[Farmer] Mage
B2 - Chapter 18

Cal continued to shovel the rubble, using the pickaxe when needed to create more. He frequently emptied the wheelbarrow near the dirt hills, creating a new one for the deep hole he was digging. He suddenly appreciated the golem for doing this tedious work for him recently.

The voidiron shovel quickly reached the uncommon rank, and the pickaxe had long reached the advanced rank, after which he chose the usual self-repair trait. The pickaxe would go to the overseer at month’s end, making three in all with the two pickaxes he had previously prepared.

Cal sank the shovel’s blade deep into the dirt, making the interface appear with the message he wanted to see.

Your equipment [Uncommon Shovel (Voidiron)] has been upgraded to [Advanced Shovel (Voidiron)].

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

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

Equipment trait choices available. Choose one.

Voidiron Infusion - Over time, trace amounts of voidiron seeps into the land during farming use, subtly enhancing its magical potential. Crops have a 1% chance to mutate into higher-tier variants or develop unique properties.

Spatial Loosening - Reduces the density of soil and stone at the moment of contact. Digging becomes effortless, ignoring material hardness. After every 10,000 task completions, the shovel has a 5% chance to collapse a small piece of warped space to expose concealed or compressed resources.

This was the first time in what felt like ages that Cal carefully read the options given to him. At first glance, [Voidiron Infusion] was the most obvious choice. Not only did it relate to farming, it also gave a pretty significant chance of mutating crops he planted. 1% might not sound like much, but for a mutation into something more valuable, it was at a great level.

He wasn’t even sure why voidiron would enhance the land when its most obvious property was its resistance to decay when exposed to mana. Still, the descriptions of the effects were clear, leaving little room for interpretation.

However, Cal immediately saw a major issue with [Voidiron Infusion].

He never used a shovel in his field in any real capacity. It was for shoveling rubble out of the way, not for any farming activity. Choosing Voidiron Infusion would compel him to invent some artificial task to avoid wasting it.

… It could be worth it if I go that route, but I have enough advantages for farming. I don’t need to force another just because it’s there.

Cal could only hope that [Voidiron Infusion] would be a returning option if he got his hands on another voidiron shovel in the future. He shifted his attention to the other trait, [Spatial Loosening].

There were a few obvious benefits from the straight. His voidiron shovel wouldn’t be getting a self repair like most of his other tools. That means it would depend on the skill of the blacksmith for repair, and given his reluctance to venture out and connect with new people, Orrin would be the one that had to repair the shovel. And that could take some time.

If [Spatial Loosening] reduced the density of soil and stone, it would lessen the wear and tear on the voidiron shovel. He would get much more use out of it before he had to set it aside in order to prevent it from being destroyed by degrading too much in quality.

As for the unknown in [Spatial Loosening]’s description, Cal didn’t know what to really think of it. Of course, he hoped that if a small piece of warped space actually collapsed, he would find some materials that would help him in his quest to upgrade his only rare -ranked equipment, but he really expected nothing.

A five percent chance of success after every ten thousand task completions meant Cal would need to complete around two hundred thousand tasks before succeeding once. Despite being made of voidiron, the shovel would break long before he finished enough tasks.

Obviously, that was an average, and it was certainly possible that he would get lucky, but it wasn’t something he was going to put his hopes on.

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Still, the immediate benefit and chance of hitting big made the choice easy. Cal tapped on [Spatial Loosening], and the interface disappeared.

He had accomplished his goal, but he wanted to test out how much easier the new trait made digging. He pulled the voidiron shovel out of the dirt for spear and get back down, eyes widening in shock when the shovel’s blade slid into the dirt like it wasn’t even there.

Cal stared for a moment before pulling out and moving to an area with the surface layer still intact. He repeated his previous action and punched the shovel into the ground. He was prepared to be disappointed, but it wasn’t to be.

The voidiron shovel smoothly ignored the toughness of the surface layer and, with barely a hint of resistance, buried its blade fully inside. Cal slowly smiled as he scooped up a chunk of the surface layer before flinging it aside with a sweep of the shovel.

I underestimated how much density [Spatial Loosening] would reduce… getting to two hundred thousand tasks might not be out of reach.

Cal could barely stop himself from giggling like a foolish child, but somehow toned down his excitement. He checked the interface.

[Advanced Shovel (Voidiron): Excellent Quality] Upgrade:4/4000 Tasks (Forth alternate)

- Spatial Loosening - Reduces the density of soil and stone at the moment of contact. Digging becomes effortless, ignoring material hardness. After every 10,000 task completions, the shovel has a 5% chance to collapse a small piece of warped space to expose concealed or compressed resources.

- Tasks Completed out of 10,000: 4

Cal dismissed the interface in satisfaction. He would get plenty of tasks finished whenever he had spare time.

He looked around and saw that it was dark. He had gone too lost in his goal and completely missed the passing of time.

He sensed only Bran was still at the farm, for some reason, with the two girls likely having left some time ago.

Cal stored his precious new shovel in his storage pouch before grabbing the pickaxe and the wheelbarrow to put them back in the storage.

He saw Bran’s eyes light up when he came into his line of sight. He motioned for Bran to wait and entered the storage room to drop off the tools. Besides that, he took out the advance rank shovel he loaned to Orrin from the storage pouch—to free up a precious spot—and placed it beside the rest of his equipment.

Cal went back out to speak to Bran. He thought it was for the day’s wages since Tavia couldn’t pay them, since she had left in a rage to get more information on the sinkhole.

“Apprentice Cal, I know this might sound like I’m overstepping, but if it’s possible, I really think that you should request draft animals from the guild.”

Cal didn’t expect Bran to ask for that. In all honesty, he had completely forgotten about the fact that beasts of burden were commonplace on farms. He might have owned the only farm where he had been the beast of burden, and did so voluntarily to improve his freakish strength.

He didn’t have to give it much thought before nodding his head. “It was a mistake to overlook this issue. You say that you’re well read. What you think would be the best for my farm?”

“Well, if you ask the guild, they will provide normal oxen that will usually be enough to do the job. But I’m not sure about the Northern wastes. The soil here is odd, and he might be better to on the safer side and buy Initiate-level beasts… but they cost more. A lot more.”

Of course it does. My money is flowing away once again.

“Give me your best guess of what it will cost me.” Cal asked.

“There is no set price. It really depends on the seller and if you get lucky enough to get a good deal. The most common beasts in the territory are horses, donkeys, and oxen. The oxen usually cost the most at five gold each, with the other beasts discounted by a gold or two.”

Cal forced himself to show a blank expression, instead of the devastation he felt at the unexpected expense. “I think one ox will be enough for field my size, right?”

Bran shook his head, much to Cal’s dismay. “Since you’re expanding, get at least two. That way, the oxen can get attached to the land and feel a greater belonging. It’ll help motivate them to work more.”

The last sentence reminded Cal that beasts had intelligence. These oxen might be a little dumb now, but the longer they worked on his farm, the greater the chance they have to empower themselves and gain intelligence that might be comparable to Nibbles and the pack leader.

Looks like I have new members of the farm on the way.

“I’ll leave this task to you,” Cal said, to Bran’s surprise. “Since you seem to know quite a lot about this, find me oxen that you think will be a good fit. If I end up buying them, I’ll give you a little bonus for the help.”

Bran nearly jumped in the air with excitement as he nodded rapidly. “I get started right away, apprentice Cal!” He was about to run out of the farm, in a hurry to start, when Cal called out to him.

“Wait! You haven’t received your pay for the day, and neither have Vaela and Liora.”

Bran shook his head. “We all agreed to wait until the end of the month to get paid. I’ll come back with good news soon!”

This time, Cal didn’t stop him from going. He scratched his chin before deciding that he really liked Bran’s enthusiasm. Especially if he brought up common sense issues that Cal had completely neglected because of his unique way of getting stronger.

Cal glanced at his house, noticing the light inside had gone out. Only Seris was inside, and she must have turned in for the night.

However, he still had more work to do.

Cal’s new hires had done everything on the field except for one last step. He had to plant the Sunfire Grain seeds.

He reentered the storage room and brought out a barrel of Sunfire Grain seeds and got to work.