Farming in the Magical World

"When did you become a great mage?"

Melissa couldn't think of any other explanation besides this.

Once they reach the level of a Grand Mage, mages' understanding of magic will be greatly enhanced. They will not only be able to draw upon the magical elements that roam the world to unleash magic far exceeding their own stored magical power, but they will also be able to tightly bind their own magical power within their bodies, completely preventing the exchange of magical power between their bodies and the outside world, forming a self-contained cyclical system.

This is why a great mage can sense the flow of magic power within a ninth-level mage, but cannot sense the magic power reaction of another great mage.

Melissa's words left Lanny frozen in place, awkwardly unsure how to respond.

He subconsciously assumed that Granny Mei was asking him when he could become a great magician, without even noticing that Granny Mei was asking when he could become one.

He had been studying magic for so long, yet he still couldn't sense any magical elements, which made him somewhat ashamed to admit it.

After a long while, Lenny stammered and asked Melissa if Candy had told her that he was learning magic.

Lanny remembered that when she walked in, the other person thought it was Candy. It seemed that Candy had been coming to her place quite often lately.

"Candy? What does she have to do with it? She doesn't even know that magic exists!" Melissa looked puzzled.

Lanny was even more puzzled. "If she didn't say it, how did you know I was learning magic?"

“Isn’t your grandfather a magician? I heard he’s quite skilled. It’s only natural that you know magic…” At this point, Melissa finally noticed the problem: “You’re only just starting to learn magic?”

Upon hearing her words, Lanny's mouth dropped open in astonishment. "What? My grandfather is a magician? How come I didn't know that?"

The two looked at each other in shock and were speechless for a moment, frozen in place.

After a long silence, Lanny coughed and looked thoughtfully at Granny Mei. "Tell me, who are you? I don't believe an old woman from Black Mountain Village would know anything about magic. That's something only nobles should know!"

Melissa then realized that the two seemed to have gone off on tangents, but since she had already asked the question and the other party was beginning to doubt her identity, she decided not to hide it anymore.

Standing up, Melissa, unlike her usual frail self, walked gracefully to Lanny. "Alright, alright, actually I'm not some kind of Granny Melissa. My real name is Melissa-Lee. I was originally a noblewoman from the Bauhinia Kingdom, one of the youngest archmages on the Saint Tor Continent, and the only female archmages on the continent." Melissa spoke with pride.

But soon, her face darkened, turning pale. "Of course, all of that is in the past. Now, I'm just an ordinary woman..."

Upon hearing that Granny Mei—no, Melissa—was actually a great magician, Lanny felt like he had struck gold. It was like finding a treasure after searching high and low, only to have it fall into his lap effortlessly! Didn't he?

But as the other person continued to explain, he felt that what he had picked up was not a treasure, but rather a troublesome one.

Not only have I lost all my magic, but I'm also being hunted down, and I have a mysterious archmage as an enemy. This... this... this is really worrying!

"So Albert really came to hunt you down? Or was he just passing by?" Lanny naively guessed, clinging to a sliver of hope.

Melissa rolled her eyes, ripped off the white hair disguise from her head, and her deep, husky voice became coquettish, "Little brother, can you travel thousands of miles to the Bauhinia Kingdom?"

This... ...it really seems so!

Lenny touched his nose somewhat embarrassedly, finally giving up his unrealistic fantasies.

Melissa, on the other hand, became curious and moved closer to Lanny, scrutinizing his face. "I'm curious, you didn't know your grandfather was a magician. So, who guides you in your magic?"

Cough! Cough! Cough! Upon hearing this question, Lanny let out a series of coughs!

He was very embarrassed when the topic came up, and after stammering for a long time, he finally spoke somewhat awkwardly, "Well, Uncle Tim is instructing me; he's also a magic apprentice."

Upon hearing that it was Tim who was instructing him, and that the other party was a magic apprentice, Melissa rolled her eyes again.

That burly knight, who isn't even a magician himself, where did he get the audacity to mislead others? It's truly a case of one daring to teach and the other daring to learn. Aren't they afraid of making a mistake and exploding to death?

"Why don't you learn magic from your father, but instead learn from that muscle-bound knight?"

Seeing the question in Melissa's eyes, Lanny was even more confused. "Is Father a magician? I don't know, I've never heard him mention it!"

Melissa was speechless at Lanny's dazed look! She even wondered if Lanny was just joking around.

I don't know if my grandfather was a magician, and I don't know if my father was a magician either. What does he think about every day? Women?

Melissa stared intently into Lanny's eyes for a long time, and finding that he didn't seem to be faking it, she also became puzzled, muttering to herself, "Strange, could the information I received be wrong? But that doesn't make sense, there's no reason for it. This isn't just information from one magician, they don't know me or my name, there's no reason for them to lie to me!"

Upon hearing Melissa's murmured words, the first image that came to Lanny's mind was Frank's perpetually unchanging poker face.

If anyone in the castle still knows about Claudia, it's definitely him. He grew up with Claudia and is practically family.

But now, right in front of him is a great magician, though he was once a great magician, he is now more curious about this woman.

"Are you really a great mage? Can you guide me in my magical studies? Can you concoct magic powder? What exactly is magic? I've always been curious. To be able to conjure flames and various abilities out of thin air... it's not scientific, completely not scientific..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Melissa quickly called out to Lanny, who was bombarding her with questions. She looked at him strangely and said, "Who said I was going to guide your cultivation? Don't you know I'm infected with the Black Vine Seed?"

"Uh," Lanny paused, "Black Vine Seed, what's that?"

After hearing Melissa's explanation, Lanny was even more puzzled. "You just can't cast spells, but does that affect your ability to teach me magic?"

Melissa nodded, confirming his statement, "That's true, it certainly doesn't affect teaching others to practice magic."

Just as Lenny's hopes were rising, she paused, then looked at him with a mocking expression. "But why should I instruct you? Give me a reason why I must teach you, little brother."

Having finally found a magician, alive and well, how could Lanny give up so easily?

After thinking for a moment, he looked at him with a tempting expression. "Don't you want revenge? Don't you want to regain your magic? Perhaps I am a magical genius that comes along only once in a millennium?"

At first, Melissa was indeed tempted. Revenge was a thought she had harbored for many years, and she naturally couldn't resist the temptation.

But as Lenny continued to boast, she immediately came to her senses and rolled her eyes.

She felt that she had rolled her eyes enough for a lifetime today.

"Don't be so narcissistic, okay? Do you even know what 'one in a million' means? How can you be so sure you're the only one?"

“That’s naturally because… …” Lanny said confidently, but then he stopped mid-sentence.

What was he going to say?

Could it be that I'm a time traveler, proficient in ninth-grade physics, chemistry, mathematics, Chinese language and politics, and elementary school math olympiad?

Does that mean he is knowledgeable about astronomy and geography, and even knows that the world is made up of atoms, and that there are electrons and neutrons below that?

If that's really the case, he's probably gone mad!

Or perhaps Melissa just goes insane?

After thinking for a long time, he finally found an answer that he thought was reliable: "My grandfather is a magician, and his strength seems to be quite good. You're right, aren't you?"

Melissa nodded. "Yes, that's the information I received!"

Lanny clapped his hands excitedly. "Look, since my grandfather was a magician, and quite skilled at it, I naturally inherited that magical talent. Family inheritance—you know what inheritance is, right?"

Melissa glanced at Lanny and said casually, "The continent of Saint Tor has magicians and great magicians, but have you ever heard of any magical families on the continent of Saint Tor?"

Uh, no? I don't know!

Is there really none?

Lanny was speechless again. So this thing isn't hereditary?

Seeing that Lanny understood what she meant, Melissa spoke again, "Of course it can't be inherited. If it could, wouldn't the world be in chaos?"

She paused, then pointed at Lanny. "So the current rulers and nobles of the kingdom are not these magicians, but ordinary people, like you."

"If magic could be inherited, do you think the king would be?"

Hmm, Lanny hadn't really thought of that.

According to Melissa's line of thinking, the fact that magicians cannot inherit their powers is actually a good thing; otherwise, it would be hard to say what the continent would be like right now.

For ordinary people, magicians are practically miracles, and great magicians are almost indistinguishable from gods. If this ability could be inherited, ordinary people would probably... ...probably... ...

He couldn't imagine how miserable ordinary people would be in such a world.

"Huh, are all great mages this smart? You actually have such knowledge!" Lanny looked at Melissa with envy, thinking to himself, "Can magic really have such a great transformative effect on people?"

He could quickly understand Melissa's meaning, thanks to his systematic education, but in this world, he really didn't think just anyone could have such a worldview.

Melissa shook her head and casually indicated that it wasn't because she was clever, but because there were real-life examples.

Several hundred years ago, the Kingdom of Cyoria and the Kingdom of Andrew were actually one country. The king at that time was a great mage, and even the highest-ranking supreme mage.

During his reign, he wanted to pass on his magical talents through heredity within his family, thus maintaining the family's rule over the kingdom.

To this end, he tried many methods, found many women, and fathered many children, among whom were both ordinary people and magicians.

Without exception, none of his children inherited his magical talent.

Less than a year after his death, the kingdom was engulfed in a severe conflict, which eventually escalated into a nationwide civil war, splitting the kingdom into two separate nations: the Kingdom of Andrew and the Kingdom of Cyria.

The trigger for the whole incident was a duke who oppressed his lower-ranking earl too much. However, he did not expect that the earl had secretly become a great magician. He rose up against the duke's oppression, which eventually led to a major conflict that affected the whole country.

The reason why the laws of the Kingdom of Andrew try their best to maintain stability among the nobles and control their conflicts is because of the lessons learned in blood.

Later analysis suggests that the initial conflict between the Duke and the Earl was merely the trigger; the real cause likely lay with the old King.

Because of his own strength, he adopted a high-pressure policy towards the nobles, which led to a bad atmosphere among the nobles of the kingdom. The higher-ranking nobles took whatever they wanted from the lower-ranking nobles and did not care about the feelings of the lower-ranking nobles at all.

While the old king was alive, things were fine, but once he was gone, the rebounding force instantly destroyed the most powerful country on the continent.

Well, he just wanted to find a reason to have the other party teach him magic, but he didn't expect to get involved in such a history. He didn't know about this, and the castle's library didn't have this part.

"What do I need to do to get you to teach me magic?" Having run out of ideas, Lanny asked his question directly.

Melissa looked Lanny up and down again, then shook her head. She didn't sense any high magical affinity from Lanny; in fact, it was even lower than that of an ordinary person.

"Why don't you take another look? Maybe I have a hidden constitution?"

Seeing Melissa shake her head, Lanny became anxious. He had finally found someone who could teach him magic, and he was not about to give up so easily.

“Impossible,” Melissa shook her head and sighed. “I rarely misjudge people. I also hoped that you were a good candidate for a magician, and that you could help me avenge myself when you become a great magician, but... I really didn’t sense any great talent in you!”

Seeing that Lenny seemed to still want to persuade her, she quickly waved her hand to stop him. "I suppose you're not willing to give up. Then sit down, and I'll give it a try!"

Upon hearing this, Lanny immediately sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and assumed the standard posture for comprehending magic.

Seeing how cooperative Lanny was, Melissa nodded, but thinking about the talent she sensed from him, she sighed with regret.

To be honest, Lanny is the most suitable apprentice. He is smart and flexible, has a strong will, and most importantly, he is a nobleman.

Although he is very poor now, well, extremely poor, he has the opportunity to accumulate wealth if managed properly. He is still young, isn't he?

It's important to know that learning magic is very expensive; the purchase of various magical resources is not cheap. This is why there are very few wild magicians, and most magicians are either nobles or royalty.

Learning magic is just too expensive!

Looking again at Lanny, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, she composed herself and slowly began to instruct him, "Open your mind and carefully sense everything around you. Those playful and lively things are magical elements. Feel them, touch them, guide them..."