Homesteading in a fantasy world

During the summer solstice, I once again had to make an appearance during the celebration. But since this holiday happened during the summer, most wanted to be closer to nature than in a town. Because of that, I didn’t have to spend so much time, and the celebrations were a bit less formal. Thanks to that, I was able to get away and go back home where I, Tim, Francis, Goose, and Freya could celebrate the summer solstice together.

Freya's children all now had their own partners who they fought with, and two of them were pregnant, same as Freya. About two months ago, most of the wolves left the United Freeholds to find a partner for themselves.

While not all of them did, there were also three new female wolves that the male ones brought back. They all seemed quite happy. However, Lucky was one of the ones that didn't get lucky, and she was looking forward to having her own puppies the most.

We had barbecue and sat around the fire, just enjoying life. Afterwards, it was another visit to the sauna. I was still amazed that the heat was working on my body. But it seems that I was unconsciously slowing down my energy movement and lessening the strength of some of my traits, so I could still enjoy one of the most wonderful experiences anyone can have. Unfortunately, only Tim and I could enjoy this, as others had fur or feathers, which ruined the effect.

The next day, Tim and I got to work as we wanted to make a more cohesive training plan for the new apprentice. I was honestly a little bit sad because I was most likely going to have to do this for many, many years, and even with my enhanced memory, I was quite certain that some of their faces would start to blur together. I was at least thankful that I could remember names better and didn’t have to re-ask or actually have a person next to me that remembered names for me, like I did during the war.

We discussed the basic skills that every homesteader should have, so they would have no problem starting their own homestead. There would be a lot of free time for them later on, where they could do what they liked or, hopefully, discover their passion.

There was also a lot of one-on-one time that they were going to have with me and Tim, as we did not only want to teach them the skills but also the mentality of a homesteader. This was especially important because it would be crucial for them to adapt to the true nature connection trait correctly.

The next week was a busy one, as I had many interviews with potential apprentices, and I also finished building my bow workshop. I once again kept everything simple but practical. It was the style that I liked the most.

I would need to fit making at least one high-rank bow into my schedule so I could keep Roger happy for the extra income that would generate for the nation. I haven’t checked on how many credits I have, but I was quite certain that if I wanted to pull them all out, I could probably crash our current economy.

Bert came back at the end of the week with 20 druids. The Grove wasn’t overly happy that they would need to wait about a year before they could truly claim land. But when they stepped into our nation's land, their frowns changed into smiles.

"The land here is so welcoming and it's brimming with life. It almost feels like we’re back in the Grove, however, it is a little bit different, but that's not necessarily a bad thing," said an elderly Ursine.

Bert stepped up and introduced the Grove mother, who was his biological mother. She had a difficult name to pronounce using the human mouth, so we all ended up calling her ‘Mother’ as that was something she preferred. She instantly recognized that I had the true nature connection, like she had.

"My son told me about you, Rich Dirt, but I have to say his words did you no justice. You are the tallest human I’ve ever met, and it's quite nice for a change to look a little bit upwards when speaking to someone."

We spoke for a little while, and the perfect way I could describe her was that she was like a mother. She was caring for those around her but fierce against anyone trying to threaten the ones she cared for. I could see the rage whenever the topic was brought up about those forcing them to give up their independence.

That was also one of her concerns about how they would be treated. When she found out that they could become citizens yet could have their own culture and do things their way inside their own land, she almost cried. But she held it back like a seasoned leader and someone who needed to show strength to the ones who followed her.

Bert was going to go with the rest who came to search for a place for them to set up and prepared for the rest of the Grove to join them. They had already abandoned their previous home, and around 300 druids were currently living in our Verdia compound.

But before Bert left, I made him my apprentice. When he read the description of the class, he looked at me dumbfounded. "You are actually so freely sharing this class, and you would even allow me to have my own apprentice?" The absolute disbelief in his voice was quite pleasant to hear, and I only gave him a single nod before we separated, and I went to get the rest of my apprentices.

It was also quite nice knowing that in a year, I was going to get another 12 levels just from my apprentices graduating. I wonder if this would really keep up and grant me one level every time because that kind of sounded overpowered. Whatever the case, I still needed to continue making new homesteaders so United Freeholds could prosper.

POV ????

In front of me was a table full of reports about a person called Rich Dirt. My journey to rule over this country wasn't an easy one, but with the help of my God, it was made possible. My God was an existence beyond us all; his domains were luck and fate.

Now, I could finally understand why Rich Dirt was supposed to be my rival and why he needed to be eliminated. He is an existence that shouldn't exist. It took a lot of digging, many favors, and luck to gain every piece of information available about this unholy creature.

Every time I saw his face, it felt like he was spitting on the image of my God. Yet, what was even more frustrating was how hard it was to see his future. All futures are in flux, but usually, it's quite easy to figure out someone’s future. Yet, he seems to be making choices that go against logic.

It was always harder to see the future of chaotic people, but he wasn't strictly chaotic; it was something different, and I hated it. Even worse, somehow he was able to survive fights that he shouldn’t have. That was the thing I was most scared of.

I took a deep breath in as I realized I had finally admitted it. He could somehow fight against his fate; even if he was fated to lose, he still somehow clawed his way to victory. I could not let that happen this time.

There was much to prepare, and even worse, I didn’t just need to beat him; I needed to win against his nation. A place like that didn't fit into my god's vision of the future, but we would not be ready before they made alliances with the nearby nations.

I wished that we could just make slave armies, but even thinking about it would be too dangerous. This world was so against magically enforced slavery that there were people who specifically hunted those who risked it because of the rewards they would get.

But we had another form of mind control, the only true form, and the only righteous one: to believe in a true God. We were going to make our army strong enough that we could crush all the nations around us, and my followers and I would make sure he met his end before he reached rank 3.