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

Rud pulled up the wooden path behind him as he and Taz made their way to the dungeon. His goal was to be more economical about these paths, which should reduce confusion with the adventurers. It was hard to focus on the task, since he was too excited to chomp the dungeon, but he did it anyway. Upon arriving at the dungeon, Taz seemed to shiver at the sight. He rolled his shoulders and shook off the sensation before the druid prepared for the difficult task ahead.

"How strong does it make you when you eat a dungeon?" Taz asked.

"Well, why don't I tell you the attributes the dungeon gives me, and you can make your own decision?"

Taz agreed and lingered around as Rud held his staff high. The dungeon's soul seemed more resistant than the others he had encountered. It pushed back against him when he began the process, and it took everything in his power to maintain focus. But the power of his artifact was great. The energy from the dungeon flowed into his staff until the last remnants of the dungeon's soul were destroyed. The druid tipped to one side and fell over just as the system message appeared. Of course, the dwarf was there to steady him.

[Disease Slime Dungeon Soul Absorbed]

Your [Custodian's Twig] has absorbed a dungeon within Gladesbale Grove's borders. This artifact has gained +1 Vigor, +2 Mind.

The [Disease Slime Dungeon] has been destroyed.

Once Rud's head stopped spinning, he read the numbers out for Taz to hear. The dwarf released a low whistle, shaking his head. "That's a lot of attributes for one dungeon. How many are around here?"

"We've discovered at least 10, but it's really hard to say," Rud said. "There could be 20, and we're not sure if they'll regenerate. The thing is, I can only use the staff to eat a dungeon if that dungeon is inside the Grove."

"I mean… You just got 3 levels basically," Taz said with a weak shrug. "I wouldn't complain."

"No complaints here! Even if each dungeon only averages 2 attributes, I'll gain at least 20 levels of attribute points. They might be random, but who cares?"

"Exactly. You're gonna be so strong."

"Wanna wrastle?" Rud asked, pushing himself to his feet and crouching.

"I'd rather not. You'll just grow a tree around me or something."

"Heh. You're right," Rud said. "Anyway, I'll meet you back at the mine. I need to do some scouting along the way, otherwise Nulsa might peck me to death."

Rud shifted into his raven form without warning.

Taz shrieked. "Since when can you be a bird!?"

"Since earlier today," Rud said casually. "Anyway, see ya there."

Rud took off, ascending through the boughs of the trees above and taking to the skies. From their point in the southwestern section of the Grove, it would take a while to get to the mine. Especially since Rud wanted to scan the forest below him to look for dungeon activity. But there was little to report along the way, with only minor blips he investigated to find nothing. Within the hour, the druid arrived at the mine and preened before the entrance.

"Oh look, a little bird has come calling to my mine," Taz said, stepping through the entrance.

"Caw!" Rud said. "I'm just a totally normal bird."

"Well, would that totally normal bird like to come in and help this poor dwarf?" Taz asked. "I've done some work reinforcing my mine, but the job is going to take far too long. I could use some of your druidic magic."

"Give me the tour," Rud said, shifting back to his true form.

Taz led the way down into the mine, and it was immediately obvious what the problem was. The first junction had a path leading forward, and one to the left. The one going forward led to the cavern system where Rud had first met Major. To the left was Taz's living area and the mine where the dwarf extracted his ore and crystals. As the druid descended into the mine area, he let out a long whistle.

"You're really going crazy down here, aren't you?" Rud asked, running his hand along the smooth stone wall as he descended switchback staircases.

"This is my only stress relief," Taz said with a shrug.

Yet the floors kept coming. Each level of the mine had a branch path carved out from the stairs, spanning far enough in the distance that it vanished into the darkness. By the time Taz got off the stairs, they had gone down about twenty levels. Rud lost count along the way, and tried not to worry about it too much.

"And here you can see my problem," Taz said, gesturing forward.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Holding a light high, Taz illuminated the wall. Large cracks had appeared in the smoothed stone. Large chunks were resting on the ground, scattered pieces ranging from pea-sized gravel to sections as large as the druid.

"Yep. Classic case of 'dwarf gone mad.' I've seen this a few times," Rud said, rubbing his chin. "New concrete will run you 15k. High-quality timber is gonna run you 5k… You could hire a handyman to get it down for cheaper, but you're gonna pay in the long run."

"I ain't got no money," Taz said.

Rud cleared his throat. "How about the very fair price of free?" he asked. "Yeah, we can snake some roots through the rock. Shouldn't be hard."

"That's what I like to hear, druid!" Taz said, slapping him on the back.

"Okay, let me get to work," Rud said, looking up to the ceiling above. He couldn't feel any nearby roots and had worries about getting any down here. Although he showed confidence to Taz, the job might've been too tough for his magic. There was only one way to know if it would work, though.

Rud started on the surface, finding the largest tree nearby. As it was close enough to Ban, it was soaked in her energy. That allowed him to apply another cast of Plant Growth, which made the already massive tree even bigger. The roots surged, expanding to twice their size at the base and digging deeper into the ground. He then drew a steady breath, slamming his staff into the ground and closing his eyes.

Using Shape Plant, Rud drove a root from the tree into the ground. He felt no resistance in the dirt layer. The root simply split through the earth, knocking aside whatever small stones were embedded there. When he hit the first layer of stone, that's where he ran into problems. It wasn't too bad at first, only requiring a bit more force than normal to drive the root down. But then he hit the solid layer of rock. The challenge went beyond testing what his skills and spells could do. It was a dead stop, and nothing he could do would break through.

"Well, that sucks," Rud grumbled.

Naturally, the druid should've expected this to happen. A rock was harder than a root. If he couldn't find the gaps between the stones, this approach was useless. Instead, he went for the plan he had employed before. Instead of going through the rock, he would take the parts of the tree through the paths already cut by Taz. The key was to take a section of the tree that was neither the roots nor the branches. He drew instead from the body of the same tree he had enhanced, snaking it through the entrance and to the left.

"You're gonna drag more tree material in here!?" Taz shouted with a huff.

"Just make a notch in the wall," Rud said, guiding the tree through the halls. "I can plaster it flush against there."

Although Taz grumbled, he eventually nodded his approval. The main section of the complex had already been reinforced. But as Rud guided the new tree down into the ground—as absurd as that sight was—he smiled to himself. This wasn't like last time. He could move more dense material with little effort, and was soon crowding the stairs with a torso-thick section of wood. It grew under his command, the green light of the spell illuminating the dark space. Once he reached the bottom floor, the tree spread out, creating supporting sections through the long hallways.

Taz directed him to support certain sections of the mine and Rud was happy to put them in place. Once all the floors were decently supported, the druid transformed his weird Frankenstein's Tree further by extending roots on the bottom. The idea was to help the tree support its new mass by sucking up the water accumulating within the mine. Just like his root-based water transport system, he could encourage the tree to suck up all that water and either use it for itself or deposit it elsewhere.

The dwarf wasn't excited about the tree inside his mine, but he wouldn't complain. As long as it served its purpose, Rud knew he would be happy.

"Maybe you've goofed off enough for the day," Taz said, slapping Rud on the shoulder. "You should get back to it."

Rud bid farewell to the dwarf. The druid did a quick check at his tower, getting a report from Jim that all was calm for now. After a quick scan of the area, he was happy to return to the sky. One quick check on the adventurers later, and he felt a feeling of dread settle over him. Soaring high above the grove, Rud felt Nulsa approaching more than he heard or saw him. The sun was blocked for a moment as the owl settled in above him.

"Have you screwed around enough for the day?" Nulsa's voice came in colder than the ice island, sending a shiver up Rud's spine.

"I've got responsibilities, you know?"

"As a mouse has a responsibility in the forest… at night," Nulsa said, his icy threats cutting Rud deeply.

"So, uh… find anything yet?" Rud asked nervously.

"Yes. Follow me," Nulsa said, banking and leading the way.

It took Rud a bit to figure out which direction they were heading. The more time he spent in the sky, the easier this would become. For now, he settled for thinking it was north. Nulsa brought them low to the treeline—close enough for the druid to smell the forest below. When they finally dove below the canopy, Rud's head snapped around, locking onto features of the landscape until he spotted the road far below. They were near the western edges of the Grove by now.

After activating his mana sight, Rud's mind was awash in confusion. He sensed something up ahead, but had seen nothing like it before. A collection of energy, appearing as little more than a tiny vortex of magical power, lingered at the bottom of a ravine. Nulsa and Rud skirted the forest floor, coming out over the drop as they both looked below.

"What is that?" Rud asked.

"I have no idea," Nulsa said, cocking his head to one side as he sat on a branch.

If Rud disabled his mana sight, the energy collecting before them vanished. It looked like a cloud of magic with a defined center, the power on the outside radiating outward with no particular direction. The druid jumped from his branch, gliding down before landing nearby. He felt no different, so he took a few hops forward.

"Smells like a wet dog," Rud said, sniffing the air.

"Try sniffing it in your true form," Nulsa shouted, suspiciously not descending to have a whiff.

With a shrug, Rud shifted into his true form. He took a sniff. "Now it smells like cleaning solution."

"What manner of cleaning solution?"

"I dunno!" Rud shouted back. "The pine one."

"Interesting. Perhaps you're just smelling the trees."

Rud looked around, shrugging. "Just a bunch of oaks around here, buddy."

"Try licking it," Nulsa offered.

Rud turned to narrow his eyes at the owl… But not before he had already leaned forward and extended his tongue. "Nulsa, are you messing with me?"

"I would never," Nulsa said. "Now lick the cloud of magic."