Thankfully, everyone agreed to join Nathan in the defense of his town. Bjorn started assisting in siege planning with his years of experience as a soldier—not as a leader, just as a consultant. Mara had taken to Nathan’s bomb-building suggestion with glee, screaming, “No one ever let me do this after last time!”

So that was concerning.

It would probably be fine.

Chad had struck up a conversation with one of the mushroom people chefs and had somehow been conscripted into becoming a cook. Nathan was confused as to how this happened.

Emi, meanwhile, had requested to help Nathan, saying that she was trained in negotiation and would be able to resolve any conflicts. This came in handy because several contract issues popped up whenever Nathan wanted to add additional defenses. When this happened, Emi would just step in and negotiate around the contract.

The whole time, Nathan’s Authority kept going back up until it hit a solid 100%. At the same time—for unknowable reasons—Gius’s expression became more and more downcast.

Eventually, they finished with everything that could be done.

“By the way, Gius,” Nathan said. “How’s my plant been doing?”

Gius straightened his back. “The Divine Seed?”

“What?”

“The Divine Seed, my lord. I believe you should take a look. It’s quite astonishing.”

They walked toward an area far on the outskirts of the town. As they walked, grass became more common, covering the landscape like polka dots.

Emi tugged on Nathan’s sleeve. “What’s this about a Divine Seed?”

“I think he’s talking about a seed I got in the tutorial. kind of made it? It’s a long story—“

“You made a seed—?“ she paused and sniffed the air. “What is that smell?”

Gius glanced back at Emi. “Ah, you have some affinity for Nature, don’t you? I suspected as much when you interacted with the other Mushroom People.”

“The rest of the land is still sleeping, even if it’s not dead,” Emi said. “But there’s something writhing with energy up ahead.”

They continued walking.

Nathan caught sight of the area where he’d planted his seed. His jaw dropped.

Where there’d once been dead soil, the ground was blooming with life. Flowers were budding, the trees had bunches of new pale green leaves branching out. Vines and bushes were sprouting. They were all fresh. Mixed with the scent of the dead, the smell of spring wafted over the area.

And in the center of all this, a single flower sat in the middle, its stalk slightly drooped. Its petals were just coming in—half of them a pure black, half of them a radiant white.

Nathan approached, goosebumps traveling down his spine. “This is my seed?”

“Yes, my lord. Beautiful, is it not? We’ve been tracking the root system, and what we’ve found is astonishing. Everything that you’ve seen, all this life springing up—it all seems to be coming from this flower. Your seed is single-handedly bringing life back to the land—hence why many are calling it the Divine Seed.

Emi stared at the flower. “Nathan, where did you get this seed from? None of that should be possible.”

Nathan extended out his hand toward one of the flower’s petals and brushed it. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that the flower seemed to move to meet his fingers.

“It’s a bit of a weird story.” Nathan stood up and turned to face his companions. “Basically, um, I started a farm in the tutorial, right?”

Gius and Emi nodded their heads.

“So, basically, I found a bunch of seeds in the tutorial. I was watering it with this weird glowing water,” Nathan said. “Then I got injured and poisoned with some kind of black water. I ended up bleeding all over the plants and that really seemed to kickstart the growth.”

Gius mumbled to himself and shook his head.

“I’m unsure as to the exact properties of this water you found,” he said. “But a glow would imply a massive amount of mana—or at least, energy of some kind.”

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Either that or it’s radioactive.

Wait, I was drinking that stuff for two weeks, I really hope it’s not radioactive.

“And then add in your blood, a life-giving essence,” Emi said. “I’m not sure about the black water, but the combination of all those fluids will do strange things to the plants.” She shook her head. “I still don’t understand where you got the seed from, though.”

Nathan paused.

“I said out loud that it was a shame that I had to leave,” Nathan said. “And then all the plants died. There was this flower that just popped out of the ground, and when it blossomed, there was a seed in the middle.”

Emi stared at the flower, then back at Nathan, then back at the flower.

“Nathan, I’m not sure you understand what you just told us,” she said. “You’ve just said that your plants understood your request, and then spontaneously… moved their essence into a seed. That seems to be what you’re describing.”

“I have never heard of such a thing.” Gius shook his head. “It’s a shame that we don’t have access to the water for analysis.

“Wait, I have a bunch of it left in my inventory.”

Gius’s jaw dropped.

“You must let us analyze it immediately!” He grabbed Nathan by the shoulders and shook him. “This could revolutionize everything—medicine, agriculture, maybe even contract law! Please, my lord, for the future of fungi constitutional rights!”

Nathan swung back and forth. “O-Okay, I was going to give it to you!”

Gius froze, then took his hands off Nathan. He dropped into a bow. “My most humble apologies!”

“It’s fine.” Nathan adjusted his ripped-up suit. “I get it, you were excited.”

They headed back to the town where Gius managed to find a few glass bottles. Nathan was able to pour from his inventory into the containers (it was a pain, don’t ask how long it took to figure that out).

By the end of it, though, Gius was staring at the samples with something akin to reverence.

“Thank you, my lord,” Gius said. “When we discover the truth of this strange water, we will alert you immediately.

----------------------------------------

With that explained and finished up, Nathan checked back on the progress of the defenses. In a matter of hours, ditches had been dug and rough walls made of rubble and duct tape had been thrown together.

When they arrived, they were stopped at the gate by a shout.

“Don’t move! There are a bunch of mines there!” a voice said.

The gates swung open and Chad waved at them. He walked over, stepping from side to side seemingly at random.

“Follow me,” he said. “I will show you the way.”

Nathan stared at the ground. “How many mines did Mara make?”

“A lot,” Chad said. “Like, a lot a lot.”

“What happens if we step on one?”

“The way Mara described it, we’d all be turned into burnt fleshsacks in about a second.”

Don’t step on the mines. Got it.

Nathan followed Chad back to the gate, each step slow and deliberate. Finally, they reached the end. Emi and Gius walked off. Gius because of the glowing water and Emi because she wanted to check in on the other members of the group.

“Can you give me a status update?” Nathan said. “How’d your kitchen adventure go?”

Chad shrugged.

“Honestly, I mostly just cooked ramen, but now they think I’m some sort of gourmet chef,” he said. “Bjorn’s been doing his soldier thing and showing the mushroom people some tactics he learned. And it seems like all the walls have been set up—but it’s a rush job, and everyone knows it.”

Nathan nodded. “Thanks. Let’s hope this goes well.’

“Yup. Don’t die, by the way, since you’re our escape route out of here.”

No pressure.

There wasn’t much Nathan could do anymore. In theory, he could buy more defenses, but that would take time to build—time they didn’t have. There was nothing else but to stay ready.

So, he walked over to the wall and climbed up the stairs. Looking out over the field was the mushroom people marshal—Fuge. She was dressed in full leather armor, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.

She caught his eye. “My lord. You should retreat. It’s dangerous to be up here.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow. “I mean, there’s a lot of dangerous things. I’ve dealt with them.”

She snorted.

“With all due respect, you have no idea of real battle,” she said “You are only on the first circle, yes? The challenges you are facing will be nothing in comparison to what you’ll see later. I believe that the worst you’ve fought is slimes.”

Nathan squinted his eyes at her. He waved his arm stub up and down.

She looked at it. “Why are you waving your shoulder like that?”

“Because it’s missing an arm from a fight?” Nathan said.

“Oh. I thought maybe it was a fashion statement. As if to imply that you are mysterious and battle-hardened.”

“I had it bitten off. By a giant flying eel. It was very traumatic.”

“I see.”

“What kind of a response is that?”

She shrugged. “I’m just saying, it’s not that impressive.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? Do I need to lose the other one?” Nathan asked. “Maybe a leg too? I could hop around for extra flare.”

“Pardon my lack of respect—it’s not that I don’t appreciate your work. I just don’t think you’re very strong.”

“You haven’t even seen me in a fight,” Nathan said.

“Hmph. But your bearing says it all. You’re squeamish and fearful.” She shook her head. “It is not the manner of a warrior. And there is nothing wrong with that, but you should leave the battle to us.”

Nathan rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Do we have a time estimate on when this raid will show up?”

“Approximately 2 hours. Maybe less, maybe more.”

“Do we know what the raid will consist of?”

“I’m extremely doubtful that the raider will use intelligent beings. Those are expensive and put to much better use as labor for their town,” Fuge said. “No, it’s going to be beasts of war. Monsters—at least, for this wave.”

“There are going to be multiple waves?”

“Most likely. We’ll know for sure when the raid occurs,” Fuge said.

Nathan nodded. “Got it. By the way, where’s Gius and the council?”

“Hiding in the Town Hall,” Fuge said. “Except Gius. He will be preparing a failsafe along with our elders.”

“A failsafe?”

“You will not understand the details. Suffice to say that it will be a one-time use and it will take an immense amount of time to prepare, so we should avoid utilizing it if possible.”

Nathan nodded. “Got it.”

“If I might ask, my lord,” Fuge said. “What will you use for your weapon?”

Nathan reached into his inventory, pulling out his metal fishing rod.

Fuge stared at the fishing rod, a blank expression on her face.

“Oh,” she said. “Okay.”

Nathan faced toward the outskirts of town. A shimmering purple portal appeared in the distance.

A chill went down his spine.

“They’re here,” he said.