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

The three skills Rud planned to focus on to reach Rank 1 were Animal Communication, Growth Magic, and Construction Magic. He woke the next morning and was reminded of how important it was for him to create the road between the center of the grove and the labyrinth. Elm set off that morning to study the location some more and required an escort. Fortunately, Dean offered to take her there, so the druid didn't need to do anything. With the road, she could make the trip in much less time.

That would cover two of the skills he needed to level, but that left his communication with animals. Perhaps there was a way to interweave these two problems. After having some tea, taking care of his farm, and doing general maintenance on his mortal recreational areas, Rud gathered some nuts and prepared to head out.

The labyrinth was in a slightly awkward location, almost as far west as one could go before leaving the grove. He would take a road from the main western path and angle it to the southwest, directly to the labyrinth. He wouldn't require the help of squirrels to do this. Instead, he would use them to help him locate the cursed objects.

"Hello, little squirrels," Rud said, stepping out into the forest and looking around. He spotted the red squirrels up in the tree, chittering with excitement as he approached. Of course, they were only excited because he was walking around with two hands filled with delicious shelled nuts. "Does anybody want to do a job?"

With his Clear Communication upgrade activated, the druid heard the errant chatter of the squirrels.

"Job? Hawk! I see a hawk! What job?"

"I've got a scouting mission for you," Rud said. A moment later, he shifted into his squirrel form and climbed up a tree. Of course, he had left the piles of acorns on the ground below. The squirrels' attention was now on him as he delivered his proposition. "Is anyone up for the task?"

"Task? Ask!" the squirrels said, their voices blending together. "Nuts! Butts!"

Rud released a heavy sigh and explained what he needed them to do. The squirrels were difficult to wrangle, but once they got on task, it wasn't difficult for them to remain working. After some convincing, they set off on their mission to scout the location of the cursed objects. There were twelve objects to observe and more than enough squirrels to get the job done. This freed the druid up to start on his road.

Placing his hand against a young tree, Rud smiled as he invoked his Shape Plant spell. It moved under his command, twisting and elongating until he wove it with another to create the railing of the road. It was the first time he'd worked on one of his living roads in quite some time, and it felt good to get back to it. The roads themselves would be completely useless if he didn't have access to his lacquer spell. They were too rough and uneven before that. But with the spell, he could create a road that was smooth, but not too smooth.

More than just creating a road, though, Rud wanted to make this one more ornate than the last. He put more details into the railing, embellishments, and flourishes that saw each piece twisting together in intricate ways to create appealing patterns. He etched designs into the road itself, drawing pictures or imbuing it with geometric shapes that were all incredibly pleasing.

The faint sound of a bird lighting onto the railing behind him drew him from his focus. The druid turned to find Nulsa, looking down at him and tilting his head.

"Interesting that you would task squirrels with a job I could do," Nulsa said, a tone of disappointment in his voice.

"If I wanted a job done right, I would have asked you," Rud said. "But I'm trying to level up my animal communication skill, so I asked the squirrels."

"That actually makes sense," Nulsa said after a long pause. "You're working on another road, one going to the labyrinth, I'd assume?"

"That's right," Rud said, wiping sweat from his forehead as he leaned against the railing. Despite his investment into the mind attribute, it always felt as though he didn't have enough mana to get these jobs done. Even with the Grove Weaver skill, he still couldn't go on indefinitely and needed regular breaks. "I'm slightly concerned with how far out it is. It's too far from the grove's center to defend it properly. Do you think more defensive structures around it are a good idea?"

"Not only that, but I would encase it in solid wood," Nulsa said, "And then cover the entire thing in thorns. I wouldn't want random beasts or people wandering in there. And then we have to consider those with fewer scruples coming to take advantage of the labyrinth."

That was a sobering thought. Rud hadn't considered how much of a responsibility it was to care for not only the grove, but also the Labyrinth. Like the dungeon, it was now under his charge, and he didn't plan to screw it up. He gave the giant owl a hearty thumbs up. "Thanks. I see why they say owls are so wise."

"Yes, I am indeed wise," Nulsa said, nodding in a sage-like way. He puffed his feathered chest out and gave a soft hoot.

The owl thankfully didn't abandon Rud. He remained there and chatted about whatever. The druid pined for the days he could finally fly, but nobody had gifted him a shapeshifting form that would fit the bill. He was currently stuck only as a squirrel, and although he was interested in learning more forms, it just hadn't happened. But he wasn't a complainer. He worked on the road without griping about it and chatted with his friend.

"What do you think about this design?" Rud asked, gesturing to the geometric pattern he had created on the road.

"Yes, it is quite pleasing," Nulsa said with a hoot.

***

It was the late afternoon, and Rud was having a good time working on the road. He had made more progress than he had expected, and Nulsa had kept him company throughout most of the day. The owl had only recently flown away to attend to a strange flash that rumbled through the grove.

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"Hawk!" a squirrel's voice echoed through the dense forest.

Rud searched around, finding a squirrel skittering along a branch and chittering angrily down at him.

"What is it, Lassie?" Rud asked. "Is Timmy stuck in the well?"

The squirrel shrieked and chittered for quite some time before Rud was able to understand anything that it was saying. But when the creature finally made some amount of sense, a flash of cold ran up the druid's spine.

"Say that again," Rud said, swallowing hard.

"Giant, evil squirrel!" the squirrel said, going into a deeper panic.

"Nulsa, Major, Dean," Rud said, allowing his voice to echo through the forest. The spirit animals emerged from the wooded areas an instant later. The druid explained the situation, sending Nulsa off to scout while the others prepared to head out. There were only 12 sites the squirrels could have gone to, and what the panicked squirrel said was obvious. One had come in contact with a cursed object despite Rud's warnings.

"Perhaps it would be wise not to use such dull creatures to do your bidding next time," Dean said, growling as he padded across the completed section of the road.

"Perhaps our custodian is doing his best," Major retorted, offering Dean a growl in return.

"Let's just chill out," Rud said, heaving a sigh, "We dealt with a giant biter. I don't think we'll have any trouble with a giant squirrel."

It didn't take long for Nulsa to return at all. He flitted through the canopy of the trees, landing on the railing of the road and hooting softly. "I found the offending squirrel," he said, jerking his head to one side. "Follow me."

The cadre of spirit creatures found the nearest bush and dove in. Rud held his breath as he passed through the leaves, blinded momentarily as they arrived in a clearing. His breath caught in his throat as he looked up, seeing the twenty-foot squirrel panicking before him. His mouth fell agape as he watched for only a few moments.

Dean wasn't one to wait. He instead leapt into action, jumping and passing through the squirrel's chest to leave behind a swirl of mist. Rud was putting things together, but it was a little confusing. On the ground, there was a small hole with a smaller version of the panicking squirrel standing atop a metal object. Above him was the larger squirrel, mimicking every motion of the smaller one, down to the twitch of its whiskers.

"It seems almost like an illusion," Major said, cocking his head to one side and sniffing the air. "I sense nothing from the larger one."

"Yeah, I think this is a little more simple than we had expected," Rud said with a sigh. He strode over, using his staff to steady himself as he descended into the hole. He knelt near the squirrel and shook his head. "You alright there, buddy?"

"No! Panic! Giant evil squirrel! Frozen in fear!"

Rud grabbed the squirrel under its forelegs and lifted it from the cursed object. The image of the squirrel above disappeared in an instant, leaving behind a swirling cloud of mist that slowly funneled back into the cursed object. The druid shook his head, placing the squirrel on his shoulder as he stood.

"I think Nulsa was right about the intelligence of squirrels," Rud said, patting the poor creature on the head. When he gave it a nut, it took it, seeming to forget about the traumatizing experience it just went through.

"That was a powerful illusion," Dean said, looking down into the hole.

Red withdrew a shovel from his backpack and dug out the area around the cursed object. It was about the size of his forearm and twice as thick. The metal was of unknown origin and engraved with sigils he couldn't recognize. As expected, removing the object with the shovel didn't activate it. He brought it outside of the hole and tossed it to the side. Of course, Major was curious enough to place his paw on it, and an instant later a massive image of the bear appeared in the air above them.

"Playing with a cursed object isn't something I would advise," Nulsa warned, flying to the ground near the hunk of metal and tutting. "A spirit beast should know that."

"Yet the effect is pleasing," Major said, looking up at the image of himself and cracking something of a bearish smile.

"This is the first of 12 objects," Rud said with pride. He shooed Major away with his shovel before lifting the object again. "Let's go purify it. Could you guys help me collect the required reagents?"

The Sacred Beasts all agreed to do their part. Major offered to gather the acorns, while Dean would get the jug of river water. Rud already had enough imbued leaves on him to perform the ritual and also would scout the area ahead. The druid had selected the place where the mortals chopped lumber as his cursed object graveyard. It seemed like the best place, even if it was so close to the people of the local town.

Rud passed through the thicket and arrived at the logging site a moment later, the cursed object still resting on his shovel. He tried to contain his excitement as he saw a familiar face in the distance. Mira waved from afar, bounding over with joy on her face… Until she spotted the object on the druid's shovel.

"Ugh, you need to take care of another one of those?" she asked, pulling back slightly, as though he held a slimy, disgusting thing.

"This one's actually not that bad. Red said he looked over his shoulder when Nelsa issued a mournful hoot. "Although I've been instructed not to mess around with it too much."

"I've got a question when you're done, but for now I think you should take care of that," Mira said.

Rud laughed as he watched the cat woman bound off back to her work in the logging camp. The druid found the perfect tree to create a containment vessel for the cursed object and got to work. He set the object down on the ground and shaped the tree to become the perfect prison. He hollowed the inside out and reinforced it so nobody could get in. Then he prepared the ritual. The sacred beasts arrived with the reagents shortly after and he got to work. Once again, he found his ability with ritual magic lacking.

"I'm just not as good at it as I thought I would be," Rud said, struggling to form the circles that would imprison the cursed object. Despite his best efforts, he once again needed the sacred tree's help to make it happen. Although he could feel no judgment from his companions, he was his own worst critic. When the spell finally came together and the cursed object gleamed with a shimmering light of white and blue, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, hold on," Rud said, finding his way to the forest's edge. He turned on his clear communication ability and shouted into the forest, eventually getting a few chittering calls back from nearby squirrels. He instructed them to inform the other squirrels to call off the search. This was a very minor effect compared to what it could have been, and he didn't want any of them getting hurt.

When Rud wrapped all of that up, he headed over to the logging camp, waving at the folks there. They had finally gotten used to him enough that they didn't freak out. Upon seeing him, the druid had always assumed he appeared different from other people to them. He thought he just looked like a human, but maybe there was a subtle difference they could see that marked him as a spirit of the grove.

"Alright, so you're having some problems?" Rud asked. "Need some more wood?"

"Actually, it's worse than that," Mira said with a nervous chuckle. "Something's going on with the frozen island. The cold is spreading."

"Ah. That's not good…"