Chapter 188 - Quest-ionable tactics????

  This became my daily routine for the rest of the autumn season. Of course, I was keeping the existence of my portal to the Mines a secret, so as far as my apprentice and household staff were concerned, I was holed up in my house crafting items like [Diamonds], [Five Elements Pills], and [Antipoison Potions].

  A welcome side effect of all the physical training I did was that as my Strength and Attack levels increased, so did my stamina. Day by day, the time I could spend training became longer and longer until I could fight for half a day, albeit with long breaks to rest.

  Six weeks ter, I leveled up so much that I could now equip the next tier of armor and weapons.

  [Violet

  Level 50

  HP: 5,000/5,000

  MP: 40/40

  Strength: 30→50/99

  Attack: 33→48/99

  Archery: 42→46/99

  Magic: 11→12/99]

  This time, with my [Sylvanite] equipment, my Battle Rating rose enough that I was no longer as weak as an insect.

  [Violet

  Level 50

  HP: 5,000/5,000

  BR: 352]

  Battle Rating was the official measure of a pyer’s combat effectiveness that included all weapons, armor, buffs, and combat stats, but this time I had trained so much that I didn’t need the System to tell me that I had grown a lot more powerful. Compared to the first time I fought the [Insectoids] this year, nowadays I only had to swing my sword once to cut the monsters in half as easily as a hot knife through butter, due in no small part to my new [Sylvanite Sword].

  [Sylvanite] was a mythical alloy made from steel and enchanted ptinum. I have no idea why the resulting metal was a very pretty shade of leaf green, but I liked it. GodIAm and I agreed that though it wasn’t high-level, the green [Sylvanite] armor was the best-looking non-Cash Shop equipment in the game along with the special [Voidforged] bck armor that only the champions of the Bck Tortoise cn could wear.

  Level 50 was a milestone level that unlocked better, stronger Melee skills.

  [Sword Skills:

  Thrust - Piercing Lunge

  Ssh - Cross Ssh

  Bde Flurry - Whirling Bdes]

  With a big smile on my face and a spring in my step, I went off to fight [Insectoids] again.

  “Hello, insects! The exterminator is here!”

  With a loud, joyous ugh, I turned on my [Potato Cannon] and loaded it with ammo. The monsters came running to me, and this time I no longer needed to hide in the dder’s safe zone. Stepping forward to meet the first [Insectoids’] attack with the side of my sword, I cleaved a monster in half with one [Ssh]. The next one fell to a mighty [Piercing Lunge].

  [Piercing Lunge:

  Execute a swift, forward thrust with an energy-charged sword, piercing through the target and dealing significant damage. This ability has a chance to ignore the enemy's defense, maximizing the damage dealt.

  Cooldown: 8 seconds]

  It was a simple skill in theory, but in practice, I had to extend my arm and body further forward compared to using [Thrust], which was a very tricky thing to do. I definitely needed more practice.

  Next up, I did a [Cross Ssh] which messily cut an insect into four pieces.

  [Cross Ssh:

  Unleash a powerful cross-shaped strike with your energy-infused sword, dealing damage to an enemy. This ability has a chance to deal additional critical damage and slow the target's movement speed.

  Cooldown: 7 seconds]

  The new [Cross Ssh] skill was even harder to execute well since it relied on more speed and brute strength than [Ssh].

  It was a good thing I was over-leveled for this area since it gave me a good opportunity to practice my moves. I waited for three [Insectoids] to approach before hitting them with my ultimate sword attack, [Whirling Bdes].

  [Whirling Bdes:

  Unleash a rapid series of strikes with your energy-charged sword, hitting multiple enemies in quick succession. This ability increases the number of strikes and boosts the user's attack speed for a short duration, enhancing overall combat effectiveness.

  Cooldown: 10 seconds]

  I focused and unched into Whirling Bdes, my bde cutting through the air and slicing across an [Insectoid's] head. The second swing back drove my sword deep into a monster’s chest. That was when I hit a snag. My weapon got stuck, so I had to spend a few seconds getting it free, which canceled the skill.

  “Oh dear,” I said to Mr. Bear as I fell back to the dder's safe area.

  I rolled my shoulders and tried again.

  This time, I managed to nd the first strike properly, slicing across an enemy's front legs. The second swing was better, catching another foe off guard and driving the bde into its side. I stumbled slightly as I pivoted for the third blow, awkwardly hacking through an [Insectoid’s] side. My fourth strike swept low, successfully cutting another monster’s legs. As my confidence grew, the fifth and sixth diagonal sshes were more controlled and effective. By the seventh blow, I was slightly speeding up and the eighth strike was the finisher, a strong horizontal ssh that knocked back three [Insectoids] at once.

  A few [Thrusts] and [Sshes] took care of all the enemies, and I was alone with only Mr. Bear and my [Potato Cannon] for company. The mobs in Adventure Incarnate always respawned endlessly, but in this world, nothing was endless and my constant battles with the [Insectoids] had depleted their numbers. Fewer of them were attacking me these days which meant that my exp rate had plummeted drastically.

  It was time for a break to let the monster popution recover.

  “Guess I’ll go do something else,” I said to Mr. Bear as we walked back down to the elevator.

  ***

  I spent the next few days at home resting, doing the daily farming chores, and pnting trees for the farm orchard.

  “Lovely day, isn’t it?” I greeted my apprentices.

  “Cold,” said Lari.

  “But nice. I like the cold better than the heat,” said Kharli.

  “This isn’t that cold,” said Mo.

  We were all in our autumn work clothes made of sturdy, thick cotton, and today we were testing new wooden shoes, kind of like clogs, that might be good for keeping our feet dry in wet weather.

  “Shall we?” I gestured at the open field in front of us that we had recently cleared of all trees, grass, and rge rocks.

  They nodded, and I distributed the [Orange Tree Seeds] to everyone. We had finished pnting groves of [Apple], [Peach], [Cherry], [Pear], [Apricot], and [Pomegranate]. The exp was pretty good! After today, we would pnt [Mango], [Banana], [Lychee], [Lemon], and [Dragonfruit] to complete the process.

  I knew that, logically speaking, all these trees shouldn't be growing on the same farm since they needed different climate and soil conditions. However, the System allowed it, so they must be either versatile variants, or, since they were spirit trees, they used qi to grow. Now was the perfect time to pnt them since the qi levels on the farm were unusually high.

  “Great! Let’s do this!” I stretched my arms above my head and bent my torso sideways a few times before I started since I was a little stiff from my training in the Mines.

  Pnting tree seeds was fun though energy-intensive since we had to dig a hole, add the [Mysterious Goo] and fish parts, pnt the seeds, and water them. Still, it really was a lovely day.

  The sunlight this morning was warm and golden, filtered through a sparse canopy of fiery crimson and burnt umber leaves. Most trees had lost all their leaves this te in the season and their bare branches glistened with morning dew, some caught in delicate spider webs. Each crunch underfoot released a wave of the earthy wet scent of fallen leaves. The wooden shoes were uncomfortably rigid, and leather boots would’ve probably been better for today since there wasn’t a lot of mud to worry about.

  I straightened from pnting the st seed and looked around me as I watered it.

  Around me were the newly pnted fruit trees north of the house, in what we had designated as the orchard area. There were separate groves of each kind of fruit tree, delineated by ropes we had tied to wooden stakes and stretched out over the borders of the pntings.

  Of course, we did also keep some strands of mature trees in between the groves in order to protect them against storms.

  The smallest trees in the orchard were mere seedlings while the tallest were already up to my waist.

  Next year, in spring, we would add living walkways of low-growing or creeping grasses to improve the soil and prettify the pce. I also hoped it would be better to walk on than mud. If not, then I might repce them with tiles. Flowers would also be pnted both for their aesthetic appeal and to attract pollinators. The year after that, when the trees were fully grown, we could even maximize the usage of the orchard space by growing vegetables in between the trees.

  “Teacher, that one is done.” Kharli pointed at the ground beneath my feet, which was wet.

  My watering can was still tilted down though water wasn’t coming out anymore. “Oh, thanks for telling me. I was lost in thought. Let’s check the [Insectary Garden].”

  Theoretically, the garden didn’t need tending as it was full of hardy, perennial flower species that were left alone to grow by themselves in Adventure Incarnate. They didn’t even need to be watered. However, Schor Wu suggested that we occasionally remove the smaller, stunted pnts to make more space for the ones that were growing well. By removing the weak ones, we would give the stronger pnts better access to sunlight, water, and nutrients from the soil.

  Though it wasn’t a System-mandated chore, I figured it made sense.

  Mo sighed in contentment when we reached the [Insectary Garden]. “This is going to be soooo gorgeous when it's in full bloom.”

  I nodded. “I’m thinking of moving the fairy’s house here when it starts to flower.”

  Over two months, most of the flower beds had grown lush, with pnts around one to three feet tall. A few, however, were slow growers that were only four to seven inches tall. Those were the ones that we inspected to see if there were any scraggly ones we should remove.

  “Hmmm.” I put a finger on my chin as I peered down at the [Treasure Lilies].

  “Let’s pull up the tiny ones that barely sprouted.” Kharli pointed at the ones that were less than three inches tall.

  “I guess we should.” I knelt down and watched as my apprentices carefully uprooted the unwanted pnts and put them in pnt pots. If they did grow big enough, I could pce them around Cutie’s house for her to enjoy, but their present state made that unlikely. There were always a few seeds that didn’t grow properly.

  They gave me the pots and I made them vanish into my inventory.

  I stretched my torso by bending sideways, forward, and back before saying, “Let’s go to the house where I’ve prepared a special and very secret event for you guys!”

  My apprentices were highly excited by my words, of course, but I refused to answer their questions until we got to our workroom in the second courtyard, not forgetting to change into clean clothes first, of course. There, we sat down around our worktable and I filled its surface with [Caskets].

  [Casket:

  A small, ornamental wooden box used for storing jewelry, precious items, or valuables. It must be opened with an unlocking spell.]

  I took out the most fmboyant magic wand from the Cash Shop. “It’s time for us to open these chests and find some treasure!”

  LinMeili