Chapter 118: Farming

"After the dungeon raid failed, this land began to wither," Magnus explained.

"I have been using the power of harmony to suppress the dungeon’s influence, but my power is nearly depleted..."

"Since that’s the case, wouldn’t clearing the dungeon solve everything?" Ethan asked.

"We have tried many times, but we have failed every time," Magnus said helplessly.

"There are no longer any warriors in the village capable of fighting."

"Then—"

"We have been waiting for the arrival of the Hero Roland, but we don’t know when he will appear..." Magnus’s voice was filled with despair.

Ethan looked at the elderly, dying High Elf before him, feeling a complex mix of emotions.

"If it’s just clearing a dungeon, I can help," Ethan offered.

"You?" Magnus looked at him in surprise.

"Human, I know you are all very pragmatic, you wouldn’t do something without benefit, how about this, if you can help me clear the dungeon, I will give this to you."

He pulled a small, delicate knife from his robe and held it out.

Ethan took the knife and instantly froze.

[Unique — The God of Cookery’s Kitchen Knife]

[The legendary kitchen knife used by the God of Cookery. Ingredients processed with it will have their freshness drastically increased.]

[Increases cooking level by 1 when preparing food.]

"I will go clear the dungeon right now." Not a moment’s hesitation.

"That’s wonderful." Relief broke across Magnus’s weathered face.

"However, before that, I need to get something to eat." He couldn’t fight on an empty stomach, not to mention, he was about to tackle a dungeon that even a High Elf had been powerless against.

"I’m sorry, but we have very little food left here..." Magnus looked troubled.

"I know." Ethan had seen it already, the elves in this village struggled to even guarantee three meals a day, let alone entertain guests.

"We brought our own food," Leon offered.

"No need." Since they were going to eat, everyone might as well eat their fill, Ethan looked at the emaciated elves, especially the malnourished children, and sympathy hardened into resolve.

"I’ll go find a clearing and make a good meal for everyone." With that, he turned and walked off, the elves watched him go, not knowing what he was planning to do.

He circled the village until he found an open patch of land.

"Mr. Ethan, what are you going to do?" Elara asked.

"Hehe, nothing much. I just wanted to..." Ethan smiled mysteriously, hefting the Pure Iron Hoe.

"...relive the feeling of being a farmer."

BOOM—!

The Pure Iron Hoe struck the ground heavily, the immense power instantly overturned the hard earth, throwing up a cloud of dust.

This soil had long since lost its vitality, the dungeon’s influence had plundered all the nutrients, leaving behind only dead, compacted dirt.

Ethan swung his hoe again and again, overturning the rock-hard ground to reveal the dry soil beneath, the elves stared dumbfounded at the scene before them, they had never witnessed such tremendous power.

"Meow, are you alright?" Ethan smiled and shook his head.

Using Earth’s Might consumed a massive amount of mana, but his stats were no longer what they used to be, this level of consumption was nothing to him now.

"Meow, there’s a stream over there." Pearl pointed into the distance.

"Then let’s divert the water over here."

"Leave this to us." Elara volunteered enthusiastically, she rallied her guards and marched grandly toward the stream.

"No need — I can handle it myself," Ethan tried to object.

"Mr. Ethan, please let us contribute as well," Elara insisted.

"Yes, Mr. Ethan, let us do something to help," Leon added.

Seeing the elves’ enthusiasm, Ethan couldn’t bring himself to refuse again, he had no choice but to use his Crafting skill to make several wooden plows and hand them out to everyone, even though they were just wooden plows, because they were made using fragments of the Scythe of Gaia, they possessed some special properties.

These properties were more than enough to handle the current situation.

Elara and the others took the wooden plows and excitedly went to dig irrigation ditches, Ethan continued swinging his Pure Iron Hoe, tilling the land.

"I really miss the Great Forest," he sighed between strokes.

"Meow, me too." Pearl agreed deeply, if their Minotaur friends were here, tilling this land would be a breeze with their immense strength, unfortunately, they were far away back in the Great Forest, today, Ethan and the others could only rely on themselves.

Ethan drew a deep breath and threw himself into the work, under the effect of Earth’s Might, the pitted, uneven ground gradually became flat and fertile.

The elves watched in astonishment.

"Y-you... are you human? You want to farm here?" an elderly elf asked.

"Yes."

"But this land is already dead, nothing can grow here," the old elf said.

Ethan looked around and couldn’t help but frown, the soil was in terrible shape, even he wasn’t completely certain he could make something grow.

"You want to help us?"

"Why?" The elves looked at him in confusion, Ethan’s group had brought enough food to feed themselves, why go out of their way to farm for strangers?

Ethan didn’t answer directly, he just smiled and pointed at the emaciated children nearby. "Children are cuter when they’re chubby, don’t you think?"

The elves fell silent, they understood his meaning, his goodwill needed no further explanation.

"Let’s help out too."

"Yes." One by one, the villagers joined the effort, even the High Elf Magnus set aside his frailty and worked alongside everyone, the children pitched in too, following Pearl’s lead, hauling loose rocks out of the fields.

Everyone worked together with a single purpose, they didn’t know how to farm, but they could create the best possible conditions for the man who did.

With everyone’s combined effort, the irrigation ditches were quickly dug and the fields neatly prepared, everything was ready, Ethan opened the sack of seeds he had bought from the royal capital.

"Meow, are you going to plant wheat here?"

"I originally wanted to make bread for the road..." Ethan said with a smile, he had initially planned to use this wheat to bake bread for their journey, but now, he had changed his mind. He was going to use this wheat to help these people.

He sowed the seeds evenly into the tilled earth, the elves watched curiously, not quite understanding what he was doing.

"Will this really work?" one elf asked.

"Farming takes a very long time..." another added.

Although only humans could farm, the time required for cultivation was a luxury even for long-lived elves, besides, this land was dead, could food really grow here?

The elves watched with a mix of hope and anxiety.

"Pearl, your turn."

"Meow~" Pearl hopped down, buried the very last seed with its little paws, and leaped back onto Ethan’s shoulder.

Standing in the center of the field, Ethan spread his arms and unleashed Soil Fortification, the lifeless earth beneath him began to radiate a faint vitality.

An aura of decay surged from below, attempting to resist his power, but Ethan’s ability crushed the resistance and pressed on.

The elves stared, bearing witness to the impossible. "H-how is this possible..."