Alright, I hear the Skeleton Knights coming close. There are three of them. I think I just make it quick and defeat them with Blood Needle. After all, I can just catch another Bat to refill my Blood Power, so I don’t need to put myself in a risky situation. Ah, there they are. As planned, I fire my three Blood Needles and defeat the Skeleton Knights.

I move to the dead skeletons and take one of their swords. Huh? I expected it to be heavier. Is this the result of my enhanced physical abilities? I really should have put more attention on this. I check it later, first the sword.

But well, the sword is nothing special. It’s a basic Iron Longsword, but it’s old and rusty. But I have finally a weapon, it’s better than nothing since I don’t have to rely on my Blood Abilities. But I never used a sword before. I guess I should do a few practice swings before continuing.

I grab the sword with both hands and perform a basic slash from top to bottom. Uh, that didn’t feel very comfortable. Let’s do it more slowly to figure it out. First my grip, I change the position of my hands in a few ways until I think I got a grip on it. Second thing is my overall stance. I continue until I think I have a comfortable stance. I think if someone who received formal training sees me right now, he will definitely laugh at me.

After adjusting everything, I raise my sword again and slash down, but this time I move really slow. That way, I can figure out if something feels wrong with my movements. I continue doing so and also try a few variations and put a bit more footwork into my movements and also speed up my movements more and more.

“I think that should be it for now.” My swordsmanship is far from perfect, but I can’t afford to waste my time here. I still have to look out for food… Wait, now that I think about it, I am not hungry anymore.

So I can live on just blood? If that is true, that would actually be nice. Drinking blood from bats is still disgusting, but it’s still better than fighting the dungeon hungry. That way, I have more time for preparation and training. That decides my current priorities.

• Getting blood
• Level up and improve my swordsmanship
• Get out of this shitty dungeon

Let’s do this. Well, but before, I should still check my physical capabilities a bit more. So I take a bit of time to perform a few sprints, jumps and do some bodyweight exercises. The result is that I realized my capabilities improved quite a bit. Even after all this, I am still not tired. How could I not notice until now? I could have fought the Skeletons on the first floor easily without my Blood Needle.

Well, no need to dwell on past mistakes. I just don’t have to do the same mistake again.

I focus on my senses and find a nearby bat. Good, now I can refill my Blood Power. Catching the bat doesn’t pose a problem and now I am holding it in my hands. Ugh, I really don’t want to do this… Is there maybe a way to not bite into it? Let’s try it. First, I break its neck quickly, since I don’t want to torment the animal. Then I look for a part of my sword that is not that rusty and cut the bat. Now I can let the blood just flow into my mouth without taking the whole body of the bat in.

Of course, I observe my status while doing this and it actually works. But well, it is a bit inefficient. It is way slower than biting. But for now, I can work with it.

Now that my Blood Power is at maximum again, I can focus on the next step. Training. I quickly find a Level 3 Skeleton Knight that serves as my first sparring partner. Of Course I could just sneak up on it and kill it, but that way I wouldn’t be able to get more experience with my swordsmanship. That’s why I make some noise and let the Skeleton Knight come to me. For now, I just focus on observing its movements while blocking and evading its slashes.

Like with my first solo practice, it felt really weird, since I don’t know how to move. I am really thankful that the monsters are not that strong as long as I don’t let my guard down. After a while, I felt a bit more comfortable with my movements and killed the Skeleton Knight.

I should kill a few more Skeleton Knights that way while proceeding through the floor. Every time I encounter a Skeleton Knight, I take a few minutes to just block its attacks and observe its movements and then I kill it. Right now I am fighting another Skeleton Knight in front of the stairs to the fourth floor and when I finally defeat it…

*Ding - You are now Level 5*

[Status]
Name: Benji
Age: 17
Race: Vampire
Level: 5
HP: 18/18
MP: 42/42
BP: 9/9

Race-Abilities:
- Analyze (0 BP)
- Blood Needle (1 BP)
- Blood Regeneration (passive)

Analyze (0 BP)

Shows the user information about living creatures and objects. The User can also see his opponents Skills.

Oh, did Identify evolve into Analyze? Isn’t that really strong? It might not seem that way, but having information about the opponents’ skills is almost the same as knowing the opponents’ fighting style. I really like that. I actually planned to go immediately to the next floor, but now I think I want the check the Status of a Skeleton Knight again.

It doesn’t take long to find one.

Skeleton Knight (Level 2)

Skeleton Knights are low-ranked undead monsters, but they are stronger than normal skeletons. They stop moving when the Core in their chest is destroyed.

Skills: Swordsmanship (Rank H)

So the Skeleton Knights actually have a swordsmanship skill. I am not really sure what Rank H means, but I can guess that it is a rather low rank. Is it possible for me to learn skills? I mean, obviously I don’t need the skill to wield a sword. But it can’t hurt to have it and having it might actually improve my swordsmanship. It would be good to know the requirements to acquire new skills. But for now, it can’t be helped. The only thing I can do is to proceed towards the exit while training.

With this thought, I defeated the Skeleton Knight quickly and went back to the stairs to the fourth floor.