"Yup, looking good today as well."
I muttered to myself as I worked on the field.
At this rate, they'll grow into some high quality produce.
"Hey! Al!"
I turned around after hearing my name, seeing my friend Testa coming towards me.
I wondered what it was.
Having stopped what I was doing, I stood up and started heading towards Testa.
"Hey Testa, what's the matter?"
Hearing my question, Testa scratched his head with a troublesome expression on his face.
"I called you because we're going fis.h.i.+ng soon, but you really love your farm, don't you? Even if you're a farmer, I don't think anybody concentrates on farming that much."
It was already time to go? However…
"I don't think that's true at all… I only do it because I have nothing to do. Well, I'll admit that I enjoy farming."
"Anyway, we're going fis.h.i.+ng right?" I said to Testa. I waved goodbye and headed home to prepare.
Once I finished preparing, I made my way towards the port, and embarked on Testa's boat.
Inside the s.h.i.+p there are several magical stones full of magic power, which are used to empower it, allowing the s.h.i.+p to sail without wind.
"Sorry to keep you waiting"
"Don't worry about it. Alright, let's work hard and get lots of fish today!"
"Yeah!"
Testa started the boat, and started cruising to the fis.h.i.+ng point. A few minutes after departure, we started seeing the shadows of large fish underwater.
"Hey Al, there are already some monsters, can I leave them to you?"
"Sure."
I grabbed the spear I made from a branch of a tree earlier, and threw it at the silhouette.
"Gyaoooo!?"
The monster hit by the spear cried out in agony and died.
"Really… That's so stupid…"
Testa laughed bitterly and turned to face me.
"I've told you many times but this is my fis.h.i.+ng skill, spear fis.h.i.+ng. Isn't that level of power normal?"
"It Looked more like spear throwing then fis.h.i.+ng to me… Normally n.o.body has that kind of strength, so they practise basic magic to defend themselves, but you…" He mumbled to himself.
Testa steered the boat, and we soon reached our destination.
"Okay, let's start. I'll rely on you, like always."
"No problem."
As I jumped into the water, Testa started to lower his fis.h.i.+ng net into the sea.
Soon, I found a school of fish.
Now I just need to guide this school to the net… hm?
There were some more monsters. In fact, there were five sharks. They have weird eyes, so I don't really want to see them up close…
It can't be helped; I'll beat them from a distance.
I aimed the spear that I grabbed off the boat earlier on at the sharks.
(Secret Fisherman Technique ・ Split Spear Throw!!)
The spear i threw divided into 5, and pierced the sharks one by one.
"Ngyaaaaaaaaaa!
Kyuuuuuuuuu!"
Yup, definitely gross.
Now that the threat is gone, all I need to do is guide the fish.
I then started to lead the fish into the net that had just finished lowering.
"A lot today as well!"
"That's right."
I answered Testa while drying my wet body with a towel.
"Oh yeah, you said something about being able to stay underwater for longer now.
How long can you stay underwater for now?"
How much was it again? I think it was…
"…5 hours?"
"Seriously, did you quit being a human?"
"If you gain the fis.h.i.+ng skill, anyone can be like this, right?"
"I mean I have it as well but I can't stay underwater for that long…
What level is your skill?"
To answer his question, I pulled out a card from my pocket.
This card is commonly referred to as a 'status card',
and by absorbing a tiny bit of magic, it shows your status in numbers.
In the past, at a guild famous for the subjugation of monsters, there were some adventurers who took on clearly stronger foes just for the money.
So, this country started making these status cards.
Status cards, by absorbing a bit of the user's magic power,
shows the user's status.
The guilds have started setting a minimum requirement for statuses based on the difficulty of the request.
Due to this, the amount of adventurers dying from reckless actions has decreased.
Now it has become a norm for everyone in the nation to own a card, because of its convenience.
I poured a bit of my magic into the status card and read my levels.
"It's just hit level 10."
"…Another level 10 acquisition… I'm not surprised anymore…"
10 is said to be the highest level for skills, and now all my skills, save for tilling, is level 10.
"Now all I need is tilling level 10. Then I can be a super top-cla.s.s farmer!"
"But you've been working on the farm so much, so why is the tilling skill growing the slowest?"
"Who knows… Tilling was the first skill I got to level 9… It's probably that the amount of experience points needed is high."
Skills have experience points which can be earned by doing specific activities. By collecting enough experience points, I can level up.
I have been doing nothing but farming to raise its level.
But of course, I enjoy working on the farm as well.
"What's your other skills like right now?"
"Oh right, I haven't checked them in a while. Let's see."
I then proceeded to read the entries on my card.
Al・Wayn
Lv: 24
HP 580/580
MP 35/35
Attack 72
Defence 47
Magic power 36
Magic defence 52
Agility 64
Luck 85(Fixed)
Skills
【Agriculture】
Tilling 9
Field cultivation 10
Lumbering 10
【Fis.h.i.+ng】
Underwater movement 10
Fis.h.i.+ng 10
Free diving 10
【Others】
Throwing 10
Geographical understanding 10
【Blessings】
Accelerated growth
【t.i.tle】
First cla.s.s farmer
"It looks normal, there's no status that really stands out…"
"Of course, your agricultural skills are high… Wait, why are skills other than farming so high?"
"Because I've been helping you out."
"You're higher than me just by helping out!? …Ouch!"
Testa hit his head on the mast in surprise.
"I have a blessing that speeds up level and skill development so it's probably that."
"…You're so lucky… You even have a blessing."
Blessings are rare skills given to people by the G.o.ds when they are born, and I was lucky enough to have gained one such blessing.
"Okay, can you please go faster? I want to do some more work on the farm."
"You're going to do more?"
"Of course?"
After I answered Testa's question, I returned my gaze to the horizon and took in the scenery.
"Can I just ask, if your fis.h.i.+ng skills are maxed, are you really a farmer…? At the very least, aren't you a villager?"
Testa's murmurings didn't reach my ears.