Eren shuddered as he listened to the wicked laughter erupting from outside. Faytahlia swung her giant hammer around, sending pieces of magical beasts flying dozens of meters into the sky.
Blood rained down, covering the once vibrant green grass with crimson-red blood. The grass was disheveled and almost the entire ground was barren now.
Erwin had a solemn expression on his face when he thought of the lasting effect of this entire event. Because the ground, including most of the fields in the village, was uprooted, planting and growing crops would be impossible.
And since that was the poor baron's only source of income, that meant his family would become even poorer to the point where eating meat would never even come across his mind.
It would be like a lizard wishing to become a dragon; something that would never happen.
"Damnit, if only was strong enough, I could protect the field!" Erwin beat himself up over the beast tide even though it was beyond his control.
Moriya quickly comforted him.
Eren and Lydia, on the other hand, were too busy trying to discern the situation outside off of their hearing alone. They could hear the crystal clear sounds of someone massacring the magical beasts.
The two siblings kept their heads against the uncomfortably positioned door for what felt like an hour until everything outside grew silent. They wondered what might have happened and Eren feared for the worst.
'Did the border count die? Maybe it was too much even for a Platinum-Grade cultivator...' He solemnly thought.
But, his guesses had been proven incorrect when Faytahlia's voice rang out once more.
"You may exit your homes now, commoners! I, Faytahlia, The Border Count, have slain all the monsters that intended to plague this village!" Faytahlia cackled as she finished her speech before she jumped into the sky and out of everyone's sight.
Everyone breathed sighs of relief as they were informed of Faytahlia's achievement. Eren and Lydia were more relieved that Faytahla had gone back to her own manor than her slaying the monsters.
They all viewed her as some crazy woman who looked like a teenager. Her clothing and hair styles were meant only for young women!
Eren knew that Faytahlia was far older than the villagers could've imagined. They thought she was some young prodigy who made it to the Platinum-Grade at the tender age of 14.
Unbeknownst to them, Faytahlia's appearance was but a facade! And Eren knew this because he encountered her once.
It was way back when he was around 5 years old. His family visited Faytahlia's manor to ask for financial assistance.
Faytahlia agreed and helped the family out, but she made one thing clear after helping.
"Betroth your youngest child to me in the future!"
Normally, the family would forget about the request for financial aid, but Faytahlia was sly and only said this after helping the poor noble family. It was just like the student loans back in Eren's old world.
They'd give you a set amount of money, and afterward, they'd demand you pay them two times as much, and sometimes even three times! Eren felt as if he'd been played when he heard this, but he had no choice but to comply.
Plus, he didn't really have a say in the matter since he had to put up the facade of a 5-year-old back then.
Eren recalled a few memories before moving his head away from the door and opening it. He was nervous whenever he thought about the result of the beast tide.
He prayed that it didn't damage the land too much, or else they'd really be demoted to a commoner family!
When Eren opened the door and led his family outside, his heart sank as he immediately noticed the torn and destroyed land. There were chunks of blood-stained grass everywhere, but none of it was sprouting naturally from the ground.
This made everyone in the family depressed and they decided not to talk about it and instead try to clean up the best they could...
As Eren was sulking whilst leaning against one of the apple trees, a voice sounded in his head.
[Your body has completely assimilated with the reincarnation cycle and laws of this world. You are now equivalent to the average resident of this world. The Heavenly Blessing System has been awakened.]
Eren's eyes burst open as he listened intently to the words coming from inside his head. He didn't know how the voice got in his head, but it was something he had been waiting on for a long time.
It was something like a golden finger! Although, Eren had given up on it after several years passed. He instead forgot about most of his previous life and decided to leave peacefully in this new world, until now.
He was given a strong dose of nostalgia when he heard the voice. Without hesitation, he instantly responded to the voice.
"H-How do I use the Heavenly Blessing System?" Eren asked. His lips had curled into a smile and there was a bountiful amount of hope in his eyes.
[Simple. Touch an object and call out OR think 'Heavenly Blessing!'. You have to wait 3 minutes after each blessing. Blessing an object will improve its grade from its initial grade to something higher. The current limit for Heavenly Blessing is Diamond-Grade.]
Eren wanted to jump around and dance when he heard the information about his gold finger. Even without hearing the information about it, just the name gave him a rough idea of what it did.
He suddenly turned and looked at the apple trees.
'I may have joked when I said these trees would be our last resort, but let's see if they can truly save our tails.' He thought.
Eren placed his hand on the tree he was leaning on before and spoke.
"Heavenly Blessing!"
Suddenly, a golden light exploded from the tree, not allowing anyone to look at it anymore. Eren still kept his hand on the tree until the light finally disappeared.
What stood before him was something completely different from the apple tree he leaned against every day. The leaves were bright vibrant green and the apples hanging from the branches were azure blue and golden yellow.
The tree itself was a pure chestnut brown, something that outclassed its original color before. Eren could feel mysterious energy emanating from the tree, leaves, and apples!
He suddenly thought of something.
"This energy is called mana right? Since I was tested and have no spiritual roots, I can't refine mana or cultivate weapon auras!"
Eren reached out and plucked one of the big juicy azure blue apples from the tree. Just holding the apple made Eren feel slightly relaxed.
He couldn't wait anymore and chomped down don't the apple. He immediately felt a cold energy flowing from his mouth into the rest of his body, somehow filling his body with warmth.