Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1561 - 1122: Buy Them All

Chapter 1561: Chapter 1122: Buy Them All

The Silent Magic Vine is one of the rare Ancient Gods that survive by feeding on the emotions of intelligent beings. Among the ones Ange and the others have encountered, there are only Shay and Mawar. As for Demons, they don’t count, since they only enjoy toying with people’s hearts rather than consuming emotions.

Emotions are actually a type of power at the level of thought, similar to Faith Elemental Force, Soul Flame, and so on. But why are such beings so rare? It’s because they’re picky eaters.

If Shay didn’t specifically rear a group of intelligent beings and scare them daily to generate fear, it would have starved to death long ago.

As for what the Silent Magic Vine consumes, that’s even stranger—Silent Meditation?

"How about planting it in the Magic Academy and seeing what happens?" Negris proposed.

To build a body large enough to host the Starburst Array, they needed more and larger Silent Magic Vines. Growing them slowly like this clearly wouldn’t work. Ever since Ange seized the World-Ending Magic Formation and cleared out the intelligent beings within it, Mawar had nearly stopped growing.

"The Magic Academy, huh? Which Magic Academy is the largest?" Anthony turned to ask Gulalata.

"That would definitely be the Fire God Academy," Gulalata replied.

Among all the Wizards across the Material Plane, Fire Wizards are undoubtedly the most numerous. This stems from humanity’s reverence for fire, power, temperature, and destruction—Fire Magic is practically the most destructive type of Elemental Magic.

Of course, Spatial Magic’s destructive power can be even greater, but it’s not considered an Elemental Magic and requires extremely high talent, which most people can’t master.

The largest Magic Academy in the Court of Rio is the Fire God Academy, with over two thousand students enrolled. It boasts two Truth Mages, twelve Arcane Magicians, and over a hundred Great Magicians.

"That’s it? This is the largest one? It’s a far cry from Stellaris Academy," Negris remarked in surprise.

Anthony responded, "You can’t compare them like that. Stellaris Academy can no longer be considered just a school—it’s practically a nation. For schools the size of the Fire God Academy, how many more are there in the Court of Rio?"

After thinking for a moment, Gulalata replied, "About a dozen, give or take, but there are plenty of Mage Towers and smaller academies."

As Prince Leo of the Court of Rio, Gulalata had no difficulty acquiring a few invitations or passes. With these passes displayed, the group toured the campus and left a portion of the Silent Magic Vine at each location.

But Mawar shook its head each time. "No urge to grow; it’s too noisy here."

Noisy? Negris and Anthony exchanged bewildered glances before finally looking to Ange, who was considered the most proficient in magic among them. After all, Ange had once used thirty Level 1 Magic spells per second to bombard a Holy Spirit Angel into submission.

Ange remarked, "Elements, chaotic."

The group suddenly understood. This was a Magic Academy where at least two thousand students were meditating on Fire Magic elements, with countless Elemental Fields interacting with one another, creating inevitable chaos.

"It seems the Magic Academy isn’t the right place for you. But where could we find ’silent’ meditation? Would we need to gather Mages in an element-scarce area and have them meditate for it to be considered ’silent’ meditation?" Negris muttered.

Just then, a young boy came running out of a distant building in distress, with a Fireball chasing him as it circled and drove him further away.

However, the control over the Fireball was not very precise. The fiery trail scorched the boy’s hair, and if it accidentally hit someone and exploded, the defenseless boy would either be seriously injured or worse.

Four or five Junior Magicians in low-quality robes came chasing him, shouting, "You’re an Astrologer! Why don’t you go gaze at stars instead of eavesdropping around here and wasting resources? Get out of here!"

Perhaps their shouting was too aggressive, as the Fireball’s lock-on effect failed, and the whirling Fireball veered off course, flying directly toward the boy’s face.

Anthony casually waved his hand, and the distant Fireball exploded with a gentle "pop."

The Junior Magicians froze in shock, glancing around nervously. When they noticed Anthony’s stern gaze upon them, they immediately scurried away like rats encountering a cat.

Anthony, with his stern expression, radiated an authoritative presence that could rival the fiercest disciplinarian. Anyone who saw him would naturally assume he was a schoolteacher.

The boy, having narrowly escaped disaster, was drenched in cold sweat. He cautiously stole a glance at Anthony, then nervously began inching away, hoping to slip past unnoticed.

Apparently, the fear of nearly being disfigured wasn’t as overwhelming as the terror of facing the "disciplinarian."

But just as he was about to turn and sneak away, the boy took a deep breath, hurried back, and bowed to Anthony. "Th-thank you, teacher."

Quite polite, huh? Anthony nodded approvingly and asked, "You’re from the Astrology Institute? Why are you here auditing? Do you want to learn magic?"

The boy’s raised foot froze in midair as his face twisted into anguish. "Yes, I do want to learn magic. I’m sorry, teacher. I didn’t mean to. I won’t do it again."

"If you want to learn magic, just learn it. What’s there to fear? But why do you want to learn magic? Is Astrology not good? Or are you struggling with it?" Anthony inquired curiously.

The boy cast a cautious glance at Anthony and hesitated before replying, "No, my Astrology skills are fine, but... but... it’s hard to find a job. It’s too difficult to find work as an Astrologer."

Anthony and the others were momentarily stunned. Such an unpretentious and straightforward reason? Looking for a job?

Negris: What’s a job?

Anthony: Jobs need to be found?

Silver Coin: Jobs are usually offered to me.

Durken: ...

"Even if it’s difficult to join an Astrology Tower, the Airship Brigades still need Astrologers, don’t they? How could it be hard to find work?" Silver Coin asked.

The boy shook his head. "Most airships follow fixed routes and don’t need Astrologers. The ones that do are usually Adventure Squads or Expedition Teams, but those are too dangerous, and my family won’t allow it."

"If it’s hard to find work, why did you study Astrology in the first place?" Negris asked, puzzled.

Fidgeting with the hem of his clothes, the boy replied, "The Astrology Institute... doesn’t charge tuition."

Anthony glanced at the boy’s pale collar and "simple" jewelry-free neck and wrists. Usually, Magicians would adorn themselves with as many accessories as possible, whether they were magical or not, just to keep their enemies guessing.

It was clear enough to Anthony what had happened—a poor student from the Astrology Institute had snuck into the Magic Academy to audit classes, only to be scorned and expelled by the students there.

Considering the Magic Academy’s high tuition fees, it wasn’t unreasonable to keep an auditor out. Anthony, thoughtful, said, "Take us to the Astrology Institute. If your academic performance is excellent, our Commerce Guild might actually have an Astrologer position for you."

The boy hesitated for a moment before cautiously saying, "I can take you to the Astrology Institute, but I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to get in."

The Astrology Institute was a bit of a trek, so after walking some distance, Anthony grabbed the boy by the back of his neck and carried him forward, letting him float through the air.

As they floated closer to a remote valley, Mawar suddenly began to shout, "I can feel it! I can feel it! I feel ticklish—I’m about to grow!"

"Looks like Astrologers and Silent Magic Vines were made for one another. Silver Coin, try buying all of them up," Anthony remarked.