Chapter 125: CH 125
Note: I am back this month! The chapters will be slowly updated. I will place it with two chapters daily till we are done with it.
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"To use Blood Arts, you have to cut yourself first. Cut your flesh with your fangs," Beatrix says.
I pause for a moment, but I do as she says and bite into my wrist, tearing a sizable chunk of flesh out.
Immediately, blood starts pouring onto the floor from my open wound like a dam bursting open. Apparently, I had bitten too deep into my flesh.
Beatrix looks at me with an expressionless face while I stare back at her with a blank expression.
"I am losing blood," I say.
The next moment, I feel an intense thirst and an overwhelming urge to suck blood. The wound appears to be closing slowly on its own, but my hunger for blood only grows worse, and Beatrix just stares at me without saying or doing anything.
The next moment, I lunge forward and grab her shoulders. She doesn't push me away. Seeing the opening, I sink my fangs into her neck and begin sucking her sweet blood.
A sweet metallic taste fills my mouth. Her blood is thick and intensely metallic, nothing compared to drinking a Centaur's or an elf's blood.
Beatrix simply sits there and lets me suck her blood without doing anything, which surprises me even more. Either way, I continue sucking harder, so much that Beatrix lets out involuntary moans, yet she still doesn't push me away, making it all the more confusing.
After having my fill, I unlatch my mouth and fall back onto the mat tiredly, breathing heavily.
The next moment, Beatrix gets up and walks into her room. She returns holding a bottle containing a red liquid and immediately begins drinking it. She empties every last drop until nothing is left.
CLACK!
The empty bottle slips from her hand and hits the floor with a loud thud. Beatrix belches so hard that I practically feel the vibrations.
"Damn, you are even worse than I imagined. You nearly sucked me dry, you know?" Beatrix says in a slightly pissed voice.
"Sorry about that. I just lost too much blood and got hungry," I apologize.
"It was avoidable. But you let your blood spill onto the ground and go to waste instead of controlling it or accelerating the healing of the cut."
"I can't do any of that. That's the point of you teaching me," I say with a sigh.
"Fine. Then try controlling the spilled blood on the ground. Since it's still your blood, you should still have control over it," Beatrix says.
The next moment, I focus on the blood on the floor and try to control it, but nothing happens no matter how hard I try.
"I think I can't control it because I drank someone else's blood."
"It doesn't work like that. The blood you drink doesn't replace the blood flowing through your body. We produce our own blood, and we can do so at an incredibly fast rate since we expend it on many things, such as Blood Arts and accelerated healing. Drinking blood is simply part of our diet, and the thirst and madness that come with blood deprivation are actually a curse upon us.
"This is because the ancient Vampires were so powerful and power-hungry that they somehow came up with the idea that Ichor, the blood of the gods, would make them even stronger. So they hunted down a few gods, dissected them, drank their blood, and even feasted on their flesh.
"When the gods found out, they were enraged, so they cursed the Vampires to forever be slaves to blood and be tormented by its absence. That's why Vampires go mad when they don't drink blood in time. It only gets worse," Beatrix says.
"Now that you're okay, I want you to take another approach this time. Don't cut yourself. Instead, cut off all Mana flow around you and focus on the blood running through your veins. Think of your blood as Mana when you aren't using Mana itself," Beatrix explains.
Even as she explains, I can't help staring at her chest. Her breasts bounce wildly inside her sports bra as if they want to be free.
I swallow hard, close my eyes, and release all my Mana flow, making sure my body isn't using even a single speck of Mana from my Mana pool.
Then, in a twist, the room suddenly becomes silent, and my mind is pulled somewhere else. When I come to my senses, I realize I am no longer in reality. Instead, I am trapped inside my own mind.
Everything is pitch-black. Only a one-foot radius around where I stand is illuminated. I walk forward, and just as I guessed, the source of light follows me. Yet no matter how far I walk through this space, I don't seem to get anywhere.
Instead of panicking, I sit down in a lotus position and continue focusing on finding my blood.
Soon after, my head starts feeling fuzzy, and my vision becomes tinged red.
WOOOOM!
"Haaaa~ Haaa~ Haaa~" I pant heavily, feeling a surge of heat rise through my body as steam billows toward the ceiling.
My entire body feels so hot, as though I'm being cooked alive, and I panic, thinking I'm close to death, just like how Vampires overheat in movies before disintegrating into nothingness.
I look over at Beatrix, but her expression only makes me even more fearful.
She looks completely stunned.
While I wait for my body to burst into dust, nothing like that happens. Instead, my body's temperature gradually returns to normal.
"What the hell was that?" I ask in shock.
Beatrix also seems to snap out of her daze before speaking.
"T-That... that is Blood Art. You used your Blood Arts," Beatrix mutters, surprise still etched across her face.
"So overheating like that is also part of using my Blood Arts? You can do something like that too, right?" I ask.
"No. I can't do something like that. What you did is something exclusive to the royal bloodline. Us Vampires are cold-blooded by nature, so we aren't supposed to become that warm. However, royals using Blood Arts can make their blood hot. Just like how noble Vampires can walk under the sun without special rings, unlike regular Vampires. Vampire society is built upon a strict social hierarchy.
"Even if a regular Vampire becomes powerful enough to split the moon with a palm strike, they still won't possess the perks of noble or royal blood," Beatrix explains.
I am shocked by her explanation, and it only leaves me with more questions.
Who exactly is my predecessor?
Now I know he possesses royal blood. What if he is some kind of big shot among the Vampires? If people find out, it would only paint a target on my back.
My current appearance is probably different from the original owner's appearance and style of dressing, which is why I haven't been found out yet. But it's only a matter of time before someone notices. Before then, I have to become strong enough to face whatever comes my way.
"Thank you for the explanation, but I think I still have a lot to learn," I say.
"Sure. I got carried away, but it's good to know the history behind why we became bloodsuckers. Now that you've successfully connected with your Blood Arts, make a small cut on your hand," Beatrix instructs.
I do as she says and make a small cut on my hand this time. Blood trickles down my finger and drips onto the floor, but I continue focusing my mind on the blood.
Suddenly, the trickling blood freezes, forming a shard.
For a moment, I think the blood has simply clotted, but when I try touching it, my finger passes straight through it.
What the hell?
"Hey, you're getting it. Now, try turning it into a sphere!" Beatrix says in an almost delighted voice.
I do as she says and imagine the shard becoming a small sphere.
Instantly, it transforms into one.
Woah.
The next moment, I look at the pool of blood on the ground and imagine it gathering together.
The instant I do, I feel lightheaded as a red mist bursts from my body, and the blood on the floor begins flowing together, forming a large sphere.
I make the sphere hover above the ground and fly around the room before bringing it back to float in front of me.
Then I flash Beatrix a toothy grin.
"Didn't you say you would open your legs if I could beat you to a pulp?"
"Eh? Are you challenging me already? You just started using Blood Arts. I've been using mine for more than forty years. What makes you think you can beat me?"
"Let's do it like this. Only Blood Arts. No Mana," I say, still flashing a confident smile.
"Fufu, you are an even bigger pervert than I imagined. You're not stopping at your mother-in-law, you want to spread my legs too. Let me see what you've got. Let us go outside," Beatrix orders.