Bloodline

Soren saw a woman. Or rather, a provocatively dressed, bewitchingly beautiful woman with pale golden hair and unnaturally pale exposed skin. She leaned against a large tree while a young man pressed against her chest, lowering his head to kiss and knead her. Most of her fair breasts were exposed, and faint blue veins could even be seen beneath the cold moonlight. Soren's eyesight was excellent; he could clearly see the young man holding a crimson grape between his lips, licking and lightly biting it, while his other hand roughly ravaged her full, lush flesh.

Soren's footsteps were very light.

Yet the bewitching woman still noticed him easily. She raised her head, revealing dark green eyes, then extended her tongue to lick her crimson lips. With amusement in her voice, she said, "Looks like I'm very lucky tonight."

The young man enjoying himself against her chest remained completely unaware, as though the fullness before him had captured all his attention.

Soren stopped.

He watched the bewitching woman from afar. She made no move, so he remained still for the moment as well.

This was a Bloodline.

A type of servant cultivated by Vampires, far stronger than low-ranking Blood Slaves.

Although many tales romanticized Vampires, Adventurers still regarded them as dangerous and Evil creatures. A true Vampire had a Challenge Rating of 8 and an individual level of 16. They were a branch of the silver species and possessed powerful Spell-like Abilities. Bloodlines had a Challenge Rating of 6 and an individual level of 12, possessing a portion of a Vampire's abilities. Vampires were master creatures that manipulated Negative Energy!

Their reproduction followed a strict hierarchy. Many creatures mistaken for Vampires in the outside world were actually lower-tier Bloodlines. Such creatures, which had not inherited True Blood, required a long time to reach the standard of true Vampires. Vampire fangs contained a deadly toxin. Although they secretly manipulated many writers into glorifying the depraved, dark ecstasy of being drained of blood, it did not change the fate of victims gradually being eroded by the toxin and turned into Blood Slaves.

This toxin transformed humans into Semi-Undead Creatures. Their sanity gradually vanished until they completely became monsters bred to provide blood.

They were dangerous and deadly!

Soren had fought Vampires more than once. Within the Dark Realm, Vampires were among the most active creatures.

Their presence could be found in practically every city.

High-ranking Vampires disguised themselves as human nobles, while low-ranking Vampires hid in Basements, sewers, and the Cemetery District.

They were like predators lurking in the darkness!

A brief, deathly silence fell.

The young man at the bewitching woman's chest seemed utterly consumed by lust. He did not notice that the atmosphere nearby had grown heavy and oppressive. He had been struck by the Spell Charm Person; his mind had long since been burned clean by desire! Mind-affecting Spells required a weakness in one's will. Vampires excelled at using their appearance to confuse prey, using seduction to stir their desire and weaken their will, then casting Charm Spells in an instant to seize control of their minds! Will was a form of power.

A powerful will could even interfere with and affect the Elemental Energy of nature.

Soren paid no attention to that pitiful prey. What he calculated was his chance of defeating the Bloodline. Her Dexterity was very likely higher than his, her strength far exceeded that of ordinary humans, and she possessed incredibly sharp Dodge instincts. In terms of strength, she was no weaker than the Abyssal Marilith from before. Factoring in his leg injury, Soren ultimately concluded that he had no chance of winning.

Then!

There was only one way.

Soren bent slightly, clenched his left hand into a fist, crossed his index and middle fingers over his collarbone, and slowly said, "Shadows shroud the world!"...

"The masked emissaries of darkness watch over us!"

"Glory."

"To the formless sovereign!"

The bewitching woman's teasing smile gradually faded. Her brows drew together slightly as she studied Soren closely, then said in a low voice, "The night rules our Destiny!"

"The Progenitor's will guides our path."

"Lady of Night."

"Bless her faithful!"

It worked!

A trace of relief at having escaped death surfaced in Soren's heart, but his expression did not change in the slightest.

He nodded gently and stepped back, making it clear that he bore no hostility. Then he bowed and said, "Honored lady."

"May the night always favor you. Please enjoy your dinner in peace."

"No one will disturb you!"

With that said,

He turned and left in another direction. The bewitching woman watched his retreating figure the entire time. There seemed to be a trace of hesitation in her expression, but in the end, she abandoned whatever plan she had in mind and turned her gaze to the young man wantonly ravaging her chest. She parted her lips, revealing sharp fangs. Greed and hunger filled her expression as she sank them deep into her prey's artery. Blood gushed into her mouth in great streams. A look of satisfied intoxication appeared on her face. The young man in her arms remained completely unaware, immersed only in pleasure, utterly ignorant that death had arrived.

A hungry Bloodline.

Prey rarely survived until the next dawn in their hands.

From beginning to end,

Soren had not looked at the pitiful young man even once. Only after leaving Potter's Field did he finally let out a long breath as though collapsing from exhaustion.

What he had just said was the code of the Shadow Mask, a powerful organization that controlled the Grey Domain. The Dark Realm and Grey Domain overlapped more than anywhere else, and Rogues dealt with Dark Creatures quite often.

If she had not responded, battle would have been unavoidable!

But if she responded to his words, it meant she knew of the Shadow Mask, making it very likely that this battle could be avoided.

What Soren had said was actually a string of code. The first part, including the gesture and words, meant that he was a member of the Shadow Mask. The latter part meant that he believed in the Lord of Shadows. Only core members knew that the Lord of Shadows had no physical form. Likewise, it was because the Bloodline understood the meaning that she hesitated before attacking and ultimately allowed Soren to leave.

From her response, Soren learned that she was a Bloodline cultivated by a high-ranking Vampire with the blood of the Progenitor, and that she was also a follower of the Lady of Night. The Lord of Shadows was an ally of the Lady of Night, and the two deities had a fairly good relationship. Therefore, conflict rarely arose between their followers. Coupled with her wariness of the Shadow Mask, it was enough to make her abandon this additional hunt.

More importantly!

Soren had made his attitude clear: he would let her enjoy her dinner in peace and had no intention of meddling.

That step backward showed that he had no hostility and did not want a fight. The hidden meaning was equally obvious: since she had already found her dinner, was she really planning to risk offending the Shadow Mask in order to hunt a follower of the Lord of Shadows?

Of course!

Soren was not a member of the Shadow Mask, much less a follower of the Lord of Shadows.

He had been lying.

But this should have been the best solution.

Fighting was not the only way to solve problems. If Soren were some idiot who only knew how to fight, he would never have lived long enough to reach the Legendary Domain.

In this world where "Avatars were everywhere and Liches were as common as dogs,"

There were countless beings stronger than himself. He might even encounter deities!

Defeating the strong while weak.

Sometimes it was a last resort, such as when facing those Chaotic Evil Demons. Those creatures possessed an innate madness that made Diplomacy nearly impossible. So when circumstances allowed it, one often had to learn how to avoid battle.

At the very least, avoid battles with absolutely no chance of victory!

Only after making sure he was safe did Soren truly relax. At the same time, he noticed that something seemed to have appeared on his status page.

The first message seemed to have appeared when he left the treasure cave. At the time, the strange voice had put him on alert, so he had not seen the notification.

Above it appeared:

"Exploration successful!"
"After a difficult underground adventure, your skills have improved somewhat!"
"Stealth +1, Traps +1."

This was the first row of text.

Then, after he escaped from the Bloodline and avoided a battle he had no chance of winning, another message appeared.

It displayed:

"Diplomacy successful!"
"You successfully deceived a powerful Bloodline! You avoided a battle!"
"Diplomacy +1, Deception +3, Performance +1."

A row of information appeared.

Then Soren discovered that, aside from his original Rogue class skills, several other skills had appeared on his status page.

"Basic Skills—Stealth 103, Theft 35, Lockpicking 45, Traps 55, Diplomacy 1, Deception 3, Performance 1."

That worked too?

A trace of astonishment appeared on Soren's face.