Druid Spells (Part 1)

"Herbs that can 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, but there's rarely any growing naturally in the forest. Be careful when gathering it—whatever you do, don't pull up the roots as well. Otherwise, it won't sprout next year. This is the duty of us Druids!"

"Nine-leaf grass?" Romon thought for a moment and remembered that the herb codex did indeed mention it. It was a precious medicinal herb.

When used alongside divine magic, an appropriate amount of powdered nine-leaf grass could be mixed into beginner healing potions, bottled for carrying, and remained effective for three months.

Even when merely eaten, it had considerable medicinal value, especially for restoring the body after injuries. Divine magic could heal wounds quickly, but it could not make up for the body's losses. That was why this herb was so popular.

Precisely because of its effects, humans had swarmed to gather it, causing the herb to gradually become scarce in areas under human control.

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?"

"Mm. Normally, I couldn't, but you're more or less my disciple now. You've become a Druid too, so I should let you broaden your horizons. Come on, let's go to the inner room underground."

Druid Jefa did not refuse. He put away the bowls and chopsticks, shut the outer door first, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then pushed open another door at the back. Down below was a basement.

Seeing Jefa acting so mysteriously, Romon's head began to ache by reflex.

Jefa stopped before a stone door.

"Here?" Romon scratched his head, not quite understanding why the other man had brought him here. Of course, he was also curious about how this basement had been built like this. Jefa lived alone, didn't he? How had he managed to dig out such a huge underground space?

Jefa gave him a mysterious smile and pressed somewhere unknown. Then, a huge stone slowly lifted up, revealing an opening more than a person tall and more than a person wide. Jefa stepped in first. Since the man was unwilling to explain, Romon could not very well start asking questions, so he could only follow him in gloomily.

The moment he entered, a wave of warmth rushed toward him. The space was not as stifling as he had imagined. On the contrary, it was filled with a fresh fragrance, and Romon stared at everything before him in dumbfounded amazement.

This was a space covering two hundred square meters, divided into several tiers of soil beds. Thick, fertile earth was piled upon them, and every tier grew all kinds of plants.

At the center stood an altar, though it was impossible to tell which god it belonged to. It was a very plain altar, carved with mysterious symbols and giving off a fresh aura of nature.

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, specially for cultivating the seeds of rare plants!" Jefa mistook Romon's surprise for shock and smiled smugly.

"It... it's truly incredible!" Romon scratched his hair, speechless. He had the Shennong Horn as a greenhouse, while this fellow had made an artificial greenhouse.

After walking around it a few times, Romon revealed an envious expression. Then he spotted the altar again and asked, "What is this? An altar to which lord?"

"Hehe, you guessed wrong. This is a primitive natural altar. I only obtained it when I reached level five." Jefa spoke proudly as he touched a ring.

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

It carried a strange attraction that seemed to originate from the ring itself. He unconsciously looked at it twice more, and Jefa seemed to sense it, instinctively hiding it away.

"Then... what is that?" Somewhat embarrassed, Romon pointed at the crystal in the stone ceiling.

"That is a sun-glow crystal. As long as it is exposed to sunlight for three days, it can provide one day of illumination underground. So, with four sun-glow crystals taking turns, they can meet all the lighting needs of this enclosed natural greenhouse."

Hearing that, Romon was completely speechless. Wasn't that just a solar-powered lamp?

Further in came the display. A large clump of nine-leaf grass was growing there, along with tranquility grass, dew flowers, stone-lost mushrooms, rainbow trees, and other relatively rare plants. Romon's eyes were dazzled by the sight, and his expression greatly satisfied Jefa.

It took Romon an hour to inspect these herbs. In the end, the smug Jefa was quite generous and gave him a small packet of nine-leaf grass seeds.

A few minutes later, the two of them came back out.

After emerging, Romon looked at his companion curled up on a wooden bed beneath a wolfskin blanket, sleeping deeply, and frowned tightly.

During last night's battle, they had been attacked by several Goblins and had nearly been wiped out. It exposed the grave lack in the three of them when it came to combat—not only in strength, but also in experience.

That they had later managed to deal with the Goblins was already a stroke of luck. With a Druid there to heal them as well, it could be considered sheer good fortune.

Nick was no longer in mortal danger, but he remained unconscious. They could only wait until tomorrow, when Jefa had fully recovered, and have him cast a healing spell to try and cure him completely.

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

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

At once, Romon 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. Then, when you meditate and look carefully, you will see that there are actually many symbols within your Heart of Nature. Every symbol represents a natural spell. You only need to infuse it with power."

"Are there more or fewer symbols?"

"Of course. The deeper your connection to and understanding of nature, the more symbols you gain. And every symbol can be copied. If you infuse power into a symbol, it forms a leaf. That is the divine spell you can cast. So, you can form several identical leaves at once, which means you can cast several spells of the same type."

The explanation was already perfectly clear. Romon knew that he had grasped the basic mysteries of Druids, so he used the excuse that he did not wish to disturb Master Jefa's rest. Then he went outside for a walk and entered a patch of woods across from the house.

Only after going a kilometer deep into the forest did Romon feel at ease enough to lie down in a clearing among the trees.

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 new types of plants; he had to plant them and accumulate enough power before it could upgrade again.

After understanding this, he began planting all the original Earth seeds. He planted them at intervals along the riverbank and watered them. Before long, they would surely fill the entire space and accumulate power.

The orb of light within the space never dimmed. Its radiance fell upon the water's surface, making faint rosy ripples shimmer, while several bees flew back and forth nearby.

Now that the space was larger, the water seemed somewhat insufficient. Though the space could produce water naturally, it was very slow and could not compare to pouring water in. Besides, the water in this world was very clean.

Romon rose and followed the forest until he discovered a spring behind a huge boulder. A breath of clear air rushed toward him.

Stepping closer, he saw a springhead. The water was crystal clear and flowed into a lake. It had accumulated there for many years and was very deep. He stepped forward, scooped up a mouthful, and drank. The springwater was refreshing to the heart and spleen, carrying a trace of sweetness. The water quality was clearly excellent.

Without further delay, he ignored the cold, took off his clothes, and submerged himself in the pool. He immediately shivered.

The effect was obvious as well. Once the water reached the Shennong Horn's mark, it surged in at his command. From within the space, rain immediately began to fall. It was heavy rain, quickly filling the stream to eighty percent full. That was enough. Romon hurriedly jumped out, waited for the wind to dry him a little, then put his clothes back on. It was already October, after all. The water was truly cold!

Only after dealing with the space did Romon begin meditating.

Meditating according to the Druid method, he indeed discovered a point of green light within his body. Drawing closer, he found a core. It truly resembled a heart in shape, with several symbols faintly emerging upon it and powerful energy stored at its center.

Following the meditation method, he controlled his mind and cautiously reached out to touch the green core.

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

Druid level 0 spells

Stop Bleeding, Flash, Light, Enhance Resistance, Blessing

Druid level 1 spells

Disguise, Cure Minor Wounds, Endure Elemental Damage, Entangle, Darkvision, Magic Fang, Sleep, Summon Monster I, Calm Plants

When Romon focused his attention on one particular symbol, it enlarged and showed him in detail everything it contained.

After spending some effort 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 incapable of making the fullest use of them.

But after thinking it over and considering his present circumstances, Romon first selected the "Stop Bleeding" symbol.

Green energy was drawn from the green heart and infused into the symbol. A moment later, a small leaf appeared in the void.

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

After considering it, he selected "Cure Minor Wounds" as well. The process was the same: green energy flowed in and produced a leaf. This leaf was clearly a little larger than the previous one, and it consumed more green energy too.

After carefully considering the natural energy, he ultimately allocated two "Stop Bleeding" leaves and three "Cure Minor Wounds" leaves. All of his natural energy was exhausted, and the green heart began automatically and slowly absorbing natural energy again.

At that moment, the space within the Shennong Horn stirred. A surge of green essence emerged from the mark on his chest and flowed into the green heart. A moment later, the green heart was filled up again, restored with vitality.

Romon was overjoyed and was about to add more leaves. But the moment he tried, his head grew somewhat dizzy. After standing stunned for a moment, he understood. His mental strength could not contain any more power.

Feeling somewhat melancholy, he entered the Shennong Horn space again. As soon as he entered, he noticed that something was wrong. For a while, he could not identify the problem. After staring blankly for a moment, he finally understood: many of the plants had shriveled slightly. Romon was a very clever person. Staring at the situation, he pondered for a while, looking thoughtful. When he awoke, he checked the time. It was already late. Forming those "natural spell leaves" had apparently taken an hour.

Then he had to make some preparations. Romon spent half an hour by a river and finally speared two fish, which he brought back. By the time he reached the Druid's wooden house, it was around four in the afternoon. Yet Druid Jefa was not there. Perhaps he had gone into the forest to restore his natural energy.

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

Once everything was ready and the Druid still had not returned, Romon thought for a moment and did not use the spices or ginger from the space—he had planted a small patch of them—because he feared the Druid might discover that these plants did not belong to this world.

He only used wine, vinegar, and chicken essence.

However, he used water from the space for the fish soup. Though it had no great effect, it could still naturally remove the fishy smell and improve the flavor.

Before long, the fish soup smelled irresistibly fragrant. When he lifted the pot lid, he saw thick, milky-white broth steaming hot, looking incredibly enticing.