Sen Zu gazed at the field.
Well if you could call it that.
It was mudder than ground and more weeds than crops. A rather wretched bit of waste land, some wilted roots, and one poor frightened bunny.
"Behold," he said, arms wide. "Our future farm."
Uno looked around. "Is it dead already?"
"It hasn't lived yet," Rin muttered.
Sen Zu knelt and dug his fingers into the dirt. "This land has potential. It's like me... messy, unstable, and deeply misunderstood."
The goblins gathered around. They looked at the field like it owed them money.
[DING!]
.........
[New Feature Unlocked: Agriculture Module (Basic)]
Crops Available: Turnip, Wheat, Wild Beans
Tools: Rusty Hoe x1, Goblin Hands x10
Soil Fertility: Tragic (needs improvement)
.........
Sen Zu clapped. "Perfect. We're going to farm. We'll grow food, trade goods, and maybe even become an agricultural empire. All starting with turnips."
Otto raised a hand.
"You can't eat them raw this time," Sen Zu said preemptively.
Otto lowered his hand.
"Alright, Brick Smashers," Sen Zu called. "It's time to become the Plow Punchers."
"Wait, I liked Brick Smashers..."
"Too bad. We're evolving. That's what leaders do."
Rin sighed and tossed him the rusty hoe. Clang. It landed at his feet, almost taking out a toe.
They began digging.
Sort of.
Uno used the hoe backwards and nearly took out Trois's knee. Thunk.
Trois thought planting seeds involved singing to them off-key and sobbing dramatically. Fünf planted his own sock and saluted it.
Ni tried to calculate the wind direction and soil pH using a rock and a stick. He hit himself with both.
Diez didn't dig. He just stood guard over the seeds like they were ancient treasures.
By midday, they had two crooked rows of poorly buried turnips, a snapped hoe handle (crack), and seven minor injuries.
Sen Zu wiped sweat from his forehead. "This... is progress."
[DING!]
.........
[Farming Skill Gained: Dirt Whisperer (Lv. 1)]
Your plants may now grow... eventually.
Fertility Rating: Mildly Less Tragic
.........
He sat back and looked over his muddy empire. The goblins lay around the field like they'd fought a war.
Rin stood beside him, arms crossed, hair tied back. "We need water if you want those to survive."
"There's a stream in the forest," he said. "We'll build a canal. A mighty aqueduct. A..."
"You'll send goblins with buckets, won't you."
"...Yes."
...
Later, they marched into the forest with buckets, barrels, and barely a brain between them. Rin led, because Sen Zu "had to oversee the construction site" (read: nap under a tree).
The forest was louder than usual. Birds. Wind. A low growl.
Diez was the first to hear it. He stopped, sniffed the air, and raised his fist. Thud. Otto walked right into him.
The goblins froze.
Something moved through the underbrush. Fast. Heavy.
Eyes glinted between the trees... low, hungry, and wrong.
Then it appeared.
Boar. Massive. Fangs like knives. Tusks dripping with sap and saliva. Its hide was dark gray and covered in moss. A Forest Mauler.
[DING!]
.........
[Wild Beast Detected: Forest Mauler (Rank: Body Refining Stage 6)]
Aggression: High
Mood: Pissed
Weakness: Fire, Screaming, Bad Luck
.........
Uno screamed first.
Fünf screamed second.
Diez didn't scream. He charged with a roar.
The battle was quick, brutal, and mostly stupid.
Ni threw a bucket at its face. Bonk.
Trois tried to bite its leg and got flung into a bush. Crash.
Otto tackled a rock.
Rin stabbed it in the eye. Splurt.
In the end, the boar fled... bleeding, limping, and deeply traumatized by whatever Otto had done to its tail.
They limped back to the village victorious, buckets mostly empty, clothes mostly torn.
Sen Zu looked up from his nap. "That took longer than I thought."
Rin dropped a bucket on his head. Thunk.
...
That night, they roasted something unidentifiable over the fire. The goblins sang off-key. Uno built a scarecrow out of bandit clothes and turnip stems. It looked like it was cursed.
Sen Zu sat beside Rin, staring at the stars. "Hey."
She glanced at him. "What now?"
"I think we're doing it."
"Doing what?"
"Becoming a real village."
She didn't answer, but her tiny smile said enough.
The goblins danced around the fire.
From far off in the dark, a pair of red eyes watched.
And this time, they didn't blink.
......