Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 420 The Difficulties of a Junior Mentor
In the land of six towers, in the second tower of the White Dragons, in a conference room of the White Dragon Magic Gem University, which is 10 kilometers high.

Because the White Dragon Tower is right beneath our feet, and the elemental fission well inside the White Dragon Tower generates exaggerated magical energy every moment, the four walls of this conference room, including the ceiling and floor, are covered with special magical paintings created by the Illusion School.

As Locke moved his finger, the scene on the magic painting also moved.

Locke sat down and addressed the three first-ring wizards he had recruited, saying, "The Plutarch family has allocated this conference room to us."

"If you have any information, you can first find the sketch artist of the Plutarch family to input the information into the magic painting, and then you can freely display it in this conference room."

The three first-ring wizards in front of them all nodded.

The three wizards before him included Montgomery, a breeding genius recruited by Locke, who was also Eric Plutarch's ghostwriter; the other two were also Eric's ghostwriters.

It wasn't that Locke was deliberately targeting him, but rather that Eric was so eager to improve himself in order to publish articles and embezzle family funds; the commoner wizards he kept were all incredibly skilled at writing.

In fact, for commoner wizards, this is also a path to rapid advancement, but it means that there is an upper limit to their potential; at most, they can only reach the first-ring wizard level.

Eric won't let you advance any further.

That's why Montgomery wanted to take the risk of going to the Spiral Basin to become a dark wizard in order to break free from the control of the Plutarch family.

Locke looked at the other two. One was Barbara, a botanical wizard and a bloodline essence master whose main research area was the tree spirit bloodline. Her greatest strength was combining botany and bloodline studies, which formed her unique spellcasting style.

The other wizard was Tacitus, a botanical wizard and a wizard of the sorcery school, who was also a writer for Eric's sorcery school.

At this moment, Montgomery reported to Locke on the situation of the students they had recruited. "Lord Locke, we have recruited a total of fifteen first-class wizard apprentices and thirty second-class wizard apprentices. This should be enough for the initial development work."

"However, these wizard apprentices are students of other first-level wizards, so we not only have to pay those students' monthly living expenses, but also pay their wizard mentors with magic stones."

"I did a rough calculation, and it will cost about 150,000 magic stones."

Locke frowned. He hadn't expected that recruiting people would cost far more than he had imagined.

It wasn't because these wizard apprentices were asking for exorbitant prices, but because each of them had a different formal wizard behind them.

Whether in the Land of the Six Towers or in other wizarding lands, students are considered one of the assets of a formal wizard.

It can be traded.

It's perfectly normal to temporarily transfer students.

Developing tactical-level magical plants requires a large number of personnel to conduct data calculations and experiments, so a large number of wizard apprentices need to be recruited from the beginning.

Therefore, it is necessary to deal with the official wizards behind those wizarding apprentices and to borrow their students from them.

Barbara the witch sighed. "There's nothing we can do. None of the four of us wizards has a teaching position as a lecturer, so we can't have first-class or second-class wizard apprentices. At most, we can only recruit some third-class wizard apprentices. But what use are those students who have only been seriously studying magic for four or five years?"

"Only first-class and second-class wizarding apprentices are useful."

Tacitus was the oldest of the four, and he saw things most clearly. The core of the team was Locke; whether it was funding, equipment, or projects, everything existed because of Locke.

Without Locke, the Plutarch family would have disbanded the newly formed research group the very next day.

Tacitus said to Locke, "Mr. Augustine, what I fear is that some wizarding mentors might suddenly change their minds halfway through, for various reasons."

Locke nodded slightly.

Only after actually building a relatively large research group did I realize its complexity, which even caught me somewhat off guard.

First, there's the issue of funding; the cost of recruiting staff exceeded my expectations. And there are many more areas where money will be needed afterward.

No wonder some new wizard mentors have to work three jobs to support their research groups' daily expenses...

Secondly, there is the issue of personnel allocation. In wizarding academies, people are a type of asset, and the most valuable one at that.

The issues involved are more complex than I had imagined.

Barbara the Witch said somewhat discontentedly, "The money has been paid and the contract has been signed, so what's there to suddenly change your mind?"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the conference room door. Locke frowned and unlocked the magic lock. A wizard instructor from the White Dragon Magic Gem University, who was also an old wizard from the Plutarch family, stood smiling at the door. He ignored the three common wizards and said to Locke guiltily, "Locke, sir, I have thought about it for a long time, and I think the contract I signed with you yesterday was too hasty."

"My student, whom I temporarily transferred to the library, has also been taken back by the library director. You know, I have a deal with the library director..."

"So, could I take my student back? A first-class wizard apprentice is capable of doing quite a bit of work. Consider it a breach of contract on my part, and I can pay you double the magic stones."

Locke looked at the old wizard, raising an eyebrow. "It's Wizard Eric now. What has he done this time?"

The old wizard's face paled slightly, and he quickly waved his hands. "No, no. I just want to retire peacefully at the White Dragon Magic Gem University, since I'll only ever be a wizard at the vaporization stage. Please don't make things difficult for me; let me take my student back with me."

"I……"

The three wizards from Locke's research group all changed their expressions slightly. Once this kind of thing happens once, it will happen again.

If their research group's first-class wizard apprentices could come and go as they pleased, their research group would undoubtedly be crippled from the start and would find it difficult to continue.

But none of the three wizards spoke; instead, they secretly observed Locke's reaction.

If Locke, as the person in charge of this project, doesn't react, then it's difficult for them to react at all.

At the same time, all three of them should prepare their own escape routes.

Locke smiled as he looked at the old wizard who was caught in a dilemma, closed the documents in his hand, and said, "It's alright, I won't make things difficult for you."

“I know your difficulties. It seems Eric has made another statement.” Locke took out the contract of the first-class wizard apprentice who worked in the library from his astral ring. “This is your student’s contract. I actually admire his work ability. He was the one who helped me find the information about the Cloud Ze Cup.”

A look of surprise flashed in the old wizard's eyes. "Lord Locke, thank you for not putting me in a difficult position. I really didn't want to get involved in the conflict. Ah, that student's work skills are quite good; I used him to exchange for a piece of equipment worth 100,000 magic stones from the librarian."

"Hahahaha...that student is indeed quite good at making money for me."

Amidst the complex gazes of the three first-ring wizards, Locke handed the contract to the old wizard. As the old wizard received the contract and was about to turn and leave, Locke calmly said, "By the way, after you leave, I'll have a good talk with Eric. Young people shouldn't be so hot-tempered. Why put an old wizard in such a difficult position? I'll make him apologize to you personally. This afternoon then. Wait for me in your office."

The old wizard, who had just reached the door, froze. He swallowed hard, turned around, and looked at Locke. “Lord Augustine… I don’t want this contract anymore. Once it’s signed, it’s signed. There’s no reason to cancel it and take it back.”

"Hahaha……"

Locke sat in his seat, arms crossed. "No, wouldn't you be torn between two choices?"

The old wizard's face paled slightly. "This was indeed my oversight. A contract that has already been signed must be respected. Keeping promises is one of the cornerstones of our white wizard society."

Locke looked at the contract he was handed over and nodded slightly.

The old wizard wiped the sweat from his brow, a chill creeping down his spine. He looked at Locke thoughtfully and said, "This bewitching wizard is even more cunning than the rumors suggest."

'I was so stupid to dare offend him.'

(End of this chapter)