Haven Online

[Tasting has leveled up!]

'This has to be the most enjoyable skill to level up in the entire game,' Xinya thought as he wiped the crumbs from his second buttercream bun off his hands. 'I better level it while I still can.' 

He knew that it would be hell trying to level Tasting once the update happens. Diet potions would become his drug, and he would be his own supplier. 

Smirking slightly at the image he created in his mind, Xinya glanced up at the sky. Only to see that the first light of dawn had finally started to pierce through the night sky. 

Soon there will be enough light to start heading out.

Getting up from his seat, Xinya made his way over to his modified Cupcake cart kitchen. Pressing the button on the side, he transformed it back to its natural form before putting it back in his inventory.

Turning back around to where Melting Snow was seated, he started to speak but paused once he saw the sight that was in front of him. Smiling, Xinya quickly opened his interface and tapped on the camera function, taking a picture of the boy. 

He looked so adorable with his cheeks stuffed full of food just like a squirrel.

'I'll send this to Wei later.'

He knew that she would get a kick out of how cute it was as much as he did. "Are you ready to go, Melting Snow?"

"Yup, I was born ready!" Melting Snow exclaimed, bouncing up from his seat and kicking some dirt in the fire pit to put it out. 

Clicking his map icon, Xinya put in the coordinates that would lead them back to town. "Then let's be off!" 

With the glow of the early morning sun shining down on them, Xinya and Melting Snow traversed through the extensive, expansive farmland to the road that would lead them to their destination.

"These buns are so delicious! I just can't stop eating them!" Melting Snow emitted while taking a big bite out of one of the leftover giant buns in his hands.

"I'm glad you like them, but you might want to take it easy; that's your fifth one already." Xinya grinned, happy that the boy was enjoying the food he made. "If you are not careful, you will get fat."

"Fat?! Don't be silly Drifting Cloud; you can't get fat in this game. That would be crazy!" Melting Snow chuckled, shaking his head at his friend's outlandish remark.

"You never know," Xinya mumbled quietly to himself, as he thought about all of the people who would be rioting on the forums in a couple of months.

But Melting Snow was right; he wouldn't have to worry about getting fat; no, he will have the opposite problem. He would have to worry about starving to death. 

Pausing mid-bite, Melting Snow turned to look at Xinya, asking, "By the way, where are we heading first when we reach the town?"

"I want to go to the library. I need to find some books on agriculture to acquire the Farming skill, and I also need to research how to fix that burnt farmland of mine."

"Wait... You can get farming skills from the library?" Melting Snow asked, clearly befuddled. "Are you sure?"

With his gaze directed at the boy, Xinya replied, "Yes, I'm 100% certain. I looked it up on the Haven Online skill website. It said that the Farming skill can be taught, or self-learned through books."

"When you say taught, do you mean by an NPC?"

"Yes, I do," Xinya begins, inclining his head in agreement. "From what I read on the website, if I had an NPC to show me, then I would be able to start off on a higher skill level. But having to find an NPC who farms while also trying to get in their good graces would just take too long. It's better for me to just learn the skill from a book."

Although Xinya understood that starting from a higher level and having a chance of learning a secret farming technique would be better in the long run, he didn't have the time. 

Time was a luxury for him now, something that he just couldn't afford if he wanted to have everything up and running before the update. So for this skill, he would have to take the easy way instead of the right way.

"I see, well, learning the skill through a book will be fine for us. With just the two of us working on the farm, we will level the skill in no time," Melting Snow told him, optimistically. 

"Your right..." trailing off mid-word, Xinya turned to look at the boy in confusion. "What do you mean by us?"

"Obviously, I need to learn how to farm as well. There's no way you could take care of your land yourself," Melting Snow explained, while secretly thinking, 'The faster the plants grow, the faster the food will get made.'

"Are you sure? I don't want you to waste your skill points."

Shaking his head, Melting Snow waved Xinya's words away. "Don't worry, I got tons of them. Besides using them for Beast Taming and Animal Husbandry, I don't have any other hobby skills."

Smiling, Xinya pulled the boy into a quick side hug, "Thanks for always helping me, Melting Snow."

"No thanks needed," Melting Snow replied bashfully. "Helping you is fun for me. I will get to play with cute animals and eat yummy food. I'm honestly doing it for selfish reasons."

"Whatever you say," Xinya laughed, knowing the boy was just saying that because he was shy.

Feeling the need to change the subject, Melting Snow said, "By the way, what about the quest we got in the root cellar? Are you going to look up some information about your farm at the library as well?"

"Thanks for reminding me! I think that's a good idea, but I think we would need to find the first clue to activate the quest before we are able to find the other ones." 

"Well," Melting Snow begins as he bit into another buttercream bun. "It's going to take us a while before we reach town since we are on foot anyway. So you can read that journal you found as we walk."

"And while I'm reading, what will you do?" Xinya asked with a raised eyebrow.

Giving the man a bright smile, Melting Snow said, "I will play around on the forums, of course."