Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 70 First-Class Wizard Apprentice (4803)

Gabi, transformed into an owl, merely circled once above the head of the Clivia. In that instant, the two leaf swords in the Clivia's hand thrust upwards repeatedly. Amid Gabi's alarming cries, one of the leaf swords almost struck her, severing two of her feathers.

"Senior!"

Meanwhile, Locke also took this opportunity to find the true roots of the clivia hidden in the darkness.

The Clivia miniata, this magical plant, is a carnivorous plant, equivalent to a bird of prey in the plant kingdom. It attacks and preys on anything that moves.

There are two ways to solve it: one is to destroy it directly by force.

Without the manipulation of a first-class wizard apprentice, the threat level of a Clivia miniata is only equivalent to that of some second-class wizard apprentices with relatively profound magical power, which is relatively easy for Locke to deal with.

But doing so would destroy this precious magical plant.

The second method is to find its true roots and pull them out of the soil.

The roots of the Clivia flower are merely false roots used to maintain its upright position and make small movements; they cannot actually transport nutrients. Its true roots are cleverly hidden. Once the true roots are dug out of the soil, this magical plant will enter a state of suspended animation, ceasing all activity.

This is also a form of self-protection.

Locke acted quickly, gently chanting a spell. Three vine branches formed a plant hand that stretched out simultaneously, like a drill, penetrating deep into the rocky ground. Then, it grew along the cracks in the rock, finding the deepest part of the clivia's true roots, and dug it out as little as possible without damaging them.

“The roots of this Clivia plant can reach a depth of twenty-one meters at its deepest point. It must have been growing here for quite some time.” Locke raised an eyebrow. If his magical power hadn’t already been close to that of a first-class wizard apprentice, he might not have been able to dig it out without damaging its roots.

With a loud 'bang', three slender, level-six Mandrake vines turned over a large amount of sand and rocks, along with the tiny true roots of the Clivia plant, which were only as thick as a baby's finger, and exposed them to the air.

At the same time, the clivia flower, like a computer that has been unplugged, immediately shut down, and the entire clivia flower drooped down, like a person standing in place with a hunched back.

Even the orchid leaves automatically enter a dehydration state, with the edges curling inward.

Locke chanted a spell, carefully used Green Grip to grab it, used the branches and leaves of the Mandrake vine to entangle it, then grabbed it and placed it behind him so it could follow him.

Gabi, who had transformed into an owl, landed on the ground and reverted to her human female form.

"Senior, that was really dangerous." Gabby's face showed lingering fear. The hem of her wizard's robe was torn, probably because the clivia had pierced the feathers of her transformed owl. "I didn't expect that just a wild magical plant could be so dangerous."

Locke nodded slightly and said, "Most of the magical plants in the Ashgra Mountains are semi-wild, degenerate varieties, but the Clivia is a rare magical plant of a different level."

Gabi said with some joy, "But fortunately, we should have found the source of the plague in Ashgra."

Locke and Gabby walked about fifty meters along the bank of the underground river until they reached the place where the rats had gathered.

as predicted.

These rats were almost all infested with fungi, and when Locke approached, they all turned to look at him.

They even seemed to be taking the initiative to get closer.

Moreover, the unique aroma of the konjac from the humus soil here has become even stronger.

Before the rats even got close, they suddenly let out screams that grew louder and louder when they saw Locke, and the entire rat swarm turned into a swirling pattern.

After half a minute of chaos, the rats scattered and began to flee in all directions, letting out shrill screams.

Gabby was somewhat shocked, her eyes widening as she stared at Locke standing beside her. "Senior...you...you..."

An invisible pressure was emanating from Locke, continuous, stable, and powerful.

Even though she was just standing next to Locke, every inch of her skin seemed to be being pushed outwards.

Locke alone is a powerful source of magical energy radiating outwards.

Gabby had heard of it, after all, she had been stuck at the second-tier wizard apprentice level for almost ten years.

Those senior students she once admired underwent a special change after becoming first-class wizard apprentices. This was a unique soul structure that only appeared at the first-class wizard apprentice stage—magic pressure.

Excessively powerful magic, surrounding the soul and body of a wizard apprentice, forms a special magical pressure field that, under natural circumstances, constantly exerts special pressure on the surroundings.

Wizards call it magic pressure.

First-class wizard apprentices must undergo special training in order to suppress this magic in normal times; otherwise, ordinary people would have their lifespans shortened simply by standing next to them!
They won't live much longer!

Gabby said enviously, "Senior, you...congratulations."

"I never expected that you would break through to become a first-class wizard apprentice in a place like this. I've seen that the senior students in the academy all broke through in relatively safe environments within the academy."

Locke nodded slightly. It had been more than three days since he took the Crimson Echo potion, and its effects were almost worn off.

However, the current side effect, vampire syndrome, has not yet disappeared.

After his magic power officially broke through the 200 mark, his magic power became even more violent. Even the deep blue gem he wore on his left hand shattered at that moment, causing a faint sense of violence to rise in Locke's heart.

Locke suppressed his rage caused by the side effects and said, "Let's go. Those rats have already escaped under my magical pressure."

"This is much more convenient."

Gabby said, "Okay, senior."

Locke and Gabby walked up to the Rotten Earth Arum.

There's a patch of konjac flowers here, but in reality, there's only one plant. It's just that this one is growing better and has more branches.

“It really is the Amorphophallus rotundus. As long as this plant is removed, the plague in Ashgra will disappear on its own.” Locke said, “In essence, that plague was just a plague caused by this plant deliberately using rodents to reproduce.”

"However, the konjac cannot reproduce successfully in the natural environment, so this is futile."

Locke looked at the skeleton draped in a wizard's robe among the pile of konjac flowers. "This must be why this konjac flower and that clivia flower grow in this kind of place."

Gabby looked at the skeleton, feeling uneasy. "Senior Locke, I have a feeling that the corpse is ominous."

Locke examined the corpse and said, "Hmm, this is the corpse of a first-class wizard apprentice. After a first-class wizard apprentice dies, the magical pressure will continue for a long time, constantly creating special pressure on the surrounding environment. Right now, some of his magical pressure still lingers on his bones, continuously radiating outwards, which is why you feel strange."

"The badge he wears on his wizard's robe is..."

It was a blue ring.

Locke remembered, "That's the symbol of the Blue Ring Society."

Gabby asked doubtfully, "Senior, I've never heard of this wizarding organization before, and there shouldn't be one around here."

Locke said, "It's normal that you don't know. The Azure Ring Society has already disbanded because of the Abyss Plant Cataclysm caused by their breeder's experiment going out of control."

"He must have died somewhere on the surface, but his body entered the underground river for some reason, and ended up here through the complex underground river system. The seeds or seedlings of the Clivia miniata and the Amorphophallus titanum must have fallen here along with his body."

Locke pondered. "No wonder the Rotten Earth Arum can grow in the natural environment; it turns out it used the corpse of a first-class wizard apprentice as nourishment."

"That's a very luxurious thing."

A first-class wizard apprentice is considered a valuable asset in any academy in the southeastern corner of the region.

Unlike second-class wizard apprentices who can act as assistants and do chores, first-class wizard apprentices are generally already capable of producing some small results independently.

They can handle complex magical resources, and they can perform combined magical rituals, causing trouble for even formal wizards. Therefore, sacrificing a first-class wizard apprentice to feed a Rotten Earth Arum is definitely a losing proposition.

The academy spends countless resources just to train a first-class wizard apprentice. And it's not just the resources that are spent on the apprentice himself.

Resources also need to be spent on the other hundreds of second- or third-class wizarding apprentices who entered the academy in search of him and to select him.

Locke noticed some shriveled and charred seeds next to the skeleton. These were likely seeds of other magical plants brought by the corpse, but they had failed to grow.

After a preliminary examination, Locke also found a brass ring on the skeletal hand, with the words "Astral Ring" engraved on its surface.

Locke stared at the ring for a moment, then was overjoyed.

The Astral Ring is one of the masterpieces of alchemy—a spatial storage ring.

This ring is cleverly connected to a space in the astral plane, offering both convenience and extremely high security.

Because the astral plane is a higher dimension, it is difficult for wizards to enter it, so storing things in a separate space within the astral plane is a very safe thing to do.

Astral Rings are storage items that can only be created by alchemists of the formal wizard level.

There are probably very few wizards in the entire Lilith Academy who are apprentices and possess something this expensive.

But now, I've actually found it myself.

Locke picked up the Astral Ring and channeled his magic into it. It seemed that because the original owner had been dead for too long, the unique personal spirituality that had been channeled into the Astral Ring had completely disappeared.

So Locke poured his magic into it without encountering any obstacles, and then infused it with his spirituality, turning it into his own object.

Each astral ring is equivalent to an astral projection portal.

Through the ring, Locke saw a space about the size of a room.

As Sassari's Course on All Things stated, the Astral Plane is a special plane that wizards often borrow in high-level spells.

It has many unique characteristics, one of which is that it has no concept of time. So if you put an item in it, there will be no change in its state. It will be exactly the same as when you take it out.

Secondly, the astral plane has many natural projection entrances located in the prime material plane, which is the space where the southeast corner region is located.

Wizards would collect the minerals that contained these natural projection entrances, process them through alchemy, and forge them into astral rings.

Of course, because time does not flow and change in the astral plane, things there neither age nor grow, so magic fields cannot be placed there. Moreover, many things in the astral plane are completely different from those in the prime material plane.

It is full of all sorts of unknown mysteries.

According to Sassari, there was once a first-class wizard apprentice in Lilith's Hut who was dying of old age. He experimented on himself and, before he died, he voluntarily entered the Astral Plane, hoping to survive by relying on its special properties.

He entered it and initially maintained his condition without aging further, but a few years later, he still died inside.

Sassari said this might be because while the astral plane doesn't have a concept of the passage of time, things in the prime material plane do. Even if they leave the prime material plane, it's useless, so when their lifespan reaches its limit, they still have to die.

Locke immediately placed the Clivia flowers he had previously harvested into the Astral Ring.

Next, he placed the remaining skeleton of the first-class wizard apprentice from the Azure Ring Society into the Astral Ring.

Although Locke didn't know what use this thing was, a complete set of bones for a first-class wizard apprentice was quite rare, so he decided to keep it.

He turned around and began searching for the true form of the Rotten Earth Konjac.

Amidst a patch of tamarisk plants, Locke used his Vine Hands and Multi-Manipulation to dig out the tamarisk plant by its roots and place it into his Astral Ring.

There is no concept of the passage of time in the Astral Ring, so there is no fear of what damage transplanting two rare magical plants into it will cause.

Moreover, these two magical plants only have demanding conditions during their growth and reproduction stages, but they have already matured and possess strong vitality, making them difficult to kill.

After Locke transplanted the original Amorphophallus titanum, the entire patch of Amorphophallus divisions seemed to wither away, becoming listless and dying rapidly.

At the same time, the concentration of the special fungi secreted by the konjac plant in the air is also rapidly decreasing.

In this way, the plague in Ashgra will soon recede.

Once the source of fungal transmission is eliminated, the symptoms in those patients will gradually disappear.

Locke took out a bottle of daffodil antidote water from his pocket and handed it to Gabby, saying, "Gabby, although we have magic power and are not easily affected by the fungus of the Rotten Earth Arum, just to be on the safe side, you should still drink a bottle of antidote water."

Gabby was flattered. "Thank you...senior."

Locke glanced at her. "Thank you so much this time. I can't let you go empty-handed, so consider this my employment. I'll give you a payment of seventy magic stones. How does that sound?"

For him now, magic stones are not so precious, and Gabi did help him in some ways in this matter, which is why Locke offered this price.

Compared to the currently wealthy and powerful Locke, Gabby, a truly poor second-class wizard apprentice, was momentarily stunned upon hearing Locke's offer.

The reward she received for this academy investigation mission was a mere twenty-five magic stones.

But Locke gave her seventy magic stones at once.

Twenty-five plus seventy is almost enough for her to lavishly buy meditation supplies for more than half a month.

Gabi's breathing became slightly rapid. "Senior, you...you're so generous. Okay, okay."

Locke said, "Besides that, I need you to keep it a secret and not to tell anyone what you've seen."

Although what Gabby saw was nothing important.

But Locke didn't want just anyone to know that he had harvested the rotten arum and the clivia.

Moreover, Gabi saw some of his own spell information.

For wizards, information is power.

Of course, he never used the invisibility ability of the level 6 Mandragora Vines or the trump card of the ancient creature bloodline in front of Gabi.

She didn't know much.

Ultimately, he was a white wizard, not a lunatic. It was absurd for him to kill someone to cover up such a trivial matter.

Gabby said earnestly, "Senior, you can trust me, I will absolutely not tell anyone."

"This is how people like us survive."

Gabby looked at Locke with a slightly obsequious expression, as if he were looking at a wealthy tycoon. "Senior, if you ever need my help in the future, just let me know. Our reconnaissance abilities as shapeshifters are outstanding."

Locke nodded. "We'll see when the time comes."

A shapeshifter can indeed play a unique role in certain aspects.

Gabby said, "Okay, senior."

(End of this chapter)