Apinsig
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Chapter 300 Homesteading in a fantasy world
🕑 Added 2023-08-25 13:35:25 +0000 UTC----
300 chapters it would never have been possible without you all. Thank you sincerely.
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After my talk with my next apprentice, which luckily lasted much shorter than the first two. She just wanted a nice home where she could raise a family which was an easy problem for me to help with. After I headed towards the capital. On my way, I stopped at the inn and said hi to Val and his family.
We only talked briefly, but he seemed quite excited about some new beverages he's been brewing up. But that prompted an interesting question, one I pondered while walking to the capital: Is it safe for me to start drinking? I know that because of my trait, 'Giant Amongst Men', my body is fully grown, so it shouldn’t affect me negatively.
I mulled over this until I reached where Francis was working. I concluded that I would try Val’s new brew, but I wasn’t going to start drinking even in moderate amounts. There might not be a need to physically limit myself, but mentally, I think I want to wait.
My thoughts were interrupted when Francis began to nuzzle me for scratches. Happily, I obliged, scratching his head and neck for as long as he wanted. "Look at you, working so hard. You're such a good bull." I received an affirmative moo in response and continued to chat with him, even though he probably didn’t grasp much of what I was saying.
A good while later, Francis wanted to get back to work, and I continued my journey towards the capital. I’m not fond of bureaucracy, but I recognize its necessity. One thing I was genuinely grateful for was that I didn’t have to deal with it as much as if I were actually running the place.
I never understood stories where people aspired to be kings, especially if they faced situations similar to mine. It's like raising your hand in class to ask the teacher for more homework because you have a smidgen of free time and wish to fill it with nonsense.
It was the first time since I made it back that I used the gateway leading to my home. So, it was also the first time I noticed something interesting a little ways outside the town walls. There were quite a few people there.
As I got closer, I realized it was an obstacle course of some sort. It took a while to reach it while walking, mainly because my eyesight was so sharp that I could see everything from a distance. There might be a few things I hadn't considered when planning the defense of a town or an area. Probably many people in this world have excellent eyesight and can see great distances quite clearly. Need to interrupt that as best as I could.
But I'll think about that later. For now, I began observing the people attempting the extremely challenging obstacle course. It reminded me of extreme sports enthusiasts who design obstacle courses where participants jump onto small platforms, hold onto narrow ledges, and leap towards swinging ring on a rope trying to fit held rods into it to not fall, all while covering significant distances. This particular course, however, seemed to be designed to be ten times harder. Almost everyone was using their abilities to tackle the various obstacles.
I was quite impressed by the setup, but many of those attempting the obstacles really should start with simpler ones. Most were constantly failing, but I did notice some who were faring better, and they seemed to be the ones in charge here. I inquired for more information and quickly learned there was a fee for an hour of practice. It seemed quite reasonable based on what I last knew about the average income of most people.
I was noticed almost immediately, and I guess I now know how celebrities feel when people start talking about them in hushed tones, looking at them as if they're someone to worship. I didn’t enjoy the feeling, and I guess I even kind of disliked it, but it wasn't too big of a deal.
"There’s also a completion reward if you do the full course. You will get your credit back that you have spent in the last week," one of the establishment workers said to me after explaining about the place.
She looked somewhat hopeful that I would try this challenge, and I was curious about how well I would do. "That sounds like a nice challenge. Where do I pay, and how long is the line for the challenge?" I asked, and she responded immediately, "No need to pay, and you can go immediately." I guess my disapproving look made her rethink her words.
"I mean, if you fail the challenge, you can pay for one hour's usage. But I think there’s a good chance you'll complete it, so there wouldn't be any need to exchange credit and then give it right back, right?" she said with a hint of nervous laughter at the end.
I was impressed. She came up with a plausible excuse, even though my participation would likely attract more people here, generating more income than I could ever pay them. She led me to the starting point, and soon the person who initiated this all joined us.
After a brief introduction, I was given the rules by the person who designed the entire place. The primary rule was that you couldn't use movement abilities. That made perfect sense; it would trivialize a lot depending on your ability. But since I was still recovering, I decided not to use any energy to boost myself and would rely solely on my physical body.
The news made the owner a bit nervous, as he probably wanted me to complete that obstacle course. Even I have already heard some complaints that it's too hard. He should probably invest in a simpler obstacle course, but I guess everyone makes mistakes when opening a new business. You just have to hope that you didn't make a blunder so big that you can't continue with your business.
Before I started, I stretched and limbered up as much as possible. Some suggested that I shouldn’t wear my armour, but I waved that off. I wanted to try and complete it while wearing battle gear.
The first obstacle was a standing jump over a three-metre sand pit. I cleared it with ease, my tall body helping me with this. However, there would be times when my large size wouldn't be so advantageous, but that would come later in the obstacle course. Next were some monkey bars, but they were spaced quite far apart. You needed to get some momentum, otherwise, you wouldn't make it to the next one.
As I continued, the obstacle course slowly started to rise. About halfway through, I needed to jump across pillars that were only one inch by one inch and spaced up to two metres apart. An interesting thing to note was that they were five metres above the ground. For safety, there was a net underneath, but I wasn’t sure it could handle my weight.
That, however, would only be a problem if I failed. I visualized the route I would take and then jumped, letting my body do the work. I jumped from one pillar to the next, never stopping until I reached the other side of the obstacle.
This one was quite hard. Even a slight miscalculation in the jump could land you in the net. I wasn't looking forward to the next few obstacles, as I would need to hold my entire body weight with only my fingertips. Halfway across the first obstacle, I began to regret leaving my armor on, but I managed to complete it without too much trouble.
The rest of the obstacle course passed in a blur. I wanted to finish it quickly since I didn't have much time. When I finally jumped off and rolled to break my fall from the last obstacle, I found that everyone was staring at me in silence.
"I'm pretty sure he actually didn't use any abilities," I heard someone murmur. As I met the eyes of those watching me, I began to wonder if I'd made an error, seeing something akin to blind worship in their expressions.
The owner recovered first, starting to clap, and everyone else followed his lead. He seemed sharp, realizing I wanted to leave and not trying to detain me. Instead, he made a quick announcement.
"We'll call it Rich's Challenge, where you'll need to complete the obstacle course without any abilities. As a reward, your name will be on the same plaque as our high general, Rich Dirt." His words ignited enthusiasm in some of the attendees, and I wondered how long it would take for someone to replicate my feat.
Comments
Shree_Pratham
Congratulations on reaching this milestone.
ShadeByTheSea
must be a well made course since it didn't have any trouble with his and his armor's mass.
