Five vials of blood waited on the stony ground below Freddy’s feet.

Bloodshed stood, clearly agitated, as it moved its bony claws over the vials.

Freddy gulped, nervously waiting for the verdict.

“Master,” Bloodshed finally spoke after minutes of looking over the blood. “This is an invaluable resource.”

“What is that even?” he asked.

Obviously, it was blood. But what kind of blood? Thinking on it further, these clearly weren’t ordinary blood samples. For starters, they were tucked away safely in Janhalar’s ring. In the private storage of a Lord and patriarch of a clan of blood users. It was easy to conclude that it was special.

But even beyond that, just how long had these vials waited in the ring? It had already been over a year since he acquired them, yet, the blood inside still seemed to be brimming with vitality.

Bloodshed sat there for a moment, and then, raising a delicate claw, pointed at the vialed samples, one by one. “This is no ordinary blood, Master. It might not be obvious to the naked eye, but this blood is an ether construct.”

Freddy’s eyes shot wide open. “What!? An ether construct!?” He looked over the vials. “How is it… in reality?”

There were, of course, ways for ether constructs to take form outside the Netherecho.

Spirits and eidola were a great example of this, but there were some cases where even a regular wisp of ether could worm its way into reality, such as when an eidolon died and the barrier between reality and the Netherecho temporarily cracked.

Any form of ether construct that could keep its form in reality was an invaluable treasure with numerous uses.

Which begged two important questions—what was this blood? And what could it be used for?

“Tell me, Bloodshed; what is this?”

“I vaguely recognize this substance. Back when you summoned me for the first time, Master, a drop of blood with similar properties had been mixed into the pool powering my summon. But it was far weaker, back then. It was as if that drop was barely touched by this substance. Yet, even that small drop had vastly enhanced my power. This… this is that same substance, but refined to absolute purity.”

Freddy’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “I see… This must be some sort of treasure used by the Kraven clan.” A rueful grin crept up on his face. “And this must be a good portion of their stash. Sheesh, I wonder if they ever recovered from losing that guy. So” —he gulped nervously—”what can it be used for?”

“I want all of it,” Bloodshed said without even a moment to think about it. Then it jolted as it caught itself. “I apologize… I am struggling to control myself.”

“It’s okay…” He smiled. “I wouldn’t mind giving it to you if you think you can use it well. But I would like to know what it is and what it can do, first.”

Bloodshed nodded. “This substance is concentrated structured blood aura. It contains within it a sea of insights into blood and its properties. It can be used to combine with any form of blood-affinity ether construct, which will result in a drastic enhancement of the blood laws contained within.”

“So if you take it, you’ll become stronger?”

“Stronger…” It looked down at the blood with an avaricious gleam in its bloody eye sockets. “Indeed. But it is more than that.” It looked back up. “It won’t make me directly grow in power. But it will deepen my complexity as a construct. I will be able to use blood in new ways.”

Freddy’s eyebrows jumped slightly.

Sentient ether constructs also had “abilities,” so to speak. They weren’t called that, but that’s basically what they were—structured ways to use their element. But while humans could develop new abilities as they pleased, the abilities of sentient ether constructs were part of what they were, and were determined at the moment of their creation.

Of course, constructs could change as they developed in power, allowing them to acquire “new” abilities, but even those were already part of them, they just couldn’t be expressed before a certain level of power.

Adding new abilities to a construct was basically no different from tinkering with the concept they represented. Needless to say, that also meant it would affect not only Bloodshed, but also the ability it was part of.

“How will that affect Blood Sacrifice?” Freddy asked.

“Only in positive ways,” it answered. “I will have more control over the form I take and the time required to summon me will be reduced.”

“Ha!” Freddy chirped involuntarily. “Well what the hell are you waiting for, drink up!” he urged.

“Master, please wait. There are three more ways we could use this blood.”

He scowled. “Okay… go on.”

“First, we could use apply it to your ring,” it said, pointing at the ring on Freddy’s finger.

His eyes widened. “What would that do?”

“It could add another effect to the item.”

“What!? Really!?”

“But there is a catch. Since that ring already has three separate effects, adding another would be difficult. It is possible that even all five vials wouldn’t be enough to awaken another effect. And even then, we have no way to predict what it would do.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Shit. And you got my hopes up. Okay, fine, what else can we do?”

“We could apply it to the power tablet.”

He scowled. “And what would that do?”

“It would greatly enhance the quality of the ability within.”

“And let me guess, this would also take like all the blood?”

“No. We could use as little as a single vial. But the more we used, the better the outcome would be.”

“And what’s the third choice?”

“For you to absorb it yourself.”

Freddy paused. “Okay… And what would that do?”

“It would greatly enhance your future insights into the blood affinity.”

“That… I…” He paused, taking a moment to think about it. “Oh that’s good.”

In the short run, the third option was the least impactful. But in the long run? There was a reason why the power tablet was so powerful. If Freddy’s ability-creation skills grew even just a bit, the long-term benefits would be amazing.

“What’s your opinion on this?” Freddy asked. “You’re the expert on the subject here. How would you distribute the blood?”

“You’re asking me…?” Bloodshed looked at the vials. “It depends. For the most reliable and most immediate effect, you should use it to enhance the power tablet.”

“Really? Not going to lie, that seems a bit like a waste.”

“It wouldn’t be,” Bloodshed insisted. “The effect would be drastic if you used all five vials on it. Especially with the ability’s power to block essence flow. Whether now or in the future, this choice wouldn’t be one you’d regret, and it would take no additional work to make use of it.”

“Damn. And here I was willing to write that choice off. That’s why I rely on the expert,” he said with a grin and offered Bloodshed a fistbump. Bloodshed looked at the fist in confusion. Freddy was about to remind it what a fistbump was, but it suddenly jolted.

“Ah, yes.” It bumped his fist. “Like this?”

“Hahaha! Yep, buddy, that’s how you do it.” He leaned back. “And what about the other options?”

“Using it on yourself or the ring would grant the best long-term effects.”

“Which would be better?” he asked.

“That depends. If you used it on the ring, you risk it all going to naught, but if it worked, the investment would certainly pay off.” It looked at the ring. “The fourth effect would undoubtedly be incredible. Taking it for yourself would be less risky.”

“Hmmm… I see…” He sighed. “And what about you?”

The skeleton froze. “Me…?” Its head dropped a bit at a time, until it was looking straight down. Droplets of blood dripped from its drenched skull, falling just a little short of the vials. “I believe that using them on me would be a waste.”

“What? Why?”

“I can’t grow in power, Master,” it said, turning to look away. “Even now, I can barely stand by your side in a fight unless you summon me through Blood Sacrifice. Even if this made me more powerful, soon enough, I will be of no use at all.”

“Then I’ll summon you through Blood Sacrifice!”

“No,” it said. “You might not get the chance. Blood Sacrifice is too situational. Without enough blood, summoning me is a waste of time.”

“What? Where is this coming from? Why are you so insecure suddenly?”

“I am aware of my utility. I know I will always be useful to you, Master. But the reality is that I am not a reliable source of power. If you face a situation where you can’t rely on me… It would all be for nothing.”

Freddy went silent for a moment, and then he smiled, blowing a bit of air through his nose. “Alright then.” He picked up a vial. “I guess this will be enough for me,” he said. Then he pushed the other four vials to Bloodshed. “And these are for you.”

Bloodshed froze. “Master, please.”

“Bloodshed,” he called softly. “Do you remember where we got these vials?”

“I—”

“Do you or don’t you?”

“I do not forget things, Master.”

“Then you should remember all the times you saved my ass. These vials, I got them with your help.” He pulled out the Warrior King’s Pendant. “This pendant, too. My very life also, like three times at this point.” His expression softened and he snickered. “Actually, here you go”—he placed the fifth vial on the pile—“take this one, too.”

“Master—”

“Bloodshed.” He took a deep breath and smiled. “I honestly don’t see myself as some sort of gifted genius. And, if we’re being fair, I’m nobody special. Without your help—”

“Don’t say that!” Bloodshed shouted, startling Freddy into a silence. “You are more incredible than you can currently appreciate, Master. I wouldn’t pick a ‘nobody’ to serve.” It clenched its bony fists. “But you can be a real bonehead sometimes! Even more than me! Do not let your emotions sway you into making a choice you will regret! Please!”

Freddy was left stunned. Speechless. What had Bloodshed ever said anything like this to him? Even more… for it to rebel against him like this…

He grinned. “Come on, buddy.” He rubbed Bloodshed’s skull. “I know I can be a real dumbass at times, but I’m not being rash now. You said that these vials could make Blood Sacrifice cast faster?”

Bloodshed nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“Well that would already make it a step more reliable.”

“But without blood—”

He raised a hand. “Bloodshed, I know what you’re trying to say, but for someone who claims not to forget things, you’re forgetting something very important.”

“And what is that?”

Freddy grinned. “This ring requires Bloodshed to grow,” he said, pointing at the Blood Ring coiled around his ring finger. “And this”—he raised the Warrior King’s Pendant—”requires fighting against superior foes.” His grin widened. “We’ve delved many times, but I can’t exactly summon you willy-nilly when there might be someone watching. But now I’ve got plenty of confidence that I can tackle wild interspace by myself. And there just happens to be a private passage in the basement.”

“Even without these vials, my help would suffice.”

“Well I don’t need you to just suffice,” he said, suddenly turning serious. “You aren’t a tool, Bloodshed. You’re a cheat. Just like my talent, your existence is something that breaks the rules.” The smile returned to his face. “Look, you can sing my praises all you want, that still doesn’t change the fact that I only got to where I am through being a filthy cheater. I got plenty of shit I shouldn’t have ever gotten my hands on with your help. And I plan on continuing to rob the world blind.”

“Master…”

“Just take it, Bloodshed. And you can say whatever the hell you want, I can tell you want these vials. Come on, look at you; you’re drooling at the sight of them.”

It touched its dripping jaw. “This is blood.”

“You’re all blood. Why would your drool be water?”

Bloodshed chuckled.

Freddy froze, staring in disbelief. “Holy shit… did you just laugh?”

“I scoffed.”

“Nah, nah, nah, that was a laugh! I fucking heard it!”

Ignoring Freddy, Bloodshed pulled the vials closer. “I will use your generous gift, Master.” It raised its head to look at him. “Thank you.”

He smiled. Then he scoffed. “Come on, get to work. I ain’t got all day.” He leaned in with gleeful excitement on his face and rubbed his hands. “I can’t wait to see what it does to you.”