Born in Blood-Chapter 564: Research

The Binding Oath was set.

Gorock grumbled. Perhaps at the notion that he would live paralyzed for three months.

Despite that, his eyes softened ever so slightly, at the notion that he was going to live, at the very least.

Liam stood at the center of the Research Room, his curious gaze sweeping the knowledge-rich space.

He had to admit, this was quite the set up.

Specialized benches were neatly set, vials of purified blood were packaged in wooden shelves, and a iron cauldron boiling with some sort of grayish chemical mixture was placed by the furthest wall, beside the assortment of ornate alchemic tools and bitter-smelling, rare plants hanging off the stone wall.

"Nice place," Liam said, pleased.

Gorock grumbled. Comments like these made him infuriated, but he could not express his true disdain.

He was powerless.

Powerless for 3 months.

Liam gave everything a quick examination.

Everything here was inscribed, even the vials and benches. From a glance, he could tell they were all made to speed up processes, or even slow them down. Some even had microscopes installed to give a smaller perspective on things.

It was a good thing the King’s Eye came with that installed. Heck, it was a telescope, too.

"How long have you been researching the lamprey?" Liam asked.

"Thirty-five years."

Liam gave an impressed hum. When Liam was five years old, lips wet with milk and still reading books on cultivation, Gorock had been under the sea making scientific breakthroughs.

...Now look at him. Paralyzed and wallowing in defeat.

How the mighty fall.

Liam made his way over to what seemed like an ancient chest. No keyhole or opening mechanism in sight.

"Do I have to ask?" Liam said.

Gorock grumbled. He’d been grumbling a lot for the past few hours. "Prick my right thumb and drip a droplet on its center."

Liam did exactly that, and the chest creaked open automatically, revealing a wide range of important documents and Blood Arts.

Liam smiled broadly.

This was the motherload. He could see the core techniques that Gorock had used during their fight.

Among them was the anti-regeneration, and formless blood manipulation that the vampire used.

He could read them naturally, since they were all written in the vampiric language, similar to Liam’s Blood Weave.

...Obviously, this didn’t mean he understood them perfectly. He would have to fill in the gaps to grasp the full picture, but this was more than enough for that.

There was also something called ’Transfusion’, which Liam could only assume was Gorock’s ability to sacrifice blood for temporary power.

Among them were also incomplete, and or scrapped techniques. Funny enough, Liam recognized two abilities similar to Expel and Admit.

’He’s slowly getting the picture together. He just needs to tie the charge up with the explosion.’

Admit, on the other hand, seemed far more complicated for Gorock to get right, since it involved integrating the blood of other creatures into his own.

Liam threw those to the side and pocketed everything else as though they were his own. freewebnøvel.coɱ

Gorock had a quiet fire burning in his eyes.

Liam ignored him.

"Counter regeneration methods are not unique," Gorock said, as though annoyed by Liam’s ignorance. "Every slightly exceptional Zenith has ways to combat healing. Otherwise, fights would never end."

Liam gave a brief, "Hm," in response. He hadn’t known.

Still, at least he had somewhat of a head-start in perfecting the technique, including on working on an... anti-anti-regeneration method.

Who was to say it wasn’t possible?

"Is this all of it? I have to say, there aren’t as many as I thought there would be."

Gorock grimaced.

"That’s all. I’m a scientist, not a fighter."

That was it for the techniques, then.

However, research wise, the findings were abundant. Liam shuffled through a book about theoretical ways to utilize regeneration speed, and he was genuinely mesmerized by the evidence involved.

Liam looked impressed.

Another book was authored on how to thicken blood viscosity, as well as listing the pros and cons of having a thinner, or thicker blood density.

The former would allow for faster transformations and quicker attacks, while the latter would increase durability and power.

’So that’s why his arcs and attacks were so fast. He’s thinned his blood.’

Liam’s eyes shone.

Another book, and this one he valued the most out of them all... were secret methods to counter and utilize the weaknesses of vampires.

Liam stored all the books to read at another time.

Truth be told, he would want nothing more than to sit down and give them all a thorough read, expanding their knowledge.

...But there was no time.

Liam knew there was a limit to Bill’s patience. He had to begin the Tomb’s exploration as fast as possible if he didn’t want any problem to arise between them.

He probably had a few more months before then.

Right.

He should probably get to it.

Liam looked at Gorock.

"Alright. I don’t like my meal to speak to me, so I’ll just disable all your senses. You’ll grow your parts right out when we’re done and dusted."

Gorock felt a cold shiver of cringe and frustration, letting out a long, deep groan.

"Right. Get comfortable, I’ll wake you up when I’m done."

Putting a palm over the vampire’s shoulder, the Prince of Cruelty had gone back to a comatose state.

Liam looked carefully on where to start without making things awkward. "Legs? Highest blood concentration."

Using Disfiguration on Gorock’s legs, he transformed the limbs into bite-size portions without touching the blood contents.

He began slowly, starting with a bite just to test the potency of the vampire’s ichor.

To his pleasant surprise, as soon as he gulped it down, the blood contents spread throughout Liam’s stomach, immediately redirecting to his heart and filling it half-a-quarter of the way through.

Not a droplet entered Liam’s bloodstream. On command, of course.

His Ravenous Heart had two modes, the first allowing his body to consume blood for regeneration, and the other solely for his Heart’s progression.

This method was far more efficient compared to something that tried to combine both aspects.

Slowly... Liam’s Ravenous Heart was getting full.