Chapter 213 (1/2)

Chapter 213: The Unusual Soil

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The merchant Warter moved very quickly. He didn’t waste a single minute and began to take Link’s orders and his 20,000 gold coins around the continent the same night Link had given him the instructions. He went about very excitedly because he knew that with the construction of Link’s estate going on, his Green Leaf Firm would expand at an explosive rate. This would then bring him inexhaustible money. Then, his dream of building a business empire would no longer be pure fantasy.

Because of this, Warter worked very hard!

The following morning, the Magicians of the East Cove Academy also began to work on the construction of the Mage Tower. They wandered around the Ferde Wilderness, not just for fun of course, but to look for the Geodetic Nodes.

When a Mage Tower was built on the Geodetic Nodes, or in full the Geodetic Elemental Equilibrium Nodes, it would greatly stabilize the flow of the Elemental Pool inside the Mage Tower and make it much safer. This was the reason why every Mage Tower in East Cove Magic Academy was built on very stable Geodetic Nodes.

No matter how busy Link was, he’d always find time to study Vance’s notes on the magic puppet. On the other hand, Eliard had been following Master Ferdinand around to learn from him.

Thus, a week passed by with everyone busy in their own work and duties.

Everyone had heard of the rumors that the climate in Ferde Wilderness was notoriously bad and that storms and rain were commonplace here. But surprisingly, in the past week, the weather had been mild and sometimes even better than the weather in the nearby Girvent Forest.

Within that week, it was pleasant and sunny for four days, and while it did rain for three days, it was merely mild drizzles, the kind that was common in spring. There hadn’t been any thunderstorms or heavy rain at all.

Those Magicians who had just arrived didn’t find it too odd, but the mercenaries and the original inhabitants of Ferde Wilderness who had experienced extreme weather here started to circulate the rumor that Lord Link had the “hands of God” that could control the weather.

Master Grenci was inspecting the grounds of Ferde Wilderness with an Elemental Compass in his hands. He was working in a separate section of the land from Master Ferdinand. Within the week, they’d pinpointed the locations of the Geodetic Nodes and were now determining the best place for the site of the new Mage Tower.

Just as he was walking, he suddenly heard a loud clink clank noise from afar. When he raised his head in the direction of the sound, he discovered that it was the giant magic puppet plowing the land on the hillside.

What a terrible craftsmanship from Master Weissmuller, snorted Grenci. He then prepared to walk away in the other direction with his assistants.

He’d just taken a few steps when he heard loud booms coming from behind him. After a while, there was a loud clang followed by thick billowing smoke coming from the same hillside he’d seen the magic puppet earlier.

Grenci was stunned, but he soon recovered.

“Ha! Seems like the damned magic puppet’s broken down!” he yelled. “What an embarrassment the old man Weiss’ craftsmanship is to the East Cove Academy!”

Although Grenci had specialized in alchemy himself, the Plowing Magic Puppet wasn’t that complex, so he should be able to fix it if the cause of its breakdown was just some small problems.

“Let’s go see what’s going on here,” he said, waving to his assistants. He then cast a wind floating spell on himself and floated over to the hillside with very little effort.

There, he saw the magic puppet hoisting itself up with its arms while its two plows were stuck deep in the ground. The soil that had been dug up behind the magic puppet looked greenish black and contained no big clumps of stones at all.

“Huh? But this is just normal soil!” said Grenci. “How did the magic puppet break down when it’s only working with this? Weiss’ skills can’t be that bad, can it?”

He’d sneered at Weissmuller before, but in fact, Grenci had deep respect for the old master’s artistry. That was why he thought the magic puppet must’ve broken down because it had been working on tricky terrain. But judging by the looks of it, it seemed that the magic puppet had simply just broken down for no clear reason.

He walked carefully around the magic puppet and still couldn’t find anything wrong with its components. He scratched his head in wonder.

Weiss may be an unreliable old man, he thought, but he’s always meticulous in his work. What’s going with this magic puppet, then?

Just when Grenci couldn’t wrap his head around what was happening there, a Level-4 Magician beside him suddenly pointed something out.

“Master Grenci,” he said, “do you notice something odd about the soil that’s been turned out?”

Grenci found the question intriguing. He kneeled to the ground and took a clump of the soil in his hand then closely inspected it.

It was greenish black, felt very sticky, and its grains were very fine. When Grenci sniffed at it, he thought it had no detectable smell at all.

Wait, something’s odd here. Mana, yes, the soil seems to be able to block Mana.

Grenci put down the soil and wiped his hands clean. He then took out his wand and pointed it towards the soil on the ground.

“Fireball!” he chanted.

Just as the fireball struck the soil, Grenci could sense that its spell structure was disrupted. Even though he’d strengthened his control over the fireball, it still exploded earlier than he wanted it to.

Bang!

It wasn’t a big explosion, and the fire elements simply sizzled away and disappeared. But what took Grenci by surprise was the fact that there were no signs of an explosion on the ground at all, not even a small dent. It seemed as if the soil was completely unaffected by Grenci’s fireball.

“It’s high-quality anti-magic soil!” exclaimed Grenci.

Now he understood why the Plowing Magic Puppet had broken down. As it plowed into the ground, the soil had interfered with the Mana and spell structure in the magic puppet’s main body. It was fine for a while, but as the interference wore on, more and more anomalies accumulated in the magic puppet’s body, leading to its eventual breakdown.

Although the specific properties of this soil had yet to be carefully tested, Grenci still couldn’t help but sigh at the big field of at least 30 acres that had been plowed by the magic puppet.

Looks like the whole piece of land was made up of this soil, he thought. Link won’t have to worry about having enough gold coins to build his estate anymore!

There were many uses for the anti-magic soil. It could be used to construct sturdy city walls, make magic puppets, build Mage Towers and so on. From now on, all Link had to do was sell the soil and he’d be able to make a big fortune for himself. This way he’d be able to complete the construction of his estate in no time at all.

Could it be God’s plan?” Grenci wondered. He felt that Link’s luck had just been too miraculous.

Having figured out the reasons for its breakdown, Grenci could then easily repair the magic puppet. It only took a few simple steps as well. He only needed to wipe away the anti-magic soil on the magic puppet’s crucial Mana points, then add a protective cover on top of it and repair any damaged magic runes. In less than 20 minutes the giant magic puppet could then restart its work without a hitch.

“Ero, bring some of this soil back to the camp,” he instructed one of his assistants, “and report this incidence to Master Link.”

“Yes, Master Grenci.”