“Left!” Winston said is his best commanding voice. Bog ran across the courtyard following his orders. It was Tuesday night and one of the common wet mists had settled over the keep dragging the whole area into gloom. With no real missions this week Winston just had to grow grain. That left him with some time to pay attention to Bog. She’d been doing nothing but staying in the stables and eating lately and she was getting fat, so Winston had decided to try some training. He wanted to get his skill level up and she needed the exercise.

“Right!” He called and the bird stopped and changed direction.She was moving quickly but it was obvious her heart wasn’t really in it.

“Common, I already told you you could have some more cloudberries. I’ll even give you three of my special ones when they ripen up this week.” He shouted at the lazy bird.

Bog seemed to be spurred on his words and her pace increased. She rumbled over the ground with little grace but lots of momentum. She had to be one of the silliest looking creatures he’d ever seen but she had plenty of raw power. He really hoped to get his taming up to Beginner rank. Then he could use her in battle. With her at her side he’d at least have some basic defense.

“Use Fowl Charge!” He called. He wasn’t sure if that's how you were actually supposed to command beasts to use abilities but it worked in Pokemon so it was worth a shot. Bog slowed for a moment before green energy started to pour from her. The air began to distort then she blasted forward at least three times as fast as before.

She flew across the courtyard in a few seconds, then flew by the supply shed completely out of control. She narrowly missed Rimmi who was over by his vats messing with alchemy and headed towards the edge of the courtyard

“STOP!” Winston shouted but she was moving too fast and out of control. She smashed into the courtyard wall with the power of a rampaging rhinoceros and the stone didn’t even slow her as she plowed through. Bricks and morton flew in every direction and Winston could hear Rimmi screaming profanities.

Winston just stood there gaping at the massive hole in the wall.

[Taming skill Increased!]

[Current Rank: Novice IV]

[You Have Learned a New Skill]

[You Have Learned the Skill Siege]

[Siege improves the players ability to dismantle or destroy walls and fortifications. This skill is unlocked by destroying a wall or fortification.]

[Skill Rank: Novice I]

[Effect: 5% bonus dmg to walls and fortifications]

Winston heard someone laughing and turned to see Therion wiping tears from his eyes as he looked at the hole in the wall. Winston started to smile as well as Bog finally trotted back through the hole in the wall preening her feathers and looking rather smug. That made Therion laugh harder.

“Oh man….. That was awesome.” Therion laughed. “Rimmi about crapped himself, then BAM!, HAH!.... Oh god, this place is so much better now that you guys are here.” He finally got his laughed under control as Bog headed back over and rubbed her head against Winston, nearly bowling him over.

“You do realize you’re going to have to pay for that. Funny or not, we can’t have a giant hole in the wall.” Therion said more seriously.

“It’s not like the wall actually keeps anything out.” Winston grumbled.

“True, but your still paying for it.”

Winston sighed then remembered he’d never actually tried to use his channel divinity spell to fix something. This seemed as good a time as any.

“Lemme try something first.” He said as he hurried into the keep. He headed down into the basement and grabbed a bucket of lime and sand, then headed back out side with them.

“You’re going to try and fix it yourself?” Therion said skeptically. Winston didn’t answer. Instead he started gathering up all the stones that had been blown out of the wall. He quickly piled them up next to the buckets of sand and lime. Then he took out his staff and took a few steps back.

“Rise!” He cried as he started to channel divinity through his staff. The wall started to shake and the rocks, sand, and lime, rose into the air and started to swirl but the wall didn’t start assembling itself. Winston frowned for a second then did a mental facepalm. He thought the game would have cut him a break on the water he needed for the mortar but apparently not. He kept up the stream of faith-points as he tried to shift mental gears.

It took him a good thirty seconds to start summoning the water. It took a good deal of mental focus to use magic and trying to do it at the same time he was using his priest powers was like trying to recite the periodic table at the same time he was doing a multiplication problem in his head. Lucky summoning water was a pretty simple multiplication problem. He also had more than enough faith points to burn while he struggled with the mental gymnastics.

He didn’t have many useful skills outside of farming but in terms of the raw number of faith points, Winston had the equivalent of a level 15 or 16 priest. Water started to spill from his staff and when it hit the silver light of his faith it shot into the sand and lime and they began to mix.

Bricks and mortar floated back down and they began to layer themselves as the large hole was slowly patched back together. Winston cut off the water and kept up his faith as the wall reassembled itself over the next couple of minutes. It was nearly done when his faith finally ran out. The remaining stones and mortar fell to the ground with a wet splat, leaving a jagged hole the size of a bowling ball in the top of the wall.

“Well damn, almost had it.” Winston said and green light started to pour from him as his screen filled with pop-ups.

[Blip]

[Blip]

[Blip]

[Blip]

[Ba-Ding]

[Runa Skill Has Ranked Up!]

[Current Rank: Beginner III]

[Channel Divinity: Runa ability has Increased]

[Current Rank: Novice IV]

[Elemental Magic has Ranked Up!]

[Current Rank: Novice II]

[Water Sub-Skill has Ranked Up!]

[Current Rank: Novice II]

[You Have Received A Title!]

[Theurge]

[You seek the mysteries of the creation and care not if the answers are divine or arcane. Unlocked by using mana and faith at the same time for the same goal.]

[Effect: +5% bonus to both Faith and Resonance stats while title is active]

Winston read over all the pop-ups and laughed before he turned back to Therion who was looking slightly impressed.

“You’re an odd duck you know that?.” Therion said as he looked at the mostly repaired wall. “But your still going to have to fix the rest of that.”

Winston grinned and walked over the the stone and mortar scattered over the ground. Shame he didn’t have his magical divine mortar trowel yet. He could have used it about now. Instead he used one of the stones to smear on the mortar as he put the rest of the stones back into place. It was a much worse job than his spell had done but it didn’t take long. His spell had already done 95% of the work.

When he was done the wall was repaired although the place he’d done by hand had ended up rather poor. Still, he’d picked up the masonry skill which was useless but at least interesting. He logged for the night feeling he’d accomplished something.

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

Herston crouched in a copse of trees and watched the battle going on at the mouth of a cave. The cave was set into the side of a cliff and seemed to be occupied by a tribe of ogres. What was interesting was that a tribe of orcs was fighting them and seemed intent on extermination rather than a usual orcish raid.

“Why did we follow these orcs again?” Complained one of the Sword’s guards. “Common man, you could have at least let us stay in the city. Why drag us out here just to watch some NPC’s fight?”

Herston glared at his subordinate. He was out here on a mission of guild security. Just because these orcs didn’t seem to be up to anything suspicious didn’t mean they weren't. He was going to find out what. Then he’d have that little mole bastard kicked out of the guild.

A massive ogre covered in red and black war paint charged out of the cave and was immediately sat upon my a half-dozen orcs.

“Holy crap that’s the lair boss. We should totally go kill steal that.” The guard said as he watched the fierce battle.

Herston weighed his options for a moment then shrugged. They were just NPC’s. He could always try spying again later. Besides, a lair boss should be worth a couple hundred gold at least. More, if he got lucky on the loot.

“Alright, on three….”

The two popped up and charged towards the fight but they hadn’t gone more than three steps when a half-dozen arrows slammed into their backs. The two fell, crying out in pain before more arrows hit their bodies. A pair of green feet came into Herston’s site and he heard an orc mutter “Human’s…..” in a mocking voice before his vision went black.

[You Have Died]

[You Have lost one Level]

[You Have Lost 25 gold, 11 silver]

[You Will Respawn in 11 hours 59 minutes]

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

The week went by quickly for Winston. He kept training with Bog after his nightly farming chores but he didn’t manage to get his taming skill up any more. His farming skill hadn’t improved either but his massive output of both buckwheat and regular wheat had bumped his grain sub-skill up to Beginner IV. With his crop rotation boosting yields his wheat output was down slightly but his total production had improved by nearly a third. He’d nearly harvested 33 bushels of wheat and 40 of buckwheat since Sunday.

Winston looked across his growing fields and felt satisfaction. The sun was setting and the breeze was warm and out of the South. His weekly quota hardly bothered him at all anymore. It was a shame he couldn’t use buckwheat for his guild quota. He could just save up for two or three weeks and just buy his way out of his contract by turning in the last two months of quota.

He was about to check on his fertilizer pits when he heard a shout and three of the Swords guards rushed towards the wall as they drew their weapons. Winston blinked and turned that direction only to see a half-dozen orcs approaching the keep carrying empty sacks and two deer carcuses carried on sticks across their shoulders.

Winston swore and charged after them. He didn’t know what would happen to his quest if those idiot guards killed the orcs but it probably wouldn’t be good. Luckly, they hadn’t just started attacking each other. The two groups were glaring at each other when Winston finally reached them. He had plenty of endurance now but his poor agility and short legs made him quite slow.

“You green bastards!” He heard one of the swordsmen shout. The orcs on the other-hand didn’t seem too concerned. Winston could recognize the orc commander with the nice axe from the village and he was pretty sure he could slaughter at least two of the three by himself. It was probably why the swordsmen hadn’t attacked yet.

“What are you guys doing?” Winston asked as he arrived on the scene.

“Here for grain. Give deer.” Said the orc leader as he looked over at Winston.

Winton nodded. “I’ll go get it. Just hold on a sec.” Winston said, as he turned. He wanted to get this over with quickly before those idiots did something to mess it up.

“You’re not trading with them. They’re orcs.” Shouted Herston.

Winston ignored him and headed towards the keep but he only got a few steps before a hand clamped on his shoulder and stopped him.

“I said your not going!” Shouted Herston and Winston rounded on him.

“What is your deal!” Winston yelled back. “You’ve no stake in this. Why are you getting in the way?” Winston asked as he whirled around and tried to break the grip on his shoulder. He couldn’t manage it. Herston had too many levels and too much strength advantage on him.

The orcs growled and moved forward to come to Winston’s defence when Therion finally showed up. He moved into the middle of everyone and pulled Herston’s hand off Winston’s shoulder.

“Knock it off already….” Therion sighed.

“I’m not letting him. I’m a fully fledged member of the guild. Sergeant ranked. I’m the highest ranking member here. It’s my call!” Herston shouted.

“Oh go blow.” Therion said, with an eye roll.

“What is it you want?” Winston asked calmly, forcing himself to be reasonable. Flying off the handle wouldn’t help him here. “I can’t understand why your doing this. Do you want me to pay you off like some mafia thug. I’ve got a few thousand gold coming in. We could deal.” Winston offered. The thought was infuriating, but sometimes wheels needed to be greased so people could do business. Paying a bribe so this moron would leave him alone would be the least annoying option.

The two beside Herston looked interested at the new line of thought but Herstion started shouting.“This isn’t about money!”

“Then what IS it about?” Winston asked. “Like I said before. This doesn’t affect you in any way. Why are you so dead set against it? If you’re not looking for a cut of the action then I have no idea what you’re doing.” He didn’t add he was pretty sure Herstion was just being an asshole for the purpose of being an asshole.

“He’s just being an asshole.” Therion said bluntly, mirroring Winston’s own thoughts. “But go ahead and get your grain I’ll handle him.”

Winston sighed in relief and turned back towards the storage shed.

“You won’t get away with this Therion. I outrank you. I’ll go to the officers.” Herston ranted as Winston went and got the first load of buckwheat. If Herstion really wanted to make a stink Winston would just go talk to Jessica about it. She wasn’t an officer but she was higher ranked than this moron and her brother was an officer. They weren’t exactly close but he was pretty sure she’d want to stay on his good side for Josh’s sake if for no other reason. She might not go too far out of her way but he could probably get her to step on this little toad for him.

Besides he was nearly an apprentice ranked farmer. If he agreed to increase his quota a bit or lengthen his contact he could probably get quite a few concessions from the guild if he really needed to. He’d looked pretty closely at the skill and class data in econ and even beginner farmers were really rare.

When he made it back to the orcs. Herstion was storming off in a huff. That made the whole process go a lot more smoothly. Winston pointed to his third fertilizer pit and had the orcs drop off the carcasses there as he continued to haul out buckwheat from the shed. It wasn’t until he was finally done that the lead orc approved him.

“Here take.” The orc said in his rough common as he reached into his pack and pulled out a massive trowel. Winston has expected something normal sized but of course it wasn’t. Runa had been a goddess of Ogre’s. The trowel would logically be ogre sized. It was as big as a couch cushion as was made of a reflective silver metal. The handle was made of a sort of crystal and the whole thing glowed with a silver light.

[Trowel of Tarvinth]

[Mystical, Relic, Quest Item]

[The Trowel of Tarvinth was given to Tarvinth the builder during the construction of the great city of Quashun during the second age. Upon his death it was reclaimed but the Temple of Runa where it was given out during times of war to assist with rebuilding. It was lost after the fall of the Ogre race.]

[Effects: Increases the Construction skill of the user by 5 ranks]

[Increases the rate of Construction skill grain by 50%]

[When used to spread mortar it will increase the armor rating and hit points of any construction by 250%]

[Restrictions: Ogre Race Only, Must have at least Apprentice rank Runa Skill]

“What the hell is that?” Therion asked he he peered over Winston shoulder. Winston just blinked at the trowel. It was Mystical rated, that was the third highest of the ten item ranks. The thing had to be worth at least 5000 gold. It was a shame he couldn’t use it. Since he was Runa’s only follower and you had to be at least apprentice rank there was no one in the game who could use it.

“A lost relic of a forgotten age.” Winston replied in awe. Therion just shook his head.

“You really are more trouble than you’re worth sometimes.” He said before walking back to the keep.

[You Have Completed a Quest]

[Food for the Orcs IV]

[Rewards: 2000 Xp, Four animal carcases, A raid on the orc lair]

Winston thanked the orcs and headed towards Runa’s shrine. He’s given up a pretty major quest reward for this. He just hoped it would be worthwhile. Winston had to use a rock to climb up towards the faintly silver flame. Then he cleared his throat and spoke in his best epic priest voice.

“Runa, I return to thee that which has been lost. May your flames burn ever brighter.” Winston said as he tossed the large relic into the flames, it was too big for the braizer but Winston was pretty sure that wouldn’t matter. The trowel dissapped with a sharp crack and then the ground started to rumble as the shrine grew once again.

[A Divine Mandate Has been Fulfilled!]

[The Trowel of Tarvinth has been returned]

[Completion Level: Average]

[Rewards]

[6000 xp]

[Runa Skill Rank Increased to Beginner V]

[Shrine Level Increased]

[You Have Leveled up!]

[You Have Reached Level 11]

Last time the shrine had only added a few inches but this time it pushed out of the ground a full two-feet. Then the tower started to shift as steps appeared along one side. Flower beds pushed out of the ground around the shrine and flowers of silver and blue grew out of them as Winston looked on in astonishment.

When it finally stopped the shrine was over ten-feet tall and was now surrounded in colorful flowers. The flames now burned blue and silver in the massive silver brazier on top that had replaced the smaller one he’d stuck up there initially..

[Shrine aura increased to 700 ft radius]

[Crop maturation time improved to 15% decrease]

[Wall Hp increase improved to 15%]

[Shrine now produces flowers useful for alchemy]

[Warning: Excessive picking will anger the Goddess]

Winston nodded in appreciation. A 3% boost to growth time was pretty good, the boost in radius would be the most helpful. Now the buff from the shrine covered pretty much all of the courtyard. Maybe it wasn’t worth his whole quest reward but he had gotten a pretty good chunk of xp as well.

Winston headed over to his Cloudberry bush next. He’d gotten a lot done today but still had one more thing to do. He’d been babying the bush all week. Any time he logged in, he’d pour all his mana into making wind for it. With his Nurture skill he was hoping for something spectacular.

The bush had grown more lush over the last week. It had filled in more and was now a healthy dark green color. The berries themselves were large and the splotches of white color took up nearly a third of each berry. They were so heavy they seemed to be weighing down the whole bush. Winston reached down and picked one.

[Cloud Berry]

[Superior, Food, Regent]

[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. This plant has been nurtured by a talented farmer and is of Superior quality.]

Winston smiled and quickly picked the rest. It came out to nearly a half-bushel off a single plant. Winston just wished he had about 10 more bushes of them.

[Your Farming Skill Has Increased]

[Current Rank: Beginner Rank V]

[Bonus Crop Yield: 25%]

[Bonus Crop Quality: (19.5% + 15%) 34.5%]

[Fruit Sub-Skill has Increased!]

[Current Rank: Beginner Rank I]

[Bonus Crop Yield: 13%]

[Bonus Crop Quality: 13%]

[You Have Unlocked a New Skill]

[Juicy Fruit]

[Fruits grown by you have 15% more juice than normal]

Winston grinned as he read the messages. He’d finally gotten his farm in order. Now he just had to wait for Troll to get back and he’d have everything he needed to get his skills to Apprentice rank and start really pumping out some product.