Gladesbale Grove Book 3 - Chapters 52,53,54

Chapter 52

Wild Energies

The storm raged for four days before it broke. Thanks to their substantial stock of food and tea, the adventurers endured. On the morning of the fourth day, it started to subside, the rain thinning out and the wind dying down until it was little more than a breeze. For the first time, Rud stepped out into the open and observed the sky unmarked by dark black clouds.

“Finally,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief, “I thought that was never going to end.”

“Look at the bright side,” Ban said, speaking directly into his mind. “You put the fires out, and you watered the next generation of trees. Those explosions scattered enough seeds to replant everything we lost. Now you simply have to regrow it.”

She always had a way of looking on the bright side. Ban was unperturbed by the explosions and seemed to have taken it in stride. More than anything, the druid was excited to see what upgrades she had concocted. Although she should have received eight, she had narrowed those down to only a few. While the other members of the Grove helped the adventurers get back to work, Rud set his sights on the Sacred Tree.

“Show me your upgrades, lady,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “These better be good.”

“I think you’ll be pleased,” Ban said. “No peeking. I’ll share them with you in order of awesomeness.”

Rud was excited. He waited and waited until the message finally appeared, showing him the first of the upgrades.

[Wild Energies]

Fused Sacred Tree Upgrade

Description:

For a Sacred Tree to focus its energies on using the Wild Way takes a lot of effort. But the rewards are boundless.

Effect:

Allows all conversion-type buildings to produce Wild-aligned energies. This energy is bound to the Wild Way, and may only be used for those purposes.

Energy conversion rate increased greatly.

Energy generation rate increased greatly.

Mana use reduction for all spirits within Gladesbale Grove.

“This might not seem like much to you, but it is an amazing upgrade for us. This will make it much easier for me to operate the portals. For example, I estimate the outpost portal will be basically free for me to operate indefinitely.”

“That’s amazing,” Rud said, reading over the description a few times. “But it was more than just a means for her to generate energy related to the Wild Way. This would also allow her to generate more energy, and it would reduce the burden for everybody within the Grove. This meant he could cast his spells with less encumbrance, and more spells was always better.

“I had to combine four upgrades and a lot of energy to create that upgrade,” Ban said. “But I think it’s worth it.”

“Agreed. You did an amazing job,” Rud said. “Might even be worth blowing up some of the Grove.”

“Ready for the next one?”

Rud nodded eagerly.

“Here it is. I just finished this one, so you may not feel the full effects quite yet.”

The message appeared in the druid’s vision and his mouth fell open.

[Essence of Custodianship]

Fused Sacred Tree Upgrade

Description:

Within Gladesbale Grove exists a special bond. Most Hearts have their Custodians, but none have been as effective as this. To you, I grant this power. May it serve you well.

Effect:

Greatly increases the effect of Druid abilities, spells, skills, etc while a member of Gladesbale Grove holds the Grove Custodian subclass. This effect scales with the power of the Sacred Tree within the Grove and the level of the Custodian’s Custodianship skill.

This one might have seemed simple on the surface, but it was absolutely massive. He understood that any upgrade, skill, ability, or whatever that scaled like this would be insane. He also understood why Ban said that he wouldn’t feel the full effects yet. Still, there was that spark in his chest that he felt expanding outward and growing in power. Before long, he knew that he would feel its full effects. He wondered exactly how strong it would be.

“The gift that keeps on giving,” Rud said, chuckling nervously. “Are you sure you want to waste that on me?”

“It isn’t a waste. You’ll need all the power you can get to take advantage of this next one,” Ban said. “I know you started expanding the Grove northward, but that has its limits. I estimate you can only do a few miles before you’ll hit the upper limit of our growth potential… That is, before this next upgrade.”

“Show me!” Rud shouted, bouncing with excitement.

Ban giggled. “Here you are… This one is a base-version. No fusion required.”

[Expansion]

Sacred Tree Upgrade

Description:

Expansion is important for any Grove. Infinite expansion is another thing entirely. Create a blanket of trees across the face of the planet.

Effect:

A druid with sufficient Construction Magic may construct lodestone towers at the edge of the Grove’s territory. These towers expand the borders of the Grove.

Although this was the simplest upgrade of the lot, it was also the one they needed the most. Rud read it over a few times to ensure he understood it. This would allow them to go as far out as they needed, and he realized only now that it hadn’t been an option before. This was an upgrade Ban was working on before the hurricane, and it was a good thing that storm came through. The druid would have been working on the path north, and he would have hit the upper limit rather quickly.

Rud inspected Ban, whistling with appreciation.

[Ban’Tanthein]

Rank 5 Level 1 Sacred Tree

Upgrade Energy: 1%

Reserve Energy: 100%

Energy Nodule Efficiency: 94%

Upgrade:

[Thicket Travel]

[Root Spears]

[Wild Energies]

[Essence of Custodianship]

[Expansion]

Expansions:

[Mining Workshop]

[Smelting Workshop]

[Blacksmithing Workshop]

[Energy Nodules]

[Unified Grid]

[Observatory]

[Barn]

[Creamery]

[Tea Workshop]

[Energy Condenser]

[Wizard’s Tower]

“Dang, girl. You’re strong.”

“Thank you,” Ban said. “Do you think the risks were worth it?”

She knew that the answer was yes and was simply searching for reassurance. Rud had to think it over before he responded, though, as he wanted to answer honestly. It was worth it, of course; jumping so high in the ranks so quickly meant that the entire grove was strengthened by her efforts. And when the grove got stronger, so did everything within it. The difference between something like skills and attributes and a rank was massive. Moving up in rank made a person’s body stronger by default. It empowered their abilities and simply made them better overall.

“It was worth every moment of agony sorting through those explosions,” Rud said with a laugh. “I have no doubt that what you did brought more good than bad to the grove, so don’t feel bad about your decision.”

“You might change your tune when you have to go and regrow all those trees,” Ban said with a laugh. “Thank you for your support.”

“Yeah, no problem. Now I get to see how this new upgrade works.”

“You’ll want to focus on instinctual casting,” Ban warned. “Perhaps you should bring our champion with you.”

Rud wasn’t about to turn down the chance to spend some time with Elm during the storm. They had been busy ensuring the grove didn’t collapse, so they hadn’t had much time to talk. Even his daily reports had fallen by the wayside, and he had been unable to get a message to the town until now. That meant his first stop was the observatory to send a letter off.

The message Rud gave to Dean to deliver was thick. He ladled on as much information as he could, hopefully assuaging the fears of Feather so he wouldn’t recall the adventurers. The most important bit of news within the message was his new ability to expand the Grove to the northern coast. Of course, he thought he could do that before, but now he had confirmation.

Once he wrapped up there, he met with Elm.

“Ready to go look at some craters?” Rud asked.

Elm laughed, slapping him on the back. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

With four massive craters to assess, Rud wanted to get their day started right away. They began with the one in the northeastern section near the logging camp. It was the deepest and most impressive. Already, thanks to the hurricane’s rain, a lot of water had settled at the bottom. Rud wasn’t sure if the water would remain there, but he didn’t plan to wait. Even if they were flooded, he was going to fill the area with trees, which led to his first problem. The space the crater occupied was massive and would take him forever to grow so many. But Elm thought she might have a solution for that.

“How much progress have you made on casting your spells through instinct?” Elm asked. “I’ve been researching it as much as I can, and this is just about the most important thing you can learn as a druid.”

Truth was, he had made some progress, but it wasn’t as swift as he had hoped. “I’m kinda getting there.”

“How about we focus on casting spells over a wide area? I’m not certain if it will work with your type of magic, but we can give it a shot. So, how much mana does your plant growth spell cost?”

“Base is 50, but I have it down to 40… Wait, no… 30?” Rud asked, scratching his head. After a moment, he realized. “Oh, Ban just got an upgrade that reduces spell costs in the Grove.”

“Excellent. With your mana pool, that gives you a good chance of pulling this off,” Elm said. “We’re going to do your least favorite thing. Practice and concentration.”

“Ugh, do I gotta?” Rud asked with a groan. “Just kidding. Guide me, sensei.”

“First, show me what you got,” Elm said.

Rud stretched out his back, waving his staff a few times. His senses spread, and he felt the promised seeds Ban was talking about. Despite the fires, the ground was filled with life. Despite the water, seeds were embedded and sprouts were already pushing through the muddy soil. The combination of the fire and the rain had brought a new kind of life to the Grove.

“What are you waiting for?” Elm asked, folding her arms.

Rud looked over at his companion, shaking his head. “The seedlings that are sprouting… They’re crazy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve grown some pretty powerful trees in my time. But these seedlings have some incredible potential,” Rud said, coming close to the crater’s edge and kneeling. His fingers brushed across the surface of one green leaf. It seemed to push back with an unseen magical force. “This little guy is about as powerful as those massive oaks I typically grow.”

“Really?” Elm asked, tilting her head to one side as she looked at the sprout. “I can feel some energy inside, but I’ve never been good at sensing druidic or shamanistic magic.”

“Yeah, let’s see.”

Rud cradled the sprout, breathing the Plant Growth spell into it. A moment later, he was falling backward along with Elm. The tree shot high into the air, reaching skyward in the same manner Ban was now doing. The pair had been dislodged from the ground, and tumbled end-over-end until the massive tree finished its first stage of growth. The resulting oak was roughly the size of his other full-grown trees… and this one still had a few stages to go through.

“That wasn’t normal, was it?” Elm asked, brushing dirt from her hair.

Rud couldn’t take his eyes off the tree. It was the single strongest non-sapient tree he had seen. The magic radiating from it was so intense, he was blinded when he looked upon it with his druidic senses.

“Imagine a few hundred of those in the crater,” Rud said.

“Will there be enough room? You said it’ll get bigger, right?”

“Yeah. At least twice as big.”

“Huh. I suppose we’ll see how many titanic trees you can grow at once,” Elm said. “Shoulders back. Head straight. Focus on how the spell feels.”

“Yes, master,” Rud said, holding his staff out. “Right away, master.”

Chapter 53

Damage Repair

Elm might’ve been a slave driver, but Rud craved progress. Gaining an understanding of the concept of instinctive casting was rough. For a mage, that meant something akin to understanding the exact structure of a spell and how a wizard could just pull it out of their mind rather than going through the spellbook casting method. For druidic casting, it had more to do with being one with nature or something.

After doing it Elm’s way for a while, Rud tried hugging some trees and kissing badgers. After healing the damage caused by badger claws (how did those get there?) he went back to the mage’s method with a few changes. Nulsa had given him some instruction on the matter, so they worked from there.

“Okay, seems like you just gotta feel it,” Elm said.

The duo stood among a group of massive trees. Grown to their full potential, the special oaks borne from the explosions were gigantic. Although the branches above moved in the wind, they were high enough that one couldn’t tell if they were in motion. Rud took steady breaths, feeling the nature around him. Since the spell he wanted to cast was aligned with plants, and he was really good with plants, he thought this should come easily. The mingling energies of the plants created a heady mix that he absorbed and understood almost nothing about.

“Are you feeling anything?” Elm asked.

“Maybe,” Rud said, shaking his head as he tried his best to lock onto that energy. “I can feel the power and I understand how it is interacting with nature, but I can’t put anything together.”

“At least you feel it,” Elm said. Rud felt her place her hands on his back, tracing a pathway to his shoulders and down his arms. “This is the path mana with my class normally takes. Can you feel the path?”

“Yeah,” Rud confirmed. “Feels like sparkles in my veins.”

“Perhaps you could understand how those sparkles affect nature. Consider what position you serve in nature. How do you affect the trees? Is your influence completely positive, or does it tip balance one way or the other?”

Rud shut his eyes even tighter. He should have expected the philosophy lesson. Anything that went deeper than the surface level felt like an afternoon in a stuffy classroom to him. But the druid pressed on, pushing his senses as far as they would go. It wasn’t enough to feel the things Elm wanted him to feel. He could get an idea of those sparkles and what they wanted to do. Instead, he needed to understand what was going on under the hood.

Casting the Shape Plant spell was not completely positive. There were many negative aspects to it. In the positive category, he noted that he was creating a large tree that would purify the air and empower the grove. Under the negative category, he was taking nutrients from the ground, destroying some plants as the massive tree grew bigger, and depriving others of shade. The balance here was that if the Grove grew stronger, everything within would become healthier. He destroyed some plants to empower others.

Just like the explosions that had rocked the grove left behind enriched soil, either infused with mana or nutrients from the burning plants, this was an act of balance. One thing was annihilated to make way for another. Like the wolf hunting the deer in the wild. Or the trout plucking hatching insects from the stream. One thing faded so the other could shine bright.

As Rud attempted to cast the spell again, he felt something click. His desire to impart balance onto the grove came rushing through his chest, seeming to intermingle with his mana. He understood that his spell wasn't entirely good. No matter how benign it seemed on the outside, it still had an impact on nature. But he was the conduit for the grove's will. Its grand design was bigger than the daily machinations of the natural world. Before he had a chance to fully form the spell in his mind, it snapped out, and a small sprout before him shot high, causing him to yelp in surprise.

“What happened?” Elm asked, looking concerned. “I think you did it wrong.”

"Really, because it felt like it worked," Rud said, scratching his head in confusion. "I didn't even get to cast the spell all the way, and it just came out. Is that what instinctive casting is?"

Elm hummed, leaning closer as though she could peer through his chest and detect the quality of the mana inside. He wasn't certain if she could actually do it, but he wouldn't put it past her. She quizzed him about the thing that had allowed him to cast the spell the way he did. It felt similar to freecasting, but instead of focusing very hard on the spell, he didn't focus on it at all. Instead, he just let it fall into the balance. It was almost too hard to describe how mercurial it all felt.

“I just gave myself to nature,” Rud said with a shrug. “It cost the same amount of mana, but look at the results.”

“Yes, the tree is slightly bigger.”

“No, the tree is stronger,” Rud said. “The magic is more dense.”

Elm looked between Rud and the tree a few more times before shrugging. This was bound to happen. She said, "My knowledge of Druidic magic is minimal, so it's hard for me to give a full assessment. But here's what I think is going on. We've discussed this before, but you and the Sacred Tree are on a strange path I don't truly understand. Most people, when they want to get stronger, gain experience in their skills and level. That's it. There is no way for them to expand their knowledge until the higher ranks. But you two are different. You have ways to take paths unseen by others."

"So you're saying that we're super special, precious baby princesses?" Rud asked.

“Wouldn’t you be a prince?”

“You get my meaning.”

“I'm almost certain I do not get your meaning," Elm said with with a chuckle, "but yes, you're special. The Grove acts as a battery that you too can draw on. It's like a secondary power set that influences your own.”

And so it was confirmed that whether he liked it or not, Rud was bound to the grove inexorably. He was a part of it, and his entire path to growing in power relied on it. Not that he minded. There were many things within the grove that he loved. First of all, it was massive. He could segment it into large districts with different things going on. He could also expand it, making it even more massive, especially with the newest upgrade Ban had accepted. He loved the people inside, the nature, the animals, and the toil of it all.

He loved it.

“Awesome,” Rud said, making kung-fu noises and jabbing his staff at another sprout. It shot up high in an instant. “Pretty cool, huh?”

"It is very cool," Elm confirmed, "but I don't really know if it's what I had in mind. I expected you to be doing things that would allow you to cast mass spells, but I suppose casting spells very quickly is fine too."

“Yeah, watch this. Pow pow pow!” Rud shouted, firing off three Plant Growth spells one after the other. He did a few more. “Pow pow pow pow!”

Elm shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Could you imagine if someone stumbled on us out here? Gods, imagine if one of my old teachers found me here.”

“Your teacher would be very impressed with how fast I can cast,” Rud said. “Pow pow!”

But Rud wasn't done. He understood he was the type of person who would hit the minimum requirement for something and call it a day. However, with the amount of effort that both Elm and Nulsa had put into his education, he didn't feel right simply moving on. Instead, he wanted to get better. He wanted to be the druid that everyone thought he was, and that would only come through hard work. There was plenty of hard work to do now. With four craters to take care of, he would be casting his Plant Growth spell repeatedly.

“I wish I could help,” Elm said, placing a comforting hand on Rud’s shoulder. “But I’ve been tasked with going to Barlgore to talk to the townsfolk.”

“Oh, is this your first mission?” Rud asked.

“Well, Ban told me to do it so… I guess it is a mission.”

Rud saluted, as seriously as he could muster. “Off you go, soldier.”

Elm mimicked the motion, but laughed as she ran off to the nearest bush.

With no shortage of work to do, Rud got to it. As he worked throughout the day, he gained a better sense of how this new spellcasting ability worked. It was a lot like freecasting. Once he fell into the groove, it wasn't difficult to reproduce. The interesting thing was that not only was it quicker to cast a spell using this method, but the resulting magic was also stronger. He had expected it to be far weaker, but was pleasantly surprised at the results. At 30 mana per cast, it should have drained his 361 mana in 12 casts. But Ban’s newest upgrade had him casting 20 to 30 in a row without a break.

Even with everything working in his favor, the act was arduous when the druid considered the task of expanding the grove vowed. He wanted to curl inside a medium-sized hole and die. Something had to give. He needed to rank up, or his magic needed to grow stronger through some unseen force.

Rud collapsed on the first crater’s edge, looking up at the newly grown canopy and smiling to himself. He must’ve cast the Plant Growth spell at least one thousand times, and the gains were obvious. Growth Magic had shot from Rank 1 Level 3 to Level 5. He thumbed through the possible upgrades, now convinced he knew the best way to steer his advancement.

There was one upgrade hidden at the end of the list. One that might speed this process quite a bit.

[Area Mastery]

Growth Magic Upgrade

Description:

Turn the world into a forest in this one easy step!

Effect:

Decreases the mana cost of all area-type Plant Growth spells.

Decreases the mental load of all area-type Plant Growth spells.

Increases master of area-type Plant Growth spells.

Rud was almost tempted not to take this upgrade. Just reading it gave him enough information that he was confident he could create his own area version of the Plant Growth spell. The first wisp of information he had gained was when he increased the rank of one of his spells on his own. Without the help of any spirit, he had propelled that spell up a rank. So, why couldn’t he simply evolve a current spell or otherwise create one wholesale?

How did the spirits make spells, anyway? As Rud looked over the upgrade, he pondered the question. After assuming a meditative state, determined to reveal those secrets, he fell asleep for about an hour.

“Dang it,” Rud said, getting on his feet and slapping himself awake. He looked down at his hands and frowned, realizing he was still dirty from the day before. With a dramatic sigh, he instead headed directly for the bathhouse to draw a bath.

Of course, this drew the attention of the adventurers who were similarly dirty. Rud invited them all in, and drew a massive bath for everyone to enjoy. After slipping into the waters, he tried his meditation again. This time, he kept his eyes open and re-read the description of the skill.

In the near future, Rud would be casting Plant Growth a lot. If he had his way, he would be casting it as the area variant. He accepted the upgrade, but had no way to use it yet. Going with his theme of working a lot, the druid focused super-duper hard on generating a new spell.

Chapter 54

Grove’s Domain

The bath was not a good place to craft new spells. Rud realized that quickly when the activity of the visiting adventurers became too much for his concentration. After he had a nice soak, he instead headed out into the forest and wandered around without using thicket travel. He simply walked, picking a direction and watching as the day turned to dusk and then dusk to twilight. The broken moons shone overhead, and the sounds of the nocturnal forest creatures filtered through the crowd of trees.

Only a soft hoot brought him from his thoughts.

"Are you planning to wander forever?" Nulsa asked, the deep tone of his voice reverberating through the very branches of the tree he perched upon.

"I plan to wander until I can generate a new spell," Rud said, not bothering to stop. He knew that the silent hunter would follow alongside him, unheard and unseen as he ever was.

"Interesting. Perhaps it would be wise to consider the domain of the one who granted you the spell," Nulsa said. "Basil is, and always has been, a master of construction magic. But his domain over plants is equally powerful.”

"How does that work anyway?" Rud asks. "The guardians can grant blessings, but what determines which blessings they can grant? Do they have some kind of interface they can poke around in or something?"

“From what I understand, they don't have an interface. Instead, they rely on their mastery of a domain to gift the custodians spells and skills. Actually, it isn't even confined to custodians. They can give it to anybody they want who has the aptitude.”

Now, that was an interesting factoid. The guardians could grant spells to others, which was intriguing, but there was another fact to consider. Ban had granted him a skill, and she was a sacred tree, not a guardian. This meant the rules were flexible and gave him some hope to generate this new spell. His thought was that it would come to him in the same way the instinctive casting method had come to him—through a deep understanding of some concept. So, he decided to take the Owl's talkative mood and run with it.

"What do you mean when you say a domain?" Rud asked. "Is it a conceptual domain or a physical one?"

"Entirely conceptual, like a class within the system," Nolsa said, "but it operates outside of all those boxes you see and has more to do with a being's true mastery over that concept. Basil, for example, embodies everything about plants. Not only as a tree person, but his entire existence has centered around creating things out of nature. His attachment to natural magic is absolute, meaning he commands that domain.”

“Okay, can more than one entity command a domain?”

“Yes, but members of the Grove system are unlikely to overlap in domains. It may even be impossible, but we don’t have enough information.”

“Next question. How is my command over the domain of plants?”

Nulsa hooded with amusement. He flew down from the branch he sat on and landed on the ground, pawing at the dirt. His head swiveled, looking around at the various bushes and plants that grew in the undergrowth, and he nodded.

“Reach out and speak to the plants,” the owl said.

Rud turned awkwardly, finding a particularly handsome bush. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Not like that,” Nulsa said. “Use your connection with nature.”

Although Rud always enjoyed watching the owl scoff at his antics, he decided to take this seriously. He stared at the bush and focused. It didn't take much for him to feel the plants. He had used this technique many times to sense where acorns were embedded in the ground. He could feel the entire forest around him, everything having its own agenda but linked to a common thread. That strand of power went back directly to the sacred tree, which blazed like a beacon on the horizon.

He wasn't one to flex his power. Rud always viewed the things he had been given here in the Grove as tools, and he wasn't eager to rev his proverbial chainsaw for no reason. He had always been reserved with that, but he could feel that connection. Perhaps it was the domain that Nulsa spoke of or something else, but he reached out and tugged on that thread, pulling it in toward himself. When he opened his eyes, he saw the nearby plants angling toward him as though obeying his command.

"Is that normal?" he asked.

"That is your domain," Nulsa clarified. "Your command over it is oddly impressive."

"What do you mean, 'oddly impressive'?" Rud objected. "All I do is interact with plants. I grow trees. I do tea. This is my entire life."

“Hmmm. I don’t think ‘plants’ are your domain, though,” Nulsa said. “It shouldn’t stop you from creating the spell you desire, but you have a specific domain. Just like Basil. Your domain is the plants in the Grove. I suppose we could call it Grove Plants Domain.”

"That makes sense to me," Rud said with a shrug. "But what do I do with this information? How do I use it to make spells?"

“The only thing I can think of is to connect the concepts you're trying to evolve with your domain. So, focus on how you can influence the plants within the grove while thinking about the Plant Growth spell. Maybe put quite a bit of intent into it.”

It seemed like such a simple thing on the surface. All he had to do was take these concepts of preserving and growing the grove and combine them with his plant growth spell. But it didn't come easily, and he was certain he would fall asleep if he sat there. Instead, the druid decided to walk the grove, continuing his path through the trees. Of course, Nulsa was happy to follow along, landing on one branch after another as the gentle light from the broken moons filtered through the canopy above.

For hours, Rud felt nothing give way to his command. It was only when he stopped trying to be nice that he felt any progress. The mistake he had made was that he was attempting to convince his domain to give him the spell. When he stopped being nice and instead commanded it to create the spell, something changed. He felt the domain around him shift and twist. When he opened his eyes, space itself was warping as though a constant roll of heat shimmers was dancing around his vision. Before it left him entirely, the druid reached out, grabbing that thread and pulling on it with all his might. Everything came tumbling into place, resulting in a system message that caused his breath to catch in his throat.

[Spell Generated]

You have created the Grove Growth spell by combining mastered concepts and the Plant Growth spell!

“I did it,” Rud breathed, blinking. He read and re-read the message until he was convinced he wasn’t just seeing things.

“Really? That was quicker than I had expected. Read the spell for me, if you don’t mind.”

Rud did exactly that.

[Grove Growth]

Rank 1 Druid Area Spell

Growth Magic

Mana Cost:

Variable (minimum: 10)

Components:

Variable domain imbued stick (minimum: small section, total length doesn’t matter).

Description:

The Grove must grow. This spell only works within the confines of 

Effect:

Advances a group of plants a single growth stages. Depending on the amount of mana and components infused in this spell more targets will be affected.

“Now that is interesting,” Nulsa said.

“Yeah, never saw a stick as a component before. Let alone one imbued with a domain… whatever that means.”

“No, I meant the spell overall. It is clearly inspired by Gladesbale Grove, so I think my suspicion was right.” Nulsa hooted, seeming to take longer than normal to roll the information over in his mind. “I wonder how you would imbue a stick with the domain’s power.”

“Like this,” Rud said, scooping up a stick and doing exactly that.

Commanding the domain was like commanding magical energies, which he was very practiced in. Since his domain now wanted to do what he said, it was easy enough to tell it to get in the stick. When he held it out, he could feel the concept of grove plants within. Then he became quite eager to test this newest spell.

"Follow me to a crater," Rud said, finding the nearest bush to scamper through. He arrived at the edge of a crater on the western side of the grove. It was the one nearest the dungeons, and the druid smiled to himself when he considered the idea that perhaps some of the dungeon had been taken with the explosions. He would have to check his reports later to see how the dungeon clearing effort was going. For now, he spread his senses to feel the many seeds planted in the ground.

Nulsa landed on a nearby branch, hooting with approval. "I'm eager to see what this one can do. Do you think it will affect the quality of the trees it grows?"

“Maybe my feeling is that this spell is more of a shotgun blast than the surgical strike of the plant growth spell. But I suppose there's only one way to find out.”

As Rud pulled the spell to the forefront of his mind, he felt it push back. It wanted input. It wanted to know how much of the stick he wanted to use first. Then it wanted to know how much mana he wanted to use. The stick, which was roughly his height, equaled about 300 mana, which worked for him. He then held the stick out and focused on the landscape and the distance. Although he couldn't see a visual representation of how much area it would cover, he could feel it, and the area was quite vast. It encompassed somewhere between 60 to 100 trees.

“Hold onto your butts,” Rud said.

From the top of the stick to the bottom, it dissolved into motes of green light. Those particles spread into the air, joining with the misty mana that flowed from his chest. They joined to a point in front of him, forming an ornate spell array filled with iconography, rather than magical sigils. Pictograms of animals, plants, and other nature-looking junk sat around a vine-laced circle. The power inside Rud’s chest flared, causing him to instinctively thrust his staff outward.

“Grow,” he commanded.

From the center of the area he targeted, a blanket of vines spread out. At least 200 feet in a circle at first, it continued spreading, and each seed affected wanted to grow. The spell was intelligent enough to leave enough room for those massive oaks to rise. They turned to sprouts at first, then seedlings and saplings. Soon, young trees were reaching skyward. The ripple effect spread out, creating a lush blanket over the desolate landscape. Rud sagged to one side, leaning on his staff.

“That took a lot out of me,” Rud said, breathing heavily. But the smile on his face wouldn’t be wiped off by anything. A forest grew before him, the powerful oaks bearing thick trunks and lush canopies.

“I must say. This might be the first time you’ve truly impressed me,” Nulsa said. “You didn’t just say ‘grow’ for dramatic effect, did you?”

“No, I didn’t even want to be that edgy,” Rud said. “It just kinda… came out of me.”

“Interesting. That was a Power Word,” Nulsa said. “It was the manifestation of your new domain.”

“And that means what?”

“It means you needed a bridge between the power of the spell, which formed in your chest, and the domain outside of your body. You used that Power Word to create the connection, and the spell flowed out. This is a very powerful spell.”

Rud thrust his chest out, then did a few poses. He felt good about himself. But not because he had done something for the Grove. That’s what normally caused him to strike a heroic pose, or pat himself on the back. No, this time it was different. He wanted to celebrate because this was his accomplishment. Others had helped him along the path, but this victory was his.

“I crafted a spell,” Rud said. “My own spell. We’re going to have that path to the northern coast in no time with this.”

“I agree,” Nulsa said. “Yet I can’t help but remind you. Please, get some sleep.”

Rud yawned, nodding with agreement. Not only was he tired from the day’s events, but casting that spell had taken something out of him. Commanding his domain that way drained his will, leaving him exhausted.

“Agreed. But we’re working on the northern path tomorrow, right?”

Nulsa hooted in approval. “Absolutely. Now, get to bed.”