[The 30-day Beginner Period has begun. All the lords are expected to grow as strong as they can before it ends.]
[Till the Beginner period is over, every lord is restricted from entering their home plant.]
Carlos ignored the notification. He already knew that he had little time to grow.
’One of my wishes has been granted already,’ Carlos thought, shaking his head in a pity.
He had wished to get a rare starting Domain, something only around 10%-20% of the Lords received, and he was already among that fortunate number. Except it was quite different in the rare category too.
"Agriculture domain, huh..." he muttered. "There are so few Agriculture Lords. Even Alchemists are common in comparison."
He frowned, but then a realization struck him.
Without hesitation, he lifted his hand up and slapped himself two times just for thinking that.
With a red cheek, the muscular boy resolved himself.
’There’s no point crying over a different start than I thought. I don’t have time to waste.’
Carlos thought and finally looked around to take in the territory he had been given.
It was completely barren.
Aside from a few scattered rocks and patches of grass, there was nothing on the land.
Carlos sighed. There weren’t even any lucky starter resources in his territory.
[Beginner Agriculture chest added to Inventory.]
Carlos immediately opened his inventory.
In it, he saw three items; the beginner crate was in the third slot with an ’x1’ written to the side of it.
[Basic Lord building x1]
[Plot of fertile land x2]
[Beginner Agricultural Chest x1]
"So far, this is all according to the textbook, only the fertile land is extra" Carlos muttered.
With that, he selected the ’Basic Lord Building’.
The next instant, the ground beneath him trembled as a pillar of light erupted from the center of his territory.
Carlos instinctively crouched a little.
He already knew that when a building was added to the territory, the land would increase in size. That was also the reason why many Lords left their extra buildings sitting unused in their inventories until they advanced to the next level and gained the authority to expand their land again.
Before his eyes, a simple four-by-four wooden hut gradually took shape.
Curious, Carlos stepped inside and saw its end right away.
It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
The interior was just as modest as the outside.
A single mattress occupied one corner, while a bunch of basic cooking utensils were neatly arranged in the other.
Carlos gave an approving nod before walking back outside.
Next came the ’Plot of fertile land’.
He clicked on it two times, intending to use both of them at once.
The ground started quaking again, forcing him to crouch for support as his territory expanded again.
Watching the land stretch outward was very fascinating. He had read about it in countless books and even watched the simulation modules, but witnessing it firsthand was an entirely different experience.
Moments later, two rectangular plots of rich black soil appeared side by side, marked by wooden stakes on every corner of each plot.
Carlos walked over and crouched before scooping up a handful of soil and rubbing it between his fingers.
"HMM."
A satisfied sound came out of his mouth.
He had never truly handled fertile soil before, but even he could tell this was of exceptional quality.
After he was done analyzing it for a few more components, he stood back up only to remember one more thing.
Looking at the newly created farmland, he quietly muttered.
"Inspect."
Plot of Fertile Land
Level 1
Rare Grade
A plot of farmland used to cultivate crops, herbs, tree saplings, and orchards. Its exceptional fertility allowed the crops to grow 10x faster, while each harvest has a chance to yield double the normal output upon maturation.
Upgrade Requirements: 0/50 Wood, 0/20 Stone
"Rare grade?" Carlos muttered in surprise.
Having a Rare-grade building from the start was a solid beginning. Too bad it was farmland instead of something military-related.
’Then again, if I’d spawned with a military territory, I probably wouldn’t have gotten a starter building this easily. There would’ve only been the Lord’s building and a basic troop barrack. That’s it.’
"Speedrun time."
Carlos tapped the chest in the inventory. The next instant, it vanished, and a large menu of all the things he had received from it appeared before him.
[Farmer’s Lodge (Barrack) x1]
[Common Wheat seeds (Resource) x20]
[Wooden Hoe (Equipment) x1]
[Water well (Blueprint) x1]
[Copper coins (Currency) x50]
[Agricultural Insight (Passive skill)]
Carlos looked at the list with a blank expression.
He slowly crouched on the ground, stretched his body, then gave up entirely and lay flat on the ground.
"...Farming life, huh...?"
He let out a long sigh.
"I never expected this after all the planning I did..."
He bit his lips and tried to stay as positive as he could.
But he couldn’t.
He needed to get the frustration out now so he could be fully productive later on.
He had spent days imagining having a sword... maybe a spear... as his starter equipment.
Instead, it seemed fate had handed him a hoe.
Only then did it finally register in his mind.
"...Fuck!"
"There’s no point dwelling in it now. Time to grind."
With that, he opened the inventory again and tried to force himself to focus as much as he could.
The inventory was now filled with many things. Carefully looking at everything he had, Carlos read through the list three times before his eyes widened and he got up frantically.
"Wait..."
He then frantically searched through the menu.
"Where are the consumables? Where’s my starting food????" He blurted out in disbelief.
Sure, he had wheat seeds that would eventually grow into the field and become food.
But he absolutely had nothing to eat right now.
The realization felt as ridiculous as it could be.
With another frustrated slap to his face, Carlos selected the first item in his inventory.
The ground started quaking once more.
This time, beside his small hut, a wooden shed-like building slowly rose from the earth.
Without wasting a second, he hurried over and saw that the center of the shed was nothing but a dark doorway.
Still, he couldn’t see where it led, nor did he particularly care.
There were already too many unanswered questions about these worlds, and there was no need to get all the answers, at least not now when survival was more important to him.
Mounted neatly along one side of the shack wall were various farming tools, secured with iron nails.
He could tell one of them was a shovel, but everything else looked unfamiliar.
"Inspect"
Farmer’s Lodge
Level 1
Common grade
The backbone of every Agriculture Lord’s territory.
Farmers possess extensive knowledge of planting, harvesting, and cultivating crops. Though weak in combat, they tirelessly dedicate themselves to tending the land and maximizing every harvest.
Abilities: Plant Crops (Level 1), Harvest Crops (Level 1), Till Soil (Level 1), Irrigate Land (Level 1), Gather Resources (Level 1)
Passive: Agricultural Expertise — Crop growth speed increased by 10% while tended by this Farmer.
Daily food consumption: 2 basic meals per farmer
Daily summon: 1/1 (First summon is free)
Upgrade Requirement: 0/100 wood, 0/100 stone, 0/20 harvested crops
Carlos finished reading with an expressionless face.
Then he aggressively ruffled his hair after reading about their ’weak in combat...’ description.
"Summon..."
The dark entrance of the barrack was suddenly filled with light, and a silhouette stepped out of it.
At first, Carlos could only make out a thin humanoid figure with a wide, disk-shaped object attached to its head.
And as it drew closer, the detail became clear.
It was a frail, elderly man wearing a worn straw hat that shaded most of his wrinkled face.
The man’s eyes immediately drifted toward the fertile plot of land, and he frowned.
"Such fine land..." he muttered with disappointment. "It’s a pity that nothing is growing on it yet, my Lord."
The frown never left his face.
Carlos blinked in surprise.
Curious, he opened the farmer’s status and saw what might have been the most depressing thing yet.
Favorability: 10%/100%
He could only stare silently at the number. "...it’s going to be a tough journey ahead."