-----
Three days after the Spirit Calling Ceremony where many people that lacked a Spirit acquired it as a companion, Ervas was sitting over a large bed made out of branches and leaves, decorated with many colorful flowers, filling his nostrils with the sweet scent of pollen.
?
"This is very relaxing…" he muttered, as he glanced at the clear water sky and at the large sun illuminating the whole creation, producing sunlight which his plant-type monsters used for photosynthesis.
Although he seemed to be relaxing, he was actually constantly using his Mana all around the Devil Forest, feeding every plan his Mana and then taking it out and repeating the same process over and over again. He had recently begun to use not only Mana Drain but also Life Drain in conjunction with Healing Touch for the same effect but the Life Energy of plants.
The first results were a bit frightening, as Ervas had ended up drying out a large chunk of the forest with it, but after learning to only draw a bit, he figured out a way to do this cycle once again, nourishing the plants of the forest while strengthening his skills.
"Relaxing…" said the soothing voice of a young woman.
"Relaxing…" said another voice, that of a young man.
Ervas was not simply sitting in a bed made out of branches, leaves, and flowers, but atop Ainsley and Alder, the Ent Twins, who once used to be put simple tree sprouts that Ervas tamed not so long ago.
Their impressive growth would make most researchers in Monster Ranks and evolution faint out of disbelief. These enormous humanoid-like trees that surpassed twenty meters each once were tiny tree sprouts… perhaps one or two researchers would believe that but not that they only took around two months to reach this point.
It was simply too ridiculous… yet Ervas did it through constantly training his tamed monsters… But Ervas also considered that Oggoth was a big factor in how he tamed monsters, and well, pretty much everyone grew so fast.
The God kept sending threats, juicy exp bags of high ranking and big quantities, he ended up making Ervas and Veronica's situation even better to an extent.
"You two had grown a lot… I envy you, I also want to grow faster, having a little kid body is annoying. My Demon Metabolism skill increases but my size barely increases… and my evolutions barely bring me one or two centimeters… Will I have to get to Rank 20 to finally look a bit older?" said Ervas.
"Grown… are we?" asked Ainsley.
"Ervas… Small" said, Alder.
"Yeah, you don't have to remind me…" muttered Ervas.
Ainsley and Alder were incapable of speaking in their previous Rank, but after becoming Ents of Rank 7, they gained the ability to express their thoughts through words, although their minds seemed to be like those of toddlers.
They were innocent and a bit clueless about the world, and Ervas was constantly teaching them more of how to talk and more, but now they were simply relaxing as they admired the beautiful day while the twins absorbed the sunlight.
Then, another Ent appeared from within the forest, this was the third and not so well-known sibling of the 'twins', making them, in reality, triplets…
"Ah, it's Anna… I really should not have named you like that… I never knew there would be an Anna in the Squirrel-kin tribe…" muttered Ervas.
The humanoid-shaped tree filled with leaves walked near its siblings, bringing a large Giant Lizard, a Rank 3 Monster.
"Ervas… Food. Eat" said Anna, to not be confused with the Squirrel-kin blacksmith.
Anna moved the enormous lizard's corpse atop Ainsley and Alder treetop, giving it to Ervas as if it were an offering.
"Thanks, I appreciate it," said Ervas, seeping his fangs into the corpse and drinking its blood, satiating himself and drying out the corpse of any blood, leaving it as if it were dried meat.
"Haah, that hit the spot, cold-blooded monsters are the best for summer, I guess" thought Ervas, who enjoyed drinking the blood of cold-blooded monsters such as lizards when the sun was hitting strong.
Anna then sat down near her siblings as she enjoyed the sunlight peacefully, staying so still that it resembled an enormous yet normal tree with an odd shape.
"There is a lot of things to do… But I was just feeling like resting today. Am I being too lazy? I have been doing too much lately, my father told me that I was rushing through things too much, he said that I needed at least to rest for a week, saying that what I do is not what 2 years old would…"
"I have to confess that I think the same thing as King Jason, Ervas-sama, you should really rest!" said Legion, appearing out of thin air.
"You too, Legion? Well, the thing is that I am not a two-year-old mentally, and I have lived way more than you think… this body might be two years old, but it doesn't mean that I have to become a two-year-old and do what… well, two years old do, whatever that is?" said Ervas.
"I am well aware of your past, Ervas-sama, and that is why you need to take a rest then! Rushing through things might only make life not enjoyable for you!" said Legion.
"You're surprisingly thoughtful about life for being an undead… but I kind of understand your point…" muttered Ervas.
"Indeed, lord Ervas, I just want the best for you," said Legion.
"Huh… Resting? Should I take a month then? Or a year…?" wondered Ervas, as he looked at the sky.
His memories began to be vividly reproduced inside of his mind through the Mental Retention Skill… he had experienced a very rushed life as his third life… but she remembered his previous one, he could not help but have his heart shrouded in guilt and anguish. Every time he tried to remember those years, his mind would immediately shift to the last moments of his Kingdom and his life as Anastacia.
The endless corpses, the foul smell of death, the blood of his people spread all around, the merciless glares of the humans, elves, and dwarves that led this wicked crusade… he felt terrible pain, guilt, anguish, and anger, so much that his expressionless face would begin to twist around uncomfortably due to the enormous amounts of emotions that he could not simply show physically yet…
"How can I take a rest when these memories torment me every day…? It is awfully hard… It is awfully hard…" he thought, closing his eyes and sighing, while beginning to meditate for a bit, he decided to set his mind into feeling nature, that would always relax him.
In feeling the trees, the plants, the animals living in the forest, and many other living beings, Ervas felt tranquil and at relative peace.
But as he tried to be happy, the memories would blossom once again, and then the possibilities and concerns of things similar to those events happening once again to all the people he loved and protected in the Igni Kingdom, he had yet to live a lot, but the imminent treats all around Kritias were constantly moving and planning his demise, he couldn't simply rest at ease, he had to move, to train, to get stronger, and stronger, to plan, to consider many possibilities, to work harder than never before…
He really did not find any time to rest, he could not simply think that because he was two years old, he would have to dismiss all the concerns in life and try to live carefreely… Or so he thought.
"Giiisshiii…"
Ivy had suddenly returned from hunting and approached the Ent siblings, going up against their treetop and resting near Ervas by shrinking its body.
"Ah, Ivy-chan…" said Ervas, caressing the enormous vine snake, which used to be a simple venomous vine a few weeks ago, and now was a powerful Rank 8 Monster capable of destroying whole cities and considered a living disaster.
"I am sorry for dragging you all with this task, I know that you were living happily as plants… I hope you can forgive me for having you grow so fast and to force you to fight for me…" muttered Ervas.
"Gishi?" asked Ivy, not understanding what Ervas was even talking about.
"Ervas… fool…" muttered Ainsley.
"Ervas… we love," said Alder.
"Gishi! Gishi!" said Ivy.
"Ervas never alone…" said Anna.
"Gishiii!" said Ivy in agreement.
"Is that so…? Thanks… I also love all of you… You're especially important people in my life" said Ervas, caressing his plant monsters- no, his family.
"See? Ervas-sama, even the plants agree that you should try to relax! Although I would never call you a fool… perhaps overthinking things is only affecting you negatively" said Legion.
"Maybe that could be the case… I am not alone after all, I have all of you at my side…" muttered Ervas.
"That's right Ervas-sama, you have all of us with you!" said Nick, appearing from the forest alongside Jason, Goliath, Gaius, and others.
"You'll eventually have to do all those things, but never alone," said Gwendolyn, emerging in the appearance of a beautiful elven woman from within Nick's shoulder.
"Yeah, relax, my son. Take it easy. Come down, its lunchtime. Let's eat something, eating delicious food always makes you happy" said Jason.
"Ah, lunch…" muttered Ervas, walking down the Ent siblings as he walked back to the Kingdom with his father, accompanied by his plant family from behind.
-----
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel