"Good boy."

I'm glad that Arteria is finally recognising my qualities, but I'm also saddened that she's doing it for the wrong reasons.

​​

It's like saying someone is a good gymnast because they did 7 backflips while jumping for their death.

Which, in my opinion, is a yikes.

"Well, why don't you have a seat?"

Anyway, since I'm left with no choice but to finish my task before going to sleep, I might as well be fast as fuck about it.

"Sure," Arteria complied and sat on the chair beside my table.

I inserted the needle and just like before, I extracted a bottle's worth of blood from her.

This much should be enough for a batch of Elixirs.

I took out the needle and pressed a blob of cotton on the puncture wound, "Don't forget to rest and eat iron rich foods."

"Sure," she replied as she took the blob and threw it in the bin.

As expected of her phenomenal healing capabilities, the place where I had inserted the needle was already as good as new.

"Please take a seat," I said to Neia.

"Okay," she also complied and we repeated the same process as before.

And as with Arteria, her wound healed instantly.

I took a piece of paper, wrote 'Neia' on it and stuck it on the bottle with her blood. I did the same for Arteria's blood.

Needless to say, I stored those bottles in my drawer which had a cooling magical formation engraved in it.

Can't let the blood spoil now, can I?

"It's your turn, Clementine."

"You want my blood as well?"

"No, I want your heart."

"What?" She flinched.

"Just kidding, I'll make that myself."

"What?"

"Just sit on the chair and let me extract your blood. Unless, of course, you are afraid of needles."

"Ha!" She scoffed. "You think I'm afraid of something like needles?"

"Who knows. You might be."

I'm a Shadow expert. I may know a lot about the beings called Shadowlord, but I have no information on the individual named Clementine.

Well, I do know that she's a bit mentally unstable.

I mean, who the fuck asks the guy who killed your family to act as your new family?

What she needs is a psychologist who'll guide her through the trauma of losing a family member, not a new brother who also happened to be the killer of her family.

"…" she averted her gaze.

"So?"

Don't tell me she's really afraid of needles.

Bruh.

"I-I'll do it," she covertly pumped her fists (not covertly enough, however, because I saw her doing it) and took a seat at the chair.

"You can close your eyes if you like."

"I'll be fine," she replied with a pout.

I guess she IS a bit childish in some aspects.

But then again, she was only half conscious in that crystal.

"Alright then."

If she says she'll be fine, who am I to think otherwise?

I mean, I could warn her or some shit, but we don't have the time to do that. I have a bed to keep company tonight.

"Brace yourself," I said as I inserted the small needle into her flesh.

By the way, Clementine was currently in her human form which she had attained through magic.

I guess she felt the need to do that because she felt uncomfortable being different from others.

Which is all well and good, but in my opinion, it's also a shame.

I like the Shadowlord form more.

"…" Clementine quietly winced at the prickling pain.

Blood started to flow out from her arm and into the bottle placed on the table.

After I collected the amount of blood required, I took out the needle. As with the others, her puncture wound healed the moment I took it out.

"Well, that wasn't so scary, was it?"

That's what I'd like to assume, at least. She didn't seem too afraid of the entire process.

"No… no, it wasn't," a small smile blossomed on her face. "Thank you."

"No worries."

"What do you plan to do with the blood of all three of us?" Arteria asked with a scowl.

"They are secret ingredients which will help me later," I smiled.

"Hmm," her scowl sharpened.

"Also, I'll be relying on you again."

"Oh, hell fucking no!" Arteria exclaimed.

"Aww, why not? Didn't you enjoy our time before?"

I mean, she was the one who wanted to do something interesting.

"Well, that enjoyment was a bit too much for me. I do not want it again."

"But what if we reversed our roles?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I'm sure you know what I mean by reversing our 'roles'. What do you say?"

"Ahh…" her eyes widened. "You don't mean…"

"Yup, I mean exactly that."

Well, I hope we're thinking about the same thing.

We should, technically speaking. After all, my words and actions should have suggested that I was talking about the time she helped me transplant that heart.

"What are you guys talking about?" Neia interjected.

Umm, excuse me, can't you see we're having a discussion? How rude.

"Well, that's a secret."

"Oh come on, tell us," Clementine whined.

"Well, it's something related to you guys' blood."

"Huh?" The Shadowlord tilted her head.

"Wait, you don't mean…'' It was Neia's turn to widen her eyes.

That's a lot of widened eyes. What is this, an eye widening competition?

"No. We're talking about a different matter."

Like I said, Azell and Neia are the only ones who know about the Elixir.

"Ah, okay."

"And what are YOU guys talking about?" Arteria interjected.

"Well, that is also a secret between us," I shrugged.

"Don't you have a lot of secrets?" The vampire frowned.

"As they say, secrets make a man, man."

"It's 'secrets make a woman attractive'. Also, you're a boy."

"I wasn't aware that you were a sexist."

To think that my own comrade would discriminate between genders.

Looks like I need to unfriend her.

"Oh God, it's useless arguing with you!"

"I also want a secret…" Clementine mumbled.

"Oh, you do?"

"Huh? Ah, well, er," she sputtered.

"Don't worry, I'll give you one as well."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"You are unbelievable," Arteria sighed.