Born in Blood



The drop of refined blood stuck to Liam's right index, glowing a fervent scarlet, Liam heaved a sigh and focused. 

Blood Weaving made Links using the vampiric language. 

Richard mentioned how that allowed for more flexibility and freedom with the circuits being performed – since you could simply write in language whatever you wanted to inscribe.

For example, Liam simply had to write what color he wanted, how intense it was to be, and so on, right on the blade or parchment itself. 

There wasn't the complicity of inscription lines, runes and diagrams, but simple language and writing. 

Still, that meant it didn't come with the precision that those other methods did. 

Liam would have to compensate for it by writing, and generally inscribing more.

Without delay, Liam began to run his finger through the small dagger, writing the vampiric characters for his desired effect.

It took him half an hour, but eventually, the entire blade was covered with writings, and the refined ink had been depleted.

Liam heaved a short sigh before moving to inspect the dagger.

All the characters were connected to each other, as they should have been, and Liam could see that it could absorb mental energy like he intended. 

With a smile, he imbued it with his mental waves. 

The inscriptions flickered on!

…Before flickering off just as fast, crushing Liam's smile before it could fully grow. 

It was to be expected, especially since it was his very first time even writing with the vampiric language.

'Well, I'm not talented enough to make this thing work on the first try anyway.'

Liam inspected his ring. There were thirty small silver daggers stored nearly inside. 

Thirty more tries.

Once again, he entered his sea of consciousness and separated blobs of his mental energy, renewing the same meanings until he refined them.

Each inscription hurt horribly, and his eye grew more and more murky with blood. 

Still, Liam pushed through, repeating the process. 

He was on his eighth dagger, when the inscriptions on the surface of the blades started to flicker weakly. 

Liam dejectedly thought he had failed once again – ready to toss away the blades to the large pile on his left – but then realized the flickering didn't stop. 

It was unstable and volatile… but it was a success!

…Somewhat.

The writings on the blade were only blood-red in color, and the weak light it exuded was not constant. Both needed rectifying, among other things.

'I'll have to adjust the colors to be the two nearest to red… so orange and yellow.'

'Pushing myself past this point isn't safe anymore. This is a good stopping point anyway.'

Liam stored the blade into his ring, before taking out a Rank 2 magical beast.

It was a Twilight Owl, sharp jet-black feathers that spanned twice the length of Liam's arms, the beak of which was curved and razor-sharp. 

Liam wasn't crazy enough to store a Rank 3 beast will into his mental sphere right away.

He wanted to test the waters first and see how difficult it was before proceeding to the higher ranks. 

He began skinning the owl with quick and precise movements, separating all the required parts and organizing them.

Unlike traditional forging that required a set anvil, blazing heat and iron tools, magical beast forgemastery could be done differently.

Of course, Rogan himself used those tools, but they weren't a necessity. 

When excessive amounts of 'Ora' is applied to a magical beast part, it softens enough for the forger to shape and manipulate however they pleased. 

At the same time, it's used to purify the material and strengthen it.

Liam bunched up the Owl's black bones and began to envelop them in his 'Ora'. 

Slowly, the bones started to change state, turning mushy and soft.

Seeing that, Liam slowly began shaping the bones to a dagger's form with his hands, only using 'Ora' in short intervals when the bones were about to harden.

A focused pressure spread throughout his surroundings, while his eye was completely locked in.

He had to be careful not to underuse, or overuse 'Ora' during the beginning stages of forging, since it had the opposite effect and could considerably lessen the strength, endurance and overall capabilities of the materials.

It took him two hours to finish with the shape. Amazingly, the bones looked… decent! 

The edge was slightly bent, similar to Liam's wakizashi, but not nearly as long. It was the same sharpness as a kitchen knife, but that was Liam's first try at shaping something successfully. 

He took the blade and slashed at his arm. A cut formed that dripped a little blood, but not enough to pierce through the muscle, and it healed a moment after.

'Forging methods are basically the same as inscription methods. Both require experience and constant adjustment,' Liam thought pensively, oblivious of his self-harming attitude. 

He did a few more finishing touches on the blade – sharpening the tip, flattening the sides, and adding teeth to the edges – before fixing a small hilt made from Owl hide on its bottom.

'Now, the hard part,' Liam thought, taking out the Owl black colored core and heaving a slight breath. 

Clenching his fist, he crushed the core and absorbed the essences into his mental sphere.

Liam instantly entered his sea of consciousness, pressure assaulting his mind as the core contents entered his mind.

Large blobs of mental energy raised, swirled, gained color and took the form of a giant Twilight Owl. With it, came a pressure matching Liam's blood inscriptions.

A low-pitched shriek tore through the spiritual space as the Owl developed, forcing a wince on Liam's face. 

The Owl looked enraged, its giant wings unfurling as it shot at Liam himself.

Liam had come prepared.

Jordan had taught him how to use mental energy as an actual weapon within his mind. 

Although doing that outside his sea of consciousness was quite frankly impossible, Liam's mind was his domain.

Energy swirled around his hands to form two ethereal blades, which cut through the Owl as it charged.