Eric was utterly impressed by this 'new' Hannah. She was like a college gang leader—no, even more impressive; in just a few words, she had completely checked these thugs.

  Though Eric was impressed, his eyes remained locked on his right—on the three thugs who had risen from their seats. If they didn’t back off, he wouldn’t hesitate to act.

  Eric was also inwardly annoyed. After all, both Lyria and Livy were now under his care. He wouldn’t allow anyone to speak rudely or view them in a bad light, at least not in front of him.

  Wilburn's smile remained frozen while listening to Hannah’s and the thugs' verbal battle. He was internally quite tense, fearing the three drunken fools would go too far. He was not a fighter, but he also wouldn’t allow those thugs to bully Hannah. But he was sitting on the other end while Eric was facing the thugs directly on his side.

  He began contemplating whether he too should stand up and step forward.

  While everyone was in their own thoughts, the thugs in question—perhaps due to alcohol, or perhaps they lacked some brain cells to figure out that there was something called an 'empty threat' and then ‘escape,’ or perhaps because they thought, as thugs, they should always use brawn instead of brains—took a step forward and barked, “You bitch—”

  The moment the thugs moved, before their feet could fully settle, Eric shot out from his seat like a lightning bolt.

  Before the trio could process it, the tallest, who was closest, took a brutal punch to the gut from Eric’s left fist.

  "Gu-ah!"

  The tallest thug’s eyes bulged, his abdomen caving inward.

  Eric withdrew his fist, and the man collapsed, coughing violently before losing consciousness.

  The other two barely registered the attack when the middle thug, just a step behind, caught a curved hook to the chin from Eric’s right fist.

  His jaw dislocated. The last thing he saw was a pair of icy blue eyes staring indifferently at him before darkness took him.

  By the time Jerry realized what had happened, both his friends were already down.

  He was horrified. This kind of horror comes when one can’t even grasp what has just happened.

  Out of terror, Jerry fell onto his butt. His pants quickly grew wet, and a puddle formed beneath him.

  Eric’s eyes were sharp.

  He didn’t care about the leakage, but this little guy needed to remember that behind Lyria and Livy was him.

  Thus, Jerry needed a good punch on his face for a strong impression and a reminder.

  Eric walked slowly toward the scared-silly Jerry, dodging the wet area on the floor.

  His steps were strangely loud in the unnaturally silent tavern.

  Jerry dragged himself backward in panic, leaving a river trailing behind him on the floor.

  He trembled, glancing at those glowing blue eyes as if they belonged to some demon. He felt if he didn’t move quickly, he would be devoured piece by piece.

  “S-s-stay away from me!” Jerry’s voice was filled with dread, which made all the onlookers feel strange, but they could still understand him.

  Jerry was truly horrified. His brain still hadn’t caught up with the events. He also could not understand why, but something within him was extremely terrified. He felt if the blue-eyed demon came any closer to him, he would be sent to hell for eternity.

  Eric found Jerry’s fright quite ridiculous and strange—after all, as a thug, this should be an everyday event, and he wasn’t even killing them. Eric didn’t give it much thought, as it was most likely Jerry was just a coward, like how most thugs usually are.

  Jerry’s back soon hit a table leg, and he stopped. He felt as if all his energy was being constantly drained from his body, almost like the blue-eyed demon in front of him was sucking his soul out.

  Jerry’s body started shuddering violently. His eyes were covered with tears. He felt that he was on the verge of losing consciousness and would soon be dragged down into hell for eternity.

  Eric paused in front of Jerry. Glancing at Jerry's abnormally terrified state, even he was speechless.

  He had originally planned to say some harsh, threatening words and then knock Jerry out, but now, he didn’t think it was necessary.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Eric kicked with his right foot at Jerry’s tear-filled face with a speed so fast almost no one present could dodge.

  The kick connected with Jerry's jaw, breaking his lower and upper teeth. He flew backward, spewing blood and teeth from his mouth before crashing onto another table and losing consciousness.

  Eric calmly returned his foot to its place. After glancing at the quiet, unmoving Jerry, he wondered if he had killed the guy. Some places in the human body were very dangerous; one wrong hit could end a life.

  Eric was also internally shocked with his own strength. He had been training for a while now, and every few days he would push his limits further and further up.

  He knew he had gotten quite stronger, but didn’t imagine he would become this strong and also fast.

  There was indeed an element of surprise in those attacks, but he had also expected the tallest thug to dodge and the second attack on the middle guy to fail. Yet all of it succeeded smoothly, mostly thanks to his incredible speed and precise control over his body.

  From the beginning, Eric was very confident he would win against these three thugs. Although he hadn't trained in any martial arts in his past life, except one for a few months only, he had experienced plenty of brawls across the globe, and a few friends had taught him some tricks. So while he wasn’t a peak fighter, he wasn’t a complete novice either.

  Eric shook his head and decided to think about his progress later.

  He turned back only to see everyone present gaping at him—everyone, including other new patrons in the tavern, workers, even Hannah, Wilburn, and the few pedestrians who had gathered due to the commotion.

  Eric felt disappointed in his two friends. He had fought a battle and won, but what was with their big mouths? They should be calm and steady!

  He walked up to Hannah and Wilburn and waved his hand in front of their faces.

  Had they all collectively lost consciousness or something?

  Soon, Hannah woke up, leaped at Eric, hugged him, and then started laughing like a madwoman.

  Wilburn’s senses also returned, and he smiled at Eric while waiting for Hannah to calm down.

  The surrounding people also woke up and started discussing among themselves about Eric's punch or his kick and so on.

  They glanced at Eric with deep passion blazing in their eyes.

  Eric wondered if they were in trouble now. He felt they should leave this place soon, or else he might be charged with assault and murder. He patted Hannah’s back to make her stop hugging him.

  Wilburn also noticed the situation. The moment Hannah left Eric, he quickly suggested, "I think it’s best if we leave before it’s too late."

  Hannah noticed more people were gathering, and soon it would be hard to leave. She grabbed Eric’s hand and rushed out of the tavern.

  Eric snatched his bag from the table where he’d left it.

  Wilburn tossed eight copper coins toward the waiter. Seeing the waiter catch them, he bolted after Hannah.

  Only after Eric, Hannah, and Wilburn escaped far down another street did they finally slow down.

  Hannah pulled Eric into a hug again and burst out laughing. "Hahaha! That was so much fun. Let’s do this again someday!"

  Listening to Hannah’s hysterical laughter, both Eric and Wilburn had bitter smiles. They definitely didn’t want to do this again.

  The verbal battle and the scuffle weren’t long, but Wilburn was mentally exhausted. He was tense the entire time, simultaneously worried and panicked. As the only 'man,' he had to protect Hannah and also Eric, who was just an overgrown kid.

  But who would’ve thought this 'overgrown' kid was 'this' grown? Eric had single-handedly taken down three adult thugs within seconds!

  Wilburn suddenly felt he needed to dedicate some time to training as well, at least to avoid being so helpless next time. He should ask Eric for guidance later!

  Wilburn spoke with an impressed tone, “Eric, I never thought you were so strong while just being a seven-year-old kid. I reckon you will soon be famous around the town for what just happened.” He patted Eric’s shoulder and continued, “Can you imagine—a child beating three adult thugs until their teeth broke and they were left unconscious? I can totally imagine that you will be at the center of the entire town’s talk for this month!” He definitely needed to brag about this to his friends and family later.

  Hannah pulled Eric out from her hug and chuckled, “I knew you, little brat, train every day, but I never thought you were this good at fighting. Those shrimps didn’t stand a chance at all and all fell in one hit!” She said while punching the air.

  She was still very excited and wanted to fight Wilburn, but looking at his thin body, she gave up.

  Eric smiled. He was also feeling good about his first successful 'battle' in this world, but a question was still bugging him. Was he really that scary?

  “Let’s return before we are forced to pay for their medical bill,” Eric warned. He still remembered how he had to pay for the destruction he caused in his past life.

  Hannah snorted, “What medical bill? If they have the guts, they can go demand it from House Mother!” Although she said so, she also felt it was better to return, in case more thugs came looking for them.

  Hannah nodded at Wilburn to indicate they were leaving.

  She then grabbed Eric's hand and started walking toward the orphanage.

  She suddenly halted, turned her head behind, and reminded, “Wilburn, I should remind you—today is Eric’s birthday! His eighth birthday! You haven’t even wished him yet, much less given him any gifts. Don't you dare show your face unless you buy some good gifts for little brother Eric.”

  Wilburn gaped. He absolutely had no idea that today was Eric’s birthday.

  He quickly cried out, “Happy Birthday, Eric! Sorry, I completely forgot about it. Wait for me, I will send you a gift soon!”

  Eric waved his free hand off, “Don’t worry about gifts, Brother Wilburn, and thank you. See you later.”

  Soon, both of them returned to the orphanage, and Hannah disappeared to brag about Eric’s cool beat-down to the other workers.

  It was already lunchtime, so after washing up, Eric headed toward the canteen for his meal.

  Eric always preferred only two full meals per day, but Bella Noll had forced him to eat all three. Previously, he had followed the rule reluctantly, but now there was a major reason: the 8-foot woman!

  If he found such tall women everywhere in the world, and worse, if both Lyria and Livy had grown into such giants, then his pride as a man wouldn’t be able to take such a massive hit! He was extremely panicked. He decided he needed to reach six feet as quickly as possible! Though he also didn't want to become a Bigfoot...

  As Eric was close to finishing his lunch, he saw Hannah walk in with her own lunch in her hands.

  He casually asked, seeing Hannah was all alone, “Where are the twins? Have they eaten?” He wondered if both Lyria and Livy were still sleeping.

  “They are not twins!” Hannah rolled her eyes.