Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Wizard Chad Schultz took an elegant box from his astral ring, put on a pair of gloves, and used tweezers to remove some transparent feather-shaped tea leaves from the box. He placed the leaves into a glass teapot, then poured mountain spring water over them.

The handle of the glass teapot displayed the temperature, and within no more than five seconds of the spring water being poured in, it had been heated to eighty-five degrees Celsius.

The tea leaves, resembling needle-thin white feathers, stood upright in the teapot like a small forest, slowly drifting downward, dancing like white tea leaves in motion.

"What is known as the art of tea is the way of tea, where every word and action, every sip and use, is an art in itself." Wizard Chad Schultz said, "A tea master is one of those great artists among breeders who deeply integrates the art of breeding with the realm of art, founded on the principles of practicality."

"Look at this White Phoenix Tea. There are many key points to brewing it. To see the leaves dance like this, you must first place the leaves in, then add hot water at eighty-five degrees Celsius, and watch the White Phoenix leaves move through the water."

"First you watch, then you drink. It is exquisite."

Wizard Chad Schultz wore an expression of pure bliss.

Locke thought, "..."

Out of courtesy, Locke maintained a strained smile and said, "It truly is quite wonderful. So may I drink it now, Senior?"

Wizard Chad Schultz lifted the glass teapot and poured the tea into a cup, the stream of liquid flowing in a steady arc. As an expert-level tea master, even the angle at which he poured carried its own significance.

Wizard Chad Schultz placed a cup of White Phoenix Tea beneath Locke's nose. "First you look, then you smell, and only then do you drink. That is the complete sequence. A single cup of White Phoenix Tea, if purchased through the shop alliance I run, would cost you one hundred thousand magic stones."

Wizard Chad Schultz smiled. "And even at that price, demand far exceeds supply. Only one cup may be sold per day."

"Brewing tea is like conducting oneself in life. In life, one must observe propriety, and in brewing wizard tea, one must likewise observe propriety. Once a day, that is the etiquette of the Six Teas of Landbridge."

Locke blinked. He had not initially found the aroma of the White Phoenix Tea particularly distinctive, but now, for some reason, the scent of the tea struck him as extraordinarily pleasant.

That was the fragrance of money and luxury.

Wizard Chad Schultz said, "Please, drink."

Locke downed it in a single gulp, like an animal at a trough.

Wizard Chad Schultz's expression grew peculiar when he saw this, and he was about to intervene, but seemed to think better of it and let it go.

He only shook his head slightly and let out a quiet sigh.

After drinking the cup of White Phoenix Tea, Locke immediately understood why a single cup of wizard tea came with so many formalities, and why it cost one hundred thousand magic stones.

After finishing the cup, he felt an immediate renewal of both body and soul. All the potion-related contamination that had accumulated within his soul and body was cleansed in an instant.

That special tea fragrance rose from his abdomen like a cloud of vital energy, sweeping out in all directions. Even in his current state, with his soul in a period of decline and growing gradually muddled, after drinking this cup of wizard tea, his mind felt sharp and clear once more.

The tea seemed capable of repairing the soul. The wounds that riddled his soul began to close under the influence of this single cup of wizard tea. They would soon reopen from the strain of excessive magic pressure, but his condition had genuinely improved.

Until he broke through the constraint that bound the souls of countless beings across the infinite void, that barrier between the First Circle and the Second Circle, the wounds of his soul would never fully heal.

Locke opened his eyes and looked at Wizard Chad Schultz. "Senior Chad, this White Phoenix Tea can actually repair the soul."

Wizard Chad Schultz laughed with evident pride. "If it could not do that, why would White Phoenix be worth a fortune and sought after by every wizard? Repairing wounds of the soul is something that every wizard needs to some degree, no matter who they are. Even a high-circle wizard, if they drink it every day, can keep themselves in peak condition at all times."

"Furthermore, a key laboratory at Landbridge has confirmed that White Phoenix Tea has some capacity to repair soul damage caused by a wizard forgoing sleep. At least in part."

Locke nodded. "That is genuinely very useful."

Wizard Chad Schultz shook his head slightly. "It's a pity you never took a course in tea etiquette and don't know how to properly appreciate or drink tea."

"Otherwise, I would have a great deal more to discuss with you. A commodity speaks not only to its intrinsic value, but also to the value that others believe it to have."

Wizard Chad Schultz said, "That is precisely why Landbridge, after years of effort, has freely established tea etiquette courses in many locations, promoting the rituals of tea and increasing the added value of agricultural products."

Only then did Locke truly understand what high added-value agriculture meant.

Wizard Chad Schultz's expression became more serious. "Consider this cup of White Phoenix Tea a gift from me."

Noticing that Locke was still eyeing the teapot in his hand, he promptly stowed it into his astral ring to remove it from Locke's line of sight. "I still have a few old friends here at Golden Crown Mountain. What's left in this pot is just enough for me to bring along when I pay them a visit."

"Wizards from Landbridge are always warmly welcomed by their friends, because wherever we go, we bring a pot of Landbridge wizard tea to share."

Wizard Chad Schultz's expression grew serious once more. "Very well. Now let me see the blueprint magic of your Grand Magic. This is a task entrusted to me by the high-circle wizards of Golden Crown Mountain. I need to observe the blueprint magic of your Grand Magic before the competition."

"There are still just over two months until the competition. I can use this time to help you make final adjustments."

"You are the main competitor in the Grand Magic Modeling Competition. Your two assistants can only play a supporting role."

Wizard Chad Schultz pulled a pocket watch from his coat, looked down at it, then frowned. "I already had someone go and inform the little white dragon princess and Antoine some time ago."

"By now they should have arrived. But they haven't come... never mind, these wizards are all individualists, every last one of them."

Wizard Chad Schultz looked at Locke and said, "Let's go ahead and start on our own."

"Actually, my ideal lineup in my mind would be the little Princess of Preston and Witch Juliana, together with you. It would be even better if Antoine could be swapped out."

Locke said, "Antoine is a very powerful wizard."

Wizard Chad Schultz made an expression of exasperated disbelief. "Powerful? I hear he is the reincarnation of a Third Circle wizard's soul? That does raise him somewhat in my estimation, but the things he did before... heh heh heh..."

"If I told you, you would think less of him too."

"For instance, there was a time when Antoine left Golden Crown Mountain and was traveling through a mortal nation within the Golden Crown Mountain district, where he encountered a local mortal noblewoman. He then, in complete disregard of the White Wizard Association's authority, ordered his students to abduct that noblewoman and bring her back to his home..."

"That mortal nation fell under the jurisdiction of the Eternal Glory Hall, which had established many Eternal Glory Elementary Knowledge Schools there, specifically to identify mortals with wizard aptitude for the Eternal Glory Hall, and to spread knowledge from the Eternal Glory Hall to mortal nations."

"That noblewoman was a student enrolled at one of those elementary knowledge academies."

"As a result, the noblewoman's family appealed to the Eternal Glory Elementary Knowledge Academy, and the principal of that academy, three months later, reported the matter to the intermediate knowledge academy in the nation's capital, after which the director of that academy reported it to a wizard mentor of the Eternal Glory Hall."

"The Eternal Glory Hall found this deeply sensitive..." Wizard Chad Schultz wore an expression of exasperated disbelief. "At the time, outsiders were unaware of just how outrageous Antoine had been. They mistakenly assumed that Antoine could not possibly have simply abducted a student from another wizard organization's subordinate school for no reason."

"The Eternal Glory Hall assumed that Antoine had poached a wizard candidate with exceptional aptitude, and so immediately filed a protest with the White Wizard Association and the Cloud Marsh Wizard Council. The matter grew quite large, and the entire Cloud Marsh Wetlands came to hear of it."

"For quite some time, everyone assumed this was merely an ordinary dispute over student resources, with the only difference being that while others usually stole students in secret and avoided leaving evidence, Antoine had been caught in the act. The Wizard Council asked Antoine to return the person to the Eternal Glory Hall, and Antoine refused..."

Wizard Chad Schultz rolled his eyes and said, "In the end, when everything came to light, it turned out she was simply a young and beautiful mortal woman with an attractive figure, with not even the slightest trace of wizard talent."

"Once the Eternal Glory Hall realized this, they immediately stopped wasting their time on the matter. And that was the incident that spread Antoine's name for absurdity throughout the entire Cloud Marsh Wetlands."

Wizard Chad Schultz said, "Beyond that, there was also Antoine bullying his own students after they became First Circle wizards, treating them like beasts of burden, and so on..."

"Oh, and there was the time Antoine gambled away all his money at a casino, then seized a First Circle wizard's magic carriage and drove off in it..."

Wizard Chad Schultz shook his head. "The list of outrageous behavior goes on and on. And now you're telling me he is the reincarnation of a Third Circle wizard? Heh. What does being a reincarnation amount to?"

"Magic advances with every passing day. The Third Circle wizards of the past only reached the Crown Magic stage and became Third Circle wizards ahead of us because the lower-hanging fruit on the magic tree was more plentiful, and fewer people were there to pick it."

"Nowadays, magic progresses day and night, and a Third Circle wizard of the past might well be no match for a current sun ring wizard in terms of actual ability."

"Put them on the same stage and it would be clear in an instant who is stronger."

Wizard Chad Schultz said.

Locke gave a slight nod and offered no rebuttal, mainly because Antoine's previous disguise had been so convincing that the poor impression he had left on others was simply too deep. The moon ring Wizard before him also harbored far too great a bias against Antoine. Any casual objection from Locke would only serve to irritate the man, with no practical benefit whatsoever.

Wizard Chad Schultz said, "Locke, let me see the blueprint magic of your Grand Magic."

Locke nodded, raised his right hand, and recited an incantation. A refreshing breeze swept through, and a full moon came pressing down from the sky toward the earth below, traveling from far away and drawing steadily closer, as though the moon itself were falling to the ground.

The immense magic pressure descended like a meteorite crashing from the sky.

A violent wind sheared through the air, snapping sturdy blades of grass on the ground and breaking several branches on nearby apprentice-grade magical plants.

Wizard Chad Schultz clasped both hands behind his back and let out a low whistle. His previously relaxed and casual expression shifted the moment he saw Locke's magic closing in from afar, and his face changed slightly, his gaze turning serious.

For an instant, he had even thought this was a Grand Magic.

Because this magic carried the presence and weight of a Grand Magic.

Wizard Chad Schultz tilted his head back to observe it carefully, then let out a cool laugh. "Not bad, truly not bad. It is hard to believe this could be the blueprint magic of a young First Circle wizard who came from outside these lands."

"Even a wizard who grew up in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands from a young age, educated entirely within our system, would struggle to do better at the same age."

Wizard Chad Schultz watched the moon pressing down from above, its terrifying magic pressure growing ever more imposing, and his satisfaction deepened. "Power, strength, and essence, all top-tier."

"To be fair, it is even somewhat better than the blueprint magic I had when I entered the Grand Magic Modeling Competition."

Wizard Chad Schultz said, "The ceiling is also extraordinarily high. Although you have not shown me your Grand Magic's spell model or design philosophy, I can already sense an unusual force within this Grand Magic."

"No wonder you dared to tell me you intend to take first place in the Silent Chalice Competition, junior."

Locke asked Wizard Chad Schultz, "Senior, what is your assessment of this spell model?"

Wizard Chad Schultz looked at Locke and fell into thought, then said, "I believe it does have the potential to take first place. You are more impressive than I expected. If that is the case, then I must provide you with thorough guidance. After all, more is expected of the more capable."

He stepped forward and extended a single finger. A powerful surge of magic pressure collided with the full moon behind Locke, like a meteorite striking the earth. In an instant, the two clashing forms of magic pressure interlocked and transformed into a massive collision of energy.

At the very moment the magic pressure of the full moon behind Locke was pushed to its absolute limit, finding itself unable to rise any further, it retreated before reaching that limit, leaping backward three consecutive times.

Wizard Chad Schultz said, "First major flaw, the attack magic construction is insufficient, and the offensive attribute is not pronounced. The potential is great and worthy of praise, and objectively speaking, the quality of this Grand Magic's essence is remarkably high, enough to genuinely surprise me."

"But potential is a matter for the future. Right now, only actual ability counts."

"Your first major flaw is that the attack multiplier is insufficient. You cannot release this enormous magic pressure all at once."

"The second major flaw." Wizard Chad Schultz flipped his right hand over, and a tea tree appeared within it. In an instant, that tea tree seemed to grow to a height of tens of thousands of feet, "The essence of a Grand Magic is an attack magic that forms some kind of relationship with the world."

"It is clear that your Grand Magic has a very high essence, yet you have not put it into practice?"

Wizard Chad Schultz made a sound of acknowledgment. He had originally intended to use his Grand Magic, the Water Saint Tea Tree, to disrupt the nascent form of Locke's blueprint magic.

Yet that Water Saint Tea Tree, which possessed the power to purify the earth, did not scatter the magic at all. Instead, it formed a degree of symbiosis with the Full Moon Growth.

The Full Moon Growth enveloped the Water Saint Tea Tree above it.

Wizard Chad Schultz frowned. "I take back what I said. Assuming you had no practical combat experience was my mistake. To achieve this, allowing your magic to coexist with my Grand Magic, even though I held back, shows that you have a great deal of experience in constructing Grand Magic."

"It seems I was presumptuous when it came to your combat experience."

Wizard Chad Schultz snapped his fingers, and the Water Saint Tea Tree erupted. The Water Saint Tea Tree consumed a vast quantity of water element particles and various magical resources, using them to produce multiple natural magical structural components capable of purifying the earth.

He had also undergone three rounds of forging, completing the unforged, the void-forged, which was the star forging, and the false-forged, which was the moon forging. At this point, the leaves of the Water Saint Tea Tree were wreathed in drifting clouds and mist, within which entire mortal kingdoms had taken shape, sustained by the leaves themselves.

At this moment, the Water Saint Tea Tree was no more than a simple magical projection.

Wizard Chad Schultz had not applied much effort. A Grand Magic was the other half of a wizard's soul, the source of a wizard's magic, and a reflection of the nature of their magic.

A faint smile appeared on Wizard Chad Schultz's round face. He snapped his fingers and, with only a slight increase to the borrowed power of the Grand Magic, caused Locke's Full Moon Growth to collapse in on itself entirely.

The color drained from Locke's face, because the Full Moon Growth had already taken on the characteristics of a Grand Magic. Having it directly destroyed was therefore equivalent to a direct assault on his own soul.

Wizard Chad Schultz said, "Whatever the case, the first problem still stands."

"From today onward, as the supervising teacher accompanying Golden Crown Mountain's participants in the Grand Magic Modeling Competition, I will fight you for one hour every day, so that you can grow accustomed to using your Grand Magic in combat."

A look of surprise flashed in Locke's eyes.

Wizard Chad Schultz said, "After entering the Silent Plane, the four of you competitors will immediately receive the recognition of the world consciousness, and will be able to borrow the World Stone at once, allowing you to construct your Grand Magic."

"Therefore, you must familiarize yourself with the combat style of Second Circle wizards while still at the First Circle stage. I will be careful to hold back."

"But if you wish to take first place, you need to be able to last at least ten minutes against me. Combat between Second Circle wizards is combat between Grand Magics."

"Of course, the Silent Chalice Competition also represents an incomplete form of Second Circle wizard combat, since the permanent defensive force field of a Second Circle wizard undergoes an upgrade as well, gaining distinct properties of its own. But that upgrade to the permanent defensive force field can only be completed once you have truly become a Second Circle wizard."

"Because upgrading the permanent defensive force field requires your soul to reach the Second Circle level... that is the term used in our wizard world. In the language of those from colonized worlds, it means that the upgrade can only gradually take place once your soul has come to possess divine substance."

Wizard Chad Schultz raised his right hand and recited an incantation. A tea tree branch wreathed in swirling water vapor appeared in his hand. "Combat between Second Circle wizards is primarily combat between Grand Magics. Combat between Grand Magics is not a matter of exchanging spells blow for blow, but a battle between two great energy systems."

"Look at this, it is the Water Vapor Tea Lance. At the moment of release, it condenses water vapor and gathers tremendous impact force, launching itself toward you as an attack. At the instant it contacts your permanent defensive force field, it then explodes in a burst of water vapor, shattering your permanent defensive force field. This is one component of my Grand Magic system..."

"My Grand Magic possesses a special power that allows it to elevate its own magical energy by consuming vast quantities of water."

Locke blinked, and in that instant a javelin trailing an enormous plume of water vapor grazed past his face. In a single moment, it shattered the Life Force Field on his body, then blasted a large crater into the ground.

Locke's pupils contracted sharply. 'So fast, and such tremendous force. So this is how Second Circle wizards fight in combat? By borrowing a portion of one's Grand Magic to augment ordinary magic.'

'Pushing the power of one's ordinary spell models to the highest possible level.'

And the Water Vapor Tea Lance was only an ordinary Second Circle spell.

Locke had once read an introduction to this spell model in a general interest article. The Water Vapor Tea Lance consumed a large quantity of water vapor when used, and the more water vapor consumed, the greater its power.

Wizard Chad Schultz had clearly combined this spell model with his Grand Magic, which naturally consumed and gathered vast quantities of water, producing an effect of tremendous force.

Wizard Chad Schultz's expression grew peculiar. "Because you will not have a true Grand Magic before entering the Silent Plane, there is no way for us to engage in true Grand Magic combat. This form of combat is still at the First Circle level."

"It can't be helped. Compared to us Second Circle wizards, you First Circle wizards are like the difference between a two-dimensional being and a three-dimensional being. I can only do my best to convey what it means to be a three-dimensional being using two-dimensional means."

Wizard Chad Schultz said, "Incidentally, that blueprint magic of yours is the strongest I have ever seen."

Locke had been somewhat tense, but upon hearing those words he broke into a smile.

One hour later, Locke was slumped exhausted on the ground.

Wizard Chad Schultz, meanwhile, smiled pleasantly with both hands clasped behind his back. "Training is still what is needed. Come here every day at noon from now on."

"Keep at it."

He turned to leave, casting a sidelong glance at Locke lying on the ground resting. 'The potential of his Grand Magic is indeed very high. I rarely see a Grand Magic with this level of potential. His ambition is on the scale of the Throne herself.'

'But in terms of current ability, it is roughly on par with where I was before I competed. Still, saying a few encouraging words against my honest judgment, just to give him a boost, is harmless enough.'

'After all, I did accept payment from Golden Crown Mountain and Landbridge.'

'Though...' Wizard Chad Schultz frowned in thought. 'How did that young man manage to get that moon to coexist with my Grand Magic?'

'That genuinely surprised me.'

'And he seemed to be continuously adjusting the spell model, with the capacity for coexistence growing stronger as he did. If that continues to develop, it could truly become a remarkable and unexpected move in the Silent Chalice Competition.'

Locke lay in the grass of the forest, looking at the moon resting in his hand. "The Lunar Mirror can reflect all things through its gaze, so there is no need to contend with anything, and it can coexist with all things. Through the Moon of Evolution, I continuously reflected Senior Chad's magic, barely managing to achieve coexistence. It is just that he was also adjusting his spell model as we went, preventing me from fully reflecting it and achieving complete mutual coexistence."

"There is no shortcut here for me. This is purely a matter of accumulated practice."

Locke closed his eyes. This particular trait of the Moon of Evolution was also connected to his principle of minimal intervention in ecology.

The true protagonist was always the myriad things of this world. His moon had no need to stand at the very center of the stage.