The girl, resembling a withered bone, fainted.
"We continue with the operation," Kana said, leading a few people to bypass the girl and continue rushing forward.
Lurik and Alyris followed, feeling a bit unsure.
They didn’t understand some of Kana’s earlier questions. What exactly did he want to do—was it just to inquire about the situation?
Kana, without turning his head, explained, "It’s been over a year since the Blood Race turmoil erupted, and there are now very few who persist without eating human flesh.
That girl and others like her, unwilling to eat human flesh, might be worth recruiting."
The two followed behind, deep in thought.
Just by looking at the girl’s appearance, it’s clear that resisting the desire to devour flesh is incredibly difficult, requiring a strong will.
If she can restrain herself until now, it indeed seems worthwhile.
Kana stared ahead into the darkness.
He had actually marked the girl inside her body and could track her through blood manipulation.
The reason he paid attention is that when the King of the Blood Race uses the Stone of Creation to create true Blood Race members.
Those who can resist the urge to devour flesh through willpower will become real Blood Race.
The current Blood Race can be roughly divided into several tiers.
The most powerful and closest to perfection is naturally the King, with no craving for flesh.
Like the kind of Blood Race Kana had heard about in old stories, they only drink blood.
The next tier is the royal members, who also need only drink blood to satisfy all needs.
But they still have residual cravings for the flesh of intelligent beings.
Further down are the Blood Race who have a strong craving for flesh, with blood barely satisfying their needs.
The new Blood Race created by the Blood Curse.
That is the perfect race beloved by my grandfather, the King of the Blood Race—feeding on blood but no longer limited to the blood of intelligent beings.
They can consume the blood of powerful life forms, including magical beasts and wild beasts, and the act of drinking from these life forms can even grant them a slight increase in Natural Power.
At the same time, they lack the other weaknesses, being born with a natural ability to control related to blood.
And they possess lifespans similar to those of Dwarves.
The new Blood Curse is also selective, particularly targeting the previously imperfect Blood Race.
It only chooses those elegant beings who solely drink blood.
Apart from a few who have completely abandoned themselves, the royal members also adhere to this ideology of the Blood Race King, drinking blood only.
What Kana is doing now is preparing to bring these first batch of new Blood Race members into the Night Watchers.
And have them establish settlements in the now useless Safro Border.
To attract all new Blood Race to come.
Lost in thought, they unconsciously arrived at their destination.
Ahead was an abandoned village.
It appeared to have been abandoned for over half a year.
The group stopped and quietly snuck in, relaxing only after confirming that there were no other creatures present.
"What is this place?" Lurik looked around.
"An abandoned village. The villagers should have fled during the outbreak of the crisis."
"Coming here, is there really a secret passage to the castle?"
Kana looked at Lurik and nodded, "Exactly."
"We’ve run so far; we should be far from the direction of the castle. If there’s really a passage, how long is it?"
Being a Dwarf, Lurik keenly sensed something amiss.
Though Dwarves have Dark Vision, its range is limited.
And Kana and his group have much better night vision.
"This place is actually on the other side of the city. You should know that castle, right? It’s built on the hill west of Giant Rock City; we’re just behind that hill now."
Upon hearing Kana’s explanation, Lurik understood and nodded.
"There’s no time to lose. Let’s get ready."
Kana said as he walked over to a side of a broken house, where it appeared the former owner was a Stone Mason.
The reason this passage connects here is unknown.
Players discovered it accidentally while exploring the map.
They pried open the loose stone slab.
The group crawled inside.
Apart from Grey Fang finding it a bit tight, the other three felt at ease.
They followed the passage and quickly arrived at the end.
Alyris sniffed the air above her: "I can smell blood. It belongs to different people, and the times vary."
The group quietly listened for any noises outside, and once they were sure it was silent, they pushed the stone slab above them aside.
Kana climbed out. It was the castle’s cellar, once used to store various foods and drinks.
Now, except for some scraps, it was empty.
"Are we inside the castle now?" Lurik asked.
He led the group skillfully to the door and gently pried it open.
They slipped out silently.
The number of people in the castle was not many, and it was deep into the night, so even the Blood Race needed rest.
In addition, due to the Magic Power in Safro, the environment remains dim even during the day, so the habits of the Blood Race haven’t changed.
Leading the group through the castle, Kana almost perfectly avoided everyone.
This left the three behind him in awe.
They slipped into an unoccupied room.
Kana said, "Let’s take a break."