After that, Jacob stopped bothering his father with the continuous bombardment of questions. And they continued with the training.

Three days later, Jacob was sitting with his father near a burning campfire. A deer leg was being roasted over it. The elder had the usual smile on his face and Jacob was sporting a pondering expression.

The sun had just set and it was evening. The birds were returning to their nests after a full day of hunting for food. Several night predators were waking up to continue their night hunt.

Jacob had found out that for some unknown reason, the night predators never approached their camp in the past few days. He still remembered his father's words about not caring about animals coming to their camp a few days ago.

He attributed this to one of the mysteries surrounding his father because he had never seen him doing something that would have kept those predators away.

He just sat outside the tent the entire night, staring into nothing. Jacob was sure now that his father did not consciously stare at the sky to count the stars. In fact, he did not consciously stare at anything at all while sitting free, not doing anything.

As Jacob was pondering about his father's mysteries, the elder looked towards Jacob and said,

"Tell me, son. Are you satisfied with your training this week? We have specially come here for your training and practice."

Jacob was broken out of his reverie and looked back gloomily,

"I am sorry, father. I could not learn things quickly."

"Haha. Foolish child. As I have told you before, it takes time. And it is still the beginning. Not even 15 days have passed. Don't be hasty. Be patient." The elder replied with a short laugh.

After hearing his father's response, Jacob's gloomy face eased a bit but soon, it changed into an expression of anxiousness.

"Ok, father. Ummm. I was thinking. Did I bother you three days ago with my senseless questioning?" Jacob asked with an anxious expression. He had been feeling bad for the past three days because of the stunt he pulled that day.

"No. Not at all. It is good for little children to be curious."

Jacob felt relieved at that as if a burden had been removed from his shoulders. He takes so much care of me and I tried to dig up what he specially forbade me from asking. What a fool I am. Thankfully, he didn't mind. I should never do that ever again. He vowed to never pull such a stunt again.

After that, he started thinking about the future days. He had gotten almost nine silver coins from his father in the past six months. He gave them all back to him for safekeeping before they began this field trip.

Jacob was very thankful to the elder for the financial help. He had thanked him many times in the past six months. He even wanted to thank him now but he had already been forbidden from him from thanking him ever again.

He knew that they would go to a city in the next few weeks. He still wanted to become a cultivator and adventure endlessly. He wanted to know more about everything. And with the financial help he was getting from his father, he knew that his journey would be smooth sailing in the future.

"Father. When will we go to Agoross?"

"Two weeks later."

"When will we set out from here?"

"Tomorrow, we will return to our home. We will set out in the morning tomorrow when you will have rested up. It will take us about one full day to reach our destination."

"If our return journey is one full day long, will we camp for the night tomorrow?"

"Of course, we will. So we will reach our home the day after tomorrow."

"Ok, father. Should I start my exercises now?"

"Yes, go on. But eat the meal first."

"Ok, father."

Jacob ate the roasted deer leg and became full. The meat was rich in taste. It was a lump of festive-tasting meat, imbued with hints of the acorns, sage and herbs that the deer had enjoyed during its life. It was less juicy and succulent than beef but was smoother and firmer. Sprinkled with spices and salt, it was very delicious. He enjoyed it very much.

After taking some rest, he got up and started doing the exercises he used to do in the clan. He knew that these exercises would help him greatly to fine-tune his body for cultivation in the future. So, he could not be lazy at all. His future plans were on the line.

As he exercised with dedication, the elder kept looking at him with fatherly love.

As Jacob became tired, he stopped and sat down to rest for a few minutes. After that, he stood up, took his bow and arrows and started practising archery. His arms were hurting a bit due to his workout earlier but he could manage.

He found it best to practice archery after workout became he would have to concentrate more than usual to handle the bows and arrows. Even his father did not stop him from doing it as if approving of his choice.

By now, it was night. A half-crescent moon was decorating it. Similarly, stars were twinkling like pearls in the clear night sky. From time to time, little streaks of light could also be seen. The view was mesmerising and amazing.

After some archery practice, Jacob stopped. He said goodnight to his father and went into his little tent to sleep. Many times during the clan training, the instructors repeated that a proper balance between exercises and rest was a must. Otherwise, their body would break down and suffer damage.

He fell asleep quickly due to how tired he was and slept soundly. He had dreams as usual, good and bad. But when he woke up early morning, he could not remember them at all.

All he knew was that some were bad and some were good. He got up and smelled his body. It was not smelling good. He had not taken a shower for the past week due to a lack of water.

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They only had drinking water stored in some waterskins. They were going back though. There was a creek near their home. He would take bath there.

Then he smelled his clothes. Thankfully, they did not smell as bad. He changed into them yesterday. He had carried a few spare clothes with him on this outing.

These were his old servant clothes. They were a bit bigger than his size initially. But now, they were tight-fitting due to his rapidly growing body. He feared that he would tear them with a slight jerk a couple of months later. He needed a change of clothes.

Jacob put on his clothes and got out. His father was already standing up so he greeted him. His father nodded back in return. After that, both of them started wrapping up the camp. It took them a few minutes since they were not preparing a campfire this time.

After that, they set out for their home. As expected, they reached their destination in the evening after that day. Nothing unusual happened during their short journey. It went well.

After reaching there and dropping his bag, Jacob immediately ran to a nearby creek. After reaching there, he took off his clothes and jumped into it with a happy expression. The creek was not that deep but the water in it still diminished his impact a little. The creek floor was also soft so he was not hurt at all.

He happily took bath in it. After a few minutes, he got out and put on his clothes. His clothes became a bit wet because he had not dried his body first before putting them on. But he did not mind that at all. He returned to the house happily.

By now the elder had unpacked everything from his rucksack and put them back in their places. This house was a copy of their previous house. The only exceptions were that this house was a big larger and had a large basement.

It was also not empty like the previous one. It had proper cupboards in the bedrooms and the living room also contained many things. Those included an anvil, a hammer, a fireplace, weapon racks, a table and three chairs.

A couple of carts also stood outside a few meters away from the house. This house was also in a clearing of the forest but the clearing was much smaller than the previous one.

The weapon racks contained almost all types of weapons including swords, axes and spears. They were all in pristine condition. The only weapon lacking was a bow.

When they had entered the house for the first time, everything was covered in a cloth. The house's door also had a proper lock this time. Similarly, they stored their things in the basement whose door was well hidden under the bed in the elder's room.

Jacob was surprised to see the shining weapons in the racks when he saw them for the first time. But he was forbidden from touching them from his father. Sadly, he could only watch them from a distance.

Jacob was getting excited because he would see a civilized place full of people after many months. He kept up his exercises and archery training for the next two weeks while excited about visiting Agoross.

..........................

2nd November, 3026 B.E.

Two weeks later, a large and small figure could be seen walking on the road. They were holding each other's hands and were wearing backpacks. The large one was a bearded white-haired old man while the small one was a black-haired child.

They were Jacob and his father, headed for the city of Agoross. They had started their journey in the morning and would reach the city in the evening.

Jacob was wearing a big backpack this time. It covered almost all of his back because it was worn by the adults just like his father.

It was a huge upgrade from the measely cloth bag he had before. It was much more durable and had much more space with many pockets. It was given to him by his father.

They were going on shopping. They would buy new clothes for Jacob and two good bows. They would also buy improved quivers and arrows. In addition to that, they would buy other household items such as spices, fruits, vegetables, nails, iron ore etc.

Jacob was carrying all his money with him which was given to him by his father this morning, just before they set out. He was smarter this time. He had one silver coin in each of his two pockets. The rest of the money was in the backpack.

As they walked on the road, many people passed them by. They included caravans, horseriders and the people who walked on foot. They didn't give any reaction to the father-son duo.

Most of them ignored them while a few greeted them. All of them had long forgotten about the missing grandson case.

"Father. Travelling by horse is very convenient. Why have you not bought any by now?" Jacob asked with a questioning face. They have been walking and walking while they could reduce both their journey times and efforts by just buying a couple of horses.

"Where is our house?" The elder asked him a counter question with an amused expression.

"In the forest." Jacob replied instantly.

"Can we ride horses in the forest?"

"No... Ahh. I got it. Silly me." Jacob quickly realized his mistake that horses could not be ridden in the forest. Even leading them on foot in such a dense forest would be totally idiotic. His face turned a little red in embarrassment due to the silly question he posed just now.

"Haha. Good child." The elder brushed Jacob's head while giving a laugh.

"But we will hire a wagon when we return from the city. We will tell the driver to leave us somewhere on the road where it is nearest to our house." The elder continued and assured him that they would not have to walk much on the way back.

"Ok. But father, how do we know where it is nearest to our house while on the road? Similarly, how do you determine the location of our house? All I see are trees. No path leads to our house. So how do you always find it accurately?"

Jacob had this in his mind since they left the house. He had not thought about it much earlier. So he voiced his curiosity.

"There is this larger than usual tree along the road where I have left some hidden markings. If we leave the road from there and go straight, we will always be able to find our house. I will show you later."

"Ok, father."

After that, they did not talk much for half an hour and kept walking towards their destination. Jacob started humming just like his mother used to while she was alive.

Soon, Jacob felt his father's gaze on him. He looked towards him and found him looking at him with an amused expression.

"Is something wrong father?"

"Hmmm. There is." The elder replied with a fake pondering expression.

"What is it?" Jacob asked curiously.

"You figure it out."

"Umm. Ok." Jacob thought hard for a few minutes but could not think of anything. He then looked at his father with puppy eyes.

The elder laughed at that and just shrugged his shoulders. He did not entertain him with the answer at all.

After knowing that he cannot get an answer from his father, Jacob looked down and started thinking about the problem again.

Soon, a carriage passed by them. Jacob looked towards it and saw a few people sitting inside of it.

He had an idea.

"Father, why don't we take a lift to Agoross? It will not be that expensive since we are so close to the city."

"Hmm. Ok. As you wish." The elder replied nonchalantly.

Jacob then remembered the elder's amused expression a few minutes back and realized something.

"Father, we have been walking for about two hours. My legs are already hurting. Many carriages and wagons have passed by us during this time. Why didn't we take a ride in any of those?"

"You never said anything about taking a lift when they passed by. So I waited. That was the problem I was talking about." The elder replied normally as if it was a very minor thing.

But for Jacob, it was not minor at all. They had been walking for the past two hours while they could have asked for a lift from one of the passing people.

He became a bit angry thinking about that. He had been made fun of again and had to suffer a bit this time, just because he did not use his brain a little.

As he looked towards his father, the little bit of anger he had went away like it was just a sand castle, gone due to even slight wind. He remembered the past seven months and the love in his father's eyes that never went away even for one second.

Unknowingly, his father had already pierced the final veils of love in his heart and made his place in the deepest depths of his heart. Not even his mother had reached that place in his short life.

In one's life, there are many veils of love in his heart. Everybody can claim to be a lover of someone. But there is a place in the heart that is very difficult to reach. Even the most beloved can not reach it in one's entire life. But when one succeeds, he lives and dies by the name of the beloved. This place is for one person only.

His father had already achieved that level in his heart in short seven months. Jacob could not remain angry at him for long even if he tried hard. In fact, from now on, he would never become angry at him ever again.