Druid Spells (Part 1)

"Herbs that could still be harvested in early winter?"

While eating roasted meat at noon, the druid Jefa glanced at Romon and said, "Yes. There's also Nine-Leaf Grass, though very little of it grows naturally in the forest. You have to be careful when gathering it—don't pull up the roots, or it won't sprout the following year. That's a druid's duty!"

"Nine-Leaf Grass?" Romon thought for a moment and recalled that the herb manual did indeed mention it. It was a precious medicinal herb.

Combined with a Divine Spell and the appropriate amount of powdered Nine-Leaf Grass, it could be made into low-grade healing potions, bottled for carrying, with a shelf life of three months.

Even when eaten directly, it had considerable medicinal value, especially for restoring strength after injuries. Divine Spells could heal wounds quickly, but they could not replenish the body's losses. That was why this herb was so popular.

Because of its effects, humans had harvested it in droves, causing it to gradually become scarce in human-controlled regions.

In recent years, the Church of the Goddess of Agriculture had attempted to cultivate it artificially.

Romon suppressed his thoughts and waited until Jefa had finished eating before asking, "Could you take me to see it?"

"Well, normally I couldn't. But you're my disciple, more or less, and you've become a druid too. I should let you see it. Come on, let's go to the inner underground room."

Druid Jefa did not refuse. After clearing away the bowls and utensils, he shut the outer door, checked that no one was around, then pushed open another door at the back. Beyond it was a staircase leading down into a basement.

Seeing Jefa act so mysteriously gave Romon a reflexive headache.

Jefa stopped before a stone door.

"Here?" Romon scratched his head, unable to understand why Jefa had brought him here. Of course, he was also curious how this basement had been built. Jefa lived alone, didn't he? How had he dug out such a large underground space?

Jefa gave him a mysterious smile and pressed somewhere unknown. Then, a huge stone slowly rose, revealing an opening more than a person's height tall and more than a person's width wide. Jefa entered first. Since the man was unwilling to explain, Romon could not very well ask outright, so he followed with some frustration.

The moment he entered, a wave of warmth washed over him. The space was not nearly as stifling as he had imagined. Instead, it was filled with a fresh fragrance, and Romon stared at everything in astonishment.

It was a two-hundred-square-meter space divided into several layers of soil beds. Thick, fertile earth had been piled onto the beds, and every layer was filled with all kinds of plants.

At the center stood an Altar, though it was impossible to tell which god it belonged to. It was a simple Altar carved with mysterious symbols, giving off a fresh Nature's Aura.

A crystal embedded in the stone ceiling was radiating sunlight.

"This is..." Romon's mouth fell open. Wasn't this a greenhouse?

"Romon, you're surprised, aren't you? Haha, this is the enclosed natural greenhouse I created, specifically for cultivating rare plant seeds!" Jefa mistook Romon's surprise for shock and smiled smugly.

"Truly... truly incredible!" Romon scratched his hair, speechless. He had the Shennong Horn as a greenhouse, while this man had built an artificial one.

After looking around for several rounds, Romon revealed an envious expression. Then he spotted the Altar again and asked, "What is this? An Altar to some deity?"

"Hehe, you guessed wrong. This is a primitive Natural Altar. I only obtained it when I reached Fifth Level." Jefa spoke proudly as he touched a ring.

Romon had noticed the ring as well. It looked utterly ordinary, seemingly just a silver ring with leaf patterns. Yet in his eyes, a circle of dazzling white light surrounded it.

It carried a strange attraction that seemed to come from the ring itself. He could not help looking at it twice more, and Jefa seemed to notice. He instinctively hid it away.

"Then... what's that?" Romon asked awkwardly, pointing at the crystal in the stone ceiling.

"That's a Sunlight Crystal. As long as it is exposed to sunlight for three days, it can provide one day of underground lighting. With four Sunlight Crystals, they can be used in rotation to provide enough light for the entire enclosed natural greenhouse."

Romon was speechless after hearing that. Wasn't it just a solar-powered lamp?

What followed was a display. Nine-Leaf Grass grew in a large clump, alongside Ning Grass, Dew Flowers, Stone Maze Mushrooms, Rainbow Trees, and other relatively rare plants. Romon was dazzled by the sight, and his expression greatly satisfied Jefa.

Touring the herbs took Romon an hour. In the end, the smug Jefa generously gave him a small packet of Nine-Leaf Grass seeds.

A few minutes later, the two emerged.

After coming out, Romon looked at his companion curled up on the wooden bed, covered with a wolf pelt and sleeping heavily. His brow furrowed.

In last night's battle, they had been attacked by several Goblins and had nearly been wiped out. It exposed the serious shortcomings of the three of them in combat—not only in strength, but also in experience.

Their ability to deal with the Goblins afterward had already been a matter of luck. Having a druid to heal them could be considered even luckier.

Nick was no longer in mortal danger, but he remained unconscious. They could only wait until tomorrow, when Jefa had fully recovered, and then have him use Healing Spell to try to cure Nick completely.

Though Jefa seemed easy to talk to now, if they could not repay their debt within a month, the consequences...

Without realizing it, a trace of worry surfaced in Romon's heart.

Romon then took the opportunity to ask Jefa about druid spells. Perhaps because he was in a good mood, Jefa said, "It's actually very simple. Druids form a Heart of Nature. When you meditate and look carefully, you'll see that your Heart of Nature contains many symbols. Each symbol represents a nature spell. You only need to pour power into it."

"Are there more or fewer symbols?"

"Of course. The deeper your connection to nature and your understanding of it, the more symbols you gain. And every symbol can be copied. Pour power into one symbol, and it forms a leaf. That is the Divine Spell you can cast. You can therefore form several identical leaves at once, representing several spells of the same type that you can cast."

The explanation was already very clear. Romon knew he had grasped the basic mysteries of being a druid, so he used the excuse of not wanting to disturb Master Jefa's rest. Then he went outside for a walk and entered a patch of woods opposite the cabin.

Only after going a kilometer deeper into the forest did Romon feel safe enough to lie down in a clearing.

First, he tended to the space.

After its last upgrade, the space had expanded to two mu. There were now gaps between the thirty fruit trees. According to the previous prompt, it was no longer a matter of adding plants of new varieties. He had to plant them and accumulate enough power before it could upgrade again.

Once he understood this, he began planting all the seeds originally from Earth. He planted them along the riverbank at regular intervals and watered them. Before long, they would surely fill the space and accumulate power.

The Light Orb inside the space never dimmed. Its light fell upon the water, creating faint rosy ripples as several bees flew about nearby.

With the space expanded, the water seemed a little insufficient. Although the space could naturally produce water, it did so very slowly and could not compare to pouring water in. Besides, the water in this world was quite clean.

Romon got up and followed the forest until he discovered a spring behind a huge boulder. A burst of fresh air greeted him.

Stepping closer, he saw a springhead. The water was crystal clear and had formed a lake. It had accumulated for many years and was very deep. He went forward and took a drink. The spring water was refreshing, carrying a hint of sweetness. Its quality was clearly excellent.

Ignoring the cold, he immediately took off his clothes and sank into the pool, making him shudder at once.

The effect was obvious. Once the water reached the Shennong Horn imprint, it surged in at his command. From the perspective of the space, rain immediately began falling within it. The rain was heavy and soon filled the creek to eight-tenths full. That was enough. Romon hurriedly jumped out, waited for the wind to dry him a little, and put his clothes back on. It was already October, after all. The water was truly cold!

After finishing with the space, Romon began to meditate.

Meditating according to the druid method, he indeed discovered a point of green light within his body. As he moved closer, he found a core shaped much like a heart. Some symbols faintly emerged upon it, while powerful energy accumulated within its center.

Following the meditation method, he controlled his mind and cautiously reached toward the green core.

Sure enough, the moment he touched it, seven or eight symbols connected with him. In an instant, he understood what they represented.

Druid Level-Zero Spells

Stop Bleeding, Flash Spell, Light Spell, Resistance Boost, Benediction

Druid First-Level Spells

Disguise, Cure Minor Wounds, Endure Elemental Damage, Entangle, Low-Light Vision, Magic Fang, Sleep Spell, First-Level Monster Summoning Spell, Plant Pacification

Whenever Romon focused his attention on a particular symbol, it enlarged and showed him in detail the information it contained.

After spending some time examining them one by one, Romon's heart filled with joy. These powers were truly wondrous. Romon naturally knew that there were no useless powers in the world, only fools who could not make the most of them.

But after thinking it over and considering their current situation, Romon chose the symbol for "Stop Bleeding" first.

Green power was drawn from the green heart and poured into that symbol. Moments later, a small leaf formed in the void.

Once the leaf had fully formed, Romon saw that the green heart had lost some of its radiance.

After thinking for a moment, he chose "Cure Minor Wounds" as well. The process was the same. Green power flowed into it, creating a leaf. This leaf was visibly larger than the previous one, and it consumed more green power.

After carefully considering the nature power, he ultimately allocated it into two "Stop Bleeding" leaves and three "Cure Minor Wounds" leaves. All his nature power was exhausted, and the green heart began automatically drawing in nature power again, though slowly.

At that moment, the space within the Shennong Horn stirred. A surge of green radiance emerged from the imprint on his chest and poured into the green heart. Moments later, the green heart was filled again and restored to life.

Romon was overjoyed and was about to add more leaves. But the moment he tried, his head became slightly dizzy. After pausing in a daze, he understood. His mental strength could not contain any more power.

Feeling somewhat disappointed, he entered the Shennong Horn Space again. The moment he went in, he noticed something was wrong. For a time, he could not identify the problem. After standing there blankly for a while, he finally understood. Many plants had withered slightly. Romon was a clever man. He stared at them for a moment, thinking deeply. When he came back to himself and checked the time, it was already late. Creating the "nature spell leaves" had apparently taken an hour.

Then he had to make some preparations. Romon stayed beside a river for half an hour before finally spearing two fish and bringing them back. By the time he reached the druid's wooden cabin, it was around four in the afternoon. Druid Jefa was absent, perhaps having gone into the forest to recover his nature power.

Romon knew how to cook. He scraped the scales from the two fish, cut open their bellies, and cleaned them thoroughly inside and out.

Once everything was prepared and the druid still had not returned, he thought for a moment and decided not to use the spices and ginger from the space—he had also planted a small patch of them—for fear that Jefa might discover plants that did not belong to this world.

So he used wine, vinegar, and chicken essence instead.

However, he used water from the space in the fish soup. Though it had no great effect, it naturally removed fishiness and odors.

Before long, the fish soup gave off an irresistible fragrance. When he lifted the lid, he saw a steaming pot of rich, milky-white broth that looked incredibly appetizing.

!!