What is that smell? I want it too!

He answered even though the younger brother was still hitting him.

"I wanted to compensate for your father's loss and asked the twins to deliver some money to your granny. But when she died, they came to talk to me. They said they felt sympathy toward you as they had suffered through a similar situation. They didn't want you two to go through the same trouble when you had the chance to have a better life. Do you know a freed one's fate who can't protect his freedom?"

"Yes," the elder brother looked down at that.

Liam looked at the elder brother and said, "Your potential is very high. You can achieve a lot when you work for it," he said. Liam picked up the younger brother, who had stopped hitting but cried into Liam's clothes.

Liam didn't know what was happening inside either of the brothers, but he felt that the younger ones' reaction was much more natural than the older brothers.

An hour later, they arrived at the riverside. A sizeable prickly snake was snoozing at the side of it. The tree kids froze at the sight of it.

Not that they understood what they were seeing. They instinctively thought that that was too big for not being dangerous.

Liam chuckled at their reactions, but that was normal after all.

The only normal ones here were the two brothers.

Liam knew that, but if the three kids could at least take a step forward, he'd see that they were capable of many things. Fortunately, the elder brother had proven himself in that regard, and Liam saw him taking a few weak steps forward.

Yong-Sun was right behind him, holding the hand of the younger brother. He was older than him, but the younger brother struggled a lot under the pressure the snake was subconsciously giving off.

Tears were on his face, but he forced himself to walk after the other two.

Liam dragged over a log and placed his things down beside it. Haru made herself comfortable near it, and Liam directed the kids to sit on the log. Then, he went to the river, calling out a name the kids had yet to hear about.

"Biff, I returned," he announced.

"Hah, I thought you'd take a little longer, but… why did you take three small ones, are they for a snack?" Liam could hear chucking as the water started to vibrate with the movement.

"No, as much as I can tell, they are yet to be tainted."

"Yes, they look pure, but why does one smell like… " he left it unfinished on purpose.

"He does, right?" he was left without an answer and continued.

"Have you encountered people like that before?"

"I have smelled a few. They usually grow powerful and die way too fast. One should be living in Meira at the moment," he added after thinking.

"Oh! That's interesting to hear; now open up,"

Liam pulled one of the pouches and emptied the liver from it into the river.

"Mmmm, yummy, that's so freaking good."

"What's that smell? I want it too!"

Nio seemed to have woken from his slumber and charged at Liam.

"Wait! Is liver that good for all of you?"

"Yes!" Nio almost shouted out of excitement.

"Fine, open up," Liam begrudgingly did as the snake wanted.

Nio had opened his large mouth, fangs dripping with poison, pouring another pouch full of liver into his mouth.

"That's it for today," he said after emptying the pouch.

"Delicious," his tongue moved as it tasted the air. He seemed to notice the three newcomers now. He looked at them curiously. He had never seen these tiny humans before.

"Why are they so small?"

"Hahahaa," Liam laughed at the stupidity of the question, and so did Biff.

"They're children, offspring of the two-legged creatures," Liam answered, trying to stop laughing.

"Why did you bring them with you?" His voice was a little off.

"I'm taking the two bigger ones to the next city, and the smaller one seems to have something interesting I want to investigate," he said, looking at the tree kids who looked frozen in fear.

"Go and digest the liver, I'll make them do something, and then I'll go hunt some food for us," he patted the snake's head and left to deal with the kids.

Nio seemed to be in some sort of daze for a moment. However, he returned to his position and closed his eyes soon after.

Liam sat down in front of the kids.

"I can answer some of your questions later. Right now, I need to check your bodies. Yong-Sun came forward," he didn't hesitate and took the two steps necessary to reach Liam.

Liam closed his eyes and concentrated on the energy inside him. He directed it into his hands, placing one hand on the boy's head and another against his stomach.

"Don't be scared. It won't hurt, and don't resist," he said quietly.

Liam's energy flowed through the boy's body, feeling all the details. His energy flowed naturally through his already formed meridians toward the core inside him. The only difference between Liam's body and the brothers' bodies was a simple fact. The meridians were closed the furder it was from the core. Liam guessed that this was due to his young age.

He seemed to be one of the few people born with it. The core started to absorb the energy Liam had poured inside him. Expanding the area around his core that could channel energy.

'So that's how it is,' Liam thought as he saw this happen.

It had been a tiny amount, and Liam didn't mind it.

Liam let the boy go back and called the older one of the brothers over.

"Do you have a name?"

"Karu. Granny and dad called me that. It is unofficial. Only the free people are allowed names," he said proudly at first but finished it weakly.

Liam smiled gently at that. "But you are free. Remember yourself every time you are called by that name," he said, looking at the boy's eyes. "Stay calm and don't resist. It won't hurt," he said and did the same to him.

He frowned when his energy entered his body. His body had started to form meridians. There was no doubt about that. There seemed to be no signs of the core formatting yet, but he didn't seem far from it.

He let the boy go and asked the younger brother if he had a name.

"Daddy and Granny called me Jin," he said proudly, looking at Liam.

"Jin, you saw what I did before. Are you scared?"

"No," he answered resolutely.

"I'll start then," the energy gathered in Liam's hands entered the boy. Liam found the same result as his brother. He let the boy leave in a minute.