The first thing on Winston’s agenda Saturday Morning was to fix the soil for his trees. The quality and yield of his trees was his top priority. Everything else was essentially window dressing. The way forward for him was to improve his farming skills.

The skies were clear for once and Winston sang old Blues songs as he grabbed a shovel full of lime and started to sprinkle it on the ground around his trees. He didn’t use too much, just a bit for testing. He used his empowered claw skill and dug at the soil loosening it up and mixing in the lime without going too deep and disturbing the roots. He gave the apples a bit more than the other trees since they were having the most problems. He tested the soil again and nodded in satisfaction. Next week's harvest should be much better, in quality if not quantity.

It was mid-morning when Winston finished. Bog was running in circles and nudging Winston with her head. He really needed to keep working on freeing up more stones, but he owned Bog a few hours of play. He’d been letting her run wild for a while and his loyalty had likely taken a hit.

“Alright, Alright, I get it.” Winston said, pushing her away as he rubbed her back and neck like she was an overgrown dog. “What do you want to do today, you overgrown chicken.” Winston said lovingly.

Bog swaked happily and wiggled around his legs. Then she stood up and started to walk off into the jungle. Winston looked after her for a moment, before he picked up his feet and jogged after her.

The two made it to the small river then followed it, heading to part of the zone Winston had never seen.The ground became swampy as more small creeks appeared, forming into shallow pools of standing water.. Bog got more excited as they moved and Winston started to get a bit worried. Where was this crazy bird taking him?

It was then he saw the island. It was on the other side of a shallow pool of water and was packed full of those weird frog-rat things Bog was always chasing around. There were dozens and they milled around in frantic hops.

Bog squawked a battle cry and charged across the water and onto the island. The frog-rats went mad and started to attack her, but she was a rhino being attacked by hyenas. They could do little to harm her individually but they came by the dozens, by the hundreds. As Winston saw their small claws and teeth drawing blood he lost his temper. Bog wasn’t just his pet. She was his companion, his friend.

Winston pulled the staff from his pack and raised it as faith started to pour off him. The air became charged, not with magic but with raw divine power. His faith score was only average for a faith class of his level but his faith points were extremely high thanks to his class bonuses. He had lots to waste. More power streamed off him and he started to glow as the air around him took on an air of divine awe.

Bog needed protection and a shield wasn’t going to be enough. Winston focused his faith and his will and cast [Shield of Faith] but he did his best to shape it as it came out. The faith he’d been pumping out coelesed into blue and silver light.

The spell had taken the form of see through plate armor, with a watchtower emblazoned on the front of her breastplate and a tiny winged helmet to cover her head. Suddenly the small attacks she’d been taking were getting completely absorbed and she switched from defense to offense. Winston did the same thing and stopped channing his faith and started channeling his mana. Fire flew from the tips of his fingers in a wave.

Winston had nearly no skills in magic. With only Novice II in [Fire Magic] and without the [Mana Manipulation] skill that most casters had Winston’s flames were pretty much useless. They might do 6 or 7 dps, but that was nothing against anything that was above level 1 or 2. Lucky the tiny frog things were about at that level and Winston had enough mana to make a lot of his crappy fire.

Great gouts of flame sprayed over everything and the frogs started to scream and turn on Winston. Frograts pounced on him, biting and clawing but he kept pouring out more fire. Finally the creatures started to drop and Winston and Bog mopped up everything that was left. Then combat was over and Bog’s armor had worn off.

[Your Elemental Magic Skill has Increased]

[Current Rank: Novice III]

[Your Shield of Faith Skill has Increased]

[Creates a Shield of pure faith to protect the caster]

[Rank: Beginner I]

[Duration: 60 Seconds]

[Cooldown: 5 mins]

[Cost: 30 FP]

[Effect: Creates a Shield of Faith in Front of the user]

[Beginner Effect: Armor of Faith]

[Use may spend 100 faith to create a Shield of Faith as armor that surrounds a creature of the casters choice]

Winston looked at Bog and shook his head. “Where are you taking me? We both coulda died.” Winston said, more than a big sour. Bog just squawked at him and walked on. Winston tossed a few of the corpses into his bag then followed after his bird.

She lead him deeper onto the little island they’d found until they came upon another of the Frograts huddle down into a nest of branches and fronds. Unlike the others this one was slightly larger and glowed with golden light.

Bog charged immediately but there was only one enemy this time. It was faster and stronger than the other frog-rats but it was still at least 10 or 15 levels under Bog. She battered him around a bit. Then stomped the creature to death.

Winston walked over and inspected the creature as Bog started to chew on it with her beak.

[Golden Frothing]

[Frothlings are weak, but highly populous herbivores that eat the fruits and plants of the jungle. If a group of frothlings has ample food and territory sometimes a Golden Frothing will be born. These have minor magical powers are imbued with a trace of karmic luck. This makes their cores valuable to some alchemists.]

Winston sighed as Bog tried to bite at the frothling’s head. She must be after it’s core. Winston sighed and pulled a metal shovel from his pack. He could use the butchering skill on it. That would make the corpse vanish and drop some meat and the core, but Winston wanted this thing’s bones, blood, and bowles. He could make some high quality fertilizer with it. He wondered what would happen to his ginseng if he fertilized them with bonemeal imbued with karmic luck.

Winston dug out the beasts core, which was disgusting and rather foul process. He hadn’t done more than pull it out when Bog snapped it out of his hands and gulped it down. Then she danced around happily before she let out a distressed squawk and fell over. She started to seize up and her feathers started to fall out.

Winston’s eyes went wide, but he calmed down a moment later when a pop-up appeared infront of his face.

[User’s Bonded Pet Evolving]

[Evolution Details]

[Starting Species: Giant Grassland Cassowary]

[Evolution Modifiers]

[Loyalty: 76]

[High number of Cloudberries Consumed: +3 air affinity]

[Medium number of High-Quality Cloudberries Consumed: +4 Air Affinity]

[Low Number Superior-Quality Cloudberries Consumed: +7 Air Affinity]

[Golden Forthling Core Consumed: +10 Water Affinity, Special Modifier]

[Evolution Unlocked]

[Air-Touched Cassowary]

[Level: 20 Type: Magical Beast]

[Sex: Female Loyalty: 76]

[Strength: 35 Agility: 22]

[Intellect: 38 Constitution: 37]

Endurance: 34 Willpower: 22]

[Specializations:

Vitality 1

Mental 2

Cloud Magic 1]

[Abilities:]

[Fowl Charge]

[Cloud Step]

Winston waved away the messages and looked on with worry. He at least knew what was happening now but Bog looked to be in terrible pain. The evolution lasted a few minutes and blue feathers started to grow over her in place of her old gray ones. Then she stumbled back to her feet and walked around drunkenly, looking confused and groggy until she came back to herself.

Once she gathered her wits she seems to glow with joy. She leapt at Winston nearly knocking him down and danced around making a ton of noise. Her body seemed to have leaned out a bit with her new transformation. Winston brought up her stats again and frowned. She’d lost 4 levels, but all her stats had increased accept for a minor decrease to constitution. Her intellect, wisdom, and agility, and improved by a lot and she’d gotten a new ability.

[Taming Has Increased to Beginner III]

Winston smiled and started rubbing Bog on her new blue feathers. Their little side-trip had been bizarre but Winston had pocketed quite a few gains from it.

The two made their way back to the farm. It was nearly noon and Winston had only accomplished a single item on his list today. He still needed to finish cutting and moving the stones for Brad. He needed to start building his oven and now he needed to grind up the bones of the Golden Frothing in his bag.

Jason waved him down as Winston made it back.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been busting my hump all morning.” Jason complined. He’d managed to get another rock into place by himself. That must had been back-breaking work. It was hard with two people but with only one it would be nearly impossible. Winston felt a little bad, but it wasn’t as if he’d been fooling around.

“Just think how much strength and endurance you’ll gain next time you level. You should be thanking me really.” Winston said with a grin.

Jason flipped him the bird but Winston ignored him.

“Let’s just finish these stupid rocks. Then you can get back to chopping wood for my wall. You talk to Brad about the dungeon yet?” Winston asked.

“Not exactly. I figured I’d spring it on him when he finished up today.” Jason said.

“I wouldn’t wait too long. You know Brad. He’d not exactly the chatty or giving type.” Winston said.

“I’m not, am I?” Said Brad’s flat voice from behind them. Winston laughed and turned around.

“Don’t get me wrong man. You’re a good friend, I’d trust you with my life, but I wouldn’t ask you to borrow five bucks. You’re who I’d call if I needed a body moved, or someone's brakes to fail.” Winston said.

Brad scowled at him, but Winston knew him well enough to see the laughter in his eyes. “I can do a dungeon if we hurry. I’ve gotta be back at the guild by next Thursday.”

“That should be enough time unless it’s a really big dungeon.” Winston said as he walked back to the rock formation. They’d knocked off a decent bit of it, but it was still huge. He selected another part and started working with his pick.

Winston and Jason managed to get the rocks cut and moved into place by late in the afternoon. Winston had gained two more ranks in Quarrying, but the work had been hard. Brad was carving runes into the large rocks and making odd arm gestures while muttering a lot.

Winston decided it was time to start on the oven. He needed to start processing the coffee and chocolate. They’d spoil unless he got them processed and stored properly. He brought up the browser in his UI and went to the instructions for a clay furnace he’d found.

First they’d used bricks as the base. Then covered that in wet sand, and slapped wet clay around the sand.Then they'd let the clay dry and harden. Then put on another layer of sand, and another of clay. Once the outside hardened again, they’d scooped the sand out from the inside.

Winston decided he’d do something similar but he wanted at least one layer of brick. It would make things more stable, as well as be easier to shape.

The first thing he did was dig a small hole. He filled the hole with one part lime and two parts sand, before summoning water form a finger and letting it all mix together. He needed another hand though.

He looked around for his golem but couldn’t find it. Then he saw Kishia who was over by the shrine again. “Kishia!” He called. The lizard girl looked over and he waved to her. She trotted over.

“Grab a stick and start stirring this.” Winston said as he waved to the mortar. The lizard girl frowned at him but did as he asked. Well, she was his apprentice. In fact, she’d basically been sold to him.

He unleashed his claws and dug a shallow square pit. It was only a few inches deep. He needed the oven to be big. Those pans Troll had brought were wide as well as long. He also needed the wood to be off to one side. So he’d need a sort of side pocket for the actual fire. He wondered about a chimney. None of the ovens he’d seen online had them. He supposed that would screw up the heat, but on the other hand, wouldn’t that make the smoke a problem.

He shrugged. He didn’t know enough about it. Worse case scenario he’d just knock a hole in the top. Winston shrugged it away and kept working. He got the hole to the dimensions he wanted then got his shovel and started to scoop mortar into it, just enough to fill the bottom. Then it was placing each brick and trying to get them all mostly level.

Winston looked over his work one last time then shrugged. He placed his head on the ground and looked down the length of the bricks. He stood up again. That was about as good as he was going to be able to manage.

He looked to the lizard girl and waved her to stop. “Sorry to drag you away, but I needed another set of hands and Jason already left to chop trees.” The lizard girl shrugged at him. Then cleaned off her hands and stood up.

She started to leave then turned back to him. “Can you order some alchemists tool for me? You said you’d let me spend the money you paid me for helping you with the harvest.”

Winston shrugged. “Sure can. I’ll send Troll a message in a day or two. He’ll bring them back next week. I’ll see if I can get him to bring some recipes as well. Not sure what they’ll cost but the low-level ones should be pretty cheap.”

Kisha nodded solemnly then wandered off. Winston watched her go then shrugged. He was glad she’d finally asked for something but he wasn’t sure why she’d been in such a crappy mood today. Either way, he had work to do as usual. The bricks would need at least twelve hours to dry, maybe more in this humidity.

In the meantime he needed to deal with the frothing corpses. They’d start to stink soon. He headed over to his fertilizer pits and pulled the corpses out of his bag. He tossed one corpse into each pit and folded the dirt over them. He’d mix some lime in later. Now that he had some lime to work and a jungle full of ingredients to experiment with he could start working on different fertilizers like he’d wanted to back at the Sword’s keep.

He nodded, then headed towards his ginseng garden. The plants had sprouted and were growing but he had no idea how long he should leave them grow. He knew it took years for them to grow in the RL, but then again it took all of two weeks for a fruit tree to grow from a seedling to fruit bearing. Winston would leave them for a month then pick one and see how the game rated it.

He should also ask Kishia what type they were. She likely knew and she’d never told him. He pulled the Golden Frothling corpse from his pack. He sighed and pulled out a shovel. This was going to be messy. Using a knife would make the games skill-system take over. He’d only have to cut the monsters a few times then the game would disappear the corpse and leave behind some meat, some skin, and possible a special drop based on his skill. He however, needed all the ‘waste’. That meant he had to use something that was not a knife.

He looked down at the small garden and the neat rows of rowing ginseng. Then realized he was wasting a good deal of effort. If he was going to all the trouble to cut up a magical frog-monster for fertilizer he might as well get his moneys worth. He picked one of the small plants at random, crouched down and touched it.

“[Nurture]” He said, as power rushed out of him and the plant started to glow slightly. He stood back up and smiled.

Working on the forthling was just as disgusting as he imagined.The juice and meaty bits he tossed into the garden and mixed into the soil. The bones had an oddly metallic sheen to them and he made sure he pulled most of them out before tossing the rest of the body into the garden and burying it next to the plant he’d cast [Nurture] on. He washed the bones off with some summoned water and stuck them into his pack. He’d wait till Kishia got her alchemy tools and make her grind them.

As he finished up there was a ripple in the are as purple and red energy crackled over his farm in a dome. It lasted a few seconds then vanished before a message appeared on his screen.

[Moderate Flaming-Thunder Ward Activated]

[Tied to Owner: Win Mills]

[Attributes: Shield = 1:1]

[Flaming Thunder Strike: 4:1]

[Mana Capacity: 8642/50,000

[Recharge Rate: -10/hour]

Brad walked over to Winston looking satisfied. “The wards finished. If nothing trips it, it should last about a month on it’s own. You can dump in your own mana to keep it going though. If you can dump in enough every day, you should be able to stabilize it, and even start charging it up. The problem is gonna be if you come under attack and it starts draining. As soon as it hits 0 the runes will shatter and it’ll have to be rebuilt from scratch. You’re the owner, so you can walk over to one of the stones and change it’s activation settings.” Brad explained in his flat voice.

“Be sure to whitelist everyone you don’t want it zapping, and you also might wanna put a level floor on the defensive lighting. Otherwise it’ll waste all it’s mana zapping bugs and squirrels.” He added.

Winston nodded, then mentally marked another task off his list and got back to work. He was going to need to move fast if he was going to a dungeon.