Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

The Rose Witch plucked the demon dragon rose, this Rosaceae magical plant she had transformed from Locke, and held it beneath her nose for a sniff. Then she handed the magical plant to Wizard Cis, leaving him somewhat taken aback.

Yet looking at this magical plant radiating such powerful energy, he was deeply drawn to it.

Wizard Cis looked toward Witch Yekaterina, and Witch Yekaterina gave a slight nod.

Only then did he accept it with pleased satisfaction.

The Rose Witch looked at Witch Yekaterina with a smile. "I am giving this Second Circle magical plant to your wizard, and as for Witch Esther, as my final and most treasured disciple, I should rightfully bring her body back to the Rose Council and place her in the resting place we have designated for all recognized wizards of our Rose Council, the Rose Banquet Home."

"That is where our Rose Council's wizards, after they have grown weary from their journey of exploring truth, all choose to return to in the end. That is not too much to ask, is it?"

Witch Yekaterina swept her a glance.

"With death, debts are cleared. That is the rule of the White Wizard Association. After today, the name Witch Esther will no longer exist in this world. I will inform the White Wizard Association and Golden Crown Mountain of this matter."

"At the same time, the Rose Council owes compensation."

The Rose Witch gave a slight nod. "Of course."

"The relevant compensation will be paid. Everything in this world can be measured in money."

"That is the rule of our world."

The Rose Witch, along with Witch Lana and Witch Nina, took Witch Esther's body and returned to the flyer. The void flyer first rose into the air and hovered for a moment, then in an instant shot forward, and like a drill boring through space, it parted the light, concealed its form, and vanished from where it had been.

On the other side, Wizard Cis proactively presented the demon dragon rose to Witch Yekaterina, bowing respectfully. "I am sorry, Throne. We were unable to stop Esther. She was also too foolish. She failed to see that the Rose Witch's primary objective was to obtain her, and her secondary objective, when that failed, was to ensure Esther's disappearance in order to eliminate any evidence the Rose Witch had left with you and Golden Crown Mountain."

"A sun ring wizard of such stature, to have come to such an end..."

Wizard Cis could not help but feel a pang of melancholy.

"It is also my fault, for not intercepting her at the border of the Golden Crown Mountain district, which allowed her to flee here and walk into her own death."

Wizard Kelt bowed respectfully. "Throne, if that mixed-bloodline dragon had not appeared suddenly, Esther would have been cornered by us at the border. Then once you and Wizard Pericles acted, she could have been brought back to Golden Crown Mountain."

On the other side, Wizard Pericles from the Academic Committee swept a glance at the demon dragon rose, and a flicker of interest passed through his eyes as well.

That was the most cutting-edge research of a Third Circle Throne wizard, a magical plant created through her work.

Simply extraordinary.

Nothing more than placing a hand on that dragon's forehead, and the dragon's fundamental nature had been changed, transforming it into a magical plant.

Wizard Pericles thought back to the Rose Council's most famous cultivation method, the Rose Cultivation Method.

Could this be the true essence of the Rose Cultivation Method?

Forcibly converting bloodline essence into plant essence?

How was it possible?

This was already far beyond ordinary species conversion. Plants and animals possessed fundamentally different natures, a difference that had been confirmed through multiple lines of research as originating from the very beginning of plane creation, from the moment life was born, when plants and animals had diverged at an extremely early point.

Wizard Pericles murmured to himself.

"If this is the Rose Cultivation Method, then it alone would be sufficient to independently support the advancement to an ordinary Third Circle level. It is simply too extraordinary."

"No wonder it is a cutting-edge theory the Rose Council has neither published nor released articles on."

Wizard Pericles came back to his senses and bowed toward Witch Yekaterina. "Throne, after all, a sun ring wizard has died. Even if this sun ring wizard was the most treasured disciple of the Rose Council's Throne wizard, this is still an enormous loss for our Golden Crown Mountain."

"I must return to the Academic Committee to report to the committee, and ask the chairperson to convene Golden Crown Mountain's internal wizard parliament, and inform the Council of Elders and the Executive Patrol Group."

"As well as the other neutral wizards."

Witch Yekaterina gave a slight nod and said, "On my end, I would like to use my vice-chairperson authority to have Esther buried as one who made sacrifices for the academy, with the honors accorded to a Golden Crown Mountain sun ring wizard."

"This is the right of these Second Circle wizards, and even more so the right of a sun ring wizard."

Wizard Pericles paused.

"I understand... a Second Circle wizard for the academy is generally a senior researcher, or a wizard instructor, or at minimum a lecturing mage waiting in line for a wizard instructor position, and would typically be bound by certain contracts and entitled to wizard instructor treatment..."

"And a sun ring wizard would generally be either a senior wizard instructor or a chief wizard instructor, holding an exceptionally high position."

"Only, if she is given a sun ring-level burial, her name would appear on at least ten of the academy names of the mid-level academies within the Golden Crown Mountain system, appending her title to those academies..."

"But she was a traitor."

Witch Yekaterina said, "I know."

Wizard Pericles thought about it, bowed once more, summoned a small void flyer, boarded it, and departed.

Aboard the flyer, Pericles looked out the window at the wyvern swarm and began to think.

Academy naming rights were the privilege of Second Circle wizards.

After the death of every Second Circle wizard at Golden Crown Mountain, their name could become the name of a mid-level academy.

Where there were naming rights, there was influence. At its core, this was a right that mattered primarily to the students of the faction belonging to the deceased.

Esther was a sun ring wizard. She had been at Golden Crown Mountain for two hundred years.

She had a large number of students at Golden Crown Mountain, some of whom were formal wizards, and those formal wizards also had their own students, and some of those formal wizards' students had themselves been formal wizards for a considerable time already.

Witch Esther was not, at her core, simply a witch. She was the founding ancestor of an entire community. Having her name used to name ten mid-level academies meant, in essence, granting her student lineage influence over ten ordinary nations.

This was a form of reward, or a reinforcement.

Only Witch Esther had been dealt with as a traitor.

And yet now, Witch Yekaterina was instead placating Witch Esther's students.

Wizard Pericles's mind raced.

"Of course. Many of the research group topics within the Throne's various projects include students of Witch Esther."

"She is placating them, preventing new defections from occurring."

The departure of a sun ring wizard would set off a chain reaction throughout the entire network.

And so in Wizard Pericles's eyes, at its core, what had happened this time was that Witch Esther had been blinded by desire and greed, while also having left leverage in the Rose Council's hands, and had thus brought about her own destruction.

Otherwise, even if she had maintained murky and unclear dealings with the Rose Council, the worst outcome would have been being marginalized from the inner circle of power. How could she have ended up dying this miserably?

On the Dragon Mountain Range, Witch Yekaterina looked toward Wizard Cis and said, "I also had an oversight in this matter. I only knew that Esther was a witch from an academy under Golden Crown Mountain's jurisdiction, and never thought to thoroughly investigate her specific origins."

Wizard Cis suddenly realized that Witch Yekaterina had become a Third Circle wizard before entering Golden Crown Mountain.

That meant this Throne had not initially been very familiar with the Golden Crown Mountain system.

That was likely the reason Witch Esther had been able to pass herself off as one of them and blend into the academy.

Witch Yekaterina looked toward Wizard Cis. "This is not your fault. But your situation at the Dune Plane needs to be addressed. Cis, the chaos that Wizard Zalan Bailey caused at the Dune Plane, and the damage your misreading of the Rose Council's intentions caused to the Dune Plane's current state, both of these require your attention..."

Wizard Cis's expression was grave. He had indeed been misled by the Rose Council before, misjudging the situation.

He had mistakenly assumed that Storm Tower and the Rose Council had come after his Desert Rose project specifically, but thinking back on it now, that assumption felt laughable.

Because what the two of them had been jointly targeting was not merely an inconsequential small add-on like the Desert Rose. It was something far more important.

What they had been jointly targeting was Witch Yekaterina herself.

Wizard Cis led the other wizards as they prepared to leave the Dragon Mountain Range, while Wizard Kelt looked toward the demon dragon rose in Witch Yekaterina's hand and let out a quiet sigh.

What a shame.

He had only just been thinking about taming that dragon with its seemingly considerable potential.

Although bringing a dragon out of the Dragon Mountain Range would have required paying a certain price and providing resources.

But that Rose Council witch had acted ruthlessly and turned the dragon into a magical plant.

He sighed softly.

Wizard Kelt and Wizard Cis exchanged a glance, and each saw something in the other's eyes.

It was clear that the Rose Witch's side had formally begun to declare war on their side, on the Red Dragon Throne. Esther was only a beginning.

It would certainly not be the end.

The academic war between the two Throne witches, no one knew how many people it would affect, nor how many years it would last.

With the passage of time, the conflict between Witch Yekaterina and Witch Anna had gradually become more open.

Of course, this was also a consequence of the two of them gaining greater authority of voice within their respective academies.

After everyone had departed, Witch Yekaterina's projection, in the face of the now-deserted mountain range, spoke. "Come out, Locke."

In the next moment, Locke's true body stepped out from beside the demon dragon rose.

At this moment, Locke was wearing a grey wizard robe, standing with straight posture, his eyes clear and bright.

He bowed toward Witch Yekaterina. "Teacher."

Witch Yekaterina pointed at the demon dragon rose and smiled. "Anna killed one of my sun ring wizards, and had another sun ring wizard lurking within my organization for years. I will settle accounts with her over this."

"She has finally provoked me."

"She will get the revenge she has invited upon herself. However, the magical plant she left behind is quite good. It is yours."

Locke was astonished.

At the same time, he was even more curious about the demon dragon rose itself.

It was a typical Second Circle magical plant, carrying sixteen thousand magic pressure, the same as his own true body's magic pressure.

And its interior was formed from World-Annihilating Demon Dragon bloodline essence converted into plant essence.

This was truly extraordinary. It meant the Rose Witch had used some method to cause bloodline essence and plant essence to undergo conversion.

No, wait. This kind of conversion must be subject to many restrictions and could not happen arbitrarily.

Based on his current knowledge of botanical magic, what he knew of the disciplines the Rose Council specialized in, and the articles they had published over the years, Locke perceived that the Rose Council should not possess the ability to convert bloodline essence into plant essence at will.

Otherwise, this would be a self-contained sub-domain of magic in its own right.

But since that was not the case, it meant that however miraculous this effect appeared to other wizards, the internal restrictions were still very significant.

Regardless, thanks to the Rose Witch, he had unexpectedly obtained a magical plant whose plant essence corresponded one-to-one with his fully dragonified bloodline essence.

To others, this demon dragon rose was simply a special magical plant. But to him, it held considerable significance.

Locke sensed the two Second Circle-grade ancient creature bloodlines within his body. Because of these two bloodlines, the strength of his physical body already far surpassed that of an ordinary wizard.

The Black Sun Tower had clearly not anticipated the special effects of a New Sea Route world marvel, which had led them to make a serious misjudgment. What should have been a certain death situation had now been effortlessly circumvented as the dragonified form died and his true body reappeared.

Locke looked at the magical plant in Witch Yekaterina's hand and saw that its overall form was that of a three-headed rose, the three rose crowns presenting a dark neon violet color, resembling three dragon heads.

The black-violet main stem stood like a gnarled dragon spine, the leathery leaves of the rose resembled young dragon membranes, the reverse thorns along the leaf edges were like dragon claws, and the root system was partly comprised of solid roots and partly of virtual roots.

That the demon dragon rose had virtual roots did not surprise Locke, because after taking a cutting of the Time Shadow Fern's virtual root, he too could use the Lunar Cultivation Method to evolve a magical plant and grant it virtual roots.

In others' eyes, it was simply moonlight shining on a magical plant and bestowing virtual roots upon it.

That was not difficult to achieve.

Locke swept a glance over the demon dragon rose's virtual roots and recognized them as the most ordinary variety of virtual root.

That made sense too.

After all, the demon dragon rose only had sixteen thousand magic pressure, and ordinary Second Circle magic pressure ranged between ten thousand and twenty thousand.

To obtain higher-grade virtual roots, the demon dragon rose's magic pressure would need to be at least above twenty thousand.

At this moment, Locke sensed the demon dragon rose, and it truly was astonishing.

Because this demon dragon rose was, at its core, a Second Circle wild magical plant that the Rose Witch, a Third Circle Throne wizard, had transformed from the world marvel Dragon-Tasting Marvel.

Locke shared a bloodline connection and equal spiritual nature with it, as though it were the plant version of himself in this world.

They were so completely in alignment.

Locke extended his left hand toward it. The demon dragon rose's thorny leaves trembled slightly and moved closer toward him.

It seemed to be responding to him.

Locke allowed his magical power to establish a connection with it, merging as smoothly as water and milk. In just an instant, the two had formed a magical power grafting relationship.

Locke's palm touched the magical plant, and in that instant the magical plant began to move, enveloping him like a complete set of exoskeletal armor.

The roots and stems served as a dragon tail, and the broad leather-textured leaves served as dragon wings, three pairs in total. Beyond that, there were some smaller leaves that, unlike the six large leaves, appeared somewhat tattered.

Seen from afar, they resembled battered and worn dragon wings. Seen up close, they looked like leaves chewed by insects.

A pair of the demon dragon rose's solid roots rested like dragon claws on his shoulders, and then three violet-black rose crowns appeared behind his back, resembling dragon heads, while he himself appeared to be a fourth head of this magical plant.

The three rose crowns, supported by Locke's magical power, all aimed toward the sky and unleashed the World-Annihilating Demon Dragon's dragon breath, the Destruction Dragon's Breath.

The apocalyptic aura resonated outward, and three streams of destruction-breath erupted.

Locke blinked, not having expected the wild magical plant the Rose Witch had conjured with a single spell to be this formidable.

There was clearly no trace of a breeder having optimized it, yet it was already this weaponized.

But Locke quickly understood. After all, the original form of this flower was himself, and his previous state had been an incomplete juvenile World-Annihilating Demon Dragon, which was already highly weaponized by nature.

"After no longer maintaining the pure demon dragon state, I had originally lost the ability to use dragon breath. That is after all a capability only a dragon can possess. But with this magical plant that the Rose Witch transformed for me, I can once again use the demon dragon's full dragon authority and full dragon breath."

The dragon breath was a dragon's most powerful magical force.

At its core, it was the most powerful form of draconic language magic. What appeared to be nothing more than a mass of energy projected outward was in fact an extremely sophisticated energy-projection spell of the energy shaping school. In terms of the excellence of the spell model, few spell models of the same grade within the energy shaping school could compare to it.

And so possessing dragon breath gave his combat power a boost that was by no means small.

Moreover, Locke spread the wings of the demon dragon rose and used the Second Circle spell, Lone Tree Cannot Form a Forest, a general botanical magic, and to his surprise he actually lifted directly off the ground.

"As I thought. This demon dragon rose essentially allows me to possess all the capabilities of a demon dragon with sixteen thousand magic pressure, which includes a dragon's ability to fly. Excellent. Teacher, this means I now have a Second Circle-grade flight magical plant."

After becoming a Second Circle wizard, the Large Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow magical plant he had completed in the Land of Six Towers could no longer keep up.

In truth, even during the Silent Chalice competition, that magical plant had already been little more than a secondary add-on, no longer providing him with any meaningful advantage.

The demon dragon rose filled the gap left by his lack of a flight-type magical plant.

Furthermore, this was still a wild magical plant that had not been modified. If he could use the finite element cultivation method to combine it with the Large Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow, or use the synthesis magical cube to carry out synthesis, accelerating research and cultivating a magical plant that combined the strengths of both, he could produce a Second Circle-grade Large Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow.

Locke said to Witch Yekaterina gratefully, "Thank you for the gift, Teacher."

Witch Yekaterina smiled. "This was your own thing to begin with."

"And furthermore, with it, it will be even more difficult for Anna to suspect that dragon was you. Even if you use abilities related to the demon dragon in the future, she will only think it is because of this magical plant."

Locke hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Teacher, may I ask one more question? Was Senior Esther truly a spy?"

Witch Yekaterina said, "She was. She was dispatched here by the Rose Witch. Esther told me this herself a hundred years ago."

Locke's heart was struck with profound shock.

This was simply too complicated.

Because Witch Yekaterina had just told Wizard Cis that she had only recently learned of this. But now Witch Yekaterina was telling him she had known about it a hundred years ago.

That meant...

Esther had not necessarily truly betrayed Golden Crown Mountain.

But then why had Witch Yekaterina killed her?

Was there some behind-the-scenes transaction involved in this?

Locke looked up at Witch Yekaterina and saw that his teacher had no intention of explaining further. He had no plans to ask further either.

Witch Yekaterina was satisfied that Locke did not press on.

"Locke, you have been competing with the wizard shoe shop alliances recently?"

Locke nodded. "Yes, Teacher."

Witch Yekaterina said, "Well done. The wizard shoe market of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands is, to a large degree, private territory belonging to the Rose Witch's lineage. By moving in that market, you will offend them. If this were a different cooperating instructor, you would have been warned by now."

"The reason that has not happened is that the Rose Witch and I are already in an adversarial relationship. My students and her students are inherently in conflict."

Only now did Locke understand.

No wonder, when he had moved into the wizard shoe market, unlike the situation with the Type 2 Tyrant Element before, Witch Yekaterina had not intervened at all.

With that Type 2 Tyrant Element, Witch Yekaterina had immediately stepped in on his behalf, negotiating with the high-circle breeders with relevant interests, and settled the matter in her own name.

But with the wizard shoe matter, she had never once managed anything for him.

It turned out that was because the interest group behind wizard shoes was her enemy, and so there was no need to smooth over his conflict with them.

Because they had always been enemies.

Witch Yekaterina said, "Solas Light Foot and Melechi Magic Step are respectively the industries of two Third Circle wizards of the Rose Witch's side. Of course, through multiple layers of equity dilution, proxy arrangements, and transfers, not many wizards are aware of this."

"But as long as one examines it carefully, the trail can still be found."

"Your wizard agent, Witch Scarlett, knows this. She is very perceptive."

Witch Yekaterina offered a brief explanation.

"When that witch wanted to obtain a key raw material related to the production of your wizard shoes, she made use of my name to borrow the tiger's authority. That matter was very quickly passed to my ears by those with an interest in keeping watch."

"Low-circle wizards borrowing the name of a high-circle wizard to leverage their authority is a common occurrence. A wise wizard will generally observe the reaction of the high-circle wizard whose name has been borrowed, to gauge the true nature of the relationship between them."

Witch Yekaterina said, "But I did in fact respond."

"The reason I did not discuss any of this with you before is that you were previously only a First Circle wizard. At that stage, one only needs to focus on doing research and participating in competitions within the academy. But now you are a Second Circle wizard. Wherever you choose to go in the future, Golden Crown Mountain remains your best foundation for now."

"And as a Second Circle wizard, whether you wish to or not, you will be forced to enter the struggle among academic lineages. First Circle wizards also have the advantages of being First Circle wizards. The lineage struggle will not affect them, because they are deliberately overlooked."

"Just as when people harvest chives, they deliberately avoid cutting the ones that have not yet grown."