Terran filled his bowl with the stew and sat down next to Petram to eat. The elves were in high spirits. Even Lhoris smiled and laughed through dinner, putting Terran at ease after telling his embarrassing story to Chanterelle.
"Petram," Terran said, getting the shaman's attention. "I was thinking about what buildings to grow with the next two seeds so we can reach level 2 for the settlement. I wanted your opinion on what I was thinking so far. I think we need to be thinking about the defense of the settlement, and…"
He'd been rambling on, balancing the various strategies in his head, but when he noticed Petram's pinched expression, Terran knew something was wrong.
"Did I say something weird? Did a frog fart behind me?" he asked.
"Alas, if amphibian farts were our only problems," said Petram, looking into his bowl. "I'm afraid I wasn't being completely honest with you about reaching level 2 for the settlement. The seeds, buildings, and population. Those aren't the only things you need to do."
A tightness formed in Terran's chest. He'd already climbed the highest mountain peak in the region to find miracle moss. What next? Swim the length of the river only with his feet, leaping up the falls like a horny salmon?
Petram took a sip from his bowl before setting it between his legs. "When the Crag Trolls destroyed the old Mother Tree, it was old and proud, the jewel of the Rock Elf civilization. The tree had gained a kind of sentience that connected all elves, bonded us together in harmonious living. But when it was destroyed, the majority of its essence was flung to the winds, while only a small part remained in the seed that you found. If you were growing a new tree, this would not be so difficult, because it would be like a child getting bigger, learning and developing along the way. But this is not a new tree, but an old one that must be rejoined.
"Fear not, Terran, for this complication is a good thing, because this proud old tree grows faster than it might otherwise, and as you reunite it with the pieces of itself long lost, you will reawaken abilities that would otherwise take decades or centuries to attain."
"So I need to find the essences that were lost?" asked Terran.
"Exactly," said Petram.
"And how do I do that? Is there an essence finder profession among the elves? Or a map in the roots, or something like that?" asked Terran.
"For the majority of your task, I do not know. The essences of the Mother Tree were flung far and wide, and the forest has changed much since then. As for an essence finder profession, that is you, as the leader of this settlement. You are connected with the heart of the tree, therefore you are the only one that can find the lost essences," he said.
Terran remembered his feelings on the way back with the moss when he found the tracks. "The Spirit Bear."
A tension in Petram's shoulders broke as he leaned back. "Yes, your instincts serve you well. A while ago, I saw the Spirit Bear across the river, in a place it could not easily cross. I sensed that it had received a part of the Mother Tree essence. I believe that is why it is so dangerous, because it still feels the Mother Tree's anger at her destruction."
Terran put a hand to his forehead. "I'm not keen on facing it again, though I suppose I could take all the hunters with me. Together we should be able to kill that bear."
"I'm afraid it's not that easy," said Petram. "You must kill the Spirit Bear by yourself, since you are the leader of the settlement."
You have been given a quest: Acquire the Mother Tree essence from the Spirit Bear
Reward: If you have to ask...
"Solo? Are you insane? That bear is way higher level than I am," said Terran, shaking his head. "Can I not even take Luna?"
The shaman considered the request. "I believe that should be acceptable, since she is your bonded companion."
"Well, that's helpful at least. I'm certainly going to need some kind of plan. That bear is way out of my league," Terran said thoughtfully.
Chanterelle chimed in, "Let's worry about it in the morning. Tonight we should celebrate your return."
"Hmm...yes," he said as she shoved a mug made of formed stone leaf into his hand.
"It's a honey mead. Our ancestors were taught the recipe from the sea dwarves."
The sweet liquid warmed his face when it touched his lips. He could tell he should be careful with the drink, but the crackling fire and Chanterelle's presence had him taking big gulps as the tribe's songs drew wondrous pictures in his mind. Before long, he was humming under his breath and bobbing on his stump. The night passed in soulful bliss.
Chapter Eighteen
The next few days, Terran tried busying himself with the mundane details of running a settlement, but his mind kept going back to the problem of the Spirit Bear. The next seed would form in a day, and the one after that wouldn't be far behind, especially if he used the Sky Moss, and then the settlement would be stuck.
He didn't have a good idea on how to defeat a creature well above his level. It seemed impossible, and he'd decided that he would have to focus on leveling up, until he happened to run into Kumotake near the orchard.
He came up short when he noticed Terran, who'd thought he might be able to slink away. The older Rock Leaf Elf wore a scowl like a mask.
"Stay away from my daughter," said Kumotake, jabbing his forefinger at Terran. "You're nothing but trouble."
Heat rose to Terran's cheeks. "Haven't I done enough for the tribe? I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means, but I've done everything the tribe has needed."
"But you're not a Rock Leaf Elf and never will be," he said, crossing his arms like a petulant child. "If you weren't an outsider, you would have known that my daughter was not meant to be a warrior. She's a loamer, just like the rest of her family. It's the way things are and should always be. You're just going to ruin things." The old man gestured wildly towards the trees. "Even this will fall eventually with you in charge. You have the rest of them fooled, but not me."
Before Terran could answer, Kumotake stormed off, head down and grumbling under his breath. A knot formed in Terran's stomach at the thought that he'd not even remotely proved to Kumotake that he belonged. It wasn't that he particularly liked the old elf—he'd been nothing but rude to him—but he worried that he would leave, or do something drastic. They needed everyone if they were going to succeed as a tribe.
Terran had an answer on what he could do to bend Kumotake to his side, but it wouldn't be easy. He found Luna stalking preacher bugs near the mushroom cave.
"You walk like an avalanche," said Luna with her butt in the air as she peered at something small in the rocks and leaves.
"I'm not trying to sneak up on you," said Terran.
"Like you could."
Terran put a hand on his hip. "If you're not too busy with an afternoon snack, I need your help."
Luna sat on her haunches and started cleaning her front paw with her tongue. "Good. My skills are getting rusty. What's the plan?"
Terran blew out a big breath. "The Spirit Bear."
The gray lynx dropped her furry paw into the leaves while her ears shot straight up. "Been into the honey mead this morning?"
"I'm serious, Luna. The settlement needs the essence or we can't level up, and I need to get Kumotake on my side," said Terran.
"Get Kumotake on your side…?" asked Luna with a slight head tilt. "Are you sure that's—"
"I'm sure," he cut in before she finished her question. "Will you help?"
"Ready whenever. The preacher bugs will be here when I get back, little tasty morsels on six crunchy legs, just waiting to be gobbled up," said Luna as she padded to Terran's side.
"Gross."
"How can you say, you haven't even tried them," said Luna.
Finding the Spirit Bear's hunting grounds took the rest of the morning, though it probably was a lot less than it might have been had he not been able to "sense" its location. Luna was even halfway impressed by his ability, especially because he didn't tell her that it was a function of him being the leader of the settlement.
When they reached the small valley where Terran sensed the Spirit Bear's presence, they slowed their travel, taking time to check the ground for tracks or signs. Their caution was rewarded when he found a large paw print in the wet mud near a bubbling stream.
Rather than move on in the direction he thought the Spirit Bear might be headed, he took a moment to examine the print. It was as large as a dinner plate with claw marks that made him think of curved knives.
[You have gained the skill Tracking]
Skill: Tracking 1 (INT)
Now you can follow what will eventually eat you.
As Terran stared at the huge print, other details came into focus. He felt like when the new skill triggered, the fuzzy edges in the mud drew in, highlighting details that he'd missed before.
"Going to make out with that paw print?" asked Luna, sitting nearby.
"Hush," said Terran. "I'm seeing things."
"Clearly, and I didn't even feed you the good mushrooms," said Luna.
But Terran was too focused on the shape of the print to listen to his companion. He could tell it was the right front paw that had made the impression by the way the weight had leaned forward and to the right. He also knew that the Spirit Bear had a slight limp, which made the paw slip when the creature hit the mud. He wondered if he could exploit that knowledge in the upcoming fight.
When he was finished analyzing the paw print they crossed the stream by hopping on rocks. He was pleased he didn't fall, especially because he would never hear the end of it from Luna.
He found more tracks leading up the hill. The Spirit Bear stopped occasionally to scratch a tree. The four parallel gouges in the trunks made following the trail easy, but Terran briefly examined each one for more clues.
"One swipe of that claw and it'd cut you in half," said Luna as she peered at the tree marks, then examined her own claws.
"I'm well aware," said Terran.
The trail took them around the crown of the hill. The foliage grew thicker, forcing them to push through the undergrowth. The whole time, the hairs on the back of his neck were raised, as he kept expecting to stumble into the Spirit Bear.
When they came out onto a deer trail, a whiff of berries caught his nose but he didn't see any bushes with fruit. He glanced around his boots, catching a mound of black nuggets in a pile beneath the fallen leaves. Terran crouched near the bear scat, picked up a stick, and poked it.
"And you thought I had weird food tastes," said Luna.
Terran ignored her comment, keeping his focus on the scat as he broke it apart with the stick, revealing half-eaten berries, hunks of dirt, and hard angular chunks of material that confused him until he realized they were rocks.
[You have increased the skill Tracking]
Skill Tracking 2 (INT)
Eating rocks seems like a strange dietary choice...
"I wonder if the Spirit Bear thinks it's the tree," said Terran. "That's why it's eating rocks and dirt."
"Will it help you kill it?" asked Luna.
"I...I don't know, maybe," said Terran. "We'll find out soon enough."
After the undergrowth, a steep ridge gave them a good view of the valley below. The Spirit Bear lay on a pile of leaves near a tiny stream that barely flowed with a trickle.
"I'd forgotten how big that bear is," whispered Terran as he watched the bear lazily groom its face with a dirty paw while lying on its side.
"So what's your plan? Let it choke to death on your bones after it eats you?" asked Luna.
When he analyzed the bear, his stomach dropped into his knees. Level 12. He was way beneath its level.
"Still up for the job?" asked Luna.
"Yeah," said Terran. "Though I'm feeling way less confident than I was when I set out this morning. If it weren't so important, I'd probably go back. High level or not, I need to kill this bear. But it can't be a straight-up fight."
"Is one punch really a fight?" asked Luna.
Terran cupped his chin in his hand. "I need to trap it somewhere. Maybe I can use Earth Geyser since that's my highest damage spell. We crossed a patch of deep stone back on the other side of the hill. That might be a good spot for an ambush. The only problem is how to lure the Spirit Bear into the trap."
As his gaze fell upon his furry companion, the Rock Leaf Lynx backed away, slightly baring her teeth. "No, no way. I didn't sign up to be bait."
"Come on, Luna," said Terran. "You know you want to, and anyway, your part is much safer since you get to go bounding by, while I have to stay and trigger the geyser and hope it does enough damage to kill the bear."
The lynx wrinkled her black nose at Terran. "Don't make me regret allowing you to save me."
"Allowing me?" Terran said as they crept back towards the deep rock on the other side of the hill.
"Sure, you humans need a reason to feel good about yourself," said Luna.
The patch of stone was covered in a light green lichen with flecks of orange. His Nature's Lore ability told him it was edible, but he wasn't looking for a snack.
"This is a good ambush spot, but I can't count on the trap killing the bear, nor do I want it to eat me as the rock explodes. I need a way to catch it," Terran said as he tugged a woody vine from a nearby tree.
After a few attempts, Terran managed to weave a few thick ropes from the vines and branches of the nearby trees. As he completed the weaving, they flashed slightly, turning into a thick vine rope.
[You have increased the skill Nature's Lore]
Skill: Nature's Lore 4 (INT)
Terran was pleased the game didn't require him to actually make a rope, just get into close proximity. His skill took over after that. He hung a big loop between two trees, right at the height of the Spirit Bear's head, in hopes that in its haste, it would rush into it, ensnaring itself. Terran found a big log, and with Luna's help, he leaned it against a larger tree and tied the end of the noose rope to it. When the bear hit the loop, the end would knock the log over, putting pressure on the rope, keeping the bear in place. That was the theory, anyway.
Back on the ridge, he found the Spirit Bear hadn't moved. It looked like it was taking an afternoon nap, its muzzle occasionally twitching as flies buzzed around its enormous head.
Terran gestured towards the creature at the bottom of the hill. "Well..."
Luna turned her gray head towards him, whiskers twitching. "What? Now? How should I get its attention? A carefully worded barb about having a piece of poop-rock stuck to its butt fur?"
"I don't care if you shove a stick up its bear hole, just get it to chase you up here and into the trap," said Terran.
The gray lynx hopped down the ridge, landed silently in a pile of leaves, and quickly bounded down the slope until she reached the tiny stream. Luna crouched low with her rear in the air as if she were hunting preacher bugs. Before she leapt, the lynx glanced up the hill with a grin on her furry face. She was having entirely too much fun, but of course, she wasn't the one that was likely to get eaten.
Luna landed on the Spirit Bear as if it were a trampoline, bouncing once, twice, on its enormous white stomach, before leaping away. The creature gronked out a roar so loud, Terran thought he saw leaves explode in fright. Before Terran could climb to his feet, Luna was sprinting up the hillside with an enraged Spirit Bear on her trail.
Thinking he'd have more time to set up, Terran catapulted himself across the hillside, taking leafy branches to the face by running through the undergrowth like a maniac. Heaving and out of breath, he knelt on the far edge of the lichen-covered stone, watching for Luna.
The shaking of leaves and roaring of the Spirit Bear announced the pursuit long before he laid his eyes on either one of them. Luna came ricocheting through the trees with the Spirit Bear about thirty feet behind her. She sprinted past him.
"Good luck, Terran…"
Terran was worried she'd done her job too well, and the Spirit Bear would rip the rope trap right off the log. As he readied the spell in his mind, waiting for the right momen
t, the massive creature threw its front paws into the dirt, skidding to a stop about fifteen feet before the rope loop.
The Spirit Bear sniffed the air, before opening its mouth for another soul-rattling roar. It pawed the ground, ripping huge gouges into the earth and flinging the loosened dirt into the trees behind it. The creature tentatively moved forward while Terran stayed glued to his spot, trembling hand on the lichen stone.
"Come on, come on..."
But the bear stopped before it reached the loop or the stone. When it turned, exposing a body the size of a small cottage, and started meandering around the stone, huffing and growling as it walked, Terran knew he'd made a terrible mistake. The way the bear kept looking at the stone suggested it knew what he was planning and wasn't going to let him enact his plan.
He knew running wasn't going to help him since despite its size, it'd nearly kept up with Luna on the sprint up the hill. Nor could he climb a tree in time to escape the dagger-length claws.
As the Spirit Bear circled the stone with a slight limp, Terran shifted to the opposite side. When the bear turned to face him, Terran's gaze fell upon the star-shaped scar on its shoulder. The old wound seemed to be still hurting the bear, and as he looked at it, the connection he'd felt with the tree essence seemed to transfer that feeling from the bear to him. Terran rubbed his shoulder as if it ached too.
But the moment of matched empathy ended once the Spirit Bear forced Terran to the side with the rope loop. It growled again and pawed the earth. He sensed a charge incoming, but when the bear burst forward, it went after the log rather than crossing the stone. He nearly triggered the Earth Geyser spell, which would have blown his mana pool, but it didn't matter as the bear swiped the log towards him. The tumbling log forced Terran to leap backwards to avoid getting knocked out, but the evasion took him a good distance away from the protecting stone.
The Stone Tree: A LitRPG Adventure (Kingmaker Saga Book 1) Page 12
