Living in the wild was not easy.
Ghake, now able to walk, carried the unconscious Shaman in his arms with the utmost care he could - This boy defied the Gods and paid the price, all to heal him of his broken bones. Even a pain he had for years vanished after his Shaman healed him- He saw how it happened, the corpses of people he knew all kneeled before his Shaman and bowed before they turned to blood, their bones melted away into the earth and soon this blob of blood was formed before being absorbed by the ground as well, and from it this bright green light emanated from his Shaman's body and Ghake passed out from pain again, when he woke up his Shaman was on the ground and his legs were fine, even his lost arm was better now! He didn't feel pain from it anymore.
Whatever his Shaman did also made him stronger, in fact, Ghake was born without scales that the most powerful warriors of the Green Scale tribe had- He became the strongest warrior through sheer will and training, hunting, and gathering he did every day for years. In age, Ghake has survived about 34 cycles of seasons, but considering most warriors die in battle, he doesn't really know how old someone can get before dying. Or at least, someone from the Scale Tribes! The oldest person he has ever met from one of the Scale Tribes was 120 cycles old and yet looked just like his long-lost mother.
Ah, the Scale Tribes- His was the Green Scale tribe, but there are others. In fact, they were attacked by the White Scale tribe, a bunch of warriors who have weapons he has never seen before and armor that they wear on their body made of bones. "Maybe..." He looked down at his little Shaman- Whatever he did made him stronger too, because Ghake feels like he can tear a tree from the ground with his only hand, when he needed at least a weapon before. "What is this?" It was only then that Ghake noticed something - He had scales on his arm, scales he didn't have before! "Shaman!" His Shaman not only went against the gods to save his life but also gave him strength, strength needed to survive in the wild without a tribe to claim your own. The color of his scales was one he didn't know much about - Black.
'Was there ever a Black Scale tribe?' The only scale tribes he knows exist are the Green, Red, Blue, White, and Yellow! He had never heard of a Black Scale Tribe before... "Maybe this is the blessing of my Shaman." It's not impossible- His Shaman has done so much for him already, and to pay such a price for him means he loves him dearly, loves him enough to suffer the backlash for defying the God of Death's grasp. "He wanted some herbs before, i need to find them for him- but i also need to keep him safe. I need to feed him. I need many things." He took the bag his Eki made and smiled happily as he held onto him easily with a single arm. He had to get used to this. It was easy to carry so much weight because it wasn't much weight, but the weight of a spear might be too much for him!
Regardless, he thrived.
-Scene Cut-
Eki came to consciousness at the orange glow of the flames before his very eyes, he felt weak and groggy, he felt this splitting headache burying inside his skull and fucking him over. 'I hate this...' He experienced this before in his elven life- Mana Deficiency or Lack of Mana was what he was feeling! When the body doesn't have enough mana, it feels the withdrawal of mana as it is absorbed by the body slowly to replenish... The problem is that his mana veins are broken, which is also why it hurts like a bitch! He used the white flower Ghake got for him which momentarily allowed him to cast the spell to heal the guy, and now he needs those herbs more than anything! The mana will continuously damage his body as it tries to get back inside him, which will kill him if he doesn't treat it quickly! "Eki-Sha!" Eki blinked, his vision was getting blurry already! "Ghake- Where are the herbs I asked you?" He asked desperately, his hands reaching out for the silhouette of the man who he healed: "Here- I found them all." Eki did not care, he grabbed the bright pink mushroom, the white flower, and the grey rock-like mushroom and put them all inside his mouth, there was a way to make this medicine but he didn't have time!
The moment the flower and mushroom combined inside his stomach, he felt his mana veins swell as they moved- He had to guide them, or else he'd explode! He didn't know this, but his blood veins were glowing a soft green as he guided the energy from nature and mana to heal his Broken Energy Veins and make sure they are Reinforced to channel even more mana than they should've been able to.
It was a painful process, really painful, Ghake watched in fear as Eki's eyes glowed a bright green light, his voice came out in a howling scream, his skin blistered with root-like marks that grew on his arms- Eki kept channeling more nature energy, more and more energy... It shouldn't have any effect on a human's body, but Eki wasn't fully human, was he? He wasn't fully human and the energy nature gave him awakened that inside him- that's what nature does! It evolves, it influences, it grows... And as it did to Ghake, it so did to Eki, in different ways sure but did force their bodies to grow. A day later- Yes, a whole day later, Eki finally stopped absorbing energy from nature around him.
He blinked, around his body grass had grown, and his skin, hair, eyes, and more had changed. He felt within his veins how the energy flowed naturally, freely! His nails sank into the ground as he dragged them there, he opened his eyes and looked around- There by his side stood him, Ghake, unmoving and unblinking as he stared at him. "Ghake...?" Eki's voice was weak, his body was weak, he had no energy left to do anything but breathe for the moment, he was barely keeping himself awake for now: "You Awake? Good." Eki huffed as his eyes closed again- Falling asleep instantly.
Ghake couldn't help but sigh in relief- Eki had changed, his eyes and hair changed into a different color, from grey and light brown to green and bright golden. His skin was smooth, soft, and looked so delicate that he didn't even dare to think about touching it! His fingers twitched, whatever was happening notably changed Eki but also changed him- His scales were bigger, and his only hand has now these black claws where his nails were, his vision also became better and his teeth sharper than it was before so maybe now he can chew food easily? "Hm... Asleep again..." Yeah, he'll take care of him.
He has to - This feeling, this need to protect the defenseless one before him was so strong that Ghake didn't know what to do except stay beside him and watch as he slept.
When morning came, Ghake watched as Eki stirred in his sleep before his eyes snapped open wide, looking everywhere frantically. "...fuck." Ghake approached Eki slowly only to see how the boy's eyes were now pale white, blindness had taken over them. "Ghake?" his voice was weak still, but he looked much better than when he had just woken up. "Eki-Sha." The Sha addition to his name is the formal way to refer to one's Shaman in their tribe, but because Ghake does not have a tribe anymore he decided to call Eki his Shaman, only his. He gave so much to save his life, and now he has been cursed by the God of Death to lose his ability to see. It was clear by the way his eyes moved and by their pale white coloration, too. "I can't see anything, Ghake... I think the God of Death cursed me, taking my sight as a price for saving you from their hand." This was real - Back in his old world, the Gods would not interfere unless necessary, but Eki could feel the divine energy mixed with this dark energy in his eyes, meaning that a God cursed him to be blind, but although the one who cursed him was a God, Eki felt like this energy was too weak to be from a powerful God.
In a few months at best or a few years at worst, he'll be able to fully break this curse, recovering his sight. What the God of Death did was to 'kill' his eyes, making them useless.
To recover he just had to grant his eyes 'Life' back.
-Scenr Cut-
Ghake had changed somehow. Eki could tell by the way he acted, his 'evolution' process he did also had the benefits of increasing their lifespan as Ghake ended up absorbing the dissipated energy from the process, which was enough to push him further beyond, granting his arm back. Now he had two arms with scales: black scales, according to Ghake. His nails also grew to become claws, and his eyes were sharper now, being able to see much further! He was also able to hear and smell way better, being able to know that there was blood far away from them, in which Eki was able to estimate to be between 5 to 10 kilometers.
Next was Eki's sight problem, which he resolved by simply not needing his eyes anymore! His own body evolved thanks to his recovery process. He could use his magic freely now. He only needed to increase his magic reserve and increase his connection to nature... Where was I? Ah, right.
He could connect to the earth and the air around him, being able to feel them and their changes, being able to now 'see' in a 360 sphere with a range of 50 around himself, due to him being as strong as a 1 Circle Druid. Ah, have I ever explained the ranking system of Druids?
Druids are spellcasters that use their magic thanks to their deep connection to nature, which provides them extra power. A Mage can become a Druid, but a Druid can not become a Mage due to their different sources of power! Mages draw their magic from the Arcanum, the Magic from within, while Druids draw magic from Nature, the without. A Mage can become a Druid because their Arcanum can coexist with Nature if trained to do so, but a Druid can not obtain an Arcanum because the place where the Arcanum would be becomes their tether, their connection to nature.
Does this mean Mages are stronger than Druids?
Not exactly, because while Druids can't become Mages, they can become Archdruids, something Mages can't become if they mix their Arcanum with nature. Archdruids can do greater magics, magics that even Mages can not cast! To become an Archdruid, one needs to have a very deep connection to nature. Eki was an Archdruid. He knows how to become one, he knows what he can do, and he will do it.
'But first...' He could feel the warm hands of the big brute that held him as he growled at their new friends before him. Why was Ghake reacting like that? Because he knew these people, it seemed, because the hostility between them was large! "Ah, Ghake." He could practically hear the smirk in that voice. The man who spoke had this energy and aura of a very arrogant man, too, which Eki knew too well thanks to his many years living a recluse life in the Elven Kingdom... That is in the past, now he has a new life, and in this life he won't make the same mistakes.
Like falling in love.