The First Farmhand

The Mayor's office is behind the fountain at the center of the town and it is hard not to miss it. It has steps which leads into its main hall, its white marble walls, floors and columns are very reminiscent of Greek architecture.

On the way there, Zeke got a lot of stares from the townspeople, maybe they don't see a human much often or at all for that matter. But then again he's the first human to arrive at their town in almost a century.

After the somewhat long trek, they finally reached the Mayor's office. The Mayor sat on his chair and gestured for Zeke to sit at the chair right in front of his desk.

"Now that we are at my office we can finally discuss what you're meant to do here as a farmer," the Mayor said his tone suddenly serious but somewhat still composed, "we of Loneharv are in dire need of your help to vanquish the dungeon that appears every century in the ruins behind your soon to be farm, Lumen Homestead."

"The dungeon is a tower of many levels and floors to which is when you finally reach the top will entirely be destroyed. I don't know how this comes to be for the fact that all Lumen, no matter what race, are restricted or rather we can't go inside as there's an invisible wall that prevents us."

"Your farm has an ancient connection to the dungeon, without it your farm will not prosper which in turn could be a bad sign for everyone in this town."

"Why is that?" Zeke finally asked.

"You see this dungeon is the source of all the food that we consume. The dungeon produces seeds, everyday the layout of this dungeon changes making it hard for the farmer to explore it. You could say that the farm and this dungeon, "Tenebrae" its true archaic moniker, has a symbiotic relationship. Once exactly every hundredth year of a century, Tenebrae mass produces seeds of normal fruits, grubfructi, vegetables, and also trees in every floor that are enough for a hundred more years to come."

Zeke listened intently, absorbing all these information.

"This is why you are given the task of exploring and investigating these dungeons because if you're not, you won't be able to literally farm. No seeds, means no food and right now we are in dire need of produce because the supply of seeds and products from your predecessor ran out just a week ago," he said with a grim expression on his face "as the Mayor of this humble town, it pains me immensely to give you this burden, but the pain of knowing that my townspeople are going to suffer cuts deeper, so I had to put out that advertisement and lie about the farm that we had available, as you can tell it is the only available farm we have."

Zeke stared at the Mayor blankly, not knowing what to do with this predicament. Even with all the direness of the situation, Zeke still felt as if everything is right, like he was meant to do this, no he himself wanted to do this.

"So basically, you want me to be a farmer and a dungeon explorer on the side?"

"It won't just on the side it'll be a full job for you in both fields."

It's not likely that Zeke is going to refuse but he felt the need to ask anyways. "What if I refuse?"

The moment these words left his mouth he saw a fleeting expression on the Mayor's face that he cannot explain. It was a mix of desperation, hopelessness and what seems to be sadness, but the Mayor maintained his cool disposition. "I am afraid that won't be possible, considering that once a human passes through the portal he or she can never go back to their own world."

"Even if you tried to just settle down as one of our people, and escape this... rather huge obligation, we will still all die of starvation, so either way we are all doomed, unless you fulfill your destiny as the Farmer of Legend"

Zeke knew that he didn't really have any choice but hearing it from the Mayor made everything much more harrowing. It's a good thing that he really wanted this new lifestyle right? Because if he didn't then him along with everyone else in this alternate reality will inevitably die. He shivered at the thought.

"Okay, I wholeheartedly accept," Zeke finally said to the Mayor with a genuine smile.

The Mayor closed his eyes and released a quiet sigh. It looks like all his worries about Zeke declining has finally left his mind. "Thank you for accepting this burden with me, Zeke, this means the world not just to me, but everyone in Loneharv," he said this while giving him an unburdened smile.

"You're welcome and honestly this is the life I chose and I will stand by it"

The Mayor blinked then turned to look directly at him. It seems like he's seeing Zeke in a whole different light now. He chuckled, "it seems you really are the next destined farmer"

"How is that? anyone could've seen the advertisement it was posted in the internet," Zeke asked in confusion.

"No, the ad can only be seen by the blessed person who had the potential of becoming the next farmer. We imbued it with magic and yes, magic exists in this world. The magic singles out the person blessed and willing enough to leave everything and anything behind for a new start, a new beginning."

It seems he was right. Zeke never really had anyone back home. He was orphaned at a very young age and left the orphanage that took care once he became a person of age he sustained himself at very young age working while studying at the same time. The time Zeke spent at the orphanage wasn't really anything special, he never suffered from anything in turn he was never really happy.

It was an endless cycle of pointlessness, but amidst all that one thing stuck with him up until this day, the dream of being a farmer and enjoying the trials and tribulations that comes along with it. That dream was the sole driving force that pushed him through life and now that he has become one, his heart is bursting with happiness.

"I just have one more question," Zeke said, "will exploring this dungeon be dangerous?"

"Yes, I read from our archives written by all of your predecessors that as you go deeper in to the dungeon it'll be more treacherous, not just because of how the layout consistently changes everyday but because of the monsters that lives in it."

"Monsters?! Not only do I need to explore the tower myself, blindly at that, but also deal with monsters?!" Zeke thought to himself, he worriedly bit his lip while absorbing this newfound fact.

The Mayor chuckled. "I can see from your expression that you are troubled, well rest assured, we know that right now you are incapable of doing anything related to combat, as all beginner farmers are, so we always hold a competition as a tradition every century to seek out the most capable farmhands in town, and the winners of will ultimately assist the farmer on their every expeditions."

"Ah I see," Zeke relaxed a bit, "when will it start?"

"Oh, it's already ended, it was last week and we already recruited the winners, four men who participated as a group in the competition will be assisting you in your endeavors. In fact, you will be able to meet one of them at this moment, he should be here in about two minutes, he's the one who will show you around town and bring you to the farm while I write the letter of requisition for your group's equipment as well as yours"

Zeke nodded, this is finally happening, everything is going too fast but Zeke knows that he is ready for anything. Eventually, he heard knocking from the door of the Mayor's townhall.

"Helloooo! Mayor? Has the Master Farmer arrived already?" the voice asked as the door opens.

The door revealed a roguishly handsome man, probably around 20-25 with custard colored fur.

"Whoaa! Y-y-you're here already! H-ha ha hi there! Nice ta meet cha!" he said trying to compose himself, then he hold out his hand for Zeke, "ahem! I'm Dirk, at your service." He grinned.

The man is a golden retriever but in human form. He's wearing a sleeveless black shirt that compliments his blond fur that looks really soft to touch and it does little effort to hide his well-defined muscles. He has cerulean blue eyes that reminds Zeke of the ocean waters, he has an undercut hairstyle which sits between his two droopy ears, and he has a goofy grin which is very contagious, Zeke couldn't help but grin as well.

Zeke took his hand and shook it.

Dirk looked at Zeke for a moment, assessing him then swiftly turned his grin into a full smile. "Nice to meet you too Dirk, I hope we get along," Zeke replied cheerily.

After the brief introduction, he stopped smiling then instantly turned his full attention towards the Mayor. "Is he good to go Mayor?" he asked.

"Yes, he is about done with the formalities, your timing is good," the Mayor said while skimming through his drawers, "you can take him now, and show him around town, after that you can bring him home and introduce him to the rest of your group."

"Alright! Now that we have the Mayor's final word, let's get going boss so we can still arrive at the homestead before the sun sets."