Born in Blood

"Y-You…" Lloyd stammered, and Rogan pursed his lips with narrowed eyes.

Liam didn't say anything and nodded with a smile.

"Yeah. How do I find out what my element is? My core formed right when I advanced to a Rank 3 body."

Lloyd was stunned.

Rogan's reaction was more or less the same, but the blacksmith couldn't help but laugh.

Liam was 11 years old, not even halfway to 12 – yet he'd already advanced to such a stage.

"Can you imagine what kind of headstart you have against others your age?" Lloyd eventually voiced with his brows creased.

"Ucladd is too small for you, now. You have to leave."

Liam raised a brow. "What do you mean? Go where?"

"How long do you think I've stagnated at my stage? A Rank 2 sea of consciousness, a Rank 3 body, and a Rank 2 core is the limit of what you're going to reach here. They won't give you any higher ranked techniques."

"...The Royce family, on the other hand, would be more than happy to sponsor you now. But I doubt you'd want to stay under them forever."

Liam ran a hand through his hair, showing his contemplative face.

"Have you heard of the Echorian Academy?" Lloyd asked with a grin.

Liam's eye lit up, shaking his head.

"Every five years, the Royals recruit different talents from around Echoria; below the age of eighteen – to nurture their strength and grow their abilities further. You can buy your way in for a hefty fee, like most nobles do, or undergo an exam of sorts."

Liam's ears perked with interest.

"From what I've heard, it's a test that changes every single time. There are a bunch of cities near 'Roson' – the capital of Echoria – that you can take that test in."

"When's the next test opening?" Liam asked.

"Eleven months. If you don't catch it by then, you'll have to wait another five years to take the exam."

Liam's face grew pensive.

Instantly, he knew it was his next goal to strive towards. That being said, there were multiple issues with how to go about it.

"Something to think about, but for now, I'll take care of the merit points you didn't receive during the Lava Lion invasion. I'm sure Emma and Yannis don't need theirs anymore," Lloyd said, gesturing for Liam to hand him their rings, which he promptly did.

"I can take care of the element part," Rogan voiced. "I know a quick way to figure it out."

The blacksmith fiddled through his many drawers and storage items – before taking out what looked like a palm-sized snake scale made from glass.

"It's from a Rank 3 Elemental Snake. It'll change color depending on what elemental 'Ora' is imbued within its scales," Rogan explained, handing the scale to Liam. "Go on."

Rogan and Lloyd watched in anticipation.

A person's element largely affects their future and individual prowess. Knowing what element one of the youngest and possibly most talented cultivators would receive peaked their interest to say the least.

Liam heaved a breath and willed a strand of 'Ora' from his body into the snake scale.

The minute amount of world essence was pure yellow at first, flowing and dancing around the snake glass, filling its corners.

Gradually, the color started to shift… slowly turning black.

Before that process ended, and Liam, Rogan and Lloyd processed what element that was, that strand of 'Ora' started to vibrate.

In the middle of the transparent scale, a spot started to grow crimson – unable to mix with the black – causing the glass in Liam's hand to shake violently.

Boom!

The scale exploded into a million pieces, sending shards of glass flying in all directions – Liam watched as the crimson shot out from the scale to escape from its incasing, dissipating into air.

Due to shock, the trio almost got hit by the shards shooting for them.

Meanwhile, as the three steadied themselves, something else took place with them unaware.

A ripple of whispers formed from where they stood, instantly spreading like a vicious cancer.

Rapidly, those whispers scattered across Echoria, allowing those with power to listen intently to what they spoke of…

Death, destruction, chaos. 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝑛𝘰𝘷𝘦𝑙．𝘯𝘦𝘵

***

A shocked silence stilled the forgery.

Lloyd looked like a deer in headlights, and Rogan pursed his lips with a dumbfounded face.

'Darkness.' Liam thought with an ear-to-ear smile, staring at the shards of black-stained glass on the ground. 'And something else.'

That violent red hue had already escaped from the scale, though, leaving those present to wonder what in god's name it was.

"...So I'm a dual-elemental, then?" Liam broke the silence.

Lloyd and Rogan simultaneously nodded, without shifting their gaze from the scales.

"So… no one's gonna talk about the explody red thing? Or how the kid is of the darkness element?" the blacksmith voiced, unbelieving.

"If you know what it was, by all means," Lloyd grimaced. "This strengthens my previous point, though. You have to head for the academy."

"Cultivators with the darkness element are highly sought out for. The Royce family won't let you leave… if you let them."

Liam scoffed, but his path grew much more complicated.

"For now, I'll need a cultivation technique and a few more spells to add to my arsenal. Not to mention, my martial art has been getting a bit old. I'd like one attuned with my new element."

Buying new spells and techniques would obviously alert the governing nobles, but Liam didn't mind. It was time for him to start making his moves.

Lloyd nodded. "I see. I'll get your merits until then."

Rogan looked a bit left out from what the two were discussing, but Liam smiled, flicking his ring and taking out more than two dozen Rank 3 darkness beast corpses from his ring.

"I'll need a pair, old man."

Glimmering stars appeared in Rogan's eyes, and he shot a proud look towards his student. "Such a good disciple… I'm so glad you're alive!"

Liam shook his head.

"When do you plan on starting the forging technique?" Rogan asked. "I figured to give you a short break to settle things before then."

"Soon." Liam responded.

'Before everything, I need to visit Revel.'