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As soon as the razor sharp fangs pierced through his skin like paper, Mars felt an explosion of pleasure throughout his body. 

His eyes rolled in the back of his head as he fought back the moans at the back of his throat. 

He had never felt something quite like this. The pricks that Lucy gave him at the bar were mind-blowing but didn’t even come close. 

At this moment Mars felt like he’d reached nirvana.

As Lucy sucked gulp after gulp of his invigorating blood she felt a stream of power flow into her body that almost knocked her over. 

Mars’s blood was like electricity as it danced over Lucy’s tastebuds, leaving what felt like sparks all throughout her body.

 His blood had a unique taste to Lucy, it was spicy and left a warm feling in her mouth, like cinnamon.

‘More! I must have more!’ thought Lucy as she gripped Mars tighter in her grasp

The moon light shined down on the scene of Lucy drinking her fill from her new Blood Slave as a heavy scent of blood began to permeate the air. 

Along with the strong smell of blood in the air a dark and mysterious pressure also began to press down on the moonlit meadow.

Suddenly Lucy detached her fangs from the now pale mage at the same time a crimson light began to shine from Mars’s hand and punctured neck.

 The crimson light was astonishingly bright yet didn’t extend out into the night, it was as if it was only meant for Lucy’s eyes. Amazingly the small puncture wounds seemed to be undergoing some change but the bright crimson light obscured what was happening.

After several moments the crimson light eventually died down. But in its place on Mars’s neck and finger was an inconspicuous red dot.

 In appearance it looked almost like a flat mole. Lucy’s eyes gazed at the red mole in satisfaction as she held up the limp and comatose mage with one hand.

‘Yes! He bears the Blood Slave’s marks now!’ thought Lucy in triumph

“But good thing I stopped when I did” said Lucy to no one in particular, “his heartbeat is still strong…however, he’s looking a bit pale. I better finish up here.”

“Is the deal done master?” asked Sera as she flew from the dark woods in her bat form and shifted to human, “ it was hard to stay hidden once I smelled his blood, do you think I could get-”

“The deal is done” interrupted Lucy as she scooped the now comatose Mars into her arms bridal style, “but I must now fulfill my promise to my blood slave. Come! Let’s move quickly, we do not have long before sunrise”

“Wait promise?” asked Sera as she followed Lucy to the menacing cave, “You mean you were serious master? You’re actually going to give this mage power and glory?”

Lucy walked with quick and quiet steps as she expertly maneuvered around the stalactites upon entering the pitch-black cave.

 It appeared much bigger than Mars had previously described but did seem to go on for miles as he mentioned.

Without looking back, she answered in a whisper,

“Yes, I was very serious. And as far as I’m concerned, I’m just giving him a chance to prove himself as my Blood Slave. Power? He must become powerful, otherwise he is of no use to me. Glory? His glory is my glory. If he meets my expectations and becomes strong enough then glory shall naturally follow. I will only lead him to the well, it’s up to him to drink without drowning”

“Ah, I see. Very prudent of you master, I still have much to learn…”

“Yes, yes now quiet down we’re pissing off the bats” said Lucy as she and Sera glanced up at the writhing sea of bat bodies that covered the ceiling.

 

Mars awoke to the heavy metallic scent of blood and  seemingly endless darkness all around him.

He had no idea how long he’d been knocked out nor where he was. The last thing he remembered was being in the woods with Lucy, looking at the cave, and of course finalizing the deal.

“H-Hello” his voice echoed in the dark, “Master Lucy?”

As bits and pieces of his memory returned Mars rapidly moved to touch his neck only to find his hands and arms flowing through some type of mire. Mars also realized he was completely naked and was now beginning to panic

“W-What is this? Where am I?!” his cries echoed again in the dark.

His entire body felt heavy as lead and he struggled to keep his eyes open. Right now he had no idea what was going on, all he could surmise was that he was in a large space and in some type of viscous liquid. 

The liquid was thick and cool but just as Mars wondered what it was he finally heard a reply,

“Keep it down will you? You’re upsetting the bats” chirped Lucy’s voice in the dark

“Master Lucy! Where are you? W-What’s going on?” his voice questioned desperately, “Why’d you bite- no you drank my blood!”

Being without his sight and in this unknown space worried Mars more than he’d ever admit, but Lucy took a dark enjoyment in seeing her Blood Slave squirm.

“Haha you’re my Blood Slave now remember? You’re blood exists to give me nourishment love. And don’t worry you’re exactly where you need to be. We shall begin soon”

Mars eyes opened wide as saucers at Lucy’s reply.

She had explained to him before that as her Blood Slave she’d require donations of blood from time to time. But Mars had just figured that it was for some magical research into fire mages, not for her meals.

He could only lament the fact that he hadn’t asked more questions, but he didn’t feel particularly worried despite now becoming a sort of food source.

 He’d seen slaves treated far worse as soon as they were purchased and they usually had short lives. The fact that Lucy went through so much trouble convincing him to make a deal he hoped meant she needed him more than just a food source. 

He didn’t know why but he felt this strange urge to be of use to her.

After thinking over these things his mind jumped to it’s next foremost concerns. Where was he, and what was going on?

Just as he opened his mouth to voice these questions again Lucy beat him to it

“Just as promised I will allow you the chance to seize the power you crave, but you must do this next part yourself. I won’t lie to you the pain will be immense and your risk of death is quite high but conversely if you succeed there’s no doubt you would become a force to be reckoned with. Tell me do you still wish to continue?”

Upon hearing Lucy’s explanation Mars somewhat understood this was all to make him stronger some how but he still had much to contemplate. 

According to Lucy he had a high risk of dying in this process. Mars wanted to live but he couldn’t imagine a life as a weakling.

He dreamt of becoming a mage of might and notoriety. It had always been his dream of surpassing the Great Mage rank and becoming the invincible captain of the Blackthorn Mercenary Company. 

But Mars knew fulfilling these dreams required him to not only be alive, but to also be powerful.

As he stared out into the darkness a heavy silence stretched on while Lucy patiently awaited his answer.

 Mars knew that this may be his only ticket to power and while it may be dangerous, danger was also an occupational hazard as a mercenary.

Bearing, that truth in mind Mars took a deep breath before giving his answer,

“I’ll do it.” He said determinedly, “If this will give me the power I need to advance in my cultivation then I am ready and willing”

This was a difficult decision for Mars to make. 

He had no idea what this ‘process’ entailed nor if he would even survive it. But he thought about the fact that without this chance of a breakthrough, he stood no chance against Ambrose or Nour.

With that motivation in mind Mars resolutely stuck by his decision.

‘That’s the spirit, I wouldn’t have It any other way’ Lucy thought satisfiedly

“Excellent choice. Let’s begin” her voice replied in the dark

“In the next few moments you will experience pain like never before. There will be moments where you want to quit and turn back but you must persevere. If you make it out the other side I promise you the fruits of your ordeal will have been worth it. Now, no matter what happens resist. If you have a defensive spell in mind use it for as long as you can” Lucy explained coldly

‘Defensive spell…’ wondered Mars, ‘Ah ha well I do have the Blazing Sphere defense spell. It’s only a rank II defense spell but it will have to do’

Lucy stared at Mars from where she and Sera stood on a huge stalactite. 

She had a determined look on her face as she raised a perfectly manicured hand towards the rugged blood filled stone basin Mars was currently in. 

Her golden eyes brightened considerably as she focused and called upon the power of her Blood Domain.

Mars still could see nothing from where he stood in the mire like pool in the dark cave. 

The strange goo reached up to his waist and was beginning to further unnerve him when he suddenly saw a pair of gold orbs shining in the dark.

“There you a-“ before Mars could even finish his statement suddenly the pool around him jumped to life.

Long whip like blood tendrils clasped around Mars torso in the dark as they pulled him down into a seated position in the murky mire. 

Mars was taken completely by surprise at the sudden change of events and could only barely  crisscross his legs  in time.

‘I guess it’s time to cast that spell’ thought Mars as he recalled and enacted the spell model stored in his memory.

With the spell model he’d practiced dozens of time at the forefront of his memory, Mars circulated his mana through his mana pathways as displayed in the model. 

At the same time he began to chant in a very low timbre long strings of foreign sounding words. Over and over Mars repeated the unknown phrase like a mantra while circulating his mana faster and faster.

‘Hm chanting? I wonder what he’s doing…’ Lucy questioned

She watched with inquisitive eyes as Mars’s increasingly faster chanting seemingly resulted in wisps of solid flames materializing around him. After several more moments she couldn’t even see him.

As Sera watched from the sidelines, her eyes became wide as saucers and she gasped in amazement as a fiery orange sphere made of flames began to appear around Mars.

“He’s cast his defensive spell master!”

The Blazing Sphere that protected and appeared around Mars sizzled and fought against the thick blood pond where he sat. 

It was a Rank II spell so Mars ordinarily didn’t have to worry about it’s moderate mana consumption. But right now he was still weak from Lucy feeding on him and couldn’t support the spell like he normally would.

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