I teleported directly into the Core Partition, which now had a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace.
I shivered. After the cold air of Mount Dalrin, this felt amazing.
I flopped onto a sofa and tried to quickly decide what to do.
We had the auction coming up, which made anything related to Blood Magic and Destabilized Artifacts my first priority, followed by… uh. Maybe some other kinds of Magic, in case that bull ornament turned out to absorb Elemental Magic like that cat did? Or maybe I should just focus on more combat skills? Sword techniques? I hadn't even learned how to use my Moonlight Sword properly.
But now there was the cave too, and the crystals, and the runes.
Still, if those had been there for hundreds of years I suppose they could wait a week longer, until the auction was over? It seemed more important to learn as many skills as I could before we tried another Destabilized Artifact fight. If I bled to death, any knowledge I had on the runes would be lost anyway.
Damn it. I had no idea where to start.
"System," I said, while Penguin ate his fish on the big table. "What do you have on Blood Magic?"
The System materialized several books on the coffee table in front of the sofa I was sitting on.
[System Notification: Blood Magic theory texts were selected.]
I leaned forward and picked up Hemodynamics: The Physical Properties of Blood in Magical Application. The cover was dark red leather, worn all over like someone had actually used it.
I opened it carefully.
The first chapter started with an image of blood vessels, showing how magic could manipulate blood flow, pressure, and viscosity.
Blood carries iron, the text read. Iron responds to magnetic fields. Magnetic fields can be generated through Metal Magic. Therefore, blood can be manipulated through careful application of Metal Magic, even within living vessels.
Huh? Damn. That was not worrisome at all.
Thankfully, the next page said:
Direct blood manipulation within another person's body requires either their explicit magical consent or a pre-existing bond. Without these conditions, the target's natural magical resistance will reject external control.
That was a relief.
It also made sense. Otherwise every Metal user could just stop someone's heart from across the room.
Now that I thought about it… Could this kind of Blood Magic be something I could use to heal Gran? I obviously wouldn't do anything unless I was certain I could do it safely, but… maybe it was something I could use as a last resort in an emergency?
Anyway, this wasn't the time for this. Gran was stable, I was the one at risk of bleeding to death. But it was still good to know I could learn more about it later.
I eyed the rest of the books.
"None of these seem practical," I told the System. "I don't have time for theory now; I have less than a week to learn some useful skills and figure out how to stay alive. Can you give me something else? Anything on how Blood Magic can help with Destabilized Artifacts? It was the only thing that worked last time."
The System paused for a moment before vanishing the first batch of books and providing a second.
The one at the top read: The Iron Within and Without: Blood's Influence on Unstable Artifacts and Combat Magic.
I opened it and skimmed quickly.
-
Blood disrupts Destabilized Artifacts through three primary mechanisms:
1. Introduction of organic variables into purely magical items
2. Iron content creating magnetic interference
3. Living, heartful essence contradicting the artifact's corrupted logic
Warning: Direct blood contact with Destabilized Artifacts carries extreme risk. Recommended only when all other options exhausted.
-
Mmh. Seemed I'd been right about one thing—bleeding on artifacts worked.
I didn't know how I knew this, but… I did.
Though apparently it was also something monumentally stupid.
I grabbed another book: Artifact Behavioral Patterns: A Field Guide. This had a deep dive into different artifact types—absorptive, reactive, adaptive, explosive.
The keyring had been absorptive, which explained why our Elemental Magic just kept feeding it. This might be a good one to use for nap-learning, but… maybe tomorrow.
"System," I said, "do you have anything on rapid blood replenishment? Something I could use multiple times in quick succession?"
[System Notification: Multiple blood replenishment potions in rapid succession carry severe risks including: magical toxicity, cellular damage, organ failure. Usage is strongly discouraged. Maximum safe usage: 3 standard replenishment potions per 24-hour period.]
Ah, damn it. So I couldn't just keep bleeding on things indefinitely.
This sucked.
Penguin seemed upset at my choice of reading material. He had climbed onto the table and was now poking at one of the volumes with his beak.
"Huh?" I said. "Did you find something interesting?"
He chirped and pushed a book toward me. The title read: Emergency Countermeasures: When Everything Goes Wrong.
"…"
Well.
I flipped through it.
"I'll leave that for another day," I told Penguin. "I need to figure out how to attack before retreating into defense."
Penguin chirped louder.
"I know," I said. "I'll read it, I promise. But if I don't start with something proactive, I'll go insane."
Penguin threw a small tantrum in what was clearly exasperation, but jumped off the sofa and went back to his fish.
Well.
"System," I said. "Can you show me the best texts you have on Legendary artifacts and Blood Magic used for attack?"
More books materialized. Legendary Artifacts Combat: The Complete Framework, Breaking Legends: Offensive Methods Against High-Grade Artifacts, Blood Arts for High-Level Combat, Surviving the Unsurvivable: Last Resort Tactics.
Huh. I stared at the last title.
That didn't bode well.
Maybe Penguin was right.
I picked it and quickly looked at the index, flipping to a chapter titled "When Blood is Your Only Weapon."
-
In extreme cases, a practitioner's blood can serve as a disruption agent. However, Legendary artifacts possess enhanced resistance. Standard blood application may prove insufficient.
Advanced techniques include:
- Blood-infused Elemental combinations
- Geometric patterns drawn in blood for containment
- Open bleeding onto the artifact's core surface
-
The third one I'd used last time. The second likely required Geometric Casting, which I'd only recently decided was too dangerous for me to use. This left the first, but… What Elemental combinations? I could only use Water Magic.
Fucking hell. I felt like someone speed-reading manuals five days before an exam that can kill him.
I needed to focus on something that would actually help at the auction.
I grabbed Blood Glyph Techniques for Cornering Hostile Targets and started skimming.
It immediately opened on a chapter on smearing blood glyphs on the ground and backing the target over them. Then it focused on glyph types and categories (to trap, to control, to affect in various ways…), the nuances in their power levels and effects, how those effects compounded depending on where the target touched them and in what sequence…
Wait, this was perfect.
I checked my watch. I still had forty minutes left. I couldn't read a whole book in forty minutes, but I could if I napped. Could I fall asleep that quickly?
I picked up a still grumpy Penguin and the book, and headed toward the bed.
As we got under the covers and drifted off, I thought that a few things were clear:
One, blood magic was incredibly dangerous.
Two, I was probably going to have to use it anyway.
Three, I really needed to start carrying bandages, potions, and various healing items.