Pursuit and Escape

"Haa...Haa...Haa," Sweat dripped as he panted. His breath was ragged and shallow.

Asher glanced around and saw he was in a forest. He involuntarily sat down possibly due to exhaustion.

"...I escaped," He muttered in a daze. But then he remembered a certain girl with blonde hair. "I promise to get you out there..." He clenched his fist.

'No, I can't stay here for long. I'm sure they will send some to capture me,' Asher quickly got up. He gritted his teeth and started running. Although he still felt tired after casting that teleporting spell, he endured it otherwise a fate worse than death would await him.

'I couldn't go farther than 10 km with that teleportation spell and I can't cast another one,' That distance may seem quite far to travel to catch up to him but it wasn't the case for vampires, the ones he was trying to escape from. Even low-level vampires can travel that distance in a matter of minutes.

Luckily for Asher, the spell he used teleported him to a random destination 10 km from his escape point. It would at least delay his pursuers by a bit.

.....

"Haa...Haa...Haa..." Asher gritted his teeth after running for half an hour straight. He traveled at least 20 km from where he teleported.

"Heh! You think you can run from us?" Sneered a man. He smirked after seeing the cornered Asher. His other companions laughed as well.

"Hahaha"

"Hey, captain, this lad is quite funny."

"Yeah yeah, how about we suck a bit of his blood before giving him back?"

*Gulp*

The leader visibly gulped after hearing that but controlled himself, "No, we need to bring him back."

'Damn it! Am I going to be back to that hell?!' Asher's mind spun as ideas swirled in his mind but he had no way out of this situation. 'What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?'

As if answering his questions, he felt something inside him awakening. Suddenly dark mist spread out of his body and when it covered his pursuers, it seeped into their bodies and they started to convulse.

"Aaghhh!"

"Urrrkkk!"

One by one they started clutching their throats as black streams appeared beneath their skins before they ultimately fell, lifeless.

"W-what happened...?!"

{It's the result of your sacred gear fully awakening, lad} Suddenly, a deep male voice resounded in the area.

"W-who are you!?" Asher looked around in vigilance while trying to find where the voice came from.

{Don't even try finding me around, I'm inside you}

"What do you mean?"

{Dumbass, I'm the spirit inside your sacred gear! Sigh...just when did humans, wait, Dhampirs turn this stupid?}

"W-who are you?" Asher repeated his question. Even if the voice said it was the spirit from his sacred gear, he still needed to know who he is.

{It's better not to know who I am, kid. At least not right now, I'll tell you when you're ready}

"..." Asher was silent and tried to calm down. "Hooh, okay, then can you at least explain what happened earlier?"

{Oh? At least you're quick to adapt. Well, what happened to these guys is due to the full awakening of your sacred gear. The gear released corrosive and poisonous mist after being fully awakened}

"That's it–?" Asher was dumbfounded, isn't that basically not explaining?

{I'm getting there, dumbass! Ahem! As I said, the gear released that corrosive and poisonous mist that killed them. It's just a one-time effect due to the gear's ability. It only happened because over the years your sacred gear was partially awakened, it accumulated that mist inside, and it was all released when you fully awakened it}

"Huh? I...my sacred gear was partially awakened?" Asher, to his knowledge, didn't know he had a sacred till today. So it's extremely surprising to know he had it partially awakened.

{Well, where do you expect the property of your blood to enhance dark beings, to come from? It's from your sacred gear. Though I must say, your luck isn't too bad, those guys were just low level vampires so the mist killed them. Well, its also probably because those vampires were too arrogant to think that you can escape and a few low level vampires will suffice to capture you}

"...So that's why," He clenched his fists in frustration. He remembered all the tears he suffered due to his blood's property.

{Alright, before you start blaming the sacred gear and God, remember it can also be a way for you to achieve your dream}

"...Can I really achieve it?" Asher felt skeptical. He was just some weak Dhampir, he wasn't even at a level of a low-level vampire.

{I'm not going to say you can achieve it for certain, that's just giving you hopeless confidence}

"..." Asher clenched his fists. Just when he was about to feel down though, the voice continued.

{What I can tell you though is that I can help you during your journey. But it will all depend on you, remember that always}

"I understand," Asher nodded. "Please help me...!"

{Good, you aren't a total dumbass after all. Now, why don't you continue running away from this place first?}

"Ah! That's right!" Asher started running once again.

.....

A few days later, Asher found himself in a town near the northwestern border of Romania. He was currently resting inside an abandoned building.

"Old man, can you see this?" Asher stared at a holographic board in front of him.

{I don't know why but yeah, I can see it as well} Even the voice sounded surprise.

[Profile]

Name: Asher Vladi

Race: Dhampir – Lvl 1

Job: Dungeon Creator – Lvl 1

Skills:

[Instant Dungeon Creation (ID) – Lvl 1 Exp: 0%]

[Description: Used to create instant dungeons. Stronger dungeons may be created at higher skill level]

Current available ID list:

[Undead ID – Monster: Ghoul]

[Note: The user can rank up Dhampir by killing other creatures such as humans, vampires, etc. Once level 100 is reached, the user can evolve into a higher species. To level up the Job: Dungeon Creator, the user needs to constantly use the skills gained from it. After reaching Level 100 Job, it can rank up to become a higher job.]

[Note II: Each instant dungeon can only last for 5 hours before breaking down. And the only way to get out of an instant dungeon is to either defeat the boss of each dungeon or wait for the time limit]

"What is this...?" Asher tried touching the board but his hand passed through.

{I don't know as well, hmmm}

"How can I remove it?"

[The user only needs to think of closing the Profile Window]

"It-it responded...?!" He felt bewildered and amazed. After all, he was imprisoned back at the Tepes Castle and had no way to get out. He only interacted with a few people, most of which was his captors.

{It seems so}

"Do you think what it says is true?" He felt hesitant after all this thing suddenly appeared just earlier after he woke up.

{I don't see any reason why it isn't. I don't think it's harmful as well, if it can suddenly appear, it must be powerful. But I don't feel the presence of divine power or any divinity, so it must not be a god who made it.}

"Should I...try the skill?"

{It's your choice} The voice shrugged.

Asher hesitated before deciding to use the skill. There's only one problem, "How do I use it?"

{Bwahaha! You only just realized you don't know how to use it?}

"Stop laughing old man!" Asher felt his face warming up in embarrassment.

[The user only needs to think of using the skill]

{Oh, there it is}

"Alright," He took a deep breath. 'Skill: Instant Dungeon Create!'

*Fwoosh*

His surroundings suddenly felt different, the noises of the people from outside vanished l, and they changed into moans and groans.

"Did it work..?"

{We are in a different dimension so that's a yes}

Asher gulped nervously and walked toward the nearby window. From there he saw the undead roaming around below. They looked like what you'd expect from an undead, decaying flesh, some bits of it missing in some parts of their body, and blood oozing out of their orifices.

"—!" Asher looked on with shock. There were thousands of them roaming outside. Then he suddenly remembered the condition to get out of this dungeon.

{Have you finally realized your impulsiveness?}

"Why didn't you tell me?" Asher asked.

{If I did so, you wouldn't learn an important lesson. Don't be impulsive and think before acting}

Asher lowered his head in shame. What the old man said is true, it was his fault that he let his curiosity take over him and didn't think further.

"...Then what should I do next? Wait for the time limit? But there's a chance some of them could find me if I wait for too long."

{As I said previously, it's your choice. I'm only here to help not dictate the path you must take}

"But..." Asher hesitated, what if he make another wrong decision? As if reading his mind, the voice continued.

{Although being impulsive is not good, it isn't necessarily bad either. There will be times you must be decisive and do what you think is right without thinking of the possible consequences. Otherwise, how can you move forward without that much of a resolution? You would only be stuck if that were the case}

Asher lowered his head and was in deep thought. It took him a few minutes before he raised his head. His eyes gained a new light of resolve.

"I..."