Two days later, a miracle came to the village. The soil that used to be barren and poisonous suddenly was able to grow crops.
The sprouts emerged from the seeds that Medeia planted. They were tiny, but it was enough to prove to the villagers that they could use the stones to fertilize the land.
[Congratulations! You have completed a mission: Revive the Willow Village's field]
[Reward:
- C-Point: +350
- +300 XP
- Seed Bundle (x5): potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and wheat]
[New Mission: Fortify the Village Border]
Finally, the system was generous enough to give her free seeds. Wait, the seeds couldn't be considered free because Medeia had to complete a mission to get her reward.
'This reward is too cheap,' Medeia shouted in her mind.
She almost died when she found the stone, so the system should have given her more rewards!
So stingy!
She sighed and checked on her panel status.
[STATUS PANEL]
Name: Medeia Vega
Title: None
Lover: Lucian Charon (Potential lover / husband)
Age: 24
Bank Balance: 300 gold coins
Level: 4 (890/1,000)
Health Point: 350/350
Mana Point: 5,900/5,900
Character Point: 1,200
Mutant Ability: Water Mutant Lvl. 2 (Grade-B)
Mental: SSS+
Demon Ability (LOCKED): Grade-SSS+ (potential)
Attributes: Strength 90, Agility 90, Intelligence 150, Defense 30
Active Skills: Summoning Water (consumed 10 mana points per 5 liters of water)
Passive Skills: Water Float // Mana Flow
[CLOSE PANEL]
She found it hard to see her poor balance, but at least her C-Point had increased a lot, so she wouldn't be dead just because she said some dirty words.
"Miss Medeia, does that mean I can eat fries?" Lilac, the little girl Medeia had saved from the white spider, crouched beside the bucket. "Sister Jeanne told me everyone loved to eat fries before the apocalypse."
Medeia used to dislike kids. She thought they were mini gremlins that liked to manipulate people with their little doe-eyes and adorable face.
But when she saw one of those things with her own eyes, she finally thought they were not so bad.
"We can make French fries after we harvest the potatoes." Medeia said, "Maybe the potatoes will grow tomorrow."
If the fertility stones really could speed up plant growth, then those little sprouts would turn into potatoes tomorrow night. Medeia had not lived in the Apocalypse World for too long, but she was also excited to see the potato.
"Miss Medeia, shall we decide on which land we will plant the crops?" asked Chief Eldric.
"From now on, the crops will be the treasure of the village, so we must protect them wholeheartedly." Medeia surveyed her surroundings, trying to determine a suitable place for the crops. "We can't put the crops near the gate because the monsters can damage them if they break in."
Lucian tapped her shoulder to get her attention and made a suggestion, "How about fertilizing the soil near the well?"
Medeia nodded. "That can work."
The well was in the center of the village, so they could protect their crops if monsters broke into their village. Also, they could easily get water to irrigate the crops.
Ah, water. Another problem they needed to solve.
Medeia's ability was still limited, so she couldn't possibly fulfill the water needs of the villagers and the crops at the same time. Moreover, she had to activate the fertility stones at least 10 times a day, so her energy would be drained if she did it all by herself.
'Can others activate the fertility stones? The stones will only drain their health, right?' Medeia asked the system.
[They can activate the stones of fertility by touching the stones and immediately bury them in the soil. However, the result will be not as impressive as yours]
[Unlike Hosts, ordinary people can't see their limit health, so they may die accidentally]
Besides, their health wouldn't regenerate to 100% every single day, so they may be sick longer.
Wait, regenerate?
'How about Naomi? She can regenerate her health rapidly'
[The system can't provide every solution to your problem]
Medeia clicked her tongue, feeling annoyed by the system that was sometimes useful, but also useless.
But, if the system refused to answer, maybe Naomi really was able to help her activate the stones of fertility.
"What's wrong?" Lucian asked once he saw Medeia's expression change from annoyance to grin.
"Nothing." Medeia waved her hands, then talked to Chief Eldric, "Can you help me arrange people to build fences around the farm?"
"Yes, I can do that."
After talking with Chief Eldric, Medeia asked Harry to gather all of the hunters in the old factory to discuss important matters.
Lucian wanted to help the villagers to build the fences, but Medeia asked him to come to the meetings with the hunters.
"But I'm just a stranger. Shouldn't I avoid internal meetings?" Lucian followed Medeia to the old factory.
"You are not a stranger anymore after you choose to stay here." Medeia turned around, facing him with a smile. "Just play along, okay? Besides, I think you are stronger than all of the hunters here."
Lucian chuckled. "You flatter me too much. I'm just an ordinary person."
Right.
Ordinary person that was able to kill an S-Grade monster with a rusty sword and his raw strength.
Medeia didn't know what kind of ability he had, but she was certain it wasn't ordinary at all.
[New Romance Quest: Find the Information About Lucian's Family]
Medeia's face darkened. There was no way she could find information about his family in the world without the Internet.
She didn't even know where they were from and it was impossible for her to ask about his family outright.
'You gave me an impossible mission.'
[Fertilizing the barren soil also sounded impossible]
But humans were more complex than soil!
Medeia sighed and decided to think about it later because she had something important to do.
"I think everyone is here," said Harry to Medeia.
They were sitting in the canteen factory. The dust covered the chairs and tables, but at least, they had a place to conduct meetings in private.
"Then let's get started." Medeia had told Harry about the things she wanted to discuss, so she didn't have to say much at the meetings.
Harry stood at the front of the crowd. His gaze was steady as he addressed the gathered hunters. "Alright, everyone, listen up," he began, his voice sounding calm but firm. "As you know, not many monsters have been roaming around the village for the past few years, so we haven't been attacked by a monster."
"However, a few days ago, a monster finally attacked the village and made so much damage here. The spider is a sign the monsters have known of our existence here."
He concluded, "If we don't fortify our village, then it'll be about time the entire village will be destroyed by monsters."
Everyone murmured to each other, trying to find a solution to protect the village.
"Maybe the group hunt can leave one of the grade-S hunters in the village and take other hunters to the forest?" Rico Pearson, a grade-A mutant, said, "It's not fair for you to not let others go to the forest."
Tian scoffed at him, "And what? Letting you die in the forest?"
"Hey, your brother is also a grade-A mutant, but he can participate in the hunting group!" said Morty, a grade-B mutant.
Naomi defended Ren, "He is an exceptional fighter! What can you do, Morty? You can't even catch a rabbit!"
"At least, I don't have a suicidal tendency!"
"Hey! That's rude!"
Medeia slammed her hands down on the dusty table. "Enough! We are gathered here to solve the problem together, not to rub each other's faces with insults!"
Medeia loved to see humans fight each other in hell, but she found it annoying when she took part in it.
Maybe because they respected Medeia too much, there was no one who dared to open their mouths anymore.
Yes, she was a grade-B mutant who joined the hunting group in the forest, but she managed to find a way to revitalize the soil, so they wouldn't dare to insult her.
"Say, do any of you have an idea to protect the village from the monster?"
Ren raised his hand, "Maybe we can use Taylor's ability. He can make a shield from rock!"
Taylor Miller's face turned ugly. He gritted his teeth before he said, "My shield is not strong enough. When the spider attacked the village, it could destroy my shield easily."
The spider was only a grade-D monster, so if a higher grade monster came to the village, then it would be able to destroy the shield easily.
Medeia sighed. "Does anyone have the ability to make a shield too, but stronger?"
Even though no one answered her question, Medeia also knew from her memory that there were no hunters who had shield abilities other than Taylor.
But Naomi suddenly answered, "Well, actually there is one, but he is not a hunter."
Medeia raised one of her eyebrows. "Who?"
"You also know who." Naomi continued, "Nico has the ability to make a strong shield, even a sharp sword cannot penetrate his shield."
Medeia kept silent for a moment because she had to dig for information in the original Medeia's memories. But, when she knew more about Nico, she immediately went against Naomi's suggestion. "No! How can you burden a 13 years old boy to protect the entire village?"
"Besides, he can't control his ability well."
Amongst all of the children in the village, Nico Blake was an exceptional child.
As Naomi said, his shield was so strong, it couldn't even be penetrated by sharp objects or strong blows.
Unfortunately, he couldn't control it. Even worse, he had killed someone with his ability accidentally.
"But, he is our best shot." Simon said, "Maybe we can teach him, so he can control his ability in ease."
Morty refuted his statement, "Who wants to teach him? Everyone knows the boy has killed his own sister when he summoned his ability."
And no one had the guts to teach that kind of ability unless they were sure Nico's ability would not be able to kill them.
When the room filled with silence, Lucian suddenly raised his hand and said calmly, "I will teach him."