Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 777

Chapter 774 The Ancient Court and the Black Wizard Leader of the Pale Pilgrimage

Patty drove the carriage with extreme caution, lest the seven first-ring Qi Transformation stage black wizards notice anything amiss. In her eyes, Locke was merely a first-class wizard apprentice.

However, she hadn’t anticipated that Locke was completely unconcerned.

He had two choices: first, to follow the group to the Black Wizard Alliance and have a friendly exchange with the leader of the Ghostly Holy Church;

second, to kill six, spare one, and then control him to take him to the Black Wizard Alliance meeting place.

Either choice was irrelevant to Locke.

Locke briefly spoke with Patty, learning about the current situation in the Southeast Corner.

A year ago, the Southeast Corner was a place where the Black Wizard Alliance was suppressed by the White Wizard Association and suffering continuous defeats. But a year ago, the situation suddenly changed.

A mysterious force suddenly intervened, strengthening the dark wizarding power in the southeastern corner of the region. A year ago, they organized an operation ostensibly to attack the Four Seasons Garden, but actually a surprise attack on the University of Verdandia.

This operation was later known as the “Great Dark Wizard Raid.”

During that attack, Verdandia University’s main wizards had already left their headquarters, leaving them powerless to reverse the situation. They had no choice but to abandon their base and disperse, sending their students and wizarding instructors to commit suicide.

Patty had already escaped, but six months ago, due to a lack of magical tides in the mortal kingdom, her magical power steadily declined. Having only recently broken through to the second-tier wizarding apprentice level, she wanted to prevent falling back to the third-tier.

After exhausting her magical power, she attempted to find magical resources. However, upon entering a magical market in that mortal kingdom, she was captured by the Blood Curse Court and cursed with a blood curse.

Locke, after hearing Patty’s story, paused slightly.

He then realized that this was the Southeast Corner Region, not the prosperous Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

In the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, the mortal kingdoms were filled with magical tides, while the major wizarding academies in the Southeast Corner Region had numerous magic arrays that gathered the surrounding magical tides, increasing the concentration of magic. In the mortal kingdoms, however, it was almost a magic-free region.

A wizard with weak power, staying in such a place for a long time, would only see his power continuously decline.

Locke looked at his right hand; after using Half Summer and summoning the Moon’s Dharma Realm, he had also lost magical pressure and couldn’t recover in time.

After all, the Southeast Corner Region was far too barren for him.

Shallow waters can’t produce big fish.

Big fish will only suffer more and more in shallow waters.

‘Almost all the resources here are useless to second-ring wizards,’

Locke thought. ‘Therefore, there are very few second-ring wizards here.’

‘Of course, according to the information I reviewed in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands’ free library, in addition, the White Wizard Association also doesn’t want wizards with too high a ring to enter weak wizarding territories.’ “

A prolonged stay, or undertaking any significant task here, would attract the special attention of the Association’s Ethics and Morality Review Committee,” and

“and visits from the various directors stationed in this wizarding land. But I’ve been here for so long, and none of those directors have visited me. Either they’re too busy with their own affairs, or they haven’t discovered me yet…”

Locke pondered.

Either way, it indicated that the intensity of the war in the southeastern corner was escalating.

The local White Wizard Association, which should have been closely monitoring the passenger lists of the wizard airships, hadn’t even approached him, a second-circle wizard returning home for a visit.

This was highly unusual.

Locke said to Patty, “After this matter is resolved, I can write you a letter of recommendation so you can study at Lilith’s Cottage.”

Patty was stunned, somewhat taken aback.

Did first-class wizard apprentices have such a high status at Lilith’s Cottage?

Could a single sentence grant her admission?

But Patty didn’t refuse. After all, she was facing dire straits, and if she could gain the protection of Lilith’s Cottage, that would be ideal.

As Patty drove the carriage, she whispered to Locke, “But Locke, I’ve already drunk the cursed blood those damned black wizards fed me. I’m in a state between life and death.”

“Can I ever return to the white wizard community like this?”

Patty asked, her face filled with despair.

Locke frowned strangely, lifted the carriage curtain, and a primordial fire ignited at his fingertips. He then placed his fingers on her back, and the primordial fire entered her body.

Locke used a reverse refining technique to extract her spirituality, then burned a bead of bright red blood from her separated spirituality. The bead was instantly burned away by the primordial fire.

Then, her spirituality automatically returned to her body.

Locke said, “It’s done. The cursed blood in your body is gone.”

“You don’t need to worry about becoming a blood servant anymore.”

Outside the carriage, Patty lifted her sleeve and saw that the blood vessels that would appear on her arm after drinking the cursed blood had disappeared, indicating that she truly didn’t need to worry about becoming a blood servant.

Patty’s eyes widened, and after a long pause, she suddenly spoke to Locke in a respectful, low voice, “Lord Locke, thank you.”

Even if she were oblivious, she couldn’t help but realize that Locke was likely not a first-class wizarding apprentice.

That was a curse cast on her by a first-class wizarding apprentice from the Blood Curse Court, the closest they could come to becoming a full-fledged wizard, and Locke had dispelled it in an instant. That could only mean that Locke was very likely a full-fledged wizard!

In the Southeastern Corner Region, the difference in status between a full-fledged wizard and a wizarding apprentice was like heaven and earth.

Patty had already experienced this at the University of Verdandia.

At this moment, her voice carried an overwhelming sense of respect and awe.

Locke sat in the carriage and sighed.

Things could never go back to the way they were.

He and Patty used to be able to chat and laugh about magical texts on the sunlit paths of Orrian Academy in Corfu, but now Patty was a second-class wizarding apprentice, while he was a second-circle wizard.

The difference was simply too great.

Even if she wanted to stay true to her original aspirations, Patty couldn’t be the person she remembered from the past.

This was the best possible outcome; if Patty knew she was a second-circle wizard, the rift would likely be even greater.

However, one must look forward.

Along the way, the number of companions has increased.

As long as one continues to ascend to higher institutions of learning, one will encounter more people who share the same pursuit of truth.

Locke, sitting in the carriage, asked Patty, “Patty, how many second-circle wizards were involved in the great dark wizard raid?”

Patty replied, “Two…two. It was terrifying. I couldn’t breathe when they appeared. I only heard two people from the dark wizards laughing, saying they were second-circle wizards…”

“Our second-circle wizard director at Vildantia University was quickly and severely injured by their combined attack.”

“However, I only heard this secondhand.”

Locke wasn’t surprised. He sat in the carriage, fine-tuning all his botanical spell models.

A day later, the magical carriage convoy arrived at the original site of Vildantia University.

The once majestic white buildings had been uprooted and completely destroyed, leaving only a pile of ruins.

After a day’s work, Locke had used the Water Hyacinth System to inquire with Leader Celt and learned the symbolism of the skeletal hand banner.

The Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Land!

It was the emblem of the five major dark wizarding groups of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

In other words, the Southeast Corner Region was backed by the Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Land, one of the five major dark wizarding groups of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

The Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Land itself was a gathering place for those neither alive nor dead.

The White Wizarding Association forbade all wizards from researching necromancy; any wizard who did so had to pay a heavy fine, and those who refused to pay were marked as dark wizards.

The Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Land was a gathering place for those marginalized members of the white wizarding society who researched necromancy.

Knowing this, Locke finally understood.

“But the major dark wizarding forces in the Southeast Corner are almost all researching necromancy. This suggests that the Dark Wizarding Alliance in the Southeast Corner is likely heavily influenced by the Pale Pilgrimage Haunted Land.”

“Furthermore, Patty said she heard that two second-circle wizards appeared during the Dark Wizarding Raid. Originally, there were only two second-circle wizards in the Southeast Corner. This indicates that the Pale Pilgrimage Haunted Land has sent many new second-circle wizards.”

“Of course, the situation in the Southeast Corner isn’t so simple either. I guess the White Wizarding Association has also invited second-circle wizards from outside to enter this wizarding land.”

Locke now felt fortunate that he hadn’t chosen to stay and develop in the Southeast Corner, otherwise he would definitely have been caught up in this war.

The day before, Patty had told him that the Four Seasons Garden was still under siege by the Dark Wizarding Alliance, and she didn’t know if it had fallen yet.

If it had fallen, then the only major white wizarding force left in the entire Southeast Corner would be Lilith’s Hut.

All the remaining white wizarding academies would be a rabble.

Lilith’s Hut would bear all the pressure of the war.

Locke sat in the carriage, contemplating the current situation. He hadn’t expected the situation in the Southeast Corner to have deteriorated to this point.

He would have to wait and see.

His original purpose in returning was to personally discuss the Myster Power Research Institute project with Lilith’s Hut, intending to use Wizard Albert as a model to train more formal wizards who could achieve first-ring status through the Forest Sanctuary.

However, he hadn’t anticipated the raging war here.

Moreover, the dark wizarding forces from the higher-level wizarding lands were involved.

Locke murmured, “Strange, even in this state, the Southeast Corner hasn’t requested help from headquarters.”

Outside the carriage, Patty, who was driving Locke, remained silent, as she couldn’t understand what he was saying.

The information she possessed differed greatly from Locke’s.

To her, the Southeast Corner was the entire world, and the fall of Verdandia had left her with immense psychological trauma.

She felt as if the sky were falling.

It was as if the Dark Wizarding Alliance had become incredibly powerful, as if the Frankish Empire on Corfu was about to unify the six kingdoms.

Little did Locke know, in his eyes, this was merely a minor conflict within an ordinary wizarding community.

Even the White Wizarding Association’s eastern branch in the Starfield Sea wouldn’t need to intervene; the branch in Cloudswamp Wetlands alone would swiftly suppress this black wizarding unrest.

Therefore, from a different perspective, even the same issue could appear entirely different in severity and nature.

At this moment, before the ruins of Verdandia, a headless knight clad entirely in black armor stood blocking the magic convoy. He wielded a black lance, a one-ringed magical artifact, and rode a hellish warhorse. His black armor was covered in chilling barbs.

He had no head, and a flickering soulfire burned around his neck.

“Stop. Permit.”

Inside the Blood Curse Court’s magical carriage, a vampire elder, supported by a blood servant, stepped down and shakily approached the headless knight, respectfully presenting a medal of the Bone Hand.

The aged, solemn vampire clan elder exclaimed excitedly, “Pale Pilgrimage, embracing eternal rule!”

Locke, seated in the magical carriage, frowned.

“Eternal life?” “

This Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Land is a holy site of necromancy. They seem to crave eternal rule, just like the Lich Kings of the Age of Stars.”

A thought flashed through Locke’s mind.

‘I wonder if these two forces are connected.’

At this moment, before the magical carriage convoy, the headless knight, upon seeing the permit, did not move his spear but continued to block their path.

However, he seemed puzzled by something and remained motionless.

Locke, witnessing this, wore a half-smile. It didn’t matter; if this guy really recognized him, he’d have no choice but to kill him.

This was a classic case of “the road to heaven is open, but you choose the path to hell.”

Patty gripped the reins, extremely nervous, her palms sweating profusely, fearing the headless knight might suddenly attack them.

The headless knight showed no intention of moving, instead pointing his black, magical spear at the nose of the Blood Curse Court’s clan elder, but remained silent and motionless. He

seemed to be assessing the situation.

The next moment, a vaporized vampire wizard suddenly rushed out, piercing the headless knight’s armor with his blood claws, then pinning him to the ground and tearing him to pieces.

This action startled the other elders of the Blood Curse Court.

This was a high-ranking undead spirit that the Crystallized Wizard had deployed here!

The young clan elder sneered, “When did we dark wizards become so law-abiding? I’ve got my eye on this first-ring enchanted artifact. It’s mine.”

“I saw it by the roadside, picked it up, so it’s mine.”

The other clan elders also looked greedily at each part of the headless horseman.

“Then I want the headless horseman’s soul fire!”

“I want its body.”

“I want its armor!”

“I want that hellhorse…”

In an instant, a perfectly good undead nearing the first ring was completely devoured by these fools.

Patty became even more nervous at the sight.

Killing their own people!

These people are terrifying!

Are they really going to mingle with such a group of horrible lunatics?

Patty was trembling all over.

Locke, sitting in the carriage, had a strange expression. Good heavens, he had originally planned to go out and kill all the dark wizards in this caravan, including the headless horseman, and then go straight into the arena.

Unexpectedly, upon seeing the high-ranking undead blocking their path, the group of dark wizards immediately turned to evil, killing the undead and instantly robbing it of all its components.

They were simply lucky.

After killing the undead, the magical carriage convoy entered the ruins of Vildantia. Many apprentice wizards from various dark wizarding academies were scavenging in the ruins.

Since this region had only fallen a year prior, the ruins contained many resources that might be useful, or even valuable, to the apprentices, so there was no shortage of dark wizard apprentices scavenging.

Perhaps one day a lucky dark wizard apprentice would find some valuable resources, causing a bloodbath.

Locke, donning a black robe, followed the Blood Curse Court to a ruin where many dark wizards were already gathered.

Because of his black robes and hoods, and the chaotic magical pressure from the hundreds of formal wizards present, none of them noticed Locke’s unusual behavior.

Locke immediately recognized several familiar faces.

The first was the witch Stephania, the high priestess of the Ghostly Cult.

The second was the Blood Lord.

Locke had no personal connection with the Blood Lord, but due to past conflicts with several wizards of the Blood Curse Court, he naturally paid closer attention to the Blood Lord standing amidst the ruins.

The third wizard was the Golden Skull King wizard of the Bone Order.

Locke also spotted Henrik, the chief wizard instructor of the Corpse Court who had overseen the Dark Wizard Alliance’s operations at Lilith’s Hut.

More dark wizards continued to gather at the ruins.

Clearly, this was a gathering of dark wizards, discussing how to further attack the White Wizard Association in the Southeast Corner.

Besides the four top dark wizard academies of the Southeast Corner, there were many smaller dark wizard academies, some with only a few wizards.

Henrik glanced at the assembled formal and dark wizards, his eyes gleaming.

“Only the Pale Pilgrimage possesses such power.”

“With just a single command, they can gather even the most remote and secluded Black Wizard Academy in the Southeast Corner. These are beings that my Corpse Control Court cannot command.”

The Blood Lord murmured, “After all, theoretically, all our heritages were passed down from the Pale Pilgrimage. Especially our Blood Curse Court, Corpse Control Court, and the Ghostly Holy Church and the Bone Order.”

“The founding wizards of these four wizarding academies all came from the Pale Pilgrimage. The other smaller wizarding academies were generally founded by graduates of our four academies,”

the Blood Lord said. “Because of this order, all the official wizards of my Blood Curse Court have come. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for all the official wizards of our Blood Curse Court to be present at once. Not only that, even the official wizards from our larger wizarding academies, such as the Tower of Curses, the Blood Chapel, and the Blood Slaughterhouse, have come. Heh… all the official wizards of our Blood Curse Court lineage are here.”

The chief wizard instructor of the Corpse Court, Hanmerk, ordered the old medium beside him to raise a medium lamp and illuminate the ruins.

As the eerie ghostly flame lit up, everyone’s faces were turned green by the magical light.

The old medium said, “We are conveying the orders of the court ministers. Before the Grand Prince’s royal court moves here, the White Wizard Associations of this land must be cleared. Therefore, we must launch a final attack on the White Wizards. Currently, of the larger White Wizard Association academies, only Lilith’s Hut has not fallen.”

“Today, under the witness of our Dark Wizard Alliance leader, we will elect a leader to carry out the mission of capturing Lilith’s Hut! He will lead us to capture the last stronghold of the White Wizard Association in this region. This is the Grand Prince’s decree conveyed by the Pale Pilgrimage!”

Locke was stunned.

So that’s how it is. Even the Gardens of Seasons has already fallen?

And Niflheim University couldn’t withstand the Dark Wizard Alliance’s attack either?

Patty has been a slave to the wizards of the Blood Curse Court for half a year, so the information she knows is probably outdated. It seems that in the past six months, both the Gardens of Seasons and Niflheim University have fallen.

He was busy with the Silent Grail and hadn’t contacted the wizards in the Southeast Corner at all.

The old medium, her voice eerie, said, “We need to force the local White Wizarding Association to reach an agreement with us. Therefore, we will organize an operation to storm Lilith’s Hut, forcing the White Wizarding Association to negotiate with us and agree to let the Highlord’s palace descend.”

Locke frowned.

Because the Highlord, the palace, and the royal court were all very ancient things. Logically speaking, after the Enlightenment, no wizard should have dared to claim the title of king or emperor.

With the White Wizarding Association in power, which wizard in the world would dare to truly consider themselves an ancient wizarding monarch? They would surely be attacked by the entire world.

The Pale Pilgrimage, which spends its days practicing eerie necromancy, hadn’t expected that even its political system was completely outdated, dating back to before the Enlightenment.

A court minister?

If a second-circle wizard was a court minister from the Pale Pilgrimage, then the Pale Pilgrimage should have a third-circle wizard.

Locke used the Water Hyacinth System to inquire with the Celtic group leader which academy in Cloud Marsh Wetlands was sponsoring the Pale Pilgrimage.

The Celtic group leader quickly replied.

“It’s the Rose Council and the Storm Tower.”

“Locke, I almost managed to snag a Sun-Shepherd Dragon before, which I was planning to give you as a congratulatory gift after you become a second-circle wizard. Alas, that dragon died later.”

Locke blinked, his face twitching, and asked, “How come the Storm Tower supports so many dark wizards? Team leader, which one does Golden Crown Mountain support?”

The Celtic team leader said, “The Storm Tower has many shady businesses, so they need dark wizards to help them cover up. Every time someone is about to get evidence and is about to sue them, they can contact those dark wizards.”

“Golden Crown Mountain funds the Chaos Mothership.”

“Why are you asking these questions?”

Locke replied, “Nothing, I just encountered the Pale Pilgrimage in the Southeast Corner.”

The Celtic team sent a string of “??”

‘How come Locke, you can encounter dark wizards causing trouble while visiting relatives? You can report it to the White Wizard Association of Cloud Marsh Wetlands.’ Although our White Wizard Association in Yunze Wetlands is just a White Wizard Association in one of the wizarding lands, its economic status makes it a level higher than those in ordinary wizarding lands. “

However, there’s no benefit in reporting it.”

“Of course, you can handle it yourself. Anyway, this kind of thing has nothing to do with us.” The Pale Pilgrimage’s opponents this time were Storm Tower and Casiros Art University. The Pale Pilgrimage defeated Storm Tower but lost to Casiros Art University. According to the rules, the Pale Pilgrimage hunted a portion of the living people in our Yunze Wetlands, thus greatly increasing their influence in the wizarding world. “

I guess that’s why they were able to cause trouble in the southeastern corner.”

“Even if you let them do nothing, if they dare to cause trouble, it will attract the Witcher army to suppress them.”

Locke was speechless. Was Storm Tower really that useless?

Good heavens, the competition system in Yunze Wetlands is flawed. The reason why no academy in the Storm Tower region can replace it is entirely because the Storm Tower forcibly suppresses all the wizarding academies in the region.

Locke pondered for a moment.

This top-tier weather wizarding academy, which is always ranked last, seems to be in jeopardy recently. It

consistently ranks at the bottom of the Silent Grail Wars and has also lost the Five Great Wars.

Even if it’s just a temporary bug, the Yunze Council has probably been unhappy with it for a long time and is likely already secretly plotting how to eliminate it, just holding back.

You have to know that Yunze Wetlands has a total of ten regions, only seven of which have top-tier wizarding academies, while the remaining three regions have a large number of medium and large-scale wizarding academies.

Those wizarding academies could easily leave one region and go to another!

Or they could stay in their region and launch an academic challenge against the Storm Tower, replacing the Storm Tower region’s position with their own region. This is all possible.

(End of this chapter)