Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 817

Chapter 814 Olivia the Witch, I’ll give you a question!

Carter Dunn’s eyes widened for a moment, then his pupils suddenly contracted. He had always been ignored by Olivia the Witch and marginalized in the research group, which had led to some feelings of inferiority.

Carter wasn’t very confident in himself.

But he hadn’t expected that someone like him, a marginal figure in Olivia the Witch’s research group, a temporary worker in the Rose Council, would receive funding from a senior researcher at Golden Crown Mountain, a second-circle Archmage.

Carter Dunn’s eyes flickered slightly.

“Respected Archmage, your willingness to sponsor me is certainly very exciting. But will you sponsor me personally, or the project I have?”

Locke said, “Dream Flower.”

If it were someone else, they might have to think carefully about which project it was, but this project was one of the few that Carter Dunn had managed to be considered successful in the Rose Council, and one that Olivia the Witch had praised.

So, Carter Dunn immediately remembered it, though a hint of doubt flickered in his eyes.

“Is that project even worth sponsoring?”

Although Carter Dunn was very excited about Locke’s sponsorship, he was still very puzzled as to why Locke would sponsor such a project.

After all, while the idea for the Dream Flower was something he had painstakingly conceived, the entire project was created at the request of the Witch Olivia in order to apply for the school’s most beautiful project grant.

In other words, the project was never intended to be completed normally from the beginning.

Even if the project failed to be completed with that kind of grant, there would be no real accountability, making it the perfect way to boost the number of projects Olivia’s lab currently had.

When the Witch Olivia had them apply, she had already made her attitude clear—

‘When applying, be a myth writer; when executing, be a shrewd accountant; and when completing, be a magician.’

Such low-quality school grants, even if they failed to be completed, would not result in accountability; after all, they couldn’t just be thrown in jail for not producing any results.

Therefore, Carter Dunn was very surprised; he hadn’t expected Locke to fund that project.

“There’s another question, Great Wizard. I’m a wizard in Olivia’s research group.”

“She’s my group leader in the Rose Council.”

“Because of her management style, my 24 hours are all planned out by her. So, if you really want to sponsor me, it will probably be six months before I have time to complete that research. But, how many magic stones are you going to sponsor me?”

Locke glanced at him.

“One million magic stones.”

Carter Dunn gasped.

This amount of money was a huge sum for him; it was likely that all the resources he had accumulated from learning magic throughout his life would only amount to a little more.

Carter Dunn’s eyes lit up. “Then, please rest assured, to repay your trust, I will immediately devote myself to the research on the Dream Flower in six months. May I ask your name?”

Locke said to him.

“Come with me.”

He really didn’t have that much time to wait for Carter Dunn to devote himself to the research in six months; to be precise, he would directly help him complete the Dream Flower.

The reason this person was needed was simply because he was the one who proposed the project and the originator of this idea. With his participation, the speed, efficiency, and quality of completing the Dream Flower would be higher.

But he wasn’t indispensable.

The investment required to complete the Dream Flower within a month was exactly one million magic stones, which Locke calculated mentally.

A large portion of this money was extra expenses incurred to accelerate the research.

Since the benefactor had asked him to go, Carter Dunn naturally followed immediately, closely trailing behind.

However, he soon sensed something was wrong.

Because Locke was heading directly towards the Witch Olivia Bell.

Carter Dunn was terrified; he hadn’t expected Locke to take him to find the Witch Olivia.

The three met in the center of the White Rose Garden. The Witch Olivia wore a magnificent wizard’s robe composed of embroidered white peonies, exuding an air of elegance and grandeur. She looked at Carter Dunn with suspicion, then at Locke, and   said coldly

, “Friend from Golden Crown Mountain, is there something you need?”   “Also, this place is very close to one of our Rose Council’s advanced laboratories, so it’s not convenient for outsiders to enter.”   Locke stated his purpose directly.   “I’ve got my eye on an unfinished project by Carter Dunn called Dream Flower, and I want to invest one million magic stones in it.”   The coldness in Olivia Bell’s eyes melted slightly; hearing Locke mention money, her face softened considerably.   “Sure, Carter Dunn is an outstanding wizard in my research group, and I’ve always thought highly of him. He’s also one of my capable assistants, so investing in him is definitely the right choice for you, Augustine.”   Locke looked at Olivia Bell in surprise, not expecting her to recognize him at a glance.   However, he had recently participated in the Silent Grail War and was considered a relatively well-known wizard, so being recognized wasn’t too strange.   Olivia Bell said, “Witch Augustine, you can transfer that horizontal funding to him. He can stay in my research group and help you complete the Dream Flower project.”   Locke said, “That’s why I came to you. I want him to work with me on the Dream Flower project. The reason is simple: I want to produce results as soon as possible.”   Olivia Bell frowned.   “That doesn’t make sense. He’s part of my research group, so he’s naturally subject to my allocation. Even if you invest money in him, you’re investing in my research group.”   Locke laughed, “No, I want to invest in Witch Carter Dunn personally, not in your research group.”   If he invested in Olivia Bell’s research group, who knew how much of his money would actually be used for research? And if Olivia Bell just randomly found a vaporization wizard, or even a few first-class wizard apprentices to complete her research, he would suffer in silence, with no one to complain to.   Olivia Bell was clearly surprised by Locke’s insistence; the slight warmth that had just appeared on her face vanished instantly, replaced by anger.   If Locke doesn’t invest in her research group, what does it have to do with her?   Since there’s no financial connection, she naturally has no reason to give Locke a friendly look.

Olivia glanced at Carter Dunn, whose mind was completely blank, then looked seriously at Locke and said, “What real-world significance can a toy like the Dream Flower have? Wizard Augustine, you…”

Locke said, “How about this, we’re all breeders, let’s not argue. I’ll give you a difficult problem right now. If anyone in your lab can solve it, I’ll invest in your research group.”

“If not, you have to agree to give Carter Dunn a vacation so he can come with me to complete that project.”

Olivia wanted to get angry, but she held back for the sake of the money.

Although it was only one million magic stones, as a second-circle wizard managing an entire large research group, she had to save money in every aspect and rack her brains every day to obtain more funding.

Therefore, she really wanted Locke’s one million.

She had already decided that one piece of equipment in her lab was already worn out, and if she had that one million, she would immediately replace it with a new one.

As for that Dream Flower?

Just find a few wizard apprentices to go and pretend, that’ll do.

Olivia the witch considered it seriously. She was already 80 years old, while Locke was just a young man in his twenties. Moreover, she was a Ring Witch, a genuine Second Ring Breeder, with years of accumulated experience.

It was ridiculous for Locke to give her a difficult question on breeding.

Olivia the witch smiled and said, “Okay. Just no evolutionary chemistry questions.” Even

a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit.

Even as an 80-year-old witch, a Ring Witch, and a Second Ring Breeder, she didn’t want Locke to give her a question on evolutionary chemistry, his area of expertise.

After all, they were both Second Ring Wizards, essentially at the same level.

If Locke really gave her a tricky question on plant evolution, she would be in trouble.

Locke said, “Okay.”

Carter Dunn hadn’t expected that Locke, as his benefactor, would directly approach Team Leader Olivia and even challenge her.

However, he remained silent throughout.

This was a contest between two Second Ring Wizards, and it had little to do with him personally.

He was like a small boat caught between two storms; the best course of action was to remain silent.

Locke flipped his palm, revealing an ordinary sea ginseng.

“I would like to ask the witch Olivia to use this sea ginseng as rootstock and find a suitable magical plant to graft onto it. It only needs to be completed within three hours.”

The witch Olivia frowned.

“Grafting? This is just an ordinary first-ring magical plant.”

“I can easily graft it onto any magical plant I pick from the garden, even an apprentice-level one.”

Locke laughed.

“As expected of the witch Olivia, grafting an apprentice-level magical plant onto a first-ring one. If successful, it signifies your mastery of grafting. Then please.”

The witch Olivia glanced at Locke and snorted coldly. Although she was extremely displeased, she was now deep in thought.

‘Lock Augustine is a genius in breeding; why would he ask me to graft such an ordinary magical plant?’

‘His talent in breeding should be no less than mine.’ Olivia

the witch casually plucked an apprentice-level magical plant from the garden, then used a grafting knife to treat both. She then grafted the apprentice-level White Beauty rose onto the Sea Gold Fern Locke had given her.

The next moment, the White Beauty rose was destroyed; the entire plant withered.

Olivia the witch held the Sea Gold Fern, her brow furrowing.

“How is this possible?”

She was extremely confident in her skills.

Grafting an apprentice-level magical plant onto a first-ring magical plant was no problem; even with her second-ring breeder abilities, grafting an ordinary plant onto a first-ring magical plant, while difficult, was not impossible.

But her graft had failed.

Was there some hidden secret?

Olivia the witch pondered, looking at the Sea Gold Fern.

“It looks like just an ordinary sea ginseng. Your idea of using tree ferns to enhance its power is good, but it’s only at the level of a first-ring breeder.”

“It’s just an ordinary sea ginseng. How could it fail?”

The witch Olivia walked through the garden and casually broke off a white angel rose. This was a first-ring enchanted plant, possessing a powerful, enchanted-spell-like natural magical structure that could make anyone near it feel a strange sense of happiness.

The witch Olivia grafted it onto the sea ginseng in just five minutes, but the graft suddenly broke off, failing again.

At this moment, the witch Olivia glanced at Locke in surprise.

She stared intently at the sea ginseng before her.

Now, the seemingly ordinary sea ginseng had become a puzzle in her eyes, and all puzzles should have an answer, but she didn’t know what that answer was.

Locke had only wanted to give it a try, but unexpectedly, the strange energy from the Talking Tree deep in the Forbidden Forest actually stumped the proper second-circle breeder before him.

He had witnessed the Talking Tree’s battle with the wizard Jugglus Juggler and copied the negative energy particle field from it. Now, he was simply using the archaeological spell [Historical Replay] to borrow this strange energy from the past and have the tree fern, Sea Gold Sand, absorb that power.

At that time, he sensed that the power seemed capable of destroying spell models.

Therefore, naturally, Olivia’s second-circle botanical spell, Enhanced Grafting Healing, would lose its effect.

After twenty minutes of contemplation, Olivia grafted the White Angel Rose onto the Sea Gold Sand for the second time. This time, she had clearly fine-tuned the Enhanced Grafting Healing spell model.

A green light appeared between the two magical plants.

Under Olivia’s expectant gaze, the grafted relationship lasted for a minute, but after a minute, it suddenly broke apart.

Olivia’s eyes widened in astonishment.

She looked up at Locke in disbelief.

Locke shrugged, gesturing for her to continue.

“If a wizard in your lab can complete the grafting within the remaining three hours, I’ll consider you a winner.”

Olivia frowned.

“Arrogant.”

In her entire life, she had never seen such an arrogant wizard. He wasn’t even a second-ring breeder, yet he dared to pose a challenge to everyone in their lab.

However, she didn’t know that Locke had changed his mind. He saw that even Olivia couldn’t handle the strange energy deep within the Forbidden Forest, and coupled with his previous research, he hadn’t found any useful information, perhaps due to a lack of relevant keywords.

Of course, it was also possible that his access wasn’t sufficient to find information on this thing.

Therefore, Locke now intended to use Olivia’s lab to test this strange energy.

After all, this strange energy wasn’t his own; he had only borrowed it from the past and temporarily absorbed it using sea gold sand.

If these external forces could be used to decipher the mystery of this strange energy, even just cracking one or two parts would be beneficial.

Either way, one wouldn’t lose out.

However, the witch Olivia clearly considered this a method Locke already possessed, which naturally made her lose face.

‘It doesn’t make sense. Why did the grafting fail?’

(End of Chapter)