Chapter 40: The Poisoned Silence
Liam stepped into the punishment hall without hesitation. The massive doors sealed shut behind him with a final, resounding thud that echoed through the darkness like a tomb being closed.
The air inside was heavy, damp, and carried a faint metallic tang mixed with something older, something that tasted like despair and forgotten screams.
He walked forward slowly, his hand trailing lightly across the cold stone wall. With every touch, he left behind faint traces of his echo sense, invisible ripples that mapped the surroundings in his mind.
The walls were rough, etched with countless scratches and old bloodstains. He marked each turn, each corner, each suspicious crack with precise mental notes.
Yet he sensed no presence, no guards, no other prisoners, no living thing at all. Only silence. Deep, oppressive silence.
Liam didn't speak. His footsteps were as silent as possible, barely disturbing the dust on the floor. He moved like a ghost in the dark, conserving every ounce of energy.
Inside Anki's blade mind, he was deep in thought. "His personality has changed so deeply after the fight against that tree." The ego spirit observed quietly. "I knew the darkness writhing inside him was constantly shifting, evolving… but this is truly mind-blowing."
A strange mix of concern and excitement filled Anki. "He used to hesitate. He used to weigh every action. Now… he simply acts. The massacre in the village, the calm smile while facing Dabara… it's like something inside him finally woke up and decided to stop pretending."
Anki's sword body trembled slightly with joy. "As long as you grow strong, I do not care if you become the psychopath of the heavens."
Meanwhile, as Liam moved deeper into the punishment hall, he began to feel it, a sort of poisoning. Not the kind that affected flesh or blood, but something far more insidious. It seeped into the soul itself, subtle at first, like cold fingers brushing against his spirit core.
It made his aura circulation feel sluggish, heavy, as if invisible weights were being tied to his meridians.
"Wait!" Anki yelled suddenly through their bond, alarm clear in his voice.
Liam kept moving without a care, his steps still silent and measured. "Anki, don't you feel it? Something is deep within this place."
Anki didn't respond immediately. The ego spirit seemed to be scanning frantically.
Finally, his voice came back, urgent and sharp. "Do not go further or else you will be seriously poisoned. We are in a foreign land. We do not know what this place holds, so we need to proceed with caution."
Liam raised his head slightly and came to a halt. He stood still for a moment, listening to the oppressive silence around him. Then he nodded once.
"Fine. We will wait here for now."
He sat down cross-legged on the cold stone floor, back straight, hands resting on his knees. Slowly, he began circulating his aura.
But this was no ordinary circulation. Liam planned something far more ambitious, he intended to cultivate aura directly to his brain, creating multiple aura points from his brain stem all the way down to his abdomen.
It was a risky, almost suicidal technique he had been conceptualizing since the fight with the Mother Tree. If successful, it would drastically increase his processing speed, reaction time, and control over his abyssal energies.
Anki trembled in shock inside the bond. "Is this child suicidal?" The ego spirit thought frantically. "Directing aura chains into the brain stem? One mistake and he could fry his own mind or collapse his soul foundation!"
From Liam's abdomen, he directed a careful chain of aura circulation upward toward his brain stem. The energy moved slowly at first, like a thin thread of violet light weaving through his meridians.
Almost immediately, his head bent sharply to the side as a strange, electric sensation flowed into the midpoint of his brain. It felt like liquid fire mixed with ice, painful, exhilarating, and deeply invasive.
He moved his head side to side several times, adjusting the flow, testing the limits. Then, with a sudden motion, he threw his head backward.
Black flows of liquid now passed through his veins, especially visible along his neck, moving like living worms beneath the skin. The dark energy pulsed and twisted, fighting against his normal aura while simultaneously merging with it in dangerous harmony.
Anki watched in horrified fascination. "What the hell is he doing?" Anki thought, unable to hide his worry. This isn't normal cultivation.
He's forcing his soul and body into a new configuration while poisoned. If the punishment hall's soul poison reacts badly to this…
Liam remained completely still on the outside, eyes closed, breathing slow and controlled. Inside, the battle was raging. The black worm-like flows fought against his new aura chains, trying to corrupt them. He pushed harder, refining the circulation, creating the first true multi-point connection between brain and aura core.
The sensation was excruciating. His vision swam with darkness even though he was already blind.
Phantom pains shot through his skull. Yet he didn't stop. A faint smile still played on his lips, the same calm, almost joyful smile he had worn while facing Dabara.
Anki could only watch and wait, trembling with a mixture of fear and pride. "He's changing too fast. The tree awakened something in him.The village massacre awakened even more. Now he's willingly walking into soul poison just to push his limits further."
Minutes turned into hours. Liam sat motionless in the dark cell, black veins pulsing along his neck and temples while violet aura threads wove through his brain stem. The punishment hall's insidious soul poison continued to seep in, trying to erode his will, but Liam used it as fuel, forcing the two opposing energies to clash and refine each other.
Outside the cell, the academy continued its normal operations. No one knew what was happening inside the punishment grounds except for a select few. White Myrtle had already reported back to Dabara, and Lady Vera was likely watching from afar with her usual amused smile.
But deep inside the darkness, Liam Heart was no longer just surviving.
He was evolving.
His personality constantly changing from a cautious survivor to someone who embraced the abyss fully.
The massacre in the village had cemented it like a baptism in blood. Now, locked away in the punishment hall, he was turning even the academy's attempt to break him into another stepping stone.
Anki's voice finally broke the long silence in their bond, soft but filled with reluctant acceptance.
"…Just don't die, you mad child."
Liam's only response was the continued, steady circulation of aura, from abdomen to brain, and brain to abdomen. forging something new and dangerous inside himself.
The the blind boy from Daveron was determined to come out stronger than ever.