Farmer Mage

Chapter 22: Neophyte

“Excuse me,” Cal weaved through the workers and the stacks of materials as he got to his shed. He lifted the plow beside the door and dropped it in the wheelbarrow before entering the shed.

He ignored the bedding and snapped the shovel onto his back. He followed that by doing the same with the pickaxe and sledgehammer, carrying all three at once for the first time.

Not bad. I can barely feel the weight.

Cal rolled his shoulders and moved his arms around to see if the range of motion was worse with all three tools on his back. He couldn’t sense a disadvantage.

He smiled and exited the shed. He ignored the strange looks he received when he pushed the wheelbarrow back to where Tavia was waiting.

She was giving him a look of disbelief as he approached. She was doing that a lot.

“What?” Cal asked as he let go of the wheelbarrow’s handles.

“Your interface did all this too?” Tavia waved her hands at his tools incredulously.

“Mostly, yes,” Cal’s response visibly annoyed her.

I still don’t get it. When did Tavia start to talk so much? I barely saw her talking this much with her friends. She usually lets them fill the silence with words.

“Do you feel less stressed now that you’re a mage?” Cal switched subjects abruptly.

“Wha—no?” Tavia replied unsurely. “Why did you ask me that?”

There goes that theory. I suppose it’ll be well-known soon enough. And even if the guild decides to use me as a tool upgrade factory, I don’t care.

… Well, I care slightly, but as long as my [Tier] increases, that situation will be temporary.

“You wanted to see how my interface helps with the tools, right?” Cal left the wheelbarrow behind and pulled the pickaxe off his back.

[Uncommon Pickaxe: Good Quality] Upgrade: 661/950 Tasks

This won’t take too long. Maybe thirty minutes at maximum.

CRACK!

Cal saw Tavia jump a little at the sudden sound. The same could be said for the workers, who turned sharply before staring curiously at him.

CRACK!

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He didn’t let the stares prevent him from entering his peaceful zone. His body went on autopilot as he repeatedly brought the pickaxe down, digging up the surface layer in neat patches that aligned with the work he had done yesterday.

Your equipment [Uncommon Pickaxe] has been upgraded to [Advanced Pickaxe].

Equipment upgrade has activated an ability of [Farmer (Special)].

You will have two options for the [Advanced Pickaxe]’s trait.

Equipment trait choices available. Choose one

Self-Repair - After 24 continuous hours without use, the pickaxe will start to recover to its peak quality state. No matter what its state was at the start, it will take 7 days to regain its status as ‘Excellent Quality. '

Enhanced Penetration - This pickaxe can penetrate harder materials with less effort, allowing you to mine through tough ores and rocks that are otherwise too challenging.

Cal should be happy that the interface again offered him self-repair as a tool’s trait, but a small part of him was disappointed it was there. He only glanced at the other option before dismissing it.

If the tool has an option for a self-repair trait, that’s the one I will pick.

He reached out and tapped ‘Self-Repair,’ and the interface disappeared. He looked around and knew the next job was to shovel the mess into a neat pile.

Cal didn’t know he had a smile as he put the pickaxe on his back and pulled the shovel.

“That’s amazing!”

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He jumped in shock, turning to see Tavia gaping at him. He had forgotten she was there.

“Cal, you might have been born to be a farmer.” Tavia froze and quickly backtracked. “Not that you won’t be a great mage. You’ll be an even better mage than a farmer! And you’re a really—”

“Thank you, Tavia,” Cal laughed, mercifully cutting off her rambling. “I understand what you mean.”

She smiled sheepishly before lowering her voice. “Is it smart to show that to me?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Cal shrugged. “I'm not exactly trying to hide this from anyone here.”

Tavia seemed to understand what he was saying when her eyes flickered in the distance. Not that she would find anyone.

I would be surprised if anyone was monitoring people's movements in person. There are better ways to do this.

“I’ll keep quiet anyway,” Tavia reassured.

“I appreciate it,” Cal smiled as he twisted the shovel.

She glanced at the tool with a knowing look in her eyes. “Go have your fun. I won’t disturb you further.”

He shot her a happy smile and moved to the closest target.

That’s why I always found her pleasant. She was always well aware of what others wished for. Of course, I just want to shovel some dirt, but it’s still my dearest wish right now.

Cal plunged the shovel into the recently dug-up ground and paused. Carrying a shovel full of debris to the edge would be a headache, so it would be better to use the wheelbarrow instead.

He quickly went to the wheelbarrow and took out the plow he put in the bucket before returning to the shovel.

Shovel. Fill the wheelbarrow. Dump the debris into a newly forming pile. Repeat.

Cal diligently worked to clean up everything he had dug up. He sensed that a few hours had passed by the time he was done.

“You really enjoyed that.”

He had pushed the wheelbarrow back to the place near Tavia. “What’s not to enjoy?”

“Hm, I would strongly disagree, but it’s hard to deny you enjoyed it.” Tavia didn’t seem to believe her words even though they left her lips.

“Do you enjoy completely the incremental, tiny steps when you learn a spell?”

“Of course I do,” Tavia said as if it was obvious.

“The same applies here. Only the end result isn’t a spell. I grow some crops.” Cal looked proud of his analogy.

Tavia snickered, and seeing his offended reaction, it turned into a full-blown laugh.

“I don’t get what’s so funny,” Cal said blankly.

“Y-You looked so proud, but that saying could work with anything!” Tavia burst into laughter again.

Cal rolled his eyes and resolved to ignore her.

The analogy still works.

He glanced at the workers and saw the shed completely dismantled. In its place, a hole had been dug with white stones set as some type of foundation.

“They really do move fast,” Cal’s words broke through the Tavia’s continued laughter.

She slowed to a chuckle as she nodded. “They should be done soon.”

“Hm,” Cal glanced at the sky. There were still six or seven hours of daylight left. “I’ll stay busy with them.”

He grabbed the plow and prepared to turn over the newly uncovered dirt, which roughly doubled the size of the workable field. Since he intended to plow the entire thing again, he would be able to make around twenty lines in the dirt.

Cal put the blade in the dirt and pushed, the plow gliding smoothly through to the opposite end. He shifted the plow and repeated. By the time he was done, he had counted twenty-one lines.

It didn’t feel like it had taken a long time, no more than an hour, but when he looked at the workers, they were already building up the house.

Cal could feel his body throbbing dully with soreness. It was nothing particularly worrisome, but neither was it comfortable.

He intended to keep going after a few minutes of rest with the intention of upgrading his [Tier] before the end of the day.

Getting to the next rank opens a world of possibilities. My mana will be capable of sustaining useful spells. It will be invaluable for farming, but I can also use my first life’s knowledge to relearn a few offensive spells for dire situations.

“Again?” Tavia asked as he left the plow next to the wheelbarrow and made to walk off.

“I have a lot of work to do. This is my field, so I’ll work it as is my job.”

“That would be better if you didn’t smile like a crazy person as you said it,” she called out as he walked away.

Again, she’s not wrong.

Call pulled the pickaxe from his back and swung it down.

CRACK!

He immediately zoned out and dug up the ground like a machine. He could feel his arms burning with each swing, but he had no idea why that was the case. It hadn’t been long since he started.

I may have been more tired than I had thought.

[Advanced Pickaxe] has degraded to Average Quality.

Your skill [Perfect Match] has increased by 1 level.

Your [Tier] has increased by 1 level.

Your [Tier] has increased by 1 rank to [Neophyte 1].

[Tier] increase has activated an ability of [Farmer (Special)].

Reward choices available. Choose one.

[Guardian Scarecrow] - A scarecrow created by pure mana will protect your farm from any threats, be they beasts, humans, or any other creature. After 3 uses, this reward will expire.

[Blessing of the Time-Warped Seed] - You may apply this reward to one type of crop seed (Limit 1 barrel). They will grow and mature at a 10x accelerated rate, allowing you to harvest crops in a fraction of the usual time. After 3 uses, this reward will expire.

Cal was taken out of his zone by the interface. He noticed that his clothes were soaked with sweat and stuck to his skin, and he had dug up a tract of land so large it quadrupled the previous size he had cleared.

I went long enough to degrade my pickaxe. How many tasks did I complete?

[Advanced Pickaxe: Average Quality] Upgrade: 1262/4500 Tasks

… I was far too deep in a trance, but it worked out. The skill increase reduced the required tasks by another five percent, using the original requirement as a base.

Wait, they’re all looking at me… the house is finished too.

“You’re finally back!” Tavia yelled from her spot. “How about you check out your new place before you zone out for another five hours?!”

Cal glanced at the waiting interface for a long second before looking away. He would make a choice when he was alone, though he already had a feeling about what he would pick.