Frustratingly annoying Nio

Liam was running beside Nio at full speed. He wasn't thinking much and focused on speed, or he would be left behind by Nio. After all, Nio was moving at the speed of Liam.

Liam looked with his senses but failed to find the target he was searching for. They were after the Tyrant Kings. Nio hadn't seen anything either, but as Liam had promised him half of the cores, he didn't mind looking for them.

It wasn't hard to hunt them either. They usually lived separately. Rarely did they ever team up for anything. So when Liam and Nio last saw them, it was that rare occasion. It had been disturbing Nio for some time, and he wanted to confirm that it was just that, a rare occasion. Three teaming up to take Nio out was weird for him, and he had never seen it happen before.

He guessed that the shedding prosses had somehow attracted them from a distance away, and they met up while moving toward him. The tiny amount of blood that had appeared when Liam had taken the tooth had just been so enticing to them that they even hastened their journey.

Nio had gained some unexpected rewards from that hunt. He had fully expected to win the encounter but with serious injuries when he had detected those three. But he didn't think that the human would actually help him and they would be able to defeat the things. He was still viewing Liam as useless at that time, but now he didn't think that Liam would be able to be worthless. Nio even though Liam could use any situation and turn it around.

After half an hour of moving at that speed, Nio signaled Liam. Meaning that he had located one. But a minute later, he saw something weird. There were four of them nearby each other.

'Is that another of those rare occasions? or can it be called rare anymore?' Nio thought.

"Why did you stop?" Liam looked back at Nio, asking.

"There are four of them close by. If we go any closer, they will soon sense us and come themselves." Nio didn't like the odds. There were four against two. Well, one and a quarter. He couldn't count Liam as one as he was just too tiny, in his opinion, and his power was still too weak.

"Oh," he thought for a moment, "Why don't we prepare some traps for them?"

"Traps? What are those?"

"Sigh!" Liam was a little tired of all the useless questions. Of course, the humans would know what he was talking about, but a demon beast that has rarely countered humans was a different story.

"We'll make things that can harm them and set them up where they wouldn't notice them," Liam looked at the sky, "Or we could wake up real early the next day and kill them while they're still sleeping, thus getting the cores we need?" Liam said with some cheeriness. To him, this looked like the easiest way to get what he needed.

'Yup, I was right about him. He could probably turn any situation around to suit him.'

"I don't like waking up early," even though he had acknowledged that Liam had some real skill, he still had to whine about it.

"Then are you prepared to work for those three hours before the sun rises because I don't think we could take on four of them simultaneously? There might even be more of them further away," Liam countered and suggested a very real possibility.

"Ugh... I don't like that either!" still whining.

"Okey, how about we try to lure one away from the others?"

"How would we do that? Then, once the battle starts, the others would hear it too," Nio pointed out the obvious flaw to this solution.

A nerve slowly started to twitch at those words.

"Then, what should we do? I don't see you suggesting anything. You want those cores too, right?"

Nio pointedly looked away from Liam, ignoring his words.

"Do you even have a brain?" Liam asked sarcastically.

"Of course I do!" he shouted back, "I haven't encountered a situation like this before, so I have no idea what to do," he said sullenly, avoiding looking at Liam.

"You are so high up in the cultivation stage but have no real battle experience. I'm kind of wondering how have you managed to survive this long." Liam just had to say it, even if it would offend Nio.

To him, Nio felt like a grown man still hanging on to his mother's apron strings. And it wasn't a good look, in Liam's opinion.

"I can fight!" he concurred.

"Yeah, one or two, but what happens if by some weird chance a whole heard of them suddenly surrounded you? Would you know how to deal with them?"

"...no," Nio admitted sullenly.

"Then tell me, how far should we lure one so the others wouldn't be able to interfere for some time?"

"A minimum of 10 km." Liam's mouth dropped open.

"Wait, how far are we from the river?"

"A little over 40 km." 'At least the kids would be safe. But, wait, with half an hour, we reached this distance, with just my speed. What would be Nio's normal speed?'

"And how far are the tyrant kings?"

"About 6 km that way," Nio pointed with his nose.

"Do you think I can outrun a Tyrant King if they charged at me?"

"You're not that fast."

"So, you're saying I am fast but not fast enough?"

"Yes."

"Fine," Liam was satisfied with the answer. "Do you know how to hide or blend in with nature so the Tyrant Kings wouldn't notice you?"

"I'd have to be very still and wouldn't be able to move..."

"Can you shoot one poison needle when you are in that kind of state?"

"I haven't tried that..." he sounded interested but doubtful of the idea.

"Sigh, how do you not know your own damn body?"

Liam was beyond frustrated now and could finally understand why Biff had called the snake weak.