I pushed and wove through the crowd, apologizing the entire time, as I made my way toward Bert. Managing to catch up to him just as he stepped off the stairs and onto the street.

  The place looked completely different from the way it had mere minutes ago. Trees poked up from plots of dirt every dozen feet or so. Each towered high above us as their branches reached out to cover the entire place in the shade cast by their leaves.

  None of this had been here. In fact, as far as I could remember, the streets had been completely clear. A fact that allowed the people operating the city's defenses to see their targets. And considering the number of people working to pick up various pieces of monster scattered across the place, it was obvious that even this place had seen some fighting.

  Most of the items they cut from the monsters went into various boxes, but some of it was tossed at the various trees around them. Curious, I moved over to check out the odd assortment of parts. Every bit of the pieces were useless. Burst glands, destroyed organs, and so on. And every one of them was already partially buried.

  As I watched the odd assortment, another piece hit the ground with a thud. Within moments, the dirt seemed to almost vibrate. Nearly invisible white tendrils poked their way up and started to drag the thing down.

  “Hey, Bert.” I hesitantly called.

  “Yeah?” He replied from somewhere further up the road.

  “Let’s not go near the trees.” I took one more look at the already partially decomposed piece before I rushed to rejoin them.

  “Sure.” Bert shrugged. “Ah, here is one of the stores my father mentioned.”

  My eyes lifted to look at the sign, ‘Mitchel’s Apothecary’. While it sounded like the apothecary shops at home, it had to have something special for his father to recommend this one specifically.

  A hand pushed the door open to reveal shelves of bottles, salves, powders, and even pills. Given how some were locked inside display cases, some of these were either rare or overly powerful. Not that I would be buying anything. Even if I could afford it, none of it was something I needed.

  “Welcome, welcome.” A warm voice called as he stepped out from a door along the back wall. “What can I help you fine gentleman find today?”

  I shook my head and pointed at Bert just as the guy answered him. “Do you have any contraceptives for men?” I nearly choked at his words. What was he expecting to happen when he got to the academy?

  “What form?” Of course they had them. And given how unperturbed the man sounded, it was a fairly common question. “I sell patches, pills, powders, and even rings. Though the rings are a bit more expensive and will require you to get the thing recharged after about five uses.”

  “How much for the ring?”

  “One hundred and fifty credits.” Holy fuck. What did the ring do to make it worth so much? “It will resize to you and will prevent any pregnancies so long as you wear it while doing the deed.” I shook my head and tuned the two out. There was just so much of this I could take.

  My eyes roamed of the the various items. Blood boosters, healing factor, growth accelerator, mana boosters, the shop had everything but health potions. Then again, it wasn’t like there was a single potion that could heal any and every injury on a person. Still, a few things caught my eye. Not because I wanted them, but because they were interesting.

  Companion bond forging equipment was a simple box that held several pieces of various equipment, powders, and potions. None of which explained what a companion was. According to fantasy and various games, they were creatures one could bond with, but nothing like that existed. Monsters were just too dangerous to even try something like that.

  Sudden cheering outside pulled my attention away from the weird assortment and to the streets outside the window. While the place had been full before, now it was packed. Forget being able to see the street; I could barely see more than a few bodies deep.

  “What is going on?” I asked over the noise.

  “Likely one of the Dryads making their way through the town. Checking up on the city to see if there was any damage.”

  “Dryads?” Bert asked as he held his pad out to the man.

  “Beings bonded to one of the trees in our city.”

  “Why would someone bond themselves to a tree? Wouldn’t you want to bond with something with a bit more of a bite?” Bert stopped for a second as his brain processed something. “How would one even bond to a tree anyway? They don’t have a mind and can’t really learn. Not like a wolf or such?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Didn’t your parents tell you that you were not allowed to have a dog?” I rolled my eyes at him. That had been after a old movie centered around a dog. Too bad the things were more likely to kill you than anything else.

  “First years?” The store owner asked.

  “Yeah.” We both answered at nearly the same time.

  “Ask me when you come back through here.” With that, he shooed us out. “I am sure there are other stores you want to see before your train leaves, so get.”

  Neither of us argued as we moved to leave. Me, I was empty-handed. Bert, on the other hand, had a pretty large bag filled with quite a bit. I wondered just what he had managed to buy and where he had gotten the money.

  Unfortunately, the moment I opened the door, a wall of sound slammed into me. Cheers, screams, and the sound of celebration filled the air. Probably for this dryad. Tou bad the crowd was too packed for me to get at least a glimpse.

  Bert didn’t seem bothered by the noise or the crowd. He turned and used the small gap between the swath of people and the shop walls to make his way toward our next destination. I was so focused on keeping up with him that I nearly didn’t see a kid zip out of a doorway. In my haste to dodge the little girl, I bounced against the glass of a nearby store.

  I don’t know if I expected the glass to hold or what, but the thing shattered under the force of my escape maneuver. Unable to catch myself, I fell through the shattered window and into a display of bread.

  Gasps and yells raced through those nearby as the noise managed to catch their attention. My body stilled as I tried to figure out what I was going to do. Sure, I had a few credits, but nowhere near enough for the window, let alone the display or the goods I had destroyed. Was I going to get stuck here? Forced to work to pay for everything? Or were they going to take some of my stuff to offset the damages? The idea of losing some of my tools and materials caused the world around me to blur.

  A pair of arms grasped mine. With a heave, they pulled me up and out of the store window. Doing so in a way that made sure that I didn’t get cut by any of the scattered shards.

  “You alright there, lad?” One of the men asked as he looked me over.

  “Doesn’t look like you have any injuries.” The other said as he brushed pieces of glass off my clothes.

  “I…” I started to say, only to stop as I tried to figure out a way to get myself out of this.

  “Hey, Onwin.” The first man called into the store. “You need any help cleaning this mess up?” Guess that would be the first thing they would have me do.

  “Neh.” A fairly small woman said from inside the store. “My husband can repair the window when he gets back from his fan-girling.”

  “Hey.” Another man called. “I ain’t no fan girl.” He stepped up to the window as he gave the whole thing a look over.

  “I am sorry, I…” I once again tried to say something, but the guy waved me off.

  “Eh, it ain't so bad.” With a hand, he gestured at the various pieces of bread. “Honestly, the only thing we really lost is the bread. And I think that is a fair trade for what you did.”

  “Daddy?” A young voice from behind us had me looking to see the girl I avoided running over. Her head stuck out from between the legs of two people as she looked for someone. The moment she saw the man next to me, she shoved the rest of the way through before jumping up and racing toward him.

  “Hi, pumpkin.” With practiced movements, he managed to grab her and bring her up to rest on his hip.

  “Daddy, look what I got.” Clutched in one of her hands was a seed no larger than my thumbnail.

  “Oh,” he cooed at the object. “Did dryad Matsu give that to you?”

  “No.” For a moment, she sounded sad. But, like it never happened, she perked right back up. “It was dryad Ren. He stopped and handed it to me. Ignored all the others around as he said that the seed chose me and that I would have to take care of it.” The words came out in a flood.

  “Congratulations baby girl.” He lifted her out as he spun around. “We can get everything ready and get it started tonight.”

  “YAY!” She let out a loud cheer that lasted an earsplitting minute before she tapped at his hands. “Daddy. Put me down so I can go tell mommy!” The second her feet hit the ground, she took off for the bakery door.

  “Let me get this fixed so that you can be on your way.” He said as he gestured at the shattered window. Honestly, I was happy to hear that it could be fixed and that it looked like they wouldn’t be charging me for it. Then again, depending on the method, it might cost me an arm and a leg thanks to the speed.

  Both hands shoved his sleeves over his elbows to reveal a series of vines that seemed to twist along his arms before vanishing under his shirt. The various leaves fluttered in the light breeze. With arms out, mana spilled from him. It didn’t go far, but I was close enough to cause a feeling not unlike static electricity that sometimes accompanied its use.

  Both vines uncoiled and lengthened as they reached for the various pieces of glass. At first, I thought they were grabbing them so that they could throw them away or something, but no matter how many they grabbed, they never had to drop the piles off. In fact, it was almost like the pieces vanished into the plants themselves. Absorbed, eaten, or something.

  Whatever it was doing, it only took a couple of minutes to finish. After that, the vines reached for the window frame itself and started to move back and forth. Almost like the plant was dancing as it did something.

  I watched in fascination as the glass that remained in the frame started to glimmer. Looking like it was wet. But that couldn’t be right. What, why, and how would a plant produce something to make glass look wet?

  A minute, and at least fifty passes later, I had to admit that the glass was growing. The various scattered and cracked parts were whole. Hell, a good four inches of the glass was already back in the frame. Thanks to how the distance shrank as the window continued to regrow, it only took ten or so minutes before it was completely repaired.

  “Good as new.” He proclaimed.

  I stood there, completely flummoxed as to what I had just watched. “How?”

  “While condensed and mana-treated sap is weaker than most glass, it is so much easier to fix.” His knuckle rapped against the solid surface. “A must in a city that attracts monsters.”

  Okay, that made sense, but that still didn’t answer the how of it. I was prevented from asking thanks to his happy wife jumping out of the bakery with a small bag. She shoved it into my arms, refusing to take it back. “No, this is the least we can do. Who knows how Jasmine here would have been hurt if you didn’t do what you did.”

  Bert grabbed my arm and started to pull me through the crowd as they resumed their milling. “Come on!” I followed behind, trying, and failing, to understand all that had just happened.