The character draws forth the ebbing life force of a badly wounded creature and use it to fuel the character's own power. Upon casting this spell, the character touches a living creature with –1 hit points or lower. If the subject fails its saving throw, it dies, and the character gains 1d8 temporary hit points and +2 Strength. Additionally, the character's effective caster level goes up by +1, improving spell effects dependent on caster level. (This increase in effective caster level does not grant the character access to more spells.) These effects last for 10 minutes per HD of the target creature.