Chapter 31: Working Hard

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Working Hard

Rowan locked his dorm room door, drew the heavy curtains closed, and cleared a small space near his desk. Taking a slow, steady breath, he focused on his inner core. The familiar warm flare of spatial energy washed over him, and in an instant, the four walls of the dorm melted away into the wide, twilight expanse of his personal domain.

The air inside was cool and crisp, saturated with dense, soothing mana. Beneath the sweeping boughs of the central primordial tree, his crops stood in brilliant, full bloom—their growth accelerated dramatically by the domain’s 10:1 time dilation.

Rows of heavy, vibrant red E-Grade Tomatoes hung thick from their vines, radiating a faint, healthy aura. Beside them, the D-Grade Luminous Mana-Soybeans shone with a soft, inner light, their pods bulging with dense nutrients. The Stimulant Coffee Shrubs were heavy with deep ruby cherries, while the Azure Recovery Poppies fluttered gently in the domain’s calm breeze.

Rowan walked over to his equipment rack near the tree hollow and opened the crate containing his new Grade-C tools from Brokk Ironforge. He picked up the Harvester’s Hand-Pruner, feeling the instantly familiar balance and the smooth flow of his mana through the runic lines on the dark-iron blades.

He set to work. With the Flow-Rune on the pruners active, every cut was clean and effortless, severing stems without wasting a single drop of vital sap or bruising the delicate skin of the fruit. Rowan moved cleanly down the rows, his movements rhythmic and efficient.

Within two hours of quiet labor inside the domain, he had gathered an incredible yield:

E-Grade Produce (Market Retail): 40 kg of crisp, high-vitality Tomatoes and 30 kg of Ignis-Sweet Corn.

D-Grade Produce (Specialty & Reagents): 25 kg of Luminous Mana-Soybeans, 15 kg of Stimulant Coffee Cherries, and 10 kg of Azure Recovery Poppies.

Rowan carried the loaded wooden baskets into the climate-controlled tree hollow storage chamber. Using the clean crates he had stocked earlier, he carefully sorted and packed the harvest.

He set aside the 80% share allocated for the Ironforge family contract—20 kg of Mana-Soybeans and 12 kg of Stimulant Coffee Cherries—packing them into heavy, reinforced wooden crates labeled with the Ironforge anvil crest. The remaining 20% of the D-Grade yield, along with the entire supply of E-Grade tomatoes and corn, was packed into lighter display baskets ready for his family’s vendor booth at the weekend market.

Looking over the neatly stacked, glowing inventory in the tree hollow, Rowan wiped a thin sheen of sweat from his forehead. With his tools proven and a massive harvest ready to be loaded, his weekend operation was primed for total success.

He stepped out of the hollow, took a final deep breath of the domain air, and crossed back through the spatial rift into his quiet dorm room to get some rest before Saturday morning.

The system interface flashed bright against Rowan’s vision as the full yield from his high-efficiency harvest was finalized and stored in the domain’s tree hollow matrix:

[ HARVEST & CULTIVATION CYCLE COMPLETE ]

HARVEST BREAKDOWN:

* 40 kg E-Grade High-Vitality Tomatoes: 120 EXP (3 EXP / kg)

* 30 kg E-Grade Ignis-Sweet Corn: 150 EXP (5 EXP / kg)

* 25 kg D-Grade Luminous Mana-Soybeans: 250 EXP (10 EXP / kg)

* 15 kg D-Grade Stimulant Coffee Cherries: 225 EXP (15 EXP / kg)

* 10 kg D-Grade Azure Recovery Poppies: 150 EXP (15 EXP / kg)

EQUIPMENT BONUS:

* Grade-C Harvester’s Hand-Pruner Runic Synergy: +105 EXP (Clean sap retention bonus)

TOTAL EXP GAINED: +1,000 EXP

PREVIOUS PROGRESS: Level 4 (560 / 1000 EXP)

[ LEVEL UP! ]

CURRENT LEVEL: Level 5 (560 / 1500 EXP)

DOMAIN UNLOCKS & ENHANCEMENTS: ℴ

* Personal Domain Radius Expanded: +15 Meters

* Soil Mana Capacity Increased: Grade-E+ Matrix stabilized across all active plots

* Time Dilation Max Cap Unlocked: 12:1 Ratio Available

Rowan smiled as the warm, golden pulse of a Level Up washed through his mana pathways, leaving his body feeling lighter and far more energized. With 1,000 EXP claimed from the batch, he officially reached Level 5, expanding his domain territory and boosting his time-dilation cap right before the weekend rush.

***

The pre-dawn sky was still pitched in deep indigo as Rowan’s alarm went off at 5:00 AM. Swinging his legs out of bed, he dressed quickly in dark, practical trousers and a heavy linen shirt. He transferred the carefully packed wooden crates from his domain’s storage into his travel bags, locked up his dorm room, and quietly made his way out of the sleeping academy grounds toward the main gates.

The morning air was crisp and biting as he stepped onto the platform just as the day’s first municipal transit bus pulled up, its headlamps cutting through the lingering morning mist.

Rowan boarded, taking a seat by the window as the bus rumbled away from the academic district and wound its way back toward his family’s neighborhood. The ride was silent and swift, giving him time to mentally review their roles for the weekend operation.

When Rowan arrived at his family home, the lights in the kitchen were already on. Martha was finishing packing a wooden display rack, while his father was adjusting his reinforced leather vest, checking the heavy belt pouches and light guard batons at his side.

"Rowan! You caught the early bus," Martha said with a bright smile, pulling him into a quick hug. "We’ve already loaded the folding tables onto the handcart."

"Good timing, son," Arthur added, giving him a firm nod and a pat on the shoulder. He tapped his belt strap with a weathered hand. "The district market gets chaotic by seven o’clock. Pickpockets and opportunistic thieves love targeting fresh vendor booths when the crowds pack in. I’ll stay positioned at the front flank to keep an eye on hand movements and keep the line orderly."

"Perfect," Rowan said, setting down his heavy travel bags. "Mom, you take the front counter. You know how to talk to people, explain the health benefits of the E-Grade tomatoes and sweet corn, and handle their questions. I’ll sit right beside you at the register box—I’ll handle all the coin collection, give exact change, and verify the payments."

His mother beamed, adjusting the crisp apron around her waist. "With Professor Vane’s pricing guide, we’ll know exactly how to guide the buyers. Between your dad keeping us safe, you keeping the ledger tight, and me attending to the patrons, we’ll run a smooth counter."

Working together, they loaded the remaining display baskets and the heavy crates of fresh produce onto their sturdy wooden handcart. With their roles locked in and their inventory set, the family set off through the quiet streets toward the district farmer’s market, ready to open their booth for the morning rush.

***

Before setting off for the market grounds, Rowan walked into the quiet backyard behind his family home. Stashed under the covered awning were several sturdy, empty wooden crates. He gathered five of them, carrying them into the shade of the back porch, and carefully lined the interior of each box with layers of clean, soft cotton cloth to cushion the fresh produce during transport.

Holding two boxes in his arms and keeping the remaining three close within his spatial reach, Rowan took a slow breath and activated his spatial domain.

The familiar golden pulse flared, and the quiet backyard faded away into the sweeping, mana-rich expanse of his tree hollow storage chamber. Time stood still inside the cool, blue-glowing room, preserving every piece of produce at peak freshness.

Rowan set the cloth-lined crates down on the central workbench and began systematically transferring his three-day harvest from the tree hollow shelves into the transport boxes:

Boxes 1 & 2 (E-Grade Produce): Carefully stacked with plump, vibrant red High-Vitality Tomatoes, their skin gleaming with fresh moisture against the white cloth padding.

Boxes 3 & 4 (E-Grade Produce): Packed tight with heavy, golden ears of Ignis-Sweet Corn, the husks crisp and full.

Box 5 (D-Grade Specialty Reagents): Lined with an extra-thick double layer of cloth to protect the delicate, high-potency crops. Rowan neatly arranged the Luminous Mana-Soybeans, the clusters of deep ruby Stimulant Coffee Cherries, and the vibrant blue stems of the Azure Recovery Poppies.

Once the final latch was secured, Rowan stepped back out of his domain, reappearing in the backyard with the five neatly packed, cloth-lined crates resting safely in his physical space—ready to be loaded onto the family handcart.