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

Chapter 280. The Southern Garden, the Birth of the Druid

Southern Gardens.

To be more precise, it can only be considered the prototype of the Southern Garden.

When the first inhabitants of the Southern Lands arrived, the mages were working hard to build an eco-magical dome that suited the Southern Lands' climate.

This is actually a test.

Although the North had previously built many magical plantations for farming, none of them had the same requirements for area, scale, or even the accuracy of magic data as this dome.

After all, the warm sea breeze provides absolutely advantageous growing conditions, and all the apprentices need to do is supplement it further.

The magical parameters inside the dome now need to be modified and calculated by the apprentices.

Yagobu disembarked with trepidation, only to be met with this scene—

In the distance, the monks, dressed in light work clothes, carried box after box, climbing up and down like construction workers.

Every now and then, the leader would roar:

"Sera, you can even get the readings wrong?"

"These weather crystals aren't installed here!"

"Sarat, if you make another mistake, go raise some pig-like beasts!"

On this vast island, as far as the eye could see, the mages who were usually high and mighty were busy as ants, looking no different from ordinary people.

Just as the boy was watching with great interest...

A very tall woman walked over, glanced at the card in her hand, and then looked the people over.

"You are the first residents."

"We will help you build your own houses and villages. Come with me."

After saying that, she turned around decisively.

Some people looked at each other with trepidation, but in the end they obediently followed.

After passing through a chaotic construction site that resembled a construction site, we arrived at a garden that was already filled with various ferns and had a damp, muddy ground.

The air here is humid and moist, and it seems to make my nose itch a little, but at the same time, it has a very comfortable feeling.

The people from the South immediately brightened up.

Isn't this the taste of their hometown?

The muddy ground, the damp air, the roadside shelters, and the various plants that grow almost overnight, along with the insects and animals crawling beneath the leaves.

For outsiders, such an environment is simply unbearable. The dampness alone is enough to cause frustration, and mushrooms might even grow on the clothes they hang up.

But for them, it is their hometown where they have lived for generations.

Several people immediately burst into tears.

The woman glanced at them: "Do you notice anything different here compared to your hometown?"

Yagobu boldly said, "Master, I feel it's a bit drier here than at home."

"Oh?" The woman was slightly surprised. "Have you received any basic education?"

"Yes...yes." Yagobu tried to straighten his chest: "There used to be a priest from the Church of Mother Earth who opened a school in our village."

"I see." Apprentice Lina seemed thoughtful, glancing around before muttering to herself, "The Southern Territory experiences frequent rainfall, and the sun's rays are very intense..."

As she spoke, she took out a crystal plate and lightly drew a topographical map on it with her fingers, then wrote and drew some more.

The instant she stopped moving, several dark gray clouds suddenly drifted in from the sky, covering the entire area.

She shouted at the dark clouds, "Please, the annual rainfall needs to be consistently above 2000 millimeters. That's the minimum. If necessary, we can increase it further."

Several beautiful, ethereal cloud snakes peeked out from within the dark clouds, seemingly nodding in agreement. The next second, lightning flashed within the clouds, accompanied by a deafening roar of thunder.

The raindrops fell steadily, one after another.

"..."

The people from the South watched this scene in shock, oblivious to the rain falling on them.

What? It's raining already?

Is this the power of the mages?

Basic education really needs to catch up.

Lina couldn't help but facepalm and casually cast a few spells to help these people avoid the rain.

I just took a hot shower and then got caught in the rain. If I get sick, that would be a real problem and would definitely slow down my progress.

You have to understand that she had finally managed to wrest control of this mission from Ryan, who was about to return to the island, and she was eager to do something big.

The drizzle continued for a while, then the dark clouds were dragged away by the Illusionary Cloud Serpents, followed by the somewhat scorching sunlight shining down from the dome.

They still have many tasks to perform; the entire ecological garden needs them to carry out this snake-like rainmaking, so they must leave quickly.

Some of the water evaporated quickly under the sun, but before the sun could exert its full force, plants and mist blocked the sunlight, preventing the water from evaporating completely.

The air suddenly became much more humid and hot than before.

In just a short while, the humidity in the air noticeably increased, which actually made the residents of the southern region feel even more at ease.

That's it! This is the Southern Territory where they live.

Lina nodded in satisfaction and asked Jacob, "How about that?"

The latter quickly replied, "It's much better than before... but I still feel like something's not quite right."

He scratched his head, unable to quite put his finger on what was wrong.

Lina knew why.

Although the humidity and temperature are designed to simulate the real Southern Territory as much as possible, the concentration of magic in the air and the magic fields emitted by various magical plants are all factors that affect the environment.

Those things will require a long period of debugging to complete, so there's no need to rush them now.

"But this kid is quite clever." Lina glanced at Jacob and beckoned to him, "Come here."

"Master."

Yagobu was startled and quickly ran to Lina's side, looking meek and submissive.

Lina said nonchalantly, "If you have time, go to the basic training primary school to learn some courses. I think you're quite pleasing to the eye, and perhaps we'll need your help with the construction here in the future."

The lord will not treat you unfairly.

The so-called basic training primary school is actually a place to popularize science and educate ordinary people who are not apprentices, so that they have a basic understanding of magic and can cooperate with mages to carry out some basic construction.

If I had to put it in a way, it's actually similar to the squire academies run by those knightly orders; essentially, they're all designed to better assist superhumans in their work.

If there's any difference, it's probably that these extraordinary individuals in the North are at least able to take care of themselves, unlike those gentlemen who need maids/servants to help them even with basic tasks like washing clothes.

Of course, this is also a training base for reserve apprentices.

Perhaps many people possess certain talents, but they are buried for various reasons. Fortunately, Kroya has enough resources, so she simply set up several such schools.

Anyway... even if you build ten such schools, plus meal subsidies and other expenses, the cost would still be less than what mages spend on a few experiments.

Like the mountains of failed alloy materials, magic energy crystal plates that failed to be engraved for some reason, and poor-quality magic devices, even with the advanced technology that Kroya obtained from various places, there is no way to avoid damage.

These are the root causes of the headaches for mages, and the fundamental reasons that limit the advancement of the vast majority of mages.

If Kroa didn't have such a rich sea area that could be called the "Promised Land" to exploit, and if the mermaids weren't such super reclusive people who stayed at home daydreaming all day, it would have been absolutely impossible for them to develop so smoothly.

Magic costs money!

However, the school, which was not a big deal for Kroya at all, stunned Agobu on the spot, and tears immediately streamed down his face.

He... he can study now?

Now I can learn new knowledge!

Without saying a word, he immediately knelt down before Lina.

Lina's lips twitched at the sight, and she forcibly pulled him up with her mage's hand, saying seriously, "These are all the favors bestowed upon you by Lord Kroya."

Study hard and don't let your parents down.

"And now, you can begin building the house!"

Lina wasn't good at handling these situations; she always felt awkward being made to kneel and kowtow so formally. She wasn't exactly a big shot, so how could she accept such a grand gesture?

As Yagobu was pulled up, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He hadn't even met the Duke of Han Reef yet, but his loyalty to him was already at an unimaginable level.

Seeing this, the others were eager to join in—they weren't very old either, and of course they also wanted to go to school and learn.

However, they were still a little hesitant and decided to wait and see.

So in the following period of time, they began to build their home.

The buildings in the South are quite different from those in the North. The ground is too damp, and snakes, insects, rats and other such creatures often roam around.

Therefore, houses are actually built at high altitudes—most residents choose to build their houses among the aerial roots of a giant banyan tree in the southern region.

This is the only garden in use, and it actually has a single transplanted tree. Its trunk is so large that it would take dozens of people to encircle it, and its canopy is so big that it seems to be able to block out the sky. Its aerial roots stand on the ground like pillars.

In order to successfully transport this giant tree, Kroya had no choice but to use the Holy Spring Merchant Guild's channels.

The purpose is to more realistically and comprehensively replicate the scenery of the Southern Territory—this kind of rain banyan tree is very important.

The people of the South came to the base of the tree and began digging. Using the soil, banyan leaves, and the flowing sap, they quickly shaped the soil into pillars to build their houses before it hardened completely.

Building materials made from banyan tree sap can effectively insulate against excessively humid and hot air from the outside, and even have a range of benefits such as repelling mosquitoes and insects.

Although they had no magical aid, the generous nature had already provided them with the means to survive.

This is their survival philosophy in the Southern Territory, passed down through generations, and naturally, the mages of the Northern Territory have no right to interfere.

At most, they'll do some basic infrastructure work like building pipelines later on.

Lina watched for a while, then turned and left, taking with her all the surveillance cameras in the area with her.

—This was something Kroya had personally instructed her to do: monitoring could be conducted in other places, but not in places where people lived.

Although this garden in the South is his property, he doesn't want to see people living in it like animals, like the ecospheres he makes in his spare time.

Through the transparent glass, everything inside is clearly visible—as if one were an observer looking down upon it.

This is actually very immoral. It will not only make him feel that he is becoming more and more perverted, but also make him feel that he is becoming more and more detached from the realm of humanity.

……

After Lina leaves, this completed area, covering approximately one hectare, will become the future residence for some of the residents of the Southern Territory.

They are the gardeners of this garden, and also the researchers of the Southern Territory. Although Kroya has never been to the Southern Territory, the wild and untamed environment there makes him feel that something different might be born there.

For nature, wild growth is actually a good thing, and growth in a regulated manner is also a good thing; only growth that is neither here nor there is a bad thing.

There are too many regulated areas in the north of Kroya, and he is eager to see if this garden in the south can bring him some surprises and new discoveries.

Fortunately, luck has always been on his side.

Inside the Southern Gardens.

After working hard for half a month, Yagobu finally moved into his treehouse.

He skillfully climbed up the ropes woven from vines and into the birdcage-like house fixed between the aerial roots.

The house wasn't very big, only a dozen square meters, but it had everything he needed, all of which he had worked hard to make day and night over the past few days.

Made entirely of solid wood.

When he lay in his bed after a long day, looking out the window at the night sky, he was filled with excitement.

Although he left his hometown, after arriving here he not only received supplies every day, but also went to school to study. Even though he had to work late into the night, he did not feel tired at all.

"This place is so nice... Mother Banyan Tree."

He habitually touched the only spot on the wall that wasn't covered with wooden planks—the white aerial roots of the banyan tree—his voice filled with emotion.

In the darkness, these white aerial roots emit a faint glow, illuminating a dark room and a starless night.

Yagobu grew up in this environment from birth, running through the forest in search of food during the day and falling asleep under the glow of the banyan tree at night.

Throughout most of the Southern Reach, rain trees are called "mothers" because they have given so many people the possibility of survival.

This has even led to some beliefs: the elderly will smear banyan tree sap on newborn babies, believing that this will allow the banyan tree mother to protect the child.

Yes, it is said that children who have banyan sap applied to them are less likely to be bothered by mosquitoes, insects, and rodents, and their chances of survival in the forest even increase.

Although the basis for this is unknown, and these trees do not exhibit any obvious magical fluctuations, they have been passed down from generation to generation.

Yagobu stroked the aerial roots of the banyan tree; the rough texture reminded him of his mother's rough, calloused hands, and the aerial roots exuded a warm aura.

This feeling is reassuring.

Gradually, he fell into a deep sleep, still thinking about the meditation techniques he had overheard some mages discussing that day.

The boy, who was muttering to himself until he fell asleep, did not notice that one after another emerald green light spots appeared on the surface of the banyan tree's aerial roots, gently circling and surrounding him.

As time went on, the number of light spots increased, gradually filling the entire room, and then surging out through the open window.

They fluttered without any pattern, like mischievous children, shimmering beneath the banyan tree.

Soon the entire banyan tree began to glow. This seemingly ordinary but actually thousands of years old banyan tree emitted a verdant glow in the darkness.

Dark clouds and moisture were also gathering towards it.

Because all the surveillance equipment in the area had been removed, this change went unnoticed at first, until it was accidentally seen by the apprentices who were working through the night.

"What is that?"

"Quick, check the magic readings!"

"Go and invite Teacher Oak!"

The apprentices put down their work and gathered outside the garden, wisely refraining from going in directly.

After all, they didn't know whether this change was good or bad. The data on the magic-detecting devices they held were fluctuating wildly, sometimes high and sometimes low.

To be honest, they hadn't seen such complex magic readings in a long time; magic readings in all areas of the North had stabilized.

Instability means there might be good things or great danger; everything is unknown.

Oak Tree arrived quickly.

It stood outside, observing the settlement of the Southern People, and quickly grasped the changes in magic within, its eyes filled with doubt and surprise.

If it wasn't mistaken... there was a natural atmosphere here, and this natural atmosphere seemed to be accompanied by torrential water vapor and a sky full of dark clouds.

That was magic, but it wasn't about forcibly binding elements with magical power; rather, it was about the elements gathering naturally and spontaneously.

"Druid?"

"Nature Druid?"

It suddenly occurred to it a possibility.

Legend has it that some people who are blessed by nature will receive its favor and gain control over unimaginable natural magic.

Those are genuine, nature-approved druids, natural-born nature walkers, fundamentally different from the earth.

Druids need to be recognized by nature to be considered druids, unlike those who casually learn some nature magic and call themselves druids.

But what's strange is that for so long, not a single druid has appeared in the North. How come they've suddenly appeared now?

Even more amazing is that it's a "Storm Druid".

Why is that?

Are these people from the south more favored by nature?

It pondered for a moment before stepping into the area, but just as it was about to enter, the banyan tree stood up.

Thank you all for your support!

(End of this chapter)