Bran took the scepter into his hands like it was a delicate flower or a fragile vase, causing a short laugh to escape Jacob, who found the scene to be quite comical.
"Bran," Jacob said as he tried to stop his giggling, "it's not made of glass. I enchanted it to be quite durable. Look."
He reached out and took the scepter from Bran, who was watching in confusion as Jacob threw the scepter on the ground.
Bran's expression changed from confusion to horror as he watched his precious scepter bounce off the dirt floor with a dull thud before resting in the dirt.
He quickly bent over and scooped the scepter up, then started brushing the dirt off as Jacob just shook his head in disappointment.
"It's not even fully connected to the golem," Jacob said as he walked over to the golem itself.
He placed his hands on the golem as he channeled his magic through it, mapping out its magical field to get an idea of the shape he wanted for the three-dimensional connection rune.
The process was much easier on an object with a pre-integrated magic core that he could offload his magical power into as he channeled it through the construct.
Once he was ready, he pulled his inscription tool back out and created the pattern.
With a magical click that only he could feel through his magic field, his enchantment was completed, and the golem started to move as its moving parts seemingly came to life.
He then used the opportunity to upgrade his intent shaping once again and used his intent to smooth out the connection enchantment, helping the mental connection to be seamless and hopefully less clunky.
System Notice: Intent Shaping 8 --> 9
Bran and Caleb started cheering, seeing the mechanical construct coming to life as all their hard work began to come to fruition before their eyes.
Bran then carefully gripped the leather handle of the scepter, still treating it with a little too much reverence despite Jacob's demonstration. He pointed the tip toward the empty space in the center of the barn and looked like he had begun to focus.
Slowly, the mechanical metal construct raised its right combat arm. The internal gears whirred and clicked in what sounded like a rhythmic, mechanical symphony.
"By the gods," Bran whispered with wide eyes. He flicked his wrist, and the golem mirrored the movement, bringing its massive arm down in an empty but quite powerful strike, causing a loud thud as the blunt end of its arm hit the dirt of the barn floor.
Caleb immediately crowded in next to him. "Let me try! Make it walk forward. No, wait, try the mental link!"
Bran closed his eyes and focused in concentration. A moment later, the golem took an unsteady, thudding step forward without Bran having to move the scepter.
The two tinkerers erupted into a fresh bout of excited laughter, quickly falling into a rapid-fire discussion about enhancing joint articulation for better reaction times and how to better align the weight distribution, along with various other changes they seemed to think the golem needed at this point.
Seeing that his brother and Bran were currently quite distracted and having the time of their lives, Jacob quietly took a step back.
He could tell that they were going to be at it for hours just getting familiar with the controls and testing the limits of the runic construct.
With the golem project essentially out of his hands for the time being, Jacob figured he had some time to kill. It was the perfect opportunity to knock out one of his general quests and farm a bit of experience.
He mentally brought up his system interface with but a thought. A translucent blue screen materialized in the air in front of him, and he navigated to his active task list to see what the farming quest currently was.
Active General Quests:
Plant Any Seed in an Open Field | Reward: 100 Quest XP
Visit the Adventurers Guild in Thornhold | Reward: 200 Quest XP
Nurture 5 New Herbs Into Magical Herbs [0 / 5] | Reward: 100 Quest XP
Current Level 2 Quest XP: 0/1200
Jacob scanned the list and realized that the current quest was quite simple, and he could likely complete it before the distant sounds of ringing practice swords and team shouts even died down, as his friends were once again trying to get the upper hand against Durand.
He quickly used his flight spell and shot over to one of the west fields and picked up a handful of seeds from the storage shed.
Then, he flew over to a furrow and dropped a seed into a row before pressing it down with a push of force. He then made a small cloud form right over the tiny hole, which rained a few drops onto the newly planted seed.
It took a bit longer for the system to acknowledge his efforts, and Jacob even considered using some healing magic to help the process along, as he knew Sera was able to do with her singing.
He considered how he had managed to do something similar with his enchanted sticks and began to mentally map out how he could accomplish it directly with his magic.
It also seemed like a good way to start developing his actual class, and maybe get a class-specific skill.
However, once the water had fully soaked into the soil and the soil had settled, the system finally spoke up.
Quest Completed: Plant Any Seed in an Open Field
Reward: 100 Quest XP
Level 2 Quest XP: 100/1200
"Whew," Jacob said as he pretended to wipe some sweat from his forehead. "That was such a hard quest!"
As if to answer the sarcastic joke about the quest being difficult, the system chimed in with a new quest.
New General Quest Available:Complete the harvest of any field.
Reward: 100 Quest XP
"Welp, that's what I get for talking crap, I guess," Jacob said out loud with a bit of frustration as he made his way back. "I'll have to ask Dad about this one. Using the harvester will be easy enough, but I don't even know if there's a field ready to be harvested."
Shaking his head, he flew back to the house and landed in front of the porch. Before heading inside, though, some faint laughter and movement from the training yard caught his attention.
As he focused on his friends' training, he noticed that Durand was standing to the side with his back to the house.
Instead of fighting the lieutenant, the group was running around the freshly enchanted golem while tagging it with sticks. Even Sera had a smile on her face and a stick in her hand instead of standing to the side providing healing and enhancements.
It seemed that no one was currently getting hurt, and enhancements would just defeat the purpose of their fun little exercise.
Bran, however, had a frustrated look on his face, while Caleb seemed to be constantly giving him advice, and both boys had their eyes glued to the golem.
They were on the far side of the field, so Jacob was unable to hear what was actually being said without altering the sound waves with some air magic.
It seemed the tinkerer pair had made their adjustments and wanted to test their ability to control the machine.
After observing the game of golem tag, Jacob headed into the house once more to get a better idea of what a freehold meant for the family legally. He always needed to improve his skill levels, too.
He was becoming painfully aware of the 10-level limit as one of his skills quickly approached level 10 while the rest were lagging behind.
May and his little sister, Lila, were already in the kitchen getting dinner prepped for the large group that was currently at the house.
Jacob was surprised to find his father in the living room next to the hearth instead of working the fields. He was reading a hefty legal tome with the royal writ of elevation open on a study table in front of him.
The kind of reading material Jacob had actually come inside to find for himself.
"Just the son I wanted to see," Arthur said with a faint smile as he looked up, gesturing to the empty chair across from him. "Go ahead and sit down, Jacob. We need to talk about what this piece of parchment actually means for our family. Caleb is already familiar with freehold status, so we need to get you caught up."
Jacob took a seat, his curiosity piqued.
"I thought I would have to read about this on my own; aren't you supposed to be busy with the fields?" Jacob asked as he got comfortable in his chair.
Arthur thought about the question for a moment, squinting his eyes as he looked over at the hearth before answering, "I hired a couple of my old farmhands back. They came by earlier today while I was watching your friends practice. They had heard about our recent elevation and wanted to see if we needed help on the farm since we would likely be expanding soon. I figured it was about time I shifted mostly to management while Elis trains the new farmhands."
Jacob smiled as he heard the explanation from his father. "I think that's a great idea, and it brings me to my next question. I was wondering what the kingdom actually meant by making us a freehold."
"Well, son, a freehold is the ownership of land without requiring noble sovereignty," Arthur began, tapping the transcribed document.
"Before this writ," he continued, "we were peasant landholders existing under the local feudal lord, the Baron. We could farm and sell our produce, but our position was basically always vulnerable. While we could inherit our lands and even purchase neighboring lands, Baron Talbot had quite a bit of practical leverage over us since he was always the actual landowner. Now, our claim to this property exists independently of his estate. Our rights currently fall directly under the law and discretion of the Crown."
Arthur slid the transcription across the rough wood of the table. "I want to make sure you understand the weight of this situation. I'm going to go ahead and ask you some questions, and I want you to think through the problems practically."
Jacob nodded and leaned forward to read the confusing legal text that was starting to make more sense.
"First," Arthur asked, "who owns the farm now?"
"You and your lawful heirs," Jacob answered without really needing to think about it.
"Correct," Arthur replied. "Could Baron Talbot confiscate it?"
Jacob thought for a second. "Not without a legitimate legal cause and proper process. But I'm not really sure what is covered by that."
Arthur nodded as he replied, "We can cover that later; this book should give us some specifics. Now, can he inspect it?"
"Yes," Jacob replied, "but he needs the appropriate authority and must follow the proper legal procedure, including probable cause. He can't just walk in and demand things anymore."
Arthur offered a small nod as he continued. "What about taxes? Can we refuse them now?"
"No," Jacob replied with a bit of hesitation. "A freehold doesn't mean tax exemption, but I think this sounds like we only pay taxes directly to the Crown. Is that how it is?"
Arthur nodded with a grin and replied, "That's exactly how this works. We no longer fall directly under the rule of a noble. We're now within the legal jurisdiction of a couple of them rather than being directly subjected to them."
"Can we hire armed men?" Arthur asked, moving on.
"Yes," Jacob replied, "for the protection of the holding. Lieutenant Durand already mentioned we have that right."
A soft, melodic chime echoed in Jacob's mind, signaling a system notification.
He felt a brief pulse of knowledge appear in his mind, but he consciously pushed the flashing blue icon from the system to the edge of his vision. He needed to ensure he was focused on his father's lesson.
"What about the forest beside the farm?" Arthur pressed on. "Can we claim it?"
Jacob scanned the text of the writ, his eyes catching a specific clause about bordering territories. "Potentially, I think. If it's legally undeveloped Crown land bordering our legitimate holding, and if we improve it by getting it ready for farm work or other related activities, then we should be able to register the acreage as an expansion of the Hemlock freehold."
"You're just about spot-on." Arthur smiled as he complimented Jacob. "That's why the Count winked at me, if you noticed. The Crown wants us to expand as freeholders. But we need to ensure we remember the distinction between ownership and political authority. Could I charge Farmer Johnson taxes if I were to legally take over his farm?"
"No," Jacob replied. "You own land; you don't actually hold some sort of governmental jurisdiction over your neighbors."
Arthur nodded and asked another question, "Can I maintain a militia?"
"No, not really," Jacob replied. "That crosses into lordly powers like conscripting soldiers. We can only hire a few armed guards for defense. Although, I don't see a distinction between a 'few' and a militia."
Another system chime rang out, but Jacob ignored it again. The legal frameworks of the kingdom were starting to click in his mind more quickly, giving him a clearer picture of what they were dealing with as a freehold.
Arthur pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment covered in complex grids and numbers. "That's a fairly good observation. Now, let us say we clear the forest and claim another hundred or so hectares. Here are the current tax schedules. See if you can calculate what happens to our margins by projecting the expansion based on the current per-acreage burden."
Jacob took the quill and started working through the ledgers. He applied the Crown's standard tax rates to the projected acreage, accounting for the cost of additional labor that would be required for expansion and seasonal dues for maintenance, using the per-acreage hint his father had mentioned.
"We would owe a bit more in base land taxes," Jacob concluded after a few minutes of intense calculation that caused him a bit of mental fatigue.
"Hmm, sounds like you did it correctly," Arthur said, leaning back in his chair. "So, we can claim another hundred hectares. But what could we actually do with it?"
Jacob stared at the numbers, forcing his mind to switch from thinking about the legal theory to the actual practical application.
"Well," Jacob began, drawing on theory he had built all the way back in Farm Online, "if we expand that quickly, we would actually need to justify the tax burden. The trees would require more labor to clear, or we would risk impacting the rest of the farm. Then we have to factor in the upfront cost of seeds and more livestock to work the new fields. Also, we would need to expand our storage silos for the expected harvest and figure out if our current equipment can even handle the increased volume of work. Honestly, expanding that fast might bankrupt us before the first harvest if we don't phase the development properly or supplement the farm's income through another financial route."
A rapid succession of system chimes went off in Jacob's head. The amount of critical thinking and collaborative planning they were doing was triggering multiple skill levels at once, but Jacob kept the interface hidden so he could continue to focus.
Arthur looked at his son with pride and reached out to tap the royal writ one last time to drive home his next statement.
"That's exactly what I was getting to. Being a freeholder doesn't mean the land is free, son," Arthur said with a serious tone. "It means the land is ours, but there's a difference. The taxes remain, even if they have changed in nature. Crown law remains, as we are still subjects of the kingdom. And even the county authority remains, as I'm sure the lieutenant would be willing to tell you if you tried to force land from our neighbors. But Talbot is no longer our landlord in any meaningful sense, even if he is still the noble in charge of this area."
Arthur let that distinction sink in with his son, giving him some silence to think about the change in their lives.
Jacob finally allowed his focus to slip toward the flashing icons in his peripheral vision, opening his notifications to see the fruits of his intense study session.
System Notice:
Skill Leveled Up: Legal Tradecraft Lv. 2 --> Lv. 5
Skill Leveled Up: Mathematics Lv. 1 --> Lv. 5
Jacob smiled, realizing his father's impromptu lesson had been even more valuable than many of the quests given by the system.
A sudden ruckus broke their concentration, pulling Jacob and his father from their current study session. The heavy wooden back door swung open as Jacob's friends began to file into the dining room, their excited voices overlapping in a cheerful clamor.
With the door open, Jacob suddenly realized an amazing smell was spreading throughout the entire house.
The rich, savory aroma of roasted meat and well-seasoned root vegetables drifted through the air, signaling that dinner was ready.
His focus on the numbers and legal theory had severely distracted him from his own hunger, but his stomach now rumbled loudly in anticipation of the wonderful-smelling food his mother and sister had cooked for them.
Arthur smiled with a bit of amusement and carefully rolled up the transcription of the royal writ. He placed it on top of his tax ledgers and legal book and tucked the stack into a nearby cabinet, leaving the more advanced specifics of freehold law for another time.
Jacob let the stress of legal theory and farm math out in a long breath and stood up. He raised his arms to stretch his stiff muscles, feeling a nice pop in his shoulders, before making his way over to join his friends at the dinner table.
The room quickly filled with loud, excited chatter as everyone found their seats.
Lieutenant Durand took a spot near the center of the table, looking thoroughly impressed as he recounted the latter half of the afternoon to the rest of the group.
Bran and Caleb had eventually emerged from the barn, having scrubbed the worst of the thick machine grease from their hands, though the excitement in their eyes was still quite apparent.
According to the lieutenant's report, the golem had managed to move quite well.
Bran had spent the hour or so getting familiar with the runic scepter, and the mechanical construct was now responding to his commands with surprising fluidity and a thudding grace.
As bowls of hot food were passed around, Caleb leaned over the table with a wide, determined grin on his face.
He looked directly at Jacob and announced his plans for the next day.
The older farmboy wanted to come to the dungeon with the adventuring group the following morning, insisting that the only way to truly refine the construct's combat capabilities was to personally help field-test the golem against actual monsters.
Jacob was a bit shocked, but looking at his friends, he realized they had all already talked about this development, as none of them even batted an eye.
It seemed they were all looking to him for permission, as if his word was the final say in this matter.
He looked at Durand, who was also watching the leader of their group, curiosity in his eyes as to how Jacob would respond to the situation.
Then, Jacob looked at his father and mother, who seemed indifferent to the development as well. It seemed they trusted the group to stay safe, even while bringing a non-combatant.
Then Jacob remembered what his father had said about pitchfork mastery, and he looked back at Caleb with a glint in his eye.
Leaning in to whisper so Lila wouldn't hear anything specific about the system and they wouldn't be subjected to the geas, Jacob asked with all seriousness, "What's your pitchfork mastery, Caleb?"
That caused Caleb to grin widely, realizing his brother had actually thought about the situation in the brief moment he had looked around the table.
"Level twenty-five," Caleb answered in a whisper, his chest puffing out with a mixture of pride and amusement. He then leaned back in and continued in a low voice. "It turns out that hefting hay bales and turning compost for a couple of years builds a surprisingly solid foundation for thrusting and parrying. I even unlocked a passive skill for piercing damage last month when I stabbed an armored dirt-lizard that was trying to root up the far west field."
Arthur let out a hearty chuckle from the head of the table, clearly pleased that his boys were recognizing how much their farm work had prepared them for a fight.
Jacob nodded thoughtfully, a bit surprised his father could still hear what they were talking about. However, a level twenty-five weapon mastery was nothing to scoff at, especially for someone who had never formally trained for combat.
With that mastery and his naturally high physical stats from the grueling farm labor, Caleb could certainly defend himself in a pinch.
"Alright," Jacob finally said, raising his hands in surrender as the rest of the table let out a collective breath of relief. "You can come if Mom and Dad are fine with it. But we have strict ground rules."
Caleb leaned forward, indicating he was all ears.
"You stay directly in the center of the formation with Bran and Sera," Jacob instructed. "You're there to take notes on the golem for adjustments, not to play hero. If a monster breaks through our front line, you use that pitchfork to keep it at a distance until one of us can put it down. Understood?"
"Understood," Caleb agreed immediately, his excitement barely contained. "I just need to see how the internal torque handles the kinetic feedback of a real strike. Hitting the air in the barn or training sticks is one thing, but hitting a solid target is a different matter entirely."
Durand then chimed in with a bit of a chuckle, "With the protective gear I'm sure you'll make for him tonight, he should be fine. You didn't even ask if he sparred with any of your friends in the field after he asked them if he could come along."
That caused Jacob to pause, as he could see a knowing look in Durand's eyes. He was missing something important, and the look of amusement on Caleb's face was becoming more and more obvious.
"Who did you fight?" Jacob asked with a bit of vigor taken out of his voice, as he realized he hadn't even considered how his friends would have reacted to the situation.
Caleb just glanced at Oren without saying anything, a smug look still on his face.
Jacob then looked at Oren with wide eyes, but the boy wasn't one to let misunderstandings linger.
"He didn't win," Oren replied to the silent question. "He just did very well for someone who hasn't even formally trained once in their life."
Jacob could detect a faint trace of jealousy in Oren's voice for some reason, and that was the most surprising thing about the entire situation. Jacob had never known Oren to be jealous of anyone or anything.
The realization must have been on his face, because Durand started to laugh a little as he spoke up once more, "Your brother is a natural front-liner, Jacob! While he didn't get the upper hand against my apprentice here, he was able to defend himself quite successfully! I would suggest making that armor sturdy and letting him loose at the front of your formation."
The feedback from Durand once again shocked Jacob as he looked at Caleb with confusion in his eyes.
Caleb just chuckled with a loving look in his eyes as he responded to Jacob's confusion. "Jacob, I fight off monsters with Elis all the time on the farm. Plus, I'm the bigger brother here. I think you're discounting your own blood. If you're a genius mage, why can't I be a genius fighter?"
Caleb's reasoning caused Jacob to laugh. "Fine then, you can do as you please in the dungeon. Just don't mess up the formations!"
That caused a round of laughter from the table, even from May, who would have to worry about both of her boys in the dungeon the next morning. However, it seemed she was quite confident in both of them being safe.
With the matter settled, the tension in the room evaporated.
The group eagerly dug into the fantastic meal, spending the rest of the evening discussing formations and tactical commands for the golem.
There was also plenty of talk about what kind of loot they hoped to pull from the gate.