The problem of finding worthy prey is a problem that he won't be able to solve on this mountain range. He was thinking of making his way to other settlements or cities occupied by other races for his meal. So it is a fortune that appropriate prey came readily to him.
He told his fledglings. "Wait here for me."
Then he bolted forward to meet the wood elves. The two wood elves noticed him with their divine sense before he reached them. They became surprised despite expecting to meet a vampire.
"It is really a vampire." One of them said in surprise.
The other one shouted at him. "Quick prepare for it. You know the drill."
The first one snapped back. "I know the drill. It is just one so we fight."
The two of them are young. They have never encountered vampires in their life. Vampires are abominations that have not been seen on the surface for a long time. So seeing a Vampire is a novel experience for them.
The two of them are just scouts meant to check out this Warrog settlement for sightings of vampires. They are not to engage the vampires if they find one. They are to return and report as soon as they come upon vampires. But they can fight and capture a single vampire for questioning if they find one that they can handle.
One of them recited what they were taught about Vampires after sensing Xigger's strength. "It is just a baron which is the equivalent of a transcendent. That means it is a mature vampire. It will be strong but it won't be able to use blood spells yet. We can take it on."
His partner rolled his eyes and said, "Yes. I know this. A vampire needs to be a viscount before it can use blood spells." Then he said in excitement, "This should be easy."
They stood together with their backs against each other and began reviewing the knowledge that they have about Vampires. Vampires have ranks and strengths. Each rank comes with different abilities that empower them. By preparing for what to expect, they will be able to easily overcome the vampire. They are confident that they will be able to overcome any vampire that cannot use blood spells.
Vampires that can use blood spells are very dangerous. They have more than brute strength in their arsenal. Vampires can't use Mana at all. They have lost access to it so they can't cast spells. That has left them with only their enhanced physical strength to fight with. Blood spells rectify that weakness. It grants them a means for ranged attacks.
Vampires that use blood spells are more dangerous than that. The ability to manipulate their blood also grants them the ability to create more of them. That means a viscount is not only dangerous because of their blood spells but because they are rarely alone. They usually have a coven of lesser vampires that obey their every order. But this vampire is just a transcendent and is also alone. So they believe that there is nothing to fear.
"Remember, we are not to kill it. We are to capture it for interrogation." The second one warned.
The first one smirked. "It's not as if it will be easy to kill a vampire. They regenerate very well like us. It should be fine as long as I don't stab its heart."
Vampires used to be feared when they appeared in the plane. They were unknown abominations created from wood elves. It was difficult to tell them apart from normal wood elves at first. But that has changed. The fear of the unknown is great. Vampires are not unknown anymore. So they are not feared.
Vampires have a heart of blood that is very similar to the heart of nature that wood elves have. This heart is the source of the divine ability of wood elves and most elves. But elves lose their weakness when they become transcendents. That is not so for vampires. Their heart remains until they become Marquises which are the equivalent of titans of law. It is a weakness that makes them easily killable.
The two brown-skinned elves waited vigilantly. Their green hair flowed freely in the wind. And their green armor filled them with confidence. They were not cowered at all that a vampire was running straight for them. They responded immediately after Xigger entered their attack range. They waved their hands and the trees in the surroundings obeyed their will.
Roots erupted from the ground to ensnare Xigger. Branches fell from the sky to beat him and restrict his path of retreat. Vines suddenly grew out of the ground all around them to form a domain of plants. All the plants in the domain turned into dangerous weapons meant to kill efficiently.
Xigger was within the domain but he wasn't scared. Both of his hands shone and a blood-red saber came out of them. He whirled the sabers around and cut through every obstacle on his path.
The duo of wood elves saw his actions and exclaimed at the same time, "Blood spells."
They didn't even look at each other before turning and running. They chose to escape immediately because they were wrong about who they were fighting. Xigger is not a baron even though he seems to be a transcendent.
They would be correct to call him a baron were he a normal vampire. But he is not a normal vampire. He is an ancestral vampire. As the origin of his lineage, he possesses the ability to wield blood spells that viscounts can wield and he can also use the ability of a count.
He used the ability of a count now and it sealed the wood elves' fate. These are transcendents like him so he has to be serious in fighting them. They are not the mana entities that he can bully. He has to be careful not to be injured at all or it will slow down his progress. Fortunately, they are not like Sauron who didn't give him the chance to spare enough blood for a domain.