The property was enormous. In the middle stood a large house. Around it were animal enclosures, full of sheep, ducks, and chickens. There were also dogs and cats around, but they were kept for company.
Animals weren't used anymore for protection, for two reasons. The first was that it was useless. If something attacked the cattle, that would be a thaid, and a dog could do nothing against them. Second, there was a barrier around the city, which kept out the monsters from it.
Next to the house was a large barn and several smaller sheds for tools and various kinds of equipment.
In one corner stood an old building that served as both a garage and a workshop. Not far from there was a small wooden cabin that Mister Fox used in the summer months.
Erik walked towards the main house.
"Hello?"
No answer came back.
"It's me."
Still no reply.
As Erik approached the house, he looked through the window. The inside was dark and empty. No one seemed to be home. He sighed and turned back, walking to the shed instead.
As Erik walked into the shed, he suddenly heard noises. He spun around to see Mister Fox standing there, looking annoyed.
"You are late."
The man's clothes smelled of oil and grease.
"Sorry, sir," Erik said.
The man cleaned his mechanical arm. Mister Fox lost it to a thaid during his military years, and he replaced it with a mechanical one.
His mechanical arm was impressive, but people didn't notice it often, because what really attracted people's attention were the pair of goggles he usually wore.
"Put on your work clothes and start working," Mister Fox said. "The plants need to grow faster to meet our next deadline. Get to it."
Mister Fox left without saying a word. Erik sighed.
Erik went straight to the barn and changed his clothes, then went to the back of the property. A vast field could be seen.
Erik had to use his power to make a small section of the field grow. He couldn't do more, but what he did was still enough.
After Erik finished using his power on the farm, he couldn't go home right away. He had to stay and help Mister Fox gather all the fruits, vegetables, and other plants.
Erik couldn't use his powers much, so he compensated by doing manual work on the farm.
Erik's ability to make crops grow faster was helpful, even though his power was weak. It brought in a lot of money for the farm. Erik didn't get paid much, but he still got enough to survive.
He was also lucky to have found a job here after his father left. Most people wouldn't hire him because of how weak they considered him.
The issue was that an individual's physical strength was proportional to the number of neural links.
People didn't want to hire Erik for two main reasons. First, there were other workers who were physically stronger and could do manual labor better than him. Second, Erik was too young and didn't have enough experience to work in an office. Erik was smart, yes, but was no genius.
Erik walked up to the plants he hadn't used his power on yet. He kneeled down and touched the soil.
As soon as he did, he felt a tingling sensation all over his body. The hairs on his neck stood up, and he felt dizzy. Then, a strange feeling came over him. It was hard to explain, but it felt like his body was full of energy, ready to burst.
Erik couldn't hold back anymore. He let the energy flow from his hands into the ground. A wave of heat washed over him. The surrounding air became sultry, and he started smelling the scent of fresh plants.
The plants changed. New leaves grew, and the plants got taller. At first, the change was small. But as Erik used more of his power, the entire area became greener. Grass and bushes spread across the ground.
The plants grew bigger, and more vegetables appeared from the ground. Erik kept using his power until he felt too hot. Sweat ran down his face, and he had trouble breathing.
Suddenly, his power stopped working. He fell to the ground, completely tired out. That was probably due to mana exhaustion. He only had ten points of it, after all.
"Are you okay?" Mister Fox asked. "You look very pale."
Erik opened his eyes but didn't move. He was too exhausted.
"...and sweaty!"
Mister Fox stood beside him, holding a glass of water. Erik drank it all and lay down on the grass.
"Yes, Mister Fox. I think I'm done with today's job."
"Good."
Mister Fox wasn't totally heartless toward Erik. True, he used him for his power and paid him very little. But knowing using his power was not simple for the kid, at least he tried not to exploit him too much physically speaking.
As Erik lay on the grass, his mind filled with questions. He thought about his brain crystal deformity, wondering what was going to happen once he fixed it. He wondered about his future. What would the future hold for him? The Biological supercomputer was an opportunity, or was it a death sentence?
Erik thought back to when he was a child. He remembered the day his powers were first tested. Like all other children, he was four years old when this happened. It was a standard procedure that everyone went through at that age.
His father took him to the laboratory, where a doctor—whose name Erik couldn't recall—performed several tests. Afterward, the doctor handed Lucius his son's results. The man read the numbers over and over until they sank in.
Erik's brain crystal was indeed weak compared to others, ranking only F. While this meant little to the young boy at the time, for his father it was a devastating verdict—his son was destined for a life of hardship.
In retrospect, Erik wondered if this revelation had driven Lucius to seek the cause of the sinister cold, ultimately leading to their current predicament.
When he felt better, Erik walked to the crop field, looking at the beautiful sight of nature.
In the past, humanity ruined it so much that not much remained of it. Even so, nature always tried to return to its former glory, and Erik admired her resilience.
"Hey, kid," Mister Fox called out. "I need you to harvest the carrots before leaving, alright? Take as much rest as you need, but make sure it gets done. My old back won't let me do it myself."
"Sure, Mister Fox."
…
…
…
After harvesting the last carrot, Erik headed to the shed to change and head home. As he was changing, he heard voices approaching from behind.
Two men entered the shed—one tall and skinny, the other short and stout. They wore leather jackets and masks that concealed their faces.
Though unarmed, Erik knew they were far from harmless. A pin on their jackets displayed a cross—the emblem of the Crystal Cross gang, a powerful criminal organization with branches throughout Frant.
"Where is your boss?!" one of them asked Erik.
Erik recognized them. "M-mister Fox went to his house to c-change," Erik said. These men were not to be trifled with.
The man approached Erik menacingly, his hand outstretched. Erik flinched, shrinking away from the threatening gesture.
"Tell him to come to pay his due. Now."
Erik bolted from the barn to warn Mister Fox about the Crystal Cross gang members who had arrived for their monthly payment. The older man rushed out, handing over the demanded sum—a hefty ten thousand new dollars.
After the men left, Mister Fox performed a song of insults, as Erik called it. Basically, he spent hours spewing insults of all kinds. Of course, he would never say these things to the people in question. The last thing he wanted was to anger them.
"Damn Blackguards—shouldn't they be stopping this kind of extortion?"