Born in Blood



Devouring Wild Fang's body had gotten a lot easier once Liam advanced to the middle-tier of Rank 4.

Wild Fang's Rank 5 body was densely packed with pure flesh.

Each bite provided Liam with heaps of energy and nourishment. 

Liam couldn't do much with the man's core.

It was extremely valuable, but Liam couldn't eat it.

Who knew how much energy that thing had?

Explosive amounts, Liam imagined.

He decided to save it for some time in the future. Maybe by then, he could find a use for it.

There wasn't any fixed expiry date for it, but it would lose a bit of its potency as time passed.

Currently, Liam was in the basement of his quarters.

His eyes were closed in thought as he digested Wild Fang's flesh subconsciously. 

Then, Liam felt a change, his eyes opening with a slight alarm.

It felt like his Blood started to circulate… faster? 

In different ways, too.

It seemed to go front and back, expanding and contracting erratically at the same time.

Liam couldn't do anything except let the process run its course.

There wasn't anything alarming about the transformations taking place. 

In fact, most of it was nourishing, besides the fact that Liam's insides were boiling.

Liam's skin turned crimson red.

Then back to pale.

Then red again.

Like a chameleon, his complexion switched between bright red to bone white.

Liam could feel his blood seep into his bones, muscles and skin.

'What is happening?' 

Liam furrowed his brows.

Obviously, he knew his Blood was advancing to Rank 3.

But the process was still strange and foreign.

Over time, an invigorating feeling washed over Liam.

It felt like every single wound he'd accumulated in his dangerously-lived life was literally melting away.

Then, the process stabilized, and Liam's Blood was calm again.

Liam heaved a sigh.

He was so calm… and extremely powerful.

It felt like his entire body was riddled with knots, which were now untied.

'I shouldn't get used to this feeling.'

'It deludes me into a sense of serenity.'

Too much peace was also a bad thing, Liam realized.

After all, the noble Echorians were failures for this exact reason.

Peace had cost them their strength.

Victory had defeated them.

If they were forced to survive under grueling circumstances, then Echoria would absolutely triumph over all the other countries due to the numerical advantages.

Nevertheless, Liam inspected the changes in his blood.

First, he willed it out.

…However, something strange happened.

Instead of Liam's blood pouring out from his hand like normal, a precise vertical slit opened up on his palm.

Liam's eyes widened.

He could see all his hand veins, bones and muscles in full view. 

But there was no pain, and no blood leaked from the self-made wound.

A moment later, the slit closed.

Right after, the slit opened again.

Liam took a deep breath.

In that instant, the layers of skin and muscle covering Liam's palm slowly peeled away naturally, like a flesh banana.

Eventually, only his bare bones were visible!

Liam closed and opened his fist, which only consisted of black bones with a slight tinge of red.

His skin and muscle had been retracted to his wrist, making it look like a gross, ingrown tumor.

A second later, everything had slowly reversed back to normal.

Liam's palm was coated with layers of flesh and muscle like they weren't stripped off a second ago.

Of course, the one opening and closing these gruesome wounds was Liam himself.

'If I'm understanding this right…'

'I can now control my skin, muscles, and even my bones at a lesser capacity.'

Liam's Blood manipulation had extended towards his entire body!

Liam gulped.

'I have to check the limitations of it,' Liam thought with a focused face, taking off his wrappings.

'It could just amount to a simple parlor trick if all I could do is show my skeletal system.'

'Could I change the structure of my face or body?'

Somewhat excited, Liam tested the limitations of his Rank 3 Blood.

The results made Liam simultaneously happy and just a tiny bit disappointed.

For one, he couldn't change the anatomy of his body.

What did this mean?

For example, he couldn't sprout more than two hands at a time.

Nor could he grow eyes on the back of his head.

Basically, there was a limit to his organs, and he couldn't decrease or increase their number.

…If he had that ability, the Triumvirate Body would have been so much easier to make.

However…

Liam could transform his hand into a gnarly claw designed just to rip through flesh and cause grievous wounds.

At the same time, he could make instantaneous, but somewhat slight, changes to his bodily structures.

For example, if he were to run away from someone, he could turn the inside of his leg bones hollow to lighten himself, and pad his calves with muscle to increase his speed.

All things considered… this really was an amazing ability.

Also, Liam could change his facial features and even his stature without relying on the King Eye's illusions.

This wouldn't really deter those in the upper Ranks, but those below could no longer probe Liam's identity.

That was good on its own.

"Test, test… oh, wow," Liam raised his brows in surprise as he spoke to himself.

Liam could even change his voice!

Right now, he sounded like an old man who smoked 14 cigarettes every single day. 

The opposite was also true. 

Liam could make himself sound soothing and serene, like an acapella singer.

With all of this, the Triumvirate Body did get easier to make. 

It was basically a very advanced, glorified form of plastic surgery.

Liam named this ability 'Transfiguration'.

Smiling, Liam suddenly realized that he didn't even test out his Blood's strength and his regeneration abilities.

Coagulations of blood formed around his arm to form a beautiful, sleek, lethal katana that crystalized in an instant.

It didn't have the same complexity and usage as a Rank 3 item, but its sharpness, durability and other qualities were roughly on the same level.

Using its pure edge, Liam swiped as hard and long as he could at his shoulder.

SHING!

It sliced through 4 inches of Liam's hardened skin, and the wound was roughly 13 inches in length. Blood poured down his body, but it wasn't an unreal amount.

Four seconds passed.

...And the wound healed.