Chapter 15: Level Up

But what Zhao Hai did not know was that Merlin was currently speechless with astonishment. Merlin was a mage, and an eighth-level water mage at that.

On the Ark Continent, mages were divided into ten levels. Levels one to three were known as magic apprentices; levels four and five were low-level mages; levels six and seven were mid-level mages; levels eight and nine were high-level mages; and level ten existed only in legends, a god-like existence.

Being a mage was no easy feat. First, one had to possess magical talent and comprehension. Out of ten mages, five would remain magic apprentices for their entire lives; of the remaining five, three would remain low-level mages forever, and the last two might stop at mid-level mages. There was only a one percent chance of producing a high-level mage. This was merely the ratio among mages; among those with magical talent on the continent, it was one in ten thousand—a truly terrifying statistic.

Consequently, mages were rare on the continent, and high-level mages were even rarer. An eighth-level mage like Merlin would be treated as an honored guest in any nation. However, since both Merlin and Green hailed from the Buda family, they were devoted to serving them. It was precisely because of this loyalty that the King of the AKS Empire had not exterminated the Buda family, but had instead exiled them here.

A high-level mage like Merlin was extremely sensitive to changes in magical elements; if someone used magic within a thousand meters, she would detect it immediately.

On the Ark Continent, there was only one type of magic capable of storing things instantly: spatial magic. Those capable of learning magic were one in ten thousand, but those capable of learning spatial magic were one in ten million. Currently, there were very few spatial mages on the continent, and none were of a high level or capable of opening their own private dimensions.

There were indeed some magical tools currently in use on the continent, created by former spatial mages. These tools were used for storage. A spatial mage would use their own mana to open a storage dimension, then, with the help of various exotic materials and magic arrays, seal that dimension into an object, thereby creating a storage tool. To achieve this, one's spatial magic energy had to at least reach the level of a high-level mage, and a person could create at most five such tools in their lifetime. Thus, these storage tools were extremely rare and naturally very precious.

The Garnet family did not possess such a tool, something Merlin knew very well. This meant that this ability belonged to Zhao Hai himself. However, Zhao Hai had drunk the Water of Void, making it impossible for him to learn magic or battle qi; therefore, he could not possibly be a spatial mage. Merlin had not sensed even a trace of magical fluctuation just now; that water sphere had seemed to simply vanish.

There were only two possibilities for this occurrence. One was that Zhao Hai's magical energy was even higher than Merlin's, allowing him to completely hide his magical fluctuations from her detection. But that was impossible, as Zhao Hai had drunk the Water of Void and could no longer learn magic.

The other possibility was that Zhao Hai wasn't using magic or a magical tool at all. Since he used neither, Merlin naturally could not sense any magical fluctuations.

Zhao Hai turned to look at Merlin. Seeing her expression, he smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, Grandma Merlin. I'll tell you what happened in a few days. This might just be a gift from heaven."

Merlin nodded without asking further. As long as Zhao Hai was not in danger, it was fine; besides, having such an ability could only benefit him.

Zhao Hai glanced at the water's surface, finding nothing else of interest, and then turned to Merlin. "Grandma Merlin, let's head back. Once Grandpa Green returns, we can start on those plans immediately."

Merlin nodded and said to Zhao Hai, "Young Master, go back early. You don't need to worry about things here; Meg and I are here."

Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Alright. But Grandma Merlin, don't overwork yourselves. Let the slaves handle those tasks; you and Meg just need to supervise. There's no rush; we just need to have this cave tidied up before Grandpa Green returns."

Merlin smiled and said, "The Young Master has truly grown up, even caring for others. Don't worry, my old bones can still hold up. Go back to the castle first, and I'll come back to cook for you in a bit."

Zhao Hai smiled. "Okay, then I'll head back first." With that, he led Mutou and Shitou out.

Watching Zhao Hai's retreating figure, Merlin murmured, "Ancestors protect the Buda family. I didn't expect the ability the Young Master obtained to be so powerful. There is hope for the resurgence of the Buda family."

Zhao Hai led Mutou and Shitou back to the castle and entered his room. He wanted to quickly see if there was anything special about the black soil and that water.

Once inside the room, Zhao Hai turned to the two of them. "Mutou, the two of you stay here and watch the door. Don't come in with me. If Grandma Merlin comes, block her for me and say I'm sleeping."

Zhao Hai wanted to test if Mutou and Shitou were truly listening to him now. When he had brought them to the farm earlier, he felt their attitude toward him had changed significantly, as if they had developed a sense of awe. He also felt they would obey him, so he wanted to test if they would actually stay.

To his surprise, the two did not hesitate at all. They bowed to Zhao Hai and said, "Yes, Young Master." After speaking, they exited the room, closed the door behind them, and stood on either side of the door like guardian deities.

Zhao Hai truly hadn't expected them to be so obedient, but it was a good thing. He immediately entered the Spatial Farm.

Upon entering the Spatial Farm, Zhao Hai focused his thoughts, and the black soil appeared before him. Before he could speak, a prompt immediately rang out: "New item discovered: Mutated Soil. The soil contains a large amount of harmful substances. Can be transformed using Spatial Soil or Spatial Water. Daily transformation limit: ten mu. Due to the discovery of a new item, the Space has upgraded to Level 3. Reward: two bags of corn seeds. Each bag can plant one mu of land, which can be brought out of the space for use. New item is soil; the land within the space has automatically upgraded one level, now Level 2 land, which increases crop growth speed by eleven times."

Zhao Hai was stunned, then overjoyed. He hadn't expected to upgrade so suddenly. This was wonderful; he even got two mu's worth of corn seeds. Corn was a great crop with high yields. If he planted corn in the space, their food problems would be almost solved. Most importantly, that black soil could be transformed using Spatial Soil and Water. This was truly fantastic.

Although he could only transform ten mu per day, it was still very good. The space was upgrading bit by bit. Although the farm had reached Level 3, the land area had not increased; he wondered when the land area would expand again.

As he was thinking, the spatial prompt rang out again: "Do you wish to reclaim new land? Reclaiming land requires Level 3 and 200 gold coins. This will expand the land area by two mu. The requirement for the next reclamation will be Level 5 and 500 gold coins."

Zhao Hai was ecstatic. It was like someone handing him a pillow just as he was nodding off. However, he immediately faced a dilemma. If he reclaimed the land now, he wouldn't have money to buy seeds. If he bought the radishes, he would feel reluctant to part with the money. If he planted the corn and then sold it back to the space, it seemed like he might lose out. The key problem was where to get more seeds.

Thinking of this, Zhao Hai did not expand the land immediately. Instead, he took out the corn seeds. A small bag of corn seeds appeared in his hand. Zhao Hai gently opened the bag and poured some out. The golden seeds were large and plump, clearly top-quality. If these corn plants were harvested before they were fully mature, the taste would surely be even better.

Zhao Hai froze for a moment, then a flash of inspiration struck him. He slapped his forehead and said, "That's right! How could I forget? All plants can produce their own seeds. Even radishes. I wonder if the radishes in the space can produce seeds on their own? If they can, I won't need to buy seeds anymore! Hahaha!"

Zhao Hai put the corn seeds away but still didn't open new land. Instead, he looked at the radishes in the field. He didn't know if things grown in the spatial soil would produce seeds. If it worked like a game where they couldn't, he would be in big trouble. So, he decided to wait. He would wait until the radishes matured and then wait a bit longer. If they could produce seeds, he would expand the land immediately. If not, he would have to postpone the expansion.

Having thought this through, Zhao Hai was no longer in a hurry to expand. Instead, he reached out and took out the large water sphere. When the sphere appeared in his hand, it maintained its spherical shape. This was also part of Zhao Hai's ability; while he might not be able to shape water like this outside the space, he could do so within it.

As soon as the large water sphere was taken out, the prompt rang out: "New item discovered: Underground River Water. Quality: Excellent. Can be used with Spatial Water to increase nutrient content. Due to the discovery of a new item, the Space has upgraded to Level 4. Reward: two bags of wheat seeds. Each bag can plant one mu of land. Because the new item is water, Spatial Water has upgraded to Level 2, which increases crop growth speed by eleven times."

Seeing this prompt, Zhao Hai couldn't help but burst into laughter. This was simply too good! He hadn't expected that bringing in just two items from the outside would cause the space to upgrade two levels, grant him four bags of seeds, and upgrade both the land and the water within the space. This was truly wonderful.