Ch. 31: Connection (2)

"Of course we aren't related." Rosy snorted. The idea was insane. They'd been born at similar times, sure, but they'd also been born in different dimensions. While the dimension that Noctus was in was similar to the one that Uriah was in, there were quite a few differences between the two. Plus, there was the fact that Rosy was a vampire, and Adrian was a human.

"She's right. We can't possibly be related by blood." Adrian agreed, "She's a Royal Vampire, and I'm basically human." He couldn't say that he was totally human, because the royal family of Uriah had blood dark as ink, but Rosy's blood was white as snow, making them exact opposites from a certain point of view.

"Can both of you cut yourself for me?" Mana asked them. Though it was an unusual suggestion, it made sense. It was common knowledge that a Royal Vampire had white blood. 

To show Mana how, obviously, they weren't related, Adrian had Rosy stab his arm with her fingernail. After all the fighting she'd done, Rosy's knowledge of the human body was far superior to any trained doctor. She knew exactly where to cut in order to draw as little blood as possible while still drawing a little bit. Meanwhile, she just had to turn around to show Mana the coagulated white scabs covering her entire back. Those hadn't changed. 

Interestingly enough, Adrian's blood had, in fact, changed. When it'd been pitch black before, now there were flecks of a lighter grey in it. It looked like it was being invaded by something that was a light color. It freaked Adrian out a little bit, but Mana was calm.

"mm... Just as I thought. Rosy, make a fresh cut." He demanded, engrossed in testing his new theory. Rosy didn't hesitate. She made her cut in the same spot that she'd made it on Adrian. Her newly welling blood had flecks of grey in it as well, though they were a lot thinner than they seemed to be in Adrian's blood, likely due to the fact that grey on white was easier to see than grey on black. 

"What's going on?" Adrian asked. Both he and Rosy having the same 'problem' with their blood definitely didn't seem like a coincidence in his eyes. Mana agreed with his sentiment, explaining his theory in full.

"It seems that you two have established some sort of blood bond." He explained.

"Neither of us ever used magic on the other." Rosy immediately argued.

"I can only state the facts. Your bloods are merging. Eventually, they'll be a uniform grey in color. That means that the blood is transferring between your bodies via blood magic. There's no other possible explanation." He explained.

"That still doesn't explain how, though!" Rosy shouted, irritated. She didn't like things that she didn't understand in full, and she definitely didn't care for the drawbacks that she'd heard came from a rare blood bond between sentient beings.

"I don't know how it happened. As I explained... You've got a blood bond between you." Mana repeated.

"Wait... Am I going to turn into a vampire?" Adrian asked, startled by the thought that just popped into his head. If a person and a bird merging through blood magic turned them into Gryphons, and a person and a reptile merging turned them into Drakes, then wouldn't he gain some vampiric instincts by bonding with someone with bloodlust as strong as Rosy's?

Alleviating his worries, Mana shook his head, "No. You've got a pretty strong soul. A vampire's bloodlust comes from the fact that their souls have been distorted by powerful blood magic. They need the energy that comes from the blood holder's soul in order to stabilize themselves. Though it's pretty rare for any blood bonds to happen as a result of magic experiments, it's been shown that vampires who gain blood bonds naturally pull whatever energy they need to from the other person's soul, permanently stopping their urge for blood. You might get physically stronger, and your magic might weaken a bit, but other than that, you'll be fine." Mana told Adrian.

"Wait... You're saying that I don't need blood anymore?" Rosy asked, an unreadable tone in her voice. Rosy'd been held slave to her instincts for years. The idea that she didn't have that specific instinct anymore... she didn't know how to feel about it. Unfortunately, Mana wasn't totally sure about it.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. Your bond is clearly in its infant stages. I have no clue how strong it'll grow. You'll probably need another top up or two of outer blood, but eventually it should be possible for you to draw the energy directly from Adrian instead." Mana explained.

"And... what else will transfer between us?" She asked flatly. She'd heard of blood bonds before. They were rare, but there were certain things that were common knowledge about them. These were what made her apprehensive.

"I'm not sure. Depending on the power, feelings... the other person's location, other bonded objects..." Mana started listing things.

"Are you saying that we might eventually be able to read each other's minds?" Adrian realized. Not that he needed to read Rosy's mind to understand how angry the idea of someone walking around in her brain made her. He was an open book, but the idea of learning everything in Rosy's head... It was honestly a terrifying thought.

"There have been reported cases suggesting such a thing, but I think it's more of transmitted things. I don't think you'll be capable of just going into the other person's head and raiding everything..." Mana said elusively. Honestly, blood bonds hadn't been researched very much. They were incredibly deep types of magic, and not even he knew how strong the connection that they created could be.

"Let's just hope that it doesn't get that far. Once we part ways, we'll have to find a way to sever the magic." Rosy decided, blowing out a blast of air from her mouth in frustration.