Level 2 Gathering

Today was Romain's sixteenth day in Sigg Town.

The farming plan was progressing fairly smoothly.

At Romain's request, the one hundred tons of compost had long since been completed. However, since the more fertilizer there was, the better, Romain had specifically instructed them to make an extra twenty or thirty tons so they would not run short later.

Laxus had forged all the usable iron into Heavy Plows, producing a total of forty.

Compared to two thousand mu of land, it could only be said to be barely enough.

At present, the strength of at least five hundred laborers in Sigg Town was being devoted to clearing debris from the soil.

Stones, tree roots, stumps, shrub roots, and hardened clods of mud that would affect the harvest were all thrown out. As a result, the soil in this field had become loose and level, finally looking somewhat like proper farmland.

In another two days, the deep plowing was expected to be fully completed, and they could move on to sowing.

They had no spare time.

Suppose they dug up roots, stumps, and stones in the middle of the two thousand mu of land. They would have to load them onto an Ox Cart, then walk five hundred meters before they could dump that debris outside the fields.

What kind of workload was that?

Everyone was bound to sweat buckets.

But if they wanted to turn virgin land into mature farmland, they had to get through this stage.

That was also why Romain refused to divide up the land no matter what.

They had to work more than ten hours every day just to maintain this progress.

Giving them two hours of rest to plant other crops would mean failing to meet the target for the two thousand mu of land.

Gathering Experience +1

Gathering skill increased to Level 2

Level 2 Gathering: 1\380

Milestone unlocked: Lumber Worker

Lumber Worker: Obtain 500 Origin Stones

After Romain felled his fifty-fifth tree, his Gathering skill leveled up.

The newly unlocked knowledge flowed into his mind.

Romain rubbed his temples and discovered that this knowledge concerned geology. It gave him a clearer understanding of minerals and provided basic mining techniques.

Fortunately, it barely met his upcoming needs for gathering.

"Gevra, let's go!" Romain said.

The tree-cutting was temporarily at an end.

Since Gevra had nothing to do, Romain had told her to find a small basket and spread pine-needle soil from the forest over the vegetable plots. She could only carry twenty or thirty jin at a time and had to travel one or two hundred meters per trip, yet she did it tirelessly.

By now, the child had nearly covered half the vegetable plots with pine-needle soil.

As Romain walked, he considered whether he should continue drawing Apostles.

Eight days of sign-ins, milestone rewards, and the eighty Origin Stones left over from his last draw gave him a total of 1,380 Origin Stones—enough for eight draws.

Romain hoped to draw extraordinary individuals such as Gevra, Dick, and Jet from the pool.

But even if he drew them, he currently had no resources to train them.

The little extraordinary resources Romain had on him were not even enough to train a single Apostle.

For instance, Aaron's attack attribute was E+. To raise it to D, he needed to use fifty grams of refined gold, one hundred grams of Magic Stone, and five hundred jin of magical steel to synthesize an Experience Book.

Putting Magic Stones aside for the moment.

Just those fifty grams of gold would require nearly twenty Gold Coins to smelt, after which it had to be turned into refined gold through demon refining.

By comparison, steel was rather cheap—but even that required finding Magic Stones for demon refining.

Romain knew there was still a long road ahead, and this was not something that could be rushed.

When he returned to Origin Manor, he immediately saw Green practicing his swordsmanship on the grass. His greatsword had been stuck by Romain on the slope, so he could only train with his spare sword now.

This was terrible!

The spare sword weighed only two jin. Whether in weight or quality, it was far inferior to his two-handed greatsword mixed with orichalcum, which was the foundation he relied on for survival.

As a result, Green had been miserable these past few days.

He had seen Lords give equipment to their War Knights, but he had never seen a Lord fleece his own knight for equipment.

It had certainly broadened his horizons.

This man truly was not afraid that Green would turn on him at a critical moment and stab this tyrant through the heart with a sword.

And just then, that tyrant spoke to him as if nothing had happened, "Green, want to come on a picnic with me?"

Green shot Romain a glance.

They had been giving each other the cold shoulder for days, yet this guy still had the nerve to speak to him.

Green felt that he had never met anyone so shameless.

"Give me back my sword first."

There had been too many people around earlier, so he had spared Romain some face and kept quiet.

Now that it was just their own people, did Romain expect him to keep kneeling?

No chance!

Unless Romain bowed his head and admitted his mistake, Green would never forgive this bastard.

He had actually planted Green's sword in the ground just because he had killed a few old farmers!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you took an oath, you made a promise, and you got to feel good about yourself—but had you ever considered how I felt?

Today he had left Green's weapon there. Tomorrow, was he going to melt down Green's full plate armor and cast it into a plow?

Romain said with a smile, "Green, my knight, you have strayed down the wrong path."

Green's face was stern. He usually looked rather dashing and carefree, but he was uncharacteristically serious now. "If you're going to tell me that knights should possess a spirit of dedication and sacrifice, then I'll challenge you to a knightly duel and show you my courage and fearlessness!"

Damn it, he couldn't take it anymore!

A lord so outrageous that both man and god would condemn him deserved a proper beating!

Romain waved his hand. "No, no, no! I mean you're using your talent the wrong way. You shouldn't be swinging that clumsy greatsword, nor should you be wearing such heavy armor. Those things are holding you back."

Green retorted sarcastically, "Since you helped free me from my restraints, should I thank you too?"

Romain smiled. "Don't you think a light sword suits you better?"

Green was expressionless. "Right. Thank you so much for letting me go lightly equipped against a War Knight in full heavy armor."

The foundation of an undefeated War Knight was sufficient training and nutrition, along with fine armor and weapons.

And the latter was the key factor affecting one's chances of victory.

Green knew that his talent was unsuited for frontal combat. He was better off using speed and agility to harass and outmaneuver his enemies.

But he had no choice. Given the prevailing circumstances, without a two-handed greatsword and heavy armor, he could at most bully ordinary people.

Against superhumans of the same rank, he had no chance of winning at all.

Unless his combat skills had reached an utterly inconceivable level.

Under such circumstances, that greatsword mixed with orichalcum and the armor with traces of Mithril coating its surface were practically his entire fortune—and his life.

Romain's little stunt had cost him half his life.

Romain patted Green on the shoulder. "Don't be like that. How could I bear to send you to your death? You're my closest friend and brother."

Green offered no comment. He only wanted to punch him twice.

Romain said with a grin, "I'll forge you better equipment. How about an adamantine shortsword and Mithril armor?"

Green's brows twitched.

An adamantine shortsword could slice through any kind of steel armor, while Mithril armor could withstand a War Knight's full-force chops and charges.

Their value was self-evident. Either one alone could bankrupt a baron whose family had endured for a century.

But Green knew that Romain never made empty promises, much less told such obvious lies.

"Really?" Green tilted his head toward Romain, his face plainly doubtful.

Romain gave a soft snort. "You want them? That depends on whether you can satisfy me."

If Green hesitated for even a second, it would be disrespectful to the adamantine shortsword and Mithril armor.

He shouted, "Lord Romain! Let me become your sword, your shield, and offer you my life!"

Romain said smugly, "Hmph. Then come on a picnic with me!"