FMH ~ 28!

- Andre -

Andre stood on top of a cliff, looking down at the dry valley below him. He had been preparing for this moment for years, and was looking forward to seeing how his regrowth project panned out. 

This was going to be a proof-of-concept attempt. If he could use his power to grow plants in the harsh terrain below him, Andre would feel great about his long-term mission of returning the Scarocco desert to a grassland, and potentially even to farmland or forest. “First step… mulch and dead matter!”

Mana poured out of him, a huge amount that no mage or other person could even really handle. The truth of the matter was that the mana wasn't really coming from Andre. He had bound the entire forest behind him, and he was drawing on that accumulated mana to fuel this process. The valley below started to change in texture and coloration as a thick moss grew over the sand and rocks, absorbing nutrients, living and dying much faster than was natural. Sand vanished and rocks shattered as they were eaten, absorbed, or had root systems plunge through them.

Moss gave way to fungus, which sprang up, lived, and died, leaving behind fertile mulch. Andre threw a pouch into the air, where it unfurled and rained seeds into the valley. All sorts of seeds were within: ferns, weeds, flowers, and other nutrient-fixing growths. By the time all the seeds landed, they had already begun to sprout. Andre dropped to a knee and spat out a mouthful of blood; the backlash from channeling too much power. Though he was rapidly healing, it still took a lot out of him.

He looked over the valley. While it couldn’t yet be described as lush or verdant, it was on its way. Andre stood and wiped his mouth, feeling the weight of the last few years on his mind. He had tested out on all the required learning of plants and mana manipulation formulations, and had graduated years earlier than expected from his official training as a Druid of the First Circle. Now he met up with Xan once a month and discussed how things were going, but in general he was on his own.

In fact, he had been hoping to see Xan soon, and had rushed this project so that he could show his progress. There were only two years remaining before his kingdom mandated training time was over, and he wanted some achievements under his belt. Xan was getting praise up and down for his newly developed training method, and all future druid initiates were going to be subjected to it. Andre winced at that, he didn’t want any part of the credit; he knew someone would eventually want revenge. 

Andre took a deep breath and opened his status, hoping against hope that this would finally generate a new ability for him.

Level: 1

Current Etheric Xenograft Potentia: 30/200 to level 2!

Body: 8.7

Fitness: 8.3

Resistance: 9.1

Mind: 27.55

Talent: 20

Capacity: 35.1

Presence: 8.65

Willpower: 12.2

Charisma: 5.1

Senses: 7.55

Physical reaction: 8.9

Mental energy: 6.2

Health: 141

Mana: 481

Mana regen: 6.67 per second 

Abilities: 1

Andre sighed at the sight of the very lonely ‘one’ that showed on his screen. Years ago, when he first gained Bind by Blood, he had thought that it was the start of an amazing journey to make him a super druid. But… since then, there had been nothing. No new abilities. While his current ability was great - more than great, really - he had no combat utility. Without an ability to cause harm, he would remain trapped at the First Circle. There was simply no way to make the living creatures submit to bindings, not unless they either had to or you could convince them. His charisma made that second option useless, and Andre wasn't going to give up improving his mind just so that he could skip steps.

Just as he turned to head over to his current campsite, Andre froze and dropped to his knees. “What…? My connection!”

“We got him, friends.” A human voice? Three people that were very much not Xan walked into view. Andre didn't know who they were, but to not only sneak up on him through the woods, but also cut off his connection to the woods, they needed to be powerful druids. At least, more powerful than him. Going by the large beast accompanying them, they had to be at the Second Circle. 

If they were at the Third Circle or higher, Andre would already be dead. The ability to command the earth tended to lean toward instant death against your opponent. Target gained? Earth opens up and swallows them, slams shut. Death unless you could counter it somehow. Andre got to his feet and lifted his Livingwood Staff. “Who are you, and why are you attacking me?”

“Attacking you? No… we’re just here for a friendly little… chat.” The lead druid stated with a nasty smile as his scarred hyena companion chuckled. The other humans smirked and fanned out. Just like that, Andre found himself trapped against the edge of the cliff. 

“Not attacking me?” Andre shouted the next words as loudly as he could. “Pursuant to druidic accords of conduct chapter four, section seven-point-one, these three have initiated hostile actions toward me, a First Circle Druid still within my kingdom mandated training period!”

The three paled, and their animal companions snarled and took a sharp step toward Andre. There was always someone listening on this world, and unless they could guarantee that it was only their people… the situation was going to change rapidly. “Abyss it, just kill him!”

“Trevor, you idiot!” The leader lashed out and slapped ‘Trevor’ across the face. “His mentor is at the Third Circle! Quiet!”

The third was silent, and simply dashed forward along with a medium-sized Direwolf. Andre met the two with his staff, and the sharp retort of clacking wood sounded over the valley behind them. There was a yelp as the Direwolf took a smack to the head, and Andre kicked it over the edge.

Andre had no damaging abilities, so he had thrown everything into his staff and hand-to-hand fighting when training with Xan, rapidly becoming as proficient as Xan in technical skill. Xan had decades of time where he had hardened his body and trained his fitness; in a real match, Andre stood no chance of winning. But, right now he didn't need to win. He needed to delay. The man he was fighting lunged and grabbed at the wolf, keeping it from falling but having to devote himself to that task fully. The struggling animal almost pulled both itself and the druid over, but vines wrapped around the druid’s feet and helped pull them up.

Thick thorns sprouted around Andre’s feet, penetrating his soles and giving him a vivid flashback to his first night in this world. Andre yanked himself away from that spot and rolled, avoiding being rooted. He tried to get into the woods, but the branches of the trees blocked his escape. Teeth closed around his arm, and he was simultaneously pulled back and lost a chunk of his underarm. He knew what that portion of his anatomy was called, but the pain didn't allow him to focus enough to think about it.

“You little, abyssal, brat!” There were three staves cracking down on Andre, and the hyena had torn into his thigh. “You tried to kill my wolf! Suffer!”

A handful of spores were poured on his face, and Andre screamed as the toxins created blisters and welts in an instant. The pain was incredible, but Andre maintained his will to live and focused on surviving. His bones had cracked wherever the staves came down, so he protected his head and spine. Teeth were tearing into him, so he only showed meaty, non-essential areas. 

Then it all stopped in an instant. Not the pain, but the attacks. A soft grinding of stone was all Andre heard before his connection to the land came roaring back; bringing regenerating health with it. His flesh started to knit, and his bones started to realign.

Health: 36/141

“I was almost too late.” Xan’s voice reached Andre’s ears. It was oddly muffled, and Andre idly noticed that was because his ears had blood pooling in them. “I knew this was a possibility, but I never would have guessed that it would be so soon. Sending Second Circles out like this? Tch… too bad they can’t tell me who sent them…” 

“Where…?” Andre managed to get out.

“They’re just nutrients for your pet project now.” Xan informed him darkly. “You won’t have to worry about them.”

“Who?” Andre coughed out a ball of blood as his innards expelled some damaged bits.

“Mercenaries. Druids who’s kingdoms or tribes have fallen, who refuse to put down roots and call one place home.” Xan came into view finally, and Andre blinked away the red tint that was coating his eyes. “The worst kind of druid; one who doesn't care about the land anymore. It gives them freedom, and certain amounts of power, but they can never really progress. How's the healing going?”

“It’s coming along.” Andre used his mana and created a circle around the ball of blood that he had just spat. Since his blood was so liberally sprinkled through the area, he gave away none of his secrets by doing so.

“I like what you’ve done with the valley. Very nice. Fertile. That’ll be a good place to look for magic herbs in a few decades.” Xan had walked to the edge of the cliff, and was pretending to admire the view while double-checking that the dead druids were actually dead-dead.

“Thanks, Xan. I need to get some practice if I’m going to fix hundreds of miles of desert.” Andre stood up. His wounds had closed, but the scars were still healing and he was weak from blood loss and pain. Xan supported him when he faltered, and they looked over the valley one more time before turning and moving deeper into the woods. 

“I can't let myself be weak anymore, Xan. I’m gonna have to become deadly.”

“I know it, Andre.” Xan sighed as he half-carried Andre along. Even with the incredible healing rate he had, Andre’s wounds had been fatal. They were going to take time to get over. “But you’re a good kid. I hope you never lose that.” 

“Me too, Xan.” Andre’s hard eyes didn’t match his words in the slightest. They were slightly distant as he read words that only he could see.

Ability generated: Bloodthistle (T4).

Bloodthistle (T4): 0/300 to level 2!

Effect 1: Marinating a seed in blood will allow you to use mana to grow and control it while it is in your hand. Costs 20 mana to begin the growth process, and 1 mana per second to control it. 

Bonus 1, at range: Can control the grown plant within line of sight.

Effect 2: If the grown plant has access to blood, it uses the blood instead of mana. Removes mana cost until the blood is all absorbed.

Bonus 2, Multitarget: You can now control multiple plants and seeds at the same time. This is modified by your ‘Talent’ sub-characteristic.

“I really do hope that you always consider me a good person.” Andre just barely managed to slip the congealed ball of blood and deadly spores that he had bound into his pocket, and spoke one more sentence before passing out. “It matters to me.”