Volume 1 Chapter 10: Blood Magic (Edited)

Volume 1 Chapter 10: Blood Magic

Carmilla then walked back to where she came from since Clone 1 was still near the entrance, ensuring that Carmilla did not get lost.

Carmilla murmured to herself.

Carmilla: "So, how do we mark this, hmm?"

Carmilla started murmuring to herself, causing Clone 1 not to hear what she said clearly.

Carmilla then exclaimed after some time have pass.

Carmilla: "Ahh, that's it! This should work."

Clone 1: "What should work, master?"

Carmilla didn't answer Clone 1 but raised her hand, causing a red magic circle to appear, and blood started materializing in the air. After a few seconds, a small blob of blood floated, gradually taking the form of a dagger through the manipulation of it. Once she finished shaping the dagger, Carmilla opened her status screen to check how much mana she had spent on casting the spell, manipulating it into a dagger shaped and how much mana she have remained.

[Name: Carmilla]

[Race: Vampire]

[Title/s: N/A]

[Level: 1]

[HP: 40/40]

[MP: 5/20]

Carmilla: "Oh, wow, that cost a lot of mana to make. Luckily, I have [Automatic Mana Recovery Lv: 1], so my mana will be refilled after 3 seconds,"

Carmilla made a remark before walking towards the wall to start carving. After a whole minute of carving, you could read 'Carmilla sleeps here'. Clone 1 watched the entire process of Carmilla carving in the walls of the cave opening, and upon seeing what Carmilla wrote, she was flabbergasted.

Clone 1: "Umm, Master, can I say something?"

Clone 1 inquired timidly.

Carmilla: "Sure, go ahead."

Clone 1 hesitated, then asked.

Clone 1: "Will you not get angry, Master?"

Carmilla: "Nope."

She was happy reading what she had carved in the wall, so she didn't pay much attention to Clone 1.

Clone 1: "Master, is it necessary to carve this here?"

Clone 1 inquired about the necessity of the inscription.

Carmilla: "Of course! When someone comes here, they will see this, and I can be smug,"

Carmilla replied with a sense of satisfaction.

Clone 1: "But, Master, almost no one will come here, and no one can see what you've carved. Even if someone came here and saw what you carved master you will never know. You could just carve a simple line, and it will only take a few seconds to finish,"

Clone 1 suggested, pointing out the lack of visibility and proposing a quicker alternative.

Carmilla: "Yes, yes, but it looks great, doesn't it? Better than a simple line."

Carmilla replied, emphasizing the aesthetic appeal of her carving.

Carmilla then looked at the dagger in her hand and ceased supplying mana to it. After a few seconds, the dagger lost its shape, turning into liquid, and the blood slowly disappeared into a particles. When Carmilla saw this, she started complaining in frustration.

Carmilla: "Even with [Automatic Mana Recovery Lv: 1], it's still too much mana just to use blood magic, and the blood will disappears after I stop supplying mana."

Carmilla grumbled, expressing frustration at the inefficiency of the process despite her mana recovery skill.

Clone 1: "Master, if you use your own blood, you'll spend less mana than creating mana in the air. You can even store it for future uses. Though you can use others' blood, it will cost more mana to control it. However, when you use your own blood, the mana expenditure is significantly lower. So, it's still cost-effective to use your own blood."

Clone 1 explained, suggesting the efficiency of utilizing Carmilla's own blood for magical purposes.

Carmilla, who had been absentmindedly observing the disappearing blood, snapped back to attention upon hearing Clone 1's explanation about using her own blood. Intrigued, she began questioning Clone 1 about this newfound information.

Carmilla: "Why didn't you tell me that sooner, before I used a lot of mana to create a small blob of blood?"

Carmilla questioned Clone 1, expressing her frustration at not receiving this information earlier.

Clone 1: "But, Master, when I was about to tell you, you had already created a small blob of blood. I didn't want to interrupt you and risk losing control over the blob of blood, so I chose to remain silent."

Clone 1 explained, justifying why she didn't interrupt Carmilla earlier.

Carmilla: "Fine, since I've already marked where we came from, let's go exploring."

Carmilla agreed, ready to proceed on their journey.

Carmilla then started walking toward the middle, followed by Clone 1. Upon reaching the middle, Carmilla began looking around, checking the entrances one by one. However, she observed that there was nothing distinctive, and nearly all of the entrances appeared the same.

So, Carmilla chose to pick a random entrance among the similar ones.

≈Carmilla's POV≈

I started walking toward the front entrance where we came from. After a few minutes, I encountered a dead end, so I was about to turn back. However, at that moment, I heard Clone 1's voice.

Clone 1: "Master, don't turn back too soon. I noticed a small crack on the wall; perhaps there's something in it."

Clone 1 alerted Carmilla, suggesting there might be something hidden within the crack.

Carmilla: "Sure, why not give it a try? There might be something in there. But how should we attempt to break the wall?"

Carmilla inquired, considering the method to break through the wall with the crack Clone 1 mentioned.

Clone 1: "Master, did you forget about Blood Magic?"

Clone 1 reminded Carmilla of the potential use of Blood Magic to break through the wall.

Carmilla: "Oh, yeah, Blood Magic. Sorry."

Carmilla acknowledged, recalling the possibility of using Blood Magic to break through the wall.

After saying that I was about to use Blood magic to make blood and start shaping it but Clone 1 suddenly stop me so I look at her waiting for a reply why she stop me.

Clone 1: "Master, I already mentioned that it will costs less mana when you use your own blood for Blood Magic."

Clone 1 reminded Carmilla, explaining why she stopped her from creating blood magically.

Carmilla: "Oh, I see. I don't have a sharp weapon to pierce my skin, so I was planning to create a very small ball of blood to form a needle."

When Clone 1 heard Carmilla's explanation, she bit her thumb, expecting a small amount of blood to flow out. However, contrary to her expectation, the bleeding didn't stop after a few drops; instead, it continued unabated, flowing continuously.

As I observed Clone 1 about to bite her thumb, I intended to stop her, but she was too quick. Since it was just a small wound, I expected the bleeding to cease after a small amount of blood came out.

Carmilla: "Clone 1, why does the blood keep flowing out?"

Carmilla inquired, concerned about the continuous bleeding despite the minor wound.

Clone 1: "Master, I'm using blood magic to make my blood keep flowing out."

Clone 1 clarified, indicating that she was deliberately using Blood Magic to control the continuous bleeding.

Carmilla: "However, why isn't there a magic circle?"

Carmilla questioned, puzzled by the absence of a magic circle despite Clone 1's use of Blood Magic.

Clone 1: "Ah, I'm just manipulating my blood to flow towards the wound; I'm not using it to create a spell."

Clone 1 explained, clarifying that her manipulation of the blood was not intended for casting a spell.

After a few seconds, a small blob of blood started floating, and a red magic circle appeared, shaping the blood into a dagger. Clone 1 then handed the blood dagger to me. I glanced at her before asking a question.

Carmilla: "What's this for?"

I inquired, looking at Clone 1, seeking an explanation for the blood dagger she had crafted.

Clone 1: "It's for you, Master, to open a wound."

Clone 1 clarified that the blood dagger was meant for Carmilla to create a wound to collect blood.

Upon hearing Clone 1's explanation, I took the blood dagger. Remembering that a higher amount of blood would flow from a certain area, I opted to cut my wrist. Since I had set the pain tolerance to 10%, the sensation of cutting my wrist felt akin to a paper cut.