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Thinking back on the situation, Sol thought to himself, ’Luckily, he wasn’t able to get away. The teleportation was too fast for even me to react in time from where I was standing. It was a miracle Lapis was able to wound him before he disappeared. Maybe I should have helped from the start and not given him the chance to use it, but it was a good example of how they would work without me. While they could have done a few things better, I’m sure they’ll learn from this.’

Sol had also wanted to interrogate the vampire himself, as he had hoped to try reading his mind with psychic energy. However, he wanted to stay committed to his hands off approach and let them handle it while he reaped the rewards of their battle.

[Learned [Intermediate Blood Magic] Lv 5!]

[Learned [Blood Pact] Lv 3!]

Upon siphoning the skills from the first vampire, Sol immediately noticed a difference.

’It really is meant to be used with psychic energy. It feels incredibly easy to use now. With all I already know, it should be much easier to level the skill.’

Before, he had already done an in-depth analysis of the talent skill’s inner workings and learned a lot. However, because he had been using it based on the ingrained instinct from when the skill was bestowed upon him, he had to relearn it from the foundation. He estimated it would have taken him weeks to relearn the skill, but now he didn’t think it would even take half a week.

[[Intermediate Blood Magic] leveled up! (5 -> 6)]

[Learned [Shapeshift - Bat] Lv 8!]

[[Blood Pact] leveled up! (3 -> 4)]

[[Advanced Weapon Mastery] leveled up! (3 -> 4)]

[Learned [Blood Recovery] Lv 5!]

[[True Sight (Variant)] leveled up! (5 -> 6)]

[[Overpower] leveled up! (7 -> 8)]

’[Overpower] went up a level, and [True Sight (Variant)] went back to before I used [Lesser Channel Control] on it? Nice.’

With each use of [Siphon], his proficiency was noticeably rising. Not incredibly so like his other psychic skills, but at a rate where he could feel the progress, unlike before, when he had to go through hundreds of corpses between each level.

When he moved to the last vampire, which he had previously identified as the charmer among them, he chose the skill he was most wary of in hopes of learning more about it. While the others also had the skill, this vampire had a much higher level, and he judged siphoning the others would be pointless, better spent on gaining and leveling other skills.

[Learned [Enthrallment] Lv 7!]

[Learned [Beguiling Gaze] Lv 7!]

Upon receiving the information on how to use the skill and its effects, Sol immediately frowned.

’It’s permanent?’

From what he learned of the skill, [Enthrallment] essentially branded the target’s soul with a mark, forcing eternal servitude. This process wasn’t simple, and the target could resist if they wanted to, but if they weren’t strong enough and lost, they would lose their minds in the process and become mindless servants. However, if paired with [Beguiling Gaze], which charmed the target, the charmed individual wouldn’t resist and would be branded with little hassle. Doing this also has the side effect of making the enthralled permanently charmed, but they would still keep their mind.

Knowing this, he made his way to the enthralled individuals and kneeled beside one of the unconscious civilians. He used psychic energy to scan their body, similarly to how he would when using [Siphon], already applying what he had just practiced on the vampire corpses. He didn’t try taking any skills, as that wasn’t his objective this time, he did this to verify their condition. After finding nothing wrong with their physical body, he moved the psychic energy into their heads.

His frown deepened.

’Their minds are completely broken, almost nothing is left. Even if the brand is removed from their souls, there is nothing left to save. But maybe those that were charmed can still be saved.’

He walked around to see if anyone had been charmed, but after scanning all their minds, he couldn’t find a single one.

’Did they not charm anyone? That doesn’t make sense. It’d be easier if they did… Could they be somewhere else? It would make sense if they left the grunt work to the mindless ones if there were other tasks for them to do…’

If the charmed thralls were roaming in the city, there was little he could do. It was unrealistic to check every single individual for a branded soul. Even removing the brand itself stumped him somewhat, as the skill only showed how to brand them, and once someone was branded, it couldn’t be removed without destroying the soul in the process.

’Maybe someone skilled with souls could remove the brand unharmed... wait, what about him!’

Remembering someone who might be able to help, he activated his PAL and called the one who had given it to him in the first place.

<Sol? How have you been?> Torben’s voice came from the device.

"So, we’ve encountered some vampires…"

After a quick rundown of the situation, Torben gave his advice. <Vampire thralls are hard to cure, even back in my time. There’s no hope for those that were enthralled against their will, but the charmed ones can be saved if you can get the help of someone proficient in manipulating souls.>

"Like you?" This was why Sol had called Torben, as there was nobody else he knew who could manipulate souls.

<Eh. I could do it theoretically, but not as I am now. Can’t interact with other souls while I’m stuck in this tin can. So until I can find a way to transfer my soul into an organic vessel, I’m afraid you’re out of luck with me.>

"Oh, I see…" Sol was a little disappointed, but he knew it wasn’t Torben’s fault. "Well, so far, we’ve only found the mindless type of thralls, so we have none to cure, so to speak."

Hearing this, Torben sighed and said, <Then I suggest you give them a painless death. In the medical sense, they could already be considered dead. They aren’t even able to take any action by themselves without their master’s command, so they would starve themselves in time.>

"...I understand. Thank you for your help." He knew it was all they could do for the victims of these vampires, but it still left a sour taste in his mouth.

<Mhm. Also, I should probably tell you that soon I will be out of reach for a while, not sure how long.>

"Huh? Where are you going?"

Sol recalled that the PALs had a ridiculous range that could encompass the entire Orna Mountains. That mountain range was around a quarter of the continent, so Torben must have been planning to travel a sizable distance.

<Across the seas in search of answers. Not sure what I’ll find, but I’ll let you know when I do.>

He could understand why Torben wouldn’t want to go back to the underground city where he had been trapped for centuries, but he found it a bit odd that his first destination was across the ocean. Regardless of how it appeared, Sol wished him the best.

"Stay safe, and I hope you find what you’re looking for."