Chapter 151 A Long Night
Ikaris ate a little, then slept for two hours to let his stamina gauge recover and then cast the spell until exhaustion again. It was harder this time because his Blood Energy was down to 2.6. The hunger was really starting to set in and he could now smell the blood of Ellie and Malia through the walls.
He looked at the time: 3am...
Feeling like time was passing at a snail's pace, he asked in a hoarse voice, his lips cracking from imagined dehydration,
"Magnus... Can I drink some blood now?"
"Not yet." Magnus replied absentmindedly, poking fun at his misery. "Now is when practicing your Blood Fasting Spell is most effective. It's when you feel this haunting hunger that you can wish so hard that you never feel it again. When your body shuts down from lack of blood, then your desire to go without blood will reach its zenith. Fighting!"
Ikaris sighed. Even his bones were starting to itch, he was so thirsty. If he felt like this with his Soul Strength and I Am Me Spell, he couldn't imagine what the low-level Vampires in his situation were going through.
Sleeping had become impossible. His thirst was waking him up and even discharging his stamina was not enough to make him fall asleep. He had no choice but to wait in silence until the morning, eyes wide open, for the sun to rise and for his Blood Energy gauge to reach the critical threshold...
To keep himself busy, he flipped through the school books he had collected from the campus library. Or rather, he read them all.
At close to 6am, he lifted his attention from the grimoire "The Way Of The Sorcerer" and grumbled grouchily,
"These books explain everything in an obscure way. No wonder there are so few Sorcerers reaching old age."
"I told you before that magic is a very personal thing." Magnus chided him with little sympathy. "That Kyra lent you those generic manuals because she doesn't know what kind of Sorcerers you want to become yet. There's a lot of good advice and truths in these books, but you'll probably have to become a much better Sorcerer than you are now to grasp their true meaning. Go to class since you have to. Besides meeting other Lords, who knows, you might learn a few things..."
Ikaris detected the sarcasm in the old Vampire's voice, but alas that was the moment his Blood Energy dropped to 1/10. An unspeakable feeling of weakness left him paralyzed on the ground, terrible aches and pains overwhelming his body with the slightest movement.
"Fuck me! Magnus, can I drink blood now?!" He growled through gritted teeth, his veins swelling on his forehead as he turned aghast.
"Not yet~" Magnus crooned sadistically.
Another hour and a half passed, and the sun was already long gone. Malia and Ellie knocked on his door several times, but when they didn't receive a response, they thought he was tired and decided to leave him alone to sleep.
When his Blood Energy dropped to 0.2 and his body almost looked like a dried-up mummy, Magnus exclaimed,
" It is time! Take a sip of blood from the concoction we decided on earlier, remember?"
Ikaris grunted weakly in response, and had no choice but to summon a small skeleton, definitely a runt due to his weakened state, to do the mixing for him. As it decanted the liquid from the vials, then vigorously shook the final vial, it looked like a bartender preparing a cocktail for a customer.
A blood cocktail.
With the blood flask ready, the skeleton trotted back to him, losing shards of bone with every step. Because of the malus and the fact that it was already daytime, he had already burned through all the Death Mana he had accumulated passively during the night.
It survived just long enough to pour the precious nectar into his half-opened mouth. At that moment, for Ikaris this liquid became the most delicious tonic he had ever tasted in his life. When the first drop of blood touched his tongue, an electrifying sensation spread throughout his body, bringing it back to life.
His aches and pains subsided, as did his mental fog, and the boy was so stunned that he opened his eyes wide, jerking up into a sitting position.
[Rank 1 Blood Energy: 7.3/10]
He had only drunk 7 or 8 drops. Although this blood contained equal proportions of human, Glenring, Vampire, Werewolf and Nephilim blood, it was not enough to explain such a difference. The quality of these blood samples was also very high indeed.
Between Rank 3 and 4. In other words, the blood had been taken from beings whose cultivation realm was comparable to that of a Sorcerer or a Lord Sorcerer.
" Isn't this Anaphiel a bit too generous with me?" Ikaris was really conflicted. Wasn't she afraid that he would suddenly run away after receiving all this special treatment for free?"
Three more drops maxed out his Blood Energy gauge.
"This is unexpected." Magnus admitted, lost in thought. "No matter how wealthy House Morgunis is, these kinds of products come at an exorbitant price that most Lord Sorcerers can't afford. Although Anaphiel is a Master Sorcerer herself and the eldest daughter of the current head of House Morgunis, I doubt he would allow such an action. I'm willing to bet it comes out of her own savings."
Ikaris frowned, but in the end he stopped fretting over nothing. He wasn't the type to refuse what was offered to him on a silver platter. A 30 cl bottle like this would last him at least a month and there were enough samples to make two or three more like it. He wasn't planning on touching the blood of other races, but he wasn't planning on giving them back either.
"You've absorbed just enough of my Bloodspark to awaken the most inferior Vampire bloodline there is, but with this blood, improving your Blood Energy Rank to Rank 3 won't be very difficult." Magnus then warned him. "The other good thing is that you'll need to drink less blood to get your fill, which will effectively prevent any risk of addiction."
"Though... This blood tastes good." Ikaris said hesitantly.
The Archmagus immediately understood what he was implying: It would be difficult not to drink more than necessary.
"I'll be there to watch you." Magnus promised solemnly, completely serious for once.
Before leaving his room, Ikaris dressed, dipping into his new fashion Lord wardrobe to look as regal and handsome as he could for his first day of class, then cast his new Blood Fasting Spell just long enough to drop his stamina by about 20%.
At Magnus' request, Ikaris planned to cast the spell regularly throughout the day, preserving his stamina levels at a threshold where he would be in fighting condition under any circumstances. In case of emergency, he had his rings and a vial of hybrid blood on him.
The teenager fitted the new sword he had purchased the day before to his belt, then went outside to perform the day's summoning ceremony. Fifteen refugees appeared, including a sullen forest elf, but Liam and Plume took care of them.
Ikaris, Malia, Ellie, Danchun, Kellam, and Taguchi gathered at the Transportation Portal shortly thereafter. Ellie and Malia cast an enigmatic glance at the boy before denying it when he questioned why they were staring at him. The other three immediately smelled the awkward atmosphere.
"Nardor is staying here to work on his forge today." The youth briefed them concisely. "We'll be meeting other Lords of the six Ruling Houses like that Caim and Hanbek from yesterday, so be mentally prepared. For those of you who weren't there, I'll leave it to the others to tell you."
Kellam, Ellie and Taguchi nodded uneasily. Apparently, Malia had already talked to them about it. Ikaris then turned to Danchun and apologized,
"Sorry about yesterday, because of what happened I forgot to look for a healer for your scars and... Kayden. I'll try to find out today."
With all these Lords, there had to be one who could recommend a good healer for him.
"It's not urgent, my Lord." Danchun reassured him, insistent on addressing him by his honorific title rather than by his first name like Malia and Ellie. Perhaps it was also to maintain a distance between them, which Ikaris didn't mind at the moment even if it made him a little uncomfortable.
They went through the Portal and found Ramiro and a Lord's Paradise courier waiting for them on the other side. Ikaris handed him the empty ring and thanked him, then headed for the Scholar District with his friends.
Twenty minutes later, they stopped in front of an imposing, architecturally splendid building into which a steady stream of young men and women between the ages of 7 and 30 were entering.
"It should be the place." Kellam confirmed as he lifted his eyes from the map in his hands.