Chapter 128. Dríade’s Grove

After making sure I was clean I gave Zeldi a good milking to make up for what I missed before going on a search for Dríade with Tarakona's words heavy on my mind.

My fingers were definitely crossed that it wouldn't be difficult but I wasn't going to dismiss Tarakona's warning.

Now where was she?

That question took me on a bit of a wander around my property until I found one of her Dryad's. I still couldn't tell them apart but thankfully she answered my question herself without me having to embarrass myself.

"Good morning breeder of our Grove mother I was just sent to find you by Dríade. My sister's Fallow and Felly are almost done with sorting through the seeds you have given us so we should be ready to begin preparing a field soon."

So this must be Freya if she's the other sister.

"Thank you Freya. Is Dríade close by?" I replied trying to keep things friendly.

Freya seemed to be shocked I remembered her name or actually picked the correct one but quickly recovered.

"No she is within the personalized dimension you have so kindly bestowed apon her. She has instructed me to tell you that you have her unconditional permission to enter and leave it at your leasure though we have been tasked with keeping track of your movements."

Slightly creepy but tolerable. I also don't think she was ment to say that last part.

"Then I will be there momentarily."

Freya gave a bow before vanishing and I was struck yet again by the fact they could enter the rooms from anywhere on the farm but I had to be in the house.

They only have one destination. You have multiple.

If you had only one destination then you could enter from anywhere.

But Zeldi has gone to Tarakona's... Yeah she was in the house when she went into Tarakona's room. Fair enough Deeds I'll let you off with that one.

Making my way towards the house gave me a bit of a perspective of just how large the farm had gotten, I mean I couldn't see the other side because of the trees but I knew it covered a lot of land even into the forest. I wonder if I could get a drone or something to give me an aerial view just so I really knew how large of a landmass I had.

Putting that aside I entered the house and accepted the notification saying I could now enter Dríade's room only to find myself sinking into a small layer of mud.

"Dríade!" I called out making my way over to the grouping of trees that were the only real landmark.

Her room was not what I expected as all it really held was the ground that my toes sunk into and a bright fake sun illuminating everything. And by everything I mean the tree that I knew was Dríade's and three others that looked more like twigs with a few leaves that a child had stuck into the ground than actual plants.

"They have a good root system." Dríade called out from one of the lowest branches on her own tree. "They may look like crap but it's a survival reflex if a Dryad is being hunted. Make their tree look as unassuming as possible so that people pass over them. Most species think Dryad's will create the most luxurious tree in the forest and we use that misinformation to our advantage."

"I'm guessing that also means we won't be getting any fruit from them anytime soon?" I said coming up and pulling myself up to the branch she was on.

Dríade didn't pull away but I did make sure there was a decent distance between us as to not stifle her. Her wings opened and closed in a rhythm that reminded me of a butterfly that had recently come out of it's cocoon. Again I had to suppress a laugh at thinking her tree should be some sort of swan plans to match her wings.

"No. Not for at least a month though I am hoping you will give us longer so that I can focus more on their growth than fruit production. I can still produce my own in the meantime." Dríade answered holding herself up straight but I could see the slight strain she was trying to hide.

"Your fruit has a buff right? I never asked what it was because your last batch was poisonous." I prompted not quite giving her the answer she was looking for. I wanted her to ask properly.

"Darksight." She answered without looking at me. "Those who eat my fruit can see in darkness, for a small time at least."

Helpful. I mean considering her tree could provide a lot of fruit it wasn't the strongest of abilities but it was still something that I could use. Or more specifically something adventurer's would use as they were going to be my largest customers. And the Drow of course, they might like it just as much if they don't have a natural skill for it. Something to ask them next time.

We stayed in silence for a minute while I waited for Dríade to formulate her mind. I wasn't going to give her all the answers.

Eventually she found her voice.

"Master Clovek."

"Just Clovek. Zeldi calls me Master because she knows I like it for reasons I won't explain but I'm sure that's not the type of relationship you want with me?"

Dríade shook her head. "Then Clovek. You have mentioned on multiple occasions that you want my Grove to be in charge of farming and while I will be making sure we produce more than you could ever consume I am under no pretence that there will not be more we are required to do."

I nodded but still stayed quiet as Dríade looked out towards the other trees.

The three other Dryad's were all drawing a section in the mud and planting a few of the seeds in small rows. I was hoping this wasn't going to be the full farm as they were barely using any of the seeds at all.

"So what else is going to be required?" Dríade brought the conversation back. "What do I have to do for you to guarantee that you will not take this from me?"

I let out a chuckle. "Voras was right. This is a far cry from the Dryad that came here to threaten me originally."

Dríade let out a huff. "Clovek I can swallow my pride when I need to. Especially around this." Her hand went out towards the others. "And if that means I have to become something else then I will. I got through life before by killing Deed owners, it was my purpose and all I really knew how to do. That purpose has changed and so I must change as well. So I ask again. What will you require of my Grove to make sure we are safe in your land, if it is possible we will do it? The only thing I ask for in return is that this room is mine. Mine to do with as I please in anyway I deem fit."

I gave her a smile. One that had no malice just acceptance.

She was a lot like me. Her strength is bound to another and she is trying to understand what that means. You could almost draw a direct parallel to me and my Deeds. A symbiotic relationship that one side holds more power over but ultimately we still need each other.

"Food and protection." I gave as her answer plane and simple. "I expect you to be able to feed us while also dealing with any problems outside of the farm when you can all have multiple bodies. Anything beyond that we will discuss later when it becomes prevalent but so long as those needs are met I will have no reason to ever take this away."

Dríade finally turned to look at me. "So... I'm not required to be your Livestock?"

I matched her gaze a little confused. "What do you mean by that? You will be providing me with your fruit so yes you will be."

"But I will not have to breed with you like Voras and Madu have been?" She asked a little hesitantly.

"Is that something you want?" I turned the question around.

"No!" Dríade answered quickly with her wings coming out to make herself seem bigger. She caught herself quickly and retracted them before bowing her head. "It is not something I want but I will accept it as one of my duties in order to keep my Grove."

That was almost adorable... Actually it was quite sad but I'm not going to mention that to her.

"Then no, it won't be something that is required of you." I gave her the answer and watched her deflate with a sigh. Seems that was weighing heavily on her. "Though your services as a Livestock regarding your fruit is another matter. When your Grove is fully operational I'm going to need it to fund my shop as it's main source of income instead of Voras's silk. So it would be in both of our best interest to grow your own tree as big as you can."

Dríade giggled. It was a stark difference to how she'd been holding herself until now.

"Oh now that is something we can both agree on. As a Grove mother it will be a given that my tree is the biggest so there will be absolutely no problem with that. I actually want to test out the limits of this room with how large I can grow my tree."

We both looked around the room and while we couldn't make out the walls or even how high the roof was there had to be some limit... Right?

If the Ley lines move? No. We will let it grow until it becomes a World tree.

"And what if the limit is World tree size?" I humored Dríade only for her to freeze along with all the Dryad's.

"You can't be serious." One of them said in complete shock.