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

Chapter 21. The Qi Coral

First of all, dissipating the air is out of the question.

That's something that only plants can do; even an all-powerful mage would probably need to perform some horrific modifications to achieve it.

But that's clearly the domain of high-level mages.

Kroya, this second-tier mage... well, it's best to just think about it.

So,

"What spell should I use?"

He hesitated, his fingers tracing the Qi Coral, when suddenly a clue came to mind—this magical beast's name was Qi Coral, could it be…

As their name suggests, they can generate air? Then wouldn't his markings be ineffective?

Or is this "qi" a form?

To be honest, you really can't understand what Qi Shanhu is like just from its name.

This is clearly not acceptable.

If you don't even understand the structure and form of a magical plant, how can you imprint it? How can you successfully modify it?

These concerns led him to decide to put the corals in the water first, let them revive, observe them, and then try again.

"Let's try it in water first, and see how it performs."

Thinking of this, he immediately picked up the coral and then carefully checked the other rubble. After confirming that there was nothing else there, he got up and left.

Regarding the origin of this coral, he speculated that the stone might have been transported from outside, and that a piece of coral happened to be mixed in with it.

But he was very lucky; the explosion actually found him.

It's also possible that this place was submerged by seawater a long time ago, and the air coral just happened to be trapped here. Monsters, being creatures like this, have remarkably strong vitality.

He needs to have Robert ask Bartos carefully and check again to see if there are any more of these aerocorals in the area.

……

He chose the lake behind the mountain as the testing ground for the air coral, which was also the cozy home of the Kabamon.

He plans to try it in freshwater first, and if the corals don't adapt, he'll try it at the beach.

To be honest, he's developed a bit of a phobia of the sea now, and he's really afraid that a few mermaids might suddenly jump out of it.

Being rushed or pressured definitely feels bad.

"Chirp!"

The Kabamon welcomed Kroya's arrival, surrounding him enthusiastically, nudging him with their delicate noses, and making joyful noises.

"Looks like you're all doing quite well." Kroa touched each of them one by one, then activated the Celestial Imprint Technique, and quickly heard their inner thoughts—

"Delicious, iron is delicious!"

"That's a bit too little..."

"I don't want to sleep, I just want to eat iron."

Wow, these guys are really hardworking.

Kroya was initially worried that eating iron every day might cause some harm to their bodies, but she didn't expect it to be not enough.

That's several thousand kilograms! It's the savings of Hanjiao Island over the past few years. You've all eaten it all, and it's still not enough.

It's unlikely that we'll be able to get that much ore again in a short time, but... we could try cooperating with that merchant named Selu.

By helping him refine the raw ore, I can not only enhance Kabamon's physical attributes but also earn some money without having to put in any effort myself.

This can be described as killing three birds with one stone.

"It's not that I'm trying to exploit you, it's that you want to keep eating, so don't blame me!"

He happily stroked all eleven Kabamon, then went to the lake and placed the air coral in the shallows.

The moment the air coral comes into contact with the clear lake water, it begins to swell like a sponge, and countless tiny, translucent creatures leave the coral and dive into the water.

It looked like melted, crystal-clear light moving in the water.

"Oh?"

This magical fluctuation... could it be a magical plant of level three or higher?

Kroya narrowed his eyes. In that instant, he had clearly felt an almost surging surge of life force and magical energy.

It is more vibrant and magical than the bioluminescent algae in the sea.

It's obvious that it's not an ordinary magical plant.

What happened next confirmed his guess—from the shallows to the depths of the lake, those crystal-clear little creatures burrowed right in.

Then it inhaled and exhaled the magic within the water and the air.

It spread at an incredible speed, quickly covering the silt at the bottom of the lake, and then quietly began to grow.

One coral after another rose out of thin air, as if an acceleration button had been pressed, and soon covered the entire lake bottom. The crystal-clear coral, resembling dragon horns, swayed gently.

The already exceptionally clear lake water seemed to have been purified by them, becoming even clearer, and one could easily see the scenery below from the lakeside.

The refracted sunlight shining on the coral reefs made it look like a legendary crystal palace, exceptionally beautiful.

It's obvious that they're not as hard as the one Chloe is holding, but as they continue to absorb magic and some unknown elements, they'll definitely turn into something like the one he's holding.

"Is it because of the accumulated magic? Was it accumulating magic while inside the stone, so it grew rapidly whenever it had the chance?"

Kroa seemed to be deep in thought.

So, what does "Qi Shanhu" mean?

He walked into the lake, bent down, and pinched a piece of coral that was still a little soft, like jelly, with his fingers.

Bubbles immediately started to bubble up from inside.

The bubbles burst as soon as they left the water, releasing wisps of cool steam that washed away the heat of the seaside.

"Oh, so this is air coral, it's the ability of your bodies to store air... I know what to do now."

After learning about it, he immediately had an idea—there was a spell called "Bubble Spell" that created bubbles that were very durable because of the magical layer between them.

Most importantly, it can actively expel gas.

This is sometimes considered a common method for mages to go underwater; by simply encasing their heads in bubbles, they can breathe freely for a period of time.

"I know how to use the bubble spell, but with so many corals, I'm afraid I'll have to do it in batches, right?"

With this in mind, he activated the Astral Spirit Imprint Technique, instantly drawing away more than half of his spiritual power and consuming more than half of his magic power.

What comes into view is a dense array of air corals covering the entire lake.

He had initially thought the number of individual air corals would also increase, but to his surprise, there was only one glittering dot among the air corals at the bottom of the lake.

There is no difference in quantity compared to the previous complete plant.

Because of his previous experience with the Sea-Drying Fluorescent Algae, the imprinting process went relatively smoothly this time, although he had to recover his magic power a few times during the process.

It took from noon until the afternoon to finally complete the engraving.

[Imprint successful, Air Coral (Bubble Technique)]

During their growth, air corals expel air from their interiors, creating numerous air bubbles.

[Because the number of air corals and the imprint are integrated, the magical resonance will be consistent, allowing the air bubbles to connect and merge.]

[Air corals will continue to expand, increasing the size and strength of their bubbles over time.]

[Your magic resonates with the coral bubbles; you may freely enter.]

The moment the engraving was completed, the corals at the bottom of the lake immediately began to stir.

(End of this chapter)