ăRiver Of Anew: Farming In Another Worldă
Information about the plants
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Chapter 1: The Rain
Another beautiful Spring morning; just perfect, not too hot, not too cold, still a bit too windy. On such a beautiful day, Foin was about to go home from purchasing some vegetables, fruits, and some seeds to plant and eat at home. He lived in such a small town that only a few shops were open, and only a single one sold flower seeds.
He was slowly walking home with a backpack on his back. Inside it, the freshly percussed items were carefully placed, along with a pullover. It was once again the type of time when, although only a few clouds covered the sky, any moment, it could rain. And just as he was thinking about it, it started raining.
"Great... just my luck..."
He was still a long way from him, at least another twenty minutes of walking, so he decided not to put on his pullover as at least it was protecting the fruits and vegetables a bit.
Soon, he reached a road which was slightly protected by trees as on the other side, there was a fast-flowing river. For a brief moment, he stopped under one of the trees and looked around. The seemingly weak rain seemed to have changed. It grew darker and darker as more and more darker clouds covered the sky at an incredible rate.
"What the hell is going on today?! The weather forecast didn''t say anything about this level of rain!"
Foin shook his head and was about to walk forward; however, suddenly, a speeding car lost control due to the wet road and drove straight into the tree next to him. From the sudden impact, Foin quickly jumped back as fast as he could to avoid the impact. Fortunately, he was not hurt and only got dirty from the fall.
It took him a few minutes to regain his composure and be able to think straight, as this was the very first time he had experienced anything like that. With shaking legs, he stood up. He was in such a state that he didn''t even notice how dirty and wet he was. Collecting every bit of strength and focus, he walked over to the car.
Inside, he could see a younger lady leaning on the wheel of the car. He could see that she was not moving, so as fast as he could, he opened the door. Although he had learned how and when one should pull someone out of a car if they are unconscious, under such pressure, he forgave everything.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Foin grabbed the girl, pulled out, and laid her down on the cold, wet grass, dirtying the woman''s dress. He quickly checked her breathing. Much to his relief, she was breathing.
"Fuck fuck fuck... what the hell is going on today?"
He thought to himself. He quickly looked around to see that multiple expensive black cars had stopped by the scene, and well-dressed men jumped out of the cars. Some held guns, while others had a phone in their hands and seemed to be talking to someone. They all wore identical suits and shirts.
"Thank god... Please help this young girl..."
Foin uttered; however, one of the men quickly kicked his head, sending him a rolling gown on the hill. He almost rolled into the river. Foin slowly pushed himself up. He quickly touched his bleeding nose and teeth and then shook his head.
"Fuck... This hurt..."
Foin was about to stand up, but three of the men walked beside him; two grabbed him, and then the third kicked him in the head once again. Then, the three of them started kicking him simultaneously.
"Stay the fuck down!"
A man declared coldly, but suddenly, Foin growled and jumped up. He headbutted the man standing closest to him in the jaw, almost knocking him out. And knocked the man into the river with one powerful push. His nose and mouth were bleeding greatly. His usually kind blue eyes were now filled with anger. His short, sparkling, and well-tended brown hair was now a mess. It was dirty, wet, and blooded.
The two men instantly reacted and smashed him in the face, sending him rolling back once again, almost falling into the river. His left arm barely fell into the water, but he quickly pulled his hand back and stood up. Just in time to block an incoming punch from one of the men, and with a well-coordinated punch, he forced him to tumble back. Each of his punches was sharp, but he had no chance of winning. From the cars, a few men aimed at him with pistols.
With his lingering willpower, Foin punched the closest man and then pulled him ahead of him to act as a meatshield. The man had already fired at him by the time he managed to pull the man, but the bullets only grazed his arms and side.
The man he held was mercilessly shot dead, and as a result, he needed to pull his weight up. Soon, they managed to shoot his right leg twice. At that time, he collapsed. The man quickly surrounded him once again, and with many different kinds of blunt weapons, they started hitting him.
Foin knew that they wanted him to suffer for some unknown reason as if they simply wanted to kill him, they could have just shot him in the head. However, now he could feel and hear as his bones were being broken. He was barely conscious when they were finally done with him. He couldn''t move his body; he was in such a dire situation, and then he was simply kicked into the river.
Under normal circumstances, one would easily survive and would be able to swim out of the river, but in his current state, it was impossible. He felt as he slowly submerged in the cold water and was sinking. The fast-moving water slammed him against the wall a few times before he finally turned everything back.
Chapter 2: The Clearing
An unexplored foresty area in which a great river was flowing through. To be more accurate. This grand forest was halved by that forest. The first consisted of a few massively large trees and, more frequently, shorter trees. The leaves were all very dark black, and each was about the size of a human head. The ground level was full of bushes and large knee-high grass.
In this massive, beautiful forest, there was one tiny area where the forest seemed to have been slightly cut down. It was the size of about a football field. Although it seemed strange to have such an area, it was not artificial. This strange area was located on the river bank. In that tiny clearing, a man lay unconscious on the river bank.
His legs were still in the river, but most of his body was on the dry land. This man was Foin, who, although in a dire state, managed to survive. As soon as he regained his senses, he coughed out a large quantity of water and then took a deep breath of this strangely fresh air of the first.
The air was not polluted at all; there was no smog. No cars either to taint the air. It was such fresh air that, for a brief moment, Foin felt revitalized. But that moment didn''t last long, as, soon, the pain of his injuries had quickly reappeared. He growled on the ground and then slowly crawled out of the river onto the tall grass.
"Where am I? Also, how am I alive? I should have died in that river..."
Foin mumbled as he looked around the area. Fortunately for him, his bag was still on his back, in which he still had his pullover and the fruits and vegetables he had bought, although they were most certainly squashed.
As he was crawling, he was stunned by the fact that although she felt great pain, his bones were relatively in one piece, and his shot leg was the only one which he couldn''t use at all; everything else seemed to be relatively fine.
Once he was fully out of the water, he sat up, put his bag down, and just stared at his shot leg. He was still in such a shock that he felt a strange puls of pain coming from his wound. Still, he was unable to comprehend how he managed to survive such an event.
"I don''t know where I am... but if I want to survive, I must prepare something... I am sure my phone has died from the water, so I can''t call for help... The best I can do is survive and wait for someone to come here... But I have never seen this area..."
He took a deep breath, and with a determined movement, he pulled his bag closer to him. Inside, he found his pullover, which he quickly pulled out so that it could dry faster, and then looked at the squashed items he had. A few peppers, many smaller potato pieces, a bottle of water, a bottle of some fizzy sweet drink, the flower seeds he planned to plant at home, a kilo of bread, and a used lighter.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"Well... If I can''t find something, I will most certainly die of starvation."
With a loud sigh, Foli grabbed a handful of grass and pulled them out. He proceeded to clear a larger circle around him. He placed the collected high grass into one large pile. He could move slowly due to him being forced to crawl, and it took a few minutes to perform. Once he was finished, he grabbed a piece of grass, closed his eyes, and, after taking a deep breath, he took a tiny bite.
Since he knew that he had barely any food available, he needed to find something which would allow him to survive, even if it meant barely. Knowing that he would not be able to move around easily, he needed to test the closest, onhand item he had, and as a result, he started by tasting grass.
Much to his disbelief, the grass was quite sweet. Unlike he had expected, although its taste was not perfect, in a dire situation, he would be able to consume grass.
"Alright... This was better than I anticipated..."
Knowing that the grass he had torn down was not that bad, he started expanding his little circle. His pile of grass grew little by little, and soon, he was finally finished. In his current situation, even tearing grass was quite challenging, so he took a longer break.
He slowly crawled back a few meters to the river and carefully took a sip of the water; it was edible, and just like the grass, it was sweet.
"This is one hell of a clear river; I haven''t seen anything like that... how the hell did I end up here? If there were some sort of filtering system to make the water this clear, then I would have been most definitely noticed or died there."
After taking a sip of refreshing cold water, he crawled back to his bag and took out a smaller bag containing the squashed peppers. He looked at them with a saddened expression. He remembered that, in the current world, how expensive even these few were. So he sat up and started collecting the seeds from the pepper. It was quite long as it had a lot of seeds, but soon, he ended up having a handful of seeds.
He pondered what to do with them and then decided that since it was the middle of Spring, he planted them. Using his hand, he dug six larger holes and divided his seeds among them.
"Knowing my damn luck, I will die long before these grow, but it felt great to plant them... I guess I will plant everything else as well... Maybe people will notice that someone was here."
When his new idea came, he quickly took out some of the flower seeds, from which he counted thirty-three; he grabbed three, put them into a hole, and kept the rest. Also, he grabbed a few larger broken potato parts and planted them in two holes.
Once he had planted six peppers, two potatoes, and a single flower, a wide smile appeared on his face. Despite being in such a difficult and unknown situation, he still managed to smile. Planting those seeds made her forget all the problems he was already facing and even those that he would face later.
As he looked up at the sky, he noticed that it was already late; the sun was going down, so he pulled a large amount of grass onto himself to use as a blanket, put his pullover under his head and closed his eyes. This was his first day in this new environment, yet it went by faster than any other day he had experienced before.
Chapter 3: The Seeds
After one long sleep, Foin woke up. He was still under a large pile of grass; however, there was one thing which stunned him. Before his eyes, a somewhat transparent panel was floating.
"Congratulations, the system has been activated!"
As Foin opened his eyes and noticed the floating ext, he rubbed his eyes first, and then he touched the floating panel. It was quite soft and rubbery, but once he touched it, it vanished, and instead, a few new panels appeared, all with the same text.
"You have gained 1 Experience Point and 1 Point."
"What the hell is this?!"
Foin quickly shook his head, pushed the grass off of him, and, with shaking hands, touched his head. He was unable to comprehend what was going on.
"Could it be that I have died and was taken to another world with a system?! But that only happened in fiction. Also, in those cases, the lucky ones didn''t sustain the damage they had in their previous lives. I can still feel how my body was beaten..."
The panels were only visible for a few moments, and then they vanished, unlike the first floating panel. After taking a few long breaths, Foin finally calmed down, though he still didn''t understand the situation, especially why he got Experience Points, as he had done nothing yet, at least, that is what he believed until he looked around.
"What the..."
He could see that the seeds he had planted had already started growing. It seemed as if, in that single night, weeks had gone by. The flower seeds he had planted had already grown, and its flowers started blooming. Although he believed he was not specialised in flowers, the flower which had grown from the seeds was something he had never seen. It had a dark red chore surrounded by light blue petals.
The same was true for the potato and pepper as well; they had grown greatly, but they were not yet mature. The potato only had a tiny foliage which was visible above the ground. As for the pepper, it had grown greatly, but it only had flowers; no crop was formed yet.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Foin crawled back to his bag and quickly took out his squashed peppers and the bread, and started eating. Seeing how fast the plants had grown, he was somewhat relieved that he would not need to worry that much about staring, but instead, now he had to worry about this strange new world.
But being aware of his situation and strange predicament, for some reason, he was relatively calm. Hoping that he would be able to harvest the pepper within a day or two, Foin didn''t hesitate eating till he was filled. Of course, pepper and plain bread were not very appetising, but he had to make do with that. When he was finished, only about two-thirds of the bread was left, which he packed carefully and placed back into his back, which he then covered with his pullover.
"Alright... Let''s see... I still have some potatoes left, but I do not want to eat them raw... Also, the new bunch is already growing... So, I should start gathering some wood..."
He looked at the nearest trees, and he realised that even if his leg was perfectly fine, he would need to climb up to reach even the lowest branches, so his only choice remained was to go around and search for some that had been broken off.
He slowly started making his way over to the trees. He tore off the tall grass as he was travelling and realised that he could use it later. He could even use them to start a fire more easily after drying them to some degree.
In his state, he was moving quite slowly as once in a while, he brought back the grass he had collected and put it back into the pile, making it larger and larger. After hours of work, he took a longer break. In that time, he drank from the river and even washed his head. It was getting hotter and hotter as the sun slowly crawled up in the sky, so he took off his shirt, placed it onto his pullover and then got to work again.
Based on his assumptions and seeing the state of the sun, it was just about noon when he finally reached the first tree. Back over his original place, the grass pile grew to such a size that it could hide him easily if he wanted to.
Now that he was around the tree, he started searching. He could find a few smaller sticks, which he instantly brought back to his backpack and then made his way over to the next tree.
He spent the rest of his day collecting sticks, which he collected in another pile. he managed to gather quite a large number of them, but most of them were quite small. In the meantime, he also found some pieces of stones, which he also gathered. He had a perfect idea that he could use the stones to help him dig if he needed to.
"Huh... Even with such restricted movement, I am quite enjoying this new life... Who knew that living in such peacefulness would be so great... In this world, I don''t have to worry about food as it will keep growing; I have fresh water..."
He mumbled as he leaned against the large pile of grass and looked at the dozens of sticks he had collected. After moving around the whole day using only his hands, he could feel his hands start to ache, but all he could do was smile.
After a brief pause, he put his shirt back on, pulled another pile of grass onto him and then closed his eyes. He was happy with what he had achieved that day, and before he fell asleep, he started planning his next day.
He was hoping that his crops would mature by that time so he could plant more just to make sure that he had everything in abundance, and also, he was curious to see what would happen to the flower.
Chapter 4: The First Taste
The second dawn came fast. Foin barely even closed his eyes, and it was already morning. In the morning, he woke up in a position he had long slept in. He was half sitting on the pile of grass, half lying. His head was covered by a bunch of tall grasses, and he had his mouth open; as a result, his mouth was quite dry. So, as soon as he opened his eyes, he brushed away the grass from his head and drank from the river.
"Phew.. So cold and so refreshing."
He mumbled and then turned around to look at his tiny garden with only a few plants. Just as he had anticipated and hopped, the peppers and potatoes had grown. Well, he could see that the peppers were grown, but he just hoped that the same applied to the potatoes as well. The flower was not many times larger; it was much taller than the grass around it and grew thicker. From a simple flower, it turned into more like a bush. It was full of the same red and light blue flowers.
As Foin took a deep breath, he could feel a very sweet scent coming from the flower. He couldn''t help but get closer to the flower when he was close enough; he grabbed the closest blossom on the plant. At that time, a brand new window popped up before his eyes. which moments later disappeared without any intervention.
"New species recognised, ¨Ślion!"
"What the... I have never heard a flower name like that! At least it has such a nice scent."
After having spent a few minutes enjoying the odour of the flower, he proceeded over to the other plants, especially the peppers, which were now fully matured. Just like before at the ¨Ślion flower, as soon as he was about to touch the grown pepper to harvest one, a new panel popped up before his eyes.
"New species recognised, Pepper!"
"Great... Nothing special, simply pepper?! Let me guess; the potato will be just simply potato?!"
Filled with curiosity, Foin leaned over to the potato, and just as he had assumed, the text pooped up.
"New species recognised, Potato!"
"So it seems I don''t even need to touch the matured product; it is enough to touch any part of the plant..."
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Since he had just woken up, and although he had drunk, Foin was quite hungry. He limited eating to once a day, and for some reason, it didn''t affect him at all. Whenever he went to sleep, he wasn''t hungry; however, in the morning, he was famished.
As he had counted, each plant of pepper had yielded at least five larger, and the most benevolent produced eight larger peppers. He was extremely curious as to how they would taste, so he quickly tore off one.
"You have gained 1 Experience Point and 1 Point."
Another message appeared as he tore off the product. It made him think; he previously thought that the reason he was given this message the second day was for something else, like surviving, but it seems he had gained it for harvesting.
"Wait, if I gain Experience Points, shouldn''t I have some kind of status window as well?"
As soon as I was responding to his question, a large window popped up. As much as he was excited about it, it was quite blank. He had 11 Experience points out of 100. This was displayed at the top of the panel. Underneath it was a smaller number, which showed his Points, which, just like the Experience points, was 11.
Going further down was another column of information: Strength, Endurance, Charisma, Agility, Luck. Next to them was the exact same number written: 1. Written in a much smaller case was another variable called Ability Points, from which he had zero.
Further down the panel was a section named Skills, which was empty; underneath it was another section titled Species. Under that section, he could find the three plants he had touched just recently. What surprised him the most was that each plant had its own bar, which looked like an Experience Point bar. Each had 0 out of 100 except for Pepper, which was 1 out of 100
Upon seeing this large and strange yet empty panel, Foin took a deep breath and shook his head.
"What the hell? I thought I would be given some sort of system like the ones in games or novels I have read... I am basically an NPC based on stats alone! I don''t even have skills... AM I A... A FARMER?!"
He shouted furiously, hitting his hand against the ground. He believed that the least he could get was some kind of headstart in a brand-new world. Something which he can utilise to survive. It took him a few minutes to finally calm down.
"Well... In my current state, I am unable to move around easily anyway...I have never had my leg broken, let alone shot... twice... so I don''t know how long it would take to heal..."
He took another deep breath and looked at the freshly harvested pepper in his hand to saturate his hunger, and since he had no other idea what to do for the time being, he took a bite.
Much to his surprise, the taste was something he had never tasted. It was both sweet and slightly spicy. In a few bites, he devoured that product; however, he managed to collect all the seeds that were inside it.
"It was so great... I must expand my garden greatly..."
He mumbeld to himslef. The taste of his first harvested pepper was so great that he managed to momentarily forget why he was angry a few moments ago, despite the fact that the status window was still open before his eyes.
Clenching his right hand, which he had put the seeds into, he reached out for another pepper with his left hand and quickly ate it. In a matter of a few minutes, he ate all five of the products of the plant. With a loud and well-deserved burp, he ended his breakfast.
Every time he harvested a product, just like before, he got Experience Point and Point; as a result, now he only needed to harvest 85 to reach 100 Experience points and 95 more to see what would happen if his Pepper reached 100.
Chapter 5: The First Taste part 2
Seeing that harvesting was the source of his development and progress, Foin had no choice but to accept the fact that he was truly a farmer. Even if he enjoyed acting as one as he liked planting and tending to plants, still, deep down, he was hurt.
He removed the empty plant and threw it next to the large pile of grass. He decided that in the worst-case scenario, he could use that as fuel for fire if he ran out of sticks or grass.
"Alright... Let''s expand a bit more..."
He mumbled as he started digging a hole using only his hand. He dug two different rows. He wanted to test if he could use a single seed to grow something or if he needed to drop in more seeds. Since he had greatly increased the number of seeds he had, and there were still many to harvest, he had nothing to worry about. He planted five using only a single seed and five using the rest of his seeds. Every time he buried the seed, a new panel popped up, giving him Experience Point and Point.
Once he was done with the planting, he proceeded to harvest the rest of his plants. All in all, he had 31 extra peppers, which, for the time being, he put on the ground; as for the useless empty plants, just like before, he threw them over to the pile of grass.
Then he proceeded over to the potatoes. Using his hand, he quickly dug around them and slowly extracted the yields. He had never harvested potatoes before and didn''t even know how much he would get, but he was slightly saddened as under the first one, he found only four, while under the second one, he found six. Each was roughly around the size of his fist.
Just as it happened for the previous plat, for every piece of potato he had picked up, he gained one Experience Point and one Point.
"I thought they would give a bit more..."
However, he didn''t hesitate for long, as he had decided that planting six potatoes would be the best course of action. So, just after he put the four he wanted to keep next to the pile of peppers, he started digging and plating the potatoes, further increasing his Experience Points and Points. It was at that moment that he realised that planting only gave him the Experience Points, unlike harvesting, as the number next to potatoes didn''t increase after planting them. They remained at 10 out of 100
He felt as if the Experience points for the different plants were more like an indicator to show how much he had harvested. But as he looked at the now bush-size flower, he wondered. Since the plant has only flowers, maybe he needs to harvest its flowers to gain Experience Points.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Foin looked at the larger plant as soon as he was finished planting and covering the potatoes with dirt. His hand was covered with mud, all the way up to his elbow.
"Hah...farming feels better than I expected.. especially if the plant''s growth is this fast."
With a content smile, Foin looked at the large flower.
"Maybe... Maybe I could tear off smaller branches and use them as fuel as well... Seeing how girthy its main parts are..."
He slowly made his way back to his pile of grass and looked at the sticks he had collected the day before. He wanted to make some sort of support so that he could stand up straight without the need to worry about straining his injured leg, but the sticks were all small, and he had nothing that he could use to med two or three together.
Suddenly, he had a strange feeling wash over him. A feeling of calmness. And suddenly, he felt as if the pain emanating from his wounds had been alleviated to some point. He even gently touched his wounded leg.
"What is this?"
His wound did not change one bit; it was as if he was under the influence of some sort of painkiller. He quickly shook his head, and then, with one determined movement, he pushed himself up. He stood up, but only on one leg. Soon, he slowly lowered his injured leg; at first, only his toes touched the ground, and he gradually applied more of his weight. He could feel that due to the strain, the pain intensified, but it was just bearable.
"Could it be the effect of the peppers I ate?"
He questioned and looked back down at the product he had harvested.
"If this is the case... could the potato have something similar effect as well? Well, tomorrow I will find out I have decided!"
He stumbled over to the bush, which was about as tall as his stomach. He gently grabbed one of the flowers and tore it off. Just as he had expected, a panel popped up.
"You have gained 1 Experience Point and 1 Point."
He just wanted to test whether it would act as harvesting, and he was delighted to find out that his assumption was right. He took a deep breath in from the sweet scent of his harvested flower and then sat back down. He put the fragile little flower down, dug a tiny hole for it, and then planted it.
Since even the potato and the pepper could grow from such a bad state into real plants, he believed that maybe even a new bush would grow from that single flower due to the accelerated growth he had experienced.
"Alright, let''s get back to collecting more sticks!"
Foin mumbled to himself and then pushed himself back up. He slowly stumbled towards the forest to collect more sticks and pieces of stone. The rest of his third day was spent gathering more resources.
He noticed that the effect which alleviated his pain wore off after about an hour or so, so his progress was once again slowed down; still, he made great progress. He almost tripled his storage of sticks and found a few extra larger rocks as well.
Chapter 6: Sweet Fire
At the break of day four, Foin woke up earlier than ever before. It was still dark when he woke up. With a growl, Foin slowly crawled out of the pile of grass and looked at his recently harvested garden while stretching his arms.
He could see that the newly planted potato started growing just like before, but the vegetation was much more prominent and had a stronger colour than before. As for the ¨Ślion plants, the older ones once again grew larger, but the change was not as significant as the previous ones. But the newly planted one grew quite a bit. That smaller one had already reached its bush-like form, but unlike the other one, it seemed much denser.
Looking at the pepper plants, Foin noticed quite significant and impressive changes. The row in which he only used a single seed had grown but seemed weaker than the previous ones and even had fewer flowers. While the row in which he planted many more seeds had much larger plants. They were thicker, denser and much taller and also had a much more prominent colour, and on top of all this, each was full of flowers.
"Wow, it seems that although fewer seeds are enough, it means that a weaker plant will grow... Great to know. Maybe that is why the new plant of that ¨Ślion is so much larger than the other one."
He mumbled as he slowly looked around his growing garden with a wide smile. Since yesterday he had decided that he would try the potato, he grabbed a few hands full of grass and brought them closer to the sticks. He wanted to use them to start the fire; even though he knew that they were still not dry, they could still be used.
Since he had four grown potatoes which he wanted to eat, he grabbed four longer sticks and a stone and started sharpening the sticks. The process was quite slow as he was still quite clumsy, but he tried to drop the sawdust onto the grass he brought. Once he was finished with the first stick, he quickly grabbed another one. The second one was faster than the first, and by the time he got to the last one, he could sharpen one in about a minute. They were not too sharp, just sharp enough to easily pierce the potato.
The next step was that he grabbed a few long but thin sticks and started breaking them into smaller parts and then laid them on top of the smaller pile of grass and sawdust. He used only about two thinner sticks, and then he grabbed a single larger one. That, too, was broken into smaller sections, which then were placed next to the smaller ones. He wanted to put them on once the wood had caught on fire.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Then, he quickly retrieved his lighter. It was about 60% full, but he wanted to use it sparingly. He carefully lit the grass on fire, and as soon he saw it, he started gently blowing it. In a matter of a few seconds, even the sawdust on the top started burning. The tiny flame flickered faster as it slowly grew, spreading across the sawdust and the grass underneath.
A few short minutes later, most of the grass was already burning, and the thin sticks on top, which were about the diameter of a finger, each started giving cracking sounds. The flames were continuously licking the small sticks, and soon they, too, started burning. Foin waited some time until the sticks were burning well, and then he put the larger sticks on top.
Simultaneously, he was preparing the potatoes. He put three already by the fire, each pinned to a stick; however, he decided to spice up the last one. He broke a pepper into two, and using the two half-peppers, he sandwiched the potato. He decided to hold that one while the other three were planted into the ground.
The fire burned with great power and was producing quite a fume, but for some reason, it had a sweet scent, which slowly steeped into the potatoes. It was not yet noticed by Foin, who was just sitting with a wide smile and was full of anticipation. As he smelled the sweet scent, he started drooling and could barely contain his urges to taste the potatoes; however, he managed to stop himself.
The sweet scent of the burning grass, enhanced by the scent of the potatoes, quickly spread across the area. Unlike any normal fumes, it did not fly up; instead, it stayed low. Foin was at first surprised, but he remembered that it was a different world, and there were many things he had yet to discover, let alone learn.
Foin changed his stick to another on which only a potato wasm, and after pulling it away and blowing it in order hasten its cooling. Since this was his first time cooking like that, he carefully tried to pull off the skin on a smaller area and then took a bite. It was still too hot, and his breathing quicked through his mouth, but it was well worth it for him. The taste was something he had never tasted. It was so great that he devoured the entire potato without peeling off its skin.
He liked it so much that he didn''t even care that it was not yet ready as it was still slightly raw. After eating that serving, he quickly cleaned his mouth with his muddy sleeves and then let out a constant sigh.
"I don''t even know why I was so upset about having that system. If I am a fighter, that means I must put my life on the line every day. Like this, I can enjoy eating delicious food every day and can just expand my little territory without needing to worry about anything."
He believed he didn''t need to worry about anything, but he was mistaken. His life was just about to begin. The scent of his fire spread across a larger portion of the forest, and although so far he was lucky that he hadn''t met anyone or anything, now he just sent a signal through the forest that he existed.
Chapter 7: Sweet Fire part 2
Foin decided to wait a few more minutes as his previous potato was still a bit raw. In the meantime, he just enjoyed the pleasant scent of his fire. As he was waiting, he was daydreaming. In his imagination, he had created an entire field of potatoes and was running in it while chewing on some freshly cooked ones. However, this daydream was quickly scattered.
Suddenly, he heard a sound which was not related to the fire. A strange crack and some sort of movement. He could see that in the distance, the tall grass was moving, and something was slowly approaching him. He was bewildered. A few moments earlier, he was just happily eating a baked potato; now, he was witnessing something he never wanted to.
Most definitely a creature which he had never seen, as this was a different world. His previous smile quickly faded, and his face turned show white. He was in this shocked state for a few moments; however, he suddenly had a new idea. The stick he used to cook his potato was, although not extremely sharp, but was usable.
He quickly grabbed a handful of grass as he leaned back to his pile and tightly wrapped it around the tip of his so-called weapon. And then he dipped it into the fire. With great effort, he stood up, using his injured leg just as much as he used his healthy one due to the adrenalin coursing through his veins; he felt no pain at all.
The grass soon started burning, and Folin was ready to engage. He was prepared to throw his stick as if it was a javelin. He was sweating greatly and was glaring ahead at the movements coming from the tall grass.
What stepped out of the tall grass shocked him. It was definitely not something he had expected. A massive, dog-sized ant. It was pitch black, and it was seemingly injured. It had a few holes around its body through which yellow liquid was leaking. It was almost as if it was blood, but it was much more syrupy. One of its antennas was missing, and its entire body was slightly shaking.
"STOP!"
Folin didn''t know what came over him as he quickly drew his weapon from the fire and readied it to throw. For some reason, as soon as he shouted, the massive black ant stopped and looked at him. It seemed as if it understood him.
Foin glared into the ant''s eyes while trying to avoid his eyes and instead stared at his chest. After taking a deep breath, Foin extended his burning stick and pointed it at the monster before his eyes. No matter how peaceful the ant seemed, he was still a monster of another world in Foin''s eyes, so he needed to be as careful as possible.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Could it be that it came for food? It doesn''t seem that hostile... It''s more like it is submissive than aggressive..."
Foin looked down at the fire, growled and quickly looked back at the shaking. He slowly lowered himself back onto the ground while still having his burning stick extended.
"Damn it... I guess it''s worth a try!"
Foin mumbled as he quickly removed his other three slightly well-done servings. He decided that he would give the ant two potatoes; maybe then it would leave him alone. He''d rather lose some food than be eaten or killed because he was too greedy.
He waited a few minutes for the food to cool, and once it was cooled enough, he pulled them off of the stick and then tossed them to the ant. Who ate first stepped away and then looked at the cooked potatoes.
"You can have them."
He said as he glared at the ant. The monster at first looked at him and then nodded greatly surprising Foin. He was not expecting this level of reaction from the monster before him. He felt a hint of happiness as he watched the ant try the potato, something that he had grown personally.
The ant took a small bit at first, tasting the potato; however, then it started eating faster, just like Foin. As soon as he threw the potatoes, he started eating his portion with the peppers. It seemed that the potato''s and the pepper''s flavours slightly mixed together, creating a new and great experience.
The stick in Foin''s hand had been mostly enveloped by the flames, as he had it extended forward, allowing the fire to spread easier. He could feel that the fire was getting closer to his hand, and soon, he would need to drop his stick.
He sighed, and suddenly, once the ant was finished eating, it slowly walked closer to him. It was much slower than before, and when he was only about a meter away from Foin, it stopped. Foin was prepared and was ready to strike if it was needed; however, the monster remained submissive as it had its head slightly lowered.
Foin looked at the ant, and for some unknown reason, a strange grew stronger in him; it was that he wanted to pat the ant. He didn''t know where this strange feeling originated from, but seeing its head, it felt so close and so easy to do. He always liked insects back in his original world, so the only reason he was on edge because of the ant was due to its sheer size. And, of course, the unknown abilities it could have, which are common in this unknown world.
He slowly extended his free hand and touched the ant''s head. At that gesture, the ant shook its body a bit but then calmed down. Foin stroked the insect''s head and then let go of his stick. Both because it was too hot for him to hold any longer and because he felt that the insect before him didn''t mean any harm to him.
Some could say that it was a hastened decision. As soon as he pulled his hand back, the ant bit his middle finger, and as Foin hissed up, it jumped back quickly. Foin quickly looked at his finger and could see two tiny marks. The ant''s mandibles punctured his skin in two tiny areas, and those two holes were bleeding. At first, he was only surprised and felt nothing at all. But soon, even after a few seconds gone by, his entire body felt numb.
"Damn it... I was too naive!"
He thought as he felt great numbness animating from every part of his body. He could feel that his body grew heavier and heavier, and he slowly leaned back. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t move, and as he finally leaned down, his vision grew blurrier. There was only one thing he could see. The ant, which was right next to him, lowered its head, almost touching his. This was his last vision before finally everything went black, and he closed his eyes.
Chapter 8: The Skill
"What the..."
Foin thought as he suddenly jolted awake. He was fine; he was not eaten or killed. Carefully looking around, he raised his head off of the ground to see the area. It seemed that he was out for a whole day because his plants once again grew considerably and were ready to be harvested once again. As he sifted his gaze, he could see that the fire he used previously was now put out.
As he tried to move, he felt that something was on his left palm. As he altered his gaze to see what he felt, he was shocked. The ant which had previously bitten him was using the palm it bit as a pillow. Its two front legs were on his wrist, pressing down it slightly.
It was a sight to behold; even Foin was stunned for a few seconds. Since he still felt somewhat numb from the previous bite, he didn''t even notice the ant. But now that he knew it was there, he tried to pull his hand away as quietly and as stealthily as possible, but he was not that skilled.
The moment his hand moved, the ant opened its eyes and looked at him while applying slight pressure on his wrist to prevent him from pulling back. Foin was horrified; he didn''t know what to do. Just like before, the ant didn''t look him in the eye but instead looked at his chest.
What surprised him more was what the ant did. He was expecting it to attack or bite him again, but instead, it shook its head, stepped off of his hand, and lowered its head. As his hand was let go, Foin quickly pulled it back.
Once again, Foin looked around in his tiny area in search of something he could utilise as a defensive tool, but it was to no avail. Although he still had stones and sticks, they were out of his current reach, and the ant was too close for him to get there in time if it wanted to attack. However, as he was about to look back at the ant, he noticed something. The peppers he had harvested previously were all missing.
"You glutton... So that is the reason!"
Foin understuud what had happened. The ant ate his food and decided to let him leave as it was full. This was the most logical conclusion he could come to, as everything seemed so unrealistic, even in his current predicament.
Suddenly, the black ant walked over to him as he was not paying any attention and rubbed its head against his leg. Upon feeling the ant''s touch, Foin came back to reality and hurriedly looked down at it. At that moment, a new window popped up before his eyes.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Congratulations! You have tamed a Black Ant!"
"Tamed a Black Ant?!"
Foin repeated the notification, which soon faded away. He looked down at the injured black ant and then shook his head. He couldn''t believe that he had managed to tame this black ant using only food. Foin let out a loud sigh. Although the system stated that the ant was tamed, he still couldn''t fully trust it; he still felt threatened. He pondered for a few moments and then finally came up with an idea.
"Could you gather some more sticks?"
Foin asked as he looked at the ant. He couldn''t help but laugh at himself for saying such a laughable thing, but he needed to try whether it would work. And just as he spoke, the ant nodded and walked away, leaving Foin speechless. He couldn''t believe that the ant just understood him and presumably went gathering wood.
Foin scratched his head and quickly went over to his peppers, and quickly ate the closest one as, for some reason, despite not doing anything the day before, only being knocked out, he was hungrier than ever before. He carefully collected the seeds from the pepper he had just eaten and, in its place, plated two extra plants from the seeds.
He believed that that might be an acceptable amount of seed to not be that weak, like the further row he planted. Also, other than its size and number of yields, Foin also noticed that it had a rich and stronger flavour. So even if he could produce a greater quantity of weaker plants, it wouldn''t be worth it because of the weaker taste.
All in all, he ate four extra peppers and, as a result, planted eight extra new plants. As he was finished and his hunger was satisfied, he opened his menu to see his stats. He only needed two more Experience Points to level up.
With a broad smile and full of anticipation, he quickly harvested two extra peppers to see what would happen. Suddenly, a new panel popped up.
"Congratulations! You have levelled up. Required Experience Points increased! All Stats have increased by 1! Ability Points increased by 1!"
"Notice! The system is pleased with your progress, and as a result, you are given a reward. Please choose one of the following skills!"
Under the text, there were three buttons. The first one was called Fertilizer, the second one was called Appraiser, and the third one was called Gatherer.
Foin started at the options before him. he was unable to decide for many long minutes. He believed that the first two could be extremely useful. Looking at the first, the one called Fertilizer, although he was unable to grasp how it would work, he was certain that it would either increase the yield or the speed at which his product grew.
As for the APraiser, he hoped that that skill would allow him to have a broader understanding of the things around him. As for the Gatherer, no matter how much he was thinking about it, he couldn''t understand what that could mean.
He wanted to choose the best and greatest option, but no matter how he looked at the skills, he couldn''t decide which he would rather choose but then finally he made up his mind and chose.
He confidently pressed the Appraiser skill as he''d rather know more about the stuff around him than grow more, which he could do in due time anyway. Also, later, he realised that even if he had faster growth, he already had enough food production for him to survive without a problem.
Chapter 9: The Skill part 2
Upon selecting the skill, Foin let out a content sigh. He looked down at the peppers he had harvested to gain his extra Experience Points and then decided to harvest a few extra. As soon as he touched a product, two brand new texts popped up before his eyes.
"Pepper! Level: Basic. Tier: 1. Quality: E. Type: Food"
"Wow... that is truly descriptive... I can only assume what these things mean..."
Fo8n mumbled as the text faded. He quickly opened his status window to check what had changed. His Experience Points number really did change; it was now 150 instead of 100. Next to his strength, Endurance, Charisma, and Agility were no longer 1, but instead 2. Below it, the Ability Point counter was now showing 1.
His previously chosen skill, Apraiser, had shown up in his skill section; next to it was another line of numbers. 1 out of 100. It was almost as if he could level up his skill as well.
"Well, maybe if I can level it up, it will be more useful..."
He mumbled as the menu was closed. After he saw that his skill could level up with renewed enthusiasm, he started working on harvesting the peppers. Every time he touched a new one, the same message showing its stats popped up. After a while, it started irritating Foin, but then, after about ten times, it finally stopped appearing.
He first harvested the peppers and just put them into one large pile not far from them so that he didn''t need to move with his injured leg. By the time he was finished harvesting the lush, greener and stronger plants, he started feeling that strange feeling once again. It surged up inside him stronger and greatly alleviated his pain.
"Maybe it was a higher quality paper; that is why I am so full now and feel such a strong reaction compared to the previous ones?"
He mumbled as he started removing the empty plants. He threw them to the already established pile of unneeded greens next to his pile of grass. Once he was finally done, he grabbed one of the weaker plant''s peppers.
"Pepper! Level: Basic. Tier: 1. Quality: F. Type: Food"
A new panel showed up. Although, based on the outlook of the plant, Foin assumed something was different, he didn''t expect the product would be that altered. These peppers were slightly smaller and had a weaker colour but nothing extra.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"Since it is of lower quality, I will just feed them to the ant... Come to think of it; it has been gone for quite some time... Maybe it got bored of me and decided to look for something else..."
Foin didn''t give much thought to that problem, as he still had to harvest two rows of plants, pepper and potato. As he was happily harvesting the lower-quality peppers, suddenly, he heard a loud noise. He quickly put the products in a separate pile so that he could easily identify which was which, and then looked back.
The ant had returned, and it had brought a massive branch; it was about as thick as Foin''s thigh or maybe even a bit wider. It was only that large portion, and it seemed to be debranched. As soon as the ant dropped it off next to the sticks Foin had painstakingly collected, the monster turned around and left.
"How...It took me two days to collect that many sticks and this guy just brought me that massive branch?! Wait... Did it just chop it off by itself?! It could kill me so much more easily than I had thought! If it had that much power to technically bite off that thich wood... I hope the taming will not wear off..."
It took him a few minutes to snap back to reality. After shaking his head, he continued harvesting his peppers and throwing away the unneeded plant. Once he was finished, he quickly went over to the potatoes. As soon as he dug out his first potato, the same his appraiser skill activated.
"Potato! Level: Basic. Tier: 1. Quality: E. Type: Food"
He had a massive potato harvest; all in all, he managed to harvest 78 potatoes, from which he planted 28. That was quite a long process, but it was all part of his plan.
He still knew nothing about this world, and maybe it had a similar climate as his previous world. Thus, he decided to produce more and store them just in case winter struck and he would not have enough food to eat.
"I should really start planning ahead... Some sort of underground storage would be useful for the food; if Winter exists here, then it will be quite bad..."
Just as Foin mumbled that, the ant had brought another quite large piece of wood and dropped it next to the other, slightly surprising him as he was so lost in thoughts. He quickly looked back; the wood the ant had brought was slightly smaller than the previous one, but still, it was large.
At that moment, his eyes quickly darted at the two large bushes like flowers. He just remembered that although he used his skills to see what the plants were, he had yet to try it on the ¨Ślion flower.
Still feeling the painkiller-like effect, he pushed himself up and, walked over to the closest and denser bush and grabbed one of its flowers.
"¨Ślion! Level: Common. Tier: 1. Quality: E. Type: Herb"
"This is different...Common and herb... Well, I was somehow certain that it would not be food, but I still wanted a bit more information. At least I know that it is rarer or better than the other plants I have available... Well, the flowers do have quite a great smell... Maybe I will try using some when I cook next... maybe I could cook some today as well..."
He mumbled as he was taking in the reinvigorating smell of the flowers. Each hit him like a wave of calmness, yet he felt so lively. With a smile, he quickly harvested two flowers. At that moment, he received a notification he was not yet expecting. He had just levelled up. Although the required Experience Points was 150, he had just harvested and planted such a great number of times that it was no surprise he had levelled up.
"Congratulations! You have levelled up. Required Experience Points increased! All Stats have increased by 1! Ability Points increased by 1!"
Chapter 10: Numbing č
lion
This time, he received no new skills, which slightly saddened Foin, but he was not discouraged. He followed his plan. Although he had already eaten, he decided to cook some potatoes and peppers so that tomorrow morning he could eat some, and he also wanted to see how edible the flower would be.
Just because the flower had quite a nice smell, he wanted to try using it as some sort of spice. It was quite a foolish decision as it could have been poisonous, but he was determined.
With the help of one of his stones, he started sharpening a few more sticks. This process was faster than before. The sawdust which he produced fell to the ground, but he carefully collected it once he was finished.
Just as he did the last time, he started with some now dryer grass as the base, then put on the sawdust and smaller sticks. He had six sticks ready on which he put two potatoes sandwiched between two higher-quality peppers. And then, on two, he even put an ¨Ślion flower. He carefully placed the sticks in a circle around and then ignited the bonfire.
Just like before, a prominent sweet smell lingered around the area within moments, once again slightly enhancing the taste of the potatoes and the peppers. In a matter of a few seconds, the ant quickly returned. It was slightly dirty, and it stopped a few meters away from Foin. As he looked back at it, he pointed at the pile made of the lower-quality pepper.
"That pile is yours."
For the first time ever, the ant stared into Foin''s eyes. From an outer perspective, it would have seemed like some sort of fierce staring contest, but what really happened was different. As Foin looked back into its eyes, only one word came to his mind.
"Puppy eyes? But...Fine... You can have some of it as well later... Since you did work quite hard."
Foin mumbled under his breath and then sighed loudly. That ant which had bitten him previously seemed more like a pet in his eyes. It Not only behaved like one but seemingly understood human language quite well; as soon as he heard Foin''s response, it quickly nodded and lay down.
While the food was being cooked, Foin decided to do something productive work. He proceeded to break the peppers into the lower-quality pile and then removed their seeds. He did not plant them yet, only collected them. Since he had no container in which he could have stored it, he simply used one of the paper halves as a container and brought it with him, just to keep it safe.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
The ant was so hungry for the cooking goods that it didn''t even look at Foin as he was collecting the seeds; however, as some of the potatoes'' skin started turning slightly darker, it stood up. Fortunately, Foin returned just about in time and removed them before they could have been overly burned. Looking at the two in which he had placed the flowers, Foin decided to give the first one to the ant, just in case.
He carefully placed the two half peppers and the potato with the flower down next to him and then pointed at them. The insect instantly sped over to it, smelled it, and consumed it with a single bite. It slightly shook its head but then instantly looked up at Foin, expecting the next serving.
Foin was at first surprised as he didn''t expect the ant to eat it that quickly, and he thought it would leave the flower there. Seeing how it was still looking at the rest of the potatoes, he sighed and gave in. He gave it all but the one mixed with pepper and ¨Ślion flower.
While the ant was eating the potatoes, he sniffed his portion. At first, he was about to bite right into it, but he stopped and flicked the flower off, and only then did he taste it. Suddenly, the ant stopped eating and quickly picked up the flower, as if that one was more important than the food it was given.
At first, Foin didn''t notice anything; the taste was about the same as before. It was not bad, as it was still fantastic, but he expected something more. He stood up and slightly stretched his back and arms. At that moment, he felt a strange, weak numbness. It was nothing like the one he felt after being bitten by the ant.
This numbness was so great that it completely killed every sort of pain and soreness in his body, almost as if they had never even existed before. As a result, Foin started testing how movements felt. At first, he slowly applied more and more pressure to his injured leg, and to his surprise, he felt nothing. He was able to stand on his injured leg on one leg.
"Wow... It feels great! I could get used to this..."
He looked back at the ant, who was now eating the peppers he had broken up. Although Foin had harvested a great number of peppers, which would last his days, the ant ate almost half of them easily and then left.
"How much can it eat?! It eats much more than I do... I thought that amount of pepper would last us at least a week, but... I have to get back to planning."
Foin noted with a loud sigh, and then he started planting the seeds. Learning from his previous experiments, he planted more seeds to ensure that the quality would be better than F.
He had quite a large number of seeds, so he spent almost the whole day planting. By the time he was done with planting, he had almost used up all the land he had cleared out. The only area left unplanted was where he slept and where he had his storage area.
For a few more hours, he started clearing out a larger area. This time, it was much faster as he was able to move around easier. The grass he had removed was now put into a brand new pile to separate the somewhat dry from the freshly collected one.
As he was clearing out a larger area, he decided that he would give it a shot to potery . Maybe from Mud, he could create containers for the seeds at least. That night, he fell asleep thinking about how to get started on the pottery.
Chapter 11: Mud
On the next beautiful morning, Foin started his day by eating a few of his peppers. This time, he put all of the seeds into a single hole as he had already planted plenty, and he had planned something else for that day. He still had two plastic bottles with him, one of which was full of water, and the other was full of some sweet beverage. Seeing how long it had been since he had bought the sweet liquid, he decided to drink it.
The taste was nowhere as sweet as he remembered and already had some kind of side taste, probably from not being touched for a long time. Feeling that the numbing effect had warred off, he decided to try something new. He filled his plastic bottle with water, almost to the brim, and then grabbed three flowers and put them into the water, then the bottle was left alone.
Then he expanded the clear around once again, but this time not towards his farming area, but around his storage area. Although it was only a few meters large expansion, it was plenty enough. Foin quickly moved the ground a bit. And then he poured the unopened water bottle water into the area. Once empty, he quickly refilled it from the river and watered that area once again.
His goal was to create some mud. After about five bottles of water, he stopped watering as the dirt was easily moldable now. He was able to easily form it however he wanted. So he quickly grabbed as much as he could and pulled it out. He slowly began to try and create a cube-like storage; although it was deformed, it had walls and a bottom. Once he was done with that one, he repeated the process as he knew that he was not very crafty.
Had crafted many different-sized and shaped ones just to test his skills. He created even tops for some of them, but they were very crude. They all had uneven walls; some had too thick walls, while some had too thin. But he didn''t care and just placed them around the bonfire''s place, which he once again prepared with some potato.
Not knowing how long it would take for the pots to dry properly, he decided to use some of the larger wood that the ant had brought him. At first, he grabbed the sharpest stone he found and sat down on the wood to have a better angle and better position, and then started hitting it with his piece of stone.
His plan was to cut off a larger portion, which would most definitely hold out for longer, and it would be the centrepiece of his bonfire. And at the same time, he could use the sawdust or even store it for later occasions.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Much to his surprise, he managed to work quite fast, although he did hit his hand against the wood a few times, but the result is what matters, and he did manage to cut off a quite large piece. Although he didn''t think about whether that would light on fire, and his sticks were running quite low as well. As a result, he quickly removed the bark of the log he had cut off and then brought it to its place.
"Wow, it is surprisingly light... Well, this is another world, so it might just be some kind of light wood..."
He mumbled as he prepared the fire. After he had done the preparation, he lit the fire and then stepped back to the large branch.
Seeing how little wood he had to start another fire, with the help of his stone, he started clearing the wood of its bark and then collected it in one large pile. In the process, he also created some extra sawdust, but he just let it stay on the ground for the time being. As soon as he was done with that branch, he continued his work on the other one.
It was quite a long process, and he only worked on one large part of the log as he was unable to reach beneath the wood, and he didn''t want to move it around just yet. While he was working on that, the fire soon managed to ignite even the larger log as well. As soon as it was fully engulfed by flames, the heat it produced was significant. Foin even needed to collect the potatoes and put on a few new ones just to use the already burning fire.
After having cleared down the second branch as well, Foin decided to look at the pots and the lids he had moulded. As he looked, some seemed quite dry already, but they were all in bad shape. They were full of cracks, and some even shattered. While the fire was still burning, Foin quickly made another bunch; this time, he put them a bit further away from the fire.
The area from which he started scraping and collecting the mud to use for pottery had now a quite deep hole, which would soon grow larger as Foin kept making more and more. He wanted to make sure that he made at least one which would be usable.
Dozens of pots made of mud were standing around the fire. From a bird''s eye view, it seemed as if it was part of some kind of ritual, but it was just Foin''s way of trying to achieve his goal.
This trial-and-error way of working proved quite useful, as he noticed that the lower he got in the hole, the mud he gathered changed and seemed somewhat more durable and resistant. Even moulding that was a bit different.
Later, he realised that it was truly better as they did not shatter and even had smaller cracks, but still, they were unusable. He kept trying till night, but he couldn''t make anything usable. Much to his surprise, the wood was still burning even at night and produced great heat.
Just as Foin was putting the last pot he did for the day next to the fire, he received a system notification.
"Notice! The system is pleased with your progress, and as a result, you are given a reward. A random reward will be issued shortly!"
"Notice! The system is pleased with your progress, devotion, and patience, and as a result, you are given a reward. A special reward will be issued shortly."
Chapter 12: The Burning Moon
As soon as the notification disappeared, a blinding light appeared before Foin''s eyes; however, the blinding light dissipated, and a smaller object fell into his hands. It was a round object, and its diameter was about the size of Foin''s thumb''s nail. He was unable to decide what it could be, but he didn''t even have much time to think as another blinding light appeared.
This time, it was a book seemingly plain book. Its cover was simply blue and was quite thin. It was more like a manual as it was short; on its cover, one could read its title with beautifully written golden characters: Perfect Breathing.
"What the..."
Reacted Foin as he looked at the two rewards he received. He didn''t know what that tiny spherical object was, so he just put it down next to him; he was more interested in the book. With great curiosity, he opened it, looked at its first page and then flipped through its pages.
The book proved to be a hand-drawn picture book; it had barely any text in it, and on top of it, it was more like some kind of exercise book as the pictures depicted different kinds of movements. Each page appeared to show different sets of exercises, and they seemed harder and harder after each page.
The very first one only had some kind of hand movements. After a minute of thinking, Foin decided to try the instructions on the first page. So he put the book down and started following the instructions drawn in the book. It seemed more like arm stretching than any sort of exercise.
Since he didn''t feel any special effect right away, Foin quickly repeated the movements a few more times. And since, even after that, he felt nothing; he only sighed.
"Well... it really seems like just some kind of arm-stretching... I will do it a few more times, and then I hope the system will do something or at least SOMETHING will happen... It was given by the system, so it must be something useful... I hope."
He repeated the same movement over and over again, but no new window popped up, nor did he feel anything else, so he gave up. Only then did he finally look at the small object which came before the book. He stared at the tiny object and inspected it from multiple sides.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
He couldn''t decide what it was; at first, he believed that it was truly a random reward and that he was just given a random piece of stone. But then he noticed that although it had a stone-like texture, it was somewhat soft, and it also had some kind of scent, a scent which he had never smelled before.
The sun was just about to go down at that time, and in the flickering light of the still-burning fire, he kept inspecting that reward. Once the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon, Foin took a deep breath and then did the only thing which came to his mind.
All he could think of was that this reward was some kind of seed, so he quickly dug a hole and put his reward into it. Just to be sure that he wouldn''t lose it, he put a piece of stone next to it, and only then did he cover it with dirt. The stone was clearly visible, so he could find it easily.
He didn''t receive any notification, and for a second, he was about to dig up the reward, but then he remembered that the first time he had planted the other seeds, it took a night for him to receive the notification, so the best thing he could do was wait and sleep. However, he was not yet tired. Instead, he put a few more smaller sticks onto the fire and sat beside it.
He looked up at the dark, clear sky while he was waiting for the sticks to start burning so that he could have a better vision of the surrounding area. The sky was beautiful. It was full of tiny stars. Some were red, purple, and even green ones were visible. However, no matter how he looked around, he couldn''t see the moon, that is, even if this new world had one.
"I wonder how things are going in my original world... It has already been a few days... Now that I think about it... What could have happened there? Was I declared a missing person? Hm... Well... I do know that my current life is great. Farming and doing some fun things every day is better than studying and working..."
He sighed as he slowly lowered his gaze to the fire. For quite some time, he glared at it, but soon a greenish light hit his eyes. He looked up at the sky, and a massive, presumably moon, slowly emerged into the night sky. It had such a powerful glow that it lit up everything.
"Wow... It looks so cool... How come I have never woken up when this level of light was being produced? Wait..."
Suddenly, the fire in front of him turned green as well, and if that was not enough, he felt great heat; however, it was not emanating from the fire but from the moon. It was almost as if it was a second sun. He could feel that as the green light touched his skin, it was slightly burning, almost as if it was on a scorching summer day.
However, after a few minutes, he got used to this new sensation, and he no longer felt that strange burning sensation. However, he was still quite shocked, as the temperature was not that high; it was just perfectly fine: not too hot, not too cold, just perfect. So he scratched his head and then went over to his dryer pile of grass, and then got ready to sleep.
In the beginning, the green light bothered him as even as he closed his eyes, he saw it, but then he gradually got used to it, and after about half an hour, he finally managed to fall asleep.
Chapter 13: The Burning Moon part 2
In a dark cave, a young girl was sitting while pressing her back to the wall of the cave. He was wearing torn clothes and was fast asleep. She had very long black hair, which, in her current position, reached the ground. She was in the deepest part of the cave in which absolutely no light could reach her.
In the complete silence, which was occasionally broken by her ragged breathing, suddenly, a new kind of sound could have been heard. It was almost as if something was running at great speed. The sound at first began as some small noise, but it gradually grew louder. It got so loud that the girl even woke up and slightly moved but had not yet opened her eyes.
When the steps grew even closer, the girl finally opened her eyes. She had beautiful purple eyes which glow in the darkness. She slowly pushed herself up with shaking limbs, and as she was finally standing, she glanced at her skinny, shaking hands.
"I am getting weaker day by day... I don''t know for how long I will be able to last..."
She mumbled as she started walking in the darkness. Although it was so dark that it would have been impossible for anyone to see, she managed to walk without a problem and without hitting the rough walls of the cave. She even leaned down when she got to a lower portion of the cave.
While she was walking, the running noise disappeared, and once again, she was the only source of sound. The sound of her bare feet on the cold stone of the cave and her irregular breathing. In the distance, the girl could see a greenish light, and as soon as she noticed it, her eyes widened, and then a grin formed on her face. She collected all her strength, and with a great pace, she rushed towards the light.
Soon, she got out of the cave. The cave was located on the side of a massive mountain. At the foot of the mountain was a massive and seemingly endless forest as far as the eye could see. As she set foot outside, she could see the massive green moon slowly crawling up into the sky.
"Such phenomena! Green Moon... And on top of that, it is a full moon?!"
"My lady! I am sorry for the late notification; however, we had a minor inconvenience. Some monster tried to infiltrate your sacred cave, so I had to deal with them..."
Said a faint, high-pitched, but still somewhat menacing voice from above the girl. She quickly looked up to see a tiny figure slowly moving down. The entity was about the size of the girl''s palm and had a pair of leathery wings. She had dark green eyes, and her face was covered with blood.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
As soon as the tiny fairy-like creature noticed the girl''s gaze, a small smile appeared on her face, showing her razor-sharp and slightly boddy teeth.
"You are forgiven... I was woken up by that intruder... I was just about to lose hope, but with this moon, I will be able to hold out a bit longer."
The girl smiled at the fairy-like creature, showing her teeth as well, which was just as sharp if not sharper than the tiny being''s.
"Lady Aier, do not say such things! I am sure you are just joking. You are the ruler of this domain; without it, it would collapse!"
The fairy-like character responded; her voice, however, greatly changed. This time, it was melancholic and sad. She instantly flew over to the girl''s chest and tried to hug her despite her tiny size. At her try, Aier only chuckled and patted her tiny head.
As he was about to return the hug, she suddenly froze. She smelled a strange aroma, which caused her to react that way. Sensing that her lady had tensed up, the tiny girl let go of her, hovered backwards a bit and looked at her.
"Lady Aier... What''s the matter?"
"Did anything happen while I was not available?"
"No! Nothing noteworthy. They still live in their usual groups, and the number of fights within groups has been significantly reduced. Only a few happened in recent days, to be honest."
The tiny girl replied hastily, and with concern, she looked at Aier. Who slowly scanned the area she could perceive from that high up.
"I can smell something... Something new, but still, it brings up memories... Initiate a full search! Search every portion of the forest, and if you see anything new or strange, report back to me immediately!"
Upon hearing the sudden declaration, the fairy-like creature was stunned. She has never seen Aier like this. Her grin had long disappeared, and in its place, a cold, menacing stare appeared, which was directed at the forest. Although that gaze was not directed towards her, she felt a shiver run down her spine.
"Now go; I still have to start absorbing this rare, powerful Green Moon''s energy while I still can!"
The tiny girl didn''t say anything, just nodded and then, at an incredible speed, flew away, leaving the girl alone. She sat down, crossed her legs and sighed. Once the tiny girl was quite a distance away, Aier''s expression changed.
Although she seemed angry previously, it was quite the opposite; she was excited and curious at the same time. The aroma she could smell, for some reason, felt as if it was similar to the Green Moon that was currently happening. That smell contained a similar amount of energy.
As the girl kept staring into the distance, time was ticking by fast, and soon, almost half an hour had gone by before the girl finally returned to reality and shook her head. She took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. In the meantime, she relaxed her entire body and slowly closed her eyes.
Her previously ragged breathing had started stabilising, as well as her slightly shaking hands. In complete silence, only the light wind could be heard as it played with her long hair.
Chapter 14: The Tea
"You have gained 1 Experience Point and 1 Point."
The following day, after that strange Green Moon phenomenon, Foin opened his eyes to see the well-known notification. Upon seeing it, he realised and understood that the reward he got the day before was indeed a seed, just as he believed. He tried to sit up to look at the plant, but a strange pain prevented him from moving.
Much to his shock, his injured leg was the least part of his body which hurt. He could barely move due to having sore muscles for some reason. Every movement he did was quite painful.
"Don''t tell me this is the result of yesterday''s exercise?! Those handmovements?! Doing anything else would have been more challenging!"
He growled as he finally managed to push himself up; before his eyes was his now-massive garden full of potatoes and peppers. The one paper plant, which was still growing due to being planted only the day before, was somewhat different. It seemed as if it had grown significantly less than it should have as it barely bore any leaves yet, let alone flowers or products. However, it had a stunning dark green colour.
As for the plat that he had planted yesterday, it barely even started growing; only a single leaf was above the ground, which was quite small and, for some odd reason, was grey.
After he had seen his garden, he slowly made his way over to the bottle of water in which he had put the ¨Ślion flowers. He moved extremely slowly, as every sudden movement was a painful experience. When he finally got to the bottle, he quickly grabbed it.
The colour of the water had been slightly different. Now, although it was still somewhat transparent, it had a light red colour, and as soon as Foin took off its cap, he could smell its sweetness. His mouth instantly started watering as soon as he smelled it, so without hesitation, he quickly chugged down the entire bottle.
He was drinking at such a speed that he almost swallowed the flowers he had put into it previously. Once, however, he was done, he put the cap back onto the bottle and then looked around, not knowing what to do next.
Due to his sore muscles, he was demotivated to do anything. And since he was hungry, he looked back at his pile of pepper, which, much to his annoyance, had shrunken. The ant had already eaten its food, and it started eating Foin''s food as well. The worst thing was that the ant ate the seeds as well.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
"Well, at least it''s not eating me..."
He mumbled as he slowly proceeded over to his peppers. As he was crawling at a slow pace, he felt that her body started getting relaxed, and the muscle pain he felt grew weaker and weaker; even the pain in his leg dissipated. As a result, he quickly stood up; he was bewildered; a few minutes ago, he could barely exist; now, not only did the pain disappear, but he even felt a bit reinvigorated.
"This flower is valuable! I must plant more just to make sure that I have enough should anything come up! "
He quickly walked over to his peppers and started eating. Although he didn''t notice it at first, he was so hungry that he ate every last bit of paper he had and even ate the potatoes he had cooked the day before. It was something he thought was impossible. He thought he could eat only a few at most, but for some reason, he ate more than he could ever eat, and on top of that, he was still slightly hungry.
"What is going on? Is it part of the system''s doing? Or was it the tea''s effect? Or could it be that it is due to those tiny movements?! I don''t understand it.... But either way, it is another reason why I should expand even more..."
Foin couldn''t understand the reason he was so hungry, but seeing that his now expanded farm was ready to be harvested, he didn''t bother with it any longer. He quickly planted the seeds in one single hole since he had nowhere else to put them, and seeing the previous plant with more seeds, he was curious. He presumed that maybe by using more seeds, a higher-quality plant would grow later.
This time, he had planted more than a hundred seeds into a single plant, although in reality, it would work differently, and instead of a single plant, many would grow; this was a different world,d and seeing how the previous one also had a single plant, he was confident.
Once that large number of seeds were planted, Foin filled the plastic bottle with water and once again put a few ¨Ślion flowers in it, but this time he deliberately put more in it. It was another one of his experiments.
Once it was prepared, he went ahead and started harvesting the peppers. He collected the harvested product in one large pile near his fireplace. And just like he previously did, the empty plants were all pulled out and then thrown into the pile. And as he was working diligently, a new notification popped up before his eyes.
"Congratulations! Pepper has levelled up. Required Experience Points increased! The possibility of evolution has increased!"
Foin was surprised to see the message; however, he was so focused on farming that although he read it, he didn''t stop harvesting. And soon, another one popped up.
"Congratulations! Appraiser has levelled up. Required Experience Points increased! Capabilities have been increased!"
The sudden level-up of two things had enough impact on him for him to stop harvesting and see his stats. He was not expecting his one and only skill to level up so soon, but it was a piece of warm news to see. He was extremely curious to see what it was capable of after levelling up.
As he looked through his menu, he learned that his new required Experience Points to level up was 225. As for Pepper and Apraiser, they both needed 150. Also, he could see that he only needed to harvest seven more potatoes for it to level up.
Chapter 15: The Tea part 2
As soon as Foin closed his menu and grabbed the next pepper to harvest, his skill, Apriaiser, activated.
"Notice! Pepper! Level: Basic. Tier: 1. Quality: E. Type: Food. Maturity:98%"
"That is all?! That one single extra indicator? I know it took only some harvesting, but still... It feels too small of a change!"
Foin mumbled as soon as he read the new notification. He shook his head in slight disappointment and then resumed harvesting. However, although he had first wanted to harvest all of the crops, now that he noticed that they were not fully matured yet, he decided to harvest about seventy per cent of them and leave the rest on.
And just as he had imagined and planned, he followed through with his plan. A massive pile of Pepper was waiting for him next to his fire area. He looked back at the massive amount of product with a wide smile. He was filled with happiness to see the fruit of his work. Even if it was a greatly sped-up process, he felt happy.
The potatoes were no exceptions; they too were not matured perfectly yet, so he left almost half of them back in the ground, and at the same time, a few new plants had been planted back. While he was harvesting the potatoes, they, too, levelled up, and the exact same notification appeared as what he got for the peppers.
After he was done with the planting and harvesting of potatoes, he looked at his clothes. The clothes which he was wearing since the day he was taken to this world, the clothes in which he was beaten and shot. It had seen better days as it was already quite dirty, especially its sleeves from the plantings.
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he got a sudden great idea. He had tasted the power of the tea he created from the ¨Ślion; however, a new combination just came to his mind. He decided that he would create some sort of pit filled with water and try to put ¨Ślion into that flower. His plan was to see what effect the flower would have on him if he used it for bathing.
Strengthened by his new plan, he decided to clear another larger area around the river bank. Now that he could stand without any pain, thanks to the tea, the process was much faster. The large grass seemed to have grown since he had arrived. Previously, it was about knee high, but now the level was about five centimetres higher.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Maybe I could try digging out a compost area for later... Perhaps using it would increase the quality of the crops."
He mumbled as he dropped the last bunch of grass down into the massive pile of grass. At that moment, he took a breather and filled his other bottle with water. He took a sip of water at first and then brought his half-full bottle with him to the area in which he wanted to start digging.
The first process he did was using a larger piece of stone; he drew the shape he wanted to excavate. Since he wasn''t very creative, he simply decided to use a square-like base. It was about two meters by two meters, and once he had drawn the borders, he dropped the stone and started using his hand to dig.
Without any proper tools or materials to craft any tool, the process was quite slow. Since he planned to try and experiment with more containers and mugs made from mud, he tried to throw the excavated dirt into one area.
As the dirt pile grew, Foin got deeper and deeper down his bathing area. He noticed that the deeper he got, the softer the dirt got, and he noticed three distinct layers by the time he had reached the depth he wanted. When he stood in the pit, his shoulder was out of it.
The process was so long that the sun was starting to set by the time he finished digging, so he needed to improvise. Instead of starting a fire in his usual place, he decided to start one near his hole to give him some extra light. Since he didn''t know how long it would take to polish the side and the bottom, he had to prepare a larger log once again.
Using his stone, Foi cut down a larger piece of wood, but this time, it was smaller than the one he used for drying the mud pots, as that burned for almost a whole day. And now he only needed a light source, not heat. He started the fire just as he always did. Some grass, sawdust and smaller pieces of wood.
While the fire was slowly starting, Foin quickly started watering the side of his pit and then started pushing on it to smoothen the surface. He poured an entire bottle of fresh water from the river onto the wall and then used his hands to compress and smoothen the walls. It was much faster than digging out the whole pit, but still, it was dirtier.
While the digging meant moving soil, the dirt was not sticky; here, the mud was quite sticky, and as he worked, his clothes got dirtier and dirtier. Just as he was finished, the sun was just barely visible over the horizon.
He quickly climbed out of his pit and then walked to the riverside. He left a few meters away from the river just to be sure that the wall would not collapse. Now that he was ready, Foin created a channel from the river to his pit. It was a bit over the width of his palm, and then the water started flowing in. He purposely didn''t make the channel too deep so that the pool would fill up slowly.
The last thing Foin did in the setting sun was plant five more ¨Ślion plants and harvest a great number of flowers, almost all of them, and then he dropped them into the slowly filling pool he had created. While harvesting the flowers, he noticed that they were all mature.
The water was barely even flowing into the pool, but it was all part of Foin''s plan. He''d rather the pool fill only to its half point than overflow, and then the river water and his special water be mixed up.
Before Foin went to sleep, he decided to perform the first and then the second page of the manual he was given as a reward. Although he still didn''t understand what it could be used for, he felt that since he had a sore muscle, maybe it was something physically healthy.
Chapter 16: The Bath
The awakening of the following day was just as hard, if not harder, than the one before. Fortunately, Foin prepared beforehand and put his bottle of tea right next to him so that he could start the day more efficiently. While he was enjoying the now even denser and stronger tea, Foin stared at his garden.
He thought that the previously nit matured plants would have changed, but they seemed exactly the same. However, he did notice that the previously plated two separate pepper plants grew much slower. One of them just barely started growing, while the other only had flowers, nothing else.
The ¨Ślion plants he had planted, although had greatly grown, and even the previous to larger ones had regrown their flowers, so they were harvestable again. But the strange seed he was rewarded was still barely even groaning. Although it had grown, the change was so small. It seemed as if it was a single larger leave, nothing more.
Once the effect of the tea kicked in, Foin even went over to that new, unknown plant and took a closer look at it. He gently touched it and lifted that one leaf it had. The texture of the plant was quite rough, and its side was somewhat sharp. He could feel its edge on his fingertips. Although it would not be able to cut him, he was still astonished to see such a unique plant.
"These last few plants seem to grow at a much slower rate... Especially this one... Maybe I should really focus on composting!"
He mumbled as he walked back to his large number of peppers and started eating; just like the day before, his appetite was quite large, and since he had his plans, he quickly planted the seeds he had acquired, and then his next stop was his pool.
The pool was greatly filled over the night. Although it was not full, it was perfectly fine for Foin. He quickly used some of the dirt he had piled up previously to stop the pool from being filled. And then he looked down into the water. It was coloured slightly reddish by the flowers in it, which were nowhere to be seen, presumable they have sunken down to its bottom.
Foin quickly filled his bottle with water and prepared his usual tea before he forgot about it and then slightly stretched his hands and legs. After sitting down on the side of the pool, he looked at his injured leg. Much to his surprise, it was in a much better condition than he would have imagined. With a content sigh, he put his finger into the water. Although it was cold, it was not too cold.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
He quickly took off most of his clothes, leaving only his white underwear on and was about to jump into his pool, but he was frozen as soon as he saw his reflection.
Although he was a slim and fit boy back in his original world, now, as he looked at the water, he couldn''t believe what he saw. He had a much better physical appearance than before. Just to make sure that it was not just some illusion, he quickly looked at his own body.
His muscles seemed to be tense, but thanks to his tea, he didn''t feel anything from that, so once he was finished admiring his body, he jumped into the pool. The water was so high that he couldn''t sit down, but it was perfectly fine. He just enjoyed bathing for the first time in the last few days.
The water mixed with the flowers was quite relaxing m, but the pool was quite small. He needed to lower himself so that only his head would be out of the water, and all he could do was lean against the wall, but still, it was perfectly fine. However, in this relaxing moment, Foin was already planning his next project.
He decided that he would need to dig another hole, which he would use as the composting area, but for that, he would need some sort of tool, and currently, his best choice of action was to use one of his larger logs t carry out a shovel or a spade which would increase his digging speed. And in the meantime, he would get more sawdust to start his fire.
The reason he was determined to dig another hole was simple. Putting all of the biodegradable material, which he didn''t need, would mean that they would no longer pile up on the surface; also, he knew that before rotting begins, the smell would be quite bad, so that would also be evaded.
Also, he had been in this world for quite some time, and he had yet to establish any sort of structure in which he could stay should some kind of bad weather appear. He would be able to utilise the dirt from the composting pit to start doing some basic planning. He would need to use mud there as well, but at least making some kind of bricks from mud would be a bit sturdier and also would be less likely to break, and even if they cracked, he could just mend them with more mud.
Foin stayed in the water for about an hour. During that period, he felt so relaxed; although he felt no pain thanks to his tea, he felt a wave of calmness wash over him every so often. Even after an hour, he could barely get out as he was so fond of that sensation.
Since he had nothing to use as a towel, he stayed wet, but that didn''t mean he would stay put. He quickly grabbed his shirt and started washing it in the water. He wanted to get the mud out of it, as it started to bother him quite a bit. Although he knew that it would be dirty again soon, now he could take a bath every day if he wanted to.
One thing he noticed after the bath was that his body took up the sweet scent of the mixture. No matter where he went, he could smell his own great scent, which was a great addition to the benefits of that bath.
Once he was done washing his shirt and pants, he put them onto the pile of grass so that they wouldn''t touch the dirt. He''d rather have some grass on them than even more dirt. Then he quickly fetched a larger and the smallest piece of stone and then walked over to the smaller piece of wood. Although even the largest one was quite small, that is what he had and could use to work with.
Chapter 17: The Bath part 2
He chose the smaller piece because he wanted to use the larger one for firewood, and also, he''d rather waste the smaller wood than the larger one.
Foin started the process by carving the rough shape of his planned spade on the surface of the wood. Since the piece of wood was larger than his planned tool size, he started hitting the wood with his larger stone to cut down the part he wanted to use. That way, he could move it around more easily and also have a better angle at it should he need to rotate it.
Unlike he believed, using that somewhat dull piece of stone proved to be quite effective. He couldn''t understand whether he was just strong, the stone was sharp, or he just chose a poor and weak piece of wood. But he no longer cared about it. He quickly managed to cut off his needed portion and then slightly rolled it away.
Having never done anything like that, he decided that the next step he should work on was the head of the spade, so he started removing larger chunks of wood using his large piece of stone. He purposely evaded the area around his blueprint so that he could finetune the shape later.
Once he was done with the roughing of his head, he proceeded and started working on the handle. He purposely made the hande quite think, as he wanted to avoid breaking it as much as possible. As a result, he wanted to make it so wide that he could just barely wrap his fingers around it.
The sawdust around him gradually increased, and the shape of the spade got better and better. Although it was quite a long, time-consuming and tiring process, for some reason, he felt energised; it was most likely thanks to the bath he took earlier.
Once he was done with the roughing, then came the finetuning with the smaller stone. It was somewhat sharper than the larger one, but not much sharper. He slowly chiselled off the excess wood; the process was tedious, and the result, although it was usable, was not very even.
The stone hit the ground as soon as Foin felt that he was ready. He jumped up, and with a smile on his face, he was about to walk away, but suddenly stopped as he noticed that wood fragments were stuck to him, so he quickly dusted himself and walked back to his clothes to get dressed. Although they were still somewhat wet, he didn''t care.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Foin walked next to his pool and tested his handmade wooden tool. Using only his hand, he thrust it into the ground with great force. Much to his surprise, it cut through the dirt without a problem. However, the real test had just begun. It was one thing to be able to penetrate, but lifting the dirt out was another question.
Foin slowly started lifting the head of his tool. He was prepared that if it started cracking, he would drop it immediately and would try working with a smaller portion; however, he could lift the dirt out without a problem; his tool held out well.
With a grin, he started excavating with great speed. Now that he had a tool, he could work many times faster, and on top of that, it was not only faster but easier. Since his farm was already quite large, but still, he was planning to expand more, the hole he wanted to dug was quite a few times larger than the one he dug for the pool, though it would be shallower.
Every once in a while, Foin looked back at the large pile of vegetation which needed to be turned into compost. The hole grew wider and wider at first; once he had established its diameter, he then proceeded to deepen it a bit.
Foin knew that under normal circumstances, he would have long collapsed from exhaustion; however, he felt no tiredness or fatigue at all; although he felt less energetic, he was still perfectly fine, even after moving a large amount of dirt, which grew harder the deeper he got.
Once he was finished, he climbed out of the hole, put his tool down, and then started hoarding the unneeded pepper and potato plants into the freshly dug hole. A large number of plants, and even some grass as well, were all thrown into one corner of the hole, and when Foin was finished, that one corner was so full that the plants were above the ground. As a result, he walked over there and, using his spade, pushed some of the plants back down into the hole.
After being finished with the work, Foin slightly stretched his back and sighed. His speed had exceeded his expectations, and he still had some more time. So he decided that he would go and harvest the rest of his grown peppers and potatoes. Just to be sure that he was ready and had enough supplies, he broke a few peppers and planted their seeds; once he was finished, he tasted one of the presumably fully matured peppers.
"Well, this is a bummer; I can''t feel anything extra... so I don''t have to wait for things to get 100% mature to eat them..."
He mumbled as he walked back to the compost pit with another pile of plants. Once he dropped the pile in, he grabbed his empty water bottle and then filled it with water. He remembered that if he watered the plants, they would rot faster, so he started watering them. Since he had yet to manage to create a larger container, he needed to make do with that one-litre bottle.
Once he had poured quite a few litres of water onto the pile of plants, he started watering the massive pile of dirt not far from the pit and his pool. After every bottle of water he scraped around the mud, he managed to wet it and then created a brick from it after each round.
He spent the rest of the day hoarding water to the dirt pile and then creating a brick. He aimed to create bricks of similar dimensions, but of course, his precision was not that great, so the sizes differed greatly. By the time the sun was going down, he had a few dozen bricks ready for drying.
Chapter 18: The Secret Of The Vegetables
In a massive devastated area, Aier was sitting on a destroyed tree which was on the ground. That forest area was burned quite well, and in its centre was a deep and massive crater.
"What to do with you..."
She mumbled as she suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Lady Aier!"
The girl looked up to see the tiny fairy-like girl flying towards her at great speed, but right at the last moment, she stopped.
"Welcome back, Felfey. I take it you have scouted the entire forest in the last few days, yes?"
The tiny girl landed on the tree next to Aier and nodded.
"Yes, that is correct; also, I have collected the usual tribute of the loyal subjects."
The girl said with a broad smile. She performed a slight bow, but she quickly stood back up. Aier looked into the tiny girl''s eyes and sighed.
"Now that you mention it, I grew quite hungry; I will listen to your report while I am eating; take out the food!"
Felfey nodded, and with a wave of her hand on the ground, a large pile of food appeared. They had one aspect in common, and that was that they were all meat. With a watering mouth, Aier quickly stood up and, without thinking, started eating.
"So... Erm... just as you have requested, I have scouted your domain and found one particular area... it seemed that only a single entity lived in that location, one which I have never seen before..."
The girl started her report by looking at the ground, while the other just kept eating without any reaction.
"The entity seemed to be quite primitive as it slept in a pile of grass and didn''t have any sort of structure..."
Seeing how unreachable Air was, Felfex took a deep breath, lightly slapped her cheeks and continued.
"And that individual not only was most likely an illegal person whom you have not given permission to stay in your territory, but instead of hunting, they were planting and using that as an offering. When I got there, I only saw a pile of vegetables, so I had no choice but to take them."
Hearing the girl''s report, especially the last part, Aier stopped eating and shifted her gaze to the girl. In that short span of time, she ate most of the meat, and a tiny amount was left behind, yet she was just as hungry as she was before. Holding a large chunk of meat in her hand, she slowly turned around and towered over the tiny, fairy-like girl.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Vegetalbes? Show me!"
Aier demanded in a cold tone, which sent shivers down Felfey''s spine. She didn''t hesitate and instantly complied. After another wave of her hand, the requested items appeared on the tree next to her. The woman glared down at the vegetables with great disgust. There were a few peppers and some baked potatoes.
"You said that individual lived alone?"
"Yes!"
The girl replied as fat as she could. She knew that Aier was a meat lover and she hated vegetables due to her nature, so she was afraid that she would vent her disgust and anger on her, but fortunately for her, Aier stepped away.
The girl walked over to the side of the massive crater and looked down. Its wall had many bloodstains, and the way she glared down indicated that she was ready to kill.
In the crater, there was one massive creature; however, it was in a sorry state. The massive creature had scales all over its body, a pair of wings and four legs, along with one massive tail. Its mouth was so large that it could have swallowed the girl hole easily.
The creature was breathing heavily, as it was not only beaten, it had many thin but durable metal tubes piercing its body, and on top of that, there was a sword in its back. The weapon was of human size, so it only did minor damage to the beast''s skin and flash and didn''t reach any vital organs.
However, something was off with the blade. Its handle and cross seemed ordinary, but the blade itself was purple and was emitting a thin, purplish mist around it. And even the beast''s orange scales were turned slightly purple around the blade.
"Puny dragon! You have entered my domain uninvited and challenged me. Under normal circumstances, you would be tortured to death, but now I have a new use for you."
The woman declared coldly; her voice darted at the dragon as if they were blades, and the beast shook upon hearing her voice.
"Felfey, escort this dragon to that individual. Let''s see which of them will survive. However, I want you to return as soon as the dragon gets there... if they get along well, then that area will be considered the outcast''s zone!"
"Lady Aier, are you certain that it is a great decision? Letting these two live after offending you?"
"If they continue to defy me, then I can just eradicate them easily. I have no time or energy to waste on these meaningless disputes. Now go!"
The girl declared and walked back to her food. Meanwhile, the dragon growled as it slowly pushed itself up and slowly climbed out of the crater. Felfey and the dragon slowly left the area. Despite the great injuries, the dragon managed to keep walking; although it was unable to fly, it kept walking.
"Why can''t everything go smoother..."
Aier mumbled as she quickly finished the rest of the meat, and then she looked back at the vegetables. Her stomach growled, indicating that although she had eaten a tremendous amount of meat already, she was still hungry. Driven by hunger, she took a step closer and picked up a single baked potato.
She slowly pulled the potato closer to her face and smelled it. For a brief moment, she closed her eyes as she felt something familiar in that single piece of baked potato. Once she realised what it was, her eyes jolted open, and all she could do was rapidly blink for a few moments.
"The scent of the Green Moon?!"
She suddenly took a bite, and her eyes instantly widened.
"This can''t be the energy of the Gren Moon... It is so rich and pure...."
Without thinking, she quickly devoured every single potato. Other than that strange Green Moon energy, it filled her up more than the meat she had eaten previously. She carefully tried the pepper next, and once she felt that it was just as great as the potato, she ate those as well.
Once finished with a content smile, she rubbed her belly as she was full thanks to these newfound items, which she had never tasted before, and then brought her hand to her ear. At the tip of her middle finger, a purple orb made of energy appeared.
"Felfey, I have a new task for you, so listen well!"
Chapter 19: Housing
Another warm morning, and just before dawn, Foin was already up. He had already drunk his usual tea and was eating some peppers. And as usual, once finished, he planted his seeds.
His farmland had changed over the night like before. Some of his peppers had grown up. Even the first pepper he had planted using many seeds had matured. It bore only four products. However, they were different. They were quite noticeably larger and had a different colour. They were not the usual yellow peppers, but they had a darker green colour.
However, Foin decided to keep them on for at least another day, seeing how long it took to grow, so for the time being, he only harvested the usual yellow peppers. While he was harvesting, he got a new notification, which he hadn''t expected yet.
"Congratulations! You have levelled up. Required Experience Points increased! All Stats have increased by 1! Ability Points increased by 1!"
Foin sighed and finished harvesting. At that moment, he was focused on a few things. First, he finished harvesting, and then he put the unneeded plants into the compost bin, which he once again started watering. Once it was done, he could focus on more brick-making.
He slowly made another few dozen bricks, but then he decided to see the ones he made previously. At first, he gently touched them. They seemed solid, and as he grabbed them firmly, they stayed in shape. Seeing their current state, Foin decided that he would stop for the time being, and instead, he grabbed his spade.
Although he wanted to move some dirt again, this was not so that he could create another pit. His plan was to dig out the base of his planned house. He wanted to sink it slightly into the ground and use some grass as the floor, which could also be used as a pillow or even a blanket.
With great speed, Foin dug a short layer of dirt in about a two-by-two meter square. He put the unneeded dirt to its sides instead of to the large pile of dirt, and then he brought his somewhat ready brick over there and also a full bottle of water. He used the water to make the ground slightly wet and then put the brick on top of it.
He slightly watered the dirt left around the base, and then he scraped the somewhat wet mud, applied it onto the brick, and then quickly put another brick next to it. He repeated this process until he ran out of bricks. It happened quite quickly, as he was barely able to do a bit over two sides, so he went back and continued creating more bricks.
Stolen story; please report.
He planned the house so that it would look right at his farm and grass pile so that he could move things in and out more easily if needed, and should the need arise; he could also use the house as storage.
For the rest of the day, he was focused on making his bricks. He almost managed to use up all of his dirt in the process, but he intentionally stopped as he could use that as some sort of adhesive to put his blocks together more easily.
Once he was done with the boring and tedious work, Foin decided to take a bath. He was quite muddy, and since he had a pool, he would be stupid not to enjoy it. He quickly removed his clothes and jumped into his pool. The water was slightly warmer than the day before, so it was even greater.
As Foin was just relaxing, he looked around his garden, and something came to his mind. He hadn''t seen the ant in a few days; however, he was certain that it was still around as his food storage was shrinking every day.
"That little leach is using me as a food source... Well, at least I am not the one on the menu... I should probably break a few peppers so that the seed doesn''t go to waste."
He slowly submerged in the water so that the water would reach his face; also, he wanted to wash his hair. Since he had no soap to wash his hair, he only scratched it hard under the water. He repeated the process a few times, and once he felt that it was enough, he just kept enjoying the water.
Once he had enough of the water, he slowly climbed out and shook some of the water off of his hair and body. He then grabbed his clothes, walked over to his peppers, and kneeled down. Water from his body was dripping down, that is why he only kneeled down, as he didn''t want to get muddy and dirty again.
He quickly grabbed the closest pepper and broke it, collecting its pepper. He repeated this process until he had removed the seeds from dozens of peppers. And then, with the help of his wooden space, he planted the seeds. By the time he was finished, he was already dry, so he could take on his clothes.
He quickly grabbed a large amount of grass and spread it across the floor of his new house. He decided that although it barely had a single brick-high wall, he would sleep that night. However, before he went to sleep, he grabbed the manual given by the system.
He was already done with the first three pages, so now he needed to do the fourth page; however, that was no longer simple hand and arm movements. They required whole-body movements.
In the slowly growing darkness, Foin copied the movements depicted in the manual, and once he had repeated them a few times, he went to sleep. He knew that tomorrow, he would have to use the bricks he had created to continue his house. Although he was uncertain of the size he wanted his house to be, he felt that he would most likely need more dirt.
He would most likely need to dig another hole, but he still needed to find some sort of purpose for that, as it would be a waste to have a pit without using it. He fell asleep thinking about how to use a supposed extra hole.
Chapter 20: The Fruit
During the night, as expected, Foin''s garden matured. His two peppers, which he had used many more seeds to grow, seemed to be fully grown now; still, they had green peppers and only seven on the two together.
The greatest change happened to the mysterious plant, which had barely grown previously. Now, that tiny leaf had grown greatly. It was now much larger but was still quite small. Its height barely reached knee level; still, despite that tiny size, it had a single product. The plant had a structure that of a tree, as it finally started branching outwards.
Not only were its leaves dark, but its whole log was as well. However, it had other great and unique characteristics. In the light wind, while everything was slightly moving, it stayed still, almost as if it was unaffected by it.
Just like its main body and leaves, its fruit was also dark. It looked like a dark grey peach. Despite the size of the tree, it was quite large, about the size of a human fist, and despite its size, it was not pulling the small and fragile tree down.
Although it was a great event, it was not the most surprising for Foin. As soon as he woke up, he drank a bottle of his tea and then looked at his leg as he was no longer feeling any pain from it. Although it still had slight marks from the incident, his leg was mostly healed by that point.
He was certain that the injury would last for at least a few months; as a result, he didn''t really check on his leg at all. He was too focused on his tiny domain. But this was way too quick; he regenerated at an unbelievable rate.
He gently touched his leg just to be sure that it was not an illusion. It was not; he applied light pressure around the area where his marks were, and he was delighted to feel that even the light pressure was no problem.
"Wow... Maybe this is the effect of these strangely tasty plants? Now that I look at it, that strange seed has finally bore its first fruit..."
He mumbled after a few minutes of touching his leg. As his gaze was fixated on that tiny tree, he quickly made his way next to it. Although the tea''s effect had yet to kick in, he felt absolutely no pain at all. Once he was next to the plant, he kneeled down and took a closer look.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
At first, he thought that it would be just some small plant and one which would be hard to reproduce. And that the only fruit would be the only seed he would get, but upon closer inspections, he noticed that the plant was a tree, one which he had never seen before, so he gently touched its fruit and harvested it.
"New species recognised, Peteach!"
"You have gained 7 Experience Points and 7 Points!"
"Notice! Peteach! Level: Rare. Tier: 1. Quality: F. Type: Food/Resource. Maturity:100%"
Foin read the texts which had popped up as soon as he had harvested the plant. He was quite surprised to see the details of this fruit, especially its type. But that was not the only thing that had surprised him. The fruit itself was another stun; it had such a large weight that he hadn''t expected. Despite it being the size of his fist, it weighed about one and a half kilograms.
"Food and resource? What could it mean? Also... did it just give me SEVEN times the amount of Experience Points and Points than any other plant?! WOW!"
He slowly pulled the fruit closer to him and slightly shook it. As the product moved, he heard some sort of strange splashing from inside the plant. He then proceeded to feel the plant around. After applying light pressure to it, he concluded that despite its weight, it just felt as if it was a real peach, just a bit harder but still soft.
Since he was unsure what that strange liquidy sound was, and he didn''t want to eat it without checking out, he quickly decided to open the fruit. Despite its soft exterior, for some reason, as he applied greater pressure, it seemed sturdier; still, he managed to tear it open.
At that moment, from the core of the fruit, some kind of dark grey liquid started flowing out. As the liquid was flowing out, Foin noticed that the weight of the fruit was decreasing. Foin just watched as the dark liquid flowed out of the fruit. He was unsure what it was, but he assumed that since it was most of the fruit''s weight, it must have been the resource part of the fruit.
Much to his surprise, the liquid which flowed out was way more than it could have possibly fit into the core of the fruit as he had examined its core. As a result, he came to the conclusion that the liquid is not only stored inside the core but also in the edible part, so he can''t just go about and eat it without letting the liquid out.
Once every last drop of the strange dark liquid was out of the fruit, Foin carefully took a bite of it. Since it was such a valuable fruit that it gave seen times the reward for harvesting, he believed it must taste great. And how right he was. Despite its strange outlook, its taste was heavenly. He savoured every last bit of it until he ate it all. And even after that, a weaker taste still lingered in his mouth.
As he was done enjoying the taste of the fruit, he looked down at the liquid on the ground. Previously, it touched his fingers; however, it didn''t stick to him, so he carefully poked the liquid. While he was eating, the liquid had slightly expanded, and as Foin touched it, he confirmed that it felt different. Previously, it flowed as if it was water, but now it grew somewhat jelly, and it slowly grew drier and drier.
Driven by a new thought, Foin waited for a few minutes and started forming the liquid. Soon, it reached the state of some kind of plasticine. And as he was forming it, he felt that it grew harder and harder. He quickly used the strange moldable substance to form a pot, which he had so desperately tried to do previously. He was able to pull the substance to a great extent and was able to form it into a bucket, which would hold at least two litres of liquid, maybe a bit more.
Chapter 21: The Fruit part 2
After completing the formation of that strange bucket, Foin kept staring at it. Although it was still quite moldable and flimsy, as time went on, it grew harder and sturdier. This greatly surprised Foin, as he was not expecting it to happen. He even tried to test its durability by hitting it harder and harder. Although it did fly away, it was quite resilient.
Based on its colour and seeming structure and texture, he believed that it was some sort of stony material which would break easily. He quickly turned it upside down, and with great force, he hit it. He didn''t care if it broke because he was extremely curious to see how durable it was or how easily he could break it. Since it had a very thin and uneven wall, he had the impression that it would shatter under his punch.
However, he was wrong. With his mighty punch, he didn''t achieve the expected results. The bottom of the bucket, which he had hit, slightly bent in, and a loud, almost metallic, noise was produced. Also, the bucket slightly sank into the ground due to the sudden force, but it was practically undamaged.
Stunned by the durability of that material, Foin leaned back and looked at the tiny tree. He was grinning since he had just found something interesting, useful, and exciting. The cogwheels in his head had just started working on newer and newer ideas which he could use later.
The very first idea that came to his mind was about his house. Seeing how easily the liquid solidified and how sturdy it got, he could use it to help him keep the walls and even the bricks closer easily. However, he also wanted to conduct even more tests on the substance, but now that he has a sturdy bucked, he wanted to use it instead of destroying it.
He was unaware of when the next fruit would be produced, so he needed to wait for further tests, so he got ready to dig another hole. Or, to be more precise, he wanted to expand the pit for the composting area. Although he didn''t know how far he would like to expand his farm, at least he would have a larger area to store unneeded plants.
Just as he jumped down into the hole to continue expanding it, something struck him. He never watered his plants. Maybe he needed to water them in order for them to produce higher-quality products. Driven by that thought, he quickly jumped out of the pit and filled his new bucket with water.
It filled up so much faster than his water bottle, and emptying it would also be much faster. He quickly stepped over to the tree and poured the entire bucket of water on it. The water hit the tree, and it didn''t even move. Since that tree was currently his favourite plant, he watered it three times just in case it would speed up its growth more.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
And then he proceeded to water every other plant as well. Since his garden was quite large, it took him quite some time, but it was all worth it, in his opinion. As a result, he made sure that every single plant was well watered. And only then did he go back to his pit.
He started greatly expanding the composting area, and since he was now a container, moving the dirt was somewhat easier. He put the dirt he had just dug up into the container, and once it was full, about three to four shavelings later, he brought the dirt over to where he kept the pile before he turned most of the dirt into bricks.
This process was much more efficient as he could better control where he put the dirt and didn''t need to fling his shovel with great force so that he could throw the dirt out. However, it came with its own challenges. It was heavy labour, so after the first round, he took off his shirt. Since he needed to climb out of the pit with the full bucket of dirt, which was quite heavy, he quickly started sweating.
However, he was surprised to notice that he had been working hard, yet his body didn''t get tired that easily now. He worked for hours, and even then, he felt only a little bit of exhaustion. Of course, it was thanks to his tea and his new physique.
About two hours before sunset, Foin stopped digging. Although he was uncertain how much more dirt he would still need, since he had found a new way to improve his house, he didn''t want to rush things. As a result, he grabbed the now somewhat dry mud bricks and transported them closer to his construction site. He carefully placed them in one large pile, which formed a triangle as he put more and more down. Just as he was done, he looked at his bucket and smiled.
"Let''s make some extra tea today... and tomorrow I will take things a bit lighter... maybe I will just focus on slowly clearing a bit more land for the farming area and keep planting some more plants..."
He mumbled as he slowly filled his bucket and two bottles with water and then put a few flowers of ¨Ślion in them. He carefully placed them next to his house. Since the ground was not very even, he needed to smoothen it so that his bucket would not fall.
With that done, he harvested a few more flowers of ¨Ślion and dropped them into his pool. He wanted to raise its water level a bit more, so once he had dropped the flowers in, he grabbed his shovel and removed some dirt from the river''s side. Water started flowing into his pool at a greater rate, and then he proceeded to do the next page of exercises in the manual.
While he was following the instructions, he once in a while glanced at his pool to avoid it being overfilled. He wanted to keep the level somewhat low still. As a result, as soon as he was done with his exercise, he sealed up the water once again and went to sleep early.
Chapter 22: The Beast
The next morning, Foin was woken up by a strange sound. A sound so unknown that, at first, he thought that it was still part of a dream. However, as he opened his eyes, he realised it was no dream at all.
What he heard was some sort of arithmetic claps. It was as if some sort of warning was being issued. So he slowly sat up to look around. Being himself, at first, he noticed his garden, which seemed to be more lush than it used to be; it was probably due to him watering his plants. Everything seemed to be a bit bigger, even the products.
His only tree, although it did grow, the change was quite small. However, he could see that there were two slightly larger fruits hanging from the tree, so he was relieved, at least until he turned to look at a different area.
What he saw was beyond shocking. He wanted to go back to sleep and just be invisible as much as possible; however, he knew that it was impossible and that he needed to face his fears in order to survive. No matter how dangerous or terrif¨Şing it was.
He was in his under-construction house, and he could see that a few meters from him, the ant was standing, showing its back to him. The insect seemed to have greatly grown since the last time he saw him, and at the same time, it seemed to have recovered from its previous injuries. The clapping sounds came from the ant.
As soon as Foin noticed what was going on, he understood it. Wild animals would use some sort of signal to show that they are on high alert and that they should not be approached as they are ready to fight, and at the same time, they are signalling to others that a potential threat or intruder has arrived.
Foin was unable to move for a few minutes as he just stared ahead. He was staring at a portion of the forest, which had previously been full of large trees, but now most of it had been greatly altered. There was a line of destruction in which no tree was left untouched. Each and every last tree in that line was pulled down.
Just outside of Foin''s domain, a massive orange beast was lying on the ground. It had many metal rods that pierced its scales and skin, and on its back, it had a sword with a purple blade.
"A dragon?!"
Screeched Foin and stepped back with shaking legs. Hearing his voice, the ant quickly looked back and doubled its clapping sounds. However, his voice did not only draw his supposed ally''s attention. The dragon opened its massive eyes and looked at him.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
"Mommy... I am going to be eaten..."
Foin uttered as he hurriedly looked around his house, thinking of what to do. Now, he had quite a massive amount of food and had managed to develop his area to his liking, but he had nothing that he could use to battle such a massive beast. Even if he had some sort of bladed weapon, he doubted that he would be able to deal any kind of damage.
As his eyes darted around his field, he once again looked at his food storage. A reckless plan slipped into his mind, one which he himself didn''t believe in; however, he had no choice, as he was still in great shock from the predicament he was in. And it had already worked out before, so he had nothing to lose.
"What are you, two-legged entity."
Foin heard a voice emitted by the dragon as it pushed itself up. The dragon''s legs were shaking and seemed that they could give out at any moment; however, Foin didn''t notice it as he was terrified. All he could hear was his fast-pounding heart and the annoying clapping sound produced by the ant.
"ANSWER!"
The dragon roared, sending a massive gust of wind.
"I-I am just a lowly human being... A farmer... Erm..." Foin finally spoke up but then swallowed hard before he continued. "Erm... If you promise not to eat me... I could give you food. Please?"
The beast looked down at the trembling Foin and then lowered itself back onto the ground.
"A human, huh... He would give me food if I didn''t eat him?! I am not in a state in which I could attack him. I can barely even move... In my current state, even that black ant would be able to kill me... Not that I have long before I die... That girl back then... She sent me here just to die! She knew I would no longer be able to survive with her blade in my black, tainting and poisoning me... Well... It would be nice to die with a full stomach."
The dragon thought as it kept staring at Foin.
"Fine, bring me something to drink first!"
After a minute of silence, the dragon finally spoke up. Foin nodded and looked around. He had no empty container which he could fill with fresh water, and a simple water bottle wouldn''t be enough, seeing how massive the beast was. Since he had a bit larger bucket, he grabbed it with a trembling hand.
He carefully walked closer to the dragon, who stayed still and was panting, when he extended his hand and brought the container right under the nose of the dragon for it to smell it.
"What is this?!"
"Erm... I call it tea... It is a beverage that I make from fresh water and my flowers... It is very sweet and helps smoothen the body, as well as mitigates pain a bit..."
Foin explained hurriedly, as he didn''t want to be eaten. The dragon waited for a few seconds and then opened its massive mouth. Foin carefully poured all of the tea which was in the bucket and then stepped back. With shaking hands, he held his bucket in front of his chest.
The dragon moved the liquid around in its mouth and then swallowed. Moments later, its eyes widened as it glared back down at Foin.
Chapter 23: The Beast part 2
The dragon slightly shook its head as soon as it felt the effects of Foin''s tea.
"What the?! It truly is quite sweet, and as soon as I swallowed it, I started feeling its effects... I no longer feel the pain in my back, and the effect of the poison is either weakening... Or I just can''t feel it that much."
The dragon thought to itself. It was astonished to feel such relief so soon from just a bucket of some sweet liquid. After taking a deep breath, he once again glared at Foin.
"Human, do you have more of this TEA? I am quite thirsty."
"Well... I have a pool by the river, but..."
Foin responded, but as soon as the dragon heard that he had more, he was ignored. The dragon quickly pushed itself up, and with a powerful movement of its wings, it flew over to the river and landed in it. As soon as it noticed the pool, it started drinking. It drank as much as it could, leaving only a tiny amount in the pool.
Meanwhile, the ant stepped near Foin and stopped emitting that strange and annoying clapping sound. Foin, at first, was still terrified; however, seeing how the dragon flew back to its original location, where it lay previously without destroying his fields, Foin sighed.
The dragon licked its mouth as the tea in the pool was much denser than the liquid in the bucket. Once the effects of the tea kicked in, the dragon lowered its head back down. It was astonished; he felt absolutely nothing anymore, no pain, no weakness, no soreness, nothing.
"How long does it usually take to make more of this TEA?"
"Erm... I don''t know exactly; I usually let it stay and be mixed for about a day..."
Foin hesitantly replied since he started to feel why he was asked such a question. Although it was much better than being eaten alive, it was still quite scary for him. Also, seeing the size of the dragon, he''d need to extend the pit more so that he could prepare enough tea for it.
Foin quickly looked at his harvestable garden and then thought of a quick way to alter the topic. Maybe if he gave enough food, he could get the dragon to help him survive, or rather, protect him should such a time arise when his life would be threatened. Although he knew that dragons preferred meat, in his current situation, all he could think of was his farm.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
"Erm... but since we need to wait for it to get done... would you like to...eat? Though I have no meat, I can offer you some tasty and sweet potatoes and peppers..."
Foin finally spoke up after a brief pause. The dragon stayed silent for a few long minutes; it was sniffing loudly, almost as if it had found some great smell.
"My senses are slowly returning... This smell... The energy of the Green Moon? How could it be present here? Wait... It is coming from the plants and those tiny yellow and greyish things on the ground... Could this Human be some sort of powerful being? I have never heard that anyone would be able to contain the power of the Green Moon like this..."
The dragon thought to itself as it stared blankly at Foin, and then it finally shook its body, completely forgetting that it was being impaled by many things.
"Yes, I am quite hungry, so fetch me something tasty... For example, some of these yellow things... and one of those green ones as well."
"Erm... you mean peppers?"
"Yeah, those!"
The dragon responded quickly. Its tone had slightly changed. It was no longer that cold, but Foin was still not too comfortable. He slowly walked back, leaned down and grabbed a handful of already broken peppers. He used his shirt to be able to bring more with him.
As soon as he got next to the dragon, it opened its massive mouth, and like driven by instinct, Foin started throwing in the peppers one by one. He didn''t think of using the bucket as a container. So he once again walked back to pick up the rest of the broken peppers.
"Wow! It truly is filled with the power of the Green Moon... My luck is so good... with this, I could recover from my current miserable state... However, before that, I must see if he really is some kind of big shot..."
The dragon thought as it swallowed the peppers without even chewing them. Of course, it was expected as they were so small compared to their massive size. The dragon could even swallow a whole pepper without a problem.
Once the dragon swallowed the next bunch of peppers, it sighed, greatly surprising Foin. He was about to go and harvest a green pepper but was stopped.
"Wait, before you go, could you remove these metal rods and the sword... They are getting on my nerves..."
As the dragon said that, it moved its large tail next to its head, giving the signal to Foin that he should use his tail to climb onto its back and start removing those metal rods that instant.
Foin swallowed hard and nodded. He didn''t want to refuse the dragon as he thought that if it got irritated, it would change its mind and would eat him, so with trembling limbs, he slowly climbed onto its tail and then onto its massive back.
"Let''s see..."
He mumbled and firmly grabbed one of the rods. He took a deep breath and pulled on it. He expected the rod to be deep inside the dragon and would be quite difficult to get out. However, that was not the case. He pulled with such force that he almost fell off of the dragon''s back. Once he managed to stand back up, he grabbed the next rod and pulled it out as well.
In a matter of a few minutes, he removed all the metal tubes, and all that was left was the blade. He could see that it was still bleeding, and as a result, he grabbed the handle with both of his hands. Since it was in the worst possible location, where the scales seemed to have been formed in a denser area, Foin took a deep breath and then pulled with all his might.
A cracking sound could be heard, and then one loud scream.
Chapter 24: The Sweat
As Foin grabbed the blade and pulled it with all his might, it surprisingly came out without much struggle; in the process, he managed to break a few of the dragon''s scales located around his wound, and the sudden removal of the blade caused the beast to scream up in pain, though it was more like a roar.
The pain was so severe that it managed to hit it even though the effects of the tea had already been activated. Though it only felt it for a brief moment, it was truly excruciating.
Foin put so much strength into pulling that blade out that he fell off of the dragon''s back and could only hear the cracking sound but not the scream. On the ground, Foin shook his head and then stood up. At first, he looked at the dragon''s back and then back at the blade.
"What is this man? Aier''s blade is cursed... She should have the power required to surpass the curse and wield it... Heh... Maybe it is my good luck that I came here!"
The dragon thought as it slowly turned its head to look at the slightly surprised Foin, who was still admiring the gorgeously made weapon in his grip. However, feeling the dragoN''s haze, he quickly put it down and looked back at the beast.
"You said it would take a day for your tea to be ready, right?"
"Y-Yes?"
As soon as the dragon heard Foin''s response, it nodded, stood up, and slowly walked away towards the trail of devastation caused in the forest. Foin rubbed his eyes and then shook his head. At first, he couldn''t understand what was going on, but then it hit him.
"So what it meant is that it will be back tomorrow for more of the tea?! I guess I have to use my pool as a tea storage for the time being... And now that I think about it, I should definitely expand that. I''d rather make it too big than be eaten because I didn''t have enough tea... At least it forgot about the green peppers..."
He sighed as he slowly walked back to his sleeping area, dropped the sword, and then quickly walked back to the metal rods as well. Though they were useless in their current state, he figured that they could be useful later in the future. In the worst-case scenario, he could use them to fixate broken limbs should the need arise.
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Once he put everything into one place, his next stop was his garden. He needed to expand his garden further now that there was a dragon around, which would most definitely eat much more than Foin and the ant could eat together.
Without hesitation, all the matured potatoes which he had collected were all plated. Since he now had a shovel, the process was much easier and faster than it used to be. As for the pepper, he still left the greens on, but half of what he had collected was broken, and the seeds were replanted.
Once he was down with all that, he finally looked at the green peppers. He sat down by the plant and quickly harvested one of the green peppers. Just as he had expected, it was different.
"You have gained 3 Experience Points and 3 Points."
"Notice! Pepper! Level: Basic. Tier: 1. Quality: D. Type: Food"
Foin stared at the notification for a brief moment before it vanished automatically, and he looked back down at the product.
"So the overall stats of the plants determine how many Experience Points and Points I get... Though I still don''t know what I can do with Points, at least if things go like this, I will level up soon!"
He mumbled as he carefully broke the pepper into two. After quickly extracting the seeds and planting them all next to the original plant, he took a bite from the vegetable. At first, he felt no taste; however, as soon he started chewing it, the taste hit him.
It had such a powerful taste that he stepped back with widened eyes. It was incomparable to the other ones. It was not sweet; it was quite strong and spicy, and he felt that his tongue was burning. He could even feel his teeth were on fire, but it had an aftertaste, which turned its powerful flavour into a wonderful sensation.
It was so strong that he started sweating without any warning. Also, his head slightly turned red, but for some odd reason, the saturation it gave was immense. He ate the whole pepper, and he was already full. With a still red face and drenched in sweat, he quickly took off his shirt and trousers.
They were so drenched that it seemed that he had just climbed out of the river. Thanks to the pepper, he felt quite hot; as a result, he just dropped his clothes onto the grass in his sleeping area, and then he drank the two bottles of tea he had stored and made for himself.
After consuming his tea, he grabbed his now empty buck and quickly filled it with water. He quickly used the water to water his plants, just to make sure that they stayed hydrated, and he was convinced that watering actually makes them better. The last bucket of water was used for himself. He splashed the water on his head since he was still sweating from the pepper he had eaten about an hour ago.
At that point, he was almost done with his garden; all he needed to do was harvest his fruits from the tree, and he was done. Just as he put the fruits next to his pile of products, he remembered the events which had happened just in the morning. He was so focused on his garden that it completely left his mind.
He quickly grabbed his shovel, and with incredible speed, he started expanding his pool in every direction. The dragon couldn''t drink all of the water; as a result, there were still some that just barely buried Foin''s ankles. Which, in his case, was good for some cooling, but due to the dirty work, the red water quickly turned black from the large amount of dirt that had fallen into the pit and had not yet been thrown out.
Chapter 25: The Sweat part 2
Foin worked on expanding the pit. As he worked, he noticed that he felt stronger than before, as if the weight of the dirt he was moving was much lighter. And with the energising effect of his tea, the combination was great. He could not only work without stopping but also work faster.
The pile of dirt just kept growing. Soon, Foin realised that he would no longer be able to expand to one side, as he needed to keep throwing the dir out, so instead, he kept making the hole wider and wider. As soon as he was satisfied with the width, he started digging deeper. Despite the fact that he felt both stronger and more energised, the deeper he got, the harder it was for him to throw the dirt out.
He drew the line when he could just barely throw the dirt out. At that point, it was about twice as deep, four times wider and a bit under twice as long. Though he thought that the pit was finished, there was one factor which he didn''t calculate. Stairs. Now, the pit was so deep that he couldn''t just climb out without pulling in a great amount of dirt from the side.
So he spent some extra time carving out a few stairs so that he could climb out without much problem. Once out, he just stared at the massive pile of dirt. With one quick movement, he planted the shovel into the ground and used it to hold his weight up as he leaned against it.
"Now I just need to fill it up with water, and in the meantime, I should be focused on more bricks..."
He mumbled after a minute of gazing at the pile of dirt. With a single movement, he removed some dirt from the side of the river, allowing water to flow into the pit. Seeing the massive size of his new pit and the slow speed of the water, he expanded the gate through which the water could flow.
He let go of his shovel, fetched his bucket, and then stepped over to the ¨Ślion plants. Fortunately, he had previously planted many new plants, so now he had a great number of flowers to be picked. With great determination, he filled the bucket with flowers and then dropped them into the filling pool.
Once empty, the bucket was once again filled, but this time not with flowers, but with water. Foin continued working on his brick production. Since he had done many dozens of bricks, the process went smoothly and quickly. The pile of dirt was shrinking, but its size was still quite massive.
The mudbricks produced freshly were placed into a separate pile so that Foin wouldn''t mix up with the previously made ones, though they were visible brighter and seemed sturdier.
Time went by quickly, and Foin just kept on making his bricks; he didn''t know how many he needed; he only knew that he needed a great number. Once he was done with a large portion of the dirt pile, about a third, he took a breather. Although he was not tired, thanks to his tea, he started thinking about his house.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Originally, he planned his house to be used as a shelter only. Since he had no glass and was unable to make glass still, he didn''t plan with windows, as through holes, the heat would escape if there were a winter season in this world.
But now that he had time to think more about it, he realised that he would most likely need to add an addition as if there really is a cold season, he would need some sort of place where he could have a fire. And having a fire in the middle of his house would be foolish. Since he wanted to make his floor out of the grass, that would burn quite quickly; also, although the smell of the fire was quite nice, he was not sure whether it would be harmful if he kept it in a closed area and breathed it for longer periods of time.
With a determined movement, he grabbed a handful of dried bricks and transported the mover to his house. Since the entrance was planned to be on the garden side of the house, he had decided that on the opposite side, he would have a fireplace. He grabbed and removed a few of the bricks on that side and put down the extension''s base.
With another turn, he brought a full bucket of mud and then started laying bricks. He used the mud as mortar, and as he had experienced when he removed the bricks, they held together quite well. He was still sweating as he was laying his bricks. He purposely focused mostly on the backside as he wanted to finish with the fireplace, and the remaining brisket was used on the other two walls. He decided that he would leave the wall on which he had planned the entrance to be the last he built.
After having laid all his premade and dried bricks, he quickly went to the river to clean his bucket and his body as well. He was still quite sweaty, and his hands were muddy from his fingers all the way to his elbows, which needed some thorough cleaning. He even had some mud in his hair, so he washed that in the river as well. The cold water felt nice against his skin.
The last thing he did before going to sleep was stop the gates to the pool, which had been filled to about 80%, and he could see it reddening, both from the flowers and since the sun was already going down, which also played a big role in painting the pool red.
He slowly walked back to his bed and lay down. He just stared at the sky as it gradually grew redder and redder. All he could do was sigh.
"I should only have a single page left in that manual... But today, I am not feeling it. I will do the last page tomorrow..."
Carefree, happy, and excited are the words that could most accurately describe Foin''s current state. He was happy as he was able to expand his farm further, continue building his house, and manage to survive that dragon.
He was excited because he believed that if he gave enough food to the dragon, it would help him and even protect him. Also, since the manual was given by the system, he had hoped that it would be quite useful to finish that truly. Though he was unsure what it would provide him, he was expecting something great.
As he lay half-naked next to his shirt and trousers, he didn''t care about anything. All he was concerned about was his farming life. He remembered where he started, using a few peppers and potatoes to start his brand new life in this world.
He was so content with his life here that he didn''t care about the rest of the world. He was oblivious to the creatures living in the forest since he was convinced that with the help of the dragon, he would be perfectly fine and protected.
How foolish he was; in the world, size mattered little. Power was not represented by one''s muscles; it was measured by something entirely incompressible to Foin currently. He has yet to realise just how dangerous this new world is compared to his previous world.
In this world, there are no real laws; there is no real order. The strong trample over the weak to survive. So far, he was lucky, but will he be so lucky in the future as well? What will he do now that Aier knows his existence?
Vol 2 Chapter 1: The Dark-Green
Darkness. As far as the eye could see, everything was dark, and on the ground, a few dozen men were lying unconscious, along with a young girl. Each man seemed quite similar as they all wore the exact same formal black and white outfit, with a dark blue tie and sunglasses.
Next to the unconscious men were a great number of weapons and a few bags. Most of the weapons were blunt ones, such as metal rods, batons, baseball bats, or even golf clubs. But there were a few smaller bladed weapons as well, such as axes and knives.
There was one exception. A man had a gun in his belt. That man was just slowly coming back to his senses. They were all on the ground as if they had just been knocked out by some unknown powerful force, without them being able to react at all.
"What the hell just happened?"
The man asked as he slowly pushed himself up. He hurriedly looked around; since he could see nothing, he quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket and turned on its flashlight. As soon as the man noticed the knocked-out man and the girl, he grew angry.
He didn''t know where he was and how he and his team got to this strange predicament. He quickly rushed over to the closest man to see whether he was dead or just unconscious. As soon as he confirmed that they were still alive, he took a deep breath.
"What the hell is going on?"
He shouted and grabbed his gun. Using his phone to light up the surrounding area, he looked around as far as his phone could reach, which was a few dozen meters in complete darkness.
As if responding to his shout, the ground started shaking, and he felt as if the whole world he was standing on started moving in one direction.
"It seems you are finally awake, worm. Do you have the slightest idea how much you have hindered my work and plans, worms?"
A strange, loud, womanly voice shook the entire area. As the voice was speaking, the man could feel that the area was shaking.
"Who are you?! Show yourself!"
Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
"You have nearly jeopardised my plans, and you don''t even know who I am? It seems I gave you far too much credit; you truly know nothing at all."
The ground started shaking violently; the man could barely keep standing as it was hard to keep his balance. The man hurriedly looked around with the help of his phone but found nothing.
Just as the shaking finally decreased, high above the man, a massive pair of exes appeared. It was almost as if the eyes were opened. They were glowing light green and were so massive that the man at first thought that it was some sort of enormous lamp.
After staring at the massive pile of eyes, the man couldn''t believe what he was looking at. The eye was gazing at him, and he felt greatly threatened by it but was unable to move at all. He just stood still and glared back at it.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The man uttered; he was sweating greatly and, at the same time, shaking. The ground started shaking once again, and then suddenly, as if the pair of eyes belonged to a living being, the eyes were rolled.
"You have no right to question my name, human. You nearly killed my avatar, forcing me to act quickly to save my plans. Now you will face my wraith!"
With that, the glowing green eye glared down at the man, and suddenly, the man fell to his knees. He felt such a great pressure being emitted by the pair of eyes that his legs gave out beneath him.
The pressure kept increasing to the extent that the man collapsed completely, and he was forced to close his eyes. He felt as if even the ground underneath him slightly sunk in from the incredible pressure he was experiencing.
The pain was unimaginable; he felt as if his whole body was being pressured from every possible corner, which seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. At one point, he thought his body had given up as the pain ceased completely, along with the pressure.
He slowly opened his eyes and was in awe at what he saw. He found himself in an unfamiliar territory once again, though it was not dark. Inside a light forestry area, as far as he could see, there were smaller and a few larger trees.
"What the hell happened? Was this all a dream and an enemy organisation obducted us?! I must find the young lady!"
He mumbled as he quickly stood up. Holding his gun tightly, he looked around. Much to his release, the other men and the girl were all safe and sounded right beside him. After observing his allies, he couldn''t help but sigh.
He couldn''t believe what had happened, and the only reasonable explanation he found was that he had been drugged and was obducted by enemy agents, and they had thrown him, the girl, and his men out into a forest to die. However, then again, the fact that the weapons were not taken away was quite a strange sight to behold.
He quickly checked the mag of his gun; it was full, so he lowered it. He knew that he was superior in terms of rank, so he had to come up with a plan for the current predicament. However, nothing came up to him. He was an expert leader, but this current situation was so strange that he was paralysed by doubt and fear.
As he was thinking about what to do next, he heard a strange cracking sound. After quickly reading his weapon and aiming in the direction where the sound had come from, he carefully walked closer.
Since he was the only one alive, he needed to make sure that everyone survived; even in this unfamiliar land, he needed to stay focused and vigilant.
A loud roar broke out from the distance, which sent shivers running down the man''s spine; however, he stood his ground, though he was sweating.
Four shots were fired, and a massive cracking sound could be heard; a tree had been pulled down.
Vol 2 Chapter 2: Morning Tea
A loud stomp caused by some massive animal or being could be heard across the forest. Its mere step was enough to shake the ground. Such noises woke Foin up early in the morning.
He slowly sat up without even opening his eyes. He quickly searched for his bottle of tea and drank it to start his day, and only then did he finally open his eyes, and he nearly jumped back as he was greatly surprised.
"I completely forgot about the dragon..."
He thought as he tried to regain his composure. He could see the massive head of the dragon staring at him. It was both terrifying and exciting for him. He stared at the beast for a few moments before finally clearing his throat.
"Good morning..."
He said as he slowly pushed himself up from the ground and slightly stretched his limbs. He really needed to make some sort of normal, usable sleeping place, as sleeping on the ground like that was not quite comfortable. For the first few days, it was fine, but now, after many days, it grew quite uncomfortable for him. However, he had no resources and materials to do anything of that sort just yet.
"Human, was it? You said that it would take about a day to make more of that tea you gave me yesterday..."
All the sleepiness had faded nearly instantly as Foin heard the dragon''s voice. He nodded while pointing at the hole he had expanded the day before.
"Yeah... I have prepared some tea there... Also, please call me Foin and not human."
The dragon looked at the pit, and although it was not quite visible, it smiled. With one giant leap, it jumped up and landed in the river. It was moving much easier than it did yesterday and almost seemed a tiny bit larger.
"Phew... It seems tasty foods and drinks are quite powerful in this world..."
Foin thought as he stretched his limbs and then looked at his slowly expanding garden. The first thing he did was water his plants using his bucket, which he had just recently made.
Meanwhile, the dragon took a sip from the tea prepared by Foin, and it nodded in acknowledgement. It tasted just like the one it drank yesterday. It was quite refreshing for the dragon, as within a few moments, its effects kicked in, and the dragon''s pains were mitigated. Also, it seemed that the tea accelerated the rate at which the dragon''s wounds were healing, though it was still slow.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"I have been observing him through the whole night... At first, I thought he was some kind of powerful being since he managed to pull out Aier''s blade... However, he seems just like an ordinary being... But for some reason, he is still capable of producing such great plants in this tainted forest...Maybe staying by his side would be beneficial..."
The dragon thought while it savoured the taste of the tea and drank it quite slowly. And in the meantime, it kept looking at Foin out of curiosity.
Foin was able to water his plants in a few minutes and then proceeded to harvest most of the peppers. Just like before, he broke a few of the products to collect their seeds, and then they were replanted. As he was harvesting, he used his bucket as a container so he didn''t need to walk that much over and over again.
Suddenly, when he was about halfway done with his harvest, a familiar text popped up before his eyes. One which he had seen already a few times, but now it was followed by an additional one.
"Congratulations! You have levelled up. Required Experience Points increased! All Stats have increased by 1! Ability Points increased by 1!"
"Notice! You have reached level 5! You have unlocked the following skill: Inventory."
"Notice! You have reached level 5! You have unlocked the following skill: Natural Adapter."
The text soon faded, and Foin stopped for a brief moment to look at them, but since he was busy with the harvesting, he decided to check the skills out once he was finished.
"What the hell was that just now?! That was such a pure energy... I must have misjudged him... Maybe he is just pretending to be weak..."
The dragon thought as it witnessed Foin''s work. From its perspective, when Foin reached the next level, he was surrounded by suffocating pure energy, which the dragon had not seen before, not even when it was up against Aier. But that energy was short-lived as it disappeared in a few moment''s time.
"I need to reevaluate how I look at things from now on... Now I see why that black ant decided to serve him... It witnessed this event already..."
The dragon mumbled to itself as it looked back down at the half-empty pond of tea and just stared at it. Its red colour was able to reflect the dragon''s form. It could only sigh as it kept staring at the liquid in the pool.
"Survivor of the fittest... I think I need to follow as well... But seeing how things are going currently... Yes, that is the only way...I must submit, and just like the ant follows him... But I must inform my family as soon as I am healed, which will most definitely take a few more days..."
Thoughts were who sing around in the dragon''s mind. Foin''s level-up scared it greatly. After shaking its head, the dragon quickly drank the remaining tea and then jumped back over to the flattened forestry area, shaking the ground when it landed.
Foin quickly looked at the dragon, seeing how it had landed. He carefully continued harvesting. However, a loud burst of sound echoed through the area. At first, Foin thought it was the roar of another animal, but as he looked at the dragon, he understood what it was.
The dragon was staring at the large pile of pepper, and it was drooling. Massive drops of its Slavia hit the ground next to it, and as the dragon was in a half-sitting position, it rubbed its stomach with one of its legs.
"It would take hours to break every pepper it wants to eat... Fine, I will lose some seeds, but now I already have quite a large stockpile, so I should choose the easy way."
Foin mumbled under his breath and straightened his back. He made his way back to the large pile of pepper, emptied his bucket, and then looked at the dragon.
"You can eat if you are hungry..."
He replied and quickly resumed his work as he was unsure how many the dragon would eat, so he wanted to make sure that he had enough.
Vol 2 Chapter 3: Morning Tea part 2
With renewed passion and increased speed, Foin proceeded to harvest the remainder of the peppers and dumped all of them into one massive pile. As soon as every single pepper but the green ones was harvested, he started removing the unneeded plants and tossed them into the composting pit.
As the dragon heard Foin''s words, it just kept looking at him. It watched him harvest the peppers, and only when he started working on the potatoes did the dragon finally look back at the large pile of peppers.
"Did he really mean that... Previously, I didn''t realise it in time, but now I do... These could easily be considered precious treasures; how could he so casually say that?! These are nothing more than expendable products in his eyes?! Nothing more than food?!"
The dragon thought as it stared blankly at the food before it and then finally started eating. Despite its massive size, it only ate one at a time, and on top of that, it ate relatively slowly.
"Phew, I hope that amount of pepper will be enough; I really don''t want to start again from near zero again."
Foin mumbled as he was gathering his potatoes, from which he planted back a few every once in a while, just to slightly increase the number of plants. He could only harvest two plants before his bucket was full, so he quickly turned around to dump everything into one pile.
Though he was prepared to see that the pile of pepper had vanished, the fact that only a few had vanished greatly surprised him. And on top of that, he saw that the dragon lay down in the pathway it made itself across the trees.
"Could it be that I misread the dragon yesterday? Well... Shit... I knew that dragons would prefer meat over vegetables, but yesterday, it seemed to have liked them..."
Foin uttered as he continued gathering the potatoes, which took much longer than the peppers did, but he was soon finished with them and sat beside the pile of products he had. However, he was not yet finished, as he still needed to replant a large portion of the peppers due to his hurried harvest, and his tree needed to be harvested as well.
However, now he was curious to see what those skills were that he had gained. As soon as he thought of his skill Inventory, a plain window popped up before his eyes. It had no text or icon; it was completely blank.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
"I expected something more... Something less simplistic... Seeing that it opened with a thought, maybe that is also how I can put items in it?"
He quickly grabbed his bucket and tried thinking about putting it into his inventory; however, nothing happened. No matter how hard he tried, nothing happened, so he gave up.
As his second idea, he pushed the bucket through the open window, hoping that it would be enough to put the bucket in, but the item merely phased through the floating window.
Seeing how it also failed, he grew slightly frustrated. As a result, he grabbed a potato from the pile and tried shoving it against the panel, which, much to his relief and surprise, worked. On the floating panel, an icon appeared depicting a potato, and in its bottom right corner, there was a number. Which, currently, was one.
"Wow... So I can''t put the bucket in, but I can put products in? Hm... I need to experiment with it more."
With one determined movement, Foin brought his fingers next to the floating panel and tried pinching it; however, his fingers just phased through it, just as he had imagined. Yet, while pinching his fingers, he moved his hand, and the panel moved along with his hand.
This newfound skill was quite fascinating in his eyes. He no longer needed to keep his food out in the open anymore; there were still many unpredictable outcomes. First and foremost, his greatest concern was how well did this skill preserve the items. It was a possibility that due to being able to store multiple items in such a small place, things would start to rot much faster.
Also, the maximum capacity was a mystery. Foin hoped that even if it had a defined limit, he would either never reach it or would be able to increase it.
While still holding the panel, he suddenly had an interesting idea; he quickly moved the inventory panel over the pile of potatoes and brought it down with one sudden movement. Just as he had anticipated, every piece of potato it touched was transported into his inventory, leaving only a small amount outside, which he quickly gathered as well. Then he proceeded over to the pepper and stored all of them in his storage.
"I like this new skill; harvesting will be even faster..."
He mumbled as he leaned back and just stared at the tree not far from him. The tree, which he believed was made of the same material its fruit contained, as no matter how strong the wind was, its leaves never moved. On the said tree, Foin could see four new fresh fruits, which he had harvested.
As soon as he grabbed the first fruit, the inventory panel closed. However, it was fine, as Foin didn''t want to keep these fruits inside his inventory. His main goal with these unique products was simple. Since they contained a liquid that would harden over time, he wanted to use that liquid to strengthen his house.
Though he needed to finish building it first, he had already started imagining how well it would work. Since his house was made of dirt and mud, he knew that it would not be able to withstand heavy rains, so that liquid would provide great rain protection as well as act as a shield against more physical elements. Of course, since he had not yet experimented with the liquid, he didn''t know how well it would insulate his house.
After putting his freshly harvested fruits next to the other two, he stood up and grabbed his wooden spade. He was ready to continue working in his garden as well as experiment more with his inventory.
"Let''s see how it works with some dirt!"
Vol 2 Chapter 4: Morning Tea part 3
With his wooden tool, Foin walked over to his pool, which he had turned into a massive reservoir for tea. He looked down into it to see that the dragon had drunk most of the tea, leaving only a small amount in the bottom, just like before.
"I guess it still needs to be expanded..."
He sighed as he climbed down into the pit, but before he started working, he once again opened his inventory. He took a shovelhead of dirt and pushed it through the panel. He was curious to see whether it would work or phase through as the bucket did. Though he was at first sceptical about it, the dirt vanished from his shovel, and a new icon appeared beside the pepper and the potato.
As he stared at the menu, he couldn''t read the small number beside the newly appeared dirt, so he pulled it closer to himself just to see that the number was zero.
"What the... ZERO?! Could it be that it uses such a large quantity of dirt that it is only zero? But why would I store such large amounts of dirt?"
Foin mumbled as he lowered the panel back down and started further expanding the pit, but this time, the work was much easier, as he didn''t need to throw the dirt out; he just needed to put it into the panel.
Just like before, he greatly expanded the pit just to be sure that the dragon would not decide to eat him because he didn''t provide enough tea, and he could still use some more extra dirt for his house.
Once done, he climbed out of the pit; since he made it deeper, a few extra steps needed to be implemented, but as soon as he was out, he opened the side of the river to fill the pit. As he watched the flowing water slowly filling the pit, he had a strange idea.
With a swift movement, he brought the inventory''s panel over to the flowing water. The panel started absorbing the water, and on the panel, a pictogram of a drop of water appeared. And just like with the dirt, it had a zero in its corner.
Foin soon pulled the panel, as he didn''t want to collect water; he was only curious. After all, he had more important things to do, such as picking more ¨Ślion flowers to make his tea. However, since he had drastically expanded the pit, he decided that he would need to expand his ¨Ślion plantation as well.
As a result, he quickly harvested a handful of flowers and planted more of them along the river bank. But just before he was done with the planting, a new idea flashed before his eyes, and he looked back at the green peppers.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
He remembered that he had used more seeds to grow those two plants, which made him curious. What would happen if he planted more flowers very close to one another? Maybe it would achieve the same effect as the pepper did.
Strengthened by that idea, Foin quickly grabbed another handful of flowers and planted them tightly packed together. However, this one was not around the river bank; it was planted not far from the green peppers.
While the pool was still being filled, Foin decided to harvest the rest of the flowers and drop them into the pit; it was so much larger than when it was first dug out that Foin wasn''t even sure that this amount of ¨Ślion would be enough to turn the water into a strong enough tea, he was afraid that it might be diluted, however, that he would only be able to find out tomorrow.
"Phew... The flower is quite useful; however, what about its leaves?"
He mumbled as he looked back at his plants and took a single leaf off. At first, he smelled it; feeling a very slight mint-like scent, he decided to go further and tore the leaf into two. At that moment, he felt a much more significant and powerful mint smell emanating from.
"Fascinating... This really is another fantasy world... Let''s make something new..."
Quickly, he jumped into the stairs of the pit, grabbed a handful of wet flowers, and dropped them onto the ground. He quickly fetched his bucket and gathered a few leaves. Still being able to smell the previous leaf''s scent, he only grabbed a few. Then, he used a smaller stone to grind the leaves. Each leaf was full of minty liquid, though when he tore one apart, he didn''t notice, but the reason he could smell its scent was peculiar.
The liquid in the leaf splashed everywhere and even hit his head and clothes. As a result, the smell permeated from him. He just realised how much liquid was in the leaves, as from such a low quantity of leaves, a spoonful of liquid came out.
He ground the flowers till they were nearly infused with the liquid, leaving almost nothing but pure liquid in the bucket. Then, he quickly filled the container with water, and as a finishing touch, he dropped the retrieved flowers into the bucket.
He had hoped that he would be able to create a refreshing tea, which would give him a brand new start the next morning; though the tea he normally made was still enjoyable and better than anything he had ever drunk, still, the thrill of tasting something new was big.
The bucket was brought next to his house so that in the morning, he could start with that, and then, he walked over to the now shrunk pile of dirt from which he was making bricks.
He was ready to test how he would be able to take the items from his inventory out, and he could think of nothing better candidate than the dirt.
After opening his inventory panel, he could see that the dirt was still showing a zero in its corner, so with determination, he pushed the dirt''s icon. At that moment, a panel popped out right in front of the previous one.
"Notice! Soil! Tier: 1 Quality: F+ (watered)."
Although the text he saw was greatly surprising, that was not the main reason he was stunned. Before his eyes, he could see a floating see-through cube.
"What the hell is going on?!"
He voiced his shock and shook his head. The way his head moved, the block mimicked his head''s movement. Not being able to comprehend what was going on, he extended his hand to touch the floating frame, but his hand phased through it as if it was also a panel.
He couldn''t help but sigh and close his eyes. At that moment, the cube was filled with dirt and fell to the ground, not far from where the other pile of dirt was.
Vol 2 Chapter 5: Tense-Fertility
In a massive room, a sizable circular table was placed. Everything in the room was made of fine marble except for the chairs around the table. They were made of the most luxurious materials one could ever hope to have.
There were four chairs in total currently, but more could be placed around the table. By each chair stood a maid, and on the table, there were four cups of fine tea; each was still steaming and had a beautiful red colour.
In total, in the room, there were twelve people. The maids looked nearly identical in every aspect, while the other people were distinguishable. Each of them seemed human-like, but in reality, none of them were human.
Among the four people sitting, Aier was also present, and next to her, her faithful companion, Felfey, was hovering a few steps from her. This time, she was wearing an entirely different attire. Compared to her previous self, one would barely be able to recognise her. Now, she was wearing some fine black and purple fabric.
The one sitting on the opposite side of her was a young boy. He seemed just a kid; he was quite short, but his gaze was something else. It was intense and filled with fire. He was the only one not dressed well enough for the occasion, as he was wearing nothing but some old pyjamas which were not even straight. It was clearly seen that he had already used it without ironing it.
The one sitting on Aier''s left side was a kind-looking elderly man. He had long grey hair and a slight beard. He was wearing a fine black shirt with a metal emblem pinned to his chest, which depicted a fist. The man was smiling and was probably the most laid-back among the people. His kind, dark grey-coloured eyes were just idly staring at the tea before him.
And last but not least, a younger man. He was wearing a white shirt with a dark blue overcoat, the elegance of which was further enhanced by some golden wavings around his shoulder. The man also wore fine white gloves, which he deliberately showed by putting his hands together as he slightly leaned onto the table. He also had quite long hair, but it was nowhere near as long as the older man''s hair, as he only reached a bit below his shoulder.
The other three individuals present in the room were creatures similar to Felfey and just like her; they were floating not far from whom they followed.
The atmosphere in the room was quite tense. Two of the individuals were all glaring at Aier. She could only return the glare to a single person; however, since she had a grudge against the man sitting in front of her, she was glaring at him. Only the older man was peaceful; the others seemed to be ready to engage in a conflict, verbal or physical.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Due to their current predicament, none wanted to make a move, and the entire room was enveloped in a devastating and annoying silence. It was so quiet that the people present could hear their own heartbeats. However, as all things come to an end, this stalemate and quiet end is not how any of them expected.
Seeing and assessing the situation, the older man grabbed the cup of tea, which at that point had cooled down slightly, and took a sip. He deliberately did it as loudly as possible to ease the situation.
"It appears everyone is apprehensive. However, we still have pre-set rules we should adhere to. Otherwise, we would be nothing more than wild beasts. Seeing how no one is capable of opening this dissension, I will do so in your stead."
The older man stated and once again took a sip of tea. This time, he not only made it loud but prolonged it as long as he was capable of.
"Now that I have your attention, let us begin... Lady Aier, it has come to our attention that you have been endowed by sumptuous good serendipity, which might have caused some border friction between the four of us."
"That territory Used to be under my control, so I have the right to claim that land!"
Suddenly, the young boy burst out; he was angry to the point that he almost slammed the table with his fists but managed to stop just before impact.
"So uncivilised, as always, Majnor..."
The well-dressed man spoke mocked, though deep down, he was glad that the boy spoke up first, as he was about to burst out as well.
"Majnor, need I remind you where you are? This is not an assemblage for plebs; this is no barroom where you can holler whatever and whenever you desire... We are civilised people. Also, without tangible evidence, you are nothing but a usurper."
The elderly man exclaimed, and for a brief moment, he glared at the young boy. For that brief moment, his usual kind outlook completely vanished, and his glare was so cold and frightening that the boy started sweating.
"Now that everyone apprehends where we are, I do hope that there will be no more undue interruption, and we can continue our conference, right?"
With a long pause, the older man scrutinised the other three individuals present. He was curious to see their reaction. He noticed that the boy raised his hand and was about to say something but then decided against it and lowered his hand. The other man only smiled, while Aier, the only woman, just sighed and kept looking at the older man.
"Marvellous! Our topic is the phenomena which had arisen in Lady Aier''s territory, the appearance of a blessed land. Since our soil is exhausted, I can comprehend that everyone wants to gain that land; however, without basis and evidence, that is impossible."
And thus, the conference commenced. Everyone had their own ulterior motives as to why they needed the land, so the greatest question everyone was wondering about was none other but: Who would get to grab the land?
Vol 2 Chapter 6: Tense-Fertility part 2
Once again, silence settled in the room. The four individuals looked around the table, each searching for some sort of reaction from the others, or some even searching for some sort of alliance. Majnor and the other young, well-dressed man instantly looked at one another.
They stared at one another as if they were able to communicate without even having to say anything, and just before they looked away, Major nodded, at which the other man only shook his head and sighed.
"Great, it seems Major and Vision have decided to team up... Though they were the greatest threat from the beginning, and I did expect them to go against me, but not this soon... This is going to be tough."
Aier thought as she observed a somewhat hidden yet still obvious alliance being forged. She couldn''t help but let out a sigh and brace herself for a tough match.
"It seems everyone is ready, so first of all, it seems that you were the first to voice your opinion; let us start with you, then."
The old man looked at Major with his usual kind expression. However, the young-looking boy knew that it was nothing more than a fake image, a courtesy which was mandatory.
"Everyone knows about that land; that used to belong to me!"
The boy spoke up with anger and glared at Aier but then quickly looked at the old man with a grin. This grin indicated only one thing: he had just started his first assault, and the war had begun.
"Yes, I remember that well. The land in question truly was yours. However, it seems you have forgotten your linguistic lesson. WAS is was because it happened in the past. I have the feeling that you have forgotten that you had been in one hell of a situation and desperately needed my aid..."
Aier replied calmly, but she had a slight grin on her face, clearly enjoying the situation she managed to create. She enjoyed seeing how the young boy''s face soon turned red with anger. She could feel his intense glare and anger. But it was not enough; she wanted to push further and decided to continue.
"You requested a large amount of supplies from my region in order to keep up your crumbling army in your meaningless war, which in the end was still defeated. So you have no right to claim and call that land as yours. That was the payment we agreed upon, as you had no other valuables to offer."
"That is correct; I have been there when the documents have been signed! Though it has been decades since the agreement, that still applies!"
As the old man said it, he smiled kindly; however, he said the smile was not directed to Aier, with whom he had agreed, but to Majnor. The smile seemed to be just a courtesy smile to show his sympathy. However, it was something entirely different.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The old man''s smile was a message to the people at present. Although he seemed indifferent, he showed that he, too, has great goals, which he will work for. His smile was just a figurative message, which meant no less than a declaration of war. Though, as he looked at Majnor, the man could see that he was possibly the only one who didn''t get his intentions.
Visgon, on the other hand, slightly leaned back and took a loud and long sip of tea, using the old man''s technique against him to disrupt the pause. In this stalemate, it was clear as ice that this was a two against two.
Due to Ayer''s policies and laws, no man in her domain knew how to work in the fields; as she was a meat eater, she prohibited agriculture. Her people were expert hunters, and other than meat, they could use mushrooms to spice the food up. Though she had already issued a new order, it would take time for her subjects to learn how to cultivate and grow plants.
However, even if it is a long process, at least her opponents are not capable of exploiting her land and gaining even more power. She knew that whoever had that piece of land in their hand would have their might and influence greatly increased.
"At least Idosen is against them..."
Aier thought and drank a sip of tea with a sigh. She was thrilled, though she knew that the situation was severe. Her usually boring and slow life was now filled with some excitement, so she wanted to make the most of it.
"I do believe that, though we can not claim the land without adequate evidence or basis, we can trade it. I do believe that in your current situation, you might be interested in trading."
Spoke up Visgon as he put his cup of tea down and smiled. Aier gritted his teeth as she knew why he was grinning. He knew that Aier was on a meat-only policy and that, eventually, his meat would run out. Also, there was a powerful trade connection between each of them, and should one be severed, it would have great consequences.
Suddenly, as he opened his mouth to speak up, his fairly-like creature leaned close to his ears and whispered something which seemed to have shocked him.
"However, unfortunately, I have urgent business to do. I am willing to compensate for the trouble. Also, Majnor, this urgent matter involves you as well, so please come with me."
"W-what are you..."
Uttered the shocked boy, but the well-dressed man grabbed his shoulder. The two men and their fairies vanished in a blink of an eye.
"What is going on? I thought we would have a hard negotiation?! I dressed up and prepared just for this event... "
Aier spoke up and slammed the table, making it lift up on the opposite side. Idosen could just take off his cup of tea in time.
"Lady Aier, I have received news... Should I say it out loud?"
"Yes, Idosen and I have been working together for quite some time; our goal is to prevent the advancement of those two bastards. So, what is it?"
She said, and the old man nodded while drinking the remainder of his tea, and then put the cup back onto the table.
"It is regarding that area... We have conducted a few hidden investigations about the ground and the soil. However, it doesn''t seem to be blessed. It is just as withered as it has always been."
"But the vegetables I ate were most definitely grown on such a land."
Aier said, and she scratched her head. In her frustration, she quickly chugged the tea down, just before the girl could continue.
"It is safe to assume that the individual to whom the product belonged came in possession of blessed seeds and is capable of reproducing them. There is no other explanation for it!"
Felfey declared though she was greatly afraid that her mistress would burst out, so she hovered a bit back.
"It is safe to assume that they have extrapolated something out; that is why they vamoosed with such urgency. I advise we discuss the subject further and come up with a strategy to counterattack whatever Majnor and Visgon have in store for us... Visgon is a shrewd fox, so we must be prudent... I fear he already started moving."
Vol 2 Chapter 7: Boiled Potatoes
The next morning, when Foin woke up, a new panel was floating before his eyes. The day before, he had completed the book''s last exercise as well.
"Congratulation! You have acquired a new skill! Perfect Breathing!"
Foin rubbed his eyes as he read the text floating before his eyes, and then he closed it. For the first time ever, he felt no special emotion seeing a message from the system. Of course, he was happy but was not particularly curious. He was more focused on his area and land.
He could see that the ¨Ślion flowers that he had planted the day before had started growing nicely, except for the bunch he had planted next to his green peppers. The most significant change he could see was that they combined into one plant; at least, instead of many small ones, he could see a single stronger plant.
"It seems that planting more together really is working... At least for these two, however, when I planted more potatoes, the same thing didn''t occur... Maybe I need to plant more of them together..."
He mumbled, and as he stretched his limbs, a new idea flashed into his mind. One that he had never thought of before, but now that he was thinking about potato, it occurred to him. He realised that he could make alcohol from the potato he had; although he had never drunk before, he was curious to taste it.
However, before he started working, he tasted his new type of tea, which not only used the flower but also the leaves of the ¨Ślion plant. After a single sip, he felt nothing special at all, other than an awesome taste; however, as soon as the second sip touched his mouth, the previous one''s effect kicked in. He felt energised, as if he had drunk some sort of coffee in a massive quantity. And if that wasn''t enough, his mouth went a bit numb.
He only drank a few sips because it had such a strong effect that he was afraid that it might prevent him from sleeping at night. And with that, he decided that he would use fewer leaves, as this one had too strong of an effect on him.
Once outside of his half-complete house, Foin noticed that the dragon was once again not far from his developing area, and as soon as it noticed him, he walked closer to him. With a tiny grin on his face, Foin grabbed the bucked off his new beverage and walked over to the dragon.
"I have seen that you liked my tea. Would you like to try this new one?"
This sudden and direct question surprised the dragon. At first, it just stared at Foin and then bucked in his grasp but then nodded.
"Yes, please."
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The dragon lowered its head and opened its mouth, and Foin quickly poured the entire bucket of tea into it but then instantly went to work on his potatoes. Unlike before, he put every piece of product he had harvested instantly into his inventory.
As for the dragon, as soon as it drank the liquid, it felt an immense feeling, one which it couldn''t describe. All its injuries started smoking lightly and then slowly started healing.
"This..."
The dragon was unable to believe what it was feeling. Its entire body had gone completely numb, to the point where it was barely able to move, so it quickly decided to step away. Even its hunger was satiated by that one bucket of tea, and unlike Foin, the dragon felt tired and decided to go to sleep.
"Oh, I forgot that all the food is in my inventory, and I didn''t put anything out for the dragon."
Foin quickly looked back and was about to rush back, but he could see that the dragon was already leaving. It was moving its wings and tail. Observing how the dragon was walking reminded Foin of a happy dog. A dog was wagging its tail as soon as it saw its owner.
"What the hell am I thinking... This is insane... How could it be a dog..."
He thought to himself as he resumed his work. Just like before, he not only planted back the amount of plants he had harvested but added a few more just so that his garden would expand further just a bit.
He knew that if he wanted to make some alcohol, he would most likely need quite a large amount of potato; he knew the very basics, but still, he had never seen how it was made, so he was aware of the possible failures that may occur.
Once he was done with his potatoes, he harvested the fruits of his tree and decided to use two of them. Just like before, as soon as he tore them, the liquid started pouring out, and he used most of the liquid to make a larger bucket with two handles on its sides. And the last portion was used for a top, which he spent quite a lot of time working on. He wanted to make it about the same size as the bucket''s mouth. As a result, he kept forming it even when it was nearly completely solid.
Just so that he could move it easier, he put a little knob with a hole in it at the top so that he could grab it or use a stick to lift it if it was too hot for him to handle.
Next, he selected an area and dug a hole; he paid extra attention to make it as even as possible. The dirt that he had moved was instantly put into his inventory, and he noticed that it was placed into a different slot because it was much dryer.
He grabbed the freshly made pot, filled it with water, and brought it back to the hole. He put a few smaller branches and a single larger piece of weed into the hole and then put a few dried grass in.
He quickly grabbed two of the metal rods which he had pulled out of the dragon and laid them on top of the hole; then, he put the panhandle on them so that most of the pan was in the pit. Foin carefully looked under the pot to see that it was not touching the wood underneath. He dug quite a deep hole so the flames would just like the bottom of the pot.
He then opened his inventory and tapped on the potatoes; just like for the dirt, a cube appeared before his vision, and he could move it. He tried pinching two of its corners and moving them around, and just like that, the size of the object also changed. Foin carefully shrunk it down so that it would fit inside the pot even if he put the lid on.
Just as he had envisioned, the rough shape of the object was made out of potatoes; of course, since they had a defined shape, unlike the dirt, there were air bubbles between each potato, but still, the pot was full, as the excess water just splashed out as soon as the potatoes spend in
"Alright, first test: how well does this material work with heat? Its texture felt as if it was some sort of metal, so I hoped that it would not melt from the heat... Also, if it works, I will need to find a way to get salt..."
He mumbled as he ignited the dry grass, and just to be sure; he even poured some sawdust on the burning grass and the sticks.
Vol 2 Chapter 8: Boiled Potatoes part 2
The fire soon started spreading across the stick and then to the larger piece of wood. Foin then looked at his shrinking pile of wood. Although previously the ant brought two larger trees, now only a fraction of the wood remained.
While he was thinking about his next course of action, whether to go and collect more branches or use another fruit to make some sort of tool which would allow him to cop trees down, suddenly the sweet scent of the burning grass hit his nose.
The grass was already quite dried. As a result, he believed that it had lost its sweet scent, but no, on the contrary, it was almost as if the smell was even stronger than before. It was so strong, in fact, that the sleeping dragon woke up to it. Of course, Foin did not notice it, as he was more focused on the water. Which started soon boiling.
"It seems it will not be the best insulator, but at least it is quite sturdy..."
He mumbled as he kept staring at the pot. Then, he started thinking about how he would be able to produce alcohol from his potatoes. He was certain that traditional methods would not work as they worked in his world.
While being half a dozen off, a new idea came to his mind. He quickly jumped up, grabbed his bucket, walked to the edge of his cleared area, and started pulling more grass out. Although his plan was not to extend his land, he still expanded his farmland area a bit. The grass was then brought to his now greatly shrunken wood storage.
The process was repeated a number of times: filling his bucket with grass, then dumping them into one pile, and once he had a sizable pile of grass, he quickly returned to his boiling water. Carefully, he grabbed the end of the metal rods and lifted his pot off of the burning fire. He was ready to exert great strength to lift his presumably heavy pot full of water and boiled potatoes. However, it was relatively light.
Once the pot was no longer above the fire, Foin, without hesitation, poured it onto the ground. He wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible, and he had no time to wait for the water and the pot to cool down. He quickly grabbed a bucket full of water and splashed it over his pot to hasten its cooling. Then he tried to grab it with his bare hands. He was sure that it would still be hot; however, he managed to turn it around.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
He then proceeded to grab a comfortably large piece of stone and returned to the pot. The pot was still somewhat hot, but he was now able to work with it. For the time being, he ignored the freshly completed boiled potatoes, and instead, he once again pulled out about the same amount of potatoes as before, but now onto the ground.
He used the piece of stone he had brought to smash and squeeze the potatoes. He grabbed the first one, and then, with the help of the stone, he started mashing and flattening the potato until nothing but liquid remained in the pot. The pot was slowly being filled with the liquid extracted from the potatoes; though he used the same amount of potatoes as before, it barely filled half of the pot.
Remembering the great effect of the ¨Ślion, Foin quickly grabbed a handful of flowers and dropped them into the pot. He hoped that the sweetness of the flower would boost the liquid, and even if he failed, the liquid would be drinkable with the help of the flowers.
Once he was done with the liquid, he put the two rods back onto the fire, but he did not put the pot back on; he wanted to wait some time so that the fire would slightly diminish in strength, as he wanted to use the sweet grass as fuel. He didn''t know whether it would have any effect or not, but he wanted to experiment with it.
He sat by the fire and just looked at the fire in the hole. Time flew by quickly, and every once in a while, Foin glanced at his field of products and sighed.
"A helper would be fantastic. Someone who could help, or just lend me a free hand to harvest... Or just watch over the fire."
Foin finally stood up, brought a bucket full of grass back, and then put the pot on the now weak fire. And then threw a handful of grass onto the fire. For a few seconds, the grass burned with massive flames despite being fresh and not dried, but then the fire once again calmed down. The sweet smell released by the grass lingered all over the area.
The fire Foin had previously gathered was gradually thrown onto the fire until nothing was left. By that time, the fire was just barely visible, and most of the wood had burnt.
Most of the day had already passed already, so Foin proceeded to harvest his peppers and continue building his house. Though he didn''t have much time to focus on his house, he believed that at this rate, he would be able to finish it shortly, not that he really needed it for the time being as the weather and the temperature seemed almost utopistic.
At the end of the day, Foin went to sleep when it was still somewhat bright outside. His first attempt and experiment with alcohol was still outside over the now pile of ash and cooling in the pleasant temperature.
That night was special not only because Foin might have succeeded in making some sort of new drink, maybe even alcohol, in the long run, but also because that night also had a Green Moon. The beautiful green colour of the moon lit up his entire garden. However, he was fast asleep at that time already. He didn''t even notice that a notification had popped up before his eyes.
As the hot, almost burning green light hit the garden, everything seemed peaceful, but suddenly, the ¨Ślion plant, which he had planted from multiple flowers, started slightly shaking, almost as if there was a light wind.
Vol 2 Chapter 9: Tintity
"Congratulation! You have brewed a new type of beverage using Potato and ¨Ślion as a subsidiary. A reward has been issued."
Such notification waited for Foin when he woke up. At first, he just rubbed his eyes and then finally realised what the message implied. It meant that in just one night, he managed to brew something from his previous experiment. Though he expected it to take at least more than a few days, it was a pleasant surprise to see how fast it was.
"I thought I would fail for the first couple of times..."
He thought as he slowly stood up and slightly stretched his arms and legs; however, at that moment, he witnessed something unexpected. he received another system notification, which shook him.
"Congratulations! You have levelled up. Required Experience Points increased! All Stats have increased by 1! Ability Points increased by 1!"
He was doing nothing at all, yet for some unknown reason, he levelled up. He quickly stepped out and looked around in his field. There were many changes he noticed.
The first thing which caught his eye was his potato and pepper fields; both were harvested. The products had been placed into one large pile, while the unneeded plants were also collected into one pile. Only his special green paper was untouched, which brought him some sort of relief.
However, the most shocking and unexpected occurrence was that the ¨Ślion flower he planted from multiple flowers vanished completely. His mind instantly started racing as to who or what could have stolen it, but since he knew barely anyone, he gave up.
He had not seen the ant for days, and it could have done it with the others many times over; why would it do to that small plant which wasn''t even ready yet? As for the dragon, seeing how the land was still in one piece, he discarded that idea quickly.
"Oh, you are awake! Good morning, master!"
A strange, girly voice could have been heard. Foin instantly looked around; however, he could see no living being, no matter how hard he scanned the area. He couldn''t understand how he heard the voice when he was alone. He started to think that he was going insane, but then he felt a light pull on his pants.
Stolen novel; please report.
"Master?"
The same voice could be heard simultaneously with the strange feeling on his leg, so Foin quickly looked down. By his feet, he could see a tiny figure about twenty centimetres high. The figure seemed almost human-like. The entity by his leg had long red hair and light green skin along with a tail and a pair of wings, while the creature seemed to have a darker green set of very thin fabric over most of its torso and legs. It was so thin that from further away, it was impossible to tell that apart from its skin.
This tiny figure was so shocking for Foin that he just stared at it for a whole minute. He couldn''t understand why it would call him master. He didn''t even know who or what the tiny figure was; he didn''t receive a notification about him taming anything. But for some reason, here stood a being before him who called him master, almost as if it was his servant.
"Master? What is the matter?"
The entity says with concern in its tone, and it quickly jumps up. Using its wings, it flew up to Foin''s head and started hovering before his eyes. She had strangely shocked eyes. She had not a pair but two pairs of eyes on top of one another, and they were not one-bit human-like. Although the shape was similar, its entire eye was just pure red, just like its hair.
The creature tenderly touched Foin''s cheeks. Other than its hair and eyes, its nails were also pure red. And as soon as the entity''s hand touched his face, from the tip of its fingers, green, vine-like appendages darted out and dug under Foin''s skin. He felt immense fear at first; however, instead of pain, he felt nothing more than relive and calmness.
Suddenly, Foin averted his eyes from the tiny figure''s hand and instead gazed into its eyes. At that moment, a few drops of sweat formed on its entire body, and it withdrew its hand and flew back a few meters. In mid-air, the figure performed a deep bow, and with the trembling body, it looked back at Foin.
"I am terribly sorry for my transgression, master... I wasn''t thinking and acted unconsciously."
"Erm... What did you just do... Also, who are you?"
Foin asked. He still felt very calm, but his tone was cold and demanding. Although he was unsure of the creature''s power, for some reason, he felt quite dominant and powerful. Maybe it was the submissive nature of the creature, or maybe he just wanted to be intimidating; not even he knew which was it.
He felt that should the need arise in one swift movement; he could squash the floating being using both of his hands and all his might. Though it was only imagined in his head, and since he was in another world, the possibility of the tiny creature being stronger than him was also a possibility, but for the time being, he wanted to think optimistically.
He maintained his cold glare and stared into the entity''s eyes while he opened his hands and slightly moved them away from his side so that he would have a greater reaction time.
As for the creature, it slightly lowered its head, feeling Foin''s gaze, and after taking a deep sigh, it once again raised its head. It slowly opened its mouth, revealing many very sharp teeth. The number of teeth it had was way beyond what humans had, and also, they were very small and so sharp that they could be easily used as blades.
"Master... I apologise for the late introduction... I was just so happy that I forgot about everything... My name is ¨Śnilo..."
Vol 2 Chapter 10: Tintity part 2
¨Śnilo. The name did not sound familiar at all, but for some reason, it made Foin think. However, although he was lost in thought, he was still glaring at the floating entity, who seemed to be waiting for a response. Seeing how Foin did not reply, the entity once again lowered its head and continued.
"Thanks to your care, I was able to be born... I am very grateful, master!"
Uttered the entity with a shaking voice. It was expected that this extra information would calm Foin down; however, as it slowly raised its head, it realised that Foin was even more confused than before. He was certain that this must be some sort of prank. He had done nothing of the sort the entity had claimed. As a result, he just glared at it while still being prepared to strike at a moment''s notice.
"Oh. Right... I am sorry... I forgot that humans operate differently... I was born while you were asleep, so you couldn''t have seen it with your eyes... I am truly sorry for not waiting for you to see me... But I just desperately wanted to help you, master!"
The entity stuttered with genuine nervousness and a considerable of regret. It was still trembling; however, after a deep sigh, it once again hovered closer to Foin; this time, however, carefully not to disturb or scare him like before. Its movements were slow, and the being stopped not far from Foin''s eyes. As the creature got closer, Foin noticed something in its eyes. They were filled with tears.
Although he knew nothing about this tiny being and was still worried about it, for some reason, he did not expect it to cry. Foin felt horrible for making that tiny, seemingly harmless creature cry. Though he knew that he should be stern and should be cautious, as he stared into those tear-filled eyes, he softened and looked away.
"Master, without you, I would still be nothing but a mere plant! Please do not hate me for my stupidity!"
Foin was shocked, to say the least. His eyes widened, and he lowered his hands. Everything he was thinking about previously had faced. He just stood there and looked blankly into the crying entity''s eyes. What he felt was indescribable. It was amazement, shock, and sadness at the same time.
After a few moments of being stunned, Foin quickly looked back to where his latest ¨Ślion fower was and then back at the entity. As he glanced back and forth, something occurred to him, so he took a deep breath.
"Were you that ¨Ślion over there?"
He said; his voice was slightly shaking both from excitement and shock and was barely above whisper level. The creature nodded as soon as it heard Foin. It was nodding so eagerly that it seemed more like many small bows.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"I see..."
Foin mumbled. This was something he just said, as it was still a powerful slap to recover from. His mind raced to find how this seemingly girl-like creature could have been created. He did nothing in particular to that plant other than basic watering, but then every other plant would have been in the same situation.
Then he thought that maybe it was the mutation the system said when his plants levelled up on his panel, but this idea was quickly replaced by another, more realistic one. The reward he had received most recently. Whenever he received a reward, it would appear not far from him; however, there was nothing around him that could have been a reward, so he colluded that this entity might have been it.
Foin quickly shook his head once he managed to regain his composure and then slowly extended his hand. With two of his fingers, he gently stroked the entity''s head. He expected that its hair would feel like real hair; however, it was more like each string of hair was a rough plant fibre. And as he touched it, it seemed to tickle his fingers slightly.
Feeling Foin''s gentle touch, the creature rubbed its eyes and quickly flew over to Foin and hugged his used, dirty and slightly damaged shirt. He was taken aback by this action, but after a moment of debating, he just smiled.
"Thank you, master; I swear I will work diligently and will not fail you!"
Foin only sighed lightly, and his gaze already moved to the next task. Since the creature had already harvested most of the plants, his workload was greatly reduced. Since he received the notification that he had managed to brew something, he wanted to most definitely try tasking his beverage but decided not to do it so soon. He decided to wait till evening. Until then, he could continue working on his house.
"Master, how can I help you?"
¨Śnoli asked with great enthusiasm. Before Foin could have reacted, the entity had already let go of him, hovered back, and looked into his eyes with a smile. Although it was a kind gesture, with the being''s sharp teeth, it seemed more like a threatening expression. From that smile, Foin felt that it was not a question; it was more like an order. He needed to give it something to do.
"Well... I think you know more about plants than I do, so you could finish harvesting, and then, since you collected the vegetation in one pile, you could throw them into the composting hole."
Foin said as he pointed with his thumb above his shoulder back at the pit where a considerable number of parts had already been placed.
"No-no master. I am sure you know more about plants than I could ever know... I will do as you asked."
The creature said, and at an incredible speed, flew away. Foin didn''t even have time to speak; he just stood there dumbfounded.
"Know more about plants, me? I plant them and harvest them, that is all... This level of knowledge is quite lacking.... anyone would know more about plants than I do."
He mumbled as he slightly stretched his arms and started working on making a few more bricks. Meanwhile, the entity started harvesting with a wide smile.
"Master... You are so kind... You accepted me so easily despite me being so incompetent and young... I am so tiny can barely do anything useful, yet you accepted me..."
The tiny being mumbled as its smile grew larger and larger. It kept smiling while it was working; however, from time to time, it looked behind to see what its master was doing, and whenever ¨Śnoli saw Foin working, it redoubled its efforts.
Vol 2 Chapter 11: Tinity part 3
¨Śnilo, the plant girl, was diligently working. She did everything as she was instructed. Once she was finished with the normal peppers, she proceeded to move the unneeded vegetation to the designated spot. She just tossed them into one corner instead of putting them on top of the already created pile, and then she was about to harvest the green peppers as well, but she was stopped. Foin wanted to keep them as they were quite valuable compared to the other plants.
"Alright, good fork! It is time for a rest...Also, I think soon I will be able to finish building the house; if things go like with this speed, with your help, we could have a house in a few more days."
Foin said with a wide smile, and he gently patted the hovering girl''s head with two of his fingers. The girl instantly leaned into his pat, and once Foin pulled his hand back, the girl hovered closer to him and hugged his wrist.
"Thank you, master! I will work hard for you!"
The tiny girl replied almost instantly, and she gently rubbed her face against Foin''s hand, who couldn''t help but chuckle. It was a new sensation which he lacked greatly. For the past few days, he has been all alone and could not really talk to anyone. Though there was a dragon in the distance, who seemed to be sleeping, he still felt uncomfortable talking with it.
This girl, however, was quite a pleasant surprise. Still, he didn''t know the true extent of her power and how it could be utilised, but her mere presence was enough to heighten his mood, and also, now that his workload was reduced, he had more time to plan. And just as his eyes wandered over to the pot in which his new beverage lay waiting for him to taste, he realised that he had no utensils to use.
Of course, he could always drink from the pot; however, now that there are two of them, it seemed inappropriate, and drinking from a smaller cup would most definitely be more comfortable. As a result, he walked over to the pile of Peteach and grabbed one of them. In the meantime, ¨Śnilo let go of his wrist and instead hovered behind him. Foin then sat down and got ready to mould the liquid of the fruit.
Without hesitation, the plant girl quickly flew next to him and sat down beside him; just as he opened up, the fruit and its useful nectar started flowing out. The tiny girl watched with excitement how Foin slowly formed two cups from the strange liquid and two plates, and since there was still some extra liquid, he decided to make one extra larger cup, for which he used all the remaining liquid.
As he started at the larger cup, pondering how to use it, suddenly, it hit him. He could try and make more of the green peppers using the cup as a pot. It was quite small, and as a result, he was unsure whether it would be able to contain a plant, but still, he decided to give it a try later.
"¨Śnilo, would you like to eat the fruit? It is very tasty... Pity the tree still needs to grow to bear a considerable amount of fruit."
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Foin asked with a smile. The girl instantly nodded eagerly and stood up. Foin grabbed the fruit and gave it to the tiny plant girl and couldn''t help but chuckle. In her grasp, that fruit seemed like a normal-sized human. Bing was holding a massive watermelon. Foin quickly put one of the cups and plates next to her so that she could put the fruit down if she wanted to. That was the time he realised that he had made two human-sized plates and cups, and the cup he had just put down was almost half the size of the girl.
As soon as the girl grabbed the fruit, she started eating. Her speed was unbelievable; it seemed that she wasn''t even chewing; as soon as she took a bite, she right away opened her mouth for another bite. Almost as if she just swallowed everything or just absorbed the moment she closed her mouth.
"Hey, wanna eat some boiled potatoes? I made quite a lot yesterday while testing my pot."
By the time Foin spoke up, the girl had already eaten the fruit and was licking her lips before letting out a quiet burp. As Foin looked down at her, he noticed that she was still smiling and was looking up at him before answering his question.
"Master, I wouldn''t want to eat you out of your food... I don''t want to be a burden!"
"Oh, don''t worry about it! We have plenty, and with our current progress, we are still producing more than the two of us could ever consume!"
Foin replied as he chuckled. He once again gently patted the head of ¨Śnilon, and then stood up with the two plates, and then returned with the boiled potatoes. Despite the size difference, he divided the amount equally and put one of the plates down beside the girl, holding the other in his hand.
The two started eating the boiled potatoes, just like before; ¨Śnilo ate at an incredible rate; she was even faster than Foin. She managed to eat the whole plate of potatoes, while Foin could eat only a few of them. Foin leaned back, looking at the sky, and he sighed. He was so full that he didn''t want to get up, but the speciality of the day had yet to come: his beverage.
"Thank you very much, master! It was very delicious and also reinvigorating!"
"Oh, don''t exaggerate! I wasn''t that good; it was plain old potato, nothing extra, nothing special."
Laughed Foin. Though he was not expecting a complaint, it was a pleasant feeling for him.
"Do you still have room for something special?"
He asked, and the girl just nodded eagerly. So, he picked up the two cups and walked over to the now cold pot. The lid was slowly lifted to reveal its contents. Although the level of the liquid had decreased slightly, it was still almost three-quarters full. The liquid seemed as clear as Foin''s tea. It was just as red.
He quickly filled one of the cups and filled the other to about half. He didn''t know how strong it would be, but knowing how small the girl was, even half a cup would be a much, much greater dose than the full cup for him. As soon as the cups were filled, he put the lid back on and then brought the cups back to where the girl was sitting.
He carefully put the half-fool cup down and held it in his hand. As a start, he slowly smelled it. He couldn''t smell anything other than its sweetness, which made him even more curious.
"I would say bottoms up, but be careful, as this is my first experiment, so it might be too strong!"
Foin said and took a deep breath. Even after he brought the cup a bit further away from his nose, he could still smell its dominating sweet scent. His mouth started watering, and soon, he gave in and tasted it. That was the first time in his life he had ever drunk something alcoholic.
Vol 2 Chapter 12: Confidence
The next morning came fast. Foin slowly opened his eyes, and before him, there were two things which surprised him. One of them was just unexpected, while the other was quite shocking. The first was ¨Śnilo; she was sitting on his chest and was seemingly observing him with a broad smile; as soon as he woke up, her smile grew wider.
The other was something entirely different. The house, which was halfway completed the day before, was now fully built. It was an event that he was most surprised about.
"Good morning, master! Master, you were quite the beast yesterday evening; I don''t know how you managed to work that fast and hard... I am still exhausted!"
¨Śnilo greeted him, seeing how he slowly opened his eyes. Hearing ¨Śnilo''s comment, Foin''s eyes widened, and as he tried to sit up, a sudden sharp pain emitting from his head hit him. The pain soon spread through his entire body.
"Master... Is everything alright? You seem pale... Did I do anything?"
The girl''s voice was full of concern as she gently touched her master''s forehead. Despite the strange pain emanating from every cell of his body, Foin was still thinking about what had happened the day before. No matter how much he tried, he couldn''t remember what had happened after he tasted his new drink.
"Erm... I think I have a hungover... My whole body hurts... How much did I drink yesterday? Also, what happened?"
Hearing her master''s words, the girl sighed in relief and smiled at her master. Her hand was still on Foin''s forehead; however, after her sigh, just like during their first encounter, tiny appendages came out of her fingers and entered Foin''s forehead through his skin.
"Allow me to help you, master!"
As soon as the girl said that, Foin''s body relaxed; the pain almost instantly vanished, and instead of pain, he soon felt warmness. With a smile, after the pain was alleviated, Foin patted the little plant girl''s head and then stood up. Even after he stood up, the girl used her wings to hover next to him and keep him company.
Foin deducted that the girl was truly from the ¨Ślion as the tea he usually drank had a similar effect as the girl just awakened within him. Though, even after the mitigating power of ¨Śnilo, he still felt slightly nauseous.
"Master... To tell you the truth, you only really drank a single cup of that majestic beverage, nothing more."
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
The moment the girl spoke up, her mouth started watering, and she unconsciously started licking her lips. Upon hearing his beverage being mentioned, a sudden feeling was invocated within Foin, but merely for a moment. The taste of his liquid has returned to him, and he had no choice but to lick his lips involuntarily.
The two soon exited Foin''s freshly built house to take a look at it from outside. It seemed nothing special, just a cube with a pyramid-like roof; however, from it, many still small ¨Ślion flowers were growing. At first, Foin was afraid that they would destroy the house; however, he then realised it. Although they do damage the dirt bricks, they ultimately serve an important purpose, which is he wanted to use his peteach fruits.
The roots of the plants would ultimately strengthen the walls of the house, and at the same time, Foin would be able to harvest their flowers as well. He already had a new idea of what to do with the peteaches he had gathered so far. He knew that their durability was not that bad, so he wanted to test them further.
As Foin slowly turned away from the house, he noticed the dragon not too far from them, just about where it used to stop when it needed something. However, the way it was there was quite unique. Its head was pressed down to the ground, as well as its wings and its tail. It seemed almost as if the massive beast which could swallow Foin whole without a problem was bowing.
"Master Foin... I have come to humbly accept your proposal! Please use me however you wish; I am at your service."
The dragon said with its eyes closed. Foin only heard a portion of what the dragon said as he nearly fainted. He was flabbergasted; he knew nothing about what the dragon was talking about, but one thing was clear before him. His alcohol did not simply taste great but was unbelievably potent as well. If he was able to strike a proposal with the dragon, which meant this level of submission from it while he was drunk, then there was no doubt about its powerful effect.
"So... erm... what did I do yesterday exactly to this dragon?"
Foin whispered as quietly as possible to ¨Śnilo so that the dragon couldn''t hear him at all. At his question, the girl only chuckled.
"Well, master, after you drank your cup of beverage, you stood up without a word, filled the cup once again and walked over to the dragon. I didn''t follow you there, so I don''t know what you talked about, but after she has been here ever since you went to sleep in this same exact position... But I am happy that I have a fellow servant!"
The girl whispered back with a delighted smile. Foin, on the other hand, wasn''t as happy as the little girl. He was slightly trembling until he took a deep breath and accepted that that was in the past; he did something to get to this situation, which seemed quite favourable for him the more he thought about it.
"Wait... did you just say... SHE?"
Foin suddenly replied with disbelief. The monster before him was so massive and robust with such a deep voice that Foin thought that the dragon would be male. Seeing his expression, ¨Śnilo only chuckled and nodded.
"Let me guess; you couldn''t resist the power of my beverage?"
Foin spoke up after a brief moment of pause. He said that with a nervous smirk and then quickly fetched one of the cups.
"Y...Yes! It was too delicious; I just can''t resist it!"
The dragon replied almost instantly and raised her head slightly. She watched as Foin filled that cup with his beverage and slowly walked closer to her. Seeing the filled cup, she couldn''t help herself. She started slightly wagging her tail, almost as if she were a dog.
The dragon knew that Foin''s newly brewed liquid not only tasted but also contained a massive amount of energy that would help her progress further
Vol 2 Chapter 13: Cutting-Brew
As soon as Foin got next to the dragon, she eagerly opened her mouth. Foin poured the liquid into her mouth and then walked back next to his house; in the meantime, ¨Śnilo was hovering not far from him the whole time. He was already planning what to do next. He was still unsure of what had happened the day before, but he saw that he had not planted anything at all, so the first thing he needed to do was replant potatoes and peppers.
For a few seconds, the dragon stayed stationary, almost as if she was petrified. However, when Foin changed his focus, the dragon moaned audibly and loudly swallowed the liquid. Her tail started waking even faster, but then it stopped, and she looked at Foin once again.
"Erm... What can I do to aid you..."
This question was sent by the dragon, who slapped Foin in the face. He just gave her a reward without asking for anything in return. This was the time he realised that his system wasn''t that weak after all. Food is mightier than the sword. He would have been unable to beat the dragon using a weapon, but with his food and brewed goods, he was able to subdue it.
He looked at the beast with a slight smirk. Since he was slowly running out of wood, it was obvious what he wanted her to do. After all, the dragon had already pulled down many trees as it came to the perimeter so he could use the wood and clear a bit more land at the same time.
"Yeah... I was thinking about expanding a bit; could you bring some trees here in one large row? I am planning to do a bit more cooking, maybe brew something new as well."
The dragon was listening eagerly; however, the moment Foin mentioned brewing, she started wagging her tail and slightly flapping her wings slightly. The dragon quickly walked away, much to Foin''s relief. He was happy with how easily he could dominate that ferocious beast.
He leaned down to the pile of peppers and potatoes and sighed. He was still farming using only his bare hands; however, now that he had more free time, maybe he could focus on tools more. As he was lost in thoughts, he grabbed the pot and started putting the pepper seeds into it.
"Master... Is there anything I can do for you?"
¨Śnilo asked with a broad smile as she sneakily sat down on his lap and rubbed her head against his stomach. She was truly quite clingy and attention-seeking, but that side of her made Foin laugh.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Hm... Could you plant the seeds for me, please; make sure to put more than one pepper seed into one hole, just to be on the safe side... As for the potato, one is enough per hole... I will work on tools."
Foin responded as he put down the roughly half-full pot. The girl, without problem, grabbed the pot, flew off, and started planting. Her method was different. Foin usually made a hole, dropped the seeds and then put the dirt back on, but the plant girl worked differently. She grabbed some seeds and punched a hole into the ground.
Her speed was astonishing; Foin wanted to watch her work more, but he himself had things to do. Also, he felt that it wasn''t right for him to give out work to everyone while he was not working. His first and main goal was making tools, and the only material he had at hand was the peteach, so he got to work quickly.
The very first tool he started making was an axe. He made it so that it was comfortable to hold and wield. Despite the fact that it was purely made of peteach liquid, it was not overly heavy. It was just comfortably heavy, which surprised Foin since he had used multiple fruits for the axe.
"Hm... I was thinking about using these fruits to make more alcohol, but... I think it will be a while before we use up that one..."
He mumbled as he swung his solidified axe to test it. It felt great. Finally, he had something to cut wood with properly. However, he still needed to work on it as it was still quite blunt; still, he could use its bladed side to chop trees, while the other could hit something if needed.
Then came the sharpening. Foin grabbed a piece of stone and started using it to sharpen the edge of his axe slightly. He knew it would not be the best work, but still, it was better than using a piece of stone to cut and chop trees. It was a very long and tedious process as he noticed that the durability of the peteach''s liquid was monstrous. The stone he used for sharpening soon turned into dust, while the edge of the axe barely even changed.
All in all, Foin used multiple stones, as most of them were destroyed in the process; however, the end result was great. The axe was quite sharp, and with a content sigh, he stood up. He dusted his pants as they had turned grey from the dust and then swung the axe to feel it. Although they felt that it was just an ordinary axe, ¨Śnilo and the dragon felt something entirely different.
The moment he swung the axe, they felt a massive wave of energy from the weapon. A wave of energy which they could perceive, and although Foin didn''t see it, the energy even cut a thin line into the ground. For a brief moment, both girls were terrified at the sudden display of power, as they thought they would be the next one to face that axe. However, Foin put the axe down and leant it against the house, which was quite reassuring for the girls.
Foin stretched his legs and arms after the long work and looked at ¨Śnilo, who was already finished with the peppers and was almost done with the potatoes as well. Then he shifted his gaze at the dragon, who, by that time, had already brought a massive amount of trees over. There were dozens of large trees in one line; Foin was sure that if winter existed here as well, he would have no problem surviving it with that many trees.
"I caught an intruder!"
The dragon said, so Foin looked at her, who was walking towards him but was walking on three of her legs and seemed to hold something in her right claw. As she got closer, she could take a look at what she was bringing. The entity seemed like a smaller creature, seemed to be about half the size of Foin.
The creature had green skin, was wearing rags, and seemed like some sort of humanoid. Upon closer expectation, Foin confirmed that it was most likely a female specimen as the rags were around her waist and over her chest. Also, the entity had well-honed muscles but still seemed malnourished and very skinny.
"A... Goblin?!"
Vol 2 Chapter 14: Un-Base
Foin just stared at the unconscious goblin as the dragon dropped her down. Then, his gaze shifted to the dragon.
"Why is she here... in this state? She is so malnourished..."
He mumbled as he looked back down at the goblin.
"The cold season is fast approaching, it seems... I have heard that goblins banish the weakest ones one or two weeks before the cold weather so that the tribe can survive... It seems this one was starving for quite some time now..."
These new pieces of information hit Foin hard. His eyes widened, but he quickly regained his composure by shaking his head. The mention of cold weather was the one I was most worried about. Although he had started planning for it, if it is within a few weeks, then he is nowhere ready for that, especially since he knows nothing about how cold it would be and how long it would last. So, after taking one long and deep breath, he glares into the eyes of the dragon, slightly startling her.
"How cold would this cold weather be?"
"Erm... Very... This river next to you would turn into a massive piece of ice in one... though thanks to my scales, I am quite resistant to the cold, but even I tend to feel quite cold in the coldest of the days."
She slightly lowered her head as she felt slightly embarrassed as she was unable to provide sufficient information, and she still felt uneasy from Foin''s gaze; that is the reason why she only looked at the ground instead of returning Foin''s gaze.
"I see...Keep an eye on the goblin girl! ¨Śnilo, increase the number of plants. We must have food for the winter! I will chop the trees for firewood..."
Foin declared so that everyone could hear it perfectly. This was the first time he had made a declaration. Ever since he arrived, he has been quite submissive, trying to avoid confrontation, but now, something has changed. He was so determined that not even he himself believed that he said that.
Both the plant girl and the dragon nodded in sync. So he grabbed his axe and walked over to the trees the dragon had brought over. Each was quite massive, so he started things off by debranching the very first one. He only cut off the largest branches at first so that he could move them around more easily. Once he cut off the larger branches, he started copping them into smaller and smaller pieces.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
His aim was to make each piece at most about twenty to forty centimetres log, as he believed that was the size he could still work with. As time went on, he grew quite accustomed to the axe in a short span of time. It surprised him, as he was not exactly a quick learner, but then he remembered that it might be thanks to the system.
After the branches were done, he started focusing on the massive body of the tree. Although it was quite gritty, he managed to chop it with relative ease. By the time he managed to finish most of the sectioning on the first tree, it was already quite late. He knew that although he only needed to chop the slices into easily movable and usable pieces, he knew that that would be the most time-consuming.
"Master! It seems the ant has finished working on its nest! It seems it wants you to take a look at it."
¨Śnilo said as she flew over to Foin''s side at an incredible speed. Hearing it, Foin looked behind him. Behind him stood the ant, which had grown considerably. Previously, it was about as tall as his knees, but the black ant standing behind him was about as tall as his leg. The ant moved its antennas, almost as if a human being waving its palm to invite someone to follow them.
"What do you mean by that?"
Foin asked as he kept looking at the man who stepped closer to him, gently grabbed his hand with its mouth, and started pulling him. He had no choice but to follow the ant, which led him to a hole not far from his house. The hole was just big enough for him to go down. He expected that he would be barely able to see anything; however, even in the darkness, he was able to see things relatively clearly.
Although his vision was limited, how much he could see was still stunning, not that there was anything important to see. The ant dragged him to the hole, which led to a chamber a few meters underground. It was quite a massive room, as he could easily stand up, and his head still did not reach the ceiling. From the chamber, three tunnels lead to a different way. Two seemed to maintain the same height, but one went lower.
These underground areas gave Foin a new idea. Seeing how massive it was, and it was just next to his house, he could survive the winter here instead of using his house for the time being. Also, he would be able to implement a basic, crude radiator to keep the place warmer. He could use his peteach liquid to form a reservoir, which he could just heat up to make the underground area hotter.
"Alright, ¨Śnilo, Could you bring down my wooden shovel and all the peteach fruits... we are going to make this underground cave livable during the cold weather... As for you, good work."
Foin said, and he gently yet firmly patted the ant, at which it only nodded.
"Right away, master!"
¨Śnilo quickly flew out of the cave and started preparing. Foin just stared at the wall. He was envisioning how to do it. He had no prior knowledge of how it would work; he only knew that the one he could make was nowhere near safe enough to be left unattended. He would need a valve that would let out the steam should it be that hot, and also, it would need an area where he would be able to heat it.
Once the plant girl brought down his shovel, he started carrying the basic shape of his plan into the wall. He knew that he needed to make it have a massive surface so that it would give off more heat. However, he knew that the other side would also lose quite a lot of heat as well. And, of course, he needed it to contain enough water so that it wouldn''t cool down so easily, but then came the problem of heating it and where to fuel the smoke. As he was thinking about his plans, he found himself grinning. It was both challenging, fun and exciting for him.
Vol 2 Chapter 15: Un-Base part 2
Over the course of the following few days, everyone was busy. ¨Śnilo was taking care of the now massively expanded farm. Except for the area where Foin had dug the holes and built the house, everywhere, peppers or potatoes were built, and, just as Foin asked, everything was being harvested except for the green peppers. She collected the food in the same growing pile as Foin hadn''t put the home into his inventory yet.
Three to four times a day, depending on how often Foin remembered, ¨Śnilo force-fed the still-unconscious goblin. She could utilise her appendages to push food down the goblin''s throat without hurting her or causing any damage to her.
The dragon was also given new tasks other than clearing the surrounding area. Unlike before, the dragon tore trees out entirely, along with most of their massive roots, instead of pulling them down and leaving some of them in. Also, in the meantime, She was asked to dig out a hole for herself where she could stay during the cold weather.
As a reward, he gave everyone a cup of his beverage each day to keep them motivated. However, he was also quite motivated because the Peteach tree seemed to expand faster than before and more and more fruit grew on it.
Foin worked hard on his first heating system. He dug out a large but somewhat thin area from the wall. In its bottom centre, there was an empty area left where he planned to put the fire. In the other areas, he started using peach liquid to make a solid boiler. Fortunately for him, the already solid and still liquid peteach liquid stuck together seamlessly.
Above the area where he planned the fire to be, he dug straight to the surface; that is where he planned to let the smoke out, as well as build a valve through which he could fill the boiler as well as let steam out should it be dangerous. The boiler itself used a massive amount of peach. However, it was almost fully completed.
Once he ran out of peteaches, he went to chop trees into firewood for the rest of the day. The leaves around his lumbering area had already covered the ground, but he decided to just leave them there for the time being as it was not yet a bother to him. Also, he himself started to notice the change in the weather.
When he first arrived, he would sweat quite easily, but now that he is doing heavy physical labour, he is not sweating that much. Also, he didn''t take off his clothes any more as it was not hot enough for him to do so. Even during the night, he noticed that from time to time, he was somewhat cold, but with some extra grass, he managed to mitigate that problem.
Things went on the same for days until the goblin girl finally regained consciousness. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw the massive dragon staring down at her, frightening her.
"Everyone, the goblin woke up!"
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
The dragon shouted further, frightening the goblin girl. She quickly looked around in hopes of finding a way out of the mess she found herself in. However, she could see three more entities walking towards her. Foin, the plant girl ¨Śnilo, and the ant. The sight was a kind of relive for the goblin.
She thought that more dragons would come, but seeing that the others were just as weak compared to the dragon, she felt slightly at ease. The goblin girl instantly believed that the boss of this group must be the dragon, as the others seemed quite weak.
"I see... Tell me, who are you, and why are you here?"
Foin spoke up as he stepped next to the goblin. Although he was usually kind, from the stories he had read, the first impression of goblins had been long burned into him. Though he was not sure whether the same applied to the ones living in this world, he knew it was better for him to be careful and act tough.
Much to his surprise, the goblin didn''t say anything; she only looked at the dragon.
"Lord dragon! I..."
"You have been asked a question, answer it!"
¨Śnilo quickly shouted at the goblin. Her eyes were glaring at the back of the goblin''s head. She took up a stance and was ready to attack at any moment.
"I am talking to the lord of the domain here... I will only answer the strong, not the weak!"
The goblin girl replied without averting her eyes from the dragon; she was greatly sweating. However, she believed that she needed to express that she was only respecting the strong, not the ones below the dragon. However, something unexpected happened.
The dragon, as well as ¨Śnilo, started laughing hard. As the dragon laughed, she swung her tail around, creating a considerable dust cloud.
"Hey, stop that; I am still planning to use that grass and area; don''t destroy it!"
The dragon instantly stopped moving, and her eyes widened; she stopped laughing, and instead, a hint of fear appeared in her eyes, which the goblin girl noticed. The voice came from Foin; he was the only one who was not laughing as he partially agreed with the goblin. The dragon was indeed stronger than him; this information confirmed some of his concerns. Goblins only respect the strong, so he really needs to act tough.
¨Śnilo followed the dragon''s response; she stopped laughing as well and hurriedly looked at Foin, who seemed unhappy.
It was true that Foin wanted to utilise the grass in the area for multiple reasons. First, it could be used quite well as a sort of blanket as well as to start a fire. He wanted to make sure that he had enough resources to survive the winter, so every usable resource must be kept without destroying it.
For a brief moment, the goblin girl was stunned. She saw something she did not expect: fear in the dragon''s eyes, and that meant that the dragon was not the boss here. The goblin slowly turned around and shifted her gaze at Foin, who had his right hand extended and pointing at the dragon. Foin was sternly glaring at the dragon.
"A-are you the boss... the strongest here?"
The goblin uttered with clattering teeth. She was sweating greatly as she realised her mistake; her fingers dug into the ground in frustration, as she was unable to decide what to do next.
"No, although you could say that I am the boss, but I, the dragon, am the strongest..."
Foin declared out of character. He was cold and stern as he slowly turned around and went back to chopping trees. Leaving the goblin speechless and confused.
Vol 2 Chapter 16: Blackn White
The girls were left speechless as Foin walked back to chopping more wood. Of course, over the past few days, he managed to gather quite a massive amount of firewood, but he thought that gathering more would be a good idea. It was unknown how long the winter would last, as this was another world, and he wanted to make sure that he was prepared.
"Lord dragon... please tell me that you are only pulling my leg... Please tell me that you are the boss here, and I didn''t offend the real boss... Wait... Since he said that you are the stronger... why would he dare call himself the boss here?"
The goblin uttered as she continued to tremble, sweat and look towards Foin.
"How dare you underestimate my master! You dare to insult him one more time; I will destroy you myself!"
¨Śnilo declared. Her voice was full of anger and hatred. She stepped next to the goblin and lifted her up effortlessly by her jaw. Her appendages entered the goblin''s skin, just like they did with Foin, but the effect was different. This time, their goal was not to mitigate pain; on the contrary, it was to inflict pain.
The goblin''s eyes widened in shock. The about twenty-centimetres tall creature who could weigh, about as much as her arm, rendered her completely immobile. The moment her appendages entered her skin, the goblin was unable to move, she was not even able to move her jaw and produce any sound. All she could do was stay there like a vegetable.
The appendages that had entered the goblin''s skin dug deeper and deeper, and unlike before, their presence was greatly visible. Almost as if the veins had greatly expanded as the skin of the goblin had many bulging veins all over her face, which slowly spread down her throat. The goblin was seriously struggling, her eyes were filled with tears.
As time slowly went by, for her, each passing second felt longer and longer. And with every passing second, the veins kept crawling further and further into her body. Seeing her agony, the plant girl, ¨Śnilo, only grinned. Though she was not planning to kill the goblin, she enjoyed teaching her a valuable lesson.
"You have disrespected the man who gave you food while you were unconscious, food which not even lords would be able to eat! Food which you would never be able to afford even if you worked for eternity! Master is a kind-hearted person; he decided to help a despicable vermin to survive!"
¨Śnilo spoke up after a short while, her face was still distorted with anger, and she kept glaring with her four eyes straight into the tear-filled eyes of the goblin.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Goblin, you must learn something today... Do not judge people based on appearance! Foin although acts as a kind-hearted and slightly submissive person... I have once seen his bad side when he was drunk... He is a real monster!"
The dragon spoke up but paused for a brief moment as she looked at Foin. And then she continued, but she lowered her voice; she was nearly whispering.
"He avoids the usage of magic, as I have never seen him really wholeheartedly utilise it... So although he seems weak... angering him would be the worst mistake in your life..."
The dragon uttered. Her mouth was shaking as if she was afraid of Foin hearing what she said; however, she quickly shook her massive head and then looked at ¨Śnilo.
"By the way, what are you doing to her?"
"Nothing much... It''s just a precaution, this way it will be easier to deal with her if she decides to once again do something wrong. I am just replacing most of her blood vessels with my appendages. It will not affect her much, but she will be easy to deal with."
¨Śnilo said as she let go of the goblin, who just collapsed onto the floor. In a mere moment''s time, all her swollen veins shrunk back to their original size; however, she was still unable to scream or move in pain. Though the pain soon disappeared, and she regained her ability to speak, she was still immobilised.
"A... Are you... One of those... plant people... I thought you were extinct..."
The goblin uttered with twitching eyes as she started drooling on the ground.
"Oh, so you know a bit about me, that makes things easier, so now you will know who you are dealing with! Master gave life to me..."
Suddenly, a wide grin crawled onto ¨Śnilo''s face as she leaned almost straight into the goblin''s face, whose face was grotesquely disfigured by fear.
"Now I believe you can imagine why you should not mess with my master! How are you going to compensate him for your insolence?"
"I... My mother gave me something before I was exiled... That is all I have..."
The goblin uttered with a shaking voice. She was on the verge of crying from the intimidating presence of ¨Śnilo, and the pain she had just gone through. The goblin slowly pushed herself up onto her knees, but instead of walking, she crawled towards Foin.
"Are you really one of those plant people?"
The dragon asked quietly once the goblin was away from them.
"Nah, I don''t even know what they are, but it is better if she believes that I am one of them. At least she fears me, so she will not dare to act against my master! Also, I am still but a child... I have a long way to go before I can reach my adult form... Still... I am grateful that I am alive!"
Foin was cutting the wood into easily movable pieces, and the ant was helping him by hoarding them down to the underground area. Foin was working diligently when suddenly he felt a strange sensation on his leg, almost as if something had just gently pulled on his trousers. He quickly looked back to see the goblin kneeling behind him. She was trembling and was only staring at Foin''s feet
"L... Lord Foin... I am terribly sorry for my rudeness... I have wrongly assumed the lord of this domain... Please forgive me, mighty Foin... Please accept this as my apology... This is all this lowly weak one has!"
The goblin uttered and with trembling she took a layer of rags off from her waist and extended her hands towards Foin. In the rags, Foin could see two small, round objects.
Vol 2 Chapter 17: Blackn White part 2
Foin looked at the hidden objects and then sighed. He was not expecting such a scenario. Though he wanted to make a tough and serious first expression on the goblin so that she would take him seriously, this was not what he expected. He rubbed his head and then slammed his axe into the wood with enough strength to stay there. At this movement, the goblin whimpered a little but refused to move.
"Please! I am willing to offer everything I have... Also...I will be working hard, so do not kill me, please!"
The last portion of the goblin''s plea caught him off guard. Though he had intended to have the goblin work, since she was fed quite a lot, he did not expect it to be this easy. He knew that he needed to stay strong, as that was the only language goblins understood, in his opinion.
"Fine, but do not forget, if you do not work, you will stay hungry from now on! Also, let me see these items you are offering."
Foin said, and at that time, the goblin further extended her hands, so he took the rags. He slowly unpackaged the goods to see for himself what they were. Though they were not too big, these two items were enough to make Foin smile. They were some sort of fruit.
The first one he inspected looked like a grape; it had a similar size and even texture, and as he pressed on it, he noticed that they were quite rubbery. Although he wanted to taste it, he decided against it as he might be able to replant it. As for the other, it was in a smooth but hard shell, almost like a nut.
"Seeing how she was in such a helpless situation and was even dropped by the dragon, these two are quite durable..."
He thought as he looked back down at the goblin, who was still in that same position. He could only sigh and feel guilty. He wanted to act tough, but seeing the girl''s demeanour, he went overboard with the acting.
"Alright, go ask ¨Śnilo to show you around the area; I am going to put these away."
Foin said as he stepped away. He headed for the peteach tree, which had grown considerably over the past few days; it was now about the size of Foin, and the fruits were not yet harvested for that day, so Foin quickly grabbed two of the fruits and then went down to the underground base.
Down there, he looked at the half-finished boiler and smiled. He knew that it would only take a few short days to finish it; of course, now that he used two extra fruits for other means, the process would be slightly slowed down, but if it meant that he would be able to have more plants, he was willing to sacrifice two petaches.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
He quickly poured out the liquid of the peteach and started forming it into shapes. He used two fruits because he wanted to make two bucket-sized flowerpots. He quickly formed the two buckets, put a tiny hole in their bottom, and then let them solidify. His hand coordination had greatly improved over the past few days, so the flower pots looked much better than his very first bucket; they were rounder.
In a few short minutes, the pots were ready; now, they just needed to be filled with dirt. Foin quickly filled the halfway with dirt from his inventory, then put the seeds in, and then put another layer of dirt on the top. As a final touch, he brought down a bucket of water from which he slightly watered them.
"Phew... I can''t wait to see what they will turn out to be... I hope they will be just as tasty as the others are!"
With the goblin''s addition, the preparations for the winter kept going even smoother and faster than before. Foin slightly changed up his strategy, though. He no longer cut the tree into much smaller fractions; instead, he cut only many larger ones, which later he could chop down in the underground base; this way, he could store more wood in a shorter amount of time.
Meanwhile, Aier was also proactive, though she spent quite a lot of time alone meditating in the forest. One day, a woman approached her while she was meditating. The woman was quite muscular but had a short frame. She had short, dark red hair with a pair of similarly dark red eyes.
The girl wore a black shirt, while she had a fur jacket on her shoulder. She seemed to be of high status as she approached Aier without a second thought and even spoke up.
"I am here; what did you want to talk about?"
"Linyer, it is good to see you again."
Aier replied as she opened her eyes. A wide smile crawled up into her face, and she instantly stood up. The girl barely even reached her chest, and the two just looked into one another eyes for a brief moment.
"Linyer, I have an important task for you, one you must complete no matter what! Although it is not publicly announced and will most likely not be announced for quite a while, we have found something of extremely high value! Something I first thought was of insignificant value, but I realised how much off I was with that guess... I..."
"Could you skip the unnecessary explanation? Please tell me what your plan is or what my mission is, and I will get it done! Unlike you, I prefer staying in the castle and working there!"
"Alright. There should be an entity who lives near our borders... That either has the power or has the means to produce a product which only a blessed land would normally be able to create. Due to the approach of the next season, an unbearable cold is fast approaching. I want you to make sure that it is protected from the cold; as a result, as soon as you get there, force teleport that entity to me. I will be working in the castle... Make haste; as you know, no one would bear the cold of such a climate!"
Aier explained, and although she wanted to explain more, she noticed that the interest in the women was drastically dropping, so she decided to end it quickly.
"Ask Felfey for instructions; she knows where they live!"
"As you wish!"
The woman replied, performed a slight bow, and then walked away. Though Linyer kept up a bored and uninterested expression while Aier was talking, as soon as she was a decent distance away, she started grinning.
"Finally, something interesting, and on top of that, they can produce such invaluable products? Like hell, I will ask for Felfey''s help! This is a SOLO mission... Mother"
Vol 2 Chapter 18: Darkened Rain
With each passing day, the temperature dropped considerably, yet the plants still grew and were just as before. Foin was already mostly finished with his boiler; he only needed to fill it with water and also its valve. He built a pipe leading out of the cave, which had a shrinking diameter the higher it got, and then on the top, he moulded a little case, in which he put a cap.
Under normal circumstances, the cap was closing the pipe, but it was easily lifted with human force, and Foin planned it to be lifted by steam should there be a problem. Previously, before going to sleep, while making some tea, he would fill his inventory with water from the river.
By the time Foin was done with the boiler, the level of the river had considerably dropped, but fortunately, he managed to gather quite a massive amount of water already, so drinking during the winter cold would not be difficult.
During the last day on the surface, Foin once again looked around his farm, and, for the last time before the winter, he harvested. The girls, ¨Śnilo and the goblin had been given their own tasks, which were gathering as much grass as possible and transporting them down to the underground base.
The temperature was so low that Foin, in his usual dress, was quite cold; though it was not unbearable, it was noticeably chilly. But even in the colder weather, he still worked diligently. And once he had harvested everything, except for the ¨Ślion flowers, he put everything into his inventory.
He still had some extra peteaches, which he remained after the completion of the boiler, so he used another one to make some sort of trap door. A big round lid, which he could use to seal off his underground base''s entrance.
And once everything was ready, though the girls were still gathering grass, he walked over to the boiler. He was ready to fill it with water with the help of his inventory. It would take a monstrous amount of time to fill such a large tank with buckets, and the only opening was so small that it would be impossible to do, but with the help of his inventory, he could do it easily.
He lifted its lid, looked down into the pipe, and let down a small amount of water, which was about the volume of the pipe; he could hear loud spaces as the water landed, so he repeated the process multiple times.
After the tenth time, he got impatient and increased the volume, and after a few minutes of filling, he was able to fill the tank to the top; the lid just barely touched the top of the water. At which he only sighed. After quickly opening his inventory, he brought it along the length of the pipe. He wanted it to be full, but he wanted the water to be mostly in the boiler. He believed that if the water were in this place, it would cool down much faster.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
"Phew... It is finally done... We have plenty of water and food and will most likely have a warm base. Now we just need to make some beds and clothes, and we are good to go..."
Foin sighed as he was looking at his inventory. He sat down by the pipe and just looked at his now empty garden, and then his gaze slowly shifted to the composting pit. It used to be quite empty, but now, it was full, so full that he was thinking about expanding it after the winter.
Just as Foin moved his gaze, the stronger gust of wind moved his now considerably longer hair, and it started raining. Foin slowly looked up at the clouds covering the sky. They were all dark, so he predicted that it would rain heavily soon. He had harvested with such focus that he didn''t even notice how dark it got.
"Ladies, let''s go down!"
Foin shouted, knowing fully well how far the goblin and ¨Śnilo had gotten already. After a few seconds, the two of them came at great speed. The goblin was running, hugging a large pile of fresh grass, while ¨Śnilo was faster and flying in front of her. The two of them stopped by the passage down.
Foin waved at them, telling them to go down as he himself started going there. Once there, he started climbing down, but before he was down, he pulled the lid above the hole and only then did he climb down.
Darkness: Everything was dark as the only source of light had been closed. Still, Foin was able to see to some extent. He headed towards the passage, which headed lower; that was where they stored all the firewood. The passage led to a large room which was mostly filled with wood. There were three different piles.
The first and largest pile was made of already chopped and ready-to-use larger chunks of wood. The other was made of sticks and the roots of the trees, and the last, which was small, was made of larger slices of wood, which could still be cut into smaller sections.
Foin grabbed two larger pieces of wood and a handful of sticks and roots. He wanted to make a fire to light the base up a bit. He had previously tested that the chemistry in this world was different. The smoke was not at all harmful and had no effect. As a result, he was ready to set the fire up in the middle of the base.
With the help of his axe, he chiselled off quite a bit of wood from the two larger ones. Since he used a normal toll, he didn''t make that much sawdust, so he didn''t bother to collect it on the surface; that is why he was making some to start the fire.
Once he was done, he put some sticks on the ground; then he put the sawdust, then he quickly grabbed a few strings of grass and covered this with another few thin sticks. He still had fuel in his lighter, so it was easy to ignite the fire.
While the fire slowly spread across the sticks, he quickly brought a few smaller pieces of wood, as well as larger sticks as well. Then, the fire was slowly fuelled with larger and larger pieces of firewood.
Once the fire was burning quite well, he slowly looked around. The goblin was sitting next to the large pile of grass, which stood in the corner. ¨Śnilo was hovering not far from him and was excitedly watching him.
"Alright, I know that we have a source of light; I think it is time to start up the boiler!"
Vol 2 Chapter 19: Darkened Rain part 2
Foin carefully pulled out a single, well-burning piece of wood from the fire; with haste, he brought it over to the boiler. He had previously made an empty space for it under the boiler, where the fire would touch the boiler from three sides perfectly: from right, left, and, of course, the bottom of that part of the boiler. That small compartment was a sizable square of empty space, which was quite long so that he could push the ashes back should they pile up too much.
"¨Śnilo, while I am observing the boiler, could you roast some potatoes and peppers on the other fire? Also, don''t forget to collect the seeds."
He asked as he pulled out a sizable pile of peppers and potatoes from his inventory. The plant girl eagerly nodded and flew over to the vegetables. Meanwhile, Foin walked into the wood storage and brought another handful of larger logs and sticks for ¨Śnilo to use for the food.
He put the sticks beside the piles of products, and then he sat back down next to the fire. He had slightly lowered the area around the fire so that it was just about as high as his head when he was sitting. Foin waited patiently for the fire to grow a bit larger before he put a larger log beside it.
As the two fires cracked, almost in tandem, Foin smiled. He felt the heat radiating from the growing flame in front of him, which in the cold water was quite a pleasant experience. He had noticed that his heart resistance had increased considerably, as back on the surface, there were times when his breath was visible, yet he was not overly cold in his flimsy, ragged and thin clothes.
As he was just staring blankly at the fire, he was thinking about his clothes. He had been using these for quite some time, and they would eventually be worn out to the point where they were no longer usable. He needed some sort of new clothes soon. As he pondered, he could smell the mixed smell of the potato and pepper being roasted by ¨Śnilo not far from him.
"Maybe she could make new clothes... Hmm..."
He thought as he glanced behind him over his shoulders to see ¨Śnilo grilling the products with a wide smile, and although it was barely audible, she was humming in delight.
"Erm... Lord... I have brought some more logs for the fire... I hope you don''t mind."
A shy and feint voice spoke up, which instantly brought Foin back to reality. The goblin stood next to him, holding a large number of logs.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
"Oh, I see, thank you!"
Foin replied with a smile. The goblin put the logs beside the ones Foin had brought. And after a brief moment, she sat down beside him.
"Erm.. Would you mind if I stayed here?"
"Hm? Oh, not at all; I know it is quite cold, but soon, once the boiler is hotter, we will no longer be cold!"
Foin replied as he dropped another log onto the now larger fire. And then he slightly leaned back. As for the goblin, she slid closer to him carefully and then extended her arms towards the fire to warm them up. However, soon, she tensed up and started shaking. She slowly looked behind her to see ¨Śnilo glaring at her.
The plant girl had her hand raised and moved her extended index finger from side to side quickly. But then stopped as put her arms akimbo and slightly tilted her head.
Seeing ¨Śnilo''s expression, the goblin slightly slid away from Foin but kept her hands extended. At that, ¨Śnilo nodded and continued working and watching over the grilled vegetables.
"Hey, ¨Śnilo... Do you think you''d be able to make some clothes from grass?"
"Of course, master! Please leave it to me!"
The girl replied without a moment''s delay; she had a broad smile on her face as she kept grilling more vegetables. As for Foin, he sighed in relief and dropped another piece of wood onto the fire. Then he touched the massive boiler above the fire.
It was already somewhat warm but was still a long way from being able to heat the whole base, but of course, the fire was just beginning to burn. Seeing how well it was burning, Foin finally stood up.
"I am going to take a look at the plants; please watch over the fires while I am gone."
He said as he slowly walked to the second room in the underground base, which was just opposite the wood storage. It was a smaller room as it was used to store everything else. His bag, plastic bottles, the half-drunk alcoholic beverage, the metal rods, and the sword he had acquired were all stored here, as well as the tools that were not currently being used.
In the room, there were the two pots in which Foin had planted the two new seeds. Despite being underground, both have grown, but their growth was quite slow, probably because of the lack of light. Since a few days had gone by, they were already quite large, but no products were visible to them yet.
The one which looked like a nut was much taller and was expanding upwards. The plant resembled a tree, but it was just about as tall as his palm and barely had any leaves just yet. Unlike the peteach tree, it was not that solid; with a gentle touch, Foin could move it. His gaze then shifted to the other plant right next to this tree.
In terms of size, it was much larger, but it was not spreading upwards but instead sideways. It had four main appendages which were touching the ground already. This one was full of extremely tiny leaves, smaller than Foin''s finger, and this one seemed to have yielded a single fruit, but compared to the one Foin had planted, it was tiny, so Foin just left it on for the time being.
Once he had examined them, he grabbed one of the cups, filled it with water from his inventory and then watered these two plants. He was excited to see what these actually are and how well he can utilise them. Once they were watered, Foin walked back to the main room.
¨Śnilo had already finished cooking and was carefully collecting the seeds, as she had requested. Foin put the cup down, and the two of them put every single seed into it. While he was sorting the seeds, he noticed that it was slightly warmer, which meant that the boiler was working.
"Phew, now, let us eat!"
He said with a broad smile.
Vol 2 Chapter 20: Darkened Rain part 3
The goblin, ¨Śnilo and Foin gathered around the fire and got ready to eat the baked potatoes which were prepared by ¨Śnilo. Just as they were about to start eating, the ant showed up. It was quite dirty, but it quickly shook the dirt off of its body and then settled down next to Foin.
The ant had been tasked with a unique and different task. While the goblin and ¨Śnilo helped Foin in work regarding the underground base, the ant was tasked to dig a hole in the dragon''s sleeping area so that they could be in touch should there be any sort of problem. That was the reason why it was covered with dirt.
After quite a tense preparation period, Foin finally managed to sit down calmly and just enjoy doing nothing. Though he had already planned ahead, he just remembered that he had never asked the name of the goblin or the dragon. He felt ashamed and decided to correct that mistake now that they got together.
"Erm... I just realised that I was so immersed in preparing the underground base that I completely neglected proper introductions..."
Foin said as he looked at the goblin and scratched his head nervously.
"So let me formally, and finally, introduce myself... Call me Foin."
He said as he extended his hand to shake the goblin''s hand. She was quite surprised and only looked at his palm. ¨Śnilo, on the other hand, glared at her, which sent a shiver down her spine, and in the blink of an eye, she grabbed Foin''s hand with both of her smaller hands and shook it. This kind of greeting was alien to her, but since her hands were forced, she tried to comply as much as it was possible.
"Oh, Lord Foin! Erm.. My name is Gobu! But if you dislike my name, then..."
She uttered, but she stopped talking due to ¨Śnilo''s intense glare. She just kept holding Foin''s hand nervously until Foin started pulling his hand back, and then she finally let go of it.
The four of them quickly ate the prepared potatoes, though Foin noticed that the taste was different. Almost as if the one cooked by ¨Śnilo was of lower quality as it didn''t have as strong of a taste as his, but it didn''t mean that it was bad.
After the feast, Foin instantly started working on his next project. He knew that the boiler would work just fine, as he felt how much warmer the underground cave had become, but they had no place to sleep yet, and sleeping on the ground, even if they used leaves, would be cold.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
As a result, he brought a few larger logs of wood and put them next to one another on the ground. Since he had prepared quite a lot of wood he had spare to use, he decided to use these logs as a basic bed. Since there were three of them, he put them in three different regions, although ¨Śnilo only needed a single as she was so small.
He tested both beds in terms of size; though they were both perfectly fine for him, he knew that Gobu would not need such a large one. Still, he kept her bed just as large as his. Now that the logs had been arranged as a sort of layer above the ground, Foin needed to face the last problem: their height.
Although all of them were roughly about as tall as his knee, there were smaller and larger ones, and it was quite uncomfortable to lay on them. Thus, he quickly fetched the axe and started trimming their top. He couldn''t describe how tedious it was, but at least he was happy that he could also use the axe to smoothen the surface as well.
"Erm.. Master... Could you fill this bucket with water?"
¨Śnilo flew beside Foin when he had just finished trimming and just started smoothening the rough surface of the logs. Though he was in the middle of work, he put the axe down and looked at ¨Śnilo. She was pointing at the bucket which he had brought to the next to the boiler, where Gobu sat and watched the now weaker fire.
"Oh, sure; also you should put one last piece of firewood on the fire under the boiler, just to be safe that everything stays nice and warm even in the morning. And don''t forget to keep the other fire alive no matter what... Even if it is tiny, that is fine."
He explained as he filled the bucket with water using his inventory. Both Gobu and ¨Śnilo nodded and did as instructed. So Foin could go back to finish the beds.
He was unsure how long it took for him to finish trimming and then smoothening the logs, but he was done eventually. Just to be safe, he preserved the cut-off wooden chunks and the sawdust as well, thinking that they could still be used for the fire.
With a loud sigh, he stood up. Since he was kneeling for the whole time, his lower body was extremely numb. He could barely walk for a few long seconds, and even after that, he could only bend his leg slowly.
He brought his axe back to its original place and put some finishing touches to the beds. He covered them with grass to make them feel a bit softer as well as mitigate any roughness he had missed.
"Alright, everyone, I think we worked hard for today, so let''s go to sleep... Finally, on better beds!"
He had placed ¨Śnilo''s bed between the other two, and he instantly sat down on the one furthest from the boiler. He slowly leaned back and sighed. It was somewhat more comfortable than the ground, but still, some more cushion would be better, as well as some sort of pillow.
¨Śnilo and Gobu followed his example and got into their bed, and soon, all three of them were starting to fall asleep. All three of them were happy and filled and enjoyed the heat emitted by the boiler. However, later, they realised that the last piece of wood was a bit excessive as they all started sweating as the room started getting hotter.
This marked their first real day underground. Hidden away from the cold winter time warmed by Foin''s great new invention, the boiler. This was only the first day, and Foin had already planned quite a number of things for the future, but he was most curious about the plants, and he had hoped that they would bear fruits by the next morning so he could test the new plants more.
Vol 2 Chapter 21: The Under-Bath
A new morning; though it was difficult to tell the time underground, Foin felt that it was morning when he woke up. As he looked around in the cave, he noticed that the goblin and ¨Śnilo were still fast asleep, as well as the barely burning fire.
There were only a few almost entirely burned pieces of wood burning, which were most likely placed there by either Gobu or ¨Śnilo previously. Seeing how the fire was about to die out in the near future, Foin quickly got up.
He brought a few smaller twigs and roots and put them on the fire. He noticed that the temperature had dropped since the boiler had already cooled back down. It was still quite comfortably warm in the underground base, but he would soon need to start the boiler again.
As he sat by the fire, waiting for it to start burning with greater intensity so that he could put a larger piece of wood on it, he looked at his hands. They were dirty, as well as his clothes.
Down in his new base, there was no means of washing or bathing, so soon they would get quite stinky. On the surface, they could at least use the river to wash off, but here, he could put down water, but that would be cool, as well as would flow away.
Out of his many plans, the next one he thought of was bathing. He needed to solve that as soon as possible, as that could also be a way of extra relaxation.
He quickly stood up, walked over to one of the walls, and touched it. It was solid and cold, quite cold to the touch. As a result, he sighed, grabbed a well-burning root, and put it under the boiler, as well as a few extra smaller pieces of wood, as well as a larger one on the main bonfire.
Once he was done, he quickly fetched his wooden shovel. It had seemed better days, as it was already quite damaged and cracked and even missing a few smaller portions around its head, but Foin was not picky or one to waste precious material. Also, it was one of his first tools, so it was a tool with sentimental value.
He planned to create another room for the bath, so he carefully, using his shovel, drew a line for a door and then started working on removing the dirt. Since he had worked on removing dirt like this before, he carefully put his inventory panel under his work area so that every piece of dirt was stored neatly in his skill.
As he was removing the dirt, he occasionally looked back at the fire, waiting for the larger log to start burning properly. And once it was fully engulfed in flames, he stopped working on the door.
Instead, he took out some potatoes and peppers from his inventory, and with the help of a few sticks, he started roasting them.
Stolen novel; please report.
The ones that were done, using the length of the stick, he stuck into the ground. All in all, he prepared quite a number of sticks full of potatoes and peppers. From which, he took two and ate them as he walked back to continue his dirt-removing process.
He made the walk roughly a bit over a meter thick, and then he was about to start working on the room itself, but he heard a yawning sound coming from the main room, so he quickly stepped back. ¨Śnilo woke up, and she was stretching her arms.
"Oh, good morning, Master!"
She said with a wide grin. She quickly looked at the goblin, and her smile shifted. She slowly flew over the snoring goblin and glared at her face.
"Morning! I have prepared breakfast. Eat it while it is still hot; I will keep working here. Oh, and please, could you start working on the grass clothes soon?"
"Of course, Master!"
She responded instantly. Then, Foin stepped back to dig the room. He deliberately started digging a bit lower just to make a noticeable divider between the rooms. As he was working on clearing the dirt, he heard another yawn from ¨Śnilo and then some munching sounds.
He only chuckled as he just kept removing the dirt. From time to time, he checked how solid the dirt was above his head, but it seemed quite solid, so he was quite confident in digging. After he had dug a larger room, he received a new notification, which he had not expected.
"Notice! The system is pleased with your progress, devotion, and patience, and as a result, you are given a reward. A special reward will be issued shortly."
"Notice! You have gained a new skill: Cutting Edge!"
"WHAT? Just from digging dirt?"
Foin thought to himself as he paused for a brief moment. He just stared at the panel, which soon vanished.
"Cutting Edge, huh?"
He mumbled with light excitement. At that moment, both of his hands started glowing with a greenish colour, and the shovel which he held in his hands was destroyed. It sustained many large cuts where his fingers held its handle.
He could just watch in shock as the pieces of his tool fell to the ground through his inventory panel. He couldn''t believe what had just happened right before his eyes. He was about to lean down and grab the intact part of the shovel, but then he remembered that he might damage it more.
He slapped the dirt in front of him in anger. He wanted to inflict some pain on himself, but instead of pain, his fingers slid through the hard dirt. The debris fell straight into his inventory.
"Wait, what?"
He murmured as he looked at the mark his fingers made on the dirt. His anger nearly instantly vanished, and then he moved his hand closer to the dirt once again. He slowly pushed his finger into it and then pulled it out. He was fascinated by how easily and efficiently it worked.
He had already learned that the skill worked on wood and dirt as well, but he still wanted to try something else: peteach. That was quite a valuable resource he had, and he needed to test whether he would destroy it unintentionally.
Foin walked over to his peteach axe with great haste. After he had kneeled down beside it, he looked at his finger, which was still surrounded by that green aura, and then he gently touched the very end of its handle''s tip. Much to his release, it did nothing. He could touch it just fine as he did before, and even after he examined the place where it should have been damaged, it was perfectly fine.
Although he lost his tool for digging, Foin gained a new skill which he could use both for digging and woodwork. With renewed energy, he rushed back to the construction area with such haste that he didn''t even notice ¨Śnilo and Gobu, who were working together. Gobu was helping ¨Śnilo make the requested set of clothes.
Vol 2 Chapter 22: The Under-Bath part 2
With his new skill, Foin could work more quickly than before using his wooden tool. The process was so much easier and faster than before, but he noticed something crucial as he was digging. He noticed that he gradually grew tired, not only physically but mentally, as well. However, it was not something overly tiring, so he was capable of maintaining his speed and working diligently.
He had envisioned that the room would expand to the left side of the passageway so that when he entered, he would need to go to the left to get to the bath. That way, he could avoid privacy problems even without a door, at least for the beginning.
The work was tedious and long, as he wanted to make a large room in which latter he could put more flowers due to the humidity that would be caused by the bath. Though first, he was focused on the bath itself. He left a large block of dirt intact, from which he planned to carve the bathtub later. Since he planned it for relaxation, he made it quite large, about three meters by three meters. However, he was not quite certain about its depth. The block itself was about a meter high.
He had already marked out a few steps so that it would be easy to get inside, though the roof still needed to be expanded upwards a bit more. Also, the block had another mark where Foin planned to have the heating; it was on the adjacent side of the side where he had planned the steps since the other two sides were facing the wall.
While Foin was working on the room, both ¨Śnilo and Gobu were busy. ¨Śnilo made a full set of clothes for the goblin; it was so well made that it didn''t seem to be made of grass at all. In the meantime, Gobu watched over the main fire and put another larger piece of wood under the boiler.
"Alright Gobu... Put your clothes on, and then I have a task for you!"
¨Śnilo said coldly as she slightly stretched her arms and then started flying.
"Erm... alright!"
Gobu complied, although she had mixed feelings. She didn''t understand why she was the one to get clothes first, but since she didn''t want to go against ¨Śnilo''s order, she only lowered her head a bit.
While Gobu was dressing, ¨Śnilo flew towards the new room in which Foin was working diligently. She took a sneak peek at how Foin was working, but he quickly flew back over to Gobu with a grin.
"Nice, you are already dressed! Alright, grab the bucket and go up to harvest the fruits from that tree!"
¨Śnilo said as she landed on the ground and looked up at the goblin. Her eyes were staring into Gobu''s eyes. Gobu, on the other hand, felt that ¨Śnilo was not simply staring into her eyes but into her very being. Although it was a common occurrence, as that was the gaze ¨Śnilo gave every time she ordered Gobu around. It was still quite a frightening experience each and every time it happened.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Gobu only sighed and complied. She quickly fetched the bucket and then returned to the entrance of the underground base. Since it was used quite a lot, Foin had dug a usable leader into the wall so that it would be easier to enter and exit the base.
The panel covering the entrance was slowly pushed away, and then Gobu could finally look outside. It was showering. As far as she could see, there were massive pools of water all over the once-flourishing garden. The level of the water has greatly risen as well. And along with the rain, it was cold. So cold that she could not believe it.
Since she had no shoes, she needed to walk on the muddy, ice-cold ground all the way to the tree, which seemed to have grown considerably, and despite the hazardous weather, it bore even more fruits than it usually did.
She counted 15 fruits on the peteach tree, and as she looked at them, they even seemed to be slightly larger than the ones they had previously harvested. Since she was not well versed in farming, she couldn''t understand whether it was due to the larger size of the plant or due to, the abundance of water, or because of the new environment.
So she quickly put the bucked down onto the wet ground and got to harvesting. After only a few seconds of being outside, water was already streaming down the hoody of her clothes, but she had experienced that at least it was relatively waterproof and warm, as she only felt cold where she was not covered.
She hurried and harvested as fast as she could, but even so, she needed to turn three times in order to gather each and every piece of peteach from the tree. As soon as she was taking the last bucket of fruit down, she quickly put the plate back on and shook herself, splashing water everywhere, even at ¨Śnilo. She only glared at the goblin as the water was flowing off of her face.
Gobu quickly put the peteaches into the pile onto the pile she had already made not far from the beds. Once she was done, she quickly took off the clothes, leaving her usual torn clothes on only. She quickly put the wet cloth onto the ground not far from the boiler, and then she stretched her arms and legs.
With a grin, ¨Śnilo flew into the new room to see Foin. She gently tapped on his shoulders to get his attention.
"Master, we have harvested the peteaches, and it seems that the yield has been considerably better than usual!"
"Hm... I see... Maybe we should try planting another peteach tree... Anyway, thank you!"
Foin said with a smile as he processed the great news. If he could still harvest the peteaches every day, he could work as well as plant another one; he would have no problem at all. He could focus on making more utensils from the sturdy material.
As a result, for a brief moment, he stopped digging through the room, and walked back out, into the living quarters. he could feel that the boiler was in full swing as the room was much hotter than the one he was working on.
Foin looked at the large pile of peteaches and grinned out of excitement. He quickly grabbed the bucket and filled it halfway with dirt, then put fruit in it, and then covered it with more dirt. And he finished it off by watering it from his inventory. Just like with the dirt, he put a small cube of water above the bucket and then let it spawn. The water instantly moistened the dirt.
He then brought the bucket into the new room and put it down in a well noticeable location. Since he had used his last container, he decided that before going to bed, he would make at least a few more buckets and maybe plant a few ¨Ślion flowers as well. After all, bathing in water enhanced by the ¨Ślion flower was much greater than regular normal water.
As soon as the bucket was placed, he returned to his digging. And he kept working until he started feeling overly tired, and only then did he stop working and get ready to end the day. It was better to follow his instincts as he didn''t know how long he had been working since he was underground.
Vol 2 Chapter 23: The Under-Bath part 3
For three days, Foin worked on the new bathing area. The room itself was greatly expanded, as was the bath itself. His previous bath design had been slightly altered.
The bath itself now had three noticeable and distinct steps. The first one was about twenty centimetres deep. Though for him, it was merely a step, for ¨Śnilo, it was most likely the one she could use without a problem, as the other would be too deep for her to just sit or ideally enjoy it.
The next one was for the goblin; that one was considerably deeper; he calculated that the goblin would be just about able to stay standing in that level of water, while he could use it for sitting. And then there was the last section, which even reached and went slightly under the wall as well. It was for him to stand. Depending on how well he filled it up, the water would just about reach his shoulders.
Though his main project was the bath, he had focused on other things as well. Foin had prepared multiple buckets, some of which were used to plant a few more peteach trees and ¨Ślion. These buckets had been brought into the bathroom.
Gobu harvested the peteach each day, and the number of peteach just kept increasing. Foin noticed that they were not only larger but contained considerably more liquid as well. Before, he could only make a single bucket from a single fruit, but now he could make two buckets.
The following morning, when Foin woke up, ¨Śnilo and Gobu were already up. Due to the extreme usage of the skill, though he got used to it, consuming quite a lot of stamina, he started sleeping a bit more.
Since the project was mostly done, Foin planned to use his peteaches to cover his bath. It would not only make it sturdier but would most definitely not let it leak, and heating it would be much easier. However, before starting his work on that, he went to water his two new plants.
He had been expecting them to show their fruits or anything, but nothing really happened, though he noticed that their growth seemed to be considerably faster than before.
He walked over to them with the intent to water them, but it finally happened. The one which grew from the nut was now a tiny tree and was blooming despite being underground. That tiny tree had two nuts on its weak branches. Thanks to the small size of the tree, the nuts touched the container under it. As a result, the nut, which was considerably larger than the branches could hold up, did not break off any of the branches.
The nut was considerably different than the one Foin had planted. They were black and smooth, but upon closer inspection, Foin concluded that they were not as sturdy as the one he had planted. With great excitement, he grabbed them and started pulling off of the branch. Despite the tiny size of his branch, he needed to exert a bit more power. He thought he would grab it and slightly put it, and it would be off, but it was attached to the tree greatly.
"New species recognised, Huunt!"
"You have gained 10 Experience Points and 10 Points!"
"Notice! Huunt! Level: Rare. Tier: 1. Quality: F. Type: Food/Resource. Maturity:63%"
"Wow, this is also a resource, and is it food as well? Interesting..."
Foin said as soon as the panels had vanished before his eyes. He read that these were not fully matured yet. Still, he decided to harvest the other as well, as he was curious what this Huunt could be. It seemed nothing particularly unique other than its colour. It wasn''t heavy like peteaches and didn''t even seem that sturdy. But Foin still had another plant that bared its fruits.
The grape-like seed had grown into a much more extensive plant, but still, it was not that large. It had four main branches coming from the dirt and didn''t look like a tree at all, yet these branches were quite strong and flexible at the same time. The plant itself looked like a grape plant, but the fruits were different.
There were two distinct fruits on the plant. One of them was yellowish white, while the other was purely white. And despite how the plant looked like, they were not in a bunch but separately. Foin first quickly touched them. The yellow was quite dense but was rubbery. The other was much easier to push in and was just as rubbery as the other. After testing their weight, Foin learned that their weight was about the same as well.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
This was a first for him, having two seemingly different products on a single plant. Foin quickly harvested the yellow one first and then the white one.
"New species recognised, Platic!"
"You have gained 6 Experience Points and 6 Points!"
"Notice! Huunt! Level: Rare. Tier: 1. Quality: F. Type: Resource. Maturity:79%"
A new set of panels popped up for both products. And the fact that they were categorised as only resources surprised Foin greatly. They felt quite rubbery, so he though that maybe they would have some sort of liquidy inside which would have a unique taste.
As he gazed down at the two different coloured fruits, he started thinking. Since they were resources, maybe they did contain some sort of liquid, just like peteaches did, but without any eatable part. Althoguh he was thrilled to finally get to see his new plants finally bearing products, he decided to finish the bath first, since he only needed to add some final touches to that.
With one swift motion, he dropped the fruits into his inventory; in which he noticed that despite them being from two plants, they took up three slots. Platic was the one who had a slot for the two different colours, almost like the green peppers did, though he knew that they were of higher quality; in the Platic''s case, they were of the exact same quality.
¨Śnilo and Gobu were just looking at the fire both under the boiler and at the one not far from that while they were roasting some potatoes and peppers. That day they did not harvest the peteaches as it was so snowy outside that they decided it was better not to do so. But they did have a large number, so Foin was confident that it would be sufficient to cover the bath.
Foin quickly grabbed a bucket full of peteaches and walked over to the bath. He quickly started opening the fruits and pouring the dense liquid into the pool''s far end side. The empty but delicious fruits were all put back into the bucket, and then he started smoothening the surface of the pool.
He moved slowly back and covered the whole area with the slowly solidifying liquid. He needed to hurry since the peteach liquid was getting harder and harder, but thanks to his previous experience, he was working fast. Using the first bucket of fruit was enough to cover almost half of the pool, although he did make the peteach layer quite thick just to be sure that it withstood the weight of the water since that was the deepest and widest portion of the pool.
After grabbing another portion of peteaches, he finished the rest of the pool in a relatively short span of time. Then he waited; he wanted to test it out right away; that way, if it was needed, he could make the peteach layer thicker, though he felt that the way he did was more than enough.
As soon as the peteach solidified, Foin quickly filled it with water. However, he did so in smaller portions to see how well the structure held together.
Once the bathtub was filled with water, Foin walked back to the closest bonfire. Since each of the firewood inside was either already burning or was just about to start to ignite, he put in a few smaller twigs. While he was waiting for them to ignite, he used up another two peteaches to make a sheet that he would use as a door.
Although one would need to enter the room in order to see the bath, it was better to put some extra protection there.
"Girls, the bath is almost ready. Would you like to give it a try once the water is heated?"
Foin asked as he put the sheet of peteach next to the door.
"Erm..."
Gobu spoke up and shyly looked at ¨Śnilo, who shook her head and glared at the goblin.
"I think you should be the one to try it first; after all, it is your work, so you should enjoy it first, master!"
¨Śnilo said as she looked into Foin''s eyes and hovered closer to him. Her previous cold gaze had completely vanished, and now she was smiling.
"Alright..."
He was slightly disappointed, as she believed she would jump at the offer and try it, but he didn''t want to force them. So he grabbed a bunch of grass and carried them into the room, right to the stairs of the pool. He dropped them down so that when he got out of the bath, his feet would not get muddy, at least.
By the time he was done, the tigs had already started burning properly, so he quickly brought them over to the little box on the side of the pool to start the heating. Then he brought a few medium-sized pieces of wood and then a larger one. From which he put on a single medium-sized one.
He didn''t know how long it would take for the water to heat up, but he was certain that it was much larger than the boiler. As a result, the heating area was larger as well, so he could fit in more wood.
Thanks to the boiler in the other room, the room had already heated up, so with the plate, he covered the door and sat down by the fire. Occasionally he put his hand into the water to check the temperature. And after quite some time, it had risen quite a bit. Around the heating area, it was quite warm, and on the other side, it was a bit warm, so he quickly got undressed and jumped in.
Though it was still cold, it was refreshing, so he started mixing up the waters by walking in circles at the lowest level. Eventually, he sat down by the wall and looked at the plants in the room, which he noticed were already blooming quite a bit.
"Phew, it is quite great! Though with ¨Ślion, it would be much greater!"
He mumbled as he opened his inventory to put a few handfuls of ¨Ślion flowers into the water, and then he closed his eyes.
The flowers started floating on the surface of the water, and soon, the redness from the flowers started spreading across the water.
Vol 2 Chapter 24: The Under-Bath part 4
It had been cold. The winter had just begun, and the temperature was already way below zero. It took the winter only a few days to turn the pleasant days into horrible coldness. As far as the eye could see whiteness, nothing else could be seen but white snow.
It had already been snowing for almost a day, and it had already covered everything. And if the snow was not enough, there was a powerful gust of wind every once in a while.
Aier''s daughter, Linyer, had been travelling for many long days now in this difficult weather. She had managed to hunt a few beasts on her way, so she was covered with many different coloured and different-sized pelts all over her body. Still, she was cold.
"I should have just heeded my mother''s words and asked Felfey for directions... At this rate, even if I find it, it will be too late."
She mumbled as she pushed forward. Her face was red from the cold. The furs she was using to cover her body were all icy and covered with snow. The terrain was so difficult that she could only walk slowly. The deep snow was also another great foe she needed to defeat.
In a single day, the amount of snow that had fallen was just a bit below her knees. And although she was prepared for the coldness, her legs were freezing, and she gradually got slower.
Due to the difficult trip, the animals she had hunted were already eaten, and now, in the current state of her physical abilities and the landscape, it was impossible for her to hunt for any more animals.
As she slowly pushed through the snow-covered forest, she noticed a large clearing. At first, she thought that she was only hallucinating things, so she just kept walking towards it at her original speed. However, as she got closer and closer, she increased her pace and started seeing man-made objects.
She noticed a larger house covered with some plants. As she got closer, she noticed a strange short tree. Despite the cold weather, it had a few fruits on it. Despite this strange sight, Linyer instead headed over to the house and looked inside; it was empty.
"Figured... It seems I was late... I think not even the capital''s barrier could withstand this cold properly, let alone a being out here without proper protection... "
She mumbled as she rubbed her hands together, the blow into her palm to slightly heat her fists up. She then walked all the way back to the fruiting tree, and just looked at it for a brief moment.
"Mother will most likely kill me for being this late and letting this unknown entity down..."
The girl sighed, and then she grabbed the fruit of the close on the tree. She was about to tear it off, but suddenly, a loud sound caused her to stop. Instead, she quickly jumped back out of reflex and pulled out a small dagger from within her clothes.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
"Get your filthy hands off of that tree! Who do you think you are to steal? Although we didn''t harvest it, that doesn''t mean you are free to do so!"
A loud shout came from somewhere unknown to the girl. Linyer looked everywhere to search for the entity who just shouted. It was ¨Śnilo who was slowly hovering towards the girl with a cold glare. As soon as Linyer noticed the flying plant girl, her eyes widened, and she sheathed her weapon as fast as she could.
"Erm... are you perhaps... Do you live here?"
Linyer asked, not knowing how to start as she was startled.
"And what if I am?"
"I can''t believe it... A real plant creature? I heard my mother saying that they were extinct... Arrogant creatures who only think of themselves..."
Linyer thought as the plant girl in front of her finally stopped only a few meters away from her face and just kept glaring into her eyes.
"Erm... Are you the owner of the land if so... There is something I''d like to discuss with you!"
Linyer tried to seem as polite as possible as she was uncertain how hostile the creature before her was, and she was quite weakened in her current state.
"No, I am not the owner, but if it is only discussion you want, I guess it would be fine to let you in, but I will be watching you! Follow me!"
¨Śnilo stated coldly, then started hovering away. Linyer followed her cowardly all the way to the opening of the underground base.
"Put the lid back on when you are coming down!"
This slightly surprised Linyer, but she complied. And as soon as she started going lower, she was stunned by how warm everything was. It was so hot that the moment she got down, she instantly dropped her excess pelts and looked around.
¨Śnilo was floating not far from her face and was just staring at her. Gobu shyly looked back and forth between the newcomer and ¨Śnilo, almost as if she was afraid to take her eyes off either of them.
"Hm... A goblin and a plant creature... Interesting... to think that this plant creature would tolerate any other being other then herself... Then I guess the owner must be a plant creature as well.."
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Erm.. If it is possible, I would like to talk to the owner of this area..."
"The owner is currently in that room..."
¨Śnilo mumbled and pointed her finger at the freshly built bathroom, which was covered by that plate made by Foin.
Without hesitation, Linyer rushed over to the room, pushing away the plate and entering; her plan was to grab the owner and teleport away as soon as possible to fulfil her task. ¨Śnilo''s head was grotesquely disfigured from anger, and she instantly flew after the girl, but it was too late; she had already entered the bathroom and had seen something she had never seen before.
The moment the lid was pushed away, Foin was in the process of stepping out of the bath. He had a fantastic relaxing time in the bath but figured it was time to get out. The thin fire he had made to heat the water up had already almost burned out, and the whole room was steamy.
Usually, he didn''t love a hot bath, but strangely, that day, he enjoyed the scorching hot water. He was smiling as he was getting out, but as soon as he noticed the intruder staring at his naked form, his face quickly flashed with a dark red colour. Bewildered by the new and unwanted attention, he used all his strength to jump back, landing back in the baht, though he hit his leg in the process.
Just as he landed in the water from the door, many veins attached themselves to the girl, wrapped around her body with great force and pulled her out. She was dragged out so quickly that although Foin was flustered, he heard a loud landing sound.
Vol 2 Chapter 25: The Under-Bath part 5
Foin stayed in the bath for a few long minutes. Meanwhile, he could hear a loud whimper sound and some strange, unrecognisable sound that resembled a dirt digging sound. He was both angry and nervous.
Not only did someone unknown to him barged in on him while he was bathing, but he even hit his leg in the process. Though thanks to the ¨Ślion flower in the water the unpleasant feeling soon vanished.
After a loud sigh, Foin finally got out of the bath and quickly dressed despite being still wet. He didn''t care at all. All he was focused on was figuring out who that girl was, the reason she was in her underground base, and the reason she barged into the bathroom.
With haste, he left the room to find the girl in the main room of the base. She was surrounded by hundreds of vines and was being pulled against the dirt wall of the room. The appendages were wrapped around her body so tightly that each of her curves was clearly visible. Foin could see how strong and well-trained the girl was. Her well-formed abs and honed muscles were a clear sight of her powerful yet currently vulnerable form.
The only portion of her body which was not covered was her face. Everything else was being restrained to the extent that she could feel her bones slightly cracking.
Although under normal circumstances, she would have been able to escape due to fatigue and her empty stomach, as well as being shocked by Foin''s naked form.
As Foin stood before the captured girl, his wet hair covering her eyes from its water dropping down to the ground, he just glared at her.
"WHAT?! Is this some sort of sick joke? I have seen the naked body of a filthy slave?!"
Raged the girl in her thoughts as she glared back at Foin.
"Who are you? And how did you get in here?"
Foin asked the girl as he stepped closer to her without averting his gaze from her eyes.
"Erm... I am sorry, master... It was me... She said she wanted to talk to you, so I let her in... But I promise I will teach her a good lesson!"
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¨Śnilo said with a lowered head. Unlike before, she was not hovering; instead, she was just on the ground, normally not far from the bound girl. Linyer, however, couldn''t believe what she had just heard.
"This is ridiculous... For a plant creature to call a mere slave their master?! Could it be that I misjudged the situation, and this man is only imitating to be a feeble human slave?"
Linyer pondered as she quickly averted her eyes and just glared at the ground instead.
"Did you not hear what my master asked you?! Want me to go rough on you right from the get-go?"
"I am... Linyer..."
The girl replied while keeping her gaze fixated on the ground. She started feeling more and more nervous as she felt the piercing gaze of ¨Śnilo next to her, and the fact that she was being bound by her powers made her situation considerably more difficult.
"Why did you want to talk to me? And why did you rush into the bathroom like that?"
Foin asked his next question. His tone was even colder and for a split second there was a greenish flicker in his eyes which although he did not notice, everyone else noticed.
As that flicker appeared, both ¨Śnilo, Gobu and even the girl hurriedly looked at him. Since he was unable to feel or notice any magic or energy-related things, he felt nothing, but in reality, he emitted a considerably powerful burst of energy. Although it was not a burst aimed at harm, it was merely a means to warn in the eyes of Gobu, ¨Śnilo and Linyer.
Linyer took a deep breath before she could answer. She needed to think about what to answer as she realised that she needed to lie no matter what, but it needed to be believable.
"I... I was wandering in the area, And I noticed your blossoming tree on the surface, and I couldn''t help but find the owner of the land... To be honest; I have been on the road for quite a while, and I am...hungry..."
Linyer tried to mix the truth with a lie to make it a bit more appealing. She was sweating greatly, both due to being so close to the boiler and due to the intense gaze of ¨Śnilo.
"You wanted to talk to me because you were that hungry? And you couldn''t wait for me to come out on my own? Is it the norm for GUESTS to just rush into other''s rooms without asking?"
"Erm... no... I apologise... I... I guess I got a bit too excited..."
She replied as she gritted her teeth slightly. This was so out of her character that it was painful for her to act like this; after all, if it were not for her current weakness and carelessness, she could have easily killed everyone here.
Foin just stared at her without speaking. He was lost in thoughts, and in the process, his anger slightly dissipated. He sighed, and his gaze slightly softened.
"I hope he belives me... I really want to avoid any unnecessary confrontation in my current state..."
The girl thought as she tested the strength of the vines binding her. She was able to move slightly; she was still quite angry and was focusing on trying to calm down as much as she could.
Meanwhile, Foin opened his mouth to speak, but a new, never-before-seen panel appeared before his eyes.
"Notice! A new quest has been issued!"
That notification surprised Foin considerably. He didn''t expect it one bit. He believed that he would never receive such a panel since Foin was just a farmer, though he couldn''t help but feel excited.
What could that new and, at the same time, first quest entail? In addition, what could those three fruits be? Foin''s excitement just kept rising as silence settled in the room, and no one made a single sound.
Vol 3 Chapter 1: Crater
Aier''s capital was located in a particular, strange area. It was built in a massive crater and consisted of two layers. The outer layer of the town was made up of thousands of buildings of different sizes. Most of which were made of either stone or wood.
And in the centre, there was a slightly different area. The shape of the crater revealed a ball-like structure. As a result, the very centre of the two was somewhat lower than the rest. Still, that is where a massive castle had been erected. The castle was built in a distinct style.
The castle was built around a garden area, almost as if masking that garden from the outside world. The castle itself was massive and towering. It was by far the largest structure in the city; even the massive trees outside of the crater were shorter than the castle. Its purpose was to let Aier oversee the surrounding area.
Although the base of the castle was spacious, going up, it grew thinner and thinner until only four peaks were remarked at the top, which were connected for easier access.
The crater was surrounded by a well-fortified wall. There were four main gates on it, each leading to other important cities of Aier''s region. Another unique aspect of this city was its protective barrier. A massive transparent but slightly purplish membrane layer was protecting it from the freezing weather in the winter and from the heat during the summer season.
As the winter arrived, the barrier had been activated, and Aier settled in her castle. She was sitting in one of the rooms located at one of the towers of her castle. The room was nothing particularly interesting; it was just a study.
The room had a chandelier with tiny yellow crystals instead of candles. Though they were not candles, they produced a considerable amount of light; even in daylight, the light produced by those crystals was visible.
Aier herself was sitting on a chair and looking at a large number of sheets of paper filled with some writings. She was covered by a few extra pelts, and on the table, there was a head-sized red crystal which provided some sort of heat.
"Such coldness already... The winter had just begun, yet the barrier could no longer keep out most of the heat... Not even this crystal is capable of keeping up with the cold..."
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
She sighed as she pulled off the top sheet of paper, crumbled it, and then finally dropped it onto the ground. She was reading complaints and reports from her people. It was mostly due to the cold weather.
She just kept reading these papers, and she discarded most of them until she found one in particular. One which was not a complaint but an urgent report. It stated that due to the increase in population, the hunters were unable to gather enough food. As a result, starvation by the end of the winter was inevitable.
As she read that, her stomach grumbled, and all she could do was sigh. She had already eaten her breakfast, and her launch was still a few hours away.
"Where could my iron-willed daughter be?! I knew that she was stupid enough not to ask for directions, but she was taking way too long..."
She mumbled as she turned around. Behind her was a massive window through which she could see the great portion of her town. She was so high up that each house was just about as big as the nail on her pinkie.
She could see the different houses down below her tower. Those houses which were made of stone all had at least a single chance, and they were smoking. She knew they were using up a considerable amount of firewood they had stored up.
"At least in the underground prison, the slaves have a better, warmer environment... Maybe I should have them work extra hard for that... After all, we are running low on minerals..."
She muttered under her breath as she gently touched the glass, and a smirk appeared on her face. Her previously bothered expression instantly vanished as soon as she thought of the slaves; her eyes even gained a stronger purple glow for a brief second, but then she sat back and kept reading the documents.
The stack of paper slowly sorted into two piles: the important, which stayed on the desk but was put to a different part of the desk, and the trash, which she threw onto the ground. She was about halfway finished with the massive stack when she heard a knock on the door.
"Enter!"
Her voice was different from before. It was strong and even slightly lowered, full of authority and confidence.
"Yes, my lady!"
An even deeper and slightly parched voice replied, and the door opened. An individual whose body was covered with scales and a long, mobile, and flexible tail stepped in. This individual seemed like a lizard; it had glowing yellow eyes and was wearing a maid outfit.
As soon as she stepped in, three more of the same species wearing the exact same size outfit stepped in. All but one brought a dish covered by a large lid. The one who answered and opened the door stepped out and brought in a larger desk all by herself. They used that additional furniture to put the dishes on top of it.
"My lady, as you have always requested, your usual meal has been prepared. Please enjoy it!"
The first lizardman said, and the maids bowed simultaneously. They were about to leave, but Aier raised her hand.
"Wait! Is there still no news regarding Linyer?"
"No, lady Aier! But as you have requested, we always have a set of well-trained maids or butlers ready by the teleportation area to welcome her arrival!"
"I see... Also, send word to the mines! Have the production increased... We will have a troublesome winter ahead of us!"
"Certainly!"
"That is all; you may leave!"
"Yes! Once again, please enjoy your meal, lady Aier!"
Vol 3 Chapter 2: The First Quest
"Notice! A new quest has been issued!"
Foin couldn''t help but stare at the notification before his eyes. Since he was the only one who could see the floating panel, from an outsider''s perspective, it seemed as if he was glaring at Linyer''s breasts, which made ¨Śnilo feel uneasy. She even puffed up her cheeks and flew over to the restrained girl to cover a certain area. And just as she flew over there, Foin sighed.
"Tasks: Impress Linyer by showcasing your current wealth and power. Instigate her next visit by any means!"
Seeing the tasks given by the system, Foin started thinking as to how he could execute them, so he turned around, looking at the flickering bonfire.
"So, Linyer, you said you are hungry... Fine, I guess..."
He said and took a pause. He had thought of a quite bold action, but he saw that it would be one of the only viable options. While he was taking a dramatic pause, he dropped a few smaller branches onto the fire, and only then did he continue.
"You see, although I am a benevolent man, still, what you have done is quite an inapposite act, and since I need to feed you as well...I presume you currently have nothing of particular value on you..."
He said while still facing away from the girl. He hid his hands in front of him as they were shaking due to his nervousness.
"I am willing to feed you and overlook your previous transmigration, but... BUT... You have to swear on your life to come back in about a week to compensate..."
He once again paused as he was too nervous about keeping up the straight and serious tone, so he waited for the girl''s response.
"I...I see! I...I swear on my life that I would come back in a week..."
She said while gritting her teeth. She knew that she would not be able to teleport Foin away in this state as she had too many eyes on her, but at least she was given a second chance to execute her mission. Still, her pride was greatly damaged in the state. The only thing comforting her was that no important figure heard it or saw her current situation.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
As soon as Foin heard her response, he sighed loudly. Since the panel regarding the quest was still floating before him, he felt a boulder fall off his heart. As soon as the girl responded, the second task''s text turned green and got much dimmer.
"Alright then... ¨Śnilo, Gobu, let us eat in that case..."
Foin mumbled as he walked quickly into the storage room and grabbed the blade which he had pulled out of the dragon''s back. Althoguh Foin couldn''t see it the blade was giving off a powerful purple aura, which was instantly noticed by everyone else.
"Wait... Isn''t that my mother''s blade? I thought only the most powerful beings could carry it around... Is he planning to kill me? This doesn''t make any sense!"
Linyer thought as she tried to break free from her restraints, but she was unable to break the vines. As Foin walked closer and closer to her, she glared into his eyes as hard as she could. She tried to signal that she would not give her life that easily; however, as soon as Foin moved his hand, bringing the blade with it, she closed her eyes and pulled her head away.
She felt a sudden gust of wind, but no pain came. For a brief moment, she thought she had already died, but then she opened her eyes. Foin was walking away from her, but she was free. The vines restraining her were all cut down.
She couldn''t believe it. The blade which she had feared so much was used to merely cut down plants, which normally could drain a man''s stamina and energy just by holding it. Yet Foin seemed quite happy and not one bit tired. He learned the blade against the wall of the cave and sat down beside the fire.
Gobu and ¨Śnilo started preparing sticks for the food, and Foin took out a large number of potatoes and peppers from his inventory, but then something hit him. Though he had no salt, he could spice things up with a bit of a mint flavour.
"Wait... Is that some sort of subspace? How did he summon those things from thin air?"
Linyer wondered as she sat still, stunned by the events that had transpired. Even after Foin had returned with a handful of leaves harvested from the ¨Ślion flowers planted in the bathroom, Linyer still sat without moving while leaning against the wall.
"Linyer, why don''t you come and sit by the fire with us?"
Foin asked as she put a few leaves on each of the peppers and potatoes prepared by ¨Śnilo and Gobu. The girls started roasting the food as soon as Foin had put the extra herb on them, but Linyer was still unsure how to cope with the current situation.
"I will bring some more wood and put the weapon back in its place."
Foin added as he stood up and grabbed the blade. He quickly walked back to the firewood place, and just dropped the blade onto the ground, and sat down. And just stared blankly in front of him.
"Impress her with my wealth and power, my ass... I don''t even know her status or the structure of this world! How am I supposed to impress her? I have four plants which I have tested and could be used for food."
He muttered quietly as he shook his head. He kept thinking about how he could finish that mission; after all, he had no real power or wealth. In his opinion, he was nothing more than a peasant in terms of status. As he was thinking, he could feel himself get more and more nervous, and his breathing got ragged and slightly irregular.
"Notice! Perfect Breathing has been activated!"
A new panel appeared before his eyes, and he instantly calmed down. In a split second, his breathing regulated, and his head cleared out.
With his newfound calm, Foin stood up, grabbed a few larger and a few medium-sized pieces of firewood, and was ready to keep going; it was almost as if his previous whining hand had never even happened.
Vol 3 Chapter 3: The First Quest part 2
By the time Foin left the room with the firewood, Linyer had already settled by the fire and was staring at the skewer in Gobu''s hand. Linyer''s eyes were sparkling, and a drop of drool was slowly flowing down both sides of her mouth.
Foin quickly put the medium-sized logs onto the fire and then sat down. He was lost in thoughts as to what to do next. he still had some of his previous alcoholic beverage, and he thought that maybe if he gave some of that to the girl, he could complete the task and the quest as well.
The four of them sat around the fire while ¨Śnilo and Gobu kept roasting the food. Eventually, Linyer managed to break free from the dominating and appetizing smell, and she turned her attention to Foin.
"So erm... How can I call you..."
"Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself... How silly of me. Call me Foin..."
He replied, trying to keep up his cool and confident act, which was now much easier thanks to the previously activated skill.
"I see... Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it about?"
"I have noticed that you are not only able to fend off the cold weather but also make your entire base so warm... Could you tell me what formation or spell you used, as it seems to be quite well maintained?"
"Spell? Formation? No, I am simply using some basic knowledge. Do you see that large grey thing with that fire under it? That is the source of the heat."
Foin explained as he pointed at the boiler. He felt that it was time to shine, so he kept explaining.
"Although it doesn''t seem that great, it is quite a useful creation of mine. It is but a solid outer layer with water in it. "
"What? Can such heat be achieved with that structure?"
"Of course! A boiler is quite useful when it comes to fighting against the cold."
Foin said with a grin, though at first, he was not even confident in the boiler''s effectiveness. But then he remembered that he still had a bucket full of empty but delicious peteaches back in the bathroom.
He suddenly stood up and stepped back into the bathroom to bring out the peteaches. In the meantime, Linyer looked at the boiler once again. She was astonished that such a simple trick could really work. But then she shook her head.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Maybe he is just giving me a portion of the real info, or he just straight-up lied. After all, even though he seems friendly, I don''t think he sees me as a friendly person."
She thought as she finally looked back at the fire. Foin came back quickly and just in time as Gobu and ¨Śnilo were done with the first serving of their skewers.
"I have brought the dessert!"
Foin stated with a smile as Gobu gave him one of the skewers. Seeing that Gobu was faster, ¨Śnilo only glared into the goblin''s eyes and then glared at Linyer, who stood it firmly and returned the glare. After a loud audible sigh, ¨Śnilo gave a portion to Linyer, though she was not happy to provide food to the intruder.
Foin was the first one to taste it, and as soon as he did, he had a great idea. He looked at the new girl for a brief moment, who was just eyeing the food so far.
"Hm... Not bad... But I think a bit more spice would make it even better."
Foin added as he kept eating. He kept his eyes on the girl, who looked at him instantly.
"I see. So he figured out that I am not a simple traveller and now told me what he expects me to grin the next time I come. Quite a sly you are, Foin!"
Linyer thought as she tried to hold back, grinning in anger, but once she took a single bit from the pepper on the top of her skewer, all her emotions were washed away. She just stared at it blankly without even being able to take her eyes off of it.
"This... This single piece of seemingly worthless vegetable contains this much energy!?! It is comparable to the fruit of my mother''s sacred tree, which grows a single fruit once a year at best. How... Just who the hell is this guy?"
Linyer thought as she just kept staring at her food. It took her almost a whole minute to continue eating. And once she reached her first potato, she paused once again, but this time only for a shorter period.
"Erm... Foin... How easily can you grow these?"
"Why are you asking? Perhaps you want to barter for some?"
Foin thought as he looked at the girl who was drooling while staring at the peppers and potatoes.
"Erm... yes... If you can give me some extra... even if it is raw... I would leave those pelts here!"
"Are you sure? It is winter, and you... phew... Fine, I guess."
Foin said as he finally gave in. And as he said that the other task on the panel had also turned green.
"Alright, in that case, I will prepare some for you, so I will be right back."
Foin added as he stood up and walked back into the storage. He sat down by the large pot in which he still kept his alcoholic liquid. From his inventory, he pulled out two peteaches and started making two containers.
He made a bottle and a bucket from one of them. His goal was to put some of his special brewed drink into the bottle and then use the other peteach to make some sort of cap for it; then, he could make some extra plates from the excess peteach.
He could make four more plates, which he put away quickly. He tried moving the bottle around to check how well that cap worked, and it proved to be working just fine. The cap itself was made of two diameters: one that he tried to be as wide as the inner side of the bottle''s opening and a shoulder to seal off the top.
"Notice! The quest had been completed!"
"A reward will be issued shortly!"
"Your skill, Inventory, has been upgraded!"
A few new panels appeared as he was done testing the bottle. With one quick movement, he put some peppers and potatoes into the bucket; it was filled to about 75%, and then he put the bottle in as well.
The bucket was brought outside and put down not far from where he sat down. The girl instantly looked at it curiously and was surprised to see so many items in the bucket, especially the smaller grey container.
"Here are the potatoes and peppers. And I put in something to... To keep you warm in this cold!"
Foin said with a smile.
"There is just one more thing I want to ask you, Foin... What are you..."
Vol 3 Chapter 4: The First Quest part 3
Aier sat in her study, dealing with an even larger stack of documents than before. The temperature in her room was now so low that she had two large red gems on her table, which provided heat. Her breath was visible in the cold room.
As the pile of crumbled pieces of paper grew behind her larger and larger, she could only sigh. Next to her was a smaller table on which three large plates were left, with nothing but bare bones. A smaller piece of bone was even in her mouth as she was reading. As she was discarding the papers suddenly she heard a knock on her door.
"Enter!"
Once again, a lizard maid stepped in. She bowed and then stepped closer. She had her hands behind her back, and her tail was slightly moving from side to side.
"Lady Aier... Your daughter... Linyer has returned and would like to have an audience with you!"
"Send her in..."
"As you wish!"
The maid nodded and left. For a few long minutes, the room was quiet as Aier stopped working and just gazed at the door. She was excited to finally meet the individual whom she had heard about. As she kept looking at the door, she seemed to have remembered the taste of the peppers she had eaten previously. It was enough to make her mouth water, but she managed to regain her composure.
Soon, she noticed the maid at the door once again. She held two crystal cups in her hand and carefully put them on the side table as she grabbed the empty dishes. She looked at Aier as to whether she should take the bone in her mouth, but Aier sucked the piece of bone back into her mouth, and chewed it, then swallowed it without a problem.
The maid left, but as soon as she stepped out, Linyer stepped in. She had something behind her back that Aier couldn''t see. The girl had a saddened expression on her face.
"Where is that individual? Don''t tell me that they died!"
Aier bursted out instantly as she glared at her own daughter.
"N...No... He is alive... I.. I just screwed up and couldn''t teleport him with me... But I was given a second chance... Also, look at this mother!"
She said as she slammed a bucket onto Aier''s main desk, pushing off some of her documents. The air slowly peaked into the bucket, and then her eyes widened.
"Are these from them?!"
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Yes, mother... These are from Foin... I traded him for a couple of pelts... Though he seemed benevolent, I fear he is more cunning than meets the eye... Also... I will need another teleporting crystal as I needed to use the one you gave me; otherwise, I would have screwed up even more..."
"What are you talking about? What did you screw up?"
Linyer growled as she heard her mother''s question. The question did not contain any content. Instead, she felt as if each word were daggers aimed at her.
"I made a terrible first impression..."
"Linyer! What did you do?"
"Erm... I... I barged in on Foin while he was taking a bath and saw his naked body..."
At first, Aier seemed puzzled as she couldn''t connect the name to anything, and this was not the first time Linyer had mentioned that name.
"Who is Foin?"
"He is... He is the one who grew these plants... the individual you sent me to teleport here..."
Aier sighed and covered her head with her palms.
"Continue..."
"He said that I should go meet him in a week... And he gave me an indirect suggestion that... He needs spices... Also... I think next time maybe we should get ready to bring some extra itmes so that we can trade with him..."
"Hm... I see..."
Aier''s voice was still as cold as the weather outside.
"Also... He has a plant girl serving him..."
"What did you just say?! They went extinct a long time ago... Even if they were still alive, they would never serve anyone other than their own race!"
"I am telling the truth. I was just as stunned as you, and I wouldn''t have believed it if I hadn''t seen it..."
"What kind of monster is that Foin?"
"I don''t believe he said the truth, but then again, why would he lie about his race... He said he is a slave... a lowly, weak, pathetic human being."
"I need to meet this man... My interest is even more piqued than before."
"Also, mother... Foin said that the liquid was to keep me warm... So I was thinking maybe we could taste it together..."
Linyer said as she grabbed the bottle made by Foin and carefully opened it. As soon as she opened it, her and Aier''s eyes widened. The smell of the liquid inside was so dense in energy that they couldn''t believe it.
Linyer slowly, shaking hands, poured out two cups of the liquid. She paid extra attention as the liquid flowed to make sure that not even a single drop was wasted. And then instantly put the cap back in; once the bottle was once again sealed, Linyer put the container back into the bucket.
They each grabbed a cup and just stared at the red liquid. They hadn''t the courage to drink it. Suddenly, Linyer laughed nervously.
"I foolishly thought that it was just some simple alcohol for the road... Who would have known Foin wanted to show off his goods..."
"That I can agree with. I have seen many highly quality beverages containing a considerable amount of energy, but this is by far the best and purest one I have ever seen."
Aier replied as she slightly and carefully spun the liquid around. She remembered that when energy was infused into any liquid, it turned much denser and syrupy and tasted terrible, but the one she had in her hand was as smooth and light as water and had a magnificent scent.
"We need to get him here no matter what! After enjoying this beverage, tell me more about him and his area!"
Aier added as she took a tiny sip from the drink.
Vol 3 Chapter 5: Chicken?
A few hours had gone by since Linyer left. Foin was sitting on his bed and was just blankly looking ahead. He felt that the effect of the skill had worn off, so he once again felt slightly nervous.
However, the fact that the skill activated automatically made him think. Maybe he could activate that skill by himself as well, just as he did with Cutting Edge. In just such a short span of time, he had gained many new things he needed to see, test, and experiment with.
Soon, his curiosity won, and he stood up from the bed. The first thing he did was look at the fur Linyer left behind. As he looked at them, he noticed that there were three larger pelts, which were larger than he was, and two that must have belonged to some smaller animals.
He also instantly put The two larger ones on the two larger beds, his and Gobu''s, and then one of the smaller ones onto ¨Śnilo''s.
The girls were enjoying the bath he had made, so now the main room was empty. Since he was most curious about his new plants and fruits, he started with that. He brought it out from his storage room a few times. Some extra logs, a few freshly made plates and an empty pot.
He started with the first one he had harvested, the huunt fruit, which looked like a nut. He pulled both out from his inventory and placed them on the plate. After grabbing one of them, Foin put it between both of his palms and then started slowly applying pressure to it.
He slowly started feeling that it started cracking despite not exerting too much of his power, and then he heard a slight cracking sound. As a result, he quickly stopped and looked at it. It had many tiny cracks on the surface and one larger through which he could see the inner portion of the fruit.
The inner side was somewhat orange-coloured but seemed nothing special. However, he noticed that on the plate, there was some sort of black dust, which he believed had fallen off of the shell of the fruit. With heightened curiosity, Foin grabbed the fruit firmly, pressing his thumbs against the most damaged part, and once again tried to open it.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The shell suddenly split into two larger parts and some dust fell onto the plate below, and Foin could see the inner core better now. What surprised him most was the fact that he could easily break the outer shell, which seemed quite sturdy.
The core was squishy and soft and had no particular smell, so Foin just put the orange core onto the plate and then smelled the outer layer. It had a heavier, almost bad smell, but he couldn''t recognise it.
"So it is most likely not the edible part... What could that orange ball be?"
He mumbled as he grabbed a stick, impaled the orange core with it, and then put it over the fire. It still had some tiny specks of the black dust, but Foin didn''t care that much about it as it seemed to be such a small amount.
However, he couldn''t have been more wrong about his assumption. As soon as he put the orange ball into the fire, that tiny speck of black at first started sparkling, then in mere moments, started burning with great black flame.
Foin instantly pulled back the item and started blowing at the fruit; although he couldn''t extinguish the flame, he managed to blow the speck of black powder off, and now it was burning on the ground. Despite the miniscule size of the dust, it still burned quite well and produced considerable heat. It was even hotter than the bonfire in front of him.
Though the black flame lasted for a short while, Foin deduced that the black outer layer might be some sort of coal. So, before anything could go wrong, he pulled the plate further back and put the orange orb back near the flame of the campfire.
It was sizing and was slowly changing colour, from orange to a brownish golden colour, and while it transformed its colour, it slightly shrunk and started giving off a powerful and mouth-watering scent.
"MEAT?!"
Foin said with widened eyes. He couldn''t believe the smell the orange orb was giving off. He quickly pulled it back and put it onto a fresh, empty plate to let it cool down.
With a swift movement, Foin pulled out a peteach from his inventory and opened it. Without hesitation, he dropped the fruit onto the ground, but he used the liquid to make a few knives; though they were quite dull and would most likely be quite difficult to use for cutting, he wanted to have them, as well as a few spoons and the hardest one was forks. He spent the most time with that; in fact, by the time he finished the last one, he could just barely form and mould the material.
As he got done with the utensils, he put most of them down next to the huunt dust and unopened fruit, but he kept one fork and knife. Now that he had something that smelled at least like meat, he wanted to eat with some culture and manner.
Despite the fact that he had just eaten not long ago, he couldn''t help but want to taste this new food. As his mouth was watering, he carefully tried cutting the meat with his dull knife, which was so soft that he could cut with ease.
He took the first bite, and the taste was amazing, although it could use some seasoning. It tasted like chicken and was so soft that Foin ate up the whole portion in a few short moments and then rubbed his stomach.
As he looked at the plate with the outer layer and the other fruit, he could only lick his mouth and wanted to eat that as well, but he managed to fight down the urge and put the fruit back into his inventory.
Vol 3 Chapter 6: Chicken? part 2
Foin, still licking his mouth after the delicious meal, took out the other two fruits and tried to figure out what they might be. Since they were both resources, he thought that cutting them might be the best option, so he grabbed a yellow and penetrated it with his dull, blunt knife.
It was cut, but nothing flowed out, which made Foin think. He pulled his knife out and touched it to see whether it was just dense or something he couldn''t predict, but it was dry. So he grabbed the cut fruit again.
"Hm... it has a rubbery texture. I wish my appraiser skills would work better, but they are so limited and only work for certain items."
He mumbled as he kept looking at the fruit and squeezing it lightly. For a few long minutes, he just kept playing with that item until he had a new idea. Since it was so rubbery, he wanted to try how it stood up against heat.
Although he prepared the pot to see if they would have any useful liquid, since there was no liquid, he could use it to test how the fruit reacts to heat. Without hesitation, he dropped the plastic fruit straight into the pot, then placed it by the fire so that the burning piece of wood was just barely touching its side.
He grabbed the stick he used to roast the huunt fruit and slightly moved the yellow fruit around. At first, nothing happened, but then he noticed that it grew harder to move it around. He noticed that something started flowing off of the side of the fruit and collecting in the bottom of the pot.
"So it was one dense chunk of rubber? Hm... interesting..."
Foin mumbled as he looked down at the black dust on the plate, and a possible idea flashed before his eyes. He waited patiently for the rubber to melt as he let go of the fruit. The fruit turned into more liquid rubber than Foin anticipated, but the volume was now not his concern, and he did not know whether his idea would work.
He dipped the tip of the stick into the rubber so that it would stick to it, and he quickly pulled out. With his free hand, he grabbed one of the larger huunt shells, crashed it in his palm, and threw the black powder to the still molten rubber. It completely covered the entire tip, turning it almost back, and then Foin started his experiment.
With great force, he pushed down the knife onto the sick, then dragged it along the surface, hoping to produce enough friction to ignite the dust. It worked, but it was much hotter than he thought.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The black flame instantly appeared and started burning with great force. He needed to drop it as he was unable to hold it due to the heat. He was relieved that he was capable of making some sort of match so he wouldn''t have to worry about running out of the lighter''s fuel.
But at the same time, he had learned that this dust burned much easier and at a much higher temperature than wood. With a wide grin on his face, he grabbed another piece of stick, pushed the pot away, and brought it from the storage, another smaller one.
For the time being, he had no idea how to use the yellow plastic fruit other than some sort of adhesive. But he still had the other one. Although he was sure that it would be just like the yellow one, he put one of the two fruits in another pot and then put it beside the burning black powder-covered stick since he wanted to melt it faster.
For many long minutes, nothing happened at all, and Foin grew more and more impatient as he could see no changes, but at least he could confirm that the dust could burn for quite a while longer if he used more.
He couldn''t understand why the white one was not melting at all, so he carefully moved his hand to check how hot the pot was. He could feel hot air rising from most parts, but not from where the fruit was placed. So, he very carefully lowered his head, and after a deep breath, he braced himself and touched the fruit.
It was not one bit hot. It was just as warm as it was when he put it in. He sighed and shook his head. He couldn''t believe that such a thing would exist. All he could think of was that he just didn''t have a high enough heat source available for him yet.
He pushed the stick burning with black flame all the way to the bonfire using the other stick and then was ready to cool the new pot. He stepped back a bit and filled the pot with water. It instantly started sizzling, and the temperature of the pot dropped drastically.
Foin wanted to pull the fruit out, but he noticed something was different. The white fruit was bubbling, and the colour of the water started changing very slowly.
"What the... Is it doing something with water?"
He mumbled as he leaned back and decided to wait once again. As he watched, the level of the water slightly decreased, and it turned cloudy and white, as well as syrupy. Foin grinned as soon as he could no longer see the fruit in it, and the bubbling ceased.
He dipped his hand in the strange, syrupy liquid and moved it around. Despite being put into the hot pot, it was merely mildly warm. As he moved his finger around, he felt that it started getting harder to move it, almost as if it was solidifying, just like the peteach liquid.
"It could be useful if it is truly a great insulator... Even if it has a fraction of what it had as the full fruit, it would be great..."
Foin mumbled as he pulled his finger out. Despite a small amount of the liquid being attached to his finger, he could feel that it was light and easily deformed. He grabbed it and pulled it off of his finger, and much to his surprise, it came off in one piece without leaving a mark on his skin.
Strengthened by curiosity once more and driven by excitement, he covered both of his hands with the liquid as high as he could. He used the whole pot of liquid and could cover both hands to at least his wrist. On his right, it went even a few centimetres higher.
"Oh, it feels slightly warm and ticklish."
Vol 3 Chapter 7: Chicken? part 3
The substance gradually solidified on Foin''s hand. He moved his fingers around, and the gloves did not restrict his movements at all. Out of curiosity, Foin grabbed one side of the glove on his left arm and slightly pulled on it. It stretched out without much force, and as soon as he let go of it, it returned to its original size.
Foin grinned and looked at the bonfire. The black flames were still vividly moving in it. He wanted to keep testing the gloves. He slowly moved his hand closer and closer to the flames, testing how well the gloves could insulate. It was effective; he could put his hand straight into the flames, and he felt no unbearable heat. With one final test, he grabbed a piece of burning wood and held it firmly.
The pair of gloves worked wonderfully, as Foin didn''t feel any sort of heat, but other than mild warmth. With a grin, he dropped the burning piece of wood down and then took the gloves off and put them beside him. Thrilled by the amazing achievement and discovery, Foin wanted to continue.
Since he had previously tested the huunt dust''s capabilities, and he still had an untouched fruit and some extra pieces from the previous one, he wanted to try making some matches.
Foin quickly put the pot back next to the fire in which he had melted the rubber and then walked back into the storage. They had gathered smaller and thin branches as well as larger ones, but he rarely used the very thin ones, so it was perfect. He grabbed a bunch of them and then walked back to his pot.
He broke each stick to be roughly as long as his fingers and then put them in a pile next to him. What he had broken off was thrown onto the fire as they were too small to be usable.
He had a few dozen sticks ready to be used. Then he took out his other huunt and cracked it open. On the plate, he purposely ground the pieces into fine dust, and then the dust was poured into the molten rubber. Since he didn''t want to waste the meat and since the girls were still bathing, he decided to cook it.
Once the meat was cooked properly, he put it on a fresh, untouched plate and then turned his attention to the rubber mixed with the huunt dust. He noticed that the rubber in the pot was much more fluid; it was due to the black flame still burning underneath it.
It seemed that due to its state, the dust had spread across it quite well. With a grin, Foin put his gloves back on and grabbed the first small stick. He carefully inserted it into the rubbery substance and then pulled it out. The substance stuck to the tip of the stick, just as he had hoped for.
Then he held it in his free hand so that it could cool down and solidify. In the meantime, Foin kept working on the rest of the sticks. He used up all of the rubber, but only a large portion of the sticks were used up.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
A few minutes, that is how long Foin waited before opening his inventory. Due to their small sizes, he wanted to store them in his inventory, but due to his previous failure, deep down, he felt that the inventory wouldn''t take his matches.
Foin pushed one of the matches into his inventory panel, and although it was not stored, he got a message.
"Notice! Uncategorised item! Would you like to add a new item? Adding a new item will cost 100 points. Yes/No"
Foin just stared at the window for a moment. He couldn''t understand how it could show such a message now, but then he remembered; the quest reward was that his inventory was upgraded.
"Maybe it didn''t work previously because the bucket was not raw material and was already a new item. That may be why my Appraiser skill only worked on plants.
Foin mumbled as he kept staring at the panel. He took a deep breath and then pressed the glowing yes button. At that moment, the match he wanted to store vanished from his hand, and a new set of notifications popped up.
"Notice! The item is being analysed!"
"Notice! Analysis completed! Item made of the following materials: Wood, Huunt, Platic"
"Please give a name to the item!"
With the last panel, a keyboard appeared, but not one he was familiar with, as it had many different characters which he couldn''t even recognise. But there were characters that he could use, and as he scanned them, he noticed that there were even Greek letters.
The keys'' order did not seem to be real, but he believed that it was in alphabetic order, as the first characters he could see in the first row were the letters A and Alpha.
It took him a long time to be able to write the name, but in the end, he named it very creatively as Match.
"Notice! Item, Match, has been saved!"
As soon as the last panel vanished, the inventory panel before his eyes refreshed, and he could see the new icon in it, which looked just like the one he had put in. Foin couldn''t hold back a chuckle and then finally stored the rest of his matches in his inventory.
With a content sigh, Foin took off his gloves and stood up. He was about to go back to sit down on his bed, but the bathroom''s plate was pushed to the side, and steam started flowing out.
At first, Gobu stepped out. She was stumbling; her face was red as a tomato, and then she was followed by ¨Śnilo, who was smiling.
"Phew, master, this bath you made was so relaxing and so warm. We even played a bit!"
¨Śnilo said as she flew over to Foin''s face with a genuine grin on her face. Foin smiled back at her and patted her head.
"I am glad you liked it... But what happened to Gobu... she seems a bit... exhausted."
"Too... Many... So many things in such a small amount of time... vines... too much...."
Gobu uttered as she finally reached her bed and sat down on it as she kept gazing at the floor.
"What?"
"Oh, don''t worry, master... We just had a hot and relaxing bath together... and we had a girly chat, that is all."
"I see... Well, anyway, on that plate there is a brand new product, you should try it... And I think I will go and sleep... Linyer''s visit was enough for today... Good night"
Vol 3 Chapter 8: The Snowy Top
A few days had gone by, and the week''s time Foin had given to Linyer was fast approaching. In the meantime, he was busy, and he had nothing else to do.
Just like it happened with the first peteach tree, the new plants, huunt and platic, gradually had more fruits. Each day, Foin used one huunt to make more and more matches, and with that, he also used one yellow platic fruit as well. He also used a few white platic fruits to create three sets of clothes. Everything else was stored in his inventory.
As days went by, he decided to plant more plants in the moist bathroom. And at the same time, he slightly extended that room. Now, that room not only hosted peteaches and ¨Ślions but peppers, potatoes, and freshly plated huunt and platic, everything in their own separate pot; some had larger ones, some had smaller ones.
Time flew by quickly, and before he noticed it, a week had already gone by, although since he was underground, his sense of time was quite off.
On the day of Linyer''s return, Foin woke up as usual. Due to his uneven sleeping schedule It was still way too early in the morning, but since everyone else was already up he got ready as well. The girls were already preparing the food, so he headed straight to the bathroom where he kept all his plants.
He harvested everything he could; ¨Ślion flowers, peteaches, huunt and even the platic fruits were harvested. The ones he had later planted from these rarer plants were still growing slowly. For the time being, he stored each of the products in his inventory. And then, finally, he got to the peppers and potatoes.
Since he only wanted to keep grinding some more points and Experience Points, he planted them. Though he did not put them straight into his inventory, instead, he brought them out to the campfire so that the girls could cook them. As for the unneeded vegetation, he dropped them to the ground for the time being, as he had no plan for them at all. However, he needed to make an area for them as they would just keep increasing in number.
After his short harvesting, he sat down by the campfire and had a quick breakfast with ¨Śnilo and Gobu. As they were enjoying the food, ¨Śnilo''s expression suddenly changed slightly. Due to her abilities, she was able to detect movement around Foin''s area.
"Master, it seems Linyer has arrived... A bit earlier than I expected..."
¨Śnilo said, but by the end, she lowered her voice, which turned into a mumble.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
"Oh, I see. Then, I will get ready and greet them. You two should enjoy the meal while I am talking with her."
Foin stated with a warm smile as he stood up. He quickly walked over to his bed, next to which he had kept the three sets of platic clothes, which he had kept on the unused pelts.
He had quickly started dressing. He designed it so that he could put it over his regular clothes, so he quickly put it on without an effort. A long trouser which was slightly larger than her leg, so he needed to adjust its length by hand to fold it slightly. A cover for his pair of shoes, a thick jumper-like clothing with a hoodie, and then a cap to put on his hoodie should it not work as he had intended. And last but not least, his gloves.
Previously, he had experimented with the durability of the material, and it was remarkable. It was soft and easy to move around in it, but it worked as a spring. Despite its flimsy-looking structure, it was quite difficult to tear it, and even after a large deformation, it returned to its original size without a problem.
Once his gloves were on, he started climbing up. He pushed the peteach plat off and noticed just how the area had changed. He couldn''t believe how much snow had fallen. It easily reached his thighs.
As he looked around, everything was dark, not only because of the dark clouds in the sky as it was snowing but also because it was so early in the morning.
As he finally climbed out of his underground base, he quickly put the cover back on and then looked around. As far as the eye could see, he saw nothing but snow. Even where the river was previously, now snow covered the entire river. As he scanned the foresty area, he could see something slowly approaching.
He could see two moving objects. As he walked closer, he saw that they were two cars dragged by a unique creature he could not recognise. The creature was raven-black and was emitting a misty, cloudy aura around its body. The size of a single creature was larger than a horse; Foin estimated that he was just about as tall as the leg of the creature, maybe a bit shorter than it.
As he kept looking at it, the creatures'' faces were almost blank and strangely straight. It had nothing but three eyes on the top of the head. Two were in a single line, and the third was located above and between the lower two.
Other than a unique head, the creatures had other distinct figures. One of the most eye-catching was the fact that they had three pairs of legs. Although all touched the ground, the last pair was much larger and seemed to have an extra joint, which Foin could not quite understand why it had. To top everything off, Foin noticed that they both had fluffy tails moving from one side to the other.
As the creatures walked closer, Foin stared at the muscular build of the creatures for a brief moment, then looked at what they were pulling. The carriages had one-one person acting as a coach. Just like the creatures, the dominant black colour was eminent, and the coach wore a similar black armour. As they breathed, it was easily noticeable in the cold weather.
The carriages were no different; they were all black-coloured and had no extra colour or design added to them other than a set of windows on both sides through which a dim light could be seen.
Seeing the strangely large visit, Foin felt his heart pounding in his throat, but he quickly shook his head. After all, this was his fault for inviting Linyer back; he needed to deal with this himself.
"Perfect Breathing!"
Foin mumbled; he soon noticed the skill effect as he calmed down, just like before. He remained standing not far from his entrance just in case something happened, but he patiently waited for the visitors to get to him; he was waiting with a grin on his face.
Vol 3 Chapter 9: The Snowy Top part 2
The creatures pulling the carriages got to Foin''s area and then finally came to a halt. The coaches looked down at Foin; at least they moved their heads down, as Foin couldn''t see their eyes, and then they instantly looked back at the creatures pulling the carriages. After a brief moment and a seemingly deep breath, which was easily visible due to the cold weather, one of them jumped off.
That individual completely ignored Foin, walked over to the side of the carriage where the window was located, and knocked on it. The carriage was so well-made that Foin didn''t even realise that the glass belonged to a door, and he only noticed it when the door itself was opened.
Through the door, Linyer stepped out. She was dressed in fine-looking fur. It was quite thick, so Foin figured that she was wearing multiple extra layers under it. Then he looked at his own attire and smiled; though he wore nothing but light autumn wear along with a thin layer of plastic, he was comfortable.
As soon as Linyer stepped out and closed the door behind her, she noticed Foin standing not far from the first carriage. She instantly rushed over to him while the coach bowed. And unlike before, she seemed worried, looking at Foin''s flimsy set of clothes.
"Oh, Foin... Why are you out here in this unbearable cold wearing such things?! What if you catch a cold?"
Linyer said as she rushed over to Foin, who was dumbfounded. The way her attitude changed so drastically was something he didn''t expect. Her current presence was almost as if she was a completely different person.
"This is a new set of clothes, it is quite a great insulator, so I feel no cold at all... But... Why did you come with such high-class style?"
"Oh, don''t worry about that, Foin; I just brought some spices and a few extra things... Also... I am grateful for your precious gift.... my mother would very much like to meet you to thank you properly... Also... I came to apologise for the previous incident!"
The girl said with a smile.
"Precious gift? Was that beverage that tasteful? That was my first attempt, though..."
Foin thought as Linyer stepped closer to him, causing him to step back. He didn''t quite like that his personal space was just invaded, so he stared back into the girl''s eyes.
"I see, but your mother needn''t worry about me; after all, we had a fair transaction!"
Foin replied with a bright and friendly grin. As he knew that he did that only to try and complete his quest, he had no extra or other intention with it.
However, that grin sent a different message to Linyer. She felt that Foin was not convinced of her sincerity and had set some grudge against her. As she inhaled deeply, she snapped her fingers.
At that moment, both coaches stepped to the other, untouched carriage and opened its door. Inside, Foin could see many different items: two large pure white objects that looked as if they were made of chalk and a few larger pelts that were wrapped around something.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
"Please reconsider, Foin... We have brought you some of our finest meats as well as some pelts since I noticed you didn''t have many... As well as two larger blocks of salts... Also, this trip would end quickly... I could just teleport the two of us and be back within a few hours at most."
The girl said desperately with a slightly shaking voice. She knew she couldn''t screw up. Otherwise, she would be severely punished by Aier, and she couldn''t just use force as Foin was the only one whose power he was unable to comprehend, but she was certain that he was formidable if ¨Śnilo was willing to follow him.
"I am sorry, but I can''t just teleport with you..."
Foin replied, but suddenly, another message popped up. As soon as he finished talking, it made him excited again.
"Notice! A new quest has been issued!"
"Tasks: Meet The Amethyst Martensitic Lady!"
Foin looked at the task blankly at first but then quickly blinked a few times; seeing how the text remained the same, he wanted to rub his eyes, but suddenly, Linyer grabbed both of his hands, bringing him back to reality.
"If you do not want to teleport... Although it will be much longer, we can take the carriage back home... Don''t worry; we will compensate you for your time!"
Foin wanted to instantly refuse. He even took a breath to speak, as his problem was not teleporting but the fact that he needed to leave his area, so his breath turned into a loud exhale.
"Do you know anyone by the name The Amethyst Martensitic Lady?"
"Hm... That doesn''t ring a bell, to be honest... But I am sure my mother could help you. She is quite well-versed in the world!"
"Fine... Give me a day to prepare... then I will go with you to meet your mother... if she knows who The Amethyst Martensitic Lady might be..."
"Thank you! Oh, and I almost forgot... Would you like us to leave the carriage here? I don''t think the blocks of slats will be able to fit down your entrance."
The girl replied with a smile. Foin sighed once again and looked at her and then the opened doors of the carriage. If what Linyer said was true, everything in the carriage was just basic material so he could test his theory.
"Hm... let me see..."
He added as he walked over to the carriage. The two coaches still stood by the door, and as they noticed Foin approaching, they gave off a growling sound, almost as if they were wolves or dogs protecting their territory. However, at that moment, Linyer snapped her fingers.
Both coaches bowed slightly and stepped away.
"Sorry about that... they are quite territorial..."
Linyer explained, but Foin was not listening; he was looking into the carriage.
It was made of high-quality materials. The inside of the cart gave him the feeling as if it was taken straight out of a medieval age, as if the cart itself belonged to a wealthy, high-class nobleman or lord. The seats were dark purple, and everything else was coloured red.
On the seats, he could see the meats wrapped around in pelts. Each was massive, almost the size of Foin''s chest, and there were dozens stacked on one another. In the centre, there were two massive salt blocks.
Foin opened his inventory and pushed it across the entire cart. As he could see it travel across the cart, the items in it all vanished, which put a smile on his face. As he looked at his inventory, he noticed that three new items appeared, which meant that there was only one type of meat and one type of pelts.
The test also confirmed his suspicion that only basic materials were recognised by the system. Should an item be complex or made of multiple basic materials, he would need to record them.
From Linyer''s perspective, the items only vanished, and she could see Foin''s smile. The fact that the items that she needed a second cart for were so easily either stored or teleported by Foin sent a chill run down her spine.
"If your offer still stands, I will come back tomorrow morning... well, the morning when I wake up, and we can depart. In the meantime, you should eat some... it is on me!"
Foin said with a wide grin, and from his inventory, he took out a pile of pepper and dropped them onto the seat of the cart, and then walked away, leaving Linyer amazed.
Vol 3 Chapter 10: The Snowy Top part 3
Foin swiftly walked down to his underground base with a grin on his face. Down, ¨Śnilo and Gobu waited for him with concern in their eyes.
"We have some salt meat and some extra pelts... also, this new suit works wonderfully! I didn''t feel cold at all outside. Also... It seems I will have to leave for some time..."
Foin said as he realised how recklessly he had just agreed to go with Linyer. All he was focused on was the quest from which he had hoped to gain some sort of important new thing, a skill, an upgrade, a seed, or something he had never got before.
"Wait, what? Master? I am going with you!"
¨Śnilo responded instantly and glared into his eyes. Her glare was something Foin had never encountered before, causing him to sigh.
"Fine... but someone needs to stay here... and since the ant and the dragon seem to be sleeping Gobu, you will need to stay here to keep things maintained."
As Foin said, ¨Śnilo glared back at Gobu, who was not expecting such a task, but she dared not refuse due to ¨Śnilo''s grin. She knew better than to go against her.
"I... I see... I will do my best to keep things maintained in that case!"
"You two should take a bath together again while I am using the fire here. Last time, you two seemed to have enjoyed bathing together."
Foin said with a chuckle. His words made Gobu turn white; despite her distinct green colour, she still got more water than usual. ¨Śnilo only grinned as she kept gazing into the goblin''s eyes.
Since Foin was still wearing his new clothes, he grabbed a large piece of burning wood and brought it to the bathroom to heat the water up, and then put another one next to it.
But then he instantly walked into the storage. He wanted to be as prepared as possible; he wanted to take the sword with him. But first, he needed to make a scabbard to make it easier to be carried around.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
So he opened up a peteach to make a basic scabbard around the sword. In the meanwhile, the girls had entered the bathroom, and were waiting for the water to heat up. Foin wanted to bathe as well, but he knew that it was better to let them have some fun and relax before him.
In a short span of time, he managed to make some simple scabbards, which covered the whole blade, and after lifting it up, Foin realised that it was capable of preventing the blade from slipping out, as he could just slightly lift the weapon up along with its sheath. He was thinking of adding something to the blade so that he could attach it to either his back or to his side, but then he gave up on that idea.
It was better to just hold it; at least with its new scabbard, it would not cut things, especially if he was riding a carriage.
"What the hell even is that quest?"
Foin mumbled as he once again looked at the task. And then he stood up. He quickly brought a few items out to the campfire: a few plates and the largest free pot he could find.
He thought that now that he had salt and meat, he might as well try to make some sort of soup. Since he still had his high insulation cloths, he put the pot straight into the fire and then added some water to it.
From his inventory, he pulled out a single meat and put it onto a plate. Seeing the size difference and the fact that cutting it would be quite difficult, he quickly made a few much larger plates and a board that he could use for cutting.
Although everything was made of peteach, they were perfect for him. He quickly put the massive chunk of meat onto the cutting board and started slicing a larger chunk off. He then proceeded to cut it into many, much smaller pieces. The tiny meat cubes were all dropped into the pot.
Since he had no sharp tools other than the sword, he used them to cut the meat. He was quite clumsy with it but managed to make do with it. He cut the rest of the large chunk of meat into many relatively larger chunks and then, using a few sticks planted into the ground, started roasting them.
"I am not a great cook... I hope I will not screw this up..."
Foin mumbled as he took out a few potatoes, and using his blunt peteach knife, he started pulling its skin off. He peeled a large number of potatoes, and then, using the knife, he tried cutting them into smaller pieces. Although he wasted a lot, he managed to cut even with the dull blade.
The next step was taking out one of the large chunks of salt, and with the help of a spoon and a cup, Foin started chiselling off some salt. To prevent the block of salt from absorbing too much moister, once he had some usable amount of salt, he instantly put the block back into his inventory.
He didn''t even realise how accustomed he was to the usage of the inventory or living in this new world in general. The way he moved around and looked at things showed that he had already got mostly used to living there. He no longer really thought of his past world. The thought of finding a way back home didn''t even cross his mind at all.
"Phew... I can''t wait to eat something proper... I am so lucky that Linyer brought some meat..."
Foin mumbled as he sat by the pot and watched as it was boiling. He put a pinch of salt into it and then looked at the meats which were being roasted around the fire. He slightly turned them around so that the meat was evenly roasted.
He just kept looking and carefully moving the meats or stirring the soup for many long minutes. Eventually, he decided it was time to put the potatoes and peppers in.
Vol 3 Chapter 11: The Snowy Top part 4
Foin was finally able to cook something. Although he knew that his cooking skills were not the best, he could eat anything other than vegetables. Although he did eat some meat recently, the amount was not nearly enough to be used for a pot of soup.
By the time the girls finished their long bathing, the soup had long been finished, and Foin had already put the pot away from the fire to let it cool down. He had already prepared a few plates and spoons around it.
"Master, this bath is so great!"
¨Śnilo said as soon as she and Gobu left the bathroom. At first, they only looked at Foin, who was sitting on his bed looking at the ground, but then they noticed the pot of food.
"Oh, I am glad you enjoyed it! In the meantime, I have prepared something new. Though I am not an expert cook, I used some of the meat given by Linyer, so I hope it will be tasty. By the way, just to save on the wood, I will go and take a bath while the water is still hot. In the meantime, you two should try the soup!"
Foin added with a smile as he stepped into the bathroom and put the plate to cover the door. He looked at the still, slightly burning piece of wood heating the wood and then quickly undressed and stepped into the bathtub. His eyes widened as soon as his feet touched the hot water; it was much hotter than he had expected.
Eventually, he got in and leaned against its side, staring ahead of himself. He glanced at the plants in the room. As he closed his eyes, he started thinking about the plants he had. He had pepper, potato, ¨Ślion, peteach, huunt, and platic, a total of six plants, which he felt was extremely lacking. After all, his title was farmer, and he knew he would need to acquire many more different seeds.
The only thing which motivated him as he thought about meeting Linyer''s mother was the possibility of being able to get some sort of new seeds by trading or bartering. Also, that seemingly impossible quest he was given was a force that had a different effect. He felt that it was like finding a needle in a haystack, and it had a deteriorating effect on his mood and excitement.
"I guess I need to utilise the things and powers given by the system..."
Foin mumbled as he sighed and started slightly sweating from the hot water and air. He recalled that he gained points for planting and harvesting, and the only way he saw these points being used was by the inventory, which had just been upgraded.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
In addition, he had also accumulated ability points per level up, which he had yet to spend any of; he had been too focused on terraforming his area and working with his plants.
Foin soon submerged fully under the water to wet his now relatively longer hair as well, but he soon came out as the water was too hot for his head.
Minutes flew by quickly as he just enjoyed the smoothening effect of the hot water, and then he jumped out of the tub. With one swift motion, he moved his wet hair out of his face and slightly shook his head. With a grin on his face, he clenched his fists and sighed.
"Be prepared, The Amethyst Martensitic Lady; I am coming to meet you!"
He mumbled as he just stood on a pile of grass, letting water drip from his body down. He didn''t have anything to dry himself with, so he just waited a few minutes, and then put his clothes back on, and then left the bathroom.
Outside, the girls were eating on the ground. As soon as he stepped outside, although he was still wet, he decided to sit down beside them and grabbed a plate full of soup. The others were lost in the taste of the soup, so they only nodded as he sat down beside them.
At first, Foin took a single spoonful to taste it. In it, he purposefully grabbed a chunk of meat to give it a test. He was disappointed. He expected it to be rich in flavours, but it was nothing special; the only thing he found appealing was its texture, as it was soft and melted in his mouth.
"¨Śnilo, are you sure you want to come with me tomorrow?"
Foin spoke up after the first spoon of still-hot soup.
"Of course! I need to protect you! We don''t know what this Linyer girl is up to, so we can not be prepared enough!"
"Alright... Thank you! Gobu... Since you will be here overseeing the underground base... Just in case, let me tell you a few things! Don''t forget to keep this fire up always, as it would be difficult to light a new fire. If you are cold, don''t forget the boiler needs some time to heat up. Also, you can eat anything from the growing peteaches, peppers, and potatoes; don''t forget to plate the last two back."
Foin started talking, but then he paused as he lifted the plate up, took a quick sip from his soup, and then continued.
"If you eat peteaches, use the liquid to make some pots as we could use them; do not waste the liquid. Also, I made some extra food today so that you needn''t worry about harvesting for a few days... Hopefully!"
"Yes! I understand! Rest assured, I will do everything as you have said!"
The goblin replied. Foin nodded, and he once again started using his spoon to finish the soup.
The three of them soon finished eating, and since the plats were ready to be harvested, Foin knew what his next objective was. Unlike before, however, he did not put everything into his inventory; he put the peppers and potatoes into a pile in the bathroom and then instantly replaced them. He also put the peteaches into that pile, but then the platics and the huunts were all put into his inventory. The huunts and the two types of platics were rare and valuable enough for him to keep them safe with him.
Once the harvest was done, he quickly fetched his bag, the one which he had when he first arrived here and looked inside it. It still had the two plastic bottles, his lighter and his phone. He put the bag next to the sword and then stretched his back slightly.
"Tomorrow will be quite new... I am already nervous, so I will most likely not sleep well..."
Vol 3 Chapter 12: Crystals
Aier was walking down a staircase in her castle. Beside her walked her youngest and shortest daughter, Alnyer. The young girl was much shorter than her mother; if she stood on tiptoes, she was roughly as tall as Aier''s shoulders.
The girl had short, very dark blue hair, which slightly covered a portion of her eyes on the front side and touched her shoulders on the side. Her eyes had a similar colour to her hair but were a slightly darker shade of blue.
Another aspect of her character that was quite noticeable was that she wore heavy metal armour despite her tiny figure. She had a small blade attached to the back of her armour, almost as if it were a larger dagger, and she also had a larger but similar sword on her left side.
Despite the heavy armour weighing her down, she moved quietly and easily down the stairs. As the two of them went lower and lower, the light level stayed the same despite the fact that there were no torches or any light sources.
They walked for a few long minutes until they finally noticed that the stairs had stopped, and they had reached a much larger chamber underground. The room itself was much brighter than the staircase they walked down on; one might even say that the chamber was blinding.
In the massive underground chamber, there was a large and lengthy shaft that was slowly turning. At the bottom right on the ground, there was a large gear. It was quite old, cracked and was made of stone. Its diameter was roughly as big as Alnyer''s. Its thickness was also considerable.
There were four other much smaller gears which were connected to four sides of the larger gear. The smaller ones were in worse condition as some teeth were already missing on them, or a large portion of the teeth were missing. And the five cogs seemed to be moving in sync.
Each smaller gear had some sort of container on its top in which a larger-sized white crystal was placed; these were the sources of the blinding light. Each crystal was slightly thinner than a fist but was quite long. As they sat in the container, they themselves were floating and spinning at the same slow speed as the cogs under them.
Next to each smaller gear, there were two crates. Both were used to store crystals, but there were two types: the ones that still had a whiteish glow and the ones that had lost their glow or had been destroyed. In the unusable boxes, there were more broken pieces.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Under the cogs, drawn onto the ground, there was a massive circle drawn with many different symbols. The circle consisted of many sub-spheres with their own symbols and characters. The lines of the circles all glow with a silverish glow, while the characters have a slight purple glow.
Other than this strange mechanism, there was another staircase at the back of the room which led further down. This room was one of the most important locations in the entire castle, as it was the core of the protective barrier which prevented the cold weather from fully impacting the town.
The mechanism in the centre was used to power the immense formation around the town. As a result, there were many soldiers standing guard around the room. Each soldier was equipped with black armour from top to their legs; not even their eyes were visible. They each had a greatsword which they had in front of them and were slightly leaning onto it.
They seemed almost as if they were only statues. They stood so still, but as soon as Aier arrived in the room, they all bowed simultaneously. She only waved her hand, and the soldiers instantly stood back up properly and fixated their gazes on the five large gears.
Aier and Alnyer walked over to the crystals. They hadn''t spoken a single word for many long minutes, and Alnyer was acting more like a personal bodyguard than a daughter. She didn''t say anything, only followed Aier, and even in this well-secured room, she couldn''t help but look around and observe the knights.
"Alnyer... Soon we will have an important guest in the town! I want you and your well-trained unit to secure the roads as best as possible! It is essential to make a good impression and prevent anything bad from happening to this important guest!"
Aier declared. Unlike before, her tone was cold as ice, and she spoke slowly and articulated well. As she spoke, she looked at her daughter with only her eyes without moving her head to the side.
"Yes! I understand! I will do my best!"
The daughter replied almost instantly without any emotion. Just as she had finished her reply, the two of them arrived by the furthest crystal from the stairs from which they came. Aier opened the container with a sigh and grabbed a new crystal from the crate next to it. There were barely a dozen left in that crate.
With a swift motion, she pulled the crystal out as it started slightly staggering, inserted the new one as fast as she could, and then closed the container. Then, the removed crystal was dropped into the almost full crate of used crystals. As soon as it landed, it cracked and then shattered.
"If this keeps up, the formation will soon run out of power as we run out of crystals... Alnyer, what do you know about the new slaves who had been captured a few weeks before the great cold?"
"They have been instantly put to work, though it seems the male specimens would rather do more work than let their female specimens work! Also, due to the lack of food, their physical conditions had greatly deteriorated, and since they are new, they still lack the ability to properly mine or carve a crystal suitable for the formation!"
"I see; I permit the usage of more drastic measures to increase the crystal production, though do not kill them!"
Vol 3 Chapter 13: Carting
Much to Foin''s surprise, he slept quite well, and when he woke up, he was much more refreshed than he anticipated he would be; he even felt that he slightly slept in as ¨Śnilo and Gobu were already up by the time he did.
"Good morning..."
Foin mumbled as he scratched his eyes and looked around. ¨Śnilo was wearing the platic suit Foin had previously made. Since he didn''t quite measure her body, the suit itself proved to be a bit too big for the girl, but still, it was usable.
"Oh, good morning, master!"
"Morning..."
Foin replied as he rubbed his eyes. His bag and the sword had already been prepared beside his bed, but still, a great breakfast was the first on his to-do list. Since he had cooked a considerable amount the day before, he just grabbed an already roasted meat and heated it up, slightly further roasting it by the fire.
And after he ate, he quickly walked over to his peteach, huunt and platic plants and harvested their fruits. He stored them in his inventory just to be safe and then looked at Gobu and ¨Śnilo.
"I guess it is time... Shall we get going?"
"Certainly, master!"
¨Śnilo replied with a delighted grin. Gobu only nodded and looked back at the fireplace. By that time, the three of them all wore the special set of clothes made by Foin from platic.
"All right then... Gobu, don''t forget what I told you!"
Foin said as he grabbed his things and started climbing out.
"And protect the area!"
¨Śnilo added with a cold glare and then swiftly followed Foin.
"Phew, it is snowing even more than it did yesterday!"
Foin mumbled as he looked around. Although thanks to his clothes, he didn''t feel cold, where he was not covered around his face, he did feel the chilly temperature. The snow was considerable. However, Foin believed that the reason he could move easily was due to his somewhat higher level and, as a result, high strength.
He noticed that Linyer was sitting by a small fire and was grilling some of the products Foin had given her previously. The girl was camping not far from where Foin had chopped the trees before the winter.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Due to the fire, a large amount of snow had melted in the area, making it easy to notice the great number of leaves left on the ground, which were still as green as brand-new ones.
On the other side of Foin''s area, where the two carriages had stopped previously, only one remained, and on it sat a knight in black armour, almost as if they were not one bit bothered by the cold weather and snow. The knight was mostly covered by snow. The only reason they were still visible was that they slightly moved from time to time, brushing off some of the snow that had piled up on the armour.
As soon as Foin set foot, the knight shook their head and looked at him. Just at that moment, Linyer also noticed him and stood up. Though she was surprised as she noticed ¨Śnilo floating beside her master, she had no desire to complain. Instead, she quickly ate the half-cooked peppers in a jiffy.
"Oh, Foin! I thought you would be ready a bit later... You are quite early."
"Sorry about that... I don''t quite feel the flow of time underground. I just slept, ate, and got ready."
Foin replied as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. In the meantime, Linyer quickly grabbed some snow and dropped it onto the fire. She repeated it a couple of times until it was finally extinguished.
"Phew... So, are you ready to go?"
"Of course!"
As soon as the girl heard Foin''s reply, she smiled and walked over to the cart. She snapped her fingers after she opened the door to let Foin and ¨Śnilo step inside first. The coach instantly shook her body, removing most of the snow covering their armour, and nodded. As soon as Linyer closed the door behind her, the cart started moving.
Unlike how Foin expected, the start was so smooth that he didn''t even notice that they were moving until he looked out the window. The seats were quite soft and smooth; it was pleasant to sit on, but the interior, just as he had expected, was roughly just as cold as it was outside, and their breath was quite well visible.
At first, ¨Śnilo was standing on the seat next to Foin, but as soon as he had positioned himself and leaned back against the soft backside, ¨Śnilo decided to sit on his lap. With a smile, she sat down on one of Foin''s thighs and leaned against her stomach.
Seeing it, Foin only chuckled and gently patted the girl''s head, who couldn''t help but smile at the nice sensation. In the meantime, Linyer sat on the opposite side of the cart, in front of Foin. She looked nervous, lightly fidgeting with her fingers on her lap and staring at the ground.
"Erm... Foin, would you like me to warm the cart up a bit slightly? Although you seem to be wearing the suit you talked about yesterday... the journey will be a few days long..."
"Sure, I don''t mind. At least we can relax a bit more."
Foin replied, however, that he was not motivated by the fact that it was cold. Instead, he was motivated by pure curiosity. He couldn''t imagine how she would make the cart warmer. At first, he thought that since this was another world, maybe he was using some sort of magic.
His imagination was riding all across his mind. The girl pulled a leather pouch from her warm cloth and opened it. It seemed quite small; its volume could be roughly twice his closed fist, but the girl put her hand in it and started pushing it deeper. Almost her entire arm sank into that tiny pouch until the girl finally pulled her hand out, holding a fist-sized dark red crystal.
"It is a freshly mined... You could say heat crystal... "
The girl replied, seeing Foin''s intense gaze on her fist, which held the crystal.
Vol 3 Chapter 14: Carting part 2
Linyer quickly placed the crystal beside her; then she slightly shook her hand and even blew some cold air at it.
"It seems you two have a bit larger storage than it seems."
Foin spoke up after a few long seconds as his gaze shifted from the crystal to Linyer''s eyes. He deliberately tried to give a brave expression because he had a feeling that maybe his inventory skill was not that common. And it was easier to just gather information regarding that small pouch.
"Yes... It was a gift from my mother... This pouch has a powerful magic imbue that helps me carry more items around. I am still a long way from reaching this level, though..."
The girl replied with a light chuckle at the end, which sounded more nervous than cheerful. It seemed that both Linyer and Foin were quite nervous. Foin was nervous because he had to move to an unknown land and territory without any prior knowledge due to his reckless and quick decision-making.
Linyer was agitated due to pressure from her mother. She had a serious responsibility, not only escorting Foin to her mother but also trying to repay his kindness. As she was unaware of the human being''s true power and capabilities, she needed to act carefully.
"I was thinking... Linyer, if you don''t mind... I am quite new in the area... Seeing how I have met an ant, a dragon and a goblin... How many humans live around here?"
Foin asked after a few minutes of silence. He was looking out the window and staring at the snow-covered forest. As far as he could see, there were trees with massive snow toppings. It seemed as if the leaves stayed on the trees entirely, and they now held the snow together as a large blob.
"Well... On this continent... Humans..."
The girl stuttered, not knowing how to respond. She knew that on the continent, every human being whom they knew about was subjugated and was no more than a slave; however, knowing that Foin was also human, she didn''t quite feel like saying that out loud. Instead, she came up with a diversion.
"Well, I don''t really see them often. But I do know that there is another continent populated mostly by humans, though we don''t have a good relationship with them."
"You don''t often see THEM hm..."
Foin mumbled, understanding that the girl sitting before him, despite looking human-like, was not human at all. It gave him the impression that maybe the location they were travelling to was filled with new beings unknown to him.
This both made him slightly excited and nervous as well. Although Linyer in front of him didn''t seem that evil, his feelings were greatly influenced by the fantasy stories he had read. In those, humans and most other races were almost in some sort of conflict against each other.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
As he was lost in thoughts, he once again rubbed ¨Śnilo''s head gently and then sighed as he finally looked back at Linyer''s crystal. He noticed that the cart seemed to have gotten slightly warmer as his face was no longer that cold.
"Foin... Can I ask what someone of your status and power usually does? I am quite curious, to be honest."
The girl asked as she looked into Foin''s eyes at first. Then, her gaze slowly shifted down to ¨Śnilo, who was silently sitting on Foin''s thigh and enjoying his gentle massage with a broad smile. However, as soon as Linyer looked at her, she glared back at her.
"Someone of my status and power? Do you mean an average human? Well, I am just a farmer. I enjoy tending to my garden and increasing the number of plants I can grow... As well as slowly building out my area during my leisure time."
Foin replied with a sigh. He slowly leaned completely against the back of the cart and put his hands beside him, making ¨Śnilo pout after he had removed his hand from her head.
"Oh, I see... Well, On our way, we will need to stop by a town, so if you are interested, we could go look around; perhaps someone still has some seeds to sell..."
Linyer replied with a slightly forced smile. She tried to appeal to Foin. However, she could just say that they only ate meat due to her mother''s strange and quite stupid order. She wasn''t even sure that any sane person would even have seeds, as it has been quite some time since this new plan was issued.
"That would be great! Thanks!"
Foin spoke up with great enthusiasm; however, suddenly, something unbelievable transpired before his eyes.
"You have gained 1 Experience Point and 1 Point."
"You have gained 1 Experience Point and 1 Point."
"You have gained 1 Experience Point and 1 Point."
At first, three notifications appeared, but as soon as they faded, dozens, if not hundreds, of notifications popped up stating the exact same thing as the first three. Such a large number appeared that the usually transparent panels completely blocked his vision. He could just barely see Liyner''s form in front of him.
The dense layer of windows slowly started disappearing. Foin was so stunned that he could only blink rapidly, and then he even rubbed his eyes. Eventually he ended his stunned stat by shaking his head.
"Congratulations! You have levelled up. Required Experience Points increased! All Stats have increased by 1! Ability Points increased by 1!"
Another well-known text popped up in front of him. It was unexpected, to say the least. He didn''t harvest anything, and he had already confirmed that he was only given Experience Points and Points when either he or ¨Śnilo harvested a product.
Since both he and ¨Śnilo stayed together and did not harvest or do anything at all that could have caused something like the previous tsunami of panels, he was puzzled.
Even if Gobu''s harvests were counted, that couldn''t cause such a number to appear. Also, she could not harvest this many times to achieve this number.
"What could have happened? Also, it was only one Point. I will need to dig into this once I get back home... Not that I am complaining!"
Foin thought to himself, and in the end, he even smiled.
Vol 3 Chapter 15: Carting part 3
Linyer looked at Foin as he suddenly rubbed his eyes. She believed that he was still slightly tired, so she leaned back, just like Foin, and stared out the window.
Foin, however, was quite curious. Now that he had levelled up once again after that strange phenomenon, he opened his status window, which he had not seen in quite some time. He remembered that during the last few weeks before the winter, he went all out preparing, so when he finally looked at his stats, he was not that surprised.
His level was 9. The number of Experience Points he needed to level up was 2563, from which he only had 5. The points under it showed that he, at that time, had 7394. Such a large number he did not expect would show up, but then again, the required Experience Points were not small either.
Going further down, his stats were all at 9, just as he had expected, and in total, he also had 9 ability points. He started to grasp what they were used for. He probably wanted to increase the stats further, though he did not want to spend them yet.
His stats were Strength, Endurance, Agility, Charisma, and Luck, which, although at the beginning, didn''t make much difference, now made a considerable difference, with them being higher.
He felt that his physical strength had greatly improved, as he could chop and cut trees quite easily, and his stamina was much better than before. Although he didn''t quite notice the difference with the other two, those were not exactly easy to use.
However, there was something missing. He felt like his creativity increased somewhat with each level up. He would not have been able to come up with the idea of the boiler that easily if it was not for the help of the system; at least, that is what he felt.
On his panel, going once again lower were his skills, which grew in number. Pepper was at level 4 with 305/506 Experience Points; Potato was at level 5 with 65/759 Experience Points. Seeing how they didn''t change much, he instantly jumped to his appraiser, which was still at level 2 and didn''t have an Experience Points counter next to it, just like his other skill, Inventory, which was at level 2 without any extra detail. Even Cutting Edge with level 1 was no exception.
Foin closed his panel and then sighed. He was quite curious how he could increase the level of his skills if that was even possible. The fact that the previous quest rewarded him by upgrading his inventory meant that there was a chance, but at the same time, there was still the fact that he wanted to acquire new skills as well.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
In the meantime, Gobu started getting active as well. The first thing she did was start the fire under the boiler and in the bath. She brought some pieces of wood from the storage; she even put some smaller ones on the fires.
Since Foin didn''t harvest the potatoes and peppers, Gobu figured that she would do that while the boiler and the water were heating up. Just as she had observed, as soon as she had gathered the products, she plated back the potatoes and broke a few peppers to replace them as well.
And once she was done with that, she just prepared to get into the water. She slowly climbed on the thumb and sat down on her own level. She was so small that the water reached the level of her jaw. The water was still quite cold, but since she had nothing better to do, she just enjoyed the slowly warming water as she leaned back, against the side of the bathtub.
"Bathing is the best... Especially when I am alone, ¨Śnilo will not tickle me this time... Sometimes, I feel as if she was just a child..."
Gobu mumbled as she rubbed her arm in the warm water. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The great and relaxing feeling caused by the ¨Ślion flower mixed in the water; although its strength had already decreased over the past week, she was still feeling it.
She slowly gave in to the smoothening feeling of the warming bath, and as she closed her eyes, she zoned out, almost falling asleep. She spent at least an hour in that zoned-out state without doing anything. But then she finally opened her eyes and jumped out of the bathtub.
"Oh, damn... It was so great bathing alone that I almost forgot about the fire!"
She mumbled as she hurriedly left the bathroom and looked at the still-burning fire in the centre of the main room. She quickly grabbed a larger piece of wood and a few smaller roots. She immediately dropped the roots on the fire and waited patiently for them to start burning.
She was in such a hurry that she had forgotten to put on anything, and water was still dripping off her body, especially her hair. However, she was not bothered by that as she was so focused on keeping the fire burning. On top of that, she knew she was alone.
Once the roots had been properly ignited, she dropped the larger piece of wood right in the middle of it and then returned to the bathing area. Her feet were covered with mud, but it washed away as soon as she once again sat back into the warm bath.
On Gobu''s side, time flew by quickly. Since she had nothing to do, she only harvested the plants she was left to tend to, and she also replanted the basic ones she could. Fortunately, food was not a problem, as the plants produced more than enough food for her to eat.
As days went by, she noticed something; it was that the plants she replanted, the peppers and the potatoes, seemed to have slowed down in their growth. Their product was not as large and as densely packed with energy and flavour, but still, it was great.
Vol 3 Chapter 16: Majnor
The great winter had just begun in Aier''s territory, but there was a land where, during this cold event, there was scorching heat. This unique and incredibly hot area was at the edge of the continent, in the territory of Majnor.
The edge of the continent where he was currently residing was an elevated cliff. It was a dozen meters higher than the level of the sea. The cliff was mostly made of a stony, rocky area, but there were some patches of vegetation. They used to be green in the colder weather, but in this heat, these spots were all dried and had turned yellow. Probably the only thing keeping them still alive was the humidity in the air from the water.
As far as the eye could see, it was barren. Nothing could cast a usable shadow other than man-made objects, such as houses made of mostly stones and mud. Even these structures were in the distance. The largest structure behind the row of houses was a massive tower, similar to Aier''s tower. It was just as tall, if not taller, and protected a large line of houses from the scorching heat.
Sitting at the top, one would be able to use the tower as a massive sun clock. The structure of the city was slightly different to Aiers, as this one had no walls, but other than the tower, it also had a barrier around it whose purpose was to protect the town from the heat.
The design of the top of the castle was also different. The top was quite flat, as Majnor occasionally used that to sunbathe, just like that one morning. He was just laying on a large piece of fine textile. He had his eyes closed as he enjoyed the heat. In the meantime, two young maids were holding large fans next to him and doing their best to blow cool air at him.
The maid''s appearance was half human, half wolf. They had fluffy ears and tails, as well as sharp claws. They wore a set of swimsuits to be able to endure the heat. Still, they were sweating; they were pushing their bodies to their absolute limit and could barely wait for the next pair of maids to take a break from their work.
Suddenly, Majnor opened his eyes, sat up, slightly stretched his arms, and then looked back over his shoulders at the maids. His gaze was cold, almost dissatisfied. The maids started trembling, feeling his gaze.
"Felrien... I hope you have brought back great news; I have been quite bored over the past few days. Not even sunbathing could alleviate my boredom! You two leave; come back in about half an hour!"
Majnor declared and moved his hand dismissively. The maidens nodded and performed a small bow before they used the hatch to leave the top of the tower. And as they were climbing down, a small fairy-like creature flew past them and stopped beside Majnor. She looked just like Aier''s loyal follower, Felfey.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Lord Majnor, that is correct! I have brought to you quite pleasant news. It is regarding that certain area... It seems Aier''s daughter, Linyer, had been there and transported a human slave and a plant person away from that location."
Felrien explained as she started hovering behind Majnor, who, upon hearing the news, jumped up and, in that same motion, turned around. He glared at the girl who was floating in front of his chest, and then a slow grin crawled up on his face.
"They kept a worthless slave in that blessed area? Those idiots! What were they thinking when they let a feral human taint that land?"
Majnor said, his usual demeanour had completely changed. He spoke slowly and articulated well, which stressed just how angry he was. But deep down, he was happy as well, now that he knew he had the means and the will to straight up take that land back by force.
"Lord Majnor... We have been observing the area since the cold weather hit them... And we only ever saw three entities in that location. The last one is just a mere goblin."
Upon hearing those words, Majnor''s expression once again changed. His face was full of disgust, but he quickly shook his head and regained his composure.
"It seems they are wasting that land by letting these maggots set foot on it! But fine! If they think a simple goblin could stop us, then we will oblige! Send the nearest goblin village''s forces there!"
"But sire! That would be..."
"Do as I said! Aier''s hands are full with the cold and lack of food due to his idiotic meat policy! We have the means to utilise that land; they do not! That is enough of a cause to invade! Now Go!"
Majnor demanded as he lay back down and closed his eyes. He didn''t care about anything; he just wanted to get the land back as fast as possible.
"Before you decide on a rash plan, please take a look at this!"
Felrien spoke once again up, and as she snapped her fingers, a dark fruit appeared on the ground. She slowly descended next to it and looked at Majnor, who once again sat up and looked at her and then at the fruit.
"This fruit grew on one of the trees in that area... Its outer layer is edible, but it has some strange liquid that is inedible, based on our research. If you send in a force to invade that land, the tree might get damaged... And I believe that tree might be incredibly valuable."
Majnor glared at the fruit and then picked it up. It was a "Peteach" from Foin''s tree, which was still blooming even in the cold weather.
"Is that true? This fruit does seem to possess a considerable amount of energy... Either way, it is one more reason why we must hurry and size that land! My order still stands: send the nearest goblin village, but order them to be careful not to damage any trees or plants!"
Majnor ordered, and he laid back down for the third time. But right before he closed his eyes, he spoke up again.
"Once you are done with that, inform Visgon! He needs to know this new valuable piece of information! If we utilise this fruit well, we might be able to defeat Aier once and for all!"
Vol 3 Chapter 17: The Journey
Three days had passed since Foin had departed. The three people in the cart had different feelings throughout these three days.
Linyer was somewhat nervous as she was thinking about how she could curry favour with Foin and gather seeds for him; also, she was debating whether there would be any left in the nearest town; that was the only thing she could think of.
¨Śnilo was enjoying the ride as she could sit on Foin''s thighs. She behaved like a pet, seeking his attention, though even while she was being prepared, she kept her guard up. Despite travelling for three days with Linyer, she did not trust her one bit.
Foin, on the other hand, was bored. He was not used to such long trips. No matter how soft and comfortable the seats were since they did not stop at all, he felt uncomfortable being in one place and sleeping in that same position as well. But fortunately, on the dawn of the fourth day, they finally reached the nearest town.
"Foin, we will need to stay here for some time, but in the meantime, I promise to take a look around; maybe I will find some seeds for you! I will have the coach as your bodyguard while we stay here. I promise it will be only for a short while!"
Linyer said as the cart finally stopped. Her new goal was to inform her mother as fast as possible so that she would be informed about their current situation. As a result, She quickly opened the door and jumped out, letting the cold wind tickle Foin''s nose once again.
"Please don''t wander too far from the cart; I will try to be as quick as possible."
Linyer added as she left with haste. She walked all the way to the front of the cart, where she said something that Foin couldn''t hear. Then, she proceeded to jog away. In the meantime, Foin slightly stretched his arms and legs and finally looked out the opened door.
Despite the previously somewhat warm inside, the window had a considerable layer of ice on it, so it was difficult to see out the window, but now that the door was open, he was finally able to take a look at the town.
They had stopped on the side of a road, finely made using smaller pieces of rocks which provided a smooth surface. Despite the heavy snow, the area that he could see was clean; only a thin layer of snow was on the ground, which had just recently accumulated.
Through the door, he could also see a large wall mostly made of stone and presumably some mud as a covering. From inside the carriage, Foin could only see a small portion of the wall, so he decided to step outside. As soon as he was outside, he noticed that the coach stood right next to him; however, he was not looking at him; instead, he was facing the wall.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
The streets were filled with people. Some were just walking, but most were actually working. Some were sweeping the snow, some used shovels, and some used barrows to transport it away. Those who were removing the snow from the streets all wore thick clothes to keep themselves warm even in this cold.
Those who were focusing on pulling the barrows were something else. As soon as Foin looked at them, he was surprised. They were not wearing any clothes at all; from his perspective, they seemed like stone golems or statues. Only a few of them seemed human-like; some were massive, and some were just simply tiny.
"Master! We are so lucky that you thought of going underground! We don''t have to worry about removing the snow."
¨Śnilo said as she flew right next to Foin and slowly landed on his shoulders.
"Well, that is true, but still, I think we will have some extra work to do once the snow melts."
Foin replied as he stepped away from the cart and looked around. The town seemed like a massive industrial area. Each and every house had a chimney and was emitting a considerable amount of smoke. Seeing the seemingly not-that-special houses, Foin stepped back into the carriage and half lay down on one side of the seat. He put his bag and sword on the other seat to make space on his side.
He was in a seemingly interesting new area, a new town with species he most likely never imagined, yet he decided to stay in the cart. For some reason, he felt that was the right thing to do; something within him dictated that it would be better to stay put rather than explore.
What Linyer had said rang in his heart. Humans are not that common; what if he encountered people who didn''t speak the same language as him? After all, he remembered the reaction of the coach when he first approached the carriage; they growled instead of saying anything. These worries overpowered his curiosity and made him stay completely put.
"It snows quite a bit... I wonder how much it will affect the river."
Just as he said, something new, a development, or an idea of new food hit him, and at the same time, he further experimented with his inventory. Although he only has a single fruit and a flower which could be used for flowers, storing some snow in his inventory and then using it for ice cream didn''t seem that bad of an idea.
With a grin on his face, he looked behind, right over his shoulder, while still occupying one side of the carriage and looking at the snow-covered ground. As he looked behind, he noticed that ¨Śnilo was sitting atop the opened door and was smiling at him.
With a flick of his finger, he opened his inventory and, at the same time, sent it towards the snow on the ground. And just like before, a panel popped up before his eyes.
"Notice! Uncategorised item! Would you like to add a new item? Adding a new item will cost 100 points. Yes/No"
Without hesitation, he tapped on "Yes", and then the second panel popped up, which was shortly followed by another one, and then finally a last, fourth one.
"Notice! The item is being analysed!"
"Notice! Analysis completed! Item made of the following materials: Water."
"Please give a name to the item!"
Once the keyboard opened up, he typed in a very simple and straightforward "Snow" for the title. As soon as the panel had vanished, he proceeded to gather the snow in the close vicinity without sitting up from his position.
Vol 3 Chapter 18: The Journey part 2
Foin had gathered the snow he could reach from his position, and then he sighed. Finally, he once again stood up and stepped out of the carriage. He took a deep breath, inhaling the freezing air, and then looked at ¨Śnilo.
"Hm... I have a feeling now that I have spent more time here that it has gotten even colder."
Foin thought as he scratched his nose in the cold. He stayed in the cart for a few more minutes but eventually got out again. He was bored, and unlike at home, he could do nothing other than wait.
As he was outside, he once again looked around. The people around him kept working on cleaning the streets. However, he noticed they didn''t approach the area around the cart. It was clearly visible, as there were no footsteps in the snow, and the level just increased. The coach was once again sitting at the front of the cart and was almost too still.
Foin slightly grinned, and just like previously, he started collecting the snow using his inventory. Every once in a while, he pulled back his inventory just to see how much snow he had collected. The number just barely increased every time he chopped out a line of snow. However, it was not something new to him. The same happened with dirt and water. As he kept collecting snow, he finally realised why the number was increasing so slowly.
He believed the reason was that since it was hard to gasp, his inventory used cubic meters or something of similar value and size. That would explain why he stored so much dirt and water, yet his number barely increased. As he had finished collecting the snow, he looked around once again.
Although a few people were looking at him, the moment he looked back at them, they all turned away and continued working as if trying to avoid eye contact with him.
"Maybe they didn''t see anyone collecting shows like this?"
Foin muttered under his breath as he shifted his gaze at ¨Śnilo, who was staring into the distance. Out of curiosity, Foin looked at the same and noticed that Linyer was slowly walking back towards the cart in the heavy snow. Finally, after noticing, Liyner sat back into the cart. He was happy that she was finally back. He wanted to finish his quest as soon as possible.
¨Śnilo Followed Foin as well and landed beside him on the seat. She slightly stretched her arms up above her head and then just stared at the door, waiting for Liyner to finally get in, which although took a few short minutes did happen.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"Sorry for the wait... It took a bit longer than I anticipated!"
Linyer said as she finally sat down and closed the door. Shortly after that, the cart finally started moving again. Foin nodded but did not reply; instead looked at the bag in Linyer''s hand.
"Oh, right... I don''t know if you will like it, but I managed to gather two different kinds of seeds. One of them is a herb with quite a unique scent... As for the other, I don''t know much about it."
The girl added as she extended her hand with the bag in it. As soon as Foin heard the great news, a smile crawled up onto his face. He quickly took the bag from the girl''s extended hand. Foin quickly put the sack into his bag, as he didn''t want to risk dropping the seeds.
Although he was curious about what the seeds looked like, he knew that he was not exactly well versed in seeds, and the fact that he was given a seed which was not present in his previous world was high.
"Also, due to the heavy snow, it seems the journey will be a bit longer than we anticipated."
Linyer said, and she quickly put the red crystal back onto the seat to once again warm up the cooled cart. Foin slowly leaned entirely back against the seat and, for a brief moment, stared at the roof.
"How much longer will it take for us to get to our destination?"
Foin spoke up in a bored tone. His voice was just barely whisper-level.
"I... It seems that it will take roughly four more days. In the worst-case scenario, it will take five more days. I have received information regarding the situation in the capital, though they might have slightly coloured out the situation."
This new piece of information was something Foin did not expect. Previously, he believed that they were going to just an average city or town at most, not the capital. Also, the fact that Linyer managed to receive information about the capital meant that there was some sort of device which allowed long-range communication.
Foin''s curiosity and even his interest were slightly enhanced, though he tried to keep calm and instead continued with another question.
"It felt as if it was much colder, and even if it snowed more than it did back at my home... Is it usual for the winter to get this devastating and harsh?"
"No, this is the worst winter we have ever had, and it is unfortunate that the centre of this terrible event is always the capital... You could say that the snow and cold you experienced at your base were nothing but mild compared to the capital... That is why it is quite difficult to get to the capital in the winter."
Linyer explained as she slightly shook her head and then looked Foin in the eye. Who, almost as if feeling her gaze, looked back into her eyes almost instantly. Though he was lost in thought, this strange weather just turned out to be far worse than he had imagined. For the time being, his current set of clothes was perfectly fine and protected him from the cold, but he was unsure how it would hold up against the cold at the capital.
"Alright... In the meantime, let us eat!"
Foin added after a brief moment while still gazing into Liyner''s eyes. From his inventory, he pulled out some peppers, and then they started eating.
Vol 3 Chapter 19: The Journey part 3
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Foin noticed the walls and protective barrier of the town. Foin just stared at the membrane, trying to understand it. He could clearly see that although it was snowing heavily, the snow just slid off of the barrier.
At first, he thought that it was some glass sphere around the walls, but once they got closer and passed through the barrier as if it were nothing, he finally realised that it was not exactly how he had imagined.
Unlike in the previous town they had visited, there was no snow on the roads, and only a few people were walking around the streets carrying large bags or sacks. Non looked in the direction of the cart, they all looked away, and even started moving faster as the carriage passed by them.
"Liyner, is this the destination town, right?"
Foin spoke up after a while without even looking at the girl. He was still looking out the window.
"Yes, though, we still have some time till we truly arrive since the capital is quite extensive, and we just got in."
The girl replied with a slight smile.
"Is there anything you''d like to know about the town? You seem to be looking out the window a lot."
Linyer added after a brief moment as Foin didn''t react at all. He was staring at the massive tower located in the centre of the town.
"Yeah... I noticed that the town has some sort of barrier around it; what other purpose does it have other than preventing snow from entering?"
"Well... It is quite an ancient mechanism, so I can''t tell you what it was previously used for, but its main purpose now is to keep the cold out, though, in its current state, it is barely functioning. Also, in case of an attack, it can be used to isolate the town."
"Interesting..."
Foin mumbled and wanted to say something else, but suddenly he forgot everything. He had a strange feeling now, which he had never felt before. He felt as if someone was glaring at him. He quickly looked around as fast as he could, but he didn''t see anything suspicious.
The only living being he could see was a seemingly elderly person. They were walking a great distance from the cart and were covered with many long furs. And they used a walking stick to move around.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
"Is something the matter, Master?"
¨Śnilo suddenly spoke up, dragging Foin back into reality. The tiny girl was sitting on Foin''s lap, just like before, and was looking up at Foin''s face.
"No, nothing; I just had a strange feeling."
Foin chuckled as he nervously scratched the back of his head. However, he was once again surprised as a new notification appeared before his eyes.
"Notice! The quest had been completed!"
"A reward will be issued shortly!"
Foin was left flabbergasted. He didn''t know how or why the quest was completed, as he didn''t meet anyone, and the closest person was still too far away. Then he remembered the strange feeling he had previously. He realised that maybe the person he was looking for had actually found him before he could.
Foin took a deep breath and then eagerly looked at the panel, which soon vanished. He was expecting to get his reward, but even after a few minutes, nothing happened.
"Did I just get scammed?! I spent this much time travelling here just to get nothing?! What the hell?!"
Foin thought to himself in anger, as he could not understand why he was not given anything at all. Eventually, Linyer opened the door, which finally made Foin calm down somewhat.
The cold air hit his face once again, but it was so dry this time that he quickly shook his head to make sure this was real. It seemed that the barrier prevented the snow from entering, but over time, the humidity in the town decreased greatly.
"We have arrived, Foin!"
Liyner said as she quickly jumped out and stretched her limbs after the long ride. ¨Śnilo quickly did the same, though she instead hovered in place. Foin was the last one to step out of the cart, since he also grabbed his bag and sword.
The outside was not what Foin was prepared to see. Since he was focused on his notification and was not looking out the window, he didn''t know where they stopped. He was expecting to be by the side of a larger stone building, but his assumption couldn''t be further from the truth.
Before Foin stood the largest building in the entire town, the central tower; only a few meters away from him was a staircase leading to a door of the caste. The stairs seemed to be covered by a robust dark purple coloured carpet.
By the stairs, a dozen well-armed knights stood still in lines on each side. They were standing so still that one could easily mistake them for statues, though since it was so cold that their breath was visible, Foin knew they were alive.
"So... Erm... You said your mother wanted to talk with me... Correct?"
"Yes, that is why we came here."
"Then why are we here by this massive building?"
Foin asked, looking around the area in disbelief.
"Well, the reason is simple. This is where we live. In the tower of the capital."
Linyer said as if it was nothing special. However, it only fuelled Foin''s nervousness. Then, with a smile on her face, Linyer stepped over to the stairs and waved at Foin invitingly. Foin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and finally followed the girl.
He didn''t know what to expect; all he could think of was just what kind of status Linyer''s mother could have. Based on his observation, the time of the world could be roughly around the feudal times. He didn''t quite know how to talk to people of high status; one thing he could think of was to shut it till he was questioned or asked.
As he set foot on the carpet, a new thought hit him. The possibility of him meeting a monarch or ruler was quite high due to the extravagant size and location of the house. As a last result, to calm himself, he activated one of his skills, which had helped him before. Perfect Breathing.