by Dakota Krout
Standing up, he found that there were two lamias slithering toward him with the grinding sound of stone on stone. His eyes flashed darkly, his armor came back into being, he charged at them. Luke needed to vent some of his fury, and they seemed to be happy enough to be his targets.
“Greetings, something.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
- Andre -
Andre stood on top of a cliff, gazing down at the dry valley below him. He had been preparing for this moment for years and was looking forward to seeing how his regrowth project panned out.
This was going to be his first proof-of-concept attempt. If he could use his power to grow plants in the harsh terrain below him, Andre would feel much more comfortable with his long-term mission of returning the Scarocco desert to a grassland, and potentially even to farmland or forest. “First step… adding mulch and dead matter!”
Mana poured out of him, a huge amount from the environment bound to him, which his studies proved no Mage or other person could even really handle. The truth of the matter was that the mana wasn't really coming from Andre. He had bound the entire forest behind him, and he was drawing on that accumulated mana to fuel the process. The valley below started to change in texture and coloration as a thick moss grew over the sand and rocks, absorbing nutrients, but especially living and dying much faster than was natural. Sand vanished and rocks shattered as they were eaten, absorbed, or had root systems plunge through them.
Moss gave way to fungus, which sprang up, blossomed, and withered, leaving behind fertile mulch. Andre threw a pouch into the air, where it unfurled and rained seeds into the valley. All sorts of seeds and spores had been stored within: ferns, weeds, flowers, and other nutrient-fixing growths. By the time all the seeds landed, they had already begun to sprout. Andre dropped to a knee and spat out a mouthful of blood; a backlash from channeling too much power. He was rapidly healing, thanks to his binding ability, yet it still took a lot out of him.
He looked over the valley. While it couldn’t yet be described as lush or verdant, it was on its way. Andre stood and wiped his mouth, feeling the weight of the last few years on his mind. He had tested out on all the required learning of plants and mana manipulation formulations, and had graduated years earlier than expected from his official training as a Druid of the First Circle. Andre knew there were other reasons that he had been left to his own devices, but he liked to think that it was all due to his adept handling of his abilities. To be on the safe side, he met up with Xan once a month and discussed how things were going, but in general, he was on his own. “Heh. Old man thought I’d be forced to stay with him the whole time.”
In fact, he had been hoping to see Xan soon and had rushed this project so that he could show off his progress. There were only two years remaining before his Kingdom-mandated training was over, and he wanted some achievements under his belt. Xan was getting praised up and down for his newly developed training method, and all future Druid Initiates were going to be subjected to it. Andre winced at that; he didn’t want any part of the credit. Someone would eventually want revenge for the brutal training regimen.
Andre took a deep breath and opened his status, hoping against hope that this success would finally generate a new ability for him.
Level: 8
Current Etheric Xenograft Potentia: 7,421/5,500 to level 9!
Body: 8.7
Fitness: 8.3
Resistance: 9.1
Mind: 28.05
Talent: 20
Capacity: 36.1
Presence: 8.65
Willpower: 12.2
Charisma: 5.1
Senses: 7.55
Physical reaction: 8.9
Mental energy: 6.2
Health: 141
Mana: 491
Mana regen: 6.67 per second
Abilities: 1
Andre sighed at the sight of the very lonely ‘one’ that showed in his abilities section. Years ago, when he had first gained Bind by Blood, he had thought that it was the start of an amazing journey to make him a super-Druid. But… since then, there had been nothing. No new abilities, though at least he had gained huge surges of Potentia. All of his leveling bonuses, seven levels’ worth, had gone into increasing his Capacity so that he could channel vast amounts of mana.
While his current ability was great - more than great, really - he had no combat utility. Without an ability to cause harm, he would remain trapped at the First Circle. There was simply no way to make the living creatures submit to bindings, not unless they either had to, or a Druid could convince them. His Charisma made that second option useless, and Andre wasn't going to give up improving his Capacity just so that he could skip steps.
Just as he turned to head over to his current campsite, Andre froze and dropped to his knees as weakness and loneliness washed over him. “What…? My connection to the forest?”
“We got him, friends.” A human voice? Three people that were very much not Xan walked into view. Andre didn't know who they were, but in order to not only sneak up on him, but also cut off his connection to the woods, they needed to be powerful Druids themselves. At least, more powerful than he was. Going by the large beasts accompanying them, they had to be at the Second Circle.
If they were at the Third Circle or higher, Andre would already be dead. Unless you were at a similar level of power, the ability to command the earth itself tended to generate instant death against your opponent. Target acquired? Earth opens up and swallows them, slams shut. Death, unless you could counter it somehow. Andre got to his feet and lifted his Livingwood Staff in a defensive position. It wouldn’t help against their abilities, but it made him feel better. “Who are you, and why are you attacking me?”
“Attacking you? No… we’re just here for a friendly little… chat.” The lead Druid stated with a nasty smile as his scarred hyena companion chuckled. The other humans smirked and fanned out. Just like that, Andre found himself trapped against the edge of the cliff.
“Not attacking me?” Andre pushed mana into his lungs and shouted the next words as loudly as he could, making the leaves in the trees rustle softly in reply. “Pursuant to Druidic accords of conduct, chapter four, section seven-point-one, these three have initiated hostile actions toward me, a First Circle Druid still within the Kingdom-mandated training period!”
The three Druids paled, and their animal companions snarled and took a sharp step toward Andre. There was always someone listening in this world, and unless they could guarantee that it was only their people… the situation was going to change rapidly. “Abyss it, just kill him, Quin!”
“Trevor, you idiot! Don’t use names!” The leader lashed out and slapped Trevor across the face. “His mentor is at the Third Circle! Quiet!”
The third was silent, taking the opportunity to simply dash forward along with a medium-sized Direwolf. Andre met the two with his staff, and the sharp retort of clacking wood sounded over the valley behind them. There was a yelp as the Direwolf took a smack to the head, and Andre kicked it to the edge. It scrabbled against the rock, whining deeply as it began to slip backward, pulled by its own weight.
Andre had no damaging abilities. Knowing this, he had thrown everything into his staff and hand-to-hand fighting when training with Xan, rapidly becoming as proficient as his mentor in technical skill. Xan had spent decades of time in which he had hardened his body and trained his fitness; in a real match, Andre stood no chance of winning. But, right now, he didn't need to win. He needed to delay. The man he was fighting lunged and grabbed the wolf’s paws, saving it from falling but having to devote himself to that task fully. The struggling animal almost pulled both itself and the Druid over, but vines wrapped around the Druid’s feet and helped yank them up.
Thick thorns sprouted around Andre’s feet, penetrating his soles and giving him a vivid flashback to his first night in this world. Andre yanked himself away from that spot and rolled, avoiding being rooted. He tried to get into the woods, but the branches of the trees bl
ocked his escape. Teeth closed around his arm, and he simultaneously was pulled back and lost a chunk of his underarm. He knew what that portion of his anatomy was called, but the pain didn't allow him to focus enough to think about it.
“You abyssal little brat!” There were three staves cracking down on Andre, and the hyena tore into his thigh. “You tried to kill Spot? Suffer for your insolence!”
A handful of spores were poured on Andre’s face, and he screamed as they sprouted and created blisters and welts in an instant. The pain was incredible, but Andre maintained his will to live and focused on surviving. His bones had cracked wherever the staves came down, so he protected his head and spine. Teeth were tearing into him, so he only showed meaty, non-essential areas.
Then it all stopped in an instant. Not the pain, but the attacks. A soft grinding of stone was all Andre heard before his connection to the land came roaring back; bringing regenerating health with it. His flesh started to knit, and his bones started to realign.
Health: 36/141. Bleeding. Concussion (Major). Internal organs damaged.
“I was almost too late. They warned me, and I was still almost too late.” Xan’s voice reached Andre’s ears. It was oddly muffled, and Andre idly noticed that was because his ears had blood pooling in them. “I knew this was a possibility, but I never would have guessed that it would be so soon. Sending Second Circles out like this? Tch… too bad they can’t tell me who sent them…”
“Where…?” Andre managed to get out.
“They’re just nutrients for your pet project now.” Xan informed him darkly, looking over the edge of the chasm before focusing entirely on Andre. “You won’t have to worry about them.”
“Who?” Andre coughed out a ball of blood as his innards expelled some damaged bits.
“Mercenaries. Druids whose Kingdoms or tribes have fallen, people that refuse to put down roots and call one place home.” Xan came into view finally, and Andre blinked away the red tint that was coating his eyes. “The worst kind of Druid; one who doesn't care about the land anymore. It gives them freedom, and certain amounts of power, but they can never really progress further. How's the healing going?”
“It’s coming along.” Andre used his mana and created a circle around the ball of blood that he had just spat. Since his blood was so liberally sprinkled through the area, he gave away none of his secrets by doing so.
“I like what you’ve done with the valley. Very nice. Fertile. That’ll be a good place to look for magic herbs in a few decades.” Xan had walked to the edge of the cliff, and was pretending to admire the view while actually double-checking that the dead Druids were actually dead-dead. There were lots of tricks that they could pull if they had the right kind of abilities for it.
“Thanks, Xan. I figured I needed to get some practice if I’m going to fix hundreds of miles of desert.” Andre stood up on shaky legs. His wounds had closed, but the scars were still healing, and he was weak from blood loss and pain. Xan supported him when he faltered, and they looked over the now-green valley one more time before turning and moving deeper into the woods.
“I can't let myself be weak anymore, Xan. I’m gonna have to become deadly.”
“I know it, Andre.” Xan sighed as he half-carried his charge along. Even with the incredible healing rate he had, the young Druid’s wounds had been fatal. They were going to take time to fully recover. “But you’re a good kid. I hope you never lose that.”
“Me too, Xan.” Andre’s hard eyes didn’t match his words in the slightest. They were slightly distant as he read words that only he could see.
Ability generated: Bloodthistle (T4). Passive, Active.
Bloodthistle (T4): 0/300 to level 2!
Effect 1: Marinating a seed in blood will allow you to use mana to grow and control it while it is in your hand. Costs 20-n mana to begin the growth process, and 1-n% mana per second to control it, where n=skill level. Minimum of .01 mana per second.
Bonus 1, at range: Can control the grown plant within line of sight.
Effect 2: If a plant has access to blood, it uses the blood instead of mana. Removes mana cost of controlling plants until all blood is all absorbed.
Bonus 2, Multitarget: You can now control multiple plants and seeds at the same time. This is modified by your ‘Talent’ sub-characteristic.
“I really do hope that you always consider me a good person.” Andre just barely managed to slip the congealed ball of blood and pain-inducing spores that he had bound into his pocket, and forced one more sentence before passing out.
“It matters to me.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“No, I know these don’t naturally pollinate each other… I just don’t care!” Andre laughed at the silly samples that had been sliding out of his sterile stash for a sesquihoral. He was in hiding and had spent the last few months working with his new ability to create something he could use as a weapon. Currently, he was arguing with a plant that he had created, a combination of fungal spores and dandelions. His goal was to make spores that not only got into the air, but could drift over a huge area like dandelions did.
Since they were sterile, he didn’t need to worry about them self-propagating or losing control of them to another Druid. Someone losing their plants to him was how he had acquired the weaponized spores in the first place, after all. The fluff that had been created would get into the air, scatter around, then activate only when and where he told it. “Good… just like that… a single pound is enough to cover half a mile if needed. Perfect. Ooh! How about you?”
Andre had discovered a deep love of altering plants and combining their species. Currently, he had an ivy plant wrapped around himself that he could use as a whip. Thanks to Bloodthistle, he didn’t need to use his hands to control it, leaving staff combat as a viable option. Both the whip and his staff now had thorns filled with paralytic poison that would unfurl upon command, or could be released to give his weapons a ranged option. Andre had vowed that he would never be caught out without protection again.
Beyond his growing weapons, he had made another firm choice. After his connection to his bound plants had been interrupted, the young Druid had decided that he needed to start pouring his Potentia into his binding ability. It was finally time to start doing that; he had been hesitating for far too long. He had high hopes that if he got the tier and level high enough, it would become impossible to tear away his connection to his plants.
Andre had never run into that situation before his life was almost lost, as the Druidic training area was intentionally unbound from any Druid after they were done with the area. This was the only place in The Grove that was kept safe and was also not bound. Usually, you had to choose one: be safe, and stay within someone’s territory, or be out of controlled lands and fend for yourself.
Perhaps someone with a more powerful binding ability could still take away his bound plants, but he had to hope that he would be able to keep ahead, since he had such a strong head start. Though he wasn’t sure that was exactly how it worked, Andre could only test his hypothesis by putting in the effort; it wasn’t like he could go ask Xan if getting his tier six binding ability to tier seven would let him fend off the bindings that others attempted to create or destroy in his territory. Asking that out loud was like signing a death warrant.
“I can never tell anyone my actual level, especially not until I can fight off people that will want to hurt me for it,” he muttered softly. Here, in the interior of the tree trunk, he could talk to himself without fear of being overheard. The tree, and all the flora in and around it, were bound to him. They wouldn’t give up his secrets easily. “Still, I need to tone down how quickly I grow. All the Potentia I’m gaining will be diverted to skills until further notice… that way I will still be able to surprise my enemies.”
The nice thing about passive Potentia income was that he gained it all the time, even if it was only gradual. Andre’s eyes practically glowed as he glanced over the Potentia he had saved up. Beyond what h
e had used on himself already… he had eight thousand three hundred and ninety-one Potentia that he had gained without killing anything. The people that he knew were watching him would never expect that he was this far into his levels and ability increases.
“Devote Potentia to Bind by Blood until a new level cannot be reached.” Andre watched as his Potentia drained. His ability level increased to one, two, five, and stopped at tier six, level seven. He nodded appreciatively; there was still three thousand ninety-one remaining, but the next level would cost him thirty-four hundred. A quick calculation later, Andre was smiling brightly. “This means I now have a sixty-eight percent chance of any bond succeeding!”
It was time to set out and start creating a safe haven for himself. This world was vast, as was the base world, and there were less than a hundred living Druids total, including the rogue ones that had just died. Some of the remaining Druids had even Ascended, and no longer cared about what they saw as the petty squabbles of a weak world anymore. On the base world, their systems would remain in place… for a while. In The Grove, it meant that if he traveled far enough, he could eventually get out of the influence of others and create a space that was entirely his own.
“Surprise, surprise. I need to make a circle if I want to go home.” Andre rolled his eyes, and sighed. Thanks to his training, he knew how to draw a portal to leave this plane, but his Sigil would not allow him to leave until he was supposed to do so. Even so, he could seek out his own safety on this world. He needed to do so. Far too many people were watching him at all times, and he needed to vanish so that he could return and have a good reason behind his power. He started writing a note to Xan, thanking him for everything.
