Winston slid into the lunch table on Monday feeling good about himself. The food today was even decent and that alone would have been cause for celebration. Chicken salad wasn’t a delicacy but at least it was hard to screw up. He opened his mouth and bit down on his sandwich just as Jason, Ruger, Brad, and Trish all plopped down beside him.

“That test in US History was f-ing terrible.” Jason complained as he took a bite out of his own sandwich. “It’s not like memorizing the stupid chapter is hard. Why does that old hag feel the need to add so many trick questions? She twists the wording around so much even if you know the right answer you can’t get it right.”

Trish laughed. “She does that just to make you mad. You know all the answers but haven’t actually read the book. Those questions are to get back at you for sleeping through her class.” She said with a smile. She seemed to be setting a bit closer to Winston than was really necessary but he wasn’t going to complain. Her leg felt quite nice as it pressed against his.

“Whatever, you guys all suck by the way. With no one left to lose Lota games with me I’m getting a job.” Jason griped around his mouthful of chicken salad.

“You buying a system then?” Ruger asked. “We could use you man. Our guild got challenged to a territory battle yesterday. We almost lost our Guild HQ. “If it wasn’t for Brad and all those heavy wards he’s always tinkering with we would have been screwed.”

“A good defense is the best offense.” Brad said. His face remained mostly impassive as usual but there was a hint of smugness in his voice. “All you guys are too busy fighting. I’ve been working on those wards for months.”

“Wish I would have had some of those when those bastards blew up my fields.” Winston said sourly. “Did I tell you they attacked me again on Saturday? No taunting, no warnings, just bam flinging fireballs everywhere. I don’t get it. He wouldn’t even get any gold if he killed me.”

“I know what you mean man. It’s like the game has gone crazy. Why would anyone want to pick a fight with our tiny guild? Other than a small grove of iron-wood trees on our land we don’t even have anything valuable. I don’t know who would even want our lands. They could find better ones for free. Our base is right in the middle of the dead-ring. Besides our guild hardly anyone ever comes to our zone.” Ruger complained.

“Where are you working at Jason?” Trish asked, pulling the conversation away from Otherworld for a moment.

“The multi-plex just outside of town. I’m sure i’ll spend most of my time picking up popcorn and cleaning the bathrooms but it’s job and money always spends.” He said. “I figured if Winston was getting his act together I should. I figure I’ll save up enough to buy a system then do what he did. I’ll work in-game to pay for the sub. Maybe I’ll take up lumberjacking or something. If he’s going to be a farmer I’ll have to come up with an ever more pointless and demeaning job to specialize in.”

“I’m not sure that’s the greatest plan. Your going to kill your character growth once you decide to stop chopping trees or whatever. The raw materials prices are high enough now to get by with it, but you’d make more just working part-time at the theater.” Winston argued.

“Not the point. Like you always say. What’s the point of playing if you can’t do it with your friends. What’s the point of working and making money if I’m isolating myself. Besides, since I’m more intelligent and more handsome than you it’s only logical my plan would be better than your’s.” Jason turned in his seat towards Trish.

“So you’re part of a big guild right? If I got my own system and paid for my own sub do you think I could join you guys? You’d give me a decent place to work and let me sell my goods to you for a reasonable price without screwing me over, right?” Jason asked.

Trish smiled. “I think we could arrange something.” Jason turned back to Winston.

“See smarter…..” He said pointing a finger at his temple as he turned back to Winston. “Now not only do I get to work without all the BS you had to go through. I’ll be spending time with your woman while your on the other-side of the game world.”

Winston smiled sarcastically at Jason and flipped him off while the others laughed. He wasn’t really sure Trish was his girl but he wasn’t really sure she wasn’t either. They’d both been acting increasingly flirty towards one another since that lunch last week when he’d called her hot. He would have to do something about it soon but he had to admit he liked this sort of warm fuzzy flirting without the drama of a real relationship. Still, time and tide waited for no man.

“Speaking of……” Winston started awkwardly as he screwed up his courage and turned towards Trish. “Would you wanna go to the homecoming dance with me?” Trish’s face blushed slightly as she looked into his eyes.

“Nope.” She said with a smile. Winston’s face froze. Had he totally misjudged the situation? What the hell was he supposed to say now? Luckily Trish continued to talk as his face started to flame in embarrassment and shame.

“There’s a big guild meeting that night so I can’t make it to the dance. Also, I’m not 100% sure I’m ready to get into a relationship. I’ve liked you since Junior High but High-school relationships hardly ever work out. So, how about you just take me out on a not-quite-a-date the saturday after the dance and we’ll see what happens?” She explained, making Winston feel a wave of relief wash over him.

“I can work with that.” Winston said, his smile appearing once more. He was glad. He wasn’t sure he was really ready for a relationship either. This seemed like an excellent compromise. Then again he wasn’t sure you could call meeting up with someone you liked for social outing anything but a date, but self delusion was a powerful force.

“Well, now that you two lovebirds are done making the rest of us feel uncomfortable. Did you ever get any of those berries I need Win?” Ruger asked.

“One... “ Winson replied sourly. “Not sure how many I’ll be able to grow before that portal convoy leaves though.” He went on to tell everyone about his misadventure with the berries and the bird.

“I swear. You’ve gotten into more trouble than half the players I know and your a farmer.” Trish said, amused. “You’ve got a real talent for getting in over your head.”

“Technically I’m a Grove Tender.”

“Well, just grow as much as you can. I’ll pay you in cash for whatever you manage to grow.” Ruger said. “The Caravan will leave the saturday after next. Which is another reason not to go to the dance.”

“Your the boss.” Winston said cheerily.

*********************************************

The rain had stopped and the dry winds once more blew over the Brethren Plains. Winston looked down at the berry in his hand with a frown on his face. The skin was quite firm and although there were a few blue splotches on its white surface the berry wasn’t quite ripe. He really hoped it would still grown when he planted it.

[Cloud Berry]

[Low-Quality, Uncommon]

[A berry native to Lunari it collects small amounts of air mana from the wind and deposits it into its fruit. It’s taste is bitter to humans but the air mana in the berries makes them a sought after food for birds or other beasts attracted to air mana as it strengthens their magic and will occasionally allow normal beats to evolve into magical beasts.]

He’d had to pick a spot as far from his apple tree as possible. Whatever was making the soil under the tree odd the berry seed seemed to hate it. Winston guessed it was an Earth ley-line or something since that would be a bane to a air-type berry. He chose a spot on the opposite side of the courtyard from the tree behind Rimmi’s main field then bent down and poked the berry a few inches into the dirt he’d readied for it.

With that done he was ready for his vegetables. He walked over to his patch of beets and looked at the carpet of large verdant leaves. He had a good feeling about these. The soil was starting to dry out again but this batch of beets would likely be the best quality crop he’d ever grown. Excited, he plucked out the first beet out of the soil. It was large maroon, and nearly round.

[Beet]

[High-Quality, Common]

[Food, Reagent]

[A taproot vegetable. It’s usually served pickled or boiled but contains high amounts of natural sugar and is often processed into a crystalized form.]

Winston did a little dance as he plucked out the rest of the beets. He made sure not to damage them as he stuck them into his pack. When he pulled out the last beet in triumph light flashed around him.

(Bleep-be-deep-Bleep)

(Bliiiiiip)

[You Have Reached Level Six!]

[Vegetable Sub-Skill Increased to Novice III]

[Effect:Bonus Vegetable Crop Yield:3%

Bonus Vegetable Crop Quality: 12%]

Those beets had to be worth a crap ton of XP. He’d just hit player level five a few days ago. He’d jumped two skill ranks in Vegetables but still hadn’t hit Beginner II in farming. It seemed his goal of hitting apprentice rank farming by November wasn’t going to happen. Even that huge amount of skill XP hadn’t budged his rank. The thought of what ability he’d at Apprentice made him giddy. Skill increases always alternated passive and active abilities and every third rank was a major improvement. Since he’d gotten a passive ability at beginner his Apprentice skill should be an active one and something pretty powerful.

He shook off the thought and looked down at the beet in his hand. It really was a good looking vegetable. It was nearly perfectly round and was as large as his clenched paw. The leaves on top were large and green. It should be worth a good bit. Sugar would keep better but the beets were high-quality and he didn’t want to screw anything up. Was turning beets into sugar considered cooking or alchemy?

Winston didn’t know. Should he try it out? He still had his skill points to spend. He had so many things he needed to do and try. He looked over towards Rimmi’s side of the courtyard and saw him looking at one of his own side-projects. It was a small garden of blue flowers arranged in neat rows.

“Where’d you get those at?” Winston asked as he approached the gnome. “I thought I was the only one who made it out of the keep.” Rimmi glanced over at Winston for a second then back at his flowers.

“I asked Therion. They had some seeds for some of the most basic alchemy herbs. These are just mana lilies and are used in the lowest grade mana potions. It’s usually too dry to grow them here but with the rain I thought I’d give it a shot. Bastard still charged me a fortune but the crop came out pretty good. I should be able to finally learn alchemy with these.” He said happily. Winston couldn’t remember Rimmi ever being happy. Even after he’d made a ton of money when those Crimsun’s had died he wasn’t happy.

“I’ve got a request for you then. Since your going into alchemy I was wondering if you could process these beets into sugar for me?” Winston asked as he pulled one of the beets out of his pack and showed it to the gnome. “I don’t know if it’s going to count as alchemy or cooking but I’m thinking since your just processing an ingredient into a crystalline form it should be alchemy.”

Rimmi frowned at him for a moment before he shrugged. “Alright, but I want something from you in return.” The gnome pointed towards the patch of earth with the flowers. “Use your priest power on these. I know you’ve got one that increases yield.”

“That has a week long cooldown! I’ve only gotten to use it one time.”

“That’s my price. It’s only a spell.” Rimmi said rolling his eyes. Winston scowled at him but he had a point. Besides 15% yield for three days wasn’t the end of the world. He was ahead of schedule for his quotas.

Winston reached into his pack and pulled out his new priest staff. He gripped the dark wood as he tired to focus his mind. Faith magic was about belief. He tried to visualize divine might coming down through the sky to cover the small garden. He raised his staff and activated his ability.

“Nourish the Land!” He yelled as he raised his staff. Silver light surrounded him before it flew out from him and began to rain down the the field and soak into the soil.

(Bliiiiip)

[Nourish the Land has reached Novice II]

[Duration: Three Days

Cooldown: 160 Hours

Cost: 10 FP per 1000ft2

Effect: Increases crop yield in area by 17% while active]

Winston frowned at the notification. He’d gained a single skill rank. He looked over the notification and did some math. The cooldown had decreased by eight hours. Which was good but how was he even supposed to level that skill? The cooldown was seven days. It had taken him two casts just to go up one level. It was take years to get it to even a middle rank.

He had to be doing something wrong. He knew you gained bonus XP for experimenting with your skills but how would that even work with something like his blessing? He didn’t know. It was one more thing to add to his list of stuff he had to figure out

Winston looked away from his screens and back to the gnome. “One blessing cast as ordered. Now where do you want me to put all these beets?” Rimmi pointed to a empty patch of ground nearby and Winston dumped out ¾ of his beets in a big pile before leaving Rimmi to his flowers.

Increasing his Skill rank with Runa was still his priority so he pushed everything else away. He couldn’t use his blessing for another seven days but he could use his other skill. It didn’t have a cool down. He wanted to try and experiment with it to see what he could learn about his other faith skills.

He hopped the wall and found an empty patch of earth. He cast clear the land on a very small patch of ground and tried to feel how the process happened. Unlike using mana or stamina based skills he didn’t have a pool of internal power to draw upon. Instead he was merely a conduit for the power of the divine. When you were out, you were just out. Unlike having your mana or stamina drained you couldn’t feel it at all.

Winston could feel as his willpower triggered the effect and the ground trembled slightly as it leveled itself and the few rocks in the area were pushed out of the area leaving the plot clear accept for the grass.

The entire process cost him nearly nothing. It didn’t sap his reserves at all. The only thing spent were faith points and those didn’t really belong to him anyway. Instead it seemed to act as a sort of currency that represented how much good-will he had with his goddess. He traded those to let Runa maniest her Divine power in the this realm. Instead it was his will that acted as the bridge. That must be the key. He needed to hone his willpower. That must be why willpower was a priest stat and intellect was a mage stat. With mana it was mages mana and imagination that allowed them to become strong. With priests it was their ability to will the world to be shaped by the gods.

He gave himself a few minutes to center himself then took out his staff again. He raised the staff in one hand and face into the setting sun. “Oh Runa Goddes off the walls and fields, Let your power pour into this realm. Let the land be tamed and trees be felled. Let the land be CLEAR!” He shouted as he bent ever ounce of his will into visualizing what he wanted. He wanted to ground to be flat, for the trees and rocks to be removed. He wanted to go further though to try and push the skill into something it wasn’t meant to do originally. He wanted the grass cut down. That wasn’t part of the ability as written but it was still clearing the land. Winston made his will like iron as he tried to force the world to shift through the power of his faith.

Silverlight erupted from him like a supernova and the ground rumbled. A second later he staggered to his knees as he was hit with a wave of exhaustion. He didn’t realize his nose was bleeding until he tasted the coppery tang in his mouth. His thoughts seemed fuzzy and his head hurt like hell. So much for burning faith points not putting a strain on the body, he thought grimly.

[Bliiiiiip]

[Bliiiiiip]

[Skill Clear the Land increased to Beginner I]

[Duration: N/A]

[Cooldown: N/A]

[Cost: 10 FP per 200ft2]

[Effect: Clears trees, rocks, shrubs, and other obstructions from a patch of earth to ready it for planting. Levels land and fills holes. Unlike most magical alterations these changes are permanent. Can only be used on land owned by the player or his guild.]

[Beginner Effect: Can also be used to clear weeds and grasses for 100% increased Faith Cost]

[Skill Runa Increased to Beginner I]

[New Skill Unlocked!]

[Channel Divinity - Novice I]

[Allows users to use his faith points to call unshaped divine power into the world. This power will have various effects based on your deity.]

[Channel Divinity Runa: Heals damaged or sickly plants and repairs damaged walls assuming raw materials are available. As Runa’s alignment is Neutral Good This ability will also damage undead or extra-dimensional creatures from the lower planes such as devils or demons.]

Winston read over the messages with relief. He’s whole body hurt so he logged off to escape the virtual pain. He had two weeks until payday and he needed to be ready.