Ch.147147. Magic vs. Summon

First, I need to choose an ability that can increase my magical power. Since I plan to use the Light Demon Sword until I find a higher-grade weapon, and I’ll likely be using it for quite a while, I absolutely need to utilize its options. For that, I need to learn an ability that can raise my magic power stat to a base S rank.

I’ve already verified through learning close combat weapons and holy magic twice that when you learn an ability, the related stat rises to S rank. There are many abilities related to magic power. However, among them, I can only be certain of two pure magic power-related abilities: magic and summoning. While others might also use magic power, rather than choosing something ambiguously mixed, it’s more comfortable and effective to select a pure ability.

Besides, I don’t plan to use magic as my main approach right now anyway. It’s just a foundation for the Light Demon Sword, and even if I use it later, pure magic or summoning suits my taste better.

“I wonder how the previous owner used it…”

Originally, I was planning to choose summoning. From the beginning, I was torn between close combat weapons and summoning, not magic. I preferred summoning over magic. Not because having summons to fight for me was reassuring, but because when running a farm, the more hands you have, the better. Summons that move exactly as I intend and become more efficient as my magic power and skill rank increase are always mentioned when discussing magic power-related abilities in the Farming World.

Back then, summons were essential because the number of slaves you could use was limited, and managing territories and loyalty was inconvenient. But here, it’s nice to have but not necessary, which makes it a difficult choice. Especially for combat, magic suits my style better than summoning. Isn’t it faster and easier to distract opponents with shields or magic and then cut them down with close combat weapons, rather than summoning creatures to draw aggro?

That’s why I was conflicted.

“Hmm. Magic is a bit common though.”

This wasn’t just about efficiency versus romance, so it wasn’t an easy choice. I just needed to choose based on preference. For farm work, summoning is better, but magic isn’t bad either. I could summon water to sprinkle until I get sprinklers.

But I wasn’t too concerned about the farm aspect, probably because I’d leave farming to Kim Sujeong. So I considered the real-world implications.

“Which would look cooler?”

What would people prefer to watch on YouTube? Well, anything SSS+ rank would attract viewers.

Magic.

An evergreen pick.

Kellin, an SS-rank magician I’m acquainted with, has over 100 million YouTube subscribers. When his magnificent flame magic fills the screen like a dance, people go wild and can’t close their mouths watching monsters melt away. Even film directors praise its splendor and power, saying no movie CGI could create such effects.

Summoning.

Also a rare ability with considerable demand.

Coincidentally, Seo Hyoju, whom I also know, is an S-rank summoner. She’s known for summoning monster-type creatures.

Her cute summons are so popular that they have their own fan cafes, attracting a lot of attention. That’s why she has many subscribers despite not being an SS-rank hunter. Though her Golden Group-level idol-like appearance probably contributes most to that.

So it seemed like a simple choice: magic for destructive power, summoning for cuteness.

Magic definitely matched my style better, but…

After some deliberation, I made my decision.

“I’ll go with summoning.”

To showcase magical splendor, you need to use magic. But I prefer combat using close combat skills with the Light Demon Sword. Since Leap Slash makes defensive magic largely meaningless, magic would end up being just a mana launcher.

So I returned to summoning, which might help in combat and be useful in everyday life. But instead of monster summoning like Seo Hyoju, I chose pure summoning—specifically elemental summoning, which was popular long ago.

[Elemental Summoning has been raised to SSS+ rank.]

In the past, before I started Farming World, I was immersed in fantasy novels like “Elemental King Elquines.” Water, fire, electricity, wind—communion with these elemental spirits and contracts with elemental kings were quite appealing in fantasy settings.

I too once dreamed of making contracts with such spirits and traveling with elemental kings.

I actually fulfilled that dream in Farming World. The problem was that my childhood innocence had disappeared, replaced by a demon hardened by thousands of hours in Farming World, who was busy putting spirits to work on the farm.

Anyway, putting those memories aside, this would be my first encounter with spirits in the Rift Dimension.

[Spirit Affinity]

– Rank: SSS+

– Passive Skill (Elemental Summoning)

– Affinity with all spirits is fixed at 100%.

– Contracted spirits’ ability effects increase by 300%.

– Contracted spirits’ skill effects increase by 300%.

– Contracted spirits’ vitality/magic power increases by 500%.

– Spirit cost for contracts is reduced by 70%.

Elemental summoning requires a resource called “spirit,” similar to mana. This is a fixed resource granted separately from mana, proportional to magic power, and determines how many spirits you can summon.

That’s why elemental summoners, like other summoners, typically have high magic power stats if they’re high-ranked.

“That’s right.”

My base magic power rose to S rank, and with the effects of the Glass Ring and Corrupted Ring, it increased by two more ranks to SS-. My mana instantly ballooned to 770, and with item effects, my total mana exceeded 1,000. At this level, I could probably use Leap Slash all day and still recover mana faster than I use it.

And as my magic power increased, I gained a new resource called spirit.

– Spirit: 500/500

I was given a value of 500.

“That’s a lot.”

I knew the Rift Dimension was generous with resources like mana, but in my memory, spirit was one of the most sparingly given resources. The more you had, the more spirits you could command to make farm management easier, so spirit always felt insufficient even when raising magic power. I vividly remember in Suhyeon’s Farming World 1, when I tried to contract with an elemental king, even with SS+ rank magic power, contracting one elemental king would break all contracts with other spirits because it required so much spirit.

That’s how demanding elemental summoning is. Though it has more uses compared to monsters.

I decided to try the skill to summon at least once.

[Spirit Summoning]

– Rank: SSS+

– Active Skill (Elemental Summoning)

– Mana Cost: 100

– Summons a random spirit.

– Can select desired element by consuming additional 100 mana.

– Can select desired rank by consuming additional 100 mana.

The basic passive and active skills. It’s good that I can summon spirits without using farming points, but the mana consumption is quite steep.

“300 mana for one summon? You couldn’t even use this without at least S-rank magic power.”

It might consume more mana because of the high skill rank.

“Spirit Summoning.”

Woooong-

As I used the skill, the space in front of me began to distort and spin. I only used an additional 100 mana to choose the desired element.

“Summon a water spirit.”

The distorting space begins to fill with blue light. The Spirit Realm—in Farming World, there’s a separate setting for the Spirit Realm, and spirits usually come from there when summoned. Since they appear randomly, I don’t know what rank of spirit will emerge.

Usually, the first summon is a lowest-grade or low-grade spirit. But since I have an SSS+ rank, it might be different. Or it could still be completely random.

Could an elemental king appear from the start?

As I watched expectantly, the distorting hole grew larger.

And then.

Splash-

With a refreshing sound of water, a water spirit appeared.