Blood Magic.
It was a special type of magic that was most of the time associated with vampires in the game.
However, that is not necessarily true for all times.
Although vampires exist in this world, the only ones that can use blood magic are not them.
There are many others who got hold of blood magic-related artifacts or those who got this attribute from the blessing.
Anyway, in many cases, blood magic could be used by humans as well, and most of the time, they would be inclined to evil.
And this is not a prejudice of mine or something. The statistics say so.
Now, this world doesn't have that much of complicated statistic holders since the internet does not exist, still thanks to the past events that were conducted by blood magic users, this is a fact.
And here I am.
In front of a scene that looked like it came out of a horror movie.
Although the magic is related to the core of a person, this is not necessarily the case for blood magic. Generally, it sacrifices one's own blood and conducts a spell coupled with mana.
However, as for larger-scale spells, you would need a ritual.
A ritual of blood where you would consume other people's blood and make use of it.
'The ritual has failed.'
'The blood is fresh, meaning they had been just there, at most, three hours. If that is the case, I would be able to sense the mana traces left after the spell normally, but there are no mana traces here.'
'But, what were they attempting to do here? And who are they? Are they Scarlet Jackals? The information is incomplete. I need more evidence.'
Thinking that, I started looking for traces.
/SPLASH/ /SPLASH/
'This amount of blood can't be natural. Just how many people they killed. Their body should be regenerated. Did they give them herbs?'
With that thought, I slowly passed my gaze around.
'There are a least hundred corpses here. Such a huge amount of people for a village. According to the document, Kilead Village should have at most fifty people. Did they bring other people here?'
'Hmm… These wound marks….. It seems blood was sucked. But not all of them have their blood sucked directly.'
Looking at the dried corpse whose flesh was dried out, I started touching it.
'The body is still showing signs of functioning….'
'All Seeing Eye.'
With my [All Seeing Eye] wide open, I focused at one point.
And there I saw faint traces of mana, red mana coupled with water type spell.
'This spell, just what is this? This corpse's blood is sucked, but somehow body is showing signs of living? I don't understand what this spell does?'
It was the first time I had seen such a spell in my life. Even in the game, such a spell did not exist.
At least in the possession of the player.
Knowing what type of mana the spell used doesn't necessarily mean what spell was used if you don't have enough knowledge, which is why I am sparing some time to learn different spells every day.
But this is not that important.
'These wound marks, they are too deep for a vampire.'
Touching the neck of the corpse and putting my fingers into the wound, even though it was deep, I felt the wound.
'This is more like a savagery…. I thought it was the work of a vampire, but they are not that savage. Most of them are even obsessed with elegance.'
'Then, what might this be?'
'Hmm… This amount of blood getting sucked and the wounds of beasts.'
'Even though the corpses look discarded, it seems they still tried a spell on them?'
'Is it a summoning? No, if that was a sacrifice, then why would they leave the corpses?'
Those questions were not answered even a bit.
Entering the houses that could be seen, I started looking for clues.
'The daily life seems to be fine. There are recently used plates here, and some of the clothes were hanged upon to dry. That means whatever they did has just happened in minutes.'
Normally most of the time in the villages, the plates would be washed around the evening after dinner. Therefore, the plates hadn't been washed means they had been used just recently, around breakfast time.
It could also be the breakfast from yesterday, but since the clothes were still wet, that was showing that daily life was resuming this morning.
'Hmm…. These trails go deeper into the wilderness. Should I pursue them? Are they even related to my prey?'
While being an adventurer, you might find some other cause regarding to the different cases. However, an adventurer is not a hero or a police.
'And I am not a hero either.'
'But, my hunch is saying these two events are linked.'
The blood magic and water magic oozing from the bodies of people here, the huge amount of blood being spilled, the wounds that could be seen over the bodies….
I really feel like I know something about this event, but I can't put the feeling on.
'Let's look around for a little longer.'
Thinking that, I started searching for evidence again.
/SPLASH/
While splashing from time to time.
"Master!"
At that moment, suddenly, my sword polymorphed, slightly startling me.
"Nihil?"
"Master! Barf-"
Before she could exclaim excitedly, the little child-looking Nihil puked.
"Sigh…."
"Master, what is this smell…. Heut-"
"If you have something to say, just say it."
"Nihil is sorry, Master."
"Okay, just say it."
'Sigh, I really don't feel like dealing with her right now.'
"Nihil sensed something like her here, master."
"Something like you?"
"Yes. It felt like there was another Nihil here. Nihil feels the connection."
"There was?"
"Yes. It is not here anymore."
"Can you still feel the connection?"
"Nihil can. But, it is very weak, and it is getting away."
"Hmm….. I see."
"Master, Nihil thinks if she can absorb that weapon, she will get a lot stronger."
"I see. You can go back now. I will leave soon."
"Yes, master!"
After Nihil went back to the scabbard, I started looking for more traces until I deemed it enough….
