After that, Jacob went to sleep in his tent. He was tired due to the hard work he put in today. The same was the case for the past few days. His body was still developing and he could not put much strain on it.

Fortunately, their outing would end soon. They would hunt for three more days before returning to their home.

The next day, he got up slightly late, unusual for his early morning routine but the days were hectic and his body was under pressure. So, it needed more sleep to recover.

He wiped his eyes and put on his shirt. After that, he got out of the camp. He saw that his father was sitting at the same place he had left him the last night. Jacob was not surprised at all. He had become used to it a long time ago.

The campfire was extinguished. The elder beckoned him over with his right hand. A rucksack was lying near him. It was the same one that the elder had used during their journey.

Jacob went over to him. He knew that it was time for a light breakfast.

"Here. Have some dried beans." The elder took out some dried beans from the rucksack and handed them over to Jacob.

Jacob took them and sat near him. He started munching on them slowly. After he had finished, the elder stood up and said,

"Ready for today? I will teach you how to make a new trap today."

"Yes....father." Calling the elder father was still new for Jacob. So, he was feeling a bit weird.

"Don't worry about it. You will get used to it in a few days." The elder smiled knowingly and told him to ease up.

"Ok, father."

"Well then. Take your bow and arrows and follow me." The elder then stood up and equipped the bow and arrows.

"But father. How about the camp? Will not we wrap it up before we leave?"

"There is no need for that. We will remain in this area for the next three days. And no thief would be fool enough to come this deep in the forest." The elder said resolutely.

"What about the animals?"

"You don't need to worry about them. Trust me." The elder gave him a deep gaze as he said his piece.

Jacob nodded at that and went back to his tent to retrieve his bow and arrows. After he had returned, they entered the forest to carry out Jacob's training.

After a couple of hours of hunting and teaching, as both of them were searching for their next prey, the elder immediately raised his free left hand and stopped. Jacob also stopped immediately after that.

He had been taught that this hand sign was for coming to a complete halt. They had to come to a complete halt whenever there was prey or danger in the vicinity.

Thankfully, they did not have to use it for any danger in the past few days. Every time, there was prey to hunt. And Jacob could see the prey every time. But today, he could not see the prey in front of him. He started feeling uneasy.

His father was already holding his bow in his right hand. He slowly took out an arrow from the quiver using his left hand. Suddenly, he turned to the left while pulling the arrow and loosened it into the tree branches. He was so fast that Jacob could barely see his actions.

The arrow disappeared into the branches of the trees and a loud thud was heard as if something had fallen from the branches.

The elder then moved towards the source of the sound and Jacob unconsciously followed him. A strange animal was lying on the ground in its pool of blood some distance away.

An arrow was sticking out of its head. It had already died. It was like a lion but smaller and thinner compared to it. It also had a small horn on its head.

Jacob then realized that it didn't even get a chance to scream before dying.

"Father. What kind of animal is this?" He was also curious about it. He had never seen this kind of animal before. He also wanted to know why his father killed it.

"It is a one-horned forest leopard, quite rare in this forest. Normal forest leopards are not that rare though but you have not encountered one before. This leopard is a rare variant because of the horn on its head. The other leopards lack such horns. There is also a two-horned variant but it is even rarer."

"Ok. Got it. But why did you kill it then?"

"It is a carnivore. It eats meat just like those tigers and wolves we hunted during our journey. It was about to jump on you."

Jacob became frightened after hearing that. He was about to die unknowingly. Just thinking about it made him horrified. Thankfully, he was with his father.

"Hahaha. Scared. There is a trick to that. All you have to do is keep your ears and eyes open. And you can detect the danger before it detects you. Come one, I will also teach you that from now on."

"Ok, father. Thank you for saving me." Jacob looked toward the elder with gratitude in his eyes. He also bowed down to him.

"Silly child, you are thanking your father now. You are not allowed to thank me from now on." The elder came near him and started brushing his hair.

Jacob nodded at that. After that, they continued the training.

Jacob was a bit more successful today than the past few days. He had hunted a grand total of three targets today out of seventeen attempts. Yesterday, he had hunted only two. He was improving slowly. He was also improving his trap-making slowly. But he wanted to master them quickly.

He was a bit sad at that. He was taking much too long. He was bothering his father too much during this training. He repeated the same mistakes many times but each time he made a mistake, his father corrected it and gave him tips.

He feared that he would really annoy him one day. Every person had some limit after all. Some were less tolerant while some had great tolerance while dealing with failures. In the case of his father, he was the most tolerant person he had seen in his life.

He did not know that newbies normally used to take almost two months to properly shoot an arrow, much less hunt something. Not only had he learned how to shoot and silently approach the prey, he was already having a twenty-five per cent success rate at taking it down.

Archery was not as easy as it seemed. It took a beginner almost three months to get to that point that Jacob was currently at after learning how to properly shoot.

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And they took all that time if all of their attention was on learning archery. If they had started learning trap-making along with it, it would have taken them much longer.

So all in all, what Jacob had managed to accomplish in one week, a beginner used almost five months to reach that point.

The elder was aware of Jacob's state of mind. It was too obvious to notice. But he did not correct him at all that how fast he was learning and how foolish his thoughts were.

Jacob was sad but his sadness was always swept away whenever he thought about what had happened the last night. He had a father now. Someone who truly cared for him, just like his late mother. He could rely on someone now.

The next day, as they were walking through the forest and checking the traps they had sprung, Jacob suddenly asked his father a question. He had asked the same question on the first day he had met him. But he tried his luck again today.

Now that their relationship was much more than a mere employer and employee, he thought that maybe he could get the truth out of his father today.

"Father, I was meaning to ask you something."

"Go ahead. You can ask whatever question whenever you want except for one condition. And you don't need to take such silly permissions from me from now on." The elder replied without looking back as both of them kept navigating through the forest.

"Ok, dad. Why do you love me so much? I don't deserve that at all."

"Hmm. Didn't I tell you the answer to this question the first day we met? I love good children. Especially good boys like you."

"Oh, yes. You really did." Jacob smiled helplessly at that. He was not getting the answer to that question any time soon, maybe never.

"So, what is the condition you are talking about?"

"Except, some questions are forbidden. And forbidden means forbidden. You will know which question is forbidden when I don't give a reply to you. Understand?"

"Yes, I understand. But why is that?"

All he got was silence in return. The elder did not reply and kept moving.

Ok. This question is forbidden. Damn. Why is he keeping secrets from me? I really need to know. It is as if something is eating me from inside. Jacob thought as he kept following him. His curious nature was acting up and not learning about the mysteries surrounding his father was making him restless.

Is he a cultivator? Is he someone who is on the run from some bad people and doesn't want me to know about them, fearing that I will take revenge for him? What if he had a son but lost him? Now he sees his son into me.

He started overthinking and started imagining various scenarios based on the limited information he had. His thoughts started going wild. The cultivator stories that he heard from his mother and friends were directing his way of thought. Bah. Why don't I ask him? The most I will get will be silence.

"Father. Are you a cultivator?"

"No."

"Did you run away from some bad people and don't want me to know about them?"

"No."

"Do you have a son?"

"Yes."

Jacob's eyes brightened at that. He just made headway. Maybe one of my guesses is true after all. He was about to uncover the truth. As a result, he continued with his questions,

"Where is he now?"

At that, the elder stopped and turned towards him.

Jacob took a step back excepting a rain of reprimands or a couple of slaps. Uh oh. Jacob thought that he had really annoyed the elder this time due to his relentless questions.

If it was his mother, he would already have been slapped by her by now. Thankfully the elder was smiling at him and it didn't look sarcastic at all, hopefully.

"He is right in front of me." The elder replied with an amused voice before he turned back and started walking.

Huh. Jacob was expecting a reprimand at least due to his stubborn behaviour but was made fun of instead. Ah. I made a fool of myself. And he is not annoyed at all. Let's try again.

"I didn't mean by that. I mean if you have a son other than me."

"Yes. I do."

"Who is he?"

"All good people are my sons."

"People? Didn't you say you love little children?"

"Haha. Silly child. They are all younger than me. So they are children to me. I think about them all as my sons."

Jacob paused his questions. He looked towards his father's white hair and white beard. He seemed quite advanced in age. But judging from his answers, he implied that he was much older than he looked.

There was another thing that Jacob noticed. The answers to his last couple of questions were quite normal and acceptable. But Jacob noticed that something was extremely strange about the wording his father chose.

It was as if a great secret was hidden in those words. But he could not put his finger on it. His instincts were screaming at him that something was extremely wrong here.

For a couple of minutes, he strained his mind and kept thinking about his father's last replies. But no matter how much he tried, he could not grasp the secret at all. Instead, he started feeling a mild headache.

He decided to stop thinking about this and continued with the bombardment of his questions. He was sure that his father would never get annoyed by his questions. He was also finding it fun. He was already having things in his mind that he wanted to ask from him.

"How old are you?"

Silence.

"Why is your name Father?"

Silence.

"Can you read and write?"

"Yes"

"Why are you a woodcutter then?"

"I like woodcutting."

"Do you have a true biological son?"

"No."

"Why don't you have a biological son"

"I don't have a wife."

"Why don't you have a wife?"

Silence.

Another forbidden one. I got five of them now. Maybe by knowing more of them, I could realize the truth about his mysteries. Jacob thought hopefully. He was also running out of questions that are related to his doubts.

"Do you love someone much more than me?"

"Yes, I do"

"Who?"

Silence.

Sixth one. Damn. I was almost there. Looks like there is someone out there who he loves much more than me. Well, the mysteries keep increasing without any getting solved. But I will get my answers one day. Jacob thought. He failed to realize that his father never implied that it was only one person.

"Will you leave me in the future?"

The elder stopped at that question for a split second before starting to move again without turning back this time. But Jacob caught this.

"Never, my son. I have told you before that as long as I am alive, I will never leave you ever. I will always be there for you."

The elder replied with his usual robust voice. But this time, his voice seemed a little aged. It was as if he had seen the vicissitudes of life.

Jacob did not notice that though. He was too young for that. He was having a feeling of warmth though after listening to his father's words. He was also smiling. He vowed to always protect his father when he would be strong enough. He continued,

"Why don't you sleep?"

"I don't need to sleep."

"Why don't you need to sleep."

Silence.

"Why do you always wear the same clothes and why don't they get dirty." Jacob asked two questions one after another this time. He was trying his luck from a different angle. He knew that it would not help him much but it did not cost him at all trying this.

Silence.

After that, Jacob suddenly remembered a very important question that he had forgotten to ask previously. So, he immediately asked the elder.

"Father, do you have a family member out there?"

"Indeed I have."

"Who is he?" Jacob became a bit happy. He was about to learn more about the background of the elder.

"He is my father. He is also your father."

"How can your father be my father? Won't he be my grandfather?" Jacob found his father's reply extremely strange. As a result, he could not help but voice his confusion.

At that, the elder's smile widened to a great degree as stopped in his tracks. He turned back and stared into Jacob's black eyes. He did not reply Jacob's answer and did not clear his confusion. That was the cue for Jacob to stop right there with this topic. After a few seconds, the elder resumed his walk as Jacob started following him.

Just when he wanted to ask the next question, he realized something. He just ran out of questions that he could think of related to the mysteries surrounding him. All he got were nine forbiddens.

The most he could know was that there was someone out there his father loved much more than him. He could not imagine the kind of love he or she would be getting if he himself was being loved this much by his father.

Jacob then thought about some fun questions and he went ahead with them.

"Father, how many stars can we see in the sky during the night?"

"Nearly six thousand in a clear night sky." The elder replied nonchalantly without looking back.

Jacob was dumbfounded at that. He was expecting a silence this time. He literally counted the stars in the night. So this is his hobby at night. Counting stars. Does not he get bored?

"Father. Don't you get bored doing that every night?"

"Bored of what? Dear son?"

"Of counting stars every night."

"Silly child, I don't count stars at night at all."

"Ok." Hmm..Looks like it was a one-time event.

"What do you do at night then?"

"I look over you."

Ah. He got me again. I should have expected such a reply to my question. What now? I have run out of every question I could think of. Looks like I should shut up now. I am taking undue advantage just because he does not get annoyed by me.