Being so tall has come with a different problem. Farm work, especially planting and, I expect, weeding as well, is quite tough on the back. If I didn’t have my stats and more than a dozen traits helping my body, I would say that I wouldn’t be able to be a farmer. It was a sobering thought and something that I absolutely didn’t like. A good distraction has been planting and messing with my evolution project.
Evolving plants slowly over the generations and only giving small nudges seem to be working well. The seeds have only been in the ground for a few days but I could already see how the seeds have started to germinate and how they are slowly consuming the seed's fuel to start growing. The process is quite wonderful to see but I also found out something crucial.
It seems that as the plant evolved, its needs for sustenance also changed. Currently, those changes weren't substantial enough to do anything about them but I could see that eventually, they might need a completely new environment to thrive.
Even after the planting, it was busy around the farm. My apprentices were focused on the larger projects and their own interests. Everyone also, every once in a while, delved into a dungeon which helped them level up a bit faster and improve their self-defense. They were coming together nicely and by next spring, they should be ready to start building their own homesteads.
For a day or two now, I’ve been feeling like a headless chicken, not exactly knowing what I should do. Not being able to decide my next move, I decided to help others. I started with the military and started to make more training plans for different types of troops and combat styles. This was only able to occupy me long enough that the merchant made it back with some good news. It appears that his trip went extremely well and I had my second-rank bowstring.
The stories about the city and their travels were quite interesting and I knew that I needed to go to that city this year as I needed to go and visit The Court of The Young office there and go through another evaluation and interview. It was annoying but at least the sites should be interesting enough. There was no need to be adversarial with them if I didn’t have to. Leaving it this last minute would also be a bad idea, as you never know what might happen.
Perhaps I should just go when Roger goes on his next merchant trip. Running to the southern forest was relaxing but I wanted to test out my new bows as they were now fully ready. For the longbow, I actually had to go through the proper movement if I wanted to pull it completely back.
When released, the arrow flew with immense power, breaking through multiple trees before coming to a stop. Next I tried my energy arrows and while they worked a bit worse, they had extra versatility and I had a huge amount I could make.
Not wanting to destroy the forest around me, I found a hillside I could shoot into. First, I tested my shooting speed which was significantly slower as I needed to do proper movements and it took a little bit of time to make energy arrows. With a little bit of practice, I will be able to shave that time down. The better question was going to be if it was worth investing time into it or should I just keep practicing my swordplay.
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The next thing to test was my shooting stamina. With the 10th shot, I was already sweating but I felt that I could keep going a lot longer. In the end, I could keep up a decent speed for over half an hour before I felt I was starting to truly push myself.
After a short break, it was time for the composite bow. I had the thumb ring. Even though I hadn’t done a lot of shooting with this type of bow, it was still one of the most popular bows that I made in my previous life.
The arrow’s flying speed was incredible fast and the power this small frame could produce was amazing. However, the most noteworthy aspect was how nimble and controllable this bow is. No wonder it was the preferred bow for horseback shooting.
It seems that for this bow, the style of shooting where you hold some of the arrows in your hand seemed to be compatible. That was great news as it increased my burst fire rate by a lot. It will once again take a while to get used to this bow but I’m more inclined to put time in for this one than the longbow.
Back in town, I continued my training planning creation but I also moved on from the military and provided some more questionable training plans, some for our spies and assassins, but a few even for thieves.
I was eventually interrupted when I was invited to a council meeting where they had something to discuss with me. They were a bit secretive about it and I wondered what was going to happen. When I entered the room, I found it interesting that there were only a few select people here and even more curious that some of my generals were also here.
"Please take a seat," David said and pointed to the seat of honor or condemnation. They didn't have the power in this room to do anything to me so I was leaning towards the honor part but that also didn't make any sense. It seems that I would need to wait. When I sat down and started to look towards them, I saw uncertainty. There was hesitation but eventually, David started. "Rich, as you know the latest merchant trip was a huge success." At this point, I interrupted him.
"You're telling me the amount of credits I have is quite healthy?" I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit which helped everyone relax. "Yes, and that is something we want to discuss with you. While we did get everything essential that we needed, there are still many things that we need. We will get the global mailing box working within a week or two but I don’t need to tell you how important that is after we have all read the newsletter," David said.
I had to agree on that. It seems that they are finally getting their act together but who knows if it's just propaganda. David continued, "The next most important thing that we will need are upgraded components and systems for our Owlbears soul core. For that reason, the United Freeholds has gathered more bow-making materials and we are hoping to hire you for a reasonable price to make bows for us so we could gain more funds."
"Yeah, why not?" I answered but David didn’t seem to hear me. "Now we know that it would be better for you to just make bows for yourself but we are hoping that, wait, you agreed?" David finally registered my words and I had to smile towards him.
"If I’m too busy with other things, I will inform you but currently, there will be no problem making some bows on commission." What followed was a pleasant conversation where I was even handed a bow which design they wanted me to copy. Apparently, this was the most popular design. It resembled a Longbow but its tips were curved outwards but not by a lot.
It wasn't going to be a hard design to make but I was more excited about the materials. There was enough for quite a few second-rank bows but everyone got even more excited when I told them that with the excess wood, I should be able to make a few more composite bows, bringing their profits up quite a lot. All of this should fuel our bigger project, especially the huge road going to the first-rank swamp dungeon.
On my way back home, I made a note to visit the iron mine where they were currently building quite a large outpost. A lot more housing was needed out there as the inn was frankly too far and overcrowded because of the delvers. That mountain not only was currently supplying us with iron, but there was already a working salt collection field near the salt river, and now the quarry was opened and running as well. The number of workers has exploded and they all need a place to sleep and stay safe.
There was also another problem and that was with the goblins. At first, when I was claiming land for the United Freeholds, I technically took some that they laid claim to. And while we were giving them quite a good deal for the road, it was still something that they weren’t completely comfortable with.
I wanted to do something to fix that strained relationship and my best idea was crossbows, ballistae, and similar contraptions. Just building for them wouldn't be enough, but perhaps a book on how to make them and why they are designed the way they are is a good gift.