The Nature of Magic: A LitRPG Adventure (Edge Cases Book 2) by Silver Linings

Author:Silver Linings [Linings, Silver]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Published: 2024-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 38

FINALLY

Derivan had to admit to himself that he felt a little lost. Of all the things that he’d had practice doing ever since leaving the dungeon that had spawned him, harvesting magical crops wasn’t one of them—never mind the intricacies that apparently went into harvesting these particular magical crops. It wasn’t that it was overwhelming, exactly; he just didn’t understand why there were so many steps.

“The leaves of the Heuna maloris need to be plucked one by one,” Emily instructed. Apparently, even Vex didn’t know about some of these plants; the lizardkin was watching Emily in fascination, his eyes glowing with his version of [Mana Sight]. Derivan wasn’t sure what he saw; his own skill wasn’t advanced enough to show him the way mana was moving within the plants. “Only pluck the leaves that have turned green, and keep in mind the leaves might change color once you start plucking them.”

“Fascinating,” Vex murmured. “The mana’s moving around every time you pluck a leaf. The green ones are the ones with the most mana?”

“You can see that?” Emily raised an eyebrow, impressed. “Yeah, that’s basically what’s happening.”

“Is that a defense mechanism or something?” Vex asked.

“It’s hard to say.” Emily shrugged. She plucked another leaf carefully, and Derivan watched as the entire plant shifted hues; some green leaves turned a deep red, and red leaves shifted into a vibrant yellow. It would have been startling if he hadn’t seen it a few times already. “It’s not a very good defense mechanism, if that’s what it is. It might be able to confuse some insects and pests that prey on high-mana leaves, and make them waste energy moving around, but it’s not going to stop other animals from just eating the whole plant.”

Vex was frowning, tapping a finger on his chin. “But it’s pretty good against those specific pests,” he said, more to himself than to Emily, and she nodded.

“A lot of these plants are only magical because I worked on them, though,” she said. “So it’s not like there’s evolutionary pressure to force it to be a certain way. Maybe magic guides it to behave in ways to protect itself? But I’m mostly interested in growing the plants better and not the why of the magic.”

“That’s where I come in,” Vex said cheerfully, and Emily laughed a little.

“Sure, if that’s what you want,” she said. “You’re welcome to try to understand, and if you figure it out, let me know. I’m not telling you how I make them, though.”

“Don’t, don’t.” Vex waved her off. “I want to figure it out myself!”

Derivan hummed, pleased, watching the two of them interact. He didn’t feel a need to step in, nor did he have much to contribute to the conversation. Emily led them through a few more of the plants that Vex wasn’t familiar with harvesting, and each time had Derivan try harvesting the plant at least once while they both observed to make sure his armor didn’t mess with any of the intrinsic magic of the plants; fortunately, it didn’t.

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