[ TT ] You are an apprentice mage whose ability has far surpassed that of your mentor - who happens to be the most powerful blood mage in the kingdom .

`` You're familiar with the principle of sacrifice?'' Master Kolan asked, watching the young girl work. 
 
 `` Yes, Master,'' Ellia replied shortly, shaping a tiny stone into a delicate spiral, her long-fingered hands making complex folding motions as she watched the floating rock. `` Sacrifice means drawing power from another source, instead of tapping your own will or the natural Arcanna. If you have another source to draw from, you can gain great power from it.'' 
 
 `` And the most efficient path to releasing that power?'' 
 
 `` Destruction of the sacrificed object or creature. The energy is largely emmited when something is destroyed, waiting to be scooped up by the waiting mage. Sacrifice is illegal, of course.'' Behind the girl's back, the master flexed scarred fingers. 
 
 `` Of course,'' he murmured, and flicked his hands outward. A binding circle flared around his student, the runes glowing a brilliant red. She let the rock fall immediately, springing up into a combat stance. Kolan simply drew a short knife, and swept the blade across his palm. Blood began to well and flow. As the bright red liquid seeped through Kolan's clenched fingers, the binding circle grew brighter and brighter, almost blinding. 
 
 Ellia cracked her knuckles. The sound pulled Kolan from deep concentration, and he opened his eyes to see the girl tracing a set of runes in the air between them. The old man allowed himself a smirk. Nothing could punch through a circle of this power, not even dragon's fire. 
 
 Ellia finished her spell by drawing a large circle in the air, then punching forward hard with her right hand. Blood ripped through her arm in a smooth line, blasting through the circle with a sizzling explosion. The animated blood punched through Kolan's chest, forming a hooked end across his back as Ellia dragged him to the ground. 
 
 `` Tell me, master,'' she whispered, tracing a few runes with her left hand, the right still controlling the blood digging through his flesh. `` Are you familiar with the principle of sacrifice?''
