Born in Blood

Far away from the Temple's lands, Liam was hovering above a patch of the sea. The midnight moon cast a ghostly hue on his face, which was distant with deep thought.

After a few back and forths, Liam had given Bill the coordinates to the Temple's islands. But since he wanted to keep his vacation a secret, he obviously chose a discreet spot to meet. No doubt, the ocean was terrifying.

Liam still hadn't forgotten the Rank 6 leviathan that managed to strike fear into his soul. He'd never been closer to death than that moment… even with Usan's protection. Yeah…

He couldn't underestimate the ocean at all. But that was hard to do, knowing the sheer amount of unreal weapons that Liam had at his disposal. As he waited for Bill — who seemed to take his sweet time — Liam brainstormed ideas for Rank 5 techniques. It was a distant issue.

But the earlier Liam worried about it, the more likely he'd come up with a solution. Sure, his Pearl was still in the third Rank. But it wouldn't be long before he eventually advanced.

'Just one-third of the Empress' body remains,' Liam thought, a little sadly. Surprisingly, Liam's body was still in the peak of Rank 4. It had reached a strict bottleneck, and it wasn't budging at all. 'My priority should be a Rank 5 body,' Liam thought. It was between his core and body.

And the obvious answer was taking care of his body first, since it was a breath away from the fifth Rank.

But…

'But I still need to make the Rank 5 technique to advance…'

If the cultivator was a car, the Path was the road, and the techniques were the stop-and-start signals that allowed them to go forward. In essence, that was the relationship between the cultivator, the Path, and the techniques that they used. From what Kerian, the Iron Hammer and Valerie told him, one could not advance with their Path alone. At least, in the fourth and fifth ranks.

But they couldn't advance without it.

It went hand in hand.

The Path was what allowed the cultivator to shape, develop and express their uniquity. It was incredibly vast and theoretically, anything could be a Quality.

It was spiritual and enlightening in nature. But the techniques, spells and methods were much more fixed.

They were logical, requiring intellect and purely hard work. Otherwise, a vagabond monk could possibly become the strongest cultivator in the world just by thinking deeply about life. Likewise with an emotionless robot that ran on just logic. 'The Triumvirate Body will remain mostly the same,' Liam thought. 'I can't change that since I'm part octopus now…'

'How can I improve my body even more than it already is?'

It was a difficult problem to solve… but Liam had a feeling it had something to do with his ichor.

And, well, his neglected Ashura Form.

His gauntlets and superior Ashura strength was still magnificent, but the need to use it had diminished over time. GRGLGRGLGRGL!

A bubbling noise pulled Liam out of his thoughts. A large patch of the ocean in front of him gurgled violently, and the silhouette of a vague but familiar monster appeared in its depths.

'Finally,' Liam sighed. 'Took him long enough.'

FFFFFF!

An ancient, dark-purple tentacle burst out of gentle waters, spraying the surroundings with violent waves. BRSHHHH!

A wave of water almost washed over Liam, but darkness burst across his entire body.

FFFFFF!

The darkness erased all liquid before it could make contact with him.

Shhhh…

Then, the waters settled, and the Kraken floated above water, with Bill McGill at its head.

"Heeeey!" Bill shouted with his arms spread, gazing up at Liam. "Liam, my friend! I see you're as terrifying as ever!" Liam smiled but didn't respond, using his Spirit Sight to study Bill McGill's Path. Besides the blue energy that swirled across his core, indicative of his water element, Liam recognized a few new traits in Bill.

Mainly, his sea of consciousness.

Some blue energy swirled through his head! It was also interacting with his thoughts, making it extremely difficult to read his mind.

'Does his Path have something to do with Charisma or Charm? I know he hasn't gotten this far by being annoying…'

'Damn. I really know nothing.'

Then again, even when he studied the Path of Kerian and Kamjin, who told him of what their Path entailed, Liam wasn't able to comprehend most of it with his Spirit Sight. "This here is Kraky," Bill said, lightly tapping his feet at the Kraken's monstrous head. "Stop acting. I've already told him you can talk."

Disappointed, the Kraken slowly lifted its head towards the sky to look at Liam with its blue, squid-like eyes.

Ancient was the perfect word to describe it with. Barnacles and moss covered some parts of its body.

But it definitely looked dangerous.

Liam felt like he was being studied and assessed.

"Ocean creature?" Kraky's question reverberated through the air. "I sense the sea in you."

Its voice was feminine but old, and echoed repeatedly on its own. The source was its beak, hidden behind a layer of tentacles. Apparently, it had sensed Liam's Shifter side… but its tone was also strangely wary of him.

Liam smiled.

"Indeed."

Bill raised his brows in pure shock. "You're an ocean creature?" Liam's smile grew cryptic.

"Perhaps."

The Kraken slapped its tentacles on the water in a hostile manner, spraying water Liam's way. "I do not like you," the Kraken said. "You have killed my kind before." Liam's darkness erased the water before it could touch him again.

Bill paled a little.

He needed Liam's help!

And the stupid octopus was ruining it for him! "Stupid idiot!" Bill shouted as his eyes gained a bright blue glow. Through Spirit Sight, he saw how Bill was using his mental energy with the Kraken. As soon as the mental waves hit the sea creature, its eyes slowly went distant, as though losing consciousness. Bill was controlling it! Then, Bill looked at Liam with an apologetic expression. "Sorry about that. Her training is still a little incomplete, it looks like. You have my word, she'll be punished." "It's fine. No need for that," Liam raised a hand. "I'd rather we make it quick, please." Bill smiled broadly. "Of course," he said, then grinned a little wider. "You're in for one heck of a ride."