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

There were still questions about what the underground city was. Rud had quite a few questions he couldn't answer until he got a mage of Elm's caliber down there. One thing he knew was that the city seemed mostly untouched by anything other than the ravages of time. The druid stood in the clearing, watching as Major yawned a lazy yawn.

"Why do I gotta go?" Major asked. "Take Sarya. She's more than eager to go back down there. And we gotta walk? No Thicket Travel."

"No complaints, you lazy bear," Rud said. "Everyone else is busy."

"Watch as I complain," Major said. "The entire time."

"Okay," Rud said, clapping his hands together. He turned to Elm, who had a different robe and a travel pack on her back. "We're ready to delve into the unforgivable deep places of the world! Major is extremely excited to go."

"Am not."

"Wonderful!" Elm said, jumping with excitement. "How far down is it? Are we going to be traveling for long?"

"Not that long. Lazy bear doesn't know it, but I'm going to weave some trees together to make a faster path. We can teleport all the way there, but you can't. So, we must adapt!" Rud shouted, striking a pose.

"Wait, what?" Major asked. "You said we were walking all the way there."

"Yeah, and I'm not lying," Rud said. "We're just walking down a comfy staircase made from tree roots."

"I'll never get used to the way you talk to the spirits," Elm said with a shake of her head.

Truth was, Rud didn't know if his plan to get to the underground city was gonna work. But hoofing it with Elm would be rough, taking a few days at least. And that was only because the winding nature of the passages would send them zig-zagging without making much progress. The only problem he had with the root plan was breaking through layers of rock.

It was time to see how far his Plant Magic had come.

Rud led his little group through the forest, focusing on the Grove's energies that pierced far below them. He wasn't planning on following the passages they had taken before. The underground city was directly below a clearing northwest of the mine. The druid started by planting a tree, growing it to its absurd size. He then gathered and grew roots below that dug through the topsoil with ease. As they went deeper, things got harder. But even after breaking through the first layer of stone, the druid found a technique that maximized the effect of the digging roots.

"I'm unsure how this tree helps us," Major said, perhaps a bit prematurely.

After taking a short break, Rud placed his hands on the bark of the tree. He let out a steady breath as he invoked his Shape Plant spell. His senses shot through several massive oak trees, tingling the edge of his mind and forcing him to sway on the spot. The leaves on the trees above seemed to perk up, perhaps adding their own power to his efforts. Beneath their feet, the ground rumbled.

The trunk of the tree parted, revealing within it a sloped ramp that ran in a circle and down into the earth. Rud smiled to himself as he approached, druidic magic lingering behind as he etched the stairs into that ramp. It might've been fun to ride the slide so deep into the ground, but he didn't think it'd be fun to come back without the stairs.

"Your druidic magic is growing by the day," Elm said, whistling as they all stepped foot into the tree. It was wide enough that Rud and Elm could stand shoulder-to-shoulder. It was a bit tight for Major.

"That's because I'm specializing in grove-based Plant Magic," Rud said. "Nearly all my upgrades are based on that and my power partially scales with the power of the Grove… Which you can imagine is crazy."

"I'd say," Elm said, watching as the green magic wrapped around the spiral staircase. "I've gotta say… I'm not looking forward to walking all these stairs."

"Better than walking the path," Rud said. "We had a fun time going through the underground paths."

The stairs were punishing, but Rud's plan to use a giant tree to dig through the ground worked pretty well. When he came to a section of only rock, it took far more effort, forcing them to take a break before proceeding. Wedging a root between cracks in the rock, then allowing that root to grow and split the stone and move them out of the way. It might've been slow going, but it was faster than escorting Elm through the passages. That's what the druid kept reminding himself, anyway.

"I can already sense it," Elm said, half an hour later.

"Taking a straight shot to the site isn't bad," Rud said, opening his magical senses. He could faintly feel something, but the energies of the Grove were too overwhelming. Elm's own senses must've been honed to a point, and the druid couldn't help but be impressed.

"I'm tired," Major complained.

"That's actually your first complaint," Rud said with a laugh. He forced another length of root down into the ground, splitting through a large fissure in the rock. The ground rumbled as the tree pushed away another chunk. Then the druid felt it clear away below them, representing a freefall into the massive chasm below.

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"We're here," Rud said, weaving the tree into another staircase for them to follow.

Elm rushed to be first, gasping as she stepped out into the stale air of the underground city. Rud felt the rush of magic greet them, but it wasn't the befouled energy from before. Ban had extended her own roots down here, absorbing or otherwise transforming the maligned energy into something different. It wasn't quite the natural energies of the Grove, but it wasn't poison either.

"What in the name of my elven forefathers am I looking at?" Elm asked, gasping again as she sent out a ball of light to dance through the air. It illuminated some of the sprawling city below them. "How did this get here!?"

"Best guess? Teleportation," Rud said, holding his staff aloft as he extended the roots downward. He spotted the path they had originally come through, along with the underground plants he could use to teleport out of here. "Now the air is filled with purified energy. It used to be poisoned."

"I'm sensing immense magical power coming from some of those buildings," Elm said, squinting. "By all the gods, I can't even imagine what could've happened here. Not only where it came from, but what purpose it served before it came here. Rud, this is the most amazing find I've seen in my lifetime."

"Yeah, no big deal. Just a crazy city under my Grove," Rud said, dusting his shoulders off. "And you're my canary, okay?"

"I've never considered myself much of a bird, but I think I understand the reference," Elm said, taking the last few steps. She hopped down the last one, rolling her shoulders as she looked around. Her eyes glowed with magical energy as she scanned the area. Eventually, she shook her head. "I can detect at least twelve powerful sources of energy inside the city itself. But each brick is infused with mana. If I had to guess, there were magical containment methods around power sources. The containment expired, and the city was left with an errant magic problem."

"That sounds technical," Rud said. He watched as Major stalked forward. The bear might've been grumpy about this trip, but he still did his job. He was scanning for threats and prepared to rush forward at any moment. "So, what's our first move?"

"Excellent question," Elm said. "Let's start with the basics. I don't recognize the style of construction. This isn't from any civilization I've visited, although it appears close to the castles I've seen on the mainland. Blocky construction weaving magic into the bricks themselves."

"Which means we don't know where it came from. What's next?"

"The quality of the magic. There is some of the original magic left, and I cannot tell where it came from."

"So, you got nothing?" Rud asked.

Elm smiled, her grin widening when she locked eyes with Rud. "Long ago, there were several magical civilizations. They derived a language from the sigils and arrays of the magical world. Axpashi was universal for a few hundred years. But that was nearly 300 years ago."

"Why is that important?" Rud asked. "Did that allow you to date the city somehow?"

"Not necessarily, but it gives us an idea," Elm said, gesturing upward. The globe of light she had summoned followed her gaze, illuminating a sign above a nearby gate. "That's Axpashi. Records of those magical civilizations are sparse. But I wonder if one city vanished without warning."

"I think we can go inside now," Rud said. "Maybe find more of those writings."

"We can hope," Elm said, pushing forward. "Let's go. Lead the way, bear."

The city itself must've been amazing back in its day. Although it was bordered by a modest wall, that feature had fared the worst out of everything. Even though the buildings within had mostly survived, the wall was crumbling in places. A road ran straight through, giving a view to a central spiral in the middle. Just like in the Grove, a road ran in all other directions. Perhaps they aligned with the cardinals at one point, but they were now just random lines the group used to drive their search.

"Here's the problem," Elm said as they neared the first of many doors. To Rud's surprise, the wooden door was in perfect condition. The mage seemed to notice that he had sensed something was wrong. "Feel it? This building is soaked with magic. It prevents decay, which is why the door is fine."

"I'm guessing this complicates matters," Rud said.

"Exactly. The Sacred Tree might have taken care of the ambient mana, but the enchantments are still here. This might just be a spell that keeps a structure from aging. Or it could release an explosion that murders everyone when someone opens the door."

"Those seem like two very different spells," Rud said. "Do you have a method to figure that very important information out?"

"Yes, but it could take a while," Elm said. "And I'll need to do it for each building."

Rud frowned as he watched the mage start her work. This was her domain, and nothing he could do would help it along. Perhaps he could purify each structure, but Elm was already on a roll. She completely oversold how dangerous the building was, and had removed the spell keeping it ageless within ten minutes.

"This one was simple," she said, placing her hand on the door and pushing it inward. Although Elm might've acted brave, she still winced.

The interior of the building revealed it to be nothing more than a simple home. From the threshold, Rud could see a table, chairs, and a disused fireplace. Like the rest of the city, it appeared as though the residents had left it as it was. Unlike the city, everything was untouched. Plates were stacked on a counter, while firewood waited to be burned in the fireplace. A coat hung on a rack near the front door, along with a pair of old boots on the ground.

"This is eerie," Major said, shivering. "I can sense ghosts."

"You can't sense ghosts," Rud said. "Any ghosts should've been banished when Ban took care of the lingering energy."

"You're making that up," Major said. "You know nothing about the necromantic horrors of this world."

"Look, it makes sense in my head so that's the idea I'm going with," Rud said, finally entering the building. He swapped back to the mortal tongue. "Come on. Let's turn this place over. There has to be some clue about what this city once was."

Both Elm and Rud made their way into the house. They turned together when they heard muffled grunting near the entrance. Major was half-way through the entrance, growling as he bit at the door frame.

"I think your bear is too chubby to get inside," Elm said, almost stopping herself from laughing.

"What did she say?" Major asked. "I'm not above mauling an elf."

"She said you look cute," Rud said, patting Major on the head. "Just stand guard outside, please."

Major removed himself from the door, waddling off. "I am pretty cute, aren't I?" he muttered.