Farmer Mage

Chapter 41: First Meeting

“Woah! What are you!” Seris said before Cal was able to take a step.

It made him sprint. He covered the distance in a second at most. If Seris had seen how fast he moved, she would have had another thing to be amazed about.

Cal expected that the powdered crystal had attracted some beast, but what he saw was far more surprising. The little beast was standing before Seris, staring up at her with an annoyed expression.

Why did it reveal itself?

His confusion almost distracted him from noticing what had been added to his field. He was half sure the only reason he did notice was the number of them.

There was a small hole in the field every twenty to thirty feet. The little beast had done this. He had seen these types of holes before, but they had always been filled quickly after creation. This time, they were left as is.

“Don’t be scared. This is just my…” Cal trailed off, unsure how to relate the little beast to him. ‘Pet’ could be a description, but since it was sapient, he wasn’t comfortable with it.

“She’s so cute!” Seris squealed, bravely bending to pick up the little beast.

“No,” Cal quickly grabbed her shoulder and forced her to stand before disaster could occur. The little beast was definitely cute, but it was also highly dangerous if the Silvermane Wolves feared it. “This is no pet, Seris. Show some respect.”

Cal nodded, finding that a much better description than ‘pet.’ And it seemed the little beast thought the same.

It nodded its head firmly before pointing to the house. It didn’t take its eyes off Seris.

“… Is she asking me to leave?” Seris asked unsurely. She was answered by the little beast nodding before intensifying the point to the house.

I just realized Seris has been calling it a ‘she.’

“How do you know this is a girl?” Cal stared at Seris, expecting her to say she knew the little beast's species.

“Look how cute she is!” Seris lost her disappointment at the little beast wanting to dismiss her. “There’s no way she’s a boy!”

Cal raised an eyebrow at her declaration. He wasn’t disappointed that she didn’t know the little beast's gender. He was disappointed in himself that he expected her to know.

The little beast got fed up with getting ignored and took matters into its—her—own hands.

Seris yelped when she was yanked towards the house when the little beast pulled on her pant leg.

“Fine! Fine! I’ll go by myself!” Seris’s protest was enough for the little beast to stop pulling her. “I’ll do the other side of the field, boss.”

Cal nodded as he entered into a staring contest with the little beast. He waited for Seris to go past his house before speaking. “I wondered where you were. So, why are you making holes in my field?”

The little beast looked confused at his question. It looked around before returning to stare at him with a shrug. It pointed at itself and formed an ‘X’ with her forelegs while tilting her head.

I’m back to playing ‘guess what the little beast is saying.’

“I’m not asking you to stop yet. I need to know why you’re making holes across my field without asking me,” Cal reiterated.

The little beast looked even more confused at his question as if it didn’t know why he was asking that at all. After a few moments, it dived into the ground, creating another small hole before reappearing further away.

“A tunnel?” Cal looked around. “These are all connected tunnels?”

The little beast nodded. That got his mind to quickly connect the dots.

“The first hole you dug up, the big one, is that connected to all of this?”

The little beast nodded again.

Cal immediately raised the little beast’s status from ‘helpful’ to ‘partner.’ This may have solved his problem with irrigation over a large area, but he still needed to confirm one thing.

He peered into the hole near him and estimated its depth. It was deeper than the hard surface layer. It went well past the start of the dirt layer and continued several feet deeper before it became impossible to see.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Is this hole as deep as the big one you dug?” Cal brightened when the little beast confirmed. “I have a deal for you. Continue doing this with my entire field, and you can get some powdered crystals as an immediate payment.”

That got the little beast’s attention. It stood straight, ears perked up, antenna twitching back and forth, and its eyes sparkling in a way that very much reminded him of Seris.

“Do we have a deal?” Cal asked when it continued to just stare at him. That got the little beast out of its daze. It nodded rapidly and was about to dive into the ground with extra motivation. “Wait, before you go, is Seris right when she refers to you as a girl?”

… I feel ridiculous asking this.

That feeling lessened slightly when she nodded her tiny head. A change from when she didn’t answer the last time he asked. “Good to know, and Seris works for me, which I’m sure you already know. Don’t harm her.”

She tapped her chest as if making a promise before finally diving into the ground and returning to her work.

This was a pleasant surprise. Things are coming together.

Cal left her to it and returned to the front of his field.

Seris was barely paying attention to what she was jotting down in her notebook. When she saw him returning to the dirt patch he was cultivating, she abandoned all pretense and rushed to him.

“When did you meet her, Cal? And you were talking to her!” In her excitement, Seris referred to him by name instead of ‘boss,’ but she didn’t seem aware.

Cal just raised his eyebrow and let it go. It wasn’t like he mandated that he be called ‘boss.’ “She does understand me, yes. And I met her the day I came here. She’s just been hiding from everyone else till now.”

“So I’m the second person to know about her?” Seris looked like she was about to run to the back of the field. “What’s her name?”

“No idea,” Cal shrugged, more interested in what was happening on his dirt patch. Not much time had passed, and changes could already be seen.

The multi-colored, sparkling slurry had started to… submerge? He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he could see some of the black loam under it again. There were patches where the slurry was gone entirely.

I might be able to start the next step sooner than I assumed.

Cal blinked when he noticed that Seris was still staring at him. “What?”

“What do you mean she doesn’t have a name? You never gave her one!?” Seris sounded overly offended.

It clicked in his mind instantly.

Well, this works out perfectly. I’m terrible at names anyway.

“Seris, do you want to give her a name?” Cal asked patiently.

“Yes! I mean—” Seris cleared her throat. “Only if you insist, boss.”

“After you finish the job I gave you, I insist you give her a name.”

“Deal,” Seris gave him a blinding smile and rushed to finish her work.

Cal hoped the little beast would look at Seris favorably after this little naming ceremony. It would probably take more than just that, but it would be a good start.

The necklace I gave Seris is still sufficient protection, but I feel it will soon change at the rate I’m progressing. If the little beast becomes fond of Seris, she can act as additional protection if necessary.

He observed the dirt patch and saw the slurry visibly merging with the loam underneath. It wouldn’t be long before it was time for the last step—the mulch.

Cal glanced at the sacks of mulch stacked next to the loam before heading to the storage room. He quickly retrieved the rake and returned to the dirt patch.

Drex told me I only need a thin layer of mulch… he has grossly overestimated the supplies I need to repair this small amount of soil. Either that, or I’m underestimating the number of times I need to repeat the steps.

He patiently waited for the slurry to mix fully with the loam underneath, but while he looked fully focused on the slow, snail-paced, boring process of mixing, his thoughts were elsewhere.

I change my mind about the trait choices. [Flow Sense] is the most useless one. If my irrigation plan works, there will be no need for it at all. That leaves me with [Aquatic Resilience] and [Mist Walker]. The latter is still the best choice.

Passing the opportunity to have functional immortality was shocking even to him, but he had thoughts about it. He pulled up the trait on the interface.

[Aquatic Resilience] - You can heal when surrounded by water. The higher your [Tier], the faster you heal. This trait is a passive effect. There is no limit or duration.

Leaving aside the requirement to be near water, my issue is its dependence on my [Tier]. I don't think I will even need the trait when it’s quick enough to heal severe injuries in a reasonable amount of time. I find it hard to believe I won’t have other safeguards at that level.

He studied the trait for a few more seconds before pulling up the one that interested him the most.

[Mist Walker] - You can create a mist around yourself, covering up to 10 acres depending on its intended purpose. The benefits of the trait range from cooling to complete control over the created mist domain. Limit 1 use per week. The duration of the trait is 1 hour, regardless of the mana used. Warning: Activation of this trait will bar access to mana for 1 week.

The penalty for using this trait almost makes me automatically dismiss it. Still, the same thing makes me think about the reason for such a harsh drawback. Barring access to my mana would leave me helpless, not just to threats, but for the regular upkeep of my farm.

Cal frowned when he realized that testing this trait would be near impossible. He couldn’t afford to go without mana unless all that was required to farm was his physical labor, and he didn’t know if that would ever happen.

Even with that detriment, everything points to this being a trait of last resort. Using it for ‘cooling’ as described in the interface is idiotic. However, complete control over the area where the mist is released sounds like a lifesaving chance.

He was getting closer to making his decision, but it wouldn’t be done with confidence. He stared at the warning for the trait before slowly coming to a different plan.

The Overseer will arrive for the second check in a day or two. I’ll ask him for access to the library in the core guild. There might be something there that will explain the reason why someone’s mana is blocked. It could give me more information on [Mist Walker].

Cal nodded to himself before noticing that the slurry was gone. He dismissed the interface, attached the rake to his backstrap, and picked up a sack of mulch. This was the final step to repair the dirt, and he hoped he would see the telltale glow Drex mentioned that signaled completion.