The inn, or rather the downstairs tavern

  felt like a completely different place in the afternoon. There were a

  few people hanging around, day drinking or just hiding from their

  responsibilities, but it was mostly empty and almost eerily quiet.

  Sebastian quickly ignored his stray thoughts and walked up to the lady

  sweeping the floor. Who also happened to be the lady who handled just

  about everything else thus far, both check-ins and -outs and the food,

  as far as he could tell.

  He gave an awkward wave to get her attention. “Hello

  again! As it turns out, I’m staying in town for a little while longer.

  Do you have any rooms available for a longer stay, say, at least a

  couple of weeks?”

  Leaning on her broom, she flashed a kind and respectful

  smile. “I’m afraid not, we don’t accept long term guests.” The

  innkeeper’s eyes glanced down at the sword hanging from Sebastian’s

  waist for a moment. Her head tilted as some idea seemingly formed in her

  head. “Although…” she began slowly, “I suppose I do have an idea if you

  need a place to stay for a couple of weeks. I see you carry a sword,

  are you a hunter or warrior of some sort?”

  “Something like that I guess.” Sebastian shrugged.

  “Mind if I ask what level you are?”

  Good thing the [System] was kind enough to prepare for situations like this.

  “No harm I suppose, I’m level 20.”

  She rubbed her chin. “Hmm… Should be enough,” she mumbled

  quietly. “It’s like this. My parents have a farm just outside of town.

  For the past week they’ve been harassed by monsters. No actual attacks,

  thank the gods, but the monsters are making a mess of the farm.”

  Sebastian could sense where this was headed. “They’ve set traps, but the

  monsters get past them. They’ve talked to the guards, but they say that

  they don’t have the manpower to send a team out for something so small,

  at least not without any attacks on actual people as opposed to just

  property. They thought about commissioning a hunting party to deal with

  the monsters, but the hunters just say that there’s not enough

  experience involved for it to be worth the effort. Even if I were to

  chip in with my own savings, we would have to spend almost everything we

  own to hire them.

  “My parents have a guest house on the farm, nothing fancy

  but should be good enough since you seemed to be fine with the rooms I

  offer here. I’m sure you could stay there, free of charge, so long as

  you can protect the farm from the monsters. Would you be interested in

  an arrangement like that?”

  Sebastian took a short moment to think about it.

  A job, a place to stay, and monsters

  to hunt; what’s not to like!? Depending on where I decide to go after

  this, it might complicate things if I’m tied down too much, I suppose.

  So long as I’m not bound by some contract to keep me there, it should be

  fine.

  I’m struggling to find even a single real downside.

  “That sounds doable, sure beats sleeping outside.”

  “Great! I’m Elvira by the way, nice to officially meet you,” she said as he offered a handshake.

  Sebastian shook her hand and responded by sheer habit.

  “Sebastian!”

  Damn, I meant to make up a name. I’m

  too close to the capital to be using my own name! Whatever, it’s fine.

  They all think I’m dead anyway.

  “An unusual name, but I like it. Well, Sebastian, I

  suppose you could take the same room as before for tonight, on the

  house. I’ll need to talk to my parents and make sure that they don’t

  have any objections. Assuming not, you can head over there tomorrow.”

  Sebastian thanked her and returned to the same room as

  before. He locked the door, threw his bag and gear on the floor, and

  sat, legs crossed, on the bed showered in late afternoon sun. He was

  only able to cultivate for a few hours last night, and he was itching to

  get back to it.

  He didn’t waste any time. As soon as he sat down, he

  closed his eyes and breathed according to the rhythm of the [Earthen

  Cultivation Art].

  Gradually, the Physical Realm melted away as he entered a

  cultivative trance and returned once more to the Spirit Realm. He took a

  moment to hone his intent before his spirit body became the center of a

  black hole, absorbing large amounts of essence from the world around

  him.

  The natural essence—which was slightly lighter in color

  in Blackoak than by the Emberwoods—effortlessly entered his spirit body

  and was pulled deeper and deeper, becoming purer and purer as it reached

  farther into his spirit body. As the essence drew closer to his Sea of

  Essence, the pressure exerted upon it grew exponentially and over time

  tiny droplets of liquid essence made their way into his meridian

  pathways and joined the essence circulating throughout his entire

  system.

  Sebastian only took a small break to eat when his food

  was delivered to the door and then cultivated through the entire night,

  only awakening as the sun rose in morning.

  Sebastian packed up, cleaned up, and

  walked downstairs. Same as always, Elvira was there serving breakfast to

  some guests. It seemed to Sebastian that she worked 20-hour shifts

  every single day. Whatever the time, she always seemed to be there.

  Although there were people working quite extreme hours back home, he

  felt it was a bit much.

  There was no trace of any other employees either, which

  meant she not only managed the place but handled the cleaning, cooking,

  and serving amongst everything else that needed taking care of.

  Everything she had done so far was of top quality as well, at least

  based on Sebastian’s standards, even though she’s working so hard on her

  own.

  “Good morning, Sebastian!” she greeted him with a warm

  smile. “I spoke with my parents, and they’ll be glad to have you. Have

  some breakfast. You can head over to the farm once you’ve eaten.”

  “Good morning, yourself. And that’s great, thanks so much.”

  Sebastian quickly finished the breakfast Elvira had

  prepared before following her directions out toward the town’s western

  entrance.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Blackoak didn’t have much in the way of defenses but

  there was a wall, reaching only up to Sebastian’s waist, surrounding the

  town. Physically, it likely wouldn’t be able to accomplish much in case

  of an attack but Sebastian couldn’t help but feel like the wall was

  likely heavily enchanted and far more capable than it appeared.

  He walked along a well-managed dirt road across luscious,

  green fields. Running alongside the dirt road was a small stream of

  water, home to a variety of surprisingly loud critters. Some looked like

  frogs while others reminded him of little otters. Combined with the

  lovely weather, it proved to be a lovely way to start the day.

  By the end of that beautiful walk, he reached the small wooden sign which read, {Tanner Farm}, pointing down an access road.

  As he walked down the access road, he looked out over

  fields of crops that he didn’t quite recognize. He had never been a

  farmer so he probably wouldn’t recognize anything specific anyway but

  these felt unfamiliar and almost alien, likely due to their slight

  purplish hue.

  The closer he looked, the more he saw signs of trouble,

  though. Parts of the field were damaged with crops ripped out of the

  ground. Efforts had evidently been made to clean up after whatever

  monster had been there, but the damage couldn’t be hidden. Soon, other

  patches of farmland could be seen past the crop fields. The damage was

  quite wide spread. Bushes were torn up, soil uprooted, and fences

  broken.

  A few minutes later, he arrived at a farm house, welcomed

  by the rhythmic sound of wood being chopped. An older man, quite short

  and portly with a buzz cut and beard, chopped wood like a machine by the

  side of the house. The man picked up a fresh, massive, chunk of

  wood—bark and all—and placed it down before chopping it in half with a

  single swing. Then, he turned it around and continued chopping, turning a

  massive chunk into manageable pieces in no time.

  The man must have heard Sebastian coming because he

  paused his work by slamming the axe into the chopping block, leaving it

  standing upright.

  “Good morning!” Sebastian greeted. “Elvira said you were expecting me?”

  “You must be Sebastian. Declan’s the name, well met,” the man said as he offered his hand.

  Sebastian naturally accepted the handshake. “She

  mentioned you could use a hand around the farm, dealing with some

  monsters in exchange for a room.”

  “Aye! Those damn kobolds keep messing up our crops and

  stealing my chickens. They even killed our guard dog, the little

  fuckers.” Declan made no attempt at hiding his hatred for these kobolds.

  “I’ve talked to the guards, but they don’t give two shits about our

  farm, or our dogs for that matter. They won’t step up unless the kobolds

  start attacking townsfolk or travelers.”

  Sebastian frowned in sympathy. “Sounds awful. I should

  admit that I haven’t had much experience with kobolds. I have hunted a

  good deal of goblins, though.”

  “Kobolds and goblins don’t have too much in common,

  beyond the size, but I’m sure you’ll be just fine. They’re both annoying

  pests. Ellie mentioned you were level 20; I’m no monster expert, but

  kobolds aren’t usually more than level 10 so you shouldn’t have any

  issues. Myself, I’m still level 8. Never got a chance to climb any

  higher. In my prime, I probably could have handled a kobold myself but

  nowadays I can’t really do much. Other than yell and throw stuff at ‘em

  that is.”

  After a nod and a polite smile, Sebastian asked, “So… how many should I expect?”

  “No more than a couple at a time. I think there are more

  of them around but it seems like they take turns, and there hasn’t been

  more than one or two per raid thus far.” Declan started walking and

  waved Sebastian along. “Come, I’ll show you the guest house.”

  They walked over to a small cottage a short walk away

  from the main farm house and barn. Unlike the houses in town, this

  cottage looked and felt… natural. As if it wasn’t built by some master

  builder guided by the magic of the [System], but rather just a capable

  man who needed a guest house.

  It somehow made Sebastian feel more at home.

  The inside was cozy but not too small. There was a bed in

  the corner, a small seating area, a kitchen or rather a cooking corner

  with some pots and such, and a fireplace. From the moment he walked in,

  Sebastian was faced with a smell that brought him right back to his

  childhood when he visited his parents’ old vacation home.

  Clearly, although it wasn’t used very much, it was well

  taken care of. They had kept it clean and treated it with love. Whether

  that was in preparation for Sebastian’s arrival or just how they kept it

  at all times, he had no way of knowing.

  Declan swept his hand in front of him, as if unveiling the place. “Here we are, nothing much, but it should do.”

  “It’s perfect,” Sebastian said with a slight smile on his face.

  Sebastian didn’t have anything else to

  do for the day, and the kobolds only raided the farm during nighttime,

  so he spent most of the day cultivating and reading the manual.

  Ever since his breakthrough to the [Essence

  Consolidation] stage, his understanding of the strange and foreign

  concepts and descriptions in the manual had somehow improved.

  His cultivation continued until sundown when he got up and began his first patrol.

  The fortunate part of this side quest that he had

  stumbled onto was that although the farm was quite large, there wasn’t

  all that much area to cover during his patrol as the kobolds only cared

  about a few choice things. Declan also hadn’t given him any real

  direction or instructions beyond, “Keep an eye out and kill the little

  shits if you can!” Which seemed simple enough.

  So Sebastian did just that.

  He walked around the area and kept his eyes and ears

  peeled for the slightest indication of unwelcome visitors. A paranoia,

  stemming from the events of the past month, and a still unrelenting

  sense of unfamiliarity with this world made the first night rather

  frustrating. He jumped at every little critter in the night. Tripped

  over various materials and tools left on the ground. His mind seemed to

  turn the otherwise innocent sound of wind passing through the crops into

  the stuff of nightmares.

  The night went on for what felt like several days,

  although he knew better than to trust that feeling, but sunrise came

  eventually.

  By the end of the night, his mind had finally settled

  down to some degree. At the very least, it stopped playing too many

  tricks on him. It helped that there hadn’t been any traces of kobolds

  lurking around the farm, let alone any actual attacks.

  With the rising sun on the horizon Sebastian felt a

  pleasant sense of stability, however short and fragile that might prove

  to be. He had a place to stay for a couple of weeks and a job to keep

  his mind from going places he wasn’t very comfortable exploring—even if

  his mind wandered in other ways.

  The chill in the air gradually melted away under the

  morning light, and the quiet of night faded as the birds and the rest of

  this world’s wildlife welcomed the new day.

  Sebastian returned to the farm house and quickly briefed

  Declan—who was already up at dawn like farmers tended to be—of the

  uneventful night before settling in to his cottage. There still wasn’t

  much for him to do during the day so he took the opportunity to continue

  his cultivation.

  The feeling of constant progress, and a palpable increase in power, was intoxicating and very difficult to resist.

  His rate of cultivation had slowed down some since he broke through to the [Essence Consolidation] stage.

  Even with almost a full day of cultivation, he only

  managed to condense 2 full drops, moving his total at this point up to 6

  drops of liquid essence circulating throughout his spirit body.

  Each drop felt like rocket fuel coursing through his veins.

  The manual didn’t give any real indication for how many

  drops were needed to fully fill your meridian pathways—let alone the

  differences in capacity between the tiers of meridian systems—but so

  far, these 6 drops felt like a bucket in the ocean. At this rate, to

  fully fill his Peak meridian pathways would require years of arduous

  cultivation, if not longer.

  However, with the effects of cultivation helping to slow

  the aging process—which the manual bragged about at times, time was one

  thing he had plenty of. Whether he could achieve his goals of power and

  revenge now, in a few years, or in several decades time didn’t make much

  of a difference either.

  He would succeed eventually.