Mana
_____________________
Name: Killian Bloodgrave
Rank: Novice Mage
Mana Technique: Song of Blood (Primary)
Fragments: 0/1000
Profession: Blood Mage
Spells: None
Skills: Stabbing (Level 1)
_____________________
The system resembled an interface straight out of a video game, with white text set against a blue background.
"So I can use magic?!!" Nathan muttered with excitement.
He swiftly got up from the bed and focussed his attention on the vase lying on the nightstand.
"Abracadabra!"
"Skadoosh!"
"Shazam!"
He mumbled various incantations, gesturing with his hands in an attempt to invoke magic, but to no avail.
"Scam!" he exclaimed, only to realize from his peripheral vision that someone had been standing at the door the entire time.
An awkward silence hung between them for a moment.
"Uhm... hi!" Nathan smiled wryly at the girl, opening his clenched fist from his last gesture and giving her a gawky wave.
"Maybe I should come back later," the girl replied, taking a step back toward the door.
"No, wait!" Nathan called out, reaching out a hand to stop her. "Please, stay. I could use some company."
He knew who the girl was from Killian's memories.
She was Amy, the daughter of one of the maids and a childhood friend of Killian's.
Amy glanced at Nathan before quietly entering the room and sitting on the bed. Nathan joined her, settling in beside her.
"Shazam!" she mimicked Nathan, then burst into laughter.
"Shut up!" Nathan scowled.
However, Amy didn't listen. She giggled for a few more moments before coming to a halt and looking at Nathan.
"But seriously, what were you trying to do back there?" she asked, her tone teasing. "You seemed like a five-year-old who's just been introduced to magic!"
Ughh I wanna die.. Again.
Nathan recalled from Killian's memories that Amy was not only his sole friend but also someone he could trust implicitly. Furthermore, she was an exceptionally skilled magic user for her age.
"Hey, Amy," Nathan began tentatively, "would you be willing to teach me some magic?"
"REALLY?" Amy shouted excitedly, grabbing onto Nathan's shoulders.
Nathan hadn't anticipated such an enthusiastic reaction from her. Nevertheless, it worked in his favor, as he didn't want the people of this world to become suspicious of his sudden change in demeanor.
He simply smiled, pretending to enjoy Amy's excitement.
"But why? You never liked magic! Me and George always tried to persuade you, but you never listened," Amy asked with a smile.
Nathan hesitated, then replied, "I suppose I've had a change of heart."
"Good, good!" Amy muttered, as she changed her sitting position to face Nathan. "Let me teach you from the beginning."
Nathan also mimicked her, settling into a cross-legged position opposite Amy.
"So the first step to learning magic is to learn about mana." Amy began her lesson.
"Mana is present everywhere around us, and some researchers even believe that mana is the source of creation for everything in the world."
"In order to wield magic, mana needs to be imbued into everything," Amy continued, her tone becoming more animated. "For instance, imbuing air with mana gives rise to wind magic."
She held her hand in the air, and wind began to swirl around it, gradually coalescing into a small tornado.
"And in your case…" Amy muttered with a wry smile. "You need to imbue your own blood with mana"
My own? I will fucking die! How does it make any sense?
"Can't I use some other blood? Won't I die if I overuse my spells?" Nathan shot all his concerns at Amy, hoping to get some answers.
"I .. dont know" Amy shook her head. "Blood manipulation is a closely guarded technique of the Bloodgrave family. You need to consult George or someone else about it"
Damnit. I am back to square one.
"Well… thanks Amy" Nathan muttered with a smile. He appreciated the efforts she had put into teaching him the basics.
"You can also ask your father.. I mean the patriarch for the Bloodgrave family's mana technique" Amy chimed in.
Augustus Bloodgrave… Killian does not have fond memories with him.
Wait… mana technique?
Nathan's mind raced back to his system, recalling the term "mana technique" that he had read there.
He quickly opened the interface, and there it was.
[ Mana Technique: Song of Blood (Primary) ]
"I.. I already have a mana technique. Can you teach me how to use it?" Nathan asked Amy with shining eyes.
"No..." Amy murmured, her head bowed. "Only direct descendants of the Bloodgrave bloodline are permitted to practice these techniques. Any offenders will be executed by the patriarch."
"But don't these techniques come with a manual? Maybe you can learn it from there" she added.
Hmmm. Does the system have any such features?
Nathan began tapping randomly on the interface of the system. To Amy, it seemed as though he was trying to poke at something invisible.
His finger landed on the term "Mana Technique", which opened an entirely new screen, filled with the details about the technique 'Blood of Song'
Found it!
He glanced towards Amy , who had a confused expression on her face.
"I am feeling tired. I want to rest" he said, trying to find a quiet place to read the information from the system.
"Sure. Let me know if you need anything," Amy said with a smile as she rose from the bed and made her way toward the door of the room.
Nathan began to read from the system when suddenly Amy turned around, causing him to be taken aback.
"About that day..." she began, then halted midway.
"Which day?" Nathan prompted.
"No, forget it," Amy replied abruptly, then quickly dashed out of the room.
Weird. Even George felt like he wanted to say something.
Nathan knew that Killian's memories surfaced only when he actively thought about them, like fragments of a story piecing themselves together in his mind.
He had attempted to focus on Killian's memories of the past few days, but no matter how hard he probed, nothing came to him.
It was as if an entire chunk of his memories had been inexplicably deleted.
"I will ask George about it later", he murmured, before directing his focus to the system screen.
_______________________________________________
Mana Technique: Song of Blood
Rank: Legendary
Hierarchy: Primary
Effects:
- Allows practitioner to imbue mana into blood
- +10% Blood regeneration rate
- +10% Mana regeneration rate
- locked
….
_______________________________________________
The screen contained all sorts of information, from the history of the technique to the ways to use it.
The system clearly had a variety of functions, many of which Nathan had yet to discover and fully explore.
He spent some time reading through it, getting a clear understanding of how to properly practice the technique.
***
"Are you sure you want to do this? Maybe there are other elements you can practice!" Amy muttered, sitting next to Nathan on the ground and eyeing the jar of red liquid in front of them.
The jar contained the blood of a beast which Nathan received from the kitchen of the mansion.
Amy crouched closer to the jar, taking a whiff of the stench emanating from it.
"Ew!" she groaned, quickly covering her nose with her hands.
Nathan gulped at Amy's reaction to the smell.
Even though he was eager to become a mage and wield magic, he couldn't get used to the idea of using blood to cast spells.
Nathan hesitantly leaned in to take a whiff himself, expecting the same repulsive odor. To his surprise, he found the scent oddly sweet.
It smells like … honey? Could it be the effect of the mana technique?
The amount of information in the system regarding the mana technique was way too long for Nathan to process in a single setting.
Hence he only read the introduction and how to practice it.
The first step to mastering the technique was to develop a basic control over the blood imbued with mana.
The most optimal way was to use the practitioner's own blood, but there was no way in hell that Nathan was going to try that.
The system also stated that the user can utilize a beast's blood, but the efficiency of the technique falls drastically.
Still that didn't bother Nathan, atleast at the present moment.
But it said nothing about changing the user's perception towards blood.
"Well... that solves one problem," Nathan murmured, his lips curling into a small smile.
Amy glanced at Nathan, her eyes widening in disbelief. "Are you seriously smiling after smelling blood?" she asked, feeling a bit weirded out.
"Oh," Nathan grinned, picking up the jar in his hand. "What, doesn't everyone enjoy the smell of blood?" He playfully waved the jar under Amy's nose, teasing her.
"Ew, get it away!" Amy exclaimed, recoiling and waving her hands to push the jar away. "Put that thing down!"
"It smells sweet because of the mana technique," Nathan explained, shrugging.
"That's even weirder!" Amy snapped, clearly irritated. She stood up and stomped out of the room, leaving Nathan alone with the jar.
"Hehehehehe"
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