Born in Blood



Liam quickly assessed each of them with a keen gaze. 

The square-faced young man was of the earth element, the red-eyed boy was of wind, the young girl of water, and the solemn-faced girl was of fire. 

Strangely, the latter didn't have any mental waves that emitted from her forehead.

Almost everyone Liam had come across emitted natural waves of energy from their heads besides her.

They were thoughts, Liam deduced, that flared depending on emotion.

It was too complicated and difficult to understand with his level of knowledge, but he promised himself to utilize it properly.

Unlike them, her mental waves were quiet and still, barely leaving her sea of consciousness. 

"I want to give you all my congratulations," Kalia said. 

"You've all done splendidly on your entrance exam. Be at ease, you don't have to pay respects every time you see me. Our family isn't as iron-handed as one might think."

Slowly, those present eased up, making her smile.

"We are on our way to the academy this very second," she explained, approaching the train window. 

"Our methods of transportation are quite remarkable, if you'd like to see."

Liam was the first to make his way to the window, peering through with awe in his eye.

They were in a train after all… a bullet train, passing through an endless tunnel which no light pierced through. 

Apparently, they were moving so fast, the underground looked like a streak of dark light.

The next instant, the train left the tunnel. The surroundings changed to a vast, uneven underground ocean floor.

Liam caught sight of enormous sharks, jellyfish, manta rays, and other marine life that looked like magical beasts swimming above the azure water.

Liam was beyond stupefied. 

The train itself had a protective encasing – a iridescent bubble of sorts – enveloping it as it sped underwater, its surroundings lit by small blue lights.

"This is what modern-day inscriptions and engineering could do – powered by large 'Ora' crystals, it can get you from one end of Echoria to the other in less than a week."

That feat was a lot more impressive when one knew just how vast Echoria really was. 

"We'll be there in roughly an hour or two. I'll leave you guys to converse with each other and whatnot. You may become classmates soon, after all. A servant will bring food and drink."

With that, Kalia disappeared, teleporting away.

Liam was the first to find a seat and settle in it comfortably, peering out the window with an absorbed gaze.

It was still daytime, thus, he couldn't really cultivate even if he wanted to. 

He was just fascinated by the beauty of the ocean, spotting giant sea creatures and various types of creatures.

The four others looked at him while he did so, before following suit.

The seats were facing each other, which gave way to some awkward silence.

The delinquent, blue haired girl, and square faced youth sat in front, while the solemn faced girl sat beside him. 

Although Liam wanted peace and privacy, there were simply no other seats.

Thus, Liam simply closed his eyes to avoid the awkward air and inquisitive gazes shot his way. 

"I'm Sveinn," the red-haired youth said, breaking the silence. "I reckon we should introduce ourselves to one another? I came third."

Hearing his words, the young girl nodded.

"I-I'm Nessa Ulrich. I like alchemy and… things," she trailed off with a blush, shifting uncomfortably with the attention on her. "...Fifth."

"Nord," the red-eyed boy introduced right after, his piercing eyes locked on Liam and the other girl's figure. "Fourth."

The three shifted their attention to Liam and the other girl, waiting for an introduction.

"Lawrence," Liam eventually said in a deadpan voice.

In all honesty, he was too exhausted to care about making friends. Not that he would care even if he wasn't.

Exchanging a curt nod, the three looked towards the remaining girl. 

She looked at them silently for a few seconds, before slowly pointing to her ear with a nonchalant expression.

"...What?" Sveinn raised his red, saber-like brows, the others looked taken aback as well. "What's that mean?" 

Nord looked confused and angry, but Nessa looked at her with pity in her eyes.

"She's deaf," Nessa revealed with a low voice. A moment later, she began gesturing enthusiastically – sign language, it looked like. 

"You came second… Rin, right? You can read my lips?"

The deaf girl looked surprised, before slowly gesturing back with a bit of newfound curiosity in her eyes. 

Nessa seemed much more courageous when talking with her, but Sveinn shifted his attention to Liam.

"Lawrence, you came first, right? Just how did you get so many damn gems?" he leaned in, Nord reluctantly mirrored his movement.

Rin and Nessa sneaked a glance at him too.

Liam paused, lingered for a moment, before shrugging:

"Luck."

Sveinn gave him an impatient gaze, before leaning back to his seat – he gave up any further probing.

Rin and Nessa lingered on his figure momentarily, before taking their gaze away.

Nord still had his eyes fixed on him, though.

"Well, I guess it's understandable you'd keep it a secret. I wouldn't tell anybody mine, either," Sveinn stated, peering out the window.

"If I wasn't an alchemist, I would've never passed," Nessa heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank god it wasn't a combat oriented test."

Nord scoffed at her words. 

"I wish it was."

Funny enough, Liam said the same thing in his head.

Before long, a well-dressed servant – donning a complete black suit and tie – teleported within their compartment carrying a tray full of delicacies.

He greeted them respectfully, before waving his hand. 

Liam watched as a table started to build itself bit by bit from between the seats. 

When it finished, the servant placed the food on the table teleporting once more.

Liam was amazed momentarily with the self-building table, before gulping down entire plates of meat, uncaring of any manners or etiquette.

Sveinn looked dumbfounded that such a person could get first place, but he couldn't deny that Liam looked unsettlingly threatening.

The five quickly ate their food in silence – except Nessa and Rin who gestured to each other now and again, while Nord's eyes were glued to Liam's figure.

It wasn't long before the academy grew visible in the distance.