Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 848

Chapter 844 The grave mistake made by the wizard Salonirus!

After submitting his Civilization Credit Rating and Shop Alliance Certificate, the second-circle wizard shopkeeper of the Otherworldly Peach Garden addressed Locke, who was about to sign the contract: “Wizard Locke, let me reiterate, since this is your first time renting a Void Battleship, and you plan to rent it for a year, the rental fee is 2.19 million magic stones, which is 219 magic crystal cards. The deposit is also 219 magic crystal cards, so the total is 4.38 million magic stones.”

The minimum rental period for the Void Battleship is six months.

The second-ring wizard shopkeeper said, “If the ship is returned after the deadline, it will automatically be considered a renewal of the contract, meaning the lease will be automatically renewed for another year, and you will need to pay 2.19 million magic stones in rent.”

“If the Void Battleship is damaged due to abnormal use, the corresponding deposit will be deducted. If the deposit is not enough to fully cover the damage, you will need to pay the corresponding fees later.”

“Is that alright?”

“Of course. Generally, if the delay is within two weeks, it will not be considered an automatic renewal.”

Locke nodded and said, “Understood. Let’s sign the contract.”

Locke signed his name on the contract.

The contract was divided into three copies: one kept by Locke, one kept by the Otherworldly Peach Garden, and one needed to be given to the White Wizard Association’s Battleship Management Department for safekeeping.

After signing the contract, the second-ring wizard shopkeeper asked Locke, “Wizard Locke, do you need to order any other items necessary for void exploration?”

“Void armor?”

Locke had heard of void armor; it was a recent achievement of wizarding civilization, a suit of armor constructed from numerous high-level magical artifacts. Each piece could be considered a masterpiece of wizarding alchemy.

However, these things were extremely expensive, costing more than a regular void warship.

The advantage was that void armor integrated the benefits of many magical artifacts. One piece meant it included wizard shoes, magic gloves, a wizard’s hat, a wizard’s robe, a staff, and so on. It also allowed entry into polar exploration, providing life-saving protection in critical moments, and even enabling brief detachment from a void warship for short-distance travel in the vast void.

Some very wealthy high-ring wizards might purchase such armor when exploring the void.

Locke asked, “Can the armor be rented?”

The second-ring wizard shopkeeper paused for a moment, then smiled, “Wizard armor cannot be rented. This thing is different from the void warship; many parts are consumables. Moreover, each piece of armor is a high-end custom-made item, deeply bound to the wizard’s spiritual characteristics.”

“So, this is different from the void warship; it can’t be rented.”

Locke shook his head, then forget it.

Even if he took out a loan and used all the money he had, he probably still couldn’t afford even the most basic void armor.

Void armor is that expensive.

The reason why the market size of wizard shoes at the third ring level has shrunk significantly is because of the existence of void armor. With void armor, why would you need wizard shoes?

Locke pondered: ‘Although void armor isn’t much more expensive than void warships, void armor can only be used by one person, while void warships are used by a group of people. The consumables for void armor are also much more expensive than those for warships, and void armor is also difficult to sell secondhand.’ “

Therefore, in reality, void warships and void armor are not in the same price range,”

Locke pondered. “But some necessary equipment for exploration still needs to be purchased. Wizard shoes are unnecessary. Exploration gloves, wizard hat, wizard robe, and wizard mask, along with the wizard shoes, constitute the standard five-piece wizard exploration set.”

Locke asked, “Forget about the armor. I can’t even afford a full set.”

The second-circle wizard shopkeeper immediately expressed some regret.

“Not at all, a young genius like Locke should ideally buy a set of armor. That would make void exploration safer,”

Locke said. “I need ten sets of first-circle wizard exploration sets and one set of second-circle wizard exploration sets. By the way, I don’t need wizard shoes; can I omit them?”

The ten first-circle wizards were his employees, so he needed to prepare equipment for them.

The old pirate and Hussein were his helpers, not his employees, and the old pirate, having spent years in the Great Void, certainly had his own equipment; he himself was an enchanter.

Hussein, he should have prepared as well.

The main issue is the standard five-piece set for a second-circle wizard, which costs over ten million magic stones.

The second-circle wizard shopkeeper frowned.

“This is difficult. Wizard shoes are usually sold as part of a set,”

Locke said. “Which merchant sells the wizard shoes in the standard set of Another Paradise?”

The second-circle wizard shopkeeper immediately replied, “The wizard shoes in the standard exploration set of the first-circle are from Vikos, while the wizard shoes in the standard exploration set of the second-circle are from Blue Ribbon.”

“It’s a good item from Blue Ribbon, the Red Ribbon,”

the second-circle wizard shopkeeper said. “This is the Throne Lord’s property, and the shares belong entirely to the Throne Lord. Therefore, the quality of our shop is the most guaranteed; we use only the best wizard shoes. You can rest assured.”

Locke shook his head slightly. “No, that’s not what I’m concerned about. Vicos is a subsidiary brand of Melochy Magic Steps, and Blue Ribbon is the best sub-shop alliance of Solas Barefoot. You should know that my shop alliance has been in competition with them recently.”

The second-circle wizard shopkeeper said, “Alright, but that has nothing to do with Otherworldly Paradise.”

“However, everything can be negotiated. The original price of a five-piece set for a first-circle wizard is 500,000. I’ll take the Vicos wizard shoes from the set, sell them separately to other wizards who need them, and then sell them to you for 400,000 magic stones.”

“The original price of a five-piece set for a second-ring wizard is 15 million. I’ll take the Red Ribbon Wizard Shoes and sell it to you for 12 million,”

the second-ring wizard shopkeeper told Locke. “Buying the set directly is more cost-effective. After all, this is an exploration set for entering the void. Among first-ring magical artifacts, the price of such an artifact generally starts at 150,000, and some even cost 200,000. Buying the five artifacts individually might cost 750,000, or even 1 million. But buying the set only requires 500,000 magical stones.” “

The same principle applies to second-ring magical artifacts. Generally, the price of magical artifacts of this level is around 4 million magical stones. By buying the set, you can save at least 5 million magical stones.”

Locke knew this made sense.

Moreover, the cost of the set couldn’t be saved, because when navigating the void, a second-ring wizard should ideally wear a pair of second-ring wizard shoes to move quickly over short distances in the void and avoid entering certain impassable areas.

Simultaneously, a wizard’s robe is needed to strengthen the permanent defensive force field shell, preventing damage from planar collapse-level magical fluctuations in the Great Void, or from encountering extremely strange situations on certain planes.

Magic gloves are worn to prevent contact with objects that cannot be directly touched by the palm during the journey to the target plane or through the void.

Locke once read an interesting anecdote in a free book in the wizard airship’s free library: a second-circle wizard, believing his permanent defensive force field shell made him immune to most dangers in the void,

didn’t equip himself with magic gloves to save money. As a result, he touched the eggs of a famous second-circle magical creature, the Twin Serpents, in a target plane. The eggs exploded, instantly amplifying the magical pressure beyond his permanent defensive force field shell, tearing through his defenses. The eggs then burrowed into his body through his unprotected hands and parasitized him.

This led the wizard to spend countless times more money than he had saved on the magic gloves, seeking treatment from an potion master. However, it’s said that he still suffered severe side effects, causing him to gradually fall behind and become a mediocre wizard.

And the origin of all this tragedy was simply because he wanted to save money and didn’t buy a pair of magic gloves. Without them, he ventured into an unknown dimension to explore unknown creatures, and was thus tricked by the demonic serpent.

The Great Void is an extremely complex environment.

Even a second-circle wizard needs to be fully armed and flawlessly protected before exploring unknown planes.

Better safe than sorry.

Similarly, the wizard’s hat generally serves two main purposes.

First, it amplifies the magical pressure multiplier of a second-circle wizard, indirectly enhancing ultimate magic—this was once the hat’s primary characteristic.

Second, after the advent of the Great Void exploration era, a second function was artificially added to the wizard’s hat: enhancing a wizard’s adaptability to the plane’s power in unfamiliar planes.

The wizard’s mask, on the other hand, protects a wizard’s senses and eyes. In some special worlds, even exploration using mental power can contaminate a wizard’s mental energy.

Or, in some special planes, a wizard’s overly acute senses can be harmful in return.

Therefore, the core function of the wizard’s mask is to protect an overly sensitive wizard’s senses.

The explorer’s five-piece set is indispensable.

After pondering for a moment, Locke agreed to the shopkeeper’s offer, even though he suspected that once the shopkeeper removed one of the items, he wouldn’t lower the price or sell it at cost; instead, he’d likely raise the price even further.

But that didn’t concern him.

So, Locke paid him 20.38 million magic stones.

He had just earned 35 million magic stones, with 15 million in savings, and before he’d even officially begun his void exploration, he was already short 20.38 million.

The cost of void exploration was truly high.

But it was normal; after all, this involved leaving the wizarding world and traveling to other planes via void travel.

It was only the beginning; there would be many expenses later.

However, he needed to keep some of the payment in his own hands.

After signing a series of contracts, Locke took the equipment and returned to Golden Crown Mountain, preparing to find Hussein and the others to set off together.

At the same time, Locke went to the White Wizard Association and paid the 3 million in taxes.

…

Seven days later, before Locke’s main body officially set off for his void voyage, he received a reply from the “Intersection of All Things.”

Locke’s clone was in his office, reading the reply from *The Crossroads of All Things*—

‘Dear Mr. Locke Augustine, we are pleased to reply to you, informing you that your manuscript has been accepted and will be published in next month’s *The Crossroads of All Things*…’

‘We are glad you submitted your work to *The Crossroads of All Things*. We hope you will continue to submit excellent articles to our publication in the future. Thank you for your contributions to the Crossroads of All Things and the Golden Magic Plant.’

Locke’s Ancient Tree Fruit clone leaned back, slightly dazed and melancholic. His first Zone 1 article in the second ring stage had just been published?

Every second-ring wizard he had encountered turned pale at the mention of Zone 1 articles.

Even the Celtic Group Leader didn’t seem to have a single Zone 1 article; he worried about it every day.

But now he had received his first Zone 1 journal article.

Locke was somewhat dazed, because everyone said this was extremely difficult, but now he had done it.

Locke let out a breath.

“I remember that publishing a first-tier journal is equivalent to completing a vertical second-tier fund. You get a tourmaline peach.”

“I originally thought this application to the Boundary of All Things might be a bit risky, but who knew things would go so smoothly? I got approval in a week. They didn’t even ask me to make a single minor revision.”

However, Locke didn’t know that what seemed like a smooth process to him was causing a huge uproar in the Old Ruins City, the headquarters of the Bronze Bell Boundary Journal, at the Boundary of All Things.

…

In the conference room of the Bronze Bell building in the Old Ruins City, at the Boundary of All Things.

Flavius, the Sun Ring Wizard, sat at the head of the conference room, his face grim. Persepolis stood before him, and many other wizards were also at the conference table.

Meanwhile, Salonirus, the Wizard, arrived late. Because the meeting was held on short notice, he had been notified late, and he hadn’t been at the Boundary headquarters beforehand, so he had rushed over.

Salonirus’s heart sank, because the moment he stepped into the conference room, he felt a suffocating atmosphere.

He glanced at the wizard Persepolis, who was standing in the center giving his report. Upon seeing his bewildered superior, Persepolis blinked repeatedly, offering a hint.

The wizard Salonirus’s gaze instantly fell on a journal on his desk.

That was…

the article by that blank-slate kid from Golden Crown Mountain?

He saw the title on the photocopy next to it—”The Mechanism of Regression from Green Foxtail Grass to Golden Wheat…”

Salonirus’s heart sank.

Damn it! He had been rushing to do other things to increase efficiency and hadn’t even read the title.

The moment he saw the title, he knew this was troublesome.

For the current Horizon of Darkness and Light, the regression of an ordinary second-ring magical plant was indeed insignificant, but the problem was that this was Golden Wheat.

It was once a symbol of the Horizon of Darkness and Light, later disappearing into history along with the decline of the Horizon of Darkness and Light.

Now that the border between darkness and light has just recovered some of its strength, it is precisely the time to strengthen its cohesion and confront the influence of the Starfield Sea.

If the ancestral evolution of this article is successful, then… his rejection of it would be a serious dereliction of duty.

This is even more serious than rejecting a good article without reason.

(End of Chapter)