A Change

Arriving at Sapphire, Eyrik and his party were met with cheers from a large crowd, gathered to welcome him back after his great victory.

News of it had spread like wildfire, and it was no surprise to him that Sapphire City had caught air of it since the wind was quite a gossip.

He had not returned with the same numbers he had gloriously marched onto the battlefield, for the previous party seemed to have been halved with a multiple of 1000 times 500 being deducted.

Those who followed him on his return, a handful not even enough to form a squad, had life threatening injuries.

The same could be said for him, though most were obtained from their encounters with a number of beasts, since the others were unable to battle.

Thus, he had ordered Ramold to protect them while taking care of each beast alone.

However he wasn't your average tree race, being a Chief and also having a recently evolved system to help patch him up bit by bit, provided there was an ample supply of photons or sunlight.

Checking up his tab once again, the skill cool down for his Level 35 skill - Photosynthesize - had ended after what seemed like years, since he last sacrificed it to patch up Ramold.

Gesturing the party to a stop in the middle of the pathway created by the cheering crowd, Eyrik gloriously descended from the guard beast he was mounted on.

The guard beast had been brought to him and his party by the city gatekeepers and guards, when they were spotted and recognized approaching Sapphire.

The wounded knights and even Ramold, seeing Eyrik dismount, quickly followed suit as it showed their respect.

"Ramold, do you mind standing behind me for a while?" Eyrik said politely as the pain he felt did affect his speech.

Without hesitation, Ramold was behind him in a bat of an eye since he was one who specialized in speed and stealth - one nearly impossible to find.

Raising up both hands towards the group of 23 knights before him, red particles of energy began to gather around his palm till there were two large cones of red energy before his palm.

Stomping his feet forward, he pushed the tip of the cone till it went into its round bottom spraying red energy towards the knights before him.

"Rebound Shield!"

The spray of red energy began to bind together at a rapid rate forming a type of shield around the knights.

Having to be as quick as possible in order to finish the process, he regained his balance.

"Reverse Rebound Activate!"

He turned the shield from a defensive one to an offensive as an attack to it would be quadrupled and rebounded to the attacker.

"Energy Bow." A transparent bow and arrow fully made of energy appeared in his hands.

"Photosynthesize!!"

Rising from his feet, a thick green energy engulfed him, rapidly moving up to his midsection to his head before ending at both hands and this was what he waited for.

He had tried this on many occasions, even though it wasn't something which had to be possible he had made it possible.

As the green energy reached his fingertips, coming into contact with the arrow and string of the bow, he released it with perfect timing and precision hitting the inner walls of the shield before it closed up.

Aware of the costly backlash which followed after, he felt his heart stop all of a sudden and his breathing ceased as he fell back, being caught by Ramold.

The arrow, having thick green energy snaking around it, sank into the wall without a trace, however, no one cared about it, including the knights who tried to break out of the enclosure seeing the Chief fall.

Before they could land an attack of any magnitude on the shield, a bright light blocked their vision with a loud explosion following suit.

•System Title Unlocked...

Title: Photosynthesizer, has been granted...

Skill Photosynthesize has leveled up!

...

Eyrik was met with a system message the moment he regained his consciousness, not even opening his eyes yet. It was a good thing the system still worked, although he knew what he did would have a grave backlash, he was unaware of the fact that it had indeed sent him flying into his grave.

Slowly opening his eyes, he could see the oval ceiling endowed with colorful mosaics and marble of his own bedroom.

This explained why he felt comfortable as he lay on his bed, it was great to be back home to his people and also his bed of course.

He was no longer in pain and that was something he had realized as he woke up, suddenly he stretched his arms and legs out wide on the bed, now swiping them up and down, taking in the feeling from the friction with the soft King-sized bed.

Rolling back and forth, he had some moments of being carefree and happy without any worries just like he used to as a child.

He didn't have such huge burdens to bear, a people to protect, an army to lead and a goal to achieve yet after all this those council of elders wanted to add the biggest one of it all - a wife.

Forcing himself off the bed though he could continue in this carefree state throughout the day, he wasn't a lazy ass and with each day came loads of paperwork.

Standing beside his bed, he was still in the garment he wore under his armor, a long sleeved skin tight shirt and pants with socks on which stunk.

Wondering why he hadn't noticed them, or the smell earlier as in actual fact, they weren't supposed to even be on him in the first place.

"Where was Via?" He thought.

At that moment the door flew open as someone dashed crashing into his bed, which he stood by now recognizing the person he thought about seconds ago.

Via was a damsel and talented one at that who personally served the Chief, she had all the qualities or most of them in which he needed in someone who'd stand by his side.

She was intelligent, strong enough to be considered a genius being a High Ranking Knight and the rare Warrior Knight at that.

Her beauty was something one would die for if they did noticed it, yet even though her fiery red hair made her more stunning and attractive. While others drooled over her, Eyrik saw a very useful servant who was supposed to give him her absolute submission.

Quickly she stood up straight, being quite clumsy this morning, she bowed down and kept her head down raining a series of apologies on him.

She had failed to do her job and she was awaiting her punishment, yet all she got was the Chief walking past her without a word.

"Was she done for?" Via thought.

"Is breakfast ready?" Eyrik asked in his usual gentle but commanding tone.

"Yes, yes it is sir." Via replied as quickly as she could, suppressing the trembling in her voice.

"Good, go take your seat. I'll shower and join you guys." Eyrik said walking off

"But..." She raised up her head to protest, before she could he was already gone.

Confused and smiling at the same time she briskly walked out of the room, shutting the double doors close before skipping her way to the main dining hall of the palace.

Via ended up with one possibility as she skipped - the chief and the deadly aura around him had changed positively.

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