5 A shadow approaches

"The—" Emilia began to speak, but was interrupted by a bang of an opening.

Vittorio burst into the room. "Brother! I've heard the news from the guards! Fuck, you really did it!" He let out a bark of laughter. "You went and got yourself some mana!"

The next moment, he froze under Emilia's stern look. "I thought you were adult enough to not speak like a street knave in ladies' presence, Vittorio."

"Sorry, Mother." Vittorio bowed his head, but his shame didn't last longer than a second. "How the hell did you manage that, Cael?"

"Vittorio." Emilia didn't raise her voice, but the tone alone made both her sons swallow their words. "Cael. Both of you, sit down and listen."

They did. Emilia took a seat at the opposite end of the tea table and began to speak.

"As Vittorio already knows, yesterday your father got a letter from the head of the Nuvoloso family. Enzo Nuvoloso declared that our orichalcum mines, according to the old maps, belong to his family—and therefore Oliveira must surrender them to him."

"What?!" Cael shot up from his seat. "He had the nerve?"

Enzo Nuvoloso was a fourth rank mage and ruled over lands next to Oliveira's. Cael always knew that he was a power-hungry bastard, but now he threatened to wage war on their family?

"Right after the old Count Lucchese died," Vittorio growled. "What a thug. He knows that Lucchese's heir can barely dress himself, not to mention wage war on him."

"Exactly." Emilia nodded. "For now, Enzo merely threatens, because he doesn't want to waste warriors if he can avoid that—but I have no doubt that we are to expect war. An uneven war."

Cael clenched his fists. Another reason to become powerful, fast! But he also wondered…

'System, did the Future Me know about Enzo's plans?'

'I do not possess this information. My creator had only put in me future knowledge of Starspawn attacks.'

'That's lame… Though, I suppose, it's a miracle he had time to put all that other stuff in you.'

'Correct, user.'

"Let them come!" Vittorio shook his fist in the air. "We will just defeat Enzo and his army."

"No one can treat our family like this," Cael said gravely. "Nuvoloso will break their teeth of the walls of our tower, and when they do, we will strike them back!"

"This is not for you to decide, boys, but for your father." Emilia pinched her lips. "I only tell this to you, so you would be careful in the future. Please, take care if you leave the tower from now on. These walls are protected with many enchantments, but outside… Who knows what treachery Enzo would use against us?"

"We will be fine, Mother!" Vittorio snorted. "I can protect myself. Now, our eldest…" He grinned snidely.

"Protect yourself from a fourth rank mage? This just shows that your magic rank doesn't give you any brains," Cael threw back.

"Cael is right, Vittorio. Don't be arrogant." Their mother stood up. "And, Cael… I'm sure your father will be happy to hear about your miraculous recovery, but right now, he has a lot on his plate."

"So much that he probably didn't notice my disappearance," Cael muttered.

'But that just gives me time to use the Blood Mage System.'

***

Leonardo the alchemist was clearly surprised to see Cael in his shop. And even more surprised by Cael's question.

"Monster blood? Well, only yesterday your father's knights had brought me a fresh swamp dragon carcass." He caressed his long gray beard. "I have recently finished pouring its blood in bottles. But why would you need it, signore Oliveira? Despite the rumors, it doesn't possess any extraordinary features in its unprocessed state."

"That's my business, not yours." Cael straightened his back and copied the haughty tone with which Father dealt with people below his station. "How much would a hundred golden scudo buy me?"

Leonardo, a second rank mage, stared at Cael. The silent battle of wills continued for several seconds. Leonardo was the first one to look away.

"A quarter, signore Oliveira."

Cael frowned. "Two quarters."

By the end of haggling, Cael had a quarter and a third of blackish-red swamp dragon blood, and a glass bottle it was in. He wrapped it in his cloak and went towards his secret place.

There, he settled comfortably and stared at the bottle with apprehension. Pig blood was disgusting—this thing looked and smelled vile. Cael couldn't even imagine what potions could be made from the liquid.

"Alright, let's get to it. Time to get strong, quickly."

It tasted even worse than it smelled. Like slimy mud. Several times, Cael had to wash his mouth with water from the river so he could continue drinking without puking.

'You now have 295 BP, user,' System announced when Cael finished. 'Nine upgrades available for purchase.'

Cael, feeling as green as a swamp dragon, looked at the empty glass bottle. 'Gods, this system clearly has its limits… The limits of how much blood I can drink before I get sick.'

'User, the Blood Mage System comes paired with a solution to this problem. You can purchase blood magic spells, some of which allow you to consume blood directly into the system space.'

Cael perked up. 'Really?'

'Yes. Although, right now, you don't meet prerequisites for any of them.'

'Right,' Cael's shoulders slumped. 'And when will I?'

'The first blood magic spell, Lesser Exsanguination, requires you to spend four more upgrades on mana, one more upgrade on mind, and one more upgrade on body.'

Cael hummed, pacing around the clearing as he thought. He wanted to buy something immediately, something awesome!.. But he knew that this was the time to stop and think. A mage needed to have a cool head at all times.

This was the foundation of his stairway towards power and prominence.

'What does this spell do, System?'

'It allows you to pull an enemy's blood out of his body and gather it into a sphere in your palm. This blood could then be used for other spells of blood magic, or consumed for BP. As this spell is extremely weak, it only pulls a small amount of blood, and doesn't work if the enemy doesn't have open wounds. This is the very basic spell of blood magic and a prerequisite for all the other spells in this school.'

What a useless spell on its own… Cael supposed that if the enemy was already wounded, it could weaken them, but nothing more.

'Alright. System, if I spend upgrades to meet prerequisites to Lesser Exsanguination, what else I'd be able to buy?'