NOVEL NEXT 3.4 - Thank the Spirits
Rud had little trouble readjusting the paths for the adventurers. He knew the house was good enough for them for now, but if they didn't have a walkway between where they were and the nearby dungeons, they would get lost and possibly die. He only needed to connect a few of the dungeons to keep them busy for a while, making his job effortless. When he was done, he headed to the observatory first before planning to grab some dinner.
The radio clicked on with a familiar hum of static, and he announced himself, waiting for the voice he expected on the other end. His heart fluttered slightly when the custodian from Hagsrise spoke.
"Jim said I missed your call earlier," Maria said with a sigh. "Sorry about that. As I'm sure you are aware, we're dealing with some extraordinary circumstances here. Any update on the supplies? We could really use some."
"We're getting very close to making that work," Rud said. "But we'll need to get our tower and labyrinth under control before I can make the building."
"So, you're just going to make a teleporter building? Must be nice…" Maria trailed off for a few long moments, leaving only the sound of static behind. When her voice came back through the radio, Rud was startled. "Anyway! Enough doom and gloom. We're working on looping in some other custodians. Some never got the tower building and some have other complications. So… yay!"
Although she had delivered the news as though it were any other facet of her grove, Rud understood how monumental this was. Getting the other custodians on the line had been nearly impossible. If she had found a way to pull them into the fold, everything would go much easier. He understood that the power of the groves was not as singular entities but as connected things. The more connected they were, the better.
"That's awesome," Rud said, letting go of the microphone for a moment to clap his hands like an idiot. He picked it back up and thumbed the button once again. "How many have you contacted?"
"Just one, but that's the start I needed," she said.
They chatted for some time, but eventually, the conversation fell away. The day was getting later, and Rud found his brain frazzled from the events. The sudden appearance of the tower had sent him off-kilter, and he wanted to settle down and get some food. After signing off, he jumped from the balcony, soaring in his flying squirrel form in a lazy pattern. While he soared, he summoned his attribute sheet to check his progress.
[Rud]
Main Class:
Rank 1 Level 1 Druid
Subclass:
Rank 0 Level 6 Grove Custodian
Attributes:
Health: 143
Mana: 218
Strength: 10
Agility: 8
Vigor: 13
Mind: 20
Affinity: 15
Titles:
[Keeper of the Gladesbale Grove]
It hadn't changed the last time he had checked it, but his attributes were growing at an absurd rate thanks to his artifact weapon. He had 32 extra levels' worth of attributes, which made him feel monstrous. Yet, for all that power, he could do nothing but manipulate plants, turn into a squirrel, and so on. Still, it was good to see progress.
Rud swung the door open to the longhouse and his mouth dropped open. Major, the massive bear that he had found in the cave, was sprawled out on the ground. Dean, the direwolf of the group, was in a similar state. Even Mint, the guardian of the Grove, looked as though she had been through an ordeal. Each had wounds that varied in intensity.
"Gonna just gawk?" Taz asked. The dwarf was pressing a mossy mixture into Mint's side, flecks of blood and dirt across his face.
Rud scrambled, surging forward in a panic and tripping over his own feet. He fell on his face but soon rose back to his feet and slid to Dean's side. Dean seemed to have the worst wounds. In an instant, Rud called upon his Nature's Restoration spell. Green light flowed from his hands, soaking into the wolf's body and getting to work, stitching his wounds closed.
"What happened?" Rud asked, rubbing his hands together as he rushed to the next downed animal. He cast his spell again before Taz could even tell the tale.
"These idiots decided to run the tower," Taz said, shaking his head. "They thought they could conquer all 100 floors by themselves, but look where that got them."
"Seriously, you guys?" Rud asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he moved to the last spirit animal. He would have to rotate between them since his healing spell had yet to be upgraded. It was still working at rank 0, but each beast was at least rank 1. Still, if he cast enough times, their wounds would close. "Come on. Tell me what you were thinking, Mint."
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"I was thinking it would be no more difficult than the labyrinth," Mint said from her prone position on the ground. She didn't even lift her head to speak. "We entered the first floor, and it seemed normal enough. It was a very large dimensional space themed around goblins. Goblins are easy enough to kill, so we cleared the floor and went to the next one. But by the fifth floor, we were facing powerful orcs. It wasn't just their power that bogged us down; there were hundreds of them, and we had to retreat."
"You only made it to the fifth floor?" Rud asked. He had to pause to wait for his mana to regenerate. It was a good thing his staff restored two mana a second, replenishing what the spell cost in 15 seconds which made it easy to rotate between the downed beasts. "How is that possible? Aren't you strong?"
"I am exceedingly strong," Mint said, finally lifting her head to growl at him. "But the tower that has been seeded within our grove is even stronger than I. That is concerning."
"'Concerning' is one way to put it," Ban's voice filled the longhouse, rattling Rud's teeth in a way it never had before. "The amount of magical energy contained within the tower is more than I had expected. Tapping into the labyrinth's core doubled my energy output, which means most of the mechanism that creates the tower's energy is shielded from me. I can't even imagine how strong it is at the top."
"Sweet, so the tower is powerful enough to defeat our guardian. What does that mean?" Rud asked. He cast another healing spell, and Dean finally lifted his head, stumbling to his feet and shaking his entire body. The druid was covered in mud and flecks of blood.
Nobody responded at first, but Rud recognized the pensive look on Mint's face. She was rolling their options over in her mind. When a predatory smile spread across her face, he thought he knew exactly what she wanted to do.
"We're going to run the tower every day," Mint said, gaining the attention of the other sacred beasts in the room, who looked concerned about the proclamation. "You're going to be here in the longhouse or outside of the tower to heal us when we come out. We can petition the spirits to upgrade your healing spell, and your skill will increase quickly enough once you're healing us daily."
"Whoa, doesn't that sound risky?" Rud asked.
"While I don't enjoy seeing those under my care injured, it would be a way to increase the power of our sacred beasts more quickly than stated. If they're willing to endure the pain, they'll rise through the ranks quickly." Ban's voice was tingled with both excitement and concern. Rud couldn't tell which side she leaned to.
"We can endure," Major said, finally rising. "So long as I may still have my naps."
"Can I come!?" Sarya asked, bouncing around like a crazed wolf.
"You may attend the first few floors," Mint said, regarding the youngest wolf in the Grove with a look of concern. "But you have a long way to go."
"Oh, boy!" Sarya shouted, doing laps around the longhouse.
The group discussed a plan for the future. The entire time Rud was healing the wounds of his friends, he expected River, the spirit responsible for his Healing Magic skill, to give him the next rank of the spell. Maybe he could figure it out on his own, but Healing Magic wasn't his specialty. But no new spell came, forcing the druid to cast the spell roughly ten billion times. At least it brought his skill up.
Eventually, the group settled down for some dinner. Taz was all too eager to dish out some food, and Rud was hungrier than he ever remembered being while within the Grove. The dark mood that had settled over the longhouse vanished, giving way to the same joyous atmosphere he had come to love. While everyone dug into their food, Rud checked the skills attached to his main class.
[Druid]
Rank 1 Level 1 Class
Description:
Druids commune with nature to command spells and shapeshifting effects. The closer a druid is with nature, the stronger their abilities.
Skills:
[Animal Communication] R1 L1
[Growth Magic] R1 L1
[Detection Magic] R0 L1
[Construction Magic] R1 L1
[Healing Magic] R0 L7
[Crafting Magic] R0 L7
[Shapeshifting Magic] R0 L9
[Plant Care] R0 L8
Abilities:
[Druidic Spellcasting]
[Druidic Attunement]
[Grove Specialization: Plant Magic]
Healing magic at level 7 was pretty sweet, but it would be far more useful if he brought it all the way to rank 1. The same went for shape-shifting magic. Once he got those to the next rank, he could gain an ability for each. Those upgrades were incredibly useful. Although he was investing a lot of effort in increasing the level of his main class's skills, he still needed to be concerned about the skills associated with his subclass. He inspected his subclass next.
[Grove Custodian]
Rank 0 Level 6 Subclass
Description:
Grove Custodians dedicate their lives to tending to Sacred Trees. They gain adaptive abilities, depending on which form their bound tree takes.
Skills:
(LOCKED) [Mining] R0 L6
(LOCKED) [Smelting] R0 L6
(LOCKED) [Smithing] R0 L4
(LOCKED) [Farseeing] R0 L8
(LOCKED) [Animal Husbandry] R0 L4
[Custodianship] R0 L7
(LOCKED) [Cheesemaking] R0 L1
Abilities:
[Efficient Custodian]
Aspect:
NONE
This one needed a lot more work for him to get up. It was difficult to level, as he had shunted the responsibilities of mining, smelting, and smithing off to Taz. Instead, he was now focusing on Farseeing, Animal Husbandry, Custodianship, and Cheesemaking. He suspected he could also unlock an ability for Tea Making, but that hadn't shown up yet. Either way, it was slow going. If he wanted to increase the rank of his Grove Custodian subclass, he needed four skills at Rank 1. To move from Rank 1 to Rank 2, he had to have 5 skills at the next rank., and so on.
The conversation within the longhouse had grown more lively. With all the tension drained from the room, Rud could finally enjoy himself. But not for as long as he would've liked. Before the group broke for the night, he headed to pilfer their stores. He collected tea, cheese, and a spare wood-fired stove from their storage area. As promised, the druid returned to the temporary storehouse he had constructed for the adventurers and loaded it up.
The mortals were scattered over every available surface, snoozing the night away. Rud tried not to giggle to himself as he placed comically large wheels of cheese atop the chest of one sleeping man. He grabbed it, rolling onto his side.
"Good night, cheese-snuggler," Rud whispered as he left the building. He took a deep breath of the night's air. The day was finally done and he could get some rest. "Thank the spirits."