What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 164. The Sunflower's Faith, Two Mineral Veins

"She's really quite pretty."

Although this thing is indeed so beautiful that it can make Kroya feel dazed and willing to immerse himself in it to take a closer look, it's only if he's willing.

When he wanted to wake up, even the evolved daffodils couldn't stop him for even a second.

However, after a brief period of fascination, he also learned the use of this plant called "Nathos the Seeker of Beauty"—mental magic.

It possesses extremely powerful mental magic; according to Kroya's estimation, it should be able to affect a level four mage.

Those who are affected will be seduced by its beauty. If they cannot break free, they will naturally sink into it. If their spirit is truly unable to leave... they will probably die in its beauty.

This is actually a very powerful force; if used properly, one plant could be equivalent to many people.

However, this effect is limited to its "transformed form." If it were to revert to its original state, the effect would be greatly diminished, and it might even become somewhat comical.

"How long can you last?"

He gazed at the daffodils that were swaying happily, as if showing off their beauty, and summoned the astral crystal turtle to translate for him:

"Why did you become like this? And why is there so much magic within you?"

The magical power within this creature far exceeds what a level three magical plant should possess, which is clearly very abnormal.

"Okay, I'll ask right away."

The Astral Crystal Turtle danced and gesticulated wildly at the rainbow-colored daffodil, and somehow they communicated, though it's unclear how.

Anyway, Kroya replied, "Master, it said it can maintain its transformation for about ten minutes."

Its power originates from a powerful magical artifact in the small plane where it lives; it was with the artifact's help that it grew into its current form.

"A minor dimension... It seems that Estner, this teacher, is quite extraordinary." Kroya nodded.

"To have a small dimension."

To be honest, he really wanted to have a small world where he could freely plant and raise his favorite magical plants and beasts.

A minor plane that can be controlled by a mage can become a god of that plane, provided that enough effort and time are invested.

"Strange..." I have no memory of mentor Estner.

He tried hard to recall, but to no avail.

He had absolutely no idea who Estner's mentor was. It seemed to have always been a secret; the other party hadn't brought it up, and the original owner hadn't asked.

This is indeed a very strange thing.

The original owner had quite a few social interactions and had chatted with many people, but had never heard from any source who Estner's teacher was, only that he was a great mage.

I didn't think much of it before, but now that I think about it carefully, I guess he has a very high status, otherwise this situation wouldn't have occurred.

He thought about it and didn't pay much attention to it. He figured he would have a chance to meet him once he improved his strength.

The other party gave him such a generous gift, so he should reciprocate in some way, both morally and logically.

"Go play, and go back into the magic pool after you turn back."

After instructing the daffodil, which could already run and jump, to run and play on the upper level of the castle and not to cast mental magic on people indiscriminately, he left it alone.

This thing is really useful, and he plans to... give Stein's mentor a big surprise.

Since the other party looked down on his farming, he used magical plants to besiege them.

I'll use a level 4 mage to test whether my magic plant tactic will be successful.

Since Estner's mentor has already spoken, there's no need to worry about the Mage Association's reaction. Once they arrive on Han Reef Island, they're destined to be crushed by him.

……

After watching the daffodils leave, Kroya glanced at the crystal on the astral crystal turtle's back: "Could you think of a way to connect the tower spirit to that bottle?"

How should your crystal be shaped and processed?

The structure of this astral crystal is exceptionally stable. He had tried to obtain it more than once before, but all attempts had failed.

A stable structure means that magic is hard to work with, and it is even impossible to change the shape of the crystal bottle. What he is using now are the ones left over from before the secret room.

I didn't ask many questions before because I didn't need them, but now that I need them, I definitely need to ask clearly.

Upon hearing this, the Astral Crystal Turtle immediately shook the crystal on its back, and a piece fell off with a "plop".

It picked up the crystal with its tortoise claws and placed it in front of Kroya before replying, "Master, you have been using the wrong method. Astral crystals are shaped using mental power."

"Mental power?" Kroa was taken aback.

This... he really hadn't thought of that before. He had always tried using magic power, because magic crystals were meant to be infused with magic power to change.

So this thing actually requires mental energy?

The sudden reversal of the expected approach explains why he hadn't been able to figure out how to handle the situation.

"Yes, you need to use your own spiritual power as magic to permeate the entire crystal in order to transform its form."

"You can make a tube and connect it to the crystal bottle so that the shark spirit can crawl inside," the crystal turtle added.

"I'll give it a try."

Kroya extended his spiritual power toward the Astral Crystal.

His spiritual power flowed like orange water, quickly enveloping the palm-sized astral crystal.

Strands of spiritual energy seeped into the crystal, gradually completely permeating it.

Sure enough, just as the crystal turtle had said, things really did change.

It gradually melted, flowing like liquid under the influence of spiritual energy, looking at it at first glance like flowing starlight, clear and mysterious.

"Master! You need to start shaping quickly," the Astral Crystal Turtle hurriedly reminded him. "It will settle into its final form soon after the first transformation."

"Um."

Enveloped by both Kroya's spiritual and magical power, the astral crystal liquid flew toward the tower spirit cultivation pool, gradually transforming in mid-air into curved pipes and funnel-shaped domes according to Kroya's will.

Although it's very thin and would probably break if touched, this is a laboratory, so that won't happen.

He will reinforce it again later.

The cover slowly descended, enveloping the tower spirit cultivation pool, while the pipes extended to the astral crystal bottle containing the Void Moon Divine Tree, slowly connecting with the bottle opening.

We're halfway there now. All we need to do is open the astral crystal bottle containing the Void Moon Divine Tree to connect it.

However, to prevent the contents from escaping, Kroya still made an inlet/outlet valve on the Shark Tower.

The valve opens when it swims over and closes when it leaves.

Once the valve is made, the project is considered complete.

Shark Tower seemed to know that something fun was about to happen, and it couldn't wait to swim down the pipe towards that direction.

Tower spirits should theoretically be able to roam and appear freely anywhere within the magic tower; this is the fundamental reason why they help mages take care of the magic tower.

It can now leave the incubation tank temporarily, but it can't stay away for too long.

"You'd better behave and go back in half an hour at most."

After giving this instruction, Kroya let it stuff its enormous body into the small tube and enter the astral crystal bottle through the tube.

Like a fish entering the sea, it happily swam in the ocean, which was blessed by magic and moonlight.

The silver dragon spotted its new friend, swam over curiously, and let out a few "roaring" sounds.

Sharks certainly don't have vocal organs, but that's a regular shark. What does that have to do with my shark tower spirit?

It soon emitted a "howling" sound through magical vibrations.

The fish and the dragon swam in the ocean like children chatting, making "roaring" noises as they chased each other. Soon, other fish joined them.

These guys are very smart. They sensed the spiritual energy left by Kroya on the shark and knew that it was raised by Kroya, so they were very friendly to it.

When did Shark Tower Spirit ever see so many friends?

I was so happy I felt like I could fly, playing and frolicking with them in the seawater.

However, it remembered the half-hour time limit and, after playing for half an hour, obediently returned to the cultivation pool.

Kroya had been watching it closely throughout this time, and only after seeing this scene did she nod in satisfaction, saying, "Good that it's obedient."

He looked at the shark spirit and suddenly felt that its body seemed to have solidified a lot. Originally it was translucent, but now it looked more and more like a real shark.

"Is it the effect of this ocean?" Kroa thought that must be it, after all, it's a mermaid's possession, and mermaids are the overlords of the sea.

Their stuff has a kind of magical power, so it's perfectly reasonable that it would be effective on shark spirits, which are originally marine creatures.

"Looks like I'll really have to let you go inside more often in the future."

He decided to give the Taling shark half an hour of outdoor time every day, and as it grows up and is able to leave the pool, he would let it play as it pleased.

As long as I don't fall behind in my studies, it doesn't matter if I go out to play.

……

After resolving the matter with the shark tower spirit, Kroya returned to her sofa, lay lazily, and said listlessly:

"Show me the situation over at the sunflower field."

"OK."

The scene immediately changes—

The sunflower elf and the clock golem were directing the serfs to plant sunflower seeds one by one. Three thousand sunflower seeds were enough to cover the entire area around the castle.

The servants' attitude towards the sunflower spirit seemed to go beyond mere respect; it also included worship and…faith.

This is because the sunflower spirit usually wanders around the sunflower field when it has nothing to do, and if it sees someone or something that makes it happy, it will give that person a sunflower seed.

It's both generous and stingy, giving out sunflower seeds that look malnourished and contain very little magic.

But precisely because this magic wasn't particularly abundant, it was just right for feeding the farm servants.

If there is too much magic in it, eating it may cause the body to be too weak to absorb the nutrients.

Living by the sea for a long time, and having to go out to sea to fish, the farm servants often suffered from rheumatism, arthritis, and other ailments due to the damp and cold environment.

Of course, they didn't have the money to buy medicine or ask priests to perform healing spells; they could only endure it in their daily lives.

However, after consuming sunflower seeds, the pure sunlight magic within them will gradually dispel their ailments.

When someone has been suffering from a disease for a long time and it is suddenly resolved, they will naturally develop great trust and reliance on the person who solved their problem.

This is what the sunflower fairy looks like now.

It even showed a tendency to draw on faith, and Kroa did not stop it from doing so.

While they themselves do not need faith, it is not impossible for the sunflower spirit to draw upon a little faith power.

"Let's see how the power of faith will change you."

After glancing at them a few times, he looked away and began to observe the white, misty sunflowers.

They had now been planted on a high slope surrounded by sunflowers, emitting white mist as they faced the sun.

The fog had already covered an area of ​​about one kilometer in radius.

These white mists rolled and flowed like clouds, absorbing the magic of the sunlight, and soon turned into a golden expanse.

It was only at this moment that Kroa understood the meaning of "light is the breath of shimmering," that it was truly bright and dazzling, making it impossible to look away.

"It's really beautiful as it spreads out. If there were more, wouldn't the entire island be enveloped in it?"

He admired it for a while, then, feeling he had seen enough, asked the Wood-Dwelling Vine King:

"Is there anything else fun to do? How's the situation with the mushroom people?"

He had barely asked a question when the King of Woody Teng immediately switched to the other screen.

"Take a look at this."

"Hmm? Let me see." Chloe looked at the screen curiously.

That was... a scene explored by a small team led by a female apprentice.

They had arrived at a very strange place—a sea, but a white sea.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, and the ground was covered in snow. Even the sea, which shouldn't have frozen, was covered in a layer of white.

Everything I could see and see was a vast expanse of white, and my eyes even felt a little stinging and uncomfortable.

"That's seaweed, isn't it?"

Kroa's eyesight was pretty good; she spotted the dense, wriggling seaweed on the surface. And its shape seemed somewhat similar to the luminous algae of the sea.

"Could it be a type of bioluminescent algae?"

Kroya immediately became interested. He had been searching for other species of the thirsty sea luminous algae for some time, but had not been able to find any.

He even searched the sea but found nothing. So it turned out to be here?

He glanced at the map beside him and discovered that the team was only twenty kilometers away from Hanjiao Island, which was extremely close.

"Could there be something down there?"

Based on the previous discovery of the luminescent algae in the sea, such a large accumulation of algae suggests that there might be something even more amiss beneath this seemingly abnormal sea.

He hesitated for a moment and did not send the message through the mushroom man.

Because people in the video are already walking towards the beach and exploring.

Kroya had explicitly stated that if any treasures were found outside, there would be a reward for bringing them back, and the entire team would receive a reward.

While this might lead some team members to be more aggressive in their search for treasure, it could also give them more courage to take risks—it has both advantages and disadvantages.

Although they didn't know what these strange algae were—the color of Kroa's thirsty sea glow algae was vastly different from these algae, meaning he only recognized them as the same species because of his good eyesight—they were still willing to take the risk and explore.

Naturally, one will receive a reward.

For example, right now, when they walked through the snow to the beach, parted the white seaweed, and were shocked to find themselves on the seabed...

There are sparkling crystals!

They shimmered with a blue aura representing pure magic, interspersed with some white, special crystals that looked like they had been frozen.

Everyone who witnessed this immediately knew what it was—

Magic Crystal!

There should be magic crystal ore down there!

Kroa, who also witnessed this scene through the eyes of the mushroom people, felt a surge of warmth in his heart. Although he now had a source of magic power thanks to the underwater volcanoes and the giant mouth flower.

But nothing beats magic crystal ore.

Magic crystals are the universal currency for mages, far more dazzling than any gold mine, and even he couldn't help but feel a burning desire within him.

More importantly, this magic crystal mine is actually exposed directly in seawater. Does this mean that the magic power below has accumulated to the point of eruption?

If that's the case, it must be a medium-sized magic crystal mine; even small ones wouldn't have such a large quantity.

And what are those white crystals?

His mind raced, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. He instructed the mushroom man, "Make sure you bring back all these magic crystals, white ores, and the Sea-Drying Fluorescent Algae!"

"I have a reward!"

The monk's command was immediately spoken through the mushroom-man's mouth.

The apprentices who were exploring were immediately overjoyed. This was Kroya's reward. They wondered what kind of reward he would give them.

Team leader Lina couldn't contain her excitement.

Magic crystal ore. If we could bring these magic crystal ore back intact, we would definitely be able to outdo the other teams, right?

She has a very strong competitive spirit.

So she immediately ordered, "Mages, make an ice cart, bring out your belongings, and I, Tarajoon, and the others will go and retrieve them. Let's hurry and bring these things back!"

After saying that, she went into the water without hesitation to retrieve the magic crystals and white minerals scattered on the seabed—she was very careful not to touch the latter with her hands when retrieving them.

The unknown ore possesses unknown magical power, and something might happen if you touch it—this is something Kroya had taught them long ago.

Seeing her jump down like that, the other apprentices followed suit, the icy seawater unable to extinguish their burning passion.

And so they got to work with great enthusiasm.

After digging and carrying for a while, when they had finished collecting the scattered magic crystals, they tried to dig into the sand on the seabed.

More magic crystals appeared below! They were faintly visible in the sand, and there were clearly quite a few of them.

And... there is also a magic vein that is constantly gushing out pure magic power, appearing in a liquid state.

The apprentices were stunned, their hearts pounding.

(End of this chapter)