Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Inside the imperial capital, Locke, serving as Inspector-General, was borrowing books from the royal library and rapidly familiarizing himself with many aspects of this world.

To be precise, as a holy avatar, very little within this plane could possibly be hidden from him.

Whatever he wished to know, he would certainly be able to know.

But there was one thing Locke could not ascertain, and that was the emperor's Second Circle inspector system, the mind network.

This system carried the technical hallmarks of a Grand Magic, and so Locke was extremely curious about how it had come to exist.

At the same time, Locke had noticed that the emperor had eliminated people across certain areas of one province, approximately two hundred thousand people in total.

This had caused the total magic pressure of the emperor's mind network to decline, but the drop was extremely limited.

'Because one person alone is an entire civilization, does that mean that even if you actively attack the people of your own civilization, as long as you yourself remain unharmed, the civilization will not be shaken?' Locke pondered.

Locke examined the spell models within his consciousness sea. He could see that all the magic he had mastered surrounded him, with his permanent defensive force field, Forest Sanctuary, transformed into Jupiter, and the abyssal energy transformed into Saturn.

His First Circle spell models served as asteroids.

The many apprentice-level spells occupied the position of the asteroid belt.

Such was the arrangement of spell models within his consciousness sea, with his consciousness self at the position of the sun.

His Grand Magic, however, did not occupy the sun's position at this moment, nor any major planetary position, nor any planet at all.

This colossal entity had appeared in the asteroid belt alongside the many apprentice-level spell models.

Yet as a symbol within the consciousness sea it was extraordinarily vast, like the shadow of an enormous Jupiter.

This was the hallmark of an ordinary Second Circle wizard, the un-forged stage.

It signified that the degree of separation between the Grand Magic and the caster's true body was extremely high.

The entire upward path of the Second Circle was, to a great extent, a journey of reducing this degree of separation.

The goal was to let the symbol of the Grand Magic within the consciousness sea rise to the position of a major planet, then further to the position of a moon, and finally for the symbol of the Grand Magic and the symbol of one's consciousness self to merge as one and become the sun.

That was the entire process of the star ring, moon ring, and sun ring.

It was also the four forging stages, the un-forged, the void-forged, the false-forged, and the true-forged.

Upon reaching the true-forged stage, the Grand Magic and the self became one, the degree of separation reduced to near zero, and one plus one exceeded two, achieving something that the Second Circle stages of other civilizations could never reach.

Furthermore, the Second Circle path of Grand Magic in wizard civilization enabled wizards to continuously layer Grand Magics upon one another, a unique developmental path that created entirely new tiers within the Second Circle.

One could say that the Grand Magic was one of the most brilliant achievements of wizard civilization.

Locke looked at the symbolic celestial body of his Grand Magic within his consciousness sea. "This symbolic body looks like a vacuum that was deliberately left empty."

Locke casually cast a botanical magic spell, and instantly all the plants in every flower pot throughout the room burst into bloom and then fell again, cycling through the passage of all four seasons.

Because he possessed the Grand Magic, Moon of Evolution, all of his magic received a multiplying enhancement from the Grand Magic.

And the more powerful his Grand Magic became, the stronger the baseline enhancement applied to every spell he cast.

Because in essence, his soul had transformed from one into ten thousand, from an individual into a phenomenon, and his Grand Magic was his assets.

It was his Grand Magic that was casting the spells.

Magic cast by a single person had become magic cast as a force of nature.

Every spell released power that could never have been manifested at the First Circle stage.

Therefore, at the Second Circle stage, increasingly complex spell models became possible, and that was where Second Circle magic began to emerge.

At the same time, a permanent defensive force field had appeared on both Locke's true body and on his Grand Magic.

Two permanent defensive force fields of the same attribute layered together seemed to be gestating something.

It simply required time.

And within this competition, there would likely not be enough time for anything to gestate from it, so he had no need to consider it.

In essence, the version of himself that now possessed a Grand Magic existed in a constant state where the forces of heaven and earth moved in concert with him. Even the most ordinary of spells could achieve something extraordinary in his hands.

Locke reflected with admiration, "The gap between a Second Circle wizard and a First Circle wizard is this vast. It is practically the difference between entirely different tiers of existence. The current me could pin down my former self with one hand."

Locke looked at a Grand Magic Rune hanging down from the symbolic celestial body of his Grand Magic within his consciousness sea.

"Once magic pressure exceeds ten thousand, every additional three thousand points of magic pressure allows one Grand Magic Rune to appear. Placing this Grand Magic Rune into a Second Circle spell model incorporates that Second Circle spell model into the Grand Magic."

Releasing an ordinary Second Circle spell was equivalent to one's soul and Grand Magic casting that spell simultaneously.

But if a Second Circle spell model was infused with a Grand Magic Rune, it was equivalent to casting an extension of the Grand Magic itself, and the enhancement to the spell's power was nothing short of extraordinary.

Ordinary Second Circle magic pressure ranged between ten thousand and nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine.

That meant an ordinary Second Circle wizard could have at most four Grand Magic Runes.

Because upon first becoming a Second Circle wizard, one would already possess one Grand Magic Rune, and every subsequent increase of three thousand magic pressure would add another.

At nineteen thousand magic pressure, a Second Circle wizard would possess four Grand Magic Runes.

However, based on Locke's experience at this point, Grand Magic Runes could not simply be placed into any spell model at will.

The first consideration was that once a Grand Magic Rune was added to a spell model, it created a link between that Second Circle spell model and one's Grand Magic.

This would alter the nature of one's Grand Magic.

If the natures of the two were too conflicting, it could trigger the collapse and regression of the Grand Magic, which amounted to damaging one's own soul and devaluing one's own assets.

But if the placement was done well, it could increase one's assets.

The second consideration was that adding an incompatible Second Circle spell model at random would also fail to draw out the full power of that spell model.

Furthermore, every use of these Second Circle spells infused with Grand Magic Runes would consume the total magic pressure of one's Grand Magic.

Powerful they certainly were.

But the consumption was equally significant.

Every use, in essence, was a reduction in the total magic pressure remaining in one's Grand Magic as a magic source, which was what one would need to draw upon when using the Grand Magic to attack enemies in the future.

So how to manage the rate of usage was also something a Second Circle wizard needed to learn to control.

If one used a Second Circle spell with very high magic pressure consumption and kept using it in battle, steadily draining the remaining total magic pressure of the Grand Magic as a magic source, then when the time came to use the Grand Magic itself, there would not be enough magic pressure left.

Locke had only just become a Second Circle wizard, and so there was much to adapt to. "A true Grand Magic is indeed completely different from those imitations I saw inside the Chronicles of the Era of Stars."

"Grand Magic Runes, I had never actually seen one before, only read about them in books."

"So it seems that in battle between Second Circle wizards, whether using the Grand Magic directly to attack or using spells enhanced by Grand Magic Runes, neither can be used carelessly. Ordinary Second Circle spells still have plenty of room for use."

"At least during the probing phase, when one cannot be certain of defeating the opponent, they must not be used."

"Also, if an ordinary Second Circle spell can block the opponent's high-consumption spell or probe the opponent's defenses, it seems one should actively make use of that as well."

It was only at this moment that Locke realized that, at least for an ordinary Second Circle Grand Magic, using it directly to attack an enemy was like firing a cannon. It would cause oneself to consume an enormous amount of magic pressure in an instant, and if one failed, the consequences would be dire.

So for a Second Circle wizard, a Grand Magic could not be used carelessly.

A Grand Magic was fundamentally the source of a Second Circle wizard's magic. Using one's magic source to directly attack others on a whim would lead to enormous consumption and increased risk.

Of course, the Grand Magic, as the most powerful means available to a Second Circle wizard, was certainly the most reliable trump card one held.

"There is still much I need to learn and understand about Grand Magic and Second Circle spell models. I do not yet know a single Second Circle spell. However, my teacher had me read through quite a few relevant Second Circle spell resources before, so I can use this period of time to study them," Locke thought. "The process of adding a spell model to a Grand Magic Rune is also something that requires systematic study before it can be done well."

In essence, the process of infusing a Second Circle spell into a Grand Magic Rune was a form of supplementing, and even forging, one's Grand Magic.

So deciding what kind of spells to use to forge one's Grand Magic was something that required careful thought.

Four opportunities to add Grand Magic Runes were four choices and four chances to forge.

Of course, Grand Magics had other methods of forging as well.

Locke thought, "They are fighting fiercely, so I will help stabilize the emperor's total magic pressure for the time being, and use this time to learn a few Second Circle spells."

"And then, I will look into the truth of this mind network of his."

Inside the library, the gunfighter and the girl priestess were working their way through the shelves, searching for books on Locke's behalf.

The girl priestess was sweating with exhaustion. "This is really so hard to find."

The gunfighter looked toward Locke with a complicated expression. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Why do I get the feeling that you and the emperor actually get along quite well, and that you are even helping him establish a religion?"

"You are not throwing in with him because you see that his power is great, are you?"

The girl priestess, red-faced, stood on the shelving and said, "How can you speak of the deity that way?"

"Deity, everything you do surely has a deeper meaning behind it. Deity, could you come out tonight? I have always wanted to take you to see what this world looks like when there is no light."

Locke nodded. "All right."

At present he had already earned the trust of the emperor's faction. Though the other party would not necessarily trust him fully, because the emperor's total magic pressure was continuously declining and he was growing increasingly dependent on Locke, he had no choice but to place his trust in him.

As a result, Locke now had the breathing room to attend to other matters.

He was also very curious about the secret of this world's inevitable destruction.

Because although the emperor was tyrannical, there did not appear to be much of a problem from what could be seen so far.

The other party was brutal, yes, but he loved himself, loved power, and any possibility that might threaten his rule or undermine his authority would be dismantled by him before it could take shape.

Locke raised his head and looked in surprise toward the grey sky beyond the glass window. The total magic pressure of this world's magic pressure pool had risen once again.

The whole world was thriving, and it expressed its gratitude toward whoever had brought about this phenomenon.

"Edgar... I did not expect you to be the first to complete the Grand Magic cycle."

At this moment, a Temporal Shadow Fern appeared in the sky of this world, and it was no longer merely the height of a person. It had become a colossus.

A vision manifested in the sky, as if making an announcement to the world.

A seed fell into the earth, and that seed took root and sprouted. Countless souls poured into the seed, and the seedling grew underground.

It grew in a place where no one paid it any attention. The Temporal Shadow Fern differentiated its roots underground, and individual plants branched off, one after another, spreading outward through rhizomes until an entire fern colony had formed beneath the surface.

Soon, individual Temporal Shadow Fern plants broke through the soil one by one, appearing like tender young ferns that had just emerged from the ground.

But in truth, the portion below the surface was far more vast than the part that showed above it.

The main plant of the Temporal Shadow Fern continued to grow upward, transforming into a towering fern tree three thousand meters tall, as though it were a great ancient tree.

The Temporal Shadow Fern manifested the Land of All Spirits, gathered the spiritual energy of the dead, and gave rise to a crude version of something resembling the Land of All Spirits found within botanical studies, similar in nature to the Emerald Dream.

Within that Land of All Spirits, another world seemed to exist, a world without any animals, inhabited only by plant spirits.

Edgar summoned a great multitude of plant spirits into the Land of All Spirits. A primordial and powerful tropical jungle appeared within that Land of All Spirits.

The total magic pressure of his Grand Magic was surging at a breathtaking rate.

The total magic pressure of the entire world rose along with it.

The world felt stirred with excitement, and the world's consciousness gradually began to awaken from its long-standing rigidity.

Edgar's Temporal Shadow Fern, capable of converting the spiritual energy of death into the Land of All Spirits, was the product of ten years of research by a moon ring botanical wizard.

The Temporal Shadow Fern could be activated through the Land of All Spirits, launching a collective assault from within the Land of All Spirits, transforming the spirits there into magical plants to attack enemies. It could also pull enemies into the Land of All Spirits and unleash an attack on them with magic pressure pushed to its absolute limit in a single instant.

And because of the Temporal Shadow Fern's existence, one of the Silent Plane's missing rules was completed, granting the Silent Plane something like a crude burial ground for the natural world, a simple gathering place of spiritual energy in the natural world.

So the world was made more complete.

The balance of power between humanity and nature was restored.

In the spectator stands of the Silent Throne, a round of applause and cheers erupted from the Quinn Jol University spectator section.

"This is the Temporal Shadow Fern that our Quinn Jol prepared for this competition. The Temporal Shadow Fern can convert the spiritual energy of death to contribute to the Land of All Spirits. It is a supplementary mechanism that balances life and death, plants and animals. That world was certain to welcome it."

"And with this method, we have made history. What is the record for the fastest Grand Magic descent in the history of the Silent Chalice? Even the fastest on record took fourteen days. We have done it in only ten days!"

The developer of the Temporal Shadow Fern, the moon ring witch, stood up proudly and looked around at the crowd. "This is the botanical studies level of our Quinn Jol. What ordinary university has the capability to reverse-engineer even a portion of the Emerald Dream's underlying principles?"

Among the panel of judges in the spectator stands, sun ring wizards were also nodding continuously.

"I see. No wonder that young wizard did not go to the forest preserve, but instead chose to go directly against the empire's native power."

"So it was a special botanical Grand Magic capable of converting the spiritual energy of death into other resources. That is quite unique. Although the offensive capability seems to have some issues, specifically with the instantaneous rate of magic pressure multiplication. It appears some compromises were made between rapid deployment and raw power."

In the spectator stands, quite a few wizards were also whispering among themselves, discussing the product of Quinn Jol's collective effort for this competition, the Temporal Shadow Fern Grand Magic.

In the Silent Plane, inside the library of the imperial capital, Locke gazed at the vast Grand Magic in the distance and furrowed his brow. "Edgar, why does your magic pressure feel so oppressive?"

"If you do not like this kind of magic, then why are you using it?"