Born in Blood

539  Focus

As soon as the words were announced, Asta clapped his palms together, unleashing a massive shockwave that rippled through the Quadrant.

WHOOOOOOM!

Wherever the shockwave passed, the environment transformed. Liam watched in awe as everything turned a space-black color, as if they had entered a void of nothingness. The more he observed, the clearer it became that this entire place was crafted by an expert Formation Master.

Initially, enrolling in the Beginner's Course of Chaos for Beginners didn't seem like a wise decision to Liam. The course title sounded crude, Asta seemed like an idiot, and he doubted he'd gain much from it. While his skepticism remained, Liam had to admit he had gleaned some benefits even from just passing the first stage.

One major insight was realizing he could counter other Paths by studying them. Initially, he worried this might taint the purity of his own Path, but then he had an epiphany: studying something was different from learning and implementing it. After all, on Earth, thirteen years were spent studying various subjects, most of which were forgotten over time anyway.

As the environment finished transitioning to the void, an unnatural coldness seeped into Liam. He glanced at his hand, watching frost spread from his fingers up his arm. Using a mixture of 'Ora' and corrosive darkness, he fought off the freezing temperatures until they became barely bearable.

'My body still feels stiff,' he thought, shaking his arms and kicking his feet. A quick scan revealed the other participants were suffering similarly, each battling the cold in their own way. They looked even more scared than before. There was nothing scarier than being in an unknown, dangerous place, stripped of your greatest powers, and significantly weakened.

'Is this part of the Formations around here?' Liam wondered. 'It has to be.' Asta's shouting grabbed Liam's attention.

"THIS IS THE CHAOS POCKET. SURVIVE AND SUFFER!" That was all he said before flashing a small smile and being engulfed by the void's darkness.

WHOOM.

Asta disappeared entirely. "I hate this person," Silivar muttered under her breath, looking pissed. "And I hate this part even more." "At least you have some sort of witchery, lady!" From a distance, Mantis spoke for the first time. His fast voice was scratchy, and his tone was laced with sarcasm. He smiled wryly, raising his scythe arms, then shouting:

"I'm paper thin!" Liam raised a brow. Contrary to her droll reaction, and Mantis' weird addition, others seemed quite happy. Cocky grins spread across their faces. Suddenly, they began taking out heavy pieces of bulky armor from their storage devices, putting them on and reinforcing themselves. The majority of those items were one time use… These people came knowing what to expect!

That explained why they were so giddy and smug about it. 'Is that why they're so excited?' Liam scoffed. 'Aren't they here to learn?' Liam felt disgusted at their stupidity. Since his emotional spectrum was very limited, Liam felt no sense of excitement or unease. He would feel the same strolling through a beautiful garden, or a battlefield strewn with bloodied corpses.

But disgust…

Disgust he could feel perfectly.

One second passed, then two.

On the third, a popping sound, similar to pop rock candy crackling over a wet tongue, faintly grew in volume around the void.

It echoed with faint shockwaves, growing closer and closer. Far away, Liam spotted pink explosions rapidly approaching, like a series of cluster bombs going off. And it wasn't on just one side of the horizon! The entire void was closing in with the bright red explosions!

Just then, Liam quickly realized why Silivar and Mantis hated this part, and why the others apparently loved it. This was just raw suffering with no skill involved whatsoever! The strength behind those explosions were similar to an upper-tier Rank 4 attack. Not to mention, it held enough force to bend the void's dark fabric. Liam's natural defenses mostly consisted of using his hardened Blood and mercurial shadows to cover himself. But… both of these were sealed. Liam was more or less defenseless. Of course, this wasn't counting his natural regeneration and incredible speed.

But the chilling frost had dulled both to a pathetic degree. Liam clicked his tongue.

At this point, the courageous participants had stacked themselves up with layers upon layers of protection. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As though preparing for the winter cold. Silivar coated her figure with a layer of her magical energy.

Mantis' scythe-arms grew even thinner, and his already thin physique transformed into a thinner frame. On the other hand, Glob's viscous interior had hardened slightly, leaving one to wonder the true extent of the creature's abilities. Nothing at all. By now, the explosions were close enough that Liam could feel their reverberations echoing through his skin and body.

'Chaos isn't barbaric,' Liam thought with furrowed brows, looking at the dumb, deformed and vicious-looking participants. As the explosions filled his vision, Liam just… closed his eyes and simply spread his arms.

'It's just painful.' BOM! BOOM! POP! BOM! BM! BOOM! POP! BOM! BOOOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOOOOOM!

The closest description to what Liam felt like right now, was being shoved through a human grater.

Bones broke instantly. His spine ligaments shattered, digging into his heart and tearing through muscle. Within his sea of consciousness, the walls of his mental sphere rumbled uncontrollably, while his mental waves gushed like a raging sea.

Liam was caught in the center of a storm, and he was powerless. He didn't resist.

He didn't push it back at all.

In fact, he wholly accepted it.

If one had a closer look at Liam's mental sphere, they would notice something odd.

A small, tiny patch of his mental waves were strangely still. Sure, now and again, it would tremble and quake, but usually, it steadied itself and quickly recovered.

This was where Liam's consciousness had retreated into!

The Rank 4 sea of consciousness was like several brains stuffed into one. What Liam had basically done was momentarily sacrifice brain power for stability. But this little consciousness could not form coherent thoughts.

Nor could it command Liam's body.

Then… what was the point of it, in the first place?!

The answer was simple – it was focused entirely on Liam's Path!

yo, writing the next chapter. I'll try to get it out by tonight. Sorry about all of this delay. Exams are in a few days, so I'll get those done with, and do my best to get uploads back on track. FR this time