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

Chapter 81. Cutting the Serpent of Clouds and Mist

Just as a tragedy was about to unfold, the Phantom Cloud Serpent vanished into mist the instant its sharp beak struck down.

It floated and drifted, appearing not far away.

He straightened up and glared angrily at the owl.

"Hiss!"

The voice he made was full of threats and warnings.

"Coo coo coo~"

The owl, having failed to catch the cloud snake, did not continue its actions, preening its feathers with its beak as if nothing had happened.

This makes the Illusionary Cloud Serpent's grand display seem a bit awkward.

Kroya couldn't help but laugh: "This owl is really good at playing dumb."

"Alright, alright."

Having watched the farce unfold, he reached out and made a grasping motion towards the feathered serpent. Two mage hands simultaneously surrounded it from all sides, the magical turbulence preventing its escape.

He was immediately grabbed.

"You can't peck at it like that anymore!"

After reprimanding the owl, he looked at the Illusionary Cloud Serpent:

"Answer my question: why did you infiltrate the Black Feather Chickens? Did you have some ulterior motive?"

The captured Phantom Cloud Serpent sensed the magic of the two mage hands and immediately calmed down.

It was indeed a level three magical beast, but it had absolutely no ability to resist those two hands.

So it honestly replied, "I escaped from the Stardust Circus to avoid them. I just want to find my kind."

"Stardust Circus?" Chloe pondered for a moment, realizing she didn't recognize the name, and asked curiously, "What kind of circus is that?"

The Phantom Cloud Serpent gave Kroya a strange look: "Don't you know? They came with the Northern Region Travelers to perform magic for the various lords."

"You must be a powerful lord."

"..."

Kroa really didn't know about this.

He was a lord dispatched by the Mage Association, and his administrative system had little overlap with the kingdom's. Even if something happened, the other party would deliberately ignore him.

The relationships among the local nobility are complex and intricate, but they are also quite exclusive, making it very difficult for outsiders to break in.

This is also the main reason why he wanted to recruit Baron Kemoyer as his subordinate; he desperately needed someone who could gather intelligence for him within the nobility's power structure.

Otherwise, if you're completely clueless when something happens, you'd really be a fool.

Moreover, regarding the journey to the Northern Regions, the merchant named Selu hadn't contacted him for a long time. Transactions involving supplies were handled by Selu's subordinates and Robert.

Last time I gave him the Sea Spirit Coconut Potion. Could it be that the potion didn't work, or that the potion caused that important person's illness to worsen and he was arrested?

Or is it related to this Stardust Circus?

"You said they were performing magic for the lord?" Chloe asked curiously. "Do they have many magicians over there?"

If a magician were to actually act as a clown and perform magic tricks for the lord dispatched by the kingdom, wouldn't the mage association in the capital city be in an uproar?

How could a monk, such a noble profession, do such a "lowly" thing?

Let alone the Northern Region Travelers doing such a thing, even if a Grand Duke dared to do it, the Mage Association would come knocking on his door demanding an explanation.

Frankly, it's not very credible.

"..." The Phantom Cloud Serpent remained silent for a moment before answering, "They are not magicians, but torturers, all of them are torturers."

"The one being punished," Kroya immediately understood.

If it were them, then it wouldn't be surprising at all.

The so-called "victims" are actually miners from Yavana Holy Mine, one of the largest magic crystal mines in the entire Zemurio continent.

Strange magical phenomena inevitably occur within that enormous magic crystal mine. Mining there for a long time inevitably leads to the absorption of these chaotic magical forces, causing physical mutations.

These mutations allow them to use some basic magic, but the highest level they can use is level two, and it's very rigid.

Being able to control magic sounds pretty good.

However, they cannot control these riotous magical powers, and their bodies will gradually be eroded by the magic, eventually leading to their complete death.

They have mastered magic, but they also have to endure the terrible feeling of magic devouring them; this is the origin of the name "the tortured".

When the original owner was in the Mage Association, he once saw a tortured person and witnessed the scars on his body caused by the erosion of chaotic magical energy.

It was blue, like a huge rift in the back of the tortured man, deep into his bone marrow.

The magic within surged and raged almost endlessly, sending chills down one's spine.

The mages were extremely wary of this chaotic and contagious source of magic.

It is said that at the time, the Grand Master of the Mage Association and the bishop of the church discussed the matter together, but they were unable to come up with a solution.

The attempts were unsuccessful, and the magic available to these prisoners was very rudimentary, basically limited to things like fireballs and fire rings...

There was simply no reason to redeem them.

The erosion from the magical veins born from the earth might be soothed or even calmed by some high-level magic or divine spells.

However, it is clearly impossible to use magic and divine arts of this level on a group of miners.

Therefore, he could only be reduced to a clown for people's entertainment.

To be honest, it's quite disheartening, and the fact that he suddenly performed magic for the lords seems a bit suspicious.

Although he is far away, he will keep a close eye on things and remain vigilant to avoid affecting himself.

He put that matter aside for the time being and continued to ask, "How did you escape? I remember that the Mage Association and the royal family monitor these kinds of torturers almost around the clock."

This unstable source of magic is like a time bomb.

"If you were also from the Stardust Circus, you shouldn't have been able to escape."

The Phantom Cloud Serpent replied, "Because among those being tortured is one who has learned spatial magic and can walk in the spirit realm."

Its sound, produced through magical resonance, becomes deep:

"He chose to detonate his own magical source so that we and all the other prisoners could escape through the magic of Spirit Walk."

After leaving the Stardust Circus, I hid among the chickens to avoid being caught by the Northern Path's men, but I still ended up in your hands.

"I see."

From this point on, Kroya had finally figured things out.

Spiritual travel is a very special kind of spatial magic that can make a person temporarily intangible, ignoring most physical means.

It's understandable that they managed to escape.

To be honest,

He wasn't worried about any prisoners escaping to his territory. Hanjiao Island was isolated overseas, and any stranger who came would probably be watched by the whole island.

His only worry was that businessman, who was quite efficient in his work. It would be a real shame if he were to die because of this.

Poor Seliu, I wonder how he is doing.

He paused for a moment, then revealed to the Illusionary Cloud Serpent, "There is a level four magic called the Inspiration Seeking Technique."

"It can find magical fluctuations that are similar to its own power through a special resonance of its own bloodline or magic."

"You should know what I mean, right?"

The Phantom Cloud Serpent had, of course, understood Kroa's meaning.

If such magic existed, it could indeed find its own kind, but the problem is...

It shook its head bitterly: "I can't learn human magic."

For a monster to learn human magic, just figuring out the spell model is a very troublesome thing. Don't be fooled by the fact that it can communicate normally with Kroa and seems quite intelligent.

However, even the most intelligent magical beasts need to put in a lot of hard work to learn human magic.

The reason why humans were able to suppress naturally powerful races like elves and dragons and dominate the continent was mainly due to their super-powerful learning ability.

Level four magic? Might as well kill it.

Kroya smiled mysteriously: "I have a way to teach you, but what benefit can you bring me?"

He had no intention of beating around the bush when facing this kind of monster.

The benefits are key.

After thinking carefully, the Phantom Cloud Serpent suddenly had clouds rising from its body, and its body quickly stretched out in the clouds, like clay.

Although the clouds obscured the view, making it difficult to see clearly, Kroya could tell that the creature was transforming into human form, and a rather slender one at that.

A bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.

About half a minute later.

The clouds and mist slowly dissipated.

A woman dressed rather revealingly appeared before Chloe.

She was tall and athletic, not the slender figure I had just seen. She had curves in all the right places, and her whole body exuded the agile beauty of a female leopard.

But she had long, flowing white curly hair and pale pink pupils, which added to her gentle and pitiful charm.

She smiled at Chloe and said in an affected voice, "My lord mage, are you satisfied with my transformation?"

"You...you can make me do anything!"

Kroa: "..."

Thank you, but I really feel nauseous.

Warcraft imitating humans... it's a disaster, stiff and eerie, it even triggers the uncanny valley effect.

His expression remained unchanged as he simply waved his hand, sending a ripple of magical energy crashing over the woman like a wave.

She was instantly washed away by magic, and in the blink of an eye, she transformed from a rather beautiful woman back into the somewhat sacred cloud serpent she had just been.

It immediately looked much better.

"Besides this, don't you have any other skills?" he asked, somewhat dissatisfied.

"some!"

Perhaps sensing the dissatisfaction in Kroa's voice, it quickly said, "I can gather clouds and help you cut and fix them in a certain position!"

"My ability to transform is formed by using magic to create clouds and mist."

"Collecting and trimming clouds?"

Kroya finally showed some interest and gestured, "Show it to me."

"Master, please wait a moment."

The Phantom Cloud Serpent flapped its small wings and took off, then disappeared into the white clouds in the sky. A short while later, it landed with a piece of white cloud on its back.

Clouds, to put it simply, are just water vapor and dust particles that gather together and disperse with a gentle breeze.

However, the white cloud that the Phantom Cloud Serpent captured was very stable, and it did not change even when it flew down.

Kroya reached out and touched it; it felt like soft cotton. The water vapor inside seemed to be gathered and fixed by a strange magic, and it didn't dissipate so easily.

"And then what? Is that all the use you have?"

If it's just for fun or as a decoration, then... it's not impossible, it's just a little useless.

"It can absorb water magic. If there is enough water inside, it can start to rain at a certain fixed location through my magic influence."

The larger the cloud, the more rain it can produce, and it won't disappear until the moisture inside dissipates.

"Rain?"

That sounds pretty good.

Kroya suddenly thought of something.

By the way, don't you still have some Dark Clouds stockpiled in your Holy Light Clover?

If we could use those dark clouds to make them rain in designated locations, wouldn't that be a fully automated irrigation machine?

The amount of water stored inside must be enormous.

(End of this chapter)