Born in Blood



A long, quiet silence followed.

Liam had no clue what he just witnessed.

What exactly happened?

The puppet that countless Zeniths couldn't damage, the old man erased from existence. 

The onlookers had dumb expressions.

The Iron Hammer gave Liam a broad, cheeky smile. 

"Hahaha! The dumb look on your face makes this little pissing contest worth it."

"That's not even a sword," Liam said with a frown. "It's a bomb. You can't just change a concept of a sword so—"

"Where's the flames?" Kamjin interrupted with a cheeky expression. "Did you see a wisp of fire?"

There was a pause.

In truth, Liam didn't see any element being used. 

But due to the way the dummy was incinerated, he assumed fire was used.

Except, it wasn't.

Now that he thought about it for a second, he realized something.

The puppet didn't disintegrate all at once, although it seemed like it did.

It disintegrated from the point of impact first, then continued rapidly across the entire wooden puppet.

Meaning, something had spread from the weapon as it made contact with the wood!

Two seconds of silence passed.

Liam vaguely figured it out.

And it was a little shocking.

Although the sword was wooden, and looked extremely blunt, this was not the case.

In fact, it was actually stupidly sharp.

But it also had a special ability.

When the bokken hit the puppet full force, the sharpness spread across it evenly from the point of impact!

It continued like so, festering like a disease, until it seemed like the puppet was instantly eviscerated. 

Forging-wise, this weapon was a wonder.

And the material was actual wood!

Other than being more durable than regular materials, it wasn't special or magical in any way!

That meant that the sharpness was made through pure Meanings alone.

'It's not even enhanced with inscriptions,' Liam thought. 'Everything is imbued within the weapon itself.'

"Go on," Kamjin said with a cheeky smirk, storing the wooden sword. "Hold back no praise. I'll wait."

Liam scoffed in slight disdain. 

But he had to be honest.

At least, from humanity.

Liam wanted to distance himself from politics. 

In fact, he was thinking he could give the reins to Jargon or Verium or Jane for a while. 

Maybe go back to his roots as a lone cultivator. 

Forming a Path wasn't a group activity, after all. The less effect others had, the better.

The aquarium was no doubt a gathering place for these kinds of people.

Liam changed floors once again, and the environment changed from a smithy, to a beautiful display of enclosed sea creatures, swimming this way and that through glass walls and huge tubes.

Octopus Sharks, Gem Fish, Ice Axolotls and incredibly rare animals were being showcased.

As they swam by, their shadows were cast through the mirrors.

Tables were stationed here and there, overlooking the aquarium glass.

People were freely socializing. Food and drinks were offered, too.

Quite frankly, Liam was bored out of his mind.

He wanted nothing more than to begin his Path already! 

But here he was, not killing things. 

Sigh…

Looking around, most of the tables were actually occupied. The Aquarium was available to people of all ribbons, not just ruby or emerald.

Liam looked left and right.

Just then, he spotted a free table.

And it was the only table that had just one person on it.

The rest were all busy with groups talking to each other.

But…

It was a person that Liam didn't really want to interact with.

The person had an emerald ribbon, but that wasn't the problem.

'Is there no one else?' Liam thought, his gaze sweeping the area. 

Liam sighed.

…Bill McGill it was.

Carefully, Liam approached the man's table, putting on a socializing expression.

As soon as the man saw Liam approach, he expressed mild surprise, then rose to his feet and spread his hands. 

"Ah! Is that the infamous Reaper coming my way? Or is it finally my time?" 

Liam smiled. "Please, call me Liam. Mind if I sit down? I was hoping to ask you a few things."

"Of course not! Come, please. You were actually just the man I was looking for."

Not knowing what that meant, Liam sat down opposite the smiling man. 

He ordered two drinks and looked back at Liam with a toothy smirk. 

"Mister Liam, have you ever… invested in something?"

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