Farming Orcs

Shawn stood on the spot, frozen and shocked by the information he just received. After stammering for a while, unsure of what to ask, he managed to propel a question,

"So how many worlds are out there?"

*A lot of them.*

"This is a lot to take in, and I think I'll just go watch my world and do what I can to reach the next rank," Shawn said while rubbing his throbbing forehead softly in an attempt to reduce the ache.

*Good luck.*

He flashed a smile before glancing at the screen in front, depicting Ornio starting from the middle of the northern continent and rotating in a clockwise direction.

"What do I need to do,?" He whispered to himself before opening his mouth to give an order.

"System. That was a lot to take in from you." He said.

*Truth be told.* The System agreed.

"Putting that aside, I remembered that I used population boom a while ago to fast-forward the world, right?"

*Yes.*

"Can I see what new events have been occurring for other races, apart from the ones with higher beings for over the past 200 years?" He said before crossing his legs on the couch and watching as the screen changed its interface, showing a square map of Ornio; blue dots started to appear all over.

"Let's start from there." He said, pointing a finger toward the northeast.

An area located around the northern continent filled with sands and arid regions all over, these desert lands located on the northeast of the northern continent experienced being baked by the hot rays during the day and cold winds during the night.

Even in its arid condition, there was always hope; the deserts had oasis that sprung all over, retaining what remaining life that managed to survive through the excruciating heat and high evaporation rate of liquids, prompting many living things to take up flourishing eco-systems requiring the oasis.

However, among them all, there was one Oasis, or rather a spring, lying close to a dune, but after the dune on its east blocked came its work on the west, the successful creation of vast vegetation spanning about 30,000 km² of dense foilage, flora, and plants.

Within its lush vegetation lies the race of orcs or perhaps some of them. A few other oases and forests in the desert contained orcs but this one for sure contained a truly vast number of them.

In one area of the lush forest, multiple buildings were constructed from mud and supported by wooden frames. These houses were closely packed, resembling shacks with thatched roofs having extensions that resembled horns while decorations made from bones were put around them. These homes provided housing to the residents of the Ulok clan, who were lovers of the oasis freshwater.

Evening came upon this side of the world, and the Ulok tribe’s hunting party, wearing nothing but a loincloth to stretch across their waist along with bone necklaces on their chests (for males) and large-sized weapons, returned to their tribe, which had taken a marking spot close to the oasis.

They branched off to the water retainer and some hunters immediately brought their faces close, drinking directly from the source while others brought it up using their hands. They cleaned their fingers and washed parts of their arms, cleaned their weapons that were laced with blood, and finally distanced themselves from the oasis.

"Who would have thought that these orcs cared about hygiene?" Shawn commented with praise though he had an eyebrow raised, seeming sarcastic.

He could skip to any other tribe living that lived in Oasis. However, he was intrigued by this one and felt that he would be impressed even more so he kept on watching.

The Ulok orcs had these practices continue for the rest of their lives, trying so hard to clean themselves every morning when they woke up and the time they returned from hunting.

Then, one day, one of the orcs came close to the water, and upon closer inspection, Shawn noticed that the orc had a little more hair than the rest of her kind but was shorter and stout.

“A young female?”

The female orc closed her eyes before her hand touched the water's surface. The reaction between the water and her hands wasn't strange as it was just a ripple.

Every day, this female orc would go to the oasis and play with it as if she somehow tried to understand its use while playing.

“Aren't you wasting resources with that?” Shawn looked at her habit with a skeptical gaze.

One day, as soon as the Young Orc had taken up her ration of food which included desert berries. She ended up playing beside the oasis before suddenly spitting out a berry seed into her palm.

Without thinking any further, she threw the seeds into the soil near the water. At that moment a small blue bird with fast flapping wings and a long, pointed beak appeared and began to perch upon the seeds, pushing them deeper into the ground. The bird then used its claws to move the nearby soil around and cover the hole.

The female orc who watched this was slightly impressed and out of curiosity, decided to mark the spot. A few days later she returned to the oasis water and immediately recognized the location where the seed had grown into a seedling.

Seeing this new display made the female orc begin her journey, planting the desert berry seeds that sometimes came with her ration, planting them near the oasis and farther from the oasis, sinking them deep in with her hands, and covering them up.

In just a few days, the seeds planted farther had already started sprouting.

Wondering what could have impacted the seed to grow even faster, she decided to do a little experiment and planted more than just desert berry seeds; some were a large distance away from the oasis freshwater, and some were close to the oasis.

A few weeks passed, and she noted there were differences in sprouting days. From then on, the little orc, now growing into a young female, concluded that the soil needed a constant supply of water, plants, and many others before sprouting, but not all of them did due to the desert lifestyle.

She would eventually go on to be a farmer, using the seeds of other plants and fruits available while experimenting with them, eventually moving from the forest and daring to plant inside the desert, seeing which plant would survive.

A New Orc Chief had just ascended and noticed her strange behavior, then, one day, demanded to know what she did. Daring not to disobey, she showed the Orc chief her experiment with the seeds and all that she had been trying to plant on Arid land except the berries were dried.

“You'll need to transfer the water then.” He advised.

The Female Orc pointed towards the oasis, “We could drag it over.”

“No! The water will dry!” The Chief rejected her suggestion.

A few years later, the Ulok orcs were then seen digging the ground close to the oasis with their hands, pushing them a few meters into the desert before throwing out a bunch of seeds into the holes they dug and covering them up. Then they proceeded to go to the oasis and draw water with their hands while spraying it onto the various holes.

The orcs never appreciated the idea of planting, so this was done as a side hustle, and due to their new chieftain Wife's wishes, until their population boom arrived and the rations became less; thus, the naturally occurring food around wasn't enough for a growing population.

After all, other tribes lived there, but the strongest stayed closest to it. Thus the act of planting became something they had to use.

Shawn looked at the scenes in utter shock and rubbed his hands and then his eyes before looking again.

Hundreds of orcs used farming tools, rakes, hoes, and shovels to create ridges and irrigation channels with crops of different kinds growing.

"It was a good idea to put those birds there but who would have thought that orcs would wash themselves and practice planting? When did orcs even have the desire for planting and have such patience to let nature take its course?"

Throughout the 200-year population boom period, Shawn watched the Ulok orcs reduce their dependence on meat and actually practicalize planting and farming before branching off to rearing.

"System, what is the name of that female orc that started all of this? Is she capable of being a higher being?" He asked.

*Check for yourself.*

"Snappy but ok." He checked the higher beings' potential list and scrolled before finding what he wanted to see. "Zoguz. An orc in the Ulok tribe invented planting, which later became farming. She costs 900CP!"

*Since this orc managed to deviate from what their initial nature was, she costs a lot more than you give her credit for.*

"Whatever. I'll pay." Shawn willingly gave into the system's money-grubbing nature.

*Deducting 900 CP.*

A bright light flashed in front of him and a reddish brown orc with decent long hair appeared in his front.

"Master Shawn," Zoguz greeted with a bow, and Shawn accepted with a nod.

"To what honour have I had?"

"I am impressed by what you have done for your kind. If your tribe grew too big and disrupted the ecosystem of the oasis. I am not sure if the consequences will be bearable."

"Thank you for your praise, Master." Zoguz smiled.

"Good. Now go ahead and do whatever you want in the physical realm as long as it's not destructive, also your domain is agriculture and harvest. I'll give you more if you unlock them."

"Yes, Master Shawn," Zoguz turned into a bright flash of light and disappeared from his view.

"Now off to the Southern continent!"

The image on the screen changed to the eastern continents filled with snow and frost. The ice plains mixed with the taiga biome inhabited by Thawns. This might be considered inhabitable, but not for the inhabitants here who ate the many plants that survived the constant cold, freezing climate.

However, the north of the eastern frost lands, which was close to the hills of the dwarves, had a strange look. The ground was blue instead of white.

The blue-skinned ones that lived over there knew what exactly made the area of the ground this color; it was the constant minerals and the high rates of salt. The thawing process of weathering done by the snow did make the rocks disintegrate further, but these rocks were also shiny in color, according to what Shawn claimed for the region.

One day though, these rocks would one day be what made the Thawns who lived here great.

Name of World - Ornio.

Rank - 3

Creator - Shawn Roland.

Sentient Races - 8

Number of Realms - 3

Population of Sentient Beings - 1,200,000

Population of Animals - 20,000,000.

Number of Overseers - 6

Number of Higher Beings - 5.