Inside the Eternal Village’s greenhouse number two, Jonn was finishing up the harvest of fruits and leaves from another crop. Beside him was Arber, who was with a warm expression on her face as she carried a basket full of food.
They had harvested resources from half the plants in Jonn’s greenhouse, while the other crops were not yet ready for harvest.
Winter was slowly retreating from the Barren Hills of Deepshadow, and soon some of the more demanding crops would bear fruit. However, much of the village’s crops comprised vegetables and leaves, foods resilient to low temperatures.
The mana-infused greenhouse panels helped maintain the right temperature, which was a significant advantage for Arber, Jonn, and Alise, who was there to assist Arber in returning to the walled area of the village.
With the arrival of Arnald’s group and their involvement in village activities, some of the original members were relieved from more strenuous tasks to focus on alternative ones.
Currently, Arnald and his brother-in-law, Sayer, were assisting Urian and Beri in building a house by the lake. Meanwhile, the two newly arrived women were handling the village’s laundry, and the child had become an errand boy, moving across the village with messages and occasionally delivering water and food to the workers.
Thanks to these five newcomers working throughout the village, people like Alise could engage in other matters, ones more crucial to the village’s future.
While she was there to help Arber return to the village’s warehouse, Alise was listening to her tips on how to harvest each food without damaging the plants.
Jonn paid no attention to their conversation. He left his basket of food at the greenhouse door for Alise to collect later. He then grabbed some farming tools.
Even though we’ve only harvested half of the land, almost 80% of the crystals I have buried here have grown in the last few months.
Jonn smiled as he began his work, planning to spend the entire day in his greenhouse to expand the village’s agricultural capacity and acquire more crystals for the animals. But this time, he also intended to keep two small units of the crystals for himself.
Excited about what he would test later, Jonn proceeded to dig up the crystals that were easiest to extract, carefully cutting them without worrying about Alise and Arber’s presence. No one in the village had any concerns or strange thoughts about what he was capable of. Everyone assumed Jonn was using techniques he had inherited from Hewet.
Hewet, after all, had also been capable of doing ‘unusual’ things…
{Name: Jonn Irondoom}
{Age: 17}
{Level: 2 (31.5%)}
{Reputation: Level 4 “Elder of the Eternal Village!”}
{Stats:
[Health: 273] [Mana: 315 (345)] [Stamina: 249]}
{Attributes:
[Strength: 24.1 (28.1)] [Agility: 22.7] [Dexterity: 22 (25)]
[Constitution: 27.3] [Endurance: 24.9] [Intelligence: 31.5 (34.5)]
[Wisdom: 26.1 (29.1)] [Charisma: 16 (19)] [Luck: 15 (17)]}
{Resistances: Fire (level 1)}
{Skill: [Analysis]; [Essence of Life]; [Projection].}
{Artifacts: [Wildheart Talisman]; [Mysterious Magic Dagger].}
{Spells: [Air Palm].}
He had grown over the past few weeks and even gained two more attribute points through [Magic Cave]. However, with no problems arising or major breakthroughs in his {Quests}, Jonn found himself at a bottleneck.
Despite this, his physical strength increased gradually each day. Even with an area nearly three times larger than the last harvest to work on, it took him almost the same time as weeks ago to separate the green Aether Tears.
By the time he finished working in his grandfather’s greenhouse, Jonn had enough to cover 100 square meters. However, he wouldn’t be able to cultivate all that. Even after the recent expansion his group made to the greenhouse, it could only accommodate 95 square meters of planted area.
His current greenhouse had a total area of 130 square meters. But after accounting for the passageways, only the described space was left for planting.
Jonn worked the terrain with his hoe, burying the dozens of rectangular fragments of Aether Tears, until the planting area of the greenhouse was ready for the seeds.
Fifteen mana crystals similar to the ones I gave Annabelle and Mimosa are left.
Jonn paused for a moment to drink some water and consider his options. He took off his shirt and wiped the sweat from his forehead, revealing a dense muscular build for his age and dietary situation.
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Jonn was almost 2 meters tall, but he seemed to gain muscle mass easily.
I’ll keep two crystals for myself and give Annabelle and Mimosa enough for them to become beasts. That should be two units for each of them.
As he pondered it, he continued planting seeds in the prepared soil.
I’ll be able to help nine new animals consume crystals and form mana cores in their bodies. I’ll do this with Luna, Roulf, some hens, and a rooster. But I should also give one crystal to Ice. He’s a warrior from the village who could be helpful in future battles.
Luna was the village’s other cow, and Roulf was the bull. Jonn planned to allow the village animals to breed, leading to new members for the village farm in a few months, when there should be enough food for all the current humans and animals.
He still wanted to focus on producing quality food. Hence, he would reserve opportunities for Phantom and other animals for the next harvest.
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Jonn finished his work on the village’s two greenhouses, leaving them in the late afternoon while the day was still bright.
Standing in front of the two buildings with a basket of mana crystals, he looked at the result of the village’s efforts.
I’ll see if I can get building materials from Acelin. We need to expand the two greenhouses. If we connect them, we’ll have over 300 square meters of planting area. After that, it will be time to start the Mana Reflectors project.
Mana Reflectors was the name of the device Jonn had invented in recent months. It was something capable of maintaining the magical fluctuation of mana crystals within specific spaces surrounded by these devices. It didn’t require enclosed areas like greenhouses. All one needed to do was create posts with these devices around the planting areas. Through the mana of Aether Tears, these devices would perform the same function as Jonn’s greenhouses did.
The only issue was that he needed to purchase magic components to execute the project, something he couldn’t afford at the moment.
Jonn turned away from the greenhouses and headed toward the nearby animal area.
Ice quickly appeared at his side, sniffing the valuable mana crystals.
“You’ll get yours today, buddy. But don’t rush me. Let’s head to the chicken coop first.”
Ice understood Jonn. His eyes lit up as he opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, flicking toward the chickens while Jonn watched his playful behavior.
The horses and other animals approached Jonn, but he kept them at a distance as he walked. “Sorry, my equine friends. I’ll see if I can help you next time.”
As he spoke, Annabelle appeared at the entrance of the chicken coop, eyeing the basket covered with a white cloth greedily. She and Mimosa had already sensed Jonn’s mana crystals, and both approached him.
Jonn stopped close to the chicken coop and placed his basket on the ground. He summoned the Celestial Magnifying Glass and examined the two creatures with mana cores.
Annabelle has 56 mana units and Mimosa has 58… It seems Mimosa is more talented than this hen. Or is it a characteristic of the breed?
Interesting! I’ll investigate this over the next few months by monitoring more animals!
All the animals on the Eternal Village farm gathered in front of Jonn, forming a circle. The cows, the bull, the horses, the hens, the roosters, and the wolves all looked at Jonn, eager to be chosen.
Jonn channeled his mana through the [Wildheart Talisman] and said, “Mimosa and Annabelle, step forward.”
The two animals understood his command and approached their master.
Mimosa allowed Jonn to massage her large head, letting out a joyful “mooo,” understanding that this was part of their agreement.
Annabelle, being bold, spread her wings and leaped into the air. She landed on Mimosa’s back with a shriek, asserting her presence.
“Good girl. You definitely deserve attention,” Jonn laughed as he took four mana crystals and divided them between his hands.
The two animals swallowed the first crystal and then opened their mouths again, ready for their second portion.
After swallowing the second mana crystal, they lay down right where they were, closing their eyes and seemingly falling asleep.
Jonn signaled Ice to approach, and soon the wolf ran off with a mana crystal in his mouth.
Jonn handed crystals to Luna and Roulf before selecting the rooster lucky enough to absorb one of today’s Aether Tears. He then chose five hens at random.
Jonn could have opted to give these green mana crystals to a smaller group of creatures, forming a larger number of beasts immediately. However, he couldn’t do that because of the food requirements that beasts would demand.
His observations of Annabelle and Mimosa over the months suggested that level 1 beasts consumed 2 to 4 times more food than ordinary animals.
He chose quantity over quality today and soon saw every animal that had their chance begin their magical absorption and transformation processes.
Those who didn’t get their chance slowly left, looking dispirited. Phantom let out a howl and left with his tail between his legs, heading back to the village. The hens and roosters returned to the henhouse, while the horses sighed deeply as they trotted off to their resting places.
Jonn wasn’t concerned about where Ice had run off to. His focus was on Mimosa and Annabelle.
I’ll be observing the others over the next few hours, but their results will probably mirror those of Annabelle’s and Mimosa’s. The most important thing is witnessing the evolution of an animal into a beast!
He began observing the two creatures, alternating his analysis between them, while Eliot and two other villagers watched with interest.
They didn’t understand exactly what Jonn was observing. But they knew well that they would have more high-quality eggs and milk starting tomorrow.
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The next morning, Jonn was still in the animal area, next to the chicken coop.
Unlike months ago, he now had a more resilient physical and mental build, with increased mana and better nutrition. Even though he stayed up all night to watch the animals, he didn’t look too worn out at the start of a new day.
As the first signs of the Eternal Village residents awakening appeared, Jonn noticed some animals opening their eyes, displaying peculiar changes similar to those Mimosa and Annabelle had shown months ago.
The hens began laying eggs, and Luna’s teats appeared full of milk.
Jonn saw Ice running toward him from where he had been hiding overnight, and his wolf’s status promptly appeared in his vision.
[Ice]
[Level: 0 (26%)]
[Health: 113] [Mana: 26] [Stamina: 99]
[Strenght: 8.9] [Agility: 10.6] [Dexterity: 2.2]
[Constitution: 11.3] [Endurance: 9.9] [Intelligence: 2.6]
[Wisdom: 1.8] [Charisma: 2] [Luck: 6]
[Affinity: +5000 (Worship)]
As I expected... Part of the Aether Tear’s mana helped him evolve his [Wisdom]. That’s why his mana isn’t any higher.
Jonn couldn’t see the same status screen for the other animals, but he estimated that this was likely the situation for Annabelle and Mimosa as well.
As the white-furred animal, now slightly larger and less thin, licked his feet, Jonn felt the moment he had been waiting for.
{Ding!}
{+1 progress point on the [Magic Farm] quest.}
…
[Magic Farm]
[Progress: 1/33]
Jonn noted the first progress when Mimosa moved more noticeably, observing the increase from 32 to 33 base points on the mission. When Arnald’s horse joined the village, the mission had automatically updated.
Before Jonn could analyze the village’s first beast further, the system revealed the result of Annabelle’s awakening!
{Ding!}
{+1 progress point on the [Magic Farm] quest.}
…
[Magic Farm]
[Progress: 2/33]