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Blood Magus Chapter 26

Zeth stood in front of the two guards sitting at the desk, awaiting their response.

“And what do you have to report?” the one named Kirik asked, not looking very interested.

“Right, so, about a month ago, my dad was murdered. There was a group of Wicked thralls arrested for the crime already, and I do believe they did it, but I also believe you haven’t realized something about them. I think they were aligned with the Blood Mage going around now, who assisted them with the ...

Blood Magus Chapter 25

Standing in the middle of the clearing in the woods, Zeth pointed at the demon. “You stay here. Defend yourself from wild monsters if necessary, but don’t make a ruckus. And don’t fight humans; just hide from them.”

“And if the situation becomes such that I cannot hide any longer?” the demon asked. “Do I fight in that case?”

“No,” Zeth replied. “Dismiss yourself if you can’t hide. Ideally before you actually get found.”

Its expression ...

Blood Magus Chapter 24

Zeth sat at the edge of the clearing staring at the demon as it glanced around at its surroundings. 

And then, just moments after it appeared, he got a notification.

[Influence check failed.]

Instantly, the most intense sensation of fear he’d ever felt flooded Zeth’s mind. He gasped in horror, kicking away from the source of his terror, feeling his heart pounding in his ribcage and his entire body trembling as he did.

The appearance of the dem...

Blood Magus Chapter 23

It was dusk when Zeth finished the ritual circle. He’d gotten another Skill Rank-up—this one for Vile Focus, bringing it up to six—but Skill Points were the last thing on his mind right now. He was staring down at something that cast a much wider shadow across his consciousness.

At eight and a half feet in diameter, the circle was massive, as he knew it would be. But such a gigantic, detailed circle in person—by far the most intricate one he’d done so far—it was beautiful, i...

Blood Magus Chapter 22

As he walked down the street and prepared to cut into the forest to find his clearing-turned-ritual site, Zeth glanced over the requirements to conduct Demonic Covenant.

[Strength of sacrifice required: Moderate

Required ritual circle diameter: 8.81 feet (originally 10 feet)

Time required to draw: 4.41 hours (originally 5 hours)

Upkeep time required each day: 3.52 hours (originally 4 hours)]

They...

Blood Magus Chapter 21

Zeth instantly marched over to the shed, ignoring his mother tugging on his arm in an attempt to pull him away.

“They said it’s still too dangerous for us to approach,” she said. “I don’t care if you’re curious, you’re not allowed to—”

“I just need to see,” he said, trying to keep his voice under control. They’d caught the fucking Blood Mage? The person he’d been hunting ever since he got out of that cave? How? It was Zeth who had been worki...

Blood Magus Chapter 20

Night eventually fell, and Zeth retired to his room to sleep. His conversation with Sophie kept gnawing at him, though. Not just the suspicion that she might end up pursuing an illegal Class like him, but also the more innocuous talk about Scrim they’d had. One thing she’d said stuck in his mind.

If you’re good enough at the game, there’s no such thing as hidden information.

Zeth felt like he had no idea what the Blood Mage was planning. There was simply no way to...

Blood Magus Chapter 19

Standing atop the giant ritual circle, Zeth fought the urge to immediately sprint out of the building at top speed.

It was maybe six or seven feet wide? Looking at the unlocked Skill, Demonic Covenant would need a 10 foot diameter circle, so he wanted to say this ritual circle couldn’t have been made for that purpose. But then, the Blood Mage could’ve taken some of the Skills that decreased the minimum diameter of their circles to make it fit in a circle of this size, so it wasn’t...

Blood Magus Chapter 18

Zeth stood in front of the mineshaft’s entrance.

The last time he went through there, he watched his entire mining contingent die, met their murderer, and then went missing for four months. But the personnel manager’s office was in there, so if he wanted to get his salary from Garon, that was where he’d have to go.

A group of four people walked past him, chatting among themselves. He glanced at the backs of their boots. Otis & Roul’s Mining Guild. The exact sa...

Blood Magus Chapter 17

Zeth stood in the middle of the forest outside town, scanning his surroundings for danger. The natural wildlife shouldn’t have been too threatening, but any time a Beast Realm portal opened up and spilled out its armies of monsters, the entire ecosystem shifted to account for its new entrants. Many natural animals went into hiding to avoid being killed by the larger, more dangerous beings, and the new apex predators went around killing everything in sight.

They wouldn’t last long li...

Blood Magus Chapter 16

Zeth fell to a knee on the doorstep of the house, staring at the crossbow bolt sticking through his shaking hand. 

Is this how I die? Shot in the head by some maniac with a crossbow?

He had no Hellfire Ritual circle prepared to defend himself with, and without his magic, he had nothing to fight with.

“Help!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, falling back and kicking away from the house. “Someone, help me!”

“Wait,” the voice from inside said,...

Blood Magus Chapter 15

Zeth crouched behind the shed, eyes wide at what this woman was saying.

“N-never in my life…I’ve never had this Skill react in such a way. The magic in this area is so abundant—so teeming with energy.”

“Is it safe for us to be here?” his mom asked.

“Y-yes, there’s nothing showing any active spells or rituals in this shed. You’re fine. But what’s been done in the past…This is not the work of a low-Level Blood Mage. I’m beginning to ques...

Blood Magus Chapter 14

With every minute that passed, Zeth’s heart beat faster. His own blood dripped from his chest and arms, his hands leaving red prints behind anywhere he planted them. His fingers shook from the pain he felt, taking care to not allow himself to sink into his work in the way Vile Focus allowed him to do. It would’ve allowed him to pass the time without feeling any of it, but he also wouldn’t notice if the guards came back ahead of schedule and he had to erase the circle and flee.

Vil...

Blood Magus Chapter 13

Staring at the guards standing on his doorstep, Zeth found himself unable to respond. His heart was beating in his ears as he fought to keep a straight face.

“Who is that?” his mom called from the dining table.

“U-um, it’s the guards,” he shouted to her, then looked back at them. “I, uh, I don’t own this place, or anything. Do you want me to get my mom? She’d know more about all this stuff.”

The lead guard gave a curt nod. “Whoever can give us some answer...

Blood Magus Chapter 12

The newest Empowerment Ritual would need to have a diameter of four feet in order for Zeth to draw it. Well, it would actually need to be 3.8 feet in diameter, thanks to Vile Focus’s discount, but the difference wasn’t very large when the Skill was so low-Rank. Thankfully, a circle that wide was still able to be held by the walls of the shed he worked in. But soon enough, that would change. This whole ‘working in the shed’ thing was a temporary arrangement that he’d have to find a r...

Blood Magus Chapter 11

It took about a half hour before someone found Zeth buried beneath the rubble.

Zeth knew these cookie-cutter houses like the back of his hand, and chose a section to collapse on himself that he knew had little above it other than basic roofing, leaving most of what fell to be dust and a few lighter chunks of hollowed-out wood. However, it certainly hurt to be crushed beneath the support beam. It fell onto his stomach and midsection, pressing his body into the wooden planks beneath him i...

Blood Magus Chapter 10

Upon hearing Sophie’s scream, Zeth instantly pushed himself to his feet, adrenaline the only thing that allowed him to walk with the pain coursing through his body.

He wildly glanced around, searching for her and hoping she didn’t see his face, but thankfully, he spotted her standing over by the corpse of the fleshtaker, staring at it. He couldn’t see her expression in the darkness, silhouette only barely visible from the embers covering the thing’s body and the surrounding gras...

Blood Magus Chapter 9

As quickly as he could, Zeth rushed to his room, yelling back to his mom to stay inside. He still had that shirt with the Hellfire Ritual circle written on it; maybe he could use that to—

“Zeth?” Sophie’s voice came from within his room as he rushed up to the door. “Where are you?”

What?! Why was she in his room? 

He pushed the door open to see her staring at his empty bed. She got down to the floor and looked underneath—where he’d put the hellfire circl...

Blood Magus Chapter 8

Once Zeth was finished with his Empowerment Ritual in the shed, he went back to the house. It was late, and he needed to sleep soon.

He crept through the dark rooms, trying not to wake anyone up, but as he did, he found everyone wasn’t asleep yet, after all. His mom was sitting in the living room, knitting something with a pair of needles.

“Oh, you’re up late,” he said. “What’re you working on?”

“Sophie needs some warmer clothes for the winter,” she said, n...

Blood Magus Chapter 7

After coming home from the library, Zeth walked back through the front door of his parents’ house, calling, “Mom, Dad, I’m—”

He stopped, face turning to stone.

Oh. Right. 

He cleared his throat.

“Mom, I’m home,” he said in a smaller voice.

The moment I get strong enough, I am going to murder those fucking bandits. They will not get another second of their lives with his blood on their hands, even if they are rotting in some jail ...