Finally, the tomatoes he'd been growing had matured, and it was time for harvest.

With growing excitement, Evel plucked the magical tomatoes and placed them into a small wooden basket, watching as the magical plants wilted away. He wondered if he could find some way to make the plant remain after its fruits were plucked, but he wasn't sure where he'd even start on that issue.

Would be interesting to have one though!

That aside, he got nine goblin tomatoes and three enhanced tomatoes, ones whose skin was littered with white dots. It looked somewhat diseased, but it should be fine for consumption, probably.

He wasn't quite done yet however.

With his metal knife, he sliced one of the new enhanced tomatoes open and gathered its seeds, taking two into his hand and placing the rest into the wooden basket.

Seeds in hand, he walked over to a pair of mounds, each burying one of the goblins he killed several days ago. He wanted to see if these new enhanced seeds would grow a different plant, or if it'd simply grow into the same magical tomato plant, or maybe something else entirely would happen.

Questions spinning in his mind, he planted the enhanced seeds, watered them, gave them their daily pats, and walked back to grab his basket.

Spoils in hand, he walked back to his cabin, smiling wide as he showed his basket to his mom.

Smiling, she took the basket and took the enhanced tomato he'd sliced earlier, chopping them into thin slices and sprinkling some salt onto them. She then gave them a quick fry on a heated pan, and with that finished, she moved the fried slices over to a small plate.

"Well, here you go!" She cheerfully presented the plate to him, but he shook his head. The enhanced tomato might still be too weak to overcome the hurdle presented by his skill's third level, so he wouldn't know what was truly different about this new enhanced tomato.

"You should try it first, mom. Your [Knife Mastery]'s still at level one, right?" He asked back. She nodded, understanding his reason. That in mind, she took one of the slices and plopped it into her mouth.

And immediately she winced, lips thinning to a line as she chewed.

"...spicy." She muttered, quickly downing the glass of water she'd prepared earlier. "Even more than usual." She finished with a small grimace.

Still, she continued eating, cringing as the unnatural heat dulled her tongue.

A painful minute later, she swallows the last slice, quickly drinking her fifth glass of water to cleanse the taste.

Then,

[Cooking] bonus added! [Knife Mastery] has gained 60% Exp! Congratulations! Your [Knife Mastery] has leveled up to Level 2!

"This is...!" Deliah stared at the notification, eyes wide with surprise.

If she remembered correctly, a goblin tomato would give her 20%; 40% if her [Cooking] bonus is applied, but this new enhanced tomato gave her 60%.

Which meant that this enhanced tomato gave 50% more.

That was massive.

"Mom?" Her son asked, and she explained what she'd found. Her son's eyes went wide as she spoke, and she quickly went over and prepared chopped another one of the enhanced tomatoes, sprinkling salt and frying them before she moved them onto a plate for her son to eat.

He stared at it for a moment, an apprehensive smile present as he prepared several glasses of water for him to drink. He took a deep breath, and closing his eyes, he bit into the first fried tomato slice.

He instantly cringed, groaning as he shrunk on himself. He reached over to a glass of water and downed it in one gulp, heaving a pained sigh as his tongue burned.

And there were still more to eat.

Her son groaned, but continued on his endeavour, drinking a glass of water with every slice he ate. Eventually, he made it to his final slice, and with determination, he stuck his fork into it and brought it to his mouth, squirming as the painful heat danced inside his mouth.

He grabbed the last glass of water remaining and drank it, swallowing the slice together with it.

Then, her son blinked, and blinked again.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, and he turned to her, smiling weakly.

"...It's still too weak." He whispered out, and she could only give her son a hug for it. It was unfortunate, but she'd somewhat expected, and her son had probably expected it as well.

Still, the disappointing result stung.

In the end, she offered to cook him an extra large lunch, both to sooth his disappointment and as a salve for the pain those enhanced tomatoes had dealt to their tongues.

Calling them 'Enhanced Tomatoes' was quickly becoming confusing though, so they decided to simply name them 'Goblin Tomatoes II'.

They also gave the still unnamed rabbit the last goblin tomato II, and it hopped around the cabin for a full minute before it dropped unconscious. They both had a small chuckle because of it.

A day ago, he'd heard the village people speak of a wandering ghost, one appearing by twilight and disappearing by dawn. It'd stalk the forests, and blood would spill in its steps. No one had managed to see what it looked like, but a girl had spoken about the blue cloak over its shoulders before it disappeared.

And so the 'Blue Phantom' came to life.

Evel frowned.

If what the people had said was true, then the splotches of blood he'd discovered in the surrounding forest probably came from this phantom.

He just hoped it wouldn't come and disturb his fields.

Still, he was quite curious to see if this so-called phantom was actually real. Ghosts and spirits do exist, but they'd hang around graves and cursed objects. There wasn't any reason they should-

Hold on, he used monster corpses to grow his magical crops. Would that make his fields a monster graveyard then?

...He hoped not. Having ghosts hang around his fields would be quite troublesome, and he wasn't quite sure what blood would do to his plants.

That aside, it was night now, and he sighed happily as he watched the stars above. It wasn't terribly cold that night; which was rather rare, but the warm cup of tea in his hands was pleasant nonetheless.

He'd actually planned on resting, but no matter how long he remained in bed, sleep wouldn't take him. So he decided to gaze at the stars until he began to grow sleepy, brewing himself a cup of hot tea to keep him warm.

He wasn't sure if he'd gotten any sleepier, but watching the stars fly by was certainly relaxing.

That, and it gave him time to reflect.

It was still somewhat strange to him. He'd lived most of his life by the farm, living and learning as the days went by. He didn't quite know what to do, and he hadn't cared. Getting [Farming] to its fourth level was his goal, but he didn't have much of a plan after that.

Then mister Garnt saved him, he gained [Knife Mastery], and then everything spiraled on from that.

Occasionally, he'd find himself thinking about that fateful day, wondering what would've happened if mister Garnt hadn't been there to save him. Would he have died? Would he survive? Would something else entirely happen?

If he hadn't remembered to bring back the goblin corpse, would he have remained ignorant of [Farming]'s magical power? Would he discover it some time later? Would he never find out?

There were far too many questions to consider, and far too few ideas to paint him a picture.

But that was fine.

Evel smiled slightly as he watched a star fly across the sky, idly taking small sips from his cup of hot tea. He sighed as he felt the pleasant warmth wash down his throat, and he sunk back onto his seat as the winds passed him by.

There wasn't really a point to all those questions. They were all just what-ifs; possibilities of a world beyond this one, where things hadn't quite happened like this one. There was no-

He heard something rustle in the distance, and Evel quickly placed his cup of tea down and drew his metal knife from his side, eyes carefully watching for whatever had caused that sound. He remained there for a good minute or two, silently watching for any movement.

No more sounds came after that, and he slowly placed his knife down.

He would've gone to investigate, but it was night now, and he wasn't confident he could navigate the forest in this darkness without getting himself terribly lost.

So, he went back into his cabin instead, finishing the rest of his tea and heading to his bed to rest.