Born in Blood

The tour and Liam's integration to the guild had concluded.

David had a wide smile on his face. Before he parted ways, he handed Liam a black metal token with the number '0' on it.

"That will store your merits. Be sure not to lose it. Your assassination mentor will be coming back soon, be sure to introduce yourself when you see her."

In addition to that, he handed Liam a map, and a small box container the size of fist.

"On that map, you'll learn the layouts and surroundings of Ucladd. Specifically, the wealthy side." After explaining a few more things, David parted ways.

Liam instantly opened the container, finding a small black ring resting atop a small red pillow.

"A space ring?" Liam's eyes lit up. He eagerly looked towards Lloyd. "How do I make it work?"

Space rings were very expensive inscribed items. Liam had only seen it on the fingers of richer cultivators. In the first place, they weren't commonly found.

Lloyd leaned in and chuckled.

"Pour some 'Ora' into it. It'll contain your imprint and only you can use it, unless the imprint is wiped out with strong mental energy."

Liam did exactly that. The ring glowed with a golden-yellow color, before settling into a dull black.

Liam inspected the ring using his sea of consciousness, feeling a faint connection to the item.

Inside, there was roughly 10 square meters of space.

He took out the Psionic Rune from his clothing's pocket, and as he willed it, the Rune was sucked into the ring.

A wide grin formed on his face.

"Now, I'm sure you're itching to cultivate." Lloyd slapped his student's back with a laugh. "Good luck, kid."

Liam scratched the side of his head, before heading straight towards the 'Ora' cave. Lloyd had departed himself, too.

However, right as Liam made his way there, he felt a cold and sharp sensation on his neck, as though the tip of a needle had kissed his skin.

"Don't move." A woman's voice demanded behind him, her tone filled with bloodlust and chilling coldness. "Who are you?"

Liam scowled, staring at the glinting needle from the corner of his eye.

'Damn it! I didn't hear or sense a single thing from this woman. Wait, could she be the guild mentor?'

"Relax, dumbass! I'm a new member!"

The needle pressing against his neck slightly softened at those words, before detaching from it entirely.

Liam jolted around and created distance, assessing his assailant, his grip on the hilt of his Night Blades.

The lady had short blonde hair tied to a ponytail. Her pale complexion contrasted with her cold brown eyes, which exuded strength. Currently, a dumbfounded expression sat on her face.

She wore a fancier version of the assassin's attire found at the guild, made out of a gleaming black leather. Her sleeves covered her shoulders, while her arms were covered with a see-through black mesh.

Her slender fingers still held the bloodstained needle.

"You? But you're just a child? David didn't tell me anything about a new member."

Liam grimaced, his grip still on his blade hilts. "The child you just tried to kill."

The lady scoffed, her eyes scanning Liam's figure from head to toe.

"Well, you don't talk your age. Your name?"

Liam eventually sighed.

"Liam."

The lady let out a sinister grin.

"I'm Ophis. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

.

.

.

The sky was overcast and snow began to fall over Ucladd.

It began with just a few snowflakes, but soon developed into a chilling blizzard. After a week of snowfall, everything had turned white and the accompanying cold froze the entire region.

Winter had bore its icy fangs.

Many poor peasants would often perish during this time. Their threadbare rags simply didn't hold back the deadly frost.

In the coming weeks, many events took place.

Liam had completed two tempering cycles, advancing his body towards the beginnings of the upper-stage of Rank-1. His physical strength increased significantly, but there was still a long road to the next rank.

At that point, his body had gotten used to the excruciating pain and heat. Completing the future cycles didn't seem difficult anymore.

Liam divided his schedule between cultivating his body and expanding his mental sphere. Nearly all his time had been spent inside the dense 'Ora' cave.

At some point, Liam had gained the ability to spread his senses. It was completely subconscious, like stretching a muscle. Doing so, he could vaguely discern his surroundings without his ears or eyes.

During one of his tempering cycles, he asked Lloyd for guidance.

His mentor had a shocked look on his face.

"Can you seriously do that?"

Liam nodded, prompting an incredulous but proud smile from Lloyd.

"What you're doing is spreading your mental waves throughout your surroundings. Usually, one should reach this level in five to six months from training with the Rune."

Liam only had two complete months with the Psionic Rune. However, he hadn't taken a day off in that period.

'Wait… doesn't that mean if I continue doing this, I'll become a Rank-1 Magus in less than a year?'

Cultivators with a Rank-1 sea of consciousness were called Magi, since they had the ability to use spells.

A dangerous glint appeared in Liam's eyes.

…

Over time, Liam learned more about how the guild system worked.

Missions were divided between 'main' and 'secondary'. Main missions consisted of proper assassinations. They held the most reward, but just as much difficulty.

Small noble houses were oftentimes the victim, but not limited to it. Of course, these noble families had different levels of strength, beginning with small-size, and ending with large-size families.

Even underground businessmen and merchants had a price on their heads.

The higher ranked the assassin was, the more difficult missions they had access to. The riskier targets they could assassinate.

Secondary missions were diverse. Liam could freely hunt, search for special materials and herbs, and defend villages from bandits and magical beasts, etcetera.

Basically, Liam had become an assassin, but had access to all other branches of the guild.

Besides that, there were mandatory training sessions that Liam had to complete before taking his first main mission.

To his surprise, it was much more tortuous than he imagined, consisting of poison training, seclusion in complete darkness, infiltration, starvation, and more.

For the former, the poison would strengthen his body's immunity, dulling and cleansing the toxin's effectiveness.

The seclusion in darkness would allow his eyes to adjust to the shadows. Although expanding his mental sphere gave him similar capabilities, this type of training bolstered its speed.

Starvation would hone his focus, since cognitive function, learning, memory, and awareness were all bolstered by fasting.

Not only that, but Ophis was similar to Lloyd in how they both were unrelenting in training.

Soon… it was time for Liam's first assassination mission.