Gladesbale Grove Book 3 - Chapters 34,35,36 (Patreon)

Chapter 34

Great Job, Team

Rud was feeling full of himself after getting Rank 1 in his subclass. For most people, that would be a very unimpressive accomplishment. But the druid understood now he wasn’t on the same track as all the others. He was riding a different roller coaster. Using the same analogy of Earth-based rides, he imagined that his coaster had a rocket booster strapped to the back. Getting Rank 1 in such a short time also meant exploiting his awesome staff to get a lot of delicious attributes.

Soaring above the region, Rud tracked a lazy path toward Barlgore. It was fun to begin with, but Dean was racing along below. The sight of the wolf rushing across the landscape sent a spark of joy spreading through his chest. Going to town with Dean felt like an old ritual he never wanted to be rid of, so he dove to fly alongside the wolf.

“Lovely weather we’re having today,” Rud said, having to flap harder now that he wasn’t taking advantage of the currents above.

"Yes, the weather is quite pleasant." Dean growled, pushing slightly harder and pulling ahead.

"You sneaky little beast," Rud said, pumping his wings as hard as he could, pushing his attributes to the limits to keep up with the wolf. Although the wind whistled by his ears, he could still hear perfectly, thanks to the covering of feathers over them. He performed a couple of tricks—some rolls and flips above Dean—which caused him to push himself even harder. However, their game was cut short when they reached the gates of the town, forcing both of them to come to an abrupt halt.

Rud shifted into his true form, landing on Dean's back in one fluid motion that surprised both of them. Then the wolf trotted through the doors, which were promptly opened for them by the guards at the gate. The druid gave them a sharp nod and a few winks before they headed in.

"Who are we looking for?" Dean asked.

"Tuft if you can find him," Rud said. "Otherwise, we should find Feather, and then we'll just go down the list of big-name adventurers until we find somebody willing to go."

Dean sniffed the air, growling. “I smell Barrow and Oak, if you want them.”

“Really?” Rud asked, grimacing. “You know Elm hates Oak, right?”

“I’m aware. But they won’t be invited to the Grove’s center, will they?” Dean asked. “Sequester them to the southwestern region.”

“Assuming they’ll come along,” Rud grumbled. “But I know Barrow is an excellent fighter. And Oak is an amazing healer.”

“Don’t get caught up in details yet,” Dean warned. “You don’t need them to do the job. They can help build the teams.”

“Right. Take me to them, please,” Rud said, patting Dean on the head.

Dean took his job very seriously. He charged down the streets, receiving a few shouts of surprise from those in the town who weren't used to seeing a giant wolf thunder through their streets. It only took a few turns before he stopped outside of a tavern. The sign hanging out front had faded text that was too worn to read. However, as the door swung open, the druid heard the sound of a song coming from within and smiled to himself.

“You're free to come in, but I don't think you'll fit through the door,” Rud said, shaking his head. “Best just to stay here.”

Dean grunted as he approached the wall and nosed the window until it popped open. He stuck his head through, panting as the patrons inside screamed in shock. Rud rushed through the front door, waving his arms in the air. "No worries, just your local Grove Druid’s giant direwolf. A totally normal thing around here.”

“Rud!” Barrow shouted from across the room. His worn face lit with excitement as he rushed over. It was weird seeing him without armor.

"You son of a birch," Rud said, clasping Barrow's hand in his own and beaming up at the massive man. "How have you two been?"

"The more important question," Oak said as she sauntered across the tavern, "is, how is Elm doing? Are you taking good care of her?"

"Taking good care of her? Are you kidding?" Rud asked. "I'm about to make her the Champion of Gladesbale Grove. Nobody has ever been better taken care of than Elmera is in my Grove. Anyway, that's not why I'm here."

“Have a seat,” Barrow said, gesturing to a booth in the back of the tavern.

Rud could smell the booth from where he stood, and wanted nothing more than to propel himself out of the window and into the sky. Maybe into a volcano, depending on how pungent the scent grew. “How about we talk outside,” the druid suggested. “I don’t like mortal buildings.”

“Fair enough,” Barrow said, nodding to Oak. Both followed along as Rud led the way. “We were planning on visiting the mainland, but were waylaid. Pirates and sea monsters are all over the coast, and there’s no other safe passage. We’re talking about making an expedition to the north to build a port there.”

"Really? I've seen the northern coast. It is not inhabitable. Building a port there would take a lot of work.”

Dean walked alongside the group as they made their way through the streets of the town. Rud rubbed his chin, unsure if the mortals even had the means to make such a thing happen. Even if the Grove offered them assistance, they couldn't really do much. The distance between here and the northern coast was too great, even at the narrowest point on the island continent. His first thought was to take advantage of the underground passages hewn by the dwarves, but the druid was unsure of that even working.

“Don’t worry about the details,” Barrow said, clapping a powerful hand on his shoulder. “This port was constructed because the coastline is favorable. We have nice barrier islands, tropical seas, and all that. This was easy, but with more monsters out there we’re not going anywhere.”

“Don’t concern yourself with this,” Oak said, casting a reassuring smile at Rud. “We’ll sort it out.”

“Well, you know the Grove is always happy to help. Unfortunately, I fear we can only offer scouting services. However, since I can take the form of a raven and we have a sacred owl beast, I think we can be quite helpful. Yet that isn't the reason we're here.” Rud took a few moments, allowing some gravity to soak into his request. “I need adventurers. Teams of two mana-sensitive people, a tanky tanker, and a sneaky sneaker.”

Both Barrow and Oak tilted their heads to the side. The man was the first to speak. “Perhaps you don’t remember the outworlders climbing the tower…”

“I remember all too well,” Rud said, offering them both a smile. “But the work I need done is in the southwestern part of the grove, far away from the tower and the labyrinth. You see, the problem I have is one of dungeon density. There were perhaps 10 to 15 dungeons at a time within the grove, but now we've learned there's closer to 100.”

"100 dungeons?" Barrow asked, his mouth falling open. "Are you sure that number is correct?"

“No, the real number is likely higher,” Rud said. “But there's an adventuring group that didn't flee when the others did. They developed a technique to weaken the dungeons quicker than before. I don't need any of the dungeons destroyed. Just weakened.”

"This is tricky," Barrow said. The adventurers would have fled for greener pastures if not for the problem with the ships. "Perhaps we could work out a deal where the Grove promises to help with the passage north in exchange for assistance with those dungeons. What do you think, Oak?"

“They all have an intense sense of duty,” Oak said. “And if we present it as something they need to do to leave… It wouldn’t hurt to have the assurances of the Grove that they’ll remain safe while they work.”

“Would they believe me?” Rud asked. “The outworlders are no threat, I can assure you of that. They’re stuck in the tower for now, and since the top of the tower is Rank 100—”

“Excuse me,” Oak said, pointing a finger in the air. “Rank what?”

"Yeah, that's why everybody was having such trouble clearing it. The tower has a hundred floors and it goes up to rank 100 at the top. According to the scaling system we have here locally, anyway. I guess the outworlders could use something different. They didn't really explain it very well."

“We’ll leave that part out of our proposal,” Barrow said. “Otherwise no one will help. But if we don’t have a passage north, we’re all in trouble anyway. Ignoring the need of people to get home, we’ll never get more adventurers or supplies. I understand you can provide us with some food, but not enough to feed everyone here.”

“Yeah, maybe y’all need to farm some more or something,” Rud suggested. “Not here to critique your city-planning abilities, but… come on.”

“Hey, put me in charge and I’ll have it sorted in a year,” Barrow said. “But that’s not my job. I’ll wrangle the adventurers.”

“I’ll talk to Feather about the passage north,” Oak said. “He needs a boot to the butt to get him moving. If it was up to him, we’d keep sending ships to sink rather than solving the actual problem.”

“Great job, team!” Rud shouted, giving Barrow and Oak a high-five each. He withdrew some parchment and a pen from his bag and got to sketching. “This is what I remember from the northern shores. I can get you more detailed topography information if you need, just let me know. The distance is about… I don’t know, only fifty to eighty miles as the crow flies—pun intended—from the Grove at this point, so that’s your best bet.”

“On a decent road, that’s an aggressive march over a week,” Barrow said, clicking his tongue. “Depends on the speed of the person, of course. We could cut that with high-rank mounts. But that’s not bad. I thought the coast was further away.”

“Bad news is, you’ll cut pretty close to the dwarves,” Rud said.

“Not an issue,” Oak said. “We’re kinda friendly with them.”

So this was the new plan for the denizens of the town. They were a tiny colony belonging to a nation that was too far away, and their base of operations was on the wrong coast. Rud had a couple of ideas on how to help them. Expanding the Grove made the most sense, yet he couldn't push it that far. The distance was simply too much. He doubted Ban could spare the resources. This was a situation where he should confer with her before making any big decisions.

“Okay, team. Great job!” Rud said. “This is an excellent starting point for us. Don’t start construction on anything big until I’ve picked the Sacred Tree’s brain on the matter.”

“Don’t worry,” Barrow said. “We’ll sort the problem with the adventurers first. That might take some time.”

So, they had a plan. The mortals had stranded themselves on a hostile continent and needed the Grove’s help to establish contact with the mainland. Rud knew he might have been responsible for the sea monsters getting active out in the sea. In his defense, who builds the port to their colony on the opposite side of the island-continent-thing they were settling? Yeah, the northern coast wasn’t as easy to build on. But come on!

Rud bid farewell to his old friends, shifting into his raven form and taking to the skies. He joined alongside Dean as he ran along the southern road.

“They’re kinda dumb,” Rud said.

“But so are we,” Dean answered. “We’re all just working through it as we go. Can’t blame them for the mistakes of their forbearers.”

“I think we have options. But I need to talk to Ban first,” Rud said. “Which means we’ll be doing some serious tree upgrades.”

“What are you thinking?”

“An outpost,” Rud said, cawing with excitement as he did a few flips.

Chapter 35

Can’t Rush These Things

The legs of a chair dug shallow trenches in the dirt as Rud dragged it from the longhouse. He placed it near Ban’s trunk, taking a seat and getting comfortable with his staff leaning against his shoulder. The druid regarded the tree, trying his best to sense what she was pondering. Because boy howdy did that tree ponder a lot.

“So,” Rud said, clapping his hands together once. “I got a problem.”

“Another problem to place on our pile of problems?” Ban asked. “I’m shocked. Look, observe my shocked face.”

“First, you don’t have a face,” Rud said, shaking his head. “Second, wanna hear?”

“Sure.”

Rud cleared his throat. He didn’t want to steer her in a direction, so he just gave her the facts. The mortals wanted to build a port along the northern coast, but it was a task too big for them. They would need the help of the Grove to get it down. “We can lend manpower, but I don’t know if that’s enough.”

“Which is why you’re hoping I have a magical solution using the power of the Grove,” Ban said, humming to herself. “We could help them. Easily. With the strides we’ve made with Gate techniques, it wouldn’t be hard to create a short-range portal linked between two fixed points. The question is: why? Why would we help the mortal do something like this?”

“Okay, a few things… How could you maintain a Gate? I know it isn’t that far, but it isn’t around the corner. You know I’m not a magical expert, but that’s just too far.”

Rud was waiting for the words, scooting to the edge of his seat.

“Your intentions couldn’t be more obvious,” Ban said with a laugh. “I’m nearly ready to jump a few ranks. Next rank, I can get an ability that allows me to create outposts.”

“Woot!”

This was exactly what Rud was hoping for. The theory was pretty simple, so he knew she would get an ability that let her create a section of the Grove in a faraway place.

“But before you get too excited, you’ve got to do some work,” Ban said. “I need a line of trees connecting me to the outpost. Without it, any tree borne from the Grove would be useless.”

“Eighty miles of trees?” Easy mode,” Rud said. “And then the mortals can travel through a portal, right? The energy requirements will be almost nothing since it is within the Grove… technically, anyway.”

“That’s right,” Ban said. “The energy generated in the outpost would be enough to maintain a simple portal.”

“Well, I have my mission. Got some stuff to do first. Dungeons… scouting. You know, the life of a custodian.”

“Speaking of that, congratulations on getting Rank 1 in your subclass.”

Rud stood, bowing dramatically. “Thank you, kind tree,” he said. “Now, I have a date with some dungeons. I’m eager to get more overpowered so I can never use the power to do anything but grow trees and all that fun stuff.”

Ban giggled again, and the druid was off. According to the adventurers taking care of the dungeons, they had cleared through about 12. Sadly, the first three they had cleared had regenerated or something. He was just happy they had cleared any of them and was ready to reap the rewards.

The Custodian’s Twig staff had become skilled at absorbing the power of the dungeons. Rud wasn’t certain, but compared to the first few dungeons, it had no problems with the first he absorbed. Not only did it pull the soul of the dungeon into itself quicker, but it also grabbed the attribute he wanted most right now, Agility. That Agility was for his flight form. He tested it on the next one, asking the staff politely to give him some Vigor. Although it gave him some Vigor, it also tossed him some random Strength.

“Can’t win ‘em all, huh?” Rud asked, patting the staff. “Good enough for me, though. You’re the best!”

The adventurers were between dungeons, and spotted Rud along the road. A spellcaster amongst them took an interest in the process, and asked to join along. Rud had no objects, and allowed the mage along. There was a lot of gawking and note-taking that made the druid laugh and reminded him of Elm’s studious nature. The spread of attributes was pretty decent this time around, although he noticed there were fewer than normal. 4 strength, 3 Vigor, 5 Agility, 7 Mind, and 3 Affinity. There was no way he’d complain about shooting up to 103 levels in attributes.

Rud flexed, getting a few polite claps from the observing adventurer. He certainly felt slightly more buff, which was awesome. He inspected his attribute sheet to make himself feel better.

[Rud]

Main Class:

Rank 1 Level 1 Druid

Subclass:

Rank 1 Level 1 Grove Custodian

Attributes:

Health: 173

Mana: 349

Strength: 21

Agility: 24

Vigor: 23

Mind: 44

Affinity: 25

Titles:

[Keeper of the Gladesbale Grove]

“Pretty slow level gains,” the mage said, clicking her tongue.

That was the truth. Rud had heard the same thing a few times before, but now he understood what was going on. “Yeah, we take it easy here,” Rud said, yawning and stretching. “I’m gonna reform these roads and put some fancier buildings in for you guys. I’m thinking of bigger houses, a kitchen. Stuff like that.”

“Oh, that would be lovely.”

What Rud lacked in ranking power, he made up for in stuff that rested on the side of the main progression of most people. He had a powerful artifact staff, upgrades and skills that linked him to an awesome tree, and stupid-high attributes. The druid thought about all these fun things while he reformed the roads, which required just about no effort at this point. The living pathways curled and snaked, moving into new directions or otherwise sucking back into the ground.

The biggest challenge was changing the unorganized tangle of roads to something more manageable. The Grove itself had two roads. North to south, and east to west. The southwestern region, still unnamed for a reason Rud couldn’t produce, had roads going in every known direction, and a few people just weren’t aware of. It was time for the area to conform to the concept he and Ban had just talked about. The southwest would become an outpost of Gladesbale Grove, having most of the amenities of the main area.

“I’m thinking another pair of cardinal roads,” Rud said, talking only to himself. The mage had left, leaving him speaking to the forest. “Might as well clean the messy road heading to the tower while I’m at it.”

No more crooked roads. They had been a plague on the Grove since Rud got sloppy. Melodramatic, perhaps, but drama was a great motivator.

Rud started by pulling a line off of the main road to the east and dragging it through the entire area afflicted by the dungeons. He took that road as far west as he could without wasting too much time and picked a spot in the center to pull north. This would be a project that took quite a few days, so he wasn't expecting to get it done right away. That took away most of the day. He worked on the central area, creating a circle with the roads and then getting to work on his hotel and kitchen.

A design similar to the longhouses that he envisioned includes a massive tree growing in the center of the circle. After hollowing it out, he created the appropriate chimneys to vent the smoky air. He ensured that the entire interior was lacquered to prevent burning before installing stoves and designing the interior of the kitchen itself. Of course, it would have a dining area with a large fire pit for the adventurers to enjoy. All this activity was apparently enough to draw the adventurers away from whatever they were doing, and each watched in awe as he then got to work on the habitations.

A few quaint houses was all they needed, but Rud wanted to make sure he did it right this time. The idea of this being a camping area had gone out the window. It was now a copy of most of the awesome stuff folks visiting the Grove could experience by visiting the center. He wove beds, dressers, and other stuff mortals loved out of trees he had grown.

Dusk had drawn over the western sky and passed into twilight before Rud was even close to done. The houses were livable at least, so the adventurers had a better place to stay. The finishing touches would simply need to wait for tomorrow. That didn’t stop a nosy owl from swooping, landing on the ledge of the roof of a house.

“Working late… again?” Nulsa asked.

“Got a whole mess of things going on here,” Rud said, rubbing his hands together. The adventurers had already claimed homes—one each, for some reason—and their lights shone through the windows. Bars of light were cast over the ground outside of those buildings, lending a dreamy quality to the darkened clearing. “Hey, you interested in doing some scouting?”

“I scout daily,” Nulsa said.

“Cool. We’re forging a path to the northern coast.”

“Sounds daunting.”

“Anything worth having is… something, something,” Rud said, waving his hands through the air. “Doesn’t matter. Can you find me the cleanest path from here to the northern coast?”

“Naturally, I already know the path,” Nulsa said.

“Excellent. Now, if we could get about ten other druids on my level, that’d be swell.”

“That is something I cannot help you with.”

Truth was, this wasn't something Rud was looking forward to. His specialization was plant magic. All plant magic. He wasn't as specialized as Basil, who only used construction magic, but all the upgrades he had taken involved the grove itself. This meant that when he was outside of it, he was less effective. While he hoped that his new attributes would help with this, he wasn't certain it would be enough to bridge the gap.

Rud grabbed a snack for dinner before retreating to his mushroom house. He had plenty of time to worry about this stuff later. Resting some trail mix on his belly, the druid ate the delicious trail mix while scratching Jasper behind the ear. No matter how powerful the Sacred Beast, they all liked a good scratching.

“How did it go with the hidden dungeon?” Rud asked, popping another hazelnut in his mouth. “Did you guys crack the code?”

“Almost,” Jasper said. “I have a simple question for you, Rud.”

The fox didn’t look up from his spot on the ground. Although he had scooted over to get some better scratches, he didn’t move otherwise.

“Shoot.”

“Why haven’t you made Elm our champion yet?”

Rud let out a low whistle. That was a doozy of a question. “Can’t rush these things,” he said. “She’s very interested in the power within the Grove, but she’s also got a foot in the mortal world. I don’t think she wants to be a member of the Grove, but even something like becoming a champion is hard for her to wrap her head around.”

“Are you certain?” Jasper asked. “Have you talked to her about it?”

“No, not yet. Things get kinda busy around here, y’know? And I run around the Grove doing all kinds of druid stuff. I can’t just drop it on her. She’s gotta come to it on her own.”

“If you say so,” Jasper said. “Anyway, my fox magic was the first step to cracking the new dungeons, but there’s more to it. We’re certain there’s a willful power behind these spells. My magic isn’t pointed like that of arcane mages. It is wild, and cannot be controlled so easily. When I applied my Foxfire ability to the dungeon, my magic recoiled. Almost like it sensed something within that was more than just a dungeon. I bit the dungeon, but the dungeon bit back.”

“Perfect,” Rud said, dusting the crumbs from the trail mix off of himself. “A sapient dungeon. That’s exactly what we need around here.”

“Good thing a smart mage has the problem in hand,” Jasper said, yawning. “Goodnight, custodian.”

“Goodnight.”

Chapter 36

Hammerpick

Rud looked up from his plate of roasted hazelnuts, blinking away his tiredness in an attempt to understand the gibbering dwarf. Taz had woken up in a mood, and was currently jumping up and down in the longhouse, hands thrusting into the air and beard thick with spittle. Whatever he had been working on was exciting enough to break the normally peaceful breakfast hours and powerful enough to render his ability to speak words that anyone could understand long gone.

“Start at the start,” the druid said, blinking a few times before taking a sip of his tea. The energizing power of that hot leaf water brought some clarity to his mind.

“A big old hammer!” Taz shouted, pumping his fist in the air. “With that giant gem set in the surface, and a nice hammering face, and… and…”

“Take a breath,” Rud said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Are you talking about that weird gem we found?”

“Of course!” Taz shouted, spitting just about everywhere. “I just need your fancy crafting magic to make it all super strong.”

“Absolutely, buddy,” Rud said, forcing a smile onto his face. Taz was being a bit extra today, which often happened when he was overly excited about things. “Just let me know where you need me. I’ve got some reports to make and all that stuff. You know how it goes.”

“Of course! Just be ready,” Taz said, rubbing his hands together. “I don’t know when I’ll need you, but when I do, it’ll need to be quick.”

“Got it,” Rud said with some pointed finger guns. “I’m ready to go, boss.”

After that, Taz’s mood was less insane. He ate breakfast like a normal dwarf and headed off to the smithy as soon as he was done. Rud could only shake his head and rush to make his morning reports, which were… concerning. Elm had indeed made some progress toward removing the spells from the dungeons. Things had been so intense yesterday, that he hadn’t even had a chance to test his newest upgrade for his Farseeing skill.

Rud focused on the horizon, narrowing his gaze as he allowed the Intense Gaze upgrade to suck mana from his soul. Layers of the landscape peeled away, resulting in a dizzying feeling falling into his stomach. It was hard to control, but he eventually got used to it. That’s when he saw the familiar dots just about everywhere. Seeing so many dungeons with his own eyes was something else.

“That really isn’t good, is it?”

“No, it isn’t,” Ban said, her voice seeming to flood into the entire observatory. “But you’re doing a great job working it out.”

Rud wasn’t so sure about that, but he took her word for it now. With his new upgrade, he peered far into the distance to detect magical energies that were days away. He also got a better understanding of the flavor of currently oncoming powers, allowing him to make accurate weather predictions. Aside from the dungeons, the most interesting thing he observed was the ocean. Far to the southwest, he observed the energy of the sea. And he spotted the cursed object he had imprisoned there.

The druid breathed a sigh of relief.

When he had learned about those sea monsters, he had feared the worst. The idea that it could’ve been a problem he caused had formed a knot in his stomach. But his cursed object was leaking exactly no energy into the sea. Whatever drove those critters crazy wasn’t his fault. While that was a momentary relief, it didn’t stop him from worrying. Knowing it was his fault meant he could fix the problem. Knowing it wasn’t his fault was worse, since he didn’t know what the cause was.

Rud still did his duty, creating the report for Barlgore and sealing the envelope. Both Maria and Jim were chattering on the radio the whole time, and the druid offered his opinion when appropriate.

“Yeah, it’ll be ready soon,” Rud said. “We’ve got some bigger problems we’re working through.”

“We understand, Rud… But could you send us some cheese?” Maria asked, her voice bleeding with hope. “And maybe some tea?”

“Yeah, send some tea,” Jim said.

Rud rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. I’ll carve time out of my busy schedule dealing with a few hundred dungeons and sea monsters to send you guys some cheese and tea.”

“Perfect,” Maria said. “You’re the best.”

Rud rolled his shoulders after getting to his feet. Dean was waiting at the base of the observatory, an eager look on his face.

“I would like to take the letter over today,” Dean said. “Care to join me?”

Rud smiled. “Got a taste for the mortal world?”

“The locals give me pets,” Dean explained. “Sometimes they throw me beef bones, filled to the brim with marrow. They also enjoy watching as I crunch those same bones. It is a spectacle."

Rud handed over the letter, and watched as the wolf dashed off.

That’s when Taz’s voice flooded his mind.

“Come quickly!”

Rud didn’t even respond. He sprinted to the nearest bush, appreciating the speed his attributes gave him. After diving through the bush, he rolled right after the Thicket Travel effect ended, striking a pose outside the smithy. Taz was madly working on a piece, striking a piece of metal over the anvil and sweating enough that it had soaked his beard.

“Enchant the gem!” Taz shouted.

Rud darted over, looking around like a madman until he found the gem resting on a workbench. “Should’ve done this first!” he shouted. While he wanted to object to the action, he didn’t. Instead, he brought Imbue Crafted Item to the forefront of his mind and held his hands out. Only as the spell fulminated did he realize why he could cast the spell on the gem. Taz had shaped the gem, making it count as a crafted item. But before he even had the time to inspect the item, the dwarf had snatched it up and was cramming it into the side of the hammer’s head.

All Rud could do was watch as the craftsman worked. Taz pounded madly on the metal, transferring it from the anvil to the fire, then some kind of water. Maybe it was enchanted water. The druid couldn’t tell. All he could do was act as a spectator over the hours, observing the way Taz shaped the hammer, tempered it—or whatever that blacksmithing thing was called when they dunked hot metal—and other stuff like scraping it with a wire brush.

“I’ll need you to shape a handle,” Taz said, breathing heavily as he leaned against the wall. He looked up with a hooded gaze. “A good piece of wood. Something magical, I think.”

Rud looked around. The heat from the forge was almost unbearable. Taz had stacked enough Fairy Peat inside to burn down most mortal buildings. But this was a smithy enchanted with the power of the Sacred Tree. It would take more than a bit of fire to bring it down. If anything, the ash-stained walls were stronger. In Rud’s senses they felt more resistant to the fires of the forge. But his thoughts were dragged kicking and screaming away from that topic.

“Take this,” Ban said, her voice flooding into both of their minds. The sound of her voice echoed for only a moment before something thumped outside of the building.

Rud poked his head out, blinking a few times as he looked at a stick resting upon the ground. To anyone else, it would appear like any discarded branch that could be found anywhere in the Grove. But the druid could feel the magical potential within. This wasn’t just a regular branch. It was a piece of the Sacred Tree herself.

“Woah,” Rud breathed, approaching the branch and lifting it. This didn’t feel like any old discarded branch Ban would cast off. The druid could feel how special it was. “You really put that much energy in this? I don’t know if I can form it.”

“You can. Trust yourself.”

Rud returned to the smithy, holding the branch before him. It was a hallowed artifact, pulsing with enough power to sting his druidic senses. “Yeah, I got something,” the druid said, licking his lips.

“Perfect,” Taz said without even looking up. He was already getting back to work. “Did you pick a sturdy one?”

“That’s right,” Rud said, laughing. “Pretty sturdy!”

“Good. It’ll need to take the heat, so be prepared for that,” Taz said. “Gotta set the handle on while this is hot.”

“Why?”

“Dunno.”

Rud shrugged, using his Lacquer spell on the stick. Just like Ban said, he did it without an issue. If anything, it was easier to cast the spell on a piece of her than it was for less connected bits of trees. Perhaps that’s because a bit of himself was in the Grove. No matter how he looked at it, his connection with the Grove was deep, and his love for the Sacred Tree vast.

“Ready?” Taz asked.

Rud used his Shape Plant spell to make the branch more narrow. It could now fit through the hole Taz had created for the handle. Whatever steps a blacksmith normally took to make sure a handle fit was not needed. The druid would simply expand it to fit the hole perfectly, drawing some material out to wrap around the top.

“Ready.”

Pulling the hammer’s head from the flames once again, Taz placed it on the anvil. Rud didn’t hesitate and the piece of Ban moved like liquid. It shot through the opening, wrapping around the top. The wood sizzled, smoke rising into the air as the druid put everything he had into melding the two objects together. He didn’t just want to slap a piece of wood onto the metal. He wanted it to blend.

Despite the undeniable properties of wood when facing yellow-hot metal, the piece of Ban passed into the metal. Either through magical absorption, drilling, or some other method Rud simply didn’t understand, the two pieces became one. Taz sensed something about the crafted item and snatched it by the handle, dunking it in a wooden barrel of oil. Tendrils of smoke rose from the top, curling in the air as both men stood, motionless.

“Did it work?” Rud asked. Craning his neck to get a better look.

Taz grabbed the hammer by the small bit of handle still poking through the top, removing it from the dark oil. The liquid dripped off, falling and leaving behind a clean surface. He revealed the head of a hammer curled in the grasp of Ban’s branch. Small branches poked up near the top, bright green leaves creating a faux-canopy.

One thing Rud couldn’t deny was the absolute power and authority of the hammer. For a moment, he thought it might be artifact-quality, like his staff. But when comparing the two, it came up just short. Yet to be crafted by mortal hands… Especially the hands of a mortal barely at Rank 1, the druid couldn’t deny how impressed he was.

“Good gravy,” Rud said, leaning so close his nose pressed against the hammer for a moment. “You did this with a subclass?”

“And a lot of help from my friend,” Taz said, holding the hammer aloft and grinning like an idiot. “You know, the giant magical tree.”

So this was what a proper crafter could do when imbued with the power of the Grove. It seemed almost rude to inspect the item without the permission of the owner.

“Can I…” Rud trailed off as he reached out to the hammer. He had been so enchanted by the process, he had missed the strange design of the thing. One side was a hammer, sure. But the other was a pick.

“I’d be ashamed if you didn’t!”

[Hammerpick of Ban’tanthein]

Rank 1 Growth Blacksmith’s Hammer

Bound to: Taznoz Coalbranch

Description:

Forged from Spirit Iron and a Spirit Knightsgem, this hammer is perfectly balanced specifically for Taznoz Coalbranch. It unites the naturalistic ideals of Gladesbale Grove with the proud traditions of the Coalbranch clan.

Effect:

Doubles the force of strikes when used in Blacksmithing and Mining actions while within Gladesbale Grove.

Increases the effect of all Prospector skills while within Gladesbale Grove.