The party marched until nightfall and set up camp just shy of the ruins. With their superior Perception and shorter sleep cycles, Jeremy and Cara kept watch, affording Ted the much-needed opportunity to do some research.

A single night had been nowhere near long enough to prepare. With the focus on spells and Spellcrafting, he had barely even glanced at the archeology book in the pile Reltan had obtained.

Ted pulled the slim book from his pack, pausing briefly to appreciate its design. As with all wood elves books he’d seen so far, it was beautifully illustrated, even if the cover depicting several wood elves cleaning pottery was a little bland.

But now wasn’t the time for artistic admiration. Flicking through the pages, each one a work of art in its own right, he located the relevant section soon enough. Atop the page was a prominent warning not to visit the site.

It left vague exactly what the danger was, or even what kind it might be. Was it superstition, or did the author simply not know what the danger was? That, or they’d decided providing such information would only invite attempts. That would be a very wood elven line of thinking.

Regardless, the world needed saving. If there was ever a time to risk it, it was now—and if Jeremy thought it was worth the risk, it almost certainly was. Whatever he did was to protect the Forest—a responsibility that Ted now shared.

The Divine Empire had destroyed and sealed the mage hall toward the end of the Age of Heroes. The book he now held had been written over three millennia afterward, collating what little information they could.

Assuming it wasn’t a copy, that made it nearly seven millennia old. That didn’t add up. Feeling it, it couldn’t be older than a few decades, tops, and well cared for at that. There had to be something else going on.

Ted activated Discern Magic, pushing through the uncomfortable sensation pressing against his temple. Intricate teal threads appeared, woven into the book itself. The magic felt more durable, more permanent than Ted was used to. It had to be an enchantment.

Enchanting wasn’t the same skill, though it shared many characteristics with Spellcrafting. The aspect wasn’t identical to those used in Spellcrafting, but it was clearly some kind of Protection magic. No wonder the book looked so well cared for.

Discerning the exact effect proved impossible. While it shared many similarities with the Armor effect there were also many differences he was unable to decipher.

The form was even more elusive. Despite far more study than the situation called for, Ted was completely unable to even find anything corresponding to a form. Perhaps enchantments lacked them? Or perhaps this enchantment did not require it as it only acted upon itself. Not that it mattered right now.

It was hard to pull himself away, but duty called. Ted read on.

Much of the information on the ruins came from oral sources, knowledge passed down several generations via word of mouth. Even that was sparse. The Empire had hunted the surviving wood elven mages down, leaving the wood elves robbed of their own magic and crippled militarily.

The result was a game of telephone by non-mages whispering secretly about magic played over several millennia. No wonder that information was vague, not to mention dubious in places. There were rumors of all kinds of magic that was lost, from healing injuries and talking to animals, to growing mighty trees, and even bringing the dead back to life.

A spell to grow trees at will would explain how the wood elven villages had been built, but most of it was probably fairy tales about the “good old days”.

What if it wasn’t? What if the secret to returning to life—without Death’s cruel bargain—was waiting to be rediscovered?

That was all the book had on the ruins. Ted returned to the front of the book. Detailed information about the ruins themselves would have been useful, but in the absence of that, general information about Archeology might prove invaluable. Hopefully, it wasn’t all about pottery.

Language, culture, history. It seemed an understanding of how everything fitted together was crucial to leveling up the Archeology skill. In turn, that allowed unlocking more forgotten secrets, which would further level the skill.

Archeology skill increased 0 → 1!

Gimmie level or not, any progress was welcome—especially when it came with a perk point. Even as a Hero, leveling Archeology with almost no knowledge of the world to build on would be difficult. The perks were probably a bunch of twenty percent bonuses, but maybe a few of them would be useful.

Eye of the Archeologist (0/5): Grants and improves the Archeologist’s Sight ability, highlighting and analyzing Archeological objects and sites in the context of current knowledge.

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Forgotten Tongues (0/5): Allows learning languages from Archeology up to Novice/Experienced/Adept/Master/Grandmaster level.

Cultured Explorer (0/5): Allows gaining cultural understanding from Archeology up to Novice/Experienced/Adept/Master/Grandmaster level.

Past of Present (0/5): Allows gaining historical understanding from Archeology up to Novice/Experienced/Adept/Master/Grandmaster level.

Careful Digger (0/5): Allows excavating for Archeology artifacts without risk of damaging them at a rate of 20% of normal dig speed per level.

Raider of the Past (0/5): Increases the price Archeology artifacts can be sold for by 50% per level.

The bespoke perk list, even for lower-tier perks, was a pleasant surprise. Their value was somewhat questionable, though. Wasn’t it possible to gain that understanding without perks? He focused inward, bringing up his linguistic, cultural, and historical understandings.

English (American): Master

Common: Adept

Wood Elvish: Experienced

Wood Elven Culture: Experienced

Wood Elven History: Novice

Divine Empire History: Novice

With each of those, he’d had teachers and books. There was a world of difference between that and piecing everything together from ruins and fragments. A lost civilization wouldn’t have teachers or books readily available, after all.

If he was going to explore a ruin the following day, it would be best to spend his perk point. Raider of the Past was immediately out. Money would be a problem once they left wood elven land, but Ted hadn’t chosen Archeology to get rich. Careful Digger was the next to be crossed off. No doubt it had its uses, but he was on the clock. There wouldn’t be time for careful digging.

That left the Eye of the Archeologist plus the three understanding perks. Ted didn’t have a clue what he’d be looking for. If he was going to level the skill, presumably he’d need to find things—Archeological things, whatever they were. Pottery? Scrolls? Carvings?

Ted had no idea. If Archeologist’s Sight was half as good as Discern Magic, it would show him what to look for. Would it be enough? He had taken Discern Magic straight from 0 to 2. The jump from 2 to 3 had been huge. He couldn’t be sure a single level would be enough for a complete novice.

It didn’t really matter, not for a wood elven ruin. Even if he had known what he was looking for, Ted already had at least as high wood elven knowledge as a single level of the other perks would provide. He put the point into Eye of the Archeologist and returned to studying the book.

The dullness of the learning was familiar, almost cozy. How to minimize the chance of damaging artifacts when digging. The risk of traps or magically maintained guardians. What the best way to store relics was.

All too soon, a grunt and a poke interrupted his reading, and an unimpressed Jeremy loomed. “Get some sleep, kid. Books won’t save you from traps or monsters.”

Sleep could wait, at least until the end of the chapter. Ted raised his hand to argue, or at least tried to. When had his limbs gotten so heavy?

He sighed, and closed the book. The Prowler was right. “Alright. See you in the morning.”

***

A shaking motion ripped Cara from her dreams, and the discordant tree-song faded into the background, replaced by the icy darkness of the Forest. Smooth bark pressed against her back, owls hooted in the distance, and above her stood Jeremy, completely motionless.

“Your watch,” he said. Without another word, he picked out a tree and sat against it, giving every appearance of trusting that she’d do her duty.

No way he was going to sleep, not yet. Not that she could blame him—it wouldn’t have been her first time drifting back to sleep. That wasn’t going to happen, not this time. Especially not with the stupid chill in the air. Why did the world have to be so cold?

Her chest tightened. If she was going to survive outside the Forest, she had to do better. The rest of the world wouldn’t be so accommodating to mistakes. And if there was one thing she was good at, it was making mistakes.

That, and archery. Most of the time, anyway.

And fixing mistakes! That too. She was practically an expert at that.

Her legs cried out, begging to move. Maybe a walk would help. She pulled herself to her feet and patrolled the camp.

She walked once around the perimeter. No such luck. The camp was secure, but her chest remained tight and her legs restless.

Had there been any more dungeon spawn attacks? She held her breath and pressed her hand against a tree, focusing her awareness on the tree-song.

It was disorganized, messy. Fear. Anger. Sorrow. Still raw, but not so fresh as the night before.

She breathed out. It wasn’t the relief that the tree-song normally brought, but it was better than the alternative. There had been too much death already. And it wouldn’t stop, not until the dungeon spawn were dealt with.

Why couldn’t the Keepers see how important this mission was?

Cara growled and resume her patrol. The mission was important, that was why she had to keep her mind on it.

How would they keep watch with just the two of them? Ted needed so much sleep, and his vision…

A greklin poked its nose out of the ground a hundred feet away, sniffing the air.

Cara wondered what did the world looked like through its nose. Could it smell her? Could it smell that potential oblivion awaiting it? Did it know just how fragile its existence was?

Without Night Vision, Ted wouldn’t be able to see past whatever light they risked having. Even in the day, she wasn’t sure he’d have been able to pick out the greklin at this distance. What if it had been a bandit sneaking up on them?

She stared out at her Forest. It was so, so beautiful, especially at night. Wild and untamed, yet more dependable than anyone. A break from the people of the Forest would be a much-needed vacation. If only she could take the Forest itself with her.

Pain stabbed at her gut. Soon she’d be beyond the tree-song for the first time. Alone. Disconnected.

How did the other races live without it?

She’d manage. She had to. She owed the Forest that much. It had been good to her. It had never judged her, even when it could have. It wouldn’t be the people of the Forest she’d miss.

Speaking of which…

Was Jeremy asleep yet? His eyes were closed, but that was no guarantee.

Could she risk it?

Excitement tingled in her belly, growing louder and louder until she couldn’t wait any longer.

She activated Stealth and tiptoed over to her pack.

Jeremy’s chest rhythmically rose and fell. No sign he was awake. This was the moment.

She reached in and pulled out the little nest she’d made. “Hey, beautiful. Just a few more days, I promise.”