Nature studies

Healion Villagran and Millar look up from their idle chatter, as Innis storms into the house of the village chief.

Millar: You're late!

Innis: Nate received his class...

Villagran: Please tell me...

Innis: *shakes his head*

Villagran: Not nature mage again?

Innis: Unfortunately...

Millar: We're doomed!

Healion: We still have Natwick, Natwick hasn't received his class yet...

Villagran: I'm sure Natwick will get farmer or peasant. I'm sure Natwick will get something other than nature mage.

Innis: Even then... Even if he were to get the farmer class... can we manage?

Millar: Like I said...

Villagran: Stay positive everyone, we have to figure out a way to survive.

*silence*

Villagran: How is Farl? Will he be able to work on the farms again?

Healion: I've been healing the old man, but progress is slow.

Villagran: Will he be all right?

Healion: Yes, he will. It's a matter of age. Healing magic is less effective on recipients with low vitality.

Villagran: and Igor?

Healion: *sigh* Still fascinated with iron bars. A major head ache. I've given up on telling him off.

Innis: Old man Farl has been talking about retirement for a while now. It will probably only get worse now.

Millar: *exclaims* The town's doomed!

Villagran: Calm down Millar, it's not quite that bad yet.

Millar: The men all died in the war, the next generation is a bunch of nature mages. We can't afford to keep paying copper rank adventurers to harvest the crops.

Villagran: Actually, the adventurers are surprisingly affordable

Innis: It won't stay that way. There's simply too many of them right now.

Millar: The system is punishing us!

Villagran: Is there a way we can have the nature mages be productive?

Millar: You can forget about that, nature mages have been long known to be useless. They died out for a reason.

Nathan: *flinches*

Innis: Why did the system decide to assign us so many nature mages?

Healion: The system moves in mysterious ways.

Millar: System damn it!

{ I resent that expression! }

As the elders start frowning in silence, Naldo walks in from the kitchen with a massive iron pot. He places it on the table that has already been set. The elders eagerly take some of the chicken with apple in a creamy sauce. It is Naldo's experiment for today's special. They each scoop a generous portion of rice and drown it in the sauce. Once the food enters their mouths, moans start escaping them.

Innis: What's with these apples!?! It didn't taste like this earlier today!

Naldo: Nathan grew those, he's getting quite good at it.

Nathan smiles as he goes to the kitchen to get his own dinner. Even though he lives there, it's not like he is one of the elders. He would occasionally offer suggestions during their meetings, but he is not considered to be a council member.

When he comes back, they are eating in silence.

Nathan: Can I offer some suggestions?

Villagran: What is it my boy?

Nathan: I think us nature mages can be productive

Millar: *snort* Can you harvest the crops efficiently?

Nathan: I don't think so.

Millar: Can you plow the fields?

Nathan: Not that I know off

Millar: Can you water the fields or apply manure?

Nathan: *somber* Not necessarily...

Millar: *snort* That's what I thought

Nathan: But I have nature sense! I can more easily detect weeds. I can identify the needs of the plants in terms of sun, soil and water and how well they are being met. I can sense which part of the soil is a good state and which is not. I am more aware of plant diseases and insect plagues.

Innis: Just how did you manage to make that shitty class sound so awesome?

Villagran: Innis!

Innis: Ah... sorry Nathan... I didn't mean...

Nathan: It's all right...

Millar: None of that matters if we don't have anyone to work the fields!

Nathan: We might be able to communicate with farm animals.

Millar: You are not a tamer, also you don't sound convinced of your own prospects in this matter.

Nathan: We've become too dependent on skills. I have read books about farmers using oxen and plows instead.

Millar: We don't need book knowledge. Besides, as if we can afford oxen.

Healion: Millar, do you have any ideas? Or are you just going to complain?

Millar: I'm not a negative person, I'm just realistic.

Healion: Sure...

Villagran: It might be possible if we pool our money.

Innis: We'll need more than one ox if we want to pull a plow. An ox would be capable of pulling an ard, but for a real plough, you would need multiple oxen.

Millar: Not to mention that it the job requires multiple laborers. As opposed to a single farmer. Like I said, it's a pipe dream.

Villagran: Farmers which we don't have. So let's try to be flexible.

Millar: *snort*

Innis: We should be able to plow an acre a day if we have oxen. It's worth considering.

Nathan: We could also consider getting pigs. They tend to loosen up the soil.

Millar: Now we're considering using pigs instead of plowing the fields? That won't do anything at all!

Villagran: At least pigs are cheaper.

Nathan: They should be, pigs breed rapidly.

Millar: I vote no.

Healion: You always do.

Millar: I'm the only one on this council with a sense of realism.

Villagran: Nathan, how confident are you that nature mages can control the oxen?

Nathan: I've been testing the nature sense skill with Naomi. We've gotten quite good at interacting with cats and dogs. It's hard to describe, but we can somehow feel the emotional state of the animal. We've discovered that kneeling down at 90 degrees makes animals less intimidated and more likely to engage contact. We've also gotten better at knowing when to engage the animals and when to give them space. I've actually been able to take Stella on my lap for the first time.

For a moment Nathan remembers how he thought that becoming a cat whisperer didn't seem like it will bring much benefit to the village.

Innis: Please let me know when the wedding is, so I can keep my agenda open.

Nathan: *glare*

Millar: *snort* the boy has taken a cat on his lap and he thinks he can control oxen.

Innis: No... that's actually quite impressive. I don't know anyone who can take Stella on their lap, apart from the old lady.

Villagran: Still, it's a pretty big investment for an experiment.

Nathan: Nature mages are rare, we will have to study how the class works.

Healion: Aren't you already studying the class?

Nathan: I suggest we start study groups with the nature mages.

{ A study group? I don't like where this is going. I gotta find a way to get these mages to start killing things. }

* * *

Nathan: Everyone gather up!

Nathan places his hand on the trunk of the tree in his back yard and starts channeling the bear fruit spell. Slowly an apple grows on the branch closest to him. It starts as a tip, then it turns into a flower, a small thick dark green extension, a fruit and finally the apple starts ripening. The gathered Nature mages watch with wide eyes, although Nate seems to be confused: "I don't see anything? What am I supposed to be looking at?"

Nathan plucks the fruit, takes off the skin and slices it into parts. The gathering gets a taste and Nathan can predict their reaction by now. Nathan's apples are tasty, as expected. Naomi demands a whole apple for herself. Just the one slice isn't enough to keep her happy.

Villagran is out, so Nathan uses the opportunity to guide the group into the living room to hold the study session.

Nathan: Even though we haven't gotten the class we were aiming for, I believe nature mage has the potential to make great contributions to this village. *professor mode* Nature mages observe and manipulate the natural state of the world. Our first objective is to develop our understanding of the natural state of the world. Once we understand the current natural state and our desired target state, we can start manipulating the current state through mana molding.

{ Please stop! One Naldo is enough! }

After Nathan's long winded speech, he hands everyone a twig and instructions on how to perform his first discovered spell: "strengthen plant". He remembers Naldo's warnings against teaching, but apart from Naomi, he seemed to be the only one discovering spells. Speaking of Naomi, she was doing her own thing as usual. Naomi's branch was adorned by an ever increasing amount of flowers. Apparently strengthening the wood wasn't as interesting to the girl. Given her rapid progression with the class, Nathan didn't feel bothered to focus her on the exercise. Wait? Are my feelings getting in the way here? Should I focus her on the exercise? I might really end up marrying her, if things go on like this! While Nathan is pondering over his relationship with Naomi, the members of the group are staring intensely at the twig in their hands, attempting to strengthen it.

{ Oh my System! It's contagious! }

You might be wondering why System is using an expression like "Oh my system!", but as per System's own thoughts, Ai likes to use the expression, so there is no way it could be bad.

Natasha: *excitedly* I did it! I strengthened the branch!

{ *frown* assigning the class to multiple kids in the same village may have been a mistake. }

While the youth of Farsille endeavor to raise their competency in the nature mage class, System puts his focus on his next project. After he checks what Ai is doing of course.