"Agh… I need a napkin."
Quies held a long skewer in his dominant hand, since his left hand was carrying that bloodrending book. Maybe he could get the chance to read it soon enough…
"Why?"
"The juices… are too juicy."
He watched as liquid, which he presumed came from the meat on the skewer, trickled down the narrow stick…
And onto his perfectly clean hands.
'Someone needs to invent some sort of oil catcher or something…'
He had tried orienting his hands in different directions, with one attempt almost having the meat slide off of the skewer. However, it was in vain. It was simply the nature of the oils and fats to dirty the hands of their consumer.
"Who said you had to be clean when eating these?"
Valerie remarked as she bit down on one of the portioned meats, sliding it off the skewer. Surprisingly, she was taking her time with eating this skewer, taking long pauses in between bites. Perhaps she was planning contingencies if anything goes wrong, or perhaps she was thinking of something else. Quies couldn't discern anything from her blank expression.
Quies took one last bite of the portioned meat and stared at the skewer.
'I might need this…'
"Are you sure there aren't any napkins?"
"Gosh, just use your armor! It's going to be stained with blood anyways… well, hopefully not, but still."
"Fair point."
He took a look at his spotless leather light armor and its sleek elegance. Hesitantly, he wiped his hands on the inner fabric of the armor, something which he had been taught not to do when he was younger. But back then, he wasn't usually in the position to get his clothes stained with blood…
Other than the occasional quarrel with rascal kids, which Quies had tried his best to avoid. Now, though, he was almost guaranteed to get his hands dirty. While he walked, he had thought of a dozen ways Valerie's plan could be compromised. Of course, he trusted Valerie had considered them, and had hopefully found a way to mitigate such failure points. This was her plan, after all, not his.
He wiped the skewer on the fabric of his armor and stored it in a conveniently placed pocket area near his waist. Though, he had to be careful not to poke himself with it while he moved.
'Blood, blood, blood. So much talk about blood.'
He finished storing his skewer horizontally, glanced at the bloodrend book, and then glanced at Valerie, who was deep in thought. The two were idly walking across the streets of Etris, and were passing through the interstice of the humble town. They passed under one of the arches, which was actually not that tall. Maybe one and a half Quieses tall, or one and three fifths Valeries tall.
'Alright, let's see what this book has.'
He carefully took the book that was tucked in his right hand, the title facing him. It wasn't that large, maybe around the surface area of 2 palms, or at least Quies' palms. He felt the soft leather cover of the book and cautiously opened it.
He was met with the pages he had read earlier; the table of contents stayed half written, some ink smeared on the empty page opposite of it.
He read the lines of the table of contents.
1. Obtainment
2. Mastery and Training
3. Mantras
4. Attunement [smear]
The last written line of the table of contents had one legible word, with the rest being unwritten or smeared. Quies guessed this was the unfinished page the book was left open in when he found it.
He caressed his fingers over the soft pages of the book. They felt slightly dry, but not so brittle to the point where it could easily tear. The edges of the paper were, for some reason, dull. It didn't feel like the kind of paper which could slice open one's skin.
Nonetheless, Quies slowly flipped the page over. He read the newly uncovered paper and skimmed across the words:
Obtainment
Bloodrend is a unique attunement, unlike the four base attunements of thundercall, frostdraw, galebreath, and flamecharm. It is unique in the sense that it does not rely on the conjuring of its own element. For example, in order to manipulate a flame, a flamecharmer usually has to conjure a source of flame with the use of the song. This means flamecharm, and other base attunement mantras require a two-step process, sometimes a three-step process with the combination of wisps, to incant. On the other hand, bloodrenders are able to manipulate their own source element and other source elements present nearby, though the effectiveness of blood manipulation may vary when using source elements external to the user. This may be due to the composition of the blood itself, such as the blood type and other variables in place.
In contrast, the acquisition of bloodrend is the opposite of the mantra incantation process. Unlike other attunements, it technically requires two steps. Currently, there are two known methods of bloodrend obtainment:
1. Obtainment through consumption
2. Inheritance and nascent mastery
Both of these methods of obtainment detail the first step of the two-step process, though the former fulfills the second requirement upon consumption. The first step requires the user to be exposed and have integrated the essence of bloodrend. This can be done through the consumption of a specially concocted potion, or through inheritance. So far, there have been no legitimate accounts of an individual having a nascent mastery of bloodrend without these two prerequisites.
Quies read the pages intently, analyzing the words written down.
The contents written down in the book made sense when he compared it to his personal experiences of bloodrend. For example, back when he had slain the imaginary megalodaunt, he was able to manipulate its blood to a certain degree, but not as well as he could with his own. As he tried to form it into different shapes, it felt unwilling.
However, what caught his attention weren't the first paragraphs of this section. Rather, it was a single phrase describing the second step of bloodrend. Since Quies awakened his attunement, he could not come up with a plausible reason as to why he received that mysterious dream when he almost lost his life. It had always lingered at the back of his mind.
But now, the answers were right in front of him.