Master Of None



Walker looked out at the small patch of withered crops before he spoke up. "I was heading out to look around the wilderness, but this caught my eye. Any idea what happened?" 

The ten farmers all shrugged or looked at Walker like they had the very same question as him. One of the oldest of the group came forward. He was a demi-human man with traits of a goat. Clearly he was very experienced with the rough hands and tanned skin to prove years on the fields. 

"It is a withering that we thought was caused by bugs or something. But some fo the pants here are still alive and seem to be growing completely different from what we know. Not a single one of us have been able to appraise it since our farm related appraisals are based on knowledge passed down or learned by us." 

This was a lot to grasp, but Walker had long ago learned this. Farmers were a group of unique people. They had systems that varied from specific plants to a wider variety of plants. That meant that they could take many roles in many parts of society. Especially growing food. 

But it was very well known that the farmer's almanac skill and the farmer's appraisal skill were licked. The farmer had a mental skill that stored the methods they learned for each plant they grew. It also held the information they were taught. 

By using their farmer's appraisal, they could recall information about the plants in question. The issue with this was, that when they discovered a new weed or plant, they had to learn about it all over again. It was troublesome but also meant that they could pool their knowledge and know almost everything. 

Hearing that there was something that they did not know though, was odd. The demi-human farmers were some of the most experienced in farming. They fed a large demi-human population within their city and that meant they learned to farm a lot. It also meant that they needed the widest variety of food production compared to just about any other city. If they didn't know what was happening it was very odd. 

"Let me use my all around appraisal then. I can see what dried out the ground and killed the tomatoes you were starting to grow. But these few plants do look like tomatoes…" Walker felt it odd that some of the tomatoes were still growing. 

The small number of plants still alive should have green leaves, but they were a darker green with a red mixed in. This alone was odd, but when he looked at the normally yellow flowers, they were a bright red. The tomatoes growing on them were also not green or red. They were a deep red color that made it seem these were from a brightly burning flame. 

'Corrupted tomato 

Due to the corrupted mana in the soil and the plant the tomato plant has begun to mutate in an improper way. The leaves will gather corrupted mana and  force the plant itself to change. It will also cause other pants around it to wither at a very quick rate. 

This corrupted tomato plant will grow ten times the size of a normal tomato plant before it grows larger fruit. The larger fruit will hold a condensed corrupted mana. When it reaches the proper size, it will explode with a burst of corrupted mana that sensed the seeds further away. These seeds with wither other plants and begin to grow. 

These plants can not be purified and must be destroyed since they are extremely resilient to normal farming skills and other such aspects of herbalist skills or healing skills.'

"I am going to burn these. Even the roots. If we leave them, you will lose your entire field." Walker created a small ball of fire in his hand. When the farmers saw this, they were shocked. They did not expect that he would start to burn their crops!

"You can't burn our crops! If you do this, you will not be allowed here ever again!" 

"Put out that fire!"

"Some hero you are. These are the biggest plants right now. That means more food!" 

Three of the farmers jumped to stop Walker. But he realized that he had acted too fast and stood his ground. "I have a good reason. You heard of the corrupted mana, right?" Walker slowly explained the situation and told them every detail of the all around appraisal. 

As they all listened, they began to understand that the threat was not small. They knew that the normal height of the tomato plants was already around four or five feet. But if it grew as much as Walker said it would, then it would be above them by many feet. On top of that, the explosion of the tomatoes would cause the seeds to go far. Pairing both height and explosion, meant that their fields would all be effected. 

From these small places where thee plants had withered to a massive area completely destroyed was not where they wanted to be. It would put a hard stop on what they could provide for their own families, let alone all of Genesis. 

"Many of these places that look odd like this need to be pulled out to the root and burned. That is the the only way to recover the area. Purifying skills and other skills you might have might not kill these tomatoes. I think getting mages to help find them, like earth mages, then fire mages to burn them is the safest move to make. From there, you can recover the withered areas." 

While the farmers did not like what they heard, this was the right move. Through years of farming, they had experienced many things. Crop blight from disease or insect attacks were what they had learned to handle. Fire and other methods always worked. But knowing their skills for it would not hit them hard. 

"Just make sure that you report this to the guards when they reach her on patrol. I am sure that some people will come to research this and to keep watch more strictly. If any more crops or even herbs start to show signs, send more people immediately. The corrupt mana is a larger issue than I thought." Walker left them behind. He had his own goals that were now more pressing. 

The farmers had begun to work and speak on this issue as Walker left them. He had come and gone quickly but he had made a deep impact. They all understood that their futures were on the line. If they did not act and act swiftly, then they would lose it all. This was a joint effort to combat corrupted mana. 

Walker thought about the other issues that might start showing up now that he had proof that the plants were already being affected. This could lead to a loss of food and cause people to face hunger. Genesis was not a place that was meant to fail in this way. That was why so many people worked hard to develop the fields. 

It was even worse when he thought about the herbs. They all had unique ways to be used. Some were toxic until they were used to make potions. If they grew with corrupted mana, then what would happen? Would they become more dangerous? Or would they become monsters? It was possible for some plants to become monsters but that was pretty rare. Considering the mutation of corrupted mana made it possible though. 

Looking out ahead, Walker saw the changes where roads had begun to be laid. Unfortunately, many of those projects were slowed down due to the recent events. But evidence that new farming fields were being set up also appeared. Many trees had been cleared so that fields could grow. But even more interesting were the farms to grow specific foods within a forest or a bushier area. 

Not that this was the focus still, Walker looked at the land ahead for monsters. He had to see if he could sense the corruption around. The mana that was corrupted should have been something he could sense as different in the plants, but he hadn't. That could mean that he couldn't sense it at all or that he just wasn't attuned to it yet. 

The first step he had to take was sitting down in this wild area outside the borders of where people had begun to prepare the land for more farming and roads. A place where fewer people came unless they were hunting for game. 

Using the true mana sense was already better for Walker to be able to find out what was around him. He could grasp on to the elemental manas much more easily. However, he noticed an awkward flow of mana in the air. One that he couldn't nail down, but could feel. 

….

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