Born in Blood



Liam brushed his hand over the furnishings.

They were solid, and had the exact same texture as wood.

However, they weren't.

If Liam wanted to make the actual paintings and wooden furniture, he'd have to throw wood inside the Inner World.

It was like his illusionistic abilities had found a way to manifest themselves into reality.

Once the tables were made, Liam could freely move and manipulate them to other things, without spending more 'Ora'.

A moment later, Liam gathered chaos in his hand, then hurled it towards the furthest invisible wall.

BOOM!

The fabric of the void was momentarily blasted apart.

Liam's mind and core were shaken too, but 'Ora' automatically left his abdomen to reform the space to its original state.

If this meant what he thought it meant…

Making weapons and spells had just become ridiculously easier.

Liam's materials for making weapons, spells and general inscriptions were rudimentarily basic.

For inscriptions, it was blood.

Just blood!

And Liam's Blood was practically endless, unless he severely exsanguinated himself.

The same thing went for Liam's forging. Spirit Beasts were so easy to kill, it was just an annoying chore at this point.

Liam exited his Inner World with a broad smile on his face. He was satisfied with the outcome…

But there was also something else.

"I also want to ask something else," Liam said as the meeting was nearing its end, leaving his Inner World.

Usan grumbled, his attention still fixed towards the Shadow Clone spell.

"It's nothing big," Liam reassured. "I just want your help on something."

Liam proceeded to tell Usan the details of his three way body-tempering method, which he proceeded to name the Triumvirate Body.

It was fitting, combining three different amazing powers into one single entity.

Along with that, Liam mentioned his desire to remake the Ravenous Leash Arts as well as merging his Blood and Shadow together, forming a Black Hole.

Obviously, Liam didn't outright say Black Hole. That wouldn't make sense.

"You're crazier than me," Usan said with a blank expression.

"...But you've prepared."

"As long as you do the handiwork and make the technique yourself, me and the others will help."

Liam hid a smile and thanked him.

That made the possibility of the method way easier.

"Adding a pulling force to the vortex is possible," Usan took out another scroll from his Shadow, which Liam now recognized as his Inner World.

"You can study this."

Liam raised a brow.

"Don't think I don't know about your little eye. I just don't care enough," Usan scoffed. "It's the Rank 4 version of the Dark Vortex."

Liam didn't say anything and quietly accepted the scroll.

From the shadowy writings on its metal surface, Liam could faintly make out some Meanings.

Usan must have made the technique when he was still a Rank 4 Magus, since it wasn't too advanced.

Before the two parted ways, Liam couldn't help but ask a question.

"What do you plan on doing next?"

Usan remained silent for a few seconds.

There was no need for him to answer to a mere Mortal ranked cultivator.

But he did anyway.

"I don't need to defeat the Seven Clans. I just need to bring a few to my side. Just focus on getting stronger, the bounty won't get anywhere. A year, maybe two, would do well for the Temple."

Liam nodded.

In that time period, he should be able to devour Wild Fang's body, too.

Maybe even advance his Blood to Rank 3.

With that, Liam was shooed away and searched for his new home.

He didn't have to go for long, since his new temple-shaped home was very near to the 'Ora' Well. 

And it was massive, too, enough to contain at least four Rank 4 beasts side-by-side. 

Compared to the other Shadows' quarters, his was embarrassingly eye-catchy.

The culprit, Jargon, was pretty adamant about directing the reconstruction of his liege's home.

Inside, the Shifter – Egg – was in the same inscribed cage Elder Jax had made for him.

Along with that, there was a large stash of Rank 4 corpses in preservation containers.

Some were alive, held together by the Ravenous Leash chains.

Another room contained elixirs and pills.

Liam ignored the Octopus' angry squeals, fed it, then entered the vast basement.

'The 'Ora' density here is really profound.'

'With Wild Fang's body, I should get a boost in everything, not just my Blood.'

A second later, Liam entered his Inner World.

Then, he took out Wild Fang and his Dusk Blade. Then—

SHIG!

Liam cut off another finger.

He supposed a single finger was still fine to consume. 

It was a fine line between exploding and progressing unnaturally fast.

After two hours, Liam finished digesting the finger.

His bodily temperature rose to an unnatural degree, and steam emanated from his body.

But his Blood purity had gone up roughly another 16%!

A moment later, Liam started the Parasite Worm project.

He had already found the perfect species to make it with, and the first stages of his forging had begun. 

Working inside the Inner World was just perfect.

Problems that arose when making items had just gotten so much easier.

There was no longer any need to make so many preparations.

All Liam had to do was throw the Burrow Worm – the Spirit Beast that he decided to work with – into the Inner World.

It simply consumed it, and Liam could manipulate its shape freely.

It was like a surgeon using specialized technology to dissect and perform surgery on a person.

Every little movement Liam made was just as precise.

Also, Blood was an acceptable resource to the Inner World, meaning that Liam's spellmaking had also become easier.

Like so, Liam spent the next few months in between several projects, but most of his focus was on making the Parasite Worm a reality.

Meanwhile, there were bits and pieces of information that came to him via the Temple's spies.

The treasure hunt for Liam Royce's head had finally come to an end.

There were just too many deadends, and Ilalians were pretty sure that the boy escaped Ilali long ago.

The Ravenous Leash Sect had also barred outsiders from entering, which was strange.

Like so, the months passed.