Farmer Mage

Chapter 70: The First Harvest

He was smiling as they approached his field. Nibbles was not.

She had been in a foul mood ever since he had come to an agreement with the wolf.

“You know this is a good thing. That wolf taking control of the pack means we can focus on improving the field instead of worrying about any attacks.” Nibbles turned her nose up at the explanation, confusing Cal about her dislike.

“… Do you feel the wolf is untrustworthy?” He hadn’t considered it before since Nibbles had never indicated this might be the case. However, he was surprised to see her contemplating the answer before shaking her head negatively.

She was thinking of lying. Interesting.

“You don’t like the wolf,” Cal stated. “I’m guessing it’s because he is too close to you in strength.”

Nibbles glanced at him and let out a sullen squeak—which did nothing but increase Cal's confusion. She didn’t seem to be in the mood to play charades to explain what the problem was, which was very out of character for her.

… Maybe Nibbles is angry that I’m feeding a bunch of wolves. She might think that she will be getting less rewards.

“Ah, I almost forgot! I need to order more tubs of powdered crystals. I did say I would get some meant only for you. How much do you think you can eat in a month?” Cal pretended like he just remembered this matter while watching Nibbles closely.

She seemed a little excited to have her own dedicated powdered crystal supply, but it didn’t erase the surliness that existed since the wolf agreed to be a protector.

Still, that didn’t prevent Nibbles from signaling the number of tubs with her paws.

“Sixty,” Cal’s eye twitched. “So, you expect to eat two a day.” The eye twitched even more when Nibbles nodded solemnly. “Sixty it is.”

Nibbles was definitely happier with the offered bribe, but it was clear the food wasn’t the issue. That put Cal back to his original assumption that she simply didn’t like the wolf. If that was the case, then time would have to fix that issue.

Unless I leave the territory. I plan to take Nibbles with me, so she won’t have to care after that.

Cal noted that everything seemed undisturbed as they stepped onto the field. The powdered crystals he used as bait would shortly be used for step two. “If you have the energy, finish building the tunnels. I’ll need to use them soon.”

Nibbles seemed happier after that request—even more so than the sixty-tub bribe he had just offered. It made little sense to Cal, but it wasn’t like he could magically read her mind.

I remember the interface offering me a skill to better connect with beasts. It would have come in handy right now.

Cal pushed his idle thoughts away and checked on the loam-covered soil. It was almost ready for the next step. Perhaps an hour or less before he could proceed.

He checked his crops next and immediately frowned. It had been over six hours since he last watered them, and this was the second time he had been distracted. He cast [Rainfall] over the crops and allowed the rain to fall until it was sufficient.

I need to set a reminder somehow. I have gotten away with it so far, but a severe lapse could cause me to lose everything.

Cal was about to return to practicing his not-yet-a-spell when he saw something strange happening with the crops.

The ones he had planted recently were normal. The soil there was muddy from the recent rain, and it was slowly being absorbed into the Sunfire Grains. It was the crops that were nearly ready for harvest that gave him cause for concern.

The muddy soil was being dried at a rate that was shockingly fast. It was always the case for the Sunfire Grains to absorb the water in the muddy soil quickly at the start, but it slowed considerably after that. Otherwise, Cal would have needed to be watering the crops every few minutes instead of every six hours.

He stared at the soil intently before raising his arm. He cast [Rainfall]. The rain only covered the thousand square feet which was causing him an issue.

I will not let the Sunfire Grains die right before harvest. It will be a week’s worth of work wasted!

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Cal didn’t cut off the flow of mana to the rain cloud, but he did slow the rate at which the rain fell. He wanted to see if the insane absorption rate continued.

This might be one of the first times the hearthstone would come to the rescue. He could maintain [Rainfall] with his own mana core for several minutes at this point, but there was no chance for any longer. With the hearthstone to draw on, he should be able to add five to ten minutes to the spell even with the inefficiently of the mana transfer.

Thankfully, it wasn’t necessary.

Cal cut off his mana and let the rain cloud evaporate as he watched the crops. The soil was slightly damp but didn’t lose more moisture after that point.

That, in itself, was strange. There should have been a slow but noticeable loss of moisture. He had never seen the crops just… stop being thirsty.

He didn’t see any changes whatsoever for several seconds, long enough for him to start to think the worst about the status of the crops. However, that changed when small, ruby-red spots began to appear on some of the Sunfire Grains.

Around half of his planted crops grew rapidly into strange, low, bunched-up greenish plants. Some of them were also covered with the ruby-red grains, but most weren’t. Drex was nearly useless in describing what he should expect, so he didn’t know which was better.

I’m concerned about why half my crops aren’t growing like the others. The extended periods without water might have been a more significant issue than I assumed.

Cal soon got his answer a few minutes later. The Sunfire Grains that hadn’t experienced exponential growth soon started to whither. There was plenty of moisture in the soil, so that clearly wasn’t the limitation.

He sighed in resignation and waited a little while longer, hoping for a miraculous change. There was none.

Cal took an accounting of what was left. Around two hundred and fifty Sunfire Grains hadn’t died, and of those, around fifty had red grains covering their entire surface.

If Sunfire Grains were only valuable if red grains were present on them, then he had a ten percent yield. If it wasn’t necessary, then he had a fifty percent yield.

In both cases, the yield of his first planted crop was absolutely terrible.

That wasn’t what [Green Thumb] suggested when he chose the [Skill].

[Green Thumb: Initiate 1] - Your crops grow 10% faster and are more resistant to diseases and pests. Your harvest will always yield more than expected. As your mastery increases, the faster your crops grow.

Cal read the description with a harsh frown. This implied his yield would be worse if he didn’t have this [Skill]. His frown grew more severe once he realized [Green Thumb] hadn’t increased in level.

… I think I planted these crops before I possessed [Green Thumb]. The new batch was planted when I had the [Skill]. I expect my yield to be better on that, even though it had the same watering issues.

He also made the assumption that [Green Thumb] would increase in level after harvesting the new batch. As for the batch he was staring at in disappointment right now, he expected nothing from it. He expected that [Green Thumb] needed to exist while planting to reap any benefits at harvest.

Cal let out another sigh before stepping onto the soil. He would try to harvest the crops that hadn’t withered. Cal just hoped that Drex was right when his instruction was to just pull.

Cal found purchase at the base of a Sunfire Grain with both hands and did precisely that. He pulled on it steadily, slowly lifting the Sunfire Grain out of the soil. The majority of the crop's roots were in a tangled mess near the surface, with a few strands that ventured deep into the soil.

He knew little about plants, but this was the little he was aware of. The Sunfire Grain searched for water below before switching focus on absorbing the rain.

Cal shook the Sunfire Grain gently to get the loose soil to drop down before staring at it. Drex did say all he needed to do was dry it at this point.

All parts of the crop must be usable. I wonder which part is used to make the tea Nismus served me.

He looked around and decided the best place to sun dry the crops was outside his field, on the other side of the rocky hills.

Cal put aside the Sunfire Grain for the moment and repeated the process of pulling up the other crops. He was careful not to pull with too much force to avoid damaging the Sunfire Grains, but that also meant it took more time.

Your [Primary Tier] has increased by 1 level.

The interface surprised Cal a bit. It had been a while since he last increased his [Primary Tier]. However, that was only in the context of the rapid increases in the past two weeks. It was still shockingly fast for anyone else.

And as he expected, [Green Thumb] did not get any benefit from the harvest. His assumption this time wasn’t incorrect.

Around an hour later, a little over two hundred and fifty Sunfire Grains were laid out on the field. The soil was a mess, with deep holes where the crops were planted, but that was easily repaired after he received the next delivery of supplies.

Cal started moving the harvested crops to the other side of the rocky hills to dry them on the moisture-less hard surface layer of the Northern Wastes instead of the soft soil of the field. His speed was a boon for this otherwise tedious task, and a few minutes later, he was done.

He stared at the crops and felt a combination of satisfaction and disappointment. He was happy that he had finally harvested some crops but still couldn’t get past the terrible yield it gave him.

I’ll be more careful with the watering next time.

Cal returned to the field and prepared to cover five thousand square feet of soil with a slurry of powdered crystals and water.

Complete stat sheet in author note (under spoiler tag)

Note: If you are reading this on a website that is not Royal Road or my Patreon, you are reading a pirated version and that website does not have the permission of the author to host the story. Please instead read the story on the sites mentioned above. It's free on Royal Road!