Born in Blood

530  Mediator

There were a few things that Liam realized from the two cuttlefish's brief talk. First, was the location of the Axolotl princess! Although it wasn't explicit, there were a few keywords that he picked up on. 'Slime cocoon,' 'lava,' 'still a few hours left.' There was just one volcanic structure within the entirety of the Stonehedge Deep, which was located on the furthest boundary of the Quadrant. More likely than not, that's where the original criminals had used as a hideout. The cuttlefish agents had found them, killed them, then took their forms to throw Liam off their trail. If he had been just a few more minutes late, perhaps they would have gotten away with it.

Perhaps.

But they didn't. And now they were bound by his cruel strings, their regeneration unable to heal or repair their disgusting wounds. They looked like tied pieces of chicken awaiting the rotisserie.

There was also something else Liam picked up on.

'Who's Gorock?' he thought.

They seemed afraid of him… or her. Even more so than Bill and his organization. Judging by what they mistook his regeneration as, it probably had something to do with a sea creature with unique blood abilities. Liam pursed his lips. If they were particularly unique, he could track down and give this… 'Gorock' a visit. Just to ask him a few friendly questions, of course! Not dissect and rip them apart for a closer look!

Not at all!

Liam looked at the cuttlefish again. They were slowly waking up from their semi-unconscious state, drifting in and out. Liam gave them a second to get their bearings. Then, he rubbed his hands together, then smashed both their soft heads together.

BANG!

Instantly, they woke up discombobulated, their eyes filled with shock, dread and confusion, mixed into one convoluted emotion. Liam crouched over them and smiled, their eyes meeting his own. "Who's the CEO of Aquamarine Global?" Liam asked, still smiling. "Die," uttered Davy.

"Kill yourself," cursed Jones.

Both sounded like they were in morbid amounts of pain.

Despite that, they still mustered the energy to curse him out.

Liam had that effect on people. "Thought you'd respond as much," Liam said with a sigh. Liam's right hand twitched. BLRSSHHHH!

Jones exploded in a glorious spray of red, his innards spewing out like vomit from both ends. Turns out, when they aren't taking the form of another creature, their base defenses are even weaker than most Rank 3 specimens. Liam didn't even intend to kill him!

Well, he did, but he wanted to make it slow and excruciating… not so fast.

This was fine too, he supposed. Davy's eyes widened with shock and horror, a cold shiver spreading through his wounded tentacles and ribbon-like fins. "Who's the CEO of Aquamarine Global?" Liam repeated as the viscera and innards tainted the murky waters. "I don't know," Davy responded defiantly. "They aren't one to show their face."

"How do they order you to do your missions then?" The cuttlefish went silent for a few seconds. Subtly, Liam twitched his finger, and the strings tightened a little further. "Ugh… we… we have a Mediator!" Davy groaned through a bloody mouth, sounding very much in anguish. "I've never met them!"

"Who's the Mediator?" "A Black Razorfish!" Davy screamed in pain. "What's his name?"

"I just told you!" Davy cried. "Black Razorfish?" Liam arched his brow. That was a weird name.

Of course, he knew the species. They were thin, vertical-swimming fish that resembled thin razors. At least, back on Earth. He had no clue what they looked like here.

"Mediator! Mediator! He's called the Mediator!" "Ah, I misunderstood you."

"Yes, yes! Now end the pain! End the pain!"

"Wait, I'm not finished yet—who's Gorock?" The cuttlefish spasmed and screamed in agony. An aura of death was creeping over him now, dimming the faint light in his eyes. "Gup you!" he cursed.

Liam sighed, then loosened the strings.

Confused, Davy's eyes suddenly flashed with horror and dread.

Liam grabbed him by the head… then began absorbing him! Alive!

"No!" Davy screamed as his face was sinking into Liam's flesh. "Stop! Stop it! Stop… sto–"

By the time he finished uttering its final word, which was 'sto', Liam had absorbed Davy's mouth and lower body.

Slowly, his form began to change…into a cuttlefish!

Liam's hands retracted, his feet sucked back into his body, his lips transformed into a mop of tentacles, his eyes swirled and bent into an 'W' shape. And his skin was pulsing with waves of rainbow colors. Instantly, he felt the extraordinary shapeshifting abilities that came with the specimen. Contrary to how Liam's blood transformed in tandem with his body, the cuttlefish's body alone was responsible for the changes.

Yet, his core was still the same, and he hadn't gained the extra core that came with the sea creatures.

However, he already knew what that was.

It was a pseudo-core that guaranteed the Seakind to have the water element, along with their true core and spare element. That meant literally every creature in the ocean was a dual elementalist!

Liam also failed to gain any insight into the cuttlefish's Path… which was disappointing, to say the least. A moment later, he gradually transformed himself into a Stonefish. Quickly, Liam realized something.

Although he took their exact form, he lacked their defensive abilities! That meant that his skin was still as soft as a cuttlefish's. "So it was their Path that allowed them to take both the elements and physique, but in terms of everything else, they're horrible."

"If I had to guess, it had something to do with Manifestation and Invisibility." "It's a shame my body can't scan their Paths, too. Then again, I'd get nerfed again in some stupid way."

Liam was self conscious about it at this point. Even if he gained an insane power like absorbing other peoples' Paths, it'd probably come with some stupid side effect… like losing the ability to invent his own.

'Right,' Liam thought, immediately reverting to his original form. A moment later, he kicked his tail and shot towards the crystalized blood gate, shattering it from the center and bursting through the other side. KRSH!

Liam was making a beeline for the volcano.