Above the mage!

Chapter 294 All Points Added
Phoenix City Hall.

Gao De is working at his desk.

He is doing a calculation:

Regarding how many acres of land the Ministry of Agriculture will need to reclaim in the future and how many people Phoenix will need to invest in the planting industry.

Taking into account individual differences among children, young adults, the elderly, men and women, and taking the average, a person needs to consume at least 0.5 kilograms of barley every day.

The current population of the Zhenbing tribe is about 50, but it is conceivable that after the food problem is solved, it will inevitably usher in a period of population explosion.

Therefore, the first round of farming can still be planned to meet the goal of planting grains needed for the survival of 50 people, but in terms of land reclamation and manpower, the goal of planning should be to at least meet the food needs of million people.

500 million people, each consuming 0.5 kg of barley per day, 360 days a year.

That year, 90000 kilograms of barley were needed.

The yield will be calculated based on the initial target of "120 kilograms per mu". Barley can be planted three times a year, without considering the issue of crop rotation. In other words, one mu of land can produce 360 ​​kilograms of barley a year.

This requires the reclamation of 2.5 million acres of land.

In actual operations, a certain safety factor needs to be considered to cope with the impact of weather changes, pests and diseases and other factors. For the time being, the safety factor is set at the highest 20%, which means that three million acres of land need to be reclaimed.

Three million acres of land. You have to know that this world does not have tractors, excavators, bulldozers and other highly mechanized equipment.

However, there are certain spells that can serve as substitutes, such as [Earth Shaping], but the mage's mana power is limited, and mana recovery takes time.

Moreover, mages are always a minority, and ordinary people are the majority, even in the Zhenbing Tribe.

In short, reclaiming three million acres of land is definitely an epic project, even if the land is basically leveled and does not require large-scale terrain transformation.

But the meal should be eaten bite by bite, and this is just the final idea.

In the early stage, you only need to cultivate the land needed to meet the needs of a population of 500,000.

That is 300,000 acres.

In addition, Gaode believes that with Flora, the per-acre yield of barley will only get higher and higher, and it will definitely not be a problem to reach a yield of more than 200 kilograms per acre in the future.

This is just his conservative estimate.

With the blessing of extraordinary power, it is not completely impossible to achieve a yield per mu that exceeds that achieved under modern agricultural technology in previous lives.

There are 300,000 acres of barley fields. Even if magic can help with some of the work, most of the work still needs to be done by manpower.

According to the current level of agricultural technology and tools, at least 40,000 permanent workers are needed.

Fortunately, the relatively primitive structure of the Zhenbing Tribe means that the main job of most people is to obtain food.

This also allows the Zhenbing Tribe to completely "strike wherever directed", unlike in developed societies with clear division of labor where it is difficult to pull so many people into new work at once.

"Three steps. The first step is to reclaim 300,000 mu of barley fields, recruit 40,000 farmers, and transform the diet structure of the Zhenbing tribe into an agricultural one, replacing meat as the staple food with grain."

“The second step is to gradually reclaim three million acres of barley fields and increase grain production to 90000 kilograms per year, which will initially meet Phoenix’s future food needs for expansion.”

"The third step is to improve work efficiency and standards. Three million acres of farmland will require 400,000 permanent workers under current conditions."

"It takes 100 full-time farmers to feed 150 million people. With modern agricultural technology, one farmer can feed people. In developed countries, one farmer can even feed more than people."

"It's not realistic to expect the North to reach this level, but it's not too much to ask for a full-time farmer to support 30 people. After all, there are such things as magic in this world, but they still need to be developed."

“We will strive to reduce the number of full-time farmers to less than 200,000, and at the same time reclaim at least 500,000 mu of land as backup farmland.”

"The road ahead is long and arduous." Gao De put down the sheepskin covered with his own writings and let out a long sigh.

Although it was a big project, he did not seem too tired.

Because all of this is feasible and there is hope. Although there will inevitably be some twists and turns and accidents in the process, as long as we follow the expected process, there should be no mistakes.

In addition, the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that such an event can bring is so strong that it can completely dilute the hard work of the process.

It is such a grand thing to ensure that all the people in the North have enough food to eat. It is enough to make countless people sacrifice their lives for it. So what does a little hardship matter?

"My king, this is according to your request. The Iceborn mages in our tribe encountered and captured a ring of earth vein creatures while hunting outside. However, some earth vein creatures are relatively rare, so we were unable to collect all seven."

Shortly after leaving the city hall and returning home, Elder Lan Wen came to report to Gao De with a small team of people.

They came with a large number of earth vein creatures.

Before hybrid barley was grown, the food of the Zhenbing tribe was mainly based on fishing in the Arctic Lake and hunting by hunters.

On the first day back in Phoenix, Goder made a request to all hunters:
When you go out hunting, if you see a ring of earth vein creatures, try to capture some alive without affecting your own movements.

These captured ground vein creatures do not need to be complete, they just need to be alive, and only seven of each ground vein creature are needed, no more.

On the snowy plains, weight is a very precious indicator and you can’t waste too much on meaningless things.

Therefore, each hunting team that goes out can usually only bring back one or two living earth vein creatures per trip.

But the advantage is that the Zhenbing Tribe has enough Ice Mages and hunters, so even if each hunter team can only bring back one or two first-ring earth vein creatures, when accumulated, it is an extremely large number.

What lay before Gao De was a group of earth creatures of different shapes, all of which looked extremely miserable and dying:
Frost Goblin, a humanoid earth creature, can make simple and crude weapons. It does not possess any extraordinary abilities. The only thing that stands out is its strength and tenacious vitality.

Blue Fungus (xun) is a strange earth vein creature that is as tall as a human and looks like a blue mushroom. It attacks by whipping living things within its reach with its tentacles, which contain toxins.

The burrowing snow worm is a large worm-like underground creature with four tentacles. It usually hides in the cracks of the ice, patiently waiting for its prey to come to it and then attacks it with its tentacles.

Looking at these various earth creatures, Gao De was as excited as if he saw a pile of gold.

Because these are not just earth creatures, they are all the white "origins"!

Think about the days when he worked hard to earn the origin, and then look at the present, how can Gaode not be excited?
His dream of having all his spells fully upgraded was about to come true - the variety of underground creatures on the snowfield was extremely rich.

"Thank you for your hard work." Gao De nodded slightly.

Then, he drew out the [North Wind] that he carried with him, walked in front of these earth vein creatures that had lost the ability to struggle, raised his sword and slashed, and one head after another fell to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, eight complete first-ring origin points and three first-ring origins that were still in progress appeared in Gaode's origin column.

This harvest is really huge.

“Elder Lan Wen, I’ll have to trouble my clansmen to continue this mission. As long as there are less than seven first-ring earth vein creatures, I still need them. As for those that have been gathered, we don’t need them anymore.” Gao De did not forget to instruct Elder Lan Wen again.

As for the purpose of his action, Gao De did not explain.

Because no explanation is needed.

He is the king of the Zhenbing tribe. There are many things that he doesn't need to explain. He just needs to tell them to do it.

"As for these, please trouble the elder to drag them away. Those that can be used as food will be stored in the warehouse. Those that cannot be used will be disposed of." Gao De pointed at the corpses of the underground creatures lying on the ground.

"Yes, sir!" Elder Lan Wen clenched his right fist, pounded his chest and responded loudly.

Although Sunaifa attached great importance to the matter of the pollen field, he did not deliberately conceal it.

Therefore, the elders of the Zhenbing tribe have gradually learned about the cold-resistant wheat in the past few days.

Everyone who knew about this went to the pollen field to witness the "miracle" with their own eyes.

After seeing with their own eyes the barley seedlings growing on the snowfield and swaying in the cold wind, and learning that all of this came from Gao De, all the elders' conviction in Gao De increased to a higher level.

It is no wonder that Elder Lan Wen, a fourth-ring mage, was so excited when meeting Gao De.

After Elder Lan Wen and his men dealt with the corpses of these earth vein creatures and left, Gao De finally couldn't suppress his anticipation, returned home, and focused his attention on the simple information panel of "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow".

Spells:

1st ring - [Get Magic Pet +], [Endure Environment +], [Wild Alertness +], [Languages], [Ice Skating], [Shield], [Frozen Blade], [Wolf Speed], [Sense Emotions], [Tidal Net]. There are 10 first ring spells in total, and the last two spells are just mastered in the past few days.

For a wizard who has been promoted to the first level less than half a year ago, such a spell library can be considered luxurious.

Many mages who have reached the middle stage of the first ring do not master as many spells as Gaode.

Not to mention the 10 first-level spells that Gaode currently possesses, six of which are rare spells, which exceeds half.

"Add, add a lot!" Gao De, who had never been so generous before, waved his hand and focused his attention on the flashing yellow "+" sign after the spell entry of [Languages].

hiss! !

The origin was consumed one point at a time, and the entire entry of [Proficiency in Languages] shook slightly. Then the "Big Dipper" left its nest and merged into the spell model of [Proficiency in Languages], branching out and growing leaves, just like the advancement of a magic plant.

After a few breaths, the "+" after the spell entry of [Languages] moved and stopped flashing.

[Languages+] (Divination, 1st level):

Know the literal meaning of all languages ​​you hear for the spell's duration (one hour).
Extra: For the duration of the spell, the spell can be written in the language it hears.

The change has already happened. Although Gaode has not yet thought of the specific application screen, it is better to have it than not, and it will always be useful.

Of course, the most important thing is that Gaode now has enough origin, so he doesn’t feel sorry even if he adds one or two useless points.

The main character is a rich buddy!

"continue!"

Godard did not stop and shifted his attention to the flashing "+" sign after [Ice Skating].

"Add more to me!"

[Ice Skating +] (Transmutation, 1st level):

Additional: This spell's effects now stack with other movement speed-increasing spells.

it is good!
Gao De secretly praised that the improvement of [Ice Skating +] was visible to the naked eye.

A spell that can be stacked is a good spell.

Just like no matter how rich a person is, he will never complain about having too much money.

"Come again!"

Another consumption of origin.

After a few breaths, [Shield Spell] turned into [Shield Spell+].

[Shield+] (Protection, 1st level):

An invisible mana shield appears around you to protect you, and the spell completely blocks damage from magic missiles.

Additional: Mana Shield's duration and protection are increased somewhat.

better!

Shield is a defensive spell, different from an offensive spell, so Gaode doesn't need it to come up with any weird new effects.

Directly improving the spell effect, which is the so-called "numerical improvement", is the best arrangement for protective spells!

“Feng Ling Yue Ying” never let him down.

"Again!"

God's spirit is focused on four rare spells obtained from the guardian of the snowfield.

After a while.

[Frozen Blade+] (Conjuration, 1st level):

This spell creates a permanent shard of ice. You can cast it again at any time to send the shard toward a creature within 240 feet. If it hits, the target takes piercing damage and cold damage.

Spell damage can be increased by improving the quality of ice shards.

Bonus: Ice shards are now smaller, making them easier to carry and conceal.

Feeling the new effect of [Frozen Blade+], Gao De's heart moved, and he subconsciously cast a spell to shoot out the ice crystal fragments hidden at his waist.

Whoosh!
An almost imperceptible transparent shadow flashed by.

The ice crystal fragments suddenly changed from the size of a dagger to the thickness of a silver needle.

Looking at the Frozen Blade, which could not be called an ice crystal fragment but an ice needle, Gao De was stunned and very surprised in his heart - he knew that the form had become smaller, but who could have thought that it could be condensed to such a small size?
It suddenly changed from a sharp weapon to a hidden weapon. I like it!
While Gao De was secretly delighted, inspiration came to him and he chose to hide the ice needle in his right ear.

Two blossoms!
After experiencing the changes of [Frozen Blade+], Gaode was even more looking forward to the remaining three spells, and hurriedly continued to consume his origin to "add points".

[Wolf Speed ​​+] (Transmutation, 1st level):

Bonus: You gain the leaping ability of a wolf (3–4 m. leap distance, 1.5–2 m. leap height) in addition to the speed of a wolf for the duration of the spell.

There's not much to say, it's basically an upgrade from "half wolf" form to "full wolf" form, and the improvement is most obvious for movement in special terrains like jungles with many obstacles.

[Emotion Perception +] (Divination, Level 1):

You tune into your senses to pick up on the emotions of others for a duration (up to ten minutes).

When you cast this spell and until it ends, you can focus your senses on one humanoid creature you can see within a 60-foot radius of you.

You instantly learn the target's primary emotion, such as love, anger, pain, fear, calm, or something else. If the target is not actually humanoid or has extreme mental resistance, you sense its calm emotion instead.

Additional: Once the target is immune to the effects of this spell, it will not be able to detect that the spell has been cast on it unless its mental strength is much greater than yours.

[Perceiving Emotions] In fact, it is somewhat similar to Flora's innate ability to perceive other people's malice.

However, due to Flora's innate ability, she can sense the malice of even creatures that are much more powerful than her, without having to actively cast spells, and the other party will not notice it.

In comparison, [Perceiving Emotions] has too many more limitations. Not only do you have to actively cast the spell, but you also have to compete in mental strength for the spell to take effect.

If the recipient's mental strength is higher than your own or if they have the ability to increase their mental toughness, [Sense Emotions] will not work.

This is not the point. The point is that if the recipient is immune to the spell effect of [Perceive Emotions], then while being immune, the recipient will also perceive that you have cast the spell on him - if you fail, you will die.

Once you fail, there is a high probability that you will make enemies.

However, [Perceive Emotions+] makes certain corrections in this regard.

Undoubtedly, it is a very practical enhancement direction.

Satisfied, Gaode focused his attention on the last unadded first-level spell.

After counting the breaths:

[Tidal Net+] (Conjuration, 1st level):

You magically create a tidal net of water that makes a ranged spell attack against a target you can see within range (120 feet = 40 meters). A Large or smaller creature caught in the net is restrained until it is freed.

The net cannot affect incorporeal creatures or creatures of Huge size or larger.

A creature can break free of the net through sheer force, or it can use its sharp claws to destroy the net and end the restraint effect.

Additional: For an additional cost, you can increase the size of your Tidal Net to affect Huge or larger creatures.

(End of this chapter)