[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions]

[Tess’s Almanac: 20th day of Summer! 71 days until the Summer Festival. With that rainstorm last night, crops should be growing well! Expect fields to be too muddy to support larger equipment until at least late afternoon, but if you really want to avoid having to pull your planter out of a puddle of mud, you’ll be better off waiting until tomorrow]

Jason flashed a small grin, then rolled out of bed and slowly walked up to the window. As he gazed out across his farm, he could see the still-dark soil underneath his crops, and he sighed deeply. On a whim, he opened up the window and inhaled deeply. There was nothing quite like the smell of a farm on the day after a rainstorm. The soil was fresh, the air was usually still damp, it just all felt alive.

On that particular day, though, as he stuck out his head, he frowned in confusion. All the usual noises and smells were there, but there was something extra. A soft, buzzing sort of noise that seemed to echo in his ears. He pulled himself back inside and shut the windows, and it went away. Odd.

Curious, he changed into overalls and headed downstairs. He had planned on heading into Summer Shandy for the day, both to buy supplies and to see Tess, but if there was something happening, he might have to change that plan. He paused in the kitchen to eat a quick breakfast, then strode out onto the porch and stood there for another few long seconds. The buzzing was still there, and a good deal louder, if he wasn’t mistaken. He frowned, then walked back inside, put on his boots, and made his way out to the stable.

Lady stuck her head out through the door and nickered softly. Her ears twitched in annoyance, and he knew that she was bothered by whatever was happening, too. He led her to the hitching post as quickly as possible, poured her oats, then started looking around. Nothing seemed to reveal itself initially, and he finally just closed his eyes.

The noise seemed to come from all around him, echoing from the prairie and the field and the yard and… No. No, it was slightly louder coming from one direction. Keeping his eyes closed, Jason turned and started following the noise as best he could. It wasn’t easy, and he tripped over more than a few potholes and logs (and, once, a razorgrass whacked him soundly on the knee), but soon enough, he bumped into the fence that surrounded his field.

He opened his eyes, somehow unsurprised, and gazed out across the expanse. Eighty acres of fresh crops, little sprigs of wheat bravely poking their stalks up out of the soil. The field had only been planted three days earlier, and as such, the springs of wheat were only a few inches tall. Short, vulnerable, and tasty for basically anything that enjoyed munching on grass.

As Jason gazed out across the field, he seemed to catch small glimpses of tiny black dots flashing back and forth. He scowled, then slowly climbed up and over the fence. Moving as carefully as possible, he dropped down amidst the rows, trying not to disrupt them. It was possible to tread too heavily upon freshly-planted crops, and destroy them, and he rather wanted to avoid that possibility.

The moment he touched the ground, though, an odd message appeared.

[Wheat. Durability: 10]

“Ten?” Jason frowned. “It’s usually around eighty or ninety.”

He knelt down and started looking more closely at the blades of wheat, and couldn’t help but notice that they appeared a good bit more spindly than before. He reached out and stroked a few of the blades, and his fingers grazed across several large holes that had been chewed into the leaf.

“That’s not good.” He whispered softly. “Did something get into my field?” He rose up and crossed his arms. “Status update: Fence.”

[All fences on the property are well-maintained, and have a durability between 95 and 100]

“That’s odd.” Jason bit his lip. “Are any of the fences missing? Is there a gap that’s formed somewhere?”

[All crops being grown on the property have 100% protection from roving monsters]

“Alright, then. What monsters are on my property?”

[Error: You are not a high enough level to unlock that skill]

“Of course not.” Jason scowled at the ground, then bent down once again. He could still see black dots moving across the field a bit further out. Suddenly, one of the dots flashed over to land on a blade by his foot, and he bent down as slowly as he could manage.

His eyes opened wide in surprise as he found a small insect almost identical to the one that had bitten Jeremiah at the start of summer. This one was a good bit larger, almost two inches in length, and as he watched, its enormous pinchers began to bite and tear at the wheat. Jason scowled and slapped at it, but it only flew away to a different stalk.

“Go bother someone else!” Jason called after it. “Actually, no. Just go eat the grass growing on the prairie! There’s plenty of it!”

The insects paid him no heed, and he turned his gaze slowly across the eighty acre expanse. It was impossible to know just how many of the bugs were there. Certainly, it wasn’t a proper fog of insects or anything, but there were quite a few. He thought for a moment, then went back into his house and grabbed a glass jar out of his pantry. From there, it took him more than a few tries before he managed to catch one of the insects, but succeed, he did. With the lid screwed on tightly, he mounted Lady and rode off for town. Hopefully, someone there would have the answers.

It only took him a few minutes to ride all the way in to Summer Shandy, where it seemed to be a relatively lazy day. The town farmers were out counting and feeding their sheep and goats, while a few children played, but all in all, it wasn’t the type of day that really stimulated a lot of movement. As the sun rose and the air heated up, the water in the soil began to evaporate, making everything incredibly humid and sweltering.

Jason soon rode up to Paulina’s store, where he dismounted and hitched Lady up to one of the posts there. He made his way inside, where he found Paulina speaking with a handful of the local farmers. She waved at him, and he waved back, making his way to the rear of the line. It was a busy day, and he wasn’t in an enormous rush. After a moment, inspiration struck him, and he pocketed the jar and strode out of the store and across the town square.

Soon enough, he came up to the Guild Hall for the Warriors Guild, and stepped around to the side where Tess’s office was located. He knocked on the door sharply, and her voice rang out promptly.

“Come in!”

He opened the door and poked his head inside, and found her sitting at her desk rummaging through a large stack of paperwork. She looked up, and her rather frustrated face lit up.

“Jason! I wasn’t expecting you today!”

“I was planning on surprising you.” Jason flashed a small smile, then shrugged. “And, to be fair, the nature of my visit has changed somewhat.”

“Anything I can help with?” Tess frowned, then flashed a small smile. “Oh, by the way, I sent out some of the invitations! Specifically, one of them to your mother, and then to an old contact of mine that might know where my brother is staying.”

“Perfect!” Jason beamed. “Hopefully, we’ll hear back soon. What does it take, four days to get mail between here and Illumitir?”

“Something like that.” Tess nodded. “Now, what happened? Is it a problem?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Jason shrugged and took out the jar. “You ever see anything like this?”

Tess stood up and took the jar from him. Her brow knit in concentration, and she stroked her chin.

“This is the same thing that bit Jeremiah?”

Jason laughed. “He told you about it?”

“This is about half the size of the one that he described, but yes.” Tess nodded thoughtfully. “I tried to look it up based off his description, but I didn’t get very far. With this…” She shrugged. “I might be able to find something. That said, Paulina might be the better bet.”

“That was my plan.” Jason confessed. “I was mostly stopping in to see if you wanted to come along.”

“I’d love to, but I’m afraid I have a bit of work I need to get done.” Tess sighed. “I’m still sorting through all the paperwork that Blacksuit created for me, and then I’m guiding a handful of tours through the dungeon later this afternoon.”

“Got it. Well, have fun!” Jason turned to leave, then paused. “I… There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, but I haven’t exactly know how to do it.”

Tess flashed a knowing smile. “Don’t worry about me. When I said yes, I knew what was being asked of me.” She paused. “It’s going to be hard to give up the guild, and I won’t hide that fact, but… When I grew up, I saw what it looks like to have parents who tried to fight in the dungeons as well as raise a family. I want a family with you, and I am not putting our children through the horror of never knowing if mom is going to come home at night. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I’ll have the guild transferred to someone else by the time that the wedding comes along.”

Jason nodded slowly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Tess flashed a smile. “I’ll be the mother that I never had. I may not have had a positive example, but I do know what doesn’t work. Now, run along. You have work to do, and so do I.”

Jason smiled back at her, then backed out of the office and walked back across to Paulina’s store. It was still quite busy, though as lunchtime neared, the farmers were beginning to trickle out. Jason continued to stand in the back, until, finally, the line up at the counter had faded away. Paulina smiled wearily at Jason as he walked up, and she sighed.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Jason, but I’m utterly exhausted and you’re a friend, so I know you’ll understand. Is there any way you can be really fast about this so I can go to lunch?’

“We’ll see.” Jason chuckled dryly. He pulled a list from his pocket and laid in on the counter. “A handful of supplies that I need.”

“Ahh! That makes life easy.” Paulina nodded. “Anything else?”

“Yes.” Jason took out the jar and set it on the counter. Inside, the insect buzzed angrily and began beating itself against the glass. “Is there any way you can tell me what this thing is?”

Paulina’s eyes opened wide, and one of the other farmers nearby let out a shout.

“That’s the same thing eating all my crops!”

“Me, too!” Another farmer cried out. Within a moment, Paulina’s nearly-empty counter had half a dozen farmers clustered around it, and one of them had run to the door to shout out at several of the men who had already walked away.

“Sorry.” Jason whispered as a proper mob began to form around Paulina’s counter.

“No worries.” She puffed out her cheeks. “This may wind up saving me time this afternoon. As you might have picked up on, this is somewhat of a common problem I’m dealing with at the moment.”

She picked up the jar and looked closely at the insect, then reached down underneath her counter and took out a large book. It was labeled “The General Guide to Central Plains Monsters.” It was… Thick. Jason felt his eyes widening as he took in the assortment of monsters that were apparently ready to assault his farm at the slightest notice. He knew that some of the monsters in the area had fairly specific spawn conditions, but it now seemed that there were far more than he had ever imagined.

When it became clear that it would going to take some time to figure things out, Paulina took the jar, the book, and made her way upstairs to eat her lunch while she searched. Jason could hardly blame her for that move, and he started to wander around the store while he waited. A few of the farmers left to get home to their families, but the majority hung around, and joined Jason in their aimless browsing. Jason discovered a handful of items he had never heard about before, including a few fancy horse-grooming tools that he decided to buy for Lady. When Paulina finally came back down, almost an hour had passed, and the farmers quickly clustered around Paulina as she set the insect back down, then thumped a far smaller book onto the countertop.

“Here you go.” She nodded. “It’s called a Juun Bug.”

The farmers began to jostle each other around as they tried to get to the book. Jason, instead of looking directly at the image of the insect itself, glanced at the title.

“Extinct Insects of Southern Illis?” He asked, then glanced up at Paulina. “What’s going on?”

Paulina grimaced and shrugged. “Truth be told, I don’t know, but it you look at the picture compared to your specimen, they’re identical. Behavior patterns seem similar from what I can tell, but you guys will have a better idea than I do.”

“No, I meant the book.” Jason blinked. “It’s extinct? What’s Illis?”

“As near as I can tell, Illis was the name for this land several hundred years ago.” Paulina held up her hands. “I’m no history expert, but the foreword at the front of the book seems to indicate that it was written about fifty years ago. At some point a few hundred years before that, it was renamed the Central Plains, which is way less cool in my estimation. Apparently during the period of time leading up to the renaming, a whole bunch of the local monsters and stuff went extinct? I dunno, but you’re welcome to take it for yourself if you want it.”

Jason nodded and again stepped to the back. Soon enough, he was the last one there, and scanned the entry as quickly as he could.

“Let’s see… Juun Bug… Size can be anywhere from one to… Six inches!” He yelped softly. “Can eat up to twice its weight in grass per day… Sometimes bites people or livestock, but only when agitated… Only known repellant is… The Lonesome Rose.”

He blinked. “What’s a Lonesome Rose?”

In response, Paulina pulled out a second book and plopped it down on the table.

“Extinct Plants of Southern Illis. Of course.” Jason sighed. “So unless these roses start popping up, too, I don’t have many options?”

Paulina frowned, then turned and walked into the back of the store. A few moments later, she came out with two large jugs, which she set on the counter. She gestured at the smaller one, a blue-and-white bottle.

“You might give this a whirl. It’s some new-fangled, all-natural insect spray.” She shrugged. “They have some greenhouses up in Illumitir that they apparently used to grow some sort of a plant that can be crushed up and mixed with water to create a whole host of different chemicals and things. Supposed to be environmentally friendly, though… I dunno. Anything that’s supposed to not be as harmful doesn’t sound like it’ll be as effective, but I got a tax break for buying some of it.”

“I’ll give it a try.” Jason flashed a small smile. “What’s the second jug?”

“Monstertrap spray.” Paulina shrugged. “Jeremiah ordered a whole palate of it from Illumitir, and told me to make sure to keep one back for you. He already paid for it. Said you could buy him a few in return if it actually works.” She frowned as she looked at the ingredients. “Now this stuff looks like it’ll actually do something. Basilisk venom… Dragon blood… Whew! You are not going to want to get this on your skin, I’ll tell you that much.”

Jason chuckled softly and took everything. He paid for what he had purchased, then started to make his way out of the store. “Thanks for everything, Paulina!”

“Thank me when it works!”

A few moments later, Jason was outside, and once more mounted up on Lady. The spray would work. It had to work. After all… If it didn’t… What would happen? What could happen? He was on the verge of getting married to Tess. He couldn’t lose the farm to a swarm of insects.

He wouldn’t lose the farm to a swarm of insects.