Warm deer blood slid down Norton's throat, and as he consumed the blood, his body visibly began to swell slightly.
Of course, this swelling wasn't like a balloon inflating into a round ball, but rather seemed to gradually restore him to his appearance from a year ago.
Though still emaciated, at least he had more flesh than his current state.
As his body recovered and blood entered his stomach, the growth sensation that had stalled for a week resumed—though faint, like electrical signals, it could be clearly detected.
"Thump."
Norton dropped the fawn's corpse to the ground.
He then brought over the large deer he had bound with vines, crouched over its body, and used his sharp teeth to tear open a large wound in the neck blood vessels, continuing to feed.
"Gulp, gulp..."
Actually, the small deer had already filled him up, but he wanted to experiment to see if consuming more blood could accelerate his evolution.
After all, vampires were named after blood-drinking—massive blood consumption might be a fast-track method for advancement.In the vampire stories he'd encountered in his previous life, vampires seemed to possess the ability to turn others into vampires, called the 'First Embrace.'
He hadn't tested whether he had this ability yet.
But he felt it was probably not the case.
Because his body right now, even if put through a blender, would hardly produce any blood, and the First Embrace apparently required feeding one's own blood to others—without any blood, he definitely couldn't perform it.
As for viruses, that was even more far-fetched; anyone who studied high school biology knew viruses couldn't survive alone. As a vampire without a single living cell in his entire body, how could viruses possibly survive on him?
Bacteria or fungi would be more plausible.
But bacteria and fungi—Norton found even less likely. If vampires were truly created through bacterial or fungal infection, they would have been everywhere by now.
The large deer was drained dry by Norton, and he brought over another one...
To ensure his experiments, Norton had specifically captured several more, including various animals—even a wolf.
These ordinary creatures didn't crave him like that strange bird did; instead, they maintained a respectful distance. This made it relatively easy for Norton to succeed.
Norton felt a sense of satisfaction from the warmth in his abdomen.
Though he could survive without drinking blood for long periods, the fullness and satisfaction after feeding were undoubtedly more pleasurable.
But even as he continuously consumed blood, he didn't experience the rapid growth sensation he had imagined.
The blood seemed to transform into energy stored in his body, not immediately mobilized for evolution.
His body's growth progressed as slowly as an old man pushing a cart, completely indifferent to how much blood entered.
Clearly, mass blood consumption had no significant effect; only feeding on those two golden Saints from the Church could bypass his body's limitations and enhance growth.
"So, should I go get some more?"
Norton felt an itch in his heart.
It was like leveling up in a game—knowing there was a fast-track method, most people found it hard to resist.
But then he remembered how those two golden Saints had split a large crevice in the rock with a single sword strike underwater, and he thought better of it.
Even with his enhanced strength now, he didn't believe he could split a large fissure in rock underwater with one strike, which showed how incredibly powerful those damned golden Saints were.
However, it had been a year—he could go check if the armor was still there, whether the cave had been discovered.
If the armor remained untouched until now, it would prove there was no tracking device on it, and he could return to live in the cave.
This cliff really wasn't a good spot—too exposed, otherwise he wouldn't have encountered those two dangers.
Especially the Human-faced Birds—if any flew over Norton's head and spotted him, he would become their prey in the next moment.
This puzzled Norton greatly.
I'm just a dried-up vampire with barely any meat on me—why not go hunt wild boars or bison instead of relentlessly targeting me?
Compared to this, the cave was much safer.
Norton decided to act on his thought.
Norton stood up and looked at the cliff behind him.
His small makeshift wooden hut was already built, using all-natural materials—handcrafted wooden boards and vines.
The whole structure was crooked, with interior space just enough for a coffin.
Additionally, he had air-dried many vines, connecting them together to serve as climbing ropes for easy access up and down the cliff.
The main reason for not taking the mountain path wasn't because it was too far or he was too lazy, but because the longer the journey through this forest, the greater the danger.
Norton hooked his rope onto the protruding edge of his hut's wooden board, then pulled hard with his hand to test the rope's durability.
Then, suspending his body, he began lowering himself down the cliff.