Born in Blood

362  Gender

Liam was under a time limit.

Usan was extending his life by spending most of his time sleeping inside his Inner World.

Through that method, he was able to reduce the 'Ora' and mental energy his body naturally used.

But that was it.

All it did was slightly delay the inevitable.

Not to mention, it rendered him useless in doing other tasks.

That was also why Liam didn't request his help with the Kitsune.

'I have the confidence to get this working without him.'

'Plus, the elders will help me out plenty, so it's fine either way.'

Like so, Liam began his work.

The goal was simple.

Isolate a Zenith's sea of consciousness, and fill it with the Kitsune's mental energy.

Obviously, this was an oversimplification.

The 'mind jack' way of accessing the mental sphere was a perfect tool for this job.

All Liam had to do was plug his mind into the Zenith's and diligently clean away the memories and data stored in the translucent barrier.

Then, he'd 'inject' it with the mental energy stored inside the tattoo.

The same method was true for the core.

Liam had to wipe the 'Ora' stored inside the magical beast's core, then replace it with the 'Ora' of the Kitsune.

Then, he had to transfer the mental sphere into the Kitsune as the final step.

…The more Liam thought about it, the harder the task seemed.

But with the Elders' help, it was possible.

Thus, Liam began his work.

Elder Jax helped out with most of the smaller details.

The Golden Cranes and the Elders specialized in inscriptions helped out.

But at the end of it all, it depended on Liam himself.

He had the most experience with the technique.

Even if the Elders had Zenith mental spheres, the point still stands.

It was him who made it, after all, but that wasn't the only reason.

The King's Eye played a major part in it.

Because of the powerful sensory organ, Liam could see and pinpoint where the so-called 'data' lived inside the translucent barriers.

To his keen eye, they were like little iridescent scales, densely packed beside each other.

Each little scale was barely the size of a red blood cell.

Thus, with all this in mind, Liam began scouring his options.

The magical beasts were lined to his left.

The Zeniths were lined to his right.

Although there were seven of each, there was more coming.

So, Liam could afford making a mistake or too.

Liam's eyes scrutinized the magical beasts in front of him.

There had to be a match between the replacement and the original Kitsune.

'The most obvious body replacement for the Kitsune is the Four-tailed Fox. But it's more of a sub-species of the Kitsune.'

Kitsune's were incredibly rare.

The more tails they had, the higher their intellect, strength and abilities were.

The Nine-tailed Fox was the strongest and most mythical of them all, gaining a legendary status among the world of magical beasts.

But most of these creatures were native to Echoria.

What Liam currently had, in order, was the One-tailed Fox, the Three-tailed Fox, and the Four-tailed Fox.

The remaining magical beasts were of a different species entirely.

'Every attempt has to be a perfect run. I can't rely on numbers alone.'

'Everything has to be absolutely set before the last and final step.'

Not to mention, Liam's Mind Edge was not just for battle!

It was basically for anything that required focus.

Then, Liam realized a problem.

'Wait…'

'What gender was this thing again?'

'It had a feminine voice when it spoke to me mentally.'

'But that doesn't make it a female.'

When speaking mentally, one could easily change the tone and sound of their voice using mental energy.

If they were skilled enough, that is.

'Ah, screw it. We'll just say it's a female and get on with it.'

Thus, Liam picked out a Reaper Wolf to begin with.

First, he studied its massive composition.

Last Liam remembered, the Kitsune was roughly 7 to 8 meters high.

It was on the larger scale of magical beasts.

But its physique had been ruined due to awakening its sea of consciousness, which prompted the Opposition's influence.

'No need to delay it any longer, then,' Liam thought.

Then, Liam took out his Black Blade.

11:26

Liam had the Reaper Wolf hung from the ceiling to the left.

Then, for the Zenith, he positioned him on his knees to the right.

Then, Liam took out his Black Blade.

"I was getting tired of not being used," the Black Blade said with dramatic sadness.

"That doesn't sound like what you think it does," Liam responded blankly. "Especially with that voice."

Some of the Elders standing around Liam felt a little uncomfortable.

They knew about Liam's ability to speak with his sword.

Elder Aki and Jane already told everyone.

But they couldn't hear the Black Blade's voice.

Only Liam could.

Nevertheless, they remained quiet in anticipation.

After all, no one had seen Liam use his sword since he entered the inheritance!

Elder Jax, Jane and Orisa were there too, quietly watching.

All Liam would do was briefly cut around the Reaper Wolf's core, while shaving away the glimmering white fur.

There was nothing special about that.

But still, they wanted to sate their curiosities.

'It's not like I learned how to be graceful during my time at the inheritance.'

Liam shook his head.

SHIIIING!

Liam's arm blurred in quick succession, and a flurry of invisible lines enveloped the Reaper Wolf and Rank 4 Zenith.

In one second, all the fur on the Reaper Wolf's body weightlessly fell off.

At the same time, the circular cut on the abdomen revealed the Reaper Wolf's core without so much as a nick on it.

And a wide vertical cut on the Zenith's forehead displayed its brain with no damage whatsoever.

A round of applause and cheers followed.

But Liam just felt embarrassed since it looked like he was boasting for nothing.

Nevertheless, he ignored that and started with the human Zenith first.

Liam 'plugged' in his mind with the Zenith's and got to work.