Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 766 Dual Competition System, Key Laboratories, and the Uninvited Guest
Locke thought for a moment and asked his senior brothers and sisters, "Senior brothers and sisters, I have a question I've always wanted to ask you. Do you have any methods to reduce the production cost of imaginary roots?"

Senior Brother Georta, Wizard Heidegger, Witch Zoira, and Witch Fiona all glanced at Locke in surprise.

The witch Fiona spoke up, "It's for your wizard shoes, isn't it? Don't be surprised, I've been paying attention to your wizard shoes. Or rather, pure magic plant wizard shoes are quite an interesting story within the small circle of breeders in Yunze Wetlands."

"Many wizards occasionally mention this amusing anecdote when they chat."

Locke bowed and said, "That is indeed the case, Senior Sister Fiona."

The witch Fiona shook her head and said, "Then there's nothing we can do. There's never been a precedent for second-circle magical plants to be treated as consumables that can be quickly replaced."

"Wizard shoes, magic robes, wizard cloaks, wizard hats, magic gloves—these things are essentially consumables. The reason why second-circle potions are so expensive is because they require second-circle magical plants and second-circle magical creatures."

"The establishment of the entire Second Ring Potion Market and the formation of a stable commodity flow are all achievements built upon the era of exploration of the Great Void."

The witch Fiona said, "In ordinary worlds, it's impossible to develop a second-circle potion trade as advanced as that in the wizarding world..."

The witch Fiona said to Locke, "An imaginary root is a great magic spell, and its construction cost must be high. It will definitely be more expensive than the magical artifacts designed by magic weavers."

"To make potions, you only need to use specific parts of a second-circle magical plant, but to make wizard shoes, you need to use an entire magical plant. In essence, you are selling the miracle of life, the greatness of evolution—a second-circle magical plant."

The witch Fiona laughed, “So that’s where it gets difficult. But you can raise the price and sell it. But that brings another problem.”

Fiona the witch raised an eyebrow.

"This way, your wizard shoes will only attract botanical wizards."

Locke nodded, and Senior Sister Fiona immediately pointed out the biggest challenge she was currently facing—how to reduce the cost of imaginary roots.

And that is almost impossible to do.

Locke spoke up, "Senior Sister Fiona, is there any way to create an artificial imaginary root? This would significantly reduce the cost."

Fiona the witch frowned.

“Locke, listen to me. You’ve proposed something to me that sounds impossible, or rather, it’s a very serious project, at least a project funded by the ROG Fund.”

“If my student asked me this question, I would not hesitate to reprimand him and make him realize the importance of finding a balance between cost and ideal.”

Locke looked slightly embarrassed.

Fiona the Witch was reminding herself not to let her ideas become too far-fetched.

Ok.

Even though these people are my senior brothers and sisters, when they go out into the world, they are all third-ring wizards who are unapproachable in the eyes of outsiders.

Bringing up the idea of ​​artificial imaginary roots in front of them was indeed a bit of a challenge to their sensibilities.

The witch Fiona smiled, her expression softening, and said, "But having ideas is a good thing. To have to overcome an even bigger problem just to sell wizard shoes is really... cough cough..."

The witch Zoira laughed and said, "Junior brother, don't mind her. I used to be like this in the teacher's laboratory. She's always been cold on the outside but warm on the inside. She said that to you because she was afraid you'd go down the wrong path."

"It's not that your idea is bad, the problem is still the cost."

Zoira the Witch became serious.

"Second Ring Road grants and journals are particularly difficult to obtain, and it is also difficult to get manuscripts accepted. Moreover, to develop Second Ring Road projects, it often requires more than five million Magic Stones."

"If you set your sights too high without pursuing feasibility, you will miss many opportunities, which will actually be detrimental to your development."

"Moreover, there are just too many second-ring wizards who go bankrupt because of business ventures. We've seen quite a few along the way."

The witch Zoira handed herself a business card.

"This is my business card, Zoina Botanical Museum. If you're having trouble selling wizard shoes, you can come here to earn some extra money."

Locke accepted the business card and thanked her, saying, "Thank you, senior sister."

The witch Fiona smiled and said, "If you have any needs, you can also come to my shop alliance to earn extra money."

"We all failed in our startups many times before we finally succeeded. In my experience, most second-ring wizards have gone bankrupt one or two times."

Zoira the Witch turned around and walked over to Fiona the Witch, and began to discuss the matter seriously with her. "I think that on average, all the third-ring wizards have gone bankrupt 3-4 times."

"However, I think the most terrifying thing is not going bankrupt. Such wizards are most likely to have some kind of misunderstanding about themselves because of good luck, and thus fall into a pit that they can never climb out of."

The two third-ring wizards walked to the other side of the room and began to discuss the matter.

They only exchanged a few pleasantries with Locke; the gap between them was too great—their ring levels and ages were vastly different, making it difficult for them to have a meaningful conversation.

Senior Brother Georta patted Locke on the shoulder and said, "Junior Brother, the Second Ring Fund is extremely difficult to apply for; the application process is incredibly difficult. Even if you have a good idea, the Second Ring Fund application will be compared with the entire Wizarding Civilization's fund application database. If there are applications with similar ideas, their technical approaches will be compared."

"Both wizards will undergo a comprehensive evaluation to determine who is better able to realize this idea. In this process, the more experienced wizard will be more likely to pass. Of course, the less experienced wizard is not without a chance, but it will be more difficult for them."

"Therefore, in order to make the application easier to pass, it is necessary to find an innovative point."

"Even if both of them pass, the technical route comparison will follow. That is, the association will provide subsequent funding and support gradually based on the progress of both parties."

"That is, the application will be subject to a comprehensive comparison and evaluation, and after it is approved, it will also be subject to a comprehensive comparison and evaluation. This is the dual competition system of the Second Ring Fund."

"In this process, many wizards will pour a lot of money into their research in order to outpace those with similar technical approaches, those whose technical approaches are replaceable, or those researching in the same ecological niche. If they ultimately lose the competition, they will go bankrupt. Many second-ring wizards have gone bankrupt because of this."

Senior Brother Georta said, "Many projects for first-ring wizards are not actually obtained by them on their own. For example, I am sometimes invited to approve applications for first-ring and second-ring foundation projects from the association."

"The application for the First Ring Fund is just to see if it's even remotely interesting. If it is, then it's approved."

"If among the grant applications in that batch, there are really no good ones, then I will hold my nose and pick one or two to let pass."

"I also have to pretend they wrote very well, tell the association and the author of that application to try to find his few merits, and then use that as a reason to let him pass."

“But the Second Ring Foundation is different. I need to compare other applications in the database to see if there are any with similar ideas but better approaches and better qualifications.”

"And your competitors are different. Every second-circle wizard is a genius! You need to defeat all the applicants in the same field throughout the entire wizarding world."

Senior Brother Georta said, "In addition, in the application for the Second Ring Fund, Sun Ring Wizards and Moon Ring Wizards have a great advantage, and they are more likely to pass the application. They have qualifications, equipment, teams and experience, as well as the certainty brought by the completion of a large number of related projects."

"Although the Sun Ring Wizards also have a relatively independent Sun Ring Foundation, they will not let go of the applications for the Second Ring Foundation."

"In short, it's difficult to obtain projects from the Second Ring Fund. And if it's not the association's Second Ring Fund, then obtaining those miscellaneous funds set up by various institutions is meaningless."

"Because we were unable to obtain the right to use the key laboratory."

Senior Brother Georta said, "The most important thing is actually the right to use the key laboratories. The equipment in the key laboratories of the major wizarding universities is expensive, and you need a grant project to apply for use. But if you want to build your own key laboratory..."

Senior Brother Georta smiled and said, "We third-ring wizards, and even those throne wizards, don't need to fight to the death for a chance to establish a key laboratory."

“Some key data and sample libraries can only be obtained in key laboratories, and those materials have not been made public.”

"Therefore, you should seize the two things you can obtain through shortcuts. The first is the special funding project, and the second is the key sub-project. These two projects... can also provide... the opportunity to use the key laboratory."

Senior Brother Georta patted Locke on the shoulder, "As someone who's been through this, my advice to you is to do everything you can to secure these two projects."

"It will definitely be of great benefit to you."

"When a second-circle wizard applies for their first second-circle grant, they receive certain preferential treatment. In other words, they receive certain unspoken favors during the application process. Of course, this has never been explicitly stated in writing."

"So, your first application was probably the easiest one to get approved before you became a Moon Ring Wizard. Every time after that, you'll be competing with your peers, and your manuscript will be reviewed by a large number of peers without your knowledge."

"Junior brother, you must make the most of your first application opportunity. If you miss it, the loss will be too great."

Locke nodded; this was all experience.

The most frightening thing is something that has no explicit rules but is an industry standard.

The answer is no, it doesn't exist.

Knowing these things is the greatest help you can give yourself.

How much help can this bring to myself!

At least I avoided one potential pitfall in the Second Ring Fund project.

Senior Brother Georta said, "If you can get the two projects I just mentioned, it's like having two more opportunities to use the key laboratory than other second-circle wizards."

"This way, your growth rate will be faster and higher than others. In the eyes of fund judges who value seniority and future growth curves, that's impressive."

"You will find it easier to apply for grants in the future."

"This is a snowball game."

Senior Brother Georta shook his head slightly.

"Although I think that sometimes being too pragmatic can actually destroy something."

Senior Brother Georta turned around and went to discuss things with Wizard Heidegger on the other side.

At this small banquet, only Locke and Trajan are sitting together.

In fact, if they were outside, Locke and Trajan would never sit at the same table, because there is a big difference between a Sun Ring Wizard and an ordinary Second Ring Wizard.

However, their close relationship as fellow students has undoubtedly brought them closer together.

Trajan the wizard laughed and said, "I used to be the one being reprimanded by my senior brothers and sisters, but now someone is at the bottom, junior brother, so I like you."

Locke remained silent.

Trajan poured a cup of peach blossom wine into the empty glass in front of Locke. "If you put something like an artificial imaginary root in your project proposal, it will definitely be rejected. Because it's simply impossible to achieve. The Second Ring Foundation has a hidden rule: it prioritizes feasibility." Locke nodded.

Whether the focus is on feasibility or whether the project judges have a strong tendency to worship seniority, easily assuming that some wizards' projects are feasible while others are impossible, remains unknown.

Locke said, "I do want to make a pair of second-ring wizard shoes and build my brand. Do you, senior brother, also think it's unlikely?"

Trajan hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually, I think you've fallen into a misconception, junior brother."

Locke looked at him strangely.

Trajan the wizard said, "There are other ways to reduce costs besides creating artificial imaginary roots."

"You can think about it."

Locke fell into deep thought, then nodded and said, "What my senior brother pointed out is true. When a person is thinking, it is easy to fall into a mental trap and their thinking becomes less active."

"Therefore, I should discuss this with more people."

Trajan smiled and pointed to the wizard shoes on his feet, saying, "Look at my wizard shoes."

Locke looked at his wizard shoes, "Blue Ribbon?"

Trajan nodded and said, "It's Solas's Barefoot's subsidiary shop alliance, and a regular on the Arthas Wizard Shoes bestseller list. Oh, by the way, on the first-ring wizard shoes bestseller list, you seem to be close to taking down this shop alliance. Right now, you're in the top two."

"Blue Ribbon previously proposed a plan to monopolize the top three best-selling items of the first-ring wizard shoes in Arthas within ten years, but now it seems that this is a bit difficult."

"There is only one Blue Belt Sun Ring Wizard, who is also the official wizarding mentor of the Rose Council. Junior brother, now you understand how many high ring wizards you caused to suffer from nerve pain recently."

"But I'm telling you this to tell you that in the world of wizard shoes, supporting sports competitions and holding contests are actually minor matters."

Do you know what a real big head is?

Locke was clever. "A plane explorer?"

The wizard Trajan nodded and said, "Yes. Most of the customers in the wizard's shoe market are actually planar explorers. Planar explorers regard wizard's shoes as a consumable item, and it is very dangerous for wizards to travel between different worlds."

"Even if there is no direct danger to life due to the permanent defensive force field, there will still be other problems. For example, if we want to go to the Styx plane to find specific magical plants, then the water of the Styx is a wronged soul for every drop. Even a second-ring wizard, once trapped in it, will be like a drowning person, unable to climb out, and will eventually be worn down to death in it."

Locke nodded in deep agreement.

"Yes, that feeling of being submerged is really uncomfortable."

Because he was once nearly drowned in the River Styx by the female leader of the Ghostly Holy Cult using ritual magic and the power of the River Styx.

Trajan the Wizard chuckled and said, "I didn't realize you had such a rich experience, junior brother. You've even been to the Styx plane, which I haven't."

Locke immediately recounted what had happened to him.

Trajan the wizard nodded in agreement.

"Oh, so it's just a simple matter of pulling your consciousness into the River Styx, while your body has never actually entered it. I was wondering. Even second-circle wizards don't dare to touch the waters of the River Styx. If you've actually entered the River Styx and managed to come out unscathed, then I... really need to investigate what you are."

Locke thought about it carefully and then realized that the ghost magic he encountered in the southeastern corner of the region back then did not actually pull him into the River Styx, but rather fished his consciousness into the River Styx.

It turned out to be the case.

Trajan the Wizard pointed to the wizard shoes from the Blue Ribbon Shop Alliance.

"This is their second-ring magical artifact, a super item of the Sun Ring level, their most classic style [Blue Ribbon Wizard Shoes]."

"The wizard shoes have blue ribbons on both sides, which allow the wizard who wears them to control the winds of magic. Once activated, walking on them is like walking on blue ribbons that fly through the air, and they also give me the ability to blink seven times within a fifty-meter radius in a short period of time."

"But these are all extras. The most practical thing about these top-notch wizard shoes is that they can quickly adapt to the world laws of various worlds and make corresponding changes, so that I can walk on them."

"In other words, even in the Chaos Sea, I can walk on it with these wizard shoes, but I can only last about half a minute."

Trajan the wizard said, "The Chaos Sea will destroy the form of all things and return them to their original state."

Locke listened attentively, because since the Blue Ribbon Shop Alliance was a subsidiary of Solas Lightfoot, it meant he would be a future competitor.

This is my senior colleague telling me about his experience using the flagship product of one of our future competitors.

'It can flash seven times in a very short period of time.'

'One can use any world law to walk in extremely dangerous places. Even a place like the Chaos Sea, which a second-circle wizard couldn't stay in for even a second, can be traversed for half a minute by wearing the blue ribbon wizard shoes.'

Locke began to think seriously.

"In other words, as my senior brother said, the dimensional explorers are the largest buyers of wizard shoes. Other wizards who want to buy wizard shoes simply want a specialized magical artifact, but for dimensional explorers, the need for wizard shoes is a necessity."

'Without the wizard's shoes, it would be impossible to move an inch.'

Trajan the Wizard looked at Locke and said, “Locke, don’t let your previous victories mislead you. The Solas the Lightfoot and the Melochy the Magicstep you face were once dragon slayers as well. They were not established by a single administrative order from a high-ring wizard, nor did they exist because of past relationships or certain privileges.”

"The reason why these two shop alliances were able to rise to prominence in the past was because countless magic weavers joined them for a noble ideal, and through technological development and keeping up with the future, they overthrew the corrupt shop alliances in Yunze Wetland at that time."

"The Rose Council wasn't one of the seven top academies back then; they rose to prominence later. So don't underestimate them because of one victory. If you really want to carve out a path in the wizard shoe market, acquire more resources, and use them to improve your research and magical level, you need to take your rivals seriously."

Trajan the wizard curled the corners of his mouth.

"Face them squarely, and when you kill them, be even more ruthless."

"Anyway, these guys have all turned into evil dragons. If it were the newly established Melochy Magic Step and Solas Lightfoot from three hundred years ago, they would probably hate themselves now too."

Locke nodded, feeling that he and his senior brother were truly of the same mind: to face them squarely, to respect them, and then to strike even harder!

Moreover, through his conversation with this senior brother, Locke discovered the true method by which the female leader of the Ghost Cult had pulled him into the River Styx.

That's not a big deal.

After all, that happened a long time ago.

Locke was inspired by this and had an idea: to think differently and not necessarily reduce the cost of manufacturing imaginary roots in order to reduce the cost of second-ring wizard shoes.

Imaginary roots are, after all, the most distinctive feature of second-ring magical plants, and my understanding of imaginary roots is still very shallow.

So shallow! When I proposed this idea to the witch Fiona, she immediately dismissed it as an immature child's thought.

Locke seemed to be deep in thought.

Both the magical plant and I are living beings. My consciousness was pulled into the River Styx, and I felt I would be forever trapped there. If this mechanism were used to pull the spirit of a second-ring magical plant into the River Styx, and then a virtual root were placed within it, would it be possible for multiple wizards to simultaneously share a single virtual root within the River Styx?

However, this would essentially mean that I had created a fictitious imaginary root service center.

The key point is that the River Styx can cause the body to fall into oblivion through a trace of consciousness; this is a characteristic of the River Styx, and no other river has this ability.

After all, consciousness is just consciousness. Even if one's consciousness sinks into the abyss, one's physical body should be unharmed.

Unless it is one's own consciousness that returns to its original body and brings the abyssal energy back to its original body.

But then a paradox arises: given Locke's current level of understanding, if consciousness can return to its original form, then it cannot be called a fall.

If one has fallen into depravity, then one cannot return to one's original form.

Therefore, the magic used by the female leader of the Ghostly Holy Cult back then was able to achieve its effect, probably by utilizing the properties of the River Styx.

Locke immediately made a plan to send his clone to find the female cult leader again.

Perhaps, through ghost theory, I can find a solution to the problem of not being able to reduce the cost of imaginary roots.

Of course, this is just an idea.

There's an insurmountable gap between an idea and a project proposal, let alone the process of bringing that idea to fruition.

There are many challenges involved.

How to make the imaginary root exist in the Styx River for a long time without being destroyed by the Styx creatures is a difficult problem.

Locke pondered, "I owe this inspiration first to my senior brother, and second to the magic cast on me by that female cult leader back then."

'When I get back, I'll definitely pay a visit to express my gratitude. Just like when I met Zoe the Witch again, she was very generous and gave me a map to a second-level wizarding treasure.'

At this moment, the small house was suddenly enveloped by a powerful demonic pressure, and a terrifying, almost indescribable demonic pressure descended from the sky.

Countless rose petals drifted down into this wizard town.

Locke was stunned.

"This is the Rose Witch's magical pressure!"

"What is she here for?"

"Oh, right. It's a congratulatory gift."

A voice drifted in from outside the wizard town, filled with the smell of gunpowder.

"Red Dragon Witch, I heard you have a disciple who has become a second-circle wizard. That's something to celebrate."

“Your student has become a second-ring wizard, so it wouldn’t be right for me not to come and see him. Coincidentally, I have a granddaughter who is the same age as your student, so let the young people get to know each other better. My granddaughter is about to become a star-ring wizard, and she is indeed a little more outstanding than your new student.”

"Of course, just a little bit."

　The next chapter will be posted before 1 p.m. tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)