Edward continued to run, rushing towards the door marking the exit of the library in a last attempt to throw off the Bloodmaws chasing him. They were right after him, Edward`s aura perception told him how close they were without the need for him to glance back. However, the library exit was similarly very close to him and getting closer by the moment.

　　Twenty meters... ten meters& The closest Bloodmaw behind him pounced to pin him down, Edward didn`t wait to physically reach the door, he was already close enough. He teleported behind it, the door being barely within his teleportation range. The monster which had jumped toward him fell on empty air just where Edward had been a moment before. The Bloodmaw couldn`t stop its momentum and it crashed against the stone door with a loud thud. The others ended their run in the same way, crashing against each other, the door shaking continuously from the different impacts.

　　Edward didn`t wait for the door to fail him, quickly climbing the stairs, he teleported once again, passing the door upstairs. He was back in the refectory with a big rectangular table in the middle of the room.

　　The doors won`t hold them for long, I have to get out of here.

　　The library had been lightened by the red lights, but here, there was no power left, it was pure darkness. Thankfully for Edward, he was still able to perceive his environment thanks to his aura.

　　They shouldn`t be able to see me in the dark, and if I suppress my aura, they will have difficulties pinpointing my location. But at the same time if I conceal my aura, I won`t be able to use my aura perception, which means I will be blind as well. Nope hiding here sounds like a bad idea.

　　He heard a loud crash coming from below, the Bloodmaws had managed to break the first door already.

　　No time to lose. Let`s get out of there.

　　Edward didn`t lose another moment and teleported on the table to avoid potential runes traps engraved on the walls.

　　When our expedition entered the ruins there were some traps made with runes engraved on the walls. Now, that I know that there are bloodthirsty monsters inside, I`m starting to wonder if those runes were meant more to prevent the monsters from getting out rather than to keep intruders from getting in.

　　Edward leaped from the table, and dashed in the last corridor before the exit, quickly reaching the entrance hall, dim light coming in from the outside. It was still nighttime.

　　I didn`t consider that I would cross those ruins so fast. I thought I would need more time to sneak past the monsters. But there are too many of them and there are not enough hideouts in the ruins, instead, I had to run as fast as possible to escape. And now, it`s still nighttime. Shit! This is just what I wanted to avoid.

　　Edward erupted out of Oshle Tirion, he was now inside the Vipin Forest, he had managed to leave the ruins behind him. However, he didn`t stop there and he continued to run for a hundred meters before slowing down.

　　The Bloodmaws have lost sight of me, but the few doors separating them from the exit won`t be enough to stop them. If I continue to run blindly, I risk running into other monsters or for the Bloodmaws to catch up to me. I need to hide. They won`t be able to find me if I conceal my aura.

　　Edward looked around him.

　　There are not enough leaves here to hide on the ground, and it would be a bad idea with monsters running everywhere. They could simply stumble on me by pure chance.

　　He looked at the majestic trees surrounding him.

　　I guess it`s climbing time, but now I have a cheat.

　　Edward walked to the closest tree before teleporting upward for ten meters, holding the trunk with his arms and legs to avoid falling down. He was strong enough that this task wasn`t especially difficult for him. He did it another time, ending up twenty meters above the ground within a handful of seconds, hidden by the tree foliage. This would hide him from anything looking in his direction from below.

　　Teleportation is such a versatile power. It`s not the first time it is saving the day.

　　Edward looked at the two moons and the myriad of stars in the sky.

　　Or rather saving the night, I guess.

　　He didn`t move and stayed in his hideout to avoid the Bloodmaws that would be sure to come after him.

　　He didn`t have to wait for long, soon enough he heard noises coming from the ruins, the Bloodmaws had destroyed the last doors keeping them locked from the outside world, they were now free to roam wherever they wanted.

　　Shit, they are really leaving the ruins to come after me! What have I done once again?

　　Edward watched what was happening but didn`t dare to use his aura for fear of revealing his location. Though even without his aura perception he could still see auras with naked eyes, which helped him to find the monsters coming closer. Several groups of Bloodmaws walked under his hiding place without spotting him.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author`s consent. Report any sightings.

　　At least, my plan is working, they are not able to find me.

　　Edward waited longer, more Bloodmaws continued to leave the ruins and roam in the vicinity but less than what he had feared. Some even walked back in the ruins` direction.

　　Okay, this could have been worst. They didn`t all leave the ruins to chase me. Only the one closest to me should have come outside. If there are only several dozens of them, the amount is still manageable. I planned to kill all of them in the first place.

　　The fact that they are on the outside actually works in my favor. Now I should be able to isolate them and fight them one by one instead of having to deal with a whole group all at once.

　　In the ruins their density was too high, any fight would have attracted other Bloodmaws before I could kill the first ones. I still have to warn the village however, they won`t like that I just released a new kind of monster in their vicinity.

　　Edward winced at the thought.

　　How should I proceed? They are still Bloodmaws roaming around, and the night hasn`t ended yet. If I leave my hideout, I could encounter dark wolves as well.

　　Actually, I wonder how the local monsters and the Bloodmaws will interact with each other. If they could fight, both sides weakening themselves that would be great, but I doubt it will be that simple. Several Bloodmaws together is not something a simple pack of dark wolves can take head-on. That Regal wolf is another story though, it could probably kill a Bloodmaw in a one-on-one. But right now, my priority is to get out of there while avoiding another fight, I don`t want to attract more Bloodmaws out of the ruins.

　　Edward looked around him, the foliage of the tree was hiding him, but it was also hampering his vision, however he was still able to see the other trees in the vicinity.

　　I don`t even have to go back to the ground to escape from there.

　　Edward let go of the tree trunk to climb on a nearby branch, he progressed on all four along the branch.

　　It`s not the coolest position, but it is doing the job.

　　Advancing forward this way, he soon came within ten meters from the closest neighbor tree. Edward relied on his power once more, teleporting to the next tree. This way, he was able to move from tree to tree without risking being spotted by the monsters below him.

　　This was slower than running on the ground but it was a lot safer. Edward was also pretty sure that it was equally faster in the long run because he would avoid potential fights this way. While he was progressing in this fashion, he heard several roars. He wasn`t sure if it meant monsters were fighting each other or simply hunting prey.

　　It took several hours before Edward made it back to the path crossing the Vipin Forest. By then the sun was beginning to rise, the sky turning to shades of pink and red.

　　I made it. I crossed through those monsters` infested ruins and came out alive.

　　Edward stopped, chuckling to himself. He had spent almost the whole time within Oshle Tirion being chased by a group of monsters that had quickly turned into a horde. If they had been able to corner him, Edward would have ended devoured alive.

　　Even when he had finally made it out of the ruins, the Bloodmaws had continued to run after him. He had to hide in the trees and didn`t even dare to come back to the ground, scared that he would be forced into a fight and attract more monsters from the ruins.

　　It was only now that he was back on the path, which was supposed to be somewhat safe, monsters from the forest avoiding that area, that he dared to relax, the tension leaving him. Edward shook his head to regain his bearing.

　　I`m not out of the woods yet. The most difficult part is done but I shouldn`t relax too much yet. God, I can`t wait to come back to the village. I wouldn`t say no to a hot bath. I need to warn them of this new danger as well. It`s not like Agripin`s inhabitants often go inside Vipin Forest, but it is best if they stay in the village until I at least clear the surroundings of Bloodmaws.

　　When the expedition set off, we took two days of walking to reach this point. I don`t want to spend another night in the forest if I can avoid it. We couldn`t move fast with the expedition because we had food and material to carry, and the carriers were only normal people.

　　I`m an Awaken now, my body can take much more punishlent. I am much more resilient now, even continuous push-ups are not enough to get me tired. I should be able to jog for a long period of time without getting exhausted.

　　The sun is only rising up, if I want to avoid spending a night in the forest, it means I will have to do the trip within one day, which means going twice as fast as the expedition. A jog is fast enough, I just need to keep my pace without stopping. I will need to run for something like seven, or eight hours, it seems doable.

　　Edward started to run, following the path, he even had the leisure to search in his backpack to nibble at a mushroom from time to time. However, he refrained to use his teleportation, saving it for an eventual ambush. Additionally, it was more of a marathon than a sprint. Edward had to be fast, but in the long run. With his current range teleporting a few times wouldn`t necessarily be that effective to travel on a long distance, and successive teleportation were tiring as well. Edward would take the risk to exhaust himself if he abused from his teleportation.

　　After running for only twenty minutes, Edward spotted tracks crossing from one side of the forest to the other without any care about the path. He slowed down to examine the tracks.

　　I`m not an expert, but those claw marks remind me a lot of the Bloodmaws. Adrien told me beasts disliked this path, choosing to avoid it. For whatever reason, it seems it doesn`t apply to Bloodmaws. This is bad, in practice it means the path is too dangerous for anyone below the Awaken level, which means everybody except Caspian, Balin and me.

　　What a mess! I`ll need to come back to kill the Bloodmaws to correct my mistakes. I`m the one who brought them out. I can`t let the situation stay like this. I didn`t expect them to go this far either, some must have gone further in the forest while I was hiding in the trees.

　　The problem will be how to kill the Bloodmaws without more of them coming out of the ruins. I`ll need to think about that. Maybe I could collapse the entrance or something? But then I won`t be able to reach the library anymore. And I know all those books in the library are priceless and could save my life several times over if I manage to learn their knowledge. I will need to find another solution.

　　Edward continued to run, leaving the Bloodmaws tracks behind him. Even after a few hours, he didn`t encounter other tracks.

　　At least it seems they haven`t got farther than this point. The situation may still be manageable.