DakotaKrout

FMH ~ 13!

Added 2020-05-27 14:20:01 +0000 UTC

- Andre -

Andre munched on an apple as he listened to Xan’s lecture. The last month and a half had been… informative. He had been doing nothing but twice-daily exercises and reading the massive volumes of information that Xan provided him. He wasn't allowed further than the shadow of the tallest tree in the grove, and the forced limit was grating on him. Not that he would complain about that out loud… he had learned better.

After his night pinned to a tree and held tightly, Andre had been completely silent, one hundred percent terrified by the man that seemed ready to kill him for literally no reason. He had followed all instructions as well as he could, and on the third day had managed to connect to the apple tree and feed it mana. This was good, as he was literally beginning to starve by that point. Xan had kept his word and hadn't fed him even a single time.

The apple tree seemed to like him, pleased by his gifts of blood and mana. He hadn’t yet managed to bind to the tree, but his lectures had shown him that was likely going to take a long time. Still, he could make good, nutrient-packed apples. But as a human, he needed a variety of food, and after this long could feel his shrinking muscles begging for meat.

So, when Xan had told him that it was time to learn to hunt, Andre had nearly cried with happiness. Then Xan had explained that he had meant it was time to learn how to make a weapon that he could hunt with. Not that there would be meat on the table. Andre’s mind had nearly shut down at that point, but it drove him to use every single second of his free time practicing binding to a single chunk of dead wood. This would be his staff, and once he had bound to it, the staff could be whatever weapon he needed. Well… so long as he had enough mana control.

Say what you will about the brutality of Xan’s methods: they were effective. It only took a week for the staff to suddenly come to life in Andre’s hands. The dead wood gained strength and elasticity, and a few leaves even sprouted on it. The young druid was shaking as he felt his connection to the wood: it was a piece of him now. This wood could be his arm, that was the strength of the bond he had just made.

Xan appeared by Andre’s side in an instant. “Ah… you succeeded. Without an ability, even. Congratulations, you now understand the depth of what we do, and I can start treating you like an actual person instead of what you came in here as. Come up and have dinner.”

Andre looked up from his staff, the mention of food breaking through his fugue. “You… what? Dinner?”

“C’mon, kid. Now that you’ve made a bond with a thing that was dead and brought it back, you’ve made what will likely be the most difficult bond you will ever make.” Xan helped the lad to his feet and marched him along. “Record time, too. I told the grove that they were too soft with initiates. You’ve helped me prove my point; now this is going to be standard training. Took me this long just to make my first apple.”

Andre’s mouth fell open, wanting to scream and rant, but he nearly collapsed when Xan tried to make him climb the rope. The vines that the rope was made of wrapped around him and lifted him in, where somehow Xan was already waiting though he had been behind Andre on the ground. “I’m sure you have questions. First, drink this and eat this.”

A bowl of honey and what appeared to be meat that had been pulverized were handed over. Andre wasted no time, pouring them together and licking the bowl clean. Spoons and manners were never even considered. Xan nodded approvingly. “Good, you are finally starting to get it. Listen. This was a trial training method, and if you had gone much longer without success I would have reverted to the standard practice.”

Xan kept talking as more food was carried over by vines. “Also, that was a compound that will make your body and metabolism function at ten times the normal rate. Eat everything you can get your hands on, we have almost two months of starvation to fend off. We can fix it all right now.”

That was all the encouragement that Andre needed, and he dove into the food. Xan started explaining, “Alright, listen. The breakthrough to druidic powers can only be done in an incredibly meditative state. The normal practice is to teach you to reach this state, running through forms and positions that would help you clear your mind. I theorized that sudden trauma followed by starvation while forcing intense physical activity would let you do it ten times as fast.”

“I was right.” Xan was deadly serious, and Andre was too busy shoving food in his face to attack the man like he wanted to do. “You did in two months what normally takes three to five years to achieve. Now, you still need to learn all of the other things, but we can start with the practical applications of your power years before it is normally possible. Even though it seems terrible, it was all done to benefit you.”

Xan stopped talking, because Andre had fallen asleep. “Ah… the medicine is right on schedule. See you in the morning. Sleep well.”

Hours later, at the exact moment when the sun touched Andre’s new staff, his eyes popped open. He stretched and felt good for the first time since before he had arrived on this cursed world. “Xan?”

“Ah, you are awake!” Xan leaned over and looked at his charge. “Tell me… how much of your time here do you recall clearly?”

“All…” Andre’s brow furrowed. Most of his time seemed like a damaged dream. Well… more a sleep-deprived nightmare. “Not… much, actually?”

“That’s fine. I didn't expect that you would. Your mind needed to find a way to make you stay sane, after all. The sigil even helps with that when you get proper food and rest. It balances you forcibly. Touchy subject, that.” Xan took a bite of an apple and tossed Andre his new staff. “Don’t leave that lying around. It’s an object of power now, and can be used to badly hurt you. Now, about that staff.”

“This is your connection to plants.” Xan explained seriously. “All plants. Though you don't need it, the fact that you turned a dead stick into a Livingwood Staff means that all plants will resonate with you through it. It will make your life a lot easier. We are going to start the practical applications of what we can do soon, but just know that the bond you have with that staff will be the same with everything you bind. It will all feel like your body.”

“That’s why you were so mad at me when we got started, then?” Andre nervously questioned.

“You wanted to ‘blast people’.” Xan scoffed and clapped his charge on the arm to put him at ease. “A druid is the ultimate defense. We don't go on the offence except in person. We bind the land and everything in it to ourselves, which means our kingdom literally becomes our body. We’ll talk on that more later. Now, I want you to say ‘status’.”

“Status?” Andre repeated in surprise. “Why-”

Contribution Activity Log is online! Scanning…

CAL Scan complete!

Level: 0

Current Etheric Xenograft Potentia: 130/100 to level 1!

Body: 2.45

Mind: 3.65

Presence: 2.25

Senses: 1.35

Health: 71

Mana: 127.8

Mana regen: 1.4 per second

You are able to increase in level! Do so now? Yes / No.

Xan asked for the numbers, and nodded along. This was roughly what he had been expecting. “Good… creating and connecting to a Livingwood Sstaff gives a full one hundred exp. The rest must be from the apples. You came here with a crazy high capacity for a newbie, but that’s expected as a druid. Choose ‘yes’ to leveling, and put the points into ‘Mmind’, sub-characteristic ‘Ttalent’. I’ll explain after you’re done, but you need to do this. If you put the point anywhere else, I’m going to kick you out as a failed initiate. That means death.”

“Sheesh, Xan!” Andre selected ‘yes’. “I thought we were past this.”

Level up initiated! Integrating Etheric Xenograft Potentia into host! You have one level to use, where would you like to add the bonus? Body / Mind / Presence / Senses.

Mind selected! Select sub-characteristic. Talent / Capacity.

“Talent?”

Increasing stat now!

Andre’s world went black, and when he came around… everything was different. Xan’s words floated into his ears, and he understood exactly what the man meant when he stated, “Congratulations. You are now nearly six hundred percent smarter. That won't translate into ‘thickheaded’ like you might think, quite the opposite. You will likely be much more on board with my training, and I now need to know if you would recommend this harsh training for others. Also, say sub-status’.”

“All of that…” Andre started as his status appeared in front of him.

Level: 1

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

Body: 2.45

Fitness: 2.8

Resistance: 2.1

Mind: 6.15

Talent: 6.2

Capacity: 6.1

Presence: 2.25

Willpower: 2.7

Charisma: 1.8