As always, Edwin woke up early and dressed quickly; but this time more out of embarrassment than anything.

Jottenhiem started the day off with a wolf-whistle almost as soon as Edwin had rolled out of bed in nothing but a pair of shorts.

If Edwin didn't know better, he'd think that Jottenhiem was learning bad habits from someone; but given that she watches over the entire bloody city outside of the Citadel, there's no way to tell what or who she picked it up from.

“I know for a fact that you've seen me in the nude before, Jottenhiem. So why the cat-calling?” He asks with a sigh, running his hand through his fine, white silky hair. For some reason he never had bed-head at all. It was definitely useful.

“Heh... heh. Actually, I'm not too sure myself.” Jottenhiem finally says after a very awkward moment of silence. But her reply only makes Edwin sigh.

“Okay then.” Edwin mutters, leaving his chambers.

Because today is going to be a busy day, most of it outside of the Citadel, Edwin had chosen a set of durable workman's-like clothing instead of the usual silk and fluffy goblets and jacket that Allisa usually picks out. It was similar to what he'd worn when he was training with Lucien, actually.

Thick, comfortable boots that come half-way up to his knees; slightly baggy brown pants tucked into them; a simple white button-down shirt and a dark green vest tight over his chest with a belt. With his crimson red skin and the black horn jutting out from the center of his forehead, he was definitely eye-catching.

He also had a very nice muscle tone, although Edwin doesn't realize that himself.

Just as Jottenhiem and Lucien had discussed the day before, summoned beings have rapid advancement that goes beyond what others born in Eternia could achieve. A single week of training had hardened him up and turned his previously average lanky frame into a toned one. He almost looked like a swimmer or a professional runner.

But Edwin had been much too busy to see that sort of gradual change.

That didn't mean others didn't. Especially with this mornings tight clothing on.

Walking into the kitchen, Allisa and Betra were already hard at work, and Edward calls out to them.

“Good morning.” It was simply, but Betra was the first to turn around from where she was working on scrambling eggs for breakfast for everyone.

She doesn't even say anything, her eyes having gone wide, staring at Edwin. Then her face goes red from bottom to top; and Edwin could almost imagine the steam coming out of her ears.

Betra almost faints before Allisa snaps her out of it.

“Betra, the eggs are burning!” It was a life-saving line for a previously professional chief, and Betra snaps out of it, stammering an apology as she turns back to try to salvage the eggs with a face almost as red as Edwin's.

Edwin, of course, was rather stunned; but shakes it off and takes a seat at the table that's set up.

“What was that about, Allisa?” Edwin asks when the blue woman comes over to him, and Allisa huffs for a moment, thinking that Edwin was being rude. But after a look at Edwin's confused face, she lets out a sigh.

“There's a reason why I take to setting out baggy clothing for you, my lord. You should look at yourself in a mirror every now and again...” The Blue Elf woman mutters, although her own gaze is as far from Edwin as possible. But she's still blushing herself.

“Eh? Is something strange?” Edwin asks, looking down at himself. Yep, still totally dense when it comes to women.

“Oh well. Allisa, I need you to pack up for a picnic today. We're going out to the farms.” Edwin finally says, much to Allisa's hidden relief. She knew something of Edwin's plans, so she nods.

“A picnic, huh? Sounds like fun!” Yep, the woman was definitely the same as always. Maybe Edwin did have bed-head that morning or something?

Edwin smiles and nods, waving Allisa away once his meal arrives; thankfully without any burnt eggs.

Lucien doesn't appear until Edwin has almost finished, but he figured that might happen. There's a lot of work to do today, after all.

“The carriage is waiting, my lord. I've also sent notice to the farm, but without enough time to get a reply, I'm not sure if they'll get it in time.” Lucien says, politely as ever. But by now Edwin is use to that.

“That's fine. I have Allisa fixing up our lunch, and she's coming with us.” Edwin says, nodding to where Allisa already has several baskets to go and is carefully packing a fourth one. It was quite a bit of food; but with Betra doing most of the actual kitchen work, it was quickly done.

“Very well.” Lucien says, his eyes softening for a moment before he snaps his attention back to Edwin.

“Before we leave though, there is something to tell you.” Lucien says with a soft sigh, pulling out a rather large bundle of letters from his coat. With a -thump-, he drops them on the table, and Edwin realizes they're so tightly bound they're like a brick. Heavy.

“These have been arriving ever since last night. Letters of thanks, mostly. Signing the Jottenhiem Patrol charter made everyone happy. We've also been getting applications for those who want to join up, but I've forwarded them to Cormic.” Lucien says, before stopping, letting out another slight sigh himself.

“And... a total of four hundred and sixty three letters asking for you.” Lucien finally says, but that only caused Edwin to look at the old man blankly.

“For me?... As in proposals?” Edwin finally asks, making both himself and Lucien flinch at the words. Across the kitchen, Allisa gives something of a screech and one of the dishes she was holding crashes to the floor, shattering.

“Ah! Not another one!” Allisa yells, her face once more going red. At least between her and Betra, they get the floor cleaned up again, but Edwin frowns.

Marriage or the like wasn't one of the things he'd been thinking of. Even back on Earth, it wasn't anything he was really interested in. Having a woman? Sure. Dating? Yes. But marriage? No.

He was too much of a workaholic for that.

“For the moment, put them away, Lucien. There's still too much to do. I am not getting married any time soon.” Edwin finally says, much to not only Lucien's relief, but Allisa's as well; although Edwin doesn't hear her sigh from across the room.

“Very well, my lord. It wasn't uncommon for the previous Demon Lords to get such letters, either. Many of them took to burning them.” Lucien says, but Edwin can only shake his head. He doesn't have any plans on burning them.

At least not until they're piled in a mountain.

Finally though, Allisa is all set, and the three of them make their way out of the Citadel and into the carriage, with Allisa facing Edwin from the front bench.

But she keeps her gaze adverted as much as possible, even though they have a bit of a chat about this or that. It was a bit awkward, but Edwin ignores that part of it. It was nice to simply talk to Allisa. The light smile on his lips as he does so makes Allisa all the more dere, stealing glances at him and looking away almost as quickly.

Yep, he totally has no clue on what to do with women.

Not that there wasn't a lot to see outside of the carriages window, either. Everyone could now recognize the black, unadorned carriage that rolled out of the Citadel; especially with the crest of the Demon Lord having been engraved into the sides of the carriage after Edwin's fight for the city.

So the streets are lined with people wanting to see him, or simply gawking.

Once the carriage passes through Upper Jottenhiem and into the lower city slums, the crowd actually follows and cheers! It wasn't anything Edwin was expecting. Hell, he didn't know what the townspeople were expecting, either.

Many thought he was going to open a new dungeon, actually.

Others thought he was going to start rebuilding Lower Jottenhiem.

No one really knew what was going on though, but they all had expectations.

And they were surprised when the carriage keeps rolling, all the way out of the city gates and into the desolate farmlands beyond. Not that it stops the people from following.

It was becoming another bloody circus.

Thankfully the carriage moves faster than the crowds, so by the time they arrive at the farm; rolling to a stop with the soft neighing of the horses.

Allisa opens the door and jumps down, bowing for Edwin to do so as well before Lucien pulls the carriage around and finds a nice place to park it and deals with the horses.

Edwin though takes the chance to look around, sighing at the broken fences and untilled lands. The few crops he can see are miserly and few and far between. Its obvious that vandals hadn't left much of anything growing.

The farmhouse itself was a two story wooden building, with most of its ground floor windows boarded up. The small stable and barn out back is empty as well. Part of the well had been broken.

In short, it was a mess.

But Edwin strides toward the front door and knocks. He gets no response though.

So he knocks again, louder than before.

“WHAT IS IT?! Can't you read the sign! No trespassing!” A voice suddenly booms from inside, forcing even Edwin to take a step back before shaking his head.

“I'm Edwin Cast, here to speak with the owner of this farm. A note should have arrived earlier.” Edwin calls back, a frown crossing his lips.

“EH?!” Is the reply from inside, and after a moment of hearing nothing but the jiggle of several locks and bolts and chains, the door finally cracks open. Edwin cannot see who it is that's looking at him though.

But he's definitely distinctive enough to recognize, so he isn't worried about his presence being denied.

“Wow, you really are the Crimson Demon!” The door is suddenly flung open, and out steps a... snake. Rather, a snake-woman slithers out. A lamia, her brown scales with black markings easily put her in the Earth Lamia clan. But its her upper body that catches most of Edwin's attention.

She looks young. Really young. If the girl had been human, she would have been thought of as a young teen or a child.

Brown hair, blue yes, a cute face; she had some nice curves; but her breasts were only slightly pert. Dressed in a light leather blouse with a sash belted around her waist; where her human torso is joined to the snakes tail.

She's cute though.

Very cute.

Edwin has to cough for a moment and nods his head. “I've been called that, yes. I'm the Demon Lord, Edwin Cast.” He announces again, this time with a proper introduction, along with a slight bow.

“Oh ho! Nice to meet ya, my lord! I only received your note about half an hour ago, so I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly!” The girl says, as flamboyant as always, although she's smiling herself.

“I'm Cernette Slitheriene. I own this barren wasteland called a farm here.” The woman finally says, motioning around them.

“Your note was rather vague though, and spoke only of wanting to 'experiment'. So what is it you want here, my lord?” Cernette gets right down to business, her tone turning shrewd. Edwin could appreciate that, and nods his head.

“Right. I'm here to learn how to farm.” He says, although he actually chuckles a little.

“More specifically, I'm here to train my skills while learning to farm, ranching, and anything else that may be available. In return, I'll be making sure there is no more vandalism to the fields. There will also be patrols coming along to keep things from going bad again.” Edwin explains.

Cernette actually has a pokerface that could go against Lucien's at any time, but she's soon smiling and nods her head.

“That works for me! This dust bowl needs some major work, and its been really hard since the farmhands all ran off! So lets see what you can do, my lord.” Cernette agrees quite readily, and for a moment Edwin feels a shiver down his spine.

He isn't sure if that's a good thing. Still, there's nothing else for it, so he nods.

Its only then that he realizes that the crowd from the city is about to catch up with them. Crap.

“We need to do this quickly, Cernette. Take me to the nearby field.” Edwin says, glancing over his shoulder. The dust the crowd is pushing up is more than easy to see, and Cernette barely glances at it before nodding.

Otherwise the entire field would be overrun.

“Lucien, send word to Cormic to get some of his men down here, fast.” Edwin calls, and Lucien quickly nods and pulls Allisa back to him. It wouldn't be good to get trapped out here without any reinforcements.

But Edwin quickly turns and follows along with Cernette, who is surprisingly fast with her slithering across the ground.

She also has a rather nice... ahem.

Edwin shakes that thought from his head and soon enough he's out in the middle of a barren field, looking around.

He quickly activates Crystal Vision and takes another glance around, measuring the proper distances and the like before starting to gather up his mana.

“I'm going to activate my Dungeoneering skill here, Cernette. It'll keep everyone else out.” He explains, making the lamia-woman blink before nodding.

She'd heard of his fight just the other day, and how it had blocked everyone entering or leaving.

This time though he's going with the maximum size he can generate, two thousand square feet, in a perfect cube.

“Dungeoneering!” He yells as he presses his hand into the ground. Just like before, the space goes white around them, and then the blue outlines of magic track quickly across the land. They're close enough that even Cernette's home, the stable, barn, well and other outhouses are caught in it as well. Its a good way of offering Cernette his protection while this 'experiment' is going on.

Cernette though is watching it all unfold with an amazed look on her face.

Thankfully the skill finishes before the crowds arrive, pressing up against the now darkened, almost opaque sides. The only part that isn't covered as such is the 'ceiling', allowing unfiltered sunlight to stream down on them.

“That's rather... impressive, my lord.” Cernette says after a moment, reaching down to touch the unblemished soil.

Edwin nods and lets out a sigh of relief. They cannot even hear the cries outside.

“Yes. With me at the center point, the dungeon space is two thousand square feet, so it extends both above and below ground. I've set it so water and sunlight and air can flow naturally, but no one else can enter.” He says, quite pleased with himself.

It was the shortest time yet in activating it. A good sign. It also took less mana than before.

“Sadly this is the only one I can make right now with my limited skill. Otherwise I'd have set them up over the other farms and gone large.” Edwin says with a mutter, but soon enough Cernette snaps him back to reality.

“Heh. No worries, my lord! With this, I can finally come out and work! You too, my lord! No slacking off!” The woman was really into it, and soon enough she'd rushed to a shed and returns with several farming tools, passing Edwin a couple of them.

After that, its time to work and to learn. How to till the soil; how to set up drainage and irrigation; how to remove the rocks that seem to appear out of nowhere.

They work on a patch near the farmhouse, and soon enough Edwin's muscles are screaming at him and he's covered in sweat. As the sun gets higher and the day gets warmer, he sweats more and more, as well.

Lucien and Allisa also arrive before noon, along with Cormic and several of his men, who press into the crowd and push them back a bit. Cormic, Lucien, and Allisa are allowed to pass through the Absolute Domain with the carriage; and the three of them start chatting while Edwin works.

Every now and again Allisa would bring Edwin something to drink, and he'd smile and accept it before getting right back to work.

By the time his shirt and vest are completely sweat-soaked, he grumbles and pulls the clothing off, folding them over a clothesline and goes bare chested back to work.

This, of course, causes Allisa and Cernette to blush rather lividly; but Edwin ignores them and keeps up with his work.

His muscles bulge with every motion he takes with the hoe, and just before they stop for lunch, Edwin hears that familiar sound.

*DING*

Farming Skill has been learned!The farming skill increases the quality of goods that are planted or harvested.

It decreases the time required to grow a plant.

It decreases the water required for a plant to grow.

It offers resistance to most forms of pests or crop blights.

At higher skill levels, Farming allows the creation of unique plants or variants.

Farming sub-skills also enhance the effect of Farming.

You have gained bonus Stats!+ 5 Strength

+5 Constitution

+2 IntelligenceFor learning an Earth-based skill, you have gained more Earth AffinityEarth Affinity +10A new effect of Earth's Blessing has been unlocked!All crops grown by the user will have increased vitality and will grow faster.

The Earth has blessed the endeavors of the user, and higher Earth Affinity will increase this bonus.

+20% Faster Growing Speed.

+20% Chance of Crop Germination.

+20% Chance of receiving extra seeds upon harvest.

+20% Higher crop quality.

It was what Edwin had been waiting for, and he grins as he sets down the hoe, wiping off his sweat-covered brow. Cernette comes over only a minute later, nodding her head.

“Looks like you have a knack for this, my lord! I am quite surprised!” Cernette says, smiling and even laughing a bit.

“Lets go have lunch and then we'll actually start planting something! I want to see just how far you can go!” The woman is definitely excited, and Edwin nods his head with his own slight smile.

Its hard work, and his body is already sore and stiff; but its still kinda nice, all the same.

Growing things is rewarding, after all.

So he walks over to where Lucien and Allisa are, and they break out the picnic supplies that Allisa had packed. Allisa keeps her gaze adverted from Edwin all over again though, but by now Edwin doesn't think anything about it. She'd been staring at him almost the entire time he was working, after all.

“Oi, lad, I never thought you'd be one to come out and work the fields yourself.” Cormic is also cheerful, although he keeps getting messengers that are running back and forth from here back to the new Patrol headquarters.

“Its part of the plan to get me trained, Cormic. These skills will come in handy, and I get to train my Dungeoneering skills as well.” He says, taking a seat right on the ground.

The crowd outside had thinned somewhat over the hours, but there were still hundreds, if not thousands of people outside of his domain. They were watching everything and talking amongst themselves. Just like at the fight, several vendors had set up shop along the road and were selling food and beverages while the Patrollers walk back and forth, keeping an eye on everything.

“That's true, lad! Bloody ingenious, setting up a dungeon here to keep people out.” Cormic says with a nod and a gruff laugh.

“You can thank Lucien for the idea. He got it from how I used the skills during my fight.” Edwin says, shrugging the comment off while Allisa is pulling out plates and food.

Soon enough the entire group is munching through a nice lunch of sandwiches and salad.

“Oh, Cernette, do you know what the Earth's Blessing is?” Edwin asks about halfway through the meal, finally remembering the information he'd gotten when the Farming skill had been gained.

He'd gained the Blessing after his fight, but he still didn't know what it was.

“Earth's Blessing?! You have something like that?!” Cernette though was surprised, and even drops her sandwich; though thankfully it lands on the plate and not the bare earth. Edwin is surprised at her outburst, but nods.

“Yeah. I got it after fighting that Rock Demon, Krash before. No information came up with it though, so I don't know what it means. When I got the farming skill, it gained some effects, like increased growth rate and the like.” Edwin says, while Lucien and Allisa share a glance while Cernette goes all silent.

“Eh... Blessings are favors granted by elemental spirits. Unlike gods, spirits are part of the natural order of the world, and thus are mostly invisible. Just like magic, there's a spirit that deals with every element. The earth deals with growing things, the earth itself. The closer the person is to that element, the stronger the Blessing becomes. Its as if you'd caught the attention of the spirit directly, and it assists in whatever you do with that element.” Cernette says after a moment, although she gives a bit of a sigh.

“The Earth's Blessing is something all farmers aspire to. It greatly helps in almost every aspect of what we do.” Cernette says then, although she's sounding a bit depressed and more than touch jealous.

Edwin doesn't know what to say to that.

“At this point, almost all of my skills are earth-based. Dungeoneering and its sub-skills are all like that. But I also have a rather high Earth Affinity now, too.” Edwin admits. With the new points he just gained, he has 110 points of Earth Affinity all together.

From what he can figure, every 50 points gives him a 10% bonus to the Earth's Blessing effects.

That thought actually brings something else to mind.

“Does the Earth's Blessing also work with the Mining skill?” He asks out loud, and the group around him look at each other before shrugging.

“Its possible. Mining is a bit harder than farming though, lad.” Cormic is the one to respond, given that he is a dwarf. Most dwarves tend to have something to do with mining, after all. Even Cormic had, before he came to the surface.

Edwin simply nods and they hurry up and finish their lunch.

Cernette seems to be a bit down though, but once they get back to work she perks back up and goes on to explain how to actually plant seeds, how to properly water them, and various other things. By the time the sun starts to drop downward in the evening, Edwin had learned just about everything he could.

But Cernette wasn't quite done with him yet. In fact, she makes him wait as she rushes back into her house and returns with a book. Another Skill Book, in fact.

“Here, my lord. I was holding onto this for any kids I might have, but I think you should take it instead.” Cernette says, blushing at the word 'kids', but Edwin smiles and takes the book.

“Thank you, Cernette.” He says gently, causing the lamia to blush all over again.

Edwin checks out the book then. 'The Earth's Bounty, Identifying Plants and Seeds'. Whoah, that is useful! Edwin grins and suddenly hugs Cernette against his bare chest. The woman gives a short yell, but soon blushes and tries to laugh it off when Edwin finally releases her.

“Thank you again, Cernette.”

*DING*

By recognizing someone with exceptional Earth-based skills, the Earth's Blessing has been granted to the recipient.Cernette Slitheriene has earned the Earth's Blessing.Cernette Slitheriene has gained Earth Affinity +50

By sharing the Earth's Blessing, you have gained new Earth AffinityEarth Affinity +50

This time the status screen pops up between the two of them, and both blink for a moment before Cernette yells and starts curling around and around on her tail.

“I got the Earth's Blessing!!!” The woman really is excited, while Edwin only grins. Checking the Earth's Blessing effects, he can tell that his idea was correct. Now all of bonuses have risen to 30%. That's a really nice bonus.

But Cernette wasn't done, and suddenly she's rushing right at Edwin, who's too surprised to do anything but let the lamia curl around her. But the kiss she gives him is definitely nice. And hot. He almost feels as if his back is melting; but with her snake tail wrapped around him, he doesn't drop flat on his ass.

“Hehe. Thank you, my lord.” The woman says after pulling back, grinning and blushing at the same time.

Behind them though Allisa lets out a scream, and the women in the crowd beyond Edwin's domain does the same.

Oops. Edwin is afraid to even look back right then. Cernette only grins and lets Edwin go.

“Feel free to come again, my lord. I'll treat you to something nice.” Cernette had definitely just stolen a pass, and Allisa is not about to forget it!

Even Edwin can feel the woman's anger from all the way over here.

If he wasn't already covered in sweat, he'd have broken out in a sheet of it.

As it is, he can only give a slight stiff smile before letting out a sigh.

Why do women have to be so complicated?

-|- -|- -|-

Here's Chapter 7! I hope you guys enjoy it!

Once again, feel free to leave comments!

Jottenhiem didn't have much involving her this time, but she was definitely there and saw it all! Edwin is going to be getting it from both of them before the night is over! Hahaha.

Chapter 8 is going to be a bit more involved with more skills to learn, too!

I'm going to put off posting the updated stat tables just yet. Its a lot of work to get them straight, and I'm in the mood to write more before updating them!

Also, I want to know what sort of woman should be suggested next? Mining and smithing are next up on my plans, so suggestions about race and whatnot would be useful!

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