NOVEL NEXT 3.2 - I Have Concerns
Despite grand proclamations of a theme park, there were things the druid had to do. He held a unique position in the grove as the custodian. There were always three parts of the grove: the heart, the guardian, and the custodian. His job was to do everything he could to ensure that things ran smoothly. It was the most flexible position within any grove. It had afforded him a lot of freedom in his duties, yet he still had responsibilities.
One such responsibility was serving as a sounding board for Ban'tanthein. From what Rud understood, she was the reincarnated soul of a sacred deer spirit. She had been given the form of a sacred tree and the heavy weight of Gladesbale Grove. Yet with everything she did, she did it with joy. Even now, he could feel it radiating from her. As he approached the barricade he had created around both the labyrinth and the tower, he noticed a gaggle of spirit animals assembled outside, discussing the best steps forward.
They mostly ignored him as a mental connection was made between him and the tree.
"Just when I thought things were going our way, we got a tower," Ban said, giggling into Rudd's mind. "Nothing we can't handle though, huh?"
"Oh yeah, I eat monster towers for breakfast," Rud said, striking a pose and flexing a few times. That earned him a few more amused giggles from the tree. Often, he postured for others to gain confidence. Perhaps it was a trait learned from spending so much time with the spirits. But he knew that both the Ban, and the mortals loved the goofy behavior. He lived for the tree's laughter.
"With your artifact weapon, you might not be far from the truth," Ban said, her melodic voice echoing through his mind. "When Bent showed up to confirm that you had the artifact, he was… Well, I'll just say he was surprised. The potential for growth that thing has to offer is immense. You'll be bypassing the normal route most adventurers take and seizing power by consuming dungeons."
"I'll put it to good use. By that, I mean I'm gonna build an enormous slide."
"That's not even the greatest power of the weapon," Ban corrected. "It is its ability to consume dungeons that makes it strong. For mortals, it's something that requires a significant amount of energy. They must invest a lot into destroying a single dungeon core. We've seen this recently with the appearance of our many dungeons. You can destroy them instantly, and you don't need to rest."
"And I get stronger-er when the weapon eats them," Rud said. "So, what made the tower show up? Was it when you messed with the labyrinth's core?"
"That was a natural buildup of energy from the labyrinth. We've decided it was going to happen eventually. I just made it happen sooner," Ban said. "What I need you to do is keep your eyes open for more dungeons. Coordinate with the mortals to destroy them as soon as possible. Think of the dungeons as being similar to my energy nodules. They store power, allowing the tower and labyrinth to strengthen themselves. If you destroy the dungeons, you cut off their food supply."
Rud hadn't thought of it that way, but it made sense if he squinted really hard and tilted his head to the side. Mostly, he was just eager to take whatever advice the sacred tree gave him, and so he would carry that out. If his job was now to destroy every single dungeon, he would do so with a smile.
"I can do it."
"Good. Because you're the only one that can. I must go into a slumber, now. On and off while I work on the tower. Good luck."
Rud felt as the presence of the sacred tree faded away slightly. He could still feel her there, but she was distant, just as she had been when she had gone into those slumbers in the past. During his brief chat with the tree, the other spirits of the Grove had gone off to carry out tasks assigned by the Guardian. Only Mint was left, the massive wolf standing in her bestial form, looking up at the tower with hungry eyes.
"Acorn for your thoughts?" Rud asked, walking up beside her and presenting a single acorn. The wolf dragged her gaze away from the tower, looking down at the acorn and then into the druid's eyes.
"I'm a carnivore," Mint said, snorting in his face. "I want to run the tower. I want to climb its heights and conquer it."
"Does it work just like the labyrinth?" Rud asked. "I know you're restricted from running dungeons, but is this in your wheelhouse?"
"Indeed, I can run the tower," Mint said, a predatory smile spreading across her maw. "But I must remain in the Grove for now. Ban has instructed me to rally the troops, so to speak. We need every dungeon within the Grove destroyed."
Well, that was going to be a problem. The only person who could clearly communicate with the mortals was Rud. The division of labor on this one would be tricky since he couldn't send one of the spirit animals to the mortal town. Or could he? How reluctant would Taz be, the grove's only dwarf, heading to the mortal town to rally those troops? A smile spread across Rud's face as he thought about it. The dwarf hated riding wolves.
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"We got this!" Rud shouted, pumping his fist in the air. "I'm going to my tower. Bye-bye."
Before Mint could say another word, Rud scampered away, guiding his steps with his artifact staff and passing through the nearest bush. He appeared at the base of the tower once again. Sarya had left him for the day, off to join the others in search of whatever they were looking for. It was an all-hands-on-deck situation, so he wasn't opposed to dropping his amusement park idea for now. At least that gave him some time to plan it out in his head before he started the actual work.
Although he hadn't been instructed to do so, Rud's plan was first to contact the other Groves to collect information on how they were doing. If they were also experiencing strange happenings, perhaps he would have a better idea of what was going on. He sat before the radio, cracked his knuckles, and listened to the hum as the magical machine turned on.
"Gladesbale for Hagsrise," Rud said, thumbing the radio.
Static came over the radio for quite some time. The voice that came next wasn't the one Rud had wanted, but it would do.
"Jim here," the man in charge of the Cliffs of Mog Grove came in over the radio, his voice sounding tired. "What's up, Rud?"
The other custodians—those that actually used their radios—were already in the loop about the tower situation. Of course, it was a big deal, since the system didn't generate things like towers and labyrinths randomly. For them to appear in multiple groves at the same time meant something big was going on. But Rud wanted to ensure they had lines of communication between the custodians, observing things the guardians and hearts might miss.
"I'm collecting information to get a better picture of what's going on."
"Okay. Shoot."
Rud only had a few questions for now. According to Jim, Cliffs of Mog had experienced a slight increase to their number of dungeons. Basil's approach to handling those dungeons was to encase them in trees that would eat the dungeons over time. It was some advanced-level plant magic the druid could only hope to replicate. Maria in Hagsrise Grove employed her army of once-drunken—now sober—dwarves to handle the dungeons. It was hard not to worry about the other groves, but until they got on the line he could do nothing to help them.
"Are you any closer to the portals?" Jim asked.
"We're getting close," Rud confirmed. "My tree won't tell me the numbers, but we have access to a massive power source now. We should only need a building, then I can send supplies to the groves. Any luck contacting anyone else?"
"Nope. I think we'll need to get Bent involved before that changes. Even then, some groves are outside of the scope of our mission," Jim said.
Jim was talking about the Spirit of The Land, which was… weird. It didn't follow the standard organization for Groves, so Rud doubted they could be roped into the scheme. They had a very clear path forward, though.
"The new plan is the old plan!" Rud said, tipping back in his chair as he laughed. "Good thing I came here to talk to you. But seriously, I'd love to talk to more custodians. Then we can share supplies."
"Roger that, Gladesbale. We'll collect as much info as we can over here," Jim said. "Until then, over and out."
"Farewell, good buddy," Rud said, gaining only static for his efforts. Of course. 'Over and out' meant Jim was hanging up without waiting for a response. That's what he remembered from back on Earth, anyway.
As Rud was already in the tower, he accepted the aspect and put his Farseeing skill to use. Although he had been working hard to entice the adventurers—creating wooden paths in the south of the Grove that formed a webwork between the dungeons—there were more dungeons appearing. Withdrawing his paper yet again, he took notes. The dungeons he spotted didn't seem too magically charged, but they didn't need to be, did they?
If Ban was right about how the dungeons would work for the tower, they didn't need to be strong. There just had to be a bunch of them to act like a series of batteries. That wouldn't happen if Rud had anything to say about it… Yet there was a problem. A bunch of adventurers had left from Barlgore to head west, striking out against a bunch of orcish monster jerks. Which meant there were few adventurers to deal with the dungeons.
From a bird's eye view, Rud spotted each dungeon littered throughout the Grove. His Farseeing skill covered the entire grove, allowing him to document each one. Even after clearing as many as he did, the area was littered with them.
"I have concerns."
Rud nearly fell out of his chair as Nulsa's deep voice rumbled from the railing. "I already had one heart attack," the druid said, clutching his chest. "Don't need another."
"I believe the dungeons are becoming… slightly aware. Or perhaps it is the force that drives the dungeons," Nulsa said. "They're evading my sight. It is harder to find them than before."
Rud allowed his vision to fade, returning to the Farseeing skill. He scanned around, locking onto the various magical energies in the grove to look for something he might have missed. The best way to find dungeons was to scan the area while looking for their energy pattern. After locking onto that, he could use his bird's-eye view to pinpoint the location. Going on what Nulsa said, he scanned for more subtle energies. After spotting the least-concealed one of mana, he sighed.
"They're even evading the power of my Farseeing skill."
"That's concerning," Nulsa said.
Rud tapped his chin. There were a few approaches to the problem, but he didn't know which would work. Perhaps once Ban woke up he could ask her. For now, the only thing they could do was to catalogue the dungeons and petition the town for some adventurers. The druid looked back at the massive owl and smiled. Nulsa looked like a great horned owl from back on Earth, except somehow more massive.
"Busy day!" Rud said, rolling his shoulders as he approached the railing. He looked over the edge, prepared to shift into his flying squirrel form. "Gonna be hard convincing people to help with dungeons. But you know those mortals. They love loot."