Edward was disturbed by this revelation, but that didn’t stop him to traverse the ruins. He had to retrieve Adrien’s remains, and moreover, he was in an already explored part of the ruins. This area should be free from unknown dangers, the only thing to be careful about was the Bloodmaws. But at this point in time, Edward couldn’t be more familiar with them, and he knew what to expect of them.

He continued in the corridor unimpeded, only encountering a single wandering Bloodmaw, which he avoided by hiding in adjacent rooms. Things became more difficult when he reached the bridge separating the two parts of the complex. He was completely exposed and there were no places to hide. Moreover, the bridge was overhanging a vast open area. Even with all the Bloodmaws they had killed, even adding the Bloodmaws which wandered somewhere else in the forest, there were still several dozens of them lingering nearby.

It wasn’t a force that Edward could fight, but he didn’t need to fight them to go through the ruins. Edward didn’t stop and dashed across the bridge. His speed had noticeably improved compared to the last time he crossed it. He could feel the power coursing through him, as his stride was getting larger, and his speed faster. He was so fast that his own momentum was pushing him, even if he wanted to, he would need a few meters to stop himself. By the time the monsters noticed him and reacted, roaring in anger, he had already reached the middle of the bridge.

The Bloodmaws launched themselves into a hunt after him but it was already too late. Edward was now reaching the end of the bridge and the Bloodmaws were still under it, only beginning to climb the stairs to reach the upper layer where Edward was running. The danger wasn’t really coming from them, but from other Bloodmaws further away which were attracted by all that noise, and that would risk blocking the way.

They didn’t have to chase after Edward since they were already on his path, it was instead Edward who was running directly toward them. It was a situation that he had already encountered and he had the perfect counter for it. When he encountered the first Bloodmaw who was blocking the whole corridor in front of him due to its size, Edward didn’t hesitate and teleported past it in practice ease, not even slowing down in the process.

It was instead the monsters who were surprised by the teleportation and who took a few seconds to process where their prey had disappeared too, letting Edward a comforting lead on them.

In such chases there was always the risk to end up at a dead end, that was why Edward was very nervous the first time he treaded in the ruins. But now, he knew a teleportation room was waiting ahead, it was a clean way to escape and the Bloodmaws would be unable to continue to chase after him.

With his previous experience and with all this knowledge, Edward wasn’t particularly nervous even though he was chased by dangerous monsters. Instead, he felt almost relaxed, as if this was where he was supposed to be.

He reached the teleportation room to Shele Nalore without much difficulty. However, even though he had a lead on the monsters after him, he didn’t have enough time to stop and pick up Adrien’s remains. I can’t stop while the Bloodmaws are after me. I will use the teleportation from the chamber, wait a day for the situation to calm down, and come back to pick you up my friend. You will be a lot better in Shele Nalore than in some damp ruins.

Edward put his hand on the teleportation mural and his whole awareness was transported in a whirlwind of kaleidoscopic lights. He appeared on the other side directly on his feet. The lights are still disorientating, but this time I didn’t get any headache and I somehow feel as if the process isn’t as debilitating as last time. I must have improved one way or another, I did kill quite a few Bloodmaws after all.

Edward wasn’t feeling tired even after being chased by the Bloodmaws. On the contrary, the chase had somewhat frustrated him, although the monsters were still a danger to him, he had handled them perfectly. He didn’t even risk getting cornered during the chase, instead, it was the Bloodmaws who had some trouble adjusting to his trajectory. In the corridor, he even chose to evade single Bloodmaws to avoid getting surrounded when he would have been able to kill them without a worry in a one-on-one fight. All that made him feel as if he ate an appetizer without getting the main meal.

The effort had energized him enough that he didn’t feel like sleeping or meditating, but not enough to make him feel tired. I feel like I did a warm-up only for the game to be canceled. Now, that I think about it, I could check how the Teleportcrows are doing. It has been a long time since I have been in this area, and things should have calmed down. I feel like Teleportcrows are just the level of monsters I’m after to unwind.

Edward left the base, climbing the stairs until he reached the open air. He stepped out, admiring the view from the mountain’s scree where he was standing. Night had already fallen while he was running around in the ruins, the stars and the two moons were clearly visible in the night’s sky. As Teleportcrows only came at night, it was the perfect time to hunt them. The luminosity was enough that he didn’t need to rely on his aura to find his path. He took a deep breath of fresh air. This is it. This is how life should be. Edward climbed down the mountain with a feeling of righteousness, things were how they should be.

He stopped when he reached the edge of the forest. Its collective aura was feeling somewhat distressed as if something was going on that wasn’t supposed to be. The change was startling compared to the first time he came here when the forest aura was only emanating life and vitality.

Something is wrong. It does seem as if the disturbance that happened when I left wasn’t only due to me blasting my aura. It’s fine I guess, I’m only staying for tonight and I will stay at the forest’s edge. I will keep that in mind though. This might be worth investigating what is causing this, but not at my level. If there are wyrm-level creatures in this forest, whatever is happening to them is not something that I will be able to deal with. Let’s leave it aside for now and just enjoy the hunt.

Edward delved in, he didn’t have to go far before he encountered his first Teleportcrow. The monster stared at him silently before appearing right in front of him. That might have scared Edward if he didn’t know the monster's behavior, but that wasn’t the case anymore. With both his aura and his attuned senses toward space alteration due to his teleporting power, he was able to predict where the monster would teleport to.

The Teleportcrow had just appeared when it was immediately killed by a single thrust from Edward’s dagger. It dissipated in a dark cloud of dust at the same time as a feeble stream of energy entered Edward. Compared to what he drained from Bloodmaws, this amount of energy was negligible.

He waited patiently for more of them to appear, those monsters weren’t noisy like the Bloodmaws but they clearly had a way to sense each other. In a few minutes, more of them came after Edward.

He was able to kill the first few, in the same manner, waiting for them to come to him, and finishing them in one move. But as their number grew, he soon found himself surrounded by several monsters attacking him at the same time. He had no choice but to teleport away to win a small respite.

Those monsters rely on two assets. First, they are silent and they can teleport, enabling them to engage you by surprise, even killing you before you can react if you are unlucky. This is not applying to me since I can sense them both with my aura and my space perception.

Their second strong point is their group attack. Their bite can bypass armor, everything they bite directly disappears from their mouth or stomach. When you have several of them attacking you, you have no choice but to fall back, which isn’t really effective against monsters that can teleport.

However, I also know their weaknesses. They are very frail, I’m able to kill them in one hit. And. Edward’s smile grew wicked. They are way too static. They rely only on their teleportation to get close to their opponent. I will gladly take advantage of this habit of theirs.

More Teleportcrows appeared next to him, as his teleportation was still in cool down. Relying on teleportation against them was a very bad idea, as they could do the same, and they had a clear superiority when it came to numbers.

Edward started to move, a dagger in each hand. He jabbed swiftly at the nearest monster while shifting to the right with a side step, effectively killing one while avoiding the other. More and more of them were coming and Edward had to stay in continuous movement, never stopping for an instant. His physical capacity was already slightly above what was possible for a human, even for a specialist in his category. The Teleportcrows were able to appear instantly near him but they were somewhat stiff and weren’t able to follow him as he was weaving through their group.

Edward was like the grim ripper in this situation, killing an opponent with each blow, never stopping and eluding his enemies. At one point, the density of monsters grew so important that he had no space left to avoid them. He was killing them fast, but they were coming quickly as well, even faster than he was able to slay them.

Their number certainly grew compared to last time. Edward teleported away, not on the forest floor, but on a tree, using a dagger to jab in the trunk to get a hold. The monsters could teleport but they had no way to stop in midair nor to fly, they weren’t able to attack him in his position. They could have if they had decided to teleport directly onto him, but that didn’t seem to be in their mindset.

Edward broke into a laugh as the monsters were watching him, looking somewhat uncertain and disappointed even though it was hard to tell, given that they had no facial features.

He stopped laughing when he realized that they were not leaving and that more of them were still coming. Already a small crowd had accumulated under the tree he was resting on. “Well, that was fun while it lasted, time to clear out. See you later losers!” he shouted before teleporting away.

The monsters were able to sense his teleportation and immediately followed him. The scene made for a strange chase. Edward was running and teleporting, keeping his momentum and accelerating until he reached his maximum speed. The Teleportcrows were teleporting after him without noise. Dozens of them were following him, teleporting to his position, too slow to intercept him, standing in place, and teleporting again to his next position, never running in the process. It was almost as if Edward was able to produce strange black shapes silhouettes as after images of him while he was running.

Since he didn’t go deep into the forest, he was able to get out easily without having to stop to fight them. A part of the group continued to follow him even after he was outside of the forest, the rest deciding to stay under the trees canopy. But this time, there weren’t more Teleportcrows coming as reinforcement to chase him.

Once he was far enough to be sure no more of them would get involved in the fight from the forest, Edward stopped with a grin. “You lot really don’t know when to stop. Don’t mistake me leaving for a weakness.” As one could have expected, the monsters didn’t listen and engaged him directly.

Edward began anew his dance of death. Avoiding a bite here, dagger punching an opponent there, it was more practice with teleporting dummies following him than a real fight. Growing more confident as the fight went on, he even used a Teleportcrow as a stepping stone, jumping from his face to avoid an attack from its congeners and to retaliate.

Before long, he was the only one left standing, with a persistent cloud of particles slowly dissipating around him.