Chapter 28: To Grimstone

When Neo got the quest that asked him to find a sustainable blood source, he could instantly tell that there was more to it than just completing the quest.

Everything stemmed from the feeling of bloodlust that overwhelmed him and took over his mind after he woke up in the man's house.

It was obvious to him that something like that was going to happen again if he was ever in dire need of blood so he was going to try and nip this in the bud before that happened.

The man he was currently holding hostage just made everything easier for him by following him out of the town thinking he was an easy target.

Alongside completing his current active quest there was something he needed to know, he needed to know how long it would be before he would need to consume blood again after a sufficient consumption.

Hearing the boy sitting beside him refer to him as his blood source, the tied-up man was horrified, and as a reaction to his heart jumping frantically and his nervous system tweaking, a pile of sweat began to build up on his forehead.

In a situation like that, having food shoved into his mouth was the last thing he wanted, yet he had to slowly eat the steak off the barbecue stick in his mouth afraid that Neo would do something terrible to him if he failed to do so.

Neo watched him slowly consume everything on the stick and as soon as he was done, he pulled it out and shoved the other one into his mouth before he could even swallow the last bit from what he had taken.

'Now I can say that it didn't go to waste.' He said inwardly before slowly turning away from the man.

With the man still in the process of eating off the stick in the absence of his hands, Neo decided to check something that had been staring at him for a while now.

[ Skill points: 1 ]

'I remember I got that after defeating the lizards. It says skill point so that must mean….'

[ Blood slash: level 01 ]

[ 0/10 exp ]

'I see, so I just need to add it there.'

[ +1 skill point used on Blood Slash ]

[ 1/10 exp ]

'Blood slash seems to be a fun skill to use, too bad it drains a huge chunk of my condition anytime I use it.'

[ Condition: 75/100 ]

"Um…."

He quickly turned his gaze to the man at that moment to see that his mouth was empty, he was done consuming everything on the stick.

Neo didn't say anything and just stared at him, his gaze adding to the uneasiness the man was already feeling.

He averted his gaze multiple times but ended up bringing it up after a few seconds, his mouth moving under the influence of incoherent mumbles.

However, after a while, he was finally able to force out what he wanted to say.

"I'm done eating the barbecue steak." He stuttered, his voice almost getting to the level of a scream.

"Yes, I can see that," Neo responded, his cold eyes slowly gliding down the lower part of his body.

He kept his gaze on the man expecting him to say something else because it looked like he really wanted to say something but after watching the man bite his tongue in an attempt to make a coherent speech for seconds, he slowly turned away with a sigh.

"Listen if you want to say something just say it, you might experience a lot of painful stuff from this point onward but I'm not going to kill you, that would simply…." His voice trailed off as he turned to the man, his eyes receiving a subtle glow. "Be a waste." He completed.

"What do you mean I'll experience painful stuff?" The man asked, swallowing hard, the sweat built up on his forehead beginning to drop down. "Just who are you, anyway?" He finally received the courage to ask.

"I said you were going to be my blood source a few minutes ago, well, I wasn't joking about that," Neo remarked.

"I still don't know what you mean by that." The man's voice quaked. "Do you need blood for transfusion? I can give you as much as you need as long as you let me go afterward." He tried to negotiate, his eyes filled with desperation.

The response from Neo was an almost incoherent huff as he turned to the man with what appeared to be a subtle smile on his face.

"It's not that simple

He pushed the switch on the flashlight to turn it off at that moment before leaning closer to the man, his small fangs elongated.

The man was on the verge of screaming as soon as the lights turned off, all he needed was the slightest touch from Neo to pull that trigger.

However, that trigger ended up not getting pulled as Neo stopped just before his fangs could pierce his neck.

The man felt his breath on his neck for a moment before he got up on his feet and turned to the exit.

"What was that?" The man mumbled, breathing heavily.

"I'll be back."

"Huh?"

The man breathed a sigh of relief as he listened to his footsteps moving away from him, each step reassuring him that he got to live for a few more minutes.

"Who is this kid? Is he even a kid and what was he about to do to me?" He pondered.

Neo stepped outside almost a minute later, and as soon as he did, he let out a deep sigh.

'Biting him isn't the best option, he might die just like the old man did.' He said inwardly as he headed for the road toward the town. 'I'll have to find a way to extract it from him, maybe a syringe.'

Looking ahead, the only light he could see close to the town was coming from the lamppost, all the vendors were gone and the town was nothing but darkness now.

"Am I even going to find anything there?"

He stopped moving just after saying that and slowly turned toward the left.

"Maybe I should try the other towns?"

According to the information he got from the barbecue vendor, the dark zone had a total of five towns, the remaining four being larger than the one he had already visited.

The town closest to him at the moment was called Cinderfall and on the west of it just a few kilometers away was Grimstone which was known to have a more lively atmosphere.

"I just hope that information is accurate." He muttered, derailing off the road toward the right. His destination, Grimstone.