Daggat dreamed of strange things. Cities burning away their infections, monsters slaughtering monsters, giants feasting on each other, and gold, treasures, and jewels falling into an endlessly black sea.

He woke with a dull headache. It was enough to be annoying, which meant it was a particularly bad headache. He smelled herbs, grass, and musk. Where was he? He would have opened his eyes to look, but something set off his internal alarms. He was comfortable, on a soft bed.

The last thing he remembered was inciting a mob. There was little to no reason he should be in a comfortable position at the moment.

Breathing slowly and deeply, so whoever was around thought he was still sleeping, he listened. Someone was in the room with him. He heard faint humming and working. Faint squelching echoed around him.

His arm tingled and itched like mad, but he resisted scratching it.

After some time, the humming stopped. Daggat risked opening an eye.

A hairy, grinning face was inches from his own.

"You are awake," It said.

Daggat screamed and scrambled back, hitting his head against a wall. The face also screamed and scrambled back.

"What?!" it yelped, looking around.

"What what? You're the WHAT!" Daggat yelled back. He got a good look at the monster. It was big, easily a match for Hunter, and covered entirely in brown fur. Humanoid, with nothing but a cloth wrapped around its waist. A soft glow illuminated the room they were in. It resembled the inside of a tree. Living bark formed a circular room. No door, windows, or any other form of escape. Two orbs, one green and another blue, lit the room. On the walls and floor, pink worms slithered slowly. They looked like Elyndris, without the wings and jaws. Larva, dozens of them.

The ground was covered in a vibrant, green, grass. Furniture in the room seemed to be grown from the floor or walls. A workbench, which had a myriad of simple tools, a chair, and a bed on which Daggat was lying. The bed was covered in a thick, green moss that had a spongy texture.

Daggat eyed his spear, which was leaning against a wall.

The monster looked at him with a confused expression. Daggat coughed.

"Hello," Daggat said. It was clear the monster wasn't going to harm him. Or he would already be dead.

"Hello." It said. "How are you feeling."

Daggat scratched his arm, finding it wrapped in bandages. "Well enough, where are we?"

"Don't scratch that, it needs to heal. You have Alchemists Rash."

Daggat stopped scratching his arm. "Is that… bad?"

"You have a lot of it. It will itch. Then REALLY itch. Then it will peel and hurt then itch again. Then you'll be okay."

"Oh, that's not so bad," next time, Daggat wasn't going to stick his entire arm in the pot. "So, where are we?"

"We are in a tree." The creature took a seat.

The room did indeed look like what Daggat would imagine a hollow tree to look like. Though, it wasn't so much that they were in a hollow tree. It seemed like the room was an inverted tree. It stretched up high into the dark, as though they were in a tree-shaped hollow and everything else was living tree.

"Alright, I can roll with that. Who… are you?"

"Bobby."

"Okay. I am Daggat."

"I know." Bobby smiled at him. Daggat awkwardly smiled back. What was going on?

"Have you, um, seen my friends?"

Suddenly, like the passing of a cloud in front of the sun, Bobby's face darkened. He scowled, showing wicked canines. The monster had the look of a human with thicker limbs and was covered in as much fur as Klaw.

"They LEFT you! Just walked away!" He yelled. Then he stood up from the chair, growling and snarling. Almost casually, he plucked a larva from a wall and popped it in his mouth. He chewed angrily.

"Wow. Alright." Daggat popped in his status void to check on the status of his party.

He had gained a level. More importantly, he had several messages. MESSAGES! How long had he been out?

"Psst, Master. Where are we?" The assistant whispered. Not that it needed to.

Daggat thought at the assistant, not speaking. "I don't know. Figure out this message thing, will you? I'm going to find out what's going on."

Daggat left the status void, finding the creature back in his chair, smiling as if nothing happened.

"So, Bobby, why did you, uh, save me? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, but I don't know you."

Bobby leaned in, "I like you."

Daggat laughed awkwardly. He looked for an exit again. Then he popped into the status void for a moment to read the messages.

The Assistant: <We are alive, but in an unknown location with a strange creature. Once it is slain, we will find our way out.>

Zuss: <What do you see?>

Hunter: <Are you okay? Daggat?>

Daggat fiddled with the menu and figured out how to message.

Daggat: <THIS GUY IS INSANE. SOMEONE FIND ME!>

Daggat: <I am in a tree.>

Hunter: <What?>

He left the status void, then coughed politely.

"Bobby, any chance I could… leave?"

"You're hurt! Better stay here to heal."

"Ah, but you see, I am a very busy goblin."

"Sorry, but I don't want you to get hurt."

Alright, Daggat was going to need to navigate this carefully. Ease the monster, then convince him to let him go. Daggat's beguiling aura was working well, too well, on this creature. That made sense because he couldn't see any aura. Was it weak? A fight wouldn't be ideal, there was no obvious exit.

"Lovely place. Are these larvae your food?" Daggat gestured to the worms crawling throughout the room.

"Uh huh, also my friends too. I take the larvas that spawn and raise them. It's so hard for them to survive."

"I have a larva friend too."

Suddenly he had an excited look on his face. Then he ran to a wall like a giddy child. Bobby simply pushed aside living wood as though it was a curtain. Another similar room was on the other side.

Daggat nearly tripped trying to dive for it, but Bobby stepped through and the portal closed behind him.

Well. Now what?

He leveled, so it was time to select another biotrait. Slipping into the status void, he knew what he was after.

Hunter: <Are you stuck in a tree? Yell.>

Zuss: <I found the tree. But, there is no way into it.>

Daggat: <Hold on, there is some magic stuff going on. I think… I might be in the presence of a demon.>

THE MIGHTIEST LARVA: <WOULD YOU TAKE IT TO ANOTHER CHAT? We are trying to focus on this fight.>

He let one of the others set up the private group chat. In the meantime, he moved back to the bed and made his upgrade choice. Ambient Aura Sense.

"Hey, Assistant. Any idea what's going on?"

"You may be right about the demon, but he seems to know you. I don't remember him, and I have all of your memories."

"He has no aura… is he weak?"

"Or it is simply too large to be contained in this room."

"Here!" Bobby's voice cut in unexpectedly. Daggat left the status void.

The monster was standing there with a big grin on his face. He held a larva in his hands.

"These are my best friends." He held out the larva towards Daggat, "Milly and Peedy."

Taking a closer look at the larva, Daggat noticed it had two heads and dozens of little legs. He also noted the room had changed, slightly. A green haze filled the room, seen by his aura sense. Bobby was dense with it. Whenever he moved, thick green mist trailed behind him. The mist took the faint shape of leaves.

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you… two?"

Bobby laughed, "Oh they can't talk. They should evolve any day now. Milly and Peedy are variants."

"Variant, huh? That's neat. Hey, so, I'm feeling quite a bit better. How about we go for a walk?"

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Bobby thrust the creature into Daggat's arms. "Here, you hold them. And not yet. Goblins are coming. Mean ones, not like you. You're nice."

Daggat pet the worm on one of its heads, which seemed to like it. Then the other snapped at him. "Do I know you? You seem to know me."

"No, I was hiding. But I watched you talk to Anath." Bobby started to tear up, "She's so brave… you're so nice. I love you two!"

Then he started bawling.

"Oh boy," Daggat said under his breath. Then he got up and gently patted the monster on the leg. "There, there big guy. Here, pet Peedy, he doesn't like me."

Bobby took the larva and gently stroked their heads.

"So, why do you raise larva? A hobby?"

"Not a hobby. Larva are weak, so I help them. People hunt monsters, so I have to protect them until they can fight. So I gather the larva, let them grow, then leave them in special places so they can evolve."

"Huh. So, you are why there are so many monsters in this forest then?"

"No. The gate floods the forest with magic, and monsters come to where magic is. I just give them a fighting chance."

Depending on the scale of Bobby's work, that meant that the forest's lowest average level was higher than it should be. More danger for the people here, but also more experience. He wondered how that changed the region, compared to others.

"Uhm, the gate?"

"Big light in the sky."

"Ah, I call it the fountain."

"Is a good name for it."

Bobby pet his larva for a moment, before setting it down. It scurried off.

"Hey, Bobby. I don't mean to be rude, but what are you?"

"I am the keeper of the forest."

"No, I mean, what genbloom or genbranch."

"Ah. Let's see… back when I was human, I became a Neanderthal. Then Wodewose after I found the mark of the tree."

"Wait, you were a human? Does that mean you have a class?"

"Uh huh, druid. But, I don't have a guild.."

Doing some mental math… that meant he was over level thirty. If he assumed he became a Wodewose at fifteen, and the mortal level grows with it, like the crew's had. This creature, if it was speaking true, was probably the highest-level creature Daggat had seen. But what was that about a guild?

"Why don't you have a guild?"

"No guilds out here, so people can't get an advanced class. They have to go away to the city or overseas."

Interesting. So, a guild was needed to advance a class.

"And that… mark of the forest. What's that?"

"It's my mark. That's how I can travel the trees. You need one to evolve at level 15."

"You know, Bobby. I think I like you too."

Bobby smiled and laughed. Then his eyes widened as if remembering something. Once again, he simply walked out of the room.

Daggat dove for the portal. It closed inches from his fingers. He groaned, lying on the floor. He looked over and noticed Milly and Peedy watching him from a few feet away.

"Shut up." He said to the larva for no particular reason.

A moment later, he was back to lounging on the bed, checking the messages.

It seemed that Klaw, Elyndris, and Anath were in a fight. Zuss and Hunter were trying to cut into the tree. What a mess. He opened a private chat with Alfred.

Daggat: <Al, how's it going?>

Alfred: <Ah, glad to see you are awake. Good luck on the rescue.>

Daggat: <Thanks, so how's everything on your end?>

Alfred: <Some adventurers have come looking for you. They are here, exploring the manor.>

Daggat: <What? Who? Keep them out of the loot!>

Alfred: <Don't worry, I have locked them out of your personal spaces. It is a group of goblinoids and wolves. I overheard their conversation, seems they are friends of yours and someone named Calion.>

Daggat: <Ah, them. That could help us out actually. Let them know where we are, north for a few days at a village called Harrowpine.>

Alfred: <Very well. Any chance the villagers there need work?>

Daggat: <Not likely. These guys are dicks and there's a lot of baggage here. They might have a hag problem.>

That reminded Daggat of something. Marry was their altar keeper, but she wasn't the real keeper. Wasn't that… ah.

Bobby came back with a small bag. Glass chinked from within it.

"Here, I have gifts. So we can be friends!" Bobby handed him the bag.

"What are these?" In the bag were several glowing potions. Daggat's eyes went wide. "Woah, are these what I think they are?"

"They don't work for me. You can use them. Then we can be friends. I find them on dead people sometimes, they make good lights."

"I… can really have these?"

Bobby nodded enthusiastically.

"Thanks, friend," Daggat said. The bag contained five potions. One was familiar. A silver glowing potion. A skill potion. Two glowed blue, and the other two glowed orange. "What do they do?"

"I don't know. But they are divine potions."

"Well, bottoms up." Daggat drank the skill potion. He should share… but these were gifts to him. He gained a skill point. "So, Bobby. Harrowpine, you come from there?"

"Uh-huh. But they don't like me."

Daggat drank a blue potion. Two growth points appeared in his statistics, and a notification for Growth Potions used popped up. He drank the other.

"I've got a hunch that you are actually pretty important there. Are you an altar keeper?" He started to sip the orange potion.

"How did you know? I used to be, for like… a DAY. But I let my sister take care of it."

Daggat nearly coughed up the potion. "What?" Then he downed the potion in one go.

His head exploded in pain. The itch on his arm grew into an aggravating intensity. Daggat groaned and held his head.

"Are you okay? Was it a bad potion?" Bobby was at his side.

"I'm… fine." Daggat took a few breaths. His head pounded. What the hell?

He opened his status void. Increased Pain Tolerance was gone. Just… gone. But, he had a spare biotrait point. Did it refund the trait? If so, Daggat would need a LOT of these. He could fix every mistake he made with his path and the others.

He decided to save the other potion.

"What happened?"

"Uh… that potion HEALED me," Daggat said in disbelief. "It was a shock, but I feel SOOO much better. Wow, thanks, Bobby!"

"Really?" Bobby looked doubtful.

"Really, would I lie to a friend? Oh, but it only healed my head injury. I'm good to go."

"But, the goblins… it's too dangerous." Bobby looked sad.

"Look, Bobby. I appreciate what you've done for me. But, the villagers need me. They need us. Come with me to help them. Help your Marry."

"You know Marry? Be careful… she's mean."

"I am one of those goblins that is coming. It's my responsibility to deal with the problem. Please, Bobby. I don't want to hide while my friends are in danger. You can understand that, right, friend?"

Bobby made a whining noise, then clutched his head. "But… but… they don't like me."

"That's fine. I like you. Anath would like to meet you too."

"Oh, I like Anath."

"Then, let's go."

Finally, he nodded. "Okay… let's go see Anath."

Daggat ran over and grabbed his spear. Then he had a thought.

"Hey, buddy, can I snag a few larvae? For the road."

"Sure, just don't eat my friend." Bobby lumbered towards the wall. Daggat grabbed six of the larvae and shoved them into the bag.

With a simple gesture, Bobby opened a hole in the tree. It opened into fresh air. Without hesitation, Daggat leaped through.

Daggat

True Name: Daggat Soul: Monster Genseed: gremlin [ 3 Str, 4 Dex, 3 Con, 2 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Regenerating Teeth, Rot Resistance; Tiny Size] Genbloom: goblin [ +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +1 Int, +1 Wil; Scavenger; Small Size]

Monster Level: 12

Attributes (4/10): Strength: 11 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: 11 Intelligence: 20 Will: 10 Charm: 12

Feats: Encounter: True Angel Ability: Mighty Intellect Act: Fledgling Alchemist Knowledge: System Knowledge Act: Devotion [Layered feats] Act: Usurper Act: Touch of Death Act: Reborn by Fire

Skills(1/5): Alchemy: 1 [Source: Fledgling Alchemist] System Aptitude: 1 [Source: System Knowledge] System Assistant: 2 [Perk: Semi-sentience] Mind Codex: 1 [Synergy: Mental notes + Copy Tome] Party Leader: 1 [Source: Usurper]

Notable Natural Skills: Literacy: Apprentice

Biotraits (3/12): Base size: Small [Source: Goblin] Regenerating Teeth [Source: Gremlin] Enhanced Night Vision [Source: Gremlin] Disease Resistance [Mutations: Rot Resistance; Source: Gremlin] Temperature Resistant Skin [Synergy: Fire Resistant Skin + Cold Resistant Skin] Scavenger [Source: goblin] Death Sight [Source: Touch of Death] Fire Core Beguiling Presence [Synergy: Hypnotic Gaze (Dominating Gaze, Mesmerizing Gaze) + Hypervocal Cords (Beguiling Voice)] Aura Sight

Transformations: Drakeheart Form: +2 strength +2 charm Extreme Temperature Resistant Scales [Synergy: Fireproof scales + Temperature resistant Skin] Fire breath

Night Stalker form: +2 strength +2 dexterity Dark vision [Night Vision Enhanced] Deepen Shadow

Regenerator form: Advanced Regeneration

Other: Variant: +10 Intelligence Skill potions used: 2/5 Growth potions used: 2/5

Notable Gear: Strange pure-white sword shard Spear of Bracing 2 Mihr Contracts Strange Ring

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