I pulled my eyes away from the textbook I was reading and set it down. I originally had an idea to combine magic with what I knew about physics and whatnot, but nothing really jumped out at me. My heart told me it wouldn’t hold true even if it did. This was a new world, and I’d have to find my own way. I sighed and pulled my legs back up to my chest. I needed to stop relying on my previous knowledge. I will carve a place for myself, no matter what it takes.

Defiance rose in my chest with a searing flame. It drove me forward and helped chase away the piercing numbness that was trying to freeze me in place. What my father once told me floated in my mind as I pushed myself off the ground. ‘The only person you can truly rely on is yourself.’

So perhaps I should take that advice to heart at this moment. If the rest of my world was a lie, then the only bastion of truth would be myself. I pushed the textbook away, took a deep breath, and focused on my mind. I didn’t find any actual answers I was looking for, and to be honest, I had no clue what I was trying to find. All I knew was that I was trying to find some sort of magic that would help me out of this situation. But with all the uncertainty in the air, I resigned myself to the fact that I couldn’t find inspiration in essentially what was.

So, I’ll look into myself then. I brought my hands up and studied my flesh for a moment. If the Aether permeates everything, what if I used my body as a weapon? While my stats leaned to heavier mental use than physical, I would work on balancing it. But for now, what could I use to learn magic? As I stared at my hands, I noticed the thin blue lines of my veins, and a thought crossed my mind. What about blood? The system did say that I would need to be in contact with the mana to further cultivate it, and blood was constantly running through my veins. While granted, I find it highly unlikely that I could climb to the highest levels with just my own. But was I willing to bask in the blood of others?

The thought alone sent tiny shivers down my spine, but at the moment, it felt like it was one of the best options that I had right now. I needed to make sure that I could defend myself no matter what, and knowing that it was my blood brought a sense of comfort. It was something that I could control. I brought my eyes back to the last bit of text I read. In a heartbeat, I made up my mind, but now the question was, how was I supposed to use it? I would only have to look within? Why did these things have to be so challenging to deal with?

I groaned and crossed my legs and took a deep breath. Perhaps I should just try to meditate and see how well it goes. After all, I am stuck here for the time being, so I might as well make good use of it. Even if it was something that I didn’t believe in, I guess things might be a little different in this situation. I took one last deep breath of the musky air and closed my eyes. I cleared my mind the best that I could and sat there in the darkness of my mind. For the first few minutes, my mind tried to wander. At first, it was the fear that those monsters would find their way through the door, and then the next was the idea that those mimics would come after me again. My mind spiraled, but I did my best to hold on. At least until I turned my mind to the constant roll of water flowing from the fountain.

At first, it was annoying to just sit there with my eyes shut, but then I fell into the constant rhythm. The sloshing of the water as it folded back into itself lured me into a sense of peace. My heartbeat slowed down, and I found that with each passing second, it was harder to feel my limbs, but instead of feeling anxiety, I couldn’t help but feel relaxed.

Time felt like it was slowing to a crawl as my mind emptied of all my burdens. The darkness danced around my vision, and colors swirled and morphed until an image of a large oak tree appeared in front of me. Its leaves were viridian green and danced like a wave of wind blowing through, yet the air remained still.

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A slight pressure built around my limbs as an ambient hum oscillated through my body, and a warm silver light filled my vision that quickly faded. For once, nothing plagued me outside of curiosity that mingled with serenity. I pushed myself off the ground and wandered over to the giant Oak that dominated my vision. The bark was smooth, unnervingly so, and inscribed upon it was a series of circular metal indents that sat roughly two centimeters into the tree. My eyes traveled across the width of the tree, and I spotted six of them.

I reached out, ran my fingers across their surface, and marveled at how cold they were. Each was like a block of ice, and the second my hand grazed one, I felt a tug at something within me. So this is what the system meant when it said all you had to do was look within. Now the next question: how am I supposed to do this?

The system didn’t give me much outside of cultivating mana or learning how to manipulate it. But common sense told me I had to insert something into the metal cylinders within the tree. I glanced around and saw nothing outside of the silver light and darkness that stretched as far as the eye could see.

I stared at it for a moment until an idea floated through my mind. What if I used my blood and put it inside one of the metal holes? I highly doubted anything dire would happen, and something told me it was the right path, though I wasn’t sure what it was.I lifted my arms and glanced at the scabs that had formed from the savage bites of the mimic. The silver light caught my alabaster flesh and made the wounds look much worse. I ran my fingers across the rough surface, dug my nails into the scabs, and quickly tore one off.

A faint pain spread across my arms as a small bead of blood welled up at the surface. I wiped away some of the blood, reached out toward one of the metal canisters, and rubbed the drop of blood into it. For a few brief heartbeats, nothing happened. Then, the metal lit up, and the gray metal absorbed the blood, and the metal became the color of crimson. A fresh layer of blood poured from the top of the metal ring, connected to the bottom, and spilled outwards across the tree. The brown bark lapped the liquid and darkened about a centimeter before stopping.

I felt a pulse in my chest, and my vision swam for a second before my body returned to normal. I glanced around and saw that a portion of the darkness had been replaced with a swath of crimson light. I stood there mesmerized by the lights that gently poured through the tree’s leaves for a moment. It was all so beautiful and so mystical. It was a far cry from where I was currently trapped.

Now, how do I get out of this place? I glanced around for a moment before jerking my body, and in an instant, the dim blue lighting of the room I was sitting in filled my vision, followed by the harsh white light of the writing.

Congratulations! You have unlocked Blood Magic Affinity! As this is just an affinity, please select a path to follow to further your strength with it!

Path of the Hemomancer: Your thirst for power is only rivaled by your thirst for blood. The power that lives within the life force of the living is far too tantalizing to let slip through your grip. You taste and consume it, and using it further bolsters your power and knowledge. But be warned, you will open yourself up in ways you could have never imagined.

Path of the Blood Sorceress: Instead of seeking the blood of others, you have turned to your own. You use your own life force to power skills and craft tools. You will find that with each spell cast and each drop of blood spilled, your strength will grow, yet everything has a price.

Path of the Blood Mage: The magic you cast is imbued with the life force of others. With each ritual completed, and each body slain, the magic that lies within is yours for the taking. Though you sacrifice specialization, the sheer destructive force makes up for it.

The choices floated just above my vision, with tantalizing options. Now it was time to carve my place into the world.