Gladesbale Grove Book 2 - Chapters 4,5,6 (Patreon)

Chapter 4

Cursed Objects or Bones

Rud pressed his hands into the heaving chest of the bear, casting nature’s Restoration. While he could feel the life coming back into the beast, it still seemed a far way off. After getting a good night’s rest, he had focused his attention on making Mint a new blend of tea. This wouldn’t really be chai, but she didn’t need to know that. The system would likely have another name for it. After being presented with the thought of milk in tea, she had taken charge of the goats.

“Good thing,” Rud said, patting the matted fur of the bear. “Last thing I need is a bunch of goats to care for. Who knows where Mint stole them from.”

Once he was done in the cave, Rud ran into Taz outside. The dwarf needed help smelting some ore today, so Rud put it on his to-do list. First, he needed to check in with Maria, updating her about the weird box they found in the ground. Tea water, bear healed, goats checked, he was off to the Observatory.

The radio turned on with a satisfying click, static crackling gently. Rud thumbed the button on the microphone. “Rud, reporting in for my daily update.”

Maria must have had her radio on all the time with the volume way up, because it took about the same amount of time for her to answer every time. There was a period of extended silence before her voice came drifting in through whatever magic the object used to transmit voices.

“Maria here. Cursed object or bones?”

“Cursed object,” Rud confirmed, shaking his head. “We don’t know what it does, but I have a spell that should remove the curse. I guess.”

“Wow. The all-powerful druid taking care of business.”

“I hope, anyway. The strange thing about the object was it interacted with the magic from the grove. I have everyone looking for something similar, but we haven’t found a thing so far.”

A long pause came in over the radio, static hissing to fill the silence.

“Gug says he’s not familiar with cursed objects. He says they’re rare and dangerous.”

“That’s what my dwarf said. But I’m certain we found a decent way to seal it up.” Rud thought about adding defenses to the cursed object’s tomb. “Also, we have some goats.”

“Goats? I love goats.”

“Mint wants to milk them so she can have chai. I won’t tell her that chai is more than just spicy tea. She’s too excited. But you should see how big my tea garden is.”

“You’ve inspired me to work on a few new projects of my own! Gug has been on my case for years because I’m ‘lazy’ and whatever. I guess he’s right…”

“I can’t imagine being underground for so long.”

Rud left it at that, still not wanting to get her hopes up. A two-way portal that was up all the time would be hard to pull off, but Ban said it could happen. They were in a rare position of communication between a tree and custodian. Most others weren’t lucky enough to be where they were, and he wouldn’t waste it. Maria talked about all kinds of things after that, detailing her plans to do something with her grove. Enough time passed that Rud got hungry, and they ended the conversation.

Before heading to breakfast, Rud teleported to the goat pen to check on them. They had cleared a lot of the vegetation away… Too much. He brought a pail of magical water and gave the stubs of grass some druidic treatment, watching as they grew in an instant. Rud looked up, watching as the four goats bounded over.

“You’re multiplying,” he said, watching as the creatures lapped up the water. They hiccuped after drinking it, shaking their heads and snorting. Rud activated his Clear Communication upgrade. “What’s up, goats?”

“Grass,” a goat said. “Vines, twigs, grass, roots, worms, voles—whatever. Gimmie.”

“You’re pushy,” Rud said, emptying his water over the grass. They sprouted up immediately, only to be mowed by a goat. “And greedy.”

“More grass,” another goat said. Rud supposed it was Goat-Three… or four. “Want more grass.”

“You guys too cold?” he asked.

“More grass,” the goat said, bleating loudly. “Not cold.”

“Works for me. Think you guys can be good goats and follow me?” Rud asked. “I promise more grass.”

The goats shared a look, eventually nodding. “Yes.”

Rud led the procession of goats through the forest, yelling at the critters when they took too much of the food he used to lead them. The grove was large enough that they could have their fill of stuff nearby, but he didn’t want them to disturb the balance. The druid admitted defeat when the goats disobeyed his orders once again. They were goats, after all.

“Dean, could you give me a hand?” Rud asked, feeling a shiver of a response from afar. The massive wolf burst through the underbrush moments later, sending one goat toppling to the side with rigid limbs.

“Snacks?” Dean asked.

Rud fished through his bag, finding some mortal currency he had been forced to take in the past. “Can you head to town and get some hay? Or goat feed.”

“They will not understand me,” Dean said.

Rud sighed. He was right, of course. No one in town spoke wolf. Mint was the only one who could communicate clearly with the mortals. Dean helped him with the new plan, which was to scare the goats back to their pen. The plan to feed them out in the forest had failed, but the backup plan was in motion. Once the goats were secure, Rud rode Dean to the town, quickly finding a merchant who would sell him hay. There was no such thing as goat feed in the town.

Rud formed a basic shelter inside the pen for the goats, and outside the pen for his new hay. He stockpiled it, hoping it would stay dry enough for the goats before tossing one bale inside.

“Expensive milk machines,” Rud said, watching as the goats tore into the bale. “I guess they like it.”

“They seem happy,” Dean agreed. “Do you still require my help? I am needed elsewhere.”

“Go on,” Rud said, waving as the wolf rushed off into the forest.

Supplying the goats with food he bought wasn’t ideal, but that was a problem for another day. Rud headed to the tea farm, giving it a good looking over before picking a direction to go with it. He decided on equal parts of everything, because it wasn’t just one blend of tea he enjoyed. Thanks to his druidic magic and cuttings from existing tea plants, he had a decent field of tea plants within a few hours. Sorting through the new spicy leaves he had placed in the drying building—and adding some more—he crafted a pot, placed the leaves inside, enchanted it, and inspected the result.

[Wolf Spice Tea]

Rare

Description:

As spicy as a wolf. Wolves are spicy, right?

Effect:

Sharpens your focus for a limited time.

Aspect Effect (Mint and Ban’Tanthein):

For the next day, your physical attributes are increased by 20%.

“Power tea,” Rud said, nodding with approval.

Every other tea Rud had created made a person more energetic, and increased their mana or health regeneration by a percentage. This was the first tea that affected attributes. He smelled the mixture, finding that it stung his nose. It wasn’t the kind of tea he liked, but that wasn’t the point. He placed the pot filled with Wolf Spice Tea on a table, finding and mixing in the standard earthy, sweet, and citrus leaves.

[Deep Spice Galactic Tea]

Rare

Description:

A combination of earthy and spicy notes, this tea will warm you to the bone.

Effect:

Provides a minor increase to both energy and focus.

Aspect Effect (Mint and Ban’Tanthein):

For the next day, your maximum health is increased by 10%.

The scent of this one worked. It would be the base for something close to chai, even if it wasn’t on the mark. But it had all the notes he remembered from Earth. And the effects weren’t too bad, especially the increased maximum health. Rud didn’t know how effective that would be for people, but whatever. Folks might like the flavor, so the effects were sometimes an afterthought.

[Sweet and Spicy Tea]

Rare

Description:

A combination of sweet and spicy notes, this tea is like a slap and a kiss at the same time.

Effect:

It takes more to make you feel fatigued.

Aspect Effect (Mint and Ban’Tanthein):

For the next day, you will recover from feeling fatigued from physical activities 1.5x as quickly.

Another twist on what the standard teas did. Sweet and Spicy Tea would make it so a person would feel less fatigue. This one would be good for the days where Rud was working long hours, creating things out of plants and all that fun stuff. He could imagine it would be popular with workers. And the scent wasn’t too bad.

[Cursed Lemon Tea]

Rare

Description:

A combination of citrus and spicy notes, this tea is like biting into a lemon only to find a spicy pepper. Why would you bite into a lemon?

Effect:

Jump higher.

Aspect Effect (Mint and Ban’Tanthein):

For the next day, acrobatic actions will be easier for you.

This one was weird all around. The smell was strange, the description was questionable, and the additional effects added from his spell would allow the drinker to become a parkour master. Well, maybe not that good. While each tea seemed interesting in its own way, Deep Spice Galactic Tea was the one he selected to blend a few pots of. Rud placed the lid on three of them, carving a note in each. He labeled them with the name of the blend, but also etched ‘for Mint’ into them.

Rud left the labeled tea in his drying building, finally making his way to the smelter to help Taz. The dwarf was working on more tunnels within the mine, creating switchback staircases to lead him to the lower levels.

“Ready to work?” Taz asked, leaning against the wall.

Rud’s stomach grumbled, but he nodded. “What do we have going on?”

Taz lead the way out of the mine. “Well, I know you haven’t done a thing with the new smithing building. But I know my way around a forge, so you don’t have to worry about leveling a Blacksmithing skill just yet. You’re well-versed with the smelter, though.”

“Ah. Need some ingots?” Rud asked.

“That would be a decent start,” Taz said, his eyes lingered on the new Blacksmithing Workshop. “Mint brought me some hammers for the smithy.”

Rud didn’t want more to do around the grove, but taking on Blacksmithing was a good idea. For now, he would do what Taz said and create some enchanted ingots. They arrived at the Smelter Workshop and lit the smelters with Fairy Peat. Once they were heated, they added iron ore into the top and waited.

“Are you sure you can work the ingots into something useful?” Rud asked.

“It might not be a powerful item, but I can make it happen,” Taz said. His voice held a tone that made Rud question his motives.

“You’re hoping for a Blacksmithing class, aren’t you?” Rud asked, shaking his head. “Not satisfied with being a Prospector?”

“I won’t complain about getting my class back. I know I was a bad dwarf, but I can hope can’t I?” Taz asked, shifting uncomfortably on the spot. “I pray the dwarven gods see the good I’m doing and give me something interesting.”

“It might work, depending on how much you dedicate yourself to the task. Rud, you’re not interested in becoming a Blacksmith?” Ban asked.

Rud smiled nervously. “It’s not that I’m not interested… I just don’t know how good I’d be at it.”

“You access the collective power of the spirits. You’ll do fine.”

Rud nodded, turning his attention to the forge. He and Taz were almost silent as the smelter did its work. They poured the ingots, and the druid enchanted them. Spirit Iron Ingots were infused with the aspect of Ban and would create potent items… That’s what people always told him, anyway. Rud had never actually seen one brought to the last stage.

“What should we make?” Rud asked.

“You’re gonna use the forge?” Taz asked.

Rud recognized the effigy outside of the Blacksmithing Workshop. The Salamander Spirit Aegael loomed over him, staring off into the forest. He pressed his hand against it, gaining a message.

[Aspect of Aegael attained!]

Your Grove Custodian subclass has reacted to an effigy of Aegael, spirit of the flame.

The Salamander Sacred Spirit has lent you some of their power. If you stray too far from the idol that granted you this power, it will dissipate.

How far he could stray from the idol was variable, and seemed more tied to the will of that spirit than anything else. “What are we making first?”

“A pickaxe,” Taz said. Should be easy enough.

Rud nodded, pulling more Fairy Peat from his bag before inspecting the workshop. It was an open-air workshop just like the smelter. An anvil sat atop a stump while a stone forge dominated the building’s center. He placed a bunch of peat in the center, lighting the forge and working the bellows until the flames roared.

“You’re like an old pro,” Taz said, handing a wooden handle over. “I carved that myself.”

“Hold onto that,” Rud said, tossing an ingot of copper into the forge. “I’ll ruin a few of these before I gain the skill.”

Rud removed the ingot from the fire once it was glowing. He knew it should have taken far longer for an ingot to heat up like that, but this forge was magical. It was powered by a spirit aligned with fire. He placed it on the anvil and swung the hammer. The tool seemed to move in slow-motion as it came down, missing the ingot entirely.

“Well, I guess I should have expected that,” Taz said.

Rud tried again, this time managing to hit the ingot with exactly no power. He tried a few more times, changing the shape of the metal slightly. Aegael must have taken pity on him, because an hour of pathetic swinging later, he unlocked the Smithing skill.

“Thank god,” Rud groaned, falling onto his butt. “Finally unlocked the Smithing skill.”

“See if you have an easier time with it,” Taz said, eager to see the change.

Rud rolled his shoulders, pulling a fresh ingot from the flames and placing it on the anvil. The hammer felt slightly lighter in his hands. He knew the right angle to strike down with, even if he didn’t have the power to follow through. Swinging, he watched as the hammer hit dead-center. More surprising than anything was the way the metal deformed.

“What just happened?” Rud asked, looking down at the deformed ingot. It had splattered out, as though someone had dropped a big rock onto some clay.

“Figures. The spirits gave you a powerful class, didn’t they?”

Rud shrugged. “I guess Ban was right…”

“I’m always right,” Ban teased.

Rud tossed the ruined ingot to the side, picking another from his seemingly endless stack. He heated it, brought it to the anvil, and struck down. This time he imagined the shape of a pickaxe. The skill knew what he wanted, selecting the perfect spot to strike. The material spread out over the course of several hits, taking the shape of a pick. He didn’t know before, but now he knew how to use a punch. Placing a spike over the place where the handle would go, he smacked it with the hammer. After some wiggling and additional hits, he got the hole he desired.

“Quenching time,” Rud said, tipping the pickaxe head in some mysterious liquid. It didn’t look like water, but he didn’t mind. It was there when Ban had completed the building.

Rud wedged the handle into the hole in the pickaxe head, pulling another bar from the fire. He chipped a piece off–which should have been impossible, and made a tiny metal wedge. He then used that to secure the pickaxe handle to the head.

“There ya go,” Rud said, holding out the pickaxe. “One fancy druidic pickaxe.”

“A druid working the forge,” Taz said, shaking his head. “I never thought I’d say… Oh, wow. Did you inspect the item? You should.”

Rud took the pick from his friend, inspecting the item.

[Spirit Iron Pickaxe]

Epic

Description:

A Spirit Copper Pickaxe, infused with the power of Gladesbale Grove. This pick holds the signature of Ban’tanthein, an industrious sacred tree, and Mint, her guardian.

Aspect Effect (Mint and Ban’tanthein):

The durability of this tool has increased significantly.

Using this pick delivers more force, and induces less fatigue to the wielder.

“Oh, dang. Spirit Iron is the way to go,” Rud said, rotating the pick to get a better look. Not only was it magical and cool, but it also was sized for dwarves and other short folk. “You’re gonna be smacking some serious stone.”

Chapter 5

Hey Stinker

Taz put his weight into his pickaxe, swinging to strike the wall in the mine. It exploded with shards of stone, showering both him and Rud with bits of rock. The dwarf cackled, hitting it again and again. Stone fell in heaps, creating a layer of gravel on the ground. The mad dwarf continued, going crazy on the wall until he was out of breath.

“Spirit Iron rules!” Taz shouted, hoisting the pick above his head and releasing a war cry.

Rud found he couldn’t infuse the pick itself with more of his magic. But the resulting item was already powerful enough. He didn’t consider using this newfound power for weapons. That wouldn’t fly in Gladesbale Grove. Arming the mortals was a bad idea. If they wanted to turn the ingots into weapons themselves, they could have at it. But he wouldn’t be an arms dealer. Instead, his new Blacksmithing skill unlocked a lot of potential for them. While he could make most things they needed with his Construction Magic skill, there were some comforts he had to make from metal.

Mint had brought them kettles, wood-burning stoves, pans, pots, and so on. But Rud wanted to be self-sufficient, and was eager to make all the stuff they needed himself. A few levels in Blacksmithing and he was confident he could handle fine work. For now, he had to turn and face the reality of running a mine.

“I have an idea on how to reinforce the mine,” Rud said. “And it might solve the flooding problem.”

“I’ve solved most of that problem,” Taz said with confidence. He wavered. “Kinda.”

Rud marched through the mine without telling Taz where he was going. Near the entrance to the housing section of the mine, he remembered seeing something he needed. The druid ran his hands over a root. It wasn’t one of Ban’s, meaning it came from a tree above the mine. It had been strong enough to break through a layer of rock, breaching into the mine itself. Freecasting the Shape Plant spell, Rud guided it into the mine, convincing the tree to pull more material from the bulk of its body. He used that root to wrap around the walls of the mine, adding support where there was none.

“Living mine supports,” Rud said, casting the Plant Growth spell on the roots. He could feel the tree getting larger above him, some thread of connection still spread between himself and the organism.

Rud guided the roots through the mine, creating timber supports in an instant. It was far faster than shaping the lumber, and he could feel the tree didn’t mind. Once he led the roots down the stairs, and into the flooded sections of the mine below, it was even happier.

“It might not drain the water quickly, but it will drain them,” Rud said, watching as the roots drank happily.

“How much root does that tree have, anyway?” Taz asked with a scoff. “Seems never-ending.”

“I dunno,” Rud said, pausing to think about it. “It’ll keep making more root if the tree has enough mass. I guess.”

“Magic druid stuff?” Taz asked, nodding and stroking his beard. “Yeah, makes sense.”

Rud left Taz in the mine. The dwarf had plans to mess around with the Blacksmith’s Workshop, but no longer needed the druid’s help for the day. With chores out of the way, it was time to get to work on revamping the Gladesbale Grove experience. He passed through some bushes, arriving at his first camp site. The yard was already beautiful, with a central area and a firepit. The buildings creating a half-circle around the yard were woven from trees, formed to reflect the construction methods Basil used.

“What does this place need?” Rud asked himself. He wanted to give the traveling mortals more, but he didn’t know where to start. The road and rest stops were the bare minimum for them, so at least he had that.

Instead of putting himself into the mind of an adventurer traveling from one place to another, he recalled long car trips back on Earth. The first thing required for a long car trip were snacks. Duh. Hitting the road without a bag of chips, bag of jerky, or another treat—sure to shorten one’s lifespan by a few years—should have been a sin. The next thing to come to his mind was a fact he had observed before. Spirits in contract with the grove didn’t need to use the bathroom.

“Where are the adventurers putting their poop?” Rud asked, scratching his chin. “Are they pooping in my forest?”

The question of how people in ye olde times took care of their waste plagued Rud’s mind. If he had to guess, they used some cesspools or an otherwise disgusting method of getting rid of it. Perhaps that was a problem for another day…

Taking potty breaks was one thing for a short-range ride, but there was one thing Rud hated more than anything on a long-haul drive. If the adventurers were walking for weeks through the grove—depending on the speed of that adventurer based on their attributes—they would get stinky. He might not have a solution for their waste, but he could offer baths to anyone that needed them. What a luxury that would be. He couldn’t think of something that would boost their morale more than that.

“You’re invested in this, aren’t you?” Ban asked.

“What do you think?” Rud asked, gesturing to the area around the main campground. There was plenty of space to make this happen, and it was right along the roadside. “And what are they doing with all the poop?”

“They just go in the forest. Like the other animals.” Ban’s voice carried an amused tone. “I think you’ve got a great idea. Mortals will be more likely to make donations if they enjoy their time here.”

Rud nodded to himself, envisioning how these new buildings would look. He wanted to settle on a version of a bath open to the air. He always took his baths out in the open. The sensation of the hot water mixing with the cold air was always magical. The bathhouse could even sit next to his general store. Running that store would be too much of a time investment if not for the concept of the honor box. Since anyone willing to rob him had to deal with wolves—and soon a bear—that might eat them, he wasn’t relying on their sense of respect to keep people honest.

“Any ideas on how you’re going to expand yourself?” Rud asked.

“I’m still taking a break. But if you want to make portals, I need to specialize in energy generation and storage.”

“Is that a path you’re not interested in going down?”

“We’ve already taken the first step down the path. I’m looking into generating another building to generate power. Depending on the complexity of that building, it might force me into a slumber.”

So, depending on how powerful a building was, Ban might go to sleep. But the way she could gain upgrades was like how Rud could upgrade his skills. She could make buildings with energy, and he could upgrade those buildings. With a gentle mental command, he summoned her sheet.

[Ban’Tanthein]

Rank 1 Level 1 Sacred Tree

Upgrade Energy: 0%

Reserve Energy: 70%

Energy Nodule Efficiency: 90%

Upgrade:

[Thicket Travel]

[Root Spears]

Expansions:

[Mining Workshop]

[Smelting Workshop]

[Blacksmithing Workshop]

[Energy Nodules]

[Observatory]

Ban was in a net negative of energy right now. Rud had upgraded her Energy Nodules building to have Energy Flowers, which gave her a constant supply of energy to deal with. He only needed to top her off with crystals occasionally. With all steps in the production chain involving ore and metal done, she could focus on something new.

“What’s the best way to keep energy flowing? Should I focus on upgrading your Energy Nodules to Rank 1?” Rud asked.

“A great question. I have several buildings I can make to generate energy. But the most powerful won’t come until I’ve taken a different building and an upgrade.”

“Which means you need to get to Level 5 in Rank 1… Got it.”

“That’s right.”

“I have reserve crystals for days, so that won’t be a problem. What’s this upgrade you’re angling for?”

“It links the other trees in the grove to me more directly. This has an upside and a downside. I’ll be connected more closely to everything, which means I have to support more energy. But, if I create a different building at the same time, each of those trees can become a producer of energy. There’s another building where you can kind of burn mana crystals, but it isn’t as good.”

“So, we’re turning the entire grove into a solar farm. That works.”

“A simple way of putting it, but yes. This upgrade would be useless if the grove wasn’t healthy.”

Rud nodded to himself. He got the message. “That means I have to make sure every tree is in perfect working order.”

“That’s right. When I take the upgrade, it will show me which trees are efficient and which aren’t. Which means you’ll need to prune the bad ones and plant good ones.”

That was already one of Rud’s responsibilities, so he didn’t mind. It wasn’t a bad idea at all. He didn’t have the ability to tell which tree was a good tree and which wasn’t. Even with his druidic powers, they were still just trees. Long bits of living wood and leaves. If Ban took something that could help them empower the grove, he was eager to see it through.

“Let’s do it!” Rud shouted, thrusting his hands into the air. Ban giggled, amused with how eager he was.

“I’m going to create the secondary building first. The energy drain on me would be too great, otherwise. We’re taking this path a few ranks early, so I’m learning as I go.”

“Yeah, but we’re the best grove around. Team Magic Tree Huggers can’t be beat… How long are you going to be out?”

“This should only take a few days. The building I’ll work on is more complex than anything before. You won’t see the building, either. It should appear in my root system.”

“I’ll hold down the fort,” Rud said, saluting the forest before him. “When you wake up, there’s gonna be a bathhouse, a mall, an Arby’s, and a gas station.”

A gentle twinkle of recognition flooded through Rud’s mind. Ban wasn’t kidding when she said she was going to start it now. He felt her slip away, into her slumber. With the tree down for the count, he turned his attention back to his projects. Off the main path that ran east to west, just south of the half-circle of homes to the north, he considered the design of this new building. Lacquered wood could serve as the tub, since Rud wasn’t foolish enough to try and heat the water there.

There might have been some natural force he could use to heat the tub. Rud was reminded of the floating lights in Basil’s grove. He wanted those for his own grove, although he had found nothing like them in the area. He also had never spotted a flaming rose or any other such nonsense. That meant he needed to heat the water the old fashioned way. Fire in a big old tub. Perhaps this was a good time to put his Blacksmithing skill to the test…

“Building first,” Rud said, pulling his cloak tightly around himself. He tapped the Twig of Ban’tanthein on the wood of the road. “No time like now!”

Getting to work, Rud started by imagining the building he wanted to create. Like anything in the grove created with Construction Magic, he would pull from nearby trees to create walls, floors, and in this case the tub. He imagined a wide building with multiple tubs inside, all cloistered behind walls for privacy. While he didn’t think the people of this world had modesty, he wouldn’t force coed baths on them.

Rud started by pulling material from four nearby oaks, whose boughs spread far and wide. He created the flooring first, weaving a path from the main road and lacquering it as he went. Four trees acted as the four corners of the new building. He let them keep their shape, adding to the druidic aesthetic of the area. Between those trees he built an oblong building, not nearly as straight as he would have liked but it helped blend the structure in with the surroundings.

It took the rest of the day to get the skeleton of the building up, but there were bigger things at hand. Whittling away the days was a matter of course when dealing with the grove. Ban had to rest while she made her new building, and there were other chores to attend to. With the tea watered, goats fed and watered, he made his way to the Observatory to both check in with Maria, and write his daily reports.

The magic that had built in the east—right near the cursed object—had gone entirely. More magic was building in the southeast, though. It was likely a sign of more dungeons. Rud scribbled his notes before clicking the radio on. He observed the skies, detecting a chance of rain. Adding that to the notes, he thumbed his radio.

“Rud for Maria,” he said.

“Hey stinker.”

“My tree is down for a few days,” Rud said, ignoring the ‘stinker’ comment from Queen Stinker. “So, expect to be bothered by me a lot more.”

Maria laughed over the radio. “I can’t imagine talking to my sacred mushroom-tree-thing.”

“Good point. We can strategize easily. I can’t imagine lacking that line of communication.”

The radio hissed, silence settling in for quite some time. Rud was questioning if he had said something he shouldn’t have when Maria’s voice returned.

“I actually got another custodian on the horn today.”

“What? Really?”

“You’ll be amused to learn it was Jim from Cliffs of Mog.”

“Jim! I love Jim, he’s awesome.”

“Hilariously, I also talked with his wife for a while. Amazing how he managed to make a family after being yoinked from our old world.”

“Ever think of getting hitched with a hairy, drunk dwarf?”

“I’d rather die.”

Rud turned his eyes to the sky, then scanned the horizon to take in the strange energy swirling in the distance. He didn’t understand the energy created by the dungeons yet, but the more he watched it the more he got a sense for it. It was like a fog that blew in from somewhere, settling in lowland areas and avoiding the grove as though it were a high- or low-pressure zone.

“I’ve been studying this magical dungeon energy for a while, and I’m wondering what is normal,” Rud said, narrowing his focus to the northeast. He could barely see the island wreathed in snow. “And I’ve got this weird cold island.”

“Good luck understanding magic. I haven’t managed to do it in all my time here. I doubt you’ll have any luck until you get your skills higher.”

“We can agree on that. I have a feeling these things come in bands. Like rain pushing in from the sea, coming to drench us with monsters.”

“Once you solve the problem let me know. I have a question.”

“What?”

“This is a hypothetical scenario. You get a nickel for every step you take. But you’re forbidden from working a regular job, accepting money from others, and so on.”

“I don’t have use for a nickel,” Rud said, shaking his head.

“This is a scenario for if you were back on earth. Would you do it?”

“Well, I was very out of shape back on Earth. I’d die before I broke even compared to my job.”

“Don’t you think you’d get in shape as you went?”

Rud scratched his cheek, clicking his tongue. “How many steps per day would you need to take to survive?”

“You could make 500 bucks a day if you did 10000 steps.”

“Is this condition permanent? What if you get hurt and can’t walk?”

“Then you’re screwed.”

“You would need to dedicate your life to walking.”

“I did the math. I can take about 5000 steps in an hour. Walking eight hours per day would earn me two grand per day. Seven-hundred-thousand a year and change. You’d only need to do it for a few years before you could retire.”

“You have a convincing argument… Could I just walk in place?”

“Sure. A step is a step. But you’d get bored, I think.”

“I’ll take you up on your offer. Send me back to Earth and I’ll walk from sea to sea.”

Maria laughed over the radio. She loved these hypothetical scenarios. Perhaps that was just her being homesick. Each time she brought it up, it made Rud think about the things he left behind. He didn’t wish he had the same longing for Earth as she did. His current life was much better.

“How are you handling your new form?”

“Huh?”

“When I first got here, the body they gave me was so small. I worked hard so I’m not a twig anymore… Thank god.”

Rud looked down and inspected his physique. He had the build of a person who ate nuts and mushrooms for a living. He may have made some progress toward building muscle, but it was slow. Whatever his state, it was better than the body he left back on Earth.

“Actually, I’m looking a lot better.”

“Good to hear. A diet of forest food and dirt does the body good.”

Rud smiled to himself, listening to the entertaining conversation that always welled between him and Maria. He almost forgot to go and eat dinner, but eventually signed off to pitch his plan to Taz. In the morning, the two planned to work on a water heater.

Chapter 6

Hot Baths

The spicy scent of brewing Deep Spice Galactic filled the longhouse. Mint danced in the corner, overly excited to have her first taste of chai. Rud had his equipment set out. A kettle to brew the tea, a pot to heat the milk, and an excited wolf spirit cheering him on. He had another kettle brewing regular tea for himself, as he doubted his taste for the spicy tea.

“I can’t wait,” Mint said, standing in her human form for once. She seemed to favor the wolf form more than anything. 

“I am interested in trying the tea as well,” Dean put in.

“This smells like a dwarven drink!” Taz shouted.

The two mortals—passing through on their way west—sat nervously at the table, spooning mouthfuls of soup and looking for the exit. Rud had a decent night’s sleep, but was awoken by the excited wolf. She was convinced she had enough goat milk to make the tea. Of course, she didn’t need as much milk as she collected. But perhaps they could riddle out how to make goat cheese. Mmm… cheese. The grove would be one step from pizza at that rate. Well, assuming they could buy flour from Barlgore. And tomatoes… and spices. Perhaps it was more than one step away.

Rud poured Mint’s tea first, giving it an equal mixture of brewed tea and milk. He handed the mug over, pouring more glasses for everyone assembled. Including himself. The mortals accepted the tea with their sign of reverence, pulling the cups to their noses and taking a sniff. They recoiled, putting on nervous smiles. He wouldn’t be surprised if they tossed it over their shoulder.

Mint took a sip of her tea, coughing at first. “I love it!” she shouted, although the face she made didn’t seem as though she cared for it at all.

“This is a dwarven drink!” Taz shouted again, downing the entire cup of boiling liquid in one go. “Another!”

“Make it yourself,” Rud said, shaking his head as he took a tentative sip of his own drink. It was far spicier than chai on Earth. More like someone had put a bunch of jalapeno peppers in water for an hour before heating it up. He looked to the mortals, who still hadn’t taken a sip. “Hold on…”

Rud took half of the contents in their cups, dumping it into an empty pot. He filled the rest with warmed milk before sliding the cups back across the long wooden table. “There. Try that mix.”

The first adventurer—a tawny-haired elven man—took a drink. His brow raised as he nodded. “That isn’t bad, little spirit.”

“Yeah, you don’t want dwarf strength tea,” Rud said, watching as Taz downed another full cup. He didn’t dilute it with milk this time.

“That’ll put hair in places you never wanted it!” Taz said, thumping his mug on the table. “Another!”

“I hate it,” Dean said, barely lapping at his own mug. “It burns the tongue.”

The mixed reaction for the tea was expected. Rud was most surprised with Taz’s reaction, and he was certain Mint was faking her love for the drink. The druid switched to a mug of his favored tea, draining a cup of Mint’s Reserve over breakfast. It was a mixture of the sweet and citrus tea, and always provided a boost to his energy.

“What’s this project we’re working on today?” Taz asked, drinking his tenth cup of tea. Good thing they never had to pee…

“I need to make a water heater,” Rud said. “From metal, of course.”

“Something to heat water? Like your bath? Why not use that?”

Rud shrugged. “I want to have a system that allows me to boil a lot of water. The question I had for you was about if I could do that. Make a big old tank with my smithing skill.”

“Depends on how good the skill is. A skill smiths back in the mountains used involved fusing large metal plates together. It should be possible for you to do it, but I’m not sure.”

That was the hardest part about making this project work. Rud needed a large, seamless water tank he could heat. His first thought was to make it out of infused iron, but copper would be easier to work with. He ate breakfast, sharing in the joy of tea before heading through the nearest thicket with Taz, arriving at the Blacksmith’s Workshop. He accepted the Aspect of Aegael before entering the workshop and firing the forge.

“This is the problem you’ll contend with,” Taz said, gesturing to the forge. “The top is only so big. And you need to learn how to fuse metals. So we should start small.”

“I appreciate the instruction,” Rud said, laughing nervously. “Should’ve known my whole plan would rely on this.”

“Well, I can only assume you’ve explored other options. I’m sure some mortal could whip up an artifice to handle the job in a second. But those are expensive, and we don’t know any mortal artificers. Right now, you gotta start small. Let’s learn how to weld two thin bars together.”

Rud struck a pose, tossing a few ingots into the fire. He was thankful for the absurd temperature Fairy Peat burned at. When the ingots were glowing, he removed them from the forge and shaped them. After that refresher, he drew the material out into thin strips and practiced fusing them together. Like all things magical, it was as easy as imagining what he wanted to do, and striking the hammer down. The first few attempts were poor, but they expected that. After gaining a level in his Blacksmithing skill, things went better.

“No chance for an iron heater,” Taz said, standing and giving instruction when it was needed. “But I think you can manage fusing copper by now.”

“Next step?” Rud asked, twirling his hammer. He nearly dropped it on his foot.

“I want you to draw the copper ingots into perfectly square sheets,” Taz said, nodding to the stack of infused copper. He clapped his hands. “Get to work, worm!”

“Ew, I’m not a worm,” Rud said, tossing in some more copper and pulling a hot ingot out. He struck it with the hammer, feeling the soreness in his arm spread to his shoulder. But with each hit, he drew the material out until it was a thin sheet. Then he worked on shaping it into a rough square plate. “How about this?”

“Good for a first attempt, scum,” Taz said.

“Disgusting, what’s with the insults?”

“Dwarven tradition,” Taz said, gesturing to the plate. “That’s good, but you’ve got some issues with the thickness.”

This was nothing like mundane blacksmithing. Rud couldn’t imagine doing any of this back on Earth. There was something about the way the copper moved in this world that defied everything he knew. It was more like working clay than smithing, and he wouldn’t complain. The real skills required to make something this complex would likely take years to hone, if they were possible at all.

Half-way through the morning, they took a break. Rud gained another level in his Blacksmithing skill, but that wasn’t surprising. Levels came quickly at first, slowing down at Level 5 and climbing in complexity as one approached Level 10. Rud spent his break talking to Maria through the radio, snacking on food, and lamenting the difficulty of the task.

“You chose this,” Maria had chided.

She was right, of course. Rud didn’t pick projects because they were easy. Perhaps he only picked them because they were hard. He returned to the workshop, getting back to it. Before night fell, he was able to create a decent copper plate. It wasn’t perfect, but Taz claimed it was good enough for the job.

“Now, let’s work on fusing. Forge welding something big enough to fill a bath is gonna be hard,” Taz said. “May I suggest an alternative?”

Rud nodded. “Please.”

“Not one tank, but a bunch. Connected with copper pipes and gates. You can flood ten smaller tanks with water, heat them all, and send them off into your bath.” Taz placed his hands on his hips. “Because there’s no way we’re getting a massive tank to heat over the furnace.”

Rud could imagine what Taz was talking about. Instead of making the big boiler he had planned, they could easily do ten smaller ones. Based on the maximum size they could get away with using the forge welding technique Taz had described, the copper boilers would be between fifty and one-hundred gallons. Which meant they didn’t need to fire each boiler for the bath, instead heating only the ones they needed based on capacity.

“Since we have metal, we can also create little fire boxes to contain the blaze,” Rud said, nodding along. “I like this plan!”

“Of course you do. Now, let’s work on making the first boiler…”

As Taz had explained, it was hard to fuse the panels together. But because he had forced Rud to practice so much making those copper plates, it wasn’t as devastating when he messed it up. The technique was simple. He placed the section he planned to attach to the box onto the fire along with the box itself. The area where he would fuse the two metals together would heat up thanks to the extreme heat of the Fairy Peat, then he could smack them together on his anvil using magic.

But this technique was impossible to use without a hand. After three panels attached, it was too heavy for Rud to lift. He thanked the spirits that Taz was such a beefcake.

“One box,” Taz said, wiping the sweat from his brow. “What do you think?”

Rud looked over their first box. It had an open top, and a circular hole on either side for filling. Smacking the holes out was the strangest thing. Rud just tapped the area repeatedly until a hole appeared. Magic. He was thankful for that magic, though. They had their first boiler, and it would only take a few days for them to complete the rest. As long as Taz kept his schedule open…

“Time for a meal, I think. And more of that spicy tea,” Taz rubbed his hands together. “I don’t care for the milk, though.”

“Mint seems to like it.”

“Does she?” Taz asked, grimacing. “Seems like she was forcing it down more than anything.”

“Well… She likes the idea of it, anyway.”

After eating, Rud did a quick check-in at the Observatory. He recorded everything for his report and sent it off with Dean. Maria didn’t have any interesting hypothetical questions to pose for the night. Thank goodness.

Before turning in to bed, Rud wanted to test his new water heater. He propped it up on rocks, filled it with enchanted water—because why not—and set a fire underneath. The copper was durable enough to withstand the intense heat from the Fairy Peat, and before long the water was hot enough to make a comfortable bath. The boiler was hard enough to move around as it was, but he had no plans of moving it once it was in place. He would build an area attached to the bathhouse to contain each boiler.

With visions of a massive bathhouse dancing through his mind, Rud lit a fire in his house and settled down to sleep.

It took an entire day to get the next nine boilers made. Rud worked the morning after the next, heading off to the longhouse for some breakfast and tea. Not only had he created the boilers to heat the water, but he had also worked on the pipe and gate system. The pipes would send water between the boilers—and the source—while the gates would prevent water from escaping. It was a simple system made of copper plates that could be raised and locked into place by hand.

Rud spooned himself some soup, smacking his lips after taking a few bites. Taz was getting better at making it, and it showed. Everyone spent their meal times within the longhouse, sucking down both tea and soup. The druid had a mental checklist of things he needed to do, rolling over the items to plan his day. The bear was getting close to being cured so that would take priority if he were to wake. Ban would be back at any moment, which was a cause for celebration. But the bathhouse took priority unless either of those things happened.

Thanks to Maria’s comment, Rud took less soup than he wanted to. He would complain, but the demands of a custodian had him constantly active. Perhaps that would offset some excessive soup consumption…

Rud walked through the uncompleted bathhouse, pulling mass from the trees to create a solid floor. He pushed that material down, creating impressions deep enough to hold a decent amount of water. After lacquering the entire floor, he punched holes in the sides of three baths. All the plumbing would need to be attached underneath, giving the interior a seamless look. Before hooking up the copper lines, he raised a plus sign shaped wall to give privacy between the three baths and got to work on the boiler room.

Attached to the west of the main bathhouse building, Rud created a simple room where he could place all ten of his boilers. Dean was helpful in bringing them in, giving the druid time to run a water line from his enchanted water source. He drove cylindrical roots into the ground, leaving the center hollow to carry water. The trees he selected for the job worked with him more than normal. They seemed eager to be the ones that gained access to an infinite supply of the revitalizing water.

This plan wouldn’t have worked if the landscape didn’t slope from that water supply to the baths. Rud waved his staff through the air, channeling mana as he Freecast his Shape Plant spell. When the root finally burst through the ground near the boiler room of the bathhouse, he sat and rested while his mana regenerated.

“This is going according to plan, right?” Dean asked.

Rud nodded, gesturing to the walls of the boiler room. Both the bathhouse and the additional room sat about five to eight feet above the ground. Anything off from the main road experienced a sharp drop unless it had been cultivated by him. “Hook up the water to the boiler room, assemble the boilers, get under there and hook up the plumbing… Then we’re done.”

“An interesting design,” Dean said, shaking his head. “Too much work for nothing, if you ask me.”

“You think a bath is nothing?” Rud asked.

“I don’t mind being dirty.”

“But you’re not a mortal. Imagine you’re traveling the road all day, smelling like a goblin’s dirty butt, and you just want to relax. A bath is going to do wonders for their morale.”

“If you insist.”

Although Dean doubted the effectiveness of this plan, he still helped. The powerful wolf was needed to move the large boilers around. The pair placed each boiler atop a stand, which rested on a reinforced copper plate. That would reduce the chance of burning the tree underneath. Combined with the Lacquer spell, the tree wouldn’t be harmed. Rud fit the copper pipes connecting each boiler before running the water line into the building. It would empty into the first boiler, which would fill the next and so on. He took care of the plumbing underneath, double-checking before releasing the enchanted spring water into the boiler assembly.

“This seems more industrial than a druid should need,” Dean said.

“True, but we’re not a normal grove,” Rud said. The sound of water rushing out from the roots and splashing onto the first boiler was pleasant. He pulled a small copper box from the room’s corner, placing it under the last boiler in the chain before closing its connection to the rest. “This is our fire box. If it melts the copper, we need to go back to stage one.”

Rud lit a Fairy Peat fire under that last boiler, adding as much as he estimated was needed. It shouldn’t have taken much to get the water going, and he didn’t want to burn through his new copper vessels.

“The water will cool the copper… won’t it?” Dean asked.

“I hope so,” Rud said, poking the fire with a stick. He shook the branch when it caught fire, then poked his finger in the water. It was still cold, but not as cold as when it came from the spring. “The point of this experiment is expansion. I’m making our buildings to expand or change them. We could swap this whole boiler system out if we needed.”

“Was this something you did back on your planet?” Dean asked.

Rud had to think about that for a second. “Not exactly. Not the physical side of it. But my job was to organize people and projects, so I know what to look for while considering the future.”

“A wise move,” Dean agreed.

The last boiler in the chain was… boiling. Rud slid the firebox out from under the first, allowing the peat to burn out on its own. There was an open section on the far side of the room’s floor, allowing him to open the gate. It would use the same technique of chained flooding as the boilers. Water rushed into the first tub, filling it about a quarter of the way. But it worked.

Rud did a little dance before checking below to make sure the leaks were minimal. There were plenty of leaks, but not enough for him to do anything about it. Without rubber or something goopy to seal the seams, he could do little to stem the tide.

“It worked!” Rud shouted, coming up to pose for Dean. The wolf nodded his head. “Let’s get a bath going.”

“Feel free to bathe. I am not interested,” Dean said.