Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 584 Participating in the Second-Class Grant Defense
Locke entered the corridor on the third floor of Shinchiin Castle.

The time displayed on the alchemy clock in the corridor indicated that it was approaching one o'clock, and he needed to get into the venue as soon as possible for his dissertation defense.

At the same time, Locke, holding the documents, was about to go in when he saw a dejected wizard, Daniel, walking out of the meeting room.

Wizard Daniel paused for a moment when he saw Locke. "Locke?"

Locke immediately realized that Daniel had also recently applied for project completion, so he smiled and said, "Daniel, how's it going? Did you pass the completion of your second-class grant project? By the way, did you apply for a first-class grant this time?"

Daniel fell silent, his face pale and his eyes gloomy, a stark contrast to his usual cheerful demeanor.

Locke immediately realized something was wrong, his smile vanished, and he noticed that this time, none of the shop allies were with Wizard Daniel.

"what happened?"

Daniel did not answer Locke's question, but just lowered his head. Only then did Locke notice that he looked haggard and that his wizard robes were not very clean.

He even had a wound on his face.

Daniel instinctively tried to avoid it and turned away.

Locke frowned.

But Daniel stopped halfway there, looked at Locke and whispered, "Yunze Wetlands is more treacherous than I thought. All my money has been swindled away."

"Two million magic stones, plus a loan of three million magic stones that they made me take out."

Daniel said bitterly, "I failed my defense today because of a lack of funding and a severe psychological blow, so I didn't take it seriously at all."

"Today, I received a stern rebuke from a senior weather engineer at Boniface University. He told me that there are plenty of geniuses in Jinmian Mountain and Yunze Wetland, and that I shouldn't be arrogant."

"I'm not special!"

Daniel forced a bitter smile. "Locke, you're right, Lena the Witch... I don't even know if that's her name. She really is a fraud."

“She deliberately set me up, making me borrow all my savings and loans to invest all the money in a problematic shop. Now that shop has filed for bankruptcy, but I can’t get my money back.”

"Moreover, she also disappeared without a trace."

"You actually used leverage, using other people's money to do venture capital!" Locke frowned. "Didn't I send you the chat history she gave me?"

"You actually believe what someone like her says? Even if you really want to use leverage, you should find a proper prophet who graduated from Quinjol University. Group prediction is their specialty. Quinjol University has a rich academic background in predicting within chaotic systems."

Daniel gave a bitter smile. "I was blinded by love, and blinded by the million magic stones she brought me with her. I'd never handled that much money before in the Fission Plains. So..."

“In short, I’m lost in money.” A hint of fear even appeared in Daniel’s eyes. “Money is such a terrible thing. When I didn’t have it, I felt desperately lacking, but when I got it, I felt even worse off.”

Daniel said bitterly, "Is it because I'm incapable of making so much money?"

Daniel's eyes were filled with confusion. "In short, after my colleagues in the lab found out how much money I owed, they all pretended I didn't exist and stopped talking to me unless I contacted them."

“Everyone avoids me like the plague, but when I inquire about their attitudes, they say I'm overthinking it. But I know what they're thinking: they're afraid I'll swindle them out of their money. Locke…”

Locke didn't know how to comfort him. "At least you now see the witch's true colors."

Wizard Daniel shook his head. "Five million magic stones! How am I ever going to pay that back? And without funding, I can't finish my research. I reckon I might be kicked out of the Institute of True Knowledge next year."

A bitter smile appeared on the face of Wizard Daniel. "One wrong thought, and I fell from heaven to hell. I completely ruined a promising situation. Locke, I truly regret it... If I had known this would happen, I should have listened to you."

"In that case, we might have passed the second-class grant project together right now."

“Yunze Wetlands is indeed too dangerous,” said Wizard Daniel. “Right now, I have ruined my future with my own hands.”

Just as Daniel was about to leave, Locke suddenly called him back. After thinking for a moment, Locke said to him, "Daniel, I know a powerful contract master named Hussein. I can recommend him to you if you need him."

"Never give up hope, no matter when or where."

"Today's despair may just be a joke for your future self. But if you give up hope, you will lose even that hope."

Wizard Daniel's body stiffened. He turned to look at Locke, opened his mouth, and then shook his head, saying, "I don't need a contract master. Right now, I don't even have the money to hire one."

“Locke, there will be countless temptations on the road to the pursuit of truth. I was unable to resist those temptations for a time, and I allowed the weaknesses in my character to erode my heart, leading me astray and into the abyss.”

"I'm not wronged by the outcome. You must never be as trusting as I was."

Daniel turned to leave, saying softly, "Locke, thank you. You're the only wizard who's encouraged me since this happened."

"Just when I thought no one in the whole world would care about me anymore."

Locke watched Daniel's figure disappear at the end of the corridor and sighed slightly. There was nothing he could do; it was Daniel's own choice.

The wizarding world is so cruel, with so much competition, temptations, and deceptions on the path ahead. Even those with enough talent but weak will will be dragged off this path of pursuing truth.

Locke pondered for a moment, then whispered, "What determines whether I can move forward is not just talent, but also my character. The matter of Wizard Daniel was a wake-up call for me. If I make the wrong choice, one wrong step can lead to an abyss. Because... this is the Cloud Marsh Wetlands!"

It is a place that has made countless wizards and buried countless wizards.

For every wizard who achieves great things and pursues truth here, there are just as many who fail, give up their dreams, and stop here.

The path to truth is so difficult that fewer and fewer people will walk with us, which is why each one is so precious.

The Celtic team leader walked out of the meeting room and ran into the corridor, asking in a low voice, "Locke? What are you doing standing here? You're the main character today. This is your defense."

"The Third Ring Wizards and the Sun Ring Wizards are all waiting for you, the protagonist, to make your appearance."

Celt walked over and invited Locke to come along, while whispering to him, "The third-ring wizard presiding over your defense today is Master Milady from the Art University, one of the seven top wizarding organizations in Cloudze Wetlands."

Locke looked at the Celtic team leader with a puzzled expression. "Team leader, is there a problem?"

"Cassilos University of the Arts? So this third-ring wizard is a master speed painter?" A look of panic flashed in the eyes of the Celtic group leader, who whispered, "Never mention speed painters in front of wizards from Cassilos University of the Arts."

"Within the visual magic sub-direction of the Illusion School, there are still many branches. The quick painters of Yunze Wetland are not the mainstream. The mainstream here is the ink painter, who uses water as a medium and ink as a brush."

"In short, mentioning 'quick-drawing artists' in front of Casiros Art University is like inviting trouble from those artists; it's like an old man eating poison. The people at Casiros believe that quick-drawing artists have a serious misunderstanding of aesthetics and are a bunch of soulless... hastily-trained artists."

“Master Milady is not a traditional Chinese ink painter; he is a master breeder and a master bard.”

The Celtic group leader asked curiously, "Haven't you heard of the reputation of Casiros University? It's the birthplace of artists from Yunze Wetland."

“The ink painters at Casiros University have a tradition of not adding the finishing touches to their paintings. Once the finishing touches are added, the things in the painting come to life and launch an attack on you.”

"The troubadours of Casiros University are also trendsetters and big stars of Yunze Wetland. But that's not the point. The point is that this Master Milady has another identity—a breeder."

Seeing Locke's increasingly puzzled expression, the Celtic team leader whispered, "Master Milady was also a major proponent of the Overlord Cultivation Method. Now you understand!"

Locke immediately knew what the Celtic team leader was worried about.

Master Milady is a master of both the Illusion School and the Life School, and he is also an authority on the dominant cultivation technology of Yunze Wetland.

At this moment, Locke's defense fell into his hands, like a fake meeting the real deal, or like showing off one's skills in front of Guan Yu.

It's generally very troublesome when your research area happens to be the same as that of a leading figure in the same field.

Basically, you can only accept your bad luck.

The Celtic team leader said, "The most troublesome thing is that there is also a second-circle wizard among the judges this time, who is also involved in the breeding of tyrants."

"The judges this time were contacted by the witch Catherine. Your Majesty may have your own ideas."

The Celtic team leader patted Locke on the shoulder. "Good luck."

"Locke."

Locke nodded, then firmly pushed open the conference room door and walked in. At that moment, all the dozen or so wizards in the conference room looked at Locke.

There were three judges for the defense, some wizards who were observing and learning, and wizard representatives from various shop alliances.

At the same time, Locke also saw Master Milady from the Cassilos University of the Arts. He was wearing a checkered wizard's robe with red, white, black, and blue stripes, ten magic rings on his hands, two magic necklaces around his neck, several magic bracelets on his arms, and a bunch of magical artifacts on his body.

These magical artifacts are more decorative than functional.

Meanwhile, he also had a magic tattoo on his right arm, and his hair was long, but dyed.

Locke also discovered that the Milady master was wearing heterochromatic contact lenses.

It's incredibly stylish!

Locke glanced at the meeting room as usual, at the seat of the witch Catherine. It was a pity that Catherine was still not present for the final defense meeting of the second-class grant project.

The seat that should have been occupied by his mentor was empty.

Nevertheless, the table in front of that seat was still filled with specialty fruits from Mount Golden Crown, as a sign of respect for the Throne Wizard.

Master Milady snapped his fingers. "Very good, the young man has come in. Hey, hey... we can begin..."

Milady's speech has an eerie rhythm, as if he's rapping. Yet, every word he speaks is so clear that it penetrates the ears of the audience, making it unforgettable.

He didn't use any magic, but because his speech conformed to some kind of magical law, his voice contained a magical power even without using magic.

Master Milady looked at Sith George, the second-circle Sun Wizard of Group 2 of Mount Golden Crown, who was standing next to him.

"I hope your researcher from Golden Crown Mountain will deliver a more interesting presentation. That wizard named Daniel just now was really terrible. Your logic needs to be explosive, your data needs to be compelling, and the young wizard upstairs shouldn't sound like he's chanting scriptures."

Sith George, standing beside him, was one of Catherine the Witch's closest confidants and was always serious. So when faced with this third-ring wizard speaking like this, he could only force a smile from his deadpan face to make it seem as if he matched the third-ring wizard's style.

Wizard Sith George gave a stiff laugh: "Well... I didn't personally train either of these wizards, so I'm not very familiar with their situation. I hope their performance won't disappoint us, especially Master Milady."

The third wizard, a second-circle breeder from the Rose Council, smiled. "Augustin... I think I've heard that name recently. Where is it?"

Master Milady smiled, then gestured with a pistol towards Locke on the stage, pointing his index fingers at Locke, and said:
"Don't be nervous, don't be casual. Academic work is rigorous, not street stunts. If the argument is strong enough, I'll nod in approval... Oh yeah..."

Sith, standing beside him with a serious expression, was already sweating profusely. He seemed completely unable to stand Master Milady's style, but dared not disobey the authority of a third-ring wizard. His expression was somewhat distorted at this moment.

On stage, Locke remained calm and nodded to Master Milady, saying, "Okay, thank you for your guidance, Master Milady."

"I'm trying not to be nervous."

Milady looked at Locke with surprise, as if she had discovered something. "You've got guts. I like that about you. We've finally caught someone alive on Golden Crown Mountain."

The Sith wizard, as if finding an outlet for his anger, coughed, frowned at Locke, and began to reprimand him, saying, "This is a defense. You must maintain a serious demeanor and show respect in front of a third-ring wizard."

Master Milady glared at him, annoyed. "Little Sith, relax. The data needs to be solid, but don't look like you owe tens of millions."

The Sith wizards were in complete chaos.

He looked at Master Milady with a puzzled expression. In his eyes, the Ekaterina witch had always been an image of unparalleled majesty and mystery, and he could not see through her words and actions at all.

At this moment, the image of this third-ring wizard was becoming increasingly precarious under the impact of Master Milady.

The third-ranked judge from the Rose Council smiled; he had had enough of the show. He then said to Locke, "Researcher, you may begin."

"We hope you can give us a presentation that won't be boring."

(End of this chapter)