Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest

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“Well yes, there’s been this increase lately in the number of monsters appearing underground, and they’re stopping our mining works quite a lot, some areas had been sealed entirely because of those things making the ceiling crumble down,” explained the gnome.

“What are they?” I wondered curiously.

“Moles,” the goblin said angrily. “Damned moles! Giant Moles! The size of horses! Those damned Moles crawl around, dig as they please, steal and eat our mined resources, and then dig away as if nothing. Back then they were manageable though…”

“Yeah, back then we could handle them more or less, but right now they had become even more dangerous and have multiplied,” the brownie woman said. “Last report stated there was a group of at least over three hundred of these moles gathered in an open area… based in your recent report and that of Cinnamon, we could assume they’re being influenced by a Corruption Crystal placed by Undead coming from another world.”

“Wait what? Really?” wondered the goblin. “I read briefly about that, just what the hell are those?”

“Crystallizations of Demonic and Nether which work to corrupt a surrounding area,” I explained. “They usually come with some sort of deadly swamp-like domain that consumes all life around it. When monsters, or well, spirit beasts in this case, absorb the energy it produces, they become corrupted, larger, stronger, tend to evolve into bigger forms, and reproduce super quickly too.”

“And you think that could be it?” the gnome wondered. “Hmm, indeed, if you were to actually destroy that crystal, if you find it, and hunt moles, we’ll pay you plenty for all that effort.”

“Really?” I wondered.

“Yes, there’s currently some missions here to hunt moles but we’ve mostly got miners here, nobody is going to go out of their way to hunt creatures,” the brownie woman said.

“If you can hunt a lot, we’ll give you an extra!” the goblin said, rubbing his hands.

“Hmmm~! Alright, well, I was already going to do it anyway, so sure thing!” I nodded with a smile. “Alright everyone, shall we go have a little adventure underground? It shouldn’t take too long all things considered.”

“Sure, let’s get going then,” Mark nodded.

“Uuuh, actually I kind of feel hungry, isn’t anybody hungry?” Rita asked. “We could grab a bite before departing.”

“I’m hungry yeah,” Elena nodded. “Been like five hours since we ate breakfast mom.”

“Me too, I was wondering what we could eat in here…” Anna nodded.

“There’s no hurry!” Monica said with a nod. “So we could… um, enjoy the place?”

“Elayne I’m really hungry I’m not going anywhere until I get a meal!” Jenny complained.

“Okay, okay, calm down… I get it,” I nodded. “Let’s go “grab a bite” as Rita said. It’s only fair enough, I guess everyone’s just super hungry. I didn’t even realize it had been that long since we ate. I suppose that’s because I can produce my own food through photosynthesis.”

“Wait, you can photosynthesize? I mean we’ve grown stronger with Physiques and all but we’re still humans…” my daughter said, confused.

“Ah maybe, but thanks to a Soul Bound Skill, the Photosynthesis Skill was added into the mix,” I explained. “I once used it to create a Fusion Skill named [Yggdryad’s Divine Spiritual Presence], which wasn’t Soul Bound, but then it evolved into a Soul Bound Skill called [Divine Aeternitas Yggdragon Heavenly Spiritual Presence]! Like this I can provide myself with food through bathing in the sunlight if I want, although it is nowhere near as satisfying and nutritious as normal food, but it helps me not feel too hungry, sometimes I could go whole days without eating…”

“That’s sure damn convenient! Can Mark do the same? He doesn’t even look hungry either,” Rita said.

“Ah yeah, it’s the same for me,” he nodded. “Ents also have Photosynthesis Skills, which I fused into another, and then it evolved into a soul bound skill… With Elayne both of us are pretty similar, haha.”

“Damn plants…” Jenny groaned. “You guys got it way too easy!”

“Heheh, we’re just joking, we also like eating, shall we go eat then Mark?” I asked him.

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind a meal, and to taste what they got in here,” Mark nodded. “Excuse me sir, what places do you recommend?”

“Name’s Grofunton,” the gnome said. “That goblin over there is Ershkiek, and the lady over there is Redberries.”

“Oh, so you’re the receptionist or…?” I asked.

“We’re more than that, we’re like Cinnamon at the Fairy Guild,” explained Ershkiek, writing some documents after drinking some coffee. Yes they got coffee in this Realm. “We manage this place together, just one is not enough.”

“I see…” I nodded.

“Anyhow, there’s a bunch of nice places around here but I would recommend you the biggest place… It would be the Old Log’s Eatery,” said Redberries. “It’s handled by gnomes, and they mostly sell a lot of their food, which should be enough to fill the belly of large people like you, humans. They got meat, fish, potatoes, rice, noodles, all the stuff you people love… I would rather have fruits though, I don’t understand how gnomes love all that greasy food so much, but you humans are the same right?”

“I guess we are…” I nodded. “Thank you!”

We walked outside the building, looking around the busy streets while trying not to bump into the little people walking around. Despite meeting other races, they were all generally smaller than us, not even the tallest gnome could reach past our hips. Humans were truly “big people” to them, and so we gained a lot of weird stares.

“Look mom, it’s big people!”

“It has been hundreds of years since they last visited, huh?”

“They’re kind of strange, their auras aren’t exactly human, but more spiritual.”

“That’s how Druids are! They’re the only humans allowed to enter our Realm anyway.”

“I’ve heard they can turn into wild beasts! Is that true?”

The people of this damn village sure loved gossiping.

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