Chapter 18 - Wilds and Woodlands

Words failed me for a moment, as I twisted my head upwards to look the giant ent in the face. “Ummm… Sort of? He’s my partner if that’s what you mean.”

The big tree man looked me over, then carefully placed George back on the ground. As soon as his feet hit the ground George scuttled behind me, eyeing the Ent warily. “I apologize. I did not recognize your friend at all, and I need to remain constantly vigilant to protect the area from pests coming over the fences.”

“Pests? What… never mind that for now. I’m Talia, the new floor boss for the Ballroom, and this troublemaker behind me is George. I apologize for not coming to introduce myself sooner, I’ve just been distracted preparing the Ballroom for my debut.”

“Yes, I saw a recording of your fight after the fact, that’s how I recognized you. I am Voss, boss of the Forest, it is nice to meet you.” The big Ent leaned down and extended a single finger in my direction. George hissed at Voss again, but I ignored him as I reached out and took ahold of the finger, performing the equivalent of a handshake for two races of completely different scales. “What brings you to my domain today?” Voss asked.

“It was mostly to quickly introduce myself, since the two of us haven’t had a chance to meet yet,” I replied. “But I’m also planning on learning more about the other floors, so I can prepare strategies in the future. If you’re busy I can make an appointment and come back later.”

The massive Ent laughed, a deep booming sound that caused a sickly green sap to leak from between his bark in multiple places. “To be honest, I’ve been a little bored lately. The Dungeon used to host a run every two to three days, but between Gustave’s resigning, you taking over his position as floor boss, and Lanivia’s focus on the confrontation matches, we haven’t been as busy lately. I welcome a chat to break up the tedium.” He raised one of his massive arms, gesturing to an open area at the back of the area. “We should step out of the way, so others can enjoy the greenspace.”

Voss wasn’t the fastest in the world, but he had an enormous stride, so I needed to jog in order to keep up. He led me to the far side of the clearing, where there was a small hill with a small rock formation, but clear of all foliage. Voss only needed to take a single step to go from the end of the path to the top of the hill, where he settled in, sinking his roots into the ground. “Now then, what would you like to know?”

I huffed up the hill, George right on my heels, after the surprise earlier he didn’t want to leave my side. The rock formation was about ten feet tall, and relatively flat at the top, so I clambered up to the top and sat down so I’d be closer to Voss’s head.

“Before I ask about your floor, you mentioned something about pests jumping over the fences?” I asked curiously.

“Yes,” Voss grumbled. “We get everything from paparazzi looking for a juicy score, to people seeking to cut down trees for firewood jumping over the fences. We don’t mind the occasional beast coming in and taking residence, as long as they behave themselves,” he said, shooting a look at George. “The absolute worst though, are the poachers.”

I looked at him in shock. “What do you mean poachers? Killing what? The staff?”

“Indeed,” Voss replied, voice full of anger. “Even in this day and age there are plenty of greedy trophy hunters and bigots who think we are ‘evil.’ The laws are on our side, but it does not stop people from trying.”

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“I can’t believe people would break in here,” I said, shaking my head. “Considering how strong the staff is they’d either have to be hero-level, or have a death wish.”

“I said they attempted it, not that they succeeded. People like that are rarely stable individuals, we hand them off to the authorities and let the law deal with them.” He sighed heavily, “Enough talk about these depressing things, you wanted to know about the Forest?”

“Yes, and how you arrange your defenses. All your staff seem to be living on the Preserve, so I only know what I saw from the broadcast.”

“Hmmm… so you’ve seen the children, the Oozes, Mycelium people and Deadwood Dryads. Most people don’t look kindly on them, so they typically have problems outside of a dungeon. I’m glad we’re able to give them sanctuary here.”

“Yeah, I did see some Mycelium when I first came here, it’s rare to see such tall mushroom men.”

“They live well here,” Voss laughed, “The dungeon doesn’t have much waste, but it’s more than enough for both them and the Oozes to live off of. Since they live off the rot, both races have developed quite potent toxins and diseases, which means adventuring groups need to be exceptionally careful trying to progress through my territory. One wrong move means suffering paralysis or death, before they even reach my arena. They can remove the impairments with magic, if they have enough. Otherwise, they need to wait until they reach the rest area to recover.”

“What about the Dryads?” I asked. “I admit I’m not super familiar with surface races, but I’ve never heard of the Deadwood variety.”

Voss’s laughter died, and he looked at an area to the north, towards the manor. “They’re not actually a different variety, they’re just regular dryads that had their tree die, through unnatural causes. Without the link, their bodies quickly dry up, and grow gnarled. Many don’t survive long enough to find another tree, and those that do are typically ashamed of their appearance, even though it’s no fault of their own.” The Ent clenched his hands, I could hear the wood creak under the strain. “I just wish we could do more.”

I stood up on the rock, reached out and patted Voss on the arm. “You’re doing plenty. More than most people would.”

“Perhaps. We provide them sanctuary here, and as long as I’m around I will ensure it will stay safe. It is my duty.” The old tree was silent for a moment, then he shook his head and looked my way with a small smile. “Sorry for being depressing. What were we talking about? Perhaps my boss fight?”

“Only if you want to,” I replied.

“Well, there’s not much to say really. I’m very much a brawler, capable of smashing most tanks into the ground. The trick is, by the time most groups get to me, they’re already suffering from some sort of malady, making it easier for me to get a hold of one of them. My sap is also corrosive, which means they have to be exceptionally careful when cutting my bark, or they may regret it.”

I nodded slightly. “Thank you for telling me,” I said softly. “I don’t need anything else from you now, I can probably figure things out from watching future dungeon runs anyways. Would you like to go check on the dryads? It seems like you’re worried about them.”

Voss looked down at me, smiling gently. “I think I may just do that. Thank you lass. You and I should sit down and have a proper talk sometime, thank you for visiting.”

I waved at the Ent as he walked off into the forest, disappearing into the foliage, before jumping down from the rocks. George was kicking around the bottom of the formation, whimpering. “It’ll be fine, you big softy,” I said, patting his head. "It seems like Voss takes good care of the people around here, everything will be fine.”

Once I was done consoling George I looked up at the sun. It was starting to go down, but there was still an hour or so before it got dark, so I stood up and beckoned to George. “Come on. There’s no point in sitting around here all depressed, let's go for a little walk before dinner.” The spider came up to stand by my heels, snuffling a little. Apparently he didn’t feel like running off like earlier, which was fine with me, I had a lot to think about.