Path of Dragons

A drizzle fell from the grey sky, accompanied by a fine mist that dampened the entire island. It was the sort of lazy rain that wasn’t quite enough to drive one inside for the day, but too heavy to completely ignore. For Elijah, though, it was little different from any other day. He’d long since grown accustomed to much harsher elements, so as he tended his garden, he barely noticed the inclement weather.

A little more than a week had passed since his successful defense of the island, and he’d spent much of that time in well-earned relaxation. As much as he longed to explore the world and find civilization, the previous few months had certainly taken their toll. He needed to decompress, and there was no better way to do that than to lose himself in the task of nurturing his increasingly impressive garden.

There was something almost meditative about walking among the bushes, flaring Nature’s Bounty as he went. From time to time, he was forced to pull weeds, though even those he preferred to leave alone. Because calling the Grove a garden was a bit of a misnomer. As beautiful as it had become, it was still a wild place, and taming that wilderness held little appeal for Elijah.

He preferred to leave it be, to let it grow as it would.

However, there were practical concerns as well. He depended on the berries growing on the bushes he’d meticulously planted long ago. Certainly, he could survive off of foraging and fishing, but there was a wide gap between simple persistence and flourishing. The berries – and the other wild edibles he’d managed to cultivate – represented the ability to veer away from the day-to-day struggle of wilderness survival.

After all, there was a reason humans had developed agriculture in the first place, and despite his preference for wild things, Elijah wasn’t averse to carrying on that proud farming tradition. So, he tended his garden, pulling weeds as he went. From time to time, he would grab a ripe berry and pop it into his mouth, and it was on one such occasion that he got quite a surprise.

“Oh…”

The blackberry wasn’t just sweeter than its fellows, though that was the first thing Elijah had noticed. He quickly moved past that observation when he felt a tiny surge of Ethera race through his body. But there was something else there as well. Something he couldn’t quantify. One thing he did know was that it made him feel incredible, like that tiny spark of Ethera had carried with it a little ball of pure adrenaline as well.

After gathering a couple, he carried them to the ancestral tree and called out, “Nerthus? You in there, man?”

For once, the little tree spirit actually responded. His appearances were still rare enough that Elijah usually didn’t even try to contact him, but of late, they’d grown a bit more frequent. In addition. Nerthus looked a good deal larger, with more defined features as well. Finally, the tree spirit’s bark had taken on a much paler shade, mimicking the changes to the ancestral tree that had begun after it had absorbed the Shard of the World Tree that Elijah had received as a reward for defeating the tower.

“Yes?” the humanoid bundle of roots asked.

Elijah held up one of the blackberries and explained what he’d felt. When he finished, he asked, “So, what’s going on here?”

“It is as expected. I’ve told you that the Grove will change this island, yes?”

“You have.”

“The ambient levels of Ethera will rise and thicken, which comes with a host of benefits, both for you and the flora. One of those benefits is that many plants – especially within the Grove itself – will become pseudo-treasures. That berry is one. It is a potent source of vitality which, given time, will help you heal more quickly and provide far more sustenance than any normal food. Be wary, though – as your Grove strengthens, so too will its value. Right now, it is fairly unremarkable in the grand scheme of the universe. But in a decade or two, it will be extremely valuable to many craftsmen. Alchemists, especially, would kill for such a ready source of Ethera-rich pseudo-treasures.”

That was news to Elijah, but then again, basically everything he learned about his new world could qualify for that label. The reality was that, aside from the occasional explanations from Nerthus, he’d spent most of his time on the island flying blind. According to the tree spirit, he could change that by finding a Branch he could access in order to purchase some guides, but he didn’t foresee that opportunity presenting itself anytime soon.

After all, it was a big world out there. Much bigger than Earth had been before feeling the touch of the World Tree, in fact. So, the chances that he would find a settlement with a Branch – other than the one across the strait, which came with its own problems – were fairly slim.

Still, he knew that was the only way he would get any significant degree of information. Nerthus was prohibited from saying too much, mostly because the system was structured to force people to gain knowledge either first-hand or through the guides it sold. It was something to do with that being the optimal way to ensure proper progression, and that restriction would remain in place for years to come.

“So, eating these things isn’t bad for me, right?” Elijah asked, looking down at the blackberry.

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Nerthus answered, “No. The opposite, in fact. It will help prepare your body for the next step in your cultivation, and, in addition to providing sustenance, it will provide some degree of passive Regeneration. How much is dependent on your consumption as well as the power in the fruit.”

“Wait – so you’re saying that if I eat enough of these things, I can directly enhance my attributes?”

“Yes. If you were a Cook, you could create meals that would get even more out of those ingredients,” Nerthus explained. “A truly skilled Chef can do even more, and with a wide variety of ingredients that augment attributes other than Regeneration. Of course, if you had either of those classes, you would not be a Druid, and as such, we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place.”

“But if I found someone who had a class like that?”

“Then your little Grove would be even more valuable,” Nerthus said. “The same would be true for an Alchemist. However, I do warn you to be wary of any of those you might find. Many of them veer into devourer territory.”

After that, Nerthus reached the limit of the information he could pass on, and soon retreated into his tree, leaving Elijah alone once again. He returned to his gardening, but he didn’t get much done before he felt something interesting.

Ever since the ancestral tree had absorbed the Shard of the World Tree, the Grove had grown past the confines of the island. The boundaries had yet to reach more than a few dozen feet into the ocean, but Elijah hoped that it would soon encompass the tower, obviating the need for him to re-conquer it sometime in the future. Nerthus claimed that would be the case, but Elijah was impatient for the tree spirit’s prediction to come true.

In any case, the expansion of his Domain brought with it an awareness of the sea surrounding his island. Most of it was unremarkable – just rock, silt, and various forms of sea life. However, the Domain had just grown to encompass the mouth of an underwater cave that, according to his awareness, extended well below the seabed.

Elijah had been cave diving quite a few times in his life. Sometimes, it had been for work, but he’d also done it for fun as well. There was definitely something incredibly engaging about the act of exploration – especially when it was in a location few, if any, others had ever experienced. So, the moment his Locus had touched the cave – more of a tunnel, really – he’d felt a deep sense of longing.

Partially, it was for a simpler time when he might’ve gone diving with friends. But it was also a call to adventure. For better or worse, his time in the tower, though deadly and exhausting, had awakened something inside of him. He wanted to explore new things. He needed to experience everything his new, magical world had to offer. And though he’d been putting off heading to the mainland – for good reasons, too – he didn’t think there was any issue with seeing a new facet of his island.

He glanced at the grey sky. With the near-ubiquitous cloud cover obscuring the sun, it was sometimes difficult to accurately tell the time. Especially when Elijah often lost himself in whatever task he was performing. But he’d paid enough attention to recognize that it wouldn’t be long before nightfall, so he resolved to spend the rest of his day tending to the garden. In the morning, though, he intended to explore the cave on the edge of his awareness.

So, with that, he continued his task until sunset, then headed back to his treehouse where he enjoyed a meal of leftover fish stew and berries. After that, he took a shower – using his harsh, homemade soap to thoroughly clean himself, then retired to his bedroom. For a while, he lay awake, just thinking about the world at large. As always, the persistent questions of how the rest of humanity had dealt with the world’s transformation occupied his mind until, at last, he fell asleep.

That night, he dreamed of once again being trapped in the stomach of a giant killer whale. The next morning, he jerked awake, covered in cold sweat and with his heart pounding out of his chest.

Sighing, he massaged his temples. While he’d tried to move on from some of his experiences in the tower, some of those memories still crept up on him from time to time. It wasn’t enough to counteract his enthusiasm for exploration or progression, but it was definitely a poignant reminder that nothing worthwhile ever came without a cost.

Certainly, he wanted to continue to grow his power. And he wanted to see wonderful sights like he’d experienced in the Sea of Sorrows and the Primordial Jungle. The new world gave him that opportunity, and he fully intended to use it. However, he had to remember that that path wasn’t without significant peril.

Elijah pushed himself out of his mossy bed and ran his hand through his blonde curls. He’d need to cut it soon, he reasoned. While he didn’t exactly have access to a barber, he had a knife and a couple of reasonably reflective surfaces. So, he could make do, even if he’d never grace any magazine covers.

If such things even existed anymore, which didn’t seem likely.

Sighing, he rose to his feet, then slipped on a pair of homemade shorts. Autumn had already come, but his Constitution had grown enough that he could withstand fairly extreme climates without the benefit of heavy clothing. At a certain point, it became extremely uncomfortable, but the temperatures hadn’t quite dropped that low. Besides, he didn’t want to swim around fully clothed.

Even as the sun peeked above the horizon, Elijah set about his morning routine. He went through his exercise regimen – he wasn’t sure if it still helped very much, but almost two years of daily training had formed a habit. In any case, he spent most of the morning going through various calisthenics, then practicing his aim with Storm’s Fury. After that, he enjoyed a breakfast of berries before, at last, he could finally get to the fun part of his day.

With that, he found himself racing across the island, staff in hand. He leaped over shallow gullies and bounded over fallen trees; he barely even had to look where he was going, he’d grown so used to sensing his environment with his Locus. Soon enough, he reached his destination, which was one of the beaches on the east side of the island. Without hesitation, he waded into the chilly water, then dove into the depths.

His Locus guiding him, Elijah cut through the salty water like a fish. With the Ring of Aquatic Travel, he didn’t have to worry about holding his breath, so he quickly found the cave, which presented itself as a narrow crack – maybe three-feet wide – that cut into the rocky seabed.

At the entrance to the cave, Elijah hesitated for a few moments. After all, he was well aware of how deadly cave diving could be. But he was superhumanly durable, now, though. And he couldn’t drown. So, he expected it wouldn’t be nearly as dangerous as it would’ve been before the world’s transformation.

So, without further ado, Elijah dove through the cave’s entrance.

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