章節 15: Chapter 15. By my blood
"Aaahhhhhh, I do not get it."
I leaned back in my chair, looking up at the dusty ceiling.
It's been a days since I was in this room.
I couldn't even take the other books; there was some sort of magic on them that prevented me from even touching them. It makes sense since these books were probably pretty valuable.
I was hungry and tired, my eyes were hurting from the candlelight that didn't seem to go out or even melt. The book didn't help either. The stuff in it was boring as hell, and it felt like I was bashing my head into a wall.
"Status."
[Name: Mathew
Race: Hyuman
Age: 24
Class: Awakened.
Rank: F
Curse: [Untell]
Skills: [Enhanced Strength], [Manna Pathway], [Eyes of the Deceased], [Will of Life], [Minor Mana Sense], [Basic Magic Aptitude], [Ritualistic Magic Aptitude], [Summon Familiar], [Guiding Can], [Basic Curse: Slow], [Basic Boof: Heal]
]
During the time I was here, I could only learn two skills.
One allowed me to slow down the movement of someone for a few seconds to half, and the other one allowed me to speed up slightly the natural healing abilities of others.
Both of them were at the bottom of the barrel, and it took me all evening to use one of them.
Naturally, I thought about just using the skills I already had and saying I did it, but two things kept me from it.
One was that if I were to use a skill that wasn't in the book, I wouldn't know what they would do to me.
Two, this was an opportunity for me to learn more spells that weren't in my book.
By the way, they only took my knives and bag, but they didn't search my pockets. Don't know if they are too confident about the slave collars or that they are sloppy, but for now, this didn't matter.
I breathed in and closed my eyes, feeling that my mana was replenished. Getting to empty mana was the worst; I felt like I ran for hours with weights. But I learned from these books that if I continue doing this, my limit may improve, so there is a silver lining.
"Sigh, no point crying about it."
I turned back to the book, turning the pages until I saw something I could use.
Following the instructions, I bit my already wounded finger to make it bleed again and drew a circle on the table with strange markings on it.
After I was done, I stood up, raising my wounded hand over the circle, and chanted the text from the book in a language that I didn't know, but there was a translation next to it.
"O blood of the heart, tear of nature, growing worm of the leaf. May my blood flow in my veins while the blood of my enemies stains the ground."
As I chanted, the status screen appeared before my eyes.
[Anomaly detected.]
[Spell outside system detected]
[Processing…]
[Converting spell]
[Integrating spell into host.]
[Updating class pathways.]
The symbol on the table started to shine for a little while as I felt energy starting to leave my body. Soon I saw a single crack appear in the middle of the table.
[New skill received: [Ritualistic magic: Blood Sigil]
"Hmmm? That's not right."
The book didn't have a name for it, but this was supposed to be a healing ritual that used the user's blood to heal damage.
I opened my screen and clicked on the name.
[Skill name: Blood Sigil]
Description: Blood Sigil is an ancient and dark skill that allows the user to draw magical circles using their blood. The effectiveness of the sigil is directly tied to the quantity of blood used and the user's familiarity with the skill.
Levels of Mastery: Initiate Level:
- Sanguin Aegis: The user can draw a basic blood circle to enhance their physical abilities slightly.
- Vita Defensus: Create a protective barrier against low-level magical attacks.
]
"This is quite powerful."
Curious how it worked, I looked at my bleeding finger.
"Sanguin Aegis."
I waited for a while, but nothing happened.
"Did I mispronounce it? It's foreign, so maybe some letters are silent-"
Without control, my wounded finger tensed up as more blood came out from it.
Then as if I was enchanted, I drew a circle on my palm, with three symbols in it. When the drawing was done, I spoke in a language that I never heard before, and yes, I understood what I was saying.
"By blood, I gain strength."
When the drawing was finished, I felt slightly lighter, as if I took off a heavy coat.
"Incredible. This is better than I thought. And can I increase its power when I get stronger?"
This is something quite useful; it can be used as a boost during fights, and from what I can tell, it does not consume a lot of mana.
"Next one is-."
I pointed down.
"Vita Defensus."
Suddenly, as if I received a greater injury, blood started to gush out from my finger, giving me a heart attack.
"Oh damn! Oh damn! Oh damn! Oh damn!"
I looked around for a while or anything while I held my heavily bleeding finger.
As I stumbled to the bookshelf, I noticed that the blood stain on the ground floor started to slowly spread, forming into a circle in which there were three other symbols.
When the drawing was finished, I spoke in that foreign language again.
"By blood, I gain protection."
I didn't know how, but I could tell that I was safe inside the circle. I stepped into it, and sure enough, the air in it was different.
Yes, it smelled like blood, but also there was a feeling of security, as if nothing could reach me in it.
This is incredible. A wild smile spread through my face as I held my bleeding finger.
"A barrier and a strength increase. I learned these two things just from a ritual. Maybe I have a talent for this."
I wiped the blood off my finger.
"Still having to use my blood is not something I want to do again."
With my other hand, I flipped the pages of the book.
"What else can you teach me?"
*****
The door of the room opened as the witch stepped in, a tired look on her face hidden behind her hood.
She didn't have high hopes for the new guy, since humans were terrible at learning magic without a proper master, and the voice constantly interfering with the studies wasn't a surprise to see.
Even she, who could be considered a high-ranking witch with great talents, needed at least a month to learn new spells.
The first thing that greeted her was the smell.
It was the smell she was used to; she smelt it in the cave where she grew up, near the monster cages.
The smell of blood. The ground, the table, even somehow filled with strange symbols drawn in blood that looked sinister.
As a student of magical arts, she immediately recognized them. Ritual circles.
But why did he use his own blood? And how could he use so many?
Even if rituals didn't consume much energy, they required a level of focus that the untrained person couldn't attain, not to mention humans who weren't aided by the voice.
Yet the man who was brought to her was sitting in the chair, one of his legs on the table, leaning back, reading the book she gave him. When she entered, he smiled at her.
"Hello. I just finished my studies."
She shivered when she saw him. Maybe because of the candlelight, but he looked extremely pale and his green eyes glowed like that of a hungry beast.
This man is not normal. She caught a little to get herself to calm down, and she calmly spoke.
"Excellent. I can tell that you can use ritualistic magic."
She glanced at the man, just noticing his hand. His left hand was bloody and still dripping with blood. What sort of psycho did that troll bring here?
"Do you want me to show what I learned?"
He closed the book and walked to the witch, the sound of dripping blood echoing in the room.
"No… I can tell that you have what it takes."
She didn't want to see it. She knew what sort of magic was in that book, and she had the feeling that he would show her the most repulsive ones.
"Follow me."
She turned around and walked, hearing the young man following her.
These tunnels were built by humans thousands of years ago. No one knows why it was built or how, but they were slightly older than the sewers; some of them did connect to it.
Due to it having weapons on hand was important since sometimes monsters wandered in.
Going through the path she is quite familiar with, she arrived before a beautifully carved stone door that had two huge knight statues next to it, the spears they were holding touching the ceiling.
She stopped before the door and spoke in the language of the old, the words of magic.
"Open."
The statues seemingly coming to life, put one of their hands on each side of the door and pushed it open.
She glanced back at the young man who looked at the scene with awe.
She snickered, knowing full well the feeling; she felt it when she was with her master years ago.
"Come. There is more to see."
She walked past the gate.
The other side of the doorway was almost like an entirely different world.
Black marble covered the ground, the walls, and the ceiling, with torches illuminating the entire place. Before her and the boy was a gigantic hole that was surrounded by handrails, as well as bookshelves lining up at the walls. Above their heads and under them were several other levels.
"This is the Sunken Library. A collection of books and documents that are deemed heretical by the royal families. From today forward you will assist me and the other members of the witch coven with research and will be learning magic. If you manage to show your worth to us, you will be free, naturally after swearing an oath that you will not rat us out."
She turned to him, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Witch coven? Who are you?"
She chuckled at the boy's question.
"Right. Being in the dark is not a choice."
She took off her hood, showing the boy her purple hair and eyes.
"You are going to be working for me from now on; I am Seraphina Nightshade. Welcome to the Purple Lilies."
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