Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 32 Level 5 Mandragora
A week later.

In the dwarf alley of the port city of Lilith's Hut, Locke and Laun rented two houses.

This is mainly because the owner of this dwarven street, the Hearthstone Dwarven Blacksmith, provides many free rentals for aspiring wizards from overseas, as well as for poorer local wizard apprentices.

At the entrance to the Dwarf Street stands a huge three-legged black iron furnace statue, inside which are many burning charcoal embers.

Locke and Laun found it much more convenient to live here. The street offered free services from the dwarves, from food and lodging to daily necessities.

As wizarding apprentices, Locke and Laun were just insignificant junior students at Lilith's Hut.

But in the eyes of the ordinary people in the city who lived and worked for the wizarding organization Lilith's Hut, they were incredibly important figures.

Hosting these wizard apprentices would bring many hidden economic benefits to the dwarves.

This seems to involve some unspoken rules and shady deals, but Locke, who is now focused on his studies, is too lazy to figure out these things.

Locke heard a knock at the door. He pushed open the wooden door of his house and saw a male dwarf who was only half his height standing in front of him.

The dwarf was wearing blue overalls and was carrying a large bag of milk, some eggs, and two slices of Queen's White Bread with honey and milk.

The dwarf waiter bowed respectfully to Locke and said, "Lord Augustine, this is breakfast from the Hearthstone blacksmith master."

"Please let us know if you need anything."

"Welcome to Dwarf Street."

Locke accepted the breakfast expressionlessly. "That's fine."

"In the afternoon, I need someone to help me clean my place. But remember not to go into my study; there are very dangerous things there."

The dwarf waiter quickly replied, "Yes, Lord Augustine..."

Locke closed the door, and after finishing breakfast, he sat on a fabric sofa in his study, looking at the several pots of mandrake vines placed on the floor.

These mandala vines were a gift from his mentor, Sofia.

To synthesize a level 4 Mandragora, a total of 27 ordinary Mandragora are required.

To synthesize a level 5 Mandragora, a total of 81 ordinary Mandragoras are required.

To be honest, if I hadn't been lucky enough to meet Mentor Sophia, I would never have been able to obtain such a large amount of Mandragora vines in such a short time.

It can only be said that even with the Horadric Cube, the path of magic still requires a huge amount of resources.

But the gains were also considerable.

Locke looked at the level 4 mandrake vine in front of him. This mandrake vine was a size larger than a normal mandrake vine, and its skin was covered with dark purple scales.

According to the entry, this mandrake is called the Super Mandrake, and its overall function has been comprehensively improved.

Locke spent two days of his free time testing the super mandrake and found that its overall performance was even better than that of the Tiffany root vine as described in the book.

But this is not my biggest achievement this week.

As Locke made a slight thought, the invisible mandala vines hidden on his right arm automatically appeared.

After using 81 pots of ordinary mandrake vines to synthesize a level 5 mandrake vine, a special synthesis formula appeared, and an invisible mandrake vine was synthesized.

Invisible Mandragora possesses all the features and properties of Super Mandragora, but also has the ability to become invisible.

This means that one's magical plant is born with a passive invisibility trick.

This will give you a huge advantage in combat.

With the blessing of the invisible mandrake vines, the strength of his vine hands will reach a level that is impossible for an ordinary third-class wizard apprentice.

Moreover, this will enhance all subsequent Vine Hand spells.

Locke was in his study recording relevant data. "Currently, mandrake vines are worthless, but a pot of ordinary mandrake vines still costs about one magic stone."

"Teacher Sophia felt that these things were useless to her, and if I didn't want them, she would just throw them away to save space, so she gave them all to me."

"Otherwise, the total value of these mandrake vine bonsai she gave me would be at least a hundred magic stones."

Locke looked at the level 5 mandala vine wrapped around his right hand and sighed inwardly, thinking how expensive it was to learn magic.

Locke pondered, “Besides, it’s not just about money. Mandela vines are obsolete, so it’s difficult for me to buy such a large quantity.”

"It was only because of Professor Sophia that I had an experiment that required so many mandrake vines, otherwise I would have had to try to cultivate so many mandrake vines myself."

"That will take about a year."

"I was lucky to get a level 5 Mandragora so quickly this time." Locke looked at the invisible Mandragora on his right arm. "Because of the upgrade of my magical plants, my mental strength has also increased."

"This magical plant should be enough to support me until I reach the second-level wizard apprentice stage. That way, I won't need to replace the magical vine with the Tiffroot vine."

"After I finish my general education class, I'll go to Professor Sophia's office and use her amethyst matrix to test my mental strength."

The witch Sophia agrees to let Locke use some of the safer items in her office.

Among them is the amethyst matrix for testing mental strength.

During his conversations with Lauen over the past few days, Locke learned that not all wizard mentors are as generous as the witch Sophia.

Most wizard apprentices, besides themselves, have to pay 5 magic stones to borrow the Amethyst Matrix once.

Even when using the amethyst matrix, there will be no consumption of magical resources.

Locke looked at the Super Mandragora he had placed on the ground. "If I sell this Super Mandragora, I can earn about fifty magic stones."

"Moreover, because its performance is even better than that of Tiffany vine, there is absolutely no worry about it not selling. But if I were to actually do that, I would be courting death."

Locke thought warily, "If I were to use it myself, that would be fine. First, others wouldn't know the specifics; second, they would only assume it was the work of my teacher, the witch Sophia, and wouldn't say anything more. My teacher wouldn't reveal my background to anyone either."

“But if a third-class wizard apprentice were to suddenly take out this enhanced mandrake vine to sell, it would attract countless wizards to spy on my secrets.”

Locke tapped the table with his fingers as he pondered, "Even if I were to sell them, I would need to raise my wizard level and learn a course in magical plant breeding to become a breeder."

"That way, when I sell them, people will only think I'm a talented breeder."

“It just so happens that my teacher, the witch Sophia, is also a first-level breeder.”

A breeder is a wizard who cultivates special magical plants.

Plant magic requires many special magical plants as casting materials. Different magical plants will result in the same plant magic having different powers.

Therefore, breeder is also a relatively common wizard profession.

The improvement of the Tiffany root vine is the masterpiece of a first-line breeder at Holly Tower fifty years ago.

Since then, Tiffan vine has replaced Mandrake vine as one of the most popular magical plants among novice wizards.

Locke set a goal for himself: to become a breeder.

"By becoming a breeder, I can openly sell the super magical plants I synthesize."

"Also, by continuing to be Sophia's potion-making assistant, I can learn some skills as well."

"Of course, the most important thing is to become a second-class wizard apprentice as soon as possible. Only in this way will there be no risk of being eliminated by the academy. And only by becoming a second-class wizard apprentice can one truly be considered a wizard of Lilith's Hut."

Locke glanced at his room and saw the exquisitely crafted mechanical clock, a housewarming gift from the Hearthstone dwarves. "One hour before my Basic Runebook course."

"I think I'd better set off immediately."

"The quality of the general education courses at Lilith Hut is even higher than I expected."

"If I don't go early, I'm afraid I won't be able to get a good spot at the front."

Lilith's Hut is a public classroom located in the heart of the port city.

The public classrooms, on the other hand, are taught by different formal wizards and first-class wizard apprentices in rotation.

Most of the time, first-class wizard apprentices teach, but occasionally a formal wizard will give the lectures.

Although the lecture was delivered with great care, it was the only opportunity for many wizarding apprentices to meet a qualified wizard.

Unlike the witch Sophia, who only had one student, the other formal wizards in the academy had many students. Under normal circumstances, third-class wizard apprentices would never see a formal wizard mentor.

(End of this chapter)