Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 59 Slave Trading Post
Locke left Lijin Secret Words with nine hundred magic stones.

To synthesize a level 4 Mandragora, you need 27 Mandragoras, and it takes a total of 18 hours to synthesize a Super Mandragora.

If you work as hard as you can, you can synthesize about 40 Super Mandragora Vines in a month, which will yield 1200 Magic Stones.

This is a relatively good income, because a wizard prospect entering Lilith's Hut is forced to take out a newborn contract loan, which is only 1000 magic stones.

Locke, accompanied by two gray dwarves, was walking down the street when he suddenly realized that he didn't actually need to go through such a painstaking process to synthesize a level 4 Mandrake and then sell it to Lijin Secret Words.

This takes up time that would otherwise be spent synthesizing various precious gems, as well as time that would otherwise be spent synthesizing various miscellaneous items to explore new synthesis recipes.

As a breeder's assistant, I could use a more cost-effective method—planting.

“By buying a few useful slaves and renting a few acres of land, I can establish a botanical garden of my own,” Locke thought. “As a breeder’s assistant, I certainly have the qualifications.”

"I happen to have the relevant information."

"Each mandrake vine can produce at least seven branches each year and can be propagated by cuttings."

"Furthermore, a single parent Mandragora vine can reproduce up to seven offspring vines in its lifetime. By the sixth generation, it only has 80% of the parent vine's magical energy, and by the seventh generation, it only has 30% of the parent vine's magical energy."

The teachings that Sophia the Witch had given him flashed through Locke's mind.

Locke pondered, “Therefore, a single Mandela vine can only propagate through five generations of cuttings, resulting in a total of thirty-five branches.”

“It is almost impossible for ordinary wizard apprentices to survive when propagating by cuttings, but as a breeding assistant, I can ensure that all cuttings of these relatively basic magical vines survive.”

"That is to say, one super mandela vine can produce seven mandela vines every year."

Locke also considered the mandrake vine, which bears fruit once a year, producing 2-3 seeds each time.

It can stably produce for about five generations, but by the sixth generation, it will lack magical energy and produce a certain degree of degradation.

In other words, a single Super Mandela vine can produce some seeds every year, and the survival rate of these seeds is relatively high.

With my current planting techniques, I can get about ten of its offspring every year as long as I have one Super Mandela vine.

Furthermore, once planted, it can be harvested over a total of five years.

Locke did a quick calculation and found that if he wanted to maintain the sales of 40 Super Mandragora vines to Lijin Secrets every month through planting, he would need to plant at least 50 Super Mandragora vines.

Considering issues such as seed preservation, he should plant around 60 seedlings.

That would require 5 mu of land.

And this is precisely the limit of my abilities as a breeder's assistant.

“Planting mandrake vines can improve my actual level in breeding science, and it can also be considered as conducting an experiment in the direction of life magic botany magic,” Locke thought. “It won’t affect my studies much; on the contrary, because of the practice, it may even have a promoting effect.”

"Moreover, only in this way can I avoid arousing suspicion when I launch new synthetic plants in the future."

"Only then can I safely earn magic stones."

Locke calculated that the cost of planting it this way, roughly spread across each Super Mandragora vine, would be about 5 magic stones per vine.

After all, to purchase farmland rich in soil element particles, one needs to buy special nutrient soil, high-quality fast-growing gel, and some primary chemical products to increase plant survival rates.

Locke was secretly alarmed; this didn't even include his own cost as a breeder's assistant.

If you hire a breeder assistant, you'll have to spend extra money each month, which will cost a lot of magic stones.

The cost of mandrake vines will increase further.

Mandragora vines were already difficult to sell, and now even if a single vine sold for 5 magic stones, it might not attract any buyers.

No wonder this vine has been completely replaced by tiffroot vines.

Currently, only breeders who cultivate tiffroot vines are able to make money.

However, each of my Super Mandragora Vines can yield 30 Magic Stones, and if the cost can be reduced to 5 Magic Stones, I can make a net profit of 25 Magic Stones per vine.

You can get exactly 1000 magic stones in a month.

This is considered a magical plant with a very high profit margin.

Locke thought to himself, "Since I'm the breeder's assistant myself, I don't need to spend extra money on hiring people. Conducting breeding experiments myself is also beneficial for me in terms of practice and improvement, so I'm basically making a pure profit. I only need to spend two hundred magic stones per month."

"It's absolutely possible."

“I can certainly try to establish a small-scale plantation myself.” The breeder’s assistant’s status at Lilith’s Hut is equivalent to that of a first-class wizard apprentice, so Locke does indeed have the right to open his own plantation.

The higher-ups at Lilith's Hut will most likely agree to let him establish a small botanical garden around his wizard mentor's laboratory (those cabins).

With that in mind, Locke headed toward the slave trading post in the Chimera Market. If he were to open a plantation, he would need a lot of slaves who could work.

The Grey Dwarves are a race whose minds are damaged, making them incapable of handling complex tasks, and therefore they are indeed not suited for such matters.

He needed some of the fairy-like slaves from Sophia's botanical garden, but of course, the fairy slaves were too high-ranking and too expensive for him to use.

The death of even one of those fairy slaves would result in a loss of thousands to tens of thousands of magic stones, a considerable cost. They possess racial talent in planting and are naturally highly compatible with nature, making them the most favored slaves of high-level breeders.

Only a first-level breeder like Sophia could afford to employ a slave from a group of flower fairies.

Locke, accompanied by two grey dwarf servants, entered the street where the slave trading posts were located. The slave trading posts were located on both sides of the street, each with a storefront, and were quite large in scale.

On the street where the slave trading post was located, there were hundreds of iron cages holding different kinds of slaves.

Wizards from all over would stop here to buy the slaves they wanted.

Locke glanced around and saw that there were at least dozens of different races of slaves displayed in the iron cages on the street, presumably just for species display.

Among them were dwarven slaves skilled in forging, suitable as assistants in the alchemy workshop; forest deer slaves suitable as assistants in potion-making; and those suitable as test subjects, since most wizards were human slaves of humans.

There were even female human slaves who had been trained in special skills, dressed provocatively, had slender figures, and had undergone certain magical transformations, making them incredibly alluring.

These slaves are generally modified with enchantment magic, specifically the enchanting school. They are disposable items for wizards, designed to satisfy human wizards who have been researching for a long time, find life boring, and want a change of pace.

Of course, there were also special slaves of other races and genders.

The moment Locke walked over, he attracted the attention of many of the shopkeepers in the slave trading post.

Most of these shop assistants seemed to be just ordinary people, at most third-class wizard apprentices, simply traders pushed out by the masters behind this slave trade.

A short goblin shop assistant, dressed in a black and white shop uniform, was about to serve Locke.

He hadn't taken more than a few steps when he was robbed by a tall, thin male dark elf with a rooster-comb hairstyle, also dressed in a black and white shop assistant uniform.

This dark elf was a third-class wizard apprentice.

The male dark elf waiter pushed past the goblin waiter, stood in front of Locke, and bowed politely to him in a gentlemanly manner. "Good evening, young and distinguished wizard."

“I am Benny, the Dark Elf. Please allow me to serve such a great man as you.”

He glanced slyly at the four badges Locke wore on his chest: the Breeder's Assistant Badge and the Platinum Star Badge from Lijin's Secret, which suggested that the other party might be a big customer.

What kind of slave do you want?

Locke didn't want to waste words with him and said indifferently, "Well, I need slaves who can work, farm, and use some moderately difficult farming tools."

"Furthermore, your intelligence must be at least moderate, enough to understand my instructions," Locke added. "Cultivating magical plants still requires a certain level of skill."

The dark elf waiter, Benny, bowed to Locke again. "Understood. A breeder as outstanding as you needs a capable assistant."

“Respected guest, low-level slaves like the gray dwarves are indeed not worthy of your status.”

The two gray dwarves beside Locke blinked dumbly. They felt they should be angry, but with so many wizards around, they could only tremble in fear.

The dark elf waiter, Benny, said, "I recommend three types of slave assistants to you: wood elf slaves, dwarf giant slaves, and merfolk slaves."

"Wood elves are the most common elf race. They live in forests, are naturally close to nature, are good at planting, and are physically strong and long-lived. They can be used as skilled high-level slaves, and their learning ability is generally high."

"Dwarf giants are a special breed of giants; they are dwarfs among giants. Merfolk slaves have a high affinity for water elemental particles..."

Locke frowned slightly. These three types of slaves were all typical high-priced slaves, each with their own special talents.

It's not suitable for me right now.

If you have extra magic stones, you can use them to buy more courses and better magic resources.

There's no need to spend extra magic stones on buying slaves.

Locke interrupted the waiter's rambling, saying indifferently, "All I want are slaves from the botanical garden; I need to consider the cost-effectiveness."

None of the three you recommended are suitable.

(End of this chapter)