Mr. Trent was a native of this planet, or rather, his family had lived here for generations. He didn't know if his bloodline possessed any Awakened Talent, or if he could ever awaken a powerful Talent to rule over a region.
Because here, awakening was harder than scaling the heavens. There were almost no Awakened individuals in the village. Those who did awaken had all found ways to leave.
Those who remained were merely people with nowhere else to go, but even they gradually migrated closer to Silverton Town, unwilling to stay in this impoverished hamlet.
Looking across the entire planet, their village was truly the most destitute.
So, even though Ewan often claimed his Talent was useless, Mr. Trent stood by the side, constantly exclaiming in admiration. What was the use of a powerful Talent anyway? He wouldn't have the chance to witness any earth-shattering displays of power regardless. Conversely, for him, Slimes that knew how to farm and assist their master like Ewan's were more than enough.
While Mr. Trent was still lost in thought, over on the other side, Ewan had started instructing the newly summoned Mossy: "Mossy, after Bubbly softens the soil, can you help me loosen it?"
"Pew?"
[Loosen the soil?] Mossy tilted its head, blinking its eyes a few times. Ewan guessed that if it had hands, it would probably raise one to scratch its shiny bald head: [But I don't know how to loosen soil.]
Mossy looked at its master with utter confusion. It was a Wood element; if the land already had crops, it could try to stimulate the plants to grow a bit faster. But now... Mossy looked at the barren patch of land, with only traces of ash remaining, feeling a bit troubled by the master's command.
[Big brother, Mossy can only secrete fluids to help plants grow.] Mossy twisted its round body: [But my elemental concentration is too low, so I can't help right now anyway.]
Hearing it speak, Ewan realized Mossy's color was much paler than the other three Slimes. Initially, he thought it was just because green naturally looked paler than other colors. He hadn't expected it was due to low elemental concentration.
"So how do I replenish your elemental concentration?"
[Normally, we use the elemental cores of Star Beasts.] Bubbly hopped over: [But there aren't any here, and even if there were, Big Brother couldn't beat them.]
Ewan: "..." Why do you look down on your master so much?
"Are there Star Beasts here? Can you sense them?"
[I am a Water element; I can sense anywhere there is water.]
Whether it was mist in the air, condensation on leaves... as long as there was a trace of water elements, Slimes could release a compatible sensory pulse. Thanks to that, Bubbly could sense that this vast area was completely void of Star Beasts.
[Not exactly Star Beasts, just creatures close to reaching the level of Star Beasts. But they are very far away. The signal is very weak.]
Ewan felt more at ease hearing this. Perhaps the animals Bubbly mentioned approaching the Star Beast threshold were the ones deep in the old forest that Asher Ryder had mentioned.
Then there was no need to worry too much. The deep forest was very far from here. Normally, the villagers didn't venture that deep.
"If there are no cores, how do I replenish elements for you guys?"
[Convert directly from your Mental Strength.] Dusty spoke up, but then it glanced at Ewan and cried out again: [Never mind, let's change methods.]
Ewan: "..." He really wanted to beat up this lump of Slime. Ewan had witnessed Dusty displaying such obvious disdain toward him twice now.
Truly no respect for its elders!
Although... it was right. Let alone cores, it was fortunate there were no Star Beasts here, otherwise, who knew if his little life would still be intact. Let alone killing Star Beasts to get cores for them.
As for Mental Strength...
Could a piece of trash who could only summon five Slimes at once really use Mental Strength to provide supplemental elements for them?
It felt like a no.
Ewan rubbed his forehead: "Is there a simpler way?"
[You are what you eat.] Mossy looked much more obedient than Dusty; at least the way it spoke didn't make people die of anger: [I can consume honey, pollen, ancient tree sap, or seeds of rare plants. But the ability to absorb elements from them is very low.]
Naturally, absorbing seeds or plants inclined towards the Wood element would be better. But Ewan couldn't reach those things right now. Not only that, even the basic things Mossy just listed, Ewan didn't have.
The easiest things to find were probably pollen and ancient tree sap. But humans needed to collect them, because if Mossy went by itself, it might clumsily destroy the vegetation.
Then the villagers might demand compensation.
Ewan sighed: "So I have to till the soil by hand?"
Bubbly had been shooed away by Ewan to moisten the soil, and Mr. Trent had returned to his own plot. The villagers were curious about Ewan's Slimes
, but being strangers, they didn't dare approach. So, only his three Slimes remained around Ewan.
Hearing Ewan's lament, Dusty couldn't hold back anymore.
"Pew pew pew!"
[Stupid Master.] Dusty felt Bubbly's stupidity was definitely due to the master's influence: [Even if Mossy had enough elemental concentration, it couldn't till the soil anyway. To plow the land, you have to find Shiny.]
Ewan: "..." Speechless for the third time, but being scolded wasn't unjust.
He had been fixated on the idea that the Wood element would help the soil improve. He assumed helping the soil become porous meant it could till the land.
He forgot that Wood element Slimes couldn't penetrate the ground and break its mechanical structure to loosen the soil. It could only use elemental nutrients to add beneficial microorganisms to the plants.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong." Ewan bowed his head to comfort the remaining three Slimes, then began summoning his final slot.
The Earth element Slime.
"Pew pew pew!"
Shiny appeared very quickly. Ewan glanced at it. Surprisingly, this little one's color was the darkest. This meant its elemental concentration was the densest. Ewan nodded with great satisfaction, then instructed: "Wait for Bubbly to finish moistening the soil, then burrow into the ground and churn it up, okay?"
Being an Earth element, Shiny could control the soil, making it burst apart on its own without much effort.
Shiny obediently jumped twice, crying pew pew.
Assignments complete, Ewan happily returned to the dike and flopped down on the ground. He had been too tired just now. Finally, he could rest a bit.
Luckily, the aunties nearby were attracted by Ewan's Slimes and didn't pay attention to him. Otherwise, seeing Ewan wearing cotton clothes sitting directly on the dirt, they would probably be heartbroken.
Just then, Simon ran over carrying two large watering cans. Seeing Ewan sitting on the ground, he said enthusiastically: "Come on, let me help you water. Quick, or it'll be late."
"No need." Ewan pulled Simon's hand, telling him: "Why don't you sit here and rest a bit. Sorry for making you run back and forth like that, it's too much work."
"Huh?" Simon blanked out: "What's wrong? Or are you planning to wait for Asher to come back and make him water it? That works too; looking at you, you're probably not used to heavy work. If you can't water it in time, just call me, I'll help you both. If that's not enough, I'll call my brother too."
Simon unleashed a barrage of words. Though not flowery, they made Ewan feel the kindness and dedication of this young man. He couldn't help but smile, tugging at Simon's hand: "That's not it, look over there."
Ewan spoke while pointing at the field; Simon looked in the direction of his finger. Just in time to see Bubbly finish wetting a spot in the far corner; it transformed back into its mochi form, then bounced to a spot about three meters away. Then, slowly, its body seemed to turn into a puddle of water, slithering over the dry ground surface, covering an area of several square meters.
Then, visible to the naked eye, the ground there gradually became darker, as if it had just been watered heavily.
"Huh?"
This scene shocked Simon so much that he let out a sound.