Born in Blood

Liam's Chaos pearl left the protective shield of goblin flesh and slowly drifted towards the mass of plague-like substance.

There was one reason Liam was doing such a thing.

Chaos absorbed the infectious, almost ghostly material with no issues whatsoever. 

But instead of getting rid of the problem, it took it from one place to the other.

What Liam needed was for it to disappear entirely. But even Usan was not capable of doing so.

That's when Liam got the bright idea of using his Chaos Pearl as a device to store the 'degeneration'.

The degeneration only affected his nerves and muscles. The Chaos Pearl was neither of these things. 

It was a circular sphere made from a powerful brass metal that was nigh-unbreakable.

As soon as it flowed through the thick layer of goblin meat, it slowly flowed towards Liam's left hand, where all the 'degeneration' was.

Instantly, the entirety of the black mass left Liam's arm and swirled around the Chaos Pearl!

'They're naturally attracted?' Liam thought with furrowed brows. 'How?' 

Slowly, the infectious matter seeped into the pearl.

Groaning, Liam felt a needle was stabbing him through the heart.

"You okay?" Usan asked quickly as Liam fell to the ground.

"Fine," Liam wheezed. "Give me a minute."

Nevertheless, it took eight seconds for the Chaos Pearl to fully absorb the black mass and 'adjust' to it.

Inside that little needle tip-sized sphere, the two forces were clashing against each other.

Then, the pain disappeared, and a short silence ensued.

Usan remained quiet as Liam slowly rose to his feet, a slight frown on his skinny face.

'It's… combined,' Liam realized with wide eyes. 

Indeed, the volatile Chaos and the infectious degeneration had found a strange harmony within the Chaos Pearl.

'They're not merged… but they've found a way to co-exist inside the pearl,' Liam thought.

Well, not really.

Chaos tried to overwhelm the 'degeneration', but like the stubborn thing it was, the black mass didn't disappear.

A moment later, it rooted itself onto the surface of Liam's Chaos Pearl.

And that was that.

Now what?

'Please don't work against me like everything else.'

"Do you have something I can test this with?" Liam asked Usan. 

"The black stuff just got sucked into the pearl."

Usan raised his brows. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

Liam shook his head. "No. But it makes me feel like something's living inside my chest."

Usan hummed in response, but didn't ask any further. 

"Is a Rank 3 good enough?" he asked.

Liam nodded. 

From his Inner World, a Rank 3 Dark Wolf emerged. Alive, but domesticated.

Liam didn't ask why Usan kept something like that. 

Instead, Liam gathered some of the plague-ish substance on the tip of his index.

As it passed through, Liam didn't feel pain. It was like a pocket of air traveling through water.

Eventually, it arrived at Liam's finger, turning it black with barely visible tints of red.

It wasn't like darkness, which surged with flames.

Liam could mold, stretch and squeeze it, but it was still ethereal, similar to Chaos.

Instead of being volatile, though, it was a mix between liquidish and smoky. 

'Did it inherit the properties of the Chaos Pearl after it attuned to it? How does that work exactly?' 

Liam furrowed his brows.

Turns out, he didn't know everything about what the Chaos Pearl entailed. 

Nevertheless, Liam flicked his fingers forward as hard as he could.

But nothing happened.

It still clung stubbornly to Liam's finger.

'It seems I have to get physical for it to work.'

Liam walked up to the Dark Wolf.

It growled at him in a warm way, flipping around itself to expose its belly.

It was demanding a belly rub.

"Did you seriously choose a dog of all things for me to test this on?" Liam asked Usan with furrowed brows.

Usan scoffed derisively. "You care about humans more than a pet dog?" 

Liam remained silent.

Nevertheless, Usan recalled the Dark Wolf and replaced it with an untamed Mountain Bear.

'That's better,' Liam thought as the bear lunged at him with a roar.

Liam pivoted his foot and swerved to the side, jabbing a sharp, plague-covered finger at the beast's side.

Simply touching the bear did no damage!

'It has to tear into the body, then,' Liam thought.

Liam's finger easily stabbed into the beast's flesh, and the black substance left his hand.

The bear thumped limply on the ground, moaning with agony.

Crouching to the bear's side, Liam watched the process intently with Usan beside him.

The black mass spread across the bear's body like vines growing around a tree.

Everywhere it went, the bear's fur weightlessly fell off, revealing the wrinkled skin beneath.

The bear didn't have the energy to cry out anymore. It wheezed and convulsed uncontrollably.

The effect lasted for six long seconds, before the infectious matter eventually puffed out. 

Silence.

The unfortunate bear suffered a slow death afterwards. 

Liam pursed his lips pensively.

Unlike what Half-head did to Liam, the plague-ish substance did not linger indefinitely.

Usan blinked several times.

"So… you're telling me you've somehow absorbed this Half-head's… corruption power and made it your own?" 

Liam paused.

'Corruption. That's a good name,' Liam thought.

Then, he nodded.

"That's what my body's telling me," Liam responded.

"How much of it can you use?" Usan asked.

"It's halved my Chaos reserves," Liam said bitterly. "But the other half is filled with Corruption.

Before, Liam could conjure ten large spheres of Chaos to throw, shape or use as a spell.

But now, he could do just five. 

Five for Chaos.

Five for Corruption.

Though, it was important to note that Liam couldn't use Corruption from a distance.

Obviously, he'd test it out some more later on. 

Right now, he had more pressing matters.

'There's still the Kitsune's deal to worry about,' Liam thought, glancing at his abdomen.

The Kitsune Tattoo was brighter than ever.

It was telling Liam to hurry up.

Liam looked at Usan with a firm face.

"I'm done with rest. You can tell me what happened while I was gone."