it had been some hours since their short conversation with Irene giving Seth advice on how to manage his diet.

Since then Seth had decided to continue walking, not wanting to precipitate the little water he had been fed by Irene.

Seth was quickly walking through the first when he suddenly paused and then quietly listened, also keeping his eyes peeled out.

"Roaaaaaar" the sound came from the left several times, indicating the approach of a beast, and having Seth and Irene look in that direction cautiously.

"You didn't mention there being beasts in this part of the forest," Seth said.

"There wasn't supposed to be any, I'm just as surprised as you," Irene said.

"How strong do you think it is?" Irene muttered, but a second later let out a low scream rubbing her head,

"Did you just use your soul sense, you should know better" Seth berated turning his head to stare at Irene.

"A rank 9 beast" Irene muttered ignoring Seth's words.

"Yes a rank 9 beast" Seth muttered and then squatted while also releasing his arms that were holding Irene's hips.

"Get down," Seth said, Irene immediately loosed her legs from his waist and placed them on the floor.

"Stay here, I'll go and deal with it first," Seth said looking in the beast's direction.

Irene looked around apprehensively, but still nodded her head, and with stiff steps moved over to a tree nearby and sat beside it, her face spotting a blank expression.

"Are you afraid I'll abandon you?" Seth asked with a smile.

"I'm a burden to you and almost useless, the only value I have to you is my knowledge of the location of the soul fruits, and it's only a matter of time before you strangle that out of me" Irene muttered.

"True, and now am worried that you'll run off while I go fight off the beast," Seth said nodding his head and looking Irene up and down.

"Don't worry, I'll be here, with how weak I am, if I run into another beast or cultivator in my attempt to escape, I'll meet certain death" Irene said when she saw Seth's narrowed gaze.

"True again," Seth said with a nod.

"Wait for me then, and if something comes up, try signaling me and head in my direction," Seth said, and the next instant he was gone, charging in the direction of the rapidly approaching beast.

....

Beasts, to Seth this was just another name for servants. As long as a beast was before him, he had a loyal servant waiting, and the beast he was currently moving toward was going to be no different.

With his ability to suppress and control beasts, it would have made more sense for Seth to simply wait for the beast to come to him and then subdue it with a single word.

This had been Seth's initial plan, but in the end, two things made him change his mind and go after the beast himself.

The first reason was of course his fear that the beast would end up getting scared by his presence and flee away, a situation which would have led to Seth losing a valuable mount.

The second reason and the most important one which had Seth moving were the words that the beast spoke while it went about roaring.

"Seth"

"Seth"

"Seth"

Several times, the beast had called Seth's name, this fact alluding to the possibility that the beast was acting under the orders of a person.

If Seth's guess was true, then there was no way he could let the beast and its instigator come near Irene.

Seth was not at full strength and even though he could take control of the beast, he didn't want to underestimate the abilities of someone who could control a rank 9 beast.

Eager to know what was truly going on, but also reminding himself to be cautious, Seth moved towards the beast.

.....

It had several minutes since Set left and a sense of loneliness had gripped Irene.

At the moment, she was a weak and helpless woman, an easy target for any nearby predator, and this was a feeling she hadn't felt in hundreds of years.

Irene felt the urge to bring her legs close to her chest and wrap her arms around but she fought off the feeling, refusing to behave like some helpless girl.

While she mentally fought to keep her pride, Irene suddenly felt someone approaching someone with a deadly and awfully familiar, and with each second that passed, her heart beat harder as fear lingered around the corner wanting to devour her.

.....

His legs doing their best to run, Seth zoomed away from the angry beast raging behind him in pursuit, steadily giving it distance as he out outpaced it with his superior speed quickly leaving it behind.

....

Irene stood up to her feet and looked to her right, the earth shaking as the beast which Seth had run off to fight now came rushing towards her.

"Has Seth abandoned me?" Irene thought and though she tried to ignore it, she couldn't help but feel hurt by Seth's actions.

While she was aware that Seth wasn't in the best of health, Irene had faith in Seth being there to keep her safe due to the secrets she held, and there was also the little hope she had within her, that even if she were not to possess knowledge on how to find the soul fruits, Seth would still treasure her.

Brushing the wetness that threatened to claim her eyes, Irene turned to flee, but she had just taken two steps when a black shadow came out from the trees, swiped her off her feet, and began running.

Seeing a sweating Seth holding and speeding off with her wiped away the darkness and sadness that she had been building within her, and when her eyes threatened to bleed liquid, she wasted no time in biting her lips and saving her dignity.

"Relax I'm way faster than it," Seth said when he saw Irene's tightly closed eyes, mistaking this action of hers for fear.

Despite hearing his words, Iren kept her eyes closed, only listening to the sounds around her and keeping track of the beast's growls which rapidly faded away till she could hear them no more.