Chapter 85: i will update
When Rowen returned from the space, it was already past three in the afternoon.
He leaned back on his chair behind the counter, a small smile tugging at his lips. The sight of the ripe batch he had just harvested—plump tomatoes and sturdy potatoes—left him satisfied. The baskets were full, and the faint glow of magic still lingered on the vegetable produce.
He rested for a while, letting Shade curl up lazily on the counter while Fern quietly hovered nearby, invisible to the other people. The thought of upgrading the space soon made him even more content.
Just as Rowen was about to close his eyes, the bell above the door jingled once. He barely looked up, expecting an ordinary customer. But then it jingled again. And again.
Shade sat perched on the counter, flicking her tail, watching the vegetables vanish basket by basket. Fern hovered invisibly, clearly amused by the commotion.
Despite the grumbling, many of the students left with excited faces, clutching their share as though it were treasure. Rowen could already imagine the next wave.
Still, as he glanced at the half-empty baskets, he muttered under his breath, "At this rate, all the baskets are going to be empty..."
After some time, it was now already past 5 pm after the last customer left with empty hands because there was no stock left to sell.
Fern had already planted the next batch, and they were going to be mature at 6:30 pm.
Rowen exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. All the baskets were empty.
"That’s enough for today," he muttered.
He walked to the door, flipped the wooden sign from OPEN to CLOSED, and pushed the door shut with a quiet click. The sudden silence filled the shop, broken only by Shade’s soft meow and Fern’s faint hum in the air.
Rowen leaned against the counter, a small grin tugging at his lips.
Rowen pulled open the drawer beneath the counter where he had been storing all the mana stones from today’s sales. A faint glow leaked out as the wooden drawer slid open. He reached inside and scooped out the pile, pouring the dull, glowing stones across the counter. They scattered with soft clinks against the wood as he began to count, lips moving silently.
"Twenty-six... not bad," he murmured with a small nod.
Without wasting time, he separated six stones from the pile and pushed them toward Fern. "Here. Use these for the upgrade."
Fern’s eyes gleamed. He opened his mouth wide and swallowed the stones one after another. The faint glow in his body brightened for a moment, and a low hum filled the air.
Rowen watched intently, waiting for something dramatic to happen—the portal to flare, the air to tremble, or even a ripple across the counter. But nothing changed. The shop was still quiet, with only Shade’s tail flicking lazily as she lay nearby.
Rowen frowned. "That’s it? Nothing happened?"
Fern floated closer, his tone calm. "The changes won’t appear here. You’ll need to enter the space to see what’s different."
Rowen let out a short breath, scratching his cheek. "Figures. Nothing’s ever that simple." He glanced at Shade, who lifted her head with a curious meow, before nodding. "Alright then. Let’s check it out."
Rowen walked to the back of the shop and unlatched the rear door. Stepping outside, he moved to the quiet corner behind the building. Fern drifted forward, his faint glow pulsing. With a soft hum, the air shimmered where he hovered, rippling outward until the familiar veil of light formed in front of them.
"The portal is open," Fern said calmly.
Without hesitation, Rowen stepped through, Shade padding close at his heels and Fern drifting alongside.
The Independent Space welcomed them with its usual calm breeze, but almost immediately Rowen noticed the difference. The farmland stretched farther than before—the once small patch of soil had nearly doubled in size, rows upon rows of tilled earth now ready for planting. The air itself felt richer, carrying a faint energy that prickled against his skin.
Rowen blinked, stunned. "It’s... bigger form before."
Shade trotted ahead, her nose twitching as she sniffed the fresh soil.
Rowen stood there, letting it sink in. His grin widened slowly.
Fern’s hum carried a note of satisfaction. "This is only the beginning."
Rowen looked around once before raising his hand.
"Status," he called firmly.
The air in front of him trembled.
A translucent blue screen appeared out of thin air, hovering at eye level. Its faint glow lit up Rowen’s face as lines of text began to arrange themselves neatly across the display.
Fern drifted closer, watching quietly, while Shade tilted her head, ears twitching at the strange sight.
After everyone had left, the shop went quiet.
Rowen stood behind the counter, looking down at the ten low-grade mana stones sitting by the register—payment from Darian.
It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was something.
As he reached for the pouch to store them, a shimmer moved near the back wall.
Fern floated into view, still a little groggy, arms loose at his sides. His hair was messy, and his eyes were half open—but as soon as he saw the mana stones, he lit up a bit.
He looked hungry.
Rowen sighed. "You’re still burning through energy that fast?"
Fern just gave a small shrug, not bothering to answer.
Rowen didn’t count them. He picked up the whole stack and tossed it to him.
"Recharge the land. Whatever’s left—use it for the upgrade of the land."
Fern caught low-grade mana stones in one hand, eyes bright now. "Finally."
The stones dissolved into his body in a quiet, pulsing glow.
Rowen watched him for a second.
If this worked, the farm would be one step closer to the next stage.
Just when Rowen was thinking of future plans, the soft jingle of the shop’s front bell drew his attention instead.
The door swung open, letting in a breath of cool air. One female customer stepped inside, her boots tapping lightly against the floorboards as she shut the door behind her.
She stared at Rowen, surprised to see him.
Rowen looked back, recognizing her instantly.
Lyra Anwell
They’d studied together at the lower academy here in the border town. She was at a similar age and in the same class, of course. Rowen always topped the theory exams, and Lyra was second every time.
She hadn’t seen him since the awakening ceremony.
She knows that at the awakening ceremony, Rowen didn’t awaken at all.
Meanwhile, that day she had awakened as a fire mage, with Adept-tier potential.
The annual exam was coming up soon.
She planned to take the exam—like everyone else her age—with the hope of getting into at least a decent mid-tier university.
Federal University was out of reach. It only accepted the best: students with master-level potential or higher. People like Darian.
She wasn’t aiming that high.
It wasn’t that she lacked ambition—she just understood what it meant to have Adept-level potential as a mage.
With her Adept-tier potential, her goal was more realistic: a solid academy, slow but steady advancement, and maybe one day a stable position—teaching or working field support.
She was from a poor family; they live in a lower town area like Rowen. Her family had always struggled. But after her awakening, the academy had given her a small reward—a few low-grade mana stones, part of the school’s basic support program.
It was just enough.
Her parents had used it to start venturing into the wilderness. They hunted weak monsters, gathered mana cores, and sold them to keep the family going.
They couldn’t afford real potions or advanced training gear. Most of their progress came from long days, careful planning, and barely scraping by.
Still—she kept studying. Practicing. Doing what she could with what little resource she had.
She hadn’t planned to end up here.
Today was her day off from the academy, and she’d spent the morning walking through town, checking shops—looking for anything that might help with her next hunt. A recovery potion, maybe, or something to keep her mana recovered after a fight, and she could then hunt more monsters.
But even the cheapest potions were well out of her budget.
She didn’t have many mana stones left. Most of what her family earned went to essentials.
She was getting desperate.
So when she overheard a few people arguing about a strange shop that claimed to sell focus-boosting tomatoes and mana-recovery potatoes, she hadn’t believed it. Sounded like a scam.
Three tomatoes for a whole low-grade mana stone?
That was absurd. Even high-quality produce wasn’t priced like that.
But what if it wasn’t a scam?
What if the effects were real?
She needed the help—and if it worked, it would be cheaper than any potion she could buy. So she followed the small crowd and stepped inside.
That’s when she saw Rowen.
He was standing here, behind the counter of a quiet shop.
"...Rowen?" she asked softly.
And now—Rowen. The one who vanished without a word after Awakening Day. The one who never awakened at all.