Gladesbale Grove Book 2 - Chapters 10, 11,12 (Patreon)

Chapter 10

Bonding

Rud woke the next morning feeling eager to get to work. Under his care, the garden of five plants became ten. Once they had rested enough, it would expand even further. To accomplish the feat of lining the entire road with these plants, he selected a section of the forest to expand his farm. While he had no plans to level it out, it was enough that it was cleared of debris and ready for expansive planting. After that, he grabbed himself some breakfast and prepared for work.

“Let’s chop some trees, ya big ol’ tree,” Rud said, clapping his hands before the Sacred Tree.

Ban giggled, her voice carrying through the surrounding forest. “Very exciting isn’t it? How many do you think you can handle?”

Rud shrugged. “No idea. Start us off with a small cluster.”

“I can do that,” Ban said. He felt her energy spread out, connecting with a collection of trees in the distance. “Hmm. That section contained more diseased trees than I expected.”

“Don’t worry. I’m on the case!” Rud said, striking a pose.

The sound of claws scraping against the ground came from behind him. Rud spun, spotting Major shuffling across the clearing. He bowed his head after coming close to Rud.

“May I come?” he asked.

“Already getting the hang of your tongue?” Rud asked, patting the massive bear on the head.

“Our resident bear achieved Sacred Beast status in record time,” Ban said, her warm voice filling Rud’s chest. “I’m very proud of him.”

“Thank you,” Major said. “I’m excited to accompany you, druid.”

“Let’s go,” Rud said, jerking his head to the side. He felt the diseased tree in the distance. The first in a list of about twenty. He wondered how many of those trees he had passed by every day held some kind of illness. With the only approach to prune them, planting a new tree, he pressed forward with a mission.

Both Rud and Major passed through a nearby bush, arriving in a section of the grove to the north. Most areas north of the Sacred Tree’s clearing were uninteresting, aside from a few streams. The environment got slightly rocky, especially as one pressed further north. The land was sloped upward in that direction, lending to the idea that somewhere in the north there were dwarves.

“Tell me about yourself, Major,” Rud said, sizing up the first diseased tree. This one bore clear signs of some sickness, discolored sap oozing from the bark. He had to wonder if this illness could be transmitted to each tree. That just made it more important to destroy them all.

“What is there to tell?” Major asked, watching as Rud scooped up a nearby fallen branch.

The druid enchanted a leaf, placing it on his head as he held the branch out. “Where did you come from? What were you doing before you gained sapience?”

“Interesting question. Below the grove, spanning to the north, there are caverns. They’re endless, sprawling and twisting every which direction.”

“Do you recall being a beast?” Rud asked, gathering himself to cast his spell.

The moment Rud thought about the Prune spell, he felt the spell itself requesting input. He had a sense that it wanted a shape and size, so he gave it an angled line across the trunk of the tree. The magic gathered in his palms, his body moving without his command. Tracking the invisible line he had imagined, his hands left mana hanging in the air. It shot forward a moment later, burning through both the leaf and the stick to cut the tree. It tilted to one side, both Rud and Major finding a safe place to stand as it fell.

“That was impressive,” Major said, nodding with approval. “I have vague memories of being a beast. Nothing definite.”

Rud jumped on the angled stump, stooping to get a look at the inside of the tree. He could see pockets of that sap building here and there, leaving the inside of the tree itself damaged. This disease was persistent, but he couldn’t know how quickly it had set on.

“Pretty nasty stuff here… Anyway, I’m glad you’re with the grove. Doesn’t seem to me like you’re a fighter, though.”

Major sighed, clawing at the bark of the fallen tree. He removed a layer with ease, his powerful claws digging away at the wood as though it were paper. “I suppose I’m not. Which has me questioning my purpose here.”

Rud laughed, stuffing an acorn into the ground. He gave it an application of Plant Growth, watching as the young tree sprung from the ground. “I can’t fight at all,” he said, shrugging. “There are more jobs to do than just fighting, you know.”

“Such as?” Major asked.

“You’re a guardian of the grove. But that doesn’t mean you’re a battle bear.”

“But how could a bear serve the grove without using these?” Major held his paws up, the massive claws like daggers ready to rend through anything.

“Let’s see… You could collect food for us. Or perhaps you want to be a scout, searching for interesting things both within the grove and without. We need a lot of things, and not all those things are dead monsters.”

Major nodded, still pawing at the tree. “This corruption is strange.”

“How so?” Rud asked, blinking a few times as he looked at the damage the bear had inflicted. In a few brief moments, he had torn into the heartwood of the tree.

“I would leave the expert assessment to you, but the way these pockets of sap appear is strange. Does a disease normally spread from the inside like this?”

That was an excellent question, and one Rud couldn’t hope to answer. Despite his interest in forestry, his knowledge as an arborist was lacking. He couldn’t tell a healthy tree from a diseased one, but he was almost certain the sap wasn’t supposed to be so deep inside. “Well, that’s an interesting question. Let’s find another.”

Rud and Major found the next tree designated by Ban. With the Prune spell, it didn’t take long to bring another sap-riddled tree to the ground. As expected, this one looked much like the other. They took notes of the tree’s state, but there was little they could do but plant a new one and grow it within moments.

“Perhaps Nature’s Cleanse would work on the trees,” Rud said. “But it might take days or even weeks, and we would be down a tree. I’m also afraid of the disease spreading to Ban.”

“Which means you think this is easier. Just cutting the trees and growing a new one?”

“Right. Because of the Plant Growth spell, we can do that,” Rud said, gesturing as he forced a pine tree to rise high into the air. “See?”

“Indeed. Shall we get back to it?”

Rud nodded, heading off for the next tree. As expected, after cutting and replanting the first ten trees, Rud gained a level in his Growth Magic skill. This didn’t give him a level in his main class, but it was a good start. He could feel his Construction Magic skill edging closer to the next level, but knew it would take a while. They tackled the next ten trees in less than an hour, but no more skills came. And that hour was spent talking about Major’s history as a beast, and his ascension to Sacred Beast as much as it was tending to the trees.

The bear had spent his life in forests to the north, starting out as a regular old bear. He was on the edge of monsterization when he chose a different path. Instead, his bestial mind had selected the path of a Dire Bear, which was a surefire way to achieve that coveted status of Sacred Beast. He claimed only the most intelligent of wild animals picked that path. Most went for the simple route of becoming a monster, which would offer them immediate power. But wild animals that had been monsterized were always hunted. And those with enough brains to avoid that path lived far longer.

The duo had completed so many trees in such little time that Ban gave them another section, this time with about fifteen diseased trees. Major seemed excited enough to tag along, still interested in talking about the things he had done before coming to the grove.

Major approached a bush, slapping it with his paw. Rud looked back from drawing his line using the Prune spell, checking to see what the fuss was about.

“I called these Fish Berries,” Major said, licking at the bush and removing a small berry from between leaves. It was a faint purple color, with little hair-like pieces sticking from almost every angle. Rud would have assumed it was poisonous.

“Is it safe to eat?” the druid asked.

“Oh, yes. I have spent many seasons subsisting on such berries, along with nuts and tubers.”

“Hold on. Are you saying you’re a nut and berry expert?” Rud asked.

“That’s right.”

“That means you know which ones are poisonous, right? This is great!”

“Is it?”

With Major’s knowledge for the land, perhaps the trail mix idea wouldn’t die off. “I want to make snacks for passing adventurers.”

“Ban explained this to me. Mortals make donations to the grove, which we use to empower the Sacred Tree.”

“That’s right. And they’re more likely to make donations if we give them things. I think they feel guilty.”

“Interesting,” Major said, sniffing at the air. “Not only do I know which berries and nuts are edible, I can sniff them out for you. Perhaps that would work.”

“This is perfect,” Rud said, rubbing his hands together. “When do those Fish Berries go into season?”

“The entire year, which is why I ate them so often. There should be some Smash Fruit around here… I can smell it.”

“Hold that thought. Once we prune these trees, we’re looking for some nuts.”

Rud and Major cleared the other trees with speed. When they were done, they set off to find some trail mix ingredients. Since the grove was vast, the druid had hardly mapped all of it. Even after creating the pathway, he felt as though he had seen little more than a percentage of the total area. But following the bear’s nose bore fruit without difficulty. Literally, since they found a giant field of berry bushes.

Rud knelt near a bush, plucking a cluster of berries. “Are these Fish Berries?”

Major was already pulling berries from the bush, munching and nodding. “Yup.”

Rud popped a cluster into his mouth, nodding with approval. The flavor was something like very tart raspberries, but they were good. Once dried, they would taste something like dried cranberries. As he inspected the bushes, he had the feeling these bushes didn’t want to be cultivated. The druid scratched his head, trying to figure out why his Plant Care skill was telling him that.

“Some things don’t wish to be cultivated,” Ban said, answering his lingering question directly into his mind.

“Really?” Rud asked, looking at the base of the bushes. They were plants. He had always had mastery over plants, especially since his Plant Care skill was now at Level 8. “Why?”

Ban laughed into his mind. “Perhaps one day you can master every type of plant, but the bushes are resistant to change. I’m advising you not to try. If you do, the transplanted bush will not survive. I’d also like to say you don’t need to use Major to find these things… I could do it for you.”

“No, we’re bonding,” Rud said, objecting to the idea. “I’m finally getting to know him.”

Major looked up from the bush, nodding with approval.

“We’re better off leaving them where they are and coming to collect the berries,” Rud said. “That’s what Ban told me, anyway.”

“I heard her,” Major said, nodding again. “But this field is vast. And the berries are almost ripe. Perhaps another day or so.”

“Well, here’s our supply of wild berries. The plan is to dry them for the mix. We’re only missing nuts. And chocolate, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Major turned his nose to the wind, sniffing. “The scent of the nuts is too faint… I cannot determine the direction.”

“Southeast,” Ban said, whispering into both of their minds.

“Well, I guess we can cheat a little. Right?”

Ban giggled.

Rud and Major set off for the nuts. The closer they got, the more the bear sniffed at the air, seeming to detect a cluster of nut-bearing trees. They used Thicket Travel a few times to get closer, finally arriving in a section of the forest with low-growing trees. The limbs of these trees started closer to the base, dominating the landscape and preventing other trees from growing. As with the fields of berry bushes, these trees sprawled far into the distance, rolling over hills and clinging to the ground no matter how rocky it was.

“Smash Fruit,” Major said, gesturing with his paw.

Rud shifted into his squirrel form, scampering up a tree. The nuts on this tree were mostly green, but grew in clusters of three and four. They had a light fur on the surface, and it took him too long to realize what they truly were.

“Hazelnuts!” Rud shouted down to the bear. “Lots of them, too. Do these grow all year?”

“In bursts,” Major said, resting his paws on the trunk of Rud’s tree. With a powerful push, he shook the entire tree. It shook, nuts falling to the ground in bunches. “That’s the best way to get the ripe ones.”

Rud soared down from the tree, watching as Major drove his paw into a pile of nuts. He smashed the fruit, revealing the delicious nut within. So, that’s why he called them Smash Fruit. The druid grabbed one nut that had rolled to the side, nibbling on it with his squirrel teeth. He was unsurprised to see a few squirrels running around in the area, although the hazelnuts didn’t seem to be their preference.

“You know, if you can collect these nuts and berries without eating them, this could be your job. Well, a job…”

“Really?” Major asked.

“I don’t see why not. Perhaps you can carry the berries in your mouth… Oh, we could get you a cute bear satchel!”

“I would like a bear satchel,” Major said.

“How much dexterity do you have in those big meaty paws?”

Major could do basic manipulation with his paws. But they were massive enough that he could scoop the nuts up and hold them there between his pads. He was far more dexterous than Rud had expected, leading the druid to a level of excitement for his trail mix project he didn’t think possible before.

“What do you think? Official nut and berry collector of the grove?” Rud asked.

“Among other things,” Ban said, speaking into their minds. “I think this is an excellent path for our resident dire bear.”

“You just got the seal of approval, buddy,” Rud said, jumping onto Major’s back. “We’ll need to find you a bag, though.”

“We should ask Mint. She brings me things sometimes,” Major said.

Rud couldn’t hide his excitement. He skittered around on the bear’s back, unable to stop his squirrel form from chittering with excitement. When he first considered the idea of having a bear in their grove, he knew the others would only see the massive beast’s ability for combat. But if such a creature could find a different path, that spoke well for the grove. It wasn’t all about war and slaying monsters. Things like the trail mix project were also important.

“So, you have a plan. Go get Mint and ask her to find a bag that will fit on you. There is a drying building right next to my mushroom house. You can leave anything you find there, and I’ll prepare it.”

“May I eat the things I find?” Major asked.

“Not all of it, but as much as you want.” Rud shrugged. Who was he to deny a bear the pleasures of eating nuts and berries? “Just leave some for me to roast and dry.”

“I can do that,” Major said with a few sharp nods. “This is exciting.”

“Agreed!” Rud did his best pose in squirrel form, but it wasn’t nearly as impressive as his true form’s pose.

After Major stomped off into the forest, Rud was left reworking his schedule for the day. With trail mix as an option, he wanted to get the store operational. Which meant not only creating the building, but preparing some tea to stock on the shelves. Nulsa was confident there would be a flood of adventurers any day and they needed to be prepared.

“Let’s do this,” Rud said, dashing off into the forest, using Thicket Travel to arrive at Ban’s clearing.

Chapter 11

Taz’s Development

Rud had no desire to create anything extravagant for his store. The place didn’t need a counter, or a place for employees. It only needed enough shelf space to hold his products, and a place for mortals to make donations. The druid wanted to keep the various donation boxes around the grove separated, allowing him to see which ones were the best money-makers… Crystal-makers, whatever.

Tapping his chin near the future site of his shop, Rud hummed to himself. It was west of the bathhouse’s boiler room, and would hang over the edge of the main path. That required supports, which wasn’t a problem thanks to the massive trees growing nearby. Using Shape Plant to pull in the foundation, the druid considered how big it should be. After doubling the size of the original floor plan, he was satisfied. Wood twisted together, drawn into braids and lacquered to give a smooth finish.

Rud squared off the edges of the building, drawing more material from the nearby trees to create the four posts that would act as the frame. He then wove wood around the edges, leaving room for windows without glass and the door. The best part about making buildings from trees—no matter how twisted they were from their original form—was the roof. After angling wood to create a sloped roof, he allowed the tree to sprout new leaf-bearing branches from the top. An application of Plant Growth later, and dense foliage sprouted from the roof.

For the interior, Rud favored a utilitarian appearance. After hanging a tree-hinged door, he pulled shelves into existence. That’s when Construction Magic rolled over to Level 9. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to push his main class to Level 8. But he was getting close. Shelves dominated the center of the room. The druid marked the wood with his magic, detailing what should be on each shelf. He created a box near the entrance, labeling it as the donation bin.

It might have taken almost the entire day, but Rud stood outside the shop and nodded with approval. It was mortal-sized, with an entrance tall and wide enough to accommodate even the biggest of them. Shelves ran along the entire outside of the interior walls, with more organized neatly in the center. The outside looked something between a structure Basil would make, and a bit of Earth flare. The druid made a sign near the door, detailing the rules. He instructed the mortals not to take more than they needed and to pay whatever they wanted in donations. It directed them next door if they wanted a bath, although that would require them to find a spirit in the forest to get the bath going.

Rud wiped sweat from his forehead, letting out a breath. The wind blew from the north, stirring leaves underfoot and sending his cloak billowing. Although his enchanted clothes helped keep his body at an even temperature, a chill still soaked into his bones. This made the idea of a hot bath or some time by the fire in the longhouse more appealing. He chose the longhouse for tonight, eager to get some tea sorted for his shop, but hungry enough to put it off.

“Hey, Major,” Rud said, also nodding to Taz as he entered. “You too, dwarf.”

“‘Dwarf?’ Is that all I get from you?” Taz asked, shaking his head. “Now you’re best friends with the bear, I see.”

“You’re both my best friends. I have no enemies,” Rud said, plopping down on the bench and dishing out some soup. He noticed more was missing than normal. It was hard to stop his eyes from flicking to the bear.

“The soup is delicious,” Major said, not bothering to hide who the soup thief was. Not that it was thieving… But a bear could eat a lot of soup. It took Rud a while to notice the small linen satchel on the bear’s side. It looked heavy with nuts and berries.

“I see you’ve got your bag,” Rud said, nodding to the bag.

“Mint got it for me.”

“You mean that Mint robbed another poor village.” Taz snorted a laugh.

“She gets the stuff from an abandoned village, apparently,” Rud corrected. “Although I don’t know how much I trust what she says on that matter…”

“She’s telling the truth,” Ban said, speaking into their minds. “I watched her do it. Just in case she was lying. We don’t need trouble with the mortals.”

“Trust but verify,” Rud said, punctuating the thought by jabbing his finger into the air. “I like it.”

“So, I’ve been practicing in the smith’s workshop,” Taz said, gazing into the delicious mixture before him. “Getting better… Dedicating myself to the craft, but still nothing.”

“No subclass?” Rud asked.

“No, but I can feel something. Someone is reaching out, I just know it,” Taz said.

“Are your senses for such things normally keen?” Major asked.

“You’re asking me if I’m just imagining it, right?”

“Yes. Not that I meant to offend, or anything…”

“No offense taken. Dwarves have a certain kinship with bears, you know. I view this through the empirical lens.”

Rud tapped his chin with his spoon, unsure what he thought about that. But it made sense to give a dwarf a subclass related to smithing. The druid would’ve been lying to himself and everyone around if he wasn’t praying for Taz to get the class. He wasn’t passionate about working the forge. No matter how useful it was, he didn’t see himself as a blacksmith. But if he abandoned that, smelting, and mining, he would need another profession-based skill to get levels in his subclass. But that meant begging Ban to make a new building… Yuck.

Perhaps that was a selfish thing to think in the wake of Taz’s progress toward becoming a blacksmith. Rud trusted the dwarf’s intuition for what he felt. He seemed sensitive to things related to gods, whereas the druid was completely numb to them. That was likely a fact borne from being a druid so closely connected to a Sacred Tree.

“I can handle the smelting, but if Taz covers the mining and blacksmithing… I need another profession,” Rud said, sighing dramatically. “Please don’t make a new building, Ban. I need you awake while we work on integrating the trees.”

“You always get worried, don’t you?” Ban asked, giggling politely.

“That’s my job!” Rud said, sticking his chest out.

“You wouldn’t like a building for Forestry, Farming, Wildlife Management, or another fun skill?”

“Don’t you tempt me,” Rud said, shaking his fist at nowhere in particular. “We need enough tree power to fuel you first. Then we can worry about another profession for my subclass. I’m not as worried about getting it to Rank 1 before my Druid class is Rank 1.”

“A wise choice,” Taz said with a nod. “There’s no point struggling when you can’t even hit the mark. I think you explained how that weird subclass works, but it's tied to the buildings, right?”

“Yeah, I would complain but Farseeing is such a useful skill… Ruh-roh, I gotta go make my evening report,” Rud said, dashing from the longhouse with his bowl of soup. He had checked in with Maria briefly that morning, but the evening report was far more useful. As the sun dipped lower, the energy was at its most powerful. Flecks of the twin moons—apparently exploded by wizards at some point in history—poked over the horizon as daylight faded. The druid clicked on his radio after accepting the tower’s aspect.

The night was swirling with magical energy. A powerful gust of magic blew from the frost-bitten island, washing over the massive lake to freeze sections solid. Wind magic gathered above, portending a storm or perhaps just powerful gusts. It was hard to tell with the wind. And dungeon magic swirled like dust devils in the south, sweeping from a place far southern still and stirring up future mayhem. But tonight was calm. The golden light of dusk filtered through the trees above, partially blinding Rud as he made his notes for the day. At least the adventurers had dealt with the dungeon problem. For now.

“Maria here. Was starting to think you wouldn’t call.”

“Awesome news to be shared,” Rud said, tapping his pen on the piece of parchment. There were a few things he needed to note, but they seemed to have fled his mind after her voice came over the radio. “I discovered how to make peanut butter. So, you can have that jar of peanut butter you’ve always wanted.”

“Really?”

“No. But I found some hazelnuts, and something I think is supposed to be salmonberries. Oh, and Basil gifted me some awesome plants that glow in the dark.”

“That’s not nearly as exciting as peanut butter. You know that, right?”

“How hard could it be to make peanut butter? I guess you’d have to find peanuts first… We don’t even have sugar here. Unless I can process my sweet tea leaves into sugar.”

“Sounds like you’ve had an exciting day,” Maria said, releasing a labored sigh. “Meanwhile I’m getting more bored by the day. Funny since I was content for twenty years. Then this goofy Talen Por shows up and gives me hope.”

Rud laughed. He was a goofy Talen Por, wasn’t he?

“Don’t tell me you didn’t have hope before I showed up.”

“I was happy to go through the motions. But you got me excited about visiting other groves. Just a vacation, you know? Maybe something along the seaside.”

“Well, I have a boreal forest if you wanna come visit. Lots of swampy spots. Cold as anything. But the biting insects don’t seem to be around… Perhaps because we’re so cold.”

“I’m not sure if you know it, but you’re not selling Gladesbale to me.”

“Hey, they didn’t put me in charge of tourism. But I have a few tourists. Which is cool.”

Things must have been very boring in Maria’s grove. Rud wondered what kinds of things she got up to. Those day-to-day things that kept her busy. He was thankful for the freedom he had in Gladesbale. Being the custodian brought him a kind of freedom he could have never expected before being transported to this planet. The other custodians would experience the joys of the other groves before he was done.

The conversation rolled on for a bit. Rud smiled as he looked up from his notes, spotting Nulsa waiting to deliver his nightly message to the mortal town. The owl had become a fixture in the tower, although that was to be expected. Rud had met the Sacred Beast there for the first time. It might have been the allure of conversation, or the magical energies that flooded forth from the tower. When Nulsa took off, Maria followed.

Rud shifted into his squirrel form, jumping from the window and gliding through the forest. Rather than passing through the nearest dense patch of vegetation, he enjoyed the feeling of the cold air rushing over his fur. The shards of the moons glittered in the night’s sky, struggling to light anything as they caught little of the sun’s light. The grove’s floor was a sprawl of darkness, light barely filtering through the dense canopy above. Insects had started their nightly song, filling the forest with a constant drone.

The druid flew from the tower, back to his mushroom home. He had to climb trees to get height again, but enjoyed the nighttime trip. When he returned home, he lit a fire in his wood stove, shutting his door to trap as much heat as possible. Tomorrow would be a day where he used his drying building as much as possible. Dried meat, fruit, and roasted hazelnuts were on the menu. Assuming Major could collect a great deal of supplies, they would be in business.

The predicted wave of adventurers would be here soon, rolling through the grove to the western reaches. Rud snuggled into bed, listening to the sound of the fire crackling. A comforting warmth spread throughout the building, seeping through the covers and banishing away the chill that had settled in on his nose.

###

Rud spent his mornings the way he normally did. He started by tending to his crops, selecting leaves from the tea plants for drying. The lightbulb plants were doing much better than yesterday. Given a night to soak in the energy of the grove and recover from their forced growth, the plants had flourished. He selected a few choice limbs for propagation. Once the stock of lightbulbs was sizable, he could seed them along the path.

A fire crackled in the drying house shortly after Rud had placed all the tea leaves out. With no idea how to dry the Fish Berries, he found a tray and set them in the room. It might work, but there was no harm in experimentation. Thankfully, Major took his job seriously. The stacks of hazelnuts and berries in the shop were expansive, and there was no way he could hope to get through all of them without significant effort. With morning chores sorted, he made his morning report at the Observatory before deviating.

“Mira!” Rud shouted, gliding through the air in his squirrel form. He spotted the catgirl—a commander for the logging expedition from Barlgore—cupping her chin near the grove’s edge. Just above her head, he shifted back into his true form and fell onto her, wrapping his arms around her. “Been a long time!”

Mira grimaced, patting Rud on the back after the pair had tumbled to the ground. “Yeah. Good to see you too.”

Rud removed himself in time, standing back to assess the woman. She looked about the same, perhaps a little more tired than normal. “How is the logging business going?” he asked.

“Things are calming down in town,” Mira confirmed, dusting herself off as she rose to her feet. “Care to explain the cursed trees you’ve created?”

“The trees themselves are not cursed.” Rud turned gesturing to the cursed object prisons he had created. “The things inside are, though. Cursed objects.”

Mira’s jaw clenched shut, the muscles bunching near the edges of her face. “You’re serious?”

“I’m purifying them, but it will take some time. Anyway, do you guys have enough trees?”

“We have enough for now.” Mira couldn’t take her eyes off the cursed trees, and Rud couldn’t blame her. Even with the magic sealed away, they emitted a sense of foreboding. “Everyone is busy taking care of your dungeons.”

“I lay no claim to such dungeons,” Rud said, waving the thought away. “They are what they are.”

Mira cracked a smile for the first time since the stilted conversation started. “That’s good to hear.”

“You should hike into the grove,” Rud siad, jabbing his finger back toward the thick treeline of Gladesbale. The area out here was sparse compared to the inside. The trees were sparse, almost all grown by Rud himself. Considering that thought, there were a few trees that needed to be grown to full size. But doing so outside of the grove’s sphere of influence was a pain, so he focused on growing those he could reach from within the sphere.

“That’s a long walk,” Mira said, offering a sheepish smile.

“We got a bear,” Rud said. Bears were a good selling point. “And a bath.”

“You’ve been busy, haven’t you?” Mira asked. “I’m here to assess the state of the lumberyard, though. We don’t need as much wood, but we still have demand. Especially with how cold it’s been.”

“Whatever you need, just let me know.” Rud winked, tapping out a little dance. “My druidic magic is getting stronger.”

“I see that.” Mira made the sign of reverence for the spirits, bowing before making an excuse to leave.

It didn’t pass Rud’s notice that she was busy. Perhaps under too much pressure. It was hard not to think of himself back on Earth. Going through the motions of stress just to keep a job. If he could ever convince her to head into the grove, he knew she would relax. But it wasn’t his job to force mortals to take a day off. Especially not when he didn’t have the ability to take a day off. Not because he didn’t have the time, but because those old workaholic habits just wouldn’t die.

Instead of worrying about it, Rud grew a few trees near the grove, drawing on the power bestowed on him and sending them jabbing skyward. The Spiritual Infusion upgrade made the Plant Growth spell very powerful. He could draw on Ban’s power to grow plants, causing plants to shoot through three or four stages of growth, rather than one.

With nothing else to distract him from his goals, Rud turned his attention to the trail mix. It was time to figure out how to roast hazelnuts.

Chapter 12

Hazelnuts

Rud didn’t know how to roast hazelnuts. He wasn’t that guy who stomped through the forest, collecting nuts from the ground and roasting them at home. He knew a few people like that back on Earth, but it wasn’t him. He knew enough about nuts to know he needed to shell them first. If he hadn’t learned that back when he was a human, he would have learned it working with the squirrels in the grove.

“What did you need me for?” Major asked, poking his head in the mushroom house.

“Perfect!” Rud shouted. “Go wash your paws, we’re going to smash some fruit.”

Major gave him a confused look. “I walk on my paws. What use would washing them bring?”

Rud tapped his chin. “I saw you walking on your rear paws. Just do that.”

Major blinked a few times, rising to his full height before shambling off awkwardly. Rud hadn’t expected him to try keeping his paws clean, but it would help. If the bear failed to keep the dirt from his giant paws, they could just wash the hazelnuts after they had been shelled.

A large linen blanket sprawled out in Ban’s clearing. Rud stood nearby, making sure he had his pile of unshelled hazelnuts ready to go. He trusted that Major had selected only those that were ripe enough to eat, and dug at one with his fingers. The shell was tough and fibrous, almost as difficult as the weird acorn-things the squirrels loved so much. He finally got to the nut part of the hazelnut, gnawing at it. As expected, Major had selected ripe nuts for them to process.

The bear shambled back into view, looking upset that he was forced to walk on his back feet. His paws were wet. “I’ve done it.”

“Nice! We’re gonna use your power as a giant dire bear to smash the nuts,” Rud said, gesturing to those nuts he had arrayed on the clean sheet. “The plan is simple. You smash, and I remove the nuts and put them in a basket. Got it?”

“I understand,” Major said, growling as he shuffled forward a few more steps. Then his massive forepaws came down, slamming onto a pile of the nuts. The shells were shattered in an instant, crumbling away to reveal the delicious nut within. He repeated the action a few more times, leaving behind a scatter of shell and nut alike.

“Woah,” Rud said, finding it hard to keep his balance when Major brought his full power down. “You’re a strong guy.”

Major grumbled something as Rud collected the nuts. He placed them in a wicker basket, setting them aside for now.

“Again?” Major asked.

“Again!” Rud shouted, thrusting his staff skyward. Nothing happened, but a heroic pose always helped.

Rud and Major repeated the process until they had several baskets filled with hazelnuts. It was far easier to shell them with the bear’s technique, rather than clawing at them. Only a few of the nuts were damaged during processing, and Rud felt that it hardly mattered. A few oblong nuts in the trail mix wasn’t a big deal. And the best news of all was they didn’t need to roast the nuts.

“But we’re going to roast them anyway,” Rud said, nodding as he carried his baskets into the mushroom house. He already had a fire going in the wood-burning furnace.

“Does this improve the flavor?” Major asked.

“It mellows out the nut, I think,” Rud said, although he was unsure. “It should get sweeter, too.”

Major watched near the entrance intently. Like Mint, he poked his head through the door, sniffing at the air while Rud worked. The stove Mint had provided had a section where he could insert a tray, allowing him to use it like an oven. There were no controls for temperature or anything fancy like that. The heat of the fire determined that. After arranging the nuts on a metal tray, Rud crouched near the stove and watched as his hazelnuts roasted.

“How long must they cook?” Major asked.

“I dunno.” Rud shrugged. He would guess somewhere between ten and thirty minutes… maybe. But his plan was to watch them, looking for a golden-brown color on the outside. So long as they didn’t burn, they would be fine. “We just watch and wait.”

It took about fifteen minutes for the nuts to show signs of burning. Rud removed them, placing them on a table for inspection. Some nuts still had the brown skin around the surface, but brushing them with a clean cloth got rid of that. He placed another tray filled with nuts into the oven while he waited for the first batch to cool.

“They smell delicious,” Major said, licking his lips.

“Yeah,” Rud said, spotting and seeking to forestall a future problem. He wanted to call out for Mint to solve his problem, but saw this as a chance to work with his Blacksmithing skill. As much as he didn’t want to go down that road, it made sense to work on it for now. As long as Taz didn’t mind him taking over the forge for a few hours…

“I think they’re cool enough.” Major licked his lips as he stared with covetous eyes at the nuts.

Rud smiled to himself, plucking one still-hot nut from the tray. It was cool enough to eat. Maybe. He tossed it into the waiting maw of the bear, watching as the beast chomped down with excitement.

“Oh, yes. Slightly sweet. Very nutty,” Major said, smacking his lips. “I love this. May I have more?”

“You can have as many as you can cook,” Rud said, winking at the bear. “But seriously, don’t eat our entire stock. If you had hands, we’d be better off.”

“Because then I could roast the nuts. I understand. I shall gather and process more nuts.”

Rud shook his head as he watched the bear stomp off. It was hard to complain after gaining a member of the grove that seemed so willing to help with stuff like this. The druid had been mostly alone, except for the help of Taz. But now he could rely on another spirit willing to get down and dirty with the mundane needs of the group.

Once all the processed nuts were roasted and in baskets, Rud set them aside. While Major was off collecting more nuts, he used Thicket Travel to head to the forge. Taz wasn’t working there today, which was perfect. He fired the forge, checking their stock of iron bars before nodding with satisfaction. The shape of the large wood-burning stove came to his mind. Instead of making something fancy, he would copy the existing design of the one he just used. At least the hinge system was easy. Just two loops of iron where the pin on the door would drop. Nothing outside of his skill range.

After accepting the Aspect of Aegael, Rud got to work. He used his otherworldly smithing abilities to create a simple box on legs. A rounded metal tube shot from the top. Although he planned to leave the stove outside, it was best to future-proof these kinds of things. After a few more finishing touches, he had a stove roughly four times the size of his old one. Perhaps more interesting than that was the level he got in Smithing, unveiling a selection of upgrades for him to pick.

There were two upgrades that interested him. He inspected the first.

[Hotter Than Heck]

Smithing Upgrade

Description:

Working with a forge is annoying. Stuff doesn’t stay hot long enough!

Effect:

When working in a forge, the metal you interact with remains hot for longer.

The most annoying thing about working with the forge was how quickly things cooled. The red glow seemed to fade a moment after removing it from the forge. While this was annoying, it was missing a certain level of utility that Rud craved. He looked at the second upgrade.

[Make Stuff, Not War]

Smithing Upgrade

Description:

Who wants to make weapons of war when you can make cool things?

Effect:

It is far easier for you to craft items not intended for war.

It is far more difficult for you to craft items intended for war.

Rud had no intentions of making weapons from the start. He didn’t want to become that kind of grove, no matter what anyone else said. It wasn’t as though he had no interest in defending the grove, though. Ban could defend herself if needed, and the Sacred Beasts were all incredibly powerful. But he wouldn’t be the one to forge the weapon of war. Instead, he would make fun stuff. Like the giant wood-burning stove he just crafted. And if he had this ability while he was crafting it, things would have been easier. After that rationale, he settled on the Make Stuff, Not War upgrade.

“If only there were a powerful wolf spirit around to carry this massive stove for me.” Rud pretended to faint, leaning against the Blacksmithing Workshop.

“Did someone call for a strong wolf?” Dean asked, emerging from the forest.

“I was hoping for someone with hands,” Rud said, clicking his tongue.

Dean looked down at his paws, shaking his head. “I don’t have hands.”

Mint appeared beside Dean, patting the wolf on the head. She assumed her human form, laughing to herself as she approached the stove. “Where do you want it?”

“On the side of my drying building. Or near the storage building—whichever has enough room.”

Mint winked, lifting the massive stove from the workshop as though it weighed nothing. She walked off into the forest, vanishing as she used Thicket Travel. Rud followed close behind, clasping his hands together. This wouldn’t just unlock more efficient roasting for him, but also cooking. Not that he was much of a cook, but roasting everything over an open flame was getting old. And if he wanted to make more than a single-serving of anything, he had to do so in parts. The giant stove would remove that problem. Mostly.

The new oven was placed in its spot. Mint had to even the legs out, as one was a bit too short for it not to wobble. She wedged a rock under one leg and called it a day, patting Rud on the back before heading out. Although she left, Dean remained.

“A giant stove. For what?” the wolf asked.

Rud headed into his mushroom house, grabbing a roasted hazelnut. He tossed it to Dean, who caught it in his mouth.

“This is pretty good,” Dean said.

“I’m surprised you like something that isn’t meat,” Rud said, looking over his new stove. “Hey, think you could fetch me some meat for drying?”

“Do you know how to dry meat?”

“Yeah, with a plug-in dehydrator. Or a building made from a tree that does the same thing.”

Dean laughed, dashing off into the forest. Rud sized up his new stove, tossing the fuel in the bottom to get it up to heat. If he was right, Major would return with enough hazelnuts to choke a bear before long. They could process those, and set them in storage. But the wolf returned with meat first. Not that there was much to do with the massive hunks other than cut strips and hang them in the drying room. At least Mint had brought back some salt and black pepper, making sure the meat wouldn’t be flavored with nothing.

Major returned shortly after—as expected—and they processed more hazelnuts. They roasted enough to make a significant amount of the trail mix. Although that required the berries that weren’t done dehydrating. While those he had placed within the drying building had lost some moisture, they had a long way to go. Instead, Rud got to work packaging up some nuts to start. He pulled material from mushrooms, shaping them into small jars with an inscription on the front describing what was inside. After lacquering the jars, he dropped a handful of hazelnuts in each and sealed them away.

“This way they’ll keep for longer,” Rud claimed, although he didn’t know how true that was. Drawing the air out from within the jar would do better to preserve them, but this was fine for now. “Adventurers will need to break through the lid to get inside. See? I put it in the instructions.”

“I cannot read,” Major said, almost pressing his nose against the jar to get a better look.

“Is this the best method you’ve come up with for preserving these for travel?” Dean asked.

Rud shrugged. “It is. The adventurers can transfer it to something else if they want. This will help it stay stable on the shelf for longer. I guess we could experiment with canning methods… But you know, I’m not so scientifically inclined to know how that would work.”

“What would science have to do with it?” Ban asked, her voice flooding into the forest like a comforting tide. “You’re a druid.”

Rud waved up at the tree. “I’m not a wind druid!”

“But you could be,” Ban said.

Rud could feel Ban leading him along. She knew something, but wasn’t letting on. That meant this was a teaching moment. “Alright, wise tree. Lay your wisdom on me.”

“You could develop control of the elements if you focused on developing your magical abilities,” Ban said. “Controlling the elements is tangentially related to druidic magic, although those often fall to the work of a Shaman.”

“Is there an Aspect of Wind?” Rud asked.

“Maybe.”

Rud shook his head, laughing to himself. When Ban pushed him like this, it was for his own good. She wanted him to find his own path, which had worked very well so far. The druid had focused on being a caster-style druid with a specialty in manipulating plants. Doing so had made him good at casting spells aligned mostly with Basil. He could deduce a few things from what she had already said. Drawing inspiration from Taz, he figured there was only one path forward. If he just did it, the spirits would look at him favorably.

“Just give me a place to start,” Rud said. “And I can work from there.”

“You can assert control over the elements with your raw mana,” Ban said.

Rud clapped his hands together. “Got it.”

Mana control was a fickle thing, but Rud already had experience with that. Imbuing his leaves for spell components was part of mana control. He could summon a bit of mana into his hand and smear it on a leaf, imparting his druidic power into a piece of nature. He pulled a shallow pool into his palm as Major smashed hazelnuts and Dean watched. There was a strong connection between the mana he summoned, and the plants he could sense in the distance. It was a deep connection that seemed to run through the grove itself.

Rud snapped his fingers after a few minutes of thinking. He dashed off to the Observatory, accepting Bent’s Aspect and standing outside. Above him, he could see the swirling energies of wind magic floating around. He focused on those magics for a while, prodding the inactive pool of mana in his hand. Was it a matter of adapting the kind of mana his body produced, or something else?

“You’re on the right track,” Ban said.

“No need for hints,” Rud said, nodding to himself. “I got this.”

Ban giggled into his mind, watching with joy as the druid floundered. But he didn’t want to be told everything. Sometimes the best way to learn something was the hard way. Perhaps this was more like freecasting. Any spell could be cast within the confines of its description. But freecasting meant going outside of those bounds, which normally meant focusing on something hard enough to manifest it in one’s mind. Determination played more of a role in that than anything else.

Rud allowed his mana to drip onto the ground, watching as small sprouts grew forth from where it fell. That confirmed his plant-aligned mana. But could it be changed? Adapted the same way he had adapted the spells to suit his needs?

Blowing out a steady breath, Rud focused on the magic above. He blinked a few times as he realized something important. He didn’t need to adapt himself to the magic, but the other way around. With stunted magical senses, and exactly no training, he reached out to the faint blow of wind energy above him. Using the techniques he had learned to control his own mana, he pulled that energy in. Something burned away from inside his chest as the lazy breeze above drew lower.

A steady wind rushed over the Observatory, forcing the trees above to sway with the wind.

“You did it!” Ban shouted into Rud’s mind. “And so quickly…”

Rud placed his hands on his hips, striking an impressive pose. “I already knew what to do,” he claimed, although how much of that was true he couldn’t say. “You may now call me ‘Elemental Master Rud.’”

Another giggle from the Sacred Tree. “I wouldn’t go that far. But you’re developing into a powerful spellcasting druid. How did you figure it out so quickly?”

Rud snorted, giving the forest a knowing look. “You gave me all the information I needed. Not like I haven’t been practicing with my mana since I got here. Just needed to adapt my technique was all.”

“You’re doing Gladesbale proud… Now, you only need to learn to generate wind magic yourself, and then the negative of that energy. Once you do that, you can seal your pots of nuts.”

“All this power, and I use it to seal hazelnuts. What a life.”