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

Chapter 330. The Amazing Fungi

after a while.

Inside the laboratory, Kroya looked at the apprentices who had arrived, a smile on his face: "Are you all ready? Have you brought everything?"

The apprentices, led by Lina, nodded emphatically.

"alright!"

They were all carrying huge bags, leading dogs, chickens, and sheep; they didn't look like they were going on an adventure, but rather like they were going to a rural resort.

—And in fact, that was pretty much the case. They were about to enter the Land of Radiant Light to begin their initial exploration, and those strange cities, one after another, were almost all covered by a powerful force.

As a "paradise" forged from the flesh and blood of gods, it is both a real divine kingdom and an illusory land with a clear boundary from reality. Therefore, people are needed to plant the seeds given by Kroa and use the "reality" of the Ring of Radiance to illuminate every city.

Kroya originally wanted to go and see for herself, but after thinking it over, she gave up. It would be too boring to do everything herself.

So he found some reliable apprentices.

I won't say anything more.

"You will receive a reward for each torch you light."

This is not just empty promises. Kroya has always been generous. As long as you do good deeds, you will definitely receive a reward, whether it is knowledge, magic crystals, status, or power.

So the apprentices, as if injected with adrenaline, stepped forward and cautiously entered the rotating portal made of white-gold mycelium.

The next instant, what appeared before them was a vast grassland composed entirely of pale green fungi.

"Meow!"

The ibex following behind them had their eyes light up; if they weren't well-trained, they would have run over and feasted right now.

Even so, these ibex nudged their owner's arm with their horns and made impatient "baa" sounds.

"Are these edible?" Lina pondered for a moment, then ordered, "Since the ibex want to eat them, then let them eat them."

In fact, these argali sheep and all the magical beasts and magical plants they brought with them all have the ability to adapt to this environment and explore the effects of different crops. Nothing is more perceptive than magical beasts and magical plants.

These magically created strange creatures are born with the ability to sense what is beneficial and what is harmful to them—their perception is more practical than any magic.

She also gave other orders: "The four of us will go and explore the area. You, Want, will be in charge here."

After saying that, everyone except the apprentice in charge of the sheep and the magical beasts and plants took out a small grass with only two straight leaves from their pockets and placed it on their heads.

The blades of grass began to spin rapidly, and magic gradually permeated the apprentices' bodies, forming a small anti-gravity field. Then, it carried them into the air, flying in different directions.

—This thing was also made by Kroya. It was originally supposed to be called Windbreak Doubleleaf Grass, but I don't know why Kroya insisted on naming it "Bamboo Dragonfly." It doesn't seem to have anything to do with bamboo or dragonflies.

Although I don't quite understand it, whatever Kroya arranges is always right. Besides, this thing is really useful. It's more durable than flight magic and easier to control the direction.

They quickly disappeared into the air.

Only the apprentice Want remained. He first took out a fence and immediately surrounded all the magical beasts and plants that had stayed behind, then patted each of the rock sheep on the head:

"Go."

After receiving their master's command, the ibex happily ran to the nearby grassland, lowered their heads and began to eat voraciously. With almost every bite, their size visibly increased.

The apprentices responsible for recording the observations surrounded the ibex, scribbling on the crystal tablet in their hands: "Record: After consuming the green fungus, the ibex's body size increased, but its mental state did not change significantly..."

He had just recorded it on the crystal plate when he was immediately stunned by what he saw—a brand new ibex fell off the ibex that had been feasting, and then its size returned to normal.

Not just this one, but all the blue sheep that ate the mushroom grass produced new blue sheep in this almost "split" way, every single one of them!

In the blink of an eye, the original five argali sheep became ten, ten became twenty, then forty, eighty...

The apprentice holding the crystal plate trembled violently, and hurriedly called out to his little lamb, "Lila! Where are you! Lila!"

"Meow!"

"Meow!"

"Meow!"

The five blue sheep charged wildly past the other blue sheep surrounding it and ran to their owner, gently rubbing their owner's arm with their horns as always.

—These are the five siblings, Lila, whom he raised.

Seeing them return, the apprentice calmed down a bit and then carefully began to observe the split-off ibex. According to his observation, none of the split-off ibex had any spirit in their eyes, and they were almost instinctively eating the green fungus.

And after he dissected a sheep to take a look, what he saw shocked him even more—the meat inside the split-open ibex was exactly the same! Even the internal organs and viscera were indistinguishable.

In other words, these sheep are exactly the same as "rock sheep" except that they have no mind. They are even edible. He set up a grill and grilled a piece of meat on the spot and thought it tasted pretty good.

Rich in fat and with a delicate texture, it has no strange taste at all. Even the characteristic of rock sheep meat being rather tough has been improved. Although it is not as good as the silver sheep specially supplied to the lord, the difference is not significant.

"What on earth is going on? Is it a splitting magic? But a splitting magic can't just turn into flesh directly..." He was puzzled and confused.

He had just entered and discovered something so incomprehensible; how could he possibly accept the lord's generous reward?

Fortunately, the split among the ibex seems to have come to an end, with the number increasing from five to a full one hundred, a twenty-fold increase.

Apart from the original five sheep, the rest of the sheep only had the instinct to eat.

This relieved him slightly. He quickly wrote down everything that needed to be recorded, then took out a sealed bottle from his pocket, took out the mycelium that was curling up inside, and pressed it to his temple.

The mycelium immediately unfurled and pierced deep into his temples. The next second, several unusually short but wise fungus-men seemed to appear around him.

"Take a look at this. What is it? Do you recognize it?" he asked.

The mushroom people carefully observed the green fungus grass on the ground for a while, then suddenly jumped up happily and exclaimed excitedly, "This is the grass of Perlo! As long as you eat it, you can replicate a body that is exactly the same as your own! But the more complex the body structure, the more you need to eat."

In our homeland, these Pero herbs were prepared for us by the Father of Fungi, so we could change our bodies whenever we wanted. I never imagined they'd be here!

The mushroom people jumped and leaped, but they couldn't actually catch the green fungus. Their faces were full of frustration. They were clearly wise among the mushroom people, but they were like children who couldn't get candy.

This is a mental illusion created by the connection between mycelium and human mental power. If they actually came here, they would probably eat like the sheep.

This is also why Kroa didn't allow the fungus to come along. These overly cheerful little creatures sometimes really don't care about anything, which is a huge uncertainty for exploration and development.

"Alright, alright, I got it!" Want felt a sharp pain in his mental energy. The mental fluctuations of these mushroom people when they were happy were really exaggerated, and he couldn't stand it.

He quickly removed the mycelium from his temple, and the mushrooms beside him flickered and disappeared.

He looked down and saw obvious bloodstains on the mycelium.

Unfortunately, sharing one's perception directly with the fungi in this way inevitably comes at a price, and even Kroa cannot reduce that price much.

After rubbing his temples to calm himself, he continued writing:

"Perlo Grass".

"Able to replicate bodies."

"Having not personally experienced it, I request HanHai's approval..."

After all the records were completed, he uploaded them to the tower spirit who was waiting outside.

Just then, he heard the buzzing of bamboo dragonflies in the distance. He looked up and saw that his companions were all returning home with their catch.

Everyone was holding mushrooms of all sizes and colors, some even shimmering with iridescent light. The colors were so vibrant that they reminded Want of some less pleasant memories.

When he was on duty at Mushroom Manor, he ate a lot of mushrooms as a work perk. However, he accidentally ate a mushroom with psychoactive toxins and almost returned to Valhalla.

After recovering at the hospital, he compensated the Earth Academy student who planted those poisonous mushrooms with a lot of magic crystals, because it was the student's graduation project.

Even with such a painful lesson, he still couldn't help but swallow hard when he looked at the plump mushrooms his companions had brought back.

There's no way around it. Although mushrooms pose risks of hallucinations, stomach aches, and even death, they are just too delicious. Since they can return to Valhalla and stay there, why not eat them if they're edible?

Under his expectant gaze, Lina landed first, threw the giant mushrooms in her hands on the ground, and said helplessly, "Outside is an endless mushroom forest. These are considered small; there are some that are tens of meters tall."

"I don't recognize any of those mushrooms, and their magical fluctuations are quite different from those of common mushrooms. Sigh... Do I have to ask the mushroom people for help again?"

The thought of being harassed by the mushroom people's terrifying mental fluctuations made even Lina feel a little dazed, and she instinctively wanted to refuse—after all, they hadn't reached the end of their rope yet.

She muttered a few words and suddenly noticed Want's expectant expression. She narrowed her eyes, had a sudden inspiration, and took out a bottle of shimmering potion from her pocket, its golden light mixed with a bluish-green halo.

"Want".

"This is a treasure that the lord once bestowed upon me. It is made with the sunflower's essential oil and special power. Once you consume it, you will gain luck and inspiration."

"Come on! Drink it!"

Lina's voice was seductive and passionate, almost coaxing and cajoling Wint into drinking the potion. He didn't refuse, drinking the potion in one gulp and then starting to eat mushrooms.

His expression changed the moment he took the first bite.

"This mushroom... um."

"Wow!"

He lowered his head and began to vomit, expelling a rainbow—a real rainbow. After vomiting, his gaze towards the blue mushroom was somewhat dazed, but his tone was clear: "Its function should be..."

Before he finished speaking, he was completely melted.

"!!!"

"Can someone die after taking Felix Felicis?"

"That can't be right!"

Before his consciousness fully entered the city, all he heard were the panicked voices of his companions.

Then he had no time to worry about these things.

Because his consciousness extended through countless hyphae and channels, illuminating different lights and colors every moment, he immediately realized that he had merged into the fungal network!

In the blink of an eye, within a few brief seconds, he miraculously crossed countless sub-nodes, as if divine intervention were at his aid.

Finally, it landed at the core node of the entire Fungal City!

His consciousness was completely absorbed into this city filled with various fungi, and in an exaggerated way, he could look down on the entire fungal city from a high vantage point.

Wond saw all sorts of fungi growing in the city, and wherever his thoughts lingered, the different fungi's functions and uses would quickly become apparent.

The feeling of having everything under his control, as if he could see everything and have everything under his command, made him feel fear and apprehension.

"Will I lose my humanity?"

"No!"

He couldn't help but wail within the network of fungi, his mental energy fluctuating violently, causing the entire fungal city to come alive, with countless spores erupting from all directions—

Like a volcanic eruption, particles of all colors burst forth from all that had been dormant, thick enough to obscure the sky and cover the earth.

"Oh no! Defend now!"

Lina's expression changed, and she whistled. Some golden vines that had been leisurely staying inside the fence sprang out like serpents, their bodies quickly elongating to form circles that completely surrounded the magical plants, magical beasts, and apprentices.

The rain of spore particles was blocked by the shield formed by these vines as it fell. After landing, the spores quickly spread, took root, and intertwined...

Various kinds of fungi grew out.

There are giant common mushrooms, as well as tiny, feather-like fungi that drift in the air scattering spores, small, crystalline spores that resemble the aurora borealis, and even fungi that fly around in shapes resembling various animals and angels.

They roam freely in this fungal world, but there is no obvious sign of life; they seem to be nothing more than empty shells.

The world seemed to have awakened, and the immense, almost terrifying rhythm of life was truly awe-inspiring.

The apprentices had no idea what they were about to experience. They stayed anxiously within the protective area of ​​the sun vine, using their respective crystal plates to call for help.

The situation was clearly beyond their expectations, and their first reaction was to call for help, as the omnipotent Lord Kroya was watching them.

However, the awakened Fungal City now possesses its own "consciousness," and even Kroya, who is watching over it, cannot easily interfere, and even vaguely senses a strange sense of rejection.

"Is this rejection... a fear of my light?" Kroya frowned slightly, looking at the fungal city that was gradually "filling" up, somewhat surprised.

He sighed helplessly, and could only rely on his connection with the Ring of Radiance to send a message inside:

"Light the torches in time; they won't harm you!"

"This is paradise; everything here is friendly!"

"But be careful, the friendliness of fungi is not the same as the friendliness you understand!"

His voice reached us before the sky was obscured by clouds of mycelium, and the next second the whole world was enveloped in fungi.

Logically, blocking out the light source should make it very dark, but in fact it doesn't appear dark at all.

Colorful, shimmering fungi grow quietly all around, illuminating the dark environment. Although not as bright as the sun, they create a uniquely magical atmosphere.

Lina: "..."

She rubbed her temples, feeling a bit of a headache, and looked at the mycelium growing towards her. After converging, the mycelium first formed a rustic long table, and then formed all sorts of food.

There are whole roasted lambs, roasted suckling pigs, huge fried chicken legs, grilled fish, and all kinds of cheeses, fruit juices, and alcoholic beverages...

Each dish exuded a rich aroma, with the freshly roasted oil sizzling. The fragrance was unlike anything mushrooms should have. Based on their years of experience eating delicious food, they were certain this was authentic food.

Fluorescent mushrooms grew on both sides of the long table, gradually forming huge chairs, seemingly inviting them to enjoy the meal.

For a moment, the apprentices looked at each other, unsure of what to do; this was simply beyond their knowledge—and it was at this moment that they realized what was going on.

A tiny winged humanoid figure with a halo of mycelium behind its head suddenly sprouted from the ground, scratching its head (mycelium) awkwardly.

"It seems I've become the lord of this city... If you want to come and see me and light the torch, you must go through a welcoming ceremony for guests."

"These delicious foods are our first stop."

The apprentices recognized its voice; although it was slightly high-pitched and childlike, it was clearly the voice of the apprentice Wond who had just disappeared!

He actually became the city lord!

Everyone's first reaction was envy, especially Lina. If she had known, she would have drunk that bottle of Felix potion herself!

Thank you everyone for your monthly tickets and recommendation votes!

(End of this chapter)