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

Tuft reclined, patting his belly as he and Rud looked over the shell of a wheel of cheese. "A Strength buff for eating cheese… never thought I'd see the day," the lionkin said with a predatory smile. "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Just wait. We're gonna start production in the creamery. Our cheese will be on the shelves of every store in Barlgore."

"I look forward to the day," Tuft said, wiping cheese from his beard. "Once again, I can't overstate my appreciation for your hospitality. You have an ally in me if ever you need one."

Gotta catch 'em all, Rud thought, dabbing his lips with a napkin.

Not only had they eaten some delicious cheese, but Rud had given Tuft a tour of the new creamery. Sure, he didn't have any upgrades for the building yet. But the place was impressive, especially with all the pots and wood-burning stoves. Once this thing went into full swing, the cheese would flow out of the front door like a tidal wave.

"Pardon if this isn't appropriate, but may I ask about your weapon?" Tuft asked. "I inspected it last time—I know, a sneaky move—and it has since changed. I've never seen an item lose its description from the system."

"Oh, yeah. I leveled it up so now people can't see the description," Rud lied, tapping the butt of the staff on the ground. "Can't be too careful, you know?"

"Indeed."

Tuft had little else to talk about. Rud knew the guy was stoic at the best of times. He was likely only entertaining the conversation to be nice. But the comfortable silence they fell into was nice. A breeze blew through the creamery, whistling over the open windows and bringing with it fresh forest air. With it came a fresh wave of grove-based energy that always brought with it a sense of deep comfort.

"I'll draw you guys a hot bath tonight," Rud said, patting Tuft on the back. "Dunno if it has healing properties, but just like my tea it reduces fatigue."

"My people would appreciate it," Tuft said.

With all the excitement today, Rud barely noticed the noon hour progress to the late-afternoon. He knew dusk threatened to come by the scent of grilled meat in the air. Taz was already cooking a boatload of meat for both the grove's denizens and those visiting adventurers. That gave him just enough time to check in at the Observatory, make his evening report, and maybe banter with Maria.

As Rud made his way through the grove—guiding his way with his staff—he felt the energy inside that item changing. The system said it would take a few days, but he felt that power blossoming like a flower. Before long it would burst, revealing whatever artifact powerful enough to draw the attention of Bent.

"Gladesbale to Hagsrise," Rud said, thumbing the microphone's button. He smiled, nodding to Nulsa as the owl alighted onto the banister outside. He gave a hearty hoot in response.

"Mog here," Jim said, coming in clean over the radio. "Maria is dealing with a situation."

"Hey, Jim. Aren't we all dealing with some crap?" Rud asked. "Hope you and Basil aren't having it as hard as the rest of us."

"Of course not. Basil has always been keen to establish powerful defenses," Jim said. Static finally entered the dead air between their messages. Before then, it had been strangely clear. "We have some monsters, but with our passive doctrine around defense, we're doing fine."

"Good to hear… I think. Mint has a very active way of defending the grove. She'll conquer the labyrinth before a single monster escapes."

Maria never joined the nightly call. This only reminded Rud how important it was to expand which custodians joined their sewing circle. When he was done having his chat with Jim, he flipped through the channels. There weren't any interesting magical developments, so there was no need to send a report to Feather. Some channels on the radio seemed interesting, as there was more than just the sound of static. But whatever whale song nonsense he heard there was not enough to hold his interest, and the druid soon shifted into his squirrel form and glided away.

Nulsa joined him in the air, soaring alongside him with far more grace.

Rud wasn't surprised to learn how prepared Basil was in his own grove. After sailing around for a while, the druid made his way back to his mushroom house. He settled in for the night, getting a decent fire going to keep him warm. The magic around the island might have mostly abated, but there was still a chill in the air at night. Perhaps the seasons were shifting.

###

Morning in the grove meant leftover food and freshly brewed tea. Rud didn't have his newest batch of tea ready, but there was enough of every mixture to keep everyone satisfied for a few lifetimes. They might have exported a lot of tea, but the druid had a hoarding problem. He couldn't wait to hoard some cheese.

While he was heading to the Observatory to make his report for the morning, a light drizzle swept through the grove. Rud pulled his hood over his head and pulled his cloak tightly around himself. The butt of his staff squelched in the mud when he passed through a bush. After accepting his aspect he shook the water off his cloak and took his report for the morning.

"That rain is coming in harder than I expected," Rud said, leaning out the door and squinting against the rain.

Nulsa hooted. "More rain is coming after this, I think. Perhaps you should keep a closer eye on the livestock."

"Taz is helping me with that again," Rud said. "I'm gonna get everyone involved in caring for those things before long."

Nulsa was silent for a few long moments. He tilted his head from one side to the other, focusing his eyes on the druid's staff. "Are we going to talk about that?"

"My staff?" Rud asked, waving it in the air. "The system said it would be a few days before anything happened."

"Perhaps that time draws closer than you originally thought," Nulsa said. "The energy is gathering quicker by the moment."

Even through his Observatory-aided sight, Rud couldn't see it. No more than normal, anyway. "You sure?"

"I'm certain."

Rud clicked his radio on, holding the microphone button down. "Hagsrise, Mog, I'm gonna be absent from our chats today."

Stolen novel; please report.

Silence came back followed by the hiss of static. Eventually, someone's voice came back through the radio.

"Hagsrise here. Understood. Is everything good?"

"Yeah, my staff is just acting weird. Good luck with whatever weird stuff you're doing. Gladesbale out."

By the second, the energy gathering around the staff was increasing in intensity.

"Slightly concerning," Nulsa said. "I suggest you retreat to a remote area. Just in case."

"Not a bad idea," Rud said, shifting into a squirrel form and jumping into the nearest bush. He picked a section in the southern reaches of the grove where there was literally nothing. This was the place where the dungeons seemed most likely to spawn. So if he was going to go out in a fiery ball of magical death, this seemed like the best place.

Nulsa flew through one of the nearby bushes and landed on a branch above, leaving Rud below to consider his fate with the staff. The magic continued to grow until the seams of metal that ran through the staff shone with an intensity that was blinding. No system message appeared when it was completed. The appearance of the staff changed little, but even without a message, he knew he could finally inspect it.

"Let's see what we go," Rud said, inspecting the item.

[Custodian's Twig]

Rank 1 Artifact Staff

Bound to: Rud

Description:

A piece of the Sacred Tree Ban'tanthein, imbued with the power of a shifting artifact. This staff will grow alongside its owner.

This item is only inspectable by its owner.

Effect:

Restores two mana every second, even while in combat.

Attributes:

Strength: 1

Agility: 1

Vigor: 1

Mind: 1

Affinity: 1

"Wait, why does my staff have attributes?" Rud asked, scratching his head as he inspected the weapon.

The staff didn't appear to be much stronger than its previous form until Rud discovered the attributes section. He wasn't certain if he was reading it correctly, but it seemed as though the artifact had attributes of its own, which made little sense. After some exploration in his interfaces, he figured out exactly what was going on.

"Holy crap," Rud said.

"What is it?" Nulsa said, on guard.

"I really don't know why, but my staff has its own attributes, and all those attributes get added to mine." Rud said he summoned his own attribute sheet to confirm the information.

[Rud]

Main Class:

Rank 1 Level 1 Druid

Subclass:

Rank 0 Level 6 Grove Custodian

Attributes:

Health: 122

Mana: 170

Strength: 3

Agility: 6

Vigor: 6

Mind: 12

Affinity: 11

Titles:

[Keeper of the Gladesbale Grove]

One free point in every attribute was like a free five levels, as far as Rud was concerned. He didn't feel much of a change in himself, but then again, he wouldn't decline those free points. One thing was certain: the artifact in the staff was unpredictable. He couldn't tell if it would gain more levels or different effects. All he knew was that it had jumped a rank and given him five free attribute points and one mana per second above what he already had.

Nulsa seemed equally confused about the situation. "I've never heard of anything like that happening," the owl said, "although I interact little with the mortals of the world. So perhaps this is a normal occurrence."

A thought crossed the druid's mind as he stood there with the staff. He knitted his brows as he looked down at the weapon. The glowing metal embedded in the wood flashed green, just as he had thought about a spell.

"Did you see that?" Rud asked.

"I saw it. A flash of nature-based magic," Nulsa said, tilting his head to one side as though to appraise the weapon. "Did you cast a spell?"

"I thought about casting a spell," Rud said, "but I didn't actually do it."

"Why don't you try casting a simple spell? Anything aligned with the nature element."

With a shrug, Rud turned, holding the staff out toward a small tree. He took a steady breath as he invoked the plant growth spell. The power of the grove rushed through him, and the staff responded in kind. It released a blinding green light that bathed everything around him in that aligned energy. The tree shot up with barely a thought, going from a young tree to fully grown in an instant.

The difference was subtle, but the druid could detect it with the enhancement of his plant-based affinity. Rud's ability to cast those spells had increased significantly, but adding the staff to the mix might have even doubled that effect.

"That almost seemed effortless for you," Nulsa said, offering more of his appraising glances.

"I think this thing might be powerful," Rud said, turning the staff over in his hand and smiling down at it. "I believe it empowered my spell, probably doubling it."

"I suspect your new staff holds more secrets then we could uncover on our own," Nulsa said with a hoot. "But I'm uncertain how to trigger the conditions to increase its power. Unfortunately, I'm not very learned in the ways of magecraft. I understand the simple tenets of druidic magic, though. Care to experiment?"

"Of course," Rud said.

"This should be fairly easy. You need to channel the power of the grove through the staff. My suspicion is that your staff will absorb power in a specific way. Just like the buildings within the grove accept power through fragments and crystals, perhaps the staff could do the same with latent energy."

Rud wasn't sure how the owl had reached that conclusion, but then again, he wouldn't question it. Owls were wise, after all, weren't they? "So how do I do it?" the druid asked, waving his staff through the air as though that would catch some of that latent energy within.

"The first step is to focus. You need to pull the energy in actively. Sense it around you and then draw it in, as though you're inviting it to enter the staff."

Closing his eyes, Rud did as he was told. He attempted to invite whatever energies of the grove were around him into the staff. He felt something swirling, but it didn't exactly feel like the power of the grove. The grove always felt so warm, yet this energy was hot, and not in a good way.

"Feels like the staff is sniffing something out." Rud followed that thread but felt it vanish somewhere before him. "I don't think I'm pulling on the energy of the grove."

"Can you feel where it is?" Nulsa asked.

Closing his eyes again, the druid focused on that thread, feeling himself stepping forward. "I think it's this way," he said, allowing himself to be guided by the staff.

Nulsa made a disapproving hoot, as though he knew where they were headed. But Rud was in the dark. He just followed that strand of energy through the forest, weaving between the trees. He would stop on occasion, thinking that perhaps the staff was interested in the energy emitted by forest creatures or trees, but that wasn't the case.

"Whatever it wants is up ahead," Rud said, opening his eyes and blinking a few times. He could sense they were on the edge of the grove, pushing out toward areas where his potent plant magic wouldn't work. Although Ban had expanded the borders of the grove in recent days, she hadn't expanded them indefinitely.

"Just over that hill, right?" Nulsa asked, flying ahead. "Wait here for a moment. Let me confirm something."

Rud waited like a good little druid, and the owl returned shortly after, hooting with excitement. "Well, I know exactly where this is going," Nulsa said. "Quickly. This way."

Rud shifted into his flying squirrel form and glided the rest of the way down the hill. He watched as Nulsa swooped downward. The druid felt ice flood into his veins when he spotted the object the owl angled toward. It was a dark collection of rocks resting along the wall of one cliff, right on the edge of the grove's boundary. Inside ‌a rocky archway was a film of magic that pulsed rhythmically.

"I am not going in there," Rud said, gliding to the ground and shifting back into his true form.

"It has been recently weakened," Nulsa said, perched atop the archway. "Come, press your staff into the portal. See what happens."

"Do you make a habit of putting your staff in every portal you see?" Rud grumbled. But he approached it and did as he was told. The staff sang, praising its owner for figuring it out. Good thing the staff didn't know an owl had figured it out. A moment later, a system message appeared. "Ah. That's… Interesting."

[Absorbing Dungeon Soul]

Your [Custodian's Twig] is absorbing a weakened dungeon soul. Maintain your focus until the process is completed.