CH2: A Rare Find

Day 4 

Howls and scratching from outside my tent kept me up all through the night. If not for my monster repellent, I would have been dragged out and killed. Only managed to get some sleep around 4 in the morning and snapped awake when the sun rose. Last night's exercise earned a single point in strength, and I was ready to make use of it.

After getting dressed and eating freeze dried eggs, something I knew was built to break morale. I forced myself to do another set of 50 pushups. Once the set was done with no stat increase, I left the protection of my tent hoe in hand.

Even in the early morning, the harsh rays of the sun beat down overhead as I stepped over the cracked, dry ground. Deer tracks dotted the ground along with pawprints the size of dinner plates. It would be some time before I had the Westons to waste on a good saw and logging equipment. Farmers had a limited amount of shop privileges to teach them the value of hard work.

When I arrived at my furrows, I wanted to curse. The wolves had dug into my furrows, looking for moles ruining their alignment. My skill made me cringe at their state, and then there was the massive pile of hair wolf feces. All of it was too close to my tent.

I needed to get to planting fast and possibly expand my furrows. With so many deer around, they were bound to dig in once my seeds started sprouting.

My first swing of the day plunged my hoe deep into the earth. A smile spread across my face as I moved back heavy dirt far easier than before. I was getting somewhere, not really where I wanted to go, but it was a start.

I checked my skill trees.

Furrows lvl7

+3 Skill Points 

Plowing lvl6

+3 Skill Points

Skill Points: 9

Farming Skill Trees 

First Fence 0/25

Easy Pickings 0/10

I was still too early in my class to get anything good. Maybe after I planted and sold some corn and leveled things would get better. Throughout the day, I extended my furrows nearly to the trees with constant work. Midday, I started seeding the ground.

Notifications were piling up, and I had put off adjusting my system settings. The distractions had kept my mind off of my situation. There wasn't anyone to talk to

Ping!

Plant lvl6 

The sun was setting as I pulled a barrel of water and a set of pipes out of the transporter. Another 200W in the hole, but at least I could evenly water my field. I dipped a cup in the water and drank it, feeling the high mana-content water fill my body with energy. A giddy feeling overtook me, restoring all the stamina I lost throughout the day this was the good stuff. The pipes were labeled which made set up easy as the crickets monsters started making noise. A big sucker the size of my hand fluttered over on raven wings instead of an insectoid. I hammered one of the pipes into the ground as the monster perched itself on a stump, eyeing my mana water. I didn't bother chasing the thing away; more would come and try and drink up my water, but once it started pouring, they wouldn't get much. Once the pipes were finished, I slid the water drum in place and released it. Gallons of mana-rich water flowed through the pipes, sprinkling on my seeds with mana water so rich I should see sprouts by morning.

One good thing about the wolves was that they should keep the deer from feeding here. That was the only bright side I could see from the wolf monster. As for the cricket monsters, they were darting around trying to steal water but took very little. I thought about killing them, but there was nothing in it for me. There wasn't even any experience I could gain, and that was sad.

Monsters gained experience to level from killing and eating other monsters. Humans, overall, were far more specialized and diverse. I could only gain xp from selling my crops; giving them away wouldn't give me a single point toward my next level. Monster Tamer grew based on the level of their monsters. If I had Mai, I would probably already be level 20 by now but that was no longer my life. If I kept saying that to myself, maybe I would believe it. A smile tugged at my lips. Seeing the landscape transformed was satisfying in its own way.

Oh, I was still pissed, but I planned to make the most of the hand I was dealt. I would become so wealthy that even Monster Tamer Hegemons would throw their daughters at me. Corn is King; after all, it fed so many different kinds of monsters, and I could even use it to attract deer, shoot them, and smoke their meat. Winter was a killer, and my military tent might not be enough.

A howl rattled my eardrums, and I turned toward my tent and ran. Cold sweat poured down my back, and I swore I could hear panting behind me. I dove into my tent and zipped up the opening. After collapsing on the ground, I found a single stat gain in agility. That little gain would help me in the future.

Pushups were a must I needed more strength. Seeing what it did with my furrows and flowing made that obvious. Until I started seeing returns, I had to think about strategy like an insect monster. The more fields I planted, the more likely I would see a return. I only needed a few levels to gain more privileges in the shop. Skill shards like archery were available to farmers for 50,000W. It was a steep price.

I heard scratching and turned to see a white fawn's nose staring at me. There was a little gap in my zipper, and white fawns were considered natural rank 2 monsters. It could ignore the monster repellent. A yip caught my attention, and I made an impulsive move. I grabbed the fawn by the neck and yanked it inside then closed my flap tightly.

White fawns were worth 120,000W on the open market and quite a bit more in the less than legal places. They had a wide variety of evolutionary paths and would be an incredible find for any Monster Tamer. As a farmer, it was a resource hole with no returns in sight. Even if I fed it and raised it with care, nothing was stopping it from running off. The fawn punctuated my point by dropping a load of feces on the ground. I purchased a box of paper towels and cleaned up the mess as the fawn explored its new habitat. I couldn't help but wonder what higher rank monster its parents were for obvious reasons. Monsters inherited a skill from the father and form from the mother.

"Food," an echoey voice said. I stared at the deer. It either inherited the skills Psychic, Telepathy, or All Speak. The echoes were mental, so I was betting on Psychic or Telepathy. For either, I could triple the value of the fawn, especially since it was so young it could very easily be loaded with all kinds of skills and adapt to them quickly.

Shop privilege was weird. While I couldn't purchase skill shards, Monster Food was completely open for purchase. I purchased a meal for a fawn of the deer type it barely waited for me to unwrap it before it dug in.

Even if I wanted to sell it I was certain as a farmer I would be taxed for selling a rare monster. I haven't even looked into the taxes leveraged on farmers but I was sure they would be steep. There were no stories of farmers stumbling on rare monsters and getting rich.

"What rich?" The fawn asked.

Telepathy couldn't read minds under level 100, so it must have the rare skill psychic. "Having enough of something you need that it's no longer an issue. Do you have a name?"

"No, what name?"

"A title to distinguish yourself from others," I said.

The fawn turned its head to the side. Psychic was a catch-all power that could manipulate matter and read minds. Its leveling was slow compared to other skills but every powerful. A fawn had meant there was most likely a rank 4 monster somewhere out here. A King of the Forest, Trotting Calamity, or Prancing Stagnation could naturally learn psychic without having it taught through skill shards. Skill Shard learned skills weren't inheritable.

"I want one." She said.

I thought about it for a moment. "Luna," the fawn shook its head.

"Bela, Fiona, Albinia or Edelweiss." I said.

"Already know I'm white."

"Gwen," I said.

"You are terrible at listening."

"It means white holy," I said.

"Orpra," I said.

"That means fawn."

"So it does," I said.

Howls broke the sound of chirping crickets and stiffened my body. All good humor bled away; this was real, and I was in real danger. The only thing keeping us safe was a limited supply of monster repellent. To toughen farmers up, shop privilege only allowed a single purchase of the stuff until it was unlocked at level 5. I had 28 days left until that protection vanished.

I went into my evening exercises to get even a single attribute point closer to the 36th pushup. My strength increased. After finishing my set, I worked on the bag, hitting it harder than ever with ease. I poured my hatred of my predicament, the wolves, my fear, and having something to care for that I couldn't protect into the bag.

Ping! 

Training lvl5 

Berserk lvl8 

Regeneration lvl4

Adapt lvl5

+1 Focus 

+1 Willpower

The gains felt good, like I was making progress on a long road. I still needed another skill point before I could finish off the first fence which would help with protecting my farm. Except I couldn't imagine myself building a fence high enough to keep out monster deer. I would be better off shooting them. As for Gwen, who knew how long she would stick around.

"Good, not Orpah," Gwen said.

I nodded; a talking deer wasn't bad company. "Don't eat my herd." Deer monsters practiced cannibalism all the time.

"Different parts of the herd stays in the herd," Gwen said.

"If they don't eat my crops, maybe I won't have to." Meat was something I needed to take care of sooner rather than later. Rank 1 chicken monsters could be purchased for 20W each. I could continue going into debt buying them, but I didn't have a coup ready for them, so it would be a waste of time. Lumber wasn't terribly expensive, but a how-to Manuel for chicken coops was 100W. That felt like a waste for something I could have looked up for free a few days ago.

I exhausted myself with exercise but didn't gain another attribute point. Sleep took me, and Gwen crawled to my mat and slept beside me, sharing body heat. It was nice to have my own monster, even if my mind told me she would leave when I wasn't useful any longer.