Reincarned with a deities Harem

Christal in peril

Claude never knew how to feel the magic around him.

This ability was rare, proof there were only very few mages in the kingdom, about fifty. And unlike the large kingdoms that surrounded Garten, where the mages were both powerful and competent, those of Garten were average; magic detection being a luxury that only a handful of tower mages were able to achieve.

He was a knight, and his art was swordsmanship and military strategy but inexplicably, he felt the presence of Christal.

This presence he would recognize among all, he lived with her for weeks. One can say that she's a part of him which is why detecting her was so easy. But he wouldn't pretend that only having lived with her so intimately meant he would find her easily.

He used to feel her because she was always clinging to his shoulder but he didn't know how he managed to detect her.

Was it due to his new nature?  Maybe but anyway he was now prepared for the fact that he had changed, he was not really like before and even if it scared him, he also felt something else...  joy, he became like her not totally but he shared the same nature as her.

Riding his horse at full speed, he advanced towards the forest relieved to feel even a small trace of Christal's energy, he followed it, urging his aching and feverish body to continue.

" Wait for me, Christal.  I'm coming"

He finally arrived in front of the forest, the feeling of being engulfed and crushed by the aura of this dark and gloomy place invaded him. He was afraid it would be dishonest of him to say the opposite.

A feeling of dread and anguish had overwhelmed him and even though he tried to convince himself otherwise, he was shaking... he was shaking so much that he also felt it in his heart which seemed to be beating abnormally fast... 

He could have gone back and not lingered anyway, she's a demon, she's strong and doesn't need a common human like him to save her, but why couldn't he?

He was afraid to enter this scary place but he refused to turn around. There in this forest somewhere in its lair, the woman he loves was waiting for him. She was surely in pain and was mistreated otherwise he wouldn't feel so much anguish and fear, and he wouldn't be so disturbed.

Christal was in danger for sure and he had to save her, it was imperative.

So he advanced against the will of the voice back of his mind that was shouting at him not to go. He arrived in front of a small path, he was not yet really in the forest just at the edge but the feeling of being eyed and his life hanging by a thread grew bigger and bigger and he felt his strength being sucked away.

He told himself he could do it, he sang it to himself, and that's certainly what kept him going until he was standing in front of a track. It seemed to lead to a slope overlooking a sinister valley from which he could not see the end of it.

Brambles and gray or dark brushwood were on the path preventing any progress, the view becoming even darker.

He swallowed, taking his sword in his hand. He had terrible trouble holding it. His hand was clammy and for a moment, his weapon had become so slippery.

He stilled for a moment, his eyes closed in contemplation as he felt the faint pulse of Christal's energy guide him.  She was not far he knew, so guided by this renewed confidence, he began to carve the sinister vegetation of this forest, slashing as he could and making his way in the tracks he had created.

It wasn't easy. He also had to hurry because the more he cut, the more they grew, tearing his skin at the same time.

His body was strewn with wounds that stung him with every movement, his clothes should be dripping with blood but he was not dripping which surprised him.