Chapter 31: A Bit Faster

'What am I doing? Am I really going to die here like this, and after Mom struggled so dearly to make sure that didn't happen?'

Those words resounded in Neo's head as he watched the beast slowly pull him closer and closer to its mouth.

'I could hit it with a blood slash from here, but….'

[ Condition: 10/100 ]

'I wonder how much of my blood that would take, I also wonder what would happen if I get forced into this emergency mode this system speaks off. Maybe a moment of frenzy before death or something like hibernation, either way, things aren't looking very good for me.'

The beast had gotten him close enough now so all that was left was putting him in the mouth and pulling him out of its claw.

'Either way, things aren't looking good.' Neo repeated in his head as his eyes suddenly received a subtle glow.

"So screw it! I'm not going to let you eat me alive without suffering some repercussions!"

[ Blood Slash activated ]

With the little strength he could muster, he swung his left arm, aiming for the beast's mouth just as it was about to drop him off there.

The crimson slash was instantly sent out, striking the roof of the beast's mouth and forcing it to instantly snap shut as it staggered backward, its low-pitched hissing enveloping the whole area and forcing the critters still hanging around to quickly scurry away, seeking refuge in nearby burrows.

Attacking the inside of its mouth seemed to have been more effective than Neo thought as the beast flung him up in its frenzy, releasing him from its piercing grip.

"I'm not done with you."

He released another slash just as the beast let go of him, aiming for its eyes and since the beast was busy holding onto its mouth trying to calm down the pain, he ended up getting a clean hit on both eyes, crushing the fragile organs like two overripe grapes, releasing a viscous liquid that spurted out in a grisly slow-motion arc.

The beast's hissing suddenly turned to a roar of pain which echoed through the air as it crashed down on its knees, its blinded eyes now two bloody, pulpy craters, its glow of rage, completely dissolved.

Neo seemed to have crashed down just before the beast, a few distance away from the beast, and just like the bloodthirsty rat, he was in serious pain.

However, his attention seemed to be more on something else that didn't make any sense to him.

[ Condition: 9/100 ]

'Wait, it didn't drop? Then…'

[ +1 liter recovered ]

[ Cauldron capacity: 29/500 recovered ]

"Oh, I see so that's what the blood I absorbed from those beasts was for."

'Using blood slash won't start eating my abilities until this runs out and it looks like it restores a part of itself after each use.'

With the way things were at the moment, it seemed that he wasn't in as much danger as he thought.

He could feel his wounds slowly closing up and it looked like his condition wasn't dropping any longer.

[ You are still in critical condition ]

[ You have five minutes to consume sufficient blood or condition will resume dropping ]

'That's just great.'

The beast which was still crying and hissing in pain let out another echoing roar at that moment, causing him to turn to it as he slowly got up on his feet, his legs a bit shaky.

"Well, at least now I don't have to worry about my condition dropping whenever I use blood slash, I can finish this thing easily now." He remarked just before sending out two consecutive slashes aiming for the beast's throat.

He expected those to finish the job but to his greatest surprise, he ended up hearing two consecutive clangs as both slashes bounced off the beast's body like rocks thrown at a metallic hard surface.

"What the…"

The beast suddenly stopped hissing in pain just after those slashes hit it as it slowly turned to the direction where the attacks came from, growling in between short pants.

What it had for eyes now were just two empty craters but despite that, Neo could feel its gaze on him, the beast was onto him and he was the one who gave away his location.

"Okay, so supposedly, I can't beat this thing with blood slash." He muttered, sounding a bit nervous.

He watched the beast take a step toward him, the weight of its step five times heavier now as the ground trembled under its effect.

Neo felt that wave and looking at the way things were at the moment, he had only one thing in mind.

'Run.'

He quickly turned around and took off, running as fast as he could as the beast charged straight toward him, somehow aware of his movement.

The beast leaped toward him in an attempt to pounce on him from above but Neo was just able to get a bit further away just in time as the beast slammed into the ground with both of its arms, cracking it open with a huge tremor and uprooting the trees around the area, like some sort of mini earthquake.

The force from the tremor pushed Neo forward a bit but he was able to keep his feet on the ground all the way, making proper use of what he now considered a boost.

'You have to be kidding me, that thing doesn't have eyes yet it's able to chase me like this?' He said inwardly, his mind struggling to stay calm under the current situation.

He was able to put a bit more distance between himself and the beast with the help of the boost from the tremor but that didn't really mean anything as the beast leaped straight toward him once again, getting to him in the blink of an eye.

'Seriously?'

Just like last time, he was able to escape just by a tiny margin as the beast cracked the hard earth surrounding it open once again, this time focusing some of the tremors straight ahead of him.

The ground beneath the young vampire trembled and the tremor pushed him once again but he was able to keep his feet on the ground, all his focus on getting as far away from the bloodthirsty beast behind him as possible.

A huge crack formed just ahead of him, creating a huge crater, placed there for the sole purpose of slowing him down.

However, that wasn't enough to slow him down as he forced out every last bit of speed and strength he had to jump right over the crater.

It looked like he had successfully made it past the huge crater, until he suddenly tripped on the edge just as he got to the other side.

His face sank in horror at that moment as he gasped, "No."

He tumbled on the ground, quickly picking himself up to continue running but before he could even take a step forward, he felt a shrill run down his spine.

The familiar aura of death, he could feel it right behind him within perfect striking range, there was no celestial light body to cast a shadow but he could feel the shadow of the beast looming over him, his overbearing and rageful aura ready to consume in the next second.

'Oh, Lord, I'm screwed. I only needed to go a bit faster.'

The beast swung right at him at that moment with a growl but before its claws could get to him, he heard a ding.

[ External buff received ]

[ Source: Unidentified ]

[ +30 stat points added to dexterity ]

[ Dexterity: 22(+30) ]

'Huh?'