NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 8 – Farming In The Afternoon
I found it, finally; looking through the Character Settings, I got the options for a visible Experience. It showed both a number and a percentage--it cost 4 Bonus Points unfortunately.
My Bonus Points went from 12 down to 4…but it was worth it, I could now see my Experience Points, and see how much they went up per kill--how many kills I would need to level up.
When I kill Demons, my Experience Points go up--it seems that hunting Demons is probably the best way to raise my levels, though I doubt it’s the only one, because I doubt that every single person in village goes hunting.
I also know that my Bonus Points go up as I level up--which is very good. I wonder how people without the Character Reset Skill use them…or does everyone have the Character Reset Skill?
That also makes me wonder if everyone gets Bonus Points--because they are called ‘Bonus’ Points, Bonus usually means extra. So maybe they aren’t available to everyone.
Anyway, I’ve worked out how to raise my level--now I want to figure out how to increase my number of Classes. I had Villager from the beginning, and Thief somehow; my guess I got Hero from saving the village.
I guess it’s a habit from when playing games--and being indecisive--but I like to collect every Class possible.
Since I have killed quite a few Horned Rabbits, and because the sun is starting to get lower in the sky, I return to the village.
My Iron Sword is sheathed and hanging from my waist, and I am carrying the fur in one hand, and the meat in my other.
Entering the village from the forest, I return to the Village Chief’s house.
“Please use this with dinner?” I ask the Village Chief as I hand him the Horned Rabbit meat.
He seems surprised, but he happily accepts it, a large grin on his face. When I ask him about it, he says that the Rabbit meat is rare, which is why the village has cows and pigs--apparently, normal animals can be butchered, but Demons turn into drops…It’s weird.
When I show him the furs, he asks that I sell them to the Merchant. They are used in making clothes and shoes, as well as bedding--among other items, they need a lot of the fur.
When I agree, he says a few more words before hurrying off to give the meat to his wife, to add to dinner.
“Thanks, the Merchant’s house is three houses that way.” He points the direction.
Following his directions, I go to the Merchant’s place. It is larger than the nearby houses, and the door is open, with glass fronting that displays wares; it’s a shop, similar in design to, though more primitive than, ones on Earth.
I quickly searched through my Character Settings, and got a Skill called Negotiation.
Negotiation: +10% Sales Price; -10% Purchase Price
Unfortunately, I only have 3 BP left--and there are no other Skills worth that, as well as Resetting requiring a week cool down and -1 BP every time. I can only Reset once a week since I got here--I am lucky I read that through Appraisal before I tried Resetting.
Negotiation is a Skill that can be upgraded, the first level is 10%, and 5 BP; the second 20% and 10BP…etc---they highest level is 5, and everything is half-price.
I enter the shop and see Bikka standing behind a counter, “Hello, customer, how can I help you?”
“It’s Alex, I’d like to do some business.” I said with a nod, “So, what do you sell here?”
“As you can see, I have leather items, including bags--as well as items I acquire from the city.”
“Well, I have come here to show you these Horned Rabbit Furs, and see how much they can sell for.”
I take the furs out of a leather bag that the village chief had given me, because he thought I had no Space. The Merchant wanders over and looks at them.
“Well, the Market Price is 20 Copper per fur.”
I don’t understand the value, but I guess I will have to go with whatever he says, for now--he will lower the price so he can make a profit, of course.
“I will give you 220 Copper for all of them.”
It seems that my Bonus Skill somehow increased the price, like it says--I wonder if it is some form of Mental Control, or if their arithmetic processes are interfered with?
“That is good.” I nod to his words.
“Here.” Bikka places 20 copper coloured coins, which are around the same size as a 10 cent coin, and 2 silver coins the size of a 20 cent coin. So--I guess that the silver-coloured coin is worth 100 copper coins.
I pick them up and place them into the bag tied to my belt, though I store the silver coins into the space in my ring.
With a pleased smile, Bikka places the furs onto the big counter in the main room.
“We have some Ky’piko fruit growing out back--I would like to give you some as thanks for saving the village, if you wouldn’t mind.” He looked at me, and when I nodded he continued, “We got some good seedlings, and they grow very well here.”
A fruit unique to this world?
I am curious how they would taste.
“Wait here for a minute please.”
“Could I have a look at your garden?”
He stopped at my words, looking at me with curiousity.
This may be a chance to see if I can pretend to be a farmer and unlock the Farmer Class?
“You want to see it?”
“Why not? It would probably be more interesting than standing here.”
The Merchant looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a shrug, “Sure. Well then, let’s go out.”
Bikka and I left the building through the front door and walked around the building.
“Does everyone have a vegetable garden?”
“Yeah, everyone in the village maintains a small vegetable garden--this is in case something goes wrong at the farms, and they can keep themselves alive.”
We talk while walking. I am using this as a chance for information gathering, which is always useful.
“There is a man, who is a member of the Farmer’s Guild, managing one of the fields outside town.”
“Farmer’s Guild?”
“All farmers around here belong to the Farmer’s Guild.”
“If there is a Farmer’s Guild, I take it that there is some form of Merchant’s Guild?” I look over at Bikka.
“Yes, I belong to the Merchant’s Guild.”
“So, if I wanted to become a Merchant, then I would have to join the Guild?”
“Are you interested in becoming a Merchant?”
“No, I’m just curious.” I respond, shaking my head.
“I thought that you would already be in a Guild?”
“I haven’t joined one yet.” I act embarrassed.
“You’re not an Adventurer? I thought that you would be part of the Adventurer’s Guild?”
“I’m not an Adventurer yet.”
“You’re really not part of a Guild?” He seems fairly surprised, I hope I didn’t slip up too badly.
“Well…”
“You might already know, but you can only join one Guild, and there are severe restrictions on leaving that Guild.”
I see--well it does make sense.
“Joining the Merchant’s Guild is quite easy, you just need to register, and need to receive approval.”
“I understand.”
It’s not complex. I wonder which Guild I should join--I’m leaning towards the Adventurer’s Guild, since I always liked them in the books I read.
We arrive at the vegetable garden as our conversation ends; it’s at the edge of the village, and a large field is spread out--with names written in a sign next to a plot of 3x3 meters; it seems that while each house has a garden here, all of the same size…it seems strange to me, because it would make more sense if they had a backyard garden for each house.
“This is our vegetable garden,” Bikka, grinning when he sees the surprise on my face.
There are several different kinds of plants, some of them seem similar to Earth.
There’s something that looks like a green carrot, with a tear-shaped bulb on the tip that looks like it’s filled with liquid; it’s strange. It grows on a plant that is about a meter high with an array of purple flowers on top, the odd Carrot-things hang off it.
“This is the Ky’piko.” Bikka smiles happily as he approaches the plant and looks it over, humming happily as he inspects it, “They start off in a shade of violet, turning green when they are safe to eat.”
I walk over and grab one of them, the Ky’piko seems to realize that I am pulling on it, so it just drops into my hand and the hanging bulb is absorbed into it.
“...How is it?” He sounds uneasy, but he also watching expectantly.
It strikes me that he wants me to taste it too.
I bite into it, a thick juice spreading out, seeming to coat the inside of my mouth with a very sugary taste. The outside has no taste, but the core is slightly spicy, mixing well with the juice…it’s difficult to describe the flavour, very much unlike carrots from Earth.
“It’s pretty good.”
He beams at my words, quickly picking three more and giving them to me, “Take these as my thanks for saving the village.”
“You’re welcome.” I reply to him while putting the Ky’piko in my bag.
The day is coming to an end, so I wish him a good day, and decide to hurry back to the Chief’s house. On the way back, I open my Character Settings and check my Classes.
Farmer - Lv1
Effect: Strength (+2)
Well, it’s there--and obtained unexpectedly easily. For some reason, I can get classes easily, and BP, it’s almost like I am some kind of Protagonist? No, I may have accidentally come here, but I always wanted to leave Earth because it was boring--I guess, I want a more fun life…but, being a Protagonist--no thanks.
I can only have 3 Classes set, so I can choose to switch them out, or keep them as they are--I have reason to change them; I only wanted to unlock the class, just to collect it.
I felt like my body was really light when I fought the Horned Rabbits, which I think was the effect of the Class Effects overlapping.
But, I wonder if having more Classes would decrease my Experience gain--my levels seem to have been spread out, so far, across the Classes; it would only be important if I wanted to rapidly level up a single class…I think having more Class Effects combining would actually make me stronger. Since I have both increased Experience gained, and reduced required Experience--both added together means that I will level faster than normal people even if it’s spread out over multiple classes.
I think that keeping with three Classes at a time would probably be the most efficient. But--should I level Farmer up or not? I don’t plan on being a Farmer--that lifestyle would be much too boring…I wanted to be able to defend myself as well.
For now, I kept it as:
Villager - Lv6
Thief - Lv6
Hero - Lv1
I didn’t put Thief as my first class, because I know that if someone was to find out, I would probably be killed, or imprisoned, or sold as a slave; and Hero can be second or third, but not first…so maybe I am missing a requirement.
When I got back to the Village Chief’s house, dinner had just finished being prepared. Dinner being a stew made from the rabbit’s meat, as well as some vegetables that I didn’t recognize…I did now recognize the Ky'piko, but it was the spicy core and it seems that the sauce was comprised of the liquid.
It’s surprisingly nice tasting.
With a full stomach, I went to bed early, to be ready for going to Vale with Bikka tomorrow.