"Alright, here we are."

It was the day after Isaac's awakening in his new world. Yesterday had ended with a lot of questions filling his head, but Isaac had decided to just take things one step at a time. Strangely, when he had made up his mind, the questions stopped bothering him at all, and he was surprised to learn how easy it was for him to focus on what he had to do.

Isaac had woken up in a panic, afraid he had overslept. He quickly discovered that he had not, because when he had looked out the window, the sun had just started to rise. After heading downstairs and having a quick breakfast with the three, Kit had taken him outside. Today's work was about to begin.

The two of them were standing in the field. The man of the house was standing in front of Isaac, wearing the same clothes as the day before. His expression was also one Isaac had seen yesterday: It was his cheerful big smile, which Isaac had already grown familiar with.

This guy sure is jolly. I don't think I've seen anyone in such a consistently good mood.

Isaac himself was wearing a different outfit from yesterday's. Elyse had insisted he should rummage through the dresser and find something he liked. There weren't that many clothes to choose between, but Isaac was pleased with the ones he had landed on. A white shirt with a vest the shade of coffee, and licorice brown pants tied together with a royal blue belt. Both he and Kit wore similar dark work shoes.

"Now, I have to ask you, Isaac. Have you ever worked on a farm before?"

At the man's question and curious look, Isaac shook his head. He had never visited a farm, though he had tried to take care of a flower before. It was many years ago during a school project. Shortly after the project had started, Isaac had forgotten all about it, and the flower eventually wilted.

"Well, today is going to be straightforward. These are lumitra plants. Have you ever seen them before?"

Again he shook his head. The plants looked strange, and didn't match any form of vegetation he knew from Earth. A thick stem sprouted from the ground with big leaves budding from it. At the top was a crown of leaves, and sprouting on top of those was a large yellow spherical vegetable. Its texture reminded Isaac of an onion, though this vegetable was much larger, roughly the size of a cantaloupe.

"The lumitra plants are part of the itra plant family. They're native to our continent but only grow in some places. Itra plants are special because they grow quickly and don't ever decay once they've ripened. This means we can grow one large field at a time and harvest them gradually throughout the year."

Kit gestured to the plants, the vegetables on top were all the same shade of yellow. He continued:

"The downside with Itra plants is that, as you can see, they take up a lot of space, and only ever produce one vegetable."

He gestured with his arms at the plants. Sure enough, they were spread evenly apart from each other, and all of them only had one golden ball each.

"They also suck up a lot of the nutrition from the soil, which is why they are planted so spaciously. Thankfully we have a lot of farmland, so that's enough space to keep us busy all year. Now, do you have any questions?"

Isaac nodded.

"Yeah, since you said these plants only grow in certain places, does that mean they are valuable?"

Kit chuckled and then shook his head.

"No, not really. Sure, they never degrade, so you can keep them stored for a long time. But they also taste kind of bland. They're popular amongst the military and the lower class, but you won't be able to sell them to people who can afford better."

I get it, so it's mostly grown for those who don't have the luxury of choice.

"Still, we make a decent enough living from them, so we don't have to survive on what we grow. Because of our farm's size and product, we're probably better off than most farmers in the empire."

"Cool. So, how do we even harvest these things? Are there any tools we need to use?"

"No no, It's nothing as complicated as that. Just take the lumitra in both hands and twist it, it'll come right off!"

Isaac stared at the plant, its leaf crown presenting the golden prize on a platter. He walked up to it and grabbed it with both hands. After looking back at Kit and getting the OK, he used some force to twist the golden ball. The ball refused to budge.

"You gotta twist harder than that, kid. Come on, use those muscles!"

With a bit more force, Isaac managed to screw the vegetable off. It was surprisingly light once it had been torn from its roots, and he was confident he could juggle it between his hands if he tried. He was right about the texture too.

It feels like I'm holding a massive onion.

"So, what do you think? Pretty easy, right?"

"Oh, sure. I'm surprised by how light this thing is."

Isaac gave in to his impulsive thoughts and tried spinning the lumitra on his finger. It only took a few seconds before he lost control of it and it splatted into the ground. With his newly found confidence destroyed, Isaac looked up at Kit, who found the sight highly amusing.

"Hah hah hah! You certainly are an interesting kid, Isaac. Ready to harvest some more?"

Kit clearly unbothered by the blunder, Isaac's newly destroyed confidence returned. He gave the farmer an assertive look.

"Bring it on!"

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It had been a few hours, and the two had made some good progress. Three carts full of lumitra had been harvested and pulled back to the farmstead, and now Isaac and Kit were filling up the fourth. By that time, Isaac felt like he had started to get to know his paternal figure a bit better, and their chemistry together had started smoothing itself out.

"How are you holding up there, Isaac? Need a break?"

"I can do this all day, old man. But feel free to take a break if you really need one!"

"Hah, already so cocky on your first day of work? Reminds me of myself when I was your age."

"Reminiscing of the past already? You're not at that age yet, are you?"

Kit laughed. It seemed like nothing Isaac could say would break his good mood. Not that he was trying to, of course.

"You know kid, you sure are working slowly for someone that has that many quips ready!"

Kit did have a point. He was harvesting more lumitra than Isaac. Though if anything, he just seemed to be happy he didn't have to harvest them alone for once.

The two of them continued back and forth like this until the fourth cart was almost full, and both of them were spent.

"*pant*, I guess we can *pant* take a small *pant* break."

The one coming with the suggestion was Kit. Isaac was sitting on the edge of the cart, just as exhausted.

"If you insist, heh."

This guy is alright. I don't think I'll have any problems staying here. Emryn and Elyse also seem nice, so I should be fine staying here until I know what I want to do.

That being said, Isaac wasn't sure what he even could do in this world. In his old life, he had wanted to graduate high school and get a degree in history. If he became a historian, that would have given him an excuse to travel the world. He had been so desperate to get out of his hometown that he wanted to dedicate his life to traveling to interesting places with rich history and culture. But before he could receive the decorated piece of paper from his headmaster that proved his High School days were done, his life had taken an unexpected turn into eternal darkness. Or at least, that's what would've happened were it not for this fantasy world he found himself in. Which meant...

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Actually, this might be my golden opportunity to explore. What better place to experience new things than in a fantasy world?

A new wave of excitement rushed over him, and he jumped to his feet.

"Break over already, huh? You ready to bring this haul back to the farmstead?"

Kit must've misinterpreted his enthusiasm, but it was true Isaac couldn't sit still any longer.

"I'm ready to haul this back, as soon as I grab this one last lumitra."

He walked up to the closest plant, and placed both his hands on it, ready to harvest. He wasn't sure if his sudden eagerness was playing tricks or not, but he swore this lumitra was bigger than all the others they had harvested.

Isaac took a breath and then put his energy to use. His hands' grip on the vegetable tightened, and he began to twist the golden lumitra. However...

"It's stuck, huh? Come on Isaac, you can do it!"

"NNNGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

With all his strength, Isaac tried to wrench the prize off its platter. Still, the roots wouldn't let its precious orb go. Suddenly, Isaac felt his grip slipping, and he lost his footing. His head spun around, and the muddy ground rushed towards his face. Instinctually, he closed his eyes and tried to soften the blow with his hands...

And then...

A few seconds passed, and he didn't feel the ground and his face colliding. Isaac opened his eyes, and saw the soil right in front of him, only centimeters apart. It didn't come closer, even though logic would suggest otherwise.

"Woah..."

The reaction didn't come from him but from someone else. Isaac turned his head towards the voice, and saw Kit's legs a few meters away, sideways. In his head, gears started spinning, and one word emerged from his mouth.

"Gravity..."

As he uttered the phrase, memories flooded back to him, memories from his meeting with the self-proclaimed deity of death. This meeting had only happened the day before, so how had he forgotten?

Before his thoughts were allowed to develop further, he was distracted by a sudden sharp pain in his right wrist. He gasped and fell to the ground. It was as if a small knife was carving something into his wrist. Without getting up, he looked at where the pain came from. Now on his hand, a symbol had started to form. It was glowing a faint purple as it was taking its shape, but once the formation was complete, the glow faded, and the symbol looked like a scar or a burn mark.

The symbol vaguely looked like a crowned heart with something sprouting from it. Flames? Wings? Isaac didn't know, he just lay there, staring at his mark, both in confusion and fascination. He heard Kit's voice and looked at him. The expression that met him was one of shock and confusion, like the man couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was so out of character, it made Isaac worry. However, the words Kit uttered next were even more unexpected...

"You're... blessed..."

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In this world, certain people sometimes receive gifts from the gods. It was said that during their birth, a divine being would watch over and make sure the babe was born healthy. They would be born with a mark on their body, and that mark was proof of their blessing. As the child grew up, their protective deity would begin conversing with it in their sleep, explaining the gifts it had received. In return for this growing power, the blessed would be tasked with upholding order in the world by following the morals of their protector and defending its name. A gifted champion.

By Kit's explanation, it sounds like this is common knowledge. And although the meeting with Spectre and the powers they gave me sounds familiar, it isn't completely like what I experienced. For one, I used to be from another world. I wasn't born in this one. And I was never asked to uphold order or follow any sort of morals. If anything, all Spectre told me was "Enjoy your new powers, peace!" and beamed me down. Does that mean I just... do whatever I want? Because I'm ok with that.

"Why is it that every time I see you, you're deep in thought?"

Awoken from his mind palace once again, Isaac looked up from the table.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Elyse. I just have a lot of questions on my mind."

If the lady of the house was displeased, her expression said otherwise. Standing next to the dinner table, she was smiling innocently.

"No need to apologize. To be honest, having no questions at all would have been stranger. I don't think I've ever heard of a Gifted that was blessed after their birth before."

"None of us have, that's not something the divines typically do."

Kit had chimed in. He was sitting across from Isaac, his hands together in front of his face.

As for Emryn, Isaac looked out the window, where she was hanging up his newly washed clothes after they had been covered in soil. She had insisted that she wanted to do it, even though Elyse had said she could play instead.

She really is a hard worker.

"Anyways, uh, Isaac?"

Kit seized his attention again.

"Is there anything you could tell us? Anything you know about any of this?"

Isaac hesitated. He didn't want to lie to the two, but he also didn't feel comfortable spilling all the beans on the table. He didn't want to burden the family even more than he already was. For now, he would plead cluelessness. Worst case scenario, he could just pretend to be getting his memories back gradually as time went on. Shaking his head, Isaac gave his answer:

"No, sorry. All I know is that I woke up at the entrance to the forest, and most of my memories were gone. Then, I unlocked this power and it just felt... natural."

To demonstrate his power, Isaac held out his hand. On the table was a jug of water. By focusing on it, purple energy emitted around it, seemingly from nothingness. Isaac guided his hands upwards, and the jug followed. It floated towards a tankard in front of Kit, and with a tilt of his hand, the jug began pouring the water into the tankard. Then, the purple energy disappeared, and the jug dropped back down to the table, spilling some of the water.

"I can only do it for so long before my head starts hurting."

Kit, who had seen Isaac's powers once already, didn't seem as shocked. Elyse, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She had been staring at the jug in disbelief, and when it had dropped, she had started applauding.

I mean, it was just a little party trick, though I guess this isn't something one usually witnesses. I wonder if I can train this power to become more powerful. Gotta start experimenting tomorrow.

Just then, the daughter of the house entered through the front door. With a proud fist thrust into the air, she cutely announced:

"I'm dooone!"

She then looked over at the other three and noticed the table.

"Oh, did you spill some water papa?"

"Actually, Emryn, it was me who-"

"Yes, sweetheart. Papa was clumsy and spilled some water. Could you be so kind and fetch a towel?"

"Okay!"

Before Isaac could explain what had happened, Kit had cut him off and taken the blame.

Guess he doesn't want his daughter to find out about my powers. Oh well, if that's the case, I'll respect his wishes.

"So, uh... Elyse?"

She was still staring at the jug, completely dumbfounded. At the mention of her name, she snapped back into reality.

"Y-yes?"

Heh, glad I'm not the only one who loses myself in the moment sometimes.

"I was wondering, how do you know so much about the gods? Have you been studying them?"

At first, she seemed confused by Isaac's question, but then nodded her head and answered:

"Well, yes! As a matter of fact, I have! I wouldn't say that anything I've told you is something one learns, though."

She must've noticed Isaac's puzzled expression, because she continued:

"I don't know if I can explain it too well, but I'll give it my best."

Isaac nodded, signaling for her to go on.

"You know how you never really learned that you need to eat to survive? It's just something you know, like a form of instinct. Well, it's like that. With some divines, we are born with basic knowledge of them. For example, we know that Othrys, the creator of the human race, values humbleness and hospitality between humans. Meanwhile, for gods that don't really concern us, we only recognize their names."

Kit nodded in agreement.

"Don't you have anything like that?"

"I don't. As strange as it sounds, apart from my powers, I feel like I'm further from the gods than either of you."

The man of the house put a hand to his chin, thinking.

"Hmm... That doesn't seem natural..."

He looked back up at the boy, giving the only advice he could think of:

"In the nearest city there is a holy temple. It's a few days away, but if you ever go there, maybe they could help by answering your questions."

Isaac nodded and made a mental note. Just then, Emryn came back with a piece of cloth. She used it to clean the water that had spilled on the table, looking very proud as she did it.

I'm glad she isn't as shy around me anymore.

The parents must've thought something similar, because they kept looking at her expectantly.

When Emryn had finished cleaning the wooden table, she looked up to see everyone's stares gathering on her. Startled, her cheeks began turning red.

"Wh-what? Is there something on my face?"

The room fell silent for a few seconds, and then all three of them started laughing. This just made Emryn more red and confused.

"Come on, what is it? Tell me!"

Eventually, the laughter died down, and Elyse changed the subject.

"Well, I think we have all worked hard enough for today. How about some food?"