[Bowlingballhead]

As a great blood magic enthusiast, let me point out that blood magic is the easiest magical skill to increase, both by the plentitude of magical items and the ease of gathering slaves for empowerment. And while blood and earth are not a very common combination (to my great displeasure) they are an extremely effective combo. Earth blood stones, demon knights, dwarven hammers and soul contracts, and when you finally get to cast Infernal Crusade (*swoon*) you get more knights the more powerful a mage you are. Obviously, you'd like to pump your mage up to a very high level.