Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 160 The Rigorous Examination
Half an hour later, Locke finished the industry standard manual assessment and theoretical exam, and submitted his paper along with the other four candidates.

While answering the theoretical exam, Locke was surprised to find that the difficulty of the exam was indeed far greater than that of the potion master's assistant exam.

There are many very small but important points of knowledge inside. If I don't use memory cream and study for a long time, I'm afraid I might not pass the first round of the breeder theory exam.

Lady Morgana frowned and criticized Martin, Locke's previous candidate, who was also a first-class wizarding apprentice at Lilith Hut. "Your foundation is far too weak."

"You still have a lot of room for improvement. You don't even understand the main function of the cutting propagation method."

Lady Morgana looked at the first-class wizard apprentice in front of her with some confusion.

Martin blushed, lowered his head, and dared not answer.

Locke's eyes revealed a sense of understanding. The main function of the cutting propagation method is to cultivate the offspring of the magical plant mother on a large scale, but this function requires the establishment of an independent plantation and extensive improvement experiments.

Generally, first-class wizard apprentices, who haven't reached the point of being able to establish their own plantations, will naturally be relatively unfamiliar with this area.

The most common cultivation methods they use are grafting and hybridization.

Breeding is, after all, a discipline that is quite practical.

Many first-class wizard apprentices do not have their own plantations, and they lack practical experience, making it difficult for them to pass the breeder exam.

Lady Morgana gave him a cold look. "Your understanding of the breeder's industry standards is also riddled with errors. Martin, I suggest you improve your skills in this area. It costs five hundred magic stones to register for a breeder's exam, don't waste money next time."

Lady Morgana then examined the three students from the outside minor wizarding organization, frowning as she, along with the other two formal wizards, gave the three candidates a theoretical score.

In fact, all things considered, these candidates' theoretical scores were not as good as Martin's, but Mrs. Morgana said nothing.

She didn't have high hopes for the outside candidates from the Little Wizards organization.

The students of the Little Wizards Organization have a more flawed theoretical knowledge system and limited access to knowledge.

They often know what something is but not why it is, and their knowledge is often pieced together as long as it works.

Lady Morgana, along with two examiners, came before Locke. She picked up Locke's answer sheet and scanned it.

Then, Mrs. Morgana frowned. She hadn't expected Locke to answer all the questions about breeder industry standards so perfectly that she couldn't find any fault with him.

Locke's theoretical system is also quite solid, with only a few minor errors.

Thanks to the memory ointment, his theoretical exam score this time was much better than his previous exam as a potion master's assistant.

Lady Morgana stayed with Locke for a significantly longer period of time.

Lady Morgana frowned, glanced at Locke, and then said, "The theoretical foundation is acceptable."

"Much better than the previous ones. And they're also a little clever, knowing to memorize the breeder's industry standard manual in advance."

"Sophia made you memorize it?"

Locke bowed to Lady Morgana and then politely said, "Yes, Lady Morgana, it was my teacher who made me memorize it."

"My teacher said that I can only master power if I learn to respect it."

Mrs. Morgana's lips curved slightly. "That was something I said to your teacher."

Lady Morgana was about to smile, but as if remembering something, her expression turned serious. "Alright, the second round of the test will assess your mastery of the Magic Resonance Breeding Method, which is the foundation of a breeder."

"What is about to be placed before you are five magical plants on the verge of death. I want you to use your abilities as breeders and employ the Magical Co-frequency Cultivation Method to revive these five magical plants."

"The time limit is one and a half hours." Inside the examination hall, the second-level wizard apprentices brought over five pots of novice magical plants, the Nine-Snake Flower.

This is a basic magical plant with no special abilities. A single plant typically has nine flower buds that bloom at the same time, with an extremely long flowering period. The flowers are shaped like nine snake heads, hence the name Nine-Snake Flower.

The flowers of the nine-snake flower can be used to prepare simple medicines that have a calming and refreshing fragrance.

At this moment, Locke looked at the pot of nine-snake flowers in front of him and the nine-snake flowers in front of the others, and immediately understood what this test was going to test.

Nine-snake flower is a very fragile magical plant. It is easy to die if it is short of water, easy to wither if the temperature is too high, and will get sick if it lacks key nutrients. In addition, it is also susceptible to a lot of pests and fungi that are harmful to it.

The nine-snake flower in front of me was clearly suffering from prolonged water shortage, hence its wilting and listless appearance. Furthermore, the edges of its leaves were curled up and scorched, indicating that the roots of the nine-snake flower had been damaged; otherwise, this phenomenon would not have occurred.

Meanwhile, the leaves of the nine-snake flower are covered with countless tiny pink insect eggs, which are pests called powdery aphids.

As a breeder, Locke immediately came up with a solution to the problem of this snake flower. First and foremost, he would use a 10:1 ratio of water to basic nutrient solution to water the snake flower, while also watering it with rooting powder to nourish its roots. If necessary, he could partially cut off the rotten roots.

You can even temporarily remove its roots from the soil and use hydroponics to clean up any root damage.

At the same time, using insect eggs specifically designed for powdery aphids and targeted insect repellent, this simple potion is something I, as an assistant to the potion maker, can easily concoct.

However, under normal circumstances, one wouldn't need to go to such great lengths for a mere nine-snake flower.

Nine-snake flowers are too cheap. Instead of trying to save it, I'd rather just buy another one, which would cost less resources.

“But if we can only use the magic resonance cultivation method…” Locke pondered, “then let me solve this problem using directional radiation.”

"You can achieve this by using the universally applicable and invigorating optimal resonance frequency for enhancing magical plants, which is common to breeders."

"At the same time, the resonant frequency of the insect repellent will destroy those insect eggs."

In other words, this stage tests the breeders' understanding, familiarity with, and operational skills regarding the Magic Co-frequency Breeding Method.

After all, this cultivation method is different from magical flames. It doesn't require switching speed. Judgment, experience, and control are more important than switching speed.

"The universal enhancement frequency that can stimulate magical plants is 822Hz, while the insect repellent frequency is 200Hz..." Locke thought hesitantly.

On the other side, the other candidates were also racking their brains, especially the three breeding assistant candidates from the Little Wizards Organization. They did not expect that the breeding exam at Lilith's Hut would be so rigorous, so they were all deep in thought, and some were even sweating profusely.

It's all so that we can come up with a solution.

Martin, standing next to Locke, was brimming with confidence. "Great! My teacher guessed the exam question correctly. I've practiced this before. I used the universal resonant frequency to revive a centipede plant that was about to die."

Martin's words immediately caused Locke's pupils to shrink, and he turned to look at the examiner, Mrs. Morgana, who was the main examiner for this test.

At this moment, Mrs. Morgana was looking at Martin, the corners of her mouth slightly curved.

That's right, no wonder I felt something was off; it turned out to be a trick question.

Locke then remembered another small detail: centipede grass and nine-snake flower are different; nine-snake flower has nine heads... centipede grass only has one head.

If the universal enhancement frequency of the Magical Co-frequency Cultivation Method is used on a nine-headed magical plant, then...

'Mrs. Morgana, you've examined things in such detail.'

'That's right. As a certified breeder, no longer a breeder's assistant, how can I make such a small mistake?'

Lady Morgana sensed Locke watching her and turned to look at him.

(End of this chapter)