By the next morning, the rain hadn’t let up. Rud sorted through his tea leaves on his drying racks, checking how crunchy each one was. He had been moving so few pots of tea that his stock of the ever-growing leaves was becoming overwhelming. The druid swept those leaves into a container and worked on a few clay pots. While he was getting better at making them by the day, he didn’t enjoy the process as much as he had hoped. It had started as a cute thing to add to his offerings, but devolved into a lot of work.
But the clay pots were important. The thing Rud feared the most was rot setting in over his dried tea leaves. Sealing the clay pots with wax had been effective, so he had no choice. At least working on the clay containers kept him out of the rain. Until he had to go out and fire up the kiln. He watched as the icy rain fell against the brick surface. It sizzled away. While the kiln was running, he checked in with the Hagsrise tower and took stock of the nearby area.
Each dungeon seemed fine. There were no monsters outside, and the energy he could view with his Farseeing skill was weaker. He chatted with Hagsrise about recent events, but there wasn’t much to share. The druid went over his tea empire instead.
“You have tea?”
“Yeah, the mortals love it,” Rud said, jotting some notes down as his thumb depressed the button. “It has restorative properties for them. Not sure what they are.”
“The dwarves only like booze. They’re always eating this one mushroom… anyway, that sounds nice.”
“You should come visit Gladesbale one day.”
“Yeah, if I could get Gug to open the portal. The worm can be protective of our energy reserves, though.”
“So can I…”
The conversation rolled on for some time, but the kiln would be done at any time. Rud signed off, leaving his tower to place a sealed note in his mailbox. He lingered in the stump field for some time after shoving some crystal fragments in his bag. Hagsrise was very interested in the tea. She thought it had the potential to be something his grove would become known for. That got him thinking. One turn through a bush later, and he was sauntering into the longhouse. There were a few mortals there, so he did a couple of poses. They clapped politely.
Taz was tending to the fire. It wasn’t his job to make the mortals more comfortable, but he took the maintenance of the fire seriously. Rud warmed himself by the fire, watching as the dwarf sprinkled more Fairy Peat on the coals. Flames rushed up, gaining shocked gasps from the adventurers.
“What can you tell me about crafted items?” Rud asked, cutting to the point of his visit.
“Anything specific?” Taz asked, looking up with curiosity.
“What does the system consider a crafted item?”
“Ah, that’s a good question. The system can be weird about that. But, so long as you can inspect an item you made, it counts as crafted. Like those ingots.”
If that was the only thing he needed, then Rud was almost certain his tea leaves were crafted. His clay pots would count as well, as he had accidentally inspected a few after firing them. The impression he got at first was that crafted items were things he made with skills. Since he didn’t have a skill for pottery, that wasn’t the case.
“Thanks for the info,” Rud said, rushing out of the longhouse. The dwarf called after him, but he didn’t hear it. Moments later, he was yanking clay pots out of the kiln. Once they had dried, he filled one with his tea leaves. “Moment of truth.”
Rud held his hand over the tea leaves, the Imbue Crafted Item spell flashing in his palm. The tea leaves were infused with both the spell and Mint’s Blessing at once. They pulsed with magic for a few moments, shifting slightly in the fired clay pot. The druid couldn’t wait. He leaned in, inspecting the item. As expected, a message appeared describing it.
[Mint’s Reserve]
Rare
Description:
A potent blend of sweet and citrus, this tea is guaranteed to put hair in places you never wanted.
Effect:
Reduces fatigue and increases energy levels.
Aspect Effect (Mint and Ban’Tanthein):
For the next day, you will regenerate mana and health 10% faster.
The base effect of the tea was something like strong coffee. But his Imbue Crafted Item spell had enhanced that effect. Next came his Mint’s Blessing upgrade, which added the regenerative effect. The mortals were going to go absolutely nuts for this tea. But Rud didn’t stop there. He turned his attention to the clay pot itself, inspecting it to find a mundane teapot at common rarity. But it still produced a message.
“I can imbue this, too,” Rud breathed, holding his hand over an empty pot. The spell fulminated, causing the clay to shimmer with energy. A moment later, he inspected the result.
[Fired Clay Pot]
Uncommon
Description:
A clay pot with an engraving on the front. Perfect for storing things.
Effect:
Contents within this pot decay half as quickly.
Aspect Effect (Mint and Ban’Tanthein):
If contents within this pot are sealed and left for at least seven days, the potency of the effects of those items is increased by 20%.
“Awww yeah,” Rud said, breaking out into dance.
This wasn’t a path he thought he could take. These effects were potent enough to draw the eyes of more than just the mortals. Even the people within the grove would want to drink this tea daily. Though once he got the mortals hooked, they would want to buy every leaf of his tea without fail. That would guarantee not only a steady stream of crystal fragments, but materials to upgrade the grove. Once Ban ascended to Rank 1, the Rank 0 Dungeon Core Fragments he was using to upgrade his buildings wouldn’t be as effective.
“More ranks, more problems.”
Imbuing the tea had sent Rud’s mind spiraling down tea avenues. He started by seeing the value in Mint’s private blend of tea, but was interested in expanding. The two types of tea leaves he was working with were sweet and citrus. He didn’t know what they were called, and the system wouldn’t provide a description unless he had imbued the tea. Why not isolate the two leaves? The druid filled one pot with the sweet tea and one with citrus. After enchanting one pot of each, he inspected the resulting tea.
[Grove Breakfast]
Rare
Description:
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Tea so sweet, you’ll think you’re drinking liquified cake.
Effect:
Greatly increases energy levels while increasing your fatigue.
Aspect Effect (Mint and Ban’Tanthein):
For the next day, you will regenerate mana 20% faster.
Well, that wasn’t quite as good as he expected. Rud moved on to the next tea to check his theory about the two balancing each other out.
[Sunshine Tea]
Rare
Description:
Pucker up for this sunshine citrus tea.
Effect:
Greatly reduces fatigue.
Aspect Effect (Mint and Ban’Tanthein):
For the next day, you will regenerate health 20% faster.
Well, that made sense. At least the Sunshine Tea didn’t have a downside on the first effect. Both sets of tea leaves balanced each other out, taking the best from both to make something awesome. Perhaps Mint knew what she was doing when she blended the teas. But this opened a world of possibilities for the grove and their impact on the mortal world.
“If only the rain would stop,” Rud said, peering out of the drying room and into the gloom outside. Compared to other tasks, finding new tea plants seemed worth getting horribly wet. “Off we go.”
Rud felt as though he had enough knowledge of the tea plants to identify them in the wild. Tea was just tea before this moment. But now that he knew they could hold unique properties, tea seemed like so much more. Pinching his cloak tightly prevented most of the rain from getting through. Hunching over and casting his head toward the ground also helped. But rain still got through as he headed out. The area near the creek was a decent bet, so the druid started there.
Although the weather had turned cold enough that some slush froze, the stream was spared. The water flowed cool and clear, rushing down to meet with the lake to the southeast. Rud had learned to identify the sweet and citrus tea plants by their leaves more than anything. The citrus-flavored one had a darker color to the leaves, with a splash of red near the base. When pulled from the ground, the sweet tea plant had roots that ran along the ground, while the citrus one plunged as deep as it could go.
Rud found several samples of the plants he already had near the stream and noted that none were upset with the cold weather. While those plants were spared from the change in the weather, a few trees and bushes had displayed fading color on a few leaves. With the season changing, it was more important than ever to monitor the grove. He thought of these things as he searched near the stream, finding absolutely nothing new for his tea business. The druid passed through a bush, arriving on the far side of the grove to the west, near the area where Barrow and his people had departed. While he was in the region, he checked on his houses there and found them in good repair.
Gladesbale Grove’s central area was fairly low compared to the western region. Ice wasn’t the only thing to have clung to the ground around here. A light powder of snow was visible outside of the western entrance. But what little snow fell within the grove itself had melted, joining with the rest of the slush to melt downhill to the east.
As he searched, he expected his squirrel friends to burst from the trees to lend their sensitive noses. But it didn’t happen. He trudged through the area alone, wishing he was more like those squirrels so he could move around faster, climb trees, and do other squirrels stuff like flick his tail and make weird chattering noises. It had been a while since Rud thought about something he needed only to get it moments later. A spirit must have been watching him, because a message popped up.
[Spell Obtained!]
The Bear Spirit Harg has taken notice of you. He has gifted you with the Shapeshift: Squirrel spell.
“You couldn’t have given me Shapeshift: Owl, or something?” Rud asked, looking at the sky. Whatever spirit had been spying didn’t respond. He shrugged, inspecting the new spell.
[Shapeshift: Squirrel]
Rank 0 Druid Spell
Shapeshifting Magic
Component:
Imbued Leaf
Mana Cost:
30
Duration:
One Hour
Description:
Assume the shape of a squirrel. Yay.
Effect:
You turn into a squirrel. All your clothes, equipment, etc are maintained in your true form and will reappear when you cancel this effect.
You retain all your attributes, but your abilities and skill usage may be limited.
It didn’t really matter what form he was given first. Rud was excited about his first shapeshifting ability. While he didn’t plan to specialize as a shapeshifter, there was a lot of potential for different forms. Something interesting about the Shapeshift: Squirrel spell was that he maintained his equipment and clothes. So he didn’t need to worry about removing all his stuff before he became a cute little red squirrel. According to the description, the mana cost was only 30 mana. But the imbued leaf made it more like 50 mana.
Rud found a nearby leaf to enchant, dumping his mana into it. He placed the leaf on his head, performed several unnecessary motions and shouted, “squirrel mode, activated!”
A cloud of smoke went up around Rud, obscuring his vision. But he felt himself becoming smaller. When it cleared, his eye-line was very close to the ground. He was standing on all four of his paws and had a sudden urge to find and bury nuts until he passed out. He pushed those squirrel instincts aside and tested this form. The druid dashed forward, moving with far more speed than his Talen Por form was capable of. He skittered up a tree with ease, climbing to the highest bough with no problem. Even his sense of smell was enhanced, rendering the world in a new light he didn’t expect.
“Squirrel mode!” Rud said, finding the words coming out as a series of squirrel sounds.
Rud jumped from tree-to-tree, finding the action to be super fun. His little squirrel heart thumped in his chest as he ran around the forest, enjoying himself far too much. His frantic dashing only stopped when a massive figure moved from a bush. He almost ran on instinct, but recognized it as Mint’s hulking form.
“Enjoying yourself?” Mint asked, growling down at Rud.
“Maybe.”
“It took the Wild Lord too long to grant you that spell,” Mint growled. “He promised to do so much earlier. The bear doubts your abilities.”
“Might be why he gave me a squirrel… and not something useful.”
“Shapeshifting isn’t an easy skill to master. But I see you don’t have the issues that others do.”
“What kind of issues?”
“Some druids have trouble changing into different forms. They become disoriented, often lashing out at those around them. Even in squirrel form. Thanks to the Talen Por’s connection with nature, you shouldn’t have this problem.”
“Hooray for being a hippie, huh?” Rud clapped.
“Indeed,” Mint said, pinning Rud to the ground with a paw. “There are other advantages to your shapeshifted form. Would you like to see?”
“Sure!”
Mint swatted at Rud, slamming her massive paw onto his tiny body. He felt the pain for only a second before he poofed back into his true form. The pain was gone in an instant, and he was unharmed.
“Ow.”
“Druids can be a nightmare on the battlefield. If they have enough mana to cast a new form, they can shift repeatedly. Try shifting back.”
Rud found another leaf to enchant, to which Mint tilted her head. He placed the leaf on his head again and shifted back into the squirrel form. The up-and-down bobbing of his vision made him feel slightly sick, but that was all. His squirrel form was working perfectly, and the effect from his staff was restoring his mana at a decent rate.
“Interesting. You’re already pretty good at that.”
“Thanks. But this isn’t like your shapeshifting ability, is it?”
“No, mine is more of a glamor,” Mint said, assuming her human form. “This human form doesn’t come with advantages over my true form.”
“But magical shapeshifting provides bonuses,” Rud said, nodding his little squirrel head. “Got it, boss.”
“Practice your shapeshifting. Show the Wild Lord that you can use his power, and he will grant you more spells.”
Rud just wished that Mint could grant him spells. She was a new Sacred Beast assuming the role of a guardian, though. He didn’t know how powerful she was compared to the others, but it couldn’t have been very strong. He decided to nod, understanding how useful these shapeshifting abilities could be. If he could get a flying form that would be incredibly useful. But for now, it was squirrel mode.
“Thanks, Mint. I’m gonna look for some new tea plants,” Rud said, turning and scampering. He halted when she spoke again.
“You’re in the right place. Good luck, Rud.”
Rud chittered a response before dashing off into the forest. It took far less time to search the area as a squirrel. Not only could he move faster, but he could jump between the trees to get a better look at the area. His little claws grabbed at a tree, allowing him to hoist himself up to the boughs in moments. It felt like running up the side of the tree. Gravity was a suggestion in that regard.
A small plant rested near a cluster of rocks. Rud almost passed it up at first, thinking that the leaves looked similar enough to his citrus-flavored tea leaves. Upon further inspection with his keen squirrel nose, he realized it wasn’t the same plant. With a thought, a cloud of smoke surrounded him. He was back in his Talen Por form, giving the plant a closer look. This plant smelled far more earthy than the others, even before the drying process. He spotted a few more nearby and dug them all up, adding them to his backpack rather than carrying them by hand.
After stepping through a bush, he planted the new strain of tea plants in his growing collection. An application of the Plant Growth spell, and those new plants were as large as the others. He was satisfied with the newest plant in his collection and clipped some leaves from the stem before bringing them into the drying room. The scent from the cut leaves was even stronger, reminding Rud of black tea back on Earth.
After all that running around as a squirrel, he was tired. Some perpetual soup and the warmth of a fire would sort him out, though. The druid headed for the longhouse, finding it empty. But the fire still crackled, filling the wide space with a comforting heat. As he sat down for a bowl of soup, he let out an inadvertent squeak. Perhaps some of the squirrel form had stayed within him. Oh, well. That was the life of a druid.
