Yugioh Card Summoner

CH.417 Bond of Blood

As the days kept on passing by, Wilma and Karl were preparing for the weapons show coming up. 

Karl had decided to make a greatsword out of vampiric steel. He had Lua, Ria or one of the Vampire monsters helping him.

Meanwhile Wilma had decided to make a shield. I was wondering why she decided on a shield for a weapons show, but at the same time, I didn’t ask. If Wilma says a shield is what she will show, I’ll make sure she gets the materials she needs for it.

She decided to use aluminum as the base and use the hihi'irokane ingot she got to edge the shield, which will add both rigidity and fire resistance to the shield, so all I had to give her is some aluminum. 

Learning how to work with aluminum was a bit of a process for Wilma, as aluminum doesn’t work like steel and iron do, but she managed to get it down eventually.

For my part, I was making preparations for the next mass flower planting, planning to do the same I did in Ruiso Kingdom, but in one of the other two Kingdoms instead. That led to me spending some amount of time inside HomeBase hunting B-rank and higher monsters so that I could get their monster cores, so that they could be converted into magic stones, so that I could turn them into stones that can hold Spell Counters.

It was good training, as I used either Summoning Magic and Beast Union, Spirit Summoning and Spirit Synchro or just my Draconic skills to kill the monsters. I didn’t get any levels to any  of the skills, but I do feel like I’m better with all of them now.

And one last set of progress. Lua got herself her Holy Magic skill. She still could only cast the most basic of basic skills, Bless, but having the Holy Magic skill would still be a great help, as now we can level it up with Level Up!

In case you were wondering, Bless grants the target an all stats buff based on the caster's Holy Magic level. It is a good spell, but you need direct contact to cast it, and the buff is only +50 to Strength, Defense and Magic, times the caster's Holy Magic level. 

The good part is that it lasts for basically the entire day, so it is great for adventurers. Sadly it is basically useless to us, as I can do a lot more with one Equip Spell. And even to adventurers, with the Church basically holding a monopoly on Holy Magic spells, they'd only rely on Bless when they are about to take on a monster they aren't so sure about.

---

To celebrate Lua getting her Holy Magic skill, I decided it was about time to give her something I’ve been holding onto for a while.

Now, before you get your pitchforks ready, let me explain why I didn’t give it to her earlier since I had it. Well in truth, I was waiting until I could give both it and a similar but completely different gift to Alice at the same time. But then Cailie went ahead and proposed and that just threw a wrench into the plans.

I mean, I don’t even know what classically is a proposal gift with mer-folk. I’ll have to find that out and then make a gift for Cailie. I know Alice and Lua haven’t exactly said it, but after the entire spirit world adventure, they did basically accept Cailie as a part of my harem.

But yeah. I can’t yet reliably make a magic stone myself, so I don’t have my true proposal gift for Alice yet. I mean, there are two ways of making a magic stone, that I know of, and while sure I can do one of them, the other is just a bit out of reach.

The first way is the one my monsters use, the compression method. It is also used by highly skilled mages in this world, but because of the difficulty, it isn’t commonly taught or even known. It involves putting enough mana into a stone where the stone is effectively in a ‘supercritical’ state, then compressing it with magic, instantly turning it into a magic stone.

The more used method is a lot simpler, but also takes a lot longer. It involves keeping a monster core at just sub-critical levels for long times, like a few days long, while it slowly converts into a magic stone.

And as I said, I can do the second, but the first … I can sometimes get it off, but other times the magic stone blows up in my face. And for Alice’s proposal/engagement gift, I want to use at least an A-rank stone, preferably S-rank stone, I have to be pretty dang good at the compression to make it.

And no. Asking for help from my monsters is a no go. It is a gift from me to her, so I want to be able to make it myself. No Yugioh monsters involved. Maybe it is just stupid pride, but it feels important to me.

I mean, it isn’t like I asked my monsters to help with Lua’s gift. The seventeen failures are a testament for that.

Also, don’t think that just because I haven’t given my gift to Lua yet that it has just been sitting in my Storage. … well, it mostly has, but I do bring it out whenever I bring out my world treant staff. 

Okay, I guess I’ve eluded enough. For those that don’t remember, my engagement/proposal gift for Lua is a wooden cup. Yes. A carved wooden cup. Which will get filled with my blood.

Don’t ask me why. Dhampirs just do strange things, okay?

And naturally I carved it out of the best wood I had available, which is world treant wood. Which means, like staves made of treant wood, you can build it up by letting your mana run through it. So I’ve been doing that at the same time as I’ve been doing it to my staff.

And I think it is more than good enough for just a wooden cup. Sure it isn’t ‘finished’ per say, as it still only reads Lucia on it. I do plan on graving a little more into the cup when we officially get married, because I’m decently sure Lua’s name in her status screen will change when that happens.

But for now, I’ll take the cup to Lua and see if she likes it.

---

“Hi Lua. I brought something for you.” I called out, as I walked into Lua’s room. 

Yes, I knew she was in her room, because I can stalk … keep an eye on everyone on HomeBase. And yes, there are privacy features, but they are really just limits I set and I can easily break them, if I want to.

“Brian. Did you need something? … or are you just here to see me?” Lua asked.

“Yes to both.”

“... alright.” Lua said, as she took on a more serious poster. “What is this about?”

“Nothing that serious. I just have something for you.”

“... I wasn’t expecting anything. Did Wilma make some modifications to the Holy Magic pendant?”

“Nope. This isn’t from Wilma, but something I made.” I told her. “Think you can close your eyes for a second?” 

“Sure?” Lua questioned before she did just that.

“Make sure you don’t open your eyes before I give permission.” I told her, as I got the cup out of Storage.

I set it on a table, and got a blood iron shortsword out of Storage. It was something I got from the dhampirs from Lua’s village, so I think it will be perfect for it.

I then consciously lowered my defense so that the blade could actually make a clean cut. It isn’t that hard. I had to learn how to do it with Strength or I’d break a ton of things I use in daily life. 

I noticed Lua flinched just a bit when I cut my wrist open, but she didn’t open her eyes. I just let the blood flow out, making sure all of it ended in the cup. I then put pressure on the wound with Telekinesis to make sure no more blood would flow out.

“B-Brian? Are you alright?” Lua asked, but I could tell she wasn’t sure if she should have spoken up. 

“I suppose I am bleeding a bit. I’d ask you to kiss it better, but that will ruin what comes next, so maybe a regular healing.”

I walked up to her and gave her my cut arm to hold. With a quick spell, the cut on my wrist disappeared.

“Thanks.” I thanked her before I walked back to where the blood filled cup was.

I picked up the cup and took it to Lua. 

“... I don’t really know how to say this. Our situation is … not what you’d call normal.” I began.

“That is an understatement of the year.” Lua joked.

“Yeah. It really is.” I agreed. “... I know we are … engaged in basically every way, except the one. And I wish to fix that. You can open your eyes now.” I said, as I kneeled down. 

“ … Lucia. Will you take my blood? In a cup I carved myself? Will you accept it as a sign of my love?” I asked, while I also cringed at myself. 

Like really? That is what I’m going to ask? Am I retarded?

“... you dummy.” Lua said, as she bonked my nose with her finger. “I know you love me. And you know I’ll take your blood, be it in a cup or directly from you.” 

She then took the cup and took a sip of it. 

“... heavenly. It really is the best.”

“Well, whenever you want some…”

“No.” Lua said. “This blood is special. It is special not because I ask for it, but because you handed it to me. It won’t be the same if you don’t.”

“Then I’ll just give you some every…”

“No.” Lua interrupted. “You will just ruin yourself. Brian. Just because you are married to a dhampir, you aren’t a walking blood bag.” She told me. “... I’ll need to have you meet up with my mother. She will teach you how to really be with a dhampir.”

“Sure. I think I’ll enjoy it.”

---

“... Brian. Do you think … I could turn you into a dhampir?” Lua asked, after she finished her cup of blood.

“... are you sure you want to? I mean, it isn’t a big deal to me, as I change races daily, but … do you want to do it now?”

“Yes. I want you to feel how I feel. … you know, whenever I drink blood and all of that.”

“Alright. If that is what you want.” I agreed.

I knew I’d eventually get dhampir as a potential race, but maybe I wasn’t expecting to get it now. But all things considered, I don’t see anything wrong with it. As I said, I change my race daily. It is just who I am now. The One without a Race, but also the One of Every Race.

I relaxed in the arms of Lua and just let her take over. 

She bit me gently near my neck and then she shoved a slightly bleeding finger into my mouth.

She then released my neck for just a bit to speak before she went back for a second bite. “I need you to drink some of my blood, so gulp down.”

I did as asked, and after a bit, I began to feel the change.

It wasn’t that bad, I mean it was no worse than any other race. … well, mostly. There was one thing that really wasn’t fun.

As I changed, a feeling of thirst came with the change. It was so oppressive, and to make it worse, as I changed, the blood flowing into me from Lua’s finger began tasting worse and worse. At first, it tasted just like any blood, slightly metallic and not all that good, but now it was more like … I don’t even know. Maybe acid? It didn’t actually burn me, but that is what it tasted like. Something you definitely shouldn’t be drinking.

“... Alright. That should do.” Lua said, as she let go of my neck. “... how do you feel?”

“... like shit.” I answered honestly. “My head is all fuzzy, I’m thirsty as anything and your blood began tasting like something I shouldn’t drink and I have an awful aftertaste in my mouth.”

“That might be the case. Dhampir blood does taste awful to dhampirs.” Lua said, before she brought a magic flask out of Storage. “Here, try some of this.”

I did as said and took a sip, and as I did, my eyes must have widened, because I think I was experiencing ecstasy in the form of a drink. I greedily gulped down more and more of the blood, until my head began to feel clear, my thirst was almost all gone and I even got that awful acid taste out of my mouth.

“Much better.” I sighed, as I handed the flask back to Lua. “Thank you.”

“You know we only have dragon blood thanks to you, so I should be thanking you.”

“... I guess, but I really didn’t realize just how good dragon blood can be. You don’t really taste it when cooked.”

“Yes, not really. How is your head? Any intrusive thoughts?” Lua asked.

“... I feel fine. I still have just a bit of that thirst left, but other than that.”

“That thirst is the curse.” Lua said. “When you first changed, you were probably famished, so you might have been close to a frenzy. Add to that the fact that you were drinking dhampir blood which doesn’t make things better.”

“... man. Can’t really blame dhampirs too much for losing control if it really can get that bad. I mean, that fuzziness sucks. It makes everything seem so hazy.”

“It’s a good thing it is just the two of us here. It might have gotten bloody otherwise.”

“You mean more bloody than it already is?” I joked. 

In truth, there wasn’t a speck of blood anywhere in the room, likely because Lua cleared away any drops with Blood Magic.

Oh yeah. I’m a dhampir now, so I can learn Blood Magic. That is cool.

“... so if I’m cursed, can you cure it for me?” I asked.

“... sorry, but no.” Lua apologized. “The level of my Dhampir Princess is too low. I can turn you into one, but not into a cured one. And I can’t use my True Blood Magic to cure you.”

“... well that sucks. At least I can turn into a human, so I don’t have to deal with the curse.”

“Don’t read too far into it.” Lua said. “I said I can’t cure you, not that you cannot be cured.”

“... so?”

“One of your high level Vampire monsters should be able to cure you just fine.”

I ended up doing just that and summoned my man Genesis Vampire Lord to help me.

He did some Blood Magic stuff and when I came out of it, I felt even better. The thirst was gone, my head was more clear than before I was turned into a dhampir, and everything just felt amazing.

I said my thanks to him before unsummoning the Vampire. 

I then quickly took a look at both my skills menu, as well as my status.

I had two new races, both Dhampir (cursed) and Dhampir (cured). Didn’t get a new spirit related race though, so that is interesting. Maybe there hasn’t been a single Spiritual Dhampir yet, so I can’t get the race? Or maybe something about being a Dhampir resists the Spiritual race? 

It could have something to do with how Dhampirs came to be, being results of human experimentation using a Chaos God Dungeon. Maybe the spirits just don’t like them because the Demon Lord made the original vampires.

… but that doesn’t check out because Dhampirs can get blessings. So I think it is just because there has never been a Spiritual Dhampir.

In my status, I had the Blood Magic skill, as well as the new Blood Sucker title. I’ll practice Blood Magic with Lua from now on and hopefully I can turn it into True Blood Magic soon.

I later learned that whenever I’m not actively a Dhampir, either cured or cursed, the Blood Sucker title would get crossed out.