by Dakota Krout
While he composed his farewell, his vines began whisking around the area. The interior of his current home was easy to empty. A wash of mana, and suddenly all the experimental plants he had been working with were seeds. Anything that didn’t produce seeds was wrapped around his body, and carefully controlled so that it would assist in all his motions. The tree filled in with wood as he left, healing in moments what would have taken decades otherwise.
With an intense mental trial, he dissolved his bonds to every plant, undid every circle, and opened the area for whoever else would need to go through training in this area. It hurt, and it made Andre feel terribly alone, but it needed to be done. After finishing up and pinning the note to the tree, Andre picked a spot on the horizon and started sprinting.
“Sure would love an ability for movement…! Anything? No? Ugh. Manual manipulation of plants, it is.” The vines that were around his legs acted like coiled springs, making each step faster and allowing him to cross vast distances easily. The plants on his torso stayed slightly tensed, supporting his body and letting him mostly relax. Soon, too soon for any proper Druid trying to appear haughty and mysterious, Andre had left the training territory he had bound and was shooting across a fertile valley that he recognized from his work a few months back. “Mm. Looks good. Test was successful! That desert is going down! Up? I’ll heal it.”
He landed on the other side of the split in the land, pressing onward. Andre continued running for four days straight, pausing only when he absolutely needed to bind something and heal his overexerted body; or when he found something extra interesting. Easily half of all the travel time was used by going around areas where dangerous creatures or plants roamed, but this close to the Druidic training grove, there wasn't much of interest. Still, there were a few seeds from fruits or vegetables that he could coax into providing him sustenance wherever his new home would end up being.
“Just keep running, just keep running!” Andre sang as he continued running for a week, then two, then a month. It was clear that he hadn’t brushed up against any areas controlled by Druids for at least a week; the area he found himself in plainly showed that lack. When a Druid had an area under their control, nature harmonized with itself; everything grew to be beautiful and lush. Here, the ground was rocky and vegetation was sparse. There was a higher likelihood of finding rare or magical ingredients, minerals, or creatures, but he also knew that the danger was on a different scale entirely.
He took a day to recover from all the mental and physical strain, bringing his body and mind into a centered state, thanks to the Druidic teachings and practices that Xan had trained him in for almost a decade. When he finally reached balance, Andre moved out, searching for the place that would eventually become the grove for his Kingdom. There were many requirements, but chief amongst them would be safety and an abundance of resources. He would be the guiding light for any Druids that came after him, and he would also need to be able to train them in a safe and secure environment.
The path of the Druid seemed simple and straightforward, but there was a dire and necessary responsibility hidden in what they did. The truth of the matter was that a Kingdom with an active Druid had healthier residents, a higher probability of Ascenders, and more power. The more land in a Kingdom that was bound by a Druid, the more those three things appeared. This meant that the world was in a constant state of war, as the only way to gain more Ascenders - or more powerful ones - was to snatch up territory.
Andre’s Kingdom had been on the decline for well over a century, ever since their last Druid had become a Paragon and lashed out against them. Right now, the only reason their Kingdom hadn't been overrun was because the last Druid had accidentally put a ‘protection’ in place: the Scarroco desert. In fact, the desert was the reason his home country was named the ‘Hollow Kingdom’, as the loss of so many lifeforms had drastically hollowed out the power of the Kingdom. No Druid wanted to clean up that magical mess, and most places were fine with watching the Kingdom decline for a few more decades. Only one wasn’t – the Dynasty of Dogs - and that was why a war had started just before Andre had come to train.
The Archmage had been very serious and sincere regarding how badly Andre was needed, and he had let this information slip to him before opening the portal. He hadn't explained that keeping the kingdom weak was the motivation for people to kill him while he was still weak – straight up politics - but Xan had picked up the slack in that regard. Andre stopped suddenly, feeling a shift in the basic harmony of the biosphere. Something was pulling at the ambient mana in the air, and the minor fluctuations pointed toward a magical plant of some kind.
Andre followed the pull to the source of the fluctuations, feeling them increase in power the farther he walked. He was getting ever more excited; if this plant was generating such powerful fluctuations, it was likely about to break through a tier. If he could claim it for himself… the rewards would be immense.
The terrain had gone from ‘rocky’ to ‘severely damaged’ as he continued following the mana fluctuations. He would have sworn that he was being pulled toward it, and wondered why. Examining the ground, Andre wouldn’t have been surprised if a glacier had come through here at some point; the ground was dug down to the bedrock in places, creating a naturally breathtaking stony vista. He felt somewhat uneasy, as there were very few plants in the area. It was understandable, as there wasn’t much soil. However, that meant he needed to rely on his own natural regeneration if combat broke out. Andre traveled across the steep slopes, encountering minimal vegetation, a lack of a substantial regolith, and high drainage density. “This would be a terrible place to stay for any length of time.”
The ambient fluctuations were coming from just ahead, so he made sure to move carefully. Other things would have been drawn here as well. He knew that if he could feel everything, creatures or other people also could. Even so… careful wasn't enough. As he peered around the edge of the towering rock formation, Andre discovered a cave formed of beautiful rock striations. The fluctuations were clearly coming from inside, but the issue arose from locking eyes with a massive Cave Bear that was blocking almost the entire entrance.
It didn’t seem happy that Andre was here. To be fair, Andre wasn’t happy that the bear was here. As the beast lumbered out of the cave and stood to its full height, Andre started regretting arriving. There was a certain hierarchy that could be followed when sizing up beasts. Typically, a Tier one creature was pretty normal. A bear back on Andre’s home plane was usually just a non-magical–also known as Tier zero - bear. However, a bear that was exceptionally strong but still non-magical could potentially qualify as Tier one.
A Tier two bear would be called a ‘Dire’ bear. A Tier three would be called a ‘Cave’ or ‘Ancient’ bear. After that, they became something like ‘Demon’ bears. But, as there was a Cave Bear currently staring at him, nomenclature wasn’t Andre’s concern at the moment. As a Tier three creature, his studies reminded him that the bear had some kind of empowered melee attack; as well as one that could be used at range.
The Cave Bear was standing at its full height, its head a massive fifteen feet in the air. It bellowed at him, blowing Andre’s long golden hair back even from that distance. Then it appeared to be dropping down to charge at him… but Andre spotted the mana gathering at the tips of its claws. He threw himself back behind the rock formation as the front paws released claw slashes that tore deep gouges through the stone where he had been standing.
Andre didn't hesitate; as soon as he was stable, he legged it. He had run at least a quarter mile before he realized that the bear wasn't following him. Andre looked back and considered his options. “Why would a Cave Bear bother to live in a place like this? There… hmm, there can really only be one explanation. You’re trying to hoard that plant for yourself, aren't you? I can work with that.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Andre had left the badland area and gone searching for plants that he could use to subdue that bear. It certa
inly wouldn’t be an easy task, but there was only profit in this plan. If he took down the bear non-lethally, he could attempt to bind it and reach the Second Circle. If he couldn’t… he would eat well and wear a fashionable bear pelt cloak. Though reaching the Second Circle only meant a huge push forward in prestige, it would also give him a companion that could help in fights. Another reason that he had waited this long to bind a creature was that it had to be done on his own, and the strength of a Druid’s first creature determined what they could bind at a later date.
Binding a tier three would allow him to bind a tier one and a tier two as well, if he found ones that he liked. Once he got one of his creatures to tier four–also known as the Multitarget Tier– Andre could have as many ones, twos, and threes as he wanted. That was also why it was so terrible for bound creatures to die. If his bound tier three died, he would need to raise a tier two all the way to tier four in order to gain the multitarget ability. Breaking through one tier was already hard; going through two of them would take decades longer.
All in all, getting a tier three to start would give Andre a solid advantage, but actually making that happen was definitely at the edge of his capabilities. All of the risks were absolutely worth it in his mind, especially since he would never get close enough to be in danger of an attack. At the end of the day, he would also gain the Potentia from whatever that plant was; the one gathering mana to push through into the next tier. Andre looked at the plant cuttings and seeds that he had and prepared to start investing mana. “Skunkweed, rotting corpse bloom, sapstick, numbing nettles…”
Mana poured out of him and into the plants, and his selections grew, bloomed, and faded in minutes. Andre collected all the pollen and seeds, then started again. On the second run, he integrated the collected pollen. The process repeated over and over as he selectively bred the plants that he needed. In the natural world, these combinations would never happen. They were different plants, and different plant systems. It was only through forcing his mana to react with the plants that he eventually achieved what he wanted.
He stared at the abomination… no, plant, that had been created; a fleshy bulb that looked like a cross between a pine cone and a succulent. It was small now, but when he wanted it to grow, it would reach maturity in moments. Once it did, it would release a stench that could only be surpassed by smashing the ‘fruit’; which was filled with a paralytic sap and thousands of seeds. Additionally, once the sap reacted to the open air, it became incredibly sticky. When the bear attacked it, the sap would get into its fur. That meant the seeds would as well.
Andre had made sure that he could control everything about the plant using Bloodthistle. After a few solid trial runs, he took a deep breath and nodded firmly. It was time to begin.
Circling around the area, Andre found the rock formation that housed the cave and bear, and climbed the back with the help of his powerful body, as well as his bound vines that lashed out and pulled him up the steep rocks seemingly of their own accord. At the top of the stone, he was still only about thirty feet off the ground. The perch was too close for him to feel comfortable, but it would have to do. He had originally planned to lower the newly-named Stink-sac plant with a vine, but at this height, a new, better idea had popped into his head. Andre sent a pulse of mana into his Livingwood Staff, and a vine began to grow from the top to the bottom.
Both his staff and the vine followed his mental commands perfectly, and soon the staff began to bend. Unlike other woody shafts, his staff would never break from something as simple as leaning a little. A few moments later, Andre held a large bow in his hands. He had used a bow fairly regularly when hunting, but he was a terrible hunter. Andre was planning to mitigate that fact by controlling the bow, the string, and the ammo with his mana. With an influx of power, his staff grew a branch that fell off the main trunk of his bow: a perfect blunted arrow. The Stink-sac plant wrapped its roots around the top of the arrow - becoming the most bulbous arrowhead he had ever had the misfortune of seeing - and Andre wasted no time in firing it at the bear.
He missed.
On the positive side, the plant landed right next to the bear, which roused from the noise of the impact. Then the creature twitched and sneezed. It hadn't taken long for the bear to notice the stench, and as the plant grew… the smell only got worse. Much worse. Andre had wrapped multiple layers of lavender-infused filter flowers around his face, and the smell still got into his nostrils. The Cave Bear screeched like a bobcat and glared at the wriggling Stink-sac, then tried slapping it away. Andre grinned. The pod burst, and the sap splattered the ground and the paw of the bear.
The creature was annoyed at first, then became increasingly desperate as it tried to remove the sap. It was a beast at the third tier, and the Potentia that had mutated it meant that the bear had reached a point where it could be considered extraordinarily intelligent for an animal. There was no way that it was going to stick that mess into its mouth and bite or lick it off. Instead, it was rubbing its paw against the ground and walls, tearing off tufts of fur and wreaking havoc on the cave’s entrance.
Andre knew that he needed to act fast. Mana whirled out of his hands and forced the seeds covering the paws to grow. The bear stiffened and reacted to the mana influx by coming fully out of the cave and glaring up at Andre. The youngster grinned weakly. “Oh… hi there, big fella.”
The bear bellowed and jumped at him, scoring deep lines into the stone. When that didn’t achieve the intended effect, it reared back and gathered mana on its claws. Andre’s pupils dilated as he focused: this was what he had been waiting for! Mana roared out of the Druid, and the small pods stuck on the bear swelled to the size of watermelons. The creature swiped, releasing claw-mana slashes, but the first casualty was the pods.
Andre rolled out of the way of the remainder of the attack and looked down at the miserable bear. It was now coated head-to-toe in sap and was struggling to breathe as the paralytic effect came into play. “Yeah… I’m really sorry about this. I really need you out of the way, though.”
The bear was starting to blink rapidly, and Andre knew that the thick coating of numbing nettle sap that had settled on the bear was having an effect. If this creature was any smaller, it might have actually died from the sheer amount of poison. He’d known that a small amount of the toxins wouldn’t do much, and it was great to see his plan to marinate this beast come to fruition. Mana lurched out of him, and in moments, the bear was covered in so many ‘fruit’ that it looked like a plump raspberry. “A rasp-bear-y! I love it! The fruit is even pink! Mr. Bear, I’ll at least warn you. If you move at all, things are only going to get worse.”
Mana: 89/491
Andre quickly checked his mana, swallowing at the low numbers he was seeing. Without a large circle of plants, he could only rely on his personal stores to see him through this trial. If the Cave Bear could get through this…
*Wham*.
The bear dropped to all fours, and there was a huge splash from all the sap that washed over its legs. It leaped forward and up, digging its paws and claws into the rock face. As a fringe benefit for the young Druid, all the plant matter - and now dirt and rocks - were stuck to the front of the beast, slightly slowing it down. However, this was a powerful magic creature! It wasn’t going to be brought down by something stinky!
Vines lashed out from Andre, adding an additional and more potent paralytic to what was already coating the bear. With a thought, all the pods on the bear burst at strategic locations, ensuring that the vast majority of the sap was soaking into its fur. “Listen, furball. I can do this all day—abyss!”
Andre dove off the rock formation as the bear surged upward suddenly; nearly three times as fast as it had been a moment before. It climbed the rock wall, and was almost on him in an instant. Madness shone in its eyes, and there was a faint red outline around the beast’s entire body. “It has an enrage ability! Bad!”
He was rapidly approaching the ground, but a swinging vine grabbed at an outcrop
ping and swung him around the rock and up to another. This motion just barely kept him ahead of the bear, which had dived off the rock and charged after him. Attacks were coming through the air thick and fast; Andre’s vine was slashed by a ranged claw swipe as he pulled himself along, but the Druid fired off a vine from his bow that took the place of the first easily. As he swung up, his back and the long green Druid robe he wore were both slashed deeply by the very edge of a claw-shaped mana strike.
Health: 121/141. Bleeding heavily! -4 health per second!
“Ahh!” Andre screamed in pain, directing several of his plants to wrap around the wounds and bind them tightly. Before he had dropped a dozen feet, thorns had pierced his skin and sewn the gashes closed. It still hurt to move as recklessly as he was doing, but the other option was death; so he continued swinging along. Each time his wound reopened, a thorny vine pulled it closed. Excruciating, yet effective.
Bleeding effect removed!
Andre landed on top of one of the rocks, panting heavily and finally out of the bear’s line-of-sight. He fell to the ground and held still. “Pods… break!”
Mana: 10/491
This was his last-ditch effort. If he didn’t have enough time to regenerate his mana, there was no way to escape. He waited with heaving breaths as his mana pool slowly trickled upward, and there was no sign of the Cave Bear. A few minutes later, Andre carefully crawled to the edge of the rock and peered over. His nose nearly touched the bear’s, and he leapt back like a fish trying to swim upstream; screaming at the top of his lungs. “Ahh! Ahh…?”
The bear didn’t move, except for its eyes, which were locked on Andre and filled with hate. Andre drew closer and found that there was a thick coating of debris and plants holding down a thoroughly paralyzed Cave Bear. The red aura was gone, and he realized that the effect must only have a short duration, then weaken the creature for a while. “Well… my mana is back, so no time like the present to become more powerful.”
