Gladesbale Grove Book 2 - Chapters 28,29,30 (Patreon)

Chapter 28

Mysteries Underground

Rud, Major, and Taz couldn't simply teleport to the spot. They had to go there on foot so as not to leave Elm behind. The druid shifted into his flying squirrel form, jumping from tree to tree and following along as the group thundered through the forest. The elf rode her deer-horse while Taz rode atop Major's back. While the bear wasn't the best mount, especially when compared to Dean or Daffodil, he did the job just fine.

Rud enjoyed pushing himself as he sailed through the trees. More than that, he could feel the trickle of experience adding to his Shapeshifting Magic skill.The flight through the forest was challenging for him, but he enjoyed every moment. By the time they finally arrived at the site several hours later, a system message had appeared that he had desperately wanted.

[Skill Gain!]

Your Shapeshifting Magic skill has increased to level 8!

Although it wasn't a milestone skill level, it still felt good to get to level 8. His mad dash to rank 1 had instead become a slow crawl with little progress, but he was almost there. Just a few more levels in a few more skills, and he would make it. But the tension was drawn away from his progress as the group approached the dig site. Mint, Dean, and Sarya had already revealed the source of the problem.

Massive mounds of dirt were piled up around a circular hole. The three wolves stood around it, their paws dirty, as they looked on with concerned expressions.

“I am very good at digging holes,” Sarya said with pride.

Rud sailed through the air, landing near the hole before shifting back to his true form. He peered over it, squinting and not seeing very far at all. When Taz came to the edge, he looked over and gasped.

"What are those?" Taz asked, squinting harder and holding his hand over his eyes to shield against whatever light filtered through the boughs of the trees above. "Those stones aren't randomly arranged. This place was built.”

Elm jogged to the edge of the pit, holding her staff aloft and chanting some words Rud didn't understand. A moment later, an orb of light appeared, descending slowly into the pit until it illuminated the scene below. Just as Taz described, an open area had been revealed. It was made from finely hewn stone, laid together in a floor about 20 feet below where they stood.

"What is that?" Rud asked, scratching his head.

Elm tried to say something, but the words caught in her throat. She coughed a few times, shaking her head. "I think that's a labyrinth," she said, almost breathlessly. "How did that get here?"

Mint shifted into her human form, coming closer to the pit's edge. She pressed her hand against what might have been an invisible barrier and strained before her hand went through. "I'm not restricted from going in like the dungeons," she said. "Are you sure this is a labyrinth?"

Rud stood by, feeling left out. He didn't know what a labyrinth was or why it was so important. "Does anyone care to explain to me what all this means?" he asked. "I'm not familiar with a labyrinth."

"They're just like dungeons," Elm said, "except significantly more expansive and dangerous. Of the three types of system formations in the world, this is the second most dangerous."

"Well dang, what's the most dangerous one?" Rud asked, taking a few steps away from the pit.

"It goes dungeons, labyrinths, and towers," Elm said. She had a look of confusion on her face. "How could one have appeared below the grove? I don't understand."

"Could this be connected to our problem with cursed objects?" Mint asked.

“Perhaps, but more than likely this has been here for a very long time, and it was only recently activated. Of all the places for a labyrinth to be, right under the grove is inconceivable.”

Rud looked back towards where Ban was. He narrowed his eyes, pointing at both of them before pointing into the forest. "I'm on to you, sneaky little tree," he whispered.

“Don’t tell anyone you’ve figured out my big secret,” she said with a giggle. “No, I’m unaware of such a thing.”

Rud clapped his hands together. "Okay, what's the deal with the labyrinths then?" he asked. "Are they dangerous? Are they good? Should we go in there and get some loot?"

Elm offered a shrug. "Labyrinths are very similar to dungeons. They're an area that contains monsters, loot, puzzles, and so on. This is the single entrance, I would assume. When you go down in there, you'll experience a twisting maze of tunnels. As you descend through the levels, the labyrinth becomes harder, and it should reset based on a fixed timer. The important thing is to go in there and kill monsters so the energy isn’t as intense.”

Well, good thing they had a magical expert visiting the grove. Rud didn't know what he would do if Elm wasn't here. The labyrinth would have gone unchecked for quite a while before they did anything about it. Before he could instruct the spirit animals to do anything, the wolves were digging a staircase. They worked with easy efficiency, pulling large mounds of dirt out of the way and revealing a set of stairs within 15 minutes. The entire time, Elm was casting minor spells and recording information.

"Shall we descend?" Mint asked, gesturing to the stairs.

"After you," Elm said with a shallow bow. She had a smile on her face that was infectious, even if Rud was feeling nervous about the descent.

As expected, the strongest of the spirit animals could pass through whatever invisible barrier lingered there. Rud, Taz, Elm, Mint, and Dean had no trouble, but both Sarya and Major couldn't pass the threshold. The young wolf lingered near the barrier and whimpered, but Dean offered her reassurances, and instead, the two who were left behind stood sentinel near the pit.

There was more dirt than needed, clearing out within the labyrinth's platform. Eventually, the group revealed a passageway leading deep into the earth right after that. At the doorway, there was no more dirt, as though it had been held back by some magical force. Of course, the entire time, Elm was still recording information. She had her notebook out and was scrolling at a speed Rud could only describe as impossible.

"So these walls are system-generated?" Rud asked, pressing his fingers into the stone and feeling the cold surface. The stones were a pale grey color with flecks of white interspersed throughout. The surfaces were smooth, as though they had been hewn by an expert hand and polished to a shine. Although each was smooth, he felt his feet grip the ground with no problem.

"This is a condensed point of magic that resulted in the labyrinth. Scholars don't really know what differentiates a dungeon, labyrinth, and tower, but we suspect there are different expressions of this condensed magic."

Rud was realizing something about Elm. The first time he had met her, she was incredibly grouchy. At first, he thought it was her nature, but meeting her in town had revealed a completely different personality. That's when he thought she would just swing between being grumpy and happy. But now he realized it was likely her proximity to Oak. When the two were apart, Elm had a more studious personality that seemed more interested in revealing the mysteries of the world than being a grouch.

Rud wasn’t sure which one he liked better.

"I'll lead the way," Mint said, drawing her curved sword from its sheath and delving into the labyrinth. Rud was the last one in the formation, and he squinted against the darkness until Elm's hovering orb illuminated the path.

The druid felt something shift in his body the moment they delved into the labyrinth. It was as though his body was wreathed in a type of magic he was unfamiliar with. The temperature in that cramped hall was comfortable enough, and after about five minutes of walking, they encountered their first intersection. There was a path to both the left and the right

"Thus is the danger of a labyrinth," Elm said with a shrug. "You can get lost very easily."

"I'm wondering if we should delve any further," Mint said, clicking her tongue. She growled, looking down both passages with a shrug. "What is your expert opinion, elf?"

"That we should turn back. I'm not certain what we'll encounter in here, but I doubt it will be good."

“Yet diminishing the energy is of grave importance,” Mint said with another growl.

“I may have a solution for that,” Ban said, speaking into their minds.

"Hold that thought, Elm," Rud said, snapping his fingers. "We have an important announcement from the sacred tree."

"I'm working on something, but I can't yet tell if it's going to work," Ban said. "I'll need some time to see if this harebrained scheme will work, but if it does, I should have access to much more energy to work with."

"Right, I think we should retreat while the tree probes the labyrinth," Rud said. "Only then should we come back."

There was some debate about that, but everyone eventually agreed. They made their way back to the entrance, coming outside of the pit and checking in with Major and Sarya.

While the others talked strategy, Rud got to work on a little project. He used his Shape Plant spell to create a fence around the pit. He made it high, weaving together branches and vines to ensure no animals or adventurers would accidentally enter the place. He put a placard on the gate he crafted, describing what was within and stating that nobody should enter without due cause. When he finished, he wasn't quite satisfied with it and added some brambles near the base on all sides but the gate. That would discourage both wild animals and adventurers from entering. He didn't want to take any chances.

"Mighty fine defenses you've erected," Major said, circling the fancy fence he created and nodding with appreciation. "You have a way of turning the forest into something beautiful."

"Wow, I don't think anybody has said something like that to me," Rud said, grinding his foot into the ground and pretending to be bashful. "Aw, shucks. You're gonna make me blush."

"This way we can leave the entrance exposed without worrying that forest creatures will wander in," Major said.

Elm walked over, breaking into the conversation. "I'd really like to stay here and study the labyrinth, if that's okay with you," Elm said. "Mint said I needed your permission."

"Mint said you needed my permission," Rud said, looking around. "I don't think so. This sounds like something the tree should decide."

“I leave this to you, Rud,” Ban said, speaking into his mind. “The mortals are your domain.”

The mortals might have been Rud's domain, but he didn't know the first thing about labyrinths. He barely knew what dungeons were, so why was he in charge of this? He took a steady breath and braced himself for the weight of responsibility. Declining Elm's desired research would not only sour his relationship with the wizard, but it would also be throwing away a valuable resource. She was incredibly smart and very good at what she did.

"We can make things easy for you, Elm," Rud said, reaching an easy decision. "I'll create a road from the main road to the labyrinth. That should make it easier for you to come here for your research. Well, I guess the other option is for me to build a house right here, but then it'll be harder to feed you."

"I would prefer to stay near the sacred tree," Elm said, petting Daffodil on the head. "So the option for a road would be much more agreeable."

Either one worked for Rud. He needed to get his growth magic and Construction Magic to level 9 if he wanted to hit rank 1. Building the road would require a lot more work, which meant a lot more experience for his skills. He decided that was the best idea and agreed with the elf when they were done marveling over the labyrinth. He shifted into his squirrel form and sat upon Daffodil's head as they ran back to the sacred tree. Elm seemed giddy with excitement for her chance to study the magic of the labyrinth. Whatever research she was doing back in town seemed to fall by the wayside as she considered this new chapter in her life.

"So, do you want to stay in one of the rest stop areas, or would you like your own home? Perhaps a mushroom house right next to mine?" Rud asked with a wink.

Elm giggled politely, shaking her head. "I don't want you to go out of your way for me, Rud."

"It really isn't a problem," Rud said with a shrug as he walked over to his mushroom house. He patted it on the side. "I've got access to quite a few druid spells that make stuff like this a breeze."

"Well, I shall endeavor to watch a master druid at work then," Elm said with a nod.

Rud got to work on her house right away. Compared to the first time he had constructed a mushroom house, he was now a master mushroom shaper. He felt both his Construction Magic and Growth Magic skills expanding as he worked on the shape of the new house. He would create a two-story dwelling for her, complete with a wood stove on the first floor and a bed. As long as Mint could pilfer him one.

“I just have a question for you,” Rud said. Holding his hands out as he shaped the first floor of the washroom house, it was almost ready for lacquering, even though he had only spent 30 minutes carving out the shape.

"What is it?" Elma asked, looking up from her notebook with interest.

“Do you hate Oak?” Rud asked, finding no way to cushion the question.

Elm frowned as she considered the question. Eventually, she sighed and placed the book in her lap. "It isn't as though I hate her," she said, shaking her head. "But I've always been upstaged by her. Healers always steal the limelight during adventures. No matter how hard I've tried, she's always outshone me."

"See?" Rud asked. "Even though you're just thinking about her, your personality has shifted."

Elm scoffed, snapping her book closed and returning it to her bag. "I know. There are some other things between us, but I'm fine. The further away she is, the less I feel down about myself."

"Well, this is gonna cheer you up," Rud said, rubbing his hands together. "I'm almost done with Casa de Mushroom. If you want to get a quick tour, I've gotta go talk to a wolf about stealing some furniture."

Chapter 29

Jim’s Observatory

Mint’s wolf form was sometimes too large to enter the threshold of a mushroom house. Rud wasn’t convinced she had a standard size for that form, but he liked to think she dropped all the crap he ordered outside the building because of her size. Elm was taking magical readings or something when the wolf returned with all the things she would need… And more. The sofa, bed, and wood-burning stove were all appreciated. The set of children’s dolls, pan with a hole in the center, and massive pile of logs were not so acceptable.

“Guess we have some logs,” Rud grumbled, dragging the stove back into Elm’s new house. Using his Shape Plant spell, he pulled the mushroom around the stove pipe and sealed it tight. Judicious use of the Lacquer spell sealed it up tight and ensured it was kinda heat-proof. “Hey, can you help me with this bed?”

“Uh, yeah,” Elm said, tearing herself away from her notes. “Oof, we’re gonna take that to the loft?”

Rud narrowed his eyes at the elf. “Taz, can you give us a hand?”

A few minutes later the dwarf appeared, rolling up his sleeves and wiggling his bushy brows. “Place a few more points into Strength, Rudy,” he said, voice booming through Ban’s clearing. He stopped, striking a pose as he flexed his muscles. “Or just keep calling on these bad boys.”

“Oh, those are some bad boys,” Rud said, nodding with agreement.

“The baddest,” Elm put in.

It might’ve been a temporary house, but Rud knew Elm would be happier here. But only because she had a quick mount to get to the labyrinth. He didn’t think she would appreciate being isolated all the way in the western reaches of the grove. If she stayed here, she could enjoy tea, food, and company.

Elm wiped her forehead clear of sweat after they moved the bed. It was a pain. When they got it half-way up the stairs to the loft, they had to turn it. That had almost sent Rud tumbling over the railing’s edge and down to the hard ground below. Only Taz’s strength saved them. Seriously, the dwarf was strong.

“This calls for some tea,” Rud said, nodding to himself as he started a fire in the stove.

Elm hummed along as she found a seat, and even Taz stuck around. Of course, selecting a tea for them was of vital importance. Taz enjoyed the stuff that tasted more like chai while Elm had bought a few jars of his Suckerpunch Tea. To welcome her to her—temporary—stay at the grove, he selected the earthy-sour tea and got it brewing.

“When we gain access to the other groves, I’m gonna make so many new teas,” Rud said.

“Yes, your tea is excellent,” Elm said. “The effects are marvelous. Almost like encountering one of those demonic alchemists you see on the road. This one time, I was in this swamp…”

Elm told a fantastical story about a demon and lizardfolk in a swamp. While Rud nodded along, he didn’t believe it. Flying cities, dragon hybrids, and powerful potions seemed a bit too unbelievable. Yet over a cup of his tea, any story would be fun to listen to.

A soft hoot came from the doorway, and Rud turned to see the wide eyes of Nulsa looking through. “I have not detected anything unusual since the excavation.”

“That’s good news, right?”

“Indeed,” the owl said, flapping away without making a single sound.

Rud shook off the shivers crawling up his spine. “Well, I need to check in at the tower,” he said. Of course, Nulsa was the one who had reminded him of his commitment to Hagsrise. Just as he didn’t want Elm to feel too lonely, he wanted Maria to feel the same sense of comfort. “I’ll see you guys at the longhouse for dinner.”

“I’m making roasted meat!” Taz declared. “Don’t be late. Saw mortals on the road and you know how they gobble it up.”

Rud nodded, making all due haste to the nearest bush. He shifted into his squirrel form, appearing in the canopy of trees over his Observatory. The druid did circles until he landed on the top floor, skittering inside and shifting back to his normal form. There was a lot of work to do tomorrow. A new road meant a few days of work, but he was up to the challenge.

When he turned the radio on, he wasn’t met with the normal static. Instead, he heard a voice that seemed faintly familiar.

“...seems normal though. The increase shouldn’t be anything we can’t handle,” the voice said.

“Right. Rud is normally here by now,” Maria said, sounding impatient. “Maybe we just clear the air for a minute.”

“No need!” Rud announced, clicking the button on his radio. “Heard you people talking smack, so I made my way to the tower.”

“Thank god,” Maria said. “Thought you’d miss the one time Jim was around.”

“Oh! Jim!” Rud said, finally remembering where the voice was from. It was Jim from Cliffs of Mog. The custodian for Basil. “Maria said you had a tower, but I was starting to doubt it.”

“Yeah, yeah. I have a family over here, ya know? Anyway, we’re talking about strange energy readings Basil detected today. Lots of swirling magic crap, so he made me man this station.” Jim ended his sentence with a heavy sigh. “I’m almost done with my report… Once Maria stops talking.”

“Come on. You know how much it sucks being underground, right?”

“Anyway, we had some weird readings here,” Rud said. “Got a mage to come check it out and she found a freaking labyrinth.”

The sound of Jim choking on something echoed over the radio. “Excuse me? She found a what!?”

“A… labyrinth?” Rud said, asking it more as a question. Ruh-roh.

“Oh, that sounds bad,” Maria said.

“Yeah, like really bad if you don’t manage them,” Jim said. “You gotta stay on top of that, Rud. If you let that thing out of control, you’re in for it. Don’t slip up.”

“Okay. Now that I’m scared for my life… What else is going on?” Rud asked.

“Well, now I’m concerned about random system dungeons or labyrinths showing up,” Jim said.

“Oh, well!” Maria said. “Rud is working on a portal thing, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Not much progress, but we’ll get there!”

Chatting with another person was weird. Rud was used to this radio channel being his private chat room with Hagsrise. Having Cliffs of Mog on the line made it awkward at first. But once the group got the hang of going back and forth, the conversation flowed naturally. Until Jim was yelled at by his wife, Sarah, who dragged him off the line and forced him to come have lunch.

Rud forgot the other groves were in different parts of the world. While Maria was in the same time zone, Jim was not. When he signed off, that left only the two of them.

“I’m not as concerned as him,” Maria confessed. “We deal with all kinds of weird stuff like this, and it never keeps us down for long. And now, guess what we have?”

“What?” Rud asked.

“Teamwork! Other groves to bounce ideas off of. Imagine if we can send our guardians through portals. Any problem any grove has won’t be an issue… Oh! And we can see Bent!”

“That would be wild,” Rud said with a sigh, leaning over the desk as he thought about it. As the progenitor of all the groves, Bent was kinda a celebrity. All the spirit beasts knew about it… Those of them in the grove program, anyway.

The conversation went on like that for a while. Rud was happy the discussion went back to two participants. It was much easier to keep track of. They both signed off and he shifted into his squirrel form, jumping out the window and sailing, through Thicket Travel, to the longhouse. The scent of roasting meat was heavy in the air. A plume of smoke rose from the chimney, adding the smell of burning wood to the mix.

Eating food in the longhouse had become a great joy for everybody in the grove. There were usually a few visitors who were passing through, taking advantage of the free food the grove provided. Somehow, Taz had become the grill master. Perhaps it was because he was so good at it, or that none of the spirit animals were interested in learning how to work the massive grill with their paws.

When Rud entered the longhouse, he spotted two adventurers he didn’t recognize on one side of the table and a gaggle of spirit animals lingering close enough to the fire to take advantage of its warmth. Elm and Taz were on the other side of the massive fire, cutting pieces of meat off a roasting section and talking amongst themselves. The druid sauntered over, taking his seat and feeling happy with the way things had gone with the ritual.

“You look mighty happy for a man who needs to collect 12 cursed objects,” Taz said with a laugh.

“That’s the thing, though. Now I know where they are. That was half of the problem before.”

“You should have seen those giant bugs,” Taz said, leaning in to elbow Elm gently in the ribs. “We could barely manage those things.”

“Tell me of these giant bugs,” Elm said, cutting a strip of meat off and placing it in her mouth. She nodded, chewing with satisfaction. “This is fantastic.”

“Naturally,” Taz said, straightening his back and allowing a smile to spread across his face.

Rud took charge, describing what had happened with the cursed object that created the giant bugs. Elm listened along, nodding dutifully, until the information became too great. She withdrew a notebook and scribbled a few things down.

“That’s an interesting interaction between cursed objects and mundane creatures,” Elm said, scrawling a few more things before leveling her gaze at him. “I would be incredibly concerned.”

“That’s a problem with cursed objects though, isn’t it?” Taz asked, “You never know what you’re gonna get.”

Rud was eager to see what would happen when an object was completely purged of its cursed energy. But of course, that was something that would take more time. With the labyrinth’s appearance, he now had more than he could contend with on his plate. The only thing that made it easier was so many other people—spirit beasts included—helping him out.

Although Elm now knew a bit more about the cursed objects, she didn’t know enough to help Rud. Unfortunately, that made him the de facto expert on the objects. That was only because he had his purification spell. It was a spell gifted to him by the Great Spirit of the River. The spirit that gave him healing-based spells, which had been absurdly useful, especially with helping the population of wild animals.

“The issue with the labyrinth is that it will be harder to get adventurers to run it,” Elm said after stuffing her face with a fair amount of food. “Dungeons are an easy sell, but labyrinths… they’re another story.”

“We actually have an advantage there,” Rud said, smiling to himself. “If Mint can enter the labyrinth, that means she can run it. I wouldn’t want to send all of our spirit animals down there, but a few wouldn’t hurt.”

“Hey, wanna run a dungeon?” Taz asked, looking at Rud and wiggling his eyebrows.

“Only if you want to die,” Rud said. “I mean, actually, I might make a decent support healer, but my healing spells aren’t actually that great.”

“What level is your healing magic skill, anyway?” Taz asked.

“Only level 5,” Rud said. “I don’t use the spells as often as I’d like.”

“I thought you’d be Rank 1 by now,” Elm said.

Yeah, that was a bit of an embarrassing thing for Rud to endure. He was still rank zero, which was confusing and annoying. From what he understood, he had to get three of his skills attached to his main class to level 10 before he could hit rank one. There might have been a ritual, some special thing he had to do to hit that rank, but for now, he was just focusing on leveling those skills. Perhaps his problem was that he went so wide with his skills. His duties within the grove were so varied that he needed to lean on all of them to make things happen.

Mint shifted into her human form and padded over to the table, taking a seat. No matter how human she looked, she still moved like a wolf, gliding through the room with a predatory intent that was always difficult to get used to. She sat, cutting herself a strip of meat and slapping it on a wooden plate.

“I’m gonna run that labyrinth,” Mint said, flashing a deviant grin to the others gathered. “I’m gonna run that labyrinth so hard.”

Elm nearly choked on her food, and Taz boomed with laughter.

Rud would say something about her shirking her responsibilities to the grove, but she deserved to do something fun. Now that they had three other spirit beasts to protect the Grove, it wouldn’t be horrible if she left. The druid wasn’t certain he could defend against a threat as bad as the giant bugs, but they also had Elm here, and she was no slouch. The elven woman was an accomplished spellcaster who specialized in destructive magics that would give them a leg up against any threat posed against the grove.

“Do you think it’ll give some interesting loot?” Rud asked, steering the conversation away from laughing at Mint for being so overeager.

“It will be an excellent way to increase my power,” Mint countered, nodding to herself. “Finding so many weak enemies doesn’t give me much, but if I can get deep enough into the labyrinth, I could finally get a challenge.”

“I’ve always wondered how spirit animals gain strength,” Elm said, writing some more stuff down in her notebook. “Perhaps you can give me some information on that.”

“Perhaps I’ll keep the secrets of the grove to myself,” Mint growled.

“Yep. Understood,” Elm said, snapping her notebook shut. “More meat, please.”

“Right away,” Taz said, laughing as he cut into the hunk of meat with a knife.

Chapter 30

Giant Evil Squirrel

The three skills Rud planned to focus on to reach Rank 1 were Animal Communication, Growth Magic, and Construction Magic. He woke the next morning and was reminded of how important it was for him to create the road between the center of the grove and the labyrinth. Elm set off that morning to study the location some more and required an escort. Fortunately, Dean offered to take her there, so the druid didn’t need to do anything. With the road, she could make the trip in much less time.

That would cover two of the skills he needed to level, but that left his communication with animals. Perhaps there was a way to interweave these two problems. After having some tea, taking care of his farm, and doing general maintenance on his mortal recreational areas, Rud gathered some nuts and prepared to head out.

The labyrinth was in a slightly awkward location, almost as far west as one could go before leaving the grove. He would take a road from the main western path and angle it to the southwest, directly to the labyrinth. He wouldn’t require the help of squirrels to do this. Instead, he would use them to help him locate the cursed objects.

“Hello, little squirrels,” Rud said, stepping out into the forest and looking around. He spotted the red squirrels up in the tree, chittering with excitement as he approached. Of course, they were only excited because he was walking around with two hands filled with delicious shelled nuts. “Does anybody want to do a job?”

With his Clear Communication upgrade activated, the druid heard the errant chatter of the squirrels.

“Job? Hawk! I see a hawk! What job?”

“I’ve got a scouting mission for you,” Rud said. A moment later, he shifted into his squirrel form and climbed up a tree. Of course, he had left the piles of acorns on the ground below. The squirrels’ attention was now on him as he delivered his proposition. “Is anyone up for the task?”

“Task? Ask!” the squirrels said, their voices blending together. “Nuts! Butts!”

Rud released a heavy sigh and explained what he needed them to do. The squirrels were difficult to wrangle, but once they got on task, it wasn’t difficult for them to remain working. After some convincing, they set off on their mission to scout the location of the cursed objects. There were twelve objects to observe and more than enough squirrels to get the job done. This freed the druid up to start on his road.

Placing his hand against a young tree, Rud smiled as he invoked his Shape Plant spell. It moved under his command, twisting and elongating until he wove it with another to create the railing of the road. It was the first time he’d worked on one of his living roads in quite some time, and it felt good to get back to it. The roads themselves would be completely useless if he didn’t have access to his lacquer spell. They were too rough and uneven before that. But with the spell, he could create a road that was smooth, but not too smooth.

More than just creating a road, though, Rud wanted to make this one more ornate than the last. He put more details into the railing, embellishments, and flourishes that saw each piece twisting together in intricate ways to create appealing patterns. He etched designs into the road itself, drawing pictures or imbuing it with geometric shapes that were all incredibly pleasing.

The faint sound of a bird lighting onto the railing behind him drew him from his focus. The druid turned to find Nulsa, looking down at him and tilting his head.

“Interesting that you would task squirrels with a job I could do,” Nulsa said, a tone of disappointment in his voice.

“If I wanted a job done right, I would have asked you,” Rud said. “But I’m trying to level up my animal communication skill, so I asked the squirrels.”

“That actually makes sense,” Nulsa said after a long pause. “You’re working on another road, one going to the labyrinth, I’d assume?”

“That’s right,” Rud said, wiping sweat from his forehead as he leaned against the railing. Despite his investment into the mind attribute, it always felt as though he didn’t have enough mana to get these jobs done. Even with the Grove Weaver skill, he still couldn’t go on indefinitely and needed regular breaks. “I’m slightly concerned with how far out it is. It’s too far from the grove’s center to defend it properly. Do you think more defensive structures around it are a good idea?”

“Not only that, but I would encase it in solid wood,” Nulsa said, “And then cover the entire thing in thorns. I wouldn’t want random beasts or people wandering in there. And then we have to consider those with fewer scruples coming to take advantage of the labyrinth.”

That was a sobering thought. Rud hadn’t considered how much of a responsibility it was to care for not only the grove, but also the Labyrinth. Like the dungeon, it was now under his charge, and he didn’t plan to screw it up. He gave the giant owl a hearty thumbs up. “Thanks. I see why they say owls are so wise.”

“Yes, I am indeed wise,” Nulsa said, nodding in a sage-like way. He puffed his feathered chest out and gave a soft hoot.

The owl thankfully didn’t abandon Rud. He remained there and chatted about whatever. The druid pined for the days he could finally fly, but nobody had gifted him a shapeshifting form that would fit the bill. He was currently stuck only as a squirrel, and although he was interested in learning more forms, it just hadn’t happened. But he wasn’t a complainer. He worked on the road without griping about it and chatted with his friend.

“What do you think about this design?” Rud asked, gesturing to the geometric pattern he had created on the road.

“Yes, it is quite pleasing,” Nulsa said with a hoot.

###

It was the late afternoon, and Rud was having a good time working on the road. He had made more progress than he had expected, and Nulsa had kept him company throughout most of the day. The owl had only recently flown away to attend to a strange flash that rumbled through the grove.

“Hawk!” a squirrel’s voice echoed through the dense forest.

Rud searched around, finding a squirrel skittering along a branch and chittering angrily down at him.

“What is it, Lassie?” Rud asked. “Is Timmy stuck in the well?”

The squirrel shrieked and chittered for quite some time before Rud was able to understand anything that it was saying. But when the creature finally made some amount of sense, a flash of cold ran up the druid’s spine.

“Say that again,” Rud said, swallowing hard.

“Giant, evil squirrel!” the squirrel said, going into a deeper panic.

“Nulsa, Major, Dean,” Rud said, allowing his voice to echo through the forest. The spirit animals emerged from the wooded areas an instant later. The druid explained the situation, sending Nulsa off to scout while the others prepared to head out. There were only 12 sites the squirrels could have gone to, and what the panicked squirrel said was obvious. One had come in contact with a cursed object despite Rud’s warnings.

“Perhaps it would be wise not to use such dull creatures to do your bidding next time,” Dean said, growling as he padded across the completed section of the road.

“Perhaps our custodian is doing his best,” Major retorted, offering Dean a growl in return.

“Let’s just chill out,” Rud said, heaving a sigh, ”We dealt with a giant biter. I don’t think we’ll have any trouble with a giant squirrel.”

It didn’t take long for Nulsa to return at all. He flitted through the canopy of the trees, landing on the railing of the road and hooting softly. “I found the offending squirrel,” he said, jerking his head to one side. “Follow me.”

The cadre of spirit creatures found the nearest bush and dove in. Rud held his breath as he passed through the leaves, blinded momentarily as they arrived in a clearing. His breath caught in his throat as he looked up, seeing the twenty-foot squirrel panicking before him. His mouth fell agape as he watched for only a few moments.

Dean wasn’t one to wait. He instead leapt into action, jumping and passing through the squirrel’s chest to leave behind a swirl of mist. Rud was putting things together, but it was a little confusing. On the ground, there was a small hole with a smaller version of the panicking squirrel standing atop a metal object. Above him was the larger squirrel, mimicking every motion of the smaller one, down to the twitch of its whiskers.

“It seems almost like an illusion,” Major said, cocking his head to one side and sniffing the air. “I sense nothing from the larger one.”

“Yeah, I think this is a little more simple than we had expected,” Rud said with a sigh. He strode over, using his staff to steady himself as he descended into the hole. He knelt near the squirrel and shook his head. “You alright there, buddy?”

“No! Panic! Giant evil squirrel! Frozen in fear!”

Rud grabbed the squirrel under its forelegs and lifted it from the cursed object. The image of the squirrel above disappeared in an instant, leaving behind a swirling cloud of mist that slowly funneled back into the cursed object. The druid shook his head, placing the squirrel on his shoulder as he stood.

“I think Nulsa was right about the intelligence of squirrels,” Rud said, patting the poor creature on the head. When he gave it a nut, it took it, seeming to forget about the traumatizing experience it just went through.

“That was a powerful illusion,” Dean said, looking down into the hole.

Red withdrew a shovel from his backpack and dug out the area around the cursed object. It was about the size of his forearm and twice as thick. The metal was of unknown origin and engraved with sigils he couldn’t recognize. As expected, removing the object with the shovel didn’t activate it. He brought it outside of the hole and tossed it to the side. Of course, Major was curious enough to place his paw on it, and an instant later a massive image of the bear appeared in the air above them.

“Playing with a cursed object isn’t something I would advise,” Nulsa warned, flying to the ground near the hunk of metal and tutting. “A spirit beast should know that.”

“Yet the effect is pleasing,” Major said, looking up at the image of himself and cracking something of a bearish smile.

“This is the first of 12 objects,” Rud said with pride. He shooed Major away with his shovel before lifting the object again. “Let’s go purify it. Could you guys help me collect the required reagents?”

The Sacred Beasts all agreed to do their part. Major offered to gather the acorns, while Dean would get the jug of river water. Rud already had enough imbued leaves on him to perform the ritual and also would scout the area ahead. The druid had selected the place where the mortals chopped lumber as his cursed object graveyard. It seemed like the best place, even if it was so close to the people of the local town.

Rud passed through the thicket and arrived at the logging site a moment later, the cursed object still resting on his shovel. He tried to contain his excitement as he saw a familiar face in the distance. Mira waved from afar, bounding over with joy on her face… Until she spotted the object on the druid’s shovel.

“Ugh, you need to take care of another one of those?” she asked, pulling back slightly, as though he held a slimy, disgusting thing.

“This one’s actually not that bad. Red said he looked over his shoulder when Nelsa issued a mournful hoot. “Although I’ve been instructed not to mess around with it too much.”

“I’ve got a question when you’re done, but for now I think you should take care of that,” Mira said.

Rud laughed as he watched the cat woman bound off back to her work in the logging camp. The druid found the perfect tree to create a containment vessel for the cursed object and got to work. He set the object down on the ground and shaped the tree to become the perfect prison. He hollowed the inside out and reinforced it so nobody could get in. Then he prepared the ritual. The sacred beasts arrived with the reagents shortly after and he got to work. Once again, he found his ability with ritual magic lacking.

“I’m just not as good at it as I thought I would be,” Rud said, struggling to form the circles that would imprison the cursed object. Despite his best efforts, he once again needed the sacred tree’s help to make it happen. Although he could feel no judgment from his companions, he was his own worst critic. When the spell finally came together and the cursed object gleamed with a shimmering light of white and blue, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay, hold on,” Rud said, finding his way to the forest’s edge. He turned on his clear communication ability and shouted into the forest, eventually getting a few chittering calls back from nearby squirrels. He instructed them to inform the other squirrels to call off the search. This was a very minor effect compared to what it could have been, and he didn’t want any of them getting hurt.

When Rud wrapped all of that up, he headed over to the logging camp, waving at the folks there. They had finally gotten used to him enough that they didn’t freak out. Upon seeing him, the druid had always assumed he appeared different from other people to them. He thought he just looked like a human, but maybe there was a subtle difference they could see that marked him as a spirit of the grove.

“Alright, so you’re having some problems?” Rud asked. “Need some more wood?”

“Actually, it’s worse than that,” Mira said with a nervous chuckle. “Something’s going on with the frozen island. The cold is spreading.”

“Ah. That’s not good…”