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

Chapter 192. The Mission of Birth, the Azure Flower

In Kroa's original imagination, the mermaid kingdom should be an incredibly dreamlike place, filled with magnificent and magical scenery that is unimaginable to mortals.

But what happened next was the scene before him.

Not only is it not pretty, it could even be described as dilapidated.

Before me lay a land riddled with cracks, from which shimmered dark brown spots of light that stretched to the distant indigo sea.

Various ruins and rubble cover this land. The towering stone pillars and dilapidated murals on the walls seem to tell the story of a kingdom that once existed here.

A country that was once glorious.

If there's anything intact here, it's the moonlight.

The moonlight, as real as the earth itself, shone down on this land, its light unaffected, forming a stark contrast with the desolate landscape.

One is eternal and unchanging, while the other is already broken and dilapidated.

The stark contrast made the boundary between reality and fantasy even more obvious, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Kroya stood on the ground, her brows furrowing slightly.

He felt the magic within his body trembling, as if it wanted to burst forth and illuminate this desolate world.

"barren……"

"Dead silence..."

"A miracle..."

He could still hear sounds echoing around him, and he was certain that these sounds came from the entire world.

"Could it be?"

This world seems to be a giant "being," and the yearning emanating from the Astral Imprint Technique soars to the heavens, as if expecting someone to respond to its call.

He squinted, trying to activate the Astral Imprint, but the Astral Imprint did not work.

This voice was not generated by the Astral Imprint Technique, but was manifested by his magic and the All-Encompassing Communication Technique he had learned.

"What are you looking at?"

A voice came from the side, interrupting Kroya's thoughts.

He turned his head and saw the mermaid archmage Aria, whom he hadn't seen for a while, staring at him with curiosity in her eyes.

"Have you also heard the world's lament?"

Arya circled around Kroya, then said meaningfully, "Little friend, your strength has improved very quickly."

"A level five mage, this is truly unprecedented."

"Even Eurydice back then didn't progress as quickly as you have."

"..."

Level 5? I didn't even know I was at Level 5.

He blinked, maintaining his respect for his senior, but refrained from mentioning his own rank:

"It's been a long time, Great Master."

It has indeed been a long time since I last met him. I felt a lot of pressure when I first met this mermaid archmage.

But now... with so many cheat codes at his disposal, if he were willing to use the symphony orchestra, Aria really wouldn't be a match for him.

Arya nodded. She had received some instructions from King Mihai, and her attitude towards Kroya was no longer as condescending as before.

Now it's more about equal exchange and communication:

"Since you have heard His lament, then come. If you can bring this land and sea back to life... you will gain the friendship of all the mermaids."

As she spoke, she led Chloe across the desolate land to the edge of the lifeless ocean.

This sea was even more desolate than the land, with a strange, fishy smell. The waves it surged with were filled with filthy white foam, making it look like a pool of murky sewage.

This scenery stretches to the horizon, or rather... to the entire boundless ocean.

It was completely silent.

Having grown accustomed to vibrant, life-filled seas, Kroya felt extremely uncomfortable upon suddenly encountering this kind of water.

The desolate sea has a much stronger visual and tactile impact than the barren land.

"Wait, what's that...?"

He suddenly noticed something, activated his Eagle Eye technique, and looked into the distance—

In the depths of this ocean, there were mermaids swimming around, and they were all female mermaids with large bellies, giving birth.

Moonlight shone around them, and their expressions were pained and weak.

The first batch of five little mermaids were born soon.

When the little mermaid is born, her life force will be released into the surrounding sea, and the moonlight will spread.

The scales on the tails of those tiny mermaids, which are about the size of a palm, are extremely delicate. They swim in the murky seawater before they have even opened their eyes.

The light surrounding them was soft, yet possessed a cold divinity, which compelled them to swim in the seawater even as they felt unwell and their bodies convulsed.

As they moved, the moonlight dispersed.

Under the moonlight, the murky seawater gradually cleared, restoring its clear azure color, spreading from a small area outwards.

Kroya watched them silently.

To be honest, he didn't have a very good impression of the merfolk, especially after they unleashed a huge blizzard that blanketed the entire northern border of the kingdom.

But seeing this scene now still touches me somewhat.

It is clear that these newborn mermaids are purifying the ocean, and the source of this purifying power is their lives.

Even without the Astral Spirit Imprint Technique taking effect, he could feel the life force of those little mermaids gradually weakening.

Arya spoke up from the side:

"God is just."

"We have gained the power over the sea, but we must also purify all the seas in the world."

"The newborn mermaid race is born amidst the hymns of the sea, and they too must bear responsibilities."

"The little mermaid possesses a unique magic, brimming with vitality, capable of purifying the desolate sea. This is the baptism that every mermaid undergoes at birth."

"What if we can't finish it?" Kroa asked.

"..."

This time, Arya did not answer, but the distant sea provided the answer—

The light around the little mermaid faded, leaving her exposed in the dead, filthy seawater. She didn't survive even a minute.

She struggled helplessly, her tail gradually lost its vitality, her body was decomposed by the seawater, turned into foam and finally disappeared into the sea.

There were no traces left behind.

Only her mother, the adult mermaid protected in the moonlight, was covering her mouth and crying, not daring to make a sound.

Because sacrificing oneself for the ocean is the origin of the creation consciousness that created mermaids, she cannot cry, she can only laugh.

To be honest, setting aside racial prejudices and divisions, this scene alone is quite unsettling.

It is truly tragic to have your child, whom you have worked so hard to give birth to, die right away.

"I don't know your customs."

Kroya sighed softly. He really didn't know much about mermaids, and there was no description of mermaid rituals in the ancient books.

Even the ancient text given by the Orpheus Oak didn't mention that the Merfolk's birth ceremony was like this.

"Nobody knows." Aria's tone seemed to have a hint of amusement. "Those who knew about our customs have all gone to the stars. You may be the first outsider to witness our birth ceremony in a thousand years."

"Do you have any thoughts?"

"We have invited great magicians and cardinals to purify the seawater, but to no avail."

She said this with a hint of anticipation.

The mermaid king Mihai once told her that this human possessed extraordinary magic, which might be able to help them do something.

Even the smallest bit of help would be a huge benefit to the mermaid race nowadays—it has been too long since any baby mermaids have been born, making it extremely difficult to purify this sea of ​​wombs.

According to the priests' predictions, if four or five of the forty-six little mermaids survive, it will already be a blessing from the gods.

Her question puzzled Chloe:

"Me?"

"What can I do? I'm a mage. If you can tell me the magical model for purifying seawater, then maybe I can find a way."

He shrugged, indicating his helplessness.

Even the Grand Master couldn't do anything about it, so what could he do?

A miracle is a miracle precisely because it cannot be replicated. To expect a pitiful mage like him to participate in the magic of a illusory god is giving him far too much credit.

Since his major didn't match his job, there was nothing he could do.

Of course, he would be happy to help if he could. After all, he makes a living in the sea, and if he can get along well with the merfolk, he won't have to worry about anyone causing trouble in the sea.

But after hearing Chloe's answer, Arya seemed to have made up her mind.

"This is actually a kind of ancient magic."

She stared at Kroya with a serious expression: "I will persuade the King to retrieve its vessel, but whether you can learn it depends on you!"

After saying that, she turned and left, leaving Chloe a little confused.

what?

Why does it feel like things are getting more complicated?

……

The mermaid Aria quickly swam across the desolate sea and arrived before the mermaid king, who was in the deepest part of the ocean.

The king of mermaids stared down into the dark, deep abyss, his eyes reflecting the image of a female mermaid—her body surrounded by chains of moonlight, slumbering in the deepest darkness.

Sensing Arya's approach, the Mermaid King made no move, casually saying:

"That human mage wants it."

He already knew Arya's purpose, and the entire sea area was under his mental influence, so he had listened to the entire conversation.

"Yes, since you say we can trust him..." Aria wanted to try to persuade him a bit more.

The Mermaid King smiled slightly and flipped his hand to take out an exquisite round object.

It resembled a jewel sculpted from silver light, with countless wave-like lines intertwining and surrounding a box-shaped pattern in the center.

The mermaid's eyes widened instantly.

"you……"

She hadn't expected King Mihai to be so decisive.

This is the core of the Illusionary Radiance, formed from the authority of a illusory god. It is a closely guarded treasure of the Merfolk, a special magical artifact known as the "Treasure Box."

It is one of the origins of the Illusionary Magic.

So many legendary mages and gods have coveted it, but they were all severely beaten by the merfolk, and even the army of the Holy Spring Merchant Guild was swallowed up by the angry sea.

The Mermaid King's sudden decisiveness made Aria feel a little uncomfortable—could this be fake?

The moment the rebellious thought arose in her mind, she felt a weight in her hand, and the silver jewel had fallen into her grasp.

She was immediately terrified, and carefully held the pearl as if it were her own life.

The Mermaid King said, "Let him try to learn. With the approval of the Void God, he can be considered a friend of our Mermaid race."

"If it can really help these little guys survive, even it's worth the price."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand.

"yes!"

Arya immediately took her leave.

Some couldn't wait and took the treasure box to the beach.

Only the Mermaid King remained, staring into the deep abyss, his gaze lingering on his queen's belly for a very long time.

His children were there, but in this environment, even they would have a hard time surviving.

He knew that if he did this, the elders might bang their heads against the pillars of Atlantis again.

However... they've already crashed so many times, one more time won't make a difference.

If he had killed a few people, he might have had a much easier time.

……

Arya quickly arrived before Chloe with the precious ancient magical artifact.

She carefully held the jewel and introduced it: "This is one of the roots of the Illusionary Magic, the core made of Illusionary Crystals, a magical artifact called the Treasure Box."

It contains the divine magic to restore the ocean.

Wang has already unlocked the permissions.

As she spoke, she handed the jewel to Chloe.

The latter quickly took it and curiously examined the precious pearl.

The name always gave him a sense of déjà vu—the suffixes for "Sage" in Water Magic and "Operation" in "Mother Earth" were also two-character naming formats.

Is this thing the same as them?

However, it was clear that Aria was not going to answer him, so Kroya could only cautiously approach the orb with his mental energy.

then……

He sensed a vast array of magical models inside, but they were all dim and indistinct, except for one that was shimmering with light.

It was an extremely complex spell model, complete with corresponding spellcasting gestures and incantations.

Kroa has also learned complex and powerful magic, such as the Celestial Imprint Technique and the Rainbow Poem, both of which are considered particularly powerful spells.

But this magic seems to be even more complicated than the other two.

This is not to say that this kind of magic is necessarily more powerful than the Astral Imprint and the Rainbow Poem, but rather that its nature is such that it gives people the feeling of a complicated sacrificial ceremony.

Moreover, it contains many spell structures based on ocean waves and moonlight, structures that Kroya has never seen before. If he could fully master them, they would likely be of great help in improving his magic.

That's how the system of magic works. As long as there is a perfect and stable foundation, new magical research can be carried out on that foundation.

Fortunately, he had seen models of Water Magic and the Earth Mother Goddess's divine spells before, and they had some similarities to this one.

Therefore, the research process is not slow.

After studying it briefly, he hesitated and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this magic... is a very strange summoning spell."

"It will summon the power of some powerful being and then purify the sea."

Upon hearing this, Aria's eyes lit up.

"Just as you thought, this divine art essentially borrows the power of our supreme illusory god."

"Can you find a way to perform this?"

"If we want to put our skills to use, we can only do so with life as fuel."

Her expression clearly showed some urgency.

Because of the characteristics of the merfolk, the only way to cast this kind of magic, which is almost divine, is for a newborn merfolk to sacrifice their life.

The rituals and magic of the ancient gods have always been like this, somewhat barbaric, because they didn't need anything else; all they wanted was life and soul.

Even their illusory gods are no exception.

However, the cost of summoning a virtuous god was met in other ways.

"Hmm."

Kroa didn't speak, but tried to use her magic to replicate the magic she had just seen.

According to his guess, this magic must be about extracting something that only mermaids have.

Therefore, there should be no problem with him performing the move.

Crimson light swirled around his body, intertwining and entwining as if it had a life of its own, seemingly trying to form something.

Unfortunately, the magic failed to take shape and dissipated completely.

But after this attempt, Chloe's eyes lit up, and she made a request to Arya:

"I need Illusion Crystals."

"..."

A hesitant expression appeared on Aria's face, but only for a moment. She nodded heavily and then turned to leave.

He returned about twenty minutes later, handing Kroa a rhombus-shaped crystal: "This is the Illusion Crystal you requested."

She was panting heavily, covered in sweat as if she had just been in a sauna, and her face was extremely pale.

What's wrong with you?

"It's nothing."

She was clearly unwilling to talk about it, so Kroya didn't ask any further and looked down at the Illusion Crystal in her hand.

The silvery radiance within this crystal practically overflows; holding it in your hand feels like holding a tiny moon.

It is clearly a high-quality Illusion Crystal.

The crystals that Bikloa obtained from the Silvermoon Deer were of much higher quality.

Is it really true that they are merfolk?

After a moment of reflection, he began to draw upon the power of the Illusionary Radiance within, then controlled it to slowly draw a mirror in front of him—silver light flowed from his fingertips, quickly creating a smooth, silver mirror.

Some points of light seemed to emanate from the mirror, flying towards the sea and quickly falling into the water.

The originally murky seawater quickly became clear under the illumination of the light spots.

When the mermaid Aria saw this, her eyes widened as if she had witnessed something unbelievable.

Humans can actually perform their divine magic!

However, the good times didn't last long, and the light spots quickly disappeared.

The mirror and the precious Illusion Crystal also quickly lost their color; the former collapsed, and the latter lost its color and turned into dust.

In less than thirty seconds, the magic power inside this Illusion Crystal, which was at least a level four or five magic crystal, was exhausted.

Looking at the Radiant Crystal that had turned to ashes, Kroya's guess was now confirmed—it needed the power of Radiant Illusion, which the Merfolk possessed.

He said to Arya:

"If you want to cast this kind of magic for a long time, you need a vessel with a lot of Illusionary Radiance power."

"Ideally, it should be a magical plant."

After a brief moment of thought, the latter's expression became even more serious.

"I know a magical plant that should meet your requirements."

"It's coming soon."

Kroya was a little confused, but she didn't say anything more. She just continued to practice the spell in her mind while waiting for things to happen.

Time passed by, minute by minute.

Soon, the moonlight in the sky suddenly became bright, and a very obvious sense of distortion appeared in the air, a feeling that permeated every inch of the air.

It was as if some portal to another world was about to open.

When it falls to the ground.

On the once barren land, some small, bright blue flowers, resembling foxtail grass, began to grow.

They swayed gently.

The barren land was covered with small, bright blue flowers, which appeared in the moonlight and spread outwards.

Soon, even the sea was covered with these small flowers.

They covered the world with deathly silence and desolation, leaving only swaying little blue flowers, and even the moonlight was completely dimmed.

"..."

Through the Astral Imprinting Technique, Kroa has already seen their structure and names.

That is... the herb of wisdom.

(End of this chapter)