Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 519 This heart, this thought, has never changed!

On the gray, misty stone slab, the witch Catherine replied: 'Hmm, it's quite good that you can post an article so quickly.'

"I've read your two manuscripts, and they're both very good. Congratulations! Your manuscript has been accepted by *Southeast*, but *Qingcao Yunze* rejected it. Okay, I have to go now. Buy your boat ticket and come over as soon as possible."

Locke was taken aback. Clearly, the Catherine the Witch had her own special channels, allowing her to learn about the results faster than he, the contributor.

This must be a privilege of third-ring wizards.

The power possessed by a third-ring wizard was beyond my current imagination, so I had no idea how the other party had found out the result faster than I had.

Locke smiled wryly. As expected of Yunze's first-tier journal, his article had failed to get published in "Qingcao Yunze" again.

It seems that, as the editor of "Yunze" said, there is currently no evidence to support the claim that the wizards he wrote about using the power of Mister to accelerate their transformation into first-ring crystallization stage.

After all, he only has 8100 magic pressure now, and there is still a long way to go before he can become a wizard at the first stage of crystallization.

Locke hesitated for a moment, then tentatively sent a message to Catherine the Witch: 'Mentor, do you have any advice for me?'

Locke hadn't expected Catherine the Witch to reply to him, after all, she was a third-circle wizard, and even if she personally notified him, she would only have a few words to say at most.

But to everyone's surprise, the next moment, Catherine the Witch's reply did indeed appear on the gray fog stone slab.

The witch Catherine replied, "There's no need to lower the journal's ranking any further. Your article can be submitted to a Zone 1 journal in Cloudswamp Wetlands, but it lacks crucial supporting evidence. Submit it after you become a first-ring Crystallized Wizard."

Don't worry, it won't be released beforehand, because I've already seen it.

"Furthermore, it's excellent that you published a Q2 journal article before even being admitted. Q2 journals at Yunze Wetland aren't easy to get published in, and by bringing one beforehand, you've already surpassed many others in our Advanced Knowledge Institute in terms of performance evaluation."

"Regarding your paper on the principles of the Mister Force, if you had asked me beforehand, I could have arranged for it to be published in a more suitable journal, and you might even have a chance to try your luck in a top-tier journal."

Locke realized that the witch Catherine was implying that he was being wasteful.

Locke shook his head slightly. Before this, he had never imagined that he could take the initiative to contact the witch Catherine, and that a third-circle wizard would be his mentor.

If I had known earlier that I had such a powerful patron, I would definitely have asked for her opinion frequently, as long as she didn't find me annoying.

Locke sent a message to the witch Catherine, explaining why he submitted his article to "Southeast": the power of Mister originated from Lilith's Hut in the southeast corner region, and for both reason and emotion, he could only submit it to "Southeast".

After Locke sent a message, he found that Catherine the Witch did not reply. After waiting for a while and confirming that Catherine the Witch would not reply, he stood up and began to order the servants in the room to pack their luggage.

Meanwhile, he planned to go to the Airship Management Office of the White Wizard Association in the Six Towers Land to buy a ticket, but he didn't have the money for the ticket on him at the moment. He could only sell some of the magic potions he had stored on him, which he originally used as consumables, to recover some of his health.

The tickets to the Three Swamps are very cheap due to various reasons, including the well-developed artificial network of roads in the Three Swamps, unlike the tickets to other wizarding lands which cost tens of thousands of magic stones.

The ticket to the Land of Three Swamps generally costs between five thousand and ten thousand magic stones.

It depends on how far your location, the Wizarding Land, is from the Three Swamps.

The Six Towers, where Locke is located, are not too far from the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, so it seems that only 5,000 magic stones are needed to buy a basic boat ticket.

……

In the Dragon Fern Garden of Mount Jinmian, a huge golden dragon lazily lay on a volcano, looking into the volcano where the witch Catherine was conducting experiments on breeding magical volcanic plants. She said, "It's strange, I rarely see you doing something that loses money."

"wizard."

“You rejected a senior breeder with extensive experience at this school, a first-ring crystallization wizard, and instead chose a first-ring liquefaction wizard from out of town. This is really not like your usual choice, Ekaterina, my friend.”

This golden dragon, a true dragon of the third ring level, sneezed, and immediately its dragon breath erupted, spewing out a sacred dragon flame.

Dragon breath is the natural weapon of many dragon creatures; it is the most powerful magic in nature.

The golden dragon's breath is sacred dragonfire and the breath of righteous judgment; the silver dragon breathes out sacred ice breath and the breath of wise judgment; the bronze dragon breathes out sacred lightning and sacred storms, and the bronze dragon is the true dragon that controls the storms...

Each dragon's breath is different, possessing powerful and incredible strength.

Even those giant dragons that like to disguise themselves as true dragons possess different dragon breaths. Giant dragons and true dragons are very similar, only their power levels are completely different.

Catherine the Witch glanced at the golden dragon. "We are merely partners, Fafnir."

"Moreover, that child is the champion of the Yunze Cup."

Fafnir, the golden dragon, sneezed. Every true dragon is extremely rich in the wisdom accumulated over the years. "What determines the upper limit of a wizard is never his strengths, but his weaknesses."

“You and I both know that wizards from outside, even if they have one strength, are not as good as wizards from our Golden Crown Mountain in terms of overall performance.”

"He came from the wizarding lands outside, and all I could think about was how to improve the characteristics of magical plants, how to enhance the combat power of a magical plant, or the healing effect of a magical plant, how much energy a magical plant can provide, these low-level questions."

"It's not easy to change someone's mindset, Ekaterina. He has been poisoned by the ideas of low-level wizards for far too long."

The witch Catherine placed the fire lotus into the volcanic lava and began to observe the changes in the lotus root at its base, the underground stem (rhizome) of the lotus. "You have a great prejudice against him, Fafnir. You cannot attribute all the problems of a wizard to the fact that he is just an outsider."

"Fafner, tell me, what exactly are you worried about?"

Fafnir looked at the witch Ekaterina and finally couldn't help but remind her, "That child is strange. He has immortal dragon scales on him. That's not something a first-ring wizard can obtain. Even if you were to plunder, could you acquire an immortal dragon scale for yourself? No. The power of a true dragon cannot be plundered. That's a theorem."

"The only ones who can be outmaneuvered by wizards are the foolish dragons, those whose minds are filled with destruction and who are so vain that they like to pretend to be real dragons."

Fafnir reminded Ekaterina, "There's a very complicated problem behind that child, a very big problem. My advice is that it's best not to get involved. Besides, I still think his overall abilities are inferior to those of the official wizards who have stayed on at our academy."

“After taking everything into consideration, I originally advised you not to let him into our advanced wizarding academy, but who knew you would let him in anyway.”

"Moreover, you need to suppress the true dragon bloodline within you at all times. Spending every day with that child will only make you more miserable."

The witch Catherine, dressed in black and gold trim, observed the changes in the roots of the fire lotus and said, "I know all that you're saying. I only care about whether he can work, because I want to obtain the Ten-Person Fund, and I need many reliable assistants. Including him, I need many excellent first-circle and second-circle wizards to join my project. That's the main reason I chose him."

"But I have a lot of confidence in his abilities. Therefore, neither of the two issues you raised are problems. Besides..."

The witch Catherine said, "It's time to properly address the issue of my bloodline."

"Let him stay by my side and constantly stimulate the true dragon bloodline within me. This is even better, as it will make it easier for me to completely suppress this bloodline and make it entirely under my control."

"Primarily acting as a wizard."

Fafnir the Golden Dragon sneezed. "Whatever, he's just a lowly first-ring wizard. You can do whatever you want with him."

"As long as it doesn't affect our projects, it's fine." "Since he's the Yunze Cup champion, even if he has some weaknesses, he should still be able to do a job. As for who's right and who's wrong between us, we'll easily see that once he enters the True Knowledge Academy."

Fafnir the Golden Dragon held different views from Catherine the Witch and had some doubts that Locke would be unable to keep up with the pace of the Higher Institute of Truth, especially in terms of his ideas and viewpoints, which he believed would not be able to change in a short period of time.

Jinlong said, "If your project can be completed, it will also be of great benefit to our dragon race."

"This is why I have established a partnership with Golden Crown Mountain. Of course, to some extent, I am only partnering with you. The other wizards of Golden Crown Mountain will not know of my existence."

……

Locke sold some of the loose potion storage in his Astral Ring for 10,000 magic stones and immediately went to the Wizard Airship Management Office to buy a ticket.

The departure time on the ticket is the next day.

Locke planned to leave the Six Towers the next day. Everything and the projects there had come to an end, and many people he knew had chosen to leave because they had received better opportunities through the Cloud Ze Cup.

As time goes by, the number of wizards you know here will decrease.

That evening, Locke returned to his residence, packed his things, and set off on his journey.

Inside the residence, Locke was surprised to find it completely dark.

He was about to order the servants to turn on the magic lamps when he sensed Alicia's magical pressure emanating from the residence.

Moreover, he had no servants in his residence.

During their two years in the Land of Six Towers, Locke and Alicia often discussed potion-making together, and their relationship had become very good. They were both young and in love at that time.

Locke smelled a faint fragrance emanating from Alicia, like the aroma of some kind of grass, and also a special rose scent. It must be a special incense made by the incense science branch of potion science.

Its function is to calm the nerves, and also...

With Alicia's abilities, she could certainly create it with ease.

Alicia walked over and said softly, "Don't turn on the lights."

Then, the girl's soft limbs touched her waist, and she hugged herself.

Locke was startled and was about to push her away, but his mind was filled with memories of the past two years they had spent together.

Moreover, both of them are already 22, which is the right age.

Locke also had some vague feelings for Alicia.

Alicia gently shook a strand of hair near Locke's ear and asked, "Can't you really stay?"

Locke said softly, "Alicia, you know my choice."

The two were silent for a while.

Two years later, Locke had become even more handsome and tall, while Alicia had shed her girlish naiveté and, during her time in power, had become independent and strong. Her wizard robes had also changed from amaranth red to bright red.

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, holding Alicia, he suddenly said, "Perhaps... you can come with me?"

In the mirror, Alicia gazed at Locke's face, a flicker of regret in her eyes, but it was quickly severed, replaced by a firm decision. "Can I go with you? Can I? I want to go with you too, I want to go to bigger places, to a wider world."

“But… my grandfather needs me, and the Plutarch family and the Land of the Six Towers need me. I have no choice but to stay here.”

"Leaving is your choice, staying is my choice too."

"We both have our own careers, and we cannot compromise for each other."

Alicia whispered, "Am I being too greedy? I want everything."

Locke said, "No."

Alicia said, "Perhaps we can only be comrades-in-arms, just as my grandfather said. As the head of the Plutarch family, I am indeed not suited to have a spouse, so... you are my best choice."

"You're leaving, and all I have is...love for you, and I will never love anyone else again, so..."

The two were in the prime of their youth, brimming with youthful energy. This was their first time experiencing something like this, and they were both attracted to each other.

Locke thought for a moment and did not refuse.

After one night, the next morning, Locke looked at the sleeping Alicia, got up and left, then sighed softly.

If possible, I would also like to take Alicia to the Land of Clouds, but as she herself said...

She herself chose the Land of the Six Towers and the Plutarch family, rather than choosing herself.

It's as if I chose the truth instead of her.

Locke had already packed everything in advance, so he put the things in the house into his astral ring, wrote a farewell letter, and left.

The moment Locke closed the door, Alicia, who had been pretending to be asleep, opened her eyes.

She donned a bright red wizard's robe, which gave her an air of authority, and her magical pressure was nearing liquefaction.

Alicia turned to look at herself in the mirror, a tear rolling down her cheek. At the same time, she used a secret technique to summon the spirit of the great wizard Sura. "Grandfather, do you think it was a mistake for me not to leave with him?"

"I will never be able to find happiness in other people again."

High Priestess Sura didn't look up, filled with guilt. "Alicia, you..."

Alicia's eyes sharpened instantly. "Grandfather, it doesn't matter, because this has nothing to do with you. This is what I wanted. This is my own choice."

"Because of the Augustus Potions Shop, more and more wizards have recently joined us. I should also reach the first-ring crystallization stage as soon as possible, and then use that mage plane to break through and become a second-ring wizard."

“Once I become a second-circle wizard, I can begin to reform the Six Towers. This wizarding land needs someone to invest effort and change it.”

A sense of responsibility flashed in Alicia's eyes. "I've enjoyed privileges here, so I must give back."

"This heart, this thought, has never changed!"

(End of this chapter)