System Architect

After touring the campus, we returned to the hotel for the evening. Though Mom dragged me around to look at the sights in town and nearby, there was nothing for me to do aside from working on my quests as much as I could given the distraction. Finally, it was time to go home.

Now that the university was covering the vast majority of the costs associated with my education, the money from Grandpa Joe was now available for personal projects. The one at the forefront of my mind was testing how growing my own plants to harvest would do for experience when compared to wild plants.

I spoke with Dad about it the following week.

“Dad, any chance the landlord would let me install a small raised bed?”

“I can ask,” he shrugged. “What’s the plan if he says yes?”

I explained what I wanted to do with the funds and the plan for testing Harvesting Experience. He shot off a text to the landlord asking for permission. Though it took some back-and-forth negotiation, Dad secured the landlord’s assent. The only thing he’d wanted from us was a bulb of garlic or other fresh vegetable from the garden.

With winter still gripping the ground, I had to wait nearly a month before Dad and I could begin working on the project. Dad and I went to the local home improvement store to get everything I’d need. It was my money so he’d let me take the lead on it—even if he was going to be doing most of the work and I was there to learn a lot.

I picked out a couple large boards and some metal bits to tie the corners together. Dad picked out the screws. He also did the majority of the lifting—especially of the soil ngs. Those things weighed more than I did! Dad’s truck came in clutch. It was the perfect size to bring everything back so we didn’t have to rent anything.

When Dad and I came back to his place, we—he—unloaded all that I’d purchased at the store. I had him drag everything to a sunny spot. He pulled some of his work tools out for the job. The plan—at least in my head—was to make a rectangle out of the two boards then fill the center with new soil from the bags.

Dad started by cutting both boards in two. One part of each board was about three feet long while the other was around nine feet. Then he cut the ends at forty-five degrees so they would more easily fit together. He suggested doing a more complicated joint, but I figured some glue and some metal would be enough for that application. I expected it to rot before it failed in any other way.

Once all of the pieces were ready, Dad took a square to set the first corner. He glued and screwed them before moving on to the second corner, then the third, and finally the forth. He let me screw in some of the screws of the metal plates on each corner. Though the frame wasn’t the sturdiest thing, it was good enough for what I wanted. I even got to check when I helped Dad move it over to one side so we could turn the grass under where it was going. The last thing either of us wanted was to pull grass for the next century.

Turning the grass by hand was hard work. Dad did what he could but even he needed a break after ten minutes. I tried my hand at it and barely made any progress. We traded back and forth for half-an-hour until the ground was turned dirt-side-up. Then it was time to move the frame back into position and fill it with the soil I bought at the store.

The soil took about as long as the turning had, but it was relatively easier work. Dad brought the bags over and I worked on emptying them into the raised bed. Even with the gloves I was wearing, the damp soil was cold. My fingers were tingling by the time we finished making the raised bed. It’d taken most of the day and I was proud of it. I knew planting would come later when the ground warmed some and the risk of frost dropped away, but I was ready for when that happened.

Another month passed. I awoke one morning to see leaves starting to come out on the trees and the early flowers of spring beginning to wilt away. I checked the countdown timer. That’s when it hit me—it had been one year since I’d returned to the past. I sat on my bed, holding my head in my hands.

Part of me still didn’t believe what had happened—if there was just some magic or supernatural something to prove that what was going on was real. Besides going back in time, I had nothing tangible to point to. Efficiency dictated that I needed to focus on getting the experience features first, but that didn’t stop me from looking at all the options for what I could do with the system right now that would fulfill my desire.

Feature: Leveling

Prerequisites: N/A

Unlock Personal Use: 1,000

Unlock For Universal Use: 1,000,000 Exp

Description: Allows leveling by spending experience

Feature: Leveling Speed Slow

Prerequisites: Leveling

Unlock Personal Use: 500

Unlock For Universal Use: 500,000 Exp

Description: Four levels per tier

Feature: Leveling Speed Medium

Prerequisites: Leveling

Unlock Personal Use: 100

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Eight levels per tier

Feature: Leveling Speed Fast

Prerequisites: Leveling

Unlock Personal Use: 500

Unlock For Universal Use: 500,000 Exp

Description: Sixteen levels per tier

Feature: Leveling Speed Continuous

Prerequisites: Leveling

Unlock Personal Use: 1,000

Unlock For Universal Use: 1,000,000 Exp

Description: Strength increases directly with experience spent; experience limited by tier

Feature: Skills I

Prerequisites: Leveling

Unlock Personal Use: 1,000 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 1,000,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks learning basic skills

Feature: Skills II

Prerequisites: Leveling

Unlock Personal Use: 5,000 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 5,000,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks learning advanced skills

Feature: Skills IIIPrerequisites: Leveling

Unlock Personal Use: 25,000 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 25,000,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks learning meta skills

Feature: Stats Screen

Prerequisites: N/A

Unlock Personal Use: 1,000 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 1,000,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the stats screen

Feature: Mana

Prerequisites: Stats Screen

Unlock Personal Use: 100 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the mana stat

Feature: Stamina

Prerequisites: Stats Screen

Unlock Personal Use: 100 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the stamina stat

Feature: Health

Prerequisites: Stats Screen

Unlock Personal Use: 100 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the health stat

Feature: Strength

Prerequisites: Stats Screen

Unlock Personal Use: 100 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the strength stat

Feature: Intelligence

Prerequisites: Stats Screen

Unlock Personal Use: 100 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the intelligence stat

Feature: Physcial Agility

Prerequisites: Stats Screen

Unlock Personal Use: 100 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the physical agility stat

Feature: Mental Agility

Prerequisites: Stats Screen

Unlock Personal Use: 100 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the mental agility stat

Feature: Physical Fortitude

Prerequisites: Stats Screen

Unlock Personal Use: 100 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the physical fortitude stat

Feature: Mental Fortitude

Prerequisites: Stats Screen

Unlock Personal Use: 100 Exp

Unlock For Universal Use: 100,000 Exp

Description: Unlocks the mental fortitude stat

I almost picked a couple of the options for myself but stopped at the last minute. There was no way I could be so greedy as to purchase anything for myself and make the monsters worse when I should wait and get it for everyone instead. At least, that’s what I told myself to feel better about my decision. It was like expecting a present on my birthday and the deciding to return it without opening it.

I knew I would be able to push away these feelings for a while but there was a very good chance they would return stronger at some point. I just hoped that when they did, I would be as strong as I was now so I could put my foot down. With at least 25 years ahead of me—and likely closer to 60—that was a long time for something like this to grow and fester.

I pushed those thoughts from my mind. Today was also the day to plant my seeds. Though frost might happen over the next week—at least traditionally—the seeds would be safe to plant now. My choices had been things that would be grown and harvested before I went off to school at the end of summer.

I made little holes in the soil with my fingers and dropped a couple seeds in each. Then I filled the holes in with soil. Each type of plant required different spacing and depth, so I read the packages before planting each section of the raised bed. All in all, I ended up with six types of plants. I watered them and marked the rows so I would know what was what when they started sprouting.

I watered them every day that did not call for rain. The raised bed drained well—almost too well. With the height over the rest of the ground, water had a difficult time staying in the soil which meant I needed to be extra mindful. Whenever I was at Mom’s, Dad would have to water in my stead—and that was something I had to remind him to do on occasion. He was forgetful sometimes.

A week later, most of the plants had sprouted and pushed their first leaves outward to catch the sun. I plucked the smaller sprouts in each location, leaving just the strongest and healthiest of the plants to continue growing. I also pulled any weeds that so much as thought about growing in my garden.

As the plants grew, I gave them everything they needed to grow—water, sunlight, climbing poles, and much more. It took until the end of my first year in college before there was anything to actually harvest. The first I picked were the peas and beans. I got some good experience from them, doubly so when I gave some to the landlord—which counted as Economic Experience. I guessed this was because of the deal we’d struck. More harvesting was to come, but that would have to wait for summer.

I did just as well in the second semester as I had in the first. Though the material wasn’t difficult, it was more work than the first semester had been—both in actual work and the work for me to understand what I was learning. I knew that the upcoming three years would also be difficult, but I also knew that I would do well.

Mom pulled me aside the week after I was done with school.

“We need to talk,” she said.

I shuddered, Those were not the words I wanted to hear from anyone, least of at my mother.

“Yeah?” I said as calmly as I could.

“You’re going to be off during the summer and I can’t be home to watch you. Normally, that would mean hanging out with Grandpa Joe or your other grandparents, but that’s not fair to them to mind you every day. So I talked with your father and he’s agreed that sending you to day camp over the summer is the best option we’ve got. I know you’d rather stay home… and I’d let you if I could… but the last thing I want is the government involved in our business, you know?”

“There’s no way to do anything else?”

Mom shook her head.

“Not that I could find, no. Day camp is less expensive than hiring someone to be around—and with all that you’re doing to save the world, bringing someone else here would jeopardize the secret.”

“Wouldn’t the day camp do the same thing?” I countered.

“It might,” she conceded. “However, a lot of what you’d do in day camp would give you experience, right? More hiding in plain sight than having to hide from someone.”

“You’re probably right,” I said. “So what’s the plan?”

“Well, you’ve got about a month before the first one starts. You’ll go to two sessions. The first will get you through the end of July, while the other you’ll only go to half of because you’ll be heading off to college.”

“I see,” I nodded.

I didn’t want to go, but I also understood the reason behind it. I’d already had one news story and I didn’t need another. As much as it was going to be like a vacuum—and suck—it was something I’d have to put up with.