Chapter 185: Blood Claw

Chapter 185: 185: Blood Claw

Lucard sat in the dark cave and listened to the rain.

His blood moved differently now.

The Fourth Blood Circle had formed inside him, and the change was not small. His body was still damaged, but it no longer felt like a broken tool. The blood inside him had become denser. Every drop answered faster. Every blood thread carried more weight. Even the pain in his stomach had become something he could push aside instead of something that ruled his body.

He looked at Cedric first.

Cedric was still unconscious against the wall. His breathing was weak but stable. Puff slept beside him with its small head pressed against his torn coat.

Then Lucard looked at Elowen.

She had also passed out. Her body had reached its limit after dragging two dying men through the Deep Maw Forest, giving blood, and standing against the bear monster. Her face was pale, and even in sleep her fingers were curled tightly, as if she was still pulling someone through the rain.

Lucard did not speak.

He lifted his hand, and thin blood threads spread from his fingers.

The threads moved to Cedric first. Lucard did not heal him fully. That would take too much power and too much blood. He only closed the most dangerous parts of the wound, pushed away a little of the broken mana inside his chest, and forced the bleeding to stop properly.

Cedric’s breathing became smoother.

Lucard then moved the blood threads toward Elowen. Her wounds were not as deep as Cedric’s, but there were too many of them. He sealed the worst cuts, cleaned the blood from the injured palm, and wrapped a thin layer of blood power around her shoulder and feet. It was not comfort. It was maintenance.

Useful people had to remain alive.

That was all.

At least, that was what Lucard told himself.

After that, he turned toward the cave entrance.

The dead bear’s body still lay near the opening. Its blood had helped him, but not enough. If he wanted to recover properly, he needed more. A lot more. Beast blood would be dirty, but with the Fourth Blood Circle and the Deepwell water’s effect still moving inside him, he could handle more than before.

He raised two fingers.

Blood from the dead bear and his own blood mixed in the air. The mixture spread across the cave entrance and formed a protective spell. It did not look like a wall. It looked like faint red claw marks carved into the wet stone.

Then the marks sank into the cave mouth.

A thin red film covered the entrance for one breath before becoming invisible.

It was a warning spell.

If something weak tried to enter, it would feel the scent of a stronger beast and turn away. If something pushed through anyway, the spell would cut it once and wake Lucard’s blood mark. If Alan came, the spell would not stop him, but it would give Lucard a breath of warning.

One breath could decide life or death.

Lucard stood up slowly.

His legs held.

Pain moved through him, but he ignored it.

He looked once more at Cedric and Elowen. Both were unconscious. Neither saw him leave.

Lucard stepped into the rain.

The storm washed over him at once. Cold water ran down his hair, face, and clothes. The forest outside was almost black. Rain struck the leaves so hard that normal sound became useless, but Lucard did not need normal sound.

He closed his eyes.

Blood-sense spread out.

The Deep Maw Forest was full of life. Small beasts hid under roots. Larger beasts moved through the rain. Some blood was hot and fast. Some was cold and slow. Farther away, something huge slept under the ground, and Lucard avoided that direction without hesitation.

He did not need a king of the forest.

He needed prey.

A few minutes later, he found the first one.

It was a long-legged beast with a deer-like body and a wolf’s jaw. It moved between trees, sniffing the rain for blood. It had smelled the bear’s corpse from far away and was heading toward the cave.

Lucard stepped out before it.

The beast stopped.

Its jaw opened.

Lucard lifted his hand.

Blood threads shot forward and wrapped around its legs. The beast tried to jump back, but the Fourth Blood Circle made the threads heavier than before. They did not simply bind. They bit into the flesh and pulled.

The beast fell.

Lucard’s fingers closed.

The blood inside the beast answered him faintly.

Not full control.

Not yet.

But enough.

The beast’s own blood pressed against its heart for one breath.

It froze.

Lucard formed a blood blade and cut its throat.

The rain washed the blood down, but Lucard caught most of it before it touched the ground. He drew it into a blood circle, burned the worst impurities with Bloodfire, and absorbed what he could use.

Warmth returned to his body.

Not enough.

He moved again.

The second beast came in a pair. They were black-furred things with flat faces and long arms, climbing between trees like monkeys. They noticed Lucard from above and tried to attack together. One dropped from a branch. The other circled behind him.

Lucard looked up.

This was a good chance.

He had reached the Fourth Blood Circle.

He needed to test what his blood could now do.

A new shape formed in his mind.

Not a sword.

Not a thread.

A claw.

Lucard lifted his right hand.

Blood gathered around his fingers. At first, it formed five thin red lines. Then the lines thickened, curved, and stretched outward. Bloodfire burned faintly inside them, not like a flame on the outside, but like heat trapped inside metal.

Five blood claws appeared.

Each one was longer than a dagger.

Lucard moved his hand.

The claws moved with him.

The falling beast reached him.

Lucard slashed upward.

The five blood claws tore through its chest and split it open before it touched the ground. Blood burst into the rain. Lucard turned his wrist, and the claws extended suddenly, growing from dagger length to the length of a man’s arm.

The second beast had been circling behind him.

It had no time to retreat.

The larger Blood Claw swept sideways and cut through its neck, shoulder, and ribs in one motion. The beast struck a tree and slid down in pieces.

Lucard looked at his hand.

The blood claws floated over his fingers, slowly dripping red light into the rain.

Powerful.

Flexible.

And hungry.

The size depended on blood.

With only his own blood, the claws were short but fast. With enemy blood added, they could grow longer. With enough blood, they could become a giant hand capable of tearing through beasts, armor, and perhaps even a mage’s defense.

Lucard absorbed the blood of the two beasts and formed the claw again.

This time, he used their blood too.

The five claws grew larger.

Each one became as long as a sword. The shape was not smooth. It looked wild and cruel, like a monster’s hand made from blood. Lucard swung once toward a thick tree nearby.

The Blood Claw passed through the trunk.

The cut was clean for half the width.

Then the tree split and fell with a heavy crash.

Lucard’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Still unstable.

Too much beast blood made the claw stronger but less precise. His own blood made it sharper and easier to control. Mixed blood gave size and force, but it needed more control to keep the shape from shaking.

That was acceptable.

He would refine it later.

For now, it killed.

A growl came from his left.

Another beast had heard the tree fall.

Lucard turned his head.

A large gray wolf stepped from the rain, followed by two more. Their bodies were covered in wet scars, and their eyes were bright with hunger. They saw the blood around Lucard. They smelled his wounds. They thought he was prey.

Lucard raised his hand again.

The Blood Claw formed larger than before.

The wolves hesitated.

Too late.

Lucard stepped forward and slashed.

The first wolf lost its head.

The second tried to jump aside, but the claws stretched in mid-swing and opened its stomach. The third turned to run. Lucard sent one blood thread into the blood spilled from the first wolf, pulled it into the claw, and made the claw grow again.

A giant red claw shot through the rain and struck the fleeing wolf from behind.

The beast crashed into the mud and did not rise.

Lucard stood in the rain while blood flowed toward him from three directions.

The Fourth Blood Circle pulsed.

His body absorbed.

His wound tightened.

His strength returned slowly, drop by drop, beast by beast.

Lucard looked deeper into the forest.

He was still far from fully healed.

But now he could stand. Now he could hunt. Now he had Blood Claw.

Lucard opened his hand, and the giant red claw spread above him like the hand of a blood beast.

"Good," he said quietly.

Then he walked deeper into the rain to find more blood.