Elijah wasn’t sure what it meant. Certainly, on the most basic level, the list floating before his inner eye was easily understood. There was no mistaking that much. But the implications were far more difficult to figure out. Still, he studied it, starting with a simple message:

Five months have passed since the World Tree reached this world, giving inhabitants enough time to establish themselves. These are the future leaders of your planet:

Had it really been five months? It didn’t seem like it. But then again, even before the onset of winter, the days had begun to blend together. So, the passage of so much time didn’t come as too jarring of a surprise. Even so, it did give him hope that soon enough, winter would release the area from its cold grip.

When it did, he could hopefully progress past mere survival and to something more fulfilling. Perhaps he could even figure out a way to cross the strait.

In any case, Elijah moved on to the second notification, which was a list:

Planetary Power Rankings (Earth)

1. Oscar Ramirez – Level 26

2. Sadie Song – Level 25

3. Lisa Song – Level 24

4. Hu Shui – Level 24

5. Ram Khandu – Level 21

6. Anupriya Pandey – Level 19

7. Kimberly Jackson – Level 18

8. Michael King - Level 18

9. Gunnar Lindstrom – Level 17

10. Theresa Dupont – Level 16

11. …

12. …

13. …

99. Caleb Jameson – Level 11

100. Franklin Rich – Level 11

Elijah’s eyes swept over the list, but unsurprisingly, he found that he didn’t recognize any of the names. But if it represented the top one-hundred people in the world – at least regarding levels – that wasn’t unexpected. Still, Elijah was a little disappointed that his name wasn’t on the list. Of course, that wasn’t a surprise either. Not really. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the benefits of many people working together or using modern weapons, assuming those still worked. By contrast, Elijah was stranded on an island all alone, and he was preoccupied with mundane concerns like staying warm, finding water, or gathering enough food. It was only recently that he’d managed to branch out into woodworking, and even that was more to pass the time when the weather didn’t cooperate.

So, discovering that he wasn’t at the peak of humanity shouldn’t have annoyed him. But it still did for some reason. And it only took him a few minutes to figure out why. First, he’d internalized the idea that he would be Nerthus’s protector. Part of that was clearly rooted in the connection he felt to nature – and subsequently, to the tree spirit – but it was also because Nerthus had helped him quite a bit, answering his questions and guiding his cultivation. So, if Elijah could repay the tree spirit by becoming its guardian, then he would.

In addition, Elijah suspected that, as the tree spirit matured – and his Grove right alongside it – he would be exposed to some benefits that might make him stronger. Or, at the very least, make the island much safer. If Elijah had encountered the Voxx, then surely, the rest of humanity had as well. And that wasn’t even considering things like that giant flying creature that had downed the plane. No – it was a dangerous world out there, and having a safe home was incredibly important.

Finally, Elijah found the idea of quantifiable improvement to be somewhat habit-forming. That feeling he’d gotten as he improved his body cultivation, as he’d gained attribute points either via leveling or through rigorous exercise, or as he’d set the foundations for his soul’s cultivation – it was all addictive in a way he couldn’t really explain. And he wanted more. More levels. More spells. Better cultivation. And seeing that so many people had already exceeded his accomplishments was a little frustrating.

But it was also inevitable. Elijah was honest enough with himself to know that he had never been what anyone would categorize as the peak of humanity. He was smart and athletic, but he was never the smartest or most physically gifted. But could he change that?

Perhaps.

Either way, Elijah felt compelled to chase the people on that list, which somehow seemed like it might have been the point. He had no idea what the purpose of the System was, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it wanted them to grow stronger.

Elijah studied the list for quite some time before, finally, dismissing the notification. When he did, he found that he could recall it with only a thought, much like he could with his status or his spell book.

As he gave the rankings some thought, he circled his Grove, flaring Nature's Bounty along the way. The saplings were on the cusp of reaching maturity, and Elijah found himself keenly looking forward to the completion of his Ancestral Circle. Once that was done, he would be free to explore the island a little more. As it was, he was limited to how far he could go because he had to leave enough time to get back to the cabin. But if he could teleport, that would change everything.

Once he completed two revolutions, Elijah headed back to the cabin. Once there, he made some crab-and-mushroom stew before settling down for the night. He had a blanket of rabbit furs that he’d stitched together with his natural cordage, so for the first time that day, he felt warm. As he lay there, he recalled the rankings a few times, but nothing had changed. So, he summoned his status to see his own progress:

Name

Elijah Hart

Level

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7

Archetype

Druid

Class

N/A

Specialization

N/A

Alignment

N/A

Strength

10

Dexterity

10

Constitution

11

Ethera

11

Regeneration

12

Attunement

Nature

Cultivation

Body

Core

Mind

Soul

Wood

Unformed

Unformed

Neophyte

He’d finally managed to reach his original goal of getting each of his attributes to double digits, but nothing else had changed. The fact that Constitution hadn’t naturally gained any additional points seemed to support the idea that progressing past ten in any category required the investment of the free attribute points that came with leveling.

Or perhaps the consumption of natural treasures would help with that. Given that he spent a few hours of each day next to one of those natural treasures suggested that the benefits were more esoteric than a few attribute points, though. Maybe that was how people advanced their cultivation.

Or maybe those natural treasures could be turned into powerful items like his Staff of Natural Harmony.

The possibilities were endless, and without more information, Elijah had no way of knowing the truth of the matter. In fact, his ignorance had become one of his biggest weaknesses, though one without much in the way of solutions. He could only keep plugging along as he tried to survive at least until spring. Once the seasons turned, he could reevaluate his position.

So, he fell asleep, secure in the mandate to simply keep doing what he was doing. Hopefully, things could change as the temperatures rose.

The next morning, Elijah awoke to an intense blizzard that had already left the forest coated in ice and covered in a layer of deep snow. But he knew it wouldn’t end soon, judging by the storm’s fury. Thankfully, the cabin was well-placed, so his home was protected from the harsh winds and driving snow. Even so, it made everything more difficult. Even getting water became a chore, and not for the first time, Elijah found himself grateful for the combination of his Body cultivation and enhanced Constitution. Without it, he would no doubt have frozen, if for no other reason than because he didn’t have proper clothing. The shirt he’d been wearing when he'd washed ashore had slowly been repurposed for various tasks, and his pants had been ripped and torn by the crabs. Where his shoes had gone, he had no idea, but he’d been barefoot from the very beginning.

That outfit – or lack thereof – would have been fine for a tropical island, but in the middle of a Pacific Northwest winter, it should have been a death sentence. Fortunately, his advancements had taken the bite out of the frigid temperatures, and any other issues that might’ve cropped up could be removed by Touch of Nature.

Still, being stranded in the middle of a blizzard wearing nothing but a pair of pants was anything but pleasant, even if it was no longer deadly.

The next couple of weeks were more of the same, with Elijah being more or less confined to the cabin. He still had to trudge through the snow to get water, and he kept up his efforts with the Grove. Otherwise, he remained secluded in the relative warmth of the cabin, covered in his makeshift rabbit-fur blanket as he maintained One With Nature and periodically pulsed Touch of Nature to stave off frostbite.

Over that time, Elijah lost any excess fat, giving his already-compact frame a lean, stringy appearance. His sandy blonde curls continued to lengthen into a wild nest of hair, and his beard grew into something a lumberjack would be proud of. Meanwhile, to distract himself, Elijah explored his cultivation. First, he spent quite some time trying to familiarize himself with the new shape of his soul, which felt far more amorphous than the pathways had been. Because of that, the flow of Ethera was less constrained, which resulted in the gains he’d already seen. But beyond that, he was incapable of discovering a way to continue his advancement.

The same could be said for his Body, which was even less responsive than his Soul, leading him to the conclusion that he was missing something vitally important. But secluded as he was, without even Nerthus to guide him, Elijah had no idea how to progress. Thankfully, his Mind was a different story altogether, and after weeks of poking and prodding, he latched onto something that felt important.

In a lot of ways, it was an intuitive leap. But in others, it made so much sense that Elijah found himself wondering why it had taken him so long. Of course, the crux of the matter was that, like all the other facets of cultivation, it was incredibly uncomfortable, which meant that it wasn’t something a person could just stumble upon. Instead, it required focused effort, which, once Elijah decided to pursue it, was one of the few things he had in abundant supply.

The technique – if it could even be called such a thing – was simple in that it only required him to flex his mind to such a point that the flow of ambient Ethera increased. In principle, easy. In practice, it was far from it, and on more than a few days, it resulted in a crippling headache.

But Elijah felt like he made progress all the same. He might not have been capable of reaching the levels of the people he saw on the rankings list, but he found himself driven by the hope that his cultivation might be even more valuable than a few extra levels. Besides, as uncomfortable – and often painful – as it was, it at least gave Elijah an opportunity for improvement, which with the weather the way it was, was in short supply.

Then, one day, the weather began to change. At first, Elijah thought it was just a warm front coming through the area, but after a few more weeks of steadily warmer temperatures, he reasoned that winter had finally released the region from its grip. It still wasn’t comfortable, but at least the frost melted, and the animals began to stir.

So it happened that a little over two months after the rankings had been released, spring managed to shoulder winter completely aside. And with that came the moment for which Elijah had been working for months – the completion of the Grove, heralded by a notification from the System:

Congratulations! Your Grove has reached maturity. Teleportation function of [Ancestral Circle] will be available after forging the bond with the Grove.

Elijah pumped his fist in celebration, grinning broadly as he threw the blanket aside. Thankfully, it was already morning, so he didn’t have to wait before heading toward the Grove to check things out. So, he gathered his handwoven satchel and his staff before leaving the cabin behind.

The air still had a chill to it, and some of the snow remained unmelted. However, most of the ground was clear. As a result, he made good time as he traversed the forest, making his way to the Grove. To his surprise, the saplings – or trees, now – looked to have grown ten feet overnight. That took him by surprise, but in a world of magic, his shock didn’t last long.

The trees themselves were still dwarfed by Nerthus, though they were clearly from the same species. One day, perhaps they would attain sentience as well. Or maybe not, considering that, regardless of how they looked, Nerthus felt different than the other trees. Either way, Elijah was more than a little excited to bond with his newly finished Grove.

Once he’d made his way to the center of the meadow, he settled down under Nerthus’s broad limbs before dragging Ethera from his core and pushing it into Ancestral Grove.

Synergy found. Do you wish to bind yourself to the Grove of Nerthus?

Even though Elijah was a little wary of the Grove’s name, Nerthus had been nothing but helpful. And besides, it wasn’t like he had the desire or opportunity to grow another Grove. In his exploration of the island, he hadn’t discovered enough free space to plant a circle of trees, and besides, he’d been working on the Grove for months, saturating it with his magic at every step of the way. Regardless of the name, it was as much his as it was Nerthus’s glade.

So, Elijah consented to the binding.

A moment later, a presence erupted in his mind, sending him reeling until he collapsed to his knees.

Perhaps he should have been more careful after all.