Chương 119: Chapter 115 – Elias's New Ox

Elias was taking a break from the field, sitting on the porch of his small farmhouse, when he saw a wagon pull up and park on the road. He went over to figure out what was going on and saw Brian trying to manhandle a big crate off the back, so Elias came over to help. Elias said, "Hello Brian, what are you trying to deliver to me today? I don't remember ordering anything." Brian said, "I was told to deliver this box to your house and that one of his guys would be along soon with the other part of the delivery."

The two of them dragged the heavy box over to near the porch while Brian made him sign for his order. Then Brian said, "I have never been on a real farm can you show me what you have?" Elias took the next half hour showing him how they were farming and gathering wheat. He showed him the empty fields that needed plowing and the fields still full of wheat waiting to be harvested. Showed him the drying wheat on the ground and where they threshed the wheat to get the kernels out.

Then took him over to his grain storage, which was almost completely full. Past his wife's garden and lastly to the chickens, Elias then let Brian feed them. While he was driving off, Elias finally looked in the box and frowned in confusion. Inside was a plow, a yoke, some things he guessed were harnesses, and some kind of leather pack contraption that looked like it was to be used by a person. He was almost going back to the field when another man came by with an ox and two mules in tow.

Elias went over to the fence and talked to the man on the road.

"Hello, how can I help you?" Man said, "My name is Jake. I work for David; he asked me to deliver your oxen and mules." Elias said, "I don't remember buying these are you sure they are for me?" Jake said, "David said you would be stubborn and I should just hand you the reins and come back to get my next delivery, so here they are." Elias just laughed as the man started to slowly jog back down the road in the direction of the breeders they had set up to get animals ready to use. Looking at the animals, he said.

"So what am I supposed to do with you?" the ox just looked at him and said nothing, which is exactly what Elias expected. He finally pulled on the reins and led them to the small corral that had been built and the barn that Garrick said belonged on each farm property. Elias had not intended to buy animals yet, but it seemed he was not given a choice. Elias left the ox in the field and, after looking more in the box, realized that the packed things were sort of saddlebags for the mules to haul stuff.

He took a few minutes and figured out how to put them on and then went to the barn, where he had piles of wheat that he needed to haul to town and had been avoiding, as it was a long trip to deliver a bag or two if he got all crazy at a time. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Elias was able to load four bags on each and lead the mules to town, hauling the wheat.

He was able to quickly get 5 trips in before it looked like the mules needed a break. He then put them in the field and looked at the ox and then the plow along with the harness and yoke. It took him a bit to figure out how to get it all rigged up, but he finally did and got the ox to the field he had needed to plow but had not yet figured out how to do other than by hand, which would take him forever.

He managed to get the Ox and plow all lined up to go down a row and sat there making noise and trying to use the reins to get it to move. He finally got it to step forward a few feet, but it went to the right instead of straight, as he wanted. He decided he could not figure out how to drive it, so he went and, using the reins, thought he could pull it and get it to go. But the more he pulled, the more it dug in its heels and stood still. Elias finally threw the reins down.

Elias said, "You stupid ox, we need to plow the field." Mara walked up behind him and said, "I don't think he can understand you. But maybe if you asked nicely it might help." Elias said, "I thought you said he could not understand me." Then looking at the ox with a serious look, he said.

"We really need to plow this field do you think you could help a little?" The ox made a snorting noise and then pulled the plow down a full row as straight as could be and stopped. Mara said, laughing, "What did I tell you?" Elias let out a snort and said, "That was just dumb luck." Mara was just laughing as he rounded the farmhouse, heading to her garden. It took Elias another 4 hours to finally plow the field. He had four rows left when he received a system message that he gained the skill of Plowing.

[Skill Gained] Plowing (Level 1) Improves plow control and furrow consistency • Reduces effort while plowing fields • Slightly increases field preparation speed It was funny how that made such a huge difference when he was able to do the last four rows faster in total than it took him to do the row before it. Elias led the ox back to the barn and put it in the field with the mules. He then went and got feed out of the box and the brush that was in there and came and fed and brushed the animals.

When he had the plow put away and animals finished, he headed to the farmhouse, passing the chicken pen on the way. They had come a long way since their first visit to the grain fields. They had a place of their own, fresh eggs in the morning, and lots of wheat for trade. Now that he could plow the fields, he could start putting in some of the other seeds they had been gathering.

He wanted to try corn, barley, and a few of the other weird crop seeds that people had been returning from the cave with and see if he could make a real farm out of this. His last thought before going to bed was that they still needed fresh milk do you think they will bring me a milk cow, or will I have to request one?