Living in the mountains had granted Liam a sort of animalistic sixth sense, which rang the alarms at that interaction. The hairless, slightly chubby head that had peeked out of the caravan's curtains featured a gentle smile, but a chill ran down Liam's back anyway.
'Is he really human?' Liam couldn't help but think as his dark eyes widened in fear.
The Recruiters Guild's envoy was a creature Liam couldn't gauge with the experience amassed in Krosstoen's mountain. He was only certain that he was hopelessly outclassed, which could only mean one thing.
That was Liam's first meeting with an actual cultivator.
In the mountain, running away was the only option against a direct meeting with a superior predator, but Liam suppressed that acquired urge. His instinctive fear didn't freeze him. If anything, it confirmed that cultivators wielded the strength he sought.
So, Liam held his breath and climbed the few steps into the caravan, crossing its curtains as the chubby face disappeared behind them.
The ride's wooden insides were quite barren, its dim environment illuminated by a lantern hanging from its roof. A metal basin rested on the floor, with the chubby man sitting on its opposite side.
Liam could inspect the envoy now. The man wore a tidy, clean green robe with long sleeves and a picture of an open, white scroll sewn on his chest, further confirming his membership in the Recruiters Guild.
Still, instead of the strikingly rare clean clothes, Liam focused on the man's size.
'How did he get there so quickly?' Liam wondered, astonished.
The space inside the caravan was narrow. Even a skinny child would have trouble getting to the bottom with the metal basin standing in the way.
However, the chubby envoy had gotten there without creating a single ripple in the clear liquid in the basin. Moreover, he had done so after retreating inside the curtains, completing the task before Liam could cross them, which couldn't have taken longer than a second.
Liam was quick, but not as quick. He also couldn't imagine mustering such speed without causing a ruckus or spilling the basin's liquid. The stories said that cultivators were far beyond mortals, and Liam obtained undeniable proof now.
"Before we begin," The envoy said, unaffected by Liam's evident shock, "I must confirm that you bear the Dragon's approval."
Liam had yet to recover from the experience but pulled up his right sleeve anyway, exposing the dragon-shaped burn to the lantern's light.
Despite not being Liam's first time going through that procedure, his body tensed up. He had never been checked by an actual cultivator, and the previous scene made him wonder whether those incredible figures had mysterious methods that could uncover his mark's secret.
Nevertheless, the chubby envoy nodded after a single glance, his gentle smile broadening as he gestured at a spot on the other side of the basin.
"No need to be so tense, Liam," The man reassured. "I'm Carl from the Recruiters Guild. Please, take a seat."
Pleasantries and pretenses weren't Liam's strong suit, but he was big on imitation. He perfectly mimicked Carl's stance, sitting cross-legged in front of the basin before letting his genuine honesty speak for him.
"Sir Uncle Carl, what did the villagers say about me?" Liam asked, pulling down his ragged sleeve.
"It wasn't just the villagers," Carl chuckled, amused by the strange way in which Liam had addressed him. "You might have tricked the nearby villages, but the Guild has long since known about a child with outstanding strength protecting Krosstoen's mountain on his own."
"The mountain made me strong," Liam nodded in all seriousness.
"Not just strong, am I correct?" Carl laughed, warmed by Liam's honesty. "You are also a capable hunter."
"My father taught me well," Liam revealed. "He was the village's hunter."
Carl noticed the "was" but didn't say anything. Liam also began to scratch his right forearm in a spot that gave a clear hint to the cultivator, but the latter avoided mentioning anything again.
Everyone knew how bloody the Bloodline Screening had been. Liam was only one of the countless kids it had affected.
Still, it wasn't the Guild's place to exclude those kids from the test when the Dragon King himself had cleared them. Besides, spotting talents could bring huge benefits, and what Carl had heard about Liam made him hopeful.
"A strong body is a good sign," Carl announced, changing the topic, "For the body is the soil where the dantian's roots can sprout."
"Dantian?" Liam asked, relaxing a bit.
"Your core," Carl explained. "It's the organ where cultivators gather their Qi."
'Qi?' Liam wondered, keeping the question in his mind now, but his face betrayed his confusion.
"Don't worry about this yet," Carl chuckled. "Pour some blood into the basin. A single drop will be enough to see whether the Heavens have blessed you."
Liam didn't hesitate to follow those instructions. The talk about his father reminded him why he was doing all that, so he ran his forefinger on the knife in his belt, carving a shallow cut on its tip, before hovering it over the basin.
Liam squeezed his fingertip with his thumb until a drop of blood fell into the basin, immediately causing a reaction in its clear liquid.
The drop disappeared, but the liquid instantly brightened, shining with white light that soon overcame the lantern's illumination.
'Whoa!' Liam thought, his eyes going wide. That reaction was nothing short of magical, appealing to the innocence of his young age.
Carl experienced a similar marvel, his mouth and eyes opening in pleased shock, which loosened his tongue.
"In all my years of performing this test…" Carl gasped. "I have never witnessed a sign of such pristine talent! The blood of the Ancestral Beasts must be strong in you!"
'I have talent?!' Liam cried in his mind, which began to echo the screams and voices burned in his memory. It seemed he could truly become a cultivator, his innocent excitement stained by the dark feelings from his goal.
"A friend teases me about carrying the Ancestral Ape's bloodline," Liam revealed. "Is that good?"
"Maybe the Ape of Fury's blood does run through you," Carl explained, calculations already happening in his mind. "The clash among the Ancestral Beasts made their blood rain over this plane and beyond. We all became part of their bloodlines on that distant day."
Precise details about that story were limited to cultivators, but Carl didn't mind disclosing some to earn Liam's trust.
The basin's test was far from perfect, but such bright and intensifying light was an unmistakable sign of talent. Some Sects would pay a fortune to secure such a disciple, a fortune that could go to the Recruiters Guild if it played a role in that matter.
"You could even be a direct descendant!" Carl added, smiling from ear to ear.
'Am I really a monkey-boy?' Liam wondered, checking himself. He wasn't that hairy. Adrian had him beat in that regard, actually, so he couldn't really imagine having an ape as an ancestor.
Still, something suddenly changed, Liam's nose noticing it before his eyes could. A foul scent reached his nostrils while the white light from the basin vanished, the liquid inside it turning pitch-black and slimy.
Bubbles also inflated and burst on the black liquid's surface, releasing dark trails of dense smoke that made Carl jump to his feet and cover his nose with his sleeve.
Liam reacted quickly. Carl's move hinted at the liquid's danger, so he also jumped to his feet and retreated. Meanwhile, a shattering noise brought his gaze to the caravan's ceiling. The lantern's glass had broken, and its flame soon vanished, bringing darkness to that isolated environment.
The darkness was short-lived since the dark smoke corroded the fabric above, carving a few holes in it and letting the outside illumination shine on the basin.
Then, the piece of cloth from which the lantern was hanging broke, too, making it fall into the basin, which had lost all its liquid by then. Clinging noises resounded as metal bounced on metal, signaling the end of that strange development.
Liam didn't know what any of that meant. He glanced at his forefinger, slightly concerned about his own blood, before the matter at hand reclaimed his attention.
"So, Sir Uncle Carl," Liam called. "When can I become a cultivator?"