The Pursuit, Part One (Revised)

Vampires were best at dealing with weaker creatures that were no match for them.

The vampire had been able to kill Rhode's Walking Corpses in an instant by striking their weak points. It had done the same to the caravan guards now.

Its powerful base attributes, combined with its skill at targeting weak points and its ability to recover health by devouring flesh and blood after taking Bat Form, made it almost unstoppable against low-tier creatures.

However, when facing powerful professionals, the vampire's overall base attributes leaned too heavily toward Constitution. Its other attributes were not as impressive, and it might also be at a disadvantage in terms of equipment. In truth, it was difficult for the vampire to gain much of an edge.

Powerful professionals had their own ways of dealing with the Bat Form skill. Even if they could not stop the bats from recovering health by devouring flesh and blood, they would not suffer serious injuries. A high-tier mage might even be able to kill every bat the vampire turned into with a single spell.

So, although the vampire had been fighting the caravan members for quite some time and had even gained the upper hand at one point, if a powerful professional had been there to take command, along with precise orders and coordination, the vampire would have struggled to prevail.

In other words, if either Yusuf or the blue-robed mage had commanded the caravan guards while bringing their own strength to bear, the vampire would have been suppressed until it was dead.

But there was no unified command. The caravan guards fought on their own, and none of them wanted to risk being injured by the vampire's attacks. Aside from the warriors at the front, almost everyone else was hanging back, waiting for an opportunity.

With no powerful fighter whose overall attributes could suppress the vampire, and the rest of the caravan guards too afraid to approach, the vampire was free to display its full strength.

As the battle continued, the caravan guards fell one after another. Their numbers no longer gave them an advantage; they could not even surround the vampire anymore. The caravan's morale began to collapse.

At last, with both the caravan master and the mage nowhere to be seen, one of the guards could no longer stand watching his companions fall around him. Without even looking at the vampire in the middle of the fight, he fled toward the rear.

That fleeing guard seemed to light a fuse. The others began running off in every direction as well.

Even the few seasoned professionals who remained could see that all was lost. The caravan had been utterly ruined this time, so they too grabbed horses and rode off into the distance.

After the caravan guards fled, the vampire followed Rhode's instructions, given through the Mental Mark. It did not pursue the escapees or bother with the caravan's other goods. Instead, it found a horse nearby and headed toward Rhode.

Through the Mental Mark, the vampire could sense roughly where Rhode was. It only had to follow the mark's guidance to meet up with him.

At that moment, Rhode was riding through the forest at speed, following the faint traces left by the blue-robed mage.

The blue-robed mage clearly had not expected anyone to pursue him, so he had left behind no false trails. He had simply relied on his horse's speed and galloped off in one direction.

Even if the blue-robed mage had deliberately left misleading tracks, Rhode could have used Intermediate Scout Technique to judge the right direction from subtle traces. The mage would only have wasted his own time.

Rhode was in no hurry to catch up. He followed the trail at a measured distance, waiting for the vampire to finish dealing with the rest of the caravan before they confronted the blue-robed mage together.

When Rhode had fought Yusuf atop the watchtower earlier, it had still been sunset. After some time spent in pursuit, evening had arrived and darkness was falling.

Perhaps thanks to the bonus from Scout Technique, the surrounding trees brought to mind the view Rhode had seen from the top of the watchtower. The blue-robed mage had fled in the direction of the caravan's destination: Dya.

During the pursuit, the blue-robed mage changed direction several times. Rhode realized that the mage did not know the local terrain either; he was simply hoping to use his speed to shake off the enemy behind him.

As the light around him gradually faded, Rhode began to have more trouble tracking the blue-robed mage. If he still had only Novice Scout Technique, it would have been nearly useless by now, and he would have lost the mage's trail altogether.

Rhode only wanted to track the blue-robed mage from behind and keep a safe distance. He had no intention of catching up quickly, and he had his reasons.

Rhode's past-life experience had given him a deep understanding of a mage's power. Although it looked as if he were the one pursuing the blue-robed mage, the outcome of a real fight was far from certain.

Rhode knew better than to chase a desperate enemy too closely. So he did not try to catch up quickly; he simply followed the trail the blue-robed mage left behind.

From the information conveyed through the Mental Mark, Rhode now knew that the vampire had finished fighting the caravan members and was heading his way.

With the battle over, the experience points that had been steadily ticking upward on the status panel finally stopped. They came to rest at 770.

Since the vampire's battle was over, Rhode chose to level up again so he would have more strength to deal with the blue-robed mage.

"400 experience points consumed. Remaining experience points: 370. Class Level increased to Tier 2 Swordsman, Level 5..."

"Received 1 Free Attribute Point. Received 1 Skill Point..."

Rhode left both the attribute point and the Skill Point unspent, intending to use them when the time came.

Up ahead, the blue-robed mage rode his horse, fleeing wildly through the forest.

The blue-robed mage ran his thumb hard across the Space Ring on his hand. The suggestion to transport the Soul Crystals had originally come from him, so he knew just how valuable the contents of the ring were.

Once he had obtained the Space Ring, an idea had immediately occurred to him. Then, considering that a powerful enemy might be on their way, he had abandoned the others in the caravan and fled alone.

The blue-robed mage was sure that, even if the caravan carried other valuable goods, the necromancer would not so much as glance at them. He would certainly choose to pursue him instead.

He had no map with him, and he had spent most of the journey sitting in the caravan's carriage. He knew nothing about the surrounding terrain, but there was no helping it. He could only trust his instincts and ride in one direction.

Suddenly, a strange feeling came over the blue-robed mage, as if something had set its sights on him.

He looked behind him. The forest was dark and deep, and nothing seemed out of place. Yet the unease in his heart would not subside.

The blue-robed mage knew that the necromancer was pursuing him from behind.