The path from the northern gate of Greenest to the druid enclave hadn’t changed in the week since Felan had passed through. The near-silent whispering of a gentle breeze through the trees made the walk even more serene than last time. It was beautiful. No animals stirred around him though - aside from the rustle of leaves, the forest was silent.

That had to mean that the corruption was still settled over the forest, and Jake wanted to clear it.

Even if it didn’t further his druid progression, it would hopefully restore life to the forest. He’d love to walk this path with the birds singing, and more than just Baxter bounding around. On the other hand, perhaps the rabbits of the forest preferred hiding from the corruption to fleeing from a semi-tame wolf.

As he neared the druid enclave, Felan began to feel eyes on him. He couldn’t see anything, but the hairs on the back of his neck pricked up. His instincts about being watched were never wrong. He tried to look around for the watchers without giving away that he knew someone was out there. Felan had watched a lot of spy movies as a kid, in the movies it was always easy to spot where the bad guys were watching from, and equally easy to spot them without giving away that you knew they were there. Reality made everything much harder. In the movies it was always easy for the hero to slip away, to disappear into a crowd or something.

Felan could do none of that.

Instead, he continued along the path. Baxter seemed oblivious, which unnerved Felan even further. The wolf had demonstrated a natural talent for identifying threats. Maybe that meant...

“Who goes there?”

Felan jumped. The voice had boomed out from ahead of him - the direction of the druid enclave. He could feel a blush creeping up his neck. He’d been startled like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

“Felan Oisin. Returning to the druid enclave for training.”

There was a rustle in the undergrowth on both sides of the path. A moment later two figures appeared. They were cloaked in dark green robes - long flowing garments that dragged along the ground as they walked. Their faces were hidden by masks and buried under hoods. They hadn’t been at the enclave last time he visited.

The duo stood perfectly still, surveying Felan and Baxter. Baxter had retreated a few steps closer to Felan, and was studying the figures, but his hackles weren’t up. The wolf was silent. Almost relaxed. In the time Felan had been weighing the situation, a third figure had stepped onto the path ahead. The old man from the enclave. He was dressed in furs just like when Felan had seen him last.

“Ah, I remember you. Come lad, there is much to discuss.”

He beckoned closer, and Felan obeyed. Once they were within arms reach of one another, the old man spoke again.

“The corruption is spreading. The enclave is no longer safe, and we were on our way to Greenest for aid. We have found it’s source, but cannot reach it. Will you go in our stead?”

The Druid Enclave is under threat. Cleanse the corruption to save the druids.

Reward: 50gp, 500xp, Reputation increase with the Greenest Druids.

Felan punched the accept button without really reading the prompt. It was clearly the next major task for him to do, and the increased reputation with the Druids would no doubt be key if he wanted to progress further in his class.

“I’ll help, just tell me where to go”

“I’ve marked the location on your map. It’s East of here, across the river. No more than half an hours walk.” The old man shook Felan’s hand again, bowing as he did so.

“Before I go, I would like to talk to you about druid skills.”

The old man gnawed on the corner of his moustache for a moment, looking Felan over.

“Ah yes, you do seem stronger now. You have a companion now as well,” he turned his intense gaze toward Baxter for a long moment.

“Druid magic takes many forms. Some use natures blessing to heal those around them, others to fight those that would harm them; some even channel spells to defuse situations without bloodshed. What would you like to learn?”

His voice had taken a more solemn vibe, as if he’d forgotten about the danger to his home, and was entirely invested in the role of the teacher.

Felan hadn’t realised he would have to choose between different types of magic - especially not at his first level up. Entangle had been incredibly useful so far, and Felan’s club seemed to do the job pretty well. Though it’d be nice if he could take things out without having to get quite so close - offencive magic might be what he needed. And then there was healing. From what he’d seen of the game so far death seemed likely. Combat was short and brutal. Felan though of Baxter limping around after the battle with the wolves. What would have happened if the fight had lasted longer than it did? What about Tobias, the pale one? He’d barely survived the encounter.

“What can you teach me about healing?” Felan asked.

A smile twitched at the corners of the old mans beard.

“I wish more of you young ones asked that question. Close your eyes,” He pressed his index finger to the centre of Felan’s forehead. Felan closed his eyes and tried to focus on the cool touch, but nothing seemed to be happening. He was about to ask when the old man withdrew his finger and spoke again.

“Open your eyes child.”

Felan’s eyelids fluttered open. Nothing had changed.

“Do you have any other questions?”

Felan was about to point out that nothing had happened when a prompt appeared at the edge of his view. It expanded like a translucent scroll in front of him as he focused on it.

Congratulations, you’ve been granted access to the Druid Healing specialisation. You can assign skills from your character sheet.

Seek a Druid trainer after gaining Druid levels to unlock further specialisations.

Felan hadn’t unlocked a single ability, he’d got a whole new skill tree!

“No, no more questions.”

“Go with natures blessing child, the corruption awaits.”

The old man patted him on the shoulder once in passing, then strode into the trees at the edge of the path. Within moments he had faded from view.

The two sentinels stood guard for a moment longer, and then they too retreated into the forest.

Once he was alone Felan pulled up his character sheet. As promised, there was a new section devoted to Druid skills. He had three options to choose from, but only a single point to spend for now. Mending would allow him to channel his magic into strengthening and repairing objects made from natural materials. Felan took a moment to check his club, and saw that it’s durability had been heavily reduced by the fighting he’d done so far. It was now sitting on 4/10. A useful spell, but Felan felt like he’d be replacing the weapon soon enough. He should have a little bit of money left over after paying his guild dues - hopefully enough for a new weapon. He wanted something with a little more reach, to keep him further away from his foes.

His second option was a group healing spell, Natures Bloom. It restored a reasonable amount of health to anyone standing within its range over a few seconds.

His final option, Goodberry, was a single-target heal, giving a decent instant health boost and then a small heal-over-time effect. Felan only had himself and Baxter to worry about, so the group healing from Natures Bloom didn’t appeal to him as much as the faster, more powerful Goodberry.

Felan assigned his skill point.

His spell book opened, showing Goodberry alongside his old Entangle spell. Felan took one last look at his current experience before closing his character sheet. He was sitting on 590 experience, which was 65% of the way to his next level.

Keeping his quest log at the edge of his vision so he could refer to it’s map, Felan started along the path again.

The forest was entirely silent except for Felan and Baxters heavy breathing. The wolf was sticking close to Felan, his head low to the ground and his tail between his legs. They had crossed the river outside of the druid enclave, and spent a while following a path made by wild animals. Now, they were doing the hard slog through the underbrush. If he’d had a bladed weapon, Felan would have cut them a path. Instead they had to push through the undergrowth. Trampling vines and gorse while clambering over fallen and rotted trees.

The going was slow.

Felan was following his gut as much as his map. Something about the direction he was travelling seemed wrong. It was a primal feeling that something bad lay ahead, an almost subconscious understanding he shouldn’t be going this way. From the way Baxter stayed close to his side, Felan could tell his companion also felt it. The trees seemed too still, the forest too quiet. The last living thing they’d seen had been just out of Greenest. And the source of the silence definitely lay in the direction they were heading. It was enough to put Felan’s nerves on edge, which in turn led to him jumping at every shadow.

He was beginning to doubt that this was a worthwhile endeavour when the trees abruptly parted.

Felan stumbled through into a clearing, Baxter hot on his heels. After spending so long with shrubbery pushing in from all sides, he suddenly felt very exposed in the open like this. He kept his back close to the underbrush, not straying too far into the clearing as he surveyed it.

There wasn’t much to look at.

Knee high grass stretched out in an almost perfect circle, framed by the forest on all sides. In the very centre of the clearing was a stone structure a meter or two in diameter. It rose up a bit over a meter from the ground, like a small pillar. Like the clearing it stood in, it was perfectly round. The primal part of his brain was screaming at him to run away. It felt like the air was denser here - harder to breath, and pushing in on him from all sides. Aside from the pillar the clearing was empty.

Ignoring the voice of reason, Felan stepped away from the safety of the trees. Baxter didn’t move. It was almost as if he was waiting to see what happened to Felan. Nothing happened. Felan took another few steps. There were no sounds warning of impending doom, nor could he see anything move in the clearing. The sense of dread was ever present, but it hadn’t changed. It didn’t seem any more terrifying standing in the clearing than it had from the tree-line.

Felan continued forward. After he’d crossed half the clearing, Baxter trotted over to join him. The wolf still had its head low to the ground and its tail between its legs. But it wasn’t growling, and Felan took that to mean there wasn’t any immediate threat.

Together they covered the last of the distance to the stone structure. Felan realised what it was as soon as he saw the top of it, and his stomach sank. This was different to the feeling of dread that the clearing gave off. The stone pillar was topped with a metal grate - a disk of bronze with dozens of round holes drilled through haphazardly. A handle was mounted on one edge, with a matching hinge on the opposite side.

Felan was standing next to a capped well.

Baxter whimpered. The wolf seemed to have worked out that it wouldn’t be able to descend the ladder. Felan didn’t relish the thought of descending into the darkness alone. On that note, he didn’t have any sort of torch. Going down would be a death sentence without light - he’d have no way to defend himself from whatever it was that lurked down there. Felan leaned over the well and peered through the holes. There was a flickering light down below, and some sort of shadow blocking the middle of his vision.

Felan grabbed the handle and swung the grate open. Sunlight flooded the opening to the well, and the shadowy figure took shape. A woman, climbing the ladder at pace. Her wavy blond hair was loosely held by a bun on top of her head. Her face became a mask of fear as sunlight flooded down on her, but she didn’t slow her ascent.

“Out of the way!” she shouted as she neared the top of the ladder. Felan realised he was blocking the opening by peering down. He straightened up, and she burst out of the well. Before he could even say anything she slammed the grate back into place. She was feeling all around the edges of the disk, muttering under her breath.

“No lock. No lock. Shit, why isn’t there a lock?”

“Um..” Felan began.

“No time. You didn’t break a lock off this thing did you?”

“Uh, no, never saw one.”

Felan looked to Baxter, as if the wolf would confirm his story. His companion gave him a blank stare.

“Shit. How about.. Heavy. Do you have anything heavy, like, really heavy?” She’d spun in a circle as she spoke, as if she might spot something in the clearing. Now that she was out in the open, Felan could see that she had a shield strapped to her back, and a sword sheathed at her hip. She was clad in thick leather armour, with panels of steel strategically fixed to the shoulders, joints, forearms and thighs.

“Ok, looks like we’re gonna have to do this,” she gave him an appraising look

“you’re a healer right? I can tank it, hopefully that wolf there can do some damage.”

“How did you - “

“You’ve got a wild beast for a friend, and a lump of wood for a weapon. Druid right? We don’t have any DPS but -”

“Sorry, DPS?”

“Yeah, DPS. You know, the holy trinity?”

Felan gave her a blank look.

“How new are you? We really don’t have time for this. Just do your best to keep me alive, and I’ll figure something out.”

She started backing away from the well, unlimbering the shield as she walked.

“You might want to step away from that.”

Felan heard the answer before he could ask why. A deep rumbling was coming from the well. It sounded like a stampede of elephants charging through the tunnel below ground, and it was definitely getting closer. The feeling of dread in the clearing intensified. Felan had to fight for every breath. The earth was beginning to vibrate under his feet.

Felan turned and ran from the well.