When Rowan returned to the farm he was pleased to find it exactly the way he left it. The ground was ready for planting. The bench and crate where he fulfilled orders was undisturbed. He didn’t know why he expected wild rift creatures running amok. He was glad the place seemed as calm as the previous day.
---Day 3---
Next to the place he had piled up dead plants he saw something new. A long wooden box Scrumble had clearly made for composting. Rowan took the time to dump all the dead plant material in there. He didn’t know how long composting took here in the goblin land. Since the plants grew in a matter of hours, the decomposition process might be accelerated too.
Rowan set to work planting his newly acquired celery seeds. He planted all 5, and used the 5 remaining squares to plant tomatoes. It took almost no time at all to plant. Waiting for the stuff to grow was the real issue.
Rowan scanned the land he was in charge of. He was still disappointed that only ten little squares were usable. The weeds and magical thorns that overran the majority of the land really started to annoy him. He knew that pulling the wrong weed had serious consequences, but what if he was just unlucky? What if most of these weeds were pullable and he just so happened to pick a deadly fighting imp?
There was nothing to be done of course. The risk of hitting a mandrake was too great, so Rowan left the weeds alone. But he desired a solution to this problem.
It was still early in the morning. Rowan wanted to get as much done as possible. He had a lot of tasks to accomplish. He had less than two weeks to get back in good standing with the goblins and prove he could farm here. In the first two days he felt he had accomplished almost nothing. He couldn’t let that happen again. The time could never be refunded. Whatever decisions he made were set in stone. He knew he future self would appreciate it if worked hard in the present.
Somehow his life being on the line wasn’t sufficient motivation. It had made him panic. For some reason today the thought that kept coming up was Zillia. For some reason the thought going through his head as he watered his plants was that he needed to have something to show her. He needed to prove to her that he could provide. He didn’t know why she kept coming up in his thoughts. He pushed the thought aside.
Once he harvested the celery, he noticed that his crop catalog was updating.
Tomato Deal 5 damage when thrown Rarity Common Seed collection 5 to 1 Growth rate very fast Enemy attraction 1/10
Celery 30% chance to cure common poison Rarity Common Seed collection 5 to 1 Growth rate very fast Enemy attraction 2/10
Rowan was astonished at the many uses for crops. While corn could restore a small amount of health, tomatoes could deal a small amount of damage. It might be nice to have a ranged attack instead of relying on wooden swords. Then again, he’d have to be careful not to run out of tomatoes. He needed them to fulfill orders, and needed to be conscious of how many seeds he needed.
As for celery, the fact that it could be used as an antidote tempted him to explore the swamp again. But he stifled that thought. He had to focus on farming. Exploring had to wait. Even if he felt strong enough to explore, there was no guarantee the time would not be wasted. He might stumble upon something that might help his farm. He might find another goblin who needs rescuing. But nothing but the idle thought of exploration was drawing him out there. So he buried the itch and kept farming.
Rowan converted some tomatoes and celery to seeds to replant and headed back to the stream to collect water for them. He thought again about digging a well, but he was no expert in well digging. He wouldn’t know how to begin. He had seen a well at the goblin village, so maybe someone there knew about well construction. He didn’t expect a warm conversation though. With the looks he got, he didn’t feel welcome. Maybe once he farmed enough to prove himself their attitudes would change. But for now he couldn’t expect much help.
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Over time as he fought a few passing slimes or worms that infiltrated the farm, he noticed his XP to next level.
Level 2 XP to next Level 1
He was at the stream when he noticed this. Just one more enemy would do it. Even a slime would be enough to make him stronger. He looked around, ready to fight the first creature that looked at him the wrong way. But what he saw was just the nature that surrounded him.
There were little beavers swimming in the stream. Some rabbits hopped along. A butterfly flew by. A normal-sized one. Everything felt peaceful and balanced.
Still, Rowan wasn’t going to sit an inch away from the next level for long. The concept of levels was still relatively new to Rowan, but it felt pretty self-explanatory, and seemed obvious to him that the more XP he gathered, the stronger he’d get. So he was willing to just slash at anything and everything for his own gain.
These little creatures were not appropriate targets however. He was sure they’d just run away if he tried to fight them. Besides, they were too cute to kill. Still, there was nothing hostile in sight. He walked upstream a way, just to see if he could find something to tip him over the edge. Nothing.
He didn’t want to walk too far, so he turned around to head back to his farm. Then he noticed a little blue slime across the stream.
This felt familiar somehow, but Rowan picked up his wooden sword and hopped across the stream to fight the creature. It wasn’t long before it was defeated, and he was a level stronger.
Rowan Levels Up! New Level 3 HP +2, 14 ATK +1, 3 DEF +1, 1
Rowan could hardly celebrate before he felt himself thrown to the ground. He turned to face up and saw a gray wolf standing over him, teeth bared.
A whistle sounded from deep in the woods. The wolf looked up for a moment. Then at the sound of a second whistle it ran off.
Rowan was grateful for whatever mercy this was as he dusted himself off and rose to his feet.
A gentle but deep voice came from out of the woods, “You don’t belong here.”
A tall, lanky, red-bearded man stepped out of the forest. He was dressed in deer skin and was equipped with a bow and quiver.
Rowan was shocked to see another human, even one who looked so different. “I know. It's goblin country. But don’t worry, I have permission to be here.”
“I’m aware of your arrangement. I’ve been watching closely,” said the stranger, approaching slowly and confidently, “It’s not a good sign. First you, and then more humans will follow.”
“What’s wrong with that? Aren’t you a human?” Rowan asked, unsure.
“I’m a ranger of Galaa. I’ve renounced my humanity to live in balance with nature.”
Rowan scoffed, “Wearing deer skin is your idea of balance?”
The ranger eyed him carefully. “I do not need to explain my ways to you. I will be at peace with you. You will not be my prey. But that doesn’t mean I will always be there to save you.”
Rowan didn’t want the ranger to see him as an enemy, or even as a begrudging neutral party. Rowan hadn’t seen another human in so long. And though this ranger apparently rejected his humanity, he still resembled him more than his goblin colleagues. Rowan didn’t understand exactly what being a ranger of Galaa entailed, but he wanted to speak more with this person. He tried to start fresh.
“My name’s Rowan. I’m a farmer here. I don’t intend to constantly fight in the wild here. I’m just trying to get settled.”
Rowan thought identifying himself as a farmer would be a good thing, but the ranger seemed disgusted by the mention of the occupation. It wasn’t news of course, but he seemed pained to be reminded.
“You farm. You convert the land into something that serves you. With no regard to the balance of nature. You think you can relate because we both eat plants? I forage with care. I take no more than I need. I replant to keep balance. You plant to multiply to excess.”
Rowan wanted to argue, but felt they might have too many differences in point of view. He wanted to convince the ranger of his good intentions. For some reason Rowan didn’t want this stranger who saved his life to be disappointed in him.
“Remember what I said,” said the ranger as he slunk back into the deeper part of the forest, “You don’t belong here. You keep acting this way, nature will remind you.”
Rowan felt like he got off easy. He didn’t fully understand what a ranger of Galaa did, or what he was doing in the forest. It seemed like he was living in the wilderness, entirely surviving off the land. Rowan somewhat envied this self reliance. He realized that he didn’t feel at peace with nature like this man did. Maybe there was some lesson to be learned from this interaction. But as soon as Rowan was quickly reminded of his need to check in on his farm. He headed back home ready to make progress.