Before the sun had set that night a rider came to deliver the small collection of books. There were four volumes, A History of Dungeons and Sanctuaries in the Ryule Empire, Vol. 1, and Vol. 2, Dungeons and Their Counters, and Guatal, the Sanctuary City. Apparently we were not actually in the Ryule empire, but rather the Kingdom Clovem, far south to the empire outlined in the book.

Each book was quite hefty in its own right, and the first thing I thought upon receiving them was How on earth am I able to read this? Arin’s answer was a layer of magic she could sense present around my eyes, ears, and mouth that made communication possible, but that was just rather wild to me.

I did spend a couple of hours skimming Dungeons and Their Counters that evening before I went to sleep, and found a few interesting things. In this dance with a dungeon I would play it seemed that I was the defensive party, despite what I first thought. The more monsters the dungeon sent, the more magic I could take from it, and with my higher capacity, that would be my advantage. However, if the dungeon was smart it would overwhelm my territory, kill me, steal the core book, and corrupt, kill, and enslave everyone for hundreds of miles around. Yikes.

Though not the best material to read before bed, it certainly gave me inspiration to kickstart efforts to grow territory. And by that I meant staying up all night transcribing maps of my land onto printer paper to provide to Lady Caro as soon as I could. If they planned to cut a road, I assumed that it’d be much easier to do if everything was already planned out. If we could map the path together, I could get Baum- and other ents should I make them- to cut paths as close to them so their work would be less.

I guessed that I’d be hosting dungeon divers on my property before long, and if that was the case getting the road done quickly would increase my “residents” which would further encourage territory expansion. All in all, I felt like a weird landlord now. So, to both clear my head and get a little meat for my freezer, I decided to go for a hunt.

“If anyone from the town comes by, hand them these papers and have them bring them to Lady Caro.” I told Arin, “Anything else I trust you to handle.”

“Will do!” She answered happily. She was currently checking the germination of a few of the new vegetables we planted. I didn't have many seeds, but there was enough to expand the territory by a little bit and give us something to do. It seemed progress was going to be slow starting out. But I chose instead to enjoy the great outdoors. I slung my 1903 over my shoulder, holstered my SAA, threw earpro around my neck and left.

The feeling of stepping over the threshold came much farther from the house now. I decided to skirt the outsides of the valley, keeping the river and the low plains around it in view. My plan was to walk along about fifty vertical feet above the waterway keeping a lookout for anything stopping to take a drink. That way, I could be high enough to avoid the view of prey animals, but still have a decent shot at them. I’d rung steel at a thousand yards with the 1903 before, but that was after a solid afternoon of warmup and sight in, but even now it was safe to say I knew the rifle.

I thumbed the notches carved into the grip as I walked, enjoying the familiar feel and the warm spring air. My favorite thing about this new world thus far, aside from the fine view out of my front porch, was the lack of engine noises ruining the ambience. Skyscrapers in the distance had their own splendor to them, but there was no beauty to be found in the noise pollution that came from the city.

I almost got lost in the lack of sounds but remembered I had an actual reason to be outside, so I turned my attention back to the river. After about ten minutes of walking, I got lucky and spotted a small deer-like creature drinking from a calm spot in the river. It was probably a hundred and fifty yards out, so quite the easy shot should I not ruin everything. I quietly put my earmuffs on to prevent tinnitus.

Just to be sure of a hit, I stabbed my hunting knife into a tree to use as a shooting rest. The Springfield only had iron sights, and I would never dream of marring the image by adding a scope- not that I could anymore. I was blessed with good vision however, so finding the front sight post and adjusting the rear slightly was quite easy. I hoped that deer things in this world had hearts in the same place as the ones back home.

I took my time putting a bead on the little beast. I focused my breathing. No matter how many times I’d hunted before, there was always a jump in heartbeat when I saw my folly.

I tried to focus back on my kill, and took a final, deep breath. The wood felt comforting under my cheek, and I was able to pay complete attention to my task. Two thirds through my exhale the rifle bucked against my shoulder. It was a surprise, but that was the intention. The deer-thing collapsed where it stood.

Up, back, forward, down. I racked the bolt, caught the hot brass, and started jogging down to my kill. The beast probably weighed a hundred pounds, but was light enough to be carried after I field dressed it. I placed the gut pile far enough away from the river that it wouldn’t taint it, and then began to drag the beast back home.

I arrived home and strung the deer thing up on some trees, skinned it up right, harvested the meat, and set aside the bones to be ground up for fertilizer later. I wasn't one for mounts, so the skull would also end up in the garden.

There was a spare freezer in the garage where the meat made itself nicely at home, save for some backstraps I planned to cook up for dinner that night.

“You killed something?” Arin asked, excited.

“I did. Not sure what it is, but it’s pretty similar to what we have back home. Would you join me to cook it up tonight?” I asked.

“I’d love to.” She stood up from the garden, hands covered in dirt. Baum wasn't quite precise enough to do a good job weeding.

We went inside, washed up, cooked the backstraps, my final bell peppers, and boiled rice, making for a fine medley of flavors- after we added some seasoning of course.

“How long exactly have you lived in this valley?” I asked Arin.

“Twenty-two winters.” She said in between bites, “At least I think so. There’s a short pine on the far hill that used to be my home tree, its rings match how long I’ve been here.”

“And you don’t mind me taking over your old home?” I asked, “I mean, if I’m going to be living here and building things, that probably won’t be the best for the forest.”

“But it will.” She disagreed, “The valley itself isn’t just the trees, grass, and animals, but rather all the magic and life between these mountains. Even if humans or other sentient races take over the land, as long as they also populate it everything is fine.”

“But they’d destroy the forest.”

“They’d get rid of the forest, but the magic and life in the air would grow with their presence. That’s what I care about. All nymphs and other natural magic beings really.”

“How exactly- if you don't mind my asking- do nymphs come to be?” I leaned back in my seat.

“I don't mind.” She giggled. “If a forest has a deity living inside it, an abandoned infant might become a nymph if they’re left alone in the woods.”

“Left alone?” I tilted my head.

“Well, I suppose abandoned is the right word.” She grew slightly less upbeat.

I nodded slowly in response, hoping I wasn't treading into dangerous territory. Normally my first instinct would be to change the topic, but I thought it important to get to know her a little further.

“So who raised you, specifically?”

“Oh, just the forest.” She said, “I saw the deity occasionally, but only in… passing. She was very aloof.”

Just the forest, huh?

“The deity, would you tell me about her?” I asked, trying to keep the topic but steer in a different direction.

“There’s not much to tell really.” She thought, “Like all deities she was quite aloof. She only really showed up when there was something she wanted or had to say.”

“Now, do deities have names?” I asked, “In my world they did, but they also had elements or different things under their power.”

“That’s… interesting. A deity would never give up their true name here, it would allow all sorts of spells to be used against them.”

“But we can tell people our names?” I asked.

“Deities have so much power that even invoking their name is magical,” She explained, “You and I could never have that much magic.”

I wasn’t sure how something that powerful could die, and was even less sure whether I prefered it that way or not with how scary that kind of magic was.

“I saw you with your grandfather growing up,” Arin continued the talk, “but what about your parents?”

It was strange that the nymph knew me so much better than I knew her, but as was the way it was.

“I moved around a lot. My mom divorced and remarried a few times, so- well you probably remember this- I eventually came to live here with Grandpa.”

She nodded, looking for a little more.

“It was a challenge, never really getting to settle down.” I said, “The hardest part wasn't the moving though, more the lack of a family. I didn’t really get along with my mother, and everytime she divorced the family I grew to know, be they step-siblings, cousins, grandparents- on that side of course- never reached out again.”

I wasn’t one to spew, so I didn't. I truthfully wasn’t bitter about those memories, it was just another part of how things were.

“It was lonely I suppose.” I finished, “But that went away with time.”

“That must’ve been hard.” She tilted her head slightly.

“Perhaps, but I imagine being alone in the forest was as well.”

“But I never knew anything different.” She shrugged.

“Missing what we’ve never had is often harder than missing what we’ve lost.” I looked into her eyes. She dodged my gaze, pulling a lock of brown hair behind one ear.

“But that makes me ask,” I pepped my tone a bit, “When I came back from killing the goblins, was that your first hug?”

“Er… yes.” She said quietly. “Was I not supposed to do that?”

I chuckled quietly.

“Not at all, dear.” I took a breath, “That’s nothing you need to worry about. We’re friends, so be honest with yourself and me, and I’ll do the same. Best we can do, right?”

“Y-yeah.” I couldn't tell if she was laughing or choking up. “I should- well… I should finish up in the garden.”

Arin excused herself and left with her plate. I was quite sure I hadn’t offended her, but the chance was still present. I decided to check up with her later, but felt the evening right for some porchlight reading. It certainly was, and I ended up engrossed until the wee hours..

……..

Breakfast the next morning was ready when I walked downstairs, as was coffee.

“What’s the occasion?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. The aroma of coffee coupled with bacon was what God made the earth for, I reckoned, and it filled my nostrils as my eyes took in the sights of eggs over easy, crispy, golden, shredded hash browns. Every ingredient had come from my fridge, and I did suspect that was the last of the eggs, but I didn’t care. It was beautiful.

“Well I- I read that book over there last night and wanted to try something out.” She smiled. The book was a simple American cook book I kept by the kitchen junk drawer.

“Well it looks splendid.” I exclaimed. Though it was quite the breakfast, she obviously made it in portions so as not to waste. The nymph put the final plate onto the dining table with a blushing smile. I hoped she was proud.

During breakfast, I decided not to bring up the conversation the previous night. If she wanted to I would happily oblige, but I felt as though it was wise to give her the floor with that one. Arin did seem chipper though, and after I did the dishes from breakfast she helped me figure out making more ents.

I brought the core book with me into the garden because it made it possible for me to do magic, at least in that stage in time. Like the first time, we took acorns from an oak tree and planted them in the ground about two feet apart, the only difference was that this time I was the one sitting in the grass.

With the core book in my lap and the grow ent text at the forefront of my brain, I began. I could visualize the process, and began not with forming the legs, but imbuing a large amount of magic into the acorns. After that, I forcibly germinated them, doing my best to control the growth of both seeds at once. The multitasking was challenging, but once they met up around what would be the pelvis region of the golem it became easier as I made the tendrils grow together. The arms once more were challenging, but once they snaked to roughly the same length I was able to floof out its leafy head, and was finished.

Standing in front of me was almost a carbon copy of Baum. Some of the branchy details were different, and it was slightly shorter, but otherwise they were the same.

Unlike Arin, I wasn’t completely worn out after finishing the little ent. I imagined it was because I had direct access to the entire house’s magical energy, rather than having to use my own body as a middle man. Nonetheless though, I definitely did feel as if I’d exerted myself.

But, at the moment the most pressing thing was the new option in the core book.

Merge Ents: 400+120/hr

Now that could be interesting. Instinctively, I knew the ents had to be next to each other for the spell to work, but the results weren’t quite as clear in my head. I decided to try it.

“Baum!” I yelled across the yard, “Come here!”

The little ent stopped what he was doing and marched dutifully over, stopping right next to its new brother. Next it seemed I needed more acorns, so I grabbed a few and planted them at the golem’s feet. Knowing what I had to do felt almost like muscle memory, though I’d never done it before at all. Arin continued to watch on curiously.

Once the two golems were situated next to each other, over the planted acorns I gave them the order to merge. I was glad I didn't have to witness any wierd ent sex, as they seemingly just walked into each other upon the demand. Their branchy bodies unwound and began to intertwine, while at the same time the acorns sprouted and began to snake up the point of connection between the two, growing them.

The whole process probably took around two minutes, and when it was finished there was a single ent just slightly taller than I was, at about six feet. Its general appearance was about the same as the littler ones were, but the leaves on its head stretched out further, and it was slightly less skinny than before.

“Huh.” I said, “Baum?”

The ent looked straight at me. I nodded.

“So, Arin, what’s different about this guy?”

“I’ve never had an ent that large before,” She said, “but just based on its magic Baum is stronger, faster, and more coordinated. And the mana cost is less than if you had two of the smaller ones.”

“That’s pretty neat.” I scratched my chin. I hadn’t really had much need for a stronger ent yet, but having him was pretty cool. He also looked significantly scarier than before.

With the new ent- who was still Baum- I started to dig up some earth to later become a path. The ent’s long arms and malleable appendages made dirt work easy, and we made good progress through the afternoon.

After a good day of exerting myself, enjoying dusk on the porch was the way to finish. This evening Arin joined me, though she normally did her own thing.

“This really has been great,” I said, “I just don't know what I’ll do when I run out of coffee.”

“If those little beans weren’t burnt I could probably grow more for you.” She offered.

“I wish. Coffee wouldn’t grow in a region like this though. At least not well.”

“I’m sure I could get it to.” Arin put a hand to her chest, “No one can grow better than a nymph can.”

“You know.” I stood up, “I’ll be right back.”

I marched upstairs to the study where on one shelf in between books was an old wooden box. Inside was an old 5¢ bottomless cup coffee advertisement, a Folgers tin from the sixties, and a small burlap sack. I grabbed the sack and went back outside.

“You could grow these?” I asked as I passed them over.

Arin took the bag gently.

“I could!” She smiled, “I’m glad you have these, I’ve felt bad drinking your precious coffee.”

“Don't.” I relished in the idea of her growing more, “Drinking it with someone more than pays for itself.”

“Thank you.” She said.

I was prepared to filibuster on how coffee has different tastes and notes based on the elevation, humidity, sunlight and just about everything else, but decided to save the poor nymph’s ears for the day. Regardless of how it ended however, I would fight to get more coffee even if that meant funding the exportation and farming in a tropical region in this world. If they had those of course, that was always the requisite.