Chapter 147: The Stupid Map (2)

Chapter 147: 147: The Stupid Map (2)

It came from the left side of the scrubland, low and fast. An iron-claw wolf. Its fur was dark gray, and its front claws had a dull metal shine. It was larger than an ordinary wolf, but not strong enough to be a real threat. It leaped toward Lucard’s throat with its mouth open.

Lucard did not draw his knife.

A blood thread moved from his fingertip.

The wolf’s front leg twisted in the air. Its leap broke. It crashed into the ground and rolled twice before trying to stand. Lucard stepped on its neck and pushed blood power through his foot.

The wolf stopped moving.

He crouched and placed a hand on the wound. Blood Absorption began at once. The beast’s blood entered him in a warm stream. It carried wild strength, hunger, sharp senses, and a faint metal-earth taste from its claws. Most of it was too weak to matter, but weak blood still had use when filtered properly.

A system message appeared inside his mind.

[Iron-Claw Wolf blood absorbed.

Blood Quality: Low.

Body Nourishment: Minor.

Metal-Earth Trace: Too weak to assimilate.

Progress toward Level 30: Increased slightly.]

Lucard stood.

Slightly was not enough.

He needed better prey.

The wolf’s body dried faster than a normal corpse. He left it behind and continued toward the hills.

As darkness deepened, he found more signs.

Two sets of boot marks. Then four. Then many confused tracks around a patch of mud. One mark showed that someone had fallen hard and pushed up with both hands. Smaller hands. The girl. A deeper print beside it showed that one Red Hook man had nearly caught her there.

Lucard followed only because the route remained the same as the map.

He was not rescuing her.

Not yet.

A scream came from far ahead.

It was a man’s scream.

Lucard stopped and listened.

Another scream followed, shorter this time. Then came the sound of something heavy striking wood, then a curse, then silence.

Lucard moved forward.

He did not run. Running blind into unknown ground only pleased ambushers and monsters. He moved between stones and low trees, using blood sense to search the air. Soon he smelled blood.

Human blood.

Fresh.

He reached a narrow path between two broken stone ridges and found one of the Red Hook men lying on the ground. His chest had been crushed inward. The red scarf was still tied around his wrist, but his hand had been bitten off. His eyes were open, and his mouth was frozen in the shape of a scream.

Lucard crouched beside him.

The blood was still warm.

The man had not died from a blade. Teeth had torn the arm. A heavy strike had crushed the chest. The wound carried a beast scent mixed with damp stone and old rot.

Lucard touched the blood.

Blood Absorption took a small amount, not for power but for memory taste. Fear. Chase. Anger. Confusion. The man had been chasing the girl. Then something came from the rocks. He had seen too little before dying.

Lucard released the corpse.

The girl had not killed him.

Something else had.

He moved forward again.

A second Red Hook man was found near a dead tree. This one had tried to climb. Something had dragged him down by the leg and broken his spine. The knife in his hand was still clean, meaning he had not even touched his attacker. The third man was alive, but barely. He lay against a stone with his stomach opened and one hand pressed weakly over the wound.

His red scarf was soaked dark.

When he saw Lucard, his eyes widened.

"Help..."

Lucard stood over him. "What attacked you?"

The man coughed blood. "Beast..."

"What kind?"

"Did not see... came from under... under the stones..."

Lucard looked toward the broken ground. "Where is the girl?"

The man’s face twisted. "Forget the girl. Help me."

Lucard crouched. "Answer first."

The man spat blood and tried to laugh, but it became a groan. "The city lord will reward... bring her back... alive..."

That confirmed she was valuable.

Lucard placed one finger on the man’s forehead. "Why?"

The man’s eyes shook with pain. "Marriage... ran... lord’s house..."

His voice weakened before the rest came out.

Lucard’s eyes moved slightly.

So the girl was connected to the city lord.

Not a thief.

A runaway.

That made the chase more interesting, but not enough to change his purpose.

The dying man gripped Lucard’s sleeve with bloody fingers. "Potion..."

Lucard looked at the hand.

Then he absorbed him.

The man’s eyes widened as his blood left him. His body weakened, dried, and finally went still against the stone. Lucard took what little strength he had. It was not much. A low-grade fighter with dirty habits and a coward’s heart rarely carried useful blood, but every drop still added something.

[Human blood is absorbed.

Quality: Low.

Combat Memory Fragment: Minor.

Progress toward Level 30: Increased slightly.]

Lucard stood and cleaned the blood from his sleeve with a small movement of blood control.

The fourth Red Hook man was missing.

The girl was also missing.

The old border fort stood ahead in the distance, half-buried against the dark hills. Its broken wall looked like a black jaw under the rising moon. The path from the dead men led toward it. So did the strange beast smell.

Lucard took out the stupid map and looked at the markings again.

The owner had been right.

This path was stupid.

That made it promising.

He moved closer to the fort.

The ground changed as he approached. The soil became harder, mixed with broken stone. Old pieces of wall lay under grass and roots. There were cracks in the earth where water had once run. Some cracks were too narrow for a man. Others were wide enough for something to crawl out.

Lucard stopped near one of them.

Blood scent came from below.

Not only human blood.

Beast blood.

Old blood.

Many deaths had happened under this ground.

His blood responded faintly.