Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 558

Chapter 555: Ekaterina’s Ruthlessness and the True Threshold of Special Funding

Chapter 555: Catherine’s ruthlessness and the real threshold of special funding.
Locke opened Qingcao Yunze and found two of his articles in this monthly magazine. At the same time, he also glanced at an article by other first-ring wizards in the monthly magazine to see if there was anything he needed.

According to the rules of Qingcao Yunze, a magazine will be sent to you in the same month that your submission is approved. This is considered a benefit given by the journal to wizards who have passed the submission.

“Sure enough, most of the wizards listed here are from the seven top wizard organizations in Yunze Wetland, and some are from the ten top store alliances in Yunze Wetland. They are researchers in the research institutes run by the store alliances.”

“The remaining less than a quarter of the articles come from wizards from the hundreds of medium-sized wizard organizations in Yunze Wetland. As for the articles from wizards in the small wizard organizations in Yunze Wetland… at least in this issue, there is not a single one.”

“In Yunze Wetland, if you join the local small wizard organization, you will basically stay away from District 1, and you may not even be able to join District 2.”

Locke sighed.

That’s why I came to the Academy of True Knowledge. It represents a higher starting point and also provides a good platform for a young first-ring wizard like me with no background.

Locke flipped through the magazine and found an article that actually inspired him a lot. It was written by Will Collins, a senior breeder from the Academy of Truth in the Rose Council. It explained the mechanism by which type 3 daffodil inhibitor could be used to turn multi-headed roses into double-headed roses.

Locke quickly read the article. As a breeder and alchemist, he quickly realized that he could use type 3 daffodil inhibitor as the core material and use the core materials, secondary materials, auxiliary materials and marginal materials in alchemy to make a set of potions that could help his Hydra transform into a three-headed snake.

Although it requires an attempt, with my current level of alchemy honed through the ladder of the Quetzalcoatl Ancient Pavilion, I can indeed give it a try.

Combining alchemy and breeding techniques, a potion was created that can induce plant essence mutations in the Hydra plant.

Locke placed the magazine into his astral ring. “Finally, there’s a possible path forward. As for the materials I need, maybe I could shamelessly go to the industrial park in Alsace and ask for them. Just in case they can give them to me.”

“This will save about 100,000 magic stones.”

“Let’s hire a first-class wizard apprentice first.”

Locke left the dormitory.

…

On the second floor of the Dragon Blood Market Castle, Locke walked into a shop called “The Knowledgeable Agency” and found that the shop was rather simple, with only a desk, a stool, a magic lamp, and a white-bearded wizard.

At the same time, there was also a wizard here whom he had met before, the Griffin wizard from Ekaterina’s Academy of Advanced Knowledge.

The Griffin Wizard was stunned when he looked up at Locke, then turned his head away very unnaturally.

At the same time, the white-bearded wizard shop owner in the first liquefied stage seemed to be very irritable. He was the type who had been suppressing his anger, but at this moment he finally couldn’t hold it back anymore.

“No, this is a small shop. I really don’t have anyone here who can help you complete your first-class project fund for the Zhenzhi Academy.”

“If one of us can do it, do we still need you to go to the Zhenzhi Academy? Can’t we go to the Zhenzhi Academy ourselves?”

“I’m just an ordinary local wizard in the first stage of liquefaction. I can help you with some small articles and at most help you with some small projects, but I really can’t help you.”

“Besides, I don’t have anyone here to help you.”

Locke glanced at the current situation in confusion.

Obviously, the one who could force a wizard in the first-ring liquefaction stage to be so angry at a wizard in the first-ring crystallization stage must be his colleague Griffin Wizard, who really made excessive demands on him that he could not fulfill.

Griffin coughed awkwardly a few times and said, “I’m just asking you, if you can’t do it, then you can’t do it.”

Griffin nodded to Locke and said, “Researcher Augustine, are you also here to hire wizards from the School of General Studies?”

Locke nodded and said, “I saw this shop outside. They said they can recommend me a first-class wizard apprentice who specializes in writing articles. I have some articles for Area 2. The experiments are all done and the key data is also available. I just need someone to write them.”

The old wizard with a white beard’s eyes suddenly lit up. “This is something our shop specializes in. I have many first-class wizard apprentices studying general studies.”

“They can help you write it. As long as you pay them, they don’t need to put their name on the article. Of course, in this case, they can only help you write it, and they definitely don’t have the ability to revise it themselves.”

While speaking, the old wizard with white beard kept looking at the wizard Griffin.

Griffin, feeling somewhat embarrassed, coughed and then said to Locke, “I enrolled three years before you and am currently working on a first-class project fund for the Academy of True Knowledge. Don’t worry, Locke, you’ll laugh at me, but I’m actually having a problem. I can’t seem to finish this project.”

“So, I can only try my best.”

Obviously, what Griffin Wizard meant by trying every possible means seeking external help.

But there is nothing much to say about this matter. If he can really get someone to help him complete the project without having his name on it, that is his own ability.

Locke nodded in understanding. “Yeah, it’s pretty hard for everyone.”

“I’m also too busy to handle it myself, so I came here to hire a few first-class wizard apprentices to help me publish the articles.”

Wizard Griffin breathed a sigh of relief and descended the steps Locke had pointed out. “Right. When I entered Golden Crown Mountain, I thought I could accomplish something significant. To be honest, I even had unrealistic hopes for special funding and a sub-project with Professor Ekaterina.”

“But now, I’m stuck on the first-class fund and can’t move. Alas, now I only hope that I can complete this first-class fund before leaving the station. Then my journey to the Zhenzhi Academy will be complete.”

Griffin sighed. “The most important thing for a person is to know himself.”

“Colleague Locke, I have now faced the reality.”

“I just hope I can complete the first-class project fund.”

“I don’t expect any special funding.”

Locke frowned, sensing something was amiss. “But you still have two years. You might complete your first-class grant at any time in the next few days. If that’s the case, you still have a chance to strive for… special funding and key sub-projects…”

The Griffin Wizard looked at him deeply, as if he saw his own past in Locke, and he regarded himself as Locke’s future.

He sighed. “Sure enough, every researcher who enters the Academy of Advanced Knowledge has unrealistic ideas at first.”

He smiled bitterly. “You think the future is too rosy, and too simple. As your senior, let me tell you something. Don’t put too much trust in our mentor, Witch Ekaterina.”

A flash of fear flashed in his eyes. “I’m not saying that Lord Throne is bad, but I’m saying that when you are under Lord Throne’s training, you will indeed be very happy.”

“But the throne is fickle. She is the sun in the sky, and we are the common people on earth who are protected by her. You cannot always expect the sun in the sky to always favor you.”

Griffin sighed. “We’re not that important. We’ve greatly overestimated our status and our talents.”

Locke frowned.

Wizard Griffin seemed to have suffered a serious blow. He came to the Academy of True Knowledge more than three years earlier than himself, so Locke didn’t know what had happened to make the mentality of such a genius wizard become like this.

However, the fact that he had to look for wizards from outside to do his own research shows how much pressure he was under.

Griffin Wizard whispered to Locke, “The difficulty of obtaining the key sub-topics from the Catherine Throne is much higher than you think.”

“Also, the threshold for obtaining special funding is higher than you think. You don’t know anything yet, right? Oh, and you’re new here, so you don’t know the gaps and the thresholds.”

Like a kindly elder, Wizard Griffin persuaded Locke, “Let me tell you, the prerequisite for receiving special funding is that you must be a second-ring wizard and conduct second-ring-level research.”

Locke frowned. “A second-ring wizard?”

“But all those in the True Knowledge Academy are first-ring wizards…”

Wizard Griffin smiled and said, “As far as I know, the advanced researchers from the Academy of True Knowledge in Groups One and Two, as well as a few ordinary researchers from the first three groups, have become second-ring wizards.”

“Special funding is something that wizards like us at the first ring stage can’t even dream of. The recruitment requirements of the Institute of True Knowledge are only to become a first-ring liquefied before the age of fifty. But look, which wizard at the liquefied stage can actually enter the Institute of True Knowledge.”

“Similarly, the true entry threshold for special funding projects is no longer the crystallization stage, but the second ring! Only second-ring projects can receive special funding from the Three Lakes Land.”

“The competition is fierce,” said Wizard Griffin. “But let alone special grants, even first-class funding has already been squeezed out. I’m not sure I can even complete a first-class grant. By the way, how far has your Institute of True Knowledge funding progressed?”

Locke said: “I just applied for a second-class fund.”

Griffin Wizard raised his brows. “Then keep working hard. Funds will become increasingly difficult to run in the future. The Institute of True Knowledge always starts with the easy and moves on to the difficult.”

“The really difficult part is still to come!”

“I’m completely convinced. My original dream was to go to the Star Territory Sea, but now my dream is just to stay in the Yunze Wetland, and I’m satisfied.”

“And… you’ll be increasingly short of money in the future,” Griffin said. “You’ll find that you’ll need money for scientific research, your students’ advancement will require money, your students and you will need money to participate in competitions, you’ll need money to purchase equipment, and you’ll need a massive amount of money to advance to the second ring…”

“Money, money, money… I’ve never been so short of money before. I’m going crazy because of money.”

“I never thought I’d be so short of money. To advance to the second ring, I even need to conquer a medium-sized plane. These days, how could a wizard organization just give you a medium-sized plane…”

Griffin sighed. “Locke, I wish you good luck in the future.”

“Currently, you have only seen the benefits of the Yunze Wetland, but have not seen its terrifying nature. This is the land of the Three Lakes, where countless geniuses gather. It is very close to the Star Domain Sea. I don’t know how many of us geniuses are buried here.”

“You haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg of Yunze Wetland. This place… can swallow up geniuses.”

Before Griffin Wizard walked out of the store, he sighed, “I hope you can prepare yourself mentally as soon as possible, otherwise I will be you tomorrow.”

After he passed by, the old wizard with a white beard peeked out, watching him walk away, and then said to Locke, “Sir, don’t take what he said to heart. I’ve seen many people like him. He’s just mentally broken and wants to drag more people into it.”

“To prove that it’s not his own problem.”

“My name is George.”

“You can call me Old George. How many first-class wizard apprentices do you want?”

Locke shrugged his shoulders. At least he got two important pieces of information when talking with Griffin – first, special funding required a second-ring wizard and second-ring level research to obtain.

It is very important to obtain this information in advance, as it will change many of your plans.

It seems that I really need more and more money.

Without money, it would be impossible to do scientific research, let alone advance to the second-ring wizard.

But fortunately, this is the Golden Crown Mountain, which has abundant first-ring wizard secret realms, multiple opportunities to gain entry to first-ring wizard secret realms, and a large amount of resources needed to advance to second-ring wizards.

So, although the situation has changed and it is more difficult to obtain special funding, there is still a chance for me to overcome it.

But I really have to hurry up.

Moreover, it seems that I really need to get more funds to use as horizontal funds to support my vertical projects.

I hope that the sales of my Hydra are good.

So I really have to make the three-headed snake as soon as possible.

The second point is that there seems to be a critical point in Witch Catherine’s attitude towards a talented researcher. Once a wizard’s performance exceeds this critical point, Witch Catherine’s attitude is likely to change dramatically.

However, he himself did not know the specific changes, because that was just Griffin’s personal opinion.

Locke nodded to Old George and said, “I know. I won’t be influenced by him. Old George, how much would you charge per month to hire a first-class wizard apprentice with a general education degree?”

Old George said, “Not much. We just make ends meet. One thousand magic stones a month.”

“You can also hire me. I can also write some articles and help you revise the project a little. But I’ll cost 10,000 magic stones a month.”

Locke nodded. “Then I’ll hire a first-class wizard apprentice majoring in general studies. Have him meet me in my dormitory. This is my address… and here are a thousand magic stones. Let’s sign the contract.”

“Can he come to my dorm this afternoon? I’d like to get him to post some Zone 2 articles as soon as possible.”

By posting articles in Zone 2, you can earn yourself a lot of contribution points and exchange them for a large amount of paid library materials.

In Yunze Wetland, if you are awarded in areas three and four, it is equivalent to inflating your qualifications, but you can be awarded in areas one and two.

Most wizards send their content to the second zone not to increase their resume, but to gain contribution points and accumulate contributions.

Although the amount in Area 2 is just a drop in the bucket, it is still a considerable amount when accumulated.

Old George said with a smile, “Of course. As long as this guest is willing, he can report at noon today. I will help you choose a reliable student. However, our first-class wizard apprentices are all from small wizard organizations, so their level is definitely not as good as your first-class wizard apprentices in Golden Crown Mountain…”

(End of this chapter)