Rud wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking up at the new staircase he was working on. Directly above the academy's central tower, he had been digging. This required a very large tree with powerful roots to move through the layers of dirt and stone. But the druid enjoyed pushing his Plant Magic as far as it would go. It allowed him to see how much progress he had made. One last push downward and the roots burst into the chamber below.

"Can you hear me down there!?" Rud shouted below, squinting against the darkness. He could see one glowing dot below, which must've been Jasper.

"If you're shouting something, I can't hear it," Jasper said. "But I see you there. Looks like the position of the roots is good. I'll be up in a moment."

Rud nodded to himself, turning and jogging up the steps two at a time. He found Elm at the top, preparing some magical ingredients he knew nothing about. Unless it was sticks and acorns, he was ignorant to the ways of arcane magic.

"You could have just built from the ground up," Elm said, smiling at Rud as she worked.

"Nah, this was more fun," Rud said. "So, you need the roots to touch the top of the tower?"

"Not touching," Elm corrected. "Make it so I can touch the tower without falling to my death."

"Got it. No death." Rud scampered off again, huffing for breath as he worked on the staircase some more. He used his Shape Plant spell to manipulate the roots. He ended the staircase in a large platform, complete with safety railing so that no one fell over the edge and ate it in the city below. "Should be good, right?"

Although no one answered him, Rud was satisfied with his work. He shifted into a raven, then flew into the open cavern. There was plenty of space for him to fly, and he got a better look at his work. The giant crystal embedded in the ceiling glowed, although he couldn't tell if it was in response to him. Thanks to Ban's efforts, the entire city had been changed. Not visibly, but in the form of magical energy that lingered in the air.

Gone was the poisonous magic that had waylaid them the first time. It now felt like anywhere else in the grove, and Rud was eager to exploit this new space. One thing he was certain of was that Taz would be excited to see this place. Perhaps it was even a chance for him to create a new mine, although the druid was certain he was already busy with his own affairs.

"Coming down," Elm warned, taking the last few steps and coming out onto the platform. She stomped a few times on the wood beneath her feet. "Is this thing sturdy?"

"Yup. Kinda. Probably," Rud said, shrugging. "Who knows?"

Shaking her head, Elm crossed the platform and approached the railing. She reached out, but didn't touch the top of the structure. "Perfect. Funny to think of, but the wards near the top of the tower are weaker. I guess they didn't expect anyone to fly in."

"That works in our favor," Jasper said, joining the pair near the railing. "But it calls into question the skill of the mages that once lived here. What good is a mage who cannot fly?"

Elm's mouth fell open. "I don't know any mages who can fly."

"Really?" Jasper asked.

"Well, can you fly?"

"I'm a fox, not a mage," Jasper said. "Different school of magic."

"We all await the definition of your branch of magic," Rud said. "I mean, have you seen a mage fly?"

"I've heard about it once."

Rud gave the fox a flat look, shaking his head. "We have concluded that mages can't fly, and that's why the roof of this place is weak. Now, do what you guys need to do."

"Just jab a root right there," Jasper said, nodding at a particular wooden tile. "Then we'll siphon off the excess magical energy and we can get in!"

That sounded easy enough, and something that Rud didn't need them for. But he was eager to get a fancy magical crystal so he could get an observatory working for River's Grove. The druid directed a root through the roof. It pushed through without issue, siphoning the magic off right away. He could see the shimmer of energy rolling up the roots, and into the connected system.

"Perfect," Ban said. "I can handle this energy, Rud. It might take a while, though."

"Not like I've got much to do," Rud said. "Actually, I have a lot to do!"

"We can handle it from here, darling druid," Jasper said, batting his eyes. "Take your time with whatever custodial duties."

"Sure thing, weird fox," Rud said, waving his hand. The motion left behind a shimmer of green energy. A moment later, a bush appeared on the platform, complete with light green foliage. "See you cool cats later," he said, vanishing too quickly for either Jasper or Elm to respond.

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The goal with the underground city was to get the yummy crystals. But that wasn't the only thing Rud had to prepare. Sure, he could do the bare minimum and only put together a package with the fragments required. But he wouldn't be a good custodian if he didn't also send along some cheese, tea, and trail mix. The mixture of dried berries and nuts had been lacking from the Grove's store recently.

Perhaps it was time to change that.

Within Rud's storerooms were the things gathered by Major. The bear had taken his role as a forager seriously, and had filled the various shelves with pots, boxes, and other containers filled with nuts, berries, and mushrooms. There were many that he hadn't dealt with before, so he wasn't willing to experiment for this run. The goal here was to create a few mixes and get some new enchanted trail mix items. Anything with some serious buffs from Ban or Mint would be awesome.

It didn't hurt that putting trail mix together was just about the easiest process for creating these items he could think about. Drying or cooking each ingredient was almost effortless, and Rud got to work right away. The berries had to be placed in the various drying houses, while the hazelnuts had to be baked. Although Rud had toyed with the idea of adding dried mushrooms, that could wait. Today he was a purist. Berries, nuts, and jerky. A protein-rich mix that could keep the hungriest adventurer going on the open trail. If there was time, he'd add mushrooms to the mix to see what popped out on the other side.

Rud took in the scent of the various ingredients. "Smells like adventure."

Lugging all the materials between the various buildings made Rud realized he needed a better bag. If he had to guess, he was rich by mortal standards. He could have sold his goods for coins, but that went too far against the druidic aesthetic. Having a bunch of mortal coins around was too much for him. The druid was certain he could get someone in town to trade for a bunch of materials and decided to check it out when he was done in the evening.

The ovens were all fired within the kitchen, roasting away on the hazelnuts. Rud spun, watching as Sarya stumbled into the building.

"We moving dirt?"

Rud looked around, spotting exactly no piles of dirt. "No?" he asked, forming the word as a question.

"Oh. Why not?"

"We're cooking nuts right now."

"I don't like hazelnuts."

Rud threw his hands up. "Well dang, Sarya. I can't control how nuts taste. The mortals love them."

"Do they? Why?"

"Yo, if you need a job, I could use some help moving materials around," Rud said. "I still need to pull a bunch of cheese and tea into a staging area. Once all that stuff is assembled, I gotta send it to River's Grove."

"I'll get the cart!" Sarya shouted, running off without waiting for further instruction.

Rud sighed, shaking his head as he went back to his hazelnuts. Thankfully, none had burned. Once those were done, he sorted the tea. Then the cheese. He would need to get more cheese ready after this, but the result of his efforts were good. There was now enough food and tea to send over to River's custodian to keep her happy for quite some time.

"Got the cart," Sarya said, skidding to a halt outside the Tea Workshop.

"Perfect timing," Rud said, withdrawing pots of tea from his bag and placing them into the cart. "Get these to my storehouse near the Gate."

"Okay," Sarya said, wagging her tail like crazy.

"And… Go!"

The wolf took off, the mushroom pots of tea clattering in the back of her cart. Rud moved on to the next staging area, getting piles of cheese ready. They repeated the process until all the cheese, tea, and trail mix was staged and ready to go through the Gate. They would move them closer when the time was right, but for now it was earmarked for the purpose.

"That's some mighty fine work, Sarya," Rud said.

"Oh, yes. I am fast. Where are you sending this stuff?" Sarya asked.

"Another grove," Rud said. "Along with some materials to build some stuff."

"Why?"

"Because we need to talk to the other Groves," Rud said. "Duh."

"No, why send them food? Don't they have their own food?"

"Come on, Sarya! Look at the big picture. We need everyone to be happy. And what do people love? What is it people come from far and wide to get?" Rud asked. "That's right. They come to eat our cheese and drink our tea. Meaning we'll grease the wheels with these reclusive custodians."

"Grease 'em good," Sarya growled. "Yeah, let's grease 'em up."

Sarya stuck around while Rud double-checked his stocks. Not only did he plan to send a bunch of stuff to the other Grove, but he always needed his own stocks to be fat for Gladesbale. And he didn't even get to try making a new trail mix blend.

"Oh, well. Do you know what we're having for dinner?" Rud asked.

"Soup, I think," Sarya said. "Taz is busy today. He did a lot of mining and then he worked the forge and then he complained a lot to me so here I am."

"You ran away because he was annoying? Sounds about right."

"Yeah. Ready to get some soup?"

"Gotta make my report first," Rud said, stretching before patting the wolf on the head. "I'll meet you there after I check our weather situation. Smells like rain to me."

Sarya sniffed at the air. "I smell nothing."

"Ancient druidic trick," Rud said with a wink. He shifted into his raven form, jumping and taking off. It was a much more pleasant experience flying to the observatory, rather than taking Thicket Travel.

Nulsa rested on the railing outside of the tower when he arrived, hooting softly as Rud landed. "What's up?" the druid asked, shifting into his true form and approaching the radio. He clicked it on, listening to the faint hiss of static.

"Observing," Nulsa said, his head swiveling.

After accepting the observatory's aspect, Rud allowed his normal vision to fade. Above was an aurora of power he didn't recognize. "Woah. What's that?"

"Bad news," Nulsa said, hooting again.

The dense energy was gathering to a point somewhere above the Grove. Rud felt the power tingling on his skin, the static of the radio grew stronger until all the energy had been pulled into a tiny point. The druid wasn't happy with how long it took him to realize the flavor of this magic. He wasn't a mage practicing the arcane arts, but he could still kick himself for not realizing it.

The chair clattered to the ground as Rud stood. He threw himself to the balcony outside, squinting with his normal vision to watch. The magic in the air had gone beyond visibility through magical senses. The Grove was bathed in prismatic light, the edges of the portal forming just above the eastern section of the forest. Four figures dropped through, landing somewhere in the distance.

The Grove shivered.

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