The rain only grew heavier, turning the mountain into a challenging environment to cross. Its inclined and uneven surface had long since become muddy and unstable, but that wasn't a problem for the two figures navigating it.
Liam didn't know why, but he had ended up following Crazy Uncle, who had begun to leave without waiting for his answer. The event had been so sudden that Liam had brought the dragon-shaped stamp with him and was using it to scratch the very burn it had created.
Still, the downpour, itch, and previous rejection couldn't occupy Liam's brain while he stared at the old man's back. Everything about him was different, from his firm, steady walking pace to the whole aura that surrounded him.
Crazy Uncle didn't feel as dangerous as Carl, but appeared infinitely more mysterious. If anything, he was far harder to gauge, making Liam wary but also curious.
Also, there was that odd detail with the rain. Liam clearly saw drops falling on Crazy Uncle's hair, only to fail to make it wet. That went against everything Liam knew, but also told him another thing.
Somehow, Crazy Uncle might also be a cultivator, rekindling Liam's hopes in embarking on that journey.
Hence, Liam followed Crazy Uncle silently, pushing away the screams and voices from his memory rising in his ears, constantly scratching his forearm as the two dived deeper into the mountain's forest.
Liam knew where Crazy Uncle lived, but rarely ventured so deep into the mountain. That was boars' territory after all, and they didn't like invaders.
Yet, nothing approached the two. Just like the rain, it seemed Crazy Uncle's presence was keeping any potential interference away, making their climb as uneventful as possible.
A narrow opening in an inclined rocky wall eventually appeared ahead, and Crazy Uncle swiftly entered it, walking sideways. Liam hesitated only for a second after the old man's figure disappeared inside, but ultimately pressed ahead.
That wasn't Liam's first time seeing that entrance, but he had never scoured its insides out of respect for the old man's privacy.
The narrow cavity turned out to be quite short, opening into a circular underground chamber, most of the rocky ceiling covered in green moss. Meanwhile, four candles flickered on the ground, illuminating the environment and the odd pool they encircled.
The pool had no rainwater. Instead, a slimy, dark-green liquid swirled inside it without needing external input. It seemed to possess a will of its own that filled Liam with the same dread he had experienced in Carl's presence.
'What's with cultivators and strange liquids?' Liam wondered, not daring to voice that thought, his black eyes glued to Crazy Uncle, attentively following him.
Crazy Uncle seemed to have forgotten about Liam's existence ever since he had started walking. He didn't address him now that they had reached his cave, either, instead pacing around the pool, immersed in a mumbling that carried no actual words.
Nevertheless, the mumbling had an effect on the pool. The dark-green liquid inside stirred at Crazy Uncle's voice, its swirling changing trajectory, creating opposing waves that crashed onto each other to rise and merge.
The liquid cleared under that activity, its green shades becoming more prominent, and everything settled once Crazy Uncle finished circling the pool, stopping at its edge, showing his back to Liam.
"Strip and immerse yourself," Crazy Uncle eventually said.
Liam couldn't help but blink, leaning to his right to peek at the pool past the old man's figure. The green liquid had calmed down, becoming completely still, but Liam's instincts told him to stay as far away as possible from it nonetheless.
Now, Liam was quite desperate.
Liam had gone through his options countless times over the decade he had spent in the mountain. He was far from knowledgeable, and Krosstoen's village didn't offer any opportunity to change that, so he had long since concluded that becoming a cultivator was the only path that might lead to his family's murderers.
However, Liam's sense of self-preservation was also strong. Despite his internal turmoil, he wouldn't just jump into what looked like a toxic pool, especially when such a strange man had given the order.
"Crazy Uncle, who are you?" Liam probed.
"The son of the Ancestral Turtle," Crazy Uncle revealed, "Just like the King is the son of the Ancestral Dragon."
Liam's eyebrows arched in surprise, his curiosity formulating another question. "Is that story true? Did the Ancestral Beasts truly exist?"
That part of the story was common knowledge, but Liam was a simple boy from a poor village. Legendary beings like the Ancestral Beasts, capable of making rain blood over the entire Kingdom and beyond, sounded like nothing but fairy tales to him.
"Long ago," Crazy Uncle announced, "The balance among the seven Ancestral Beasts broke, leading to a conflict that threatened to shatter the very plane we all live in."
Liam nodded silently. He knew that part and didn't forget about the new details he had learned from Carl.
"There were two sides," Crazy Uncle continued. "The one led by the Dragon of Perfection won, and balance was restored."
That piece of history was also common knowledge. The Dragon of Pride had come out victorious from the clash among the Ancestral Beasts, establishing itself as the strongest of them.
'Is that why the Dragon King is the King?' Liam wondered, not knowing how much of that old legend translated into the reality of the current times.
"To seek revenge is to seek power," Crazy Uncle added, peeking behind his shoulder to eye Liam still scratching his forearm with the metal stamp. "I can only show you the door, but you must be the one to cross it."
Liam's black eyes widened as he squeezed his grip on the metal stamp while hiding it behind his back. He didn't want to be exposed twice in a day, so he focused on another detail that left him confused.
"Crazy Uncle," Liam called, his gaze going over the rocky chamber. "What door?"
The old man didn't blink at Liam's ignorant question. He simply waved his dirty sleeve at the green pool.
"That's a big puddle," Liam pointed out, but Crazy Uncle didn't speak anymore, turning to face the pool again.
Clearly, the strange old man truly wanted Liam to step inside that green liquid, and everything boiled down to what the latter was willing to do.
"Will the puddle make me a cultivator?" Liam asked.
"It will make you what you are meant to be," Crazy Uncle responded.
Liam frowned, not liking that unclear reply at all, but his pickle remained. He could turn back now, giving up on avenging his family forever. Or, he could step into what was probably a suicidal bath, hoping that the man who answered to "Crazy Uncle" could give him what he needed.
Truth be told, as soon as Liam considered his options, he realized he didn't have much of a choice. Maybe time might make him forget the screams and voices he had burned in his memory, but his itch wouldn't go. That annoying sensation would always act as a reminder of what he had given up.
So, Liam removed his bow and quiver from his back and loosened his ragged, grey robe, quickly slipping out of it to remain naked. He was about to leave the metal stamp behind, too, when the old man said otherwise.
"Bring the dragon stamp with you," Crazy Uncle ordered.
Liam complied, not thinking much about it as he crossed the old man, stopping at the pool's edge for a second to test its liquid with his right toes.
The liquid felt strangely fine, warm, but no different than water. Despite its appearance, it wasn't slimy at all, emboldening Liam and making him dive carefully into it.
"What is your name?" Crazy Uncle asked while Liam had yet to reach the pool's center.
"Liam," Liam replied, his arms raised to keep the stamp out of the liquid that had reached his chest by then.
"Do you know what that means?" Crazy Uncle questioned.
"Protector," Liam nodded, stopping in his tracks, inevitably looking down. His father had been the one to explain that meaning to him, as well as what it implied. At least, what it should have implied.
"Is that why you decided to protect this mountain?" Crazy Uncle wondered. "Because you couldn't protect your family?"
Liam's head snapped back, glaring at the old man still at the pool's edge. He knew his guilt in the Screening from ten years ago, but couldn't appreciate Crazy Uncle mentioning it.
"What is this?" Liam called, his gaze snapping to the knife and bow past the old man before refocusing on him. "Have you been spying on me?"
"I'm merely an agent of the Wise Turtle," Crazy Uncle declared. "May the fate it has predicted now unfold."
Liam frowned, but his itch suddenly flared with unfathomable intensity, making him dizzy enough to release his grip on the metal stamp.
The item fell into the green liquid and sizzled loudly, but Liam only caught the beginning of that process since his mind went blank in the next second.