Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 810 'Net' and 'Fish', The Throne Wizard's Battle for Enlightenment

Locke tried to guess the opponent's spell strategy using this spell model, but this was only a general idea. He still needed to use the Queen's Chessboard to conduct a further deduction.

Using two sets of Queen's Chessboards is also fine. Now, the equipment in sets two is prioritized for my own use. My clone can use the Queen's Chessboard three to four times, which would only cost two million magic stones. I can then benefit a lot from this spell model.

Locke looked at the witch Stephania and said, "You may leave."

Stephania the witch looked at Locke strangely, with a puzzled expression.

"Go? Where?"

Locke looked at the spell model and said, "I have gotten what I needed from you. You are of no value to me. I don't need a first-circle wizard for my achievement, so you can leave."

Stephania the witch looked at Locke in surprise.

To her utter surprise, the bewitching wizard let her leave immediately after she handed over the spell model.

wrong.

Stephania the witch suddenly realized that Locke thought she was worthless and useless to him.

Sending her to the wizard prison was a matter of choice, but Locke clearly thought it was too much trouble and didn't want to get involved in such a trivial matter.

Stephania the witch never expected that Locke would have such a magnanimous heart. Before this, she only thought Locke was a super genius and a rare ruthless person among the white wizards, but now she couldn't understand Locke at all.

The way she looked at Locke was one of admiration, not just for his power, but also for his spirit.

Locke had become someone she couldn't understand at all.

Fearing that Locke might change his mind, the witch Stephania bowed to him and said, "Great Wizard of the Eye, thank you for sparing my life. If I escape, I will always respect you and keep you in my heart wherever I go."

Locke was focused entirely on the spell model of the ghostly lich, so he completely ignored her.

Seeing that Locke did not react, the witch Stephania immediately bowed respectfully to him and then quickly walked down Little Peach Mountain.

She was filled with excitement at having been given a second chance at life.

She was filled with confusion, but she was also impressed by Locke's demeanor. For the first time, she wondered if she had misjudged the White Wizard.

With a mix of excitement and nervousness, she made her way down the mountain. Luckily, she didn't encounter a single white wizard.

Jinmian Mountain is a large mountain range, consisting of three smaller and one larger sections.

The area here is quite large, and at this moment, the fire in the sky is turning into a magical tide, so many wizards do not come to Little Peach Mountain.

Locke stood atop the mountain, glancing indifferently at the witch Stephania at the foot of the mountain. "Since we haven't encountered any white wizards, let's consider it a blessing in disguise. Spare her life. A person's life is like a tree's shadow; leaving her alive will make my reputation in the dark wizarding world even more valuable in the future."

At the foot of Little Peach Mountain, the witch Stephania was filled with excitement as she arrived at the entrance of Golden Crown Mountain. The treant elder at the entrance looked up at her but did not react at all.

For the first time, the witch Stephania felt how precious life was, and even had a feeling that if she could go back in the future, she could start anew and perhaps change her cruel ways of taking lives.

……

On the main mountain of Mount Golden Crown, Catherine the Witch's divine tree avatar sat in her office within the Institute of True Knowledge, looking at the wizard Trajan and saying, "Trajan, this time you went out with Locke Augustine, what are your thoughts on Locke Augustine?"

Trajan looked at Catherine the Witch with a puzzled expression. His expression was rough and bloodthirsty, but he was actually a person who was meticulous and thoughtful despite his rough exterior.

Trajan quickly realized, 'My teacher has already gone to the Council of Genesis; at this time, she should be one of the main speakers.'

"At this moment, she withdrew some of her attention to ask my opinion of my junior brother? This is not simple. Perhaps the teacher intends to entrust him with 'that task' within the academic lineage. No, the junior brother's qualifications are too shallow, his backing is not strong, he doesn't have any well-known shop alliances, and his ultimate magic lacks practice."

'His background is too shallow; logically speaking, that task is irrelevant to him.'

'I'm probably overthinking it. They must have called me over to do something else.'

After considering for a moment, the wizard Trajan said, "Teacher, we have to look at it from two perspectives. From an official standpoint, my junior brother is the wizard in our lineage who is most likely to become a second-circle potion master. Moreover, he is very kind. I deliberately ignored my student in front of him a few times to test his reaction, but he took the initiative to give my student a way out."

"He is not an ungrateful person, so we can allocate some of our academic resources to him. We can tell what kind of person he is by observing his usual behavior."

“If a person’s character is bad in ordinary times, then he will surely betray us in a critical moment.”

The witch Catherine gave him a half-smile, then used her magic iron tongs to pick up a piece of millennia-old ice, put it into her tea, and drank it down in one gulp.

The chill that could kill a crystallized wizard directly could only stimulate the taste buds of her clone at this moment.

"Trajan, I've always known Locke's character. In my lineage, there are many who flatter and fawn, and some who try to guess my intentions. They mistakenly believe that being good at interpersonal relationships means trying to guess my intentions and making me happy."

Catherine the Witch shook her head slightly, her tone sarcastic.

"But I've lived for so many years, what are you trying to act like a big shot in front of me? Those who want to use my academic lineage as a stepping stone, or who are desperately trying to squeeze into my team so they can stand above others."

"I don't really trust them."

The witch Catherine said, "In a team, the most important thing is talent, followed by personality."

"At least that's the core of what I do when leading a team."

Trajan the Wizard said, "Personally, I really like my junior brother's personality. I don't dislike him at all. On the contrary, I like him very much."

Catherine the Witch smiled with considerable pride.

"Among his peers, I think he, Alex, Zeno, and JonQuise are the most promising."

“I’m looking for someone who can execute my plan. You know, we need to find the decisive factor that can establish an absolute academic advantage over the Rose Throne.”

The witch Catherine said, "The clashes between Anna's and my academic lineages, which compete for resources, are merely a way to wear each other down and find a decisive point."

"But Anna and I avoided meeting with them. Why?"

Trajan the wizard shook his head in confusion.

The witch Catherine said, “The academic network is like a net. The witch Anna and I are both casting this net. This net can capture many talents and resources, retain vertical funds flowing from the association, and also retain horizontal funds.”

"Third-ring wizards use the vast net of academic lineage to harvest the fish they want from the tide of various wizarding academies, which are talents like you."

Trajan suddenly understood.

“I am not a third-circle wizard, so there is much I don’t understand. But after you said that, I suddenly understood. So, third-circle wizards are the ones who cast the net, and you and the Rose Throne chose the same spot on the same river to cast your net, and that’s how the conflict between you and the Rose Throne occurred.”

"Because you cast your nets too close together."

"So what you need to do is not to fight the enemy directly, but to find a way to use your net to destroy their net."

Trajan the wizard rubbed his temples.

"That's not right either. Since all third-ring wizards cast nets, but you are a throne wizard, you have third-ring wizards at your disposal. So it's a net within a net?"

He had realized that his soul was burdened with some kind of enormous weight.

That's cognitive dissonance!
Catherine the Witch glanced at him and shook her head slightly. "You're right and you're wrong. Your understanding is wrong overall, but the conclusion is correct. Anna and I are indeed currently in the same section of the river, competing with each other for the 'fishing net'."

"That's why the Witch Anna needs to use the market under her academic lineage to undermine the market under my academic lineage. In the end, the one with more capital will have the advantage. So, the conflict between the two academic linesages is essentially a competition between the market, projects, awards, and the number of articles published."

The witch Catherine said, “We two are the ones casting the net, so there’s no need for us to confront each other. And as we leave the Cloud Marsh Wetlands and head to the Southern Boundary, to put it simply, we are casting the net.”

"The net within a net is correct. It's not a simple model. The net is layered and overlapping. Some people think they are in the net, but they are not. Some people think they are not in the net, but they are actually in the net."

“There are some people who are content to stay in this net and be protected by it. But what I want are those fish that can jump out of this net even a little bit.”

The witch Catherine said, "The reason is simple. Even I am not entirely sure which 'fish' is in the net and which 'fish' is not."

"The same applies to Anna."

"We can no longer confirm who is in the net or not. So at this point, the only thing we can confirm is those 'fish' that are able to temporarily escape the net. These are the points of confirmation."

The witch Catherine said, “The witch Anna and I are both vying for these confirmation points. These are the fish that can jump out of the net, and we hope that the more of these fish appear in our net, the better.”

"My main conflict with Anna lies in the Ten-Person Plan."

"But the key project is the wedding ring project. I need to finish this key project ahead of schedule and then use the resources I've leveraged to support the ten-person project."

"If the funding for the Ten People Project is successfully completed, I will become a fourth-circle wizard."

Trajan the wizard was somewhat horrified by what he heard.

"So, what the teacher and the Rose Throne are fighting for is who can become a fourth-circle wizard!"

This……

This is the war for enlightenment.

Today, he heard the witch Catherine reveal part of her plan to him. He was still somewhat confused, but he listened with trepidation. So that's how it is.

Many of my long-standing doubts were resolved after learning about these things.

But his cognitive dissonance was becoming increasingly severe, because the information that the witch Catherine was conveying to him seemed to involve hidden information about the Third Ring Throne and the Fourth Ring.

The witch Catherine looked at the truth within herself, the few glimmers of truth that had appeared had a tendency to contaminate Trajan's immense magic and enduring defensive field.

The witch Catherine said, "I'm giving you an indefinite task. You need to help me see the fish in my academic lineage, record their performance, and see who can undertake that task to help me complete the key single-item project."

"Trajan, don't feel pressured."

The avatar of the witch Catherine pondered for a moment.

"These are the ones I'm currently looking at."

"It's these eight people."

Trajan glanced around and saw that they were all either Star Ring Wizards or Moon Ring Wizards.

In other words, Locke, Alex (whom Catherine was concerned about), Zeno, and JonQuys were not among them.

But that's what's considered normal.

The lineage of the Throne Wizards is vast, and the lineage of the Catherine Witches is even more cohesive due to the lineage fund. There are countless powerful fish in this 'net'.

Whether it's Locke, Alex, or other wizards who have just become second-ring wizards, they are just rising stars in the early stages of this lineage.

The next generation, who will truly become the pillars of the future within the academic lineage, will clearly not be them.

There are many outstanding talents among the first-ring wizards in this lineage.

Trajan the wizard breathed a sigh of relief.

'I was overthinking it. It turns out the teacher really wanted me to observe these eight people.'

'Hmm? The Sun Ring Wizard isn't on the watchlist?'

'correct. '

Trajan the Wizard pondered: 'The Sun Ring Wizard is too big a fish, too conspicuous; it's certain... impossible to [jump out] even briefly.'

'Or rather, those of us like myself who are circus wizards already have a established path; my circus grant application has already been approved, the difficulty lies in completing the project.'

'For a Sun Ring wizard like myself, the path of development is already set and cannot be changed. Or rather, neither our teachers nor we ourselves are willing to sacrifice the projects we already have for two conflicting academic lines. For a Sun Ring wizard, such a conflict results in more losses than gains.'

'But these young second-circle wizards are different; this conflict is actually an opportunity for them. They might even be able to secure a project that would be extremely beneficial to themselves, their academic lineage, and their teachers through this conflict.'

Catherine the Witch said, "Besides that, Trajan, please look after Locke a little, not for any other purpose. Just take good care of him."

“Locke is a troublemaker. I’m worried he might run into someone while I’m not around. You should keep an eye on him.”

Trajan the Wizard smiled and said, "He is your personal disciple, with a special status; he is my junior brother. I will certainly take care of him."

"Moreover, I find my junior brother to be calm and composed, not the kind of person who would cause trouble."

Catherine the Witch gave him a meaningful look.

"is it?"

Immediately afterward, her clone disappeared from the office.

At the same time, Stephania the Witch had just stepped out of the Golden Crown Mountain by 10,000 meters and had just relaxed a little when she suddenly heard a sound that sent chills down her spine.

"Hello, Ms. Stephania, good evening."

No one can betray the Pale Pilgrimage and live on.

……

An hour later, Locke arrived at the scene, by which time the witch Stephania had turned into a skeleton.

Locke wasn't afraid at all when he saw this.

"The Pale Pilgrimage's reach is so long? It's even extended this far. Oh well, I'm busy with my research now."

"Let's leave that aside for now. In a few days, I'll kill a few second-circle wizards from the Pale Pilgrimage and expand my Forest Sanctuary."

Locke ignored the corpse.

He had already let her go, but unfortunately her superiors didn't want to.

This has nothing to do with me.

(End of this chapter)