Mateo followed Bentley out onto a wide field, the liveliest crops he'd ever laid eyes on before him. He'd wrapped cloth around his feet to serve as coverings so he didn't cut his soles on rocks for now. Living in a smaller town, Mateo had been on a few farms. But this one took the cake, being worked on by an entire village over generations. He got looks due to being a human in a town of halflings, but all of them gave him a smile and a friendly wave. Eventually they walked up to another burrow in a hill near the farm. Bentley stepped on inside, beckoning Mateo to follow.

"Here we are, Mateo. This here's the house of the Greenraise family. They head the town farm we all work at. If you get his approval, I'm sure he'll let you work for food just fine. He's a friendly sort, so I don't think there'll be any issue here."

Mateo nodded, shuffling into the small doorway. Standing inside, smoking a pipe was another halfling. He regarded Mateo was a mix of surprise and intrigue.

"A Man..? Bentley, would you mind explaining yourself?"

Bentley stepped in behind Mateo, before walking to stand beside him.

"This here is Mateo. He's lost, and asked if he could work with us for some food."

The man smoking the pipe examined Mateo up and down a few times, before letting out a curt nod.

"I have no issue with it as long as he causes no trouble. Where will he be staying, and how long?"

"In the spare bedroom within my house. We aren't sure yet on timeframe, so until further notice."

"That so? Well, I'll leave teaching him how to make himself useful up to you then."

Bentley gave Mateo a smile, who returned it with his own. Internally, Mateo was almost suspicious of how smoothly that had gone, but he remembered again that Viola said she was putting him in the most peaceful place possible. He guessed that it made sense that she'd try and put him somewhere that he could easily put down roots to grow stronger in, at least till he could start his journey. Bentley directed Mateo out of the house and into the fields. The sun was pleasant, though Mateo kind of wished he was wearing something more fitting for the type of work he was about to be taught how to do. Bentley started explaining the basics of farming to Mateo. The farm was huge, with different crops in different areas.

They were raising a total of 12 crops across 300 acres. This included maize, carrots, potatoes, sugar beets, and barley. Excess crops were traded for other goods from across the world that were rare here, like metal. Animals like chickens and cows were also raised in relative openness. Although Mateo had briefly helped on his uncle's farm in the past he'd had a lot of modern tools and machines that did work for him, so this was a completely new experience for Mateo. One that was a lot of work. So much work that when he was taking a break, drinking some much needed water and adjusting, he got a little popup in his vision.

[ENDURANCE BOOST LEVEL 1 ACQUIRED]

[PHYSICAL ENHANCEMENT LEVEL 1 ACQUIRED]

He stared at the popup as it went away, swallowing the water that'd caught in his throat. Seriously? Already? He thought he might get skills a bit faster than most people due to his blood, but that was almost TOO quick. He decided to ask Viola about it next time he got a chance, which he suspected would be tonight in his dreams. He looked up, gazing at the sky, wondering is the skill acquisition had occurred at the same time like that since he'd taken a moment to rest. It was nearing evening now and he was covered in sweat. Bentley walked up to him with a chuckle.

"How's a hard day's work feel, friend?"

Mateo smiled back at him.

"Honestly? Really nice. So, quick question about skills."

"Sure, go right ahead."

"When you acquire one, does it usually happen right when you get enough 'experience' to level it, or while resting?"

Bentley seemed to go into thought for a moment, considering the question, before raising a finger and answering.

"Well, it's more complicated than this, but the simple answer is that, while your skills CAN level whilst you use 'em, it's more likely to actually happen once you settle down, 'cause the magic within your body gathers up proper."

Mateo nodded, happy that even if his only teacher at the moment wasn't exactly an expert, he at least knew enough to answer basic questions. Bentley held a basket up to him.

"I got our cut of vegetables, ready to head back? I can show you how to prepare a good stew."

Mateo took the basket, opting to hold it for the trek home.

"That sounds great."

They returned back to Bentley's home, and Mateo was handed a knife and potatoes, and was instructed to get to peeling while Bentley chopped carrots. What was considered a 'big' knife for Bentley just ended up being a normal knife for Mateo, so it worked out. After a bit of prep, Mateo was walked through on how to put together a basic stew with herbs. Though most of the herbs were recognizable, Mateo ended up staring at a solid red herb with a small glow to the stem. He looked at Bentley.

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"What's this now?"

"Oh, it's a local breed of magic herb, promotes good rest and helps you recover from work faster. It's called a ruduleaf. Go ahead and chew on it to get a feel for the flavor."

Mateo tilted his head a bit, then popped it into his mouth. When he started grinding it in his teeth, the leaf tasted pungent with a hint of sweetness to it. The aftertaste almost had a hint of sourness to it. Overall not unpleasant, and he could see how this would work in a stew. But besides that he felt a bit of warmness spread through his body. It wasn't a feeling he was used to, but it felt really nice. He clutched his chest, looking at Bentley.

"How common are those herbs?"

"Oh I grow em in the garden, so I use a few every night to help recover from work."

Mateo considered the long term effects of eating magical recovery herbs, but then stopped to consider that. Standing in front of a halfling and working on a farm weren't fully driving home the fantastical nature of what was happening, but holding a glowing magic herb was doing a bit more to drive it home. He was handed a mortar and pestle and got to grinding the herbs down for the stew now. After chopping everything up, and Bentley deciding he was in a chicken mood, they had a proper stew going. Bentley would stir the pot sometimes, but the two ended up simply talking again.

"So, what about your parents?" Mateo asked curiously. "You really just live here yourself?"

"Yeah, my parents have 3 other sons and 2 daughters. I'm already 23, so I decided I'd be of better use not taking up an extra bed, though I do go by frequently enough. Besides that I'm enjoying living here on my own for now. Probably will get married in the future, really settle down here."

Mateo smiled at him.

"Really now? Got a girl you like?"

"Well, maybe.."

He evasively looked off, his eyes going around in a circle before settling back on Mateo.

"What about you then?"

"Oh, nah. Nothing like that for me."

"Really now? Well that's no fun, was hoping to have somethin' to tease you for."

Mateo just laughed in response.

After a while more of talking, the stew was finished. Bentley served it up in bowls, and once more they found themselves having a pleasant meal. Once that was finished, Mateo helped with cleanup, and Bentley led him to the spare bedroom. It was a smaller space, more meant for a halfling, but Mateo nodded anyways, confident in his ability to make it work.

"Thank you once more Bentley. For everything."

Bentley wiped his nose and puffed his chest out.

"Of course, Mateo. I hope you find this place like a second home in due time."

He stepped out, letting Mateo be in his room for now. Mateo removed the sheet wrapping his body, before taking a small towel, and finding a bowl of clean water that was sitting in the room. He wet it, then began cleaning up by patting himself down. After all of the dirt was clear, he held the charm for a bit. He wasn't exactly tired, in part thanks to the herb. So instead, he decided to wrap a clean cloth around his waist and get to working out. He went to a local gym back at home every once in a while, so his body had definition already. But he decided it was time to fully kick it into high gear. He was mostly doing core workouts, and using a few stone instruments as weights. After about 4 hours, when it was closer to the middle of the night, he fell face first into bed. A ping went off in his mind.

[STRENGTH BOOST LEVEL 1 ACQUIRED]

[STAMINA RECOVERY LEVEL 1 ACQUIRED]

He gave a small "yaaaay" into his pillow, exhaustedly. Really, 4 skills on his first day here? The hell was with that, he wondered. Was gaining skills really that easy, was it his special blood? Questions for Viola, he decided as he fully passed into slumber. True as he thought, he woke up in the divine realm, staring at the endless sky. Viola's white hair was in the corner of his vision. He looked over at her, sitting up, before speaking.

"Alright I got questions. First of all, did you put me in front of Bentley fully naked on purpose to mess with me?"

Viola leaned forward some with a shake of her head.

"Nothing of the sort! I put you in front of him because he was the most helpful person in the village of halflings, and what I thought to be the most likely person to give you lodging and help as quickly as possible to expedite everything. You getting to work on the farm day 1 was beyond expectations though. I figured you'd be a bit more apprehensive about all of that?"

"Why would that be?"

"Well, Mateo. Imagine how most people your age react when they're told they can be the hero of some fantasy world. Most of them immediately try and gain power in order to be some cool guy heroic figure. Working on a farm to build up strength isn't exactly in the cards for them. Frankly if it wasn't for god blessings usually being much stronger than what I gave you, a lot of those so called 'heroes' would die before they got a chance to make an impact."

"... that makes sense, even if it makes me a bit uncomfortable to hear. Okay, well, what about the fact that I got those 4 skills in one day?"

"Ah, see. That would be part 2 of the reason why the Gods love your Earth. Whatever is the cause of you lot having no ability to bring out magic simultaneously imbues you all with some extreme amount of potential. Everyone from your world tends to pick up on magic very, very quickly when placed into magical worlds."

Mateo leaned forward some, chin in hand. All of his questions were answered, but something was still bugging him he couldn't fully form into words. He dismissed it for now, deciding there were more important things at hand.

"Alright, I need to build up magic to use your skills, how do I do that?"

"Well, there's a few ways. You can get into fights and absorb the internal magic of things you defeat, or find a way to meditate and absorb magic in the air. If you get lucky there's a way you can gain a lot of internal magic at once by finding artifacts or magical implements, but my ability to look into this world gets more limited the less power I have at my disposal. And unfortunately, I have basically none. In fact..." she uncrossed her legs, then recrossed them the other way. "We probably won't be able to talk for a while after tonight. Appearing in your dreams takes a chunk of my remaining divinity, and I need to conserve it as much as possible."

Mateo shifted uncomfortably that his biggest link to his own world was about to be severed, but it was out of his control and he knew logically this was correct.

"Is there anything else to talk about?"

"Mmm, well. Since we can talk for a while, is there anything you want me to do while I'm stuck up in the divine realm?"

Mateo paused, considering if he even should ask what he was about to bring up. Finally he spoke.

"My... parents. They died in a fire when I was 7, right? You did enough of a background check to know that. They should have had special blood too, can you... see if they were reincarnated to somewhere? Just for. Some. Peace of mind, you know?"

He stuttered over his words at the end there, a bit awkwardly.

Viola looked to the side.

"Sure, I can look into it. If I find anything I'll tell you in your dreams next time I have some spare divinity, sound okay?"

"Right. Thanks. Uhm... I guess I'll see you around."

He couldn't meet her eyes.

Viola gave a pleasant smile, leaned forward, and put her hand on his head.

"You'll do fine, Mateo. Just focus on building up your strength, then start to head west when you think you've become strong enough. Learn as much about magic as you can. And be safe."

Her smiling face was the last thing he saw before he awoke in the morning.