Chapter 77: Finn’s Farming Mini-arc

“Are you going to sit there forever?” Ren asked, back on him, as he slashed another monster and created a deep gash on its body that made it even angrier.

ROOOARR!

Aaron shook his head. He refused to prove that he was a ’parasite’! He put the shivering goblins to the back of his mind and swung his spear above his head as he ran towards a monster, using the momentum to add force to his stabs.

Aaron was desperate to prove himself, to make them forget his earlier embarrassment as well as his current emotional confusion, so he jumped in the middle of the mob and attacked all around him to his heart’s content.

The monsters, which had already been greatly weakened by the other two, succumbed fairly quickly after that.

And he was smug about it. “I…huff… killed half of them… huff,” he said, a wide grin gracing his face while sweat dripped off of him.

Ren gave him a look, while Zachary tutted. “Says the one who tripped,” he said, partly teasing. “You’re not going to blame the ground again, are you?”

It wasn’t the first time he had done this. Once, during a spar with Ren, he blamed the tiles.

Aaron gasped, reminded of his folly. “Tsk! It’s not my fault!”

He then pointed at the area where he tripped. “It’s theirs!”

The two blinked and followed his sight, and they saw two little goblins with beady eyes staring at them with admiration and fear.

“…”

Zachary kneeled down and helped them up. Aaron wasn’t even surprised anymore and he just looked at the ebony-haired swordsman. “How do we get back home?”

Ren looked at him oddly. “Why are you asking me?”

“Aren’t you the smart one?” he asked Ren. He assumed he knew how to determine where the cardinal directions were without a tool.

After all, they had always been pitted against each other by their teams, always competing. Ren was famous for his brains as much as his skill with the sword.

Ren’s jaw clenched, his face stoic and he did not say anything. Zachary rubbed his nose, awkward, while Aaron was just confused.

The swordsman…was not the best person to ask these things.

After all…he had a very bad sense of direction.

…

While others were dying elsewhere, Finn was chilling inside his barrier.

This was after clearing the monsters outside, of course. He had dragged their carcasses as well, skinned, deboned, and then took them back to the kitchen for jerky-making.

It was a fortunate thing that beast meat lasted at least a day, giving him plenty of time to prepare them, like making them into jerky to lengthen the shelf life.

He had always wanted to buy the [Cellar], but it was too expensive considering the money he had in his wallet. There wasn’t a real need for it (yet) anyway, and it was more for convenience and luxury.

Anyway, back to his farming session, he placed the garden at the rear part of the territory. By rear, he meant the land behind the inn, the side on the upper slope facing the mountains, and also part of the property facing North.

He did not entirely place it in a clearing. Instead, half of it was an open area, while the rest would cover existing vegetation. He chose where his favorite bush (sunberry bushes) were the densest, for efficiency’s sake.

This way, he could develop a more intuitive understanding of how the plants inside the garden would grow in contrast to those outside. After all, he had harvested them around the same time.

As for the remaining plot of little land, he planted his spicy plant as well as the veinroot. Finally, he also cut part of the thornroot and planted it.

He assumed (hoped) they grew like potatoes, and he was shooting blindly here, and just hoping for the best.

Sadly, as much as he knew about making food, he barely knew anything about how to grow them.

But…that +100% survivability bonus in the Garden shouldn’t be a joke, right?

He sprinkled a bit of water over them, but not too much. Hopefully, the garden itself could make up for the farming knowledge that he lacked.

He did a few more things like adding more topsoil, grinding a few bones (of the horned rabbit, cuz they were far softer), since he heard somewhere the calcium was healthy for the plants. Or something like that.

Anyway, he did what he did, mentally patting himself on the back (his hand was dirty with soil), for a job well done. He did his best!

It was just that he heard another familiar ding just before he stood up.

[Activated: Farming]

[Information: Upon contact with a plant, seed, or spore, the user shall automatically gain knowledge about handling the plant and increasing its chances of survival, propagation, and health.

Type: Active

Consumption: 5 mana]

Ohohoho.

He grinned. Just what he needed.

Also, there was no cooldown? He could use it as much as he wanted as long as he had mana? Cool, cool, cool.

That said, how convenient were these skills just popping up when he needed them? He couldn’t help but look at Pang, who had been watching his activity with curiosity, though he looked a bit surprised now. “This system isn’t bad.”

Pang looked at him. “To be honest, my previous Innkeepers only received two or three free skills from the system.”

“Oh? Maybe because they’ve already trained enough.”

“Maybe.”

Finn shrugged. Anyway, even if he did get many skills, they weren’t related to fighting at all, so he didn’t think too much of it.

He squatted next to his spicy plant and used his new skill [Farming] to find out more about the plant.

[Nettleflame]

[Propagation Detail: Grows from seeds that sprout, eventually becoming low-growing dense shrubs. Can self-seed if left to flower.

Care Detail: Must be planted under direct sunlight for at least 15 hours a day. Must be planted next to a companion plant, Veilroot, for maximum health. Lightly water once a day on the leaves, not the roots.

Current Health: 66/100

Notes: The Roots are drowning!]

“…” he awkwardly looked at the wet soil underneath it.

Ahem.

Anyway, rereading the description, he kind of had an idea why he only found these two plants together and only once after a while. There was probably a bald spot in the foliage near the nettleflame, allowing sunlight, and it lived right next to its companion plant, creating a beautiful coincidence.

He then looked at the veilroot, which was fortunately planted right next to the nettleflame as it required (though, cough, it was just because he lacked space in the garden).

[Veilroot]

[Propagation Detail: Grown from small bulb divisions, each bulblet matures into a full root.

Care Detail: Thrives in loose, well-drained soil. Dislikes direct sunlight. Water sparingly at the base. Plant with ample spacing.

Current Health: 82/100

Notes: Too suffocated. Loosen soil!]

Err…

Half of the pair wanted sun, while the other didn’t want it? Probably because it was a root crop.

He loosened the soil by poking gently around it. As for sunlight, it seemed to like being underneath other plants, including the nettleflame, so he could leave it as is.

Finally, he tried the skill on one of the most versatile crops.

[Thornroot]

[Propagation Detail: Sprouts from tuber cuttings with at least one eye. Each plant can develop into its own plant cluster.

Care Detail: Plant beneath a shallow layer of soil. Very versatile plant and can grow under nearly any condition.

Current Health: 90/100

Note: None]

Oh, his favorite.

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