Kai lost their track once they were in an area full of bushes.
"Raaah!" he roared angrily as he destroyed some of the bushes.
'I will find you, even if you run to the ends of the world.'
He left the area with anger boiling inside him.
At the same time, Ren was resting under a tree with Aveline on his lap. Even though Kai had stopped chasing them, he still carried her because the forest was a dangerous place.
"Ren, your face… does it hurt?" She looked at him with a sorrowful expression.
"It's just a small scratch. It doesn't hurt at all." He lied with a soft smile.
"I will heal your injuries once I regain my magic." She felt really sad when another small drop of blood came out of his wound.
"Un." He nodded softly. "By the way, do you know who they are?"
"No. I don't know them." She was also curious about their identities.
"Do you think they are from one of the nearby villages?" he threw another question at her.
"I don't think so." She had visited the other villages, but she had never met or seen them before.
"How did they know that Instructors Alaric and Hayden are your people? Do you think they have seen you with them before?" Of course, he was not suspecting Hayden and Alaric because they were not that kind of people in his eyes.
"Most likely." Alaric and Hayden were two of the strongest awakeners and the most important people in her village, so she had gone to many places with them before.
Just as he was about to say something, a strong wind brushed against their bodies, fluttering their clothes and messing up their hair.
When he noticed her hair was covering her face, he carefully and gently moved it aside. Once he was done, their eyes coincidentally met.
Maybe it was because she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his two lives, or perhaps because she was on his lap.
At that moment, he suddenly could not take his eyes off her.
Not only that, but his heart also started beating fast as if there was something in her that pulled him in.
When she saw his stunned expression, she immediately asked, "What's wrong, Ren? Is there something on my face?"
He came to his senses upon hearing her question.
"Ye... yeah. There is a little piece of grass on your face." He pretended to wipe it from her cheek, keeping his cool while hiding the truth.
Unfortunately, his lie failed to fool her.
'He is lying.'
But despite that, she said nothing.
'But why did he lie to me?'
She suddenly realized something.
'Let me see it.'
She put her ear to his chest to check his heartbeat.
The moment she found out that his heart was pounding, a tiny smile appeared on her pretty face.
'His heart is beating fast.'
She didn't know why, but for some reason, happiness shimmered inside her as if she had just discovered something important that could make her life better and more colorful forever.
Since Ren stopped talking to her and being in his arms felt so comfortable, Aveline fell asleep shortly after that.
His face broke into a smile when he noticed it. He didn't wake her up because she was sleeping so soundly and peacefully.
Time went by quickly, and without realizing it, it had been thirty minutes since she had fallen asleep in his arms.
At this moment, Ren was skimming their surroundings carefully. They were deep in the forest, so he could not afford to let his guard down.
As he was ensuring their safety, Aveline woke up.
Her eyes immediately widened for a moment because she had never expected to fall asleep in his arms.
When Ren knew she was already awake, his face broke into a smile. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Aveline. Did you sleep well?"
Instead of answering his question, she asked, "Ren, why didn't you wake me up?"
"You were sleeping so soundly, so I couldn't bear to wake you." He believed anyone would do the same if they were in his shoes.
Aveline didn't deny his words because it was indeed her first time sleeping so soundly and peacefully after taking over her late husband's role as the village head.
Her mind and body even felt so light and refreshed as if she had slept on a soft cloud.
"Hmm?" She noticed that her magic had returned. "Ren, the effects of the Soul-Tether potion have worn off. Let me treat your wounds now."
She slid from his lap and healed him.
Once she was done treating him, a soft smile spread across his face. "Thank you."
"Un." She nodded.
He rose to his feet and extended his hand to help her up. "Let's return to the village now."
She took his hand and replied, "Alright."
As they were heading back to the village, they talked about many things.
But mostly it was about awakeners and magical creatures because his knowledge about them was limited.
"Mrs. Aveline, why are there many monsters in this forest?" he asked curiously.
"Forests are different from cities. When gates appear, we can't always tell right away," she explained. "Some magical creatures came out of the gate and settled in this forest. That's why we can encounter them here."
She then continued, "Aren't there many cases where magical creatures show up in cities even though no gates appear?"
"You are right." He responded.
As they were chatting lightly, a 3-star Coyote with a scar on its face was chasing its prey not far from them.
It stopped running instantly when the scent of a human reached its nose.
'There is a human nearby?'
The coyote loved eating humans more, so it ignored its prey and turned toward the human's scent.
A moment later, it spotted Ren and Aveline.
'Found them!'
The coyote didn't attack them immediately.
Instead, it approached them slowly as if it was certain they would not be able to escape from it.
"What a delicious-looking human!" the coyote was thrilled, especially when it realized its prey were still young.
Ren stopped his footsteps in surprise.
'What?! It can speak human language?!'
He was stunned because it was his first time meeting a magical beast that could speak human language.
Aveline's expression instantly turned panicked.
Magical beasts would gain intelligence once they broke through to 3-star. Since the coyote could speak human language, that meant it was at least a 3-star magical beast.
She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of that area. "Run!"
"Mrs. Aveline, is that magical beast strong?" he could not tell how powerful the coyote was because awakeners could only detect the strength of opponents of the same rank or lower.
"Strong. Really strong!" She knew about this because it could talk in human language. "It's at least a 3-star magical beast, so it's impossible for us to defeat it."
"A 3-star?" Ren shifted his gaze to it briefly.
"Human, do you think you can escape from me?" The coyote chased them immediately.
Since its speed was amazing, the distance between them was getting smaller by the second.
Ren didn't want them to get caught, so he shifted into his partial transformation and carried Aveline in a princess style.
Aveline was startled, but she didn't say anything because this was the best choice.
"Which direction should we take?" he asked.
"There is no place that can give us an advantage in this area." She could not give a suggestion because their opponent was a 3-star coyote.
Ren didn't ask any other questions and focused on running. He always took a random path because she said she would leave everything to him.
"Human, you want to play a game of tag before I eat you? Fine! I will play along then." An orb of flame formed before its mouth.
The coyote shot fireballs continuously as it chased them.
However, it only used fireballs to control their direction because he didn't want to eat burnt human flesh.
'You have fallen into my trap, human!'
It was thrilled because everything was under its control.
Ren stopped running instantly when they were on a high cliff. "This is a dead end."
Aveline tried to find a solution, but her mind wasn't working as well as usual.
The coyote stopped running and approached them slowly. "Human, you can't run away anymore."
Ren gritted his teeth before finally skimming his surroundings. The moment his gaze fell on the mist behind him, a crazy idea flashed through his mind.
'Should I do that?'
They would definitely die if they fought the coyote, but they still had a slim chance of surviving if they jumped off the cliff.
Since jumping off the cliff was a better option, he chose it immediately. "Mrs. Aveline, I can't promise we will survive. But I promise I will protect you with my life."
Aveline turned to him instantly.
'Don't tell me…'
She could tell what he was going to do based on his expression and words.
'Ren, if that's what you want to do, then do it. I'm with you.'
She entrusted her life to him.
Ren shifted his gaze to the coyote and slowly walked backward.
"If I survive today, I will look for you to seek revenge one day." After saying that, he jumped off the cliff.
The coyote was shocked by his decision. "Ah, stupid human! Why did you kill yourself?!"