Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Nati - Ch. 94

"Um, how do I draw blood?"

It's not that I wouldn't dare to poke my fingertips. I mean it freaked me out how casually they did it since I wasn't into that self-harm thing, but I found a much bigger issue. As the Goddess recently demonstrated, I was practically invulnerable. So doing this seemed impossible for me.

"Right. That's a good question, Nati." Omerta noted after dripping her blood over a pine cone. She didn't make a fuss cutting her entire palm across with a dagger, drew some blood, then licked it, and the wound already healed. Ember only pricked her finger and used a walnut for her would-be staff. "I didn't think about that."

And they waited for no one. We gathered near Gitaut's little forest hut and followed Lambert's and the crystal's instructions. They attempted to make a tree, or at least a branch grow from those seeds, using their blood as a catalyst. I had my original blue stone, but I looked on cluelessly. Emi glanced over my shoulders, expecting something to happen but she only managed to distract me even more.

"It's not even your body if you think about it, so the Goddess' blood might not even work for you." Ember pointed it out, once her walnut tree finally started to sprout. She had to take a break, sweating heavily from all the concentration, but she was the first to reach that point.

"I'm not even sure if I use my magic power, or hers when casting a spell." I shook my head, staring at the dagger in my hand. "If it's hers, then maybe I need to use her blood, but is that okay? Apart from having no idea what I'm doing, would she allow that?"

"I allow what?" I heard my voice, coming from behind me this time. Of course, Alex showed up at the most random moment. Except when we needed her the most. She abstained during the battle, but I guess I needed her guidance now too. My heart rate increased before I even looked at her though. How was I supposed to ask her questions like this?

"She is... We try to build a staff for each of us." Gitaut explained as the only one who didn't even make one for the time being. Shamans had no use for staff and in the first round, the girls got to play with the magic stones. Which in this case also included me. "But it involves drawing blood, to have the artifact attuned to its future user."

"Ooh, you guys use blood for that? I never actually made a staff, looks interesting." Alexandra said, and with that, I quickly lost all hope to get the answers I needed. "The emperor offered me a crystal like that, as a reward if I finished expanding the Gate system. Where did you get that?"

"Um, it's from Fenna," I confessed, without looking at her. I missed the fox girl who still seemed busy in her village, but that was all I knew. Between my morning runs and training, I didn't have time to visit her. I considered running to the beastfolk village as a workout, but it was too far. "She said her mother made it."

"Her mother? Could it be Anna the tailor? The Red Cat as they called her in the Academy." The Goddess pondered. "Yes, I remember being jealous of her when her lover brought the crystal. So it ended up in your hands, huh? What a small world."

"You knew her?" I asked, surprised. Even though I heard more and more about her backstory, and other people related to the Magic Academy, somehow I never managed to put the pieces together. I think she saw my confusion and decided to explain things properly.

"I used to sneak in, reading books about magic there, thanks to my master. When I demonstrated, that the Lesser Races can cast magic on our own, not just through the spirits, he became quite enthusiastic about it. He petitioned the emperor to allow our kind into the school properly." She started, glancing at Gitaut for a moment. "For the first class they assembled, they gathered some exceptional talents, from every corner of the Cranta Empire, including Anna, Alpha, Gamma, and Gitaut. I guess you could say, I was part of the class too."