Chapter 197: Unleashing Magic's Productive Force

A month later, a warm breeze swept in from the west coast of the High Tower Territory, carrying the faint scent of flowers. Spring had quietly arrived.

North of the settlement, farmland was crisscrossed with irrigation canals. Thanks to the protection of the Wizard Apprentices, sporadic Monsters were promptly killed or captured, allowing residents to farm with peace of mind.

The overall reclamation and canal irrigation projects were complete. The clear water of the River of Luminous Light nourished the entire farmland through a dense network of canals.

Carts carrying manure continuously processed human and animal waste, composting it near the farmlands. Several apprentices, aiming to complete their Social Practice Points, were using the Spell Hand to sow seeds rapidly.

“The Spell Hand is indeed convenient for farming. Moreover, the Spell Hand can undergo certain shape changes. It doesn’t have to be in the shape of a hand; we can transform it into a hoe shape for better effect.”

Warren excitedly controlled his Spell Hand, changing its shape, and said to Sulu beside him.

“Yes, yes, you have a point.” Sulu replied listlessly, still farming with a hand-shaped Spell Hand.

He had successfully gotten close to Warren during this time, and the two had become close. As a result, he was dragged by Warren to the fields to research how to farm quickly using Magic.

Sulu hadn’t learned the spirit of questioning yet, but his magical farming skills had greatly improved, which depressed him immensely.

Not far from them, Arno concentrated his Courage Heart Force into his hands and feet, sowing seeds bare-handed at a speed unattainable by mortals.

Ancestar stood on the ridge holding his longsword, vigilantly observing the surroundings and the ground. That marmot-like Monster had appeared several times; danger often came from the earth beneath their feet.

Residents who were also farming looked at the Wizard Apprentices with envy and admiration. These supernatural beings born from mortals were not as arrogant as Nobles. While feeling a sense of closeness, a desire for power also sprouted in their hearts.

While they were farming, in the clearing west of the settlement, the main structure of the Elementary Magic School castle was basically complete. Relying on the passionate Mud-to-Stone and Stone-to-Mud work of nearly 70 apprentices, the entire castle structure was roughly finished in less than two months.

The castle formed a rectangle measuring over a kilometer in length, with two pointed towers. On the southern wall was the main gate opening, nearly five meters high, giving a sense of depth.

Apprentices were fitting a heavy door made of whole logs into the opening. As the door fitted into the castle, the entire structure was complete.

Circular towers, narrow windows, semi-circular arches, low domes, and layered door frames served as decoration.

Extensive use of columns and various shapes of vaults achieved an aesthetic effect of solidity, heaviness, balance, stability, and saturated strength. The narrow windows contrasted sharply with the vast internal space, making the interior dim and deeply recessed, giving a sense of mystery and gloom.

Ace looked at the brand-new castle, his large magic robe fluttering in the wind. He said to the mirror image in an impassioned tone:

“The entire castle structure is complete. The remaining work is painstaking effort. Let the apprentices imbue every inch of the castle with Mana bit by bit, causing the material of the entire castle to undergo initial magification.

As long as we inscribe the necessary rune arrays, this place will gradually transform into a true Magic Castle.

After the Spirit of the Book awakens, its abilities will be greatly enhanced. I plan to use it to analyze the miraculous stomach pouch and research the mysteries of Space Magic. Perhaps in the future, we can expand a massive space within the castle!

This is the High Tower Castle, the foundation of the future High Tower.”

A few days later, under Ace’s semi-command and semi-persuasion, the territory’s most powerful and advanced productive force—the power of the Wizard Apprentices—was unleashed.

The apprentices who had built the Magic Castle were organized by Ace. Outside of study hours, they were divided into eight groups. Including the apprentices in the fields and mining areas, a total of ten groups led the mortal subjects to begin infrastructure construction separately.

One group’s task was to build the northern city wall. The entire wall was four meters thick and eight meters high.

Just like building the school castle, relying on the three spells—Mud-to-Stone, Stone-to-Mud, and Spell Hand—their efficiency was dozens of times that of mortals.

Wizard Apprentices were responsible for using Stone-to-Mud to dig the foundation and convert the soil into a uniform material. Mortals used molds to make standard mud bricks from the soil, which were then handed over to the Wizard Apprentices to convert into solid stone bricks.

Mortals, along with some Wizard Apprentices who could only use the Spell Hand, stacked the standard stone bricks using mud. Then, the Wizard Apprentices used the Mud-to-Stone spell to convert them into a solid whole.

Because it was a solid wall, unlike the castle where attention had to be paid to various basements, rooms, windows, and doorways, the construction efficiency was greatly improved. In just three days, they had completed one-third of the northern city wall.

Lean Caruso was skillfully using the Lesser Spell Mud-to-Stone, converting mud bricks into solid stone bricks one by one.

Repeated spell usage brought his mental power close to emptiness. He wiped the sweat from his body, looking at the busy Wizard Apprentices and ordinary people. In a trance, he seemed to see himself and his father.

He was born a slave. In his childhood, he and his father were driven to repair the damaged walls of the Northern March. Many slaves died of exhaustion there. He and his father were lucky to survive and successively became slave gladiators, but unfortunately, his father was killed shortly after becoming a gladiator.

He sat directly on the muddy ground, closed his eyes, and prepared to meditate. Ace’s speech still echoed in his ears.

“Magic is the primary productive force. Specifically for our High Tower Territory, Wizard Apprentices are the primary productive force. This is our territory. We Wizards are different from Nobles. We are born from mortals, we grow among mortals, and the root of our prosperity is also mortals!

We have the responsibility, obligation, and ability to lead mortals in building a prosperous magical society, allowing the mortal population to continuously produce Wizard Apprentices, providing us with fresh blood for our development and growth.

In our territory, even for slaves, we must give them hope. As long as they follow the rules, everyone has the chance to knock on the door of the supernatural.

To build a prosperous magical society, every apprentice must take action. The spells in our hands are the greatest productive force. We must unleash this powerful force to achieve the leapfrog development of the territory!

I hope every apprentice participates in the construction of the territory. Corresponding Social Practice Points will also be recorded. I hope we act together to make our territory prosper rapidly under the brilliance of Magic!”

It was the first time he had heard the word “productive force.” It seemed to be a coined word combining the prefix of “production” and the suffix of “power.” This was very novel. Worthy of Lord Torch-Bearer, who had compiled the Dictionary. A magical society where slaves also have hope to knock on the door of the supernatural—it was truly something to look forward to.

Caruso thought while slowly entering a meditative state. Accompanied by the pulse of Mana, his drained mental power began to slowly recover.

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