Numbers x Casket-Chapter 37: Inked Devil

Before Riel Nightfall’s reign, during his father’s era, there was an existence considered on par with the Grand Lord.

His strange magic left a deep impression on the people. In his prime, he was considered the strongest battle mage ever to exist.

With his plain-looking blade, invasions turned into failure as he led countless fiends out of the borders of Celestia. His name was being feared in the entirety of Oriental Plains.

A man with the strength of a sea of beasts. His body covered with ink, on his back was a soaring blue dragon, while a red phoenix spreading its wings occupied his chest. Even his arms and legs all the way to his feet bore images of a beast.

And they were not just ordinary markings; they were alive. Each of them was a real creature storming towards the battlefield along with their master, Lien Astrum, the Inked Devil.

. . . . .

Efraim stared at Lindsay’s grandfather, at the tattoos on his body to be exact. The phoenix on his chest gave him chills, while a horned gorilla was hanging on his right arm, and underneath it was a rat resting on the back of his hand.

"My pets are quite shy; don’t look at them for too long," Lien said, smiling as he found the appraiser’s stunned expression quite amusing.

"A-Are they alive?" Efraim asked out of curiosity.

However, the old man didn’t reply right away; he kept his silence for a moment and instead raised his left arm, where a white wolf could be seen sitting on it.

The next second, the image disappeared, and a dire wolf materialized beside the old man. It let out an ear-piercing howl, and streaks of lightning flickered around it.

"As long as there’s still a breath left within me, they are real and will continue to exist," Lien declared and patted the beast’s head.

Meanwhile, the appraiser felt chills, not because of what he heard but because of the floating numbers above the dire wolf. It was gleaming with a golden color.

’Don’t tell me, all those beasts have the same hue as well?’ Efraim asked inside his thoughts.

Then, the old man waved his hand, and the dire wolf disappeared next to him. Afterward, he looked straight at the young appraiser and spoke.

"Your swordsmanship reminds me of something. Though I’m not familiar with Twin Blades Reverse Grip, it’s a very powerful technique. Partnered with your immense speed, your fighting style is more like that of an assassin," he imparted.

The next second, he struck his sword on the floor and pointed at it.

"But you lack strength in your swings due to how you hold your blades, to the point that I found your slashes hollow; you’ll definitely have a hard time dealing with creatures with tough skin," he added, pointing out a major flaw in the appraiser’s skills.

Efraim couldn’t help but nod upon hearing the old man’s remark. After all, he was right; attacking while holding the blades in a reverse grip made the attack a lot faster, but it decreased the strength of the slashes compared to when they were held in a standard pattern.

However, that was not the case for a member of Espada; their Flair allowed them to cut anything without exerting a lot of effort, making the reverse grip swordsmanship a perfect technique for them.

"Your opponent is the child of Chronos; their family excelled in using time manipulation. They can enhance their speed, like fast-forwarding the time, and slow their opponents by dulling their time reaction," Lien stated.

Then he inhaled a deep breath and spoke again.

"You’ll be a good match for him, speed against speed, but I’m afraid from what I’ve seen today, you’re bound to lose against him," he added without averting his gaze from the appraiser’s eyes.

Then, he looked at Efraim’s right arm and ordered.

"Sheathe your blades, show me the strength of that fist," Lien said.

Upon hearing his remark, Efraim squinted his eyes.

’He knew,’ he thought.

Afterward, without wasting another second, he put his weapons inside their respective scabbards and raised his fist at the level of his chest.

Then, when the old man gestured for him to come, he leaped forward, pulled back his right arm, and swung it, aiming for his opponent’s face.

Lien stared for a moment at the incoming fist from above, contemplating if he would block the attack or dodge. Seconds before the collision, he decided to leap backward as he sensed an extraordinary strength coming from the appraiser’s arm.

Due to him evading at the last second, Efraim’s fist hit the concrete floor, and the place trembled as it was destroyed, creating a massive crater several feet below ground. While cracks appeared on the walls all the way to the ceiling.

Lien, even Lindsay, who was watching from the sideline, gasped in amazement. They were stunned at how strong the appraiser’s punch was.

"I made the right choice, evading," the old man commented with an awkward smile plastered on his face.

’But this strength—how did he manage to obtain such power?’ he added inside his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Efraim glanced at the destruction he had caused and looked at his fist. He attacked with his greatest and didn’t hold back.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to destroy your place," Efraim asked for forgiveness as soon as he noticed Lien staring at him from a distance.

Upon hearing his apology, the old man’s laughter reverberated in the entire room, and he plunged downward and approached him with a smile.

"It surprised me! You really want to kill me with that one!" Lien exclaimed and burst into laughter.

Efraim scratched the back of his head and smiled. He couldn’t find the words to say, so he just stared at the old man and waited for his next set of words.

"With that kind of strength, even the dragon protected with the toughest scales would be turned into minced meat. How did you obtain that kind of power? Is it your Flair?" Lien bombarded him with questions. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The appraiser felt glad upon hearing his remark; however, he pondered if there was a need for him to answer the old man’s question.

"You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to," Lien said upon seeing the hesitation in his eyes.

"Is my expression that obvious?" Efraim replied, and the old man nodded as a confirmation.

Then, they both ended in a laughter. Afterward, one of the tattoos from Lien’s body came to life as it vanished and appeared next to him.

Its size was twice as tall as a human, and its arms were wide enough for the appraiser to hide. Black fur covered the entirety of its body, while a long, black horn protruded from its forehead.

Efraim gulped as he stared at the towering creature; his left eye shifted into a cyan blue color as he examined the monster.

’It really has a golden hue as well,’ he thought.

Lien noticed the sudden changes in his eye, but he didn’t delve into it any further; instead, he started to impart his teachings to him.

"You have the speed and the strength, but your style of fighting is not really suitable to your abilities. You wield the swords, and your strength becomes useless. Why don’t you try using a blade and a gauntlet?" he asked, his voice laced with seriousness.

"A gauntlet?" Efraim repeated, contemplating.

"Should I change the way I held the blade?" he added.

The old man shook his head upon hearing his query.

"No, you don’t have to. At first I wanted you to discard both blades and replace them with gauntlets, but I presume you only have that kind of strength in your right arm," Lien answered, and the appraiser nodded.

Then, he gestured his hand towards the massive beast next to him.

"Give him a punch in the stomach with your right, the strongest you could muster," he ordered.

Efraim felt puzzled by the command; the old man was fully aware of the strength of his attack, and yet he still wanted him to perform such on his summons.

"Don’t worry about it; this beast here could handle that much," Lien said after seeing the doubt in the appraiser’s eyes.

"Then don’t put the blame on me if it ends up getting killed," Efraim chuckled and went in front of the massive creature.

The next second, he pulled back his arm and slammed his fist straight into the gorilla. However, to his surprise, the impact of his attack was absorbed by its stomach, and it even sent Efraim flying backward as its belly bounced back at him.

"W-What happened?" Efraim uttered, his eyes squinting as he stared at the beast.

Lien laughed at his confused expression and explained. "This is exactly the reason why I changed my mind about suggesting for you to discard the blade."

He walked in front of the gorilla and tapped its stomach with the back of his hand and looked at the appraiser.

"In the wilderness, there are creatures with similar properties like this one; raw strength is ineffective against them as their body composition absorbs most of the impact," Lien conveyed.

Efraim nodded while digesting the old man’s words. He was about to reply when he heard a voice coming inside his mind.

’Actually, he’s right about that, but you have one more thing in your arsenal, and it’s a lot more dangerous...’ it said with a gentle chuckle at the end.

Then, after a second, the voice spoke again.

’Your blood.’

. . . . .