After a few deep breaths he pulled up his character sheet and put his two ability points into his main skills of Intelligence and Endurance. Then he took out his water pouch for a long swig while looking over his stats.
Character: Terran
Level: 4
Class: Undetermined
HP: 72
Mana: 170
Sta: 140
Strength: 1
Intelligence: 4
Endurance: 4
Cunning: 1
Agility: 1
Charisma: 1
Spells:
Stone Touch (unique)
Rock Shards
Rock Wall
Skills:
Improvisation (INT): 4
Commune with Nature (CHA): 1
Nature's Lore (INT): 2
After a brief rest Terran remembered the seed resting on its cradle of bones. He stood, dusting off his pants, and found himself drawn to the seed, which felt cold in his hands. As soon as he touched the seed he could feel it pulsing with magical energy, and his hit points began regenerating faster while he held it. The veins in the seed pulsed and shone a little brighter as Terran rolled it around in his hands waiting for his hit points to fully recover.
"Wow. This thing is powerful," Terran said. "I almost hate to give it up."
Luna grinned. "Spoken like a true toddler."
When he was back to a full hit points bar, Terran stashed the seed in his backpack. Luna watched Terran intently as she cleaned the Crag Troll blood from her paws and face. She would have been adorable licking her paws to wipe her face if Terran had not just seen the damage those things could inflict.
When she finished cleaning her fur, Luna stood up and stretched. "We shouldn't stay here much longer. The stench is overwhelming, and there may be trolls returning," she said, heading towards the exit.
"Hold up," Terran said, bending down to loot the troll's body.
You receive 11 gold and 7 copper.
You receive Bracers of Vitality.
+1 Endurance
Good luck getting the troll stench out of these.
Terran slipped the bracers on his wrists, giving them a tentative sniff before following Luna out of the cave. They spent the next fifteen minutes climbing over piles of dead Formidites and Crag Trolls as they made their way out of the rancid smelling cave. More than once Terran's foot slipped in green ooze and he found himself trying to catch his balance before face-planting into the disgusting mass of dead bodies.
When the pair finally got their first breath of fresh air, Terran stood with his arms wide, nose wrinkled, inhaling the smells of the forest.
"If I never smell trolls again, it will be too soon," Terran said. "Think we could go wash off in the pond?"
Luna nodded. "Good idea. I don't want to spend the rest of the day fighting off the vultures that are going to start following you."
As soon as they got to the pond Terran took off his bow, backpack, and shoes then jumped into the water. The mud squished between his toes as he gasped from the shocking cold of the mountain pond. He scrubbed himself vigorously, trying to get both clean and warm. Luna lounged on the shore with an amused grin, watching him flail in the water.
"The water is invigorating. Aren't you getting in?" Terran said.
"When have you ever seen a cat take a bath?" Luna growled in response.
"Good point," he said, emerging from the water and shaking off the excess like a dog next to Luna.
The large cat hissed and moved to a dryer spot. "I know where you sleep, human," she said with narrowed eyes.
"Tell me about this seed. Where do we have to take it?" Terran asked.
"Many decades ago the Rock Leaf Elves controlled this forest," Luna began. "Their settlement grew from a seed much like the one we have found. It produced a Mother Tree and countless seedlings in the Gneiss Glen. They were a peaceful people and worked to maintain peace in the forest. Over time the Crag Trolls began coming down from their home in the higher reaches of the mountain. They stole the seeds from the Mother Tree and began wiping out the creatures of the forest, scattering the spirit of the tree far and wide.
"The elves fought to keep control, but the Crag Trolls with some evil magic proved to be much stronger. Within just a few years they had stolen all the seeds, destroyed the Mother Tree, and decimated the animal population in the forest. It is believed that some of the Rock Leaf Elves managed to flee the forest, but most of them were slaughtered trying to defend their home.
"It seems the Crag Trolls have not fared well over the decades in the lower parts of the mountain. They have probably destroyed all their food sources and now nature is trying to reset the balance."
As Luna told the tale of the Rock Leaf Elves, Terran sat listening quietly. When she finished, he was acutely aware of the signs of destruction around him. About a third of the trees were withered and brown, and if he focused enough he could just make out an odor of decay that clung to the air. There seemed to be an abundance of small critters moving all around him, but he didn't see any signs of larger predators. The forest was dying.
As Terran reached over to get his waterskin out of his backpack, he noticed a black slug-like creature crawling up his leg. Upon closer inspection he realized the things were all over him. He frantically tried pulling them off his skin, but they held fast.
"EWWW! Leeches!" he yelped. "Get them off of me!"
"Reason number forty-two why cats don't take baths," Luna said without a shred of empathy. "Don't you have a pet rock that can help?"
"Spongy, help me out, bro," Terran begged, digging through his backpack for the rock.
As he scrubbed his body with the pumice rock trying to remove the leeches, he managed to take off some body hair too. When he finally finished removing all the bloodsuckers, he looked like a toddler that had gotten ahold of their mother's razor. His legs and arms were covered in bare patches where he had scrubbed both hair and leeches from his body.
Luna chuckled. "Looks like you should make a waxing appointment to finish the job."
"I think this forest is trying to kill me," Terran whined as he put his shoes back on. "Let's get out of here and find a decent place to sleep for the night away from all the trolls and leeches."
After a few hours of hiking, Luna found a rock face with a large overhang to sleep under for the night. Exhausted, Terran curled up around the warm cat and was quickly asleep. Thankfully the night was quiet and Terran was able to get some much-needed rest.
With eyes still shut, Terran awoke to the sounds of the forest critters skittering around and warm sun on his face. He stretched his muscles and realized Luna was no longer next to him. His mini map display showed her as a green dot not too far from him, so he assumed she was hunting for breakfast. He sat up, pulling his knees to his chest, and rummaged through his backpack searching for his water flask. His hand brushed the stone seed, which he brought out to analyze further while quenching his thirst. Again he felt the power that emanated from the cold, hard seed as it rested in his lap.
"We should get that into the ground as soon as we can," Luna said, strolling up to Terran. "Its power is felt by all in the forest and will attract unwanted attention as long as we are carrying it. The sacred glen where it should be planted is only a few days' walk from here."
Terran stashed the seed inside his backpack and stood up munching on a trail ration. "Lead the way."
A few hours later, just when Terran was getting hungry for lunch, a message appeared in his vision.
Your companion is fully bonded. As long as you remain companions, death will result in respawn for you both.
"Oh cool. We're fully bonded now, Luna," Terran called ahead to the lynx.
"Yes, until I repay the life debt at least," she replied.
#
The midday sun shone brightly down on Terran as he squinted up the switchback towards Luna. "Please tell me this is the top," he whined while dragging his feet.
Luna bounded up the rest o
f the path, then sat looking out into the distance with ears perked and tail swishing behind her. Panting, Terran threw himself down next to her when he finally reached the top.
"Oh man. This view is almost worth all the effort," Terran breathed.
Puffs of soft white clouds were scattered across the endless cerulean sky. Several hundred feet away a hawk rode an updraft, circling towards the sun as the breeze blew across the stunted grass growing atop the mountain. At least a thousand feet below a valley opened up with mountains along either side and a river winding its way to some unseen ocean. The path going down into the valley wound through a field of red, blue, and yellow wildflowers before disappearing into the trees further down.
Luna pointed to the clouds working their way up the mountain to the west. "It may be nothing yet, but those clouds going east with the dark gray bottoms are going to become an afternoon storm. Fortunately, the valley below us is Gneiss Glen, ancestral home of the Rock Leaf Elves. So we should be fine as long as we don't take too long."
By late afternoon, with Luna spurring Terran onward, they finally reached the valley floor. The seed seemed to grow heavier in Terran's pack with each step he took until he was worried that he could no longer bear the burden. As he dragged his feet along a bend in the path, he looked up to see an open clearing. The sparse trees etched a spider web of shadows onto the grass at Terran's feet. He sucked in a breath and tossed his pack to the ground.
"This is it. We should plant the seed here," Terran said, spinning in a circle to take in the entire glade.
Terran dug through his pack and brought out the stone seed. The veins along the seed shone brightly, and he felt like he was holding a large watermelon warmed in the summer sun as he brought it to the middle of the clearing. Without hesitation Terran dug his hands into the soft, moss-covered ground. The dirt felt cool as he used his fingers like a fork to loosen then remove the soil. Soon he had a hole just big enough to fully immerse the seed. Gently, he lowered the seed into the cavity, covered it with the dirt, and lightly tamped it down.
As he sat back on his heels the ground began to tremble violently. He rolled backward as cracks formed like spokes on a wheel, extending out from where the seed was planted. Soon what looked like a gray, bony finger worked its way out of the ground. The finger grew taller and thicker until Terran realized it was the trunk of a tree growing right before his eyes.
You have completed the quest Home Sweet Home
Chapter Ten
Terran hid in the shadows of a tree along the edge of the glade watching the stone tree grow. In just five minutes the tree was already taller than him and the trunk was as thick as his thigh. The ground around the tree continued to roil like a witch's cauldron, the sign of roots burying themselves deep in the dirt. The gray bark cracked and split as the tree continued to outgrow its skin. Luna watched passively as the branches forked and expanded into the empty space of the clearing.
"I'm hungry. Let's go find some dinner," Luna said, turning away from the stone tree.
"How can you be hungry at a time like this? I've never seen anything like it," Terran said in awe.
"Fine. You stay and watch. I'm going to catch some dinner," Luna said, heading out of the clearing.
Terran sat staring at the tree, which was growing like an inflatable raft being filled with an air compressor, barely noticing that Luna had slunk away. Watching the tree filled Terran with an eerie delight. Somehow he knew its presence could help heal the forest, but at the same time it was also sucking energy from everything around it. Terran couldn't tell if it was sending out signals, or sucking up nutrients to feed its impossible growth.
Luna returned sometime later with a rabbit she had caught to give to Terran. His stomach did gymnastics as he watched her drop the rabbit at his feet. The thought of eating the poor animal filled him with disgust.
"Thanks, Luna, but you can have it. I just don't think I can eat creatures anymore," he said to the lynx.
"Your loss is my dessert then," she said, picking up the rabbit.
Terran awoke the next morning to discover the tree was completely grown. Sometime in the night it had sprouted leaves and there was no longer an empty clearing. As Terran walked around the base of the tree he realized the trunk had to be at least eighty feet around. On the far side he discovered an opening that revealed a massive hollow in the tree. Tenuously, Terran leaned into the opening and saw that it was large enough to safely house at least six people. The inside of the trunk was lit by a faint red light similar to the veins that were on the seed. It reminded Terran of the network of blood vessels he had learned about in health class.
He stepped inside the trunk and immediately felt a sense of security and safety. He somehow knew this could be his home. He looked up in the darkness, but was unable to tell if there was a ceiling. He didn't see any sunlight peeking through, so he assumed it probably tapered to a close somewhere above. The floor was covered in the spongy moss that he had dug through to plant the seed. It felt like a plush carpet and would be more comfortable to sleep on than the rock-strewn ground he had suffered through last night.
He walked back outside, intent on gathering up his supplies and moving them into the tree hollow. As he squinted his eyes trying to readjust to the bright sunlight, he was startled by a lone figure standing in the shade of a pine tree just off to his right. He thought it was a trick of the light until he saw the figure raise an arm in what he hoped was a greeting and not aggression.
Terran shaded his eyes from the sun as he tried to get a better look at the figure. From behind the tree strode a tall, lean man with long brown hair. His high cheekbones accentuated his eyes, which were the same color as the gray-green leaves of the stone tree. Across his forehead and down the bridge of his nose was a tattoo of a tree. If it weren't for the creature's long, pointed ears, Terran would have assumed he was looking at a beautiful human.
The creature's long finger pointed towards Terran's knees. "I assume from the state of dirt upon your knees and under your fingernails that you are the being that planted the sacred seed here."
Terran stood, mouth agape, unsure of how to answer. "Yes," he finally stammered. "I...um...who are you?"
"I am called Petram. I am the spirit guide for this sacred valley. How did you come to have a stone seed, Offworlder?" the elf asked, striding closer to Terran.
Terran took a step back into the safety of the hollow and stared wide-eyed as the elf approached.
"It is a long story, Petram," Luna said, appearing from out of the woods and loping next to the lanky elf.
Petram bent down and scratched Luna under the chin. "Ah, Luna. I am pleased to see that you too have survived," he said as Luna arched her back, purring and rubbing her mouth on Petram's leg.
"There must be something more to you, Offworlder, if you have managed to make this creature your companion. Rock Leaf Lynxes are noble creatures and excellent judges of character," Petram said, looking back up at Terran with a raised eyebrow. "Come tell me your tale so I may decide how to proceed."
Petram turned away and began walking towards the forest, confusing Terran until he bent down to gather some small sticks. The elf continued gathering wood while Terran remained frozen inside the tree. Eventually Petram was satisfied with the armful of wood he had gathered and began arranging the sticks in the center of the hollow of the stone tree. He bent down and whispered something to the wood, and a flame erupted from the base, immediately providing warmth and light inside the tree.
"I find tales are much better told around a fire with a mug of tea," Petram explained, digging through his satchel to pull out two mugs and a small sack of dried herbs. He poured some water from his flask into each of the cups and again whispered something. The water in the mugs immediately began to steam, and he added a small dash of the herbs to each cup. He handed one of the mugs to Terran, then folded his legs under him, grabbed his mug in both hands, and brought it up to his nose to inhale the gentle floral aroma the tea was producing.
He sat quietly eyeing Terran as he continued to breathe deeply from his steaming mug. Terran wasn't sure where to start his story, so he picked up his mug and took a long sniff of the steeping liquid. He somehow felt more comforted letting out a long breath and enjoying the smell of mint with a hint of bergamot that flooded his nose. Luna curled up next to Terran for a catnap while he slowly ran his hand down the fur of her back, comforted by the soft purring she was emitting.
Terran decided he should start his story at the beginning with his friends. He wasn't sure if it was the tea or Petram himself, but Terran immediately trusted the elven shaman. After spending an hour recounting his entire tale to Petram, Terran finally sat back, satisfied that he had filled the elf in on every detail of finding Luna, the Crag Trolls, and the seed.
Eyes wide, Petram sat still for a moment as a long breath escaped his lips. "That is quite a heroic tale," he finally said. "It seems the Mother Tree has found her champion and I must do all I can to help you succeed."
You have been offered leadership of Gneiss Glen. Do you accept? [Y/N]
Terran was stunned by the offer, but quickly accepted. As soon as he agreed, a new tab titled Settlement appeared on his character sheet:
Settlement: Gneiss Glen (Tap to rename)
Level: 1
Fortifications: none
Population: 3/30
Housing: 1/5
Seeds grown: 0/5
Buildings: 0/5
Occupations: none
Petram interrupted Terran as he was looking over the details. "As leader of the settlement, you may now be bound here. Would you like me to begin that ritual?"
Terran thought about his friends for a minute. He worried that he would never find them if he decided to bind here and build up a settlement. But if he could create a large enough township, maybe they would find him. Eventually he decided that he couldn't pass up the opportunity to own his own settlement at such a low level. The instructors had told them that no one got the opportunity to begin a settlement until they were at least level 15. This just wasn't something that a person should turn down.
The Stone Tree: A LitRPG Adventure (Kingmaker Saga Book 1) Page 6
