Morning sunlight bled through the crude thatched roof, warming the stone floor where Kail sat, hunched over a piece of bark. A charcoal nub between his fingers, he furrowed his brow as he mentally traced irrigation routes, recalling the way drainage ditches worked on old construction sites from his previous life. His eyes flicked between the marks on the bark and the landscape outside, eyes narrowing as he calculated distances and angles.
"Rin," he called softly, not looking up from his work.
The girl peered through the crude doorway, hair tangled and wild, a smudge of dirt across her cheek. "What?" she asked, stepping inside and brushing the loose hay aside with an easy movement.
"I need your eyes. Come take a look at this." Kail gestured to the lines drawn on the bark. "If we carve a shallow trench from the well down to this low area near the east ridge, we might be able to use gravity to distribute water to the farm plots."
Rin stepped closer, her gaze flicking over the sketch, and her expression shifted into a mixture of skepticism and curiosity. "Why grow anything here? This place is cursed, isn't it?"
Kail smirked, the corners of his lips lifting. "Not cursed. Just neglected. Same as an old machine. It only looks broken until someone fixes it."
Rin's eyes narrowed as she scanned the lines drawn on the bark. "What are these square things?"
"Field plots," Kail explained, tapping the bark. "We'll need six to qualify as a 'sustainable food node' in the System. It's one of the objectives I just unlocked."
System Objective Unlocked:'Seed to Soil' – Establish 6 primitive crop plots using natural irrigation.Reward: +7 KP and 'Earth Crop Tier I' Compatibility Pack.
Rin blinked at the interface message. "The System tells you to do all this?"
"No," Kail chuckled. "It gives me goals. But it's on me to figure out how to complete them." He paused, then added, "I think it's more of a nudge than anything. A way to give direction."
He dug through one of the burlap sacks they'd salvaged from the cellar entrance, and pulled out a few wrinkled root vegetables. Some were yellow-tinted, others grayish, like boiled rock. He set them down between them, their odd shapes catching the light.
"These might be Veirdale's version of potatoes," Kail said, his tone softening as he stared at the vegetables. "If we can grow even one crop, we're a step closer to surviving winter."
Rin knelt beside him, looking at the vegetables with a mix of skepticism and curiosity. "What about tools? Digging without a hoe will take forever."
Kail tapped the System's interface, his finger hovering over a new icon. The words on the screen blinked with simplicity, but the implications were anything but.
Tool Crafting I – Available for Unlock(Cost: 10 KP)Grants basic Earth-based tool blueprints: shovel, hoe, stone axe.Materials required: wood, rope, stone.
"I'm at 3 KP right now," Kail muttered, tapping the screen as though willing it to change. "If we complete the farming objective, I'll hit 10. Then we can craft real tools."
Rin raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She knew better than to question the strange "System" that guided Kail's every step. Instead, she glanced out at the half-finished walls of their shelter, then at the trees beyond. A light breeze swept through the camp, carrying the scent of ash and pine. Her voice was softer when she spoke.
"Let's scout the east ridge first," Kail said, standing and brushing off the dirt from his palms. "We'll mark potential plots and collect stones for the trenchwork."
They walked for over an hour, Rin pointing out patches of soft soil and rare ground fungi that Kail made a mental note of. The air was crisp, cool for the time of day, and there was a tranquility in the woods that Kail found oddly comforting.
When they reached a clearing at the base of the ridge, Kail dropped to his knees and clawed at the soil, his fingers sinking into the loamy earth.
"Loamy. Not bad," he murmured to himself, testing the soil's texture. "And the runoff would flow naturally if we dig from the wellhead."
Rin gave him a sharp look. "I've seen boar tracks around here," she warned, her tone tinged with concern.
Kail nodded. "All the more reason to clear the area soon and post something resembling a fence."
System Update:Terrain Mapping Improved(Passive Bonus from Ally Rin) +1 KP
Kail smiled, grateful for her attentiveness. "Thanks, Rin. That tracking of yours just bought us progress." His voice carried a soft sincerity.
Later that afternoon, they returned to the camp and began outlining the first field. Stones from the ridge were placed to mark the boundaries, and Kail used a sharpened stick to begin tilling the rows. The sun was high now, beating down on his back, and the sweat quickly soaked through his shirt.
His palms blistered under the strain, dirt packed stubbornly under his nails. Every movement felt like it took more energy than the last, but there was a rhythm to it—a quiet satisfaction that made the pain feel secondary.
The first row was finally complete. Kail stood back, wiping his brow with the back of his hand, and let out a long, steady breath. The moment he thought he could finally rest, a soft chime echoed in his mind.
Objective Progress:Field Plot 1/6 Complete. +1 KP Earned.
Kail smiled tiredly, feeling the weight of his work but also a growing sense of accomplishment. "One down."
From the shade of their shelter, Rin offered him a waterskin, her face half-hidden by the brim of her hood. "You're insane, you know that?" she said, her voice carrying a teasing edge.
He took the waterskin from her and swigged, wiping his mouth before speaking. "Not insane. Just... determined."
Rin stared at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable, and then she spoke again, this time quieter. "You really think this place can be a home?"
Kail paused, considering her question. His eyes moved from the cleared field to the well in the distance, then to the framework of their makeshift shelter, and to the remnants of the village that once stood. He let the weight of the silence hang in the air between them for a moment before answering.
"Not just a home," he said quietly. "A kingdom."
Rin looked at him, her expression softening, as if she was trying to read something in him that she hadn't noticed before. But in the end, she just nodded, turning her gaze back to the field as the wind whispered through the trees.
Kail wasn't sure whether he was speaking of ambition, or simply a stubborn resolve to survive. Perhaps it was a little of both. But as he stood there, looking at the beginning of their work, something within him stirred. Maybe, just maybe, this place could be more than just another broken ruin.
Maybe it could become something that would live on.
End of Chapter 6