Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 85
For the next two days, Oliver devoted himself entirely to logging, just as he had planned.
He adhered to his principle of not touching the other half of the forest, confining his activities solely to the large trees that had grown from the seeds he had sown.
Relying solely on the daily natural recovery of his stamina bar was, of course, insufficient.
In order to rush his Foraging level to 6 before the peak thunderstorm season arrived and unlock the Lightning Rod guide, Oliver spared no expense—even resorting to eating the cheese he had previously been reluctant to use.
From dawn until night, from the gentle morning glow to the shimmering stars, he chopped away.
Whether it was tree trunks, stumps, or the mushrooms and wild berries growing nearby, he carried out a thorough sweep, leaving nothing behind.
He deliberately left the wild berries that were slightly farther away, intending to reserve them for the territory’s residents who would come to gather them later.
As for the mushrooms, ordinary people avoided them like the plague.
After all, in the past, too many Laina slaves had picked and eaten some out of unbearable hunger.
While no one dared to touch the mushrooms deep in the forest, after a heavy rain, even near the fields, a large number of brightly colored or plain white mushrooms would suddenly sprout.
Some slaves, unable to endure the torment of hunger, would pick a few and take them home to eat.
Aside from a very few lucky ones, the vast majority would die that very night, howling in agony from excruciating abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Oliver had no such worries.
Any mushroom he could pick up, whether edible or not, would be identified and recognized by the game system’s backpack.
And as long as he collected any four different types of mushrooms, he could attempt to craft that Healing Potion!
Thus, under the butler Fosse’s gaze, filled with anxiety and unspoken words, the Lord of Laina worked with relentless drive, almost frantically sweeping through all the resources in the forest related to gaining Foraging experience.
The ground he passed over was left with nothing of value—only the temporarily useless grass and the newly planted oak seeds he had casually sown—with no resources remaining.
And gathering four different types of mushrooms was actually quite easy.
After a morning of chopping trees, while casually munching on small bread sandwiches with cheese to restore his energy, Oliver examined his nearly full backpack.
Usually meticulously organized with an almost obsessive-compulsive tidiness, his backpack was now chaotically stuffed with a bizarre assortment of poisonous mushrooms.
“Green Hallucinogenic Mushroom,” “Rainbow Black Mushroom,” “Blue Devil Mushroom,” “Red Deadly Poison Mushroom”… What in the world were these?
Oliver’s lips twitched slightly.
It seemed that even if he managed to craft the Healing Potion, he would have to test it on animals first before considering using it on himself.
“Alright, let’s continue.”
Ignoring Fosse’s advice, Oliver quickly finished two small breads and two pieces of cheese, then resolutely picked up the axe—which looked even more imposing compared to his pale, slender arm—and set off again.
The rhythmic “thump, thump, thump” of tree chopping continued densely until late into the night.
The first time Oliver came to the forest to chop trees, all his profession levels were still at their initial states, and both the efficiency of his tools and his own abilities were limited.
The amount of energy his body could store was relatively low.
But now, he was no longer the same person he had been a month ago!
Not only had he become more proficient in wielding various tools, his total energy storage had increased, and the tools’ lethality had grown significantly. His “thump, thump, thump” strikes could be described as fierce and imposing…
He had even figured out some tricks to save time and energy on his own.
For example, what he had just learned: during the unavoidable stiffening phase between swinging the axe—hitting the tree trunk—and pulling the axe out, he could slightly bend down and use his other hand to pick up mushrooms near the tree stump or fallen acorns.
This way, the fragmented time originally wasted due to bodily stiffness could be fully utilized.
If not for the game system restricting him to using only one tool at a time, Oliver would have loved to bring both the sickle and the axe.
Fosse, who had been quietly waiting aside, could no longer contain his anxiety.
He now couldn’t decide which was more heartbreaking: his young master avoiding the most dangerous mines and instead tirelessly chopping trees late into the night…
He couldn’t help but speak up to advise, “Your Highness, the night has grown deep. Shall we prepare to return to the castle?”
The forest at night held too many unknown dangers.
Although the knights had patrolled this forest—larger than the territory—and confirmed there were no large beasts lurking…
The swaying tree shadows were deep and heavy, and the wind howled mournfully.
No one knew if a nocturnal venomous snake might suddenly emerge from behind the shifting shadows.
This stealthy atmosphere made even the bravest knights feel slightly tense and uneasy.
Hearing Fosse’s persuasion, Oliver, who had been completely absorbed in his lumber work and utterly engrossed, finally came to his senses.
He glanced at the moon, which had already risen for some time, and confirmed that his stamina bar on the right had been depleted for the fourth time, finally agreeing to stop.
This was his most costly lumber session in terms of consuming high-level food (cheese).
The results were, of course, the most impressive—he had chopped down 101 trees, collected 42 portions of wild fruits, and gathered 68 various mushrooms.
A full 6 stacks of wood piled up in his game backpack, completely filling it.
Though he really wanted to complete that seventh stack of wood he had just started…
Oliver glanced at the moon again and sighed with some regret.
Time-wise, it was probably too late.
“You’re right, Fosse.” Realizing this, Oliver readily agreed to Fosse’s suggestion. “Let’s head back for now and return tomorrow.”
Fosse’s brow twitched.
Pursing his lips, he used his slightly furrowed brow to conceal the worry in his eyes. “Yes, Your Highness.”
How could his dear young master have abandoned the mining he was so passionate about just yesterday and become completely obsessed with tree chopping overnight?
The loyal butler, who had no understanding of how crazy and hardcore players could be when trying to level up, was utterly bewildered.
Even when the young master last accepted the great Cat God’s trial, cutting trees for days to prepare lumber for building new homes for those lowly slaves, he hadn’t been this desperate… It must be another new trial set by the Cat God.
Making the young master, a duke of the kingdom, both care deeply for slaves and commoners, and personally reclaim wasteland, getting his hands dirty with that filthy mud—Pa, harvesting corn in the sweltering heat, gently stroking the chicks.
He had to wield the heavy pickaxe to strike those massive boulders so hard that even the strongest prisoners were helpless against them; swing the great axe to single-handedly fell trees too large for one person to embrace; gather wild fruits from the trees and mushrooms from the ground; carry a fishing rod to the riverbank to catch fish, with most of the catch distributed to the slaves.
No offerings required, no temple needed. As a deity, he was more generous and benevolent than the vast majority of female deities renowned for their gentleness and kindness.
But… why did he always make his most important young master do so many arduous tasks unbecoming of a noble?
“Cat God.”
Fosse silently mouthed the words.
What a strange deity.
The butler, who had always been troubled by this, tightened his lips and jawline sternly.
He followed silently behind his young master, riding back to the castle on the return journey.
It took a long while before he managed to restrain his dissatisfaction with the deity who had, after all, repeatedly protected his young master right before his eyes.
“How could I forget?”
Oliver suddenly spoke, somewhat annoyed.
Perhaps it was because all the trees along the return path had been chopped down by him, and the newly sown tree seeds hadn’t grown fast enough.
Only after walking for quite a while under the fairly bright moonlight did he belatedly realize he could simply wear the [Ring of the Cat God] to obtain a better light source.
Especially since he had just obtained the second ring and hadn’t tried it out yet!
With this thought, without waiting for his attendants to ask, Oliver directly retrieved the two rings from his game backpack and put them on the ring fingers of his left and right hands.
When he slipped the first ring onto his right ring finger, the sudden emergence of a soft, warm glow made all the attendants instinctively look over, their faces breaking into reverent smiles.
But when he immediately put on the second one…
“Ah!”
Everyone instinctively shut their eyes as if scalded, gasping in shock!
The originally gentle and comfortable brightness had instantly intensified several times over!
Lord Laina, now wearing both [Rings of the Cat God], was radiating a brilliant white light all over his body—intense and blazing, like a miniature sun.
The area within about twenty steps around him was illuminated so thoroughly that every detail was visible, bright as daylight.
His truly radiant snow-white skin and flowing, shimmering golden hair now shone with an especially dazzling brilliance, so intense it was impossible to look at directly.
Just moments before, the attendants had been gazing involuntarily at their lord, who under the soft glow appeared as sacred and beautiful as the moon god.
Now, they were like foolish people arrogantly trying to stare directly at the sun, punished by the scorching, blinding light that burned their eyes, forcing them to shut them in panic.
Oliver froze on the spot.
Not only were his unprepared attendants caught off guard.
Even he himself, who had been mentally prepared, was thoroughly startled by the exaggeratedly powerful effect.
With just one ring on, he had been like a walking high-wattage light bulb.
Though very bright and conspicuous, it was still at an intensity that allowed people to look directly at it.
That level of brightness had been just right for providing limited illumination around him at night.
But now…
Oliver’s eyelids twitched violently.
It was as if what he thought was just a “Household Lightbulb PRO” had suddenly skipped countless levels and upgraded into a “High-Power Searchlight PRO MAX.”
Forget the small area around him—this entire patch of forest that was originally shrouded in darkness was now illuminated by his human-shaped searchlight to a brightness approaching daylight.
Why didn’t he remember from his gaming days that wearing two rings simultaneously could have such terrifying power?
This was practically a social suicide ring!
Oliver swiftly removed the second ring.
Before his attendants could recover from the sudden blinding light and shock, still covering their eyes, Oliver raised his voice nonchalantly to cover up his inner embarrassment, casually spouting nonsense: “Oh, dear Cat God! Thank you for generously bestowing your divine light, showing recognition for my efforts today…”
In the golden-glowing divine realm, the deity, awakened from slumber by the pleasant voice of his believer, tilted his head in confusion.
After that day when the kiss had thrown his divine power into disarray, as soon as he had slightly recovered, he couldn’t resist secretly infusing more divine power into the ring that held his affection for his believer.
The effort had drained him so much that he hadn’t been able to summon Oliver to the divine realm to meet last night.
After barely understanding Oliver’s words, he couldn’t help but lower his head.
His soft ears drooped slightly, and his long tail stopped its gentle swaying, hanging limply.
……
…… My…… divine power……
……
He thought dejectedly.
……
…… Oliver…… doesn’t like it……
……
TL Note: Honestly, this should be a comedy.
