Chapter 284 - Druid Practice Handbook

Chapter 284 Druid Practice Handbook

That was what Grand Duke Edwina had promised Abel. She requested countess Carrie to teach him the way of the druid, but countess Carrie just did what she normally does, tossing a Druid practice handbook at him.
The box also had a brown oak sapling about the thickness of a finger. Abel held it in his hand and checked it. The oak sapling seemed insignificant, but after investigating it with the power of will, the sapling seemed to be full of life, much more than a normal tree.
After returning the sapling back into the box, Abel put the box away. With the book-“Natural and neutral-Druid” in hand, he realizes the book was written fully in the elite elf language. Normal elves were probably unable to recognize the contents within the book.
The reason elves could survive in this world full of humans and orcs was that they had the druid protecting them. As long as the elves remained in the forest, the druids would be able to keep watch over them.
Druids were also known as oak guards, and the acorns were also known as their holy fruit. They were the protectors of nature and neutrality, possessing the power given by nature.
The long amount of time spent with nature allowed druid to be one with their surroundings. This ability allowed them to summon the power of nature. They could use this power to attack enemies at range, wreak havoc in a large area, and even protect them from taking elemental damage.
These types of power were known by the druids as elementalists, using the power of nature to bend fire, earth, and wind.
However, the first pledge from nature allowed druids to summon plants and animals from a different world. Ravens, wolves, poison creepers, and even spirits of the natural world would obey their commands. That was the power of a summoner.
Similarly, they could also change forms, like a large bear or a terrifying wolf. They could increase their power using polymorphism, that was the power of a shapeshifter.
You could say that the druid occupation can cover all aspects. They could wield any weapons, and they weren’t as weak as human wizards. They sacrificed their magic arsenal to strengthen themselves by shapeshifting. They could also control earth, wind, and fire to kill enemies at long range.
The first step to becoming a druid was to be recognized by nature. In order to become druids, elves would spend a long time in isolation, only interacting with plants, taking care of animals, just to find the presence of nature. When that was set, all they needed to do was to pass a review, and they were able to enter the next step of training.
Although the first step seemed simple, many elves were stuck on this step. The time required to ‘feel nature’ differed, depending on how close they were born with nature. Some elves couldn’t achieve anything after 10-20 years of trying.
Therefore the druid to elven ratio was very low and was a very rare profession. Even after passing the review, it wasn’t certain that they would become a druid.
The next step is known as bearing spirit. The druid would need to plant an oak tree by themselves and communicate with the sapling throughout its life. When the oak tree matured, it became a spirit. The spirit that grew up with the druid’s power of the will entered the soul of the druid, becoming the foundation of their spellcasting. The druid would then grow along with the spirit.
The location of a druid’s oak sapling was kept secret as it was being ‘brought up.’ In order for it to succeed, the power of will needed to be pure. Once affected by the power of the will of another druid, the spirit bearing would fail, and through that, one would lose their right to become a druid.
After the spirit bearing ritual had been completed, the oak would continue to grow. Although it had lost its importance to the druid, there was a legend that said: with enough time and mana, the tree that is able to communicate with the druid freely will become a special entity, having a natural pact.
Although the book, “Nature and neutral,” disagreed since there was no witness a druid’s oak tree
Abel helplessly stared at the book. Under the current circumstances, without a mentor, he didn’t know if he had the ability to communicate with nature. What were the requirements to ‘feel nature?’ None of this was mentioned in the book.
Abel checked out the druid soul in search for the feeling of nature, but all he got was a tone melancholic. In search of the source of this sadness, he found out that in the process of purging the hidden scorpion poison, he had killed the flora within the house. Because he hadn’t ordered them to be swapped out, the surrounding flora was dead and happened to be the source of sadness.
That was the feeling of nature! Abel didn’t need to think much in order to understand what it was, what else would the ability to communicate with nature be.
Thinking back, inside of the druid soul had become green. If he couldn’t even feel nature, it would be impossible for the pledges to be transferred to him. He consumed the power of the will of an official wizard after all.
Now on the business of planting the oak tree. There was nowhere safer than the Dark World. That area is virtually lifeless, other than the Rougue’s encampment, and Blood Moor that had been cleared out.
Abel once again put up the defense and barrier circles, mounting Black Wind and entering the Rogue’s encampment through the portal.
Not knowing how long it was going to take, Abel had placed a few nutrition potions on a stone slate, ordering black wind to not interrupt him. Black wind was an official soul beast, which meant that he also had the power of the will, and interference from other sources of power of the will must be avoided.
Leaving the Rogue encampment, with grass under his feet, Abel had walked about 5 kilometers. He then set up a strong defense using an intermediate defense circle, readying another magic circle.
Because of the advice from the book, the closer the mana is close to full, the faster the tree would grow. Since the caster could not move during the process of bearing the spirit, Abel leaned on an oak tree, allowing the power of the will to mingle.
The spirit bearing was an important matter for the elves. Each spirit bearer would prepare a large number of mana crystals to boost the speed of the growing oak tree. The whole process seemed contradictory. If the oak tree grew too quickly, it was an indication that the spirit isn’t of good quality, and might hinder future growth. On the other hand, if it took too long to mature, it could fail due to the lack of mana.
Spirit bearing also depended on luck, and at the same time, depended on resources. It was only when the druids had proper resources that they could be properly developed. Otherwise, even druid prodigies couldn’t fully develop.
As for Abel, who has the Kong Kong spirit bag and was able to replenish the crystals, resources weren’t a problem. All there was left to do is to see how big the tree got, and the quality of the spirit that was produced.
Mana filled the intermediate defense circle like mist. Abel dug a hole 20cm deep and buried the sapling in it.
As he sat on the ground, the druid soul sent out a slither of the power of the will, encompassing the sapling. It was as though the spirit had some natural powers within it, waking the sapling from its hibernation.
The sapling started to absorb the surrounding mana wildly. Above Abel and the sapling was a small mana cyclone, and at the sapling was at the base of it.
Countess Carrie hadn’t mistreated Abel in terms of the sapling. She picked the best acorn from the grand-ducal palace and was hand-cultivated by Grand Duke Edwina herself.
Sprouting was something that hadn’t been mentioned in the handbook. It was a measure to prevent other races from obtaining the power of the druid. Although druid training had various obstacles, the world didn’t lack prodigies, and those who matched the requirements of druids were plentiful. Therefore, the most important step of cultivating the seed was kept secret.
Only oak saplings that had been cultivated could enter the spirit bearing process. Every sapling that was cultivated was logged, including information such as where they came from and which druid got a hold of them.