Born in Blood

Liam instantly pivoted his foot and ducked low, running his wakizashi against the bandit's giant hand, arm and shoulder, followed by a quick slash with his katana, severing it.

Before the man could scream, a deep, diagonal gash appeared on his face, splitting it and revealing the brainy interior of his skull.

The first scream had already notified all the other bandits to rush towards the source of noise, allowing them to witness a ten year old standing over the gory corpses of their comrades.

Their faces grew severe as they unsheathed their weapons and fixed their gaze on Liam's figure.

In short, it was a one versus five situation. Three wielding longswords, another swinging a giant metal mace, and the last gripping a lengthy spear.

"Don't underestimate this little rat. I don't know how, but he's a cultivator." Spear whispered to his mates, causing expressions of shock and disbelief among the bandits.

Even they, as lifelong criminals and outlaws, hadn't gotten the chance to gaze upon a tempering method or cultivation technique. They were simply too valuable.

Heaving a long, forceful breath, a cold and calculating light appeared in Liam's eyes.

'I can't get hit by that giant mace. Maybe I can take a few stabs from that spear user, but I can't let him pierce my vitals. The swordsmen are small fries, but there's three of them.'

Unbeknownst to Liam, his lips curved slightly upwards to form a smile, causing the bandits to flinch and subconsciously take a step back.

The sun was at its zenith, covering the tense air around the standoff with a warm hue.

"Go!"

Mace suddenly shouted, and the three swordsmen reluctantly shot at Liam's figure from the front. Simultaneously, he and Spear looked for an opportunity to land a killing blow from the sidelines.

Liam's back was against the warehouse wall, his eyes flickered coldly as the first swordsman swung at his chest.

Clang!

Using his wakizashi to parry, Liam instantly counterattacked with his katana, slicing off a good chunk of the bandit's shoulder.

Liam was far stronger in terms of strength. Although a powerful attack from a non-cultivator could inevitably hurt him, the Rank-1 body wasn't anything to scoff at.

As the sword-user stumbled backwards with a loud shout — doomed to bleed to death as his shoulder spurted gobs of blood — the two remaining swordsmen approached him from the sides.

Another loud 'clang' noise reverberated throughout the air as Liam firmed his body, bent his knees and crossed his hands, blocking both the swordsmen with one blade each.

Mace and Spear saw an opening and didn't fail to take it.

The former swung his giant mace and threw it towards Liam's chest, while the latter followed the spiked ball's trajectory while clenching his spear.

Liam stopped holding back the swordsmen.

The two suddenly jolted forward due to lack of an opposing force, only for a giant mace to smash one's head in, and a spear to impale another's skull.

Before they could retract their weapons and react appropriately, Liam had swiped Spear's midsection — spilling viscera and tainting the floor crimson — before splitting the Mace's chain… and head a moment later.

The last thing they saw before their vision went dark… was Liam's cold and indifferent expression.

'Compared to him, you're all really weak.' Liam realized, snapping his shoulders and flicking the blood off his katana and wakizashi.

His battle prowess could only be attributed to his mentor, who didn't pull his punches one bit during their training, in addition to Liam's hardworking demeanor.

At the same time, Liam felt his reaction time had improved by a bunch through training with the Psionic Rune, even though he trained with it for a few days.

'I'll have to increase the intensity from now on. Training one hour a day was the limit Lloyd had given me, but I know I can push it past that.'

Suddenly, Liam felt a spike in air temperature.

His eyes narrowed as he attempted to figure out what the source was.

'What is tha—'

Boom!

The warehouse that Liam was right beside suddenly exploded, charring his skin and sending him flying the distance until he eventually fell against a village roof.

Gray smoke and dust clouds rose into the air and covered the entire area.

Liam's ears rang with a high-pitch, while his head was experiencing a terrible ache. The right side of his gymsuit had been burnt off, and so was the crisped skin underneath.

His consciousness was swaying, but luckily, he seemed to recover fairly quickly.

The pain from the burns made him frown, but it began to numb as he picked himself up from the ground.

The infernal tempering method allowed for increased resistance from heat, which was partly the reason why his body was in one piece.

The dust cloud began to settle, slowly revealing a human figure standing in the middle of where the explosion originated.

The silhouette seemed to flicker an orange and yellow, while the smoke and dust dulled the colors considerably.

Liam's eyes narrowed, before widening.

Once there was nothing clouding his vision anymore, Liam could make out the features of the human figure clearly.

The man wore a lengthy black robe, his stature and frame similar to Mace and Spear.

He had black hair styled to a military cut, while his sharp eyes were a deep brown. No facial hair was visible on his face, except a wide smile that showcased all his canine-like teeth.

The most distinct feature about him, was the fact that he was literally on fire, but his expression didn't seem to be of pain.

Liam's expression darkened.

'A cultivator...'