7 Its not all roses and dandelions out there

The area was massive. Besides the large house in the middle of the property, several enclosures with animals were inside. Dogs guard sheep, ducks, and chickens against wild animals, primarily wild dogs and cats. Thaids couldn't enter due to the barrier surrounding the city.

Beside the house was a large barn where Mister Fox stored his equipment and animals and several sheds containing various tools. An old building that served as a garage and workshop stood in one corner. A few meters from this structure stood a small wooden cabin used only during summer months by Mr. Fox.

Erik walked towards the main house, hoping to find someone there.

"Hello?" Erik called out loudly. No answer came back. "It's me." Still no reply.

But when he got close enough to see through the window, all he could make out was darkness, as if nobody was around. With a sigh, he turned back and headed towards the shed.

Inside lay some tools on shelves; next to them were boxes full of spare parts and other materials needed to repair machines and vehicles. There was also a workbench covered with saws and drills, but right now, it had been left unattended.

As Erik stepped into the shed, he heard something moving nearby. He turned only to see Mister Fox looking at him with an annoyed look.

"Ah, you finally arrived," the man said while holding a torch.

He must have just come inside himself because his clothes smelled like oil and grease. It didn't take long before Erik spotted what looked to be a mechanical arm attached to his body. Mister Fox lost his arm to a thaid during his military years.

Still, he was forced to serve for the ten years the law required; technology substituted whatever appendage you could lose, so there weren't excuses. That arm was indeed a piece of art, and Erik often wondered how it worked. On top of Mister Fox's head sat two goggles fixed onto a helmet covering his face. When he spoke, the words seemed to echo slightly within the confines of the room.

"Yes, good morning, sir, I'm here," Erik said.

"Good, now put on the working attire and start using that power of yours; the plants aren't going to proliferate for the next deadline unless you do your job." He ordered.

With those last words spoken, Mister Fox left without saying another word. Erik sighed again.

After leaving the house, Erik went straight toward the barn to change. It took him quite a bit of time to get everything prepared.

The young man then left the barn and went to the back of the property once he was ready. There, a vast field could be seen; it was here that he was going to work.

He had a section of ingrown plants to use his power on. After he was done and could leave the farm, he had to wait for Mister Fox to get all the fruits, plants, and vegetables.

Having Erik grow the crops helped, and despite the power's weakness, it still generated massive income. Erik didn't get much from it, but he was, in a sense, lucky because other people refused to give him work; they all treated him with contempt because of his weak ass power.

The issue was that an individual's physical strength was directly proportional to the number of neural links.

This meant that there was no reason for people to employ him since there were other guys who could do a better job since they were stronger, and the young man was too young and had insufficient knowledge to work inside an office.

Erik approached the chunk of plants he still didn't use his power on. He leaned on the ground and reached out to touch the soil.

When he did, a sensation of electricity spread throughout his entire being, causing the hairs on the nape of his neck to stand up, he felt lightheaded and dizzy. Then suddenly, a strange feeling emerged, which was hard to describe. Still, he knew what it was, a sort of pressure as if his body was filled with energy and he was ready to explode.

Soon he couldn't hold it anymore and pushed it toward the ground, releasing the energy from his hands. A wave of heat hit him at once, and the air around him became hot and humid, the smell of freshly grown vegetation filling his nostrils. The plant had sprouted new leaves in seconds and started growing, but the effect wasn't world-shattering.

This was only the beginning; Erik used his power more aggressively, and the whole area was covered in green grasses and bushes.

The crops increased, and vegetables started coming from the bare earth. Soon enough, he stopped when he noticed that his temperature had risen even further than usual, sweat trickling down his forehead. His breath came heavily through his mouth.

A second later, the power dissipated, and he collapsed to the floor. That was probably due to mana exhaustion. He only had ten points of it, after all.

"Are you alright?" asked Mister Fox. "You look really pale..."

Erik opened his eyes slowly and tried not to move.

"...and sweaty!" added the farmer.

The boy looked confused until he remembered what had happened just moments ago...he had released an enormous amount of mana for his pool. And now he was lying on the floor like a dead fish.

Mister Fox stood beside him, holding a glass of water. Erik drank it all and lay down on the grass.

"Yes, Mister Fox. I think I'm done with today's job..."

"Good."

Mister Fox wasn't totally heartless toward Erik. It was true that he used him for his power and paid him a pittance. However, knowing that using his power was not simple for him, at least he tried not to exploit him too much physically speaking.

Still, it wasn't like he didn't take advantage of him. The fact that he could earn a lot of money from his power while Erik only got the crumbs spoke volumes about the person.

Still, he treated him like a human being, at least, something that others didn't. That's why Erik worked here, despite the situation. It was paradoxical that one of the worst people in the city treated him better than the rest of the population, but that was the young man's reality.

As he lay on the grass, countless thoughts flashed inside the young man's head. What would happen once he got rid of his brain crystal deformity? What would the future hold for him in general? The Biological supercomputer was an opportunity or a death sentence?

Would he become some freak show, a monster among humans? Or was he bound to become rich and powerful?

No matter what he thought about the subject, his mind drifted to the past, remembering the first time his power got measured. He was four years old then, like everyone else, he got tested at that age.

His father took him to the laboratory, where Doctor Jarrold performed several tests. In the end, he gave his son the results. His father read the numbers repeatedly until they finally sank into his mind.

It was true. Erik's brain crystal was weak compared to others, and it was only ranked F. Obviously, it didn't mean anything to the young man then. Still, for his father, it was a sentence; his son would live a miserable life.

In retrospect, Erik wondered if this pushed Lucius to search for the cause of the sinister cold, leading to the current situation.

The Biological supercomputer had a brain and DNA editing power; its implications were unknown, but Erik fantasized about it. What if he could change his power? Make it better, stronger, faster, and whatever. The mere thought of this made him tremble in excitement.

He sat up and walked over to the crop field, looking at the beautiful sight of nature. After all, there weren't many places left on earth that hadn't been polluted by mankind.

Even so, nature always tried to return to its former glory, and Erik admired her resilience. He watched the sun shining above him and closed his eyes.

"Hey, kid," said Mister Fox after a few minutes. "I need you to harvest the carrots before dark, okay? Rest as much as you want but be sure to do this. I can't since my back is old…"

"Sure, Mister Fox."

***

After harvesting the last carrot, Erik went to the shed to get changed and return home. However, during the process, he started hearing some voices behind him.

Two men entered the shed, one tall and skinny, the other short and fat. They wore leather jackets, and their faces were hidden under masks.

They didn't have weapons but probably had deadly brain crystal powers. On their jacket, there was a pin sporting a cross. They were members of the Crystal Cross gang, a powerful criminal organization with several branches throughout Frant.

One of them pointed at the young man and yelled:

"Where is your employer?!"

Erik recognized them. "M-mister Fox went to his house to c-change," Erik said, trembling. These men were not to trifle with.

The man approached Erik and raised his hand to grab the kid, who flinched away from his touch.

"Tell him to come to pay his due. Now."

Erik then ran out of the barn and went to warn Mister Fox that members of the Crystal Cross gang came to extort his money as they did every month. The older man came out running and paid the money to them—ten thousand new dollars, to be precise.

When the men went away, Mister Fox spoke. "Damn, Blackguards, shouldn't they stop this shit from happening?"