Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 765 Plant Hunters and Pirate Mothership

The last senior brother looked to be about the same age as me, with little difference between us. He glanced at the two senior brothers and two senior sisters, smiled, and said, "All of you senior brothers and sisters are third-ring wizards. In the distant past, that would be the level of a wizard king and a wizard monarch."

“I’m different; I’m just a Sun Ring Wizard.”

Senior Brother Georta and Second Senior Brother Heidegger, as well as the witches Fiona and Zoira, all chuckled upon hearing this.

For a long time, Catherine the Great did not take on any disciples in the old master-disciple system, so this junior brother named Trajan was quite different in age from the other four.

Actually, it's usually the four of them who communicate the most, since there's a significant difference between a third-ring wizard and a second-ring wizard. These two levels of wizards have different roles in the wizarding world.

In the past, whenever the sect gathered, Trajan would sit alone on one side while the other four discussed things together.

With Locke Augustine joining the group, Trajan's junior brother will no longer be alone.

Trajan the wizard appeared shrewd and powerful, with a buzz cut and a scar over his right eye from which a peculiar dark energy flowed.

His right eye was a normal naked eye, while his left eye was a sun-ring-level brass demonic eye, which looked extremely terrifying and had an intimidating aura.

However, when he looked at Locke, his eyes revealed closeness, curiosity, and a sense of scrutiny. Unlike his four senior brothers and sisters, who treated Locke as a junior, no different from their own disciples, Locke's status was more special because he was a student of the witch Catherine. Their relationship seemed to be slightly more equal.

However, the four senior students did not really give Locke a serious evaluation; they only thought that since he was a student accepted by the teacher, he must be able to satisfy the teacher.

But at this moment, both Locke and Trajan, the Sun Ring Wizard, were second-ring wizards, so their social interactions had real significance.

Only then did the two of them truly treat each other as equals.

Trajan looked at Locke and said, "I am just a plant hunter."

Plant Hunter?

A look of confusion flashed in Locke's eyes.

Senior Brother Georta said, "Plant hunters are already elite wizards. Your senior brothers and sisters, to sum it up, are either selling antiques, selling rice, selling tree heartwood, or hoarding rare plants. Zoira the Witch is no different from someone in finance."

Zoira the Witch gave an awkward laugh.

Senior Brother Georta complained, "If you think about it, among all the disciples in the sect, the only one who does the most respectable job is Junior Brother Trajan."

Trajan coughed.

"Senior brother, you are speaking incorrectly."

"I'm just a lowly employee, how much money can I earn? I need to be able to build up my business like my senior brothers and sisters so that I can gain experience and support my projects."

Trajan looked at Locke and said, "Second-circle and third-circle wizards are the absolute mainstream among wizards who directly engage in planar conquest, while sun-circle wizards are the absolute backbone of these wizards. In comparison, fourth-circle wizards will focus more on the development of their disciplines."

"That is, on the ladder of truth."

Upon hearing this, the four senior brothers and sisters exchanged smiles but did not offer any explanation.

For second-circle wizards, the Root Realm is already extremely profound, while the Ladder of Truth is even more abstract and profound knowledge, and forcibly explaining it would be harmful to their bodies.

There is a special disease called cognitive dissonance collapse disorder.

That is, a low-level wizard, after learning about a particularly high-level piece of knowledge, will experience severe cognitive dissonance because his body and soul have not yet adapted to accepting such profound knowledge. He will see everything as if all things are breathing.

This disease involves such deep damage to the soul that only a third-ring potion master can cure it.

Therefore, while they might casually mention things like the Path to Truth, there are only two possible consequences.

First, it caused irreparable deep damage to the souls of the two junior brothers.

Secondly, the two either simply didn't hear it, or they heard it but thought they hadn't, or they selectively remembered only the parts they could easily understand.

The second scenario is more common.

The wizard Trajan said, "As Sun Ring Wizards, they are the backbone of planar conquest, and even the main force and siege force in foreign wars. Therefore, the so-called plant hunters are those who travel through the endless void to various worlds to find economically valuable crops for the White Wizard Association (Cloud Marsh Wetlands).

"If we find it, we'll find a way to bring it back."

"If it is necessary to cultivate locally, we can try to purchase land through economic means, or even launch a war under the supervision of the Eye of Truth if the other side declares war on us."

Trajan the wizard was definitely a ruthless person.

Locke knew that many wizards in the White Wizarding Society spent a lot of time on research or other productive or service-oriented activities, and therefore were not very good at fighting.

But those white wizards who are immersed in plane conquest all day long are completely outside this category.

Locke sensed in his senior brother Trajan a rare quality that could only be born from battlefield combat.

This aura surpassed even that of any black wizard he had ever encountered before.

If the conflicts between dark wizards can only be described as a display of strength and courage, then the aura emanating from his senior brother is a truly unique aura cultivated over countless years through declaring war on countless civilizations.

Plant Hunter...

That's just a nicer way of putting it.

Senior Brother Georta looked at Tula's right eye and asked, "By the way, Junior Brother, I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now. What's going on with your right eye? There's a very special power wrapped around it."

The wizard Trajan nodded and said calmly, "A year ago, I came into contact with the Dark World. The Dark World is a newly discovered world on the other side of the new shipping route, and it is considered to be a large-scale world."

Trajan glanced at Locke and said, “Only large-scale worlds can be called Great Worlds. Great Worlds possess very complete world laws, and even a second-circle wizard would only be an ordinary individual within them. Those worlds have special power inheritances, and some can even rival the underground magic systems of a certain wizard.”

"Of course, this is only true during the lower ring levels."

High Priest Georta nodded. "The Dark World? I suspect that Dark World is connected to the True Chaos Sea. There's a trace of chaotic energy in the wound on your right eye. There's no way to heal it with potions, is there?"

Trajan the wizard said, "I found an expert potion master who used a special potion to suppress my wound on my right eye, preventing it from spreading. This wound will devour my life force and transform into dark energy."

"Is it connected to the True Chaos Sea?"

Tula's eyes turned serious as he looked at Senior Brother Georta and asked, "Thank you, Senior Brother. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have realized that there is a deep connection between that world and the True Chaos Sea."

"No wonder it's so powerful."

"There are many plants in that world that may have high added value, so I tried to sneak over there three times, and each time I was intercepted by the dark gods of that world."

"On one occasion, I was bitten by the Dark Fang God, who possessed moderate divine power..."

Senior Brother Georta looked thoughtful.

"It's not about transforming life energy; your perception is wrong. The so-called 'dark world energy' remaining on the wound above your right eye is essentially disintegrating your physical form. In other words, it's extracting the etheric structure of your body and soul."

"In other words, to put it more accurately, it is transforming your physical form into chaotic energy." "That is why I recognized at a glance that this power is related to the chaotic world."

Trajan the wizard looked as if he had just realized something.

"No wonder I haven't been able to heal my wound after all this time, or even control it. I can only barely suppress its rate of spread."

Locke listened from the side, completely bewildered. He could sense that there was a great deal of information in the conversation, but with his current level of understanding, he could only comprehend some of the fragments.

The wizard Trajan looked at Locke, smiled slightly, and explained, "The Chaos Sea in the five great wars of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands is merely a clumsy imitation of the True Chaos Sea, that one and only world."

"It's just that we don't know which ancient wizard, after drawing on part of the structure of the true Chaos Sea, created a Chaos Ship. The Chaos Ship was buried underground, and one day it was discovered by a somewhat lucky dark wizard. Then the Chaos Ship became their base."

"So they called themselves the Chaos Sea. But in reality, they were just a group of pirates who raided our void passages."

"Therefore, some people also call them the 'pirate mothership'. They were also the earliest raiders on the Void Route and the Wizard Airship Route."

"Before the formation of the five major battlefield systems, that pirate mothership plundered everywhere to make a living, and at the same time..." The wizard Trajan hesitated for a moment.

"Cough cough cough... That mothership did something controversial: it shared some of the resources it plundered with the lower-level white and black wizards."

Have you ever heard of rain falling from the sky?

"Junior brother, have you ever seen rain from the sky in the southeastern corner region?"

Locke shook his head slightly. "What is that, Brother Trajan?"

Trajan the wizard said, "The pirate mothership flew through the sky, tearing through time and space, and then all kinds of resources fell down like rain from the sky."

"Those pirates were generous with other people's money, dividing the looted supplies into three parts and seven parts, keeping seven parts for themselves and throwing the other three parts indiscriminately onto the ground."

"This move is highly controversial, but the White Wizards Association has classified it as robbery."

Locke blinked, "Take 70%, take 30%."

Is this a wealth rebalancing?
The Twin Demon Realms are thieves, the Pirate Mothership is a pirate thief, and the Crimson Deep Court has gone mad...

What are the Seventy-Two Demon Gods of the Abyss?
So they've just given up and are going to destroy the world?

The five types of black wizards in the five major wars of Yunze Wetland seem to have more and more personalities than the last.

Locke said to Trajan with great regret, "What a pity, senior brother, I'm unlucky and have a very bad face. I've never encountered this rain from the sky even once."

Trajan paused for a moment, then looked Locke over more closely before laughing and saying, "I thought you were an excellent lecturer because I saw how well you played in the competition, so I assumed you would be a rather dull person."

"But I didn't expect you to be so interesting. I thought you were a fellow plant hunter."

Locke paused for a moment.

How can competitions and instructors be connected?

The wizard Trajan laughed and said, "For formal wizarding competitions, isn't participating in a competition just like giving a public lesson?"

Locke pondered for a moment, then nodded.

He had wanted to compete before, but it was only to sell and promote his products. Through two competitions, he boosted his Wizard Shoes brand, and at the same time, he was also trying to win honors and resources.

Later, under the pressure of the competition, I made rapid progress. So part of the purpose of the competition was to increase my progress speed, put pressure on myself, and compete with other wizards who were just as good as me.

But upon closer examination, in the eyes of wizards at a higher level, playing a match is indeed like giving a public lecture.

To demonstrate one's magic to all wizards, showcase the research achievements of one's institution, and promote one's ideology.

Just like the Georgina witch, she used the silent Holy Grail to demonstrate to the wizards of Yunze Wetlands and the wizards of the old textile science what the new textile science is.

In the Silent Grail, the significance of the competition is no longer about arguing about rankings, but about discussing the Way.

In this light, the competition system itself is a cornerstone of the modern magical age.

Wizards of this era no longer wanted to hide their abilities; they regarded open combat as a means of expounding their doctrines.

Of course, the practice of holding such open competitions, which influences the development of magical concepts and showcases advanced magical construction techniques, has gradually been recognized by wizards as having hidden benefits.

Trajan the wizard said, "I have a unique understanding of competitions that differs from others. I believe that a good contestant is a good lecturer."

"But we plant hunters, to put it bluntly, are a group of conquerors."

"By the way, junior brother, you have the coordinates of an unexplored plane, right? What are your plans?"

Trajan the Wizard chuckled and said, “Don’t misunderstand, I have no interest in a medium-sized plane. In the fifty years since I became a Sun Ring Wizard, my exploration targets have all become half large worlds and half medium-sized worlds.”

“I’m not interested in medium-sized world plants. Exploring the world just takes a lot of money. It’s probably not easy for you to finish it all by yourself. Unless you grind it out over a long period of time.”

"But only wizards who have low time costs and no future would do that."

For some reason, Locke thought of the great wizard Sura.

The wizard Trajan said, "If you need anything, I know quite a few shops and alliances that offer good dimensional exploration services. By the way, this is a gift for you, a wizard's sword that can slice an enemy's body in half."

Trajan handed Locke a sword with a scabbard. Locke drew the second-circle magical artifact, a wizard's sword, which was entirely made of wizard silver.

The sword was very clean, with few decorations, except for a rune in the middle of the wizard's sword.

The wizard Trajan said, "This is the sword I used during my ordinary second-circle stage, called [Star Slayer]."

"This wizard's sword uses wand-making technology as well as traditional wizard sword-making techniques, which can amplify mana, enhance magic, and sharpen magic, thus increasing the offensive power of all your spells."

Locke's eyes brightened slightly.

"It can sharpen my ultimate magic and increase the instantaneous magical pressure of my ultimate magic by a factor of two?"

Trajan the Wizard said, “Yes. That’s its greatest use. Besides that, it’s enchanted with a second-circle spell, the Power School’s Starfall.”

"It can be used three times a day."

"Once activated, it only requires a small amount of mana to activate the power-based spells on it. It's quite useful in combat. After all, it's like you can cast an extra spell out of thin air. This sword isn't cheap..."

“It used to be worth around ten million, but now it should only be worth five million.”

The wizard Trajan explained, "After all, magic is developing rapidly, and my [Star Slayer] is already outdated. The practice of combining wizard swords and wands is no longer fashionable. In the Cloud Marsh, wand making, a secondary discipline under the Alchemy School, has become very powerful, so wands have become independent."

"After all, the prevailing view now is that combining the functions of two items may seem to achieve diversification of items, but in reality, it will result in neither item being done well."

(End of this chapter)