A Farmer's Toils I

Over the course of a month, Li dove into the world of farming with reckless abandon.

At first, it was almost like sitting through university lectures, simply following Old Thane throughout the day and listening to explanations of what he did. Whatever Old Thane taught him, Li absorbed like a sponge.

Li realized very soon that he knew precious little of actual farming. He knew the hard science behind it because he had studied it, but actually getting his hands dirty was a whole different beast.

There were so many things that had not been mentioned in his textbooks. Mostly because farming by hand had long been eradicated, replaced with efficient machinery and GMO crops. He knew that a field had to be plowed, but he didn't know the exact pattern of furrows to make in the land to maximize growth. He knew seeds had to be sown, but he didn't know how deep to dig to plant in and how far apart each seed should be.

In comparison, the farming system in the Elden World game which consisted only of planting, watering, and growing was a joke.

Old Thane grew wheat, or rather, tried to grow wheat. He hadn't had a successful harvest in almost twenty years, not since he had lost his wife and, very soon after, his sight. He still plowed the field and sowed the seeds, but it was more of a formality at this point, an ode to his pride that he could still get out there and sweat.

Losing his sight meant that he couldn't efficiently put in the time and care to grow the wheat, so come every year during this time when summer was at its wane, his crop never seemed to take to life and his fields were dull and lifeless.

It was actually a wonder that Old Thane could survive, but he managed with berries. To the left of the cottage was a large garden fenced with thin wood. In it, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries grew aplenty, dotting great big bushes of green with shiny spots of red and blue.

Old Thane could manage the berries well enough even while blind, knowing with almost a supernatural sense the fullness of a bush and how and where to prune it. Because the garden was comparatively much smaller than the field, it was also a manageable workload for a blind man.

There were two sections in the berry garden. One for those ripe and another for those growing. Combined, they provided a yearlong supply of food and, most importantly, were valuable to trade for necessities like vegetables, meat, and bread. Li had actually first met him on the forest trail on a return trip from having traded much of his berries for needed goods and foodstuffs.

To the right of the cottage was another garden, but it had fallen into disarray. There was a rotted fence that barely managed to contain massive growths of weeds.

Old Thane had explained that his late wife had been a herbalist and used it to grow her herbs, but when she died, her knowledge went with her. Old Thane had tried to keep the herbs alive, but he was a farmer of the earth, of wheat and berries, not the mystical, of goblinseed flax and emberbloom roots.

As Li learned and listened, he knew that in all reality, he could make everything grow aplenty. He was a druid of the highest caliber and among his spell arsenal was [Wild Growth] which would massively accelerate the growth of any plant. He could summon creatures to kill any pests. He could even change the weather to never make harvests fail. He also had been transported here with his prized seedbag containing the rarest plants in Elden World, but judging by the equipment level of this new world, planting anything from that bag was a surefire way to get massively unwanted attention.

Li didn't want to do that and he didn't want to use godlike magic to make things work for him. He wanted to live a simple life with his own two hands and nothing more. He was satisfied enough already with his current life that many times he forgot he likely had the power to completely rule this world.

And just like that, Li, level 100 mage, controller of the cycle of life and death, eldritch druid of the dark arts, became a simple farmer. He fell into a simple routine, waking up at first light to help Old Thane pluck weeds from the field.

Considering it was late summer, the wheat should already have grown out into golden stalks by now, almost ready for harvesting, but it seemed Old Thane's field was barren once more. Li mostly went to the berry garden and pruned bushes that were getting too thick, always replaying the techniques that Old Thane had taught him.

Sunlight faded quickly, even during summer. Li realized just how much longer days were in a world where electronic lights stood everywhere. Here, where the only light came from the sun, fireplaces, and the occasional lantern, the days ended almost as soon as afternoon came. When the sun began to set, painting the sky in beautiful ambers and warm oranges, Li and Old Thane went back to the cottage, washed up in a large wooden basin placed outside, and had dinner.

"Today marks the end of month 1 of your apprenticeship," said Old Thane as he felt around the table for a loaf of bread. His tawny hand found a breadbasket and withdrew a loaf. He plunged a dull knife into homemade blueberry jam and spread it across the loaf. "How are you liking it?"

"It's all that I expected and more," said Li. He also grabbed a loaf and tore it in half. He always ate little so that there was enough food for Old Thane. In the first place, Li didn't have to eat. As a spectral being, he faced no hunger or thirst. But he couldn't let Old Thane know that. "Place is surprisingly big. I thought life would be much rougher, but it's truly interesting how magic makes things easier."

It was true that Li thought medieval life was horrible. All the historical documents suggested that. Limited access to food, clean water, and medical science meant people in this age died faster and more often. But in this new world, the presence of magic alleviated many of these issues.

Old Thane's pantry had a vitality rune inscribed on it that slowed food in it from spoiling. Quite like a refrigerator, actually. Then there was the water. By buying pebbles enchanted with purification runes at the local runesmith, one could drop them in buckets of water and purify them of parasites and scum.

The vitality and purification runes in the game were only used to give weapons extra durability and holy damage respectively, so it was interesting how the magic in Elden World was adapted to life.

There also wasn't a lack of water – Riviera had a magically operated aqueduct system that linked to a nearby lake. It was just a matter of hauling buckets of water from the city to the cottage, but Li's supernatural strength made short work of that.

Honestly, Li did feel like he was cheating in some regard. He never had to eat or sleep. He never tired. He was stronger and faster than any man. There was no risk involved for him. If his harvest failed, he wasn't in risk of starving.

But he still loved the actual job aspect of the work. He didn't treat farming so much as a means of survival as it was an art. His passion didn't come from a basic need to keep himself alive but an appreciation of the beauty of working with precious nature that had rotted away in his world.

There was also another thing that Li couldn't quite place. He was changing. The more time he spent here, the more he grew connected to the plants around him. He could feel their life emanating strongly like the warmth of human's skin. If he focused, he felt like he could even hear their breathing, how they breathed in carbon dioxide through their stomata and breathed out pure and clean oxygen. He enjoyed these feelings and didn't think too much of them.

Nor did he think of anything else related to himself. He didn't agonize over the nature of his vast power or how his human mind would work in the body of an eldritch forest creature that was both demon and god.

There were certain things he was grateful for such as the fact that his race had Allspeak, allowing him to communicate both verbally and in written form to any sentient being, but if it didn't directly affect his farming, he thought little of it.

Old Thane chewed on his bread absent-mindedly. "Glad to hear my company hasn't worn you out yet. Couldn't say the same about some others, hah! It also warms my heart that you're here, Li, and you're right: the cottage is big."

He sighed.

"It was meant to house a family. Fate, though, is a fickle mistress. She blesses me with Aine, the most beautiful woman I ever knew – you should have seen her, radiant as the sun, hair gold like summer wheat - as wife but makes her barren and takes her away far too early. I still hate how she went. How I just lost her to that snowstorm. Couldn't even find her body to bury her and give her good spirit some respect."

Li cupped his hands together as a solemn gesture. Old Thane still grieved for his lost wife and remembering her still opened old wounds. It was the only time he was ever vulnerable or down, any other time he was as cheery as the sun. But Li had rummaged through the cottage and planned a way to maybe make things better.

"You know, I was looking through some books in the storage," said Li.

"Which ones?" said Old Thane. "I hope you don't judge an old man too much for his taste in indecent literature when he was young. Gods, I remember how Aine tried to burn all of it when she found them. But an adventurer always knows how to keep his supplies safe."

Old Thane let out a hearty laugh. His laugh always sounded far younger than he did.

"Not those, books from your wife," said Li, smiling. Old Thane grew quiet. Li continued. "Aine was a herbalist, right? She has so many books about what herbs to grow for elixirs and salves. All of them marked with so many notes. It's obvious she loved her work."

Old Thane leaned back in his chair. The rickety thing squeaked under his weight. "Aye, that she did. Damn good at it, too. My hardheaded brain was never suited to remembering all those details about this flower or that herb, but Aine was mighty sharp. A genius, I reckon, and she loved those herbs like they were children. It was no wonder adventurers clamored to come here for elixir ingredients."

He shook his head and tugged at his beard. "A crying shame I grew blind and let them rot. My only real memory of her, and I let them rot. My only real regret in life, I should say."

"I want to start the herb garden again," said Li. "Her notes are detailed enough that I can easily start it again. Most importantly, though, I want to honor Aine's memory for you. I know it doesn't make up for the fact that she never received a proper burial, but the very least we could do is bless her memory by continuing her legacy."

Old Thane took a few seconds to digest what Li said. He put his bread down. He buried his face into his callused hands. At first, Li thought he was crying, maybe overwhelmed with emotion, but that wasn't the case. He breathed in calm, even intervals, but there was still a tenseness to his silence that made it awkward for Li to say anything.

After a minute, Old Thane dropped his hands to his sides, shook his head vigorously as if to rouse himself awake.

"Forgive me, Li," he said. "That was unseemly."

Li leaned forwards, ready to stand and help the aging man with anything. "You okay?"

Old Thane smiled, defusing any tension in the air. "No need to worry, lad. I was just thinking how utterly daft I was for never even thinking to replant those herbs since you got here. I always cursed myself for my blindness, always telling myself as those herbs rotted that one day, if I ever had the means, I would replant Aine's life's work, and yet, when you came into my home, the only thing I could think about was my own legacy.

All I cared was for you to tend to my own farm. As soon as you came here, I should have gotten on my knees and begged you to replant those herbs."

Old Thane pushed his chair in with renewed energy. "But no more shall I wallow in self-pity and mistakes. Come, Li! Let us dally no longer! We will head to the nearest village and buy all the seeds we need. Tomorrow, we will clear that weed-infested garden and make it fit for Aine's glorious memory!"

"Now?" said Li. "I don't mean to be lazy, I'm just worried. It's dark out, and dark is when vermin crawl out. The bandits I took care of might not be all of them. Why don't we go to Riviera instead? The city marketplace is open day and night with knightsguard patrolling about."

"Bah, those city cheats charge outrageous amounts for everything," said Old Thane with disdain. "And they only take coin, which I have precious little of. It's easier for me to trade our berries off. As for safety, I reckon the two of us could give any ragtag group of skinny bandit thugs a beating hard enough to rouse them into proper work."

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Li said this more to keep the old man happy. If he wanted, he could use the ample coin in his inventory to pay, but then he would have to answer where he got the coin, and he didn't want to think too hard of an excuse. And it was true that there was no bandit that could pose a serious threat to Li.

"That's the spirit, lad!" Old Thane rushed into his room and came out wearing a thick tunic over his linen shirt. "Wear something warm and let's go load the wagon! My, how my blood boils, I thought I lost this impulsive drive when I settled down!"