Chương 45: A Progression of Skills

Ch. 45 - A Progression of Skills The next morning, Wyatt lay in his tent, thinking about his new Levels and Skills. It was still early, and through the gap in the tent flap he could see that the sun hadn't even appeared on the horizon yet. There was a faint blush of pre-dawn light, but that was it. Even though Wyatt had been exhausted the day before, he had ended up going to bed far earlier than he usually did, which explained why he was awake now.

He couldn't even remember hearing the voice of Levels during the night.

Wyatt was a little disappointed with his new Skills if he was being honest. Oh, [Targeted Harvest] and [Clearing the Land] would certainly be useful, but his main gripe was with [Grower]. He'd gone up three whole levels and had only received one Skill. At his feet, Kit stirred sleepily. The silver fox raised her head, blinking groggily up at Wyatt.

'Why are you awake?' Wyatt sighed, still musing over his Levels.

"Sorry if I woke you, Kit. I was just thinking over my new Skills. If you want to go back to sleep, I'll be quiet." Kit yawned, stretching. She got to her feet, then turned around a few times on the spot, before settling down again.

'No, I'm up now. Tell me about your skills. You don't seem that excited.' Wyatt sighed again.

"I shouldn't be disappointed, but my 'plan' didn't quite go how I wanted. I didn't get the Skill I was hoping for, even though I Leveled three times in both [Harvester] and in Grower]." Kit's ears flicked forwards in interest.

'That's actually impressive, although you did do quite a lot yesterday. But you were hoping for a targeted Skill?' Wyatt laughed ruefully, but he tried to keep quiet. He was mindful that Thrais and the other Elves were sleeping not too far away in their own tents. After Wyatt had moved out of the ruins of the farmhouse, he hadn't wanted to seem rude by pitching his tent away from the others.

"Was I that obvious about it? I was thinking I would be able to surprise you this morning." Kit grinned at him.

'I wouldn't say you were obvious, but I just didn't want to pop that self-satisfied air you had going. It was an effort, but I managed.' Wyatt grinned. He reached down and rested his hand on her head, ruffling her soft fur gently.

"I appreciate it." Kit allowed herself to be petted for a few moments, then she gently extricated herself from under Wyatt's hand. She resettled herself, then looked at him with interest.

'So what Skills did you get?'

"Well I got three in total."

'Three? Over six Levels?' Wyatt grimaced.

"Yeah, that's the issue. [Harvester] is alright. I got [Targeted Harvest], and [Clearing the Land]. Those make sense, and will be great to use, but …" Wyatt rubbed at his face, leaning back on his bedroll, and pillowing an arm behind his head as he stared up at the roof of the tent.

"… I was really hoping for something that would help me prepare the soil. Doing that small patch of the acre without Skills almost wrecked me, but I thought it would be worth it if I Leveled." Wyatt wasn't exaggerating; he still felt more than a little stiff, and that was after a full nights rest, and a few sparing drops of healing potion. He could have taken more and been fully recovered, but he'd decided that it would be better not to undo all of the physical activity that he'd done the day before.

Kit looked thoughtful.

'And you really didn't get anything else? What was the Skill you got in your [Grower] class?' Wyatt's lips quirked slightly, and he looked at Kit out of the corner of his eye.

"… [Attract Pollinators]." Kit stared at him for a moment, then she rolled over onto her side, laughing silently.

'All that work, and all you can do is bring bees to your crops!'

"Hey, it's still useful! I was only saying yesterday that I hadn't seen any pollinators about in the dungeon." Kit eyed him, still laughing.

'So you are happy with it?' Wyatt hesitated.

"Well …" Kit shook her head, smiling gently up at him.

'Wyatt, it's fine. Don't worry yourself. You already have a Skill that allows you to prepare the earth for planting.'

"Yeah, I know, but [Till the Earth] would take me forever to prepare that single acre, let alone the whole farm. Doing that portion without Skills was exhausting, but I still managed to get far more done than just the four plots from the Skill." Kit sounded patient as she explained further.

'Wyatt. What does [Till the Earth] tell you when you focus on it now?' Wyatt blinked at Kit. Then he did as she said, concentrating on [Till the Earth]. Information, different from before, flooded into his mind, and he sat up in his bedroll, his eyes widening.

"I can use it more than four times now! It's up to … ten uses!" Kit nodded to herself in satisfaction.

'I thought as much. So I guess your plan worked out for you after all.' Wyatt was smiling happily, but then it faded slightly as he considered the changes more. Kit noticed his change in expression.

'What's the matter?'

"I mean, it did work, Kit, and that's great … except that it isn't really. Even with ten uses, thats still less than the area of soil I turned over yesterday without Skills." Kit sighed, then batted at Wyatt's leg in reproach.

'Have you forgotten what I told you about progression skills already, or were you just not listening?' Realisation dawned on Wyatt.

"Wait, are you saying that the Skill itself has improved as well?" Kit nodded at him.

'It's very likely. No, I would actually be shocked if it hasn't improved with a three Level increase and only one Skill.' Wyatt slumped back onto his bedroll, smiling up at the roof of the tent.

"That's amazing—sorry, Kit, I had forgotten. But that means that if the Skill keeps improving, I might not even need a plow!" Kit snickered at hearing that.

'Yes, you can be your very own workhorse, no livestock needed.' Wyatt shrugged at her.

"Hey, it would make things a lot simpler. I guess it didn't make much sense to expect an entirely brand new Skill, not when I already had one that did what I wanted." Wyatt settled back down in his bedroll, already planning what he was going to spend the day doing. With [Demesne Sense], he could tell that some of the Elves were beginning to stir, getting ready to start tackling their first real day of construction. Wyatt would love to watch them work, but there was just too much he wanted to do.

Thrais and his team had already finished scrapping the second floor, and the farmhouse was now a shell consisting of only the stone walls of the first floor. Any material that they thought could be salvaged or use as a template had been neatly stacked on one side of the building. Thrais had even done some repairs on the walls of the first floor, mixing up a mortar and re-affixing any stones that had been knocked out of place. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site.

Support the author by reading it there. Wyatt's musing was cut short when Kit started to bat at him insistently with one paw. He looked at her in surprise.

"What?" Kit sniffed pointedly.

'You woke me up, so now it's time for breakfast. I want a decent meal, especially if I'm going to be doing my morning check of the woods.' Wyatt thought about that for a moment, then nodded.

"You know what? That's fair. Are you going to stick with me again today?" Kit tilted her head.

'Perhaps for part of the day. I can only be so interested in watching you work yourself into a lather of sweat.'

"That's … not the most flattering of descriptions, Kit." Kit sniffed again.' Neither was smelling you yesterday. But I might explore some more of the surrounding area. Get a feel for our territory.'

"That's a good idea. I can keep track of you as well, as long as you stay within the bounds of my Skill." Kit looked amused at hearing that, but she nuzzled at his side affectionately.

'I don't need you to look after me, but thank you all the same. Now … breakfast?' Wyatt got to his feet, letting out a small groan as his stiff muscles protested. He might have to do some stretches before he started work today.

"Yep, breakfast coming right up." Wyatt quickly decided he was enamoured of his new upgraded Skill. It was so useful, even though it did sort of make light of all his efforts the previous day. In addition to the increase of uses, [Till the Earth] now prepared the soil in a plot that was four hundred square feet, one use equaling what four had done the previous day.

Kit had been correct; with the upgraded area and the extra uses, Wyatt could now cover in moments the same amount that he had done yesterday without Skills. Wyatt left the area he had done with the mattock alone instead of going back over it with his Skill. It was rough in comparison to the perfect lines and furrows of [Till the Earth], but he was inordinately proud of what he had accomplished by hand.

Before he used his Skill, Wyatt had dumped all the grass seeds and bundles that he had gathered the day before onto the untilled part of his cleared acre—smiling in satisfaction as they vanished, being cut up and turned deep into the soil. The first field of his farm was really taking shape, with the expanse of tilled earth now taking up roughly one fifth of the total area of what he had cleared. Wyatt had been curious about his other Skills, [Add Fertiliser], and [Watered Earth], so he had tested them out as well.

He'd discovered that they had also upgraded to the same extent as [Till the Earth]. Kit had been unsurprised, but Wyatt had been impressed—even though he'd felt it was a bit of a waste to water and fertilise ground that he wasn't quite ready to plant yet. He wanted to get the entire acre prepped before he decided exactly what he was going to do with it.

After all his Skills were on cooldown, Wyatt spent some time afterwards manually prepping more earth with his mattock—although he didn't go quite as hard as he had the day before. He wanted to get a decent amount done so that he could hopefully increase the efficacy of [Till the Earth] once more. Wyatt didn't want to exhaust himself again though, so he stopped working a little past midday so that he could join Thrais and the other Elves for lunch.

They didn't exactly say so, but Wyatt got the impression that they appreciated that he was also working hard. After he'd eaten, Wyatt decided against returning to the field. Instead he investigated the plots of earth he'd already planted, although they seemed comically small now. Mere garden beds instead of a proper farmer's field. The very first plots of earth he'd planted, the ones that the Armoured Tuskers had damaged, were growing well … or at least the wheat was.

The dungeon fruit still seemed to be struggling, like it was missing something. Wyatt wasn't too concerned though; the first plots of earth were something akin to a novelty now, especially because they weren't ideally placed in regards to how he wanted to lay out his fields. He didn't want to tear them up however, as he felt a certain amount of attachment to them.

The tomatoes, beans, carrots, and herbs he had planted at the back of the farmhouse were growing far more vigorously; the seedlings almost seemed to be racing to get towards the sky. It was still far too early to use [Attract Pollinators], but Wyatt was already making mental notes about what he could do better next time. Everything was growing so fast that he was going to have to keep an eye on the tomatoes and beans so that they didn't get crowded out or covered by the growing herbs.

In the future, Wyatt resolved that he was going to have to space out the planting of different crops a bit better, maybe only planting the ground cover after the tomatoes and beans had become more established. With [Swift Germination], everything had started to grow at the same time. After Wyatt had watered his crops—wishing he had thought to save a few uses of [Watered Earth] before wasting it by testing it on his field—he sat and watched the Elves for a bit. Thrais and his crew were making remarkable progress.

Ronja had finished seasoning the timber planks they had cut and stacked the day before, and was now helping Thrais and Krista with construction. Alvar and his brother Aslak were back at the edge of the forest, cutting more timber although they were taking a slightly more relaxed approach in comparison to the industry of the previous day. They were also cutting and resizing the existing beams to what Thrais required.

Wyatt had been blown away when Thrais had shown him the plans for the farmhouse, although that had been less about the design, and more about seeing another of the Elf's Skills in action. It had seemed closer to something out of science fiction rather than the world of magic they were in. Thrais had used a Skill, [Design Visualisation], to project a glowing representation of the finished farmhouse in the air between them.

The image had spun lazily as Thrais enthusiastically pointed out the features of his design to him, even though Wyatt was doing all he could not to just simply gawk at the perfectly rendered 3D model. Five days passed by in much the same vein, with Wyatt working on his field, and the Elves busily reconstructing the farmhouse. The only downside was that Wyatt only leveled twice more, and only in [Grower]—with no new skills.

He was now Level 10 in that class, and [Till the Earth], [Watered Earth], and [Add Fertiliser] had all improved again. Wyatt had almost finished preparing the entire acre he had marked out in that time, but he supposed it tracked with the notion that grinding away at tasks you had already done didn't necessarily mean you would Level. Kit was of the impression that he'd get a new Skill when he'd finished and planted the entire field—something about an accomplishment meaning more than a slow grind.

On the fifth day however, Thrais excitedly announced that he had Leveled. His crew at this point had finished putting up support beams and the scaffolding of the second floor. The flooring was done, as was most of the roof. They had been working extremely hard, and Wyatt had been about to simply offer congratulations to Thrais, but the rest of the Elves started actually cheering at the news.

It turned out that Thrais had hit Level 36 in his main class of [Arboreal Woodworker], and it had apparently been over five years since he'd last leveled. Thrais had seized Wyatt's hand with both of his, enthusiastically pumping while smiling broadly.

"I knew this was a good opportunity! Discount? Hah! I feel like I should be paying you! A new Level, after only a few days work!" Wyatt hesitated, then grinned broadly back. He was rapidly reassessing how important a new Level was, especially when Kit whispered that it was quite hard to Level after hitting Level 30.

"I'm so glad, Thrais. Does that mean we should celebrate tonight?" It was Thrais' turn to hesitate, but at seeing the rapidly nodding heads of his crew, he agreed.

"I won't lie and say I don't want to let off a little steam … so yes. But that doesn't mean we can slack off during the day, or finish early! You hear me?" The other Elves all nodded emphatically. Wyatt grinned.

"That's great, because I did pick up a few bottles of that blackberry wine from the inn. And a bottle of Uisge as well." Wyatt had wanted to get more than one bottle of the potent spirit, but it had been far too expensive to splurge on with his dwindling funds. Maybe when he returned to the city with another shipment of fruit for Isaek. Thrais perked up at hearing that, then coughed as he schooled his expression.

"That would be, ah, very welcome, Wyatt, thank you. But … no over indulging, alright?" That last was to his team, and they assured their boss that they wouldn't. Wyatt grinned, already looking forward to it. He hadn't had much of an opportunity to socialise with the Elves, as they had all been so busy.

"Excellent! Sundown?" Thrais nodded, smiling.

"That suits us. And you could do with a break as well, we've all seen how hard you've been working, Wyatt." Wyatt shrugged, smiling back.

"Thanks, but it's not work if you enjoy it. Although if we are going to celebrate, how do you all feel about crayfish for dinner?" The mood that night was festive. Dinner was a hit, with the Elves tucking into the boiled crayfish with relish. Catching them had been far simpler than last time; with [Demesne Sense] Wyatt could not only tell where the crayfish were in the stream, he also knew when the traps he made had worked.

The evening passed quite genially, with perhaps a few too many drinks, but Thrais had decided to indulge as well. Even Kit got her own shallow dish of Uisge, and her blue eyes gleamed brightly as she lapped it up. There were many toasts made, with the biggest cheer going to Thrais when he unveiled his new Skill. It wasn't anything particularly flashy, but a passive called [Sense Opportunity].

All the Elves were ecstatic about it, as it meant that their boss would be able to sniff out many more lucrative jobs, both in gold and in Levels. After everyone was suitably tipsy, Thrais insisted on giving Wyatt a tour of the unfinished Farmhouse. He'd seen it already of course, but this seemed more official. The stone staircase that led up had been cleared of rubble, and Thrais led Wyatt to the back of it.

There was still what looked like a large boulder set into the structure, that Wyatt had initially thought was just an odd choice by whoever had built it. However, Thrais said that he suspected there was a cellar behind it, although they hadn't been able to shift the large stone. He advised Wyatt that it wasn't load-bearing in any way, and if he was careful about it, it could be removed safely. Upstairs was the biggest change for Wyatt. The flooring had been completed, although it had yet to be varnished.

It felt incredibly sturdy underfoot, very solid with a pleasing echoing thud at every footstep. The roofing was done, as was all the framework for the walls, and Wyatt could see how the upper floor was going to be laid out. There was a hallway running the length of the building after a small landing at the top of the stairs. The hallway led onto four distinct rooms, quite large and spacious, all with large windows.

Thrais apologised for the lack of glass, but assured him that there would be wooden shutters that would be secure enough when closed. From the second floor the view across the farmland was incredible, even under the dim light of the moon and stars. Wyatt could see all the way down to the stream, and he could just imagine looking out over his fields, watching his crops grow. The farmhouse was huge, far larger than any house he'd lived in before. To say he was excited was an understatement.

Thrais estimated that he would be done in perhaps three more days, and that included all the finishings as well as the verandah and decking that would run around the farmhouse. The Elf apologised, taking it personally that they wouldn't be done inside of the promised week, but Wyatt laughed it off. When they rejoined the campfire, there was more toasts, and more drinking. Wyatt was slightly drunk when he retired for the night, but he went to his bedroll smiling.

The next morning, after the Elves had started work, Kit came running up to Wyatt in alarm. A Goblin had entered the woods, and was headed in their direction.