Preparation Period Remaining: 5 Days
Mark woke up and got dressed. All his gear was packed in the front room of his cabin, bundled and ready to go. Looking around, he decided he was as packed and ready as he could be. He left the cabin and went to eat at the inn. Breakfast was eggs, bacon, and toast with a jelly of some kind; he could not figure out the flavor, but it was new. Anyway, the food was great.
Sitting at the table after eating, he just listened to the conversation in the room. It was all about the Frontier Gate and the group going. What would change for them here? Another group was talking about the water wheel they were building. They had the design but were building a very small, scaled-down model to test the theories. The System gave them the models but not the knowledge of how to use them. Mark was very interested in that conversation, but then they got up and went to work, which meant maybe he should also.
Mark went into the kitchen and found Dale. He was in the middle of the morning rush, so he had to wait. He watched one of the men from his Fire Starting class cutting carrots, and it took all he had not to walk over and kick the man like Clara had kicked him because he was doing it all wrong. But this was Dale’s kitchen, not his. Just before Dale finished, though, he did notice he came over and corrected the man and walked off again. He was much gentler with the man than Clara had ever been with him.
Dale walked over. “Hello, Mark. I assume you're here to plant my orchard, right?”
Mark said, “That was my plan today.”
Dale said, “Well, I am leaving it to you to handle. I heard you actually learned how to do this up in Wayrest, so I'm leaving the orchard to you. Let's go see what was delivered and the plot that was approved for this.”
Dale walked with Mark out the back door of the inn and down the street. They stopped at a relatively large lot. The lot had been plowed recently, and there were flags placed in rows up and down the area. Just as they got there, a team showed up with shovels, and someone started directing them to the marked locations where they started digging holes. Mark was somewhat relieved to find out he did not have to dig all the holes and that a crew had been provided.
Dale pointed. “These are the saplings I was given. We wanted sixty trees but only got forty, but that will work. We have four types of trees, each with two varieties. I'm told our saplings are about four times the size of yours. Yours are smaller and easier for you to move but will take a little longer to grow. If you tend them, I'm told it will be almost no time until they produce fruit.”
Mark said, “My understanding is there are four fruit types, apple, pear, plum, and cherry, and each has two different varieties, right?”
Dale said, “That is what we got. We ended up with five of each variety of tree type. I did not really pay attention to which varieties of each we had, as at this point fruit is something we can’t quickly get, so anything works for me. But when you plant them, add the tags they have with each sapling so we can identify them while they are growing.”
Mark said, “Okay, I will take care of it. I see they have already prepped the ground and are digging holes. How did they decide where to put what?”
Dale said, “Oh yeah, I forgot to give it to you. Here is the placement map we were sent with, and the spacing on the map has already been accounted for. They had an engineering team over here staking it out and marking it. These guys are just digging the holes, and it's your job to plant them all.”
With that, Dale waved and walked back to the inn. Mark looked over the map and then went over to the saplings and found a folder worth of info. He opened it up and started to read through it. There were detailed sheets on each tree. The watering and care instructions differed for each variety. The notes said they really should be more spread out and in bigger quantities for production scale, but that this small batch they sent would help a few people gain skills so that when they decided to increase their production, they would have skilled people.
Mark pulled out the sheet on one of the cherry trees. The location for this one was one of the first holes prepped. So he picked up the five saplings of that type, loaded them into a wheelbarrow, and moved over to their new home. When Mark got to the first hole, he read the unpacking instructions and followed them step by step. It took a lot longer to plant a single tree than he had thought.
The instructions covered making sure the roots and soil were positioned correctly and adding the proper starting fertilizer, which had been provided. They also explained optimal soil versus whatever was available, how to judge the soil, and what could be done to improve it depending on its qualities. Following the detailed instructions, he was able to get the first five done. Of course this process was not fast; it had been two hours since he started.
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He looked back at the group of saplings sitting together and did the math in his head. It took two hours for five; with forty trees, that worked out to sixteen hours of planting. Mark just sighed. He was already tired, and only one eighth of it was done. It was time for a break, so he headed to the inn and asked Dale for something and was given a drink that did not look familiar. Just shrugging, he drank it and was pleasantly surprised. It was a cherry-flavored drink and was just amazing.
Dale said, “What do you think? We got a small order of fruit with the saplings. They even sent us a recipe for the cherry drink. It's amazing, right?”
Mark said, “Yes, it is. You will have to give me the recipe.”
Dale said, “Figured you would, and here are eight more recipes for fruit-related items. I dumbed them down a little for you since you will have limited ingredients, but I think you will be pleased with the results.”
Mark thanked Dale for the drink and went back to work. The next five he chose were some of the plums, as he wanted to do a different type of fruit to go through its instructions too. The sheets were detailed and different from the last. The fertilizer was different, and the soil recommendations were different. Not that they really had a choice, right? He continued on them. It was interesting, the differences of the bark, the flexibility of the limbs, and the shapes of the budding leaves. Each one was unique.
Mark was quicker with this batch. About an hour and a half, so a bit better. Mark needed to have another break, and it was lunchtime, and he headed to the inn. Lunch was some kind of stew with carrots, potatoes, and some kind of meat. It was really good, and there were some rolls to go with it and what he guessed was plum jelly. Mark ate slowly, mostly just stalling because he was not used to this much work, but he was having fun.
Mark picked up his third set of saplings, this time pears, and added them to the wheelbarrow. Following the map, he found where they would go. He pulled out the papers and started reading about the leaves, bark, fruit, temperature, how they ripened, when they should be picked, and the planting instructions. He then looked over the trees he had and realized they did not match the instructions.
Heading back over to the saplings, he looked at the examples of leaves and structure and then back at the saplings. Finding the set of five that matched, he pulled them out. Taking the sheet with them, he read it through. That sheet matched what he was going to plant. He set the plum sheet down with the correct saplings and took the other sheet back over to the trees he had brought.
Reading through the sheet, he matched the leaves and structure, then finally noticed the small tags on each tree. Each tree had a tag tied to one of its limbs, and the tags identified them as apple trees. Mark loaded them up in his wheelbarrow and, following the map, took them to where they belonged. He pulled them out and was about to plant the first one following the instructions when Mark received a System message.
[Skill Acquired]Forestry Level 1
Recognize common useful tree speciesBetter judge healthy growing conditionsImprove success planting and maintaining young trees
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Mark had forgotten how close he was to finishing the Forestry lesson. He had volunteered to do the planting partly to finish it and partly to learn how to plant his own trees, but he had lost track of the progress. Finding the wrong trees and correcting the mistake had pushed him over the top. He was so excited that he had to tell Sarah. She had been hoping he would finish so he could take one more useful lesson before he left.
Walking into the inn, Mark found Sarah teaching some students. She finished her conversation and turned to him.
Sarah said, “So if you came to find me, I am guessing you finished that lesson and were going to get a new one. You know you could have picked the new one off the menu anywhere within range of the village the school is attached to, right?”
Mark shrugged. “Oh yeah, I was just excited. I have Forestry now.”
Sarah said, “You know if you waited a couple of days, we would be able to upgrade the school and you could work on a Level 2 lesson, right?”
Mark said, “I already have one in mind I wanted before I leave.”
Sarah said, “So what have you chosen?”
Mark opened his interface and selected the option.
[Lesson Generated]Shelter Building Level 1
RequirementsConstruct one weather-resistant temporary shelterDemonstrate proper site selection for three different shelter locations (0/3)Build one functional shelter using only locally available materials
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He then shared it with Sarah.
Sarah said, “Ah, that is one I would have never thought to take. But if you're going somewhere new, I could see how useful that one would be for you. If you have some free time, you could help here with a class if you like.”
Mark said, “Oh yeah, I got completely distracted. I am planting Dale’s new trees. Ten done, thirty to go. It might take me well into tomorrow to finish it. So I guess I need to get on with it.”
Sarah said, “Well, get to it then.” She then turned and started interacting with another one of her students.
Mark headed out the door with a skip in his step, heading back to the future orchard.