Born in Blood

The Kitsune had agreed. Liam's luck looked up for once – though, with the pain he was going through, he couldn't enjoy that feeling.

"How would this work? You're too small to carry my core or mental energy." The Kitsune stated.

A wry, hopeful look appeared on Liam's pained face.

"I was hoping you would know something about that."

The Kitsune scoffed.

"You really didn't think this through, did you?"

Liam didn't respond, grounding his teeth in response to the pain.

The Kitsune let out a raspy breath, but its eye started to glow brightly a second later.

"If I was just a realm stronger, this wouldn't have happened…"

Clouds of 'Ora' from the surrounding gems suddenly gathered into one spot, condensing and glowing fervently like an iridescent sun.

As it condensed, serene ripples formed all throughout the giant 'Ora' Mine – chipping away at its value as it sucked the dense world essence.

Slowly, the Kitsune's giant, sun-like eye left its skull, shooting into the condensed world essence, basking in it and absorbing the 'Ora'.

Simultaneously, the fox's thick mental waves were added to the mix too – imbued with profound meanings.

Meanwhile, Liam could only hear thunderous noises that shook his body to the core. Whatever it was, he was patient to find out – the pain in his eyes reduced to an agonizing, but tolerable amount.

The strange process continued for a few minutes, and a moment later, the Kitsune's eye had absorbed all the 'Ora', becoming hotter than magma, while glowing brighter than the sun. It floated mid-air, casting rays of light in all directions.

At the same time, it was small.

…The size of a human's eye.

The Kitsune's aura was no longer menacing and powerful – looking like a husk of itself – but the eye it produced looked like a royal treasure.

"Grit your teeth." It breathed.

Using its mental energy, the fox shot the eye towards Liam's right eye socket, smashing into his face and causing him to fall backwards a considerable distance.

"Argh!"

Liam grunted, but those grunts turned to a yell, which turned into shouts of sheer pain a second later, coursing his throat. Veins bulged on his neck, pulsing with his faint heartbeat.

Death felt like a sweet release – the eye felt like molten in his skull, but the pain wasn't due to that.

His mental sphere felt like it was boiling.

…Well, it was. The eye forcefully connected itself to it – assimilating to it like a cancer.

Torn optic nerves reformed and instantly connected to the new organ. Safe to say, it was the worst feeling he had ever experienced in his lifetimes, spiraling his mind into chaos.

The Kitsune didn't pay any heed to those screams, and its body started to glow radiantly.

With a sterner, raspier tone of voice, it spoke as Liam continued to writhe in pain:

"Consider my eye as a loan. You wouldn't be able to handle it with how it is, so I made it so it'll grow stronger with your mind."

"I will imbue you with my mental energy and 'Ora'. Whenever you deem it fit to… 'resuscitate' me, simply pour 'Ora' into it."

"Do not fail me... Liam Royce."

On those words, the Kitsune's body grew drier and curled into a frail husk, devoid of any life.

…However, a small part of its body turned into a streak of light that shot onto Liam's body, forming a tattoo of a seven tailed-fox on his lower abdomen – removing the Binding Oath that covered Liam's core.

Meanwhile, Liam hadn't stopped screaming from the top of his lungs – the pain simply didn't stop, mounting pain upon pain!

His right eye shone brightly, illuminating the now dim 'Ora' Mine.

At the same time, strange memories and emotions clouded Liam's mind underneath the veil of pain – fragmented and hazy.

He saw himself walking as a four-legged beast – strong, but without thought or intellect. He acted on instinct and desire alone.

Another fragmented memory arrived. He saw himself walking into a familiar gorge, allured by the trails of thick 'Ora' in the surroundings.

Then, he spotted dozens of beasts similar in strength to his own there – elephants, crocodiles and panthers – their fur and powers black.

A vicious fight ensued – between light and dark. Liam barely won, his body and figure wounded severely. There were many more, but he threw himself down the pit and found the 'Ora' Mine.

There, he spent days, months, years. There he awakened his mind – he could think. More memories poured into Liam's brain – ethereal and scattered – of previous generations of his species.

Not to mention, he became a Zenith.

That feeling alone trumped any other Liam had felt times a thousand. That power, that surge of strength, that superiority.

However, his mind came at the cost of his body. His limbs turned weak and frail, and his physique was infinitely weaker than its Rank 4 counterparts.

…

Liam's eye slowly opened - a cold, royal, condescending pressure spreading to his surroundings from just that action alone.

Pain was no longer the dominant feeling he was going through. Though, the sensitive migraine and aching body he felt was enough to make a grown man cry.

The dim 'Ora' Mine cast a weak glow on his face. By the time the Kitsune was done with the eye, it had absorbed all the 'Ora' from the gemstones, leaving dark, glowing shards behind.

And boy did Liam's eye feel unreal.

Through the eye, he could actually see different colors he couldn't name beneath the darkness. Moreover, he could see natural 'Ora' in the air, as well as the strange patterns it contained.

Besides that, he accidentally discovered he could 'zoom' in and out with his sight – giving him the ability to scan his surroundings with unadulterated clarity.

Looking at his reflection through a dark gemstone, he saw how his eye was no longer green, but orange and golden, similar to a glorious sunset. As he 'zoomed' in, the pupil constricted and dilated.

A wide grin formed on Liam's face. He attempted to voice a few words, but his throat was too coarse to function.

Instantly, he thought of a name for his new eye – thinking of his last name on earth, in addition to the Kitsune's regal aura…

'King's Eye… good enough.'