Chapter 1161: Chapter 1160: First For Everything (2)
Chapter 1161: Chapter 1160: First For Everything (2)
"And how do you want to go about utilizing this seldom used magic to improve your alchemy, Leone? You can't just be adding blood to potions as a test, at least not right now, so... what's the idea? What spells do you have that could make a large enough impact for you to be so excited about this?"
Leone began to hum with a smile as she portioned off the herbs on the table, grouping them up and creating smaller sub groups as she altered her own formula a little to determine which one would make the best potions going forwards.
"A few, but I also need a source of power to draw from in order to put these ideas to the test. You, Kat, are my 'source of power', at least as long as you don't mind supplying your blood for the next few hours..."
I raised a brow at that before pointedly staring at my wrist, which was already healing rather well; to that, Leone's smile widened as she said "I would rather ask and get a definite answer rather than assume and have you say no.
Anyways, if you are willing to aid me for the day, the thing I wanted to try out was a few different variations of a rather simple spell that's rather universal. A simple empowerment spell that would just boost everything, but the difference is Blood Magic takes that a step further and can linger for a long period of time.
My theory is I can lengthen that effect by a large amount by using my own blood as an ingredient, since I have a much higher... resonance, I suppose, with my own blood. If I'm right, then we could be seeing an increase of approximately 50% or so in terms of strength, which I shouldn't need to tell you is an incredibly high increase."
Sliding over a large pile of vibrant orange leaves, she made a chopping motion before she started stripping the bark off of the roots sitting in front of her, the Vampire continuing to go over the theory with me.
"So Blood Magic is rather potent but incredibly hard to control, right? I found the reason for it being so complicated was actually sort of self inflicted; it sounds stupid when I say it, but it's easier to control my own blood instead of someone else's.
I can still influence and utilize 'foreign' blood, but the difference is... it's like trying to puppeteer your fingers using strings instead of just moving them yourself. That's a simple revelation, but I also think I figured out how to control it even better.
See, the invocation thing you taught me, I think it correlates with this too, and considering some of the books I've read say that elemental magic is only so popular for the obvious reason of it being innate to everyone's Cores, my guess is Blood Magic works the same way."
Using my cleaned knife to slowly chop the leaves to allow the juices inside to flow freely when added to the cauldron, I settled into the familiar groove as I treated these leaves like cooking herbs, which... they technically were if I was determined enough to use them.
"You mean by requiring a more in tuned use of mana compared to the runic magic we use now? Actually needing to envision the spell, shape it mentally, and give it shape physically compared to just using the 'shortcuts' of runes?"
"Correct. I think Blood Magic is a branch of that tree, and if I'm right then using it going forwards is even easier than I thought; I mean, the vision needed to make a spell work with invocations isn't actually that hard, and the only reason I haven't tried your combined spell ideas is just because I haven't had the time to get them tuned up together. Otherwise it's pretty easy to cast spells vocally."
"It just isn't as efficient nor as powerful considering the extra effort needed, right?"
With the herbs all cut up, I brushed them all into their own bowl and accepted the pestle that Leone handed me as I began to grind them up, turning them from a garnish into a paste that didn't seem that useful for a liquid potion...
"Correct again. The idea, then, is a simple one; I know what I want to do, the theory seems sound - the spell itself is just an empowerment one that boosts the mana purity around it - and I have a decent enough grasp on Blood Magic anyways, so... again, in theory this is rather sound. I just... think it'll take a lot from me, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything."
She took the bowl from me and set it aside, placing a new bundle of stalks in front of me and once more having me chop them up, making use of my cooking skills as I got to work again, all while I thought about her question.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"I... can't think of anything at all that would be an issue, and I understand why you want a 'power source' nearby to try this. Last time you used it, it took a lot out of you didn't it? Though I have a suspicion that this is also an Anput-esque excuse..."
The Vampire didn't reply to that, but I noticed her ears were slightly red as she focused on the final bundle of herbs, plucking the petals off of the flowers and dropping them into the water, so I cut her some slack as I just appreciated how embarrassed she still got at being caught red handed like this.
"It's worth the try though, and it seems pretty easy to do; though just in case, let's start small and take a few vials of this to test that on, alright? We still need to bottle these for wide spread use..."
"I know. And I still need to show you how to brew a potion, so... come here! We're ready to start~!"