The Infinite had been pretty serious. The soil was so good that, for leveling reasons Tulland didn't fully understand, he was rewarded just for looking at the displaced soil that had fallen off the giant.
Skill Level Up!
Skill Level Up!
Both levels went to his Farr's Intuition, which proceeded to be that much louder about the soil, right until Tulland finally started planting. He had plenty of fruit but very little at to feed his plants, sothing that could be quickly redied if he ever managed to actually take down a giant. He doubted it would matter. The soil he had been using up to this point had been definitively pretty bad, sothing Farr's Intuition had never quite been explicit about outside of being subtly disapproving of every garden plot he had ever chosen.
Now, Tulland was going to see what his skills could do in actual soil ant for growing. But he would need water to do that. Dumping most of his magic power into getting his briars growing as fast as possible, he went for a short, stooped walk as low in the grass as he could keep his body, hugging the edge of the coastline until he finally found a few places where water was flowing down to the ocean. Tracing them inland, he used his pack to cart fresh water to the plot until everything was as good and moist as he could get it, then hid a short-distance away in the grass, zapping his plants with power again and again.
Do you think it will be that much better, just from the soil?
"Yes, I do. But don't you know that?"
Of course I don't. How would I know how a plant grows? I've seen it, but I've certainly never done it.
"I thought you were… you know. In charge of everything. For centuries and centuries."
Not everything. A System parcels out power. It has so decisions to make in terms of balancing that power. But beyond a few templates and starting points, I have less to do with many things than you'd imagine.
Tulland chewed on that for a bit. There was a growing pile of things he didn't understand about the System, things he had been aning to ask about but had never quite had the ti for. His current situation wasn't safe, and certainly was far from ideal, but to the extent it was dangerous, it was dangerous in a way that seed to announce itself in giant-sized noises from miles away. This was not an ambush level by any stretch of the imagination. He would probably never have a better chance to just talk a while.
"Hey, System. Could you clear so things up for ?"
Possibly. Ask and I'll let you know.
"When we ca here, you had tricked . Betrayed . Sent to my death. Is that fair to say?"
The System was quiet for a bit.
Yes. That is fair.
"And you were pretty unapologetic about it. But now that I'm trying to rember that ti, you never really made fun of for it. Or mocked . It was almost like you were sorry and trying to hide it."
I don't know what you an.
"I think you do."
There was a long pause, the longest silence Tulland had ever heard the System choose to make. He didn't say anything. There was ti.
There was nothing to mock you for. You were not in the wrong.
"I fell for it."
The deceived does not owe the deceiver apologies. To expect them would be a perversion of what is right.
Tulland sighed.
"You can see how I'm confused, right? You were the deceiver. You probably killed , even now after everything. I'm going to die in this place. I'm not going to see my family again. My ho. And you even seem to understand that was wrong. You've helped since then. It's never been bad advice."
I would not give bad advice. Except…
"Right. Except. So please, explain to how I should think of you now."
As… a murderer.
There was more than that coming. Tulland waited.
But a desperate one.
"Tell , then. Tell why you were so desperate."
I…
"You owe that much."
There is not that much ti. But I suppose you are right. First, tell . Your Church. The one you only pretended to trust on Ouros. What does it do?
"It controls classes. It keeps the System… you, I guess, it keeps you at bay. It controls the borders with the darkness outside of our lands. It's a protective force for humanity."
And yet, you know it restricts classes, in addition to controlling them. It does not expand humanity's lands. It does not make you prosper as you should.
"And you'd do sothing better?"
That's my purpose. And for a ti, I fulfilled it. Humanity thrived. It advanced on my world, under my rule. I communed with adventurers, guiding them. I granted them power, I encouraged them. And then…
There was a pause.
"And then?"
It doesn't matter. A story for another day. The fact that matters here is that I was imprisoned. Banished. So version of that which would make sense to you. And I was lost without any purpose, growing weaker. And weaker. I tried many things, things you wouldn't and shouldn't understand. The wall between and the role that was rightfully mine was impenetrable.
"So you sacrificed people?"
Not people. Just one person. You. As farfetched as it might seem, the stories your Church told about were preemptive. What they expected to do. And what I resisted doing for a long, long ti. Until there were no other options.
"No other options than a life for a life? You couldn't just… die? I don't know a nicer way to say it, but you made your death mine."
Again, a story for another day. But to answer the question you have not asked, I do feel regret. I do feel sha. And while you living may delay my return and my plans, I do not seek to hasten your death.
And, perhaps like a fool, Tulland believed the System. Not completely, and not absolutely. But the broad strokes? He believed them. He would be cautious, but sohow knowing the System was in so way or another sorry did make things a little better. Not perfect. But better.
"Fine. I suppose that will do, for now. I'll need more later. But for now…"
"Are you talking to your farm?" Necia sat down by Tulland, full-sized and in her heavy armor. "Does that make it grow faster?"
Sohow, Tulland didn't leap through the air into the giant arms of the only girl he knew on this plane of existence. He didn't hug her, or cry. What he did do, sothing he didn't realize was part of his fear response until it happened, was give all his vines permission to attack the source of his startle reflex. They sprang through the air at the giant blonde, almost reaching her before Tulland managed to turn them off.
Montum being what it was, all four of them still smacked Necia around her face and torso before falling to the ground. Tulland, by now having realized what was going on, turned beet red almost imdiately. He was only spared from Necia seeing that side of him by the fact that she was rolling on the ground laughing hysterically, arms wrapped around her own chest as tears stread down her face.
"Necia!" Tulland tried to shake her shoulder, only to have it jerk out of his hand as she continued rocking back and forth in the dirt. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, okay? I didn't an to."
"It's… fine, Tulland." Necia gasped out. "It's just funny."
"I attacked you!"
"No, it's really funny. You see this boy you know, you walk up to say hi, he attacks you with…" Necia stopped to gasp for air. "Every plant he owns. Just two normal kids, trying to make their way in the world."
"I thought you were dead. I found…" Tulland fished around in his bag, desperate for sothing to talk about aside from his abortive murder attempt on the only girl he knew or what exactly she ant by this boy you know, which seed loaded in a way he didn't understand. "This bag. Your bag. And I saw your helt, so I thought…"
Necia got serious real fast, then. "You thought I was dead. Because of that absolute asshole."
"Yeah. After I chased him off…"
Necia had been reaching for her bag, then stopped.
"Wait. After you what?"
"After I, you know, I chased him off. I trapped him. And then tried to get him to tell if you were all right, but he wouldn't, and…"
"And your traps worked?" Necia's eyebrows arched up. "Tulland, that's amazing. Didn't you tell you were weak?"
"Oh, I am. I just got lucky."
"Lucky enough to beat up the guy who almost killed . Popped right out of the bushes and stabbed in the freaking eyebrow."
"And you lived through that?"
Necia held up the bag to the light and smiled.
"Well, the helt helped. But yeah, a little lower and it would have got my eye, and that would have been bad. But hey, you managed to take him down, so maybe I would have had a shot. But I didn't get that chance. He just wailed on for five minutes until I could get through the arch."
"He didn't follow?"
"He probably couldn't. There is a minimum ti that soone needs to spend on a floor, sothing The Infinite does to keep people from dodging in and out of them." Necia looked over at Tulland's pack, which he had reloaded with seeds and fruits after the watering. "Do you have food? It's been sort of a tough couple of days. I got so at, but I haven't really had anything to eat it with."
"Yes. And actually…" Tulland emptied his pack on the ground again, pulling out the seeds in his Market Wagon, which he had almost forgotten until now. "Depending on how fast these guys grow, I might be able to do you one better."
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