Chương 7: VII. Blood and Carrots

"What's wrong with it? Melissa made it for me," Adrian said.

"Ya look like you're gonna be huntin' a [Night-Thing] that wants to bite you with a gopher, boy," I said. He did. The overcoat was black and flowed down towards his legs. The trimming was gold and etched with symbols of Amaril; though, the circular design with triangles around it looked really out of place.

"Firsta all, why is you'se entire cloak weaved with Amaril around the hem. It looks like ya think there's multiple Amaril's up in the skies. They're called stars, ya dork!" Addy pulled on the cloak and fingered the hem.

"Missy said it was lookin' fancy."

"Aye? It looks FAR too much. The Old Guard had the singular sun at the center and a gold weave!"

"Ashy is right," Jasmine said, though she had stepped back." I mean, beggin' your pard–""Oh for the love of, it's just Addy, Jasmine," I said. I pushed my hands against his shoulders and turned him around.

"It's just too many colours! It ain' proper. Elora above, who designed this."

"... I did?" he said.

"... And Melissa made it?"

"... Yes?" I grit my teeth.

"You has brown on gold on metal with a red scarf! And it still don' match with anythin'! I thought she was a proper [Weaver]!"

"Um.. Lord Sk–" Jasmine began but turned to stare to me.

"I hatta return to work, now, an' uh…" He raised his hand up and waved her off. Jasmine grabbed the basket and hustled away. I did not let go of his shoulders."'Onestly, Addy. It's just three colors! Ya don' need six. Metal's shiny, leather's brown, and the trim just gotta be gold. If ya gonna be putin' red in there, an' wh–" Adrian slipped out of my grasp like a wet rabbit and raised his hand up to take a strand of my hair.

"The Hart and Skye kids always been matchin', Ashy. I has the red scarf and you got the red hair, and I got the –" I lifted up his stupid hat that had a PLUME on it. Plumes were stupid. But more importantly, his messy, hair was BROWN. I mean, I knew it was brown, but it was the same color as my handkerchief! Wait.

"BOY!" He cringed.

"Yes, Ashy?"

"Is that what you mean' when you said we matched?!"

"... Yes?" I stared into his brown eyes, and sighed.

"If ya is keepin' the red then, go with the Empyrean Sword insteada Amaril. And get rid of the –""I'll get a red feather for my plume instead of gold, how about that?"

"I mean – ""I'm keeping the plume, Ashy."

"Fine, fine, youse the one lookin' like an angry duck. But jus' 3 colors, not this hodgepodge of six. Do I needa yell at Meli–""Please don't," Adrian said, raising his hand to ward me off.

"I'll talk to Missy myself. Ya still able to sketch whatever you'se thinkin' about then?"

"As Amaril Flies above the sky." Adrian smiled and took his hat from my hands. I tried to hold on, but he was stronger than me. He looked at me again, and frowned.

"Not Level 2 yet, Ashy? And uh… nevermind."

"Nah." I scratched the back of my neck, and looked away.

"Needed common carrots, and Pa's… my… field's are mostly dead."

"So… you were going to the [Witch] to buy a potion to fix it?" I stared at him. He returned the stare.

"Right, Pa wouldn't like that," Adrian said.

"Then what were ya doin'?"

"Oh! Uh… I was going to get some new seeds and figure out how to fix the fields, but I met Jasmine at the fountain. Did'ja see there's a fence around Abernathy now? Why is there a fence?"

"Oh, Uh, one of the new guys got drunk at The Siren and pissed in it."

"He what?"

"Yeah, was sayin' he was blessin the water with his holy stream."

"Gross, tell me you at least decked him."

"Nah, cain't do that Ashy. Wasn't even me, was Seth. Oh he's a [Guard] now, so he's mad that I overtook him."

"Serves the clown right. Always slackin' off – " He took a breath and just cut me off.

"Sorry, Ms. Hart – I actually meant to ask, what were you doing in there? The [Witch] is likely selling illegal goods, so I have to ask – " Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Ah? Aye, Jasmine wanted to pick up these potions from her," I said, opening my backpack. I pulled out one of the potions, and showed him the [Oil of Slipperiness]. He leaned in and read the label.

"... This isn't even illegal. Was that all there was in the basement?"

"There was a poisoned apple, but she would–""Did you put another thing into your mouth?"

"No? She wouldn't let me smell it."

"Okay, so she does have one, but that's not really what I was worried about." He glanced downwards and scrapped the dirt path with his boots.

"Ah, nevermind. What are ya up to though?"

"Well, I'm hopin' to find a way to fix my fields and get more seeds? I don' really wanna go back to the [Farmer's Market] since they're gonna ask if I wan' Pa's contract."

"... Then don't? Auntie Laura sells [Manure] – you aren't trying to fix your entire fields are ya? And if you're just vendorin' and not selling it on the market, Marlowe or Laura can make it into silver for ya. And the collection agency doesn't charge to mint it from a [Farm Girl]." I exhaled.

"I don' want to visit everyone right now."

"I figured ya wouldn't – check your mailbox when ya get home." Adrian patted my shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"... I will pay you back, and for this backpack."

"Sure, Ashy. Take care now," Adrian said, and lifted that dumb red scarf up. I'd really have to design his outfit so he didn't look like a circus. The mailbox's flag was up. The brown package had a letter atop. Hey Ashy, Since I know you're going to go in circles for this: 5 Compost (Common) @ 1 Silver Each 5 Silver 2 Bags of Carrot Seeds @ 8 Silver 16 Silver 1 Bag of Potato Seeds @ 1 Gold 10 Silver 1 Bag of Lettuce Seeds @ 5 Silver 5 Silver 1 Bag of Tulip Seeds @ 3 Silver 3 Silver Total: 39 Silver PS.

You could also not pay me back. -Addy Not happening. But that many seeds! I was set for a while, even if the only two things I could grow at the moment were the carrots and tulips. Tulips didn't sell for much, but I had always given Adrian the orange ones since he liked them. I ripped two bags open, and the manure and dirt poured out. If I had my own animals this would be just fertilizer, but that was a future problem. My hoe was still split in half, and I had forgotten to visit the blacksmith.

I could do that the next time. I flicked my hand and the wooden hoe's head rose to the sky. I had dug out 27 tiles, which left the head beyond unusable. At this point I'd have to replace it… or just pick up those copper ones. That'd mean going into the mines for the ore as well, and I didn't have a weapon. I started to plant seeds. I needed nine [Common] carrots of both types, so I couldn't just grow all [Blood Crops]. And Tulips took awhile to go, but didn't sell for too much. Maybe an orange one would grow.

He would like that. I hummed to myself as I got to work. I planted a seed and covered it in dirt. For the first carrots I dropped a small amount of my own blood on it. My blood beaded up, and it was a far darker shade of red. It pooled like tar before spilling into the soil, and the umber earth became ever darker – almost like that weird bean-juice drink people from Flowers drank. Expressed-O? Something like that. The soil still had to be damp, and then the seed itself needed a finger's worth of water.

Tulips needed a soak and could be left alone – if there was any bloody rain. I still hadn't seen any, so I couldn't leave them be. Spreading manure was boring, but necessary. It raised the soil quality to 100%. It could increase it more, but never to 200% – at least at common. I'd need better fertilizer for that. Making an [Uncommon] crop required either the seed to already be [Uncommon], or the soil to be at 200% and the seed at [Common].

If the soil quality didn't match the seed however, the crop would be [Infertile] and couldn't be put into a [Seed Machine] to acquire that seed. And for a [Seed Machine], I needed [Iron]. At some point, I would have to go to the mines, and that meant I needed a weapon. The compost covered all of my carrots; the normal and blood. Its earthly tone wafted out, and the soft mixture squished underneath my boots. That was 18 square metres of basic soil… and well over 80, 900 metres of useless clay.

I liked bows a lot, but so did every other girl at the Academy. Staves were common, so were wands… and most [Initiates] had a [Cantrip] they'd cast, like [Frost Bolt]. I picked up a rock and threw it out in the field. It didn't bounce or skip at all, and puttered noiselessly onto the clay. I raised my hand, and the blue flow of my symphony enveloped it. The rock zipped through the air and collided with my palm.

"Hold on," I muttered, and turned towards my family's oak tree. The trunk had a circular hole that Addy and I believed used to be a Fairy Home, though… I think it was actually squirrels? I raised the rock upwards… and shot it straight. I had no fine accuracy at all, and although the oak tree was wide and filled with branches – the rock flew straight and hit nothing. It fell into the dirt with a loud thud, but I was already at my next piece. The second rock wasn't much better.

At 10 meters, I wasn't capable of hitting a tree. At five, I could at least hit it, but it wasn't in the hole. However, that was the limit of my Symphony. For once my body felt stronger than my mind, and spit formed in my mouth. My stomach turned against itself, and I hobbled back inside. I took my wooden bowl from the shelves and poured another helping of watery… water with some bits of vegetables at this point. The crops were growing, and I had a source of income.

I raised the bowl to my lips, and a sour, rotten bunch of moldy, mealy potato came to my lips. I spat it out, wiping my lips and dropping the wooden bowl – which did not crack. Right. You realize you're doing this to yourself, right? I finished wiping my mouth, and picked up the wooden bowl. I put it at the very back of my shelves so I didn't do that again, and looked at the cauldron. My eyes started twitching, as the hum of death and decay began to flow out. Tonight, I was feeling tired, but tomorrow?

The crops were still growing and I had no reason to go back into town. I could get the copper tools later, and I hadn't learned the basics of being a [Miner] yet. But what I was curious about was increasing the quality of my fields, which meant something. Either it was manure… I tapped my wooden spoon against the cauldron. I could always use bodies, but where would I even find those?