Ero Skill Tree

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Five: The Reality

Everyone was quickly downing potions. Trying to recuperate as much mana and strength, as fast as possible. If Celine was right, the enemy that had caught us in that trap was still close by. No one looked in particularly good shape. We had been caught in the trap for quite some time, hours had gone by, and it was now dark. Celine was stood at the edge of the group, nervously keeping lookout.

Beth got to her feet and walked over to Celine once she had taken her potions. "Weren't you supposed to check ahead? Did you let us fall into that trap on purpose?"

"I did check ahead! I couldn't sense anything. The trap was expertly laid." Answered Celine.

"How do we know you didn't lead us all in there?"

"I didn't! I wouldn't!"

"We can't know that for sure."

"But..."

Altria stepped in between the two girls. "If she had done that, then she wouldn't still be here would she? She would just have left us inside to die."

"I suppose..." Beth fiddled her hair before shaking her head. "I'm just not sure if we can trust her."

"I know how you feel, but trust me, she isn't going to let anything happen to Theo. If she had spotted that trap, she would have alerted us."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I've seen just how concerned about him she is, and she isn't wrong. That trap was expertly laid. I didn't spot the slightest sign. None of us did until it sprung. I wonder what's out there waiting for us." Altria said looking out into the village ahead of us.

Liz had been listening to them speak and walked to the front of the group where they were stood. "I think I could have a good guess, but I expect Celine knows. She must have seen them after all?" She said as she stepped up.

Celine nodded. "I saw them, yes. I wasn't expecting us to encounter someone like that here, but we did. They're a vampire, a noble and ancient... We should get out of here before they return."

"Just as I expected. Perhaps we should try to make a run for it. If I had to guess though, they won't let us escape. They've probably already completely healed from the damage Theo dealt them and the only reason they haven't returned is because they're watching to see what we do next..." Explained Liz.

"Hold on, a vampire?" I felt my neck, almost instinctively, but there was no wound. I was sure there were none on my body anywhere. "Don't they drink blood?" I asked.

"They do."

"But none of us appear to have been drank from."

"They don't only drink blood, they also feed on a person's psychic energy. Their desires and emotions. That's what the dream state was all about. If I had to guess, they were going to do that until we were spent, then drink our blood. I don't expect there is much traffic here, they probably wanted us to last a while. They wouldn't need to hunt for a while."

"So how do we fight them? Wooden stake through the heart? Sunlight?"

"A stake through the heart? No, no." She laughed. "It's true sunlight does weaken them, but an ancient one it won't kill... Our only chance is decapitation and total cremation of their body. Too bad we don't have our best fire mage with us any longer."

"Fire mage, you mean Lillia?"

"Yes, but I suppose we'll have to make do. I can wield some, but it won't be enough to destroy them. It might buy us enough time to escape, although our presence here will no longer be a secret. It might make the journey ahead more perilous. I'm not sure what the best course of action here is. What do you think Serin?"