Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO ON KINDLE SEPT. 2)

Elijah appeared in the center of the grove and immediately collapsed to his knees.

“What did you do?” demanded Nerthus.

Elijah looked up to see the spryggent looking down on him, a stern expression on his bark-like face. The tree-man’s features weren’t the easiest to read, but as Nerthus’ power had grown alongside the grove’s, doing so had become a lot easier. And he was clearly angry about something.

Which didn’t make sense.

Nerthus was never angry – not unless someone was messing with the grove, which was his pride and joy and, in a lot of ways, his reason for existence. His power was inextricably intertwined with the grove, and he took genuine joy in ensuring that it was perfectly organized, with nothing out of place.

“What happened?” Elijah asked, realizing just how tired he was. He’d recovered somewhat after the Primal Realm, but his recent exertions concerning the extermination of the harpies had definitely reminded him that it would take more than a couple of days of taking it easy to recuperate entirely. In fact, he suspected it would be weeks before he felt like himself.

He could take a lot of punishment, and most of the time, he’d keep going. But it all took its toll, mentally as well as physically. And that didn’t just go away in a few days.

In answer, Nerthus tersely explained that great quantities of ethera and vitality had been periodically drained from the grove. It wasn’t enough to kill anything, and it only shifted the balance slightly, but the implications were clear.

“It’s a new spell evolution,” Elijah said. “It’s called Grove Conduit.”

Then, he read the spell’s description, emphasizing the ability to channel power from the grove. In retrospect, it seemed obvious. The spell’s description made it perfectly clear: