Gladesbale Grove Book 3 - Chapters 64,65,66

Chapter 64

Curious Talent

It didn't pass. Rud noticed that everyone had fled far away from the sacred tree, clearing, and the longhouse. The interior was empty, although a fire still blazed in the fire pit. The druid started a pot of tea just as Mark dismounted from his perch upon the living piece of furniture. He hobbled across, revealing for only a few fleeting moments that his left leg was completely gone, replaced by some metallic substitute.

"Now I've got to say," Mark said, settling into his seat and cracking his knuckles, "I didn't expect earthlings on this planet. It's pretty far from anywhere worth visiting."

“I've got absolutely no idea what you're talking about,” Rud said, swirling the tea leaves in the teapot and setting it near to the fire. It would still need some time to brew, but it was the best he had. So, he hoped the goblin enjoyed it. "Since I got here, I just assumed I was on an island. What about Earth? Is it still there?"

“Kinda. Not really,” Mark said. “It got merged into another world. There was a whole thing I won’t bore you with.”

"I think that's all probably above my pay grade," Rud said with a laugh. Mark chuckled politely but shrugged. "So, about this problem with fate, do you know when that's going to happen?"

“In the next few days. It shouldn't be too hard to contend with. I just have to have a word with somebody and then be on my way. At worst, I'll be enforcing some magical contracts, but yeah, it shouldn't be bad.”

Rud was truly outside of his depth. He found himself staring into the flames, trying to make sense of everything. He lived in a magical grove with a giant tree and talking animals, though, so it wasn't that hard for him to accept a space- and time-traveling goblin showing up to enforce some rules he didn't understand. It was best instead just to be a good host and serve some of the best tea anyone had ever had. When the pot was done brewing, he poured one for himself and then one for Mark. He then looked at Tan and made a confused face. The living piece of furniture shook its body from side to side as if to indicate he did not want any tea.

Mark took his first sip of tea and made a surprised face. "That's a dang good cup of tea. Might be the best I’ve had, actually.”

"So you can travel through time?" Rud asked, finding himself more interested in the goblin's journey so far. "What's that like? Are you even from this time?”

“No, I'm not from your time. I'm currently living outside of time, which is very hard to explain, so don't worry about it. Think about it like I live in a big ball of yarn, and every now and again, pieces of that yarn get tangled. So I follow it until I find the tangle and then undo it.”

"Which means that a tangle is here and now," Rud said with a nod. "How far can you go back?"

"I can go back to the beginning if I want, but my boss tends to get angry when I do that. If it's not an official act, then time travel is strictly prohibited." 

Rud leaned in over the table, looking back and forth conspiratorially. "Did you ever go back and see Elvis?" he asked.

Mark licked his lips. Looking over his shoulder as if the living piece of furniture would rat him out, he leaned in, practically over the fire, as he whispered, "Yeah." 

"If the two of you cared to rub your two brain cells together, perhaps you could have a coherent conversation," Tan said, his eyes dimming as though in disappointment. “Our master has worked tirelessly to ensure the stability of the universe, and Mark here has done everything to maintain her confidence in him.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m a good boy,” Mark said with a sigh.

Although Rud had a lot of things going through his mind, the most pressing and immediate problem came to the fore of his thoughts. "Oh," he said, standing up with excitement, "You’re powerful, right? Could you destroy a phylactery for me?"

"Technically, I'm not allowed to drink this tea. I can't destroy an ultra-powerful lich for you. You're going to have to deal with that yourself."

"Any suggestions?" she asked.  

"I don't know. Have you tried setting it on fire?" 

“Actually, I have.”

Although the goblin offered no help in this situation, Rud couldn't help but find himself amused by the entire thing. It was hard to know if this was good or bad. Since the goblin wouldn't give any details, he just had to accept that he was here for a good purpose. The fact that no one wanted to speak while he was here was telling. But eventually, the tea party came to an end.

“I’ve got something to take care of,” Mark said, nodding at Tan. “Hold an anchor here for me, okay?”

Tan sighed. “As always.”

“Sweet,” Mark said, clapping his hands together. And he was gone.

“So is this a normal thing for you?” Rud asked.

“You don’t understand the thousands of years I’ve suffered,” Tan said.

“Hold on, my magical tree is trying to talk to me,” Rud said, focusing on the faint sound entering his mind.

“Is he gone?” Ban asked.

"For now. But what happened to you?" Rud asked. "It's like everything went silent when he got here."

"That goblin is extremely powerful. I don't know why it didn't affect you, but... it felt as though I was being crushed."

If it had affected Ban that negatively, Mark’s words were true. He was an extremely powerful person, which just lent credibility to his story. Although that was concerning, there was nothing that Rud could do about it. All he could do was offer his help with the situation and try to resolve it peacefully. He had learned, especially when interacting with entities like Bent, that being as small as possible was often the best way to avoid being crushed underfoot.

"Let's just keep our cool and work with them as best we can. It doesn't seem as though his living piece of furniture has the same effect on you, so at least there's that. So just stay strong, okay?"

"I'll do my best. But you should get back underground and do something about the phylactery. I'm sending a request to River right now, trying to get a spell bestowed upon you, but she doesn't think she has one that will work." 

Rud cracked his knuckles, doing a few stretches for dramatic effect. “I got this. Don’t worry.”

“My hero~”

Rud laughed as he headed for the door. He paused, turning back to look at Tan. “Wanna come along?”

“I’d rather stay here, thank you.”

“Okay. Holler if you need anything.”

“Will do.”

Rud spread his senses through the grove, searching and finding Billy at the adventurer's retreat. Somewhere along the path between the underground area and that very same place, Oak traveled overland. Rud passed through the thicket and arrived at a crowd of adventurers expressing their dismay with what had just happened. Most were completely frightened by the presence that had settled over the grove and even more concerned that it had disappeared so quickly.

"Rud, what just happened?" Billy asked, waving the druid over with a confused look on his face.

"Nothing to worry about. Just a bit of aberrant energy, and that's what you should tell everybody."

"Uh, look, I need some help with something. If you could help me craft a new spell, that’d be swell."

"A new spell?" Billy asked, shrugging. "I don't think I can really craft spells."

"I don't need you to craft it. I need help crafting one of my own. But I've got to figure a few things out, so would you mind going on a meditative retreat with me?"

"Meditation and retreat?" Billy asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Sounds fun. Let's go." 

Rud knew that he couldn't do this on his own. His domain wasn't healing, which meant that he couldn't just outright craft this spell by himself. But he had a few things working in his favor. First, he understood his own domain, so he understood how domains in general worked. Next, he had somebody with a healing domain with him, which meant he could draw on some of that power. And last, the Great Spirit River was currently attempting to give him a spell that did what he needed. If all three of those things came together, working in concert, he stood a chance at making something that could suppress, not destroy, the lich’s phylactery.

Rud and Billy traveled to a serene spot near the wizard's tower. This area was notable for the lakes and rivers dotting the landscape. Not only was it peaceful, but since it was so near a lot of moving water, it should have held at least some of that domain of healing. This was a suspicion on the druid's part that he had almost no evidence to prove, but if the description of Bendy Brook Grove was anything to go by, then this was as close as he would get to it.

“Now, I have a spell called Purification Ritual,” Rud said, pulling up the description of the spell and reading it over. “It claims that it will form a ritual circle, sealing away a target, and purge negative effects and magic. My suspicion is that this will not work on the phylactery.”

"And why is that?" Billy said with a shrug.

"Because we're not purging a negative effect or magic; we're suppressing it. I think this thing is too powerful for my Rank 0 spell to work on it, but suppression should work just fine." 

"Where do we start?" Billy asked.

That was a great question. Rud was happy to see that the devil didn't ask how healing magic was related to this. He didn't even know if the purification ritual he had was related to healing magic, but that's what it said in the interface, so it must have been true. Their starting point would be that spell itself, and then they would work their way out, connecting things together and wrapping both his domain over Grove magic into the healing magic domain. It was a process he was altogether unfamiliar with. 

"First things first," Rud said. "We're going to sit here and think about the healing domain and why it would be the perfect candidate to keep a lich under wraps."

“I can do that," Billy said with a shrug. He sat cross-legged near the bank of a river, took a deep breath, let it out, and then closed his eyes. 

Rud did the same, going through his mind and feeling the healing magic in the air. Just as he had suspected, the naturally formed rivers and lakes in this region created a sense of restoration. There was a connection he could make there. He just had to find where it was and pull that into his body, creating the spell. There was some hand-waving garbage in the middle, but he’d worry about that later.

There was a lot of meditation, discussion, and about four tea breaks. But over the course of a few hours, the druid felt something. It was a sensation coming from afar that he recognized as River’s power. As he drew closer to figuring out exactly what he was looking for, another power came into play with the mix. That’s when his heart jumped in his chest.

“Not good,” Rud grumbled, eyes still pinched shut as he felt that invasive energy toy with their creation. It felt like an unknowable thing lurking just behind the curtain of a vast sky. Like looking up at a mountain and understanding an avalanche was coming.

“Curious Talent.”

Bent’s two words flooded into Rud’s mind like a tsunami crashing against a bare coastline. All sense of self was washed away as he endured the storm, barely holding on by a sliver of a connection going back to Ban. Everything went white for a moment before darkness consumed him. The druid didn’t even get to see the system message that had flashed into his vision.

Chapter 65

Suppression Ritual

Rud blinked away his stupor. A moment ago, he had been in a world of darkness without the experience of sensation. Now he stood in a verdant forest, surrounded on all sides by trees that rose so high into the sky that clouds obscured their canopies. Although he attempted to reach out with his senses, the druid could feel nothing. Looking down, he realized that his form was ephemeral. A spectral hand rose before his face, waving under his command but looking completely unfamiliar.

“Hard to remember how fragile minds like yours are,” an unfamiliar voice washed over the entire forest. It reminded Rud of the way Ban spoke near the clearing.

A shiver spread through the druid’s body, although he was certain he had no body to speak of right now. “Bent,” he said, knowing well what this unknowable thing before him was. “Nice to finally meet you.”

“Likewise. Although, to be fair, you’re speaking to a fragment of my ‘self,’ so this isn’t a fair representation of me.”

“Let’s keep the philosophy to a minimum,” Rud said, waving the thought away. “I flunked that in college. Just let me know what you need, big daddy stag.”

“This is what I love about you,” Bent said, a stiff breeze blowing through the progenitor’s Grove. “I brought you here to give you a firm pat on the back. You accomplished what took other custodians decades. Most never understand their dao.”

“Wussat?”

“Your affinity… What did you call it? Ah, domain,” Bent said. “Then you went and connected your domain with another, and bridged it to another.”

The Grove rumbled around them, the clouds above vanishing. They were instead replaced by an impossible sprawl of stars that reflected the night’s sky. But was it the sky of this world, or some other? Perhaps it was imagined altogether, but Rud couldn’t shake the sensation that he had to run away and never return to this place.

“Your mind is weak,” Bent said. “I’ve reduced my presence even more to accommodate for the psychic shock. Were I to speak with my full voice, you’d surely be driven insane. While it wouldn’t hurt to increase your resistance to this effect, it isn’t necessary for us to speak.”

“I appreciate it. But why did you bring me here? Was it really just to pat me on the back?” Rud asked.

“Visits like this are rare. I appeared in your Grove when you claimed the artifact. Now you visit me here after showing mastery over your domain. These are steps to illuminate the path. Perhaps once you walk it for long enough, you will see my design. For now, I’d like to encourage your course. Unite the Groves.”

If Rud thought he understood what was going on, the sight he saw next washed those expectations away. A moment later, he was a part of that celestial backdrop above him. Then he was shooting through the stars and zipping through suns. A breath later, he was back in his meditations near the river. Billy looked at him with a confused expression.

“You good?” the devil asked.

“Just talked with a space deer,” Rud said, taking a steady breath. He rubbed his forehead and while he was reminded of his lacking eyebrows, the act did nothing to soothe his headache. “And crafted a spell.”

“Oh! It worked?” Billy asked. “You were just muttering some crazy stuff so I thought you lost it. You got the connection established with Bendy?”

“Yup,” Rud said, going to push himself to his feet but only pitching over and rolling on the ground. “Ow.”

“Better take it easy. Do you get messages when you make new spells?”

“Yeah, let me read it out to you,” Rud said, opening the message that had been minimized and reading it aloud for the devil to hear.

[Suppression Ritual]

Rank 1 Druid Spell

Grove Healing Plant Magic

Component:

Imbued domain nut (3 types)

Imbued domain mushroom (2 types)

Imbued domain branch (2 types)

Imbued domain salt

Mana Cost:

400

Description:

You might not be strong enough to destroy powerful magic, but you can keep them suppressed… for a time.

Effect:

After forming the ritual circle, your target will be sealed away for an amount of time.

During this time, the target will be suppressed based on the power of the connected Grove.

“Look at that,” Rud said. “Never seen a school of magic like that…”

“Sounds like too many schools of magic if you ask me.”

“The bad news is, I talked to Bent,” Rud said. “Feels like he dug his claws into me.”

“Who exactly is that?” Billy asked. “I got a lot from context, but it seems as though nobody wants to talk about him.”

“We need to create a brochure for new members of the Grove,” Rud said with a chuckle. “He’s the progenitor of the Groves. He created the whole system, and from what we understand, he is something of an anomaly among Sacred Beasts. He’s extremely powerful, and understanding him—if you were to talk directly to him—is impossible. I think he pulled me into his Grove, or at least a part of me, and used only a fraction of his presence to speak. I think I almost peed myself.” 

“I knew a guy like that,” Billy said, snapping his fingers. “Nobody really liked him, but we needed him.”

“Sounds familiar… Anyway, wanna help me gather some materials to seal away a lich?”

“Sure!”

Billy was all too eager to help with the task. They really didn’t need much, but it was the variety since he needed three different types of nuts, two different types of mushrooms, and two different types of branches. They would have to source them from different spots. At least acorns counted as nuts; otherwise, it might have been difficult finding everything they needed. As far as the salt went, that was as easy as raiding Taz’s food stores. 

But Ban had a suggestion before the ritual even started. 

“I think we should keep this one closer to the grove’s center,” she said. “As long as that spell you’re using works the way I think it’s going to work, it shouldn’t be a problem.” 

Placing cursed objects far from the grove’s center had become a standard practice for the druid, but if she wanted it here, he wouldn’t say no. The plan was to create an enormous tree around it, one that was infused with a considerable amount of grove energy, and just hope for the best. They found a decent spot that was far enough away from all the places the adventurers frequented, but not so far that Ban couldn’t push her tree magic into it if need be.

Once the spot was determined, Rud got to work on the tree. It wouldn’t just be any tree, of course. The druid had created many towering oaks to contain cursed objects, but this was not just any cursed object. It was a phylactery. It had to be treated with the respect it deserved. Sure, it contained the soul of an evil lich who, if given the opportunity, would break out and turn them all into zombies. But as long as the suppression magic worked, there should not have been a problem. As he worked on constructing the tree, growing it from a sapling, he felt Ban join in his efforts, infusing it with her own energies, which made the outer bark glow with a blue-green shimmer.

“I’ve got to say, that’s a pretty fancy tree,” Rud said, hand on his hips as he observed it. There were many impressive facets of it that he could appreciate as I drew it. Not only was it taller than almost any other tree he had grown, but there was something else to it. Compared to one of the regular trees he grew for Ban, the energy from this one was like a nuclear power plant. It was putting off some serious energy that she was slurping up. “Why didn’t we do one of these before?”

“Because it is hard,” Ban said. “And impractical. I’ll get less energy over time from this one. Volume is a much better game for me to play.”

“Fair enough. Anyway, wanna see my new spell?”

Of course she wanted to see the new spell. Everyone loved a new spell. Even if Ban didn’t respond as her concentration was drawn elsewhere, he knew she wanted to see it.

“Do you have all my stuff?” Rud asked, clearing a hollow space in the center of the tree to place the phylactery. 

“Yes, but we still need to transport the evil lich thing,” Billy said.

“The most fun part of any job is transporting the evil thing,” Rud said, clapping a hand on his back. “Let’s go get it.” 

Rud wasn’t exactly sure why, but the evil presence of the phylactery simply didn’t affect him as much as it seemed to affect the others. He retrieved it, holding it in his hand and feeling nothing but a slight sense of cold washing over him. He even transported it through the Thicket Travel upgrade to his newest purification tree before placing it inside. After that, he had to imbue each component of the spell with his domain. While this wasn’t a difficult task, it was time-intensive. Using up that power drained him more than any other activity he had participated in since arriving in this world, and it took hours just to get the materials ready. After that, he began the ritual.

“So that’s a druidic ritual circle,” Billy said, nodding with approval as Rud drew the rough shape of his circle.  

The druid stepped back, tilting his head to one side and nodding. “Yeah, that’s about it. This one wants me to put the salt along the circle. I think anyway. It’s hard to tell since this didn’t come with instructions. Instead, it’s just a series of instincts when I think about casting the spell.”  

“This is much unlike the demonic ritual circles I’m used to. There’s not nearly enough blood or pieces of other living things.”

“Yeah, let’s not talk about devil rituals. Thank you very much.” 

“Oh, right,” Billy said, laughing. “I forgot I’m a good guy now.”

Rud gave the devil some serious side-eye before getting back to work. He looked down at the ritual circle, which was partially completed, and shook his head. At the center rested the phylactery, and within it was apparently the soul of an extremely evil lich. He really didn’t get the same sense of despair that the others talked about, and he was uncertain if it was something wrong with him or another thing he couldn’t quite see. Whatever the case, he began casting the spell. The spell itself wasn’t incredibly difficult. Rud walked around the outside of the ritual circle and placed the required components at exact points. Each was imbued with his domain and pulsated with the power of the Grove.

Once everything was added to the mix, he stood on the circle’s edge, holding his hands out as Mana fled from his body. Of his total 471 Mana, the spell would consume 400. When it left him, it did so in a tide. Baubles of blue and green energy floated into the air, only to settle into the sides of the circle. From the middle blew a wind that didn’t disturb the components on the outside. A shrill voice issued from within the phylactery, screaming out as though this suppression would be its undoing.

“Settle down,” Rud grumbled, cracking a smile as he felt the lich fight back. “Hey, maybe you can have a redemption arc.”

Billy blew raspberries. “Fat chance. This one seems about as evil as they come. And that comes from me. A devil!”

“Hardy har har,” Rud said, finishing up the last bits of the spell.

The wind that had been constantly rushing out from the ritual circle ceased, and then it sucked in like some great vacuum, pulling in all the surrounding oxygen with a horrible squealing sound. It came to a head with a snap that left Rud’s ears ringing. Both he and Billy stood around for quite some time, staring into the metal pyramid and waiting for anything to happen. But there was nothing. No voice came from within, and no power rushed out. It was a still silence that was as eerie as it was comforting.

“That got me a few levels,” Rud said, digging into his ears as though to clear away the sound. “Anyway, let’s seal this up and get some lunch. Me hungy.”

Chapter 66

A Fella From Earth

Despite how intense things had been in the grove for the past few days, the next morning felt normal. Rud did his chores, made his report to the other groves, which came complete with his suggestion to integrate the next grove, and then settled into breakfast at the longhouse. Things were almost completely normal there, aside from the unmoving piece of furniture that now waited like a constant reminder of this strange goblin mage who might return at any moment.

Although Sarya gnawed on the living piece of furniture's leg, it didn't seem to mind. Whether that was because it was in some dormant state or it simply didn't care was beyond the druid's assessment. He watched with amusement as the familiar eventually shook its leg, scaring the Sacred Beast off and buying himself some momentary peace.

Sauntering over, Rud leaned against the polished wood on Tan's surface. He ran his finger over the desk, pulling it away to find exactly no dust. "So, how long are you planning on staying here?" he asked, rubbing his forefinger and thumb together.

"As long as it takes," Tan responded. "Time means less for us."

"Well, how does that make sense? If you went to do something else in another       

part of time, why isn't he back by now?" 

"Because he is an idiot who barely understands how to use his teleportation magic, let alone chronomancy. You wouldn't believe the ordeals I've been through."

"Well, why don't you tell me?"

It was almost as though Tan was waiting for somebody to ask him. Rud was fairly certain he had no lungs to speak of, but he made a sound like sucking in a breath and then spewed out his entire life’s story, starting in an age before Mark’s arrival in his world, when he was in service to another master. He then went through all the strange things that happened: Mark’s arrival, clearing dungeons, rising to power, and eventually leaving the planet and ascending to become the right hand of some lady in charge of time itself.

"Yeah, you know that actually makes sense," Rud said, rubbing his chin. "If somebody wants to control time, they just have to show up before the other time majors are made and kill them. That's kind of brutal, actually."

"You're telling me she has been no small source of headaches for me, and I know my master feels the same."

Although idle chatter was indeed very fun, Rud had a full plate. Yes, Ban had ascended to a new level of strength, but there was a ton of work to do. Not only did he need to establish the path to the north, but he also had to repair the grove wing. Deciding which was more important was difficult for him, but he settled on the path. He knew that adventurers had limited patience. If he took too long to get the northern port established, their morale would drop, and they would once again flee from the grove. But he needed them there to clear the dungeons.

“Dang it, I also have to eat the dungeon,” he said, scratching his head in frustration. “Okay, I'm gonna go. See you later, bud.” 

If Tan objected to the sudden disappearance of the only person seemingly willing to talk to him, he didn't voice it. Rud rushed out from the longhouse but paused, placing his hands on his hips as he looked to the roof, where he found Nulsa waiting for him. "You ready to plant some seeds or something, man? Because we have a lot of work to do.”

"I am as ready as ever," Nulsa confirmed. Flapping his wings and taking to the skies, Rud was quick to shift into his raven form and follow close behind. They dove through the nearest bush and appeared at the northernmost place in their line of trees, heading to the northern coast. Indeed, there was still quite a lot of work to do, but as the days pressed on, Rud felt as though he had better command of his newest spell and was certain they would make quicker progress today.

They didn't waste any time. Nulsa went ahead to plant the seeds while Rud gathered the energies of the grove itself and cast his new spell as many times as he could. The more his mana pool increased, the stronger this spell would become, meaning he was now covering wide swaths of the grove's extension. The duo worked until noon, when it was clear they would need another lodestone before proceeding, but it was time for lunch: a pile of jerky for Rud and a field mouse for Nulsa. 

"Did you call for me?" Elm said, stepping out of a nearby bush and tilting her head to one side. "Oh, we're pretty far away from the center, aren't we?"

"Pretty far indeed," Rud confirmed. "A bit more than halfway to our target, and I feel like I'm going to die of exhaustion. But I need another one of those enchanted crystal thingies for the next loadstone. It should be the last loadstone for a long time."

"Oh, I've actually got a few spares," Elm said, digging in her bag and withdrawing one. She came over, sat on the log that Rud was currently resting on, and placed it into his palm.

"I'm proud of you," Rud said, patting her on the head awkwardly. "You handled your sister pretty well this time."

"Do you think so? Well, I didn't kill her, so I guess there's that." 

Elm's progress toward living a sane life outside the reach of her sister had impressed Rud from the start. He didn't like the wizard when he first met her, as she was always crabby, and Oak was the reason. But now that the two were apart, her personality was pleasant and often joyful. Best of all, Elm understood how important her sister was to the Grove, so she tried her best not to rock the boat. That’s what made her the perfect champion. That druid was certain she would have joined them eventually, but this allowed her to be her own person while still helping out.

"You didn’t talk to the goblin, did you?" Rud asked, sighing as he patted his belly. He had perhaps eaten a bit too much jerky.

"No, I didn't, but I could feel his magical energy. It was like staring into the sun with nothing to protect your eyes."

"Really? I felt absolutely nothing," Rud said.

"Maybe that's because you're a druid, and your arcane senses are still as pathetic as they have ever been.”

"Well, when you're right, you're right."

That wasn't a jab. Rud's magical senses were still pathetic, but he had no plans to increase them. Instead, he was happy to languish as an extremely powerful druid. The trio had a pleasant conversation as they all rested. Apparently, Elm was working on some projects with the adventurers. And, of course, she reminded the druid about his responsibilities with the dungeons. He would need to have another late night clearing them all out. Otherwise, the work the adventurers had done would go to waste. Not that he would complain about a ton of free attributes.

Only a few minutes after Elm had departed, Nulsa released a soft hoot that caught Rud's attention. There were many hoots that the owl typically used, and he associated this one most with the sensing of distant danger, or perhaps constipation. The druid’s head swiveled as he reflectively shifted into his raven form and took to a high branch.

“What?” Rud asked.

"That magic is all too familiar to me," Nulsa said. "Not that I wish to get into it, but I spent some time near some mountain dwarves. I can sense their runework that way.”

He was gesturing to the east, which made sense. Those were the mountains that the dwarves lived in. It was the same society that Taz had come from when he was cast out as an apostate. Rud wasn't sure what to think about it, and he certainly didn't know how a bunch of dwarves would respond to a gigantic line of enchanted forest cutting through their territory. But this was the course the owl had plotted, and he planned to stick to it.

"Do you think they'll believe this is just some random tract of forest?" Rud asked, opening his raven sight but spotting none of the magics. 

“Perhaps, but I cannot say. The wiles of dwarves always elude me.”

Rud grumbled, shifting his position on the branch. The last thing he needed was to deal with some angry dwarves. But for now, the only thing he could do was press forward, creating the link to a northern outpost so the mortals could get back to their mainland.

Since the dwarves didn't seem to take notice of what they were doing, the planting continued. Large swaths of their grove-infused woods grew high into the air, striking a strange landmark across the open plains. But those plains would soon give way to low hills and rocky mountains. The druid wasn't certain how difficult it would be to grow stuff there, but he was certain his powers were up to the task.

Nulsa needed a nap, so Rud decided to call it a day. If he didn't catch up on some of the dungeons, he would regret it tomorrow. But as he arrived in the adventurer area of the grove, he found a familiar face cowering nearby. He didn't remember the man's name, but he was a sneaky adventurer from the group he had seen before.

"Hey, what's up with these guys?” a voice Rud had only heard a few times before called from behind him. The druid turned, spotting the goblin form of Mark with his hands on his hips. His small, metal leg was issuing several sparks.

"What's up with your leg, dude?" Rud said, gesturing at the sparking appendage.  

Mark looked down, shaking his head. "This thing has been on the fritz ever since we got here," he said. "Anyway, I was looking for you. I wanted you to know we'll be around for a few days until that catastrophe comes. Once we have a word with that guy, we'll be out of your hair." 

"Well, that's good news. Can you tell me anything about this catastrophe?" Rud asked.

"Nope."

"You're welcome to join me if you want," Rud said, gesturing to a nearby path. "It'd be best if we get away from the main groups. Apparently, you scared the hell out of them."

"Sure. What are we doing?" Mark asked.

"I'm eating dungeon souls," Rud said, shrugging to himself. That was a normal thing he did now. He ate dungeon souls and grew forests that spanned miles in a single day. "Easy work for a busy druid.”

"Oh, you're absorbing dungeon souls! I think those work differently than in my world, but yeah, it sounds fun. I have a method for absorbing Dungeon Souls, but I’m at an impasse. Hard to find dungeons strong enough to be worthy of absorption.”

The duo headed off, and Mark seemed incredibly interested in the method Rud used to absorb the Dungeon Souls. He reserved his judgment for quite a while, though. They had about thirty dungeons to absorb today, which was a bit more arduous than the druid had expected. After the first twenty, he was feeling the burn but pushed through. They were done by dinnertime, and he found a decent rock to sit on and rest. That's when he decided to observe his progress.

Attributes:

Health: 245 → 290

Mana: 471 → 686

Strength: 33 → 48

Agility: 44 → 74

Vigor: 47 → 62

Mind: 66 → 106

Affinity: 39 → 59

“Good gravy, those are some serious gains,” Rud said, laughing. “Not sure if you know, but we normally only get 1 attribute per level.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, which means I have 315 levels worth of attributes.”

“Wait, does this world have a ranking system?” Mark asked. “Do you guys have steps of power?”

“Yeah… Why?”

Mark rubbed his hands together. “I might get in trouble for this. But who cares!? Gotta help out a fella from Earth, am I right?”