“No! It’s not for eating!” I screeched in a much higher pitch than I’d hoped for it to come out with, slamming myself back against the wall of Adam’s kitchen as the farmer offered a hand forward to try to pilfer my precious animal companion. I really hoped I wouldn’t have to fight Adam for the egg - mostly because I was pretty sure I’d lose!

  “Heh heh. Easy, lad. I was joking. We’re not going to eat your funny egg when we have more than enough already.” Adam replied with a nonchalant wave,

  “O-oh.” I stammered. Mary started laughing in a fashion eerily similar to her dad, stepping out from the kitchen with a recently filched apple

  “Wound a little tight there, aren’tcha, Noah?” Mary asked teasingly, as I felt my cheeks grow hot.

  “Leave the poor boy alone for lunchtime, Adam! My goodness!” Chloe’s voice cut through the room, as Adam’s wife put a tight grip around her husband’s shoulder and squarely pushed him down in his chair with sheer wife pressure alone.

  “Sigh… yes, dear.” Adam relented, yet his grin didn’t leave on the slightest. “But congratulations on your, err, level up and your new friend. So, you get something just for doing a little farming here? Anything that make you a better farmer

  I just gave a helpless shrug. “Ehh. I’m a little more dexterous, so my hand-eye coordination is… better by some amount. Mostly I got stuff that seems to make me able to work harder, longer.”

  “I’m happy to hear that.” Adam explained between bites of scrambled eggs that still made my heartbeat spike a bit with every bite. “Plenty of farmhands here don’t end up being able to keep up with the work, or were just here to carry off my daughters by taking their hands in marriage… too many of which succeeded!” He growled, slamming the table with a brief bout of anger.

  “Oh. Uhm. Don’t worry about that when it comes to me!” I added with a nervous laugh, trying hard not to think about how cute Mary’s freckles were in this moment, pointedly looking away from her. . “I’m surprised at how much I still can level in this…”

  I trailed off as I looked at the class menu. Farmer was at level “2”, but it already had an EXP point carrying into next level. And it had a very stocky “1/50”?

  “...I can level up farmer a lot further.” I said flatly, as I looked at the progress bar just barely filled. Professions, I imagine, might have been different levelling paths depending on who did it… or maybe all of us were just absurdly multi-talented?

  “Hoh, really? I’ve never expect a hero class with farmer affinity!”

  “Affinity…?”

  “You know, a leaning towards, a capacity for….” Adam said between bites of Bacon.

  “Oh!” I replied, frowning as I winced. “I kinda thought you meant something related to the whole system thing I’m using.”

  “Tangentially, but no one else really understands this whole… ‘system’ thing you learn from.” Adam replied with a helpless shrug. “I just figured most heroes don’t really have some special benefits to gain from doing common chores.

  “Well, let me actually check on that..” I replied, before opening my status window. Scrolling through the stats and skill levels, I quickly found what I was looking for in “Druid Passives (innate)”

  Friend to Animals:

  Animal friendship automatically set to a base of 5.

  Outdoorsman:

  May level outdoorsman skills infinitely.

  “Friend of the Common Folk”

  May level commoner jobs to 50.

  Natural Compass:

  -may always naturally divine the direction of North.

  “...Oh.” I eventually exclaimed. “Farmer’d be a commoner job, right?” I asked with some sweat rolling down my face.

  “So the nobles tell me. Why?” Adam asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “...Yeah I can go up to 50. Friend of the common folk passive.” I replied with a smile. “So I wasn’t missing the max level bonus, I just… haven’t obtained it yet.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got a good reason to keep working here then, huh?” Adam asked with a grin.

  I gave a nervous chuckle, placing a hand on the table as I looked at the new egg I’d obtained, sitting fully in sight on the kitchen table. “Actually… yeah, I was hoping to work here as long as I could, level or not, and at least for the next week or so.”

  “Really?” Adam asked, surprised, but seemingly pleased too.

  “I wasn’t kidding when I said I was broke, so I’d have needed the money anyways, but more importantly…”

  I gently held the egg in my lap, putting a handkerchief down for it. “Truthfully, I don't really know how to take care of an egg. Best I’ve done is cats and dogs. They don’t lay these.” I pointed out with a small chuckle. “I wanted a bird growing up, but my parents were totally not into it, and they don’t really tend to sell them to you as eggs. So I’ve never really had the opportunity to do something like raise one.”

  “So you’re asking us to help you raise this little egg into hatching?” Adam asked, leaning a little. “Well, I rightly don’t think I’ve ever seen an egg like this… so, sure! I’d normally charge for something like this though, so you know!, but you’ve captured my curiosity.

  I gave a grateful nod. “Uhm, fantastic! Thank you!”

  “Hey, it’s no problem! We’ll be bringing in a hero’s fated animal companion for saving the world.”

  “I appreciate the gesture, but I’m still not a hero!” I remind him with a slight wince.

  “You seem to have the hero class and all, don’t see why you wouldn’t be.” Adam replied, seeming to scratch his head. “Prophecies can be a little off, right? And you do seem to be pretty committed to the whole levelling up to save the world.”

  I thought about that sentence. “...Actually? I’m just happy that life here is a lot easier in some ways than where I’m from, if I’m honest. Or… freer, anyways. I do still have to do some tough work here.” I admitted with a bashful smile.

  Adam just sat back, crossing his arms, and I figured that was his signal to explain.

  “I sorta have an idea of what I want, and it’s really just to have enough levels and experience to live comfortably. Have a life around animals without worrying too much about the bills. Maybe settle down. I’m not really the world-saver mold, so I’m honestly pretty happy about the whole ‘not a real hero’ thing. I can just… live a decent life and build a farm. Maybe fend off an angry bandit one time and earn the admiration of a few people. You know?”

  Adam’s expression seemed to sharpen as his smile left him. I thought he was angry at me for a moment as his eyes went to the floor, then up to meet my eyes. “Hm. Not exactly the manliest response… I appreciate the practicality of wanting to build a quiet life.” He said after a moment, before taking a long drink of water.

  I gave a grin. “A-anyway, I do still appreciate you helping with the egg thing.”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “No problem lad. Don’t mean to seem like I was bullying you into one decision or another. Not everyone wants to be a hero, and you actually have a bit of an actual choice here. I suppose you’re luckier than your peers in that regard.”

  I hadn’t really thought of that till now. They were kinda just screwed into the role of ‘protecting the world’, now, like it or not. Still… they were picked because they could succeed at the role by the prophecy, so they were probably the type that were into it, right? It’s probably why I wasn’t picked to be one of the big four.

  I slowly chewed my bacon, getting lost in pondering the fate of my fellow abductees from the real world - and just how good this bacon was! - before Adam spoke up and brought me back to reality.

  “Anyways, How about we make a nice haypile for your egg. It’s a little too big for one of our chickens to sit on it, but we’ve got ways to keep it warm and nestled. It’s gonna be your job to watch it when you’ve got days off, and when it starts hatching.”

  I gave a firm nod, my thoughts immediately turning to the egg I held in my hands. I kept expecting it to jiggle or bounce, but it had stayed still for now.

  “And until then - I’ll be working you to the bone for room and board, got it?” Adam crossed his arms, grinning as he laid out his terms. You’ll sleep in the hayloft next to it - not as a punishment, it’ll just be easier for you to keep an eye on it that way. We have to play a lot of things by ear, since we really don’t know what’s coming out of that egg yet.”

  “Yessir! On it!” I replied with a furious nod.

  Normally, I’d have been bothered by the thought of so much extra work, or sleeping in pokey straw, or not knowing how long I might be stuck working here, but anytime I thought about hatching this cute li’l guy and finding out just who he was, the worries just melted away from me like a fluffy cloud.

  The next couple weeks had me continuing my work at the farm, and it was definitely not idle. I’d have breakfast/morning hazing with Adam to start my day, take care of the animals in the morning and afternoons, and help with the crops in the midday. Every evening and night was spent with my darling Eggy, and my duties there were no less laborious.

  Making sure I kept it near the heating crystal Adam apparently had gotten on loan from Ionos, watching the egg closely for any signs of movement, and making sure it knew my voice - Singing old Avgrill Lavine songs, reading Children’s stories, studying its patterning. The green spots with the blue pattern across the egg made me wonder how much of this was how this egg was supposed to look, and how much of it was due to my magic, but either way it was unique and special, just like the little creature inside it!

  My farming level went up a couple more times - from two to four; gaining a bonus +50 to ‘Farmer weapons’, which apparently included sickles, spears, staves, hatchets, and daggers, a handy +25 HP bonus, the ‘sow plants well’ passive, another good 5 points of animal handling, and diagnose animal, not to mention another rank to my stamina bonus! I could see why people might not learn this job for combat, but for someone who was planning on staying as far away from combat as possible, I was pretty sure that didn’t matter. bonuses that let me work harder would let me make a bit more money later, I was pretty sure, and honestly? Farming kinda rocked! Really hard work, but I was going to be paid a cool ten gold coins for basic labor by the end of the week.

  I was probably lucky to get the job on Adam’s farm, to be fair, since this farm seemed pretty large and successful, with a lot of different products. As I sat in the hayloft, watching for a wiggle from my cute little egg, I realized this honestly wasn’t such a bad life. It wasn’t quite ‘working at a zoo with exotic animals’, but it was pretty solid. The only problems were the potential health complications from all the-”

  “Hey, what’cha thinking about!”

  “Gwak!” I cried out, leaping back and barely keeping my balance on the edge of the hayloft as Mary swung down from the upper beam of the barn and plopped right in front of me. “You scared the stuffin’ outta me!” I complained.

  “I figured that out ‘round the time you gwakked, man.” Mary said with a giggle, helping me back up with a firm hand pulling me back over. “Been a nice week with you lightening the load. My sisters have been so busy studyin’, but between the two of us we’ve actually lightened the load enough that dad might actually be allowed to put another notch on the belt!”

  I gave a nod to that, still clutching a hand to my heart as I turned to her, then the egg. “It’s been hard work, but honestly, it’s a good job. I’m really liking it here.”

  Mary just gave a grin. “First farmhand we’ve had that’s complained so little. What’s got a fire under you?”

  “Every little wiggle and bump of eggy over there.” I replied with a smile, pressing a finger to my chin as I gave a small sigh. “...It really sucks trying to think of a name when I don’t know what it’s going to be when it’s born. Forget it’s gender, it could be anything from a chameleon to a giant centipede. Though I really hope it’s not a giant centipede.” I admitted.

  “Well, if the system’s got something custom-made for you, it’s probably not going to be something you hate, right?” Mary asked. “You were telling me before it’s loaded based on some brain reading thing, and I doubt it was looking for ‘least favorite animal’, right?”

  “You have a point.” I admitted. The system had screwed me before, but my choices had worked as intended, more or less. It just suffered a bad UI accentuating my own user error.

  “Maybe it-”

  I stopped dead in my sentence as I heard something. A crack. I’d seen little wiggles and motions, but hadn’t heard any vocalizations or the like before now. Now, there were definitely some sounds. A high-pitched chirp that I recognized as similar to a baby crocodile from too much time on youtube videos.

  “Some kind of Crocodilian. Maybe it’s a skink? I haven’t had that much contact with those due to apartment regulations.” I noted. Mary gave me a strange look as I spoke. “What in tarnation’s a skink? Or an apartment?”

  “A kind of lizard. Komodo dragons are the example everyone tends to know, but there’s a whole bunch around the world-” I replied, but I was cut off by the sound of another little crack in the egg, coupled with another tiny squeak. The shell wiggled, the crack widening, until the little creature inside pushed out a small, triangular piece of eggshell, making itself a little hole.

  I reached out for the egg. “I’ll help you out, little guy!” I cried out. No sooner than my hand reached out than it was slapped down - hard!

  “Oww! Mary!” I whined, rubbing at my hand as the sting set in. She had a strong arm compared to my wimpy noodles, and she hadn’t held back. “What was that for?!”

  “let him try to get out on his own.” Mary told me, her tone softening, as she kneeled down next to the egg, inspecting it. There was a certain gentleness on her expression I hadn’t seen before as she looked over the eggshell..

  “But… Why?”

  “I don’t know what this little one is, exactly, but I’ve taken care of chickens, and I know of a few other egg laying animals like ‘em.” She said, fixing me with a glare. “An egg doesn’t just cover the animal inside. For some of ‘em, their internals are fixed to the egg itself, and just because they want out of the egg doesn’t mean those internals are fully unfixed yet.

  “S-so it could die just by getting out of the egg?” I asked, my hands coming to my face as I squirmed just at the thought.

  “If you let the baby figure it’s own way out, it will be fine. they’re born knowing how.” Mary reassured me. “You just have to trust it.” she replied with a warm smile.

  “Just gotta trust it… Alright. Easy!” I mumbled, as I watched the egg closely. My ears were a little red when I realized that for all my ‘druid levels’, I knew so much less about animals than Mary. There was a lot I hadn’t learned from documentaries or taking care of my friend’s cats, and my assurance in my biology knowledge fell apart compared to someone who’d simply spent more time around animals like this. My face fell… until the next little squeak from the egg distracted me and my face rose from a dejected frown to a huge smile.

  “Well, that sounds like a vote of confidence from him.” I noted with a growing smile.

  “Well, on that note, since it doesn’t seem ready to hatch to my keen, expert eye - actually, it probably needs up to another day to hatch still…I’m yoinking your baby!” Mary spoke up, coming to sit next to the nest with.

  “Wh-what?!” I stammered.

  “Dad’s decided you need to go into town and get some supplies. He also recommended you get some lunch on his bill. And he gets kinda irritable when he hears his advice isn’t being taken very seriously.”

  I gave a look like someone being offered spoiled milk. “Why can’t someone else get the supplies? I do have this egg to watch, and I did finish my chores for the day…”

  “Exactly! You have been watching this egg every free moment,, and you’ve been more obsessed over it than an actual mother hen. If you didn’t know it’d disappoint mom, I bet you’d have been skipping meals, too. You smell way too much like the barn. It’s unhealthy. And stinky.” she explains with a frown.

  “I’m just taking good care of my egg. That’s not unhealthy, or stinky!” I insisted. Frowning, I crossed my arm. “This isn’t fair!”

  “It’s plenty fair.” Mary replied. “Now go and get changed, doofus! And while you’re at it, I need you to drop this at Kriskroff’s bakery.”

  “Who’s Kriskroff?”

  “Oh, Kriskroff’s not an actual person, it’s a tagline.” Mary explained, handing me a paper. “You’ll know the bakery when you see it. And make sure you pick up the delivery when he hands it to you.”

  I gave a groan, “And what am I dropping off?”

  “Pastry orders - that you’ll also be bringing back.” Mary replies with a grin. “Mom’s baking is really great but even she has a hankering for some of Kriskroff’s specialties from time to time. The baker there’s a genius.”

  I gave a groan, shuffling to my feet. “If I have to. But I…”

  “No buts. Town, mister!” Mary snapped back, and I shuffled over to the barn door with a few choice complaints muttered under my breath.

  “And drop the sass or I’ll piledrive you into a hay-bale!” Mary added with a lighthearted tone, and I felt certain extremities tighten at the statement.

  “Yessir, Miss Mary Sir!” I replied with an improvised salute, stumbling over myself as I rushed to the barn door. Mary’s giggling left my ears heated as I hot-footed it out of there, and towards the city!