I tried not to make it too obvious that I knew someone was watching me, so I continued walking ahead, all the while trying to find the watcher's location.
All I needed was to see it, and I could kill it with Telekinesis.
Or... that was what I thought.
[Ding!]
[You have been marked for death by a Level 15 | Mid-Grade 1 - Lesser Vampire]
[Objective: Survive and escape the Death Forest]
[Reward: +10 Free Stat Points]
[Additional Reward if you are able to kill the Lesser Vampire: Lesser Vampire's Ability Core]
My eyes immediately widened.
Not because a powerful vampire was after me, but because if I were to kill it... I could get its Ability Core.
And if I ate an Ability Core, I'd get a random ability that belonged to the lesser vampire.
My earlier wariness vanished in an instant.
Killing a vampire was simple.
Crush its heart, and it would die.
As it so happened, Telekinesis could do just that.
There was just one teeny-tiny problem.
When you crush a vampire's heart, they go berserk for a minute, becoming unkillable.
Only after that minute do they really die.
I came up with a quick plan and then pretended to trip, falling to the ground.
My senses were telling me the vampire was closer, but still not enough.
Standing up, I continued to walk toward the center of the Dark Forest.
Along the way, I stomped down onto the heads of nearby crawlers. As much as it disgusted me, I wanted to annoy the vampire further.
Eventually, I stumbled upon a forest clearing.
There were no trees for a good couple hundred meters.
That also meant the vampire couldn't hide in one of them.
When I reached the center of the clearing, my feet came to a halt.
I calmly sat down and observed the bright moon above.
Just then, footsteps resounded from behind me, urging me to turn my head.
And I did, spotting a pale humanoid figure with sharp teeth and crazed, glowing red eyes.
It was the lesser vampire.
Although it looked like the vampire would lunge at me any moment now, I was a little curious.
"Dropped the stealth, huh?" I mused. "You know, it never let me communicate with you lesser vampires back then, only the normal ones. Can you talk, or are you just, well, crazy?"
Sadly, I didn't get an answer to my question.
Swoosh
The vampire moved like the wind, arriving in front of my face in nearly a heartbeat.
However, I was fully prepared.
With a single burst of Telekinesis, I stopped the vampire in its tracks.
Though, I didn't anticipate that controlling a stronger opponent would drain so much of my energy, so I had to make it quick.
I poured all my focus into a crushing attack, but I quickly realized I didn't have enough energy to straight-up crush its heart.
After all, the energy we all used to activate our gifts resided in the heart. Since that thing had more energy than me, I couldn't straight-up crush its heart, even with the extra Vitality I had.
But that was also something I had anticipated, which was why I also aimed my Telekinesis at the lesser vampire's ribs.
I ripped out a few ribs and sent them like knives through the lesser vampire's heart.
And as one would expect...
"AAAAAAAAH!" The lesser vampire screamed in pain, easily breaking out of my Telekinesis control.
The scream, however, was like the final howl of a dying predator. It sent me tumbling backward several feet, and right as I rose to my feet, a fist came flying at my face.
I used Telekinesis to push myself backward, narrowly dodging the attack.
Yet the lesser vampire's attacks were far from over.
It continued to send a barrage of kicks and punches.
I managed to dodge a few, but the vampire was much faster than me.
A shot in the ribs, the abdomen, even the face.
The pain was unbearable, and there was still half a minute left.
The limit of my Telekinesis was also approaching, leaving me no choice but to use the remainder of my energy to crush the vampire's knees.
Crack
Its knees shattered, but somehow it still kicked off the ground, its mouth opening wide as it chomped down on my shoulder.
My eyes widened, feeling as though all my strength was being zapped away.
But before that could happen, I once again sent a burst of Telekinesis at the lesser vampire. This time, I broke its jaw, freeing myself.
The vampire was relentless, scratching, punching, and gnawing at me.
As horrified as I was, I elbowed its head several times, pushing it away from me just so I could breathe.
When I spotted that its knees were starting to heal, I dashed into the forest.
It was even darker than before, and I couldn't see a thing. Still, I followed the noise of the crawlers, hoping to last for a couple more seconds.
But to my dismay, I was suddenly pushed down, slamming my head into the ground.
I heard growling, and then, someone tightly grabbed my shoulders.
Even when I exerted all my strength, I wasn't able to make the vampire budge.
Panic began to set in as I realized that I might actually die.
The growling grew closer until it was right at my neck. I felt a drop of blood land on my skin, and then, I heard the creaking of the vampire's mouth opening, about to bite into my neck and kill me.
After just a few seconds, that was exactly what it did.
However, as its teeth wrapped around my neck, I used Telekinesis.
Instead of pushing it away or breaking its jaw... I used it like a barrier.
No matter how much the vampire tried to bite my neck off, it wasn't successful.
Instead, it turned to trying to bite me elsewhere. However, every time it bit down, I protected that place with Telekinesis.
After a while, the vampire realized it couldn't bite me, so it turned to trying to rip my body apart.
However, I realized it was growing weaker, and knowing that, I sent another blast of Telekinesis.
The vampire flew up a few meters, and then, I stopped it in midair.
Blood dripped down my nose as I was well beyond my limit, but even so, I squeezed every last bit of energy I could.
The vampire's body twisted at odd angles, including its neck. Then, it began folding once, twice, and after the third time, I tumbled down to my knees.
Blood was gushing from my nose like a waterfall. I was even bleeding from my eyes and ears.
With a shaky gaze, I glanced up at the vampire, and to my horror, it was slowly walking toward me with all its limbs twisted and body distorted.
I was out of energy, and moving wasn't an option either.
All I could do was stare in frustration.
I did everything I could, yet it wasn't enough...
But right as it arrived by my feet, the vampire stopped moving, finally dropping to the ground.
"...Shit."
It was dead.
It took me a while, but I killed it.
I leaned against the tree, heaving shallow yet relieved breaths.
Considering the last time I fought was in high school, I'd say I did pretty well.
After all, beating a vampire nearly twice my level was kind of badass.
Though, the adrenaline was running out, and the pain was starting to catch up to me.
When I glanced down, amidst my body covered in mud, I saw chunks of my flesh ripped out, lying on the ground.
At that moment, I realized I might not make it out alive.
Silence descended over the Dark Forest, but it was quickly broken by a bell chime.
[Ding!][You have completed the objective!]
[Rewards: +10 Free Stat Points, Lesser Vampire's Ability Core]
I was immediately filled with hope, and so without an ounce of hesitation, I invested all 10 of those free points into the Vitality stat.
My body felt lighter, and while I was starting to slowly heal, my injuries were too severe.
But there was one last resort.
A small red marble rested in my palm.
[Lesser Vampire's Ability Core]
[Description: Consume to obtain a random ability that belonged to the Lesser Vampire.]
As my consciousness began to fade, I tossed the red marble straight into my mouth.