54 Harvest Moon Druidry (1/2)

”What'd you say you were? A druid of the... 'Harvest moon'?” Gustavo asked, his eyes locked on me as I casually grabbed the other seed I had put in my pocket and repeated what I did to transform the apple seed I had taken earlier and transformed into an apple.

In an instant, I had another fully grown Winesap apple in my hand. I casually tossed the thing to the leader of the laborers and farmers. He easily caught it and brought the thing eye-level before beginning to scrutinize it.

”Yep! As a druid of the harvest moon, I pledge myself to a spirit of the harvest and in exchange, that spirit grants me an incredibly tiny fraction of its power. That's how I can do neat things like make crops grow instantly.” I explained, carefreely explaining the supposed source of my power. Gustavo turned to me and gave me an amazed stare when I explained the fabricated origins of my power.

I wondered how he'd react if I hadn't told him about my persona and I had instead told him the truth. For a moment I considered it, but I knew that if I really wanted too I could infiltrate his dreams later tonight and tell him. Not to mention that I also figured that that'd make pursuing the quest I had been given a few minutes ago a bit harder.

”Whoa, how'd that happen?” He asked, curiously.

”A long time ago I was asked if I wanted to help rid the world of starvation. I said yes, I did. And the rest... well the rest is history.” I told Gustavo, as I closed my eyes and feigned having a moment of nostalgia.

Gustavo was quiet for a moment while he considered what I said. And then he opted to accept it, deciding not to push the issue any further. Something he did push though, was the apple. He pushed it into his mouth and took a bite out of it. I opened my eyes right as I was treated to a familiar notification.

[Influence over Gustavo: 5%. This is due to you having gained increased power over the domain of the mind and the subdomain of agriculture, and the events that took place before he bit into the apple.] The system alerted me, giving me a good reason for a wide smile.

”So... how is it?” I asked, looking the farmer in the eyes with a grin seconds after he bit into the apple and began to noisily chew on it. There was a contented grin on his face as I asked him that.

”It's delicious... A real apple. Grown from magic.” He muttered as he bit more into it. I could tell he genuinely liked it, even without his words, as whenever he bit into it he took a second and sighed as its tastes coated his tongue.

”Oh my friend, I can do more than that. But for now, do me a favor would you?” I asked him, after teasing my other powers. He looked at me curiously, awed by my powers and evidently curious to hear me ask whatever I was about to ask.

”From here on out would you collect and keep every seed you could?” I asked, as I brought the apple I had bitten into to eye-level and began to dig through the thing for the seeds the apple contained not far from its core. It took me a few seconds to collect the seeds, numbering seven in total.

Gustavo looked at me after I finished speaking and began to nod. ”I see, so you want us to collect seeds for you to use your powers on?” He asked, inquisitively. I chuckled and nodded at him.

”If you give me seeds, I will use my powers on them. If you wish we could even experiment with them and see if burying the seeds produces trees.” I explained. I was happy to practice experimenting with my powers, and knowing that doing so would gradually increase my influence over Gustavo brought me great joy.

”I possess one more especially potent ability, but I don't think its time to show you that one just yet. For now, I would like for you to spend the day thinking about and then selecting two lieutenants of yours that we will inform about my powers.” I announced, not rushing anything but teasing Gustavo and suggesting I had one more trick up my sleeve that I could use that he'd like.

His eyebrow raised up curiously as he listened to me. I chuckled and continued speaking.

”I would like for your closest and most trusted advisors to know the truth. I don't want you to carry this burden alone. And that way I can have more help in acquiring seeds for us to keep the population fed.” I told Gustavo, explaining what my ”intentions” were without actually revealing the truth.

Gustavo was quiet for a moment. He had a look of thoughtful contemplation on his face. I suspected he already knew who he was going to pick. Eventually, he nodded at me and began to talk once more.

”Alright, Althos. I can tell from the way that you're talking that you would like to pick this up tomorrow? In that case, I have plenty of time to pick two people. I'll select the men most able to help us!” He declared, speaking softly but confidently. I smiled at him and nodded gratefully.

”Cosecha be pleased! That's excellent news, my friend.” I told him, referring to ”Cosecha” by name for the first time. The unusual expression caught him off-guard and he gave me a look but he didn't ask for an explanation, so I opted not to give him one. Not for now anyway.

I had a plan for how to introduce him to 'Cosecha'. I intended to visit his dreams tonight in my more impressive form than my surprisingly ordinary human disguise. But tonight was a way's off. I had more work to do elsewhere. So I kept him company for another five minutes before I politely bid him adieu and began my trek back to the Silver Xana.

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The sun hung very low in the sky as I made my way back to the inn I had spent the majority of my nights in. I was walking by a house inhabited by a lone man when he opened the door leading in and out of his home. At that moment I realized that I had a good opportunity here.