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

Rud looked over the work he had done with pride. He etched words into a sign, giving the building a name and setting out the rules for passing mortals. They would need to contact him to fill the baths, and donations were always accepted. With his ten boilers and fireboxes ready to go, he could accept mortals at any time. Nodding at the sign for the Cozy Bear Bathhouse, he fixed a few last things before the building was ready. Benches, chairs, tables, and so on were required to make it feel homey.

"I have some observations about the errant magical energy," Nulsa's voice came floating down from the front wall of the building.

Rud had locked in the concept of a bath open to the air. Some boughs from nearby trees blocked the sky above, but the cold still rushed in. The owl tilted his head to the side, waiting for the druid's response.

"Observations," Rud repeated, clapping his hands. The sound helped him divert his mind away from the baths. "I have a few notes of my own based on the other grove."

"Hagsbane, right?" Nulsa asked. "Has the energy decreased where she is?"

"Yeah, and we don't know what it means. The best I can think of is some collective pulse emitted by the groves."

Nulsa flapped his wings, soaring to land on the edge of a bath without making a sound. "A natural expulsion of energy, perhaps…"

"Oh, the bear is gonna wake up soon," Rud said. "So, we gotta name him."

"Anything in mind?"

Rud had a few names in mind, but had settled on something that matched the creature's massive stature. "Yeah. Do you think he'll join?"

"Most likely. More advanced beasts will be attracted to the grove. We can feel the power and understand how it will help us ascend. One day, we will gain forms like Mint."

"So, this is like a stable job for smart beasties? Sacred Beasts, as everyone calls them here."

"That's right. The bear will likely accept. Especially given the proximity we have to dungeons."

"Do bears like fighting?" Rud asked.

"Most do."

Another combat-capable Sacred Beast for the grove… At least he had Nulsa, who seemed uninterested in fighting. Rud needed to find some more beasts to add to his group. Perhaps one that enjoyed knitting sweaters, rather than fighting. Perhaps a deer or something. For now, he wanted to test the bath at full capacity. First, he checked that the draining method was functional. This was the only step that required him to use Construction Magic. Instead of a complicated drain, he just drilled a hole in the tub's bottom with the Shape Plant spell.

Rud let the water rush into the boilers, watching as each filled to capacity. The flow was powerful enough to see the job done quickly enough. Then it was only a matter of lighting the fires underneath, spreading the Fairy Peat throughout the fireboxes and watching them go to work. Steam rose from the top of each boiler, filling the air with the scent of minerals. The steam intensified as the water boiled. The water rushed through the pipes, filling the first tub to capacity.

Scampering around to the main entrance, Rud shed his fancy enchanted equipment before jumping in. The water might have been too hot if the air outside wasn't so cold. He soaked into the tub, sinking up to his chin and letting out a sigh of contentment. The tips of his ears were chilly, while his toes were boiling in the hot water. Testing the bath by himself was a good idea. Rud shaped several pieces of wood into buckets, placing a few by each tub. If the adventurers wanted to wash themselves, they would need to have a few on hand.

"I could swim around in this," Rud said, looking over his massive bath. Even if he didn't fill all four tubs, he could cycle the boilers to keep the water within one hot for longer. Again, the idea of modularity and expansion remained important.

Soaking in the tub brought important thoughts. The next stage of his expansion of amenities for the traveling adventurers. Snacks. Dried, salted, or smoked meat would be the easiest. Mint was happy to go out hunting, giving the grove a steady supply of protein. While that fact , at first, had struck Rud as odd, he soon learned the importance of balancing nature. The grove was a safe place for all animals, but the lands outside weren't so heavily managed.

With no desire to bake, and absolutely none to expand his farming efforts to support crops, Rud would need to find other things to include in his travel rations. Dried fruits and nuts made the most sense to fill out the rest of his offerings. It would be like trail mix, which was in the middle tier of all road foods. That meant sourcing local nuts and berries. Which meant getting out of the hot bath.

"Maybe later," Rud said, pushing out to the middle of the tub and floating on his back. He floated there for some time before he heard the muffled sound of something nearby. "What?"

More muffled speech. He floated upright, treading water as he spotted Mint standing in her wolf form outside of the bath.

"I said you're a busy little spirit," she said, pointing at the new building with her nose. "You've created a fancy bathhouse."

"What do you think? Honest opinions only."

"I think you've done a great job. This is for the mortals, right?"

"That's right. I think they'll appreciate nice things as they're moving through the grove."

"It should help soothe their minds. You know how damaging long-term exposure to this place can be for them…"

"About as much as being away from the grove is for me." Rud nodded in agreement. He could spend a few hours outside of a Sacred Tree's influence, but not much more. When he visited Cliffs of Mog—Basil's grove—he didn't feel his strength waning. It must have been something about magic plant energy or something. "But they seem fine if they stay on the path. Or sleep in my structures."

"I think you should drain the bath. You should settle in for dinner."

"Are you concerned about me, Mint?" Rud asked, blowing some bubbles in the water.

"Yes. A custodian's job is important. We cannot survive without you."

While Rud appreciated how much Mint was worried about him, he was fine. His responsibilities around the grove were less demanding than in his old life, even if he was busy for the entire day. Because the things he was busy with were things he wanted to do. Caring for goats, working in the forest, interacting with mortals, and so on. It was more of a vacation than he could have imagined.

"Understood. Just after I get the evening report going," Rud said, hopping out of the bath. He shook, soaking Mint and everything around. She didn't seem to mind though, watching as he drained the water from the tubs.

"Anything interesting to note?" Mint asked.

"Kinda? More weird energy no one knows anything about. If the other custodians had radios, I'd have a better picture." Rud sighed. He still didn't understand why only Maria manned her radio. The old timers were just too set in their ways.

"Keep me updated."

It wasn't as late as Mint had said. Rud made his way to the Observatory anyway, clicking his radio on and signing in. While he waited for Maria to respond, he accepted the building's aspect and scanned for anything interesting. The south was always a weird mix of powers mingling just over the horizon. He had to wonder what rested right outside of his Farseeing skill. From what he understood of the region, it was mostly forest until one hit the coast. He couldn't estimate the distance based on second-hand information, but it was a few hundred miles. At least.

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"Maria here. Anything fun going on?"

"I made some baths," Rud said, making note of new swirling energy to the southwest. It appeared near a lightly trodden path heading west, which connected to a passage through some small mountains. Beyond were the lands the adventurers sought to explore… Filled with orcs and other nasty monsters.

"Baths? More than one?"

"Yeah, I'm adding stuff to make the mortals more comfortable. As long as they follow my path, they don't get lost. So, that's good."

"We had a similar problem, but it's so narrow down here… We have few dwarves to get lost."

Rud narrowed his eyes, pushing his farsight as far as it would go. He watched as the energy pooled together, creating a flash of magic in the distance.

"Nulsa," Rud said, not activating his microphone. "I need you to run an urgent message."

The owl appeared outside of the tower's window, landing on the railing and hooting softly. "What is it?"

Rud pointed to where he saw the energy collecting. "Can you see that?"

"It is too distant for me to see. Would you like me to scout, or run a message?"

Rud took a moment to study the energy before he responded. The power was familiar enough to be a dungeon, but he couldn't recall if he had seen a dungeon form in real time. "Could you scout first, then return here? The energy is too dense for me to make anything out."

"I'll be back in a moment." Nulsa left without making a sound.

"You there, Rud?"

"Yeah, sorry," Rud said, picking his radio up again. "I'm studying some seriously weird magical energy. I have more dungeon magic blowing in by the day. The mortals need a break."

"Everything went back to normal here. No new dungeons, and the dwarves are finally in line."

"Good to hear, but I don't know what to make of any of this. You know, this is kind of my dream job."

"Being a druid?"

"Yeah. Being a druid, living in the forest, watching out for fires."

"The fire watch thing," Maria said, laughing. "Yeah. This is very similar."

The sounds of the forest as the day wound down were pleasant. Rud felt a sense of comfort wash over him, even with the cold of the fading light spilling in through the open door of the tower. The birdsongs would soon give way to the sound of insects, chirping the night away. The constant hiss of the radio added to the ambience, a constant wash of noise to drown the noise outside. As a breeze blew from the north, rustling the trees of the grove, he let it all soak in.

"Hold on, my owl is back," Rud said, watching as Nulsa flew in from nowhere.

"A dungeon is forming," Nulsa said. "I'm not sure I've ever seen one come into being like that."

Rud withdrew some paper and wrote some notes. Using the position of the other dungeons—those destroyed by the mortals—he could give an exact location for this dungeon. But he couldn't see that it was a dungeon, yet. His farsight only allowed him to see so much, and it all just looked like energy to him. It mingled with the earth and the air, creating a swirling vortex thick enough to be confusing.

"Any idea on the dungeon's strength?" Rud asked.

"None. Nor do I know the type of monsters it will create."

"Of course," Rud said, adding that as a note. He looked skyward, studying the energies up there. "Might as well include a weather report. We're going to have rain tomorrow, I'm certain of it."

"Aren't you helpful." Nulsa said.

"You're picking up too much of Mint's sass," Rud said, winking at the owl. "Just kidding, I love you."

Rud finished his note, folding it up so it wouldn't unfurl during flight.

"Where am I taking this note?" Nulsa asked.

"There's a guy named Peter in the town of Barlgore. He goes by Feather sometimes. Just look for the biggest, most fancy house. The letter says its for old Pete, so they should get it to him."

Nulsa hopped into the tower, grabbing the note with his talons before turning to fly off into the forest.

"Sorry about that," Rud said, sighing into the microphone. "Dungeon problems, am I right?"

"Okay, I have another scenario for you…"

Rud smiled to himself as Maria posed another absurd situation. He listened along, giving his thoughts on the 'button of pain' before signing off for the night. Mint's warning about nightfall in the grove was made manifest, and his stomach growled in objection to the lack of lunch or snacks. There was still a good amount of work to do near the grove's center, including creating his shop and figuring out how to make trail mix. He left the tower, stepping through a bush to appear near the longhouse. He froze, watching as Mint faced off against a massive figure.

Rud almost peed his pants as he looked up at a bear, standing on its hind legs and swatting at the air. "Bear!" he yelled, stammering before stopping. "Oh, that's my bear."

"Yes, get your bear under control," Mint growled.

"He isn't a Sacred Beast?" Rud asked, activating his Clear Communication upgrade. "Holy crap."

"How you manage to attract a Dire Wolf and a Dire Bear is beyond me. He's on the verge of attaining that Sacred status, but you must calm him."

"Hello, bear," Rud said, waving like an idiot.

"Pain," the bear said, growling. "Pain!"

"Ah, crap. He's in pain," Rud said, trying and failing to think. "Just calm down big guy."

The bear roared some more. Rud spotted Dean in the distance, ready to pounce. Sarya was likely somewhere nearby, prepared to do the same. He had to think quickly. The Nature's Cleanse spell should have driven anything out of the creature that might harm it. It dispelled curses, diseases, infections, and magical effects.

"Where is your pain, buddy?" Rud asked, holding his hand out as though to disarm the giant creature. It must have been ten-feet-tall.

The bear fell onto his forepaws, growling with a sad noise. He lowered his head, revealing nothing for Rud to see. "Here. Head. Behind ear."

Rud approached with his hands out, nodding. The poor bear wasn't just fighting off a status effect. He was still injured… somehow. Perhaps this was a thorn in the lion's paw situation. "I can get it out, bud. You just need to stay still, okay?"

"Druid," the bear said, lowering his head further. "Help me."

"I got you, bear," Rud said, placing his hand on the bear's head. He couldn't see anything wrong behind the creature's ear. As he didn't want to reveal his hand, he cast Nature's Cleanse before the beast knew what he was doing.

The bear slumped forward, then tipped to the side. Within moments, the beast snored loudly and the guardians of the grove relaxed. Rud got to work, parting the creature's fur where it had indicated pain.

"That's cold-blooded, Rud," Mint said, padding over. "Putting him to sleep like that."

"Yeah, there's no way I could look at this with an enraged bear… Do you see anything?"

Mint shifted into her human form, kneeling near the bear's massive head. She helped Rud part the fur, searching for anything strange. As she probed the creature's skin, her brow rose.

"There's something just under the skin. Here."

"Hah. I knew it. We have this story back on Earth—"

A dagger flashed into Mint's hand. Rud didn't see any sign that she had damaged the beast's hide, but an instant later she held a finger-length brick of metal. She held it up, her face locked in a look of concern.

"What is this?" Mint asked, tossing it over to Rud.

He caught it—barely—and inspected the object. It looked like a piece of plain gray metal. Perhaps iron, or steel. Rud yelped, shaking his hand hard enough to send the piece of metal skittering across the ground. "It shocked me."

Mint stood, a sword flashing out to spark against the object. Rud was pretty sure those swords were for show up until that point. But at least one was functional. "That strike would have split the bear himself in half."

"Cursed object?" Rud asked, narrowing his eyes at the bit of metal.

Mint nodded. "Cursed object."

"How did a cursed object get inside the bear?" Rud asked.

"Shall I destroy the bear?" Dean asked, loping over to bare his teeth.

"Please don't. He was just in pain," Rud said.

"You must contain this object," Mint said, picking it up. She winced, getting a jolt of electricity.

"To the containment area!" Rud shouted, striking a pose that got a polite clap from Mint and a giggle from Sarya in the distance.

The group traveled to the new containment area. If there was to be a collection of cursed junk here, he needed more signs. But the others helped collect the reagents needed for the spell as the Rud created the structure. He cast the Purification Ritual spell, and sealed the piece of metal away. The group returned to Ban's clearing just after dark.

Rud watched as Mint dragged the bear under a tree. They would need to be careful when he woke up. But the bear was just like Sarya when she first arrived, just on the edge of becoming a Sacred Beast. He would just be glad to be in a state where he wasn't constantly electrocuted.

"Anyone hungry?" Rud asked. "I'm hungry."

"Yes," Mint agreed. "Let's get some food."