Eiran raised his shield above his head, taking on all the attacks the Cryloths launched at him. He dropped to one knee, trying to withstand the assault, and at the right moment—
'Aegis Burst!' Eiran activated the skill in his mind.
The shield in Eiran's hands began to glow and absorb all the attacks from the Cryloths. Eiran could feel the tremor of energy being absorbed into the shield, then an explosion erupted in the area around him after all the damage was absorbed.
A massive burst of energy exploded, forcing the other mercenaries to cover their eyes with their arms due to the blinding light.
"No!" Finric felt his body weaken when he saw the cloud of smoke where Eiran had been standing.
Some of the mercenaries grinned silently. They'd earn extra coins if Eiran ended up dead during this expedition.
However, shortly after, a silhouette emerged from the smoke, dragging the head of a Cryloth. Eiran let out a light cough and casually tossed the severed head aside.
"Looks like we've killed them all," Eiran said calmly, wiping the Cryloth blood off his face.
"Cih! Gather all the supplies, we're moving out!" The captain didn't seem pleased that Eiran had made it out without a serious scratch.
Slowly, the other mercenaries began gathering their scattered belongings. Finric quickly rushed over to Eiran, who looked more worn out than before.
"You scared me. I thought you were going to die!" Finric said with restrained emotion.
"I won't die that easily," Eiran replied with a faint chuckle.
He glanced down at Finric's shield that he'd borrowed. "Thanks for the shield. I wouldn't have made it without it," Eiran said as he handed the shield back to Finric.
"Why are you being so polite all of a sudden?" Finric grinned and playfully smacked Eiran's shoulder. "Just keep using it. I'm more comfortable with a sword anyway."
"You sure?" Eiran frowned, clearly not used to being treated kindly.
"Think of it as repayment for saving me," Finric replied, still grinning.
"Well, if you say so." Eiran wasn't foolish enough to turn down something he needed, especially gear.
While the two of them were casually chatting, Eiran felt something strike his head. When he turned, he saw the captain had thrown a metal can at him.
"Quit fooling around! Carry the rest of our supplies!"
"Yes, sir!" Finric quickly responded and dashed toward the captain to pick up the leftover items.
"We're leaving now. Frosthollow is only 500 meters ahead," the captain then announced.
Hearing that, Eiran quickly helped Finric carry their team's belongings. He could see there were still plenty of items left behind for them to haul, supplies, food, spare equipment.
It was obvious to Eiran that they had been intentionally left with the load, while the other mercenaries carried only their personal gear. But to keep the peace, Eiran said nothing. He wasn't in the mood to cause any trouble.
He also noticed that two of their members were seriously injured but fortunately, none had died during the Cryloth ambush.
[Ding! The host has completed the Quest!]
[Calculating rewards…]
Rewards determined. Would the Host like to open the reward chest?]
"Yes. I want to see what I got," Eiran replied, curious about what the System had prepared for him.
[Congratulations! The Host has obtained the equipment: 'Greywall Shield']
[Host may access Inventory to view equipment and items. The Host may also store objects from this world in the Inventory, as long as there are available slots.]
"So you had a feature like this, too, huh? Shouldn't you have explained this to me from the start?" Eiran suspected the System had been deliberately withholding information.
[This feature only unlocks when the Host reaches a certain Protection Point threshold. The System has now updated the Host's current Protection Point total after completing the Quest.]
Now, Eiran grew curious about how many Protection Points he had earned so far. The last time he checked, he only had 2 points.
'Status!'
[Name: Eiran Dareth
Talent: Absolute Protector (SSS-Rank)
Protection Point: 10 (F Rank)
Skills:
- Wings of Sanctuary (Passive – temporary –)
Releases a golden light with a 3-meter radius from the caster. Anything within the light barrier receives no damage. Anything hitting the barrier from outside will be repelled.
Duration: 5 minutes
- Vanguard (Active)
Increases the caster's Defense during the skill's duration and generates an additional shield to block attacks. Enemies within a 5-meter radius will be forced to attack the caster for the first 10 seconds.
Duration: 1 minute
Cooldown: 40 seconds
- Aegis Burst (Active)
Absorbs any incoming damage for 15 seconds, then explodes after the duration ends. The more damage absorbed, the greater the resulting explosion.
Cooldown: 5 minutes ]
Eiran's eyes widened in shock as he saw his updated status. He hadn't expected the skills he had gained would be this useful. Not only that, but he was also surprised to know that he'd already accumulated a decent number of Protection Points.
However, he noticed that he was still ranked F, it seemed he'd need a lot more points to level up.
Eiran snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the grating sound of metal that made his skin crawl. When he looked up, he realized they'd arrived at Frosthollow's entrance.
He saw a massive spiked iron gate and towering walls surrounding the entrance. Honestly, this was far more intimidating than Eiran had expected, he didn't think Frosthollow would look like this.
"Who are you?"
"We're from the Ember Pact Mercenaries."
"Oh, so you're the reinforcements the Kingdom sent. Come in, we've been expecting you."
Thankfully, the guards didn't make their entry difficult. Although they still underwent inspection before being allowed into Frosthollow.
The giant iron gate creaked open again. Eiran was a bit awestruck as he passed through it. But he froze in his tracks as soon as he stepped into the city.
Frosthollow felt bleak, the streets were quiet. The sound of cold winter wind echoed loudly, and from the corner of his eye, Eiran noticed a few children shivering in the corners of buildings.
He couldn't linger too long, as the captain immediately began marching toward the main road after reporting their arrival.
From what Eiran overheard, they were to meet the commanding officer stationed in Frosthollow, which meant heading to the town hall.
"Is the situation in Frosthollow really this bad? The city looks so gloomy," Eiran whispered to Finric, who was trying to appear unfazed.
"Keep your voice down. This place is dangerous. The winter lasts too long here, and the city's running out of food. On top of that, monster activity has been increasing around the region," Finric whispered back, shivering slightly.
Eiran hadn't expected one of the Solhen Kingdom's territories to be struggling like this. From his memories, Solhen had always been known as a prosperous kingdom.
Just as Finric had said, Eiran could feel numerous pairs of eyes watching their group from the shadows, like they were ready to strike at any moment.