Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

At Quinn Jol University, atop a wizard tower on Sacred Spring Mountain, a crow with six eyes suddenly flew in through the tower window. The instant it landed, the feathers on its body transformed into a black wizard robe, and the crow itself became a witch.

The Six-Eyed Crow, a renowned Third Circle wizard of Quinn Jol University.

Her breeding science, transformation magic, botany, and prophecy were all at the Third Circle level. Even among Third Circle wizards, she was no obscure figure.

Yet because her fields were too diverse, she was exceptional in all four without having earned the title of Throne in any single one.

The werewolf guard at the door of the wizard tower atop Quinn Jol University's mountain immediately bowed to the witch. "Lady Candice, good evening."

Lady Candice glanced at him. "Ques, how far is the Chaos World from the wizard world at this point?"

Ques the werewolf, as the renowned Second Circle moon ring wizard of Quinn Jol University known as the Watcher, immediately replied, "Lady Candice, the Chaos Sea cannot escape these eyes of mine. My Grand Magic, the Azure Sky Eye, was born for precisely this purpose."

"According to my observation, the Chaos Sea is currently on the third-to-last orbital track of near-void orbit."

Lady Candice gave a nod. "Thank you for your efforts, Ques."

"Continue monitoring. Any possibility of the Chaos War forming ahead of schedule must be reported to me at once."

This wizard tower stood at the highest point of Sacred Spring Mountain, keeping watch over the void and the Quinn Jol district, monitoring magical activity in all directions.

Lady Candice looked toward Edgar, who had just come running up the wizard tower steps, and said, "Edgar, how was the taste of the Wisdom Spring? I have to oversee the Chaos War recently, so I am very busy. You do not need to come and assist me anymore."

"Edgar, go and accept the research materials that have been completed over ten years by the team of the moon ring wizard who is under my supervision. They were prepared for you."

Wizard Edgar, dressed in Quinn Jol University's ornate and resplendent wizard robes, opened his mouth and said, "Teacher, I feel that Grand Magic is not compatible with my nature."

Wizard Edgar thought for a moment and said, "It seems it would be better if I developed it on my own. And that was the culmination of Senior Brother's and Senior Sister's ten years of work. To simply hand it all over to me like this..."

Lady Candice smiled. "That self-confidence of yours is precisely why I chose you as my final disciple. But Edgar, you are still too young, and your vision is not yet broad enough."

"There is no need to rush into a refusal. Why not accept it first and see whether it suits you or not."

"It is not that I do not believe in you. But this is, after all, the result of ten years of planning on my part. It is not that I am taking aim at you specifically. It is simply that even you appeared before me by a happy coincidence, as an outstanding executor in the right place at the right time. My team has been calculating and preparing for the Grand Magic Modeling Competition for ten years, making every preparation needed. Edgar, you may accept those things."

Edgar was about to say something, but Lady Candice flicked her sleeve, and Wizard Edgar was instantly transported to the base of the wizard tower.

Ques the werewolf's eyes seemed to hold a deep azure sky within them. "It is quite a coincidence that the Grand Magic Modeling Competition and the Five Great Wars are occurring at nearly the same time. I wonder whether any trouble will arise from it."

Lady Candice laughed coldly. "With the Grand Magic Modeling Competition drawing important figures from Mystic Heaven, the Star Domain Sea, and the Green Steel Capital as spectators, if black wizards choose to jump out at a time like this, that would be rather interesting. We will see whether they dare."

...

At Golden Crown Mountain, inside the Origin Academy dormitory.

Locke looked at Daniel and asked, "So, if it were a wizard who was not a weather wizard, how would they go about creating this Viren Mist?"

Daniel retrieved a pearl from his astral ring.

The pearl looked like an oversized piece of natural pearl.

Daniel said, "This is the Viren Pearl I have made. It contains a certain quantity of dang element light particles."

"All you need to do is place this pearl in water, and it will create the Viren Mist."

"I noticed you seemed interested, so I'll just give it to you. However, it does have a usage limit. Once the dang element light particles inside are used up, you will need to purchase more to recharge it, and the magical instrument itself also has a durability concern."

Locke gave a slight nod. All he needed was to find some form of energy carrier medium that could enhance the flow of energy within the blueprint system of his Grand Magic.

This was simply a patch for his blueprint magic.

At the very least it was permitted during the Grand Magic construction stage, and was also a very common approach. As for how to fully integrate it afterward, that was a question to be considered when the time came to reforge it.

Or to put it another way, if he were not entering the Grand Magic Modeling Competition it would be one thing, but since he was entering, he would certainly be bringing along some equipment.

After all, incorporating certain equipment into one's Grand Magic was something every wizard did. Not bringing any was equivalent to going into the competition arbitrarily short one piece of gear.

Which was not wise.

A Grand Magic that stood entirely on its own had either undergone multiple rounds of forging, or was simply too bare-bones to enter any highly competitive competition.

Locke took the pearl, gave it a brief inspection, confirmed there were no problems, and then said, "Daniel, thank you."

"This will be of great use to me."

Daniel said, "You plan to use it at the Grand Magic Modeling Competition, don't you. It would naturally be applied to the Grand Magic modeling. I had already guessed that when you first came to me. The only disappointing part is that this special mist behaves like a gel, and is not as practical as I had hoped."

Locke glanced at Daniel, snapped his fingers, and the clear water from the fish tank in his living room, which the servants had been carefully maintaining, flew onto the pearl. The Viren Pearl immediately lit up with magical light.

Then, a gel-like mist began to appear.

A magical moon appeared at the top of the room, and under its moonlight, the heavy mist began to move, flowing as smoothly as water, as freely as wind.

It was hazy and translucent, half-veiling the moon.

Daniel looked at the moon, half its form now hidden by the Viren Mist, and said with mild surprise, "I see. Although the Viren Mist has very poor fluidity, all you need to do is intervene with the moon's gravitational pull and you can grant it fluidity."

"Or rather, the low fluidity of the Viren Mist, in this situation, actually becomes an advantage. Because under these conditions, only your lunar gravitational pull, that is, the gravitational force formed from moonlight, can move the mist according to your intentions. Other magical forces would have great difficulty moving the mist across a wide area in the way one planned."

Locke smiled. "Exactly."

"That is precisely why I said you have helped me enormously. Thank you, Daniel."

Daniel gave a nod. "And you have also given me a bit of new inspiration."

Daniel fell into thought. "By the way, I hear that your opponent this time is the Smith Family. They are a prestigious family of weather wizards in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands."

"Their family's Grand Magics... all have something to do with meteorites."

Locke gave a nod. "Right. I have looked over the materials on their Grand Magics. The Smith Family has three Grand Magics passed down through generations, the Grand Magic Meteor from Beyond the Heavens, the Grand Magic Glacial Comet, and the Grand Magic Infernal Meteorite Fall."

Locke spoke with familiarity, "The academy gave me the relevant materials. The Smith Family is a renowned family of weather wizards, specializing primarily in the sub-field of meteorology within the evocation school's meteorology branch. Of course, the meteorology sub-discipline within the weather studies direction of the evocation school is a major academic field in its own right."

"Because the origins of meteorology trace back to the Origin Lands, the central region's leader territory for wizards, the Smith Family is simply the authoritative representative group of weather wizards within the Cloud Marsh Wetlands for the field of meteorology."

"Among them, the Grand Magic Glacial Comet appears to be some form of enormous glacial comet that can influence celestial phenomena, trigger celestial resonances, and produce extreme cold and massive blizzards."

"At present, their family has three Second Circle wizards whose Grand Magic is of this type."

A Grand Magic could be a standardized form, or more accurately, most wizards' Grand Magics were standardized. After all, following a standardized Grand Magic came with a wealth of accumulated experience to draw from.

Of course, although they were standardized, because of the variations introduced by subsequent forging, even two wizards who shared the same Grand Magic would have subtle differences between them.

Not to mention that wizards had the habit of making small adjustments to their spell models to better suit their own souls.

That said, in the Grand Magic Modeling Competition, this was not something that needed to be considered, since everyone was only at the level of an ordinary Second Circle wizard.

There was no need to account for the characteristics of a Grand Magic that had undergone multiple rounds of forging.

Locke said, "The Grand Magic Infernal Meteorite Fall appears to involve a massive meteorite striking the earth in an instant, exerting a tremendous effect on the surrounding environment. The Smith Family also has three Second Circle wizards whose Grand Magic is this one."

"As for the Grand Magic Meteor from Beyond the Heavens, it is the Smith Family's most complex Grand Magic, and I have to admit I did not fully understand it. It seems the majority of the Smith Family's Second Circle wizards possess this particular magic. Its effect is also peculiar. The materials I was given were vague and unclear on the details."

"Apparently a large number of meteors fall to earth from beyond the heavens, bringing certain things down to the land with them, and the effects differ from wizard to wizard."

Locke thought, "I do not know which meteorite Grand Magic that fellow Smith will choose to construct. But I imagine he will not deviate from these three ancestral Grand Magics of the Smith Family."

"Wizard families like theirs who construct a Grand Magic have templates to follow and the accumulated blessings of their forebears. Under normal circumstances, they do not change course."

"Switching magic on a whim." Locke said, "That is, if anything, something that commoner wizards like us have more freedom to do. We can choose whatever Grand Magic we want."

Daniel blinked, looking somewhat at a loss for words. "Ahem... Locke, you are putting too positive a spin on it. In truth, we simply learn whatever we can get our hands on. There is no real room for choosing. Of course, now that we are at Golden Crown Mountain, we certainly have far more room than before."

"After all, even if we just arbitrarily picked some attack magic and called it our Grand Magic, it would not really matter. Our parents cannot possibly give us any support anyway."

Locke said, "Everything has its advantages and its disadvantages."

Daniel said, "Regardless, the Smith Family is a very well-known family of weather wizards. Just thinking about the fact that my work will have a chance to take part in the Grand Magic Modeling Competition and measure itself against that legendary family of weather wizards..."

"I feel as though I have finally fulfilled a long-held dream."

Daniel smiled. "Years ago, many people said that I would never have won the Three Marsh Cup if it were not for the Smith Family's wizards being too proud to enter. I would not have been able to take it."

"Over the years, many people have said this. Even I have sometimes doubted myself, wondering perhaps they were right, that the true geniuses from wizard families simply would not deign to enter a competition like the Three Marsh Cup?"

Locke smiled. "I think the truth may well be otherwise."

He gave Daniel a pat on the shoulder. "The Three Marsh Cup conceals enormous honor and resources behind it. Daniel, I do not believe the wizards of the Smith Family would be too proud to enter a competition like that."

"You are the finest First Circle weather wizard in the Three Marsh Lands. That is what I believe. You won the Three Marsh Cup fair and square. Do not let the words of wizards who did not dare face you directly cause you to doubt yourself."

The young Witch Helen that Daniel had brought along listened from the side without daring to say anything, since the conversation between Locke and her teacher was far too advanced for her level.

She could not understand a word of it.

The Three Marsh Cup was already an extremely prestigious First Circle competition, even ranking above the Cloud Marsh Cup.

But against the Silent Chalice, there was simply no comparison.

Wizard Daniel was visibly stirred. "So that is why I am giving you the Viren Pearl. Because I guessed your purpose."

"Locke, I intend to prove something to the world. The weather wizards of the Smith Family are not necessarily superior to me. I may have missed the Silent Chalice, but I can be your advisor. From what I hear, competitors in the Grand Magic Modeling Competition are permitted to bring an advisory team."

Wizard Daniel volunteered himself. "Why not take me along. The chance to cross swords with the wizards of the Smith Family from afar is something I do not want to miss."

Locke paused for a moment, but then thought that having such an excellent wizard as Daniel at his side as an advisor did seem quite beneficial.

Wizard Smith had even brought Witch Medea on as his advisor, and apparently had a research team of his own acting as his advisory group as well.

So bringing along the champion of the Three Marsh Cup as his own additional brainpower did not seem unreasonable.

Locke thought, "If you have the time and do not have any projects pressing for completion right now, then of course, why not? I do not have much understanding of weather wizards."

"Come to think of it, I don't know much about the opponent from Bonifacius University either. I have only read the materials the academy provided. I don't know much about her as a person. As for Edgar... I already beat him once at the Cloud Marsh Cup."

Locke said, "I'll ask Witch Diana whether she would be willing to join my advisory team. Even though we are not from the same school."

He had barely sent the message when Witch Diana replied the very next moment. 'That eagerness of yours to never let an opportunity slip by reminds me of those wizards from the Demon Hub City.'

'Locke, I do not want to be isolated by my own school. Other competitions are one thing, but for the Silent Chalice Competition, I do not dare to casually pick a side.'

'I decline.'

Locke blinked. "She declined? Though she called the Demon Hub City a bunch of opportunists? I thought it was just Witch Camilla who had that kind of personality. It seems the environment she grew up in had quite an influence on her."

Wizard Daniel said, "She is a Bonifacius University wizard after all, Locke."

Locke thought it over and sent a message to Witch Preston, asking whether she was familiar with the witch from Bonifacius University.

Witch Preston replied genuinely quickly. "Little Brother Locke, I am currently on vacation in a colonized world, enjoying the life of the White Dragon Queen who rules over an entire world. Please do not message me for now. I need to be fully immersed in the experience."

Locke stared blankly.

What on earth?

Very shortly after, Witch Preston sent him a follow-up message. 'Oh, that person. I had some contact with her when I went to Quinn Jol for a lecture series. I'll tell you about it when I have time.'

Daniel leaned over and looked at Locke. "Locke, your competition conditions are truly demanding. Your two teammates, Antoine and Preston, not a single one is normal."

Daniel gave Locke a sympathetic look. "It seems you genuinely do need my wisdom."

Locke looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

Your wisdom?

Someone had only just climbed out of a honeypot trap not that long ago.