In the aftermath of their confrontation, the nearby floor of the cave was shattered. The walls of the cave chamber where the fight had transpired were broken and shattered (mostly due to Liam's final move).
Amidst all this chaos, Axel was enjoying his peace while trying to find anything of value in Liam's corpse. Even after searching for a considerable time, Axel could not find anything that seemed appealing.
Almost all of Liam's belongings were makeshift items created from things that could be gathered from the forest, so none of it appealed to Axel at all.
With a small sigh, Axel moved towards the corpse of the white snake. Although through the countless books he had read, he knew that the body of a snake with such a mysterious bloodline was an unopened treasure box, the problem lay in how to utilise it at all.
The present scenario for Axel was not looking good. He was trapped in a mysterious cave on a deserted island with no way to return home. While inspecting Lia's body, Axel was worried about his ongoing prospects, as he would have to survive on this island for the foreseeable future.
'If you are worried about returning, then don't be. I have a theory that we need to test, and we might be back at your so-called mansion in no time. So focus on salvaging whatever you can from this place, and then we will test out my theory,' said Kael, sensing Axel's worries.
Axel was surprised by Kael's words and focused again on the corpses in front of him. While inspecting Lia's corpse, he noticed that one of the scales on her body was a bit different—it was pointing in a different direction compared to the other scales nearby, and some runes were inscribed on it.
Axel tried to apply some force to it to see if it was something special, and to his surprise, the scale came out. Axel could now see the scale clearly right in front of his face.
It was a small, white, shiny scale with a hint of red around its edges. The small inscriptions on the scale gave the impression of carefully placed runes, but Axel still could not figure out if the scale was truly something special. It looked special, but he knew appearances could be deceiving.
[Axel, I can feel space fluctuations from the scale you are holding,] said Gizmo.
'Okay, but what is its purpose, and would it be of any use to us?' asked Axel.
[Give me a minute or two; it will take me some time to study it,] said Gizmo.
Axel was surprised by Gizmo's speed, but then he recalled that Gizmo was something of an advanced AI, more inclined toward the bio-engineering aspect.
'Kael, while Gizmo is busy with the scale, why don't you tell me about your theory that will lead us home?' asked Axel.
'Why not, why not? But before that, kid, don't you think you're forgetting something?' asked Kael in his coy voice.
'Kael, why don't you simply say whatever is on your mind? Why do you keep talking so mysteriously?' said Axel, visibly annoyed with Kael's antics.
'Well, mystery is part of my charm, you see. But anyway, Axel, you seem to have forgotten about the blood essence of Lilith that you had absorbed earlier.'
Kael was not entirely correct in assuming that Axel had forgotten about the blood essence. Axel had concerns regarding it, but due to more pressing issues at hand, he had decided to voice his questions later. Well, Gizmo was there to tell him if something had happened to his body, so he decided to trust Gizmo to keep him safe.
'Well, we already had a small talk while we were making plans to deal with the two intruders. Gizmo did tell me that Lilith's blood essence was strengthening me as we spoke, but beyond that, neither of you elaborated on the matter,' said Axel.
'Well, at that time, we wanted all your focus to be on the fight at hand, so Gizmo didn't elaborate further. But now, I think you should know,' said Kael.
'Know what?' asked Axel.
With Kael's tone, Axel could once again feel the sense of losing control. In the battle earlier, he had thought he had controlled every aspect of the fight—until Lia started transforming into a monstrosity.
Axel was not aware, but he was slowly becoming too obsessed with the idea of having control. The combined experiences of his past and current life had him craving control and authority. His idea of power was a little different, but he still craved the freedom that came with it.
'Know that you are not entirely human anymore. It will take some time for your body to completely absorb the essence of such a high-level demon, but with time, your bloodline will be entirely converted.'
'It is not necessarily a bad thing. I, too, am a blood demon in essence, as you know. And it is a million times better than being a human who has no noticeable bloodline powers to boast, just a slightly better affinity with certain elements. So, in my opinion, it is a blessing in disguise.'
'But it also comes with certain restrictions. In the early stages of growth, like yourself, it is very difficult to obtain a powerful bloodline like the one you have just received. But at later stages, it becomes a bit of a hindrance. As you know, you will be developing some variation of the blood demon bloodline.'
'So firstly, you do not get to choose the type of bloodline you can have. Humans, on the other hand, try to reach level-5 first and then attempt to assimilate a bloodline they think would help them in their journey to conquer the elements.'
'But still, this is not that bad, as after a certain amount of time, only weak bloodlines can be assimilated—so you are definitely in a better position than them. But the main issue would be that the powerful human kingdoms-the ones that really matter—have started aligning themselves with the divines, so you would face trouble there.'
'And the second big trouble would be regarding the origin of your bloodline. But if you ever face issues in that regard, then that won't be an issue at all—hahaha! It would be like saying I've become too powerful—hahaha!' said Kael, mostly mumbling and whispering toward the end.
'I get the gist of it, but what was that you said toward the end about the origin? I couldn't understand it at all,' asked Axel.
'Don't worry about it; I'll tell you the specifics when the time comes. But what you need to know now is the "why" behind what happened and how it is related to you going back home,' said Kael.