Lord of the Oasis

"Begin the draw."

As he spoke, Kant's eyes shone with anticipation.

A prize draw from the system provided far better rewards than those acquired from side quests.

The treasure chest opened.

Rainbow-colored lights were seen.

[Ding... You have acquired an item pack.]

[You have opened the item pack and found Date Palm Jungle within.]

[Acquired: Date Palm Jungle x 2 acres (matured trees)]

A card was seen on the system's dialog box.

It was an image of a jungle as seen from above. It had lush trees growing in the sand. Dates were vaguely visible hanging on the branches, which were evidently ripe and ready to be harvested.

Date Palm Trees.

Kant was familiar with the tree. It was the most practical thing available in the desert.

When he first arrived in the Nahrin Desert, he had been given 20 Date Palm Trees as a reward from a side quest.

However, 20 trees were nothing compared to two whole acres worth of Date Palm Trees.

"What kind of reward is this?"

Kant, who usually had a rational mind, found the reward to be somewhat ridiculous.

While it seemed easy to plant two acres worth of Date Palm Trees, there were only 7.5 acres of land for farming in the entire Oasis Lookout. All of that land had been used for planting wheat. There was currently no space available for planting these Date Palm Trees.

At the moment, it was a totally useless reward.

[Ding... System Prompt]

[All items acquired from prize draws will be completely materialized as seen in their card form.]

A dialog box re-appeared on his retina. The system seemed to have detected Kant's unease about his prize.

That line immediately made Kant frown.

"Completely materialized?"

Kant pondered on what those two words meant. He knew that any prompts given by the system always meant something.

He willed and summoned the card he had just acquired on his retina.

There was no way the two acres worth of Date Palm Trees could have been fully illustrated on that small card. Instead, it was just a small part of the jungle as seen from above being illustrated. It included the sand where the trees were planted.

When he saw that, Kant's heart raced.

He cross-referenced his thoughts with the hint given by the system. He quickly realized what the system meant. "Oh, don't tell me..."

He headed straight for the northern end of the Oasis Lookout. That was where the agricultural area of Drondheim was located and the 20 Date Palm Trees were planted.

The items acquired completely materialized as was seen in their card form.

If what those words meant was exactly what he speculated them to be, he was about to gain himself a tremendous windfall.

It was a windfall comparable to how he had gained a new Council Hall when he first came to the Oasis Lookout. That needed building symbolized the beginning of the establishment of Drondheim.

"This is it."

Kant swiftly headed to the northern end of Oasis Lookout.

The crude network of irrigation channels had been completed. Fresh spring water flowed in them, rendering the farm, which consisted mostly of sand, wet. The precious fresh water supply spread throughout the originally barren land.

Using the irrigation channels allowed for the 14 plots to be divided from the 7.5 acres.

It was still a desert. Even soil found in an oasis consisted mostly of sand.

The irrigation channels had been specifically dug to ensure ample irrigation. The sprouting of the seedlings meant that the channels, planned and dug by Kant and the peasants, worked as they were supposed to.

At the moment, however, Kant set his sights on the two rows of Date Palm Trees.

The 20 Date Palm Trees were planted neatly at the border where the oasis and desert beyond met. They were lush. They looked very green and pretty. They added color to the otherwise barren, boring yellowish tone of the place.

Kant suddenly hesitated.

He gulped and took a deep breath before asking, "System, can I plant the Date Palm Jungle here?"

"You could," the system answered.

A glimmer was seen in Kant's eyes as he willed the card in his mind into existence.

A mystical aura instantly emerged. Data streams of staggering numbers were seen deep in Kant's eyes. They shot out like a hurricane at the desert before him, systematically enveloping only the two acres of land.

The process only took seconds.

The data streams began to recede. Right before Kant's eyes, a jungle filled with tall, sprightly trees was now seen.

A Date Palm Jungle had emerged.

"I knew it."

Kant gulped. His hands were clenched in excitement.

His gaze moved to the base of the stout trunks. Instead of finding yellowish, soft sand beneath, he saw brownish, solidified sandy soil.

The place had literally been terraformed.

It was the only term appearing in Kant's mind that he felt was adequate to describe his shock of the scene.

Kant finally realized just how powerful the system was at that very moment.

It was capable of entirely changing a landscape.

The system had just transformed the seeming useless sand into a sandy soil capable of being used for farming.

That power surpassed the understanding of common folks. It made it seem like a divine miracle of sorts. In fact, it had been nothing short of a miracle since it was a sandy soil that could have only been created through the great powers wielded by gods.

"This is my cheat."

Kant quelled his excitement. He worked hard to calm himself down.

The system of the game was available only to him.

He alone wielded such mystical powers.

There was no reason for him to get excessively excited about things. Once he managed to calm himself down, everything would return to feeling normal.

He eyed the densely packed Date Palm Trees and sighed. This is just magnificent.

Lush Date Palm Trees were planted in neat rows.

The way they were planted seemed to have been planned since the trees had been saplings, which was why they currently looked very neat.

Full, ripe purplish-red dates were situated in clusters beneath the signature long, slender leaves of the stout, tall palm trees. That meant the dates were definitely ready for harvest.

All of the Date Palm Trees were now bearing viable fruit.

The Date Palm Trees, which were all over 22 feet tall, seemed to have shrouded the northern side of the desert from sight.

Kant had no idea just how many of those trees could be planted on two acres worth of land.

[Ding... System Prompt]

[50 Date Palm Trees can be planted on one acre of land. The current total of two acres of land has 100 Date Palm Trees.]

The subsequent dialog box from the system gave the answer that Kant sought.

Nice, very nice indeed.

Kant grinned at the thoughtful system. His face was adorned with a beaming smile.

With so many Date Palm Trees now available, his current problem with food was completely solved. Even if his forces were to eat only dates and drink only spring water from the oasis, it was enough to last them at least half a year.

If the trees were meticulously taken care of, another batch of dates would be ready for harvest in another six months.

He finally realized why people native to the middle-eastern deserts of Earth planted so few crops of other kinds yet had such an abundance of Date Palm Trees.

The dates, which were known to be desert bread in the minds of the desert people, were comparable to staple foods like wheat, rice, and others.

He instantly made a decision.

Kant speculated that if he called upon all of his people to pluck the dates, the harvest would probably be enough to fill the entire storage room.

The amount of harvested from 100 Date Palm Trees was equal to the total amount of crops planted by a village. They provided ample food for at least 300 people over the course of months. It was more than enough to last until the next harvest.

The harvest was thought to have been able to last for half a year. If the ripe dates were harvested in time, the trees would likely bear fruit even sooner.

Six months was only an estimate of the time required for the dates to become ripe and ready to be eaten.

The trees, which grew in a desert climate, were free from the interference of seasons. They were able to bear fruit at any time of the year. Therefore, his people had the opportunity to secure a steady supply all year long. It was a huge advantage over fruit trees planted on flatlands and mountains yet were affected by weather conditions.

That was why Date Palm Trees were considered something else altogether.

Then again, the trees could absolutely do more than just provide food.

Kant licked his lips.

Kant, who hailed from Earth in his past life, knew without a doubt that if there were a huge number of trees found in an oasis, the oasis would have been considered a mature oasis capable of forming a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Photosynthesis of the trees and evaporation of water enabled effective temperature regulation throughout the oasis.

Days could potentially become less hot, and nights could potentially become less cold.

If they worked on the land between the trees further, it enabled the planting of more drought-resistant crops. As long as irrigation and fertilization were sustained, one had the potential to plant vegetables and fruit trees. Such was the way of farming invented by desert people.

Eventually, it would have been possible to keep small animals, such as breeds of chicken and goats capable of surviving in a desert or desert horses, around.

The emergence of the jungle really has brought the development of the village back on track again.

Kant felt overwhelmed and excited.

Products provided by the system were nothing short of the best. There was no way defective products were found among them.

Kant's eyes glistened at the thought that he still had one honor left. It meant that he could continue drawing yet another prize.

He was getting anxious.

"System, begin the draw again!"