Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 421 Topic Selection and Rule Formulation

After the old wizard from the Plutarch family left, the three first-ring wizards in the research group all breathed a sigh of relief.

Locke's tough stance was the only protection they could offer to their research group, which had no senior faculty members.

After Locke's firm refusal, it's estimated that none of the wizard mentors who previously negotiated with him will dare to come back, try to back out, break the contract, and take their students away.

Wizard Montgomery said, "Lord Locke, the wizard apprentices we now have will receive a monthly allowance of 300 magic stones for first-class apprentices and 50 magic stones for second-class apprentices."

"In other words, our research group not only has to negotiate with the wizard mentors behind them in the initial stage, but also has to bear the responsibility of distributing funds to each student every month thereafter. That is to say, our research group has to pay the wizards a total of 21,000 magic stones every month."

Locke nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

The wizard Tacitus said, "It may not necessarily be 21,000 magic stones. There are many other issues to consider. If the students get sick or injured, and they are undertaking some key data work, it wouldn't be right to ask them to take out loans to pay off their debts and let them become slaves to debt, would it?"

"In a team with senior titles, changing students would be a piece of cake, but none of the four of us have the authority to take on students, so students are extremely valuable to us. Also, what if a first-class wizard apprentice wants to break through to become a formal wizard during this period?"

The wizard Tacitus looked at Locke and said, “Lord Locke, you should consider establishing some rules for our research group. Many research groups restrict what students can do, such as not allowing them to take on part-time jobs while working within the group, not allowing them to advance to the rank of formal wizard for a certain period of time, or requiring them to hand over their sacrificial potions to our research group after their magic power reaches 800…”

Although Tacitus was also a commoner wizard, he was more pragmatic than all the wizards present because of his age.

Moreover, these demands are not unreasonable at all in the land of the Six Towers.

Barbara the witch slammed her hand on the table in anger and stood up. "I despise family wizards like this the most! Aren't we just exploiting our students like those family wizards in the Six Towers?"

Tacitus said calmly, “First of all, you think too highly of your students, Barbara the Witch. Not every student is a docile little lamb. Of course, it’s good if they follow our orders; it will benefit both of us.”

"But in the Six Towers area, too many students are short-sighted. It is necessary to establish rules within the research group. Without rules, there can be no order."

Even Montgomery was lost in thought about this, remaining unusually silent. It seems he also had some biases, wanting to limit the time it took for students to break through to become formal wizards.

The wizard Tacitus said, "If students attempt to break through to the first level of wizarding at will, the rates of injury and death are extremely high. And even if they succeed, they may not stay in our research group. In other words, if students try to break through to the formal wizarding level while they are in our research group, it will not benefit us at all."

“It is clearly necessary to restrict them from attempting to break through to become formal wizards during the Cloud Ze Cup.”

"Lord Locke, it all depends on your choice."

Locke nodded slightly. He hadn't expected that setting up a research group would require considering so many issues: the students' future, funding, the attitudes of collaborators, and even the group's rules.

Many rules that seem absurd to wizarding apprentices are actually beneficial to themselves and their research group.

Choosing between them is an extremely difficult decision.

This is also a problem that every new wizard mentor who has just become a junior mentor will encounter.

New wizarding mentors are mostly newly qualified wizards who have just become first-ring wizards. They lack resources, writings, and teaching positions. Because of the lack of these three things, they inevitably lack students, equipment, and venues, as well as the access to wizarding realms that are strongly linked to teaching positions.

This period, however, is precisely when novice wizard mentors most want to achieve something in order to secure certain magical resources.

Therefore, new mentors at this stage have a rather awkward experience.

It's easy to develop mental health issues.

They have to compete for resources, learn on their own, guide students, seek projects and funding, and strive to meet various KPIs for professional advancement.

Therefore, many formal wizards at this stage simply start to slack off, since first-level wizards are considered valuable assets in many wizarding territories anyway.

Barbara the Witch was extremely dissatisfied with Montgomery and Tacitus. "You two, only those who have been rained on know the importance of someone holding an umbrella for you. You don't need to be so extreme about this."

A painful memory flashed across Barbara's face.

Among the countless ordinary wizards who were forbidden from breaking through to become formal wizards due to the abnormal requirements of the research group, and thus worked tirelessly without sleep, squeezing every drop of their labor power, was her.

This is who she used to be.

It was also the past of Montgomery and Tacitus.

But now, these two people are making such demands on the students in their research group, which is really excessive.

Barbara the Witch sneered, "According to the rules, the association will issue a bottle of Sacrifice Potion to every student whose mental strength reaches eight hundred. But do you two want to follow the example of other research groups in the Six Towers and covet the Sacrifice Potions in the students' hands, selling them at high prices that rightfully belong to the students?"

"Or perhaps they're using the potions that rightfully belong to them to lure them in and exploit their labor. But the two wizards seem to have forgotten that we are not those students' wizarding mentors, and we don't hold the teaching positions of lecturer wizards." "According to convention, the potions for advancement should also belong to their original wizarding mentors."

Locke glanced at the three people who were already arguing and frowned.

He needs to balance interests and ethics, and most importantly, he needs to control the morale of the research team.

Continuing to let them fight would not do any good. Locke glanced at Barbara the Witch, weighed the pros and cons, and chose the path that was least likely to go wrong.

Locke said, "Alright, let's stop discussing. Barbara, don't get so agitated. The two wizards were just giving me a reasonable suggestion."

"This is me holding a team meeting."

Locke tapped his fingers on the table to emphasize his authority and gave Barbara the witch a look to calm down.

Barbara the witch immediately felt apologetic. She was quite respectful of Locke, after all, Locke could protect her within the Plutarch family.

This is something that no other wizard can do, or is unwilling to do.

Barbara the Witch bowed to Locke and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Locke. I shouldn't have been so emotional, especially in front of you."

Locke nodded slightly. "In the future, when discussing issues, we need to be calm and peaceful. We are not enemies."

"Instead, we are comrades-in-arms who cooperate with each other. The competition is like a battlefield. Only by working together can we win this game. Otherwise, we will have already lost at the starting line."

Locke looked at the three wizards and said, "After careful consideration, I have decided not to restrict the students from breaking through to the first level of wizardry while they are working in my research group."

"As long as the handover system is done well, the work at the level of wizard apprentices is not irreplaceable. Secondly, we have a relationship of mutual growth with those students. If we keep exploiting them, I think it will only make them slack off."

Locke said, “I think it would be better to establish a reasonable system and a reward mechanism. We can get students to develop the habit of backing up and organizing their data. I thought of this a long time ago, so I found an excellent general studies wizard apprentice to join our team and have him record our team’s data.”

"This way, if someone has an issue, we can immediately find a replacement. This can eliminate many potential problems that could arise in our research group in the future. Secondly, we will establish a reward system. I will set aside one or two spots for outstanding students in the research group and subsidize them with my own money."

Locke said, "I think that using this positive incentive method to encourage students to work hard is far more appropriate than using punishment and restrictions to exploit students' labor."

Locke himself was a little unsure of himself, after all, this was just a conjecture, and he would need to think about the details of formulating the research group's system.

In short, these are all questions I didn't have to think about when I was a wizard apprentice.

These systems of his were also based on those at Lilith's Hut.

The Healing Hands Clinic at Lilith's Hut only offered a few reward slots, which prompted a group of potion masters to seriously treat wizards, all in an effort to compete for the four year-end reward slots.

This system has been completely abolished in the Land of the Six Towers, where almost all honorary titles have become tools for family wizards to abuse their power and make deals.

As a result, the positive incentive system of the Six Towers has long since collapsed. Therefore, the wizarding mentors of the Six Towers can only use their various powers to intimidate and exploit their students.

If a student resists being exploited, they will immediately be marked as a low-quality asset by the wizard instructors here. These low-quality students will then be traded with other wizard instructors, who will borrow students and reach a certain exchange of benefits.

Upon hearing Locke's words, Tacitus and the others immediately nodded in agreement.

Barbara the Witch's eyes lit up slightly. "Preparing documents and data in advance is a good idea; it's much more useful than simply exploiting students."

Tacitus and Montgomery nodded in agreement.

Tacitus said, "That's not bad either. It might even be better than my suggestion. Anyway, we can adjust it later."

However, Tacitus and Barbara the Witch seem to have started to get along. One thinks the other's ideas are too emotional and idealistic, while the other thinks the other has character issues and might betray them one day, so they are not trustworthy.

Locke coughed and said to everyone, "There is another crucial issue at present, which is the selection of a topic."

"We need to choose which tactical-level magical plant category to develop. Common tactical-level magical plant categories include multi-person controlled treants, multi-person controlled mushroom leaders, and large magical vine platforms..."

"We need to choose at least one category to develop."

"Choosing a topic is extremely important. If you choose the wrong one from the start, all the subsequent efforts will be greatly diminished. Therefore, topic selection needs to be done carefully. Do the three of you have any good ideas?"

(End of this chapter)