The earth has been our home for all your life, you find yourself in a forest clearing. +1 Con...

You breathe in the fresh air and dig your feet deep into soft fertile soil. +1 Str...

You see the paths before you are as numerous as the tree's themselves, but you must choose one. +2 Will...

...

Another decision along the Road, since he had little description he simply chose North.

It was as good a direction as any.

You pull up your feet and choose a direction, this is the way you choose. +1 Luck...

You walk through the clearing and pass into the tree line, this path is well worn. +1 End...

Congratulations! You have completed the Road of Earth I! The Road of Earth II opens to you! +25 to Health, Mana, Stamina, +1 to Health, Mana, Stamina regens...

Recalculating...

You have obtained the, Uncommon, active skill, Seed Creation Lvl. 1...

Seed Creation- Create seeds of a plant you are familiar with. Modify seeds during creation or while in contact with them. Product may be affected by user affinities. Variable Health, Mana, and Stamina costs…

He felt the soft earth beneath his feet, and his feet digging in. He felt the grass as he put one foot in front of another. He felt dried leaves beneath his feet as the road came to an end.

Dante appreciated the small increases but that wasn't what he needed. The skill however, could... certainly would be of use.

He felt as the new skill poured into his mind through that door in the back of his mind before assembling itself, ready for use.

Dante looked upon the 10 free stat points he had.

A moment of checking his status got him thinking.

"I could get my Intellect to 100 if I invested into another road. What do you think Virgil?" He asked, causing Virgil to take on a look of contemplation.

Slowly he tapped his index finger to his chin.

"I would advise you to hold off on that. Perhaps you should get other stats to 100 first. For you see the bonus you get can be influenced by your stat layout. Like how getting your luck to 100 aided you when your Wisdom reached 100. Though if I were you I would try for Spirit next." Virgil spoke in a calm tone.

"Why Spirit?" Dante asked, a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

"Spirit not only increases your mana regen, allows you to possess more skills, and skills of high level. It also influences your inventory space. You only have a 1 cubic meter Inventory slot right now. But if you get your Spirit to 100, its size will increase. That is without saying what skills you could possibly obtain as a bonus."

"Ok, skills like what?" He asked, causing Virgil to pause for a moment.

"Many things. Though I can only speak in general terms on the topic. It would appear information on this subject is somewhat restricted..."

"Alright then. I suppose I can shoot for Spirit 100 instead." Dante spoke before refocusing on his new skill.

"Can this make...it can!" He exclaimed as he raised his hand and activated the skill.

Golden light began to coalesce in the palm of his hand seconds ticked by as the light weaved itself, becoming a "physical" thing.

Dante looked at the small yellow bag made of fabric that rested open in his palm.

Slowly he reached into the bag, and after a few seconds of searching he found what he sought.

Pulling back out his hand he opened it to reveal several sunflower seeds. Giving a small chuckle, he paused as he remembered the other part of the skill.

"Modify seeds you are touching...I wonder." He questioned as he tried something simple.

"Let's just make them bigger." He spoke as he channeled the skill into the few seeds in his palm.

Slowly he felt his resources slip away from him. As they slipped away each of the seeds began to emit a soft white light.

He didn't want to go too fast for he did not yet know if spending too much too fast would cause his Soulful rest skill to turn off.

Skill, Seed Creation has leveled up! Lvl. 2...

Slowly he watched and felt as the seeds in his palm began to grow.

Where once they had been the size of his thumbnail they were now the size of his upper thumb and still growing.

Skill, Seed Creation has leveled up! Lvl. 3->6...

Over the course of a minute the seeds grew until they were each bigger than his thumb.

"That's enough for now..."He began to say as he moved to place the seeds into his pocket before he stopped, considering what he was about to do. Looking down at the seeds and then his pockets and back again. His mind began to buzz with thought. Then he turned to Virgil who was looking upon the seeds with joy and fascination. Before he gave voice to the thoughts in his head.

"If I put these in my pockets, what the hell happens to them when I leave? Will these actually grow if I plant them here? Will they be normal size or grow to a much bigger size?...Can't I just make these things gigantic, then cook the seeds and eat them?" Dante raddled off questions rapid fire eliciting a hearty laugh and clapping from Virgil by the end. Virgil took a few deep breaths to steady himself before responding.

"Let's answer your questions in order shall we? If you put them in your pockets I actually don't know what will happen. Shockingly..." Virgil paused for a moment to make a sarcastic face mixed with a bit of surprise. "...This doesn't come up often. So I am lacking information for you there. For all I know they will simply drop to the ground above the spot from which you departed. Now as to if they shall grow if you plant them, I would say you should test it. I honestly wonder if there is an upper limit to how large you can make those seeds. If there is, would it be different for different seeds? But, I digress."

"As to their size I am uncertain. I suspect they would be larger but as to how much I do not know. I suppose If you did make them very large they might serve well as a healthy snack food. You might be able to make some money on that Idea so hold onto it!" Virgil spoke insistently to Dante.

His questions answered Dante paused, considering for a moment before taking action. He pulled one seed from the bunch before placing the rest in his pockets.

"Let's see the size limit of a sunflower seed." He said whilst smiling, a spark of curiosity in his eyes. Slowly he channeled more resources through Seed creation and into the sunflower seed. Where once there had been multiple seeds to soak up the effect now there was but one.

Skill, Seed Creation has leveled up! Lvl. 7->9...

Quickly the thumb sized seed began to swell in size. It was now that he began to feel something. The larger the seed grew the more resources it took to increase its size just a little more.

'Ah diminishing returns...'He thought as he cut the flow. He had felt there for a moment that the amount of resources he was pumping into the seed would exceed the current limit for Soulful rest.

Looking up to the top left of his vision he saw his health and stamina bars resting at about half while his mana was about three fourths.

Skill, Resist. to Magical Exhaustion has leveled up! Lvl. 2...

Skill, Resist. to Mundane Exhaustion has leveled up! Lvl. 7...

Skill, Soulful Rest has leveled up! Lvl. 2...

Skill, Farming has leveled up! Lvl. 15->23...

"Wait a minute, when did that get so high?" Dante asked, suddenly confused. "Virgil?" He asked and immediately Virgil was by his side.

"Yes Dante what seems to be the issue?" He asked, hearing the confusion in Dante's voice.

"When did my resistance to mundane exhaustion skill get so high?" He asked pointing at himself before thinking how stupid that looked. But to his surprise Virgil gave a small laugh as if he had told a joke.

"Fear not Dante for it seems you have simply forgotten the training you did with the Headmaster not too long ago. I recall you spent quite a bit of stamina trying to catch him for several hours. Among the many exercises he had you perform." Virgil answered with a slightly condescending grin.

"...oh yeah...Guess I never did go back to check on some of those notices..." He began before he paused. Feeling himself cross the threshold to the next level and he watched as new notices rolled in.

Congratulations! You have leveled up!...

You have gained a level in the Farmer class!...

Farmer I Road has opened to you!...

Congratulations! Your Health has surpassed 2500!...

Calculating...

"Well what do you know...I guess that's what you get for pouring resources into farming skills." He spoke softly, awaiting the results. Seconds later they came.

Recalculating variables...

Congratulations! Your common skill Farming will have its rank risen to Uncommon. Skill level is reset to 15...

Error!

Soulful Rest has been disrupted!...

The world fell away from Dante as sleep embraced him. Yet Virgil remained to watch the change.

--------------

Virgil felt as Soulful rest was pushed past its current limits and failed.

He saw as Dante vanished from his soul space, near instantly succumbing to sleep.

*Sigh*

Virgil gave a short sigh, he had wished for Dante to be here for this but he would just have to see it when it was done.

Before him he watched as dirt and grass flowed like water. The land surrounding the small hobbit house shifted by more than 30 feet in all directions.

The small mound of dirt and grass that covered the hobbit house rose up. The one room house was now expanding beneath the dirt. It grew from one room to 5.

Three new doors appeared upon the North, West, and east walls. Each leading to a new room.

There was even a small set of stairs in the main room now. It led up to a small bedroom.

It seemed that as the house had grown and shifted the furniture had too shifted to new positions.

Looking out upon the small orchard fields that flanked the house on three sides he saw not much had changed with them. Save for a small shift in their positions.

"huh, would you look at that..." Virgil said as he noticed something upon the ground. There where Dante had vanished were several thumb sized sunflower seeds and one the size of a loaf of bread.

"Good traveling snacks indeed." Virgil said with a smile as he picked up the seeds and placed them into a pocket in his robes.

Soon enough the dirt and grass came to rest and the now larger hobbit house settled.

Virgil set the largest of the seeds upon the table in the Northern room.

Then it was that he retired to the bedroom on the second floor.

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