Mage Manual

Chapter 52: Chapter 50: The Source Blood of the Blood Saint Clan

Kaimon City, Red Mist Research Institute.

“Your case has already been notified by Shattered Lake Prison. Since she has decided on your punishment, naturally, the institute will not defy her wishes.”

In the office, a young scholar with red eyes and clad in a white robe looked at the blue-scaled Fishman before him, smeared with bloodstains, and calmly said, “Lorenz, how is your blood heritage progress?”

The blue-scaled Fishman lowered his head and said, “I’ve condensed two drops of Silver Source Blood and two drops of Gold Source Blood, but I’ve spent more than ten days with no progress on the third drop of Silver Source Blood… This must be the limit for a student.”

“You’re just short of condensing Seven-Colored Source Blood, what a pity. However, you don’t have to be discouraged, maybe you’ll have a chance to purify your bloodline in the future.” The red-eyed scholar first sighed, then became serious, “So, you confirmed that you had no need to stay in Shattered Lake Prison to undergo the blood heritage ritual, and that’s why you risked stealing someone else’s technique?”

The blue-scaled Fishman remained silent, offering no rebuttal.

“You were lucky this time, running into a kind-hearted person, but you won’t be so fortunate next time.” The young scholar sighed, “You will just stay in the institute and do your research for the next ten years, don’t participate in any academic activities. After ten years, the person you offended should have condensed her Seven-Colored Wings, and you won’t even have the chance to meet her.”

“Yes.”

“Go back and rest, I will arrange for your office tomorrow,” said the young scholar as he knocked on the wooden desk, “Remember to organize your study results and give me a report in a couple of days.”

“Thank you, Teacher, goodbye.”

The blue-scaled Fishman left the office respectfully and hurried out of the institute.

It was already deep into the night outside. The Blood Moon hung high in the night sky. There weren’t many people in the institute’s campus, and Lorenz’s pace quickened. As he passed by a tree, he suddenly punched it!

Crack!

The trunk buckled deeply under his punch, and the wounds on his fingers, bitten by sharks, bled again, even the scales cracked.

His hand was in pain, his whole body was in pain, but these visible wounds were far less than the invisible wound in his heart which caused Lorenz a much sharper pain!

He was the Medical Practitioner No. 176 who had been thrown out of Shattered Lake Prison last night.

Originally named Lorenz Teuton, a member of the blue-scaled Fishman clan, and a scholar from the Red Mist Research Institute.

After surviving a night and a day from the hunt of the inter-finger sharks, he returned to Kaimon City. After crawling back onto land, he didn’t even bother to treat himself and rushed straight to the institute to inquire about his future—if No. 222 pursued the matter to the end, the institute would not only strip him of his scholar’s status but would even withdraw the ‘Holy Blood’ from within him!

Lorenz had contemplated running away.

But the chip check during the security screening immediately dispelled that foolish thought.

Unless he went to the black market paying a large sum of money to find a Mage to remove his chip and thereafter depart from society to become a beast of the wild, in this era of comprehensive chip control, there were no places that could shelter a criminal. @@novelbin@@

In the Kingdom of Blood Moon, if you offend the Blood Saint Clan, there are only two paths to take: grovel or await trial.

Luckily for him, No. 222’s punishment was over, and Lorenz still had a bright future ahead. He was still one of the most promising scholars of the Red Mist Research Institute, and he could still live for a century or two.

Yet, it was precisely because he no longer had to pay the price that Lorenz felt an inexplicable bitterness!

Maybe others would think this was kindness,

but he only felt deep contempt!

And the person indeed had the right to look down on Lorenz, just as the teacher had said, in ten years she would definitely achieve the status of Three-winged Holy Realm, while Lorenz’s chances of even attaining a golden Two-winged status were uncertain!

Both from the Blood Saint Clan, yet the gap between their bloodline qualities was as vast as heaven and earth!

Yes, the bloodline!

Lorenz was originally just a blue-scaled Fishman who grew up in an orphanage in the slums, but due to his exceptional learning capabilities, he was admitted to Kaimon City Comprehensive University. Before even graduating, the Red Mist Research Institute took him in, giving him the opportunity to undergo the ‘Blood Exchange Ceremony’ and become a member of the envied Blood Saint Clan!

Like the Moon Shadow Clan, members of the Blood Saint Clan cannot reproduce through normal mating rituals; the only way for the Blood Saint Clan to develop siblings is by absorbing members of other races through a blood exchange.

Although individuals from different races show the same features after the blood exchange, such as crimson eyes, theoretically speaking, the Blood Saint Clan is not a racial concept but a cultural one—everyone agrees that they are a superior race estranged from the lower ones.

There are many benefits to becoming part of the Blood Saint Clan, with the greatest advantage being the complete detachment from the limitations of a mortal lifespan, eternal youth, and never aging, effectively making them an Undying Race.

However, while the body does not age, the soul will deteriorate. Each race’s soul has a lifespan limit. For example, a Human of the Blood Saint Clan would generally experience soul decay by the age of 150.

Besides this, another enticing benefit of the Blood Saint Clan for Mages is blood healing!

By consuming blood, a Blood Saint can hasten their physical and soul recovery!

The reason Mages need to undergo a death cool-down of several days after dying in the Void Realm is to replenish their soul energy. Because Blood Saints can replenish their soul energy through blood healing, they can significantly shorten their death cool-down time, thereby increasing the frequency of their explorations in the Void Realm.

Blood healing and immortality are the racial advantages that cement the Blood Saint Clan’s ruling position in the Kingdom of Blood Moon.

Such outstanding racial advantages notwithstanding, the Blood Saint Clan has severe shortcomings.

Apart from adhering to many taboos, the greatest drawback for Blood Saints is that Mages cannot absorb magic power in the Void Realm.

Indeed, they cannot absorb magic power!

The Blood Exchange Ceremony inherently binds the soul deeply with the blood, which is the miracle why the body acquires the trait of immortality, and why drinking blood can heal the body.

But because of this, the incomplete soul cannot absorb magic power in the Void Realm, meaning a Mage’s prospects are utterly ruined.

But the Mages of the Blood Saint Clan had already devised a solution. This is why Lorenz wanted to go to the Shattered Lake Prison as a Medical Practitioner—the newborn Blood Descendants all needed to use death-row inmates as sacrifices for the ‘Blood Embrace Ritual’ to condense Source Blood!

Source Blood then acts as a medium to replace the soul in absorbing magic power, and according to different levels, they are classified from low to high as silver Source Blood, Gold Source Blood, Seven-Colored Source Blood, and Colorless Source Blood, each corresponding to the four types of magic power in the Void Realm.

Every three drops of a lower-grade Source Blood can be combined into one drop of a higher-grade Source Blood, and Blood Saints must possess the corresponding or higher-grade Source Blood to absorb the respective magic power, such as silver Source Blood absorbing silver magic power, and Gold Source Blood absorbing Gold magic power.

If one wishes to summon a Technique Spirit of a higher tier, one must possess a higher grade of Source Blood!

Without Gold Source Blood, a Blood Saint cannot summon a Two-winged Technique Spirit, nor can they advance to become a Two-winged Mage.

This is why the teacher felt it was such a pity for Lorenz—if only he could condense one more drop of silver Source Blood, he would be able to synthesize Seven-Colored Source Blood, and the gates of the Three-winged Holy Realm would open for him!

Now, Lorenz, with only Gold Source Blood, is destined to remain a Gold Two-winged.

Only when he can purify his bloodlines to condense Seven-Colored Source Blood, will he have the possibility to step into the Three-winged Holy Realm!

In addition, the higher the level of Source Blood, the more efficient the absorption of magic power.

In the Sea of Knowledge, compared with a normal Mage, one drop of silver Source Blood has only a 30% base absorption efficiency, with every additional drop increasing it by 10%.

This is why the teacher said Lorenz only needed to hide for ten years—it’s enough. With two drops of Gold Source Blood and two drops of silver, Lorenz has a total of 3+3+2=8 drops of silver Source Blood, 100% absorption efficiency;

While new scholars from the four major research institutes can all condense one drop of Colorless Source Blood, synthesized from 3*3*3=27 drops of silver Source Blood, resulting in a 290% absorption efficiency!

A threefold difference, and even if it’s only a temporary advantage in the Sea of Knowledge, the accumulation over ten years is enough to make the opponent grow into someone Lorenz can only watch from afar.

To that person, Lorenz is nothing more than a fart that can be easily let go, not worth paying any attention to.

How could the future Three-winged Holy Realm be concerned with the grudge of a Gold Two-winged?

Nothing could infuriate Lorenz more than this—perhaps it’s worthless, perhaps no one cares, perhaps it’s a target of ridicule, but for a blue-scaled Fishman who struggled from the slums to the institute, dignity is the only wealth he possesses.

Without dignity, he would really have nothing left.