Farmer Mage

Chapter 32: Water Simulacrum

The interface disappeared when Cal’s finger touched [Lightning Aura].

It was the safer—perhaps unwise—trait to pick, but he felt it was justified. He knowingly sacrificed a better, longer-term trait for one that could help him immediately.

The interface offered him a reward that focused on protection. Then, the wolves almost immediately threatened his storage room, necessitating that he get some type of defense.

I have the sledgehammer, but overuse of that might destroy it. [Lightning Aura] will hopefully give me an alternative. I’ll find out when I test it when I get back.

Cal shifted his focus off the trait and hesitantly tested his mana core again. He sensed that a tenth of the capacity had recovered—an average amount for the time taken—and there was no adverse reaction when he drew a small amount of mana out.

He sighed in relief before letting the mana return and stood up. Now that his mana core wasn’t in danger of imploding, he could finally think about what happened to his previous lightning affinity.

A [Class] change shouldn’t have affected it, but I can’t think of anything else that might have done it… maybe it’s the unique nature of my [Class] that caused the change.

Cal stared at the water symbol on the wall and flexed his fingers. They were still a little stiff, and his body still felt phantom pain, but it had been reduced to a point where it was basically an ignorable issue.

I have a good feeling about the water simulacrum.

He placed his hand on the water symbol. The opaque barrier appeared over the cutout, and he waited. He was genuinely curious about what the water simulacrum looked like. It had never been an element he was interested in since water spells were weaker in battle than the other elements.

… I hear waves.

It was faint, but quickly getting closer—and louder. The opaque barrier disappeared to reveal a simulacrum with a far different appearance compared to the lightning simulacrum.

The water simulacrum was a smooth, polished crystal that appeared to have water inside. It was a deep blue color that rippled as the water moved continuously, replicating waves as it crashed against the crystal wall.

It’s almost a shame I need to absorb this.

Cal replicated his steps for the lightning simulacrum—forming a clean, easy path to his mana core. However, he had no intention of rashly grabbing the simulacrum this time.

His mana wasn’t at full capacity, so he wanted to tread carefully and give himself plenty of chances to pull back if things started to turn for the worse.

He reached out with his hand but stopped an inch away from the water simulacrum. This was the proper way of handling it.

Cal's hand pulsed a soft white, his mana grazing the simulacrum to test if there were any undesirable reactions. He was ready for almost any mishap, but for some reason, he wasn’t prepared for what actually happened.

His eyes widened when the water simulacrum jumped into his hand as if the lightest touch of his mana was enough to attract it. He already knew it was too late to back out now. He was ready for another catastrophe.

A catastrophe that didn’t happen.

Cal sucked in a deep breath when the water element peacefully flowed into his mana core. It was a seamless absorption that required barely any effort. In fact, he had nothing to do as the water element did all the work for him.

I never imagined it was possible for an element to eagerly integrate itself into a mana core.

Water Simulacrum absorbed.

You can now access the water element.

Your affinity is…

…

…

High water affinity detected.

You are restricted to water spells that require up to high affinity.

Simulacrum absorption has activated an ability of [Farmer (Special)].

Trait choices available. Choose one.

[Aquatic Resilience] - You can heal when surrounded by water. The higher your [Tier], the faster you heal. This trait is a passive effect. There is no limit or duration.

[Flow Sense] - You can sense the water flow in your surrounding environment. The depth of your senses depends on the amount of mana used to activate the trait. Limit 1 use per week. Warning: Activation of this trait will stop the regeneration of the mana used for 2 days.

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[Mist Walker] - You can create a mist around yourself, covering up to 10 acres depending on its intended purpose. The benefits of the trait range from cooling to complete control over the created mist domain. Limit 1 use per week. The duration of the trait is 1 hour, regardless of the mana used. Warning: Activation of this trait will bar access to mana for 1 week.

… I want all of these traits.

Cal felt physically ill at the thought of only getting to pick one… or it might be the lingering pain from absorbing the lightning simulacrum. Still, he hated the idea of only having one of these traits.

[Aquatic Resilience] might be the worst option he was given, and that said a lot of the other two. The description of [Aquatic Resilience] basically meant it would give him functional immortality in water when his [Tier] was high enough.

The drawback is obvious. This requires a body of water that is large enough to submerge my entire body. There is a loophole in creating a simple tub that could do the same, but I believe this still doesn’t beat the other two traits.

[Flow Sense] was the most obvious choice to pick. Cal had been worrying about irrigation—the entire reason he came to Lumina—and a trait that could help with the problem fell on his lap.

However…

On second thought, I should put [Flow Sense] in last place instead of [Aquatic Resilience]. There is no guarantee that there is flowing water under my field, and even if there was, this trait would be mostly pointless after I find a water source.

Cal didn’t ignore the limits of the traits. However, that only made things more confusing.

I only wish there were more concrete details of the healing rate I will have with [Aquatic Resilience]. At this point, I don’t know if my current [Tier] is enough to heal broken bones or minor scratches. The fact that the trait is a passive effect leads me to guess it’s more of the latter than the former.

He shook his head in frustration. He had changed his mind on the two traits far too much in a short amount of time.

Thankfully, there were no doubts about [Mist Walker]. This was another trait that would be far better when his [Tier]was higher and he had more mana capacity. From the wording of the description, he would be able to have all the abilities of the trait immediately. Still, it would be in a severely diminished area due to his small mana capacity.

[Mist Walker] has the same vagueness that the other two traits have, but it has one thing that the others do not. The description says ‘complete control of the created mist domain.’ Complete control means I am a god in that space, as long as the description isn’t an exaggeration.

The activation limit and penalty are brutal, suggesting that my understanding is correct. It's fitting for the potential of the trait.

Cal was tempted to pick [Mist Walker] and be done with it but knew he would regret it. He needed to know if there were substitutes for the traits traits in the form of spells.

With a high water affinity and a reasonable expectation of increasing it in the future, there wouldn’t be any water spells that would be out of his reach.

… I don’t expect to find substitutes for [Aquatic Resilience] or [Mist Walker]. Even if spells that mimic those exist, I doubt the Celestial Guild would have them. If I can irrigate my field, I’ll happily choose [Mist Walker].

He thought about spending more time in Lumina and visiting those boutiques that Fintan had mentioned. The spells would be there if they existed in Lumina.

The other option was to look inside the core guild, but that was a headache he didn't want to explore yet.

Cal shook his head after a second.

I have to return. Drex should arrive with the Sunfire Grain seeds by the end of the day. I will revisit Lumina after the [Tier] boost period ends. In the meantime, I can use a regular watering spell to manually irrigate the field.

He shook his hand to get the ashy remains of the water simulacrum off. His eyes glanced at the earth symbol on the wall and knew it was something that he wouldn’t have to check on his next visit.

If [Farmer] (Special) gave me such an affinity with water, it wouldn’t be out of the question for it to do the same to the earth element… the traits I will get offered might be more helpful with farming. Maybe I should just absorb it now...

No. I need to wait. I don’t need more attention on me right now. I expected absorbing the water simulacrum would have taken thirty minutes at a minimum, which wasn’t the case. I’m sure this has already been noted.

Cal left the room and returned to the counter. The girl looked more alert than when he entered the store, but that was expected. She walked into the room and saw his skin smoking.

She probably expected another disastrous failure. Which was heard in her relief when she spoke. “You’re okay!”

“I told you there was nothing to be concerned about,” Cal smiled, ignoring how his body still ached slightly. “I won’t need the lightning spell.”

“I assumed you wouldn’t. Here you are,” the girl said, handing him the booklet for ‘Rainfall’ and returning twenty silver. “Dreams are never-ending, and we are here to help you fulfill them. I hope you had a pleasant experience. Come back anytime you want to fulfill your dreams.”

Cal stared at her as she said what was obviously a canned farewell. The girl stared at him in return as if challenging him to say something about it, but he wouldn’t take the bait. His goal was accomplished, and it was time to return to his field.

“I will, and farewell,” Cal said, giving her a short nod before leaving the store. He quickly reached the exit and climbed down the stairs, leaving the Grand Market without any delays.

He remembered that Fintan wanted him to drop by before he left, and as much as he wished to skip that, it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes. He quickly returned to Lumina’s entrance, weaving through the people going about their day before making the detour to the Registry Office.

Thankfully, it was right next to the gate.

However, the door was closed. It shouldn’t be closed.

Cal knocked and waited for Fintan to answer. After a few seconds, he heard no movements, so he knocked again.

“Initiate Fintan has left the office, but he’ll return soon.”

He turned to see a guard lounging in the shade of a tree. “How soon?”

“No clue,” the guard shrugged. “He usually comes back within the hour.”

Too long.

“Could you tell Fintan that Cal tried to visit him?”

“Sure,” the guard agreed readily.

‘Thank you,” Cal turned to head to the gate.

“Zev.”

He stopped and looked at the guard in confusion. “What?”

“My name. It’s Zev. Thought you should know.”

“Right… Thank you, Zev,” Cal repeated his gratitude with well-hidden irritation.

“No problem, Initiate Cal,” Zev smiled in satisfaction. “I’m happy to be of help.”

Cal gave him a strained smile before quickly walking to the exit. He had only spent a little under an hour in Lumina, so he was still efficient with his time even though it wasn’t as quick as he planned.

There’s plenty of time left today to start applying the fertilizer.

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