Cal could sense Tavia moving her fingers slightly within the house as her mana followed every motion. It was a new spell she was trying to learn, and she had progressed with frightening speed the past few days. Just like he had progressed tremendously with his nascent spell.
It won’t be long before she succeeds. Same for me.
She had been right when she deduced that something about the farm accelerated her growth.
Tavia’s sudden shyness over the past few days had helped confirm that to be true. Cal wouldn’t say she was avoiding him, but she magically found the desire to constantly train every time he glanced at her.
She wasn’t aware that he could sense even her minute movements without ever seeing her with his eyes. She often positioned herself in a spot that gave her a direct view of him sitting on the meditation hill.
Tavia wasn’t lying about her increased practice, but it definitely wasn’t as prolonged as she made it seem. She spent hours every day staring at him, sometimes angrily.
He wasn’t the best at picking up unspoken signals, but his brain would have to be replaced with rocks to miss what she wanted.
Tavia had made her move with the kiss, now it was Cal’s turn to reciprocate. There is no doubt that he was going to, but he wasn’t sure how to go about it.
Oleg always claimed women liked grand gestures, but he was aware that his friend also liked to boast about things he knew little about. Still, Oleg spent far more time among mortals and might have seen such grand gestures as an outside observer.
He wasn’t about to take an ill-advised trip, leaving Tavia and the still-unconscious Seris alone at the farm. Maelor wasn't likely to return anytime soon, but there was no reason to take any chances.
Cal frowned before pulling his mind back on track. The farm helped boost growth. Specifically, the pond helped—not just with understanding spells but also with everything else. [Tier] growth included.
There was one thing that made him angry.
Tavia receives help. So does Seris… somehow. It also applies to Nibbles and all the wolves. But not me.
Cal discovered the phenomena yesterday when he had finally succeeded in preventing the pond’s overpowering presence from blinding his senses.
His gaze shifted from the house back to the pond. He closed his eyes and spread out the mana tendrils again.
Cal hadn’t known it then, but his attempts to absorb all the information when using the nascent spell in Mariner’s Rest had been a trial by fire. It had made it much easier for him to deal with the pond’s blinding mana density, which led to him solving the issue entirely.
He observed the faintest links connecting the pond to every resident on his farm except himself, including the wolf pack outside the bounds of his field. More importantly, he observed the influx of mana the pond was drawing from the crops that were planted.
It solved the mystery of why the pond had such a high mana density. However, it uncovered a new mystery of how the crops could grow to harvest without being starved of mana. It wouldn’t have mattered to regular crops, but the Sunfire Grains required a small influx of mana to grow.
Cal's curiosity disappeared as he took in the happenings on his farm. It brought him a sense of peace.
Nibbles was furiously working on finishing the tunnels. The pack leader pretended to sleep while it kept eyeing the golem. The golem followed his orders and prepared to cast [Rainfall] over the pond; Tavia continued her practice, and Seris…
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Cal noticed the faint tether connecting the pond to Seris becoming stronger. The curiosity that had been disappearing returned with a vengeance, this time accompanied by a bit of worry.
What if the pond provides this connection to all nearby?
The thought of Maelor being helped did not bring him joy. Nor did the thought of Overseer Marek discovering the phenomena. If the Celestial Order discovered it, seizing it would be the first thought.
A frown came over Cal’s face as he prodded a tether connected to an unknown wolf in the pack. The tether reacted to him. Strongly.
It recoiled in fear before snapping and retreating hastily into the pond. Surprised by the reaction, he checked on the only wolf that no longer had a tether to the pond.
The wolf seemed none the wiser. Its packmates and leader weren’t aware of the change either.
Cal’s spirits lifted when he found out the control he possessed over the tethers. He tried to do the opposite by studying how the tether originated from the pond.
That was entirely unnecessary. The pond reacted to his desires and jumped to reconnect to the wolf, making it as if the breakage of the tether had never happened.
He was brought out of the strange world constructed in his mind only by his mana tendrils. The interface demanded his attention.
Your [Secondary Tier] has increased by 1 level.
Initiate 8—> Initiate 9
Cal wasn’t sure how to take that. On the one hand, he had finally grown again as a [Mage], but he thought that creating his own spell would have been enough to take him to [Apprentice 1].
Well, I can take this as confirmation that I truly created a spell.
The interface apparently felt the same way.
You have created an unnamed spell!
There was a reason he didn’t want to name Nibbles or the pack leader, and that applied to the spell. However, he felt it wouldn’t be right to take input from someone else for his creation.
I might as well be straightforward.
The interface disappeared after his decision. He chuckled at the anticlimactic way the name was accepted before standing up.
Cal glanced at the crops and estimated they would be ready for harvest in a few days. This reminded him of the talk he wanted to have with Fintan about the future crops.
… That gives me an idea.
He hopped off the meditation hill and leisurely walked to the house. The farm had come a long way since he had first arrived in the Northern Wastes nearly a month ago.
Instead of just a wasteland, a small oasis was forming under his careful guidance.
Cal had a smile on his lips as he entered the house, getting Tavia’s attention. Just because she had been ‘shy’ the past few days didn’t mean they refused to speak to each other.
There had been plenty of that, which was why Cal was amused to see Tavia flare her nose in anger before ignoring him.
“Seris is about to wake,” Cal commented as he approached Seris’s sleeping body on the couch.
He chuckled at the short answer. “So, I was thinking. I promised we would go to Lumina for a meal. We never got to do that. How about we make a date out of it tomorrow?”
Cal’s eyes opened wide before he stumbled back when Tavia leaped into his arms. She surprised him by pulling back with a severe frown as if she was disappointed in her instinctual reaction.
“What took you so long? I thought you wanted to ignore what happened.”
… I gave her that impression? I need to stop living in my own mind.
“Nothing of the sort,” Cal said, quick to reassure her. “I thought you would like a grand gesture, so I was thinking about what to do.” At her look of disbelief, he added, “Er, this wasn’t the grand gesture.”
Tavia smiled. It was small at first, but it couldn’t be missed. “I never wanted a grand—"
“I-Initiate Tavia?” Seris’s scratchy voice interrupted.
Tavia immediately turned and exclaimed, “Seris! You don’t know how much we were worried! How could—”
Cal tuned out Tavia’s worried ramble and noticed how Seris looked… happy. As if it was rare for her to have someone fussing like a mother hen over her. That could certainly be the case if she was largely alone in Mariner’s Rest.
He heard Nibbles squeak behind him at the entrance before she joined Seris on the couch. It looked like his desire for Seris and Nibbles to get closer happened.
Cal noticed the talking quiet down a few minutes later and saw Seris staring at him. She had sat up on the couch at some point.
“Ah… Thanks for taking care of me, Boss Cal,” Seris said, giving him a salute.
It had been a while since Seris had done that. Cal walked to her silently and simply stared at her. She returned his stare, filled with nerves at his silence.
He had been ensuring everything was fine with her essential reserves, so the death glare hadn’t been intentional.
I see why the Overseer used it so much at the training grounds. It’s effective.
“Welcome back, Seris. You’re in for some rough training.”
Seris couldn’t be more confused as she switched her gaze between his smiling face and Tavia’s sympathetic expression.