Blood Cross Potion was an upgraded version of Health Raise Potion sold by the Golden Leaf Emporium. While the later was known to heal injuries at a fast pace, the former being the authentic version could even help restore entire limbs if the time eclipsed didn't exceed a year.
karl rubbed his chin in thought. "Blood Cross Potion does sound much better replacement to Moon's Embrace." He assented. "However the time to money ratio won't fit my needs."
Cinis who floated near his shoulder sighed. Looking at Karl like this filled her with sadness and rage over those responsible. Since these last fifteen years the Crimson Vale had been pushed to the brink of collapse.
"It's unfortunate, indeed," She said, "but there's not much you can do in this situation."
In that time the duo had arrived near the office to find two guards stationed on either side of the door. The castle was brightly lit, with white and gold painted walls adorned with tapestries. The light from the sconces reflected off the shiny armour the knights wore.
Karl paused to gauge their reaction but found both impassive. It would seem Cinis hadn't lied about her apparent invisibility. He pushed the door open to enter the room.
Inside the desk had been replaced and papers were neatly ordered in stacks. He took the seat behind the desk and started going through each document.
This part was no doubt the worst part about being a count. Having to sit on a chair and sift through the documents all day long, assessing the profits, and assigning resources to various departments was a chore in his opinion. Sometimes he wondered if he should just push the task on Ronald and instead focus on training. That seemed much more preferable use of time in his opinion.
For the rest of the day, Karl immersed himself in his work. With Cinis presence always hovering near him, it provided comfort he hadn't known he needed. The duo would occasionally pick a topic and compare notes, and despite Cinis' age eclipsing his many times over, her knowledge of the general affairs fell short. It was only the topic of Magic and spells that really got her going.
Karl was a fighter, having been taught by his uncle since young. As a Bloodthrone—although he still lacked the ability to conjure Blood Constructs—he would eventually unlock that particular trait, and being familiar with weapons was one way for his lineage to fight.
However he had had a keen interest in Magecraft since young, and it was only the lack of capital and time that had prevented him from diving into the subject. Hearing Cinis talk about the various ways one could manipulate Mana to form sigils filled him with excitement.
Once he even asked about his parents. Although Uncle Ronald had told him stories of his father and mother both, there were some things he wasn't aware of, as was evident by his lack of knowledge regarding the true reason behind his parent's murder. Having another perspective into his parent's life filled him with nostalgia, and he had to divert the topic to avoid becoming too distracted.
"Cin, what materials would I need for the creation of this Blood Cross Potion?" As it was getting late in evening, he was reminded of the task he needed to finish.
Although he was the one bonded to the grimoire, Cinis being the spirit could always access everything inside the tome. She put on a thoughtful expression for a few seconds before beaming at him. "The materials are easy to find," she said, "you would only need two main ingredients: Crimson Heart Grass and Golden Shade Flower, alongside some easy to find reagents."
Karl's eyes widened slightly. "These ingredients are easy to find in Crimson Vale, especially Golden Shade Flower."
Cinis smiled brightly. "That's right." She nodded. "It's one of the reasons why Night King's Blood Cross Potion is better than that so-called Health Raise one."
He asked her the names of the rest of reagents and rang a bell. The guard near the entrance entered and bowed slightly. Karl handed him the slip.
"Take this to the Chamberlain and have him prepare all the materials before tonight."
The guard bowed once more and left the room. Karl leaned back and rubbed his chin.
Even if The Blood Cross Potion turned out to be better than Health Raise Potion, the price difference wouldn't be much. Especially if he wanted to focus on short-term benefits by mass producing the potion. The Health Raise Potion only cost around 50 Silvers, which amounted to a monthly earning of a common household. His potion might garner a few times that, which would be nowhere near enough to stabilize his territory.
He bit back the creeping annoyance and looked at Cinis. "You said I needed to increase the bond between myself and Crystal to regain my strength. How do I do that?"
Cinis floated atop the table, her legs dangling from the edge. "That would be a bit difficult." She spoke. "The truth is that you haven't quite bonded with the Crystal Heart yet. It's more like your body is trying to contain the chaos which cause your strength to disproportionately be used in the containment itself, leaving you with little to no strength. This is likely because the Celestial Quartz had grown weak over the years, and corroded trying to contain the power of Crystal Heart."
That was worrying. Karl frowned and looked at his chest. In there was the thumping Crystal Heart, now a part of him but in name only. He needed to make it his own.
"You explained the problem, what's the solution?" He asked.
"Well, here's the good news." Cinis smiled. "Although your bond isn't perfect, it's still a bond. Which means you don't have to perform a ritual any longer. Which just leaves the part of building the bridge between you and the Crystal Heart." She paused, considering for a second. "Honestly, it would require some truly rare materials to strengthen your bond, but judging by your financial situation, I suppose you can't afford that."
Karl nodded, sighing. "It's unfortunate, but until I have stabilized the situation in Crimson Vale, it's unlikely for me to allocate resources anywhere else."
"Which just leaves us with one thing," She raise a finger, "Blood. You needed the blood of stronger beings, as strong as they can be."
As vampires, Blood was a commodity in their community. Karl had had his fair share of beast blood, and even some blood from other vampires. Though the later had never had much appeal to him. He had heard of Mages possessing the sweetest blood in the entire realms, but never had the luxury of testing it out himself.
"How much?" He asked.
"As much as you can get." She replied.
It would seem he needed to put his distaste aside and engage in blood exchange with some vampires. He furrowed his brows and clicked his tongue.
"You don't like that?" Cinis titled her head. "I thought vampires liked to drink blood?"
Karl shook his head. "It's not that," he said, "just that the vampire blood doesn't taste quite right. In comparison the monster blood is a feast."
"That doesn't sound right." She expressed doubt. "As far as I recall, Vampire blood might not be as delicious as some of the other, but it's not as bad as you seem to describe it."
"I have tried it," Karl frowned, "believe me."
"It's not that I don't believe you," she shook her head. "I think the problem isn't the vampire in question, but the bloodline itself."
"What does that mean?" He asked.
"Well, take yourself for example," Cinis explained. "Your father comes from a pureblood lineage, but your mother was one of the few to have received the grace from Shadow King. Now I don't know much about this King of Vampires, but he clearly isn't on the level of the First Primogenitor. Otherwise your mother should've manifested an innate ability, as is unique to each noble lineage."
"Isn't it because my mother was a mage before this, instead of a vampire?"
"That shouldn't pose a problem though," she countered. "In short, most of whom you've engaged in blood sharing with, lack that purity."
Karl wasn't the one to discriminate others based on their lineage, but Cinis words ought to hold some merits to them.
"So, what you're saying is that their blood tastes bland because they're impure?" That felt weird to say out loudly.
"That." She nodded. "And the fact that this Shadow King is doing a piss-poor job of turning others. Clearly they somehow retain the aspects of their previous race, which results in this unholy mess."
"But that wasn't the problem for Night king?" He pressed.
"Even if they couldn't awaken their innate abilities, it was more due to their lack of talent than the imperfections in the ritual itself."
"And how do you know all this?"
Cinis grinned at him. "The Grimoire." She proclaimed. "There's a lot you don't about thing yet."