4 The First Power (1/2)

Not long after I walked out of the inn I was out of town. Even calling Comillas a ”town” was a bit of a stretch. There was a handful of houses, a few stores, the inn, and a single building which served as a sort of catch-all administration building. It was more of a hamlet than anything else.

It took me perhaps six minutes of walking at a leisurely pace to reach the furthest outskirts of the community. I had walked for perhaps a kilometer and a half when I got to where I was. I was standing at the top of a hill.

When I looked down the hill I saw a vast expanse of grassy land, a plain was spread out before me. Some of it was used for farmland, and at the moment the farmlands were occupied by laborers. They were busy tilling soil, watering crops, and in some cases even harvesting hardy crops like potatoes. And once I had seen them I couldn't look away. Or rather I didn't want to look away.

My eyes were glued to the scene unfolding before me. I was consciously aware that what I was seeing was ”agriculture”, which was one of the subdomains I had influence over from the moment I came into existence, perhaps minutes ago or perhaps ages ago. I wasn't quite sure at the moment.

It was positively hypnotic to watch people go to work tending to the land. I spent several moments studying what I had just seen and committing it to memory. I studied the men who were at work, the tools they used, and their techniques as they either readied the soil for crop growth or tended to soil currently growing crops.

I found it oddly beautiful. And there was a part of me that wanted to keep watching it. But I couldn't. And I didn't.

What tore me away from the scene unfolding before me was that my first and at the moment only companion, the system began to talk to me once more.

[Oh Althos, you didn't let us down. You choosing to go on a quest like this presents us with a perfect opportunity to teach you about your skills! Now you just hold on and walk down towards the forest. As you get closer to your destination we'll start to talk to you and unlock the powers that are waiting for you.] The voice in my head said to me, sounding quite pleased with my actions.

I have to admit, I was quite pleased too. Which was why I began to smile. I think I'm allowed to celebrate, especially if it's just to that extent.

It was at that moment that I began to trek down the hill, my lips twisted in a content grin.

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I walked in silence for a few minutes, before instinctively deciding to test something. I was still walking down the hill when I tried to send a message to the system. I had a few simple questions for it, all of which were about druids:

1: What is a druid?

2: What does a druid do?

3: When humans learn that I'm a druid, what do they think that means?

The system was quiet for a little bit. Long enough for me to reach the bottom of the hill. It was quiet long enough for me to begin to wonder if maybe it hadn't heard me. That was when it answered my questions.

[We've already told you what a druid is. Druids are magic users whose magic is natural. Their spells and their class features, their abilities, all stem from and revolve around nature. Now the question of what a druid does is trickier...] The system said and then confessed. I chuckled at that response, as I wasn't prepared for the system to admit, even tacitly, that something was a hard question.

I was now walking through the wide expanse of grass and farms that I saw when I was at the top of the hill. I could smell crops on the breeze, which blew by me as I made my way past a few of the barns I had spotted from my vantage point.

I heard farmers chatting with each other, some of them loudly and others of them quite softly. Their voices filled the air around me, and they spoke about a range of topics.

”Hey... do you have any projections for your yield?” One of them asked another. Both men were hard at work next to each other, back to back. They held metal watering cans and used them to pour liquid life on the potato sprouts at their feet. I could see them clearly, even though there was a fair distance between us.

His companion hissed as if just thinking about this year's harvest made him mad. And then he responded to the man with the question.

”Nope. And I don't want to think about it. It's not looking good though and Sarah, being Sarah, only ever brings it up as a point of attack, and it's... well it's tiring to even think about at this point.” The man confessed. He had sounded angry when he said the first part of that, but by the end of his response, he just sounded tired.

His friend looked at him sympathetically and told him something to help him calm down. ”Hey, it's alright. We'll go down to the inn after this. We'll have a few drinks. On me!” He told Sarah's husband, saying that last part conspiratorially as if they needed to keep this a secret from Sarah.

I wondered why this was, but I didn't dwell on it. I had more personal and introspective things to ponder than the intricacies of Sarah's marriage.

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Another few minutes passed and I had now passed not only the town but at this point also the farms. I could see a seemingly endless ocean of trees off in the horizon. I was walking towards it. And now I was once again alone with my thoughts.

On both sides of me, there was little more than a sea of dazzling green grass. But not directly underneath me, as there was a single, long trail that led from town to the forest. I enjoyed the sound the grass made whenever a soft breeze blew it in one direction or another, something which happened a lot during my walk but the breezes did cause the staff in my hand to get a bit chillier which was annoying.

[Hello Athos! We've spent the last few minutes thinking about what a druid 'does' and we're ready to give you an answer. Druids work to help nature. Now what that means precisely is context-sensitive.] Said the ever-helpful voice that seemed to live in my mind.

[Helping nature in a city is different than helping nature in a forest. Where you are, helping nature could reasonably be said to be pursuing a balance between the needs of humans and other nearby humanoids, and the health of the forest.] The system told me, quietly revealing some deep thoughts on druidic duty.

I considered that while I walked. Eventually, I nodded in agreement and muttered my response to what I had just heard.

”So as a druid... I'd be working to find balance between plant life and non-plantlife? That sounds... interesting.” I admitted, suddenly having a greater appreciation for the powers I was hopefully going to get to learn about soon.

[Yep! Druids are an important force for the natural world and their work not only protects and helps the forests of the world, but also the oceans, the tundras, and it often saves the lives of the people and animals who live in those places.] The voice told me, sharing insights that made me think more fondly of the powers that were within me but as of yet unknown to me.

I reflected on that as I drew nearer and nearer to the forest. Every footstep brought me closer to it, and with each footstep, I gripped my staff a little bit tighter. I didn't know what would come of the trip into the forest, and I was feeling nervous as I got closer and closer to it. But I also felt curious, and a part of me intended to sate that curiosity.

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