Born in Blood

The final Trial. 

A lot weighed on this moment. 

A lot. 

This alone could shift the tides of politics above the surface. 

A Celestial's inheritance was not a joke.

If Twilight won, the Moyong family would no doubt regain absolute authority, if they didn't already have it. 

But with Eternal Sword's inheritance, they could spread their roots. Head to different countries and even finance a war for land and more resources.

Heck, some countries might even give them land on their own accord.

Like Liam, Twilight was going to be made a soldier, and the Moyong family was filthy rich with resources. 

In about 10 to 20 years, Reyan might as well become Ilali's face and symbol.

Not if Liam killed her before then.

'If... when I get out of this place, the Royals would want to kill me more than ever,' Liam thought. 

Currently, he was idly flipping the purely white and black pills in his hands, mulling over his circumstances.

'But they won't be able to. They might even want peace with us. There's no reason for them to offend a rapidly growing organization.'

The Temple of Shadow was like any other Clan in Ilali, now. They weren't shunned, and Usan was no longer hailed as a war criminal.

'They can't afford to make a potential enemy of a Celestial's heir, either.'

Liam remembered Queen Thyress' sadistic, perverted grin. 

It made him shudder a bit.

'Ugh. Maybe not…'

Silence. 

'It's been more than a year since I've been in this place,' Liam realized.

A year and 4 months, to be exact. 

Liam was worried about the current state of affairs. 

Was the Temple of Shadow safe? Was Usan still alive? What about the Blood Troupe and everything else?

Liam shook his head.

If it was out of his control, Liam didn't need to worry. He did anyway. 

But there was another matter at hand. Something urgent.

Liam had no damn sword style!

Obviously, due to the Trials, his swordsmanship was layers and layers above other people.

But it had no fixed form.

No set of moves.

Martial arts had one to three forms at a time.

Liam was just swinging his sword in whatever way his instincts told him to. In whatever way it felt right.

'That has to change,' Liam thought with a scowl. 'There's no doubt in my mind that Reyan got something out of this that I didn't.'

'Unlike me, she fought her Copy and didn't have a ridiculous body or something inimitable like chaos.'

'And that was the only Trial that helped develop a sword style.'

Liam's eyes narrowed.

'I need to develop a sword style, here and now.'

'But first, these pills.'

Liam threw the white pill in his mouth.

It tasted sour. Like an apple mixed with a pear mixed with a pineapple.

When it was digested, Liam felt his entire body go warm.

At the same time, the 'Ora' reserves in his body seemed to double!

But Liam frowned once he realized something.

This powerup was not permanent. 

It was temporary, and probably required for the next Trial.

Liam threw the black pill in his mouth, too.

Suddenly, the black water in Liam's mind sea started to churn and double in volume!

…But this was also temporary, and Liam felt a pang of regret.

'Damn you, Eternal Sword. Why didn't you just make it permanent!' Liam cursed the Celestial.

With double the mental energy, Liam's thoughts were almost twice as fast, while his senses were laser precise.

It was like having another mind.

It allowed Liam to peer at what the future held if he continued with his ridiculous training schedule.

'With twice the mental energy, I can definitely make a fighting style,' Liam thought with a slight smirk. 

Liam took out his sword, still in its basic, longsword form.

"Can you repeat what the swordsman called you?" the Black Blade asked Liam with a 'sunny smile'. "I don't think the Little Demons heard it clearly."

The Dusk Blades grumbled.

"We heard it, you stupid Kitchen Knif—"

"Wait, are you cursing your own Forger?" the Black Blade gasped dramatically. "He's the Black Blade too, y'know?"

The Dusk Blades went silent, but let out another growl.

The Breaker was silent. Contemplating his life, probably.

'Where do I start?' Liam thought with a sigh.

***

Time passed.

Liam didn't pay attention to how long.

He needed to perfect this sword style, determined to sacrifice even a year or two of his life if it required it.

But there was an invisible blade looming above his neck. 

The inheritance was dying.

It was degenerating, and with Liam and Twilight's presence, it was getting worse.

In reality, inheritances were similar to a battery. 

If they were being used, they would deplete some of their charge, which was 'Ora'. 

But if Liam and Twilight were dormant and weren't doing anything, it would slowly stabilize.

So Liam staying idle was a good thing. It might even force Twilight to do the same, if she was in the same Trial as him.

Thus, Liam thought over his fighting style.

What did he intend with each swing of his sword? Well, other than killing his opponent, of course. 

What were his abilities?

How could he express himself with his blade?

Who was he?

Liam kept repeating Eternal Sword's pieces of advice throughout his meditation.

In more than one way, Liam's current sword style was chaotic.

It was meant to do the most damage in the quickest way possible.

In a sense, it was both chaos and order.

Most chaotic forces didn't utilize speed. 

They just utilized destruction and havoc. 

Obviously, Liam's chaos was one of them.

However, speed usually came at the expense of destruction.

This was all in broad, general terms.

Obviously, it was not as simple as this.

But it helped outline what Liam's sword style was supposed to look like.

As much as he'd love to utilize Void with his sword, the way it was now, it was not possible.

Simply put, it was too strong.

But after a while, Liam understood what direction he wanted to go.

'Add chaos to order.' 

'And order to chaos.' 

'Become a double-edged sword.'