Farming For Gold

The sky was cloudy but it hadn"t yet started to rain. It hardly ever really rained in Brethren Plains, they often gots mists, and the occasional drizzle, but rarely a real rain. It made him wonder about that mole-farmer. Why would his guild send him out here to farm dirt. The yields must be terrible and they have to move it to another hub to get a decent price.

While he was pondering the question a st.u.r.dy townswoman in an ugly flower print dress pushed a wheelbarrow full of turnips into the courtyard. Trollogistics grimaced.

Otherworld was an incredible game. The best one ever created and in many ways the ultimate MMORPG. NPCs had real lives and were real people. They could fall in love, have children, and die. You could talk to them for hours and they"d never repeat themselves.

The quest system was equally as interesting. There were multiple areas in every-zone where a group of monsters might form. What monsters and what strength they were was decided by an incredibly complex system of AI"s. Quests would then be generated in accordance to those monster"s actions and scattered about to various NPC"s in the area. For all of the systems vaunted complexity though there were gaps. For instance, in Verith a new Wagoner"s Guild quest was generated about twice a day.

There were exactly 26 NPC"s that came with cargo to be shipped and so far he"d seen exactly eight possible cargo"s. Each of which usually went to somewhere new and at least marginally interesting. Turnips however always went to Old Boris"s pig farm about two miles from town. The road out there was h.e.l.l on his rickshaw and the payment for the quest was only 24 coppers, a little over a silver coin, since unlike most MMO"s this game didn"t user simple 10 or 100 increments for it"s money.

He really didn"t want to do this quest but XP was XP. A few more levels and he could try to upgrade his cla.s.s to tier two. He was just about to open his mouth to accept yet another pointless NPC quest when his interface pinged. He nearly wept in relief.

Win Mills: You up for another run?

Trollogitics: You got more coin?

Win Mills: Pretty sure you still owe me at least 500. That alone should cover the trip.

Trollogistics: That"s already been put in the Verith bank under your name. You don"t screw around with trades and agreements in Otherworld. You can get real fines and Jailtime in RL for that. Giving you the money then killing you and taking it is fine but just holding onto the money after our deal is against the rules.

This kid was a total noob. Trollogistics had figured he was but he obviously knew little about the game. It made him even more curious.

Win Mills: I"ve got twenty-bushels of wheat. At current prices in Vereth that"s about 1600 gold.

Trollogistics: That works. When do you want me to come pick it up?

Win Mills: As soon as possible,and I want you to pick me up as well. I"ve got some stuff I want in the city.

Trollogistics: …. Can"t you just tell me what you want? That means I"ll have to make two trips. That"ll take all weekend.

Win Mills: What"s it matter to you? It"s more money…. Besides I"ve never been to a city in game before. Oh, wheat also weighs around 60 pounds a bushel. So your looking at at least 1400 pounds with it and me in your rickshaw.

Trollogistics Grimaced. He hadn"t actually thought of that. He"d never had to haul that much stuff at once before. He didn"t even have enough bag s.p.a.ce for that. He did have 500 gold from his last trip and would be making more in the future. He"d have to do some thinking.

Trollogistics: I"ll work something out. 500g each way.

Win Mills: 300.

Trollogistics frowned. What a little b.a.s.t.a.r.d trying to cheap out on him. That wouldn"t do.

Trollogistics: 500 or I wont come.

He shot back. It was a lie but it was best to be firm in business dealings.

Win Mills: 300 each trip. That"s 600 gold for one weekend of work. We"ll set our base price for a trip there AND you get 5% of the value of anything you haul.

Trollogistics smiled ruefully. Here he was getting bullied by some kid probably half his age. Still it was a real transport contact with decent terms. Just the kind of thing he"d been really needing. Not to mention the 600 gold would finish his bet earning him another 500 and p.i.s.sing off Freeze. That alone was worth it.

Trollogistics: Fine. I leave in a couple of hours. I"ve got a few things to take care of on my end.

*******************************************************

Winston got up early the next morning forgoing sleep to get more work done. Trollogistics would be at the keep in another six or so hours and he had a lot to get done in that time. Most of it was basic harvesting but he had some new prep work to do for his new crops. He could easily keep up with his grain needs but he needed to start adding some variety if he wanted to move his skills forward.

While he pondered he went through the rote motions and harvested his wheat adding another four bushel to his total then planted corn in its place. He would be gone for at least a day and a half so it was best to use a higher yield, slower growing crop. That way he"d lose less time.

When he was finally finished finished he looked around for a place to start a few new plots for his vegetables The courtyard still had some room to expand but it was getting pretty full with both his an Rimmi"s fields. The best option would probably be somewhere between the two. He didn"t have enough seeds to really plant too much so instead he decided on a few small patches around the shrine.

The beets would be first. He had the most hope for them but that went down the drain as soon as he picked up the seed.

[Beet Seed]

[Common, Seed]

[Beets are a popular and nutritious plant. Usually grown in colder environments they are either eaten raw, pickled, stewed, or distilled into sugar

36 hour maturation time]

He knew as soon as he held the seed this soil was no good. It was the first time he"d really used his new skill. The ground seemed to speak to him and he knew the problem, not enough phosphorus. His dire-tiger manure probably had some but it was likely more nitrogen based, which he knew would cause it"s own problems. He"d have to do some googling to find out how to balance out the soil properly.

He tired the potato next and ran into somewhat similar issues. It"s requirements allowed for more nitrogen though, so he thought he could get away with his manure fertilizer. Moisture was a problem but he could use magic for that. He didn"t have the mana pool to do much but any little bit helped. The cabbage had the most problems with the water but Winston thought he could still grow it, it would just have worse yields. Information collected, Winston got to digging.

He worked in silence as the hours pa.s.sed by. Today was a hot one but he was finally getting used to the work. At level five and with more endurance in his physical body he was actually started to enjoy himself. The feeling of sweat on his brow and the burn of his muscles gave him a sense of peace. Now that he wasn"t gasping for breath every few minutes.

He planted the cabbage and the potatoes but held onto the beats. There wasn"t any use planting them until he found something to add to the soil. That left him with only the fruit to worry about. He picked up an apple seed and frowned.

[Apple Seed]

[Common, Seed]

[Apples are one of the most common fruits in existence. They grow in a wide variety of soils and are a popular food crop for almost every culture.

14 day maturation

Will produce harvest every 7 days after]

Winston used his long digging claws to scratch at his nose. The ground below him would grow the apples, just not well. Again, the ground here was just too dry and lacked a lot of the essential nutrients. He thought it over for a bit then shrugged. Something was better than nothing. He didn"t really want the tree taking up the rest of the area he had left. It"s roots would take out a big chunk of s.p.a.ce so he headed towards the keep walls to find somewhere suitable to put a few trees.

He was headed towards the North-West corner when he paused as his soil sense picked up something strange. There was something else here. Normally he"d get an idea of the soil chemical composition, ph levels, moisture, amounts of various elements. There was something else in the ground over here though. He tried to get a feel for it but couldn"t pin anything down. He supposed it was probably magic of some sort. Otherworld was a fantasy game. There were ley lines that players could tap and had various effects on the flora and fauna of same areas in the game. This didn"t feel too strong but Winston had nothing to compare it to.

Winston shrugged and planted the tree over the magic saturated ground. He didn"t know what it would do but it should do something.

It was a good four hours later when Trollogsitics finally showed up at the keep. The sun was now high over-head and it was ever hotter than it had been that morning. Sweat lathered Winston"s furr as he headed towards the keep"s gate to meet the halfling and his troll.

"Ya know, Your kind of ripping me off here." The halfling said as he jumped down from his conveyance. "Drop it betsy and grab the big bag." The troll set down the arms of the rickshaw then reached into the back and pulled out a large canvas sack. Then the halfling turned back to Winston. "Well, show us where this grain is. We need to get moving."

"It"s not that bad of a deal." Winston said with an eye roll. "h.e.l.l, it"s a pretty decent deal honestly." Winston said as he lead the two towards the rebuilt storage shed. "Take all the wheat out of that chest there." he said pointing to a chest on the East wall. They filled the troll"s bag first. Then they sent her back to the wagon as they filled they filled their smaller bags.

"So what are you doing out here?" Winston asked the halfling as they poured wheat into the sacks. "I mean, I know why you"re here but why Brethren Plains? This place is a barren h.e.l.lhole."

"Quest rewards."

Winston raised an eyebrow.

"The fewer quests get completed in an area the higher the game raises the quests rewards. It also adds more quest chains, valuable resources and other things. The game tries to entice players into spreading out, although it doesn"t really work that well. Still, I"ve been able to get 10 levels just completing NPC hauling quests. The bonuses are like 500% of normal in Brethren Plains." Trollogistics said happily.

"So your plan was to pump up your levels before moving to more populated areas to get clients." Winston said with a nod. "Are you close to your cla.s.s promotion?"

"Two more levels to twenty. That"s when I can choose between the Courier Cla.s.s, and the Teamster cla.s.s. One is better at speed and the other is better at heavy loads." He said. "What cla.s.s are you anyway? Farmer?" The halfing asked as they finished filling their bags and heading towards the rickshaw.

"I"m a Yawnshu Grove Tender. It"s a racial cla.s.s. Half famer, half priest." Winston said, as they reached the cart and dumped out bags into the heavy bag. "Basically I use faith to boost yields and for other bonuses."

The halfing looked slightly impressed as they made one more trip. Once loaded Winston hopped up onto the cart and the odd vehicle took off down the road.

**********************************

Five hours later Winston sat in a booth at Marnie"s the a local burger shop. The place was cla.s.sic American diner and didn"t look like it had been updated since the 50"s. They even had a working soda fountain in the back and real hand-dipped milkshakes. It was the unofficial hangout for high schoolers looking for greasy food and the place was usually at least half-full of students on the weekends.

This Sat.u.r.day was no different and the dinner crowd was in full swing. Winston sat in a booth with Ruger, Brad, Trish, and Jason sat on a chair at the end of the booth. Heaps of french-fries took up the middle of the table and the remnants of mostly eaten burgers were scattered on everyone plates.

"I can"t believe you actually stopped playing Otherworld long enough to come out with everyone." Trish said with a smirk. "I thought you"d gone full-dive on us and just decided to let the real world fall away."

"Well, for one I don"t really have much to do right now. We won"t hit town until around 2am our time tonight. Which means I won"t be able to do much till tomorrow anyway. Besides all that I just wanted to see you guys. I"m having fun in game but my job is so d.a.m.n boring. Getting in game was always about being able to play with you guys. Now I"ve managed in but we"re still stuck apart, and Jason isn"t even in yet. So really not much has changed."

"It doesn"t help that farming is just so monotonous. I mean, it"s dig field, plant field, harvest field, over and over and over again. That"s pretty much it. It"s not really very riveting. Even if it is profitable." Winston explained.

"Yeah, I wish I"d have known what you were in for. You could have joined out guild for that. I"m sure the leader could have scrounge up a system for you. It sounds like you could have already paid for you sub yourself. The Swords really screwed you." Brad said.

"Yeah, pretty much." Winston agreed. "It"s only for three months though."

"Well, we should wait for your contract to end then drag their a.s.ses down." Jason said from the end of the table.

"I honestly don"t think we"ll have to worry about it. From what I"ve seen of the place they are tearing themselves apart. I doubt they"ll last past this expansion if they keep f-ing up all the time like they seem to be." Winston replied as he popped another fry into his mouth.

"You really hate them don"t you?" Ruger asked, around his own mouthful of burger.

"I don"t really hate them. I just don"t care. They are getting what they want and I"m getting what I want. I"m their employee and not a particularly well treated one. They didn"t even give me any gear. I mean, I didn"t expect to get my hand held but they just shoved me outta the nest without even looking over the side to see if I flew or not." Winston said bitterly.

The bell on the door rang and Jessica Richard"s walked into the diner with her latest boyfriend. She was wearing a long sleeved t shirt and tight jeans. It was casual but she still looked d.a.m.n good. Trish turned her head to see the door and Winston swore he heard her growl as she saw Jessica. She whipped her head back to Winston and frowned.

"Aren"t you p.i.s.sed off at her at all. You got beaten up and kicked out of school because of her." Trish said, searching his face for some hint of anger. Winston just shrugged at her.

"I"m really not mad. I mean. I"d like to talk about how she"s heartless or some crazy girl but I don"t really know her. She"s self-centered but that"s most high-schoolers. I know her and Josh had a big blow-up when they broke up and if you manage to p.i.s.s Josh off you"ve really done something to deserve it." Winston shrugged again. "I wouldn"t date her but she"s not like my arch-nemesis or something. My arch-nemesis needs to be more evil, and more hot, and wearing more spiked leather. Preferably some that shows off ample cleavage."

Jason and Ruger laughed but Trish just looked slightly disgusted. Brad smiled but as usual he was much more reserved in his mirth than the others. Ruger caught my eyes across the table and looked slightly embarra.s.sed before he spoke.

"Soooo…. I kinda need a favor." He said, after working up his courage a bit. Winston raised an eyebrow. He and Ruger were friends but not nearly as close as he and Jason. Ruger was closer to Brad. Winston couldn"t remember Ruger having ever asked him for a favor.

"I"m kinda seeing this girl in game." He started. Winston"s eyebrow rose but Ruger plowed on his face flushing enough to show even with his dark skin. "Not like seriously or anything, h.e.l.l she lives like three states away but she got this magical swan pet and needs to find some special food for it. Have you ever heard of cloudberries?" Winston shook his head.

"Yeah, well I hadn"t either. Point being that she needs some for her pet and they are SUPER expensive. So i did some digging on line and found out they only grow on Lunari for some reason. That"s when I thought of you." Winston nodded, seeing where this was going.

"Well, I could look into it. Honestly Brethren Plains is a really s.h.i.tty place for growing anything. I could definitely see through. How expensive are we talking?" Winston asked.

"About 600 gold a bushel." Ruger said wryly. Winston"s soda nearly came out his nose. That was about 6 times more than his wheat. If he could get a large field of those berries going he could move out and afford his own apartment.

"Well, I can"t say I"m not onboard with the idea but even if I manage to grow them how am I going to get them to you?" Winston asked. Teleporting was EXPENSIVE. Not a normal level of expensive either. Someone could buy a beat-up car for the price of opening a portal in otherworld.

"That"s actually the easiest part. See the Swords are going to be shipping out all the grain, ore, and lumber you guys have been collecting in two weeks. They"ve contacted a few merchants to go with them to offset the costs of the portal and one of them is my friends uncle. We can get you some room on his wagon for anything you wanna ship. You just need to supply the product." Ruger explained.

"Works for me, not sure how much I"ll be able to grow in two weeks but I"m definitely on board." Winston said.

"Thanks again man. I only want a bushel or two. Anything more than that you can send through the portal with the merchant. I"ll sell it in the AH"s over in the Empire and give you the money for them in RL." Ruger said. Winston smiled and reached his hand across the table to so the two could shake. He could finally start making back some of the money he spent on a system.