Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 813

Chapter 810 ‘Net’ and ‘Fish’, The Throne Wizard’s Battle for Enlightenment

Locke tried to deduce the opponent’s spell strategy using this spell model, but this was only a general idea. He still needed to use the Queen’s Chessboard for a more thorough deduction.

Using two sets of Queen’s Chessboards would also work; currently, he prioritized using the two sets of equipment. His clone could use the Queen’s Chessboard three or four times, costing only two million magic stones, and he could probably benefit greatly from this spell model.

Locke looked at the witch Stephania and said, “You can leave.”

The witch Stephania looked at Locke strangely, showing a puzzled expression.

“Leave? Where to?”

Locke looked at the spell model and said, “I have already gotten what I needed from you. You are of no value to me. I don’t need to use a first-ring wizard as my achievement, so you can leave.”

The witch Stephania looked at Locke in surprise.

She never expected that the bewitching wizard would let her leave directly after she handed over the spell model.

Something was wrong.

Stephania the Witch suddenly realized that Locke thought she was worthless, useless to him.

Sending her to the wizarding prison was a matter of choice, but Locke clearly found it troublesome and didn’t want to get involved in such a trivial matter.

Stephania the Witch hadn’t expected Locke to be so magnanimous. Before, she had only thought of Locke as a super genius, a rare ruthless figure among white wizards, but now she completely couldn’t understand him. The

look in her eyes when she looked at Locke was one of admiration, not just for his power, but also for his spirit.

Locke had become someone she couldn’t comprehend at all.

Fearing that Locke would change his mind, Stephania the Witch bowed to Locke and said, “Great Wizard of the Eye, thank you for sparing my life. If I escape alive, I will respect you from now on, and I will always keep you in my heart wherever I go.”

Locke’s entire focus was on the spell model of the ghostly lich, so he completely ignored her.

Seeing that Locke didn’t react, the witch Stephania immediately bowed respectfully to him and then quickly walked down Little Peach Mountain.

She was filled with excitement at having regained life. She

was also filled with confusion, impressed by Locke’s demeanor, and for the first time, wondered if she had misjudged the White Wizard.

With a mix of excitement and nervousness, she walked down the mountain. She was lucky; she didn’t encounter a single White Wizard.

Golden Crown Mountain was a large mountain range, composed of three smaller and one larger sections.

It covered a considerable area, and at this moment, the heavenly fire descended as a magical tide, so many wizards wouldn’t come to Little Peach Mountain.

Locke stood atop the mountain, glancing indifferently at the witch Stephania at the foot of the mountain. “Since we haven’t encountered any white wizards, consider it a sign of divine mercy. Spare her life. A human life is like a tree’s shadow; leaving her alive will give me more influence in the dark wizarding world.”

At the foot of Little Peach Mountain, the witch Stephania, filled with excitement, saw herself arrive at the entrance to Golden Crown Mountain. The treant elder at the gate looked up at her but showed no reaction.

For the first time, the witch Stephania felt how precious life was, even having a feeling that she could return and start anew, perhaps changing her cruel ways.

…

On the main mountain of Golden Crown Mountain, Catherine the Witch’s divine tree avatar sat in her office within the Hall of True Knowledge, looking at the wizard Trajan and asking, “Trajan, this time you went out with Locke Augustine. What are your thoughts on Locke Augustine?”

The wizard Trajan looked at Catherine the Witch with a puzzled expression. His expression appeared rugged and bloodthirsty, but he was actually a meticulous and perceptive person beneath his rough exterior.

The wizard Trajan quickly thought: ‘My teacher has already gone to the Genesis Conference. At this point, she should be one of the main speakers.’

‘She’s diverting some of her attention at this moment to ask me about my junior brother? This is not simple. Perhaps my teacher intends to entrust him with that mission within the academic lineage. No, my junior brother’s qualifications are too shallow, his backing isn’t strong, he doesn’t have any well-known shop alliances, and his ultimate magic lacks refinement.’

‘His foundation is too shallow; logically speaking, that mission is irrelevant to him.’ “

I might be overthinking it. He probably called me here because he has something else to tell me.”

Wizard Trajan hesitated for a moment, then said, “Teacher, we need to look at it from two perspectives. Officially, my junior brother is the most likely among our lineage to become a second-circle potion master. Moreover, he is very kind. I deliberately ignored my student a few times to test his reaction, but he always gave him a way out.”

“He is not an ungrateful person, so our lineage can certainly allocate some of its resources to him. His usual behavior reveals his character.”

“If a person’s character is bad in ordinary times, then in a crucial moment, he will certainly betray us.”

Witch Catherine gave him a half-smile, then used her magical iron tongs to pick up a piece of millennia-old ice, placed it in her tea, and drank it down in one gulp.

The coldness that could directly kill a crystallized wizard only stimulated the taste buds of her clone.

“Trajan, I’ve always known Locke’s character. Within my lineage, there are those who flatter, those who try to guess my intentions, mistakenly believing that being a good person means guessing my thoughts and making me happy.”

Catherine the Witch shook her head slightly, her tone sarcastic.

“But I’ve lived for so many years, what are you pretending to be so arrogant in front of me? Those who want to use my lineage as a stepping stone, or who are desperately trying to squeeze into my team to stand above others…”

“I won’t truly trust them,”

Catherine the Witch said. “In a team, the most important thing is talent, followed by personality.”

“At least that’s the core of my team leadership,”

Trajan the Witch said. “Personally, my junior brother’s personality suits me very well. I don’t dislike him; on the contrary, I quite like him.”

Catherine the Witch smiled proudly.

“Among my peers, I have the highest hopes for him, Alex, Zeno, and Jon Quincey.”

“I’m looking for someone who can execute my plan. You know, we need to find the decisive point to establish an absolute advantage over the Rose Throne’s academic lineage.”

The witch Catherine said, “The clashes and competition between Anna and my academic lineages for resources are merely a way to wear each other down and find a decisive point.”

“But Anna and I are avoiding each other. Why?”

The wizard Trajan shook his head in confusion.

The witch Catherine said, “The academic lineage is like a net. Anna and I are casting it. This net can capture many talents and resources, retaining both vertical and horizontal funding flowing from the association.”

“Third-ring wizards use the vast net of academic lineage to harvest the fish they want from the tide of various wizarding academies—namely, you talented individuals.”

Wizard Trajan suddenly understood.

“I’m not a third-ring wizard, so I don’t understand much. But now that you’ve said it, I suddenly understand. So, third-ring wizards are the ones casting the net, and you and the Rose Throne have chosen the same spot on the same river, hence the conflict between you and the Rose Throne.”

“Because your nets are cast too close together.”

“Therefore, what you need to do isn’t to fight them directly, but to find a way to use your net to destroy theirs.”

Wizard Trajan rubbed his temples.

“That’s not right either. Since third-ring wizards are all net casters, but you are a throne wizard, you have third-ring wizards at your disposal. So it’s a net within a net?”

He already sensed a tremendous burden on his soul.

It was cognitive dissonance!

The witch Catherine glanced at him and shook her head slightly.

“You’re right, and you’re not right either. Your understanding is wrong overall, but the conclusion is correct. Anna and I are indeed currently in the same river section, competing for the ‘fishing net’.”

“That’s why the witch Anna needs to use her academic network’s market to undermine my academic network’s market. Ultimately, the side with more capital will have the advantage. So, the conflict between the two academic networks is essentially a competition for markets, projects, awards, and the number of published articles.”

The witch Catherine said, “We two are the ones casting the net, so we don’t need to confront each other. And when we left Yunze Wetlands for the Southern Boundary, to put it bluntly, we were casting the net.”

“A net within a net is correct. It’s not a simple model. The net is layered, and some people think they are in this net when they are not. Some people think they are not in this net when they are.”

“There are some who are content to remain in this net, protected by it. But what I want are those fish that can leap out of the net even slightly,”

said Catherine the Witch. “The reason is simple: even I am not entirely sure which ‘fish’ is in the net and which ‘fish’ is not.”

“The same applies to Anna.”

“We can no longer confirm who is in the net or not. So at this moment, the only thing we can confirm is those ‘fish’ who have the ability to temporarily escape the net. These are the confirmation points,”

said Catherine the Witch. “Anna and I are both vying for these confirmation points. These are the fish that can leap out of the net, and we hope that as many such fish as possible appear in our net.”

“The main conflict between Anna and me is over the Ten-Person Plan.”

“But the key project is the wedding ring. I need to be able to complete this key project ahead of schedule, and then use the leveraged resources to support the Ten-Person Plan.” “

If the Ten-Person Plan fund can be successfully completed, I can become a fourth-circle wizard.”

Trajan the Wizard listened with a sense of dread.

“So, the teacher and the Rose Throne are vying for the title of Fourth Ring Wizard!”

This…

this is the War of Ascension.

He was initially confused when Catherine the Witch revealed part of her plan to him today, but he was also deeply shaken. So that’s how it is!

Many of his long-standing doubts were resolved after learning this.

However, his cognitive dissonance worsened, because the information Catherine the Witch conveyed seemed to involve hidden information about the Third Ring Throne and the Fourth Ring.

Catherine the Witch looked at the Truth within herself; the slivers of Truth that appeared seemed to have a tendency to contaminate Trajan’s immense magic and enduring defensive field.

Catherine the Witch said, “I’m giving you an indefinite task. You need to help me see the fish within my lineage, record their performance, and see who can undertake that task to help me complete my key single-project plan.”

“Trajan, don’t feel pressured,”

Catherine the Witch’s clone thought for a moment.

“These are the names on my current list.”

“These eight.”

Trajan glanced at them; they were all either Star Ring Wizards or Moon Ring Wizards.

In other words, Locke, Alex (whom Catherine was watching), Zeno, and Jon Quinques were not among them.

But that was to be expected.

The Throne Wizarding lineage was vast, and Catherine’s lineage, thanks to the lineage fund, possessed immense cohesion. The number of powerful individuals within this ‘net’ was immense.

Whether it was Locke, Alex, or the other newly-minted second-ring wizards, they were merely rising stars in the early stages of this lineage.

The next generation, truly destined to become pillars of the lineage, would clearly not be them.

There were many excellent prospects among the first-ring wizards in this lineage.

Wizard Trajan breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I really overthought things. It turns out my teacher really wanted me to observe these eight people.’

‘Hmm? There aren’t any Sun Ring Wizards on the observation list?’ ‘Right

.’ Trajan

the Wizard pondered: “The Sun Ring Wizard is too big a fish, too ambitious; it’s impossible to… [jump out] even briefly.” “

Or rather, Sun Ring Wizards like myself already have established paths; my Sun Ring grant application has already been approved, the difficulty lies in completing the project.” “

Sun Ring Wizards like myself have a fixed development path, impossible to change. Or rather, neither our teachers nor we ourselves are willing to sacrifice our existing projects for two conflicting academic lines. For Sun Ring Wizards, such conflict would be more of a loss than a gain.” “

But these young second-ring wizards are different; this conflict is actually an opportunity for them. They might actually be able to secure a project that is extremely beneficial to themselves, their academic lineage, and their teachers through this conflict.” “

Besides,” said Catherine the Witch, “Trajan, please keep an eye on Locke. It’s not for any other reason. Just take good care of him.”

“Locke’s a troublemaker. I’m afraid he might get into trouble with someone while I’m not around. Keep an eye on him,”

Trajan the Witch said with a smile. “He’s your personal disciple, with a special status; he’s my junior brother. I’ll definitely take care of him.”

“Besides, I think my junior brother is calm and composed; he doesn’t seem like the type to cause trouble.”

Catherine the Witch gave him a meaningful look.

“Is that so?”

Then, her clone disappeared from the office.

Meanwhile, Stephania the Witch had just walked ten thousand meters from the Golden Crown Mountain. She had just relaxed a little when she suddenly heard a voice that sent chills down her spine.

“Hello, Ms. Stephania, good evening.”

“No one can betray the Pale Pilgrimage and live.”

…

An hour later, Locke arrived. By then, Stephania the Witch had become a skeleton.

Locke wasn’t afraid of this sight.

“The Pale Pilgrims’ reach is so long? They’ve even extended this far. Never mind, I’m busy with my research now.”

“Let’s leave this for now. In a few days, I’ll kill a few Pale Pilgrims’ second-circle wizards; it’ll be good to expand my Forest Sanctuary.”

Locke ignored the corpse.

He had already let her go, but unfortunately, her superiors didn’t want to.

That was none of his business anymore.

(End of Chapter)