Kael wiped the sweat from his forehead and stepped back to admire his work.
The small hut stood quietly under the morning sun, its wooden walls uneven but sturdy. Next to it, a modest greenhouse glinted in the light—clear plastic stretched tightly over curved metal pipes. It wasn't pretty, but it was enough.
Built from scratch with scavenged wood and what little money he had, it was his first real step toward something of his own.
He had spent the night watching countless NewTube tutorials on planting, seed trays, germination, soil composition even natural pesticides using chili and garlic.
And now, standing inside his greenhouse with his first seed trays laid out before him, he was finally ready.
He brought out his first seeds: tomatoes, lettuce, and carrots. Reliable crops with high yield and quick growth.
He opened the tomato seed packet, then frowned.
"…Cherry tomatoes?"
He turned the packet around. It was definitely labeled that way.
"I asked the clerk for Brandywine. They're big, expensive, and easier to sell..." He sighed, then shook his head. "Guess it's too late now."
He poured the seeds into his palm. They were tiny some dull, others misshapen, a few round and smooth.
He narrowed his eyes.
"The glossy ones are better, right?"
Slowly, carefully, he began sorting through the seeds, separating out the healthiest-looking ones.
Before he finishes sorting out the seeds.
Ding!
A sudden blue screen popped up in front of him, blinking with a soft chime.
[System Notifications]
You have learned a new passive skill.
Skill: Seed Sense (Passive)
Effect: You instinctively identify high-quality seeds. Greatly increases germination rate and crop vitality.
Result: Germination speed increased by 80%
Kael stared at the message in disbelief.
"I just… learned a skill? Already?"
He looked at the seeds in his hand, then back at the glowing window in front of him. The system screen didn't lie. This was real.
He blinked again, slowly.
"But… that's supposed to be impossible," he muttered.
At the academy, he had been taught that skill acquisition through action had a success rate of less than 1% and only after repeating an action thousands of times. Even most trained hunters never managed to learn skills that way.
Instead, almost everyone relied on Skill Stones.
[Magical stones harvested from dungeon bosses or rare beasts, each one containing a chance to unlock a specific skill.]
But there was a catch.
A big one.
Even F-Rank skill stones the weakest sold for ₱3 million pesos. Mid-rank ones went for ₱20 to ₱50 million. High-rank or rare skill stones? ₱100 million or more.
And worse there was no guarantee they would work.
Most skill stones only had about a 10% success rate. The rest? Just expensive, glowing duds.
That's why Kael had always assumed he'd never be able to afford, let alone learn, any skills after awakening as a Farmer one of the weakest, least respected professions.
He glanced back at the tray of seeds.
"…And I got this for free?"
He pulled up his status window, swiping to the Skills tab.
[Status Window ]
*Passive skills
Subspace
Nurture
* Skills
Seed Sense (Lv.1 – Rank F)
Kael stared at the screen.
"Nurture…"
That was the skill he had awakened granted to him when the system recognized him as a Farmer.
But it was… weird.
He'd never heard of it. Not in any of the school books. Not in the guild forums. Not even in the Skill Logbooks the massive index of skills compiled by the Guild Union and updated every month.
Farmers usually had predictable, support-type skills:
Seed Sense
Soil Enhancement
Tiller's Touch
Photosynthesis
Bountiful Harvest
Crop Familiar
But Nurture?
He tapped the skill icon and read the description again.
Nurture (Lv.1 – Rank F)
No cool down.
Effect: Greatly accelerates plant growth (x6 speed). Enhances plant quality, magical properties, and potential yield. Scales with user's level, skill rank, and mana.
Mana Cost: Varies based on plant type and size.
Kael's eyebrows furrowed.
"...This isn't normal."
The skill did everything. Speed, quality, magic enhancement. And there was no cooldown?
"This should be a mid-rank skill at least… Why the hell is it F-rank?"
And more importantly—why wasn't it registered anywhere?
> Is it undocumented?
Or did the system give me something no one else has?
For a moment, Kael just stood there, staring at his own hands.
Despite his confusion, a grin tugged at his lips.
Whatever this was… it wasn't ordinary. And that meant he wasn't either.
He leaned forward and began planting the first set of seeds into the trays. Each tray held twenty cells. With calm, precise movements, he planted:
20 cherry tomatoes
20 carrots
40 lettuce
The warm soil crumbled softly between his fingers. The scent of earth, sunlight from the rift, and possibility filled the greenhouse.
For the first time in a long while… Kael felt peace.
Not pressure. Not expectation.
Just… purpose.
With the last seed gently pressed into the soil, Kael stood over the trays, brushing off his dirt-streaked palms. His gaze drifted to the faint blue glow of the system screen still open before him his Skills tab, and more specifically, the odd, undocumented one:
Nurture (Lv.1 – Rank F)
"…Let's see what you really do," he muttered.
He crouched beside one of the tomato trays, hovering his hand above a newly planted spot where the cherry tomato seed lay hidden beneath the dirt.
He exhaled slowly.
"Just one."
Kael focused on the soil and activated the skill.
[Nurture – Activated]
Mana Consumed: 50
Suddenly, a powerful pull tugged at his chest. His Mana drained fast much faster than expected. His head swayed slightly from the sudden fatigue.
"Fifty? For a single seed?" he gasped.
But then he froze.
The dirt quivered.
A soft glow gathered around the soil. Wisps of mana from the air flowed downward like mist being drawn into the ground.
And then a sprout emerged.
It broke through the surface in under ten seconds, leaves stretching open like a newborn waking to life.
"What the hell…" he whispered, eyes wide. "It sprouted… instantly?"
The tiny green seedling stood firm, almost pulsing with energy. Around it, faint glittering particles of mana still hovered in the air drawn toward it, feeding it.
"It's not just growing… it's absorbing ambient mana," Kael murmured. "Like… it's alive."
He leaned closer, almost nose-to-leaf, watching in disbelief.
Then something clicked in his head.
"Wait a second…"
> Seed Sense – Passive
Enhances seed selection instinctively. Boosts germination speed by 80%. Improves plant health and growth reliability.
> Nurture – x6 growth speed
Kael's eyes widened further.
"Seed Sense speeds things up by 80%... and Nurture multiplies that by six?"
He quickly did the mental math.
"If normal germination takes 10 days… Seed Sense alone would make it 2 days… but with Nurture"
He paused.
"it's instantaneous."
A chill ran through him.
"No wonder the Mana cost is that high…"
He stood up slowly, heart pounding.
"I didn't just make a seed sprout… I compressed ten days of life into a few seconds."
He turned to another seed tray. Carefully, he pointed at a second tomato seed.
[Nurture – Activated]
Mana Consumed: 50
Remaining Mana: 20
Another sprout emerged from the dirt instantly.
Kael took a step back, breathing heavily, hands trembling not from fear, but from excitement.
"I only have 20 Mana left… not enough for a third."
Still, his lips curled into a wide grin.
"Me... a farmer... with a busted skills like this? a completely undocumented active skill that no one's even heard of."
Kael looked down at the two glowing seedlings again, now feeding quietly from the air like they were alive in a new way.
He started planted the tomatoes into the ground based on the calculation he have it will take 3 days before it will yeild fruits.
What a ridiculous growth speed.
(He exited his dimensional rift)
He started getting ready to go to work.
He spent 2 days of his working oh his dungeon.
The morning sun filtered through the window of their modest home, casting a soft glow on the walls.
Kael stood by the door, helmet in hand, watching the peaceful scene unfold inside.
His younger brothers were getting ready for school putting on their uniforms, laughing over a silly cartoon playing on the tablet. Their bags were neatly packed beside the table.
In the kitchen, their mother was busy preparing food for their school lunch. The scent of garlic rice and fried eggs filled the room as she moved efficiently between pots and plates.
Kael smiled gently.
This... this is what I'm working for.
He slipped out the door, fired up his motorcycle, and drove off toward the dungeon site, wind rushing against his face.
He was practically glowing.
Kael smiled gently as he put on his helmet and hopped onto his motorcycle. The engine revved smoothly .
Today, his heart felt lighter than usual. The cool morning air hit his face as he sped through the streets.
He was excited.
Energetic.
He couldn't stop smiling.
At the site, Kael was practically glowing. He hummed softly while dragging corpses from the dungeon gate to the cart, his movements light and smooth despite the blood and gore. He even whistled once or twice, piling the ogre bodies like they weighed nothing.
His coworkers started to notice.
Liam raised an eyebrow. "Yowww, is he humming look at that ugly smile he have ?"
"He is," Juris nodded. "That's suspicious,somethings fishy here."
Sam smirked. "Did he win the lottery? But no why did he still work here, seems like someone's definitely in love."
Kael didn't respond at first. He kept working, still humming, still smiling.
But the three weren't about to let that slide.
"Oi, Kael!" Liam called out, wiping his gloves clean and walking over. "Why you look like you just won a trip to heaven, huh?"
Kael glanced at them, lips twitching. "What? Can't I just be in a good mood?"
"Nope," Sam said instantly. "Not buying it."
"You're too damn happy for a guy surrounded by rotting ogre meat," Juris added, joining them.
"Let's go, boys," Liam grinned. "Time for the interrogation."
Before Kael could react, Juris jumped him from behind, putting him in a playful chokehold. Liam grabbed his other arm, and Sam flicked his forehead.
"Argh! You bastards! Get off!" Kael laughed, trying to wrestle free. "I swear I'll throw one of these corpses at you!"
"Tell us her name!" Sam teased.
"I don't have a girlfriend!" Kael coughed. "You think I have time for that?!"
"Liar," Liam said with a big grin. "This is love behavior. That dreamy smile, the hummingthis is textbook!"
"I'm just happy it's payday, alright?!" Kael said, finally shaking them off. "I got something good. That's all."
Juris crossed his arms and squinted. "Hmm… still sounds like something a guy in love would say."
Kael groaned. "You guys are hopeless."
"C'mon," Sam laughed, elbowing him. "Just introduce her to us already. We promise to behave."
"Yeah, at least let us meet the lucky girl," Liam said dramatically. "We'll judge her for you."
"You three are unbelievable," Kael said, shaking his head but smiling.
Just then, their team leader a broad shouldered man in his late 40s with a trimmed beard and sharp eyes walked over. He cleared his throat.
"You boys are awfully noisy today," he said, but there was no heat in his voice. "Good job finishing early though."
He turned to Kael with a raised brow. "And you… You're humming like a love-struck fool."
Kael opened his mouth to explain, but the leader just chuckled and patted him on the head.
"Son, when you've got the time, introduce your girlfriend to this old man too, alright?"
The others burst into laughter.
Even the team leader joined in, shaking his head. "You've been unusually upbeat today. Whatever it is… good for you. Just don't slack off."
Kael gave a small nod, still smiling.
But deep down, he appreciated the bond they had. After six months working in this harsh field together, they were more than just coworkers they were brothers.
Liam, Sam and Juris Awakened. But not the elite kind.
Juris had awakened as a 2-star Swordsman, but with an F-rank mana core. He could swing a sword like a beast, but had barely enough mana to use his class skills more than once, he tried to apply in all guilds he could but never receive a response, he was working in sight for almost 2 years now.
Sam had awakened as a 2-star Assassin, fast and sharp but same issue. F-rank mana.he did not even tried to apply for any guild since he already know no one would accept him.
Liam, the youngest of the groupsame age as Kael, just 18 years old awakened as a 3-star Ice Mage, a rare and powerful class. But with E-rank mana, he could only cast two spells before burning out. He'd tried to push himself, level up, allocate all his attribute points to mana. But even now at Level 6.
He was kick out of the white tiger guild o no team or party wanted someone who could only cast two icicle lances.
when you need to be able to cast the skill multiple times to clear a rift with over a hundred monsters.
They all ended up here disregarded by parties, skipped over by guilds forced to take jobs no one else wanted. Dungeon cleanup. Corpse disposal.
But they stuck together.
Just like Kael, they never stopped dreaming of becoming powerful hunters.
Juris was still diligently training in various sword arts kendo, Kali, arnis, and fencing hoping that someday someone would invite him to join a guild. If he could reach level 50, he believed his stats might be good enough to make up for his F-rank mana.
Sam was focused on saving money so he could join raid teams and get carried to level up. Since experience points from raiding a rift were shared evenly among team members, it was his best shot at progressing despite his limitations. He and Liam were even planning to pay smaller guilds to let them join as carriers during low-level raids, just so they could gain enough EXP to level up.
Liam had the same plan as Sam save enough to be carried by a party and level up. But he also had a specific goal: to buy the Elves' Necklace.
(Elves' Necklace – A regular item created by elves. It functions like a mana battery, crafted from A-rank monster magic crystals that have been emptied of their original mana and refined by elves. The necklace can store up to 10,000 mana points more than enough to cast Icicle Lance a hundred times.)
Sure enough if Liam have enough Mana guilds would surely welcome him.
The problem was the price. The necklace cost around ₱20 million, and even if you had the money, you still had to travel to South Korea, where the elves had migrated, just to purchase it.
But international travel was no longer simple.
Due to the global rise of dungeon outbreaks and monster attacks, only licensed hunters those recognized by their governments were allowed to travel between countries. It was a strict policy meant to ensure the public safety since even traveling in airplane is dangerous since there's flying type monsters too.
Liam's family was middle-class, but ₱20 million was still far too expensive for them. For now, he focused on leveling up to level 10, so he could be officially registered as a hunter and apply for a visa and passport to Korea.
He planned to take out a loan and pay it off once he obtained the necklace since being a hunter would make you earn big amount of money.
(You can only be officially recognized as a hunter once you reach level 10, regardless of your class or mana rank.)
On the second day, Kael poured all of his mana into the rift core.
[160 / 1000]
On the third day, he returned and used his mana on the Nurture skill, once again he used the nurture skin on tomatoes.
By now, the fiest batch had matured quickly. Their stems had thickened, their leaves vibrant, and clusters of yellow flowers were already blooming.
Kael continued with his day job, working the standard eight hours. He didn't volunteer for overtime like he used to. His team leader noticed his unuasual behavior, but didn't question it just gave a slight nod and let him be.
Then came the fourth day.
Kael stepped into the rift, expecting some progress but what he saw made him stop in his tracks.
A sea of cherry tomatoes greeted him.