Vampires, as magical creatures, could not reproduce. In a sense, the First Embrace was their substitute for reproduction. The two were much alike: both involved injecting essence to trigger a transformation, though the First Embrace had a limit on how many times it could be performed.
The Skeleton King extracted Wood's lone tiny drop of First Embrace blood the way one would collect venom from a snake's fang, then held it aloft with Mage Hand to keep it from being contaminated.
"That little? You're bluffing. That's not even enough to give one person the First Embrace," Annan said from beside him.
"I-it's enough!" Wood said, though he sounded far from certain.
He was only a Blood Thrall who had been bitten by a vampire by accident. He had never learned much about the Vampire Clan, and he had no idea whether it was enough.
"It's enough. Source blood is a form of power. Inject all of it during the First Embrace, and the recipient gains all that power. Divide it among recipients, and they share the power equally."
Wood hurriedly shot the Skeleton King a grateful look.
Annan understood. The Skeleton King intended to do just that: divide the First Embrace blood into hundreds of portions.
But it would first use magic to identify the blood's properties, then dilute it with potions and spells without changing its nature. With its mastery of Potion Studies, Alchemy, and spells, it would pull off the feat of making a vaccine from scratch.
Annan could not help marveling. "Magic really is incredible..."
"I'm so c-c-cold..."
Without his source blood, Wood looked utterly spent. His face, already pale from being a vampire, was now as white as a corpse's.
"Will he be all right?" Annan asked the Skeleton King.
"To put it in terms you'll