Bokuboy

This is it! Finally! The last chapter of the previously prepared story (formerly Chapter 181)! Starting with tomorrow's daily (single) chapter, it will be all new content.

Both Arnold and Kelly cast Water Blast spells and filled up the two dozen cisterns scattered all over one of the farming fields. Just for good measure, Kelly cast Rain Storm for several seconds to get the ground wet and then cancelled the spell. She had never thought about using her offensive spells to help people like this before, and she gave Arnold occasional looks of disbelief for thinking of it.

Arnold used one of his farming tools to stir up the ground and had one of the seed bags tied to his back. He had cut a very small hole on one corner of the bag and as he dug into the ground and walked, the seeds trickled out of the bag and bounced off his clothing and foot as they fell into the churned up dirt. The seeds spread out and gave great coverage. He was sure that at least some of them would get deep enough as he pinched the hole closed and walked back to churn the dirt back over.

The villagers had all come to watch the high and mighty adventurers reduce themselves to common farmers. They had first thought about laughing at them for doing it wrong, then suddenly they were watering, digging, and planting more efficiently than the farmers ever had. The daughters of the farmers all swooned and stared at Arnold as he worked. All they could think about was how strong and noble he was for doing their work for them after saving them from disaster.

Arnold could have just handed the seeds over and that would have helped the residents immensely. The villagers had expected that and then were shocked when he refused and told them that he was planting them himself. That was when they thought he was going to embarrass himself and they all came to see it. What they actually saw was a better way than the way they had been doing it.

Arnold had thought about using the nag to pull a plow; but, the quest specifically said that he had to grow the crops. He knew that planting them had to come first, so that was what he did. “Kelly, do you have a spell to make things go faster?”

“Sure.” Kelly said and opened her spell book and looked it up. “It's called Accelerate and it increases someone's speed by ten percent.”

“What's the area of effect?” Arnold asked and kept working.

“It doesn't have one. The target is one person or object.” Kelly said.

“Wait for me to finish this row and then cast the spell.” Arnold said.

“Wait, what?” Kelly looked at the twenty-nine rows of field he had already done. “You want to go faster after you're done?”

Arnold shook his head and took another five minutes to finish the row he had just started. “I want you to cast it on the field.”

Kelly just stared at him with her mouth slightly open.

“Turn on the irrigation.” Arnold said to the farmers and then looked at Kelly. “Prep and cast the spell on this part of the field.” He waved at the recently plowed dirt. “I want to see if they actually planted.”

“But...”

“How many times can you cast it?” Arnold asked.

“As long as I have Magic points to spend and the time.” Kelly said and prepped the spell. “There's a thirty second cool down time between castings.”

Arnold walked over to her and stood beside her, then waited. It took Kelly five seconds to cast the spell and for the first time, she targeted a field of crops instead of a teammate or colleague. To her surprise and the farmer's shock, the whole field glowed and absorbed the water from the simple irrigation system.

“Do it again.” Arnold said and after thirty seconds, Kelly prepped and cast the spell. “What did you do to get the spell?”

“It's a quest back in Langport.” Kelly said and cast the spell. “You're tasked with helping the deliveries all over the city and you're loaned the spell until you complete the task. Depending on how well you do, you're granted different versions of the spell.”

“How well did you do?” Arnold asked.

“I had one of the quickest times.” Kelly said with a smile.

“Can anyone do the quest, or is there a specific set of circumstances that need to be met?”

Kelly wasn't sure if she could answer that. “Well, I know I had access to it. I'm a magic user, though. It might be class specific and you might not get it.”

“Can you do it again to get better times and a more powerful version of the spell?” Arnold asked. “Cast the spell again.”

Kelly nodded and did so. “I think I can go back and try again, since it's a simple quest and there's no real requirements... or benefits... other than receiving the spell at the end.”

Arnold untied the three quarter's full seed bag from his back and turned it over to stop the seeds from dropping out. He waved at the farmers and they came over to him. He gave them that bag and the other bag, and they thanked him profusely for showing them a new way to do their plantings, rather than their normal way of planting each seed individually.

“It's quicker and it's messier this way.” Arnold said and waved at the field and the budding crops.

' Notice: Open Quest complete. Please return to the Training Witch for your reward. '

The farmers turned to look and saw sprouts pop up all over the place. “They are still in rows, so we can still work with them like normal.” One of them said. “Using your method, we will have this entire farm planted in a day.”

“If you split the seeds into smaller bags and get all the farmers to help, you'll be done in a couple of hours.” Arnold suggested and the farmers stared at him. “We need to go.”

“NO!” The daughters all yelled as one. “Please stay!”

“Marry me!” “No, me!” “Please love me as much as you want!” “I'll be your wife!” “Pick me!”

Arnold ignored them as he took Kelly's hand and they walked over to the nag.

“WAIT!” The mayor of the village said and came over to them. “You didn't come to me for the quest to help the village recover.” He said and took out a fast travel voucher. “Please accept this as thanks.”

Arnold looked at Kelly and she nodded. He took the voucher and then helped Kelly climb onto the nag and climbed on himself. “The training witch.”

The villagers all made sounds of wonder and awe as the nag grew giant butterfly wings and then the adventurers were gone from their sight.

“You know that voucher was the only thing we had of value.” One of the villagers said and the mayor laughed.

“We've never used it and I wasn't planning on using it at any time in the future.” The mayor said. “It's nowhere near as valuable as what those adventurers showed us.” He turned and looked at the farmers. “Ladies and gentlemen. I believe the adventurers have given this village new life.”

“Damn right.” One of the farmer's said as he divided up the large sack of seeds into smaller sacks to hang on people's shoulders. “He's right. We can have this whole farm done in two hours, then we can go over to the rest of them and do them, too.”

“We can help!” His daughter exclaimed.

“Then go ahead and start churning the dirt.” The farmer said and nodded. “We can get done quicker with everyone working together.”

“Let's go!” She said to the other daughters and they all got to work.

“Gather the magic users and see if any of them have that Accelerate spell.” The mayor said. “If they do, then get them to do the same thing the adventurers did. If none of them have it, I will send them to Langport to get it.” He smiled. “Those adventurers have helped us a lot more than they realize. In no time at all, the surrounding villages will come to us looking for food.”

*

“Arnold.” Kelly turned her head to look at him. “How did you know there would be damsels in the village?”

“A damsel is just a young unmarried woman. If she's in danger, she is in distress and can be saved.”

Kelly just stared at him and didn't know what to say, then she did. “I really want to kiss you now.”

Arnold chose that personal action option to kiss her character and Kelly laughed.

“I meant in real life.” Kelly said.

“We have to break for lunch soon.” Arnold said. “Can you wait until then?”

“I can wait for as long as I have to.” Kelly responded.

*

The Training Witch was relaxing after another boring morning of watching incompetent adventurers try, and mostly fail, to complete even her basic training regimen. She hadn't had a good student since that very impressive student a month and a half ago. She sat down to have a quick meal before she went back to her stall to wait and see if anyone else was going to show up, then she felt an absurd amount of Magic points flow into her.

By Helena, someone completed one of my open quests! The Training Witch thought in shock. She abandoned her meal and ran outside her modest little house. She thought about going back to her stall at the side of her house on the street, then stood there on her porch instead. If someone had completed one of their promises, she wanted to meet them in a more informal setting.

She took in a sharp breath when a flying horse with two people on it landed right in front of her. Her hands shook when she saw the partially armored man get off the horse and walk over to her. She recognized her impressive student immediately.

“Morbid.” The Training Witch whispered.

“I completed the quest and have returned for my reward.” Morbid said.

The Training Witch nodded and silently asked for the quest stats. Heal a sick villager. Save ten damsels in distress. Protect a hundred people from attack. Grow a thousand crops and feed the starving. She thought, then looked at the popup she received and her mouth dropped open in surprise.

' Sick villagers healed: 1 (Adventurer's Healing Fruit given to mayor).
Damsels in distress saved: 15.
People Protected from attack: 325.
Crops grown (with magic): 8,543. Personally planted (by hand): 8,543.

Growth potential of the technique taught to farmers: 80,000+ per field (x3).

Starving fed (current): 1. Starving that will be fully fed within the month: 1,299 '

The Training Witch read the popup several times and she didn't know what to say. She had never seen one of her quests completed before and she was at a loss for words. Her hand brushed over the popup and touched the numbers of crops grown and the potential for the future.

A month. The Training Witch thought. It took him a month and a half to complete this ridiculous quest and another month will have over a thousand starving people well fed. She touched the bottom of the popup and closed it. “Morbid, I am amazed. No one has completed one of my quests before.” She said finally. “I can't believe... I expected you to take months for most of the quest and at least a year for the crops to complete it.”

Morbid stood there and waited patiently for his reward without saying anything. He didn't boast or proclaim how easy it was, and after a few moments, she understood why. He wasn't the type to brag. The Training Witch reached up and took off her own very large purple hat and held it in her hands.

“I cannot compel you to take any of the Magic User classes. However, I urge you to follow in my footsteps and be the best Nature Witch in the lands.” The Training Witch stepped forward and held the hat out to him. “In order to convince you that it would be to your benefit, I give you access to my class abilities to try them for yourself. Equip this hat and you will qualify as a Nature Witch without having to accept the class.”

The young woman on the horse gasped.

“The hat is linked to you and no one else can use it. It cannot be sold, traded, or given away, since it's physical value is nothing.” The Training Witch said and smiled. “It's inherent value is priceless, especially if you chose the Nature Witch class. It has had decades of innate spells cast around it and it will serve you well if you follow in my footsteps.”

Morbid took the hat and plunked it on his head. It resized to fit him and the hat settled down as if he had always worn it. “Thank you.”

He shocked the Training Witch out of her socks when he stepped forward and kissed her. It was only brief and her mouth was closed, so she wasn't scandalized by it, then he walked back over to the horse and climbed on behind the young woman.

“Langport.” Morbid said.

The Training Witch stared at him as the horse grew butterfly wings and then it took off with her best student and disappeared from her sight. She reached up and touched her lips as a new hat grew on her head. It looked identical to the one she had just given away and it settled on her head as if she had always worn it.

“I should have offered to teach him.” The Training Witch said and went to the side of her house to return to her stall. She sat down and waited for the next adventurer to show up for training and she had completely forgotten to return to her house to finish her meal.

*

“I guess you're not going to have a problem qualifying as a magic user to get the spell now.” Kelly said, a little perturbed. She had thought that there would be some kind of nice reward for completing that open quest; but, she never imagined Arnold gaining a class without gaining a class. She understood the witch's words as well. The hat only gave him access to the class abilities. They wouldn't level up or improve, and he wouldn't be able to spend points to make the abilities better.

It was like a free preview. You counted as a Nature Witch for all intents and purposes; but, you wouldn't get any of the high level spells and things that the class granted until you levelled the class... which he couldn't do until he took it.

“Can I gain any spell now?” Arnold asked. “Does just being a magic user qualify me?”

“You technically have access to a class now. I suppose the only way to find out is to see if you can gain any spells by trying to get them.” Kelly said. “First stop, we'll get you the Accelerate spell, since that one is ridiculously easy to complete the requirements. After that, we'll break for lunch and browse the internet for the base spells anyone can try to gain by doing quests.”

“Okay.” Arnold said as they landed in Langport.

Kelly told him where to go to start the quest and she asked to be dropped off. “You don't need me to slow you down as you try to cast the spell to...”

Arnold held onto her and went to the address.

“Arnold, you're going to need your hands free.” Kelly said, once again perturbed. “Drop me off and...”

“No.” Arnold said and trotted the nag over to the man who ran the delivery service. “I want to start the Accelerate spell quest.”

The man looked at the nag and Arnold's extra passenger, then let out a bark of laughter. “You're going to have a heck of a time casting spells like that.” He said and wait for Arnold's reaction, then shrugged when there was none. “Okay, then. Here you go.” He gave him a spell scroll. “Read that and as soon as the first messenger appears, cast the spell on him. I'll time him for the delivery and the return. If it's fast enough, we'll keep going until either you can't do it anymore or the packages are delivered.”

Arnold nodded and read the spell. It was added to his Hotkey List and glowed as it showed him he only needed to press two buttons to cast the simple spell.

“At least let me off the horse.” Kelly said and Arnold opened his arms and she slipped off the nag. The first messenger appeared and picked up the first package.

“Where is it being delivered?” Arnold asked and the messenger said the address. Arnold quickly cast the spell on him, grabbed his collar before he could move, then the nag took off flying towards the address. They were back barely thirty seconds later for the next package and the spell hadn't even worn off yet. “Next.” Arnold said with a smile and the messenger picked up the next package and they took off again.

Kelly laughed at the stunned quest giver's face. “He did it again!” She said and kept laughing.