Homesteading in a fantasy world

I noticed Freya looking at me. She was quite close and apparently she had tried to sneak up while I was fighting looking to help me. This helped me calm myself down as I went to give her some reassurances that everything was fine. After that she left towards the barn.

Now I had to deal with three bodies. As I searched them, I found 2 potions that I believed to be healing potions. I also picked up the vial that was dropped on the ground. You never know when you need an empty one.

They had some food rations on them but nothing else of importance for the minor things. I did get one wood shield, two one-handed swords, and a two-handed sword. The armour was quite useless to me except for their gloves and boots, which you can never have too many of just in case someone needs them.

I decided not to waste wood just yet. If there is more coming, I can make a pyre for them all later. What I did discover is that I need to make a handcart so moving bodies and similar loads will be faster.

I checked my sword and found it in even worse shape. It has deep chips and was slightly bent again. Luckily, now I had something to switch it with so I could actually retire this sword. I should make a proper plaque and mount it on a wall to honour its life.

I sharpened the new swords and picked one that looked the best for my everyday carry. The two-handed looked awesome. It seemed to be well made, out off good steel, so when I know I will go to battle I might actually bring this one.

The shield was also useful, and now I didn’t have to make my own. It was a round shield, similar to the ones Vikings used.

All the gloves were usable and now I had a good pair for everyday work. For the shoes, one pair fit me and were even a bit larger. Which I was quite happy about because I’ve been starting to notice that I’ve been growing quite quickly, meaning I might outgrow my current boots soon.

So basically, this was a scouting party sent to assess the situation here so I will be having some more company in the following days. Hopefully, there aren’t too many of them, but I can make some preparations beforehand to make myself have a bigger advantage.

I must use all my advantages. What this fight showed me is that I am unused to fighting with abilities. They do not come as reflex. I have to think about them to use them; I need to fix that part of my training. Getting in a close fight the next time might not be the best choice, especially if I’m outnumbered.

I have a great advantage on my land thanks to my owners land, so I should use ambushing tactics. The ones to follow will follow the same way to find out what happened.

That means they will come down the road and most of that road cut through the grasslands, a perfect place to hide with a little bit of work.

I have noticed that rabbits have a way of not disturbing the grass. That way, it’s really hard to see where they are.

They do it by having trails through it where there is no grass. If you looked towards it horizontally you would never know that there was a trail, so I must do the same so when I move, they would not see me in the grass.

What I should also do is dig some places lower so I could stand and shoot my bow while being completely hidden in the grass. I would still be able to see them through the grass using animal sight. I could even see if they used any abilities. This guarantees me at least 1 kill, most likely more when I start the fight.

The grass is so high I don’t have to dig that much. The dirt I just throw around in a large arc, so it’s dispersed around the area.

I make a few of these places and cut out a line of grass so I could move without being noticed. As I check from the road, I’m happy with my work as there is absolutely no hint that there is anything out there.

When I made it back to the farm, I had a problem, and that was my bow. It was not the best, and the longbow was a bit too cumbersome for this mission. I simply didn’t make the ditch big enough so I could use it properly.

It was time to make a new short bow. This time I have wood that is properly prepared so I can use all my knowledge and new abilities to make the best one I can.

It was a long process, and I finished as the sun was starting to go down. The summer solstice was close, as the sun would disappear for only a few hours during the night. I got a few level-ups for my crafting.

ability is upgraded to sharp blade level 4

skill is upgraded to basic bow making level 9

skill is upgraded to wood carving level 2

The next day came and after my morning chores, I got ready. I brought the two-hander, and 3 spears including the big goblin's. The new bow that I started to test. It was a nice and heavy one with a quick snap that launched deadly arrows fast. The last things to pack up were a bundle of arrows, some food and water and the health potions.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t rely on my owners land to notify me as it would be too late for me to get into the position that I prepared. I had to wait in my prepared location until I finally felt them crossing into my land.

There are only five of them and it didn't take long for my sight to be able to make them out. A bit later, my enhanced hearing started to pick up what they were saying.

“Hey, boss, is it really a good idea for us to check this place out? They have never not returned before, so this must be a dangerous place?”

There was no answer from anyone else as they continued walking.

“Hey, boss, is it really ok for us all to leave? What if something happened and someone found our supplies?”

“SHUT UP YOU IDIOT, there's no one else around anymore and they most likely just found some booze and are now drunk. There's no one around that can oppose us anymore so, shut, your, mouth or I will shut it for you.”

They were silent afterwards, and by messing with my sights I was able to identify the weapons that everyone was carrying. Identifying what armour they were wearing was a bit more difficult to figure out, but I believe only one had chainmail while the others had similar armour to the men that came before.

Three of them had shields, and I didn’t like that one of them had a bow. The one wearing the chainmail had a big two-handed axe.

I silently waited for the perfect moment and my first shot using silent arrow was meant for the man with the bow. Just before I released the shot, I heard the bowman say. “Hey, boss.”

He didn't get any further as there was now an arrow in his neck. I quickly shot another one and managed to hit another in the side and it seemed the arrow penetrated quite deep. My next move was to stay completely silent.

“It came from the left side quickly. Shields up. Did anyone see the shooter?”

I didn’t have to wait long as one of the shield carriers look back at the fallen men looking to try to help, but he made a mistake and lowered his shield too much.

I used the opening and launched another silent arrow that cut through the grass and with only 10 feet of open space in front of them, they only had a little time to react and because of that, another arrow connected with a neck.

There were now only two men left standing and one groaning in pain, slowly bleeding out. The other shield carrier was now more careful and threw a potion to the man on the ground.

I had to climb out a bit from my ditch to get a better angle to put an arrow into the head of the lying man that was now drinking the potion.

This broke the last shield man, and he started to run towards me. I quickly shot an arrow into his leg, which made him falter and I quickly threw a spear that hit him in his exposed chest, but this also exposed me.

“There you are, you son of a bitch. How dare you attack us? We were the last force left alive. You have doomed yourself. We were the last fighting force that could have protected you.”

I shot him rapidly with four arrows. He dodged two, but the two that did hit didn’t penetrate his armour, making my bow useless against him.

I picked up the big goblin spear and started to walk towards him while at the same time sneakily dragging the two-handed sword closer to the road.

I stopped that the edge of the grass not going any further and just looked at him to measure him up and figure out how I was going to fight this.

“You were walking also confidently towards me but now you stopped. Did you finally get scared when you came close to a real man? I hate you hiding sneaky types, so useless.”

I didn’t let this word bother me, nor did I move from my spot. I had a plan, but he needed to come towards me for that.

“Oh, I hate you cowards. I will show you what a real warrior looks like.”

And he started to walk towards me and at quite a fast pace, but he didn’t run. It seems he is not stupid and knew that you shouldn't run at someone that held a spear.

As he was quite close, I quickly stepped back, and I was able to catch him off guard as I threw my spear toward him.

At this close range, he couldn't dodge in time and took a hit similar to the one I did from the big goblin, but his armour did a lot better job of protecting him.

I didn’t have any good abilities to use while throwing, so unfortunately this throw will not finish the fight. But what this move did do was make him stagger thanks to the weight of the spear and the power of my throw.

I quickly used this moment to draw the two-hander and rushed towards him, charging up both my piercing cut and heavy blow.

He had enough time to realize what was happening and activate his own ability that covered his axe, doing something to it as he tried to block with it. If he had more time, he might have been able to save himself. But my blow was able to cut through the axe handle and hit him on the shoulder.

While my abilities energy was spent by going through the axe handle by his own ability, I was still able to land a hit on his arm, likely shattering its bone as the sound informed me.

Thanks to the chainmail he wore, I wasn’t able to cut him. He was able to produce a dagger from somewhere and was now striking towards my side. I had to use my movement ability to get away, which left him shocked once again.

I didn’t want to give him a chance to recover himself. Who knows what kind of ability he might have and so I quickly rushed back in. He was again able to use some sort of ability on his dagger to save his life, but I was still able to send the dagger flying.

I quickly kicked out one of his knees, making him fall onto his knees and my next strike was aimed at the weak spot around the neck, trying to take his head clean off.

But he was able to get his working hand between my sword and his neck and thanks to his chainmail he was able to survive, but now his hands were useless.

One had a broken bone, and this one was hanging loosely, my ability charged strike cutting through the mail and bone, only some meat still connected it.

So, it came to me as a complete surprise when his other hand, the one that was supposed to be broken, wrapped around my ankle and pulled me to the ground.

As he tried to climb onto me, I quickly let go of the sword and pulled my knife. He had a momentary advantage because he was stronger than me, but he only had one arm.

So, as he wrapped his hand around my neck to try to squeeze me to death, my now correctly pointed knife slipped into his neck and a quick wrestling move got me on top of him and I pushed the knife deeper.

It didn’t take long for him to finally die, and I was finally able to relax, roll onto my back and cough a bit because his grip was really strong and a few moments later he would have been able to crush my throat and win this fight.

“Holy shit, you were strong. Good fight.”