Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 764

Chapter 761 Controlling Costs and Element Conversion Pools

The Victoria Witch spoke up, “Could I take a look at that treasure map you showed me earlier?”

“I’m not particularly interested in a second-ring wizard’s treasure map, but it seems to be a product of the pure-blooded human era.”

Locke didn’t hesitate, directly taking the treasure map from his astral ring and handing it to the Victoria Witch.

This treasure map itself contained magical settings, making it difficult to decipher.

The Victoria Witch wasn’t a sealing wizard; even if she were a third-ring wizard, it would be difficult to decipher it in a short time.

The Victoria Witch took the treasure map, glanced at it, and then returned it to Locke.

“Yes, it’s a product of the pure-blood era of humanity. In that era, there existed pure-blood cults that, under the guise of exterminating heretical wizards, actually aimed to eradicate specific magical knowledge.”

“Many wizards of that era, to prevent the loss of their magical heritage, could only hide it in the form of secret treasures. But once these treasures were hidden, it was possible for no one to discover them.” “

Therefore, treasure maps were needed. The treasure map itself was a second-circle magical artifact, equipped with various functions, its main function being to select suitable wizards.”

“Generally, these were wizards with specific bloodlines. Did you see the actual location of the treasure on it? The pure-blood era of humanity was an era in which all races placed great importance on their own bloodlines.”

Locke shook his head slightly.

“Teacher Victoria, I’m not sure either. A result did appear indicating a treasure location, but I don’t know if this result points to the actual location of the second-circle wizard’s secret treasure.”

Witch Victoria nodded and said, “Then you’ll need to spend your time confirming the result.”

“These second-circle magical artifacts utilize a large amount of ancient technology, some of which has been completely lost, making it difficult to find a way to decipher them. Using brute force would damage the artifact itself, destroying all the treasure routes stored within. Within the circle of sealing wizards, there has always been research in this area, searching for a way to completely decipher these ancient treasure maps.”

“It’s just that due to various factors, and the fact that such treasure maps are rare, even if they appear on the market, most holders are unwilling to use them for research, but rather keep them to themselves or trade them on the market. Therefore, there are relatively few objects to study, so there is currently no universal method to decipher them,”

Witch Victoria smiled. “If you’ve confirmed that you don’t meet the requirements, you can take it to the market and sell it. After all, this thing is very valuable if it’s in the hands of a qualified wizard. Of course, if you don’t mind the trouble, you can recruit some wizard apprentices who might meet the requirements…”

“But you’ll have to verify the results one by one to determine if the treasure location is real. Moreover, the Southeast Corner is a medium-magic region that is close to a low-magic environment. Staying there for a long time would have extremely high marginal costs for you.”

Locke nodded slightly, understanding now.

The Witch Victoria said, “There’s another compromise. It’s to find a skilled prophet or a renegade to help you. Use advanced prophetic magic to predict the locations those seventeen targets will point to, and the changes in their routes.”

“Or you could invite a renegade to help you confuse the laws and break the inheritance conditions restricted in the sealing magic,” the Witch Victoria said. “I remember for renegade masters, this is called something like ‘Limited Inheritance.’”

“There aren’t many contract masters willing to do this. Becoming a renegade master requires sacrifice,”

Locke nodded.

Hussein had previously demonstrated the [Confusing Charm] to him, and to use it, one needed to sign a contract with Hell. First, this would directly forfeit a special, unique plane contract, locking one into Hell.

Second, there seemed to be some other side effects.

Signing a contract with Hell was inherently dangerous, as Hell was considered the most manipulative of contracts among all unique planes.

Hearing the Witch Victoria’s suggestion, two people who might be able to help him came to Locke’s mind: the first was Hussein, and

the second was the Witch Georgina.

He realized that having Georgina use the Loom of Fate and the [Heavenly Garment Hunt] to reverse-engineer the true target and correct route among the seventeen targets on the wizard’s treasure map might be a viable option.

Of course, Georgina was backed by a key laboratory at Boniface University; if he handed the wizard’s treasure map to her to decipher, it would be difficult to protect the treasure.

While he wasn’t overly concerned about this unexpected windfall, there was no need to give it away to an outsider.

The Victoria Witch said, “Making it possible to grow second-ring magical plants in a demiplane is indeed quite troublesome. How about this: you can pay me ten million magic stones, and I can use the [Thousand-Fold Transmutation Array] to help you fold the demiplane, but you’ll need to pay for the raw materials yourself, Little Locke.”

Locke paused for a moment, then subtly extended his magic power into his astral ring, using the Ganoderma lucidum magical plant to open the Water Hyacinth system and access the [Thousand-Fold Transmutation Array]’s information.

He discovered it was an extremely high-level third-ring transmutation array.

Roughly speaking, it’s like origami, where an object can be folded together while maintaining its integrity. Because it’s a third-ring transmutation array, information about it is scarce.

Locke could only find a single name.

The Witch Victoria said, “I can use the Thousandfold Transmutation Array to fold several demiplanes together and integrate them into the demiplane in the warp that your right eye was originally connected to.”

“I estimate that six demiplanes of roughly the same size as the one in your right eye would be needed to create a folded version of the demiplane, with six layers of parallel space, to allow second-ring magical plants to grow,”

the Witch Victoria calculated briefly.

“Six parallel spaces can only meet your most basic needs, allowing your demiplane to grow second-circle magical plants. If you want more space, it would be best to find eight demiplanes, which I will then overlap using a thousand-layer transmutation array to create eight parallel spaces for your demiplane.”

“In this way, your demiplane will have nine realms, and it is expected that your demiplane will undergo dimensional ascension.”

The Witch Victoria noticed the difficulty in Locke’s eyes. “Is there a problem?”

Locke smiled wryly.

“Teacher Victoria, I don’t have that much money.”

Indeed, hiring a third-circle wizard to use a third-circle transmutation array to forge something for ten million magic stones is definitely not expensive; on the contrary, it’s a friendly price.

He could certainly afford it if he gritted his teeth.

But what about the cost-effectiveness?

He had worked on quite a few projects, and after experiencing so many first-circle level projects, he was quite sensitive to cost control.

The Forest Sanctuary is a magical entity with no further developments. Even the Forest Alliance Spell was derived and perfected by myself based on the work of the previous headmaster, Dean Levi, at Lilith’s Hut.

The continued research and development of the Forest Sanctuary, the ongoing expansion of the Magic Plant Forest (which has already reached the level of an ancient forest), and the further upgrading of the forest itself—all these tasks require a massive amount of funding.

At least several million magic stones are needed.

Collecting materials from the six demiplanes will also require at least several million magic stones.

So, according to the Witch Victoria’s recommendation, he would have to spend 30 million magic stones on this project out of thin air!

That’s outrageous.

If he put his money into it, even if he could eventually raise the money, it would seriously delay his other endeavors.

‘Right now, I should focus my resources on the Wizard Shoes first, and then on the Plane Conquest and the Testing Ring…’

Locke thought. ‘Only by focusing my resources on the Wizard Shoes and making a good product can I enter a positive cycle of income.’

‘Money can summon more money, like a snowball rolling downhill. If I don’t have any money and spend it all at once, I don’t know when I’ll be able to gather the 10 million magic stones I have now.’

The Witch Victoria paused for a moment, then calculated the costs for Locke and nodded in agreement.

‘Learning to control costs and having the ability to manage money are key qualities for becoming an excellent wizard.’

‘And the most important quality.’

‘That’s really good, Locke, you’re very good at saving money. Unlike my shop assistants and apprentices.’

The Witch Victoria nodded at Locke with satisfaction.

“Then, helping you overlap spaces is a permanent solution. But if you want to control costs, I can give you a temporary solution. I can find someone to build an elemental conversion pool for your demiplane, using the technology of the Wizard Tower to temporarily strengthen that demiplane.”

“I estimate it will only cost five million magic stones.”

“However, this is not as perfect as my first solution; it’s only a temporary fix.”

“With a little setup, the elemental conversion pool can be used to convert void energy into elemental power, and then, using its internal functions, the elemental power can be converted into planar power. Using that planar power to strengthen your demiplane will make it a region where second-ring magical plants can be grown.”

Witch Victoria said, “Hmm, my friend said he has an elemental conversion pool that was salvaged from an abandoned second-ring wizard tower. It’s nearing the end of its life because it doesn’t need repair, but it can maintain normal operation for at least ten years.”

“If you want it, it’ll only cost one million magic stones. Consider it a friendly price. This one million can cover shipping, installation, and other expenses.”

Locke thought for a moment and understood the reason.

It was mainly a matter of time.

Once a wizard reaches the second ring stage, even the most talented seem to find it difficult to progress rapidly because their energy density already exceeds that of most areas in the endless void.

Therefore, ten years is far too short for a second-ring wizard.

Clearly, this elemental conversion pool wouldn’t fetch a high resale price, hence the half-gift, half-sale price of one million.

The elemental conversion pool is a core component of a high-level wizard tower.

Locke estimated that a second-ring elemental conversion pool would cost at least five million, and that’s just the base price, not including other expenses.

Therefore, this one million was definitely worthwhile; it could directly solve his current problem of the demiplane being unable to support second-ring magic plants.

‘Ten years is enough for me; it’s practically the same as directly solving the demiplane problem.’

Locke pondered, “Ten years from now, I estimate that funds will be more abundant, allowing for a more thorough solution to these kinds of problems.” “

The Elemental Conversion Pool is indeed sufficient.”

“While not as perfect as using the Thousand-Fold Transmutation Array to superimpose parallel spaces, the Elemental Conversion Pool basically meets my requirements, while using the Thousand-Fold Transmutation Array to superimpose parallel spaces only increases the score from 60 to 80.” “

The Thousand-Fold Transmutation Array superimposing parallel spaces means using the method of folding space to allow a demiplane to reach the minimum total magic pressure of a small-scale plane, thus supporting second-ring magical plants.

That would simulate a small-scale plane to the greatest extent, making it more perfect.

This is also the reason why the Witch Victoria initially recommended it.

Using the Elemental Conversion Pool means treating that demiplane as a wizard’s tower.

Locke chose the Elemental Conversion Pool due to cost control and practical considerations.

Locke said to the Witch Victoria, “Teacher Victoria, please help me install the Elemental Conversion Pool in this demiplane.”

He removed the contact lens from his right eye and placed it on the table.

The witch Victoria used tweezers to pick up the contact lens and placed it in a magic box.

“Okay. You can come and pick it up in two weeks.”

“I’ll have a construction team of builders I know install the elemental conversion pool for you. Rest assured, our magic glasses shop has the professional ability to protect our clients’ information.”

The witch Victoria then attached the two lenses to Locke’s contact lenses. “This is a diaphragm mirror. It allows the construction team to enter and process materials while concealing the client’s information.”

Locke stood up, bowed to the witch Victoria, and said, “Thank you, Teacher Victoria, for the idea and for finding me a relatively inexpensive modification plan.”

The witch Victoria said, “You don’t need to thank me. The owner of that nearly obsolete elemental conversion pool was looking for a wizard to sell to him, practically giving it away.”

“Some alchemists develop feelings for their works, or even those they handle, regarding them as a kind of ‘person,’ and try to prolong their lives as much as possible. This alchemist is such a wizard.”

The witch Victoria said, “Speaking of which, soon your teacher will be hosting a banquet to celebrate you becoming a second-circle wizard. It’s next Wednesday.”

“Look, this is the invitation. It’ll be a grand affair.”

Locke looked at the invitation.

He wasn’t surprised, because the witch Catherine had sent him a message before, telling him that she would be hosting a celebration banquet for him next week.

He had initially thought it would just be a gathering of disciples, but Catherine the Witch made a huge fuss, seemingly with ulterior motives.

Victoria the Witch chuckled, “Don’t be too nervous. You’re not the main character anyway. Just enjoy your feast.”

(End of Chapter)