I watched the boy disappear into the distance, then turned my gaze toward the tents. It was clear he hadn't been lying; some of the women were indeed missing. I activated my heat vision, allowing me to pierce the darkness and see through the trees, spotting anyone trying to conceal themselves as long as their body heat was detectable.
In the clearing, I noticed the warmth of men sprinting through the woods, but one stood out—a stout fellow moving along the path. I frowned, not recalling seeing him before, and switched off my heat vision to get a clearer look. Just like that, he vanished from sight. Unlike most magical beings, humans lack mana cores; instead, they possess a mana pool. This means I can't extract their mana core for sustenance, but I can drink their blood to absorb their power if they're actively using magic.
