Born in Blood

Walking over to the window side of the cafeteria, Liam watched as a sea creature the length of two buildings arrived at the island.

It was an octopus.

Except, at that monstrous size, width and length, it couldn't be called an octopus anymore.

It was definitely a kraken.

But it was still a peak Rank 5 magical beast.

Atop the kraken was a middle-aged man with short aqualine hair and hard, ocean-blue eyes. 

All signs pointed to the man being an Oceanor.

A few folks in the cafe seemed to recognize the man.

Another celebrity?

…Disgusting.

"It's Bill!" a woman said. An inscription master by the looks of it. "Bill McGill!"

Liam creased his brows in confusion.

He had never heard a name so stupid in his entire life.

Nevertheless, he didn't care about some small-time celebrity.

Liam began treading his way through a tunnel. 

A few people recognized him, vaguely whispering behind his back.

And yet, the strange pair of eyes burned a hole in his back.

Liam turned around.

Silence and a few faces met his gaze.

But the strange feeling was gone.

'Am I… being stalked?' Liam thought with confusion. 'Who?'

Liam turned around and continued on his path like normal.

Was he being paranoid?

No.

He was definitely being followed.

But there were so many ways to root out a stalker. 

Why rush? 

'Maybe they'll stop being shy and show themselves by then.' 

Until then, Liam wanted to find someone actually useful to talk to. 

Like a Forgemaster, Inscriptionmaster, a Formationer or otherwise.

If they shared the same methods of inscribing as him, such as using blood as a medium, perhaps Liam could exchange a few pointers with them.

Heck, maybe Liam could recruit such a person to join the Temple? Only if they weren't a celebrity. Or annoying. 

If.

Slowly, Liam was rising through the floors. Eventually, he'd arrive at the peak, but not before he browsed through a few things that caught his eye.

A few moments later, Liam had arrived on floor 211.

The whole floor consisted only of blacksmiths and hard-eyed forgemasters.

The entire floor was a smithy, after all, with state-of-the-art tools up for sale. 

Except, for Liam, most of these tools would never prove useful. 

Liam forged using just his mental waves and his core, which wasn't particularly common for many.

A hammer to a blacksmith was like a sword to a swordsman!

Except, magical beasts were not as rigid and powerful as metal, and could be softened through 'Ora'. 

Looking around, Liam realized something.

Compared to all those present, Liam looked incredibly out of place.

All forgemasters had a certain gruffness to them. 

Their metallic aroma, their thick beards, their bulging, tanned forearms and shoulders, and, most of the time, their bald heads.

…Except, Liam bore no resemblance to anyone of that type!

His hands were slender.

His hair was trimmed and styled.

And he had no beard.

Despite that, the blacksmiths didn't really hassle his presence too much.

They didn't even know who he was!

Liam remembered Rogan.

Then he remembered Lloyd.

Then he remembered Revel.

If it was one kind of person that Liam liked, it was their kind.

But he no longer felt solemn remembering them. 

"Interested in forging, kid?" a gruff voice beside Liam called out. "A hobby's not a bad thing to have."

Liam looked at the source of the voice.

He fit the blacksmith stereotype perfectly.

The man had a short, graying beard. 

His hair swept up to the side of his head, like wings raised to the sky. 

He was elderly, but still muscular.

He was on the shorter side, but didn't look too beefy.

And his iron-gray eyes had a vigor that didn't match his age.

"I'm already a forgemaster, old man," Liam said, and the man arched his bushy white brow. "A damn good one, too."

The man paused for a second, then laughed. "You have the characteristics of one. Look like a swordsman, too. Got a piece you could show me?"

Now that Liam had a closer look, the man had a ruby ribbon, while most of the other forgemasters present had emerald and below. 

This was no normal individual, it seemed. 

Liam paused for a second, then rubbed his ribbon, activating the Isolation Barrier. 

As the air turned blurry, the old man raised a brow. 

"He didn't tell me it had something like that," he frowned. 

When it formed entirely, Liam unsheathed the odachi from his space ring. 

Space rings were still allowed under the premises. 

Weapons too, it seemed at first glance, but when Liam ran a finger across the Black Blade's edge, it didn't draw any blood. 

At the same time, he couldn't use his Sword Connection and speak to his swords.

The Formations here were incredibly restrictive and protective, after all. 

Liam outstretched his Black Blade to the old man, who grabbed it by the hilt and examined it with an interested look.

He expressed a bit of surprise.

"Magical beast parts?" he asked. 

Liam nodded. "Indeed."

The man hummed to himself. "Not bad, not bad. You've layered its edge… five times?" 

Liam nodded. 

Layering was when Liam used the same material over and over, while condensing it as he forged the weapon. 

Five times was the limit he had done with the Black Blade.

Anymore, and it would have broken. 

The old man guessed it with just his normal eyesight, which even Liam wouldn't be able to do. 

"You could have gone for seven or eight. Tell me, though… why is this sword so… plain?" 

Liam's lips twitched.

"Huh?" 

The old man laughed, displaying a few missing teeth.

"I mean… it's plainer than bread, son! It has no specialty… wait, no, it does. Ah, slashes. Just slashes? Do you lack creativity, or are you just stupid?"

Ah. 

Liam forgot one of the characteristics of a blacksmith was to be as insulting as they could when it came to weapons and forging in general.

One couldn't blame them. 

Their insults came from a place of fashion. Chefs viciously cursed at their co-workers all the time. 

Thus, Liam didn't curse at the man straight away. 

Instead, perhaps this was finally a chance to learn something beneficial. 

"Explain."