Gladesbale Grove Book 3 - Chapters 28,29,30 (Patreon)

Chapter 28

First Things First

Rud had done a great job keeping it together after first meeting the adventuring party. But as he stepped through the portal, arriving at the defenses he had constructed around the tower, he felt his facade crack slightly. A steadying breath did nothing to ease the worry brewing in his mind.

But I only have to hold it together for a minute, Rud thought, hyperventilating.

“That is a mighty tower,” Roland said, him and his party pushing beyond the druid. “How long did it take to form?”

“Overnight,” Rud squeaked.

“That’s concerning,” Roland said, turning to his mage. He jabbered a few words in his native tongue before switching back to whatever it was Rud spoke on the daily. “They typically take a while to form. We’ll take some readings before we go in, if that’s okay.”

“All fine,” Rud said, shifting nervously. 

That got a look from Roland, who crouched to get a better look at him. “That’s an interesting rate of growth you have there. What was it? Ten levels overnight? What secrets are you hiding?” Roland had a playful smile on his face that disarmed some of Rud’s nervousness. But not all. The mage said something in their tongue before pressing forward to the tower. “An artifact? My, you’re full of surprises aren’t you?”

Rud laughed nervously. It was all he could do so he didn’t freak out. But he just needed to take a moment and realize he had been selected to fill the position of custodian for a reason. He was good at dealing with people, even if he didn’t want to be. “Yeah, I got pretty lucky,” Rud said, striking a pose. “It was in the shape of a duck when I found it. A metal duck.”

“A metal duck, huh?” Roland asked, tapping the side of his helmet. “Interesting.”

The mage returned eventually, delivering some news to Roland that only they could only understand. Rud had to wait for a while as they went back and forth, hashing out whatever it was that was a problem. When Roland finally turned back to them, he did so with a sharp motion and a shrug.

“We won’t know the exact reason it grew so fast until we go in,” Roland said. “Speaking for my entire party, I thank you for your hospitality. Can I assume we can expect the same treatment when we exit? We may need to leave depending on how the floors above 50 work.”

“Absolutely!” Rud said, nodding eagerly. “You’re doing us a big favor here. You know, there’s an entire labyrinth below the tower. Maybe you can help with that.”

Roland froze completely, his helmeted head tilting to the side. He stood there for some intense moments before even moving a muscle. Eventually, he pulled at clasps near his neck, removing his helmet to reveal his face below. Although Rud was happy he didn’t look like some alien, his human features weren’t much better. Roland was a man that had clearly seen a lot of combat without his helmet on. His head was shaved, and his face had a blocky shape to it. But every available surface was covered in scar tissue, and one eye held a milky white color.

The mage among the group said something and Roland shot a few words back.

“Are you kidding?” the massive man asked.

Rud held his hands up defensively. If his anxiety wasn’t peaked before, he was officially in the realm of freaking out. “I swear.”

“My mage missed this,” Roland said, turning and saying a few things to the elven woman. She shot a few words back, and he nodded. “It must be obscuring magic. New plan. We’re going to take the first 50 floors before exiting to check the labyrinth. With your permission, of course.”

“Any objections?” Rud asked, sending the message to everyone in the Grove.

“None here. I’d rather keep my head,” Mint said.

“We would be honored to have them check it out. That would be a great help.”

“You have the blessing of the entire Grove,” Rud said. “The Sacred Tree and our Guardian are happy that you’re willing to offer us your skills.”

Nice one, Rud. Butter them up. You got this, he thought to himself.

Roland nodded, standing back to his full height and replacing his helmet on his head. “Thank you, keeper. I don’t know how long it’ll take us, but I look forward to our next interaction.”

“Me too! Eagerly,” Rud said, puffing himself up a bit. “Just yell really loud when you come out and I’ll see you.”

Roland chuckled, the sound echoing in his helmet. “I will. Again, thank you.”

Rud watched as the party approached the tower. Mint came out of the woodwork a few moments later, shaking her head.

“Is that what it feels like to meet a celebrity?” Rud asked, sagging as he let out a massive sigh.

“Yeah, maybe. Feels like I’ve been holding my breath since they got here,” Mint said. “And the news that the big guy had to deliver was not good. 100 floors? That’s bad.”

“A rank each floor… Does that make sense based on what you observed?” Rud asked.

“Yeah. Meaning I’m a super weak little baby compared to those guys,” Mint said. “We’d be roasted over open coals if not for those guys. Guess we should be thankful, but I can’t help but feel inadequate.”

“We could always call for Bent’s help.”

“I’d rather jump in the open ocean wearing a meat suit,” Mint said with a shiver. “Better to fend for ourselves at that point.”

Perhaps it was Rud’s connection with the grove, but he felt a flash of Mint’s feelings at that point. He could feel her fear for the future, and her duty to the Grove. Then he felt an intense desire to get stronger. She’d do anything to soar through the ranks, and she had a good idea how to make it happen. There was no way she could jump from Rank 5 to Rank 100 or something crazy. But if she hooked into the power of the tree, she’d get some kind of feedback loop to beef her up.

Which meant Rud had to put some effort into helping Ban get stronger.

“You’re worrying too much, Rud,” Ban said, pulling him back to the present. “Our plan is already working. You’ll recall Roland talking about latent energies, right? What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time? What have you been doing this whole time?”

Rud had to think about it for a long beat before he got it. “Oh. You’re doing sneaky stuff like me?” he asked. The druid was building his power by eating dungeons, but Ban was doing it by eating latent energy. That made sense to him. “You dirty dog. Sneaky tree.”

“We’ve been waylaid by the Gate project, but I have a lot of energy I can use to jump ranks,” Ban said. “I think I can jump to Rank 4 or 5 right now. But I won’t do so until we get the dungeons, tower, and labyrinth under control.”

“Woah. Okay big bad tree,” Rud said. “Calm down.”

“Just keep the Grove healthy and we’ll be fine,” Ban said. “You’re doing great.”

Rud released a sigh, walking aimlessly into the forest. It didn’t take long for him to feel the newest beast within the Grove join alongside him.

“Quite a bit of excitement, yes?” Jasper asked. “Do you require any help?”

“I know how you Sacred Beasts get,” Rud said. “Unless you wanna show your elf form, I don’t need help. I need people with thumbs.”

“You just want a peak at my form. But we’ve only just met~” Jasper said. “Fine. What’s the task?”

Rud folded his arms, expecting Jasper to reveal his form. But he didn’t. The druid sighed. “Cheese, tea, and trail mix. All are very easy to make, I just don’t have the manpower to do it. If you can move tea from a basket to a fungus pot, you’re my man.”

“I’m familiar with cheese making,” Jasper said, doing tight circles and nipping at his tail. “I don’t have to milk any creatures, do I?”

“The cows are already milked for the day,” Rud said. “All the milk is frozen in Taz’s caves in the food storage. I have enough cultures to make a lot of cheese, so… Get to it?”

Jasper cleared his throat. “First things first…”

When Mint transformed into her human-like form, she did so in a puff of smoke, sparkles, or a flash. Jasper was apparently a cloud of smoke kind of guy. Rud’s gaze was locked at eye level, but he eventually dragged his gaze up to meet that of Jasper. Before him stood an overly beefy elven man with red hair and a roguish grin on his face. He wore a simple tunic and slacks with heavy working boots.

“Why are you so tall?” Rud asked, looking up.

“I can change my size,” Jasper said, flexing. “Why? Are you envious?”

“A bit,” Rud said. “Any way to explain why you’re such a beefcake?”

“Are you talking about these?” Jasper asked, flexing some more.

Rud scoffed a laugh. “Which way to the gun show?”

“Over…” Jasper said, pointing while he flexed. “...there!”

“Why do you even get that reference? Anyway, let’s get to work,” Rud said. “Just send me a telepathic message if you need direction.”

“Understood. Since I was unable to slay the outworlders, I will prove myself this way,” Jasper said. And with that, he was off without another word.

And Rud was happy. He wasn’t completely comfortable with such a beefy elf running around. It was like having a pointy-eared version of Fabio running around the Grove. No bodice within the forest would go un-ripped. The druid shook away the thought, slapping his face a few times. He checked the contents of his bag and nodded to himself. There was enough druidic junk in there to get his new bag. Shifting into his raven form, he took off and headed toward Barlgore.

The flight was fun, but Rud soon landed in the market area. He thought it was a market area, anyway. One thing that caused his thoughts to drift was the sight of Elm’s tower in the distance. He hoped she was doing her own thing, but the woman didn’t need a babysitter.

“You, mortal,” Rud said, pointing dramatically at a woman wearing a leather apron.

“Me?” she asked, pointing at herself.

“Where do you sell your magical bags? I require a magical bag.”

“Uh… That way?” she said, more as a question.

“Thank you!” Rud shouted, shifting back into his raven form which caused her to scream. The druid cackled as he flew off. There were sections of the market area dedicated to more mundane things, but he soon found the expensive place. It looked a bit more fancy, and it didn’t take him long to find a shop selling enchanted goods. After hopping in through an open door, shifting back into his true form to gain another scream, he greeted the shopkeeper. “Your finest bag, please.”

“Great spirit?” the elven man behind the counter said, clutching his chest. “I suppose… That might be… That one over there.”

The shopkeeper gestured to a bag on the far side of the room. It was a backpack of similar design to his current one. It was a pale shade of pink, but the best feature was the padding on the straps. “How much? I don’t have money.”

“I’m sorry. I heard you like to barter, if that’s okay?” the shopkeeper asked.

“Indeed. Behold my junk,” Rud said, upending his bag onto the counter.

“That’s quite a lot of junk… Is that a full bucket of water? How didn’t it spill?”

With absolutely no idea what his stuff was worth, Rud let the man pick what he wanted from the junk. Of course, a lot of that junk was enchanted with the power of the Grove, which the mortals absolutely loved. Although the shopkeeper tried to give him change for the exchange, the druid refused.

“Quite fine,” Rud said, grabbing his new pink backpack and checking it out. “Nice doing business with you.”

Instead of tossing out his old backpack, or trading it, Rud brought it along. Before shifting into his raven form and rushing off back to the Grove, he inspected his new bag.

[Enchanted Chimera Leather Backpack]

Epic

Description:

Sourced from the hide of a mad elven king’s experiments, this leather backpack is of the highest quality. It is pink.

Effect:

Self-repair, self-cleaning, obscuring.

This backpack has significantly more space on the inside than it should.

Items within this backpack weigh almost nothing.

“Maybe I need to upgrade my other gear,” Rud said, feeling how comfortable his new bag was. “This is nice.”

Chapter 29

Grove Handler

As expected, Elm was hanging out in the underground city when Rud returned to the Grove. He found her in the tower, rifling through some cupboards. The elf turned, smiling when she saw him before her face dropped.

“Not that I’m one to judge,” Elm said, taking a long moment. “But why is it pink?”

“Oh, are you talking about my super fancy, extremely expensive new backpack?” Rud said, turning and striking a pose to show off his new pack. “Yeah, I can fit about 500 leaves, a few thousand acorns, and at least 10 buckets of water inside.”

Elm raised a brow. “Is that what you have in the bag currently?”

“Maybe,” Rud said, withdrawing a live squirrel from the bag. The creature skittered up his arm, perching on his head. “Did you know you can store live creatures in these bags?”

“Where are my nuts?” the squirrel asked.

“In the bag, silly,” Rud said, withdrawing a few acorns and holding them up for the squirrel to eat. “Now you stay there like a good little squirrel while daddy does his work.”

“I have absolutely no words,” Elm said, doing her best to hold back the giggles. “Is he gonna stay there while I tell you what’s going on in the tower?”

“She is going to hang out until I get her back to the surface,” Rud said with a tut.

"Well, she's more than welcome to listen to my dry lecture on lingering arcane magics and an old abandoned magic school," Elm said, turning to regard the sparse room. There were things scattered here and there, but from Rud's estimation, it had once been some sort of office. There was a desk with papers still strewn about it, and many cabinets and cupboards holding random junk.

"So what's the damage?" Rud asked. "Why are we getting so much strange, arcane magic coming from this place?"

"I have narrowed it down to one feasible possibility," Elm said. "This was an institution of high magical learning from an era of sorcery long gone. There is an interaction taking place between the giant crystal embedded in the cave's ceiling and a magical artifact somewhere, perhaps even one of your cursed objects."

"Boil it down for me. What do we need to do?" Rud asked. "Break the crystal? Find the object? What?"

“Dealing with the crystal is the best bet. We should destroy it completely,” Elm said. “Don’t make that face at me. I know what I’m doing… Kinda. But dealing with artifacts can be dangerous. Not everyone is as lucky as you to find a useful artifact. Some just explode when you interact with them, like super-charged versions of your cursed objects.”

It didn't sound like the best plan to Rud, but he wasn't a master of the arcane. From what he understood, if he took a little chunk of that crystal in the ceiling, he could use it to help rivers grow and enhance their observatory. He had kind of abandoned that plan in favor of finding a similar crystal somewhere in the academy, but if Elm said they needed to destroy it, then that was the case. Of course, his interest was in the grove's safety, so he had to check a few boxes before he gave her his blessing.

"What’s your plan to shatter the big old crystal?" Rud asked. "How dangerous is it, and does it pose any threat to the grove?"

The squirrel atop Rud’s head squeaked, requesting another acorn. The druid was happy to provide.

"We can exploit a property of the crystal to destroy it without threatening the grove," Elm said. "It requires energy to maintain its form, so if we drain away that energy, it should shatter harmlessly. The smaller pieces will be much less reactive than the larger ones."

“What’s the catch?” Rud asked.

“The mechanism I want to use to absorb the power is the Sacred Tree,” Elm said. “She acts like a battery for both druidic and arcane energies… right?”

“Yeah, she can process latent and active energy, but I don’t know about that,” Rud said, looking out the window to spot the giant crystal. The squirrel squeaked for more acorns. The druid pulled another from his bag, wondering why the squirrel had even left. “Hold on, let me ask…”

“What do you think?” Rud asked.

“That’s a lot of energy to absorb,” Ban said. “I don’t think I could stay at a low rank and absorb that much energy… unless…”

“She has a plan,” Rud said, smiling to himself. “Just gotta get her going and then she’ll go wild on a project. My guess is she wants to make nodes on her roots and store the energy, running it through her Energy Condenser for long-term storage.”

“Well, why bother asking me?” Ban asked.

“Tell her not to rush it. I have some experiments to run first, then we can decide the best course,” Elm said.

Rud stuck around while Elm ran her magical tests. That involved a lot of fancy arcane arrays, chanting, and even a dance. No, not a dance. The druid realized Elm had just tripped a bit too late, and had already clapped a beat for her only to see her face go a pale shade of pink. Only an hour later, the Sacred Tree came back with an answer.

“We can do it,” she said. “I’m already working on the building we need, but we’ll have to buy at least one upgrade for it. It should synergize with the Energy Nodules building and allow us to store refined energy. Even with that, I’ll jump to Rank 2 at the minimum. Maybe even Rank 3.”

“What’s the point of staying at a low rank?” Rud asked.

“The more I can develop myself without ranking, the stronger I’ll become. I’ll be happy so long as we stay under Rank 5, and I think I can use some of that energy to infuse myself. It just depends on the quality of that energy.”

If Ban got stronger so did the Grove and all the things within it. Rud assumed she knew what she was doing, so of course it fell to her to decide. He was just there to make sure everything went smoothly.

“Just let me know when you’re done and I’ll upgrade it,” Rud said. “I’ve been neglecting my subclass for quite some time… so I think I should work on that.”

After a decently long silence, Elm waved her hand before Rud’s face. “Done talking?” she asked.

“Oh, right. Yeah, just run your tests and Ban will be ready in a bit. She needs to make a new building that can accept the energy.”

“Perfect,” Elm said. “I could use Jasper’s help, if he’s around.”

Rud thought back to the way Jasper looked in his mortal form and shivered. “Yeah… I’ll check his schedule.”

Rud checked with Jasper reluctantly, sending him down into the underground city. He made his way back to the surface, releasing the squirrel and checking his progress toward Rank 2 for his Grove Custodian class. Farseeing was at Level 9, Cheesemaking at Level 4, and Animal Husbandry at level 4… He was seriously slacking with his subclass, but couldn’t blame himself. Taz had taken over Mining, Smelting, and Smithing so he had some catching up to do.

“Time to take care of some animals,” Rud said.

Before heading over to the cow and goat pen, Rud found a brush and added it to his bag. Sometimes it was hard to tell what actions were increasing his skills. However, as the druid brushed out the coats of both the cows and goats, he could feel his skill ticking up slightly. Perhaps that was because he was so close to level 5, but he needed to raise his animal husbandry skill. 

After a while of caring for the animals, both direct and indirect actions related to them contributed to his skill growth. As he was cleaning up the pen and expanding the paddock, his skill finally rolled over to Level 5, allowing him to select from a long list of potential upgrades. As expected, they weren’t insanely powerful upgrades that would change the way the skill worked. But a few were interesting enough, and one stood out. Rud inspected it.

[Grove Handler]

Animal Husbandry Upgrade

Description:

What good is a custodian without a bunch of critters to take care of!?

Effect:

While within your assigned Grove, you gain a better understanding for the animals under your care.

Just by the description, it didn’t seem worth taking. But there were often times when even Clear Communication wouldn’t cut it to figure out what was going on with animals. The description was vague, but Rud liked it so he took it. The moment he did, he felt a flood of information entering his mind. One goat didn’t like the kind of grasses within the paddock while another wanted to move to another area entirely. A cow under his care had a sore on its foot and another was having issues with biting insects.

Rud immediately felt better about his pick, puffing his chest with pride as he lorded over his animals. Their needs were clear to him now, and he got to work without delay. The pen needed to be bigger, covering more types of grass and plants. That was easy enough for him to accomplish with his affinity for Plant Magic. He expanded the pen far enough to encompass several bodies of water, running and still along with a few fields of trees and tree stumps.

The cows weren’t clean enough. They wanted a place to scratch their thick hides and jump into the water. The creek and lake Rud picked for the task would be perfect. Although this would make the animals happy, the druid’s only concern was they would be unable to find their way back to the barn.

“Okay, animals,” Rud said, clapping his hands and activating Clear Communication to gain their attention. “You have a lot more space. But you need to remember where your home is. Yeah, the lake and the creek are awesome. You’ve got some amazing scratching posts. But this is where you come at night. Okay?”

“Nuts?” one cow asked.

“There are some hazelnut trees over there,” Rud said, gesturing.

“Ahhh!” a goat screamed.

“Yeah, juicy grasses over there,” Rud said, pointing again. “Any questions?”

“Yes, when can we expect nuts?” another cow asked. “I like nuts.”

Rud sighed. The problem with cows that had once been squirrels was their desire to both climb trees and eat large amounts of nuts. Both creatures weren’t smart, so they had trouble figuring out stuff on their own.

“Nuts are over there,” Rud said.

“One more question,” another cow said.

“Bye,” Rud said, shifting into his raven form and flying away.

“What about the nuts!?” the cow shouted after him.

At least the animals held it together long enough for Rud to get his work done with them and test the upgrade. Now he only had 5 more levels to go to get Animal Husbandry to Rank 1. Although Jasper had claimed to be a beefy cheese master, the druid made his way to the kitchens to cook. Of course, this required a stop at Taz’s freezer to grab his chilly milk. He entered through the mine entrance, stopping every few steps to listen to the sound of a pickaxe ringing against rock off in the distance.

But the sound wasn’t coming from the spots where the dwarf normally mined. Instead, it was near the passage where they had originally found Major. Which was odd, considering the scatter of bats that still hung out in that place. Rud poked his head around the corner, his brows knitting as he spotted Taz just off in the distance mining away. He looked back, noticing how the bats were completely undisturbed.

“What’cha doing?” Rud asked.

Taz jumped with a start, looking over his shoulder and shaking his head. “Nothing good,” he said. “Got a weird feeling about this part of the caves.”

“What kind of weird feeling?” Rud asked. “A feeling like you really gotta pee, or that there’s something worth mining over there?”

“The second one,” Taz said. “Come on. Grab a pick and help me out.”

Rud looked between the darkened passage and the freezer room behind him. There was plenty of time to make cheese… Wasn’t there? It wasn’t as though he was rushing against anything in particular. It was only his own desire to get his Grove Custodian subclass to Rank 1 that pushed him forward with that endeavor. Jasper had made enough cheese to hold them over for a while.

“Why not?” Rud asked. “I’m sure nothing horrible will happen to us.”

Chapter 30

I’ll Holler

Taz screamed. It was the highest-pitched noise Rud had ever heard him produce and at first, it seemed unwarranted. The pair had only been mining for a few hours before they reached a section with a large gap in the stone. The air that had come from within was stale and warm, unlike the crisp breeze that came from everywhere else.

“Get them off of me!” Taz shouted, rolling onto the ground and shrieking some more.

“Chill out, babies!” Rud shouted back, his Clear Communication in full effect. “Stay out of his mouth!”

“Flee! Flee! Flee!” the creatures gibbered.

Taz was covered from head to toe in small reptiles. At first, Rud had assumed they were lizards. His inexperience with reptiles made it hard to figure out what kind they were, but he eventually settled on them being some kind of salamander. After breaking through the gap in the wall, the duo had discovered an underground pool lined with the creatures. The dwarf had taken a step too close to the edge, taken a dip, and was covered completely by them.

“Stop rolling, you’re gonna crush them,” Rud said, swatting away the salamanders. “Get back in your pool, you weird creatures.”

“I’m gonna die!” Taz moaned, clapping his hands over his ears and closing his eyes and mouth. He mumbled something after that, but Rud couldn’t understand him.

“Guys!” Rud shouted, clapping his hands. Every lizard in the room stopped what they were doing, finally looking up at the druid now that Taz was still. “I know we’re scared, but you can get back into your pool. If you stay outside of the pool, you’re gonna get dry.”

“I hate being dry,” one salamander said. This one was light pink… matching his backpack.

“Right. If you don’t want to be dry, get back in the pool.”

“But the defiler!”

“The dwarf won’t fall back into your pool. I promise,” Rud said, shaking his head.

Although the salamanders were reluctant to listen, they eventually removed themselves from Taz and returned to the pool. The dwarf himself took even longer to stand, doing so with eyes and mouth closed, hand still over his ears.

“They gone?” Taz eventually asked.

“Yep. Been gone for about ten minutes.”

Taz shivered.

“The wet lizards are now calm,” Rud said. “Thanks to my druidic prowess. My ability to tell them to get back into the water is astounding… Anyway, do you still feel the thing we’re after?”

“Beyond the pool,” Taz grumbled, nodding forward.

Rud ran off, gathering the lantern he had placed on the ground. Despite having the Aspect of Gug, which increased his vision in the dark, it still wasn’t good enough for him to see clearly. Beyond the pool of angry salamanders was another crack in the wall. There was a path around the water, but it was slippery. As long as Taz didn’t fall in again, they would be fine.

This was the kind of project the druid would normally leave to Taz. Rud could’ve made quick work of it by manipulating roots and breaking the rock apart, but this was a chance to boost his subclass to Rank 1. His Mining skill was at Level 8, almost Level 9. A few more hours of mining, and he could bring it to Rank 1.

“Well, let me know if you figure out what it is,” Rud said, hoisting his pickaxe and sizing up the wall. Thanks to his increased Strength, he was doing a lot better than when he had first arrived in the grove. “Until then, you can just behold my power.”

“Can’t even take you remotely seriously with that backpack,” Taz said, grumbling as he followed alongside the pool’s edge.

This crack in the wall was easier to move through. Rud had the hole big enough for himself in short order and wide enough for Taz soon enough. The druid led the way with his lantern, illuminating the gray rock and casting long shadows down the hall.

“Another random passageway,” Rud said, helping his companion through the hole. “Did we ever decide what made these?”

“Nope,” Taz said, sniffing the air. “But I think we’re close. The closer we get, the more I can feel it. Seems like a magical object, or maybe a powerful gemstone.”

“Oh, yeah?” Rud asked, squinting against the darkness. Somewhere in the distance he thought he saw the faint glow of something. He dimmed his lantern, allowing him to see the light better. “Maybe something like that?”

“That’s it,” Taz said, pushing past Rud and thundering down the hall.

Rud had to jog to catch up as the dwarf rushed around a corner and down a slope. At the end of the passageway was a small gem embedded in the rock. Taz approached with trembling hands, running his fingers over the surface and licking his lips.

“I felt it calling to me,” he said, nodding to himself. “We need to be very careful. Gotta chip away the surrounding rock before we extract it. Otherwise the gem will shatter.”

Rud wanted to ask questions about how valuable a fragile gem like that would be, but shrugged it away. A few more swings and he would hit Level 9 in his Mining skill, then it was only a short sprint away from Rank 1. Instead, he pulled his pickaxe back and took a swing at the wall.

“Too close!” Taz complained. “You’ll shatter it.”

“Okay, then… Is this good?” Rud asked, gesturing to a place further from the gem.

“A little further,” Taz said.

Rud rolled his eyes, but obeyed the commands of the dwarf. Something had made Taz crazy about this gem, so he wasn’t about to ruin it. He got to work, chipping away layers of stone, only to have Taz yell at him for hitting too hard or too close to the gem. It must’ve been dark outside by the time they made any progress, and even then it seemed as though they had a long while to go. Rud’s Mining skill had already rolled over to Level 9 a long time ago by the time they had revealed the delicate layers of stone surrounding the gem.

“Ah, that’s a complication,” Rud said, seeing why caution was necessary. The grain of the stone pointed in toward the gem, which naturally guided the druid’s pick as he swung. Maybe that’s what Taz was talking about…

“We may be here all night,” Taz said.

Perhaps it was Rud’s Vigor, but he just didn’t feel tired. He shrugged, turning to a random wall and smacking it with his pickaxe.

“What are you doing?”

“Close to a rank,” Rud said, turning and winking. “Might as well get something done while I wait for you to come up with a plan.”

With a shrug, Taz took a step back and sized up the gem. Rud had no idea what he would do with the gem. Maybe it was just some dwarven need to collect all the gems he could find. Whatever the case, it hardly mattered to the druid. He felt his Mining skill getting closer with every swing. Time fell away as he worked and he put everything he had into hitting that goal. Just as he was feeling tired, a message flashed in his vision.

[Rank Up!]

You’ve performed enough actions with your Mining skill to gain a new rank!

Mining is now Rank 1, empowering the skill even further…

Your Mining skill has reached a milestone! Please select from the following upgrades…

The upgrade for the skill hardly mattered. Rud only planned to use it to get his subclass to Rank 1, but he still looked over the list of items to find the best pick. His first upgrade for the skill, Lightweight Picks, made a pickaxe weigh almost nothing to him. That had helped greatly when he first started mining, but with more Strength it hardly mattered.

“Can you give me a hand here?” Taz asked.

Rud nodded idly, giving the rocks a few gentle taps as he went over his upgrade.

[Deep Strikes]

Mining Upgrade

Description:

Strike the stone! To the bone!

Effect:

Strikes with your pickaxe will cut deeper, making it easier to split stones.

An upgrade that made mining itself an easier task was welcomed. Rud had a lot of trouble cutting through some stone he found within the mine. If he could have an upgrade that made digging through tough stone easier, he was happy to take it. The result was immediate, even with light strikes. A simple tap on the stone surrounding the gem caused a layer of stone to fall off in a sheet, shocking the dwarf.

“That was a bit more than expected,” Taz said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

Rud yawned. “So, what’s so special about this gem? And when can I go to bed?”

“I’ve never seen one like this,” Taz said. “But my Prospector class is going crazy. It wants me to get it and my Blacksmith subclass wants me to make a hammer or something with it.”

“That specific, huh?” Rud asked. “Well, I’m gonna go take a nap if that’s okay with you. I failed to make my evening report, so I still gotta do that.”

“Go on,” Taz said. “I’ll holler tomorrow if I need help.”

Rud yawned again, nodding. He took an acorn from his pocket, grew a small tree, and passed through the leaves. The sound of night in the forest greeted him with insects singing. The two shattered moons glowed overhead, casting the Grove in pale light. After ascending the steps, he sat in his chair and paused. Would anyone really be awake this late at night? He doubted it, and instead worked on his report for the town.

All the energy from the outworlder adventurers was gone, replaced by temperate energy. Tomorrow would be cloudless with a pleasant temperature. There was no sign of budding dungeon energy anywhere in the Grove, and even the tower felt less intimidating.

“Pretty standard day,” Rud said, finishing up his notes.

“Indeed it is,” Nulsa said, appearing through the door leading outside.

“If I wasn’t used to you sneaking up on me, I’d be scared,” Rud said, smiling up at the owl. “Hey, do you know anything about the gem Taz found? Also what do you think about Jasper?”

“I know nothing about any gem,” Nulsa said. “As for Jasper, I don’t like him. But I think he’s a good fit for the Grove.”

Rud tapped his chin. “That’s an interesting stance to take. You don’t like him, but you like him as a fit for the Grove. How does that work?”

“To be fair, I don’t really like anyone,” Nulsa said.

“Even me?” Rud asked, making what he assumed was a cute face.

Nulsa looked away, hooting softly.

Rud finished his report up, sealing the envelope and stuffing it in his bag. “Care for a night flight?”

“Sounds delightful,” Nulsa said.

Rud shifted into his raven form and took to the skies with Nulsa. They didn’t pick a straight path to Barlgore, instead favoring a path to the west at first. The rush of wind over the druid’s feathers served as a great way to wake him up. Cold air splashed over him as he banked. The pair tracked a path along the western side of the grove, banking south and then east. They took in the world below with their magical sight, scanning for anything out of the ordinary.

“I do this daily,” Nulsa said, his voice carrying with otherworldly clarity over the rush of wind. “It is quite relaxing.”

“You’ve been sleeping less,” Rud said.

“An increase in attributes will do that.”

So Rud wasn’t the only one getting buff? Interesting.

The duo worked a lazy path toward the town, eventually circling above Feather’s house. Rud landed, shifting into his true form before depositing his letter. At night, the town was a place the druid actually wanted to hang out. While there were a few lights still illuminating a few houses and a couple of people walking the streets, it was almost silent. If he listened hard enough, he thought he could hear the ocean far in the distance. Even if that wasn’t possible.

Rud eventually shifted back into his raven form, joining Nulsa in the skies above the town. “Oh, this is just delightful,” the druid said.

“Care to make another run toward the west?” Nulsa asked.

Rud stifled a yawn. “Yeah, I wanna see what those orcs are doing.”