NOVEL NEXT 3.12 - Goodnight, Tree
Rud wasted no time at all the next morning. He woke up, had a slice of cheese, and then took to the skies. He headed east toward the town to rouse Elm, in case she hadn't awoken yet. Just as he had done yesterday, he scanned the forest along the way, searching for those pockets of energy he still had no explanation for. This time around, he was motivated to be the custodian everyone thought he was. But he didn't need to fly for long to spot a mounted figure tearing across the open landscape.
Elm rode Daffodil at a quick gallop, kicking up dust behind her as she plunged into the forest. Rudd banked, descending and flying alongside her. The mage didn't pay much attention to him until Rud started jerking his head in strange ways. She must have opened her magical sight or something because she reigned Daffodil in, skidding to a stop along the wooden pathway and releasing a nervous chuckle.
"Is it concerning that I recognized you even before I opened my mana sight?" Elm asked, dismounting and crossing her arms.
Rud shifted into his true form, leaning against his staff and shaking his head. "Yeah, I think you've been spending too much time in the grove. If you're not careful, you may just turn into a druid."
"That might not be the worst thing in the world," Elm said. She reached into a bag at her side and withdrew a tome that was far too large to fit inside. She held it out for him to take and smiled. "This is the preeminent tome on constructing gates and casting portals, but of course I'm here for you if you need any instruction."
"There's a big pile of magically infused ingots waiting for you," Rud said, beaming with excitement. "Make no mistake about that. Unfortunately, we have a secondary problem."
Elm narrowed her gaze, a playful smile appearing on her face. "What did you get into this time, Forest Spirit?" she asked. "Tampering with magical forces you don't understand, perhaps."
"You're frighteningly close to the truth," Rud said, as he regained his bearings on where he was within the Grove. They were close enough to one of the strange collections of magic that he was confident Daffodil could reach it with little issue. Thanks to his Transient Guest upgrade for his Custodianship skill, he had marked Elm as a friend of the Grove. That would allow her to pass through any part unhindered. She wouldn't go nuts like the others. "Can you help me look at this cloud of magic? I can't figure out what's going on with it."
"Sure thing," Elm said, nodding. "I'd planned to spend the next few weeks in the Grove anyway… There's so much to study."
Rud switched on his Clear Communication ability, turning to Daffodil. "Think you can keep up with me through the forest?"
The horse-deer snorted. "Me keep up with you? You have it backwards, little man."
"Fair enough," Rud said, shifting into his raven form. Elm yelped when Rud took off, because Daffodil jumped from the wooden path and took off into the open forest.
Navigating the forest as a raven was pretty easy, so long as Rud was paying attention. Daffodil would've had a hard time moving through if she was a lesser beast. But her species of deer-horse was superb at moving through the forest with untold agility. Elm screamed in terror the entire time. The trip would've taken a person walking a good six hours, but between the raven form and the deer-horse's agility, they made it in fifteen minutes.
Elm rolled from the saddle and onto the ground, gripping the dirt in both hands and hyperventilating.
"Yeah, I think you might have gone a bit too hard there, Daffodil," Rud said, coming over and patting Elm on the back.
"Just give me a minute," Elm said, looking green in the face.
"She cannot handle my full power," Daffodil said with a laugh. "I wasn't even going as fast as I could. I was too concerned for my rider."
It took Elm a good five minutes to finally gain her bearings again. She tried to stand a few times but looked as though she would vomit, so instead, she lay on her back until she felt better. Rudd tried to cast a few healing spells on her, but nothing seemed to settle her stomach. Only time and a bit of rest cured her when she was finally ready. She stood, dusted herself off, and prepared to press forward the last few feet until the magical anomaly.
"Oh, this isn't good," Elm said, reaching her hand out.
Rud could barely see the strands of magical power coming from her body. At first they whipped out before settling in over the collection of magic. He couldn't tell exactly what she was doing, but he got the basics. She probed her senses deeper until Elm finally pulled back as though receiving an electrical shock.
"Got a diagnosis, doc?" Rud asked.
"Nothing exact," Elm said, walking around the anomaly and humming to herself. "Could this be attached to the tower? No, that makes little sense. The magic there has a distinct signature. The power here feels old. I can feel the energy of the tower from here, and the signature is quite new. No, this is ancient magic. Magic older than anything I've experienced in my life."
"Are we leaning to good or bad?"
"Hard to say," Elm said. "The lattice arrays inside are so complex, I can't just pull them apart. On the outside, I can see illusion magic meant to hide something. That bit of magical spellwork is tangled with something else… Maybe some dungeons? But the deeper instructions are unknowable without more research."
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"Okay. So, I'm pretty sure these are connected to the city underground," Rud said. "And the illusion magic might be shielding some dungeons in our area. We've noticed a few dungeons that aren't visible through my Farseeing skill. Or the Spirit Owl's sight."
"That might make sense," Elm said. "Just because this effect is influencing the dungeons, doesn't mean it's working together intentionally. It could be more likely that they became tangled unintentionally. This could be the reason the tower appeared, too. We need to peel it apart layer-by-layer."
"Would it help if we went down to the city?"
"If it isn't poisoned. I was told it was volatile down there."
"Ban, you awake yet?" Rud asked.
"I never went to sleep. Mostly," she responded.
"Is the underground place still deadly?"
"For now. But I'll have it cleaned up in a few days."
"You're the best!"
Rud cleared his throat. "Just talked to the tree. She'll have the underground place ready in a few days. Which is absolutely perfect, since we need to get to work on a Gate."
Elm just nodded, her eyes locked on the magical cloud. Rud stood patiently for a while before she finally snapped back to the conversation.
"Right," she said. "I cannot penetrate the magic further without viewing the source. So, I'll find my way back to the road and meet you in the Grove's center."
"What, you don't want to dart through the forest again?"
"No. I never want to do that again," Elm said, resolute. "Unless Daffodil wants me to vomit all over her, we'll take the road."
"Got it," Rud said. "I'll meet you there. Ban's new building might be done enough for me to check out anyway. And you know what that means!"
"I really don't."
"Upgrades!" Rud said, shifting into his raven form and flying away without another word. He dove into the nearest bush and appeared in the clearing. Ban was still working on the building, but he could tell it was close to being done.
Although Rud was hoping the onion shape for the new building would go away… it didn't. Ban had made great progress already and she was clearly putting a lot of work into getting the building constructed as quickly as possible. Perhaps she sensed his desire to spend some of the stocked materials he had. The druid did a few laps around the building. It was being constructed on the southern side of the clearing, right against the forest. The structure itself was about ten feet high, and perhaps five wide at the base. It was shaped roughly like an onion, and the structure he could see below the roots was made from smoothed wood.
"You must be confused," Ban said, her laugh echoing through the clearing.
"You have no idea how confused I am," Rud said, tilting his head to the side. "So this is a big energy converter shaped like an onion?"
"Yes, an onion converter, if you will," Ban said.
"Well, aren't you just a big goofball today."
"There are only a few layers left to go," Ban said.
Since Rud was still waiting for Elm to arrive in the center, he waited for the building too. True to her word, Ban completed the construction of the building shortly after. Of course, the druid couldn't wait and inspected the building right away.
[Energy Condenser]
Rank 0 Level 1 Sacred Tree Building
Upgrade Progress: 0%
Description:
Tapped into the core network of the Grove, this building converts low-density energy into higher densities.
Effect:
Allows the Sacred Tree to pump stored energy inside, converting it to high-density energy.
"That's pretty simple," Rud said, scratching his head. "Are you sure this is going to be useful?"
"After you upgrade it a few times, yes," Ban said. "Right now, it will take me a long time to condense the mana. We'll be waiting for months between uses of even the most simple portals."
"So, we're going to upgrade! Nice. You wanna steer it?" Rud asked.
"Yes, I know which upgrades I want already. Since you're the one with the meat hands, you can get started on empowering the building."
Rud chuckled, reaching into his bag and withdrawing a Dungeon Core Fragment. Upgrading the new building was cool and all, but as the druid watched the levels fly by, he had the desire to upgrade his other buildings.
"Go figure. Doing upgrades here reminded me of how fun it is upgrading buildings," Rud said. "Okay. Upgrade coming up. Which one are we taking?"
"Linked Condenser," Ban said.
Rud discarded the other upgrades, instead focusing on the one she recommended.
[Linked Condenser]
Energy Condenser Upgrade
Synergize Upgrade:
[Energy Nodules]
Description:
One plant can only do so much. Why not link all of them together?
Effect:
Allows you to draw on the power of every plant linked within your Grove to condense energy faster.
"Ah, you sneaky tree. That's amazing. How much time does that shave off?"
"I can't even give an accurate amount. It should take less than a day for me to condense enough energy to operate the portal for a few hours," Ban said. "Pick Flower Blitz next. That should be enough for now, otherwise my network will be strained."
"On it boss," Rud said, getting to work. The next upgrade would bring the building to Rank 1. That would make the building far more powerful. It didn't take long before the new upgrade appeared. The druid inspected it.
[Flower Blitz]
Energy Condenser Upgrade
Synergize Upgrade:
[Energy Flowers]
Description:
Each flower holds a secret potential.
Effect:
Once per day, you may draw on the power of your Energy Flowers. Each flower has a chance to produce a small amount of high-density energy per second.
This effect lasts for ten minutes.
"That was more stressful than I had expected," Ban said with a sigh. "I think I need to rest now."
"Hey, don't push yourself too hard," Rud said. "Great upgrades, but I don't want to see my favorite tree wilt."
"I'm offended you would have any other trees in your life aside from me," Ban said with mock outrage. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a nap."
"Goodnight, tree," Rud said, hugging her trunk. "Sleep tight."