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The Only Kingdom With A System
Chapter 21: Tomatoes

Chapter 21: Tomatoes

As Axel stepped into the [Tomato] zone, he found himself greeted by another expansive farmland, stretching out before him. Nearby stood a shabby shack adorned with various signs, each one providing instructions for visitors, just like the previous zone.

If you damage the Toma-toes you won't get it.

Destroy the center vine and leave the Toma-toes untouched for maximum yield.

Axel wondered who wrote the sign because it just sounded like common sense. If you destroy a tomato of course you won't get it, but if you remove it from the vine safely, you will. That was obvious, but now Axel was learning from his short stint in the barrier. Things were not always as they seemed. So with the power of casual observation, Axel turned his attention from the sign-littered shack to the battlefield in front of him.

This time it was a man donning red fur armor, but instead of a bow in his hands was throwing knives. Throwing knives that seemed to be made out of [Stone Infused Wood], given the wooden shaft and the rocky material on the tip. In front of the man, was a Toma-toes. The leafy green vines were in the shape of a wheel, even the spokes of the wheel were made out of vines. It reminded Axel of a water wheel he had seen before, but instead of paddles to catch water, there were vines in the shape of a foot and where the toes would be, were bright red [Tomatoes].

Axel felt his appetite leave his being. The [Tomatoes] being part of feet grossed him out a bit.

They would rotate around going from foot to foot, as it dodged the flying knife of its adversary, zigging and zagging in a manner that made it seem like it would topple at any moment. but it never did. It would inch its way closer, and closer to the man, in a rotational dance, almost like a spinning top. Until finally one of the throwing knives would connect, slicing a vine, but it was only one of the many vines holding the wheel together. The wheel continued on closer to the man, who was desperately throwing out knife after knife, grabbing a new set of five from his [Inventory] after every throw.

The knives whizzed through the air, some unlucky shots would hit the ripe [Tomato] sending out a burst of fresh red juice which splattered onto the soft ground that looked as if a crime scene had just occurred. Some luckier ones would sever one of the vines that made the wheel structurally sound, while most would fly in between the vines harmlessly. But, the man was soon running out of time, as the wheel stomped closer to him.

The foot loomed over him, making him feel like an ant about to be crushed. Just as it seemed he would be trampled, the man suddenly disappeared in a blur and reappeared a few feet to his right. The wheel rolled over his original location, merely softening the soil ever so slightly. With a swift turn, the wheel pivoted and charged once more towards the man, who continued to relentlessly fling knives at it.

But, the man's strategy had shifted. Now incorporating that same blurring technique he used to evade the crushing blow. Darting around in circles, he induced sharp turns in the wheel's path, causing it to spin in dizzying circles, akin to a wobbling coin teetering on the brink of collapse.

Then, Axel realized something. The man was not disappearing and reappearing like he had thought, instead he was dashing forward at an incredible speed. It took a while but Axel's eyes eventually adjusted and could at least vaguely make out the man dashing, before throwing out a handful of knives.

The man had given up any attempt to preserve the [Tomatoes], choosing to fling wildly in the general direction of the wheel. Even when a cluster of ripe [Tomatoes] was in front of him. Once again, the knives would zip through the air, some hitting their target, others not. Some missing completely, others cutting through the vine with the grace of a hot knife going through butter.

More throwing, more dashing, and more spinning in circles by the wheel later, it finally slowed down and then disappeared, leaving behind a solitary [Tomato] on the ground along with a few coins. With a dejected sigh, the man began gathering his scattered throwing knives, stowing them away in his [Inventory] before collecting his spoils.

Ruminating about his plan of attack after observing the battle, Axel did not even realize he was at the crystal until he bumped into it, eliciting a couple of chuckles from those fortunate enough to witness his bumbling. With his cheeks flushed a rosy pink, Axel touched the crystal before shifting to a sub-world where hopefully he would not embarrass himself any further.

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It did not take long to find a Toma-toes rolling around the dirt. The large thing could be easily seen in the distance, with several others scattered further away. Axel only hoped he would not have to deal with multiple of them at the same time. After watching the clash earlier, he could tell that fighting one was tough, let alone dealing with a group.

The moving wheel had spotted Axel and stopped, slowly rotating in place until it faced him directly. Then, it started its approach, one foot at a time. He knew it was fast from observing earlier, but to actually be the target of that speed was something else entirely. Axel jumped out of the way of the encroaching foot, with the help of [Strength Boost] to clear the distance.

Axel watched as the wheel turned around in a wide radius, before coming back towards him now moving even faster. Axel's plan was simple in theory, when the wheel rolled past, jump and cut one of the vines acting as a spoke so that he could be inside of the wheel. Once inside, he would unleash a fury of attacks in the center until all that was left was a bunch of juicy [Tomatoes] and [Gold Coins].

In practice though... It was tougher than he expected. The wheel was tracking him with incredible precision. Take two steps to the right and it would adjust its approach so that Axel was always in the middle of it. Move too early and nothing would really change, move too late and all Axel could do was jump out of the way. He had to move out of the way at the right moment to give him enough time to recover and jump into the rotating wheel, but the wheel was moving too fast. This carried on with Axel trying to time his movements better with each attempt, but all that happened was his frustration growing.

Axel growled in anger, as he failed another attempt, he managed to move out of the way but was too slow and when he tried to jump on board, all that greeted him was the soft ground that the wheel had just smothered. Axel stomped on the ground and prepared for the return of his adversary. This time wanting to try something new instead of repeating and repeating the same moves until he went insane. This time, he tried to emulate what he had seen the man do earlier.

Axel did not have that dashing skill, but he hoped that [Strength Boost] would be good enough to achieve the desired effect. As the wheel approached, Axel began running. He ran and ran in circles, the wheel following close behind. Axel could see that it was slowing down, as the continuous turning and maneuvering was making it difficult for it to retain speed. It took much longer than the dashing man, but eventually, the wheel started wobbling, reminiscent of a coin in the beginning stages of its fall.

With a large grin, Axel felt a surge of motivation swell within him. It prompted him to start running faster, reducing the radius of the circle he was running. It was as if the wheels wobble gave him strength, he found himself laughing in excitement. He was not sure whether it was from seeing his opponent becoming unstable or from the rush of adrenaline that came with the battle.

When Axel deemed it time, he quickly moved to the side and jumped into the air, [Slashing] at the vines blocking his way and finally landing inside the wheel that had given him so much trouble. The monster was definitely more troublesome than the Potatothrows, so the price of [Tomatoes] should surely be higher therefore making his labor even more fruitful.

Once inside the wheel, the monster had lost its target and ceased its pointless chasing. It reverted back to its normal method of rotation, finally moving upright. Axel held onto one of the vines within the wheels as he watched his whole world turn upside down then right side up again and again. It was making him sick. Axel was grateful that he had nothing to actually vomit, but it was still a discomforting feeling. A small part of him considered abandoning the ship, but the much larger part squished it like the tiny insignificant thought it was.

Axel while still holding onto the vine as support, began [Slashing] away at all the other internal vine spokes. One by one the vines were severed, and with each vine destroyed the more unstable the wheel became, wobbling all over the place, once again threatening to topple.

Soon enough, the monster finally collapsed on itself. The vines were apparently a means of holding it stable together and with nothing to support it, the wheel just fell apart leaving behind a bunch of ripe [Tomatoes] for the picking. A single wheel netted him 20 [Tomatoes] and 10 [Gold Coins].

[Tomatoes was slain. Gained 20 points]

It felt good, he could not help but think about how the man he saw earlier could only gain a [Tomato] after their intense bout meanwhile Axel scored way more. After his initial moment of internal gloating, Axel felt a pang of remorse. Remorse that he was being insensitive and selfish. Axel had copied the man's strategy to achieve his goal. It did not feel right to act all superior, even if it was just inside his head. Axel just sighed before moving on with his farming.

The following battles were pretty much the same. Running in circles, jumping in, trying not to throw up, and dismembering the wheel. The battles were slow, almost as slow as when he fought the Adult Timberstone Tree, but far more nauseating. Most of the time was spent running in circles until the wheel was in a favorable position before commencing his plan of attack.

In the end, he had gathered 100 [Tomatoes] and 47 [Gold Coins] after about an hour and a half.

Sick and tired of feeling sick, Axel chose to return to the main world and find more interesting monsters to harvest and maybe some breakfast to fill his empty stomach.