Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 860

Chapter 856 An Unexpected Ally

Golden Crown Mountain, Research Institute Group 2, in the office of the Sith Group Leader.

The Sith Wizard looked at Locke with envy and handed him two black magic boxes containing Tourmaline King Peaches.

“Check them over. If there are no problems, sign them, and you can take them.”

“I really envy you. First, you published a paper in a District 1 journal, and now you’ve won the Little Rest Cup. Although the Little Rest Cup hasn’t been held for many years, because they controlled the quality of the first five Little Rest Cup champions and participants, coupled with their relatively successful commercial operation, its prestige is still very high. Keep up the good work.”

The Sith Group Leader patted Locke on the shoulder.

“The higher-ups on the Academic Committee believe you are a breeder whose talent rivals that of Wizard Zeno. However, in my opinion, your overall level far surpasses that of Wizard Zeno. Wizard Zeno is not the champion of the Spellfighting Tournament or the Silent Holy Grail.”

“By the way, Locke, you can also choose from the twelve magic peaches, excluding the Tourmaline King Peach and several second- and third-ring peaches. That is to say, you can also choose two first-ring level magic peaches.”

Locke was prepared. After bowing to Wizard Sith, he said, “Team Leader Sith, I would like to choose two [Dragon View Peach].”

Wizard Sith was taken aback.

“You chose the Dragon View Peach from your teacher? I thought you would choose the White Dew Peach, or the Water Cloud Peach, or even the Golden Cloud Peach.”

“The Golden Cloud Peach enhances powerful magic, but it’s still only a first-ring level magic peach.”

“For you, the Golden Cloud Peach might be more suitable. After all, second-ring projects and articles, although they seem easily obtainable, are actually limited in number depending on each wizard’s talent potential, their platform, and their current development stage.” “Especially since

you’re currently in a rapid development phase, you might not feel this way.”

The Sith Wizard said, “Although I don’t know why, the older a wizard gets, the faster the number of projects they can directly apply for and the more articles they can publish decreases. There are many reasons, such as the fact that second-ring wizards, unlike third-ring wizards, experience a decline in their souls. It’s possible that this decline occurs in a place we haven’t yet researched; several articles from the Siming Waters suggest it’s related to the maturation of the Light of the Mind.”

“Of course, there’s another major reason,”

the Sith Wizard said. “You should have noticed it by now. Doing projects and publishing articles, in essence, is both a research system established by high-ring wizards to promote the development of wizarding civilization, and also a path to power advancement designed by the high-ring wizards of wizarding civilization for all wizards.”

Locke nodded slightly.

He had indeed vaguely sensed this, but the Sith Wizard, as a Sun-ring wizard, had spoken these words to him openly, telling him in advance.

He had indeed further improved his mastery of Greater Magic by publishing a second-ring, first-zone article and winning a second-ring level competition, and his breeding skills had also grown rapidly.

The Sith wizard chuckled, “The wizarding world has always had many unspoken paths to advancement, because discovering these hidden paths is an ability a truly excellent wizard should possess.”

“This self-evident, deliberately concealed information leads some wizards to not understand why they failed.”

“They don’t understand why other wizards advanced so quickly. Perhaps right now, I myself am unaware of some deliberately hidden, invisible advancement routes. Ultimately, these are training programs designed for us, the wizards who are still young to them, by true high-ring wizards.”

“Therefore, they are the pioneers of civilization, not tyrants who hoard power.”

“That’s a bit of a tangent. The key point is that along this advancement path, a wizard will continuously publish related articles and apply for projects as they refine their ultimate magic.”

Locke realized and said, “So, Leader Sith, you mean that if a wizard deviates from their ultimate magic in order to publish articles, obtain projects, and win championships…”

Wizard Sith calmly said, “That’s actually a paradox. Because if you deviate from ultimate magic to do these things, it’s basically impossible to succeed. Of course, there are a very few off-the-beaten-path geniuses who do fall into this trap. Their endings are often regrettable. In such cases, if they receive some guidance, things will be much better.”

“If they are in a relatively ordinary wizarding university, they are likely to receive no guidance, or even be deliberately misled because they are in the way of others. There’s nothing new under the sun.”

Wizard Sith said, “Therefore, the number of projects, articles, and competition championships that Locke will be involved in forging your ultimate magic is actually limited. Therefore, based on this principle, Golden Crown Mountain has established a whole set of reward principles.”

“Many veteran wizards have seen a significant drop in the number of projects they apply for and articles published because their Great Magic has become too mature, or because it has gone astray and can no longer be refined.”

Locke nodded. In fact, what Team Leader Sith was trying to say was to remind him.

He seemed to think that Locke should try to exchange for Golden Cloud Peaches as much as possible.

Because Golden Cloud Peaches can be attached to one’s Great Magic, the more attached, the greater the improvement.

This thing is basically no different from adding points.

The only difference is that the more attached, the more qualitative changes will occur.

Locke currently only has two Golden Cloud Peaches and one Comet Gate attached to his Evolution Moon. Locke estimates that if he could attach three Golden Cloud Peaches, it would produce a small qualitative improvement.

If he could attach ten Golden Cloud Peaches, it would produce a large qualitative improvement.

So Team Leader Sith’s earnest advice was first to point out to him that there are training paths set up by high-ring wizards in the wizarding world that are not directly told to others.

For example, the path that top geniuses pursue for top teaching positions that Locke has noticed.

Secondly, he needed to seize the opportunity to quickly exchange for Golden Cloud Peaches. He shouldn’t assume that competitions like the Second Ring First District Article and the Small Rest Cup were easily obtained.

Because he needed to participate in competitions, work on projects, and publish articles related to the forging of Great Magic, the number of related rewards was actually limited.

Locke thought for a moment and said, “Then give me one Dragon View Peach and one Golden Cloud Peach.”

Locke chose this exchange method for a simple reason.

He had never understood what was wrong with the sister of the witch Scarmilla in the Magic Pivot City.

The touch of humanity he had bestowed upon her with the spirit of the Stone Spirit had somehow made her strange, and his teacher’s Dragon View Peach could bestow ‘humanity’ upon animal souls.

Although only the Dragon View Peach King could bestow complete ‘humanity,’ even one Dragon View Peach was enough for experiments.

‘Golden Cloud Peaches are important, but the symptoms of the witch Scarmilla’s sister are related to solving the Stone Spirit mystery of the Dune Plane.’

Locke pondered, “It involves the very foundation of great magic, so it cannot be ignored.”

The Sith Wizard, seeing that Locke still couldn’t forget the Dragon Peach, glanced at him with surprise, shook his head slightly, and said nothing more.

Locke wasn’t a beast tamer; he couldn’t understand why Locke was so fixated on the Dragon Peach.

However, the Sith Wizard didn’t continue to remind him.

After all, Locke was a second-circle Archmage like himself, not his student; they were colleagues, so he couldn’t override Locke’s will and directly choose the reward for him.

The Sith Wizard said, “I understand. I’ll inform the academy. A Golden Cloud Peach and a Dragon Peach will soon be in your hands.”

“By the way, Locke, you must work hard! I heard that the Brandy Wizard in Group 3 has made a fundamental breakthrough in his project. I heard that others have also made some good progress through mutual exchange.”

“Every year around this time, the competition almost reaches its most intense stage, and many good results begin to emerge at this stage.”

Locke blinked and calmly said, “What do you mean, Team Leader?”

The Sith Wizard said, “I admire your composure in the face of danger, your ability to seem to have everything under control.”

Locke smiled and said, “Not at all. Actually, I panic a lot, Team Leader.”

The Sith Wizard laughed, “I heard that Brandy Wizard has finally given up on his three-year-long research on that worthless Tree of Flesh and Blood.”

“Thank goodness, he’s finally seen the light.”

“As long as he throws away that worthless Tree of Flesh and Blood, his brain is still pretty good. Recently, he acquired a second-circle magical plant that has achieved a very rare symbiotic relationship with a second-circle magical creature: the Aegis Ice Leopard.”

“It seems to be a peach tree. It looks like an Arctic Ice Peach.”

The Sith Wizard laughed, “Research on peach-type magical plants has always been something we at Golden Crown Mountain have been interested in. So, his research direction is finally on the right track. I don’t know if he figured it out himself, or if someone gave him some pointers.”

“The Arctic Ice Peach grows on the glacier on the back of the Aegis Ice Leopard. That icy patch on the Aegis Ice Leopard’s back is a characteristic of this magical creature. Some have previously speculated that it might exist naturally, with a second-circle magical plant taking root on the icy patch on the Aegis Ice Leopard’s back.”

“But so far, no such precedent has been found. The Brandy Wizard obtained this extremely rare Arctic Ice Peach magical plant, which has achieved symbiosis with a second-circle magical creature, from a plant hunter.”

“This has caught the attention of His Majesty the Throne. Because His Majesty the Throne greatly enjoys research in this area. It’s almost as if it’s right on His Majesty’s radar.”

The Sith Wizard smiled slightly, “That child is quite promising.”

“However, that’s a researcher from Group Three after all. You’re a researcher from our Group Two, so you need to work harder.”

Locke nodded slightly, thoughtful. “I understand, Group Leader.”

Locke exchanged a few more words with the Sith Wizard and then left Group Leader Sith’s office.

It’s the beginning of the year, and it’s perfectly normal for several of his competitors to be starting to have ideas and make new breakthroughs, preparing to apply for this year’s top-tier grant around mid-year.

In fact, it would be abnormal if they didn’t make any breakthroughs at this time.

However, Locke was somewhat surprised that the Brandy Wizard would suddenly abandon his three-year-long research on the Sacred Tree of Flesh and Blood. Did he come to his own senses, or was someone reminding him?

Locke returned to the tenth floor of the 2nd Group’s underground research institute.

There, he saw ten acres of magical fields, grafted with downgraded first-ring fast-growing seedlings of ‘Golden Wheat’ rootstock and downgraded first-ring Bloodwave Pineapple magical plants.

He planned to take the Golden Magic route for his second pair of wizard shoes, referencing the spell model Sephiroth’s Grip, and modifying some of its magical features into a second-ring botanical spell model.

Then, he would have an enchanter enchant the wizard shoes.

The reason for grafting Golden Wheat was simply to give the Bloodwave Pineapple the characteristics of Golden Magic, so it could be used to cast that spell.

Therefore, this grafting wouldn’t require much money or resources, as it only required cultivating a magical plant with certain Golden Magic factors.

The cultivation difficulty was much lower.

However, Locke planned to use grafting cultivation initially, followed by Spirit Breath cultivation to further improve and optimize it.

This way, he could also hone his Spirit Breath cultivation skills, bringing his breeding level to that of a second-circle breeder.

Simultaneously, by designing a second-circle botanical spell model, he could simultaneously improve his level in both Golden Magic and Botanical Magic, further forging his ultimate spell.

Of course, this was difficult.

Locke was prepared to invest a considerable amount of money and overcome numerous obstacles.

If it still didn’t work out, he could consult the library, find some previously designed botanical spell models, copy them, and piece them together to eventually create something that could barely meet some of the functions of his envisioned spell model.

Therefore, Locke had prepared for both possibilities.

Locke glanced at Arthas’s pre-sale platform, but there was a problem. He wondered if this was due to the concept pre-sale or something else.

His own pre-sale last month had sold only 21 units,

a stark contrast to the frenzy of his previous pre-sale for the second-ring wizard shoes.

Locke looked at the number curiously and asked Scarlett the Witch. Scarlett seemed unaware of the situation, replying that she was investigating.

But for now, it was certain that it had nothing to do with Solas’s bare feet or Melochy’s magic steps.

Locke stood in the laboratory, puzzled. “What happened?” he asked.

“Things haven’t been going too well lately.”

At the same time, he received a message from Mason the Witch via the Water Hyacinth System. She said a witch from the House of True Knowledge was looking for him, saying she had important matters to discuss and wanted to meet him.

However, they needed to meet in a private room in the Witch’s Kitchen.

Locke glanced at the address Mason had sent and frowned slightly.

…

The Witch’s Kitchen, Room 1. The soundproofing spell had been activated.

Locke entered and saw a witch standing with her back to him. Judging from her silhouette, she seemed young.

He felt a sense of déjà vu, but couldn’t quite place where he’d seen her before.

Locke stared at her, lost in thought.

Suddenly, he remembered who she was.

He’d only seen her once.

At the banquet his teacher had thrown to celebrate him becoming a second-circle wizard!

The witch turned around, a blooming black rose adorning the left shoulder of her robes.

“Hello, this is our second meeting. Locke Augustine. I am Rose Tacitus.”

Rose the witch had a pointed chin, a cold glint in her eyes, and appeared aloof, even somewhat harsh.

“I’ve come here to seek a temporary alliance with you.”

(End of Chapter)