"Reign," Anna called out, her voice now more mature and calm.
But for some reason, he had become more annoyed and started avoiding her altogether.
He didn't even look at her and instead started to walk away on all fours, deeper into the mine, while Anna remained at the entrance.
She insisted she was protecting him, in case more hunters came but he felt like he was locked in this place.
His snobbish behavior made Anna's heart ache , but instead of being dejected, she started thinking of ways to get his affection.
'I need to find more humans to feed him,' she thought to herself. Maybe if she helped him get stronger, he would appreciate her more.
But at the same time, it could also backfire on her, leaving her powerless if he decided to leave. It was a real dilemma, and just thinking about it made her heart ache.
Seeing her daughter like this, George couldn't help but sigh, recognizing that she had inherited her mother's stubbornness.
Well, at least, George was quite the looker in his younger age.
But what about Reign?
He was a monster, half-corpse, with a face so ugly that even the best plastic surgeon would throw up their hands in defeat.
'What did she see in that guy?' George pondered . 'I know love is blind sometimes, but even a blind person wouldn't dare be attracted to such a thing.' He added.
"Hey, Anna, can we talk?" George finally couldn't tolerate it any longer.
Anna had become more mature in both appearance and speech, so he no longer treated her like a child.
In all honesty, acting afraid and cowardly before was just a lie. George was actually a calm-minded and smart person, intentionally portraying himself as weak to be underestimated.
"What is it, Dad?" she asked, sitting beside him and leaning on his shoulder as if it were the most natural thing to do.
"What do you like about that thing?" he asked.
Anna was taken aback by his words, and she started blushing, caught off guard by the direct question by her own father.
This only irritated George further because he could sense that her feelings for the ugly monster were genuine.
Just imagining what his grandson or granddaughter would look like if they became a couple sent a chill down his spine.
Not just that, George didn't even know if Reign had the ability to procreate in the first place. He seemed entirely disinterested in sexual matters.
"I don't know, but I like his smell," Anna replied with a bashful tone.
"You like his smell? He smells like a dry corpse," George retorted, unable to fathom Anna's fetish.
Reign didn't smell exactly rotten, but it wasn't exactly pleasant either.
"Dad, please stop insulting him!" Anna pouted, her cheeks flushed with indignation. Hearing him badmouth her crush didn't sit well with her.
"Alright, alright," George sighed in defeat. Just her acting cute like this was his weakness.
"But what's your plan now? Being with him would put you in unnecessary danger," he added with a firm tone. He had been supportive of her until now because she was just a small.
This time, he wanted to see if she was more logical after growing up.
"Of course I will protect him!" Anna replied with a wide grin, fully committed to sacrificing herself for Reign.
"I take my words back. You're way more stubborn than your mother," he shook his head, acknowledging Anna's determination.
As for the person in question, he was now lying in one corner, still trying to come up with a strategy.
'How the hell do I kill her?' Reign muttered to himself. He could tell that Anna had become stronger, so fighting her would be out of the question for now.
Even though she kept insisting that she was doing this to protect him, he would be a fool to just believe that and entrust his life to her.
He was betrayed and experimented on at a young age, which left him unable to trust almost anyone.
No matter what good deeds Anna did for him, he couldn't shake the fear that she would use him someday, just like those doctors in that godforsaken laboratory.
'That's right, I can't trust anyone. Trust will just make me weak and vulnerable,'he uttered those words with conviction, vowing never to be taken advantage of again.
'I need to practice more,' he added, forcing his body to move deeper into the mine where there was more space for him to train.
With nothing to eat to level up, improving his control over his body was the only option he had.
Both of them had different goals, but they shared one common trait: they were both stubborn to the core.
***
Inside the Forest
"Is this the place?" a man in a black suit spoke up, his long blonde hair and sharp green eyes giving him a unique appearance.
"We are on the right track, James. I can see their footprints," a woman of short stature replied. She had black twin tails and was clad in a dark dress. Her eyes were pure white, like those of a blind person, but she could see clearly even in the darkness.
"Don't be too impatient, Bro," another voice echoed, this time coming from a man with green hair and green eyes. He also wore a black suit, but his shoulder part was ripped out. He was adorned with earrings, even on his nose.
These three were the team that MCGaven sent out to search for Dominic.
They were only three-digits hunters, but they could probably take out a middle-rank demon if they worked together well enough.
"I'm not impatient. I just want to kill that demon fast and finish the mission," James responded with a nonchalant tone.