The journey through the woods finally came to an end as the dense trees began to thin out.
The canopy above parted to reveal a sky full of bright stars.
Kai stepped quietly over a cluster of roots and looked out at the body of water stretching across the horizon.
The evening air felt cool against his skin.
He expected to find a peaceful shore where he could rest and plan his route across the lake.
But the shoreline was not empty at all.
[Location Discovered: Vanguard Forward Docks]
Kai crouched low behind a cluster of bushes and observed the scene.
A sprawling network of docks had been built directly over the shallow water.
Tall torches were spaced evenly along the planks, casting a flickering orange glow over the area.
Anchored at the very end of the longest dock was a wooden transport ship.
It was large enough to carry hundreds of soldiers and a massive amount of cargo.
The people walking around the docks were definitely not local fishermen.
They possessed pale skin that looked completely unnatural in the torchlight.
Their eyes held a faint red glow.
These were the vampire vanguard scouts.
They moved with an unsettling speed, carrying wooden crates and barrels of stolen supplies up the ramp and into the belly of the ship.
'They established a forward operating base to move their troops and supplies across the water faster. Taking the lake route was supposed to help me avoid them, but I ended up walking right into their shipping hub.'
Most travellers would have panicked upon realising they had stumbled into an enemy stronghold.
A normal person would have slowly backed away into the woods and prayed the vampires did not smell their blood.
Kai did not feel a single drop of fear.
He felt a familiar, thrilling sense of anticipation building in his chest.
His newly evolved stats made him crave a real challenge.
He scanned the docks with a careful gaze, treating the monsters like pieces on a chessboard.
He counted twelve vampire grunts patrolling the perimeter. They wore dark armour and carried steel swords.
Near the loading ramp stood a much larger figure.
This guy was easily pushing seven feet tall, clad in heavy iron plating that made him look like a walking tank.
He was clearly the commander in charge of this logistics operation.
'Twelve low-level grunts and one knight,' Kai thought, doing the rough math in his head.
'That is a huge amount of experience points just waiting to be harvested. I really needed a boat anyway, and they are kind enough to provide one fully loaded with supplies.'
Looking closer at the loading area, Kai noticed something else.
The vampires were not just moving food and weapons.
A line of human captives stood chained together near the edge of the water.
They looked terrified and exhausted, shivering in the cool night air.
The vanguard was gathering prisoners to use as a mobile food source for their marching army.
However, one specific captive stood out from the rest of the miserable group.
Tied tightly to a post near the command tent was a young woman.
She was not wearing the simple cloth tunics of a captured village but fitted black leather armour designed for stealth and mobility.
Her dark hair was cut short, framing a face that was covered in fresh dirt and bruises.
Despite her tied hands and bleeding lip, she did not look defeated.
She glared at the passing vampires with hatred.
Focusing his vision on her, a small blue window popped up.
[Target Identified: Eevy]
[Class: Rogue]
[Level: 24]
'You do not see a level twenty-four rogue just wandering around the woods for no reason. She must be a scout from the capital who got too close to their operation and got caught.'
Having a high-level rogue indebted to him sounded like a fantastic tactical advantage.
She would know the layout of the capital, the political landscape, and the safest routes to travel.
She was essentially a walking map and a highly trained spy all rolled into one entirely appealing package.
Rescuing her was no longer just a good deed.
It was a required step for his long-term survival plan.
The vampire knight walked over to the wooden post where Silvia was tied. He reached out with a large, pale hand and grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to look up at him.
Silvia responded by spitting a mouthful of blood right onto his chest plate. The knight backhanded her across the face.
The blow snapped her head to the side, but she refused to make a single sound of pain.
'She has a lot of spine,' Kai thought, genuinely impressed by her resilience.
'I like that.'
Kai remained hidden in the brush, completely unbothered by the overwhelming odds.
He stretched his shoulders and loosened his grip on his sword.
Fighting thirteen vampires at the same time in an open area was a terrible idea, even with his stats.
They had the numbers and the high ground on the docks.
He needed to be smart about this approach.
'If I run out there swinging, they will just surround me and wear me down,' Kai analysed the terrain. 'But they are standing on wooden planks built over freezing water, and I am someone who excels at using the environment.'
He watched the patrol routes of the grunts carefully.
They walked in predictable loops, passing by the support beams of the docks.
The transport ship bobbed slightly in the deep water, waiting for the final crates to be loaded.
Once that ship sailed, the captives were as good as dead, and Kai would lose his fastest route to the capital.
He needed to strike quickly and decisively, to cripple their mobility before they even realised they were under attack.
Kai took a slow, deep breath, letting the air fill his lungs.
He felt the cold mana pooling in his chest, responding to his clear intent.
'Time to clear the board and claim my new boat,' Kai thought.