A few hours went by and I took a seat on the cloth, feeling tired thanks to fishing for a while. Thus, I sighted upon the sunset as it turned the river’s clear blue light into an orange, purplish color.

“The river looks pretty deep. If I was a normal kid of my age, there was a possibility I could drown in it...”

I looked at it, gauging how profound it was, falling into my own thoughts.

‘I proved to my parents that they could trust me, otherwise, mother wouldn’t have left me here on my own. Who knows if, at this pace, they’ll allow me to have fun with the kids from the village.’

With a soft motion, my eyes gazed at the sky watching it move as I lay down.

“The progression in this world is surely slow. From what my mother told me, beasts and monsters are pretty strong as they don’t go through a baby phase like us humans, and some can use skills from the moment of their birth.”

This meant that they would fight one another, gaining levels from early on. The territory south of my house led to a forest where such beasts and monsters existed beyond the border.

“I got some new achievements after fishing for a while, but I have the feeling they will take a long time to complete as well...” My eyes focused on the function causing a screen to appear, which I observed curiously and carefully.

Achievements:
Animal Slayer(6/100): Kill a set of creatures. Reward 100 disgrace once complete.
Beginner Fisherman(3/100): Fish a lot of creatures. Reward 100 disgrace once complete.
Species Fished(2/100): Fish different types. Reward 1 dexterity once complete.
Beginner Preserver(3/100): Preserve many pieces of food. Reward 1 intelligence once complete.

“This will definitely take a while to complete everything!”

I shouted and then smiled happily without feeling the rush of it, as it meant I’d have a lot of things to do from here onwards. I had preserved the fish inside long leaves that helped against the dryness every time I caught one along with some salt that mother brought along in a small box inside the basket. Suddenly I felt surprised, after hearing a shout from afar, which made me get up and look behind, finding my mother carrying a couple of tools and bags with her. Once she got closer, I spoke joyfully.

“Welcome back!” 

She smirked at me, a little red on her cheeks from the exercise and visible stains from sweat through her white shirt.

“It’s good to be back daughter, did you miss me?”

“Of course I did!”

She grinned gladly, "are you ready to see what I brought you?” Her arms extended to the sides towards the many things she placed on the ground.

“Yes! Please show me!”

Rosaline began explaining to me what they were.

“So, my dearest daughter! Embrace yourself. The first thing I got you is a shovel! You’ll be able to make holes with this and even transport, for example, a plant from one place to the other without damaging the roots. If you dig deep enough, that is.”

She grabbed it and made a minor example with some of the grass, creating a small hole in it, and lifting the whole thing to a nearby area.

“That looks amazing!”

I took a few steps towards my mother receiving the tool, and then I started trying it on my own a couple of times to get the hang of it.

System: You have received the achievement, Beginner Digger.

“The next one I got you is called a hoe. You can do multiple things like...”

My mother grabbed it and started exemplifying the different forms to use it, “Shape or clear the soil, remove weeds, and harvest root crops.”

I placed the shovel near the hole she made, and then my hand grabbed the hoe, mimicking her by lifting it in the air, then letting the tip hit the ground.

“This is quite heavy...”

She laughed before adding some teasing words with a cheeky expression.

“Feeling like giving up?”

Quickly, I stared at her and nodded to the sides disagreeing, having the will within me preserved to do the impossible, or at the very least what was possible to the current me.

“Very well. In that case, I have a piece of advice.”

She pointed at the ground, making a square with her finger, carefully spreading the dirty ground as it penetrated the earth, removing the outer layer of the grass as necessary, and the few colored stones in the way.

“You should make the field in this form, in preference close to the water, so you can use this watering can and fill it in the river whenever you need. Furthermore, make a long line so you know its size, and also how you want to split it between the different seeds I brought you.”

My mother touched the bags while resuming her words, after clapping them a few times to push the dust and dirt away from them.

“I divided the seeds in these, there is some variety to them and not a big quantity, the owner of the shop told me you can use the ones your crops will harbor in the future, in case you’d like to expand the field then. If not then he'd willingly buy the extras.”

My head tilted slightly to the side, remembering the job conversation.

“If I decide to become a farmer, is that it?”

“That, or if you really enjoy doing this in the long term, since once you start, it’ll end up being an investment.”

Her eyes looked at me, almost like they were shiny mana coins.

“Sure.”

I looked around and then began making an enormous square on the area, after checking the quantity of the seeds and all the types with her, receiving some advice as we went. Once I finished plowing the zone within the marked space, I passed my arm on my forehead, wiping it off as much as possible.

A while later, her finger poked my back two times, grasping for my attention.

“It’s getting late. You should continue tomorrow.”

I nodded in consent, feeling tired from it all. 

“You can leave the tools here. No one ever comes this far from the village, so they should be safe.”

She pointed at a spot near the boulders where I placed them.

“We live far from there, after all.”

We traded smiles while heading back home.

Once inside, I took a shower while my mother prepared the dinner, salting the fish once more to preserve them longer.

On the following day, I woke up very early, stretching up my body, and clacking some joints. The pain from my sore body made me realize that I had a gruesome road ahead of me.

“I slept so well,” I beamed happily, in a relaxed mood before changing into easy-to-move clothes and going towards the kitchen. After looking for some time, I found a small box with butter inside, spreading it through two pieces of bread with a knife, gobbling them while alternating with some water from a clay jar that I poured into a wooden mug. My parents would often leave some water saved from the river that would normally last up to two-three days. Its scent would often let us know if it was time to change it.

Mom would usually work during the morning and then change places with dad, leaving part of the afternoon and the night to take care of me. Dividing the time this way allowed my little self to never feel lonely, even if that sacrificed a part of their relationship. For the progenitors, however, was something they felt worthwhile doing, having told me a few times about it, to what I appreciated deeply, having especially considered my tarnished past. Even then, I had told them that I could stay on my own if necessary, but due to the surrounding dangers, they quickly dismissed my words.

A few hours later, I noticed Luke approaching me with a bench in his hand, whereas I was currently outside the house whilst my body despite tired worked in the field.

“You seem to be making some progress.”

I smiled kindly at him to match his expression, adding an energetic greeting. 

“Good morning dad!”

I placed the hoe vertically while resting both arms on top of it.

“Good morning daughter, you already seem like a farmer," he pointed at my face and the pieces of dirt that remained on it.

Slowly I washed it off, returning briefly and freshened up.

"Still, you sure woke up early,” he smiled at me, feeling surprised as it wasn’t habitual for me to leave our house during the dawn.

“I couldn’t help myself.” Embarrassed, I giggled childishly, “I wanted to speed this up to make an amazing field to show you both.”

My cheeks turned red while withstanding high anticipation of my father’s words. Without uttering a word, he took a few steps closer to the field and placed a bench not too far from it taking a seat on it. His gaze then befell the field and then returned to me before speaking with a kind smile and a glint of seriousness towards his slightly furrowed eyebrows.

“You’ve done a great job, Iris, but don’t overexert yourself. You’re still young. There is time to try all sorts of things.”

“Alright!”

Remembering the wise John's words about getting stronger, I made the best serious expression possible to match my father, which ended up looking silly, startling him momentarily. It looked to him like I was almost pouting, even though that was not the intention. Thanks to that, Luke wasn’t able to hold back, therefore he started bursting into laughter, killing the entirety of our moods. This made me feel awkward, giving up on what I was attempting to do. Nonetheless, without the will to quit wholly on my stacked worries, I voiced out in a somewhat sad tone.

“Is there a way to become strong enough to protect you two?”

From my question and the uncertainty of these words, and feelings, Luke sighed briefly and then inhaled deeply as he pondered deeply into it, contemplating their origin and purpose. After some time, he found a way to grasp their meaning.

“What do you want to protect us from that would require you to become powerful?”

To his surprise, my tone changed from a miserable one to a more convicted one, which gave strength and vocal power to my answer.

“Monsters... beasts... demons. In other words, humankind's enemies.”

I glared at him without ill intention to do as my hands clenched the wooden tip of the tool.

“There isn’t much a single girl can manage against all those races, even the strongest wizard in our Lumen kingdom, or the most skilled martial artist.”

With a pause and a more stressed tone, he added, whilst his fingers intertwined with each other.

“Even the peerless sword master, famous for his great mastery. All of them would succumb in the face of an army.”

Because of the realization of his words, I looked low, feeling down, unable to compromise with what my father referred to. Young as I was, it depressed me that I couldn’t achieve my dreams.

“But-” my eyes raised once more towards his, to which he interrupted me.

“You can still become relatively strong and help those in need, either as part of the guild as an adventurer, or who knows becoming part of a mercenary group, or even as a soldier by joining the army...”

As my mouth was about to open once more, his words continued.

“...though I don’t quite recommend them, as they’re both dangerous and you could end up dead.”

A thought danced in his mind, a cautious and kind one it was, ‘I hope she gives up on whatever’s on her mind. I wouldn’t want to see my daughter get hurt...’

After some time passed along with a summer breeze making the grass on the field move all in one direction, something within my stare changed, “but even then... I don’t want to remain weak!”

I could notice how dumbfounded he looked at my answer as his eyebrows raised, possibly thinking where my courage came from, especially towards him. Since I started having a more coherent personality, from movement to conversation ability, it felt to Luke like I was always mindful towards him, at times, my poor dad dared even feel that I feared him.

Facing a new side of his offspring, he couldn’t help but be content on the inside, willing to go as far as possible to bring my wishes possible, as any dad would want to do if they could. Still, as the responsible and strict parent that he was, his words carried the severity and heavy weight of reality.

“I understand Iris, however, that path is truly arduous and it’ll require a significant amount of hard work every day, and you might not even have the talent for it.”

Unease crawled inside of me, along with confusion.

“What do you mean?” I tilted my head as half of his words were something I wanted to hear, but the latter part was just frustrating.

“Despite everyone being able to use mana and an element, not all of them have the mental capacity for it, and that includes the quality of the soul that we have since the beginning, from the very day we’re born.”

Notice: You have unlocked soul in status. 

Realizing that something changed, I started wondering what it could be.

“What’s that?”

He stared at me confused, scratching the back of his brown hair softly, reaching towards the back part of his neck. And in the front, it was long enough to reach his eyebrows. Usually, the length mother would leave the hair at, since she was done who cut it for us.

“A soul?”

“Yes!” I pointed at him as if aiming at that word in specific.

He coughed once, before speaking, a usual sign of a great or simply long explanation.

“The research group at the magical institute believes it to be something that holds the information about who we are, usually entangled with our name, fame, and disgrace. These three things distinguish its type, and also how powerful it is, but being honest with you...”

He smiled faintly at me, placing his chin on top of his hand as the elbow positioned itself against the top of his right leg. His lips then resumed the wording as both eyes blinked dubiously.

“...it is but a belief. After all, there are many things that remain unexplained, things that only the goddess would have the answers for.”

With a worried tone, I began explaining a recent event unknown to my father.

“Disgrace sounds like a bad thing, and whenever a worm or a fish dies, I seem to get more of it...”

“The church is affiliated with the goddess which spreads her religion. They worship Aria who states her love for animals and insects, as they are pure and devoid of ego. Those who adore that greater being, don’t harm or eat them. Instead, there’re two fruits who proportionate the same characteristics they could get from them.”

Notice: You have unlocked affiliation in status. 

“But dad... why do humans hunt animals then?”

I looked at him innocently, like a little fluffy bunny. 

“It is the taste dear, those fruits have a horrible flavor that makes anyone want to throw up...” Luke made a nauseous expression just remembering the taste of it, making me giggle childishly, finding it funny.

“I would like to finish the achievements I started, but is it a bad thing?”

I placed my index finger below the lip pondering, causing my level of cuteness to spike, to what my father replied unaffected as we were in the middle of a serious topic.

“Just do what you wish. Neither I nor your mom worship the goddess. And even if we did, there’s no priest without disgrace in the church. Sure, some of them have a lot less than an ordinary person, but it doesn’t matter overall, and I don’t really know what their uses might be.”

I stared at the ground, relieved, while exhaling some air, feeling calmer about it, especially since I didn’t want someone important like a higher and famous being to be mad at me.

“I see...”

Dad’s voice began, causing our gazes to meet, and then I noticed him scratching his right cheek softly as if he was trying to compensate me with some advice while drilling some unease in his skin, almost as if he regretted hitting me with realism.

“If you want to become stronger, achievements should help a bit, even if they will take a very long time to finish.”

At those words, I felt joy swelling inside my heart, forcing me to burst with a high-pitched voice, a yell almost, “I’ll do my best to work hard on completing them!”

“Certainly the more effort you put into them, the faster it’ll be!”

Luke replied enthusiastically, making me attain a stronger will towards doing it all.

“What else should I do to become stronger?”

To that question, he made a grin, an unfamiliar one at that. Surprised momentarily, I stood quietly, waiting to see what would come out of him. After a prolonged wait, my body was all tensed up. Yet all he did was casually get up from the bench and stretch his arms upwards along with his back, which hurt due to lacking a place to rest it on. This created a soft sound of his joints snapping, causing my mouth to open slightly at how far louder it was compared to when I did it. Finally, after Luke returned to a more normal pose, his gaze fell on me as he declared boldly.

“You’ll have to wait for your mother to return from work to find out.”

Feeling teased from the long wait, I opened my mouth to complain, closing it right after saying nothing, feeling upset on the inside. I then turned my back to him, who started laughing at me, understanding fully well what he had done. Ignoring him, I resumed working in the field having rested plentifully.