Born in Blood



Liam inspected the Warrior's corpse with astute eyes.

He was lying limp on the ground, his right temple caved in, his body twitching now and again.

Brain juice mixed with blood leaked from the grievous wound, and the man's dark eyes were devoid of life.

In the end, Liam didn't need to use his forged item to kill the Warrior.

In the first place, his opponent's right cheekbone was partly broken and weakened. 

All it took was a powerful strike to shatter it completely.

Despite his victory, Liam's complexion paled significantly, his body covered with shades of purple and green bruises.

But his worst wound stemmed from his right hand fingers. 

They were utterly flaccid and limp, broken from the base. Even his knuckles were cracked, and half of his hand wasn't movable.

'I'll have to get that fixed,' Liam thought with a slight scowl. 

It definitely was healable, but Liam wouldn't be able to wield his katana for some time.

A partial transformation to his Ashura form didn't fix it either, since the damage was already on his body.

Liam quickly stored the man's body after taking his space ring, then left and climbed the building's roof.

Thanks to the protective inscriptions, the accumulated damage that happened underground didn't bleed into the surrounding structures.

Although the basement looked utterly ravaged, when Liam left, it was like nothing happened at all.

Instantly, Liam used his Shadow Sense again.

The Shadow Strengthening elixir's effects were slowly running out, but it still gave him heightened perception.

The Sea of Darkness was rippling with violent waves coming from all sides. 

To the largest building closest to him, Liam sensed a group of Disciples fighting against a Warrior.

From what Liam deduced, they were having difficulty dealing with him.

'Should be a good place to test it out.'

Liam arrived at the larger accommodation and made his way into the basement. 

As soon as he entered, guttural laughter accompanied by loud booms and shockwaves entered Liam's ears.

The vast, dimly lit basement was jutting with sharp pieces of charred rock, along with puddles of water here and there.

A Warrior – with fully metallic limbs and a Rank 3 sea of consciousness – was battling six Temple Disciples at the same time. 

…And judging by their wounded bodies and cracked limbs, he was winning. Still, the Warrior wasn't looking too good either. 

Parts of his iron skin were cracked and lacking sheen. His lower robes had been shredded, and only a charred piece of cloth covered his groin.

As Liam entered, everyone's attention converged on him, and the battle suffered an abrupt stop.

"Another rat enters the wolf's den?" said the Warrior. His eyes were piercingly cerulean, and a vicious smile was on his blood-covered lips.

"You a cripple or something?" he added with a loud laugh, pointing at Liam's flaccid hand. "You're brave, I'll give you that."

Liam pursed his lips on thought, which then curved to a mocking smile. 

"You should see your fellow Disciple. The right side of his skull doesn't exist anymore. I'd call him a cripple, but the correct term is 'corpse'."

Instantly, the blue-eyed Warrior's face twisted in anger.

Even Liam's fellow Disciples shot him a knowing frown as they rushed to his side.

A light silence ensued, with both sides slowly regaining their strength.

[Why are you pissing him off?] the same senior Disciple from before asked Liam. 

They were obviously in a losing situation, and their opponent was a Rank 3 Magus. 

The only reason they hadn't been killed yet was due to their numbers, and the fact that they were all Rank 2 Magi.

But that only allowed them to fight in a somewhat even playing field.

Even with Liam's presence, he couldn't add much… but he had no need to.

[Does he have a Rank 4 body?] Liam ignored the woman's question and fixed his cold gaze with the Warriors.

[...Yes,] the woman responded with a dark grimace. [We need someone to bring back Krel. You can't do anything with that hand.]

Liam gave her a disapproving side glance.

Their situation was understandable… but they were underestimating themselves. How could they improve without a challenge? 

Even with a broken right hand and dwindling mental energy, Liam was resolved to kill a Rank 3 cultivator.

A weakened and tired cultivator, sure, but Rank 3 nonetheless.

…And, well, he could always just transform into a six-armed demon and rip the man apart if they were gonna lose.

[I'll need your help pressuring him. Just help me create an opening near his chest area, and I'll do the rest.]

Liam's mental message reached all six Disciples, who reluctantly nodded after a short pause.

Liam formed two Umbral Needles and shot it towards the Warrior, interrupting his healing session.

The man attempted to smack it away at first, but realized what element it was, ducking his head instead.

"Darkness?" 

Instead of an answer, what he got was seven Rank 2 cultivators rushing him from different sides, each casting a spell of their own.

A Rank 3 Magus had exceptional reflexes and instincts. 

Their abilities to manipulate and ration their mental energies, senses and perception of time was a huge cut above the rest. 

Thus, the Warrior's mind raced, and he dodged seven different spells in the short span of ten seconds.

Even something as small as a water bullet and thin as Liam's needles, simply whiffed by his body by just a precise number of inches.

As soon as he dodged, the Warrior's iron grip clamped down on two different Disciples' arms. 

With a wicked grin, he clenched and yanked.

CRKH!

Two different screams rang out from within the basement.

Just then, Liam used Vanishing Steps and reappeared in front of the Rank 3 Magus.

In his hand, was a blunt, cylinder, baseball bat-shaped object, except the tip was sharper than normal. 

It was longer than Liam's katana, and had blood-red writings riddling its surface. 

The Warrior's blue eyes flickered with surprise at Liam's arrival, but his chest was exposed, and his arms occupied.

Liam lined the sharp tip of the weapon into a crack on the man's platinum chest, then imbued it with a massive amount of 'Ora'.

The tip of the bat-shaped weapon hissed, popped, then imploded.

A jumbo-sized needle shot through the tip and entered a few inches into the man's chest…

Before violently exploding into a large mass of dark flames!