Rud had dinner with the others in the longhouse, but had no intentions of going to sleep so early. While the day was exhausting, he was still wired from his tea. After everyone left for the night, he headed to the one place he could think of to find a new ally. The Observatory was empty, bathed in the darkness of night, but he clicked on the radio anyway. Static came in from the other end, but he hailed the other tower anyway.

  “Gladesbale to Hagsrise. You up?”

  Static played back. Rud fell into the uncomfortable chair and scanned the grove while he waited for his guest to arrive. There was no sign that the mortals had returned. Sarya and Dean reported during dinner. The interlopers retreated westward through a passage in the mountains. Rud spent his time in the tower scanning the area, frustrated that those people hadn’t shown in his highlighting vision.

  “What a lonely night to stand watch,” a voice said, carrying from outside.

  Rud almost fell out of his chair. He swiveled his head, spotting the form of that massive owl resting on the banister. “Hey. Thought you might be back to visit.”

  “This is an excellent perch.”

  “I didn’t get your name last time,” Rud said, tapping his chin as though in thought.

  “Yet I know yours. Keeper Rud.”

  “And that name?”

  “Nulsa.”

  A simple question that revealed two things to Rud. The massive owl wasn’t on the verge of being a Sacred Beast. He was already one. The second thing that was revealed to him was that the owl didn’t have an ulterior motive. Any beast looking to hide its identity wouldn’t have given its name. He could have pretended as though he didn’t have a name to fly under the radar.

  “I’m guessing you like the grove, Nulsa.”

  “I’ve been enjoying it,” the owl admitted. “Sanctuary is hard to find. I don’t enjoy being hunted.”

  “Is that a problem you have?” Rud couldn’t help but laugh. He couldn’t imagine anyone sneaking up on the owl, let alone defeating it. The creature was as silent as a ghost, appearing only when he wanted to be seen.

  “More often than you could imagine.”

  Rud realized why the owl had been visiting him. He thought it would be hard to recruit the Sacred Beast to the grove, but realized it was the other way around. Nulsa was concerned they wouldn’t accept him if he asked. But he remembered how prideful Mint could be. Even Basil in the Cliffs of Mog grove had a sense of pridefulness to him. The druid summoned his most important skill that never appeared in his class or subclass. The Interacting with Others skill. Or maybe it was Smoothing Things Over. Setting Expectations?

  “I have a problem,” Rud said, drawing himself up in his chair. He smacked the end of his staff against the ground. “My guardian has a problem. The grove is in danger, and we are without a sentinel.”

  “Oh?” the owl said, tilting his head to the side.

  “Indeed. We’re beset on all sides by enemies. Mortal interlopers and vicious monsters alike.”

  “You can stop… I can see what you’re trying to do.”

  “I would be disappointed if you didn’t see what angle I was taking.”

  Nulsa hooted softly, turning his head to peer off into the night. “I would have conditions.”

  “Such as?”

  “The hunting of rodents. As many as I want.”

  “So long as you do so outside the grove.”

  “We have an agreement.”

  That was easy. Rud felt vindicated. Nulsa was drawn to the grove and wanted in. A night sentinel was a powerful thing. Especially one that could fly and observe from the shadows. There were some complications, though. The druid couldn’t form the pact. That was something that Ban needed to do, and she was still asleep.

  “Our Sacred Tree is resting, but she can create a pact when she wakes.”

  “That is fine.”

  Silence set in over the tower. Long moments passed without either party moving. Nulsa might have been an owl, but that predatory stare was ever-present. Rud had seen an owl once back on Earth. It was hard enough to know if they were in an area at night, even when they were calling. He recalled seeing a dark shape fly overhead as he was camping. Even in the dim firelight it was almost impossible to notice that anything had changed. Until he saw the pair of eyes staring back at him from a tree branch, he didn’t even know he was being observed.

  “I watched the mortals enter the realm. Observed your response. I was impressed.”

  “Really? Mint wanted to bite their heads off.”

  “Perhaps that would have been a better move. But the grove stands for more than needless violence.”

  Rud couldn’t agree more. Mint went with his decision, but that didn’t mean she agreed. But Nulsa was right. The grove wasn’t just more than a set of ideals. It was an amalgamation of the thoughts and desires of all three core members. The more Rud spent time in the grove, he realized that the smaller players had a part, too. Taz’s need for a longhouse had created a central meeting point away from the Sacred Tree. That gave Ban some room to breathe and everyone else a sense of great comfort with a warm fire and infinite soup.

  Without warning, Nulsa was gone from the tower. Rud didn’t hear him go, and wouldn’t question it. He knew where to find the sentinel. Once Ban woke up, they would gain a powerful new member.

  The stove within Rud’s mushroom house had been cold for days. He found his way to the longhouse, creeping inside as everyone was already asleep. Only Sarya was missing from the side of the massive fire. A group of adventurers slept near the other wolves. Taz was nearby, doubled over in a chair and snoring away. The druid found his bedroll and curled inside. The effects of his new tea were wearing off by the moment. Sleep beckoned, and he was happy to answer.

  ###

  An expectation hung in the air as Rud woke the next morning. Things lined up well enough sometimes. Recruiting Nulsa was effortless, so he expected Ban to be awake by the morning. But she wasn’t. The Sacred Tree still worked on increasing her rank, which had resulted in more waves of concentrated mana. The owl hadn’t appeared in the morning, and he doubted it would until the night.

  Rud sat with Taz, Mint, Sarya, and Dean within the longhouse. The rain had formed a habit with all the members, forcing them to be drawn to the fire. Things weren’t warming up, but at least the rain was gone. That cut some of the chill in the air, allowing the sun to dry things out. If only a bit.

  Taking care of the tea plants and the trees within the stump forest had driven his Plant Care skill to Level 6. Rud put more effort into stripping the leaves from the plants, but took care not to take too much. There was only so much that a cocktail of magic could cure. The druid’s mind eased when thinking about Ban’s energy problem. His stockpile of crystals had grown large enough for him to stop worrying. As he stockpiled the crystals, he now planned to hold onto more tea.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  The sensation of energy and focus that raced through Rud’s body helped that feeling take root. He found a nearby bush and teleported to his Observatory. Scampering up the side as a squirrel was fun compared to taking the stairs, and he could always use more levels.

  “Nothing crazy going on today,” Rud said, speaking through his radio as he observed his area. “No sign of the mortals.”

  “Good. The last thing you need is a mob with torches and pitchforks. It happened to us a few times.”

  “Lame. I made a road for the mortals. Wondering if I’ll live to regret that.”

  “Maybe. Depends on the grove, I guess. Most don’t even let mortals in without a pact.”

  There wasn’t much to note on Rud’s report today. He considered not even writing one, but had already filled half a page. His concerns for the grove were gone as quickly as they came. Nulsa seemed as eager as an owl could to join the grove, so the druid turned his attention to the things he wanted to do. First was his Shapeshifting Magic skill. Leveling that would level his druid class. No matter how hard he tried, he could never remember to cast his spell to increase his Detection Magic skill. But it had to happen if he wanted to advance. Farseeing had been the one thing to add to his Grove Custodian subclass that seemed effortless.

  “You’re always spacing out,” Hagsrise said.

  “Sorry. Just got a notification,” Rud said, rubbing his hands together as he inspected the message.

  [Skill Gain!]

  Your Farseeing skill has increased to level 5!

  [Ding!]

  You have gained a level in your Grove Custodian subclass!

  Level 5!

  Screens crowded his vision. Once again, Rud had leveled a skill to five at the same time that he leveled a class to five. He checked out the ability options on his Grove Custodian class first. General skills would often have a lot of options. But this subclass had so many things to pick from, the druid found himself at a loss.

  “Just leveled my subclass,” Rud said, thumbing the button on his radio. “There has to be hundreds of ability options here.”

  “Really? You’re still Rank 0, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, that’s odd. Is there a theme?”

  There really wasn’t a theme. The point of the Grove Custodian subclass was to adapt to whatever it was the Sacred Tree needed. Ban needed him to be everything, so he got everything. The problem was, it was hard to narrow anything down. He saw abilities that would enhance a specific domain, which would specialize him. Other skills let him stay broad, influencing a variety of skills.

  “I’d go as wide as possible to start. I can only imagine the skills you’re getting are going to go even wider than they are now.”

  That’s what Rud was thinking. He narrowed the massive list down to about ten, then picked through those. The more he inspected that list of ten, the less he wanted abilities that needed to be activated. The Grove Custodian class had a lot of abilities with long cooldowns and effects that didn’t match. Four abilities remained, all of which were passive. Of those four, he narrowed it down to two which seemed to have powerful effects.

  [Efficient Custodian]

  Grove Custodian Ability

  Description:

  Efficiency is the key to being a good custodian.

  Effect:

  The effectiveness of your Grove Custodian skills are tied to the rank of your Sacred Tree.

  Rud had gone back-and-forth on this ability for a while. At first, he thought it was crap. When a description was vague, he got worried it wouldn’t be great. But when he considered how his connection with Ban had grown, this might be an incredibly powerful ability. But was this a small percentage increase, or a doubling? Hard to say. On to the next ability.

  [Radiant Insight]

  Grove Custodian Ability

  Description:

  Aspects are the core of a custodian’s job.

  Effect:

  The first aspect you accept (once per day, resetting at midnight) gains a significant boost to the linked skill(s).

  Both selections were interesting and weird. Radiant Insight would give him a bonus to the skill of the first aspect he accepted each day. It was like Efficient Custodian, but different enough. Both abilities built the Grove Custodian subclass out to focus on his attached skill, which played well to the strengths of the subclass. Rud talked with Hagsrise about both skills. She was leaning toward the Efficient Custodian ability for one reason.

  “You have a sapient tree. If the ability is tied to her rank, and she’s smart enough to rank up quickly, your skills will get really powerful.”

  It was a convincing argument, too. Ban was itching to increase her rank even further. When she learned Rud had assembled such a large amount of crystals, she might make a sprint for the next rank. He knew there was a resting period between the ranks, but also knew his Sacred Tree well enough to expect the rush.

  “You’ve sold me,” Rud said, selecting the Efficient Custodian ability. He almost fell out of his chair. “Head rush.”

  Rud still had the Aspect of Bent, which granted him the Farseeing skill. Upon expecting the new ability, his vision had pulsed and warped for only a moment. It was enough to make him feel sick, but it passed soon enough. Without thinking about it, he turned his gaze to the distance to see how far he could see.

  “Woah,” Rud said, watching as his vision snapped to the road outside of Barlgore. His range had almost doubled, allowing him to scan even more area. More impressively, he could see the shimmering clouds of magic with more clarity, gaining understanding about what they meant.

  “How did it go?”

  “Worth it,” Rud said. “I guess Ban is Rank 1 now, because my farsight was doubled. Oh, hold on… I can finally see that weird island.”

  Rud allowed his vision to shift, giving him a top-down view of the shore of the dark shape in the lake. No waves lapped against the rocky shore. A thick sheet of ice encased the area around the island. He pulled his sight away from the area, looking upon the tower once again. The ice seemed too thick to be a product of the storms. Rud let his sight zoom in again, peering further than would ever be possible. The island rested on the lake, surrounded by a cloud of snow.

  “Magical frost island?” Rud asked. “Interesting.”

  “Sounds more exciting than anything I have down here. Just rocks and more rocks…”

  The view from the tower was beautiful. Rud allowed the borrowed power from Bent to fade, allowing him to see the treetops of his grove. How different would things have been if he ended up in a mushroom grove, rather than one with an awesome tree? He didn’t want to even consider it.

  “Just abandon your post and live in Gladesbale,” Rud said, setting the microphone down to stretch. He still needed to go through the upgrades for his Farseeing skill.

  “Yeah, like that would ever happen. They’ve got us by the soul, my friend.”

  “That sucks too.”

  Hagsrise chatted about her grove while Rud went through his upgrade options. This list was far more limited than the ability selections for the Grove Custodian subclass. An upgrade caught his attention right away. The tower was atop a hill, which gave him a great view of the area. But there were several places he had trouble seeing because they were behind terrain features.

  [Piercing Gaze]

  Farseeing Upgrade

  Description:

  What use is farsight if you can’t see through things?

  Effect:

  While using the Farsight skill, you may see through one layer of terrain. This includes earth, stone, trees, etc.

  That was one way to solve the problem. The other upgrade options offered percentage increases to his view distance that were too low, or sight through specific weather. With the distances Rud was currently viewing, he was almost certain the curvature of the planet should have been a problem. But it wasn’t. This was magic, after all. He went with the Piercing Gaze upgrade and felt it slotting into his skill. While chatting with Hagsrise, he tested it out. Sure enough, he could see through a layer of terrain. There were a set of hills to the southwest that had been a problem, but Piercing Gaze allowed him to stare right through them.

  “The worst part about dwarves isn’t even the alcoholism. Well, did you know that they’ll die if they don’t get booze?”

  “Really?” Rud took a moment to stop messing with his new upgrade to work the radio. “Pretty sure mine hasn’t had liquor, but he isn’t dead.”

  There was a long pause on Hagsrise’s side of the radio. Her voice crackled back to life after a moment. “I think the dwarves have been lying to me for about twenty years. I’ll talk to you later. Someone is about to die.”

  “Just don’t get caught,” Rud said. “Talk to you later.”

  “Later.”

  Things would become quite lively at the Hagsrise Grove. Rud pushed away from his post at the radio and headed out. Perhaps it was time for a nice, calming bath.