Rud woke the next morning with determination. The rain had gone completely. It had brought a wave of cold with it, but that hardly daunted his spirits. With his magical cloak and a new spell, the druid ate an uncooked breakfast and hurried out into the grove. The new wolf waited for him, wagging her tail and panting at him.

  “I did good,” she said.

  “Good dog,” Rud said, patting her on the head. “Did Mira give you a name?”

  “She has named me dog.”

  “She can’t have named you that,” Rud said, frowning at the newest guardian of the grove.

  “No. She said that was a funny joke. You are not laughing.”

  Yet the wolf’s speech had improved slightly. Rud knew Mira couldn’t understand the wolf, but he also knew it was a two-way street. Listening to someone ramble on for hours must have taught her some new words. “What did she actually name you?”

  “She has named me Sarya. Cat lady said it is elf name.”

  Rud patted her on the head again. “And it's a good name. I like it.”

  Sarya wagged her tail then got the zoomies and ran off into the forest. Rud made his way over to the two trees he had earmarked for transformation. They were large enough where he couldn’t get his arms around them, but the same couldn’t be said for a full-sized mortal. Trees that had grown this big would grow past their natural limits with a single use of Plant Growth. The druid placed his hands against the bark, guessing that this was an oak tree, and infused it with the Plant Growth spell. It shot into the air, pressing out in all directions with a resounding groan.

  A mortal of Mira’s size could now lay down twice over within the trunk. Rud scampered off, finding the components to his spell. He imbued a leaf with his mana, draining it further from what the growth spell had done. The druid held a stick in one hand, a mushroom in the other, and placed the leaf atop his head. When he thought about casting the Shape Plant spell, the mushroom rumbled and a green flame burst from the stick’s top end.

  Without knowing how he would know, Rud swept the stick through the air like a painter’s brush. The base of the tree shifted to one side as some of the stick was consumed. The druid messed around for a while, getting his mind around how the spell worked. He was on his third stick, after having taken a rest, before the spell made any sense. It was like a sculpting tool, pushing and pulling material. Using the spell was a matter of getting those functions in his mind and executing them.

  Rud spent the first half of the day shaping his first tree house. He hollowed the first floor out, pushing the material to the top. After getting the hang of the brush, he included a staircase that spiraled to a second floor. After the areas were carved out, he worked on making windows and finally refined the threshold. The druid fell on his butt outside of the treehouse, looking up at it with a smile.

  “That looks kinda good.”

  “It is missing a door,” Mint said, appearing next to him. “Do we need doors?”

  Rud looked up at her, shrugging. “Guess we might.”

  “Are you good at carpentry?”

  “Nope.”

  Mint grumbled. She approached the treehouse, shaking her head as she looked at the doorway. “At least the door is the right size. I don’t have to duck to get inside.”

  “Did I do good, boss?”

  “You did well,” Mint confirmed. “I will create a door. Would you like a door for your mushroom house?”

  “Yeah, that would be nice,” Rud said, scooping up a handful of dirt and withdrawing a nut from his backpack. “I’m gonna finish the inside of this place.”

  “I have the new cub working on defense. I’ll work on the doors.”

  “Thanks, Mint,” Rud said, placing another imbued leaf on his head and getting to work with the Lacquer spell.

  The interior of the treehouse wasn’t entirely smooth from the shaping process. It was all raw wood, porous and too unfinished for Rud’s taste. He worked the fistful of dirt over the area, soaking the Lacquer spell into the wood to bring it to a dark sheen. At one point, he had to scamper off to grab the ladder to reach those high spots. The entire building was made with taller mortal heights in mind, making most areas awkward for him to reach. He finished that work in a few hours, but found himself exhausted afterwards. The day had seen him draining his mana to empty and waiting for it to refill. But that didn’t come without a boon.

  Rud’s Crafting Magic skill jumped two levels, reaching Level 4 by the day’s end. When he left to sit inside his mushroom house, he was struck with how small and plain it was. Once he had the second tree house done, he would work on making his look better. For now, it was time to sit down with a nice hot cup of tea and eat dinner.

  “The treehouse looks good,” Ban said. “And you didn’t kill the tree.”

  “That spell is neat,” Rud said, laughing to himself. “I didn’t even notice how much time had passed.”

  “And the mortals will appreciate it more than you know. If we get some beds inside, they will sleep in extreme comfort.”

  “Let’s charge them to stay.”

  “We cannot,” Ban said, her voice taking a serious tone.

  “Really? Is that against the rules?”

  “It isn’t an official rule. When Bent established his grove, he did so in a time of war. The locals banded together with him, taking shelter within the grove. They developed a tradition of leaving gifts for him in exchange for safety. But he never expected payment.”

  “Oh… So the people who stay will likely leave gifts? But we won’t expect them to. Got it.”

  “Exactly.”

  It sounded a lot like getting paid for letting people stay in the buildings, but Rud wouldn’t question it. The houses he was making out of the trees could hold more than one person, likely housing at least three each. That assumed they didn’t mind bunking in the same room, but it also gave them plenty of room in the downstairs room for lounging and relaxing. The only thing he was missing was a wood stove, beds, and seating. While he could sort out the chairs by using his plant manipulation spell, the other things were out of his hands. When Mint was in a good mood, he’d ask her for those things.

  Rud was tired from his long day, and decided not to do more work today. He found a copper pot that Mint had scavenged a while ago and filled it with water and sliced mushrooms. After placing it on the stove and bringing it to a boil, he went off into the forest to forage for more things to toss in.

  “Anything edible around here? Stuff I haven’t found?” Rud asked, brushing the dirt away from the stem of one plant. The roots below didn’t look yummy.

  “There should be wild vegetables. That black one there. Yes, the one that looks like pure poison.”

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  Rud yanked at fragrant leaves, revealing a tangle of dirty yellow roots. He gave it a sniff, finding the scent similar enough to an onion and oddly close to a potato. The druid gathered a few more potonions… oniatoes? Then brought them to the enchanted pond to wash them off. He cut them into thin slices, adding the root to his mix. It wasn’t much of a soup, but it was interesting to consider food more complex than roasted mushrooms and toasted nuts.

  “Something smells horrible,” Mint said, pressing her face against the entrance of his house. “Are you doing laundry?”

  “This is soup.”

  “No, it isn’t,” Mint said, moving away from the house. He heard her say something else as she trotted off, but couldn’t make out what she said.

  Mint was right. Of course she was right. He had created water flavored gently with the taste of mushrooms and dirt. The soup splashed against the ground outside as he disposed of it. The druid settled back into his chair, popping a few mushrooms in his mouth and relaxing for the evening. Mortals would have a taste for good soup. Rud had a good thought about that fact, and intended to put more effort into that tomorrow. If Mint could bring him some bones he could make a decent soup. Maybe if he wasn’t such a terrible cook.

  ###

  Rud spent most of the next day working on a second tree house. Mint had shown surprising skill in fitting doors to both buildings. She set the hinges, raised the door, and even got the handle working on her own. They even had keys, which the druid had positively no idea where she could have gotten them from. Around noon he took his first break, heating up his copper tub and taking a pleasant bath. The self-cleaning gear he wore had kept him clean to some extent, but dirt still penetrated into his scalp and made him feel slightly itchy.

  He had just scrubbed himself down when the new wolf, Sarya, came scrambling into the clearing near the enchanted pool. “Mortals are coming!”

  “What?” Rud said, ready to remove himself from the tub. “Where?”

  “The dungeon people.”

  Rud allowed himself to sink back into the tub, narrowing his gaze at the wolf. “Am I needed for anything?”

  “No. Mint told me to tell you. Goodbye.”

  Mint must have been too busy to deliver the message herself and too concerned with other matters to talk through telepathy. There were only a few more things he needed to do for the second tree house to be completed. Finishing that project was massive, and represented the next phase in the grove’s development. The druid returned to the Sacred Tree after getting out of his bath. Before heading back he loaded up his backpack with the ingots he had crafted, placing them in his mushroom house. He had given little thought to keeping things secure since he came here, as none of the residents had an interest in stealing.

  Barrow, Elm, and Oak marched into the circular clearing, drawing the attention of the sapient residents and forest creatures alike. Rud poked his head out of his house, pulling back slightly when he saw the state the adventurers were in. Barrow’s armor was slightly melted, his cloak completely burned away to the clasp around his neck. Oak, the priestess of the group, had a sunken look in her eyes with more than a little of her red hair burned away. Elmera looked the most complete of all of them. Her state was only betrayed by the limp she walked with, and the drooping of her shoulders.

  After the shock wore off, Rud rushed out from his house and looked them over. “You guys look like crap!”

  “Thanks,” Elmera said in monotone.

  “I’ve got some houses. If you want to stay in those to recover,” Rud said, gesturing to the two new buildings in the clearing. He nodded at Mint. “I’m sure she could scrounge up some stoves and furniture.”

  “On it,” Mint said, padding off into the forest.

  “That would be… lovely,” Oak said with a labored sigh. None of her bright personality shone through.

  Barrow rolled his shoulders, pressing and holding his fingers to his forehead. “It was an honor to destroy the dungeon that threatened the grove. But I’m afraid you’re right. We need rest.”

  “Not a wink of sleep,” Elmera sighed, shuffling off toward one house. “Tiri and I are in this one. You get the other, Rob.”

  “Naturally,” Barrow said, bowing to Rud.

  Rud watched them go, tapping his foot on the ground. “We need to make them some food.”

  “Agreed. Once Mint gets their furniture, she can hunt. The mortals love meat, and there have been more wolves hunting in our grove,” Ban said.

  “I can hunt!” Sarya said, bursting from a nearby bush.

  “If you would,” Ban said, feeling a wave of approval flood through the grove.

  Sarya didn’t wait for more commands, dashing off into the forest to hunt and kill her kind. From the outside it seemed brutal. But the rules of the grove were absolute, and those wolves had violated them.

  Mint returned with an assortment of furniture. She shifted into her human form, dusting ash from the laminar armor and fixing her flowing hair. Rud joined with her, carrying things into either building. The adventurers had already collapsed onto the ground, only managing weak waves as they passed by. Once they had the wood stoves in place, complete with a brick layer underneath and a break behind, the druid got to work shaping the tree to accept the pipe for each stove. He could feel the eyes of the adventurers on him as he worked. Especially when he cast the Shape Plant spell.

  “Might be a bit tricky,” Rud groaned, climbing a ladder to apply the Lacquer spell inside of the hole he made for the tube. “But we’ll make it work.”

  “Thank you, spirit,” Oak said. She was splayed out on the ground, arms and legs out and eyes half-closed.

  “We’ve got food coming, too,” Rud said. It was mostly a lie, as he didn’t trust Sarya to get anything without destroying it. But he could collect mushrooms and nuts, which would sustain them. He started a fire, piling dead branches nearby for them to use.

  “Thank you,” Elmera said as he was leaving. He gave her a thumbs-up before heading out to finish up Barrow’s house.

  “It was a fourth rank dungeon,” Barrow said, looking up at Rud as he worked on the wood stove’s tube. “We expected a third rank.”

  Unlike the girls, he had propped himself against the wall. Only when Rud took a moment to look did he realize the man had his hand on the haft of a burned spear. His eyes held a far-off stare that needed mending.

  “Well, you’re safe now. The guardian can’t go into the dungeon, but she can protect you from anything outside it.” Rud smacked the side of the wall with a frying pan. It reverberated, ringing in his head. “Hard as stone. You’re safe here, buddy.”

  Barrow looked up, offering Rud a weak smile. Only a moment later, he fell asleep standing up. The druid finished working on the stove, ensuring it was both operational and safe. A fire crackled in both buildings, providing the adventurers with warmth. After spending a few days in a fire-based dungeon, maybe they didn’t want it. But the air was cold. They would appreciate it when night fell.

  “I have found food!” Sarya shouted as Rud came out of Barrow’s house.

  “Keep it down,” Rud snapped. He blinked. “Sorry. Nevermind. They can’t hear you. Shout as loud as you like.”

  “I have found fooood!”

  “Excellent. Let’s get a fire going,” Rud said, spotting the unprocessed body of a wolf nearby. He grimaced, bypassing the thing and setting a fire in the ring Mint often used. The guardian herself came to take care of the body, setting aside bones as Rud had requested.

  Mint skewered large sections of the meat, driving sticks into the ground to roast them by the fire. Rud found the biggest pot he could scrounge from her pile of junk and placed it on a metal stand over the flames. It had neat little legs that would extend and retract, allowing him to change the height during cooking. He then added water, mushrooms, the potonions, and bones. Lots of cracked bones with bits of meat still hanging off.

  “This version doesn’t smell so bad,” Mint said, fanning the steam from the pot into her face and sniffing.

  “I made this once on Earth. It took all day, and it tasted worse than the stuff that comes in a can. I considered it a great success as a home cook.”

  Sarya didn’t care for the cooked meat, but Mint had tossed her enough spare bones and cuts that she was content. The meat was ready well before the stock would be. Rud expected to take the pot into his house, allowing it to boil overnight before removing the bones and adding some edible ingredients. For now, they had a spread of roasted meat, skewered mushrooms, and roasted nuts. Mint handled the distribution of the food. Well, she forced Rud to eat mouthfuls of the meat, only allowing him a few skewers of mushrooms.

  “You must grow strong, little spirit,” Mint said, slapping him on the back.

  The adventurers got a few hours of rest, but were drawn out of their homes shortly after dusk. Rud hadn’t gone to bed, too worried about the state of the mortals to rest. Elmera and Oak shuffled over to the fire first, finding spots and taking chunks of meat wordlessly. Mint distributed everything to them as well, forcing them to eat without plates or utensils. Barrow was next, seeming far more tired than the girls. He chewed idly, staring into the fire.

  “I praise the strength of the adventurers,” Mint said, holding a hunk of meat high into the air. Rud impulsively thrust both his arms into the air, holding up a nut.

  Elmera held her piece of meat up for only a moment before going back to nibbling on it. “Constructs are difficult.”

  “We didn’t expect them to outrank us,” Barrow said.

  “Was it worth it?” Rud asked.

  Oak was the first to laugh. “Even if we calculate the amount of money we lost donating to the grove, and the cash the guild will charge us… we made out like bandits.”

  “Not enough to retire,” Barrow said, his voice more a warning than anything. “But enough to keep us fed and housed for quite some time.”

  Rud and Mint let the following silence settle in over the group. It had been a harrowing adventure for them. But for the members of the grove, it was just another day maintaining the Sacred Tree and all around her.