Rud's wings caught a powerful updraft, keeping him aloft as he sailed through the sky with Nulsa. They scanned the landscape below. It was an area dotted by the pale light from the shattered moons, but their vision was drawn from magical sources. Spots of heightened magical density flared in the druid's vision, and he felt the thrill of soaring through the sky mingle with the excitement of discovery.

The area to the west of the grove was notable for sprawling rocky hills and minor mountains that dotted the landscape. This was the home of the orcs, or so he had been told. Since the adventurers' retreat, the monsters had scattered back to their mountain homes, not daring to venture into the grove itself. Whether they were aware of the pass to the south was beyond Rud. If the orcs knew about that passage, they weren't using it, and it was certain there were more areas they could use to get through to the north.

"Below, do you see that collection of magical energy near those scattered tents?" Nulsa asked. "Those are our orcs."

"Really? They don't look like a formidable force," Rud said.

Below were four tents made from little more than hides of animals gathered around a small fire that had reduced to embers. Rud could only count three or four orcs below, but at such a distance, it was hard to see.

"That is likely a scouting party," Nulsa said, banking to one side. Rud followed after so as not to fall outside of speaking range. They got a better view of the area below, and the well-trodden paths the Orcs used became clearer. They led deeper into this particular mountain range, which was about ten miles from the grove. The druid wasn't so sure of his ability to judge distance from above. "Just like the mortals, the orcs contend with dungeons. They are unlike the creatures generated from dungeons in that they roam the surface. That doesn't make them any less dangerous, and they are still classified as monsters by the system."

Rud thought he should be more tired from the day's labor, but his ever-increasing attributes, particularly Vigor, meant that he had to sleep less. It was an amazing boon he would take every advantage of. The pair banked to the side again, wrapping around the mountain and flying a few miles north. Beyond the mountain north of the scouting camp they had just observed was an open plain dotted with lakes and rivers snaking here and there. The most notable thing was the larger gathering of orcs.

"Here we have their main force," Nulsa said, hooting as they dove to get a better look. "It seems as though their numbers have been diminished from the efforts of the adventurers, so that's a good thing. But still, there are quite a lot."

The owl wasn't kidding. Where before he had seen four tents, there was now a sprawl near a lake. Perhaps one to two hundred tents, with various fires arranged all around. There was no structured defense of the area, but sentries had been posted outside the camp. They looked up as the duo flew over. There was an intelligence in them that was unsettling, and Rud wasn't certain what to think about it yet. He had to remind himself they were mindless monsters that would attack the Grove given the chance.

The camp sprawled on for a bit until it ended near the foot of another small mountain. Nulsa claimed there was nothing interesting north of that, but still, they flew. It was, of course, the easiest way to travel in this world. They moved at a steady clip and were unimpeded by obstacles, making their journey very simple. A mundane bird might move at the speed of a slow-moving car, but with attributes? Rud's Strength, Dexterity, Agility, and Vigor worked in concert to have him zipping through the sky like a fighter jet.

The duo eventually slowed their pace and circled around a forested area. Rud had lost count of the distance and gave up, settling on the idea that it was about 20 to 30 minutes north of the camp. The forest was dense, but not overly so. Instead, the trees were spaced, and between the gaps in the canopy, he could spot the faintest signature of animal life below.

"This is to remind you that our little world is indeed small," Nulsa said. "Perhaps there will be a day when Gladesbale Grove covers the continent, but for now, we are a pocket of power, and we need to understand what that means."

Rud thought he understood what Nulsa was talking about, but the implication was that he was saying they needed to grow the grove bigger; otherwise, they couldn't weather the storm when it finally came. His first instinct was to be frightened by the prospect. He had never been a fighter and had no desire to start now, but then again, he didn't need to fight, did he? The only thing the druid truly needed to do was to spread the Grove. Then everything else would take care of itself. If the Grove was powerful enough and they had a good amount of allies, they would be just fine.

"I think we have this under control," Rud said after a long pause as they circled above the forest below. Both of them craned their necks occasionally to see what kind of animals were living below. "Think about the progress we've made so far. How quickly we've accomplished it doesn't really matter. What matters is how we've done it. But we're here, aren't we? We're uniting the other Groves."

"And that's a fine stance to take," Nulsa said. "Just so long as you understand the magnitude of it."

Rud's life was mostly one of making sure everybody had what they needed and making tea. He wasn't sure if there was much magnitude for him to consider, but he shrugged. The owl was trying to prepare him for a future he wasn't sure would come, but it was inspirational to him. It was a way to focus on the things he could improve. At the top of that list was his subclass, which was embarrassingly pathetic by this point. Although his class had reached rank one, his subclass was still stuck at rank zero. Now that he had mining at rank one, he only needed two more, which were likely going to be Farseeing and Custodianship. The druid made a promise to himself to reach that rank tomorrow. He would stop slacking.

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"Did you want to see the northern coast?" Nulsa asked, breaking Rud from his thoughts. "We're at the most narrow spot, so it isn't far."

"Why not?"

Although it wasn't quite as close as Nulsa had promised, he was happy to follow the owl along to the northern coast of their island region. It was a rocky shore with a tempestuous sea breaking against it, unlike the coast on the southern side. This one was turbulent. It wouldn't make for a very good beach day. He understood why this wasn't the favored landing spot for people from the mainland.

"And how big is this place? I thought it was a continent," Rud said. "I guess people have told me it's an island…"

"It's quite a lot longer than it is wide," Nulsa said. The duo were now making their way back to the Grove, taking the northern approach this time. That would allow them to pass over the Dwarven Homes, which were a whole other can of worms to consider.

From what Rud understood, the Dwarves had homes in the mountains, but those homes were connected to each other by a series of tunnels. Their underground cities were legendary and spanned to the north. Through massive underground thoroughfares, there were likely entire cities beneath them for all he knew. With a steady wind blowing from the north, they made good time back to the Grove. That was the thing about being in bird form. His ability to travel swiftly depended on the currents, and this one was quite favorable. Of course, with a limited duration that also meant landing for a little break before recasting the spell.

"Hopefully this was enlightening," Nulsa said.

Rud shifted into his true form outside of his mushroom house, leaning against his staff. His arms were dead tired. "Yeah, thanks. Now I just wanna curl up and sleep forever."

Without a word, Nulsa flew off. When Rud entered his home, he was unsurprised to find that Jasper was curled up in his fox form before the fire. He didn't even stir as the druid entered, allowing him to slip into his bed unnoticed. But although he was exhausted from the flight and all the information that now weighed heavily on his mind, Rud couldn't get to sleep. He thought about all the things he needed to do to ensure the grove's future. There was a lot of hard work ahead of him, and he was willing to do it. The first thing was getting his subclass to Rank 1. Next came expanding the grove further than it had ever gone before. He expected Ban to jump quite a few ranks, and that was already within the plan. But she would jump a few more than anticipated if things worked out.

A few minutes of Rud thinking about his plans and he was out.

Jasper's eye cracked open as he dispelled the illusion attached to the druid. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Hard to protect you if you go so far away," the fox grumbled to himself, getting more comfortable by the fire.

***

Rud wasted no time the next morning. He woke up on time and made his way to the observatory right away, where he initially made his report but then remained within the tower. His skill had already been ready to roll over, and there was a fair amount of observation to do. It felt like taking care of two problems at the same time. He scanned for the errant dungeons, making note that a few more had cropped up despite predictions.

It didn't take long at all for the message to appear. A flood of power washed through Rud's body as his Farseeing skill tipped over to Rank 1.

[Rank Up!]

You've performed enough actions with your Farseeing skill to gain a new rank!

Farseeing is now Rank 1, empowering the skill even further…

Your Farseeing skill has reached a milestone! Please select from the following upgrades…

Rud wanted to take his time picking an upgrade for this skill. It was one of the most useful skills he had, and finding the exact right upgrade would make a huge difference. He thumbed through the available skills, dismissing those that wouldn't be very useful for him. After narrowing it down to a small list, he eventually made his pick. All this was done while Maria chatted away on the radio. She was bothering him to send her some provisions, which he had planned on doing. But now he might make her wait a few days…

The druid summoned the skill for one last inspection before he selected it.

[Intense Gaze]

Farseeing Upgrade

Description:

None shall escape your gaze.

Effect:

Expending mana allows you to increase the power of your Farseeing.

Your ability to detect objects, entities, etc that would otherwise escape your sight increases depending on the amount of mana you put into this upgrade.

At first, this wasn't something that Rud planned to pick until he began thinking about it. Because his attributes were rising so quickly, he would have a larger-than-normal pool of mana to draw from. Given the problem they were having with the hidden dungeons, he figured this would be perfect for locating them. He accepted the upgrade and took a moment to appreciate the power of a new rank.

Ranks were the best way to empower everything. A skill that achieved a new rank increased its power when he opened his magical sight. Using the power of the observatory, Rud could see further and clearer. He had a better sense of what he was looking at and what the magical energies meant. He felt the intense gaze upgrade at his call and put a tiny amount of mana into it to see what changed. Not only did things become even clearer, but he also saw dots of energy in the distance that he had missed before.

Rud dumped a full 200 mana into the upgrade, staggering back as his vision was flooded. He sifted through the information, narrowing it until he locked onto his goal. Heart hammering in his chest, his eyes went wide.

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