Chương 146: Chapter 136-Chosen Lull

Art. Many can do it, but it takes a certain level of perception to really understand it. One who can see past the ordinary and into the unordinary would undoubtedly understand what I'm about to say. Take this piece of scrap metal that I took from Vivi. Watch as it becomes this beautiful, intricate piece of art. Watch as the rust is [Cleaned] away. The jagged piece of scrap metal suddenly goes from a reddish-black to green. With this and the pile of scrap, I will create Art.

"Why are you playing with jagged metal?" Helia asks as she looks down at me. Picking myself off the ground, I gesture to the field that now has a small fence of green metal around it.

"I'm improving the field."

"With random pieces of metal?" she asks as she squints at the field.

"Not random. They are placed in such a way that they should keep the small critters from eating our field," I say with a hint of pride. Look at it. It's beautiful. A work of art that nobody could ever recreate. Perfection made by yours truly. To be fair. Everything I make is perfect. It's so perfect that it needs a name. Fency? No, that's the name of my favorite Fence. Good guy. Greeny?

"I would suggest against that," Green says with a hint of judgement. Hmm. Green's right. Things would get confusing with two greens. Then how about… Rusty. I mean, Rusty isn't rusty anymore, but he used to be. Which has to count for something.

"I dub thee Protector of Fields, Rusty," I say absentmindedly.

"You do know that the field has an anti-pest spell on it, right?" Helia asks.

"... A what?"

"An anti-pest spell. One of the old club members was good with magic and hated having her plants eaten by rats. So she carved a large magic circle under the field and fueled it with a magic crystal," she explains.

"So, Rusty is…"

"Useless? To be blunt, yes," Helia says without a hint of remorse. I drop to my knees in despair.

"Don't say that in front of Rusty. He can hear you. Ow."

"Are you okay?" Helia says as she kneels next to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Turns out playing with a bunch of pieces of jagged metal will leave you with a couple of cuts," I say as I show the cuts on my arms, legs, and hands.

"A couple? That looks like you cut yourself on every single one. Why didn't you wear any gloves?" she asks in disbelief.

"Huh… Why didn't I wear any gloves? Let's talk about something else. How is class treating you?" I ask as I change out the bandages.

"Well enough. Still Rank 1, although Heath is certainly trying his best to usurp my position," she says, wincing as I fail to place one of the bandages correctly.

"Penelope's the same way. Although she has been quiet recently, which scares me a bit. You think competitiveness is a familial trait?" I ask as I suddenly stop bandaging myself.

"Might be. I heard that Prince Valerian was a menace during his time as a First Year. Why did you stop?"

"I just thought of something," I say as I grab a piece of rusted metal, "How far do you think I could get this?" Helia gives me a confused look.

"Uhm, probably to about that tree. Why?" She points clear across the field. With a pained groan, I stand up and ready myself to [Throw] the metal. I [Gamble] that I can get this rusted metal farther than that tree. With a simple heave, I [Throw] it high into the air. I know my limits when it comes to [Throw]. It's almost impossible for me to get past that tree, but that's only if I don't cheat. As the piece of metal begins to fall, I [Throw] a pebble and then another and then another.

With each pebble, the metal piece bounces up in the air, regaining its momentum. With one final pebble, I get the metal piece past the tree.

"Huh. Didn't think you could actually get it past the tree," Helia says with a moderate amount of surprise.

"I hope you aren't the only one who thought that," I say as I watch the cuts on my body heal along with a nice little surge of MP.

"Did you just heal?"

"I am The Chosen One," I [Lie].

"I guess that makes sense, but you would think The Chosen One would be smart enough to wear gloves when handling sharp pieces of metal," Helia says as she sits in a chair.

"The Chosen One needs no gloves, but will consider it for the next time," I say as I look the field over. Small sprouts are already showing. Based on [Gardening], it should be in the flowering stage during the Spring Festival. Perfect timing, if I may say so. Now I just have to get Helia to help me weed out some of the stragglers, and everything should be golden. Helia munches on some chips as she reads a book. Now, how am I going to get her lazy ass to help me? The usual? No, she already raided my cookie stash.

What kind of bribe could I use to get her to work? Wait! Who said it had to be a bribe? Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Helia?"

"Yes?"

"Mind helping me weed out some of the stragglers in the field?" I ask, hoping that I won't have to resort to the nuclear option.

"I'm kind of busy right now."

"Yes, I can see that. I guess I'll just spoil the end of that book for you," I say in a nonchalant tone.

"Like you've read this book. It's a romance book. Stop bluffing," she says with confidence.

"Varm's secret first love is actually K-""Stop! I don't want to hear! How do you know that?!" she asks in fear.

"Because I'm The Chosen One," I [Lie]. Helia grumbles as she places the book down.

"Fine. I'll help."

"Oh, don't forget your gloves," I say with a devilish smile. Helia walks over with a scornful face. Ah, I love my life. Skill <Gardening> has Leveled Up The Chosen Blade slashes through the Worg with ease as Penelope's storm rages above us. Hopper works in tandem with his [Clone], Froppy, as they shoot their way through the pack of Worgs. Penelope suddenly appears next to me as she blocks an attacking Worg with a shimmer shield. Wasting no time, she takes her crackling greatsword and cleaves the Worg in half.

Nothing like a normal day in the Whisperwood Forest. With a nod, I push past Penelope.

"Is that all you got, you pathetic excuse for dogs?!" I [Taunt]. The Worg pack suddenly turns to me, ignoring Hopper and Penelope. In an instant, I find myself running as the pack gains. With no time to waste, I take the Leech Dagger and [Throw] it towards a Worg in the middle of the pack. The sudden appearance of another me confuses them as they attack the [Disguised] dagger, hurting themselves in the process. In the chaos, Penelope directs the lightning from the storm straight at the pack.

The crackle of the lightning deafens me as in a flash the pack falls to the ground. Hopper and Froppy fire off some shots, finishing off the stragglers. 13 LvL. 12 Worgs have been Defeated.

"You're getting better with that storm. At the very least, you didn't hit any of us this time," I tease as I look over the pile of Worgs.

"Trust me, I worked very hard not to hit you, even if it did go against every fiber of my being. Although if we should be praising anyone, it should be Hopper. The teamwork between you and your [Clone] is honestly impressive," Penelope says as she puts her greatsword up to me. Absentmindedly, I [Clean] it.

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Penelope. You've really improved. How is it feeling?" Hopper and Froppy walk over in almost perfect unison.

"Well, it honestly feels pretty weird, but I think I'm getting used to it. There are small moments where we don't match up in speed or accuracy, but I'm working out the kinks. It really doesn't help that drains my MP at a constant rate." Penelope nudges me and points over at Froppy, who's mimicking Hopper's movements as he talks. It almost looks like he's mocking Hopper. That can't be the case, but it sure would be funny if it were. Penelope stifles a laugh as I nudge her to be quiet.

"What's so funny?" Hoppers asks. Damn those bunny ears of his.

"Nothing. Penelope just remembered a joke I said earlier," I [Lie]. Hopper's red eyes narrow.

"Why does it feel like you guys aren't telling me the truth? Penelope, what's so funny?"

"Nothing. Everything is fine. I was just remembering a joke, like the Charlatan said," Penelope lies as she clears her throat. Hopper points at us.

"You're hiding something!" At the same time, Froppy, who's standing right behind Hopper, also points at us. A laugh escapes me as the sight is too much for me to bear. Hopper looks behind him only for Froppy to immediately stop mimicking him.

"What is it?! Do I have something on my back or my head or…?" Hopper asks as he slowly turns to the still as ice Froppy.

"Hopper, it's really nothing, Bud," I [Lie].

"Are you doing it again?" Hopper asks Froppy. Froppy shrugs and mimics Hopper's angry face. Unable to hold it in, Penelope and I burst into laughter. Hopper waves his hand, causing Froppy to melt away.

"This is why I don't have you out all the time," he says with a hint of embarrassment.

"Don't be too hard on the guy. He's only trying to bond with you. Why won't you bond with him?" I ask as I reel in my laughter.

"Because he's an asshole. Let's move on," he says with a hint of annoyance. Penelope wipes the tears from her eyes.

"Fine. I'm thinking of trying for my [Attribute-Skill]."

"Oh, that's a bit early for a First Year, but I believe in you," Hopper says.

"Yeah. We're not supposed to do it unsupervised, so I'm going to ask Professor Stargazer if she has the time," she says.

"Huh… I wish you luck," I say. Penelope and Hopper give me an odd look.

"What did you do?" they ask in unison.

"Nothing," I [Lie].

"Wait a minute. I saw you leaving the infirmary yesterday. What were you doing there?" Penelope asks.

"I wasn't in the infirmary. I was meeting the janitor. Just wanted to learn some fun tricks that I could do with [Clean]," I [Lie]. Hopper looks me up and down.

"I think he tried for his [Attribute-Skill]."

"Viola did tell me you were asking about it. Charlatan, you didn't attempt to get your [Attribute-Skill] without supervision, right?" Penelope asks with a hint of seriousness.

"Of course I didn't attempt that," I say, technically not [Lying].

"Maybe we're being too hard on him, Penelope. CJ isn't an idiot," Hopper says as a familiar white light starts to cloud my vision.

"Do not be fooled. Attempt? Did you manage to get your [Attribute-Skill]?" Penelope asks in shock.

"No. On an unrelated topic. You wanna hear about my new [Skill]?"