Chapter 45: Potato From a Potato (1/2)
The tools were unfamiliar to the poor undead teen. He had no idea how to use any of these strange-looking objects, but he knew what he must do to obtain potatoes, even if this was a giant potato plant.
He'd never witnessed such a large potato plant with flowers or fruits, but there was no mistaking what it was. He knew the shape of those leaves too well to be mistaken. However, it was starting to get very dark, and even Rino was having difficulty seeing what was what as the boy searched for something on the ground.
With a whoosh, Rino conjured several fireballs in place of torches that he should really be making now that he had an army of shadows to serve him. It was more efficient to use charcoal or something as fuel than mana for torches if he needed the entire field lit. Rino made a mental note to get to it sometime soon.
The teen dug at the ground and thanked Rino for the light before using his bare bones to scrape at the dirt. The lich frowned. Were those tools for decoration? Why wasn't he using them?
”Use the hoe or a shovel to get through more dirt,” Rino jerked his chin over to the tools, but the boy only stared at him dumbly.
Reluctantly, Rino picked up the tool he made from his shoulder blade and demonstrated how a hoe could be used.
”Alternatively, you can use the shovel. It does just about the same thing flicking dirt away.”
He held the tools to the teen, who only looked between them in confusion. On Rino's silent insistence that he stopped using his hands to dig, the boy nodded and accepted the hoe, marvelling at how easily he could dig the ground.
Rino was puzzled. The boy was a farmer, but he did not know about tools. Where and how did this lad learn farming from? Did they have different tools in this world? Was he too primitive? However, that was exactly what the tutorial mentioned. He simply substituted the material for something more durable.
”Found one!”
The cheerful report snapped Rino out of his thoughts as he looked at that chunky lump in the teen's hand. It was almost too huge to be held in one hand, but the teen found a way to balance it within his bony fingers. The potato looked heavy, and it was longer than it was rounder.
”This is a potato?” Rino asked and looked at the hole in the ground.
”Yes,” the boy reported excitedly and dusted as much dirt as he could from this brown ground tumour.
Rino accepted it hesitantly and inspected it closely. This strange thing resembled something he saw in his previous life. Were potatoes also known as ground beans? It was strange.
The teen watched as his master took the potato from him, looking at it as some form of rarity. Rino did not know what potatoes did, but if he could grow one potato plant from one potato, he might be able to get a whole field of it. Yet, Rino could not find any use for these ground beans. They were undead. The dead do not need sustenance.