Damon took out simpler skill books to learn from next. [Night's Grace], [Blood Whip], [Blood Spike], [Blood Sword], [Blood Bind], and a few other skill books lay piled up near him as he started learning them one after the other.

Even though he did not really need to learn some of these skills, he hoped it would still give him some insights into blood manipulation and decided to learn them anyway.

Damon's crimson eyes flashed as information flooded his brain continuously. [Night's Grace] went in first. It was mostly a passive thing, sharpening his reflexes and speed, and agility a little more at night. Then came the attack skills.

While Damon was fully immersed in learning the various skills, the carriage driver's eyes darted to Damon's figure every now and then. Especially the sight of so many skill books made his eyes widen slightly. The vampire then exchanged a quick glance with the guard.

The guard didn't take his eyes off Damon either. Both of them had plenty of experience, and this was not the first time they had come across a commoner who had run into a stroke of luck. A mere blood acolyte daring to possess such wealth?

A couple of minutes passed, and the guard finally gave the go signal. If the damned bastard consumed all the skill books in his possession, then their profits would be reduced.

The carriage driver returned the nod and then continued leading the horses. A couple more minutes passed by when, suddenly, loud howls resounded near them.

A pack of bloodhounds burst out, eyes glowing amber. They were all around level 50, and their numbers were also extremely impressive. There were about a couple dozen of them. Bloodhounds always travelled in huge packs, which made them extra dangerous.

The driver's face instantly went white. He didn't think twice. He threw down the reins and ran for the trees, shouting as he went. The guard leapt to his feet and grabbed his polearm, planting himself between the animals and the carriage.

He parried and blocked the hounds, keeping a few of them engaged. While he was not outright overwhelmed by the beasts, he also couldn't exactly defeat them fast enough. Most of the beasts ran around him and headed straight for Damon and the elven girl.

Damon still looked like he was completely engrossed in the skill books. The elven girl, on the other hand, was fast asleep. The girl was clearly sleeping after many sleepless nights, so she was sleeping like a log, not even hearing the loud howls of the hounds.

The guard sneered, and the carriage driver who was observing the scene from a distance grinned. This was going to be the easiest haul they had ever had. The duo could almost taste the savory meat and the rich blood wine they were going to celebrate this win with when Damon finally flashed his eyes open.

The next second, blood spheres appeared all around them. There were exactly 35 blood spheres, one for each hound, and then two more for the carriage driver and the guard.

Damon smiled viciously as he watched the scene in amusement. It had been a long time since someone had tried robbing him. He tilted his head and the next moment the spheres started shooting blood swords towards the hounds and the two vampires.

A dozen hounds fell at once, howling and thrashing as the blood swords slashed at them multiple times. Blood essence from their dying bodies freely flowed into Damon.

The two vampires gawked in horror at the scene unfolding. They had never seen anyone commanding blood like this.

A simple acolyte couldn't possibly possess a power like this. This was a blood expert. No, maybe not even a blood expert. Only a blood master or a general could possibly do something like this!

Both the vampires trembled in fear as they realized how badly they had fucked up. "My lord! Please forgive me! I have a family to support!" The carriage driver straight up collapsed on the ground and started wailing loudly.

The guard, on the other hand, tried to block the blood swords, gritting his teeth. It looked like he still hoped that his cover was not blown. "Don't forgive that wretch! Kill him my Lord!" He shouted. "He tried to have us both ambushed and steal from us!"

The carriage driver became shocked. "Ramias! You liar! You demonic swine! He is lying my Lord! The both of us were in on this together." Their accusations crashed over each other until they sounded ridiculous and helpless.

Damon watched them for a second with a smile. He then lazily waved his hand, ending the both of them with a mere thought. "Sorry about that. Usually I am not this petty but I do need something from the two of you." He chuckled.

The next moment his shadow wavered and a clone appeared, walking towards the two corpses. The clone swiftly picked up all the belongings and returned to Damon. It then went back to pick up all the drops from the dead hounds. Most of them had demonic cores. There were also some hides and teeth that had dropped.

Damon was more interested in the personal belongings of the duo. He rummaged through them until he found a crimson crystal in the carriage driver's spatial pouch. The guard did not have any but at least the carriage driver did not disappoint.

Damon bound the crimson crystal and immediately a map flashed in front of him. It was the current map of the crimson mountains, given out by the scouting network. With this, he easily had the path to wherever he was headed.

"There we go. Now we can be on our own without any drama." He tossed the crystal back into his ring and then jumped out of the carriage. The elven girl was still sleeping, completely oblivious to everything.

Damon shook his head helplessly and picked her up. He then dashed forward on the narrow winding path at top speed with a smile on his face. However, in just a couple of seconds, the smile on his face froze, along with his body.

Damon was unable to take a single step forward, no matter how much he tried.

***

Golden ticket bonus chapter!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.