Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Wizard Smith looked at Witch Georgina in her golden wizard robe and a flash of delight crossed his face, because Witch Georgina's magic pressure had already dropped from 12,000 down to 10,000.

She was only one step away from falling below the Second Circle threshold.

Although he had no idea what Witch Georgina was plotting by voluntarily lowering her own magic pressure, this was undeniably his opportunity.

Wizard Smith moved. In an instant a meteorite condensed with star power fell from the sky, striking directly toward Witch Georgina.

'Although textile studies Grand Magics are diverse in variety, there are over a hundred historical records of textile studies Grand Magics in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands alone,' Wizard Smith thought with the speed of lightning. 'But those Grand Magics of textile studies are generally centered around weaving some kind of Second Circle alchemist loom.'

'A textile studies Grand Magic works by taking something from this world that is of high value but has completely escaped the world's control, or something that possesses high energy but is harmful to the world, or some kind of substance that is detrimental to the world, and through re-weaving, transforms it into various useful magical items.'

'This act itself serves the function of regulating the flow of energy and matter within the world.'

'And thereby earns the world's support.'

'At the same time, the wizard, by helping the world use textile studies magic to transform those disordered substances back into ordered magical items, harvests materials, energy, and equipment in the process.'

Wizard Smith thought further. 'That is what a textile studies Grand Magic is. But textile studies Grand Magics all share the characteristic of generally weak offensive capability. They are better suited to production than to combat.'

'For textile studies wizards themselves, the appeal of a Grand Magic that accelerates their production of magical items is probably far greater than that of a powerful offensive magic. Although when constructing a Grand Magic, they also tend to use some offensive textile studies magic as their foundational spell.'

Wizard Smith thought, 'Right now her Grand Magic has not truly descended. It is nothing but an empty framework, like an asset with no capital flowing through it.'

'And the characteristics of a textile studies Grand Magic make it impossible for her to immediately possess the power to resist my meteorology Grand Magic's attacks before she has woven powerful Second Circle magical items. So I have won.'

Wizard Smith thought, 'At this moment, the magical garment she has woven for herself is only at the upper limit of the First Circle. Against what I am now, it is not worth mentioning.'

In the next instant, the meteorite falling toward Witch Georgina inexplicably disintegrated in mid-air, then shattered into countless small fragments, which then became harmless dust and drifted to the ground.

Wizard Smith paused, looked at Witch Georgina, and furrowed his brow. "How is that possible?"

"With your current magic pressure, you should not be capable of doing something like this."

"Most of your textile studies magic's defensive and offensive spells are heavily dependent on magical items."

"You have not a single Second Circle magical item on you. How could you possibly block my attack?"

In the next instant, from the sky above her head, he hurled another volley of countless meteor showers directly toward Witch Georgina.

Ball after ball of flame fell toward her.

But every single one inexplicably shattered the moment it drew close to Witch Georgina.

Wizard Smith's expression shifted slightly. "Something is wrong."

"I cannot make sense of this."

His pupils contracted slightly.

Witch Georgina let out a sigh. "Wizard Smith, you should understand. For a wizard, the moment you admit that you cannot make sense of something, the one who has lost is you."

"Tell me, how exactly am I doing this?"

Wizard Smith swallowed, recited a spell, and in the next instant a massive meteorite fell toward the top of Witch Georgina's head.

'Let me watch one more time.'

'Her magic pressure is this depleted, her Grand Magic is a textile studies Grand Magic, and she has no magical items. How is she resisting the attacks of my meteorology Grand Magic?'

This time it was the same.

The massive meteorite fell from the sky, and before it even came close to Witch Georgina it cracked apart on its own, breaking into harmless fragments that fell to the ground.

Beneath the Silent Throne, every wizard in the now-raucous spectator stands fell into a hush, watching this match with held breath.

Because not only was Wizard Smith unable to make sense of it, neither could they.

And it was not just them. Even the wizards from the major wizard academies present in the spectator stands were equally baffled.

Even the seven sun ring wizards on the judges' panel were unable to make sense of what they were seeing at this moment, and so for once they maintained a rare silence instead of continuing to comment on the competitors' performances.

Regardless of how a Grand Magic was constructed, certain principles ought to remain consistent.

The first was a Grand Magic's total magic pressure.

The second was whether a Grand Magic had descended or not.

The third was that textile studies Grand Magic relied heavily on magical items to bring its power to bear.

But all three of these principles had been overturned in the exchange between Witch Georgina and Wizard Smith.

A wizard with a magic pressure of 11,000, whose Grand Magic had already descended and carried an enormous total magic pressure, could not land a single attack within the proximity of a textile studies wizard named Witch Georgina.

This made no sense whatsoever.

Those earth-shaking meteorites that crashed down from the sky were something that, in theory, the current Witch Georgina should have had no way of blocking under any circumstances.

What on earth was happening?

The seven sun ring wizards on the judges' panel turned to look at the Bonifacius University spectator section.

At this moment, the wizards in the Bonifacius University spectator section broke into a round of applause.

The highest-ranking person present from Bonifacius University, a sun ring magical weaver, spoke up, "Our Bonifacius University has recently produced two Throne-level wizards, and both are magical weavers."

"Our Bonifacius University already has one Fourth Circle Truth Wizard as an academy director, and he is also a magical weaver."

"The number of high-circle wizards among magical weavers has increased, but the corresponding resources for the discipline have not kept pace. The magical weavers of Bonifacius University and the magical weavers led by your Rose Council have also had different development philosophies for many years, a disagreement that has persisted without resolution."

This sun ring wizard gave a cold laugh and looked toward the Rose Council's section, addressing the magical weavers there, "Therefore we have grown tired of engaging in pointless disputes with you within this secondary discipline."

"The time for a parting of ways has come."

"Watch carefully. This has been arranged by the upper echelons of our academy. In this competition, our Bonifacius University will change history here."

The sun ring wizard looked toward the Storm Tower spectator section and said, "Certain academies that perennially perform near the bottom in the Five Great Wars would do well to look closely. This is Bonifacius University's attitude toward the battle for academic standing."

These words shook the entire hall.

The battle for academic standing in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands was fiercely contested. In other wizard lands, battles for academic standing were merely competitions over various honors and standards, but in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, the battle for academic standing was the Five Great Wars.

And a Bonifacius University wizard had said they would change history here. Those were grand words indeed.

What kind of event could change history?

What kind of event could lead to a split from the Rose Council's textile studies?

The faces of the magical weaver wizards from the Rose Council's side were not at all pleased.

Other wizard academies focused on textile studies, and the various shop alliances with textile studies at their core, were all whispering quietly among themselves.

What was Bonifacius University trying to do?

Magical weavers as a group were actually most resistant to change, which was precisely why the entire industry had built up that kind of small-workshop production model, with the relevant associations setting out an array of rules to protect the interests of those who already held them.

In the Silent Plane.

Witch Georgina looked at Wizard Smith before her with calm eyes, then suddenly asked, "Cannot make sense of it?"

In the next instant, countless streams of radiance came rolling in from the distance.

Ray after ray of light fell into the Fate Loom. The Fate Loom began to grow continuously larger, its parts multiplying as its form kept expanding toward the scale of a city.

Wizard Smith's eyes showed a hint of confusion. "Your... this is not a textile studies Grand Magic."

"And where did you obtain this much total magic pressure to bring your Grand Magic down?"

Witch Georgina ran her fingers along the Fate Loom. "I used the sacred gold and imperishable iron developed by alchemists as the loom's raw materials, the scales of a time dragon as the spindle, and a Gillyans silver sword as the shuttle, to complete this loom."

"Then I used my own magic pressure as the weft and the fates of ordinary people as the warp to complete the weaving."

Witch Georgina explained, "I transformed my magic into thread and into the garments worn by those ordinary people."

Behind her, golden points of light suddenly appeared. These golden points released magical radiance and fell upon the Fate Loom, illuminating it in a blaze of gold.

Wizard Smith looked at those points of light and saw within them the garments worn by ordinary people, one after another.

Wizard Smith's expression shifted slightly. "That is impossible. A textile studies Grand Magic cannot have this depth of connection with ordinary people. You have practically incorporated those ordinary people into your Grand Magic. Should not the primary components of a textile studies Grand Magic be magical items?"

"This is not a textile studies Grand Magic."

Witch Georgina said, "As of today it is. As of today, this is a Grand Magic of the textile studies school."

Wizard Smith paused.

The textile studies school?

In the wizard world, only a first-level discipline could call itself a school. But textile studies was a second-level discipline under the alchemy school, making it the alchemy school's textile studies magic sub-branch.

Yet Witch Georgina was calling hers a magic of the textile studies school. Could she mean that, as of today, textile studies was going to develop toward becoming a first-level discipline?

Witch Georgina said, "The total magic pressure I used to bring my Grand Magic down naturally came from the fates of those ordinary people."

At this moment, the Fate Loom before her began to move. The fates of ordinary people and her own magic pressure transformed into threads, and magical garments were produced one after another, falling to the earth.

And the charitable society members she had long since prepared quickly distributed these free magical garments raining down from the sky to ordinary people across the entire world.

The points of light on Witch Georgina's Fate Loom continued to increase.

And her own magic pressure reached its floor and began rebounding, climbing from 10,000 toward 11,000 and 12,000, and even beyond what it had been before.

Witch Georgina had already intended to use this competition to present to the wizards of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands the new textile studies that Bonifacius University had recently developed.

She swept a cold glance over Wizard Smith. A person like this, she could absolutely never forgive.

The boundary between white wizards and black wizards was clear and distinct.

A person like this had destroyed that distinction.

The Silent Chalice was a competition where the great academies showcased to all the wizards of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands what advanced Grand Magic looked like. She could absolutely not allow this bad apple to continue existing here.

Witch Georgina said, "The old textile studies, constrained by limitations of thought, leaned far too heavily toward alchemy and had essentially become a subordinate discipline of alchemy. In name a textile studies, but in practice aligned with alchemy at every turn."

"The old textile studies placed excessive emphasis on the study of materials, and had gone down the wrong path in the study of weaving methods."

"Our Bonifacius University drew inspiration from divination studies and noticed that the infinite void and the great worlds themselves are all exquisitely woven tapestries. We textile studies wizards should be going to study the principles of how these worlds are woven, then incorporating that understanding and research into our own textile studies magic."

"Yet the alchemy school wizards and certain academy magical weavers have completely led this field astray, causing a discipline with such tremendous potential to be unable to even compete for first-level discipline status."

Witch Georgina said, "The new textile studies places far greater emphasis on the study of the world's underlying principles, and far greater emphasis on the study of weaving methods."

She reached out a hand and a garment she had made for an ordinary person appeared in her grasp. "Therefore, our Bonifacius University's textile studies hereby announces a complete and total separation from old textile studies."

"We will exist as a new school of thought."

Witch Georgina addressed Wizard Smith, "The new textile studies holds that truth is found between needle and thread. If truth cannot be shown through the simplest garment on the body of an ordinary person, and instead requires high-grade alchemical materials and must be worn by a high-circle wizard before it can manifest, then it cannot be called truth."

"Our Bonifacius University, using divination studies as a foundation, observes the rise and fall of ordinary people's fates, perceives the weaving principles of the great fate web, and has transformed that understanding into the weaving methods of textile studies."

"This is the Fate Shuttle Weaving Method, combining three techniques, plain weave, twill weave, and satin weave, into one. As for the specific effects, please observe carefully, all of you watching."

Wizard Smith looked at Witch Georgina and said, "I still have not worked out where your total magic pressure actually came from."

"Why is it that when ordinary people put on your garments, they can provide you with energy? You drew some kind of power from them. So why are those people themselves completely unaffected right now?"

After all, those star-prayer devotees had already been drawn into the space of the Meteor from Beyond the Heavens and transformed into the Star Spirit Clan.

Yet Witch Georgina had given those ordinary people magical garments, even at the cost of her own magic pressure declining, and those ordinary people were now all perfectly lively, completely unconstrained by Witch Georgina in any way.

Wait.

Wizard Smith had finally identified the unsettling point he had been sensing.

Those ordinary people had clearly already become part of Witch Georgina's Fate Loom Grand Magic. So why were they completely free of any restriction?

It was as if they were living exactly as they had before?

Had they not already been captured by Georgina's Grand Magic?

Witch Georgina let out a sigh. "Smith, why do you still not understand? It is not necessary to take something from others, the way you do, in order to collect total magic pressure."

"The magical garments I wove for the ordinary people are essentially a second layer of skin on their bodies. The key point is that I obtained their existence, the nodes of their existence within fate."

"Do you still not see it?"

Wizard Smith fell into thought. "Fate nodes? Collecting the energy of fate nodes? How is that accomplished?"

"No, wait. If we are talking about collecting fate nodes, should the fate nodes of nobles not be greater than those of ordinary people? What use is it to collect those of ordinary people?"

Witch Georgina was doing her utmost to demonstrate her Grand Magic. Behind her, countless golden points of light converged with her, and golden threads appeared across her body, weaving together the fates of those ordinary people.

"The fates of nobles do indeed more easily shape the collective fate of society to a significant degree. But if I were to seize hold of their fates, it would be like catching a few large fish. Yet when I draw in the ordinary people, I am merging with the ocean."

"Using nobles as fate nodes would only make me a somewhat larger piece on the fate chessboard. Using ordinary people as fate nodes, I can create an entirely new chessboard."

"How do I make use of fate nodes? I use the new textile studies magic to connect the existence of those ordinary people and draw the spirituality of their existence into my Grand Magic. I have not exploited them, and they do not need to be bound by me."

"I have simply joined with them to form a new fate network, and that network is called the Fate Loom."

Witch Georgina said, "The Fate Loom can strengthen the fate network of this world. Textile studies magic can use the existence spirituality of ordinary people to weave a spirituality network, indirectly influencing fate, untangling the knots of fate, and making fate more orderly, which is to say,"

"Making those who work hard grow prosperous, making those who are kind receive good fortune, and making those with ambition encounter opportunity. Since fate is invisible, I naturally have no need to plunder the energy of those ordinary people, because they and I together, as a combined whole, constitute the Fate Loom."

"Smith, it is not only through direct plunder that total magic pressure can be obtained. Your vision is simply too narrow. By having the native inhabitants of this world join the virtual community I have established, with me controlling the distribution mechanism within it, I can obtain a great deal of total magic pressure from them all the same."

Witch Georgina said, "Holding the power of distribution is holding capital. And your understanding of capital is inferior to mine, which is why you have lost."

"The Fate Loom is a correction and a strengthening of fate. Under the intervention of the Fate Loom, the problems that had previously arisen can all be resolved through the new textile studies magic. Therefore, my Grand Magic can help this world untangle its snarled fate nodes and help the world bring clarity to itself."

"The old textile studies was so heavily biased toward alchemy that it completely became a subordinate discipline of alchemy. But my new textile studies will forge a new path."

The world's will looked upon Witch Georgina with favor at this moment.

The world's will, which had been rigid and suppressed for so long, became active once again.

"Your loss to me is because your understanding of capital is too shallow. You do not know that the power of distribution is the greatest capital of all." Witch Georgina looked at Wizard Smith and said, "Do you now understand why your defeat is not undeserved?"