Bloodline Servant

Soren saw a woman.

Or rather, a woman dressed in revealing clothing with a bewitching appearance. She had long, pale golden hair, and her exposed skin was unnaturally pale. She was leaning against a large tree, while a young man in front of her chest was bowing his head, kissing and kneading her. Most of her fair breasts were exposed, and under the cold moonlight, one could even see faint blue veins. Soren's eyesight was sharp; he could even see the young man holding a crimson grape in his mouth, licking and nibbling at it, while his other hand ruthlessly ravaged the plump, supple flesh.

Soren's footsteps were very light.

But the bewitching woman still discovered him easily. She raised her head, revealing deep green eyes, and extended her tongue to lightly lick her crimson lips, saying playfully, "It seems I have good luck today."

The young man enjoying himself at her chest remained completely oblivious, as if the plump, ample bosom before him had captured his entire attention.

Soren stopped in his tracks.

He watched the bewitching woman from a distance. The other party made no move, so he did not act for the time being either.

This was a Bloodline Servant.

A type of servant cultivated by vampires, far stronger than low-level Blood Thralls.

Although many anecdotes and stories romanticized vampires, in the eyes of adventurers, they remained dangerous and evil creatures. A true vampire had a challenge rating of 8 and a personal level of 16, belonging to the Silver Species, possessing powerful spell-like abilities. A Bloodline Servant had a challenge rating of 6 and a personal level of 12, possessing a portion of vampire abilities.

Vampires were master creatures of negative energy manipulation!

Their reproduction followed a strict hierarchy. Many creatures in the outside world believed to be vampires were actually the lower-tier Bloodline Servants. These creatures, lacking the inheritance of true blood, required a long time to reach the standards of a true vampire. A vampire's fangs contained a lethal toxin. Although they secretly manipulated many writers to romanticize the pleasure of falling into darkness when bitten, it could not change the fact that victims would gradually be eroded by the toxin and turn into Blood Thralls.

This toxin would turn humans into semi-undead creatures; their consciousness would gradually vanish, and they would eventually become nothing more than monsters used for blood supply.

They were dangerous and lethal!

Soren had fought vampires more than once; in the Dark Domain, vampires were among the most active creatures.

Basically, every city had their presence.

High-level vampires would disguise themselves as human nobles, while low-level vampires hid in basements, sewers, and graveyards.

They were like predators in the dark!

A brief, dead silence.

The young man in front of the bewitching woman seemed to be shrouded in lust, completely unaware that the atmosphere nearby had become somewhat oppressive and heavy. He had been struck by the Charm Person spell; his consciousness had long since been burned away by the fires of desire! Mental spells required a flaw in one's willpower. Vampires were best at using their appearance to bewitch prey, using provocation to stir up their desires, and ultimately lowering the target's willpower to instantly cast charm-type spells to complete their control over the mind!

Willpower was a form of power.

A strong will could even interfere with and influence the elemental energies of the natural world.

Soren paid no heed to the poor prey. In his mind, he was calculating his odds of winning against the Bloodline Servant. The opponent's Dexterity was highly likely to be higher than his own, her strength far exceeded that of an ordinary person, and she possessed an extraordinary instinct for evasion. In terms of strength, she was not a bit weaker than the Marilith from before. If he factored in the injury to his leg, the final result Soren arrived at was that he had absolutely no chance of winning.

Then!

There was only one way.

Soren leaned forward slightly, clenched his left hand into a fist, and crossed his index and middle fingers over his collarbone, slowly reciting: "Shadows shroud the world!"

"The masked messenger in the darkness watches over us!"

"Glory."

"Belongs to the formless master!"

The bewitching woman's playful smile gradually faded. Her brows furrowed slightly as she scrutinized Soren, then she said in a low voice: "The Lord of Night dictates our fate!"

"The will of the Progenitor guides our path."

"The Lady of Night."

"Protects her followers!"

It worked!

A flicker of relief at having survived a brush with death surfaced in Soren's heart, though his expression remained completely unchanged.

He nodded slightly and took a step back to show he had no hostile intent, then bowed and said, "Respected lady."

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

"No one will disturb you!"

With that, he turned and walked away in the opposite direction. The bewitching woman watched his retreating figure, her expression flickering with hesitation, but in the end, she abandoned her original intent and turned her gaze back to the young man she was wantonly ravaging. She parted her lips, revealing sharp fangs, and with a look of greed and longing, she sank them deep into her prey's artery. As blood surged into her mouth in great gulps, a look of satisfied intoxication appeared on her face. The young man in her arms remained oblivious, lost in pleasure, completely unaware that death had arrived.

A hungry Bloodline Servant.

Prey rarely survived until the next dawn in their hands.

From start to finish, Soren did not glance at the poor man even once. It was only after he had left the Mass Grave that he let out a long, exhausted breath.

What he had just spoken were the code words of the Shadow Mask, a powerful organization that controlled the gray realms. The dark and gray realms intersected frequently, and Rogues dealt with dark creatures more often than one might think.

If the other party had not responded, a battle would have been inevitable!

But if they did respond, it meant she knew of the existence of the Shadow Mask, making it highly likely that the fight could be avoided.

The words Soren spoke were actually a coded sequence. The first part, including the gestures and language, identified him as a member of the Shadow Mask organization; the second part indicated his faith in the Lord of Shadows. Only core members knew that the Lord of Shadows was formless. The Bloodline Servant had understood the meaning behind his words, which was why she hesitated before acting and ultimately chose to let Soren leave.

From her response, Soren knew she was a Bloodline Servant raised by a high-ranking Vampire with the blood of the Progenitor, and also a follower of the Lady of Night. The Lord of Shadows was an ally of the Lady of Night, and the relationship between the two deities was quite good, so their followers rarely clashed. Combined with her wariness of the Shadow Mask, it was enough to make her abandon this extra hunt.

More importantly!

Soren made his stance clear, signaling for her to enjoy her dinner in peace, showing absolutely no intention of meddling.

Stepping back to show he had no hostility and even less desire for a fight, the underlying message was also clear: since you have already found your dinner, do you really intend to risk offending the Shadow Mask just to hunt down a follower of the Lord of Shadows?

Of course!

Soren was not a member of the Shadow Mask, nor was he a follower of the Lord of Shadows.

He was actually bluffing.

But this was likely the best approach.

Combat is not the only way to solve a problem. If he were the type of idiot who only knew how to fight, Soren would never have survived to reach the legendary realm.

In this world where "saints walk the earth and liches are as common as stray dogs," there are countless beings stronger than oneself, and the possibility of encountering a god is quite high!

Winning against a stronger opponent.

Sometimes, it is a desperate measure. For instance, when encountering those chaotic evil demons—creatures that come with an inherent attribute of madness—negotiation is nearly impossible. Therefore, whenever conditions allow, you must learn how to avoid combat.

At the very least, avoid those battles where there is not the slightest chance of victory!

Only when he was certain he was safe did Soren truly breathe a sigh of relief. At the same time, he noticed that something had been added to his attribute page.

The first line seemed to have appeared when he left the treasure cave. At the time, he had been alerted by a strange sound and had not seen this message.

What appeared was:

"Exploration successful!"

"After a difficult underground adventure, your skills have improved!"

"Stealth +1, Traps +1."

These were the words in the first row.

Then came the text that appeared after he escaped from the Bloodline Servant, avoiding a battle where he had no chance of winning.

It read:

"Diplomacy successful!"

"You have successfully deceived a powerful Bloodline Servant! You have avoided a battle!"

"Diplomacy +1, Deception +3, Performance +1."

A row of data appeared.

Soren then discovered that on his data page, in addition to his original Rogue class skills, several other skills had appeared.

Basic Skills--Stealth 103, Pickpocket 35, Open Lock 45, Traps 55, Diplomacy 1, Deception 3, Performance 1.

This works too?

A look of astonishment appeared on Soren's face.