Edward had an agitated night, he dreamed he was pursued by zombies from all sides. Not able to throw them off he ended up climbing on the roof of a building to escape from them.

　　That nightmare is definitely the fault of those Teleportcrows. Being pursued is really a bad feeling. It`s like not having any choice but to flee away, and knowing that if the ones behind you catch up, you will end up dead.

　　I wish I had a power with an area of attack. This way I wouldn`t have to run away, be it Teleportcrows or zombies I would be able to slay them all.

　　Though teleporting is nice too, I bet they didn`t expect that I would teleport above them when they saw me stumble and fall. Somehow, I feel like this trick will be useful in the future.

　　Edward harvested some mushrooms for breakfast, once more noticing their decreasing number.

　　I have to make a decision today. I won`t be able to sustain like that for very long. I need to either go back to Agripin, crossing through the Bloodmaws-infested ruins, or find another source of food.

　　The ruins in Oshle Tirion are dangerous but so is this forest right now. If there are these many Teleportcrows just at the edge of the forest, I won`t be able to delve very far into it. I could still go inside during the day when there are no Teleportcrows around, but that won`t lead me anywhere. I need to kill monsters to grow stronger.

　　During the day, the forest is safe but there are no monsters either. Well, there was that stupid acid beetle but its territory is too far away, if I go over there, I won`t be able to leave the forest before the night.

　　I guess my exploration is at a stopping point. I can`t go exploring at night, and if I want to go deeper inside during the day, I won`t be able to come back before the night. I want to explore the forest I would need to find a safe place to spend the night inside the woods. Right now, I can`t go further away than one day of travel from my camp. That suck.

　　I wanted to improve my skills before risking going through Oshle Tirion, but I think I have managed this objective with my last fight against the Teleportcrows. I won`t be able to improve my skills further in the short term. And since I don`t have much food either, I only have one choice, I need to risk it, cross through Oshle Tirion and come back to Agripin.

　　I hope they will accept me back. They must be thinking that I`m dead by now. It has been what, three weeks?

　　At least I will be able to bring closure to the villagers who lost a loved one. Having someone close to you disappear, not knowing if they are dead or alive must be the worst.

　　I need to prepare, it will be quick since I don`t have many things with me, but I need to at least have a stock of food for a few days. Should I also take the two books about auras with me? They could have some value, but I`m the only one who is able to read them since they are written in the Damkinan language.

　　Forget it, it`s better to leave them here, I could lose them or they could get damaged in a fight. Moreover, I don`t know how rare they are, if they are rare but still not too uncommon, I could sell them to a specialist. But if they are very rarely found and have a lot of value, it could bring me trouble instead. I`m an Awaken but even if I don`t know what they are called I know there are other levels above me, I don`t want to paint a target on my back.

　　After I cross through Oshle Tirion, I will also need to go through the Vipin Forest. With how much I have improved, even if I encounter a pack of black wolves, I should be fine. However, I don`t think I can prevail against a Regal wolf, nor against whatever creature made it flee away. It will be safer if I can go through the forest during the day. This means I may have to wait for some time within the ruins, waiting for the day to come.

　　I hope those monsters didn`t destroy all the doors. The door to the library was closed when the power shut down. Since I can now teleport behind walls, I should be safe once I teleport behind it, at least if I don`t get spotted. And if I do get spotted, it will give a few moments of delay before I have to run for my life.

　　Edward waited for the middle of the night before leaving for Oshle Tirion. Back then the expedition had taken one day of travel to reach the ruins from the path crossing through the Vipin Forest.

　　Adrien and Edward hadn`t had to explore that long in Oshle Tirion before finding the teleportation mural to Shele Nalore. It shouldn`t take that much time either for Edward on the way back. The main risk was if he got spotted by the Bloodmaws and had to flee or hide to save himself.

　　By leaving in the middle of the night, estimating he would take only a few hours to travel through Oshle Tirion, Edward thought he would leave the ruins right as the sun began to rise. This way, even if he wasn`t able to find a secure location to hide in Oshle Tirion, he would be able to travel through the Vipin Forest during daytime.

　　Edward stopped in front of the teleportation mural leading to Oshle Tirion. He looked behind him one last time, contemplating the place where had spent the last several weeks, before taking a deep breath and pressing his hand against the fresco.

　　Once more, he felt something being drained from him, before being surrounded by kaleidoscopic lights and appearing in Oshle Tirion subterranean complex. This time Edward was able to cope relatively better with the teleportation. He was stronger than before and he himself was able to teleport as well, which allowed him to land on his feet instead of crashing face first on the floor.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

　　Uggh, I will never get used to this. I never get those kinds of kaleidoscopic light when I`m teleporting. How far is this place from Shele Nalore exactly?

　　Edward looked around him and stopped his breathing, he immediately suppressed his aura. There was a Bloodmaw currently resting only a few meters from him. It was staying here with its head resting on its front paws, its chest slowly rising and falling. It was blocking most of the corridor with its sheer size.

　　With how many of those things are in there I guess it`s not a surprise that I`m meeting one when I barely reached this place.

　　After seeing the Bloodmaw, Edward also noticed human bones laying scattered and broken inside the room. He gritted his teeth, struggling to control his aura, anger seething inside of him.

　　Adrien&I will avenge you&soon&very soon. Once I leave these ruins, I will come back to kill all of those beasts, one by one until none are remaining. I won`t let your death be in vain.

　　I will come back to take your remains and dig you a proper tomb, so that you can rest in peace.

　　Edward shook his head to refocus on the present, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. He had to concentrate, anger wouldn`t help him right now, he needed to stay discreet. He couldn`t fight all of those monsters head-on.

　　Near Adrien`s remains, he also noticed a dagger just like his, it was the second dagger that he had lent to him back then. Edward bent to pick it up.

　　You were right, at our level back then, those weapons weren`t enough to fight with those monsters. But now that I am an Awaken this is another story.

　　The dagger set was complete again, the daggers had never meant to be used separately in the first place. They were designed so that the holder could close his fist around the dagger, the blade an extension of one`s fist. Fighting with only one dagger, was like fighting with one arm tied behind your back.

　　Since the monster at the entrance of the corridor was too big, Edward didn`t have much space to go around it. To avoid disturbing it, he chose to teleport past it.

　　After teleporting Edward looked behind him, the Bloodmaw was still resting, not reacting to the teleportation.

　　Good. Edward thought before continuing onward.

　　Right now, he was in a corridor with different set of stairs leading further down inside the ruins. There weren`t other Bloodmaws inside the corridor for the moment.

　　Edward advanced at a jogging pace. He was exposed in this corridor and there were no rooms to hide into, he wanted to spend the least amount of time possible here. However, he didn`t want to make too much noise either, so he refrained from breaking in a run at full speed.

　　It would be better once he crossed the bridge, the corridor on the other side did have different rooms where he would be able to hide. He wouldn`t even have to open the doors, being able to teleport directly inside. But before that, Edward had to leave this corridor and he also had the bridge to cross over&This would be the most dangerous part. Edward couldn`t help but shuddered as he remembered the hundreds of pods the Bloodmaws had come from.

　　While he was thinking about what would come next, he spotted another Bloodmaw further away in the corridor. This one was awake and jerked his head towards Edward, noticing his presence. Before the Bloodmaw had the time to react further, Edward teleported backward on a set of stairs that he had just gone past. The stairs were perpendicular to the corridor, so he was now out of sight from the Bloodmaw.

　　Shit, I think it saw me.

　　The Bloodmaw shook its head in a confused manner, trying to understand where the shape he saw one second ago had disappeared. He approached closer to investigate this strange phenomenon. As he was getting nearby, Edward was able to sense it with his aura perception.

　　Okay, at least it didn`t roar yet. It still seems more confused than anything else.

　　Edward waited for the Bloodmaw to go as close as possible without being seen.

　　Ten meters&eight meters&three meters. Let`s go!

　　Since the Bloodmaw was less than ten meters away, Edward was able to teleport behind it without being noticed. Instead of running which would make some noise, Edward teleported a few more times until he reached the next set of stairs that would hide him from the corridor. He checked on the monster with his aura perception, watching it turning in circles wondering where Edward had gone. After a few moments, the monster chose to give up, and to continue on his way, moving away from Edward`s hiding place.

　　Phew, that was close. I didn`t go far yet, but I already encountered two of those monsters, but with all of their numbers, it`s not that surprising. This complex must be quite large, otherwise, this corridor would be packed with Bloodmaws. There were just that many of them running after us back then.

　　Edward continued his progression in the corridor with the same method, occasionally hiding in the stairs to avoid a Bloodmaw standing in the way. This corridor was quite long, he hadn`t spent much time in it when he had fled with Adrien, but that was because they had been running as fast as they could. Right now, stealth was more important for Edward than speed and he was taking a lot more time to cross the same distance.

　　Edward was able to progress for a good length of the corridor this way, avoiding the lone Bloodmaws standing in his way.

　　As there was once more a Bloodmaw in the aisle, Edward teleported to the nearest stairs that he had passed by. The monster had seen him for a brief instant, but it was too short for the beast to process it. The Bloodmaw instead walked closer to inspect what had happened. Edward waited for the monster to come close enough so that he could teleport behind it.

　　This is more difficult than I expected. I`m lucky that I got this teleportation power, there is no way I would have been able to sneak past them otherwise.

　　Once the monster was nearby, Edward teleported behind it to scurry to the next stairs before the monsters could turn back. When he was about to reach the stairs, Edward noticed thanks to his aura than another Bloodmaw was coming from the stairs he was heading into. Edward froze.

　　Fuck! I almost teleported right in front of it by reflex.

　　He took a glance behind him. The other monster was already turning in his direction.

　　Shit, my infiltration is busted. There is nothing to do but to run now.

　　Edward teleported after the stairs junction to avoid the Bloodmaw coming in from the stairs and then sprinted as fast as possible.

　　He kept his teleportation in reserve for now. He had a slight delay between each teleportation and he preferred to save it to avoid an attack rather than to gain a few meters of lead. Especially when other Bloodmaws were as much likely to come from the front than from behind him.

　　The Bloodmaw in the aisle, behind Edward, had finally turned, and roared in anger, realizing that it hadn`t dreamed and that the prey he had seen earlier was trying to escape. His roar was answered by countless more, coming from everywhere in the ruins.

　　Here it comes. I have a feeling of Deja Vu though.