the harvest

*Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom*

"So... that's the city wall?" Everyone looked up with their heads tilted back.

I turned to Sylvia, whose face was frozen in amazement. "Yes! Impressive, isn't it?"

She nodded absentmindedly.

"It makes you feel really small, weak, and insignificant next to it. It just looks like it's reaching the heaven," Elias said with an uncertain smile but a determined look in his eyes.

"Well, it is actually two kilometers high," I replied, scratching my head. "But the Sea Wall, wich I mentioned, is smaller; it's halfway in the lake."

"Hehe!" Mia laughed proudly and hopped in place. "And that's not all!"

Sylvia didn't respond, but Elias looked at me, trembling with excitement.

"Leo? Do you think I can attack it someday?"

I pondered for a moment but knew he couldn't do any harm to it.

I had seen his status, and even though he didn't want to fight over the past few weeks, I have the feeling that he is strong.

But to see one of his attacks, would give a clearer picture.

I shrugged and smiled. "Well, I'm curious to see!"

Elias started to grin broadly, lightly hopping in place, and took his scythe off his back.

"Oh, and don't overdo it!" I warned him. "The wall reflects about 90% of your attack!"

For some reason, he seemed even more excited now. His scythe was already glowing dark purple to black.

"Mia, you can heal me, right?" he asked.

She nodded in shock and said simultaneously with her mother, "But don't overdo it!"

"90% hmm? At 90%, I won't die if I execute what would normally be a deadly blow."

I felt the scythe filling with more and more mana; then he raised it and seemed to activate a skill.

"[Harvest]," he murmured, and then nine more scythes appeared behind him.

*Screeeeeeeeech*

A noise cut through the air as all ten scythes slashed through it.

I saw the three women trembling, visibly getting goosebumps.

The scythes approached closer and closer, flying toward a point, and just before impact, they seemed to merge.

I only heard distorted, abstract sounds and an impact. A scream and my assistant.

[Damage to the 'city wall' registered]

With great surprise, I eagerly looked at the spot where Elias had struck. It was a whirl of mana slowly dissipating.

"Ahhaha..." painful laughter could be heard.

"Papa!"

"Elias!"

I heard two panicked voices calling out and then hurriedly running to the scene.

Emma looked shocked but stayed in place, but she looked just as eagerly as we did at the spot, wich slowly cleared up.

"Ahaha!" Elias laughed with a pained expression. "It's okay! Feels good to do that again..."

With a grin, he bid farewell and became unconscious.

I shook my head with a smile and watched my wife hastily heal him.

His gash on the chest slowly healed, while I scanned the area of the incident.

"I really didn't expect that..." I muttered, shaking my head slightly.

There was a slight notch on the wall. It closed up just as quickly as Elias'.

...

"Was it worth it?" I heard Sylvia ask as she leaned over him indignantly.

Through the warming fire, I saw Elias pulling himself up and laughing awkwardly while sitting.

Mia also looked somewhat angry with him and me, occasionally shooting me a glare.

For the next while, both of them bombarded us with moral lectures, saying one should think about what they're doing. And yes, why I hadn't stopped him.

Emma enthusiastically joined in, explaining from head to toe how reckless I was and so on.

"Fortunately, Mia could heal you completely!" Sylvia concluded her verbal essay, breathing a sigh of relief.

Mia crossed her arms and nodded.

However, both of their faces still showed tension and a little lingering fear.

Elias stood up and hugged them both. "You're right, sorry. And thank you for the healing, my daughter!"

With a satisfied and proud smile, she came over and sat beside me, looking up at me expectantly and hugging my arm.

The fire crackled in the background and the orange flames reflected in my wife's eyes.

I praised her as well with a kiss on the forehead and then turned to Elias.

"I didn't think you could do so much damage to the wall."

"Haha, yeah, sorry."

I waved it off. "Don't worry, the walls repair themselves automatically."

With an appreciative look, he glanced up at the wall, which was right next to us.

Above us hung a dense cloud cover, making the wall seem endless.

The fine golden veins of the wall shimmered in the fiery light, creating a mysterious atmosphere.

Mia lay on Emma's legs now, gazing relaxedly into the crackling fire, which eagerly consumed the wood.

"How did you do that?" I then asked Elias, to distract myself from the thought that I needed a bit romance with Mia too. "Or rather, what was that skill?"

"Haha," he laughed deeply. "[Harvest]? Pretty cool, huh?"

I nodded.

"Well, the description said it harvests souls," he clicked his tongue once and continued. "But in my opinion, that's exaggerated. It only has the ability to ignore a certain amount of resistances and attacks accordingly from the inside."

...

I nodded slowly and stood up. "I don't think we'll be covering the remaining distance today, right?"

I looked at Mia, who was already in the land of dreams, softly breathing. Her pillow, Emma, seemed to be asleep too. She was leaning against a tree, eyes closed.

"How far is it now?" Elias asked me.

I smiled. "Actually, not too far. I can cover the distance in one or two jumps... it's precisely 500 kilometers."

"Haha! It'll take me a bit longer for that distance!" he said, getting up and yawning.

"Besides, the others are already asleep. I think we should gradually make our way into the tent too."

He helped Sylvia up, who was already dozing and swaying into the tent. I looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was already directly above us.

"Goodnight!" Elias said softly before disappearing into the tent with Sylvia.

I nodded and whispered, "Goodnight!" and extinguished the remaining embers of the burnt-out fire.

It hissed briefly, and an owl complained from the deep forest.

I gently lifted Mia, who grumbled sweetly, and carried her into the tent, wrapping her softly in a blanket.

After that, Emma followed, now lying beside her.

I sighed contentedly, left the tent, and closed it behind me.

I jumped onto the wall and sat on the edge, letting my feet dangle.

"Weird atmosphere..." I pondered as I looked over the dark horizon, the black schiluettes of the forest we left behind could be seen. Stars twinkled and the moon smiled brightly.

Do I have Mia withdrawal? Or what is that feeling?

I laid back and gazed up at the starry sky. Arms in the neck, Wind in the hair, night sounds in the ear.

My thoughts circled calmly, about the past, present, and future.