I became the slime toy of the evil dragon girl?

As darkness fell, the crowd gradually dispersed.

When the moon rose, he was the only one left by the experimental field—no, a slime.

It was very quiet all around, with only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the paddy field ridges.

Ian lay on the ground, looking at the tender sprout. Moonlight shone on it, and the dark red tip of the sprout gleamed faintly.

Ian suddenly wanted to see more clearly, so he raised one of his tentacles and habitually cast a [Light Spell].

This is one of the most commonly used spells in the world. It's simple, mana-efficient, and requires little skill. It's usually used to light things up in the dark.

But this time is different.

The magic had just begun to flow from the tips of the tentacles, and before it could condense into a ball of light, it was sucked away by something.

Ian was startled. He clearly felt that the magic hadn't dissipated in the air, but rather flowed down the ground...

It flowed away following the surrounding magical energy channels.

"What happened? My magic failed me?"

Ian quickly used the [Analyze] function to scan.

Within sight, the magical veins were clearly visible.

The network of energy channels that had been quietly transmitting volcanic magic was now undergoing subtle changes...

The magical power of illumination he had just released was "swallowed" by the meridians, and then slowly spread outwards along the meridians.

It didn't disappear, it spread.

The light seeped into the fields and the surrounding air, slowly filling every magical vein.

Then, the entire experimental field lit up.

Ian was stunned; it really did light up.

The light was not dazzling, but soft and almost transparent, seeping out from the ground and illuminating the entire field in a hazy glow.

The light rays are distributed along the veins, some areas are brighter and some are darker, forming a complex pattern of light.

The only tender bud was illuminated by the sunlight, and the fine hairs on its leaves were clearly visible.

"this……"

Ian's mind couldn't process it for a moment.

He tried casting another [Illumination] spell.

This time, he deliberately slowed down to carefully observe the flow of magic.

Magic surged from the body, touched the soil, was absorbed by the veins, spread along the veins, and glowed.

Every step is clearly visible.

Ian remained silent.

He stared at his tentacles, then at the veins in the ground, and a thought popped into his mind:

My magic was "eaten" by the meridians?

No, it wasn't about eating... He carefully recalled the lighting technique.

He sensed that [Modular Casting] had been triggered!

That skill can combine the effects of multiple spells and release them simultaneously. For example, you can release a fireball and a wind blade at the same time. The fireball will fly faster, and the wind blade will be imbued with flames.

In other words, the spell of illumination was modularly assembled into the magic network.

"Ah, it seems I've discovered something incredible..." Ian's thoughts started to wander again.

The meridians themselves are pathways that can transmit magical energy. If he "places" the effect of a spell into a meridian, allowing the meridians to cast the spell on their own...

He tried to do a second experiment.

This time, instead of casting the Light spell directly, he first gathered magic power and constructed the Light spell at the tip of his tentacle. This is a basic operation of [Modular Casting].

After the magic took shape, he did not release it, but gently pressed it into a magical energy vein in the air.

The moment the magic touched the meridians, the meridians trembled.

Then, that small section of vein began to glow.

It wasn't the entire field that lit up; only a small section, about the length of a palm, emitted a soft, cold light, like a band of light embedded in mid-air.

Ian waited.

The light neither went out nor spread; it just shone steadily.

"Continuous illumination, but I haven't consumed any excess magic power..."

He tried to touch the glowing area with his tentacles.

It still felt like air to the touch, with nothing unusual about it.

He tried to turn it off.

I don't know how to turn it off.

He tried casting another illumination spell.

This time he chose a different vein, more than ten meters away. He pressed the magic button, and that section lit up as well.

There are now two luminous strips of light in the experimental field, facing each other across the distance.

Ian lay on the ground, staring at the two glowing spots, his mind a jumbled mess.

What is this? Meridian magic?

He "installed" the illumination magic into the veins, and then the veins kept glowing.

Where does magic come from?

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the glowing vein was slowly absorbing magic power from the direction of the volcano to maintain the operation of the illumination spell.

The absorption rate was so slow that it was almost negligible. The magic supply of the entire meridian was more than enough to maintain only a small section of the light band.

and so……

"I invented a light bulb that doesn't require magic power? Am I some kind of otherworldly Edison?"

It's not that it doesn't need magic, but rather that it doesn't need to provide its own magic. Magic comes continuously from the meridians, and the meridians only need to draw magic from the environment.

You only need to "install" it once; leave the rest to the network itself.

Ian stared at the two strips of light, remained silent for a moment, and then smiled.

Ian had a feeling of "I don't know what I did, but it seems pretty awesome".

……

The moon rose to its zenith.

Ian was still in the experimental field, staring blankly at the two glowing spots.

He tried to erase the magic.

I won't apply it.

He tried to reposition the magic.

I don't know how to adjust it.

He tried changing the magic to something else, and that worked...

I tried the fireball spell.

As a result, the vein flickered violently and began to shoot fireballs outwards every now and then, almost blowing away the newly sprouted dragon blood wheat seedlings. He was so frightened that he quickly severed the magical vein.

I tried the life detection.

There was a reaction; his senses suddenly detected underground creatures within a few meters around him: a field mouse, the roots of some unknown plant, and even many insects.

Then the life-detecting network kept repeating its detection, scanning the surroundings every few tens of seconds, without requiring any additional magic power from the user.

"Hiss! It seems I've unearthed something incredible." Ian said thoughtfully.

Different spells have different effects?

Illumination is the continuous emission of light.

The fireballs were shooting wildly.

Is life detection being repeatedly released to him?

He vaguely grasped a pattern, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Late at night.

Ian lay on the edge of the ground, looking at the two glowing veins, which resembled two quiet fireflies illuminating a small area around them.

In the distance, the light inside the dragon's nest dimmed; Vivian was probably asleep.

Ian suddenly felt as if he had discovered something extraordinary.

But he's too tired right now, too tired to think. He's been using up too much of his magic and mental energy lately.

Since things have come to this, let's go to sleep.

He yawned, slumped to the ground, and prepared to sleep on the floor as usual.

Before falling asleep, he glanced at the only tender sprout.

In the faint light emanating from its veins, it appeared slightly taller than during the day.

Ian was rambling incoherently at the lone seedling.

"It's strange, isn't it? With so many seeds, how come you're the only one that stands out? Are there other exceptional seeds among your peers?"

……