[????? POV]

I get up from meditation, feeling the light of the sun dimming as the sun sets. I make my way down from my own house-tree. I see the town is already getting ready for the night, guiding light sprites to their posts or putting up mana lights, going to their home from work to trance through the night to get up early.

I make my way to my front door to enter my house. Before entering I look at my house-tree again, taking in the 5 meters tall, dark brown wrinkly bark, and amber leaves shifting in the wind. “Looks like getting old, my house. You have been with my family for 5 generations, you will need to retire soon. As a druid myself, I will help replant you in the grove, so don’t worry. But you are not leaving me so soon, after this winter I will replant you.”

I feel the presence of the tree make a tired sigh of relief at getting to be away from the hustle and bustle of the town yet the want to be someone’s home, through my skill {Converse with Nature}. “That won’t be a problem, I saw a pair of sprout sparrows looking for a tree to build a nest on after winter. I could talk to them in the spring to make a nest on you.” The tree felt pleased. I shake my head as I enter through the door.

I look at the mess that is my living room, dirt everywhere, some plants growing in it. ‘I guess I will need to clean up, but let’s do it tomorrow, I need to patrol the forest as the nature spirits are welcoming someone it feels like.” I quickly go to my study which also has dirt in it but I have the books thrown about on the table rather than the floor. I nod to myself and I take my backpack which has some potions, bandages, herbs and some other things which can be useful in a forest.

I leave my house and go towards the Adventurer’s Guild to see if someone wants to come with me on the investigation.

As I near the building which was made of stone rather than tree-grown like its neighbours yet not smaller with a big wooden symbol of spear and staff crossed over a tower shield, I hear the laughter of adventurers as they party at the bar after their fruitful day.

I enter the building through the tall stone doors that were wide open. I saw adventurers drinking, singing, mopping or cursing their luck at the bar while the enchanted lights give the room a cozy feel.

I walk up to the only empty counter and see that a lithe elven girl with sparkling green eyes, and curly blonde hair wearing the blue and grey guild uniform manning the counter. Seeing me she smiled, “Hello Tryba. How are you? Looking for an easy quest while going to the forest?”, she asked energetically. I blushed slightly at seeing her smile but I steeled myself and said, “ I am good, Sylmer. But I came here to do the opposite of what you said,” As I said that she tilted her head in confusion. “ I came here to post a quest. I will be going a bit deeper in the Forest to what made the nature sprites so excited. It could be a great beast or something but I wanted to see what it is and how it might affect the ecosystem through my {Tapestry of the Forest} skill. So I wanted some adventurers to guard me while I check on it.”

“Huh! So something interesting might be coming to our small town. Ok! I can post this quest but what are the rewards? They should be at least 300 topos for a guard quest into the deeper Forest.” She told me while writing down my quest on a small paper pamphlet in a practiced motion.

“Yes, I know the rates. I have four tier 3 healing potions and 20 grams of bug-repellent powder. That makes 4 times 75 for the potions and 100 for the powder to a total of 400 topos. And please tell them that I will heal or support the adventurers guarding me.” I took out the potions and powder from my backpack to deposit them as the rewards for the quest. As I hand them to her, I see her eyes flash with mana. Likely using her identify type skill.

After checking the rewards she put them in a satchel and put it in a drawer. She then put the quest pamphlet in the drawer behind her. I now know that this is a magical device which copies whatever quest is into the quest board. A couple of years ago when I came to log a quest for my master and saw the receptionist putting the quest in the drawer rather than the board, I asked if they were going to put it on the board tomorrow, and the lady looked at me and told me that the drawer was a magical item. I then heard, [Quest (Guard the Druid) created]

I then went to look at the board for easy quests, I will be going into the forest, might as well earn money. I then took a quest for 12 Stargazer lilies with the reward of 205 topos. I know a spot where they grow.

I took the pamphlet to another counter seeing that Sylmer is busy with someone else. This counter was manned by Tom, a 7-foot-tall Goliath man covered in scars that crisscross across his stone-like skin. I gave him the quest pamphlet and my adventurer guild card. He took them and put the card on the stamp and stamped the quest paper. I hear the system say, [Quest ( Collect 12 Stargazer Lilies) accepted.]

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I then accepted my card back and went to grab a small evening meal. I go to Goodberry Inn to grab a bowl of stew and some bread. I enter the huge tree and go to the counter, see that Henry is at the counter cleaning it with a rag. I go sit at the counter and order my plate. He takes my order and goes in the back to bring it out. He puts a bowl of steaming stew and a plate of bread in front of me. I quickly dig in. After eating I hand Henry 12 topos. Then I go to the guild to wait for someone to take my quest.

I wait for about twenty minutes when I hear the notification, [Your quest (Guard the Druid) has been accepted by Party (Smoking Shrub)]

I then look over towards the counter to see a party coming towards my table. As they sit on the table I look them over. I see a dwarf in wooden plate mail covering everything but the dark brown beard poking through, a lanky elf man in green-grey robes with dark grey hair and light blue eyes. And last was a short man wearing a ranger uniform with a standard issue tier 2 wooden bow over his shoulder and a quiver filled with arrows at his hips.

“So you are the druid that wants to be guarded while going into the deeper Forest? Then we will go now, we are ready.” Said a gruff feminine voice. So I guess a woman dwarf then. I nod my head and start to exit the guild building. We go off to the east gate to leave the town.

As we walk in silence for about five minutes in the outer Forest the party stops in front of me. The dwarf turns to me, “Sorry about how I acted in the guild. My name is Edma Fig. I am a paladin of the Tree. I had a bet going on that you would not care if we were rude to you or did not give my name to you. And I won as you did not care.” She said to me with a smile as the elf sighed and gave her a small satchel. “ This is our smoke mage, Loban Cinderwood. And the short human, not a halfling, our ranged support, Tolo Pod.

For this quest, we would like to invite you into our Party.” As she said that I heard the notification. [ Do you accept the invitation to the Party (Smoking Shrub)?] I said yes. I then got a feeling of where everyone is and how injured or how depleted their mana is. I felt that Edma had a bruise on her left forearm. I asked her if she would like me to heal her, and she said yes if it would not drain me too much. I chuckled a bit at them not knowing how we druids did things.

When I replied that it would not drain me much, she took her bracer off. I sent a little bit of mana into the natural energy of the forest, I felt the Forest invite my mana into it. I smiled a bit at the feeling, I then chanted, “Hear my call, bless this fledgling sprout, be it wound of flesh or wood with too much bend, repair this whole, Natural Mend.” As I completed my chant I saw the natural energy around me take on a bloody green tint and move towards the bruise, the bruise then quickly healed up.

My new party members look at me a bit surprised at how little mana I spent for the heal. They then quickly regained their focus and thanked me for the healing. Then we went into the deeper Forest where the Nature sprites were inviting someone. On our way there, we went a bit off the path for the Stargazer Lilies. I took 15 Lilies, 12 for the quest and the rest for me. After putting those into my pack we went on our way.

As the sun completely set beyond the horizon and the Forest almost completely dark except for some bioluminescent plants and bugs, we took out our magic lamps to light our way. We didn’t run into any combat as the beasts ignored us and went their way. When we neared the spot we spotted a treant looming over a naked human boy with green hair sleeping in a ring of flowers.

As we entered the clearing the treant looked at us intimidatingly. I stepped forward and activated my skill {Converse with Nature} and spoke, “ Oh guardian of the Forest, please tell me who this person you are guarding may be to this caretaker of the Forest?”

I then heard a creaking gruff voice in my head, “This child has a mark signifying him a friend of Nature and a high affinity to Nature yet I can also sense a vivid smell of machines. So came to greet this child and found him lying in the fairy circle. I was waiting for this child to awaken. So what are you doing here child of a wild whisperer?”

I reply, “ I came here to look at what has caught the attention of the sprites. I then saw you looming over the boy so I asked you. If you say that this is a fairy circle then this boy might be a (Otherworlder) so I ask you to give him to us and I promise that I will come back with him after he wakes up to have a conversation with you.”

After hearing me the treant nods and starts lumbering away. I then take a blanket out of my backpack and put it over him. I then looked at him with my {Tapestry of the Forest} Skill.

I see a sapling made of flesh, wood and metal shifting in and out of multiple scenarios but in the end, he adapts to every scenario enough to thrive in it even making it better for the nature around him.

I get a bit dizzy at that but I look at him with my other skill {Look into Nature}. A skill I made to look into someone or something’s true nature. When I look at him I see a seed-like core covered in wires and runes, evershifting, glowing in a prismatic glow of affinities yet the feel of nature, machines, books, unreal, raw magic and a slight hint of thought the most noticeable.

I grin slightly at that then I get a headache as I hear, [Your skills {Tapestry of the Forest} and {Look into Nature} has reached their current max level and ready for the next stage.]

I was surprised as those were one and two levels away respectively. I then grin a bit more, pick the young man on my shoulder and we make our way to the Adventurer’s Guild to report our findings and put this man in the infirmary.