Born in Blood



Throughout the past week, the group had passed by several more human 'farms', for lack of a better word. 

Nessa wanted to save them. Liam denied her train of thought in an instant for obvious reasons. 

They were invaders, and needed to keep their presence at a minimum. That caused a slight rift to form between one side of the group, with Gerald shamelessly siding with the petite noble.

Pretty soon, it was apparent their intrusion would be widespread. 

One of the vampires overseeing a Feeding Ground had been killed, and the other was currently in their expedition party as a guide.

To lessen the effect, Liam had Niveh clean up the head farmer's body before anyone noticed it. 

The humans weren't allowed to leave their village, but on rare occasions, some were brave enough to escape, only to find out the truth and have their fates sealed. 

Meanwhile, over the foggy mountain cliff, hisses, growls and shrieks mixed with thunder created a cacophony of morbid sounds.

Around a vast square border, vampires – thousands in number – unclothed and violent, fought to the death, killing and dying in a chaotic dance of demise.

Their bulging eyeballs were pure white as they ravaged each other mindlessly in the most brutal of ways. Blood flew across the field like water, overflowing till shin height. 

Liam spotted some clawing each other's necks off, others tearing off limbs and gnawing them, with few piercing another's Nexus and absorbing their life force. It was relentless, and didn't stop for a single second.

Liam noticed a couple with intenser auras than the rest, which were probably the closest to evolving.

Gerald's stomach couldn't handle the scene. His stomach hurled and emptied its contents. 

Nessa went ghastly pale and felt her knees weaken.

Even Nord and Rin looked stunned, but Liam was somehow captivated by the sight. 

Thankfully, no one caught that look in his bloodshot eye – muddied red from having the beast will inside his head for a prolonged period of time. 

'So that's why this entire place is dyed red.'

Liam shifted his attention over to the horizon. Zooming in, he could make out a faint silhouette of a city through the thick silver mist, lit up by flashes of dim crimson lightning.

On the mountain chain opposite to them, was a large border that followed the rocky landscape's peaks and troughs.

Atop one of the peaks, was an obsidian spire, twisting above the foggy clouds. Lightning struck it more than once, but it remained stubbornly standing.

Below that were eccentrically shaped buildings – arched obsidian stone interwoven with bony-white wood – precisely lining the sides.

"That's where Vxich is if you want to fulfill your death wish," Niveh added casually.

Gerald hadn't stopped vomiting, gaining him a look of pity from the vampire.

"What's the easiest way to pass through without being noticed?" Liam asked.

"There really isn't, since each of the Blooder's goons hold a section of the border. It stretches out and connects to another Feeding Ground anyways, so you can't go around."

"I could lead you all in, but even I haven't explored the base fully," Niveh said bitterly. "They have much more powerful abilities compared to mine, and I don't even know the full extent of them."

…Unfortunate circumstances.

Liam wasn't discouraged, though. Niveh's abilities could come in handy, and nothing could go wrong with a bit of pre-prepared planning.

They would execute in two weeks. Nord had surprisingly found a good place to place the base in, and the group went dormant.

///

Liam was just about to complete his daily cultivation for the day when he felt his core slightly tremble.

'Is it happening?' he thought with an excited smile.

The liquid in his organ started to swirl and merge with itself. Amazingly, Liam felt pangs of extreme warmth and cold at the same time while the process took root. 

Moreover, his core walls, that he'd been expanding throughout the past year or so, began to shrink at a rapid rate.

In reality, the core walls wanted to collapse due to the transition to a different state, but Liam had to strenuously hold back the organ before it could do so.

In the span of a minute, Liam's liquid 'Ora' started to converge into a single shard of dark red world essence. 

He had finally entered the solid-stage!

His progress has been significantly bolstered by being near an 'Ora' Well, and through the many pills he had consumed.

Liam instantly began absorbing 'Ora', smiling as both his natural abilities and prowess increased substantially. 

After another hour of cultivating, he didn't wait to test out its effects. 

He opened his palm. Darkness, more saturated in shade and fervid, swerved in between his fingers to form a sleek Umbral Needle.

Liam nodded in approval as he saw how sharper and deadlier the spell looked – the tip was much sharper, and its form wasn't as ethereal as before. 

Before, his usage limit with the needles was roughly 7 or 8 times, but now, he could double that amount with ease, even factoring in other spells.

Liam couldn't help but smile again, but his gaze turned hard a moment later.

'What about my chaos?'

Sometimes, Liam would genuinely forget he was a dual-elementalist. Except now and again, his chaos would extend a helping hand during difficult circumstances.

He knew too little about its origins, why he had it, and why it was so damn dangerous… but answers didn't come on a silver platter. 

Seeing that there wasn't anyone around, Liam silently pulled out a minute strand of chaos from his core. His ability to manipulate the element had become much smoother with his advancement.

Liam used the same amount he'd always done – a finger-nail sized amount. 

He watched with keen eyes as the chaos exited his index. 

Brightening in shade wasn't the only thing his chaos underwent – Liam could see that it was practically begging to burst. The dangerous and volatile nature had become… well, more chaotic. 

He instantly regretted his decision to use the same amount, since within the next second, it—

BOOM!

The explosion made everyone burst into his room thinking there was another attack, but didn't find any signs of it. 

Liam coughed into his fist and spoke as though nothing happened.

"Forging mistake."