Care Package

Roger stared at the crate and bag for a moment, questioning the logic of how they just appeared.

It then occurred to him that if he stopped and questioned every strange aspect of Avar, he would have little time to do anything else. 

It was a sobering thought.

Tentatively, he reached forward and pushed the bag before quickly backing up, worried something could jump out of it and attack him. 

Seeing that it did not move, he trepidatiously approached and pulled the rope, causing the bag's top to open. 

Inside, he saw a bunch of multicolored small… seeds? 

He wasn't sure at first, but as he got closer and studied them, he felt confident they were.

There were three kinds, being red, green, and blue. They each glowed with an ethereal hue, lighting up the nearby area.

He picked up a red one and it felt hot to the touch. He pulled it to his face and studied it, recoiling when a screen appeared.

[Fire Root Seed]

[A seed for the fire root plant. Can be grown in regular soil, but requires an injection of mana to start germinating. Grows fruit once mature.]

[Maturation Period: 7 Days]

Rogers's eyes widened.

'So it really is a seed, and it grows fruit! I wonder if I can eat those?'

His excitement grew, and he grabbed one of the green ones next.

[Wind Fern]

[A seed for the wind fern plant. Can be grown in regular soil, but requires an injection of mana to start germinating. Grows berries once mature.]

[Maturation Period: 5 Days]

'So this one grows berries? I bet I could eat those as a snack! And it grows faster so I can enjoy them sooner!'

Finally, he snatched a blue one and inspected it as well.

[Water Carrot]

[A seed for the water carrot plant. Must be planted near a large amount of water, and requires an injection of mana to start germinating. Grows vegetables once mature.]

[Maturation Period: 7 Days]

'So this one is a vegetable! And it needs to grow near water, which works perfectly as the river isn't too far from here! I could plant the fire root and wind fern in the glade, and then the water carrot on the river edge!'

With these three plants, he would hopefully have a regular source of food that quickly grew! He didn't know much about plants for farming, but he would figure it out to have an easily sustainable source of nutrients!

There was plenty of soil and water nearby, so he wouldn't lack space. The most difficult part would be trial and error. 

Looking back in the bag, he estimated he had around twenty of each kind of seed, meaning he would have plenty to feed himself with!

It would take five days before the first of the plants finished maturing, and until then he would have to eat. Luckily, there was another way to feed himself until then.

He glanced around the large wooden crate at the spike-tailed tiger. 

'Well well well, look who is going to eat who now?'

The only issue would be starting a fire to cook the creature, but he would figure it out eventually! 

The beast was pretty large and had tons of meat on it. If properly rationed, it could easily last him a month!

Retying the bag of seeds, he moved it off the crate and gingerly placed it on the ground, making sure to check around for any of those infernal woodland critters.

'Bastards almost got me killed earlier…'

He would be holding that grudge for a long time.

Roger walked up to the crate and felt around for some kind of seam or edge to pull it open from. He traced his fingers along the rim and felt a gap. Pushing his fingers into the gap, he started to apply some pressure.

Putting only minimal effort into it, it easily popped off. It happened so fast that Roger was caught by surprise, his own strength far greater than he remembered.

He was unsure what the System did to him, but whatever it was it had changed him in a multitude of ways. Part of him was worried the effects went deeper than just physical changes, but so far he did not feel any changes to his thought process or emotional state.

He was not, however, worried enough to do something silly like try and reverse the actions. 

Focusing on the interior of the crate, he saw multiple items stacked inside.

The most obvious were the tools lying flat on the floor. From what he could see, there was a hoe, a shovel, a pickaxe, an axe, and a fishing rod. 

Reaching out, he picked up the axe and inspected it, but nothing popped up from the System.

'They must be regular, mundane, tools.'

He was slightly disappointed after the last two days of everything being somehow magical to find one of the gifts the System gave him was perfectly normal.

They all seemed to be of decent quality, however, as they were made of hardwood shafts and metal tool heads.

He would definitely be able to use them to survive in the wilderness. 

At least until he grew strong enough to risk finding civilization.

He tested the axe with a swing, finding that it felt good in his hands. Roger already began thinking about how he could chop down some of the branches to make a shelter.

Placing the axe down next to the other tools, he looked at the next item in the box, which was a stack of books. 

Lifting the top one up, he read the title.

"Farming For Dummies: Vol 1"

'Normally I'd be insulted that the System gave me a book that's for dummies, but I'll take what I can get.'

The other books were on fishing, mining, and foraging, all appropriately titled "For Dummies".

There were also books on sword fighting, archery, and shields, but these ones were far less dense, seemingly only having a few chapters.

The last book in the stack was the most interesting to Roger, titled "Introduction to Avar".

The cover of the book showcased an octagon with a different element in each portion, with the center being an image of the planet the Administrator had shown him. The author was listed as "The Almighty and Most Humble Benevolent System, Long May They Lord Over All Lesser Species."

It was quite a mouthful.

Rogers's eyebrow twitched as he read the title, disbelief clear on his face.

'Oh yeah, definitely humble. I can practically feel the humility dripping off the pages!'

His sarcasm was layered on thick.

He didn't know the first thing about the System but was slowly learning it had a personality of its own. Roger didn't know if he was going to like it…

The next item in the box was, miraculously, a new set of clothes, these being only slightly more covering than his current ones.

Still, anything beat the rags he was wearing. 

The final item was a simple pair of iron swords, each having a simple sheath to go with them. 

Roger leaned down and picked them up, confused at the sight of them.

'Swords? No one has used swords in millennia! Why couldn't they have given me a charge rifle? At least then I could shoot lasers at anything stupid enough to try and attack me!'

How was he supposed to hunt and defend himself if he had to get up close and personal with everything he wanted to kill?

He exhaled sharply, calming himself and remembering that it was better than how things had been. He would just have to learn how to sneak up on the animals of the forest.

Roger picked up the swords in their sheaths and drew the first one. 

It was a stark grey blade with a simple crossguard. It seemed to be a shortsword in the style from the continent Europa Majoris, which he knew as his adoptive father had had a pair on their mantle.

He remembered asking his dad about them once, and he had told them they were an ancient family heirloom.

In the blade's pommel, a strange hole sat, letting Roger look right through to the other side. He didn't know what it was for, and seemed to just be a stylistic choice.

Checking the other blade, he saw they were identical.

He held both in his hands and tested the weight. They felt awkward to wield, but he figured he would learn how to properly use them by reading the book on sword fighting.

Taking off his current, torn, clothes, Roger swapped into the new clean ones, relishing the feeling of full coverage once more. 

He tied the sheaths to his belt, having one on either side of his waist. It felt odd to have the excess mass dragging him down, but he would get used to it with time. 

Resting his left hand on one of the pommels, he leaned down and inspected his haul, realizing what he wanted to do next.