The combat was over, the casualties were done, and now only rewards remained. Those were the words with which Caspian and his group could appease the continuous insults coming from nearby, while Matt and Isla...
"Hey, where did those two go?" the only woman left in Caspian's team asked, attracting his attention.
The latter looked from side to side and became elated.
"They're gone!" he shouted in exasperation.
Just at those moments, a thought crossed his mind...
'Could they have gone ahead to snatch the devourers' treasures!?' They thought...
Though it's already too late.
Matt and Isla ran to that place after the discussion started, knowing that they had won this time.
The place in question was a cave in the depths of a mountain, with various rooms from side to side. It was unguarded, so they both went there to check it out.
"Matt, how did you know those guys were planning something against me? I didn't realize..." Isla spoke as soon as she noticed there was no danger, and Matt smiled.
"Actually, they hadn't come to this place as they claimed. I noticed it because of two things. The first is that I sensed them nearby when I was fighting those devourers. It seemed strange to me that those devourers had come for there, for it was not a place they frequently used to move to the village but to return to their quarters. And according to those marks, they passed through there two days before; they did not need to return to a place they had already eliminated. So I suspected that someone had lured them, and as I tried to investigate with my senses, I noticed that they were hiding, watching us."
"Still, I only felt Caspian, so it was strange; how could he have attracted those devourers if he's not that strong? Even with his entire team, he couldn't have done it. I thought about the possibility that he was working with them, but when I saw him arrive with another of equal strength, I realized what was going on. A force like that is enough to lure them into fighting me."
"Why they were looking for you, I don't understand. But..." Matt smiled and looked her up and down.
"You have such a pretty appearance; it's normal for those guys to be attracted to you. Maybe they wanted to force you to be a blood mate or something. I'm sorry if I got in your way in search of a blood mate." He said, smiling, and looked straight ahead again.
Isla was surprised by everything he had said but couldn't help but get a little scared at the end when she saw Matt apologize for it.
"No, no, you don't need to apologize! I don't want to be with them as a bloody couple, I... I'm fine training with you every day!" She replied quickly, as she got more and more nervous.
In the end, she even turned as red as a tomato as she realized what she had said and looked down in embarrassment.
Matt looked at her with interest and a smile, but he said nothing.
He entered each room in this huge, built-up cave, searching for things of value or interest.
He found almost nothing of value until the last room.
Here, there was only a huge box with several things inside.
There are some good-level weapons and a large amount of vampire blood in containers.
'With all the blood I managed to snatch during the fight, it looks like we won't have any supply problems for a while.' Matt thought and then grabbed several scrolls that were inside.
'Another map? This one is more detailed... But it's not from here.' Matt thought with confusion and looked at another of the scrolls.
On this one were writings of the devourers in ancient languages.
'Oh? A dragon?' Matt thought with surprise as his eyes glittered slightly at the sight of this.
According to this scroll, a small wounded dragon resided in the mountains to the west of here. It wasn't that big and old; it wasn't mighty either, but it was still a dragon.
He had been wondering how to get a better weapon of high rank like Alice's, and now it seems he found a way.
The bones of a dragon are great for making weapons, so he smiled.
Just then, a voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"Matt, we've struck it rich this time!" Isla said with surprise and joy as she saw how much stuff was in that giant box.
Still, Matt smiled and shook his head.
"Let's go quickly. There's nothing else here. Let's leave several weapons here so as not to raise suspicion from those guys." Matt said, and although Isla was a bit reluctant, she did as Matt told her before they both ran out of there and started heading towards the academy.
They still had to calculate their winnings and check those scrolls, so they hurried back.
As they made their way back, Matt was thinking about different things.
The first and most important, for now, is regarding his abilities.
During these days, he has realized that he can use 'Dimensional Movement' as many times as he wants, as long as his mind supports it. This ability does not use vampiric power to activate or have a cooldown time as it did in his previous life. All it does is create a slight pressure on his head that will increase with the number of times it is used.
However, this pressure can be ignored with mental strength.
The stronger his mind is, the more times he will be able to use this ability.
The same applies to Icy Curse; it's just that the pressure on his mind when using the latter is many times greater than when using Dimensional Movement.
'As long as I keep getting stronger, maybe the time can come when I can avoid the pain these abilities cause me. Maybe the time can come when I can use them to their fullest without pain.' Matt thought, smiling.
Still...
There was still that one ability, Dietrich's Transformation, that he still couldn't use.
Even when he had gotten quite strong these days, it was still impossible for him to use it.
'...It must be a really powerful skill.' Matt thought after remembering that skill.
An ability that bears Dietrich's name and his same surname is Dietrich... Furthermore, the only vampirism he is aware of that is an enhanced version is the one that bears the same surname.
So many coincidences make him think that, perhaps... He belongs to that Ancient Saint Clan.
But it's a Clan that disappeared 10 million years ago; how could it be possible that I belong?
'...Maybe I should go to that Icy place again to find out what I was doing there.' Matt thought but sighed as he shook his head.
'Forget it, let's focus on what matters.' He said to himself.
'I already have access to Trade City, so I should go request a better weapon to be made for me... I need that dragon.' Matt thought to himself, and as his thoughts roamed from side to side, time passed until they both returned to the academy.