TJ instinctively shifted into a coatl as soon as he noticed the strange shrubs. Stanton had called that particur bush a creosote, TJ just khem as the bushes that smelled like water. Even so, something was making it move, and TJ tasted the air, desperately hoping to find whatever it was that could pose a danger. He didn’t hesitate to use appraisal on the bush, but all that came back was its here was a different taste in the air, though, and TJ couldn’t quite pce it. He was far from a pro, or eve, but he had spent days in these mountains. There was no doubt in his mind that there was something fn here.

  When nothing jumped out of the bush, TJ slowly pushed his snout into the creosote, looking and tasting for whatever was the source of this strangeness. As soon as his eyes passed through the outer c of leaves to see into the ter, he saw it. What “it” was, he couldn’t say for sure, but that it was a dang pnt was about all he could reasonably guess. The one foot-tall moving pnt sported an inch-thick trunk surrounded with rge, deep green leaves growing directly from the stem. It bounced bad forth to a rhythm TJ couldn’t hear, though it seemed to keep good time. Appraisal gave a tiny bit of information.

  Vivacious pnt, Copper (I): A pnt with some form of Divinity tained within. It could prove useful to various Occupations, provided it is treated and collected correctly.

  Better than nothing, but not by a lot. A dang pnt would probably be worth something, but the System directly telling him that it was Copper level of value was good news.

  Stanton interrupted TJ from his disappointed Appraisal as he spread the leaves open to take a look himself.

  “That’s something you don’t see every day. What’s it called?” Stanton asked.

  “System just says ‘vivacious pnt’. Could be useful, has some Divinity. That’s about all I’m getting.”

  “Mmm. Surprising.”

  Taking the opportunity, TJ grunted in response. “You getting anything from your Occupation?”

  “Why would–well, there we are. Called a Lifebloom. Not sure what to do with it, but we get it out and store it. Will be worth the trouble.”

  “You should probably do it.” TJ said. “You’ll get experience from w with the forest, I’d guess, so it’ll be better for us in the long run. I’d like to learhod, though, if you’re willing to share.”

  Stanton nodded in assent as TJ shifted back to his human form. More and more, as he did so, he was feeling the differences betweewo bodies. His human sensibilities faded in the heat of battle, and he didn’t taste the blood of his foes when he ed them. A coatl was a semi-divine serpent, and something that dared to cross the feathered serpent would iably be ed. That mentality was fn and unfortable to him, but it was, heless, how Diviransformation affected him. When merely iigating a dang pnt called a Lifebloom, TJ felt like himself, and he was grateful that the Skill kept him alive. When he was offered Skills to better enable him to rip intelligent creatures to bits with his mouth, not as much.

  With a shake of his head, TJ dismissed the fearful sideration of what would happen to him as he tio use the Skill. Instead, he focused on how Stanton coaxed the Lifebloom to release its hold on the earth below it. He used a stick to poke into the firm soil, the hardeh crag under repeated jabs of the stick. Ohe earth was broken, Stanton blew firmly on the base of the Lifebloom’s roots. Strangely, it seemed to ugh like it’d been tickled, and its roots withdrew from the earth to around the stick that still stood pnted in the earth near it. At that point, Stanton lifted up the stid unceremoniously flicked the pnt free from the stid into TJ’s arms. It was surprisingly dehe foot-long stick weighing nearly ten pounds.

  More iingly, now freed from the ground, the Lifebloom’s movements died down until it id immobile in TJ’s hands. It felt unfortably like it’d died, and TJ leveled a look at the Druid in hopes that he’d give some additional information.

  “Put it in my backpack. We’ll take a look once we make camp.”

  “Just anywhere?”

  “Try to keep it whole. Don’t know if it o stay undamaged.”

  Sighing, TJ pced the pnt as gently as he could ihe backpack before zipping it back up. They resumed walking the road towards where the highway should be, their feet g on the gravel path. The forest surrounding them felt more primal than it had before, the carefully cut back bushes already fighting to recim the paths that wound through them. Iingly, when TJ spotted a game trail, there was no sign of encroag greenery. Was the System trying to destroy all signs of humanity from before the Iion?

  “Is it weird to you how much the brush seems to have grown in the past few days? It’s denser and almost threatening.”

  Stanton looked ond cocked his head. “I didn’t notice it sciously. Feels good to me, like the earth is sing itself. Might be something to do with the druid stuff.” He shook his head ruefully. “Maybe I’ll bee a treehugger myself.”

  Unvinced and unsure if pnts would begin to pose threats just like everything else around here, TJ asked the System, “Is the forest itself going to attack us?”

  There is no creature within the Copper (I) or Silver (II) tiers of Divinity powerful enough to rule over this entire forest and transform it into their divine nexus of power.

  “And the forest itself bee se? Or is there a third tier or even higher tiered creature nearby that could force us to fight against the trees and bushes?”

  If there was a hostile Gold (III) tiered creature nearby, you would o rely on sheer luck to survive. The forest itself is not suffitly suffused with Divine Will or Divinity to achieve sentience or sapiehere is o fear its sudden assion.

  His worry aowledged, TJ tio keep a close eye on the forest itself, trusting Stanton to notiy approag creatures. He didn’t really think that the forest itself would do anything to them, at least not yet, but TJ refused to be surprised if it did. Especially sihe System had refused to give him any real answer about if there would be something nearby that could use the forest to fight them. After all, nearly invisible goblins that smelled like flowers appeared out of nowhere while long-dead gods from Egypt and the Americas blessed coyotes and rattlesnakes. Was a living, violent forest all that unbelievable?

  It was a nearly silent journey of over an hour to reach the highway. Of course, no cars whizzed by, and no people greeted their approach. Instead, ohey saw the interse with the paved road, nature’s recmation efforts were obvious. The few cracks in the asphalt sported foot-tall grass that would have been torn away by passing cars too retly to exist already. Across the road, a rge green sign had two arrows, one pointi and the ht. On top, an arrow pointed right, saying “Fossil Springs, 19” while otom the arrow pointed left, its destination “Pine, 7”.

  Stanton didn’t say a word before he whirled and tinued his jourJ groaned. “Let me take a break. I want some food and a drink.”

  “You’re hungry after eating aire pukwudgie? ’t a snake go for weeks without food?”

  “But I’m not a snake. If I wao, I could only live up to a third of my life as a she Skill makes me return to human and spend twice as long here, so I don’t thiing as a coatl helps me with being hungry as a human. And I don’t want to be a snake.”

  “I guess a break’s fine.” Stanton allowed while looking around. “Stick to the ter of the highway.”

  “Yeah, I’ve figured out how to watch for approag creatures by now.”

  TJ opened his backpack after carefully pg his drying coyote pelt to the side. Appraisal told him it wasn’t yet leather and safe to stow, and his Occupation said as much as well. Reag in, TJ pulled out a water bottle and a andarin es. He sipped from the water before crag the lid of the es and taking a deep pull from the syrup inside. His dry throat gloried ihick syrup, and TJ cracked a wide smile at the sweetness. After nearly half of the juiside had disappeared down his throat in greedy gulps, TJ pulled the rest of the tab off the top of the and pulled a couple ses e out. As he chewed on them, Stantoled onto his haunches with a sigh o him. TJ proffered the , and Stanton pulled his knife from his belt before skewering a couple and biting them off the kip.

  While sitting, TJ looked at the soles of his mocs. He’d done his best with them, and had felt proud for making them, but they already were showing signs of wear. The hastily, if still supernaturally guided, footorted only crappily prepared hide as a sole, and several tears were f. TJ could only hope that they would make it all the way to Pihough knowing how far they had left was reassuring. He stuck his hand into the es and pulled another pinch free then into his mouth.

  “I figure we go at least half the way to town before we take another break.” TJ said as he swallowed.

  “Getting close to noon.” Stanton replied, looking up at the sun, prompting TJ to ask the System.

  “12:10, says the System.” TJ replied.

  “I figure it’s my ppin about young people these days relying on newfaeology, right?”

  “Well, you are a crotchety old fogey. It’s a god-given right or something.”

  Instead of actually pining, though, Stanton sighed and pulled a of beans from his backpack. After stabbing its top several times and bending it back with his knife, he drank from the coaguted mass of baked legumes. TJ ughed and reached out for a taste of his own while pr his es. They switched s and took several mio eat and drink in silenbsp;

  “Anyways. Si’s as te as it is, I figure we try to make it all the way to Pine before we stop. There’s only going to be more and more things getting in our way the longer we take, so we should hurry.” Stanton said as he stood from his crouch. He groaned and stretched, joints poppiedly as he worked his arms, legs, and waist.

  “You’re right.” TJ agreed, standing and finding he wasn’t nearly as stiff as he would have expected. “How’re you holding up? You’re not a young’un like me, so you doing ok?”

  Of course, Stanton gruhen, he answered, “I’m better than I have been for a while. These levels and attributes are gettio better shape than I’ve been in a long time. Still not a whippersnapper like you, but I feel closer to 40 than 70, and that’s good enough for now.”

  “And I never asked, jumping like you did, that didn’t hurt?”

  “Not really. Twisted my ankle just a bit while nding, but I could have walked it off. Took care of it when I was healing myself.”

  TJ nodded and finished gathering everything into his backpack. Then, without any more talking, they set off at a jog down the road. The steady pavement was easier on his feet, though TJ wondered if stepping instead on the yellowed grass that ran alongside the road would be better for his mocs. Regardless, for a time, all that answered their travels was the steady spping of feet on the asphalt.

  It wasn’t long before TJ was forced tnize where his and Stanton’s attributes differed. The older maainly had a higher Agility than him, but TJ’s Endurand Vitality bio help him to tinue running much more easily than the Acolyte. After twenty minutes solid of running, Stanton tinued doggedly running, his breaths ing in gasps and wheezes, and TJ couldn’t let it keep going. He raised a hand to Stanton, a previously agreed-to sign to stop. With a couple wobbly steps, Stanton staggered to a stop, too exhausted even to ask why they’d stopped. TJ tinued walking slowly, and the older man locked his fiogether behind his head and gasped deep, pained breaths.

  her mahe o say why they’d slowed, and TJ tinued walking at a deliberate pace for another five, then ten minutes. Even then, Stanton rubbed at his knees and ankles, obviously pained.

  “Go use one of the trees.” TJ suggested while walking towards a particurly rge piree. “If you’re blistering and unfortable, which you absolutely are in those boots, then you o fix that.”

  Stanton merely nodded before walking and ying his hands on the ree and closing his eyes. Which was why only TJ saw the fshing yellow eyes before they lunged out of a nearby creosote bush and towards them.

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