There were, of course, spells that allowed magical beasts to breathe freely underwater, such as Underwater Breathing, Simulated Gills, Universal Adaptation...
He actually knew one himself.
It was the Underwater Breathing Technique he had used when diving to the lake bottom. That spell had a time limit, though, which increased with his magical power. It was nowhere near as convenient as the other, higher-level spells.
Wait a moment.
Kroya suddenly remembered the Air Coral taking root underwater. He had been planning to move a few of them into the sea.
With his first trade with the merfolk completed, he no longer needed to worry about them getting in his way. It was the perfect opportunity to tentatively extend his reach into the ocean, and Sea Spirit Lingzhi also needed a marine environment to grow.
Sea Spirit Lingzhi could not be cultivated in freshwater. It required an environment filled with the ocean's unique magic-usually, people transported seawater to create cultivation pools, but it would grow faster if planted directly on the seabed.
A place like that might indeed make it difficult to assign people to tend it, but with these two Burrowing Mice...
Could they help him look after it?
He had heard about Burrowing Mice before. Once trained, they could be even smarter than eight- or nine-year-old children. Aside from being too small to perform many tasks, they were actually rather perfect assistants and pets.
After thinking for a moment, he said to the two Burrowing Mice, "I can let you live on the seabed, but you'll have to sign a contract with me and help me tend the fields down there.
"Can you do that?"
"Squeak, squeak!"
The two mice, clearly far more intelligent than others of their kind, hurriedly nodded. Raising their little paws, they bowed to Kroya again and again, their tiny eyes brimming with gratitude.
Judging by their behavior alone, they were almost indistinguishable from people.
But that was precisely why Kroya needed a contract to keep them in check. The smarter they were, the more necessary it became. Otherwise, who knew whether they might suddenly run off?
"All right, then. Let's sign the contracts now."
Seeing them nod in agreement, Kroya promptly bought two Master-Servant Contracts through the Sacred Spring Trade Guild. He no longer needed to spend magic crystals on them and could purchase them anytime, anywhere.
Contracts of Order could not be used for magical beasts. Only Master-Servant Contracts like these provided the strongest binding effect.
"Squeak, squeak!"
The two Burrowing Mice cooperated readily, completing the contracts, and Kroya then began inscribing spells on them.
He inscribed two spells-the Underwater Breathing Technique and the Basic Water Control Technique.
The former was the underwater breathing magic the little mice had dreamed of, while he had chosen to inscribe the latter for reasons of his own.
It was also a small experiment-could he "pressure" them into learning this magic?
Throughout the process, he kept instilling in them the idea that learning this spell would allow them to help him plant and manage his Sea Spirit Lingzhi fields, and that they could only live on the seabed if they tended those fields.
As he understood it, if a magical beast or magic plant possessed an obsession or desire for something, it should be possible to inscribe different spells on it.
These two already wanted to live on the seabed. He was simply reinforcing the idea that "only by tending the fields well" could they continue living there.
This would give them a driving force to move forward. With motivation, an obsession, and such intelligence, could they succeed?
As he had expected, it worked.
The two spell inscriptions were completed one after the other, inscribed directly within the Burrowing Mice's astral spirit bodies.
[Inscription successful: Burrowing Mouse (Underwater Breathing Technique, Basic Water Control Technique)] [This magical beast can use the Underwater Breathing Technique to move freely underwater. Due to its intense desire to live on the seabed, it will continue refining this spell inscription.] [Because tending the fields well is necessary for them to live freely underwater, they have also learned the Water Control Technique and will continue refining this spell inscription.]
So that really is how it works. Kroya blinked, and a host of less-than-wholesome ideas suddenly rose in his mind.
There was the so-called "survival of the fittest." If he really used environmental conditions, psychological suggestions, and verbal pressure to shape magical beasts or magic plants... could he actually create suitable magic plants according to his wishes?
Just as an eaglet leaving its nest would fall to its death if it could not fly, could this pressure and desire be the fundamental reason the Astral Body Inscription Technique worked?
He felt that the Astral Body Inscription Technique was more like a means of helping magical beasts and magic plants evolve-an exceptionally advanced means.
"Hmm... I could give it a try."
Having considered this, Kroya rubbed his chin and suddenly came up with a bold idea-he wanted to set up a fire-element magic array, then plant a few water-element magic plants inside it as an experiment.
This was a fairly common method of cultivating mutated magic plants, using external conditions, supplementary potions, or methods such as grafting to help them gradually adapt.
But the success rate was very low.
Magic plants possessed magical power, after all, and the power within them was fixed from birth. Trying to add another kind of magical power would cause an extremely severe rejection reaction.
It generally took years or decades of cultivating and selecting successive generations before the process finally succeeded.
But if things really worked as he imagined, then as soon as those magic plants developed a desire to survive in fire, he should be able to inscribe certain spells on them.
Given time, perhaps he really could use this method to produce the magic plants and magical beasts he needed.
Of course, that was a matter for later. He would have to experiment slowly.
Before that, he needed to get the Burrowing Mice settled and see for himself how well they could dive and control water.
"Come with me. You can't go to the seabed just yet, but you can try the lake bottom."
Carrying the cage, he left the laboratory and soon reached the lake behind the castle. Then, to his surprise, he discovered... all the Kaba Beasts were gone!
The Kaba Beasts that should have been sleeping peacefully on the grass had all vanished. Even a layer of turf farther away seemed to have been scraped off under the control of something.
The place was a mess.
Judging by the muddy marks on the ground and the mixture of old and fresh grass roots, this had not just happened. It must have been going on for some time.
Had they been planning this for ages?
"They ran away?"
Kroya frowned. Those Kaba Beasts were still refining sacred white iron. If they had run away, Batos would be the first one he skinned alive.
But Batos appeared to be tending the coconut trees at the moment.
He had been keeping watch over the Kaba Beasts. Since he had not reported anything, they probably had not run away.
"Hmm..."
Kroya carefully examined the ground and noticed strange footprints leading across the wet soil toward the lake. An idea immediately occurred to him-had they gone into the lake?
With that suspicion in mind, he went to the water's edge and narrowed his eyes, looking down-
The lake bottom shimmered with brilliant colors.
The Air Coral had grown considerably during this time. They now occupied the entire lake, forcibly pushing the water aside and enveloping the whole lake bottom in bubbles of air.
The lake bottom, which should have been covered in mud, was now thick with grass. Fresh, tender greenery blanketed the dark silt.
Nourished by silt that had accumulated for who knew how long, along with the Kaba Beasts' droppings, the grass was growing luxuriantly.
He could faintly make out specks of holy white light twinkling among the grass like white stars.
It was far more beautiful than the ground above.
The missing Kaba Beasts were sprawled brazenly on the grassy lake bottom, some nibbling tender shoots and others sleeping soundly.
They looked utterly comfortable and at ease.
Kroya: "..."
You really know how to enjoy yourselves. You found yourselves a good spot-it certainly is much cooler down there.
But how did you get through the Air Coral's bubbles? Don't they repel you? And what are those specks glowing with holy white light?
They don't look like sacred white iron.
Before you continue