Aldryn's body was then covered by a faint light. It seemed that those he perceived as “allies” also received the buff.

Klyran and the Kenman both quickly took a look at their bodies. While the Kenman didn’t pay it more than a glance, the Ryan understood the skill’s usefulness. Along with the multiple notifications that he was continuing to receive from the Eyes of Teria, a new window appeared.

[Someone Applied “Light Shield” buff on you]

[“Light Shield” Temporarily increased your defence by 10 points]

[Eyes of Teria Skill Progression: 0.26%]

[Light Shield duration: 00:05:00]

In the next moment, he felt the difference. It became much easier to block the incoming attacks and those that he received head on no longer seemed as strong. It allowed him to easily wear out the Scavenger that he was facing. The man already being tired. In less than a minute, Klyran’s opponent fell and his eyes then looked for the next target. There was a group of three Scavengers who were retreating and he quickly jumped and attacked them.

“Well… That wasn’t so bad” Aldryn commented, noticing that the skill didn’t drain him, to which the Thrae only gently nodded.

“Maybe we should help Klyran now?” the fox then asked and urged the blonde to move.

Noticing that the Ryan was facing three men at the same time, the blonde quickly gathered his wits and went to help him. The action was calmly observed by the Kenman, who already disposed of all his opponents. He wanted to see their skill and decided to simply watch the situation for a while and only help if the kids needed it.

Together, Klyran and Aldryn fought against the three Scavengers. Despite there being the difference with only one man, their combat was better than that of the two friends. The three Scavengers worked like a well-oiled machine. They knew when to attack and when to dodge. When to cover one another and when to get out of the way. It put the Ryan and the apostle at a disadvantage, but as the fight dragged on, the two of them improved. Klyran’s Eyes of Teria continued to slowly progress and at some point, he even started feeling his friend. It seemed that he subconsciously knew where Aldryn was and what he intended to do. It was a skill that took comrades years to develop, yet they both seemed to gain it much faster.

‘Impressive’ the Kenman nodded, ‘Is it that they are compatible? Or because one is an Apostle while another one a Ryan?’ he wondered.

Whenever Klyran would dodge, Aldryn would quickly try and stab the opponent who was attacking his friend and vice versa. They covered each other’s backs and whenever possible, would try and overpower one of the Scavengers. The Ryan’s Eyes of Teria would warn him if one of the Scavengers planned to use a magic attack and he would quickly make a gesture to the blonde. The two of them, while fighting their own battle, constantly had eyes on one another.

‘It feels like the two of us have been together for years now’ the Oracle grinned.

“Now that just sounded wrong” the fox then snickered, but would also perk its ears and sharpen its eyes to see any danger.

‘This feels amazing’ Klyran could not help but feel giddy. He fought with the Greenyards, so he experienced a bit of combat and while the Greenyards' movements were calculated, him and Aldryn were different.

‘It’s like I can read his intentions’ the Ryan was amazed.

[Light Shield duration: 00:00:34]

When the skill was near its ending time, the black-haired serpent made another motion and Aldryn quickly understood it. The blonde tried to cast the spell again, but it failed.

“Either you are low on magic, or its one of those skills that cannot be often used” the Thrae encouraged him.

‘Those two…’ the Kenman thought from aside, ‘Are not bad’ he then smirked, ‘With a bit of training they could become a force to reckon with’ he nodded satisfied.

Two of the Scavengers then fell, just before the time run out. Without his companions, the third man lost his courage and decided to retreat. He sprinted into the trees, while Aldryn and Klyran panted for breath and finally felt sore with the adrenaline fading. In that moment, anther shadow quickly passed them. The Kenman dashed after the escaping target. It didn’t take him long to catch up. He used all the power in his legs and sprinted to the Scavenger, with his sheathed sword he slammed the man down and then landed near the fallen man.

“You!” he shouted angrily while gasping for air.

“Yo shouldn’t have touched what’s mine” the Kenman simply told him with a cold smile and then took out his blade and ran the man through.

Taking the thin sword out, the Kenman wiped the blood on the man’s clothes that were quickly getting soaked. Without another glance he left.

“I feel bad” Klyran said with pitiful eyes, looking around the mansion.

“Why?” the blonde asked while sitting on the ground catching his breath.

“Look at how many dead people are here” he said and waved his hand.

“Is he… Feeling bad about the people who kidnapped and tried to eat him?” the Thrae choked.

“You… Know what sort of group those people are… Don’t you?” the blonde asked him.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Nobody told him about the Scavengers right?” the fox then sighed, causing Aldryn to realise that Klyran might not know anything about his kidnappers.

“Those people… Their group is called the Scavengers… They… They catch and put a certain on their target and then eat their heart” the blonde sighed, “The spell lets them absorb the target’s powers”

Klyran shivered, he gripped his arms and the mere thought of what could have happened to him, “They what?!” he exclaimed shocked.

“Yeah…” the oracle added, not sure what else to say.

“Don’t worry” the Thrae suddenly said taking over, “We won’t let anything happen to you” the now white-haired oracle patted his arm and then turned to look at the forest.

“Caught the run-away?” the fox then joked when the Kenman emerged from behind some trees.

“Indeed” he nodded and then sat down near them.

“Are the two of you all right?” the older man asked looking at the two of them.

“I’m fine… Only a headache” the Ryan nodded and then sat down on the ground.

“Blondie is fine” the fox laughed, “Tired… but fine.”

The three of them stood a bit in that forest. All three of them had different thoughts running through their minds. The events of the day drained both Klyran and Aldryn. Despite them being physically somewhat all right, they were exhausted mentally. The Thrae, that didn’t like to reveal itself all that often even took over for the longest time since it gained its host.

“I thought you can only stay in this form for a while?” the Ryan asked looking at his friend.

“In combat yes… But simply maintaining this form while idling around is not difficult… Aldryn is tired… So I let him sleep now” it explained in a solemn voice.

“You should too” the fox then said with sharp eyes, “I will watch over both of you” it explained and stoke some of its white hair that fell in its eyes.

With a nod, Klyran collapsed backward. He was feeling a type of fatigue that could reach his bones. It was not only the fight that made him like that. All day his heart beat like mad and the only thoughts that passed his in his mind were: ‘HOW DO I GET OUT? HOW DO I ESCAPE? WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE?’ and finally, the one that shouted the louder: ‘IS THIS HOW I WILL DIE?’.

So the moment that he felt safe, the Ryan’s body could no longer take it and simply collapsed. His eyes were closed and his breathing gave away that he was asleep.

“Should we make a fire?” the now white-haired Oracle asked, looking around the forest.

“Here?” the Kenman asked with a smirk, “Why would we? When we have that nice mansion all to ourselves.”

“You have read my mind” the Thrae grinned back.