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

Chapter 38. The Pressure That Successfully Steals the Groundhog

There are certainly spells that allow magical beasts to breathe freely underwater, such as underwater breathing, mimicking fish gills, and universal adaptation spells...

He does know how to do it too.

It was the underwater breathing technique used when I dived to the bottom of the lake, but that kind of magic had a time limit, which increased as my magic power increased, making it far less convenient than the later high-level spells.

Hey, wait a minute.

Kroya suddenly remembered the air corals that were taking root underwater, and he planned to move a few of them into the sea.

After completing the first transaction with the merfolk, there was no fear that they would interfere. It was a good opportunity to tentatively extend their reach into the ocean, and sea lingzhi also needed the marine environment to be cultivated.

Sea lingzhi cannot be cultivated or grown in fresh water; it can only be cultivated in an environment filled with the special magic of the ocean. Generally, seawater is transported to make cultivation ponds, but if it is planted directly on the seabed, it will grow faster.

That kind of place might not be convenient for assigning people to take care of it, but if it's these two ground squirrels...

Can they help take care of themselves?

He had heard of these groundhogs; after training, they were even smarter than eight- or nine-year-old children. Apart from being too small to do many things, they were actually quite perfect assistants and pets.

After thinking for a moment, he said to the two earth-stealing rats, "I can let you live in the sea, but you have to sign a contract with me and take care of my underwater fields."

Is it possible?

"Chirp chirp!"

The two mice, whose intelligence was clearly superior to that of their kind, nodded hurriedly, raised their little paws and bowed repeatedly to Kroya, their tiny eyes filled with gratitude.

Judging from its appearance alone, it is almost indistinguishable from a human.

But that's precisely why the smarter they are, the more Kroa needs to bind them with contracts, otherwise who knows if they might suddenly run away.

"Alright, let's sign the contract now."

Seeing that they nodded in agreement, Kroya decisively bought two master-servant contracts through the Holy Spring Merchant Guild. Now he didn't need to spend magic crystals and could buy them anytime, anywhere.

When forming a contract with a monster, you can't use an order contract; you must use a master-servant contract to have the strongest binding effect.

"Chirp chirp!"

The two groundhogs cooperated perfectly to sign the contract, and then Kroa began to carve their marks on them.

The inscription contains two spells—underwater breathing and basic water control.

The former was the magic that the mice dreamed of—the ability to breathe underwater—while the latter was something he imprinted on them for some reason.

It's a small experiment—can we "pressure" them to learn this magic?

Throughout this process, he kept instilling in them the idea that learning this magic would enable them to help him cultivate and manage the sea lingzhi mushroom fields, and that only by taking care of the sea lingzhi mushroom fields could they live in the seabed.

According to his understanding, if a magical beast or magical plant has an obsession or desire for something, it should be able to imprint different magic spells on it.

These two already had the idea of ​​living in the sea, and then they instilled in each other the attitude that "only by farming well can one live in the sea forever."

This can be considered a driving force for them to move forward. With motivation and determination, and being so smart, can they succeed?

As expected, it was a success.

The two spell inscriptions were completed one after the other, and they were directly inscribed inside the Earth Thief Rat's celestial body.

[Imprint successful, Earth Stealing Rat (Underwater Breathing, Basic Water Control)]

This monster can use underwater breathing to move freely underwater, and due to its extreme desire to live on the seabed, it will continue to refine this spell inscription.

[Because they need to manage their fields to live freely in the water, they have also learned water control magic and will continue to refine this spell's imprint.]

"Is that really true?" Chloe blinked, and a number of less-than-ideal thoughts suddenly welled up in her mind.

The so-called "survival of the fittest" means that if one were to use methods such as environment, mental suggestion, and verbal pressure to arrange magical beasts or magical plants... would it really be possible to create suitable magical plants according to one's ideas?

Just like a fledgling eagle that has just left the nest will fall to its death if it cannot fly, is this kind of pressure and desire the fundamental reason why the Astral Imprint Technique can be effective?

He felt that the Astral Imprint Technique was more like a means to help magical beasts and magical plants evolve, a very advanced method.

"Hmm...we can give it a try."

After considering this, Kroya rubbed his chin and suddenly had a bold idea—he wanted to create a fire-type magic circle and plant a few water-type magical plants inside to experiment with it.

This method is quite common for cultivating mutated magical plants. It involves using external environmental factors, some medicines, or grafting to help them gradually adapt.

However, the success rate is very low.

Because magical plants possess magical power, the power within them is predetermined. If another type of magical power is added, the rejection reaction will be quite severe.

It takes years or even decades of breeding and selection, generation after generation, before the breeding can finally be successful.

But if it really is as he thinks, as long as those magical plants show the desire to survive in the fire, they should be able to imprint some magic.

Given time, perhaps it will be possible to create the magical plants and beasts one needs through this method.

Of course, that's a story for later; we'll have to try it out gradually.

Before that, he needed to make arrangements for the groundhogs and also see for himself how well they could dive and control water.

"Come with me. You can't go to the bottom of the sea for now, but you can try going to the bottom of the lake."

He left the laboratory carrying the cage and soon arrived at the lake behind the castle, where he was surprised to find that... all the Kaba beasts had disappeared!

The Kaba Beasts, who should have been sleeping peacefully on the grass, had all disappeared. Even the grass in the distance seemed to have been scraped off by something.

A complete mess.

Moreover, judging from the muddy marks on the ground and the mix of old and new grass roots, this shouldn't have happened recently; it must have been going on for some time.

Was it premeditated?

"They ran away?"

Kroya frowned. Those Kaba beasts were still refining the Holy White Iron. If they escaped, he would be the first to skin Bartos alive.

However, Bartos seems to be tending to the coconut trees at this moment.

He had been keeping an eye on Kabamon, so since he hadn't said anything, it probably didn't run away.

"Um……"

He carefully observed the ground and noticed strange footprints on the wet earth leading to the lake. A thought immediately popped into his mind—could they have gone into the lake?

With this suspicion in mind, he went to the lakeside and squinted as he looked down—

The bottom of the lake was shimmering with light and color.

The air corals have grown considerably during this period. They have taken over the entire lake, forcefully pushing the water aside and enveloping the entire lake bottom in bubbles.

The lakebed, which should have been covered in silt, is now overgrown with green grass, its tender green covering the dark silt.

Thanks to the accumulated silt and the droppings of the Kaba beasts, they grew very lushly.

A faint, holy white light flickered in the grass, like a white star.

It is much more beautiful and lovely than the ground.

The missing Kaba beasts lay casually on the grass at the bottom of the lake, some nibbling on tender grass shoots, others fast asleep.

They looked very comfortable and at ease.

Kroa: "..."

You guys really know how to enjoy yourselves! You found a great spot; it's definitely much cooler down here.

But how did you break through the air bubbles of the coral? Didn't they reject it? And what are those points that glow with holy white light?

It doesn't look like Saint White Iron.

(End of this chapter)