[Farmer] Mage

“Some of my friends told me about the number of deliveries they had to make to the Northern Wastes. Imagine my surprise when I heard this included five barrels of Sunfire Grain seeds!”

Cal simply stared at Nismus. Instead of being direct, the man went on a spiel he didn’t care for. Still, he grew more curious about someone who seemed to dismiss the difference in their status.

Even though Nismus gave him tea that no mortal should even think of buying due to cost, the man was still a mortal. There was a clear difference between them, one that even Drex was wary of at the start before becoming more comfortable with Cal’s casualness.

“So, it got me thinking,” Nismus continued without shame at Cal’s silence, “what if I could do something that would greatly help the hardworking Initiate toiling away in the Northern Wastes.”

“You still haven’t told me what you want,” Cal said drily when Nismus paused again.

The man really is one for dramatics.

“I have a buyer for your crop, Initiate Cal,” Nismus leaned forward slightly. “Buyers that will pay more than you can get from the Celestial Order.”

Cal tilted his head in interest. Not at the claim but at the sheer courage of this man. “You realize this will not end well if the guild knows what you offer me?”

Nismus waved him off with a carefree chuckle. “At something so small? No, they won’t care to look into it. If anything, the guild will be happy that they won’t need to sell such a small quantity of Sunfire Grains. It’s not worth the effort to try and find a buyer. After all, it’s not a crop planted in the territory.”

All of that seemed reasonable, but Nismus’s way of speaking gave Cal an image of a sneaky, money-grabbing businessman. He would be stupid to believe his words. “Fine, let’s assume that’s true. How do you know I’ll be able to grow the Sunfire Grains?”

“I don’t. But given the Advanced-rank tool you’re carrying on your back, I would wager you have a feasible plan.”

Cal’s hand twitched as he stopped himself from touching the sledgehammer he was carrying. He hadn’t forgotten about it, but he also didn’t expect a mortal to know what an Advanced-rank tool looked like.

That was his mistake. Nismus clearly wasn’t a typical mortal.

Cal stood abruptly, surprising Nismus for the first time. “I’m focused on getting to a successful harvest. As for what to do after, that’s something I’m not interested in right now. So, I’ll have to pass on this.”

He turned to walk away from this potentially disastrous talk.

“My offer is open, Initiate Cal. I’ll happily tell you the specifics anytime you wish.”

Cal ignored Nismus and swiftly exited his house. He didn’t stop until he was at the port to put as much distance between them as possible. Without the bazaar running, he didn’t run into any of the Initiates that would have no doubt stopped him for small talk.

Seris was spot on. That Nismus is unlikeable. That conversation is not one I want to be involved in right before I’m expecting to meet the Overseer.

He shook his head and searched the port for Drex. It wasn’t as busy as the time he visited during the day, but there were still a good amount of people around. He found his target leaning against the wall of the inn, sipping on a cup of tea.

“Drex,” Cal greeted once he was close.

Drex was still half-asleep. He slowly turned his head before staring at Cal in mild surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I finished planting the Sunfire Grains in the patch. I also started on a larger plot, but I’m only on the first step.”

Drex’s drowsiness slowly disappeared as he registered what he had heard. “I must be hallucinating. Did you really just say you’re done planting? In two days?”

“You heard right,” Cal nodded, feeling comfortable that this was as unexpected as he assumed. “I need more supplies… and information on how the Sunfire Grains grow.”

“How many times did you have to repeat the steps?” Drex was still stuck on how fast it was done.

“Just once.”

“… Just once?”

Cal nodded and waited patiently for Drex’s mind to accept reality. He was the one who did the work to fix the soil, and even he could barely believe it was so easy.

Drex took a few sips of his tea. “I guess the guild must have known what they were doing when they sent you to the Northern Wastes.”

“I’m sure they did,” Cal said drily. “So, could you help with what I need?”

“The supplies will take a few days to procure, but it won’t be an issue. I’ll need to visit and get an idea of the correct quantities to order.”

“You can visit anytime you’re free,” Cal offered generously.

Drex hummed as he took another sip. “I’ll tag along with Seris. As for the Sunfire Grains, they have a fairly short growth cycle. Seventy days should be enough for a harvest.”

With [Blessing of the Time-Warped Seed], that reduces the cycle to seven days… I’m a rich man.

Cal couldn’t stop thinking about the number of seeds in the barrel he used [Blessing of the Time-Warped Seed] on. If the small patch he cultivated got him five gold from the harvest, the barrel would get him well over a hundred gold.

“—you alright?”

He refocused on Drex, who was staring at him oddly. He cleared his throat. “I’m perfectly fine. So, I’ll come to you for help when it’s ready for harvest.”

Drex raised his eyebrows before shrugging. “Remind me in a few months.”

It’ll be far sooner than that.

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Cal smiled as he imagined Drex’s expression in a week. “Thanks for your help, Drex.”

“Wait,” Drex blurted out when Cal was about to turn away. He hesitated before continuing, “Don't take this the wrong way. I appreciate you taking care of Seris, but maybe she’s not the best person to give responsibility over a pet.”

Oh no.

“What did she do?” Cal asked with alarm. He had no idea how Seris could make Nibbles do something she didn’t want to, but he was sure the girl would find a way.

“It’s not… bad,” Drex quickly headed off Cal’s worry. “She has insisted on showing everyone in town her new ‘friend.’ It’s been a little too much… even for her.”

Cal’s mind brought up an image of the overexcited girl shoving an exasperated Nibbles into everyone’s faces. It made a small smile appear on his lips.

“I’m being serious. It’s honestly been a major distraction. We assumed Seris would get tired of it, but it was nonstop until she turned in for the night.”

He burst out laughing before trying his best to tamp it down when he saw Drex wasn’t amused. He held out a hand until he reduced the laughter to occasional chuckles. “I’ll talk to her today. She’s just excited about her new friend.”

“When is she not excited?” Drex muttered under his breath.

Cal didn’t think he was supposed to hear that, so he ignored it. He was about to take his leave when he remembered something. “Right, Drex, do you know someone called Nismus?”

Drex frowned before trying to make himself look confused. His attempt failed. “The name sounds familiar. Why? Did something happen with Nismus? Whoever that is.”

Cal scratched his chin as he stared at Drex trying—and failing—to sound casual.

Well, this is a dead end.

“Not really. Seris told me she didn’t like him, so I wondered if there was a story behind it.”

“Oh, that Seris,” Drex let out a hilariously fake laugh. “You know how she is. This Nismus might have bumped into her accidentally and she could be holding a grudge.”

Whatever Nismus is doing, Drex is either looking the other way or is a part of it. It now makes sense how Nismus found out about the Sunfire Grains.

“… I see,” Cal dropped the subject. “Well, I’ll let you be. I have to take care of some business in town before heading back.”

“Sure, sure,” Drex nodded eagerly. “I’ll see you soon, Cal.”

“Hm,” he nodded before turning and walked away. He almost felt guilty that Drex didn’t ask for the Sunfire Grain seeds payment, but the keyword was ‘almost.’

If Drex didn’t feel that he needed to receive payment right now, there was no reason for Cal to insist on it.

***

It didn’t take Cal more than a few minutes to get to Orrin’s shop. It wouldn't have taken more than several seconds if it wasn’t for the need to consciously slow himself while traversing through the town.

He finally accepted that his [Tier] increase had significantly increased his speed to ridiculous levels.

I need to figure out just how fast I am one of these days.

Cal didn’t enter Orrin’s shop area and watched from the doorway as the boy furiously hammered a glowing red lump of metal. He didn’t want to disturb his future blacksmith.

He saw a pile of discarded, failed attempts in the corner of the shop. They all had a strange, black swirl in the metal. The amount of the swirl mixed into the failed tools varied, but it was always present.

This must be the Voidiron.

Luckily, Cal didn’t have to wait much longer before Orrin stopped. It was too bad that the stoppage wasn’t for a good reason.

Orrin glared at the lump of metal he was working on like it offended him and his ancestors. With an annoyed grunt, it was flung into the pile of failed experiments.

“You’re working hard,” Cal commented.

The boy blacksmith jumped in surprise before exclaiming, “Initiate Cal! Welcome back—wait, are you here for the shovel?”

“No,” Cal shook his head, getting Orrin to relax. “I was in town, so I figured I might as well stop by and see how that commission for the irrigation system is going.”

Orrin shifted uneasily as he spoke. “Seris gave me a layout of what you wanted… it’s too large.”

“You can’t do it?”

“I can!” Orrin said vehemently. “But it’ll take me a long time to build. Maybe months since I need to find a way to incorporate Voidiron while keeping the metal malleable.”

“You want to make the irrigation system with this Voidiron,” Cal stated, curious as to why.

Orrin nodded rapidly. “The tools I make you deteriorate too quickly, and I expect the same with the irrigation system. But the system is much more of a headache to repair compared to the tools, so I want to make it last a long time.”

Cal gained a new level of appreciation for Orrin. He glanced at the sparse amount of Voidiron pellets. He asked, “Do you have enough of this Voidiron to keep experimenting?”

“There’s plenty. I plan to melt the failed pieces when I run out of pellets.”

“Good, good,” Cal muttered with a slight nod. Orrin started getting antsy again, so he decided he disturbed the boy enough. He understood the feeling. “I look forward to what you come up with, Orrin. I’ll leave you be.”

“Yes, Initiate Cal!” It almost looked like Orrin would salute like Seris often did, but he ended up standing rigidly until Cal left his shop.

***

The ten-minute walk back to his field helped Cal get closer to picking a skill. The talk with Drex helped greatly in narrowing it down.

Green Thumb - Your crops grow 10% faster and are more resistant to diseases and pests. Your harvest will always yield more than expected. As your mastery increases, the faster your crops grow.

Seed Preservation - You can recover 10% more of the seeds from the crops you plant. Higher levels of this skill will allow for a greater percentage of recovery.

Efficient Irrigation - Your watering methods are 10% more effective, conserving water while ensuring crops receive adequate hydration. Higher levels of this skill unlock increased effectiveness.

None of these were ‘bad,’ so there wasn’t a pick that he considered a detriment. However, [Efficient Irrigation] stood out as a distant third. With his ease in creating water, conservation was not a concern for him.

Perhaps it might be a slight issue when he had a large area to use for crops, but with the underground tunnel system Nibbles was making and the irrigation system Orrin would make in the future, it should be manageable.

[Seed Preservation] and [Green Thumb] were the skills he considered the most. However, consideration of long-term benefits won this time.

[Seed Preservation] would be fantastic in prolonging the effects of [Blessing of the Time-Warped Seed], but that would become less effective in the future. It was purely a short-term play with minimal long-term benefits.

[Green Thumb] was the obvious choice. It would be of minor immediate help, but it would make him an unbeatable farmer in the future.

Cal reached out and tapped [Green Thumb] without doubts—a rare feeling when picking an option.

The interface disappeared as he passed the tree line and stepped into his field. The trip to the town only took a little over an hour, and the sunlight was no longer dim.

He saw someone studying the soil where he planted the Sunfire Grains with a fascinated expression.

The Overseer arrived here much earlier than I assumed.