Lettuce, Lettuce, Lettuce

All I remember was waking to the sun at the window. A gentle breeze blowing through running across my face. Sweat drenched on my body and hay underneath a thin rough blanket. I get up feeling groggy, fatigued, sore, and most of all practically emotionless. I walk across my wooden floored bedroom and grab a metal handled cup from the table. Not thinking twice about drinking whatever was inside the cup. Feeling a bit better. I throw on a rough shirt covered in dirt, a pair of pants covered in holes and dirt, and a tattered pair of cloth shoes. Grabbing harvesting tools I head outside. Head after head. I start harvesting. Lettuce, carrots, potatoes, squash, but most of all LETTUCE. Lettuce, Lettuce, Lettuce, and yes. More Lettuce. It's like I couldn't have enough. What am I going to do with all of it you may ask? I'm a farmer living on a small farm a ways away from any village or city. Every once and a while I'll get some visitors in the form of adventurers. Some are nice... others... when I see them for some reason I get aggressive and attack them. Every time it's like someone else is in control. I just freak out and lose it. I only have memory from the past few weeks. I only speak a few words ever. "Heyya.", "It's not easy being a farmer.", the taxes set by the capital are slowly draining me.", or my personal favorite "I think I need more mead." Obviously there are more things I talk about. But, it feels like my words aren't my own.

The sun is set high in the sky. Beaming down on everything around. The thick green forests, the golden yellow field, the sound of plenty of animals, and the smell of nature in the air. The sky as blue as the seas.

I stay to the same routine every single day. Drink from the same cup, eat the same foods, wear the same clothes, harvest the same stuff, and sleep at the same times. It was the normal. Hard work, sweat, and tears. It was never ending. My second week of memory. I had my farm attacked by goblins. They ate all my crops, soiled all over my soil, and luckily they hadn't gotten my house. It was a small house. Built from wood and some iron. I had a nice little fire pit outside of it. Here I would warm up in the mornings, cook, dry off after bathing in a nearby lake, or just wanting to stay up a few extra hours on my days of rest. I always took the 7th day as a day of rest. I hadn't the faintest idea why. But, it just felt natural. All of this was destroyed in a couple of hours of goblins tearing about. But, then. A group of adventures came to my aide. Five of them. They called themselves a guild. The name "Longhorn Exterminators." They said that goblin hunting was their specialty. They destroyed the goblins with their magic, swords and bows. In an absurdly short amount of time. They came and they left just as quick. This last week the third week. A vendor came through the area. So, I had a chance to trade some of what food I had let for items I needed to fix up my farm. Seeds, tools (a new axe, a saw, and a new hammer), lots of mead, and some ice. Just the simple stuff. Since then it's been chopping down trees, crafting areas for animals (I want to get some livestock soon), patching broken parts of the house (for example my leaky roof), and finally drinking alot of mead. It was one of my favorite things to do. Work hard, sweat, eat, drink, and sleep. Day in and day out. I finally decided today. I'm going to do something different. I was low on water and I knew of an area nearby that the Vendor mentioned. A waterfall where I could get some good quality drinking water. So, I got up. Got myself warmed up, dressed, and fed. I make sure to grab my two big wooden barrels to collect water. Time to head out. I strap the barrels to my back using rope and I'm on my way.

The sun rising above the horizon, morning dew on the grass, the wind gently blowing, sounds of birds chirping flooding the area, and a NPC ready to start his day.

It was a bit chilly in the mornings. So, I tend to warm up first. Today is special. I never go far away from the farm. I feel a bit too nervous. Like, something is begging me to stay close. As I make my way across the field beside my farm. I get an odd feeling. Almost clenching at me from the insides. My legs feel heavy, my head light, and my arms tingly. It's physically weighing on me. I keep walking through the field. Bent on leaving because I really need the water. The further I walk. The more I feel fatigued, sick almost, and want to give up. Finally, it's almost like something snapped. The feeling gone as soon as I was ready to give up. So, I make my way down a path across the field into the woods.

Bugs are flying, animals rustling around in the distance, tree branches clanking around from the wind, and the footsteps of an NPC farmer.

I walk and walk. Passing by tree after tree. No thoughts, no talking, it was almost zombie like. I was set on this water so hard I almost forgot where I was. Finally, after walking for some time. I start to hear the sounds of a not so far off waterfall. The Vendor was right! Good on him. "At least today is a good day." I blurt out of nowhere. Causing some birds to flutter away. As I pace myself I finally see a cliff and a waterfall come into my view out of the exit of the woods. A big grin on my face. A chuckle let out my mouth out of instinct. I undo the rope and quickly begin filling up my barrels and drinking as much water as I could. I even bathed for the fun of it. Almost like a vacation of sorts. Wait, what's a vacation again? Nevermind. Sometimes I catch myself saying words I don't quite understand. "Vacation", "Beer", "toilet." When I really mean "Break", "Mead", or "outhouse." I still don't really understand it. As I'm bathing I take notice of something I never thought about. My reflection in the water. I seen how long my facial hair was. My long hair pulled back by some rope. My toned arms. And, I also looked at my butt for some odd reason. That also got me thinking. What was my name? Do I have a name? What's a "name?" As I grew more and more confused. I got dressed, grabbed my barrels (which weigh a ton at this point), and tied the rope back. I begin my journey home.

The sun sets over the farm, the light slowly fading out as the fire from a fire pit rage on. Crickets chirping, owls hooting, and the wood crackling. The NPC sits with some mead at his fire pit.

I've never been that far away from the farm. I'd like to avoid it if possible. It's not something I take pride in. But, my nervousness tends to control me. And, then. I lost control over my senses. I throw my metal handled cup. I start screaming. "Now you'll pay for THAT!!!" I grab my axe and start running torward what looks like a man stealing food from my crops. The man draws a sword and enters a defensive position. I wanted to stop so bad. It's like I was being controlled by something. I rear back and swing my axe straight down at his sword. It breaks. The man stumbles to the ground and mutters some words. "You guys. This NPC is stronger than I expected. I need some back up. I'm at the farm west of Ragaile." What's an "NPC? Is-is that my name?" I say back in a very aggressive way. I take my axe and lift it over my head once again. I'm Rearing back. I slam it down into his torso. Blood splatters, flesh rips, and bones crunch. Yet he doesn't scream in pain. His body disappeared and all of his clothes were on the ground along with his items he had with him. I get a strange urge to grab all the stuff. So, I act on impulse and grab his armor, gold, and food. But, I leave everything else. The rage passes and I go back to my farm. "Adventurers sure are weird!" I whisper to myself as I prepare a soup with the last of my venison and vegetables. I guess I need to go hunting again soon. I chop the carrots, onion, lettuce, slice my meat, toss the vegetables in my pot, fry my meat, and finally toss the meat it to let it cool more and soak up the flavors. I used a lot of lettuce. I eat lettuce plain, boiled, shredded, fried, and any other way I can think to use it. Lettuce was the backbone of my diet. Not even once did I think about the adventurer I had just slain. It was almost like my mind was purged of it. Like, I was on autopilot... what is "autopilot," I wonder... hmm... whatever. I finished cooking, ate, and drank some mead before laying down. Tired as could be, I finally fall asleep.

The moon is full in the night sky. Four shadows make their way to the small humble farm of the NPC. The wind gusting a tad more than usual. Rain clouds gathering in the distance. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed across the sky. They near the forests exit onto the farmland.

"Did you have a good day?" A girls voice says as cheerfully as a summer day. "Don't forget about tomorrow! It's a very special day!" She continued. The girl had a wide big almost silly smile. Then, BOOM!

I woke up in a rage. Quickly, I grabbed and put on the armor. Headed for the door and grabbed my axe. "YOU'LL BE PAYING FOR THAT!!!" I screamed as I ran out the door, heading straight for four shadowy figures in the distance. It felt like a dream. I could hear them yelling to each other. "Here he comes!" A male voice shouts. "He can't be that strong! He isn't even a named NPC! It just says "Farmer"!" Shouts a woman. "Be on guard! He already downed Alf in one direct blow! He's also wearing his armor!" Another male yells back. "We gotta slay em and grab his armor back for him!" The woman shouts. As they communicated to each other. I was clearing the distance between us. I had made it about halfway when a bright red light appeared in front of one of them. The woman had began an enchantment to use fire magic. A medium sized ball of fire lanches off in my direction. My body instinctively side flips to the left to avoid it. Part of my crop was unlucky. As it had begun burning to cinders. I felt another notch of rage get tapped into. It's like they were trying to not only kill me. But, snuff me out of existence. And, something in me refused to allow that. I began running with my axe dragging the ground behind me. One of the men approaches me with a sword. As we are running he prepares for a forward thrust. I noticed he was aiming to impale me. So, I leap back as soon as he thrusts. Making the sword barely miss my stomach. I quickly bring my axe from behind me through his midsection with as much force as I could. It left him in two pieces. It was then I noticed a bright yellow flash. I had been struck in the leg with lightning magic. The flesh tensing and burning. I went down on my hands and knees. "HOW CAN A NAMELESS FARMER BE SO STRONG!!!" The woman screams as she realizes the difference in strength of the NPC in comparison to all the other NPC encounters that have happened to them. "We can take him! Zenny! Now!" The man shouts torwards the NPC. A dagger gets slammed into my left shoulder blade. I feel it go it and start burning like no tomorrow. There had been a fourth person I hadn't kept track of. And, they had been behind me the entire time. As I turn to the side and swing with my left arm. The pain shooting through my back and arm. I missed the person behind me. It's almost like they were never there. Before I could think I noticed arrows being shot in my direction. One after another they came zooming in. I grabbed my axe and used it to lift myself to my feet. Let out a huge giant yell. Almost like a war cry. And, I rushed back into the battle. Weaving and sidestepping trying to avoid any arrow that come my way. Trying to keep my ears ready for any sound I may hear behind me. I lock eyes with the woman. She starts backing up with a face full of fear. Her hair amess, teeth clattering, tears rolling. She wasn't ready for what was coming. I grabber by the hair and shoved the tip of my axe into her throat. Blood poring down the handle and my hand as she dropped and broke into tiny pieces. Disappearing like the guy from earlier tonight. "FUCK, ZENNY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" The man yells. "SHUT UP I GOT-" The other Bagan to yell as he feels himself punched in the stomach. He drops to the ground as I rear back and cleave my axe into the back of his neck. Only one left. The archer. I felt my chest get pierced 3 times. He had shot 3 arrows in quick succession and landed them right on his target. I felt like I was gaining control over my body back. Slowly. But, I wasn't dreaming. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to kill them!" I shout as tears begin rolling down my eyes. "RUN! RUN BEFORE I LOSE CONTROL AGAIN!" I begin yelling. The man screams, turns and books it for the trees. I drop back onto the ground. The knife pushing deeper in my shoulder blade. I grab it, pull it out, and throw it away from me. As I lay there the rain began to fall. Washing away the blood around me, the dirt from my face, and relaxing me to some extent.

The storm raged on through the night. The NPC laying on the ground through it all. The next morning the sun began to shine on our favorite Farmer.

As I begin to awaken. I pat my body down. No arrows, no scars, no leg injury, it was like I had never been in battle. The spoils of my enemy lie around me. Armor, swords, daggers, a staff, a bow and some arrows. And, of course GOLD sweet sweet gold. I felt like I was forgetting something. LETTUCE!!! I looked around at my crops. All of the remaining crops of veggies I had were burnt down to a crisp. What am I supposed to do now? It'll take forever to grow more. I have some gold now. But, there's no telling when the next time the Vendor will be through this area. "Ragaile" I whisper. Ragaile, has to be something of interest. Where did that adventurer say it was? East? If my farm is west of it. It has to be easy. But, which way is that. Well, the others came from the south of the fields. So, it has to be that way. I guess another trip. I'm not sure how long I'm going to be away for. So, I should lay some seeds and hope for them to sprout by the time I return.

As he lays his seed for lettuce, carrots, squash, and plants some potatoes. He thinks about what kind of place Ragaile is. Not knowing what lies ahead. Our NPC makes this day. The last simple day on his farm. The sun shining brightly! No rage in his heart! Tomorrow marks a fresh start!