Infinite Farmer-Chapter 118 - 114: Secrets

The next morning, Tulland managed to wake up just a bit before Necia did. He wasn’t planning on checking his farm right away, the politics of a morning hike date being what they were, but with her still snoring away in bed, he didn’t feel nearly as bad.

Tulland Lowstreet

Class: Chaos Farmer LV. 70

Strength: 60 (+5)

Agility: 60 (+5)

Vitality: 60 (+10)

Spirit: 105 (+5)

Mind: 60 (+10)

Force: 150

Skills: Primal Growth LV. 20, Produce Armament LV. 20, Market Wagon LV. 15

Passives: Broadcast LV. 15, Botanical Engineer LV. 19, Strong Back LV. 15, Fruits of the Field LV. 15, Farmer’s Intuition LV. 19

Tulland still hadn’t picked up a single level since coming to the new safe zone. He wasn’t sure if that was normal or not. If he had leveled naturally to this point, he’d have a better idea of what kind of pace was expected at level seventy. Absent that, he supposed he hadn’t really killed that many enemies in the last battle. With rewards that didn’t contain any experience packs, he didn’t expect to see a lot of rapid progress in levels unless his tactics in combat changed quite a bit.

On the upside of things, his farm was doing much better now. The best of his Chimera Sleeves were now at level four, and all the briars he had dug up before had fully recovered. On top of that, the rest of his farm was doing visibly better. Visibly to him, anyway. Details of plant health that would have gone fully over his head a few months ago now stood out like sore thumbs. The colors of leaves, the pliability of branches, and the spread of the roots all meant something distinct. It was book-reader stuff. The opposite of what an adventurer was supposed to care about, at least how he would have judged it in his fantasies back home on Ouros. In his case, knowing the difference between a healthy plant and a struggling one and being able to tip things from one spectrum to the other, meant a huge, sudden spike to his power.

Farm Status:

Total Points: 8114

Tulland didn’t have any other farmers nearby to ask about his growth, but he doubted any other farmer in existence would know anyway. His class had gone so sideways at this point that he doubted the average farmer would even recognize it. Whatever he had been doing was working, but outside of the occasional interaction with a scholar class who knew a little about farming on accident, he was on his own, figuring out things as they came. Just like always.

Even so, a jump this big was worth celebrating. There were even a few more points to grind out of the farm outside of what the soil was doing. His farm-status screen detail view had been giving him hints that a few plants were over-represented, now that his Chimera Briars were pushing more points than any individual plant ever had before. If he pulled a few plants here and planted a few more of the better-paying varieties there, he’d be able to squeeze out even more.

Tulland held up his Farmer’s Tool and gave it a few experimental pokes, feeling it slide through the air more cleanly and powerfully than it ever had before. Giving instructions to the plants in his farm that could respond to them showed even more dramatic signs of the increases. The Clubber Vines clubbed harder. The Giant’s Hairs searched frantically for anything worth constricting. The Lunger Briars lunged.

The Chimera Sleeves were the liveliest of all, and gaining new moves every time he interacted with them. They were so active that now, as he requested them to come towards him, they were actually able to uproot themselves and crawl close enough that he could store a few of them in his dimensional storage. He almost decided to leave them growing, especially considering how much benefit they were getting from the new soil. He chose to ignore the impulse. This was a safe zone, sure. It was as secure as he had felt anywhere since coming here. That didn’t mean he could abandon caution. On the off chance he was being paranoid, he decided to get a second opinion, but even that backed up his potential paranoia.

I’m not being weird, right? I shouldn’t trust this place.

In what sense?

In the sense where I leave the house without the means to fight if it comes to that.

It’s an interesting question. In a sense that only considers the odds, I’d say your chances of getting attacked are fairly low. The experience you’d give would be significant, but not life-changing. You are an unpredictable threat, and not a single individual on this floor has shown aggression to anyone.

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I sense there’s a "but" coming.

But, yes, there are other considerations. You gain very little by heading out unarmed. Mostly comfort, or confidence if it turns out you really didn’t need the armaments. But there’s very little to gain outside of that and quite a bit to lose. Caution is called for here.

You are sure?

Think about it. Have you seen anyone else unarmed? Less armed, certainly. You’ve seen that. But completely unarmed for more than a quick trip across the more populated parts of the settlement? No. And you are headed out to an unmonitored place, where anything might happen. In some ways, other humans aren’t even the most of your worries.

Meaning?

I’m surprised I’m even able to give you this warning. It must be because it’s a mere guess. But The Infinite is never a simple thing. Right now, everyone on this floor is acting as if they are going to run into five floors in a row that introduce very little in the way of changes to the level of danger. That’s almost certainly not the case. And there has been little to no curiosity about the contents of this safe zone, likely because the last safe zone had very little of interest. But that is not a confirmed constant, Tulland. Anything could happen.

Huh. Thanks for that. It does sound as if Necia is coming, though.

I understand. Enjoy your outing.

"Talking to someone?" Necia was dressed in the clothes she wore under her armor, and just that. It wasn’t an uncommon sight, anymore, but it still made Tulland stop and think every time he saw it. Like this, she seemed just like a normal girl. Not a princess, not someone who could shift forms into a massive armored warrior, but just a normal girl like he might have known back on Ouros. "You looked that way. You know what I mean." Experience tales at novelbuddy

"Yeah, I was talking to it. Asking about whether or not I should go unarmed on our hike."

"And?" Necia’s eyes panned across the farm, taking in the divots where his plants had been. "Oh, I see what he advised. And that you listened."

"I took those beforehand. But yeah, I listened. It says we should take weapons for the same reason you say we should go exploring in the first place."

"That being?"

"We don’t know what’s out there, really. And The Infinite isn’t usually a boring place."

Necia, visibly annoyed, considered that for a bit.

"I hate that it’s right. How much do you think we should take with us?" Necia asked.

"I’m taking my Farmer’s Tool, and I’ll keep my armor with me in storage. And my normal complement of stored plants. They won’t slow us down," Tulland said.

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"I don’t want to wear my full armor, but I suppose I could carry my shield and sword on my back. And my new gauntlet."

"I feel like you would have brought that anyway."

"Maybe. It’s still new to me and I sort of love it."

Tulland walked up and wrapped up Necia in a hug.

"Thanks. For not being mad at me for listening. It really hasn’t given bad advice yet, you know."

"I know. Just let it know that if it ever does, I will spend the entire rest of my life trying to earn a way to hurt it from The Infinite. It can’t tell me that’s impossible. Not here, in this place."

It probably isn’t. Tell her I acknowledge her warning as valid…

Sure. But not right now.

"Are you ready to go?"

"No, of course not. Come to breakfast, Tulland. If we are going to do this and formations practice, we’ll need all the food we can get."

—

"It’s pretty." Tulland admired the landscape as they walked. "Prettier than I thought it would be."

"I noticed the same thing. It doesn’t surprise me. It seems like everything on this floor is just a little better. The baths. The prices on luxuries. The landscape being a little prettier seems normal at this point."

"Why do you think that is?" Tulland bent down to examine a new grass, found it didn’t seem to have any especially impressive properties, and moved on. "Why give us better things?"

"A reward, maybe? For getting this far? Or maybe it’s just acknowledging that we are elite."

"Elite?" Tulland chuckled. "Maybe you are. I’m a simple man of the soil."

"Sure. Tell me. Do you remember all those books of records you read about System reports on Infinite delver progress?"

"Um. Not so much."

"Your world didn’t have them. I know, I know. But mine did. Do you know the average length of a dungeon delve, at least on my planet? The fourth level. Getting to the tenth and losing to the boss there was considered very, very good. We are about to walk into the twelfth floor, Tulland, still doing well. Still with hope to advance. That’s unheard of."

"Does that make you feel good?" Tulland walked ahead of Necia towards a thicket of tall, grass-like poles growing out of the ground like a small forest, covering perhaps an acre of ground. "You wanted to do a lot for your planet."

"It’s odd to think about. If my planet learns about my progress, I’ll be in history books. A legendary warrior. Really. I’ve read those stories as a kid, and I’m outperforming some of them. It just doesn’t feel real. I’m not the kind of person who does that kind of thing."

"Maybe they didn’t think they were either. It’s not like they had a chance to complain about it."

"Maybe."

Tulland and Necia moved forward into the thicket, pushing through as Tulland took a look at the different mosses and plants in search of anything worth keeping. There wasn’t much. He took a few samples of plants he thought might fit into the cracks of his current farm structure, but at most he’d be squeezing a few points out of each. It wasn’t going to be a very productive hike, it seemed.

It was his farmer’s sense that stopped them before something unexpected happened and changed that expectation on a dime. In front of them, it said, something weird was happening with the plants. They were growing in an unexpected, unnatural way. His arm shot out and caught Necia’s arm before she could take another step.

"Stop," Tulland said. "Something’s up."

"What?"

"I don’t know. Give me a second to look. And back up a little for now."

Necia stepped back for a moment as Tulland held his Farmer’s Tool in front of him, poking out at various plants to try and get a feel for where his disquieting feeling was coming from. Nothing stood out at first, but eventually a pattern started to emerge. Looked at from the right angle on a certain plane, the plants were growing in a way that he wouldn’t expect, as if they were dodging a round-ish object on the ground.

Of course, it’s only from that one angle. But if I’m right…

Tulland reached his hand out, pushing gently on the plants just to the side of the disturbance. For an inch or so, they gave way, just as he’d expect. Then they stopped suddenly, like they were butting up against a stone wall. In a way, he supposed they were. Like magic, what had been invisible until then became visible, materializing in midair in a blink.

"There," Tulland said after confirming his guess. "Sorry. I just didn’t want you to walk into that on accident, and I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who could have possibly seen it."

"Tulland. What on Earth did you do? What is that?"

"That?" Tulland swept away what plants he could from around the structure, revealing the entire structure to both him and Necia. "I’m pretty sure that’s some kind of secret arch."