Blood 5: Survival Strategy

My actions accelerated after I learned I was a vampire.

One moment, I believed myself a noble, likely handsome, and assuredly a victor in life—then suddenly, I stood at the precipice.

I must conceal my nature as a vampire at all costs.

To that end, I must reconsider skills I previously overlooked.

I had dabbled in magic out of mild fascination, practiced lightly—but paid little attention to other abilities.

If something seemed useful, I would acquire it, nothing more.

Born a noble, I assumed I could survive without skills.

But that assumption no longer holds.

I must obtain a skill capable of masking my true nature—somehow.

If鉴定 is a skill, there must be a skill capable of disrupting鉴定.

The issue is how to acquire it.

I attempted to obtain it by spending skill points, as with acquiring鉴定, but it did not work.

It appears the deity only responds when the exact name of a proper skill is spoken.

But I do not know the names of skills.

I tried various names—“Skill Disruption,” “Simple Interference,” and others—but none succeeded.

I must research based on skill names.

Regardless, I need information.

To that end, I require books.

Eavesdropping on servants or other conversations yields no meaningful data.

Only talk about spiders.

I suppose it's not entirely irrelevant—but now is not the time to consider it.

Eavesdropping on conversations yields limited data. For acquiring knowledge, books are more reliable.

I settled on this approach and chose to act during the hours when everyone else was asleep.

During the day, servants would notice unusual behavior.

But as someone naturally inclined to night hours, stealthy activity at night comes easily.

My Sleep Resistance skill also proves marginally effective.

Upon reflection, my nocturnal nature stems from being a vampire.

Indeed, during daylight hours, my consciousness felt hazy and lethargic. I recall experiencing throat discomfort upon seeing a corpse. There are several such instances that now stand out.

Yet I have never consumed blood since birth, nor do I turn to ash under sunlight.

The biology of vampires here differs from that of Earth’s vampires.

If a book on vampires exists, I must read it as well.

I slip out of the room quietly.

I can walk upright now, though I have never shown it in public.

Opening a door without a lock is trivial.

I do not know where the study is, given the size of the manor.

Moreover, not everyone is asleep at night, due to night watch duties.

I move carefully, avoiding detection.

I check each room one by one, searching for the study.

If fatigue sets in, I retreat and return to my room, feigning sleep.

I repeat this for several days.

After several days of doing so, I acquire the skill "Stealth."

Something that reduces one’s presence, perhaps?

Highly useful in current circumstances.

Additionally, the skill "Dark Vision" has risen to level three.

Whether by birth or simply unnoticed, it is unclear, but Dark Vision appears to have been innate.

And at last, the intended study was found.

From then on, she visited the study daily, devouring books without pause.

At first, reading was difficult—struggling to decipher the characters. But once she realized her life depended on it, motivation followed.

Deciphering the rules of these characters, which appeared like a cipher, would have taken an immense amount of time. Fortunately, the study contained children's books, allowing for a relatively simple acquisition of the script of this world.

The book is old, possibly one Father read as a child.

The content was mostly geared toward boys.

Meanwhile, as she memorized the characters, her Dark Vision level reached six, and her Sleep Resistance level reached two.

Stealth level reached three. Acquired new skills: silence and aura detection.

Skills suited to an assassin are accumulating steadily.

From there, she began reading through books indiscriminately.

Books in this world often lack titles.

This made it difficult to identify their contents at a glance.

There was no choice but to keep reading until the desired book was found.

As a result, she acquired additional skills: focus, memory, computation, and parallel thinking.

It is unnatural for a child to possess so many skills from infancy.

This feels like a deliberate act.

But survival demands it.

If she could conceal her identity as a vampire during the鉴定 ceremony, enduring a little attention was unavoidable.

Thus, she continued her routine: passing the days idly in daylight, retreating to the study at night.

The recent influx of high-ranking guests due to the spider incident has made reaching the study increasingly difficult.

Population growth increases the risk of detection.

There were times when she had to abandon her attempt and turn back.

What a bothersome spider.

Yet lately, that spider has been on her mind.

Its actions... they carry an unnatural, almost human quality.

It annihilates thieves without mercy, yet treats the townspeople with care.

Her mother calls it a sacred beast, but from her own observation, it feels as though a malevolent spirit has taken possession of a human will.

It can't be, but... could it be another reincarnated soul?

Impossible.

Even for me, that would be an unreasonable leap in imagination.

Mastery level reached. Skill 'Prediction LV1' acquired.