Eve’s Portal Mage skills were so much better now that she’d taken actual training instead of teaching herself. She activated it with ease, and Kaden arrived upright, facing the right direction, and with Sara four feet in the air above him rather than on top of him. Her pseudopods whipped out to grasp the earth and then lowered her to standing as Eve stepped through. “Sorry, the energy got away from me.”

The Grove was not the city’s name, but it was what mattered to Kaden.

And he liked it here.

As far as he could see, tall trees grew, their branches touching easily fifty feet above. The Druids themselves lived in nature, growing shelters of blade grass much like Kaden used in his Dungeon, and removing them each dawn. The late afternoon sun filtered through the magic that protected the forest beneath from rain and snow. Low fires blazed in the distance, and groups of druids practiced combat, sparring with their Beasts against each other.

Kaden brought out Trinity. “Be nice. They like beasts here, but if you start killing everything, that could change.”

Trinity’s deep rumble was translated by [Beast Speech] as close to *I’m here to kick ass and eat wolves, and I’m all out of wolves.*

A group of druids stood in a circle around a heat stone, cooking meat, and one of them approached, a short man with a thick black beard and long, wild hair that cascaded over his brown robes. “Welcome to the Grove. If you come in peace, you will find us friendly. How may I be of service?”

[Identify] activated, giving him a name.

[Olidar Kemel - Druid Master]

And nothing more. A Centurion, almost certainly. Kaden looked to Sara and Eve. “Go on, explore.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” Sara said, watching him closely. “You have never volunteered to run negotiations. You hate negotation! It’s worth the bad deals to me just to see you try. Don’t keep him waiting, he could kill you with his pinky.”

That got a laugh from Olidar. “My pinky’s a little sore from all the killing. I’m trying to give it a rest. My pointer finger, on the other hand, is perfectly healthy, so be polite.”

“During the surge we were fortunate enough to get attacked by a [Moon Moth]. Our crafter retrieved several types of specialized pollen from the corpse, and I’m told mana endowed pollen is a weapon resource for [Druids].” Kaden met the man’s gaze. Centurions were powerful, but he’d come peacefully.

“Beast Master? Haven’t met one of those before. We get a lot of [Tamers]. What’s the Class do?”

“I gain abilities from Beasts I bond with. When I reach twenty five, [Beast Soul] should let me gain abilities from anything I tame.” That last bit had come to him as innate knowledge when Ashi’s mother traded him knowledge of the skill.

“Interesting. Your name is registered with FangWood. You’re related to Virgil Birch? Haven’t seen him in fifty years.”

Kaden hadn’t heard his father’s name in a long time. “His son. He died a decade ago.”

“How did you not wind up here? Your father may have chosen [Ranger] but he could have been a [Druid] like his mother.”

“I had a [Destiny.] Trust me, your instructor did what she could. About the pollen—”

“Enough about the pollen! We’ll get it evaluated, we’ll give you a decent offer. Come on, this is a good day. You might not be one of us, but we get along well with [Rangers] and [Tamers] and probably [Beast Masters]. Hard to be sure, there’s always some people who are dicks.” Olidar waved for Kaden—and Sara—and Eve to follow. “Come on, we’ve got people to meet. That’s a fine beast you got. Feels like a Ruby Hydra, looks like something out of a nightmare.”

Kaden was always proud of Trinity. “The serpentine head poisons and has acidic drool, the armored bone head bashes and bites limbs off, the center one just rips and tears. Then there’s the spear tail. And the claws. And she [Cooks].”

He brought out Vip as well and Rocky. Druids liked Beasts. Rocky didn’t appreciate needing to move, but plodded along grudgingly.

“You got a zoo,” Olidar said.

“Yes, but it was housing refugees. We’ll start fixing it up soon,” Kaden said. “Oh, you mean a bunch of beasts? Yes. Vip was my first.”

At her name, Vip came leaping, licking, and generally loving, then wiggled her way down and took off through the Grove.

Olidar veered right—and disappeared as he stepped between trees.

“That didn’t look normal.” Kaden glanced to Sara, who shrugged.

“I’ve seen stranger.” Eve seemed unconcerned.

When Kaden took two steps forward, everything shifted. He stood in an underground cavern. Vast roots stretched overhead, forming the roof, and swarms of fireflies overhead reminded him of the tadpoles in his [Prismatic Frog Colony].

Except these wouldn’t devour any flesh they could get to.

Druid Crafters worked at wide tables everywhere. Some used flame spells to cure hides while others harvested crafting materials from corpses, and others imbued staffs with runes and mana.

Eve gawked at the crafter skinning a bear. “I thought [Druids] worshipped bears. Or nature. Or something. What happened to living in harmony with nature?”

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“Sometimes Nature doesn’t live in harmony with us,” Olidar said. “When that happens, we do as Nature does. We recover and rebuild and restore. You shoot a deer, you eat it. A Bearzerker eats you. It’s the circle of Adventuring. Deylin, Vurus! Enchanted pollen!”

The call sent two men running, leaving behind their workbenches. “Let’s see. Did you run the [Flower Forest] dungeon?”

“[Moon Moth] boss got attacked by [Dagger Dream], we sort of picked on both,” Kaden said, producing all the varieties of pollen Munoz had harvested. Kaden’s [Reap Materials] skill would never compete with someone who did it for a living, though he still enjoyed it.

“That’s what I call luck. Oh, we won’t be dissolving these for staffs. These, we want to grow.” The two Crafters exchanged a discussion back and forth. “It will take few days to make sure it’s fertile. Next time, bring it immediately. If it is, I’m not sure we have anything you need.”

Kaden looked to Sara. “She’s our Party Leader and knows about our quests. Weapons we’re good on. Spells, Sara’s got Storm Mana, Eve is Moon Mana, I’m Chrono. Gold is always welcome.”

“Chrono.” Olidar spoke it like a curse. “Good luck getting spells for that. Moon aligned spells, that we could help with. If we’re dealing fairly, you won’t like what we offer and we won’t like what you ask, but that’s how it goes.”

Crafter Deylin has asked permission to sample each [Pollen] type. [Y/N]

Kaden repeated the prompt out loud. “What am I allowing?”

Deylin spoke up. “The pollen could be drained to provide charges for staffs, or it could be used to grow trees with the auras associated. Sampling will drain a charge but let us be sure it’s fertile.”

Now, like always, he missed Trella’s ability to talk in code, silent taps that let him converse. “All right. Go ahead. It’s worth the risk if it’s still fertile.”

“Thought you didn’t want to stay,” Sara whispered.

A short shake of the head was his answer. “We can discuss it later. Somewhere private.”

Eve paused. “Druids? Druiiids? Am I doing it right?”

Kaden debated just how much strangling would constitute Strangling with a capital S. “Not right now. Or no Vip for a month.”

“You wouldn’t!”

He would. Kaden looked to Olidar. “These two are looking to tour the Grove. I’d like to relax with my Beasts. Where’s the nearest Inn?”

“We have TreeSpaces. I wouldn’t dream of having Birch’s boy stay some place else. Your grandmother, if she was still alive, would love to see this day.” Olidar whistled. A dragonfly the size of a man swooped down to listen—and dodged the [FalCrow] as it soared by.

The [FalCrow] refused to stay in Kaden’s soul, but it would obey him, the only good effect from the disaster Professor Treadle had created with his malfunctioning Binding. Once a week, Kaden went to Beast Control to have his soul checked. The spidery web of red remained clamped down on him, because Trella wasn’t gone forever.

Yet.

Every day felt like forever.

“Vespa will see you to your TreeSpaces. We were already planning a feast, but I’ll say it’s in your honor. Everyone loves a good honor feast. If you want, we can start negotiating payment tomorrow. There’s a minimum you’d get even if we just drain if for staff magic.” Olidar pointed.

Kaden’s heart just about dropped.

Hovering before them, on blurry wings, was a [Dagger Dream] no larger than Kaden.

[Vespa - Bound Dagger Dream]

The lowly dagger wasps may only dream of one day reaching this level of power, and it is fortunate for the rest of Nature that few do. This one is bonded to the [Druid] Olidar and in return, will one day own a nest deep in the mountains where few humans will go, and even fewer will return. It serves with pleasure, knowing a true feast will one day come.

Level: 11

HP: 1,000

Mana: 74

Skills: Paralyzing Sting, Harmonic Hum

*Hungry*

“You’re not afraid of Vespa, are you?” Olidar asked, reaching out his hand to caress the wasp queen’s leg. “Not much of a Beast Master if you are.”

“It’s hungry, and the last one of those I saw was the size of a wagon.” Kaden’s [Resist Poison] skill was powerful, but probably not up to the challenge.

Olidar whispered to the wasp. “Well, I’d say she’s not hungry but she says she is. Any chance you could teach [Beast Empathy] to one of our Centurions?”

Kaden shook his head. “My beast skills don’t level the way normal ones do. They only grow as I establish relationships with people. All sorts of relationships.”

“[Runemaster] was the same way. That was an old class. You know, we have [Tamers] here who could probably teach you a trick or two. You have taming abilities, and those are very likely to be the same. It’s considered extremely rude to [Tame] someone’s Beast without permission, but I’m sure we can arrange some new experiences.”

Now that was something worth trading for. “I’d love to spend some time with them.”

Olidar pointed out the grass underneath them. “It’s one of our only contributions to greater [Druid] magic - the grass is a wayfinder species that will never, ever lead you into danger. Try it, I’ve had rooms assigned for you.”

Kaden focused on the idea of a room. His room.

The grass underneath bloomed greener in a wave that gently moved forward, even as other waves passed his for Eve and Sara. Kaden followed it past a group of initiates practicing their skills, around a wide campfire where people sat joking and roasting meat.

Trinity peeled off from the group to gaze at the fire.

Or the meat.

The grass led him to a hollow tree trunk, the sort of place he’d heard in Tavern Tales would lead to Druid treasure. Instead it led to a modest room, round, with a balcony that grew out of a tree trunk. No doors needed, and if he jumped, he would wake up in a resurrection room—or not at all—judging from how far up he was.

The simple bed and blankets would be plenty since Trinity and Vip would be sleeping beside him. That, perhaps, was one of the loneliest parts of missing Trella. He hadn’t been this alone since she went to train with the Sisters.

But this is how she’d felt when he was away in Vichor for months that turned out to be years. His room portal flared, and Trinity stumbled through, whipping her heads around to reorient herself and then looking over the balcony edge before backing away to trumpet in fear.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t jump. But the tree’s not going to fall down.” Kaden triggered the heat stone and realized there was no separate bath, which put a dent in his ideas. He’d been driving himself further and harder and it didn’t make the anger at Professor Treadle go away. It didn’t make the worry go away.

His Dungeon was running well, almost too well after a party wipe. His duties as an Eradictor of erratic dungeons would never end. For now, Kaden would try resting. Quiet. Peace. Druid Groves were known for those qualities, and the ability to be quiet was a core requirement.

One could not hear the Forest or Nature herself if one was constantly screaming.

Which someone was.

Kaden was on his feet in an instant and sprinted for the portal with Trinity at his side. He burst out into the common path to find the grove overrun with men. Men with goat legs and goat heads and black webbing between their arms that formed useless wings to go with the stubby rat tails that whipped back and forth.

[Graht - Minor Demon]

These aren’t even the shock troopers of the nine hells, these are the pests demon lords drive out, but their wounds are poison, their breath a constant miasma, and what they lack in charisma, strength, skills or talents, they make up for in sheer numbers.

Level: 20

HP: 800

Mana: 400

Skills: Bahamut Bray, Blunt Weapons

Talents: None

Demons, in the Grove. Relaxation could wait, and while he’d wanted a bath, now it would have to be in the blood of his enemies.