Born in Blood

"To inscribe anything requires you to be knowledgeable about magical diagrams and how they work – which I was, even above average."

"Originally, I was from a large-sized noble family in another monarchical city near Ucladd, called Erivol – where I studied inscriptions until my diagnosis." Revel said, his expression gradually turning dark.

Liam recalled the layout of his region which he memorized from the map.

Multiple cities similar to Ucladd lived in relatively close proximity to one another – forming a ring.

Each city would have a similar ruling system, with each lesser sized family living under one large-sized family.

Erivol was one of those cities.

Revel continued, the vindication in his tone hardly hidden.

"Once my family learned of my sickness, they simply threw me away despite my talent on the subject. From that day on, I realized something..."

Revel's face turned distant.

"Human lives have no intrinsic value by themselves."

From how those words were said, Liam couldn't imagine just how many lives Revel had taken.

"I digress." Revel let out a soft sigh. "I still don't know how impurities formed in my blood, but it happened sometime after I started to refine it."

"I assume it was a side effect to a vampiric technique used on a human, but I'm not sure." He shook his head. "I've already made two spells from this technique, but that's why I'm in this state."

"But that's enough about me, you want to learn this technique, yes?"

Liam remained silent for a moment. Eventually, he nodded. "Not before you tell me everything about your blood-refining method."

Liam was reluctant for a few reasons.

Firstly, seeing Revel's state, he couldn't help but consider the risks of using such a dangerous technique.

He wanted power, yes. But not at the cost of his life.

Secondly, if the method of inscription was riddled with so many holes this early, it would be extremely difficult for it to prove useful later on.

Rogan's Primordial Forging was the perfect example of this. The blacksmith and his forgemasters before him spent their lives trying to perfect it, but still fell short.

On the other hand, Revel's technique was fairly new. No matter how talented the man was, he couldn't invent a completely new branch of inscriptions in such little time – a little under two years, to be precise.

Revel sighed. "I guess that's fair. Let me show you how it's refined first, then I'll tell you about the rest."

Revel entered through a tunnel leading deeper into the mountain cavity – Liam following.

As they walked through the tunnel, they passed a rectangular basement. Liam saw dead bodies chained to the left and right side of the walls, their figures completely dry, as though all their blood had been forcefully drained.

The smell was rancid. Any normal person would hurl and vomit on the spot, but Liam and Revel passed by without batting an eyelid.

'They resemble nobles, well... resembled. He still has a hatred for them.' Liam thought.

After a few turns, they had finally reached the end of the tunnel.

It was a small and simple cave, yet the density of 'Ora' was quite high, even higher than Liam's cave underground.

Revel took out his inscribed odachi – blood-red colored with a curved blade like Liam remembered – the surface of which was covered with crimson writings.

Revel stripped his forearm – which was covered with scars and large cuts that healed – and slashed it open.

Scarlet blood soiled with lumps of dark-green and black flowed from the wound, yet instead of splashing on the ground, circulated in the air – by Revel's command, of course.

It was just nail-sized in volume, yet Revel's skin was drenched throughout the process.

Liam didn't blink as he watched.

He felt Revel's mental waves envelop the blood, and a moment later, warm strands of 'Ora' poured from his abdomen and conjoined with it.

The blood glowed bright scarlet, and whenever the world essence touched the impurities, it receded and slowly sizzled away.

Revel continued to refine the blood.

Abruptly, he manipulated the nail-sized liquid to enter through his mental sphere!

A small red stain appeared on Revel's forehead, and he growled in pain, lowering his head as he clutched his temples.

He continued to grunt loudly – suppressing his urges to shout – panting heavily and coughing black blood. Eventually, his paleness receded, before he laid his back on the cave wall.

Revel raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. He slowly gained enough strength for an explanation.

"This is in essence how refining blood works. I could've simply absorbed the blood back into my veins after purifying it with 'Ora', but I chose to show you the first step to inscribing with it."

Liam blinked. Though he had little knowledge of how inscriptions worked, he just knew it was naturally wrong.

"You store that into your mental sphere? How is that possible?"

The sea of consciousness was both ethereal and physical. It wasn't inside the human body, but was still connected to them through their minds.

Revel coughed, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He spoke with an impatient tone:

"There's much you don't know. Just tell me, do you want to learn it or not?"

Liam was still slightly on edge. He couldn't help but ask more questions.

"What spells have you made with it?"

The pale-faced maniac couldn't help but sigh, but he smirked a moment later.

Revel tensed his right hand. His nails grew black and lengthened in an instant, turning razor-sharp. His fingers bulged with unnatural veins.

Liam's eyes widened. Revel's nails were similar to the vampire's illustration of it. "I'm guessing that's what you used to suck the nobles' blood?"

Revel nodded, his gaze stuck to his hand. "It's my masterpiece... and perhaps the reason why I'm dying. I pushed myself too far to make this spell, but... well, no reason to lament. I've come to terms with this... curse."

Liam turned pensive, before nodding to himself.

'If inscribed items are so expensive, there's probably no chance for me to learn how to do them the normal way. I can't be picky about what to choose...'

"Give me all the books and trial-and-error catalogs you have of your technique – and a proper schedule for you to teach me... I'll learn it."

Revel grinned wickedly, approval in his steely eyes.

"Begin with learning the vampiric language."