The sun was shining, clouds were drifting, the breeze was soft and birds were chirping, louder than normal. The smell of leaves and flowers were strong. Sylvan felt it all. He was hyper aware of everything regarding nature. The trees felt so alive. The grass swayed in the wind. Everything was just so much more vibrant now.
The dirt was welcoming to his feet but not as welcoming as the grass. He could tell the difference from every tree, some were young, others were older but none of them was as old as the one in front of him and Erian.
An enormous tree stood in the far distance, as majesticas Yggdrasil from the legends. It shadows loomed over the world like a massive mountain range, its roots spreading far and wide, delving deep into the earth.
Erian stepped back, "That thing is huge."
Sylvan felt drawn to it. He knew it was just a tree yet it felt like there was something else about it.
"I wonder how far we'd have to walk to get there," Erian said.
Sylvan nodded. The tree was far but he knew it would be worth the trip.
"Did you check your status?" Erian asked.
"Oh yeah." Sylvan forgot about that. He opened his menu.
─ NAME: SYLVAN
─ RACE: DRYAD
─ MAGIC TYPE: NATURE ( Treeify, Tree Mimicry, Nature Affinity )
─ SKILLS: Tree Mimicry (Lvl 1), Vine Summon (Lvl 1)
─UNIQUE SKILLS: Treeify
─ LEVEL: 1
─ EXPERIENCE: 0/100
─CONSTITUTION: 10
─MANA: 10
He examined his status in detail. Each sentence making him more excited. He had magic and he was going to learn how to use it now.
"I think I have 10 hp..."Erian frowned, "Isn't that low?"
"Constitution isn't the same as hp right?" Sylvan asked.
"Yeah you're right. I hope so at least," Erian shrugged.
He raised his hand and a vine sprouted from his palm. He could control it with his mind.
"That's awesome!" Sylvan said.
Erian tried to do it again but the vine wasn't coming.
"Bro... that drained all my mana."
"Damn," Sylvan said. He also summoned a vine from his palm and just like Erian he could control it. After a few seconds the vine felt heavy. And after a few seconds more it disappeared. A new sensation hit him, mana exhaustion. He felt weaker and slower. But after a minute or so he felt better.
"Okay that sucked," Sylvan said.
"That god cheaped out on us. He should've given us a few more skills to start off with. Only one seems kind of unfair," Erian complained.
Sylvan tilted his head, he thought they had the same skills. He looked at his status again.
"I have three skills."
"I guess he's playing favorites, anyways what do you have that I don't?"
"Tree mimicry and treeify."
Sylvan placed his hand against a tree trunk. His body started to merged with the tree. His body got smaller and smaller until he dissapeared into the tree.
"Bro!?"
Sylvan was inside the tree now, it felt just as good as being inside the fruit.
Erian knocked on the tree.
"You okay?" Erian asked with a hint of concern in his voice.
He moved one of the branches, and hit Erian's body.
Erian jumped back.
"You're moving the branches," Erian laughed,"That's so awesome. And here I am without that skill."
He suddenly clapped, "That just means I'm going to master vine before you do. Just wait and see brother."
Erian sat cross legged and started focusing on summoning more vines. He managed to summon two before falling on his back, taking deep breaths.
Sylvan found it funny, looking through the tree at him. They looked human except for their greenish skin and the fact that they were born from fruits.
A squirrel jumped onto Sylvan's branch. Sylvan looked at it.
The squirrel tilted its head.
Sylvan didn't really know if he had any. The squirrel kept looking at him.
Sylvan said.
The squirrel jumped up to Sylvan's branch and bit it.
The squirrel jumped away and onto a different tree, moving on.
Suddenly Sylvan felt lightheaded. His mana wasn't enough anymore to merge with the tree.
He got ejected from the tree and fell on his back.
"I talked to a squirrel," Sylvan said.
Erian laughed as he stood up and offered him a hand.
"I'm serious. I can talk to animals."
"I'm sure you can buddy," Erian stretched, "Now come on, we should make a plan."
They both sat down cross legged.
"So what's our goal?" Sylvan asked.
"To spread nature right?" Erian scratched his head, "How do we do that?"
"We could start planting stuff."
"We have magic and you want to plant?"
"Alright. Alright. Maybe we just need to level up."
Erian nodded.
"I'm thinking the same."
They both looked around.
A branch broke behind some bushes. Two slime jumped out from behind it. Both blue in color. They rolled towards them, leaving slime trails behind.
"How much exp do you think that gives us?" Sylvan asked.
"I'm hoping 100."
"Same here," Sylvan nodded.
Erian held his palm out. A vine came out. He whipped the slime, the vine split it in half. The slime's body turned into a blue liquid and fell on the grass.
"I leveled up!" Erian exclaimed.
"Sweet. My turn," Sylvan summoned his vine. The other slime hopped up but Sylvan managed to hit it with his vine. It also turned into blue goo.
Sylvan checked his status:
─ LEVEL UP!
─LEVEL 2
─ SKILLS: Vine Summon (Lvl 2), Tree Mimicry (Lvl 2)
"Hey I got a level 2 in my skills," Sylvan said.
"Vine summon right?"
"Yeah."
Erian grinned, "I'm gonna try and find another one."
Sylvan nodded.
"I'm going to see what's different about Tree Mimicry now."
They both went into different directions. Sylvan put his hand against a tree and merged with it. It felt different. He could feel the roots of the tree, it expanded in a big radius. He could hear Erian muttering something about slimes.
Erian jumped, almost losing his balance. "Warn me first will ya!"
"I guess so," Erian said and he went on. Erian spotted another slime and decided to use the newly leveled up vine skill. A much thicker and faster vine sprouted from his hand, whipping the slime into a puddle.
Erian didn't answer him back.
Sylvan could hear Erian talking to someone else through the roots. It was a deep voice.
"Oy Elsa what's this thing?" the deep voice said.
"I think it's a dryad,"Elsa answered.
"A dryad? On this continent?"
"Maybe they got summoned."
"Let me kill it!" a feminine voice chimed in. "I want to try out my new fire spell."
"No we can't sell it if you burn it."
There was the sound of footsteps. One heavy and two light. They came closer and closer.
Sylvan's vision was limited when he was in the tree, yet he managed to spot his brother's greenish skin. He was holding his hand up.
Erian fell on his knees. And Sylvan felt sick in his stomach.
"Don't kill me, please."
The footsteps didn't stop.
Sylvan left the tree and started running towards Erian. His mind racing with a single thought: save Erian.
He ran and ran until he arrived at the scene.
There was a large man, and an even larger man with a warhammer on his back and a young girl with red hair. They surrounded Erian. The red haired girl was muttering some words and a ball of fire was forming in her hand.
Erian locked eyes with Sylvan, his gaze was filled with terror. Sylvan didn't know what to do, he just knew he needed to act fast.
He made his way through the bushes and prepared his vines.
The leader, the one with the deep voice, raised his sword.
Erian screamed, trying to subtly warn Sylvan, "Don't do it. Stay back."
His warning was too late. A vine shot from the bushes, aiming for the mage in the back, striking its target in the eyes. The mage stumbled backwards and began to frantically rub her eyes. The vine had struck her with such force that it momentarily blinded her.
Sylvan panicked and used Tree Mimicry to hide inside the nearest tree.
The leader quickly stepped back and turned towards the mage.
"What was that, Kim?"
"I think he threw a fucking branch at me! That's what happened!"
Zack chuckled, "It's only level 2."
He turned back to Erian. His swing was quick, precise, without hesitation.
Sylvan saw the sword swing down and it cut through Erian's neck, his head tumbling to the ground, eyes still wide open in shock. His body went limp as it slumped to the ground, green blood gushing from the severed neck.
Sylvan felt his heart break. He watched in horror, unable to move or react, paralyzed by fear.
"My first Dryad kill, " Zack crouched down and leaned closer to Erian's.
He aimed his sword at Erian's left ear. He severed it.
"Brian grab the corpse. Elsa you are in charge of selling it."
Brian smiled widely, revealing his yellow teeth.
Sylvan wanted to puke as he watched them from within the tree. The way Brian grabbed Erian's body with one hand and threw it over his shoulder like a sack of potato. The lack of care they took with his body was too much.
The voice of Glenn echoed in his head. "We're greedy, selfish and barbaric."
He had never hated anyone so much until today.
Sylvan unmerged from the tree. Tears fell down his cheek. He wiped them off and started running, running in the direction the adventurers went. His fist trembled; vengeance boiling up inside him.
"I'll kill him!" Sylvan said, his voice shaking with emotion. His hands trembled and clenched into fists at his sides. He followed the footsteps.
At a wooden sign, the footsteps split. Three headed towards Larze Kingdom, one towards Mura Village.
"I can take them one by one," he said, blinded by rage. He started running in the direction of Mura village, unaware of the shadow trailing him.
He ran until he felt his lungs hurt..
A stone walkway caught his attention.
His body was begging for rest. He ignored it.
The walkway led to a village where he saw him. Zack was being greeted by a woman and two kids. He kissed his wife and hugged his children, he was smiling.
Sylvan felt his blood boil. He took his family away and then he gets to come back to his? That wasn't fair. He looked at the child.
"I can take something away from him," Sylvan grit his teeth and he could feel something stir inside him. Deep down he knew he couldn't kill Zack but... his children were a different story. He shook his head, Erian wouldn't want him to.
Zack walked into his house with his wife and kids following.
"But he took him away, "Sylvan said, "He has to pay. Even if I die."
Sylvan prepared his vine spell and reached the village fence, desperate for revenge.
A hand wrapped around his mouth and the other hand pulled his arm back.
"You idiot. What do you think you're doing?" a feminine voice said. She dragged Sylvan away from the village, deeper into the forest.
Sylvan tried to struggle free from her grasp, he tried his hardest yet the woman was stronger. He could only silently cry, tears flowing down his face, as he watched the village disappear in the distance.