Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 557 The Eye Demon Wizard's Terrifying Reputation and the Inside Story of the Competition
One week later, during the day.

Locke entered the castle where the Institute of Truth was located and went into the public laboratory, where Freya, Mason, Barrett, and others were also busy.

Therefore, Locke seized the opportunity, applied to the Celtic leader for the use of the Sunlight Mirror, and analyzed a natural magical structure composition.

After emerging from the Mirror of Sunlight, Locke secretly calculated his current progress. During this time, he was still collecting preliminary experimental data, and thus discovered an unknown natural magical structural component and three new symbiotic relationships between pineapple-type magical plants and magical creatures.

However, I will only know the specific details of the work once all three researchers in my group have arrived at their workstations and I have a brief meeting with them.

Meanwhile, Locke was sitting at his workstation organizing data when he suddenly saw a researcher from Group Four arrive with a Golden Crown Mountain Lecturer from another garden (academy).

Locke glanced at them with suspicion. Because there was competition for resources among the six groups of the Catherine witches, people from different groups rarely interacted in order to avoid suspicion.

But today, I never expected that the people from Group Four and a formal wizard from Mount Golden Crown would come looking for me.

The researchers from Group Four greeted Locke, "This is Researcher Augustine. Mr. Garfield."

Garfield greeted Locke in a friendly manner and said in a low voice, "Hello, I am a lecturer mage at the Breeders Academy on Mount Golden Crown. You can call me Garfield."

"I am also a staff member of the competition committee office for the first round of the Golden Mian Mountain Breeder Competition."

Locke nodded. "Garfield, is there anything I can help you with?"

The researcher from Group Four has already left.

Meanwhile, Garfield whispered to Locke, "It's like this, Gregor and Williams are both students of Augustine Wizard, right? Our office has already received their breeding data on flying magical plants."

Locke nodded. He had indeed asked two of his students to submit their competition materials yesterday. Competitions within the university did not require the creation of physical objects; only a data report was needed.

With Locke's current level of breeding expertise, he could indeed immediately discern the skill level of these apprentices from the breeding data they submitted.

Therefore, in the apprentice-level breeder competition, only materials need to be submitted in the first two rounds, and physical samples need to be submitted in the third round.

Locke said, "Is there a problem? It's just a matter between apprentices, is it worth Garfield coming all the way to the Institute of Truth?"

Wizard Garfield gave a wry smile and said in a low voice, "Our competition committee has reviewed the materials submitted by your two students and believes that they are excellent. However, there are only five apprentices per academy who can participate in the second round of the association-level breeder competition."

"Our competition committee is in a difficult position. So, could you please have one of your students withdraw from the competition?"

“Here’s what we’re thinking: it’s already quite impressive that a wizard like Augustine has a number of students who can advance to the second round of the competition. Within the Academy of Truth, being able to help students secure competition spots already makes one a very excellent wizarding mentor. But the problem is, there are many other wizarding mentors in our Breeding Academy and your Academy of Truth who have students who want to participate…”

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Garfield's face. "It's impossible to please everyone; we must consider the equitable distribution of benefits."

"Especially since there are three first-class wizard apprentices who are second-ring wizards, they are also participating. It wouldn't be right to simply prevent them from even getting a place in the rankings. That would be too disrespectful to those second-ring wizards."

"Therefore, we hope you can persuade a student to voluntarily withdraw from the competition."

“I’ve reviewed the information on your two students. I think Gregor’s student is a bit weaker overall; you could persuade him to withdraw from the competition. As for Williams’ student, he is indeed very talented…”

Locke gave him a cold glance.

Clearly, the other party came to him because, according to the normal competition process, it would be difficult to find an excuse to eliminate his two students.

The reason is simple: the materials I gave to the two students for the competition were all materials about the first-level magical plant, the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow, which I developed myself. I have experienced firsthand how excellent the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow is.

Anyway, I haven't suffered any losses against flying magical plants yet, so I figured the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow would be quite formidable in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

The development data of the Great Blue Leaf Dragon Sparrow, which was created from scratch, was incredibly rare. Naturally, Gregor and Williams, who obtained this data, were able to produce a perfect competition answer sheet under their guidance.

Faced with this report card, the competition committee of Jinmian Mountain was clearly under great pressure.

It would be troublesome if two students of a researcher from Mount Golden Crown took up two-fifths of Mount Golden Crown's competition slots.

However, it would be troublesome to break the rules and eliminate Locke's two students, because Locke is backed by the witch Catherine, who is also a key member of the Golden Crown Mountain Academic Committee.

Furthermore, the middle-level members of Golden Crown Mountain also knew that Locke was a member of the four major forces vying for power behind Golden Crown Mountain and was a candidate for the Academic Committee.

Therefore, it would be unwise to directly confront the academic committee on this matter.

Therefore, the only option for the competition committee was to proactively send a first-ring crystallization wizard to negotiate with Locke.

Garfield said in a low voice, "This is an unspoken rule of our Golden Crown Mountain, and there may not necessarily be any problem with it. Wizard Locke, I hope you can understand that for our competition committee, we certainly hope that our students can win first place in the association-level competition."

"Students of second-circle wizards will obviously have greater potential. We would also prefer to see five students from five different mentors... As you know, resources are scarce and places are limited..."

Locke looked at him coldly. "Are you finished? I have a meeting with my team members later. I'm very busy, so could you please leave?"

Locke didn't care whether he offended him or not.

Before he entered Golden Crown Mountain, Director Morrison told himself not to be afraid of offending people, because every position at Golden Crown Mountain was filled with people, and he would have already offended someone on his first day there.

It would be foolish to give up one's own interests out of fear of offending others.

It's like saying that if you don't fight for any benefits, you won't offend anyone.

Unless he leaves Golden Crown Mountain, he cannot avoid offending people.

Moreover, since he was a candidate for the Academic Committee, there was really no need for him to hold the title of Lecturer of Golden Crown Mountain.

I let two students participate in the competition so that they could improve and gain resources.

Since my two students are eligible for competition spots, why should I, as their mentor, give way?

That doesn't make sense.

Garfield said in a low voice, "They're just two students. They're not very knowledgeable and are easy to fool. Wizard Locke, you're putting me in a difficult position."

"The tournament committee can apologize to you, and as an apology, we will give you a Magic Crystal Card. This is one month's salary for the True Knowledge Academy."

Locke glanced at him in surprise, then realized that Golden Crown Mountain kept its salaries confidential, so he definitely didn't know that Golden Crown Mountain actually gave him a monthly allowance of 20,000 magic stones.

But that's not the point. No matter how short of money I am, I certainly wouldn't care about 10,000 magic stones.

Locke glanced indifferently at Garfield the Wizard, then noticed that Mason the Witch and the others had already arrived at their workstations.

He stood up and greeted the three of them, who each responded in kind.

Mason Witch looked at Locke curiously. "What are these colleagues from the Breeders' Academy doing at our True Knowledge Institute?"

Locke said, "It's nothing, just some nonsense." Mason Witches sensed Locke's indifference towards them, and instantly they also took their stance, their gazes towards the wizard becoming indifferent.

Garfield the wizard knew he had messed up.

He hadn't expected Locke to be so stubborn. Usually, researchers who had joined Golden Crown Mountain less than half a year ago were easy to talk to and easy to coax, weren't they?

Garfield was getting angry, but then he remembered that this was the territory of the Institute of True Knowledge, and if he dared to get angry here, he probably wouldn't get away with it.

Moreover, considering the background of the other party, he felt that there was really no way to deal with Locke.

Unless it's the second-circle wizard director of their tournament committee office who has a problem with Locke, but that old fox of a director, how could he possibly put himself in such a predicament?

Even if things go wrong later on, it will definitely be these young lecturers at the first stage who have taken responsibility. There's no reason to let the senior monks take the responsibility.

Moreover, Locke likely had the academic committee standing behind him.

The situation is even more special.

The academic committee's academic powers are not subordinate to the Senate's administrative powers, and it is backed by the deacon inspection team.

The inspection team could only protect itself.

In this matter, their office was in the wrong from the start. In order to balance the interests of all parties, they wanted to violate some academic ethics by making private contact to see if Locke was easy to talk to and would take the initiative to back down and sacrifice his own interests to help them maintain the so-called balance.

Therefore, Garfield could only smile wryly and say to Locke, "Wizard Locke, you've misunderstood me."

"Alright. Since you're not interested in my suggestion, I'll be going now."

Garfield the Wizard smiled bitterly to himself.

Faced with this situation, he really didn't have a good solution. If he didn't follow the rules, the academic committee behind Locke would likely investigate later. If he followed the rules, there was absolutely no way that Locke's two students would fail to qualify for the competition based on their submitted materials.

Garfield the wizard now felt a sense of admiration for Locke, and his prejudice against this wizard from the outside world disappeared.

Before leaving, he glanced at Locke curiously. Judging from the completeness of the materials submitted by the two students, Locke probably had a very powerful first-stage flying magical plant project.

Generally speaking, wizards from outside wizarding lands rarely have so many large projects at their disposal, and even less so do they generously share them with their students.

This is very rare.

Garfield sighed and had no choice but to leave.

Soon, he left the castle of the True Knowledge Institute, walked halfway across Mount Golden Crown, and arrived at the castle where the Breeders Academy of Mount Golden Crown was located. He went up to the third floor and entered the Breeders Competition Office.

One of the wizards in the office immediately asked him, "Well, have you convinced Wizard Augustine by now? It's just a small matter between two apprentices; I think Wizard Augustine will give our office some face."

Garfield the Wizard gave a wry smile. "Persuade? I almost got glared at to death. I angered him. No wonder I heard he's known as the Eye Demon Wizard in the Six Towers and the Southeast Corner Region."

"You have no idea how strong the malevolent aura and how powerful the presence of this wizard is."

The deputy director immediately looked over. "What? You didn't convince the wizard Augustine?"

The deputy director's eyes showed surprise. "It's rare to see a new researcher at Golden Crown Mountain so bold, completely unafraid of offending people. I thought he would be easy to manipulate."

What is the nickname "Eye Demon Wizard"?

Garfield the Wizard said, "I looked up his information before. It is said that during his apprenticeship, he personally killed hundreds of dark wizard apprentices in a wizarding academy in front of a formal dark wizard. As a result, he was given a nickname by the dark wizards of the Southeast Corner Region: the Eye Demon Wizard."

"Later, during the war between black and white wizards in the southeastern corner of the region, he personally killed an ordinary first-ring black wizard in front of a first-ring crystallized black wizard, and from then on, he became infamous."

"Oh, right. In the Land of the Six Towers, he's also involved in the death of a first-ring crystallized wizard. It's said that the first-ring crystallized wizard committed suicide..."

At this point, the wizards in the office fell silent.

As the deputy director of the first-ring crystallization stage wizard group, he swallowed hard. "A first-ring crystallization wizard...suicide? How can these two terms be connected?!"

Garfield the Wizard said, "It is said that the bewitching wizard and the bloodline wizard entered a wizarding secret realm, and he was the only one who came out."

"Then, the local White Wizard Association investigated and proved that the first-ring crystallized wizard committed suicide. The bewitching wizard was completely innocent."

The wizards in the office all gasped in shock.

What a ruthless person!

Many of the white wizards in the office are just diligently conducting experiments and securing projects, day after day, at most engaging in some office politics. Who else has such a rich and varied experience?

At this moment, the deputy wizard frowned. "Now that you mention it, I do think that this bewitching wizard is... rather fierce."

"This guy doesn't sound like a white wizard, he sounds more like a black wizard. He actually has the life of a first-ring crystallized wizard on his hands, and that was just because they were in a wizarding realm together, and then he committed suicide?"

"The ethics review committee has not yet found any problems with him."

At this moment, the wizards in the office became a little nervous. This wizard did indeed sound like someone not to be trifled with.

Garfield the Wizard said, "Deputy Director, where is the Director? We need the Director to come out and give us his opinion now."

The deputy director shrugged and said, "The director went to give a lecture at a seven-colored nursery. Before he left, he specifically instructed us to handle this matter properly."

Garfield was speechless.

Good grief, the leader just dumped a thorny problem on them and then ran away.

Let them decide for themselves.

Garfield Wizard said with difficulty, "The director is going to give lectures for a few days. If he comes back in a few days, there will still be time to deal with this matter."

The deputy director blinked. "He didn't say a specific time, but I guess he'll come back whenever the people in our office finish their work."

"Isn't this the director's personality all along...?"

The wizards in the office twitched at the corners of their mouths.

The deputy director said, "Forget it. We have no choice but to follow the rules. Do we want to give their academic committee any leverage over us? As for what happens next, or whether anyone has any objections, there's nothing I can do about it."

"Hopefully, the threshold of our office won't be trampled to pieces by those second-ring wizards."

(End of this chapter)