The High Road

"Not every form of working the land produces the same amount of discomfort, and not every spirit has the same level of pain tolerance," Jahreszeiten explained. "In my case, I'm not bothered at all if you dig loose soil or harvest fruits, berries, or nuts. My deadwood is free game entirely. But when living wood is damaged, I feel it. When rivers and lakes dry up, I thirst. When large swaths of earth are excavated, I bleed. The part that might be difficult to understand is that living material taken from me is still me. If you uproot a bush and plant it far away, it is still me. If you pry minerals from deep in the earth, they are still me. The breaking point for many spirits was when your kind learned how to smelt ores in fire, how to pound and temper metal into useful shapes. I have a high pain tolerance and a great deal of affection for animals, but even I nearly lost my mind when my body was burned and beaten until minerals which I always knew to live forever perished and ceased being a part of me."

Aurelius felt a chill despite the Autumn Ring's protection from the elements. He couldn't even imagine being burned alive while hammers rained down on him. He even felt bad for relying on metal tools, knowing now the suffering it burdened the spirits with.

But… therein laid the issue. Humanity was, in fact, quite dependent on metal tools and industry. And their civilization had only continued to expand while relying on those advancements. The village he grew up in didn't have much going on in the way of industry, but larger cities very much did.

Rory was more certain than ever that the other spirits would come into conflict with humanity the moment they awakened.

"So, what you're saying is, we aren't allowed to mine the ores from this forest if we want to keep living here."

"No, you can."

Rory's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"You can mine. You can even forge metals from me."

Rory stood up from the log and couldn't help raising his voice, "B-but you said the pain was enough to drive you crazy!"

The silver wolf's tail began to wag. "I'm happy you care for me, Aurelius." It wasn't a natural thing for a wolf to do, but Jahreszeiten pulled its lips up into a fairly convincing smile. "Other spirits might not agree. They might not want to suffer pain or be put into a deep sleep, but they are them and I am me. I want the animals like you to prosper and thrive."

Rory bit his lip and slowly sat back down. "I see." He clasped his hands together tightly. "Tell me more about being a Druid."

The wolf's tail stilled and it's smile vanished. "Alright. This shouldn't be difficult to understand: Druids receive power from spirits. In exchange, they act as emmisaries of their will. For instance, the other humans in your village cannot hear my voice, but you could act as a translator."

"But you said previously tht you don't ask anything of your Druids, right?" Rory confirmed.

"That's right, and so my Druids have always been among the weakest. I just give out my power on a whim when someone interests me. I don't really have any personal ambitions, thus no need to award more strength. The Druids of other spirits were always stronger than mine."

'Not that there would be any left today,' Rory thought, 'Unless another friendly spirit happened to awaken.'

The young Druid frowned. He was also someone without much ambition, typically, but he wasn't about to throw aside responsibility when it landed in his lap. Unfortunately, the mission he had been tasked with sounded like it could become quite dangerous. He rather needed to know if he could count on his patron spirit for any further aid or not.

"If I had need of more power later, would you help me, Jahre?"

"Short of a life or death crisis, you shouldn't expect anything. I don't encourage my Druids toward recklessness in the first place; one gift from me should be more than enough for most creatures to live well."

At this point, when Jahreszeiten refused, Aurelius realized he had to make a decision. Would he call his duty complete after warning the rest of mankind about the awakening spirits, or would he—very possibly the only Druid who could—take it upon himself to reseal any hostile spirits to protect his fellow man? And if he chose the high road, would he face angry, god-like spirits with only the druidic gifts he had now and whatever additional sorcery he could learn in time… or would he do everything in his power to coax more blessings out of the forest spirit?

A heavy feeling of responsibility rose up from somewhere deep within Aurelius. He had subconsciously chosen the high road already. But why should he make things harder for himself? If he was going to do this… his death would potentially mean the deaths of many others.

While the young sorcerer embraced his feelings of duty… he resolutely threw away his pride.

Aurelius wasn't an idiot. He wasn't deaf to the several times Jahreszeiten had complimented his looks, nor to… what was implied earlier when the spirit possessed the body of the wolf and brought him to this comfortable, isolated place.

'If he thinks I'm beautiful, then there's at least one thing I can bargain with.'

Rory smiled in meek, hopeful request toward the green-eyed wolf. "Can you maybe reconsider, Jahre? I really think I'm going to need your help. Please?"

The wolf's eyes dilated, and its tail wagged slowly. Since Aurelius was quite the calm young man, this was the first time the spirit had seen his smile, and it melted his heart like ice thawing into spring. He himself was surprised by how thoroughly and suddenly he was captivated. This was no longer something the forest spirit could brush away as mere curiosity or interest.

A human being this beautiful suddenly seemed less of a wonderful happenstance and more like a dangerous temptation. Jahreszeiten almost agreed to Aurelius's request on the spot, but desire and greed compelled the spirit to ask for some price in exchange.

"…If I am in a particularly good mood, I suppose there's no reason I couldn't offer additional gifts."