Gladesbale Grove [druid, litrpg, town building, slice of life, cozy]

Rud spent the next morning catching up with Barrow and Oak. Elm had left a hole in their party that would be impossible to fill, but they were making do with what they could get in the town. He bid them farewell after sharing tea and breakfast. As always, the mortals appreciated the comforts provided by the bath and the warm beds. The party set off with high expectations, bolstered enough by those comforts to hit the road hard.

Leveling the Druid class wouldn't be hard, so long as Rud focused on three skills. Animal Communication, Growth Magic, Construction Magic, and Plant Care were all candidates. Construction Magic was the only skill at Level 9, and it seemed to refuse to gain anymore experience. That left Rud with the choice of three others. Working with plants would be easier than dealing with animals, so he picked that for now.

After Rud took care of his tea farm for the morning, he headed off to prune more trees in the grove. Regrowing swathes of trees would be an easy way to level up Growth Magic. Tending to those trees also added to his Plant Care skill, so there was that. Starting from the central point of the grove, he walked in a circle. While the markings on the tree were useful, the druid ensured that each tree he passed wasn't diseased. It was hard to tell how the disease was spreading through the trees, but it wouldn't matter. The moment Ban brought the trees under her control, they should have been immune to further infections.

Unsurprisingly, Growth Magic hit Level 9 within the first hour of work. Rud hedged his bets, talking with nearby squirrels and shapeshifting as often as he could while he worked. To his surprise, around noon his Animal Communication skill rolled over to Level 9. Well before Plant Care.

[Ding!]

You have gained a level in your Druid class!

Level 9!

You have gained one free attribute point.

"Woo-hoo," Rud said with exactly no enthusiasm. "Another attribute point."

Rud placed his free attribute point into Endurance, seeking to reap the rewards of being more… enduring. It just felt odd to place all his points into Mind and Affinity without a plan. The extra point of Endurance sent his health up a few points, but he felt nothing dramatic. But he was one step closer to hitting Level 10, which would give him his first rank.

"You'll be excited," Ban said, speaking into Rud's mind.

The tree might not have gone to sleep, but she had been fairly silent over the past few days. Despite her claims, Rud suspected she still struggled creating the new building. Perhaps that would never change, as it drew so much power from her body.

"What is it?" Rud asked into the forest.

"Southwest of the grove's center. That's where I've seen the most deer."

Rud shifted into his squirrel form, darting into the nearest bush. He arrived in a clearing, at the center of which rested a barn-like building. The new structure was about as big as the longhouse, but much higher. On either side were barn doors, leading into individual stables to house the creatures. The building was clearly intended for many different types of animals, considering how tall each stable was. Outside was the effigy of the Wild Aspect, Harg. The bear stood on its hind legs, seeming to swat at the observer.

He inspected the building.

[Barn]

Rank 0 Level 1 Sacred Tree Building

Upgrade Progress: 0%

Description:

A building dedicated to the rearing and care of animals.

Upgrades:

NONE

"Oh, just a barn?" Rud asked, trying not to laugh at the description. "Seems plain compared to the other buildings we have."

"Indeed. I'm hoping for some decent upgrades."

Rud withdrew a Dungeon Core Fragment from his bag, waggling it in the air. "Well, we might as well get to it?"

"Should you use them so freely?"

Rud shrugged, shoving the first core fragment into the building. "The adventurers have been leaving more of these things. And from what I understand, we'll need higher rank fragments to upgrade the buildings past a point."

"Very well."

The first range of upgrades appeared for Rud to look through. But it didn't take him long to settle on one that would make his life a lot easier.

[Animal Tracking]

Barn Upgrade

Building Synergy:

[Observatory]

Description:

Drawing on the power of your Observatory and the grove, this upgrade grants you the ability to track animals within your grove.

Effect:

Gain basic information on every animal within the grove, including location and general health.

"What do you think about that?" Rud asked, thrusting his chest out with pride.

"That's an excellent upgrade," Ban said.

"Yeah," Rud said, selecting the upgrade. "This will make my life a lot easier."

More interesting than the upgrade itself was the synergy tag it held. He had seen one of Ban's buildings gain a synergistic upgrade before. This example of that system tied two buildings together, drawing on the power of one to empower the other. It was an interesting thought to consider that most of the buildings in the grove could accept such an upgrade. And it made him wonder how much Ban's will and desires went into providing the upgrades.

"I'm gonna use it," Rud said, closing his eyes. He had no idea how to use it, but that never really mattered. 'Fake it 'till you make it' had been his motto since he was a child.

Accepting Harg's aspect was easy enough, unlocking the Animal Husbandry skill. The moment he focused on the concept of animals within the grove, Rud gained a sense for every living critter within. He felt a rush of information flooding through his mind that had him reeling. It didn't provide him with a nice printout like most skills and upgrades in the system did, instead just giving him the knowledge right to his brain.

"Okay, that's a lot of deer. And I'm not even sure what this creature is… I guess I need to be aware of the species before it tells me anything useful."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Any interesting information about the deer?"

"Yeah, we only cured about a quarter of the population. I'm guessing there are others hiding out that just don't want contact with any non-deer."

Rud turned away, feeling the Aspect of Harg fading away from him as he passed through a nearby bush. Ban seemed to watch him with amusement as he shifted into his squirrel form, slinking through the forest before climbing a tree. He had teleported to the northwest part of the grove, near the foot of the dwarven mountains to the north. It was colder there, but his insulating fur helped with that. Sure enough, he found the deer in question shortly after.

There was a problem, though. Those deer didn't look too friendly, and he was certain they would flee before he could pop a spell off. This required only the finest of squirrel-based stealth action. Jumping from one tree to the other, Rud approached the herd from above. There were two bucks, and about twelve does, but it was hard to tell with how much they moved while grazing. Focusing his magical senses, the druid scanned each deer in search of diseases. He couldn't sense them from here, but he could feel the cursed power radiating from a few biters. Now that he knew what he was looking for, they were easy enough to spot.

"My healing magic is going to go up by a lot," Rud said, sending his thoughts directly to Ban. She giggled back, still watching him from afar.

Rud shifted back into his true form while straddling a branch. He rubbed his hands together, pointing his open palms at the lead buck. The spell fulminated, filling the air with glittering orbs of light. A moment later, the biter which had attached itself to the creature's neck fell off. The entire herd was spooked, fleeing eastward with haste.

"One down thirteen to go," Rud grumbled, climbing down from the tree to squash the biter. At least all the other diseases were purged from the poor critter.

Employing the same tactic, Rud shifted into his squirrel form, stalked the deer, squashed the bug, and repeated. It was arduous, but during the adventure, he leveled his Healing Magic skill to Level 5, giving him access to an upgrade for the skill. But he didn't look at the upgrade options right away, wanting to get the job done before he took a break.

Rud settled down on a treebranch the moment he had a break. He wanted to slap himself in the face, realizing he had gotten distracted from the day's task. When Ban revealed the new building she made for him, he cast all other tasks to the side. Well, at least his Animal Husbandry for his subclass gained a single level. Just from that one pulse of information. That was a comfort though, since it was unlikely he would bring animals back to the barn.

"Let's see," Rud said, finally having a chance to inspect his upgrade potential. "You know the best way to pick upgrades?"

"What's that?" Ban asked.

"Look for the one with your name on it," Rud said, selecting the upgrade that—indeed—had Ban's name on it.

[Ban'Tanthein's Grace]

Healing Magic Upgrade

Description:

Healing Magic spells gain additional power from the Sacred Tree Ban'Tanthein.

Effect:

While within Gladesbale Grove, all healing spells have a greatly reduced cost.

All healing magic gains the Aspect of Ban'Tanthein.

The Aspect of Ban'tanthein increases the potency of purification-style Healing Magic.

"Well, that's an obvious selection," Ban said with a chuckle.

Reduced cost of mana for any spells was always the best pick. Especially since Rud only had 100 mana to work with, if he could take the cost of his healing magic down from 50 to even 30, he could get three casts per rest rather than two. The moment he selected the upgrade, he felt something warm flowing through his chest. Closing his eyes, the Druid felt Ban's energy flowing through his body. It stung the tips of his fingers and tickled the ends of his ears. It was surprising to feel something so powerful be filled with so many warm emotions. After a moment, he opened his eyes and let out a breath.

"You're the best tree," Rud said, nodding to himself. "Okay, gonna heal more deer!"

Although Rud was upset about forgetting his other plan, he was now too eager to check out this upgrade to think about anything else. He shifted back into his squirrel form and darted through the nearest bush, soaring through the air. The next group of deer he had to deal with was in the southwest, near where they had a lot of problems with dungeons. While it made little sense for wild animals to roam close to that area, he wouldn't question it. The deer he had met were of varying intelligence, and it was hard to tell if they were working under some beast-driven instinct to avoid others.

"There we are," Rud said, whispering to himself in squirrel-talk.

"Nuts!?" a nearby squirrel squeaked.

"No nuts here, buddy," Rud said, shaking his head.

"Weird squirrel!" the squirrel shouted back.

Rud sighed. His flying squirrel form was slightly different from the local red squirrels. Most didn't care, but there was that one in one-hundred squirrel who just wouldn't shut up about it. Of course this spooked the deer, sending the deer running toward the edge of the grove. The druid threw a nut at the squirrel who ruined it.

"You stink, buddy."

"Weird squirrel!" the squirrel shouted again.

Rud tracked the herd for a whole, but they didn't enter the grove again. Instead, they angled south, finally leaving the range he was comfortable following at. He had recently become more attached to the grove, and wouldn't leave it without an escort. Perhaps that was because every upgrade he had been selecting for his classes involved something tied to the grove. Whatever. The grove was awesome and large enough for him to run around without ever feeling cooped up.

Abandoning the idea of the first herd, Rud flew off to find another group. With the upgrade on the Barn, it wasn't hard to find another group. This one was straight south of the clearing. They were bedding down near his path running from the south to the north, some dozed off while others kept their heads up in alert. Rud actually got his first cast of Nature's Banishment off without them noticing. His mouth fell open when he saw the mana cost reduction.

Nature's Banishment had a base cost of 50, which had been reduced to 45 thanks to his skill level. But as long as he was standing within the grove, that cost plummeted to 20. He could now cast the spell five times before he ran out of mana and had to rest. That was almost half the herd currently below him! And they didn't even run. Rud resisted the urge to dance in the tree. He was barely holding onto the branch, bracing himself for all he was worth.

Thanks to the upgrade on both the Barn and his skill, Rud cleared away most of the errant deer before night even came close to falling. While he was at it, he cleared away any stagnant ponds he found. With the low mana cost on his healing spells, the task was simple.

"Hmmm… I think I should have cast Nature's Banishment on Barrow and Oak…"

"They haven't left the grove yet. At their speed, they'll make it through in about a day."

"A day!?" Rud shouted, spooking the squirrels around him. "What are they doing? Running?"

"They are. I've sent you their position."

Rud felt the information flood into his mind. Ban was tracking the group of adventurers as they darted through the grove. Finding the nearest branch to soar through, the druid appeared over the dashing adventurers. They were far faster than he had expected, forcing him to pick a spot further along the way to intercept them. He stood on the road, holding his arms wide with his staff in hand. As the group of adventurers slowed to a trot, he realized how much magic was soaked through their bodies. They skidded to a stop and he realized there was some movement enhancement magic going on there.

"Rud," Barrow said. The guy wasn't even out of breath. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course!" Rud bellowed. He cleared his throat. "I'm just a silly little guy. Forgot I had some new healing magic."

Oak laughed, trotting over to kneel before the druid. "You are a silly little guy. I'm a Priestess of Ayn."

Rud thrust his arms wide, casting Nature's Banishment on her.

[Nature's Banishment]

Creeping Infection removed from Trinein Oaken.

Oak's brow furrowed. "What? How could I have an infection?"

Barrow snorted, slapping his hand over his mouth. Oak turned, staring daggers at him.

"Don't be jealous of my awesome power," Rud said, holding his pose. "My spells are empowered by the grove, so maybe you just missed it."

"Do me next," Barrow said. Oak punched him in the arm, only hurting her hand by slugging his armor. She flailed the hand in the air, glaring daggers at her adventuring companion.

"Is that movement-enhancement magic?" Rud asked, watching the way the adventurers moved. He was almost certain all their motions were faster than normal.

"Haste," a mage from the back of the group said. He smiled, bowing his head at Rud. "Very useful spell."

"I want it."

"Uh… Perhaps I could teach you," the mage offered.

"Don't get distracted by the silly little druid," Barrow said, bowing to Rud. "We have a pace to keep, Sacred Spirit."

"Understandable. I can't learn mage spells anyway," Rud said.

After casting nature's banishment on each party member while exchanging a few more pleasantries, the group was off again. Rud watched as they darted away with impossible speeds. Even the people without combat classes were moving faster, so it wasn't a matter of just having more attributes. That spell was awesome, and he wanted everything like it. The druid waited on the road, holding his arms out for a while. He expected someone to give him a cool spell, but nothing happened.

He would take a page out of Taz's book and do his best to prove himself to the spirits. He was worthy of enhancement magic. They just had to learn that. Rud suspected River wouldn't give him new spells anytime soon. That spirit had invested a lot in him in recent weeks.

"Oh well!" Rud said, turning to face the forest. "Time to do… wait what was I doing? Argh! Leveling skills! Stop getting distracted, Rud!"