Chapter 22: Isaac's Personal Hoe, Gym
The box shone and transformed into a hoe. It had a wooden handle with a sturdy metal blade at the end.
The hoe looked normal but carried an ancient, powerful aura.
Harvest Bane
Mystic Grade, Upgradable
Can harvest all crops instantly and grant 5x yield. Makes the land 2x fertile. Crops grown on land tilled by Harvest Bane never wither and are immune to diseases.
Mana Consumption: Scales with area
Upgrade Condition: Tilt 50 hectares with Harvest Bane.
Isaac raised his brow. The effects of the hoe were perfect and would work nicely with his Talent Skills.
"Why is it showing Upgradable when it's already at Mystic rank?"
That confused him, but knowing there was no use thinking about it, he moved on.
"If I'm not wrong, 50 hectares is roughly ten thousand square meters or..."
He made quick calculations.
"107,639 square feet according to my previous worlds standards. That's quite a lot of area."
He moved the hoe a bit, feeling it fit perfectly in his hand. It seemed to be made for him.
Placing it on the table, he looked the other objects.
It was the loot from the assassins. A box, some rations, and a pitch-black badge.
The box had a beautiful red flower inside it. Its petals looked like blood droplets.
Isaac couldn't understand why an assassin would keep something like this.
The rations were standard rations used by Explorers, and the badge had an insignia of a snake wrapped around a sword.
He failed to recall seeing anything of the sort before. He made a note to himself to search for the insignia on the badge and the flower and exited the house.
The garden outside was covered in gentle sunlight.
Isaac walked ten steps beyond his porch before he was met by an invisible wall.
He put his hand before him and looked for any gap. After a few minutes, he was sure the whole area was sealed by the invisible wall.
He returned to the house.
The electricity and the water worked, and there was gas in the kitchen. It made him wonder if the gas would be refilled on its own or if he would have to bring some from outside.
"I wonder if this place has a day and night cycle."
The empty pots on the windowsill were quite large.
He could use them to grow rare herbs. Unfortunately, he would have to give up on farming in large masses as the porch was too small.
The bedrooms were well maintained and had soft mattresses.
Isaac slept on the bed of the ground floor's main room.
It felt only a second had passed when his internal clock woke him up. He opened his eyes and noticed something soft embracing him.
"Emily?"
Her ears twitched, half-asleep. It took Isaac a full moment to wake up. Emily was snuggling into his arms, and she was in her nightwear.
He checked the clock at the bedside as he sat up.
6 am.
"So she entered my room as soon as the curfew ended, which means she's been here for two hours."
The wall between their rooms was easy to phase through with her Phantom Step.
She only had to look at the empty room and at the Soulbind Pendant on the bed to conclude Isaac was inside the Soulbind Pendant.
'She hates being alone. That much is clear by the dislikes on her status. But I never thought it would be to this extent.'
His heart stung knowing she would be alone after he left for Akaza Ruin.
He decided to dote on her while they were still together.
Emily stirred awake by his movements.
"Isaac?"
Her long eyelashes fluttered.
"Hungry."
She spread her arms towards him while still half-asleep. Isaac chuckled. She didn't seem to mind they had just woken up.
He was let go only when she had her fill.
"Where are you going?"
"Gym."
Isaac dressed up.
"Gym?"
"Yeah, I missed a day yesterday. I don't want to miss it again today."
"Is that important? You can level up now."
"Extraneous physical exercise increases our stats without leveling up, my lady. It's also important to be used to moving the body under strain. It helps during battles."
"Then, I'll come too!"
Emily left eagerly and came to his dorm room's doorstep after she changed.
She wore a short black tank top that revealed her shoulders and bellybutton, black gym leggings that accentuated her curves, and had her hair tied up in a ponytail.
"How is it?"
"It looks good on you."
She giggled at his compliment and felt glad to have chosen this one among all the clothes she had.
The two walked down to the gym at the first basement floor. It was quite large and was equipped nicely.
The staff member at the door entered their names in the register before they were allowed entry.
Isaac looked around. The equipment and weights were normal. They could not be used by awakeners, let alone him and Emily, who had high stats.
Just then, the door opened, and Professor Catherine Lorrain entered.
Her gym clothes were quite similar to Emily's, and Isaac had a sneaking suspicion it was because her likes and dislikes had rubbed off on Emily during the time they had spent together in the past.
Even in similar clothes, she had a different, mature charm compared to Emily. Her sharp golden eyes stared at Isaac with amusement.
The black sports bra clung to her curves and didn't leave much for the imagination.
Isaac noticed the gym staff member at the door staring at her long, shapely legs with a faint blush.
Professor Catherine whispered to the staff member before sending her out.
"Fancy meeting you two here. It's quite a coincidence."
"Yeah, sure. You came to the student dormitory's gym early in the morning by coincidence."
"Don't sweat the small details, Isaac. Ladies don't like a man like that."
Isaac had the urge to roll his eyes. She knew his timetable since the apartment and the building he used to live in was owned by her. They used to go gym together.
Her appearance at here was deliberate.
"Why are you in our gym?"
"The Vice Principal sent me to show you two the ropes. Your diet and exercises need to change now that your stats have increased."
She went towards the shelf next to the right-side wall of the gym and brought back two bracelets.
"Wear these."
Isaac and Emily both took one. They felt a sudden weakness wash over them as soon as they put the bracelet around their arms.
Isaac checked his status and found his stats had been sealed to 10. Only Spirit Power and Mana were left normal.
"The university can provide you machines to train with at your current stats. However, training while lowering your stats will put more strain on you, and the stats you gain this way will be higher.
"It's something we learned after years of experimentation."
Professor Catherine noticed Isaac's gaze at the bracelet.
She knew what he was thinking. Would these be usable to restrain enemies?
Seeing that he never changed brought a smile to her face.