----Short flashback
A few minutes before Sylvan and Erian reincarnated, Nyx sat at a river nearby. The rock was uncomfortable. The sun shining on her skin was uncomfortable. The fish brushing up against her legs was uncomfortable. Everything was uncomfortable.
"Why?" she said to herself, "Why am I here?"
Another fish swam up against her leg.
Nyx had enough. Her blue irises turned black as she cast her shadow spell.
The fish's shadow wrapped around its body and the shadow became solid, preventing it from moving any further.
Nyx leaned down and picked it up with one hand.
She bit the fish's head and swallowed it. It was raw but that didn't really matter to Nyx, she was a siren. Raw fish was normal to eat.
Nyx finished eating and wiped her hand on the grass. She was still hungry.
"Maybe I'll hunt a wolf," she thought.
An unusual spell was being cast in the distance. The animals could feel it too and the forest was quieter. No more birds chirping.
She turned towards the sound of magic, putting a hand on her chin. Her curiosity was piqued yet fear was holding her back.
"The adventurer party was in that direction..." Nyx's eyesbrows furrowed.
"It's not like anyone would miss me."
She stood up and walked towards the strange spell.
Her body merged with the shadows and disappeared.
The trees provided plenty of shade for her to travel through.
Her heart beat quickened as she got closer and closer.
Nyx found a tree to observe from.
Her eyes widened.
Vines grew as they were summoned from human-like beings. Their green skin looked out of place in the forest. The elves had white skin or tan at most but never green.
"Are those...dryads?" Nyx wondered as she watched the two green men laughing together. One of them was summoning vines while the other merged with a tree.
A branch snapped behind the bushes.
A slime hopped towards them.
Nyx watched intently.
It was the one that merged with the tree's turn now.
"Sylvan," the other dryad shouted.
Nyx could see the excitement on the dryad's face. She remembered playing with her sisters like that.
She smiled.
The dryad named Sylvan used his vine spell and killed the slime.
Sylvan looked excited and Nyx saw the two of them go in different directions. She was curious why the animals avoided the other dryad, the birds flew away as he walked. So she decided to follow him.
Nyx hid in the shadows, moving through the trees as the dryad explored. She felt the shadows of wolves even slimes run away, as if they could smell something off about the dryad. Or maybe it was because the adventurers.
She had already encountered this group of adventurers. Their mage wasn't capable of sensing her when she used her shadow spells. The mage was weaker than her.
Nyx wondered if the dryad would merge with a tree too, like the other.
The dryad smiled as he spotted another slime. He was so focused on his target that he didn't notice the adventurers coming up from behind. The conflict escalated quickly.
"Oy Elsa what's this thing?" one adventurer asked.
"I think it's a dryad," the other answered.
Nyx felt her breath quickening. Her eyes darted between the dryad and the adventurer. The elder told her dryads were wiped out a long time ago, they were extinct.
Her muscle tensed and she took a step forward. But she caught herself, she knew better than to pick fights with humans especially adventurers. kill one of them, they kill hundreds of yours.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a vine came flying from the bushes. Nyx saw him and her heart froze. His spell was weak. The mage thought the dryad in front of her threw a branch.
The sword sliced through the dryad's skin. A decapitation.
Nyx closed her eyes. It was over. She watched Sylvan cry tears as the other adventurers took away his corpse. And then she saw him run.
He ran with fury in his eyes. Nyx knew his destination. She followed him. The way he looked at the children, it made her uneasy. She acted. Her hands wrapped around his mouth and arm. She dragged him into the forest, covering his sobs with her hand, all the way to her cave.
----
Sylvan felt the hand release its grip around his arm and he lay on his back. The smell of dust and moisture was pungent.
"Have you calmed down?" a cold voice said.
Sylvan didn't reply, he just stared at the ceiling of the cave, replaying the scene of Erian's death in his head.
Nyx sighed, "You can't kill him, you're too weak."
He knew that already.
"I don't care," Sylvan cried, "I have nothing left anyways."
Nyx tilted her head, "I guess I could end your life now."
He heard her footsteps get closer and closer. Sylvan didn't move. He could hear her relaxed breath.
"I don't want to deal with the consequences of your foolishness," Nyx said, her voice cold as she crouched down to meet his gaze. Her blue eyes were filled with an emotion Sylvan couldn't quite place.
He didn't want to die.
Sylvan felt his shadow shift. It grew and wrapped around his neck, tightening its grip. The shadow became solid.
It was painful, but not as bad as losing Erian.
Sylvan tried to pull it apart, but it only got tighter. He saw the woman sitting on the ground with her hand out, controlling the shadow.
"Stop," he gasped, his voice barely audible.
The shadows let go of his neck as quickly as they had appeared.
The cave's silence was deafening. Nyx stared at him, her face void of emotion then she got up.
"I'll let you deal with your grief alone," she said.
She started to walk away but paused after a vines wrapped around her ankle.
"Wait."
Nyx looked back.
"Don't leave me."
He couldn't handle being alone. He wanted a distraction, he wanted to stop hearing that sword, that moment when it cut through Erian's throat. He didn't want to be in this head anymore. He didn't want to think about his brother anymore.
Sylvan let go of her leg and she was silent for a moment before speaking.
"Tell me about that skill. The one you used to merge with the tree."
"My skill?"
Nyx nodded.
Sylvan looked at her for a moment, her eyes were cold as ice. And then he opened his status menu, and read. "Tree Mimicry. Skill level 2. Merge your body with the tree, gaining access to the senses of the tree and allowing limited movement of the tree."
He looked at Nyx again. Her face showed no sign of surprise or anything.
"Why didn't he use it?" she said.
"Who?"
"The other dryad."
Sylvan eyes widened.
"You. You were there?"
Her face remained neutral.
He wanted to yell at her, ask her why she didn't save him.
"I was there," Nyx's voice echoed through the cave.
"Why..." Sylvan swallowed, "He didn't have the skill."
She raised her eyebrow, she knew all species had the same starting skills.
"You're both dryads right?" she asked.
"Yeah..." he took a deep breath, "All I know I had two more skills than him."
Nyx tilted her head. It was strange for them to be different. "That shouldn't be the case but... tell me about your skills."
Sylvan's eyebrows knitted together as he contemplated for a moment before speaking. He felt naked in front of her. "I also have Treeify, and Vine Summon."
She crossed her arms and put a finger on her chin.
"Treeify?" she asked.
He opened his status again and read out loud, "Turns a creature into a tree variant tied to the dryad. Skill level 1. Creature level restriction: max level 5."
He was quiet for a moment, processing the information he just read out loud.
Nyx's face remained neutral.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"It's an interesting skill."
He cursed himself for not using the skill on the adventurers. If he had, maybe Erian would've been alive right now.
The image of him being cut through the neck again echoed in his mind.
"Stop it. Your skill wouldn't work on them," Nyx said, snapping him out of his dark thoughts.
"How do you know?" he asked, a bit irritated.
She sighed and then gestured for him to come closer.
He reluctantly moved closer to her, "What?"
"Look at me, " she commanded.
He did as she said.
Her face was beautiful yet all he could think about was the strength she hid behind it.
Sylvan looked into her cold blue eyes.
"Nothing's happening. What are you doing?" he asked.
"Don't look at my face, look at the mana."
Sylvan closed his eyes and focused.
─SKILL UNLOCKED: Appraisal (Lvl 1)
─Appraisal (Lvl 1): Can see the level of another creature. Level restriction: 5.
─NAME: NYX
─RACE: SHADOW SIREN
─AGE: ??? (Level higher than appraiser)
─LEVEL: ??? (Level higher than appraiser)
─SKILLS: ??? (Level higher than appraiser)
"You're a shadow siren?" he asked with a mix of awe and fear in his voice.
Nyx didn't smile but she wasn't frowning anymore.
A rejuvenating jolt passed through Sylvan's body. He lowered his head, until he hit the cold rocky ground like a japanese apology. He wanted only one thing now.
"Please train me."
Strength. No matter what it takes.