After finalizing his first major goal, Dracula decided to set his eyes on the throne of the King of Svalka. Obviously, this wasn't going to be an easy task even with his past life experience and he'd have to plan his every move carefully and gather information about the top 1% of the empire if he wanted to set his foundation in Redros.
And just then, the Blood Sovereign System spoke in his mind.
[New Priority Mission set!
Codename : Overlord of Vampires
Objective : Become the King of Svalka.
Rewards : 10,000,000/Ten Million Blood Points.
Time Limit : None.] informed the system in a female-ish voice.
"Good. This will make it all worth the effort." said Dracula with a pleasant smile.
He currently had only 10 thousand Blood Points but he saved them for later use when he had the proper understanding of this world first. And now, he would use them after taking some important decisions first.
Dracula then decided to contemplate deeply about his Paths after gathering the required information today because choosing a proper path would dictate his life in this new world.
First, he decided how his chosen Path would help him gain strength and pave the way to become the Blood God in this world.
"Hmm… based on the knowledge I received from the books and based on my physical strength, I can benefit from the current situation of this kingdom.
However, my path should be about maintaining secrecy and stealth but should also have enough strength to fight my enemies face to face if I'm ever cornered in a battle." he spoke to himself with a thoughtful expression.
Blood Path was one of the paths that could be used only in 4 professions in this kingdom.
The first being Blood-Swordsman. This advanced class that could be unlocked only at Expert Rank allowed the swordsman to use the blood of enemies to create highly compressed blades and launch them against the opposition during the battle. It also helped them close the long gap between enemies and target them from afar.
The second was the Blood Warlock. This advanced warlock class was only for those who chose the Blood path. Magic path users could choose different elements to master in the warlock class but Blood Path users could only use spells and formations using Blood.
Blood Warlocks were a minority in this kingdom because they needed a huge supply of blood and had to create a stock from hundreds of animals and monsters; something a Warlock class individual couldn't manage on their own and needed help from many people to cultivate this path.
Because of the constraints on this class and the resources required, only talented individuals from big noble houses were cultivated as Blood Warlocks. However, every single one of those individuals was well respected because they were many times powerful in open war.
The third profession was the Blood Paladin. Unlike the first two professions… Blood Paladins were dinosaurs facing a bunch of small chickens. This profession was heavily in demand because in a large-scale battle, one Blood Paladin would be akin to 20 normal Paladins because the more they killed and more blood they were provided to perform their defensive skills as well as Area of Effect abilities, they were akin to wall that couldn't be broken.
The only downside of this profession was that the Paladins needed external help or an already prepared stock of blood as big as a water tank to even use their base-level skills that could help and protect their battalion. Thus, they needed a lot of livestock to be useful.
Fourth and the last profession was the Ghostblade Blood-Lord.
This class could be unlocked only at Expert Rank just like the Blood-Swordsman but had extreme agility, maneuverability, precision and speed.
Unlike the assassin profession, Ghostblade warriors used a short sword and a dagger at the same time. They had skills similar to the former but also possessed many illusion techniques using the Blood to either hide or create a distraction to kill their opponents.
But since this was a Stealth and Agility based profession just like the Assassins… a Ghostblade Blood-Lord was only useful in single-target combat and assassinating someone covertly.
In an open war or when they were exposed to enemies… a Ghostblade warrior was as weak and vulnerable as an assassin or a mage without any team defending them.
But, in terms of unique skills…
A Ghostblade Blood-Lord individual could take down 10 assassins by himself using the Blood to create AoE skills and formations, making a battlefield catering to their advantages which helped them detect all the hidden enemies and incoming attacks.
Yet, nothing came for free in this case either.
One had to discard traditional assassination skills and use only their Blood Path related skills that were extremely hard to master and unconventional compared to the Assassin class. Because one had to perfect both Blood Path skills and ingrain them in the Ghostblade profession skills.
Out of 100 Ghostblade warriors… Not even 5 people could become a Ghostblade Blood-Lord. The success rate was too low and the time required to cultivate this path was 2 to 3 times longer than the normal Agility Path and the Stealth Path.
Compared to Blood Warlock and Blood Paladins… this profession required pure talent, perfect mastery, resources and enlightenment to the point you could infuse different skills together.
But in the end… Ghostblade Blood-Lord also lacked in overall Strength and Defense compared to the former 3 classes.
On paper, this profession was only useful in certain conditions and lost advantages in an open battle or when too many enemies were involved.
Dracula too understood the Pros and Cons of all 4 of these professions.
Blood-Swordsman individuals could be easily taken down if two or more tanks joined hands together while long-range attackers wore them down to the point these swordsmen became defenseless.
Blood Warlock needed range, time to prepare and couldn't function by themselves. They needed the protection of a large group and had no defensive skills of their own.
Blood Paladins had higher defense and a lot of team-defending AoE skills… but they too couldn't function without support from Attack Path and Magic Path classes because Defending and Buffing the team was all they could do.
As for the Ghostblade Blood-Lord… For an individual from Earth, they were similar to Shinobi warriors. Normally operating as an Assassin but could fight like a Swordsman when needed.
Yet, their strength was limited and in the end, all they could do was run away to save their life if caught in enemy territory.
Dracula then made up his mind after weighing the merits and demerits of all these classes and what suited him the most in this situation of War while having an aide like the Blood Sovereign System and the goal of becoming the Blood God.
"That's it. I've chosen my path. I shall become…" spoke Dracula with content and excited countenance as he decided his Path in the world of Redros.
"A Ghostblade Blood-Lord."