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nThe drop of refined blood stuck to Liam’s right index, glowing a fervent scarlet, Liam heaved a sigh and focused.

nBlood Weaving made Links using the vampiric language.

nRichard mentioned how that allowed for more flexibility and freedom with the circuits being performed – since you could simply write in language whatever you wanted to inscribe.

nFor example, Liam simply had to write what color he wanted, how intense it was to be, and so on, right on the blade or parchment itself.

nThere wasn’t the complicity of inscription lines, runes and diagrams, but simple language and writing.

nStill, that meant it didn’t come with the precision that those other methods did.

nLiam would have to compensate for it by writing, and generally inscribing more.

nWithout delay, Liam began to run his finger through the small dagger, writing the vampiric characters for his desired effect.

nIt took him half an hour, but eventually, the entire blade was covered with writings, and the refined ink had been depleted.

nLiam heaved a short sigh before moving to inspect the dagger.

nAll the characters were connected to each other, as they should have been, and Liam could see that it could absorb mental energy like he intended.

nWith a smile, he imbued it with his mental waves.

nThe inscriptions flickered on!

n…Before flickering off just as fast, crushing Liam’s smile before it could fully grow.

nIt was to be expected, especially since it was his very first time even writing with the vampiric language. 𝒃𝒆𝒐𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝒎

n‘Well, I’m not talented enough to make this thing work on the first try anyway.’

nLiam inspected his ring. There were thirty small silver daggers stored nearly inside.

nThirty more tries.

nOnce again, he entered his sea of consciousness and separated blobs of his mental energy, renewing the same meanings until he refined them.

nEach inscription hurt horribly, and his eye grew more and more murky with blood.

nStill, Liam pushed through, repeating the process.

nHe was on his eighth dagger, when the inscriptions on the surface of the blades started to flicker weakly.

nLiam dejectedly thought he had failed once again – ready to toss away the blades to the large pile on his left – but then realized the flickering didn’t stop.

nIt was unstable and volatile… but it was a success!

n…Somewhat.

nThe writings on the blade were only blood-red in color, and the weak light it exuded was not constant. Both needed rectifying, among other things.

n‘I’ll have to adjust the colors to be the two nearest to red… so orange and yellow.’

n‘Pushing myself past this point isn’t safe anymore. This is a good stopping point anyway.’

nLiam stored the blade into his ring, before taking out a Rank 2 magical beast.

nIt was a Twilight Owl, sharp jet-black feathers that spanned twice the length of Liam’s arms, the beak of which was curved and razor-sharp.

nLiam wasn’t crazy enough to store a Rank 3 beast will into his mental sphere right away.

nHe wanted to test the waters first and see how difficult it was before proceeding to the higher ranks.

nHe began skinning the owl with quick and precise movements, separating all the required parts and organizing them.

nUnlike traditional forging that required a set anvil, blazing heat and iron tools, magical beast forgemastery could be done differently.

nOf course, Rogan himself used those tools, but they weren’t a necessity.

nWhen excessive amounts of ‘Ora’ is applied to a magical beast part, it softens enough for the forger to shape and manipulate however they pleased.

nAt the same time, it’s used to purify the material and strengthen it.

nLiam bunched up the Owl’s black bones and began to envelop them in his ‘Ora’.

nSlowly, the bones started to change state, turning mushy and soft.

nSeeing that, Liam slowly began shaping the bones to a dagger’s form with his hands, only using ‘Ora’ in short intervals when the bones were about to harden.

nA focused pressure spread throughout his surroundings, while his eye was completely locked in.

nHe had to be careful not to underuse, or overuse ‘Ora’ during the beginning stages of forging, since it had the opposite effect and could considerably lessen the strength, endurance and overall capabilities of the materials.

nIt took him two hours to finish with the shape. Amazingly, the bones looked… decent!

nThe edge was slightly bent, similar to Liam’s wakizashi, but not nearly as long. It was the same sharpness as a kitchen knife, but that was Liam’s first try at shaping something successfully.

nHe took the blade and slashed at his arm. A cut formed that dripped a little blood, but not enough to pierce through the muscle, and it healed a moment after.

n‘Forging methods are basically the same as inscription methods. Both require experience and constant adjustment,’ Liam thought pensively, oblivious of his self-harming attitude.

nHe did a few more finishing touches on the blade – sharpening the tip, flattening the sides, and adding teeth to the edges – before fixing a small hilt made from Owl hide on its bottom.

n‘Now, the hard part,’ Liam thought, taking out the Owl black colored core and heaving a slight breath.

nClenching his fist, he crushed the core and absorbed the essences into his mental sphere.

nLiam instantly entered his sea of consciousness, pressure assaulting his mind as the core contents entered his mind.

nLarge blobs of mental energy raised, swirled, gained color and took the form of a giant Twilight Owl. With it, came a pressure matching Liam’s blood inscriptions.

nA low-pitched shriek tore through the spiritual space as the Owl developed, forcing a wince on Liam’s face.

nThe Owl looked enraged, its giant wings unfurling as it shot at Liam himself.

nLiam had come prepared.

nJordan had taught him how to use mental energy as an actual weapon within his mind.

nAlthough doing that outside his sea of consciousness was quite frankly impossible, Liam’s mind was his domain.

nEnergy swirled around his hands to form two ethereal blades, which cut through the Owl as it charged.

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