My Farming Domain Is Broken

"Where should I put it?" Carlos asked.

Rowan looked between the two plots, the hut, and the Farmer’s Lodge.

"Between the plots. Close enough for irrigation channels to reach both, but not inside either field."

Carlos moved the image to the place Rowan indicated and confirmed it.

The ground shook slightly before stone pushed up from the barren soil and formed a circle. Clear water bubbled from its center until a small stream overflowed from one side.

The air around the spring became cooler.

Rowan hurried toward it, put both hands into the water, and lifted some to his mouth.

His eyes widened.

"The water is clean, and I can feel the mana in it."

"The system description already said that," Carlos said with a sigh.

"The description does not tell me how the water feels or smells. I need to know that before using it on a crop."

Carlos couldn’t argue with that.

He took out the Slime Nucleus next.

The blue core was the size of his fist and moved like liquid inside a thin shell.

--

[A compatible territory building has been detected]

[Would you like to fuse the Slime Nucleus with the Mana Spring?]

--

Carlos was about to accept when he looked toward Rowan.

"Do you know what this will do to the water?"

Rowan read the description and shook his head.

"No, my lord. I understand the effects written there, but I have never seen a Slime Nucleus or a Slime Fruit. I cannot tell you anything the system has not already said."

Carlos looked at the clear water.

The nucleus was Epic Grade. Using it now could give them a massive advantage, but they did not know what Slime Fruit was or whether the fusion had hidden effects.

"We wait," Carlos decided before returning it to his inventory.

The decision was his alone. He would learn more about the item before permanently changing their only water source.

Carlos applied the Spirit Soil to the first Plot of Fertile Land.

Golden light spread across the dark earth. Tiny points of green and blue appeared inside the soil like stars in a night sky.

--

Spirit Farmland

Level 1

Epic Grade

Crop Growth Speed +50%

Crop Quality +25%

Mutation Chance +2%

--

Rowan stood at its edge in complete silence.

"The wheat?" Carlos asked.

The Farmer finally moved.

"Not here."

"Why?"

"Common Wheat would grow well, but using Spirit Farmland only for common seeds would be wasteful. We should plant those in the other plot. This one should be kept for Mana-affinity crops or anything rare you obtain."

Carlos nodded.

For the next few minutes, Rowan showed him how many seeds could be planted safely and how much water the field would need. Carlos handed him twenty more Common Wheat Seeds.

Rowan stepped onto the ordinary fertile plot with a completely different look on his face.

There was no frown anymore.

He started working.

The hoe entered the soil and made the first straight line across their land.

--

[The first crop has been planted in your territory]

[Territory development has officially begun]

[Achievement Unlocked: A LORD’S FIRST SEED]

[Reward: Territory Experience x10]

--

Carlos stared at the small line of planted wheat.

There were no walls, no army, and barely enough room to call this place a territory.

But it was his.

A notification from the chat interrupted him.

--

[Cosmic Merchant] - Carlos, are you alive?

[Cosmic Merchant] - Answer me right now.

[Cosmic Merchant] - If you died after taking my spear, I will kill you.

--

Carlos smiled and opened the private chat.

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - I am alive. But I cannot say the same about your spear.

[Cosmic Merchant] - What?

[Carlos Goldwin] - It broke.

[Cosmic Merchant] - Are you okay? I can get why the spear broke, those slimes were one tough bead to crack.

--

Carlos looked at the two pieces Rowan had placed near the hut.

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - First, tell me what difficulty you selected and what your experience was.

--

The chat remained silent for ten full seconds.

--

[Cosmic Merchant] - I selected Normal difficulty, as anybody with a normal barracks would think of doing.

[Cosmic Merchant] - I didn’t even go myself. I sent the only Lizardman I had. He completed the wave by defeating ten slimes, but he is sitting half-dead in his barracks right now. I can’t say when he will be useful again.

[Carlos Goldwin] - WOW, how heartless, bro. You could give him some potions to heal. Maybe show some empathy too.

[Cosmic Merchant] - ...

[Cosmic Merchant] - Our relationship isn’t that good. It keeps making threatening sounds at me, so I don’t go too close. Anyway, tell me what you did. I already know you would have selected Hard Mode.

--

Carlos read that and wanted to laugh.

Hard Mode?

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - I selected Hell Mode, bro.

--

Another ten seconds of silence passed before a message popped up.

--

[Cosmic Merchant] - You selected what?

[Carlos Goldwin] - Hell Mode. There were two waves and sixty slimes in total.

[Cosmic Merchant] - Are you for real, bro??? I sent one Lizardman because the system said it was the recommended force. AND THAT WAS NORMAL DIFFICULTY. THE DAMN LIZARD CAME BACK HALF-DEAD, AND YOU SELECTED HELL MODE???

--

Carlos couldn’t smile anymore.

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but is your Lizardman perhaps weak?

[Cosmic Merchant] - ...

[Cosmic Merchant] - For starters, I think you are the biggest jerk, but that is normal. Secondly, no, my troop isn’t weak. It’s just that you are a goddamn monster.

[Cosmic Merchant] - The Lizardman’s scales are cracked, one arm is injured, and it came back with only 7 HP. I don’t know what to say to you, Carlos.

--

Carlos looked at his own health.

The Recovery Potion had brought it above two hundred, but he remembered the final number clearly.

Nineteen.

--

[Cosmic Merchant] - I watched the whole thing through the conquest panel. Those water shots can break bones.

[Cosmic Merchant] - So tell me honestly. How are you alive?

--

Carlos did not know how to answer that.

He had assumed the first wave was designed so no one could die. He had treated the projectiles like painful rubber bullets and continued taking them with his body.

But a Lizardman was naturally tougher than a human.

And one had almost died against only ten.

Carlos slowly opened the record of his conquest.

--

[Damage Received: 341]

[Fatal Attacks Avoided: 17]

[Lowest HP: 19/360]

--

One more clean projectile would have killed him.

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - I got lucky.

[Cosmic Merchant] - No. Lucky is getting a treasure chest. You fought six times as many with no troop.

[Cosmic Merchant] - What did you get? Is it at least good, brotherman? You took such a huge risk.

--

Carlos looked at Rowan planting wheat, the Mana Spring bubbling between the plots, and the Epic farmland waiting for its first magical crop.

He trusted Cosmic.

But their professor had repeated one lesson more than any other before they entered the World of Lords.

Never reveal everything about your territory.

Carlos began typing.

Before he could send the message, a red notification covered the chat.

--

[WARNING]

[An unknown lifeform has entered Lord Carlos Goldwin’s territory]

--

Rowan stopped working.

Something moved beneath the surface of the Mana Spring.

Carlos closed the chat and stood up.

"Move away from it, Rowan."

The Farmer didn’t question him. He left the hoe in the soil and slowly stepped away from the spring.

Carlos summoned the broken half of the spear from his inventory and waited patiently to see what had spawned inside his territory.

According to his professors, such an occurrence was extremely rare.

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