Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 204 Anxious Zack
Inside the office of the Customized Magic Plant Competition Committee.

One of the official wizard judges smiled after hearing what Senior Breeder Jonas Cortes said, and raised a document in his hand that was signed with the name of Green Seed Studio. "Actually, most champions come from those few studios. It's very difficult for an individual to beat those studios."

“Those studios have a greater advantage in cultivating combat magical plants, and they also have comprehensive data from previous years that they can refer to.”

"Individual breeders not only rely entirely on their talent to guarantee their skill level, but also lack a complete production process, the accumulation of practical data over the years, and so on, making it difficult for them to compete with studios."

"Even if they rely on their genius to develop a magical plant with good data on paper and even remarkable performance in actual combat, those magical plants all have some minor flaws that are hard to detect."

"Unlike the combat magical plants that major studios have developed over generations, whose shortcomings are already beyond repair and whose technology is very mature!"

"Moreover, our combat units have extensive experience using these types of magical plants. Our advantage is considerable."

The formal wizard held up the magical plant data sent by Qingmiao Studio. "The apprentice-level magical plant [Gear Iron Thorn] that Qingmiao Studio sent this time has been improved very well."

"They enhanced the response speed of the [Gear Iron Thorn] and even used the magic resonance cultivation method to induce a specific benign mutation in this magical plant. Although its defense has not increased significantly, its toughness and durability have greatly increased."

"The person in charge of this project is Mary from Qingmiao Studio."

The formal wizard chuckled and said, "It's amazing that she could come up with such a thing. She actually managed to find a way to improve this apprentice-level magical plant that is beyond repair."

"As expected of our Lilith Hut, the most talented genius among the young students in recent years in the field of breeding."

The formal wizards present all smiled knowingly upon hearing the name "Gear Ironthorn".

The Gear Iron Thorns project by Qingmiao Studio is an ancient project that has been around for 150 years.

This magical plant, apart from its name, has no relation to the original magical plant whatsoever.

Through generations of people taking over the project and improving the magical plant, it has become the standard apprentice-level defensive magical plant of choice for combat departments.

The Gear Iron Thorn, when combined with the plant-based spell [Thorn Armor], can provide powerful defensive capabilities and even a certain degree of physical attack reflection.

Senior breeder Jonas Cortez coughed. "It's not that absolute; we should always give those young people a chance."

"Young breeders who can't work outside of the Seedling Studio have absolutely no chance, right?"

"I think the defensive magic plant works sent by Tengyu Studio and Yunsong Studio are quite good, and there are also some works sent by individual breeders, which will give me some surprises."

"As long as you are in the top three, you will get a centralized procurement contract, so whether you are the champion or not is not that important."

Jonas Cortes laughed and said, "Of course, the combat data of the Gear Iron Thorns is very comprehensive. They also use a lot of combat wizards in their combat division, which is indeed a huge advantage."

The wizards present nodded in agreement.

Wizard Jonas Cortes glanced at Zack and said, "But sometimes, some unexpected things can happen."

"Otherwise, the college's practice of holding competitions would become meaningless."

"That's why, as a key judge, I'm very interested in the final result of this competition."

"I hope that the young people in this college will produce more things that surprise and delight me."

After the discussion, everyone started doing their own work.

Formal wizards value their time, so some expedite their tasks while others assign trusted students to assist with competition judging. Zack, meanwhile, stands in a corner of the office, looking at the document in his hand.

This document is the information on the Eye of Perseus Lichen that Locke sent over.

A glint of confidence flashed in his eyes.

He had complete faith in the data and characteristics of the Eye of Perseus, and Locke even included a combat video of the Eye of Perseus fighting a first-class wizard apprentice vampire.

This undoubtedly adds a lot to this magical plant artwork.

However, what worries Zack is that while the Eye of Perseus lichen is excellent, it lacks one crucial element.

That is, the lack of a record of past involvement in war.

The original magical plant for the Eye of Perseus was Emerald Lichen, which was just one of the main ingredients of Bear Spirit Bile Potion. It had no record of participating in wars, let alone any connection to combat magical plants.

This is Locke's biggest flaw in his Eye of Perseus lichen.

Combat magical plants are different from other magical plants; their evaluation criteria are not based on the data on paper.

Actual combat performance, past war commitments, and battlefield performance are also very important factors.

Data can be fabricated, and performance can be overlooked, but real-world test results are the hardest gold standard.

A flicker of anxiety crossed Zack's eyes. 'The biggest problem with Locke's Eye of Perseus lichen is the lack of any actual combat record.'

"I was in charge of purchasing all of Locke's works. The higher the award his works won, the more prize money I received, and the higher my position in the purchasing department."

Hopefully, these judges can see the merits of the Eye of Perseus lichen and not let this small flaw tarnish its beauty or cause it to drop in its rightful ranking.

Zack fell into deep thought. Judging from the current situation, if things continue like this, the one that wins first place will most likely be the improved Gear Iron Thorn variety from Qingmiao Studio.

The top three spots will likely be taken by the top three studios inside Lilith's Hut.

Because they have a proven track record.

He had to find another way, otherwise the actual location of the Eye of Perseus lichen would be seriously underestimated under such complex competition rules as the Customized Magic Plant Competition.

Zack looked up at the wizard Jonas Cortez, a flash of inspiration striking him. 'I've got it! Locke, Locke, you help me, I help you, we're already in this together.'

'Jonas Cortez's favorite student is Clifford Stevens, a first-class wizarding apprentice and also a formal breeder, who doesn't seem to be participating in this competition. I could easily invite him to dinner in the witch's kitchen and, through him, get Jonas Cortez, the chief judge of the competition, to pay attention to the Eye of Perseus lichen.'

Zack's eyes flickered. "At the same time, I can leverage my connections to invite the captains of the combat squads from the battle wizard side, especially those I'm close to, and consider prioritizing the private purchase of the Eye of Perseus lichen."

'Try it out.'

'Wouldn't that give Locke's work a real combat record?'

While it may not have participated in as many classic battles or possess a wealth of hardcore war data as the Gear Iron Thorns, it can still somewhat compensate for the shortcomings of the Eye of Perseus Lichen.

Zack thought to himself, 'Right, I should treat Locke to a meal soon and tell him about this. Besides, I've done so much work; it would be a huge loss if I didn't tell him and he had no idea.'

(End of this chapter)