Cyril opened his eyes.
The Tree of Life suddenly stopped beating its "heart".
For the past five days, this is the first time the oasis became extremely silent. Well, it wasn't that noisy before since he has gotten used to the sound of the heartbeat near him. It just feels more peaceful now as he could hear the movements of fish in the nearby pond.
"Is it here?" Cyril muttered as he looked above. He's obviously waiting for the Tree of Life to give him the Fruit of Life he's been waiting for.
He thought that the fruit will actually be a fruit that he has to take from the tree. Something that he can only do after fighting powerful monsters and perhaps, even fighting against the various kings of the intelligent races that are guarding this secret.
However, contrary to his expectations again, the Fruit of Life was actually given to him by a branch that came down to him!
"I got three! Hahaha!"
Cyril laughed out loud after seeing the golden spheres in front of him. He has no doubt that they are the Fruits of Life after sensing the immense vitality from them.
"You're lucky, human. Although it has been easy for you, we don't normally allow anyone to just acquire the Fruits of Life."
Before Cyril consumed the fruit from the Tree of Life, he heard the Tree of Life's voice again.
"That's what I thought as well. Why did you allow me to sacrifice my Artifacts and convert them to these precious fruits?"
Cyril curiously asked.
Even in his past life, he heard how many lives were sacrificed just to discover the Tree of Life. Then, there wasn't even any news about the method on how to get the Fruits or whether someone actually managed to take them. He only knows that after the exploration, the group of hundred Explorers went down to dozen individuals to share the news of the Tree.
In short, the voice was telling the truth that they have been easy on him.
In the past five days, Cyril was already thinking about the possible reason but he didn't manage to understand it at all.
However, the Voice's answer greatly surprised Cyril…
"It's because of that Eye." The voice said.
"Eye?"
Cyril repeated feeling confused as he unconsciously placed his hands on his eyes. Then, realization kicks in as he finally understood.
"It's the Elemental Eye?!"
Cyril had almost forgotten this gift from the Elemental Spirits he met before. The reason was simple, he didn't know how to use it at all. He can't activate it and he can't find any information online as well.
As for asking Xagan, it was quite expensive so he didn't bother. Well, he could probably get an answer now, hopefully.
"That's correct… But to be precise, isn't that the Spirit's Elemental Eye?" The Tree's voice clarified.
"Mhmm… I think you're right. However, I don't even know how to use this… I thought that I can use this to observe Element Attribute Skills a lot easier. I even thought that it will be activated once I'm targeted by an Elemental Attack. However, it doesn't seem to be the case at all. Whatever effect it has, it wasn't triggered by the Undead Monsters, Goblins, Spriggans, and other Magical Creatures I've met."
Cyril ranted as he truly did his best to find out about this Elemental Eye. After not gaining any result, he decided to just ignore it completely and focused on practicing the Barbaric Impaler and his Aura Techniques.
"Gahaha! If the Spirits didn't tell you, then I won't say… Before I leave you, I just have to remind you in case you became greedy… that you can no longer get any Fruits from me." The voice then disappeared as Cyril was left clueless about the Eye and surprised about the limitation for taking the Fruits.
Well, it's too bad to have such a limit but it should be fine now since he's not thinking of becoming an immortal anyway.
Aside from that, once he consumed the Tree of Life, he will be able to ask Xagan about the Eye without bothering too much about his lifespan since it should still extend his life for a very long time.
As far as the rumors say, it should extend his life by at least a hundred years.
Now, he'll see whether it is true or not.
"Whatever…"
Cyril decided to ignore the Tree's words and spoke Xagan.
"How many days left in my lifespan?"
"Hmm… You still have 2,631 days, Contractor. You're surprisingly prudent."
"Still that much, huh…"
Cyril muttered as he calculated that he spent about 741 days or over 2 years of his life, and not even half a year had passed since he returned.
Luckily, everything still went well and he has now acquired the Fruits of Life.
Cyril felt excited to see how many days would be added to his life after consuming the golden spheres in his hands.
He then took a deep breath and swallowed one of the golden spheres.
Gulp!
Cyril felt the heat coming from the golden sphere as it started spreading in every part of his body at an alarming rate…
"Guh!---"
Cyril kneeled as he felt like he was being burned alive.
"Too hot!"
He started tearing up his clothes as he removed everything in his body since the Artifacts he was wearing is just adding to the heat.
As he was left with his underwear, Cyril decided to jump at the nearest pond in the hope of dropping the temperature of his body.
"Aargh! I think I'm going to die at this rate… X-Xagan! My lifespan! How is it?!"
Cyril shouted to the Demon inside his body.
"Don't worry, Contractor. It is not decreasing…"
Xagan answered promptly.
"R-really?! Why does it feel like I'm dying here?!" Cyril couldn't help but complain but he can't really blame Xagan for this. He didn't know how long this lasted as he couldn't think of anything else but to resist excruciating pain.
"Wait… It's decreasing now, Contractor. It is even at an alarming rate. I think you'll die if this continues…" Xagan replied calmly. He even seems to be gloating at this…
"What?!!! Gaaaahhh!" Cyril wanted to curse Xagan but he couldn't tolerate the pain in his entire body…
"This—"
Then, the pond suddenly started turning darker as his body excreted dark liquid and polluted the water…
'What now?! What's this stinky smell?'
Cyril gritted his teeth and wanted to get out of the pond because of this but something unexpected happened, the polluted pond completely evaporated…
It was also this time that the painful digesting process has ended.
"Haa~ Haa~ Haa~"
Cyril gasps for air as he was exhausted after what he went through. He had no idea that it has this kind of consequence once the Fruit of Life was consumed.
'Well, it must be worth it.'
Just the thought of having an extended life felt a lot better to him at the very least. Now, he just needs to know how much time was added to his life.
"Xagan… I think I consumed the fruit of life now… Tell me how much did it increase… Hurry!"
Cyril excitedly asked.
On the other hand, Xagan didn't answer for a moment as he seemed to be shocked by the changes in Cyril's body.
"Hmm… It was a reset I guess. You've been born again after you consumed that thing. Your previous lifespan was consumed in the process and you gained 500 years. Interesting…"
Xagan replied as if this is also his first time seeing someone consume the Fruits of Life. Well, that might be as expected since he was imprisoned for a very long time.
"What? 500 years?!!! Really?!"
Cyril was ecstatic upon hearing the answer! Then he even has two more Golden Spheres! It means that he can perhaps consume it again. Well, he recalled the experience he had after consuming the Fruit so he thought of probably consuming it again if he was really desperate or he needed to extend his life since he gave too much to Xagan.
"Let's get out of here then… I can already feel the connection to the Entrance Crystal outside. Five days had already passed. Aunt must be getting worried."
Cyril muttered as he called his Demon Servants. They seem to be relaxing in the Oasis and they even started drinking some coconut juice like they are on a vacation.
Perhaps, they didn't even notice him arriving!
"We're leaving!"
Cyril shouted as he looked at the Sand Dragon.
He bowed slightly to thank the powerful dragon. He's really in a good mood now that he has 500 years lifespan.
"Master, how was it?"
"We felt a tremendous aura a while ago… Was it yours?"
"Hmm… I can't feel any changes… Did you not receive the Fruits of Life?"
The Demon Servants were curious as they looked at Cyril. Since they are not like Xagan who is living inside his body, they couldn't tell the changes in his lifespan at all.
Cyril ignored their curiosity for now as he immediately returned to the real world after the Demons clung to his body.