Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 461 Two Old Friends
Locke took the True Knowledge Crystal, thought for a moment, and said, "When I entered the Mage Plane this time, I found that the overall scale of the demons has become quite small."

"The threat to you should be less significant. Perhaps you could send a wizard from the Plutarch family into this plane to protect you as you attempt to break through to the second-circle wizarding realm."

High Wizard Sura shook his head slightly. "The wizards within the Land of the Six Towers are complex and intricate in their thoughts; I do not trust them."

“I once tried to implement institutional reforms in the Land of the Six Towers. I made five reforms in total. Each time, it was very successful at the beginning, but after a year or two, it would revert to the original state. During this process, many family wizards became wary of me, believing that I had betrayed them.”

"Therefore, I cannot easily trust those family wizards, or even the wizards of the Plutarch family."

Locke opened his mouth as if to speak, but after thinking about it, he remained silent.

The witch Sophia had warned herself not to get too involved in the feuds of the Six Towers, and besides, it was difficult for an outsider like herself to comment on such matters.

Grand Wizard Sura glanced at Locke and laughed, "You think I'm strange, don't you? That's because the environment I was in when I was young was different from the environment you are in now. The Land of the Six Towers was even more chaotic back then."

"At that time, the land of the Six Towers was stirred up by dark wizards, and it was difficult for wizards to trust each other. If a wizard leader could not meet the wishes of those wizards, he could be secretly killed. Today's student and subordinate could be tomorrow's executioner who cuts your and your family's throats."

“For a wizard who grows up in such an environment, suspicion has become an indelible mark on his soul. Moreover, being prone to suspicion is a huge flaw in my character. I have been fighting against this flaw all my life, but it is more stubborn than any disease.”

The High Wizard Sura said, "Are you wondering why Alicia was so naive when they first met?"

Locke nodded slightly.

Between the two, it was always the High Wizard Sula who was confiding, while Locke simply listened without saying anything or offering any opinions.

High Wizard Sula, with his hands behind his back, said, “This is what I think: how to conduct oneself in society and how to control people’s hearts can be learned gradually over three or four years. But the most beautiful qualities of being a person, such as sincerity, kindness, responsibility, courage, eagerness to learn, perseverance, and rationality, are precisely the things that are hardest to cultivate later in life.”

Grand Wizard Sura extended his right hand, and instantly his bloodline power condensed into a blood butterfly, which landed on his index finger. The blood butterfly's wings trembled slightly.

Grand Wizard Sura said, “These qualities can greatly increase a person’s potential. I have been harmed by my suspicion, selfishness, narrow-mindedness and pettiness throughout my life, which has limited my achievements. Therefore, I paid special attention to Alicia’s upbringing and taught her something I did not have from a young age—kindness.”

“Alicia possesses more compassion than other wizards in the Land of the Six Towers. That kindness guides her thinking, making her fall in love with thinking, with wisdom, with the Plutarch family, and with the Land of the Six Towers.”

"Skills, cunning, deception, and lies can all be improved over several years, but kindness is so precious and difficult to acquire. Therefore, I can only keep Alicia in the simplest environment so that she can have what I lack—kindness."

"And during that year, I tried my best to teach her the second half of the course plan I had arranged for her."

A hint of guilt flashed in the eyes of the High Wizard Sura. “To be honest, I was quite selfish. I used Alicia, made her live according to my plan, and deliberately cultivated her kindness, made her feel responsible for the Plutarch family, and ensured that she would not abandon the family.”

“I have always felt guilty towards her. She should have been like you, free to pursue everything she wanted and have unlimited possibilities. But I trapped her in the Land of the Six Towers.”

"I don't know if my training plan is correct either." Grand Wizard Sura chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I've said so much all at once."

“When I was younger, I was more like Eric than Alicia. Of course, I was much more capable than him. But now I’m indecisive, and I’ve become someone even my younger self might not understand.”

Locke hesitated for a moment, then asked with a puzzled look, "Then, Archmage Sura, there's something I want to ask you. What exactly happened between you and the dark wizards of the Spiral Basin? You seem to be more than just simple enemies with them."

Since the great wizard Sura had said so much, Locke took the opportunity to ask this question.

Grand Wizard Sura paused for a moment, then sighed. "That dark wizard's name is [Uriel]."

"They used to be my ghostwriters."

“When I was young, all the articles were written by him. But at first, I really just wanted to be friends with him. I didn’t know that while I was simply trying to be friends with him, my family—the Plutarch family at the time—was secretly pressuring him every day to give up his research results to me.”

A hint of regret flashed in the eyes of the High Wizard Sura. "No, actually I had a feeling about it long ago, but I was always too greedy, so I pretended not to notice what was happening. Later, I hurt this former best friend and, in a moment of weakness, helped him escape to the Spiral Basin."

"The last time I heard Yuriel's name was in the Spiral Basin's journal, Spiral. He had abandoned bloodline magic and turned to studying prosthetics."

"He published many high-quality articles on prosthetics in it."

High Wizard Sura sighed. "As for why he's competing with me for this mage plane, it's because one of my former assistants, the witch Medea, discovered through prophetic magic that I had entered this plane and found a dimensional portal entrance to it in the Spiral Basin. My luck is truly terrible."

"The witch Medea brought the wizard Uriel into this plane to compete with me for its resources. She did this to avenge me for driving him out of the Land of the Six Towers."

High Wizard Sura sighed. "Actually, it wasn't that I wanted to expel her from the Six Towers. It's just that she was one of the main clerks in charge of affairs when I attempted to reform the Six Towers for the fifth time. After the fifth reform failed, the family wizards needed to vent their anger, so I had no choice but to expel a group of people, including her, from the Six Towers and tell the family wizards that I was just deceived by those common wizards."

"Medea held a grudge against me and vowed revenge, and she has clearly succeeded."

Grand Wizard Sura snapped out of his reverie. "Alright, I've said too much at once. Wizard Locke, I wish you good luck in the Cloud Ze Cup."

Locke remained silent, simply listening, and before leaving, exchanged a few pleasantries with him before passing through the dimensional gate, leaving the Mage Plane, and returning to the Tower of the White Dragon.

Early the next morning, Locke led his project team to the wizard airship docking site and boarded the airship.

Heading towards Yunze Wetland!

(End of this chapter)