Born in Blood

542  Aspects

Sitting in isolation, Liam pondered over the Spider Lily's profound, unique structure. His Chaos stemmed from Blood. And clearly, it was true. Ever since he had begun his journey to the stars, he never ceased to shed blood, nor sow chaos and strife across the lands. How many had he killed, till now? How many sons and daughters?

How many parents?

How many clans? How many beasts?

It wasn't a stretch to say their blood could form rivers that stretched from east to west. What would shedding blood to this degree cause, if not a dreadful Chaos? Obviously, there was another reason Blood was connected to Liam's Chaos. His race.

The Asuras.

An entire species birthed in Chaos.

Surely, that had something to do with it, right?

'Talk about chilling. This little flower already knows me better than I know myself…' 'I suppose that's the gist of it, though.'

The further one reached in their journey, the more they'd figure out who they eventually were. For cultivation, this was seemingly inherent. Your actions, personality, and individual understanding developed your Path automatically, and vice versa. Paths were more unique to a cultivator than fingerprints were to humans. Liam paused for a moment, inhaled deeply, then let out a long breath.

There was one last Aspect. And quite frankly, Liam had difficulty believing in it. Just to make sure, he repeatedly inspected the flower, making sure he wasn't mistaking it for something else.

But no.

It was unmistakable. The last Quality… was none other than Death.

The flower's dark, eerie aura reeked of its lifeless fragrance. That, and the little black tips of the thin stalks – pulsing with danger – pointed to faint remnants of the Death Aspect.

But it all made sense. How were all three of these Qualities combined into one?

The Chaos part was simple. Liam was being viciously assaulted nonstop, and everything, from sea of consciousness, to body, to core, had become a mess. This was the Chaos part.

And… well, the Blood part, too.

After all, the explosions weren't kind enough to leave Liam in one piece. By the end of it, a good patch of his skull was stripped bare. And the Death part?

That… that was because of Liam's near-death experience. When he had fallen unconscious in the midst of the explosions, that was it. For several seconds, Liam was no longer counted among the living. It was all very ephemeral and distant, like he'd been dreaming… but Liam felt the throes of death clear as day.

It was unlike any sort of pain he had suffered. Like nerves set on fire and electrocuted at the same time. Like looking through a glass window, he felt his soul slowly seeping out of his corpse, wriggling through in a desperate struggle to escape.

But it didn't.

His healing factor had constantly regenerated his body just in time for the explosions to cease. Had he been just a second late…

Liam felt his body tremble.

No, not out of fear.

Out of sheer excitement. Every single Zenith he had spoken to, either from the Temple of Shadow, or otherwise, reaffirmed one thing for him.

One of the most difficult Aspects to attain understanding of, was the Death Aspect. Most went as far as saying it was impossible. No matter what vile, inhumane experiments one did, how many they killed, how many times they put themselves through near death experiences, they didn't receive even an atom of its Quality. Right now, even though Liam had gained a bit of understanding of the Aspect, it was minute and sparse – represented by the tips of wafer-thin stalks. 'Have I seen a powerhouse with it?' Liam thought to himself, thinking of all the Rank 6 experts he had come in contact with. Alucard. Eyes of Knowledge. Spirit of Nature. The Adjudicator. The General. Queen Thyress. Emperor of Courage. Hand of Light. Usan. Sir Cornelius Merho III. …Empress of Fear?

No… Well, maybe. Fear of death is a common phobia to most, so it wouldn't be a stretch to say she had a trick or two regarding it. 'She's in my stomach, anyway.'

Usan was specialized in Shadows, so probably not. And the rest, he didn't know much about.

All of a sudden, Liam chuckled under his breath… which slowly grew into a hearty laugh.

It lasted for a good minute or so, but eventually simmered down to a long sigh.

During the span of his short, but eventful life, Liam felt this thrill a handful of times. 'Now,' Liam thought, calming himself down, 'I need to find out what this thing does.'

The dainty Spider Lily looked promising… but would it meet his expectations? The Law of Balance was particularly keen on breaking his back, so he made sure not to inflate his mind with grand ideas. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

That being said…

He had no clue on how to use it.

He sighed.

Liam was a newbie to this. Of course he'd suffer a hitch or two! This was perfectly reasonable, and not embarrassing at all.

He began to play around with the Spider Lily in his Path.

The Path itself, similar to the sea of consciousness, was a spiritual space. It was within the cultivator. One could say it was inside their soul – except, Liam had no confirmation if the Path really was inside the soul. He had his suspicions, but no hard evidence. The Zeniths he had spoken to held little knowledge in that regard.

'I think I get the gist of it.'

As Liam finally understood the Spider Lily's 'controls', he immediately decided to harness some of its power. Raising a hand, he tapped into his Path and drew out from its source of power. Immediately, the Spider Lily began to tremble, the angular petals and thin stalks breathing heavier.

Then, one of the petals of the Spider Lily wilted instantly, resulting in a river of blood-red essence – with barely visible spots of black – pouring out of it. Instantly, Liam felt the flower's power wane. In total, there were merely 8 main petals, not counting the dozens of stalks. It was concerning, but now was not the time to lament.

Just then, the essence appeared in Liam's hand, in the form of a dancing wisp of flame.

Up close, it resembled a thick, dark red, metallic vapor. Liam brought his face close to it.

But… it was… so small!

Apparently, one petal equated to a fingertip worth of essence.

But that wasn't important.

…the real question was: what could it do?

im thinking of bringing privilege back, so I can get the schedule back on track. CovidCandy

Creator's Thought