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nLooking through the missions in the book, he noticed that the easy missions were basically scouting missions with no hunting requirement. Some easy missions did ask for small beasts but the beasts were weaker than early-stage barons. Keith skipped all the easy missions and glanced at the medium missions.

nThe first one asked for a special viscount level beast and recommended to go in a group of three. Keith disregarded that and looked at the other missions.

n‘Best hunting… Beast subjugation…Scouting Ghouls at the edge of the blood forest.’ Keith’s eyes lit up as he saw the mission.

nIt asked for a thorough inspection of the outer territory of the academy’s border. The castle was in the middle of the territory and the blood forest stretched for miles. The border of the territory was guarded by the academy’s summons. The summoning department took charge of the task and kept their eyes on every dust particle near the border.

nStill, those summons were not that strong and once in a while a strong ghoul enters the territory and tries to attack the academy. The castle runes take care of all the attackers and turn them into dust.

nAs a way to train the hunters and scout the ghouls near the academy, some medium difficulty missions are given to the students. With this they can earn merit points and once stacked up, the academy gives the students a certain amount of bloodstone.

nKieth was delighted after knowing this. He was in dire need of blood-qi and what better way to increase it than use a bloodstone. But the bloodstones were very expensive. The students couldn’t buy them with blood coins and only the merit points could be exchanged for the bloodstones.

nA hunter had to complete 10 missions successfully or amass enough merit points by doing more missions if he didn’t reach the required amount for the bloodstones.

n‘I am going to hunt the ghouls anyway if I get a bloodstone on top of that..’

nThe bloodstone mentioned in the rewards is way smaller than the one Mr. Visit gave you?

nThe system spoke up after scanning the entire list.

n‘Huh! Really? How small compared to the one he gave me?” Keith asked.

n One-tenth. It will increase the blood-qi slightly. Although it is noticeable, it is not enough to satisfy our needs. For other vampires at the viscount stage, it is a great way to increase blood-qi as they don’t have the method to absorb and refine life essence.

n‘Then I will choose the ghoul scouting mission. If I encounter some high-level ghouls, I can level up my warrior frame.’

nAfter deciding to choose this mission, Keith informed the young receptionist.

n“You’re taking a medium-level mission that too for the ghoul scouting one. Man, you are really brave. Usually, most of the hunters skip this and choose to hunt beasts instead. Going to the border is very risky.” The young man warned Keith.

n“Is it? What can threaten the students inside the territory? Don’t tell me there is a colony of ghouls and they will attack us at once?” Keith mocked.

n“Hey! Don’t underestimate the ghouls. Have you ever fought one before? They are much stronger than a vampire of equal blood-qi. So if you encounter a viscount level ghoul, don’t think about engaging in battle with them.”

n“I am not underestimating the ghouls, but that doesn’t mean I blindly charge forward. I encountered and defeated a baron-level ghoul before attending the academy.” Keith said with a confident face.

n“Are you serious? You killed a ghoul baron while being at the early stage baron. Are you sure you didn’t use any artifacts, then…”

n“None, I only used my blood-qi and martial arts. My warrior frame was just created so it wasn’t as strong but it did help me get through the fight.” Keith explained the details.

n“As crazy as it sounds, I guess you are the most likely person to achieve that. After all the things you did in the academy, this doesn’t compare to the others.”

nKeith was surprised by this as the receptionist didn’t know who he was before.

n“I searched your name and found that you came first in the orientation and crossed the King layer of the judgement pillar briefly. You are a baron yet you have a viscount stage warrior frame. Now I understand how you managed to pass the test. You are the young genius everyone keeps talking about.”

nClosing the book with a clasp, he looked at Keith expecting a reply.

n“If that makes things easier, then why not? I am more than happy to let the entire academy know about my greatness.” Keith sighed and turned around.

n“Can I go alone for this mission or do I have to team up with others?” Keith asked.

n“You can choose to go alone if you like, but it is advised to go as a group. The dangers are significantly higher so it is always wise to keep some company. The other might be inside the waiting room. You can go right away or you can wait for all the other team members to join.”

n“I think I will pass. I don’t want to team up as I have some secrets I like to keep to myself.”

nInstead of going to the waiting room, Keith headed for the exit. The entrance of the academy was still miles away from the registration office. He thought about bringing Kenny with him but quickly discarded that idea.

nHe was still in the assimilation phase and taking him to such a dangerous place will surely disrupt his blood-qi flow. He needed more time to stabilize his blood-qi. Then Kieth can bring him along in future hunts.

nThinking that he headed straight to the entrance. The academy was a very tightly guarded castle and arguably the most secure castle on the continent. It was kind of obvious because the most talented, powerful future leaders came here to study and learn blood-qi techniques.

nThe academy housed some of the most powerful vampires present in the continent. Also, the most powerful blood ritualist was guarding the place and four deans who were the pinnacle of their field. Sure, there was no King level dean among the deans but they could match the strength of King-level with their blood-qi techniques.

nOne of them, the dean of the blood warrior department, Lucien was strong enough to defeat ordinary king-level vampires. He was the strongest under the king level.

nAt a place where these people gathered, it was bound to be secure. Especially, the rituals performed by the dean made sure not a single dust flew inside the campus without notice. The runes covered the entire castle and the sky above it. Even a bird will get registered if it flew too close to the building peaks. The only way to get out of the castle was the front gate, the entrance to the academy.

nKeith reached the entrance and showed the guards his hunter license. As they saw the rune card transformed into the license, they cleared Keith’s path. The runes were designed in such a way that they followed the cards wherever they went. So Keith going outside was also registered in real time as he stepped outside the campus.

nHe walked straight ahead on the stone road and remembered the direction he was supposed to go. According to the map, the border he was supposed to scout was 15 miles left to the entrance of the academy. He turned left and headed straight to the border.

nBack at the registration office, three vampires were arguing with the receptionist.

n“How could you let him go? A hunter who just got their license. We were supposed to go together after meeting here. It says her in the description.” One vampire said.

n“That is an option and the members are free to go alone if they like. I warned him before he left, but he didn’t listen. You can’t blame me.” The receptionist defended himself.

n” Still, he is wrong to just leave us here. He might not think about our lives, but moving as a team would’ve helped us. One less member means more responsibility for others. If I find his corpse, I won’t bring him here.”

n“You’re right… I will personally kill him if he’s alive. Talk about respecting seniors. We are fourth years and a third-year dared to disrespect us with no regard. He didn’t even notify us about his departure.” Another vampire said.

n“Actually…he is a…” The receptionist was trying to correct them but the lady vampire in the middle cut him short.

n“Stop blabbering you two, we need to hurry up and catch up to him. He might still be reachable. Rather than wasting our time here with useless words, we need to catch up to him.”

nThe lady vampire looked to be in her early thirties with a plump figure. She was half the size of the other two vampires. Her skin was really pale to the point it resembled ash. Still, his face was so symmetric, combined with her straight black hair and crimson eyes, she looked almost ethereal.

n“Miss. Clement, you are indeed wise. Wasting time here will achieve nothing.” The receptionist praised her.

nIn response, she didn’t show any expression and only squinted her eyes. The receptionist looked away awkwardly.

nShe turned around and made her way out of the office. Following the same path as Keith, the trio quickly got out of the entrance and moved in the direction described on the map.

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