"I'm Mantha. My parents are both stage-two Demon Hunters proficient in melee combat techniques. Their innate skill is the Sword of the Wind. When I'm using a sword, my attack speed will increase by 50%."
Mantha, who was wearing leather armor that revealed her calves and fair skin, drew a longsword from her waist.
With a rustle, a white sword light flashed and the table in front of her was slashed into four pieces at a shocking speed.
"I'm Shi Meng. You guys can just call me Uncle Shi. I used to be a blacksmith. I only recently awakened my magical powers, and my innate skill is Weapon Casting. I can condense my powers temporarily into a weapon I can use and I specialize in… strength."
The square-faced man also introduced himself.
The yellow-faced man said reluctantly, "I'm Lilagh, and I'm a… Wanderer. I specialize in bullying the weak and fearing the strong. My innate skill is Feigning Death. Once I enter a state of feigned death, even someone two stages stronger than me won't notice."
These few people then looked at Chen Gou in unison.
Except for Captain Cohan, only he hadn't introduced himself yet.
"I'm sorry, but I also want to act alone." Chen Gou put away the newspaper that he had just picked up from the dining table with a hint of apology.
"You?"
All four of them were startled on the spot, looking thoroughly astonished.
"Little brother, Tony dares to act alone because he is backed by the information and magical artifacts of the Arslan Family. With all due respect, you'd better stay with us. Otherwise, it will be very hard for you to even last ten days."
Uncle Shi Meng spoke earnestly. However, he didn't tell him that he should know his place and shouldn't be "doing work" like Tony if he didn't have the same capabilities.
"Thank you for your kind intentions, Uncle. Life and death are ruled by fate. I hope to act according to my wishes."
Chen Gou was already certain that the American television series The Strain was the background of this Abyssal World, as the newspaper had published detailed information about the Strigoi.
Because he had a grasp on some of the secrets of the plotlines, he had decided to act alone.
This way, he would be able to carry out his plans without being held back by a few companions with ulterior motives.
The kind man still couldn't help but try to persuade him. "You'd better think about it carefully and wait until dawn before making a decision."
"You don't have to persuade him, Uncle. I've seen many ambitious and ill-fated people like him who never turn back unless they reach a dead end. Let him do what he wishes."
Mantha sneered and classified Chen Gou as an ignorant and arrogant person without many capabilities.
Even though Chen Gou was speechless, he shrugged, not intending to explain anything. He was going to push open the door and leave before finding a safe place to spend the night.
Although Strigoi were not traditional vampires, they feared direct sunlight like most creatures of darkness. Hence, the night was the most dangerous time, and one would be safe once dawn came.
However, Chen Gou suddenly stopped while grabbing the door handle and froze there.
His neck was covered in goosebumps, an instinctive response to the extreme danger he was in.
Through the glass door, he saw dozens of strange figures heading this way under the flickering streetlights.
They were hairless, and their skin was pale. As they approached, he could see their particularly thick arteries throbbing on their necks, passing below their collarbones to their thoracic cavities just like jumping tree roots.
This was not what a human should look like, so their identity was self-evident.
Another distinctive feature of the Strigoi was their sagging flesh.
Their disgusting, sagging flesh hung just like the skin on a turkey's neck. They were as pale as a scrotum, and their flesh would sway once they turned their necks.
It was so disgusting that anyone would spit out last day's meal.
"Enemy attack! The evil spirits are here!"
While Chen Gou stepped back, he let out a dull roar to warn everyone.
The four people behind him instantly sprung up from their seats, clutching their weapons.
Bam!
A few seconds later, two Strigoi charged toward the bakery's glass door, causing it to crash open.
Then, dozens of Strigoi swarmed in like a group of spirits.
There was no telling how many of them came at one time. Even if one assumed that there were 15 of them, it would still mean that each of them would have to face three Strigoi at a time!
Chen Gou stared up ahead. When the nearest Strigoi got two meters away from him, he turned his head and body sideways… As he advanced forward, he drew the sword that female knight Ye Qing had given him and swung it!
His movements were very natural, as if he had been through fire and water.
This was the only melee combat technique that he had practiced hard during his 30 days of practice, and it was called the Sword-Drawing Technique.
He did not hesitate or relent.
By turning his head and body sideways, he managed to dodge the tongue spewed out by the Strigoi. When he drew his sword and slashed with it after advancing forward, he slashed down the Strigoi's head along with its sagging flesh!
Even though this was a steel sword, it did not have a huge restraining impact on the Strigoi like a silver sword.
Nevertheless, the sharp, firm blade easily sliced through the Strigoi's weak neck, causing the unique white blood of a vampire to spill out weakly. There was not much blood in their bodies.
"Be careful not to come into contact with the white worms inside them, or you will be infected and will turn into an evil spirit!"
Chen Gou reminded the others loudly of this as he stepped back and got ready to welcome another Strigoi.
Although the Abyssal Expedition Team had taken away a frozen Strigoi corpse and clearly intended to use it for research, Chen Gou was unsure if the few assessees present were qualified to know the latest secrets firsthand.
Then, five Awakeners and dozens of Strigoi entered a life-and-death battle.
Fortunately, the Strigoi were below Level 3.
Unlike human Awakeners, magical creatures would only acquire their first magic skills at Level 5.
Therefore, any Strigoi below Level 5 would not pose too big of a threat to the assessees.
The only exception was when there was a five-time difference or an even higher difference between their numbers.
All five of them, who had undergone tough training, started getting serious and worked together to deal with the dozens of low-level Strigoi. After their initial panic, they quickly found their footing with the help of their respective innate skills.
Just as they thought they would kill all the incoming Strigoi without any mishap, a few black figures, which were smaller than ordinary Strigoi by half, jumped onto the window ledge from outside.
By bending down and stepping through the window frame barefooted, they easily twisted their bodies into the window, which was less than a meter long and wide.
They were on all fours as they lay on the window ledge, sniffing like trained hounds.
Whoosh!
All of a sudden, one of the hands and feet trod on the window ledge. It leaped up like a shadow, almost touching the ceiling before falling and pouncing on tall Uncle Shi.
"Ah…"
In less than a second, his scream was heard.
His entire left hand and the whole part below his elbow had completely vanished. That skinny Strigoi had used its sharp claws to cut them off!
His muscles and bone were glowing with a green flare and producing a sizzling sound, as though they had been splashed with sulfuric acid. It was so painful that the veins on his neck popped out like earthworms, his blood vessels almost bursting.
"This is bad. It's a Level-7 mutated evil spirit. Its agility is 15 points and above, and it also has a toxic corrosion skill."
Captain Cohan, who was the temporary captain, did not have enough time to find his footing and was wearing a gold-framed monocle only on his left eye.
While staring through his lens at the Strigoi that had landed on all fours on the dining table after suffering a blow, he reported all relevant information.
"It's a Feeler!"
"Which stage has the plot reached? Why is there a Feeler here?"
Chen Gou gasped and activated his skill without hesitation, summoning the Battle Guardian to protect him.
After humans were parasitized by bloodworms entering their bodies, the vast majority of them would be transformed into ordinary Strigoi of similar strength.
However, there were exceptions. Certain people who were parasitized would be transformed into stronger vampires who possessed special abilities.
The Feelers were trackers among the vampires also known as blind detectors. They were transformed from blind human children.
Due to their eyesight loss, they possessed an extremely strong sense of hearing and smell that was sharper than the best hounds' senses. Their blind eyes could also perceive a spectrum, and they were extremely fast.
What made Chen Gou's heart palpitate in fear was that compared to the television series, the Feeler before his eyes was evidently much stronger.
The venom alone, which could corrode flesh and weapons, was something that the Feelers in the television series did not have.
Chen Gou suddenly understood that even though the background of this Abyssal World was the American television series The Strain, this was still a real world.
Inside it were both humans and creatures!
They had thoughts and wisdom and even possessed magical powers and strange magic skills!
He could get help from what he knew about the plot, but it would be totally suicidal to judge this world based on the television series!
"Cohan, you're the captain. What should we do now?"
The thin, yellow-faced young man leaned close to Cohan. Within the scope of his heavy gaze, which contained a glimmer of hope, were four Feelers and seven to eight low-level Strigoi.
Such a combination was enough to wipe them out!