BLOOD

The moment they got on the helhurst, it sped out of Tima and did not stop until long after the sun had set. Sage had to admit, the beast was incredibly fast and its undead nature ensured its speed never diminished. The terrain around them changed several times; from hills to the forest and then the open plain. At some point, she got fed up with the strong gusts attacking her face and took refuge in Nyx {Void Space}. When she exited the Space, darkness had fallen and the horse strode on. Although she did not have an accurate measure of how far they had gotten from Tima, she had little doubt that it was a fair distance.

Yet the road remained empty. If they had passed by any place with a hint of civilisation, it must have been while she was in the Space. The scenery that met her after she came out was still the plains, only she had no clue whether it was the one from before she went into the Space or if the horse had passed another terrain in between.

"Stop the horse," she yelled over the wind. "This is far enough."

Isaac's actions were as stiff and mechanical as when they had been confronted by the crowd, nonetheless he brought the helhurst to a halt effortlessly. The beast glared at her when she got off and gave a frosty snort when she returned the glare, before looking away; it seemed the creature's opinion of her had not improved. 

"Go do whatever you want," she declared. "I'll be resting here for a while."

With that, she telekinetically plopped up the earth, moulded it into a chair and cast [Transmute] to harden it to stone to enable her to sit on it. Then she plopped herself down, took out a book and began to read.

It was one of the books she had gotten from the Cryptmaker. This particular one was an encyclopaedia of sorts that listed undead creatures, with illustrations and rituals to create those undead included where applicable. Although she had already read it, back then she had merely skimmed through it, checking only the parts she deemed important. Now, she flipped to the vampire pages and thoroughly perused them.

Vampires are the offspring of the Blood Sorceress… blah, blah, blah; something anyone with the slightest knowledge on the subject knew. Apart from the obvious crimes of blood sacrifices, there was mention of an unknown sin the Blood Sorceress committed that apparently angered the Sun, making Her hate her and all her progeny. Unlike in the movies on Earth, there was nothing that could protect vampires from the sun's wrath; not special herbs, not an Elixir and not Ultra-Order magic. When one became a vampire, it was a guarantee that they would never see the sun ever again.

Being a kind of encyclopaedia, the book listed the characteristics of vampires. First were the simple ones, like their unusual attractiveness and their ability to {Charm} anyone who was attracted to them. But of course there were others. Their most recognisable ability was {Haemamancy}, which allowed them to manipulate blood- whether theirs or another's- in any manner they desired. With this ability, they were able to scatter themselves into several Blood Familiars to escape attacks or perform them. However, the latter was an ephemeral technique that undid itself after a dozen seconds. Vampires also possessed the ability to escape through shadows, though it was nowhere near as advanced as Nyx's {Shadow Travel}, or even an Umbral Felis' for that matter.

A vampire's mana was proportional to its physique; meaning the stronger it's the body, the greater its mana quality. The vampire they had just handed over to the Tima mob was not weak by any standards, having a Grade 3 body and burgundy mana. In all honesty, Isaac had been outclassed in their fight. His physique may have been superior, but his unfamiliarity with his abilities had put him at a great disadvantage. If not for his Netherkin ability kicking in and weakening the vampire, the result would have been different.

Another thing I was unaware of, she thought, momentarily looking up from the book.

The only things she had known about Netherkin, apart from the fact that they could be of any undead race, was that they could weaken an enemy's Dark Magic and strengthen an ally's. Also, those who summoned and bound a Netherkin were able to engrave a single spell of every magic Order they had achieved on them. In some cases this was a godsend that allowed them to Advance.

What she had been unaware of was the fact that they could actually weaken other undead. Did that mean they could strengthen them as well? There was a lot she did not know. Netherkin were a rare bunch that only few on Aran had come into contact with. Like the phantom, not much was known about them. However, Sage was somewhat certain she could not be affected by Isaac's ability; just like how Manakin were unable to weaken the spells of an Arcaneborne. The downside of this was that the bastard could not buff her Dark Magic either.

Sage got back into the encyclopaedia, familiarising herself with all the traits of vampires that had been jotted before setting down in the book and demanding Nyx give her one of the blood-filled flasks. When the cat regurgitated it into her hand, she brought it to eye level and cast [Mystic Eyes].

The vampiric blood contained a swirl of mana she had not seen in a normal human's blood. It was relatively a miniscule amount, sparser than even the amount carried by someone with an H aptitude. However, the way the mana blended into the blood was unusual. Somehow, it seemed to be invigorating the blood. To what end, she could only guess.

I ought to test it out, she thought to herself.

It was a shame the encyclopaedia did not have a ritual to create a vampire, considering the fact that none were capable of the act. Even the Blood Sorceress, now that she was no longer a sorceress, she too was unable to create a new breed of vampires.

One thing the encyclopaedia did mention however, was how the transformation to a vampire occurred. Unlike the movies, a single bite would not do; if it had been so, the sick youths in Tima would have spotted fangs long ago. 

Turning someone into a vampire required the vampire to drain the target of half their blood before feeding them their own blood. The process must be carried out in this way or it would not work.

I can test it out, she thought. Turning to Nyx, she ordered. "Fetch me a critter. Make sure not to not harm it too severely."

It only took a couple of minutes before her familiar popped out of her shadow while dragging a squirrel. The cat had sunk its fangs into the critter's back leg, injuring it in such a way that it could not escape. Despite being extremely annoying, Nyx was surprisingly smart. 

Sage patted him on the head before taking the squirming rodent and cast [Pain Nullification] before opening up a vein on its injured leg. Then she took an empty flask and held it over the open wound, allowing the blood to fall in. The creature was lively at first, but by the time the flask had filled quarter-way, its struggles considerably dimmed. She then seared its wound shut before setting it down. Then, she took the vampire-blood flask and proceeded to pour a half its content into the squirrel-blood flask. Again, she activated [Mystic Eyes] and observed the miniscule vampiric mana latch itself onto the squirrel blood and begin transforming it to vampiric blood. Afterwards, she grabbed the squirrel, forced its mouth open, and proceeded to feed it the blood mixture. Finally, she placed it on the ground and observed it with her mana-infused eyes for the next several minutes.

It was a shame [Mystic Eyes] was a 7th Order spell. The mana she continuously consumed to keep it active for the several hours it would take for the transformation to be completed was more than she possessed. She had used up all the Spirit Potions she had gotten from the Cryptmaker as well. So, she was unable to observe the entire process from start to finish.

Obviously, the purpose of this experiment was to learn how to create a vampire of her own. Having one serving her did not seem like a bad idea. From what she had seen, it could prove extremely useful.

All past efforts to duplicate the Blood Sorceress' success had ended in failure; however, none of them had been performed Sage. Her instinctual understanding of Dark Magic, particularly necromancy, made her well-suited to figure it out. She was capable of grasping concepts which the Cryptmaker had stated in his notes took him years to understand. Also, she was capable of altering the undead creation ritual to achieve the variant results she desired. The Blood Sorceress might have created vampires, probably through Blood Magic- which Sage, as an individual lacking normal blood could never learn- but a few weeks or months of studying the process and she was confident she could figure out how to duplicate the process. 

She was Darkborne after all.

After switching off [Mystic Eyes], she made a point to look at Isaac, who sat on ground the with his legs crossed. His armour was no longer littered with blood, meaning they must have passed a water source while she hid in the refuge. The knight's head sagged aimlessly and, although he still wore his helmet, his demeanour was telling enough to reveal the face he wore under it was one of anger and anguish. The helhurst kept nibbing at his shoulder, likely an effort to cheer him up.

Race: Pallid Knight (Undead)

Physique: Grade 2

Mana: A (Orange)

Title(s): Netherkin

The events that had occurred in Tima had improved his mana. If he continued to use his abilities and familiarise himself with them, then it was possible that in a few months to a few years he could be bring his mana at least up to burgundy or cyan quality. However, in his current state he was unlikely to get anything done.

Sage had not made a sentient undead out of the former Tiih Guard Captain to have him to be wallowing in misery. She had done it because she wanted someone who could help her fulfil her goals; someone with a functioning brain that did not require being told what to do every time. Also; she was aware it was petty, but wanted to make the bastard suffer for the trouble his actions had put her through.

Of course the bastard had been distraught to find out he had become undead. For the briefest moment, she actually enjoyed his misery. Now, it was not fun anymore. The bastard was a stubborn pain in the arse. His actions in Tima were not what she had had in mind when she raised him as her knight.

Maybe I should break the contract and send him to hell, was a thought that crossed her mind while she had cooled off in Nyx's {Void Space}. Be done with him and write off her first attempt of creating a sentient undead as a failure.

However, as usual, she quickly talked herself out of it. She had bled a shitton to make a masterpiece from a rare specimen. There was no fucking way she was going to let him go just like that!

Which left a single solution, compromise. It was annoying and she was unwilling, but she was also tired of the current predicament. Since they were going to stay together, they needed to at least tolerate each other.

"Isaac, take off the helm," she spoke up. "We need to talk."