Once Edward got ready, Caspian and him headed toward the Vipin Forest, leaving Agripin behind them, as the sun was only beginning to rise.

　　"How can you be so energetic straight from the morning with only this much sleep?" Edward complained.

　　"It`s not me who is an early riser, it`s you who is lazy. And what do you mean by this much sleep only? Do you think you are still an ordinary person? You are already an Awaken, how much sleep do you need? Didn`t you notice that your body needed less sleep now that you have broken through to the Awaken stage?" Caspian berated him.

　　What?! No way, does this mean the more powerful you become, the more time you spend working? I don`t want to give up my sleep. Edward thought, not realizing that usually the more powerful you became, the more you made people work for you rather than working yourself. In this case, less sleep didn`t mean more work, but rather more free time.

　　Seeing his disappointed face, Caspian burst out laughing. "It`s the first time I`m meeting someone who is sad to reach the Awaken stage because he will get less sleep. If it can improve your mood, and if you have not noticed already, the further you increase in rank, the sturdier your body becomes. It is said in legends that at high levels people can go for months without even a drop of water nor any food."

　　My body did get more resilient. Some tasks used to be exhausting, but now I can complete them without breaking a sweat. I didn`t notice the food part until now though.

　　"That`s good to know," Edward answered, still a little vexed by being deprived of his rightful sleep.

　　Once they entered the forest, they stopped talking and grew more focused. It would be surprising to encounter a monster while on the forest path, but this wasn`t impossible. Bloodmaws didn`t seem to care about the path. Even if Oshle Tirion was still far, and the Bloodmaws shouldn`t have reached the outskirts of the forest yet, it wasn`t a reason to relax.

　　Just like how Edward had done on his way back to Agripin, they both settled on a jogging pace. Their body could take it, and if they didn`t want to spend a night camping in the forest, they had no time to lose.

　　****

　　Caspian was the first one to notice movement. They both had their aura perception in use but Caspian`s reach extended past Edward`s one.

　　"Monster incoming from the left!" Caspian shouted, realizing that the monster had already noticed them and was coming towards them. Since they were in the middle of the path, they had no cover and were particularly visible.

　　The monster was soon within reach of Edward`s aura perception too. "It`s a Bloodmaw. Be careful, they are tough and they pack quite a punch." He warned Caspian.

　　"Acknowledged. I would have been more surprised if it hadn`t been a Bloodmaw. A monster attacking us while we are in the path in broad daylight. That`s not something monsters living around here tend to do."

　　"Yes, but we are still some distance away from the ruins. I didn`t expect to encounter one of them so far from Oshle Tirion." Edward answered him.

　　The Bloodmaw left the cover of the trees, its frightening appearance in full display. A red-purple buffalo-sized beast stood before them. The second thing one noticed after its size and color, was its gaping maw, full of teeth where its face should be. Around the maw, a circle of small beady eyes was watching them with hunger.

　　"Not the prettiest one I have met," Caspian said laconically, drawing his sword while Edward was taking out his daggers.

　　The Bloodmaw charged at them, its forearms bulging with muscles. Caspian didn`t stay put, his own form suddenly bulging with muscles as well, his arms and legs almost doubling in volume while Edward was gaping in shock at the change. Caspian raised his sword in front of him to block the beast, taking the full brunt of the charge. He slid for a few meters, leaving shallow trenches in the soil.

　　However, it did manage to stop the Bloodmaw in its tracks. Even the monster itself seemed to have been shocked by what had happened, needing some time to process the information. It was the first time in its short existence that it met something able to stop it.

　　I have my strong points. You don`t say. Edward thought.

　　Caspian was standing in front of the monster with a big feral grin on his face. He raised his sword in a two-handed stance, his aura surrounding the blade, before striking at the beast with a large downward swing. A dark splash of blood was projected on the ground, while a large gash appeared on the Bloodmaw`s left forearm. Before the beast had the chance to regain its bearing, Edward who was located behind Caspian, jumped and teleported on top of it, effectively riding the Bloodmaw astride. He struck several times with his daggers, wrapping his blades with his aura, enhancing them so that they could pierce through the thick hide of the monster.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

　　With the first hit, the blade created a narrow but deep cut into the monster`s flesh, inflicted a first wound. As he was drawing the blade back, the runes on its surface glowed in the blue shade of Edward`s aura. Edward felt a stream of energy flow inside of him, time slowing down around him. Just like the first time he had managed to wound a Bloodmaw, everything moved in slow motion, him included.

　　What is going on? It feels just like the first time in the ruins when I discovered the teleportation fresco. I absorbed something from the Bloodmaw thanks to my blade and time slowed down dramatically. Is it one of their powers? Am I absorbing their power? Just like I managed to get the teleportation power from the Teleportcrows? But somehow, I don`t feel like this energy is making me stronger. I didn`t feel it feed my body. And the Bloodmaw themselves don`t seem to have extraordinary reflexes either. They are fast and strong, and they can take a beating but they are not that nimble. I don`t think they are seeing the world in slow motion. Something else is at play here.

　　The effect didn`t last as long as the first time, but each time Edward was plunging and withdrawing his blades, absorbing energy from the monster, the slow-down effect took place.

　　Uggh, this is disgusting. Normally when you are wounding a monster it is supposed to look cool. But I`m just watching my blades piercing flesh again and again in slow motion. It feels like trying to cut an especially robust piece of meat, except with blood splashing out of it.

　　The advantage of the slow-down time was that it gave more time for Edward to process anything going on in the fight. That`s how he realized that the monster was shifting his muscles, probably preparing for a big move. He teleported farther away before the Bloodmaw could throw him out of the way.

　　The monster shook vigorously trying to shake off Edward, before realizing that the latter was already gone. He then roared in pain and anger. Caspian and Edward looked worriedly at each other.

　　"We have no time. Let`s finish it and run away from this spot. We can`t let him attract other monsters." Caspian told Edward, the latter replying with a head nod.

　　The Bloodmaw was visibly shaken, not expecting the two puny mammals in front of hit to be so tough and to seriously injure it on top of that. The monster charged once more at them, furious and determined to trample them both for good.

　　This time, Caspian took a side step, avoiding the charge and slicing at the beast`s flank while it was passing by. Edward teleported behind it, but he was too slow and the monster was already out of reach before he could deal a blow against it.

　　The monster turned to face them and aimed another charge at them, a blood trail was visible on its passage. The Bloodmaw was already severely wounded, bleeding from a long gash on one of its arms, one on its right flank, and from several stabs on its back. However, it was still not done yet, even with all of those injuries, it was still ready to fight.

　　"This shit is resilient. If we had time, we could bleed it to death. But with its friends probably coming, we will have to take some risks. It`s able to tank our blows thanks to its size. We should aim for a weak point. Try to target the head if you can." Caspian advised Edward.

　　He is right. With those levels of injuries, a dark wolf would already be left for dead, and a Teleportcrow would have died before even getting this much damage. Attacking its head should be the fastest way to kill it.

　　This time, Edward didn`t wait for the monster to charge and with a risky move he teleported proactively on the Bloodmaw shoulders, just above its front arms. Once in place, he swiftly jabbed at the monster`s head before it could react. The blades penetrated deeply into the monster`s skull, killing it for good. Edward felt a massive gush of energy rush in his body from the blade. Time slow down once again, on this occasion he felt that some of the energy went into his body to enhance it, but he was still unable to track down the vast majority of it, not knowing where it went.

　　The monster corpse didn`t dissipate into dust like the Teleportcrows, instead, it stayed there, bleeding massively from all of its injuries. Edward could sense that there was still a lot of energy left inside the corpse.

　　Caspian looked at all the blood seeping into the ground. "What a waste, usually this would have been a massive trove, but we don`t have the time to harvest all the blood. It`s a shame with such a huge beast it would have been enough for several people."

　　I`m lucky that my daggers can absorb their blood without me having to do anything.

　　"We should go into the underwood, we can`t stay on the path, we are visible and it`s not acting as a deterrent for the Bloodmaws." Edward told Caspian.

　　"Yes, you are right. It doesn`t please me but we have to venture into the woods. It is still daytime so it should be okay. We won`t be able to reach the ruins with the situation as it is now. We should go back to the village. Anyway, I already know enough. I wanted to assess the threat level of those monsters, and let`s just say that`s the most dangerous situation Agripin is since I settled there."

　　Caspian winced and continued. "Those monsters are tough. If they attack the village, the guards won`t be able to kill them, they will only stall them at best. And since those Bloodmaws are already this far from the ruins they originated from, it`s only a matter of time before they spread in the whole forest and spot the village. This is even worse than I thought."

　　Both Caspian and Edward solemnly left the path with concerning thoughts running in their minds. They entered the underwood, gradually disappearing under the shades of the trees.