NOVEL WEB Chapter 36 - The Wheat Harvest is Complete!
Chapter 36 The Wheat Harvest is Complete! The Shipment of War Materials Begins!
Lynn quickly suppressed his excitement as the image in his mind that was necessary for the spell needed time and effort to become a reality. Lynn could clearly see that he was inept in his use of magic. If he could master his control of his mana to a greater extent, the lethality of Starfire Fury would also increase. It would also decrease the amount of mana used to activate the spell. Lynn confirmed that the Archfiend was dead, and gave out orders.
”Let us go and continue to explore the depths of the mountain.”
Several of the attendants looked at each other.
”My Lord, do you still have mana? This high class spell usually consumes a lot of mana…” they said out of worry for Lynn.
”Indeed, the consumption was not small. One blast costs at least three hundred mana points.”
”It is only three hundred?! For such a powerful attack?!”
All of the attendants here followed Lynn to this territory from Kyle City. They had seen many people and knew some magicians, which led them to believe that magic with this much fire power had a high mana cost. A spell on this scale should have a cost of five hundred mana points for a single cast. Yet, Lynn only needed three hundred. How did it consume less but have more power?
”The difference between Starfire Fury and Fireball is that Fireball relies entirely on the caster’s own magic power, while Starfire Fury takes mana from the caster’s body and the air,” Lynn said. “Strictly speaking, even if they are similar Starfire Fury takes a portion of the mana from the air which decreases the strain on the user.”
Lynn was not just thinking about how to use magic, but also the principles behind it. A thorough understanding of magic was the ultimate path to becoming strong. After using the spell twice, Lynn had at least nine hundred mana points left which was enough to continue his exploration. Of course, the attendants had no objections and followed Lynn.
Lynn chose a path he had never walked before, and the attendants did not question him. They only followed behind Lynn. After passing through a grand forest and driving away many beasts and venomous snakes, Lynn finally arrived in front of a small mountain. The ground here was different from the rest of the land as it was rocks instead of dirt. The area covered a lot of ground and was distinctly much firmer than the terrain they had just travelled.
Several of the attendants were shocked. Iron ore! This was one of the precious resources that could be used in the upcoming war. They could make an iron mine here as the deposit looked rich in resources. They were about to talk when Lynn stopped them with a gesture.
An enormous blue lizard crawled over slowly and looked around as if it was on a patrol, and then left. It was a class three Archfiend with a powerful magic breath. There was no doubt that this was a monster that Lynn had never met before. A class three monster had powerful magic attacks that far exceeded that of wizards of the same level. An ordinary one would have more than 300,000 mana points.
The beasts also had a magical strength that far exceeded humans as they could fully exert their power. It was a terrifying monster. Lynn glanced at the iron ore, but then led his men to retreat. His entire legion could be killed by a class three monster.
Lynn guessed that more than ten half beast warriors would die in a head to head battle. The loss would be too great, and so he did not want to deal with the losses for the time being. Once he finished his attack on Sla City would he return to collect the ore.
After leaving the monster’s territory, Lynn killed another tier one monster on the way back. The Maple Mountain range was rich in resources. This precious monster meat could be sold for a silver coin per pound, which was almost the same price as wine. However, the consumption was quicker than just drinking wine. Although, Lynn had never bought Archfiend meat up to now as he had just hunted them in the mountains. The two monsters he killed should be enough for Lynn to eat for half a month.
Lynn was in a good mood while going down the mountain, and he noticed that a large swath of wheat had been harvested while he was gone. The ripe wheat had released a sweet fragrance in the air. Lynn asked for the newly harvested wheat to be hauled and to be coarsely grinded.
The flour processed this way would not be very fine nor white, but it would retain the pure aroma of the wheat. When the chef made the bread in the future, Lynn and Lucy would gleefully consume it.
When the wheat matured, there was no magic in it which disappointed Lynn slightly as he thought he would gain some magic power from it as a poor potion. This would have increased its price, but Lynn was still happy with it. The wheat could still absorb the mana in the air, which meant that these wheat seeds would still grow fast with a high yield. Lynn was satisfied with this alone. As long as the output was high, Lynn would not have any shortages in food.
The wheat harvest was completed in two days, and the commoners of the village were immensely motivated. They would be allowed to have a good winter with all of this food. Once the wheat was cut, the husks were broken and allowed to be blown away by the wind. The wheat remained behind as a result. This task was tedious and tiring, but did not require a significant amount of effort.
Lynn kept the female civilians at home with the responsibility of husking and polishing the wheat. The livestock in the territory would be used casually in order to make a stone mill to polish the noodles, which was in contrast of the other nobles’ way of doing things. Under Lynn’s orders, all of the able-bodied men began to transport stones, wood, and grain to the west of the village.
Meanwhile, Lynn was writing a declaration of war for Sla. Regardless of his rank of nobility, he could attack another noble’s territory as he pleased, but the prerequisite was to have a written declaration of war with both parties agreeing to it. If a surprise attack was launched, the entire noble alliance would regard that as a provocation and would join in the defender’s side.
Lynn found many loopholes in the rules and exploited them to his advantage. He would not fight, but would first transport the materials needed to fight Sla directly to the front line. Once Sla accepted the invitation, a siege could be launched within five minutes.