Homesteading in a fantasy world

Pov Arabella

We walked down a newly and well-built road. Rich was silent, and it seemed that something was truly bothering him. So, I decided to ask him about the road, which perked him up a bit. As he continued to talk, I looked down in amazement. So much work to make this road, but I think Rich is right. It will last for a while.

Then he asked a question, "How were the roads built in the Elven nation you're from?" I really needed to think about whether I should reveal some Elven secrets. This should, however, be known by some outside our race, so it shouldn't be too bad if I answered him truthfully.

"Well, I can tell you that we do not put so much work into making roads like you have here. While we also have some stone roads in mountainous areas, we actually have mostly grass roads. Don’t give me that look; it’s not as simple as you think.”

“They can handle as much weight as this road. How we achieve it is that if you walk on the grass, it absorbs a little bit of energy, which it uses to strengthen itself and its root system, making it capable of handling a lot of weight and traffic."

His eyes started to shine like they did back in the dungeon when we got some good loot. He, of course, started to ask more questions, and I didn’t hold back on my answers.

"So, will you try to do something similar here? I bet you could figure something out, perhaps contact your supplier and get the grass seeds we use, like you did with the bow wood?" I had hoped that he would stumble a bit or show any signs that I had figured something out, but all he did was smirk at me and shook his head.

"Oh no, you really have some wrong ideas, but about the road, I do have some ideas, but no, I will not be making grass roads like Elves. But I have certainly gotten some inspiration from them. It won't be much longer until we make it to my land. So don’t worry, you won’t have to wait long for an answer." The way he showed amusement in every word made me want to punch him.

We had only walked a few more steps before he spoke again. "You know, we are wasting some precious time here. Let us train?" And then he started to run.

It took me a moment to understand his meaning, and I needed to push myself to try to keep up with him. The scenery blurred past us, but I was not as worried as I usually am when running so fast, as I was certain that my footing would be stable and that there wouldn't be any holes in the road.

It took me a while to catch him, but when I did, he started to slow down. It was then that I figured he let me catch up because we were closing in on what looked like an inn.

It was a decent-sized one and looked quite good, but what surprised me when I looked around were the similar outposts to the ones outside the capital. I had asked about them, and Rich answered that they were dungeon entrances, but why were there three of them so close by?

"Rich, what is going on? Dungeons so close to each other should be competing for the energy around here, but I do not sense that that is happening."

He looked at me for a few moments before answering, "You will find that out in time. You are a part of the government now, aren't you? Perhaps you should have asked for some information packets, but we can deal with that later. That road there leads to my home. Let's go."

I followed his lead, but I kind of wish we would have visited during the summer, as I bet this place would look beautiful. What surprised me was how many people there were and how many different buildings. He showed me all around, and I was quite impressed by all that was built here. There was even a sauna, although its function seemed different than the ones that I'm used to.

When I thought the tour was over, he started to walk through the thick snow towards what looked like hills. He once again went quiet, and I felt the mood change to a more serious one. We continued to walk until the hills turned into a forest. We had walked for quite a while when he finally spoke up, "So tell me about your connection with the wood that your bow is made out of."

The question came out of nowhere, but he didn’t stop walking, nor did he look back. I, however, did stop walking. Talking about this was completely different from talking about the grass roads. Not even regular citizens knew about Ferlin trees and their significance to our people.

Still, I needed to tell him something. That something could not be a lie, yet it could not be the whole truth. Perhaps just the facts then. He has always seemed to be more the practical type.

"To my knowledge, every Ferlin tree and every single gram of its wood is accounted for. I know that we have given some pieces as gifts to other nations, but you making a bow and just selling it in a random auction makes me think that perhaps you have a contact that has an unregistered Ferlin tree.”

“You see, I have a trait that requires me to bond with a Ferlin tree to get the benefits from it. There aren’t many of them, as they are highly fought over and quite hard to cultivate."

"My family only had two, and they could only be claimed by the leader of our family and the strongest member. We have a long history with these trees. So, I am hoping that perhaps your contact would be willing to allow me to bond with that tree. It's hard to explain, but it's more important than just the strength it gives us."

I went silent as I tried to think how to explain it, but Rich interrupted my train of thought. "There’s no need to explain any further. You can still have some secrets. I now know enough, and soon you will as well." What did that mean?

"Wait, I told you my side of it; you can’t just not explain your part." No matter what I said or asked, he simply didn’t answer and just continued to walk through the snow, making an easy path for me to follow. Eventually, I stopped trying and just hoped that he was going to give me some answers eventually.

I really didn’t enjoy not knowing or not being able to do anything except wait. We had walked for another hour and a half before I felt it. It was like I passed through an electric field. A moment later, goosebumps covered my skin as I felt a pull towards something coming from deep inside of me. Immediately, I looked ahead towards where Rich was guiding me.

"Is that even possible?" Then I heard that chuckle and immediately looked towards Rich. Before I could stop myself, I had thrown a punch towards him. He just caught it. "So, are you going to run towards it, or are we going to walk?"

I didn’t dignify that with an answer as I immediately jumped towards the tree closest to us and then started jumping, using multiple abilities I had to keep myself from falling as I jumped from tree to tree to quickly get to the tree that was pulling every inch of my being towards it.

When I finally found it, I stopped and looked at the tree, confused. It was not a Ferlin tree. It was something different, yet similar enough. Still, my trait shouldn't work.

Then I remembered the reward I got for completing the Ruin of Lost Ages dungeon. It modified my trait so it would have a wider range of acceptable trees, yet I had still not found any that would fit. Now, however, I had.

The need to bond with the tree was all-consuming, but I held myself back. Rich finally made it here, but before I could ask him, he gave me a sweet smile. "Go ahead," those two simple words meant more to me than he would ever know.

"Thank you," I said, while I could feel my eyes getting wet, but I didn’t wait a moment longer and rushed towards the tree to start the process and finally feel complete.