It took us nearly two days to travel to the Alvaras Territory, but once we arrived, we were definitely not disappointed.
The city of Alvaras was between mountains, and its coast was right by the ocean.
They also had hundreds of ships in their harbor.
It would be a dream to live here.
Still, as I admired the scenery alongside Clementine, I decided it was about time to check my status screen again.
•—Amon Everness—•
Level 293 → 300 [Low-Grade 29 → Low-Grade 30]
▷Stats
[Strength 290]
[Stamina 305]
[Speed 290]
[Perception 270 → 295]
[Vitality 310 → 320]
▷Inherent Gift
★Telekinesis [Advanced] (Lv.56 → Lv.61)
★Lightning Manipulation [Advanced] (Lv.62 → Lv.66)
▷Special Abilities
★Blood-Sight (Lv.65 → Lv.68)
★Demonic Energy Resistance (Lv.50 → Lv.51)
★Lightning Resistance (Lv.89)
▷General Abilities
☆Sprint (Lv.66 → Lv.70)
☆Pain Tolerance (Lv.71)
☆First Aid (Lv.89 → Lv.90)
☆Mental Resistance (Lv. MAX)
▷Core Traits
◆The Demon King of Wrath's Blood [Beginner] (Lv.4 → Lv.6)
◆Dragon Heart [Intermediate] (Lv.3 → Lv.7)
•——•
I was finally Grade 30.
Not only that, it looked like Dragon Heart was starting to level up quicker again.
Though it could also be because I used the Draconic Tongue in the fight against the Earl-ranked demon.
Either way, any progress was good progress.
"The mission said there could be a Vampire Noble here, right? Is it strong?"
Hmm...
"It depends on the Grade of the Vampire Noble, but they usually start out at Grade 30, and their rank only increases after they reach Grade 60."
After which, they would be considered Vampire Royalty.
Though that vampire was definitely nowhere near that.
"My best guess is that this Vampire Noble is pretty new, since these types of rituals are frowned upon if you're a higher Grade Vampire Noble."
Clementine nodded repeatedly.
"Should we start scouting out the churches, then?"
Yep.
I nodded at her, and we immediately descended into the city.
There were no guards stationed by the gates, so the security was definitely lax.
No surprise that a vampire managed to sneak in.
As we walked through the lively streets, I couldn't help but notice that nearly every single stall was selling seafood.
It looked delicious.
So I got a few grilled octopuses for both Clementine and me, and as expected, they were absolutely delicious.
But as I was in the middle of enjoying another skewer, I suddenly spotted something strange.
With my Blood Sight Special Ability at a high level, I could see and identify the blood of others.
And... a few people in the crowd had blood that was different from everyone else's that I had seen.
It was lighter in shade, it flowed faster, and more importantly, I could feel a very faint amount of energy coming from their blood.
These things were vampires.
But...
Why were there so many of them?
5... 11... 26.
Just in my sight alone, there were 26 vampires.
They were all around Grade 10, and while they were weak to me, they could easily wipe out this entire city if they banded together.
"..."
"Evangeline?"
She turned to me, still eating her octopus skewer.
But she immediately realized something was wrong because of my serious expression.
Instead of saying anything, I gestured with my chin toward the vampires.
She tracked where I pointed, and then narrowed her eyes.
"Their souls are very dark."
"Mm... They are, aren't they?"
I grabbed her by the hand and took her to an alleyway.
When no one was around, I said:
"They have very good hearing, so try not to mention them when we're close."
Clementine's eyes widened.
"My bad. I didn't know."
"It's fine. On another note, this is really bad. There are way too many vampires in one place."
She put a hand over her chin in thought.
"What if there was some way to gather them all in one place? If we wipe them all out, then there won't be any more problems, right?"
Wow...
"How optimistic of you to think you could lure that many vampires into one spot."
Despite my teasing, Clementine didn't back down.
"I mean, think about it. Your blood can heal everyone, so that means it's special. Vampires like blood, and if that blood is special, don't you think they'd flock to it?"
I raised a brow.
Honestly...?
I kind of overlooked using my own blood.
But it wasn't a bad idea.
Luring them out of the city and then killing them all at once was a good idea.
"That would only work if the Vampire Noble is killed. Right now, all the other vampires are following its orders."
Clementine hummed.
"That's fine. Let's start looking for this thing right away."
Soon enough, she innocently waddled out of the alleyway and began walking toward a nearby church.
I groaned at her eagerness and followed along.
It was already dark out.
Though our scouting revealed a lot.
Every single church had a bunch of vampires.
We just couldn't pinpoint where the Vampire Noble was.
So as we rested beside each other in bed, we thought we'd continue our search tomorrow.
But that was when both of us shot up to our feet in alertness.
A sharp burst of killing intent came from somewhere in the city.
I couldn't pinpoint it, but Clementine, on the other hand...
"Follow me."
Ignoring the door or the literal open window to our left, she blasted through the only closed window, shattering it.
"Ugh... Clementine..."
I dashed after her.
We crossed the city in an instant.
And inside an alleyway, we saw quite the sight.
There was one man laying in a pool of his own blood, his heart missing.
As for the vampire responsible, it had stuffed the still-beating heart inside its mouth.
A look of ecstasy appeared on its face, and it slowly made its way out of the alleyway.
Clementine lowered her posture, but just as she was about to kick off and kill the vampire, I stopped her.
She looked at me as if asking what I was doing.
But the man was already dead.
His heart had been eaten.
And if she were to kill this vampire here, the Vampire Noble would be alerted.
Sure, she could possibly wipe out the vampire's soul without killing it, but what if the Vampire Noble personally checked in with the vampires that kill people?
So as much as I wanted to do something myself, I held back, and instead, alongside Clementine, we began trailing the vampire.