Chapter 20: Teleportation Magic

When Donald advanced in the training ground, all the mages in the guild sensed that mental energy fluctuation.
The mages, led by Messehl, were shocked that Donald had risen to the rank of Black Iron Mage in such a short time, yet they were also very pleased. After all, the emergence of a powerful mage from their guild meant that the mage forces of North County had grown stronger, which was good news for all mages there.
“In the name of magic, pursue truth without fear!”
Under Messehl’s leadership, all the mages present witnessed Donald’s official mage rank certification.
“Acolyte Donald Merlinar, from today onward, you officially become one of the great mages. You must uphold the ancient rules, take the pursuit of world truth as your highest goal, and pass on the glory of magic forever!”
“Yes, I shall keep my oath and never betray the beliefs of a mage!”
After saying this, Messehl personally placed the Black Iron Mage badge on Donald.
The original acolyte badge had a blank center, but now Donald’s badge featured an intricate pattern representing elements and wisdom. Unlike other mages, a summoner’s badge had a starry background with a hexagram symbolizing connection to other realms.
“With Donald’s ability to defeat peak Black Iron Mages even as an acolyte, his current strength as a Black Iron Mage likely allows him to confront Bronze-level mages head-on.”
All the mages thought this in their hearts.
The emergence of such a talent in their guild was a honor for all mages in North County and further strengthened their mage forces.
It should be noted that rare casting professions like summoners were few even throughout the Kingdom of Celt, and most of them were below Bronze Mage level. Given Donald’s talent as a young mage, it was certain he would at least become a Bronze Mage.
A summoner who reached Bronze Mage level could likely compete with other Silver-tier professionals without falling behind. This meant North County might soon have another casting professional at the Silver level—a feat not seen in decades.
That evening, the mages held a small but lavish celebration banquet for the newly promoted mage, Donald.
Many mages gave him gifts—some were spells and incantations, some were alchemy formulas, and some were mage equipment. Though none of these items were of very high rank, they were exactly what Donald, who lacked a solid foundation, needed.

Knowing that Donald already had an excellent staff, Maelthor personally enchanted one for his apprentice. The resulting staff was no longer just a game item capable of casting a single spell; it was a high-grade staff that could truly enhance a mage’s spellcasting abilities and even grant two additional spells. However, the price Maelthor paid was having to rest for half a month to recover his depleted mental energy, along with being unable to cast those two additional spells for at least another half year. This act of kindness was truly great—Donald felt immense gratitude and admiration for his teacher. Though he had only met him a few times, the teacher had already shown him sincere care. Moreover, for the development of the mage profession and the strength of the North County and the kingdom, the teacher spared no effort to help the mages around him—what a spirit of dedication! This old mage was far greater than those wealthy celebrities and tycoons from his past life who were rich beyond measure but only pretended to give to charity! Although Donald himself could not offer such selfless contributions, it did not stop him from showing respect for such people. After the excitement subsided, the mages settled down and devoted themselves to their own research and training. With deep admiration, Donald concluded his trip to Stone City. After bidding farewell to Master Maelthor, he went to a deserted alley, envisioned the appearance of his own home in his mind, and a teleportation circle composed of a flash of white light appeared and vanished in an instant—leaving no trace of him in the alley. Only a few rats in the dark alley witnessed this. Inside Merlin’s household, construction materials were piled everywhere, making it difficult to even walk outside. The first attempt at teleportation was a complete success. Immediately after the teleportation, Donald appeared in his backyard without alerting anyone. “The distance between Redmaple Town and Stone City is less than a hundred kilometers. It seems traveling between the two places will be extremely convenient from now on,” Donald said cheerfully. Then, using the mental detection ability he acquired after becoming a black-iron mage, he discovered that his butler was in the kitchen, directing the housekeeper who also served as a cook on how to arrange the noble-style tableware. Aside from that, there were no other outsiders within a hundred meters of the house. Since it was early morning, the nearby residents had just started to get up, so there was no need to worry about being seen doing anything.

Thinking about the location of the manor, he tried to activate the teleportation spell again but felt dizzy, and the spell failed to work. Seeing this, Donald exhaled in awe, “It seems the data provided by the Book of Truth is indeed extremely accurate—there’s no room for error. The cooldown time for the basic teleportation spell is half an hour to prevent excessive strain on the body and allow it to be used continuously!”
“I’d better go to the manor later to take a look. These materials should also be delivered there! Otherwise, if they keep piling up in the yard, we might not even be able to enter the house next time we return!”
So, Donald used some of the elemental crystals he had on hand to increase the space imprint to 30 cubic units, then stored some of the building materials needed in the yard inside the space. Only then did he walk into his house with ease.
Getting up early, the butler Cord, who had just left the kitchen, rushed forward to greet him.
“Young master, you’re back! I’ll immediately order the kitchen to prepare breakfast.”
“Mm!” Donald nodded.
“I’ve already taken away the unused materials outside. After eating, I’ll head to the manor. You continue to handle the orders for the remaining materials!”
Since it was initially just basic construction, Donald hadn’t hired anyone to help. Instead, he planned to build the manor by himself.
Cord asked in confusion, “What about the workers for building the manor? We can’t gather enough workers temporarily, and we also need an experienced designer for the architectural plans!”
The old butler didn’t understand. Donald knew how lucky he was to possess the sacred Book of Truth. Without explaining further, Donald simply showed him his new badge and said, “You don’t need to worry about these, Uncle Cord! The power of a mage can solve everything! I’m now a full-fledged Dark Iron Mage!”
Seeing this, Cord’s doubts dissipated, and his face lit up with joy and pride.
“Great! Excellent! That’s wonderful! The young master is now a full-fledged mage—the rise of the Merlin family is just around the corner!”
Watching the butler’s excited and relieved expression, Donald felt happy too. Living in this world as a replacement for the original Donald was truly worthwhile!
After enjoying a lavish noble-style breakfast, Donald left his house satisfied. By now, the cooldown period for the teleportation spell had ended. After going to a deserted area outside the town, he used the spell to arrive in front of the wooden house at the manor awaiting construction.
Releasing the materials stored in the space imprint and piling them on the manor’s open ground, Donald felt joy as he looked at this land that now belonged to him.

“Although this manor is close to Stone City and Baron Redmaple’s domain, it is now directly under royal control. Thus, I don’t need to pay taxes to those two lords; I only have to pay the royal family a symbolic 3% of my net profit annually according to the manor laws!”
“However, there’s skill involved in this as well. Usually, manor owners try their best to inflate costs on the books to reduce net profits and save on taxes—as long as Sir Jesse, the tax officer, doesn’t detect any issues!”
Donald had some understanding of this from his childhood experiences.
Noble manors aren’t territories, while territories can replace multiple manors! This statement clearly explains the relationship between noble manors and territories.
Initially, manors emerged because nations or great lords lacked funds for certain reasons, so they would set aside land and sell it to subjects who had high status but no territories as a way to make money. Under the witness of the true gods in this world, once the owner of a manor had an heir, the royal family or nobles couldn’t take it back.
Over many years, manors became more refined and turned into exclusive private lands for nobles. But unlike real territories, manor owners could only grow crops or run workshops for economic development—they had no right to gather subjects or maintain private armies.
What was meant by that earlier statement was that nobles who owned manors weren’t necessarily actual nobles, while those who held territories could divide their lands into as many manors as they wanted. Of course, aside from a very few nobles, few would go to such lengths to divide their territories. Usually, manors were granted by higher nobles as rewards to knights and vassals who were loyal to them.
Those in the know, including his butler, were very puzzled by Donald’s choice of these two supposedly cursed manors.
But Donald’s soul came from an era of information overload, so his vision naturally differed from that of the merchants and nobles in this world. With foresight, Donald didn’t choose to buy the fertile manors near Stone City that were on the market. Instead, under the astonished gazes of those who thought he was foolish, he chose this barren land beneath the Green Cloak Forest and Mount Izumo.

He made this choice because although the manors near Giant Rock City were fertile and well-managed by their successive owners, they were not only generally expensive but also lacked much room for further development. Though he possessed thousands of Gold Solars in wealth, for a wealthy noble like Baron Red Maple, it was only equivalent to the income from his lands for one or two years. Buying those expensive manors left him with insufficient funds for development.

The remote wasteland he purchased, on the other hand, was not only cheap and large in area but also located in a secluded spot, making it ideal for his development. As for threats like magical beasts, if they didn’t come, that was fine; if they did, they would only increase the output of his manor.

“Although I haven’t specialized in managing farms or manors, I’ve played quite a few simulation games of that kind. With the Truth Book as a powerful cheat tool, building and managing a manor is a piece of cake!”

Looking up at the vast expanse of land ahead—this would be the starting point for his development—Donald walked cheerfully to the location he had planned earlier. There, some wood and stone materials were piled up. Opening the Truth Book there, Donald chose to summon a human basic building unit: a farm.

“Truth Book, summon a human farm for me!”

Thanks to the prepared basic materials, 80% of the energy required to summon the farm could be saved. As soon as Donald finished speaking, a large golden light absorbed those materials. After the light faded, a phantom farm covering 20 acres instantly appeared on the large tract of land to the left of the manor.

A few breaths later, under Donald’s excited gaze, the phantom transformed into a real entity—a farm that was small by this world’s standards but well-planned and organized.