“I am back!” Mia’s voice reached out to me as she jogged up, brown hair bouncing behind her. “Whew, you look dirty! It also looks like you have been pretty busy.” She added while looking over the cleared extension to our current planting field.

“Hey Mia, I’m glad that you got back so quick! You must've been running the whole trip there and back. Did you get anything good? Maybe a stove?” I added hopefully.

“Sadly no stove, they only had cast iron stoves in stock and there was no way that I was carrying one back by myself. I do not believe that Rumble could haul it back by himself. That being said, I did get an alternative that was suggested by another farmer buying supplies there.” She said as she reached into her bag before withdrawing a stone covered with a few odd marks.

“That looks neat, but what is it?”

“It is a ‘Hearthstone’, apparently they are extremely popular with people while traveling. Once activated it uses its stored energy to heat itself. This cheap version Is meant for camping, so it gets super hot for about 30 minutes then lowers down to a comfortable temperature until it runs out of energy. And to recharge it, we just let it sit out in the sun all day. The really nice ones you can adjust the temperature by voice commands and they use their energy way more efficiently.” She excitedly explained.

“That sounds great! I am assuming that we fit it within the budget?” I asked, knowing that Mia would never have burned into our seed fund.

“Yup! Because they are so popular and easy to make, they are super cheap!” She said with her green eyes flashing a smile of excitement.

“Wait, are they made the same cheap way as those skill crystals!?” I worriedly asked.

“Yes and no… They are made by the same people, but due to the risk of bodily harm they get heavily inspected before making their way out for sale. Do not worry, I asked the same question.” She explained.

“Good, I guess between the stone and Rumble’s flower, we can close up the hole in the roof.” I said while trying to think up a way of patching the gap in the roof.

“Rumble’s flower? Why do you say that?” She asked with confusion evident on her face.

“The glowing flower that he found. You know, it gives off a glow, so we don’t need the outside light anymore.” I said.

“I love that light, but it is not bright enough for us. We sort loot in the evenings and I need light to do it properly.” She reminded me.

“So what, we just leave the hole for now?” I asked.

“I did not say that, I just said that the flower would not be sufficient.” Returning the stone to her bag, Mia proceeded to pull out a flat square crystal. “This is a touch light. I bought two, and they recharge the same way as the hearthstone. Apparently we will only get about 15 minutes of light for every hour of them sitting in the sun though. That is partially why I bought two.”

Accepting the offered light, I couldn’t help but notice the tracing across the face of the light. The lines consisted of a carved circle in the center with lines radiating out from it. Running my fingers across the face, the light illuminated the moment my fingers grazed the center. “Wow, that is pretty bright!” I exclaimed, having been blinded by the sudden activation.

“They can get pretty bright, but we should keep them set to low.” Mia told me while showing how the brightness adjustment worked.

“This is really awesome! How much did all of this cost?” I asked, knowing it was way cheaper than what I would guess if asked.

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“Just over ten copper coins. It cost two copper per light and six for the hearthstone. The bad thing is that the lights will only last two seasons, they said. These cheap ones burn out quickly. They did say that the hearthstone should last us a few years due to the quality of stone required to make it resist the heat while functioning.”

“I am not a fan of the lights being so short lived, but we should have a lot more disposable income by the time that they go out.” I conceded.

“That is what I was thinking. And speaking of future money, I have the seeds!” Mia said while now pulling out a small sack full of what I guessed were seeds. “I bought Rhubarb seeds. They were pretty expensive seeds, at one copper coin per seed, but they sell for just over two copper when harvested at a fairly low level. And in a weird way, they are more efficient for us.”

“How are they more efficient?” I asked, curiosity peaked.

“Well since we only have the starter tools, our time is extremely limited. With a few expensive crops, we are able to keep up and to properly maintain our field. If we planted a field of a cheaper crop, we could make more money, but there would be no actual way for us to do it time wise.” She explained in the same logical manner as always.

“Sounds good, it also gives us more free time.” I thought aloud.

“Exactly! So should we get to planting them?” she asked.

“We should, but we also need to think about how we will patch the roof in the coming days.”

“That is true… could we just use the grass as a thatched roof?”

“It might not be good to have straw up there with all the lightning recently. I was thinking that we would need to patch it with wood then cover the entire thing with a slate roof.”

With a shadow crossing her face, Mia just shook her head in agreement.

“Don’t worry, our farm will get easier for you. Rumble and I got another of the glowing flowers! You will never guess how he got it!” I said, barely containing my excitement at telling her the story.

**********

“Are you serious!?” Mia exclaimed while looking at Rumble in amazement.

“Ya! Rumble fights these insects and gets paid by frogs and turtles, it was wild!” I said while laughing at the absurd story.

“Can we go see it before planting the rhubarb?” Mia asked excitedly.

“Of course.” I responded, seeing how happy she was to have another of the calming flowers. “But you should know that it is just a buried seed this time… There isn’t really anything to see.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Nevermind then, I will see it when it sprouts.” She said with some of the excitement gone from her voice. “Well, we should focus on the rhubarb then.” She said taking the seeds out of the backpack once more.

And so we set out into the field on our knees planting the new crops until an unexpected surprise popped into my vision.

Skill acquired!

“Greenthumb” gained

“Woah! I just gained a skill!” I told Mia while pulling up its description, ecstatic at the situation.

“What skill!?” She asked.

“Greenthumb!” I said quickly before launching into its description when it popped up. “It says that it increases plant quality of all crops that I grow myself. It also says that I got it from planting and harvesting 15 different vegetables myself… shouldn’t I have already gotten that?” I turned to Mia with confusion rampant in my mind.

“Oh my gosh, I did not even think about that! I got it when I had my first partial harvest during your coma. It did not even occur to me that you had not planted or harvested enough. With their last harvest I would have thought that you had gotten it, but I am guessing it has to do with you doing the more physically demanding job like hoeing.” Mia postulated.

Thinking back on planting our first crops I came to a conclusion, “ Ya, it was probably because you usually plant the actual seeds instead of me. Well, I guess we need to alternate a bit more from now on then.”

“I agree, but I cannot commit to being happy about that. That just means that I need to do more digging now.” Mia pouted, but failing to look anything but cute.

“Haha, I need a break too!” I joked.

“Hrmph! We should get back to planting. At the very least we need to get it done before dark.” Mia said not quite holding back a smile behind her moue.

And so the day passed until the fields were finished and we were ready to head back towards the shack.