down on a farm

After the mess, the rest of the day seemed kinda boring. Gwyn stayed behind to arrest the attackers and Nim said she has something to do and vanished. I decided to stock up on some food and proceeded to return to my room.

...Instant noodles are fine I guess, I mean they are quick… I put a pot of water on the stove and wait for it to boil. With nothing else to do while waiting, I guess I'll see what my screen can exactly do. I unlock it and start poking around… Hmmm, what's Flippy, some kind of forum? I tap on it, and I'm taken to a login screen. Create an account… hmmmm… after a bit of thinking I decide to make my username vthehunter48 and I put in a random password. The second I tap create an account, I get a message instantly.

[YourFriendNim]: *this message was sent automatically* Hey there, welcome to Flippy, Abysia's premiere social media! Here you can post, interact with your friends, build a following, and experience all new things! To get you started, here are a few recommendations for friends

After the message, there's a list of users… I don't think I know anyone here… ummmm oh wait that one is just gwynsteleoffical… He really is excessively formal… As soon as I send the request to Gwyn, I get a message…

[YourFriendNim]: hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Veve!!! :D

(incoming friend request from YourFriendNim)

[vthehunter48]: hello nim how did you know it was me?

[YourFriendNim]: I serve as the backbone of the digital system, also I know the address of your screen.:3

[vthehunter48]: ...should I be concerned about that?

[YourFriendNim]: Nope!!:33333

[vthehunter48]: ...fantastic

...since I can't hide from her anyway, I guess I'll just accept her friend request. I look over at the pot and the water is bubbling fairly vigorously. Looking at the package, it says to just cook it in water for a bit… huh they aren't instant then?! I take a glance at my screen…

(gwynsteleoffical has accepted your request)

[gwynsteleoffical]: Hello, I'm guessing I am talking to Veronica?

[vthehunter48]: yeah hi Gwyn

[gwynsteleoffical]: Hello, I sent your profile to Mila and Elias, so they'll eventually friend you. I forgot to tell you, but tomorrow I'll be having you guys running requests so meet me in my office.

[vthehunter48]: oh… ok thanks

[gwynsteleoffical]: Yep, no problem.

...I need to find more entertaining stuff to do, don't I? I sigh as I scan over the packaging. So I just pour in this packet and stir? Seems easy… I grab a bowl and pour the soup into it. Hmmm, it's incredibly salty… not amazing but not horrid.

…

…

…

After my strange dream from last night, I find it kinda strange there was nothing strange this time. I toss on my clothes and head over to the kitchen. I should probably grab something quick… I'll just grab a cereal bar.

…

I arrived without much of an issue, that's nice. The hall is slightly less busy than what I've noticed in the past.

"Hey, Victoria." I turn around and see that Elias.

"Hey, what's up?"

He stretches. "Not much, you should hang out with us after work, yesterday was fun."

"Didn't you guys destroy a bar?"

"Eh, Mila got overly drunk and said she wanted to see if I could withstand an explosion."

"Wait, what…?"

"Oh, that's exactly what I said! Of course, I can withstand an explosion, that's child's play."

"...you agreed to be used as an explosion tester?"

"...I was also drunk…" Elias sighs. "Honestly though I was not expecting her to attack me afterward."

"Wait, what happened to Mila?"

"She somehow got even drunker and collapsed or something."

We get to Gwyn's office and I open the door "Oh hi guys!" Mila is sitting in a chair handcuffed.

"Finally you're here, grab a seat." Gwyn looks almost dead. He takes a sip from a mug. "I was going to have a few requests set aside for you guys but it's been a long night." He takes another sip from the mug.

...I'm curious. "Hey, Gwyn, what's in there, coffee?"

He seems startled. "Hmm?! Oh yeah sure…" He takes another sip. "It's only your second day as a team and one of you guys already caused major property damage and got in trouble with enforcement." He glances at Mila. "Anyway, I'm just going to give you a random job from my screen and give it to you guys." He glances down at the screen. "...ok, there's a farm that needs assistance with both harvesting and pest control." He chugs the rest of the mug. "Now get out."

Mila glances down at her wrists. "Hey buddy, aren't you forgetting something?"

"...suffer" He snaps his fingers and the cuffs come loose. "Now, for real, get out."

…

We took a portal to the outskirts of Abysia and ended up in a large field. There's a dirt path leading to what looks like a village.

Mila walks forward while looking down at her screen. "The farm is directly past the village."

Elias walks up to her. "Hey Spiky, care telling us why you ended up in handcuffs."

"First, don't call me that, second, I have a massive hangover so let's not talk about that."

"Oh, what a shame it's not as if I have also have a massive hangover. Deal with it."

"Deal with it?! What, you just want me to ignore the headache or something?!"

"I guess so?" Mila kicks him in the knee and he falls. "Isn't irritability a part of a hangover?" She kicks him again.

...I should probably chime in. "Both of you stop, we are a team and we have a job to do. Besides, Mila probably just assaulted someone else."

Milla turns to face me. "...huh, you guessed right. I assaulted an enforcer…"

Elias starts laughing from the floor so I kick him. "Oh come on not you too."

"Elias you're wearing armor, you'll be fine." I help him stand back up. "Anyway let's get back on track."

We walk through the village in silence. It is a quaint little place with a few houses and a market. On the other side, there's a large farm with a plowed field with a damaged-looking barn. I shout towards the field. "Hey, we're here for the job."

"Oh good!" There's a voice out in the distance. "I'll be there in a second." There's a strange slopping sound and suddenly a blob of slime wearing a cowboy hat appears. "Howdy, y'all welcome to my farm!" All three of us are taken aback. "Oh, what's the matter have you city slickers never seen a slime before, I'll have you know we are mighty common."

Mila sighs. "...out of all the days to have a hangover… No, it's more that the slimes we are used to are in a humanoid or similar form."

The slime chuckles. "Well, there are just as many types of slimes as stars in the sky. My kind can't change our appearance that much but we still have intelligence. I do reckon it must be strange for y'all." They wobble forward and unlatch the gate. "Name's Hubert. Now I need some assistance with two things. The ol' barn is in a bad state so it'll be great if two of y'all can reinforce and there's a darn plague of gopher mantises, I need someone to help me flush out their burrows and kill them."

I step into the farm. "If it helps with anything, I can use wind magic, Mila over there is best at ice, and Elias is kinda just good at moving quickly."

Hubert seems to ponder for a second. "All right then Mila and Elias can help rebuild the barn, while you can use your wind magic to fish out the burrows miss… ummm…"

"Oh yeah sorry, I'm Veronica."

"Ok, the materials are in the barn while I'll come to help with the critters." Hubert pulls a hunting rifle out of nowhere.

We walk out into the fields. "Hey Hubert, What exactly are gopher mantises?"

"Ah, they are nasty little critters. Bugs about the size of squirrels that dig below crops and kill the roots to eat plants, a darn right nuisance. Piss them off enough and they spray acid."

"So I'm guessing I'm to find their burrows and use wind magic to launch them out?"

"Yep!"

I walk over to the first hole I find. "Gust." I feel the mana gathering around my arm and fire forward. There's a pop and a large bug fires out of the ground. Hubert aims their gun and nails the insect in midair. "Oh, so that's the goal?"

"Killing them? Yeah, they are tenacious little things, even if you get them out of your land they will become aggressive and attack everything with acid. Besides if too many of them gather it can attract a queen. Think of a 25 ft tall bug with an extremely hard shell, I think the administration actually sees them as a raid threat. Typically takes around ten folks to bring one down."

"Fair." I walk over to the next hole and launch the bugs out of it.

…

It's been around two hours or so and honestly it's starting to get tiring. "Say Hubert, there's a lot of these aren't they." I launch another out of its hole.

Hubert perfectly nails the bug. "Yes, I'm almost out of bullets and the possibility of a queen is getting uncomfortably high."

"Say why do you farm?" I started walking over to the next hole.

"Oh, it's something that's always interested me, and I get to be my own boss. I'm incredibly self-sufficient, my slime can be used as both fertilizer and water in times of drought."

"Isn't that bad for you though." I launch a larger nest of bugs.

Hubert picks them all off. "No not really, I can eat literally anything so it's rare for me to have nothing to eat."

"Yo, we are done with the barn." I turn around and Elias is walking up towards us with Mila is lagging behind.

Hubert smiles at them. "That was quick, what did y'all do?"

Elias looks slightly embarrassed. "We tried building it normally but I wasn't able to properly nail in the boards and Mila's headache got worse because of the banging so she used magic to grow plants and I trimmed them to match the existing boards."

Hubert chuckles. "That's mighty fine, thanks y'all."

I look over at Mila. "Wait, you can also use nature magic?"

"Yes, I'm an elementalist so I can use most types, I just mainly prefer ice magic." She gestures with her hand and creates a few sparks.

Hubert looks impressed. "Now that's darn impressive. Now do you two want to help us?"

They both hesitate for a second then they nod. I launch another few bugs, and Elias launches himself and pierces them. He lands and starts taunting Mila. "Your turn now."

She looks slightly annoyed. I launch a few bugs and she hits them with spines. "There, happy?"

Elias laughs a bit. "Wow, nothing special today? You were so fancy yesterday."

I turn to him. "I thought I told both of you, focus on the job, don't bicke-"

I'm cut off by a loud and low growl. The ground starts rumbling.

Hubert looks scared. "Welp, that's a queen…"

A giant bug erupts from the ground and I draw my weapons… my weapons aren't doing anything. "Hubert, you said that their exoskeleton is reinforced, what about their insides."

"They are fairly soft why?"

The bug swings its blades towards us, but Elias blocks it. He goes in for a thrust but it bounces off. "Veronica do you have any idea?"

"Yes," I turn to Mila. "Do you have a flask of gasoline?"

"...out of all the days to have a hangover…" She digs into a bag. "Yeah, I do."

"Put a spine in it and give it to me."

"One sec… alright." She tosses me the flask.

I dash towards the queen while concentrating mana into my arm. I do hope this works. "Phase blade!" The mana flows into the flask and it turns translucent. I drive it into the exoskeleton and blink out of there. "Mila now!"

She hesitates for a second. "Oh… ember." The flask explodes and shatters some of the exoskeleton.

I start gathering mana again. "Elias, I'm going to launch you. You know what to do right?"

"Oh absolutely!" He gets into a running stance. I fire off a blast of wind and Elias rockets forward. "Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" He impacts the queen and pierces it entirely. It lets out a loud screech as it collapses.

Hubert seems incredibly impressed. "I gotta say that was mighty impressive!"