The tilled land that Zack helped Thistle keep in line was only one field among 6. 5 fields covered in weeds surrounding the two-story farmhouse overlooking them situated precariously on the declining hill. A natural spring flowed down from one side of it into a reservoir where cows drank and shat regularly, along with irrigation ditches running to the fields layered with hardened clay. A few miles to the south, from atop the hill, Zack could see a lake surrounded by a small forest where he would meet Thistle for a swim. Other farms dotted the distance with multiple planted fields, with a few showing even rows of green sprouts. Then there was the pond.
A beaver dam built on a levy near one of their fields was about to burst. Zack didn't know how it was allowed to grow out of control. He saw a fox larger than himself with two tails flash its red fur as it darted out to snatch a rabbit out of the air before hiding in the surrounding bushes.
Monsters were animals that accidentally gained skills and used them enough to notice the positive feeling they granted the user from leveling them. They could rank like humans, becoming stronger, more aggressive, and worryingly intelligent.
"So why isn't Thistle plowing the other fields? Are we out of coin?" Zack asked.
He hoped to anyone who would listen that the local currency was coinage.
"No, I invested in a few start-up businesses near the capitol. We have enough money to pay for Thistle. Doing so would do you a disservice. I'm going to teach you how to fight like a soldier. Think of those fields as your test dummies. You'll learn a skill from me and then use it to plow the fields." Joshua said.
"Ok, but what if I'm not done with time for planting?"
"I hope you enjoy hunting because you'll do much of it."
Somehow, it wrapped back to deer. Zack would rather eat fish or pussy.
Zack walked up to the porch and sat on one of the rocking chairs. Then he put his hands on his knees and stared at the fields, forests, and, surprisingly, a giant spider standing on the pond in the distance. It was catching fish bigger than his arm with its silk, an entire net full of them. It was G, like most monsters around. He was lucky not to find a monster at the Frank yet.
Joshua Smith
Rank: F+
"How do I learn the skill?" Zack said.
"Oh, you aren't going to mope for a day and try to get me to change my mind. Who are you, and what have you done with Zack?" He raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry; it's easy since even recruits can learn it on their first day. If you rank up with it, your strength should be G+, a third of the way to F-rank. You want to rank up and not be weak, right?" Joshua asked.
Zack clenched his teeth and nodded but didn't say a word. "Come on, let's go to the back. I have a dummy set up."
Sitting with a rooster on an old helmet was a dummy made of straw and old leather armor studded with tiny bits of steel. Joshua punched forward, and the dummy fell back as the rooster jumped away. Zack looked between the man standing beside him and the dummy in shock. It was unbelievable.
"Can all soldiers do that? What about knights?"
"Don't compare a soldier to a knight. We live in two different worlds. What I used was called Strong Fist. It's basic and normally only used in emergencies after your spear breaks or when you've been disarmed. Every soldier taught the skill isn't considered a deadly weapon by themselves, but with a rank up, it can be quite powerful. I want you to hit that dummy until the option to learn a strong fist appears. I have fresh water over in that bucket if you're thirsty, and we're having pickled eggs and the rest of the salted ham for supper." Joshua said.
"Wait, do you mean for me to plow five fields with my bare hands?" Zack asked.
Joshua grinned big and walked back into the house. It seemed he preferred a hands-off style to fatherhood.
At least he was going to get plenty of protein. His mouth immediately felt dry, so he went to get a drink. The water was a mostly brown liquid that smelled like dirt instead of feces. He pulled up the spoon and took a long, deep drag from it. It tasted like slimy dirt mixed with the coppery taste of blood. Zack didn't have a choice with 10$ water. It was better to wait and buy something when he had more money. He hadn't been paid yet.
Zack struggled not to trip over the chickens roaming the backyard as he made his way to the dummy. He punched and felt his fist scream from the stiff leather and hidden metal studs.
Do you want to learn the skill of Pain Resistance?
Y/N
He declined and clutched his throbbing hand. It had been too long since he punched a bag at a gym. Zack spread his stance and punched again. He swung his hips and pictured the armor breaking. Pain lanced up his arm as a metal stud deflected his blow.
Again, he punched, changing his form and making his fist hit harder. He did a few squats and stretching exercises to loosen up and then punched the air. Zack kicked off the ground and punched forward, striking the leather helmet's side, and felt the skin on his knuckles break. Blood slowly seeped between his fingers, but he didn't find a strong fist.
Maybe he was missing something crucial. How was this supposed to teach him how to fight? This wasn't Dragonball. He couldn't just plow a field with his bare hands. Or could he? What would that even look like?
Zack started at the well-tilled field in the distance. He wasn't going to get it that even. He punched the dummy repeatedly, and different pop-ups appeared. There was even one skill called destruction. First, he was tempted by it but had to set it aside.
What was he doing wrong?
Zack backtracked and stood where Joshua had before. He stared at his target, reared back his fist, and punched.
Do you want to learn the skill Delusion Fist?
Y/N
Zack declined and started hitting the dummy. He started thinking the word strong fist repeatedly as he punched. What made a fist strong? Was it the durability to help a fist survive when throwing a punch, the power to blow past obstacles, or the ability to do more with a fist than thought possible? Zack punched, and he punched.
It appeared, and he almost declined it.
Do you want to learn the skill Strong Fist?
Y/N
Of course, he accepted it.
Strong Fist: The bedrock of all greater fist skills makes your fist more than it is.
Level: 1/100
Rank: G
"I have a surprise for you. Come on, it's on the porch." Joshua said.
Zack followed the man to a box filled with gravel. "What am I supposed to do with this?" Zack asked.
"Punch into it with your strong fist until I finish getting the ham. We need to toughen your fists up." Joshua said.
Zack stared down at the box filled with gravel and got to work. He punched, and his cracked and already bleeding knuckles stung. When he pulled his fists away, bits of gravel clung to them, and he glared down at them. He couldn't believe this was happening. Zack was genuinely doing some Dragonball-style training.
He punched again, feeling pain rise through his knuckles, but he didn't stop. Zack activated the plow and felt the effort. Two skills active at once doubled the cost, but he couldn't help but marvel at the rocks bouncing from his punches. This was the first of many steps to growing stronger.
…
The eggs were on their way to going wrong, and the ham tasted like pork shaped salt. He was too hungry to complain much. Zack needed to increase the size of his world quickly and start planting. Zack slept on a cot full of straw with aching fists. He needed to find a way to recover faster. Every time he turned over, there was nothing but pain.
After breakfast of eggs, he found himself in the field the next day. He had until nightfall to plant, and he couldn't do his own thing until he was done. Zack plucked a blade of grass and scanned it with Demeter's blessing. It wasn't poisonous, but it wasn't helpful. He could feel that the blade of grass was hungry for mana but kept his to himself.
The field had a few overgrown trees, various shrubs, and little blue creatures filled with an acid-called slimes. He ignored them. This wasn't like a video game. Killing them wouldn't raise his level. They were scavengers that ate bone mostly. They needed the calcium to grow stronger. Zack searched the field until he found some black shriveled berries on the ground.
He felt for the skill of Demeter's Blessing and felt a small root of green mana reach out from him and touch the vine of the berries. They were nontoxic, but they didn't have what he needed either. No, finding the necessary ingredients to craft a potion would not be so easy, even with a god's skill. They did have thorns and carried their seeds in their fruit.
Zack plucked a seed and grew it from the palm of his hand. Roots spread, wrapping around his hand, and long vines wiggled out and stretched for the twin suns above.
He was told that he was welcome to try catching a fish from the pond. Zack could feel the wind through the vine's thorns. They wiggled under his command and could grow larger with more mana.
After experimenting and gaining some levels, he returned to his task. Zack stared between his fist and the ground. It wasn't that he didn't want to do it. Zack knew that the recovery time would be even longer if he did it.
Zack withdrew Circe's book from his inventory and reviewed what he knew. A simple four-ingredient potion was an excellent, reliable tool. Unfortunately, he didn't have what he needed. All he had was a square meter of land he could manipulate to a high degree. Even time wasn't out of his control in such a small space. The question was, what would encourage plants to grow into something healthy for humans?
Zack went to the pond, pulled river mud up with his bare hands, and dumped it into his space. Then, after a meter was filled with river mud, he planted the seeds in the mud. A small artificial light appeared above the seeds, and time moved forward under his attention. Mana automatically transformed into water when the plant needed it. Zack used Demeter's Blessing to guide growth as he played in the mud.
He sent his raw emotions to the plants, wanting to heal the damage and pain in his knuckles. From what he felt, the plant, without a conscience, still adapted to his needs, but not in the way he expected.
Pop Berries: A plant whose juices have become a highly addictive and powerful pain killer. Their deliciously sweet scent may cause monsters to be attracted to them.
Zack stood up from the bank and dusted himself off. Bug bites covered his body, but he tried to ignore them. It would all be worth it when he had fish.
He was still covered in mud but had discovered something crucial about his skills. Mana was produced by living things slowly, but his Primordial World increased in volume. It had grown from 1.0 meters to 1.004 meters. Not a tremendous amount of growth but manipulating time sucked mana up like a hole in the ground. From what he could tell, the larger the area, the higher the cost.
He cast a line out and refused the fishing skill. Zack watched his vines grow through the water while producing only fruit. For a solid 30 minutes, nothing happened, and he thought maybe he spooked the fish. The new and improved Pop Berries were supposed to attract monsters with their scent.
It had only been a day, and he was already sick of pickled eggs and ham. He wanted some fresh, delicious fish.
He felt something bite it, and the vine's thorns erupted. Something pulled on his line but failed to snap it as he had the vines pull back. They cannibalized their mass, rapidly growing their thorns as the vine retracted.
The silver tail of something big splashed against the muddy brown water of the pond as Zack pulled against something fighting him. A jolt flew up the vine, and suddenly, he couldn't let go; an electric jolt had locked him in place.
He didn't know what to do as a fish, of all things, trapped him.
Parts of the plant were dying rapidly until it stopped. The plant hadn't adapted somehow, and his mana capacity was running on fumes. No, something else made the fish stop. Zack pulled the fish, and it stopped struggling. He pulled it onto the bank.
The creature's mouth was jabbed with thorns, and its tail waved lazily. Its whiskers jolted with little sparks of electricity while it gaped for breath.
Zack pulled his fist back and struck. Plow and Strong Fist activated together, killing the monster instantly.
Trait Gained: Static.
Static: Plants at random will gain an electric-based skill and develop into monsters.
Zack stared between his fist and the dead monster. Was that how that worked? Kill a monster and gain a trait that his plants can use. That would significantly increase his versatility.
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