Authors note: If any inconsistencies happen please let me know so I can correct them
Paeral was watching her humble garden with regret. She had aged to the point that she could only properly grow the plants that took care of themselves for the most part. She remembered the gardens that would encompass the whole of the village giving their blessings to all inside it. Many had tried to inherit the class but no one had the required patience and dedication to guide the forest in ways that she could. The only successful disciples she once had have left for other, more populated places, where they could make a much better and easier living off their trade.
‘That boy is taking too long’ she thought ‘I would have thought that he would be back by now, asking for help.’ Most of her former disciples had realized that they should humbly ask for advice much faster than Dwyn.
‘Then again, I may have been a bit too harsh on him. Not really his fault he doesn't care much for gardening. Everyone has different preferences.’
She was worried that Dwyn would truly grow to hate gardening if he associated it with all his problems.
‘I should be more helpful and kind to him when he returns. Oh the sacrifices I must make. To think I have to give up my joy of driving him up the wall.’
Because she didn't want him to go and find some way to twist gardening into something dark and horrible, and this boy had a talent for making a mess of things, she decided to help him find a way to enjoy gardening.
Soon after coming to her resolution, Dwyn came back wearing the smuggest of grins.
“Going by your expression, either you’re successful, or I’m about to die.”
His expression faltered a bit when she mentioned dying.
‘So, he doesn't like death. Good.’ Paeral thought.
“I've got all thirty of ‘em to grow. So I've passed the test” Dwyn said with his smugness back
‘Gods, he is really making me want to bully him again.’
“The first one, yes. I hope you remember where they all are tough.”
“Of course” Dwyn replied “Now what”
“Now, for the second test you will need to learn in depth information about each of those plants. Usually this would lead you to the library, however our village does not have one, so I’ll have to give you the books from my collection. They’re in the bedroom. Take some and bring them to this table here. You may need to revisit the plants you've grown to be sure you have correctly identified them.”
“OK, so ID the plants and then what?”
“Then you read about them till the system notifies you that you've learned all you could about the plant. All thirty of them actually.”
“Right sounds easy enough. What’s the catch?”
“No catch, it just takes a while.”
Dwyn was confused. It was like Paeral became a completely different person. ‘Did completing the first test raise her affinity towards me? Or is she up to something and trying to make me let my guard down? I must be careful.’
He went to her room and picked a few books. Most of them were related to gardening, and he had to skim all of them to see if they had any of his plants or not. He actually had to revisit a lot of them because similar plants existed. It had taken him an annoyingly long and uneventful day to get all of the plants identified, and most of them had no special meaning.
[p=center]Loneshrub – poison type plant[/p]
-has plant oriented poison that makes the earth temporarily not fertile, negligent effect on everything else
-good for making borders in fields
-spreads from broken off thorns that are carried of by animals or monsters
[p=center]Dawnbloom – medical herb[/p]
-its petals can be mashed into a paste for healing curses and other afflictions
-true potential only unlocked by alchemists and gardeners
-flower is only open at dawn, and best plucked then
-needs plenty of sunlight at dawn to grow properly
[p=center]Rockvine – parasitic type plant[/p]
-can only grow on rocks and stones
-on different rocks will have different properties
-can crush rocks and stones
-spreads by broken bits and can stay dormant for a long time
Most other plants were average plants like the Swamp grass.
[p=center]Swamp grass – average plant that grows where there is plenty of water[/p]
-can be eaten by herbivores
-provides a natural habitat for some animals, mostly amphibians and bugs
He also read about some more interesting plants, but because he did not grow them, there were no notifications. Once he was done, Paeral informed him of the last test.
“Good, now that you have finished the first two tests, you only have one last test to do. The last test is to build a garden from the plants you are now familiar with. You must use all of them, and you must fit them all within three square meters.”
“Wait a sec, wouldn't the loneshrub take more than half that area alone, and what about the underwater three?”
“That is a part of this final test. You also have a three days limit. I’d hurry if I were you.”
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“But, where do I plant them? This garden I mean.” ‘Is this the trap? She's finally showing her true colors.’
“Anywhere so long as you are not in someone’s way. You can use the books as well during this time. Now go”
Dwyn reread what amount of sunlight most plants would need, and based on that decided on a place where he would make his garden. It was near the village center, so he couldn't work in peace because the elves around him were making him the butt of their jokes. He borrowed measuring tape to mark off the area for the garden, and began digging.
The spot he picked was flat, so he started planning his first garden.
‘Need to make a hole for the underwater ones and a gradual decline on one end and steep on others. The plants will grow in a day at most, so I have to arrange this by tomorrow. I can’t dig with my hands, so I should probably borrow a shovel and something to carry more water in than a flask.’
He had no choice, other than to ask Paeral for the tools, and to his rising suspicion, she was civil and helpful. Dwyn suspected some sort of foul play but nothing seemed wrong so he went to work.
‘I don't have the time to waste on being suspicious of her. That's probably her plan. Dammit!’
After confirming the depth necessary for each plant, he started digging on a corner of his makeshift garden. The digging took him a while because the dirt was hard packed with all the elves walking around the center of the village for so long. Halfway through the digging he got a notification.
Strength+1
That made the rest of the dig easier. The second problem he faced was that no matter how much water he poured into the hole, it was slowly being absorbed by it. The only solution was to dig some more and insulate the bottom before returning the soil.
‘What can I hold the water with? Concrete doesn't exist here, maybe leather? I don’t have the coin to buy any and if I go hunting outside, there’s no guarantee that I won’t die. Even if I don’t die they’ll probably just decide I’m running from them and put a bounty on my head... The bastards. So leather’s out.’
The old elf he played passed by and when he saw Dwyn’s worried face he started laughing loudly.
‘AAaaaa. That damn…. never mind him, I need to focus. Wood maybe.’ Dwyn then looked at his hole. ‘There’s no way I could get wood with the right shape for this’
He was getting desperate and could think of only one solution. ‘I could maybe use some wood together with some of the more leafy plants and rocks to close the cracks between the planks before I bury it all. No time to stand here and think, I’ll try and think as I’m testing it.’
By the time Dwyn had started his last test, the preparations for the villages spring food festival had begun, and several temporary stands were constructed for the sake of holding the festival outside where the whole village could gather. This was good for Dwyn because he managed to get his hands on the spare planks that were lying in the grass, discarded and ignored.
At nightfall he made his way to the old elf’s farm and after checking a few times that he was alone, helped himself to some cabbages. Just a few dozen. Nearly half were still left at the farm, and it wasn't even primarily a cabbage farm. It had more carrots and turnips, and some fantasy ingredients than cabbages. The damage was rather minimal really.
He brought them back and with the planks and a ton of cabbage leaves, and a few good shaped rocks insulated the bottom of his garden pond. After putting a layer of dirt on top of it, there was no longer any evidence of the cabbage heist, and the water was barely leaking. At most Dwyn would have to go and fill it with a bucket of water every 2-3 hours.
‘Acceptable. Now I can plant most of them.’
So he did. The exceptions were the rockvine (he needed a rock), the loneshrub (needed to isolate it somehow), and two other plants that needed too much time to grow.
‘To drag a decent sized rock here I need to borrow a cart from Paeral, I’ll also need a pot for the loneshrub. And some info on digging out and replanting. She probably has a book on it.’
She did have a book that detailed digging out replanting most common plants, she also had a pot to borrow. She did not, however, have a cart.
“It’s because I’m old you see. It was quite a long time since I had the strength to put heavy thing on a cart, and remove them. I’m afraid you’re on your own on that one. Frankly, I’m surprised you didn't pick a place near the rivet where there was a rock already.”
"Can I just bring a bunch of rocks and plant the rockvine there?"
"You could, but you would have no guarantee it would catch on and start growing properly. Or on time for that matter. Just find a round rock and roll it there."
"DAMMIT" ~heavy breathing~ "Just for one fucking ti...."
"You're wasting your precious time stupid, now hurry and swear along the way if you must."
"AAAAA" The screaming and running combination left him winded all too soon, so he quit. It had nothing to do with the stares and smirks he was getting from the locals. Not a thing.
Dwyn took a pot from her and planted the loneshrub and replanted the two other plants. The time needed for a rockvine to grow properly was two days on it's own, or slightly under one day with proper care. He knew how to speed it's growth from the books he read. But his time was almost out, and he was starting to feel a little sleep deprived.
‘Just need to water the damn hole again, and then I'll log off and find a way to carry a big enough rock. Never thought being a gardener would be this exhausting.’