As the two boys made their way towards the village the sky had darkened quite a bit. It was getting difficult for them to see but there was still some light from from the stars so they knew they could make their way towards the village without much difficulty.
Sister had always told them to never go deeper into the woods and to always be back before dark since they could encounter a dangerous beast during this time.
And since the boys knew that sister was only worried about them and they also didn't want her to worry about them they always did as she told them to.Even if they both were a bit more mature for their age of course they were still kids and a part of them would always roll their eyes and think 'you worry too much'. But today they had violated both the carefully given advices and they were worried how long of a lecture they will have to listen to before they get to sleep.
But alas what could they do now curiosity had really gotten the best of them today, all they could do now was to increase their pace so that's what they did.
*****
At the same time a man who had been running around the village for a while now left the village and entered the woods.
This man who looked to be in his 40s was Jack, although his real age was only 35 . He was the same man who Lisa was shouting on a while ago.
He was just a fellow villager who had grown up in this village ever since he was a kid. His well defined muscles and some scars showed how he had worked hard in his life to earn his living as a hunter. His dark black hair and his well muscled face with unshaven beard and uncombed hair made him look like a handsome middle aged man.
His only sin in this life had been to fall in love with Lisa who had sworn to not marry since she had to take the responsibility for the kids at orphanage.Her sense of responsibility had touched him even more and to this day his heart didn't allow him to marry anyone else so he remained single.
He had been working as a hunter since he was 18, he would sometimes go deep into the forest where dangerous beasts lived to hunt so he knew his way around the forest as well as with the axe he was carrying. It wasn't hard for him to track where the kids had gone to with his years of experience so with his axe on his back and with a serious expression that did not match his previous sulking one a bit he made his way into the forest.
After he had entered a bit deeper into the forest his serious expression had suddenly turned grave.
"How is this possible? " It was because his experience had allowed him to identify another set of tracks that definitely didn't belong to the kids or any human for that fact.
"What is the blue stripped tiger doing in these shallow wood? " There was even a hint confusion on his face with the addition of that graveness as he knitted his brows.
It was not because he had suddenly found beast tracks but these blue stripped tigers were special even among tiger type beasts and it was because these beasts were mana sensitive and had already started absorbing mana into their bodies so they were more powerful than normal beasts. These beasts would never normally be seen in areas without mana so he wondered what could have made such beats roam here and even he would not underestimate these beasts while hunting.
'I hope the kids are safe. ' as he thought this in his head with a grave face and worry crept into his heart he continued to run without stopping for a second.
After running for a while his heart skipped a beat again as he encountered the burnt patch of woods.
'What in the world is happening? Gods please keep them safe' gulping nervously as a trace of fear crept in his heart Jack kept running while praying the gods to keep the kids safe. Even though Jack had never really prayed to God except for maybe when he was going to propose to Lisa.