It felt like I hit a jackpot, but for some reason, the objective from before wasn't appearing.
Just in case, I waited for a couple of minutes, but I knew that if I waited too long, the vampires would catch onto me.
So I just sucked it up and decided to make my move.
The range of my Telekinesis was around 50 meters. I could go beyond that, but my control wouldn't be as good.
But thankfully, the vampires weren't that far away, so I could reach them.
Since I could see their blood, it was much easier to visualize my Telekinesis, and so I did it.
With a quick burst of energy, I crushed the vampires' ribs and sent those pieces straight into their hearts.
It drained a lot of my energy in one go.
But as the howls of the vampires resounded in my ears, I knew what I did worked.
"AAAAAAAAH!"
The vampires fell to their knees, scratching the ground. Their eyes turned even redder, and their blood glowed brighter.
For a moment, there was nothing but silence.
Just then, the vampires slowly raised their heads, glancing at each other.
I took that as my cue to move back further, and thankfully I did, because in the next moment, I heard screeches and yelling.
Glancing back, I saw blood and guts flying through the air.
And yep.
I walked even further away.
It took a little while, but the noise eventually died down. Just in case I somehow missed earlier, I waited an extra five minutes before making my way back toward the vampires.
Despite my caution, I saw three lesser vampire corpses scattered beside the altar.
I approached the corpses with a disgusted look on my face.
After making sure they were all dead, I went into my dimensional ring, emptied a few bottles, and then filled them all up with vampire blood.
When I was done, I was left with 28 healing potions. Since the blood came from a lesser vampire, they weren't super great, but they were fine for minor injuries.
Exhaling an exhausted breath, I looked around.
This forest was a pain to get around even in the game. In reality, it was worse.
But using his gift was fun and addictive.
And to think I wasn't even at the starting line... The academy really was going to eat me up.
I put those thoughts aside and approached the orb, then placed my hand on it.
My vision faded, and a soothing sensation spread throughout my body. It felt like I was going through a water slide, and right as the sensation faded, my vision returned.
That, coupled with the cold breeze of wind, told me that I was finally out of that damn forest.
In front of me were the plains that stretched on for several miles.
There were 32 exit points from the Dark Forest. I just so happened to get the one that brought me closest to where I needed to be.
The distance was still a problem. The closest town where I could order a carriage was at least a 12 hour walk away.
Putting a hand over my chin, I pondered over my choices, and eventually, I came up with a stupid idea.
What if I tried to fly over there?
I was pretty decent at controlling my Telekinesis, and while I wouldn't fly too high off the ground, I felt like it was worth a try.
And so, like the stupid idea that it was, I went ahead and tried it out.
My feet rose from the ground.
When I was a meter off the ground, I started to struggle with balance, so I didn't go any higher than that.
The energy consumption seemed on the low end too. I could probably fly... float, for an hour before needing to cool down.
I started off by slowly propelling myself forward. At first, it was floating at a walking pace, but after a few minutes of practice, I floated slightly faster than I could run.
As much as I wanted to speed up like a madman or fly above the clouds, I didn't want to splatter against a tree or something, so I took it slow and steady.
By the time I saw the outline of a town, the golden rays of the sun shone directly onto me.
It was now morning.
The last few hours were exhausting, and I realized that if I pushed my limits, both my Stamina and Vitality could increase.
And after doing that over and over again, I saw some decent progress.
•—Amon Everness—•
Level 12 → 14 [Low → Mid-Grade 1]
▷Stats
[Strength 3]
[Stamina 5 → 9]
[Speed 6 → 8]
[Perception 21]
[Vitality 25 → 27]
▷Inherent Gift
★Telekinesis [Beginner] (Lv.10 → Lv.24)
▷Special Abilities
★Blood-Sight (Lv.1 → Lv.3)
▷General Abilities
☆Sprint (Lv.8 → Lv.9)
☆Pain Tolerance (Lv.14 → Lv.15)
☆First Aid (Lv.12)
•——•
The level of my Telekinesis nearly tripled. Repetition really was the key to increasing such stuff, and the more I pushed my limits, the faster it increased.
Though, since my Gift was still at the Beginner stage, it wasn't really all that special. When it increases to the Intermediate stage, it would become a lot harder to increase.
Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I calmly approached the town.
It wasn't as advanced as the city of Aldraazan, but it was nice nonetheless. The architecture was the same too.
The merchants were gathered in their stalls, and there were even a couple of inventors showing off.
"Buy this alarm clock! If you don't turn it off within 10 seconds, it will explode!"
Eh...
Maybe they weren't really bright inventors.
I spotted a horse stable in the distance, and right as I began to walk toward it, someone bumped into me.
"Ouch..." a weak voice came from below.
When I looked down, I spotted a malnourished child rubbing his head while looking up at me with tears in his eyes.
"Are you alright?" I extended my hand.
The child, however, didn't accept. Instead, he stood up and suddenly ran away. Making a turn, he ran into the alleyway.
"...?"
My ring was still there.
All the ornaments on my clothes were too.
Is this what they call avoiding a cliche?
No way...
I shook my head at that stupid thought and continued walking toward the stables.
But for some reason, I felt like something about that kid was off.
Malnourishment wasn't a dead giveaway, since that's how it was with most orphans in this era. From his slightly darker blood, I could also tell he was sick.
The child's hair was long, but I was sure that I saw a red mark around its neck, and if that was the case...
I might've just stumbled onto a runaway slave.. or a scam.
Sighing, I scratched the back of my head.
I should probably aim for at least one good deed a month, so why not start by getting rid of the traffickers?