Fmh ~ 29!!

“No, I know these don’t naturally pollinate each other… I just don’t care!” Andre laughed at the samples. He was in hiding, and had spent the last few months working with his new ability to create something he could use as a weapon. Currently he was arguing with a sterile plant that he had created, a combination of fungal spores and dandelions. His goal was to make the spores that not only got into the air, but could drift over a huge area.

Since they were sterile, he didn’t need to worry about them self-propagating or losing control of them to another druid. That was how he had got the weaponized spores in the first place, after all. The fluff that had been created would get into the air, scatter around, then activate only when and where he told it. “Good… just like that… a single pound is enough to cover half a mile if needed. Perfect. Ooh! How about you?”

Andre had discovered a deep love of altering plants, and combining things together. Currently, he had an ivy plant wrapped around himself that he could use as a whip. He didn’t need to use his hands to control it; leaving staff combat as a viable option. Both the whip and his staff now had thorns filled with paralytic poison that would unfurl upon command, or could be released to give his weapons a ranged option.

Beyond his growing weapons, he had made another firm choice. After his connection to his bound plants had been interrupted, Andre had decided that he needed to start pouring his exp into his binding ability. He had high hopes that if he got the tier and level high enough, it would become impossible to tear away his connection. Though he wasn’t sure that was how it worked, Andre could only test his hypothesis by putting in the effort.

“I can never tell anyone my actual level, especially not until I can fight off people that will want to hurt me for it.” Andre muttered softly. Here in the interior of the tree trunk, he could talk to himself without fear of being overheard. The tree, and all the flora in and around it, were bound to him. They wouldn’t give up his secrets easily. “Still, I need to tone down how quickly I grow. All the Potentia I’m getting is to be diverted to skills until further notice… that way I will still be able to surprise my enemies.”

The nice thing about passive Potentia income was that he gained it all the time, though slowly. Andre’s eyes practically glowed as he glanced over the eight thousand potentia he had saved up. Beyond what he had used on himself already… Andre had eight thousand three hundred and ninety-one Potentia that he had gained without killing anything. The people that he knew were watching him would never expect that.

“Devote Potentia to Bind by Blood until a new level cannot be reached.” Andre watched as his Potentia drained. His ability level increased to one, two, five, and stopped at tier six, level seven. He nodded appreciatively; there was still three thousand ninety-one remaining, but the next level would cost him thirty-four hundred. “This means I now have a sixty-eight percent chance of any bond succeeding.”

It was time to set out and start creating a safe haven for himself. This world was vast, and there were less than a hundred druids total. Some of them had even Ascended, and didn’t care about what they saw as the petty squabbles of a weak world anymore. That meant that if he traveled far enough, he could get out of their influence and create a space that was entirely his own.

He knew how to draw a portal to leave this plane, but his sigil would not allow him to leave until he was supposed to do so. Andre rolled his eyes and muttered, “Surprise, surprise. I need to make a circle if I want to go home.”

The interior of his current home was easy to empty. A wash of mana, and suddenly all the experimental plants he had been working with were seeds. Anything that didn’t produce seeds was wrapped around his body, and carefully controlled so that it would assist in all his motions. The tree filled in with wood as he left, healing in moments what would have taken decades otherwise. Andre picked a spot on the horizon, and started sprinting.

The vines that were around his legs acted like coiled springs, making each step faster and allowing him to cross vast distances easily. The plants on his torso stayed slightly tensed, supporting his body and letting him mostly relax. Soon, too soon for any proper druid, Andre had left the territory he had bound and was shooting across a fertile valley that he recognized from his work a few months back. “Mm. Looks good. Test was successful! That desert is going down.”

Then he landed on the other side of the split in the land, continuing onward. He continued running for four days straight, pausing only when he absolutely needed to bind something and heal his overexerted body; or when he found something extra interesting. This close to the druidic training grove, there wasn't much of interest. Still, there were a few fruits or vegetables that he could coax into providing him sustenance wherever his new home would end up being.

“Just keep running, just keep running!” Andre sang as he continued running for a week, then two, then a month. It was clear that he hadn’t brushed up against any areas controlled by druids for at least a week, and the area clearly showed that lack. When a druid had an area under their control, nature harmonized with itself, and everything grew to be beautiful and lush. Here, the ground was rocky and vegetation was sparse. There was a higher likelihood of finding rare or magical ingredients, minerals, or creatures, but the danger was on a different scale entirely.

He took a day to recover from all the mental and physical strain, getting his body and mind into a harmonious state thanks to the druidic teachings and practices that he had trained in for a decade with Xan. When he finally reached a balanced state, Andre moved out; looking for the place that would eventually become the grove for his kingdom. There were many requirements, but chiefly amongst them would be safety and an abundance of resources.

The path of the druid seemed simple and straightforward, but there was a responsibility hidden in what they did. The truth of the matter was that a kingdom with an active druid had healthier residents, a higher probability of Ascenders, and more power. The more land in a kingdom bound by a druid, the more those three things appeared. This meant that the world was in a constant state of war, as the only way to get more Ascenders or more powerful ones, was to snatch up territory.

Andre’s Kingdom had been on the decline for well over a century; ever since their last druid had become a Paragon and lashed out against them. Right now, the only reason their kingdom hadn't been overrun because the last druid had accidentally put a protection in place: the Scarroco desert. No druid wanted to clean up that magical mess, and most places were fine with watching the kingdom decline for a few more decades. Only one wasn’t, and that was why a war had started just before Andre had come here.

The Archmage had been very serious and sincere toward how badly Andre was needed, and he had let this information slip to him before opening the portal. He hadn't explained that this was why people would want to kill him while he was still weak, but Xan had picked up the slack in that regard. Andre stopped suddenly, feeling a shift in the basic harmony of the biosphere. Something was pulling at the ambient mana in the air, and the minor fluctuations pointed toward a magical plant of some kind.

Andre went closer to the source of the fluctuations, feeling them becoming more powerful the farther he walked. He was getting ever more excited; if this plant was generating such powerful fluctuations, it was likely about to break through a tier. If he could claim it for himself…

The terrain had gone from ‘rocky’ to ‘severely damaged’. Andre wouldn’t have been surprised if a glacier had come through here at some point, the ground was dug down to the bedrock in places, creating a naturally breathtaking stoney vista. He felt somewhat uneasy, as there were very few plants in this area. Understandable, as there wasn’t much soil. He traveled across the steep slopes, finding minimal vegetation, a lack of a substantial regolith, and high drainage density. “This would be a terrible place to stay for any length of time.”

The ambient fluctuations were coming from just ahead, so he made sure to move carefully. Even so, careful wasn't enough. As he looked around the edge of the towering rock formation, he saw a cave made out of beautiful rock striations. The fluctuations were clearly coming from inside, but the issue arose from locking eyes with a massive cave bear that was blocking almost the entire entrance.

It didn’t seem happy that Andre was here. Andre wasn’t happy that the bear was here. As the beast walked out of the cave and stood, Andre was regretting arriving. There was a certain hierarchy that could be followed when sizing up beasts. Typically, a Tier one creature was pretty normal. A bear back on Andre’s home plane could easily be just a non-magical - or Tier zero - bear. However, a bear that was exceptionally strong but still non-magical could qualify as Tier one.

A Tier two bear would be called a ‘Dire’ bear. A Tier three would be called a ‘Cave’ or ‘Ancient’ bear. After that, they became something like ‘Demon’ bears. However, nomenclature wasn’t Andre’s real concern right now. There was a Cave bear staring at him. As a Tier three creature, it had some kind of empowered melee attack, as well as one that could be used at range.

The Cave bear was standing at its full height, its head a massive fifteen feet in the air. It bellowed at him, blowing Andre’s long hair back even from this distance. Then it appeared to be dropping down to charge at him… but Andre spotted the mana gathering at the tips of its claws. He threw himself back behind the rock formation as the front paws released claw slashes that tore deep gouges through the stone where he had been standing.

Andre didn't hesitate; as soon as he was stable, he legged it. He had run at least a quarter mile before he realized that the bear wasn't following him. Andre looked back and considered his options. “Why would a Cave bear bother to live in a place like this? There… hmm, there can really only be one explanation. You’re trying to hoard that plant for yourself, aren't you? I can work with that.”