Chapter 68 Consolidate

Time just kept going on. I waited for the shoe to drop, I waited for some sort of situation, or trial we had to go through, but nothing like that happened. Summer quickly ended, which led into fall, and then to winter again, as I just sat back and enjoyed life. Sure, things happened, but everything was within the limits of what I thought would happen.

I sold two sets of the bundles, with the third being out. The overall price had to drop slightly, but it was far less of a hit than I thought it would be. The biggest selling point was the specialty bundles. The spice bundles had plenty of knock-offs, but the spicy bundle, not so much, and the northern spice bundles were big sellers, which made as much money as the rest of the bundles put together, and they sold immediately.

It meant I had enough money to upgrade all our weapons and tools(even the back-ups for everyone, like Leaf’s scimitars) to the silver tier and get them kitted out in a few pieces of enchanted gear. I wore a farming set that gave .1 to each stat while on the farm, the boots gave agility, overalls strength, the denim shirt endurance, the hat charisma, and the set gave a luck and intellect boost when all worn together.

The best part of the set is that it was upgradable as well. It only provided one to each stat right now, but if I could find a tailor who could upgrade it, I could easily get point two to my stats, or even point three eventually. Class clothing wasn’t very popular, as it was too expensive for most to afford. By the time most could afford it, the single stat boost wouldn’t do much for them. For someone who had too much money and was solely focused on leveling, it was perfect.

Every stat would allow me to do more work; it would allow me to ring out every bit of experience I could throughout the day. It sped up my leveling again, and even though I had more time, that time was spent relaxing and working on my experiments. Most people’s leveling speed begins to slow down, while mine had only kept increasing as I didn’t take shortcuts and constantly pushed myself.

And to no one's surprise. Every single one of my wives had either just recently given birth, like Sarah, or was pregnant. That included Leaf and Sophia as well. Leaf finally saw the writing on the wall and joined us sometimes at the house. Our fuck buddy relationship developed to sometimes communal living as she slowly got used to the idea of having a family around to rely on. She fought me every step of the way on having her weapons upgraded, but if she had them even at copper tier when the bandits fought, she might not have lost to Clint in the first place.

Sarah had two babies, a boy and a girl. The girl’s name was Trixy, named after her sister who died when they were still growing up. The boy's name was Hall, the very nice food stall vendor who often brought leftovers to the orphanage when I was growing up.

If the first year was good, the second was great, as I managed to purchase every skill below level one hundred except for one, but the year wasn’t over, and I had a plan to get to fifty again before the end of winter. I hadn’t gained any new skill branches, but at this point, I was craving to see the level one hundred skills. There was still winter left of this year, and my goal was to purchase the last skill and get as many levels as I could before spring.

I looked at the changes in my stats as I planned out the upcoming winter.

Name: Danial Drizzle

Age: 17

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 180

Health: 909

Mana: 711

Stamina: 1818

Class: Farmer

Level: 1

Stats

Strength: 7.27 + .1

Perception: 7.09 + .1

Endurance: 8.91 + .1

Charm: 7.14 + .1

Intellect: 7.01 + .1

Agility: 8.10 + .1

Luck: 5.45 + .1

Skills

Lucky Farming- Increases the quality of crops by 200%. Increases yield and experience with gathering jobs by 100%. Decreases the chance of low-quality crops, fatigue from farming, and time for plants to fully grow by 60%. Gives a 1% chance to pick a crop with 1 quality higher than normal.

Smart Minor spell user- Increases the speed of acquiring new minor spells and reduces the cost of using those spells. Choose utility-based spell specialization. Gain .5 intellect boost.

Harem Bond- You and your wives gain 25% of each other's stats, able to more easily satisfy wives, and recover 25% of resources from climaxing. Wives gain a skill that is helpful for farming.

Bloody Magic specialization (utility)- Animation- Gain instinctive knowledge on the animation school of magic. Freshly bloodied golems have their stats boosted even further until the blood dries.

Familial connection- You and your wives gain 10% of the stats of your children once they reach adulthood, while your children and wives gain 25% of your stats. Your children gain 10% of their mother's stats, increased proficiency and stat ratio, and have a much higher chance of inheriting skills.

Perennial Golem growth medium- Can plant mushrooms, moss, or vine-type plants into a golem. Golems gain bonuses depending on what type of plant is added. Items planted will regrow after winter.

Strengthening Wicker quality- Crops grown on wicker golems now also have an increased quality by 50%. The potential bonus doubles if higher-quality fertilizer is used. Fertilizer used also increases the defense of the golem by an equal amount.

Elemental affinity- Earth- Gain instinctive knowledge on casting Earth-based magic.

Potion seller- Your potions are too strong for mortals to consume. Applying created potions to dirt will make a perfect growth medium for herbs that require that potion.

Comfort zone- Increases health, mana, and stamina regeneration by 100% while on the farm.

Magical specialization- Choose a specialization. Offense, Defense, Healing, Support.

Magical field- Increases the odds of developing a magified crop. Pouring your mana into the field to increase the chances even further.

Mini planter golems- Gain knowledge on how to create mini planter golems. Passive golems that will allow you to more easily transport plants.

Ping Herbdar- Gain an innate feeling when near a wild herb, can somewhat tell which direction it is in. Detection distance is doubled but the feeling is lessened to a short period every minute.

Accumulated research- Gain a 5% boost to quantity and quality of herbs for every different type of herb you’ve grown.

Gathering

Herbalist- Apprentice 11%

Miner- Beginner 27%

Lumberjack- Apprentice 55%

Fisher- Beginner 54%

Animal Harvesting- Apprentice 08%

Farming- Apprentice 95%

Butcher- Beginner 14%

Item Creation

Alchemist- Beginner 41%

Blacksmith- Beginner 59%

Crafter- Apprentice 34%

Painter- Beginner 08%

Baker- Beginner 17%

Chef- Apprentice 13%

Carpenter- Beginner 25%

Miller- Beginner 42%

Stonemason- Beginner 11%

Tailor- Beginner 04%

Town Service

Worker- Apprentice 89%

Guard- Beginner 34%

Executioner- Apprentice 11%

Trader- Beginner 22%

Tutor- Beginner 25%

I went with magical field because every magified crop I grew was a huge boost in farmer XP. It was the first skill I bought because it was the only one that really had any effect on the experience I gained. Herbdar made more sense to pick because I wasn’t an alchemist, so I didn’t brew many potions, and finding new herbs to grow was more important.

The choice between elite golem, bodyguards, and mini planter golems was much harder. All of them were good choices. Elite golem would allow me to make a golem possibly even stronger than the one Delilah and I made, bodyguards would protect my family, and the mini planter golems would be incredibly helpful for transporting crops.

The problem was with the details of each skill. Elite golem was worded so that I could only ‘make’ one. So if it were ever destroyed, it would become a completely useless skill. Bodyguard was also worded that they’d get the stat boost if they were ‘while protecting’ my family. It was worded in a way that made me think the stat boost would only apply if they were actively stopping a threat.

Mini planter golem was the only skill I’d gain that didn’t have any downsides and fixed a huge problem I had. Transporting anything was always a pain in the ass, and I planned to turn one of the fields into a proper greenhouse next year. The price was dramatic, but having a field I could grow crops in the winter would be a game-changer.