards had resumed their work, but there would always be at least one royal soldier at the gates and other important areas of the city in order to make sure nothing bad happened.


    "Sir." The royal soldier immediately stiffened up as Lyle came to him.


    So far, the Khilman in front of him had always given them some rming information. As rming as they were, they were also highly important and themander and even the prince held him in high regard thanks to that.


    "The hobgoblins and goblins have started making bases in the forest, they have already kidnapped some people from the surrounding viges, I have taken care of one such base and rmended the vigers flee to the city before the situation is resolved," Lyle said as the soldier widened his eyes.


    "Also, this guy, he''s my new apprentice, he was one of the farmers that were kidnapped." Lyle pointed at Adam who was staring at the high walls and gate of the city.


    "Yes sir, I will make sure to ry the information to themander and his majesty prince Sied." The soldier said before turning around and walking toward the castle.


    "Adam,e on," Lyle said as he walked through the gate.


    He first needed to find a new ce to stay.


    The inn he had stayed in before was fine, but he already went there under a different disguise, which meant that he couldn''t bring Adam with him.


    This time, however, finding an inn would be much easierpared to before.


    He no longer needed to sneak out at night as he could simply go out in his Khilman disguise and as such, he could choose any inn to stay in.


    After finally deciding what inn he would stay in, Lyle booked arge suite for him and Adam.


    The suite had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room.


    It was quite expensive as Lyle had spent about 500 gold coins in order to book the suite for 8 days. He didn''t know if he would even be staying that long, but he now had over 100 000 gold coins and didn''t really care for spending 500.


    Just the gems and jewelry he had found in the carriage were worth about 100k gold coins and Lyle would definitely not be running low on them in the near future.


    Lyle and Adam went to sleep before waking up in the afternoon.


    Lyle and Adam went down and picked a restaurant to eat in before leaving the city.


    It was still daytime and Lyle was first going to spar with Adam a bit before they ventured back into the forest.


    Lyle hadn''t gone inside the forest during the day at all, and this would be the first time he did so.


    Usually, the forest would be more dangerous during the night as a lot of monsters were active then.


    The goblins and some of the other races that Lyle hade across in the forest were usually sleeping at night, but thanks to the city being so close to the forest, the monsters had adapted and would be active at night in order to avoid the dangerous humans.


    Lyle and Adam arrived outside the city, and after walking a bit, they stopped as Lyle would train Adam for the next hour.


    Well, instead of calling it training, or a sparring session, it was more urate to say that Adam got thrashed by Lyle for a whole hour.


    Vampires had great healing powers and injuries that they received would get healed much quickerpared to normal humans, even those at their level were usually below them in that regard.


    When a vampire drank blood, he wouldn''t only be more powerful, but he would also heal his injuries quickly.


    Lyle had done so in the past, he had drank the blood of some animals in the past after going through a tough battle, or during a chase in order to heal his wounds.


    He disliked doing it, but he wouldn''t simply let himself stay in a dangerous situation when he had a way to make it less dangerous, not to mention that as a hybrid, drinking blood didn''t really speed up his healing factor by much, nor did he gain any boost to his strength.


    Adam could do the same, but Lyle was hesitant to let him drink blood.


    It was quite possible that Adam could start liking it and would perhaps even lose control. If that happened, then Lyle would kill him straight away.


    He had no need for wild animals in his group.

 Chapter 44: Adam’s New Weapon

    <h4>Chapter 44: Adam''s New Weapon</h4>


    "Again, this time attack with the intention to kill me, otherwise this sparring session of ours will be for nothing." Lyle calmly stated as Adam panted heavily in front of him. He clenched his fists before staring at Lyle and attacking him.


    "Not bad, but don''t forget, with the new weapon you have chosen, your reach is quite limited," Lyle said as he simply took a step backward and allowed Adam''s fist to pass in front of his face.


    The fist was covered in battle gloves that were created with the skin of a high-leveled monster that was below Tier I and had small metal spikes on them, allowing the user''s hits to be more effective than usual.


    That was the weapon that Adam had chosen after he and Lyle went looking for weapons that would suit him. It was also one of the weapons that Lyle rmended to him.


    He had tried out swords, staffs, axes, hammers, and more, but none felt reallyfortable to Adam except for ws and the battle gloves.


    He had never really used weapons, but he did get into fights asionally and only used his fists and legs when fighting. Using the battle gloves simply felt natural to him.


    His ability as well would shine the brightest with the battle gloves.


    If he used a sword or any other longer weapon, it would take him much longer to learn how to use his ability effectively with it, perhaps he wouldn''t even be able to use it that much in the end.


    The battle gloves would allow Adam to maximize the power of his ability, at least in the beginning.


    The difference between Adam using the sword and shieldbinationpared to when he had the battle gloves, although not huge, was visible.


    He was able to attack faster and with more uracy, he could string together his moves and the flow was simply better.


    Lyle was somewhat satisfied with what Adam had shown him with the gloves, but there was one big issue.


    Adam didn''t know how to dodge properly, nor did he know how to wrestle well. His martial arts were also almost non-existent and that all needed to be worked upon.


    Luckily as a vampire and as a level 10 being, Adam had greater talent when it came to this and could learn quickly.


    Lyle nned on making things simple when it came to teaching Adam about bare-handed fighting, he would simply beat it in him.


    One could already see a multitude of wounds on Adam''s body as thetter waspletely dominated by Lyle during the sparring sessions. He wasn''t even able tond a single hit, and even his ability proved to be useless.


    That was partly because Lyle was on apletely different scale when it came tobat experience, but also because Adam was using his ability in a crude and wasteful manner.


    The young man had no idea how to properly channel mana and he was simply using the mana inside his body in order to activate the ability.


    Most people would do it contrary in the beginning.


    Since one didn''t have a lot of mana in their bodies in the beginning, they would focus on feeling the mana that was present around them and try to manipte it in order to help them out when it came to using their ability.


    About 60% of the mana they spent would be their own, while the other 40% would be the mana that they managed to gather around them.


    Adam could sense the mana, but that wasn''t enough, he needed to feel it, allow it toe to him, and wield it like it was a part of his body.


    All of that would need to be worked upon, and Lyle was growing more uncertain when it came to training the young man. There were simply too many things that he needed to teach Adam right now, and he wasn''t sure he had the time to do it.


    He didn''t want to lose a valuable person like Adam who was gifted with two abilities after bing a vampire, but he also didn''t want to spend too much time in the city as he had no idea what would happen if he was toote to get back to the headquarters and give his report.


    He could use the excuse of the world changing and monsters bing more powerful as the reason for him taking longer to arrive, but that would only work if didn''t take too much time.


    At the very end of the sparring session, Lyle decided to do the same thing he didst night.


    He showed Adam how he used mana.


    The results were much better than Lyle expected.


    Adam was a natural.


    He only needed a guide and an example of how to do things and he would be able to learn them quickly.


    That was not only applicable to mana, but to the fighting skills that Lyle had shown him as well.


    Upon listening to Lyle, and seeing how he used and manipted mana, Adam quickly began copying him and the way he was using mana received a great boost.


    With that in mind, Lyle smiled slightly as he now believed that he could perhaps teach Adam everything thetter needed to learn before going back.


    Boom!


    A couple of hourster, deeper inside the forest.


    Adam was crouching on arge branch and gulped at the scene in front of him.


    Tens of bodies littered the forest as Lyle stood in the middle of the chaotic scene. Multiple wounds could be seen on his body, but none were serious.


    Lyle decided to take Adam with him deeper inside the forest in order to observe how he fought against enemies that were of simr level.


    Lyle came across a battle in the forest.


    Arge group of goblins and hobgoblins were fighting against a slightly smaller group of kobolds.


    The kobolds were a powerful race, much more powerful than a goblin at the same level, even hobgoblins were not as powerful as they were, except for rare ones that had be variants or elites of their species.


    Elites were monsters that although were at the same level as others, were much more powerful.


    The same could be seen in other races, there would always be geniuses that were strongerpared to their peers even when they should be of a simr level.


    Lyle could be counted among them.


    There should only be a handful of people in the whole world that would be able to go toe-to-toe against Lyle at the same level.


    As for Adam, right now he couldn''t be put near that category as he would probably lose against an average fighter at his own level thanks to him not being well-trained.


    Lyle''s goal for this week was to be as powerful as he could while also training Adam and making him into an average fighter when it came to sheer fighting skills.


    The kobolds were the stronger party. It was obvious to both Adam and Lyle as they watched the battle.


    There were about 25 kobolds fighting against 30 hobgoblins and 6 goblins.


    The disparity in power was great.


    The kobolds had great teamwork and each one of them was proficient with using their weapons while the hobgoblins simply charged and fought like mindless animals.


    Lyle jumped in and started fighting when there were 15 kobolds and 10 hobgoblins left.


    All of them were injured at this point in time and Lyle immediately went for the injured kobolds as he wanted to cut down their numbers and allow the hobgoblins to fight against the remaining kobolds before they would realize what was happening and turn their des his way.


    Monsters would always fight against each other, but they would also join hands when a human or other species was nearby. Not a lot of time passed before the monsters stopped fighting and charged at Lyle, wanting to kill him.


    The rest of the day and night passed in pretty much the same manner asst night, only that this time, Adam was the observer a couple of times as Lyle fought against the more powerful monsters and ughtered them.


    He also tried finding some monster bases and attempted to get deeper inside the forest, but he was unable to.


    The deeper part of the forest was home to many powerful monsters against which even Lyle wasn''t certain he would prevail so he decided to stick to where he was right now and level up.


    Adam was another factor in his decision as he couldn''t keep him safe if they ventured deeper inside.


    The two continued doing the same things every single day and Adam was visibly improving with each sparring session and battle he went through.


    It made Lyle happy as he was now confident that he wouldn''t need to abandon Adam and could bring him together with him.


    And just like that, a week passed.

 Chapter 45: [ Bonus Chapter ] Dungeons of Corleon

    <h4>Chapter 45: [ Bonus Chapter ] Dungeons of Corleon</h4>


    Thud.


    A body fell down on the cold ground of the forest.


    It bled heavily and soon, a pool of blood appeared beneath it, slowly joining with the rest of the blood that was flowing in the area.


    The monster was not the only one that had died, there were about 5 more monsters nearby that had all fallen down dead.


    "Good job, your skill with the ability is slowly improving," Lyle said to Adam who nodded gratefully before clenching his fists.


    For the whole week, the two did nothing except for fighting monsters and sparring.


    They had even started going out to the forest earlier and the guards were able to watch them spar a couple of times.


    Seeing Lyle, who was wearing his Khilman disguise, beat up Adam each time made them all grimace as they could almost feel the pain that Adam felt, but after seeing the young man get up time and time again, all of them found respect for him.


    The improvement that Adam had when it came to fighting was another thing that made the guards, and even some of the royal soldiers surprised.


    With each day, Adam was bing stronger and better at fighting.


    Theplete beginner that clearly had no experience when it came to fighting had turned into a solidbatant in just a week. Even the royal soldiers who were able to get into the royal troops had to admit that the kid was talented.


    Of course, none had seen Adam or Lyle go all out.


    Adam could now do more things with his ability other than simply make sts from mana.


    It was still the strongest attack he had, but there were other ways that he could use the ability now.


    One was to focus and limit the st to his hands. The st would get weaker that way, but it would st enemies away, instead, it would add more power to Adam''s punches and it would deal internal damage to the enemies as well.


    He was also able to infuse his sts to his kicks as well, which would deal incredible damage if he managed to hit the enemy from above.


    His proficiency with meleebat had increased and he no longer did any thoughtless things during a battle.


    He lost the nervousness that was present early on and could initiate a life-and-death battle at any time.


    Lyle was quite proud of what Adam had turned into after only a week. He had managed to get to level 32, while Lyle currently stood at level 38.


    The difference between them had be smaller when it came to raw power, but Lyle was still far more powerfulpared to Adam when it came to fighting.


    During the week, the two had managed to find about 7 more goblin bases, 3 kobold camps, breeding and nesting areas, and nesting for Omnars, which were grotesque monsters that looked like bits and pieces of other monsters that they killed.


    An Omnar at the early stages was a weakling and was easy to kill, most monsters and people of the same level wouldn''t have an issue dealing with one, but after an Omnar bes more powerful and kills enough monsters, it starts changing.


    They are able to change their body by consuming the body of their victim.


    An Omnar could usually only change one part of its body by using a foreign body and would need to kill and consume more in order to change the other parts. That led to the Omnars all looking very different from one another.


    Some had two legs, some had three, four, or more. One could see an Omnar that even had multiple heads as well.


    They were dangerous creatures that if left alone, could grow to be incredibly powerful.


    The soldiers and the higher-ups of the city were very pleased that Lyle and Adam had taken care of so many bases and nests that belonged to different kinds of monsters inside the forest.


    They already knew that Lyle would soon be leaving the city, and as such, themander, with the permission of the prince, gave them a reward.


    The reward was 30 000 gold coins and a full set of armor and battle gloves for Adam who was overjoyed after seeing it.


    He was only a student of a Khilman, not a Khilman himself, and could wear anything he wished to wear.


    Themander knew that Lyle would probably not take any reward they would give him, so they decided to give it to Adam.


    As expected, Adam dly took the items, as Lyle had told him previously to do so.


    He now had good armor and a fine weapon that were all Tier I and would serve him well before reaching the realm of a Silver Knight.


    Lyle still wasn''t satisfied by how powerful he had gotten, but he had managed to get a capable servant, so that would be enough for now.


    One other thing that happened was that he now had another spot open for a servant.


    After reaching level 20, there was yet again a ss change.


    Of course, since both Lyle and Adam had their respective sses, that didn''t influence them, but it did however strengthen Lyle''s ss and bloodline and allowed him to have 2 servants now.


    He wouldn''t be taking an additional servant right now as he didn''t need one. There would also be a need for him to train the new servant and get him equipment, and right now, Lyle simply wished to focus on bringing his strength up.


    He would have enough time to get servantster after all.


    The duo left their suite and went out, trying to locate a caravan that would take them to Orsvald, but they, unfortunately, had no luck with that.


    Instead, Lyle found a caravan that would stop at Linston, a medium-sized city of the empire that was along the way to Orsvald.


    Upon reaching the city, Lyle and Adam could find a caravan that was going to Orsvald as the two cities were rtively close and had many trade deals Linston was an important city thanks to the high number of dungeons around it.


    Oh yes, dungeons were one of the most integral ces for the adventurers guild and well, for everybody that wanted to be more powerful.


    Dungeons were created by powerful mana veins thaty deep underground.


    The mana veins would enrich the area and soon, monsters would either begin living nearby, or they would suddenly appear thanks to the mana vein before creating enormous tunnels and structures thaty underground.


    Those would be the normal dungeons where adventurers and knights would go to.


    The monsters that could be found inside a dungeon were almost endless as no matter how many were killed, more would appear soon.


    Nobody knew exactly how dungeons had formed in the world.


    Some spected that the powerful mana of the mana veins was what created the monsters as a defensive mechanism, others believed that the mana would create some kind of portal that would continuously spawn monsters at the location.


    Even after conquering some dungeons, nobody had managed to obtain anything from the mana veins.


    Empires would sometimes conquer a dungeon and use the incredible power of the mana veins to build incredible defensive arrays or structures that would be used to defend the empire, but that was only present at powerful empires, the Golden Lion Empire for example had no such thing in its territory.


    One thing it did have, was a mana vein that could be found below the capital city.


    Most kingdoms and empires would choose to build their capital on top of a mana vein.


    Even without doing anything, they would obtainrge benefits from the mana vein.


    Monsters that lived in dungeons almost never went out and would stay inside for most, if not their whole lifetime.


    More powerful empires would make arrays that covered the whole capital, and some would fuse the mana vein with the pce¡­


    The Golden Lion Empire used a more primitive method. They created a tunnel to the mana vein.


    The tunnel was located inside the royal pce and it allowed for the mana that was overflowing from the mana vein to get out and enrich the whole capital with mana.


    Training and gathering mana in order to strengthen oneself inside the capital was more effectivepared to most ces in the world while training right beside the tunnel would bring incredible benefits.


    There also existed more powerful dungeons in the world.


    There were dungeons that were split off from the world and upon entering them, one would find themselves in apletely different area that was cut off from the rest of the worldpletely.


    Those dungeons were ssified as dungeons of the second order and only silver knights and above could enter them, for anyone else, it would be the same as a death sentence.


    Such dungeons existed in a spatial ne that was somewhat independent of the world and only a handful of powers in the world could use them to gain benefits.


    There were even more powerful and dangerous dungeons, but Lyle knew very little about them since they didn''t exist in the empire.

 Chapter 46: The Trip to Linston

    <h4>Chapter 46: The Trip to Linston</h4>


    The dungeons were important to everybody and there were two reasons for that.


    First was the fact that adventurers and soldiers could go inside and have a nearly endless supply of monsters to fight and hone their skills against.


    The second reason was that dungeons usually had rare metals and minerals inside of them that adventurers would gather before selling them off to the adventurers guild. The monsters inside the dungeons would also sometimes leave small mana cores behind which could be used to power up many things.


    The monsters inside the dungeon would disappear after dying, but not immediately.


    Their blood and bodies would slowly get digested in the dungeon, and only the mana core would be left in the end.


    One could try to leave with a body of a monster, but it was incredibly difficult to do so since the dungeons themselves would try to block you. Storing bodies inside spatial rings was also impossible since the dungeon forbade it.


    Using the spatial ring to store your items or even the metals and minerals was fine, but the dungeon would prohibit any storing of monsters and would block the attempt by using a small spatial disruption that could sometimes even damage the spatial ring, leading to nobody daring to try and store corpses since they were less valuablepared to a spatial ring.


    Lyle thought for a bit before making a slight adjustment to their original ns.


    Instead of going directly to Orsvald, he was going to take Adam to a dungeon as it would only take them a couple of hours to conquer one before continuing on their way.


    It would be a good experience for Adam, and Lyle was wondering if the monsters that could be found inside the dungeons would also give soul power like the others.


    Linston was a smaller citypared to Olswan, but the military presence there was higher, plus the number of adventurers inside the city was huge.


    Hell, there were barely any civilians inside the city as about 80% of its poption was made up of adventurers, mercenaries, and soldiers.


    The city was incredibly important to the empire thanks to being rtively close to the capital and having 8 dungeons close to it.


    The dungeons were all normal dungeons, and the most difficult dungeon around was one that required a party to have Silver Knights in them in order to be able to conquer them. Each of the dungeons had different monsters, but about 6 of them only had 1 species inside of them, while the two bigger and more dangerous ones had more.


    The one that needed a party of Silver Knights was particrly dangerous because there was a possibility for a Golden Core monster to appear, even with the monster being the absolute weakest that it could possibly be in the Golden Core, without a team of Silver Knights fighting it, the party would be decimated.


    Adam and Lyle would only go to one of the lesser dungeons where the monsters were not that powerful.


    Lyle didn''t mind even if the monsters gave no soul power as the main reason he was going to the dungeon wasn''t in order to get stronger, but to train Adam a bit more before they arrived at Orsvald.


    The trip to Linston would take about two days, and from Linston to Orsvald, it would take about a day.


    The caravan they were able to join was a fairly powerful one as a Silver Knight was actually inmand of it.


    The knight was quite respectful to Lyle as he and the others had heard how the royal soldiers and even themander that took over the castle were respectful to the Khilman, signifying that he was definitely a powerful individual that they shouldn''t even dream of crossing.


    Having a Silver Knight escorting them meant that there should be no problems along the way. The knight and the members of the caravan, however, had a different opinion as they believed that with Lyle, whom they believed to be a powerful Khilman that was at least a Golden Knight, they would have nothing to fear.


    The first day of their trip went well, there had been a couple of smaller monster groups that attacked them, but after the Silver Knight unleashed his aura, all of them froze in ce as the other guards and mercenaries ughtered them.


    Lyle of course didn''t participate in the battle as he was still disguised as a Khilman and he needed to continue posing as someone that was more powerful than the Silver Knight.


    Adam on the other hand was allowed to go and fight with the others, and so he did.


    Upon seeing his weapon, the guards and mercenaries were a bit surprised.


    Battle gloves were not really a popr choice to use, mostly thanks to not giving any reach advantage to the user.


    Of course, once a battle glove wielder was able to get close to his opponent, he could unleash a flurry of attacks and decimate the enemy, but that would only happen if he was able to get close.


    Upon seeing how Adam was pretty much sting away enemies that were of a simr level to him, the guards, mercenaries, and even the Silver Knight all nodded to themselves.


    His ability was the main reason for his choice of weapon.


    The powerful mana sts that Adam was able to do very frequently might not have incredible power, but they could be used numerous times, and the guards also knew that this was probably not the only thing that Adam could do.


    The second day of the trip started quite uneventfully. The caravan was passing through another forest by using a dirt road until Lyle suddenly stared into the distance.


    "Blood, a lot of it." Lyle suddenly said as the Silver Knight suddenly stared at him in confusion.


    "Sir?"


    "I can sense blood in the distance, a battle has been fought, and quite arge one at that," Lyle said with a serious expression as the knight suddenly stopped the caravan.


    "You stay here, me and Adam will take a look, I owe you at least that much for this trip," Lyle told the knight who gratefully nodded at him.


    Lyle called over Adam before disappearing into the forest.


    They had traveled for about one and a half days and were getting quite close to the city now, for a battle to have taken ce here was more than weird.


    "Adam, move slowly, don''t forget what I taught you, erase your presence and make no sound."


    "Yes," Adam said before looking at Lyle.


    "What has happened, I sense blood."


    "Yes, me as well, and by the smell, I would say that tens of people had died, there is either arge number of enemies close by or one powerful monster that decided to go out and make chaos," Lyle said to Adam, whilst havingpletely different thoughts.


    ''Sorry, but you guys will probably not survive, I don''t have any hopes of defeating that thing, and neither do you.''


    Suddenly a loud roar echoed through the forest as shouts and screams were heard behind Adam and Lyle.


    The young man immediately turned around and was about to run back before getting grabbed by Lyle.


    "Stop, don''t you sense how powerful that thing is, we will only run to our deaths!"


    "But sir, we ¡­ they ¡­ they will die!"


    "Yes, they will, but so will we, that''s why we are going to use the time we have received to get out of here and survive, there are probably Golden Knights that will being here soon to take care of that monster."


    Lyle quickly took off his disguise before moving forward with Adam.


    "You, you sensed that monster, didn''t you?" Adam asked Lyle with a heavy breath as thetter nced back at him.


    "I sensed the blood that was on it, that''s what allowed me to get an estimate of its size, if it was weaker, then the Silver Knight would have been able to kill it, which meant that we would be able to return and join the caravan, but that roar was enough to make my very soul shake, it''s without a doubt Tier III, which means that survival is impossible for them."


    Adam kept quiet as they continued forward, slowly getting to the city.


    Along the way, Lyle used his dagger to cut Adam''s hair and dyed it ck. If any member of the caravan was to somehow survive and get to the city, they would be unable to recognize the two of them.


    "Remember Adam, even though being a good person and helping others is nice, you should never do it simply for the sake of goodness, otherwise you will die a useless death."


    "Had we been stronger, then I might have stayed with them and helped them with defeating the monster, but we are weak, and we can''t risk our lives for people we just met."


    "I know that you must be feeling guilty right now, and perhaps anger and hatred towards me, but that will eventually pass, losing your life, however, wouldn''t."


    "I understand, sir."


    Lyle simply nodded at Adam before continuing forward.


    In about 10 hours, they were finally able to see the gates of the city. The two simply nced at each other before walking toward it.

 Chapter 47: Linston

    <h4>Chapter 47: Linston</h4>


    Lyle and Adam were covered in blood and cuts could be seen on their bodies as they appeared in front of the city gate. The guards immediately tensed up after seeing them, but after sensing their strength, they eased up a bit. Neither Lyle nor Adam were even Tier I beings, and the guards were all Bronze Knights.


    Having such powerful guards be gatekeepers would seem ridiculous, but that was just how important the city was for the empire, sometimes there would even be a Titled Knight was stationed there, while a couple of Golden Knights were almost always present.


    Lyle and Adam appeared as distraught travelers and Lyle quickly started narrating a story.


    The story was mostly true as he was telling them of the caravan he was traveling with and how a powerful monster suddenly appeared and forced them all to scatter in hopes of surviving.


    He never mentioned who he was, or who Adam was, and after being asked about it, he simply replied by saying that they were adventurers that were staying in Olswan right before the system appeared.


    He told to the guards about the changes in the forest close to Olswan, only to be told by the guards that the same thing had happened here as well.


    Lyle told them that neither one of them had their adventure guild''s badge as they had to run with all of their might when the monster arrived before being ambushed by some Snarks.


    Snarks were monsters that were indigenous to the region.


    They could be mistaken for goblins at first nce, and they might even be rted to goblins in some way, but nobody ever bothered to try and study them.


    They had the same green skin and short bodies, but the biggest difference would be seen up close. The bodies of the Snarks were not covered by skin, but by small scales.


    Their ws were sharp and they could easily tear through leather while their leg muscles were powerful enough to let them jump as high as almost 3 meters. They were fast and deadly, and most newbies would get serious injuries if they underestimated the small monsters.


    The guards were met with a small issue after Lyle had told them that, but after he gave them some gold coins and monster cores as a bribe, they allowed them in.


    Neither one was powerful enough to do anything to the city, which was enough for the guards to take the generous bribe.


    "For an adventurer, he sure does have money, are you sure they didn''t lie?" One of the guards asked the one that had taken the bribe before dividing it to the others.


    "They definitely lied about who they were, but not the caravan, lord Song has just returned from the road to Olswan, there was a Golden Core monster that had killed tens of people and destroyed a couple of caravans."


    ( Author: I will be using core instead of knight for monster tiers, so Bronze Knight ¨C Bronze Core monster ¡­ )


    "Hmmm, they''re probably minor nobles that fled the city, I heard that his majesty Sieg has taken control over the castle, the nobles are probably sending off their children away in case something happens to them, don''t forget about the news we receivedst week, the noble house of Johanson has been annihted."


    "True, the other nobles are probably in fear of the same thing happening to them."


    "Hmph, they deserve it, I heard stories of what was going on there after the death of the previous duke, his son was a bad leader, and an even worse fighter, truly a misfortune for such a man to get such a son."


    All the guards nodded at those words.


    One would have to look very hard in the empire to find people that had anything bad to say about the old duke, but when it came to Orsted, most had a negative opinion.


    Lyle and Adam went inside the city and they first went to the adventurer guild branch.


    It would be annoying if they had to constantly make stuff up, so Lyle was going to get them a badge each from the guild.


    He already had two, but those showed him as a Bronze Knight and Silver Knight, and he was none of those right now.


    He could of course use his aura and killing intent to make it seem like he was as powerful as that, but when going to cities that were as well-guarded as Linston, it was far too dangerous to do that since a Golden Knight or Silver Knight could be nearby and would perhaps sense him.


    Lyle went inside the adventurer guild located inside Linston and went to the reception.


    There were already 2 men that were in line, so he and Adam queued up and waited for their turn.


    After some time had passed, their turn arrived and Lyle simply brought out a small badge and showed it to the receptionist.


    "Sorry to bother you miss, we need two badges, two in ones, with three stripes."


    Upon seeing the badge, the receptionist''s eyes widened slightly before she politely nodded at Lyle.


    She took out two badges that were made out of normal metal and had three stripes on their left side.


    There was a sword and a head of a monster on the badge, the symbol of the adventurers guild.


    "Have a nice day miss," Lyle said warmly before turning around.


    "You too sir." The receptionist replied as she stared at the backs of Adam and Lyle.


    She then quickly called over a girl and told her to take over as she needed to do something meaningful. The receptionist quickly left and went to the higher floors of the guild.


    She quickly climbed up the stairs before reaching the top floor.


    Walking forward, the receptionist only stopped after reaching the end of the hall and stood in front of a door.


    Collecting herself, the girl took a deep breath before knocking on the door.


    "Enter." An old voice was heard and the handle of the door turned by itself.


    The girl, Katherine, entered the room and closed the door before turning around and bowing down.


    "Branch Leader, a person bearing the ming cross has appeared."


    "Oh, the ming cross you say?" The man that was standing with his back turned to Katherine eximed before turning around.


    He looked like he was about 60 as his hair and beard were gray, but his sharp eyes and chiseled face were a far cry from what an old man should have.


    His body was the same, even though he wore a uniform, it was unable to hide away the muscles that made up his body.


    "Yes, sir, a young man carrying the ming cross appeared and presented it to me, he wanted two in badges with three stripes for himself and for the young man that was apanying him."


    "It''s good that you have informed me, you are excused now, there is no need for further action." The man said as Katherine bowed and left the office.


    ''A ming cross, either you are a scion of one of the major families, or a member of a powerful organization, whichever it is, I hope you don''t try to do anything suspicious, otherwise, even that badge won''t save you.'' A cold glint could be seen in the eyes of the old man as he looked outside the window and observed the city.


    His name was Karlington, a Golden Knight that was in charge of the Linston branch of the adventurer guild, he had been an adventurer for a long time before retiring and taking the job.


    In the circle of adventurers, he was called the ''Raging Bull'' thanks to his fighting style.


    As for Lyle and Adam, the two had left the guild and were making their way to where the caravans usually stayed and recruited people.


    "Sir, what was that badge you gave to the receptionist?" Adam asked Lyle who smirked.


    "The ming cross, it''s a rare badge that the adventurers guild rarely gave to others, only the powerful noble houses and organizations have ess to them, as well as powerful individuals that have reached the Titled Knight realm," Lyle said as he showed Adam the badge briefly before putting it back in the spatial ring.


    "This badge shows that the person that owns it is an important person in the empire and is considered to be a part of the adventurers guild''s upper echelons, each empire has its own version of the cross, and the owners have multiple benefits, such as getting any kind of guild badge, as long as they are powerful enough, that is."


    Lyle didn''t tell Adam that the only people in the organization to get this badge were those that managed to be part of the upper echelons, nor did Adam know that Lyle was part of an assassin organization.


    He nned on telling him before they entered Orsvald, but he wanted Adam to focus on his training before that.


    He also knew that the receptionist would probably alert the leader of the branch of his appearance, a ming cross was not amodity just anyone could have.


    The only reason he had it when almost half of the members of the organization that stood in the same position didn''t, was thanks to the old man that had brought him into the organization.


    The backing of a ''Shadow'' was not a small thing.

 Chapter 48: Lord Song

    <h4>Chapter 48: Lord Song</h4>


    Lyle and Adam talked with the caravans that were looking for adventurers to join them as guards and managed to find only one that was leaving soon.


    The caravan was a small-sized caravan that was transporting some low-level monster cores, mana crystals, and monster parts.


    They were going to depart in two days, which was a bitte for Lyle who wanted to go tomorrow, but hey, beggars can''t be choosers.


    "Seems like we''ll be able to go to more than just 1 dungeon while we are here," Lyle told Adam after they had finished signing up for the guard mission.


    Using the adventurers guild badge was easy, they would be givenpletely empty, and it was only after the user poured in mana that they would be bound to them.


    There was no way to erase the bond, and the badge would only be usable by the adventurer that bound it to himself. One simply needed to use mana to make the badge shine a bit and show his information.


    It was an incredibly simple way of identification that made it almost impossible for people to steal it since it would be worthless to them.


    Of course, the bond wasn''t as unbreakable as it seemed as there existed ways to overwrite the bond, but that was a story for another time.


    Lyle and Adam walked toward the city gate, not the one they had used toe inside the city, but a different one.


    Upon reaching the city square, they suddenly stopped as they stared at the body of a giant monster.


    "Wha-what is that?!" Adam shouted out in surprise as a couple of people around him nced at him before snickering a bit.


    It was normal for newbies that just entered the city to be shocked by the disy that the lord of the city, Lord Song showed.


    "A minotaur, that''s the monster that ughtered the caravan," Lyle said in a low voice as he stared at the monster.


    ''That''s not good, minotaurs didn''t exist in this area, they can only be found in one of the two strongest dungeons here, for one to be outside, that''s seriously bad news.'' Lyle thought to himself as he started second-guessing his idea of going into a dungeon with Adam.


    "Wow, I heard of tales of the minotaurs, they''re supposed to have higher physical strength than even Golden Knights, right, sir?"


    "Correct, their physical prowess and healing ability are almost on par with Titled Knights, but their speed is lowerpared to others at their level, not to mention that theirrge size makes them into big and easy targets to hit."


    "Still, nobody would dare underestimate a minotaur as it stood at the peak amongst Golden Core monsters."


    ( Author: I know I have stated that the 2 powerful dungeons near Linston are for Silver Knights, but a minotaur would sometimes spawn and act as the final boss, I have further exined it in chapter 60 )


    "For one to defeat it like this, it was probably the city lord."


    "Good guess, young man!" A voice was suddenly heard from behind.


    A tall man that had violet hair that was put up in a ponytail came to Lyle.


    He wore a white and purple robe that had floral patterns, while a thin sword was hanging from his waist.


    The man came to Adam and Lyle before suddenly wrapping his arms around their shoulders.


    "As you said, that there is the work of lord Song, isn''t he amazing, look at those cuts, look at the number of wounds, he managed to kill a minotaur and preserved almost the whole body, isn''t he amazing, right, amazing?!" The young man said multiple times as Lyle looked at him in slight annoyance while Adam was staring at the minotaur in amazement.


    Suddenly Lyle noticed something weird.


    All the people in the area were staring at them with shock written all over their faces.


    Before Lyle could even guess why all of the people suddenly bowed down.


    "Lord Song, wonderfully done!"


    Both Adam and Lyle froze while the young man, who turned out to be the city lord himself, scratched the back of his head.


    "Ah, busted, it seems I have made myself look like a fool in the eyes of two neers, oh well¡­" Song said as he smiled at Lyle and Adam who were staring at him.


    "You mentioned something about the monster ughtering a caravan, would you care to borate further?" Song asked with a smile as Lyle stared at him without changing his expression.


    "Yes, lord Song," Lyle said as he bowed slightly before narrating his story, and pretty much telling Song the same thing he told the guards at the city gate.


    Song simply nodded at Lyle after thetter had finished before patting him on the shoulder.


    "You were lucky you survived, go and rest up, you have deserved it, young adventurers." Song then promptly turned around and left.


    Lyle stared at his back before turning around and leaving the area together with Adam.


    As for Song, he had joined back with some of his personal guards and captains.


    "Find out everything about these two." Song suddenly said in a serious tone as his lieutenant, another Golden Knight, looked at him.


    "Hmm, sir, you don''t know?"


    "Know what?"


    "The young man that you spoke with, he is the one that showed the ming cross at the adventurers guild."


    "A bearer of the ming cross?!"


    "I thought you went to them because you already knew about it."


    "No, I went, no matter, forget about my previous order, do nothing to them."


    "Yes, sir." The Golden Knight bowed before leaving the area with the others as Song slowly disappeared.


    ''I''m certain that he isn''t human, but since he has the ming cross, then it''s enough.'' Song said to himself as he nced one final time at where Lyle and Adam were before disappearing from the area.


    As for Lyle, he was walking alongside Adam in haste.


    ''Song, damn it, why did he have to be the city lord here?!'' Lyle shouted in his head as Adam nced at him a couple of times, visibly confused by Lyle''s demeanor.


    "Sir, what''s wrong?"


    "We might be in danger, I don''t know if he has found out about the ming cross yet, if he hasn''t, then we need to find a ce toy low for a bit before being able to freely move."


    "W-why, what do you mean?!"


    "That was Iodel Song, the man that is believed to be the strongest Golden Knight not only in the empire but in the surrounding region, his strength is unfathomable, not to mention his keen senses, he might have sensed that we are not truly human, we can''t take any risks right now."


    Adam shut his mouth after hearing Lyle''s words, he was shocked to the core.


    He knew that although vampires didn''t have a very good reputation, they were still not categorized as monsters thanks to their intellect and willingness to cooperate with other races.


    Still, that didn''t mean that everybody would think well of them.


    If the city lord thought they were spies or enemies, then they would be done for, no tricks would help them survive this situation.


    As for Lyle, his mind was spinning, working its best toe up with a n to keep the two of them safe for the time being.


    Suddenly a blur passed between the two and the city lord appeared before them.


    "L-Lord Song!" Adam stuttered a bit as he stared at the man in front of them.


    "Ah, sorry for startling you, I just wanted to give our distinguished guests a small gift, please do take it, and have a nice stay in Linston." Song said before disappearing from the spot.


    Lyle stared at the small bag that Song had given him before opening it up.


    "This!" Lyle suddenly opened his eyes wide before a small smile appeared on his face.


    "Good, it seems he has found out about the ming cross, we''re safe."


    "Sir, what is that?" Adam asked Lyle as thetter stared at the small stone that was in his hands.


    "This ¡­ is the crest of the Song family, this signifies that the person holding it is a friend of the Songs and allows for safe passage anywhere where the family has any influence," Lyle said as Adam stared at the stone that had an engraving of a flower in it.


    "It seems like a normal stone, right?" Lyle asked Adam who simply nodded at him.


    "Well, that''s because I''m not using any mana, that''s when it changes, but I won''t be doing that here," Lyle said before putting the small stone in his spatial ring and continuing his way.


    ''Iodel Song, the most talented person in the empire after prince Sied, was an average person until he reached the Golden Knight realm, and then he suddenly changed, he managed to overtake many senior Golden Knights and im the mantle of the strongest one, he is an enigma, a person that keeps many secrets underneath that calm and happy-go-lucky demeanor.''


    ''Why did you give me this crest, Iodel?'' Lyle thought as he clenched his hands into fists.


    ''I need power, more power, then such things will no longer matter.''

 Chapter 49: Adam’s First Dungeon

    <h4>Chapter 49: Adam''s First Dungeon</h4>


    As Lyle and Adam were leaving the city, Iodel was watching them from afar.


    His right-hand man, Ulon, the Golden Knight that spoke to him before, was next to him.


    "My lord, why give them something as valuable as the family crest?"


    "Call it my intuition Ulon, that kid is no ordinary person, and I''m not saying that only because of the ming cross," Iodel said as he nced at Ulon and gave him a smile.


    "Don''t worry, I know what I''m doing, if the family gets angry that I have given the crest to some random person they have never heard of, I can just make something up, he does have the ming cross after all, that gives me quite some leeway," Iodel said as he patted Ulon on the shoulder before entering his mansion.


    Ulon stared at the city gate where Lyle and Adam were located before turning around and entering the mansion as well.


    ''Not human, a ming cross and such a powerful bloodlust, even though you keep it inside, I was still able to sense it, Shade.'' Iodel thought to himself as a smirk appeared on his face.


    ''I hope we can be good friends in the future, after all, I might need the help of someone like you for my ns.'' Iodel said as he walked to his office after ncing at the direction of the city gate for onest time.


    Sometimeter, inside a dungeon.


    ( Author note: This part will be narrated in the first person, I don''t often do this, so here''s hoping you like it. )


    ng!


    ng!


    The enemy in front of me wielded a sword with great proficiency.


    Each strike was aimed at my vital spots, and the only way I could block the attacks on time was by using the metal spikes and te on the back of my glove.


    My breath turned heavy, my legs already starting to tire out from the constant fighting inside the dimly lit dungeon master had brought me in.


    The kobolds were the monsters that made this dungeon their home.


    Unlike the kobolds that I fought in the forest outside Olswan, these were bigger, faster, and fiercer.


    Master said they should be around level 30 to 40, and that with the bonus I gained from being a vampire, I shouldn''t have any problems against them, especially during nighttime when we are stronger than usual.


    ''Tch, master made it seem like this would be a walk in the park.'' Iined in my head, fully aware that master would give me an even harder task if I was toin to him.


    The kobold wielded a curved sword, but that was not all, his tail was also a dangerous weapon that could deal significant damage to me.


    It was only a bit more than a week ago that I was just a normal farmer, I lived with my parents and brother, did work out in the fields, and made sure our animals were safe.


    Now, I have stopped being human.


    I could no longer see them, at least not until muchter.


    Master promised that to me, but I''m unsure of how true his words were back then.


    Swish


    The tail of the kobold came from the left, forcing me to crouch down in order to evade it.


    This wasn''t the first time the kobold had done this, and neither was it the first time I had evaded in such a way.


    His sword was lifted high up and was ready to fall down and cut me.


    But he made an error.


    My fist, which was enhanced by mana, arrived first.


    From a crouching position, I might have seemed like an easy target, but I could explode upwards from that position and strike first.


    My fist connected with the monster''s jaw.


    The mana that covered my fist exploded and struck the fierce enemy.


    I heard the bones break, I felt the spikes on my fist prating through its skin and tearing it away.


    The st had forced the kobold''s head to violently move upwards, and I was able to see the damage that I had caused.


    The jaw of the enemy was gone.


    The skin around it was torn away and I could see the flesh and bones.


    Some of its teeth were visible as well.


    The glowing crystals inside the cave did little to create light, but as a vampire, I didn''t need it, and neither did my master.


    "Argh!"


    The monster was still alive, a sound was heard from its destroyed mouth as it tried to attack me once again.


    It was useless.


    My previous blow had done enough damage and disoriented the monster.


    It could no longer threaten me.


    I used my other fist and struck the sword, this time activating my ability and knocking it away.


    The enemy was now just like me, bare-handed.


    The sharp ws the kobold hade out as it tried to tear my armor away.


    Again, it was useless.


    I caught the kobold''s hands.


    It had a slight superiority when it came to physical strength, but I wasn''t nning onpeting in strength anyway. I channeled mana to my hands before using my ability once again.


    I held the hands with full strength before sting them.


    The scales and tough skin of the kobold were gone.


    The flesh was mostly sted away and only a bit remained. I could see the bones of the kobold''s hand and part of the forearm as it shrieked in pain.


    Once again, I channeled mana.


    The following st broke the bones, destroyed the ws, and made the kobold unable to do anything to me.


    That was my thought until it spun around and hit me with its tail.


    I had dropped my guard, master will not be pleased with that.


    I quickly got up, only to see the wide-open mouth of the kobold in front of me.


    The monster had charged with everything it had in order to deliver a final blow that would take my life. But I wasn''t going to let it do that. I wouldn''t lose my life, my master would save me, but what kind of a servant would allow his master to save him each time?


    He had saved my life, saved the lives of my friends, and given me power.


    I didn''t ask for power, but it was the only way I could have survived, the only way that I might see my family one more time.


    I grabbed the open mouth of the kobold.


    I was sessful at grabbing the upper lips, but because of me sting its jaw away, there was little space on its lower lips.


    My hands grabbed its teeth, and pain immediately assaulted me.


    The razor-sharp teeth of the kobold managed to pierce through the leather of my gloves as I was still using the ones master had bought for me back in Oswald. I had received good battle gloves and armor from themander of the royalpany, but the master would only let me use them after reaching Tier I.


    It was for my own good, master told me that relying on powerful armor and weapons would only bring me so far. I would never reach the true height of power.


    I didn''t understand what he exactly meant, but I would never doubt him.


    I channeled mana once again.


    I only had a little bit left, but it would be enough.


    I unleashed another mana st that destroyed the kobold''s mouth.


    The upper portion of the mouth was gone, its teeth were broken in pieces and it fell down to the ground.


    It was still breathing, but not for long.


    I took out a sword from the spatial ring that was on my hand.


    It used to belong to master, but he had given it to me so that I could carry some of my equipment and items by myself. I shouldn''t always be relying on him.


    I grabbed the sword and stabbed through the head of the kobold that was having a spasm on the ground.


    The sword wasn''t a particrly good sword, but against a monster that was half-dead, it was more than enough.


    I took it out before wiping off the blood by using a small rag I had before returning it to the spatial ring.


    I almost copsed on the ground after that.


    The battle had taken a greater toll on my body than I expected.


    My legs were weak and I could barely move them right now.


    The blood that was flowing out from the kobold seemed incredibly delicious at this time, but I wouldn''t drink it.


    I still remembered what happened when I drank blood the first time back when I was with master inside the forest. To be more specific, I still don''t remember any of the things I have done, and only have master''s words as a memory of that event.


    I had gone crazy, intoxicated by the blood, and master had to knock me out before spending a couple of hours in the forest with me.


    Step. Step.


    Steps were suddenly heard further inside the dungeon.


    I looked up and saw him.


    A ck suit covered his body and a silver shirt was visible from underneath the suit jacket.


    Fair white skin could be seen between the gaps of the suit while long ck hair fell down to his shoulders. He had ck eyes that seemed to be able to take your very soul with a nce.


    He was the person to whom I owed everything, my master, for now, and for the duration of this second life that he had gifted me.

 Chapter 50: Mana and Affinities

    <h4>Chapter 50: Mana and Affinities</h4>


    "How was it, fighting against the kobolds?" Lyle asked Adam who was sitting down on the ground, the body of a kobold lying in front of him.


    Lyle nced at the kobold and could see its arms were gone, as well as its mouth. It wasn''t the only one, the area around Adam was currently littered with corpses of monsters.


    Lyle, however, was not present during the battle.


    He had gone further inside the dungeon and had fought against the boss of the kobolds. The kobold boss was a bigger, faster, and of course, stronger version of the kobolds that one could find inside the dungeon.


    Lyle had taken some time to reconsider whether he and Adam should go inside a dungeon after finding out about the minotaur getting out of one, but he still decided on going to one since even if the monsters were to get out, he and Adam were still powerful enough to win against them.


    The only thing he was cautious about was whether the inside of the dungeon would change.


    If the monsters inside the dungeons were to grow stronger, then that would be a big problem.


    That would not only make it near impossible for new adventurers to venture into dungeons, but the ones that were considered to be dangerous in the empire would be even more dangerous, leading to nobody being able to go inside them.


    The low-leveled dungeons would be higher-leveled, which wasn''t a bad thing, the dungeons bing more powerful would result in the adventurers being able to fight against higher-leveled monsters and gain better materials.


    Still, Lyle was a bit worried about the future.


    If the high-level dungeons were to not only be more dangerous but would allow the monsters to get out, that would result in a catastrophe.


    There were a couple of dungeons that only Titled Knights were allowed to go into, and he even heard of some that were forbidden for them.


    If the monsters from such dungeons were allowed to leave, the whole empire might be in danger.


    Still, it was not something that needed his attention, even back during his peak, he was far too weak to even dream of trying to meddle in such affairs.


    He had picked up the monster core that the alfa kobold had dropped, while Adam picked up the other ones.


    There were some mana crystals in the dungeon, which they could sell or use.


    Mana crystals were important as they were a resource that was used for many things.


    Alchemists used the mana crystals during the production of multiple potions, they would turn the crystals into dust and put them in, allowing the potion to have a high mana density which would either improve the original effects or turn it into mana potions which could replenish one''s mana quickly.


    Mana crystals could also be used in their raw form to replenish mana, but they had impurities, and using too many of them in a short amount of time could lead to problems.


    One could suddenly get mana poisoning, which was extremely dangerous and could result in death.


    Mana poisoning happened when a person used up their mana and replenished it many times in session. It would lead to their mana organ, which was a kind of mana core for humans and simr races that would draw mana in and pump it out, working in a simr manner as the heart.


    Using low-grade mana potions or mana crystals too many times could lead to a blockage in the mana channels that could be found inside the body.


    The mana channels were like veins, but they only existed to transfer mana inside the body.


    One could always draw mana in and absorb it through the skin, which would allow for less mana usage when using skills or enhancing your body, but it was much faster to only use the mana that the organ had saved up, the skill would also be more powerful at that time as well.


    People all had affinities to different elements.


    Those affinities would show up as abilities if the person had a very high affinity toward one element. Elements were not just the basic ones like fire, water, and such.


    It could be light, darkness, blood, and more.


    Pretty much anything could be considered a ''mana element''.


    The mana that one had inside their bodies corresponded best to their own element, that is, their ability.


    That was why the skills that a person used that were directly tied to their own ability cost less mana and were more powerfulpared to a person using a skill that was not connected to the ability or was tied to a different element.


    There were also extreme cases when one was unable to use another element thanks to their own.


    For example, a person that had the ability to control light would be unable to use any kind of dark element skill, and vice versa.


    If a person had the fire element, for example, they could use water, but it was many times less effective.


    If a person was to master both, then their power would grow explosively, but there was a lot of danger involved in doing that, even using a skill that fused two such elements could result in the person losing control and hurting oneself.


    The empire once possessed a genius that was able to use both water and fire.


    The genius rose to be an archmage and was considered to be the strongest of all in his own realm.


    One day, however, after using a fusion of the two elements during a battle, he lost control.


    The resulting explosion killed the mage, killed the enemies, and both of the armies that were fighting there suffered great losses.


    Ever since that time, none dared to try and do such a thing.


    Everybody valued their own life above anything else, even power was something that people could turn away from in order to save themselves.


    Lyle and Adam were both beings that had dual affinities, or better said two abilities.


    Neither of their two abilities shed with another and could bebined without repercussion, of course, that was easier said than done.


    Combining two abilities in order to create a skill was incredibly difficult and took a long time and practice to be done.


    It was something that the two would only attempt much, muchter on.


    For now, the duo had done what they had wanted to do.


    They came out of the dungeon and went back to the city as their little excursion hadsted a couple of hours.


    Lyle and Adam showed their adventurer badges and were let into the city. Upon entering, the first thing they did was go and find an inn to stay the night.


    Finding an inn wasn''t difficult in such a city as there were tens of them. As most of the poption was made up of adventurers and soldiers, the inns were always working well since the adventurers rarely ever stayed in one ce for too long.


    Upon entering one inn, Lyle and Adam were immediately hit with the strong smell of alcohol and the pleasant aroma of food.


    The inn was almost full as multiple adventurer teams upied most of the tables. Some nced at the two neers that had entered the inn before returning to what they were doing before. Some were talking, presumably nning their next move, going over what dungeon they should visit, what area in the surroundings they could go to in order to fight monsters, and so on.


    With the system arriving on the, the poption was at first confused about what they could do, only to quickly realize that the path to power was now open for all.


    The only thing one needed was bravery. They needed to be brave enough to pick up a weapon and y monsters, hell, the more ruthless ones could gain soul power by killing other humans or other races as well.


    Even mere peasants that had never held a sword in their hands before could now rise up the ranks and be powerful. Some were overjoyed by the thought, while others were scared.


    The nobles were the ones that were most concerned.


    If the peasants were to start hunting monsters and bing more powerful, controlling them would be harder and harder.


    The ones that were scared the most were the nobles such as the ones back in Olswan. They had done many despicable things and were hated by many. Previously, they didn''t care, the mere peasantry could never endanger their lives or status, so there was no need to be afraid of them.


    Even if thousands were to rise up against them, they could squash them like bugs.


    But now, only one brave or crazy person was enough.


    If they spent a long time hunting monsters, they could be powerful and perhaps destroy the noble house that had wronged them in the past.


    The mere thought of such things made the nobles scared, they were terrified of what the future might hold for them.


    The more ruthless ones tried to control the poption and forbade them from hunting monsters, but they knew all too well that it was almost impossible to truly stop them.


    As for the adventurers, the path to power was now easier than before, they could be more powerful much easier and could in turn earn more money.


    Lyle and Adam observed the inn before sitting down in a corner where a small table that could fit three people was ced.

 Chapter 51: [ Bonus Chapter ] Night Visit

    <h4>Chapter 51: [ Bonus Chapter ] Night Visit</h4>


    "This is good," Adam said as he took another bite of his meal.


    The two had ordered a couple of dishes and a beer each.


    The beer was mostly to blend in, they were in an inn that was filled up with adventurers that loved to rx and have a drink after hunting, and one beer would do pretty much nothing to Lyle and Adam whose constitution was greater than that of an average human.


    The food the inn made, although simple, was surprisingly delicious. Lyle and Adam ate till they were almost full before heading upstairs.


    They had booked a double room for 2 days and were nning on staying here until the caravan finally begins its trip to Orsvald.


    As they were sessful with taking care of the dungeon they had previously gone to, Lyle was nning on hitting two more tomorrow.


    They could get soul power from the monsters inside the dungeons, but the soul power the monsters gave was only a third of the normal amount.


    Lyle guessed that it had something to do with the fact that the monsters inside the dungeon were a bit differentpared to those that lived outside. After all, the monster cores that they dropped were not something that wasmon as only monsters that had managed to reach the Bronze Core realm had a chance of dropping them.


    A monster had to develop its own monster core, and it wasn''t that easy to form it. There was still no concrete evidence of how the monsters form monster cores, but one thing was for certain, a monster that had a monster core was much more powerfulpared to a monster that doesn''t have a core.


    The same could be said for humans and other races when ites to the mana organ.


    One actually needed to train their mana and nourish the mana organ, the more powerful it became, the more mana one could store and would be able to draw in mana from the surroundings faster and more efficiently.


    A person that only had a mana organ that had just formed would find themselves running out of mana much fasterpared to somebody that had nourished and strengthened their mana organ.


    Both Lyle and Adam were able to see the mana organ in their status, they both had a mana organ that was in the beginning phase.


    It would take them long before they would be able to truly enjoy the benefits of having a mana organ, but even this much was something that would cement the two as geniuses at many of the empire''s institutions as humans, just like monsters, usually gained a mana organ after reaching the Bronze Knight realm.


    Lyle and Adam retreated to their respective rooms and fell asleep, only for Lyle to wake up after about 3 hours.


    He could sense the blood of multiple people close to them.


    Their heartbeats were fast and the rhythm was off, the blood was being pumped a lot, a usual sign of adrenaline and excitement.


    Lyle grabbed his daggers and outfit before suddenly stabbing through the wall next to his window.


    A grunt could be heard, then an exhale as the person that was trying to get to Lyle''s room via the window fell down on the street.


    Adam had also awoken.


    He was also able to hear the enemies, but he was awoken by Lyle''s actions. As his servant, he had somewhat of a psychic connection to Lyle and would respond to his emotions. He rose up from his bed and equipped his items from the spatial ring.


    This time, he was wearing the Tier I armor and had the Tier I battle gloves on. Lyle had told him that the only time he was allowed to use them before reaching Tier I was in situations where his life was in danger, or when the two of them were to be attacked by unknown assants whose power levels they didn''t know.


    Lyle used some of the blood that the man who was trying to enter through his window had spilled.


    He created a thin thread from the blood before manipting it and making it flow out of the room.


    There were currently 3 people that were in the small living room that could be found once a person entered. The thread easily passed through the gaps between the door and wall before Lyle picked up a shard of ss and slowly moved it under the door.


    The door was some 2cm ( about an inch ) above the ground and there was more than enough space for the shard to pass through.


    He used the shard as a mirror. He observed the three men who hade to their room in the middle of the night before manipting the thread and having it climb atop one of them.


    The assants werepletely unaware that they had been found out. It seemed that the three were waiting for the one that was supposed to get in through the window to attack Lyle before they would do anything but were unaware that he was dead.


    The thread climbed up and soon reached the neck of the intruder. Lyle used his mana and the thread suddenly went around the man''s neck before it started choking him.


    The man started panicking, he tried to grab the thread with his hands, but it was too thin and had already wrapped around the neck with force, making it impossible for one to simply tear it off.


    One of the remaining two intruders quickly came to him and tried to help him out, but was unable to do so.


    That was when the door of Adam''s room opened and he charged out.


    The intruder closest to him was shocked, but quickly regained hisposure and tried to attack Adam, only to be sted against the wall by Adam who quickly resumed his attacks and unleashed a barrage of punches at the man.


    As for the other intruder that was trying to help the first guy out, he took out a knife, but before he was able to do anything, a dagger was pressed on his neck as Lyle appeared behind him.


    "Don''t move, not even a muscle, if you do, then I will cut off a hand, understood?" The man in front of Lyle simply stood in ce, frozen.


    He was scared.


    The coldness and hostility in Lyle''s voice had made his entire body freeze with fear, and even the one that had the blood thread around his neck was unable to move. The thread had loosened up and he was no longer being choked, the deep red cuts around his neck did start bleeding a bit as the thread had truly gone in deep.


    As for the one that Adam had attacked, he was currently lying on the ground,pletely unconscious. The wall had a couple of cracks on it as Adam''s punches proved to be a bit too much for it to withstand.


    That was not the only thing his punches did, the barrage of attacks had made quite the ruckus and had woken up half of the inn.


    "Who sent you here?" Lyle asked in a calm manner as he stared into the eyes of one of the intruders. He knew that they had only a little bit of time left before people woulde to their room.


    Somebody breaking into their room in the dead of the night was not a thing that Lyle enjoyed, and he was going to make sure it didn''t happen again.


    "I ... w-we, we saw, we saw the coins and¡­ and¡­" The man in front of Lyle stuttered as it was obviously difficult for him to even form a sentence with a dagger to his throat.


    "Amateurs," Lyle said before switching the grip on his dagger and holding it in reverse. He then quickly hit the man with the pommel of his dagger. He then quickly struck the other intruder and in a couple of seconds, the door of his room opened.


    A couple of adventurers stared inside the room, their weapons were drawn out and they were ready to engage.


    Upon seeing Lyle and Adam who were standing in the room while three people were knocked out, the adventurers all calmed down and put their weapons back.


    "Hey, what happened here?" One of the adventurers asked in a cautious voice as Lyle shrugged.


    "I want to know the same, these three broke in, one tried to get through my window, and you''ll find him down on the street," Lyle said calmly before grabbing the two he had knocked out.


    "I''ll be taking these to the guard office, does anyone know who they are?"


    "Ah, I do!" One adventurer, a young man of about 16 years of age said as the other adventurers nced back at him.


    "Uno, Oni, Ino, the fourth is probably Ani, they have some reputation as troublemakers and petty thieves, I never heard of them trying to break into somebody''s room like this though."


    "Thanks," Lyle said before dragging the two men out of the room while Adam lifted the guy he had pummeled half to death and put him over his shoulder.

 Chapter 52: The Next Dungeon

    <h4>Chapter 52: The Next Dungeon</h4>


    "Thanks for bringing them over, and for not killing all of them." A guard said to Lyle and Adam as he bowed slightly. The guard was a Bronze Knight, but after Lyle had shown him the crest of the Song family that was in his possession, the guard didn''t dare to put on any airs.


    The three intruders were taken into custody, but after interrogating them for a bit, both the guards and the duo of Lyle and Adam were able to find out that there was nobody that had been pulling the strings of the four, nor did any of them have any master n.


    They had simply been in the inn when Lyle and Adam had arrived.


    Upon seeing the two young men who were enjoying their food and drinks, the four decided to observe them a bit.


    Lyle had a feeling that someone was watching them, but they were in an inn that was filled with people, that much was normal. Usually, nobody would dare attack somebody in an inn, not to mention inside Linston which was a heavily fortified city where thousands of soldiers were located in.


    Thieves, robbers, murderers, and such scum had long been eradicated in the city, but of course, some still manage to survive.


    To dare attack somebody in an inn that was filled with adventurers was a dumb move, one that the four men believed would be easy since they expected Lyle and Adam to be weak thanks to their young age.


    They had seen Lyle paying in the inn, he had given the waitress two gold coins even though the cost of the food was barely above 1 gold coin.


    Such spending was definitely not something a normal adventurer would do.


    They, thanks to their great intellect, believed that Lyle and Adam were some minor nobles that were going around and pretending they were adventurers for fun. They thought they would easily be able to sneak in and take their things, especially the spatial ring that Lyle was wearing.


    A spatial ring was incredibly expensive and mostly it was adventurers that had reached the realm of Golden Knight that had them. Even adventurers of the Silver Knight realm didn''t necessarily have them thanks to the expense.


    Compared to assassins, merchants, and captains of the army, the adventurers were much poorer on average.


    They had to take care of their equipment, buy new ones, stock up on potions and traps, and more.


    That led to them usually being short on funds, even those that were higher ranked. At least that''s what the adventurers believed the reason for theirck of funds was.


    Seeing adventurers that hadn''t broken through the Bronze Knight realm having expensive items such as that one made the four greedy and they sought to steal from Adam and Lyle, a grave mistake that cost one of them his life, while the other three were now prisoners.


    It didn''t even take much for the guards to get the information. The three were scared to the fullest by what urred in the room.


    The easy targets they believed would be unable to even notice them turned out to be two fierce fighters that took them down without any issues.


    One was dead, another had a deep cut around his neck, while the third had most of his ribs broken, a broken arm, and a fractured jaw.


    Upon learning of why the three had targeted them, Lyle and Adam simply shook their heads before leaving and going back to the inn. Lyle didn''t wish to bother himself with the three at all and simply wanted the next day toe so that they could visit more dungeons before finally making their way back to Orsvald.


    Upon reaching the inn, they were first stopped by the innkeeper who apologized for something like this happening and actually even returned Lyle the money that was used to pay for the amodation.


    They would stay in the inn for free, that was the apology that the innkeeper was giving them.


    Even though it was not his fault that four targeted them, he still felt partly responsible as he was the one to allow four adventurers that were well known for stealing and causing trouble to enter his property.


    The four had beening to the inn quite regrly for thest month and they never bothered anyone, nor did anybody have any sort of issues with them.


    That led the innkeeper to believe that the four might have changed, they had always run into trouble because they pickpocketed and asionally tricked other adventurers, but nothing like this had ever happened before.


    Lyle epted the coins and thanked the innkeeper, once again mentioning how it was not his fault and that paying them back was unnecessary. The innkeeper simply shook his head before telling them goodnight and going back behind the bar.


    The inn worked all night and it was usually the innkeeper, who was a retired adventurer, that worked at night. He was a Silver Knight, and even though his skills were rusty and he was no match for young and powerful new Silver Knights, he was more than enough to deter any troublemakers froming to his inn.


    Lyle and Adam returned to their rooms and went back to sleep as if nothing at all had happened.


    Early in the morning, they woke up and went down to have breakfast before going to another dungeon.


    Upon hearing what had happenedst night, all the adventurers that were there had surprised expressions on their faces as they nced at the two from time to time.


    Defeating the four was nothing special as most of the squads could have done the same. They were better known for tricking people and stealing than for their battle prowess. But being attacked in the middle of the night and still being able to not only defend yourself but defeat the enemy in mere seconds, that was something that was surprising for everybody.


    Lyle and Adam were neers that had just arrived yesterday. Nobody had seen them before, nobody had fought against or with them, and nobody knew just how powerful they were.


    Some had seen Lyle showing his adventurer badge, but it was hard to believe that an adventurer that held a in badge with three stripes that represented that he was a high-leveled adventurer below the Bronze Knight realm, was able to do something that he didst night.


    The adventurers made mental notes to not mess with Adam and Lyle as they were still unable to gauge how powerful the two were.


    Lyle and Adam had breakfast before leaving the bustling inn. They first took a walk around the city and looked to see if there was anything interesting happening, maybe there were some items that somebody was selling by mistake, but unfortunately for them, that did not happen.


    The two then simply went to the city gate, went out after showing their badges and made their way to a dungeon.


    The dungeon that Lyle nned for them to visit was one that was about the same difficulty as the previous one. The enemies this time, however, would be fewer in numbers, but more powerfulpared to the kobolds.


    Ogres.


    Powerful monsters that were barely intelligent but possessed powerful bodies. Their regenerative powers, strong body, and great strength made them a nightmare for most adventurers.


    Their tough skin was hard to prate and blunt weapons usually did not work well against them. Their speed was below average, but one hit was usually enough to heavily injure someone, making the ogres incredibly feared.


    Adventurers didn''te to this dungeon often, as being attacked by multiple ogres was incredibly difficult to withstand, but for Lyle and Adam, this would make a perfect training spot.


    Lyle was going to have Adam fight against multiple ogres. He would observe from the sides and would block any more ogres from joining the fight as he wanted to push Adam to the fullest.


    The battle against the kobolds was a good learning experience for Adam, but Lyle was still not fully satisfied. Adam had not yet had a true life-and-death battle, except for back in the goblin hideout when he almost died from using too much mana and being heavily wounded.


    The best way to squeeze out someone''s potential was to have them fight hard battles that would challenge them and force them to use everything they had.


    Adam had great potential, and Lyle was not going to let it go to waste by keeping him out of harm''s way.


    Even he was forced to fight numerous battles where he almost died back when he joined the organization for the first time. It was an unforgiving ce where the weak would be weeded out even if they had great potential.


    There would always be people that had potential but would never amount to anything thanks to never being pushed by others. One needed to face danger constantly in order to temper himself and reach his true potential.


    As they arrived in front of the dungeon, a surprising sight awaited the two of them.

 Chapter 53: Ogres

    <h4>Chapter 53: Ogres</h4>


    "Get behind him Gorn, I can block his attacks for a while!"


    "Liona,e on, what are you doing, shoot your arrows!"


    "I''m trying, but Cobolt is in the way, god damn it, get off the ogre you moron!" The woman shouted out as sheunched an arrow that hit the ogre, nearly hitting a man that had climbed on the shoulders of the ogre.


    The young man with short red hair stared at the arrow that nearly hit him before cursing at the woman. He pulled his dagger out of the ogre before jumping off of it and rolling in order to dodge an attack.


    "Hey, what the hell are you trying to do you crazy bitch, you almost hit me!"


    "That''s because you were in the way, you''re supposed to take out the legs moron, not climb on the monster like it''s some sort of toy!"


    "You two shut the hell up, another one ising!"


    "What?!" Both the archer and dagger-wielding man stared at the second ogre that suddenly came out of the dungeon and started moving toward them.


    "Shit, we can only deal with one at a time, two is far too much!" Liona cursed as she and the others slowly moved back, ready to disengage and flee the scene.


    Suddenly


    Thud!


    A spear prated the left leg of the ogre.


    The ogre roared in pain as he kneeled down and stared to the side.


    A young man with long ck hair came out of the forest, he wore a ck suit of armor and was spinning two daggers around his hands.


    "You shouldn''t have looked my way, big guy, you left yourself wide open to Adam now."


    The ogre simply stared at Lyle before suddenly widening his eyes and turning his head swiftly to the left.


    Adam had already assumed a horse stance and before the ogre could do anything, he roared as he suddenly unleashed a barrage of punches.


    Punching from a horse stance was quite umon during a battle. Not only would the horse stance make somebody immobile during the attack, but the person would also be unable to use his hips and the rest of the body for an attack.


    What it did give, however, was incredible stability and allowed a person to punch continuously with the same power.


    Before the ogre was able to do anything, Adam had punched his right leg over ten times. Each of the punches was imbued with his ability and caused small sts of mana with each hit. The main area of attack for Adam was the ogre''s right knee, and before the ogre was able to do anything, the knee was destroyed and it was forced to go down.


    "Good job Adam, I''ll leave this one to you, we have a new one iing," Lyle said as Adam nodded at him while the four adventurers stared at them.


    "You idiot, stop staring, you''ll get yourself killed!" The archer, Liona shouted at the leader of their small group, Neil.


    He was the tank of the party. Being 2 meters tall and wearing a heavy suit of armor, a huge tower shield on his left hand, and a mace in his right, he was like a walking fortress that enemies would have to pass in order to reach his teammates.


    Of course,pared to the 2.5-meter-tall ogres, he wasn''t that imposing.


    The ogre raised his fist and mmed it down on Neil who woke up from his stupor and was able to raise his shield and block the attack.


    Still, his actions were a bit hasty so he was forced down on one knee.


    The ogre grabbed the shield with his left arm, but before it could lift it, Cobolt arrived and jumped on his arm before stabbing it with his dagger. He stabbed the ogre right in the cubital fossa, the underside of the elbow.


    Cobolt then grabbed the dagger and twisted it, creating a small hole. The ogre shouted in pain but before it could throw Cobolt off, he quickly pulled the dagger out before cing a small metal ball inside the wound.


    He was thrown by the ogre as the monster swung his left arm, letting go of the shield.


    The moment Cobolt touched the ground, the small ball he had ced inside the wound exploded, shattering some bones and tearing apart the muscles and skin of the ogre''s arm.


    "Good job Cobolt, that''s one less arm we have to worry about!"


    "Focus all fire on the ogre, I will block him from approaching any of you!" Neil suddenly shouted as he stood in front of the ogre. His body started glowing with a pale brown light as his skin started bing rough before stones appeared on it as well.


    [ Earth Maniption: Stone Skin ]


    The skill allowed Neil to raise his defensive capabilities greatly while losing some mobility and speed.


    It was one of his trump cards that he would use against powerful enemies in order to defend against them more effectively and let his team unleash their attacks on them. In order to draw the ogre''s full attention, Neil used another skill, one that was quitemon in the world when facing off against monsters.


    [ Roar of the Guardian ]


    Neil unleashed a roar that drew the attention of the ogre. The skill was one that actually imbued mana into sound and dealt a sort of physic attack on the enemy. The only purpose of the skill was to force the enemy to attack the user and because it was one of, if not the lowest-ranked physic/soul-based skills in the world, it was usually only effective on mindless monsters, enraged enemies, or those weaker than the user.


    [ Sky Piercer, Rainfall ]


    [ Twin des of Sin ]


    [ Punishment of the Snake ]


    The three adventurers immediately used their own skills as the ogre smashed against Neil who had dropped his mace and was holding the giant shield with both of his arms.


    The tower shield he used was 1.7 meters tall and looked like a big chunk of iron, there were no decorations on it, just two rough leather straps that allowed the user to hold it tightly.


    The shield was heavy,rge, and impractical to be used, but there was nothing better to use when facing a giant enemy and blocking their attacks. Even the furious hammer fist of the ogre was unable to move Neil from the spot as he endured all the attacks while his teammates unleashed everything they had on the ogre.


    Finally, about 1 minuteter, the ogre slowed down, before finally stopping and falling down to the ground.


    It moved its head, albeit barely, and stared at Neil with hatred in its eyes. It tried to move its arm and attack Neil again, but he couldn''t.


    Neil walked toward the ogre, his mace now being held in his right hand while the stone skin disappeared.


    He stood in front of the giant head of the ogre, and the monster immediately tried to bite him, forcing him to take a quick step back before lifting the mace and smashing it down onto the ogre''s head.


    One hit wasn''t enough to kill it, so Neil repeated the same action multiple times until his mace broke the skull of the monster, and blood and brain matter got sttered on his armor.


    Neil panted before looking up and staring at the entrance of the dungeon.


    Two ogres were lying on the floor, dead.


    Adam had finished a while ago and had observed Lyle and his fight with another ogre that hade out of the dungeon.


    There was no challenge for Adam when it came to killing the ogre he was tasked to kill. The poor monster couldn''t even move as both its legs were destroyed by Lyle and Adam.


    He simply needed to watch out for the long arms of the ogre and jump on its back before punching him.


    He would then need to quickly jump off the ogre''s back as the monster would roll around in order to get him off.


    Then, he would simply repeat the process.


    Sometimes he would jump on the ogre''s back, sometimes it would be the stomach.


    The ogre died fairly quickly, not only was it losing a lot of blood from having both of his legs destroyed, but the power of Adam''s punches would also cause internal damage. Its organs were quickly damaged and soon, the ogre had internal bleeding, which sped its death up.


    As for Lyle, he was fighting against an ogre that was aware of his existence and was focusedpletely on him.


    Compared to Adam who was fighting an ogre they had both attacked when it was unaware of their existence, the fight Lyle was going through was much more difficult.


    Still, it was not a problem for Lyle who had fought against his fair share of monsters back when he was a newbie in the organization.


    Even though they were assassins, each of the newbies had to go through multiple different training courses, and each one had monsters in them. They were expected to kill humans, but that didn''t mean that they would never go up against monsters as well.


    There would be times when Lyle was contracted to kill adventurers, and the best way to do that was to follow them inside a dungeon or a hunting grounds before luring more monsters to them or ambushing them during a fight.


    Sometimes, Lyle was even assigned to kill monsters as well.

 Chapter 54: The Different Branches of the Organization and the Adventurers Guild

    <h4>Chapter 54: The Different Branches of the Organization and the Adventurers Guild</h4>


    The organization was the biggest one in the empire, and they only dealt with the empire, they had no dealings with the outside kingdoms or empires, at least not officially.


    The truth was, the organization had branches in all the neighboring kingdoms and empires, but the branches were small and they were just one of many organizations there.


    They mostly dealt with dealing with some lower-ranged nobles, never touching the higher-ups.


    They never took on any missions that would be detrimental to the empire, but sometimes they would act like they would do one, before giving the information to the headquarters and thwarting the mission or killing the person that had given them the mission.


    The biggest reason why those branches existed was because of information gathering. The organization used the branches in order to get information about the other kingdoms and empires, which would then be given to the royal family.


    The organization also didn''t only take on missions that only included assassinating someone. They would take espionage missions, assassinations, bodyguard missions, assassinations of horde leaders, and more.


    The horde leader assassination missions belonged to one of the most dangerous ones and there was a special branch of the organization that dealt with that.


    Sometimes, a monster that was either incredibly powerful or intelligent would appear. Those monsters would then force the others into submission before conquering different areas.


    The hordes were a great threat to any kingdom or empire, and the fastest and easiest way to deal with them was to kill the horde leader. Once the leader was dead, all the monsters would go back to killing each other and taking up territories for themselves.


    Most of the time, it would be the adventurers guild that would attempt to take down the horde leader, sometimes it would be the royal knights, and in rare cases, when the horde leader was well-defended and almost impossible to get to without killing tens of thousands of monsters, an assassin would be called.


    Assassins could sneak in and kill the horde leader without being noticed by other monsters, of course, most assassins were unable to do something like that.


    Sneaking around a city or town was very different from a forest or ins. Even though Lyle could sneak into such areas with quite good results, he was no match for those that belonged in the monster control branch of the organization.


    They were led by one of the 4 ''Shadows'' of the organization, the only one amongst them that specialized in killing monsters. That is not to say that the ''Shadow'' wouldn''t take on missions to kill humans, he was actually quite proficient at it, but killing monsters was what he was best at.


    The assassins that were a part of the branch were more often called ''hunters'' and not assassins. They were rarely called over to assassinate monsters, so in the meantime, they would usually work as adventurers or they would take on assassination contracts. The number of hunters inside the organization was quite low as only those that showed great talent when it came to fighting monsters would be chosen, and thanks to the very low urrence of monster hordes, there was no need to have a lot of them either.


    Of the other three ''Shadows'', one led the spies, while the other two were the ones in charge of the assassins, the old man who was backing Lyle was one of the two.


    Lyle had simted training sessions about defeating horde monsters as horde monsters could appear anywhere.


    There were those in areas that had monsters below Tier I, Tier I monsters, Tier II, and more.


    Ultimately, Lyle was chosen to be a normal assassin as his skills truly shined there.


    As for killing adventurers, even Lyle did such missions a couple of times.


    Going inside a dungeon to deal with adventurers was nothing easy.


    Usually, a dungeon would send an adventurer or a team of adventurers to one special dungeon where others weren''t present.


    A dungeon was actually made up of many dungeons, each looking differentpared to others, but having the same monsters.


    The way someone got transported inside was by the core of the dungeon scanning their mana signature in sending them off.


    It was only thanks to the adventurers guild that teams could go together.


    The adventurers guild was not only present in one empire or one area of the world, it was actually present pretty much everywhere on Corleon, except for some areas that were deemed forbidden to be entered or unexplored.


    The guild was created a long time ago, even before the Golden Lion Empire was.


    Its history was long, and it was created by three people. The three founders of the guild were powerful, incredibly powerful and it is said that they might have been the first to have entered the realm they were at.


    It was almost impossible to find out just what realm the three founders were in the empire since it was not a powerful one, nor did the leader of the guild here have any such information, so Lyle was unable to confirm if the three were at the same realm that the empress of the night was, or lower.


    But he sincerely doubted they were.


    The empress, just like the other four other powerhouses of the world, was centuries old and nobody had ever heard of any being possessing such immense power as them before. The founders of the adventurers guild were probably what the system would call Tier VI, a high realm that nobody in the empire or the surrounding area had ever reached.


    The adventurer badge could be bound to one adventurer, but teams could synchronize their badges, which would pretty much make their mana signatures the same. That way, teams could enter dungeons together.


    An assassin would need to use a special tool in order to follow after the adventurers if he was to assassinate them inside a dungeon.


    The tools were not cheap and it was hard to get them, but then the job would be easy.


    The assassin merely needed to stay near an adventurer and use the small tool that would scan the badge and mask his mana signature to match the adventurer''s, which would in turn allow the user to go into the dungeon after the adventurer, or even before them, and try to assassinate them.


    It was the cleanest way to kill and hide the act as the monsters would eat the dead bodies, as for the outside world, they would simply think that the adventurers were killed by the monsters of the dungeon.


    An almost perfect crime where evidence was almost impossible to be found.


    As Lyle and Adam had finished their battles and were talking to one another, the team of adventurers came close to them.


    "Hi, umm, thanks for the help, we would have been in trouble if not for the two of you." Neil, the leader of the small group of adventurers said as he scratched the back of his head.


    "It''s no problem, monstersing out of the dungeon is a big issue, anyone would have done the same if they had the ability," Lyle said before turning around and leaving with Adam. They were going inside the dungeon.


    Even though there were some plications'' and three ogres hade out of the dungeon, that didn''t change the fact that the two were still nning on entering the dungeon and fighting against more ogres.


    If the number of ogres that were present in the dungeon had increased, then Lyle and Adam would leave the dungeon.


    They were both faster than the ogres and could reach the entrance of the dungeon and use it to escape if there was a need to do so. That was why neither one was really nervous about entering the dungeon and fighting, well, Adam was a bit nervous since he still had no idea just how many ogres he would need to fight.


    Adam and Lyle stepped inside the dungeon as the adventurers stared at their backs.


    "Hey, those two, are they crazy?" Gron, the dual-wielding swordsman of the group asked as the others shrugged their shoulders.


    "No idea, but they''re strong, they managed to take down an ogre each while the four of us took the same time as they did, I''m sure they''ll be fine inside the dungeon, we should head back and report this to the guild," Cobolt said as the others nodded at him.


    The four nced at the entrance of the dungeon one more time, but left the area since none of them could be certain if the dungeon had changed inside or not. They weren''t willing to find out by entering it, they would leave that to Lyle and Adam who had already entered it.


    As for Lyle and Adam, upon entering the dungeon, they were immediately met with an ogre that roared at them before attacking them.


    "The monsters are usually deeper inside the dungeon, for this ogre to be here, it seems the inside of the dungeon has indeed changed," Lyle said as he ran with Adam.


    Adam simply nodded at Lyle before staring at the ogre. This time, he would need to face an ogre by himself, and Lyle would not help him out in any way.

 Chapter 55: Fighting Ogres

    <h4>Chapter 55: Fighting Ogres</h4>


    Boom!


    The dungeon shook a rock pir fell down to the ground, smashed to pieces by the powerful attack of an ogre. The ogre carried a club, well, it was more of a small tree than a club, but he used it as such. The powerful muscles of the gray-skinned ogre contracted as he pulled his arms back before attacking once again.


    His target was Adam.


    Adam had already gone through 4 battles in the dungeon. The ogres that inhabited the beginning parts of the dungeon were weakerpared to the ones he and Lyle had fought against, which allowed him to defeat them without suffering many injuries.


    But it was only after he hade across the fifth opponent, the ogre in front of him, that he had be a bit nervous.


    The ogre was more powerfulpared to the ones he fought before, and he had a weapon.


    The ''weapon'' was very primitive as it was just a small tree that the ogre had ripped out from the ground and had started using as a weapon. The monster had removed all the branches and roots, leaving him with arge stick that it loved to use to smash others.


    Adam had the advantage when it came to speed. He was a lot more agilepared to the ogre and could run circles around the monster, which was the only reason why he hasn''t been seriously injured so far.


    Even one blow from the ogre could have serious consequences and Adam did not want to find out just how his body would fare against the giant''s power.


    Every time the log that the ogre carried with him fell down, Adam would try to hit it and smash it to bits in order to make the ogre throw it away.


    Dealing with an ogre that had a weapon and one that didn''t were two very different things. If Adam was able to destroy the log, then the ogre wouldn''t have the reach advantage it currently possessed and he would be able to fight much more effectively against it.


    Lyle was observing everything from the side.


    He had to admit, he was pleasantly surprised by Adam''s talent. The young man had managed to grow quickly and his battle proficiency was increasing with every battle he went through.


    The week he had spent with Adam back in Olswam hadn''t been for nothing in the end.


    Adam had improved tremendously and if he was topare the Adam at the beginning and the one now, even at the same level, the current Adam would be able to fight against 5 of such enemies at the very least.


    He didn''t know when exactly Adam would be given ess to his second ability, but he didn''t know when he would get ess to his power over darkness either.


    One thing that was worrying Lyle was his mana, however.


    He had always been at a disadvantage when it came to prolonged fights thanks to his abysmally low mana storage. For some reason, a reason that nobody in the organization could exin, his mana organ and mana vessels were much smallerpared to their average counterparts.


    That was why Lyle was an assassin that specialized in dealing with human enemies, and he dealt with them as swiftly as possible.


    Fighting a long battle was simply disadvantageous to him as he could easily run out of mana before the enemy. Even now, after he had managed to evolve and be a lord, his mana was still below the average, Adam for example had about double the mana he had.


    It was betterpared to how much mana he had when he reached the same level previously, but Lyle was not satisfied with it. If he was going to rise to the top and find his father and seemingly had to go up against the empress, he needed a lot more power and mana.


    For now, all that he could do was simply get more soul power, increase his level and be stronger. Worrying about his mana would be second as he didn''t have the luxury to travel around and look for answers.


    From what he knew, his powers as a vampire lord were sealed by the system as he was too weak to use them, perhaps that was the reason why his mana was currently so low. He would break through a seal with each evolution, which was not far away.


    The ogres gave abundant soul power, even those in the dungeon that gave much lesspared to the ones he and Adam had killed outside. That led Lyle to change his mind about going to Orswald right away, first, he would stay here in Linston and reach the first evolution, which would allow him some more freedom back in Orswald.


    After all, it would bring him trouble if he was to simply walk into the headquarters and show his measly strength to others, perhaps he would even be demoted.


    The duo continued hunting inside the dungeon, the deeper inside they went, the more powerful the ogres became.


    The benefit that fighting ogres gave was the fact that they rarely stayed in groups and one would usually only face 1 or 2 ogres at the same time.


    That allowed groups a bit more leeway when it came to hunting here as they could take their time and slowly hunt ogre after ogre.


    Adam and Lyle were doing exactly that.


    They were powerful enough to go up against 4 or 5 ogres maximum, which meant that fighting against 1 or 2 was not going to be too dangerous.


    Adam was the one that fought most of the time, even when 2 would show up. Fighting against two ogres was the most he could do, and sometimes, a third would show up.


    Lyle would be the one to deal with any more that showed up, while he had started fighting alongside Adam as they went deeper inside thanks to the ogres not only bing more powerful but because there were more of them close by.


    Their battle would usually draw in more ogres, and they would almost always be fighting against a couple of them.


    Both of them were fighting with everything they had, holding back and reserving their power would allow them to fight longer, but it would also increase the chance of getting injured.


    One thing that Lyle definitely didn''t want to happen was for him or Adam to get injured. That would mean that they would almost certainly have to leave the dungeon as fighting with an injury could lead to more serious injuries, or perhaps even death.


    Lyle had heard how powerful vampires could even resurrect the fallen and bring them back to life, but he was certain that his power level was not enough to do something like that. If Adam was to die now, then he would most definitely be lost forever.


    The two ughtered their way deep inside the dungeon, earning a couple of levels thanks to that. The ogres were quite generous with soul power, and their numbers, which were higher than what one would usually find inside the dungeon, were enough to give them the levels.


    As they reached the end of the dungeon, they came across the leader of the ogres inside this particr dungeon.


    A 3.5-meter-tall ogre with tribal tattoos was sitting atop a rock throne. He had braided long hair that fell all the way to his lower back. There was a tattoo of some sort of beast on the left side of his face while a tattoo of arge snake was present on his left arm.


    The ogre stared at Lyle and Adam before standing up. He reached for his weapon before clutching it with his right hand and walking toward them. He used an axe.


    The axe was about 2 meters long and was double-ded. The massive axe seemed light for the ogre who easily held it with one arm and started charging at Lyle and Adam.


    The two had never before fought against such an enemy before, not even Lyle who had gone through numerous battles in the past. He had mostly fought against humans after he had reached Tier I after all.


    The ogre arrived and shed at the duo who quickly dodged to the side. The powerful axe hit a nearby stone pir and smashed it to pieces with ease.


    The axe was bad news, one hit would be enough to kill Lyle and Adam as neither one was a tank type of fighter. They were both fast and relied on overwhelming the opponent with speed and their sheer number of attacks, a tactic that wouldn''t work very well against the ogre.


    Adam had taken out his Tier I armor and weapon as the situation demanded that he fought with his full strength while Lyle was clutching his two daggers, ready to start shing at the monster.


    This would be the most difficult battle that Lyle would have after evolving and bing a vampire lord. He was certain that more such battles awaited him as he was no longer going to be as simple assassin as he once was.

 Chapter 56: Ogre Chieftain

    <h4>Chapter 56: Ogre Chieftain</h4>


    The ogre chieftain was a much more difficult foe to deal withpared to normal ogres. Not only was the chieftain equipped with an axe, but he was also faster and strongerpared to the other ogres.


    Hisrger size should have made him slower, but it somehow did the opposite.


    The ogre was still slower than Lyle and Adam and hitting them would not be an easy task. Both of the men had rested before nearing him as they knew that the battle would be a hard one, fighting the ogre while tired could spell their deaths.


    Lyle and Adam quickly went to opposite sides of the ogre. With the two of them being on his left and right respectively, it allowed for one to focus on attacking the ogre, while the other would have to evade the attacks and keep it busy.


    Lyle had grabbed his spear, and the moment the ogre finished the attack, he quicklyunched it at his head with lightning precision. With the ogre''s arm being extended to its fullest thanks to the ogre attacking Lyle and Adam, he was unable to block the spear, not that it would even be able to do it with his arm free as the spear came rather quickly and the ogre would probably not have the reflexes to block the attack.


    Perhaps it would have used its arm to block the spear, or maybe even the shoulder, but right now, that was not possible.


    As the spear came close to the ogre''s head, the ogre disappeared from the spot.


    Well, to be more exact, the ogre had gone down on his knees and managed to evade the attackpletely.


    The action of the ogre took Lyle by surprise as it was definitely not a coincidence, the monster had deliberately fallen down on its knees and opened itself up for attacks in order to evade the spear that, if it hit, would have dealt some serious damage to him.


    Both Lyle and Adam were greatly surprised by the ogre''s action, but they didn''t stop in wonder and actually charged at the monster right away.


    With the ogre being down on his knees, he would be unable to defend against their attacks, this was a golden opportunity that the two of them had to take.


    Lyle arrived first, with his two daggers in his hands, he quickly stabbed the ogre to the side before pulling the daggers sideways with all of his might in order to cut open arge wound.


    The ogre''s skin proved to be even tougher than he imagined, usually, the ogre chieftain of such a level would have some leather armor, but since this one didn''t, Lyle simply thought that the ogre was more of an attack-based monster and had a lower defense.


    That was the opposite of the truth as the ogre had incredibly tough and durable skin that even Lyle with his incredibly sharp daggers was unable to cut through without a lot of effort.


    At the same moment, Lyle was doing that, Adam had reached the side of the ogre and had lunged before striking at the ogre''s ribs with all of his might. A powerful st of mana exploded out from his fist as it connected with the ogre''s body, forcing the ogre to tilt to the side and start falling down on Lyle.


    "Crap, sorry master!" Adam yelled out as Lyle quickly pulled his daggers out before jumping to the side. He then quickly charged back at the ogre, this time aiming for its neck.


    As Lyle came closer, the ogre suddenly twisted his body and struck at Lyle with the axe. The attack came suddenly and with incredible speed, making it impossible for Lyle to dodge.


    ''What, how does it have this much flexibility, ogres are usually unable to even bend their backs a little!'' Lyle thought as he crosses his daggers in front of his chest and received the attack.


    The axe struck the daggers, unable to leave a single mark on them.


    As for Lyle, he spat out blood as his daggers were pushed up against his chest and had broken a rib or two. He was sent flying back by about 4 meters beforending and sliding down on one knee.


    Lyle panted heavily and looked in front of him before quickly yelling.


    "No, get away from it Adam!"


    Ada had charged at the ogre and was nning on striking it again as revenge for Lyle who was struck by the ogre''s powerful axe. Lyle''s warning came toote as the young man had already jumped up and had pulled his right fist back in order to punch the ogre straight in the head.


    The ogre quickly pulled back the right hand that held the axe. Hitting Lyle made it lose momentum and thus it was much easier for the ogre to attack Adam.


    It used the pommel of the axe to hit Adam straight in the guts. Adam opened his mouth wide as he felt all the air from his body being expelled by the blow. He was sent flying backward like Lyle and rolled on the ground for a good 3 meters afternding.


    The ogre didn''t stop there, with his axe in hand, he quickly got up and turned over to Adam. Before it could start charging over to Adam, however, a figure suddenly jumped on his back and stabbed him in the neck.


    The ogre immediately started thrashing around before grabbing Lyle''s hand and throwing him at Adam. The two collided and had fallen down as the ogre grabbed the side of his neck that was bleeding.


    Lyle wasn''t able to fully stab his dagger in the neck, but it was enough to give a serious injury to the ogre who was now standing still and staring at them. His eyes were full of hatred as a roar escaped from his mouth.


    Suddenly Lyle was able to feel a lot of mana being emanated from the ogre as the wound he had given the monster started closing.


    "Damn, it has a regenerative skill, what the hell is this guy?!" Adam shouted out in disbelief as it stared at the ogre who was now back to normal.


    "Calm down Adam, that kind of a skill is very draining to the user, it definitely used up a lot of mana to close the wound, I guess it can do the same for about 1 or 2 more times before running low or perhaps even using up most of its mana," Lyle said in a calm manner as Adam stared at the ogre before gulping.


    "So, we need to damage it 2 more times like that before being able to kill it?"


    "Not necessarily, if we cut off its head, or destroy the heart, then it will be unable to heal, of course, that''s easier said than done, now get ready, here hees," Lyle said before getting in a low position and charging at the ogre.


    He had suffered some internal injuries from the first attack of the ogre, and beingunched at Adam certainly didn''t help his condition, but it would take much more to get rid of Lyle.


    He charged at the ogre who shed at him with the axe. The ogre aimed to strike Lyle right at the waist, minimizing the chances of him being able to evade the attack or block.


    Lyle widened his eyes before suddenly dropping down and sliding to the ogre, the axe passed right above his head as he used one of his daggers to stab the ogre''s arm while it was passing by.


    He then quickly rose to his feet before stabbing the ogre 3 times in the stomach. Right after that, he quickly jumped back as the ogre tried to smack him with the other arm. Lyle proceeded to stab and sh the arm before lunging at the ogre and passing between his legs.


    Lyle stabbed the monster between the legs before starting to work on the back. He shed and stabbed as the ogre roared in pain and anger. Being stabbed between the legs was something that no being wanted to experience.


    The ogre twisted his hips and attempted to strike at Lyle, but was not sessful. Lyle had underestimated it before, that would not happen again. With Lyle now knowing the speed and power of the ogre, evading attacks and attacking was easier.


    Adam appeared in front of the ogre and punched the monster in the stomach. The monster had already used its skill once again to stop the bleeding and heal the wound between his legs, which meant that only 1st opportunity to use the skill was avable to him.


    Adam didn''t hold back and used his full-powered mana st for his attack. His fist went deep inside the stomach of the ogre as his mana st pushed the monster back whilst dealing some significant damage to his internal organs.


    The duo started making numerous attacks on the monster that was now unable to respond to them. In a mere 20-second period, they had managed to inflict over 100 wounds on the ogre that suddenly stopped moving before roaring powerfully.

 Chapter 57: Demonic Ogre

    <h4>Chapter 57: Demonic Ogre</h4>


    The roar produced a sound wave that sent Lyle and Adam flying backward. The two weren''t injured, although their bodies shook slightly from the vibrations of the roar, they were nheless fine physically.


    Mentally, however, they were shaken as their souls were seemingly affected by the roar of the ogre.


    "A soul-based attack, how does an ogre know such a skill?" Lyle said out loud as he stared at the ogre who was currently going through a transformation.


    The gray skin was slowly darkening as the ogre''s muscles started growing. The ogre started growing, its height visibly increasing while the axe fell down on the ground.


    "That''s!" Lyle stared in shock at the ogre before clenching his teeth.


    "Demonification, I have to get rid of it before it fully transforms."


    Demons were present in the world, but they were rarely seen and usually, it was humans that would worship them and turn into demon worshippers would cause chaos in the world.


    Humans, however, were not the only race that could be tainted by demons and demonic energy.


    All beings could sign a contract with a demon and gain incredible powers from the being. The ogre in front of Lyle was one of such beings that had signed a contract, or perhaps it was only tainted by demonic energy or chaos itself.


    Demonified monsters were much stronger than their normal counterparts, but they would lose most of their sanity in return. They were ruthless and only lived to destroy, they felt almost no pain, and defeating one was a difficult task.


    Lyle had no idea why such a creature would be present inside a dungeon. The dungeons were usually like closed-off ecosystems where only the monsters that naturally came from the mana vein would appear.


    The appearance of the system had brought forth a great change that not only affected the world but the dungeons that were usually disconnected from it.


    The system brought forth the increase in mana density around the world, which meant that the mana veins, which were ces where incredibly dense mana could be found, were also affected.


    Not only were the dungeons bingrger and more difficult to deal with, the monsters inside became stronger, there were more of them, and sometimes there were even too many, which forced the dungeons to expel them, just like what had happened with the ogres and the minotaur.


    Of course, since the dungeons were getting stronger, more of them started appearing in the world.


    New, weak dungeons rose from the ground and there were now even more of them present all around the world.


    That was at the same time a good and a bad thing.


    The dungeons that were too difficult for kingdoms and empires to deal with would be even more powerful, and if the monsters from inside were to be expelled, it could spell the doom of the kingdom or empire they were in.


    Still, the appearance of new dungeons meant that the people of the world could have a constant supply of monsters to fight against, and by fighting and killing the monsters, they would level up and increase their strength.


    The system was at the same time a cmity and a blessing to the world. People that once saw no chance of bing powerful now had a simple way of increasing their power, even those that had been stuck in the higher realms for a long time had a chance to reach even higher.


    But at the same time, millions, billions of people were now at risk of being ughtered by monsters that had increased in not only numbers but in power as well.


    Lyle and Adam were experiencing that first-hand right now.


    They had already cleared a dungeon yesterday, which led them to believe that nothing had changed in the other ones, only to find a much more difficult challenge waiting for them here.


    Perhaps the appearance of the system had made it easier for demonic forces to influence the world now, after all, nobody knew for sure whether the demons that the worshippers and other, weaker demons worshipped were real.


    Just like the many religions of the world worshipped their gods, who were seemingly nowhere to be found, but the priests and knights of the churches would still get blessings and mysterious powers, the demons also did the same for their worshippers.


    Lyle stared at the ogre that was still in the middle of the transformation before looking over at Adam who also had a heavy expression on his face. The young man could feel the ominous and powerful energy that the ogre was releasing, and even without knowing what exactly was happening, he knew that the ogre was bing much more powerful than before.


    Before Adam was about to charge at the ogre which was undergoing its transformation, he was stopped by Lyle who shook his head and pointed at him to stay back.


    Adam was perplexed by Lyle''s order, to fight an enemy of such power, even though he had full faith in his master, it would require both of them to put their lives on the line. Right now, Adam was functioning fully as Lyle''s servant.


    The subconscious need to protect his master and save him from any and all dangers made Adam''s mind change without him even noticing. Still, an order from Lyle was almost absolute and he would follow it.


    As the ogre was almost finished with his transformation, Lyle went through his own.


    [ Lord of the Dark, Awakening ]


    Lyle''s hair started growing rapidly as his height increased. His muscles became a tad bitrger while his eyes became like two miniature ck holes that devoured all light.


    Lyle was now dressed in a formal suit, he stood about 2 meters tall and his aura had grown considerably. Even the ogre, which had now finished his transformation, was looking warily at him.


    Before the ogre could even move, Lyle disappeared from the spot.


    His body was shrouded in darkness as he appeared behind the 4-meter-tall monster. He stared at the monster before briefly looking over the new skills he had gained from the transformation.


    [ Curtain of Darkness ] ¨C The user can use his power to control darkness to summon forth a veil of darkness that can be used to hide his body and presence from the enemy. The skill is an effective tool to disappear from the enemy''s sight and retreat or hide oneself.


    [ Spear of Darkness ] ¨C By manipting darkness itself, the user can create a spear that was filled with the corrosive and destructive power of darkness. The wound that was created by the spear would be covered by the power of darkness, making healing incredibly difficult. Furthermore, the power of darkness would enter the body of the enemy and corrode it, destroying it from the inside. The enemy can only use mana to suppress the corrosive power.


    [ ck Hole ] ¨C The user can manipte the power of darkness to create a miniature ck hole in his palm. Nothing can escape from the powerful gravitational pull of the ck hole and anything the user touches will start deforming and being destroyed on an atomic scale.


    [ Night Rush ] ¨C By enveloping oneself with darkness itself, the user will move with much greater speed, his footsteps will bepletely silent and his presence will be almost impossible to be noticed.


    The four new skills that Lyle now had were incredibly powerful, especially the [ ck Hole ] which needed an incredible amount of mana to be used.


    Right now, even though that skill would be the most effective one to be used against the demonic ogre, Lyle simply didn''t have enough mana to support it. Perhaps he could use the skill for a mere 2 seconds before all of his mana would be drained from him.


    [ Spear of Darkness ]


    Lyle used a skill that he was pretty familiar with. The spear he summoned was pitch-ck and tendrils of dark energy oozed out from it.


    He had used spears a lot in the past, and it seemed they had be a part of him as both his normal form, and this, powered-up form had the same skill.


    With the spear in his hand, Lyle stabbed forward, not aiming at the head of the ogre, but the back.


    The ogre''s reflexes were incredibly good, and Lyle was not sure that he could stab the ogre even from close range. His thoughts proved to be right as even though the ogre had less than a second to respond to his attack, he moved.


    Lyle had previously used the [ Night Rush ] skill, which not only made him incredibly fast, but he was also almost impossible to be noticed.


    That changed when he used the spear as the powerful mana waves that were released by him summoning the spear alerted the ogre.


    Still, even with the great reflexes and speed the ogre now possessed, he was unable to dodge the spear. His body moved sideways, but the spear had already arrived at his back at that point.


    With great ease, the spear prated through the back beforeing out through the chest of the powerful monster.

 Chapter 58: Adam vs Demonic Ogre

    <h4>Chapter 58: Adam vs Demonic Ogre</h4>


    The ogre grunted as he stared down at the spear that had prated him. The power of darkness swirled around the spear as the ogre''s already dark skin started turning pitch ck around the wound.


    The ogre roared as he went to grab Lyle, only to grab nothing but air as thetter had already moved out of harm''s way.


    Lyle stared at the demonic ogre, knowing full well that he could only use his transformation for a couple of more seconds.


    One more skill was all that he would be able to use before his mana was emptied out, which meant that he needed to kill or at least mortally injure the ogre before that happened.


    He stared at the ogre as another spear materialized in his hand. He had left the spear he used to stab the ogre in its body as the corrosion would be much more powerful and would spread faster if the spear was in direct contact with the body.


    Lyle suddenly moved.


    The ogre was currently trying to pull the spear out of his body, but even the slightest touch with the spear hurt him as the corrosive power of darkness would start corroding his hands as well.


    The ogre roared once again as he grabbed the spear, but before he was able to pull it out, Lyle appeared in front of him.


    He stabbed the ogre through the arm. The spear continued prating forward and went inside the chest, nailing the arm down and making it almost impossible for the ogre to move it since the corrosive power had immediately started working and was destroying the muscles and bones of the arm.


    As the ogre was also holding the first spear with his hand, the hand was also enjoying the same treatment as Lyle''s attack had moved it a bit and a small wound had appeared on the surface of the hand. It was only a small nick, but that was enough to allow the darkness to invade the hand and start spreading faster.


    With his chest being stabbed twice, and one of his hands being pretty much unusable now, the ogre was in a rough spot.


    Lyle, however, could not continue fighting any longer.


    He had kicked the arm and evaded an attack from the ogre beforending on the ground.


    As hended, his hair turned back to normal as the formal suit that he wore disappeared. He shrunk a bit and his eyes were back to normal as well.


    Lyle was barely able to move at this point. He had exhausted all of his mana, which meant that he would be unable to fight any longer for a while.


    The ogre was heavily wounded, however. The spears of darkness were still there, and they would continue to be there for about 10 more minutes before dissipating.


    With the spears continuously corroding the inside of the ogre''s body, he would be dead in about 5 minutes maximum. Still, 5 minutes were far too long for Lyle to wait as the monster could decide to charge at him and potentially kill him during that time.


    The only reason the ogre would die in such a short time was that he was stabbed in the chest. The corrosion would be able to quickly reach his heart and then it would die.


    Compared to the ogre''s giant body, the spears were rtively small and their stabbing through the body of the ogre didn''t actually do that much damage, it was all thanks to the power of darkness that they would kill the monster.


    "Incredible," Adam said in a low voice as he stared at the ogre.


    He knew that Lyle was very powerful, much stronger than he was, and he knew that he had the transformations, but he never knew just how powerful he could be when in his transformed state.


    But the sight that had presented itself in front of him, seeing how Lyle was able to stab the giant ogre twice with incredible speed and without even being touched, opened his eyes to just how much weaker he waspared to Lyle.


    If that was him instead of the ogre, Adam would have been killed in a moment, Lyle''s spear would have pierced his heart and he would have died at the start of the battle.


    "Adam, it''s weakened, attack!" Lyle suddenly shouted as Adam simply nced at him before nodding.


    "Be careful, it''s still not an easy opponent to defeat, I won''t be able to help you this time, if you die, then both of us will be gone from this world," Lyle said to Adam, but he merely whispered the second part of the sentence as he didn''t want to cause too much anxiety to Adam.


    He needed Adam to fight confidently, not cowardly or as a stressed-out mess. Fighting arrogantly and simply charging at the ogre without caring for your life would also be bad as Adam would most definitely die in mere seconds if he fought that way.


    Adam charged at the ogre, at first nce it seemed that the young man was simply charging in without a n, but Lyle simply decided to keep silent and believe in the young man.


    As Adam neared the ogre, the monster noticed him before roaring at him. He started charging at Adam, his thoughts clouded by rage as Lyle had inflicted grievous injuries on him.


    Right as the two were about to sh, the ogre lowered his back a bit before putting his shoulder at the front, ready to hit Adam with as much power as possible.


    As for Adam, he actually copied Lyle.


    His figure disappeared from the ogre''s sight as Adam slid between his legs and even punched the ogre twice between the legs.


    The giant monster suddenly stopped his charge, behaving as if he was paralyzed by the blows that Adam had dealt. Although he wasn''t really paralyzed, he wasn''t that far from it as the mana sts from Adam had not only done some significant damage but had also caused an incredible amount of pain for the ogre.


    Adam then quickly started hitting the ogre''s legs in an attempt to destroy one with his mana sts.


    If he were sessful in doing that, then the battle would pretty much be over.


    He could see how the two wounds that Lyle had inflicted were spreading something inside the ogre as the skin around them was pitch ck, and it was spreading.


    Right now, almost the whole forearm of the ogre waspletely ck, while the chest didn''t fare any better as about 70% was ck, tainted by the power of darkness.


    The corrosion would first start by destroying the skin, muscles, flesh, and bones before going deeper inside the body and starting to destroy the organs.


    The ogre roared in pain from Adam''s blows and attempted to kick him, only for Adam to narrowly dodge the blow before jumping back and getting ready for round two.


    The arm that Lyle had stabbed had been weakened considerably and the ogre was unable to move it away from the spears. In his rage, the ogre suddenly grabbed his injured arm before pulling it away from its body.


    The spear that had been stabbed through the arm remained inside, but it was taken out of the chest, which would prolong the monster''s life for a bit.


    The ogre''s hand was no longer touching the first spear which meant that the corrosion there would also slow down.


    "You finally moved it, but you forgot one thing, your skin is very dry and thin right now, your muscles are almost gone and the bones are brittle, are you sure that grabbing it with so much power was the right thing to do?" Lyle asked the ogre in a low voice as the monster suddenly started roaring again.


    In an attempt to free his arm, he grabbed it with all of his might before pulling it away, in normal circumstances, this would have been alright, but these were no normal circumstances at all.


    The arm was broken, the monster had broken it himself. The skin seemingly cracked open in ces as dark bones protruded out from the arm.


    ck blood that was seemingly coagted started flowing out of the arm which was no longer usable.


    Those were the effects of the power of darkness. It corroded everything, the bones lost their luster and in a couple of more minutes, they would have turned pitch-ck and would have been incredibly brittle, so much that even a normal human could have broken them in a couple of hits.


    The skin would dry out and tighten, which meant that a mere touch would be able to destroy it, while the blood would coagte and turn ck, it wasn''t only blood as it was a mixture of blood, flesh, and muscles.


    Not only did the ogre no longer have a usable arm, but he was also bleeding quite heavily from the wound.


    Adam stared at the monster before a brief smile appeared on his face.


    ''I can win this.''

 Chapter 59 Fall of the Demonic Ogre

    59 Fall of the Demonic Ogre


    The ogre was now heavily wounded, the blood loss from his arm was quite severe and there was barely any hope for it. The corrosive power of darkness was further spreading, not letting go of the body of the monster even now.


    There was always the option of using mana in order to suppress it, but the ogre was not very adept at doing so, the way it used mana was very simple and basic, it mostly did it naturally when attacking and itcked the focus to channel it to specific areas of its body for something like suppressing the power of darkness.


    Adam charged at the ogre, fully aware that this was the best time to attack it.


    Not only was it heavily injured and suffering from severe blood loss, but the ogre was now in serious pain as well.


    The corroded pieces of skin, flesh, muscles, and bones didn''t simply rot and stop hurting, instead, the pain that came from them was even stronger than usual, at least at this moment.


    The pain of having your skin be ruptured by your own bones that had snapped at multiple ces, the pain of your muscles and flesh being pierced through by them, it was not something that just anybody could take.


    The pain the ogre felt was intense and it clouded his mind for some time, making it unable to even attack or defend.


    Adam took full advantage of it.


    He came to the ogre and started attacking.


    The first was the right leg.


    One leg was all Adam needed to take out in order to defeat the monster.


    He charged in and immediately used a full-powered attack. With his fist cocked back, he swung it powerfully at the side of the knee, an intense explosion happening after the initial collision.


    Adam had used the full power of his mana sts right now. The power he could explode out with was great and he could deal some great damage to the enemy, but the problem was that he would also damage himself.


    His battle gloves shielded the outside of his hand, but the inside was a different story.


    Adam felt as if his hand was about to break into pieces after delivering the blow. He probably broke a couple of bones, since the bones of the hand were small and there were many of them.


    He didn''t feel any pain, the adrenaline coursing through his body made him, at least temporarily, indifferent to something like that.


    He quickly pulled back his other fist before mming it against the exact same spot.


    Crack!


    The sound of bones breaking could be heard, but it didn''te from Adam''s fist, but from the knee of the ogre who had suddenly gone down on one knee.


    Seeing that his attacks worked, Adam quickly resumed. He jumped up and punched the ogre''s temple before being struck by the ogre''s arm. That didn''t stop him, however, as the ogre didn''t have much strength anymore and the attack was unable to deal anyrge damage to him.


    He rose up from the ground before charging again, he knew that time was of the essence. If the ogre was to adapt to the pain, then it couldsh out before its death and perhaps even kill him and Lyle.


    The two exchanged blows, Adam was more nimble and used the ogre''s stationary position to his advantage. He attacked from the side, from the back, and sometimes even from the front.


    The ogre was unable to deal with him, the multitude of different attacks was something that the ogre who now only had one usable leg and arm couldn''t defend against properly.


    About 15 meters away from them, Lyle was sitting in a lotus position, trying his best to gather some mana and replenish himself before rejoining the fight.


    He already had enough mana to fight again, but the bacsh from exhausting his mana was still there, which made him incredibly weak and barely able to fight at this point. Joining the battle now would probably even be bad since Adam would ease back on his attacks, and his adrenaline might stop, which would then let him know just how messed up his hands were.


    Even though he wore the battle gloves, his hands were bleeding, small trails of blood escaping through the gloves and falling down on the ground.


    Still, Adam was fully focused on the fight at the moment, not bothering about anything else.


    Lyle had fully entrusted the battle to him, and he knew that if he messed up, there would be serious consequences. His life, as well as Lyle''s, would be in danger.


    After noticing that his hands were injured and that he was unable to use any big attack with them anymore, Adam switched to using his legs.


    He kicked at the ogre, kneed him in the face, he did anything he could in order to defeat the giant enemy.


    That continued for about 3 minutes before the ogre finally fell down, and Adam fell with him. The ogre''s face was smashed apart, his nose was broken, one of his eyes was missing, his jaw and chin were pulverized and most of the skin and flesh was gone.


    Adam had managed to defeat the enemy, but the victory came with a price.


    His hands were broken and it would take him a couple of days to recover from his injuries. Even his legs were messed up and he couldn''t even stand straight at this moment. The right leg was almost broken, and while his left leg was better, it still hurt as hell and he was unable to even move it normally.


    Lyle came to Adam and picked him up. The young man was beyond exhausted and had lost consciousness after managing to defeat the ogre, thest 30 seconds of the fight had been a blur to Adam as he was simply holding on to his consciousness and the need to defeat the enemy in front of him.


    Lyle smiled at Adam before picking up the monster core of the ogre. The core was differentpared to others. Most monsters would have a monster core that looked like ss, there would be no color, just a translucent, small crystal.


    The more powerful the monster, the bigger and less translucent the crustal would be, while those that had abilities would have the crystal dyed in a color. Fire-based monsters would have red crystals, ice-based monsters would have blue, and so on.


    This one was ck and red.


    That was because of the demonification that the ogre had gone through, the red in this crystal was not the same as the red that fire-based monsters had, it was darker and looked more like blood.


    Lyle slowly started making his way out of the dungeon. Even though he didn''t want to meet such a powerful opponent so quickly, having a battle with the ogre proved to be a good thing.


    Adam felt as if something inside of him had broken, like invisible chains that were holding him back were snapped and he was free.


    Lyle was happy to see that Adam had not only improved but had gained some great experience when it came to fighting a life-and-death battle.


    Upon exiting the dungeon, Lyle was met with about 30 people that were camping in front of it.


    The group of four adventurers that had previously fought against an ogre was there, talking with the others.


    Upon noticing Lyle and Adam, everybody stopped talking while the group of adventurers suddenly pointed at them.


    "There they are, those are the two we told you about, the ones that helped us defeat the ogres that left the dungeon."


    ''Most of them are Bronze Knights, but those 3 are Silver Knights.'' Lyle thought to himself as he observed the people that had shown up in front of the dungeon.


    They were all members of the adventurers guild and had made their way here after being informed of what had happened here before.


    "Healer, we need a healer," Lyle said as he walked toward the group.


    The adventurers all nodded at him before making space for him to put Adam down.


    "What happened." The leader of the ground came to Lyle and asked him while another Silver Knight started using his powers to heal Adam.


    Upon noticing that it was a Silver Knight that was doing the healing, Lyle was relieved. That would mean that most of Adam''s injuries would be healed right away, and he would only need to rest for about a day for the rest to properly heal up.


    Lyle nced at the leader before taking out the monster core from a small bag he had strapped to his waist.


    Upon noticing the weird color of the core, the leader looked at it deeply before furrowing his brows.


    "That''s, demonification?"


    "Correct, sir, the ogre chieftain inside the dungeon had gone through the process, we barely managed to survive," Lyle said with a sigh before sitting down.


    Upon hearing his words, most of the adventurers that were nearby showed looks of concern, for something like that to happen inside the dungeon was bad news, very bad news.

 Chapter 60 Adventurer Guild and its Power

    60 Adventurer Guild and its Power


    Lyle started talking about what he saw inside the dungeon next, most of the adventurers here had cleared the dungeon once or twice at least in the past, and they would be able to notice anything weird after Lyle spoke.


    They were unable to enter the dungeon, however.


    Dungeons ssified humans when they tried to get inside. Some allowed for multiple realms to enter, just like the more powerful dungeons which had Silver and Golden Core monsters inside.


    But those that had monsters below the Bronze Core would never allow anyone that had managed to be a Bronze Knight to enter. Even Golden Knights would still be unable to enter as the power of the mana vein was not something to be underestimated.


    Titled Knights had the ability to enter for a brief period of time before being forced to leave, while those above could enter and stay inside such dungeons for as long as they wished to as they were powerful enough to contend against the mana vein.


    That was why the adventurers that hade here were so eager to hear from Lyle. He and Adam were the first ones to enter the dungeon ever since it changed, which turned out to be today as some people had entered it yesterday and had only noticed that there were about 2 to 4 more ogres present inside than usual.


    Such a difference was nothing special, but from what Lyle had told them, there seemed to be about 10 more ogrespared to the usual numbers, and a couple was definitely stronger than normal, especially the chieftain that waited at the very end.


    They couldn''t be certain that such powerful ogres would appear every single time a team entered the dungeon, so they were nning on getting 2 or 3 top-tier adventurer teams to go inside and explore a bit more.


    Nothing that Lyle had told them was out of the ordinary, the size of the dungeon, the things present inside of it, everything was just as it should be.


    The only difference was the number and strength of the ogres.


    Perhapster on there would be more changes, the dungeon had just started changing anyway.


    It might even evolve and be a dungeon fit for Bronze Knight to enter, or it might simply stay at the peak below the Bronze Knight realm.


    No matter what exactly happens, one thing was certain, and that was that things were about to change drastically.


    With the dungeons changing and monsters evening out of them, they were now many times more dangerous.


    There was no sign before a monster came out of the dungeon, which means that an unassuming party of adventurers might walk toward the entrance, only to be met with a fierce monster just as they were about to enter.


    The shock from something like that happening could stop them from doing anything for some time, which could easily result in casualties.


    They couldn''t allow something like that to happen.


    "Dammit, first it was the mana rising, then monsters bing stronger, and now even dungeons are changing, evolving, bing more and more dangerous." The leader of the group said with anger visible on his face.


    "If things continue like this, then how the hell are we supposed to keep people safe, the casualties that the adventurer teams are going through are higher than ever before, and that was before the dungeons changed."


    "Sir, should we perhaps stop people from entering the dungeons for a while, at least for a couple of days?" One of the Bronze Knights carefully asked the man as thetter sighed deeply.


    "We won''t stop anyone, but we will tell them what is happening, if any of them still decide to go in, then so be it." The leader said.


    "I know that all of you believe that denied ess is the best thing to do right now, but all of you have been hand-picked by the guild ever since you were young, you never went through the same hardships as the average adventurer teams, those guys hunt monsters and clear dungeons in order to get enough money to survive, if we were to stop them all from fighting, then there would definitely be some that try to sneak in as ast resort, unable to wait any longer because their funds were gone."


    The other adventurers all stared at the leader of the group before nodding at him.


    Just like he had said, they were all hand-picked talents that had been raised by the adventurer guild since they were young. Just like many other organizations and armies, the adventurer guild also had its own troops.


    The troops were of course adventurers and they specialized in killing monsters and bringing back materials, cores, and more.


    In case somebody was to try and attack a branch of the guild, each of therger branches had a special troop stationed there.


    Nobody knew who they were or what they looked like. They were just like ordinary adventurers most of the time, simply doing missions, taking care of monsters nearby, and such.


    But if the branch was ever to be put in danger, if anybody was to attack it, the ''Blood Enders'' would show themselves.


    They were a special army that the adventurer guild had, one whose very identity was kept a secret by the various branch leaders and higher-ups.


    Even the methods of how they were trained, how they were raised, and how the guild picks them up, none of them were avable to anybody.


    One thing was certain, however. The Enders were powerful, incredibly powerful.


    Each of them was stronger than others in the same realm and they could fight against multiple people at the same time. Their weapons and armor were all blood red and would be soul-bound to them, not allowing anyone else to use them.


    The Enders always had their armor and weapons with them, but nobody knew just how they hid it as they would be able to equip them instantly.


    Even with the help of a spatial ring, something like that would be impossible, so most people believed that the Enders had special arrays on their weapons and armor that allowed them to be hidden inside their bodies, a high-level method that existed in the world for quite some time.


    The leader of the group nodded at the others before a couple of them made their way back with Lyle, Adam, and the group of adventurers. Most of the adventurers stayed behind to ensure that no ogre would escape the dungeon and attack anyone nearby.


    Even though there were only a few viges that could be found around the city of Linston, some still existed. They were usually farming viges, but there were also a couple that was near some of the dungeons, using the dungeons as a means to earn money.


    They didn''t enter dungeons, but they did provide food and amodations to adventurers that came there. Since they were only a short walk from the dungeon, many adventurers that nned on clearing the dungeon a couple of times would stay there since it was much more convenient than in the city.


    Since the monsters from those dungeons could also potentially escape, one Silver Knight was sent to sprint full speed back to the city and report the situation before a couple of Bronze Knights made their way to the viges.


    One Bronze Knight would be enough to deal with any ogre that escaped the dungeon, so only two were left in front of this one while the rest of the team scattered and made their way to other dungeons.


    Only two dungeons had monsters that were of the Silver Core realm, so the leader of the party and the other Silver Knight made their way over to them. The two of them would be able to deal with some Silver Core monsters, but they would need reinforcements to arrive if they wanted to keep the destruction level low.


    If too many monsters appeared, then the two would have no other choice but to flee to the vige and attempt to evacuate as many people as they could before the monsters arrived.


    The city wasn''t that far away, and with the speed of a Silver Knight individual, it would only take a couple of minutes to get there. The reinforcements would soon follow and wait at the dungeons.


    Since a minotaur had escaped from one of the dungeons, there was already a squad of Silver Knights present there.


    Minotaurs were Golden Core monsters, and they were usually the final enemy of the dungeon, they were also the most powerful monster that one could find in all of the dungeons near Linston.


    All of the minotaurs inside had just entered the Golden Core realm and a group of 7 Silver Knights would be able to deal with one, but they had to be incredibly careful and powerful in order to do so.


    The minotaur also rarely appeared inside the dungeon and one would usually have to fight a peak Silver Core monster at the end of the dungeon, depending on the team, the appearance of the minotaur would either be a blessing or a curse.


    The body parts and core of the minotaur were of very high quality and were quite expensive, unfortunately for the adventurers, they would be unable to take the body parts, and only the core would be left.


    As for the weaker groups that encountered the minotaur, they would usually attempt to flee or they would be killed by the mighty monster.


    The rise of mana and the changes the dungeons were going through was definitely what made the one who had attacked the caravans escape.

 Chapter 61 Adam Regains Consciousness

    61 Adam Regains Consciousness Upon reaching the city, Lyle and the still unconscious Adam were taken to the adventurer guild. The guild gave them a room free of charge and Lyle was told to stay put before they called him up.


    He needed to give a statement to the leader of the branch about what was happening.


    Even though the adventurers all knew of what was going on, he was needed in order for the branch leader to ask for further reinforcements.


    The branch only had about 10 Silver Knights present at the moment.


    There were no independent adventurer teams with Silver Knights leading them currently and simply waiting around and hoping for the best was not feasible. The guild would ask for more people in order tobat any monsters that escaped, and the branch leader himself would probably need to act if a minotaur was to once again leave the dungeon.


    The city lord had actedst time, but that was mostly because nobody knew just where the monster hade from, since they all now knew that it was from the dungeon, it fell to the adventurer guild to take care of it.


    There were currently multiple Golden Knights present inside the city.


    The branch leader, the city lord, and his deputy, and there were 2 more that were from the military.


    They didn''t fear being attacked by Golden Core monsters since the city lord himself could deal with multiple opponents at the same time, but if the dungeon was to suddenly evolve and start spawning more Golden Core monsters, then things would change.


    The branch leader would be unable to deal with multiple minotaurs at the same time and would need help, in order tobat this, he was nning on asking the main branch inside the empire to send 2 more Golden Knights to help him out.


    Even the other dungeon which only had Silver Core monsters could perhaps evolve and start making Golden Core monsters, making things much moreplicated and dangerous.


    Adam was still asleep, his injuries had mostly been healed thanks to the Silver Knight healer.


    He had exhausted himself and would need some time to fully rest before being able to fight once again. Lyle and Adam would be unable to hunt any more monsters today, but they had at least leveled up twice, which was no small feat.


    With the dungeons changing, Lyle was even more interested in staying inside the city for a bit.


    He could use the dungeons changing as an excuse for the headquarters and tell them that he was gathering info on how they were changing and what kind of repercussions appeared.


    For that, he wouldter need to go to the small branch of the organization that could be found in Linston. Even Olswan had a branch, but since Lyle''s mission there was finished, he didn''t go there as his mission stated that he should immediatelye back after assassinating the duke.


    With the branch being in Olswan, they had probably sent a message to the headquarters right away and his mission had been put aspleted.


    After waiting for about 30 mins, the same receptionist that had given Lyle and Adam their badges appeared in front of the door and knocked.


    "The branch leader is expecting you, I shall take you to him now if you are avable." The girl spoke from outside the door, not knowing who was currently staying in it.


    Upon opening the door, Lyle nced at the girl whose eyes slightly widened upon seeing him.


    ''It''s him?!'' The girl thought in her head before smiling at Lyle and bowing slightly.


    "Respected sir, please follow me."


    "Yes, thank you." Lyle slightly bowed his head at the girl before following her to the next floor.


    Upon reaching the end, the girl collected herself and knocked on the door of the branch leader.


    "Sir, I have brought your guest."


    "Good, you may leave now, Katherine." A voice from inside the office said as Katherine bowed to the door before turning around.


    "You may enter." The voice once again said while Katherine slightly bowed to Lyle before leaving and letting him enter alone.


    Upon opening the door anding into the office, Lyle was able to see the wide back of a middle-aged man who was staring out of his window.


    "Please do take a seat." The man said as Lyle nodded at him before sitting down. The man then turned before sitting down in his leather chair and looking at Lyle.


    "My name is Karlington, I am the leader of this branch," Karlington said as Lyle nodded at him before speaking.


    "Reginold Autumn, nice to make your acquaintance," Lyle said as he shook Karlington''s hand.


    "So, mister Reginold, it seems you havee across quite a problem in the dungeon," Karlington said to Lyle who smiled wryly.


    "Well, I guess you could say so," Lyle said with a slight smile on his face before telling the branch leader the same thing he had told the group of adventurers.


    Karlington simply listened to Lyle and asionally nodded to him. Not even once did he interrupt him in order to ask anything or to question the validity of his statement.


    "Alright, the statement has been recorded, thank you for your cooperation, you and your friend can stay here until he recovers, so you don''t need to worry about getting back to your inn," Karlington told Lyle who nodded at him before gracefully bowing and leaving the office.


    Upon Lyle''s exit, Karlington sighed before looking at the crystal in his hand. The crystal was what was used to record statements as it not only recorded sounds but images as well.


    Lyle''s whole statement was recorded on it, as was his image. Karlington simply stood up before opening a small secretpartment inside the wall of his office. He then simply put the crystal inside thepartment and in a sh of light, the crystal was gone.


    Thepartment was actually a teleportation device that the adventurers guild and other powerful organizations in the world used. There existedrge ones that could teleport whole groups of people, but this one was used specifically for Karlington to give reports to the main branch, or to contact them when something major happened.


    He had put a small badge alongside the crystal, the badge signified that this was an emergency and not a report.


    It would only take the main branch a couple of minutes to look at the statement and make a decision about what actions they should take.


    He had also sent them a letter that informed them of what was happening in Linston, and was certain that his request to get 2 Golden Knights would be denied.


    That was all fine, he had known that to get 2 Golden Knights as reinforcements would be neigh impossible.


    The adventurers guild had many ces to take care of, the empire was currently in chaos, and the war had suddenly stopped thanks to the system, but monsters had erupted everywhere.


    The dungeons were evolving and had started spitting out monsters, the monsters that roamed the world had gotten stronger thanks to therge influx of mana, while most people, even Golden Knights, had received a bacsh from the high amount of mana that had suddenly appeared.


    Even Titled Knights and higher were not spared from the bacsh, but there was a bright side, and that was that their powers would rise much faster after they got used to everything.


    The adventurers guild had to focus on more things, and one city where there existed a chance of Golden Core monstersing out was simply not worth sending 2 Golden Knights, Karlington presumed that they would either get 1 Golden Knight or 10+ Silver Knights as reinforcements.


    They also had the Enders, but they would only show themselves if the branch itself was in great danger.


    There was also the option of deploying them if the city was in danger, but Karlington highly doubted that something like that would happen, especially since the lord of the city was a powerhouse that was considered to be the most powerful Golden Knight in the empire, and the surrounding area, currently had.


    If the Enders were to show themselves, that would mean that they would then soon have to leave and be switched out by other Enders in order to keep their identity a secret.


    Karlington simply sat in his chair and stared outside as he awaited the answer from the main branch of the empire.


    As for Lyle, he was escorted back by one of the guards. Upon entering the room, he smiled as Adam had woken up and was currently eating some food that had been delivered to them.


    "Ah, sir, I''m d to see that you are safe!" Adam said the food that was in his mouth getting spat out.


    "Yeah, it''s good to see that you are fine as well, you feel any pain?"


    "Well, my arms hurt a bit, and one of my legs, but I don''t think they''re broken or anything, just a bit sore."


    "That''s because of the healing, your broken bones have been mended, but you still need to wait a day for your body to fully heal up, that''s only because of who and what you are, otherwise it would take multiple days," Lyle said before sitting down and taking a tray of food that had been delivered for him.


    "I see, so I broke my arms?"


    "You broke them, and one leg, and a couple of bones inside your body, you tore some muscles, and god knows what else," Lyle said with a sigh before looking at him.


    "But, good job, you saved both our asses back there."


    Upon hearing Lyle''s words, Adam stopped for a minute before a wide smile blossomed on his face.


    "Yes sir, thank you!"

 Chapter 62 Midnight Dagger Linston Branch

    62 Midnight Dagger Linston Branch


    Knock! Knock!


    A rhythmic sound of knocking could be heard on an old door of a dpidated small house inside Linston. The door creaked open after the knocks and a face appeared.


    The man simply looked at the hooded figure in front of him before extending his hand. The figure extended his own hand and dropped a small stone into the hand of the man who looked at it before pouring in some mana.


    A small number and two symbols appeared on the stone. The number 23 shone with a dark green light while the two symbols shone with different colors.


    One symbol was a snake that had three tails and shone yellow, signifying that the person was a high-ranking individual in the organization, while the second one, a ghost-like figure that swayed to the side shone a pale red.


    The man simply returned the stone before closing the door. Upon the door closing, sounds of multiple locks being unlocked and some arrays being dispelled were heard before the door opened and the figure came inside.


    "We didn''t expect to have such an important guest visiting us today, please enter, sir Shade." The man that had opened the door said as Lyle, who was currently wearing a disguise and looked like a man in his early forties nodded at him before taking off the hood from his face.


    "My name is Esteban, sir, I will take you to our branch." The man bowed slightly while Lyle nodded at him.


    Esteban was a tall man that stood about 1.9 meters. He was slim and wore an old butler outfit. There was a monocle on his right eye, while the left one was closed as a scar ran from the cheek all the way to the forehead.


    It was easy to imagine just what the result of such an injury was.


    Lyle followed Esteban who uncovered a hidden door on the floor before heading down. It took them about 1 minute to get to another door, which was only opened after Esteban did a series of knocks and showed a small card to a small gap in the door.


    Upon entering through the door, Lyle was met with about 70 people who were all moving around.


    Some people were having a conversation, some were sitting down and writing down stuff that some assassins were telling them about, some were having arguments¡­


    This was the branch of the Midnight Dagger that was present in Linston. Most of the assassins and spies that were currently inside would leave the city in a day or two as this city was a quick stop for them to rest a bit and give a report before either heading toward their mission or to the headquarters in order to finish or apply for a new mission.


    The headquarters wasn''t the only ce one could submit their missions and get new ones, one could even do it right here in this branch.


    The difference was of course the quality of the missions and the rewards. Since the headquarters was located in one of thergest cities of the empire, the sheer number of mission requests it was given was huge.


    Most of the missions were for assassins that were Tier I and below, while a respectable amount was for Tier II ones.


    There were way fewer missions for Tier III assassins, which was the rank that Lyle held.


    As for Tier IV, those kinds of missions werepletely unknown to even Lyle and the others that held the same rank as he did.


    The Tier IV assassins were the cream of the crop and the missions they were given were of very high importance, which meant that the organization would do everything they could to keep the missions a secret.


    Lyle went to an office.


    As he was the only one that had the Tier III clearance, he was given special treatment, of course.


    Instead of waiting in line and giving out reports outside, he would immediately receive an agent that would take care of him.


    He entered the office and sat down in a chair as the agent nodded at him. The main goal of Lyle''s visit today was to give a report about the dungeons and how they were changing. By volunteering to get more information, he could easily stay here for longer in order to level up and be stronger.


    Since his missions had been a sess and the duke was dead, he had some leeway when it came to how quickly he had to go back to give a report about it, not to mention that the arrival of the system had messed things up even further.


    From what he could tell, most of the assassins and spies that were outside were working on gathering information as well. The whole world had changed and assassination requests had be quite rarer nowadays.


    It took Lyle some time to go over everything that had happened. He couldn''t simply tell the agent that he had entered the dungeon with a servant of his, he couldn''t even tell her that there was a second person with him currently as Adam was not part of the organization at all.


    Telling her that he had entered the dungeon was also out of the question. He had entered the ogre dungeon, which was one that was far below his original level of power. Upon remembering how the ogres had exited the dungeon, however, Lyle was actually given a good excuse.


    "So, you noticed that ogres started exiting the dungeon and decided to go in?" The agent asked Lyle who simply nodded at him.


    "Correct, monstersing out of the dungeon is not something to be taken lightly as it has never happened before, at least to my knowledge," Lyle said as he leaned back against the chair.


    "I went inside in order to see whether anything else had changed, and well, the answer I received was not very pleasant."


    "There were more monsters, and they were more powerfulpared to before."


    "If these types of things start happening everywhere in the empire, then we might have a serious problem at hand, so I will be staying here for a couple more days to observe things, see how the city lord, military, and adventurers guild will respond to the changes."


    "I see, I will send out the report to the headquarters, please wait for a bit before they respond." The agent said as Lyle nodded at her before leaving the office.


    He made his way over to a waiting area and sat down on a sofa. There were already multiple people present, but none of them talked with each other or greeted him or anyone else.


    Assassins were loners most of the time. They would always wear masks and tried to never show their face to their colleagues as there was always the chance of one of them trying to sabotage them or even kill them.


    The organization forbade infighting, but that would not always be respected. There were always those that wanted to take shortcuts, instead of finishing more difficult missions and improving themselves, they would target the other assassins and try to take credit for their actions.


    The way that the organization checked the identity of the assassins was actually via the stone that Lyle had given to Esteban. The stone was created in a simr fashion to the adventurer guild badges, only that it didn''t have the same functions.


    For example, instead of the stone being fully activated by mana, it needed to be bound by blood and mana in order for nobody else to use it, but even then, some people could crack it and use it for themselves.


    The stone had a verification number, a symbol for what rank one was, and a personal symbol that the assassin could choose.


    The organization had actually made the stones together with the help of some organization long ago, but nobody knew who exactly. Some spected that the Midnight Dagger was able to get the help of the adventurers guild for the stones, but nothing of the sort had ever been verified.


    It took about 15 minutes for the agent toe back and call Lyle who went back into the office. He was given clearance on gathering information in Linston. It was what Lyle expected and he was quite satisfied as he could now improve himself and at least reach Tier I before going back to the headquarters.


    Lyle then proceeded to exit the office and made his way to the main door. He no longer needed to stay here as he had fulfilled his goal, as for any missions that he could take right now?


    He didn''t need them. The ones he was currently able to do were far below his rank and it would look suspicious if he was to take them, not to mention the low rewards that they gave wasn''t something that interested Lyle in the very least.


    He went out before making his way back to the inn where Adam was waiting for him. The young man had mostly recovered and they were going to go to another dungeon today.

 Chapter 63 The Servant Skill and Lyles Questions

    63 The Servant Skill and Lyle''s Questions


    "Umm, sir, are you sure that it''s safe for us to go here already?" Adam asked Lyle who smiled at him lightly before patting him on the back.


    "Yeah, the guild already went to this one, the monsters have be more powerful, but since they were around level 30 before, they are perfect for us right now as they have be a couple of levels higher, some even being the same level as I am," Lyle said before taking a small pause.


    "The adventurer guild has some people with great observation skills that are now able to show them the status screen of the enemy, just like we can see our own, so there''s no doubting their result."


    "Ah, I see, then we should be fine," Adam said as a smile appeared on his face. The young man, even though he didn''t want a repeat of what previously happened to happen again, was quite excited to fight again.


    He was like that ever since Lyle made him into a vampire and got him to fight for the first time.


    Even though he was a bit squeamish and fearful, once he got the flow of a fight, it was like he would be sad once it finished. Lyle was still not certain why Adam was like that.


    ''Was he like this before and simply had no chance to find out about his true personality because he was a farmer, or could it be because of me turning him into a vampire, did his mind change because of that, did it get somewhat corrupted and twisted to better fit my goals and expectations?'' Lyle thought as he looked at Adam''s back, uncertain of what the truth was.


    He wanted to know more about his powers, if they truly did change a person, did that mean that no matter what they were like before.


    He could potentially turn enemies into servants and wouldn''t have to worry about their loyalty. Even though he knew from the very beginning that a servant of his would be unable to betray him, simply being unable to betray him didn''t mean that they wouldn''t hold any animosity toward him or would follow his orders clearly.


    What Lyle wanted to know was just how deep the obedience ran, would an enemy he had turned into a servant do anything he wished without being able to deny his request?


    Would he be able to order a servant to kill themselves?


    Would they even struggle to not do something he had ordered them to do?


    Lyle thought a bit and decided that the best course of action would be to test his theory after arriving back in Linston.


    There were always random thugs and criminals that nobody would miss in every city. Lyle was never one that spilled innocent blood without needing to, but low-lives such as them didn''t even ssify as people in his mind and he would have no qualms about using them for experiments before discarding them.


    Lyle had received another spot for a servant after reaching level 20 and could have 2 now. He had not filled in the other spot as he didn''t really wish to have another servant like Adam who would need to be trained up before being useful.


    It was much better to get someone that had already been in battles and was experienced. Thanks to the skill of turning the person into a vampire, age didn''t matter either as an old man would turn middle-aged after turning as vampires lived much longer than normal humans, especially true vampires.


    Lyle could even resurrect a dead person, given that the time of death was recent, he still had no idea just how big or small the time frame exactly was, however.


    It didn''t matter, however, as he would first capture and turn a low-life from Linston before experimenting with him or her in a dungeon.


    The most important thing now was to clear the dungeon without any problems urring. Even though the monsters they were about to face shouldn''t be dangerous to them, that was also what they believed to be true for the ogres.


    Upon arriving at the dungeon, they were met with a small party of 3 Bronze Knights and 3 adventurer teams who were waiting in front of the dungeon.


    "Halt, we need to see your badges before allowing you to enter, anyone that has less than 3 stripes is not allowed entry because of the dungeon changes." One of the Bronze Knights said as Lyle and Adam nodded at him before showing him their badges.


    The knight nodded upon seeing them before looking a bit confused.


    "Umm, it''s not mine to say, but are you sure you want to enter when there''s only the two of you, one of those three teams would dly take you in." The knight said before ncing in the direction of the three teams.


    "Thank you for your consideration sir, but we will be fine."


    "Whatever you say, man." The knight said before turning around and going back to the other two knights. The three adventurer teams were all sitting down and having a meal as they had already cleared the dungeon once and were resting before repeating it.


    Lyle and Adam merely passed by them and entered the dungeon, which led to some of the teams looking weirdly at the dungeon.


    "Only two of them?"


    "They''re either strong or too arrogant, guess we will find outter." An adventurer said before taking another bite of his sandwich. Adventurers rarely entered the dungeons in small groups as even though that would make it more lucrative, it was also much more dangerous.


    The main priority for adventurers was making money, but they had to make sure they were healthy in order to do so, which led to most of them forming teams of at least 4 people before doing any dungeon hunting.


    There were even some teams that had 10 or more people, but those rarelysted long as the expenses of having such arge team were great and they needed to clear dungeons almost every day in order to have enough money to keep their equipment in good condition, to have enough money for amodation and food, pay for medical costs of getting healed, and of course for improving their equipment after bing more powerful.


    Most preferred a team of 5 people as that way, they could pretty much fill up all the roles they needed and could take on pretty much all dungeons, provided they were at the corresponding strength, of course.


    Some teams would merge together in order to deal with the more difficult dungeons before splitting the profits and going their separate ways, while some would be arrogant and try to do it alone, only to lose some members, if not all of them.


    There were even organizations that adventurers formed inside the guild. The organizations would take in adventurers that proved their worth and would cover the cost of their equipment, living costs, and healing, but would in turn take almost all the profits from clearing dungeons and from them going out to hunt monsters.


    Many still decide to join the organizations, because at the end of the day, after paying for everything they needed, adventurers would already be left with little money, joining an organization meant that at the very least, they would have their basic needs met no matter what happened.


    That mostly happened when one was below Tier I, as more powerful adventurers enjoyed having freedom and the ability to travel anywhere they wished to before hunting monsters and clearing dungeons. Even theck of money didn''t bother them that much as they could always find some side jobs and earn a decent sum as bodyguards and such before resuming their lifestyle.


    The three teams ate and rested for about 30 minutes before getting up and heading toward the dungeon portal, only for it to start shining slightly.


    The adventurers and the Bronze Knights were rmed and got ready for a fight in case monsters started pouring out, only for the duo of Lyle and Adam to walk out.


    "Tch, just those guys, seems like they failed already." One of the adventurers said before another looked at the two weirdly.


    "I don''t think so."


    "Huh?"


    "Look at them, they have no injuries, merely a couple of bloodstains on their armor, not to mention that they look way too calm for somebody that fled the dungeon, I think they cleared it."


    "You have to be kidding me, it takes us almost an hour to finish this dungeon, and that''s with the 5 of us!" An archer said as she stared at Lyle and Adam, being fairly confident that her teammate''s words were right, but she was simply unable to believe them.


    For two adventurers that were the same rank as them all to not only clear the same dungeon, but to do it in half the time was simply too much.


    Suddenly they all stopped talking as they saw Lyle and Adam briefly stretching before going inside the dungeon again. As soon as they disappeared from the sight of the teams and knights, all of them had the same expression on their faces, even the knights were surprised that the duo was able to clear the dungeon so quickly.


    Hey guys, so yeah, there were no bonus chapters this month either, I am sorry about it, but as you might have seen, I have barely been able to keep updating the novel daily this week, I missed 2 days.


    Work has been a bit hectic, but it is cooling down so I think I should be able to make it next week, at least I hope so.


    Anyway, thanks for supporting the novel and have a nice day guys!


    TheReign

 Chapter 64 First Volunteer

    64 First ''Volunteer'' In the end, Lyle and Adam ended up clearing the dungeon multiple times and spent about 6 hours there. They had both managed to increase their levels by 3, and were now leaving the area and going back to Linston.


    It was still daytime and the sun was shining brightly above them. Lyle was fine and could continue hunting down enemies, but Adam was exhausted.


    Fighting for 6 hours with barely any breaks made him physically and mentally exhausted. He wished to do nothing more than to rest at this moment. Lyle knew that and decided to get the young man back to the inn before heading out himself and clearing out some dungeons by himself.


    He could simply send Adam off to go back, but he didn''t want any incidents to ur so he decided to walk him back and only turned back once the gates of the city were close to them. Adam would stay in the inn while he would hunt until nighttime.


    Then, he would go back to the city and grab a random criminal in order to do his experiments.


    Adam would not be joining him for the experiments as Lyle had not even told the young man about what he nned on doing. Adam was quite obedient and loyal, but the young man still had a good heart and was quitepassionate toward others, something that, although not bad, would work against him when dealing with certain scum.


    Lyle needed to ease him up and slowly change his way of thinking. He had already started doing so, but it would take a longer time for Adam to truly change. Having him join the experiments would do nothing good and could perhaps even work against Lyle and his future ns when it came to Adam.


    Lyle''s decision to leave the caravan without telling them of the monster he had noticed had already left Adam in quite a fragile state back then, if he was to find out that his new master was going to kidnap people and experiment on them with the same skill he had used on him, he would probably lose his mind.


    Even though all of the people that Lyle was going to kidnap were criminals and deserved the death they would ultimately get, it was still something Adam wouldn''t be able to take. It wasn''t something that the young man would agree with, and thus, it was better for Lyle to simply do it by himself.


    Lyle spent the next 4 hours going from dungeon to dungeon and checking them all out. Thanks to the ming cross and the crest he had gotten from lord Song, he was able to get a detailed overview of what had changed in the dungeons after the adventurer guild had sent their men inside.


    He knew which ones not to enter, and which ones were fine for him.


    Finally, after clearing the 4th dungeon for the day, it was evening.


    Lyle was first going to check up on Adam before heading out and finding some ''volunteers'' for his experiments.


    Adam had already fallen asleep. The young man had been exhausted from all the fighting and after having a meal downstairs had decided to retreat for the day, a wee action for Lyle who had gone outside after confirming that everything in their suite was alright.


    He also ced some traps inside the suite as a measure to catch or kill any who would try to sneak into their suite like the fourst time.


    The traps were augmented by Lyle in a way that they wouldn''t activate if Lyle and Adam were the ones to step or pass by them, only others would set the off.


    ''Alright, off to find the first volunteer.'' Lyle thought to himself as he stepped outside the inn and slowly blended in with the shadows. He moved with an even pace and went toward the rowdier part of the city where less reputable adventurers stayed at.


    Besides being less reputable, the adventurers present there were also rtively weakerpared to others and took on many different jobs, many of them being illegal.


    Lyle already knew a fair number of the adventurers that stayed there and already had a couple of them in mind for the experiments.


    Upon getting near an inn, Lyle stopped as a party of three came outside. They were all quite drunk and were stumbling around whilst yelling and cursing at each other. They seemingly didn''t care whether someone would hear them as it was quitete and most people were sleeping right now.


    Lyle started following the trio after hearing about what they were talking about.


    Kidnapping, and killing people, the trio was talking about all kinds of crimes theymitted without a care in the world.


    ''Perfect, I didn''t even need to look for volunteers, they simply came to me by themselves.'' Lyle smiled dangerously as he followed the trio. Upon entering a dark alley, the trio proceeded to vomit.


    All three of them had drunk way more than they should have and were now paying for the consequences. Each one was a couple of meters away from the other and continued vomiting for some time.


    After finishing with their ''activity'', they all got back up and started walking back to where they were staying, only for them to realize that it was only two of them right now.


    "Hey, where Volgen go?"


    "I dunno, who cares, let''s just get back."


    "Yeah, he probably went to sleep in that alley, nasty bastard."


    The duo started stumbling toward their amodation as Lyle stared at their backs while a barely conscious man was being held by him. Lyle had grabbed his throat and the strength he used to hold it had almost broken the man''s windpipe.


    "Alright, it seems those guys won''t miss you, mister Volgen." Lyle said before smiling at the man he had just kidnapped. The man''s eyes were wide open as he had seemingly sobered up after being caught.


    "Well, let''s go on a short trip, shall we?" Lyle asked the man before knocking him unconscious.


    He then took out tworge robes and put one over Volgen while putting the other one over himself and making his way to the city gates.


    The guards were quite rmed to see a figure that was carrying something appear at this time, but after seeing the crest of the Song family, they merely bowed to Lyle before allowing him to exit the town without inspecting him.


    The Song family was one of the most powerful noble families in the empire, and the city lord was one of their members, no soldier would dare obstruct someone that had their crest.


    Happy that his n worked wlessly, Lyle went to one of the dungeons nearby. The dungeon he chose was the one that had the weakest monsters among them all. The monsters in that dungeon had now be level 20+ and would not pose a threat to Lyle, or even to Volgen who was around level 26 at the moment.


    Upon reaching the dungeon, Lyle went inside, ughtered the monsters near the entrance, and then he bit Volgen.


    The man immediately woke up and started yelling in pain as the transformation started. The pain he felt wasn''t like Adam''s, who was a normal human before being transformed into a vampire.


    Thanks to his heavy injuries, Adam had endured a lot of suffering during his transformation, but Volgen wouldn''t need to go through the same. His body was already much more powerfulpared to the average man and he only experienced great pain in the beginning, while he merely started convulsing a bitter on.


    After about 20 minutes, the transformation ended.


    Volgen stood up from the ground. He had gained an inch in height, but his previously bald head didn''t change as there was still no hair on it. His eyes were red and he was quite a weird person to look at right now.


    Bald head, pale skin, and red eyes, the man would be stared at by anyone after going to a city.


    "I, what happened to me, what did you do?" Volgen asked Lyle who simply smiled at him.


    "I made you into a vampire, Volgen."


    "Huh?"


    "You don''t need to think much of it, but first things first, kneel," Lyle said in a serious tone as Volgen suddenly felt as if his body had stopped listening to him.


    His legs bent and he fell down to his knees, without even trying to do it.


    "Good, so simplemands will be followed without any errors, what about anyplex ones?" Lyle asked himself out loud as Volgen stared at him in shock.


    "Hmm, alright, I want you to jump twice as high as you can, but fall down on your face after the second jump before doing 5 pushups, 10 sit-ups, and then stab yourself in the arm with this knife," Lyle said as he threw a knife in front of Volgen who was still looking at him in shock.


    "What?"

 Chapter 65 Lyles Experiments

    65 Lyle''s ''Experiments''


    "Please, please stop, just stop it," Volgen begged as hey down on the floor of the dungeon. Lyle was leaning against a wall and looking at him with interest.


    "Hmmm, so it seems that I really can order you to do anything, and you have to follow it through," Lyle said as he stared at the man with wonder before sighing.


    Volgen was aplete mess. His bones were broken and his body was covered in cuts, bruises, and stab wounds. No matter what order Lyle gave him, he did it perfectly, no matter how absurd it was.


    Even during a fight, Volgen was forced to put Lyle''s orders above anything and had even gotten a couple of wounds during a battle because of Lyle and his ridiculous orders.


    He was even ordered to kill enemies in specific ways, which he followed through. It was a weird sensation, when an order was given, it was like a shock to the system. A couple of times, Volgen had even lost control of his body and consciousness.


    A separate consciousness, one that waspletely loyal to Lyle and had the same mannerisms, memories, and emotions as Volgen took over.


    The second consciousness seemed to have been imnted not only in Volgen but in Adam as well, only that Lyle had never ordered him to do anything that he would outright refuse and force the second consciousness out.


    "Why are you doing this?" Volgen asked Lyle who crouched down and looked at him before smiling.


    "I''m just doing some experiments, nothing more, nothing less."


    "Now, here is thest order for tonight, listen carefully," Lyle said before whispering something in Volgen''s ears.


    Volgen''s eyes opened wide as he stared at Lyle and pointed at him with shaking hands, only for his movement to suddenly stop, his eyes lost the previous red color and return back to normal as the second consciousness appeared.


    "It shall be done, master," Volgen said as he bowed to Lyle before following behind him.


    The two made their way back to the city before splitting and entering through separate gates. Nobody had seen the twoe together, which was what Lyle wanted.


    Upon waking up in the morning, Lyle got dressed and made his way downstairs with Adam in order to have breakfast.


    The two ate before making their way back to the dungeons. Lyle was nning on spending as little time as possible to reach Tier I since he didn''t want to stay here for too long.


    The reinforcements from the adventurers guild had arrivedst night, and just like the branch leader had wanted, they had sent a Golden Knight to help them out. The Golden Knight wasn''t just any random Golden Knight the guild had, but a mid-grade Golden Knight that had entered the realm a few years ago.


    He was young but extremely polite and respectful to the old branch leader. The two made their way over to the two dungeons and it was decided that they would guard over them for the next week.


    As Lyle and Adam were walking toward the city gate, Adam noticed an increase of soldiers at one ce in the city. He merely nced there a couple of times, obviously interested in what had happened, but made noments about it.


    He didn''t even need to, as many people were gossiping about the situation.


    "Really, he killed them both and then himself?"


    "Yeah, I heard his tone and demeanor werepletely cold as if he didn''t care about the murders at all."


    "They said that he slit his throat and then stabbed himself in the heart."


    "Pff, how could anyone do something like that, won''t slicing the throat be enough?"


    "I guess, but it seems true, a buddy of mine is a soldier, he told me that that was what the soldiers that had arrived had seen, the body also had a stab wound to the heart and a slit throat."


    "Was he possessed or something?"


    "Nobody knows, it seems he didn''t really show any signs of anything beforehand, he was even seen in the inn with his two victims, drinking and chatting away happily."


    "Tch, tch, you really never know what goes around in people''s heads."


    "Yeah."


    As Adam and Lyle passed by, Lyle''s eyes changed for a moment before his lower lip moved a bit, but nobody noticed it. He called out his status menu and took a nce at something.


    [ Vampiric Servitude ]


    Current limit of servants: 2


    Currenct number of servants: 1


    Yes, it was Lyle who ordered Volgen to not only go back and kill himself but to also kill his two teammates before ending his own life.


    The two were criminals and deserved what they got, and Lyle had no empathy at all to give them. It was also another ''experiment'' of Lyle''s as he had given Volgen details about how he should kill the two, and how to kill himself.


    Upon finding out that Volgen had actually performed the task that Lyle had given him perfectly, Lyle was of course incredibly happy and excited that he now knew more about the skill.


    Not only would a person that he turned into a vampire haveplete loyalty, but any order he gave was absolute and they would need to follow it through to the end. Lyle was even notified about Volgen dying, but he was not given any other prompts.


    There was no option to revive the fallen vampire. Perhaps that was because Lyle didn''t want to do so and because it was he who had given the order for Volgen to end his life.


    Perhapster on he would unlock that power, but for now, Lyle was going to continue his experiments. He had now confirmed that his orders were absolute, but he wanted to check out more things.


    He wanted to know whether a vampire he had created could give information about him, whether they could somehow betray him, and what would happen if he was to simply let them go about their daily life.


    ''So much to do, and I have just enough free time to do it, good." Lyle thought as a small smile blossomed on his face before disappearing as he and Adam approached the city gate.


    The two made their way to the dungeons and started hunting, only finishing after a couple of hours had passed. They had gone to a different dungeonpared to thest time since the monsters there were simply not enough for them to level up quickly anymore.


    Not only did they need more soul power after leveling up, but the monsters would also give them less after a difference of 5 levels was there. Hell, even when the monster was only 1 level below them, there would be a loss in soul power, although a very small one.


    Thanks to all the hunting, Lyle was now level 45, while Adam was able to get up to level 40. He was slowly catching up to Lyle, thanks to the monsters being rtively high-leveled and because he needed less soul power to level up.


    Over the course of the following 3 days, Lyle and Adam continued hunting monsters outside of dungeons as well, but most of the time they spent was inside dungeons. Adam had managed to hone his skills and was bing a better fighter each day, sometimes he even surprised Lyle with hisbat skills and the different techniques he had managed to learn.


    Lyle started suspecting something after all of that.


    For Adam to grow so quickly, it couldn''t only be a matter of talent. He obviously had it, but some of the techniques he had used were too familiar to Lyle as he himself was taught the same ones.


    That led him to believe that there was a hidden benefit for his servants. It seemed that subconsciously, his servants would be inheriting some of his skills and knowledge when it came to fighting.


    Perhaps there was more to it than only fighting, but for now, that was the only thing that Lyle was able to notice from Adam. The young man was able to grow hisbat skills incredibly fast, and a lot of it was simr to Lyle''s.


    He would need to check such things out in the future.


    That wasn''t the only thing the two of them did during the three days that had passed. Well, it was for Adam, but Lyle had continued with his experiments and had gained some valuable information.


    His servants could give some information to others when it came to their current state, but they were unable to tell them what they had be and they could do nothing that would incriminate and give out Lyle''s information.


    Even when he showed up near one servant in the city, thetter seemed to act as if he was invisible and did or said nothing.


    When Lyle gave an order for a servant to act just like he always did, thetter went home to his wife and two children and acted the same as always. He beat up his wife before pulling her inside the bedroom and taking her forcefully, and also acted the same he always did with the kids.


    He pped them around a bit and yelled, the same as always.


    When Lyle had given one servant instructions to simply do what he always did with his life and left, thetter had visibly changed as there was no real order and the second consciousness didn''t show up.


    People were able to see that the man was different and that he acted a bit suspiciously, but he was unable to tell them why.


    Neither one was alive anymore, and Lyle was able to get enough data from them and the fourth experiment, which proved to be rather different from what he expected.


    Well guys, work did ease up and now I have more free time.


    That would have been great if not for me getting sick yesterday.


    Yeah, it seems I just can''t catch a break.


    I''m not like very sick, I have a runny and annoying nose and a sore throat which makes me cough like 1000 times a day, but other than that, a slight headache.


    Hoping that it goes away in a day or two, other than that, enjoy the chapter and I will be releasing one more today because I was unable to release it yesterday.

 Chapter 66 Nosferatu and the First Evolution

    66 Nosferatu and the First Evolution


    The fourth andst servant that Lyle had created was a bit troublesome. First of all, it was the first female servant he had gotten. Secondly, she was one whose crimes far outweighed the other people.


    Killing, extortion, kidnapping, torturing, the female did it all, and most of the time, her targets were kids.


    She was almost at the peak of below Tier I and Lyle had to be cautious about her, but in the end, the boost he was given during the night proved to be significant enough for him to take her down quietly before proceeding the same way as he did with the others and turning her inside a dungeon.


    Her transformation, however, was the difference.


    Compared to the others who generally stayed the same, but had their physique changed slightly with their height being different, hair growing out, and such, the woman went through apletely different transformation.


    Her hair fell out of her head. Her body started growing slightly while the muscles changed and becamerger. Her back hunched slightly and her skin turned gray.


    Her eyes were seemingly gone as there were no irises or pupils visible on her eyes, they had simply turned white as if she was blind now.


    Multiple small bumps appeared on the top of her head, and from her back, a pair of small wings sprouted.


    She now lookedpletely like a monster.


    ws appeared on both her hands and feet as her clothes got shredded from her growth. There was no longer any way to even check if she was truly female or even male as her chest was gone, reced by a bony armor that was wrapped around the upper area of the torso.


    There was also nothing between the legs either.


    ''Nosferatu.'' Lyle thought as he stared at the being in front of him.


    Well, to call this a true ''Nosferatu'' was not really true. Nosferatu were powerful old vampires, some were born in such a way, while some became like this after being turned. They were usually at minimum as strong as a Golden Knight.


    From what Lyle knew, for someone to get turned into a Nosferatu meant that their soul was dark and corrupted, so much so that there was no chance of them ever being able to repent for the things they hadmitted.


    Nosferatu were powerful and on average were even stronger than true vampires, but what sets them apart was their fighting style aspared to true vampires, they didn''t have the same abilities, but mostly used their high physical strength and robust bodies to fight, while using poison or corruption to help them out in battles.


    Those were the two abilities that Nosferatus could gain after turning, there had never been a case of a Nosferatu using any other ability other than poison or corruption.


    The corruption ability was not the same as Lyle''s darkness maniption which could also corrupt and corrodes beings, but a very special kind of ability that Lyle knew very little of. The Nosferatus, however, had four weaknesses.


    First, they were truly blind and used a sort of echolocation in order to orient themselves.


    Second, they couldn''t stand the sun and their powers would be weakened during the daytime.


    Third, they were always in pain and their mental states were fragile, often leading to them turning berserk and ughtering everything around them before being put down or somehow calmed down.


    Fourth, their physical appearance made it impossible for them to blend in.


    Lyle was mildly disgusted at the being in front of himself and decided to get rid of it immediately.


    He didn''t even wish to do any kind of experimenting on it and simply took out his dagger beforeing closer to the being and decapitating it with one swift strike.


    His calm eyes showed no remorse or pity for the creature, only disgust as he knew that the woman he had turned had to be even worse than he expected in order for her to actually be turned into a Nosferatu.


    Lyle didn''t need to do anything else to the body as the dungeon had already started assimting it into itself. The only thing that Lyle was slightly apprehensive about was whether the dungeon would somehow gain the ability to produce more of them after devouring the body of this one.


    She and Lyle were both a lot more powerful than the other monsters of this dungeon, which should be enough to not allow the dungeon to do so, but if the dungeon was to evolve, then there was a possibility of more Nosferatus to spawn inside.


    Still, Lyle decided not to think too much about it and left the dungeon before returning to the inn.


    Today, he and Adam were finally going to evolve.


    Evolution was incredibly important and they would need to find a quiet ce in order for nobody to bother them.


    A dungeon was perfect for doing hidden stuff, but it was not good for evolution at all.


    The powerful mana waves and the need for a lot of mana during the evolution would mean that Lyle and Adam would start stealing the mana from the dungeon, which would lead to the dungeon itself expelling or even injuring them.


    They had to go deep inside the forest in order to find a secluded spot.


    Thankfully, the forests near Linston only had weak monsters that wouldn''t be able to threaten Lyle and Adam in the slightest. Most people wouldn''t really care for such things and would simply face the evolution in a safe ce, usually, that meant booking special rooms from the adventurers guild or the city itself and attempting to evolve.


    But Lyle didn''t want people to know that the two of them were evolving right now. He didn''t want to let anyone see the evolution since there was no saying whether someone would somehow recognize him.


    The chances for something like that to happen were abysmally low, but Lyle didn''t really like to take any unnecessary risk, which meant that he and Adam had to go deep inside the forest and had spent over 2 hours to simply find a suitable spot to evolve.


    After doing so, both of them first took out many items that Lyle had bought inside Linston. They were mostly monster repents that the two were going to spread around in the area just in case any monster wandered too close.


    There were also multiple traps they had set up, and in the end, they needed a full 3 hours for it.


    Lyle knew that monsters would usually run away after sensing that someone was going through an evolution since the powerful mana waves would scare them off, but there were some rare cases where monsters decided to do the opposite and end up attacking the person or monster that was going through an evolution.


    Adam and Lyle then sat down, both making sure they were a couple of meters away from each other.


    Lyle didn''t know exactly what to expect from the evolution, he had previously gone through it, but with his new powers and with him now being a Vampire Lord, it was bound to be different.


    Usually, one needed to not only get to a high enough level but there would also be requirements in order to break through.


    Each person would have to take their time and slowly understand what was needed for them before evolving, with the help of the system, that was now easy to be known as people would find a challenge upon reaching the top of their current tier and would need to do the challenge missions that the system had given them before evolving.


    For Lyle and Adam, that was not the case.


    Lyle was a Vampire Lord, a being that was at the very least a Tier VI being.


    Until reaching that level, Lyle would have no true bottlenecks and wouldn''t need to spend time going through the challenges in order to evolve and could do it at any time he wished. As his servant, Adam was also not required to do any challenge, and neither would any of his servants, but they would be unable to ever go above him in level or evolution.


    If Lyle was to somehow fail the evolution and Adam was to seed, then he would regress back as the bloodline and his ss would not allow for him to be more powerful than his master.


    The two sat quietly for about 5 minutes before changes appeared. A breeze started blowing around them as their mana emptied outpletely before a powerful suction appeared from the two of them.


    Mana started being drawn over to the two, at first slowly, but it picked up speed and more of it came to them as more time passed.


    If one was to look at them from above, they would seem to be in the center of a tornado that was drawing everything around to itself.


    Slowly, blood appeared around Lyle.


    It was his own blood that had flown out from his body and started shrouding himpletely. After it formed a giant ball of blood around him, his power of darkness also manifested andpletely coiled around the ball, making it pitch ck.


    As for Adam, he was fully shrouded in darkness and his figure was invisible.


    The evolution had truly started at that point.

 Chapter 67 Meeting the Empress Once Again

    67 Meeting the Empress Once Again


    Each evolution was different for people. Some would easily be able to evolve and reach a higher realm without so much as sweating a bit, while others would need to prepare for months and even years in order to do so.


    Lyle had previously managed to improve his strength with rtive ease, he didn''t really face a bottleneck for his first two evolutions, which could be attributed to his race and him being a perfect hybrid.


    This time, it was no different. He was able to jump in for the evolution the moment he reached the maximum level that was needed for it.


    The blood ball that was covered in darkness covered him uppletely and he soon lost consciousness.


    Instead of being inside the forest, Lyle found himself staring at an ocean of blood once again. He was once again sitting on a giant rock in the middle of the ocean while the altar was still present and continued pouring blood into the ocean.


    The statue, however, was no longer there.


    Lyle looked at the altar in confusion. After he had opened his eyes and seen the familiar sight, he was fully expecting to see the person he firmly believed to be the empress once again. His mind churned as he thought of what might happen and what he might do, but she wasn''t there.


    ''It''s a good thing, I suppose, at least she won''t be able to know what realm I''m at, which gives me an advantage in the future.'' Lyle thought before his eyes constricted as he felt a warm breath tickle his neck from behind.


    A slender hand came from behind him and gently grabbed him by the chin before turning his head around.


    In front of him, stood one of, if not the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.


    Her hair seemed to be even darker than night itself, her red eyes were like two rubies that stared at his own while her lips were plump and red as blood.


    "Tell me little one, why wouldn''t it be good for me to know how strong you are?"


    Lyle''s eyes opened wide as he tried to get away, only to find out that he couldn''t move at all.


    Multiple vines that were made out of blood had coiled around his body and forced him to stay in ce.


    "Look at you, so scared, so frail." The Empress spoke as a smile bloomed on her face, "Why are you scared little one?"


    "Hmph, shouldn''t I be scared when your majesty is so close?" Lyle teasingly said as the empress suddenly blinked at him before giggling a bit.


    The giggling alone was enough to make her seem like an angel in Lyle''s eyes.


    "So you have already realized who I was." The giggling disappeared as a serious expression appeared on the woman''s face. Her nails came closer to Lyle''s eyes before she started stroking his cheek.


    "Little one, do find me as soon as you can, I will look forward to our first true meeting, but it seems your time here is nearly over." The empress said with an almost sad face before staring into Lyle''s eyes.


    "Don''t try to charge into things, do not try to gain power too quickly, be mindful of the things around you, and do not die beforeing to me, that''s an order from your empress, Lord Lyle." The empress suddenly said seriously as Lyle stared at her with confusion.


    "How do you kno-"


    "Goodbye for now little one." The empress said before Lyle''s eyes closed.


    When he opened his eyes again, he was in the forest. Adam was a couple of meters away from him and the area around them was in shambles.


    Blood could be seen sttered around, the grass, trees, and bushes had withered away and life was barely present there anymore.


    Far away in the Moonless Night Empire, the empress could be seen sitting atop her throne. Her eyes were closed while a small smile appeared on her face, before disappearing the moment it appeared.


    As for Lyle and Adam, they had taken their leave the moment their evolutions were finished. They had caused quite a scene in the forest, and although they were far away from the city and the dungeons, there was no telling whether a sensory-type adventurer or soldier was somewhere nearby.


    Mana would be sucked into the person that was going through an evolution, and for such characters, it was very easy to notice something like that happening. Thest thing the two wished was for some knights to appear at this moment and see them.


    As they were leaving the area, Lyle nced at his status window, eager to find just how much stronger he had gotten.


    Name: Lyle


    Level: 50 ¨C 110 000 / 100 000 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: 54


    Agility: 63


    Endurance: 38


    Vitality: 38


    Willpower: 40


    Spirit: 50


    [ The character has managed to evolve and reach Tier I. ]


    [ The status window has been updated ]


    [ The soul power needed for each level has been increased. ]


    [ Level up! ]


    [ Free Attribute points + 5, strength + 2, agility + 2, spirit + 1


    Name: Lyle


    Level: 51 ¨C 10 000 / 300 000 Soul Power


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


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


    Attribute points: 5


    Strength: 105


    Agility: 117


    Endurance: 72


    Vitality: 72


    Willpower: 80


    Spirit: 111


    Both Lyle and Adam stared at the status window for a while before gulping and making their way back to the city.


    Lyle already knew that once a person evolves, they would pretty much be double as strong as they were, but this was the first time that he was able to see just how big of a difference an evolution made.


    It wasn''t only the stats he was good at that were increased by a lot, but all of them were almost doubled.


    The sheer increase in power was incredible and it would make a world of difference for them.


    As for the high increase in the soul power one needed in order to level up?


    That was of course to be expected, after all, evolution was not a small thing and the monsters they would be hunting from now on would be monsters that were of the Bronze Core realm, which would definitely give a generous amount of soul power to them.


    Even before the system arrived, people that went through an evolution were able to notice that with each evolution, they needed to take in a lot more mana in order to notice any signs of bing stronger.


    Some would even struggle to notice any difference in their body after doing so for a couple of days, which would make some mad in anger and frustration. Some would never even be able to improve after reaching the Bronze Knight realm.


    For some, it was because they didn''t know how to draw in mana more efficiently and use it to strengthen their body, while for others, it was simply because their body was inherently weak and couldn''t take more.


    Mana channels and mana organs also yed a part, if they were small and frail, then a person would only be able to draw in a little bit of mana each time, which wouldn''t help them much.


    As for what had happened during the evolution, Lyle decided not to think too hard about it.


    He didn''t understand why the empress would show up again, and why she would even show such care and affection to him. She even told him to be careful and to take his time before bing stronger anding to her.


    ''Is she that confident that I will go to her, why, why would she be that certain of it?'' Lyle couldn''t wrap his finger around it, there had to be something he was missing.


    ''Wait.'' He suddenly stopped in his tracks as Adam looked back at him in slight confusion.


    "Master?"


    ''Is, is my father there, in that empire?'' Lyle asked himself.


    It was the only thing that would draw him to the empire, and the empress. Perhaps there was another reason, but since he had already been certain that his father was a powerful vampire who held a high position in a noble n, then it was only natural that he would be in the empire, serving the empress.


    ''But still, how could she know that that is my goal, I never mentioned anything of the sort to anybody, so it can''t be it.''


    ''Is it maybe something rted to my race, do vampire lords naturally seek out the empress because of the bloodline?'' Lyle didn''t know, but he knew that he had to find out.


    If the empress had some sort of power over him thanks to the bloodline, then he might never be able to get away from her.

 Chapter 68 Last Night in Linston

    68 Last Night in Linston


    Inside the forest near the city of Linston.


    Three Silver Knights showed up at the area where Adam and Lyle had evolved. The leading knight looked at the area of the forest that had seemingly lost all vitality and life and crouched down to further inspect it.


    "Poison?" One of the knights asked as the leading one shook his head.


    "No, there would be acidic traces left on the ground and trees, but they simply withered, lost all life from whatever creature it was that evolved here."


    "Hmm, it could be the power of rot, corruption, vitality-drain, and other such powers."


    "Correct, any of those would leave simr traces, but I''m also interested in why there is blood here, not to mention that the size of the affected area is toorge for a single Tier I evolution, there might have been 2 or 3 creatures that evolved here." The leading knight said before standing up.


    "Should we scout the surrounding area, and try to figure out what monsters evolved here?"


    "No, I don''t think we need to do so, look over there." The leading knight said as he pointed at one spot. The other two knights went closer, only to find footprints.


    "It seems it was two humans that evolved here, their footprints start there, but disappear after a couple of steps, that''s probably their way of telling us that we don''t need to be rmed and spend manpower on scouting around."


    "But why would people choose to evolve here?"


    "Could be for a couple of reasons, but whatever it is, they definitely didn''t want to be seen, hmmm." The leading knight said before turning around.


    "We''ll report our findings to themander, our job here is done."


    "Yes sir!" The other two knights said before following after the leading knight.


    As for Lyle and Adam, the two had passed about two-thirds of the way back to Linston at this point. They had finally achieved Lyle''s main motivation foring to Linston and had sessfully reached the realm of Bronze Knights.


    That would make going back to Orsvald and the headquarters of the organization easier for Lyle. As long as he wasn''t meticulously inspected by a Golden Knight or above, people should still believe that he was in the same realm as before, perhaps just weakened from the system appearing in the world.


    The two went back to the inn and rested a bit.


    There was nothing for them to do except for waiting till tomorrow, which was when another caravan would be leaving for Orsvald.


    They couldn''t go to dungeons to gain soul power or figure out just how powerful they had be since even before the system''s arrival and that mana increasing, the two dungeons that were avable for Bronze Knights were not really meant for low-leveled Bronze Knights.


    With the dungeons evolving and bing more dangerous, Lyle inferred that probably only high-leveled Bronze Knights could clear them right now. He and Adam would be asking for the death penalty if they entered the dungeons.


    Not to mention that entering such dungeons would give away their identity. People could put two and two together and figure out that it was them that had evolved in the forest recently, which could lead to unnecessary trouble for them in the future.


    Neither Lyle nor Adam knew about the knights that had arrived in the forest shortly after their evolution, but Lyle had suspected that something like that would happen.


    Even though they had gone deep inside the forest in order to avoid anyone noticing or seeing them during the evolution, it was not a perfect n and there would always be a chance that a sensory-type knight could sense the mana that was being drawn over to them.


    Evolution would make quite amotion usually and the mana that would be drawn could be sensed even without one having any mana-sensing abilities or skills.


    For Lyle, mistakes were never an option and he would always make sure not to leave behind any clues that would trace back to him.


    But after evolving, Lyle had actually found something interesting.


    [ Alert, the system has found irregrities in the host''s body, running a check ]


    Ding!


    [ The host''s body has been filled with seals that severely limit the mana of the host. ]


    Ding!


    [ During the evolution, a part of the seals have been destroyed, the host needs to continue evolving in order to get rid of all the seals, only when the host reaches Tier V will the seals bepletely destroyed. ]


    ''Seals, huh?'' Lylemented as he saw the notification from the system. He finally knew why his mana was always his weakness, and why he never had the same amount of mana as others.


    His mana channels and even the area where the mana organ was located were all put under seals which limited their performance severely. Even with the evolution destroying only a little bit of the seals, Lyle could still sense an improvement over his previous total amount of mana.


    ''But when was this done, who did it?'' Lyle thought to himself as he stared at the ceiling of his room.


    ''Did the organization do this?''


    ''No, there would have been no benefits to them, all of us have joined them ever since we were kids, our loyalty isn''t something that is questioned, and everyone else had more mana than me in the very beginning, so that means it was done before I joined them.''


    ''My mother?''


    ''My father?''


    ''Could it be that the seals are because of them?''


    ''But that would mean that the seals had been ced ever since I was a baby, but why, why would anyone put something like that inside a baby?''


    ''Just who were my parents, for my birth to actually be like this?'' Lyle thought to himself once more before shaking his head.


    It was useless for him to have such thoughts and questions.


    It wasn''t like he would be able to get any answers right now, or in the near future. He needed to be stronger before being able to even think of getting the answers.


    ''Whatever it is, it seems the empress knows about it or does she?'' Lyle thought back on how the empress had given him a gentle look and advice before his eyes closed and he was gone from the rock during the evolution.


    He still didn''t understand just why she would tell him something like that, why she was so certain he would look for her, but if it was to not only look for his father but to also gain answers to his origins, she was definitely the one person that could answer them, other than his father.


    He guessed that his mother''s family could also answer him, but he had no idea who they even were or where they lived. Were they perhaps the ones responsible for his mother''s state?


    For the two of them living in the slums, even though his mother''s bloodline was seemingly incredibly pure and powerful, to the point of even improving his evolution to a vampire lord, it simply made no sense.


    His mother was just a weak woman that did all she could in order for the two of them to survive in this world. If she had such a bloodline, then it shouldn''t have been possible for her to be weak, and yet she was, and she died of a normal disease, drowning in a pool of her own blood.


    ''Wait, how did my mother die?'' Lyle suddenly asked himself.


    He remembered the scene of his mother lying face down on the floor after he had returned home one day. He was a small kid, so his memory of that was still blurry, not to mention the shock he had gotten after seeing his mother in such a state.


    ''Was that truly a natural death, she was sick, but was she that sick?''


    ''Was my mother killed?''


    ''God damn it, I thought I would have some answers by now, but all I have are more questions than before.'' Lyle said as he clenched his hands in fists.


    His origins were something he always wanted to find out.


    Who exactly was he, who was his mother, and who was his father?


    Why his mother and he were abandoned and were forced to live in such a ce when it was obvious his father was a high-ranking vampire that definitely had noble blood?


    Was what his mother and father did, was her getting pregnant and giving birth to him the reason?


    Lyle had no idea, there could be many reasons for their situation and theck of contact from his father.


    Hell, he had no idea what the man even looked like. His mother never mentioned him, not even once.


    And with such thoughts in his head, Lyle spent most of the night awake, only managing to sleep for about 3 hours before getting up and taking his stuff out. It was finally time for him and Adam to make their way to Orsvald.

 Chapter 69 Joining the Caravan to Orsvald

    69 Joining the Caravan to Orsvald


    "Hey, you two, ready to go?" The leader of the caravan asked as he saw Lyle and Adaming toward him. The duo shook his hands and put their backpacks inside a carriage. All the adventurers and mercenaries that had taken the job to escort the caravan, or the ones that paid to go together with them, had done the same.


    There were in total about 8 carriages. Out of the 8, 3 wererge carriages that carried a lot of cargo with them. There were many monster cores inside, and the carriages were protected by an array that not only strengthened the durability of the carriages but also made sure that the mana from the monster cores would not leak outside and attract monsters.


    Lyle and Adam had ced food and supplies in the backpacks, although they didn''t need to since they had spatial rings. But in order to not draw attention to themselves, Lyle decided to not use the spatial ring unless it was needed, and even when he would, he made sure to put on gloves and hide his spatial ring from sight.


    Spatial rings wouldn''t use any mana nor would they alert anyone during their activation, which made it very easy for somebody to hide it and use it without anyone noticing.


    Lyle and Adam had signed up as escorts for the caravan, which meant that the two men would need to jump in and help the others during a battle.


    Thanks to the dungeons evolving and more powerful monsters appearing on the roads, the caravan had spent a lot of money to get 3 Silver Knights to escort them. Each of the Silver Knights was a low-grade Silver Knight and although they were at the very bottom when it came to their realm, they were still powerful enough to defeat the whole caravan by themselves.


    There were about 50 adventurers and mercenaries below the Bronze Realm that were escorting the caravan, 20 Bronze Knights, and the three Silver Knights.


    It was a rtivelyrge caravan and they needed a lot of manpower because they would have to travel for about 3 days to get to Orsvald. Monsters would definitely show up and attack them, and they would perhaps need to take care of bandits as well.


    Bandits loved to lie in ambush and attack caravans right before they finished dealing with monsters.


    Having so many people in a caravan would make them think twice about attacking, and the sheer number of Bronze Knights meant that they would be able to take turns when fighting against monsters, leaving them well-rested each time.


    Bandits were usually not a big threat since they were rarely powerful, evenrge bandit groups only had 1 or 2 Silver Knights as leaders.


    There were some that even had Golden Knights leading them, but those made their bases deep inside forests and they didn''t care for such caravans as they wouldn''t be able to get enough money for their trouble.


    The main reason why the caravan needed a whole 3 days to get to Orsvald, even though the city was rtively close, was because they needed to take a road around a nearby mountain. The road was quite narrow and they would need to pass it slowly and carefully, otherwise, there was a big chance the carriages could fall down.


    They needed about half a day to get to the mountain, going up the mountain on the official road would take another half while taking the road that went around the mountain would take a whole day as well.


    They needed breaks, of course.


    The threerge carriages were being pulled by two Iron Oxen, powerful Bronze Core monsters that were impervious to normal weapons. Even though the oxen were not very strong in battle because of theck of flexibility and theck of being able to turn around fast enough to follow the movements of a smaller enemy, they were perfect for such manualbor.


    The oxen, like other monsters that were useful for humans, were tamed by Tamers, humans that were talented in taming and taking control over monsters. They would then be forced to breed in order to make more of them.


    The first generation of tamed monsters would only listen to the one that tamed them, and those that were in his group after they had spent enough time. They were unable to be used for manualbor since the tamer would always need to be present.


    But their offspring would be a different story.


    As the monster would grow up surrounded by humans, they would be familiar with them. That, plus the training they would receive from an early age would make them very tame and calm around people. They would follow orders well, and as long as one didn''t act badly toward them, they would be perfect for pulling carriages or doing other kinds of manualbor.


    There were stories of powerful empires even using monsters that were in the Titled Core realm and higher, but the Golden Lion Empire didn''t have any tamers in such a realm, and even if they had, to breed such powerful monsters and train their offspring took a lot of resources.


    Golden Core monsters were the very peak of tamed monsters that one could find in the empire, but there were stories of Titled Core monsters being seen with people and following after them, nobody was able to confirm whether those stories were true or not.


    Lyle and Adam sat down on the roof of a carriage and started observing the surroundings after leaving the city of Linston.


    Since the caravan had nothing to hide, they were able to get past the inspection after about 30 minutes. The leader did bribe the guards, but that was mostly so that they would finish the inspection as fast as possible so that they could be on their way.


    The 5 smaller carriages were there to provide rest for the Bronze Knights and the people that had paid to go alongside the caravan. They would spend most of the trip inside, with some getting out to stretch their legs every time they stopped.


    Lyle could sense that there were even some Bronze Knights amongst the people that had paid the caravan to go with them, even though they had paid and weren''t supposed to fight, if an emergency happened, the caravan had the right to ask them to join them.


    Even without the caravan asking, those Bronze Knights and other powerful people would get out and fight since they would certainly die if the caravan was to get defeated.


    The first couple of hours passed uneventfully. The caravan wasrge and the sheer number of people escorting it made any nearby monsters afraid of attacking them as they knew that only death would await them.


    There were some monsters, however, that came a bit too close and would get killed by archers, but that was all.


    Nobody expected any problems or fights to break out before getting to the mountain. It was there that more powerful monsters resided, and that bandits could asionally be seen.


    Lyle and Adam were on the roof of a carriage because neither one had a horse and because Lyle had shown his prowess with throwing daggers and other throwing weapons, which made him eligible to get up and attack enemies from long range.


    Adam wasn''t as good and precise with throwing weapons, but his ability allowed him to increase the power of a throw tremendously. It was Lyle''s idea for Adam to spend a couple of days practicing his ability and try to use it in such a way.


    He knew how caravans operated, and he knew that being on the roof of a carriage was one of the best ces to be. Not only would they not need to spend energy walking or riding horses, but they could also observe the surrounding area and see just how powerful any enemies were.


    With that in mind, Adam trained and managed to control his ability in such a way that it was very useful for throwing weapons. With a controlled mana st, Adam could throw a weapon with incredible force.


    He would pour mana into his hands, and concentrate on only making a st right before the weapon left his hand, with a small, but concentrated st of mana, the weapon would be propelled and would gain an increase of double its velocity, making the attack much deadlier than usual.


    Right now, the caravan had in total about 24 long-rangebatants. Out of the 24, only 4 were Bronze Knights.


    The caravan had ced 3 smaller carriages at the front, threerge ones in the middle, and two small ones in the back.


    Each of the small carriages was big enough for 6 long-rangebatants to be on top of it and fightfortably, while the big ones could fit 8 ¨C 9.


    It was after half a day, and without any fights, that the caravan finally came to the mountain.

 Chapter 70 Monsters of the Mountain

    70 Monsters of the Mountain


    "Alright everybody, listen up!" The leader of the caravan, alongside one of the three Silver Knights, came to the temporary camp the men had created. He put a small tform in front of him and stood on it, making sure that everybody can see him.


    "We will be resuming our trip in a little bit, I presume that most of you already know what kind of foes we mighte across on the mountain, but just in case, I will be telling you so you can be ready and fully aware of the dangers."


    "The first, and the mostmon enemies caravans face are the Red-Skinned Monkeys!" The caravan leader said as he took out arge piece of paper that had a painting of arger-than-average monkey with red skin and barely any fur.


    "The limbs of these bastards are not only long but extremely flexible and strong, a normal human being would find themselves being ripped in half by their incredible strength."


    "Do not forget about their movements, either, as they can jump from tree to tree and switch position incredibly quickly before attacking you, many times they will simply try to use their long limbs to grab you and drag you inside the forest, if that happens, then you will almost certainly die since you will get attacked by many more inside."


    "We will try to save those that get caught, but even the Bronze Knights can''t be certain that they will be there on time to save you." The leader said with a serious expression, making sure everyone knew just how serious the situation is.


    "Second are the hawks." The leader said as he brought out another paper with the painting of a ck and yellow hawk.


    "The Thunder Hawks are powerful monsters that wield the power of lightning, although the lightning is more used to boost their speed and simply shock the opponent, that alone is enough to make them fierce enemies that can simply grab one of you before you notice and then bring you high up, before letting you go and smashing your brains on the ground."


    "If you get caught, you have 1 second to free yourself or for anyone else to free you from its grasp, otherwise, it will be toote."


    "The hawks are usually active in the middle of the mountain, which means that we probably won''t face any in the next 10 ¨C 13 hours, but I still want you guys to be observant of the sky."


    "Third are the Silver Apes." The leader showed a painting ofrge apes with silver fur. Their bodies looked massive even in the painting and the muscles they had seemed to be powerful enough to rip apart anyone that woulde close to them.


    "These apes are normally Bronze Core monsters and if they appear, the Bronze Knights will deal with them. There are some that might be below the Bronze Core realm, the long-rangebatants can focus on them while the Bronze Knights deal with the others."


    "There are also instances where the Apes were led by a Silver Core alpha, you will know if he appears since he is bigger than the others, and has reddish lines on his body."


    "And now, the fourth and most powerful enemy that might show up is one that I want all of you to run away from if it appears and let the Silver Knights deal with it." The leader said before taking out a painting of a tiger.


    "The Shadowless Tiger."


    "This monster is a Silver Core monster and is usually active at night."


    "It moves alone and attacks its prey from the shadows, rarely ever showing itself to others."


    "We have installed arrays that will light up our surroundings during the night, and arrays that can almost negate the ability of the tiger that allows it to blend in with shadows."


    "The tiger is very rarely seen since it is the apex predator of the forest and is usually deep inside of it, rarelying to the mountain."


    "But there had been times when it attacked a caravan, so we need to be careful and not let it have a chance to attack us." The leader said before uttering a sigh.


    "Of course, there are more monsters that the forest has and that might attack us, but those will simply charge right in and attack, so we don''t need to fear them that much."


    "Rest up, have a nice meal, and then we make our way up the mountain." The leader stepped down from the tform and left the area while the adventurers and mercenaries talked with each other, some were worried that powerful monsters might appear, while others were simply eating in peace as they knew the danger of the trip beforehand.


    Lyle and Adam were one of those that simply sat down and ate. They had very little contact with the other members of the caravan and mostly kept to themselves, as did most of the adventurer groups and mercenary groups.


    They would be together for a total of three days, getting to know each other and bing friends was not something they wanted to do.


    The enemies they would face were not weaklings, especially not now when the system has arrived and monsters were bing more powerful rather quickly.


    Lyle only hoped that no monster inside the forest had reached the Golden Core realm, otherwise the caravan would be wiped out.


    ''Hmmm, but something bothers me, the middle carriage, there are people there, I can sense it.'' Lyle suddenly thought to himself.


    ''It shouldn''t be possible since the arrays have been put against it, but when we stopped, I am certain I sensed 2 people inside the carriage.''


    ''I couldn''t sense their power, but it doesn''t matter, after all, this was supposed to be a caravan that delivers monster cores to Orsvald, why is it transporting people inside one of their biggest carriages as well?'' Lyle thought before shaking his head.


    He wasn''t about to snoop around to find out. He had more important things to deal with as the caravan would be starting to move again soon.


    Since he and Adam were on the top of a carriage, they were the ones that had a higher chance of being attacked and snatched by one of the monkeys or a hawk.


    The monkeys and hawks were below the Bronze Knight realm, which means that they would have little trouble defending themselves against them, but if Lyle didn''t want to show his full strength to the caravan.


    He would be suspected as to why he hid his true realm, as would Adam. Some would simply think they were cowards that didn''t want to help out against Bronze Core enemies, while others would think differently.


    That would not sit well with most of the caravan, and not only would the two get ostracized from the rest of the caravan, but there would definitely be rumors that people would spread around after they reached Orsvald.


    Even though the rumors would probably die down rtively quickly since Lyle and Adam had disguised their appearance before they joined the caravan, it would still make it a bit harder for them to move around the first couple of days.


    The caravan soon moved and started making their way up the mountain. The road up wasn''t steep and it would take them a couple of hours before getting up and starting to move around the mountain.


    During that time, the whole caravan was on high alert. The forest they were passing through was full of monsters and nobody knew when one would attack them. It wasn''t just about getting attacked, but it was just like the caravan leader had said, if one was to get grabbed and dragged inside the forest, then they would be surrounded by tens if not hundreds of monsters that would try their very best to rip them apart.


    Lyle held his throwing daggers with his fingertips and leaned back against the railing. Since there were four of them in the carriage he was in, each one was observing a different direction and they made sure that no blind spots were left open for monsters.


    Lyle could hear the footsteps of the monsters inside the forest. As a vampire lord, he had much better hearing than others in his realm and could also sense any blood that was near them.


    He could already sense blood from the forest around them. It was, however, hard for him to determine whether the blood he was sensing was fresh or not as there would always be fights inside the forest and the monsters would ughter one another.


    Most of the movement he heard came from lower-leveled monsters that didn''t dare to attack the caravan thanks to how strong the members of the caravan were. The lowest requirement for entering the caravan was being a high-leveled fighter below the Bronze Knight realm.


    That meant that even the weakest amongst them were about level 40, more than enough to deal with most monsters.

 Chapter 71 The Caravan Goes up The Mountain

    71 The Caravan Goes up The Mountain


    About 3 hours had passed since the caravan made their way up the mountain. They made some good progress but had been attacked a couple of times on their way up.


    The monsters had had enough of sneaking around and trying to sense whether the caravan was dangerous to them or not, and had decided to attack a couple of times.


    The monkeys had also shown themselves and had actually managed to grab one of the long-rangebatants that had been on top of a carriage.


    Thankfully, his teammates were quick to respond and multiple arrows, spells, and throwing weapons struck the monkey before it was able to take the man away. The monkey died almost immediately, and the long-range fighter was saved, he quickly jumped back on the carriage, thanked those that had saved him, and continued fighting.


    There had been no sight of hawks, nor any other powerful monsters, and the caravan had managed to climb up without losing any men.


    The monsters were numerous, that was certain, but the caravan not only had a solid number of escorts but also a higher average levelpared to the monsters.


    Not only would everyone get paid for escorting the caravan, but they would also be able to level up during the mission as well. It was something that was unthinkable before, to be more powerful simply by killing monsters, but now it was reality, and adventurers and mercenaries were overjoyed to find that they had a way to quickly grow their power while also not wasting any time and being able to earn money.


    One of the biggest reasons why adventurers were usually not well off financially was also the fact that they couldn''t simply fight monsters all the time. As much as they wished to fight and earn more, they also needed to spend a couple of hours every day to gather mana and strengthen themselves.


    One would need to pay a hefty sum in order to get personal training by a powerful individual that would tell them what they were doing wrong with their mana gathering and help them out and improve the process.


    There were also books that one could buy for arge sum that held techniques that could help on improve upon the gathering. Some techniques helped with the speed at which one could gather mana, others with the total amount, and there were those that helped with efficiency as well.


    Techniques that were able to improve two things at once were considered very valuable, while those that could help out with all three were almost impossible to find, and when they were avable, the price they were sold at would even make an average noble family think twice before buying it.


    Lyle and Adam helped out during the battles and did their best not to stand out. They didn''t want to have people depending on them, and as such, they simply did as well as others and made themselves look average.


    Being powerful had the drawback of not only getting attention from others, but also from making others dependent on you, but showing yourself to be a weak person was also not a good thing as people would not just underestimate you, but also belittle you and keep an eye on you in order to check just what you were doing.


    Weaklings would get bullied in this world, but they would also be recognized by many, something that Lyle and Adam did not want.


    Lyle had no qualms about swallowing his pride and acting as a weakling if it would end up beneficial to him, but if not, he would never do it.


    He was one that despised acting as such, as those that liked to pick on the weak were simply trash in his eyes and he would need to control himself in order not to kill them.


    He and Adam simply did their job and dealt with the monsters. Lyle would sometimes help out others that seemed to be in danger, but he would make sure to make it inconspicuous so that nobody would notice it was him.


    That was why Lyle bought a bunch of low-grade throwing knives back in Linston. He knew that he would need to use a lot of them during the battle as his own throwing knives were high-quality and there was a chance that some people would notice them.


    Both he and Adam were wearing leather armor that was usually worn by high-level adventurers below the Bronze Knight realm and used weapons of the same quality as well.


    If need be, Lyle could quickly and easily switch his weapons and armor, as could Adam since he was now in possession of Lyle''s old spatial ring.


    Both men took necessary precautions and if there was a situation where one could potentially be heavily wounded or even killed, they wouldn''t hesitate to use everything that was avable to them in order to survive.


    For now, however, it was not necessary.


    Night was already falling and it wouldn''t be long before they would arrive on the path that went around the mountain. Taking the road at night seemed dangerous, but it was actually safer than during the day.


    Most of the monsters that one could run into while taking the road were active during the day and would sleep during the night.


    Most of the predators of the forest would be inside the forest during the night, which made the side of the mountain on which the road was present much safer at that time.


    Of course, there was also the possibility of being attacked by some predators during the night, but there were rarely ever any things that werepletely certain in this world.


    Lyle had tomend the leader of the caravan, however, as the man had made sure to acquire anything they needed beforehand. He had gottennterns that produced a very pale light and wouldn''t be very visible to monsters from afar.


    That alone was incredibly important as it would decrease the chances of monsters attacking or running into them at night. Thenterns would produce enough light for them to see what was in front, around, and behind them, and it was enough for them all.


    As nighttime came, the lights from thenterns lit up their way and allowed the caravan to continue their journey, albeit slowerpared to before. That was the main reason it would take nearly a whole day for them to go around the mountain.


    Not only was the path narrow and they had to slowly move through it, but with the lower visibility they had during the night, they had to move even more carefully and slowly in order to not have a carriage falling down.


    The people that had paid for passage would asionally nce out of the small windows that the carriages had. Some of the passengers were rtively rxed, while others seemed to be in great far.


    Hearing the sounds of battle for hours was not something that most of them were used to. Most of the passengers were not fighters at all, some were retainers from minor noble houses that were making their way to Orsvald in order to join the main house and work there, and some were people that had managed to earn a rtively good sum and wished to continue living inside a major city and try their luck there.


    Others were running away from their problems and had spent almost all the savings they had in order to afford this trip, and were only hoping to survive and reach Orsvald in one piece.


    As the caravan started making their way around the mountain, some of the passengers that had nced outside were shocked to find just how far up they were. Some of them started praying, others started shaking slightly in fear, while some just continued sitting down and rxing.


    Those that were more experienced knew that it would be hard for anything to go wrong here. The caravan was an experienced one and this wasn''t the first time they had used this path. The only problem that could appear would be powerful monsters, and so far, none had shown themselves.


    Everybody, even the Silver Knights, wished that no Silver Core monsters would appear.


    Even though the Silver Knights could defeat a Silver Core monster, the battle would be a hard one, and they couldn''t guarantee that the battle wouldn''t affect the caravan and the people. The mere aftershock of a battle between individuals that belonged to Tier II was enough to kill anything below the Bronze Knight realm, after all.


    The hawks suddenly appeared.


    Some didn''t notice them, but Lyle and Adam, alongside a couple of long-range attackers, had managed to spot a couple of ck dots in the sky that was being revealed to them by the moonlight.


    They quickly took up their weapons and got ready for a battle whilst shouting at the otherbatants that had still not noticed the monsters. Even Lyle and Adam stared at the hawks with vignce as they possessed incredible speed and even they could get injured if they weren''t careful.

 Chapter 72 Fighting the Hawks

    72 Fighting the Hawks


    The hawks possessed incredible speed, and with the caravan using the narrow road of the mountain in order to traverse it, they had an advantage as the adventurers and mercenaries could not move as freely as before and had to be incredibly careful during battle.


    There were about 14 hawksing at them. Out of the 14, 4 were Bronze Core hawks and their size and speed were much greaterpared to the ones below the Bronze Core realm. Even the Bronze Knights that were masters at long-rangebat couldn''t easily deal with the four hawks and would need to fully focus on them, leaving the other long-range attackers to deal with the other hawks.


    The meleebatants wouldn''t be of much help here since the hawks attacked by swooping down, grabbing a person, and then flying up before letting go of their prey and allowing gravity to do its work.


    The hawks would have to be dealt with before they were able to get too close.


    Even though a couple of Bronze knights had prepared themselves in anticipation of the hawksing down and attacking them, they knew that if too many arrived, it would be hard for them to save everyone.


    That was why it was instrumental for the long-rangebatants to at least kill half of the hawks before they were able to get to them. Luckily, there was a high number of long-range attackers and it shouldn''t be a problem for them to take down most of the hawks.


    Even though it was night and the visibility was worse than usual, the long-range attackers each had their specialty and could deal with such monsters. Some had already used their long-range skills and hadunched them at the hawks, unfortunately, they were way too eager and should have waited a bit before doing so.


    The hawks were not only incredibly fast, but had great eyesight and would easily be able to dodge any attacks that would be thrown at them from such a distance.


    Lyle sighed before staring at one hawk that was moving to the side in order to avoid a golden arrow that had beenunched at it.


    ''I can''t kill it with my knives from such a range, but I can at least do this much.'' Lyle thought before he threw his dagger with full force at the hawk.


    He made sure to hide his throw, but even if somebody was to see him, they wouldn''t think much of it, only that he was a fool that overestimated his abilities and dared to actually throw a small knife from such a distance.


    Thanks to his blood maniption and the fact that he was a Bronze Knight, Lyle was not only able tounch the knife with incredible power, but he had also ced a thinyer of blood on the pommel of the dagger.


    When the dagger had passed about two-thirds of the way to the hawk, Lyle activated his ability and caused theyer of blood to explode, which in turn boosted the speed of the knife and allowed it to prate one of the wings of the hawk.


    It tore a hole in the wing and caused the hawk to suddenly shift to the side, putting it right on the path of the golden arrow that suddenly struck it.


    The arrow wasunched by a high-grade adventurer and the one attack was enough to fully prate through the body of the hawk andpletely decimate it. The monster was almost torn in half by the golden arrow, and the adventurer that managed to hit it smiled widely upon seeing so.


    "Hell yes,e on you bastards, let me see what else you got!" The archer said confidently as he 12:50


    notched another arrow on his bow, only for Lyle to suddenly widen his eyes and shout out, "Watch "Hell yes,e on you bastards, let me see what else you got!" The archer said confidently as he notched another arrow on his bow, only for Lyle to suddenly widen his eyes and shout out, "Watch out, behind you!"


    The archer simply nced at Lyle with a confused expression before his neck was bitten by a monster.


    A ck panther of the Bronze Core realm had suddenly appeared on top of the carriage. The otherbatants that had been on top of the carriage together with the man all screamed out in fear as the panther simply turned around and jumped up in order to escape.


    It had waited patiently for the caravan to arrive and hid behind a rock above the road.


    The panther was able to easily jump down to the roof of the carriage and im a life as everybody had focused on the hawks and thus didn''t really pay attention to their surroundings.


    "No, you don''t!" One Bronze Knight yelled out as he suddenly appeared next to the panther.


    His body was covered in lightning as he arrived at incredible speed and shed at the panther. With one swift strike, the man was able to decapitate the monster and send it tumbling down the mountain.


    "Damn it, we were careless!" Said the man as he nced down at the body of the killed archer before jumping on the carriage.


    "Attack the hawks, don''t worry about any more monsters attacking you, I will make sure all of you are safe!" The man said as he clenched his sword and looked around him, ready to move and attack any monster that would dare strike at them again.


    ''Hmmm, a high-grade, or perhaps even one at the peak of the Bronze Knight realm, that''s reassuring, with somebody as strong as him, everyone should be able to focus now.''


    ''Not to mention that he is a lightning user, those such as himself are well known for their incredible speed and ferocious attacks, somebody like this is just what we need in order to keep the caravan safe at this moment.'' Lyle thought before looking up again.


    The Tier I long-rangebatants wereunching their skills and arrows relentlessly at the Tier I hawks.


    ( Author: So once again, what the world calls Bronze Knight or Bronze Core realm, is Tier I by the system, so I will be using this at times in order to not repeat or prolong sentences when it''s not needed. )


    The hawks were thus unable toe close enough to the caravan, as they were too busy dodging the attacks and spells that were sent their way. The normal hawks had almost arrived at the caravan, but they only numbered 5 now.


    They had been able to kill half of them, but 5 was still not a low number.


    "Adam, aim at the one closest to us, try to be as urate as you can, but leave the rest to me," Lyle said as he grabbed a javelin and gave it to Adam. Some blood had been smeared on one side and Adam simply nodded at Lyle before aiming.


    He was not trained at all when it came to throwing weapons, but he wasn''t that bad either. Compared to an expert like Lyle, of course, he was a mere amateur, but he could at least follow the hawks and easily calcte where to throw the javelin in order to hit it.


    As the javelin left his hand, he used a mana st to further propel it. It would affect the uracy a bit, but it would make the javelin much deadlier.


    As the javelin made its way to the hawk, Lyle could see that it would hit, but barely.


    It wouldn''t really be enough to take the monster down, so he got ready to activate his ability as well. He also threw a couple of throwing knives quickly whilst keeping an eye on the javelin, and just as it struck the hawk, Lyle used his ability and willed the blood he left on it to get in the hawk.


    With his blood inside the hawk''s body, it was incredibly easy for Lyle to kill it. But he didn''t do so as that would be suspicious. He simply solidified his blood and made it cut up one of the wings from the inside, making the hawk lose control and start plummeting down.


    From what anyone else could see, it was Adam''s javelin that struck the hawk and deal enough damage topletely incapacitate one of its wings, but the young man of course knew that it was mostly thanks to his master that the hawk was brought down.


    ''Hmm, I can definitely use my skills and ability more times now, but I still need to conserve them and not go overboard with using them.'' Lyle told himself as he grabbed another dagger and ced some blood on the pommel and on the de itself.


    He solidified the blood that was on the de while making the one on the pommel explode to give the knife a boost.


    The knife was not only fast, but its cutting power was also a notch above now and it was able to easily prate through the body of the hawk ande out from behind.


    The knife had prated the hawk''s heart, killing it instantly.


    From what the others had seen, however, the hawk had suddenly started plummeting down while some blood was visible on it. Nobody knew who exactly it was that hit it, but nobody cared as they now only had 3 hawks to deal with.


    The long-range attackers could even simply rx as the Bronze Knights could deal with the hawks with ease once they came closer. The only issue that was still at hand was the four Bronze Core hawks that were still engrossed in a battle with the long-range Tier Ibatants.

 Chapter 73 Beating the Hawks, Resuming the Journey

    73 Beating the Hawks, Resuming the Journey


    The Tier I hawks were bigger targetspared to the other ones, but they were also much faster and had better eyesight, which made it extremely hard to hit them, even for the Tier I long-rangebatants.


    Their intelligence was also a notch above the other hawks and they didn''te too close to the caravan.


    They didn''t merely fly around without doing anything, however, as they actually attacked back. By using their lightning, the hawks were able to send out small magic missiles coated in lightning. They wouldunch the missiles from their mouth, and their uracy was frighteningly high and they could hit the Tier I long-rangebatants easily.


    The long-rangebatants would be forced to dodge the missiles, but sometimes they simply had no space to do so, which led to them either using a nearby shield to protect themselves, or they would attack and try to hit the missile before it arrived at them.


    The battle between them was currently a draw since each hawk was fighting against one long-rangebatant by themselves.


    The peak Bronze Knight saw it and decided to help them out.


    There were enough Bronze Knights to take care of the 3 remaining hawks, and the long-rangebatants were also focusing their fire on them, it wouldn''t be long before they were all dead.


    "I''ll take care of the defense, you focus on another hawk, try to bring him down together!" The Knight told one long-rangebatant as he stood in front of him and used his sword to sh and destroy a magic missile.


    The archer simply nodded at him before changing targets and aiming at the nearest hawk. With two Tier I archers attacking the hawk, it was bing evidently harder for the monster to evade the attacks and it soon started getting damaged.


    The damage at first came from the hawk not being able to evade the attacks perfectly and they were mostly scratches, but as time passed, the wounds became bigger and more dangerous, until one of its wings got hit.


    Even though the hawk was still able to move the wing and fly, the speed with which it do so was affected. With that one injury, the hawk now had a much harder time evading and it finally tried to escape.


    That was the moment that the two archers were waiting for. The moment the hawk turned to escape, the two of them, together with the remaining two long-rangebatants, all focused fire on it.


    The hawk was unable to see all the attacks, and with its side open to them, the hawk found itself hit multiple times before plunging down to the forest.


    The men didn''t cheer as the tactic came with a price.


    The other two hawks that were left alone for that split moment immediately went on the offensive and attacked, which forced the two to evade and block the attacks.


    The hawks used that to escape.


    They immediately turned around and flew back, escaping from the area in a couple of seconds.


    Still, even though three monsters had managed to escape, the defense was a huge sess. The caravan paid the price of losing one of its long-rangebatants, but it was able to neutralize all the enemies and paid no further price.


    The other fighters weren''t injured in the slightest, and everybody was in their peak condition.


    That allowed the caravan to immediately resume its trip and not slow down.


    Still, the atmosphere had changed as the adventurers now knew just how dangerous the trip was. One monster had managed to sneak up on them in such a manner and kill a person without any of them even noticing it.


    If a Silver Core enemy were to appear, they probably wouldn''t even have time to respond to it before dying. Not to mention the incredible speed that such a monster possessed, it would make it almost impossible to be stopped once it made a retreat.


    They had 3 Silver Knights in their midst, but nobody knew their strength and what they specialized at.


    They had briefly seen them before and knew that one used a sword and shieldbination, which could mean that he was either a speed-focusedbatant, or more of a bnced type that didn''t really peak in any areas, but was not bad in any either.


    One had arge axe, which made it obvious that he was a strength-focusedbatant that used his incredible physical prowess to obliterate anything that stood in front of it, while thest one didn''t seem to have any weapons at all, which made him aplete mystery to them all.


    The only thing they were all certain of, was that if a Shadowless Tiger truly was to appear, some of them would definitely die. Even if one of the Silver Knights was a speed type, it would be incredibly difficult for him to notice the tiger before it appeared since the monster was a stealth type and could easily get close to the caravan without being seen.


    The adventurers and mercenaries were now obviously more alert and observed their surroundings with incredible detail. They didn''t want to miss a single thing, less another monster was able to sneak up to them and im another life.


    Their vignce proved to be correct as they had managed to spot another Tier I panther lying in wait along the mountain.


    The panther was immediately targeted by all the Bronze Knights, and it was once again the lighting user that imed its life. His speed was above all and he was able to appear in front of the monster before thetter had managed to move a full 5 meters away from the caravan. His strikes were equally fast and deadly, and one strike was enough for him to kill the monster.


    ''A lightning user that was a peak Bronze Knight, he also seems to be quite young, in his early twenties.'' Lyle thought to himself as he nced at the knight.


    ''Howe I never heard of him, somebody like him is definitely not an unknown character and should be known by quite a lot of people.''


    ''And yet, I don''t remember ever hearing of such a person.'' Lyle was confused by that, he was certain that he knew of all the uing talents of the empire.


    He made sure to keep track of the people that were talented in case he was to ever meet them during any of his missions. Knowledge was power, especially in his line of work.


    By knowing people, he would be able toe up with ns during missions. If one of his targets was to be guarded by a notable character that he knew about, then he would be able to better prepare an assassination n and would have a higher chance of sess.


    But for some reason, the lightning user was a mystery to Lyle. It didn''t help that the man''s helmet fully covered his face, even his eyes were hard to see.


    Hours passed and no monster appeared to attack the caravan. They had already passed half the road and they had about 10 hours more before arriving on the other side of the mountain.


    This was where things would be more dangerous as the forest on the other side was home to more powerful monsters. Weaklings below level 40 would rarely appear, and if they did, it would be inrger groups that were led by Bronze Core monsters.


    Bronze Core monsters would also appear more frequently, and Silver Core monsters could also appear. Everybody in the caravan knew that which led to everybody getting serious and making sure to observe their surroundings with greater detail than before.


    Any monster that would appear from this point on would be more difficult to deal withpared to before. Even the monkeys that could also be found here were bigger and strongerpared to the counterparts they faced in the beginning.


    One mistake would lead to a person dying, everybody knew that. The monsters were merciless and would rip apart any person they would be able to get their hands on.


    Morning was slowly approaching and that would actually make it harder as more monsters would appear. Waking up from their slumber, the monsters would be very hungry and they would be very eager to charge at them and rip them to shreds.


    It wouldn''t happen before they reached the other side of the mountain, which means that they would mostly be safe from that since not that many monsters would appear on that side of the mountain.


    Once they reached the forest, they would be faced with powerful predators since it will be nighttime. The predators would pose arge threat to the caravan and all thebatants since most of them not only had great eyesight but were very good at sneaking around and attacking when the prey least expected it.


    More enemies like the panther would appear, and there was a serious chance of a Shadowless Tiger appearing and attacking them as well, which was one enemy that all of them were very deathly afraid of.

 Chapter 74 Apes

    74 Apes


    The caravan resumed their journey and before long, the sun rose above the horizon and shone brightly on the mountain and forest around it. The adventurers and mercenaries were pleased to see the sun and they were finally able to stop using thenterns that did not give them that much light.


    Still, the atmosphere was not all cheerful as they all knew that the journey would be entering its most dangerous part right now.


    Not only would they have to face more powerful monsters, but they would also be entering the forest in the evening, making it very easy for predators that loved to lurk in the shadows to attack them.


    Nobody wanted what happened before with the panther to repeat, and people were quite rmed after that had happened. The Bronze Knight that had kept guard all night and made sure that no monster could catch them off guard had entered one of the carriages to rest as he would be needed more during the night.


    Amongst all the Bronze Knights present, he was the most powerful one, although there were 2 with simr strength as him.


    Both of them were equipped withrge shields and a mace, which made them perfect as a tank, but it would be nearly impossible for the two burly men to reach anyone in time to save them.


    Lyle and Adam had taken up night duty which allowed the other two long-rangebatants on top of the carriage to take a nap and rest. Thanks to their bloodline, neither Lyle nor Adam really needed to sleep that much, and they could actually function normally even without sleeping for 2 or 3 days.


    Plus, their eyesight during the night was much betterpared to anyone present, perhaps being beaten by the three Silver Knights. The duo made sure to keep watch and rm people if they were to see monsters, but there were none appeared.


    The situation perplexed Lyle as he knew that caravans, even those asrge as this one, would face more resistance when passing through this path, but they had barely fought any dangerous battles and the whole trip was quite uneventful so far.


    The monsters arrived in fewer numbers than expected, and although they had heard roars and the screams of some monsters from the forest below, it was still not as much as it usually would.


    Lyle knew that it definitely had something to do with the system and its arrival on the, but it was the opposite of what had happened in the previous forest he was in, which made him quite interested in the forest and whatever it was that was happening inside of it.


    During the day, it was Lyle and Adam''s turn to rest, and although the two didn''t really need it, they still thanked the two adventurers that were on the carriage with them andid down to take a nap.


    Not sleeping for a long period of time and not showing any change in their behavior would be very suspicious, so Lyle and Adam were practically forced to do so in order to avoid any suspicion.


    Lyle wasn''t a heavy sleeper and a part of his consciousness was always active in order to rm him of any danger around him, Adam had inherited that from Lyle, and although he was not as good as Lyle when ites to keeping a part of his consciousness awake and active during his sleep, he would still wake up pretty easily if any danger was present.


    The two slept soundly for about 4 hours before waking up. In the four hours they had been sleeping, the caravan hadn''te across any monsters on the road, none at all. The two that were on the carriage urged the two to sleep a bit more since the two of them were able to get almost 6 hours of sleepst night, but Lyle simply thanked them before saying that this much was enough and that the two of them were used to functioning with little sleep.


    He didn''t want to go back to sleeping now.


    The four hours they had gotten were actually plenty for Lyle and Adam and would allow them to perform at their peak for the next 2 days.


    Lyle was more interested in finding out what was happening in the forest, but he was unable to do so since he was after all a member of the escort and couldn''t simply wander off anywhere.


    ''For monsters not to arrive, and the forest to actually be so quiet, either a lot of them were killed recently, which led to many fleeing the area and there simply not being many monsters left here, or another, much more disturbing reason.'' Lyle gulped as he thought of the second reason of why the monsters were not present.


    ''A new king of the forest has risen, which means that the forest now possesses a Golden Core monster, a monster that should not be present in this area.''


    ''If that turns out to be true, then none of us present can survive, such a monster is enough to wipe us out, even the three Silver Knights will only be able to stall it for a few seconds.'' Lyle''s eyes constricted as he tried to calcte the possibility of such a thing happening, but thanks to the system''s arrival, nothing he previously knew of the forest and different monsters could be applied since everything has changed.


    The increase in mana throughout the world made it easier for everyone to improve themselves, but it was more beneficial for monsters who were able to naturally gather mana and improve themselves The battle didn''t even finish before more apes arrived. This time, there were 20 of them, and Lyle 12:30


    could hear movement and the roaring of apes from a distance as well, which meant that a third wave even during their sleep.


    Lyle had no idea whether the system was useful for the monsters as well, if they could also gain soul power from the ones they killed, then a Golden Core monster being born here was a possibility that was far from impossible.


    The more he thought about it, the more he was certain that he was right.


    ''Dammit, I can''t even get away thanks to us being a part of the caravan, the moment I try to do so, the other Bronze Knights might go after me and Adam, not to mention the fact that the forest itself is too dangerous for only the two of us to wander through.'' Lyle grit his teeth before looking around him.


    ''I guess I have to leave it up to fate, huh?'' Lyle suddenly smirked before calming down.


    ''What the hell is the matter with you Lyle, it''s not as if there''s a Golden Core monster right in front of you, even though the possibility of such a monster appearing here was not low, it wasn''t a fact either, it might very well be that nothing of the sort has happened.''


    ''For now, the only thing I can do is continue helping out the caravan and hoping for the best.'' Lyle told himself before suddenly looking to the side.


    "Monsters, right above us!" He yelled out as the other adventurers and mercenaries looked up, only to find multiple apes staring down at them.


    There were about 13 apes present, and most of them were Bronze Core monsters.


    "Bronze Knights, get ready, they''reing!" One person yelled out as the apes started beating their chests before charging down and attacking the caravan.


    There were many more Bronze Knights present in the caravanpared to the apes, which made the threat of the apes quite low and they were quickly met with resistance and forced to stop with their charge.


    Lyle and the other long-range attackers provided support and attacked the apes that were below Tier I, while the Tier I long-range attackers aimed at the Bronze Core apes and rained down their arrows at them.


    The battle didn''t even finish before more apes arrived. This time, there were 20 of them, and Lyle could hear movement and the roaring of apes from a distance as well, which meant that a third wave wasing soon as well.


    ''Damn it, this is not a good ce for us, there''s too many of theming from the caves on the side of the mountain.'' Lyle cursed as he stared at the apes.


    There were multiple cave systems in the mountain, and nobody knew exactly why they were made, or how they were made.


    Monsters used the caves as nests asionally, but that was mostly done by weaker monsters and since the apes were amongst the most powerful ones present, they would very rarely be seen here.


    The third wave not only had more apes, but a Silver Core ape was also present among them.


    The doors of one carriage opened as the three Silver Knights suddenly made their appearance.


    They briefly spoke before the axe-wielding Silver Knight charged at the Silver Core ape together with the sword and shield-wielding one.


    The two could take on and defeat the ape without any issue, while the final Silver Knight stayed back in order to help out the Bronze Knights with the rest of the apes.

 Chapter 75 The Mage Fights

    75 The Mage Fights


    The battle between the two Silver Knights and the ape caused the whole area to shake. The carriages would move slightly to the left and right, and some adventurers and mercenaries were forced to grab onto them in order for the carriages not to fall down from the side of the mountain.


    Thanks to the urgent situation, some bronze knights and normal adventurers that were staying in the carriages went out without ever even being called and helped out.


    Lyle and Adam, upon noticing how urgent the situation was, decided to go down and help out the adventurers in close-quartersbat since they could do little from above thanks to the apes being very close to the otherbatants.


    Both men restricted their powers as much as they could in order not to show more than a peak fighter below the Knight realm could and helped out with dealing with the normal apes.


    The two Silver Knights were splendid in battle.


    The axe-wielding knight had incredible physical strength and could even fight evenly against the ape when it came to sheer strength. Usually, monsters in the same realm had greater physical power than humans, but they had no equipment, which would even out the odds.


    Even though both the Knight and the ape were strength-basedbatants, the knight was not only standing his ground, but he was managing to overpower the ape at certain points.


    As for the sword and shield-wielding knight, he was a bnced type of fighter. He was fast, but there were faster people in the same realm, he was strong and sturdy, but not as some in his realm were.


    Overall, he was a great addition to the battle as he was able to not only deal damage to the ape and get away before being hit, but he was also able to tank some attacks from the ape and help out his teammate.


    The two fought very well together and it was clear to Lyle that this was not the first time the two were fighting a strong enemy together as they knew each other well and could follow each other''s actions perfectly.


    The third Silver Knight still had his hood on, and underneath it, one could see a mask shielding his face.


    He carried no weapon, and simply walked toward the Bronze Knights before moving his arms around and spreading small strings of mana throughout the battlefield. In mere seconds, a lot of the apes were caught by the strings and couldn''t move.


    The third Silver Knight was a mage and not a simple one.


    Lyle was in the same realm as these people were, and he was even higher ranked than them as he was a high-grade Silver Knight.


    Simply by observing the battle, he could easily find out that the two fighting against the ape were both low-grade Silver Knights, while the mage was a mid-grade Silver Knight.


    The difference between the grades was not small.


    If put into the perspective of the system, a low-grade Silver Knight was anywhere from level 100 to level 120, a mid-grade was level 130 to level 150, a high-grade was level 160 to 180 and at the end, a peak-gradebatant was level 190 to level 200.


    Lyle knew that his level before evolving into a vampire lord was 169


    Additionally, it seemed that the Bronze Knight realm was from level 50 to 100, but all the other realms were divided by 100 levels, which made sense considering just how much more powerful a strong Silver Knight waspared to a weak one.


    The mid-grade Silver Mage was much more powerfulpared to the other two and could probably take down the ape by himself.


    ( Author: For you that remember the old mage ranking, I have changed it, so it is no longer Bronze Knight = Low Mage, Silver Knight = Middle-ranked mage, they will from now on use the same scaling, so Bronze Knight- Bronze Mage and so on, not sure if I will do that for assassins though as I do like the titles there, hahaha )


    The mage was able to quickly get almost half of the Bronze Apes under control with the strings. With a couple of finger flicks, the strings started tightening around the apes and slowly cut them.


    In merely a couple of seconds, the mage had transformed the once-hard battlefield into one where the Bronze Knights now held an overwhelming advantage.


    The lightning user sped through the apes, his attacks drawing blood and cutting deep inside each one as he passed. The attacks weren''t lethal, but they allowed the knights that werebating the apes to seize the advantage and deal with them more easily.


    ''Instead of charging in and dealing with the apes, he''s decided to take a support role, conserving his strength in case of emergency and also minimizing losses, this guy isn''t simple, not at all.'' Lyle thought as he dodged an attack from an ape before stabbing the ape through the chest with one dagger.


    He then quickly pulled his dagger out before leaning to the side and dodging another blow. He proceeded to cut and stab the arm of the ape before it was a bloody mess, the muscles were cut apart, most of the flesh dangled from the side, and bones could be seen.


    Lyle then kicked off the ground and wrapped his legs around the ape''s head before plunging his daggers through the monster''s skull.


    Such an attack would usually damage the daggers he held in his hands, even though they were Tier I and could be used by Bronze Knights, but since he was using mana to reinforce them, the daggers were able to easily break through the skull and not be damaged at all.


    Suddenly a fierce roar echoed through the area.


    Lyle at first thought it was the ape that was fighting against the two Silver Knights, but it turned out that a second one had suddenly jumped down from the mountain and smashed the ground below.


    It stood right in front of the Bronze Knights and had managed to crush one below its giant body. Some Bronze Core realm apes and knights were injured from the ape''s fall, but none died, except for the one below the ape.


    The mage clicked his tongue in frustration as he suddenly drew a couple of symbols in the air.


    The ape was the same as the one fighting against the two knights, a low-grade Silver Core monster, and it was weakerpared to the mage.


    After a mere second, the symbol was drawn and the soil below the ape suddenly softened for a moment before two giant arms that were made out of rock sprung up and grabbed the ape.


    The monster struggled violently and the rocks were obviously not powerful enough to hold it for long, but that was not what the mage expected anyway. He started channeling mana into his arms and had the full spread out as a magic circle started being created above the mage.


    In only 5 seconds, the ape managed to escape from the confines of the two rocky arms before charging at the mage. None dared stand in its path and the ape only needed a second to appear in front of the mage and extend its giant arm at him.


    The moment the ape touched the mask on the mage''s face, the circle waspleted and two giant serpents that were created out of mana suddenly came out and wrapped themselves around the ape.


    The ape merely touched the mask, but the power behind its arm was powerful enough to break it and force the mage''s head to snap back.


    The hood that was hiding the mage''s head was thrown off from his head and people were now able to see who he was.


    Bright green eyes that seemed to contain the very essence of nature in them shone brilliantly under the sun while long blonde hair fell down to the mage''s chest. Long, pointy ears stuck out from the sides of her head as the mage stared at the ape in anger.


    The mage was a woman, and she was also an elf.


    Elves were not really a rare sight in the world as they had spread out far and wide since a long time ago. The elves were well-liked by many, and their kingdom had many allies and very few enemies.


    Most elves, however, were not pure-blooded and not as powerful as the ones from the kingdom of the elves. There were some that would be born with pure elven blood, which would make them much more powerfulpared to the rest.


    The one in front of Lyle was one of them.


    Pure-blooded elves did not need to have pure-blooded parents in order to be born, but the chances of two elves that were not of pure blood having a child that was were incredibly low.


    Thanks to living in a lot of ces and mixing with the other races, most elves outside of the kingdom were not pure-blooded and were almost the same as humans, only that they still had a higher connection with nature and were slightly more powerful on average.


    Elves mostly excelled at magic, but nature-type, not the one that could be seen right now.


    They were also good archers thanks to their great eyesight but were usually weaker physicallypared to others.


    The elf stared at the ape as the two serpents started constricting and suffocating the ape, slowly extinguishing its life.

 Chapter 76 The Demise of the Apes

    76 The Demise of the Apes


    The sight was incredible.


    The 3.5 meter-tall ape that could smash apart trees like they were made out of cardboard was almost invisible thanks to the two giant serpents that had coiled around itpletely.


    Muffled sounds could be hearding from inside the ball of serpents as the ape still tried to struggle, but it was for naught.


    The mage''s face was covered in sweat as she continued pouring mana into the serpents in order to strengthen them and extend the time they were active in the world. Compared to some other powerful spells that needed a longer casting time, this one only needed a couple of seconds, but the drawback was that the caster needed to constantly channel mana to the serpents in order for them to continue existing in the world.


    Once the mana was cut off, the serpents would disappear, they would scatter through the air and return to being pure mana once again.


    The sound of bones being crushed could be heard inside the ball as the Bronze Knights around the mage continued fighting the remaining Bronze Core realm apes. Thanks to the mage and her previous help, they had a rtively easy time taking down the apes.


    The two Silver Knights were still fighting against the first Silver Core ape, and it was clear that they were winning. Wounds had piled up on the ape as the two knights fought brilliantly against it.


    Their seamless teamwork made it hard for the ape to do anything to them, and in a manner of minutes, it was down on its knees as the wounds it had suffered, and the blood it had lost had made it weak.


    The moment the ape showed weakness, the axe-wielding knight quickly charged before swinging his axe toward the neck of the ape, only for thetter to suddenly move and dodge the blow before tackling the knight.


    As the ape stared down at the knight, a smirk could be seen on the knight''s face as a sword suddenly exited through the throat of the ape.


    "Did you really think I would fall for such a trick, you damned monster?!" The axe-wielding knight shouted out as the ape fell to the side and started thrashing around.


    The wound was serious and blood was continuously flowing out from its throat. The ape couldn''t breathe and it would not be long before it would die because of it.


    The axe-wielding knight suddenly stood up before lifting his axe high up in the air. Fire enveloped the axe as the knight shed down on the ape''s head.


    His attack had not only split the head up, but the shockwave it produced shook the mountain as the fire spread around the ape and enveloped its bodypletely.


    "Hey, why did you do that?!" The other knight suddenly shouted out as the axe-wielding knight stared at him in confusion before a panicked expression appeared on his face.


    "Shit, sorry, I got too excited." The knight said while scratching the back of his head, fully aware that he had messed up.


    Because of his actions, the fur of the ape was now burnt and wasn''t worth as much as it normally would.


    All the monsters they killed were theirs, and they were of course nning on taking the bodies with them to Orsvald. With the fur in such a state, they would get a lot less money for the bodypared to how much it was normally worth.


    The one killed by the mage fared no better since it waspletely crushed by the serpents, bones were sticking out from the body and the fur was ripped apart at multiple ces.


    The sole reason none of the two knights had used their abilities before was simply that they didn''t want to damage the fur of the ape too much, and because the axe-wielding knight had gotten too excited, he had briefly forgotten about it and used his ability, damaging the fur greatly in the process.


    "Damn it, man, you could have killed it without using any skills, look at what you did now, look at the state of this thing." The axe-wielding knight had extinguished his mes after being berated by the other knight. The body of the ape was burned, the fur had be darker and it was even ck in multiple ces.


    It was worth less than even 50% of its initial worth now.


    "Take out the core, we''re leaving the body here." The knight said as the burly man stared at the ape.


    "Why do I have to do it?"


    "Well, it wasn''t me that burned the body and destroyed most of its value, so of course I won''t be doing it!" The knight said before going down to the caravan the axe-wielding knight sighed before taking out a dagger and starting to cut into the body in order to get the core out.


    The situation down at the caravan had also quieted down, with only a couple of apes remaining.


    Some of the adventurers were trying to not kill, but capture the apes alive in order to bring them back to the city. After some time debating the whole thing, they decided against it as they simply didn''t have anything to use in order to not only bind the apes but also to stop them from making any noise and to transport them easily.


    If the apes were to be brought with them, it was a given that they would be incredibly noisy, which could lead to monstersing to attack them more frequently and in higher numbers.


    Not only that, but more powerful monsters that were of the Silver Core realm could potentially show up more often thanks to the apes making a ruckus.


    The caravan stopped for about 30 minutes in order to let the adventurers rest up and also take out the cores of the monsters they had in. The caravan leader was quite generous and he allowed the adventurers to do whatever they wished when it came to the monsters they had in.


    Usually, caravans were not this generous and they would be the ones getting the cores and bodies of the monsters. They would, of course, reimburse the adventurers, but it was always for a lower pricepared to what they would get in cities.


    Many were not happy about this, but there was little they could do since the contract would clearly state that, and there was no going back from it.


    After 30 minutes, the caravan continued moving as Lyle and Adam were back on top of the carriage. Many were impressed by the two men since they had gone down in order to help out with the apes.


    Since the two were ced up on the carriage as long-rangebatants, they didn''t have to go down and fight a melee battle against monsters, but these two did.


    That was not the only reason the others were impressed as the strength the two had shown made it obvious that they were used to fighting like that. Lyle and Adam had taken out a couple of apes each and saved some adventurers from getting seriously injured or killed by the apes.


    As for the mage and the other two Silver Knights?


    They had gone back inside the carriage they had previously stayed in. The adventurers and mercenaries were excited about the fact that there was a mid-grade Silver Mage amongst them.


    Not only was she powerful and could defeat a powerful low-grade Silver Core monster such as the ape by herself, but she also did it with little to no difficulty. The other two knights were also impressive and could potentially deal with a low-grade Silver Core monster by themselves, but when together, such a monster stopped being a threatpletely.


    There were 4 people that had died in the attack and 3 were injured. Out of the three, none were seriously injured and could continue fighting after resting for a couple of hours and allowing their injuries to heal.


    The caravan had no healers and thus they had to use medicine and rest in order to heal their injuries. Healers were always rare and everybody would pay very high sums in order to have them in their caravan since they could limit the injuries and could even heal those of the same realm in mere seconds.


    Even life-threatening injuries were possible to be healed by healers that were of the Silver Mage realm and above. That was why they were always sought out by many adventurer guilds, powerful organizations, and the army.


    No healer would find themselves short on money thanks to their service is quite costly. To employ one healer of the Silver Mage realm, one would need to fork out triple the money they would spend on getting a normal Silver Mage.


    The caravan had no such person in their midst, and the adventurers were used to that. Mages were a rare sight, healers even rarer, and to have one being employed by a caravan was something that could rarely be seen.

 Chapter 77 The Caravan Moves, Lyles Doubts

    77 The Caravan Moves, Lyle''s Doubts


    With the apes gone, the caravan resumed their travel. The apes were some of the most powerful enemies one could encounter, but after encountering them, one could be certain that they wouldn''te across a bunch of monsters for a while thanks to the apes being highly territorial.


    Still, there were monsters that continued attacking the caravan along the way. They only had about 1 hour free before the first group arrived. It was the usual monsters that one would encounter here, most of them being below the Bronze Core realm, with some groups having some amongst their ranks.


    The situation perplexed the caravan. Such weak monsters would usually keep far away from the apes and wouldn''t be so near them thanks to the apes being able to rip them apart with ease. They still continued moving, but the atmosphere was definitely changing among the people present.


    As for Lyle, he was one of the members of the caravan that was currently looking the worst.


    The reason for that was that he was now even more certain that his previous guess was true.


    A Golden Core monster had appeared in the forest.


    With such power, the monster would pretty much be the unofficial king of the forest, and other monsters would flee from the area and make sure to keep a distance from it.


    Since the changes were only noticeable after they had cleared half of the distance to Orsvald, Lyle was sure that the Golden Core monster would be found somewhere in this part of the forest, he only hoped that they wouldn''te across it, otherwise the only thing waiting for them was death.


    Since leaving the caravan was out of the question, Lyle was forced to simply stay and observe his surroundings.


    He still had a way out.


    He had not used his second transformation at all, and he knew that once he did that, the aura from a Tier VI being would be enough to allow him to get out of the area safely. He would use the caravan as scapegoats and leave them to the monster if that was necessary.


    The caravan''s speed slowed down thanks to the attacks. The monsters were weak, and it only took them a short period of time to defeat them, but the speed at which they traveled suffered thanks to that.


    The Bronze Knights didn''t join the battle if there were no Bronze Core enemies amongst the monsters. They wouldn''t go out of their way to help out and spend their energy when there was no need to do so after all.


    Their job was to deal with the Bronze Core monsters and perhaps save the lives of some of the weaker adventurers if the situation called for it. Otherwise, they would simply stand by and wait for the monsters to be defeated.


    Lyle could see that the faces of some of the knights were tense, but the one he was most interested in, the lightning user, did not take his helmet off at any point in time, which made it impossible for Lyle to gauge his response to what was happening.


    The Bronze Knights that had tense expressions were all parts of the group the lightning-type knight was leading. They seemed to be the only ones amongst the Bronze Knights that realized what might be happening and that they were potentially in grave danger.


    Lyle wouldn''t tell that to anyone as nobody would really take the words of an adventurer that had not reached the Bronze Knight realm seriously.


    Lyle shared his thoughts with Adam, and he made sure that nobody around them was able to hear 14:04


    them. Upon listening to Lyle and finding out that they mighte across a Golden Core monster, Adam was visibly upset, but he did his best not to show his emotions and simply nodded at Lyle.


    Memories of when they made their way to Linston came to Adam. He remembered how he and Lyle had abandoned the caravan they were traveling with, and he had no doubt in his mind that Lyle would do the same again if it meant preserving their lives.


    He understood that there was nothing any of them could do when faced with such an enemy. Even Silver Core monsters were beings that were impossible to even be touched by the current them.


    Adam and Lyle simply continued doing their job as the party made their way around the mountain. It was a couple of hourster that they finally made it around.


    The path started leading them down, which was a sign that they would now be going inside the forest. The sun was no longer high up in the air and was slowly setting as the adventurers all got ready to light thenterns and resume their journey through the forest.


    They had already managed to cross arge distance and only a bit was left before they would get out of the forest and reach Orsvald. The only thing on their mind currently was the hope that no powerful monster would appear.


    The forest was after all home to many powerful creatures. Amongst them, the one that worried the adventurers the most was the tiger. It was an incredibly powerful monster that could kill them before any of the knew what was happening.


    Suddenly, as the sun slowly went down, the door to a carriage opened and the three Silver Knights all went out. The mage had changed her clothes. She removed her previous robe and was now wearing one that was clearly of much greater quality.


    With the three Silver Knights being outside and keeping a lookout during thest stretch of their trip, the adventurers and mercenaries were able to rx a bit.


    Even if a Silver Core monster was to appear, it would still be defeated by the trio.


    The mage quickly started casting some sort of spell. It took her a while and when she finished, all the carriages and people were suddenly enveloped in a green glow.


    The spell was a detection spell of sorts. The mage had used it to cover all the people and if a Silver Core monster truly was to appear, she would quickly find out before the enemy had a chance to attack.


    Not only that, but the spell would also increase the detection ability of each adventurer and allowed them to see better in the dark. It was one that used up a lot of mana and the mage had to expend quite the effort to cast it, but it would be worth it in the long run.


    One of the biggest reasons the spell had a high requirement when it came to mana was the fact that once it was cast, it would stay active for 10 hours and would require no further mana. To cast it for so many people was definitely not easy, and even Lyle was impressed by the mage.


    He knew of simr spells and knew that it was no small feat to learn such a spell, much less to cast it on so many people.


    ''She''s a talented one as well, even above the Bronze Knight.'' Lyle thought to himself as he nced at the mage before switching his gaze to his surroundings.


    ''A young peak Bronze Knight with the lightning element, and a young elven mage that has this much power, none of these two are simple, and yet I have no idea who either one of them is.'' Lyle told himself as he leaned back against the carriage railing.


    ''Something is going on, there is no way that all of this is simple coincidence.''


    ''First, we have a Bronze Knight of unknown origins that is powerful enough to deal with any Bronze Core monster with rtive ease, and no adventurer here knows him, and neither do the mercenaries.''


    ''Then an elven Silver Mage appears, a pure-blooded one from what I can tell, and she is also a mystery to me and everyone else.''


    ''Their power, their young age, and theck of any knowledge I or anyone here has of them are suspicious, are they perhaps members of the same organization?" Lyle suddenly thought back on the people he felt inside one of the main carriages.


    ''Were they hired especially because of those people, or are those people parts of their organization as well?''


    There were many organizations in the empire, and even Lyle was unable to find out who the members of all of the organizations were. Some were incredibly mysterious and finding any info on them was practically impossible, while others were a bit less of a mystery, but the higher-ups were.


    Amongst those organizations were assassin guilds, spy guilds, thieves, and even mercenaries and merchants.


    Some were hostile to the empire, and the empire did all it could to deal with them but was unable to even after a long period of time. Most, however, were not hostile and werergely tolerated by the empire, leading to them being able to rise to power a bit quicker than the others.


    Lyle was now certain that whoever these people were, they were members of one of those organizations.

 Chapter 78 A Roar Echos

    78 A Roar Echos


    The knights didn''t panic anymore. Since the Silver Knights hade out and were making sure that the surrounding area was safe, the monsters that would oncee close to them were all scared off by either the aura the three possessed, or were killed off by the long-range attackers that were now able to spot them from further away.


    As the caravan moved through the silent forest, an eerie silence was all that apanied the escorts.


    There was barely any sound present currently, only the sound of people walking, the wheels of the carriages turning, and the animals that were pulling the carriages.


    It was creepy and everybody was a bit on the edge thanks to that. They had previously nevere across something like this and the deafening silence from the forest was making them stress a bit.


    The silence, the knowledge that there were powerful monsters lurking inside, and the darkness that prevented them from seeing further around them made them stressed.


    As the caravan continued further, even the leader of the caravan was a bit worried.


    He had taken this route many times ever since he started the caravan, and not even once was the forest like this.


    The forest at night was creepy and dangerous, that much was certain, but this was apletely different level. The mere presence of the forest made him sweat and worry about what might happen.


    "Don''t worry, everything will be alright." A voice suddenly said behind the leader as he looked back and nodded, his worry disappearing almost instantly.


    He was in the carriage in which Lyle had previously sensed people in, and it was obvious that whoever was inside, he was a person that the leader seemed to respect quite a bit.


    Suddenly, a roar echoed through the forest.


    The animals that were pulling the carriages suddenly stopped, their legs shaking in fear.


    The people that were escorting the caravan also stopped and were pale thanks to the roar.


    The Silver Knights fared no better and had solemn expressions on their faces as they stared at the direction of the roar.


    It came from the left, but they were able to sense that whatever made the sound, was quite far away from them and should not be a problem.


    "That, what kind of monster is that?" One of the long-rangebatants that was on the roof of the carriage together with Lyle and Adam asked in shock as he gulped and stared in fear.


    Lyle was also worried.


    The roar was enough to stop everyone and do something like this, making him a hundred percent certain that his previous guess was correct, there was a Golden Core monster present in the forest.


    Adam''s face was pale and he gulped upon hearing the roar. Since he and Lyle had previously spoken, he knew that there was a chance of a Golden Core monster being present in the forest, and this roar had pretty much made them know that that was true.


    With such a powerful monster present, Adam knew that if they were to be attacked, none would survive.


    He and Lyle would have to do their best to escape the area in order to survive, but even that was not certain as the forest was full of powerful monsters that could kill both of them with rtive ease.


    They were both mere low-grade Bronze Knights after all, and if a high-grade Bronze Core monster was to appear, they would be in a world of trouble, not to mention any Silver Core monsters appearing.


    The two of them would barely have any time to even respond to such a monster before being ripped apart by it.


    Lyle calmed himself down and took a deep breath. He knew that the monster was quite far away, but there was always the chance of the monster sensing them and moving toward the caravan.


    This route was always one of the most dangerous routes to get to Orsvald. When traveling from Linston, there were multiple routes one could take, but they all took much longerpared to this one.


    There were only a handful of caravans that took this route thanks to how dangerous it was, but those that did wererge and confident, always having enough money to hire a bunch of powerful people as escorts, just like now.


    Usually, 2 Silver Knights were enough for a caravan to pass through this area. The caravan leader had taken 3 Silver Knights with him because he doubted that 2 would be enough any more thanks to the system arriving and monsters bing more powerful.


    He didn''t want to risk things, so he spent more in order to be certain that nothing would go wrong with the trip, but even so, nobody would have suspected that a Golden Core monster had suddenly appeared here.


    As the caravan started moving again, they came upon a horrifying sight about 30 minutester.


    Broken parts of carriages littered the road in front of them while bits of flesh and bones could be seen with them. The road was darker in one area thanks to all the blood that was spilled on the ground.


    The adventurers and mercenaries clenched their weapons as the Bronze Knights apanied by one of the Silver Knights went ahead. They inspected what seemed to have been a battlefield not too long ago before moving some things away from the caravan.


    That would usually have been done by the other adventurers, but since the situation was so tense and dangerous, the Bronze Knights took it upon themselves to do it.


    Apanied by a Silver Knight, they were certain that no monster would be able to sneak up on them, thus they calmly did their job and moved the things out of the way so that the caravan could pass through safely.


    Still, the situation was bad. For a caravan to try to pass through here, they needed to have sufficient strength, this one was either led by an arrogant person that didn''t take enough men with him, or they hade across incredibly powerful monsters that were able to destroy them.


    Everybody hoped that it wasn''t thetter, since that would mean that they were definitely not safe either.


    Even with three Silver Knights present, everybody knew that if a peak Silver Core monster was to appear, or a Golden Core one, they had no chance of winning and could only run away in hope of surviving.


    The caravan slowly moved, making sure to be quiet and not draw attention to itself. Nobody dared even to speak right now.


    The escorts all clenched their weapons and made a formation, while the Bronze Knights stood in 14:05


    front of them. The two Silver Knights were at the very front, while the mage was at the back, ready to Suddenly, the caravan stopped as the sounds of footsteps started echoing inside the forest.


    Trees from tens of meters away from them started shaking and some even fell down on the ground.


    The escorts all clenched their weapons and made a formation, while the Bronze Knights stood in front of them. The two Silver Knights were at the very front, while the mage was at the back, ready to chant a spell and attack whatever monster was approaching them.


    The mage was sweating. She could sense that the monster that wasing at them was the one that had made the roar that everyone hear about an hour ago. She knew that they could not hope to defeat such a monster, but still, she steeled herself and got ready for a battle.


    Running away was not an option for her or the other two Silver Knights as she knew that if a Golden Core monster was present, powerful Silver Core monsters would be found as well. Against such power, even she and her two teammates were useless and wouldn''t be able to survive in the forest by themselves.


    As she thought of that, the forest had movement.


    Monsters suddenly started charging toward them. There were wolves, tigers, apes, and all kinds of different monstersing out of the forest. The adventurers immediately tensed up after seeing all of the monsters.


    Amongst them, they could spot 5 Silver Core monsters, a number that was enough topletely annihte them since the tiger was a mid-grade Silver Core monster. It focused mainly on stealth and was weaker in a melee fightpared to other monsters of its own rank thanks to his ability which was mainly used for stealth, but it was still a powerful monster that could defeat any except for the mage.


    As the monsters neared, the long-rangebatants were just about to attack before the mage suddenly stopped them.


    "Stop, take a good look, they''re noting to attack us, they''re merely running away."


    Her words were true as the monsters simply ran past the caravan, none of them attacking a single member of the caravan. The men were confused before their faces paled as the footsteps they heard before got nearer.


    The trees parted and fell as a huge figure came into view.


    The monster was walking on four legs, and yet it was still about 3 meters tall.


    Blue mes could be seening out from some parts of its body and mouth as the monster stared at the caravan.


    The thick fur of the monster made it almost impervious to any weapons and its ws could tear through even the toughest walls with ease. Its jaw was powerful enough to crush rocks and turn them into dust while the blue mes could actually freeze anything they touched.


    [ Infernal Bear ]


    Hi guys, sorry for the low update ratetely, I''m going to the hospital tonight and staying over, then having a surgery in the morning, it''s a small one and it should not stop me from writing, but we will see.


    TheReign

 Chapter 79 Ulon

    Chapter 79 Ulon


    "Oh no." One of the adventurers suddenly said as he dropped his weapon to the ground. The monster in front of them was giving off such a dangerous aura that those below the Bronze Core were barely able to even move in its presence.


    The Bronze Knights fared a bit better, especially the ones that were at the top of the realm, but even they felt incredible pressure when facing the monster, even though it was now focusing on them at the very least.


    The two Silver Knights and Silver Mage were taking the brunt of the aura of the bear and all three were sweating considerably thanks to the pressure. The two knights knew that they would be unable to take even one hit from the bear before being smashed to pieces, and then those pieces would get frozen by the blue mes it possessed.


    The mage stared at the bear, her eyes flickering in fear as she clenched her two hands into fists.


    Nobody spoke.


    There wasplete silence amongst the caravan as even the bear simply stared at them.


    Its rough breath echoed through the caravan as the monster stared at them as if they were ants. They all knew that the bear possessed the power to back up its behavior and theck of any hostile intentions it showed to them.


    There was no need for the bear to be hostile, after all, what kind of creatures would show hostility to mere insects that it could crush and devour at any moment?


    It simply stared at them, perhaps thinking of how it would kill and then eat the bodies of the tens of humans in front of it.


    The bear took a step forward, and the silver knights and mage took a step back, obviously showing that they had no intention to fight it since the difference in power was sorge.


    That action made the bear a bit pleased, it seemed, as it dropped its aura and took another step toward them, actingpletely nonchnt about the whole thing.


    It was only when the bear was about 20 meters from the caravan that it suddenly stopped and growled. Its fur suddenly spiked up as it stared with hostility at the caravan.


    Now was when everyone could finally sense the full power of the bear''s aura as even the Bronze Knights were unable to move from the spot. Lyle stared at the bear with worry as he knew that fighting such an opponent was impossible.


    Perhaps he could do it before he lost his powers, but even then, he would have needed to strike when the bear was unaware in order to deal heavy damage with his strongest blow at the very beginning of the battle.


    He contemted transforming right away and leaving the area with Adam, but something made him stay.


    It was the eyes of the silver knights and a couple of bronze knights that were present.


    Although they had solemn expressions on their faces and it was clear that the pressure from the bear was not something they were taking lightly, Lyle was also able to notice that none of them seemed particrly afraid for their lives.


    They were worried about the bearing closer and attacking them, but there was no sense of dread on any of them, no looks of impending doom and them knowing that he would be thest moments of their lives.


    Creak!


    Suddenly the door of one of the three big carriages opened.


    A man stepped out.


    The silence that was currently present was deafening, and only his footsteps could be heard as even the bear had stopped making noise. The man walked slowly and confidently, not at all bothered or worried about the presence of such a powerful monster in front of him.


    His long blonde hair swayed in the wind as his gold and ck robe fluttered with it. The man passed next to the bronze and silver knights and nodded at them with a smile beforeing to the very front of the caravan and staring at the bear.


    The aura the bear was previously emanating and using to pressure the whole caravan was suddenly gone. The man was like a great wall that blocked the aura from affecting them in the slightest.


    "S-sir, who is that?" Adam suddenly asked Lyle who was staring at the man in shock.


    "Ulon Iskandar, the right-hand man of Iodel Song and his closest confidant, a high-grade Golden Knight whose strength was well known throughout the whole kingdom," Lyle spoke calmly as he looked at Ulon from behind.


    "A Golden Knight, and a high-grade one?!" Adam said in shock as he stared at Ulon as well.


    "Doesn''t that mean that we are safe, the bear has only recently reached the Golden Core realm, against someone that is so far above it, it won''t stand a chance, right?"


    "That''s correct, with sir Ulon present, there is absolutely no need to fear any enemy that might show up here, he alone is enough to deal with all of them."


    ''But, why is he here, what reason does he have to go to Orsvald, and why travel in such a manner, hidden from the public eye in a carriage of a caravan?'' Lyle asked himself as he stared at the back of the man that was currently yawning and staring at the bear.


    "I never expected to actuallye across a Golden Core monster here, it seems the world is changing even faster than we all thought," Ulon said calmly as he stared at the bear. He lifted his arm, and a 2-meter-long sword suddenly appeared. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''That''s probably a high-grade spatial ring that he has, god knows what kinds of things he has hidden inside of it.'' Lyle thought as he stared at the ring that had shed for a moment before Ulon had taken out the sword.


    Lyle had a simr ring on him, although he believed that the archmage he had killed had a better one before, but had to get rid of it or lost it when he was ambushed by the archmages of the surrounding kingdoms and empires a long time ago.


    Ulon simply stared at the bear that was now growling a lot more while taking steps back from the man. The bear could sense great dangering from the man in front of it, and the only thing on its mind currently was to run away as fast as possible.


    The prey he had thought was going to be a great snack turned out to have someone as fierce as the blonde man and it was now definitely not the time to strike.


    The bear had fought for a long and was barely able to evolve and reach the Golden Core realm, which made it incredibly arrogant inside the forest as it was one of the most powerful beings inside of it even before reaching the Golden Core realm, not to mention now.


    The bear forgot about the fear of humans it once had and how it would sometimes ughter hundreds of powerful monsters at once, it was blinded by its new power and believed that nobody would be able to stand up to it anymore.


    That was a mistake.


    Ulon started walking toward the bear.


    His footsteps were quite calm and he wasn''t in a hurry, but before the bear or anyone else could realize it, Ulon had already crossed more than half of the distance between himself and the bear.


    The monster widened its eyes to their fullest as it suddenly opened its mouth wide beforeunching blue mes at Ulon.


    The mes covered the area and burned, for a little bit before they disappeared and only the frozen ground was left in front of the bear.


    It started at the ground in confusion as it could not see the enemy that was right there mere moments ago. It suddenly screamed out in pain as its two front paws were cleanly cut off from its body and fell on the ground, forcing the bear to fall down as well.


    It started at the ground in confusion as it could not see the enemy that was right there mere moments ago. It suddenly screamed out in pain as its two front paws were cleanly cut off from its body and fell on the ground, forcing the bear to fall down as well.


    Ulon was right behind the bear, his sword lifted high above him.


    "That''s an interesting ability you have there, but unfortunately, you have just recently evolved and you''re far too weak to be able to use its full potential."


    "Had you waited for a couple of months before showing yourself, you might have proved to be an interesting opponent to battle against, but right now, you''re merely a nuisance that needs to be disposed of."


    Ulon suddenly moved, his body disappearing from the spot before he appeared right next to the bear. Before the giant monster was able to do anything, the giant sword shed down and its head was clearly severed from the body.


    A fountain of blood spurted out from the headless body as the head flew high up in the air. None of the bloodnded on Ulon as if it was like an invisible barrier shielded him from it.


    The man simply swung his sword down in order to wipe off the blood that was present on it before returning it to the spatial ring and moving back to the caravan.

 Chapter 80 The Caravan Moves on, Reaper Appears

    Chapter 80 The Caravan Moves on, Reaper Appears


    As Ulon returned to the caravan, he was quickly approached by the three Silver realmbatants and the group of Bronze Knights.


    "My lord, shall we take care of the caravan?" The leader of the Bronze Knights that wielded lightning asked Ulon with a cold tone.


    "No, there is no need for that." Ulon waved him off before continuing toward his carriage.


    "The main point of me getting out in such a way as to not rm the enemy beforehand, even if one of the adventurers was to go and spread the word and rm our foes, it would have already been toote."


    "Simply continue acting as an escort and finish the task, then rendezvous with me as nned."


    "Yes, my lord." The Bronze Knights all said in a low tone as they hurried back together with the three Silver realmbatants.


    The mage nced at Ulon once more before returning with the others and acting indifferent toward the adventurers and mercenaries that were together with them.


    None of the people that were escorting the caravan dared ask them what they were talking about with Ulon as they knew better than to pry. Asking too many questions was a good way to die young in this world, after all.


    Lyle and Adam made sure to stay inconspicuous, but Ulon did nce and even smile slightly at Lyle at one point, making thetter aware that he knew he was there.


    Lyle didn''t worry about Ulon, he had after all gained the crest of the Song family, and he knew that Ulon was a devout follower of Iodel Song, which means that he will never go against anything his lord.


    Killing Lyle would definitely be inexcusable for Ulon, and thetter would probably make sure that Lyle was unharmed any time he was close to him.


    That made Lyle know that no matter what happened in thest part of this trip, he at the very least would be safe with Ulon here, as thetter wouldn''t allow any monster to kill him thanks to the family crest he possessed.


    But the main issue that Lyle had was the fact that Ulon was here. He was the right-hand man of Iodel Song and the one that Iodel trusted the most. Leaving his side and making a trip to Orsvald with this caravan meant that something was up, and whatever was happening, Ulon was keeping it a secret since he made sure to leave Linston without anyone noticing.


    ''A storm might being, and it seems I will be located close to it thanks to me staying in Orsvald.'' Lyle thought as he looked at the carriage where Ulon was currently staying at.


    He could sense that two more people were in the carriage other than Ulon. One of them was the caravan master who had entered there a while ago, but the third person was a mystery. Whoever it was, they had been there since the very beginning together with Ulon.


    ''Is it Iodel?'' Lyle suddenly thought before shaking his head.


    ''The city lord disappearing would definitely cause a storm in the city, there is no way he would be able to sneak out without people noticing his absence, it has to be someone else, but who?'' Lyle had to admit he was quite interested in finding out the identity of the mysterious passenger, but with Ulon there, the chance of him doing so was equal to zero.


    He simply took a long look at the carriage before resuming his guard.


    The arrays that the caravan leader had installed were activated when they entered the forest since this was the only ce where the Shadowless Tiger stayed. They had previously used thenterns to light up the way since they were much more cost-efficient, but this was thest stretch before reaching Orsvald, and they were not going to skimp now and have a monster attacking them right before reaching their destination.


    The adventurers and mercenaries were now in high spirits. With the knowledge that a Golden Knight was actually here, they were all pumped up and knew that there was no chance of their caravan being destroyed, still, they made sure to be careful since they knew that the Golden Knight wouldn''t be helping them out when it came to fighting Bronze and Silver Core monsters, perhaps only high-grade Silver Core monsters and above.


    Nobody had actually managed to see Ulon''s face since there was a weird hue around the whole head. They were all able to see his hair and the color of it, but not the face.


    Still, it was rtively easy for most of them to guess that it was Ulon thanks to him being stationed in Linston where most of them spent a long period of time in. Hisrge sword and golden hair were quite recognizable and it was quite hard for him to stay anonymous.


    Thanks to the aura that Ulon had released for a short time during the battle, the whole forest was eerily quiet. No monster darede close to the caravan and most were still running far away from the ce of battle.


    The body of the Golden Core bear was strapped to one of the threerge carriages by the people of the caravan and was being transported now.


    Seeing the humongous body that was lying on top of the carriage made the blood of the adventurers and mercenaries boil. They all knew just how dangerous and powerful such an enemy was, and yet Ulon had defeated it without a sweat.


    Two swings of his sword were all it took for him to defeat a fledging monster of the same realm as him, which spoke volumes of his power.


    Even though all Golden Knights that were high-grade or at the peak of the realm could defeat the bear, not all could defeat it with such ease. Some, depending on their fight style, might even struggle a bit, but none would be heavily injured and would be able to defeat the bear with some light injuries that would heal rather quickly.


    Only those that were considered powerful in their own grade would have been able to do what Ulon did, which further cemented Lyle''s belief that the man had reached the peak of the Golden Core realm.


    He knew that Ulon was powerful and had even read a lot of reports about the man and his strength in the past, which allowed him to have a certain estimate of the man''s power from a few months ago.


    ''It seems he was able to reach the peak of the realm in these 7 months since Iodel had been ced as the lord of Linston, that''s some fast progress, faster than most.'' Lyle thought before looking ahead.


    About 3 hours had passed since Ulon had dealt with the bear, and they didn''t need to face any monster so far. It was now that something was suddenly happening.


    Something had shown up in the middle of the road. A couple of torches were visible and there was a blockade in the middle of the road. Old pieces of carriages, shields, and even some dead bodies of monsters could be seen making up the blockade.


    A couple of people were in front of the blockade, and upon noticing the caravan, they suddenly whistled and multiple torches lit up in the forest around the caravan.


    "Good evening to you, fine gentlemen." A man suddenly spoke as he came from behind the blockade.


    "We do all of this to protect the people, and we only charge a meager sum of 1000 gold coins to caravans in order to protect them and keep the blockade up."


    The leader of the so-called protectors, which were clearly bandits that had recentlye to this area, spoke. He smiled at the long-range attackers that were on top of the carriages and was met with a couple of angry res and some Bronze Knights had released their auras as well.


    "My name is Reaper, we have blocked this part of the road in order to stop any monsters froming and attacking caravans."


    "Thanks to that, the casualty rate of the caravans that manage to reach here dropped considerably."


    "We do all of this to protect the people, and we only charge a meager sum of 1000 gold coins to caravans in order to protect them and keep the blockade up."


    The leader of the so-called protectors, which were clearly bandits that had recentlye to this area, spoke. He smiled at the long-range attackers that were on top of the carriages and was met with a couple of angry res and some Bronze Knights had released their auras as well. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Ohh, it seems the gentlemen have been angered by my words?" Reaper asked innocently before releasing his aura as well.


    The power of a low-grade Silver Knight immediately blew away the auras of the Bronze Knights and started pressuring them.


    "Ah, and here I simply wanted to help you, well, you really hurt my emotions with your actions, so I will have to increase the cost to 1 500 gold coins."


    "Bartering is not eptable, soe on, hurry up with the money," Reaper said as he yawned and extended his hand, fully unaware of the stares that everyone was giving him.


    After a few seconds of nothing happening, Reaper grew impatient and stared back at the caravan, only to find three new people at the front.


    "Huh, are you three the leaders?"


    "Listen up, I have been quite patient with you guys, if you continue disrespecting me like this, you will be forcing me to resort to violence, you get me?"


    "Oh don''t worry, there will be no further disrespect of any kind." The elf mage said as she removed her hood and released her aura.


    Suddenly, Reaper found himself pressured by thebined auras of two low-grade Silver Knights and a mid-grade Silver Mage, which quickly prompted his face to go pale and his legs to shake.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 81 Blood and Benefits

    81 Blood and Benefits


    "I''m sorry." A beaten-up Reaper, next to the 20 bandits he had in his group all kneeled down and apologized to the caravan as they shook in fear.


    None of them had expected the caravan in front of them to actually have not just 3 Silver realmbatants, but one mid-grade Silver Mage as well.


    "This system has made it much easier for people like that person to rise in power, I''ve heard that bandits attacks have started bing more often in thest week or so." The sword and shield-wielding Silver Knight said with a heavy expression as he nced at Reaper and the bandits.


    For the first couple of weeks after the system had arrived, the daily lives of most people didn''t really change that much. Normal people would have a hard time learning news from other ces inside the empire, and they simply continued working as normal even after the system had appeared.


    Most were curious about the system, of course, but to gain power meant that they needed to go and fight monsters, which was not something most would ever consider doing.


    For adventurers, mercenaries, soldiers, and bandits, the arrival of the system presented a great opportunity to rapidly increase their own power without having to rely on anyone else. Still, constantly fighting monsters was not easy, and not all people were like Lyle who had tempered himself since a young age and could go around killing monsters for hours.


    When it came to most viges, the people there also continued with their daily life. They all had ess to the system and could hear the robotic voice it spoke with any time they asked a question, but most were still skeptical about it, and even those that knew that everything the system spoke was true didn''t feelfortable going in forests and other dangerous ces in order to fight monsters.


    Even the weakest of monsters would still pose a great challenge to most people, and those that were used to farming all day and staying in viges would not risk their lives so easily. They wished nothing more than to survive and keep living their everyday lives, well, most did.


    There were always those that held ambition, those that strived to go above and beyond what they were meant to do, and those who took it upon themselves to reach those heights.


    Equipped with the system''s help, they went inside the forest and other monster areas and fought.


    Many died, but those that survived came back to their viges and towns as if they were reborn. Inspiring new people to take up arms, they started traveling around and fighting monsters in hopes of reaching the very top of the world.


    The system had onlye to the world a couple of weeks ago and the impact it had was still rtively low. Even those that started using it for their own ambitions had just started and it would take time before they were able to rise to power. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The increase in mana brought forward a lot of opportunities for monsters to evolve, and they were currently more dangerous than ever.


    Those that had reached the Bronze Knight realm and above were affected by the rise of mana. Thanks to mana going out of control, many were hit and lost a bit of power and would need to train or kill monsters in order to get that power back.


    Some unfortunate ones had been right in the middle of an evolution, they were a mere step away from reaching a higher realm when the system came and was heavily affected by it, most of them dying as a result.


    The consequences of the system''s arrival on the were just starting, and people were yet to fullyprehend them. Those that were able to ride the wave of change, in the beginning, will be rewarded if they survived.


    As for those that waited for things to settle so that they don''t take risks, they would find that their actions had either brought them nothing but disappointment or that they were able to gain some small advantage with low risks.


    As for the caravan, after dealing with the bandits and tying them all up, they continued moving through the forest and made their way to Orsvald. Maybe it was because of the presence of the Golden Core monster or perhaps the previous ring of an even more powerful aura that Ulon had released for a split moment, but there were no monsters that attacked them along the way.


    The caravan, although highly alert to their surroundings, was able to pass through the forest without fighting a single time after dealing with the Golden Core bear.


    The body of the killed bear being transported by the caravan could have also been another reason why the caravan was able to make such an easy trip at the very end. Even though it was dead, the aura of the bear was still present on its body, just in a highly diminished state and it would disappear after a couple of hours.


    Monsters would usually run away after sensing the power of such a monster, but there would always be some that could realize that something was wrong and that the aura was not as powerful as it should be.


    Those monsters would be the lucky ones that were able to stumble upon a carcass of a dead Golden Core monster and they would feast and increase their power that way.


    Eating a body of a monster that was a realm above your own was a very good and fast way for monsters to improve and gain more power, and it was something that was almost exclusive to them.


    Humans could eat the meat of more powerful monsters and drink their blood, but they could only eat a little bit, and drinking the blood straight away could lead to them getting poisoned. The meat needed to be cooked well before being eaten, otherwise, the leftover aura and mana inside the meat could injure a person.


    The blood would usually be boiled and then mixed with a variety of herbs and other ingredients in order to lighten the power and make it easy for the body to digest.


    What would end up happening was that people would find their power growing slightly after doing that. Their strength could slightly increase, or their speed, perception¡­


    With the system being avable to everyone, it was very easy for people to keep track of just how powerful they were and what kind of benefits they were getting from doing things like that.


    Lyle had done simr things in the past. Thanks to his job and moderate wealth, he had the privilege of drinking the blood of a higher-ranked monster than him.


    Being a vampire, he didn''t really need to have the blood made into a special concoction as he could simply drink it raw and gain benefits without any drawbacks, which made it much easier for him to afford it.


    Even now, Lyle nced at the body of the deceased bear and the blood that was still flowing out from it. If he could fill up a sk and have enough for him and Adam to drink, they would be able to gain quite some benefits from it.


    Unfortunately, it would be too risky to go and try get blood from the deceased bear right now.


    Even using his ability to control blood would be difficult thanks to all the adventurers and mercenaries that were present. He would first wait until they were all inside the city or near it before trying to get some blood.


    With his ability, he could will the blood toe to him, but because of therge disparity of strength between himself and the bear, controlling the blood was much more difficult than usual, even though the bear was already dead.


    The presence of Ulon was another factor that prevented him from manipting the blood and forcing it toe to him right now. Even though using the blood maniption in such a way cost little mana, he didn''t wish to risk it right now, after all, a Golden Knight was much more sensitive to mana fluctuations than other people.


    Vampires that could control blood were actually rtively rare and not that often seen,those kinds of vampires were always ahead of others and were considered special amongst the vampiric ns.


    Lyle had no idea why he had gained the ability, but he did sense thatpared to other abilities, it was much more suitable for him, who had little mana. Drinking blood actually helped with controlling blood as it would actually make the ability easier to control, the more powerful the monster whose blood he had drank, the easier it would be for a limited time.


    It would also get replenished by itself after some time, and it would also be replenished after eating and drinking, which made it really hard for Lyle to pinpoint exactly how it functioned.


    One thing was certain, however, he needed to get the blood of the bear since the advantages he would gain from drinking the blood would not be low.

 Chapter 82 Orsvald

    82 Orsvald


    The caravan resumed its trip, and in a matter of a short couple of hours, it exited the forest. The adventurers and mercenaries were overjoyed to finally leave the awful forest behind them and arrive back in civilization.


    Some wept silently for their lost friends that had lost their lives during the trip. The casualties for this trip were very low and it could be said that the caravan had done an amazing job making it out with so few dying after being attacked by such powerful enemies, but death was still a death.


    Some bodies were not even recovered as the apes had smashed them to bits with their powerful arms. The lucky few that had died with intact orrgely intact bodies were taken inside one of the carriages that transported the cores and put there for the time being.


    The caravan now slowed down even further. They were out of danger and it was now time for everybody to rx and simply wait until they all reached Orsvald, which would take them about 3 more hours.


    They had been traveling for almost 3 days, 3 more hours was nothing really and everyone enjoyed the scenery as they passed through a couple of smaller forests that only had some wildlife inside without any monsters inhabiting them.


    Of course, since the system had arrived, the mana had transformed some of the animals and they had be more powerful, but any that showed signs of being monster-like were put down by the soldiers from Orsvald.


    The small forests around Orsvald were important as they were used by the vigers to hunt and gather some berries. Some of the healers and alchemists from Orsvald would also frequent the forests and gather herbs that were useful for their potions and healing salves.


    It was of great importance that the forests were safe as the repercussions of them not being safe would be grave. That would mean that the alchemists and healers would have to slow down with the production of potions and healing salves, and the hunters and gatherers of the viges would have to stop or slow down with their hunting and gathering, which could lead to the many viges around the city not having enough food to survive.


    It wasn''t only them that used the forest as hunting grounds either as there were some people from the city that did the same. The forests had high importance to the city of Orsvald which was situated in the middle of an area that was densely popted with smaller forests around which many viges were built.


    The very center where the city was, was pretty even and had no forests, instead of that, fields of golden wheat, barley, and other types of grain were grown.


    It was a spectacr sight for those that hade to visit Orsvald for the first time as the nearly endless fields of wheat and barley left people speechless and in awe of the sight.


    In the very middle of that nearly endless field, a city could be seen rising above the horizon.


    Large towers that were ced every 200 meters of the walls rose high in the air and gave a sense of being able to see everything miles around the city. The 30-meter tall walls of the city shone splendidly in the sun and one would feel incredibly tiny and powerless when standing next to them.


    Lines of people and caravans could be seen entering and exiting the city, each being checked by the soldiers who were doing their job quite seriously, with some taking bribes without being seen and letting some things pass, as long as they were not too dangerous.


    The guards standing guard at the gates were all at the very least Bronze Knights, while a Silver Knight was present as the captain that was responsible for a gate.


    High buildings could be seen in the city, rising higher than the walls that surrounded it, but never higher than the towers that were built on it.


    Only three buildings were higher than the towers.


    The castle of the city lord and a duke of the kingdom, the current head of the Rain family, the father of Harrison, the man Lyle had unintentionally robbed.


    The family had ruled over Orsvald for three decades now and their power was firmly ced in the city. Many wealthy and influential figures stayed inside the city, almost all of them being allies of the Rain family.


    The second building was one that from afar looked like a giant sword that was stabbed into the ground.


    That was one of the three main buildings of the adventurers guild inside the empire. The headquarters were located inside the capital, but Orsvald and another big city had the tworgest branches of the guild in them.


    The guild was not only located close to the castle but it was also guarded by many Golden Knights, while the branch leader was a Titled Knight herself. There were two vice-leaders that were Titled Knights as well, and together, they formed an incredibly powerful force that was enough to deter most from attacking Orsvald, not to mention the army and the power of the duke that was on the same level as the guild itself.


    The third building was the mages guild.


    Mages were peculiar folk and they could be seen in most walks of life.


    The mages guild was rtively smallpared to the other powerful organizations of the empire, but it was in no manner weaker.


    The mages guild was actually more of a research guild. The mages there focused most of their time on researching new spells and arrays, rarely leaving the tower and traveling.


    On average, the mages that were part of the guild were experts when it came to understanding spells, arrays, and formations, but they were usually weaker than their counterparts that battled often as they were not used to that.


    The leader of the guild was an archmage, the only archmage capable of spatial magic in the empire.


    He had great renown and his strength was terrifying, to the point of even Ilya being afraid of him back when he was at his peak. The old archmage luckily had no interest in fighting or helping out the empire without having a good enough reason to do so.


    Had he been present back when Ilya was ambushed by the 10 archmages, there was no doubt that thetter would have truly died, and the archmages might not have suffered any casualties either.


    Other than him, there was one more archmage present in the guild, and the young student of the guild master was on the verge of bing an archmage. If he was to be an archmage in the next 11 months, he would be the youngest archmage the empire had ever produced.


    From what Lyle knew, the man was a good friend of the third prince and they were as close as brothers. Well, when taking into ount just how the rtionship the princes all had with each other was, Sieg was probably closer to Ikram, the archmages student, more than his own brothers.


    The caravan arrived at the gate and they all patiently waited for their turn to enter it. Uponing to the gate, the caravan leader started talking with the soldiers and had probably bribed them as well.


    Lyle took great effort to sense the situation inside the carriage where Ulon was located, only to suddenly find that there was no presence inside the carriage at all. Both Ulon and the other passenger were gone, which should have been impossible since Lyle was able to sense them mere seconds before this.


    The guards inspected the carriages,mented about the giant bear that the caravan was transporting, and they even opened all the carriages to inspect them. Upon inspecting the carriages, the soldiers went on as usual, the one that opened the carriage where Ulon was located showed no signs of being surprised by anything.


    The whole thing was extremely surprising to Lyle until a couple of minutes passed and they entered the city where he was once again able to sense Ulon and the mysterious second person.


    Upon sensing them, he immediately knew that the person that was inside the carriage had to be another mage. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''At least Silver Mage, to cast a spell that not only prevents people from seeing you butpletely erases one''s presence as if they didn''t exist is at the minimum an extremely difficult mid-grade spell.'' Lyle thought before continuing on with the caravan.


    The caravan would stay at a nearby inn, and it was there that the mission that they took would be considered finished and the leader would pay them the previously agreed wages, well, the second half of the wages as they had already been paid the first half upon starting the trip.


    Upon entering the city, however, Lyle could sense that something was off. The atmosphere was a bit weird and it was only when they arrived at an inn that they were able to find out what had happened.


    And with this chapter, the first volume of the book is officially finished.


    Sorry for the dy of this chapter guys, from now on, we will be entering the second volume where I n on making the story more focused on the city of Orsvald and all the crazy things that will be happening inside of it.


    Some of the things will be connected to Lyle, some will not, some will be instigated by him, but no worries, I will make sure that there will be plenty of fights as well.


    TheReign

 Chapter 83 Khiemon

    83 Khiemon


    Lyle looked to the side as all the people from the caravan had gone to find out about what was happening. Even Ulon had gotten out of the carriage together with a slim young man that looked to be no older than 16.


    They had both disguised themselves and had blended in with the others perfectly, even Lyle was having a hard time keeping track of them thanks to their disguises. Both men had managed to get out of the carriage without being seen by anyone else thanks to themotion that had taken ce.


    From what Lyle could see, Ulon seemed to be quite interested in what was happening as well as he was moving closer to the inn where people were talking about the event that had transpired recently. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It was mere minutester that everyone had managed to find out what had happened, including Lyle.


    The current leader of the Khilmen, the man that was considered to be one of the most talented human beings ever, Khiemon had reached a higher realm.


    After years of the world being stuck in the same ce with the five overlords beings the most powerful beings that could dominate any other enemy, it had now finally changed.


    With Khiemon reaching the highest current realm of the world, he had pretty much brought the Khilmen up from being one of the powerful forces of the world to one of the most powerful forces.


    Even though he had only now just reached the realm, and was without a doubt the weakest out of the six, he was still incredibly powerful and none except for the other five could defeat him.


    From what was told, it seemed that Khiemon was actually nning on going through the evolution right before the system had arrived to the.


    Upon sensing the change the world was going through, he had a crazy idea.


    Go through the evolution right now when the mana was rising and the very fabric of reality was changing for the. It was an almost suicidal n that could have very likely killed him, but after weeks of persevering, he was able to evolve and rise to the very top of the world.


    Ulon himself was shocked to the core to hear of Khiemon evolving. He was a being that even before his evolution stood far above the empire, and luckily for them, the empire was on very good terms with the Khilmen, which meant that Khiemon evolving would only be a good thing.


    As for Lyle, even though he was shocked as well, he was currently busy with something else.


    He stood near the body of the dead bear and was currently filling up his third jar with the bear''s blood.


    Nobody was paying any attention to him or the monster, which proved to be a great chance for him to get as much blood as he could.


    He was able to get 5rge jars in the end and had to stop as it was bing more and more dangerous to continue filling the jars up. Less and less people were in awe of the news and it was a matter of time before they would all stop paying attention to them.


    That was just how people are.


    The news received were groundbreaking and something that would change the current power dynamics of the world, but it had nothing to do with their small empire, and would barely have any effects on them, so there was no need for them to worry too much about the whole thing.


    Ulon and the slim man had disappeared some 4 seconds after Lyle had stopped filling up the jars with blood.


    They had left the bear''s body to the caravan leader, who was going to sell it and then give the required amount of money to Ulon. Ulon had previously told the merchant of how much money he wants to get from the bear, anything above that price would be the merchant''s.


    That made the man smile as he knew that it was a chance for him. Ulon had given him a price that was quite close to the market price of the bear, and it would be up to the merchant and his own skills to sell it for more and get profit.


    It was a kind of challenge for the man who was seemingly on quite good terms with Ulon and the rest of the men as even the Silver Knights were quite cordial with him.


    ''A group of Bronze Knights whose leader is a peak Bronze Knight with incredible powers, three Silver realmbatants, of which one was a mid-grade Silver Mage with great spells and a mysterious Silver Mage that has powerful anti-detection spells, are these people the hidden force of Iodel Song, or perhaps Ulon himself?'' Lyle asked himself as he nced at them.


    Him not knowing any of them meant that they were either hidden deeply before, or that they were simply not powerful until a short while ago. He leaned more on the first option as all of them were quite young and very talented to have reached such realms right away.


    Lyle knew a lot about Iodel Song and how the man had hidden himself deeply before reaching the Golden Knight realm.


    The man that was seemingly nothing special and could be grouped in with people that had average talent was never on bad terms with his family, even though all the noble families were brutal thanks to the question of who would get what position and how much power.


    His parents, and the rest of the family had been quite supportive of him throughout his life, which was something that confused everyone before Iodel showed his true powers a while ago.


    He had taken insults for years, he was underestimated and hated by his peers, and he took it all with a smile as he knew just how strong he truly was.


    A man that could do that for so long was not simple, and it was obvious to Lyle and many more that he was one that nned in the long-term, which was definitely the case when it came to the new forces that Lyle had just seen.


    They were nothing special in the great scheme of things as Iodel had many more people under him that were more powerful, but their talent was something else entirely.


    For Ulon to be here, Lyle wondered if this was all a big test for them, for Ulon to see just how they acted in battle and for them to gain more experience when it came to fighting against arge number of monsters.


    Even if he didn''t really care, Lyle was pretty much forced to be on the lookout when it came to the Song family.


    With him getting the family crest of the Song family, he was already involved in whatever Iodel nned.


    Him getting the crest was definitely not something the city lord had done on a whim. Lyle suspected that he knew his true identity, which although was incredibly hard to be found, was possible when taking into consideration the power of the Song family and the authority Iodel possessed in it.


    "Master, should we go?" Adam suddenly asked Lyle as he arrived with their pay. He had taken both of their wages from the merchant that had been leading the caravan and had returned to Lyle.


    "Yeah, let''s take a walk, we will find a nice ce to stay in during our time here." Lyle smiled at Adam before patting him on the back.


    The two went around the inn where the caravan had stayed in before walking through the streets of Orsvald.


    Topare Orsvald to the previous two cities the two had been in was impossible. The sheer size of the city, the wide streets through which carriages and horses moved constantly and the number of different shops it had were all staggeringlyrgerpared to any ce Adam had previously been to.


    The roads were created with stones, and the stones were all about 2 meter in length and width. They were perfectly ced on the ground and there was not even a millimeter of space between them, making it very easy to not only take a carriage through the streets, but to walk on it as well.


    The shops that one could see all had a second or third floor, and there were many restaurants as well that could be seen.


    Lyle and Adam took a seat in a nearby restaurant first.


    It was a rtively low-ss restaurant in the city, but it was still miles above any simr ones in smaller cities.


    Many adventurers and mercenaries could be seen sitting in the restaurant as well, which made the two being present in theirbat gear nothing special. That was the main reason why Lyle had chosen this restaurant for the two of them to sit in.


    As they sat down and ordered, Lyle was observing all the people that were present before biting into his food.


    Ok, small change, this is the realst chapter for Volume 1


    TheReign


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!