The stone stairs disappeared. The boulder had covered the entirety of the trapdoor, only leaving a hole in the snow to show for its previous movement.
Once more snow fell, no one would be able to guess that the boulder could be anything more than that. The underground structure would be basically unfindable.
The boulder almost reached Liam's shoulders, vouching for its weight. Hence, seeing it move on its own so easily should have caused some sort of shock.
The same went for the underground structure. Liam couldn't even imagine how digging something like that was even possible.
Still, Liam's mind simply classified those magical things as cultivators' stuff and moved on, only sparing a few thoughts for the kids underground.
'They have food and the key,' Liam thought. 'If they have any survival instincts, they'll be fine.'
And that was it about the topic. Liam could do far more for the four kids, but didn't want to. The recent experience had left him drained, making him desire to move on with his life unburdened by that problem.
Also, Liam felt the need to be alone and see where he stood. It was as if he had fallen prey to a cruel nightmare the moment the Recruiters Guild had stopped by the village, only to awaken now changed forever.
And the first issue was where to go from there, which begged another question. The why would heavily affect the where, and it was time for Liam to find both.
As a first order of business, Liam darted toward the nearest tree, swiftly climbing it until he could step on decently high, sturdy branches.
Then, Liam began to move from tree to tree, walking a path of leafless branches to get as far away as possible from the magic boulder and the cruel home it hid.
The direction was random. Liam only cared about putting enough distance between himself and the boulder. After all, he had to believe that the white-masked man and the other hooded figure were still alive, and they might return to check on their brainwashing experiment.
The pain still radiating from Liam's back was all the warnings he needed. It had taken him all he had to kill one cultivator, so he couldn't risk facing two more.
As for the unusual path, that was to avoid leaving footprints on the snow. Sadly, the weather was relatively decent. It was snowing, but not heavily, so it might take an entire day or longer to cover the few tracks of Liam's escape.
But Liam didn't overthink it. Nothing was ever perfect. His experience in Krosstoen's mountain had taught him as much, so he focused on leaving, only stopping on a thick branch after a whole hour of travel.
The results of Liam's training showed themselves throughout the travel, and after he stopped. He had run, jumped, and swung for an hour straight, but he wasn't even sweating. Liam didn't feel tired at all, except for his sore back.
The same went for hunger and thirst. Despite the hurried, long escape, Liam felt neither of those urges.
And there was more. Now that Liam finally had time to inspect himself properly, he could see and sense how much his body had changed.
Liam had always been muscular, but that feature had deepened. He was shredded now, his skin seemingly hiding unbendable steel. The same went for his fingers, which the torturous conditioning seemed to have turned into iron.
That wasn't the body of a boy anymore. It wasn't even the strong body Liam had developed in the mountains. The Divine Cult had turned him into a weapon, who now had no wielder or clear target.
At that point, Liam sat down, squeezing himself on the branch, leaning his back against the trunk behind. The dreaded time to think had arrived, and he couldn't delay it any longer.
'What now?' Liam wondered, aware that the real question lay elsewhere.
Liam's forearm itched in response, even summoning the auditory hallucination he had burned into his memory. The goal to avenge his family was still rooted deep inside him, but his perspective on it had changed.
Liam now knew what that path implied. He had witnessed cruelty he didn't believe existed in the world, and he had gained insights into what fulfilling his goal would feel like.
Revenge was bloody, ugly, and, most importantly, empty, making Liam wonder whether it was even worth it.
On the other hand, Liam couldn't just return to Krosstoen village. Despite Cyrus' words, Liam was the son of the Ancestral Snake, the true target of the Bloodline Screening.
Returning to the village would put a massive target on it and Liam's loved ones. He couldn't risk it. Even if Liam gave up on getting revenge, leaving forever and making everyone lose his tracks was the best way to keep Cyrus and Adrian safe.
Also, there was the problem with Liam's transformation. Even if he could somehow accept returning to the village, he wouldn't do so as the same person who had left.
The innocent monkey-boy was now a killer, a weapon, and, probably, a cultivator. Liam knew he wouldn't be able to look Cyrus and Adrian in the eyes, not with the same gaze he used to wear.
'Father, what would you have me do?' Liam thought, trying to find answers in his dead parents' teachings.
But Liam's father didn't answer. Instead, a hiss resounded in his ears, carrying foul emotions.
"What do you want now?" Liam asked. "I know what you'd have me do. You are no different from the Divine Cult. You want to use me as a weapon for your personal feud."
Liam didn't know why, but he could endure the hiss' influence better now. Just like with the drug, his mind seemed to have developed a tolerance to that boundless hatred.
"Everyone wants something," Liam commented, "While I'm caught in their cruelty."
And, in the past, Liam would have seen that as unfair. However, his few real experiences with the outside world had forced his mindset to change. Right or wrong were values of the strong. Meanwhile, the weak could only abide by them and hope they didn't go against them.
"I want the strength to decide what's right or wrong for myself," Liam muttered. "I don't want to be at the whims of others anymore."
If might made right, Liam knew what he needed before he could even think about having goals of any kind. He also sort of knew where he could find it.
Liam didn't know where he was. He was utterly lost. Yet, he was aware of the Dragon Kingdom's layout to an extremely vague degree.
Krosstoen village was on the eastern side of the Kingdom, meaning that the Inner Circles and the richer areas were somewhere West. Liam didn't know where exactly, but that was as good a direction as any.
So, Liam broke his brainstorming and sitting stance, checking the clear morning sky to orient himself, before going West. He had seen the strength that cultivators wielded, and it was time for him to seize it.