Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 555 Catherine's Ruthlessness and the Real Threshold of Special Grant
Locke opened Green Grass Cloud Marsh and found his two articles in this month's magazine. He also glanced at an article by another first-ring wizard in the magazine to see if there was anything he needed.

According to Qingcao Yunze's rules, a copy of the magazine will be sent to the wizards whose submissions are accepted in the same month. This is considered a benefit that the journal gives to wizards whose submissions are accepted.

"Sure enough, most of the wizards above are from the seven top wizard organizations in Yunze Wetland, and some are from the ten top shop alliances in Yunze Wetland. They are researchers in the research institutes set up by the shop alliances."

"Then less than a quarter of the articles came from wizards from the hundred or so medium-sized wizard organizations in Yunze Wetland. As for the articles from wizards in the small wizard organizations in Yunze Wetland... there wasn't a single one in this issue."

"In Yunze Wetland, once you go to the local small wizard organization, you are basically far away from Zone 1, and you may not even have a chance to go to Zone 2."

Locke sighed.

That's why I came to the Institute of True Knowledge. It represents a higher starting point and provides a great platform for a young first-ring wizard like myself with no background.

Locke flipped through the magazine and found an article that greatly inspired him. It was written by Will Collins, a senior breeder from the Rose Council's Institute of Truth, about the mechanism by which multi-headed roses can be turned into double-headed roses using type 3 daffodil inhibitor.

Locke quickly finished reading the article. As a breeder and potion master, he quickly realized that he had used Type 3 Narcissus Inhibitor as the core material and utilized the core, secondary, auxiliary, and peripheral materials in potion science to create a potion that could help his hydra transform into a three-headed hydra.

Although it requires some effort, with my current potion-making skills honed through the Quetzalcoatl Ladder, I can certainly give it a try.

By combining potion science and breeding techniques, a potion was created that can induce mutations in the plant essence of hydra plants.

Locke placed the magazine into his astral ring. "Finally, there's a possible direction. As for the materials I need, maybe I can shamelessly go to Arthas's industrial park and ask for them; who knows, they might be able to give them to me."

"This will save about 100,000 magic stones."

"Let's hire a first-class wizard apprentice first."

Locke left the dormitory.

……

On the second floor of Dragonblood Market Castle, Locke walked into a shop called "The Knowledgeable Broker" and found the shop to be rather simple, with only a desk, a stool, a magic lamp, and a white-bearded wizard.

At the same time, there was also a wizard I had met once before, Griffin, who was also from Catherine's High School of Truth.

When Griffin looked up at Locke, he paused for a moment in surprise, then awkwardly looked away.

Meanwhile, the white-bearded wizard shopkeeper, who was at the first stage of the Liquefaction Realm, seemed extremely irritable. He had been forcibly suppressing his anger, but at this moment he finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"No, this is a small shop, and I really don't have anyone here who can help you with your Zhenzhi Institute's first-class project grant."

"If we have someone who can do it, why would we need you to go to the True Knowledge Institute? Can't we go to the True Knowledge Institute ourselves?"

"I'm just an ordinary local wizard at the first stage of liquefaction. I can help you write a few articles, and at most, I can help you with some small projects, but I really can't help you."

"Besides, I have no one here who can help you."

Locke glanced at the current situation with a puzzled look.

Clearly, for a wizard at the first stage of liquefaction to be so angry at a wizard at the first stage of crystallization, it must be that his colleague, Wizard Griffin, made an excessive request that he could not fulfill.

Griffin coughed awkwardly a few times and said, "I was just asking you. If it can't be done, then it can't be done."

Griffin nodded to Locke and said, "Researcher Augustine, you're also here to hire wizards from the Generalist school?"

Locke nodded and said, "I saw this shop outside saying they could recommend a first-class wizard apprentice who specializes in writing articles. I have some articles to write for Section Two. The experiments are all done, and I have the key data, but I'm just missing someone to write them."

The white-bearded old wizard's eyes immediately lit up. "This is our shop's specialty; I have many first-class wizarding apprentices in general studies."

"They can write it for you. As long as you pay, you don't need to be credited on the article. Of course, in that case, they can only write it for you; they have absolutely no ability to edit it themselves."

As he spoke, the white-bearded old wizard kept glancing at Griffin.

Griffin the Wizard was a little embarrassed. He coughed and then said to Locke, "I entered school three years earlier than you and am currently working on a first-class project funded by the Institute of True Knowledge. I'm not afraid to admit it, Locke, but I've indeed encountered a problem. This project just won't be completed."

"So, I have no choice but to try everything I can."

Clearly, what Griffin Wizard meant by "trying every possible means" was finding outside help.

However, there's not much to say about this. If he can really find people to help him finish the project without having to be credited, that's his own ability.

Locke nodded understandingly. "Yes, everyone's having a tough time."

"I'm too busy to handle everything myself, so I'm hiring a few first-class wizard apprentices to help me publish articles."

Griffin Wizard breathed a sigh of relief and accepted the excuse Locke had given him. "Right. When I entered Mount Golden Crown, I thought I could achieve something great. To be honest, I even unrealistically wanted to get a top-tier grant and a sub-project with my mentor, Ekaterina."

"But now, I'm stuck on the first-class grant and can't move forward. Sigh, all I hope for now is to finish this first-class grant before leaving the station, then my journey at the True Knowledge Institute will be complete."

Griffin the Wizard sighed. "The most important thing for a person is to have self-awareness."

"Colleague Locke, I have now come to terms with reality."

"I just hope to complete the first-class project funding."

"I don't dare to hope for special funding."

Locke frowned, sensing something was amiss. “But you still have two years. In the remaining time, you could complete a first-class grant at any time. If that’s the case, you still have a chance to try… for a special grant and a sub-project of a key project…”

Griffin looked at him intently, as if he saw his own past in Locke, and saw himself as Locke's future.

He sighed. "Sure enough, every researcher who enters the Advanced Institute of Truth has unrealistic ideas at the beginning."

He gave a wry smile. "You're thinking too highly of the future, and too simply. As your senior, let me tell you something. Don't trust our mentor too much, Catherine the Witch."

A flicker of fear crossed his eyes. “I’m not saying the Throne Lord is bad, but rather that when you’re within the Throne Lord’s sphere of influence, you will indeed be very happy.”

"But the Throne is fickle. She is the sun in the sky, and we are the masses on the ground who are protected by her. You cannot always expect that the sun in the sky will always favor you."

Griffin sighed. "We are not that important. We have far overestimated our status and our talents."

Locke frowned. Griffin seemed to have suffered a severe blow. He had arrived at the Institute of True Knowledge more than three years before Locke, so Locke didn't know exactly what had happened to affect the mentality of such a wizarding genius.

However, the fact that he had to seek out external wizards to do his own research shows how much pressure he was under.

Griffin whispered to Locke, "It's much harder than you think to get the key sub-topics from Catherine's throne."

"Moreover, the threshold for obtaining top-tier funding is higher than you think. You don't know anything about it yet, do you? Right, you're new here, so you don't know the differences and thresholds."

Like a kind senior, Wizard Griffin advised Locke, "Let me tell you, the prerequisite for receiving special funding is that you are a second-circle wizard and you are conducting second-circle level research projects."

Locke frowned. "A second-circle wizard?"

"But all the wizards in the True Knowledge Institute are first-ring wizards..."

Griffin Wizard smiled and said, "As far as I know, the advanced researchers in Groups One and Two of the Institute of Truth, as well as a few ordinary researchers in the top three groups of the Institute of Truth, have already become second-circle wizards."

"Special funding is something we first-stage wizards can't even dream of. The True Knowledge Institute's recruitment requirements are that you must be a first-stage liquefaction wizard before the age of fifty. But look at it, which liquefaction wizard can actually get into the True Knowledge Institute?"

"Similarly, the real starting threshold for the top-tier funding project is no longer the crystallization stage, but the second ring! Only projects at the second ring level can receive top-tier funding from the Three Swamps Land."

“The competition is fierce,” said Wizard Griffin. “But let alone special grants, even first-class grants are already overflowing. I’m not even sure if I can finish a first-class grant. By the way, how far have you progressed with your True Knowledge Institute grant?”

Locke said, "I just got a second-class grant."

Wizard Griffin raised an eyebrow. "Then keep up the good work. The future foundation will only get harder. The Institute of Knowledge always starts with the easy stuff and moves on to the difficult stuff."

"The real challenge is yet to come!"

"I'm completely defeated. My original dream was to go to the Starry Sea, but now my dream is just to stay in the Cloud Marsh Wetland, and I'll be satisfied."

"And... you'll be increasingly short of money in the future," said Wizard Griffin. "You'll find that you need money for research, money for your students to advance, money for your students and yourself to participate in competitions, money to buy equipment, and a massive amount of money to advance to the second ring..."

"Money, money, money... I've never been so short of money before. I'm going crazy because of money."

"I never imagined I'd be so short of money. Advancing to the second ring even requires conquering a medium-sized plane. These days, what wizarding organization would just give you a medium-sized plane outright..."

Griffin the Wizard sighed. "Locke, I wish you good luck in the future."

"Right now, you only see the benefits of Yunze Wetland, but you don't see its terrifying aspects. This is the land of three marshes, a place where countless geniuses gather, and it's very close to the Star Domain Sea. Countless geniuses like us have been buried here."

"You haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg of Yunze Wetland. This place... can devour geniuses."

Before leaving the store, Griffin sighed, "I hope you're mentally prepared, otherwise I'll be you tomorrow."

After he passed by, the white-bearded old wizard peeked around and watched him until he was far away. Then he said to Locke, "Guest, don't take what he said to heart. I've seen plenty of people like him. He's just mentally broken and wants to drag more people down with him."

"So that he can prove that it's not his own problem."

"My name is George."

"You can call me Old George. How many first-class wizard apprentices do you want?"

Locke shrugged. At least he had learned two important pieces of information from his conversation with Griffin: first, top-tier funding was only available to second-circle wizards and second-circle level research.

Obtaining this information in advance is crucial and can significantly alter one's plans.

It seems that I really do need more and more money.

Without money, let alone doing scientific research, even advancing to the second-circle wizard level is impossible.

Fortunately, this is Golden Crown Mountain, which has abundant first-ring level wizarding secret realms, multiple opportunities to enter first-ring wizarding secret realms, and provides a large amount of resources needed to advance to second-ring wizarding.

So, although the situation has changed and it is more difficult to obtain special funding, there is still a chance for me to overcome it.

I really need to hurry up.

Moreover, it now seems that I do need to obtain more funds to support my vertical projects through horizontal funding.

Hopefully, my Hydra sales will be decent.

Therefore, I really need to make the three-headed serpent I envisioned as soon as possible.

Secondly, there seems to be a critical point in Catherine the Great's attitude towards a genius researcher. Once a wizard's performance exceeds this critical point, Catherine the Great's attitude is likely to change drastically.

However, he himself did not know the specific changes, because it was just Griffin's personal opinion.

Locke nodded to old George and said, "I know, I won't be influenced by him. Old George, how much does it cost to hire a first-class wizard apprentice with general knowledge for a month?"

Old George said, "Not much, we're just making ends meet. A thousand magic stones a month."

"You can also hire me. I can write some articles and help you revise projects a little. But I want 10,000 magic stones a month."

Locke nodded. "Then I'll hire a first-class wizard apprentice specializing in general studies. Have him come to my dormitory; this is my address... Here's one thousand magic stones. Let's sign the contract."

"Can he come to my dorm this afternoon? I hope I can get him to publish some articles in Zone 2 as soon as possible."

Publishing articles in Zone 2 can earn you many contribution points, which can be exchanged for a large amount of paid library materials.

In Yunze Wetland, issuing certificates in Zones 3 and 4 is tantamount to inflating one's qualifications, but it is permissible to issue certificates in Zones 1 and 2.

Most wizards go to the second district not primarily to add to their resume, but to gain contribution points and accumulate contributions.

Although the second zone is small, it adds up to a considerable amount when accumulated.

Old George chuckled and said, “Of course. If you’re willing, he can start today at noon. I’ll help you pick a reliable student. However, our first-class wizard apprentices here all come from junior wizard organizations, so their level is definitely not as good as your first-class wizard apprentices at Golden Crown Mountain…”

(End of this chapter)