It could affect soil quality, nutrient retention, growth speed, resilience against environmental damage, and even the inherent quality of the crops produced.
If this passive worked the way he expected, it would stack with everything he was already doing.
His farms, his crops. All of it would benefit.
This was one of the best abilities he could get.
Even though his crops were already unmatched in the nearby region, that did not mean he could afford to relax. Being ahead now did not guarantee staying ahead later.
He had seen enough of the [Market] to understand that.
Florathi.
His current goal was to surpass them.
From everything he had learned, the Florathi kingdom currently dwarfed him in both quantity and quality. Their agricultural system had been refined over generations. Entire regions were dedicated to production, supported by specialized classes and resources.
Trying to compete with that alone was almost unreasonable.
But Isaac did not see it that way.
"If I can’t aim that high, then what’s the point?"
He was not planning to match them overnight. That would be unrealistic. But having the ambition to reach that level—or even surpass it eventually—was necessary.
Otherwise, he would stagnate.
And stagnation was not an option for someone with a Transcendent rank Farming Talent.
"How is it?"
Emily’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
She had been watching him for a while now, clearly waiting for his reaction.
Isaac looked at her and smiled.
"It’s awesome. Thank you."
That was all he said, but the sincerity in his tone was clear.
Emily’s face lit up immediately.
"I’m glad you like it," she said.
"You did well," Isaac replied, keeping his tone steady.
After that, the dinner continued without anything unusual. The conversation shifted to lighter topics, and for a while, things felt almost normal.
Once they finished eating, no one went to bed right away.
Celia stood up first and turned toward Catherine.
"I need your help with something," she said casually.
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Right now?"
"It won’t take long," Celia replied, already heading toward the stairs.
Catherine glanced at Isaac for a brief moment before following her.
Isaac watched them go, his expression thoughtful.
It was a bit worrying what the devil could be planning that needed the fox’s help, but Isaac decided to respect their privacy and not spy on them, not that he could since Professor Catherine could detect him just as easily as he could detect her.
Alice had already gone outside. She was training next to the farm to help digest her food. Avery had gone with her, probably to guide her with Dragon Arts again.
There was still no news of Sword Empress.
Isaac eventually settled down in the living room. He leaned back on the couch, placing his feet on the table, and turned on a random comedy show.
It did not take long for Emily to join him.
She climbed onto his lap without hesitation, holding a bowl of ice cream. As the show played, she alternated between feeding herself and feeding him.
The atmosphere was relaxed.
After a while, she spoke.
"Isaac, I did good with my quest today."
He glanced at her briefly.
"Yes, you did."
He already had an idea where this was going.
"I also fought properly and showed my strength like you told me," she continued.
"Yes. You handled it well," he said, gently patting her head.
She smiled, clearly pleased with the acknowledgment. Then her expression shifted slightly, becoming more hesitant.
"So... can you give me a reward?"
Isaac raised an eyebrow slightly.
"What kind of reward?"
Emily hesitated. Her grip on the spoon tightened a little, and her gaze dropped.
"I... I still need to..." She trailed off, her face turning red.
Isaac waited patiently.
"I still need to take the Heaven-Reversal Elixir," she continued after gathering herself. "So I was thinking... maybe you could give me a reward then."
"I’ll do my best to fulfill your request. So what do you want?" he asked.
She looked up at him again, still clearly nervous.
"Don’t think I’m weird, okay?"
"Okay."
"I mean it. If you don’t like it, you can say no," she added quickly.
"I said okay," Isaac replied, a faint chuckle escaping him.
He could not help but notice the difference.
When they had first met, Emily had been straightforward and to the point. She had asked for them to have their ’marital night’ without hesitation because she simply did not understand what was considered normal.
Now, she did, and that awareness was making her shy.
"So, what do you want?" he asked, encouraging her.
"I..." her voice grew weaker, and weaker and she almost whispered. "I wanted to..."
"To?"
"To try it from behind."
"What do you mea..."
Isaac’s words died in his mouth. His smile stiffened as he understood her meaning.
His first instinct was to refuse, but that thought stopped as quickly as it came after he looked at Emily.
She looked nervous, and regretful, but there was also expectation in her eyes. It was clear she had put effort into asking this.
He let out a small breath.
’M-Maybe this is normal between couples?’ he tried to tell himself.
His silence made Emily’s expression change. If she had dog ears, they would be drooping by now.
"Wh-What a coincidence. I wanted to try new stuff too, and was wondering how to ask you," he said quickly, realizing he needed to salvage the situation before Emily felt she had spoken something wrong.
"Really?"
"Yeah," he replied, nodding perhaps a bit too quickly.
She studied his face for a moment, as if trying to confirm whether he was serious.
Before she could look carefully, he added, "But not today. You’re already tired from the quest, and if you take the Heaven-Reversal Elixir on top of that, you would be tired beyond the limits. So rest for today."
Emily relaxed almost immediately.
"Okay," she said, smiling again.
The tension that had been building in her seemed to disappear.
That innocent smile made Isaac internally sigh.
’So this is really happening,’ he thought.
Isaac was happy to do anything that made his wives happy, and he would be lying if he said he was not curious about ’that.’
But it was still something he needed time to process properly.
It was still a giant psychological step for him. Not to mention, he needed to check about things regarding it. Wouldn’t it hurt? Would it actually feel pleasurable? What were the things he needed to keep in mind?
...who told Emily about this?
’Was it Celia, or Alice?’
Isaac had an idea of what kind of perverted things Alice had, or checked online. It was entirely possible Emily learned these new things from her. But Celia could equally be responsible.
’Sigh, forget it. Whoever told Emily about it. It doesn’t change what I need to do,’ he thought.
He gently picked Emily up and carried her to the bedroom. He helped her settle in, gave her a light massage to ease her fatigue, and waited until she fell asleep.
Only then did he leave the room.
Outside, he found Alice still on the farm. After a brief exchange, he told her to wrap up and rest.
By the time he returned inside, the house was quiet.
Celia seemed to have finished whatever she was doing and had already gone to sleep.
Isaac walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He drank slowly, letting the coolness clear his mind.
He had just finished when he felt someone behind him.
Arms wrapped around him from the back.
Catherine.
"You’re sleeping with your big sis tonight. I hope you remember the schedule," she said softly, her breath brushing against his collar.
"I do." He nodded.
Catherine pouted seeing he wasn’t flustered by her breath hitting his neck. She had this feeling back when she was teaching him today too, but Isaac had matured a lot after coming back from the Trial.
The six months he spent there had given him a lot of time to grow.
’Somethings never change though,’ she thought and licked her lips. ’I wonder how hard you will try to ’tame’ me today?’
She loved their passionate movements together but what she loved even more was how he would try to ’subdue’ her, and how his expression would change when he realized he was the one who lost.
Just thinking of those movements sends shivers of pleasure down Catherine’s spine.
Isaac had a calm smile. He could tell what was going through Catherine’s head.
’Let’s see if I can’t really tame you today,’ he thought.
He drank the water, put the glass back, and turned to her.
"You know, the worst thing about the Trial was how I couldn’t meet you for six months," he said, picking her up in a princess carry. "I missed you a lot, so tonight, I’m going to spoil you to my heart’s content."
Catherine’s smile froze, hearing such sweet words from Isaac.