Chương 75: Growing Things

Mara was up early; she slept in a tent last night, and she really missed her bed back at Forest's Rest. She and her husband moved down south to the fields of grain to make it easier on him to do the cutting of the wheat. There was a light mist over the fields this morning, and it was just beautiful. It was quieter here than back in Forest's Rest, but she knew that would not last forever, as there were plans for a number of people that wanted to farm or do related jobs to move here.

The pigs, goats, and chicks were making a racket. They had been moved here yesterday to give them a better environment for growth. She guessed that they were missing the kids who had been tending to them, but she was told they would come down with their son later in the day to visit. As she looked at the chicks today, two of them were almost double the size of the rest of them. She was pretty sure that they were the two that the kids always had following them around.

She guessed that it had something to do with the skills the kids got. Both got animal-related skills at level 3, something about animal handling and animal keeping she was not sure why they each got different skills or what that meant. She was right now looking at her vegetable garden. She had planted the seeds only two days ago, and the plants looked like they had been growing for a week. Some system trickery was going on. She pulled up her class again to look at it.

She had gotten her class only yesterday after planting some potatoes that she got from Forest's Rest. Mara Level 8 Class: Garden Tender Skills: • Herbalist • Plant Care • Seed Cultivation She brought up the requirements to level her class.

Cultivate 5 different useful plants (2 / 5) • Maintain healthy crop growth for 14 consecutive days (2 / 14) • Create and tend a dedicated garden plot (1 / 1) • Improve plant vitality through active care (0 / 1) • Supply food or herbs to a settlement 10 times (4 / 10) The classes were not what she expected when she got her choice. Her other choices were terrible. She liked this one, but it was not perfect maybe they can be updated or realigned somehow as it grows.

She kept wondering if it was her class that made the plants grow so fast or the seed cultivation skill she got. Either way it would take some getting used to. She just hoped the weeds did not grow that fast, or this could be terrible. As she was sitting there thinking about it, she felt something bump into the side of her leg. She looked, and it was that Murder Pig that so liked Dale. She thought when she brought it down south that Dale shed a tear when it left.

"What are you doing over here?" The pig just looked at her intelligently. She could not figure out how, but it could get out of any cage you put it in. The funny thing was how huge it was. When they got the piglets, they were all the same size. But this pig is three times the size of the others. Only real difference between it and the others is the friendship it had with Dale, and as far as she knew, he did not have any animal skills, just some strange system thing.

As Mara put the pig back in the cage, she noticed her son with Clara and Ben. They were earlier than she expected, which was good for her, as the pair would take care of the feeding of the chicks, goats, and pigs. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The two kids ran over to Mara, and Clara said.

"We both leveled and got another skill. I have Camp Cooking now I might be a chef one day, like Dale. Ben then blurted, "I got the best skill ever; it's called Delivery Runner it makes me run extra fast." He tried to show off his speed while running in circles around them, but Mara could not see a difference. She just wished she were a kid again and had energy like him. Clara went over to the chicken coop and let out their favorite chicks, which proceeded to follow her around.

It was funny watching the one trying to catch up with Ben. Clara said.

"Finn has a surprise to tell you too." Finn looked over at Clara and scoffed.

"I thought I told you that was our secret." Clara responded.

"I think it's cool, and you should tell her about it and show her what you got." Mara looked over at her son. He quickly looked at the ground when she looked at him. Finally, he stepped forward and said.

"I got a class mom." Mara replied.

"That's great what is it?" He turned around and mumbled.

"Tunnel Scout" He then went to help feed the goats. His mother just glared at his back as he walked off. His parents talked to him about choosing a sensible class, and Tunnel Scout is not what either of them was hoping for him. But he was an Adult and he had his right to choose. He had, since they arrived, been designated with fighting, killing, and adventure. And following the crowd, he has done a number of runs through the cave. When Elias saw their son home, he came over to say hello.

He had been up since dawn cutting wheat. It was popular, and they were making great trade deals selling it, and they could not harvest it fast enough. And the best part ever was they had not even scratched the amount that was out here. But it had been hard work with hours of labor every day in the fields. He mentioned almost every night what he would give to have his tractor, but Mara knew that he was loving this life maybe more than his old life.

When Elias got close enough, his wife whispered to him about his sons new class. Elias turned to his son.

"Finn, I thought we talked to you about classes and how important it was to pick the right class. I got Field Farmer, and it's doing amazing things to help my productivity. You could have gotten something similar." Finn replied.

"Dad, I told you this is a new world. I am an adult. I will help you with farm work, but it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life. The cave is fun, and I love my new Tunnel Scout class groups are fighting over me because I can find traps and hidden loot." Elias just turned around and walked toward the field. Just before he left hearing range, he hollered back and said.

"If you have time in your cave schedule, maybe you can help me in the fields," and with that, he passed between some stalks of wheat and was out of sight. Part of her was angry. Another part understood exactly why he loved the cave. Ben ran over, oblivious of the interaction, and said.

"Finn, tell us again about the treasure." Finn replied.

"Not treasure, but ore and mining tunnels. That is what we found the last trip. I was able to scout out a hidden stash of ore made my group so pleased with me, they are begging me to come back with them on their next run." Finn continued telling ben about the kobold workshop and the metal scraps and about killing the kobolds and getting their ore and axes.

Finally, his mom butted in and asked him to stop filling the boys' heads with dreams; he had jobs, he needed to take care of animals to feed, and he was going to tie some of the wheat to dry today and see if he could get some farming skills at his next level. Clara then spoke.

"Mara, do you think animals can get classes like us?" just then Dale's murder pig broke through the fence around the pigpen and walked over and bumped up against Clara. The kids finally went off to help with the wheat, and Finn followed them. Mara just watched them in the field working. Okay, her son and husband were working; the two kids looked like they were having a snowball fight using the chopped wheat. She finally turned back to her garden and started working on it. She got to the herbs and looked at them.

She had seen them first thing this morning, and they had shown remarkable growth. But now as she looked at them, they had again doubled in size. She just shook her head. The system was not only changing people. It was changing the land itself.