“Looking good,” Rud said. He couldn’t build a mental map of where they should dig, his only thought was to dig straight to the crystals.
“We’ll start here,” Taz said, jabbing his finger into the wall. He had a manic look on his face and was speaking faster than normal. “Build out a series of tunnels to extract everything on the first level. Then we’ll go deeper, expanding the second level.”
“Maybe you should get some sleep first.”
“Sleep later,” Taz said, gripping his shovel. “We’re gonna clear the junk out before I close my eyes for more than a second.”
And there was a lot of junk to clear out. With Taz going crazy on his mining project, he had produced a lot of chipped rock. The dwarf hadn’t even bothered to move it to logical piles, letting the gravel fall to the ground in a constant spread. There was no separation of stone and ore, leaving a confusing mess on the floor. It didn’t help that the air was thick with particulate stone. Rud hoped he didn’t get some lung-related fantasy illness as he began scooping shovels of rock into his bag.
“You’ll be happy, though,” Taz said, groaning as he loaded a shovel to carry outside the mine by hand. “I can sniff those fragment clusters out.”
Rud slung his backpack over his shoulder, almost falling end-over-end. He regained his balance. “Ban needs it. As long as she doesn’t do something weird like make another expansion, we’re fine. I can get her to Rank 1 and pray she has enough energy to support all the buildings.”
“Which god ya praying to?” Taz asked, pausing before turning the corner.
“Whichever one will listen.”
Clearing out the main was a pain, but it had to be done. Rud and Taz worked on it until the dwarf looked as though he would pass out. When he did pass out, the druid placed a blanket over him and left him where he fell. Which was atop a pile of gravel. His snores echoed through the mine and Rud didn’t have the heart to disturb him to clear the rest of the mine.
The mortals hadn’t moved on from the grove just yet. Rud came out of a bush, watching from the forest’s edge as the group prayed before the tree. A greedy part of himself wanted to watch as they placed offerings by the tree. Word must have gotten around the mortal world, because they left crystal fragments. Even at this distance, he could see how low-quality they were. Once again, others within the grove had predicted the offerings. It was another stream of income that would keep the tree alive.
Rud rested against his staff, eyes glued to the crystals as they were offered. One mortal placed the crystal too close to the tree. It rolled over, pressing against the bark without being absorbed. While he was certain others could add energy to the tree, this one hadn’t. It was strange, but at least the sun was shining overhead. The druid found a nearby tree to knock on, ensuring that he didn’t just jynx himself. Feeding Ban when the sun wasn’t shining was a chore.
The mortals found the western road leading out of the clearing and took it. Rud smiled to himself, imagining the things they would say as they walked down that road. It was more impressive than the one coming from the east, and provided more impressive views. Once they were cleared out, he fed those crystals left by the mortals to Ban. She absorbed them, filling her reserves while she worked on the Energy Nodules upgrade.
Of Rud’s various projects, the tea garden was the most gratifying. He watered his plants, cutting leaves that looked ready to his eye. The druid paused after hanging the leaves in his mushroom house, glaring at the building. “I’m coming back for you buddy. Wait until you see what I can do with my Shape Plant spell.”
The house had nothing to say, and Rud teleported to the enchanted pond to collect some water. It was time to test his Druidic Infusion upgrade with his Plant Care skill. He held his hand over a bucket, watching as beads of water formed on his palm. It fell into the water, sending ripples radiating outward. The water took on a deeper shade of blue, glowing as it was infused with his mana. Each bucket cost about ten mana to infuse, but he could feel the potency of growth within.
Rud passed through a bush, arriving at the field of burned forest near the old dungeon. Green sprouts were already pushing through the layer of ash, no doubt helped by the rain they had experienced weeks ago. The druid pulled a bucket out of his bag, preparing to distribute it with his ladle. Sprouts sprung up where the water hit, growing far larger than they had with the regular enchanted water. Once the initial burst of growth was over, he watched them continue to grow. From sprouts to little saplings, the trees rose to the sky to patch the broken shape of missing boughs above.
It took about five trips, or ten buckets, filled with the double-enchanted water to cover the area that had been destroyed. If he kept it up, this section of the forest would be restored within a few days. As Rud turned away from the area, he heard the familiar chittering of his squirrel friends. And he could almost hear their intent. Even without the Clear Communication upgrade. They weren’t just interested in nuts, but helping him with the forest.
“Did you guys plant all those seeds?” Rud asked, wagging a finger at the red squirrels in the trees. He got the impression that they had. The druid toggled his Clear Communication upgrade. “You could find other sections of the forest to restore.”
“Restore? Make better.” The squirrels’ voices came as one, rolling through the forest like a confusing symphony. “Find nuts. Plant nuts. Nuts, nuts, nuts! We like nuts. Who said that?”
Rud smiled up at the squirrels. Giving them a task was hard, but he knew they could do it. The creatures scattered, darting off into the forest to do their job. The druid grabbed more water, enchanting it after his mana regenerated and heading for the stump forest. He watered the trees there, gaining cheers from the nearby loggers who were still lingering. Processing the massive trees he grew was hard, but they only took it so far. Rather than milling the lumber into boards on the spot, they cut them small enough to drag across the land. How they accomplished such a feat was beyond him, but he didn’t care. They cheered when he did dramatic poses, so that was cool.
Before heading back into the forest, Rud asked where Mira was. The loggers informed him she was busy in the mortal town, Barlgore. They wouldn’t tell him what she was busy with, because they didn’t know, but they expressed their appreciation for the comfy house. There was even a pile of carved figures in the mailbox, which he added to his bag to place inside his house.
Rud realized he hadn’t turned off his Clear Communication upgrade when he approached a bush to teleport. A growling voice rumbled through the bushes. “Meat. Fresh meat.”
The druid’s back went rigid. He felt the hair on his neck and arms stand up on end as he was frozen in fear. “Mint?” he squeaked.
Jaws emerged from the bush, slavering as they moved to wrap around Rud’s thin body. Shouts of fear rose from nearby loggers as they scattered. A flash of fur and fangs whizzed by, casting the interloper to the side with a flurry of snaps and claws. It passed too quickly for Rud to realize what happened, even after the tree they slammed into crashed to the ground, he was dazed. Mint stood with her forepaws on the side of a massive wolf. She had her jaws around his neck and was shaking her head.
“Release me!” the strange wolf-thing said. It wasn’t quite a normal wolf. It was too big with a brown and red coat. And it wasn’t speaking nonsense like most forest creatures. At least, its thoughts were organized.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
“I’ve been hunting you for too long,” Mint said, biting down harder. The strange wolf yelped.
“I submit,” the wolf said. “You have bested me.”
Mint growled again, shaking her head a few more times for good measure. She stepped away, allowing the new wolf to stand to his feet. This creature was about as big as Mint, which was messed up. Normal wolves were half her size—if they were lucky. Sarya looked like a freaking Yorkie standing next to a Great Dane. The massive wolf lowered its head, pressing snout to dirt.
“Want a job?” Mint asked. “You take the job, or you die.”
“The job, please,” the wolf said, snorting to stir the leaves around his nose.
“Rud!” Mint shouted, turning to snarl at the druid. “I found a new defender of the grove.”
“The one that just tried to kill me?” Rud asked.
“Hungry,” the wolf said. “Just hungry.”
“He’s not a regular wolf,” Mint said, sniffing at the creature. “What are you, beast?”
The interloper wolf grumbled and growled. But it didn’t raise its head. “I don’t know.”
Rud didn’t know that a wolf could show concern on their face. But Mint did so. She shifted into her human form shortly after and approached Rud, cupping her chin in her hand in thought. She only ever had a look of joy or anger on her face. For the first time, the druid saw genuine concern. “He’s on the edge of becoming a Sacred Beast. Might already be one, based on how he’s talking the mortal tongue.”
“Are you sure he’s not gonna eat me?” Rud asked.
“Not unless he wants to die. He’ll sign a contract now that I’ve bested him. I dunno what kind of wolf he is, but it shouldn’t matter. He recognizes my strength.”
“Yes, my lady,” the wolf said.
“Okay,” Mint said, producing a contract and a well of ink from under her armor. She placed the contract on the ground before the wolf, forcing him to place his paw in the ink and press it into the contract. “You’re mine now, buddy.”
“Hungry,” the wolf said.
“Rud, show him the ropes. The forest will eat him if he betrays the grove.” Mint was gone before Rud could object. She said all she needed to for Rud’s mind to be at ease. He understood that a hungry animal could be driven to extremes and wouldn’t hold it against the creature.
Rud approached the newest member of the grove, kneeling to cradle his massive head in his hands. “When was the last time you ate?”
“A long time.”
Rud ran his fingers through the wolf’s coat, smiling at him. The mixture of browns and reds were interesting. They weren’t dull colors like the gray wolf analogs here, but brilliant shades.
“Please. Food.”
“Alrighty. Come on,” Rud said. “We have stores of meat you can dig into. Oh, you don’t have a name, do you?”
“I do not.”
The wolf stood, forcing Rud to look up to meet his downward gaze. “Well… Follow me while I think of a name. You’re bound to the grove, so you can use Thicket Travel.”
Rud pushed through a bush, arriving at the mine in moments. The wolf padded behind him, almost completely silent. There was something unsettling about a thousand-pound wolf that could move without a sound. At least creatures coming close to being a Sacred Beast had an innate respect for the groves.
“What drew you here?” Rud asked, listening to the sound of Taz snoring as they made their way to the freezer in the bat cave.
“I felt the power,” he said. “Very impressive power.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Rud said, turning and holding his hand out. The wolf stopped. “Stay here. The bats don’t like me as it is. They’ll go bonkers if they see a wolf.”
Rud entered the cave, listening as the bats snored away. He paused, realizing that the bats were snoring. Toggling his Clear Communication upgrade off, he heard nothing. Was this system that Ban mentioned interpreting their errant sounds as snores? How weird.
With a big leg of something in hand, Rud headed back to the tunnel. The creature was waiting, wagging his tail when he spotted the meal. The druid tossed it to him, smiling when he caught it and scampered off, his tail hammering against either side of the tunnel as he went. They joined at the mouth of the tunnel, the wolf already going to town on the frozen meat.
“Is that enough food, buddy?”
“For now.”
Rud had some time to think of a name. The last member of the grove was Taz, but he already had a name. And someone else got to name Sarya, giving her some elf name. Yuck. The druid took his time to think of a name. He settled on something almost right away, but kept it to himself. Just in case something better came up.
“A grove… I never thought I would see one. Let alone be subdued by the guardian of one,” the wolf said, crunching through a bone and eating it whole.
It had taken Sarya a few days to get her speech working correctly. But this guy had sorted himself out in a few minutes. “Did you have any wolf friends? Surely they know what kind of wolf you are.”
“I’ve been alone my entire life. Hunting and killing. Gaining power so that…”
“You don’t know, do you?” Rud asked, patting the wolf on the back. “How do you feel about serving the grove?”
“I don’t know,” he growled.
“There’s plenty of hunting to do here. If the past few weeks are anything to go by, you’ll have enough powerful enemies to deal with. Did you see that monster wave to the south?”
The wolf nodded. “I saw it. I fought some monsters. It was good.”
When the wolf was almost done with his meal, Rud saw Sarya burst through the underbrush. She went down on her forepaws, growling at the new wolf. He growled back, and a tussle broke out. Rud yelped, running behind a tree and watching the battle. After a brief back-and-forth, he realized they weren’t going in for the kill. Not that Sarya could do a thing to the massive wolf. When they broke apart, two tails were wagging furiously.
“You have a fighting spirit,” the new wolf said.
“You are strong,” Sarya shot back.
“We are friends now.”
“Yes, we are.”
Then the butt-sniffing started. Once they both had a noseful of butt, they shared what was left of the meat. Sarya departed to conduct her duties—likely patrolling the forest and checking on the mortals—and the new wolf turned to Rud with an expectant look.
“Do I have a task?” he asked.
“I dunno. How fast can you run?” Rud asked.
“Very fast.”
Rud approached the wolf, grabbing at fur and falling off. The wolf sat, allowing the druid to climb the massive creature. No matter how much hair he tugged at, the wolf didn’t respond. He was like a flea on his back, barely noticeable.
“Let’s see how the mortals are doing. To the west,” Rud said. Then he held on for dear life as the wolf dashed forward. The forest was a blur of brown and green as they ran, and he almost fell off more than once.
The cliffs and valleys were more of a suggestion to the wolf. He cleared vast ravines in a single jump, landing as though he was only taking another stride. Rud got the hang of sitting on the creature’s back after a while, and the mortals came into view shortly after. The wolf jumped over them as they walked the path, landing before them and causing every adventurer to draw arms.
“No worries!” Rud shouted from the wolf’s back. “Just testing out my new ride.”
“I am not your ride,” the wolf said.
“No, you’re much more than that,” Rud said, patting the wolf on the back. “You’re the Ferrari of the fantasy world.”
“Is that my new name?”
“Maybe. No. Hey, you guys want to put away those sharp things? You’re making my ‘rari nervous.”
Barrow moved to the head of the group, waving nervously at Rud. “Fair spirit… We didn’t expect you to ride a wolf to greet us today. Let alone a dire wolf.”
“Oh,” Rud said, looking down at the wolf between his legs. “You’re a dire wolf.”
“A dire wolf…”
Rud dismounted, placing his hands over the wolf’s muzzle. He opened and shut it repeatedly, turning the low growl into a repeated sound that made him laugh. “He’s cool. See?”
“I’ll take your word for it, Rud,” Barrow said, approaching. The wolf lowered his head, allowing the adventurer to pat him on the head. “Where did you come from, you great beast?”
“I’ve decided on a name,” Rud declared. “Dean. Like James Dean. Cause he’s so cool.”
“Who is that?” Barrow asked.
“Come on, let’s walk. I’ll tell you all about him.”
“You have a fighting spirit,” the new wolf said.
“You are strong,” Sarya shot back.
“We are friends now.”
“Yes, we are.”
Ah, to be a wolf in a magical spirit grove. Just a bit of wrastlin' and you make friends. Easy peasy.