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

It was one thing to think about swimming across the frozen lake, and another entirely to do it. Rud stood with Dean at the lake's edge, looking over the icy waters with apprehension. Perhaps it wasn't the plunge itself he worried about so much as what was on the other side. The island had been a constant thing, looming just on the horizon since he had arrived in the grove. Perhaps he hadn't seen it from the start, but it was there, always waiting for his arrival.

"Just be calm," Dean said, his voice a strange source of reassurance. "This is your duty to the grove."

Such things were simple to say when you were as powerful as Dean. Rud studied himself, rolling his shoulders as he shifted into his otter form. He nodded at the wolf before sliding into the lake. As expected, he didn't feel any of the surrounding cold. When he plunged, the sounds faded, replaced instead by the rapid beating of his own heart and the rush of water. Beneath the surface was a world he could have never imagined.

Despite the chilly temperature of the water, fish still flitted here and there as Rud swam towards the island. He propelled himself forward at a speed he could never hope to achieve in his true form. The ice above grew thicker but was still broken here and there, providing plenty of places for him to surface. His otter lungs could endure the depths for an absurd amount of time. He felt no desire to surface as he skidded along the lake bed. Before long, he found the ground rising once again to meet the surface. He spotted a hole in the ice and popped through it, landing and skidding along the slick shelf.

The island's shore was unremarkable, dotted with dead or dying plants and a heavy dusting of snow. The shore was rocky, interspersed with patches of bare earth. Rud had no desire to shift outside of his otter form and padded along the ground until his feet graced the dirt of the island. The intense cold stung his pads, but he endured, pressing further into the island and sniffing around with his new senses. These new senses painted the world in different colors, but none of the information seemed useful right now.

The island itself was rather large. Since it had almost always been obscured in a layer of fog, he had never seen it well from the tower. Even viewing it from the lake shore provided almost no information. The area close to the shore contained nothing of interest, but the further he pushed in, the more he saw signs of a once-thriving settlement. The ruins of buildings made from stone and timber lingered on the outermost sections of a town. The cold had helped preserve them over the years, resulting in a ghostly image of life from years ago.

Rud finally spotted something more interesting than those scattered buildings. The remains of a palisade fence loomed just behind a crowd of bushes. Their pointed tops were visible first, and then he spotted larger buildings behind them. He skittered around, finding a gap in the defenses, and plunged into the center of town. He was buffeted by winds that had increased ever since he approached the outskirts.

A stormy vortex swirled in the center of town, the wind visibly kicking things up and sending them high into the air. From the center came fat snowflakes and chunks of ice that seemed driven by the whirlwind itself. Rud could barely stand on his four feet as he watched, studying and observing as much as he could while he could. Through his magical senses, he took in everything he could, but it was difficult, if not impossible, to glean any useful information.

The druid shielded his eyes with his forepaws, squinting and moving sporadically. He had to close his eyes to approach closer than 50 feet, and anything after that seemed impossible. Even the protection of his coat wasn't enough to keep the layers of frostbite from forming on his skin. But he stole a glance when he was close enough, seeing something at the center of that maelstrom. Some kind of object shone in the dim light of the town.

Rud skittered away from the town's center, feeling his body warm up as he retreated from the storm. He wasn't certain of what he had seen, but he had more information than before. Once he tended to his wounds, he could let Elm know about it. The druid dove into the water, fleeing to the far shore and popping out before flopping onto his side.

Without a word, Dean scooped him up and rushed back toward the grove. Rud saw the world pass by in a flash of colors and shapes. Then came an intense warmth that woke him from his sleep. It was the warmth driven by Ban. Even if the tree was busy, he still felt her comforting energy washing over him.

Rud shifted back into his true form, wincing as he rolled into a seated position. The icy water had rolled off the oily coat of his otter form. Dean had deposited him in the longhouse before the roaring fire. He rolled his sleeve up, spotting the place where the frostbite had settled in.

"Well, that's going to leave a mark," Rud said, probing the area. It wasn't nearly as bad as he had initially thought.

"What did you see, custodian?" Dean said, narrowing his eyes at Rud.

The druid explained what he had seen as he cast his Nature's Restoration spell. He felt the healing power flood through his body, stitching his flesh back together and making it new again. While the spell was not powerful, it was good enough to cure very minor frostbite.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions, but that might be a cursed object in the middle of the island," Rud said, "but it's nothing like the ones we've seen so far. The magical effect it's creating is intensely powerful."

"That is very concerning," Dean said, growling. "We'll most certainly need the wizard to help with that. Maybe even somebody more powerful."

"The important part is that we need to make sure to monitor the issue on the island," Rud said. "If it gets any worse, we'll have to act faster."

"Um, excuse me?" a strange voice came from the door of the longhouse.

Rud looked up to see an elven man standing there awkwardly. He had a sheepish smile on his face and was adorned with adventuring gear.

"Right," Rud said, clapping his hands together. "How can I help you?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

It was important not to forget the newest skill in his custodian subclass. The Custodianship skill would only level if he interacted with the mortals visiting the grove. It was effectively his hospitality skill, and it was incredibly easy to level up. The adventurer was passing through the grove with a group, and they wanted to take advantage of the baths. So, Rud had to fill the bath for them. After he did that, they asked about purchasing tea, which had sold out in the shop.

"I just can't keep it on the shelves," Rud said, smiling down at the adventurers who lowered themselves into the pool. "Is there any blend you're interested in?"

"I've heard good things about the Deep Spice Galactic Tea," the elf said, rubbing his hands together. "Although, if you provide us with any, we will make a donation."

"Check in the shop tomorrow morning," Rud said, bowing his head slightly. "My stock of tea will be replenished."

Once Rud was clear of the bathhouse, he finally released a steadying breath. The mortals sure loved their tea, and Rud was here to provide it to them. He headed to his storehouse and got to work mixing the tea. The best part about creating both the containers and the tea itself was that it would give him levels for his crafting magic skill. Deep Spice Galactic Tea was a challenging blend that the druid didn't know why people drank. It was a 50/50 blend of earthy and spicy tea, which provided a difficult drinking experience for him.

Dean poked his head into the storeroom as Rud got to work on the tea blends. He had plenty of them drying on the racks, but he just hadn't had the time to mix them.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked, his voice sounding timid.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rud said, crushing the tea leaves with his hands and adding them to the mushroom-based container. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It sounds as though your trip to the island was harrowing," Dean said. "I know you're not eager to participate in combat, so I thought that would have shaken you more."

"Oh, I was barely hurt," Rud said, pulling a sleeve back to show that his wound had healed completely. "Now I'm more concerned about the implications."

The druid used his Shape Plant spell to engrave the name of the tea into the lid. He did his best to provide a crude drawing, but work so fine was still difficult to produce. After casting his Imbue Crafted Item spell onto the tea, he sealed the container and set it to the side. His plan was to make at least one of each variety, if not more.

"I'm inspired by your bravery," Dean said, snorting as he forced his head into the door. His shoulders were a bit too wide to fit inside. "I'm proud of you, Druid."

"Thanks, Dean," Rud said, patting him on the head a few times. "Which one of the teas is your favorite?"

"The sweet one has become my preference," Dean said with a nod. "Although the sour one has piqued my interest recently."

Rud smiled as he worked on the teas. Casting the spell to imbue them with power gave him a trickle of experience for his Crafting Magic skill. He ended up making far more tea than he had first planned. That caused his skill to roll over to Level 7, which was a pleasant surprise. The druid stuffed his bag with the containers of tea, marching over to the shop and stocking the shelves.

"That should do it," Rud said, heading outside to pat Dean on the side. "As long as they don't tear through my supply of tea in a day, I guess that's the problem with having a donation system."

"I have never seen a mortal take tea without paying," Dean said, "and if they did, I would snarl at them."

"I think that might go against the rules of the grove, buddy," Rud said.

"I care not. You work hard on that tea. We deserve to be paid for it, don't we?"

"Dang, guess you're right," Rud said, smiling to himself. He checked on the facilities built for the adventurers and was satisfied. They were keeping them in good order. Before the mortals left, they often cleaned up after themselves and fixed any damage they caused. Not that it would matter with living buildings. The druid could fix those easily enough.

But there was plenty of daylight left, and although neither Elm nor Mint had come back to the grove's center, he wanted to do some more work on the road. It wouldn't do to linger on the problems that plagued the Grove. Instead, he got to work, and Dean joined him.

"Getting pretty close to hitting the next rank," Rud said as he wove the branches of a nearby tree together. "I think my Construction Magic skill is going to hit Rank 1 soon. I'll have to pick a fun upgrade for that."

"Indeed. This has been one of your most useful skills," Dean said. "Look at all you have created."

"Right?" Rud asked, shaking his head. "I hope I can unlock some more useful ones soon enough."

With the way Rud was angling the road to the southwest, he was certain he would pass by the observatory. What he didn't know was how close they would come to the observatory. It could be miles away by the time they intersected, for all he knew. Although Ban had a strong sense for where things were in the grove, he wasn't so lucky. Instead, he had a general idea, thanks to the Thicket Travel upgrade.

As Rud worked on a section of the road that passed over a cliff side, he heard the chittering of nearby squirrels. It took him a moment to isolate the sound of their voice and activate his Clear Communication upgrade.

"Missing! Where did he go?"

"I dunno. Hawk! I mean, he's gone. Oh well."

"Excuse me, squirrels!" Rud shouted up into the canopy above. "Who went missing?"

"Jeff!" one squirrel shouted back. "Nuts?"

"Tell me more about Jeff the Squirrel, and I'll give you some nuts," Rud shouted back. The squirrels were happy to descend from the branches of the tree and approach him, thanks to the promise of nuts.

After bribing them with a few small pieces of the food they enjoyed most of all, Rud got to understand the story. One squirrel who was involved in searching for the cursed objects had gone missing. It was one of the creatures tasked with scouting the northernmost section of the grove, and it brought no small amount of concern to Rud's mind. He stopped shaping the trees and turned to Dean. The wolf simply nodded.

Rud shifted into his squirrel form and jumped on Dean's back, who leaped from the edge of the bridge. He fell 50 feet, passing through a bush and appearing in the northernmost reaches of the grove in an instant. This was an area mostly notable for the rocky terrain and the view of the Dwarven Mountains to the north. It was hard to see them from here, but one of the tallest peaks was visible.

"This is a spell I haven't used for a while," Rud said, chuckling to himself. He cast the Detect Life spell and scanned the area. It was mostly barren up here, with insects as the primary inhabitants, but as Dean ran around the area, he spotted what he was looking for. "Over there in that tree. The one that looks like it's haunted."

"The haunted tree, got it," Dean said, pivoting and taking off towards a gnarled old oak that looked as though it was about to fall over. Indeed, it had fallen over slightly, and a search squirrel had been pinned under one branch.

"Jeff!" Rud shouted, jumping and shifting into his true form before lifting the branch. The little squirrel had some surface-level injuries, but there might have been something deeper. The druid cradled him, wincing as the creature squeaked. "You okay, buddy?"

The squirrel looked up with watery eyes, rubbing its front teeth together.

"Got some nuts?"