NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 348 – But How Fast
Gregor rolls his eyes. “Well, don’t keep me waiting. Are you going to show me their panel or not?”
Jason laughs, “These things break up my current set and I’m really going to miss that one percent increase to jump height, but I figure these pants are worth it. [System, share the stats of my pants with Gregor].”
{Pants of the Royal Gardener
Description:
Day after day, a king’s personal gardener, whose name has been lost to time, would have to traverse vast distances to make sure their king’s many rare plants stayed healthy. As you might guess, this wasn’t the easiest thing and as they grew older, they feared losing their position and so embezzled large sums of money to find a solution. These pants are the last project though that royal gardener never had a chance to wear them as their king didn’t take too highly of the embezzlement. Though their successor made good use of them and, having learned from their predecessor, made sure to embezzle only lightly so as to have a retirement fund.
Grade: Exquisite Normal
Effects:
- A boost to movement based on the highest grade of plant cared for within the last week and the rank of the highest leveled farming skill.
- Immaculate
- Climate Adaption
Bonuses:
- +5 Agility
- +2 Toughness}
Upon seeing the bonuses given by the pants, Gregor laughs as well. “You weren’t lying about why no one would want them. Though I assume that scaling movement speed boost would be quite powerful for someone taking care of a king’s garden.”
Jason shrugs. “Apparently there is an unstated cap on it. After all, this wasn’t technically the final product, but rather just the last experiment before the dude got caught. The skill side caps out around Journeymen and Exquisite grade normal herbs. What I’m more than happy about is the immaculate effect.
“My current armor was already patchy before I got it and has only gone downhill from there. With immaculate rolling all those quality of life enchantments like self repair and cleaning into one, at least my pants won’t look like they lost a fight with a moth swarm.”
Gregor nods. “While that is true, there is only so much a simple immaculate enchant can do. Get a large enough hole or piece cut off and the enchantment breaks. You would need a ranked enchantment for that.”
Jason shrugs again. “The only reason I got this for ten gold is because the use is quite niche. Actual royal gardeners have much better gear than this by now. Hell, if that fool in the description had asked for better gear, the king would probably have had some hand-me-down from one adventurer or another to palm off on him.”
Gregor shakes his head. “If only that sort of thing were true. While I will admit, the state of non-combat gear has improved, basically everyone is still in an arms race over what enchantments they can fit on their military.
“Since that first effect requires non-combat related conditions, I’m going to guess the actual boost is higher than it could have been without those conditions. You just happen to be one of those edge cases that happily brings your farm with you into the wilds. Even farmers with portable farms will tend to only use them to get the best possible growing conditions.”
Jason waves the screen away. “I can see that. Farmers aren’t exactly the most mobile of professions to start with and by the time they can, it isn’t exactly top of their list. Though I’m sure there should be one or two out there with special situations, like a field near a dungeon or some such.
“Anyway, I’ve stayed at your house long enough by now and should get going or else I’ll end up here another night. Not that I’m against it, but both my friends and your husband have all left, and it is beginning to be a bit awkward.”
Gregor sighs, “I must admit I’ve been craving some peace and quiet, so I won’t bother with false assurances that you can stay as long as you want. Besides, you’re a new adventurer. While us locals tend to take things slow, your kind jumps in power more quickly early on. Now get out there and show me how far you can go. I have high expectations for you.”
Jason smiles and nods, “Glad I could meet you and before I end up extending this goodbye any further, farewell, goodbye, and good luck!”
Of course, then the two of them have to awkwardly walk to the door together. Once there, Jason leaves and waves goodbye as Gregor locks the door behind him. Not that Gregor has any hard feelings over the group’s stay, but he really wants some peace and quiet. Part of what makes his relationship with Peter work is the fact Peter leaves for extended periods of time and this little sleepover was way too much social interaction and he felt like he would be good for another decade or so.
Jason, on the other hand, doesn’t even notice a thing as he feels a warmth fill his body. Much like Peter, he is the type to be out and about instead of sticking around in one place. Maybe not to quite the same extent, but even with the size of the arcology, it had already started to feel confining. As luck would have it, though, NeoRealm is the perfect outlet for his desire to wander.
Not that moving between arcologies is hard, but more of the fact that he just doesn’t want to bother with it. Visiting anywhere in the world is almost completely hassle free. To move to a new place, though? That is a whole nother kettle of fish and involves enough paperwork that, if printed out, would stack higher than he is tall. Of course, Jason could have just had a bunch of vacations to other places, but that thought hadn’t really crossed his mind and so he was stuck with the idea that he would need to move elsewhere to experience it.
