Born in Blood

Chapter 368 Suspicious

Watching the three approach the entrance, Liam took a good hard look at each one of them.

It had been some time since he saw any familiar faces from his country.

At first glance, Nord looked the strongest due to his powerful build.

But his aura was incredibly strange.

It was swirling with different lines of white and translucent energies.

'The heir of giants, eh?' Liam thought. 'He doesn't look as dumb as he used to.'

Nord had a Rank 3 sea of consciousness, a Rank 4 body, and a Rank 3 gaseous-stage core.

Amazingly, Nessa had the strongest centers of power out of all of them.

She was a Rank 3 Magus, a Rank 4 body, and a Rank 3 liquid-stage core!

And she was the youngest there!

'Alchemists,' Liam thought with a bit of contempt.

Clearly, she had made those advances due to various pills concocted from exquisite materials.

Nessa's talent in alchemy was comparable to Liam's talent in murder.

And yet, Nessa also had a hardened look in her eyes.

Like she knew a thing or two about death.

It almost made Liam laugh.

Seeing the difference between the meek little girl afraid to hurt someone… and now this.

Then, there was Rin.

She was not human.

That was the thought Liam had of her at first glance.

Her aura was a fiery purple hue, silently raging around her.

But that wasn't what caught Liam's eye.

It was the bestial danger that radiated from her.

Liam's eyes widened when he realized something.

What did Liam recognize?

There was a thin layer of mental energy disguising Rin's violet eyes. It was a Rank 4 inscribed item. A hidden device that extended her eyelashes.

But Liam's powerful vision could pierce through that easily.

What Liam saw behind the disguise were two purple, veiny vertical irises that looked like they belonged to a magical beast!

Instantly, Liam thought back to the Korsan Lands.

When the four of them had a small talk among themselves.

Rin mentioned a dragon.

And her knowledge of magical beasts was far better than Liam's.

Not to mention, even her forging method was centered around magical beasts.

All of this pointed Liam towards one direction.

She had become a magical beast herself.

Specifically, a dragon-type!

Liam's eyes narrowed.

She was dangerous.

Granted, so was everyone else at the party. Only the cream of the crop were allowed into this party.

But a magical beast in human form?

Kitsu was similar to her.

Except, she was a beast with the mind of a human.

Rin was a human with the body and anatomy of a beast.

Liam himself was partly Spirit Beast.

But just one-third.

And the Shifter was not a combat-specialized species. It was useful for camouflage, taking over other beasts, and shapeshifting. But killing was not its forte.

Plus, the Shifter was just the exterior of his body.

Becoming a full human/magical-beast hybrid was something Liam had absolutely no clue on how to do, nor planned to.

Though, Liam could imagine the amount of experiments and tests needed to make something of that caliber.

It far outweighed the mere 421 test subjects, that was for sure.

'They must have built quite the relationship if the Royals wanted to invest this heavily into them,' Liam thought.

Looking as posh and graceful as they could, the Echorians made their way through the entrance of the luxury temple.

"Please," Usan announced to all those present. All eyes were on him. "Enjoy yourselves. There are battle halls outside if a friendly spar is to your tastes, or quiet lounges if you do not fancy our music."

A long round of applause followed.

Usan with the Elders, and Kasrah Thyress, along with the other Zenith Royals, had already entered a private lounge.

That left the Echorians to freely socialize and converse with the Ilalians.

From a high vantage point, one could see the distinct differences between the two groups.

Academy students were colorful and extravagant, while the Temple's forces looked a bit grim and hardened.

Still, the academy students were the first to strike up friendly conversations with those their age.

Out of the 18,000 that the Temple housed, more than 3,000 of them were in this party.

Half of those were young folks below the age of 20.

This was obviously done on purpose.

Those of a higher age weren't trusted to suppress their hate.

And the Temple's young were purposely given a vague task to break the ice between them and ease the tension.

Slowly, the atmosphere became lively.

All kinds of conversations blended together, and laughs soothed over the tension lingering over the air.

Liam tracked his classmates as they spread in different directions.

The room he was in not only allowed him to see other people without being seen, but to hear them in perfect clarity!

Basically, Liam had become the perfect monitor.

Nord and, presumably, his girlfriend sat over by a lounge and quietly shared non-alcoholic drinks.

They drank in suspicious silence.

Quietly, Nessa sat to Nord's left, watching the party with distant blue eyes.

Through the King's Eye, Liam could tell they were exchanging mental transmissions.

But they were being incredibly discreet with it.

'What are they doing?' Liam thought with furrowed brows.

Meanwhile, Rin's gaze swept over the main floor, her pupils constricting at seemingly random places.

Incredibly suspicious.

Just then, a young female acolyte walked up to her with a warm smile, offering her a full glass of Ilalian vinegar.

"Purple hair! I've never seen a sister with that hair color before," she said with a friendly smile. "What's your name, miss?"

Ilalian vinegar was a drink even Zeniths had trouble swallowing.

It burned the throat and made the eyes red.

The mischievous acolyte obviously knew this.

Rin glanced at the young woman in silence for several seconds, but accepted the drink with a slight smirk.

"Rin," she answered tersely, gulping down the drink in a second, then heaving a small sigh. "I expected something stronger," she added with a disappointed tone.

Liam raised his brows slightly, not expecting Rin to answer.

But then again, the Struggle Tribulation reconstructed the entire body and made it stronger than ever.

It was no surprise that she had hearing again, and a mellow voice to add.

The acolyte coughed awkwardly, and their conversation suffered an abrupt end.

Liam smiled coldly to himself.

'They're looking for me.'