Chapter 6 - The four dryads

"Ugh! Dam it! I think I overdid it." Said Aaron as he collapsed to the floor after finishing the last running mage.

His knees fell first, followed by his hands, where he began to pant heavily as his body punished his power abuse. Controlling such a level of mana was not tax-free, so now he would have to face the consequences of using that much mana.

His body twitched as black lightning crawled up and down his entire body, burning him where it landed. The process caused him extreme pain as his muscles tensed and relaxed constantly; his body was being punished for breaking natural law.

"AHHHHHHH!! GAAAAHHHHGGG!!!! AHHHHHH!"

The loud screams broke the silence surrounding the forest as clouds began to settle, ready to open the floodgates. Luckily for Aaron, a Dryad heard his screams and showed itself from the forest to help the boy.

The magical creature took pity on the kid, who looked hurt and in a great deal of pain. Usually, dryads stayed out of human conflicts and problems, but they often made exceptions for children, human or not. This particular dryad was beautiful, with perfect white robes, a pretty face, and a slim body.

"I will help you. Please let me see your wounds." Said the dryad to the kid as he was about to pass out.

"I, ah, everything hurts and burns. Ugh!" The creature looked friendly enough to comfort Aaron; he knew dryads were usually neutral beings, so he assumed he was safe and gave up trying to fight the upcoming forced nap.

Yaku caught Aaron with her hands as he passed out on her. The magical being soon took care of the boy's cuts and bruises with her high-level healing magic. She was tempted to leave him afterward, but the kid looked so young. If she let him there, some predator might kill him!

So Yaku carried the kid back to her home to watch over him until he woke up. She couldn't just leave him there, so she took him in. Yaku hoped none of the other dryads saw her with the kid, but that would be too hopeful. Soon, more and more dryads showed up near Yaku.

"Human kid? Why are you taking it back to our home?! It's forbidden!" The youngest looking dryad said as the others pushed her over to look at the kid Yaku was carrying.

"I can sense a great deal of heroic mana from him! Where did you find him!?" Said one of the elders {kult was her name.}

"I found him in the woods crying in pain; he had mortal wounds and strange black lightning hurting him," Yaku replied as she let the elder carry the kid to appraise him. Soon, the four dryads watched a bright floating screen pop up with the kids' stats.

Human Encyclopedia: File 2

[Character: Aaron Nova]

[Origin: Reincarnation (Secret)]

Race: Human

Level: 90

Name (Given): Nolan.

True name (hidden): Aaron Nova

HP: 13,000/15,000

SP: 18,000/20,000

MP: 24,000/25,000

Damage output: 30,000 (Type 7)

Speed: 20,000

Defense: 1,000

Skills: Masenko Engine School Style, LetMeSoloHer, Lion's heart, Self-burning cursed flame, Blood sacrifice, Return to sender.

Skill points: 900

Titles: {Champion IV} {Human slayer}

The dryads lost their shit when they read the kid's stats. He had better stats than any of them! It was truly unbelievable! A power level of that magnitude was only reserved for the heavenly realm! Had the gods finally sent them a helping hand to deal with their troubles? Even if not, they wanted to use the kid now.

As per natural law, the dryads could not attack people, and even if they did, their powers were not suited for combat, so they had been long asking the nature goddess for assistance with their struggles to keep the monster population in check as many were damaging the trees and other creatures for no good reason other than to be rude.

After seeing Aaron's stats, the dryads were now thinking about how they could convince the boy to live with them for a while, not knowing that he would probably accept without a doubt. Where else would he go, after all? He had lost his only home and what he called "family."

Aaron had no other place to go but to stay at the magical creatures' mercy. So when he finally woke up and noticed how he was being examined by a group of sexy women, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. They had him basically butt naked, just examining every single corner of his body! How couldn't he feel embarrassed?

Aaron's hands soon covered his private parts as he tried to ask his question to the beautiful ladies harassing him.

"May! May I help you!?" Aaron Exclaimed, a little exacerbated.

"I'm Yaku, the one who found and healed you." Answered Yaku calmly and reasonably.

"I'm Seras. I'm the one who took off your clothes; sorry." Said the middle dryad as she handed Aaron some hand-crafted clothes made just for him by her.

"Tsk, I'm Integra, and I don't like you!" Of course, the youngest still disliked the presence of a human in their home and a man of all things! Ew! She thought.

"And I'm Kult, the elder among this group of dummies. Calm already, Integra; we don't want to have this conversation again." The elder was quick to put a stop to Integra's rant as Aaron put some clothes on.

It took a little hustling from the elder, but she eventually calmed Integra down. She reminded the teen that this was still a child; he wouldn't do anything perverted, so she better stop freaking out.

"Ugh! Whatever! It's still a dirty human! But Whatever! Just get rid of him ASAP." Kult reassured Integra. Although her promise was empty, the elder did not want to get rid of the kid so fast.