Ch.35Strong Blood Tower (6)

After finishing our meal, Irina and I headed to the magic practice area.

I was briefly worried whether a broke Magic Tower would even have a practice area, but fortunately my concerns were unfounded.

No matter how financially strapped the Magic Tower might be, it would be nonsensical not to have a magic practice area, one of the most important facilities in any Magic Tower.

“There aren’t many people here. This should be suitable.”

I muttered with a satisfied smile.

Since Blood Magic isn’t particularly powerful magic, most practitioners only needed to extract small amounts for testing purposes in their laboratories.

Even the Blood Claw Art I used was more about precision than brute force and overwhelming power.

Blood Magic wouldn’t be any different.

So it made sense that not many people would be at the practice area, which was mainly used for testing more powerful spells.

“Wow… I’ve never been here before.”

Irina’s comment made me widen my eyes in surprise.

As I mentioned earlier, Blood Magic itself isn’t primarily focused on raw power, so I had wondered…

But I never expected she’d truly never been here before.

“Well… you can use magic however you want here without causing major problems, so do as you please.”

“As I please?”

Irina tilted her head at my words.

In truth, even Blood Claw Art, which is practically the foundation of Blood Magic, doesn’t have a strictly formalized usage method.

Most techniques are ones I researched and optimized for efficiency.

“Show me what you think is your strongest technique.”

“O-okay.”

Irina exhaled nervously, sweating at the thought of demonstrating magic in front of me.

There was really no need to be so tense.

She pricked her finger to create a wound, extracting blood in a familiar motion…

“Hmm.”

This was where the problem began.

“Do you always make a fresh wound every time you use Blood Magic?”

At my question, Irina looked at me as if I’d said something strange.

“Blood Magic uses blood… so of course I need to make a wound to extract blood, right?”

“So that’s how it is…”

I actually knew this already.

I knew that Blood Mages needed to wound themselves to extract blood for their magic.

As a vampire, I could easily extract blood without needing to wound myself.

‘That can’t be good for her health…’

Besides the risk of infection each time, repeatedly creating wounds severe enough to break blood vessels must cause psychological resistance.

Yet Irina was doing this without seeming to mind at all…

This was just…

‘What on earth are you doing properly, Blood Mages?!’

It was truly disheartening.

I understood that humans were forcibly adapting techniques that weren’t originally designed for them, but still…

‘It’s amazing they’re still clinging to this magic that seems to have nothing but disadvantages…’

Passion is truly a strange thing.

It’s both admirable and frightening how they try to make use of something that doesn’t even put food on the table.

‘If it’s Blood Magic based on Blood Claw Art, she should be able to use this technique too.’

Of course, as a vampire, I don’t need to wound myself to extract blood energy.

Even ordinary vampires can do this, let alone me, a True Ancestor and Transcendent of life who can hardly be considered a normal living being anymore.

I still manipulate blood, but I can live perfectly fine even without blood circulation.

I’ve gone beyond blood to manipulate life itself.

But humans are different.

Using this wound-making method for Blood Magic is not only unhealthy but makes them vulnerable to surprise attacks.

“Try using Blood Magic as I instruct you.”

Creating a kind of channel in one part of the body that can extract blood at will.

I don’t need it now, but during my time with the Hero’s party, I used this technique to extract and absorb blood faster and in greater quantities.

“Is that where you usually make wounds for Blood Magic?”

“Yes…”

“Then concentrate your blood there and coagulate it in that form. Make it the right size for the wound… so you can control it at will.”

The goal is to create a channel that can be opened and closed as needed.

Following my instructions, Irina struggled to maintain her Blood Magic.

Since Irina had always possessed tremendous talent for Blood Magic, it didn’t take her very long.

“L-like this?”

Irina cautiously asked, having successfully created a blood channel on her right thumb where she usually made wounds.

“Now the key is to maintain awareness of it and keep it stable.”

“Mmm… it’s difficult…”

“I’m sure it is.”

But if she masters this, she’ll be able to insert and extract blood quickly, safely, and painlessly.

I was worried it might not work for humans, but thankfully it did.

‘Is it because it’s Irina?’

Other Blood Mages might struggle quite a bit to learn this.

“For now, try to maintain that while performing Blood Magic. Do you have any Blood Magic you’re confident in?”

“Hmm…”

Irina thought for a moment, then nodded.

While maintaining the channel, she began extracting blood through it and shaping it.

“Oh…”

I had thought Blood Strengthening Art would be a great help to Irina’s Blood Magic.

Blood Claw Art and Blood Magic were essentially the same technique—just used by vampires versus humans—so I expected impressive results.

But even so…

‘This is beyond belief…’

I genuinely stuck out my tongue in amazement at the level of Blood Magic Irina was displaying.

I hadn’t often seen other Blood Mages directly perform Blood Magic, but what she was showing was incomparably more precise than anything they had demonstrated.

“How is it?!”

“This is…”

It was the Blood Claw Art I had shown Irina when we flew to the Aether Tower recently.

I couldn’t help but smile, remembering how she had proudly shown me the wings she’d been practicing when we came outside after meeting Eterna.

Creating bat wings as a vampire for style points.

It had taken me quite a while too.

Just creating a similar yet impressive form had been difficult…

Yet Irina had succeeded in creating large bat wings that were even more precise and beautiful than before, after seeing it just once.

“I’ve been practicing this like crazy! I wanted to show you, sis!”

“You little…”

Seeing Irina speak with that bright smile made my heart warm.

How is it that everything this girl says makes me feel good?

‘It’s not perfect… but still, what remarkable skill!’

The wings were astonishingly precise.

To be frank, they were incomparably better than the ones she had shown me recently.

Even her previous attempt would have worked fine in practice, but these were so well-made that I couldn’t tell the difference from my own without close inspection.

Blood Magic is actually more difficult than Blood Claw Art when it comes to blood manipulation, yet she had reached this level…

‘Incredible talent…’

No wonder she had exceptionally secured a position as a high-ranking mage.

Those old folks at the Council of Elders had recognized Irina’s extraordinary talent early on and arranged for her to research independently.

‘Perhaps Irina would have become the tower master of the Blood Tower and led it admirably even without me.’

But now that I’ve appeared and become the tower master, that future is no longer possible.

I needed to work hard to make Irina the first great mage of the Blood Tower.

“Now then…”

It was time to teach her how to fly with these wings.

Originally, I had only planned to briefly check how much her Blood Claw Art had improved, but after seeing this, how could I resist?

I needed to start her “training” right away. Yes, indeed.

Ah, of course, that’s short for “early training.”

“Let’s move straight to the next level.”

“Okay!”

After that, I spent the entire day teaching Irina diligently.

*Ding~♪*

I didn’t even notice that someone had sent a message to my MagicPad.