Rud spent two full days in the mine, pulling every fragment he could find out. His first instinct was to take his time, spreading the mining effort out over weeks. But Ban was insistent that he worked as hard as he could to get those fragments right away. Her claim was that all his work would become much easier once she picked the first upgrade. But she wouldn’t reveal what it was, claiming that the secret would be worth the surprise.

  In the early morning of the third day, as Rud was eating a breakfast of cooked mushrooms and roasted nuts, Ban absorbed enough power from the sunlight to hit Level 5. After some dancing, some of which Mint joined in on, they gathered near the tree to see what the new upgrade was. Each level Ban gained had her growing a bit more. Her trunk was now thicker, and her boughs spread out over the surrounding forest. The pattern of bark before them flashed with power.

  “It is done,” Ban said with a relieved sigh. “Inspect my new upgrade.”

  Rud rubbed his hands together before pressing them against her bark. The normal screen popped up, but it had a new section. Upgrades. The druid inspected the only entry, Thicket Travel.

  [Thicket Travel]

  Sacred Tree Upgrade

  Description:

  A Sacred Tree is more than just a tree. It represents the surrounding grove. All plants and animals fall under the protection of the grove, including the thickets.

  Effect:

  All members of the grove may travel instantly from any point within the grove to any other.

  Any travel action taken must be conducted in an area of sufficient plant growth. Open fields and clearings won’t work.

  Travel actions consume a small amount of Reserve Energy.

  “What!?” Rud shouted, flipping out and falling to the ground with excitement. “That’s why you wanted me to wait! Can I bring buckets along?”

  Mint laughed, assuming her wolf form and poking Rud with her nose. “Of course. We didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

  “This is so cool,” Rud said, grabbing onto Mint’s furry face and climbing up her back. “Onward, my steed!”

  Mint gave a great shake, dislodging him from her shoulders. “I don’t think so.”

  Rud brought himself back to his feet, dusting himself off and smoothing back his hair. This new upgrade would change the way he did chores in the grove. Dragging the buckets from the pond to the cut forest wasn’t something that appealed to him. Now he could just teleport from the pond to the forest. Neat!

  “I have a plan,” Rud said, nodding to himself. “But I need your help, Mint.”

  Mint turned, baring her fangs. “What is it?”

  Rud explained his plan for the logging area, and sent her off to gather the materials. Ban seemed amused that he was taking charge, and hid her exhaustion well. The druid had no plans to point it out. He watched as Mint vanished into the forest, then headed to the nearest cluster of trees to try the new upgrade.

  “How does this work?” he asked.

  “Just focus on the place you want to go and walk into a bush,” Ban said.

  Rud shrugged, parting the branches of a bush and walking inside. He focused on the pond and took a step forward. A crowd of leaves and branches surrounded him. A rush of magic washed over him and he took another step forward. Out into the clearing by the pond. The druid pumped his fist, hooting with excitement. This changed everything about the grove. He loaded his buckets to the brim with water and stepped through the bush. The rush of magic that fluttered around him was more intense this time. But an instant later, he stepped out close to the clearing near the logging site.

  He stifled his cheers, remembering how close the mortals were.

  Mint hardly seemed to need the new upgrade. She had already begun work on his new project. The logging area was a wide semi-circle of trees that had been cut down. Rud wanted to place piles of stones on the border, representing the place where the mortals could cut down trees. Anything beyond that point was off-limits. But the area that had been deforested was vast. The druid couldn’t get a sense for how much space had been cleared, but it was enough for him to doubt his ability to set the piles of stone himself.

  While Mint worked on the stones, Rud held a bucket under one arm, and spread the water out over the area with the ladle. The places where the water was splashed sprouted immediately. The saplings that were already growing burst upward, creating young trees that would have taken weeks or months to grow. He worked through some of the immediate area, growing trees and humming a tune. The wolf had assumed her human form and had taken the stone monuments seriously. A few more runs for water later, and the immediate area was a field of stumps and growing trees.

  “My attention is called elsewhere,” Mint growled from behind Rud. She was in her wolf form, baring her fangs and ready to dash off. He nodded and a moment later she was gone.

  Rud got to work on the piles of stones she left behind. Mint had gathered many stones, leaving them in a pile so it was easier to create the totems. The work was calming, somehow passing hours without him noticing. A message popped up, pulling him away from his meditative construction.

  [Skill Gain!]

  You’ve performed enough actions caring for plants to earn a skill! The Plant Care skill has been attached to your Druid class.

  Rud was surprised he hadn’t gained that skill sooner. With the amount of enchanted pond water he spread over the area, he expected to get something like that much sooner. If he wanted to grow trees in this area to appease the mortals, it was necessary. His thoughts on the matter were shattered when the sound of feet cracking over dead branches and voices came from the distance. The druid turned, eyes going wide as he saw two mortals approaching from the distance. They had spotted him.

  Rud yelped, turning on the spot and hoisting his buckets. He dashed into the underbrush, focusing his intent on the Sacred Tree. Before he left the area completely, he heard one of them shout, “wait!” But the fear had gripped him too strongly. He vanished into the thicket, invoking Ban’s newest ability to return to the center of the grove.

  “Humans?” Ban asked, even before he could say anything.

  The druid drew steady breaths, falling onto his back and nodding. “One called for me to wait. Fat chance, buddy.”

  Ban’s leaves shivered. “You could understand them? Oh, what good fortune.”

  “Huh?”

  “I was worried you weren’t sent here with knowledge of the local language. You’ve been speaking to me and Mint with the Language of the Wilds known by all forest spirits.”

  Rud had to think about that for a second. He considered the words he had been saying, and realized they were alien enough to be another language. But this was a good thing. He hadn’t realized that communication would be an issue, so at least that was sorted.

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  “One less thing to worry about. When should I contact the mortals?” he asked.

  “Soon. The most important thing is that you feel comfortable talking to them. The settlers from Sarwyn respect the Sacred Spirits.”

  Ban was trying to make Rud feel better about the situation. He felt like a scared little boy sometimes, while others he felt like the brave defender of the grove. Once he wasn’t so worried about whether the Sacred Tree was going to go dormant for a few days and when Mint could come with him, the druid would interface with the mortals. Smoothing over issues was a skill he had mastered at his job.

  “I understand,” Rud said, snapping out of his thoughts.

  He had time to ask her about the aspects of the forest spirits. Each building she could construct had a piece of a spirit in it, allowing Rud to empower himself. Not only did the buildings unlock bonuses to those actions, but it also opened up skills to that spirit. The druid had already observed that as he withdrew Arcane Crystal Fragments from the mine. He inspected his subclass as he sat near the tree.

  [Grove Custodian]

  Rank 0 Level 1 Subclass

  Description:

  Grove Custodians dedicate their lives to tending to Sacred Trees. They gain adaptive abilities, depending on which form their bound tree takes.

  Skills:

  (LOCKED) Mining R0 L2

  Aspect:

  NONE

  The Mining skill had been unlocked, and even had a level. But once he got too far away from the building, or an amount of time passed, the skill switched to a locked status. When that skill changed to ‘locked’ the druid could feel his ability to mine effectively fade away. He looked forward to those other buildings, but felt tension building in his chest when he thought of the interaction with the mortals. After a deep breath, he reserved those thoughts for another day.

  Rud was left standing in the clearing, feeling slightly lost. A trip to the logging site had represented an entire day’s worth of work. Now it was a step through a bush, creating a sensation of gained time that he couldn’t shake. With no desire to return to the mine, the druid wandered into the forest to find a sapling to cast Plant Growth on. He found one, invoking the spell, but took a nap after that. When he woke up, his mana had regenerated enough to cast it again. The stubborn spell finally produced a level-up, represented by the message that jumped into his vision.

  [Skill Gain!]

  Your Growth Magic skill has increased to level 2!

  A fluttering sensation of knowledge ran through his mind. The Plant Growth spell itself changed slightly. The cost to cast it went from 50 to 45. None of the other effects changed, but this was a blessing. From what Mint and Ban had said, increasing his skills related to druid stuff would increase his level in the class. He couldn’t advance as quickly as the Sacred Tree, but he was going to try. If he gained five more mana, or reduced the cost of his spell by five he could cast it twice before being totally drained of mana.

  The Plant Growth spell was far more effective than the buckets of enchanted pond water. Where the water advanced a plant through partial stages, the spell grew plants to a full stage in their advancement. One fell under the Growth Magic skill and the other the Plant Care skill. It was a confusing interaction that was hard to map, but Rud planned to push forward anyway. He wandered northward, finding his way to the pond without using the new teleportation upgrade. No need to waste Ban’s energy if he didn’t need to.

  The same deer that Rud had seen near the pond was sipping at the water. It looked up at him and he waved. The doe nodded her head, turning her attention back to the water. The druid waited for her to finish satisfying her thirst before approaching. She didn’t flee when he inspected the pond. He only needed to check the water level, making sure that his idea of infinite water was true.

  “How are you doing, little deer?”

  The doe looked up, staring at Rud with intensity. After a beat, she fled for the forest. “Ah, well.”

  “They can’t understand you yet,” Ban said, speaking into his mind.

  “Can you see the entire grove?” Rud asked, looking around as though he would spot eyes in the trees.

  “Only the places where you and Mint are for now,” Ban said.

  “Good to know,” Rud said, sitting cross-legged near the pool’s edge.

  The plan to improve the grove seemed simple enough. After Rud made contact with the mortals, he would offer them a deal. If they were as respectful of Sacred Trees as he had been told, they would take it. But in the case that they weren’t so sympathetic to their cause, he had another way to rope them in. The druid wasn’t a fighter, despite having his class. He was good at casting simple spells and watering plants, not battling monsters. Since the mortals were good at that, and they really needed the trees grown in the grove, he would cut them a deal. If they took care of the dungeons, he would make sure the lumber area grew at an absurd rate.

  That assumed that these people for Sparwyn didn’t have a way to grow the forest themselves. He had only assumed they didn’t because of the state of the field of stumps. If they had access to growth magic, the sprouts on the ground wouldn’t have been so small. Without much to do, he turned and entered a shrub. The Thicket Travel upgrade was easier to invoke with each usage. Rud pin-pointed his exit point, appearing within thick bushes that concealed his location. He poked his head through a wall of leaves and looked over the field of stumps.

  The two people that he had left in the clearing were still there, now joined by another person. A beastfolk woman, appearing as a mix between a mountain lion and a human, stood with her hands on her hips. She wore a simple, soft-looking tunic with matching green pants. Her brown hair was kept tight on her head with a headband and she punctuated every word she said by slamming a long-hafted spear’s butt into the ground. The two men she was berating were human by Rud’s estimation. Taller than the beastfolk woman but poorly dressed by comparison.

  Rud caught pieces of the conversation, which instilled greater confidence in these folks from Sparwyn. She was angry because they had scared off the forest spirit, pointing out the piles of stone near the forest’s edge. While she took it as an omen of the grove’s claim, she was only speculating. The two men held their heads low, staring at the ground with their shoulders slumped. She yelled for quite some time before stomping across the field of dead sticks and stumps, heading to the east. The two men remained in the clearing, looking off into the forest. After a while, they found seats on the stumps and held their heads in their hands, looking forlorn.

  “They look so sad,” Rud said with a sigh. “Poor sad humies.”

  “Did you catch what they said?” Ban asked.

  “Something about scaring the forest spirit off. Which is true.”

  “Good. Let them think about that for a while before you make contact. They’ll be more eager to accept what you have to say.”

  Being a custodian of this grove meant more than just taking care of it. Rud remembered back to the office, where Mint promised he would be the go-between for the humans and the spirits. Part of him wanted to stand and reveal himself now, but he would follow the words of the Sacred Tree. Instead, he slipped back into the underbrush with the intent of mapping this area out.

  It had been too hard to get a sense for the far reaches of the grove without the Thicket Travel upgrade. Between the areas he had explored and the field of stumps, there was a variety of landscape. Rud used the new travel power to zip through that area, making note of any interesting pieces of the area. First was an open cave entrance near the stump field. The druid edged near the entrance, but stopped after activating his Detect Animals spell. A message popped up, announcing that he learned the Detection Magic skill. But underneath that message were five shapes lingering in the darkness. They were suspiciously wolf-like.

  “Mint, do we need to do anything about these wolves?” Rud asked in a whisper, edging away from the cave.

  “Where?” Mint asked, appearing right behind him. She sniffed the air, then growled down at the cave. “They agreed to remain on the lower side of the cliffs. I need to have a word with them.”

  Mint vanished into the underbrush ahead. Moments later, Rud watched as the glowing forms of the wolves were driven from the cave. They scampered out, then fled southward. The spectral wolf came through the bushes a few moments later, still growling slightly.

  “Did you get ‘em?” Rud asked, not sure how to phrase it.

  “I drove them off. Nothing more. The entire grove is neutral ground for now, and I already told them.” Mint seemed more annoyed than before. “I bet they were after the deer within the grove.”

  “So they can kill deer outside the grove?”

  “Yes, we’re not concerned about that. If we allow them to take animals within the grove, we could have trouble with rot. That would set the balance of the area off, and we’re not ready to handle that.”

  Rud nodded as he watched the wolves leave his spectral vision. A few beats later he made a yelp of excitement. A message appeared.

  [Ding!]

  You have gained a level in your Druid class!

  Level 2!

  You have gained one free attribute point.

  “I leveled up!” Rud squeaked.

  “About time,” Mint grumbled. “Where are you putting your first point?”

  “Mind, of course. I need to cast more druid spells.”

  “A wise choice. There are some powerful magic-using druids out there.”

  “Hooray. Can I ride you back to the tree?”

  Mint gave Rud an expressionless look, then vanished on the spot.

  “Guess not.”