“Yay” Winston cheered sourly as he chopped down the last bit of wheat still standing in his field. It had been a long week and this wheat had been the last of it. As he shoved the wheat into his pack blue light flashed around him and his half-hearted cheer turned into a real one.

[You Have reached Level Nine]

[ Name: Win Mills Level 9]

[ Race: Yawnshu Class: Grove tender]

[ Attributes Status]

[Str: 32 End: 38(+4)42 Hp: 83/83 Mana: 77/77]

[Con: 29 Agi: 22 Stam: 105/105 Panic: 2/10]

[Cord: 32(+3)35 Int: 24 Hunger: 35/100 Thirst: 34/100]

[Wis 34(+2)36 Faith: 34(+5)39 FP:104/104(120/120)]

[Res: 23 ]

[Guild: Seeds Titles: 1]

[Fame: 5 Friend List: 3/5]

The weather was excellent for once in Brethren Plains. The air was warm and the wind was cool against Winston’s sweating fur. The sun was just setting in the West and the school week was finally over. Trollogistics should be here in a few minutes to pick up all of Winston’s grain and his date with Trish was tomorrow night. All in all, his life was pretty good.

He hadn’t made his 50 bushel goal but he had hit 48. That gave him a little less than a ton of grain to ship, well a short ton anyway. He supposed it was only about ¾ of a metric ton. Damn British, after going to all the trouble of forcing their system of measurement on their colonies they least they could have done was stick with their own system afterwards. Then again, he was pretty sure the only reason America hadn’t switched over to SI units yet was just to be contrary.

Winston stood up and stretched, popping his back as he shoved his well-worn scythe into his pack. He’d need to get a new one soon. He’d practically worn the durability on the one he had down to 0. Hopefully he’d be able to get one custom ordered soon.

He was heading towards the storage shed to drop off the last of his harvest when the clatter of wagon wheels caught his ears. A large wagon pulled by a team a trolls trundled into the yard. It was at least six times as big as the old rickshaw with large spoked wheels and long flat bed. Wooden slats acted as the sides of the wagon and the back with filled with heavy crates just waiting to have grain dumped into them.

Trollogistics drove the wagon right up next to the storehouse before he reigned in the trolls and brought the wagon to stop with a barked command. He hopped down as Rimmi and Winston walked over to him.

“So, what ca boys got for me?” He asked as the two got to him.

“Lots of stuff.” Winston said. “I see you’ve upgraded.”

“Yeah…. Sorta had to. No way I’d fit all the stuff you guys want me to haul into my old rig. The halfling said as he stuck out a hand towards Rimmi. “I’m Trollogistics. You must Rimmi.”

Rimmi nodded as he shook back. “Yep, so your our hauler.”

“That’s the plan.” Trollogitics as he walked over and pulled up the wooden slat on the side of the wagon so they could get at the crates. He started to wave his hand in the air as if he was playing with his interface. “Alright, Lemme know what each of you have as you load so I can put it down in a spreadsheet. I don’t wanna miss anything.”

The three started to load. Rimmi had over thirty bushel of corn he’d been saving up, as well as a dozen low-grade health potions and some neon purple concoction he’d made while experimenting with his alchemy. Winston had twenty-three bushel of wheat, 12 pounds of sugar, 2 bushel of beets, 4 bushel of beans, 2 of cabbage, and two of apples with this week's harvest. He also had two Apples of the Earth, for whatever those were worth.

“You got the gold out of my bank right?” Winston asked as he finished pouring out his pack into a crate. Trish had finally sent him his gold on Thursday. The bars had earned him 2150 gold. That meant that after Troll pulled all the gold out of the bank for the sprinklers, Winston would be broke again, At least until Troll got back.

“You guys do realize there’s like 7 or 8 thousand gold worth of stuff here right?” Trollogistics asked.

“Isn’t that the point?” Rimmi asked.

“I suppose, but this wagon makes one hell of a target.” Troll said, sounding worried.

“Not much we can do about it. We can’t afford guards and even if we could that would just draw more attention to it. Just pile some of the lower quality stuff on top and don’t try and hide. Being boring will be your best shield. Once you the get out of this zone you should be alright. Lunari is pretty much empty aside from a few of larger capitals.” Winston said.

“If you say so.” Troll said as we finished loading the wagon. He hopped back up onto the cart and looked around nervously.

“Just go, you’re heading away from Verith anyway. Even if someone was going to ambush you it’s in the wrong direction. Just keep heading east and take the main roads.” Winston said.

“Alright, well I guess I’ll be back in a week or two, or in a few days, depending on if anyone kills me or not.” He said with a laugh he picked up his reigns then stopped right before he headed out. “Crap, I forgot your seeds. He said, reaching under the seat and pulling out a leather sack filled with seeds. He tossed it to Winston. “I’ll just put it on your tab. We can settle up when I get back with everyone’s stuff.”

With that he flicked the reigns and the trolls started to move. It took a while to build up speed now that the wagon was so loaded down. Winston watched him go with a smile on his face. Once Troll got back he’d hopefully be Apprentice ranked in farming as well as level 10. He looked to his now barren field and shook his head. He’d been playing all week. It was time to log out and get back to the real world.

*******************************************************************************************

“Well, looks like someone finally made it out of his room.” Winston’s mom said from her seat on the front porch. Sweat ran down Winston’s face and his matted hair was getting in his eyes. “And you need a haircut.”

“Morning mom.” Winston said, as he used the edge of his tee-shirt to mop at his brow. He’d stayed up late playing Lota, then he’d slept in till nearly 11. He hadn’t realized how tired he’d been until he’d woken up. He’d been pushing himself for weeks and apparently he’d needed the extra sleep.

“Good to see you outside and exercising. I thought you’d been spending all your time playing that dumb game. Still, it does seem to be doing you some good. You’ve lost weight, and your arms even have some definition.” She said as she sipped at her latte.

“I’m working in game. It’s not like i’m out adventuring or spending my time in the tavern.” Winston said bitterly.

“Have you made any money? You keep telling me your working but I don’t see you with any more money” His wow asked with a raised eyebrow. Winston blushed a little. He really hadn’t made any money. Hell, he’d basically re-invested every gold he’d made so far. Well, if Troll’s wagon actually made it to Grenville he might have some money.

“I made around 300 dollars this week I think. Depends on how much of a cut the merchant will take.” He said honestly.”I’ve had to spend a lot to get my business up and moving though. There is always stuff I need and it’s expensive.”

“That’s business for you. You’ve gotta have money to make money. It’s good to see you so motivated, though. I just wish you spend more time with your friends instead of cooped up in your room.” She said, with a bit of worry in her voice.

Winston looked at her askance. Since when did she care? Then again, she hadn’t always been cold to him. He ran a hand through his sweaty-hair and sighed.”Well, You’ll be happy to know I have a date tonight then.”

“Oh really? With Trisha?” His mom asked. Winston nodded. “We’ll congratulations, you really should go get your haircut though. You wanna look nice don’t you?” Winston rolled his eyes as he walked passed his mom and into the house.

He was about to head back to his room but he stopped and rerouted his path towards his brothers room. The door was open and he could hear Josh playing his X-box. Winston knocked on the edge of the doorframe and waited until his brother looked up from his game.

The older boy pulled his headset off as he asked. “Hey man, what’s up? Finally dragged yourself out of the game I see.” Winston smiled sheepishly at his older brother.

“Soooo…. You doing anything tonight?” Winston asked. Joshed raised a golden eyebrow.

“I was planning on hanging out with Katie…. Why.” He asked.

“I sorta wanted to borrow your car. I’ve kinda got a date, and I’m sure mom would take me but…..” He shuddered and trailed off.

“HA!” Joshed laughed. “Congrats little bro. Normally, I’d tell you to buy your own damn car but it’s about time you found yourself a girl. Besides, Katie can always come over here. Just lemme know when you need it. The keys are on my desk.” He said, pointing to his computer desk where the keys sat on the corner.

“Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. I’ll fill your tank.” Winston said gratefully.

Josh just laughed and put his headset back on. Winston headed back to his own room. He had some things he wanted to do in game before his date.

The keep’s courtyard was empty and Winston wasted no time in redigging his fields when he logged back in. They been left alone all night and it was making him itchy. Fields were meant to be planted and even if he had needed a night off it still made him uncomfortable. Winston pulled out the small sack of buckwheat seeds and pulled one out. He let his senses reach down into the soil.

The seed actually seemed to like it here. In fact the ground here was nearly perfect for it. That was odd, but he knew from all his reading on various crops that buckwheat was a crop that did well in poor soil. Still, it was surprising. It was a shame he couldn’t use this as his main crop. His yield should be pretty good. That was only a side benefit though. Buckwheat was an excellent soil builder. It put nitrogen back into the soil and it was a cover crop that would add biomass.

Now that he had a solid off crop he could start a real crop rotation for increased yields, not to mention his farming should get a decent boost once he harvested this and replanted wheat. It might even be enough to push him into Apprentice rank.

He planted the buckwheat then went over to check on his cloudberries. He now had three bushes instead of one but they didn’t seem to be doing as well. He didn’t know if that was due to a lack of wind or if they were stealing each others air mana because they were too close together. He sighed, it was something else he’d have to experiment with. He’d plant two more bushes out on the plains and see if they grew better. That could wait for another day though. For now he had something else to try.

Winston pulled out his priest staff and looked down at his berry bushes. Since he’s idea to alter the soil had failed that left him with some other options. If he couldn't not alter the scope of the spell. Then he’d have to mess with the spells other aspects. That basically left him with trying to make the spell more powerful, or trying to make it last longer. Duration seemed the simplest. So Winston focused his mind on what he wanted and cast his spell. “Norish the Land!” He cried as he poured his faith points into the skill, focusing the spell into a smaller area and trying to make it last longer.

[Your Norish The Land Skill Has Increased!]

[Norish the Land has Reached Beginner I]

[Duration: Three Days

Cooldown: 116 Hours

Cost: 10 FP per 1000ft2

Effect: Increases crop yield in area by 30% while active]

[Beginner Effect: User can increase Duration by x3 by increasing the FP cost by x5]

Winston nodded with satisfaction. That was what he’d been missing. It was a shame he could only have one blessing active at a time. With the boost, the duration was now longer than the cooldown. He’d have been able to cover his whole field eventually. Then again, that was probably why they’d added the stipulation.

Winston tossed Bog a handful of cloudberries before logging off. He had a date to get ready for.

*****************************************************************************

Trish sat across from Winston in the booth at Marnie’s. She was still in jeans but she’d put on a nice blouse and had finally taken off her sweatshirt. She hadn’t dressed up much but he could tell she’d put on makeup that drew attention to her eyes.

“You’re beautiful.” Winston said honestly. She was too, not in the traditional sense but she glowed with happiness and good health. Winston also had to force himself to keep looking at her face. It was obvious now why she always wore something baggy. Without it high-school would have been impossible with all the guys gaping at her massive chest all day. Winston had to remind himself that they’d been friends for years and drooling all over himself wasn’t a good way to conduct a first date.

“It took you long enough to notice.” She said with a laugh. The motion did interesting thing to her shirt and Winston used all of his willpower not to look down.

“It’s not that I didn’t notice. It’s just…..” Winston struggled for a way to explain himself. “Let’s say you have a painting. Maybe you picked it up at a yard-sale or bought it off some starving artist at a flea-market or something. It’s an incredible painting so you stick it up in your living room. How long before it’s just another decoration. Something you walk by a dozen times a day without ever glancing at.”

“So I’m a wall decoration now.” Trish said, sounding amused. Winston rubbed at his forehead.

“No…. It’s just that your looks were never what was important. You were my friend. You’ve always been my friend. You always put up with me and the guys regardless of how nerdy and stupid we were, well we still are. The fact you were a girl, and an attractive one at that, never came into it. Until it did.” Winston said, as he looked into her eyes.

Trish blushed a little before grinning at him. “That’s both flattering and annoying. It drives a girl crazy when guys just think of them as one of the guys.”

Winston shrugged. “I’m not sure that’s 100 percent fair. You can’t spend all the time covering yourself up and acting like one of the guys then complain because your plan worked too well.”

Trish shrugged this time.” I didn’t say it was fair, it just drove me crazy. I don’t know how many times you and the guys were going on about which girls you thought were hot, or talking about how if you moved your LotA character the right way you could see up her skirt. I really just wanted to slap you, or maybe shove your head into my boobs just so you’d realize I wasn’t just one of the guys.”

Winston choked on his sip of pepsi and then started to cough as the burning carbonation started to come out his nose. Trish started to laugh and Winston grabbed a napkin and started to wipe his nose with as much dignity as he could muster.He coughed, then tried to clear his throat as he got his breathing back under control.

“Well….:” He said slowly as he finally got his air back. “I can say with total honestly it would have worked. In fact if you ever feel the need in the future I give you permission in advance.”

Trish snorted, then let out something close to a giggle. Her face turned red in embarrassment and soon both of them were laughing as the waitress came and dropped off their food.

“I can’t believe you brought me here for our first date. It’s a burger joint” Trish scolded him lightly as she bit into her burger. Winston had debated his choice but it wasn’t like there was any place in town that were very nice. There was a sorta of Italian place but it wasn’t like it was high class either. There was something that felt right about this place. It was where they’d had so many good times together with the guys. They were already Juniors. How many more times would they get to come hang out here? No, Winston stood by his choice.

“It wasn’t like we had many options, unless we wanted to drive a town or two over. Then we’d have just had to come back for the movie. Besides I like it here. There’s something about it that says high-school romance.” Winston said as he tossed a fry into his mouth.

The two kept laughing and chatting as they ate and they were just getting ready to head towards the theater when someone slipped into the booth next to Trish. He was a year or two older than they were. He had dark-hair and was wearing a tee-shirt that showed off his muscular chest and arms. He wasn’t exactly handsome but he was in good shape and moved with the confidence of an athlete.

Trish’s eye’s widend for a moment when she saw him before they went cold and flat. “Greg, what are you doing here?” She asked coldly.

The boy laughed as he slid into the booth. “I just came over to say hi. No need to be so hostile.”

“We’re trying to eat dinner here. You’ve said hi, now please leave.” Trish said, in the same flat voice.

The guy finally took a moment to really look at her. Then he looked across the table towards Winston and his eyes widened. “Are you on a date? With this little runt are you kidding me?” Greg said incredulously.

Trish rolled her eyes. “Would you stop acting like every cliche ex-boyfriend ever and just leave already. You didn’t seem to have much trouble walking away from me or the guild last time.”

Greg’s face darkened. “We both were invited we could have left together but you chose to be stubborn.”

“I chose to be loyal.” She snapped back. “You’re the one that decided to bail the moment Jessica batted her eyes at you. Well, now I’m head of the mage division in Blood Hounds and your just a grunt in the Swords.” Winston really wished he had some popcorn. He knew he should probably be jealous or something but he trusted Trish. He always had. Even if their relationship didn’t pan out he didn’t think it would affect their friendship. Maybe that was just wishful thinking but right now this was great entertainment.

It also seemed to explain why Jessica and Trish always seemed to be butting heads. Apparently Jessica had seduced away her boyfriend before. Now that he thought about it that was also around the time the Jessica and his brother had there falling out. The plot was thickening.

“Oh yeah, you’re queen of a little 2-bit guild, congratulations.” Greg said sarcastically. “You can’t even play with the big-boys let alone win.”

Trish just stared at him for a while before she spoke. “We’re all playing the same game Greg. It doesn’t matter if the guild has 12 players, 1200, or 12,000. It’s all the same bullshit, petty politics, and pointless squabbling. You just traded on one master for another.” She said with a sad sigh. “Go home Greg.”

His face started to redden and he pushed himself up from the table. “Fine, bitch. Just sit there and date that fat little dip-shit. I’m sure he’ll be happy in your piss-pot little guild.” He shouted over his shoulder as he headed for the door.

The table fell into an awkward silence as he left and Winston and Trish just looked at each other from across the booth. Finally Winston spoke up.

“Well, he’s a charmer.”