Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 544 The Character of Catherine the Witch
The seventh floor of the castle where Shinchiin is located, which is the top floor area.

Locke and Celtic Team Leader went upstairs, and upon entering the seventh floor, it felt as if they had entered an alien space. The walls and ceiling were filled with flowing lava and scorching, unidentified stones.

Moreover, the place was filled with high temperatures, as if it were not the seventh floor of the True Knowledge Institute, but the depths of the earth in some non-living plane.

It is a desolate place where ordinary life cannot stay for long.

Locke and Celtic were instantly covered by a permanent defensive force field, and the two walked on the surface of the magma with normal expressions.

The Celtic leader explained to Locke, "This is the territory of Catherine's Throne, filled with magical plants that require both lava and fire cultivation, so the temperature is very high."

Locke confirmed this, and after scanning the area, he discovered that the castle corridors alone were filled with many first-ring lava-cultivated magical plants, half of which were flowering magical plants and the other half were leafy magical plants.

Generally, magical plants cultivated in lava are magical plants of level one or higher.

And indeed, all the plants Locke saw were first-level magical plants, such as Red Rock Calla Lily, Black Magic Red Rose, Cold Orange Flame Lily, Mountain Fern Dragon Willow, and so on.

Each magical plant is powerful, and... they all have one thing in common: they are incredibly beautiful.

The branches and leaves of these magical plants have been pruned, and the orientation of the flowers has been carefully adjusted.

The Celtic leader whispered, "These magical plants were all made by the Throne herself. The Throne believes that power and beauty coexist; to pursue beauty is to pursue power, and also to pursue truth. She is a very meticulous wizard, and she has always been a wizard with very high standards."

The second-circle wizard, Celtic Leader, wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking very nervous, and even repeated himself in his speech.

Locke glanced at him, but cautiously remained silent.

For some reason, the Celtic leader's fear of the Catherine the Witch reached such an extreme.

When Locke first arrived at the seventh floor of the True Knowledge Institute, he noticed at least 31 different types of first-ring level red rose-type magical plants being cultivated along the corridor, including [Black Magic], [War Glory], [Super Carola], [Hetalia's Wedding Dress], and more...

This shows that Catherine the Witch loved red roses.

Meanwhile, some peach-type magical plants that require magma cultivation are also planted in the corridor, such as the Scorching Heart Witch Peach, the Molten Branch Longevity Peach, and the Fiery Eye Viewing Peach.

Golden Crown Mountain is most famous for its peach-type magical plants, so as the throne wizard of Golden Crown Mountain, the witch Catherine must have had a very deep understanding of peach-type magical plants.

Locke used his life force field to protect himself. In fact, among so many rose-type magical plants, there are dozens of varieties of rose fragrance alone, each containing different natural magical structural components.

Rose-type magical plants are most likely to influence a person's mind and personality. They naturally possess a large number of magical components similar to spells from the Mind School and the Enchanting School. This is a direction that rose-type magical plants have chosen to protect themselves during their evolution.

Therefore, Locke could only protect himself with his life force field to prevent himself from falling into the emotional vortex of the rose fragrance.

"This is..." Locke saw a second-level red rose-type magical plant in the corridor ahead, and he had just read about it in a book in the Golden Crown Mountain Free Library a few days ago.

That is the second-ring red rose demonic plant, which grows in the depths of the abyss, in the fifty-seventh plane [Doomsday Lava Lake]. Its appearance is eerie and terrifying, with petals arranged in a vortex shape. The outer three petals have serrated edges, resembling an emperor's crown. Its overall color is red with a terrifying and majestic black hue.

Its name is the Second Ring Magic Plant [Red Demon God]!
Locke sensed the devastating magical power emanating from the [Red Demon God]. It was said that there was a fundamental difference between second-ring and first-ring magical plants. Locke was about to step forward and touch it with his right hand to explore the difference between the second-ring and first-ring magical plants.

Suddenly, magical power surged from the depths of his soul.

A flash of clarity crossed Locke's eyes. He used the power of Myster in time to protect himself, thus freeing himself from the desires of the [Red Demon God].

'Oh right, how could I forget? The book said that the Red Demon is extremely dangerous to a first-ring wizard.' Locke broke out in a cold sweat.

'The Crimson Demon God possesses second-level Mind Magic, which automatically triggers desires in those nearby; each person's desires are different. The deeper the desire, the deeper one is trapped.'

'The moment my palm touches the surface of the Crimson Demon, in the next instant, my body and soul will be burned to ashes.'

Locke stopped in time, thankfully he was still ten meters away from the Red Demon God. He looked at the corridor behind the Red Demon God, where most of the magical plants were second-ring magical plants.

Rumor has it that second-ring magical plants are fundamentally different from first-ring magical plants, which is why they possess such immense magical pressure and even the mental power to interfere with the will of first-ring crystallized wizards.

This is not something I can study right now.

The Celtic leader hurried over. He had been thinking about how to speak to the witch Catherine when they met, so he hadn't noticed that Locke had gone the wrong way.

"Locke, do not wander around on His Majesty's territory. That corridor ahead is dangerous even to me."

"What is a backyard for a third-ring wizard is a terrifying place for us, even if... it doesn't have any malicious intent."

Team Leader Celt led Locke away from the corridor and back to the door of a conference room.

The Celtic leader glanced at the Mister's power on Locke. "Your permanent defensive field... seems quite unique. How come it has a second-ring characteristic?"

"No wonder you weren't aroused by the Crimson Demon God when you were so close to it. That kind of thing is considered one of the more dangerous types among second-ring magical plants. It's just that the Throne likes this kind of magical plant, so he keeps this kind of magical plant, which would cause a large-scale ecological disaster if placed outside, in his castle for his own enjoyment."

Locke was filled with admiration for the great power of the high-ring wizard.

For example, the act of transforming an entire floor of the castle into a special magical tidal gradient environment, filled with powerful magical plants, is something that I simply cannot understand.

Because we don't know how they did it.

How can a six-story castle and a seven-story castle be so different that they seem like two different worlds, yet still coexist peacefully?

How can so many dangerous magical plants be turned into office decorations?

The Celtic leader straightened his clothes, then gritted his teeth, "Locke, we're about to see the throne."

You need to be careful what you say.

The next moment, he pushed open the door of the conference room and walked in. It was still a conference room with a black and red volcanic style, but it was much more normal inside. There was no lava, and not many aggressive magical plants. There were only a few Molten Peach, Fire Eye Peach, and Dragon Eye Monstera, which were just decorations.

Meanwhile, the witch Catherine sat in a chair behind her desk, feeding birds—to one of the birds in its cage, about the size of her palm, which looked like an ordinary magical bird.

Catherine wore a magnificent, gilded robe and a simple lord's crown inlaid with eleven rubies, which appeared to be a powerful high-level magical artifact.

The witch Catherine looked at the Celtic leader with a friendly expression. "You've come, Celtic. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Then she looked at Locke and said, "And Locke, I heard that the wizard Hao Brooks from Quinnjoll University spoke highly of you, believing that you have the potential to become a second-circle wizard."

The witch Catherine laughed and said, "That's very good."

“From the very beginning, I believed you could do it.”

"Now, you have indeed lived up to my expectations. The reason I brought you here is to fulfill my previous promise to you and help you choose a special plane to contract with. I can give you a few options, but the specific choice is up to you."

"It's all up to you."

The witch Catherine said, "Theoretically, a wizard can make contracts with multiple special planes, but in practice, it's best not to. Because making contracts with more than one special plane is not cost-effective; it doesn't provide much improvement and instead adds a lot of unnecessary magic."

"When using ritual magic, always remember one thing—sometimes, what you gain is not proportional to what you give."

Locke bowed to Catherine the Witch and said, "Thank you, Master, I understand." Catherine the Witch suddenly put down the birdseed she was holding, walked over, and stood beside Locke. Celt glanced over out of the corner of his eye and was almost scared to death.

Suddenly, Catherine the Witch reached out, grasped Locke's collar, and straightened it for him. "That's right."

“Excuse me, Locke, I have a bit of OCD. Ever since I started talking to you, I’ve been wanting to point out that your collar is a little crooked.”

"Of course, I might just be too sensitive to parallel lines."

"Most people shouldn't be able to tell that they're not aligned."

Locke said, "It's alright, teacher."

The witch Catherine gently invited Locke and the Celtic group leader to sit at a small tea table in the center of the conference room.

Locke glanced at the Celtic leader with a puzzled look, genuinely wondering why he was so afraid of the Catherine the Witch.

After the Celtic leader sat down, he said to the witch Catherine, "Your Majesty, I have something to report to you..."

The witch Catherine said, "You don't need to say anything, because I already know."

“Zevin Watts and Alexei Paterson, two ordinary researchers at the Institute of Truth, fabricated experimental data and used the fabricated data to submit papers and apply for projects.”

"This matter is due to your poor management."

"Go and deal with these two people, dismiss them and make them pay compensation."

Locke glanced at the Celtic team leader with surprise.

I never expected this to happen within Group Six.

The Celtic group leader stiffened, looking at the witch Catherine with some confusion, and said, "But this is the first time I've reported this matter to you. Before this, you hadn't visited our Sixth Group for almost a year..."

The Celtic team leader seemed to have thought of something, and his face turned pale.

The witch Catherine glanced at him and said, "There is a little witch in the Ordinary Institute of True Knowledge, Mason. I have recently been guiding her in choosing her own special plane. In my conversations with her, I have learned a lot about the Sixth Group."

"So, I know all of these things. Including everything about you."

The witch Catherine looked at Locke and said gently, "This is information from a special plane. Based on your situation, I have made three choices for you, and each one is actually very suitable for you."

"But I suggest you choose either the Ancient Sky Fantasy Realm or the Emerald Dream Realm; these two are the most suitable for you."

"Choose one of them."

The Celtic wizard, his mouth dry and wanting to say something, quickly began, "Your Majesty, there were some misunderstandings between Wizard Locke and me before, but I never imagined he was so outstanding. Your judgment is truly excellent. It's like this..."

The witch Catherine looked at him and said, "I had Mason give Locke the tickets to the Mira sisters' concert."

One sentence left the Celtic wizard completely speechless.

That brought the topic to a close.

Because this means that Catherine knew everything that happened within Group Six.

Catherine the Witch never went to Group Six, but she had all the knowledge and abilities within it.

She knows everything.

But whatever the Celts did, Catherine the Witch did not interfere once in the past year.

The witch Catherine said to the Celtic wizard, "You should understand my style of doing things."

The Celtic wizard's face turned pale, and he gave a bitter smile. "So, I only have one last chance left? If I don't seize it, then I'll have no choice but to leave Golden Crown Mountain or be transferred to an unimportant position."

The Celtic wizard suddenly crushed the clock in his hand, then said to the witch Catherine, "Your Majesty, I understand. From today onwards, I will never again act recklessly in Group Six or vent my negative emotions. I will pay more attention to Group Six and will never allow data falsification to happen again."

“I was too hasty before, so I was willing to believe that the two people’s breakthrough discovery was real, and I didn’t do much verification. This is indeed my responsibility. I was under too much psychological pressure and made a mistake, but in the end, it is indeed my responsibility.”

The Celtic wizard exchanged a glance with Locke, gave him a wry smile, and hinted with his eyes that the Catherine witch was not easy to deal with.

Once the other party directly interferes with your behavior, it means that she has run out of tolerance for you.

Allowing freedom was the greatest respect Catherine the witch could show a wizard, while interfering meant she no longer trusted him.

The Celtic wizard understood that this summons was a final warning to him.

The witch Catherine looked at Locke and said, "Are you getting used to life in Yunze Wetlands and my research group? You did very well this time, just as I expected, and you didn't disappoint me at all."

Locke sensed from Catherine the Witch's attitude that she seemed to have predicted his abilities through the Cloud Ze Cup. In other words, all of his performance in Group Six of Cloud Ze Wetlands... might have been within Catherine the Witch's prediction all along.

That's why Catherine the Witch said she knew she could.

In other words, all of her performance during this defense at the Zhenzhi Academy was probably within her expectations.

In an instant, even Locke felt a tremendous pressure.

That kind of pressure wasn't because of fear of danger, or because I saw something dangerous, but rather a different kind of pressure.

At this moment, Locke even felt a sense of empathy with the Celtic wizard.

Locke said, "Teacher, I am living very well. Life in Yunze Wetland is even more convenient than I thought."

Catherine the Witch nodded. "That's good. Then you must work hard and seize the opportunity."

"By the way, there's something I need to ask you. I've looked at your experimental data, and it's very good; you generated it all yourself, which I can tell. But there's a problem. I noticed that in the section about the 'Big Black Diamond Pineapple' in your article, you included some discrete data that doesn't quite support your conclusions. Why didn't you remove that data?"

"Those data are obviously affected by your assistant's incorrect operating procedures, but the overall direction is definitely not wrong."

Locke paused for a moment. "Teacher, shouldn't we put all the real data up there?"

This was a habit that Sophia the Witch instilled in herself when she taught herself.

The Celtic wizard was also taken aback, looking at Locke in surprise and asking, "Your experimental data wasn't altered at all?"

"You just wrote down all your experimental data like that?"

Locke felt uneasy under the Celtic team leader's gaze and even began to doubt himself. "What's wrong with this? It won't affect my project application anyway."

(End of this chapter)