In a dimly lit room, a silver-haired boy sat cross-legged on the ground right next to a large bed.
"Haa! Haaaaa! Haa!"
His heart was slamming hard against his chest as if it was about to burst out, making his breathing ragged.
Despite the sweat drenching his tank top and slacks and the sensation of needles piercing his skin pores, he persevered with his eyes firmly shut.
He clenched his teeth and gritted through the pain until a sudden, searing sensation engulfed his abdomen as if it was set on fire.
"Mrghhhh!"
Thankfully, the boy had the foresight to bite down on a towel, muffling what would have been an agonizing beastly scream.
Fwoo—
Thud—
Suddenly, white steam began to emanate from his body, and the boy collapsed onto the ground, completely devoid of any and all strength or will to even twitch his muscles.
"Aaah! Haaa! Haaa!"
Gasping for air, his hands desperately reached for a water bottle on the bed, his hands slick with sweat and devoid of strength.
Twice, the bottle almost slipped from his grasp before he finally managed to grip it tightly.
Bringing the bottle to his lips, he twisted the cap open and took long, thirsty gulps of water, relieved as he finally felt a cooling sensation wash over his body and numb the burning pain.
"Fuuuu."
Finally, he let out a content sigh as he couldn't help but say, "I did it. I'm not dead!"
Naturally, it would be a devastating loss for the world if a young man as stunningly handsome as him were to perish at such a young age.
Even in his current state, drenched in an unbecoming layer of sweat and too feeble to lift a finger, he still managed to embody the very essence of beauty.
Haa.
Let's not beat around the bush - that young man, the one who has captured the hearts of many maidens with his exquisite looks and otherworldly charm, is none other than yours truly.
Now one would ask: Why was I in this condition?
And my answer to that would be: I tried breaking my mana core through the ‹Iron› stage last night.
Yeah. Yesterday, I arrived at the hotel and had the best dinner of both my lives before heading straight to my room to cultivate.
Before I sat down to cultivate, however, I used my Edit Pen on the thirty low-grade mana potions that I had bought and upgraded them all into mid-grade ones.
It did cost me a lot of Edit Points– around 876, if I remember correctly– but it was totally worth it.
As I started cultivating, I was on the brink of breaking through ‹Iron 2› and entering the ‹Iron 3› level.
Throughout the night, I drank all the upgraded mana potions and eventually broke through to the ‹Bronze 1› stage.
However, the pain I experienced was excruciating.
To make things worse, I had to keep quiet to avoid disturbing other guests on my floor. So I couldn't even scream to relieve the pain.
It felt as if all the bones in my body were breaking, and my abdomen was put under a hydraulic press. Then it felt like my body was set on fire before it finally calmed down.
And the whole process was repeated once again.
It was hell.
Actually, normally breaking one's mana core through levels and stages isn't that painful or hard.
However, since my potential was low – ‹Gold 3› – I will only experience more pain the more I try to break through the stages until it becomes impossible for me to go past the ‹Gold› stage without letting the pain kill me first.
Simply put, the closer one reaches their potential, the more difficult it is for one to make a breakthrough.
For instance, Nero would have had a relatively painless experience when breaking through the ‹Bronze› stage, unlike my near-death ordeal.
Haa. Anyway, now that I have leveled up, it's time to complete my quest.
It's time to kill the Vampire King and take what I came here for.
Grwww—!!
"....."
But before that, I should stop the rumbling in my stomach by grabbing something to eat.
†
===Status===
Name→ Lucas Morningstar [Face Image]
Race→ Human
Strength→ 62 [+30]
Endurance→ 48 [+30]
Speed→ 69 [+30]
Stamina→ 64 [+30]
Accuracy→ 88 [+12]
Charm→ 440 [+1]
Intelligence→ 188 [+1]
Mana Capacity→ 1000/1000 [+500]
Mana Core Rank→ Bronze 1 [↑ Iron 2]
Mana Core Potential→ Gold 3
Professions→ Spearman Lvl. 2 Archer Lvl. 2
Techniques→
››Weapon Arts:
Thousand Falling Lightning Needle Strike (Lvl. 1) [98%]
6-Movement Lance Style: Blossom Shattering Blast (Lvl. 3) [70%]
››Combat Arts:
Soul Smashing Killer Fist (Lvl. 2) [75%]
››Breathing Technique
Breath Of Vitality
Affinity→ Fire » Lightning Light
Spells→ Fireball ⟨Low⟩ Zap Touch ⟨Low⟩
Blessing→ Mana Burst
Possessions→ Phoenix's Embrace ⟨Semi-Divine⟩ Editor's Pen ⟨Divine⟩
Edit Points: 778
After ordering room service, I took a refreshing bath and practiced some martial arts.
Then I got ready and decided it was finally time to get going.
But just as I reached in front of my room door, I decided to check my status to get an idea of how I was doing.
"Hmmm."
As I looked at my status, I couldn't help but stroke my chin while being immersed in deep thoughts.
My physical stats were looking more on the average side. But I didn't have very many magic spells.
After this is over, I should get some spells.
Also, I should get some archery arts too since I am about to master the one I'm currently using.
My progression was already at 98%. It won't be long before I make it 100%.
"Fuuu."
Okay, I should get going.
I took in a few deep breaths before looking at the room clock. It was 8:53 AM right now.
By 8:00 PM, everyone has to be back at the hotel to attend dinner.
I have no plans to join my class for sightseeing and shopping today, so it gives me roughly eleven hours to search for the Vampire King and kill her before I have to come back.
Click—!
With determination, I clicked open my room door and stepped outside.
Most of the people were still sleeping, while others were in the buffet hall for breakfast.
So without getting spotted, I took the lift and easily snuck out of the hotel.
After coming out, a smile formed on my lips as I stretched out my hand, opened my palm and quietly said, "Track."
Schwing—!!
Suddenly, several azure threads appeared out of my hand and laid out on the street. These azure threads were only visible to my eyes.
Remember the coins I gave out to those slum kids yesterday? Yeah, they weren't normal coins.
Item: Tracking Coins (Relic)
Condition: Good, Edited
Description: This relic consists of twenty coins.
When distributed by Lucas Morningstar, the coins can imprint a mark on the first person who touches them.
Later, Lucas Morningstar can visualize the paths that lead to these individuals.
It can only be used once and one coin can only mark the first person who may touch them.
Edit (Active): Let those who receive these coins by my hands be marked, and reveal to me their trails whenever I command it.
In the novel, it was said that the Vampire King compelled children of the slums and drank their blood to survive.
Usually, the Vampires drink mana-rich blood.
The reason for that is: Unlike Humans, Elves, or Dwarves, Vampires don't have the ability to draw mana from the atmosphere.
By extension, they also can't cultivate their mana core normally like the other races do.
So instead, they rely on the mana from the blood of people who can cultivate to strengthen their mana core.
However, here, in this case, the Vampire King wasn't trying to cultivate but sustain.
After a brutal battle with her own kind, she suffered serious injuries that left her on the brink of death.
She was too weak to mind-control adult humans, so she resorted to compelling young children and drinking their blood to stay alive.
It took a long time for her to finally recover from her injuries. Much longer than it should've taken her.
That's why now is the right time to strike when she's nowhere near her top condition.
I distributed coins to those children in the slum for a reason.
The Vampire King is likely preoccupied with feeding on their blood right at this very moment.
By tracking these trails, I can locate her.
Although my decision to interject in this situation could endanger the lives of those children, they are as good as dead if I leave them like this anyway.
So my plan is simple. I would hit her with a surprise attack, and before she could figure out what hit her, she would be dead.
But of course, to do that, I needed some weapons.
Since we were on a trip, we had to give back the weapons that the academy provided us.
And since I don't have any personal weapons, I am currently unarmed.
Now I don't know if I ever said this, but being unarmed in this world is akin to being in a boxing ring with no hands.
Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little.
But the bottom line is I need to buy some weapons.
I couldn't buy them yesterday because it was already time for the mandatory dinner by the time I exited the slums.
So I opened a holographic GPS map in front of me and started walking toward a weapon store.
It's time to start Phase Two of the plan.
